Low-velocity drop-weight impact loading experiment with increased and constant energy

Abstract

This paper focuses on the aramid fiber-reinforced polymer (AFRP) bonding method to investigate the effects of increased and constant input energy after each loading step on the load-carrying capacity and failure modes of reinforced RC beams subjected to impact loading by low-velocity drop-weight. Eight beams were subjected to impact loading: six reinforced RC beams with a sheet volume of 415 g/m2 and two unreinforced RC beams for comparison. The drop-height of the tested weight is H= 0.5; 1.0; 2.0; 2.5 and 3.0m. The following are the findings of this study: (1) The time histories of the dynamic responses of reinforced and unreinforced RC beams were almost the same regardless of the number of loading steps; (2) In the case of unreinforced RC beams, the maximum/residual displacements were almost the same regardless of the number of loading steps; (3) In the case of reinforced RC beams, the residual displacements tend to decrease, while the maximum displacements tend to increase after each loading step; and (4) At the same cumulative input energy, the absolute displacements of beams subjected to constant-energy impact loads are significantly smaller than those subjected to incremental-energy impact loads.