Duality of energy absorption and inertial effects: Optimized structural design for blast loading

This article provides insights into the dynamic response and protection capacity of sacrificial structures mounted on a structural member and subjected to close standoff blast loading. The three main objectives of this study are: (a) exploration of key parameters governing the failure modes of a structural member protected by a sacrificial structure; (b) quantification of blast resistance and protection capacity of the sacrificial structure and underlying structure; and (c) conducting comparative single-degree-of-freedom system analysis and high-resolution explicit finite element analysis aiming at improving current single-degree-of-freedom analysis approaches. Energy absorption and momentum resistance are identified and quantified as the main contributing mechanisms controlling the dynamic response of structural members subjected to high-speed dynamic loading. The displacement of the structural member in the blast direction, the mass per length of the structural member, and the maximum impulse are found ...