Response of a Cylindrical Shell to Internal Blast Loading

Abstract

The paper is concerned with stresses induced in a thin-walled cylinder that is exposed to internal blast loading originating from a detonation wave. The mathematical form of the pressure-time profile of the blast wave was formulated on the basis of experimental data. The stress response of the cylindrical shell to this loading was then predicted using a simplified dynamic model for the vibrating system. The theory was checked experimentally by means of surface strain measurements made on a 2-ft diameter, 20-ft long stainless steel vessel that was subjected to the impact loading of a detonation wave propagating in a hydrogen-oxygen mixture which filled the vessel initially at pressures of 100 to 200 mmHg.