| Abstract: | Gas cloud explosions cause air pressure waves which propagate over the ground surface. The ground motion induced by these loads and their effect on structures are studied. The soil is modelled as a linear viscoelastic medium. A semianalytical method is used to compute the ground motion produced by a deflagration and by a detonation in a stiff and a soft layered soil. For a PWR reactor building subjected to the direct impact of an air pressure wave the additional effects of the ground waves on the motion of the building are studied. Whereas the vertical structural response is increased, the horizontal response decreases, when the effect of the ground waves is included. For the case studied the additional effect of the ground waves is small. |
