Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel

Twin tunnel is a common and popular type of road tunnel. The safety of twin tunnel (i.e. with left and right branches) subjected to Boiling Liquid Expansion Vapour Explosions (BLEVEs) is important but less investigated in open literature. The present study numerically investigates the dynamic respon...

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Main Authors: Cheng, Ruishan, Chen, Wensu, Hao, Hong, Li, Jingde
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2023
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL180100196
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96075
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author Cheng, Ruishan
Chen, Wensu
Hao, Hong
Li, Jingde
author_facet Cheng, Ruishan
Chen, Wensu
Hao, Hong
Li, Jingde
author_sort Cheng, Ruishan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Twin tunnel is a common and popular type of road tunnel. The safety of twin tunnel (i.e. with left and right branches) subjected to Boiling Liquid Expansion Vapour Explosions (BLEVEs) is important but less investigated in open literature. The present study numerically investigates the dynamic response of right branch of a twin-arched-tunnel subjected to a BLEVE with a 20 m3 Liquified Petroleum Gas tanker occurring inside the left branch by using LS-DYNA. The BLEVE loads and the model of tunnel lining and rock mass subjected to blast loading have been calibrated by the authors in earlier studies. Based on the calibrated numerical model, the response of right branch of the twin-tunnel due to stress waves caused by the BLEVE occurring inside the left branch is first compared with that of the equivalent TNT explosion. It is found that the lining damage of the right branch under BLEVE-induced stress waves can be underestimated by using the TNT equivalence method. In addition, the influences of tunnel cover depths, twin-tunnel separation distances, rock types around tunnels, and concrete strengths of tunnel lining on the dynamic response of the right branch of twin-tunnel against BLEVE-induced stress waves are investigated. Compared to enhancing the concrete strength, increasing the twin-tunnel separation distance is more effective to reduce the damage of the tunnel surrounded by the rock mass with weak mechanical properties under BLEVE-induced stress waves. In addition, empirical formulae for prediction of the PPV and tensile stress on adjacent tunnel surface induced by BLEVE are proposed, which can be used for the determination of the safe separation distance between the twin tunnels against accidental BLEVE loads.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-960752024-11-07T01:01:47Z Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel Cheng, Ruishan Chen, Wensu Hao, Hong Li, Jingde Twin tunnel is a common and popular type of road tunnel. The safety of twin tunnel (i.e. with left and right branches) subjected to Boiling Liquid Expansion Vapour Explosions (BLEVEs) is important but less investigated in open literature. The present study numerically investigates the dynamic response of right branch of a twin-arched-tunnel subjected to a BLEVE with a 20 m3 Liquified Petroleum Gas tanker occurring inside the left branch by using LS-DYNA. The BLEVE loads and the model of tunnel lining and rock mass subjected to blast loading have been calibrated by the authors in earlier studies. Based on the calibrated numerical model, the response of right branch of the twin-tunnel due to stress waves caused by the BLEVE occurring inside the left branch is first compared with that of the equivalent TNT explosion. It is found that the lining damage of the right branch under BLEVE-induced stress waves can be underestimated by using the TNT equivalence method. In addition, the influences of tunnel cover depths, twin-tunnel separation distances, rock types around tunnels, and concrete strengths of tunnel lining on the dynamic response of the right branch of twin-tunnel against BLEVE-induced stress waves are investigated. Compared to enhancing the concrete strength, increasing the twin-tunnel separation distance is more effective to reduce the damage of the tunnel surrounded by the rock mass with weak mechanical properties under BLEVE-induced stress waves. In addition, empirical formulae for prediction of the PPV and tensile stress on adjacent tunnel surface induced by BLEVE are proposed, which can be used for the determination of the safe separation distance between the twin tunnels against accidental BLEVE loads. 2023 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96075 10.1016/j.tust.2023.105292 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL180100196 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Cheng, Ruishan
Chen, Wensu
Hao, Hong
Li, Jingde
Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel
title Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel
title_full Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel
title_fullStr Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel
title_full_unstemmed Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel
title_short Performance of road tunnel subjected to BLEVE occurring inside adjacent tunnel
title_sort performance of road tunnel subjected to bleve occurring inside adjacent tunnel
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL180100196
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/96075