Computer-aided modeling of the protective effect of explosion relief vents in tunnel structures

Sklavounos, S; Rigas, F

dc.contributor.author	Sklavounos, S	en
dc.contributor.author	Rigas, F	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:23:43Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:23:43Z
dc.date.issued	2006	en
dc.identifier.issn	0950-4230	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/17118
dc.subject	Blast wave attenuation	en
dc.subject	Branched tunnel	en
dc.subject	Explosion mitigation measures	en
dc.subject	Explosions in tunnels	en
dc.subject	Pressure relief vents	en
dc.subject	Shock waves	en
dc.subject.classification	Engineering, Chemical	en
dc.subject.other	Blast wave attenuation	en
dc.subject.other	Branched tunnel	en
dc.subject.other	Explosion mitigation measures	en
dc.subject.other	Pressure relief vents	en
dc.subject.other	Computational fluid dynamics	en
dc.subject.other	Computer aided engineering	en
dc.subject.other	Computer simulation	en
dc.subject.other	Explosions	en
dc.subject.other	Mathematical models	en
dc.subject.other	Pressure relief valves	en
dc.subject.other	Shock waves	en
dc.subject.other	Structural design	en
dc.subject.other	Tunnels	en
dc.subject.other	Computational fluid dynamics	en
dc.subject.other	Computer aided engineering	en
dc.subject.other	Computer simulation	en
dc.subject.other	Explosions	en
dc.subject.other	Mathematical models	en
dc.subject.other	Pressure relief valves	en
dc.subject.other	Shock waves	en
dc.subject.other	Structural design	en
dc.subject.other	Tunnels	en
dc.title	Computer-aided modeling of the protective effect of explosion relief vents in tunnel structures	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1016/j.jlp.2006.03.002	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2006.03.002	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2006	en
heal.abstract	This paper aims at contributing to the efficient design of explosion protection systems against confined explosions. The issue addressed concerns the quantitative estimation of the protective effect of explosion relief vents in the case of confined explosions inside tunnels. A series of virtual experiments performed by computer simulation, revealed how the number of vents, their diameter, as well as the angle between the vents and the tunnel, influences the blast wave attenuation. The computational study was performed considering a complicated large-scale tunnel configuration with branches on its half portion. The purpose was the calculation of the attenuation effect due to the presence of vents by comparing the total explosion-specific impulse developing at antidiametric positions inside the tunnel. Simulations were carried out via a three-dimensional numerical model built in the computational fluid dynamics code CFX 5.7.1, which has been validated in previous papers against experimental overpressure histories data demonstrating reasonable performance. Computer results showed that the use of branch vents provides an effective method for shock wave attenuation following an explosion, whereas their statistical elaboration revealed that the attenuation is mainly affected by the number of vents and their diameter. In contrast, the angle between the side vents and the main tunnel appeared to slightly affect the pressure wave weakening. Eventually, the quantitative influence of the above parameters was effectively illustrated in functional diagrams, so that the total attenuation effect may be promptly estimated, if the design variables are known. In addition, two statistical models with reasonable fitting to the calculated data are proposed, which express the attenuation effect as a dependent variable of the design variables including their interactions. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.	en
heal.publisher	ELSEVIER SCI LTD	en
heal.journalName	Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.jlp.2006.03.002	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000241717400011	en
dc.identifier.volume	19	en
dc.identifier.issue	6	en
dc.identifier.spage	621	en
dc.identifier.epage	629	en