Validity of SDOF Models for Analyzing Two-Way Reinforced Concrete Panels under Blast Loading

The combined manual TM 5-1300/NAVFAC P-397/AFR 88-22, Structures to Resist the Effects of Accidental Explosions, published by the joint departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, has been used in all NATO countries for the past 50 years for protective design applications. The manual was recently reformatted to meet the Department of Defense Unified Facility Criteria (UFC). As a first step, the current production of the new document, UFC 3-340-02, focused on making the original TM 5-1300 available in a more functional format so that future technical updates can be facilitated. In this study, a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model, based on the guidelines of the UFC 3-340-02, was used to formulate a FORTRAN code to predict the response of SDOF systems under blast. The code was used to generate pressure-impulse (P-I) diagrams for a series of two-way reinforced concrete (RC) panels with different dimensions, aspect and reinforcement ratios, and support conditions. The P-I diagram predictions were compared to the results of experimentally validated nonlinear explicit finite-element (FE) analyses and significant differences in deflection and shear predictions were observed. The general trend of results and the major characteristics of the P-I diagrams were discussed in terms of the discrepancies between the SDOF and the FE predictions. The work presented in this paper is expected to contribute to improving the modeling provisions of the two-way RC panels in the future edition of the UFC 3-340-02 by understanding the limitations of SDOF models using advanced FE analysis techniques.