Influence of acrylic fiber content of concrete on local impact damage

Abstract

In recent years, the act of terrorism has been prevalent in society. As such, it is in the interest of organisations and governments to ensure that buildings are constructed to withstand high velocity impact, or blast resistance. The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the addition of acrylic fibres, and to assess the possible engineering applications of fibre reinforced concrete. By adding fibre aggregates of 0.2% and 0.4% volume of concrete, it was observed that the fibre reinforced concrete achieved a compressive strength of 25-30 MPa, which is sufficient for structural applications. The Split Hopkinson Bar Test is performed by applying a load under high strain rate on concrete specimens, hence making it an ideal test method for this experiment, for the aforementioned reason.

Cylindrical specimens were cast in order to characterise the material at high strain rates using the Split Hopkinson Bar Test. Prism beams were also cast to conduct a Four Point Bending Flexural Test, in order to evaluate the energy absorption capacity of fibre reinforced concrete. Results obtained from the dynamic impact (Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar) test indicated that there was no significant impact of the addition of fibres on the concrete specimens. On the other hand, the flexural tests (Four Point Bending) indicated an improvement in energy absorption capacity due to the flexural properties of the fibres.