Research Projects

The Himalayan range, a major source of rivers in India's international border region, is a major source of water. With climate change, global warming, and increasing population concerns, water is becoming a subject of potential international conflicts. Governments are investing heavily in run-of-the-river schemes, including the construction of large dams near disputed international borders. Assessing the safety and stability of dams has always been a challenge for engineers, and current design procedures consider dead loads, uplift pressure, reservoir and tail-water loads, earthquake loads, wind loads, ice pressure, earth and silt pressures, wave pressure, and thermal loads. However, explosion-induced damages may pose an additional threat to the safety and stability of massive structures. Researchers are now focusing on understanding the dynamic response of dams subjected to explosions. The literature primarily focuses on the dynamics of dams in the event of underwater explosion (UNDEX), which is considered more severe than air-explosion (AIREX). However, using advanced numerical methods during feasibility studies is impractical and time-consuming. Therefore, simple methods can be developed to estimate design blast loads, dynamic response of dams with and without dam-reservoir interaction, and FOS. The PI and his research team are extending their experience in blast engineering to gain insights into the response of concrete gravity dams subjected to AIREX. A preliminary investigation of the resultant blast force, including reflected shock waves from the dam body, has been carried out. The major expected outcome of this project is developing iso-safety charts, which would be useful for practicing designers in finding the most critical location of explosion.