Dynamic Response Estimation of Constant Mass Steel Plates With Different Exposed Area Configurations Under Air Blast Loads

Abstract The air blast attacks are catastrophically increasing in the present era. However, optimization of material uses for an efficient protective structure design is the crucial task to improve structural integrity, human safety, and military protection. The exposed area of protective structures significantly changes the blast load distribution. Hence, in the present numerical study, the dynamic behavior of the same mass, same areal density, and equal exposed area of high-strength AL-6XN steel plates with different exposed area configurations is investigated under extreme air blast loads. The selected exposed area configurations, such as square, circular, hexagonal, and octagonal for the equal massed plate structures, are mirror symmetric about two planes. However, only their quarter parts (mass = 9 kg) were designed to minimize the computational costs. The findings of the study represented that the octagonal exposed area plates (OEAPs) have the highest deflection resistance, highest deformation resistance, smallest plastic deformation, smallest plastic dissipation energy (PDE), and smallest internal and kinetic energies, followed by those of hexagonal exposed area plates (HEAPs), circular exposed area plates (CEAPs), and square exposed area plates (SEAPs)under applied air blast loads. However, to design a huge protective structure such as naval ships and military vehicles, the joined small protective plates or windows having octagonal exposed area will provide the highest protection against blast attacks.