Soil-structure interaction analysis of a 5-kg HDR explosive test

This report summarizes a nonlinear 3-D finite-element, soil-structure interaction analysis of dynamic response to a 5-kg explosive blast test performed on the containment building of the Heissdampfreaktor (HDR) in Germany in 1979. The modeling of the explosive source, site, and building for use in the TRANAL computer code was partially based on information obtained from previous tests. Comparison of analytical results with the test measurements shows that the analysis simulates superstructure response better than it does the foundation response. This is attributed to the uncertainties associated with the source and site modeling. Considering the complexities of the soil-structure system, the correlation between analysis and test results is reasonably good. The use of information from prior dynamic tests is seen to have enhanced the predictive capability of the analytical model. 10 figures