text: Blast waves are generated in research environments using explosive or compressed-gas driven shock tubes in an effort to replicate the environment of a military conflict to better understand the physics of blasts and injuries that may result, and to develop better protection against blast exposure. Blast waves are directed against structures (such as vehicles), materials, and biological specimens or surrogates.  High-speed pressure sensors and/or high speed cameras are often used to quantify the response to blast exposure.  Anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs or test dummies) initially developed for the automotive industry are being used, sometimes with added instrumentation, to estimate the human response to blast events.  For examples, personnel in vehicles and personnel on demining teams have been simulated using these ATDs.
  Combined with experiments, complex mathematical models have been made of the interaction of blast waves with inanimate and biological structures. Validated models are useful for "what if" experiments – predictions of outcomes for different scenarios.  Depending on the system being modeled, it can be difficult to have accurate input parameters (for example, the material properties of a rate-sensitive material at blast rates of loading).  Lack of experimental validation severely limits the usefulness of any numerical model.