Blast human damage

Guadalajara Sewer Explosion This corrosion failure is because of a combination of human error and shared responsibilities. The explosion killed 215 people and caused a series of blasts that damaged 1600 nearby buildings and injured... 

Figure 41. Human Ear Damage for Blast Waves Arriving at Normal Angle of Incidence. (Ref. 46)...

Table 3.5 summarizes the effects of explosion overpressure on structures. With respect to human casualties, heavy building damage usually is equated to a fatal effect, as the people inside the buildings probably would be crushed. People outside of buildings or structures are susceptible to direct blast injury (blast overpressure) and indirect blast injury (missiles or whole body translation). 

In this chapter we will look at shock or blast waves in air and water and learn how to predict their behavior as a function of both the magnitude of the explosion (weight of explosive) and the distance from the explosion. We shall also look at the effects that blast has upon the human body in respect to damage to hearing, lungs, and to life itself... 

The inner ear of humans (and other vertebrates) contains a snail-shaped stmcture called a cochlea that is lined with thousands of microscopic hairs. When sound vibrations enter the cochlea, they cause the tiny hairs to move back and forth. If strong vibrations blast into the cochlea, the hairs can be flattened and damaged. The damage usually results in some d ee of hearing loss. 

The second hazard is the tank s location close to ultra-high compressed air lines and equipment. A high pressure pipeline explosion could result Ifom a malfunctioning safety valve, a human error in operating the equipment, damage to a pipeline, or from other causes. Blast or flying debris could conceivably strike the propane tank, rupture it and cause it to explode with the same consequences as for a run-away vehicle. 

The neutrons are the worst problem of radiation. The human body contains a high percentage of HjO, which absorbs neutrons very efficiently.The neutron bomb produces massive amounts of neutrons and so Is effective against people, but it does not produce the long-lasting radiation or blast damage of the fission atomic bomb. 

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