Damage Modeling of Storage Vessels in Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities due to Flammable Vapor Cloud Explosion
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 28, Issue 4
Abstract
Blast analysis of a storage container inside a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility needs rigorous finite element analysis (FEA). This paper presents a detailed method of nonlinear dynamic analysis of LNG storage vessels subjected to blast load. The explicit dynamic solver of the commercially available FEA software Abaqus is used to perform the analysis. The finite element models of the LNG storage tanks include the static fluid pressure and internal pressure. Constitutive material models include strain-rate dependent elastic-plastic material effects. Based on the results of FEA, recommendations are made for safe practice of maintaining the structural integrity of vessels subjected to vapor cloud explosion (VCE).
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded in part under the Department of Transportation, Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Research Announcement: 693JK320RA0001). The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Department of Transportation, or the US Government. Authors would also like to thank the DNV team members (Michael Johnson, Cynthia Spitzenberger, and Tatiana Norman) for providing valuable insights on VCE scenario and structural failure investigation data.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 28 • Issue 4 • November 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 12, 2023
Accepted: Jul 9, 2023
Published online: Sep 11, 2023
Published in print: Nov 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 11, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Buildings
- Coasts, oceans, ports, and waterways engineering
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamic analysis
- Dynamic loads
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Energy engineering
- Energy sources (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Equipment and machinery
- Facilities (by type)
- Finite element method
- Fuels
- Methodology (by type)
- Natural gas
- Non-renewable energy
- Numerical methods
- Petroleum
- Ships
- Solid mechanics
- Storage facilities
- Storage tanks
- Structural dynamics
- Structural engineering
- Structures (by type)
- Tanks (by type)
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