Analytical modeling of the elastic structural response of tubes to internal detonation loading

Abstract The internal detonation loading of cylindrical shells involves loads that propagate at high speeds. Since the speed of the gaseous detonation can be comparable to the flexural-wave-group speed, the excitations of flexural waves in the tube wall become significant. Flexural waves can result in high strains, which may exceed the equivalent static strains (caused by the same nominal loading pressure) by up to a factor of 4. This paper presents a new analytical model for the transient elastodynamic structural response of cylindrical shells with finite length to internal detonation loading. It is shown that, due to the consideration of the effects of transverse shear and rotary inertia, the predictions of dynamic structural response of tubes provided by this model are in better agreement with the experimental results, than existing analytical models. The model is verified through comparison with experimental results reported in the literature.