Development of blast load evaluation method on medium objects in FLACS

Risk analysis is increasingly gaining importance in the industry, as companies constantly strive to reduce accidental events. Particular scenarios that may lead to severe damages to people, environment and structures are gas explosion in confined and congested plants. In this context, the use of sophisticated tools for modeling these events represents a powerful mean for obtaining information and solutions intended to reduce the risk to acceptable levels. CFD software, such as FLACS, allow to model explosion scenarios in complex geometries. One of the aspects that may be of interest for FLACS users is the structural assessment on particular devices in a process. A practical methodology for the evaluation of blast loads effects, either on small objects or large objects, has already been developed. The aim of the study is to investigate so-called medium-size devices. A dedicated procedure for blast loading evaluations is proposed, involving the main feature of the FLACS code: the porosity concept. Simulations are then repeated using ANSYS Fluent software, as a reference.