International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

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International Journal of Impact Engineering

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

Concrete spalling behavior and damage evaluation of concrete members

with different cross-sectional properties under contact explosion
Yi Xiao a, Weiqing Zhu a, *, Minghui Li a, Jinqing Jia b, Zhi Li a
a
School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, PR China
b
School of Civil Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Concrete members such as columns, beams, slabs, and walls exhibit different damage modes under contact ex­
Contact explosion plosion due to their different cross-sectional properties, potentially posing distinct levels of threat to structural
Concrete member safety. Understanding the effect of cross-sectional properties on damage to concrete members is fundamental for
Concrete spalling
accurately predicting blast response and rapidly assessing damage degrees of engineering structures. In this
Cross-sectional property
Damage evaluation
paper, FE models for concrete members under contact explosion were established and validated. Based on the FE
models, parameter analyses were conducted to investigate the concrete spalling behavior of concrete members
with varying cross-sectional thickness and width under contact explosions, and the stress wave propagation
character was investigated to reveal the damage mechanics of concrete members and the effects of cross-sectional
properties. It is found that, on the whole, the increase of both cross-sectional thickness and width reduces the
concrete spalling damage on back surface, and the increase of cross-sectional width instead of thickness reduces
the concrete spalling damage on side surfaces. Both the relation between spalling angle on the back surface and
cross-sectional thickness and relation between spalling angle on the side surface and cross-sectional width are
linear. Increasing the cross-sectional dimension restrains the concrete damage on the side surface more effec­
tively compared to that on the back surface. According to the concrete spalling character, a damage index and a
damage classification method were proposed, and based on the numerical results, a rapid damage evaluation
approach was developed for concrete members with different cross-sectional properties under contact explosion.

1. Introduction response after explosions and assessing structural safety.

Considering the increasing threat of terrorist attacks in recent years
and the corresponding potential risks to both humans’ lives and national
economy, blast-resistant design and rapid explosion assessment are al­
ways received with significant concern. Unfortunately, explosive attacks
are highly unpredictable and can occur at any part of a structure. For
instance, terrorist attacks on bridges may employ car bombs to destroy
the bridge deck, or bag bombs to blow up the bridge piers [1–4].
Similarly, explosive attacks on buildings can occur on the supporting
columns or in proximity to the exterior walls [5]. During explosion
events, various concrete members, such as columns, beams, slabs, and
walls, exhibit different failure modes due to their distinct cross-sectional
properties. These differences can pose varying levels of threats to overall
structural safety. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of how
cross-sectional properties affect the damage modes of the concrete
members is essential for accurately and quickly predicting dynamic
Columns and piers are always designed with similar cross-sectional
depths and widths but greater heights. Extensive research has been
conducted to investigate the damage modes and mechanisms of columns
under various blast conditions, including far-field, close-in, and contact
explosions. Numerical analysis by Liu et al. [6] revealed that piers
exposed to far-field explosions exhibited flexural failure as the primary
damage mode. Xu et al. [7] found that reinforcement concrete (RC) piers
under close-in explosion suffered high local pressures, experienced
plastic deformation, and suffered both local (primary) and overall
(minor) damage. Braimah and Siba [8] experimentally studied the effect
of close-in explosions on reinforced concrete columns and found that the
explosion resulted in a very high reflected pressure at the bottom of the
column and highly non-uniform loading to the column. Dua et al. [9]
studied the responses of RC columns to contact explosions and found
that the failure behavior caused serious local damage, and RC columns
suffered severer damage than RC slabs. Mejía et al. [10] performed

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhuweiqing@chd.edu.cn (W. Zhu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2023.104753
Received 27 May 2023; Received in revised form 25 July 2023; Accepted 5 August 2023
Available online 6 August 2023
0734-743X/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Xiao et al.
contact explosion tests on RC columns and found that the damage
sequence involved transverse bar shear, longitudinal bar buckling, and
partial and full concrete fragmentation. DOD [11,12] conducted
research on concrete spalling of blast-loaded reinforcement concrete
components and found that direct spalling on the back surface occurred
when the tension wave reflected on the back surface. Williams and
Williamson [13] conducted experimental and computational research
on the bridge columns under blast loads and found that lateral expansion
is the direct result of the initial contraction and Poisson’s effect.
Extensive literature has been reported on the damage modes of
beams, considering different parameters, such as boundary conditions,
types of blast loads, etc. Yang et al. [14] investigated the influence of
beam height, explosive height, and reinforcement strength and ratio on
the localized damage dimension of RC beam under non-contact explo­
sion. Nagata et al. [15] conducted a series of tests on RC beams subjected
to close-in explosions and found that the intensity of the local failure
region and residual displacement at the center of the beam increased
with decreasing scaled distance. Nariman [16] simulated the damage of
RC beams under close-in explosions and utilized Sobol’s sensitivity
indices to investigate the effects of charge mass, concrete density, and
elasticity of concrete and reinforcement on the responses of beams. Liao
et al. [17] conducted experimental research on high-strength RC beams
and found that high-strength reinforcement can effectively improve
resistance performance by reducing deformation and spalling length and
width.
Slabs and panels, characterized by their relatively small cross-
sectional depth but large length and width, are commonly utilized in
structures like floor slabs, bridge decks and protective plates. Many
studies have been conducted to investigate their damage behavior. Hai
and Ren [18] investigated the damage mode of RC slabs subjected to
underwater explosions and found that the failure mode changed from
structural bending failure to localized failure with the decrease in
standoff distance. Li et al. [19,20] conducted experiments on concrete
slabs under contact explosion, which found that specimens with
different slab thickness and charge mass had different spalling damage.
Dua and Braimah [21] experimentally and numerically studied the
response of RC slabs under contact explosion and found that breach
failure modes can be classified into perforation and punching breach
failures depending on the blast load. Zhao et al. [22] experimentally
investigated the damage features of concrete slabs subjected to contact
explosion and found that a refined reinforcement arrangement signifi­
cantly improved the performance of the concrete slab. Yang et al. [23]
conducted experiments on RC slabs subjected to air and underwater
contact explosions. Vusa et al. [24–26] investigated the significant po­
tential of slabs with cellular structure in mitigating the effects of extreme
loads due to their lightweight and high strength.
Walls have similar cross-sectional characteristics with slabs and are
commonly used in structures such as exterior walls, retaining walls, and
wave barriers on offshore platforms. Li et al. [27–29] conducted a series
tests on masonry walls subjected to blast loads to study their failure
modes and fragment distribution. Michaloudis [30] discussed the
modeling strategies for simulating masonry walls under blast loads and
investigated the damage formation of walls under far-field and contact
explosions.
It should be noted that there have been several studies investigating
the influence of cross-sectional properties on the dynamic response and
spalling damage of certain types of members. Park et al. [31] numeri­
cally studied the influence of the aspect ratio of column sections on
columns under non-contact explosion and found that the deflection ratio
decreased as the aspect ratio increased. Rajkumar [32] performed nu­
merical simulations for different shapes of RC columns subjected to
close-in explosion. Li and Hao [33] conducted numerical simulations to
investigate the effects of column height, depth, and charge mass on
concrete spalling damage caused by non-contact explosions and
empirical relations are proposed to predict concrete spalling damage.
Dua [34] conducted contact explosion tests on RC rectangular columns
2
International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753
with different aspect ratios and found that increasing the column width
decreased the damage index defined by its residual bearing capacity.
Yuan et al. [35] performed contact explosion tests on RC columns with
circular and square cross-sections and found that the circular column
performed better in the tests. Zhang [36] performed close-in explosions
on CFDST columns and found that the hollow area inside seemed to have
little effect on the structural displacement responses.
It is important to note that different blast cases significantly influ­
ence the failure modes of concrete members. In far-field explosions,
members primarily undergo overall deformation and bending failure.
However, in contact explosions, members mainly experience local
damage, and changes in cross-sectional properties result in significant
variations in failure modes, and the influence of boundary conditions is
almost negligible [13]. Comparing the blast performance across
different member types reveals significant differences in failure modes.
For instance, even a relatively small explosion can cause severe damage
to columns and beams, such as surrounding concrete spalling and core
concrete crushing. However, plates and walls may experience relatively
serious concrete spalling just on their upper and lower surfaces, with
only a few cracks or no damage in the side concrete.
Due to the numerous types and sizes of the concrete members, it is
unrealistic to carry out experiments for every building that needs to be
protected to determine their blast resistance performance, but the po­
tential risk to structural safety induced by different damage modes and
degrees of members still exists. So, it is essential to comprehensively
analyze the influence of cross-sectional properties on the concrete
damage in a universal and rapid approach to simplify safety assessments
for concrete structures. Hence, this paper aims to investigate concrete
members with quite different cross-sectional properties under contact
explosion. Refined numerical models were established in LS-DYNA, and
parameter analyses were conducted to investigate the concrete spalling
of concrete members with varying cross-sectional thickness and width
under contact explosion. The characteristics of stress wave propagation
in different cross-sections were investigated to reveal damage mechanics
of concrete members and the effects of cross-sectional properties.
Finally, a damage index, and a damage classification and rapid evalu­
ation approach were proposed for concrete members with different
cross-sectional properties under contact explosion.
2. FE model establishment and verification
Contact explosion involves a sudden release of energy characterized
by high-pressure, high-temperature, high-speed gas and material
movements, leading to significant strain rates and stress wave effects in
structures. Many advanced numerical analysis methods, such as the
Cracking Particles Method (CPM), Diffuse Element Method (DEM),
Smoothed Particle Galerkin Method (SPGM), and Finite Element Method
(FEM), have been used to simulate this process [37–40]. For the sake of
mechanical analysis convenience, FEM was utilized in this study.
LS-DYNA, a widely-used finite element software, was employed for
numerical analysis due to its comprehensive material library models,
allowing the simulation of mechanical behavior in various engineering
materials (e.g., explosives, concrete, and steel) subjected to extreme
loads.
2.1. Modeling approach
Concrete was modeled using 8-node constant-stress solid Lagrangian
elements, air and explosive were modeled using solid ALE elements, and
steel reinforcement was modeled using beam elements. The keyword
*Constrained_Lagrangian_In_Solid was used to simulate the effect of the
blast shock wave on the concrete, while the keyword *Con­
strained_Beam_In_Solid (NCOUP=0, CDIR=0) was used to model the
connection between concrete and steel reinforcement. A perfect bond
was assumed between reinforcements and surrounding concrete until
the surrounding concrete crumbled. An erosion algorithm was
Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

implemented using the keyword *Mat_Add_Erosion to simulate the To account for the strain rate effect of concrete, the Dynamic In­
failure of concrete elements. The keyword *Con­ crease Factor (DIF) is utilized, which represents the ratio of dynamic to
tact_Automatic_Surface_To_Surface was utilized to simulate the bound­ static strength at a particular strain rate. In the Mat_72R3 model, a user-
ary condition between the support and the member. Moreover, the defined curve is implemented to simulate this effect. The DIFs for
keyword *Boundary_Non_Reflection was employed to simulate the compression (CDIF) and tension (TDIF) are expressed as follows [42]:
infinite air domain, while the keyword *Rigidwall_Planar was used to ( )1.026αs
model the ground as an infinite rigid surface. fcd ε̇ 1
CDIF = = when ε̇ ≤ 200s− 1 , αs = (2)
The element size was determined through convergence analysis. fcs ε̇s 5 + 9fcs /10MPa
Members selected from Refs [23] and [34] were modeled using mesh
sizes of 7.5 mm, 10 mm, and 12.5 mm, respectively. As shown in Fig. 1,

⎧ ( )δ
⎪
⎪ ε̇ 1
⎪
⎪
⎨ when ε̇ ≤ 1s−
ftd ε̇s 1
TDIF = = ( )1/3 , δ = , logβ = 6δ − 2 (3)
fts ⎪
⎪ ε̇s 1 + 8fcs /10MPa
⎪
⎪ 1
⎩β when ε̇ > 1s−
ε̇s

displacement trends were similar for all three mesh sizes, but the
displacement values decreased with increasing mesh size. While a 12.5
mm mesh resulted in significantly smaller displacements, the displace­
ments using 7.5 mm and 10 mm meshes were very close. Therefore, to
strike a balance between computational accuracy and cost, a 10 mm
mesh size was used for all the models in this paper.
2.2. Material model
In this section, the key material models of concrete, steel reinforce­
ment, air, and explosive were defined. These material models would be
used in the subsequent model validation and parameter analysis.
2.2.1. Concrete
The material model Karagozian & Case (K&C) was used for the
concrete. It defines three independent failure surfaces, i.e., initial
yielding surface F1, ultimate strength surface F2, and residual surface F3.
Fi is the function of pressure p and can be expressed as follows:
p
Fi (P) = a0i +
a1i + a2i p
where a0i, a1i, and a2i are surface parameters. The K&C model is invoked
using the keyword *Mat_Concrete_Damage_Rel3 (Mat_72R3). Mat_72R3
has an automatic input capability for generating the model parameters
solely from unconfined compression strength and density in dynamic
analysis based on empirical formulas derived from a series of experi­
ments [41].
where fcd is the dynamic compressive strength at the strain rate of ε̇; and
fcs is the static compressive strength corresponding to the strain rate of
ε̇ = 10− 6 s− 1 and equals to fck+8 MPa, ftd and fts are the dynamic and
static tensile strengths of concrete, respectively.
2.2.2. Steel reinforcement
The steel bars were simulated by an elasto-plastic model considering
strain rate effect by the keyword *Mat_Piecewise_Linear_Plasticity. The
DIF relations for steel reinforcement material under dynamic tension are
expressed as follows [43]:
( )
ε̇ α
DIFS = (4)
10− 4
where α=αfy=0.074–0.04fy/60 for the yield stress, and
α=αfu=0.019–0.009fy/414 for the ultimate stress; and fy is the steel yield
strength in MPa. The FAIL parameter was set to 0.15 in this keyword to
simulate the damage of steel reinforcement.
(1) 2.2.3. Air and explosive
Air was considered as a non-viscous ideal gas, which was described
by an empty model using keywords *Mat_Null and *Eos_Linear_Poly­
nomial. The general pressure of Eos (pair) could be expressed as follows
[44]:
( )
pair = C0 + C1 μ + C2 μ2 + C3 μ3 + C4 + C5 μ + C6 μ2 E (5)

Fig. 1. Mesh convergence analyses.

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

μ = ρ/ρ0 − 1 (6) spalling near the charge, forming a circular crater. Several cracks were
observed near the side surface. On the bottom surface (Fig. 5f), a larger
where C0~C6 are material parameters; E is the internal volume energy; circular crater was presented compared to the one on the top surface,
and ρ/ρ0 is the ratio of current density (ρ) to reference density (ρ0). and it contained partially intact concrete. The numerical simulation
The explosive was simulated by the CJ detonation model with the accurately captured the observed damage tendency and extent in the
keywords *Mat_High_Explosion_Burn and Eos_JWL, which can be experiment (Fig. 5a-c).
expressed as follows [44]: Overall, the simulation results demonstrate good agreement with the
( ) ( ) experimental findings, indicating the effectiveness of the employed
ω ω ωE
pexp = A 1 − e − R1 V + B 1 − e − R2 V + (7) simulation method in capturing the response of RC structures under
R1 V R2 V V
contact explosion conditions.
where V is the relative volume; and A, B, R1, R2 and w are coefficients
related to explosive type. 3. Concrete spalling behavior and stress wave propagation

3.1. Variable design

2.3. Model validations
To validate the simulation method, the damage modes of a concrete
column and a concrete slab, which have quite different cross-sectional
dimensions, under contact explosion as described in the literature [23,
34], were simulated. The numerical results were then compared with the
experimental results. The material models used in models were
described in Section 2.2, and the input parameters were listed in Table 1.
In the test of literature [34], a RC column with a 300 mm × 300 mm
cross-section was subjected to a contact explosion using 500 g TNT
charge (Fig. 2). The material models used in this simulation were
consistent with those reported by Dua [34]. Fig. 3 shows a comparison
between the experimental and numerical results of the RC column. The
results showed that both the concrete cover and core concrete of the
column were severely damaged, resulting in U-shaped damage profiles
on both the front and side surfaces in the simulation. The concrete
spalling distances obtained numerically were 617 mm on the incident
face and 690 mm on the distal face, respectively.
In the test described in literature [23], a RC slab with a 500 mm × 60
mm cross-section was subjected to a contact explosion using a 210 g TNT
charge (Fig. 4). The material models used in this simulation were
consistent with those reported by Yang [23], as shown in Table 1. An
erosion algorithm with a principle strain of 0.1 was also employed. Fig. 5
shows a comparison of the experimental and numerical results of the RC
slab. In the simulation, the top surface (Fig. 5d, e) exhibited concrete
In contact explosions, the spalling of concrete members primarily
occurs in the local region, where global effects are negligible. Therefore,
in this study, the concrete members were designed with a fixed bottom
and a free top boundary condition. Several parameters, including cross-
sectional thickness and width, as well as charge mass, were carefully
selected as they have been shown to have a significant impact on con­
crete spalling.
To cover various realistic scenarios, the variation range of cross-
sectional thickness and width was determined based on the typical di­
mensions found in building and bridge members, such as columns,
beams, slabs, and walls. The steel bars in concrete members do not affect
the concrete damage degree significantly when they are arranged not
densely. For safety consideration, the ratios of longitudinal reinforce­
ment of these concrete members were kept at 0.58%; the diameter and
spacing of transverse bars were kept at 8 mm and 300 mm, respectively;
and steel bars were not arranged in the position corresponding to the
charges. That means a relative sparse but consistent steel bar arrange­
ment was adopted for concrete members to reduce the influence of
different reinforcement layouts on the damage degree of concrete
members, and meanwhile maintain their integrity. Additionally, three
charge masses were chosen based on previous experiments [23,34] to
cover different explosive scenarios. The selected parameters and their
corresponding values are listed in Table 2.

Table 1
Input parameters for model validations.
Concrete (*Mat_Concrete_Damage_Rel3 & *Mat_Add_Erosion)
Density/ kg•m3 Uniaxial compression strength/ MPa Failure principal strain

Column 2750 38 0.1

[34]
Slab [23] 2635 25
Steel (*Mat_Piecewise_Linear_Plasticity)
Density/ kg•m3 Young’s modulus/ GPa Poisson’s ratio Tangent modulus/ MPa Yield stress/ Failure strain
MPa
Column 7850 200 0.3 1600 400 0.15
[34]
Slab [23]
Air (*Mat_Null & * Eos_Linear_Polynomial)
Initial density, ρ0/ Pressure cut-off Dynamic viscosity C0- C3, C6 C4, C5 Initial energy, E0 / Pa
kg•m3
Column 1.225 0 0 0 0.4 2.068 × 105
[34]
Slab [23] 1.29 2.531 × 105
TNT (*Mat_High_Explosion_Burn and Eos_JWL)
Initial density, ρ0/ Detonation velocity, D/ CJ pressure, PCJ/ A/GPa B/GPa R1 R2 ω Initial energy, E0/
kg•m3 m•s2 GPa GPa
Column 1630 6930 21 373.77 3.747 4.15 0.9 0.35 6.0
[34]
Slab [23] 1550 371.20 3.231 0.95 0.3 7.0
Solid (*Mat_ Mohr_Coulomb)
Density/ kg•m3 Elastic shear modulus/ MPa Poisson’s Angle of friction Cohesion value
ratio
Column 1550 0.222 0.35 0.0873 0.139
[34]

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

Fig. 2. Experimental setup and numerical model of the RC column.

3.3. Numerical results

3.3.1. Concrete spalling character

Different concrete spalling patterns can be observed when a concrete
member is subjected to a contact explosion. A damage crater typically
occurs on the front surface due to the immense compressive stress wave,
and concrete spalling may occur on the back and side surfaces as a result
of reflected tensile stress. Fig. 7 shows a typical concrete spalling pattern
of concrete members under contact explosion, along with key definitions
related to the spalling phenomenon. It is important to note that, when
the cross-sectional width of the concrete member is large, the longitu­
dinal spalling length and transversal spalling length on back surface are
the same. However, when the cross-sectional width is small, concrete
spalling occurs along the entire width on back surface, which is smaller
than the longitudinal spalling length. Consequently, the term “Spalling
length on the back surface” referred to the longitudinal spalling length
on the back surface. Similarly, “Spalling length on the side surface” was
defined as the longitudinal spalling length on the side surface.

3.3.2. Effect of thickness

Fig. 3. Comparison of experimental and numerical results of the RC column.
3.2. Numerical simulation
The FE models for parameter analysis were established using the LS-
DYNA software, as illustrated in Fig. 6, while the input parameters used
in model were listed in Table 3.
In order to investigate the effects of cross-section thickness on con­
crete spalling behavior and stress wave propagation of concrete mem­
bers under contact explosion, concrete members in Group A were
chosen. For this group, the cross-section width was kept at 300 mm, and
the thickness varied from 300 mm to 1500 mm. Fig. 8 shows the
numerically obtained damage profiles of members with thicknesses of
300, 600, and 900 mm, respectively, subjected to a 0.5 kg TNT contact
explosion. It was found that with the thickness increasing, certain as­
pects of concrete spalling on the back surface was improved. For
example, the slabbing changed from multi-layer to single-layer, the
deformations of the back surfaces decreased, and the cracking on the

Fig. 4. Experimental setup and numerical model of the RC slab.

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

Fig. 5. Comparison of experimental and numerical results of the RC slab.

Table 2 where SLB and STB are the spalling length and thickness on the back
Variable design and parameter levels. surface, respectively; T is the cross-sectional thickness.
As the cross-sectional thickness increased, both the spalling length
Group Case Cross-section dimensions TNT mass / kg
Thickness Width and thickness on back surface first increased and then decreased. The
/mm /mm spalling length reached its maximum value of 960 mm at cross-sectional
Group A D-1 300 300 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75
thickness of 900 mm, which was 1.43 times greater than the value at
D-2 450 thickness of 300 mm (677 mm). Similar spalling lengths can be observed
D-3 600 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75/ 1.0/ on back surfaces of members with a thickness of 1700 mm and 300 mm.
1.25 On the other hand, the spalling thickness reached its peak value of 90
D-4 750 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75
mm at cross-sectional thickness of 1050 mm. Even at a thickness of 1800
D-5 900
D-6 1050 mm, there was still a spalling thickness of 70 mm, which was larger than
D-7 1200 that observed at a thickness of 300 mm. These observations indicate that
D-8 1350 solely increasing the cross-sectional thickness is not sufficient or
D-9 1500 reasonable for restricting the spalling range on the back surface of the
D-10 1800
Group B W-1 300 300 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75
member.
W-2 450 The stress wave effect induced by contact explosions plays a crucial
W-3 600 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75/1.0/ role in causing structural damage. In general, a compressive stress wave
1.25 is rapidly generated in members after explosion but quickly decays after
W-4 750 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75
reaching its peak due to its narrow stress wave front. When it reaches the
W-5 900
W-6 1050 back free surface, it reflects as a tensile stress wave due to the difference
W-7 1200 in wave impedance between air and concrete. When the tensile stress
W-8 1350 wave exceeds the dynamic material tensile strength of the concrete, it
W-9 1500 leads to failure and spalling of the concrete. Therefore, it is important to
Group C C1 to 300 to 1500 300 to 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75 /
C25 1500 1.5 kg / 3.0 kg / 5.0 kg
understand the stress wave propagation process when assessing concrete
damage under contact explosion.
Concrete spalling on the back surface is primarily influenced by Y-
side surface was restricted. However, the spalling length of the back stress. Fig. 10 shows the relationship between compressive stress am­
surfaces increased, and the crater diameter and depth on the front sur­ plitudes in Y-axis and the propagation distance within cross-section of
face showed minimal change. members with different thicknesses. Due to the high magnitude of the
Indeed, it is evident that slabbing would disappear as the cross- compressive stress amplitudes within the 100 mm range near the
sectional thickness reached a sufficient level. To further study the explosive, while the element just under the explosive suffered
trend of spalling length and thickness on back surface of members with compressive stress greater than 7 GPa, the figure only displays the stress
different thicknesses, Fig. 9 shows the variation of spalling length and amplitudes outside of this region. The results show that the amplitude of
thickness with increasing cross-sectional thickness, and the best-fitted the stress decreased exponentially along the thickness direction,
curves are represented by the following expressions: regardless of the changes in thickness. As the stress wave propagates
further within the section, the wavelength of the stress wave increased,
SLB = 386.47 + 1.14 × T − 5.74946 × 10− 4 × T 2 (300 ≤ T ≤ 1800) (8)
leading to a gradually decreasing slope of the stress curve. At a distance
2 of 50 mm from the back surface, the stress decreased more rapidly due to
− [ln
1219.4983]
T
32390.0293
STB = 43.1167 + √̅̅̅̅̅ e 2×0.48902 (300 ≤ T ≤ 1800) (9) the influence of the elastic precursor wave and the tensile wave reflected
2π × 0.4890 × T from the free boundary.

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

Fig. 6. Numerical model for parameter analysis.

Fig. 11 shows the trend of tensile stress propagation from the back
Table 3
surface into the cross-section of members with different thicknesses. As
Input parameters of the FE model for parameter analysis.
shown in the figure, with the increase in distance, the amplitude of
Material LS-DYNA Model & Eos Input Parameter Magnitude tensile stress first increased and then decreased, regardless of changes in
Concrete Mat_072R3 Mass density 2500 kg/m3 thickness. Additionally, with the increase in thickness, the peak value of
Poison’s ratio 0.3 the tensile stress wave decreased, and the shape of propagation curves
Uniaxial 25 MPa
transformed from a steep mountain to a flat-top mountain. This behavior
compression
strength might be attributed to the interaction between tensile and compression
Failure principle 0.1 waves on the back surface and the increase in wavelength resulting from
strain the increasing distance of stress propagation. The peak tensile stresses in
Steel Mat_Piecewise_Linear_Plasticity Mass density 7850 kg/m3 the members with different thickness were observed at locations
Young’s modulus 200 GPa
approximately 60–80 mm from the back surface, which were found to be
Poisson’s ratio 0.3
Tangent modulus 1600 MPa less influenced by the thickness variation.
TNT Mat_High_Explosive_Burn / Yield stress 400 MPa Fig. 12 shows the variation of peak radial compressive stress on the
EOS_JWL Failure strain 0.15 back surface along the height of members. For comparison, the range of
Burst pressure PCJ 21 GPa
500 mm above the charge was selected since the maximum spalling
R1 4.15
R2 0.95
length in the cases was about 970 mm, and the damage was symmetrical
ω 0.3 to the charge. The measuring points chosen for analysis are illustrated in
E0 7000MPa Fig. 12a. The results depicted in Fig. 12b indicate that the radial
V0 1.0 compressive stress gradually decreased with the increase in the height of
Air Mat_Null / Initial density 1.29 kg/m3
measuring points and cross-sectional thickness. However, the decreasing
Eos_Linear_Polynomial Initial energy E0 2.5 × 105
J/m3 rate of radial compressive stress slowed down as the cross-sectional
Pressure cutoff 0 thickness increased. The spalling length is influenced by the magni­
C0, C1, C3, C6 0 tude of radial compressive stress and the incidence angle of the radial
C4, C5 0.4
compressive wave. Notably, increasing the cross-sectional thickness
reduces the magnitude of radial compressive stress on the back surface.
However, thicker members have a smaller radial compressive angle,
resulting in a larger longitudinal wave reflection coefficient at the same

Fig. 7. Typical damage pattern of the concrete member under contact explosion.

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

Fig. 8. Damage profiles of concrete members with different thickness under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.

Fig. 9. Relationship between the spalling damage on back surfaces and cross-
Fig. 10. Relationship between compressive stress amplitudes in Y-axis and
sectional thickness of members under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.
propagation distances for members with different thickness under 0.5 kg TNT
contact explosion.
height level compared to thinner members. The larger coefficient in­
creases the reflected tensile stress, consequently expanding the spalling
under contact explosion with different charge masses. It can be seen that
length. Hence, it is crucial to find an appropriate cross-sectional thick­
both the spalling thickness and length increased with the increase in
ness that effectively restrains the spalling length on the back surface.
charge mass. In addition, the increasing rate of spalling length slowed
Fig. 13 shows the relationship between the spalling angle (θ) and
down when the charge mass exceeded 0.75 kg. However, it seems that
cross-sectional thickness. The spalling angle (θ) refers to the angle be­
the increasing rate of spalling thickness remained nearly constant with
tween the line connecting the top of the crack on the back surface to the
the increase in charge mass.
explosion and the horizontal direction (Fig. 13a). From Fig. 13b, it is
observed that spalling angle decreased linearly with the increase in
3.3.3. Effect of width
member thickness. The best-fitted curve can be expressed as follows:
In this section, the effects of cross-sectional width on damage modes
θ = − 0.03087 × T + 74.3774(300mm ≤ T ≤ 1500mm) (10) and stress wave propagation were considered. Members in Group B were
selected with a fixed cross-sectional thickness of 300 mm while varying
Fig. 14 shows the spalling damage on the back surface of member D-3

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

Fig. 11. Relationship between tensile stress amplitudes in Y-axis and propagation distances for members with different thickness under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.

Fig. 12. Radial stress amplitude of measuring points along the height of back surfaces.

Fig. 13. Relationship between spalling angle θ and cross-sectional thickness.

the width from 300 mm to 1500 mm. Fig. 15 shows the numerically
obtained damage profiles of members with widths of 300 mm, 600 mm,
900 mm, and 1200 mm respectively, under a 0.5 kg TNT contact ex­
plosion. It was found that with the width increasing, concrete spalling on
the side surfaces was mitigated to some extent, transitioning from multi-
layer to single-layer, and the spalling length rapidly decreased.
Furthermore, the deformations on the side surfaces also decreased with
increasing width. It seemed that the crater diameter and depth on the
front and back surfaces were hardly affected by cross-sectional width
when the width was large. The crater dimensions were slightly larger
when the cross-sectional width was small.
Fig. 16 shows the variation of the spalling length and thickness
concerning the cross-sectional width, and the best-fitted curves were
depicted with the following expressions:

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Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

spalling length of 830 mm and a spalling thickness of 80 mm on the back

surface were observed. That indicates that the spalling damage on the
side surfaces was comparatively easier to restrain compared to the
damage observed on the back surface.
Concrete spalling on side surfaces was primarily influenced by X-
stress. Fig. 17 shows the X-stress time histories of different points in the
cross-section of member W-3 (width 600 mm, thickness 300 mm). The
selected measuring points are shown in Fig. 17a. As shown in Fig. 17b,
after experiencing several cycles of compression-tension stress conver­
sion, the stress gradually dissipated. It is noteworthy that the presence of
X-stress near the explosive can be attributed to the Poisson effect and
inertia effect of concrete.
Fig. 18 shows the variation of peak compressive X-stress with
increasing propagation distance in the cross-section for members with
different widths. As shown in Fig. 18, the compressive X-stress first
Fig. 14. Relation between concrete spalling on back surface and charge masses increased and then decreased with the increasing propagation distance.
for D-3. Although the curve for the member with a width of 300 mm decreased
earlier compared with others, the stress-distance curves largely over­
{ lapped regardless of changes in width. For members with a width greater
− 0.00112 × W 2 + 1.3291 × W + 209.0778(300 ≤ W ≤ 1350)
SLS =
0(1350 < W ≤ 1500) than 300 mm, the same peak compressive X-stress (35.98 MPa) was
(11)
⎧ 2
− [ln
573.4739]
W
⎪
⎨ 67578.9994
35.9001 + √̅̅̅̅̅ e 2×774.39392 (300 ≤ W ≤ 1200)
STS = 2π × 774.3939 × W
⎪
⎩
0(1200 < W ≤ 1500)
(12)

where SLS, STs are the spalling length and thickness on the side surface,
respectively, W is the cross-sectional width.
As the cross-sectional width increased, the spalling length and
thickness on side surfaces initially increased and then decreased. At the
width of 600 mm, the spalling length and thickness reached their
maximum values of 612.3 mm and 90 mm, respectively, representing
1.22 times and 1.28 times greater than the values observed at a width of
300 mm (507 mm and 70 mm, respectively). With a further increase in
member width to 900 mm, the spalling damage exhibited similarities to
that observed at the width of 300 mm. The concrete spalling completely
disappeared at a width of 1350 mm. For comparison, when the cross- Fig. 16. Relationship between the spalling damage on side surfaces and cross-
sectional thickness increased to 1350 mm (Fig. 9), a significant sectional width of members under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.

Fig. 15. Damage profiles of concrete members with different width under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.

10
Y. Xiao et al.
Fig. 17. X-stress-time histories curves of the points in cross-section of member W-3.
Fig. 18. Relationship between X-stress amplitudes and propagation distances
for members with different width under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.
observed at the same propagation distance of 150 mm from the center of
the section. For the member with a width of 300 mm, the stress peak
appeared earlier but was smaller (24.5 MPa) due to the influence of
earlier reflected tensile wave caused by the smaller width.
The compressive stress exhibited a trend of first increase followed by
a decrease. This behavior was influenced by the combined effect of the
decay rate of compressive stress and the stress component on the X-axis.
Fig. 19. Relationship between tensile stress amplitude and propagation distance for members with different width under 0.5 kg TNT contact explosion.
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International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753
Similar to Y-stress, the rapid decline of the stress-distance curve near the
side surface was a result of the cancellation of elastic precursor waves
and tensile waves reflected from the side surfaces. The decay rate of this
rapid decline segment of the curves depends on the wavelength of stress.
Fig. 19 shows the tensile stress propagation from the back surface
into the cross-section for members with different widths. As shown in
the figure, the amplitude of tensile stress first increased and then
decreased with the increase in propagating distance, irrespective of
changes in width. When the cross-sectional width was large (i.e., not
smaller than 600 mm), the peak tensile stress consistently appeared at a
location approximately 50–60 mm from the back surface. This constant
location of the peak stress indicated that the spalling thickness may
reach a minimum value as long as the concrete spalling occurs on the
side surface.
Fig. 20 shows the variation of peak radial compressive stress on the
side surfaces along the height of members. For comparison, the same
range of height was selected as in Fig. 12. The results indicated that the
radial compressive stress gradually decreased with the increase in height
of measuring points and cross-sectional width. The decreasing rate of the
radial compressive stress slowed down when the cross-sectional width
was large. Moreover, the radial stress on the side surfaces was found to
be smaller compared to that on the back surface. Similar to the spalling
length on the back surface, the spalling length on the side surfaces was
also influenced by the magnitude of radial compressive stress and the
incidence angle of the radial compressive wave. These observations
suggest that an appropriate cross-sectional width could effectively
restrain the spalling length on side surfaces.
Y. Xiao et al.
Fig. 20. Radial stress amplitude of measuring points along the height of side surfaces.
Fig. 21. Relationship between spalling angle α and cross-sectional width.
Fig. 21 shows the relationship between the spalling angle (α) and
cross-sectional width, where the spalling angle (α) represents the angle
between the line connecting the top of the side surface crack to the
explosion and the horizontal direction (Fig. 21a). It can be seen from
Fig. 21b that the spalling angle exhibited a linear decrease with the
increase in member thickness. The best-fitted curve can be expressed as
follows:
α = − 0.05798 × W + 79.2520(300mm ≤ W ≤ 1350mm) (13)
Fig. 22 shows the spalling damage on the side surfaces of member W-
3 under contact explosion with different charge masses. It could be seen
that both the spalling length and thickness on the side surfaces increased
Fig. 22. Relation between concrete spalling on side surfaces and charge masses
for W-3.
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International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753
with the increase in charge mass, and the increasing rate gradually
slowed down. As the charge mass increased.
3.3.4. Damage index and damage evaluation
Fig. 23 shows the relationship between spalling length on the back
surface and cross-sectional dimension under charge masses of 0.25 kg,
0.5 kg, and 0.75 kg. It was found that the largest spalling length on the
back surface consistently occurred in members with a thickness of 900
mm and a width of 300 mm under contact explosion. Increasing both the
thickness and width of the members showed some capability to restrict
the spalling length on the back surface. Notably, when the cross-
sectional width was small, the spalling length first increased and then
decreased with the increase in cross-sectional thickness. However, for
larger cross-sectional widths, the spalling length decreased monoto­
nously with the increase of cross-sectional thickness. The specific width
depends on the charge mass, and equals to 562.5 mm, 1140 mm, and
1350 mm when the charge mass is 0.25 kg, 0.5 kg and 0.75 kg,
respectively.
Fig. 24 shows the relationship between spalling thickness on the back
surface and cross-sectional dimensions. It was found that the spalling
thickness may exhibit a first increase and then decrease with increasing
width or thickness when the width or thickness was small. However,
overall, increasing both the thickness and width of the members tends to
restrict the spalling thickness on the back surface.
As shown in Figs. 23 and 24, the red region indicating large spalling
damage on the back surface expanded toward areas with large cross-
sectional thickness and width when charge mass was larger, which
proved that both the spalling length and thickness increased with the
increase in charge mass.
Figs. 25 and 26 show the relationship between the spalling damage
(length and thickness) on side surfaces and the member sizes under
Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

Fig. 23. Relationship between spalling length on back surfaces and member sizes.

Fig. 24. Relationship between spalling thickness on back surfaces and member sizes.

Fig. 25. Relationship between spalling length on side surfaces and member sizes.

Fig. 26. Relationship between spalling thickness on side surfaces and member sizes.

charge masses of 0.25 kg, 0.5 kg, and 0.75 kg. It was found that the
largest spalling length and thickness on the side surfaces consistently
occurred in members with a width of 600 mm under contact explosion.
When the charge mass was small, increasing the width significantly
reduced the spalling length and thickness on the side surfaces. However,
under larger charge masses, the spalling damage first increased and then
decreased with increasing width. However, increasing the thickness
could not effectively mitigate the spalling damage. Both the spalling
length and thickness increased with the increasing charge mass, and the
red region indicating large spalling damage on the side surface expanded
toward areas with larger width as the charge mass increased.
Table 4 presents a summary of the average crater diameters and
depths on the front surface of these members under contact explosion.
As previously discussed, cross-sectional dimensions had little effect on
concrete cratering on the front surface. Therefore, the average crater
diameters and depths remained relatively consistent across the different
member sizes.
Based on the analysis of concrete spalling characteristics described

13
Y. Xiao et al. International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753

above, it was found that the damage of concrete members with different
cross-sectional properties primarily concentrates in the charge cross-
section. This section might exhibit four concrete spalling regions on
the front, back, and side surfaces (Fig. 7). To quantify the damage to
concrete members under contact explosion, a damage index (D) has been
Based on the spalling damage analysis of the members under contact
explosion, Fig. 27 shows the relationship between the damage index (D)
and member sizes under charge masses of group A:0.25 kg, 0.5 kg, and
0.75 kg, and group B: 1.5 kg, 3 kg, and 5 kg. The curved surfaces are
expressed as follows:

( )
28655.41 − 1.89165 × W − 59.42962 × T + 0.04511 × T 2 − 1.17109 × 10− 5 × T 3
D0.25kg = (15)
1 + 97.09466 × W − 0.13711 × W + 1.49636 × 10 × W − 2.36914 × T − 0.00217 × T 2
2 − 4 3

( )
0.78693 − 9.56808 × 10− 5 × W − 0.00158 × T + 1.27385 × 10− 6 × T 2 − 3.4871 × 10− 10 × T 3
D0.50kg = (16)
1 − 0.00164 × W + 1.85444 × 10− 6 × W 2 − 8.35513 × 10− 11 × W 3 − 4.36776 × 10− 4 × T − 2.13405 × 10− 7 × T 2
( )
1.61766 − 0.00153 × 10− 5 × W − 0.00333 × T − 3.88529 × 10− 6 × T 2 +1.25455 × 10− 9 × T 3
D0.75kg = (17)
1 − 0.00542 × W + 7.06424 × 10− 6 × W 2 − 3.25314 × 10− 9 × W 3 + 0.00715 × T − 1.0495 × 10− 6 × T 2
( )
43.11 − 0.03893 × W + 0.2706 × T − 3.35404 × 10− 4 × T 2 +1.13099 × 10− 7 × T 3
D1.5kg = (18)
1 + 0.16331 × W − 1.70771 × 10− 4 × W 2 + 4.59297 × 10− 8 × W 3 + 0.15425 × T + 3.96328 × 10− 5 × T 2
( )
1.20842 − 1.09182 × 10− 4 × W − 4.95907 × 10− 4 × T + 8.60051 × 10− 8 × T 2 − 9.30335 × 10− 11 × T 3
D3.0kg = (19)
1 − 0.00151 × W + 1.17925 × 10− 6 × W 2 − 1.0994 × 10− 10 × W 3 + 0.00179 × T − 9.07396 × 10− 7 × T 2
( )
1.15857 − 7.92307 × 10− 5 × W − 0.00225 × T + 1.92125 × 10− 6 × T 2 − 5.29545 × 10− 10 × T 3
D5.0kg = (20)
1 + 1.010515 × 10− 5 × W − 3.04727 × 10− 8 × W 2 + 4.07455 × 10− 11 × W 3 − 0.0017 × T + 1.07859 × 10− 6 × T 2

defined as follows:
where 300 mm ≤ T ≤ 1500 mm; 300 mm ≤ W ≤ 1500 mm.
A1 + A2 + A3
D= (14) Fig. 28 shows the damage levels of members with different cross-
A0
sections under contact explosion. The figures serve as a tool for
where A0 is the original cross-sectional area of the concrete member, A1 quickly assessing the damage level of concrete members in a specific
is the spalling area of the crater on the front surface, A2 is the spalling contact explosion case. The boundary lines that differ for the various
area on the back surface, and A3 is the total spalling area on the two side damage levels were determined using Eqs. (15)-(20).
surfaces.
Considering the challenges in accurately obtaining the geometric 4. Conclusion
boundary and area of concrete spalling in the charge cross-section, a
simplified approach was adopted. The spalling area was calculated by Based on the refined numerical analysis, this paper investigated the
“Spalling thickness × Spalling length” on the back and side surfaces and effect of cross-sectional dimensions on concrete spalling under contact
“Crater diameter × Spalling depth” on the front surface. The equation explosion. The following conclusions can be drawn:
may overestimate the concrete spalling area a little, but it was safe for
damage and safety evaluation. For critical concrete members in struc­ (1) For the layer splitting on the back surface, an increase in cross-
tures, such as piers and girders in bridges, they are typically subjected to sectional thickness initially leads to an increase and then decrease
service loads that exceed 50% of their designed load carrying capacity. in spalling length when the cross-sectional width is small, but it
As a result, if their cross-sectional area or load capacity decreases by decreases monotonically with a larger width. The critical width de­
more than 50%, it can lead to the failure and collapse of the members pends on the charge mass, and equals to 562.5 mm, 1140 mm, and
and even the entire structure. Based on these considerations, the damage 1350 mm when the charge masse is 0.25 kg, 0.5 kg and 0.75 kg,
levels are defined as follows: respectively. Increasing the cross-sectional width reduces the spal­
ling length on the back surface to some extent. Similarly, the spalling
D = (0–0.1): Low damage thickness first increases and then decreases with the increase in
D = (0.1–0.25): Medium damage width or thickness when the thickness or width is small, but overall,
D = (0.25–0.5): High damage both increasing the thickness and width restrict the spalling thick­
D = (0.5–1): Collapse ness on the back surface.
(2) For the layer splitting on the side surface, increasing the cross-
sectional width leads to a rapid decrease in the spalling length and
Table 4 thickness under contact explosion with a charge mass of 0.25 kg, and
Average crater diameter and depth on front surfaces. it shows a trend of first increase and then decrease with larger
Charge Width 300mm Width more than 300 mm charger masses (0.5 kg, 0.75 kg). The cross-sectional thickness has a
mass/kg Crater Crater Crater Crater minor effect on the spalling length and thickness on the side surface.
diameter/mm depth/mm diameter/mm depth/mm
(3) Both the relationship between the spalling angle on the back
0.25kg 160 40 95 40 surface and cross-sectional thickness, as well as the relationship be­
0.5kg 160 50 115 50 tween the spalling angle on the side surface and cross-sectional
0.75kg 160 60 140 60
width, are found to be linear with slopes of − 0.03087 and
− 0.05798, respectively. These different slopes indicate that the

14
Y. Xiao et al.
Fig. 27. Relationship between damage index D and member sizes and the best fitted curved surfaces.
Fig. 28. Damage levels of concrete members under contact explosion with different cross-sectional properties.
influence of cross-sectional width on restraining the spalling length
on the side surface is more significant compared to that on the back
surface.
(4) According to the concrete spalling characteristics, a damage
index including four damage degrees is defined as the ratio between
concrete spalling area and original area in cross-section of explosive.
Damage levels are classified using the damage index. A rapid damage
assessment approach is developed for concrete members with
different cross-sectional properties under contact explosions.
(5) This paper establishes systematic and quantifiable relationships
between stress wave propagation, cross-sectional properties, and
structural damage, and provides a practical and universal approach
for rapid damage assessment in engineering structures subjected to
contact explosion. It also should be noted that this approach is spe­
cifically suitable for concrete members under contact explosions, and
15
International Journal of Impact Engineering 181 (2023) 104753
further investigation is required to assess the damage of concrete
members subjected to close-in explosions.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yi Xiao: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation,
Writing – original draft, Visualization. Weiqing Zhu: Conceptualiza­
tion, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Funding
acquisition, Writing – review & editing. Minghui Li: Software, Visual­
ization. Jinqing Jia: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review
& editing. Zhi Li: Software, Validation, Visualization.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
Y. Xiao et al.
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities, CHD (no. 300102212912). The authors wish to
express their gratitude to the sponsor.
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