Nuclear Engineering Commons^™

Mitigation Of Shock Waves In A Cylindrical Tunnel By Foam, Grant W. Fondaw

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of foam linings in mitigating shock waves in tunnels. A polyurethane foam liner of varying density, crush strength and thickness was modeled inside a 1 meter radius tunnel and an explosion of 1.25 kg of plastic explosive was simulated. Using CTH, an Eulerian- Lagrangian hydrodynamics code from Sandia National Laboratories, the overpressures were computed and compared graphically to determine the effect of varying each foam parameter. The walls of the tunnel consisted of a perfectly reflecting boundary, and in some cases, a foam liner. Low density foam provided the most shock attenuation. with a 20 …