Performance of reinforced concrete elements subjected to extreme loads

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The increasing occurrence of extreme loads, those demonstrating dynamic characteristics such as earthquake excitations, tsunami-induced hydrodynamic forces, and maliciously-intended blast loading, has brought to the fore the escalating threat to our infrastructure, life safety, and economic stability.  The recent terrorist bombings of the London, England Subway System on July 7, 2005, the resort island of Bali, Indonesia on October 12, 2002, and the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, and the catastrophic events of the Asian Tsunami of 2004, and the Pakistani Earthquake of 2005 have demonstrated that such hazards are not easily suppressed and continue to disturb society's quest for safety and security.  Terrorist experts agree that it is only a matter of time before Canada is targeted by terrorist activity.   Modern building codes, however, have explicitly only provided guidelines for the forces that arise due to the ground shaking experienced during an earthquake - little attention has been given to the actions of blast loading on civilian structures and the effects of hydrodynamic forces on shoreline structures.     This proposal is focused specifically to address the performance of critical reinforced concrete elements subjected to maliciously-intended blast loading.  The applicant's experience in constitutive and nonlinear finite element modeling and large-scale testing for extreme loads provides the expertise for this study. The short term objectives are: 1. To develop capacity relationships for critical structural elements to evaluate damage for a given blast event and determine residual load-bearing capacity for progressive collapse analysis. 2. To advance seismic detailing methodologies to improve blast-resistant design of critical elements in new construction, such that damage due to progressive collapse is mitigated. 3. To assess retrofit techniques for critical elements in existing structures to mitigate the blast hazard and impede progressive collapse.