University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

An investigation of blast wave transmission through rodent simulants

Butler, Austin Josiah

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109522

Description

Title
An investigation of blast wave transmission through rodent simulants
Author(s)
Butler, Austin Josiah
Issue Date
2020-12-04
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
  • Glumac, Nick G
  • Krier, Herman
Department of Study
Mechanical Sci & Engineering
Discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • blast wave
  • explosives
  • pressure measurement
  • rodent testing
Abstract
The most prevalent injuries incurred by today’s warfighters are traumatic brain injuries caused by exposure to explosively generated blast waves. The protection of soldiers is paramount, so research into the effect of blast waves on the brain and body has been ongoing so that more effective protective equipment can be created. Historically, this research has been done by subjecting live rodents to blast waves and analyzing them post-mortem. There are many drawbacks to live animal testing that make a surrogate test article an attractive prospect. The goals of the current work are to 1.) develop a bio-fidelic instrumented surrogate rat model for use in blast testing and 2.) validate a computational model’s ability to accurately predict the propagation of blast waves throughout the surrogate rat. To validate the computational model, experiments have been performed in which the pressure-time history is measured at locations inside simplified rat surrogates. These simplified surrogates include spheres made from tissue substitute, multi-material spheres with an inner core of tissue substitute and an outer shell of bone substitute, and ogive shaped articles made from tissue simulant. For simple shapes, the computational model has been shown to match experimental results reasonably well. More complex shapes are planned to put more strain on the computational model for stronger validation.
Graduation Semester
2020-12
Type of Resource
Thesis
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109522
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2020 Austin Josiah Butler

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