Blast Resistance Assessment of Concrete Wall Panels: Experimental and Numerical Investigations

Abstract

The cladding system of a building is crucial for protecting people and equipment against external explosions. Both experimental and numerical investigations are carried out in order to evaluate the resistance of precast concrete cladding wall panels against man-made attacks. The cladding system under investigation is a precast concrete wall panel for using in police station facilities that particularly need to be protected against man-made or subversive attacks. A total of three precast concrete cladding wall panels are studied. The panels are 3500 mm long and 1500 mm wide; and one is 150 mm thick while the other two are 200 mm thick. The longitudinal reinforcement consists of a single layer of reinforcement bars located in the middle of the cross section. The blast demand is due to the detonation of 3.5 and 5.5 kg of TNTeq, and the numerical simulations are carried out using the finite element software LS-Dyna©. Details of the experimental and numerical investigations are shown, and a discussion on the obtained results is provided.