Experimental Investigation of Thin-Walled UHPFRCC Modular Barrier for Blast and Ballistic Protection.

Featured Application: The ballistic modular system was developed to serve as a mobile protective barrier against projectile impact and also to mitigate the effect of secondary fragments and explosions. The advantage of the system lies in its very fast assembly at the point of intervention, where no heavy machinery is needed. The whole system can be assembled just by manual manipulation into various shapes. The system is based on reasonable mobility and versatility of the whole solution, which is achieved by combining basic elements according to the needs of the situation. The static response of ballistic panels and also its resistance to blast and ballistic impact is investigated in the framework of this study. By connecting individual ballistic panels together, the protective barrier can be constructed. The protective barrier can be featured as a system with high mobility and versatility that is achieved by linking basic interlocking plate elements together. The resulting protective barrier can be shaped according to many possible scenarios in a wall with various possible opening angles and a small post with the tetragonal base or a larger post with the hexagonal ground plan. The material solution of the protective barrier benefits from the application of ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced cement-based composites (UHPFRCC), which meets the requirements for enhanced resistance against extreme loads such as blast or impact. Besides, by using UHPFRCC, thin and slender design can be adopted, which is advantageous in many ways. Slender design results in a lower weight, allowing for easy manipulation and replacement. To verify the behavior of the panels, the proposed barrier was subjected to various loadings at different strain rates. The experimental campaign demonstrated that the protective barrier has a reasonable load-bearing capacity and also sufficient resistance against projectile impact and blast effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]