Specimen Size Effect and Dynamic Increase Factor for Basalt Fiber–Reinforced Concrete Using Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar

Basalt fiber is commonly used as reinforcement in various civil engineering structures such as concrete panels, domes, bridges, and tunnels. Dynamic characterization of basalt fiber–reinforced concrete (BFRC) using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) is carried out in the present investigation. Concrete with characteristic compressive strength of 30 MPa is considered herein to study its static and dynamic behavior. For this purpose, plain concrete (PC) and BFRC with a fiber content of 1% and 2% are investigated. For dynamic behavior, two different diameters, i.e., 76 and 54 mm samples, are prepared with varying slenderness ratios of 0.3 and 0.5. The behavior of PC and BFRC is experimentally studied at different strain rates ranging from 164 to 796/s, with gas gun pressures up to 0.38 MPa. Based on this investigation, it is observed that the strength of the concrete increases with the increasing strain rates, and the dynamic increase factor (DIF) is found to be varying from 0.91 to 3.58.