Corrected Method for Scaling the Structural Response Subjected to Blast Load

In scale-down tests of ship structures subjected to a blast load, the accuracy of the predicted response of a prototype is affected by the material substitution and geometric distortion between a scaled model and a full-size structure; this is known as incomplete similarity. To obtain a more accurate response from a prototype during small-size tests, a corrected method for scaling the response of thin plates and stiffened plates under a blast load was derived. In addition, based on numerical simulations of explosion responses by employing the elastic–plastic model and the Johnson–Cook constitutive model, it was found that using the average yield stress derived from the equivalent plastic strain energy in the ideal elastic–plastic model can obtain consistent structural responses. Moreover, a method for calculating the distortion factor caused by the yield stress of different materials was proposed. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the average effective plastic strain between the prototype and the corrected model is equal, and based on this, a similarity prediction method was established to correct the distortions caused by yield stress and the thickness of blast loaded plates. The results indicate that the proposed correction method can compensate for the differences caused by distorted factors of yield stress and thickness, with the maximum error in the structure’s peak displacement being less than 3%.