Projectile penetration of reinforced concrete blocks: Test and analysis

Concrete blocks are usually used to provide protection against incidental dynamic loadings such as the impact of a steel projectile. This paper presents results of an experimental test and numerical investigation of reinforced concrete blocks’ penetration resistance. Investigation test was conducted experimentally using a steel blunt-nose projectile with a diameter of 23 mm and a mass of 175 g with striking velocity about 980 m/s hitting concrete blocks reinforced by different number of layers of woven wire steel mesh (Ferrocement).Nonlinear three-dimensional numerical simulation of the investigation test was carried out using AUTODYN which is probably the most extensively code dealing with penetration problems. A comparison was conducted between the results of the numerical model and the experimental test measurements and show relatively good agreement.The main findings show that the penetration depth and the damage in the front and rear face of target specimens exhibit an overall reduction with using wire meshes as a reinforcement. On the other hand, the results showed that increasing the reinforcement ratio has slight influence on the perforation resistance and face damaged area.