Methods for Design of Explosion Containment Vessels

Abstract

Explosion containment vessels (ECVs), which can be generally classified into three categories, i.e., multiple use ECVs and one-time use ECVs, single-layered ECVs and multi-layered ECVs, metallic ECVs and composite ECVs according to the usage, structural form and the bearing unit, respectively, are widely used to completely contain the effects of explosions. There are fundamental differences between statically-loaded pressure vessels and ECVs that operate under extremely fast loading conditions. Conventional pressure design codes, such as ASME Section VIII, EN13445 etc., can not be directly used to design ECVs. So far, a lot of investigations have been conducted to establish design method for ECVs. Several predominant effects involved in the design of ECVs such as scale effect, failure mode and failure criteria are extensively reviewed. For multiple use single-layered metallic ECVs, dynamic load factor method and AWE method are discussed. For multiple use composite ECVs, a minimum strain criteria based on explosion experiments is examined. For one-time use ECVs, a strain limit method proposed by LANL and a maximum strain criteria obtained by Russia are discussed for metallic vessel and composite vessel, respectively. Some improvements and possible future work in developing design criterion for ECVs are recommended as a conclusion.

Estimation of dynamic load factors for elastic cylinders under dynamic internal pressure

“…It is proven that the DLF has a maximum value of 2.0 for usual non-harmonic loads. This concept can be extended to simple Multiple-Degrees Of Freedom (MDOF) models and has been widely used to design beams and slabs for civil engineering applications [17][18][19], as well as spheres [20][21]. It has also been used to design cylinders using the SDOF model [22].…”

A Chamber Pressure Prediction Method Based on Strain Measurement of Composite Barrel Recoilless Guns

“…Extensive research has been made on the stress and strain analysis of single-layer thin-walled cylinders made of isotropic materials and carbon fiber winding cylinders under pressure. Chen et al [7]- [9] studied the criteria for distinguishing between thin-walled and thick-walled cylinders under dynamic loading, and deemed the cylinders whose ratio of outer diameter to inner diameter was in the range of 1-1.14 as thin-walled ones. In addition, they simplified the calculation method for elastodynamic stresses of thick-walled cylinders, achieving a relative error between the calculation result and the exact solution of less than 6%.…”