UC San Diego

The numerical simulation of air-blast--structure interaction (ABSI) is a highly challenging and complicated problem. It requires an accurate and robust fluid solver for the Navier-Stokes equations of compressible flow, an advanced computational method that can capture possible structural disintegration, large inelastic deformations and multi-body interaction, as well as a sophisticated fluid--structure interaction (FSI) technique that ensures the correct coupling of the two subsystems.

In this work, a new immersed approach for ABSI is presented. The new method leads to an a-priori monolithic FSI formulation with intrinsic contact detection between solid objects, and without formal restrictions on their motions. The proposed formulation is verified against benchmark problems and experimental results, and is applied to the simulation of a concrete wall subjected to blast loading. A new hyperbolic phase field model for brittle fracture, which eliminates the well-known shortcomings of local damage models, is then developed and coupled with the ABSI formulation. Several numerical examples that demonstrate the capabilities of the method are provided.