11/04/2025
Overpressure refers to the sudden, intense increase in air pressure that occurs immediately after an explosion.
When an explosive detonates, it creates:
1. A blast wave: a rapidly expanding front of high-pressure air.
2. A negative pressure phase: the vacuum-like suction that follows as air rushes back toward the explosion site.
This sudden change, from normal atmospheric pressure to extreme overpressure, then back to underpressure happens within milliseconds, and it’s this wave of compressed air that interacts with the human body and brain.