Experimental study on scaling the explosion resistance of a one-way square reinforced concrete slab under a close-in blast loading

Abstract Full-scale experiments involving actual geometries and charges are complicated and costly in terms of both preparation and measurements. Thus, scaled-down experiments are highly desirable. The present work aims to address the scaling of the dynamic response of one-way square reinforced concrete slabs subjected to close-in blast loadings. To achieve this objective, six slabs of two groups were tested under real blast loads. Three slabs with different scale-down factors were investigated using two scaled distances. Two major damage levels were observed, namely, spallation damage from a few cracks, and moderate spallation damage. The test results show that the macrostructure damage and fracture in the experiments are almost similar. However, the local damage in concrete slabs with larger-scale factors is slightly reduced compared with that of slabs with smaller-scale factors. Two empirical equations are proposed based on the results to correct the results when scaling up from the model to the prototype.