Influence of transverse reinforcement on perforation resistance of reinforced concrete slabs under hard missile impact

Abstract

This paper describes the work conducted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) related to the influence of transverse reinforcement on perforation capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs under “hard” missile impact (impact with negligible missile deformations). The paper presents the results of three tests on reinforced concrete slabs conducted at VTT Technical Research Centre (Finland), along with the numerical simulations as well as a discussion of the current code provisions related to impactive loading.Transverse reinforcement is widely used for improving the shear and punching strength of concrete structures. However, the effect of this reinforcement on the perforation resistance under localized missile impact is still unclear. The goal of this paper is to fill the gap in the current literature related to this topic.Based on similar tests designed by the authors with missile velocity below perforation velocity, it was expected that transverse reinforcement would improve the perforation resistance. Three slabs were tested under almost identical conditions with the only difference being the transverse reinforcement. One slab was designed without transverse reinforcement, the second one with the transverse reinforcement in form of conventional stirrups with hooks and the third one with the transverse reinforcement in form of T-headed bars. Although the transverse reinforcement reduced the overall damage of the slabs (the rear face scabbing), the conclusion from the tests is that the transverse reinforcement does not have important influence on perforation capacity of concrete slabs under rigid missile impact. The slab with T-headed bars presented a slight improvement compared to the baseline specimen without transverse reinforcement. The slab with conventional stirrups presented slightly lower perforation capacity (higher residual missile velocity) than the slab without transverse reinforcement. In conclusion, the performed tests show slightly better performance of slabs with transverse reinforcement in form of T-headed bars compared to the slabs with conventional stirrups with hooks with regards to perforation capacity under hard missile impact.Non-linear dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete slabs under impact loading by rigid missile was analyzed using the commercial Finite Element (FE) code LS-DYNA. FE blind predictions based on Winfrith concrete material model were compared to the tests on slabs with and without transverse reinforcement. The FE predictions obtained were in general agreement with tests. Two different types of transverse reinforcement were examined (stirrups and T-headed bars) using simplified models. Similar to the tests, the FE predictions show that transverse reinforcement localizes damage induced by missile impact but does not increase the perforation resistance of the concrete slab. FE predictions also showed that T-headed bars perform better than stirrups, providing approximately the same perforation resistance and smaller damaged area comparing with a slab with longitudinal reinforcement only. Additionally, FE modeling was conducted for two different slab thicknesses to assess the effect of the thickness.