Numerical Analysis of Innovative Sacrificial Protection System under Blast Loading

Abstract

In the present study, an innovative sacrificial system, comprising hollow tubes, for resisting blast load, is analyzed on a RC panel using the three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite-element software ABAQUS/Explicit. A square RC panel is modeled, and hollow mild steel tubes are used with a steel sheet to protect it from the blast loading. Blast load is applied through the ConWep program developed by the US Army. The Johnson-Cook (J-C) plasticity model with failure criterion is used to model the stress-strain response of mild steel and reinforcement bars under high strain rate loading. A Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) material model is used to model the behavior of concrete under blast load. Parametric studies have been performed considering different lengths (L), outer diameter (D), and thickness (t) of hollow mild steel tubes under varying blast loads. From numerical simulation results, it is observed that thinner sections of hollow mild steel tubes, in the proposed sacrificial system, performed better than the thicker sections. Further, it is observed that steel sheets can withstand a specific intensity of blast load governed by its thicknesses in the considered sacrificial system. The optimized combination of steel sheets and hollow metal tubes, in the considered sacrificial system, can reduce the peak deflection of the RC panel by more than 80%.