A Numerical Method for Blast Shock Wave Analysis of Missile Launch from Aircraft

An efficient empirical approach was developed to accurately represent the blast shock wave loading resulting from the launch of a missile from a military aircraft to be used in numerical analyses. Based on experimental test series of missile launches in laboratory environment and from a helicopter, equations were derived to predict the time-and position-dependent overpressure. The method was finally applied and validated in a structural analysis of a helicopter tail boom under missile launch shock wave loading.