Response of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns Subjected to Blast Loads
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 9
Abstract
The vast majority of past research on blast-resistant structural design focuses on buildings, with limited attention directed specifically towards bridges. Although many of the same principles apply, bridges pose unique challenges that are not often encountered when designing buildings for blast resistance. Specifically, establishing standoff with bridges is difficult because they are intended to provide open access to the traveling public, and structural components are directly loaded rather than having loads transferred to them through a facade system. Thus, relative to buildings, bridge components may be exposed to large blast threats that can be in close proximity to the potential target. To address these unique challenges, experimental and computational research was carried out, through support from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), to understand the behavior of blast-loaded concrete bridge members. Although spalling of concrete cover off the back of reinforced concrete walls subjected to blast loads is a well-understood phenomenon, specimens experimentally tested for the current research exhibited spalling of side-cover concrete, which previously has not been reported in the research literature. Using detailed finite-element models, this paper explains the cross-sectional response mechanisms that cause spalling of side-cover concrete in blast-loaded slender reinforced concrete members by numerically reproducing the behavior observed during the experimental testing program.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program NCHRPfor providing the financial resources that made this project possible. The authors also wish to thank James Ray and Bob Walker of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their effort in helping carry out the experimental tests on small-scale columns to quantify blast loads and the Southwest Research Institute and Protection Engineering Consultants for providing their time and effort in helping carry out the large-scale experimental research program on reinforced concrete columns. The opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and they do not necessarily represent those of the sponsor.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 9 • September 2011
Pages: 903 - 913
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 31, 2010
Accepted: May 23, 2011
Published online: May 25, 2011
Published in print: Sep 1, 2011
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