Corneliu Cismasiu

The present paper aims to examine the potential of the Applied Element Method (AEM) in simulating the blast effects in RC panels. The numerical estimates are compared with the results obtained in an experimental campaign designed to investigate the effectiveness of fibre grout for strengthening full scale RC panels by comparing the effects that a similar blast load produces in a reference and the strengthened panel. First, a numerical model of the reference specimen was created in the software Extreme Loading for Structures and calibrated to match the experimental results. With no further calibration, the fibre reinforced grout strengthening was added and the resulting numerical model subjected to the same blast load. The experimental blast effects on both reference and strengthened panels, despite the lack of high speed measurement equipment (pressure, strains and displacements sensors), compare well with the numerical estimates in terms of residual and maximum displacements, showing that, once calibrated, the AEM numerical models can be successfully used to simulate blast effects in RC panels.

Being able to efficiently mitigate the effects of blast loads on structures, sacrificial cladding solutions are increasingly used to protect structural elements from the effects of accidental explosions and/or terrorist attacks. The present study analyses the loss of effectiveness of a deterministically designed sacrificial cladding when variability in the material properties and uncertainties in the mechanical model are considered. The results of an experimental campaign are used to validate the numerical models that allow the deterministic design of a sacrificial cladding which successfully improves the blast resistant capabilities of a given structural element. Nonetheless, it is shown that, taking into account the probabilistic variability of key parameters is of vital importance when designing sacrificial cladding solutions, since, when not properly designed for the structural element it intends to protect, adding a sacrificial cladding might negatively impact its blast resistant capabilities. Additionally, it is concluded that the deterministic approach might be against safety. In the reported case study, when comparing the admissible charge weight yielding from the deterministic and probabilistic approaches, one verifies that the former allows a higher charge weight.