An experimentally validated numerical analysis of UHP-FRC subjected to blast loading

This paper presents a new material constitutive model for simulating the uniaxial material behavior of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC). The model accounts for the contribution of the steel fiber content to the tensile behavior. The model variables are the fracture energy, the characteristic length, and the crack bandwidth. Thus, it guarantees a mesh size independent numerical modeling of UHP-FRC. The model is developed based on the reported results of a state-of-the-art and highly accurate experimental investigation for the uniaxial behavior of UHP-FRC. This paper also adopts the concrete damage plasticity model (CDP) as a multi-axial yield surface criterion and presents the applicability of the material constitutive model and CDP for modeling UHP-FRC under unconfined non-contact blast loading. The results of the numerical models are validated against the experimental data of shock tube testing conducted by the authors at the University of Ottawa shock tube in collaboration with Ryerson University. The results revealed that the developed material constitutive model accurately represented the uniaxial behavior of UHP-FRC. The CDP model combined with the material constitutive model developed in this study can accurately model UHP-FRC structures under unconfined non-contact blast loading.