Hari Arora

Modelling the behaviour of composite sandwich structures when subject to air blast loading

Large-scale glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) sandwich structures (1.6 m x 1.3 m) were subject to explosive air blast (100 kg TNT equivalent) at stand-off distances of 14 m. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to obtain full-field data for the rear-face of each deforming target. A steel plate of comparable mass per unit area was also subjected to the same blast conditions for comparison. The experimental data was then verified with finite element models generated in Abaqus/Explicit. Close agreement was obtained between the numerical and experimental results, confirming that the CFRP panels had a superior blast performance to the GFRP panels. Moreover all composite targets sustained localised failures (that were more severe in the GFRP targets) but retained their original shape post blast. The rear-skins remained intact for each composite target with core shear failure present.

Compressive strength after blast of sandwich composite materials

Composite sandwich materials have yet to be widely adopted in the construction of naval vessels despite their excellent strength-to-weight ratio and low radar return. One barrier to their wider use is our limited understanding of their performance when subjected to air blast. This paper focuses on this problem and specifically the strength remaining after damage caused during an explosion. Carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite skins on a styrene–acrylonitrile (SAN) polymer closed-cell foam core are the primary composite system evaluated. Glass-fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite skins were also included for comparison in a comparable sandwich configuration. Full-scale blast experiments were conducted, where 1.6×1.3 m sized panels were subjected to blast of a Hopkinson–Cranz scaled distance of 3.02 m kg−1/3, 100 kg TNT equivalent at a stand-off distance of 14 m. This explosive blast represents a surface blast threat, where the shockwave propagates in air towards the naval vessel. Hopkinson was the first to investigate the characteristics of this explosive air-blast pulse (Hopkinson 1948 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 89, 411–413 (doi:10.1098/rspa.1914.0008)). Further analysis is provided on the performance of the CFRP sandwich panel relative to the GFRP sandwich panel when subjected to blast loading through use of high-speed speckle strain mapping. After the blast events, the residual compressive load-bearing capacity is investigated experimentally, using appropriate loading conditions that an in-service vessel may have to sustain. Residual strength testing is well established for post-impact ballistic assessment, but there has been less research performed on the residual strength of sandwich composites after blast.

Prolonged but not short duration blast waves elicit acute inflammation in a rodent model of primary blast limb trauma

BACKGROUND Blast injuries from conventional and improvised explosive devices account for 75% of injuries from current conflicts; over 70% of injuries involve the limbs. Variable duration and magnitude of blast wave loading occurs in real-life explosions and is hypothesised to cause different injuries. While a number of in vivo models report the inflammatory response to blast injuries, the extent of this response has not been investigated with respect to the duration of the primary blast wave. The relevance is that explosions in open air are of short duration compared to those in confined spaces. METHODS Hindlimbs of adult Sprauge-Dawley rats were subjected to focal isolated primary blast waves of varying overpressure (1.8-3.65kPa) and duration (3.0-11.5ms), utilising a shock tube and purpose-built experimental rig. Rats were monitored during and after the blast. At 6 and 24h after exposure, blood, lungs, liver and muscle tissues were collected and prepared for histology and flow cytometry. RESULTS At 6h, increases in circulating neutrophils and CD43Lo/His48Hi monocytes were observed in rats subjected to longer-duration blast waves. This was accompanied by increases in circulating pro-inflammatory chemo/cytokines KC and IL-6. No changes were observed with shorter-duration blast waves irrespective of overpressure. In all cases, no histological damage was observed in muscle, lung or liver. By 24h post-blast, all inflammatory parameters had normalised. CONCLUSIONS We report the development of a rodent model of primary blast limb trauma that is the first to highlight an important role played by blast wave duration and magnitude in initiating acute inflammatory response following limb injury in the absence of limb fracture or penetrating trauma. The combined biological and mechanical method developed can be used to further understand the complex effects of blast waves in a range of different tissues and organs in vivo.

On the behaviour of lung tissue under tension and compression

Lung injuries are common among those who suffer an impact or trauma. The relative severity of injuries up to physical tearing of tissue have been documented in clinical studies. However, the specific details of energy required to cause visible damage to the lung parenchyma are lacking. Furthermore, the limitations of lung tissue under simple mechanical loading are also not well documented. This study aimed to collect mechanical test data from freshly excised lung, obtained from both Sprague-Dawley rats and New Zealand White rabbits. Compression and tension tests were conducted at three different strain rates: 0.25, 2.5 and 25 min−1. This study aimed to characterise the quasi-static behaviour of the bulk tissue prior to extending to higher rates. A nonlinear viscoelastic analytical model was applied to the data to describe their behaviour. Results exhibited asymmetry in terms of differences between tension and compression. The rabbit tissue also appeared to exhibit stronger viscous behaviour than the rat tissue. As a narrow strain rate band is explored here, no conclusions are being drawn currently regarding the rate sensitivity of rat tissue. However, this study does highlight both the clear differences between the two tissue types and the important role that composition and microstructure can play in mechanical response.

Evaluating Primary Blast Effects In Vitro

Exposure to blast events can cause severe trauma to vital organs such as the lungs, ears, and brain. Understanding the mechanisms behind such blast-induced injuries is of great importance considering the recent trend towards the use of explosives in modern warfare and terrorist-related incidents. To fully understand blast-induced injury, we must first be able to replicate such blast events in a controlled environment using a reproducible method. In this technique using shock tube equipment, shock waves at a range of pressures can be propagated over live cells grown in 2D, and markers of cell viability can be immediately analyzed using a redox indicator assay and the fluorescent imaging of live and dead cells. This method demonstrated that increasing the peak blast overpressure to 127 kPa can stimulate a significant drop in cell viability when compared to untreated controls. Test samples are not limited to adherent cells, but can include cell suspensions, whole-body and tissue samples, through minor modifications to the shock tube setup. Replicating the exact conditions that tissues and cells experience when exposed to a genuine blast event is difficult. Techniques such as the one presented in this article can help to define damage thresholds and identify the transcriptional and epigenetic changes within cells that arise from shock wave exposure.

Microstructural Consequences of Blast Lung Injury Characterized with Digital Volume Correlation

This study focuses on microstructural changes that occur within the mammalian lung when subject to blast and how these changes influence strain distributions within the tissue. Shock tube experiments were performed to generate the blast injured specimens (cadaveric Sprague-Dawley rats). Blast overpressures of 100 kPa and 180 kPa were studied. Synchrotron tomography imaging was used to capture volumetric image data of lungs. Specimens were ventilated using a custom-built system to study multiple inflation pressures during each tomography scan. This data enabled the first digital volume correlation (DVC) measurements in lung tissue to be performed. Quantitative analysis was performed to describe the damaged architecture of the lung. No clear changes in the microstructure of the tissue morphology were observed due to controlled low to moderate level blast exposure. However, significant focal sites of injury were observed using DVC, which allowed detection of bias and concentration in the patterns of strain level. Morphological analysis corroborated the findings, illustrating that the focal damage caused by a blast can give rise to diffuse influence across the tissue. It is important to characterise the non-instantly fatal doses of blast, given the transient nature of blast lung in the clinical setting. This research has highlighted the need for better understanding of focal injury and its zone of influence (alveolar inter-dependency and neighbouring tissue burden as a result of focal injury). Digital volume correlation techniques show great promise as a tool to advance this endeavour, providing a new perspective on lung mechanics post-blast.

CD43Lo classical monocytes participate in the cellular immune response to isolated primary blast lung injury.

BACKGROUND Understanding of the cellular immune response to primary blast lung injury (PBLI) is limited, with only the neutrophil response well documented. Moreover, its impact on the immune response in distal organs remains poorly understood. In this study, a rodent model of isolated primary blast injury was used to investigate the acute cellular immune response to isolated PBLI in the circulation and lung, including the monocyte response, and investigate distal subacute immune effects in the spleen and liver 6 hours after injury. METHODS Rats were subjected to a shock wave (~135 kPa overpressure, 2 ms duration) inducing PBLI or sham procedure. Rat physiology was monitored, and at 1, 3, and 6 hours thereafter, blood, lung, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected and analyzed by flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and histologic examination. In addition, at 6 hours, spleen and liver were collected and analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS Lung histology confirmed pulmonary barotrauma and inflammation. This was associated with rises in CXCL-1, interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor &agr; and albumin protein in the BALF. Significant acute increases in blood and lung neutrophils and CD43Lo/His48Hi (classical) monocytes/macrophages were detected. No significant changes were seen in blood or lung “nonclassical” monocyte and in natural killler, B, or T cells. In the BALF, significant increases were seen in neutrophils, CD43Lo monocyte-macrophages and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. Significant increases in CD43Lo and Hi monocyte-macrophages were detected in the spleen at 6 hours. CONCLUSION This study reveals a robust and selective response of CD43Lo/His48Hi (classical) monocytes, in addition to neutrophils, in blood and lung tissue following PBLI. An increase in monocyte-macrophages was also observed in the spleen at 6 hours. This profile of immune cells in the blood and BALF could present a new research tool for translational studies seeking to monitor, assess, or attenuate the immune response in blast-injured patients.

Blast Loading of Sandwich Structures and Composite Tubes

This chapter reviews blast impact experimentation on glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) sandwich composite materials and laminate composite tubes. Explosive charges of 0.64–100 kg TNT equivalent were used during these air- and underwater-blast tests. The difference in response and damage inflicted from underwater- and air-blast loading was assessed from strain-field measurements and post-blast specimen analysis. Procedures for monitoring the structural response of such materials during blast events have been devised. High-speed photography was employed during the air-blast loading of GFRP and CFRP sandwich panels, in conjunction with digital image correlation (DIC), to monitor the deformation of these structures under shock loading. Failure mechanisms have been revealed using DIC and confirmed in post-test sectioning. The improved performance of composite sandwich structures with CFRP skins compared to GFRP equivalent constructions is demonstrated for air-blast experiments. Strain gauges were used to monitor the structural response of similar sandwich materials and GFRP tubular laminates during underwater shocks. The effect of the supporting/backing medium (air or water) of the target facing the shock has been identified during these studies. Mechanisms of failure have been established such as core crushing, skin/core cracking, delamination and fibre breakage. Strain gauge data supported the mechanisms for such damage. A transition in behaviour was observed in the sandwich panels when subject to an underwater blast as opposed to an air-blast load. Damage mechanisms notably shifted from distributed core shear failure originating from regions of high shear in air blast to global core crushing in underwater blast. The full-scale experimental results presented here will assist in the development of analytical and computational models. Furthermore, the research highlights the importance of boundary conditions with regards to blast resistant design.

Blast Performance and Damage Assessment of Composite Sandwich Structures

This chapter reviews blast experiments that have been carried out on composite sandwich panels with glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) face-sheets, carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) face-sheets and face-sheets containing a mixture of fiber fabrics. The panels were subjected to explosive charges ranging from 1.28 to 100 kg TNT equivalent during the air and underwater blast tests. The difference in panel response was recorded using high-speed photography and digital image correlation (DIC) during the air blast tests. More conventional instrumentation using strain gauges was required for the underwater blast tests. Following each experiment, the panel damage was analyzed and compared either visually or using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning. The addition of polypropylene (PP) Innegra interlayers into a GFRP front face-sheet has been shown to be advantageous during air blast loading. Due to the increased thickness of the front face-sheet, the panel deflects less and experiences less front face-sheet damage. The replacement of GFRP plies with aramid plies during underwater blast loading was shown to be detrimental to the panel performance. The panel suffered from more severe damage compared to a fully GFRP panel. The comparison of CFRP against GFRP panels during underwater blast revealed that the CFRP has a greater stiffness but this result in greater face-sheet debonding due to its lower strain to failure. These experiments have shown that an optimal blast resilience response could be achieved through the combination of different fiber fabrics.

Physical Models: Organ Models for Primary Blast

With primary blast, when a shock wave hits the body, some of the energy is reflected and some absorbed by the body. As tissue within the body possesses both elastic and viscous properties (as well as some organs being multi-phasic in nature), their reactions to blast loading is complicated and difficult to predict. Different parts of the body, specifically organs, react differently to impulsive loading. This is due to a combination of their unique structure, which responds in a certain way to a mechanical stimulus, as well as the unique stress-strain state experienced in that part of the body, due to a given blast wave profile and the support conditions of that organ. This can lead to local injury development within a given organ resulting in consequences to the system as a whole (e.g. inflammation) or with damage mechanisms being interwoven and superposing. Multiple injury sites generate increased burden on the system leading to added complications in their treatment. Although in-vivo blast models continue to dominate the existing literature, these models tend to analyse whole body responses and sometimes fail to identify physical injury at the tissue level. Isolated organ experiments, termed ex-vivo models, maintain the architecture and functionality of the tissue for a short period of time and constitute a close representation of the in-vivo state [1]. This section focusses on the work assessing primary blast evaluation of the body at an organ level.