Response and Failure of Internal Structural Subsystems Under Blast and Shock Loading

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the ability to accurately predict the motions, structural response, and failure modes of internal structural components subjected to high-intensity airblast and ground shock loading. The cases of interest involve a surface flush, buried reinforced concrete cylinder that is expected to experience negligible damage, within which are contained aluminum and steel structures that may or may not be shock-isolated at the internal attachment points. The structures and subsystems are modeled in detail using the FLEX three-dimensional nonlinear transient analysis code. The analyses were carried out using the soil island approach to represent the local airblast-induced, direct-induced, and crater-related ground shock from a simulated nuclear explosion. A test involving only local airblast effects with hard-mounted internal substructures was conducted. Comparisons of data from this test with calculations will be presented. Calculations will also be included that show potential failure mechanisms for the internal subsystems and their causes.