Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/K008153/1
Title:	Structural performance of slab-column connenctions under impact and blast loading
Principal Investigator:	Sagaseta, Dr J
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Arup Group Ltd Swiss Federal Inst of Technology (EPFL)
Department:	Civil and Environmental Engineering
Organisation:	University of Surrey
Scheme:	First Grant - Revised 2009
Starts:	04 February 2013	Ends:	04 August 2014	Value (£):	99,642
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Civil Engineering Materials
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Aerospace, Defence and Marine Construction
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 31 Jul 2012 Engineering Prioritisation Meeting - 31 July Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
This project is primarily concerned with the structural performance (strength & deformation capacity) of flat slab-column connections in reinforced concrete (RC) structures subjected to impact and blast loading. Flat slabs have been widely used in construction in the UK and worldwide due to their low cost and quick construction. Over the last 30 years, the interest on RC structures with high resilience to impulsive loads due to impact and blast has increased significantly to improve protection against the threat of terrorist acts targeting infrastructure or industrial accidents such as gas explosions or vehicle collisions. These extreme events can have catastrophic consequences in terms of human losses, economic losses and environmental impact. Structures that are required to resist high dynamic loads are for example office buildings and parking garages with high levels of threat (e.g. diplomatic buildings or important centres for business and transportation), industrial and storage facilities, nuclear power plants, protective barriers and some bridge piers. Previous research suggests that design against blast loading should be risk-based in which the type, probability and consequences of the event need to be examined against the costs of the protection and the assumed potential loss. The reliability of this type of analysis depends greatly on the accuracy in the estimation of the behaviour of the structure against impact or blast loading. The prediction of the residual strength of RC structures subjected to impulsive loading can be extremely challenging due to strong material nonlinearities and the influence of high strain rates on the behaviour. Shear mechanisms generally govern the response of RC structures subjected to impulsive loads and joint regions are generally critical. Shear failures have been observed experimentally even in members that were designed for static loading to fail in a ductile flexural manner. This is concerning since shear failures are brittle and can lead to progressive collapse of the structure. The dynamic effects on punching shear and progressive collapse are not well understood in RC structures and up to date there is no known physical model to predict the strength and deformation capacity of punching shear under impulsive loading. The principal aim of this project will be to provide a theoretical model for the design and analysis of slab-column connections under impulsive loading which can be used in practice by researchers and designers. Existing experimental data will be used to validate the model and non-linear dynamic FE analysis will be carried out to support the theoretical model.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website:	http://www.surrey.ac.uk