Behavior of structural members under oblique impact loads state‑of‑the‑art review

During the life time of the structural members such as beams, columns and slabs, they are expected to be exposed to impact loads from falling objects, hit by cars, and ships with different weights, shapes and impact velocities.The previous studies were intensively studied the behavior of the structural members under lateral impact loadings.Yet very little attempts to understand the influence of the impact angle on the structural behavior of the members.Since failure of structural members can lead to the collapse of the entire structure, this study aims to understand how these members, behave and what causes them to fail under non-axial or lateral impact loads.Beams subjected to an inclined impact load are affected by several factors such as the speed and the mass of the impactor, the height of the dropped weight, the total impact energy, and the stiffness of the entire structure at the moment of impact.Previous studies shown that when the reinforced concrete slabs subjected to an oblique impact load the local damage occurs at a greater rate when the impactor hit the slab with angle of 20 degrees.However, the effects of the oblique impact load are still under research and more studies are required to understand that behavior.