• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.75-82
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• 2017

The Kingery-Bulmash equation is the most common equation to calculate blast load. However, the Kingery-Bulmash equation is complicated. In this paper, a modified equation for surface blast load is proposed. The equation is based on Kingery-Bulmash equation. The proposed equation requires a brief calculation process, and the number of coefficients is reduced under 5. As a result, each parameter obtained by using the modified equation has less than 1% of error range comparing with the result by using Kingery-Bulmash equation. The modified equation may replace the original equation with brief process to calculate.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.117-123
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• 2016

The blast load is classified into free-air blast and surface blast following the location of explosion and surface. In this paper, several equations for blast load calculation are explained briefly and a modified equation for free-air blast load is suggested. The modified equation is based on Kingery-Bulmash equation which is used in UFC 3-340-02 and Conwep model. In this modified equation, the process of calculation is simplified against the original equation, and the number of coefficients is reduced under 5. As a result, each parameter of estimated data by modified equation has less than 1% of error range comparing with Kingery-Bulmash equation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 2023

This study presents an analytical study of investigating the effect of shock waves generated by the hydrogen detonation and damage to structures for the safety evaluation of hydrogen storage facilities against detonation. Blast scenarios were established considering the volume of the hydrogen storage facility of 10 L to 50,000 L, states of charge (SOC) of 50% and 100%, and initial pressures of 50 MPa and 100 MPa. The equivalent TNT weight for hydrgen detonation was determined considering the mechanical and chemical energies of hydrogen. A hydrogen detonation model for the converted equivalent TNT weight was made using design equations that improved the Kingery-Bulmash design chart of UFC 3-340-02. The hydrogen detonation model was validated for overpressure and impulse in comparison to the past experimental results associated with the detonation of hydrogen tank. A parametric study based on the blast scenarios was performed using the validated hydrogen detonation model, and design charts for overpressure and impulse according to the standoff distance from the center of charge was provided. Further, design charts of the three-stage structural damage and standoff distance of adjacent structures according to the level of overpressure and impact were proposed using the overpressure and impulse charts and pressure-impulse diagrams.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

On August 4, 2020, 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a storage warehouse at the Port of Beirut exploded. This explosion is said to be the largest ammonium nitrate explosion ever. By applying the TNT equivalency method, TNT equivalent amount corresponding to the explosion energy of 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate was calculated, and it is found to be 856 tons. Overpressure and impulse were calculated in a range up to 3600 m from the blast using the Kingery-Bulmash explosion parameter calculator tool. As the distance from the explosion center increases, the overpressure and impulse decrease exponentially, but the overpressure decreases more significantly, showing that overpressure is more affected by distance than the impact. As a result of applying the damage criteria to evaluate the effects of overpressure and impulse on the structure, the critical distances at which partial collapse, major damage, and minor damage to the structure occur are found to be approximately 500, 800, and 2200 m from the center of the explosion, respectively. The probit function was applied to evaluate the probability of damage to structures and human body. The points where the probability of collapse, major damage, minor damage, and breakage of window-panes to structures are greater than 50% are found to be approximately 500, 810, 2200, and 3200 m, respectively. For people within 200 m from the center of the explosion, the probability of death due to lung damage is more than 99%, and the 50% probability of eardrum rupture is approximately 300 m. The points with a 100% probability of death due to skull rupture and whole body impact due to whole body displacement are evaluated to be 300 and 100 m, respectively.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.277-283
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• 2019

In evaluating explosion-protection capacity, safety distance is broadly accepted as the distance at which detonation of a given explosive causes acceptable structural damage. Safety distance can be calculated based on structural response under blast loading and damage criteria. For the applicability of the safety distance, the minimum required stand-off distance should be given when the explosive size is assumed. However, because of the nature of structures, structural details and material characteristics differ, which requires sensitivity analysis of the safety distance. This study examines the safety-distance sensitivity from structural and material property variations. For the safety-distance calculation, a blast analysis module based on the Kingery and Bulmash formula, a structural response module based on a Single Degree of Freedom model, and damage criteria based on a support rotation angle were prepared. Sensitivity analysis was conducted for the Reinforced Concrete one-way slab with different thicknesses, reinforcement ratios, reinforcement yield strengths, and concrete compressive strengths. It was shown that slab thickness has the most significant influence on both inertial force and flexure resistance, but the compressive strength of the concrete is not relevant.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2022

A prediction model is proposed for a blast load acting on a column component because of an external explosion. The model can predict the pressure-time histories acting on a column using the fitting curves established from a database composed of finite-element (FE) analysis results. To this end, 70 numerical simulations using the commercial software AUTODYN were performed by changing the column width. To confirm the performance of the proposed model, pressure-time histories estimated from an existing empirical formula and the proposed model were compared based on the FE analysis results. It was verified that the proposed model can more precisely predict the pressure-time histories compared with the existing model.