Damage Evaluation and Protection Measurement of the Double-Column Pier Subjected to Explosion

In this paper, a numerical model of the “explosive-air-pier” coupling system is established by using finite element (FE) method. Through the parametric studies, the dynamic responses of the reinforced concrete (RC) double-column piers under typical explosion cases are analyzed. Taking the scaled distance and the pier diameter as the input vectors and the structural residual load-carrying capacity as the output vector, the Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) is trained to predict the damage index of the pier. The threshold curve of the pier damage level is fitted, by which it can be observed that the three critical scaled distances between the complete damage, the serious damage, the moderate damage and the slight damage are 0.7, 1.1, and 1.4 m/kg^1/3, respectively. To explore the effective wrapping mode to improve the structural explosion resistance, the numerical pier models reinforced by the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) material are established. The analysis results indicate that the partial wrapping of the CFRP at the pier bottom is more economical and efficient in the anti-explosion prevention.