This study investigates blast overpressure generated during explosive door-breaching operations and its interaction with nearby structural elements, with the objective of improving safety assessments for personnel. Experimental overpressure measurements were obtained using pressure gauges and compared with predictions from commonly used empirical formulae and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The experimental configuration consisted of a door mounted between two walls, representative of a breaching scenario. Explosive charges ranging from 10 g to 1500 g were positioned 1 m above ground level and attached to the door. Two pressure gauges were installed at fixed locations along and facing the wall at a height of 1 m. Results show that empirical formulae significantly underestimate peak overpressure at scaled distances of approximately eleven. CFD simulations also failed to accurately predict peak overpressure while requiring high computational effort. Based on the experimental data, a rapid and reliable approach for estimating safety distances is proposed, emphasizing the importance of experimental evidence for protective design and risk mitigation.
Schunck et al. (Thu,) studied this question.