Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the Impact Response of Elastomer-Coated Concrete

The use of a spray application elastomer coating as an effective retrofit strategy for blast and impact mitigation has gained increasing attention in recent years. Despite some encouraging studies in the literature, there remains a great deal yet to be understood, particularly regarding the coating’s impact mitigating capabilities when applied to structural elements. In this work, we consider the application of a spray-on elastomer coating to the impacted face of a concrete cube. High-speed, gas gun experiments are performed on concrete cubes in their uncoated and coated configurations and it is observed that the coating provides a significant protective benefit across the range of test velocities, 45–150 m/s. Quasi-static compression and indentation experimental tests are performed on uncoated and coated concrete cubes to inform the development of a numerical model. Despite a number of modelling challenges, we validate our model against experimental measurements and conclude it provides accurate predictions of behaviour at early time steps, before the concrete becomes severely damaged. Future work will focus on using this validated numerical model as an analysis tool for understanding the mechanism by which the elastomer alters the damage response of the underlying concrete substrate.