Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Experimental study and numerical simulation of the damage mode

of a square reinforced concrete slab under close-in explosion
Wei Wang a,b, Duo Zhang b, Fangyun Lu b,⇑, Song-chuan Wang b, Fujing Tang b
a
Luoyang Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Technology, Luoyang 470123, Henan, China
b
Institute of Technique Physics, College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Terrorist attacks using improvised explosive devices on reinforced concrete buildings gen-
Received 28 March 2012 erate a rapid release of energy in the form of shock waves. Therefore, analyzing the damage
Received in revised form 18 May 2012 mode and damage mechanism of structures for different blast loadings is important. The
Accepted 6 July 2012
current study investigates the behavior of one-way square reinforced concrete (RC) slabs
Available online 31 August 2012
subjected to a blast load through experiments and numerical simulations. The experiments
are conducted using four 1000 mm ! 1000 mm ! 40 mm slabs under close-in blast load-
Keywords:
ing. The blast loads are generated by the detonations of 0.2–0.55 kg trinitrotoluene explo-
Explosion load
Reinforced concrete slab
sive located at a 0.4 m standoff above the slabs. Different damage levels and modes are
Numerical simulation observed. Numerical simulation studies of the concrete damage under various blast load-
Damage mode ings are also conducted. A three-dimensional solid model, including explosive, air, and RC
slab with separated concrete and reinforcing bars, is created to simulate the experiments.
The sophisticated concrete and reinforcing bar material models, considering the strain rate
effects and the appropriate coupling at the air–solid interface, are applied to simulate the
dynamic response of RC slab. The erosion technique is adopted to simulate the damage pro-
cess. Comparison of the numerical results with experimental data shows a favorable agree-
ment. Based on the experimental and numerical results, the damage criteria are
established for different levels of damage. With the increase of the explosive charge, the
failure mode of RC slab is shown to gradually change from overall flexure to localized
punching failure.
Crown Copyright ! 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Explosive incidents attributable to terrorist attack and accidental explosion have recently increased worldwide [1–4]. The
behavior analysis and design of hardened structures for protection against short-duration dynamic loading, such as that in-
duced by an air blast, has been a subject of extensive studies in the last decades. The intensive dynamic loading by detona-
tions should be considered in the structural design for both military and civilian structures and facilities in such cases.
Both experimental and numerical studies have been conducted to investigate the damage to reinforced concrete (RC)
slabs attributable to air blast loads [5–17]. For example, Wang et al. [5] addressed the scaling of the dynamic response of
one-way square reinforced concrete slabs subjected to close-in blast loadings. Wang et al. [6] provided an efficient analytical
model to obtain pressure–impulse diagram of one-way reinforced concrete slabs subjected to different shapes of air blast
loading using single degree of freedom method (SDOF). Lu and Silva [7,8] studied a procedure to estimate how the explosive
charge weight and standoff distance impose certain levels of damage on reinforced concrete RC slabs. Ohkubo et al. [9] and

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 13308492212.

E-mail addresses: wangwei591@gmail.com (W. Wang), fangyunlu@126.com (F. Lu).

1350-6307/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright ! 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2012.07.010
42 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51

Wu et al. [10] evaluated the effectiveness of fiber sheet reinforcement on the explosive-resistant performance of concrete
plates. McVay [11] characterized the spallation damage of RC slabs under blast loads. Wu et al. [12] estimated fragment size
distribution resulting from concrete spallation attributable to air blast loads. Advanced numerical methods, such as mesh
free and finite element methods, have recently been developed to simulate the spallation of RC structures subjected to air
blast loads [13–17]. A reliability analysis of direct shear and flexural failure modes of RC slabs under explosive loading
was also conducted by Low and Hao [18]. Current design guidelines, such as TM5 [19,20], on the damage to RC slabs provide
combinations of estimated explosive charge weights and standoff distances that are likely to generate a certain damage level
to concrete. However, few studies have been conducted to estimate the damage modes and damage mechanism of one-way
square RC slabs subjected to the blast load.
In the present study, four 1000 mm ! 1000 mm ! 40 mm slabs are tested under close-in blast loading. The blast loads are
generated by the detonation of 0.2–0.53 kg trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosive charges located at a 0.4 m standoff above the
slabs. The scabbing holes formed on the opposite surface of the specimens are then observed and compared. Different dam-
age levels and modes are also studied. Numerical simulation studies of the concrete damage mode under various blast load-
ings are then conducted. The sophisticated concrete and reinforcing bar material models, considering the strain rate effects
and the appropriate coupling at the air–solid interface, are applied in the simulation. The criterion technique is employed for
concrete to capture the fracture and material separation process. The numerical results are compared with experimental
data. Based on the experimental and numerical results, empirical damage criteria considering the three-dimensional con-
crete response are proposed.

2. Experiment setup

The dimensions of the slabs are given in Fig. 1. These specimens were constructed with a 6 mm diameter bar meshing
spaced at a distance of 75 mm from one another in the major bending plane (q = 1.43%) and at a distance of 75 mm from
one another in the other plane (q = 1.43%), where q is the reinforcement ratio. The thickness of the concrete cover was
20 mm. The concrete had a cylinder compressive strength of 39.5 MPa, tensile strength of 4.2 MPa, and Young’s modulus
of 28.3 GPa. The reinforcement had a of yield strength of 600 MPa and Young’s modulus of 200 GPa.
The specimens were tested on the steel frame shown in Fig. 2. TNT explosive is used in the explosion tests because it is a
standard high explosive that is chemically safe and easy to cast. A detonator is inserted at the top of TNT. The mass of TNT is
set at 0.2–0.53 kg to examine the effect of a mass of explosives in terms of damage to concrete slabs. The basis for the choice
of the stand-off distance is that the blast load is generated by close-in explosion. The ratio of stand-off distance to slab length
equals to 0.4. The different weights of explosives are chosen by the different damage levels of the slab caused by the blast
loadings. As shown in Fig. 2, the charge was suspended above the test specimens to a specific standoff distance using a rope.
Table 1 summarizes the test program. The standoff distances were measured from the underside of the explosive to the top
surface of the slab. In the current study, a standoff distance of 400 mm was selected.

3. Numerical simulations

Numerical simulation using computational models has become a powerful means in the design process of a structure, as
well as in the investigation of physical mechanisms. To more realistically simulate and predict concrete spallation under var-
ious charge weights and standoff distances, adopting a three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation is necessary. In the cur-
rent study, a 3D numerical model allows the investigation of global structural effect and local concrete spallation.

Fig. 1. Geometry of the RC slab (in mm).

 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51 43

Fig. 2. Test device.

Table 1
Experimental program.

Blast Slab name Explosive mass (kg) Scale distance (m/kg1/3) Damage level
I A 0.2 0.684 Low damage
II B 0.31 0.591 Moderate damage
III C 0.46 0.518 Moderate damage
IV D 0.55 0.488 High damage

3.1. Material model for concrete

To obtain a reliable prediction of concrete behavior under blast loads, a proper model that reflects the characteristics of
the concrete material behavior at a high strain rate is important. In the present work, the Riedel, Hiermaier, and Thoma (RHT)
[21] dynamic damage model for concrete is adopted. This model is particularly useful for modeling the dynamic response of
concrete.
The RHT model is generally applied to brittle materials and contains numerous features common to various mechanisms
found in the literature, namely, pressure hardening, strain hardening, strain rate hardening, third invariant dependence for
compressive and tensile meridians, and cumulative damage (strain softening). This model can be used in conjunction with
the existing tensile crack softening algorithm. This model also includes the p–a equation of state for volumetric compaction.
The material model uses three strength surfaces, namely, an elastic limit surface, a failure surface, and the remaining

Fig. 3. Maximum strength, yield strength and residual strength surfaces.

44 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51

strength surface for the crushed material. A threshold often exists for the elastic strength surface. Fig. 3 shows these strength
surfaces.
The failure surface Y is defined as a function of pressure P, the lode angle h, and strain rate e_ ,
Y f ¼ Y ðpÞ % RðhÞ % F RATEðe_ Þ ð1Þ
where Y ðpÞ ¼ fc ½Aðp ( '
p'spall F RATEðe_ Þ ÞN ),
with fc being the compressive strength, A the failure surface constant, N the failure sur-
face exponent, and p⁄ the pressure normalized by fc, p'spall = p' ðft =fc Þ: F RATEðe_ Þ represents the strain rate function. R(h) defines the
third invariant dependency of the model as a function of the second and third stress invariants and a meridian ratio Q2. Fig. 4
illustrates the tensile and compressive meridian on the stress p plane.
The elastic limit surface is scaled from the failure surface,
Y e ¼ Y f % F e % F CAPðpÞ ð2Þ
where Fe is the ratio of the elastic strength to failure surface strength. FCAP(p) is a function that limits the elastic deviatoric
stresses under hydrostatic compression, varying within the range of (0, 1) for pressure between initial compaction and solid
compaction pressures.
A residual (frictional) failure surface is defined as

Y 'residual ¼ B % p'M ð3Þ

where B is the residual failure surface constant, and M is the residual failure surface exponent.
Following the hardening phase, additional plastic straining of the material results in damage and strength reduction.
Damage is accumulated by
X Dep X Dep
D¼ ¼ ð4Þ
efailure
p D1 ðp' ( p'spall ÞD2

where D1 and D2 are damage constants.

The post-damage failure surface is then interpolated by
Y 'fracture ¼ ð1 ( DÞY 'failure þ DY 'residual ð5Þ

and the post-damage shear modulus is interpolated via

Gfracture ¼ ð1 ( DÞGinitial þ DGresidual ð6Þ
where Ginitial, Gresidual, Gfracture are the shear moduli.
The material constants [22,23] adopted in the present work are based on the typical data for concrete, which is 39.5 MPa.
The material parameters are: reference density, q = 2.55 g/cm3; shear modulus, G = 0.28 MPa; compressive strength,
fc = 39.5 MPa; tensile strength, ft = 4.2 MPa; and A, N, B, M, D1, D2, and emin
f are 1.6, 0.61, 0.7, 0.8, 1, and 0.0008, respectively.
The failure strain is 0.001.

3.2. Material model for reinforcement steel

The reinforcement steel is represented by the Johnson and Cook material model [24], which is suitable for modeling the
strength behavior of materials subjected to large strains, high strain rates, and high temperatures. The model defines the
yield stress Y as
! "
e_
r ¼ ½A þ Benp ) 1 þ C ln _ p ½1 ( T mH ) ð7Þ
e0

Fig. 4. The stress p plane.

 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51 45

where ep is effective plastic strain; e_ 'p ¼ e_e_0 is the normalized effective plastic strain rate for e_ 0 = 1 s(1;
T H ¼ ðT ( T room Þ=ðT melt ( T room Þ, where Troom is room temperature and T melt is melting temperature; and A, B, C, n, and m
are five material constants. The constant A is the basic yield stress at low strains, whereas B and n represent the effect of
strain hardening. The second and third brackets in Eq. (7) represent the effects of strain rate and temperature, respectively.
The material constants adopted in the current research are based on the typical data for steel 4340. The material param-
eters are: reference density, q = 7.83 g/cm3; bulk modulus, K = 159 GPa; reference room temperature, Troom = 300 K; specific
heat = 477 J/kg K; shear modulus, G = 81.8 GPa; basic yield stress, A = 792 MPa; hardening constant, B = 510 MPa; hardening
exponent, n = 0.26; strain rate constant, C = 0.014; thermal softening exponent, m = 1.03; and melting temperature,
Tmelt = 1793 K [22].

3.3. Material model for air and high explosive

In the numerical model, air is modeled by an ideal gas expression of state (EOS), which is one of the simplest forms of EOS.
The pressure is related to the energy by

P ¼ ðc ( 1Þqe ð8Þ

where c is a constant, q is air density, and e is the specific internal energy. In the simulation, the standard constants of air
from the AUTODYN material library [22] are used, that is, air density, q = 1.225 kg/m3, and c = 14. The air initial internal en-
ergy is assumed to be 2.068 ! 105 kJ/kg.
High explosives, such as TNT, are typically modeled using the Jones–Wilkins–Lee EOS, which represents the pressure gen-
erated by chemical energy in an explosion and can be written as
# $ # $
x (R1 V x (R2 V xE
P ¼A 1( e þB 1( e þ ð9Þ
R1 V R2 V V

where P is the hydrostatic pressure; V is the specific volume; e is the specific internal energy; and A, B, R1, R2, and x are mate-
rial constants. The values of the constants for several common explosives have been determined from dynamic experiments
and are available in AUTODYN [22]. In the present simulation, for a TNT explosive charge, A, B, R1, R2, and x are
3.7377 ! 105 MPa, 4.15, 3.747 ! 103 MPa, 0.9, and 0.35, respectively.

3.4. Numerical model

In the numerical simulation, the initial detonation and blast wave propagation are modeled with an axial symmetric two-
dimensional model with an element size of 1 mm, as shown in Fig. 5. Before reaching the concrete slab, the blast wave is
remapped to a 3D model.
Only 1/4 of the slab is considered because of symmetry. Figs. 6–8 show the half and 3D models. In the simulation, the
concrete slab is modeled by a Lagrange subgrid, in which the coordinates move with the material. On the other hand, the
air and high explosive are modeled by the Euler subgrid, wherein the grid is fixed, with material allowed to flow through.
The Euler–Lagrange interface interaction is considered. The Lagrange subgrid imposes a geometric constraint on the Euler
subgrid whereas the Euler subgrid provides a pressure boundary to the Lagrange subgrid. The boundary condition of the Eu-
ler subgrid is set as an outflow boundary. In the supporting area of the slab, upper and back supports are created, and all the
displacements of the supports are fixed. Both reinforcement and concrete are modeled by solid elements, and a perfect bond
is assumed. The element size is 3 mm, sufficiently small to obtain reliable results. The element number for the RC slab is
397,293 whereas the element number 450,000 is used for the air and the explosive. The simulation stopped at 6 ms because
the residual velocities in the slab became extremely small. The erosion technique is adopted to simulate the damage process.
The erosion technique should be considered when the damage of the slab is very serious, for example, spalling occurred on
the bottom surface of the slab or a perforate hole forms in the bottom of the slab. If no evident damage is observed, except for
some minute cracks at the center of the slab surface, the erosion cannot be considered.

3.5. Comparison between numerical and experimental results

Figs. 9–12 show that the slab damage level increases with the mass of TNT explosives. The comparisons between the
numerical simulation and experiment are shown as follows.

Fig. 5. Geometry of 1D wedge with axial symmetry.

46 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51

Fig. 6. Pressure contours (half model).

Fig. 7. Reinforcement arrangement.

Air

RC slab

Fig. 8. Cross-section view of numerical model.

Fig. 9 shows a comparison between the damaged areas obtained from the numerical simulation with those from RC slab A
under a 0.2 kg TNT charge for blast test I. In Fig. 9a, no evident damage is observed, except for some minute cracks at the
center of the slab surface. In Fig. 9b, several small cracks are also observed in the center area, which resulted from the high
pressure from the explosion and the fixed support. In Fig. 9c, a crack approximately 5 mm wide is observed through the cen-
ter of the slab. The calculated damaged area on the bottom surface of the slab is shown in Fig. 9d. In the numerical simula-
tion, the cracks in the bottom surface are greater than those of the experiment without solid fixed support. The slab exhibits
low damage, and only small cracks are present.
Fig. 10 shows a comparison between the damaged areas obtained from the numerical simulation and those from RC slab B
under a 0.31 kg TNT charge for blast test II. The numerical results show that the upper side of the slab is damaged by some
radial and annular cracks, which is consistent with that shown in Fig. 10a. On the bottom surface of the slab, the low resis-
tance of concrete to tension resulted in a tensile spalling crater on the back surface of the slab, which can be observed in
Fig. 10c. The calculated damaged area on the bottom surface of the slab is shown in Fig. 10d. The radius of the damage area
 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51 47

(a) Experimental results on the upper side (b) Numerical results on the upper side

(c)Experimental results on the bottom face (d) Numerical results on the bottom face

Fig. 9. Comparison of the numerical results and experimental results (RC slab A).

(a) Experimental results on the upper side (b) Numerical results on the upper side

(c) Experimental results on the bottom face (d) Numerical results on the bottom face

Fig. 10. Comparison of the numerical results and experimental results (RC slab B).
48 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51

(a)experimental results on the upper side (b) numerical results on the upper side

(c) experimental results on the bottom face (d) numerical results on the bottom face

Fig. 11. Comparison of the numerical results and experimental results (RC slab C).

is approximately 90 mm. On the other hand, the numerical simulation presents the radius of the damage area as 100 mm,
which is slightly wider than the experimental damage radius. The slab exhibits moderate damage.
Comparisons between the numerical and test results for RC slab C under a 0.46 kg TNT charge for blast test III are pre-
sented in Fig. 11. The test result in Fig. 11a shows that a greater number of radial and circular cracks are present on the upper
side of the slab compared with that of slab B. The numerical result in Fig. 11b is consistent with those in the test result. The
numerical result in Fig. 11b also presents a small damaged area at the center of the slab surface, again consistent with the
test result. Similarly, spalling occurred on the bottom surface of the slab in the test, as shown in Fig. 11c. The calculated dam-
aged area on the bottom surface of the slab is shown in Fig. 11d. The radius of the damage area is approximately 120 mm. In
the numerical simulation, the radius of the damage area is 140 mm, slightly wider than the experimental damage radius. The
slab also exhibits moderate damage.
In blast test IV, the slab exhibits severe damage, as shown in Fig. 12. The slab bends and exhibits axial failure, and a per-
forate hole forms in the bottom contacted to the ground in the experiments, as shown in Fig. 12a and c. The axial failure of a
slab means that the failure of the slab is bending in the axial direction with the support of the steel frame. The numerical
simulation does not show the perforate hole because of the erosion arithmetic. However, the damage area on the bottom
surface of the slab is consistent with the experiments, as shown in Fig. 12b and d. Another possible explanation for this con-
dition is that the calculated results do not consider adequate time, and the bottom surface of the slab does not contact the
ground because of the fixed support, which was loosened during the test. The radial and circular cracks and fractures of the
slab in the numerical simulation are in good agreement with the results of the experiments.
In all tests, the boundary condition shown in Fig. 2 may be relatively ‘‘softer’’ than that in the numerical simulation, which
makes the damage of the numerical results higher than the experiments near the support location. Another possible factor
may be material constants, which are not based on real material tests, but on reasonable assumptions. However, the bound-
ary condition should be noted to have a minimal effect on the slab damage attributable to initial stress wave propagation
inside the slab. Therefore, under the constraints of available data, the simulated damaged areas match the experimental
observations well, as shown in Figs. 9–12.
The comparisons between experimental and simulation results are shown in Table 2. The central deflections of the
numerical results are all less than those of the experiments. One possible reason for such difference may be that the bound-
ary condition is fixed at all times in the numerical simulation, whereas this condition is loosened in the experiment. The spall
area radii in numerical simulation are slightly bigger than those in the experiment, which may be attributable to material
constants and erosion arithmetic. However, the differences are insignificant. Numerical results show a favorable agreement
 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51 49

(a) experimental results on the upper side (b) numerical results on the upper side

(c) experimental results on the bottom face (d) numerical results on the bottom face

Fig. 12. Comparison of the numerical results and experimental results (RC slab D).

Table 2
Comparison of results from simulations and tests.

Blast Slab name Experiment results Numerical results

Central deflection (mm) Spall radius (mm) Central deflection (mm) Spall radius (mm)
I A 10 – 8 –
II B 15 90 13 100
III C 35 120 32 140
IV D – 150 – 160

with the tests in terms of cracks, fracture spreading, and spallation on the bottom surface of the slab. The computed results
are credible.

4. Damage criteria

Based on the experimental and numerical results in Section 3, the slab is also tested for sustaining damage under a 1 kg
and 2 kg TNT explosive charge through numerical simulation to induce more damage on the slab. The standoff is the same as
that in the experiments.
The numerical results show that as the TNT charge mass increases, the damage of the slab immediately increases. The
damage mode changed from minus flexure damage to local punching failure which is shown in Fig. 13. The slabs exhibit col-
lapse damage under the two explosions.
Based on the above analyses, the dynamic evolution process of RC slab from cracking and break-up of concrete is shown,
and the yield of reinforcing bar to local perforation is observed realistically. With the increase of the explosive charge, the
failure mode of the RC slab gradually changes from overall flexure failure to local punching failure. However, the available
literature does not provide a definition for the damage criterion of one-way square RC under which the spallation or perfo-
ration failure occurs. According to McVay [11], the spall damage of concrete slabs can be divided into three categories: (I) no
damage: from initial state to a few barely visible cracks. In the current study, the critical state for this category is called light
50 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51

(a) Damage of upper side under 1kg TNT (t=6ms) (b) Damage of bottom side under 1kg TNT (t=6ms)

(c) Damage of upper side under 2kg TNT (t=6ms) (d) Damage of bottom side under 2kg TNT (t=6ms)

Fig. 13. Damage distribution of RC slab in 1 kg and 2 kg TNT charge cases.

Table 3
Damage criterion of the slab.

Damage level Scale distance (m/kg1/3) Damage criterion of rotation Damage criterion of displacement (mm)
0 0
Low damage Z > 0.68 0 6 h 6 1.7 xm < 15
Moderate damage 0.5 6 Z 6 0.68 1.70 6 h 6 4.60 15 < xm < 40
High damage 0.35 6 Z 6 0.5 4.60 6 h 6 6.80 40 < xm < 60
Collapse Z 6 0.35 h > 6.80 xm > 60

damage; (II) Threshold for spall: from a few cracks and a hollow sound to a large bulge in the concrete with a few small
pieces of spall on the bottom surface; and (III) Medium spall: from a very shallow spall to spall penetration up to one third
of the plate thickness. The structural performance criteria selected for design or assessment [7,8] can be correlated to a mea-
surable quantity, such as the displacement or the support rotation angle according to the different damage modes shown
above. Thus, the damage of the square slab can be divided into the following categories: (a) low damage, with only small
cracks in both surface of the slab; (b) moderate damage, with spallation occurring on bottom of the slab; (c) high damage,
with perforation from the upper to the bottom surface; and (d) collapse damage, which is the punching failure of the slab.
Based on the results of different damage modes shown in Sections 3 and 4, an empirical damage criterion is proposed by
the support rotation angle shown in Table 3. In the current study, assuming symmetric load and deflection distributions, the
support rotation is defined by the ratio of the calculated peak deflection to half a span length for one-way slabs:

xm
tan h ¼ ð10Þ
L=2

where xm is the center maximum deflection, and L is the length of the slab.

5. Conclusions

Four blast tests and numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the damage modes of one-way square RC slabs
subjected to close-in blast loading from different TNT charge mass detonations.
A 3D solid model, including explosive, air, and RC slab with separated concrete and reinforcing bars inside, is created to
simulate the experiments. The sophisticated concrete and reinforcing bar material models, considering the strain rate effects
and the appropriate coupling at the air–solid interface, were applied to simulate the dynamic response of the RC slab. The
erosion technique was adopted to simulate the damage process. A comparison between the numerical and experimental re-
sults shows that the present model yields a reliable prediction of damage on all RC slabs.
When the initial shock wave generated by the blast passes through the concrete slab and is reflected off the free surface,
the shock wave is converted into a tensile wave, resulting in a high level of cracking in the concrete because of its low tensile
 W. Wang et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 27 (2013) 41–51 51

strength and the spallation occurring on the bottom of the slab. The increase in the explosive charge was also shown to grad-
ually change the failure mode of RC slab from overall flexure failure to local punching failure.
Based on the experimental and numerical results, the empirical damage criteria are established for different levels of
damage accounting for the different damage modes, namely, the flexure, spallation, perforate, and punching failure modes.
Although in view of the somewhat symmetrical damages inflicted on the one way slabs, the present results cannot be
applicable to 2 way slabs. The damage of the one way rectangle slab in support was more serious than the other 2 free
boundaries. The damage mode of 2 way slabs should be investigated in future research.

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