• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.431-452
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• 2014

The present study focuses on the mechanical behaviour of concrete filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) stub columns confined by fiber reinforced polymer (FRP). A series of axial compression tests have been conducted on two CFDST stub columns, eight CFDST stub columns confined by FRP and a concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) stub column confined by FRP, respectively. The influences of hollow section ratio, FRP wall thickness and fibre longitudinal-circumferential proportion on the load-strain curve and the concrete stress-strain curve for stub columns with annular section were discussed. The test results displayed that the FRP jacket can obviously enhance the carrying capacity of stub columns. Based on the test results, a new model which includes the effects of confinement factor, hollow section ratio and lateral confining pressure of the outer steel tube was proposed to calculate the compressive strength of confined concrete. Using the present concrete strength model, the formula to predict the carrying capacity of CFDST stub columns confined by FRP was derived. The theoretically predicted results agree well with those obtained from the experiments and FE analysis. The present method is also adapted to calculate the carrying capacity of CFST stub columns confined by FRP.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.1275-1303
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• 2016

Steel plates and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates or plates bonded to concrete substrates have been widely used for concrete strengthening. However, this technique cause plate debonding, which makes the strengthening system inefficient. The main objective of this study is to enhance the bond strength of externally bonded steel plates and CFRP laminates to the concrete surface by proposing new embedded adhesive and steel connectors. The effects of these new embedded connectors were investigated through the tests on 36 prism specimens. Parameters such as interfacial shear stress, fracture energy and the maximum strains in plates were also determined in this study and compared with the maximum value of debonding stresses using a relevant failure criterion by means of pullout test. The study indicates that the interfacial bond strength between the externally bonded plates and concrete can be increased remarkably by using these connectors. The investigation verifies that steel connectors increase the shear bond strength by 48% compared to 38% for the adhesive connectors. Thus, steel connectors are more effective than adhesive connectors in increasing shear bond strength. Results also show that the use of double connectors significantly increases interfacial shear stress and decrease debonding failure. Finally, a new proposed formula is modified to predict the maximum bond strength of steel plates and CFRP laminates adhesively glued to concrete in the presence of the embedded connectors.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.481-492
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• 2018

In this paper, a new hybrid fiber system (NHFS) is investigated for the application of slab. The steel fiber, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber and calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) whisker is added to form NHFS. The four-point bending test is carried out on the flexural properties of slab with plain, steel fiber, traditional hybrid fiber system (THFS) and NHFS reinforced cementitious composites. The flexural behavior is evaluated by ASTM C1018-97, JCI-SF4 and post-crack strength (PCS) technique. The evaluation parameters of flexural toughness such as toughness index (TI), equivalent flexural strength (EFS) and PCS are determined. The size of slab specimens is $15mm(thickness){\times}50mm(width){\times}200mm(length)$. The results show that adding $CaCO_3$ whisker to THFS can significantly improve the flexural strength, TI, EFS, PCS of the slab. The empirical relation between reinforcing index ($RI_v$) and flexural parameters show that flexural parameters of slabs increase first and then decrease; which indicates that optimum $RI_v$ values can be helpful in the considering the mix design of steel-PVA fibers-$CaCO_3$ whisker composites for achieving the desired flexural-related properties. The scanning electron microscopy is performed to observe the micro-morphological characteristics of the fracture surface, which proved the positive hybrid effect among the different fibers in cementitious composites. The NHFS can arrest the generation and propagation of the crack from micro to macro level.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.593-610
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• 2016

In this study, an innovative and smart glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) hybrid bar was developed for stronger durability of concrete structures. As comparing with the conventional GFRP bar, the smart GFRP Hybrid bar can promise to enhance the modulus of elasticity so that it makes the cracking reduced than the case when the conventional GFRP bar is used. Besides, the GFRP Hybrid bar can effectively resist the corrosion of conventional steel bar by the GFRP outer surface on the steel bar. In order to verify the bond performance of the GFRP hybrid bar for structural reinforcement, uniaxial pull-out test was conducted. The variables were the bar diameter and the number of strands and pitch of the fiber ribs. Tensile tests showed a excellent increase in the modulus of elasticity, 152.1 GPa, as compared to that of the pure GFRP bar (50 GPa). The stress-strain curve was bi-linear, so that the ductile performance could be obtained. For the bond test, the entire GFRP hybrid bar test specimens failed in concrete splitting due to higher shear strength resulting in concrete crushing as a function of bar deformation. Investigation revealed that an increase in the number of strands of fiber ribs enhanced the bond strength, and the pitch guaranteed the bond strength of 19.1 mm diameter hybrid bar with 15.9 mm diameter of core section of deformed steel the ACI 440 1R-15 equation is regarded as more suitable for predicting the bond strength of GFRP hybrid bars, whereas the CSA S806-12 prediction is considered too conservative and is largely influenced by the bar diameter. For further study, various geometrical and material properties such as concrete cover, cross-sectional ratio, and surface treatment should be considered.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제52권3호
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• pp.357-376
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• 2024

In this paper, weakly bonded ultra-high-strength steel bars (UHSS) were used as longitudinal reinforcement in recycled aggregate concrete shear walls to achieve resilient performance. The study evaluated the repairability and hysteresis performance of shear walls before and after retrofitting. Quasi-static tests were performed on recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) and steel fiber reinforced recycled aggregate concrete (FRAC) shear walls to investigate the reparability of resilient shear walls when loaded to 1% drift ratio. Results showed that shear walls exhibited drift-hardening properties. The maximum residual drift ratio and residual crack width at 1% drift ratio were 0.107% and 0.01mm, respectively, which were within the repairable limits. Subsequently, shear walls were retrofitted with bonded X-shaped CFRP strips and steel plates wrapped at the bottom and retested. Except for a slight reduction in initial stiffness, earthquake-damaged resilient shear walls retrofitted with a composite method still had satisfactory hysteresis performance. A revised damage assessment index D, has been proposed to assess of damage degree. Moreover, finite-element analysis for the shear wall before and after retrofit retrofitting was established in OpenSees and verified with experimental results. The finite element results and test results were in good agreement. Finally, parametric analysis was performed.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.43-54
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• 2020

This paper presents an innovative stress-function variational approach in formulating the interfacial shear and normal stresses in an externally bonded concrete joint using carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) plies. The joint is subjected to surface traction loadings applied at both ends of the concrete substrate layer. By introducing two interfacial shear and normal stress functions on the CFRP-concrete interface, based on Euler-Bernoulli beam idea and static stress equations of equilibrium, the entire stress fields of the joint were determined. The complementary strain energy was minimized in order to solve the governing equation of the joint. This yields an ordinary differential equation from which the interfacial normal and shear stresses were proposed explicitly, satisfying all the multiple traction boundary conditions. Lamination theory for composite materials was also employed to obtain the interfacial stresses. The proposed approach was validated by the analytic models in the literature as well as through a comprehensive computational code generated by the authors. Furthermore, a numerical verification was carried out via the finite element software ABAQUS. In the end, a scaling analysis was conducted to analyze the interfacial stress field dependence of the joint upon effective issues using the devised code.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.167-179
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• 2018

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is a type of ultra-high strength cement-based material with a dense microstructure, which is made of ultra-fine powders. RPC demonstrate a very brittle behavior, thus adding fibers improves its mechanical properties. In this study, it was attempted to investigate the effect of using steel and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers as well as their combination on the properties of RPC. In this regard, hooked-end crimped steel fibers together with short PVA fibers were utilized. Steel and PVA fibers were used with the maximum volume fraction of 3% and 0.75%, respectively, and also different combinations of these fibers were used with the maximum volume fraction of 1% in the concrete mixes. In total, 107 concrete specimens were prepared, and the effect of fiber type and volume fraction on the physico-mechanical properties of RPC including compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, density, and failure mode was explored. In addition, the effect of the curing type on the properties of compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and density of RPC was evaluated. Finally, coefficients for conversion of cubic compressive strength to cylindrical one for the RPC specimens were obtained under the two curing regimes of heat treatment and standard water curing.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.1487-1505
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• 2016

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the behavior of a new type of composite FRP-concrete-steel member subjected to bi-axial eccentric loading. This new type of composite member is in the form of concrete-filled square steel tube slender columns with inner CFRP (carbon fiber-reinforced polymer) circular tube, composed of an inner CFRP tube and an outer steel tube with concrete filled in the two tubes. Tests on twenty-six specimens of high strength concrete-filled square steel tube columns with inner CFRP circular tube columns (HCFST-CFRP) were carried out. The parameters changed in the experiments include the slenderness ratio, eccentric ratio, concrete strength, steel ratio and CFRP ratio. The experimental results showed that the failure mode of HCFST-CFRP was similar to that of HCFST, and the specimens failed by local buckling because of the increase of lateral deflection. The steel tube and the CFRP worked together well before failure under bi-axial eccentric loading. Ductility of HCFST-CFRP was better than that of HCFST. The ultimate bearing capacity of test specimen was calculated with simplified formula, which agreed well with test results, and the simplified formula can be used to calculate the bearing capacity of HCFSTF within the parameters of this test.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.1307-1325
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• 2016

Nonlinear behavior of two-span, continuous composite steel-concrete girders strengthened with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) bonded to the top of concrete slab over the negative moment region was evaluated using a non-linear Finite Element (FE) model in this paper. A three-dimensional FE model of continuous composite girder using commercial software ABAQUS simulated and validated with experimental results. The interfacial regions of the composite girder components were modeled using suitable interface elements. Validation of the proposed numerical model with experimental data confirmed the applicability of this model to predict the loading history, strain level for the different components and concrete-steel relative slip. The FE model captured the different modes of failure for the continuous composite girder either in the concrete slab or at the interfacial region between CFRP sheet and concrete slab. Through a parametric study, the thickness of CFRP sheet and shear connection required to develop full capacity of the continuous composite girder at negative moment zone have been investigated. The FE results showed that the proper thickness of CFRP sheet at negative moment region is a function of the adhesive strength and the positive moment capacity of the composite section. The shear connection required at the negative moment zone depends on CFRP sheet's tensile stress level at ultimate load.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.103-118
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• 2009

It has been reported that more than thirty five percent of steel bridges in the USA are structurally deficient because of structural degradations. The degraded structures need either full replacement or rehabilitation such that they are able to provide the required services for a longer period of time. The cost for repair in most cases is far less than the cost of replacement. Moreover, repair method generally takes less time than replacement and also reduces service interruption time. Modern advanced composites have been used in aerospace and automotive fields since World War II. In the recent past, because of the high strength-to-weight ratio and high stiffness-to-weight ratio, these composite materials have been introduced to civil engineering infrastructures primarily for repair and rehabilitation of concrete structures. However, only a few preliminary studies on repair of corroded steel structures using theses composite materials are reported in the literature available in the public domain. Thus, in this study, a series of laboratory tests was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of this repair method using carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite. The paper discusses the test method and test results obtained from these tests.