Patent ID: 8200464
Filing Date: 2012-06-12
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method executed in a computer system for simulating an explosion in a time-marching simulation using a finite element analysis (FEA) comprising: receiving a definition of at least one structure with surrounding fluid and a set of properties of a blast source of the explosion in a computer system that has a finite element analysis application module installed thereon; creating a FEA model having a first group of finite elements representing the at least one structure, a second group of finite elements representing the surrounding fluid, and a layer of ambient elements as an outer boundary of the second group, where each of the ambient elements contains a segment facing the blast source and is associated with a respective adjoining finite element in the second group; calculating, at the segment of said each of the ambient element, a blast pressure and corresponding blast wind velocity based on a set of empirical blast equations; initially assigning the blast wind velocity as a set of nodal velocities of said each of the ambient elements in a time-marching simulation that contains a plurality of solution cycles; obtaining a fluid-structure interaction result in a current solution cycle of the time-marching simulation by performing a mesh smoothing operation of the FEA model, mapping the fluid-structure interaction result to the smoothed FEA model and calculating a relative volume of each finite element of the second group using an isentropic relationship; and displaying, in an output device coupled to the computer system, the fluid-structure interaction result of any or all of the solution cycles of the time-marching simulation of the explosion as desired after the time-marching simulation has completed.