Citation

Zohdi TI. Proc. Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 2016; 472(2185): e20150720.

Affiliation

Department of Mechanical Engineering, 6195 Etcheverry Hall , University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-1740, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, The Royal Society)

DOI

10.1098/rspa.2015.0720

PMID

26997903

PMCID

PMC4786048

Abstract

In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to qualitatively simulate the progressive time-evolution of a blast from a simple firework. Estimates are made for the blast radius that one can expect for a given amount of detonation energy and pyrotechnic display material. The model balances the released energy from the initial blast pulse with the subsequent kinetic energy and then computes the trajectory of the material under the influence of the drag from the surrounding air, gravity and possible buoyancy. Under certain simplifying assumptions, the model can be solved for analytically. The solution serves as a guide to identifying key parameters that control the evolving blast envelope. Three-dimensional examples are given.

Language: en