Simplified analysis of RC beam and beam-column elements under blast loading

• Autor(a) principal: Carvalho, Diogo Miguel Vieira Alves de
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/130563
• topic: Beam; Beam-column; Non-linear dynamic analysis; Simplified SDOF numerical models; Blast load; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Engenharia Civil

The present work aims to provide a non-linear numerical tool capable of analysing the structural response of reinforced concrete beam and beam-column elements when subjected to blast loads. The increasing frequency of explosion events, stemming from terrorist attacks resorting to improvised explosive devices, or from accidental misuse of hazardous substances has shined a new light on the topic of blast resistant structural design. Recently, many studies have been conducted to better understand how to improve the design of blast resistant solutions in newly constructed buildings, as well as to provide retrofitting reinforcement solutions to pre-existing ones. Columns are a key structural component in any building, supporting its weight and transferring it to the foundations. If many of these elements fail when subjected to a blast event, then the structure’s load bearing capacity may be compromised, initiating its progressing collapse and endangering the lives of the people inside. The work featured in the present dissertation entails the development of a simplified numerical tool that analyses structural elements subject to blast loads, using single-degree-of-freedom systems with equivalent properties. The numerical estimates are then compared with experimental data found in the literature to assess the quality of the numerical predictions. Both beam and beam-column output results differ no more than 25% from experimental the data. The possible sources of this discrepancy are investigated and it’s concluded that the numerical model developed herein proves to be a good preliminary analysis tool for the estimate of the structural response of beams and beam-columns, when subjected to blast loads.