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Effect of Purposive Distribution of Fibers to Prevent the Penetration of Bullet

in Concrete Walls

Article  in  KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering · October 2020

DOI: 10.1007/s12205-021-2016-3

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KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering pISSN 1226-7988, eISSN 1976-3808

DOI 10.1007/s12205-021-2016-3 www.springer.com/12205
Structural Engineering

Effect of Purposive Distribution of Fibers to Prevent the Penetration

of Bullet in Concrete Walls
a a
Fereydoon Omidinasab and Amirhosein Sahraei Moghadam
a
Faculty of Engineering, Lorestan University, Khorramabad 68151-44316, Iran

ARTICLE HISTORY ABSTRACT

Received 5 November 2019 In this study, 10 different types of walls were made by fiber reinforced self-compacting
Revised 25 April 2020 concrete. The concrete walls were reinforced with steel and nylon fibers. The results of
Accepted 21 June 2020 rheological tests showed that the steel and nylon fibers have a negative effect on flowability of
Published Online 13 January 2021 self-compacting concrete, which the negative effect of steel fibers was more significant in this
regard. On the other hand, the results of mechanical tests indicated that the steel fibers have a
KEYWORDS slight effect on the compressive strength and considerable effect on tensile and flexural
strength, whereas, nylon fibers have no significant effect in these cases. In this study, two
Concrete wall methods, including uniform distribution and targeted distribution of fibers, were used to
Self-compact concrete reinforce the concrete walls. In the uniform distribution method, all the used fibers were
Bullet fire test uniformly distributed in the wall, while in the targeted distribution method the used fibers
Steel fiber were distributed in the wall, with a more volume of fibers in the surrounding layers and a
Nylon fiber
fewer volume of fibers in the middle layer of the wall. The concrete walls were tested by bullet
fire. The results of this test showed that steel fibers could significantly decrease the penetration
depth of bullet in concrete walls, while nylon fibers had a much lower effect. By comparing
the penetration depth of the bullet in the walls, it was observed that the targeted distribution
of fibers was effective to decrease the penetration depth of the bullet.

1. Introduction solve this problem (Khaloo et al., 2014). The major advantage of
SCC come back to this fact that it can be easily poured into the
Concrete is a brittle material against tensile and dynamic loads mold without any vibration. Other advantages of this type of
(Sahraei Moghadam and Omidinasab, 2020). Using different concrete include decreasing construction time, more freedom of
fibers to enhance the mechanical strength of concrete goes back design, and improvement in quality of product (Sahmaran et al.,
several decades (Mastali et al., 2015a). Many experiments have 2006). The negative influence of various sorts of fibers on
been conducted to explain the influence of fiber to improve workability of self-compacting concrete was reported by many
behavior of concrete (Khan and Ali, 2016; Khan and Ali, 2018). previous studies (Khan et al., 2019). The investigation of the
So as to investigation the mechanical performance of concrete impact resistance of the concrete has become particularly
reinforced by fibers, a study was conducted by Nili and important, as the use of the concrete in the military buildings has
Afroughsabet (2010), which indicated that the behavior of concrete increased (Dancygier et al., 2007). The weakness of the plain
considerably improve in the mechanical tests by means of adding concrete under projectile impacts has been proven in previous
steel fibers. In addition, Ali et al. (2012) examined the performance studies (Richard and Cheyrezy, 1995). Using of various fibers
of concrete reinforced by coconut fibers. They reported that the could effectively enhance the impact strength of concrete under
using of 0.5% volume of coconut fibers with a length of 5 cm dynamic loads (Ramakrishna and Sundararajan, 2005). Fibers could
developed the best properties. The use of ordinary concretes that enhance the impact strength of concrete by creating a bridge on
need vibration has always become problematic in highly the cracks (Mastali et al., 2017). The steel fibers were most
reinforced structures (Wild et al., 1995). In recent years, concrete widely used fibers to recover the impact performance of concrete
technology has introduced self-compacting concrete (SCC) to (Deng and Li, 2005). Many researchers have been examined the

CORRESPONDENCE Fereydoon Omidinasab [email protected] Faculty of Engineering, Lorestan University, Khorramabad 68151-44316, Iran
ⓒ 2020 Korean Society of Civil Engineers
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2 F. Omidinasab and A. S. Moghadam

influences of steel fibers to improve the concrete performance, compared. The effect of reinforcement in increasing the strength
during the last decades. The results of these studies indicated that of concrete walls against blast projectiles is schematically shown
steel fibers could considerably enhance the concrete resistance in Fig. 1.
under impact loads (Aghaee and Yazdi, 2014). In addition,
researchers were used the nylon fibers to improve the behavior 2. Experimental Procedure
of the concrete. They concluded that the nylon fibers have a
positive effects to decrease the cracks developed in the concrete 2.1 Materials
(Song et al., 2005). The influences of polymer and steel fibers on The binder material of the mix design was the Portland type 2
the performance of concrete were compared by Bindiganavile cement, in accordance with ASTM C150 (2012). The specimens
and Banthia (2001). They observed that concrete containing steel made in this study were reinforced by means of steel and nylon
fibers had better performance than concrete containing polymer fibers. The fibers characteristics are shown in Table 1. The
fibers, in terms of impact resistance. The effects of fibers on the picture of these fibers is shown in Fig. 2. Fine aggregates was
impact and flexural strength of the concrete were compared by used in the making of the specimens. The all stone material used
Soroushian et al. (1992). They concluded that the impact strength in this study passed the No. 8 sieve. The specific weight of the
increased more considerable than flexural strength, due to stone material used in this study was 2.6 g/cm3. 70% of the stone
addition of fibers. Mastali et al. (2015a) by testing the multi-layer material used had a diameter of 1.19 − 2.38 mm and 30% of them
concrete slabs containing steel fibers against the projectile loads had a diameter of 0 − 0.297 mm. The carboxylate superplasticizer
showed that the penetration depth of the projectiles into the called Dezobuild D40 was used to create the high workability in
multi-layer slabs containing steel fibers considerably decreased. the mix design.
Moreover, performance of fiber reinforced multi-layers concrete
panels against high-velocity impact loads, was examined by 2.2 Mix Proportion
Quek et al. (2010). This study exhibited that multi-layer panels Table 2 presents the mix proportion. All the specimens were
had a more resistance, as compared to the one layer panels.
When the projectile velocity exceeded 0.3 km/sec, fiber reinforced Table 1. Characteristics of Fibers
multi-layer concrete panels remained intact, whereas the plain Fiber Steel Nylon
concrete panel disintegrated into several pieces. In another
Length (cm) 5 4.2
research, Sahraei Moghadam et al. (2020) studied the behavior
of one layer and multi-layer slabs reinforced with fibers under Width (cm) - 0.3
drop weigh impact load. The results of this research indicated Thickness (cm) - 0.09
that the impact energy absorption of multi-layer slabs was higher Diameter (cm) 0.08 -
than the one layer slabs. L/D 62.5 -
The purpose of the researchers in this study was to prevent Density (kg/m3) 7850 920
bullet penetration into the concrete walls. The specimens made E (GPa) 200 2.2
in this study consist of 10 different models of concrete walls Tensile strength (MPa) 1,100 377
reinforced in different ways by means of steel and nylon fibers.
These specimens were tested by bullet fire of PK Kalashnikov
gun and the penetration depth of bullet into concrete walls were

Fig. 2. Steel and Nylon Fibers

Table 2. Mix Proportion

Mix proportions
Cement (kg/m3) 1,006
Sand (kg/m3) 0.297 − 1.19 mm 301.8
1.19 − 2.38 mm 704.2
Fig. 1. The Behavior of Concrete Walls against Blast Projectiles: (a) Plain
Water (kg/m3) 382.3
Concrete Walls, (b) Fiber Reinforced Concrete Walls (Máca et
al., 2014) Superplasticizer (kg/m3) 4.8
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KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering 3

made by means of a same mix design, while they were different

in types and volume of fibers. The process of making specimens
started via mixing of the dry cement and sand, for 2 minute.
Then, 90% of the water was added to the mixing machine, and
then the combination of the remaining water and the SP was
added to the concrete mixture. In the final step, the steel and
nylon fibers were gradually added to the concrete mixture. The
proses of the making specimens are shown in Fig. 3. All the
specimens were stored for one day in a 25oC temperature and a
relative humidity of 85%. Then, they were cured in water tanks,
20oC for 28 days.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Rheological Properties

To study the rheological properties of the mix design and influence
of the steel and nylon fibers on the concrete workability, J-ring,
V-funnel, U-box, and L-box tests were performed. Rheological
properties tests results are displayed in Table 3. These tests were
conducted on 3 samples of each mix design. Fig. 4 shows the
picture of the J-ring test. Two parameters in the J-ring test,
including slump rate and flow time are very important (Nagataki
and Fujiwara, 1995). The T50 parameter, the slump time at 50
centimeter, was measured in the J-ring test. Table 3 presents the
J-ring test results. The mix design can be considered self-

Fig. 3. The Construction Stages of the Concrete Wall Specimens: (a)

Adding Fibers to Concrete, (b) Casting of RC Wall, (c) Specimens
Made in the Present Study Fig. 4. Manner of J-Ring Test Performance

Table 3. Results of Fresh Self-compacting Concrete Tests

Fiber volume (%) Flow slump U-box L-box V-funnel
Mix design
Steel Nylon D (cm) T50 (Sec) (H1-H2) (cm) (H2/H1) (Sec)

F-0 0 0 73 1.66 12 0.94 3.21

S-F-0.5 0 0.5 68 1.74 16 0.81 4.12
S-F-1 0 1 61 1.82 18 0.79 5.97
N-F-0.5 0.5 0 71 1.73 13 0.88 4.92
N-F-1 1 0 69 1.78 14 0.84 4.01
S-N-F-0.5 0.25 0.25 67 1.76 15 0.88 4.11
S-N-F-1 0.5 0.5 63 1.81 17 0.80 5.36
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4 F. Omidinasab and A. S. Moghadam

compacting, if the slump flow is more than 60 centimeter in it

(Mastali and Dalvand, 2016). The slump flow for control mix (F-
0) was measured 73 centimeters. This result showed the self-
compacting feature of the mix design used in this study. The
findings of this test exhibited that the steel and nylon fibers could
decrease the flowability of the self-compacting concrete. Compared
with the control mixture, addition of 1% steel and nylon fibers to
the concrete was decreased the slump flow as much as 16% and
6%, respectively. While 1% combination of these fibers could
decreased this parameter as much as 14%. In accordance of these
results, influence of steel fibers to decreased the flowability of
concrete more considerable than effect of nylon fibers. Similar
results have been reported in previous research. Mastali and
Dalvand (2016) reported the decrease of slump flow of concrete
because of the adding steel fibers. Moreover, the influence of
steel fibers on workability of self-compacting concrete was
studied via Khaloo et al. (2015). The responses of this experiments
exhibited that the workability of the concrete reinforced by 1.5%
steel fibers was decreased 20%, as compared to the concrete
without fibers.
In addition, this study investigated the flow velocity of the
self-compacting. In order to achieve this end, the T50 and TV
parameters were studied. So as to study the flow velocity of
concrete, T50 and TV parameters are very important (Ghasemi
Naghibdehi et al., 2014). The results of these parameters are
shown in Table 3. In accordance with these results, steel fibers
have considerable negative influence on flow velocity of the self-
compacting concrete, while the nylon fibers have fewer negative
influence on this property. The addition of 1% steel fibers, nylon
fibers, and a combination of these fibers to the mixtures increased
the T50 parameter as much as 10%, 7%, and 9%, in comparison to
the F-0 (control mixture). In addition, TV parameter was increased
due to the adding steel, nylon, and combined of these fibers. 1%
steel fibers increased the TV parameter from 3.21 sec in F-0
(control mixture) to 5.97 sec in S-F-1 mixture, while 1% nylon
fibers increased this parameter to 4.01 sec in N-F-1 mixture. This
findings exhibited that the negative influence of steel fibers on
flow velocity of concrete more considerable than the effect of
nylon fibers. Former experiments have stated the negative effect
of various types of fibers on flow velocity of self-compacting
concrete (Khan et al., 2019).
One of the most essential characteristics of the self-compacting
concrete is filling capacity. In order to study this important aspect, Fig. 5. Relationship between Self-compacting Properties of the Concrete:
the L-box and U-box tests were performed. The ratio of concrete (a) Steel, (b) Nylon, (c) Combination of Steel and Nylon Fibers
heights in the vertical and horizontal sections and the height Volume
differences of concrete in two vertical sections were measured in
L-box and U-box tests, respectively. Table 3 presents the answers
obtained from L-box and U-box tests. Like previous fresh self- mixture (F-0) were 12 cm and 0.94, respectively. These results
compacting concrete tests, the conclusions of L-box and U-box indicated the high filling capacity of the mixture used in this
tests also showed that the negative influence of steel fibers on research. The answers of these tests revealed the negative
workability of concrete was more considerable than the influence of influence of fibers on filling capacity. The results of U-box test
nylon fibers. The height difference of concrete in two vertical for the S-F-1 and N-F-1 mixtures were 18 cm and 14 cm, and the
sections of the U-box and the ratio of concrete heights in the results of L-box test for these mixtures were 0.79 and 0.84,
vertical and horizontal sections of the L-box for the control respectively. These results also exhibited that the negative influence
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KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering 5

Table 4. Results of Mechanical Properties Tests

Water absorption (%) Splitting
Compressive Flexural
tensile
Specimen strength strength
30 min 72 hours strength
(MPa) (MPa)
(MPa)
F-0 1.12 2.78 74.5 3.3 4.7
S-F-0.5 1.15 3.06 77.7 6.4 7.7
S-F-1 1.21 3.19 79.3 8.1 9.3
N-F-0.5 1.12 2.91 75.7 3.5 4.9
N-F-1 1.15 3.05 76 3.8 5.3
S-N-F-0.5 1.14 2.95 76.2 6.4 6.7
S-N-F-1 1.17 3.10 80.2 7 7.8

of steel fibers on the filling capacity of the self-compacting

concrete more considerable than the nylon fibers. The graphs of
Fig. 5 deal with the relationships between the parameters of
slump flow as well as T50 with the fibers volume. The coefficient
of correlation among these parameters was close to one. The
results revealed that there was an inverse and approximately
linear relationship among the volume of fibers and self-compacting
properties.

3.2 Mechanical Properties

The mechanical properties of the self-compacting concrete was
examined by means of five tests, including ultrasonic pulse
velocity (UPV), water absorption, compressive strength, splitting
tensile strength, and flexural strength tests. The mechanical
properties tests were carry out on 7 mix design including various
percentages of steel and nylon fibers. Table 4 presents the
responses obtained these tests. Fig. 6 exhibits the picture of
mechanical properties tests.

3.2.1 Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity

The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test was performed to
determine the effect of fibers on compression and air content of
concrete. The results of this non-destructive test can indicate the
quality of concrete (Hwang et al., 2011). The relationship between
UPV and mechanical properties were examined in several previous
researches (Prassianakis and Giokas, 2003; Demirboga et al., Fig. 6. Manner of Mechanical Properties Tests Performance: (a)
2004). Fig. 7 shows the picture of UPV test. The UPV test was Compressive Strength Test, (b) Splitting Tensile Strength Test,
carry out on 21 cubic specimens with side lengths of 100 mm (3 (c) Flexural Strength Test
samples of each mix design). The pulse velocity has been
calculated through Eq. (1). In this equation, V, L, and t are the
pulse velocity, distance between the two converters, and transfer more considerably decreased the quality of concrete, in comparison
time, respectively. with the nylon fibers. Adding one percent of steel fibers
decreased the pulse velocity from 4.24 km/sec in F-0 sample to
L
V = --- (1) 3.95 km/sec in S-F-1 sample, while the adding one percent of
t
nylon fibers decreased the UPV to 4.09 km/sec in N-F1 sample.
In accordance with the results of this test, pulse velocity was In Fig. 8 relationship among the UPV and the self-compacting
decreased in concrete containing fibers. This result indicated that properties in the J-ring test was investigated by means of
the adding fibers decreased the compression and increased the regression analysis. The results of this investigation exhibited
amount of air in concrete. By comparing the results of UPV test that there was approximately linear direct relationship between
for specimens containing fibers, observed that the steel fibers these parameters. This relationship means that increasing the
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6 F. Omidinasab and A. S. Moghadam

Fig. 7. The UPV Test

Fig. 8. Relationship between the UPV and the Self-compacting Properties

of the Concrete in the J-Ring Test

self-compacting property in fresh state of concrete increased the

quality of hardened concrete, and consequently, increased the
UPV.

3.2.2 Water Absorption

This test was carry out on 21 cubic specimens, on basis of ASTM
C642 (2013). Cubic specimens with a side of 10 centimeter were
used in the water absorption test. This test was performed on 3
samples of each mix design. The half-hour absorption and 72-
hour absorption of the specimens were measured. Table 4 displays
the results obtained from water absorption test. Investigation the Fig. 9. Effects of Fibers on: (a) Compressive Strength, (b) Splitting
results exhibited that the fibers enhanced the water absorption Tensile Strength, (c) Flexural Strength
through increasing amount of air in the concrete. Both steel and
nylon fibers enhanced the water absorption, while the increase
caused by steel fibers was more considerable. According the one percent nylon fibers).
negative influence of fibers on the workability, increase the
porosity and water absorption of the concrete reinforced with 3.2.3 Compressive Strength
fibers is sensible. The half-hour water absorption and 72-hour This test was conducted on 21 cubic samples, on basis of ASTM
water absorption for the F-0 (control specimen) were 1.12% and C39 (2003). Three specimens of each mix design were used in
2.78%, respectively, while these parameters increased to 1.21% this test. The loading speed in this test was 0.3 MPa/s. Table 4
and 3.19% in S-F-1 (specimen reinforced by one percent steel shows this test results.
fibers), and 1.15% and 3.05% in N-F-1, (specimen reinforced by The compressive strength of the control sample was 74.5
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KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering 7

MPa, while this parameter was obtained 79.3 MPa and 76 MPa the beams (Mastali et al., 2015b). Table 4 shows this test results.
for S-F1 and N-F-1 specimens, respectively. Based on the results, The flexural resistance of the control beam was 4.7 MPa, while
there was no considerable difference between the compressive this parameter for S-F-1, sample containing one percent steel
strength of the control sample and the samples reinforced with fibers, was increased to 9.3 MPa. This results showed the
fibers. The compressive strength tests results are presented in important influence of steel fibers on the flexural strength. On
Fig. 9(a). Both positive and negative influence of fibers on the the other hand, investigation of the results exhibited that the
compressive strength have been reported in the previous papers influence of nylon fibers on flexural resistance test result was
(Khaloo et al., 2014). By testing on the specimens containing slight compared to the steel fibers. The flexural strength of the
steel fibers with 60 mm long, Aslani and Nejadi (2013) stated the specimens reinforced by nylon fibers approximately similar to
positive influence of the steel fibers on the compressive strength. the control specimen. Adding 0.5% and 1% of this fiber to the
However, the research conducted on the specimens containing concrete enhanced the flexural resistance as much as 4% and
steel fibers with 20.6 mm long by Khaloo et al. (2014), exhibited 13%, respectively. The observations during this test showed that
the negative influence of fibers on the compressive strength. the beams reinforced by steel fibers showed resistance after the
creation of the first crack, while the plain concrete and nylon
3.2.4 Brazilian Tensile Strength fiber reinforced concrete beams quickly reached failure in this
This test was conducted on 21 standard cylindrical samples, on stage without ductility. The flexural strength of the beams are
basis of ASTM C496 (1994). This test was conducted on 3 shown in Fig. 9(c). This graph also indicates the high difference
samples of each mix design. The loading speed in this test was among the flexural resistance of the beams reinforced by steel
0.05 MPa/s. In order to compute the splitting tensile resistance, and nylon fibers.
Eq. (2) was used. In this equation, P, d, and L are the applied
force, diameter, and length of the cylindrical specimen, respectively. 3.3 Bullet Fire Test
To carry out the bullet fire test PK Kalashnikov weapon was
2P
σ = ------------- (2)
t
π.L.d
Table 5. Specifications of PK Kalashnikov Weapon
Brazilian tensile strength test results are shown in Table 4.
Investigation of the results exhibited that there was a considerable Gun type PK Kalashnikov
difference among the tensile resistance of the plain concrete Cartridge 7.62 × 54 mmR
sample and steel fibers reinforced samples. However, tensile Muzzle velocity (m/s) 825
resistance of the samples reinforced by nylon fibers was Effective firing range (m) 1,000
approximately similar to that of plain concrete sample. The Maximum firing range (m) 3,800
observations during the test showed that the steel fibers could Rate of fire (round/min) 650
considerably enhance the tensile resistance of concrete by
developing bridges on the developed tensile cracks. Adding one
percent steel and nylon fibers enhanced the tensile resistance
from 3.3 MPa in the control specimen to 8.1 MPa and 3.8 MPa
in S-F-1 and N-F-1 specimens, respectively. Positive influence of
the steel fibers on tensile resistance of concrete was reported in
several previous investigations (Iqbal et al., 2015; Cuenca and
Ferrara, 2017). The tensile resistance tests results are presented
in Fig. 9(b). This graph shows the very significant influence of
steel fibers and slight influence of nylon fibers on the tensile
strength.

3.2.5 Flexural Strength

This test was carry out on 21 prismatic beams, on basis of ASTM
C1609 (2019). Three specimens of each mix design were used in
this test. To calculate the flexural strength, Eq. (3) was used. In
this equation, F, L, b, and d are the applied flexural force, span
length (240 mm), width (40 mm), and height of beams (60 mm).
3FL
σ = -----------2
f
(3)
2bd
This test exhibited that the steel fibers could well increase the
flexural strength by creating bridge on the cracks developed in Fig. 10. Manner of Bullet Fire Test Performance
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8 F. Omidinasab and A. S. Moghadam

used. Table 5 shows the specifications of the weapon used in this Table 6. Details of Fiber Volume in Wall Specimens
test. The bullets were fired at the walls from a distance of 50 Fiber volume in Fiber volume in middle
meters, and the penetration depth of the bullets in the walls Specimen surrounding layers (%) layer (%)
were investigated. To secure the walls, a setup was designed Steel Nylon Steel Nylon
and made by means of steel pipes. Fig. 10 shows the picture
S0-N0 0 0 0 0
of this test.
S1-N0 1 0 1 0
S0-N1 0 1 0 1
3.3.1 Details of Specimens
S0.5-N0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
The specimens made for this test consist of 10 different models
S-FG1 1.2 0 0.6 0
of concrete walls with dimensions of 400 × 400 × 75 mm. Among
N-FG1 0 1.2 0 0.6
the 10 models, 1 model fiber-free and was utilized as the control
S-N-FG1 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.3
sample, but other models reinforced by a one percent fixed
volume of fibers, with their difference being just in terms of type S-FG2 1.5 0 0 0
and arrangement of fibers in the layers. 3 models had a one layer N-FG2 0 1.5 0 0
arrangement, with 1% volume of fibers being distributed uniformly S-N-FG2 0.75 0.75 0 0
in them. The other 6 models had a three-layer arrangement. The
one percent fixed volume of fibers was purposive distributed in Fig. 11 and Table 6 show the detailed information concerning of
these walls. In this way, there were more volume of fibers in the walls made in the present study.
surrounding layers and fewer volume of fibers in the middle
layer, although the fibers volume used in every wall was the 3.3.2 Effect of Steel and Nylon Fibers
same, that is, 1% of the wall volume. In the process of making In some of the walls used in the bullet fire test, steel and nylon
concrete walls with three-layer arrangement, concrete of each fibers have been used uniformly throughout the wall. S0-N0 wall
layer was casted in a separate step in the mold. The time between was made of plain concrete. S1-N0 and S0-N1 walls contained
casting the concrete of each layer was approximately 10 minutes. 1% volume of steel and nylon fibers, respectively. S0.5-N0.5
wall also contained 1% of the composition of steel and nylon
fibers. The results of bullet fire by PK Kalashnikov gun showed
that the bullet of this gun passed through the control wall (S0-
N0) completely. This result showed the weakness of the plain
concrete walls against impact load. The results of this test
displayed that the application of fibers could improve the
behavior of walls against impact load, since the bullet fired from
the used gun, did not completely passed the fiber reinforced
concrete walls. Utilizing steel fibers results in bridging on the
micro-cracks that expanded in cracking area because of projectile
impact. Application of 1% steel fibers reduced penetration depth of
the bullet from 75 mm in control wall (S0-N0) to 39 mm in S1-
N0 wall. This result exhibited that steel fibers could be effective
to improve the behavior of walls against impact. On the other
hand, application of 1% of nylon fibers in S0-N1 wall reduced

Fig. 12. Effect of Steel and Nylon Fibers on the Penetration Depth of
Fig. 11. Details of Concrete Wall Specimens Bullet in One-Layer Walls
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KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering 9

the penetration depth of bullet up to 49 mm, indicating that the bullet fire in the next section.
effect of nylon fibers was less than steel fibers. The use of
combination of these fibers also decreased the penetration depth 3.3.3 Effect of Purposive Distribution of Fibers
of the bullet up to 41 mm in S0.5-N0.5 wall. The graph of Fig. 12 In 6 models of the 10 models of wall specimens tested in this
presents the penetration depth of these specimens. In a number of study, fibers were purposefully used to prevent bullet penetration
other walls, the fixed volume of 1% of the fibers was purposefully into the walls. This targeted distribution was such that the fixed
distributed. The behavior of these walls will be examined under volume of 1% fibers was distributed in the walls, with a more
volume of fibers in the surrounding layers and a fewer volume of
fibers in the middle layer of the wall. For example, in the S1-N0
wall, the volume of 1% steel fibers was uniformly distributed
throughout the wall, whereas in the S-FG1 wall the same volume
of fibers was distributed in the wall in such a way that the
volume of fibers applied to the surrounding layers of the wall
was twice that of the volume of fibers in the middle layer of the

Fig. 13. Effect of Steel and Nylon Fibers to Improving the Behavior of Fig. 14. Effect of Purposive Distribution of: (a) Steel, (b) Nylon,
Concrete Walls against the Bullet Firing: (a) Plain Concrete, (c) Combination of Steel and Nylon Fibers on Penetration
(b) Reinforced with Nylon Fiber, (c) Reinforced with Steel Fiber Depth of Bullet in Three-Layer Walls
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10 F. Omidinasab and A. S. Moghadam

wall and, in S-FG2 wall this volume of fibers was distributed steel and nylon fibers increased the water absorption as
only in the surrounding layers and the middle layer was devoid much as 15% and 10% and decreased the pulse velocity as
of fibers. much as 7% and 4%, respectively, in comparison to the
Figure 13 shows the photographs of the results of bullet fire control sample.
test and graphs in Fig. 14 present the results of this test. In part 4. The performance of the concrete walls reinforced by steel
(a), the effect of targeted distribution of steel fibers and in parts and nylon fibers against the bullet fire was improved, in
(b) and (c) the effect of targeted distribution of nylon fibers and comparison to the plain concrete walls. The influence of
the combination of steel and nylon fibers to reducing penetration steel fibers was more considerable than the influence of
depth of bullet are shown, respectively. In all these parts, it was nylon fibers in this case. The penetration depth of bullet
observed that the targeted distribution of fibers in the walls into walls containing 1% steel and nylon fibers decreased
reduced the penetration depth of the bullet into the walls. The 48% and 35%, respectively.
penetration depth of bullet in S-FG1 and S-FG2 walls decreased 5. Based on results of the bullet fire test, it can be concluded
21% and 31%, In comparison with the S1-N0 wall, respectively. that the concrete walls containing targeted steel fibers had a
While the targeted distribution of nylon fibers in the N-FG1 and better performance than the walls containing steel fibers
N-FG2 walls compared to the S0-N1 wall reduced the penetration with uniform distribution. This results also indicated that
depth by 2% and 6%, respectively. This result indicated that the the concrete walls containing targeted nylon fibers had a
targeted application of nylon fibers, unlike steel fibers, would not performance similar to that of the concrete walls containing
have a considerable influence on reducing the penetration depth nylon fibers with uniform distribution.
of the bullet. Targeted application of combination of these fibers 6. In the best condition, the addition of 1% steel fibers with
also reduced the penetration depth of bullet, in comparison to the targeted distribution could decrease the penetration depth
uniform application of these fibers. Penetration depth of bullet in of bullet from 39 mm in concrete wall containing 1% steel
the S-N-FG1 and S-N-FG2, walls reinforced by 1% combined fibers with uniform distribution to 27 mm, while the
steel-nylon fibers with targeted distribution, were decreased 5% targeted distribution of nylon fibers could decrease the
and 15%, respectively, in comparison to the wall containing 1% penetration depth of bullet from 49 mm to 46 mm.
combined steel-nylon fibers with uniform distribution (S0.5-
N0.5). Acknowledgments

4. Conclusions Not Applicable

Based on the results of this research, and given that these results ORCID
were exclusively related to the materials and methods used in
this research, and further tests are needed to make a definitive Fereydoon Omidinasab https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2510-4394
response, the following items are mentioned as the results of this Amirhosein Sahraei Moghadam https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
research: 0636-5513
1. Adding the steel and nylon fibers decreased the flowability
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