Underwater Demolition of Steel Rods by Contact Explosions

Abstract

This research is dedicated to the effect of underwater contact explosions on steel rods. The work is inspired by problems the Dutch Army Engineers experienced with the effective demolition of steel structures under water. Selected parameters which could affect incomplete demolition were investigated experimentally. These parameters included the amount of explosive, the contact geometry and the thickness of the spacer between explosive and steel. For the experiments a plastic explosive and cylindrical steel bars of 100 cm length and 5 cm diameter were used. A main cause of failing demolition can be attributed to insufficiently following the guidelines. The explosive charge should be in close contact with the target material. Furthermore, the optimal geometric arrangement of the plastic explosives was found to be a 120 degrees covering around the steel bars. The latter strategy achieved a demolition of the rods at half the amount of explosive as prescribed.