Damage Mode Analysis of Steel Box Structures Subjected to Internal Blast Loading

Abstract

Steel box structures widely exist in vehicles, ships, and buildings, and internal explosions are one of the primary ways to destroy such targets. In this study, a rapid prediction method for the damage degree evaluation of steel box structures subjected to internal blast loads was proposed. First, the main influencing factors were identified through dimensionless analysis. Next, numerical simulations were conducted to further investigate the key influencing factors and different damage modes that were classified according to their characteristics. The non-dimensional Din* for damage analysis applicable to the internal explosions and the equations describing the deformation of the wall plate were proposed, followed by a comparative study of the damage features of anisotropic box structures with different structural dimensions. The influence of the coupling relationship between structural dimensions and blast loads on the damage modes was analyzed and three competing mechanisms of material failure were studied to analyze and classify the mode of breach expansion. Finally, a large number of experiments were analyzed to verify the analysis method.