Blast-resistant design considerations for precast, prestressed concrete structures

Blast design guidelines and methodologies have been developed for many common types of building components, including reinforced concrete members, based on both theoretical analysis and testing. Much of this blast design guidance is applicable to precast/prestressed concrete components, though it is not widely understood within the precast concrete industry. This paper presents prevalent simplified methods for blast-resistant design of precast/prestressed concrete components, assuming such components can be modeled as equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems. This paper includes discussions of blast loads, material behavior under dynamic loads, and the design of precast/prestressed concrete components to resist blast load. A number of design considerations are included (such as design of connections) with a design example. The process of defining an equivalent SDOF system for components is also discussed, though other references are available that provide specific detailed information.