Plastic dynamic response of simply supported thick square plates subject to localised blast loading

Abstract

Localised blast loads due to proximal charges are encountered in a variety of circumstances. This paper proposes an analytical solution for the dynamic plastic response of a rigid-perfectly plastic thick square plate subject to a localised explosion. The proposed model is an extension of the analytical model proposed by Micallef et al [1] to study circular plates which is adopted and modified in order to study impulsively loaded square plates where the effect of shear deformation is included. A piecewise continuous blast load function was assumed with axisymmetric spatial distribution of constant pressure in the central zone and exponentially decaying beyond it. Using the constitutive framework of limit analysis and incorporating the interactions between bending moment and transverse shear forces in the analyses, transverse displacement and response duration were examined on three classes of plates, classified according to the length to thickness ratio parameter ν. The results were furnished in terms of the impulsive velocity, which is a function of the localised blast load parameters. A theoretical solution for plates with ν > 2 was sought for the non-impulsive blast loads. Parametric studies were performed to elucidate the effect of loading parameters and plate thickness on the permanent deformation. The theoretical solutions have been found generic and can predict, by the correct choice of the load parameters, the dynamic response of most blast load scenarios brought about by proximal or distal charges. It was found that, for proximal impulsive blasts, the effect of transverse shear becomes irrelevant for even moderate values of ν which effect is inconsequential on both central and endpoint displacements at discontinuous interface in the range of ν > 5. Since the short duration pulse is of concern, localised pressure loads affect only a small area of the plated structures. Thus, whilst the theoretical treatments also examine the fully clamped plates, the boundary conditions in such loads do not influence the overall response of the structure compared to the static or global blast loads.