Abstract
Reinforced concrete panels and slabs are commonly used in industrial, military and high- security facilities for protective purposes. These structural members are designed against accidental events such as fire, blast and impact loading. This paper focuses on localised hard impacts such as falling objects or debris in which the kinematic energy of the impactor is entirely absorbed by the deformation of the struck body. It is well known that the structural behaviour in such cases is highly non-linear and therefore the structural assessment is often carried out by means of complex numerical models. The accuracy of such numerical tools in predicting the type of failure can be questionable unless the models have been rigorously validated beforehand. This paper presents the numerical predictions (non-linear FE using solid elements) of existing slab tests subjected to drop objects and a comparison with analytical predictions using a dynamic punching model developed at University of Surrey. The results obtained numerically and analytically are consistent with the experimental data. In addition, a combined analytical/numerical approach using dynamic punching formulas and simplified FE (shell elements) is shown to provide consistent predictions of punching failures. This combined approach, which is suitable for design purposes, offers a good compromise in terms of ease of application and level of simplification needed in the dynamic models.