Soil-Structure Interaction and Pulse Shape Effect on Structural Element Damage to Blast Load

Abstract

The mode approximation method (MAM) is an effective approach when analyzing dynamic structural responses and damages to blast loading. The pressure-impulse (P-I) diagram generated from the MAM provides an efficient and accurate estimation of structural damage of simple or combined failure modes. In the previous works for damage assessment of underground reinforced concrete structures, the soil-structure interaction (SSI) was simplified as a constant damping or stiffness effect, and the pulse shape effect of the blast load on the P-I diagrams was not discussed. In the present study, a generalized iteration procedure is adopted in derivation of the P-I equations on the basis of the MAM; therefore, the nonconstancy of SSI and the pulse shape effect on underground RC structure damage to blast load can be analyzed. Result of the present study shows that the nonconstancy of SSI and the pulse shape effect has certain effects, and they cannot be simply ignored in damage assessment of buried structures. The generalized iteration procedure is also proved a helpful tool in carrying out such analysis.