Experimental Validation and Numerical Analysis of a High-Performance Blast Energy-Absorbing System for Building Structures

The paper presents a full-scale blast testing experimental campaign conducted on an energyabsorbing connector comprising thin-walled inversion tubes as kernel elements mounted in a facade protective panel. LS-DYNA finite element predictions of the global and local deformation/inversion of the panel/connectors compared reasonably well with the experimental observations. After validation, the numerical model was used to analyze the response of a simple idealized reinforced concrete structure under three blast-loading scenarios: the first two scenarios produce, approximately, the same impulse but are significantly different in terms of load duration and overpressures, and represent a far-field and a near-field scenario (1600 kg TNT at 20 m (i) and 150 kg TNT at 5 m (ii), respectively); the third scenario is more demanding, and consists in a half standoff distance of the second (150 kg TNT at 2.5 m (iii)). These numerical simulations allow to assess the effect of standoff distance and blast loading on the effectiveness of the protective system. One may conclude that the introduction of EACs strongly limits the forces imparted to the protected structure, reducing significantly the corresponding energy absorption demand. Comparing the energy absorbed by the structure in different scenarios, with and without the protective system (8 x phi 64 x 2 mm), one can see that these reductions can reach, respectively 67%, 72% and 68% in the far-field, near-field and very near-field explosions.

Automated summary

The paper describes a blast testing experiment on an energy-absorbing connector consisting of thin-walled inversion tubes mounted in a facade protective panel. Finite element predictions matched well with experimental observations. The numerical model was then used to analyze the response of a reinforced concrete structure under different blast scenarios, assessing the effectiveness of the protective system. The introduction of energy-absorbing connectors significantly reduced the forces and energy absorbed by the structure in various explosion scenarios.