Analysis of CFRP Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Structural Components Subjected to Close-in Blasts

This paper presents a simple procedure for the analysis of strengthened and unstrengthened reinforced concrete slabs under close-in blast loadings. The simplified procedure provides a tool to quickly check a slab or verify the results of a more advanced computer analysis. The procedure divides the response of the slab into breach, direct shear, flexural, and membrane behaviors and provides equations and references on how to calculate the capacity of each behavior. The procedure first checks the most severe failure modes, then progresses to other modes. The procedure was used to analyze the response of four slabs subjected to blasts; two of the slabs were strengthened with carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) on the back face. The procedure was also used to analyze the response of a reinforced concrete box specimen strengthened with CFRP. The simple procedure accurately predicted the peak deflection of the slabs to close-in blast loadings.