Field test and numerical research on explosion crater in calcareous sand

Abstract The explosion in foundation poses a significant threat to people and buildings. Currently, a unified empirical prediction formula for crater in calcareous foundation has not been established. In this paper, analyzed the types and sizes of explosion crater with different scaled burial depths through field tests and numerical simulation. In field tests, revealed the influence of scaled burial depth on the type and size of explosion crater and obtained the critical scaled burial depth for three different types of explosion craters, namely ejecta-type crater, collapse-type crater and covert explosion. Through the Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic-Finite Element Method (SPH-FEM) coupling algorithm, studied the movement trajectory of sand particles around the explosive at the moment of explosion in detail. Based on the field tests and numerical simulation results, it was found that calcareous sand has a smaller specific gravity due to its own characteristics, and the size of the explosion crater is larger than that of quartz sand at the same scaled burial depth. Obtained an empirical formula for crater in calcareous sand. Which can quickly predict the size of explosion crater and provide calculation basis for explosion resistant design in calcareous sand foundations.