ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: In case of terrorist attacks or other intentional actions using explosives, the information that can be obtained from the crater generated by the blast waves is extremely important. For example, the focus of the explosion and the mass of the explosive used in the attack can be deduced examining the location and dimensions of the crater. However, studies about craters produced by explosions on or above ground level, which would be the case when the explosive charge is situated in a vehicle, are rarely found in the open technical literature. On the other hand, the crater generated by landmines and other underground explosives is at present also object of study. Experimental and numerical studies related to craters produced by small to large explosive loads located on, above and under the ground were presented in previous papers. In this work, a summary of the main results jointly with the new findings about this topic are presented. The numerical model, as well as the analysis procedure, were validated against experimental observations of the crater diameters. Results of numerical tests performed with different amounts of explosive on, above and under the soil surface are presented. The influence of pavement, vehicle and other effects are analyzed and discussed.
