Parametric Study of Blast Loads on Masonry Wallusing Hydrocodes

Abstract

The recent rise of terrorist attacks has reinforced the need for mitigation of damage caused by blast loading
on unreinforced masonry walls. The failure of masonry walls has been widely witnessed even in low magnitude blasts.
The failure of masonry often leads to flyingdebris resulting in loss of life and disabilities/injury to many people. The
primary goal of the techniques is to prevent the loss of life while simultaneously preserving the integrity of the structure.
This paper presents theparametric study of blast loads on confined masonry dry-stacked masonry walls by using
numerical techniques. It seeks to present the state of the art analytical hydrocodes such as ANSYS-AUTODYN. The
results have been obtained for the charge weight parameter of the explosivewith the blast analysis. Some parametric
studies of field interestwere also carried out for understanding the behaviour of masonry walls against blast loads
andderiving some useful conclusions. The numerical simulation technique can provide a theoretical referencefor the
design of walls and may help in reducing the requirement of extensive testing. The most significant parameter for
assessing the severity of damage in structures under blast loads is the scaleddistance. It has been demonstrated that the
use of confined dry-stacked masonry walls offers great potential walls to resist low or moderate blast loads and contain
flying debris.