Review of analytical and empirical estimations for incident blast pressure

Recently, the blast load has become more recognized in the structural engineering field because the blast load can result in not only disproportionate structural failure but also tremendous casualties of lives and injuries. As an effort to overcome this problem, blast resistant analyses and designs have been developed, and the methodology would be incorporated into the conventional construction design. Analysis of structures exposed to blast load is the first step for the design, and it requires good understanding of blast phenomena and the following dynamic response of structures. This paper provides an up-to-date comprehensive review of the incident blast wave and its parameters for air and ground blasts. Considering the Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC 3-340-02) as a benchmark, a quantitative comparison between the empirical results presented by researchers and the result given in UFC charts is conducted for a span of scaled distances. We discuss the appropriate use of empirical or analytical equations for precise prediction of blast pressures, and recommend equations that match well the results presented in UFC.