The transportation of dangerous goods (DG) represents an important portion of the overall freight transport worldwide. Ground transport (excluding pipelines) moves approximately 21% to 31% of the total tonnage of DG in Canada. Accidents involving DG might occur at any time at any location along transport routes or within storage areas, and not only do they have an effect on people and the environment, but also they can have a great effect on the national economy. This paper presents the details of an experimental investigation studying the blast attenuation capability of suppressive shield panels (SSPs). Suppressive shield technology can be used for the storage, processing, and transport of explosive materials and can also be applied to protecting attractive targets and infrastructure deemed vulnerable to explosive attacks. Various configurations of commercially available steel angles were assembled as SSPs and evaluated for their ability to attenuate blast pressure from detonating Pentolite charges. Results obtained from the tests with 0.5-kg charges indicated that the SSPs attenuate the blast pressure to values in the range of 43% to 60%. The results of this research can be extended to include the design and construction of SSPs for transportation of DG by sea as well. Effectively, this can include the strengthening of current standard containers.

The need for building protection against blast loads is a crucial issue nowadays due to the escalating threat of terrorist attacks, which affect people’s lives and critical structures. Consequently, design of protective panels to segregate building façades from the effect of a nearby explosion is required. Such design mainly depends on the ability of protective panels to mitigate and diffract the blast wave before reaching building façades. Five protective panel models with different designs, referred to as the Combined Protection System (CPS), are introduced in this paper. The main objective of this research was to achieve a design that could sustain a blast load with minimum plastic deformations. The introduced CPS designs included two steel plates linked by connector plates. The CPS dimensions were 3 m × 3 m × 0.35 m, representing length, width, and height, respectively. After that, the successful panel design was supported by placing these panels onto a masonry wall in different configurations. The protective panels were tested against 50 kg of trinitrotoluene (TNT) with a standoff distance of one meter. The final run of the optimum model was carried out using a blast load equivalent to 500 kg of TNT. The air–structure interactions were simulated using finite element analysis software called “ANSYS AUTODYN”, where the deformation of the panel was the governing parameter to evaluate the behavior of different designs. The analysis showed minimum deformation of the CPS design with vertical and horizontal connecting plates in a masonry wall distanced at 500 mm from the panel. However, the other designs showed promising results, which could make them suitable for critical structural protection on different scales.

Among the most important problems confronted by designers of submarines is to minimize the weight, increase the payload, and enhance the strength of pressure hull in order to sustain the hydrostatic pressure and underwater explosions (UNDEX). In this study, a Multiple Intersecting Cross Elliptical Pressure Hull (MICEPH) subjected to hydrostatic pressure was first optimized to increase the payload according to the design requirements. Thereafter, according to the optimum design results, a numerical analysis for the fluid structure interaction (FSI) phenomena and UNDEX were implemented using nonlinear finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit. The propagation of shock waves through the MICEPH was analyzed and the response modes (breathing, accordion and whipping) were discussed. Furthermore, the acceleration, displacement and failure index time histories at different locations were presented. The results showed that the greatest acceleration occurred in the athwart direction, followed by the vertical and longitudinal directions. Additionally, the first bubble pulse has a major effect on athwart acceleration. Moreover, the analysis can be effectively used to predict and calculate the failure indices of pressure hull. Additionally, it provides an efficient method that reasonably captures the dynamic response of a pressure hull subjected to UNDEX.

Manufacture, transport, and storage of dangerous goods, especially energetic materials, in Canada and around the world pose serious challenges to explosives regulators and inspectors. Currently siting of manufacturing and storage facilities are in accordance with quantity-distance principles designed to mitigate effects of accidental explosions. The land requirements to satisfy these principles are imposing financial burdens on the explosives sector. This paper presents an experimental program designed to investigate the effectiveness of suppressive shield containers in reducing the blast pressure outside of the container while eliminating fragments thus reducing the distance requirement for the stored amount of explosives. Several suppressive shield panels including aluminium foam-lined panels were tested to study their effect on blast pressure and impulse. In addition computational fluid dynamics techniques were used to study suppressive shields effects on blast environment. The results show reduction of the incident peak blast pressure by 60% and the incident impulse by 58%. The aluminium foam-lined suppressive shield panels attenuated the peak incident pressure and impulse by 80%.

Transportation of dangerous goods (DG) represents an important portion of the overall transport of freight in the world. Ground transport (excluding pipelines) moves approximately 21% to 31% of the total tonnage of DG in Canada. Accidents involving DG might occur at any time, at any location along transport routes or within storage areas and they not only affect people and the environment but also have a great impact on the national economy. This paper presents the details of experimental investigation studying the blast attenuation capability of suppressive shield panels (SSP). Moreover, the performance of one type out of four designed suppressive shield panels (SSPs) using a numerical approach to verify an experimental study. The technology can be used for the storage, processing and transport of explosive materials, or can also be applied to protecting attractive targets and infrastructure that is deemed vulnerable to explosive attacks, including those attacks accompanied by the threat of fragment bombs. Various configurations of commercially-available steel angles were assembled as SSPs and were evaluated for their capability to attenuate blast pressure from detonating Pentolite charges. Results obtained from the experimental tests of 0.5 kg charges indicated that the SSPs attenuate the blast pressure to values in the range of 40% to 60%. The results of this research can be extended to include the design and construction of SSPs for transportation of DG by sea as well. Effectively, this can include the strengthening of current standard containers.