A study of dispersion and combustion of particle clouds in post-detonation flows

Abstract

Augmentation of the impact of an explosive is routinely achieved by packing metal particles in the explosive charge. When detonated, the particles in the charge are ejected and dispersed. The ejecta influences the post-detonation combustion processes that bolster the blast wave and determines the total impact of the explosive. Thus, it is vital to understand the dispersal and the combustion of the particles in the post-detonation flow, and numerical simulations have been indispensable in developing important insights. Because of the accuracy of Eulerian-Lagrangian (EL) methods in capturing the particle interaction with the post-detonation mixing zone, EL methods have been preferred over Eulerian-Eulerian (EE) methods. However, in most cases, the number of particles in the flow renders simulations using an EL method unfeasible. To overcome this problem, a combined EE-EL approach is developed by coupling a massively parallel EL approach with an EE approach for granular flows. The overall simulation strategy is employed to simulate the interaction of ambient particle clouds with homogenous explosions and the dispersal of particles after detonation of heterogeneous explosives. Explosives packed with aluminum particles are also considered and the aluminum particle combustion in the post-detonation flow is simulated. The effect of particles, both reactive and inert, on the combustion processes is analyzed. The challenging task of solving for clouds of micron and sub-micron particles in complex post-detonation flows is successfully addressed in this thesis.