Risk assessment of blast events in a transport infrastructure by fluid-structure interaction analysis

• Published in: Safety science 2019-10, Vol.118, p.887-897
• Main Authors: Valsamos, G., Casadei, F., Solomos, G., Larcher, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Airport terminals; Airports; Blast loads; Computer simulation; Deformation; Domains; Explosion events; Explosions; Finite element analysis; Finite element method; Fluid-structure interaction; Flying fragments; Fragility; Glass failure; Health risks; Injuries; Mathematical models; Metro station; Mortality; Numerical analysis; Railroad yards and terminals; Railroads; Railway stations; Risk assessment; Safety management; Subway stations; Subways; Terrorist attack; Transportation terminals
• ISSN: 0925-7535; 1879-1042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2019.06.014

•Numerical simulation of blast events in public space infrastructures.•Simulation of flying debris formation form failing fragile structural elements.•Evaluation of blast injury risk including the contribution from debris.•Tempered and laminated glass behavior as concerns debris formation and injury risk. The work presents a numerical approach for the determination of the risk of injuries due to explosion events in large closed spaces, such as metro and railway stations, airport terminals, malls. The study is based on the numerical simulation of blast loading scenarios via fluid-structure interaction techniques. Such severe loading conditions induce large motion and significant deformation of the structure and this complicates the definition of a single discretization scheme for both the structural and the fluid domains. Therefore, a special methodology is used in order to de-couple the structure from the fluid at the topological level. The numerical results are generated with the fast transient dynamics explicit finite element code EUROPLEXUS. Investigations focus in particular on the glass parts of the structure due to their fragility and the consequent fragment generation. The numerical results are properly processed in order to calculate the fatal and non-fatal injuries risk. For the fatal injuries, special attention is also paid to the assessment of risk due to the impact of flying debris on the human body.