Experimental and numerical study on explosion resistance of polyurea-coated shelter in petrochemical industry

Abstract

Abstract To reduce the number of casualties in explosion accidents, blast-resistant shelters can be used to protect personnel in high-risk areas of petrochemical processing plants. In this work, the deformation behaviours of uncoated and polyurea-coated blast-resistant plates were studied through gas explosion tests. An ANSYS/LS-DYNA model of a polyurea-coated shelter was established, and the dynamic responses of the shelter under various explosion loads were analysed. A series of fuel–air explosion tests were carried out to investigate the explosion resistance of the full-scale shelter. The results showed that compared with the uncoated blast-resistant plate, the deformation of the polyurea-coated blast-resistant plate was significantly reduced. The overall deformation of the shelter was the central depression of the wall and the inward bending of the frame. The damage effect of a typical high-overpressure, low-duration load was greater than that of typical low-overpressure, long-duration load. The shelter remained intact under three repeated explosive loads, with cracks appearing on the inner wall but no collapse or debris splashing. The shock wave attenuation rate of the shelter reached over 90%, which could significantly reduce the number of indoor casualties.

Keywords

• Gas explosion
• Polyurea
• Shelter
• Blast-resistant plate
• Field test