Impact Effect on R.C. Slabs: Analytical Approach

Abstract

Three simple analytical methods to study the impact effect on R.C. slabs are presented. These methods are the impact factor method, the equivalent mass method, and the continuous mass method. Several aspects that affect the slab's response due to impact are investigated. These aspects include the relation between the impact load and its actual static load when acting on the structure, the duration of impact load when acting on the structure, and the dynamic deflections of the reinforced concrete slabs due to impact. The impact is simulated by dropping a steel ball from different heights on the center of simply supported reinforced concrete slabs. Dynamic deflection, impact time, maximum penetration of the ball into the slab, and the maximum dynamic load that the slab will experience are predicted using the simple analytical methods. Results from these methods are compared with similar experimental ones. In general, the analytical results agreed with the experimental ones.