Dynamic response of steel cabin structure under blast loading from adjacent cabin

This study conducted experiments and numerical simulations to investigate the dynamic response of a steel cabin subjected to blast loading from an adjacent cabin. A dual-chamber structure with a steel intermediate plate as a partition door was designed, and four internal explosion experiments with different-mass charges were carried out. The intermediate plate remained intact with a small-mass charge, but was completely torn out from the boundary with a large-mass charge. Compared with the findings when the intermediate plate remained intact, when the intermediate place was destroyed, overpressure substantially increased, and the target plate in the adjacent cabin showed significant deflection. Numerical models were established and validated against the experimental results. The simulations revealed that, in the large-mass test, the deflection of the target plate was mainly caused by the secondary impact of the ejection part of the intermediate plate and the piston effect. Parametric studies were carried out to investigate the influence exerted by the thickness of the intermediate plate. Specifically, the plate served as a protective barrier when it remained intact, but dramatically enhanced the damage to the target plate through the secondary impact and piston effect when torn out.