• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.289-304
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• 2013

A reliable concrete constitutive material model is critical for an accurate numerical analysis simulation of reinforced concrete structures under extreme dynamic loadings including impact or blast. However, the formulation of concrete material model is challenging and entails numerous input parameters that must be obtained through experimentation. This paper presents a damage scale analytical model to characterize concrete material for its pre- and post-peak behavior. To formulate the damage scale model, statistical regression and finite element analysis models were developed leveraging twenty existing experimental data sets on concrete compressive strength. Subsequently, the proposed damage scale analytical model was implemented in the finite element analysis simulation of a reinforced concrete pier subjected to vehicle impact loading and the response were compared to available field test data to validate its accuracy. Field test and FEA results were in good agreement. The proposed analytical model was able to reliably predict the concrete behavior including its post-peak softening in the descending branch of the stress-strain curve. The proposed model also resulted in drastic reduction of number of input parameters required for LS-DYNA concrete material models.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.273-288
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• 2013

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the potentials of self-compacting concrete (SCC) mixes to develop bond strength. The investigated mixes incorporated relatively high contents of dolomite powder replacing Portland cement. Either silica fume or fly ash was used along with the dolomite powder in some mixes. Seven mixes were proportioned and cast without vibration in long beams with 10 mm and 16 mm steel dowels fixed vertically along the flowing path. The beams were then broken into discrete test specimens. A push-put configuration was adopted for conducting the bond test. The variation of the ultimate bond strength along the flowing path for the different mixes was evaluated. The steel-concrete bond adequacy was evaluated based on normalized bond strength. The results showed that the bond strength was reduced due to Portland cement replacement with dolomite powder. The addition of either silica fume or fly ash positively hindered further degradation as the dolomite powder content increased. However, all SCC mixes containing up to 30% dolomite powder still yielded bond strengths that were adequate for design purpose. The test results demonstrated inconsistent normalized bond strength in the case of the larger diameter compared to the smaller one.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.367-374
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• 2020

Concrete surfaces, industrial floors, sidewalks, roads and parking lots are typically subjected to abrasions. Many studies indicated that the abrasion resistance is directly related to the ultimate strength of the cured concrete. Chemical reactions, freeze-thaw cycles, and damages under abrasion are among many factors negatively affecting the concrete strength and durability. One of the major solutions to address the abrasive resistance of the concrete is to use fibers. Fibers are used in the concrete mix to improve the mechanical properties, strength and limit the crack propagations. In this study, implementation of the steel fibers in concrete to enhance the abrasive resistance of the concrete is investigated in details. The abrasive resistance of the concrete with and without steel fibers is studied with the sandblasting technique. For this purpose, different concrete samples are made with various hooked steel fiber ratios and investigated with the sandblasting method for two different strike angles. In total, 144 ASTM verified cube samples are investigated and it is shown that those samples with the highest steel fiber ratios have the highest abrasive resistance. In addition, the experiments determine that there is a meaningful correlation between the steel fiber percentage in the mix, strike angle and curing time which could be considered for improving structural behavior of the fiber-reinforced concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.375-386
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• 2020

In the present study, the effect of basalt, glass, and hybrid glass-basalt fibers on mechanical properties and fracture behavior of self-compacting concrete (SCC) mixes have been assessed at room and elevated temperatures. To do so, twelve mix compositions have been prepared such that the proper workability, flowability, and passing ability have been achieved. Besides, to make comparison possible, water to binder ratio and the amount of solid contents were kept constant. Four fiber dosages of 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% (by concrete volume) were considered for monotype fiber reinforced mixes, while the total amount of fiber were kept 1% for hybrid fiber reinforced mixes. Three different portions of glass and basalt fiber were considered for hybridization of fibers to show the best cocktail for hybrid basalt-glass fiber. Test results indicated that the fracture energy of mix is highly dependent on both fiber dosage and temperature. Moreover, the hybrid fiber reinforced mixes showed the highest fracture energies in comparison with monotype fiber reinforced specimens with 1% fiber volume fraction. In general, hybridization has played a leading role in the improvement of mechanical properties and fracture behavior of mixes, while compared to monotype fiber reinforced specimens, hybridization has led to lower amounts of compressive strength.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2020

In the present study, by employing fragility analysis, the seismic vulnerability of a concrete girder bridge, one of the most common existing structural bridge systems, has been performed. To this end, drift demand model as a fundamental ingredient of any probabilistic decision-making analyses is initially developed in terms of the two most common intensity measures, i.e., PGA and Sa (T₁). Developing a probabilistic demand model requires a reliable database that is established in this paper by performing incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) under a set of 20 ground motion records. Next, by employing Bayesian statistical inference drift demand models are developed based on pre-collapse data obtained from IDA. Then, the accuracy and reasonability of the developed models are investigated by plotting diagnosis graphs. This graphical analysis demonstrates probabilistic demand model developed in terms of PGA is more reliable. Afterward, fragility curves according to PGA based-demand model are developed.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.345-354
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• 2020

Cement is the most significant component in concrete. Large scale manufacturing of cement consumes more energy and release harmful products (Carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere that adversely affect the environment and depletes the natural resources. A lot of research is going on in globally concentrating on the recycling and reuse of waste materials from many industries. A major share of research is focused on finding cementitious materials alternatives to ordinary Portland cement. Many industrial waste by-products such as quartz powder, metakaolin, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, and fly ash etc. are under investigations for replacement of cement in concrete to minimize greenhouse gases and improve the sustainable construction. In current research, the effects of a new generation, ultra-fine material i.e., alccofine which is obtained from ground granulated blast furnace slag are studied as partial replacement by 25% and with varying amounts of sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde (i.e., 0.3%, 0.35% and 0.40%) on mechanical, water absorption, thermal and microstructural properties of concrete. The results showed moderate improvement in all concrete properties. Addition of SNF with combination of alccofine showed a significant enhancement in fresh, hardened properties and water absorption test as well as thermal and microstructural properties of concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.423-435
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• 2020

Open ground story (OGS) reinforced concrete (RC) buildings are vulnerable to the complete collapse or severe damages under seismic actions. This study investigates the effectiveness of four different strengthening techniques representing the local and global modifications to improve the seismic performance of a non-ductile RC OGS frame. Steel caging and concrete jacketing methods of column strengthening are considered as the local modification techniques, whereas steel bracing and RC shear wall systems are selected as the global strengthening techniques in this study. Performance-based plastic design (PBPD) approach relying on energy-balance concept has been adopted to determine the required design force demand on the strengthening elements. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are carried out on the numerical models of study frames to assess the effectiveness of selected strengthening techniques in improving the seismic performance of OGS frame.. Strengthening techniques based on steel braces and RC shear wall significantly reduced the peak interstory drift response of the OGS frame. However, the peak floor acceleration of these strengthened frames is amplified by more than 2.5 times as compared to that of unstrengthened frame. Steel caging technique of column strengthening resulted in a reasonable reduction in the peak interstory drift response without substantial amplification in peak floor acceleration of the OSG frame.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.589-596
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• 2020

In an effort to find alternate, environment friendly and sustainable building materials, the scope of possible utilization of iron slag (I-sand), generated as a by-product in iron and steel industries, as fine aggregates in reinforced cement concrete (RCC) made with manufactured sand (M-sand) is examined in this manuscript. Systematic investigations of the physical, mechanical, microstructural and durability properties of I-sand in comparison with RCC made with M-sand have been carried out on various mix designs prepared by the partial/full replacement of I-sand in M-sand. The experimental results clearly indicate the possibility of utilizing iron slag for preparing RCC in constructions without compromising on the property of concrete, durability and performance. This provides an alternate possibility for the effective utilization of industrial waste, which is normally disposed by delivering to landfills, in building materials which can reduce the adverse environmental effects caused by indiscriminate sand mining being carried out to meet the growing demands from construction industry and also provide an economically viable alternative by reducing the cost of concrete production.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.597-610
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• 2020

Stress-strain models of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) confined concrete have been widely investigated; however, the existing load which is always supported by structures during the retrofitting phase, namely 'preload', has been neglected. Thus, preload effects should be clarified, providing insightful information for FRP retrofitting of structures with preload conditions. Towards this aim, experiments were performed for 27 cylinder concrete specimens with the diameter 150 mm and the height 300 mm. Three specimens were used to test the compressive strength of concrete to compute the preloads 20%, 30% and 40% of the average strength of these specimens. Other 24 specimens were divided into 2 groups; each group included 4 subgroups. Four subgroups were subjected to the above preloads and no preload, and were then wrapped by 2 FRP layers. Similar designation is applied to group 2, but wrapped by 3 FRP layers. All specimens were tested under axial compression to failure. Explosive failure is found to be the characteristic of specimens wrapped by FRP. Experimental results indicated that the preload decreases 12-13% the elastic and second stiffness of concrete specimens wrapped by 2 FRP layers. The stiffness reduction can be mitigated by the increase of FRP layers. Preload negligibly reduces the ultimate force and unclearly affects the ultimate displacement probably due to complicated cracks developed in concrete. A mechanism of preload effects is presented in the paper. Finally, to take into account preload effects, a modification of the widely used model of un-preload FRP confined concrete is proposed and the modified model demonstrated with a reasonable accuracy.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.557-568
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• 2020

In this study, the impact of ring supports around the shell circumferential has been examined for their various positions along the shell axial length using Rayleigh-Ritz formulation. These shells are stiffened by rings in the tangential direction. For isotropic materials, the physical properties are same everywhere where the laminated and functionally graded materials, they vary from point to point. Here the shell material has been taken as functionally graded material. The influence of the ring supports is investigated at various positions. These variations have been plotted against the locations of ring supports for three values of length-to-diameter ratios. Effect of ring supports with middle layer thickness is presented using the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure with three different conditions. The influence of the positions of ring supports for clamped-clamped is more visible than simply supported and clamped-free end conditions. The frequency first increases and gain maximum value in the midway of the shell length and then lowers down. The Lagrangian functional is created by adding the energy expressions for the shell and rings. The axial modal deformations are approximated by making use of the beam functions. The comparisons of frequencies have been made for efficiency and robustness for the present numerical procedure. Throughout the computation, it is observed that the frequency behavior for the boundary conditions follow as; clamped-clamped, simply supported-simply supported frequency curves are higher than that of clamped-simply curves. To generate the fundamental natural frequencies and for better accuracy and effectiveness, the computer software MATLAB is used.