Energy Absorbing Concrete for Impact Loading

R. Sri Ravindrarajah* and M. C. Lyte**

*Senior Lecturer, **Former Student, Centre for Built Infrastructure Research
University of Technology, Sydney, P O Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
R.Ravindra@uts.edu.au

Abstract
Two structural grades, compressive strength of 30 and 45MPa, normal weight
concrete and lightweight polystyrene concrete were tested for their impact response
under 75kg weight test through 462mm drop. The impact response was monitored
through load-time plot and the results were used to characterise the concrete for its
impact response. Peak load and contact time are considered as important
measurable quantities in identifying the energy absorbing capacity of concrete. The
results showed that polystyrene aggregate concrete outperformed the normal weight
concrete in its impact resistance due to inherent energy absorbing quality of
embedded expanded polystyrene beads. Under the tested impact loading condition,
polystyrene concrete having the compressive strength of 30MPa showed 28%
increase in the contact time and 18% reduction in the peak load compared to the
similar grade normal weight concrete.
1. INTRODUCTION

Impact properties of concrete are of interest where there is the

possibility of impact loading in the foreseeable service life of a
concrete structure. Wide ranges of situations exist where structures
may be subject to some type of impact loading. These include many
different forms of missile impact, gas explosions, construction
accidents, vehicle impacts and pile driving. Impact from an object
colliding with a concrete structure can be divided into hard and soft
impact depending upon the relative characteristics of the projectile (or
striking object) and the target (or structure). Different forms of

damage can occur during hard impact of concrete structure. The

contact zone is subject to intense dynamic stresses producing
crushing, shear failure and tensile fracturing. These may result in
spalling and crater formation, penetration, back-face scabbing,
perforation or shear failure and flexural failure of the target (Hughes
(1984) and Brown and Perry (1989))
Green (1964) studied the number of blows of a ballistic pendulum
which plain concrete cube specimens could withstand before reaching
a no-rebound condition. This condition was chosen to indicate a
definite state of damage and reported a large variability in data, much
greater than usually occurred in static tests. He concluded that in
standard compression tests, there is some relief of highly stressed
weak zones due to creep. On the other hand under dynamic impact
testing, no redistribution of stress is possible due to sudden short
duration of load and inherent weaknesses, therefore, have a greater
influence on impact results. The presence of various types of
microcracks and air voids in concrete system and pores in the
hardened cement paste component in concrete are weak zones which
could initiate the growth of cracks, lowering impact strength.
Generally, impact strength of concrete increases with the compressive
strength and concrete with higher compressive strength resulted in
lower energy absorbed per blow before cracking (Green (1964)).
An ideal energy absorbing material should have a low crushing
strength and capacity for large deformation. During hard impact
kinetic energy is absorbed by crushing the impacted material. Bischoff
et. al. (1989) experimented with the impact properties of concrete
incorporating expanded polystyrene beads and reported that this
concrete did exhibit similar properties to an ideal energy absorbing
material. Concrete containing varying amounts of polystyrene beads
were tested using a drop weight device to impact small concrete slabs
of varying thicknesses. This investigation showed that the concrete
containing highest percentage of expanded polystyrene beads
significantly prolonged the impact period and reduced contact force.
Compressive strength of concrete tested ranged from 4 to 16 MPa.
The static tests showed that once peak load had reached, large

deformation followed while the load remained constant. Once

concrete become compacted under the static load, the load increased
until failure, similar to strain hardening effect. Polystyrene aggregate
concrete did not fail by cracking which occurs in standard normal
weight concrete but rather localized crushing under the head of impact
tup.
Hoff (1970) reported similar findings for concretes with expanded
polystyrene beads. Tests were conducted using explosive to test the
energy absorbing characteristic of polystyrene aggregate concrete of
low compressive strengths. The results showed that this type of
concrete effectively dissipated shock and absorb kinetic energy
through deformation and concrete failed through localized crushing
with little or no cracking.
Sabaa and Sri Ravindrarajah (2000) reported impact resistance of
polystyrene concrete, having the densities ranging from 1600 to 2100
kg/m3, with and without polypropylene fibres. They concluded that
the impact resistance of concrete is improved by the incorporation of
expanded polystyrene aggregate. The energy absorption capacity of
concrete is increased by increased level of polystyrene aggregate
content and the amount of energy required to cause damage and
energy dissipation increased with an increased polystyrene aggregate
content. The addition of polypropylene fibres of 0.9% by weight of
cement increased the impact strength of polystyrene aggregate
concrete to produce first crack by 13 to 40% and to cause ultimate
failure by 36% to 119%.
The main purpose of this paper is to report the results of an
investigation into the impact properties of two strength grades of
polystyrene aggregate concrete compared to normal weight concrete.
The polystyrene concrete was produced by incorporating varying
amounts of expanded polystyrene beads in normal weight concrete
mix.

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
Materials and mix compositions
General purpose cement, Type GP, complying with AS 3972 and low
calcium fly ash were used as binder materials. Single-sized crushed basalt
aggregate (20 mm and 10 mm) was used, in equal weight proportion, as
coarse aggregate. River sand was used as fine aggregate. Commercially
available chemically coated expanded polystyrene graded beads, having a
mean diameter of 3 mm, were used. Naphthalene formaldehyde based
superplasticiser was used to produce workable concrete mixes. The
percentage passing the standard 4.75 and 2.36 mm sieves were 100%, and
10%, respectively, for the expanded polystyrene beads used in some mixes.
Three normal weight Grades 32, 40 and 50 concrete mixes were used as
reference concretes (Mixes 1, 2 and 3) and the details of the mix
composition was supplied by a local ready-mixed concrete producer. Mix 4
is a normal weight concrete and Mixes 5 and 6 were polystyrene aggregate
concrete containing 30% and 60% of the fine aggregate volume replaced
with expanded polystyrene, respectively. Table 1 shows the compositions of
the concrete mixtures studied in this investigation.
Mixing of concrete and casting and curing test specimens
The concrete mixtures were produced in a pan-type of mixer. All the
concrete ingredients were batched by weight. Following mixing sequence
was adopted to achieve proper mixing of the ingredients. Fine aggregate and
coarse aggregate were added to the mixing pan with one litre of mixing
water and mixed for one minute and subsequently let stand for 5 minutes.
Then, cement and fly ash were added and mixed for two minutes. Remaining
of water and superplasticiser were added gradually and subsequently mixed
for further 1 minute. The wet mix was allowed to stand for 10 minutes and
then mixed again for 1 minute. For Mixes 5 and 6, the mixing sequence was
the same except the polystyrene beads were added together with water and
superplasticiser.
For each concrete, the following standard test specimens were cast in steel
moulds: 100 mm diameter by 200 mm high cylinders (9 Nos.) and 150 mm
diameter by 300 mm high cylinders (2 Nos.). The specimens were
demoulded after 24 hours of casting and stored in water at 20oC until testing.
Bearing capacity of hardened concrete was determined on 150mm diameter
by 100mm high concrete specimens, obtained through cutting of 150 mm
diameter by 300 mm cylinder into three pats using an electric diamond

tipped concrete saw. The cylinders were cut two days before testing and the
cut specimens were returned to water curing. These specimens were taken
out from the curing tank after a day and allowed to air dry and capped with
dental plaster prior to testing under bearing load at the age of 28 days.
Testing of fresh and hardened concrete
Immediately after mixing, fresh concrete samples were taken and tested for
slump and unit weight in accordance with the procedures given in AS1012.
At the ages of 3, 7 and 28 days, the standard cylinders were tested in uniaxial
compression. For each testing age, three identical 100 mm diameter by
200mm high cylinders were tested. At 28 days, a total of nine 150 mm
diameter by 100 mm high cylindrical specimens, obtained from three
identical cylinders, was used for impact testing.
The impact test was conducted using a drop weight rig. A 75kg drop weight
called a tub, was dropped freely and impact on the bearing plate (75mm
diameter by 230mm thick high carbon steel) over a concrete cylindrical
specimen placed on the loading plate. Tup was made from hardened steel
with a flat milled striking face. The height of the drop was maintained at
462mm giving the impact velocity of 3.01m/s. The impact load was recorded
using twin light gates that read an encoded strip. All data was recorded using
a 14 bit analog-to-digital analysing recorder at 0.02s intervals for the
duration of 360s. The signal response was amplified by a DC amplifier
board before being converted and stored in the transient recorder.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fresh Concrete Properties
Table 2 shows the wet density and compressive strength at 1, 7 and 28 days
for all six concrete mixtures. The wet density of Mixes 5 and 6 with
expanded polystyrene beads is lower than with that for the normal weight
concrete mixes without the beads. The density decreased with the increase in
the polystyrene beads content. When 30% and 60% of the fine aggregate
volume was replaced with the polystyrene beads, the density was reduced
from 2395 to 2130 and 1900 kg/m3, respectively. This corresponds to the
density reductions of 11.1% and 21.0%, respectively. Mixes 1, 2 and 3 had
collapsed slump indicating their very high workability. Mixes 4, 5 and 6,
having water to cement ratio of 0.27, showed very low workability, even
though an increased amount of superplasticiser was used as indicated in
Table 1.

Compressive Strength of Normal Weight and Lightweight Concretes

Table 2 summarises the mean cylinder strength at the ages of 1, 7 and 28
days for all six concrete mixes. The strength of concrete mixes relative to
their corresponding 28-day strength is also included Table 2. As expected
the increased water cement ratio from 0.27 to 0.41 showed the reduction in
28-day cylinder strength from 69.2 MPa to 32.8 MPa. Fig. 1 shows the
density of concrete has significant influence on the compressive strength of
concrete at 1, 7 and 28 days. Since the potential strength of polystyrene
concrete is limited by its density rather than age, the difference between the
lightweight and normal weight had increased with the increase in the age of
concrete as seen from Fig. 1. The 1-day strength of polystyrene aggregate
concrete is over 40% of its 28-day strength compared to 31% for the highstrength concrete at the corresponding age. The compressive strength after
one day for the polystyrene concrete with the density of 1900 kg/m3 is 11.8
MPa compared to 5 MPa for the normal weight concrete with the water to
cementitious materials ratio of 0.49.
Impact Response of Normal Weight and Lightweight Concretes
Figures 2 and 3 show the typical load-time plots for normal weight concrete
(Mix 2) and lightweight polystyrene concrete (Mix 6). Table 3 summarises
the peak load and contact time under drop hammer tests for normal weight
concretes (Mixes 1 and 2) and lightweight polystyrene aggregate concretes
(Mixes 5 and 6). The statistical analysis of the multiple test results indicated
that the standard error of the mean values for peak load and contact time was
below 10%.
Mixes 1 and 6 had comparable compressive strength of about 30MPa and
Mixes 2 and 5 had the strength of about 45MPa. The mean contact time for
Mix 1 is 1.10s compared to 1.41s for Mix 6 under the same impact
loading. Therefore, for the same grade concrete, polystyrene concrete
showed an increase of 28% in contact time. Mixes 2 and 5 having higher
grade concrete showed similar trend. The mean contact time increased from
0.99s to 1.15s, an increase of 16% of contact time for polystyrene
aggregate concrete. The results also indicate that decrease in the density of
polystyrene concrete caused the improved contact time. The reduction in the
density of polystyrene concrete from 2130 kg/m3 to 1900 kg/m3, increased
the mean contact time from 1.15s to 1.41s (an increase of 23%).
The results given in Table 3 shows that the mean peak load for low strength
grade polystyrene concrete (Mix 6) was 386 kN compared to 472 kN for a

similar strength grade normal weight concrete (Mix 1). Therefore, under the
same impact loading a structural grade (about 30MPa) polystyrene concrete
outperformed the normal weight concrete of similar strength as evident from
18% reduction in peak load together with 28% increase in contact time. For
the 45 MPa concrete, once again polystyrene concrete showed peak load
reduction from 522 kN to 463 kN (11% reduction) together with 23%
increase in the contact time. The results obtained in this study are consistent
with those reported by Bischoff et. al. (1989) who concluded that increasing
polystyrene content improves impact performance through prolonged impact
duration thus reducing the peak impact force.
Under impact loading the visual damage varied according to the compressive
strength and polystyrene aggregate content. For Mix 1 specimens cracks
appeared around the edge of the bearing plate. Usually 3 to 5 cracks evenly
distributed and radiating outwards from the edges of the bearing plate
appeared. The indentation caused by impact is insignificant to measure. The
high grade normal weight concrete (Mix 2) did not show any visible signs of
cracking or damage however, a slight indentation under the bearing plate
was noted. Concrete test specimens with Mix 5 displayed no visible damage
and a slight indentation under the bearing plate was noted. For the low grade
polystyrene concrete (Mix 6) specimens cracks were evident similar to those
noted with Mix 1. A slight indentation was noted under the bearing plate.
CONCLUSION
The impact response of structural concrete having 30MPa and 45MPa
normal weight and lightweight (containing expanded polystyrene beads)
were studied under drop weight test. The results clearly showed the
polystyrene concrete out performed the normal weight concrete under impact
due to energy absorbing capacity of the expanded polystyrene beads.
The impact response of the polystyrene concrete was increased with the
increase in the polystyrene content. Under the tested impact loading
condition, polystyrene concrete having the compressive strength of 30MPa
showed 28% increase in the contact time and 18% reduction in the peak load
compared to the similar grade normal weight concrete.

REFERENCES
Bischoff, P. H., Yamura, K., and Perry, S. H. (1989), Polystyrene aggregate
concrete subjected to hard impact, Proc. of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, Part 2, Vol. 89, London, pp. 225-239.
Brown, I. C., and Perry, S. H. (1989), Development of a new assessment
method, Part B, Assessment of impact damage caused by dropped objects
on offshore structures, HMSO, London, pp. 79-151.
Green, H. (1964), Impact strength of concrete, Proc. of the Institution of
Civil Engineers, Vol. 28, London, pp. 383-396.
Hoff, G. C. (1970), New applications for low density concrete,
Lightweight Concrete, ACI Special Publication SP-29, USA, pp. 181-220.
Hughes, G. (1984), Hard missile impact on reinforced concrete, Nuclear
Engineering and Design, Vol. 66, pp. 22-36.
Sabaa, B. A., and Sri Ravindrarajah, R. (2000), Impact resistance of
polystyrene aggregate concrete with and without polypropylene fibres, Proc.
of the Second International Symposium on Structural Lightweight Aggregate
Concrete, Norway, 2000, pp. 719-728.

Table 1: Mix composition in kg/m3 of the Standard

and Polystyrene Aggregate Concretes
Materials
Cement (C)
Fly Ash (F)
20mm Basalt
10m Basalt
River sand
Free water (W)
Superplasticiser (l)
W/(C + F)

Mix 1
260
100
700
280
820
175
3.6
0.49

Mix 2
350
100
700
280
760
180
4.5
0.41

Mix 3
430
110
700
280
670
185
5.4
0.35

Mix 4
450
102
943
771
140
11.0
0.27

Mix 5
450
102
943
540
140
11.0
0.27

Mix 6
450
102
943
309
140
11.0
0.27

Table 2: Density and Compressive Strength (MPa) of

Hardened Concrete

Mix

W/C
Ratio

Wet density
(kg/m3)

1
2
3
4
5
6

0.49
0.41
0.35
0.27
0.27
0.27

2325
2360
2365
2395
2130
1900

1-day
(Rel. to 28d
strength)
5.0 (15%)
11.0 (26%)
14.8 (28%)
21.1 (31%)
18.2 (42%)
11.8 (41%)

7-day
(Rel. to 28d
strength)
19.3 (59%)
28.9 (64%)
38.7 (73%)
50.9 (74%)
38.5 (90%)
21.8 (75%)

28-day
32.8
45.0
53.2
69.2
43.0
29.0

Table 3: Peak load and contact time under impact loading

Density
(kg/m3)
2325
1900
2360
2130

Mix

Cylinder strength (MPa)

1
6
2
5

28d strength
(MPa)
32.8
29.0
45.0
43.0

No. of
tests
8
5
6
5

Mean Peak
Load (kN)
471 + 17
386 + 18
522 + 18
463 + 31

Mean contact
time (s)
1.10 + 0.06
1.37 + 0.09
0.99 + 0.03
1.15 + 0.16

80
60
40

28-day

7-day

20
1-day
0
1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500
De nsity (kg / cu. m.)

Fig 1 Cylinder strength of standard and polystyrene concretes

600
Load (kN)

500
400
300
200
100
0
38.0

38.5
39.0
39.5
Time (microse conds)

40.0

Fig 2 Impact response of polystyrene aggregate concrete (1900kg/m3)

600
Load (kN)

500
400
300
200
100
0
38.0

38.5

39.0

39.5

40.0

Time (microse conds)

Fig 3 Impact response of normal weight concrete (2360kg/m3)