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Blast protection of civil infrastructures and vehicles using composites

Edited by N Uddin, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

 - reviews the role of composites in blast protection with an examination of technical issues, applications of composites and ceramic matrix composites
 - presents numerical examples of simplified blast load computation and an overview of the basics of high explosives includes important properties and physical forms
 - varying applications of composites for protection are explored including military and non-military vehicles and increased resistance in building columns and masonry walls

With the upsurge in terrorism in recent years and the possibility of accidental blast threats, there is growing interest in manufacturing blast ‘hardened’ structures and retrofitting blast mitigation materials to existing structures. Composites provide the ideal material for blast protection as they can be engineered to give different levels of protection by varying the reinforcements and matrices.

Part one discusses general technical issues with chapters on topics such as blast threats and types of blast damage, processing polymer matrix composites for blast protection, standards and specifications for composite blast protection materials, high energy absorbing composite materials for blast resistant design, modelling the blast response of hybrid laminated composite plates and the response of composite panels to blast wave pressure loadings. Part two reviews applications including ceramic matrix composites for ballistic protection of vehicles and personnel, using composites to protect military vehicles from mine blasts, blast protection of buildings using FRP matrix composites, using composites in blast resistant walls for offshore, naval and defence related structures, using composites to improve the blast resistance of columns in buildings, retrofitting using fibre reinforced polymer composites for blast protection of buildings and retrofitting to improve the blast response of concrete masonry walls.

With its distinguished editor and team of expert contributors, Blast protection of civil infrastructures and vehicles using composites will be a standard reference for all those concerned with protecting structures from the effects of blasts in both the civil and military sectors.

ISBN 1 84569 399 X
ISBN-13: 978 1 84569 399 2
March 2010
448 pages  234 x 156mm  hardback  
£140.00 / US$240.00 / €175.00

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About the editor

Dr Nasim Uddin is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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Contents

PART 1 INTRODUCTION
PART 2 APPLICATIONS

PART 1 INTRODUCTION

Blast threats and blast loading
D C Weggel, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
 - Introduction
 - Basics of high explosives
 - Some important explosive properties and physical forms
 - A generic explosive device
 - Blast waves in free air
 - Blast loading categories
 - Blast-induced load types and load cases
 - Threat assessment for design
 - Simplified blast load computation
 - Numerical examples of simplified blast load computation
 - Additional resources
 - References

Standards and specifications for composite blast protection materials
M Chalk, Solent Composite Systems Ltd, UK
 - Introduction
 - Why do we want standards?
 - Who is responsible for applying standards?
 - How should we interpret standards?
 - What is relevant for standards for composite blast protection products?
 - When will composite blast protection standards be used?
 - Where can standards be applied for the use of composites?
 - The future for standards and specifications for composite blast protection
 - Conclusion
 - Sources of further information and advice
 - References

Processing polymer matrix composites for blast protection
H Tan and K M Pillai, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
 - Introduction
 - Liquid composite molding (LCM)
 - Modeling of the mold-filling stage in liquid composite molding
 - Permeability measurement of liquid composite molding
 - Summary
 - References

High energy absorbing composite materials for blast resistant design
M Yang, University of Texas and P Qiao, Washington State University, USA
 - Introduction
 - Advanced and new materials for impact and energy absorption
 - Design philosophy for blast protection
 - Case studies of blast absorbing materials
 - Summary and concluding remarks
 - References

Modelling the blast response of hybrid laminated composite plates
A E Bogdanovich, 3TEX, Inc., USA
 - Introduction
 - Synopsis of 3D mosaic analysis approach
 - Numerical simulations of a structural response for blast loading: input
 - Formulation of the 3D dynamic boundary value problem
 - Numerical results of the blast response for the four panels
 - Comparison of the blast response characteristics for the four panels
 - Comparison of the blast response characteristics for a longer time interval
 - Effect of internal material damping
 - Comparisons of theoretical and experimental results
 - Summary and conclusions
 - Acknowledgements
 - References

Response of composite panels to blast wave pressure loadings
K Lee, Old Dominion University and S W Lee, University of Maryland, USA
 - Introduction
 - A comprehensive methodology for damage assessment
 - A simplified methodology for failure assessment
 - Numerical tests on flat laminated composite panels
 - Conclusions and future trends
 - References

PART 2 APPLICATIONS

Ceramic matrix composites for ballistic protection of vehicles and personnel
J J Schuldies, Industrial Ceramic Technology Inc. and R Nageswaran, SMAHT Ceramics Inc., USA
 - Introduction
 - Technology overview
 - Technology approach for improved ballistic protection
 - Impact of improved ceramic composites for ballistic protection
 - References

Developing mine blast resistance for composite based military vehicles
M French and A Wright, QinetiQ, UK
 - Introduction
 - Occupant injury mechanisms
 - Integrated vehicle survivability
 - The use of composite materials in vehicles
 - Mine blast loading of composite vehicle structures
 - Conclusion
 - References

Blast protection of buildings using fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites
P A Buchan and J F Chen, The University of Edinburgh, UK
 - Introduction
 - Consequences of an explosion
 - Assessing if a building requires protection from blast
 - General design guidance for blast protection of buildings
 - Retrofitting buildings for blast protection
 - Retrofitting buildings for blast protection using fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites
 - Future developments and trends
 - Sources of further information and advice
 - Conclusions
 - References

The use of composites in blast-resistant walls
L A Louca and A S Fallah, Imperial College London, UK
 - Introduction
 - Use of composites in strengthening applications
 - Use of composites in replacement applications
 - Use of composites in conjunction with metals
 - Concluding remarks
 - References

Using composites to improve the blast resistance of columns in buildings
M P Rutner, Weidlinger Associates, Inc., USA
 - Introduction
 - Design specifications
 - Objectives
 - Simulation and experiment
 - Modeling
 - Results and discussion
 - Observed failure mechanisms
 - Mitigation of the failure mechanisms
 - Comparative investigation of performance and residual capacity of the load bearing column
 - Establishing parameters affecting blast resistance of columns
 - Summary and conclusionsAcknowledgements. References.

Retrofitting using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) polymer composites for blast protection of buildings
G S Urgessa, George Mason University, USA
 - Introduction
 - Retrofitting structures for blast protection and the advantages of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite retrofits
 - The history of fiber-reinforced polymer composites as retrofits for out-of-plane loadings
 - Full scale blast testing of fiber-reinforced polymer retrofitted masonry walls
 - Fiber-reinforced polymer connection systems
 - Equivalent non-linear single degree of freedom model for fiber-reinforced polymer retrofitted structures
 - Resources for fiber-reinforced polymer composites
 - References

Retrofitting to improve the blast response of concrete masonry walls
L Moradi, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
 - Introduction
 - Types of concrete masonry walls
 - Blast load
 - Finite element models
 - Resistance function approach
 - Response model development
 - Summary
 - Notation
 - References