The Study on the Shock Wave Propagation Rule of a Gas Explosion in a Gas Compartment

Combined with the k-ε turbulence model of general application, a refined finite element model of a utility tunnel’s gas compartment filled with the methane/air mixture is developed. A series of analyses are made by using the powerful industry-leading computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software flame acceleration simulator (FLACS) to study the shock wave propagation rule in the gas compartment. The longitudinal and transversal distribution laws of the explosion shock wave are gained taking into consideration the spatial characteristics of the gas compartment. The influences of a few parameters, such as initial conditions and section size of the gas compartment, on the shock wave propagation rule are further discussed. The basic procedure for predicting the peak pressure of the blast wave is provided by considering the initial conditions and the gas compartment, and the corresponding injury effect of the explosion wave on the living beings is assessed. The investigation demonstrates that the peak pressure by the coupled effect between the initial conditions is significantly influenced, especially at the upper and lower gas explosion limits. The peak pressure increases gradually as the width or height increases, and both basically meet the linear relation. The proposed method can forecast the peak pressure of the explosion shock wave in the gas compartment accurately. According to the peak pressure longitudinal and transversal distributions of the blast wave, the peak pressure is far greater than the killing pressure threshold in the underground and closed space; consequently, it is not safe for the living beings in the gas compartment.

Shock Wave Propagation Characteristics of Cylindrical Charge and Its Aspect Ratio Effects on the Damage of RC Slabs

Antiknock research of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs is often carried out with spherical or nearly spherical explosives, although many explosives used in engineering and military are cylinder shaped. It is known that the shock wave caused by cylindrical explosives varies in different directions, which is quite different from the spherical charge. In this paper, the shock wave propagation characteristics of spherical and cylindrical explosives with different aspect ratios are compared and analyzed. The 2D numerical results show the peak overpressure from the cylindrical explosive is significantly affected by the L/D (length/diameter) ratio. Subsequently, the damage features of RC slabs under spherical and cylindrical explosives with a certain L/D ratio are investigated through an explosion experiment. Finally, the influence of the L/D ratio on the dynamic response of RC slabs under cylindrical explosives is studied by the fully coupled Euler–Lagrange method. The accuracy and reliability of the coupled model are verified by comparing the numerical with experimental results. Based on the experimental and numerical studies, it can be concluded that the explosive shape directly determines the shape of upper surface crater damage, and the spall damage area of RC slabs becomes larger as the L/D increases. For the L/D increases to a certain value, the cylindrical explosive will induce larger spall damage than that induced by spherical charge with the same amount of explosives. Hence, the effect of the cylindrical charge should be considered in the antiknock design of the RC structure.

Harmonic and shock wave propagation in bistable periodic structure: Regularity, randomness, and tunability

Nonlinear periodic structures can present abundant nonlinear wave physics. The model consisting of periodic bistable oscillators (i.e., the bistable periodic structure) is essentially different from those nonlinear periodic systems consisting of monostable oscillators due to multiple equilibria in bistable periodic structure. Despite the extensive attention received, properties of harmonic and shock wave propagation in bistable periodic structure, especially the randomness and tunability behind regularity, have not been fully understood. This article reports the answers based on numerical method. We consider the varying trends of the band gap, vibration center, wave amplitude, and transmission and show their effects on energy transport. We find that the snap-through behavior always presents local intrinsic randomness with the regularity in whole, that is, it does not happen in sequence. For both harmonic and shock wave, most energy is localized inside the snap-through oscillators that changes the regularity for energy transport and is meaningful for shock wave protection. Bistable periodic structure can present very low-frequency and broadband wave attenuation by shifting the initial frequency of the band gap to nearly zero through tuning the wave amplitude to a critical value, which offers dynamic tunability. The damping and intensity of the shock pulse have significant effects on the shock wave propagation. This work provides guidance for the design and application of bistable periodic structure for elastic wave attenuation and shock wave protection.