Compressive behavior of the cellular concrete utilizing millimeter-size spherical saturated SAP under high strain-rate loading

• Compressive behavior of millimeter-sized cellular concrete is strain-rate dependent.
• Dynamic increase factor DIF-fc increases with rising porosity at a given stain rate.
• The rate dependence ascribes to combination of inertia effect and failure mechanism.
• Dynamic increase factor DIF-E decreases with rising porosity at a given stain rate.

The compressive behavior of the cellular concrete utilizing millimeter-size spherical saturated SAP with different porosities was experimentally investigated under quasi-static and high strain-rate loadings. Quasi-static tests at strain rate of 10−5/s were conducted using a servo-hydraulic material test system. Impacting tests at strain rates ranging from 70/s to 140/s were performed using Φ74 mm conic variable cross-sectional split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) equipment. The strain rate effects on the failure pattern, compressive strength, elastic modulus and critical strain were studied. The results indicated that the compressive strength and elastic modulus increased with increasing strain rate and displayed clear strain-rate dependence. At high strain rates the compressive strength decreased with increasing the porosity, while dynamic increase factor of the compressive strength (DIF-fc) showed a reverse tendency. Furthermore, the elastic modulus and its dynamic increase factor (DIF-E) both decreased with increasing the porosity at given high strain rate.