• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.717-726
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• 2018

Concrete pipelines are the most efficient and safe means for gas and oil transportation over a long distance. The use of nano materials and nono-engineering can be considered for enhancing concrete pipelines properties. the tests show that $SiO_2$ nanoparticles can improve the mechanical behavior of concrete. Moreover, severe hazard for pipelines is seismic ground motion. Over the years, scientists have attempted to understand pipe behavior against earthquake most frequently via numerical modeling and simulation. Therefore, in this paper, the dynamic response of underwater nanocomposite submerged pipeline conveying fluid is studied. The structure is subjected to the dynamic loads caused by earthquake and the governing equations of the system are derived using mathematical model via Classic shell theory and Hamilton's principle. Navier-Stokes equation is employed to calculate the force due to the fluid in the pipe. As well, the effect of external fluid is modeled with an external force. Mori-Tanaka approach is used to estimate the equivalent material properties of the nanocomposite. 1978 Tabas earthquake in Iran is considered for modelling seismic load. The dynamic displacement of the structure is extracted using differential quadrature method (DQM) and Newmark method. The effects of different parameters such as $SiO_2$ nanoparticles volume percent, boundary conditions, thickness to radius ratios, length to radius ratios, internal and external fluid pressure and earthquake intensity are discussed on the seismic response of the structure. From results obtained in this paper, it can be found that the dynamic response of the pipe is increased in the presence of internal and external fluid. Furthermore, the use of $SiO_2$ nanoparticles in concrete pipeline reduces the displacement of the structure during an earthquake.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Dithiocarbamte fungicides have been used in crop cultivation for diseases protection and treatment. And cultivated agricultrual products were used as feedstuff, and residual pesticides are likely to be absorbed and transferred to livestock. But the maximum residue limits (MRLs) were not established for dithiocarbate fungicides in livestock products, and thus an analysis method was developed and validated for dithiocarbamate fungicides to establish MRLs. METHODS AND RESULTS: Samples were prepared using CS₂ trap method and detected with UV/VIS spectrophotometer. Calibration line (0.1 ~ 10 ㎍/mL) was linear with r² > 0.99. For validation, the recovery tests were carried out at three fortification levels (MLOQ, 10 MLOQ and 50 MLOQ) from livestock samples (egg, milk, beef, pork, and chicken). The results for mancozeb, propineb, and thiram ranged between 76.8 to 109.6%, 79.4 to 108.8%, and 80.2 to 107.8%, respectively and % RSD (relative standard deviation) values were below 9.5%. Furthermore, inter-laboratory analysis was performed to validate the method. CONCLUSION: All values were corresponded with the criteria ranges requested by both the CODEX (CAC/GL 40-1993, 2003) and MFDS guidelines (2016). This might be used as an official analytical method for determination of dithiocarbamate fungicides at established MRLs and monitoring.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2019

This paper aims at presenting a numerical method for estimating the elastic modulus of recycled concrete with crushed aggregates. In the method, polygonal aggregates following a given sieve curve are generated, and placed into a square simulation element with the aid of the periodic boundary condition and the overlap criterion of two polygonal aggregates. The mesostructure of recycled concrete is reconstructed by embedding an old interfacial transition zone (ITZ) layer inside each recycled aggregate and by coating all the aggregates with a new ITZ layer. The square simulation element is discretized into a regular grid and a representative point is selected from each sub-element. The iterative method is combined with the fast Fourier transform to evaluate the elastic modulus of recycled concrete. After the validity of the numerical method is verified with experimental results, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the effects of key factors on the elastic modulus of recycled concrete. Numerical results show that the elastic modulus of recycled concrete increases with the increase of the total aggregate content and the elastic moduli of old and new ITZ but decreases with increasing the replacement ratio of recycled aggregate and the thicknesses of old and new ITZ. It is also shown that, for a replacement ratio of recycled aggregate smaller than 0.3, the elastic modulus of recycled concrete is reduced by no more than 10%.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2019

Concrete reinforced with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars (FRP-RC) has attracted a significant amount of research attention in the last three decades. A limited number of studies, however, have investigated the effect of bond slip on the performance of FRP-RC columns under eccentric loading. Based on previous experimental study, a finite-element model of eccentrically loaded FRP-RC columns was established in this study. The bondslip behavior was modeled by inserting spring elements between FRP bars and concrete. The improved Bertero-Popov-Eligehausen (BPE) bond slip model with the results of existing FRP-RC pullout tests was introduced. The effect of bond slip on the entire compression-bending process of FRP-RC columns was investigated parametrically. The results show that the initial stiffness of bond slip is the most sensitive parameter affecting the compression-bending performance of columns. The peak bond stress and the corresponding peak slip produce a small effect on the maximum loading capacity of columns. The bondslip softening has little effect on the compression-bending performance of columns. The sectional analysis revealed that, as the load eccentricity and the FRP bar diameter increase, the reducing effect of bond slip on the flexural capacity becomes more obvious. With regard to bond slip, the axial-force-bending-moment (P-M) interaction diagrams of columns with different FRP bar diameters show consistent trends. It can be concluded from this study that for columns reinforced with large diameter FRP bars, the flexural capacity of columns at low axial load levels will be seriously overestimated if the bond slip is not considered.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.193-206
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• 2019

Although concrete is the most widely used construction material, its deficiency in shrinkage and low tensile resistance is undeniable. However, the aforementioned defects can be partially modified by addition of fibers. On the other hand, possibility of adding waste materials in concrete has provided a new ground for use of recycled concrete aggregates in the construction industry. In this study, a constant combination of recyclable coarse and fine concrete aggregates was used to replace the corresponding aggregates at 50% substitution percentage. Moreover, in order to investigate the effects of fibers on mechanical and durability properties of recycled aggregate concrete, the amounts of 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% steel fibers (ST) and 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.15% polypropylene (PP) fibers by volumes were used individually and in hybrid forms. Compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), water absorption, toughness, elastic modulus and shrinkage of samples were investigated. The results of mechanical properties showed that PP fibers reduced the compressive strength while positive impact of steel fibers was evident both in single and hybrid forms. Tensile and flexural strength of samples were improved and the energy absorption of samples containing fibers increased substantially before and after crack presence. Growth in toughness especially in hybrid fiber-reinforced specimens retarded the propagation of cracks. Modulus of elasticity was decreased by the addition of PP fibers while the contrary trend was observed with the addition of steel fibers. PP fibers decreased the ultrasonic pulse velocity slightly and had undesirable effect on water absorption. However, steel fiber caused negligible decline in UPV and a small impact on water absorption. Steel fibers reduce the drying shrinkage by up to 35% when was applied solely. Using fibers also resulted in increasing the ductility of samples in failure. In addition, mechanical properties changes were also evaluated by statistical analysis of MATLAB software and smoothing spline interpolation on compressive, flexural, and indirect tensile strength. Using shell interpolation, the optimization process in areas without laboratory results led to determining optimal theoretical points in a two-parameter system including steel fibers and polypropylene.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.207-222
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• 2019

This paper has presented an effective and accurate meso-scale finite element model for simulating the fracture process of concrete under compression-shear loading. In the proposed model, concrete is parted into four important phases: aggregates, cement matrix, interfacial transition zone (ITZ), and the initial defects. Aggregate particles were modelled as randomly distributed polygons with a varying size according to the sieve curve developed by Fuller and Thompson. With regard to initial defects, only voids are considered. Cohesive elements with zero thickness are inserted into the initial mesh of cement matrix and along the interface between aggregate and cement matrix to simulate the cracking process of concrete. The constitutive model provided by ABAQUS is modified based on Wang's experiment and used to describe the failure behaviour of cohesive elements. User defined programs for aggregate delivery, cohesive element insertion and modified facture constitutive model are developed based on Python language, and embedded into the commercial FEM package ABAQUS. The effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed model are firstly identified by comparing the numerical results with the experimental ones, and then it is used to investigate the effect of meso-structure on the macro behavior of concrete. The shear strength of concrete under different pressures is also involved in this study, which could provide a reference for the macroscopic simulation of concrete component under shear force.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.249-258
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• 2019

In order to investigate the strength recovery of fire-damaged concrete after post-fire curing, concrete specimens were heating at $2^{\circ}C/min$ or $5^{\circ}C/min$ to 400, 600 and $800^{\circ}C$, and these exposed specimens were soaked in the water for 24 hours and following by 29-day post-fire curing. The compressive strength and split tensile strength of the high-temperature-exposed specimens before and after post-fire curing were tested. The proportion of split aggregate in the split surfaces was analyzed to evaluate the mortar-aggregate interfacial strength. After the post-fire curing process, the split tensile strength of specimens exposed to all temperatures was recovered significantly, while the recovery of compressive strength was only obvious within the specimens exposed to $600^{\circ}C$. The tensile strength is more sensitive to the mortar-aggregate interfacial cracks, which caused that the split tensile strength decreased more after high-temperature exposure and recovery more after post-fire curing than the compressive strength. The mortar-aggregate interfacial strength also showed remarkable recovery after post-fire curing, and it contributed to the recovery of split tensile strength.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2019

The sustainable development principle of replacing natural resources with renewable material is an important research topic. In this study, waste LCD (liquid crystal display) glass powder was used to replace cement (0%, 10%, 20% and 30%) through a volumetric method using three water-binder ratios (0.47, 0.59, and 0.71) to make cement mortar. The compressive strength was tested at the ages of 7, 28, 56 and 91 days. The test results show that the compressive strength increases with age but decreases as the water-binder ratio increases. The compressive strength slightly decreases with an increase in the replacement of LCD glass powder at a curing age of 7 days. However, at a curing age of 91 days, the compressive strength is slightly greater than that for the control group (glass powder is 0%). When the water-binder ratios are 0.47, 0.59 and 0.71, the compressive strength of the various replacements increases by 1.38-1.61 times, 1.56-1.80 times and 1.45-2.20 times, respectively, during the aging process from day 7 to day 91. Furthermore, a prediction model of the compressive strength of a cement mortar with waste LCD glass powder was deduced in this study. According to the comparison between the prediction analysis values and test results, the MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) values of the compressive strength are between 2.79% and 5.29%, and less than 10%. Thus, the analytical model established in this study has a good forecasting accuracy. Therefore, the proposed model can be used as a reliable tool for assessing the design strength of cement mortar from early age test results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.159-172
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• 2019

This paper presents an investigation into the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams retrofitted by ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) layers. The experimental study has been conducted in two parts. In the first part, four methods of retrofitting with UHPFRC layers in both the up and down sides of the beams have been proposed and their efficiency in the bonding of the normal concrete and ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete has been discussed. The results showed that using the grooving method and the pre-casted UHPFRC layers in comparison with the sandblasting method and the cast-in-place UHPFRC layers leads to increase the load carrying capacity and the energy absorption capacity and causes high bond strength between two concretes. In the second part of the experimental study, the tests have been conducted on the beams with single UHPFRC layer in the down side and in the up side, using the effective retrofitting method chosen from the first part. The results are compared with those of non-retrofitted beam and the results of the first part of experimental study. The results showed that the retrofitted beam with two UHPFRC layers in the up and down sides has the highest energy absorption and load carrying capacity. A finite element analysis was applied to prediction the flexural behavior of the composite beams. A good agreement was achieved between the finite element and experimental results. Finally, a parametric study was carried out on full-scale retrofitted beams. The results indicated that in all retrofitted beams with UHPFRC in single and two sides, increasing of the UHPFRC layer thickness causes the load carrying capacity to be increased. Also, increases of the normal concrete compressive strength improved the cracking load of the beams.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.103-115
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• 2019

In this study, the strength and stiffness (EI) of wood-concrete composite beams for bridges with T-shaped cross section were evaluated. Two types of connectors were used: connectors bonded with epoxy adhesive and connectors attached to the wood just by pre-drilling (without adhesive). The connectors consisted of common steel bars with a diameter of 12.5 mm. Initially, the strength and stiffness (EI) of the beams were analyzed by bending tests with the load applied at the third point of the beam. Subsequently, the composite beams were evaluated by numerical simulation using ANSYS software with focus on the connection system. To make the composite beams, Eucalyptus citriodora wood and medium strength concrete were used. The slip modulus K and the ultimate strength values of each type of connector were obtained by direct shear tests performed on composite specimens. The results showed that the connector glued with epoxy adhesive resulted in better strength and stiffness (EI) for the composite beams when compared to the connector fixed by pre-drilling. The differences observed were up to 10%. The strength and stiffness (EI) values obtained analytically by $M{\ddot{o}}hler^{\prime}$ model were lower than the values obtained experimentally from the bending tests, and the differences were up to 25%. The numerical simulations allowed, with reasonable approximation, the evaluation of stress distributions in the composite beams tested experimentally.