KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering (2018) 22(8):3085-3101 Structural Engineering

Copyright ⓒ2018 Korean Society of Civil Engineers

DOI 10.1007/s12205-017-0610-1 pISSN 1226-7988, eISSN 1976-3808
www.springer.com/12205
TECHNICAL NOTE

A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity

Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion
Guangdong Yang*, Gaohui Wang**, Wenbo Lu***, Peng Yan****, Ming Chen*****, and Xinxia Wu******
Received May 11, 2017/Accepted September 22, 2017/Published Online November 30, 2017

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Abstract

The damage prediction of high dams under the attacks of earth-penetrating weapons has gained significant importance in recent
years. For this purpose, a SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian coupled approach is proposed to describe the damage processes of concrete
gravity dams subjected to the combined action of the penetration and explosion. The SPH method is used to model the concrete
material with the large deformation near the penetration and explosion regions. The Lagrangian algorithm is adopted to simulate the
high-velocity projectile and dam body with the small distortion. And the Eulerian algorithm is employed to describe the dynamic
behavior of the water and air media. The validity of the penetration model is calibrated against a previous penetration test.
Meanwhile, the SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian coupled method is verified by implementing an underwater explosion test in a concrete
cube. The computed distribution of cracking damage is consistent with the result of the experimental test, which validates the validity
of the proposed SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian coupling method. Subsequently, the penetration processes of a concrete gravity dam under
the high-velocity projectile are presented. After the rapid penetration, the explosives are detonated in the dam with the initial
penetration damage. The shock wave propagation characteristics in the dam and reservoir water are discussed. The failure processes
and dynamic responses of the dam subjected to the combined action of the penetration and explosion are investigated. The influence
of the initial penetration damage and the reservoir water on the failure processes of the dam subjected to the internal blast loading is also
discussed. The results show that the penetration of the high-velocity projectile only causes a local damage to the concrete gravity dam.
However, the combined effects of the penetration and explosion cause significantly more damage to the upper region of the dam.
Keywords: concrete gravity dam, SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian coupled method, penetration and explosion, shock wave propagation,
failure characteristic
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1. Introduction EPWs is crucial in structural engineering, which has gained

With the development of the precision guided Earth-penetrating
Weapon (EPW), the safety of important infrastructures, such as
military installations, skyscrapers, bridges, and high dams, is
facing an increasingly serious threat. For example, a conventional
EPW named GBU-37 (contains nearly 300 kg of the high
explosive), which is guided by the Global Positioning System,
can penetrate 6 m of concrete or 30 meters of soil before it
explodes (Gronlund, 2005; Bolonkin and Neumann, 2011).
Damage prediction of strategic structures under the attacks of
significant importance in recent years (Islam et al., 2008; Li and
Hao, 2013; Yun et al., 2014; Wang and Zhai et al., 2016; Seo et
al., 2017). Dams have all-around benefits, including generating
electricity, flood control, irrigation, navigation, and so on. Because
of their military strategic significance, economic benefit, and
political influence, it is undoubted for them to be the objects of
guided weapons.
The dynamic response of dams induced by the impact or blast
loadings is more complex than that caused by the seismic or any
other static loadings. According to different detonation media,

*Ph.D., State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China (E-mail:
ygd@whu.edu.cn)
**Associate Professor, State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
(Corresponding Author, E-mail: wanggaohui@whu.edu.cn)
***Professor, State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China (E-mail:
wblu@whu.edu.cn)
****Professor, State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China (E-mail:
pyanwhu@whu.edu.cn)
*****Professor, State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China (E-mail:
whuchm@whu.edu.cn)
******Professor, Key Laboratory of Geotechnical Mechanics and Engineering of Ministry of Water Resources, Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute,
Wuhan, Hubei 430010, China (E-mail: 1163630207@qq.com)

− 3085 −
 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu
there are mainly three blasting ways for dams under the attacks
of EPWs, i.e., air explosion, underwater explosion, and penetration
explosion. Many researchers have conducted comprehensive
investigations related to air or underwater explosion effects on
dams. Zhu et al. (2012) and Xue et al. (2014) investigated the
dynamic damage processes of arch dams subjected to underwater
blast loading. Yu (2009), Linsbauer (2011), Zhang et al., 2014,
Wang et al. (2014) and Chen et al. (2017) numerically simulated
the dynamic response of concrete gravity dams subjected to
underwater explosion. Lu et al. (2013) investigated the protection
scheme for dams subjected to underwater explosion wave by using
the flexible polyurethane foam material. Wang et al. (2015)
comparatively discussed the dynamic response of concrete
gravity dams subjected to underwater and air explosion. Their
results showed that the underwater explosion caused significantly
more damage to the dam than the same mass of explosives in air.
However, the corresponding studies of dams under the combined
action of the penetration and explosion are limited.
Dynamic response of structures subjected to the combined effects
of the penetration and explosion is a very complex damage process.
The penetration processes involve the interaction between the
penetrator and solid medium, shock wave propagation, and
penetration damage evolution. After the rapid penetration, the
projectile will be detonated in the structure with the initial
penetration damage. It involves the explosion, shock wave
propagation, shock wave and detonation products-structure
interaction, damage evolution, fluid-structure interaction, and
structural response.
Due to the complexity of damage prediction of structures
under the combined action of the penetration and explosion,
penetration effects are generally ignored. Koneshwaran et al.
(2015) investigated the blast response of segmented bored
tunnels by applying the SPH-Lagrangian technique. Lai et al.
(2015) reproduced the explosion processes of high strength
concrete targets with TNT charges embedded at different depths
by using the finite element method and erosion algorithm. Fan et
al. (2016) employed both the SPH and the state-based peridynamics
to simulate soil fragmentation/ejection subjected to underground
explosion. Wang and Xiao et al. (2016) investigated the failure
modes and ejection behavior of concrete materials under internal
blast loading based on SPH processor. It should be noted that all
of the aforementioned investigations neglect the contribution of
the initial penetration damage to the failure processes of structures
under internal blast loading, which may affect the reliability of
the numerical results. Consequently, a sophisticated numerical
approach considering the whole processes of the penetration and
explosion is required to enable more realistic reproduction.
The damage processes of structures subjected to penetration or
blast loading involve the high-velocity distortion and large
deformation. At present, the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
(SPH) method is widely used to simulate the large deformation
of continuous medium (Mokhatar, 2015; Fan et al., 2016; Wang
and Xiao et al., 2016), such as disintegration and fragmentation.
Because the computational cost of SPH algorithm is very high, a
− 3086 −
method coupled the Lagrangian and SPH methods is used to
improve calculation efficiency (Chuzel-Marmot et al., 2011;
Gharehdash et al., 2016; Xiao et al., 2017). When referred to the
dynamic interaction between the structure and fluid, the coupled
Lagrangian-Eulerian method is generally adopted (Yun and Park,
2013; Zhao and Chen, 2013; Mittal et al. 2014). In addition to
the high velocity distortion and large deformation, the simulation
of dams subjected to the combined action of the penetration and
explosion also involves the fluid-structure interaction and high
computational cost. Therefore, a fully coupled numerical method
which takes advantages of the SPH, Lagrangian, and Eulerian
algorithms will promote the solution of some dynamic problems
involving the solid large deformation and fluid-structure interaction.
In this contribution, we present a SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian
coupling method to predict the failure characteristics of concrete
gravity dams subjected to the combined action of the EPW
penetration and explosion. The numerical calculation is carried
out using the explicit hydrocode AUTODYN. The penetration
model, which is used to simulate the penetrating processes of the
high-velocity projectile, is verified by reproducing a previous
experimental test in the literature. Meanwhile, an underwater
explosion field test in a concrete cube is conducted by authors to
calibrate the coupled SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian method. Based
on the presented SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian method, the penetration
processes of the concrete gravity dam under the high-velocity
projectile are investigated. After the rapid penetration, the
explosive is detonated. The shock wave propagation characteristics
in the concrete gravity dam and reservoir water are discussed.
The dynamic response and damage processes of the dam under
the combined action of the penetration and explosion are
presented. Finally, the influence of the initial penetration damage
and reservoir water on the damage processes of the dam
subjected to internal blast loading is also investigated.
2. Description of the Coupled SPH-Lagrangian-
Eulerian Method
In this paper, a fully coupled SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian approach
is presented to model the whole processes of concrete gravity
dams under the attacks of EPWs. SPH method is employed to
model the concrete material with the large deformation. Lagrangian
algorithm is used to simulate the high-velocity projectile and
concrete material with the small distortion. And Eulerian method
is applied to describe the reservoir water and air. The SPH-
Lagrangian attachment algorithm is used to guarantee the
continuity between SPH particles and Lagrangian grids. However,
the SPH-Lagrangian contact algorithm is employed to model the
penetrating progresses and consider the interaction between the
high-velocity projectile and concrete gravity dam. The interaction
between the impounded water and the dam is explicitly taken
into account by using the coupled Lagrangian-Eulerian method.
The convergence and possible errors of the coupled SPH-
Lagrangian-Eulerian method mainly depend on the coupled
SPH-Lagrangian approach and coupled Lagrangian-Eulerian
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering
 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion

method themselves.
The coupled SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian method can be very
powerful for the problems involve the large deformation of
structures and the fluid-structure interaction. However, there are
some limitations for the coupled SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian
method. Although the SPH particles have the advantage in
dealing with the large deformation problems, SPH simulations
require large run time. Hence, the calculation zones for the SPH
particles need to be carefully determined. The fine mesh sizes
should also be considered to guarantee the continuity between
SPH particles and Lagrangian grids. Furthermore, the Eulerian
Fig. 1. SPH Interacting with SPH
grids must be regular (cuboid or cube) in the three-dimensional
model.
considering the effect of gravity).
2.1 The Formulation of SPH Method The continuity, momentum and energy equations in SPH
SPH is a meshfree method and based on a Lagrangian particle approximation can be described:
formulation of the motion equations. Therefore, it is efficient for dρi N ∂Wi j
SPH method to simulate the problems involving disintegration = ∑ m j (υiβ − υ βj ) β (7)
dt j =1 ∂xi
and fragmentation. The formulation of SPH includes two key
αβ
approximation steps (Hayhurst and Clegg, 1997). The first step dυiα N σ αβ σ j ∂Wi j
= + ∑ m j ( i 2 + 2 − ∏ ij ) β (8)
is kernel approximation, a field function f(x) is approximated in dt j =1 ρi ρi ∂xi
continuous form: de i 1 N σ αβ σ
αβ
∂W
= ∑ m j (υiα − υ αj )( i 2 + j2 − ∏ij ) βi j (9)
f ( x) = ∫ f ( x′)W ( x − x′, h)dx′ (1) dt 2 j =1 ρi ρi ∂xi
Ω
where σ is the stress and υ marks velocity; α and β represent the
where the angle bracket <> represents the kernel approximation
directions along the axis; Πij is the artificial viscosity, aiming to
operator; h is the smooth length; x is the position of the particle;
avoid unphysical oscillations; e is the internal energy.
W is the smoothing kernel function and should satisfy three
conditions as follows:
2.2 SPH-Lagrangian Interaction Algorithm
∫Ω W ( x − x′, h)dx′ = 1 (2) Figure 2 shows how the Lagrangian grids interact with the
lim W ( x − x′, h) = δ ( x − x′) SPH particles. The larger broken circle and smaller broken circle
h →0 (3)
around Lagrangian node represent the support region of SPH
W ( x − x′, h) = 0, x − x′ > kh (4) particles i and background particle. When the distance between
the SPH particles and Lagrangian nodes is smaller than given
where k is a constant defining the support domain of the
length (usually two times the smoothing length), the contact will
smoothing function; δ(x) is the Dirac delta function.
The second step is particle approximation, the field function
f(x) and its derivative ▽f(x) are approximated as weighted sum
over surrounding particles within the support domain, which can
be described as:
N mj
f ( xi ) = ∑ f ( x j )Wij (5)
j =1 ρj

N mj
∇ ⋅ f ( xi ) = ∑ f ( x j ) ⋅ ∇ iWij (6)
j =1 ρj

where f ( x ) is the approximated value for particle i; N is the

i

number of particles in the support domain; mj and ρj are the mass

and density of particle j; Wij is the smoothed function of a pair of
particles i and j. As shown in Fig. 1.The particle i will interact
with other particles j that are within a given distance (usually
defined to be 2h) from it. The interaction between particle i and
surrounding particles j is weighted by the smoothing function.
When the distance between particles i and j is larger than the
given distance, the two particles will not interact any more. The Fig. 2. Lagrangian Elements Contact with SPH Particles (Zhang et
separated particle will move at a constant speed (without al., 2011)

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 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu

happen. The Lagrangian grids in the support domain of SPH

particle i will be treated as background particles. The background
particles properties are consistent with those of the corresponding
Lagrangian nodes, but the background particles will be treated as
neighbors of SPH particle i. The contact force vector between
Lagrangian nodes and SPH particles is estimated in the same
way as the particles to particles interaction algorithm (Vignjevic
et al., 2006).
The definition of contact potential φ(xi):
n
NCONT mj ⎛ W ( rij ) ⎞
φ ( xi ) = ∑j K⎜ ⎟
ρ j ⎜⎝ W (ΔPavg ) ⎟⎠
(10)

where NCONT is the number of Lagrangian nodes within the

support region of SPH particle i; n and K are user-defined
parameters; rij represents the distance between particles i and j,
Fig. 3. SPH Particles Attachment to Lagrangian Elements
and Δpavg represents the average value of the smoothing length.
In Fig. 2, for particle i, NCONT = 3. The contact force will be
calculated based on Lagrangian nodes n6, n7, n8 (Zhang et al., particles n1, n2 · ··, n5 and Lagrangian nodes n6, n7, n8 (Zhang and
2011). Qiang, 2011).
The body force is estimated as the gradient of the potential The background particles in the support domain of particle i,
are treated as SPH neighbor list.
NCONT mj W (ri j ) n −1
b( xi ) = ∇φ ( xi ) = ∑j ρj
Kn
W (Δpavg ) n
∇ x W (rij ) (11) N ∂Wij Nb ∂Wij
dρi
i

= ∑ m j (υiβ − υ βj ) β + ∑ mbj (υiβ − υbβj ) β (15)

dt j =1 ∂xi j =1 ∂xi
The contact force can be calculated as
αβ αβ
NCONT mj mi W (ri j ) n −1 dυiα N σ αβ σ j ∂Wij N b σ αβ σ bj ∂Wij
Q ( xi ) = ∑j Kn ∇ x W (rij ) (12) = ∑ m j ( i 2 + 2 − ∏ij ) β + ∑ mbj × ( i 2 + 2 − ∏ij ) β (16)
ρ j ρi W (Δpavg ) n i
dt j =1 ρi ρj ∂xi j =1 ρi ρ bj ∂xi

The SPH approximation of the gradient of the contact potential dei 1 N

determines the direction of the contact force.
For SPH particles, the contact force is implemented in the
momentum equation:
αβ
dυiα N σ αβ σ ∂W Q ( xi )
= + ∑ m j ( i 2 + j2 − ∏ ij ) βij −
dt j =1 ρ i ρ j ∂xi mi
And for Lagrange nodes, the contact force is treated as the
external force in the dynamic equation:
Mu + Cu + Ku = Q ( x )
i (14)
where u·· is the acceleration of Lagrangian node, and u· is the
velocity, u is the displacement. M and C are the mass matrix of
the system and damping matrix, respectively.
2.3 SPH-Lagrangian Attachment Algorithm
As shown in Fig. 3, SPH particles can be tied to standard
Lagrangian grids on the interfacial boundary. The large broken
circle represents support domain of SPH particle i. The dashed
circle represents the background particle around the Lagrangian
node. The size of the SPH particles is equal to the size of the
interface Lagrangian elements. On the interface, the Lagrangian
grids and SPH particles have shared nodes. This guarantees the
continuity between Lagrangian grids and SPH particles. The
Lagrangian nodes in the support domain of SPH particle are
treated as SPH neighbors in the form of background particles.
The calculation at SPH particle i is dealt with contributions from
αβ
σ αβ σ j ∂Wij 1 Nb
= ∑ m j (υ αj − υiα )( i 2 + 2 − ∏ij ) β + ∑ mbj (υbαj − υiα )
dt 2 j =1 ρi ρj ∂xi 2 j =1
αβ
σ iαβ σ bj ∂Wij (17)
( + 2 − ∏ ij ) β
ρi 2
ρbj ∂xi
(13) where Nb is the number of background particles within the
support domain of SPH particle i. mbj and ρbj are the mass and
density of background particle j, respectively.
2.4 Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach
Figure 4 shows how Lagrangian algorithm can be coupled
with Eulerian method in the fluid-structure interface (Benson,
1992). In this method, the Lagrangian-Eulerian coupling approach
combines the advantages of Lagrangian and Eulerian algorithms,
which can model some complex problems involving fluid-
structure interaction and large deformation. Eulerian meshes are
employed for material with large deformation, such as gas and
water. Lagrangian elements are applied for solid materials to
analysis the structural behavior. It is noteworthy that the
Lagrangian grids need not match the Eulerian meshes, it means
that the Eulerian and Lagrangian elements can not share common
faces or nodes. This coupling is realized based on a special
algorithm: The Lagrangian grids can ‘‘invade’’ into the Eulerian
elements. Eulerian elements can impose pressure on the
Lagrangian surfaces, causing deformation of the solid medium.
In other words, the Lagrangian elements provide displacement
boundary conditions (geometric constraints) to Eulerian algorithm,

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 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion

Fig. 4. Schematic of the Coupling Lagrangian–Eulerian Approach

and Eulerian material exerts pressure boundary conditions on the
Lagrangian grids. To prevent the distorted Lagrangian grids detach
from the fixed Eulerian cells, the Lagrangian cells “cover” a little
the Eulerian region around the interface in the initial condition.
The discretized differential equation for the structure can be
described as
M
x + Cx + Kx = F(t ) (18)
where x is the structural displacement vector; x· and x·· are
structural velocity and acceleration; M, C and K are the structural
mass, damping and stiffness matrix, respectively, and F(t) is the
time-varying load applied to the structure.
F (t ) = −GA (p + p )
f i s (19)
where the pi and ps are the incident pressure and scatted pressure,
respectively. G is the matrix relating the structural degrees of
freedom to the fluid, Af is the matrix containing the areas of the
elements in the fluid mesh.
The pressure boundary conditions:
Each Lagrangian boundary element is treated as an independent
segment and divided into a set of subsegments. Each subsegment
is defined as the portion of the segment that divides a Eulerian
grid. The force applied by the fluid to a Lagrangian segment is
the stress acting at the subsegment centroid times the area of the
subsegment.
F seg = n σ n A k k of the concrete material can be improved obviously, but the
i l lj j ni (20)
The force is shared by two Lagrangian nodes.
1 The dynamic behaviors of the concrete material subjected to
Fai = nlσ ljk n j Anik Nα ( xk ) (21)
2 impact or blast loading are complex nonlinear and rate-dependent
where k marks the kth element, Ak is the area of the kth subsegment,
N is the normal of the boundary segment.
The velocity boundary conditions:
The velocities of the Lagrangian elements are equal to that of
Eulerian grids on the fluid-structure interaction surface. First, the
calculation of edge velocities are managed, then the strain rate is
considered. The volume of the fluid is obtained by subtracting
the solid volume from the Eulerian element. After the quantities
are determined, the stress and pressure are updated. The velocities
of the Lagrangian and Eulerian grids away from the interface are
calculated in the normal way.
2.5 Time Step Control
The time step of the SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian approach is
selected as the minimum value of SPH, Lagrangian and Eulerian
methods.
The Lagrangian and Eulerian time step can be described as:
lmin
ΔtFEM = (22)
c
The SPH time step can be described as:
h
ΔtSPH = α (23)
c
where lmin is the smallest element length; c is the speed of sound;
α is the time scale factor.
In the paper, the size of FEM grids is equal or larger than those
of SPH particles, and the quality of the FEM grids is very high.
In addition, the FEM grids will not undergo large deformation.
Therefore, the time step of the SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian approach
mainly depends on the SPH method.
3. Material Models
3.1 Concrete
The dynamic properties of the concrete material are evidently
different from its static properties. It has been validated that both
the compressive and tensile strength of concrete material are
closely related to the strain rate. At high strain rate, the strength
influence of the strain rate on the tensile and compressive
strength is different (Fu et al., 1991; Bischoff and Perry, 1991).
processes. In 1993, Holmquist et al. (1993) constructed a brittle
damage model for concrete material. Based on the HJC model,
Riedel et al. (1999) proposed RHT model. Besides the pressure
dependency of the yield surface, the RHT model also considers
pressure hardening, strain hardening, strain rate hardening, third-
invariant dependence for compressive and tensile meridians, and
a damage model for strain softening. This model has been widely
used to describe the dynamic behaviors of concrete-like materials
subjected to impact, penetration or explosion loading (Ding et
al., 2013; Prakash et al., 2015).
Detailed formulation on the RHT dynamic damage model for

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 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu

Table 1. Common Parameters for the RHT Concrete Model

Parameter Value Parameter Value
Solid compaction pressure 6.000e9 (Pa) Brittle to ductile transition 0.0105
Compaction pressure 3.000 G (elastic)/(elastic–plastic) 2.000
Bulk modulus A1 3.527e10 (Pa) Elastic strength/ft 0.700
Parameter A2 3.958e10 (Pa) Elastic strength/fc 0.530
Parameter A3 9.040e9 (Pa) Fractured strength constant B 1.600
Parameter B0 1.220 Fractured strength exponent M 0.610
Parameter B1 1.220 Max. fracture strength ratio 1.000e20
Parameter T1 3.527e10 (Pa) Erosion strain Geometric strain
Parameter T2 0 (Pa) Erosion strain 2.0
Reference Temperature 300.000 (K) Type of geometric strain Instantaneous
Tensile strength (ft/fc) 0.100 Damage constant D1 0.015
Shear strength (fs/fc) 0.180 Damage constant D2 1.000
Intact failure surface constant A 1.600 Minimum strain to failure 0.010
Intact failure surface exponent N 0.610 Residual shear modulus fraction 0.130
Tens./Comp. meridian ratio( Q) 0.6805 Tensile Failure Hydro
Compressive strain-rate exponent 0.032 tensile strain-rate exponent δ 0.036

concrete can be found in Refs (Holmquist et al., 1993; Riedel et
al., 1999; ANSYS Inc, 2010). The rescaling of damage mechanics
constitutive laws (Bazant and Planas, 1997) has been adopted for
continuum damage in order to avoid localization. The material
parameters adopted in the present work are based on the material
library in AUTODYN (ANSYS Inc, 2010). Table 1 shows the
common parameters for the RHT concrete model.
3.2 Explosive
The explosives are typically described by using Jones-Wilkins-
Lee (JWL) (ANSYS Inc, 2010) equation of state. The JWL
equation of state describes the pressure generated by chemical
energy in an explosion. It can be written in the form:
p = A(1 − ω RV
1 )e + B (1 − ω R2V ) e
− R1V − R2V
+ ωE V
where p is hydrostatic pressure; V is the specific volume; E is
specific internal energy; A, B, R1, R2, ω are material constants.
The terms A and B are the pressure coefficients, R1 and R2 are the
principal and secondary eigenvalues, respectively. ω is the
fractional part of the normal Tait equation adiabatic exponent. e
is mathematical constant. ρ, D and Pcj are the density, detonation
velocity and detonation pressure of TNT explosive, respectively.
The values of the constants for TNT have been determined from
dynamic experiments and are available in AUTODYN material
library (ANSYS Inc, 2010). The aforesaid parameters are D =
6930 m/s. E = 6.0 GJ/m3, ρ = 1630 kg/m3, Pcj = 21 GPa, A =
373.77 GPa, B = 3.747 GPa, R1 = 4.15, R2 = 0.90, ω = 0.35,
respectively.
3.3 Water
The reservoir water involved in the numerical calculation is
described by applying the two-phase expansion EOS with a
polynomial EOS. The form of EOS defines the pressure as
follows (ANSYS Inc, 2010):
When μ > 0 (compression)
P = A1μ + A2 μ 2 + A3 μ 3 + ( B0 + B1μ ) ρ 0e (25)
When μ < 0 (tension)
P = T1μ + T2 μ 2 + B0 ρ 0e (26)
where, μ = ρ/ρ0 – 1, ρ0 is the initial density, A1, A2, A3, B0, B1, T1,
and T2 are material constants. The term e is the internal energy.
The material parameters are: ρ0 = 1000 kg/m3; A1, A2, A3, B0, B1,
T1 are 2.2e9 Pa, 9.54e9 Pa, 1.457e10 Pa, 0.28, 0.28, 2.2e9 Pa,
and 0, respectively.
3.4 Air
The ideal gas equation of state is used to model air, which is
(24)
defined by the ideal-gas gamma-law relation as: (ANSYS Inc, 2010):
ρ
p = (γ − 1) E (27)
ρ0
where γ is the constant-pressure to constant-volume specific heat
ratio (γ = 1.4), ρ0 is the initial air density (ρ0 = 1.225e-3 g/cm3), ρ
is the current density, and E is the internal energy.
4. Validation Tests
4.1 Validation of the SPH-Lagrangian Interaction Algo-
rithm for Penetration Processes
In the experiment reported by Forrestal et al. (1996), a projectile
with high velocity was fired into a 1.52 m long and 1.37 m wide
concrete cylinder. The compressive strength of the concrete
target is 23 MPa, and the shear modulus is 13 GPa. Other
common parameters for the RHT model are shown in Table 1.
An 83-mm-diameter smooth-bore powder gun launched the
projectile to strike the concrete target at a speed of 332 m/s. A
single-channel acceleration data recorder was structurally mounted

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 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion

Fig. 5. Arrangement of the Penetration Test: (a) Finite Element of the Projectile, Dimension in mm, (b) 1/4 Model for Numerical Simula-
tion

Figure 6 shows the projectile velocity and displacement versus

Fig. 6. Comparisons of Numerical and Experimental Results
within the projectile, so that the deceleration of the projectile
during the penetration event can be recorded.
The SPH-Lagrangian interaction algorithm is used to reproduce
the penetration processes of the field test. Because both the mass
loss and the deformation of the projectile are negligible (Forrestal et
al., 1996; Frew et al., 1998), the penetrator is treated as a rigid
body. Lagrangian method is applied to model the high-velocity
projectile (Fig. 5(a)). The SPH particles are employed to describe
the damage characteristics of the cylindrical target under impact
loading. Due to the symmetry of the model, 1/4 model is used in
this numerical analysis to improve the computation efficiency.
The concrete target consists of 160000 particles, and the particle
size is 15 mm, as shown in Fig. 5(b).
time plots obtained from the present numerical calculation and
those from the experimental test. During the penetration, the
velocity of the projectile decreases linearly as time goes. It can be
found that the trends of both the velocity-time and displacement-
time curves calculated from the presented penetration model
agree with the experiment results well. Although the calculated
penetration duration is a little longer than that from the
experimental test, the final penetration depth represents a good
approximation for this problem. The final penetration depths of
the projectile from the experimental test and numerical
simulation are 0.96 m and 1.04 m, respectively.
It is clear that the damage profile predicted by the SPH-Lagrangian
interaction algorithm is quite compatible with that obtained from the
field test (Fig. 7). Many radial cracks develop from the crater to the
free cylindrical surface. The average sizes of the carter obtained from
the experimental test and numerical simulation are approximately
0.80 m and 0.75 m, respectively. By comparing the penetration
processes and final damage profiles between the numerical
calculation and the experiment test, it can be concluded that the
penetration model can effectively describe the penetration processes
of concrete material subjected to high-velocity penetrating.
4.2 Validation of the SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Coupled
Model for Interior Explosion
An experimental test about the internal explosion in a concrete

Fig. 7. Final Damage Profiles of the Cylindrical Target: (a) Experimental Test Result, (b) Numerical Simulation Result

Vol. 22, No. 8 / August 2018 − 3091 −

 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu

Fig. 8. Arrangement of the Concrete Cube: (a) Test Setup Configuration, (b) Implementation of the Field Test, (c) Dimensions of the Con-
crete Cube, Dimension in mm

Fig. 9. SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Coupled Model for the Underwater Explosion Test

cube is constructed in water to validate the SPH-Lagrangian-
Eulerian coupled method. For the convenience of transportation,
the concrete cube is placed in a steel reinforcement cage (Fig.
8(a)). The concrete specimen is hoisted in the water by a crane,
and the distance between the concrete specimen and the free
water surface is 25 m, as shown in Fig 8(b). The dimensions of
the concrete cube and the location of the explosives are given in
Fig. 8(c). The size of the concrete cube is 1.0 m × 1.0 m × 1.0 m.
The diameter and length of the prefabricated borehole are 60 mm
and 600 mm, respectively. The prefabricated borehole is filled
with the compact sand. A cylindrical explosive is used for the
underwater explosion test, and the equivalent weight of the TNT
charge is 0.055 kg. The distance from the underside of the
explosives to the bottom of the prefabricated borehole is 50 mm.
The material properties of the concrete in the experiment test are
as follows: compressive strength is 21.0 MPa, shear modulus is
13.0 GPa, density is 2450 kg/m3. Other common parameters for
the RHT model are shown in Table 1.
Numerical model of the underwater explosion test based on the
coupled SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian algorithm is shown in Fig. 9.
The TNT explosives, compact sand and the concrete material
close to the charge are modeled by the SPH particles. The peripheral
concrete medium is simulated by using the Lagrangian method,
and the water is described by the Eulerian method. The surrounding
hydrostatic pressure of the concrete cube is considered by setting
the initial energy in the material model of the water. The outflow
boundary is applied to the truncated water surfaces. This
boundary is standard boundary included in AUTODYN, which
allows the blast pressure to propagate freely out of the model,
rather than being reflected back into it, when the pressure reaches
the edge of the Eulerian part. The SPH particles are attached to
the Lagrangian nodes, and fluid-solid interaction is employed on
the interface between the concrete material and the water. The
sizes of SPH particle, Lagrangian mesh, and Eulerian mesh are
15 mm. The numbers of SPH particles, Lagrangian elements and
Eulerian elements are approximately 162500, 133400 and
522700, respectively. The particle size of the charge is 5 mm, and
the total SPH particles for the charge are 288.
Figure 10 shows the failure patterns of the concrete cube
subjected to internal explosion in the water. Because the charge
is not placed at the center of the concrete cube, the damage
degree of the top side closer to the explosives is a little more
serious than that far away from the charge. A cross crack can be
clearly observed on the top surface of the concrete cube.
Comparison of the final failure patterns from the coupled SPH-
Lagrangian-Eulerian algorithm (Fig. 10(b)) with the experimental
result (Fig. 10(a)) shows a favorable agreement. Meanwhile, it
can be seen that the internal damage distribution of the concrete
material on the interface between Lagrangian grids and SPH
particles transits uniformly, as shown in Fig. 10(c).

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 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion

Fig. 10. Comparison of the Experimental and Numerical Results: (a) Experimental Test Results, (b) Numerical Simulation Results, (c) Inter-
nal Damage Distribution

5. Numerical Investigation
5.1 Concrete Gravity Dam Configuration and Numerical
Model Setup
A typical concrete gravity dam is employed as a numerical
application to illustrate the damage characteristics of structures
under the combined action of the EPW penetration and explosion.
The width and height of the selected concrete gravity dam are 15
m and 85 m, respectively, as shown in Fig. 11(a). In this present
study, the water level is selected as 83 m. The compressive
strength and shear modulus of the concrete gravity dam are 35
MPa and 16.7 GPa, respectively. Other common parameters for
the RHT model are shown in Table 1.
The complexly essential processes of the concrete gravity dam
subjected to the combined action of penetration and explosion
are considered based on the presented fully coupled SPH-
Lagrangian-Eulerian method. Considering the symmetries of the
geometrical model, only a half of the dam, TNT explosives, and
water are modeled to improve the computation efficiency, as
shown in Fig. 11(b). The boundary conditions of the Eulerian
mesh for the truncated water and air are set as the outflow
boundary. The transmission boundary, which has the same
function with the outflow boundary, is applied to the truncated
foundation to allow for free passage of shock/stress waves. The
symmetric boundaries are applied on the symmetric plane. The
concrete material in the high distortion region is modeled by the
SPH particles, such as that around the penetration and explosion
zones. The Lagrangian algorithm is used to describe the dynamic
response of concrete material with the small distortion. The
reservoir water and air are modeled by the Eulerian grids. On the
interface between SPH particles and Lagrangian grids, the
particles are attached to the Lagrangian elements. The reservoir
level of the dam is generally high during the operation. The
interaction between the dam structure and reservoir water will
occur when subjected to the combined action of the penetration
and explosion. Hence, the fluid-structure interactive boundary
condition should be adopted to describe the interface between
the dam upstream face and the reservoir water. The size of SPH

Fig. 11. Concrete Gravity Dam: (a) Dimensions of the Concrete Gravity Dam, (b) Configuration of the Coupled Numerical Model, (c) Finite
Element of the Projectile

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 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu
particle is set to 150 mm, and the total number of the SPH
particles is 250000. Both the sizes of Lagrangian and Eulerian
elements closed to the SPH particles are also set to 150 mm, and
increase gradually away from the dam head. The numbers of
Lagrangian and Eulerian elements are approximately 825000
and 594000, respectively.
The projectile has an ogive nose of Caliber-radius-head (CRH)
3.0, density 7830 kg/m3, mass 2130 kg, length 3.2 m, diameter
0.37 m (Gronlund, 2005; Bolonkin and Neumann, 2011). The
velocity of the projectile vertically striking the concrete gravity
dam is 600 m/s. The earth-penetrating penetrator is modeled by
the Lagrangian method. The SPH-Lagrangian method is used to
model the penetration processes of the concrete gravity dam
under the high-velocity projectile, as shown in Fig. 11 (c).
5.2 Mesh Sensitivity Analysis
Employing appropriate particle size is critical for accurate
simulation results. Convergence and sensitivity analyses of the
numerical model have been carried out to determine the
acceptable particle size. Two meshes with different element sizes
and particle sizes, namely Mesh I and Mesh II for the 3D
numerical model are considered in the present study. For Mesh I,
the element and particle sizes are 150 mm for the upper part of
the dam. However, the element and particle sizes are 200 mm for
the dam upper part in Mesh II. Then the mesh size increases
gradually away from the upper part. It should be noted that the
Mesh I is the same as in Fig. 11. The geometry region of the SPH
particle in Mesh I is also the same as in Mesh II. The charge
weight, explosive position, initiation point, and transmit boundary
are assumed as aforementioned.
Figure 12 shows the final failure modes of the upper part of the
dam subjected to interior blast with the two mesh densities. As
observed by comparing Figs. 12(a) and 12(b), the crack profiles
for the two meshes are similar in orientation and localization
velocity. The small mesh sensitivity to the crack growth path is
observed. Fig. 13 shows the influence of the mesh density on the
vertical velocity time histories at the target point. Although the
peak velocity form Mesh I is slightly higher than that from Mesh
Fig. 12. Final Damage Profiles of the Upper Part of the Dam Subjected to Interior Explosion: (a) Mesh Size is 150 mm, (b) Mesh Size is
200 mm
− 3094 −
Fig. 13. Vertical Velocity Time Histories of the Target with Different
Mesh Densities
II, the velocity response is very similar between the Mesh I and
Mesh II models. It can be found that the final damage profiles
and velocity response of the dam show fairly objective results for
the two mesh sizes. Further reduction of the mesh size may result
in a more precise numerical result, but will substantially increase
the computational time and will cause computer memory
overflows. Hence, it is feasible to adopt the coupled model with
the aforementioned mesh.
5.3 Penetration Processes of the High-velocity Penetrator
Damage processes of the concrete gravity dam subjected to the
high-velocity projectile are shown in Fig. 14. Under the high-
velocity impact loading, the concrete material is squeezed
sharply, the radial and tangential stresses around the projectile
easily exceed the dynamic strength of the concrete material. At
t = 1 ms, the warhead and the dam crest have contacted with each
other. The concrete material around the warhead is in a state of
intense compression, thus leading to a local damage zone. With
the intrusion of the projectile, the damage range of the dam is
gradually expanding. At t = 20 ms, the penetration processes of
the high-velocity projectile almost terminate. Many concrete
particles spray from the crater (Fig. 14(d)).
Figure 15 shows the velocity and displacement histories of the
projectile. It can be seen that the velocity of the projectile
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering
 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion

Fig. 14. Penetration Processes of the High-velocity Projectile: (a) t = 1 ms, (b) t = 5 ms, (c) t = 10 ms, (d) t = 20 ms

Fig. 15. Projectile Velocity and Displacement Versus Time

Fig. 17. Penetration-explosion Model Based on the SPH-Lagrang-

ian-Eulerian Method

depth of the projectile is about 6.0 m), the partial projectile is

Fig. 16. Final Penetration Damage Pattern of the Dam
decreases with time approximately linearly. The duration of the
penetration is about 23 ms, and the final penetration depth is
about 6.0 m.
The final pattern of the penetration damage is shown in
Fig. 16. It can be found that the penetration of the high-velocity
projectile only causes a local damage to the concrete gravity
dam. The diameter of the crater on the dam crest is about 5.0 m.
The ratio of the crater diameter to the projectile diameter is about
13.5. The average diameter of the crushed zone is 3.0 m, and the
ratio of the crushed diameter to the projectile diameter is about
8.1. The length of the crushed zone measured from the numerical
results is about 6.0 m.
5.4 Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion
Once the velocity of the EPW is reduced to 0 (the penetration
transformed into the charge, and the remainder is deleted. Then
the charge is detonated in the concrete gravity dam including the
initial penetration damage, as shown in Fig. 17. This penetration-
explosion model based on the coupled SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian
method can be employed to describe the whole dynamic processes
of the concrete gravity dam under the attack of the EPW. The
explosion type used for the GBU-37 is TNT, and the TNT
equivalent of the GBU-37 is 300 kg. The SPH particles are used
to model the charge, and the particle size of the charge is 50 mm.
The initiation point is arranged in the warhead. The boundary
conditions are same as that described in section 5.1.
5.4.1 Propagation of Shock Wave in the Dam and Water
The detonation time of the charge begins at 23 ms, when the
velocity of the projectile is just reduced to 0. As shown in Fig.
18, the processes of the shock wave propagation, the shock
wave-free surfaces interaction and fluid-solid interface between
upstream face and water are captured clearly. Immediately after
the detonation of the explosive, approximately spherical shock
waves radiate out from the charge locations (Fig. 18(b)). At t =

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 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu

Fig. 18. Explosion Pressure Wave Propagation at Different Times: (a) t = 23 ms (detonation time), (b) t = 23.5 ms, (c) t = 25 ms, (d) t = 26
ms, (e) t = 27 ms, (f) t = 31 ms

Fig. 19. Peak Pressure Versus Distance in the Concrete Gravity Dam and the Water: (a) Schematic Diagram, (b) Attenuation Law of Peak
Pressure

25 ms, the initial shock wave induced by the internal explosion
impacts on the dam surfaces. Because both the wave impedance
of air and water is less than that of concrete material, the
compression shock wave reflects from the surfaces, resulting in a
tensile reflected wave (Fig. 18(c)). Two milliseconds after the
initiation, the shock wave transmits into the water medium. From
Figs. 18(d-e), it can be found that the propagation characteristics
of the shock wave in the concrete material are obviously
different from that in the water. The propagation velocity of the
shock wave propagation in the concrete material is significantly
higher than that in the water. After the explosion shock wave
propagating, the detonation products with high-pressure still
have mass energy, resulting in a lower-pressure pulse in the
concrete gravity dam, as shown in Fig. 18(f).
Figure 19 shows the peak pressure versus distance in the concrete
gravity dam and the water. The peak values of the explosion
wave are extremely high in the concrete medium around of the
TNT explosives, and attenuate shapely. With the increase of the
distance from the charge center, the attenuation rate of the peak
pressure becomes lower. Because the impedance of the water
material is lower than that of the concrete medium. When the
incident wave encounters the fluid-structure interface, the
compression shock wave reflects from the interface results in a
tensile reflected wave. The superposition of the incident wave and
reflected wave causes a distinct decrease of the peak pressure
around the fluid-structure interface in the concrete medium. The
transmitted wave propagates into the water, and the peak value is
about 3.4 MPa. The attenuation rate of the peak pressure in the
concrete material is higher than that in the water medium.
5.4.2 Dynamic Responses of the Concrete Gravity Dam
In order to obtain the structural responses of the concrete gravity

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 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion

Fig. 20. Time Histories of Horizontal Velocity and Acceleration at Target 1: (a) Velocity, (b) Acceleration

Fig. 21. Time Histories of Vertical Velocity and Acceleration at Target 1: (a) Velocity, (b) Acceleration

dam under the combined action of penetration and explosion, a
measuring point “Target 1”is arranged on the symmetry plane of
numerical model (Fig. 11(b)). The vibration velocity and acceleration
histories at target 1 are recorded during the numerical calculation.
Figure 20 shows the time histories of horizontal velocity and
acceleration versus time curves at target 1, with positive displacement
in the downstream direction. The peak velocity and acceleration
at target 1 induced by the high-velocity projectile penetrating are
0.02 m/s and 98 m/s2, respectively. About two milliseconds after
the initiation, the explosion shock wave arrives at target 1. The
peak velocity and acceleration at target 1 due to the combined
action of the EPW penetration and explosion are 0.24 m/s and
812 m/s2, respectively.
Figure 21 shows the vertical velocity and acceleration time
histories at target 1. With the intrusion of the projectile, the
vertical direction motion at target 1 increases gradually. Unlike
the horizontal vibration, the vertical velocity and acceleration at
target 1 increase sharply under the explosion shock wave, and
both of them mount to the peak value within an extremely short
time. The vertical peak velocity at the target 1 under the high-
velocity projectile is about 0.15 m/s, the value induced by blast
loading is up to 1.28 m/s. The vertical peak acceleration at target
1 caused by the high-velocity penetrating and internal blast
loading is 571 m/s2 and 3292 m/s2, respectively. Because the
constraint of the dam in the vertical direction is stronger than that
in the horizontal direction, the attenuation rate of the vertical
velocity and acceleration is higher than that of horizontal velocity
and acceleration. Comparing with the dynamic responses of the
dam induced by the internal blast loading, the structural effects
under the high-velocity impacting are insignificant.
5.4.3 Failure Processes of the Concrete Gravity Dam
Figure 22 shows the failure processes of the concrete gravity
dam under the combined action of the EPW penetration and
explosion. After the high-velocity EPW penetrating, the TNT
explosives are detonated in the dam structure with the initial
penetration damage. The explosion shock wave and detonation
products act on the damaged concrete medium directly, and the
damaged area quickly expands (Fig. 22(b)). Meanwhile, the
detonation products with high-pressure overflow along the
trajectory, resulting in damaged area expanding along the
channel. Partial explosion products escape from the trajectory
(Fig. 22(c)), resulting in the dissipation of the blast energy. At
t = 28 ms, the incident shock wave impacts on the dam surfaces.
Because of the lower tensile strength of the concrete material
than its compressive strength, the reflected tensile wave easily
exceeds the dynamic tensile strength. Consequently, the tensile
damage occurs on the surfaces of the dam (Fig. 22(d)). As time
goes on, more cracks generated in the dam, and the broken area
gradually increases. The damage profile of the concrete dam
remains stable after 73 ms. The penetrated cracks are observed
on the upper of the concrete gravity dam. A lot of concrete

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 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu

Fig. 22. Damage Processes of the Concrete Gravity Dam: (a) t = 23 ms (detonation time), (b) t = 24 ms, (c) t = 26 ms, (d) t = 28 ms, (e) t
= 73 ms, (f) t = 73 ms

Fig. 23. Damage Processes of the Concrete Gravity dam Without Considering the Initial Penetration Damage: (a) t = 0 ms (detonation
time), (b) t = 1 ms, (c) t = 3 ms, (d) t = 5 ms, (e) t = 50 ms, (f) t = 50 ms

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 A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian Approach for the Simulation of Concrete Gravity Dams under Combined Effects of Penetration and Explosion
Fig. 24. Comparison of the Failure Patterns of the Dam with the Conditions: (a) Full Reservoir (the water level is 83 m), (b) Empty Reservoir
particles are thrown out from the crater under the interior blast
loading (Figs. 22(e-f)), which will also bring further threat to
personnel and instruments. From the final failure pattern of the
dam under the combined action of penetration and explosion, it can
be concluded that the attack of the EPW will cause serious
structural damage to the dam.
5.5 Influence of the Initial Penetration Damage
In order to investigate the effects of the initial penetration
damage on the failure mechanism of the dam subjected to
internal explosion, the TNT charge is assumed to be buried in the
concrete dam (Fig. 23(a)). Both the position and weight of the
explosives are the same with the case considering the initial
penetration damage.
Figure 23 shows the damage propagation processes of the
concrete gravity dam without considering the initial penetration
damage. By comparing Fig. 22 (with the initial penetration
damage) with Fig. 23 (without the initial penetration damage), it
can be seen that the initial penetration damage has a significant
influence on damage processes of the dam subjected to internal
blast loading. When the explosives are buried in the concrete
gravity dam, there is no channel for explosive products with
high-pressure to escape. After the detonation of the explosives,
the intense blast wave and detonation products act on the
undamaged concrete material directly. The concrete medium will
be crushed, even enter the plastic flow state. More blast energy is
used to broken the concrete material, and a bulge on the dam
crest can be obviously observed. The internal blast loading also
cause some penetrated cracks on the upper of the concrete
gravity dam (Figs. 23(e-f)). Unlike the damage characteristics of
the dam subjected to the combined action of penetration and
explosion, there are no concrete particles spraying from the
upper of the dam under buried explosion.
5.6 Influence of the Reservoir Water
To investigate the influence of the reservoir water on the
dynamic response of the concrete gravity dam subjected to the
combined action of penetration and explosion, conditions of both
full reservoir (the water level is 83 m) and empty reservoir are
Vol. 22, No. 8 / August 2018
considered. It should be noted that the full reservoir case is the
same with Fig. 11.
The final failure patterns of the dam subjected to the combined
action of penetration and explosion with full reservoir and empty
reservoir conditions are shown in the Fig. 24. It can be observed
that the damage profiles of the dam for the two reservoir cases
are very similar to each other. This is because that the combined
loadings of penetration and explosion only act on the top of the
dam in the present study. The charge weight of TNT (300 kg) is
very large, and the distance between the charge center and the
upstream surface of the dam is only about 5.0 m. The dynamic
response of the dam is highly localized in the internal explosion.
Hence, the dam-reservoir interaction has a little influence on the
damage profiles. It can also be found that damage degree on the
upstream surface of the dam from the empty reservoir case (Fig.
24(b)) is a little more serious than that from the full reservoir
case (Fig. 24(a)). This is because the wave impedance of the
water medium is larger than that of the air medium, more blast
energy will transmit from the dam body into the reservoir water.
The strength of reflected shock wave acting on the upstream
surface with the empty reservoir is stronger than that from the
full reservoir case.
6. Conclusions
A SPH-Lagrangian-Eulerian coupled approach is proposed to
investigate the damage evolution and dynamic response of
concrete gravity dams under the combined action of the EPW
penetration and explosion. The validity of the penetration model
is calibrated against a penetration test reported in the previous
literature. An underwater explosion test in a concrete cube is
implemented to validate the validity of the SPH-Lagrangian-
Eulerian coupled model. The shock wave propagation characteristics
in the concrete gravity dam and reservoir water are investigated.
The dynamic response and damage processes of the dam under
the combined action of penetration and explosion are discussed.
The influence of the initial penetration damage on the damage
processes of the dam subjected to internal blast loading is also
examined. The following results are obtained:
− 3099 −
 Guangdong Yang, Gaohui Wang, Wenbo Lu, Peng Yan, Ming Chen, and Xinxia Wu
1. Comparison of the results of the present coupled approach
and experience test indicated that the proposed SPH-
Lagrangian-Eulerian coupling method can predict effec-
tively the dynamic response and damage propagation pro-
cess of concrete gravity dams under the combined action of
penetration and explosion.
2. The penetration of the high-velocity EPW only causes a
local damage to the concrete gravity dam. The response
velocity and the corresponding acceleration of the dam from
the internal explosion are significantly higher than that from
the high-velocity penetration. Although partial blast energy
will escape from the trajectory, the internal explosion still
causes penetrated cracks on the upper region of the concrete
gravity dam. Appropriate materials are urgently needed to
improve the resistance of dams to the combined action of
penetration and explosion.
3. The initial penetration damage from the high-velocity pro-
jectile has a significant influence on the damage processes of
the concrete gravity dam subjected to internal blasting loads.
The penetration trajectory resulting from the high-velocity
projectile will further develop under the blast loading, and
blast energy can escape from the trajectory. The fragments
generated and eject with high velocity under the combined
action of penetration and explosion, which will also bring
further threat to personal and instruments. There is no chan-
nel for explosive products to escape when the explosives are
directly buried in the dam. More blast energy is used to bro-
ken the concrete medium, and a bulge on the dam crest can
be obviously observed.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully appreciate the supports from the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51509189), the Natural
Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (2017CFB666),
and the National Key Research Project (No. 2016YFC0402008).
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