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Comparison of Numerical Simulations with Experiments of Blast-Induced Pressure Wave Impact on a Surrogate Head Model

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Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1

Abstract

There is an urgent need to protect the warfighter from blast-induced injuries such as traumatic brain injury and its subsequent cascading effects. To that end the current research has adopted a systematic numerical approach to investigate the intracranial pressure loading on a surrogate brain model impacted by pressure waves from an RDX explosive. A tetrahedron meshed model of a human head form filled with representative brain simulant material was placed in an Eulerian air domain and subjected to simulated blast waves. The numerical results were compared against experiments using 1.7 grams of RDX explosive placed 180 mm from a surrogate head form filled with brain simulant. Both the experimental and simulated results revealed dominant compressive pressure loading and volumetric tensions in the anterior regions of the brain simulant. Further, calculated and experimental results also revealed focal regions of elevated pressure loading in the posterior region resulting from reflected waves from the back of the skull. This study was performed as a basis for understanding the internal wave mechanics and their impacts on the brain simulant subjected to real blast effects and to serve as a genesis to improve protective head equipment for the warfighter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi, MD, USA

    Rohan Banton, Thuvan Piehler, Nicole Zander & Richard Benjamin

  2. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Josh Duckworth

Authors
  1. Rohan Banton
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  2. Thuvan Piehler
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  3. Nicole Zander
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  4. Richard Benjamin
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  5. Josh Duckworth
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rohan Banton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, USA

    Jamie Kimberley

  2. Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Leslie Lamberson

  3. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

    Steven Mates

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© 2018 The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.

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Banton, R., Piehler, T., Zander, N., Benjamin, R., Duckworth, J. (2018). Comparison of Numerical Simulations with Experiments of Blast-Induced Pressure Wave Impact on a Surrogate Head Model. In: Kimberley, J., Lamberson, L., Mates, S. (eds) Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62956-8_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62956-8_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62955-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62956-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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