The understanding of vapor cloud explosions (VCEs) has changed significantly over recent years. Whereas it had been previously considered that VCE incidents had involved only deflagrations restricted to well‐defined congested process regions, it is now widely accepted that deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) has been involved in major VCE incidents. Once DDT occurs, high pressures will be generated throughout any remaining unburned cloud, not just the congested process region. The stimulus for this change in understanding was the research conducted following the Buncefield incident in the UK in 2005; however, the conclusions have been found relevant to other VCE incidents. In the process of both conducting the research and reviewing VCE incidents, a significant amount of data have been obtained on the effects of VCEs on items within and around the flammable cloud. These data will be of significant value in the interpretation of the forensic evidence produced in any future VCE. This article reviews the data available from the research and shows how it can be used in the investigation of any future VCE incidents.

中文翻译：

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对蒸气云爆炸造成的损害的解释

近年来，对蒸气云爆炸 (VCE) 的理解发生了重大变化。以前认为 VCE 事故只涉及仅限于明确定义的拥挤过程区域的爆燃，但现在人们普遍认为，主要 VCE 事故涉及爆燃到爆轰转变 (DDT)。一旦 DDT 发生，任何剩余的未燃烧云都会产生高压，而不仅仅是拥挤的过程区域。2005 年英国邦斯菲尔德事件后进行的研究是促成这种理解转变的动力。然而，已发现结论与其他 VCE 事件相关。在进行研究和审查 VCE 事件的过程中，已经获得了大量关于 VCE 对易燃云内部和周围物品的影响的数据。这些数据对于解释任何未来 VCE 中产生的法医证据都具有重要价值。本文回顾了研究中可用的数据，并展示了如何将其用于调查任何未来的 VCE 事件。