Primary blast wave impact on military personnel is of major concern, particularly as it relates to traumatic brain injury. To gain insights into the brain’s response to primary blast impact, the current research employed a surrogate head form filled with biogel brain simulant and subjected it to primary blast waves propagating 180 mm from a 1.7-g cyclotrimethylene trinitramine Class 5 (RDX) explosive charge. The blast impacts to the surrogate head were investigated using combined approach of experiments and computations. More specifically, the combination of (1) high-speed imaging techniques, (2) embedded intracranial pressure sensors, and (3) numerical simulation techniques was used to study the blast wave/head interactions in terms of the external impact loading, intracranial pressures, and deviatoric stresses. The experimental and computational results show that the intracranial wave generated in the surrogate brain was a consequence of blast interactions with the surrogate skull. The resulting intracranial pressures were shown to be within threshold limits that could induce minor or mild traumatic brain injuries. Strong oscillations between compression and volumetric tensions were pronounced in the anterior region of the surrogate brain following frontal blast impact. Focal regions of elevated stress were captured in the simulation at the posterior region of the surrogate brain resulting from multiple reflections off the back of the skull. Deviatoric stress distributions were also revealed at the skull/surrogate brain interface where more dominant forces appeared at the base (interface) of the skull. These results indicate the potential for shearing/tearing of brain tissue material due to blast loading.

对军事人员的初级冲击波冲击是主要关注点，特别是因为它与创伤性脑损伤有关。为了深入了解大脑对初级爆炸冲击的反应，目前的研究采用了一种填充有生物凝胶大脑模拟物的替代头部模型，并将其置于从 1.7 克环三亚甲基三硝胺 5 类 (RDX) 爆炸装药传播 180 毫米处的初级冲击波中。使用实验和计算相结合的方法研究了对替代头的爆炸冲击。更具体地说，结合 (1) 高速成像技术、(2) 嵌入式颅内压传感器和 (3) 数值模拟技术用于研究爆炸波/头部在外部冲击载荷、颅内压方面的相互作用, 和偏应力。实验和计算结果表明，在替代大脑中产生的颅内波是与替代头骨爆炸相互作用的结果。结果表明，由此产生的颅内压在阈值范围内，这可能会导致轻微或轻微的脑外伤。在正面冲击波冲击后，在替代大脑的前部区域中，压缩和体积张力之间的强烈振荡是明显的。在模拟中在替代大脑的后部区域捕获了压力升高的焦点区域，这是由颅骨后部的多次反射引起的。在颅骨/替代大脑界面处也显示了偏应力分布，其中更多的主导力出现在颅骨的底部（界面）。