Response of wood to the explosive loading

The plates and beams made from the Oak Beech, Pine, Spruce and Birch have b een loaded by the detonation of an explosive in contact. The mechanical pro perties of these woods at dynamic loading have been evaluated by the use of Hopkinson Split Pressure Bar Test and Charpy Impact test. The minimum thic kness of the wood at which no damage occurs has been evaluated. These thick ness are in a reasonable agreement with the mechanical properties determine d by the tests mentioned above. The same conclusion is valid for the experi ments on the explosive loading of wood beams. The results of the preliminar y numerical simulation of the used tests are also discussed It seems that t he observed wood specimens behaviour may be explained in terms of the Tsai - Wu strength model.