The Response of Rigid Plates to Deep Water Blast: Analytical Models and Finite Element Predictions

One-dimensional analytical models and finite element calculations are employed to predict the response of a rigid plate, supported by a linear spring, to loading by a planar pressure shock wave traveling in water or in a similar inviscid liquid. Two problems are considered: (i) a spring-supported rigid plate in contact with fluid on one side and (ii) a spring-supported rigid plate in contact with fluid on both sides; for both problems, plates are loaded by an exponentially decaying shock wave from one side. Cavitation phenomena in the liquid, as well as the effect of the initial static fluid pressure, are explicitly included in the analytical models and their predictions are found to be in excellent agreement with those from FE calculations. The validated analytical models are used to determine the sensitivity of the plate’s response to mass, spring stiffness and initial static pressure.