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Description / Abstract:
INTRODUCTION
The design of concrete structures for blast resistance has been
of great interest to the military and other federal agencies for
several decades. In addition, certain specialized segments within
the engineering community have also had to consider blast loads on
structures as a result of potential accidents. For example, the
petrochemical industry has designed for blast resistance in their
facilities for many years. Even though there is considerable
history in the design of structures to resist blast effects
resulting from accidents or intentional acts, it is only recently
that the general structural engineering community has shown a
strong interest in the response of structures subjected to
explosions and other high-rate loading phenomena, such as
impact.
Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and
the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001, the
vulnerability of the nation's infrastructure to terrorism became a
top priority for many state and federal government agencies as well
as private consulting engineers. Though the significance of these
attacks greatly increased engineering interest in the design of
structures to resist extreme loads, statistics show that US
interests have been targeted by terrorists with increasing
frequency during the last several decades (U.S. Department of
State, 2003), leading to significant financial and personal losses.
As a result, the engineering community has learned important
lessons that have allowed for improved methods of analysis and
design to be developed. For example, lessons learned from the
Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the U.S. embassy attacks in
Tanzania and Nairobi in 1998 shaped present design guidelines for
prevention of progressive collapse.
While the field of blast- and impact-resistant design is not as
mature as other fields, such as seismic-resistant design,
historical events such as those described are important to note
because they help shape current practice and research interests.
Just as the field of seismic-resistant design has advanced by
learning lessons from past incidents, engineers working in
protective design can similarly benefit from being aware of
historical events and corresponding data. Although such information
is typically outside the scope of work routinely undertaken by
design engineers, awareness of these issues is important for
understanding potential threats and associated loads that may
result. While historical data can be used with reasonable
confidence for predicting natural loads such as earthquakes and
floods, the same claim cannot be made for man-made loads associated
with potential terrorist threats. Thus, the intent of the
discussion herein is to bring awareness to engineers and designers
that many factors can influence the loads to which a structure may
potentially be subjected, and it is only through awareness and
consideration of the factors that affect the threat environment
that engineers can estimate design loads.