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An Overview on Blast Resistant Design of Structures

Conference Paper · March 2011

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AN OVERVIEW ON BLAST RESISTANT DESIGN OF STRUCTURES

by Debasish Mondal,
B.E (Civil), M.E (Structural), F.I.C.I, A.M.I.E, Chartered Engineer
currently working in Structural Section, MECON Limited, Ranchi

ABSTRACT

The design and construction of public buildings and important installations is

receiving greater attention from structural engineers to provide life safety in the
face of deliberate or accidental explosions or blasts.

Collapse prevention begins with awareness by Owner, Govt. authorities,

Architects and Engineers. In general, probability of explosion may be low but the
effects are catastrophic. In case of deliberate explosions, the damage depends on
the magnitude of charge and the set-off distance. So the goal will be to
incorporate some reasonable measures in the planning & design stage to
enhance safety of the persons within the building and facilitate rescue efforts in
the event of explosions or blast.

Normal design loads for conventional structures, are significantly lower than those
produced by most explosions, hence susceptible to damage. Damage due to the
air-blast shock wave may be divided into direct air blast effects (localized failure of
exterior walls, windows, roof & floor systems and columns) and progressive
collapse (spread of failure from element to element).

Depending upon the importance and threat perceptions, blast resistant design
should be done for structures like Embassy offices, Stock Exchange, Multiplexes,
Space launching centers, Petrochemical Industries, Nuclear Plants, Power
stations etc.

In this paper attempt is made to highlight the ways and means to minimize the
damage through security measures, layout & facility planning, architectural
planning & considerations of specific guidelines in the design and use of proper
materials. The response of steel-framed structures to blast loads, connection
detailing and composite construction is also discussed.
Explosion that need to be designed for can come from different sources like
nuclear devices, gas explosions, high explosive bombs, vehicle bombs, package
bombs and missiles etc. Some of these explosions can be accidental but majority
are intentionally detonated to cause human and material damage.

These intentional threats can be countered on four fronts — intelligence,

deception, physical & operational protection and structural hardening. Securing
existing buildings against intentional attacks involves four strategies with
increasing levels of penetration:

• Deter the attacker from accessing the target (passively by providing obstructions
or actively by using tactical moves and weapon deployment).

• Detect the attacker before the penetration of the site or entry through building-
access points (actively through security surveillance).

• Deny the attacker the opportunity to cause a disproportionate damage to assets

(by building hardening measures that reduce the damaging effects of blasts and
biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological attacks).

• Devalue the asset in such a manner as to have little consequence in terms of

loss and thereby reduce the attraction for attackers to consider targeting the asset
(by moving critical facilities/operations out of that asset).
ARCHITECTURAL

The placement of the building on the site can have a major impact on its
vulnerability. The shape of the building can have a contributing effect on the
overall damage to the structure (Figure a). Re-entrant corners and overhangs are
likely to trap the shock wave and amplify the effect of the air blast. Note that large
or gradual re-entrant corners have less effect than small or sharp re-entrant
corners and overhangs. The reflected pressure on the surface of a circular
building is less intense than on a flat building. When curved surfaces are used,
convex shapes are preferred over concave shapes.

Generally, simple geometries and minimal ornamentation (which may become

flying debris during an explosion) are recommended unless advanced structural
analysis techniques are used.

Figure-a : RELATIONSHIP OF BLAST FORCE ON BUILDING SHAPES

EXPLOSION FORCE
An explosion is an extremely rapid release of energy in the form of light, heat,
sound, and a shock wave. The shock wave so generated moves outward in all
directions from the point of burst with high speed causing time dependent
pressure and suction effects at all points on its way. The shock wave consists of
an initial positive pressure phase followed by a negative (suction) phase at any
point as shown in Fig-1. The shock wave is accompanied by blast wind causing
dynamic pressure due to drag effects on any obstruction coming in its way. This
wind picks up and carries flying debris in the vicinity of the detonation. In an
external explosion, a portion of the energy is also imparted to the ground, creating
a crater and generating a ground shock wave analogous to a high-intensity, short-
duration earthquake. The peak pressure is a function of the weapon size or yield,
and the cube of the distance (Fig 2).

Figure 2 Air-blast pressures as a function of

weapon size and distance
Figure 1 Air-blast pressure time history
BLAST EFFECT
From the standpoint of structural design, the vehicle bomb is the most important
consideration. Vehicle bombs are able to deliver a sufficiently large quantity of
explosives to cause potentially devastating structural damage. Security design
intended to limit or mitigate damage from a vehicle bomb assumes that the bomb
is detonated at a so-called critical location (Figure 3). The critical location is a
function of the site, the building layout, and the security measures in place.
Magnitude of blast loading vary greatly with the following: (i) Properties of
explosive which in turn depends on (a) type of material, (b) Qty of explosive and
(c) Energy output; (ii) Location of detonation, (iii) Stand off distance and (iv)
Reflection of shock front. Following effects due to blast are caused on building: (i)
Crater effect, (ii) Ground shaking, (iii) Overpressure loading and (iv) Other effects.

Figure 3. Vehicle Weapon Threat

To protect against moving vehicular attacks, it is recommended that the barriers

along the secured perimeter have anti-ram capability consistent with the size of
the weapon and the maximum achievable velocity up to 50 miles per hour.
Landscaping features may also be used effectively to thwart a vehicle from
ramming into the building. CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design) concepts may also be effective.
ANALYSIS & DESIGN APPROACH
As an air-blast is a high load, short duration event, the most effective analytical
technique is dynamic analysis, allowing the element to go beyond the elastic limit
and into the plastic regime. Steel-framed buildings may be designed using
dynamic structural analyses ranging from the basic single degree of freedom
analysis (SDOF) method to nonlinear transient dynamic finite element analysis.
The designer should account for response/failure modes in the analysis, including
tension membrane effects and plastic strain limitations, both of which can be more
appropriately captured using the FEA approach. Geometric and material
nonlinearity effects are normally utilized in such analyses.

Response of structures to blast loading:

-if Ts (positive phase duration of an explosion) >> Tn (natural period of a structure)

then the response of the structure can be categorized as quasi-static. The
maximum deflection occurs long before the force has decayed substantially. In
this case the displacement is a function of the stiffness and the peak blast load, F.

-If Ts << Tn then the response can be represented by an impulse loading. In this
case the blast has finished acting before the building has had a chance to deflect
at all because most deformation occurs at times later than Ts.

-When Ts is very similar to Tn, then structure acts dynamically. In this case the
equation of motion of the structure must be determined using dynamic analysis.

Figure 4 shows a finite element model for a six-module complex. Doors and other
openings can be explicitly modeled as shown. This figure shows the deflected
shape of the same model subjected to roof blast loading. The variation in
deformation that can be seen across the roof show the formation response of the
roof plate in between the relatively stiffer roof joists. The strip at the center of the
roof (in the building’s long direction across the modules) is due to the stiffening
effects provided by the relatively stiffer central transverse framing members.
FIGURE 4 - DEFLECTED SHAPE UNDER ROOF BLAST LOADING ON SIX-
MODULE COMPLEX

Progressive collapse can propagate vertically upward or downward from the

source of the explosion, and it can propagate laterally from bay to bay as well. To
avoid progressive collapse following design approaches are generally followed:
Indirect Design by providing prescriptive design measures such as requiring
special seismic detailing at column-spandrel connections, design of the roof for a
prescribed static loading, or using two-way systems to improve redundancy.
Direct Load Design of the member to resist the explosive loads generated by
design threat. For instance the design of a column to resist the effects of a hand
carried weapon placed directly against it.
Alternate Load Path Design by considering the effect of loss of each perimeter
column or other critical load bearing member on the stability of the building. Often
corner columns present the greatest challenge to meeting the requirements for
progressive collapse prevention.
The design approach to be used for the structural protective measures is to first
design the building for conventional loads, then evaluate the response to
explosive loads and augment the design, if needed, making sure that all
conventional load requirements are still met. This ensures that the design meets
all the requirements for gravity and natural hazards in addition to air-blast effects.
It may be noted that explosive load effects mitigation may make the design more
hazardous for other types of loads and therefore an iterative approach may be
needed. As an example, for seismic loads, increased mass generally increases
the design forces, whereas for explosion loads, mass generally improves
response.
Designer needs to satisfy the following criteria to prevent progressive collapse:
(i) Provision of large stand-off distance through proper architectural
planning,
(ii) Design the structures as three bay system, central bay having concrete
core,
(iii) Create many different load paths and redundancies within a structure so
that it will not collapse in the case of several columns or critical
members being damaged or destroyed,
(iv) use of moment frames in both direction (using crucified columns) for
steel buildings,
(v) Design connections to withstand greater loading,
(vi) Design critical members such as lower floor columns (doubling the
columns along the perimeter and use of steel columns with concrete
jacket) to withstand a higher blast loading in case its unsupported length
is increased due to damage of adjacent beam or slab.
(vii) using cables embedded in concrete spandrel beams,
(viii) designing load bearing walls as deep beams to span across the
damage,
(ix) design each floor level to carry its own weight,
(x) Design floors to withstand reverse loading,
(xi) No live load shall be considered on roof/floor at the time of blast,
(xii) Floors need to be securely tied to the frame and be able to withstand
stresses in the direction opposite to the normal gravity loads,
(xiii) Laminated or blast resistant glass shall be used in the glazing system.
CONNECTION DESIGN

Joints and connections shall be designed to be capable of developing the full

capacities of the connected members. Otherwise, the connection strength should
be designed, at a minimum, with capacities in excess of the maximum
transferable loads from the members framing into the connection. The primary
connections typically include the joints for the main framing members, the
connections between beams/columns and base plates, and the connections
between the base plates and the embedded plates at anchor points. The
secondary connections typically include those between roof joists and roof
perimeter beams, floor joists and floor perimeter beams, the roof plate and roof
joists, plate and floor joists, and the crimped panel walls and the main framing
beams and columns.

DAMAGE MECHANISM

Damage due to the air-blast shock wave may be divided into direct air blast
effects and progressive collapse. Direct air-blast effects are damage caused by
the high-intensity pressures of the air blast close to the explosion. These may
induce localized failure of exterior walls, windows, roof systems, floor systems,
and columns. Progressive collapse refers to the spread of an initial local failure
from element to element, eventually resulting in a disproportionate extent of
collapse relative to the zone of initial damage. Localized damage due to direct air-
blast effects may or may not progress, depending on the design and construction
of the building. To produce a progressive collapse, the weapon must be in close
proximity to a critical load-bearing element. Progressive collapse can propagate
vertically upward or down ward from the source of the explosion, and it can
propagate laterally from bay to bay as well. The pressures that an explosion
exerts on building surfaces may be several orders of magnitude greater than the
loads for which the building is designed. The shock wave also acts in directions
that the building may not have been designed for, such as upward pressure on the
floor system. In terms of sequence of response, the air blast first impinges the
exterior envelope of the building. The pressure wave pushes on the exterior walls
and may cause wall failure and window breakage. As the shock wave continues to
expand, it enters the structure, pushing both upward on the ceilings and
downward on the floors. Floor failure is common in large-scale vehicle-delivered
explosive attacks, because floor slabs typically have a large surface area for the
pressure to act on and a comparably small thickness. Floor failure is particularly
common for close-in and internal explosions. The loss of a floor system increases
the unbraced height of the supporting columns, which may lead to structural
instability.

RECENT DAMAGES DUE TO EXPLOSION

An example of an exterior envelope failure due to direct air-blast effects is the

bombing of the Khobar Towers military housing complex in Daharain, Saudi
Arabia in 1996 (Figure 6).

An example of progressive collapse due to an explosive event is illustrated by the

bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City (Figure 6).

Figure 6. COLLAPSE OF WTC TWIN TOWER, 2001

Figure 5. Khobar Towers Bombing, 1996

Figure 6. Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
(Oklahoma City Bombing, 1995)

Figure-7: Collapse of Ronan Point, East London,

U.K, a Residential Building in 1968 due to
cooking gas explosion

ACCEPTABLE DAMAGE LEVELS

Levels of damage computed by means of analysis may be described by the terms:

minor, moderate or major depending on the peak ductility, support rotation and
collateral effects. A brief description of each damage level is given below.
Minor: Non-structural failure of building elements as windows, doors, and
cladding. Injuries may be expected, and fatalities are possible but unlikely.
Moderate: Structural damage is confined to a localized area and is usually
repairable. Structural failure is limited to secondary structural members, such as
beams, slabs and non-load bearing walls. However, if the building has been
designed for loss of primary members, localized loss of columns may be
accommodated without initiating progressive collapse. Injuries and possible
fatalities are expected.
Major: Loss of primary structural components such as columns or transfer girders
precipitates loss of additional adjacent members that are adjacent or above the
lost member. In this case, extensive fatalities are expected. Building is usually not
repairable.
Generally, moderate damage at the "Design Threat" level is a reasonable design
goal for new construction. For buildings that need to remain operational post-
event or are designated as high risk, minor damage may be the more appropriate
damage level.

REFERENCE

· Department of the US Army (1990). “Structures to resist the effects of

accidental explosions” TM-5, 1300, Washington, D.C.
 · Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA-427, “Primer for Design
of Buildings to Mitigate Terrorist Attack, 2003”.

· U.S Army Corps of Engineers, TM 5-1300, “Structures to Resist Accidental

Explosions, November 19, 1990.

· “Blast Resistant Design of Buildings” by Michel G., Warren Duvall and

Judith Cosby.

· “Design of Blast Resistant Structures” by C K Gautam and R C Pathak

· IS:4991-1968

BLAST FORCE CALCULATION USING IS:4991-1968

The maximum values of the positive side-on overpressure pso, reflected
overpressure pro and dynamic pressure qo, as caused by the explosion of one ton
explosive at various distances from the point of explosion, are given in table 1.
The duration of the positive phase of the blast to and the equivalent time duration
of positive phase td are also given in table 1.
The pressure varies with time according to the following relations:
Ps = pso(1 - t/to) e – α (t/ to)
Dynamic pressure q decays much faster than the side-on over-pressure:
q = qo (1 - t/to)2 e – 2 α (t/ to)
Table 1 BLAST PARAMETERS FORM GROUND BURST OF 1 TONNE EXPLOSIVE
Distance Peak side-on Mach No. Positive Duration of Dynamic Peak
(m) overpressure M phase equivalent pressure reflected
x ratio pso/pα duration triangular pulse ratio overpressure
t0 milli- sec td milli- sec qo/pα ratio pro/pα
15 8 2.8 9.5 5.39 10.667 41.6
30 1.4 1.48 22.93 15.39 0.583 4.2
45 0.66 1.25 31.25 21.6 0.142 1.66
60 0.4 1.16 36.29 26.6 0.054 0.93
63 0.37 1.15 37.3 27.8 0.046 0.85
66 0.34 1.14 38.05 28.76 0.039 0.77
75 0.28 1.11 40.32 30.71 0.027 0.62
90 0.22 1.086 43.6 33.39 0.016 0.47
Note :- The value of ambient air pressure pα may be taken as 1 kg/cm2 at mean
sea level and velocity of sound may be taken as (331.5 + 0.607 T) m/s Where, T
is the ambient temperature in centigrade.
For any explosion, peak pressure and time duration may be found from the peak
values given in table – 1 by the cube roots scaling law as given below:
Scaled distance(x) = Actual distance/(W 1/3) and
Scaled time (to) = Actual time/(W 1/3)
Where,
W = yield of explosion in equivalent weight of the reference explosive measured in
tones,
x = scaled distance for entering the table 1 for reading peak values, and
t0 = scaled time read from table 1 against scaled distance.
Note :- Actual distance is measured from the ground zero to the point under
consideration. Actual time is the time for actual explosion.
For blast load calculation structures are classified in two categories:
a) Diffraction Type Structures - These are the closed structures without openings,
with the total area opposing the blast. These are subjected to both the shock wave
over-pressure ps and the dynamic pressures q caused by blast wind.
b) Drag Type Structures - These are the open structures composed of elements
like beams, columns, trusses, etc, which have small projected area opposing the
shock wave. These are mainly subjected to dynamic pressures q.
As the shock wave strikes the vertical face of a structure normal reflection occurs
and the pressure on the front face instantaneously increases to the reflected
overpressure pro given by the following equation:
pro = pso (2 + 6 pso/(pso+ 7 pα )) the value of pro are given in Table-1
The net pressure acting on the front face at any time t is the reflected
overpressure pr, or ( ps + Cd q ), whichever is greater:
Where Cd = drag coefficient given in Table 2, and pr = the reflected overpressure
which drops from the peak value pro to overpressure ( ps + Cd q ) in clearance time
tc, given by:
tc = 3S/U or td, whichever is less and S = H or B/2 whichever is less (see Fig. 7 )
U = shock front velocity = M.a , where a = velocity of sound in air which may be
taken as 344 m/s at mean sea level at 20oC, and M = Mach number of the incident
pulse given by Sqrt(1+6pso/7pa). The values of M for various conditions
are also tabulated in Table 1.
Using the pressures for the actual explosion, the average loading on the rear face
(B x H in Fig. a ) is taken as shown in Fig. 8 ,where the time has been reckoned
from the instant the shock first strikes the front face. The time intervals of interest
are the following:
L/U = the travel time of shock from front to rear face, and
4S/U = pressure rise time on back face.

TABLE -2: DRAG COEFFICIENT Cd ( cl. 6.2.1.1) of IS: 4991-1968

Shape of Element Drag Coefficient Cd Remarks

For Closed Rectangular
Structures 1.0
i) Front vertical face
ii) Roof, rear and side For above ground
faces for -0.4 structures
q0 = 0 to 1.8 kg/cm2 -0.3
q0 = 1.8 to 3.5 kg/cm2 -0.2
q0 = 3.5 to 9.0 kg/cm2
iii) Front face sloping
4 to1 0 For semi-buried structures
1.5 to 1 0.4
For Open, Drag Type
Structures -
iv) Sphere 0.1 This covers steel tubes
v) Cylinder 1.2 used as columns, truss
members, etc
vi) Structural shapes 2.0 This covers flats, angles,
tees, I-sections etc
vii) Rectangular 1.3 This covers beam
projection projections below or
above slabs, cantilever
walls standing freely
above ground etc.

Table-3: Building Design for a charge of 100 kg (as per IS:4991-1968)

 Building Type Distance
Category (m)
A Residential buildings 40
B Community buildings, such as schools, 30
offices, cinema halls etc. and industrial
buildings with continuous human
occupancy.
C Buildings provided for accommodating 20
essential services which would be of post
bombing importance, such as hospitals,
emergency relief stores, power stations,
water works, communication centre etc.
Example: Blast parameters due to the detonation of a 0.1 ton explosive is
evaluated on an above ground rectangular structure, 3 m high, 10 m wide and 8 m
long, situated at 30 m from ground zero.

a) Characteristics of the Blast

Scaled distance x = 30/(0.1)1/3 =64.65m
From Table 1 assuming pa= I.0 kg/cm2 and linearly interpolating between 63 m
and 66 m for the scaled distance 64.65 m, the pressures are directly obtained:
pso = 0.35 kg/cm2
pro = 0.81 kg/cm2
q0 = 0.042 kg/cm2
The scaled times to, and td obtained from Table 1 for scaled distance 64.65 m are
multiplied by (0.1 )1/3 to get the values of the respective quantities for the actual
explosion of 0.1 ton charge.
to = 37.71 x (0.1)1/3 = 17.5 milliseconds
1/3
td = 28.32 x (0.1 ) = 13.15 milliseconds
M= Sqrt (1 + (6pso/7pa)) = 1.14
where a = 344 m/s and U = 392 m/s = 0.392 m/millisecond
b) Pressures on the Building
Here H = 3 m, B = 10 m, and L = 8 m
Then S = 3 m
tc = 3S/U = (3 x 3)/ 0.392 = 23.0 milliseconds > td
 tt = L/U = 8/0.392 = 20.4 milliseconds > td

tr= 4S/U =(4 x 3)/ 0.392 = 30.6 milliseconds > td

As tr > td no pressure on the back face is considered.
From Table-2, Drag coefficients for roof and sides Cd = -0.4
pso + Cd x qo = 0.35 - 0.4 x 0.042 = 0.33 kg/cm2

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