Analysis of Building Under Blast Load

Subin S.J
M-Tech Computer Aided Structural Engineering M A College of Engineering, kothamangalam E-mail:sjsubin@gmail.com

Prof. Jayasree Ramanujan

Asst. Professor M A College of Engineering, kothamangalam E-mail: jayasreeramanujan@gmail.com

Abstract- A bomb explosion within or immediately nearby a building ca n ca u s e ca t astrophi c damage on t he buildings external and internal structural frames, collapsing of walls, loss of life etc. Loss of life and injuries to occupants can result from many causes, including direct blast-effects, structural collapse, debris impact, fire, and smoke. .In addition, major catastrophes resulting from explosion causes large dynamic loads, greater than the original design loads, of many structures. The finite element package ANSYS 12 was used to model RCC and masonry building subjected to blast. Blast pressure acting on each wall faces and roof were calculated corresponding to the charge weight and distance of building from the detonation. Transient non linear analysis was done in ANSYS for dynamic blast loading and the response time history was obtained from ANSYS. A seismic loading was applied on RCC building to get the response of the structure and a comparison is done with blast load. I. INTRODUCTION In the past few decades considerable emphasis has been given to problems of blast and earthquake. The blast problem is rather new, information about the development in this field is made available mostly through publication of the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force and other governmental office and public institutes. Conventional structures, particularly that above grade, normally are not designed to resist blast loads and because the magnitudes of design loads are significantly lower than those produced by most explosions, conventional structures are susceptible to damage from explosions. II. EXPLOSION AND BLAST PHENOMENON An explosion is the result of a very rapid release of large amounts of energy within a limited space. Explosions can be categorized on the basis of their nature as physical, nuclear and chemical events. The sudden release of energy initiates a pressure wave in the surrounding medium, known as a shock. When an explosion takes place, the expansion of the hot gases produces a pressure wave in the surrounding air. As this wave moves away from the centre of explosion, the inner part moves through the region that was previously compressed and is now heated by the leading part of the wave. As the pressure waves moves with the velocity of sound, the temperature is about 3000o-4000oC and the pressure is nearly 300 kilo bar of the air causing this velocity to increase. The inner part of the wave starts to move faster and gradually overtakes the leading part of the waves. After

a short period of time the pressure wave front becomes abrupt, thus forming a shock front somewhat similar. The maximum overpressure occurs at the shock front and is called the peak overpressure. Behind the shock front, the overpressure drops very rapidly to about one-half the peak overpressure and remains almost uniform in the central region of the explosion. As expansion proceeds, the overpressure in the shock front decreases steadily; the pressure behind the front does not remain constant, but instead, fall off in a regular manner. After a short time, at a certain distance from the centre of explosion, the pressure behind the shock front becomes smaller than that of the surrounding atmosphere and so called negative-phase or suction as shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 1 Variation of Overpressure with Distance at a given Time from Centre of Explosion.

The front of the blast waves weakens as it progresses outward, and its velocity drops towards the velocity of the sound in the undisturbed atmosphere. Another quantity of the equivalent importance is the force that is developed from the strong winds accompanying the blast wave known as the dynamic pressure; this is proportional to the square of the wind velocity, u and the density of the air behind the shock front, . Mathematically the dynamic pressure Pd is expressed as. (1) The peak dynamic pressure decreases with increasing distance from the centre of explosion, but the rate decrease is different from that of the peak overpressure. At given distance from the explosion, the time variation of the dynamic Pd behind the shock front is somewhat similar that of the overpressure Ps, but the rate of decrease is usualdifferent. For design purposes, the negative phase of

the overpressure in Fig.1 is not important and can be ignored. A. How blast loads are different from seismic loads Blast loads are applied over a significantly shorter period of time (orders-of-magnitude shorter) than seismic loads. Thus, material strain rate effects become critical. Also, blast loads generally will be applied to a structure non-uniformly, i.e., there will be a variation of load amplitude across the face of the building, and dramatically reduced blast loads on the sides and rear of the building away from the blast. The effects of blast loads are generally local, leading to locally severe damage or failure. Conversely, seismic loads are ground motions applied uniformly across the base or foundation of a structure. All components in the structure are subjected to the shaking associated with this motion. B. Explosive air blast loading Throughout the pressure-time profile, two main phases can be observed; portion above ambient is called positive phase of duration (td), while that below ambient is called negative phase of duration (td-). The negative phase is of a longer duration and a lower intensity than the positive duration. As the stand-off distance increases, the duration of the positive phase blast wave increases resulting in a loweramplitude, longer-duration shock pulse. Charges situated extremely close to a target structure impose a highly impulsive, high intensity pressure load over a localized region of the structure. Charges situated further away produce a lower intensity, longer-duration uniform pressure distribution over the entire structure. Eventually, the entire structure is engulfed in the shock wave, with reflection and diffraction effects creating focusing and shadow zones in a complex pattern around the structure. During the negative phase, the weakened structure may be subjected to impact by debris that may cause additional damage. Stand-off distance Stand-off distance refers to the direct, unobstructed distance between a weapon and its target. Height of burst (HOB) Height of burst refers to aerial attacks. It is the direct distance between the exploding weapon in the air and the target.

If the exterior building walls are capable of resisting the blast load, the shock front penetrates through window and door openings, subjecting the floors, ceilings, walls, contents, and people to sudden pressures and fragments from shattered windows, doors, etc. Building components not capable of resisting the blast wave will fracture and be further fragmented and moved by the dynamic pressure that immediately follows the shock front. Building contents and people will be displaced and tumbled in the direction of blast wave propagation. In this manner the blast will propagate through the building. C. Blast wave scaling laws All blast parameters are primarily dependent on the amount of energy released by a detonation in the form of a blast wave and the distance from the explosion. A universal normalized description of the blast effects can be given by scaling distance relative to (E/Po)1/3and scaling pressure relative to Po, where E is the energy release (kJ) and Po the ambient pressure (typically 100 kN/m2). For convenience, however, it is general practice to express the basic explosive input or charge weight W as an equivalent mass of TNT. Results are then given as a function of the dimensional distance parameter (2) Where R is the actual effective distance from the explosion and W is the charge weight generally expressed in kilograms. D.MATERIAL BEHAVIORS AT HIGH STRAIN RATE Blast loads typically produce very high strain rates in the range of 102 - 104s-1. This high loading rate would alter the dynamic mechanical properties of target structures and, accordingly, the expected damage mechanisms for various structural elements. For reinforced concrete structures subjected to blast effects the strength of concrete and steel reinforcing bars can increase significantly due to strain rate effects. Fig. 3 shows the approximate ranges of the expected strain rates for different loading conditions. It can be seen that ordinary static strain rate is located in the range: 10-610-5s-1, while blast pressures normally yield loads associated with strain rates in the range: 102-104 s-1

Fig.3 Strain Rates Associated with Different Types of Loading

III.COMPUTATION OF DYNAMIC LOADING ON SINGLE STORIED BUILDING DUE TO BLAST LOAD [TM 5-1300, 1990] Procedure 1) Determine the charge weight W, ground distance R and structure dimensions. 2) Apply a 20% safety factor to the charge weight. 3) Calculate scaled ground distance, Zg
Fig.2 Blast Loads on a Building.

Zg =

(3)

4) Select several points on the structure (front wall, roof, side wall, rear wall etc.) and determine free field blast parameters from Fig. 2.15 -TM 5-1300, 1990 for each point. Such as Peak positive incident pressure, Pso , arrival ti me, tA , positive phase duration, to , positive incident impulse, is , wave length, Lw 5) For the front wall loading a. Calculate peak positive reflected pressure Pr = Cr x Pso. (4) Find value of Cr for Pso and from Fig. 2.193TM 5-1300, 1990 b. Find unit positive reflected impulse ir from fig 2.194 -TM 5-1300 for Pso and 6) Determine positive phase of front wall loading a. Determine sound velocity in reflected overpressure region Cr from Fig. 2.192 -TM 5-1300 for peak incident over pressure, Pso b. Calculate clearing time,

f. Construct positive phase pressure time of side wall 9) Determine negative phase of side wall loading. a. Determine value of CE- and tof-/W1/3 for the value of LWF/L from step 8 a from Fig 2.196 and 2.198-TM 5-1300 respectively. b. Calculate Pr =CE x Psof and tof. c. Calculate rise time of negative phase equal to 0.27 tof d. Construct the negative pressure- time curve 10) Determine roof loading. a. Follow procedure outlined for side wall loading. 11) Determine rear wall loading . a. Follow procedure outlined for side wall loading Problem: Consider the building shown in fig 4 which is subjected to a surface burst of charge weight of 500 kg TNT. Three different loading distances are chosen for 15 m, 20m and 25 m.

(5) S = Smaller of height of front wall or one half its width G = Maximum of front wall height or one half its width R = S/G (6) c. Calculate fictitious positive phase duration tof tof = 2 is/pso d. Determine peak dynamic pressure qo from Fig. 2.3 -TM 5-1300 for Pso e. Calculate PR = Pso + CD qo. (7) f. Calculate fictitious duration trf of the reflected pressure trf= 2 ir/Pr (8) g. Construct the positive pressure time curve of the front wall. 7) Determine negative phase of the front wall loading. a. Read the value of Z from Fig. 2.198-TM 5-1300 for the value of Pr from step 5a and ir from step 5b. b. Determine Pr and ir/W1/3 from fig. 2.16-TM 51300 for the corresponding value of Z from step 6a. Calculate the fictitious duration of the negative reflected pressure trf- = 2 i r- / Pr(9) c. Calculate rise time of the negative pressure by multiplying trf- by 0.27 d. Construct the negative pressure time curve 8) Determine positive phase of side wall loading a. Calculate the wave length to span length ratio Lwf/L at front of the span b. Read values of CE, tr/ W1/3, tof/ W1/3 from Fig 2.196, 2.197 and 2.198-TM 5-1300 respectively. c. Calculate PR, tr, and to d. Determine dynamic pressure qo from Fig.2.3-TM 51300 for PR e. Calculate PR = CE Psof + CD qo (10)

Fig 4. Building details in m Table 1Positive Phase of Front Wall Loading Distance of building from the source of burst, m Charge weight, W (kg) Scaled distance, Zg (ft/lb1/3) PR= pso+CDq0 (kN/m2) tr (ms)
15.00 20.00 25.00

500 4.48 682.605 3.41

500 5.98 296.485 6.84

500 7.47 158.585 9.22

Table 2 Negative Phase of Front Wall Loading Z corresponding to Pr Z corresponding to ir/ W1/3 Pr (kN/m2) to+.27trf- (ms) to+ trf- (ms)
4.3 6 7.5

5.5

55.16 45.69 115.81

28.95 50.80 134.76

27.58 52.69 132.82

Table 3 Positive Phase of Side Wall Loading Distance of building from the source of burst, m Scaled (ft/lb1/3) distance, Zg
17.25 22.25 27.25

5.16

6.65

8.15

Peak positive pressure (kN/m2) tr (ms)

168.24

101.49

65.78

3.83

4.93

8.76

Table 4 Negative Phase of Side Wall Loading LW/L pr- (kN/m ) to +.27 tof (ms) to+tof (ms)
2.07 75.29 52.36 140.51 2.67 42.47 50.49 130.63 2.00 23.16 60.34 149.29

Fig 5.Pressure-Time Curve for Front Wall at Distance 15 m

Fig. 6 Pressure-Time Curve for Side Wall Loading at 15 m IV. FINITE ELEMENT MODEL A. Stiructural Nonlinearity Nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures

has become increasingly important in recent years. It is only by carrying out a complete progressive failure analysis of the structure up to collapse that it is possible to assess all safety aspects of a structure and to find its deformational characteristics. With the present state of development of computer programs based on the finite element, modeling issues of reinforced concrete material is often one of the major factors in limiting the capability of structural analysis. This is because reinforced concrete has a very complex behavior involving phenomena such as inelasticity, cracking, time dependency and interactive effects between concrete and reinforcement. The development of material models for uncracked and cracked concrete for all stages of loading is a particularly challenging field in nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structure The major sources, which are responsible for the nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete, are 1. Cracking of concrete 2. Plasticity of the reinforcement and of the compression concrete 3. Time dependent effects such as creep, shrinkage, temperature, and load history. B. Nonlinearities in reinforced cement concrete The behavior of R.C.C cannot be modeled properly by linear elastic behavior. The nonlinearities in R.C.C members can be geometric as well as material. Both of these become very important at higher level of deformations. Geometric nonlinearity Linear structural analysis is based on the assumption of small deformations and the material behavior is considered linear elastic. The analysis is performed on the initial undeformed shape of the structure. As the applied loads increase, this assumption is no longer accurate, because the deformation may cause significant changes in the structural shape. Geometric nonlinearity is the change in the elastic deformation characteristics of the structure caused by the change in the structural shape due to large deformations. Material nonlinearity Concrete and steel are two constituents of R.C.C. Among them, concrete is much stronger in compression than in tension. The tensile stress strain relationship of concrete is almost linear, the stress-strain relationship in compression is nonlinear from the beginning. Since the concrete and steel are both strongly nonlinear materials, the material nonlinearity of R.C.C is a complex combination of both. C. Modeling using ANSYS ANSYS is general-purpose finite element software for numerically solving a wide variety of structural engineering problems. For the numerical simulation of any RC structure, three dimensional solid element SOLID65 has been used for modeling the nonlinear behavior of concrete, three dimensional spar element LINK8 has been used for modeling the reinforcement.

Nonlinear transient analysis is carried out in ANSYS and pressures acting due to blast load are applied in several load step corresponding to the time. SOLID65 Solid65 is used for the 3-Dimensional modeling of concrete with or without reinforcing bars. The solid is capable of cracking in tension and crushing in compression. The element is defined by eight nodes having three degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions. The element is capable of accommodating three different rebar specifications. The most important aspect of this element is the treatment of nonlinear material properties. The concrete is capable of cracking (in three orthogonal directions), crushing, plastic deformation, and creep. The rebars are capable of tension and compression, but not shear. The element is shown in fig 7

Fig. 9 Deflection in Z Direction

Fig. 10 Time History of Displacement in Z direction

Fig. 7 Solid65 element LINK8 Link8 is a 3-dimensional spar (or truss) element. This element is used to model the steel in reinforced concrete. The three-dimensional spar element is a uniaxial tensioncompression element with three degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions. This element is also capable of plastic deformation. The element is capable of fig 8 Fig 11 Maimum principal Strain

Fig. 8 Link8 element V. RESULTS A. Masonry building subjected to blast loading A masonry building as shown in Fig 4 was analysed using ANSYS. It is subjected to a blast load with a charge weight of 500 kg and a standoff distance of 15 m. Solid65 element is used for modeling concrete and masonry, Link8 element is used for modeling the reinforcement. Blast loads are applied on each wall faces and roof. M20 concrete is used for column, beam and slab. Fe 415 steel is used as reinforcement bars.

Fig. 12 Maximum principal Stress B. RCC building subjected to blast loading An RCC building was analysed using ANSYS. It is

subjected to same blast load as above. Solid65 element is used for modeling concrete and Link8 element is used for modeling the reinforcementM40 concrete is used for column, beam, wall and slab. Fe 415 steel is used as reinforcement bars. C. RCC building subjected to seismic loading RCC building as shown in Fig 4 was analysed using ANSYS. It is assumed that building is located at Zone 5 in India. Solid65 element is used for modeling concrete and Link8 element is used for modeling the reinforcement. Seismic loads are applied as nodal loads at column beam junction at roof level along X direction. M40 concrete is used for column, beam, wall and slab. Fe 415 steel is used as reinforcement bars. Table 5 Results Obtained from ANSYS Masonry RCC RCC Building Building Building Subjected to Subjected Subjected RESULTS Blast to to Loading at Blast Seismic 15 Loading at Loading m 15 m Maximum 37.7 12.7 0.077 Deflection (mm) Maximum 0.0124 0.00157 0.0000124 principal Strain Maximum 109.70 MPa 56.51 MPa 0.597 MPa Principal Stress Table 5 shows the result obtained from ANSYS. When same blast load was applied on the RCC and Masonry building, theformer had a smaller value for deflection, strain and stress.The percentage reduction in deflection, strain and stress in RCC building were found to be by 66.31 %, 87.33% and 48.48% respectively. For RCC building subjected to seismic loading, deflection, strain and stress obtained are very smaller. A. Discussions For masonry building subjected to blast load, maximum strain for M20 concrete is 0.00179 and compressive stress is 20 MPa. Principal stress and strain obtained from ANSYS are higher than material stress and strain. So the building will fail under the blast load with charge weight of 500 kg and standoff distance 15 m. For RCC building subjected to blast load, maximum strain for M40 concrete is 0.00253 and compressive stress is 40 MPa. Principal stress obtained from ANSYS is higher. Hence the RCC building will fail under the effect of blast load. For RCC building subjected to seismic loading in Zone 5 in India, maximum strain for M40 concrete is 0.00253 and compressive stress is 40 MPa. Principal stress and strains are lower. Therefore the RCC building will stand safe. VII. CONCLUSIONS From this part of the study, the response of structure subjected to blast loads was obtained. The following

observations and conclusions were drawn from this study. 1) The surfaces of the structure subjected to the direct blast pressures cannot be protected; it can, however, be designed to resist the blast pressures by using high grade concrete and by increasing the reinforcement. 2) By providing shear wall in building, the building can effectively take up blast load. 3) Effect of seismic loading on low rise buildings are smaller compared to blast load. But for high rised multi storied building effect of seismic loading will be larger when compared with local blast load. 4) For high-risks facilities such as public and commercial tall buildings, design considerations against bomb blast are very important ACKNOWLEDGMENT I wish my deep sense of gratitude to Prof. Jayasree Ramanujan, Asst. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, M.A College of Engineering, for her expert guidance. I convey my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Babu Kurian, P G coordinator, Dr. Lovely K M, Head Of Department, department Civil Engineering for their valuable advice and suggestions. I wish to express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members of Civil Department who directly or indirectly helped me in completing this work. REFERENCES
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