Video detail:The US Army Engineer Research & Development Center’s (ERDC) Blast Load Simulator (BLS) Facility consists of a target assembly building, conference room, control room and an underground protective enclosure to house the BLS. The BLS is a compressed gas driven shock tube that allows researchers to investigate blast response of structural components with a peak reflected pressure of up to 80 psi. The Facility has demonstrated the ability to replicate high explosive blast loads accurately over a broad range of interest, a substantial economic benefit and an instrumentation capability superior to that available in typical field environments.
Blast Load Simulator (BLS)
The BLS Facility was utilized by Vanadium Technology Program in a research project evaluating the blast response of high strength low alloy vanadium microalloyed (HSLA-V) steel rebar. The waveform is created by confining compressed gases in a pressure vessel which upon release creates a blast wave that propagates through a series of expansion ducts to the target vessel where the specimen is mounted. High speed cameras and a fully instrumented target vessel document the blast wave and dynamic response of the specimen.
