Numerical simulations for classification of blast loaded laminated glass: possibilities, limitations and recommendations

It is important to protect critical buildings (shopping centres, government buildings and embassies), infrastructure and utilities, train and underground stations against being damaged, destroyed or disrupted by deliberate acts of terrorism, criminal activity and malicious behaviour. Normal regulations and building guidelines do not generally take into account these threats. The introduction of appropriate regulations or guidelines, where deemed necessary, should, enhance the resilience of buildings and infrastructure against explosion incidents. In order to protect the built infrastructure, methods are required to quantify the resistance of structural components against explosive loading and to assess the hazards resulting from the failure of an element. The applicable state-of-the-art techniques may include either experimental or numerical methods, or a combination of both. Therefore, the thematic group (TG) on the resistance of structures to explosion effects was formed in order to bring the required expertise together, make it commonly available and to find and define harmonised methods and solutions which can be provided to the decision-makers responsible for critical infrastructure protection. The current report summarizes existing best practices for the numerical finite element modelling of blast loading, including the important topics of domain discretisation, implicit/explicit formulation, Lagrangian/Eulerian solvers, the mathematical description of the material behaviour etc. Furthermore recommendations for the modelling of laminated glass elements are formulated and knowledge gaps in this application area are pointed out. Hence the report builds the basis for an actual evaluation of the different numerical methods, their suitability to certain problems, and their capability to support/complement the experimental testing of glass components. It thus provides helpful information to design architects and engineers, and more generally to critical infrastructure stakeholders, responsible for the structural integrity and security of the infrastructure in case of an explosion.