With the increased frequency of accidental and deliberate explosions, the response of civil infrastructure systems to blast loading has become a research topic of great interest. However, with the high cost and complex safety and logistical issues associated with live explosives testing, North American blast resistant construction standards (e.g. ASCE 59-11 & CSA S850-12) recommend the use of shock tubes to simulate blast loads and evaluate relevant structural response. This study aims first at developing a 2D axisymmetric shock tube model, implemented in ANSYS Fluent, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, and then validating the model using the classical Sod’s shock tube problem solution, as well as available shock tube experimental test results. Subsequently, the developed model is compared to a more complex 3D model in terms of the pressure, velocity and gas density. The analysis results show that there is negligible difference between the two models for axisymmetric shock tube performance simulation. However, the 3D model is necessary to simulate non-axisymmetric shock tubes. The design of a shock tube depends on the intended application. As such, extensive analyses are performed in this study, using the developed 2D axisymmetric model, to evaluate the relationships between the blast wave characteristics and the shock tube design parameters. More specifically, the blast wave characteristics (e.g. peak reflected pressure, positive phase duration and the reflected impulse), were compared to the shock tube design parameters (e.g. the driver section pressure and length, the driven v section length, and perforation diameter and their locations). The results show that the peak reflected pressure increases as the driver pressure increases, while a decrease of the driven length increases the peak reflected pressure. In addition, the positive phase duration increases as both the driver length and driven length are increased. Finally, although shock tubes generally generate long positive phase durations, perforations located along the expansion section showed promising results in this study to generate short positive durations. Finally, the developed 2D axisymmetric model is used to optimize the dimensions of a proposed large-scale conical shock tube system developed for civil infrastructure blast response evaluation applications. The capabilities of this proposed shock tube system are further investigated by correlating its design parameters to a range of explosion threats identified by different hemispherical TNT charge weight and distance scenarios. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The focus of the present work is on the empirical characterization and modeling of ignition trends of ternary blends of three distinct hydrocarbon classes, namely a methyl ester (C9H18O2), a linear alkane (n-C9H20), and a cycloalkane (MCH). Numerous surrogate biofuel formulations have been proposed in the literature, yet specific blending of these species has not been studied. Moreover, the effects of blending biofuel compounds with conventional hydrocarbons are not widely studied and a further point is the lack of studies paying specific attention to the effects of fuel variation within a given blended biofuel. To this end, a statistical Design of Experiments L9 array, comprised of 4 parameters (%MO, %MCH, pressure, and equivalence ratio) with 3 levels of variation, constructed in order to systematically study the effects of relative fuel concentrations within the ternary blend enabled variations in fuel concentration for methyl octanoate and MCH of 10% - 30% and 20% - 40%, respectively. Variation in pressure of 1 atm, 5 atm, and 10 atm and in equivalence ratio of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 were used, respectively. The fuel-volume percentage of n-nonane varied from 30% - 70%. In total, 10 ternary blends were studied. Ignition delay times for the ternary blends and for the three constituents were obtained by monitoring excited-state OH or CH transitions, A2Epsilon+ -> X2Pi or A2Delta -> X2Pi, respectively, behind reflected shock waves using a heated shock tube facility. Dilute conditions of 99% Ar (vol.) were maintained in all shock tube experiments with the exception of a separate series of n-nonane and MCH experiments under stoichiometric conditions which used 4% oxygen (corresponding to ~ 95% Ar dilution). Temperatures behind reflected shock waves were varied over the range 1243 < T (K) < 1672. From over 450 shock tube experiments, empirical ignition delay time correlations were constructed for all three pure fuels and a master correlation equation for the blended fuels. Ignition experiments conducted on the pure fuels at 1.5 atm indicated the following ignition delay time order, from shortest to longest: methyl octanoate < n-nonane < MCH. With increased pressure to 10 atm (nominal) the order remained, in general, consistent. Under fuel-lean conditions, ignition trends between methyl octanoate and n-nonane exhibited overlap at temperatures below 1350 K, below which the trends diverged with methyl octanoate having shorter ignition delay times. Similar behavior was observed under fuel-rich conditions, yet with the overlap occurring above 1450 K. Stoichiometric ignition trends did not display overlapping behavior under either 1.5 atm or 10 atm pressure. Laminar flame speed measurements were performed at 1 atm and an initial temperature of 443 K on the pure fuel constituents. Additional flame speed measurements of MCH were conducted at 403 K to compare with literature values and were shown to agree strongly with experiments conducted in a constant-volume apparatus. The experiments conducted herein, for the first time, measure laminar flame speeds methyl octanoate. A detailed chemical kinetics mechanism was compiled from three independent, well-validated models for the constituent fuels, where the sub-mechanisms for methyl octanoate and MCH were extracted for integration into a base n-nonane model. The compiled mechanism in the present study (4785 reactions and 1082 species) enables modeling of oxidation processes of the ternary fuel blends of interest. Calculations were performed using the compiled model relative to the base models to assess the impact of utilizing different base chemistry sets. In general, results were reproduced well relative to base models for both n-nonane and MCH, however results for methyl octanoate from both the compiled model and the base model are in disagreement with the results measured herein. Ignition delay times of the fuel blends are well-predicted for several conditions, specifically for blends at lean/high-pressure and stoichiometric/high-pressure conditions, however are not accurately modeled at fuel-rich, high-pressure conditions.

<p>Focusing of strong shock waves in a gas-filled thin test section with various forms of the reflector boundary is investigated. The test section is mounted at the end of the horizontal co-axial shock tube. Two different methods to produce shock waves of various forms are implemented. In the first method the reflector boundary of the test section is exchangeable and four different reflectors are used: a circle, a smooth pentagon, a heptagon and an octagon. It is shown that the form of the converging shock wave is influenced both by the shape of the reflector boundary and by the nonlinear dynamic interaction between the shape of the shock and the propagation velocity of the shock front. Further, the reflected outgoing shock wave is affected by the shape of the reflector through the flow ahead of the shock front. In the second method cylindrical obstacles are placed in the test section at various positions and in various patterns, to create disturbances in the flow that will shape the shock wave. It is shown that it is possible to shape the shock wave in a desired way by means of obstacles. The influence of the supports of the inner body of the co-axial shock tube on the form of the shock is also investigated. A square shaped shock wave is observed close to the center of convergence for the circular and octagonal reflector boundaries but not in any other setups. This square-like shape is believed to be caused by the supports for the inner body. The production of light, as a result of shock convergence, has been preliminary investigated. Flashes of light have been observed during the focusing and reflection process.</p>

A computational and experimental study of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is presented here for an inclined interface perturbation. The computational work is composed of simulation studies of the inclined interface RMI performed using the Arbitrary Lagrange Eulerian (ALE) code called ARES. These simulations covered a wide range of Mach numbers (1.2 to 3.5), gas pairs (Atwood numbers 0.23to 0.95), inclination angles (30° to 85°), and explored various perturbation types (both inclined interface and sinusoidal). The computational work included the first parametric study of the inclined interface RMI. This study yielded the first scaling method for the inclined interface RMI mixing width growth rates. It was extended to explore the effect of perturbation linearity and identified that a sharp transition in growth regimes occurs for an initial perturbation inclination angle of 75° with angles below (above) this growing faster (slower). Finally a study of the effects of incident shock strength on the refracted shock wave perturbation decay rate is presented. This study examined how the perturbations induced on the transmitted shock front by the RMI decay with time and found that the decay rates follow a power law model, Alpha=Beta∗S^(Epsilon). When the coefficients from the power law decay model were plotted versus Mach number, a distinct transition region was found which is likely a result of the post-shock heavy gas velocity transitioning from the subsonic to supersonic range. The experimental portion of this work was conducted using the TAMUFMSTF, completed in May of 2012. This facility uses a variable inclination shock tube, with a modular construction design for incident shock strengths of up to Mach 3.0. It employs optical systems for measuring density and velocity fields simultaneously using the planar laser induced fluorescence and particle imaging velocimetry techniques. The design and construction of this facility is reviewed in detail in chapter 4 of this work. The initial experiments performed in the TAMUFMSTF provided the first known extensive experimental data for an inclined interface RMI. Planar laser Mie scattering images and velocity vectors were obtained for a N_(2)/CO_(2) interface at a 60° inclination angle and an incident shock strength of Mach 1.55. These images have been compared with simulations made using the ARES codes and have been shown to have some distinct differences. Some of these differences indicate that the initial conditions in the experiments deviate from the ideal planar interface. Other differences have revealed features which have not been resolved by the simulations due to resolution limitations.

Following three major mining accidents in 2006, the MINER Act of 2006 was enacted by MSHA and required every underground coal mine to install refuge alternatives to help prevent future fatalities of trapped miners in the event of a disaster. The following research was performed in response to NIOSH’s call for the investigation into new refuge alternatives. A 15 psi safe haven polycarbonate wall for use in underground coal mines was designed and modeled using finite element modeling in ANSYS Explicit Dynamics. The successful design was tested multiple times in both half-scale and small scale using a high explosive shock tube to determine the walls resistance to blast pressure. The safe haven wall design was modeled for an actual underground coal mine environment to determine any responses of the wall within a mine. A full scale design was fabricated and installed in an underground coal mine to determine any construction constraints and as a final step in proof of concept for the safe haven design.

The physical properties within the two-dimensional flow produced by the reflection of a plane shock of intermediate strength at a wedge, have been determined by analysis of the particle trajectories. The particle trajectories were obtained by high speed photography of smoke tracers within the flow. Trajectories were determined for different initial positions of the tracers relative to the wedge. The conservation of mass equation was used to determine the density at points within the flow. A knowledge of the shock configurations within the flow, together with the Rankins-Hugoniot equation, was used to determine the pressure immediately behind the incident and reflected shocks. The isentropic equation of state was used to determine the pressure after the passage of the reflected shock. The pressure determined in this manner agreed, within the limits of experimental error, with that obtained using a piezo-electric transducer. The temperature, velocity of sound, and particle velocity at points within the flow were also determined. / Graduate / 0605

Sous conditions de fort déséquilibre thermodynamique, les populations des états internes émettant dans le VUV et l’infrarouge ne suivent plus une distribution de Boltzmann mais sont contrôlés par des processus collisionels et radiatifs. Nous avons développé un nouveau modèle collisionel-radiatif (CR) comprenant les mécanismes d’excitation et d’ionisation par impact d’électrons et de particules lourdes, ainsi que les transitions radiatives. Une revue exhaustive des diverses données expérimentales et théoriques nous a conduit à sélectionner les formulations les plus appropriées. Les transitions radiatives on été traitées via le concept de facteur d’échappement, égal à 0 pour les transitions dans le VUV, et à 1 pour les transitions dans l’infrarouge, en accord avec les récents calculs de la littérature. Nous avons interfacé notre modèle CR avec un code d’écoulement et un code spectral en vue de prédire les luminances récemment mesurées dans le tube à choc EAST de la NASA. Nous avons choisi deux conditions représentatives d’une rentrée hypervéloce sur Terre: V∞=10.6 et 11.12 km/s, à pression p∞=13.3 Pa. Nous avons comparé les densités d’électrons prédites par le modèle d’écoulement avec celles extraites des caméras CCD et avons obtenu un excellent accord, validant de fait le modèle d’ionisation et nous permettant de déterminer la position du choc. Ensuite, nous avons comparé les profils de luminance prédits par le modèle CR mesurés dans le VUV et l’infrarouge avec les données expérimentales et avons obtenu un excellent accord. Nous avons ainsi montré que les collisions par impact de particules lourdes sont cruciales et doivent être déterminés précisément en vue de prédire le flux radiatif dans le VUV, lequel peut représenter 60% du flux total reçu par le vaisseau spatial lors de sa rentrée dans l’atmosphère terrestre. / Under nonequilibrium, the populations of the electronic states that strongly radiate in the VUV and IR are no longer governed by a Boltzmann distribution but rather by collisional and radiative processes. A new collisional-radiative (CR) model was developed including the key processes chief among them electron-impact excitation and ionization, heavy-particle impact excitation and bound-bound transitions. A comprehensive review of the available experimental and theoretical reaction rates governing these processes was undertaken to produce a reliable set of rates. The bound-bound radiative mechanisms were treated using the escape factor concept, set to zero for VUV lines and set to one for infrared lines, in accordance with literature results. The CR model was interfaced with the a flowfield solver and with a radiation code to predict the nonequilibrium VUV and IR radiation spectra very recently measured in the EAST facility at NASA Ames Research Center. Two shock-tube conditions representative of a Lunar return reentry trajectory were selected: V∞=10.6 and 11.12 km/s, both at p∞=13.3 Pa. The electron number density profiles inferred from experiments were compared with the prediction of the flowfield model, showing excellent agreement in trend and absolute magnitude for both freestream conditions, and thus validating the ionization model and providing a way to accurately locate the shock front in the CCD images. Then, the experimental intensity profiles were compared with the prediction of the CR model. Excellent agreement between predicted and measured intensity profiles was obtained for both freestream conditions, when adjusting the heavy-particle impact excitation rate constants of Park (1985), suggesting that the nonequilibrium peak intensities observed in the VUV and IR spectral ranges are controled by heavy-particle impact processes.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop robust and accurate numerical methods for solving the compressible, non-linear Euler equations of gas dynamics in one and two space dimensions. In theory, solutions of the Euler equations can display various characteristics including shock waves, rarefaction waves and contact discontinuities. To capture these features correctly, highly accurate numerical schemes are designed. In this thesis, two different projects have been studied to show the accuracy and utility of these numerical schemes. Firstly, the compressible, non-linear Euler equations of gas dynamics in one space dimension are considered. Since the non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs) can develop discontinuities (shock waves), the numerical code is designed to obtain stable numerical solutions of the Euler equations in the presence of shocks. Discontinuous solutions are defined in a weak sense, which means that there are many different solutions of the initial value problems of PDEs. To choose the physically relevant solution among the others, the entropy condition was applied to the problem. This condition is then used to derive a bound on the solution in order to satisfy L2-stability. Also, it provides information on how to add an adequate amount of diffusion to smooth the numerical shock waves. Furthermore, numerical solutions are obtained using far-field and no penetration (wall) boundary conditions. Grid interfaces were also included in these numerical computations. Secondly, the two dimensional compressible, non-linear Euler equations are considered. These equations are used to obtain numerical solutions for compressible ow in a shock tube with a 90° circular bend for two channels of different curvatures. The cell centered finite volume numerical scheme is employed to achieve these numerical solutions. The accuracy of this numerical scheme is tested using two different methods. In the first method, manufactured solutions are used to the test the convergence rate of the code. Then, Sod's shock tube test case is implemented into the numerical code to show the correctness of the code in both ow directions. The numerical method is then used to obtain numerical solutions which are compared with experimental data available in the literature. It is found that the numerical solutions are in a good agreement with these experimental results.

The attenuation mechanism of shock waves of arbitrary strength propagating in air has been reasonably well understood. On the other hand, very little is known about the precise mechanism of shock wave attenuation and energy dissipation in liquids. The equation of state for shock propagation in water is empirical in nature and considerable differences exist with reference to the exact value of various constants even in the cast of Tait’ s equation of state, which is popularly used by researchers to describe the shock wave propagating through water. In recent times, considerable attention is being focused by researchers on shock wave attenuation and associated features in liquid medium mainly in the backdrop of development of many innovative industrial applications of shock waves. The present study focuses on generating reliable experimental data on shock wave attenuation in liquids of different viscosity. Experiments have been performed in a conventional vertical shock tube and a modified diaphragmless shock tube to understand how shock wave of requisite strength attenuates in liquids. A new vertical shock tube was designed, fabricated and successfully tested in the laboratory as a part of this study. In this new facility shock loading experiments with liquids or any complex fluid medium can be carried out. In the present study five liquids (Water, Castor Oil, Sodium Chloride (10%NaCl aqueous solution), Kerosene and Glycerin) have been subjected to shock wave loading. Exhaustive static pressure measurements in the liquid medium have been carried out to understand the attenuation characteristics of shock waves. The validity of Taits equation state has been experimentally verified for water. Based on the experimental results modified Taits equation of state has been obtained for castor oil, sodium chloride, kerosene and glycerin. Illustrative theoretical study is also carried out to complement the experiments.

This thesis focuses on the dynamic and static behaviour of reinforced concrete beams built using high-strength concrete and high-strength steel reinforcement. As part of this study, a total of 8 high-strength concrete beams, built with and without steel fibres, and reinforced with high strength ASTM A1035 bars are tested under simulated blast loading using the University of Ottawa shock-tube, with an additional 3 companion beams tested under quasi-static loading. The variables considered in this study include: concrete type, fibre content, steel reinforcement ratio and steel reinforcement type. The behaviour of the beams with high-strength steel bars is compared to a companion set of beams reinforced with conventional steel reinforcement. The criteria used to evaluate the blast performance of the beams includes: overall blast capacity, maximum and residual displacements, secondary fragmentation and crack control. The dynamic results show that high strength concrete beams reinforced with high-strength steel are able to resist higher blast loads and reduce displacements when compared to companion beams with conventional steel reinforcement. The results also demonstrate that the addition of steel fibres is effective in controlling crack formation, minimizing secondary blast fragments, reducing displacements and further increasing overall blast capacity. However, the use of high-strength steel and high-strength concrete also shows potential for brittle failures under extreme blast pressures. The static results show that specimens with high-strength steel bars do not increase beam stiffness, but significantly increase peak load carrying capacity when compared to beams with the same ratio of conventional steel reinforcement. The analytical research program aims at predicting the response of the test beams using dynamic inelastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) analysis and includes a sensitivity analysis examining the effect of various modelling parameters on the response predictions. Overall the analytical results demonstrate that SDOF analysis can be used to predict the blast response of beams built with high-strength concrete and steel reinforcement with acceptable accuracy.