Experimental Records from Blast Tests of Ten Reinforced Concrete Slabs

Abstract

<jats:p>The design and evaluation of structures subjected to blast loads has increased steadily since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. While shock tube testing has filled some of the data gap by replicating blast waves in a controlled fashion, there is only scant field explosion data that is easily accessible for the structural engineering community for hypothesis testing or model validation. This paper summarizes experimental design, pre-test sensor verification, and data collection from 10 reinforced concrete slabs subjected to field explosions using a modest budget. The experimental record contains pressure, displacement, and acceleration measurements of each slab except in a few cases where the sensors have failed. The data is archived at George Mason Dataverse. Following detailed description of the experimental record for each slab, an example is provided in which the data can be utilized for finite element model verification.</jats:p>

Finite Element Analysis of Experimentally Tested Concrete Slabs Subjected to Airblast

“…The first difference is in the calculation of the dimensionless equivalent tension, which follows Eqn (16). The values are normalised according to the compressive strength of the concrete ( c f ), as described in Eqns ( 17) and (18).…”

“…For the development of the simulations of this work, a model case was studied based on full-scale tests already performed 18 , to validate the FEM method. Such tests consisted of detonating cylindrical PBx charges above a slab supported by wooden easels, as shown in Fig.…”

“…The concrete was modelled as a C3D8R hexahedral solid lagrangian element with a mixed jH2 and HjC constitutive model. The values of compressive strengths of concrete (f c ) were obtained by tests of rupture of collected specimens, presented by Mendonça 18 . The tensile strength (T) and shear modulus of elasticity (G) were calculated as a function of f c , as recommended by the ABNT 6118 standard 34 .…”

“…This current paper is a continuation of Mendonça [13][14][15][16][17][18] , et al, developing a series of FEM computer simulations of the airblast effect originating from the detonation of Plastic Bonded Explosives (PBx) on RC slabs and comparing the results with the tests presented by Mendonça [13][14][15][16][17][18] , et al One of the main contributions of the paper is to validate the Abaqus/Explicit ® program 19 in simulations of airblast effects on RC using jH2 25 and HjC 26 constitutive models, previously used in the literature only for simulations of metallic projectiles on RC slabs 24,28,29 . Another unique aspect of this paper is the validation of the FEM models with full-scale explosive tests.…”

“…Casagrande 12 used lS-Dyna® to determine the impulsive loads from explosions. Mendonça [13][14][15][16][17][18] , et al presented the result of a set of full-scale tests of explosions on RC slabs.…”