Blast Resistant Design Technology and Its Use in Antiterrorism Protection of Structures

The purpose of this paper is to discuss current blast resistant design technology and demonstrate how it has been used in the protection of structures against future terrorist attacks. The paper will discuss historical and current approaches used to determine structural response to blast loading. The paper will demonstrate the impact of advanced finite element methods in the design of structures to resist blast loading with emphasis on economical construction and better understanding of complex response modes. Discussion of the critical need for test validation of advanced methods will be included.