Corrugated panels under dynamic loads

Corrugated panels are commonly used as blast walls on offshore installations, and an assessment of their response to dynamic pressure loads needs to be made during design. Although detailed numerical models are commonly used, simplified models based on spring-mass idealisations, such as Biggs’ method, are still important for preliminary design. Based on an earlier static formulation, the dynamic response of a corrugated panel (as characterised by its central deflection) subjected to a uniformly distributed pressure pulse is analysed. A simplified theoretical method is built up and new transformation factors for panels with straight endplates are derived. The method is calibrated against corresponding finite element and experimental results. Good agreement is achieved.