Numerical analysis on blast resistant capability of reinforced concrete slab

Reinforced concrete slabs of the critical structures, such as embassies, government buildings and power plants, need to be designed to resist blast loading. In order to design the reinforced concrete slabs properly, the dynamic response of reinforced concrete slab under blast loading should be studied first. In this paper, the numerical model of reinforced concrete slab is established using the explicit dynamic analysis software. Both the strain rate effect and the damage accumulation are taken into account in the material model. The dynamic responses of the reinforced concrete slabs subjected to blast loading with different equivalent masses of TNT are analyzed. Parametric studies are also carried out to investigate the influence of concrete strength, thickness and reinforcement ratio on the blast resistant behavior of the reinforced concrete slab. Based on the numerical results, some principles in blast resistant design are proposed to improve the blast resistant capability of the reinforced concrete slab.