Breaking mechanism and damage evolution rule of abrasive water jet impacting reinforced concrete

Abstract

As time passes, a significant number of reinforced concrete (RC) constructions will require maintenance and transformation. RC repair and renovation often require localized crushing and removal of the distressed area. Abrasive water jet (AWJ) crushing RC has significant advantages in terms of safety, environmental protection, and quality. However, AWJ works with high specific energy consumption and the effective crushing range of the jets is small, and the key to solving these problems lies in an in‐depth study of the general destructive law and cracking mechanism of RC materials under the action of high‐speed liquid impact. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the above key scientific issues, combining mechanical impact tests, smooth particle hydrodynamics numerical simulation methods and computer tomography scans techniques to carry out systematic research. Through the study, it is found that: The fracture characteristics of RC are mainly reflected in crushing pits and cracks, which will produce macrocracks extending along the reinforcement on the side of RC. AWJ impacting RC is mainly divided into three stages: crater formation, upper concrete fragmentation, and concrete damage development in the reinforcement impact area. During the whole impact process, the shear stress, compressive stress and tensile stress of the reinforcement will change continuously with the increase of the impact time of the AWJ.