Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) due to explosive blast is common among military service members and often associated with long term psychological and cognitive disruptions. Little is known about the neurological effects of blast-related mTBI and whether they differ from those of civilian, non-blast mTBI. Given that brain damage from blasts may be diffuse and heterogeneous, we tested the hypo...

Blast-associated shock wave-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) remains a persistent risk for armed forces worldwide, yet its detailed pathophysiology remains to be fully investigated. In this study, we have designed and characterized a laboratory-scale shock tube to develop a rodent model of bTBI. Our blast tube, driven by a mixture of oxygen and acetylene, effectively generates blast overpr...

A large amount of blast furnace slag is generated in China. Most ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) however ends up in low-grade applications. Blast furnace slag, ground to an appropriate fineness, can be used as a partial replacement of cementitious material in concrete. The potential for using GGBS in structural concrete, e.g. concrete beams and columns is investigated at Xi’an Jiaot...

We have performed two sets of experiments looking at laser-driven radiating blast waves. In the first set of experiments the effect of a drive laser’s passage through a background gas on the hydrodynamical evolution of blast waves was examined. The laser’s passage heated a channel in the gas, creating a region where a portion of the blast wave front had an increased velocity, leading to the for...

Semi-buried structures are most commonly used at first line of defense along the border between two countries. This demands investigation of their dynamic behaviour under blast loading. Herein, a semi-buried structure with foam sandwiched walls and buttresses to reduce the effect of blast is analysed. The effect of provision of different configurations of buttresses and foam core between two la...

Blast-induced TBI has gained prominence in recent years due to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet little is known about the mechanical effects of blasts on the human head; no injury thresholds have been established for blast effects on the head, and even direct transmission of the shock wave to the intracranial cavity is disputed. Still less is known about how personal protective equipm...

Blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) has received much recent attention because of its frequency in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This renewed interest has led to a rapid expansion of clinical and animal studies related to blast. In humans, high-level blast exposure is associated with a prominent hemorrhagic component. In animal models, blast exerts a variety of effects on the ne...

The role of primary blast in blast-induced TBI is controversial. The identification of well documented clinical cases is difficult and rare, while the technical difficulties associated with simulating primary blast in the laboratory are considerable, resulting in an inconsistent literature that is difficult to interpret. This laboratory initiated a multidisciplinary effort in order to understan...