Investigating the Effect of the Geometry of RC Barrier Walls on the Blast Wave Propagation

Abstract

Evaluating the performance of several types of reinforced concrete barrier walls subjected to blast loads is the target of this research paper. A parametric study is carried out for nine RC barrier wall systems with different geometries modelled in the three dimensions with different configurations and variable parameters. ANSYS Autodyn software version 18.2 is used to model and analyse these systems using three-dimensional explicit dynamics analysis. The nine systems are studied under the effect of several parameters, such as explosive charge weight (W) and the stand-off distance from the explosion source to the wall (R). Their effect on the wall damage and its deformations and the pressure-induced at different locations are analysed. Eighteen reinforced concrete barrier wall models are studied to achieve this research goal. Comparisons between the results showed the deformation performance of the 60° concave face with planar back walls and the walls with the constant base of 1.0-meter-thick up to 0.5-meter-high with a face hunch up to 2.0-meter-high are better than all other studied walls. However, the concave face-convex back wall that has 70° curvature mitigate the pressure behind the wall by 10% regardless of its deformation.