Blast / Progressive Collapse Analysis

SC Solutions engineers are experts in the advanced numerical simulation techniques required for blast performance evaluation.  Structural demands due to blast loads resulting from malicious action, as well as accidental operational blasts, are usually considered in any performance evaluation of critical energy and transportation infrastructure. SC Solutions engineers have performed simulations to assess the performance of reinforced concrete and structural steel components under blast loading, the stability of cable-stay bridges after blast cable-cutting, and the performance of storage tanks on petrochemical facilities under accidental blast scenarios among others.

SC Solutions Blast Assessment Services

• Threat-Independent Structural System Progressive Collapse Analysis
  • Detailed and sophisticated modeling of the global structural system incorporating nonlinear geometry, nonlinear material response from elasticity to fracture/failure, and inclusion of connection failure
  • Automatic incorporation of dynamic amplification factors through explicit dynamic analyses
  • Automated implementation of the progressive collapse assessment criteria, e.g. UFC 4-023-03, in the nonlinear dynamic approach
• Threat-Dependent Component Response Analysis
  • Single-Degree-Of-Freedom (SDOF) preliminary evaluations
  • Detailed finite element modeling of the structural members/components
  • Coupled Mesh Free – Finite Element models
• Hybrid Threat-Dependent Global Analysis
  • Incorporation of detailed component models into the global structural system and solving the problem using SC Solutions High Performance Computing
• Blast Demand Assessment
  • Empirical Overpressure Impulse Demand Equations (ConWep): Automated application on structures based on the charge size/shape, stand-off distance, and angle of incidence
  • Estimation of the overpressure impulse demands through detailed CFD analyses
• Probabilistic Risk Assessment