Blast Response of Lightly Attached Concrete Masonry Unit Walls
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 8
Abstract
Exterior wall panels of structures are often constructed of concrete masonry units (CMUs), commonly known as concrete blocks. These walls may become a debris hazard to building occupants when high explosives, for example, a terrorist vehicle bomb, are detonated outside of a building. A recently completed series of physical experiments is being used to develop methods for predicting the hazard levels associated with CMU walls. Retrofitting techniques have been developed to mitigate these hazards. The experiments included nonretrofitted CMU walls as well as several different types of retrofits. Test data, high-speed video, and posttest inspection of the experiments were used to assess the parameters that affect the response of CMU walls and retrofit systems. The objective of the research presented in this paper is to collect data on the blast response of CMU walls so that improvements can be made to the previously developed Wall Analysis Code (WAC).
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Acknowledgments
This research was sponsored by the U.S. Interagency Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), managed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and conducted at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. The writers gratefully acknowledge permission from the Chief of Engineers and TSWG to publish this paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 8 • August 2005
Pages: 1186 - 1193
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 26, 2001
Accepted: May 6, 2004
Published online: Aug 1, 2005
Published in print: Aug 2005
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Barry Thomas Rosson
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