Collateral air blast damage. Interim report, May 1977--March 1978

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6099325

Rempel, J R; Wiehle, C K

SRI International has been participating in a program to develop a collateral damage methodology for evaluating air blast damage to existing structures that would result from the use of tactical nuclear weapons in small towns and villages located in Western Europe. To increase the applicability of the SRI structural element computer programs for collateral damage predictions, a building subsystem program was developed. The program, BRACOB (Blast Response and Collapse of Buildings), simultaneously analyzes the response of all exterior walls on one story level of a building. The program will calculate the separate responses of exterior unreinforced masonry walls to an air blast that sweeps over the building at normal incidence. Three kinds of input are required: air blast description (e.g., peak free-field overpressure, weapon yield, and ambient conditions), floor plan information and wall structural properties (e.g., density, flexural strength, and in-plane vertical load). The program detects wall collapse and, after each collapse, changes the floor plan accordingly. Calculation continues until either the blast wave has passed through the entire building or all of the walls have collapsed. The final floor plan is output in any case.

• Research Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6099325
• Report Number(s): AD-A-060798
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
450200* -- Military Technology
Weaponry
& National Defense-- Nuclear Explosions & Explosives
BLAST EFFECTS
BUILDINGS
CIVIL DEFENSE
DETONATION WAVES
DYNAMIC LOADS
EUROPE
EXPLOSIONS
FAILURES
NATIONAL DEFENSE
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
SHOCK WAVES
URBAN AREAS