Recent experimental work by the current authors has provided highly spatially and temporally resolved measurements of the loading imparted to, and the subsequent dynamic response of, structures subjected to near-field explosive loading [1]. In this article we validate finite element models of plates subjected to near-field blast loads and perform a parametric study into the relationship between imparted load and peak and residual plate deformation. The energy equivalent impulse is derived, based on the theory of upper bound kinetic energy uptake introduced herein, which accounts for the additional energy imparted to a structure from a spatially non-uniform blast load. Whilst plate deflection is weakly correlated to total impulse, there is shown to be a strong positive correlation between deflection and energy equivalent impulse. The strength of this correlation is insensitive to loading distribution and mode of response. The method developed in this article has clear applications for the generation of fast-running engineering tools for the prediction of structural response to near-field explosions
