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Derivation of pressure-impulse diagrams for blast-loaded RC members

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Abstract  

This study investigates the construction of Pressure-Impulse (P-I) diagrams, a crucial tool in the protective design of structures exposed to blast loads. Prior research has employed diverse methods, such as equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems and finite element (FE) models, for developing P-I diagrams. However, concerns persist regarding their reliability under impulsive and dynamic loading conditions due to inherent simplifications in modeling material and structural behaviors, limited ability to capture shear deformations, and constraints associated with the chosen damage criteria. To address these concerns comprehensively, this study utilizes a three-dimensional (3-D) FE model with enhanced damage criteria to generate P-I diagrams for fixed-end reinforced concrete (RC) beams exposed to blast loads. A comparison is made between loosely coupled SDOF systems and 3-D FE models, with both approaches employing the proposed damage criteria to assess the accuracy of P-I diagrams. Accordingly, the fixed-end RC beam is represented through two distinct modeling approaches: an equivalent loosely coupled SDOF system created with MATLAB and a 3-D FE model developed using ABAQUS. The developed models are subjected to various blast scenarios representing the far-field, near-field, and close-in blast and identified the failure as flexure, flexure-shear, or direct shear based on the proposed damage criteria. Results reveal that P-I diagrams relying solely on flexure-based damage criteria lack reliability, particularly under impulsive and dynamic loading, where direct shear and flexure-shear failures prevail. Similarly, employing flexure and direct shear-based damage criteria alone yields unreliable P-I diagrams, often missing the possibility of combined flexure-shear failure. In contrast, P-I diagrams from loosely coupled SDOF and FE models with proposed damage criteria effectively represent all potential failure modes. However, the loosely coupled SDOF systems overpredict the safe zone, resulting in inaccurate P-I diagrams. Thus, FE analysis with the proposed damage criteria is recommended for precise P-I diagrams in blast-loaded structural design.

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, Uttarakhand, India

    Ravi Mudragada & Pradeep Bhargava

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  1. Ravi Mudragada
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  2. Pradeep Bhargava
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Contributions

The conceptualization, visualization, methodology, software, investigation, and original draft preparation was by Ravi Mudragada and the supervision, review and editing was by Pradeep Bhargava. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pradeep Bhargava.

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Mudragada, R., Bhargava, P. Derivation of pressure-impulse diagrams for blast-loaded RC members. J Build Rehabil 9, 64 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41024-024-00411-9

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