Experimental investigation of low-velocity impact characteristics of steel-concrete-steel sandwich beams

A series of tests was conducted to study the behaviour of steel-composite sandwich beams under low velocity hard impact. Damage characteristic and performance of sandwich beams with different spacing of shear connector were evaluated under impact loading. Thin steel plates were used as top and bottom skins of the sandwich beams and plain concrete was used as the core material. Shear connectors were provided by welding of angle sections on steel plates. The sandwich beams were impacted at their midpoint by a hemispherical nose shaped projectile dropped from various heights. Strains on steel plates were measured to study the effects of impact velocity or impact momentum on the performance of sandwich beams. Spacing of shear connectors is found to have significant effects on the impact response of the beams.