Bomb damage assessment
Bomb damage assessment refers to the systematic evaluation of the effects caused by explosions, particularly focusing on the severity of blast impacts on targets. This process is crucial for identifying explosive devices and their components, as well as understanding the mechanisms of bomb delivery and targeting accuracy. An explosion results from a rapid chemical reaction that produces high-pressure gases, which create shock waves and debris that can devastate surrounding structures and individuals. The damage inflicted by a bomb varies based on factors such as the type and size of the explosive, its proximity to the target, and the characteristics of the environment and materials involved.
The assessment of bomb damage is informed by a comprehensive database derived from extensive historical testing and documentation, including military and industrial sources. These datasets help correlate different explosives with their respective blast pressures, impacts, and the resulting injuries to victims. Forensic scientists utilize these insights to reconstruct events post-detonation, analyzing factors like blast area dimensions, environmental conditions, and the distribution of debris. Overall, bomb damage assessment is a pivotal tool in understanding the consequences of explosions, aiding both forensic investigations and efforts to improve safety measures in vulnerable areas.
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Bomb damage assessment
Definition: Assessment of the severity of blast effects caused by explosions.
Significance: By conducting bomb damage assessment, investigators can aid in the identification of explosive devices or explosive propellants. Such analysis can also provide information on bomb delivery systems and their targeting accuracy.
An explosive device is designed to release large amounts of energy quickly from a concentrated source. The explosion results from the reaction of a solid or liquid chemical or vapor that forms highly pressurized gases, propagating an outward-moving pressure wave. In a high-explosive detonation, the speed of the reaction is faster than the speed of sound, 5,000 to 8,000 meters (about 16,000 to 26,000 feet) per second. Such an explosion produces an intense shock wave that expands within milliseconds of detonation. The effects of explosions vary, but the initial destructive effects on targets are directly related to stress-wave propagation, pressure-driven phenomena resulting in the impact and penetration of propelled objects, ground-transmitted shock, and explosion-generated effects such as fire, smoke, dust, and pressure damage to organs and tissue.
A bomb detonation can have catastrophic effects, destroying or severely damaging its intended human or material targets. The amount of damage done by a detonated bomb depends on the nature and size of the explosive device and its location relative to its target. Additional factors relate to specifics of the target, such as materials and construction, surroundings, and the proximity of potential victims. Bomb damage to targets is the direct result of explosive detonation involving shock-wave blast pressure and high-speed impact from ejected target materials, shrapnel, and debris. The postdetonation distribution of these materials reflects physical processes and properties that can be measured and correlated directly to the initiating explosive device.
The physical and chemical characteristics of explosions and their structural by-products are well defined by known scaling laws and equations of state, and any explosion can ultimately be referenced by its geometry, density, and temperature. As the result of more than one hundred years of testing, a large cross-referenced database has been compiled regarding the major and minor damage potential of shock waves generated by explosions. Most blast data come from unclassified war documentation, industrial records, scientific and engineering research, and forensic analyses. These data correlate explosive type and quantity to blast pressure, detonation velocity, target strata, ground shock, atmospheric conditions, target distance, target materials, above- or below-ground penetration, and confined or unconfined conditions. Blast injuries from explosive shock waves include body displacement, dismemberment, ruptured eardrums and internal organs, and tissue destruction from propelled objects; the extent of such injuries has been well documented, cataloged, and correlated according to detonation proximity.
As explosions involve predictable quantitative chemical and physical signatures, after a bombing forensic scientists can determine the size and type of device detonated and its effectiveness. In addition to conducting trace chemical analyses to identify the explosives used, the scientists examine such elements as the dimensions of the blast area and crater, the target’s materials, weather conditions at the time of the explosion, the fallout distance of blast-propelled objects, and the extent of bodily harm caused by the blast.
Bibliography
Cooper, Paul W. Explosives Engineering. New York: Wiley-VCH, 1996.
Fannelöp, Torstein K. Fluid Mechanics for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection. New York: Elsevier, 1994.
Thurman, James T. Practical Bomb Scene Investigation. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2006.
Zukas, Jonas A., and William P. Walters, eds. Explosive Effects and Applications. New York: Springer, 1998.