English abstract
Reinforced concrete structures (RC structures) are widely used around the world. It is
known that most of the reinforced concrete structures are subjected to static load.
However, in addition to the static load, some RC structures may also suffer from dynamic
loads mainly from impacts. Such scenarios might occur in the cases of vehicle crash
impact, falling rocks in mountainous areas, missiles resulting from terrorist attacks, failure
of cranes in construction sites, etc... Many researchers have shown interest in conducting
laboratory experiments to investigate the structural response of such cases. However,
conducting experimental investigations to provide design guidelines or to check designed
beams under impact phenomena is very costly. That is why a Finite Element (FE) software
called LS-Dyna was used in this research to investigate the impact response of RC beams.
A model was proposed and validated using laboratory test results from a published paper.
Since FE software saves the cost and time as compared to the laboratory experiment, a
parametric study conducted in this research. The parameters include the effect of
longitudinal tension reinforcement, concrete grade, shear reinforcement, mass and
velocity of impacting object, support conditions and moment of inertia of the RC section.
It was concluded that the longitudinal tension reinforcement significantly enhanced the
resistance of the RC beam to impact loading compared to other factors. With the specified
domain of longitudinal reinforcement percentages (0.2%-4%), an empirical formula was
proposed that relates the impact energy, the percentage of longitudinal reinforcement and
maximum midsp
an deflection. The end support condition also showed an enhancement in the resistance of
the RC section. Moreover, different shapes of RC beams were investigated, and it was
found that the depth of the beam is more significant than the web in resistance to impact
loads.
