Urban Habitat Constructions under Catastrophic Events (Final Report) Mazzolani (Ed).

. 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-60686-8

2.3 Analysis of behaviour of constructions under impact and explosions: Approaches for structural analysis, from material modeling to structural response
G. De Matteis
University G. dAnnunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy

E. Cadoni
University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland, Lugano, Switzerland

D. Asprone
University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy

2.3.1 INTRODUCTION Recent catastrophic events on urban habitats, including terrorist attacks, have contributed to change the design approach to urban constructions. In fact, nowadays, a correct approach aims at ensuring the satisfactory performances of the structure during its lifetime, considering all the possible critical actions, which the structure could be subjected to, including severe dynamic load conditions. This approach can be considered a sustainable approach for structural design. It aims at guaranteeing not only the structural performances of the urban constructions, but also the social sustainability of the urban habitat, which is requested to be able to withstand catastrophic events, without causing catastrophic consequences. Hence, designers of urban facilities and infrastructures need to be aware of all the possible events that could act on the structures during their life-time, including catastrophic events. Malicious disruptions, blasts, or impacts have unfortunately become part of the possible scenarios that could occur on constructed facilities. A common feature of extreme loads is that they are intense and of short duration. This applies specifically to impact and blast loads. A further feature is that they result in large deformations. It is the ability to absorb energy through ductility that is the primary factor in survivability. This concept was firstly recognized by the automotive industry with the transfer to the crumple design method (Figure 1). Thereby ductile failures are specifically designed for, by selecting relatively weak structural members connected together by relatively strong joints. Anyway, a robust design has to be achieved, in order to allow global failure mechanisms and to avoid progressive collapse due to the premature loss of a structural component. Robust design of structures may be achieved by means of high redundancy, i.e. in framed structures by incorporating moment beam-to-column connections having large over strength or by using other dissipative sources in the structure (bracings, dampers and so on). A useful alternative, when the structures are designed for gravity loading only and simple connections are of concern, may be based on the employment of very ductile connections, favoring the development of catenary resistant mechanisms at large deformation stages. The former approach is typically adopted in earthquake prone Countries, while the latter in simply supported steelwork frames subjected to exceptional actions. In particular, in earthquake prone Countries ductility is the key concept of seismic design of structures. Such a concept was firstly introduced by the Japanese seismic code in the latter half of sixties and then incorporated in all modern seismic codes. Nowadays, it is a very common and simple concept that structures may survive under earthquake by mixing strength and deformation capacity. The UK robustness requirements date back to the Ronan Point disaster in 1968, in which part of a 22-storey block of flats collapsed as a result of a gas explosion. The resulting structural integrity requirements contained led to structures with an reasonable ability to resist blast by ensuring that 161

Figure 1.

Crumple zone design methodology for protecting car frames.

all structural members are adequately tied together. It is widely believed that this method will prevent progressive collapses by catenary action following the removal of a column, although this load path has not been adequately tested, either in practice or in theory. Further to this, structural elements vital to overall stability (key elements) must be designed to resist abnormal (blast) loads of 34 kN/m2 . This load corresponds to the average peak overpressure estimated to have been developed during the Ronan Point explosion. As such it does not provide protection against high-explosive blasts, which will be much higher in magnitude. Recent experience shown that buildings of urban habitats are vulnerable under extreme loads, such as the ones caused by terrorist attacks and by accidental events, e.g. impact or explosions. In particular, it has been emphasized that terroristic organizations may use unexpected weapons to attack urban habitats, such as explosive devices improvised by vehicle borne. Importantly for the structural engineer these weapons have a proven ability of either causing the complete collapse of entire buildings or severe progressive collapses of multiple bays of buildings, thus highlighting the vulnerability of even the most well protected structures to collapse due to exceptional actions. As a matter of the fact, since the events of September 11th concern regarding the danger posed to building occupants from vehicle borne devices has increased, introducing a wider range of structural engineering experts into this field of research. Addressing these loading conditions represents a critical issue for structural engineers. The most critical aspects can be summarized in the following items: The assessment of the loading acting on the structure in case of blast and impact events is fundamental but represents a critical concern, since uncertainty related to load magnitude is high, especially for blast actions. The Structural response in case of such severe dynamic actions represents a critical issue, since dynamic behavior of structural elements under severe dynamic loads can be very different from that exhibited under static actions. The mechanical behavior of materials can be totally different from that exhibited in quasi-static conditions; thus a specific mechanical characterization is necessary. Hence specific investigations become necessary for all these concerns. The following sessions address these main issues and try to provide information about the state of art related to these topics, emphasizing the contribution to the research development produced within the COST Action C26.

2.3.2 BASIS FOR BLAST AND IMPACT LOAD CHARACTERIZATION An explosion induces mainly a quick and significant increase of pressure in the medium where it occurs, i.e. air or water. Such overpressure propagates as a wave, the so called blast wave, and is characterized by its speed, duration and intensity. These parameters are fundamental in order to evaluate the actions that an explosion can induce in the structural elements in its vicinity. The numerical values of these parameters depend on several aspects, such as, type and the amount of the exploding mass, distance of the target of interest from the explosion, geometry of the target, 162

Figure 2.

Blast overpressure in air generated by 1 kg of TNT at 2 m from the charge.

Figure 3. Two masses model for the impact loading.

type of reflecting surfaces (e.g., the ground in case of external explosions or walls or slabs in case of closed-in explosions). In the past decades, several investigations have been performed on such aspects and they have provided reliable numerical procedures for quantification of the overpressure time-histories. In the case of blast explosion, the induced overpressure follows a trend over time similar to that shown in Figure 2, where a positive decaying phase is followed by a weaker negative phase; it can be evaluated according to empirical formulations providing the pressure history p(t) depending on the type and the amount of the exploding charge and on its distance from the target (TM 5-1300, 1990; Henrych, 1979; Kinney and Graham, 1985). The most of such formulations convert the amount of the charge into equivalent weight of TNT, considered as a reference explosive. Hence, the pressure history curve depends on the distance from the target, generally through a cubic decaying rule and on the amount of equivalent TNT, generally through a cubic root rule. As it regards impact loading on structures, it can be divided into soft impact and hard impact. In the first case a deformable body strikes a rigid structure and the kinetic energy of the striking body is partially transferred into deformation energy of the striking body. Impact characterization consists in the evaluation of the contact force. This is the case of a vehicle impact on a wall and of a liquid impact on a containing structure. In the second case, the striking body is rigid and the kinetic energy is transferred into deformation energy of the impacted body. In this case, impact characterization consists in the definition of the displacement and deformation fields induced in the impacted structure. This is the case of hard masses like bullets. In both cases, simplified dynamic models have been proposed and can be used to characterize the impact loading on structural elements (CEB 1988). Such models are essentially based on two masses m1 and m2 representing the impacting body and the impacted body, respectively; the masses are linked to two springs, k1 and k2 , as depicted in Figure 3, representing the impact mechanism and the structural response of the impacted body, respectively.

2.3.3 STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR UNDER BLAST AND IMPACT LOADING In case of impact or blast events occurring on civil structures failure mechanisms can be distinguished into local and global failure mechanisms. Local failure regards small parts of the structure and is directly due to the effects of the impact or the explosion onto structural elements. It can occur through punching or spalling mechanisms or through structural failure of frame or wall sections. The effects of a local failure depend on the dynamic characteristics of the structural elements, in terms of elastic properties, constraint configurations, ductility of the constituent materials and of the structural elements. 163

On the other hand, global failure of structures often occurs after local failure, being triggered by local failures of single structural elements, and it is related to the capacity of the structure to withstand the loss of structural elements without activate progressive collapse mechanisms, induced by the gravity loads. Global failure initiation depends on the global ductility of the structure and on the quality and the frequency of connections between elements of the structure. Obviously if local failure is more severe, then global failure becomes more probable. Based on these considerations, structural analysis needs to be conducted accounting for both local and global failure mechanisms. With regards to local failure, it should be distinguished between the failure of small portions of the structural elements, induced by punching or spalling mechanisms, and the failure of the structural elements caused by the internal forces. The first failure mode can be assessed through specific models accounting for the dynamic impulse produced by the explosion or by the impact on the surface of the structural elements. Different simplified models are proposed in literature (CEB 1988; TM 5-1300 1990). The second failure mode can occur when the action of blast or impact induces the failure of one or more sections within the element, due to high internal forces, i.e. shear or bending moment. To evaluate such internal forces the dynamic response on SDOF models can be considered. In fact, the rapid and intense loading induced by blast or impact, hit directly the single elements, which behave as independent structures, and can be modeled as independent structural elements (TM 5-1300, 1990). For both failure modes, the constituent materials can exhibit a strain-rate sensitive behavior, able to modify significantly the response from that exhibited under quasi-static loading conditions. These issues need to be taken into account, introducing specific strain-rate dependent formulations for the parameters of the constituent materials. This can be implemented through visco-elastic or visco-plastic constitutive laws or, through a simplified approach, by updating the elastic properties and the strength of the materials, depending on the occurring strain-rate, as proposed by several procedures (CEB, 1988, TM 5-1300, 1990). Due to the short duration of blast and impact events, for structural design purposes, blast and impact loading can be characterized in terms of peak pressure (or equivalently peak force) pmax and impulse i, being pmax the maximum pressure in the pressure history and i the integration of the positive pressure over time. Hence, for each structural element a pmax i domain curve can be evaluated, reporting the values of impulse and peak pressure able to induce on the structural element a certain damage level. A typical pmax i relationship is reported in Figure 4. These curves are employed to assess if a certain combination of peak pressure and impulse induced by a blast or impact event is able to cause a certain damage level to the structural elements. These relationships have been widely investigated in literature and can be defined for each structural element, using to a SDOF model (Bangash 1993; Mays and Smith 1995; Krauthammer 1998), in

Figure 4. Tipical pmax i curve.

164

which the maximum displacement of a control point is considered as the damage parameter, e.g. the top displacement in a cantilever beam or the top deflection in a supported beam. These relationships have been investigated in particular for blast events but can be extended also to the case of impact events. Several closed-form formulations have been derived for different boundary conditions (e.g. cantilever beams, simulating protection walls or double fixed beams, simulating building columns) and for different constitutive laws, including elastic, elastic-plastic, rigid plastic, plastic with hardening and softening (Li and Meng, 2002; Soleiman and Louca, 2007; Ma et al., 2007; Smith and Hetherington, 1994). Generally, it can be observed that two asymptotes are obtained for high values of impulse and peak pressure. In particular, for high values of the impulse, the curve depends only on the peak pressure, corresponding to a quasi-static response of the structure. On the other side, for high values of the peak pressure, the curve depends only on the impulse, corresponding to an impulsive response of the structure. The former and the latter case occur when the duration of the pressure history is much higher or lower than the vibration period of the structural element, respectively. For intermediate values of the duration of the pressure history, the relationship depends on both the peak pressure and the impulse values. In other words, if the loading history is particularly short, the structural response depends only on the total impulse transferred to the structural element, whereas, if the loading history becomes long the structural response depends only on the peak value of the loading, as in a quasi-static regime. It is underlined that this approach implies that the structural response is always independent from the shape of the loading history; this implication is not true in the intermediate regime, but, for the seek of simplicity, it can be considered an acceptable approximation. Once the vulnerability of the structure related to local failure mechanisms has been addressed, structural design needs to consider the possibility that global failure mechanisms could be activated. Global failure occurs after a severe damage of one or more structural elements; once these elements have lost their carrying capacity a progressive collapse mechanism of the structure could be triggered. The progressive collapse can be defined as a mechanism which involves a large part of a structure, activated by local damages to the structural elements. Having lost some elements, the whole structure can become unstable, failing under the gravity loads. That is, the structure can eventually develop a global mechanism, which is widely referred to as the progressive collapse mechanism (Allen and Schriever 1972; SEI 2005; GSA 2003). Such failure mechanism can be addressed through a direct approach or an indirect approach (Ellingwood and Leyendecker 1978). In the direct approach progressive collapse scenarios are directly analyzed, whereas in the indirect approach, resistance to progressive collapse is pursued guaranteeing minimum levels of strength, continuity and ductility. Actually, the progressive collapse mechanism is the predominant mode of failure after a blast event (NRC 2001) and it is the subject of wide research (SEI 2005; GSA 2003; NRC 2001; Agarwal et al. 2003; Bennett 1988). Figure 5 depicts the Murrah building in Oklahoma City which was attacked by a blast event in 1995; the progressive collapse of a large part of the structure occurred. The possibility of this failure mechanism is linked to the capacity of the structure to redistribute loads on other structural elements. It depends on the redundancy of elements and the ductility of connections. The first aspect implies that the static scheme of the structure is much far from

Figure 5.

Progressive collapse of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City.

165

Figure 6.

Basic collapse mechanisms for frame structures.

a statically determinate configuration; the loss of some elements is balanced by the presence of other elements able to carry acting loads. The second aspect is also important, since after the loss of some elements, the new equilibrium configurations are reached with high local deformations, which must be tolerated by the structure. High ductility of connections is thus necessary to allow these static configurations. These considerations make progressive collapse issue quite similar to earthquake issue, since in both situations, structural retrofitting can be addressed by improving the ductility and the redundancy of the structures (Hayes et al., 2005). In the direct approach, the progressive collapse assessment can be conducted through non-linear static analysis of the damaged structure under the gravity loads (Marjanishvili and Agnew, 2006; Yi et al., 2008). In this case, plastic hinge formulations can be used to account for non-linearities; catenary actions can be also introduced to account for the tension forces in the horizontal elements (Yi et al., 2008). As an alternative, the progressive collapse analysis can be considered as a global stability analysis of the damaged structure. A possible approach to performing such analysis would be to conduct a plastic limit analysis. A plastic limit analysis (Corotis and Nafday, 1990; Ellingwood 2006) involves finding the load factor lincreasing the applied loads for which (a) equilibrium conditions are satisfied and (b) a sufficient number of plastic hinges are formed in the structure in order to activate a collapse mechanism in the whole structure or in a part of it. In static loading problems, a load factor l less than or equal to unity indicates that the structure is already unstable under the applied loads. On the other hand, in instantaneous dynamic loading problems, the threshold for l is equal to 2. In case of progressive collapse, it has been shown that a value 2 is probably conservative and the actual value of causing instability in the structure is between 1 and 2 (Ruth et al., 2006). The plastic limit analysis can be conducted by finding the smallest kinematically admissible load for which the above conditions (a and b) are satisfied, employing the principle of virtual work. A kinematically admissible load corresponds to a mechanism in which both the external work done by the applied forces (gravity loads in this case) on virtual deformations and the internal work done by the ultimate moments on the virtual rotations are positive. It can be shown that the collapse mechanism can be described as a linear combination of the independent mechanisms that can be activated in the structure. The number of these independent mechanisms is equal to the difference between the number of possible plastic hinge locations and the degree of indeterminateness in the structure. Figure 6 depicts the types of these basic mechanisms. Asprone et al., (2010) proposed a procedure to conduct the blast assessment of strategic infrastructures in which, through a probabilistic approach, different blast scenarios are analyzed, performing different plastic limit analysis of different damaged configurations of the structure. Furthermore, the procedure for finding the smallest kinematically admissible load is defined as a linear optimization programming with the objective of minimizing the load factor and is implemented through a simplex algorithm. 2.3.4 DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF MATERIALS Under dynamic loading conditions, many construction materials present a different mechanical behavior, with respect to that exhibited in quasi-static regime. Generally, both compressive and 166

tensile strength increase; stiffness can also present higher values whereas failure strains can both increase and decrease. The dynamic behavior of materials is due to different phenomena, influencing the mechanical properties. In example, inertia effects in fracture propagations govern the dynamic behavior of ceramic materials, whereas viscous phenomena influence the mechanical response of polymeric materials. To quantify these effects the strain-rate (measured in s1 ) is used as main parameter to describe the dynamic regime. The low strain-rate range varies from 106 s1 to 104 s1 . It is experienced during the quasi-static tests on materials, service loads on structures and vehicle transits. Higher values, up to 1 s1 correspond to the medium strain-rate range and are experienced in the structures in case of soft impacts and earthquakes. Strain-rate values up to 102 s1 correspond the high strain-rate regime, occurring on structures in case of hard impacts and blast events. Several experimental research activities related to dynamic properties of construction materials have been developed. In particular, experimental activities are conducted using different testing procedures. The most used equipments are the Drop-Weight Impact Machine, the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) and its modifications, and the Hydro-pneumatic machine. In the Drop-Weight Impact Machine a certain mass is left to drop onto the specimen at a certain height, in order to have controlled impact energy (Banthia et al. 1989). By instrumenting the specimens with load cells, strain gauges and displacement transducers, the dynamic mechanical response can be acquired and interpreted. A critical issue in such test is represented by the inertia effects which need to be filtered. This test can be conducted also on structural elements (e.g. three or four point bending tests) to investigate the mechanical response under dynamic loading conditions at a higher scale. In order to design or to assess a structure or component subjected to dynamic loading an accurate knowledge of the elastic and inelastic strength properties of the materials involved is requested. In particular is demanded the knowledge of the complete stress-strain curve. Not all dynamic device are able to measure this information, for example pendulum impact machines such as Charpy or Izod can produce strain rates of up to about 100 s1 , yielding only energy absorbed to fracture, but not a complete stress-strain curve. In the last fifty years many efforts were addressed to the development of systems designed to fill the strain rate range from 102 s1 to 103 s1 , the time duration of many explosive, ballistic impact, crashes and other accident scenarios of interest for both military and civilian applications. A basic technique to measure the shape of a stress pulse in a long elastic bar was first described at the beginning of XX century by Hopkinson (1914). More than thirty years later, Kolsky (Kolsky 1949) improved on Hopkinsons device, adding displacement gages and oscillographic recording techniques to obtain complete pulse amplitude wave forms in similar elastic bars. Kolsky used a two-bar system, sandwiching a short compression specimen between them. Both the stress and strain could be derived. This modification became know as the Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB). Hopkinson and Kolsky used explosive pellets to generate the stress pulse that propagated along the bar. In the early 1960s, Lindholm (1964) modified the Kolsky technique primarily by altering the bar lengths and the placement of the strain gages, and by using modern strain gage technology to record transient pulse shapes on both bars with electronic circuitry that allowed direct generation of the complete stress-strain curve for a single impact. Additionally, he used a mechanical spring device to launch a striker bar instead of using explosive pellets. The impact of the striker bar against the incident bar generated the stress pulse. The impact speed determines the magnitude of the stress pulse, and the velocity of the striker bar was controlled quite accurately by adjusting the compressed gas pressure. The duration of the stress pulse is controlled by the length of the striker bar. The SHPB became an integral element of a materials research program that studied and characterized the behavior of metals under various loading conditions. Since then, the device has undergone a number of modifications and improvements, and has been applied to a wide range of other materials including geologic materials (Cadoni 2010; Asprone et al., 2009), ceramics, polymers and other soft materials. The propagation of the stress waves without dispersion and uncontrolled reflections and the deformation of the specimens in a state of stress homogeneity are the basic conditions to be satisfied for a correct implementation of the uniaxial elastic stress wave propagation theory in the analysis of the Hopkinson bar experimental records and therefore for the accurate measurement of the dynamic mechanical properties of materials. The basic principles of the Hopkinson bar method are normally not respected in the impact rigs based on the use of drop weight or missiles directly impinging on the specimen for impact load generation and on the use of load cells as load transducers in contact with the specimen. 167

Figure 7.

Modified Hopkinson Bar scheme.

The material properties under impact loading measured with drop weight impact rigs are of low accuracy (and therefore not reliable for the development and calibration of material constitutive laws) because affected by many noisy phenomena like resonant vibrations, rebounds, superposition of waves reflections (Birch et al., 1988). In the seventies Montagnani and Albertini (1974) developed a modification of Hopkinson bar where the stricker was substituted with a bar loaded elastically. The modified Hopkinson bar consists of two half-bars, the incident and transmitter bar respectively, with the specimen introduced in between, as shown in Fig. 7. Elastic energy is stored in a pre-tensioned bar, which is the solid continuation of the incident bar. By releasing this energy (rupturing the brittle intermediate piece in the blocking device), a rectangular wave with small rise-time is generated and transmitted along the incident bar loading the specimen to failure. This is a uniaxial elastic plane stress wave, as the wave-length of the pulse is long compared to the bar transverse dimensions, and the pulse amplitude does not exceed the yield strength of the bar. This modification can produce both direct tension and compression test as well as shear or bending. On the basis of the incident (I ), reflected (R ) and transmitted (T ) records, of the consideration of the basic constitutive equation of the input and output elastic bar material, of the one-dimensional wave propagation theory it is possible to calculate the stress, strain and strain-rate curves by the following equations (Lindholm 1971):

where: (t) represents the longitudinal stress in the specimen (t) represents the longitudinal strain in the specimen T (t) represents the longitudinal strain transmitted in the output bar R (t) represents the longitudinal strain reflected in the input bar (t) represents the strain rate in the specimen E0 is the elastic modulus of the bars; A0 their cross-sectional area; A is the specimen cross-sectional area; L is the specimen length; C0 is the sound velocity of the bar material. The Modified Hopkinson Bar allows investigating the dynamic response at the material scale and, with respect to the Drop-Weight Machine tests permit to control better the strain rate level of the test. Given the importance of this topic for structural engineering, several experimental research activities related to dynamic properties of construction materials are available in literature, investigating steel, ceramic materials (i.e. concrete and natural stones) and polymeric materials. A short review of the available literature is here presented. 168

Dynamic mechanical behavior of steel, as experienced with many other metals, presents significant differences if compared with the mechanical behavior exhibited under static load conditions. This is due to several phenomena involved in steel strain-rate sensitiveness, but mainly the reason of such differences stands in the dynamic dislocations evolution, affecting the microscopic scale (Lee and Liu 2006; Mainston 1975; Uenishi and Teodosiu 2004). Available scientific data outline that, as strain rate increases, the following changes in mechanical properties of reinforcing steel can be noticed (Lee and Liu 2006; Mainston 1975; Uenishi and Teodosiu 2004; Malvar 1998): an increase of yielding stress fy ; an increase of ultimate tensile stress ft ; an increase of the ultimate tensile strain t ; On the contrary no changes are experienced in terms of Young modulus. Unfortunately, available literature focuses the attention on dynamic properties of several steel alloys, mainly for industrial applications (Lee et al., 2005; Couque et al., 1994; Drar 1993; Wang and Wang 2007), whereas few data are available on reinforcing steel properties (Malvar 1998; CEB 1988; Filiatrault and Holleran 2001; Asprone et al., 2009). The differences between dynamic and static properties of concrete are amply illustrated in the literature (Fu et al., 1991; Harris et al., 2000; Cadoni et al., 2000; Malvar and Ross 1998; Cadoni et al., 2006; Asprone et al., 2009). It is accepted that, to evaluate correctly the behavior of concrete under extreme dynamic loads, dynamic mechanical properties have to be necessarily investigated. The scientific data available show that, under high strain rates, concrete can exhibit, both in compression and in tension: an increase in failure strength (Fu et al., 1991); an increase in Youngs modulus (Cadoni et al., 2000; van Doormal et al., 1994); a different evolution of cracks, that do not develop through a local mechanism, like in a static range, but start and grow at the same time in several locations (Cadoni et al., 2000). an increase in flexural strength (Banthia et al., 1989). The dynamic behavior of both concrete and steel is addressed into several technical codes and instructions, so as to guide the engineer to predict properly the real behavior of a structure under extreme loads. CEB information bulletin no. 187 (CEB 1988) gives formulations to evaluate the dynamic properties of concrete and steel by updating static properties. Defining the Dynamic Increase Factor (DIF) as the ratio between the dynamic and the static value of a certain parameter, DIFstrain rate relationships are suggested for compressive and tensile failure stresses, compressive and tensile ultimate strains and Youngs modulus. Similarly, in TM 5-1300 (TM 5-1300 1990) the issue of the dynamic properties of concrete and steel is addressed by suggesting different DIF for failure strength in several load conditions. In this case, the DIF is not a function of strain rate value, as expressed by CEB formulations, but it just depends on the distance from the blast source, distinguishing between far and close-in explosions. Within rock mechanics literature, a number of studies are available investigating influence of strain-rate on mechanical properties of different types of rocks. Dependence on strain-rate of natural stones was experienced in different loading conditions, such as uniaxial compression (Ray et al., 1999; Ma and Daemen 2004), uniaxial tensile (Kubota et al., 2008; Asprone et al., 2009) and triaxial compression (Lia et al., 1999). Regarding tensile loading conditions, it was accepted that natural stones exhibit higher strength values as strain-rate increases; this behavior is mainly due to microscopic non homogeneity, affecting principally sensitivity to medium strain-rates, and microcrack formations, interfering with failure surfaces development, which influence primarily high strain-rates regime (Cho et al., 2003). Mechanical properties of composite materials are generally affected by strain rate dependence, as shown in (Cho et al., 2003; Hsiao and Daniel 1998; Harding 1993; Welsh and Harding 1985; Sierakowsky 1997). In particular, the initial Young modulus and failure stress increase as the strain rate becomes higher (Sierakowsky 1997; Okoli 2001), under both compression and tensile loading conditions. Focusing on glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP), the available literature describes in detail the effects of strain rate under compressive loading (Gary and Zhao 2000; El-Habak 1993; Tay et al., 1995; Huang et al., 2004). In particular, it is shown that mechanical behavior of composites in compression is strongly controlled by resin properties, which appear to be highly 169

Figure 8. Typical moment curvature relationships for different strain rates.

strain rate dependent. Consequently, a significant increase is generally experienced in initial Young modulus, failure stress and failure strain, under compression. On the other hand, under tensile loading, GFRP also exhibits sensitiveness to the rate of loading, as described in Hardig and Welsh 1983, Makarov et al., 2004, Newill and Vinson 1993 and Asprone et al., 2009. In particular, also in this case, a significant increase in failure stress and initial Young modulus is exhibited, whereas failure strain decreases as strain rate increases (Majzoobi et al., 2005). The variations of the values of the mechanical parameters in the constitutive laws of the construction materials can be implemented to update the stress-strain relationships used as input data for the structural analysis. Hence, the peak pressure-impulse relationships above described can be evaluated through local structural analysis, using the updated formulations of the constitutive laws of the materials, depending on the strain-rate level occurring. As an example, in case of a reinforced concrete column invested by a blast induced overpressure, the fixed end beam scheme can be considered. Hence, to account for the flexural failure mechanism, the ultimate bending moment needs to be evaluated using the updated stress-strain relationships for both concrete and steel, at the strain rate level induced by a blast event (i.e. about 102 s1 ). By implementing this procedure, significant variations are obtained. Figure 8 reports the moment curvature relationship of a 250 mm 250 mm reinforced concrete square column, reinforced with 4 steel bar of 12 mm of diameter. It can be observed that a significant increase of the bending moment values occurs for a strain rate of 102 s1 . This approach can be also used to conduct more refined 3D Finite Element analysis, using specific dynamics codes, e.g. LS-Dyna or Abaqus, by implementing strain-rate dependent constitutive laws. Through this approach more refined results can be obtained, also accounting for large deformations and geometric non linearity. Furthermore, more sophisticated integration procedures can be also used, as an alternative to the classical Finite Element formulations, such as meshless and particle methods. These formulations, allow simulating large displacements and fracture propagations, without numerical instabilities due to mesh distortions. These methods are widely investigated in computational mechanics community and will be probably even more used in the future to address high dynamic mechanical problems.

2.3.5 COST C26 CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT In order to improve the knowledge on the above field the WG3 within the COST Action C26 addressed the protection of structures to survive the effects of impact and explosion loading by developing adequate structural analysis approaches (Mazzolani et al., 2008). These include for example the threat from accidental explosions due to natural gases, as well as impact loading on structures due to other accidental events. The main contributions within the above research areas are considered in the following, providing an overview of the developed research issues. The vulnerability of multi-storey buildings with pre-cast load bearing walls to collapse following natural gas explosions has been considered by Langone, De Matteis and Mazzolani (2008), based on the application of the key element strategy to control the connection requirements (both strength and ductility) between the wall elements (Figure 9a). In fact, it has been stated that the adopted 170

Figure 9.

Precast walls with ductile connections (a) and propagation of front flame (Study Case I).

Figure 10.

Numerical analysis with a stand-off distance of 14 m and related pressure on the building faade.

connecting system for precast RC walls is very important to provide stability and robustness to the whole structure. To this purpose a specific design methodology has been developed, which is based on the definition of a specific Pressure-Impulse diagram as a practical design tool for determining the required connection capacity according to the estimated peak pressure value into the compartment. In order to assess the pressure due to gas explosion and compare the corresponding values to the ones determined by applying the above empirical relationships, three different common situations were analysed, namely regular room with window as venting (Case I), irregular room with window as venting (Case II) regular room linked to another with window as venting (Case III). The results obtained shown that regular compartment geometry and combustion laminar flow limit significantly the value of the peak pressure. Such a value can be estimated in the range of 154167 mbar by means of empirical relationships, and appears to be rather higher than the actual value determined by applying refined numerical methods (Figure 9b). In more realistic compartments (Case II and Case II), s turbulences and domino effects may be of concern. In such a case, the peak pressure increases significantly and can be evaluated by applying more sophisticated empirical relationships. (De Matteis et al., 2006). Kilic and Smith (2010a) developed an interesting numerical work for predicting pressure developed due to explosions behind rigid blast walls (sometime called blast barriers). Simulations are done by using the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) technique of the commercial finite element code LS-Dyna. The effects of the blast wall height and the stand-off distance of the building behind the blast wall in reducing the overpressure of the blast wave were investigated. A model building of 15 m height is placed behind the rigid blast wall, and pressures along the front faade were computed (Figure 10). It was concluded that the medium blast wall height of 3.00 m provides reasonable protection for the pressures on the front faade of the building with peak pressures of 171

Figure 11. scenario.

Considered column loss scenarios a) and evaluated dynamic increase factors for different loss

300 kPa, 125 kPa, and 75 kPa, respectively. As the stand-off distance between the blast wall and the building is increased, the attenuation of the blast wave provides a higher level of protection for the building behind. Although this paper has concentrated on the reduction in overpressure developed on the building faade, this overpressure reduction was accompanied by a reduction in the level of blast impulse delivered. This is an important point to note given that building damage is often determined by impulse. Also, the design of the deformable wall is addressed by developing numerical analysis with increasing amount of explosive material. Significant wall failure occurs when the amount of explosive material is increased well beyond the 20 kg design level (Kilic and Smith, 2010b). Dinu and Dubina (2008) investigated the response of high rise steel buildings as a result of column loss. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the redundancy of buildings designed for seismic loading due to the loss of a structural members caused by terrorist action. A case study, for which different hazard scenarios are taken into account, has been developed and the work confirmed the great benefit of installing truss systems in the uppermost parts of frame which can be capable of redistributing column loads following localized frame damage. Successive research activity shown that buildings designed to resist seismic loads have a good ability to avoid global collapse in case of column loss and the strategies employed to resist seismic actions generally aim to provide ductility and redundancy. Alternate load path analysis on two types of frames, designed for low and high seismic hazard, shown that rotation capacity of beam-to-column connections is critical in assuring force redistribution after the loss of columns. High resistance materials (i.e. high strength steel S460) may prove suitable for critical members (i.e. columns) that should not fail prematurely and therefore preventing global collapse. Static non-linear analysis may reproduce the behavior of the structure with sufficient accuracy, if the dynamic amplification of the gravity loads above the damaged area is properly accounted for. The case study considered the blast as cause of the column loss, but other types of extreme actions may cause similar effects (fire, for instance) (Figure 11a). If fire after blast scenario is also considered, the allowable level of damage from the columns loss scenario need to be adjusted, in order to take into account more damages are expected in the aftermath of the fire. If static nonlinear analysis is employed, this can be done by considering larger values of DIF (Figure 11b). By considering the two loading events, i.e. blast and fire after blast, it is possible to optimize the performance criteria of the structure (Dinu et al., 2010). Demonceau and Jaspart (2008) analyzed the behaviour of steel and composite building frames further to a column loss, when significant membrane effects developed within the structure, by analytical and experimental methods. The main objective of the research was the evaluation of the influential parameters and the validation of simple analytical procedures for predicting the response of a frame due to column loss. The difficulty to simulate the actual behaviour of joints subjected to combined bending moments and axial forces by simple static analysis has been pointed out, suggesting the application of complex FEM model for accurate prediction of the structural response of the system. The above study is combined with experimental investigations by Kuhlmann and Rolle (2008), which highlighted that the ductility demand to beam-to-column connections due to progressive collapse assessment of steel and composite frames could be faced by designing partial strength joints with sufficient ductility (Figure 12a), but the existing analytical criteria for predicting strength and ductility of joints should be extended in order to account correctly for the effects due to 172

Figure 12. Simulation of column loss in a composite frame (a) and experimental behaviour of a bolted end-plate partial strength connection (b).

large deformations, as for example in case of progressive collapse assessment of framed steel or composite structures. To avoid progressive collapse initiated by local damage a redistribution of force from the damaged part of the structure has to be enabled by alternate load path. Activation of alternate load paths by change of the bearing mechanism from pure bending state to more or less pure membrane state is a measure but only possible by allowing large global deformations resulting in high deformation requirements for the joints. Therefore highly ductile and partial-strength joint solutions were investigated in order to achieve a development of the plastic hinges in the beams. The effect on the global behavior was investigated analyzing the collapse resistance of the whole structure (Figure 12a). First results showed that composite beam-column structure is able to resist the event of a column loss under the accidental load combination for about 7080% utilization of ULS loading. The identified requirements for the partial-strength joints concerning ductility and M-N-resistance are also feasible and within the range of the available rotation capacity and strength determined by the experimental investigation (Rolle and Kuhlmann, 2010). Contrarily, the studies conducted by Byfield and Paramasivam (2008) emphasized that many steel beam-to-column joints (simple and semi-rigid) may have insufficient ductility to successfully bridge damaged columns to avoid progressive collapse of the structure. In particular, the result of the prying action was shown to cause early joint fracture in simple connections, while semi-rigid connections due to low reserve of strength do not allow large redistribution of the accidental load. De Matteis et al., (2008) addressed the structural model of submerged floating tunnels under explosion. Detonation of a high explosive and consequent effect on the structure was analysed. The aim of the study was to evaluate the structural robustness of the prototype of the submerged tunnel proposed within the Sino-Italian joint laboratory of Archimedes Bridge (SIJLAB), when it is subjected to unexpected events like internal explosions or impact with external boats. The scope of the analysis was to carry out the stress due to the accidental detonation explosion (for instance, due to the terrorist attacks). Firstly, the equivalent static action due to the detonation explosion is determined. Secondly, the stress due to the explosion is evaluated by using detailed FEM model (Figure 13b). Finally, the most critical parts of the structures are determined in order to allow the evaluation of the structural robustness. The activity is still in progress since the applied numerical models have to be improved to account for other important phenomena, such as the actual interaction between the behaviour of the tube and the dynamic effect of the blast. Kilic and Altay (2007) studied the impact of narrow-body commercial airliners into structures with spirally-confined reinforced concrete columns. The numerical modelling was carried out using LS-Dyna and included the impact of fuel mass on spirally-confined reinforced concrete columns (Figure 13a). The fuel mass was found to be capable of destroying the columns at high velocity. Ongoing activities include (1) an investigation into the behaviour of reinforced concrete and steel structures under extreme loads such as blast and explosion; 2) development of advanced finite element techniques to simulate the response of structures to blast loadings; 3) improvement of blast-resistant design of structures through the use of blast shields and structural detailing for 173

Figure 13.

Numerical simulations: a) aircraft impact and b) analysis of submerged tunnel.

Figure 14.

Deformed guardrail after impact: a) testing campaign and b) numerical simulation.

critical members and 4) prevention of failure of reinforced concrete slabs under reverse curvature caused by blast loading/explosions. Gresnigts impact related activities concerned the impact of pressurised steel pipelines. Static tests were carried out simulating denting and scratching due to rough excavator teeth. Analytical models for load deformation have been developed, backed up with the development of accurate finite element analyses [Gresnigt, 2007]. Seiler (2008, 2010) studied the effects from impacts on guardrails from vehicles. Work involved tests for impact of vehicle (small size, bus and truck) on guardrails. Accurate simulations were carried out considering a simplified model, which incorporates the most influential parameters such as the dynamic interaction between vehicle and the road retaining structure (Figure 14). In fact, for economical reasons plastic behavior and geometrical nonlinearities of the construction should be considered for achieving correct results. As computation of the highly nonlinear behavior could lead to divergent results special emphasis should be focused on numerical stability by introducing numerical damping and appropriate modeling. The scope of the work was the substitution of testing campaign by refined numerical simulations. Also, a comparison between impact forces due to German standard and due to numerical simulation was drawn. The simulations carried out show that impact forces provided by German standard are lying on the safe side. 174

Figure 15. VTT compressed air-driven impact apparatus.

Some specific experimental testing campaigns have been also carried out. Tyas (2008) developed accurate studies to describe the purposes, possibilities and limitations of small-scale blast testing of structural components. Issues relating to the scaling of results to larger scenarios, and the use of experimental work to validate numerical modelling were addressed. Also, the features of commonly used instrumentation devices were highlighted, in addition to a presentation of state-of-the-art micro-scale fibre-optic blast measurement devices. In order to investigate the impact of aircrafts into the reinforced concrete shells of nuclear power plants Lastunen et al. (2008) developed a specific test apparatus at the VTT of Finland (Figure 15). Projectiles are accelerated to high velocities using an acceleration tube and pressure accumulator and the results are used for designing new facilities against aircraft impact. The investigation also includes FE modeling validated using the results from the experimental testing. Based on such results a numerical model was validated to design a new Finnish nuclear power plant to resist aircraft impact. REFERENCES
Agarwal J., Blockley D., Woodman N., 2003. Vulnerability of structural systems, Structural Safety, No. 25, pp: 263286. Allen, D. E., Schriever, W. R., 1972. Progressive Collapse, abnormal loads and building codes, Division of Building Research Council, Qubec. Asprone D., Cadoni E., Prota A., 2009. Tensile High Strain-Rate Behavior of Reinforcing Steel from an Existing Bridge, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 106, n. 4, pp. 523529. Asprone D., Cadoni E., Prota A., Manfredi G., 2009. Dynamic behavior of a Mediterranean natural stone under tensile loading, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining, Vol. 46, pp. 514520. Asprone D., Cadoni E., Prota A., Manfredi G., 2009. Strain-rate sensitiveness of a pultruded E-glass/polyester composite, ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction,Vol. 13, 6, 558564. Asprone, D. Jalayer, F., Prota, A. and Manfredi, G., 2010. Proposal of a probabilistic model for multi-hazard risk assessment of structures in seismic zones subjected to blast for the limit state of collapse Structural Safety, Volume 32, Issue 1, pp. 2534. Asprone, D., Cadoni, E. and Prota, A., 2009. Experimental Analysis on Tensile Dynamic Behavior of Existing Concrete under High Strain Rates, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 106, n. 1, pp.106113. Bangash, M. Y. H. 1993. Impact and explosion-Analysis and design. Blackwell Scientific Publication, Oxford. Banthia, N., Mindess, S., Bentur, A. and Pigeon, M. 1989. Impact testing of concrete using a Drop-weight Impact Machine, Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 29, pp. 6369. Bennett, R.M., 1988. Formulations for probability of progressive collapse, Structural Safety, No. 5, pp: 67:77, 1988. Birch, R.S., Jones, N., Jouri, W.S., 1988. Performance assessment of an impact rig, Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 2, C4, pp 275285. Byfield M. P., Paramasivam, S., 2008. The prevention of disproportionate collapse using catenary action. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, 336340. Cadoni, E. 2010. Dynamic Characterization of an Orthogneiss Rock Subjected to Intermediate and High Strain Rate in Tension, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, DOI 10.1007/s00603-010-0101-x. Cadoni, E., Albertini, C., Solomos, G. 2006. Analysis of the concrete behavior in tension at high strain-rate by a modified Hopkinson bar in support of impact resistant structural design, Journal de Physique, Vol. 3, pp. 647652. Cadoni, E., Labibes, K., Berra, M., Giangrasso, M. and Albertini, C., 2000. High strain-rate tensile behaviour of concrete, Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 52, No.5, pp. 365370.

175

CEB, 1988. Comit Euro-International du Bton Concrete structures under impact and impulsive loading. CEB Bulletin 187, Lausanne, Switzerland. Cho, SH, Ogata, Y and Kaneko, K, 2003. Strain-rate dependency of the dynamic tensile strength of rock, International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 40, pp. 763777. Corotis R.B., Nafday A.M. 1990. Application of mathematical programming to system reliability, Structural Safety, No. 7, pp: 149154. Couque, H., Leung, C.P., Hudak Jr., S.J., 1994. Effect of planar size and dynamic loading rate on initiation and propagation toughness of a moderate-toughness steel Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 47, pp. 249267. De Matteis, G., Eboli, A., Mazzolani, F.M., 2008. Blast effects on the Archimede Bridge. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, 339344. De Matteis, G., Langone, I., Mazzolani, F.M., Rebecchi, V., 2006. Effect of Gas Explosion on RC Buildings with Structural Key Elements. In Proc. of IABSE Annual Meeting and Symposium on Responding to Tomorrows Challenges in Structural Engineering, Budapest (Hungary), September 13-15, IABSE Report Volume 92, Paper No. A-0369 (CD-ROM). Demonceau, J.F., Jaspart, J.P., 2008. Experimental and analytical investigations on the behaviour of building frames further to a column loss. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, 300305. Dinu, F., Dubina, D., 2008. Response of high rise steel buildings as a result of column loss. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, 277282. Dinu, F., Dubina, D., De Matteis, G., 2010. Direct design approach for seismic resistant steel frame buildings under extreme loading. Proc. of. COST C26 Final Conference Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events, Naples, 1618 September 2010. Drar, H., 1993. On predicting the temperature and strain rate dependences of the fracture toughness of plain carbon steels Materials Characterization, Vol. 31, pp. 9197. El-Habak, A. M. A. 1993. Compressive resistance of unidirectional GFRP under high rate of loading, Journal of Composites Technology and Research, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 311317. Ellingwood, B. R. and Leyendecker, E. V., 1978. Approaches for Design against Progressive Collapse, Journal of Structural Division, Vol. 104, No. 3, pp. 413423. Ellingwood, B. R., 2006. Mitigating Risk from Abnormal Loads and Progressive Collapse, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Vol. 20, No 4, pp. 315323. Filiatrault, A, Holleran, M., 2001. Stress-strain behavior of reinforcing steel and concrete under seismic strain rates and low temperatures, Materials and Structures, Vol. 34, pp 235239. Fu, H.C., Erki, M.A. and Seckin, M. 1991. Review of effects of loading rate on concrete in compression, Journal of Structural Engineering Vol 117, pp. 36453659. Gary, G, Zhao, H. 2000. Dynamic testing of fibre polymer matrix composites plates under in-plane compression, Composites Part A, Vol. 31, pp. 835840. Gresnight, A.M. 2007. Impact of pressurised steel pipelines. Proceedings of COST Action C26 Workshop Urban Habitat Constructions under Catastrophic Events, Prague, March 3031, 347357. GSA 2003. General Services Administration, Progressive collapse analysis and design guidelines for new federal office buildings and major modernization projects, GSA, Washington, D.C., 2003. Harding, J. and Welsh, L.M., 1983. A tensile testing technique for fiber reinforced composites at impact rates of strain, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 18, pp. 18101826. Harding, J., 1993. Effect of strain rate and specimen geometry on the compressive strength of woven glassreinforced epoxy laminates, Composites, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 323332. Harris, D.W., Mohorovic, C.E., Dolen, T.P. 2000. Dynamic Properties of Mass Concrete Obtained from DamCores ACI Materials Journal, Vol.97 pp 290296. Hayes JR, Woodson SC, Pekelnicky RG, Poland CD, Corley WG and Sozen M, 2005, Can Strengthening for Earthquake Improve Blast and Progressive Collapse Resistance? Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 131, No. 8. Henrych, J 1979. The Dynamics of Explosion and its Use, Elsevier. Hopkinson, B., 1914. A Method of Measuring the Pressure Produced in the Detonation of High Explosives or by the Impact of Bullets, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. (London) A, 213, pp. 437456. Hsiao, H. M. and Daniel, I. M., 1998. Strain rate behavior of composite materials, Composites Part B, Vol 29B, 521533.

176

Huang, Z., Nie, X. and Xia, Y., 2004. Effect of strain rate and temperature on the dynamic tensile properties of GFRP, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 39, pp. 34793482. Kilic, S and Altay, G., 2007. Aircraft Impact on Reinforced Concrete Structures, Proceedings of COST Action C26 Workshop Urban Habitat Constructions under Catastrophic Events, Prague March, 3031, 302306. Kilic, S.A., Smith, P.D., 2010a. Simulation of pressures behind rigid blast walls. Proc. of. COST C26 Final Conference Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events, Naples, 16-18 September 2010. Kilic, S.A., Smith, P.D., 2010b. Behaviour of deformable blast walls for protective structural design. Proc. of. COST C26 Final Conference Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events, Naples, 1618 September 2010. Kinney, G. F. & Graham, K. J. 1985. Explosive shocks in air Berlin and New York, Springer-Verlag. Kolsky, H., 1949. An Investigation of the Mechanical Properties of Materials at Very High Rates of Loading, Proc. Phys. Soc. (London) B, 62, pp. 676700. Krauthammer, T. 1998. Blast mitigation technologies: developments and numerical considerations for behaviour assessment and design. Proc. Int. Conf. on Structures Under Shock and Impact, SUSI, Computational Mechanics Inc., 312. Kubota, S, Ogata, Y, Wada, Y, Simangunsong, G, Shimada, H and Matsui, K, 2008. Estimation of dynamic tensile strength of sandstone, International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 45, pp. 397406. Kuhlmann, U., Rlle, L., 2008. Ductile and partial-strength steel & composite joints as basis for redundant and robust frame structures. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, 288293. Langone, I., De Matteis, G., Mazzolani, F.M., 2008. Progressive collapse of buildings with key elements subjected to gas explosion, In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, pp. 294299. Lastunen, A., Kuutti, J., Kolari, K., 2008. Aircraft impact testing. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 97899909-44-42-6, 267270. Lee WS, Liu CY, 2006. The effect of temperature and strain-rate on the dynamic flow behaviour of different steels, Materials Science and Engineering, A 426, pp. 101113. Lee, W.-S., Lin, C.-F., Chen, B.-T., 2005. Tensile properties and microstructural aspects of 304L stainless steel weldments as a function of strain rate and temperature, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Vol. 219, pp. 439451. Li Q.M. & Meng H., 2002. Pressure-Impulse Diagram for Blast Loads Based on Dimensional Analysis and Single-Degree-of Freedom Model Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol. 128, No. 1, pp. 8792. Li, H.B., Zhao, J. and Li, T.J., 1999. Triaxial compression tests on a granite at different strain rates and confining pressures, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 36, pp. 10571063. Lindholm, U.S. 1971. High strain-rate tests, in measurement of mechanical properties, Techniques of Metals Research Vol. 5, pp. 199271. Lindholm, U.S., 1964. Some Experiments with the Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 12, p. 317. Ma G.W., Shi H.J., Shu D.W., 2007. P-I diagram method for combined failure modes of rigid-plastic beams, International Journal of Impact Engineering, Volume 34, Issue 6, pp. 10811094. Ma, L. and Daemen, J.J.K. 2004. Strain rate dependence of mechanical properties of welded Topopah Spring tuff SINOROCK2004 Symposium, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences Vol. 41, CD-ROM. Mainstone, R.J. 1975. Properties of materials at high rates of straining or loading, part 4, State-of-the-Art report on Impact loading of Structures, Materials and Structures, Vol. 8, No. 44, pp. 102116. Majzoobi, G.H., Saniee, F.F. and Bahrami, M., 2005. A tensile impact apparatus for characterization of fibrous composites at high strain rates, Journal of Materials Processing Technology Vol. 162163, pp. 7682. Makarov, G., Wang, W. and Shenoi, R.A., 2004. Deformation and fracture of unidirectional GFRP composites at high strain rate tension, Proc. of 2nd International Conference on Composites Testing and Model Identification, Bristol, UK, Paper No. 52. Malvar L.J. and Ross C.A. 1998. Review of strain-rate effects for concrete in tension, ACI Materials Journal Vol. 95, pp. 735739. Malvar, L.J., 1998. Review of static and dynamic properties of steel reinforcing bars, ACI Materials Journal, Vol. 95, pp. 609616.

177

Marjanishvili, S and Agnew, E, 2006. Comparison of Various Procedures for Progressive Collapse Analysis Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Vol. 20, No 4, pp. 349364. Mays, G. C., & Smith, P. D. 1995. Blast effects on buildings-Design of buildings to optimize resistance to blast loading. Thomas Telford, London. Mazzolani, F.M., Byfield, M., De Matteis G., 2009. Recent Developments in Blast and Impact Research in Europe, Proc. of PROTECT 2009 International Workshop Performance, protection & Strengthening of Structures under Extreme Loading (Sonoda Y., Banthia N. And Fujikake eds), Hayama, Japan, 19-21 August, 2009, published by National Defence Academy Protect Workshop, Japan, ISBN 978-4-9904806-0-8 (CD-ROM). Newill, J. F., and Vinson, R., 1993. Some high strain rate effects on composite materials Proc. Of ICCM9, Vol. 5, pp 269. NRC 2001. National Research Council, Protecting people and buildings from terrorism, Committee for Oversight and Assessment of Blast-effects and Related Research, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. Okoli, I., 2001. The effect of strain rate and failure modes on the failure energy of fiber reinforced composites, Composite Structures, Vol. 54, pp. 299303. Ray, S.K., Sarkar, M. and Singh, T.N., 1999. Effect of cyclic loading and strain rate on the mechanical behaviour of sandstone, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, vol. 36, pp. 543549. Roelle, L., Kuhlmann, U., 2010. Robust design Alternate Load Path Method as design strategy, Proc. of COST C26 Final Conference Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events, Naples, 1618 September 2010. Ruth, P., Marchand, K. A. and Williamson, E. B. 2006. Static Equivalency in Progressive Collapse Alternate Path Analysis: Reducing Conservatism While Retaining Structural Integrity, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Vol. 20, No 4, pp. 349364. SEI 2005. ASCE/Structural Engineering Institute, Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures, ASCE/SEI 7, Reston, Va. Seiler, C., 2010. Tests and simplified numerical simulation of vehicle impact on guardrails with respect to normative regulations. Proc. of. COST C26 Final Conference Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events, Naples, 1618 September 2010. Sierakowsky, R. L., 1997. Strain rate effects in composites Appl. Mech. Rev., Vol. 50, No. 11, 741761. Smith P.D. & Hetherington J.G., 1994. Blast and ballistic loading of structures, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Soleiman Fallah A. & Louca L.A., 2007. Pressure-impulse diagrams for elastic-plastic-hardening and softening single-degree-of-freedom models subjected to blast loading, International Journal of Impact Engineering, Volume 34, Issue 4, pp. 823842. Tay T. E., Ang H. G. and Shim V. P. W., 1995. An empirical strain rate-dependent constitutive relationship for glassfibre reinforced epoxy and pure epoxy, Composite Structures, Vol. 33, pp. 201210. TM5-1300 1990. Structures to resist the effects of accidental explosions Departments of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force USA, TM 5-1300. Tyas, A., 2008. Small-scale blast load and structural response measurements. In Urban Habitat Construction Under Catastrophic Events (Eds. F.M. Mazzolani, E. Mistakidis, R.P. Borg, M. Byfield, G. De Matteis, D. Dubina, M. Indirli, A. Mandara, J.P. Muzeau, F. Wald, Y. Wang), Malta University Publishing, Malta, ISBN 978-99909-44-42-6, 333338. Uenishi, A. and Teodosiu, A., 2004 Constitutive modelling of the high strain-rate behaviour of interstitial-free steel, International Journal of Plasticity, Vol. 20, pp. 915936. van Doormal, J.C.A.M., Weerheijn, J. and Sluys, L.J. 1994 Experimental and numerical determination of the dynamic fracture energy of concrete Journal de physique Vol. 4, pp. 501506. Wang, G.Z., Wang, Y.L., 2007. Effects of loading rate, notch geometry and loading mode on the local cleavage fracture stress of a C-Mn steel, International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 146, pp. 105121. Welsh, L.M. and Harding, J., 1985. Effect of strain rate on the tensile failure of woven reinforced polyester resin composites, Journal de Physique, Vol. C5, 1985, pp. 405414. Yi, WJ, He, QF, Xiao, Y, and Kunnath, SK 2008. Experimental Study on Progressive Collapse-Resistant Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Frame Structures, ACI Structural Journal, Volume 105, Issue 4, pp. 433439.

178