• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.289-299
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• 2022

Based on the random cracking theory, the cylinder RVE model of reinforced concrete is established and the damage process is divided into three stages as the evolution of the cracks. The stress distribution along longitude direction of the concrete and the steel bar in the cylinder model are derived. The equivalent elastic modulus of the RVE are derived and the user-defined field variable subroutine (USDFLD) for the equivalent elastic modulus is well integrated into the ABAQUS. Regarding the tensile rebars and the concrete surrounding the rebars as the equivalent homogeneous transversely isotropic material, and the FEM analysis for the reinforced concrete beams is conducted with the USDFLD subroutine. Considering the concrete cracking and interfacial debonding, the macroscopic damage process of the reinforced concrete beam under four-point bending loading in the simulation. The volume fraction of rebar and the cracking degree are mainly discussed to reveal their influence on the macro-performance and they are calibrated with experimental results. Comparing with the bending experiment performed with 8 reinforced concrete beams, the bending stiffness of the second stage and the ultimate load simulated are in good agreement with the experimental values, which verifies the effectiveness and the accuracy of the improved finite element method for reinforced concrete beam.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.445-453
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• 2022

A pre-cambered deep deck-plate system has been developed that can realize a long span by offsetting the deflection caused by a construction load. In this study, finite element (FE) analysis is performed to examine the preload-camber relationship introduced into a deck and calculate the deflection reflecting the ponding effect that arises during concrete pouring. The FE analysis results showed that the stress of the bottom plate was half of the yield stress when the pre-camber of approximately 30 mm was introduced. Based on the FE results, a full-scale deep deck-plate is fabricated, a pre-camber is introduced, and concrete is poured to measure deflection. A deflection calculation formula that reflects the ponding effect is proposed, and the deflections yielded by the proposed model, experimental results, and FE results are compared. Results show that the proposed model can accurately estimate the deflection of non-supported deep deck-plate systems after concrete is poured.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.433-443
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• 2022

In the current paper, the nonlinear resonance response of functionally graded graphene platelet reinforced (FG-GPLRC) beams by considering different boundary conditions is investigated using the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Four different graphene platelets (GPLs) distributions including UD and FG-O, FG-X, and FG-A are considered and the effective material parameters are calculated by Halpin-Tsai model. The nonlinear vibration equations are derived by Euler-Lagrange principle. Then the perturbation method is used to discretize the motion equations, and the loadings and displacement are all expanded, so as to obtain the first to third order perturbation equations, and then the asymptotic solution of the equations can be obtained. Then the nonlinear amplitude-frequency response is obtained with the help of the modified Lindstedt-Poincare method (Chen and Cheung 1996). Finally, the influences of the distribution types of GPLs, total GPLs layers, GPLs weight fraction, elastic foundations and boundary conditions on the resonance problems are comprehensively studied. Results show that the distribution types of GPLs, total GPLs layers, GPLs weight fraction, elastic foundations and boundary conditions have a significant effect on the nonlinear resonance response of FG-GPLRC beams.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.257-267
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• 2022

Two different types of rubber aggregates (40 mesh rubber powder and 1-4 mm rubber particles respectively) were devised to substitute fine aggregates at 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% by volume in self-compacting concrete to investigate their basic mechanical properties. The results show that with the increase of rubber content, the reduction of compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and static modulus of elasticity gradually increase, and energy dissipation performance gradually increase. The rubber addition significantly reduces brittleness and decelerates damaged process. Whilst, the effect of rubber particles is greater when they are finer. Considering the mechanical properties, the optimal rubber content is 10%. It is recommended that the rubber volume content in rubberized concrete (RC) should not be higher than 20%. In addition, a constitutive model under uniaxial compression was proposed basing on the strain equivalent principle of Lemaitre and the damage theory, which was in good agreement with the test curves.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.127-144
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• 2022

To investigate the flexural stiffness of the steel-composite beam, the contributions of the concrete slab and steel beam to the stiffness were considered separately. The method for flexural stiffness of the composite beam, considering the stiffness of the concrete slab and steel beam, was proposed in this paper. In addition, finite element models of the composite beams were established and validated. Parametric analyses were carried out to study the effects of different parameters on the neutral axis distance reduction factors of the concrete slab and steel beam. Afterward, the neutral axis distance reduction factors were fitted, and the stiffness combination coefficients of the two parts were solved. Based on the stiffness combination coefficients, the flexural stiffness of the composite beam can be obtained. The proposed method was validated by the tested and analyzed results. The method has a simple form and high accuracy in predicting the flexural stiffness of the steel-concrete composite beam, even though the degree of shear connection is less than 0.5.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2022

In this study, the problem of discontinuous contact in two functionally graded (FG) layers resting on a rigid plane and loaded by two rigid blocks is solved by the finite element method (FEM). Separate analyzes are made for the cases where the top surfaces of the problem layers are metal, the bottom surfaces are ceramic and the top surfaces are ceramic and the bottom surfaces are metal. For the problem, it is accepted that all surfaces are frictionless. A two-dimensional FEM analysis of the problem is made by using a special macro added to the ANSYS package program The solution of this study, which has no analytical solution in the literature, is given with FEM. Analyzes are made by loading different Q and P loads on the blocks. The normal stress (σy) distributions at the interfaces of FG layers and between the substrate and the rigid plane interface are obtained. In addition, the starting and ending points of the separations between these surfaces are determined. The normal stresses (σx, σy) and shear stresses (τxy) at the point of separation are obtained along the depth. The results obtained are shown in graphics and tables. With this method, effective results are obtained in a very short time. In addition, analytically complex and long problems can be solved with this method.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.209-217
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• 2022

In order to analyze the static and dynamic structural characteristics of the Obermeyer gate under overflow conditions, the force characteristics and vibration characteristics of the shield plate structure are studied based on the fluid-solid coupling theory. In this paper, the effects of the flow rate, airbag pressure and overflow water level on the structural performance of shield plate of air shield dam are explored through the method of controlling variables. The results show that the maximum equivalent stress and total deformation of the shield plate decrease first and then increase with the flow velocity. In addition, they are positively correlated with the airbag pressure. What's more, we find that the maximum equivalent stress of the shield plate decreases first and then increases with the overflow water level, and the total deformation of the shield plate decreases with the overflow water level. What's more importantly, the natural frequency of the shield structure of the Obermeyer gate is concentrated at 50 Hz and 100 Hz, so there is still the possibility of resonance. Once the resonance occurs, the free edge of the shield vibrates back and forth. This work may provide a theoretical reference for the safe and stable operation of the shield of the Obermeyer gate.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.237-246
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• 2022

The concrete quality relies on general factors like preparation technique, uniformity of the compaction, amount and appropriateness of the additives. The current article investigates the impact of a well knows amino acid, L-arginine as an additive on water requirements, setting durations and characterization of various cement samples. Compressive strength tests of reference and L-arginine added cements at age of 2, 7 and 28 days were carried out according to TS-EN 196-1. Samples were blended by incorporating various amounts of L-arginine (25 ppm, 50 ppm and 75 ppm) in the cement water mixture which were tested with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) on the 28th day. Results revealed that L-arginine does not affect the setting time, volume expansion of cement and water demands negatively; rather it imparts enhanced sustainability to the samples. It was determined that the highest value belonged to the 75L mortar with an increase of 2.6% compared to the reference sample when the compressive strengths of all mortars were compared on the 28th day. Besides, it has been observed that the development of calcium silicate hydrate or C-S-H gel, calcium hydroxide or CH and other hydrated products are associated with each other. L-arginine definitely has a contribution in the consumption of CH formed in the hydration process.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.635-642
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• 2021

In this paper, soft learning techniques are used to predict the ultimate torsional capacity of Reinforced Concrete beams strengthened with Fiber Reinforced Polymer. Soft computing techniques, namely Artificial Neural Network, trained by various back propagation algorithms, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, have been used to model and predict the torsional strength of Reinforced Concrete beams strengthened with Fiber Reinforced Polymer. The performance of each model has been evaluated by using statistical parameters such as coefficient of determination (R²), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). The hybrid PSO NN model resulted in an R² of 0.9292 with an RMSE of 5.35 for training and an R² of 0.9328 with an RMSE of 4.57 for testing. Another model, ANN BP, produced an R² of 0.9125 with an RMSE of 6.17 for training and an R² of 0.8951 with an RMSE of 5.79 for testing. The results of the PSO NN model were in close agreement with the experimental values. Thus, the PSO NN model can be used to predict the ultimate torsional capacity of RC beams strengthened with FRP with greater acceptable accuracy.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.567-583
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• 2021

The use of waste materials as a binder or aggregate in the concrete mixture is a great step towards sustainability in the construction industry. Waste rubber (WR) can be used as coarse and fine aggregates in concrete and improves the crack resistance, impact resistance, and fatigue life of the produced concrete. However, the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete degrade significantly by replacing the natural aggregate with WR. To have accurate estimations of the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete, two machine learning methods consisting of artificial neural network (ANN) and neuro-fuzzy system (NFS) were served in this study. To do this, a comprehensive dataset was collected from reliable literature, and two scenarios were addressed for the selection of input variables. In the first scenario, the critical ratios of the rubberized concrete and the concrete age were considered as the input variables. In contrast, the mechanical properties of concrete without WR and the percentage of aggregate volume replaced by WR were assumed as the input variables in the second scenario. The results show that the first scenario models outperform the models proposed by the second scenario. Moreover, the developed ANN models are more reliable than the proposed NFS models in most cases.