Deformation and Dynamic Response of Steel Belt Staggered Multilayer Cylindrical Shell Under External Blast Loading

Abstract The deformation and dynamic response of a multilayer cylindrical shell composed of an inner shell and fourteen outer layers under external blast loads of different trinitro-toluene equivalency weights were studied. A numerical model using the thermo-viscoplastic constitutive model and considering fluid–structure coupling between explosion wave and structure was developed. The displacement in axial direction and cross section, as well as the effective strain responses, were analyzed to demonstrate the potential deformation of the shell structure. Results demonstrate that different materials cause inconsistent displacement and separation to develop in the inner and outer shells. In order to address the problem that the displacement of the inner shell is hard to measure due to the shielding and covering of the outer shell, a theoretical formula for calculating the maximum displacement of the inner shell was developed. The deflection process and stress triaxiality histories of the inner shell were investigated, and the results showed that compressive stress is the primary cause of plastic deformation. Additionally, the delamination that appeared in the outer shell was discussed, and it was revealed that there are two factors of delamination: (1) Stress waves spread across adjacent layers in the opposite direction because steel belts were wound in the opposite direction between the two adjacent layers; (2) Outer layers experienced uneven compressive loads. The results will be helpful to provide a reference for the intrinsic safety design of such multilayer cylindrical structures for hydrogen storage, etc.