Concrete under High Strain Rates: Local Material and Global Structure Response to Impact Loading

Abstract

Impact experiments are presented in this work. In order to analyse the behaviour of concrete under high strain rates, an impact mass is dropped from the maximum height of 9 m onto square concrete slabs with a side length of 1 m. Slabs of different concrete strengths are tested, thus the behaviour of standard concrete slabs is compared to the one of high performance concrete (HPC) and ultra high performance concrete (UHPC). Furthermore, the influence of subsequent fabric reinforcement is analysed. Different measurement techniques are used during the test procedure to study the relation of local damage and global structure behaviour. For instance, photogrammetry is used for monitoring the vertical displacement during the deflection of the concrete specimen. Beside measurement technique, stamping cone and damage effects due to the impact load are evaluated. Comparing the concrete specimen with or without additional fabric reinforcement, enormous differences in resistance to impact load and in penetration of the impactor are seen.