The Department of Defense, through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), is seeking proposals for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program focused on developing computational tools for simulating blast injuries in armored vehicles. The objective is to create high-fidelity modeling frameworks that can quantify the interior environments of vehicles exposed to various explosive threats, including shaped charges and high explosives, to predict potential injuries to occupants. This initiative is crucial for providing military command surgeons and battalion commanders with insights into injury types and severities in combat scenarios. Proposals are due by July 23, 2025, with the opportunity opening on June 25, 2025, and further details can be found at the DOD SBIR website.

## Description

The proposed computational tools should provide objective quantification of the interior environments to which vehicle occupants would be exposed as a function of time, under conditions of lateral or underbody explosive weapons, shaped charges, explosively formed projectiles, and dense inert projectiles. The proposer should identify approaches for validating the proposed model and for using high-fidelity modeling to generate fast-running algorithms capable of approximating high-fidelity model predictions.

## Objective

Develop computational modeling tools to characterize and quantify the environments inside an armored vehicle exposed to a conventional blast, inert metal, or shaped charge weapon. The tools should predict environments with sufficient detail to predict blast overpressure, blunt trauma, penetration, inhalation, and burn injuries resulting from weapons designed to injure or kill armored vehicle occupants. In combination with related computational blast injury modeling activities, this project will provide supporting information to answer questions from the battalion commanders and the command surgeons regarding the type and severity of injuries that may occur in a ground combat environment.

## Phase I

In Phase I, a high-fidelity modeling framework should be demonstrated on shaped charge weapons using a defined vehicle (armored or unarmored). In addition to the demonstrated modeling capability, during Phase I the respondent will provide a technical approach for simulating the effects of both shaped charges and high explosive weapons detonated laterally to the vehicle. Finally, during Phase I, the contractor will identify sources of data or data collection methods for validating the high-fidelity model

## Phase II

In Phase II, the proposer will provide high-fidelity modeling capability for predicting the interior environments created by high explosive blasts, shaped charges/explosively formed projectiles, and dense inert projectiles on a range of armored and unarmored vehicles. The high-fidelity model will be used to generate fast-running algorithms that approximate the results of the high-fidelity model. The user will work with Government personnel and other contractors to locate and utilize existing data with which to validate the high-fidelity model.

## Phase III: Dual Use Applications

The program will generate a computational software. The major customers will be US military command surgeons and combat commanders. Later stage, the product could be used by NATO partners. There is no intention for civilian application in the future.

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