Importance of concrete material characterization and modelling to predicting the response of structures to shock and impact loading

This paper reviews the importance of concrete material characterization and modelling to predicting the response of reinforced concrete structures to impulsive loads using physics-based finite element models. Comparisons of several widely available concrete constitutive models are presented pertaining to their ability to reproduce basic laboratory data for concrete as well as predict the response of structures subjected to shock and impact loadings. The examples presented here illustrate important differences between the various models in addition to illustrating some key concrete behaviours that the models should be able to capture.