Influences of interpretations of boundary conditions on nonlinear finite element analysis of a concrete column under near-field blast loading

Inhalt:
Due to the accompanying severe consequences of explosions, the blast puts a great threat to public security. Nonlinear finite element analysis is a possible method for civil engineers to check the integrity of the structures under blast loading without underestimating the limit of the structures. However, different interpretations of the boundary conditions may lead to huge differences in computational expenses and analytical results. Therefore, how should civil engineers simulate the boundary conditions to gain relatively accurate numerical results with acceptable computational efforts is of great interest. In this article, 5 different interpretations of the same physical situations are discussed, and experimental results are used as the baseline for judgment, which could help to indicate the proper simplifications in the set-up of finite element models.