Optimal Design of Explosion Containment Vessels
Abstract
This paper presents an optimal design concept for containment vessels that need to withstand repeated internal explosions. The concept is optimal in the sense that it gives a solution which requires the minimum strength of the vessel wall. In many cases, this concept does not give practical solutions, but it may be used in situations when relatively heavy fragment shields are to be used anyway. Explosion containment buildings and vessels that are used for the testing of explosives and munitions are heavy, expensive structures. Their main design load is the blast from the explosions. This blast consists of a shock wave, followed by a few reflected shock waves. These shocks decay and a quasi-static pressure remains. This load can be approximated by an impulse, followed by the quasi-static pressure. In most cases the impulse is the most severe load. In many explosion containment buildings, the impulse is absorbed in thick, heavy walls. The large target room at our laboratory for ballistic research, which can withstand and explosion of 25 kilograms of TNT, is an example of this principle. It consists of a reinforced concrete cylinder. The concrete is not designed to take any forces, it is only there to add mass. An interesting question is whether there is an optimal design for such a structure. This paper describes one solution for an optimal design. It starts from the idea that strength (steel) is expensive, but mass (concrete) is cheap. It is already known that a spherical vessel is the (theoretically) optimal shape.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA507528
Entities
People
- Rolf M. Van Wees
Organizations
- Prins Maurits Laboratorium TNO