A Novel Modelling Technique for Blast Analysis of Steel-Concrete Composite Panels

Abstract

Blast resistant structures usually undergo large plastic deformation and absorb energy before collapse. There are many structural forms that have improved blast resistance are reported in literature. Among these, steel-concrete composite panel has been considered as extremely resilient to blast loading. Conventionally, steel-concrete composite panels are analysed using solid element model for plates, concrete as well as shear connectors. In this paper, a novel modelling technique is proposed for analysis of steel-concrete composite panels under blast loading. As per the proposed technique, shell, solid and link elements are used to model cover plates, concrete and shear connector respectively. Validation and performance studies are carried out with a problem available in literature. The proposed model is found to be better with less demand on modelling requirements. It is also computationally efficient, while retaining the accuracy of results. Parametric studies are carried out using the proposed model on steel-concrete composite panel with through-through connectors subjected to air blast loading. Steel plate thickness, concrete core thickness, connector spacing and diameter of connectors are varied to study their influence on the response behaviour of the panel. It is observed from the study that connector diameter and spacing and core thickness significantly affect the response than the plate thickness.