Effect of air gap on the structural response of aluminum foam protected reinforced concrete panels

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper comprises computational investigation on the effect of air gap clearance on the dynamic behavior of aluminum foam- air gap- reinforced concrete (RC) panel interaction under the effect of various blast loads. A parametric study was performed using hydro-code software (i.e. AUTODYN 3D) in order to investigate the effect of considering material of low mechanical impedance (i.e. Air) between the protection panel and RC panel. The parameters studied are the thickness of aluminum foam, air gap thickness, the weight of explosive charge, and thickness of RC panel. A set of published experimental tests was used to validate the developed numerical models of protected and unprotected RC panels. In the numerical simulations, the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete and aluminum foam materials as porous materials were defined utilizing different Equations of State (EOS) and strength models. Time-dependent results of the response of the tested RC panels are analyzed, discussed and utilized to obtain the suitable aluminum foam and air gap thicknesses for each case to maintain the maximum deflection of each RC panel within its elastic limit.