Numerical study on the blast behavior of RC fences strengthened with high-strength strain-hardening cementitious composites
Author(s)
Wu, Chao
Mahmoud, Mohamed M
Chen, Shang-Jun
Topa, Ameen
Hou, Chuan-Chuan
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper presents a numerical study on the blast performance of reinforced concrete (RC) fences strengthened with high-strength strain-hardening cementitious composite (HS-SHCC) using finite element (FE) modeling. In the FE model, the MAT_72R3 material model is calibrated and verified against analytical method to accurately simulate the material characteristics of HS-SHCC. A comparative study between RC and HS-SHCC fences subjected to blast loading is conducted to assess the potential of HS-SHCC as a replacement material for protective structures. The results demonstrate that the HS-SHCC fence outperforms the RC fence in terms of smaller maximum and residual deflection, reduced damage, and debris. The study further investigates the strengthening of existing RC fences with layers of HS-SHCC under dynamic and impulsive blast loadings. The response, failure modes, strain distribution, and energy dissipation are compared to identify the most effective strengthening configuration for each blast loading regime. Results show that, for dynamic blast loading, the front strengthened RC fence demonstrates better performance and higher blast resistance due to the high tensile capacity of HS-SHCC, which effectively resists flexural damage. Conversely, the back strengthened RC fence exhibits notable improvement and higher blast resistance under impulsive blast loading as the back HS-SHCC layer protects the RC fence against local punching shear failure.
Date Issued
2026-04-01
Date Acceptance
2025-07-15
Citation
Advances in Structural Engineering, 2026, 29 (5), pp.871-892
ISSN
1369-4332
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Start Page
871
End Page
892
Journal / Book Title
Advances in Structural Engineering
Volume
29
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Identifier
10.1177/13694332251363360
Subjects
blast load
concrete
CONCRETE
Construction & Building Technology
DYNAMIC-RESPONSE
Engineering
Engineering, Civil
finite element (FE) model
high strength strain-hardening cementitious composites (HS-SHCC)
PANELS
RESISTANCE
Science & Technology
strengthening
Technology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
13694332251363360
Date Publish Online
2025-07-31