Investigating the influence of plate geometry and detonation variations on structural responses under explosion loading: A nonlinear finite-element analysis with sensitivity analysis

Abstract

This study presents the results of a numerical analysis of the response of Domex 700 and Dormex 1100 steel plates with varying geometries, combined with several different parameters such as a thickness of up to 6 mm and a trinitrotoluene (TNT) mass. Using ABAQUS software, finite-element analysis was run to examine the structural response ability of the steel plates to explosions. In terms of deformation and energy dissipation, the results showed a large differentiation. A sensitivity analysis was used to examine each simulation result in terms of the structural response performance to explosions and identify the variables that had the greatest impact on variations in the thickness, material, geometry, and TNT mass. The best numerical simulation results were found using the multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) approach. Annotations are utilized to assist in identifying the various modifications made during testing. Annotations LXXI to LVIII achieved the lowest value of 6.176 × 10−09, signifying the best results according to calculations made using the MADM approach. This is evidenced by the structural events, demonstrating that the deformation, von Mises stress, and energy dissipation in the circular plate structure were not significantly impacted by the explosion. The variables that most significantly affect variations in deformation, von Mises stress, and dissipated energy – variables that significantly impact the structural response to explosions – are identified through the sensitivity analysis approach. The results of this research can be used to optimize the structural response performance of circular plates.