Numerical Modeling and Engineering Design for Impact and Blast Problems

Howie Fang, Guilin Wen, David C. Weggel, Qing Li

Significant impact and blast events can push physical systems to their limits and result in catastrophic consequences such as widespread human casualties/injuries and loss of property. A good understanding of the systems subject to impact/blast loading is required for system design and/or hazard mitigation. Due to the destructive nature of impact and blast events, physical experiments, especially full-scale testing, have remained a significant challenge due to their high costs associated with specialized facilities and equipment, personnel expertise, and setup of full-scale test specimens. While controlled full-scale testing may never become obsolete, recent advances in computing hardware and numerical algorithms has enabled numerical modeling and simulation to play an increasingly critical role in this important area of research. This minisymposium aims to bring together researchers and engineers working on a variety of impact and blast problems. It seeks to synthesize recent advances in mathematical models and computational methods/algorithms for the numerical simulation of impact and blast problems as well as for designing impact/blast resistant structures/systems. Research and industrial applications addressing all aspects of responses of structures, bodies, and materials subject to impact and blast loading are welcomed. Numerical modeling and simulation efforts with experimental validation/verification are particularly encouraged.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

- Structural impact and failure

- Structural crashworthiness

- Energy absorbing systems

- Terminal ballistics

- Dynamic material behavior and failure

- High-speed mechanical and forming processes

- Sheet metal stamping process in vehicle body manufacturing

- Nonlinear dynamics of vibro-impact systems

- Impact biomechanics, injury mechanisms, injury criteria and injury tolerance

- Injury mitigation technology development

- Human body modeling for impact and blast lethality

- Crash dummy development

- Occupant protection and restraint systems

- Child safety and restraint systems

- Modeling and simulation of highway vehicle crashes

- Protective barriers and other protective structures

- Soil-structure interaction of systems subjected to impact

- Vehicle crashworthiness analysis

- Vehicle compatibility analysis

- Smart materials for crashworthiness and occupant protection

- Vehicle reliability and safety

- Hazards assessments, safety and protection involving impact and blast loading

- Blast loading coupled with response of structures

- Smart materials for impact or blast resistance

- Numerical computation of blast loads (in air and other media)

- Response and performance of systems subjected to blast

- Soil-structure interaction of systems subjected to blast

- Blast containment structures

- Coupled blast-structure interaction

- Other blast effects: ground shock, fragmentation, jetting