Temporally and spatially resolved reflected overpressure measurements in the extreme near field

The design of blast-resistant structures and protective systems requires a firm understanding of the loadings imparted to structures by blast waves. While empirical methods can reliably predict these loadings in the far field, there is currently a lack of understanding on the pressures experienced in the very near field, where physics-based numerical modelling and semi-empirical fast-running engineering model predictions can vary by an order of magnitude. In this paper, we present the design of an experimental facility capable of providing definitive spatially and temporally resolved reflected pressure data in the extreme near field (Z