Performance of Bridge Columns Subjected to Blast Loads. I: Experimental Program

Williamson, Eric B.; Bayrak, Oguzhan; Davis, Carrie E.; Williams, George

doi:10.1061/(asce)be.1943-5592.0000220

Cited by 70 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The undertaken study manifested the flexural mode of failure to be the predominant failure mode for the considered cases. Additionally, experimental trials conducted on columns with closely spaced ties have also documented the efficiency of the transverse reinforcement in improving the performance of the columns 15–17 . This is particularly so when the scaled distances are less 15,16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Response characterization of highway bridge piers subjected to blast loading

Patel

Goswami

Adhikary

2020

Structural Concrete

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Recent attacks on a number of bridges demonstrate clear evidence of the vulnerability characterizing transportation systems to terrorist attacks. This vulnerability being further enhanced by the fact that the security measures implemented for the highway bridges are often not at par with those in place for the milestone bridges. This has necessitated studies to effectively characterize the response of highway bridge piers subjected to blast loads. The study, presented here, concentrates on investigating the effects of various parameters such as scaled distance, blast type, axial load ratio, and reinforcement detailing in assessing the response of reinforced concrete bridge piers that form the part of a two span highway bridge. The analysis of the bridge was carried out in accordance with IRC 6:2017. It was observed that at lower scaled distances, the burst type and the axial load ratio significantly affect the response of the pier. For a constant ALR value of 0.15, a 91.55% reduction in the peak displacement value was observed on increasing the scaled distance from 0.5 to 1 m/kg1/3. Furthermore, for the conventionally detailed piers, an increase in the ALR value at a scaled distance of 0.5 m/kg1/3 was observed to be characterized by catastrophic failure due to the buckling of the longitudinal rebar on account of crushing of the compression concrete. Seismic detailing was also found to significantly improve the response of the columns, scilicet the use of seismic detailing, was noted to significantly reduce the peak displacement (~ 40%).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Response characterization of highway bridge piers subjected to blast loading

Patel

Goswami

Adhikary

2020

Structural Concrete

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“…There are numerous experimental studies in literature that show the global behavior of concrete structures or structural components subjected to explosive loads. Reinforced concrete columns or bridge piers have been subjected to field explosive loads to observe their behavior under blast loading (Bao and Li 2010;Fujikura and Bruneau 2011;Williamson et al 2011). Performances of concretefilled steel tubes have been compared against seismically resistant bridge piers to demonstrate that seismic mitigation does not make the structural component safe against blast (Fujikura et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the research mentioned previously used embedded fibers in the concrete or cementitious mix-which may have been motivated by reported beneficial properties of embedded fibers to prevent crack propagation. Most of this experimental research typically identifies one structural component to impart a blast load on the component [e.g., bridge piers in Fujikura and Bruneau (2011), bridge columns in Williamson et al (2011), slabs in Silva and Lu (2009)].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructural Response of Shock-Loaded Concrete, Mortar, and Cementitious Composite Materials in a Shock Tube Setup

Deb

Samuelraj

Mitra

et al. 2019

J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

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Microstructural changes in concrete, mortar, and cementitious composite material were investigated to determine the efficacy of these materials subjected to shock loading. An experimental methodology with the ability to generate reproducible shock waves of specified blast pressure and decay time was used to perform repeatable experiments in the range of trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosion that is unsafe for concrete columns as specified in the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) guidelines (38 kg TNT at 3.7 m). The changes in the pore volume fraction of the samples before and after shock loading were used to determine the efficacy of the materials subjected to shock loading. The study reveals that even though percentage increase in pore volume fraction before and after shock loading is highest for cementitious materials, its absolute value is low compared to that of control samples, thereby justifying the better performance of cementitious composite materials. Moreover, the size of the pores is also observed to be lower for cementitious composite samples compared to those of the and concrete samples after shock loading in comparison to the control materials in the study. The reason for the better performance of cementitious composite materials can be attributed to an increase in tensile ductility of the sample as a result of fiber addition. Apart from development of a new cementitious material for blast load mitigation, the study also demonstrates the need to consider pore size distribution in equations relating pore volume fraction to strength.

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“…However, relatively limited research has been carried out by the civil engineering community due to the constraints and safety concerns associated with the use of field explosives (e.g. Abou-Zeid et al, 2011;Braimah et al, 2015;Carriere et al, 2009;Echevarria et al, 2016;ElSayed et al, 2015;Feng et al, 2017;Kyei and Braimah, 2017;Williamson et al, 2011aWilliamson et al, , 2011bWu et al, 2011). This is mainly attributed to the safety, security, and logistical issues as well as the multiple sources of uncertainty associated with the blast wavefront parameters generated by live explosions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blast load simulation using conical shock tube systems

Ismail

Ezzeldin

El‐Dakhakhni

et al. 2019

International Journal of Protective Structures

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With the increased frequency of accidental and deliberate explosions, evaluating the response of civil infrastructure systems to blast loading has been attracting the interests of the research and regulatory communities. However, with the high cost and complex safety and logistical issues associated with field explosives testing, North American blast-resistant construction standards (e.g. ASCE 59-11 and CSA S850-12) recommend the use of shock tubes to simulate blast loads and evaluate relevant structural response. This study first aims at developing a simplified two-dimensional axisymmetric shock tube model, implemented in ANSYS Fluent, a computational fluid dynamics software, and then validating the model using the classical Sod’s shock tube problem solution, as well as available shock tube experimental test results. Subsequently, the developed model is compared to a more complex three-dimensional model and the results show that there is negligible difference between the two models for axisymmetric shock tube performance simulation; however, the three-dimensional model is necessary to simulate non-axisymmetric shock tubes. Following the model validation, extensive analyses are performed to evaluate the influences of shock tube design parameters (e.g. the driver section pressure and length and the expansion section length) on blast wave characteristics to facilitate a shock tube design that would generate shock waves similar to those experienced by civil infrastructure components under blast loads. The results show that the peak reflected pressure increases as the driver pressure increases, while a decrease in the expansion length increases the peak reflected pressure. In addition, the positive phase duration increases as both the driver length and expansion length are increased. Finally, the developed two-dimensional axisymmetric model is used to optimize the dimensions of a physical large-scale conical shock tube system constructed for civil infrastructure component blast response evaluation applications. The capabilities of such shock tube system are further investigated by correlating its design parameters to a range of explosion threats identified by different hemispherical TNT charge weight and distance scenarios.

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Performance of Bridge Columns Subjected to Blast Loads. I: Experimental Program

Cited by 70 publications

References 4 publications

Response characterization of highway bridge piers subjected to blast loading

Response characterization of highway bridge piers subjected to blast loading

Microstructural Response of Shock-Loaded Concrete, Mortar, and Cementitious Composite Materials in a Shock Tube Setup

Blast load simulation using conical shock tube systems

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