Comparison between RC frames and concrete shear wall subjected to blast load by finite element method

The use of vehicle bombs to attack city centers has been a feature of campaigns byterrorist organizations around the world. A bomb explosion within or immediately nearbya building can cause catastrophic damage on the building s external and internal structuralframes, collapsing of walls, blowing out of large expanses of windows, and shuttingdown of critical life-safety systems. Concrete column as a key structural member can besubjected to a blast load as a result of an accident or a terrorist threat. The analysis anddesign of structures subjected to blast loads require a detailed understanding of blastphenomena and the dynamic response of various structural elements. In this paper, theresponse of RC frames subjected to lateral blast loads is examined and have beencompared with concrete shear wall system. A nonlinear finite element program is used tomodel RC frames and concrete shear walls with different storey conditions.Displacement, stress, damage type and strain energy in framed and shear wall modelsunder blast load are compared.

Keywords:

Blast load , Concrete frame , Shear wall , Finite element method