Protective effect of unbonded prestressed ultra-high performance reinforced concrete slab against gas explosion in buried utility tunnel

With the wide application of natural gas, in order to increase the sustainability of buried utility tunnel and prevent the explosion of the gas pipeline cabin from threatening process safety, the performance of the partition wall (slab) of the cabin against gas explosion should be investigated. This paper presents the protective effect of unbonded prestressed ultra-high performance reinforced concrete slab (UPUHPRCS) against gas explosion in buried utility tunnel. There were four scenarios in the experiment, among which the variables were the length of tunnel (12,000 mm and 20,000 mm) and gas concentration (7.5 % and 9.5 %). The normal strength reinforced concrete slab (NSRCS) and ultra-high performance reinforced concrete slab (UHPRCS) were tested as reference specimens, and the simple supported steel slab fixed by stacking sandbags was compared with the concrete slab fully constrained on the tunnel. The overpressure curves caused by gas explosions in the tunnel, the damage of each concrete slab and the change of deflections were obtained through the tests. The results indicated that with the increase of the length of the buried utility tunnel, the power of gas explosion will further increase, and the UPUHPRCS, as the partition wall of the gas pipeline independent cabin in the buried utility tunnel, will play an excellent role in against gas explosion. Moreover, the gas explosion may have little effect on the circular section pipeline in the independent cabin. (c) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The protective effect of unbonded prestressed ultra-high performance reinforced concrete slab against gas explosion was investigated, showing excellent performance in resisting gas explosions. Gas explosions may have little effect on the circular section pipeline in the independent cabin.