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Simulation of blast and fragment loading using a coupled multi-solver

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Article · September 2006

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1st International Conference on Analysis and Design of Structures against Explosive and Impact Loads, Sept. 15-17 2006, Tianjin, China

Simulation of Blast and Fragment Loading Using a Multi-Solver Approach

*
Xiangyang Quan , Bence Gerber, Malcolm Cowler, Naury Birnbaum
Century Dynamics, ANSYS Inc., 1001 Galaxy Way, Suite #325, Concord, CA 94521, USA

Abstract: Simulation of blast and fragment loading simultaneously in a single computation requires the
combined use of multiple state of the art solvers. A pipe bomb is an example of a simple improvised explosive
device (IED) that consists of a piece of pipe filled with explosive material and capped at both ends. To simulate
the explosion of a pipe bomb and the damage it causes, a coupled multi-solver approach based upon finite
element and finite volume methods is applied. The numerical calculation presented demonstrates the ability of
ANSYS AUTODYN® to correctly simulate the threats of IEDs and provides insight into how the most
significant physical phenomena affect the results.
Keywords: Finite Element Method; Finite Volume Method; Fluid/Structure Interaction; Blast; Impact;
Fragmentation.

Introduction. An improvised explosive device (IED) is a homemade device that is designed to cause death or
injury when explosives are detonated. Toxic chemicals, biological toxins, or radiological material may be used
together with explosives in IEDs to cause more severe injury [1]. A pipe bomb is an example of a simple IED that
consists of a piece of pipe filled with explosive material and capped at both ends. When the explosive detonates, a
shock wave is generated from the detonation, which causes damage to surrounding structures, and causes injury,
sometimes fatal to personnel nearby. The high pressure from the burning explosive ruptures the pipe and creates
fragments which can cause further damage and injury. Pipe bombs and other IEDs are an increasing form of weapon
used by terrorists and hence warrant scientific investigation into the way they function. In this paper, a multi-solver
approach is described. Numerical simulation of blast and fragmentation of a pipe bomb is conducted demonstrating
the power of coupled multi-solver approaches.

1 Coupled Multi-Solver Approach

With today’s increased computing power and improved simulation packages, three-dimensional numerical
simulations based on finite element and finite difference methods are viable for simulations of blast and fragment
loading. Numerical simulations can supply quantitative and accurate details of stress, strain, and flow fields that would
be very expensive, difficult, and often impossible to obtain analytically and experimentally. The numerical models
used in simulations of blast and fragment loading are very complicated in nature because they may involve different
phases of materials (gases, liquids, and solids).
To model blast wave propagation and interaction of the blast wave with solid structures, a numerical grid is
defined, usually fixed in space, for analyzing gases flowing through the grid. This numerical solver is generally
referred to as the Euler method. The advantage of the Euler method is that it allows large deformations or extensive
flow of gases, liquids and solids to be simulated without resulting in grid distortions that result from other solution
techniques. To model the deformation and fragmentation of solids accurately, a numerical grid that moves and
deforms with the solids is used. This numerical solver is referred to as the Lagrange method. The advantage of the
Lagrange method is that conservation of mass is automatically satisfied and material boundaries are clearly defined.
For a proper investigation of blast and fragment loading, it is necessary to have modern numerical techniques
that are capable of modeling all material phases. To do this effectively requires multiple numerical solvers such as
Lagrange, Euler, ALE (a combination of Lagrange and Euler), and Meshfree techniques being used in a single
numerical simulation. Interaction and coupling between these different solvers have been developed to provide the
“best and most accurate” solution in terms of accuracy and efficiency. We call this a coupled multi-solver approach
[2]. A successful implementation of this approach has been developed in the nonlinear dynamic analysis computer
program ANSYS AUTODYN® [3].
The interaction between two Lagrange grids, called Lagrange/Lagrange interaction, is implemented in
AUTODYN using contact/slide surfaces. The coupled multi-solver approach with Lagrange/Lagrange interaction was
successfully employed in [4] to simulate the impact of a Boeing passenger jet into the New York World Trade Center

*
Xiangyang Quan, Technical support manager/senior engineer
E-mail: chris.quan@ansys.com
North Tower and the subsequent progressive collapse of that building. The results of the simulation are in very good
good agreement with the physical evidence collected from this tragic event.
The interaction between Euler and Lagrange grids, called Euler/Lagrange coupling, is used to simulate
fluid/structure or gas/structure interaction. Lagrange grids overlap an Euler grid to provide constraints to the flow of
materials in the Euler grid. At the Euler-Lagrange interface, the Euler material provides a pressure boundary to the
Lagrange grid. As the Lagrange grid moves or distorts, it covers and uncovers Euler elements and changes the flow
field. The coupled Euler/Lagrange technique allows complex gas-structure interaction problems such as the explosion
of IEDs, to be solved in a single numerical simulation.

2 Numerical Example: Blast and Fragmentation of a Pipe Bomb

ANSYS Workbench integrates various numerical tools such as geometry creation, meshing, implicit solver and
explicit solver in a single simulation platform. The integration of geometry import and creation, meshing, and a
collection of solution techniques can shorten the analysis time by eliminating unnecessary file transfers and result
translations.
The numerical simulation of the blast and fragmentation of a pipe bomb, starting from geometry creation,
through meshing, to numerical analyses and post-processing, is conducted entirely within ANSYS Workbench. First,
the solid model of the pipe bomb and a witness plate is created in the Workbench with Design Modeler, the geometry
tool. Then a computational mesh is automatically created with the Workbench meshing tool. After the meshing is
completed, the model is sent to the Workbench explicit analysis tool AUTODYN for analysis. The results are post-
processed and all necessary graphics plus animations are created within AUTODYN. The entire simulation process is
conducted conveniently, quickly, and seamlessly within the Workbench.
2.1 Geometry
The model of the pipe bomb consists of three parts: a pipe body and two end caps. Figure 1(a) shows the pipe
body (254mm long, 4mm thick cylinder). It is made of Al 6061-T6. The outside diameter of the pipe body is 58.8mm.
Figure 1(b) shows that the pipe body is sealed by sliding two 4mm thick caps into its ends. The outside diameter of
the caps is 66.8mm. The caps are made of Al 2024-T4 and 24mm long. The caps at each end overlap with the pipe for
a length of 16mm. A 1mm thick 1400mm by 600mm Al 5083H116 witness plate is placed at 100mm below the center
of the pipe bomb as shown in Figure 1(c). The witness plate serves as a target to assess the damage caused by the blast
and fragment loading from the explosion.
In Workbench, rectangular shapes are drawn on 2D sketch planes to represent the cross-section of the pipe and
the end caps. Using the revolve geometry tool, a solid model of the pipe body and the end caps is created. A
revolution of 180° will create the half geometry of the model to reduce the computation time in the analysis. The solid
model of the witness plate is created directly from the 2D sketch.

(a) A pipe body (b) Plus two end caps (c) Plus a witness plate
Fig. 1 A pipe bomb consists of a pipe body and two end caps. A witness plate is placed below the pipe bomb to assess damage.

2.2 Meshing
The mesh for the solid model of the pipe bomb and the witness plate is created by the Workbench meshing tool.
An element size of 4mm is used for the pipe body. The sweep meshing method is applied to the pipe body to create a
hex mesh. Since the geometric shape of the end caps is more complicated than the pipe body the sweep method is not
as suitable. The hex dominant method is applied instead. The same element size as the pipe body is used in the hex
dominant method to create the mesh of the end caps. The mesh of the witness plate is generated by uniform quad
method using the same element size as the pipe. The generated mesh of the pipe bomb and the witness plate is shown
in Figure 2(a-b), where (a) is the view from the interior of the pipe bomb and (b) is the view from the exterior of the
pipe bomb.
 (a) Mesh viewed from the interior of the pipe bomb (b) Mesh viewed from exterior of the pipe bomb
Fig. 2 Mesh of the pipe bomb and the witness plate.

2.3 Analyses
The mesh of the model is transferred to the Workbench explicit analysis tool: AUTODYN. The three-
dimensional numerical simulation is conducted with this nonlinear dynamic analysis computer program. The pipe
body and the end caps are modeled using Lagrange solver. The witness plate is modeled using shell solver. The four
edges of the witness plate are fixed. Detonation of the explosive and the expansion of the resultant gas products are
modeled using the Euler-ideal gas solver. The Euler mesh is created to cover the space that includes the entire pipe
bomb and the most of the witness plate as well as the space where the pipe bomb fragments and the blast wave will
travel including the area where interaction with the witness plate will take place. The Euler space extends from the
exterior of the pipe bomb for a distance twice of the diameter of the pipe, as shown in Figure 3(a). The Euler space
also extends beyond the witness plate to enable the full coupling between the Euler space and the shell mesh,
including the area where the plate will distort. Element size of 2mm is used in the Euler space. This is half of the
Lagrange and shell element size for most accurate results in the area of the coupling. The mass of the explosive
material inside the pipe bomb as shown in Figure 3(b) is 70g. Its total internal energy is 136KJ, which is equivalent to
37g TNT.

(a) Euler space (b) Explosive inside the pipe bomb

Fig. 3 Euler-ideal gas solver in AUTODYN is used to simulate the detonation and expansion of the explosive material

Euler/Lagrange coupling is used to model the interaction between the Euler mesh and all of the other parts
(Lagrange and shell). Lagrange/Lagrange interaction is used to model the interaction between the pipe bomb and the
witness plate and between the pipe body and end caps.
Material properties for all parts are retrieved from the standard AUTODYN material library [5]. Shock equation
of state, Steinberg Guinan, and Johnson Cook strength models are used to take account of nonlinear material behavior
under high pressure and high strain rate in the pipe bomb from the explosion. The failure model used for all three
materials is “ultimate plastic strain” with the nominal strain limit of 0.1. An erosion model for the pipe, end caps and
witness plate based on geometric strain with a strain limit of 2.0 is used to remove elements that are failed and
severely distorted.
2.4 Results and Discussion
After the explosive inside the pipe bomb detonates, a shock wave is created and propagates outwards. The pipe
body and the end caps start to deform as a result of the shock wave. Plastic deformation is developed in the pipe body
and the end caps. When the plastic strain of a material element in the pipe body and the end caps reaches its ultimate
strain limit, the element fails and as a result fragments are formed. The AUTODYN stochastic failure option is used in
the pipe body and the end caps so natural fragmentation could be simulated. This option utilizes a stochastic variable
that is calculated based on the Mott distribution function to slightly vary the failure strain value in a random fashion
for each element at the start of the simulation. Figure 4(a) shows the contour plot of the randomly modified failure
strain variable at the beginning of the simulation. In the contour plot the darker color indicates a lower failure strain
value. The actual failure strain at each element is the nominal strain limit multiplied by its stochastic variable. The
elements shown in dark have a smaller ultimate strain limit hence will fail sooner. Figure 4(b) shows the fragment plot
of the pipe bomb generated by AUTODYN at 30µs after the detonation of the explosive. In a fragment plot failed
elements are removed. As can be seen, many of elements that have the darker color in Figure 4(a) have failed and
been removed.

(a) Contour plot of stochastic variable at the beginning (b) Fragmentation plot at the time of 30µs
Fig. 4 Relations between the stochastic failure strain variable and the material fragmentation

When failed elements are removed by erosion, explosive gas products are no longer constrained and can flow
through the opening created to escape out of the pipe. The explosive gas will continue to expand and reach the witness
plate. Figure 5(a-c) shows isocontour plots of pressure in the Euler grid. At 50µs, figure 5(a) shows that the explosive
gas has already escaped from the pipe bomb. Figure 5(b) shows that the gas continues to expand at 75µs. Blast waves
from different parts of the pipe body are superimposed on each other and form a high pressure area (shown in dark
color) at the wave front. At 100µs, Figure 5(c) shows the explosive gas as it arrives to the witness plate and applies
blast loading on it. The simulation shows that the explosive gas products reach the witness plate faster than the
fragments of the pipe bomb.

(a) 50µs (b) 75µs (c) 100µs

Fig. 5 Propagation of the blast wave from the pipe bomb

Fragmentation of the pipe bomb is initiated at the early stages of the calculation. At 100µs. the fragments that
are formed are fairly well defined. Figure 6(a-f) shows the stages of fragmentation and the impact of the fragments on
the witness plate. The fragments of the pipe start to impact the witness plate at 200µs. The end caps are pushed away
from the pipe body by explosive pressure and are slightly damaged. Most of the fragments are created from the pipe
body. The impact of these fragments causes more damage to the witness plate than the blast loading.
Figure 7 shows the time history of the kinetic energy of the witness plate during the blast and fragment loading.
The witness plate is initially at rest until 100µs. The first increase in the kinetic energy, from 100µs to 200µs, is
produced by the blast loading from the detonation of the explosive. The next increase in the kinetic energy, from
200µs to 500µs, is mainly produced by the impact of the pipe fragments. After 500µs, there is no significant gain in
the kinetic energy. The witness plate absorbs the most of the kinetic energy during the fragment loading. About 1/3 of
the total kinetic energy is from the blast phase and 2/3 from the fragment impact.

(a) 0µs (b) 100 µs (c) 200 µs

(d) 300 µs (e) 400 µs (f) 500 µs

Fig. 6 Fragmentation of the pipe bomb at different time instants

4
Kinetic Energy (KJ)

3 Fragment
Phase
2

1 Blast
Phase
0
0 250 500 750
Time (µs)
Fig. 7 Time history of kinetic energy of the witness plate

3 Conclusions
The numerical calculation presented demonstrates the power of simulation and the ability of AUTODYN to
model threats such as IEDs. The stochastic failure option, a unique feature of AUTODYN, reasonably predicts the
natural fragmentation that occurs in metal casings such as a pipe bomb. Damage observed in the witness plate first by
the blast wave then by the impact of the fragments can be used as an indication of the effectiveness of explosive
devices and the best way to protect against terrorist weapons such as IEDs.
References
[1] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/ied.htm.
[2] X. Quan, N. K. Birnbaum, M. S. Cowler, B. I. Gerber, R. A. Clegg, C. J. Hayhurst. Numerical simulations of structural deformation
under shock and impact loads using a coupled multi-solver approach [C]. Proceedings of the 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Shock
and Impact Loads on Structures, Changsha, Hunan, China, 2003: 71-78.
[3] N.K. Birnbaum, M.S. Cowler. Numerical simulation of impact phenomena in an interactive computing environment [C]. International
Conference on Impact Loading and Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Bremen, Germany, May 1987.
[4] X. Quan, N. K. Birnbaum. Computer simulation of impact and collapse of the New York World Trade Center on September 11 [C].
Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium on Ballistics, Orlando, FL, 2002: 721-728.
[5] Century Dynamics, ANSYS Inc., AUTODYN Theory Manual, Version 6.1, 2005.

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