PSI - Issue 66

Umberto De Maio et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 66 (2024) 486–494 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2025) 000–000

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behavior is simulated by using the plasticity approach explained in Section 2.2. The geometric and boundary conditions of the structure are reported in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Geometric and boundary conditions of the tested structure.

The material properties of the masonry and concrete materials, employed for brick and shell elements, are reported in Table 1.

Table 1. Material properties of the masonry and concrete. Elastic modulus [MPa] Poisson ratio Shear modulus [MPa]

Fracture energy [N/m]

Tensile strength [MPa]

Compressive strength [MPa]

Masonry Concrete

3000

0.2 0.2

340

55

0.035

3

22000

-

120

3

30

The numerical results obtained from the analysis are illustrated in Figure 5. Specifically, Fig. 5a presents the structural response in terms of maximum pressure versus the out-of-plane displacement at Point A (refer to Fig. 4). The curve demonstrates that after the peak load, which is attributed to the initial strong fluid impact on the wall, the out-of-plane displacement stabilizes at approximately 0.55 mm, indicating that the structure remains stable without collapsing. However, some plastic deformation is observed in the frontal wall, particularly concentrated in the lower and middle regions, suggesting localized damage due to the pressure. In addition to this, the contour plots shown in Fig. 5b and 5d depict the distribution of stress and plastic strain on the wall. From these figures, it is evident that the plastic strain accumulates progressively with time, with the highest concentrations in the areas near the base and around structural discontinuities. These regions are more vulnerable due to reduced stiffness, contributing to the localized failure. Moreover, the analysis suggests that although the overall structure withstands the fluid impact without global collapse, the damage pattern reveals potential weak points that could compromise the structural integrity under repeated loading conditions or more intense impacts. These results underscore the importance of further investigating reinforcement strategies, such as the application of composite materials (Christensen et al., 1996; De Maio et al., 2024c; Triantafillou and Fardis, 1997), in the critical zones to enhance the structure's resilience under dynamic loads