Composition

Ductal Properties
An Ultra-high Performance Material
Applications
for Resistance to Blasts
Blast Trials at Woomera

Brian Cavill FIE Aust CPEng

Chief Technical Officer
VSL Australia Pty Ltd

ENGINEERING AND RESEARCH FORUM

25th February 2005, Canberra

kg
Fibres
700 Cement Typical
Composition Ductal FM
Silica fume of Material HT Steel
Fine quartz Ductal FM Tensile Strength 2,000 MPa

150-200MPa Youngs Modulus 200,000 MPa

Sand Diameter 0.2 mm
Length 13 mm
Quantity 2% / cu m
156 High strength steel fibers
Additive
Water
Total = 2,450 kg/cu m Water/binder = 0.18

COMPRESSION TESTS Cylinders 100mm dia x 200mm COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH after Heat Treatment

200
180
160
140
Stress MPa

120 Test results : 174 - 186 MPa

100
Characteristic for design,
80
f’c= 160 Mpa
60 E = 47 GPa
40
Typical concrete
20
0
0

923

1845

2768

3690

4613

5535

6458

7380

8303

9225

10148

11070

Micro Strain

1
 FLEXURE TESTS prisms 100mm x 100mm x 500mm FLEXURAL STRENGTH after Heat Treatment

TYPICAL FLEXURAL TEST (to AS1012.11)

Test results
40 Mod. of Rupture : 25-39 MPa

B e n d in g S tre s s M P a
35 Characteristic for design
30 M.O.R. fcf min = 15 MPa
25
20
15
10
5 Typical concrete
0
0 2 4 6 8
Deflection mm

FRACTURE ENERGY Can provide a design life of

DURABILITY PROPERTIES several hundred years in an
aggressive environment
TYPICAL FLEXURAL TEST (to AS1012.11)
Durability Indicator Value Ductal compared to High
40 Total Fracture Energy Performance Concrete
20,000 - 30,000 J/m2 Total porosity 2% - 6% 4 to 5 times lower
B e n d in g S tre s s M P a

35
30 Microporosity (>10µm) < 1% 10 to 30 times lower
Flexural toughness of Ductal
25 is greater than 200 times Permeability (air) 2.5 x 10^-18 sqm 50 times lower
that of conventional, non-
20 fiber reinforced concrete Water absorption < 0.2 kg/sqm 50 times lower
15 Fiber reinforced
10 concrete Chloride ions diffusion 0.02 x 10^-12 sqm/s 50 times lower
5 Plain concrete Electrical resistance 1.13 x 10^3 kΩ.cm 12 to 17 times greater
0 (excl. fibre)
Electrical resistance 137 kΩ.cm 1.5 to 2 times greater
0 2 4 6 8 (incl. fibre)
Abrasion resistance 1.3 2 to 3 times greater
Deflection mm coefficient

APPLICATIONS

Rhodia head office, Paris

20mm Ductal FO Facade Panels, 2000

2
 Seoul footbridge - Lifting

120m span footbridge

Seoul

Ductal formwork slabs

Ductal beams

RTA Bridge site

Shepherds Creek,
Lake Macquarie NSW
July 2004 1 x 15.4m span, 4 lanes

Load test of 25mm thick Ductal permanent formwork slab Load test of 25mm thick Ductal permanent formwork slab
Load = 960 kg = 6.6 kPa
Load = 2,560 kg = 17.7 kPa

130 0m
m clear 25mm
span

25mm

1300mm clear span

3
 BLAST 1
Blast Tests at Woomera, May 2004 3 Ductal panels

¾ 2
¾ 2 blasts
blasts of
of 55 tonnes
tonnes of
of of
of Hexolite
Hexolite (60/40
(60/40 RDX/TNT),
RDX/TNT),
equivalent
equivalent to
to 6
6 tonnes
tonnes of
of TNT
TNT
75mm stressed at 40m
100mm stressed at 40m
¾ Testing
¾ Testing of
of 2
2 types
types of
of Ductal
Ductal panels
panels at
at 3
3 distances
distances
100mm stressed at 30m
¾ Panel
¾ Panel size
size 2m
2m xx 1m
1m xx 100,75
100,75 &
& 50mm
50mm
¾ Span
¾ Span 2m
2m one
one way
way
¾ Panels
¾ Panels Type
Type 1
1-- pretensioned
pretensioned -
- at
at 30m,
30m, 40m
40m and
and 50m
50m
¾ Panels
¾ Panels Type
Type 2
2-- plain
plain -
- at
at 40m
40m and
and 50m
50m
¾ Design
¾ Design pressure
pressure -- 2000kPa
2000kPa at
at 30m,
30m, 800kPa
800kPa at
at 40m,
40m, 420kPa
420kPa at
at
50m,
50m, (reflective
(reflective pressure)
pressure)
¾ Test
¾ Test Measures
Measures actual
actual blast
blast pressure
pressure and
and panel
panel deflections
deflections

Front of a support frame

before inserting the test
panel

Back of a support frame,

with access hatch

Typical Ductal
panel 2m x 1m

Inserting a panel into the

slots in the support frame

4
BLAST 1 - panels at 40m ready for blast test BLAST 1 - 100mm stressed at 30m,
ready for blast test

5 tonne of hexolite
explosives, equivalent Observation point 3km from blast
to 6 tonne of TNT

Blast Tests at
Woomera
May 2004

5
 BLAST 1
100mm RC at 30m
75mm stressed at 40m
100mm stressed at 40m
100mm stressed at 30m

Crater caused by
BLAST 1

BLAST 1 - 100mm stressed at 30m BLAST 1 - 100mm stressed at 40m

Movement 50mm in from datum then to 37 out from Final position on datum
datum and then to final position on datum Basically undamaged
Basically undamaged

BLAST 1 - 75mm stressed at 40m

BLAST 1 - 100mm Movement 72mm in from datum then to 55 out from datum and
stressed at 40m then to final position 18 in from datum
Fractured but intact, hairline crack in back face, no spalling

6
BLAST 1 - 75mm BLAST 1 - 75mm
stressed at 40m stressed at 40m

BLAST 2
4 Ductal panels

50mm plain at 50m

50mm stressed at 50m

100mm plain at 40m

75mm stressed at 30m

BLAST 2 - 75mm stressed at 30m
Fractured, 150mm final deformation, no spalling

BLAST 2 - 75mm
stressed at 30m
Back face -
fractured, no spalling 50mm plain at 50m 50mm stressed at 50m

BLAST 2

7
BLAST 2 - 50mm stressed at 50m
Final position on datum
Intact with shallow crack,
no spalling or fragmentation
Reinf.concrete magazine at 20m - 250mm walls

Main Observations Advantages of Ductal for Blast Resistance

• The Ductal panels performed excellently, giving
protection from the blast pressure and having no
fragmentation.
• The stressed panels were able to sustain
considerable deflection (up to span/28 ) without
fracture.
• The results of the tests on a range of panel
types and distances from the blast provide
confidence in the design procedure.
¾ Ductal panels can be very much thinner than
conventional concrete or steel/concrete composites
¾ Ductal panels eliminate the risk of injury or damage
caused by concrete “schrapnel” as they do not break
into fragments when subject to blast loading
¾ The ultra high durability of Ductal makes it
particularly suitable for applications exposed to
aggressive environment in addition to having a risk of
blast loading
¾ The lighter weight of the Ductal sections reduce
transport & erection costs, and can reduce the cost of
the supporting structure
¾ Connections can be made using bolts or poured joints

Brian Cavill
VSL Australia Pty Ltd
Tel : 02 9484 5944 email : bcavill@vslsyd.aust.com