Numerical investigation of a new structural configuration of a concrete barrier wall under the effect of blast loads

Abstract

In this study, a non-linear three-dimensional hydrocode numerical simulation was carried out using AUTODYN-3D, which is an extensive code dealing with explosion problems. A high explosive material (comp-B) is blasted against several concrete wall barriers. The model was first validated using referenced experimental tests and has shown good results. Several numerical models were carried out to study the effect of changing the shape of wall barrier from flat to convex curve and concave curve, and also investigated the effect of changing the angle of curvature. The results showed that changing the shape of a wall barrier from flat to convex curve has the best performance in mitigating the effect of blast waves. It is also concluded that convex walls with 60° angle of curvature have the best performance compared to other barrier walls.

Numerical analysis of physical barriers to mitigate the gas tank explosion effects using computational fluid dynamics

“…However, for the scenario simulated in this paper, geometries with curvatures similar to those studied by Taha et al [15] and Attia et al [17] did not prove advantageous when compared with simpler geometries, for example, G1, G2a, and G7a. Regarding the top edge of the G1 wall, the results (Figure 15) showed a small variation between the values of overpressure peaks.…”

“…Geometries with curved surfaces (concave and convex) were investigated with angles of 20º, 40º, 60º, and 80º, where the thickness was kept the same as the trapezoidal section. Analyzes similar to this one were also conducted by Taha et al [15] and Attia et al [17]; these researchers concluded that, in the scenario studied by them, a concave surface with a 60º curvature had a better performance in reducing overpressures in the region behind the wall.…”

“…This fact can be observed in gauges 2 and 3 allocated on the building facade; in these cases, only in gauge 1 (closer to the ground), there was a better performance in some convex models. According to Taha et al [15], when the incident wave hits a convex protective wall, it moves away from the wall in the upper and lower direction. As a result, the wave front directed upwards more easily circumvents the upper part of the protective wall and, consequently, raises the pressure levels at some measurement points.…”

“…The experiments carried out by Beyer [9] and Wu et al [10] with concrete walls and those carried out by Xiao et al [11] and Chen et al [12] with gabion walls showed that these devices are capable of significantly reducing the overpressures in the back part, as they are a physical barrier to the passage of the shock wave. In the numerical field, relevant studies were conducted by Zhou and Hao [13], Soukup et al [14], Taha et al [15], Skob et al [16], Attia et al [17] showing the efficiency of these physical barriers with different geometries and scenarios. The use of trees as obstacles has been investigated experimentally in some relevant studies.…”