Monday  |  Salon 13  |  02:30 PM–02:50 PM

#15697, Dynamic Behavior of Lungs Subjected to Underwater Explosions

An experimental investigation was performed on an artificial human lung to evaluate its response and behavior after being subjected to an underwater explosive blast. The experiments were performed using a 63 mg TNT equivalent explosive charge placed 0.5 meters from the lungs at different locations. The specimens were to-scale lung models representative of a 50th-percentile male. The experiments were performed on an 8200 liters water tank. The artificial lungs were instrumented with internal pressure sensors to record changes in the cavity pressure and strains for a specimen with a surrounding ribcage. Additionally, the underwater tank was instrumented with underwater blast transducers and high-speed cameras to measure the pressure from the explosive charge and record the lung deformation history obtained through high-speed images and digital image correlation. Results show a significantly delayed response to the underwater blast due to the lungs’ inertial effects. In addition, the lung response was indifferent to the charge location. The lungs initially contract after the underwater shock, followed by an expansion showing a 50% change in relative volume within 7 ms. Results and observations qualitatively relate to the types of injuries observed during preexisting case studies.

Helio Matos   University of Rhode Island
Tyler Chu   University of Rhode Island
Brandon Casper   Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory
Matthew Babina   Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory
Matthew Daley   Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory
Arun Shukla   University of Rhode Island