RESEARCHERS at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, have developed a framework that can boost protection of critical infrastructure in the country against the threat of ballistic missiles, according to officials. The framework will help designers develop innovative solutions for improving the ballistic resistance of reinforced concrete(RC) panels,theysaid. The findings of the research were published in reputed peerre viewed journal “Reliability Engineering & System Safety”.

 

Using computational simulations,theresearchersstudied the impact of missiles on RC, whichisthemainmaterialused to construct vital structures rangingfrommilitary bunkers, nuclear power buildings and bridges to runways. According to Alagappan Ponnalagu,assistantprofessor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, concrete structures face highly localised damage such as penetration,perforation,scabbing, spalling and crushing under projectile impact load. “Due to the strategic importance of these structures, it is necessary to protect them against projectile and debris impact, which can result in localised damage or even the collapse of the entire structure,” he said. Ballistics is a field of engineering that deals with the launching,flight behaviour,and impact effects of projectiles such as bullets, bombs, and rockets.

 

This science is used not only for designing bunkers,but also for designing the walls of nuclear power buildings, bridges, and other protective structures. The researchers conducted the study during ‘Finite Element’ (FE) simulation, a computational technique used to simulate and analyse physical phenomenain engineering and science. “FE simulation relies on the Finite Element Method (FEM), a numerical approachfor solving complex problems involving partial differential equations.

 

These problems often arise in fields like structural mechanics, among others.The researchers focused on the development of the novel performance-based design framework based on ‘Depth of  Penetration’ (DOP) and Crater Damage Area in the RC panels. “In addition to that, a probabilistic formula for estimating the crater diameter in RC panels is proposed. The study is helpful not only interms of providing the ballistic design framework and probabilistic crater quantification formula, but also in understanding the ballistic behaviour of RC panels,” he said.