Explosive Bubble Interaction with an Adjacent Underwater Structure

Abstract

The interaction between structures and bubbles generated by an underwater explosive (UNDEX) has been experimentally and computationally investigated. The problem analyzed consists of a flat steel plate adjacent to an explosive within an underwater environment. The experiments were performed for different standoff distances using high speed photography to capture the behavior of the underwater explosive gas bubble, and a series of pressure transducers, to record the emitted pressure histories. The numerical simulations were performed with the fully coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian fluid structure interaction code DYSMAS. The numerical simulations were validated with the experiments in terms of the detonation pressure, structural surface pressures, and UNDEX gas bubble growth and collapse. Results show that the UNDEX standoff distance greatly influences the gas bubble’s shape, migration speed, jetting behavior, and loading into its adjacent structure.