Numerical study of a new multi-arch double-layered blast-resistance door panel

The blast-resistant structures, such as blast door panels, are traditionally designed and fabricated with solid materials of huge weight to resist blast or high velocity impact loads. This not only increases the material and construction costs, but also undermines the operational performance of the protective structures. To overcome these problems, many researchers have tried to use high-strength materials and different structural forms in structural design to resist the high blast and impact loads. This study introduces a new configuration of a double-layered panel with a structural form of multi-arched-surface. Its blast loading resistance capacity and energy absorption capacity are numerically investigated by using finite element code Ls-Dyna. To calibrate the numerical model, some existing panels are also modeled. The results are compared with existing numerical and testing data. A good agreement between them is obtained. The calibrated numerical model is used to simulate the dynamic responses of the proposed panels with different number of arches subjected to blast loading. The peak and permanent displacements of center point of internal layer, internal energy absorption and boundary reaction force of different panels are calculated and compared. It is found that the proposed new multi-arched panel performs better than other forms of panels in resisting the blast loadings. In order to maximize the structural performance of the multi-arched panels, parametric studies are also carried out to investigate the effects of panel configurations on the blast-resistance capacity of multi-arched panels with the same weight of structure material. The optimal design of the proposed multi-arch double-layered panel is determined. The optimal design of the proposed panel is also compared with the traditional blast door design by considering the damage criteria from the existing codes. It demonstrates that the panel with this new structural form can sustain higher blast loads. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.