Special Issue on Blast Effects on Constructed Facilities

Terrorist bombing attacks and accidental explosions could cause catastrophic consequences such as the complete destruction of constructed facilities following progressive collapse of structural elements. Therefore, the design of blast-resistant structures requires extensive research on the characteristics of blast loading, behavior of structures, and/or the components subjected to such loads, as well as advanced design methods for new buildings and innovative retrofitting technologies for existing buildings. Beginning with the 1995 truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities has committed to serve as a forum for dissemination of practice-related information on mitigation of blast effects on facilities. This special issue is a contribution to that commitment.

The design of blast-resistant structures requires the combined efforts of experienced design professionals and advanced engineering tools to ensure that the facility is sufficiently robust against disproportionate collapse. Further, proper detailing is an integral prerequisite for enhancing structural robustness. Existing information provided in “Progressive Collapse Analysis and Design Guidelines for New Federal Office Buildings and Major Modernization Projects” (GSA 2003), “Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse” [Unified Facility Criteria, UFC 4-023-03 (UFC 2009)], and “Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures” [ASCE/SEI 7 (ASCE/SEI 2010)] are essential must reads for engineers. Continuing research is essential and it is the platform intended for scientists, architects, engineers, and practitioners from universities, military establishments, and civilian and governmental institutions to play their role by disseminating vital findings on advanced design methods and new retrofit technologies.

The papers contained in this special issue address a variety of advanced design methods and retrofitting technologies for protection of constructed facilities against blast loads. A large proportion of papers were invited from presenters at the 10th International Conference on Shock and Impact Loads on Structures held in Singapore in October 2013. A special issue of this journal was also published following the Eighth International Conference on Shock and Impact Loads on Structures held in Adelaide, Australia, in December 2009 (ASCE 2011).

The current ASCE journals publication process does not permit the logical organization of paper order within a printed issue. Papers appear in the order of their prior online publication. However, the papers in this special issue fall into several categories. The first step in the design of blast-resistant structures is to accurately quantify the blast loading. There are three papers in this special issue addressing this topic. Due to the uncertain nature of blast loads, probabilistic approaches are used to characterize blast loading resulting from the detonation of bare explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Further, a rapid analytical method for the calculation of gas explosion overpressures in confined and congested environments has also been developed. Following the quantification of blast overpressures, analytical approaches adopting the single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model (two papers) and finite-element method, such as LS-DYNA (LSTC 2013), have been used for blast design and analysis of structural components such as columns (two papers), precast wall panels (one paper), masonry infilled walls (one paper), and façade systems (one paper). Reliability-based analysis is also used for design of key structural components, for example, of columns against blast loading. Then, there are three papers addressing design of blast-resistant structures against disproportionate collapse. Finally, advanced protective technologies such as the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening and concrete infilled double-skin steel tube columns are considered (two papers). These papers serve to encourage researchers and practitioners to explore innovative approaches for the protection of constructed facilities against blast loads.

The design of blast-resistant structures against catastrophic consequences is an evolving discipline. Opportunities remain for research activities on the development of advanced design tools and retrofitting technologies. We hope this special issue will serve as an initiative to encourage researchers, academics, design professionals, and policy makers around the world to contribute to this evolving discipline.