Simplified Methodologies For Preliminary Blast-Resistant Design Of Precast Concrete Wall Panels

■ The authors have created a spreadsheet-based tool, following the normalization approach, for use during preliminary design. Precast concrete wall panels are commonly used for exterior building envelopes due to their installation efficiency, high quality control, and design flexibility. For facilities that are vulnerable to explosive threats, these panels often serve as the first line of defense against blast loading and are commonly detailed to resist these severe impulsive loads, in addition to conventional loading requirements. Blast demands are considered for antiterrorism and force protection applications, such as government buildings and military installations, or for facilities at risk of accidental vapor cloud explosions, such as petrochemical or industrial processing facilities. Due to the dynamic nature of blast loading conditions, specialized design and analysis methods are needed to quantify structural response and determine the extent of component damage following a blast event. These methods can be computationally expensive and require the knowledge and expertise of a blast design specialist. For these reasons, it is not always feasible for precast concrete producers to readily assess the blast-resistant performance of a wall panel system during the early design stages and bidding processes. This paper evaluates two simplified methodologies for the preliminary design of precast concrete wall panels to resist blast loading. Using efficient and computationally inexpensive approaches, these methods allow the user to rapidly assess the blast resistance of a given panel design, thereby facilitating a more accurate estimation of fabrication and installation costs during the bidding phase. An interactive design tool based on one of these methods has been developed by the authors to facilitate the evaluation of a broad range of panel constitutive parameters and increase Simplified methodologies for preliminary blast-resistant design of precast concrete wall panels