Assessment of the Pressure-Impulse Curves of Reinforced Concrete Panels Considering Full Blast Loading History

The pressure-impulse curve is used as a design technique that allows the assessment of a component's dynamic behavior when subjected to blast loading. The pressure-impulse curve has two asymptotes, which draw the lower limits of a structural component’s level of protection. Pressure-impulse curves are typically constructed considering a simplified version of the blast loading history where the positive phase is only considered. This simplification often causes tilting (toward the right) to the pressure-impulse curve in the impulsive region, thus altering the impulse asymptote representation. Therefore, the study aims to assess the angle of tilting for the pressure-impulse curves that are constructed with full blast loading history for a considered range of reinforced concrete panels. The results indicate that all examined cases exhibit angle of tilting, i.e. ranges between 3.5 and 17.1°, which results in an increase of the margin of safety for the impulsive region compared with the pressure-impulse curve of positive phase blast load only.