Blast 1
Blast 1
WA 6845, Australia
ABSTRACT
Conventional concrete works as an important construction material.
However, conventional concrete is known to be brittle and prone to tensile
failure and cracks. To overcome such defects and improve the dynamic
performance of concrete against extreme loading conditions, concrete
with different additions and formulae have been developed. In a recent
study, to develop ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) material with
better strength and crack control ability, super fine aggregates with high
pozzolanic effect were mixed into the steel fibre reinforced concrete
instead of the traditional graded coarse aggregates. Furthermore, to
achieve high early age strength, nanoscale additives which can accelerate
the hydration process of the ordinary Portland cement were also introduced
into the concrete composite. A series of uniaxial compression and four-point
bending tests had been performed in the laboratory to get the material
properties of this innovative concrete material. Great improvement of the
concrete uniaxial compressive strength and flexural tensile strength was
observed. Field blast tests were carried out on columns made of this UHPC
material. Superior blast resistance performance was observed. In the current
study, based on the available test data, numerical models are developed
and numerical simulations are carried out. The simulation results are found to
comply well with the experimental results.
Key words: steel fibre, nano-additive, UHPC, static tests, blast tests,
numerical simulation
1. INTRODUCTION
Although working as a widely used construction material, conventional concrete is known to
be inclined to brittle damage with extensive cracks under static or dynamic loads.
Researchers have been working dedicatedly on the development of new concrete composites
in the past decades.
was the steel fibre pull-out. To increase the bonding between the concrete and steel fibre
material, Xu et al. [10] proposed spiral shaped steel fibres, and the impact tests had
demonstrated that concrete specimens reinforced with spiral shaped fibres displayed the best
ultimate compressive strength, post-failure strength and energy-absorption capacity among
all steel fibre reinforced test specimens.
Advances in material science and nanotechnology have led to a renewed interest in
reformulating the existing materials. It was noticed that several phenomena including
statistical mechanical effects and quantum mechanical effects become pronounced as the size
of the system decreases. Addition of nanoscale size particles results in significantly improved
material properties without much change of the material composition.
As depicted in Figure 1, nano sized particles have a high surface area to volume ratio
which enables a potential of tremendous pozzolanic effect. For cement based material like
concrete, calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) is the main product during the hydration process
and is primarily responsible for the material strength. Nano particles are typically high
effective pozzolanic material and addition of such material into the cement paste improves
the microstructure of the paste and reduces calcium leaching as these materials react with
Calcium Hydroxide Crystal and form additional C-S-H gel.
Qing et al. [12] discussed the influence of nano-SiO2 addition on properties of hardened
cement paste as compared with silica fume. Results indicated that the pozzolanic activity of
nano-SiO2 is more obvious than that of silica fume, and the cement hydration process was
accelerated with nano particles addition. Compressive strengths and bond strengths of paste–
aggregate interface incorporating nano material were obviously higher than those
incorporating silica fumes, especially at early ages. Through water permeability test, Ji [13]
pointed out that the microstructure of concrete with nano-SiO2 is more uniform and compact
than that of normal concrete, and the incorporation of nano-SiO2 can improve the resistance
of water penetration of concrete. Li et al. [14] investigated the properties of cement mortars
blended with nanoparticles nano-SiO2 or nano-Fe2O3. The experimental results showed that
the compressive and flexural strengths measured at the 7th day and 28th day of the cement
220 Investigation of Ultra-high Performance Concrete Under Static and Blast Loads
mortars mixed with the nano-particles were higher than that of a plain cement mortar. They
concluded that it was feasible to add nano-particles to improve the mechanical properties of
concrete. Through tests on cylindrical specimens with different column fraction of nano-
Al2O3, Li et al. [15] found that elastic modulus and compressive strength of mortar with
nano-Al2O3 were increased. Liu et al. [16] added nano-CaCO3 into the cement paste and the
experimental results showed that nano-CaCO3 had no effect on water requirement of normal
consistency of cement. However, with the increase of nano-CaCO3 content, the flowability
decreased and the setting time of fresh cement paste was shortened. Flexural strength as well
as compressive strength increased with the addition of nano-CaCO3 at the age of 7 days and
28 days. Sanchez and Sobolev [17] made a review on nanotechnology in concrete. In the
review work, definitions of nanotechnology, including nanoscience and nano-engineering in
concrete, were provided. The impact of recent advances in instrumentation and
computational materials science and their use in concrete research was discussed. Recent
progress in nano-engineering and nanomodification of cement-based materials was
presented.
With all these benefits of nano material engineered concrete, concerns remain for
scientists and engineers of the wide utilization of particles mixed concrete material. First of
all, the toxicity and environmental impact of the ultra-fine nano particles are not yet well
studied [18]. Secondly, it is well acknowledged that most of the nanoscale materials are
expensive that limits their use with concrete in industry. Finally, the development of nano
engineered concrete is based on advances in the materials science. Considerable effort is
required to transfer and implement the knowledge gained at the material level to structural
engineering and design.
In the recent study, novel UHPC material with nano material addition had been
developed. Influence from different nano particles additions was experimentally studied.
A series of uniaxial compressive and four point bending tests were conducted in the
laboratory to get the static material properties. It was observed that the concrete strength,
ductility and energy absorbing ability were all improved comparing with normal strength
concrete without fibre and nano additions. Furthermore, to observe the blast resistance of this
new material, a series of field blast tests were carried out on columns made of this UHPC. In
the present study, the static and blast tests results are summarized. Numerical models based
on laboratory tests are developed and calibrated. Field blast tests are reproduced through
numerical simulations, and it is demonstrated that the proposed numerical models can well
represent the UHPC dynamic behaviour under blast loads.
As can be noticed from the base mix of UHPC, the traditional coarse aggregates (9.5 mm
to 37.5 mm in diameter) are replaced by the ultra-fine silica fume (0.15–0.20 μm in diameter).
The addition of silica fume can significantly improve material properties of UHPC, in
International Journal of Protective Structures – Volume 6 · Number 2 · 2015 221
particular its compressive strength, bond strength and abrasion strength. Silica fume can also
reduce the permeability of concrete and thus protect the steel reinforcement against possible
corrosion [19] in chloride rich environment like coastal area.
Fibre reinforcement including four different steel fibres, i.e. MF06, MF15, TF03 and TF05
as shown in Figure 2 are used in the UHPC material at a constant volume fraction of 2.5%.
The material properties and dimensions of the steel fibres are listed in Table 2.
Four nano materials including Nano-CaCO3, Nano-SiO2, Nano-TiO2 and Nano-Al2O3 are
added into the base mix of UHPC at 3% volume fraction.
All UHPC samples were produced by mixing the silica fume, fine sand and powder
materials which consisted of cement and nanoparticles, in a laboratory concrete mixer. They
were firstly dry mixed for 5 minutes before any water addition. Then 70% water was added
and mixed for 3 minutes to fluidise the mix. Superplasticizer was added before the other 30%
water was finally mixed. The mixing process was then continued for another 5 minutes
before steel fibres were added and manually dispersed in order to avoid clumping and
guarantee the fibres were uniformly distributed and randomly oriented.
In the laboratory, in order to observe the influence from the addition of different nano
materials and steel fibres, uniaxial compression tests were carried out on UHPC material
with various nano particles and steel fibres mixtures. In the flexural tensile tests, iconic
UHPC material with Nano-CaCO3 and MF15 additions was tested to demonstrate its tensile
capacity. In the field blast tests, reinforced concrete column constructed with the same
material as used in the flexural tensile tests were tested under free air explosions.
222 Investigation of Ultra-high Performance Concrete Under Static and Blast Loads
central deflection was measured by LVDTs at mid-span and at the supports. Strain gauges
were installed along the depth of the specimens at mid span to generate the experimental
curvature profiles.
A typical load deflection curve obtained from four points bending test is shown in
Figure 7. For a rectangular sample under a load in a four-point bending setup where the
loading span is one-third of the support span, the flexural strength is calculated as:
FL
m= (1)
bd 2
where F is the load (force) at the fracture point, L is the length of the clear span; b is the
width; d is the thickness of the sample cross section.
160
120
Load (kN)
80
40
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Displacement (mm)
In this case, after substituting F value of 137 kN, L value of 0.3 m, b value of 0.1 m and
d value of 0.1 m into Equation 1, the flexural tensile strength of the UHPC sample can be
simply derived as 41 MPa. After conducting all four point bending tests, the flexural tensile
strength of the UHPC sample is averaged as 36 MPa which is significantly higher than
normal strength concrete.
explosive, is used in the test. Explosive is hung over the column at a height of 1.5 m. The
explosive is stabilised by a bamboo tripod.
Three LVDTs with a stroke of up to 300 mm are placed beneath the column on the distal
surface to record the column deflection, and all the LVDTs are attached to the slab using a
Dynabolt. The sample rate for the LVDTs was 0.2 MHz. For measuring the reflected pressure
acting on the column, pressure transducers are installed at 0 mmm, 380 mm and 760 mm
away from the centre of the specimen, respectively as shown in Figure 9.
The testing program is listed in Table 3. U1B1 and U1B2 are tested without static axial
force. U2B1 and U2B2, are tested with a static axial load of 1000 kN (102 ton) applied
before blasting test through a hydraulic jack which is buried underground and located axially
to the specimen end.
Maximum Post-
Charge Axial Reflected Maximum blast
weight load Pressure Duration Impulse deflection damage
Specimen (kg) (kN) (MPa) (sec) (MPa.ms) (mm) level
U1B1 1 0 2.849 0.0009 1.218 1.96 light
U1B2 17.5 0 37.0 0.0006 6.51 63.74 moderate
U2B1 1 980 1.761 0.0011 0.964 1.24 light
U2B2 17.5 980 – – – 29.27 moderate
Note: – indicates a faulty value.
International Journal of Protective Structures – Volume 6 · Number 2 · 2015 227
4. NUMERICAL SIMULATION
Numerical simulation of the concrete structure response under explosive loads is a topic of
interests in recent academic researches. Successful implementations of numerical models
that give good simulations can be found in the open literature [20–26], in which various
damage modes including flexural damage, shear damage, concrete spall damage and
structural progressive collapse [27] were reproduced through numerical methods. In the
current study, numerical model describing the behaviour of UHPC with Nano-CaCO3 and
MF15 additions is established in LS-DYNA based on the test data obtained from laboratory
static tests. The accuracy of the numerical model is verified by comparing the numerical
simulation and testing results.
The effective stress, σ̅, and the effective plastic strain, ε̅p, herein are defined as follows,
respectively:
1
£3 ¥2
m = ² Sij Sij ´ (2)
¤2 ¦
228 Investigation of Ultra-high Performance Concrete Under Static and Blast Loads
1
£2t ¥2
¡ = 0 ² Dijp Dijp ´ dt
p
(3)
0¤ 3 ¦
where Sij represents the deviatoric stress tensor (Sij = σij–δij σkk/3), t is the duration time and
Dijp is the plastic strain rate.
To use the Material Type 10, an Equation of State is required in the LS-DYNA. In the
present study, the Gruneisen EOS is used. With cubic shock velocity-particle velocity, the
Gruneisen equation of state defines pressure for compressed material as:
£ a ¥ a
l 0 C 2 + ³1 + ² 1 < 0 ´ + < +2 µ
p= ¤ 2¦ 2
+ ( a 0 + a+ ) E
2 (4)
+2 +3
³1 < ( S1 < 1) + < S2 < S3 µ
³ + +1 ( + + 1)2 µ
and for expanded material as:
p = l0 C 2 + + ( a 0 + a + ) E (5)
where C is the intercept of the Vs–Vp curve, S1, S2 and S3 are the coefficients of the slope of
the Vs–Vp curve; γ0 is the Gruneisen gamma; a is the first order volume correction to γ0; and
m = /0 –1.
The parameter in the EOS used in the present study is shown in Table 6.
C0 2100 m/s
EOS S1 1.4
γ0 2
160
140
Numerical results
120
Experimental results
Stress (MPa)
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
Strain
Figure 11. Stress strain curve comparison
230 Investigation of Ultra-high Performance Concrete Under Static and Blast Loads
160
Experimental
Numerical
120
Load (kN)
80
40
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Deflection (mm)
The numerical simulations conducted above confirm the feasibility and validity of the
proposed model for UHPC under static loads. In the following section, steel reinforced UHPC
columns under blast loads are numerically investigated based on the same material model.
Figure 16 compares the mid-span deflection time history curve. It is noted that the numerical
model well captures the maximum deflection and well reproduces time history curve until the
first peak. The slight inconsistence afterward can be explained by the fact that in real blast test,
the blast energy can be dissipated in multiple ways like column free vibration, friction between
the column with boundary and surrounding medium. The friction between column and the
roller supports increases the column stiffness. In numerical simulations these are not
considered. This results in a slower vibration when compared with the real test.
2
1.5
Mid-span displacement (mm)
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5 experimental results
-2
numerical results
-2.5
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Time(s)
Figure 16. Comparison of deflection time history curve for U1B1 under 1 kg
TNT explosion
For U2B2 column subjected to 17.5 kg TNT equivalent explosion loading, 100 ton axial
load is applied on the UHPC column. In the numerical simulation, a pressure of 25 MPa is
applied on one end of the column and lasts for the entire simulation. The first 10 ms is used
to stabilise the column after axial load application. It is believed that due to the very high
axial stiffness, 10 ms is enough to dissipate the kinetic energy imparted by the application of
axial load in the numerical simulation. Figure 17 shows the column maximum deflection
contour at around 7.5 ms. Figure 18 displays the time history curve comparison, and it can
be noted that the numerical model yields a highly accurate maximum deflection and good
time history curve prediction until the first peak. The same reason summarised in U1A1 case
can be used to explain the slight inaccuracy of prediction.
International Journal of Protective Structures – Volume 6 · Number 2 · 2015 233
20
10
Midspan displacement (mm)
-10
-20
Experimental results
-30
Numerical results
-40
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14
Time (s)
Figure 18. Comparison of deflection time history curve for U2B2 under
17.5 kg TNT
5. CONCLUSIONS
Development of ultra-high strength concrete material is receiving increasing attention in
recent decades. With advanced nanotechnology, steel fibre reinforced concrete had been re-
engineered through nanoscale particle addition. Static tests had revealed the outstanding
mechanical properties of this novelty concrete, to further explore the blast resistance of this
newly developed UHPC material, a series of field tests had been carried out on UHPC
columns. From the field test results, it is concluded that UHPC material with nano addition
displays a high blast loading resistance capacity. Based on the static test data, novel numerical
models are established, and the numerical simulations on the field tests are found correlating
well with the field observation and the time history curves are fitted well with the test data.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research presented in this paper jointly supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China under Grants 51278326 and 51238007 and the ARC Discovery Grant
DP140103025 is gratefully acknowledged.
234 Investigation of Ultra-high Performance Concrete Under Static and Blast Loads
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