Protection Methods against the Explosive Spalling of Concrete

Abstract

To study the mechanism and to minimize the risk of the explosive spalling of concrete at high temperatures, a series of tests has been performed at ETH Zurich. As protection methods, polypropylene fibers (PP-fibers) and protective coatings are demonstrated to be efficient at preventing explosive spalling in these tests. To evaluate PP-fibers and protective coatings, an explosive spalling criterion has been developed using a thermal-hydro-mechanical model. This criterion considers the influences from the pore pressure and thermal stresses. To validate this criterion, test results are used to predict the spalling, and have shown that the proposed explosive spalling criterion is feasible and can evaluate the performance of protection methods.