Experimental Study of Masonry Structure under Impact Loading and Comparing it with Numerical Modeling Results via Finite Element Model Updating

Given the sophisticated nature of the blast phenomenon in relation to structures, it is of significance to accurately investigate the structure behavior under blast loads. Due to its rapid and transient nature, blast loading is one of the most important dynamic loadings on the structures. Since masonry materials are widely used as the partition and bearing walls in the existing and newly-built structures, the current research aims to investigate the buried blast effects on unreinforced masonry structures. In order to apply the blast load on a crater as time history, it is required to determine the maximum free field pressure caused by the blast. Accordingly, Finite Element Model Updating (FEMU) was used to calculate the maximum free-field pressure. Thus, for a non-linear dynamic analysis of a blast-loaded structure, a code written in FORTRAN was used. Mohr-Coulomb yield surface with tensile and compression cap and classic Mohr-Coulomb yield surface were used for the structure and the soil modeling, respectively. The comparison of the numerical analysis results in FEMU to field data shows a good consistency between the numerical results and the field data.