Structural Response Models for Masonry and Stud Walls

An eight month, $99,918 Phase I SBIR effort is proposed for demonstrating the feasibility of generating fast-running models to predict the response of masonry walls to cased munitions effects. The models will be based on the results of high-fidelity physics based models. Project scope includes walls of brick, structural clay tile, adobe, and stone masonry, plus wood and metal stud walls. Proposed innovative features include application of combined blast and fragment loads to finite element models of masonry walls, use of finite element models to represent attachment failure for metal stud walls, and use of probabilistic three-dimensional P-I-I surfaces as the fast-running model. Phase I will primarily address validation of the high-fidelity models, definition of parameters and their ranges, evaluation of analytical options for characterizing the wall's residual capacity, and investigation of the 3D P-I-I surface methodology. The primary deliverable will be a final technical report summarizing all findings and establishing a clear work plan for Phase II.