Effect of Explosive Location on the Response and Damage Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Wall

The response of reinforced concrete (RC) wall, with a compressive strength of 40 MPa, subjected to blast load, is analyzed using 3-D Finite Element Method (FEM). RC wall is modeled with Lagrangian elements, and the Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) equation of state is used to model the detonation of an explosive charge in LS-DYNA®. Whereas blast wave propagation is simulated using Multi-Material Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (MM-ALE) approach. Fluid–Structure Interaction (FSI) is handled by a robust coupling algorithm provided by LS-DYNA®. Further, the Modified Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) model and the strain rate effects are used to predict the behavior of RC walls subjected to blast load. Different locations of explosive charge are used to predict the response and damage to the RC wall. It is observed that the location of the explosive charge plays a vital role in defining the damage behavior of the RC wall and its performance under such very short and high amplitude loading. Moreover, a similar weight of explosive charge can induce different damage formations in RC walls based on their location. It can lead to the formation of a Mach stem, which has been discussed in detail in the present study.