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Because the chest and face area for most workers consists of nearly half square meter of surface area, the worker could easily be blown off his feets or somersaulted during intense arc flash explosion. As an example, 50 kA arc would provide enough pressure to propel a person standing 2 feet away from the arc source and weighting 75kg (170 lbs) with acceleration of approx 100 meters (330 feet) per second. The arc flash blast energy or pressure is not currently addressed in IEEE 1584 or NFPA 70E. Ralph Lee's IEEE paper Pressures Developed by Arcs addresses arc blast phenomenon and provides the formula for calculating initial impulse force:
P=
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Energies produced by arc flash explosions are comparable to dynamite explosions. These forces can be significant. They have been known to blow workers tens of meters away from the arc causing falls and injuries that may be more severe than the burns themselves.
http://www.arcadvisor.com/faq/arcblast.html
27/07/2011