Numerical Simulation of Blast Loaded CFRP Retrofitted Steel Plates

Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit (BISRU), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

^* Corresponding author: steeve.chungkimyuen@uct.ac.za

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a numerical study to simulate the response of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) retrofitted steel plates to applied blast loads using finite element software, LS-DYNA. The results of the simulation were validated against plate response and magnitude of deformation obtained from previous experiments. The uniform blast load was generated in the experiment by detonating a cylindrical charge down the end of a square tube. The finite element code LS-DYNA was used to simulate the structural response of the respective blast structures. For the numerical model, the blast load was simulated using the mapping feature available in LS-DYNA for the multi-material arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (MM-ALE) elements which significantly reduced the size of the air domain in the model. The simulations showed a satisfactory correlation with the experiments for the blast results and post-failure deformations that occurred in CFRP retrofitted steel plates.