Blasting/Explosions simulator for PC

[nuclearattack]

I thought a lot about a blasting/explosions simulator for PC, it could be usefull or simply interesting for detonations tests and similar jobs.
I'm not very expert in computer programming but i know some friends that can help me in this project.
To do this i need to know some points:

1.What kind of features do you want? What, the simulator, should be able to calculate?
In my opinion i'm interested in a graphic interface able to represent the explosion in real time. The simulator should represents the shockwave propagation, the thermal gradient (i mean the temperature of the explosion and of the air in the nearby), and also the pressure gradient. Of course the simulation should be in agreement with the physics's laws.
The simulator should have a series of tables about the various kind of explosives with all their characteristics like: VOD, specific energy released, pressure and bla bla bla...
I think the tables could be usefull for the user.
The simulator should calculate all of this features also in different kind of materials like water (for underwater detonation tests), steel, concrete and it could be usefull to add a variable parameter where the user can input a specific density of another kind of material.
I want to add also some "security features", for example the minimum distance to avoid the drums rupture with a certain kind of explosive and quantity specified by the user.
It should be in Italian, English and German (but only with the help of my friend Myrol!).

2.I need your suggestions/help! I need all the formulas involved in the simulation, i need all your knowledge about the theory of detonation and blasting agents.
This is a big project that can be an opportunity to work everybody together, think about the knowledge! We can learn a lot about the detonation theory following this project and sharing our knowledge and capabilities!
This is the best forum on this kind of topic and this project can become a real pride reason! The only forum that has a simulator!

I think the simulator should be free and shared by p2p and i want to add the nicknames of all the members that contributes on this project.

Well...what do you think? It's a good idea?
All contributes are wellcome!

p.s. How is my english? I'm not sure if my sentences are well done but since i love english i want to write as better as i can.

[Ropik]

I would want simulator with listed factors for materials(few types of steels, wood, concrete, earth...) and with ability to determine best charge for some object (note that I'm more interested in demolitions than in pure science of explosion), with ability to make slow movie of the detonation (probable type of damage to the object, spalling etc.). Safety features are very good idea IMHO.
I think that this is bright idea. If you will need some theory of special charges and similar topics, I'll try to help you if you contact me on DanGun@seznam.cz. Good luck!

[nuclearattack]

Well Ropik i have to make a lot of search but i'll try to do my best.
Your feature is interesting but i think that is difficult to apply, however there should be some empiricist data to take as a point of reference.
I have some of this data and some formulas for demolition charges so i have something to start.
Well...i'm going to e-mail to you for some help on special charges.

[Hobbit Porn]

Simulators already exist

I know they are used in the mining sector...ans I think FEMA released one a few years ago, called ARCHIE or something, can't quite remember now..but hopefuly this can help jog someones memory

H.Porn

[mrcfitzgerald]

The best formula that I can think of is simply BlastR=(Y/1000/2000)^0.33*.9*1000, where Y=Yeild is in pounds and Blast radius is in meters. (I had to adjust a few values, as the original equation, y^0.33*.71 was meant for nuclear explosions, and y was originally equal to kilotons.) Anyway, having imput a few values, the model appears correct. For example: a detonation of 250lbs TnT at proper height will produce damage to normal single-family homes to a radius of 46 meters, or 150 feet. This appears to be in agreement with The Los Alamos Primer which also states that a standard 500lb gp bomb containing 250lbs of TnT damages to a radius of 150ft. Furthermore, in order to obtain differing radi for differing explosive compounds, it seems that imputing the equivalent in TNT works. (So 4000lbs of Anfo is equivalent to ~2000lbs of TNT.)
Finally, it is intereting to note that the .9 constant is variable depending on the damage. So, if you wished to find how far out the radius extends for demolition of concrete structures, the constant would be around .25-.3. If you wondered how far away the explosion may break windows, the constant is around 2.2-2.55.

When calculating ever-so-usefull things such as crater radius, a slightly different model needs to be used. For surface bursts, the crater radius is equal to 60*(Y/1000/2000)^0.3 and crater depth is roughly equal too 30*(Y/1000/2000)^0.3. Where Y=pounds and the result is in feet (not meters). So, if 1 Ton of TNT was detonated at surface-level, the resulting crater should be roughly 15 feet in diameter and a meter deep -seems close enough, could be a tad larger though.

It is more difficult to calculate craters for underground detonations, but a detonation will crush rock to a distance of 50*(Y/1000/2000)^0.33 where Y= pounds and the result is in meters. Furthermore, at proper burial depth, this equation models the size of the crater formed. For example, 4000lbs of Anfo detonated at proper depth carves out a crater 33 feet in diameter. To determine the proper depth for any given detonation the equation is 30*(Y/1000/2000)^.33 where the answer is in meters. So the proper burial depth for one ton of TNT is 3 meters or 10 feet.
To determine the radius of damage caused by underground shock, the equation appears to be 70*(Y/1000/2000)^0.33. So a ton of TNT would cause severe ground shock damage to a radius of 7.2 meters, or 23.5 feet.

I have not found to much data on subsurface water bursts, I will see if I can find a model though.

[Skean Dhu]

a word of caution:
I would highly suggest you either (a: get your rear in gear and get this project out when you say it will, be or (b: stop conversation and delete your post about this.

because the last person who decided to help the forum by making some great new fancy product got banned when they never delivered. now if you can get it done and make it work how you want it to more power to you, just don't say you'll do it and then take years to finish it as someone may take this as a sign of the project dying.

ps what language will this be programed in?

[Real_Wrestler]

I saw this post and i for one think it would be help in several ways. I was wondering if you thought at all about using Parts from the program "Maya".

This is the program that was used ito make the movies Toy Story, and Ice Age. I have Maya 6.0 unlimited and within this program it already has the cappability to produce realistic explosion situations, and the amazing ability to incorporate real-world physics, and different material types. However i don't know if it would be able to accomplish everything wanted, I do know however that Enviroments you create in maya can be exported to other programs, possibly the one you want to make? Was wondering if you had thought about using maya at all?

[nuclearattack]

To MRCfitzgerald:
thanks very much for your help, i copied your formulas in a notebook where i'm making the project. Continue with your research if you find some new concepts i'll take care of it!

To Skean Dhu:
i'm not agree with this "easy banning tactic", i really don't understand why banning a member for a good idea. There is no reason to ban a member for this because if i had a stupid idea it's sufficient to close the thread.
I have a project in my mind that isn't impossible to do and according to the roguesci statement (spreading knowledge for free) it should be interesting and usefull to everybody!
If this project will stop it isn't a tragedy! There are thread speaking about "guided missile", "VX agent" and other hard subjects that probably will never developed by someone in his home!
The science is an adventure, sometimes you reach good results, sometimes you make a hole in the water!
Of course this doesn't mean that you can start a lot of crazy threads regarding impossible projects! However i think that this is a good project but if a moderator or Megalomania thinks that this is a stupid useless project he can close the thread without any problem. There is no reason to ban me.

To real wrestler:
i don't know Maya because i use 3DS MAX 6 but this programs are not very able to do simulations. My simulator should be more simple and schematic, FX effects and beautifull graphic is not needed and complicates the simulator making. Think to this simulator like a kind of CAD! The graphic interface should only represent the shockwave with a series of rings with a scale to read the values and so on for the temperature and pressure.

I'm designing on paper the main window and when it will be completed i'll post a small picture of it to make understand how it will be.

[nswsps]

Not really on topic, but there was a simulation program (java applet) that dealt with nuclear explosions of variable yields as well as multiple other common used mass extermination weaponry. Wish I still had the URL, if anyone out there has it, feel free to post it, I'm sure we'd all have plenty of fun nuking our suburbs.

[nbk2000]

The one person who claimed to have made VX, was also banned for being an idiot (real) for having an "accident" (real or imagined) with it and asking us for help in covering it up.

If you say you're going to do something, I want progress reports and measurable progress, not vague allusions to "soon".

[Hobbit Porn]

From the website : http://hazmat.dot.gov/risk_tools.htm

The Automated Resource for Chemical Hazard Incident Evaluation (or ARCHIE) was developed jointly by the Department of Transportation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989. It allows the quick prediction of hazard zones surrounding the release of flammable, explosive, or toxic materials. The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety is considering updating ARCHIE to provide a graphical user interface for use in the MS Windows environment and to make it more user friendly by including a chemical data base.

Not sure if this is the sort of thing you meant, but I can remember some one (not on this board) using it to back up a conspiracy theory for the oklahoma bombing because this program predicts a different outcome to what happened.

[nbk2000]

...............

H.Porn


Self-signing your post with your username is not permitted here. Correct your error.

Though self-signing of PGP keys is always encouraged. :)

[SweNMFan]

I have been searching for a simulator for a while and only found 2 that looks intresting.. LS-Dyna(http://www.lstc.com/master.htm) and Autodyn(http://www.autodyn.com/)..
I found LS-Dyna on edonkey but the learning curve is way to steep.. well I will have to continue blow up things for real then ;)

[SweNMFan]

Found this page by accident..
http://patriot.net/~tvalesky/752/752.html

Tom Valesky's CS-752 Project page

For this class, I studied the problem of simulating explosions in realtime. This page contains the results of that study.
The paper
The source code for the project

The source to a OpenGL explosion simulator :D

[nuclearattack]

I have contacted two friends of mine (they are able to program with c++ and delphi) and they can help me in my project, this sunday i will have a meeting with them and i will show to them the details. Good! If everything goes on i will have a alpha version in my hands in a few weeks!

To SweNMfan:
i'm downloading LS-Dyna, i don't know this program but it should be usefull, about the learning curve i found some tutorials and manuals on emule...maybe they could explain better this program.

[ProdigyChild]

My wishes:

- open source rather than "this forum's private program"
- program input by simple text file description
- program output in a machine readable format
- not only a program but a library for such problems
- POSIX-compliance, if not a Unix program at all
- written in C++ of course ;)
- UI written in Java or Qt
- calculating shaped charges, FAEs,....

Of course you might provide a user interface and a visualization tool, but this should DEFINITELY not be the first step. The real work is the calculation and this has to be done fast, stable and correct (as far as we know the physics).
Perhaps I would offer my help in this area, but don't like to promise this now. I've done a few numeric simulations so far and I know that this is a challenging task! Overflow, Underflow, Precision problems, etc.....

Start at small scale! Then grow.