Marshall, Aaron (2024) Feasibility of Blast Walls Constructed with Normal Strength Fibre-Reinforced Concrete. [USQ Project]
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Abstract
The world is constantly experiencing conflicts where explosives and forward firing weapons will pose a threat to important infrastructure, military assets and civilians in major cities and fringe territories. Where such elements cannot be moved to a safe location, spatially separated or within a conflict zone, blast walls systems can be erected to shield and protect what lays behind from blast waves and high energy projectiles, whether that be fired from a weapon system or fragmentation from an explosion.
This research aims to undertake a feasibility study on the effectiveness of normal strength fibre reinforced concrete with a comparison to normal strength non-fibre reinforced concrete. Both blast and projectile events can be accidental, deliberate or through indirect action, especially in the military context where aircraft weapons are accidentally fired on ground or in hangars. Due to the safety critical nature of blast walls and the level of protection required, extensive research has been conducted on blast walls constructed with high performance, yet very expensive and exotic materials. Some Countries and groups may not have the finance and resources available for top-end solutions, so this project seeks to explore the feasibility of blast walls constructed with more common materials.
The scope of this research project is restricted to 5.56 mm small arms ammunition for the projectile. The test specimens were measured for mass loss, depth of penetration and cratering post projectile firing.
An affordable and accessible construction method for creating protective concrete walls was assessed for its level of protection provided against high energy projectiles. When normal strength concrete is reinforced with 2% hook-end steel fibres, the protection against penetration is increased by a minimum of 50% and debris produced is reduced by 40% despite proper compaction. Further research and full-scale tests of this protective wall construction are required to ensure this affordable and accessible alternative can be implemented in the field.
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| Item Type: | USQ Project |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Engineering (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Alehossein, Habib |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Mar 2026 22:39 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Mar 2026 22:39 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Civil; Ballistic Performance; fibre reinforced concrete |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53142 |
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