Author(s)

D Makovicka

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is the presentation of theoretical and partly experimental results of research of the dynamic response of brick masonry wall in closed building structure to gas explosion the period of which is comparable with the natural vibration period of the analyzed wall structure. The paper is based on a theoretical and an experimental analysis of the response of the structure of selected type (geometry) to various types of shock pressure waves produced by the explosion of a gas-air mixture. The typical history of wall response (in the initial phase) of this transition phenomenon is almost identical with the shape of the loading pulse, which can be observed both in displacements and in stresses. After these transition vibrations have subsided the masonry wall vibrates in the mode which represents the superposition of natural modes with the vibration loops near the point of load application and/or with the frequencies approaching the period of load application producing the opening of the first cracks. The analysis presented in the paper is concerned with a rectangular brick masonry structure used for experimental verification of its bearing capacity. The paper derives the principles of the failure of the masonry structure also for this type of relatively long effect of the explosion of gas-air mixtures and relates them to the results of previous experiments with masonry structures loaded by a relatively very short impact wave.

Keywords