Load Shape Influence on Dynamic Structural Response

This paper presents an investigation into the influence that various idealized load shapes applicable to design in both the oil refining and chemical processing industry and the Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) community have on the dynamic response of structural components. Although the most typical idealized load shape has an instantaneous rise to peak overpressure with a linear decay to ambient pressure over the duration of the load, other idealized load shapes that include a finite rise time to peak overpressure typically expressed as a ratio of the load duration are also used. More specifically, this paper explores the difference in structural damage between shock and blast pressure loading that are typically associated with detonations and deflagrations, respectively. As is common practice, Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDOF) based pressure-impulse (P-i) damage curves for positive phase loading are utilized to compare load shape effects on dynamic structural component response. This paper also addresses the implications that the assumption of simplified, idealized blast load shapes for low fidelity analysis has on the assessment of structural component response.