Dataset of high-speed camera measurements from impact-tested reinforced concrete beams

Impact-loaded reinforced concrete beams often fail in shear. This becomes relevant for shelter design against ballistics or fragment impact, for instance. An experimental campaign was conducted to study the different types of shear failure and governing parameters. Eighteen reinforced concrete beams were tested by a 70 kg steel striker dropped from a 2.4 m height. The beams were loaded at different positions from the support with different amounts of transverse reinforcement. The beams were of reduced scale with a length of 0.80 m and a square 0.15 m × 0.15 m cross-section. The drop weight tests were monitored with shock accelerometers on the striker and beam centre, load cells under the supports measuring reaction forces, and a high-speed camera (HSC). High-speed camera measurements were recorded orthogonal to the surface with the aim of performing high-quality digital image correlation (DIC) analyses. The beams and striker were painted with a speckled pattern prior to testing for the DIC analyses. Camera recordings were conducted with a 1024 × 512 px resolution and 6 kHz sampling, resulting in a time resolution of about 0.17 ms. Accelerometer and load cell measurements were sampled at 19.2 kHz. The accelerometer on the striker was used to approximate the impact force, and beam acceleration can be used to synchronize the camera and DAQ recordings. The data may be used to calibrate finite element models, study the impact response of beams, or develop new mechanical models.