Numerical simulation of the effect of the near-ground explosion of energetic materials on the shell of a vertical incinerator

Abstract

In order to study the effect of the near-ground explosion of energetic materials (EMs) on the shell of a vertical incinerator, the effect of different explosion heights of EMs of 90 g TNT on the incinerator shell with different exhaust gas outlet diameters was numerically simulated in three dimensions using AUTODYN software. The simulation results showed that the maximum von Mises equivalent stress (mis. stress) of the shell occurred at the upper edge of the incinerator exhaust gas outlet. Furthermore, the maximum mis. stress of the shell increased with the decrease of the height from the TNT explosion center to the bottom of the shell and the increase of the exhaust gas outlet diameter of the incinerator. Importantly, the existence of the incinerator exhaust gas outlet and the constraint of the shell increased the critical height with the near-ground explosion effect compared to that of the unconstrained open environment (157 mm). The exhaust gas outlet diameter of the incinerator increased from 80 mm to 160 mm, and the critical height with near-ground explosion effect increased from 180 mm to 250 mm. In the design and application of vertical incinerators, the effect range of near-ground explosion can be reduced by reducing the diameter of the shell exhaust gas outlet and filling the bottom surface with a certain height of shock wave attenuation material.