RAPID: Investigation of the Blast Loading for the Fertilizer Plant Explosion at West, Texas

2013年4月17日，德克萨斯州西部小镇一家化肥厂发生严重爆炸。爆炸摧毁了工厂周围的居民区。大约有150座建筑物在这次爆炸中受损或被毁。大部分建筑物都是单户住宅，但两所学校、一座两层公寓楼和一座养老院建筑也受到严重破坏。这次突然发生的工业爆炸提供了一个机会来记录建筑物对爆炸载荷的性能。记录工作将获得建筑物损坏、结构和材料的现场技术数据以及爆炸中心损坏的变化。这些数据将包括现场、空中和卫星照片及观察结果。此外，将审查和记录目前的爆炸载荷要求，以便与收集的数据进行比较。在清理受损区域和清除碎屑之前，将收集现场数据。调查人员将对这些数据进行分析和整理，以供日后了解爆炸荷载和建筑物的反应。研究者计划为达拉斯的一个科学博物馆准备一张海报，并在一个专业会议上做演讲。

A severe explosion in a fertilizer plant occurred in the small town of West, Texas on April 17, 2013. The explosion devastated the populated neighborhood surrounding the plant. About 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed as a result of this explosion. Most of the buildings were single family residences; though two schools, a two-story apartment building, and a nursing home building were part of the buildings that sustained severe damage. This sudden occurrence of industrial explosion provides an opportunity to document performance of buildings to blast loading.The documentation effort will obtain on-site technical data of damage, construction, and materials of buildings and variation of damage from the epicenter of the blast. The data will include on-site, aerial and satellite photographs and observations. In addition, current blast loading requirements will be reviewed and recorded for comparison with collected data. The field data will be collected before the damaged area is cleaned and the debris is removed. These data will be analyzed and organized for later use by the investigator to understand blast loads and response of buildings. The investigator plans to prepare a poster for a science museum in Dallas and make presentation at a professional meeting.