Simplified non-linear analysis of plates subjected to hydrocarbon explosions

An elastic Lagrangian formulation for an unstiffened plate subject to blast loading is presented. Building on a previous formulation, which accounted for membrane strains from purely out-of-plane displacement, the addition of in-plane stretching highlights the importance of membrane action. Numerical results of the resulting system of non-linear differential equations from the new model are compared with a non-linear finite element analysis package in terms of the various displacements and membrane strains, with good correlation.