Explosives Technology & Modeling

This three-day course is designed for scientists, engineers and managers interested in the current state of explosives and blast waves. After an introduction to combustion chemistry and shock waves, the current explosive technology is described. Computational and analytical tools are demonstrated for calculating blast wave and fragment parameters.  Case studies of accidental explosions are discussed.

This course is suited for scientists, engineers, and managers interested in the current state of explosive and propellant technology, and in the use of numerical modeling to evaluate the performance and vulnerability of explosives and propellants.

1. Combustion
   1. Chemical reactions
   2. Basic fire science
   3. Compartment fires
   4. Fire modeling
   5. Detonations
2. Shock and Detonation
   1. Speed of sound
   2. Shock waves
   3. Reacting shock waves
   4. Shock-material interactions
3. Explosions and Blast Waves
   1. Introduction to explosions
   2. Dust explosions
   3. Blast waves in air
   4. TNT equivalence and scaling
   5. Damage curves
   6. Fragmentation
4. Condensed phase explosives
   1. Explosive mixtures
   2. Molecular explosives
   3. Equations of state for detonation products
   4. Charge shape effects
   5. Explosives testing and technology
5. Sources of information about explosives.

Jim Karnesky received his PhD from Caltech, where he conducted research on detonation waves and the interaction of detonations with structures.  From there he worked as a postdoc at AFRL, where he conducted research on detonation based propulsion technologies.  Currently he works in the Thermal Sciences practice at Exponent where he conducts investigations of accidental fires and explosions.

Contact this instructor (please mention course name in the subject line)