Novel protective covering to enhance concrete resistance against projectile impact

• Novel protective covering was designed to protect concrete against projectile impact.
• The protective covering had a layered and staggered structure.
• Penetration depth in the protected concrete was highly reduced.
• Protective covering with epoxy adhesive interlayers can effectively protect concrete.
• Protective covering with silicone sealant interlayers suffered little severe damage.

A novel protective covering with a layered and staggered structure was proposed to protect concrete against projectile impact. Experimental study was conducted to investigate the ballistic behaviour of the concrete targets against 12.7 mm armour-piercing incendiary projectile at velocities ranging from 537.7 to 596.5 m/s. The results showed that the concrete targets with protective covering exhibited superior integrity with no damage on the distal surface, whereas the concrete targets without protective covering were fractured with penetrating cracks throughout the thickness of the target. Moreover, the protected concrete targets displayed significantly reduced penetration depth compared with the concrete targets without protective covering. The protective covering with epoxy adhesive interlayers had a bigger protection factor than that with silicone sealant interlayers, but the former suffered more severe damage than the latter.