Evaluation of the design space for reinforced concrete building components subject to blast loading

As the built environment becomes more complex, designers must consider extreme loading when it is necessary to anticipate structural response to rare hazards in addition to the expected loading conditions associated with intended use of a structure. Designing structures to withstand blast loading events can often lead to unnecessary excess material usage. This thesis presents a process of design space exploration utilizing a single degree of freedom analysis for fixed-fixed reinforced concrete beams and one-story single bay reinforced concrete frames subjected to blast loading. This process is used to help understand the relationship between mass, ductility, robustness, and dynamic shear, which are referred to as design objectives for each system. In particular, the effects of geometry, steel reinforcing ratio, and standoff distance are explored to understand their impact on the behavior of each system. Understanding the design space by relating the design objectives, loading characteristics, and structural properties can aid in focusing protective design in the preliminary stages to achieve more efficient designs that ensure safety while minimizing added mass

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Luster, Brian T.(Brian Todd)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gordana Herning.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127287

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/127287