The work presented herein sets out to investigate experimentally, via drop-weight testing, the behavior of slender reinforced concrete (RC) beam specimens under impact loading. During testing, the behavior of each specimen is established through the combined use of conventional instrumentation and a high-speed video camera. The primary objective of this work is to investigate the reasons that trigger the observed shift in specimen behavior (compared to that established from static tests) with increasing levels of applied loading rate and intensity. Analysis of the test data reveals that during drop-weight testing only a portion of the element span reacts to the applied load (as indicated by the deformation and cracking profiles recorded) which in turn affects the mechanics underlying specimen behavior and therefore, significantly influencing the mode of failure ultimately exhibited.The observed localized response becomes more prominent by increasing the loading rate and intensity of the imposed impact loading. In addition to the above, the strain-rate sensitivity of the material properties of concrete does not appear to have a significant effect on the behavior of the specimens tested. The aforementioned observations appear to be in conflict with current design practice raising questions concerning the effectives of the design solutions produced.
The effect of the loading-rate on the dynamic response of reinforced concrete members under impact loading is investigated numerically through the use of three-dimensional dynamic nonlinear finite element analysis. The package employed is capable of realistically accounting for the triaxiality and the brittle nature characterising concrete material behaviour as well as the characteristics of the problem at hand, a wave propagation problem within a highly nonlinear medium. Due to the availability of tests data, the present study focusses on investigating the effect of impact loading on the behaviour of reinforced concrete beam specimens. The numerical predictions obtained provide detailed insight into the mechanisms underlying RC structural response and offer a quantitative description of the effect of loading-rate on certain important aspects of the exhibited behaviour. Based on the numerical predictions obtained, a physical model is proposed which is capable of realistically describing the behaviour of the RC structural elements under high rates of concentrated loading. The proposed physical model links the observed shift in structural response to the localised experimentally established and/or numerically predicted behaviour with increasing rates of applied loading. Its formulation is based on the use of the Compressive Force Path method which is capable of realistically describing the behaviour of a wide range of reinforced concrete structural configurations at their ultimate limit state under both static and seismic loading conditions.
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