Performance of masonry heritage building under air-blast pressure without and with ground shock

ABSTRACT

In general, the blast-induced ground shock excites the foundation of the structure prior to the air-blast pressure because of the obvious reasons of difference in wave propagation velocities. However, the ground shock and air-blast pressure might act simultaneously on the structure for some standoff distance with a particular quantity of the explosive charge and cause severe damage than by air-blast pressure. Therefore, the ground shock and air-blast pressure both should be considered for estimating the structural response by such a near-field detonation. The objective of the present study is to assess the performance of the masonry heritage building under air-blast pressure without and with ground shock generated from on the ground spherical-shaped TNT explosive charge at varying standoff distances. The considered building is a heritage brick masonry structure in lime-surkhi mortar. The time lag between the ground shock and air-blast pressure for different scaled distances is evaluated. Stresses have been computed and are compared with the provisions of the Indian and Australian Standard Codes of Practice for Structural Use of Unreinforced Masonry. Also, the damage assessment has been carried out using the concrete-damaged plasticity (CDP) model available in the ABAQUS finite element program.

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage masonry buildings
• air-blast
• ground shock
• peak particle acceleration (PPA)
• explicit solver
• concrete-damaged plasticity (CDP) model
• damage
• cracks; brick masonry

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the computational facilities provided by the Head of the Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-110025, India, for carrying out the present finite element simulations. Special thanks are due to Professor T K Datta from the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110016, India, for his assistance in the blast dynamics.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S M Anas

S M Anas is a Ph.D. Scholar at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), Jamia Nagar, New Delhi – 110 025, India. He has a Bachelor of Technology degree from Sharda University and a Master of Technology degree from Jamia Millia Islamia. Anas has a research interest in blast dynamics, blast strengthening techniques, damage assessment, and finite element modelling.

Md. I. Ansari

Md. Imteyaz Ansari is an energetic and optimistic person with excellent mathematical and analytical skills possesses a keen interest in ensuring the safety and physical integrity of buildings and other structural systems. Dr. Ansari got his doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. He is currently working at the Department of Civil Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), Jamia Nagar, New Delhi – 110 025, India. Presently his area of research deals with the structural behavior under extreme loading conditions.

Mehtab Alam

Mehtab Alam is a professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), Jamia Nagar, New Delhi – 110 025, India. Dr. Alam received his B.Sc. degree from Aligarh Muslim University, UP, India in 1985. He received his M. Tech and a Ph.D. degree in Structural Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India in 1990 and 1999. His main research area includes: Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Structures, Impact Mechanics, Recycling of demolished Concrete Waste, Skin Reinforced Concrete, Earthquake Disaster and Crisis Management.