Water saturation effect on the dynamic mechanical behaviour and scaling law effect on the dynamic strength of coral aggregate concrete

Abstract The variation in impact resistance of coral aggregate concrete (CAC) under different levels of water saturation was investigated. Results show that the free water improves not only the strain rate effect of the dynamic compressive strength of CAC but also the increasing amplitude of the dynamic elastic modulus with the strain rate. In general, the strain rate effect on the dynamic elastic modulus is less than that on the dynamic compressive strength. The higher the water saturation, the greater are the critical strain and toughness of CAC. The promoting effect of free water on crack propagation at a low strain rate and the increasing effect of free water on the damage degree at a high strain rate improve the deformation and energy absorption properties of CAC. The proposed scaling law effect model can be effectively applied to characterise the statistical distribution of the dynamic strength of CAC.