Size of craters produced by explosive charges on or above the ground surface

Abstract.

The results of a series of tests performed with different amounts of explosive at short distances above and below ground level, as well as on the soil surface are briefly described. After an introductory description of both the main features of the blast wave and the mechanics of crater formation, a brief review of empirical methods for crater size prediction is presented. Next, the experimental design and the results obtained are described. The crater dimensions for underground explosions coincide with those found in the literature. For explosions at ground level the results are qualitatively described by empirical equations. For explosive charges situated above ground level, the dimensions of the craters are smaller than those observed in underground and near the surface explosions. Two new single prediction equations for this case are presented.