Development of HFPB Structural Response Models for Steel Column/Girder Construction

Engineering-level tools for weapon/target interaction analysis, such as MEVA (Modular Effectiveness/Vulnerability Assessment) were developed in response to a need for a fast-running computer codes that could accurately model the penetration of a structure, and damage to the structure and its contents. In its current configuration, MEVA uses pressure impulse (P-I) curves to model steel structural component response and damage. However, there are fundamental limitations to these models. P-I curve type models: (1) do not account for connection behaviors, particularly connection failure related to member failure; (2) represent only a single mode of failure (i.e., flexural failure) and do not represent the several other important failure modes (e.g., shear and P-delta failures); (3) fail to account for the effects of axial loads on columns; (4) do not account for local failures due to close in detonations; and (5) do not account for fragment damage. This proposal seeks to develop fast running models (FRMs) based on high-fidelity physics-based finite element models for structural steel components. Such models are able to provide physics-based results, yet with the same rapid computational speed. The models proposed will predict the response of steel columns, girders, and connections to munitions.