Experimental Behavior of High-Strength Concrete One-Way Slabs Subjected to Shock Loading

Abstract

The design to resist blast loading is required in many private and governmental buildings. The research presented in this thesis characterizes the response of high strength concrete panels, reinforced with high strength vanadium steel, subjected to blast loading under controlled conditions. This work is intended to provide valuable data to study numerical models such as the commonly used single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) models. The experimental procedure used and data collected from high-strength reinforced concrete (RC) slabs, having two different high-strength reinforcement ratios subjected to shockwave loadings using a blast load simulator are presented in this thesis. The pressure, impulse, and deflection time histories generated from the experiments along with the predicted panel deflection and damage responses are presented. The pressure impulse (PI) curves developed using a SDOF model are compared with the experimental data. Damage assessment generated from the blast load simulator experiments and a comparison of experimental behavior of high strength RC slabs with regular strength RC slabs, having two different Grade 60 regular-strength reinforcement ratios, are also presented. These results showed that while the regular strength slabs with regular strength reinforcing steel experienced slightly higher experimental deflections that the high strength slabs with high strength reinforcing steel, the reinforcement spacing or reinforcement ratio, played a more significant role in both experimental and numerical maximum peak deflections for both the regular strength concrete slabs reinforced with regular strength steel and the high strength concrete slabs reinforced with high strength steel. Experimental quantification of the dynamic resistance curves showed that the slabs with smaller longitudinal reinforcement spacing had greater ductility and post-yield behavior. Furthermore, a parametric study was performed, using the same SDOF model, comparing various high-strength concrete slab thicknesses with varying highstrength reinforcement ratios for maximum numerical deflection. The results from this study showed that the thicker slabs with larger reinforcement ratios yielded smaller maximum numerical deflections than those of the thinner slabs with smaller reinforcement ratios. Finally, the concrete damage patterns of the panels are shown and described.