Study on the explosion load characteristics of aluminized explosives near the wall in deep water

In this study, experiments on underwater explosions near a wall at water depths of 200–500 m were conducted in a pressure tank using 5 g aluminized explosives with varying aluminum powder content (0%–15%). The shock wave load, bubble contraction and collapse load, jet load, and impulse on the wall were measured. A numerical model simulating underwater explosions at depths ranging from 200 to 2000 m was developed, and the experimental data were used to validate the model's accuracy and the reliability of the simulation results. The effects of water depth and aluminum powder content on explosion load characteristics near the wall and on jet evolution were analyzed. The results showed that for the shock wave load, as water depth increased, the energy released by the afterburning reaction of the aluminum powder also increased. However, the dissipation of the shock wave energy exceeded the increase in peak overpressure, resulting in a net decrease in the shock wave load. The increase in aluminum powder content extended the positive pressure duration of the shock wave, thereby increasing the impulse of the shock wave. For the jet load, when the jet was in the same phase of bubble pulsation, an increase in water depth primarily increased the peak overpressure of the jet load, while an increase in aluminum powder content mainly extended the jet duration, thereby increasing both the impulse and the damage ability of the jet load.