A study on the ricochet of concrete debris on sand

•An experimental study on concrete debris impacting on sand surface is carried out.•An empirical model is retrieved to predict the response of concrete debris.•A numerical modelling is established for the impact of concrete debris against sand.•A critical ricochet curve is retrieved from the experimental results.•A parametric study on the sand internal friction angle is carried out.

In this study, the ricochet phenomenon of concrete debris impacting on sand is investigated by both experiments and numerical simulations. Three types of debris, including 50 mm ∅ concrete spheres, 60 mm and 100 mm chamfered concrete cubes, are employed in the tests. The relationship between the debris impact responses and the incident condition is studied. A numerical modelling is established to simulate the impact of the three types of debris against sand. A parametric study based on the numerical modelling is carried out to study the influence of the sand internal friction angle on the debris impact responses.