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

Karagozian & Case and ACTA, Inc., are pleased to propose a nine-month Phase I SBIR project to demonstrate the feasibility of capturing the fidelity of high-fidelity physics based (HFPB) models in a fast-running format suitable for predicting the response of steel column/girder construction in steel frame buildings. It is anticipated that such models will be incorporated in certain modules of the Modular Effectiveness/Vulnerability Assessment (MEVA) code, developed for and currently used by the Air Force for assessing munitions effectiveness and target vulnerability. Current engineering models employ-resistance functions, regression analysis (e.g., in the form of P-I diagrams predicting member failure states) and other simplifying analytic approaches-in ways that are unnecessarily restrictive, thereby losing the fidelity inherent in HFPB models. For predicting the response of steel frame buildings, generalizations of these accepted techniques offer the means of overcoming restrictions that have limited both the fidelity and utility of conventional engineering/fast-running models. The new modeling techniques-incorporating higher fidelity physics, enhanced response/damage visualization, and improved stochastic modeling-would include the effects of steel column/girder connections on column/girder response, including the influence of column dead load, shear failure and buckling, all of which are missing from MEVA's current steel frame model.