Full-scale Blast Tests Research Articles

Behavior of steel liner tray walls under external blast: Experimental testing and numerical simulations

Explosions produced in urban or industrial areas due to accidental or intentional detonation of explosives are low-probability but high-impact events. If standoff distance from buildings or other constructions is small, explosions can cause structural failures and serious injuries or deaths of occupants. Although heavy/stiff enclosure systems were long considered appropriate to protect buildings against explosive threats, lighter and flexible steel-based systems, which are increasingly used for modern buildings, may also provide satisfactory performance. The study presents the results of full-scale blast tests on liner tray walls attached to a steel frame building. Walls were tested against increasing blast charges until failure. Due to very high peak pressures and very short durations, the loading regime could be classified as impulsive. The ultimate strength is given by the failure of the end fasteners, after large bolt hole elongations coupled with the pull-through of the end fasteners. If the insulation and outer cladding are lost, the liner trays are directly exposed to blast and the seaming fasteners at overlapping sheets are prematurely lost. As a result, the wall panels work mostly independently, as one-way elements. On the contrary, if the outer cladding protects the seaming fasteners, the overlapping provides additional capacity due to membrane effect (two-way behavior). Numerical models were calibrated using test data and were further used to obtain more information about liner tray behavior under blast.

Small-scale airblast testing for the assessment of multiple perimeter wall barriers on shock wave propagation

Assessment of the impact of structural systems on blast wave propagation has traditionally been explored using experimental, analytical, and/or numerical methods. Though numerical modeling techniques have grown in popularity because of their lower cost and high accuracy, experimental testing remains necessary for verifying these models. Issues of scale, equipment capacity, and the availability of research funding continue to limit full-scale testing of subassemblies or complete structures under blast loads. In addition, full-scale blast testing can be time-consuming, allowing only a handful of tests to be conducted. Small-scale airblast experiments offer an economic alternative to full-scale testing, in terms of material and labor requirements. Additionally, these small-scale experiments can be performed rapidly with repeatable results. The use of a novel reusable tabletop small-scale airblast experiment framework is presented for repeatable, cost-effective, quick turnaround testing of airblast scenarios. This novel setup also allows for reflective surfaces to be included as part of the investigation of the behavior of the shockwave-interaction with structures. The goal is to understand the behavior of the blast shockwave interacting with multiple barriers and the effect of pressure due to those barriers; therefore, the scaled structure remains rigid in the experimental and numerical analysis. Three different wall configurations were used to investigate how the presence of multiple barriers affects the shockwave and subsequent observed pressures around and behind the barriers. The explosives used were hemispherical and elevated spherical C4 charges. Pressure gauges were used to read pressures in front of, between, and behind the barriers on the tabletop. The airblast effects such as pressure and impulse, from the scaled experiments are presented and compared to the analytical predictions using a hydrocode model. It was found that multiple walls are measurably effective in reducing the pressure shockwave compared to no walls. The use of single and double walls reduced the pressure by 50% and 25%, respectively, compared to having no walls at the same scaled distance. The hydrocode model results were generally in agreement with the experimental data. The results can allow engineers and decision makers to understand the impact that properly distanced multiple barriers can have on protection from blast events.

Full-Scale Field Tests on Concrete Slabs Subjected to Close-In Blast Loads

This research evaluates the performance of different protective solutions for reinforced concrete slabs subjected to blast loading. A series of full-scale blast tests were carried out on concrete slabs at scaled distances ranging from 0.20 to 0.83 m/kg1/3. For this purpose, 16 concrete slabs were tested; eight of them were unreinforced as ‘control specimens’, and the other eight were protected with five different protective solutions. After the tests, a damage assessment was conducted based on three different parameters. The results showed that there was no clear improvement in the concrete performance when the charge was located 0.5 m from the slab. Significant local damage that completely perforated the slab occurred. In the tests with the load placed 1 m from the slab, the reinforcements that were used significantly contributed to the retention of some fragments produced in these tests.

Development of a high-performance blast energy-absorbing system for building structures

Shock absorbers have been widely used in the automotive and aeronautical industries for many years. Inspired on these devices, the paper presents an analytical and numerical assessment of a high performance protective system for building structures against blast loads, which is composed of a shielding element connected to the main structure, at the floor levels, through ductile Energy Absorbing Connectors (EACs). The EACs exploit the external tube inversion mechanism to absorb a significant part of the imparted kinetic energy from the blast wave. While the system prototype has been developed in laboratory, it was characterized and tested in a full-scale blast testing campaign. A validated finite element model was used next to analyze its performance in a more demanding design scenario. The introduction of EACs notably reduces the peak horizontal loads and the kinetic energy transferred to the protected structure, being expected a significant reduction of the stresses in the supporting vertical elements, in addition to the protection of structural and non-structural members. These results encourage further studies of the presented protective system that can be potentially employed for a large variety of blast threat scenarios, especially when increasing the stand-off is not a possible/viable option and sensitive facilities have to be protected.

Blast response of laminated glass: A gas-gun experimental investigation of the fracture pattern and yield lines observed in full-scale blast tests

The applications of architectural and automotive laminated glass continue to grow. This is largely due to the enhanced safety in extreme events, such as blast. However, the complex interaction between the glass fragments and the polymer interlayer after glass fracture is still only partially understood, with existing analysis methods adopting a semi-empirical approach for the post-fracture response. These include a plastic yield-line analysis based on a failure pattern repeatedly observed during blast tests. In recent research it was demonstrated that yield lines can develop in fractured laminated glass through the composite bending action of the glass fragments, working in compression, together with the interlayer working in tension. This paper investigates the influence of the inertia loading associated with blast response, which has not been explicitly studied previously, with the aim of understanding the pattern of yield lines observed in blast tests. Impact tests are performed on laminated glass specimens using foam projectiles launched from a gas gun, which simulate the loading from a blast pulse. These tests demonstrate that the yield line pattern formed under short-duration dynamic loading depends on the loading intensity, thereby providing further evidence of a dynamic, plastic collapse mechanism in which inertia plays a significant role.

Experimental Validation and Numerical Analysis of a High-Performance Blast Energy-Absorbing System for Building Structures

The paper presents a full-scale blast testing experimental campaign conducted on an energyabsorbing connector comprising thin-walled inversion tubes as kernel elements mounted in a façade protective panel. LS-DYNA finite element predictions of the global and local deformation/inversion of the panel/connectors compared reasonably well with the experimental observations. After validation, the numerical model was used to analyze the response of a simple idealized reinforced concrete structure under three blast-loading scenarios: the first two scenarios produce, approximately, the same impulse but are significantly different in terms of load duration and overpressures, and represent a far-field and a near-field scenario (1600 kg TNT at 20 m (i) and 150 kg TNT at 5 m (ii), respectively); the third scenario is more demanding, and consists in a half standoff distance of the second (150 kg TNT at 2.5 m (iii)). These numerical simulations allow to assess the effect of standoff distance and blast loading on the effectiveness of the protective system. One may conclude that the introduction of EACs strongly limits the forces imparted to the protected structure, reducing significantly the corresponding energy absorption demand. Comparing the energy absorbed by the structure in different scenarios, with and without the protective system (8 × ϕ64 × 2 mm), one can see that these reductions can reach, respectively 67%, 72% and 68% in the far-field, near-field and very near-field explosions.

A Study on the Bending of Laminated Glass Under Blast Loading

BackgroundThe bending behaviour of laminated glass plays an important role in determining its overall response to blast loading. It is costly and difficult to characterise the bending behaviour by carrying out full-scale blast tests, therefore an alternative method is required.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to understand the response of laminated glass under high-rate bending in the laboratory at rates representative of blast loading.MethodsIn this paper a novel testing method is presented in which laminated glass strips of 700 mm long by 60 mm wide are tested up to speeds of 10 m/s in the laboratory. The laminated glass is accelerated to speeds comparable to blast loading and then brought to rest at its edges to mimic impulsive blast loading conditions. Different interlayer thickness, impact speeds, and boundary conditions were explored. Additionally, modelling methods were used to study the flexural rigidity of post-cracked laminated glass.ResultsFrom the experiments it was found that the interlayer thickness plays a key role in determining whether the dominant failure mechanism is de-bonding of interlayer from the glass or interlayer tearing. In addition, it was found that by allowing the frame to bend under loading, the laminated glass can carry greater loads without failure. Finally, an iterative method was used to quantify the flexural rigidity of post-cracked laminated glass depending on the speed of travel. This is a novel finding as it is usually assumed that laminated glass behaves like a membrane in the post-cracked phase of the response.ConclusionIn modelling and design of laminated glass structures under blast loading, post-crack flexural rigidity must be taken into account. Additionally, having novel frame designs to add further load bearing capacity to the framing members, plays a key role in reducing the load intensity on the laminated glass structure.

Simulation of PVB-glass adhesion and its influence on the blast protection properties of laminated safety glass

Laminated safety glass (LSG) is frequently used to protect building occupants from hazards associated with explosions. The benefits of using LSG for blast protection have been well researched, and it is now commonly adopted within the construction industry to reduce hazards. The viscoelastic behaviour of the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer incorporated within the glass make-up allows designers to utilise the post-fracture capacity of an otherwise brittle material (glass). While glass fragments remain bonded to the PVB interlayer, the flexible membrane can undergo large deformations, resisting higher blast loads compared to monolithic glass panels. In order to adequately quantify the protective benefit of LSG, a thorough understanding of the post-fracture mechanical behaviour is required.This study seeks to explore the influence of adhesion at the glass-PVB interface on the behaviour of LSG panels subjected to blast loads. It will draw on findings from previous material testing, previous full-scale blast testing data and numerical simulation to develop a validated numerical model of glass-PVB adhesion that is suitable for engineering applications. Once the numerical model is validated, the influence of glass-PVB adhesion levels will be explored. The findings are intended to draw attention to the influence of glass-PVB adhesion in the design of LSG systems for blast protection.

Remote Sensing of Induced Liquefaction: TLS and SfM for a Full-Scale Blast Test

AbstractTerrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and drone-based structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry allowed the study of soil deformations due to blast-induced liquefaction during an experiment car...

Field tests of fiber reinforced concrete slabs subjected to close-in and contact detonations of high explosives

This paper presents an experimental research to study the behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete slabs with varying fiber volume and type, subjected to contact and close-in detonations. A total of 25 full-scale blast tests were carried out. The results are analyzed, discussed and compared to fast-running tools. For the close-in detonations, the damage was manifested by a global flexural response and the fiber volume did not affect slab performance. For the contact blasts, localized damage in the forms of cratering, spalling, and in some cases perforation, was observed. For these tests, increasing fiber volume was found to improve slab performance.

Full-Scale Blast Tests on a Conventionally Designed Three-Story Steel Braced Frame with Composite Floor Slabs

This paper summarizes the findings of two full-scale blasts tests on a steel braced frame structure with composite floor slabs, which are representative of a typical office building. The aim of this research study was to experimentally characterize the behavior of conventionally designed steel braced frames to blast loads when enclosed with conventional and blast-resistant façade. The two tests involved a three-story, steel braced frame with concentrical steel braces, which are designed to resist typical gravity and wind loads without design provisions for blast or earthquake loads. During the first blast test, the structure was enclosed with a typical, non-blast-resistant, curtainwall façade, and the steel frame sustained minimal damage. For the second blast test, the structure was enclosed with a blast-resistant façade, which resulted in higher damage levels with some brace connections rupturing, but the building did not collapse. Observations from the test program indicate the appreciable reserved capacity of steel brace frame structures to resist blast loads.

Blast-induced liquefaction in silty sands for full-scale testing of ground improvement methods: Insights from a multidisciplinary study

In the engineering geology field increased attention has been posed in recent years to potential liquefaction mitigation interventions in susceptible sand formations. In silty sands this is a major challenge because, as the fines content increases, vibratory methods for densification become progressively less effective. An alternative mitigation technique can be the installation of Rammed Aggregate Pier® (RAP) columns that can increase the resistance of the soil, accounting for its lateral stress increase and for the stiffness increase from soil and RAP composite response. To investigate the influence of these factors on liquefaction resistance, full-scale blast tests were performed at a silty sand site in Bondeno (Ferrara, Italy) where liquefaction was observed after the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake. A multidisciplinary team of forty researchers carried out devoted experimental activities aimed at better understanding the liquefaction process at the field scale and the effectiveness of the treatment using inter-related methods. Both natural and improved areas were investigated by in-situ tests and later subjected to controlled blasting. The blast tests were monitored with geotechnical and geophysical instrumentation, topographical surveying and geological analyses on the sand boils. Results showed the RAP effectiveness due to the improvement of soil properties within the liquefiable layer and a consequent reduction of the blast-induced liquefaction settlements, likely due to soil densification and increased lateral stress. The applied multidisciplinary approach adopted for the study allowed better understanding of the mechanism involved in the liquefaction mitigation intervention and provided a better overall evaluation of mitigation effectiveness.

The effects of high strain-rate and in-plane restraint on quasi-statically loaded laminated glass: a theoretical study with applications to blast enhancement

Laminated glass panels are increasingly used to improve the blast resilience of glazed facades, as part of efforts to mitigate the threat posed to buildings and their occupants by terrorist attacks. The blast response of these ductile panels is still only partially understood, with an evident knowledge gap between fundamental behaviour at the material level and observations from full-scale blast tests. To enhance our understanding, and help bridge this gap, this paper adopts a ‘first principles’ approach to investigate the effects of high strain-rate, associated with blast loading, and the in-plane restraint offered by blast-resistant frames. These are studied by developing simplified analytical beam models, for all stages of deformation, that account for the enhanced properties of both the glass and the interlayer at high strain-rates. The increased shear modulus of the interlayer results in a composite bending response of the un-fractured laminated glass. This also enhances the residual post-fracture bending moment capacity, arising from the combined action of the glass fragments in compression and the interlayer in tension, which is considered negligible under low strain-rates. The post-fracture resistance is significantly improved by the introduction of in-plane restraint, due to the membrane action associated with panel stretching under large deflections. This is demonstrated by developing a yield condition that accounts for the relative contributions of bending and membrane action, and applying the upper bound theorem of plasticity, assuming a tearing failure of the interlayer. Future work aims to complete the theoretical framework by including the assessment of plate-action and inertia effects.

Investigation of dynamic response of a mannequin in a vehicle exposed to land mine blast

Explosive devices are frequently used in asymmetric combats. They severely threatens not only the armored vehicles, but also occupants. After detonation of high explosive, blast loads are transferred through shock waves and they hit the vehicle hull in a few milliseconds, which might potentially cause serious injuries on the members of occupants. Anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) allow for evaluating the survivability of occupants in armored vehicles subjected to landmine blast in accordance with associated injury criteria standards. This study examines the emerging role of numerical simulations in the context of survivability of combat vehicles in modern warfare. The purpose of this investigation has been to compare the performance of Hybrid-III 50th percentile ATD in numerical simulation with that of full scale blast test. Force and acceleration time variations were collected from Hybrid-III dummy in blast test. Those data were then compared with numerical simulation model. Results show that the numerical simulation results are in agreement with those obtained from experiments.

A numerical method for predicting the deformation of crazed laminated windows under blast loading

The design of laminated glazing for blast resistance is significantly complicated by the post-crack behaviour of glass layers. In this research, a novel numerical method based on a semi-analytical energy model is proposed for the post-crack behaviour of crazed panes. To achieve this, the non-homogenous glass cracks patterns observed in literature experimental and analytical work was taken into consideration. It was assumed that, after the glass crazing, further deformations would occur in the cracked edge areas, whilst the central window surface would remain largely undeformed. Therefore, different internal work expressions were formulated for each zone and were then combined in the overall model. The resulting differential equation was then solved numerically. The results obtained were compared with data from four experimental full-scale blast tests for validation. Three of these blast tests (Tests 1–3) were presented previously (Hooper et al., 2012) on 1.5 × 1.2 m laminated glazing samples made up with two 3 mm glass layers and a central 1.52 mm PVB membrane, using a 15 and 30 kg charge masses (TNT equivalent) at 13–16 m stand-off. The fourth blast test (Test 4) was conducted on a larger 3.6 × 2.0 m pane of 13.52 mm thickness, using a 100 kg charge mass (TNT equivalent) at a 17 m stand-off. All blast tests employed the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique to obtain 3D out-of-plane deflections and strains.The proposed analytical method reproduced the experimental deflection profiles, with the best estimates obtained for the more severe loading cases. Reaction forces were also compared with experimental estimates. The predictive ability of the proposed method could permit more accurate designs to be produced rapidly, improving structures resistance to such loadings.

Assessment of resistance definitions used for blast analysis of unreinforced masonry walls

Over recent decades, three distinct methods have evolved that are currently being used to generate resistance functions for single-degree-of-freedom analyses of unreinforced masonry walls subjected to blast loading. The degree of differences in these resistance definitions depends on whether the wall is assumed to be simply supported or whether compression arching forces result from rotation restraint at the supports. The first method originated in the late 1960s as a result of both experimental and analytical research sponsored by the US Department of Defense. That method, referred to as the Wiehle method, is the basis of Unified Facilities Criteria 3-340-02 and other derived analytical software such as the Wall Analysis Code developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center. The second method is based on elastic mechanics and an assumed linear decay function that follows and is the basis of the widely used Single-Degree-of-Freedom Blast Effects Design Spreadsheets software distributed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Protective Design Center. The third method is largely based on concrete and masonry behavioral theories developed by Paulay and Priestly in the early 1990s. This article systematically compares the resistance methodologies for arching and non-arching scenarios, demonstrates the implications by plugging the disparate resistance functions into blast load single-degree-of-freedom models, compares the analytical results to full-scale blast test results, and offers conclusions about the accuracy and efficacies of each method.

Modeling delamination of fire insulation from steel structures subjected to blast loading

This article presents a fracture mechanics-based numerical approach for quantifying delamination of spray-applied fire-resistive material (SFRM) from a steel beam–column subjected to a blast loading. In the numerical model, cohesive zone model is employed to simulate interfacial crack initiation and propagating at the interface of SFRM and steel. Three types of SFRM, widely utilized in the practice namely, mineral fiber-based, gypsum-based and Portland cement-based SFRM are considered in the analysis. The numerical model is validated against two sets of experiments; a full scale blast test on a steel beam–column and a drop mass impact test on a steel beam insulated with SFRM. The verified numerical model is subsequently utilized to carry out extensive parametric study to quantify critical factors that can influence the extent of delamination of SFRM from a steel beam–column, namely fracture energy at steel-SFRM interface, elastic modulus of SFRM, thickness of SFRM, and the level of blast overpressure. Results from parametric studies show that Portland cement-based SFRM can provide the highest level of resiliency in terms of withstanding the applied blast overpressure, while mineral fiber-based SFRM shows the lowest level of endurance. Further, the outcomes obtained from parametric study demonstrate that the extent of delamination can directly be related to blast overpressure and thickness of SFRM, whereas it can inversely be related to elastic modulus and fracture energy of SFRM. Based on the results of parametric study, a delamination characteristic parameter, which incorporates the major factors influencing the delamination, is defined and the extent of delamination is expressed as a function of this parameter.

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for Blast Wave Propagation under Structure

In recent years, improvised explosive devices has been an aspect of crusades by terrorist or movements around the world. The blast wave propagation of an explosive detonation can cause disastrous damage on the buildings, vehicles and also injuries to vehicle occupants. Full scale blast tests are expensive and time consuming but by using computational based numerical simulations can virtually predict these wave propagations and minimize the need of experimental testing. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a common tool to do an analysis of free-field blast wave and against structure. This paper presents two different blast analyses; free field air blast and blast loading towards a structure using ANSYS FLUENT software. A high explosive of 1 kg blast peak overpressure data from an experiment has been patched at the specific domain of the symmetry plane. The computed results were found to be in agreement with theoretical and additional experimental data. The verified free field air blast model was expanded to study the blast loading response towards a structure. It was found that developed CFD can be further used to predict the blast wave propagation subjected to the vehicle structures or buildings.

Displacement timer pins: An experimental method for measuring the dynamic deformation of explosively loaded plates

The measurement of dynamic deformation of an explosively loaded plate is an extremely onerous task. Existing techniques such as digital image correlation are expensive and the equipment may be damaged by explosively driven debris/ejecta, particularly if it is necessary to locate such equipment close to loaded elements which are likely to fail. A new, inexpensive and robust measurement technique for use in full-scale blast testing is presented, which involves the placement of displacement timer pins (DTPs) at pre-defined distances from the rear surface of the centre of a plate. A strain gauge on the perimeter of each pin records the time at which the plate comes into contact with the end of each DTP and hence has deformed to that value of displacement, giving a direct measure of the time-varying deformation at a discrete point on the plate. An experimental proof-of-concept was conducted and the results are compared with numerical displacements determined using LS-DYNA. The numerical and experimental results were in very good agreement, which suggests that the proposed experimental method offers a valuable means for determining the full-scale response of structures subjected to blast loads in aggressive environments. Further improvements to the experimental procedure are outlined, along with applications where the DTPs are particularly suited.

Modeling and Evaluation of Loads in Vehicles Subjected to Mine Blast

In the paper, the numerical and experimental approach to the blast load evaluation was presented. The evaluation process is done in two steps. In the first, the full scale blast test is carried out with a simply mock-up resembling geometry of the bottom part of a vehicle. The pressure impulse is measured indirectly using a high speed camera and the motion analysis software. In the second step, a numerical simulation with the use of Multi Material Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method is utilized to assess the influence of the fluid-structure interaction and the real vehicle mass on the value of the applied pressure impulse. In the paper, the application of method was presented and the results were discussed.