Simultation of pressure impulse diagrams for foam protected RC members

Abstract

Protection of critical infrastructure against bomb attacks due to the rising threat of terrorism requires more attention. An effective solution to mitigate blast effects on infrastructure is to protect them with foam material cladding. In this paper a load cladding structure interaction model based on finite element approximations developed in a previous study is used to simulate the response of foam protected RC members under blast loads. In the load cladding structure interaction model, the foam cladding layer over the member is modelled as inelastic springs with nonlinear stiffness and a series of springs are connected at each node of the RC member while the RC beam is modelled as small regions referred to as hinges together with large non-hinge regions. Using the coupled load cladding structure interaction model, parametric studies are conducted to generate pressure impulse diagrams for slabs cladded with aluminium foam with various thickness and density. From the pressure impulse diagrams, it can be concluded that aluminium foam is effective in mitigating blast effects on RC members. The derived pressure impulse diagram can be used in preliminary design calculations to ensure a structure is adequately protected using aluminium foam. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.