An Improved Technique for Determining 1he Equation of State of Concrete and Geological Materials

Concrete is an extremely versatile building material. It is being used extensively as a building material for defense and civilian structures and infrastructure. In defense applications, concrete is often used as the primary structural component in facilities that are hardened against enemy attack, especially projectiles that can impact the structure with a high rate of speed and a large explosive force. The high strain and strain rate of such an event make it imperative to know the mechanical behavior of concrete at these elevated Ioads in order to properly design the appropriate weapons that can penetrate such structures, or, conversely for defensive purposes, design the structure to withstand and survive such an event. Similar conditions can occur in the civilian sector. Depending on the geographicallocation of these structures, they can be exposed to similar conditions as some of the defense facilities. For example, an earthquake is typically composed of several different types of shock waves [ 1 ]. The exact nature of the shock waves is dependent on the nature of the earthquake source.