Kaido cares for his daugther. Given kaido's durability and yamato being his daughter, yamato herself should have inherited some of kaido's durability. So I doubt that the explosion would have killed yamato.
She would be wounded and faint obviously, so she wouldn't be able to escape from onigashima, which is kaido's goaö from the beginning.
So it does suit him, a "monster" whl forces his will upon everyone else but "still" cares and is kind to his daugther (not killing her).
Oh and all of those beatings were probably for training, just likr with garp/luffy or wb/ace. This is kaido's way of showing compassion to his daughter, he trains her/ makes her stronger WITHOUT showing his intentions, because he IS kaido. A "hard" man but even he has a soft spot ik his heart. His daughter.
So I imagine that yamato wanting to be oden really hurt him, cause oden and kaido are polar opposites when it comes to character and ideals. So he was indeed angry whenever his little girl said that she wants to be oden.