An Experimental Study on the Dynamic Behavior of an Ultra High-Strength Concrete

Featured Application In recent years, a fast progress has been observed in the development of ultra-high-strength concrete (UHSC). This type of concrete is designed to achieve size efficiency in many structural members, especially those subjected to the impact and blast types of loading conditions. Numerical simulation of structures made of UHSC mixtures under such loading conditions requires an experimentally obtained stress-strain response for different strain rates so that this information may be fed into computer codes. Ultra-high-strength concrete is a newly developed construction material that has a minimum 120 MPa or higher compressive strength. Recently, the usage of high-strength and ultra-high-strength concretes has become widespread due to the enhancement of the concrete technology. Many civil engineering structures constructed by using concrete materials are usually subjected to, in addition to static loads, dynamic loads due to earthquakes, wind and storm, impact and blast, which take place under high energy and high strain rate values. The effects of such loadings on the structure must be understood thoroughly. In recent years, the withstanding of a structure on these loading conditions has become a crucial issue for its impact on the economy and human safety. One of the approaches to fulfill these requirements is to develop high-strength or ultra high-strength concretes (UHSCs). In this study, an ultra-high-strength concrete with a compressive strength of 135 MPa was designed and developed. In order to determine the dynamic behavior of this UHSC, the specimens at three height/diameter ratios (approximately, 0.6, 1.0 and 1.2) were extracted from the prepared concrete mixtures. These concrete specimens were tested to determine both the quasi-static and dynamic compressive behaviors of the developed concrete. In the quasi-static compression tests, cylindrical specimens and a conventional compressive testing machine were used. In order to study the dynamic compressive behavior, a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) test setup was used. In this test system, the time variations of compressive strength, the strain and strain rates under uniaxial pressure loading were experimentally evaluated and the deformation and fracturing processes of the specimens were recorded using a high-speed camera. The test results, based on the testing of 21 different specimens, have shown that the dynamic compressive strength values of the developed concrete varied in the range of 143 to 253 MPa, while the strain rate values varied in the range of 353 s(-1)to 1288 s(-1). Using the data generated in the SHPB tests, the parameters present in a Johnson-Holmquist-Cook concrete material model, which is used in numerical studies on the high strain rate behavior of concretes, were evaluated.