Abstract
<jats:p>Safety of industrial buildings against internal deflagration explosions is generally ensured by installing explosion relief panels in vent openings, which limit the explosion overpressure to a safe level. This paper proposes and experimentally validates a mathematical model for calculating the dynamic explosion overpressure in enclosures equipped with explosion relief panels. In the deflagration combustion regime, the flame front propagates subsonically due to thermal conduction, which justifies the quasi static pressure assumption, whereby the explosion load is treated as independent of the spatial coordinate. The computational model consists of a system of three coupled ordinary differential equations describing the time evolution of explosion overpressure, as well as the displacement and velocity of the explosion relief panel. At the initial explosion stage, a simplified equation based on a spherical flame front assumption is applied; this assumption is supported by high speed video observations. A full scale experiment in a cubic chamber filled with a stoichiometric propane–air mixture was carried out to verify the model. Explosion overpressure was measured by pressure transducers, while the kinematics of the explosion relief panel was captured by high speed cameras. The comparison of calculated and experimental data has demonstrated good agreement. The developed methodology makes it possible to predict pressure dynamics in enclosures and to determine design parameters of explosion relief panels.</jats:p>