Numerical and analytical studies of multi-cell steel-concrete-steel sandwich panels under blast load

Abstract

The steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich panel possesses exceptional resistance and good integrity, making it successfully applied in protective engineering. Aiming at improving the blast resistance of the structure, a novel multi-cell steel-concrete-steel (MCSCS) sandwich panel was proposed as an alternative to the traditional SCS panel. In this paper, the finite element (FE) model of the MCSCS panel under blast load was first constructed, and the modeling method was verified to be reasonable against field blast tests. Then, an analytical model for predicting the blast response of the MCSCS panel was established based on the equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system, and the strain rate effect was incorporated into the analytical model via employing the material models with strain rate dependence. Finally, three damage criteria for the MCSCS panel under blast load were proposed, and Pressure-Impulse (P-I) diagrams corresponding to different damage levels were constructed via the validated analytical model. Additionally, based on the established analytical model, the accuracy of simplifying the blast pressure history into the triangle form was verified. Numerical and analytical results indicate that the blast resistance of the MCSCS panel is significantly enhanced with the increase of the steel faceplate thickness, and the MCSCS panel exhibits superior blast resistance with the load acting on the top plate rather than bottom plate. In addition, owing to the arrangement of the L-shaped and side stiffeners, the MCSCS panel possesses preferable integrity, and its blast resistance is nearly unaffected by the spacing of headed stud.