• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.179-190
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• 2015

An experimental program has been carried out to investigate the effect of edge-slope on compressive strength of concrete specimens. In this study, effect of such slope was investigated by testing 100 standard cylinder specimens and 40 standard cubes. When molds are put on a slanted place, wet concrete starts to flow through the open end of mold. It keeps flowing until it reaches to a parallel surface with the place over which it was placed. That creates a sloped surface over the loading area. Experimental results revealed significant relationships between failure loads and slope of loading surface for cylinders. Angled cracks occurred in sloped cylinder specimens. Tension cracks occurred in cube specimens. Fracture mechanisms were also evaluated by using finite element analyses approach. Experiments yielded an exponential curve with bandwidth for cylinders. Average value of curve is $y={\frac{\pi}{2}}e^{-cf}$ between slope and compressive strength. Inclination is much effective parameter for cylinders than cubes.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.541-555
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• 2012

This paper presents an algorithm for the evaluation of stresses in reinforced concrete sections under service loads. The algorithm is applicable to any section defined by polygonal contours and is based on an analytical integration of the stresses. The nonlinear behaviour of concrete is represented by the parabola-rectangle law used in the Eurocode-2 for the ultimate concrete design. An integrated definition of the strains in concrete and steel is possible by the use of Heaviside functions, similarly to what is done for ultimate section design in Barros et al. (2004). Other constitutive equations for the definition of the stresses in the concrete or steel can be easily incorporated into the code. The examples presented consist in the evaluation of resulting axial load and bending moment in an irregular section and in a section in L shape. The results, for service stresses, can also be plotted in terms of design abacus; a rectangular doubly reinforced section is presented as example.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.403-419
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• 2009

Short column effect is cause to failure of columns which may result in severe damages or even collapse during earthquakes. The scope of the study is mainly to reveal the effect of short column on the holistic behaviour of the buildings. The nonlinear analysis of 31 different frame buildings containing short column problem are carried out using finite element method. The finite element models were selected by 2 bays and 3 stories. Since the short columns are generally seen in the first storey of the buildings, in the study, they are only constructed in the same storey. The adverse effect of the short column on the response of buildings was shown in terms of the total load factor and displacement capacity of building. The response of buildings in terms of ground storey displacements is presented in figures and discussed. It is revealed that if the window openings are constructed along the bays, the total load capacity is decreased 85% compared with reference model in which all of bays are filled with infill walls.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.331-346
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• 2010

We present a quadrilateral finite element with an embedded crack that can be used to model tensile fracture in two-dimensional concrete solids and the crack growth. The element has kinematics that can represent linear jumps in both normal and tangential displacements along the crack line. The cohesive law in the crack is based on rigid-plasticity with softening. The required material data for the concrete failure analysis are the constants of isotropic elasticity and the mode I softening curve. The results of two well known tests are presented in order to illustrate very satisfying performance of the presented approach to simulate failure of concrete solids.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.951-968
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• 2016

In this study, pullout capacities of post-installed deformed bars anchored in low strength concrete using different bonding materials are investigated experimentally. The experimental study was conducted under outdoor and indoor conditions; on the beams of an actual reinforced concrete building and on concrete bases constructed at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). Ready-mixed cement based anchorage mortar with modified polymers (M1), ordinary cement with modified polymer admixture (M2), and epoxy based anchorage mortar with two components (E) were used as bonding material. Furthermore, test results are compared with the predictions of current analytical models. Findings of the study showed that properly designed cement based mortars can be efficiently used for anchoring deformed bars in low quality concrete. It is important to note that the cost of cement based mortar is much lower with respect to conventional epoxy based anchorage materials.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.937-950
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• 2016

This study applied autoclave expansion and heat curing to accelerate the hydration of concrete and investigated how these methods affect the expansion rate, crack pattern, aggregate size effect, and expansion of electric arc furnace oxidizing slag (EOS)-containing concrete. An expansion prediction model was simulated to estimate the expansion behavior over a long period and to establish usage guidelines for EOS aggregates. The results showed that the EOS content in concrete should range between 20% and 30% depending on the construction conditions, and that coarse aggregates with a diameter of ${\geq}4.75-mm$ are not applicable to construction engineering. By comparison, aggregates with a size of 1.18-0.03 mm resulted in higher expansion rates; these aggregates can be used depending on the construction conditions. On Day 21, the prediction model attained a coefficient of determination ($R^2$) of at least 0.9.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.523-539
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• 2016

Alkali-activated binder (AAB) is increasingly being considered as an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to portland cement (PC). The present study evaluates 30 different AAB mixtures containing fly ash and/or slag activated by sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate by correlating their properties from micro to specimen level using regression. A model is developed to predict compressive strength of AAB as a function of volume fractions of microstructural phases (physicochemical properties) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (elastic properties and density). The predicted models are ranked and then compared with the experimental data. The correlations were found to be quite reasonable (R2 = 0.89) for all the mixtures tested and can be used to estimate the compressive strengths for similar AAB mixtures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.421-439
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• 2016

Corrosion of embedded reinforcing bars is recognized as being the major cause of deterioration of reinforced concrete structures. With regard to maintenance strategies of concrete nuclear structures, the monitoring of cracking remains of primary importance. Recently, authors have developed a post-treatment technique to extract crack features from continuous computations. In this paper, such technique is applied to carry out a numerical analysis of an accelerated corrosion test. Obtained results allow highlighting specific propagation and failure mechanisms that characterize corrosion-induced cracking.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.559-572
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• 2008

The effects of fly ash and superplasticizer (SP) on workability of concrete are quite difficult to predict because they are dependent on other concrete ingredients. Because of high complexity of the relations between workability and concrete compositions, conventional regression analysis could be not sufficient to build an accurate model. In this study, a workability model has been built using artificial neural networks (ANN). In this model, the workability is a function of the content of all concrete ingredients, including cement, fly ash, blast furnace slag, water, superplasticizer, coarse aggregate, and fine aggregate. The effects of water/binder ratio (w/b), fly ash-binder ratio (fa/b), superplasticizer-binder ratio (SP/b), and water content on slump were explored by the trained ANN. This study led to the following conclusions: (1) ANN can build a more accurate workability model than polynomial regression. (2) Although the water content and SP/b were kept constant, a change in w/b and fa/b had a distinct effect on the workability properties. (3) An increasing content of fly ash decreased the workability, while raised the slump upper limit that can be obtained.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.408-416
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• 2005

Quality of service (QoS) provision is an important and indispensable function for multi-service wireless networks. In this paper, we present a new scheduling/admission control frame­work, including an efficient rate-guaranteed opportunistic scheduling (ROS) scheme and a coordinated admission control (ROS­CAC) policy to support statistic QoS guarantee in multi-service wireless networks. Based on our proposed mathematical model, we derive the probability distribution function (PDF) of queue length under ROS and deduce the packet loss rate (PLR) for individual flows. The new admission control policy makes admission decision for a new incoming flow to ensure that the PLR requirements of all flows (including the new flow) are satisfied. The numerical results based on ns-2 simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the new joint packet scheduling/admission control framework.