Impact response of two-layered grouted aggregate fibrous concrete composite under falling mass impact

•The proposed TGAFCC possess high potential to enhance the impact strength.•More efficiency obtained for TGAFCC slabs under falling mass impact.•Novel TGAFCC technology can be used for defence structures. Two-layered Grouted Aggregates Fibrous Concrete Composite (TGAFCC) is a new category concrete which became popular recently and attracted the attention of researchers globally. Recent studies indicated that TGAFCC has notable improvement in mechanical properties, which has been sufficiently documented. However, the impact behaviour of TGAFCC when combined with Glass Fibre Mesh (GFM) and Textile Fibre Mesh (TFM) is still unexplored. The research objective is to study the effect of GFM and TFM insertion in TGAFCC against the drop hammer impact. Twenty one TGAFCC mixtures were prepared and divided into two series; non-fibrous concrete and fibrous concrete. The combined action of GFM and TFM of various diameters were inserted between the two layers and tested experimentally against drop mass impact. Additionally, all fibrous specimens were reinforced with a constant 3% dosage of 5D hooked end fibre. All specimens were tested under repeated drop mass impact as per ACI Committee 544. The impacts number or number of blows till the first visible crack and failure, impact energy at the first visible crack and failure, impact ductility index and cracking configuration were examined. Besides, Weibull distribution was used to examine the variations in the test results, where impact numbers were presented using the reliability function. The research findings indicate that inserting GFM and TFM between the two layers combined with 5D hooked end steel fibres, provided high impact resistance, higher absorbed energy and prolonged failure duration. Increasing the diameters of the GFM and TFM insertions, in both non-fibrous and fibrous concrete resulted in increasing the impact numbers till the first visible crack and failure. The experimental findings confirm that the major contribution of impact resistance comes from the 5D hooked end steel fibres, while the share of the intermediate meshes was significantly lower.