Size effect on reinforced concrete slabs under direct contact explosion

• Published in: Engineering structures Vol. 252; p. 113656
• Main Authors: Cai, Runze, Li, Yanzhao, Zhang, Chunxiao, Cao, Hai, Qi, Hui, Mao, Jize
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Concrete; Concrete slabs; Contact; Contact explosion; Damage detection; Explosions; Finite element method; LS-DYNA; Mathematical models; Model testing; Non-destructive testing; Nondestructive testing; Reinforced concrete; Reinforced concrete slab; Reinforcing steels; Scale models; Size effect; Size effects; Slabs; Spalling; Steel ratios; LS-DYNA; Contact explosion; Reinforced concrete slab; Non-destructive testing; Size effect
• ISSN: 0141-0296; 1873-7323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113656

•The contact explosion size effect of reinforced concrete slab is revealed with experiments.•The impact echo device was used to test concrete damage under direct contact explosion.•Suggest choosing a scale ratio of more than 1/4 to reduce size effect under contact explosion.
The static size effect of concrete is well known; however, investigations on the size effect of reinforced concrete slabs under direct contact explosion remain scarce. It is of great importance to understand the size effect so that the scale model test results can be applied to real damage of full-scale structures subjected to explosion. This paper presents an experimental investigation consisting of eleven direct contact explosion tests carried out to investigate the size effect phenomenon in reinforced concrete slabs. The results indicate that the explosion size effect is clearly observed; that is, the specimens of smaller sizes had less bottom spalling damage even if the upper crater size was approximately the same proportion. Furthermore, the damaged area tended to decrease as the steel ratio increased. Non-destructive testing can detect the damage location and depth of reinforced concrete slabs after explosion by imaging. Finally, finite element model based on LS-DYNA is developed and validated by experimental results for the numerical investigation of the reinforced concrete slab under direct contact explosion.