Papers by Author: Katsumi Katoh

Abstract: The development study of blast containment vessels for anti-terrorism has been conducted. The goal of this study is to develop safe disposal vessel for 10 kg of explosives. Considering of the use at the airport or railroad stations, it needs to be more compact compared with the conventional explosion chamber. By introducing both the internal structure and attenuation technology in the vessel, sufficient blast proof ability to contain internal explosion is realized. The blast containment vessel can be used repeatedly by exchanging the internal structure. To realize these concepts, model experiments were carried out using high speed photography, strain and pressure measurements. By introducing these technologies, the vessel for the 1 kg of explosive materials has been made, and the experiments employing 1 kg C4 explosive have been conducted. Finally, the compact blast containment vessel for 10 kg explosives was made, and its blast proof ability was shown by the internal blast test.

Abstract: To obtain a better understanding of detonation properties of ammonium nitrate (AN) and activated carbon (AC) mixtures, steel tube test was carried out for stoichiometric composition of powdered AN and AC mixtures and the detonation velocity and the pressure profile were measured. Based on the results obtained the relation between the detonation velocity and the peak pressure was discussed with the theoretically predicted values which were obtained by the thermohydrodynamic CHEETAH code with the BKWC equation of state. The measured detonation velocity and peak pressure were far below the theoretically predicted values and the non-ideal detonation behaviour was confirmed.

Abstract: To obtain a better understanding of detonation properties of ammonium nitrate (AN) and activated carbon (AC) mixtures, steel tube test with several diameters was carried out for various compositions of powdered AN and AC mixtures and the influence of the charge diameter on the detonation velocity was investigated. The results of test indicated that the detonation velocity increased with the increase of the charge diameter. The experimentally observed values were far below the theoretically predicted values made by the thermohydrodynamic CHEETAH code and they showed so-called non-ideal detonation. The extrapolated detonation velocity of stoichiometric composition to the infinite diameter showed a good agreement with the theoretical value.

Abstract: To design a cylindrically-shape explosion container, the experiment of a high explosive charge detonating in a steel pipe has been performed. The charges, composition C4, were positioned at the geometrical centre of the steel pipe. Two kinds of measurements were performed on the steel pipe: circumferential strain and outside diameter. The strain-time history shows that the pipe structure vibrates and the vibration is decaying. It has been reported that this type of response is explained as the mechanism of strain growth, and this problem is taken up to verify computer simulation in this study. This simulation code could be strong tool to estimate the geometries of the explosion container. The relationship among the pipe parameter, explosive charge and pipe’s final deformation is proposed as practical guidance for predicting radius and thickness of the pipe correspond to the level of internal blast loading.