Comparison between Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Frames and Shear Walls under Blast Loading

Nowadays explosion in city centers and residential building areas is a dangerous threat to all buildings. Bomb explosion within or nearby a building can cause catastrophic damage to the buildings external and internal structural frames. The analysis and design of structures subjected to blast loads require a detailed understanding of blast phenomenon and the dynamic response of various structural elements subjected to blast loads. Comparison between response and behavior of reinforced concrete frame and shear wall systems under blast loading is rare in literature. In this paper, response of the RC frames subjected to lateral blast loads is investigated using explicit finite element (ABAQUS). This paper also examines the response of RC moment frames subjected to lateral blast loads and compares it with concrete shear wall system. A nonlinear finite element program is used to model 1 to 3 stories RC moment frames and concrete shear walls. In this study, displacement, stress, damage type and strain energy in the models under blast loading are compared. According to the main results, damage pattern of moment frames is concentrated in base columns and beam to column joints. In the shear wall models damage is distributed through beams, columns, joints and shear walls. Also, energy absorption in shear wall system is much more than moment frame.