DSIAC is pleased to announce the availability of “An Overview of Blast and its Effect on Combat Systems” as the introductory edition of its Technical Monograph series. Each Technical Monograph is a one-volume work of research or literature on a single subject that is intended to capture unique (and potentially perishable) technical information, insights, and experiences from senior-level personnel and make them available to other community practitioners for the purpose of personnel/community development, technical training, and/or information archiving. As such, Technical Monographs are often broader in scope and applicability, more detailed in content, and/or more closely reviewed/refereed than typical technical reports.
In “An Overview of Blast and its Effect on Combat Systems” the author discusses use of large explosive charges—whether in the form of military mines or improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—detonated under ground combat systems. Such explosive charges have long been a source of concern for those responsible for developing, analyzing, and improving these systems. And this concern has only increased in recent years as the use and size of these charges have markedly increased in modern combat zones. Unfortunately, while attempts to mitigate the effects of these charges on combat systems and their occupants have been widely reported in the media and elsewhere, the reports have often misrepresented the true physics and mechanics of the mitigation mechanisms. Thus, this monograph is intended to provide survivability analysts, designers, testers, and field assessors with a more complete understanding of the subject by defining pertinent terminology, describing the fundamental physics of blast and other detonation products, examining various aspects of mitigation, and dispelling certain myths that surround these phenomena. In addition, Appendix A is included to discuss the effects on blast parameters of varying the type of specific energetic materials.
Please contact DSIAC to request a copy of “An Overview of Blast and its Effect on Combat Systems” Technical Monograph. Distribution is limited to U.S. Government agencies and their contractors and is subject