Blast responses of CFRP strengthened autoclaved aerated cellular concrete panels

To enhance their static and dynamic structural performances, autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) panels were strengthened by carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. Five kinds of specimens were investigated: (a) reinforced AAC panels (RAPs), (b) RAPs strengthened by externally bonded unidirectional CFRPs (UCRAPs), (c) RAPs strengthened by bidirectional CFRPs (BCRAPs), (d) plain AAC panels (PAPs) and (e) PAPs strengthened by unidirectional CFRPs (UCPAPs). CFRP reinforcement changes the failure style of PAPs from tensile failure to shear failure while enhance the shear resistance and ductility of RAPs under static bending. According to the explosion experiments and structural damage evaluations, CFRP strengthened AAC panels have excellent anti-blast resistance. UCPAPs even have comparable blast-resistant ability to RAPs. Encased by CFRPs, UCRAPs and BCRAPs restrict the crack development and have excellent damage tolerance in explosion. Critical scaled distance of BCPAPs in this research is reduced to 0.684 m/kg1/3, while for RAPs this value is 1.506 m/kg1/3. BCPAPs even have comparable blast-resistant ability to steel reinforced concrete slabs.