Numerical Simulation of Air Shock Wave Propagation Effects in Reinforced Concrete Columns

Abstract

Reinforced concrete has been shown to be a desirable material of choice in blast resistant structures due to its availability, relatively low cost, and its inherent ability to absorb energy produced by explosions. Most research work investigating the behaviour of reinforced concrete columns to blast loading have concentrated on their response to planar loading from far-field explosions. Limited amount of work is available on the effects of near-field explosion on the behaviour of reinforced concrete columns. This study is aimed to investigate effects of explosive loads on RC column by using ALE method. Commercial finite element package, LS-DYNA is used to simulate the behavior of blast wave on RC columns. Numerical simulation is validated against experimental work done in literature. The experience gained from this research provides valuable information for the development of the finite element modeling of real blast load effects on RC columns.