Concrete spall damage of UHPC slabs under contact detonation - An experimental investigation

Abstract

Concrete spallation is a typical brittle damage mode under close-in or contact explosions. Upon concrete spallation, a large number of fragments displace from the concrete surface with high speed and these fragments endanger the personnel and equipment shielded by the concrete member. It is therefore important to have a better understanding on the concrete spall phenomena. In the present study, contact explosion tests are carried out on concrete slabs. Four slabs including two made of normal strength concrete (NRC) and two ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) slabs are tested. Different size of contact explosives are used in the tests. Test observations are compared with the predictions made by available empirical methods.