Assessment of Reinforced Concrete Slab Response to Contact Explosion Effects

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the response of plain concrete (PC) and reinforced concrete (RC) slabs subjected to contact explosion effects of 500-g TNT. A finite element model was developed and validated with the experimental results. Parametric studies of the response of RC slabs to contact explosion effects were conducted using the validated numerical model. The influence of explosive mass, slab thickness, concrete strength, reinforcement ratio, and reinforcement spacing were investigated in the parametric studies. Concrete compressive strength was found to have little influence on the threshold breach charge mass when compared to the effects of reinforcement ratio. An empirical equation was proposed based on the numerical results for predicting the threshold breach charge mass that incorporates the effect of the reinforcement ratio.