Blast testing and numerical simulation of reinforced concrete panels coated with discrete fiber-reinforced polymer (DFRP) systems

This research investigated the behavior of reduced scale standard reinforced concrete panels coated with various polyurea systems under blast loading. The blast mitigation performance of four coatings including two plain polyureas and two discrete fiber-reinforced polyurea systems was evaluated. Chopped E-glass fibers were discretely integrated in with the polyurea to develop a discrete fiber-reinforced polyurea (DFRP) system. Polyurea coating systems without discrete fiber were previously evaluated for blast mitigation and impact resistance at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and showed to be adequate in containing spalling and fragmentation from blast and repeated impact. Reduced scale panel blast testing was conducted. In addition, explicit finite element program LS-DYNA was used to model panel and coating response under blast loading. Modeling results were analyzed and compared to the experimental work to validate the conclusions.