Blast mitigation of irregular buildings equipped with resilient passive control systems

The present study investigates the performance of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings plagued with plan irregularities subjected to underground blast-induced excitations. The effect of blast load is considered by assuming a constant charge weight and varying standoff distances. The present study compares the performance of resilient control systems namely fluid viscous dampers and X-plate dampers installed within the RC buildings subjected to blast loading. The study evaluates the performance of an 11-storey building having plan geometries namely square, rectangle, L-shaped and C-shaped subjected to blast loadings. Unlike seismic performance, the irregular buildings perform better as compared to regular buildings with and without dampers when subjected to blast vibrations. The plan area of the selected buildings is kept constant to compare the blast performance. The study also reviews the efficiency of three damper placement techniques, namely all locations, zig-zag pattern and dampers at alternate floors in mitigating the performance of selected buildings. The prime aim of the study is to examine the most efficient passive control technique in mitigating the performance of RC buildings. The study concludes that both fluid viscous dampers and X- plate dampers enhance the building performance when subjected to blast loadings.