Failure Criterion for Steel Explosive Containment Vessel Design

Abstract

Steel explosive containment vessels that are intended for a single internal detonation (one-time use) should not be designed using elastic, or near elastic design criteria. Single detonation chambers can be economized by taking advantage of strain energy capacity beyond the elastic region. Classical designs that limit response to nearly elastic limits can result in conservative designs that do not take into account the ductile nature of steel material. While ductile steel materials can exhibit large deformations before rupture, the full ductile capacity of the material cannot be realized due to limiting factors such as material imperfections, the heat affected zone near welds, and geometric discontinuities that limit strain development. There is little criterion available to help establish a reasonable strain limit for one-time use explosive containment vessels due to the complex nature of the dynamic loading, large deformations of the unit, and plastic response of the material. This paper will explore two failure criteria for steel explosive containment vessels. Dynamic analysis methods and data from blast containment vessel test programs will be analyzed and compared to help establish the adequacy of the failure criteria.