Indirect coupling method for structural analysis of refuge chamber

Structural analysis is important in the design of a refuge chamber, which can ensure the structural safety of the refuge chamber in case of an explosion. In this paper, an indirect coupling method is utilized to calculate deformation of a refuge chamber under explosion, when gas explosion is simulated in a roadway model, and the pressure waves on different locations of chamber are extracted. The extracted pressure-time curves are applied to a detailed model of the refuge chamber to obtain deformation values. However, reliabilities and validities of the simulation results are not provided. Thereby, we conducted three groups of small-scale physical experiments for comparing the corresponding simulation results calculated by the indirect coupling method. Meanwhile, the theoretical values were obtained by the method of extracting the specific impulse. The results show that the simulation values fit well with the experimental and theoretical values. The process of applying a pressure-time curve to the model covers the specific impulse which acts on the prototype. This method can be used to calculate the deformation of complex equipment under explosion.