Design of steel-concrete composite walls subjected to low-velocity impact

Steel-concrete composite (SC) walls are composed of two steel plates and a concrete core. Experiments have shown that SC walls have excellent resistance to impact loadings, which is a great advantage for the applications in safety-related nuclear facilities. This paper presents an energy method for evaluating the maximum deformation of SC walls under low-velocity impact. The design requirements and flow for SC walls are proposed in three aspects: (i) local failure, (ii) maximum deformation, and (iii) damage degree. The parameters affecting the local failure and damage degree are discussed. The design method is applied to a sample SC wall in the AP1000 nuclear facility to validate its feasibility and provides a simplistic tool for researchers and engineers. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.