Abstract
Small scale experiments of unconfined fuel vapor cloud explosions are carried out for various masses of fuel (2.9-25.2 g of iso-butane), and compared with the results obtained by the numerical analysis based o the spherically expanding piston model, where the volume of the piston is expressed by a simple function of time. A self-consistent scaling law of the unconfined fuel vapor cloud explosion is found. The size and the duration of the fireball, and the peak overpressure generated by the explosion of M kg of hydrocarbon fuels, are approximated as follows, although the dispersions in experiments are large. The maximum diameter of the fireball Dmax≒5.5 M1/3 [m]. The duration of the fireball tb≒1.6 M1/6 [s] ; and the peak overpressure of the blast Δpmax≒1.6×103 M2/3r-1 [Pa], or Δpmax/p0≒5.7×10-3M1/3(r/r*)-1, where p0 is the initial pressure and r/r* is the so-called scaled distance. These relations are in good agreement not only with the present experiments but also with the existing experiments for both larger and smaller fuel vapor cloud explosions.
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