Interaction between concrete cladding panels and fixings under blast loading

This paper reports the interaction between concrete cladding panels and fixings under explosive blast lending. A dynamic finite element analysis was carried out using DYNA3D. Generally, the natural period of vibration of normal size cladding panels is much longer than the duration of positive blast loaning, which dictates that the response of the panel is influenced by the blast impulse. Forces transferred to the fixing are highly dependent on the panel stiffness and the plastic deformation developed in the panel. While the axial force in the fixing varies little with the ductility ratio of the panel, both shear force and bending moment in the fixing increase with increasing ductility ratio. All force components have to be considered in the fixing design. (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Limited.