Planar tomography and numerical analysis for damage characterization of impact loaded RC plates

Abstract

The damage analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) is of high interest for reasons of effective maintenance and structural safety of buildings. The damage structures of RC plates loaded by an impact were investigated, applying X-ray planar tomography and finite element method (FEM). Planar tomography allows getting three-dimensional information of the RC elements and the damage including crack, spalling, and scabbing. The FEM model validated on the tomography data justifies the application for further predictions of the damage description. In this study, we investigated concrete plates of three different thickness subjected to impacts at different low-and medium-velocity, whereby the used impactor had a flat tip, which resulted in small penetrations on the front side and scabbing on the rear side. In order to quantify the damage, the damage volume and its distribution through the plate were computed and the correlations between degree of damage and impact velocity were found out.

Reinforced Concrete Plates under Impact Load—Damage Quantification

“…This procedure made it possible to get a view of the damage inside the plates. The shape of the fracture body inside the plate is usually described as a cone [21][22][23], but in our experiments, the shape deviated significantly from a cone, see Figure 8. It was measured by means In comparison to the non-strengthened RC plates, it was found that local damage due to scabbing on the rear side of the RC plate (StrRC_BZT1) was completely prevented by the subsequent applied strengthening layer.…”

“…This procedure made it possible to get a view of the damage inside the plates. The shape of the fracture body inside the plate is usually described as a cone [21][22][23], but in our experiments, the shape deviated significantly from a cone, see Figure 8. It was measured by means of digital image analysis.…”