Ductility and residual strength-based blast resistance evaluation of RC columns with various structural details

Abstract

To evaluate blast resistance of reinforced concrete columns, structural engineers have used two different types of performance criteria: (1) ductility demand, and (2) residual strength demand. This inconsistency of the performance limits may overestimate/underestimate the blast resistance of reinforced concrete columns for designing structural details. This study aims to investigate ductility- and residual strength-based blast resistance of reinforced concrete columns with various structural details (longitudinal and transverse reinforcement details, and axial loading ratio), which can affect their lateral resisting capacities and failure modes. To accomplish this research goal, finite element column model was developed and validated with the previous experimental studies. The validated column models with various ranges of the main parameters were simulated under blast loading scenarios to estimate the effects of the column details on the blast resistance and compare the blast resistance results between the two different blast performance criteria. The identical blast performance results obtained from the different blast demands were only observed at the lowest and highest damage levels. The ductility-based evaluation method mainly overestimated the damage levels than those from the residual strength-based method. It is concluded that integrated performance criteria with displacement and strength is needed to enhance the reliability of the blast resistance evaluation. © 2025