ANALYSIS OF BUNKERS SUBJECTED TO BLAST LOADING

Abstract

Explosives are used for numerous purposes both in civilian as well as military. Nowadays, terrorists are using it as a weapon to further their campaign. Bunkers are protective strategic structures used for the protection of personnel, equipment and for storage of explosives/ammunition. Explosives when detonated on or above ground, results in a very rapid release of large amounts of energy within a short time, thus generating a pressure wave in the surrounding medium known as a shock wave. This wave exerts loads of high intensity and short duration on structures in the vicinity of the blast. Explosives even from small charges when placed close to a structure would result in very high peak pressures and could lead to damage. In this dissertation work, a three dimensional non-linear transient dynamic finite element analysis of reinforced concrete bunkers subjected to blast loads has been carried out. The analysis has been carried out using available commercial software LS-DYNA. The discretisation has been carried out using software HYPERMESH. An above ground bunker and a semi-buried bunker have been analysed for blast loads. Parametric studies have been undertaken for varying values of charge weight, charge distance and percentage of reinforcement..