Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Volume 2013, Article ID 420136, 7 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/420136
Research Article
Performance of Hybrid Steel Fibers Reinforced Concrete
Subjected to Air Blast Loading
Mohammed Alias Yusof,
1
Norazman Mohamad Nor,
1
Ariffin Ismail,
2
Ng Choy Peng,
1
Risby Mohd Sohaimi,
1
and Muhammad Azani Yahya
1
1
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2
Faculty of Defence Management and Studies, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi,
57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Correspondence should be addressed to Mohammed Alias Yusof; alias.yusof@yahoo.com
Received 14 May 2013; Revised 11 September 2013; Accepted 16 September 2013
Academic Editor: Gonang Xie
Copyright © 2013 Mohammed Alias Yusof et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Tis paper presents the results of the experimental data and simulation on the performance of hybrid steel fber reinforced concrete
(HSFRC) and also normal reinforced concrete (NRC) subjected to air blast loading. HSFRC concrete mix consists of a combination
of 70% long steel hook end fbre and also 30% of short steel hook end fbre with a volume fraction of 1.5% mix. A total of six
concrete panels were subjected to air blast using plastic explosive (PE4) weighing 1 kg each at standof distance of 0.3 meter. Te
parameters measured are mode of failure under static and blast loading and also peak overpressure that resulted from detonation
using high speed data acquisition system. In addition to this simulation work using AUTODYN was carried out and validated using
experimental data. Te experimental results indicate that hybrid steel fber reinforced concrete panel (HSFRC) possesses excellent
resistance to air blast loading as compared to normal reinforced concrete (NRC) panel. Te simulation results were also found to
be close with experimental data. Terefore the results have been validated using experimental data.
1. Introduction
Terrorists attack on buildings and infrastructures has become
a global phenomenon. In most cases, the terrorists used
explosives located in vehicles and blew it up at a close distance
from the target. Intensive shock waves are created by this
explosion which propagates outward at supersonic velocity
accompanied by heat and light that induce pressure on the
structural buildings and causes signifcant damage to the
structure and loss of life. Tere are a number of methods
to stop the terrorist attack. One of the methods is gathering
information on the terrorist and stopping the attack before it
takes place; another way is to protect buildings from damage
by incorporating blast resistance design and also retroftting
of the existing structure [1].
Tis area of research is currently receiving more attention
from many structural engineers as they began to consider
blast loading and also blast resistance materials in their
design in order to protect important buildings and structures
from such attacks. Concrete is one of the most widely used
construction materials for structures because it possesses
considerable mass per unit cost compared to other construc-
tion materials and has excellent fre resistance and is able
to absorb large amounts of energy [2]. However, one of the
disadvantages of concrete is that it has a very low resistance
against tensile stress and also possesses low ductility. From
previous research it was found that mechanical properties of
the concrete can be improved by adding fbers into the mix.
Otter and Naaman reported that the addition of fbre in the
concrete has signifcant efect on strength and toughness of
concrete [3]. Te test results of Nagarkar and Tambe indicated
that the compressive, split tensile, and fexural strength of
concrete are increased by the addition of fbre [4].
Te strengthening mechanism of fbre involves transfer
of stress from matrix to the fbre by interlocking the fbers
and matrices when the fbre surface is deformed. Te stress
is thus shared by the fbers and matrix in tension, until
the matrix cracks and then the total stress is progressively