Comparative impact behaviours of ultra high performance concrete columns reinforced with polypropylene vs steel fibres

Polypropylene(PP) fibres have primarily used to control shrinkage cracks or mitigate explosive spalling in concrete structures exposed to fire or subjected to impact/blast loads, with limited investigations on capacity improvement. This study unveils the possibility of using PP micro-fibres to improve the impact behaviour of fibre-reinforced ultra-high-performance concrete(FRUHPC) columns. Results show that the addition of fibres significantly improves the impact behaviour of FRUHPC columns by shifting the failure mechanism from brittle shear to favourable flexural failure. The addition of steel or PP fibres affected the impact responses differently. Steel fibres considerably increased the peak impact force(up to 18%) while PP micro-fibres slightly increased the peak(3%-4%). FRUHPC significantly reduced the maximum midheight displacement by up to 30%(under 20°impact) and substantially improved the displacement recovery by up to 100%(under 20° impact). FRUHPC with steel fibres significantly improved the energy absorption while those with PP micro-fibres reduced the energy absorption, which is different from the effect of PP-macro fibre reported in the literature. The optimal fibre content for micro-PP fibres is 1% due to its minimal fibre usage and low peak and residual displacement. This study highlights the potential of FRUHPC as a promising material for impact-resistant structures by creating a more favourable flexural failure mechanism, enhancing ductility and toughness under impact loading, and advancing the understanding of the role of fibres in structural performance.

Experimental study on the size effect on the equation of state of concretes under shock loading

Adopting the classical theory of hydrocodes,the constitutive relations of concretes are separated into an equation of state(EoS)which describes the volumetric behavior of concrete material and a strength model which depicts the shear properties of concrete.The experiments on the EoS of concrete is always challenging due to the technical difficulties and equipment limitations,especially for the specimen size effect on the EoS.Although some researchers investigate the shock properties of concretes by fly-plate impact tests,the specimens used in their tests are usually in one size.In this paper,the fly-plate impact tests on concrete specimens with different sizes are performed to investigate the size effect on the shock properties of concrete materials.The mechanical background of the size effect on the shock properties are revealed,which is related to the lateral rarefaction effect and the deviatoric stress produced in the specimen.According to the tests results,the modified EoS considering the size effect on the shock properties of concrete are proposed,which the bulk modulus of concrete is unpredicted by up to 20% if size effects are not accounted for.

Damage response of conventionally reinforced two-way spanning concrete slab under eccentric impacting drop weight loading

Reinforced concrete(RC)structures are generally designed to carry quasi-static gravity loads through almost indispensable components namely slab,however,it may be subjected to high intense loads induced from the impact of projectiles generated by the tornado,falling construction equipment,and also from accidental explosions during their construction and service lifespan.Impacts due to rock/boulder falls do occur on the structures located especially in hilly areas.Such loadings are not predictable but may cause severe damage to the slab/structure.It stimulates structural engineers and researchers to investigate and understand the dynamic response of RC structures under such impulsive loading.This research work first investigates the performance of 1000×1000×75 mm^(3)conventionally reinforced two-way spanning normal strength concrete slab with only tension reinforcement(0.88%)under the concentric impact load(1035 N)using the finite element method based computer code,ABAQUS/Explicit-v.6.15.The impact load is delivered to the centroid of the slab using a solid-steel cylindroconical impactor(drop weight)with a flat nose of diameter 40 mm,having a total mass of 105 kg released from a fixed height of 2500 mm.Two popular concrete constitutive models in ABAQUS namely;Holmquist-Johnson-Cook(HJC)and Concrete Damage Plasticity(CDP),with strain rate effects as per fib MODEL CODE 2010,are used to model the concrete material behavior to impact loading and to simulate the damage to the slab.The slab response using these two models is analyzed and compared with the impact test results.The strain rate effect on the reinforcing steel bars has been incorporated in the analysis using the Malvar and Crawford(1998)approach.A classical elastoplastic kinematic idealization is considered to model the steel impactor and support system.Results reveal that the HJC model gives a little overestimation of peak displacement,maximum acceleration,and damage of the slab while the predictions given by the CDP model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental test results/observations available in the open literature.Following the validation of the numerical model,analyses have been extended to further investigate the damage response of the slab under eccentric impact loadings.In addition to the concentric location(P1)of the impacting device,five locations on a quarter of the slab i.e.,two along the diagonal(P2&P3),the other two along the mid-span(P4&P5),and the last one(P6)between P3 and P5,covering the entire slab,are considered.Computational results have been discussed and compared,and the evaluation of the most damaging location(s)of the impact is investigated.It has been found that the most critical location of the impact is not the centroid of the slab but the eccentric one with the eccentricity of 1/6th of the span from the centroid along the mid-span section.

Behavior of traditional concrete dams and three-dimensional printed concrete dams under the debris flow impact

This study investigated the resilience of traditional concrete dams compared to 3D printed concrete dams(3DPC)when subjected to debris flow.Three types of dams,namely check dams,arch dams,and curve dams,were numerically analyzed using a three-dimensional Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian(CEL)methodology.The research focused on critical factors such as impact force and viscous energy dissipation to compare dam performance.Additionally,the study examined the printing and service phases of 3DPC models,determining potential failure modes and analyzing printing parameters.The results demonstrated that 3DPC dams outperformed traditional concrete dams,with filament deposition orientation,perpendicular to the debris flow direction,identified as a pivotal factor.Infill percentage and pattern were also found to influence the behavior of 3DPC models.Notably,curved dams exhibited superior performance based on dam geometry.These findings have significant potential for advancing the development of resilient dam structures capable of withstanding debris flow impacts.

Assessing the Impact of Fugitive Dust Emissions from Cement Silos at Cluster of Concrete Batching Facilities Using Air Dispersion Modeling

This research assessed the environmental impact of cement silos emission on the existing concrete batching facilities in M35-Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. These assessments were conducted using an air quality dispersion model (AERMOD) to predict the ambient concentration of Portland Cement particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) emitted to the atmosphere during loading and unloading activities from 176 silos located in 25 concrete batching facilities. AERMOD was applied to simulate and describe the dispersion of PM10 released from the cement silos into the air. Simulations were carried out for PM10 emissions on controlled and uncontrolled cement silos scenarios. Results showed an incremental negative impact on air quality and public health from uncontrolled silos emissions and estimated that the uncontrolled PM10 emission sources contribute to air pollution by 528958.32 kg/Year. The modeling comparison between the controlled and uncontrolled silos shows that the highest annual average concentration from controlled cement silos is 0.065 μg/m3, and the highest daily emission value is 0.6 μg/m3;both values are negligible and will not lead to significant air quality impact in the entire study domain. However, the uncontrolled cement silos’ highest annual average concentration value is 328.08 μg/m3. The highest daily emission average value was 1250.09 μg/m3;this might cause a significant air pollution quality impact and health effects on the public and workers. The short-term and long-term average PM10 pollutant concentrations at these receptors predicted by the air dispersion model are discussed for both scenarios and compared with local and international air quality standards and guidelines.

Constitutive model for concrete subjected to impact loading

To better design and analyze concrete structures, the mechanical properties of concrete subjected to impact loadings are investigated. Concrete is considered to be a two-phase composite made up of micro-cracks and solid parts which consist of coarse aggregate particles and a cement mortar matrix. The cement mortar matrix is assumed to be elastic, homogeneous and isotropic. Based on the Moil-Tanaka concept of average stress and the Eshelby equivalent inclusion theory, a dynamic constitutive model is developed to simulate the impact responses of concrete. The impact compression experiments of concrete and cement mortar are also carried out. Experimental results show that concrete and cement mortar are rate-dependent. Under the same impact velocity, the load-carrying capacity of concrete is higher than that of cement mortar. Whereas, the maximum strain of concrete is lower than that of cement mortar. Regardless of whether it is concrete or cement mortar, with the increase in the impact velocity, the fragment size of specimens after experiment decreases.

Combined effect of steel fibres and steel rebars on impact resistance of high performance concrete

The impact properties of normal concrete (NC) and reinforced concrete (RC) specimens,steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) specimens and RC+SFRC specimens with different steel fibre dosages were investigated with the drop-weight impact test recommended by ACI Committee 544.The results indicate that the number of blows to final failure is greatly increased by addition of steel fibres.Moreover,the combination of steel fibres and steel rebars demonstrates a significant positive composite effect on the impact resistance,which results in the improvement in impact toughness of concrete specimens.In the view of variation of impact test results,the two-parameter Weibull distribution was adopted to analyze the experimental data.It is proved that the probabilistic distributions of the blows to first crack and to final failure of six types of samples approximately follow two-parameter Weibull distribution.

Damage modeling of ballistic penetration and impact behavior of concrete panel under low and high velocities

This work presents a numerical simulation of ballistic penetration and high velocity impact behavior of plain and reinforced concrete panels.This paper is divided into two parts.The first part consists of numerical modeling of reinforced concrete panel penetrated with a spherical projectile using concrete damage plasticity(CDP)model,while the second part focuses on the comparison of CDP model and Johnson-Holmquist-2(JH-2)damage model and their ability to describe the behavior of concrete panel under impact loads.The first and second concrete panels have dimensions of 1500 mm1500 mm150 mm and 675 mm675 mm200 mm,respectively,and are meshed using 8-node hexahedron solid elements.The impact object used in the first part is a spherical projectile of 150 mm diameter,while in the second part steel projectile of a length of 152 mm is modeled as rigid element.Failure and scabbing characteristics are studied in the first part.In the second part,the comparison results are presented as damage contours,kinetic energy of projectile and internal energy of the concrete.The results revealed a severe fracture of the panel and high kinetic energy of the projectile using CDP model comparing to the JH-2 model.In addition,the internal energy of concrete using CDP model was found to be less comparing to the JH-2 model.

Dynamic impact of boulders on different types of concrete dam

Concrete dams are reliable when subjected to static loads such as earth pressure and water pressure.However,the dam failure would be abrupt and catastrophic if it is impacted by boulders.This study simulated the dynamic response of flat dam,concave dam,and convex dam under the impact of boulders by using ANSYS/LS-DYNA finite element software.In the numerical simulation,the strain rate effect under the impact load is considered,and Holmquist-Johnson-Cook(HJC)model-a dynamic damage constitutive model is applied to concrete materials.Results show that the peak impact force of concave dam is minimum.Meanwhile,for different dam types(flat dam,concave dam,and convex dam)and impactor velocities(5,10,and 15 m/s),the impact force fluctuates with the height of the impact point and it reaches the maximum value when the height of the impact point is 2/3 of the dam height.Numerical simulation mainly considers different masses and velocities and obtains empirical formulae of impact force for three dam types.The established empirical formula for the flat dam is compared with the existing classical formula and several similar experimental tests.It was found that the newly empirical formulae are reasonable and effective,and it provides design suggestions for similar concrete dams.

Effect of Calcium Carbonate Whisker on Impact Toughness of Precast Concrete

The impact toughness and compressive strength of concrete added with calcium carbonate whisker are studied.It is found that calcium carbonate whisker can significantly improve the impact energy consumption at failure of 55℃steam cured concrete,but has limited impact on 90℃steam cured concrete.At the same time,SEM,XRD and LF-NMR were used to study the micro morphology,hydration product components and pore structure of the concrete,and the mechanism of the influence of calcium carbonate whisker on the impact toughness and compressive strength of concrete was analyzed.

Comparative Analysis of PM10 Emission Rates from Controlled and Uncontrolled Cement Silos in Concrete Batching Facilities

This research study quantifies the PM10 emission rates (g/s) from cement silos in 25 concrete batching facilities for both controlled and uncontrolled scenarios by applying the USEPA AP-42 guidelines step-by-step approach. The study focuses on evaluating the potential environmental impact of cement dust fugitive emissions from 176 cement silos located in 25 concrete batching facilities in the M35 Mussafah industrial area of Abu Dhabi, UAE. Emission factors are crucial for quantifying the PM10 emission rates (g/s) that support developing source-specific emission estimates for areawide inventories to identify major sources of pollution that provide screening sources for compliance monitoring and air dispersion modeling. This requires data to be collected involves information on production, raw material usage, energy consumption, and process-related details, this was obtained using various methods, including field visits, surveys, and interviews with facility representatives to calculate emission rates accurately. Statistical analysis was conducted on cement consumption and emission rates for controlled and uncontrolled sources of the targeted facilities. The data shows that the average cement consumption among the facilities is approximately 88,160 (MT/yr), with a wide range of variation depending on the facility size and production rate. The emission rates from controlled sources have an average of 4.752E-04 (g/s), while the rates from uncontrolled sources average 0.6716 (g/s). The analysis shows a significant statistical relationship (p < 0.05) and perfect positive correlation (r = 1) between cement consumption and emission rates, indicating that as cement consumption increases, emission rates tend to increase as well. Furthermore, comparing the emission rates from controlled and uncontrolled scenarios. The data showed a significant difference between the two scenarios, highlighting the effectiveness of control measures in reducing PM10 emissions. The study’s findings provide insights into the impact of cement silo emissions on air quality and the importance of implementing control measures in concrete batching facilities. The comparative analysis contributes to understanding emission sources and supports the development of pollution control strategies in the Ready-Mix industry.

Enhanced air-coupled impact echo technique by phase analysis of signals from multiple sensors

This paper presents an air-coupled impact echo(IE)technique that relies on the phase spectrum of the collected data to find the frequencies corresponding to the reflections from delaminations.The proposed technique takes advantage of the fact that the IE compression wave is not a propagating wave,but it is the 1st order symmetrical(S1)mode Lamb wave at zero group velocity(S1-ZGV).Therefore,it searches the phase spectra of the data collected by multiple sensors to locate the frequency corresponding to the lowest phase difference.As a result,the technique reduces the effect of propagating waves,including the direct acoustic wave and ambient noise.It is named the Constant Phase IE(CPIE).The performance of the CPIE is experimentally compared with the regular amplitude spectrum-based IE technique and two other multisensor IE techniques.The CPIE shows a performance advantage,especially in a noisy environment.

Quantitative Assessment on the Embodied Environmental Impact of Concrete with or without Fly Ash

According to the life cycle assessment and the environmental design method of industry prnduction, a quantitative assessment model for the embodied environmetal impact of concrete with or without fly ash was proposed. The environmental burden impact indicator （ EBII ）, the resources depletion impact indicator （RDII）, and the environmental impact comprehensive indicator （EICI） are defined. The specific environmental impact values of different grade concretes with or wittout fly ash were presented. In the embodied process of concrete with or without fly ash, the key potential environmental impact categories are global warming and dust endsskin, and it is an effective way for reducing the embndied environmental impact of concrete to mix fly ash and lower grade cenwat . The method presented in this paper makes it possible to quantitatively assess the embodied environmental impact of concrete with or without .fly ash. The results calculated in this paper can be used to quantitatively assess the life cycle environmental impact of construction materials and buildings.

Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Plate Impacted by Block

A new concept of structurally dissipating rock-shed (SDR) was developed by the lab of Tonello IC and LOCIE-ESIGEC (France). To decide the dimension of the plate used in SDR, an ANSYS model which could simulate the impact of rock in the centre of the plate was established by Fabien Delhomme. By using this model, some finite element analyses are carried out in the present paper. Firstly, a plate impacted by a block is numerically simulated, the numerical results obtained from different mesh sizes are compared and the accuracy of the finite element model is verified. Then, the dynamic response of the plate impacted at the boundary and in the medium part is computed. By analyzing the stress in rebar, the most dangerous region of impact of plate was found. For a rectangular plate, the most dangerous region is at the corner of the plate when a block drops in. Finally, the whole deformation process of the plate under dropping block was simulated and a simplified definition (effect zone) to describe the deformation process in different positions of plate was given. From this study, it is found that the impact only affects heavily within the effect zone.

Low Velocity Impact Response and Failure Assessment of Textile Reinforced Concrete Slabs

Present paper proposes a methodology by combining finite element method with smoothed particle hydrodynamics to simulate the response of textile reinforced concrete(TRC)slabs under low velocity impact loading.For the constitutive modelling in the finite element method,the concrete damaged plasticity model was employed to the cementitious binder of TRC and Von-Mises criterion was used for the textile reinforcement.Strain dependent smoothed particle hydrodynamics(SPH)was used to assess the damage and failure pattern of TRC slabs.Numerical simulation was carried out on TRC slabs with two different volume fraction of glass textile reinforcement to predict the energy absorption and damage by coupling finite element method with SPH.Parametric studies were also conducted for simulating the effect of number of textile layers in TRC under impact.It is concluded that the proposed methodology well predicts the damage in TRC slabs at various locations.The results were also analysed using two parameter Weibull distribution and the impact failure strength is presented in terms of reliability function.The results indicated that the Weibull distribution allows describing the failure in terms of reliability and safety limits.

Strength Evaluation of Normal Strength and Self-compacting Reinforced Concrete Beams under the Effect of Impact Loading

This paper is devoted to investigate experimentally the strength evaluation of normal strength and self-compacting reinforced concrete beams under the effect of impact. The experimental work includes investigating of eight （180×250×1,200 ram） beam specimens. Three variables are adopted in this paper： tensile reinforcement ratio, type of concrete （NSC （normal strength concrete） or SCC （self-compacting concrete）） and height of falling （dropped） ball （1 m or 2 m）. The experimental results indicated that the number of blows increased with increasing of tensile reinforcement ratio and compressive strength by about 35% and 123%, respectively. Maximum mid-span deflection was increased with increasing falling height and decreased with increasing reinforcement ration and concrete compressive strength. The increasing of concrete compressive strength is more effective than increasing of the reinforcement ratio, it appeared that the percentage of increasing exceeds 50%. The ultimate strength is decreased with increasing the falling height for about 34%-44%.

Punching and Local Damages of Fiber and FRP Reinforced Concrete under Low-Velocity Impact Load

In recent years, the development and application of high performance fiber reinforced concrete or cementitious composites are increasing due to their high ductility and energy absorption characteristics. However, it is difficult to obtain the required properties of the FRCC by simply adding fiber to the concrete matrix. Many researchers are paying attention to fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) for the reinforcement of construction structures because of their significant advantages over high strain rates. However, the actual FRP products are skill-dependent, and the quality may not be uniform. Therefore, in this study, two-way punching tests were carried out to evaluate the performances of FRP strengthened and steel and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber reinforced concrete specimens for impact and static loads. The FRP reinforced normal concrete (NC), steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC), and PVA FRCC specimens showed twice the amount of enhanced dissipated energy (total energy) under impact loadings than the non-retrofitted specimens. In the low-velocity impact test of the two-way NC specimens strengthened by FRPs, the total dissipated energy increased by 4 to 5 times greater than the plain NC series. For the two-way specimens, the total energy increased by 217% between the non-retrofitted SFRC and NC specimens. The total dissipated energy of the CFRP retrofitted SFRC was twice greater than that of the plain SFRC series. The PVA FRCC specimens showed 4 times greater dissipated energy than for the energy of the plain NC specimens. For the penetration of two-way specimens with fibers, the Hughes formula considering the tensile strength of concrete was a better predictor than other empirical formulae.

Study of damage to a high concrete dam subjected to underwater shock waves

To study the effect of a strong underwater shock wave on a concrete dam, this research aims to improve hammer impact methods in model tests. Six 1:200 scale models were designed and tested under distributed impact loads. A device was deployed for a direct measurement of the impact force at the upstream face of the dams. The model dam bases were anchored to prevent displacement. The experimental results indicate that the top part of the concrete dam is a weak zone, and the impact failure initiates with a fracture on the top of the dam. The peak value of impact stress increases when the second crack appears in the concrete dam from the upstream face to the downstream face. And, the level of the second crack in the dam body is lower as the peak value of impact stress increases. In this study, dynamic analysis was conducted by calculating the results to verify the effectiveness of a device to directly measure the impact force. This method may be used to approximately forecast the damage of concrete dam and may also be useful in other engineering applications.

Modeling of Normal Perforation of Reinforced Concrete Slabs by a Rigid Projectile

An analytical model on the normal perforation of reinforced concrete slabs is constructed. The effect of reinforcing bars is further hybridized in a general three-stage model consisting of initial cratering, tunnelling and shear plugging. Besides three dimensionless numbers, i. e., the impact function I, the geometry function of projectile N and the dimensionless thickness of concrete target X, which are employed to predict the ballistic performance of perforation of concrete slabs, the reinforcement ratio Ps of concrete and the tensile strength fs of reinforcing bars are considered as the other main factors influencing the perforation process. Simpler solutions of ballistic performances of normal perforation of reinforced concrete slabs are formulated. Theoretical predictions agree well with individual published experimental data.

Dynamic Mechanical Behaviour of Ultra-high Performance Fiber Reinforced Concretes

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concretes （UHPFRC） were prepared by replacing 60% of cement with ultra-fine industrial waste powder. The dynamic mechanical behaviour of UHPFRC with different fiber volume fraction was researched on repeated compressive impact in four kinds of impact modes through split Hopkinson pressure bar （SHPB）. The experimental results show that the peak stress and elastic modulus decrease and the strain rate and peak strain increase gradually with the increasing of impact times. The initial material damage increases and the peak stress of the specimen decreases from the second impact with the increasing of the initial incident wave. Standard strength on repeated impact is defined to compare the ability of resistance against repeated impact among different materials. The rate of reduction of standard strength is decreased by fiber reinforcement under repeated impact. The material damage is reduced and the ability of repeated impact resistance of UHPFRC is improved with the increasing of fiber volume fraction.