Conclusions from experimental testing of blast resistance of FRC and RC bridge decks

According to recent publications, from 2005 to 2008 there were more than 13,000 terrorist attacks around the world, which took more than 73,000 human lives. The attacks were targeted mainly on the technical and civic infrastructure, such as governmental buildings and bridges, etc. Due to improved ductility, fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) shows better performance under blast and impact loading compared to conventionally reinforced concrete. Field tests of FRC and reinforced concrete specimens were performed in cooperation with the Czech Army corps and Police of the Czech Republic in the military training area Boletice. The tests were performed using real scale reinforced concrete precast slabs with varying fiber content and concrete strength class and 25 kg of TNT charges placed in a distance from the slab for better simulation of real in-situ conditions. This paper presents conclusions from two sets of tests and results of their numerical evaluation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.