Assessment of Blast Pressure using Cantilevers

History has shown that the effects of explosion targeted at civilian and military facilities cause widespread damage to infrastructure, inflict human casualties and generate confusion in peacetime. Although such events are tragic, a detailed study of the post-detonation effects on structures offers valuable lessons for engineers. One simple device generally overlooked by investigators is the response of cantilever structures such as lamp-posts or traffic sign-posts after an explosion has occurred. These are vital structures for the engineer to determine weapon yield. In this way, the integrity of the damaged structure and other undamaged buildings in the vicinity can be assessed. This paper outlines a preliminary study to identify a passive economical mode of assessing blast wave characteristics using a simple solid circular aluminium cantilever. A review of two conventional approaches to assess the blast overpressure from an explosion using a cantilever is presented. The development of mathematical formulations and design of simple cantilevers to measure air-blast pressure is discussed. A comparative analysis is provided to enable designers to better appreciate the significance of this analytical tool in blast pressure assessment.