Hydrogen explosion modeling using AUTODYN

Abstract

This study investigates hydrogen explosion modeling with a focus on safety assessment and predictive analysis. As hydrogen production and utilization continue to expand, incidents involving hydrogen explosions have been reported with increasing frequency. To address these concerns, this research employs AUTODYN to simulate hydrogen explosions in a spherical copper vessel, aiming to advance the practical application of finite element modeling (FEM). The study evaluates the method's applicability by directly calculating hydrogen explosion energy using Gurney energy, adapted for vapor cloud explosions. The results show that the copper expansion velocity derived from theoretical equations and AUTODYN modeling differs by approximately 10 %. When considering the hydrogen efficiency factor, an error rate of 22.7 % was observed. In addition, a comparative analysis of AUTODYN results reveals that the copper expansion velocity for TNT is approximately 35 times higher than that for hydrogen. These findings demonstrate that hydrogen explosions can be effectively modeled, providing valuable insights for the development of hydrogen safety measures.