Blast mitigation technologies: developments and numerical considerations for behavior assessment and design

One of the last frontiers in structural dynamics is the behavior of structures under the effects of impact and explosions. Many serious difficulties exist in material modeling, load definition, and selecting effective approaches for addressing the behavior of complicated geometrical domains in a structure. This situation is especially difficult when considering structural concrete systems. Traditional computational tools may not be of much help, and special attention must be given to their application. Nevertheless, significant success can be achieved by including careful modelling of structural resistance mechanisms and insuring a physics-based approach in the numerical simulations. This paper addresses the development and application of some computational approaches (advanced SDOF, FE, FD, hybrid FE/FD, and combined symbolic-numeric) in support of behavior assessment and design of structural concrete systems.