Influence of The Principal Geometrical Parameters of Straight

International Journal of Impact Engineering 27 (2002) 359–376
Influence of the principal geometrical parameters of straight

city streets on positive and negative phase blast wave impulses
T.A. Rose*, P.D. Smith
Engineering Systems Department, Cranfield University, Royal Military College of Science,
Swindon SN6 8LA, UK
Received 4 April 2001; received in revised form 28 September 2001
Abstract
This study is concerned with the effect of confinement, provided by tall buildings which border straight
city streets, on the positive and negative phase impulses of blast waves originating from explosive
detonations. An approach to the problem is described which is based on a parametric study comprising
numerical simulations validated by comparison with small-scale experiments. Results of the simulations are
presented in graphs of peak scaled positive and negative phase impulse, measured at locations near to
ground level on the building facades, plotted against scaled distance along the centreline of the city street. A
range of scaled street widths and building heights are considered which covers most cases of practical
interest. The nature of the variation of both positive and negative phase impulses is described, and the
implications for the design and hazard assessment of urban landscapes are considered. r 2002 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Blast; Impulse; Streets; Building; Wave; Parameters
1. Introduction
When an explosive incident occurs in an urban landscape, the presence of nearby buildings
produces reflections which enhance the pressures and associated positive phase impulses at
locations further away. This is usually referred to as ‘‘street channelling’’ or the ‘‘canyon effect’’.
Intuitively, it would be expected that the peak pressure and positive impulse associated with the
blast wave might be increased in narrow streets, in comparison with wider ones. Similarly, high
buildings bordering the street might also have a greater enhancing effect, compared with lower
buildings. Systematic quantification of these effects, however, has only recently been initiated
*Corresponding author. Tel.: 01793-785811.

E-mail address: t.a.rose@rmcs.cranfield.ac.uk (T.A. Rose).
0734-743X/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 7 3 4 - 7 4 3 X ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 0 - 4
360 T.A. Rose, P.D. Smith / International Journal of Impact Engineering 27 (2002) 359–376
[1,2], and they are still not described satisfactorily over the whole range of possible street
configurations.
Anecdotal evidence from explosive accidents/incidents suggests that light, frangible building
elements, such as glazing and cladding panels, are often drawn into the street by the negative
phase of the blast wave. Again, this effect has only recently been addressed [3], while establishment
of the actual negative impulsive load has not been satisfactorily described. In simplistic analyses,
and most hazard evaluations, negative phase impulse is not included. The main reason for this
exclusion is not ignorance of its importance but lack of an effective means of its prediction. The
aim of this paper is to provide a tentative step towards a more thorough description of the blast
environment in an urban landscape by considering the simplest possible city geometry, an
infinitely long, straight street.
2. Validation of the numerical approach
2.1. Experimental programme
The number of possible street configurations is limitless. Cities do not tend to adhere to strict
geometrical rules, and even in well-defined situations (like the ‘‘block system’’ employed widely in
the United States), the height and shape of buildings above street level vary enormously.
Therefore, the whole range of possible geometries has not been considered, and a concise set of
straight street configurations was used as the basis of this investigation.
The programme of experiments was established from the need to validate the results of
numerical analyses in two areas: the effect of varying the street width (w) and the building height
(h). This was accomplished using model scale straight streets of two different widths and three
different heights. These configurations were representative of relatively small and large street
widths, together with relatively low to effectively infinitely high building heights. Schematic
diagrams of the experimental geometries are given in Figs. 1(a) and (b). The experiments modelled
a 1000 kg TNT spherical explosive charge, detonated in the middle of the street, with the charge
centre 1:5 m above the ground. These figures were chosen to represent a realistic threat. The two
scaled street widths w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 and 4:8 m=kg1=3 ; where W is the charge mass, represent widths
of 16 and 48 m at full scale. The three scaled building heights were h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:6; 1.2 and
2:4 m=kg1=3 and are indicative of 2, 4 and 8 storey buildings, respectively.
The experiments were performed at 1=40th scale, so the model scale street widths were w ¼ 400
and 1200 mm; the building heights were h ¼ 150; 300 and 600 mm; respectively. The model
explosive charge was 15:625 g TNT equivalent, which was comprised of 11:09 g of DEMEX 100
plastic explosive and an electrical detonator containing 0:75 g of primary explosive. A combined
TNT equivalency of 1.32 was assumed for these explosives. The models were made from a
modular system based on 24 reinforced concrete beams, each being 1:1 m long and 150 mm
square. Some of these were plain, while others had five pressure transducer mounts cast into one
face, at 200 mm intervals.
The pressure measuring locations, eight per configuration, were distributed along the model,
although concentrated at locations furthest from the charge. In each configuration, the furthest
pressure monitoring point was at 2:2 m; measured along the centreline of the street. This
T.A. Rose, P.D. Smith / International Journal of Impact Engineering 27 (2002) 359–376 361
Fig. 1. Straight model streets: (a) width ¼ 400 mm; and (b) width ¼ 1200 mm:
corresponds to a distance R of 88 m at full scale and a scaled distance Z ¼ R=W 1=3 ¼

8:8 m=kg1=3 : It was considered that a minimum scaled distance of approximately 10 m=kg1=3 was
necessary to achieve meaningful validation. In all of the experiments, pressure measurements were
made only in the lowest of the concrete beams, at 75 mm above the ground. This corresponds to
3 m at full scale, the first storey height of a typical building. The charge and measuring locations
can be seen in Figs. 1(a) and (b).
Each experiment was repeated 3 times to ensure reasonable repeatability and allow an average
to be taken. Despite this, some individual measuring channels failed occasionally, reducing the
number of records from which to average to two. In other configurations, measuring locations
were doubled, allowing an average of six results.
An ionisation probe comprising two twisted, lacquered copper wires was used to trigger the
recording equipment and allowed an accurate time of arrival of the first blast wave to be
established.
The modular system of reinforced concrete beams was augmented by rectangular concrete
blocks, which were added to the beams comprising the model streets, to extend them in regions
where diffraction from the open ends would otherwise affect the results. Therefore, in all the
experiments, the streets were effectively infinitely long.
2.2. Numerical simulation of the validation experiments
Each of the experiments described above was analysed numerically using the three-dimensional
blast simulation program Air3d [4]. The program is based on a variant of the Advection Upstream
Splitting Method (AUSMDV, [5]) and uses MUSCL-Hancock integration [6] to produce a
solution of the Euler equations which is second order accurate in space and time. The current
implementation uses cubic computational cells in a regular Cartesian mesh and is written in
FORTRAN 90.
The simulations were performed in three stages:
* One-dimensional analysis was used for the spherically symmetrical region between the centre of
the charge and the ground surface, using 375 0:1 mm cells.
* Two-dimensional analysis was used for the radially symmetrical region from the time
when the blast wave first reaches the ground to when it impinges on the nearest vertical
surface, at 200 mm for the narrow street and 600 mm for the wider street. The 200 mm
simulation required 50; 000 1:0 mm square cells, the 600 mm simulation required 300,000
square cells.
* Three-dimensional analysis was used for the remainder of the simulations. The problems
comprised 2; 008; 000 10 mm cubic elements.
Similar to the physical experiments, the three-dimensional numerical models were extended
sufficiently far in each direction to ensure that the presence of the boundaries did not affect the
results at the measuring locations. The measuring locations themselves were distributed at
100 mm intervals along the model.
2.3. Graphical comparison of results
In this section, peak positive and negative phase specific impulses from the physical experiments
and numerical simulations will be compared. There are also representative graphs, from
monitoring location 8, showing experimental and numerical pressure–time histories super-
imposed. Graphs of impulse show the results of the simulations joined by lines, for clarity; the
experimental data are shown as symbols only.
2.3.1. Pressure–time histories

The experimental pressure record chosen for comparison had the median value of peak pressure
from the three experiments. No attempt was made to match the records, and no adjustment was
needed to align the records in time; the method of initiation of the recording instruments,
described above, gave arrival times that were reproduced accurately by the simulations. Pressure–
time histories are shown in Fig. 2.
2.3.2. Positive phase specific impulse

The graphs comparing peak positive phase impulse (Fig. 3) show generally very good
agreement between experimental and numerical data. This is encouraging, and it indicates that,
not only does the numerical approach present a useful tool for the prediction of blast loads in
urban configurations, but also that the original assessment of the equivalent mass of TNT, made
at the outset of the programme of simulations, was appropriate. This second observation is
strengthened by the fact that some of the graphs show the numerical impulses to be slightly above
the experimental values, while others show the reverse. There is no discernible trend to indicate
whether the charge equivalence was too high or too low.
32 60
Experiment
Experiment 45 Air3d
24 Air3d
30
Pressure (kPa)
Pressure (kPa)
16
15
8
0
0
-15
-8
-30
-16 -45
0 1.5 3 4.5 6 7.5 9 10.5 12 0 1.5 3 4.5 6 7.5 9 10.5 12 13.5 15
(a) Time (msec) (b) Time (msec)
32 45
Experiment Experiment
24
Air3d 30 Air3d
Pressure (kPa)
Pressure (kPa)
16
15
8
0
0
-15
-8
-16 -30
0 1.5 3 4.5 6 7.5 9 10.5 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(c) Time (msec) (d) Time (msec)
Fig. 2. Comparison of experimentally and numerically derived pressure histories at monitoring location 8: (a) w ¼
400 mm; h ¼ 150 mm; (b) w ¼ 400 mm; h ¼ 600 mm; (c) w ¼ 1200 mm; h ¼ 150 mm; and (d) w ¼ 1200 mm; h ¼
600 mm:
2.3.3. Negative phase specific impulse

When a compression wave, such as the positive phase of a blast wave, propagates into still air, it
imparts a velocity to the air in the same direction of travel as the wave. This causes the air behind
the compression wave to expand and rarefy. The rarefaction of the air behind the compression
wave reduces the pressure below atmospheric pressure, and this is referred to as the negative
phase.
There is a limit of one atmosphere underpressure (complete vacuum) which may occur during
the negative phase of a blast wave, and if the positive overpressure exceeds this value greatly, it is
unlikely that the negative phase impulse will pose a significant hazard in comparison with the
positive impulse. For this reason, negative phase impulse is often ignored by investigators. As the
scaled distance from a blast increases, however, the peak positive overpressure (and associated
impulse) decreases, and the relative importance of the negative phase impulse increases.
100 100
90 90
80 Experiment 80 Experiment
Impulse (kPa-msec)
Impulse (kPa-msec)
Air3d Air3d
70 70
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
(a) Distance (m) (b) Distance (m)
70 70
60 60
Experiment Experiment
Impulse (kPa-msec)
Impulse (kPa-msec)
50 Air3d 50 Air3d
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
(c) Distance (m) (d) Distance (m)
Fig. 3. Comparison of experimentally and numerically derived positive phase specific impulses: (a) w ¼ 400 mm; h ¼
150 mm; (b) w ¼ 400 mm; h ¼ 600 mm; (c) w ¼ 1200 mm; h ¼ 150 mm; and (d) w ¼ 1200 mm; h ¼ 600 mm:
Unfortunately, negative phase impulse is notoriously difficult to establish from experimental

recordsFespecially at small scale, where the actual duration may be very shortFand this was the
case for the experimental programme described here.
Problems which are evident from short duration experimental pressure–time histories are as
follows:
i. Pressure records which include relatively high pressures are sometimes prone to ‘‘drift’’ from
their original (atmospheric) baseline. This effect, associated with the response of the
measuring equipment, makes establishment of the negative phase duration very difficult and
sometimes impossible.
ii Anomalies or electrical interference can cause the continuity of the pressure records to be
curtailed before the end of the negative phase. An example of this can be seen in Fig. 2(a),
where an unexpected effect occurs at about 5:5 ms and causes an abrupt end to the negative
phase.
iii. Multiple shock reflections, like those of Fig. 2(d), which occur distinctly in time, make the
selection of an appropriate negative phase extremely difficult. It is not obvious, without
reference to the dynamic response of the target structure, which portion of the record is
important, or even whether each blast wave reflection should be treated independently.
Because of the considerations listed above, a systematic comparison of negative phase impulse
could not be performed as part of the validation exercise. However, the experiments on narrow
straight streets ðw ¼ 400 mmÞ do allow the possibility of comparing the negative phase impulse,
because most of the reflected waves coalesce and hence remove the third of these problems.
Similarly, when records which suffered from the first two problems were deleted from the data set,
only a small usable set of data remained. These data, one set for each building height, are shown
in Fig. 4.
80 90
70 80
Negative impulse (kPa-msec)
Experiment 70 Experiment
60 Air3d Air3d
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10 10
0 0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
(a) Distance (m) (b) Distance (m)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30 Experiment
Air3d
20
10
0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
(c) Distance (m)
Fig. 4. Comparison of experimentally and numerically derived negative phase specific impulses: (a) w ¼ 400 mm; h ¼
150 mm; (b) w ¼ 400 mm; h ¼ 300 mm; and (c) w ¼ 400 mm; h ¼ 600 mm:
Interestingly, because data from numerical simulations do not suffer from problems of drift or
interference, it is likely that useful trends may be extracted from the numerically derived results
which were not possible from experiments alone. Clearly, this possibility is dependent on the good
correspondence with experiment for the records in which the negative phase was sufficiently well
defined to be compared.
Considering Fig. 4(a), for height ¼ 150 mm; it can be seen that the numerically derived
data appears to show a much larger negative phase impulse than the experiments. Close
inspection of the records, however, reveals a possible explanation. Fig. 2(a) appears to have
an anomaly (probably electrical, referred to earlier) which reduces the length of the negative
phase. Because of the increased level of confinement in the two other experiments (h ¼ 300
and 600 mm), shown in Figs. 4(b) and (c), the negative impulse has increased. The effect of
the problems described above is not as pronounced when superimposed onto these larger
impulses. Therefore, the correspondence between experiment and simulation in Figs. 4(b) and (c)
is much closer.
It is suggested that the comparisons presented above are sufficiently encouraging to allow the
results of simulations to be used to draw broad conclusions about the effect of urban geometrical
parameters on negative phase impulse in the section which follows.
3. Numerical simulations
The programme of numerical simulations was intended to extend the scope of the physical
experiments to cover a large part of the range of practical interest. Scaled blast parameters, such
as those of Kingery and Bulmash [7] (implemented in the computer program Conwep [8]) extend
to a scaled distance of about 40:0 m=kg1=3 : Damage sustained in city streets (particularly to
glazing) has been observed at distances of several hundred metres and at scaled distances greater
than 30:0 m=kg1=3 : Therefore, ideally, it would be desirable for information from the present
study to cover a similar scaled range. Unfortunately, the computational resources needed to
perform such a task made that goal unachievable, and the results presented below are limited to a
maximum scaled distance (along the centreline of the street) of 16:0 m=kg1=3 :
In an attempt to cover most of the range of street widths which exist in real cities, four different
scaled street widths, w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6; 2:4; 3:2 and 4:8 m=kg1=3 ; were considered. Similarly, the six
scaled building heights considered were h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8; 1:6; 3:2; 6:4; 12:8 m=kg1=3 and, effectively,
infinity. The infinite building height scenario was achieved by extending the computational grid
sufficiently far above the ground that expansion waves propagating from the boundary did not
reach the monitoring locations at ground level during the period of calculation.
The parametric study was based on a 1 kg TNT hemispherical charge, detonated on the
centreline of the street, and used a regular Cartesian grid 32 m 16 m 16 m; requiring two
million 160 mm cubic computational cells. For each scaled street width, two further calculations
were performed. These were for a single infinite facade (giving true reflected pressures) and for no
facade (producing side-on pressures). These last two calculations allow an important comparison
of positive and negative impulses to be made between side-on, true reflected and street reflected
configurations, where the term street refers to the configuration described above with two
symmetrical, finite or infinite facades. In particular, the comparison of street reflected with side-on
impulses allows reference to be made to blast parameters calculated using Conwep [8] and
provides a possible basis for prediction.
The positive and negative phase impulses experienced by a building facade at street level are
dependent on the scaled street width, scaled building height and scaled distance of the location
from the charge, measured along the centreline of the street. These three parameters describe the
scenario completely.
3.1. The effect of street width on positive phase impulse
Fig. 5 shows the effect of scaled street width on positive impulse when infinitely high buildings
border the street. It represents the maximum level of confinement. It is clear from the figure that at
small scaled distances the street and true reflected impulses are the same. However, as reflections
from the other side of the street appear, the street reflected impulse increases and the two lines
diverge. It can be seen from Fig. 5(d) that, as the street width increases, reflections from the other
1.000 1.000
Scaled impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)
500 Street 500 Street

True True
Side-on Side-on
100 100
50 50
10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(a) 1/3
Scaled distance along street (m/kg ) (b) 1/3
Scaled distance along street (m/kg )
1.000 1.000
500 Street 500 Street

True True
Side-on Side-on
100 100
50 50
10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(c) 1/3 (d) 1/3

Scaled distance along street (m/kg ) Scaled distance along street (m/kg )
Fig. 5. The effect of street width on positive scaled impulse: (a) w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 ; (b) w=W 1=3 ¼ 2:4 m=kg1=3 ;
(c) w=W 1=3 ¼ 3:2 m=kg1=3 ; and (d) w=W 1=3 ¼ 4:8 m=kg1=3 :
side of the street become less important; the two lines only diverge at a scaled distance of about
7:0 m=kg1=3 : The four lines representing the street reflected positive impulses for an infinite
building height are combined in Fig. 6.
3.2. The effect of building height on positive phase impulse
When the buildings bordering a city street are of finite height, blast waves originating from the
street can diffract over the top of the building, reducing in strength the part of the wave which
remains to propagate along the street. Similar to the approach above for the effect of street width,
in this section graphs of positive phase impulse plotted against scaled distance along the street will
be presented. These contain information for four of the six scaled building heights listed above.
These heights are 0.8, 1.6, 3:2 m=kg1=3 and, effectively, infinite. They are shown in Figs. 7(a)–(d),
one for each of the four scaled street widths.
It will be seen from Fig. 7 that the top two lines on the graphs (for h=W 1=3 ¼ 3:2 m=kg1=3 and
infinity) are nearly coincident. This implies that for the maximum scaled distance considered
ð16:0 m=kg1=3 ), a scaled building height of 3:2 m/kg1/3 can be considered to be effectively infinite
with respect to the positive phase impulse experienced at street level. This important observation
is somewhat surprising, as 3:2 m=kg1=3 is only one-fifth of the maximum horizontal distance at
which impulses were monitored.
3.3. Negative phase impulse
It was demonstrated above that the confinement provided by city streets affects the positive
phase impulse of a blast wave in a straightforward manner. Unfortunately, the same is not true for
the negative phase impulse.
1.000
w/W1/3 = 1.6
500
w/W1/3 = 2.4
w/W1/3 = 3.2
w/W1/3 = 4.8
100
50
20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Scaled distance along street (m/kg1/3)
Fig. 6. The effect of street width on positive scaled impulse for infinite height buildings.
The problem is introduced in Fig. 8, which is a graph showing both positive and negative phase
side-on scaled impulses, plotted against scaled distance along the centreline of the street, for
monitoring locations at ground level, 0:8 m=kg1=3 from the centreline. These are the same
locations as the street analyses which used w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 ; but, in the present example, the
facades of the buildings were absent, allowing side-on impulses to be established.
With respect to the other scaled street widths considered, the same graph (Fig. 8) applies, but
with a shift along the scaled distance axis, because monitoring points in wider street
configurations are further from the centreline. It can be seen from Fig. 8 that side-on positive
and negative phase specific impulses are similar in magnitude over most of the scaled range, and
the negative phase impulse is actually greater than the positive impulse at scaled ranges greater
than about 1:0 m=kg1=3 :
The simple method of presentation adopted for the positive phase impulse is not possible for
the negative phase impulse. In Section 3.1, the effect of street width was examined using the
1.000 1.000
Scaled positive impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)
h/W1/3 = 0.8
h/W1/3 = 0.8
h/W1/3 = 1.6
500 h/W1/3 = 1.6 500
h/W1/3 = 3.2 h/W1/3 = 3.2
h/W1/3 = infinity h/W1/3 = infinity
100 100
50 50
10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
1/3
(a) Scaled distance along street (m/kg ) (b) Scaled distance along street (m/kg1/3)
1.000 1.000
h/W1/3 = 0.8 h/W1/3 = 0.8

500 h/W1/3 = 1.6 500 h/W1/3 = 1.6
h/W1/3 = 3.2 h/W1/3 = 3.2
h/W1/3 = infinity h/W1/3 = infinity
100 100
50 50
10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(c) Scaled distance along street (m/kg1/3) (d) Scaled distance along street (m/kg1/3)
Fig. 7. The effect of building height on positive scaled impulse: (a) w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 ; (b) w=W 1=3 ¼ 2:4 m=kg1=3 ;
500
positive
negative
)
1/3
Scaled impulse (kPa-msec/kg
100
50
10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
1/3
Fig. 8. Variation of positive and negative side-on scaled impulse with scaled distance along street, w=W 1=3 ¼
1:6 m=kg1=3 :
limiting case of height h ¼ infinity: This is not an appropriate choice for the negative phase (as
will be demonstrated below). Figs. 9(a)–(d) show a comparison of positive and negative impulse
for streets of scaled width w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 : Unlike Fig. 8, these graphs are for streets with
the building facade present; they are street impulses, using the same terminology as previously.
The effect of increasing the building height (and hence confinement) is clear from these figures:
increasing the confinement produces enhanced negative phase impulse except when the building is
effectively infinitely high. Then the positive phase impulse remains greater for the whole scaled
range. This last observation introduces the difficulty referred to above and is the reason why a
straightforward presentation of negative phase impulse is not possible.
The curves of negative impulse shown in Fig. 9 are redrawn on a single graph in Fig. 11(a). This
shows that, as the height of the building facade increases, the negative impulse increases, and it
appears to converge to a maximum at a scaled height of about 12:8 m=kg1=3 : However, if the
building height is effectively infinite, the negative impulse reduces to a level considerably below
this maximum value. The reason for this unexpected result is best explained with reference to
illustrative pressure–time histories.
Still considering a scaled street width h=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 ; if the monitoring locations at
a scaled distance of 4:0 m=kg1=3 are examined, the reason for the divergence of the curves
on Fig. 11(a) becomes clear. Fig. 10(a) shows the pressure–time histories for h=W 1=3 ¼
0:826:4 m=kg1=3 ; and Fig. 10(b) shows those for 6:4 m=kg1=3 to infinity; h=W 1=3 ¼ 6:4 m=kg1=3
is common to both figures. It is clear from these graphs that the positive impulse is similar in each
case (Fig. 7(a) verifies this). The nature of the negative impulse, however, has become clear. The
curve for h ¼ infinity (in Fig. 10(b)) can be considered a baseline for the configuration. It is due to
the expansion caused by the passage of the blast wave and is a direct result of the level of
1.000 1.000
positive positive

500 negative 500 negative
100 100
50 50
10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(a) 1/3
Scaled distance along street (m/kg ) (b) 1/3
1.000 1.000

500 500
100 100
50 50
positive positive
negative negative
10 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
1/3 1/3
(c) Scaled distance along street (m/kg ) (d) Scaled distance along street (m/kg )
Fig. 9. Variation of positive and negative scaled impulse with scaled distance along street, w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 : (a)
h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8 m=kg1=3 ; (b) h=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 ; (c) h=W 1=3 ¼ 6:4 m=kg1=3 ; and (d) h=W 1=3 ¼ infinity:
confinement. Here we will term this the primary expansion. The other curves all follow this
baseline curve until a secondary expansion (from the top of the building) reaches the monitoring
point (at Z ¼ 4:0 m=kg1=3 ) at ground level.
When the blast wave reaches the top of the building it diffracts and spreads. This is
accompanied by a reduction in pressure and velocity behind the blast wave front in the positive
phase. This, in turn, causes the air in the remaining part of the positive phase of the original wave
(which is still propagating upwards between the buildings) to accelerate into the larger volume and
lower pressure region behind the new expanded wave.
This acceleration is the cause of the secondary expansion, and it propagates downwards back
through the remainder of the original positive phase, between the buildings, at the local sound
speed superimposed on the flow (the flow is subsonic) and through the baseline expansion (the
original negative phase). It appears as a negative dip in the pressure histories monitored at ground
level.
100 100
h/W1/3 = 0.8 h/W1/3 = 6.4

80 h/W1/3 = 1.6 h/W1/3= 12.8
h/W1/3 = 3.2
80 h/W1/3 = infinity
h/W1/3 = 6.4
60
Pressure (kPa)
Pressure (kPa)
60
40
40
20
20
0
0
-20
-40 -20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1/3 1/3
(a) Scaled time (msec/kg ) (b) Scaled time (msec/kg )
30 30
1/3
h/W1/3 = 0.8 h/W1/3 = 6.4
h/W1/3 = 1.6 h/W1/3 = 12.8
20 h/W1/3 = 3.2 20 h/W = infinity
h/W1/3 = 6.4
Pressure (kPa)
Pressure (kPa)
10 10
0 0
-10 -10
-20 -20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
(c) 1/3 1/3

Scaled time (msec/kg ) (d) Scaled time (msec/kg )
Fig. 10. Pressure–time histories, w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 : (a) Z ¼ 4:0 m=kg1=3 ; h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8–6:4 m=kg1=3 ; (b)
Z ¼ 4:0 m=kg1=3 ; h=W 1=3 ¼ 6:4 m=kg1=3 –infinity, (c) Z ¼ 12:0 m=kg1=3 ; h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8–6:4 m=kg1=3 ; and (d)
Z ¼ 12:0 m=kg1=3 ; h=W 1=3 ¼ 6:4 m=kg1=3 –infinity.
Clearly, the lower the height of the building, the sooner the compressive blast wave can reach
the top and the secondary expansion can travel back to the ground. This is evident from Fig. 10(a)
where it can be seen that for h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8 m=kg1=3 the secondary expansion has arrived very soon
in the pressure history, and it has reduced the duration of the positive phase as a result. This can
be referred to as lateral clearing, by analogy to the clearing which occurs across finite structures
[4]. Secondary expansions for the other building heights all arrive at successively later times. This
can be seen from the pressure histories in Figs. 10(a) and (b).
Another interesting point to arise from these figures is that at the end of the secondary
expansion the air returns abruptly to atmospheric pressure; it does not continue along the baseline
curve. This is interesting because, although the secondary expansion increases the negative
impulse, it also has the effect of curtailing it, and this is the reason why the curves on Fig. 11(a) for
h=W 1=3 ¼ 3:2–12:8 m=kg1=3 are all broadly similar.
500 500
Scaled negative impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

100
100
50
1/3 1/3
h/W1/3 = 0.8 h/W1/3 = 0.8
h/W1/3 = 1.6 50 h/W1/3 = 1.6
h/W1/3 = 3.2 h/W1/3 = 3.2
h/W1/3 = 6.4 h/W1/3 = 6.4
h/W1/3 = 12.8 h/W1/3 = 12.8
h/W = infinity h/W = infinity
10 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
1/3 1/3
(a) Scaled distance along street (m/kg ) (b) Scaled distance along street (m/kg )
500 500
1/3
h/W1/3 = 0.8
h/W1/3 = 1.6
h/W1/3 = 3.2
h/W1/3 = 6.4
h/W1/3 = 12.8
h/W = infinity
100 100
1/3
h/W = 0.8
1/3
50 h/W1/3 = 1.6 50
h/W1/3 = 3.2
h/W1/3 = 6.4
h/W1/3 = 12.8
h/W = infinity
20 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
(c) Scaled distance along street (m/kg1/3) (d) Scaled distance along street (m/kg1/3)
Fig. 11. The effect of building height on negative scaled impulse: (a) w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 ; (b) w=W 1=3 ¼ 2:4 m=kg1=3 ;
Pressure histories at a second scaled distance, Z ¼ 12:0 m=kg1=3 ; are shown in Figs. 10(c) and
(d). Again, the same effects are evident. Fig. 10(c) shows that for the two lowest building heights
the effect of lateral clearing has reduced the magnitude of the positive phase pressure (as well as
reducing the impulse). Fig. 10(d) shows the distinct arrival of the secondary expansions for the
two largest buildings heights. It can also be observed that the end of the baseline negative phase
for h ¼ infinity is at approximately 110:0 ms=kg1=3 :
Similar sets of graphs to those of Figs. 9 and 10 can be produced for the results of the other
scaled street widths investigated, but they become increasingly complicated because of the gradual
transition from the coalesced waves at w=W 1=3 ¼ 1:6 m=kg1=3 to the completely distinct waves at
w=W 1=3 ¼ 4:8 m=kg1=3 : There are a number of points concerning the negative phase impulse to
note from these figures:
* The negative phase impulse is less than the positive phase impulse until a scaled distance of
between 1.0 and 2:0 m=kg1=3 ; depending on the street width. For the remainder of the region,
the negative impulse is greater. The exceptions are when the scaled building height is very small
(h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8 m=kg1=3 ) or effectively infinitely high. At the smallest scaled building height the
positive impulse is slightly enhanced in narrow streets, but the negative impulse remains
broadly similar to the side-on levels. The negative phase impulse in streets with effectively
infinite high facades is always less than the positive phase impulse.
* Graphs showing the collective negative phase data, similar to Fig. 11(a) are presented in
Figs. 11(b)–(d) and show that a scaled building height of 12:8 m=kg1=3 ; mentioned above,
appears to provide the limit at which the negative impulse is maximised. In all these figures, it
can be seen that the change from h=W 1=3 ¼ 0:8 through 1.6 to 3:2 m=kg1=3 corresponds,
generally speaking, to small, medium and large building heights, and the extra negative phase
impulse caused by building heights greater than h=W 1=3 ¼ 3:2 m=kg1=3 is minimal. It is
suggested that h=W 1=3 ¼ 3:2 m=kg1=3 can be considered an effective maximum for practical
purposes. This is essentially the same result as that for the positive phase impulse.
* Scaled building heights greater than 12:8 m=kg1=3 give rise to secondary expansions which
arrive at ground level at times greater than the finish time of the baseline (h ¼ infinity) negative
phase. Therefore, they appear as waves distinct from, and markedly weaker than, the baseline
waves and can probably be ignored as a consequence.
4. Implications
It is clear from the arguments of the previous sections that negative phase impulse can be a
significant, and in some cases dominant, loading mechanism when an explosive accident/incident
occurs in a built-up area. How to use this information to design building facades or assess the
hazard to occupants from the break-up of existing building facades needs to be considered.
In any given situation, the ‘‘global geometry’’, in terms of street width and building height, will
be known quantities. However, a difficulty arises in the assessment of the magnitude of a potential
explosive threat. In some cases, explosive storage and transportation scenarios, for example, the
threat will be well defined, but in most other situations assessment can only be made in very broad
terms. Given this scenario specific information, however, the graphs of scaled positive and
negative phase impulse presented above can be used to establish the maximum actual positive and
negative impulse experienced at a particular location, at ground level. Unfortunately, this
information alone is generally insufficient to form a meaningful assessment of potential building
damage. Usually, other, more detailed, information is also required, depending on the particular
form of assessment adopted.
Single degree of freedom (SDOF) mass–spring systems can be used with a description of the
blast load in time [3], which require peak positive and negative pressures and associated durations.
Although the present study has dealt exclusively with specific impulse, data for all the blast
parameters necessary for such a construction were established as a result of the analyses described
in Section 3. It should be noted, however, that values of peak pressure which were obtained from
these numerical experiments were not always well resolved.
In many situations, light cladding or glazing panels will have natural response periods which far
exceed the duration of the load, and this enables the assumption of impulsive loading. Such an
assumption might only be applicable to positive impulses, but it greatly simplifies interpretation of
scenarios in which multiple reflections occur, and it allows relatively straightforward calculation
of the response of elements for which representative stiffnesses and support conditions can be
established.
Pressure–impulse (P–I) diagrams (or iso-damage curves) are often used to predict the extent of
damage resulting from a specified blast load. Ref. [9], for example, provides P–I diagrams which
describe the resistance of many glazing systems. Such information could be used, together with the
impulse information produced by this study, to assess the damage to a glazed facade in a city
street. Again, such an approach would require knowledge of (or assumptions about) the peak
pressure, but in the absence of this detailed information, it is possible to make justifiable
estimations based on the knowledge that the reflected pressure acts as a lower bound to the street
reflected pressure. Reflected pressures are readily calculable, given the angle of incidence, from
scaled blast parameters such as those contained in ConWep [8].
5. Conclusions
The main conclusions concerning the effect of principal geometrical parameters in straight city
streets on positive and negative phase impulses at ground level from blast waves originating from
high explosive detonations are:
* Positive phase impulse is enhanced significantly above the equivalent reflected level, and the
enhancement is dependent on the street width and the building height. Scaled street widths
w=W 1=3 > 4:8 m=kg1=3 produce reflections from the far side of the street which arrive too late
and are too weak to affect the impulse on the near side. Similarly, scaled building heights
h=W 1=3 > 3:2 m=kg1=3 are effectively infinitely high. The extra enhancement to positive phase
impulse caused by higher buildings is not significant for scaled heights in excess of this.
* Negative phase impulse is affected by the presence of buildings but in a less straightforward
manner than the positive phase impulse. There is enhancement to the negative phase impulse
due to the expansion caused when the blast wave reaches the top of a building, and this is
maximised at an approximate scaled building height h=W 1=3 ¼ 12:8 m=kg1=3 : Buildings
corresponding to h=W 1=3 > 12:8 m=kg1=3 delay the arrival of the second expansion until after
the air pressure behind the initial expansion has returned to atmospheric. For practical
purposes, however, a scaled building height of h=W 1=3 ¼ 3:2 m=kg1=3 can be considered the
effective maximum.
* Beyond a scaled distance (measured along the centreline of the street) of about 2:0 m=kg1=3 the
negative phase impulse is greater than the positive phase impulse for all street widths and for all
scaled building heights h=W 1=3 o12:8 m=kg1=3 (with the possible exception of extremely low
buildings). This final important observation may go some way to explaining the anecdotal
evidence that much of the glazing in city streets is drawn into the street by the passage of a blast
wave following an explosive event. Clearly, negative phase impulse cannot be ignored in
structural design calculations and hazard assessments, because the region beyond 2:0 m=kg1=3
encompasses most of the city street.
Although many important questions remain unanswered, this study contributes to the growing
body of knowledge which describes the propagation of blast waves in a built-up area. It is
intended that the effect of more complicated geometries and the possibility of coupling P–I
damage criteria or SDOF analyses to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations will be
examined in the near future. Such an approach would provide a means of assessing the likely
damage sustained by multi-element systems such as glazed facades.
The positive and negative phase impulse information presented here is incomplete. The
suggestion above that, in many instances, impulsive loading can be assumed is not sufficient.
Complicated, long duration pressure loads, such as those at the far end of wide city streets, cannot
be treated by simple means. This is unfortunate, but it indicates that the way forward in this
subject area is to establish ever more precise loading information.
All the numerical simulations reported here required relatively large computational domains in
order to ensure that the whole of the negative phase of the blast waves was unaffected by the
presence of the boundaries. They were calculated using modest computational resources and
could usefully be recalculated using 2 or 4 times the spatial resolution. It is anticipated that the
information presented here will be updated and extended in the future.
Acknowledgements
This work was undertaken as part of the project ‘‘The Influence of Urban Geometry on Blast
Wave Resultants and Associated Building Damage’’ funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) grant reference GR/M72425.
References
[1] Dewey JM, McMillin DJ, van Netten AA. EBlastFan emergency blast expert system. Proceedings of the 15th
Military Aspects of Blast and Shock Symposium, Banff, Canada, 14–19 September 1997.
[2] Smith PD, Rose TA. The influence of urban geometry on blast wave resultants. Proceedings of the 16th Military
Aspects of Blast and Shock Symposium, Oxford, UK, 10–15 September 2000.
[3] Krauthammer T, Altenberg A. Negative phase blast effects on glass panels. Int J Impact Eng 2000;24:1–17.
[4] Rose TA. An approach to the evaluation of blast loads on finite and semi-infinite structures. PhD Thesis,
Engineering Systems Department, Cranfield University, Royal Military College of Science, February 2001.
[5] Wada Y, Liou M-S. An accurate and robust flux splitting scheme for shock and contact discontinuities. Society for
Industrial and Applied Mathematics. J Sci Comput 1997;18(3):633–57.
[6] Toro EF. Riemann solvers and numerical methods for fluid dynamics. Berlin: Springer, ISBN 3-540-61676-4, 1997.
[7] Kingery CN, Bulmash G. Airblast parameters from spherical air burst and hemispherical surface burst. US Army
Armament Research and Development Center, Technical Report ARBRL-TR-02555, 1984.
[8] Hyde DW. ConWepFconventional weapons effects. Department of the Army, Waterways Experiment Station, US
Army Corps of Engineers, PO Box 631, Vicksburg, MS 39180-0631.
[9] Glazing hazard guide: charts. SAFE/SSG, Explosion Protection, Report No. SSG/EP/3/97.

Influence of The Principal Geometrical Parameters of Straight

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Influence of The Principal Geometrical Parameters of Straight

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International Journal of Impact Engineering 27 (2002) 359–376

Inﬂuence of the principal geometrical parameters of straight

Keywords: Blast; Impulse; Streets; Building; Wave; Parameters

*Corresponding author. Tel.: 01793-785811.

2. Validation of the numerical approach

2.1. Experimental programme

corresponds to a distance R of 88 m at full scale and a scaled distance Z ¼ R=W 1=3 ¼

2.2. Numerical simulation of the validation experiments

2.3. Graphical comparison of results

2.3.1. Pressure–time histories

2.3.2. Positive phase speciﬁc impulse

(a) Time (msec) (b) Time (msec)

(c) Time (msec) (d) Time (msec)

2.3.3. Negative phase speciﬁc impulse

(a) Distance (m) (b) Distance (m)

(c) Distance (m) (d) Distance (m)

Unfortunately, negative phase impulse is notoriously diﬃcult to establish from experimental

Negative impulse (kPa-msec)

(a) Distance (m) (b) Distance (m)

(c) Distance (m)

3.1. The eﬀect of street width on positive phase impulse

Scaled impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

500 Street 500 Street

Scaled impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

500 Street 500 Street

(c) 1/3 (d) 1/3

3.2. The eﬀect of building height on positive phase impulse

3.3. Negative phase impulse

Scaled positive impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

h/W1/3 = 0.8 h/W1/3 = 0.8

Scaled impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

500 negative 500 negative

Scaled impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

h/W1/3 = 0.8 h/W1/3 = 6.4

(c) 1/3 1/3

Scaled negative impulse (kPa-msec/kg1/3)

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