Civil and Defense Structures Evaluation

APTEK has conducted extensive structural response studies to determine the ability of buildings to withstand explosive attacks such as would be used by terrorist organizations. We have also studied means to retrofit buildings using composite materials to strengthen them against the explosive attacks. APTEK has conducted extensive pre and post test analysis of hardened structures, both above-ground and buried, to understand the response of hardened structures to explosive and fragment loads such as might be delivered by above ground explosives or earth penetrating explosive weapons. The primary analytical tools used for this work are two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element structural response codes.

The hard target work was based on the development by APTEK of an advanced material model for reinforced concrete for use in finite element structural response codes. The APTEK concrete model provided the most accurate predictions of measured responses of blast loaded reinforced concrete structures for 7 of 9 refereed competitions against two other contractors. The successful APTEK concrete material model was subsequently modified by APTEK for use in highway crash safety studies.

Material Models:

• Concrete Model 159 called MAT_CSCM for Continuous Surface Cap Model.
• Soil Model 147 called MAT_FHWA_SOIL.

Related Publications:

• Computational Modeling of Underground Tunnels in Intact and Jointed Rock
• Numerical Simulation of Damage in Concrete