Behavior of reinforced concrete columns under combined effects of axial and blast-induced transverse loads

Abstract

The results of numerical studies on the dynamic response of reinforced concrete (RC) columns subjected to axial and blast-induced transverse loads utilizing an advanced single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model are presented in this paper. The main variables considered in this study were the level of axial force and longitudinal reinforcement ratio. This work addressed the effect of various levels of axial compressive load on the resistance function, time-history response, and load–impulse diagram when the columns were subjected to transverse loads due to blast. The blast loads were idealized as triangular pulses and the effects of flexural, diagonal shear, and tension membrane behaviors were included in the RC column response. The results from the SDOF analyses were validated using the commercial finite element (FE) program ABAQUS. The results of the parametric study indicated that the level of axial compressive load has a significant influence on the behavior of RC columns when subjected to transverse blast-induced loads.