Experimental and numerical study of rubber concrete slabs with steel reinforcement under close-in blast loading.

Highlights: • Sand was replaced by crumb rubber particles in concrete mixes at volume ratios of 10%, 30%, and 50%. • The damage modes and responses of rubber concrete slabs and normal concrete slabs were studied. • The scope of application for rubber concrete under blast loading was examined. Abstract We conducted explosion field tests on rubber concrete slabs with steel reinforcement, including four kinds of concretes with different mix proportions of volume fractions of rubber particles (0%, 10%, 30%, and 50%, termed NC, RC10, RC30, and RC50, respectively). In addition, we compared the measured overpressure at the center of a slab with some empirical models to verify the accuracy our model. Field testing results showed that the tensile zone damage of rubber concrete slabs is smaller than that of normal concrete slabs under large explosive charges. Additionally, we validated a numerical simulation employing Multi-Material ALE and Lagrangian algorithms using the data from field experiments and employed it to further study the deformation process during the field test. Finally, we showed that rubber concrete slabs with steel reinforcements are practical structures for blast resistance, especially when subjected to a large energy detonation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]