Numerical study of medium to large scale BLEVE for blast wave prediction

So far, the prediction of blast wave generated from the Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE) has been already broadly investigated. However, only a few validations of these blast wave prediction models have been made, and some well-established methods are available to predict BLEVE overpressure in the open space only. This paper presents numerical study on the estimation of the near-field and far-field blast waves from BLEVEs. The scale effect is taken into account by conducting two different scale BLEVE simulations. The expansion of pressurized vapour and evaporation of liquid in BLEVE are both modelled by using CFD method. Two approaches are proposed to determine the initial pressure of BLEVE source. The vapour evaporation and liquid flashing are simulated separately in these two approaches. Satisfactory agreement between the CFD simulation results and experimental data is achieved. With the validated CFD model, the results predicted by the proposed approaches can be used to predict explosion loads for better assessment of explosion effects on structures.     

Measurement of gas detonation blast loads in semiconfined geometry

The ignition and explosion of combustible vapor clouds represents a significant hazard across a range of industries. In this work, a new set of gas detonations experiments were performed to provide benchmark blast loading data for non-trivial geometry and explosion cases. The experiments were designed to represent two different accident scenarios: one where ignition of the vapor cloud occurs shortly after release and another where ignition is delayed and a fuel concentration gradient is allowed to develop. The experiments focused on hydrogen-air and methane-oxygen detonations in a semiconfined enclosure with TNT equivalencies ranging from 9 g to 1.81 kg. High-rate pressure transducers were used to record the blast loads imparted on the interior walls of a 1.8 m × 1.8 m × 1.8 m test fixture. Measurements included detonation wave velocity, peak overpressure, impulse, and positive phase duration. A comparison of the pressure and impulse measurements with several VCE models is provided. Results show that even for the most simplified experimental configuration, the simplified VCE models fail to provide predictions of the blast loading on the internal walls of the test fixture. It is shown that the confinement geometry of the experiment resulted in multiple blast wave reflections during the initial positive phase duration portion of the blast loading, and thus, significantly larger blast impulse values were measured than those predicted by analytical models. For the pressure sensors that experienced normally-reflect blast waves for the initial blast impulse, the Baker-Strehlow and TNT equivalency models still struggled to accurately capture the peak overpressure and reflected impulse. The TNO multi-energy model, however, performed better for the case of simple normally-reflected blast waves. The results presented here may be used as validation data for future model or simulation development.     

A numerical study of the evolution of the blast wave shape in rectangular tunnels

When the explosion of condensed materials occurs in square or circular cross-section tunnel, the subsequent blast wave reveals two patterns: three-dimensional close to the explosive charge and one-dimensional far from the explosion. Pressure decays for these two patterns have been thoroughly studied. However, when the explosion occurs in rectangular cross-section tunnel, which is the most regular geometry for underground networks, the blast wave exhibits a third, two-dimensional, patterns. In order to assess the range of these three patterns, several numerical simulation of blast waves were carried out varying the width and the height of the rectangular cross-section as well as the mass of the charge. Laws are presented to localize the transition zones between the 3D and the 2D patterns, and between the 2D and the 1D patterns, as functions of non-dimensional width and height. The numerical results of the overpressure are compared to existing 3D and 1D laws. An overpressure decay law is proposed to represent the 2D pattern. Knowing the two transition zones and the overpressure decays within these zones, an algorithm is presented to efficiently predict an overpressure map. This algorithm is validated by comparison with experimental data.     

Blast wave clearing behavior for positive and negative phases

The purpose of the research was to improve prediction of response of buildings to blast waves by including the negative phase and considering clearing of both positive and negative phases. Commonly used structural design practices, which trace their origins to military design manuals, often ignore the negative phase as well as positive phase clearing. For high explosive threats, this approach is conservative in most circumstances. However, negative phase clearing had not previously been studied for blast waves, and the implications for structural response had not been evaluated. This paper presents results of modeling negative phase blast clearing behavior for a typical blast wave and discusses the differences from positive phase clearing. The implications of including positive and negative phase clearing in building blast damage analysis are also investigated through single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) analyses.Blast waves from explosion sources like a vapor cloud explosion (VCE), pressure vessel burst or high explosive exhibit both positive and negative phases, and the relative magnitude of the positive and negative phases varies among explosion sources and the specific circumstances of each source. A fully reflected blast wave is produced if an incident blast wave were to strike an infinitely tall and wide wall in a normal orientation. Both the positive and negative phases of the blast wave are enhanced by the reflection process. However, when an incident blast wave strikes a wall of finite size in a normal orientation, rarefaction waves are created at the edges of the wall, and the rarefactions sweep down from the roof and inward from sides. The rarefaction waves result in a clearing effect for both the positive and negative phases.Clearing relieves some of the applied blast load on the reflected wall for the positive phase. However, this is not always the case for the negative phase. As shown by the results presented in this paper, clearing may either relieve or enhance the applied negative phase blast load, depending on the duration of the blast wave and the wall dimensions.The impact of negative phase clearing on structural response for generic building components was also investigated. Nonlinear SDOF methods were used to characterize response in terms of peak positive and negative displacements. It was found that the influence of the negative phase is significant and the peak structural response can occur during negative (outward) displacement.     

Computer simulation of shock waves transmission in obstructed terrains

Generation and transmission of blast waves in real terrains is of major importance for risk analysis procedures involving accidental explosion scenarios. The problem arises from the impact of overpressure wave on people and structures that may be lethal or catastrophic under certain conditions. In this paper, a CFD simulation of shock wave propagation in obstructed terrain is attempted. Overpressure histories as well as a series of critical parameters, namely the positive and negative peak overpressure, the arrival time, and the positive and negative phase duration at specific points within the domain were obtained during the simulation. Their comparison with experimental measurements from field-scale high explosive blast tests performed by HSE showed a reasonably good agreement indicating that CFD computer programs provide reliable tools for estimating explosive shocks in complex terrains.     

Impact of a shock wave on a structure on explosion at altitude

The number of explosive attacks on civilian buildings has recently increased and the pattern of damage inflicted on structures when an explosion takes place at altitude remains quite difficult to predict. The primary aim of the work reported here was to enhance the understanding of how blast waves from an explosion at altitude interact with the ground and with a structure. Small-scale experiments were conducted using a propane–oxygen stoichiometric mixture as explosive. This approach is original because it models high-explosive detonation in terms of gaseous charge explosion using TNT equivalents. Several non-dimensional laws are expressed and validated by experiments. These relationships allow determination of the propagation of a blast wave and its interaction with a structure as a function of the position of the explosive charge when the explosion occurs at altitude. Then, from knowledge of the blast loading, using Hopkinson's scaling law and TNT equivalents, we can predict the interaction of blast waves with the ground and a structure on a real scale. Simulations were performed using the Autodyn code, and good correlation with the experimental results was obtained.     

A study of the blast wave shape from elongated VCEs

Elongated congestion patterns are common at chemical processing and petroleum refining facilities due to the arrangement of processing units. The accidental vapor cloud explosion (VCE) which occurred at the Buncefield, UK facility involved an elongated congested volume formed by the trees and undergrowth along the site boundary. Although elongated congested volumes are common, there have been few evaluations reported for the blast loads produced by elongated VCEs. Standard VCE blast load prediction techniques do not directly consider the impact of this congested volume geometry versus a more compact geometry.This paper discusses an evaluation performed to characterize the blast loads from elongated VCEs and to identify some significant differences in the resulting blast wave shape versus those predicted by well-known VCE blast load methodologies (e.g., BST and TNO MEM). The standard blast curves are based on an assumption that the portion of the flammable gas cloud participating in the VCE is hemispherical and located at grade level. The results of this evaluation showed that the blast wave shape for an elongated VCE in the near-field along the long-axis direction is similar to that for an acoustic wave generated in hemispherical VCEs with a low flame speed. Like an acoustic wave, an elongated VCE blast wave has a very quick transition from the positive phase peak pressure to the negative phase peak pressure, relative to the positive phase duration. The magnitude of the applied negative pressure on a building face depends strongly on the transition time between the positive and negative phase peak pressures, and this applied negative phase can be important to structural response under certain conditions. The main purpose of this evaluation was to extend previous work in order to investigate how an elongated VCE geometry impacts the resultant blast wave shape in the near-field. The influence of the normalized flame travel distance and the flame speed on the blast wave shape was examined. Deflagration and deflagration-to-detonation transition regimes were also identified for unconfined elongated VCEs as a function of the normalized flame travel distance and flame speed attained at a specified flame travel distance.     

A methodology to predict shock overpressure decay in a tunnel produced by a premixed methane/air explosion

A methodology for estimating the blast wave overpressure decay in air produced by a gas explosion in a closed-ended tunnel is proposed based on numerical simulations. The influence of the tunnel wall roughness is taken into account in studying a methane/air mixture explosion and the subsequent propagation of the resulting shock wave in air. The pressure time-history is obtained at different axial locations in the tunnel outside the methane/air mixture. If the shock overpressure at two, or more locations, is known, the value at other locations can be determined according to a simple power law. The study demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed methodology to estimate the overpressure change with distance for shock waves in air produced by methane/air mixture explosions. The methodology is applied to experimental data in order to validate the approach.     

某弹药库设计方案的安全分析

对某弹药库的设计方案进行了安全分析,得到了弹药爆炸时的空气冲击波、振动、飞石等作用的安全距离及相邻库房殉爆的可能性.给出了对原设计方案的改进意见和改进后的安全距离.     

瓦斯爆炸传播过程中矿车激励效应的实验研究

为了分析矿车在矿井瓦斯爆炸传播过程中的激励效应,模拟井下工作环境,构建了实验管道,按照比例建造了矿车模型,分别设定一个矿车和三个矿车链接两种实验工况进行试验。根据冲击波传播过程中激励效应的形成机制,以爆炸传播过程中火焰和冲击波波阵面变化测试为主要测试目标,采用激光纹影的测试方法,分别观测了两种工况条件下下矿车区域附近爆炸冲击波畸变情况,捕获了冲击波经过矿车附近时,冲击波变化特征。根据试验观测,当冲击波经过障碍物附近时,波阵面明显发生畸变,而当三个矿车存在时,火焰出现了回流和绕流现象,燃烧强度和速度都明显增加,这一实验结果一方面证实了矿车对瓦斯爆炸存在明显的激励效应,同时指出矿车数量多,激励效应会更强。本文研究结果对瓦斯爆炸事故阻爆、隔爆技术开发和事故调查有一定的指导意义。     

A closer look at BLEVE overpressure

The overpressure produced by the boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) is still not well understood. Various methods have been published on the overpressure modeling in the far field. They mostly differ by the modeling of the expansion energy, used to scale the distance to the source where the overpressure needs to be calculated. But these methods usually include a experimentally fitted reduction factor, and are mostly overestimating the overpressures. Today there is a growing interest in modeling the BLEVE overpressure in the near field, for studying the blast effect on critical infrastructure such as bridges and buildings. This requires a much better understanding of the BLEVE blast. This paper goes deeper in the understanding of the physical phenomenon leading to the BLEVE blast wave generation and propagation. First, mid-scale BLEVE experiments in addition to new experimental data for near field blast from a small scale supercritical BLEVE are analyzed. And second, an analysis method of the shocks observed in the experiments is presented based on fundamental gas dynamics, and allows the elaboration of a new modeling approach for BLEVE overpressure, based on the calculation of the initial overpressure and radius of the blast.     

Numerical simulation and study on the transmission law of flame and pressure wave of pipeline gas explosion

Based on FLUENT simulation software, the laws of transmission of flame and pressure wave in pipeline gas explosion were studied. It turned out that, the maximum pressure value of the explosion point is not the maximum value of the whole explosion process; the maximum pressure value of the pressure wave lowers firstly near the explosion point, then rises to a peak, and then drops gradually; two waves divide the space in the pipeline into three sections during the gas explosion transmission. The result is basically consistent between numerical simulation and experiment, and the conclusion from the simulation provides theoretical basis for research on explosion-proof and suppression devices for underground gas pipeline, as well as for technical regulations of installation.     

Numerical and experimental study on the generation and propagation of negative wave in high-pressure gas pipeline leakage

Negative-wave-based leakage detection and localization technology has been widely used in the pipeline system to diminish leak loss and enhance environmental protection from hazardous leak events. However, the fluid mechanics behind the negative wave method has yet been disclosed. The objective of this paper is to investigate the generation and propagation of negative wave in high-pressure pipeline leakage. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study on the negative wave was carried out with large eddy simulation (LES) method. Experimentally validated simulation presented the transient wave generation at the leak onset and the comprehensive wave evolution afterwards. Negative wave was proven to be a kind of rarefaction acoustic waves induced by transient mass loss at the onset of leakage. Diffusion due to the density difference at wave fronts drives the negative wave propagation. Propagation of negative wave can be categorized into three states – semi-spherical wave, wave superposition and plane wave, based on different wave forms. The wave characteristics at different states were elucidated and the attenuation effects were discussed respectively. Finally, a non-dimensional correlation was proposed to predict the negative wave amplitude based on pipeline pressure and leak diameter.     

Concentration model for gas releases in buildings and the mitigation effect

In case of accidents involving releases of hazardous materials, calculating the gas dispersion is essential for assessing risks. In general, the leaked chemical is assumed to be instantly dispersed to the atmosphere if the leak occurs in the outdoor location. However, a different approach should be made for the incidents when sources are located inside a building. For the indoor release, the gas will be diluted prior to the release to the atmosphere and the gas release from a building to the atmosphere demands the application of another model before the dispersion calculation. The indoor release model calculates average indoor concentration and volumetric flowrate to the exterior. The model is fast and reasonably accurate compared to rigorous but time-consuming computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The model results were compared with experimental data, and CFD simulation results both with simple geometry to demonstrate validation and assess the performance of the indoor release model. Lastly, the behavior and effect of mitigation of indoor release were demonstrated by using the model results.     

爆炸冲击波作用下圆形通风设施的动态破坏特性

为了研究瓦斯爆炸对通风设施造成的严重破坏及其导致的通风系统紊乱与灾情迅速扩展问题,基于LS-DYNA有限元软件,模拟研究巷道中瓦斯爆炸冲击波作用下圆形通风设施的动态破坏特性,分析应力、应变、速度、位移的动态特征及其破坏过程,并对圆形通风设施动态破坏机理进行初步探索。研究结果表明:爆炸冲击波作用下,圆形通风设施正、反面出现压应力与拉应力分布圆环,且压应力与拉应力峰值处于在外部受约束边界径向圆环附近区域与圆心位置,应变、速度和位移最大值均分布在次区域;爆炸冲击波作用下,通风设施表面形成多圈的正向和反向的应变相互交替,呈现W型的褶皱变形;爆炸冲击波作用下,环向裂纹集中在受约束的边界区域附近,发生脆性破坏,其他区域会出现较多的径向裂纹,可发生韧性破坏,整个断裂过程是脆性与韧性断裂的混合型断裂。     

Accident consequence calculation of ammonia dispersion in factory area

With the widespread use of ammonia in the process industry, more and more accidents were caused by ammonia leakage and dispersion. The dispersion of ammonia is determined by its physical properties, release source conditions and atmospheric environment. Full-scale numerical simulation based on CFD theory was carried out to study the dispersion law of ammonia in a food factory. It was found that ammonia concentrated on the symmetric plane and showed an upward movement near the source. Moreover, the effect of pressure on the dispersion of ammonia was explored showing that the concentration of ammonia near the source increased with the increase of pressure, while the dispersion of ammonia far from the source is mainly influenced by wind field. Last but not the least, the dangerous area completely covers the obstacle region according to the harmful concentration, but the lethal concentration range and explosion range both only existed near the release source. Correspondingly, the concentration of ammonia in the region far from the symmetric plane can be regarded as a safe area. When the accident happens, one should stay away from the release source and evacuate towards the sides in a timely manner. We hope that this work can provide an effective method in predicting the impact of ammonia dispersion and can arouse concerns over the public safety.     

Effect of scale on the explosion of methane in air and its shockwave

Explosion experiments using premixed gas in a duct have become a significant method of investigating methane-air explosions in underground coal mines. The duct sizes are far less than that of an actual mine gallery. Whether the experimental results in a duct are applicable to analyze a methane-air explosion in a practical mine gallery needed to be investigated. This issue involves the effects of scale on a gas explosion and its shockwave in a constrained space. The commercial software package AutoReaGas, a finite element computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code suitable for gas explosions and blast problems, was used to carry out the numerical simulation for the explosion processes of a methane-air mixture in the gallery (or duct) at various scales. Based on the numerical simulation and its analysis, the effect of scale on the degree of correlation with the real situation was studied for a methane-air explosion and its shockwave in a square section gallery (or duct). This study shows that the explosion process of the methane-air mixture relates to the scales of the gallery or duct. The effect of scale decreases gradually with the distance from the space containing the methane-air mixture and the air shock wave propagation conforms approximately to the geometric similarity law in the far field where the scaled distance (ratio of the propagation distance and the height (or width) of the gallery section) is over 80.     

基于风险的液化烃罐区建筑物抗爆荷载评估方法

为合理确定液化烃罐区周边建筑物的抗爆设防荷载,有效进行抗爆设计和防护,建立1套系统的抗爆设防荷载定量评估方法。以某液化烃罐区建筑物为例,计算172个爆炸场景,获得4组累积爆炸频率曲线,基于风险控制标准确定抗爆设防荷载。结果表明:爆炸场景发生频率应包括初始泄漏频率、气象概率、泄漏方向概率和延迟爆炸概率;获得的爆炸超压-累积频率曲线是确定抗爆设防荷载的基础,在爆炸超压较低时,与爆炸源中心距离不同的4面墙体的超压累积频率曲线极为接近;随着爆炸超压的继续增大,累积发生频率的差异逐渐明显;液化烃罐区建筑物的抗爆设防荷载应同时满足2个准则,即万年1次的风险可接受准则和风险可接受范围内爆炸超压最大化准则;根据该准则确定的液化烃罐区附近建筑物东墙的爆炸冲击波峰值入射超压为44.6 kPa,正压作用时间为89.3 ms。     

大尺寸通风管网中障碍物对瓦斯爆炸冲击波传播特性影响的数值模拟

为了研究大尺寸通风管网中的瓦斯爆炸传播规律,采用数值模拟方法,针对具有不同障碍物数量的大尺寸通风管网模型,利用Fluent分析管网中各个监测点的超压变化曲线以及障碍物附近的速度矢量图,分析爆炸冲击波传播规律。研究结果表明:初期瓦斯爆炸后,障碍物的存在改变了通风管网内未燃瓦斯的积聚区域;高温和高压发生耦合作用,在氧气相对充足的进气管道中形成二次爆炸;障碍物与火焰波以及管网自身结构变化等多种因素形成复合作用,改变了通风管网内瓦斯爆炸冲击波的传播路径和叠加区域的位置;无障碍物时高压区域出现在进气管道中,有障碍物时高压区域出现在中部直管与斜管的交汇处附近,且数值相对较大。     

Small-scale physical explosions in shock tubes in comparison with condensed high explosive detonations

A series of small-scale experiments involving physical explosions in a 1.6 l pressure vessel was carried out. Explosions were initiated by spontaneous rupture of an aluminium membrane on one side of the vessel at a pressure in the range 1–1.2 MPa. The pressure waves released were measured at different distances along two separate shock tubes, one 10 m long and 200 mm in diameter (closed at one end by the high pressure vessel) and the other 15 m long and 100 mm in diameter.TNT equivalency was used for predicting the blast wave characteristics after vessel rupture. TNT equivalency was used because equations for prediction of peak pressure and impulse of the blast wave in 1-D geometry after detonations of condensed explosives are known. Some experiments with an equivalent amount of real explosive were carried out for comparison with the theoretical and experimental data obtained. The applicability of the TNT equivalency method presented for calculations of maximum pressure and shock wave impulse generated after rupture of the pressure vessel in 1-D geometry is discussed.