Numerical Study of the Effect of Sacrificial RC Slab on the Performance of Underground Arc Shaped Structures under the Explosion Load

With the increasing expansion of the technology for the production of high-tech military equipment, the need to build structures with acceptable resistance against explosion in vital centers increasingly felt. These structures as the facilities in times of peace and in times of war and natural disasters are contributing to saving lives. Due to the lack and limitation of experimental data for explosion problems, numerical modeling based on finite element method can help in designing and estimating the loads exerted on structures. In this research, the effects of sacrificial RC slab on the performance of underground arched shape RC structures with practical details under explosion load were studied. Ls-Dyna finite element software was used to solve the problem and optimized concrete arches under different levels of explosives were investigated. Results show that, if a sacrificial RC slab is placed on the crown of the study structure, no damage will occur in structure and structural damages will be concentrated in RC slab. However these damages will be increased with increasing of the explosives. On the other hand, sacrificial slab distributes the blast waves at a higher level of soil which in turn shield the structure against explosion. Consequently, the safety of the structure in terms of performance against blast loading will be increased significantly.