Retrofitting of RC panels subjected to blast effects using elastomeric polymer coatings

This paper presents the findings from the experimental programme and Finite Element (FE) analysis performed to study the behaviour of polyurea coated RC panels subjected to blast effects. The overall findings of the research, including detailed experimental findings of three of the tested panels (one un-retrofitted and two polyurea coated panels), and the subsequent FE analysis performed to simulate the blast trials, are discussed in this paper. All 3 panels had dimensions of 1700 (L) x 1000 (W) x 60 (T) mm. Among the retrofitted panels, one panel was subjected to a 4mm polyurea coating on the non-blast facing face, whereas the other was coated with a 4 mm polyurea coating on both faces. All the panels were subjected to blast loads resulting from the detonation of 1.0 kg Ammonite charge placed at a 1.0m stand-off. Identical panels were then modelled and analysed using the explicit solver of the non-linear FE code, LS-DYNA. The results from both experimental programme and FE analysis suggest that while the polymer coating technique does enhance the resistance of the RC panels to the applied blast load, a higher level of protection is provided when the protective coating is applied on the blast facing face of the structure. © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group.