Effects of Entrance Shape and Blast Pocket on Internal Overpressure Mitigation for Protective Tunnels Exposed to External Detonation on the Ground

This study presents a numerical analysis to reduce the overpressure inside protective tunnels for external detonations. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of a tunnel subjected to detonation for a hemispherical charge with a charge weight of 555 kg and a standoff distance of 7.6 m was established, based on a mesh sensitivity study to obtain an optimal element size, stability analysis of overpressure, and validation study to evaluate the accuracy of the numerical results based on Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) 3-340-02. A parametric analysis was performed using the validated numerical model to investigate the effects of the entrance shape and blast pockets on the reduction in the maximum overpressure. The maximum overpressures were effectively reduced as the slope angle of the tunnel entrance decreased and the length of the blast pocket divided by the tunnel width decreased. An optimized shape of the tunnel was proposed based on the numerical results, where the peak overpressures were reduced by a maximum of 64.5%. This study aims to protect facilities, personnel, and equipment and further reduce construction costs by lowering the overpressure rating of blast valves in protective tunnels.

Automated summary

This study uses numerical analysis to reduce the overpressure inside protective tunnels caused by external detonations. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model is established to simulate the detonation of a hemispherical charge with specific weight and distance parameters. The effects of entrance shape and blast pockets on maximum overpressure reduction are investigated using the validated numerical model. An optimized tunnel shape is proposed to effectively reduce peak overpressures by up to 64.5%. The study aims to protect facilities, personnel, and equipment and decrease construction costs by lowering overpressure ratings of blast valves in protective tunnels.