Explosion Performance of a Ball Powder Production Facility

Abstract

A ball powder production facility recently experienced two subsequent explosions which occurred due to the detonation of 2,800 kg and 17,000 kg ball powder components in the mixer building and the temporary storage building, respectively. Consequently, three persons were killed; and these two structures were damaged heavily. In this study, the outline of the mixer building is explained as well as the details of explosion and the behavior of the structural system of the mixer building against explosion. The observed damage mechanism of the mixer building is explained through a nonlinear dynamic blast load analysis as well as the evaluation of the original design, in situ material characteristics, and construction details. Furthermore, the potential reasons of the second explosion in the temporary storage building and the effects of this explosion are discussed considering the separation and public route distances given in related standards.