Ensuring Blast Resistance of Critically Important Buildings and Constructions in Case of Air Crash

Abstract

Introduction. The paper is focused on improving blast resistance of critically important buildings and constructions exposed to a deflagration explosion due to an aircraft (A/C) crash in their vicinity, by improving methods of the explosion effects calculation. The main tasks include: 1. considering the physical processes that occur during an aircraft crash, which causes the formation of a highly explosive cloud; 2. quantifying the parameters affecting explosion loadings; 3. provide insights into modern procedures for calculating effects of a deflagration explosion caused by an A/C crash; 4. giving an example of calculating the loadings on a critically important building or construction in a crash deflagration explosion. Methodology and calculations. The article presents a methodology for calculating the maximum parameters of explosion loadings on buildings and constructions arising from aircraft crash situations. The calculations are performed with the help of author’s and generally accepted methods by the numerical method with the use of MatLab software complex. Results and discussion. As a result of calculations, the proposed methodology allows to obtain: the fuel mass values capable of forming highly explosive mixture; to choose the appropriate scenario for the development of an aircraft crash: an igneous ball or a deflagration explosion of a fuel-air mixture; to determine the time dependence of the fuel vapor concentration in the air; to evaluate the maximum apparent flame front speed; to determine the dynamic parameters of the fireball and the time dependences of the overpressure at points in the space adjacent to the explosion site; to build up a maximum pressure field created by this deflagration explosion; to obtain the explosion loading integral parameters: the maximum and minimum explosion overpressure, the compression phase pulse, the probability of destruction of buildings; to evaluate vibration loading on the building from a deflagration explosion. Conclusion. The methodology presented in the article can be used to calculate the loadings on buildings and structures during a deflagration explosion that occurs when an aircraft crash.