RESISTANCE OF CEMENT-BASED MATERIALS AGAINST HIGH-VELOCITY PROJECTILE IMPACT

Abstract

This thesis investigates the resistance of cement-based materials, across a wide range of compositions and material properties, subjected to 8.0-mm-diameter deformable and non-deformable high-velocity projectile impact (HVPI) at approximately 400 m/s. Cement pastes, mortars, concretes, engineered-cementitious composites (ECCs), and ultra-high-performance concretes (UHPCs) with compressive strengths from 34.2 to 220.2 MPa are against XW-42 steel / copper HVPI. It was found that the effective hardness index and elastic modulus have the most influence on the penetration depth against non-deformable HVPI, and the relative effective hardness index is a good characterization of the penetration depth and projectile deformation against deformable HVPI. Furthermore, we developed an advanced composite with superior mechanical properties and HVPI resistance using bauxite aggregates. Lastly, we carried out a systematic calibration of K&C failure surfaces and dynamic increase factors (DIFs) for UHPCs, based on available experimental data. General guidelines are also provided for the determination of other model parameters.