An experimental investigation on the effect of steel reinforcement on impact response of reinforced concrete plates

•We tested five high strength concrete (HSC) plates under impact load.•We studied the effect of main bottom steel reinforcement ratio and steel reinforcement arrangement (single or doubly reinforced plates).•Reinforcement ratio and/or arrangement have no effect on impulse and absorbed energy values for same impact load.•Crack pattern and failure mode are more dependent on the reinforcement arrangement rather than reinforcement ratio.

An experimental investigation has been conducted to collect fundamental data and to develop more understanding of the effect of steel reinforcement distribution on the dynamic response of reinforced concrete plates. Five high strength concrete (HSC) plates are tested using free-fall low-velocity impact technique. A total of 10 impact tests are conducted, including two tests on each specimen. The impact loads are applied at the mid-point of the HSC plates by dropping a 475 kg steel weight from a constant height of 4.15 m. Two parameters are investigated namely: the main bottom steel reinforcement ratio (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0%); and the steel reinforcement arrangement (single or doubly reinforced plates). The top reinforcement of all doubly reinforced plates is kept constant as shrinkage reinforcement of 10 mm diameter spaced at 210 mm. The experimental results are evaluated focusing on the impact force characteristics and the impact behaviors of reinforced concrete plates. The test program was successful in providing a simple method for validating impact test setup using impulse–momentum theorem. Results showed that the change of reinforcement ratio and/or reinforcement arrangement has no significant effect on impulse and absorbed energy values for same impact loading condition. Additionally crack pattern and failure mode are found to be more dependent on the reinforcement arrangement rather than reinforcement ratio.