Investigating the resistance of reinforced barriers to high velocity projectiles

The resistance of concrete barriers to high velocity projectile impact from firearms is a research topic that has been of interest for quite some time, with the first known study going back to the mid-18th century. Despite this long history, only a very limited number of the test results are available in the public domain due to their sensitive nature and strategic importance. This situation has made the development of precise models for predicting the effects of ballistic impact difficult, despite the recent availability of highly refined and powerful calculation tools. Many researchers are still convinced that a validated methodology does not currently exist for this type of problem due to the number of uncertainties. Within this context, the objective of the present work is to study projectile impact on barriers made of reinforced concrete with explicit Finite Element (FE) simulations. In particular, this paper presents a FE analysis that considers the full range of projectile class as defined in the ballistic standards. Results from simulation are also compared with experiments.