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Title: Experimental Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Slabs Subjected to Shock Loading

Author(s): Ganesh Thiagarajan and Carol F. Johnson

Publication: Structural Journal

Volume: 111

Issue: 6

Appears on pages(s): 1407-1418

Keywords: blast loading; experimental behavior; reinforced concrete; resistance curves; single degree of freedom; slabs

DOI: 10.14359/51686970

Date: 11/1/2014

Abstract:
Due to terrorist activities in the past decade and more, many public and governmental buildings are required to consider blast protection as a design condition. Hence, there is a strong need to study the response of various structural elements. This research effort characterizes the structural response of reinforced concrete (RC) panels subjected to controlled experimental blast loads. Results from this research provided data for the validation of numerical analysis models. Designers seek access to data from controlled experiments to validate commonly used single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) models. To address these needs, experimental data obtained from tests on RC slabs conducted in a blast load simulator are presented herein. The primary aim of this paper is to outline the experimental procedure used and present data collected from regular-strength RC slabs, having two different reinforcement ratios subjected to shockwave loadings using a blast load simulator. This blast load simulator is capable of generating pressure waves associated with high explosive events. The pressure, impulse, and deflection time histories generated from the experiments are used in the validation of numerical models. The predicted panel responses defined by the pressure/impulse (PI) curves developed in an SDOF model were compared to the data and damage assessment generated from the blast load simulator experiments and showed that the SDOF designs were conservative. An assessment of strains and strain rates experienced by the panels has shown a structural dynamic increase factor ranging from 5 to 10 for tensile strains. Experimental quantification of the dynamic resistance curves showed that slabs with smaller longitudinal reinforcement spacing had greater ductility and post-yield behavior. Finally, the concrete damage patterns of the panels are shown and described.