Simulation of the VLIP Test and Presentation of a Method to Determine the TNT Equivalency of Explosive Materials

The VLIP is a usefull system to compare the high explosives efficiency. This device includes a metallic plate which located above the explosive material and upthrown vertically due to the explosion. The exerted impulse on the plate is used as a meter to determine the explosives efficiency. Since the VLIP system has a low cost, in this paper a method based on VLIP is presented to determine the TNT equivalency of explosives. In this order airblast near the VLIP plate was simulated numerically at first and then compared with experimental results to confirm the simulation accuracy. Thereafter, relation between the exerted impulse on the VLIP plate and TNT equivalency of explosive material was studied. The results showed that VLIP could not be directly utilized for determination of the explosives TNT equivalency. In fact, performing of some explosion tests on the TNT samples with various weights and recording of the exerted impulse on VLIP plate is essential. These tests help to calibrate the VLIP and then it could be used to determine the TNT equivalence of other explosive materials. In the present paper, some equations were derived based on the mentioned method to determine the TNT equivalency of new explosives by VLIP apparatus.