Damage Assessment of Subway Station Columns Subjected to Blast Loadings

Abstract

With the increasing threat of terrorism attack, the probability of explosion inside the subway is very large. Reinforced concrete columns are the main supporting members of subway stations. If the columns of a subway station were subjected to near-field explosions, their damages can affect the safety of the subway after explosion. By using the finite element method, this paper established a coupling “explosive-air-concrete” model and verified the feasibility of the model through experiments. This model can be used in the damage assessment of subway station columns in terms of the bearing capacity, by which the damage of a reinforced concrete column can be divided into different levels. Furthermore, the effect of different parameters on the damage and bearing capacity of the subway station is discussed. The results demonstrate that the stirrup reinforcement ratio of a reinforced concrete is the key factor in determining the column damage under blast loadings. The present study therefore provides a key reference for assessing the damage of subway structures after terrorist attack.