Although blast mitigation is most often achieved with solid shielding, ambient gas pressure can also affect the coupling of shock waves to solid targets. In this work the role of air as an energy transfer medium was examined experimentally by subjecting identical large-area rectangular witness plates to short-range blast effects in air and vacuum ((approx.) 50 mtorr) at 25 degrees C. The expanding reactant front of 3 kg C4 charges was observed by fast camera to be cylindrically symmetric in both air and vacuum. The horizontal component of the reactant cloud velocity (perpendicular to the witness plates) was constant in both cases, with values of 3.0 and 5.9 km/s for air and vacuum, respectively. As a result of the blast, witness plates were plastically deformed into a shallow dish geometry, with local maxima 30 and 20 mm deep for air and vacuum, respectively. The average plate deflection from the air blast was 11 mm, approx. 10% deeper than the average vacuum plate deflection. Shock pressure estimates were made with a simple impedance-matching model, and indicate peak values in the 30-50 MPa range are consistent with the reactant cloud density and velocity. However, more detailed analysis is necessary to definitely establish the mechanisms by which air couples shock energy to the plates.
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