My aim in undertaking this research was to identify those specific aspects that would be incorporated within any design process in designing for blast loadings to above ground structures in the Australian environment. Structural engineers are presently forced to use Standards, Codes and Technical Manuals to apply blast loadings to above ground structures during the design process from overseas countries such as America and the United Kingdom. Australian Standards are available to design for design loadings such as dead loads, live loads, wind loads, and earthquake loads but not blast loads. My thesis will investigate and recommend the design criteria as well as design strategies considered applicable for the Australian environment that could be incorporated into an Australian Blast Loading Standard. Blast loadings occur during "Controlled Demolitions" from a deliberately designed explosive demolition (Implosion) of an above ground structure and an "Uncontrolled Demolition" resulting from a bombing event with normally an unknown charge weight and type of explosive. The latter is the most difficult for a structural engineer to design for in advance as he only has past historical events to help him identify the type of explosive that may be used by a bomber within the Australian environment and a charge weight (kg) that is likely to be detonated. In other words, what is the explosive threat from bombings on Australian soil and has it been identified? A detailed literary review covering all aspects of the topic coupled with the use of suitable computer simulation software such as ABAQUS, ELS (Extreme Loading of Structures), LS-DYNA and CONWEP to investigate blast loading of above ground structures was carried out to arrive at suitable recommendations. Although there are suitable and proven overseas codes, standards, etc. that can and are being used extensively within Australia at present to accommodate blast loadings Australia has does not have its own home grown technical documentation to refer to and this is considered unacceptable in 2018. We have never considered and identified the Australian threat in case of an "uncontrolled" demolition (bombing) and by that it is meant what type of explosives would be used (military or civilian) and what is the likely charge weight (kg) that would be detonated against a target. This is unfortunately the case even though we have had several terrorist attacks in Australia since the 1970"s and experienced a major bombing close by in Bali Indonesia in 2002 where many Australians were killed as a result of several bombings with one of particular interest being a 1.02 tonne charge weight car bomb classified as a "homemade" thermobaric (Chan and Meyers, 2005) bomb. The charge in this case was manufactured at home with readily available explosive products purchased locally. With several implosions (controlled demolitions) failing over the years tighter design considerations are needed for the safety of the public. Apart from researching in depth the topic there is a need to articulate the design criteria that applies as well as the strategies that need to be employed to institute such designs in relation to both blast and ballistic loadings. This aspect is particularly critical as designers are using overseas design codes and manuals that may not fit the Australian environment. In other words, we might be importing into our environment designs that are over conservative and inappropriate and susceptible to error during their implementation within designs on Australian soil - why?
Date of Award | 2018 |
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Original language | English |
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- blast effect
- buildings
- design
- Australia
- explosions
Design criteria for blast loadings in the Australian environment with special reference to controlled and uncontrolled implosions
McKenzie, G. J. (Author). 2018
Western Sydney University thesis: Doctoral thesis