Blast performance parameters quantification of reinforced masonry walls

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The proposed research project aims at providing critically needed performance data of Reinforced Masonry(RM) building components under blast. The research is structured into three complementing Focus Areas thatcover a wide range of experimental and analytical work. Focus Area I aims at providing basic understanding ofthe behaviour of RM infill and shear walls under quasi-static out-of-plane loading. The goal of Focus Area II isto provide experimental evidence of the performance of RM walls under realistic blast loading conditions withdifferent pressure and impulse combinations to simulate real explosion scenarios. Both Focus Areas I and IIinclude a significant amount of analytical work to simulate wall behaviour. The analytical work involvesdeveloping wall resistance functions, design charts, and single- and multi-degree-of-freedom models. Theresearch work in Focus Area III complements the work in Focus Areas I and II through use of numericalmethods to model the blast wave-wall interaction and analyse the dynamic response of the walls tested in FocusArea II. In addition, using the experimentally calibrated numerical models, an extensive wall blast performancedatabase will be generated to cover different scenarios others than those tested in Focus Area III. Finally, theexperimental, analytical, and numerical model results will be integrated into a performance assessment tool thatwill facilitate rapid screening and performance evaluation of RM components under different accidental anddeliberate explosion scenarios.The research will provide unique training to four Ph.D., four Masters, four undergraduate summer researchassistants, and two technicians in different areas related to masonry wall behaviour, response to blast loads,structural dynamics, hardening strategies, experimental testing, and advanced analytical and numericalmodeling techniques. As such, the proposed research will contribute to urgently needed Canadian expertise inthe area of structural performance evaluation under blast loads.