Dynamic behaviour and visco-elastic damage model of ultra-high performance cementitious composite

The dynamic behaviour of ultra-high performance cementitious composite (UHPCC) with compressive strength of 200 MPa with different steel fiber volume fractions was studied under impact using the split Hopkinson pressure bar. Three aspects of the testing: a gimbal device, wave shaping and direct strain measurement, were used to increase experimental accuracy. Results indicate that UHPCC has obvious strain rate effects. The peak stress, peak strain, elastic modulus and the area under the stress-strain curve increase with increasing strain rate. When the strain rate exceeds a threshold value, specimens with and without fibers begin to fracture. At high strain rate the unreinforced specimens fracture into small parts while fiber reinforced ones only have fine cracks on the edges. A visco-elastic damage model of UHPCC is proposed based on a nonlinear visco-elastic model (the ZWT model) and the material damage measured by the ultrasonic wave velocity method. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.