Failure analyses of flexible Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber reinforced anti-blast wall under explosion

A novel flexible composite anti-blast fabric wall is designed and fabricated to prevent and contain terrorism. The ultra-light anti-blast wall is constructed by Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber reinforced cloth (FRC) and can be set up rapidly. Blast responses and failures of the UHMWPE FRC wall were investigated through experiments and numerical simulations. Interacted with the flexible wall, the incident wave will be reflected, diffracted and transmitted. The transmitted wave is induced by the vibration of the flexible wall and attenuates the mitigation effect compared with the rigid wall. The reduction factor of the flexible wall is close to 0.5 in wave attenuation. Shell model and membrane model were applied to simulate the dynamic response of the wall and it is found that the membrane element is more reasonable for the failure analysis of the flexible wall. Failure criteria based on the maximum principal strain is proposed to discuss the dynamic failure style of the flexible wall. Numerical simulations reveal the relationship between the critical scaled distance and the critical strain. Fitting equations can instruct the design of the flexible wall.