Blast Impact Analysis of Stiffened and Curved Panel Structures

The utilization of explosives was originally intended for the benefit of mining and civil construction. However, over the years, the use of explosives is changing as the main weapon in the warfare against the opponent with advanced technology. The objective of designing structure that will resist blast impact load is not only to prevent excessive penetration, but also to prevent severe injury or fatality of the personnel inside a military vehicle. Small penetration is not always safe for military personnel. Therefore, a new term of blastworthiness is introduced as a design criteria for military vehicles. This research works deal with parametric studies on plate structures with various shapes and stiffened panel constructions. The plate was subjected to a blast load which varies in magnitude and distance from the blast source. The objective of this research is to find the relationship between the structural response and the variation of the explosion distance, explosion magnitude, configuration of stiffener of panel and curvature of the panel. Numerical analysis was performed by using non-linear finite element simulation. Blast impact was modelled as a concentrated blast load. The variation of the distance of the explosion, the magnitude of the explosion, the stiffener of the panel and the curvature of the panel strongly influenced the character of the structure receiving load explosion. Variations of these parameters provided some response trends on the penetration, velocity, and acceleration that will influence the safety level of the structure when it's applied to an armour vehicle.