• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2019

In this study, the mechanical properties of reactive powder concrete (RPC) with a constant cement to silica fume ratio of 4 were investigated. In the experimental program, reactive powder concretes with steel fiber at different ratios were produced. Five productions using quartz sand with a maximum grain size of 0.6 mm were performed. A superplasticizer with a ratio of 3% of the cement was used for all productions. $40{\times}40{\times}160mm$ prismatic specimens were prepared and tested for flexural and compression. The specimens were exposed to two different curing conditions as autoclave and standard curing condition. Autoclave exposure was performed for 3 hours under a pressure of 2 MPa. It was observed that the compressive strength of concrete, along with the flexural strength exposed to autoclave was quite high compared to the strength of concretes subjected to standard curing. The results obtained indicated that the compressive strength, along with the flexural strength of autoclaved concrete increased as the amount of cement used increases. Approximately 15% increase in flexural strength was achieved with a 4% steel fiber addition. The maximum compressive strength that has been reached is over 210 MPa for reactive powder concrete for the same steel fiber ratio and with a cement content of $960kg/m^3$. The relationship between compressive strength and flexural strength of reactive powder concrete exposed to both curing conditions was also identified.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2016

In this study, high performance concrete beams and prisms with high content of PFA were heated to various temperatures up to $450^{\circ}C$ at heating rates of $1^{\circ}C/min$, $3^{\circ}C/min$ and $10^{\circ}C/min$. The thermal gradient was found to increase first with the heating time until a peak value was reached and then decrease until the thermal equilibrium was reached, measured as $115^{\circ}C$, $240^{\circ}C$ and $268^{\circ}C$ for the three heating rates. Spalling occurred on some specimens when the heating temperature was over $400^{\circ}C$ for heating rates of $3^{\circ}C/min$ and $10^{\circ}C/min$. The hygric gradient was found to reach its maximum when the thermal gradient reached its peak. This study indicates that spalling of HPC could happen when the heating temperature was high enough, and both thermal and hygric gradients reached their maxima.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2015

China accounts for nearly half of the global steel production. As a waste material or a by-product in the manufacture process, a large amount of blast furnace slag is generated every year. The majority of recycled blast furnace slag is used as an additive in low-grade blended cement in China (equivalent to the UK CEM II or CEM III depending on the slag content). The cost of using ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in such low-grade applications may not be entirely reimbursed based on market research. This paper reports an on-going project at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) which investigates the feasibility of using GGBS in long-span concrete structures by avoiding/reducing the use of crack control reinforcement. Based on a case study investigation, with up to 50% of CEM I cement replaced with GGBS, a beneficiary effect of reduced thermal contraction is achieved in long-span concrete slabs with no significant detrimental effect on early-age strengths. It is believed that this finding may be transferable from China to other Asian countries with similar climates and economic/environmental concerns.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2017

Geopolymer concrete is environmentally friendly and could be considered as a construction material to promote the sustainable development. In this paper fly ash based geopolymer concretes with different percentages of alccofine were made by mixing sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate as an alkaline activator and cured at ambient as well as heat environment in an electric oven at $90^{\circ}C$. Effects of various parameters such as the percentage of alccofine, curing temperature, a period of curing, fly ash content, was studied on compressive strength as well as workability of geopolymer concrete. The study concludes that the presence of alccofine improves the properties of geopolymer concrete during a fresh and hardened state of concrete. Geopolymer concrete in the presence of alccofine can be used for the general purpose of concrete as required compressive strength can be achieved even at ambient temperature. The 28 days compressive strength of 73 MPa, when cured at 90-degree Celsius, confirmed that it is also very suitable for precast concrete components.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.271-284
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• 2021

This study aims to trace the response of twelve one-way sustainable concrete hollow-core slabs made by reducing cement content and using replacement of coarse aggregate by plastic aggregate. The trial mixes comprise the 25, 50, 75, and 100% replacement of natural coarse aggregate. The compressive strength of the resulting lightweight concrete with full replacement of coarse aggregate by plastic aggregate was 28 MPa. These slabs are considered to have a reduced dead weight due to using lightweight aggregate and due to reducing cross-section through using voids. The samples are tested under two verticals line loads. Several parameters are varied in this study such as; nature of coarse aggregate (natural or recycled), slab line load location, the shape of the core, core diameter, flexural reinforcement ratio, and thickness of the slab. Strain gauges are used in the present study to measure the strain of steel in each slab. The test samples were fourteen one-way reinforced concrete slabs. The slab's dimensions are (1000 mm), (600 mm), (200 mm), (length, width, and thickness). The change in the shape of the core from circular to square and the use of (100 mm) side length led to reducing the weight by about (46%). The cracking and ultimate strength is reduced by about (5%-6%) respectively. With similar values of deflection. The mode of failure will remain flexural. It is recognized that when the thickness of the slab changed from (200 mm to 175 mm) the result shows a reduction in cracking and ultimate strength by about (6% and 7%) respectively.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2019

In this paper, the workability and static stability were evaluated using a proposed test method. Workability and static stability represent a key property of self-compacting concrete (SCC) in fresh state. A number of standardized test methods were developed to assess these properties. However, no accelerated test method reliably predicts both workability and static stability of SCC. In the present work, a modified K-slump test method was developed to evaluate workability and static stability of SCC. In order to take implicit mixture variations of SCC constituents that can affect fresh SCC properties, a central composite design was adopted to highlight the effect of gravel to sand ratio (G/S), gravel 3/8 to gravel 8/15 ratio (G1/G2), water to cement ratio (W/C), marble powder to cement ratio (MP/C) and superplasticizer content (SP) on workability measured with slump and flow time (T50) tests and static stability measured with sieve stability test (Pi), segregation test index (SSI), Penetration test (Pd) and the proposed K-slump test (Km). The obtained results show that G/S ratio close to 1 and G1/G2 ratio close to 60% can be considered as optimal values to achieve a good workability while ensuring a sufficient static stability of SCC. Acceptable relationships were obtained between Slump flow, Pi, Pd and Km. Results show that the proposed K-slump test allow to assess both workability and static stability of fresh SCC mixtures.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.451-459
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• 2021

The mechanical behaviors and chloride resistance performance of fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) with hybrid polyethylene (PE) and steel fiber (in total 2% by volume) were investigated. Based on micro-mechanics and fracture mechanics, the reason why the tensile strain capacity of FRCC changed obviously was obtained. Besides, the effects of the total surface area of fiber in FRCC on compressive strength and chloride content were clarified. It is found that the improvement of the tensile strain capacity of FRCC with hybrid fiber is attributed to the growth of strain-hardening performance index (the ratio of complementary energy to crack tip toughness). As the total surface area of fiber related with the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between fiber and matrix increases, compressive strength decreases obviously. Since the total surface area of fiber is small, the chloride resistance performance of FRCC with hybrid PE and steel fiber is better than that of FRCC containing only PE fiber.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.499-505
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• 2021

Geopolymer binders fascinate the attention of researchers as a replacement to cement binder in conventional concrete. One-ton production of cement releases one ton of carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere. In the replacement of cement by geopolymer material, there are two advantages: one is the reduction of CO₂ in the atmosphere, second is the utilization of Fly ash and Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) are by-products from coal and steel industries. This paper focuses on the mechanical properties of steel fiber reinforced geopolymer concrete. The framework considered in this research work is geopolymer source (Fly ash, GGBFS and crimped steel fibre) and alkaline activator which consists of NaOH and Na₂SiO₃ of molarity 8M. Here the Na₂SiO₃ / NaOH ratio was taken as 2.5. The variables considered in this experimental work include Binder content (360,420 and 450 kg/m³), the proportion of Fly ash and GGBS (70-30, 60-40 and 50-50) for three different grades of Geopolymer concrete (GPC) GPC 20, GPC 40 and GPC 60. The percentage of crimped steel fibres was varied as 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%. Generally, the inclusion of steel fibres increases the flexural and split tensile strength of Geopolymer concrete. The optimum dosage of steel fibres was found to be 0.4% (by volume fraction).

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.133-152
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• 2022

Ecological issues such as natural resource reduction and enormous waste disposals are increasingly leading in developing civilization toward sustainable construction. The two primary environmental issues are the depletion of natural resources and the disposal of trash in open landfills. Waste steel fiber (WSF) was investigated for usage as a cement-based concrete (CBC) constituent in this research. Recycling waste fibers both makes cement composites more long and cost-effective, also aids in pollution reduction. The objective of this study is to analyze the impacts of waste fiber on the fresh and mechanical features of concrete using recycled additives. A comparative research on the durability and mechanical qualities of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) constructed with natural aggregates was conducted for this aim. The obstacles to successful WSF recycling methods application in the building industry have been investigated, resulting that CBCs with these fibers make an economic and long lasting choice to deal with waste materials. The workability of fiber enhanced concrete was found to be comparable to that of normal concrete. Fibers have a considerable impact on the splitting tensile strength, flexural and compressive strength of recycled concrete. Fiber may enhance the water permeability. When the WSF content is 0.6 kg/m3, the water absorption is nearly half. Fibers would have no effect on its permeability.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2023

Autogenous healing of concrete can be helpful in structural maintenance by healing cracks using a healing material created by the precipitation of calcite and by the hydration of unhydrated binder around the cracks. Against this backdrop, this study investigated the physicochemical properties and autogenous healing performance of ternary blended binder composed of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), blast furnace slag (BFS), and calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) clinker. Ternary blended binders with various contents of OPC-BFS-CSA clinker were prepared, and their physicochemical properties and autogenous healing performances were examined using various analytical techniques and visually observed using a microscope. The obtained results indicated that increase in the BFS content accompanied the increased the amount of unreacted BFS even after 28 days of curing and had a positive effect on the autogenous healing performance due to its latent hydration. However, replacing the CSA clinker did not increase the autogenous healing performance owing to an insufficient sulfate source for the formation of ettringite. The main precipitates around the cracks were calcite, C-S-H. Other hydration products such as portlandite, monosulfate, and ettringite, which were not found in the Raman and scanning electron microscope analyses.