Investigation on the Impact Behavior
of Concrete Panels Subjected to Drop
Weight Impact
Partheepan Ganesan , S. Purushotham Rao, and Vineela Jalagadugula
1 Introduction
Concrete has a privilege as a most extensively used construction materials all over
the world. So, the research on concrete to enrich its properties in fresh and also in
hardened stage is increasing day by day. Reinforced concrete (RC) slabs are the most
crucial element in any construction, whether it is a RC framed structure or it is of
a load bearing wall system. Generally, concrete slabs designed for the residential
building take into account of dead load, live load, and seismic/wind loads along with
the appropriate safety factors for the respective loads. Impact loads are not directly
considered in the design process [1]. However, there is a distinct difference in the
behavior of the concrete slab experiencing dynamic loads when compared to the
behavior of the slab subjected to static loads [2].
Analysis and design of structures subjected to dynamic impact load quite often
pose severe complexities. In traditional design, this problem is taken care by
performing static analysis using partial safety factors both for the load and the mate-
rials. Structures perform quite differently due to impact loads when compared to its
behavior under static loads. The load which is applied over a very short period of
time is called impact load. Dynamic response of the structure is very important in
the case of impact of vehicle on the bridge pier [3], offshore structures subjected to
impact forces due to hitting of ship [4] and sudden explosions, projectile impact on
protective structures, etc. Studies on impact are of utmost importance as it involves
huge amount of investment on resources in building the structures in addition to the
precious lives of so many people.
Zineddin and Krauthammer [5] have studied the responses of concrete slabs rein-
forced in different manners subjected to drop weight impact under different drop
P. Ganesan (B ) · S. Purushotham Rao · V. Jalagadugula
Department of Civil Engineering, MVGR College of Engineering (Autonomous), Vizianagaram,
AP 535005, India
e-mail: partheepan@mvgrce.edu.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. Kumar Shukla et al. (eds.), Advances in Geotechnics and Structural Engineering,
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 143,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6969-6_30
329