Penetration resistance of steel fiber reinforced concrete containment structure to high velocity projectile

Containment structures not only are leak-fight barriers., but also may be subjected to impacts caused by tornado-generated projectiles, aircraft crashes or the fragments of missile warhead. This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the impact resistance of steel fiber-reinforced concrete against 45 g projectiles at velocity around 2500 m/s. An explosively formed projectile (EFP) was designed to generate an equivalent missile fragment. The formation and velocity of EFP are measured by flash x-ray. A switch made of double-layered thin copper sheets controlled the exposure time of each flash x-ray. The influence of the fiber volume fraction on the crater diameter of concrete slab and the residual velocity of the projectile were studied. The residual velocity of the projectile decreased as the fiber volume fractions increased. In this work, the residual velocity of the projectile was to 44% that of plain concrete when the fiber volume fraction exceeded 1.5%. Based on the present finding, steel fiber reinforced concrete with the fiber volume fraction exceeding 1.5% appear to be more efficient in protection against high velocity fragment impact.