Numerical investigation of the damage of RC members subjected to blast loading

This paper presents a numerical investigation into the damage of the reinforced concrete (RC) columns under the effect of the blast loading. A reliable finite element (FE) modeling of the blast test of a RC member is developed and analyzed using LS-DYNA. FE modeling is then verified by using the blast test data given in the recent works. Six series of RC columns having different section dimensions, subjected to explosions with different standoff distances are analyzed. Analysis results show that while the “stocky” columns demonstrate the local damage only, the slender columns display both local and global damage. Moreover, the charge position also plays an important role in the damage of the column. The RC column subjected to the explosion charged at mid-height shows a more significant damage than compared to one charged at its base. Axial compressive load in the range of 0.1 to 0.4fc'Ag is found to have a significant effect on increasing the damage level of the slender column, but not the stocky column. The evaluations of damage of the RC columns and its residual load carrying capacity with different scaled distances are also provided as important results of this study.