Author(s)

D. Makovička & D. Makovička Jr.

Abstract

This paper deals with determining the dynamic response of a standard office building to a nearby explosion due to a charge of explosives typically concealed in a motor vehicle. This particular case concerns the arrival of a truck with a terrorist charge of explosives initiated at some distance from the building. The structure selected for the dynamic analysis is a simple four-storey building with masonry walls and reinforced concrete floors, of a type widely used for administrative purposes. The response of the structure loaded by the pressure wave was computed by the methodology of equivalent static analysis, and a direct dynamic analysis was also made. The results of the two methods are used for a comparison of their information capacity with reference to the actual behaviour of the structure. Keywords: building, explosion load, dynamic response, damage. 1 Load due to the explosion effect The effect of the magnitude of the explosion load was determined for different magnitudes of the explosive charge and for different distances from the structure of the assessed building. In this case, the explosion of the charge can be considered as a surface explosion of a concentrated charge for all assessed variants of the source location. Simplification of the charge of explosives in a truck to a concentrated charge is justified, since even in the case of a relatively large quantity of explosives (of the order of hundreds of kilograms) the whole charge will explode simultaneously at the moment of initiation.

Keywords

building, explosion load, dynamic response, damage.