• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2022

Filling materials poured into precast member joint are subjected to restraint stress by the precast member and joint reinforcement. The induced stress will likely cause cracks at early ages and performance degradation of the entire structure. To prevent these issues and design reasonable joints, it is very important to analyze and evaluate the restrained shrinkage cracks of filling materials at various restraint conditions. In this study, a new time zero-that defines the shrinkage development time of a filling material-is proposed to calculate the accurate amount of shrinkage. The tensile stresses and strengths at different ages were compared through the ring test (AASHTO PP34) to evaluate the crack potential of the restrained filling materials at various restraint conditions. The mixture which contained an expansive additive and a shrinkage reducing agent exhibited high resistance to shrinkage cracking owing to the high-drying shrinkage compensation effect. The high-performance, fiber-reinforced cement composite, and ultra-high-performance, fiber-reinforced cement composite yielded very high resistance to shrinkage and cracking owing to the pull-out property of steel fibers. To this end, multiple nonlinear regression analyses were conducted based on the test results. Accordingly, a modified tensile stress equation that considered both the geometric shape of the specimen and the intrinsic properties of the material is proposed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.4
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• pp.475-493
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• 2022

The results of research focusing on the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement RC beams with openings reinforced with welded steel mesh, expanded steel mesh, fiber glass mesh, and polyethylene mesh independently are presented in this article. Casting and testing of fourteen reinforced concrete beams with dimensions of 200×100×2000 mm under concentric compression loadings were part of the research program. The type of reinforcing materials, the volume fraction of reinforcement, the number of mesh layers, and the number of stirrups are the major parameters that change. The main goal is to understand the impact of using new appealing materials in reinforcing RC beams with openings. Using ANSYS-16.0 Software, nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was used to demonstrate the behavior of composite RC beams with openings. A parametric study is also conducted to discuss the variables that can have the greatest impact on the mechanical behavior of the proposed model, such as the number of openings. The obtained experimental and numerical results demonstrated the FE simulations' acceptable accuracy in estimating experimental values. Furthermore, demonstrating that the strength gained of specimens reinforced with fiber glass meshes was reduced by approximately 38% when compared to specimens reinforced with expanded or welded steel meshes is significant. In addition, when compared to welded steel meshes, using expanded steel meshes in reinforcing RC beams with openings results in a 16 percent increase in strength. In general, when ferrocement beams with openings are tested under concentric loadings, they show higher-level ultimate loads and energy-absorbing capacity than traditional RC beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.6
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• pp.793-815
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• 2023

The current study looks at the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement RC channel slabs reinforced with welded steel mesh, expanded steel mesh, and fiber glass mesh individually. Ten RC channel slabs with dimensions of 500 mm×40 mm×2500 mm were subjected to flexural loadings as part of the testing program. The type of reinforcing materials, the number of mesh layers, and the reinforcement volume fraction are the key parameters that can be changed. The main goal is to determine the impact of using new inventive materials to reinforce composite RC channel slabs. Using ANSYS -16.0 Software, nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was used to simulate the behavior of composite channel slabs. Parametric study is also demonstrated to identify variables that can have a significant impact on the model's mechanical behavior, such as changes in slab dimensions. The obtained experimental and numerical results indicated that FE simulations had acceptable accuracy in estimating experimental values. Also, it's significant to demonstrate that specimens reinforced with fiber glass meshes gained approximately 12% less strength than specimens reinforced with expanded or welded steel meshes. In addition, Welded steel meshes provide 24% increase in strength over expanded steel meshes when reinforcing RC channel slabs. In general, ferrocement specimens tested under flexural loadings outperform conventional reinforced concrete specimens in terms of ultimate loads and energy absorbing capacity.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.997-1018
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• 2015

Structural health monitoring along with damage detection and assessment of its severity level in non-accessible reinforced concrete members using piezoelectric materials becomes essential since engineers often face the problem of detecting hidden damage. In this study, the potential of the detection of flexural damage state in the lower part of the mid-span area of a simply supported reinforced concrete beam using piezoelectric sensors is analytically investigated. Two common severity levels of flexural damage are examined: (i) cracking of concrete that extends from the external lower fiber of concrete up to the steel reinforcement and (ii) yielding of reinforcing bars that occurs for higher levels of bending moment and after the flexural cracking. The purpose of this investigation is to apply finite element modeling using admittance based signature data to analyze its accuracy and to check the potential use of this technique to monitor structural damage in real-time. It has been indicated that damage detection capability greatly depends on the frequency selection rather than on the level of the harmonic excitation loading. This way, the excitation loading sequence can have a level low enough that the technique may be considered as applicable and effective for real structures. Further, it is concluded that the closest applied piezoelectric sensor to the flexural damage demonstrates higher overall sensitivity to structural damage in the entire frequency band for both damage states with respect to the other used sensors. However, the observed sensitivity of the other sensors becomes comparatively high in the peak values of the root mean square deviation index.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.171-183
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• 2017

Strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams with openings by using aramid fiber reinforcement polymers (AFRP) on the beams' surfaces offers a useful solution for upgrading concrete structures to carry heavy loads. This paper presents a repairing technique of the AFRP sheets that effectively strengthens RC beams, controls both the failure modes and the stress distribution around the beam chords and enhances the serviceability (deflection produced under working loads be sufficiently small and cracking be controlled) of pre-cracked RC beams with openings. To investigate the possible damage that was caused by the service load and to simulate the structure behavior in the site, a comprehensive experimental study was performed. Two unstrengthened control beams, four beams that were pre-cracked before the application of the AFRP sheets and one beam that was strengthened without pre-cracking were tested. Cracking was first induced, followed by repair using various orientations of AFRP sheets, and then the beams were tested to failure. This load was kept constant during the strengthening process. The results show that both the preexisting damage level and the FRP orientation have a significant effect on strengthening effectiveness and failure mode. All of the strengthened specimens exhibited higher capacities with capacity enhancements ranging from 21.8 to 66.4%, and the crack width reduced by 25.6-82.7% at failure load compared to the control beam. Finally, the authors present a comparison between the experimental results and the predictions using the ACI 440.2R-08 guidelines.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.327-341
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• 2017

Openings in slabs are usually required for many different applications such as aeriation ducts and air conditioning. Opening in concrete slabs due to cutouts significantly decrease the member stiffness. There are different techniques to strengthen slabs with opening cutouts. This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on the use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) as strengthening material to strengthen and restore the load carrying capacity of R.C. slabs after having cutout in the hogging moment region. The experimental program consisted of testing five (oneway spanning R.C. flat slabs) with overhang. All slabs were prismatic, rectangular in cross-section and nominally 2000 mm long, 1000 mm width, and 100 mm thickness with a clear span (distance between supports) of 1200 mm and the overhang length is 700 mm. All slabs were loaded up to 30 kN (45% of ultimate load for reference slab, before yielding of the longitudinal reinforcement), then the load was kept constant during cutting concrete and steel bars (producing cut out). After that operation, slabs were loaded till failure. An analytical study using finite element analysis (FEA) is performed using the commercial software ANSYS. The FEA has been validated and calibrated using the experimental results. The FE model was found to be in a good agreement with the experimental results. The investigated key parameters were slab aspect ratio for the opening ratios of [1:1, 2:1], CFRP layers and the laminates widths, positions for cutouts and the CFRP configurations around cutouts.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.143-154
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• 2022

Corrosion of steel reinforcement is considered as the main cause of concrete structures deterioration, especially those under humid environmental conditions. Hence, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars are being increasingly used as a replacement for conventional steel owing to their non-corrodible characteristics. However, predicting the shear strength of beams reinforced with FRP bars still challenging due to the lack of robust shear theory. Thus, this paper aims to develop an explicit data driven based model to predict the shear strength of FRP reinforced beams using multi-objective evolutionary polynomial regression analysis (MOGA-EPR) as data driven models learn the behavior from the input data without the need to employee a theory that aid the derivation, and thus they have an enhanced accuracy. This study also evaluates the accuracy of predictive models of shear strength of FRP reinforced concrete beams employed by different design codes by calculating and comparing the values of the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean (𝜇), standard deviation of the mean (𝜎), coefficient of determination (R²), and percentage of prediction within error range of ±20% (a20-index). Experimental database has been developed and employed in the model learning, validation, and accuracy examination. The statistical analysis illustrated the robustness of the developed model with MAE, RMSE, 𝜇, 𝜎, R², and a20-index of 14.6, 20.8, 1.05, 0.27, 0.85, and 0.61, respectively for training data and 10.4, 14.1, 0.98, 0.25, 0.94, and 0.60, respectively for validation data. Furthermore, the developed model achieved much better predictions than the standard predictive models as it scored lower MAE, RMSE, and 𝜎, and higher R² and a20-index. The new model can be used in future with confidence in optimized designs as its accuracy is higher than standard predictive models.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.577-584
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• 2007

The effect of steel microfibers (SMF) on alkali-silica reaction (ASR) was investigated using two types of reactive aggregates, crushed opal and a pyrex rod of constant diameter. Cracks are less visible in the SMF mortars compared with the unreinforced mortars. Due to crack growth resistance behavior in SMF mortar specimens, the strength loss is eliminated and the ASR products remained well confined within the ASR site. The expansion and the ASR products were characterized by microprobe analysis and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy. The confinement due to SMF resulted in a higher Na and Si ion concentration of the ASR liquid extracted from the reaction site. The higher concentration reduced the ASR rate and resulted in a lower reactivity of the reactive pyrex rods in SMF mortars.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.501-502
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• 2009

This paper presents a strengthening technique of weakened telegraph pole using an inflating agent to adjust chemical pre-stressing. The strengthening technique increases only resisting capacity and ductility of telegraph but also limited quantity and application ability of FRP. The chemical pre-stressing and the resisting capacity are investigated experimentally. From the results, it is confirmed that it is possible to control the degree of applied pre-stressing by controlling the amount of inflating agent. In addition, the pre-stressing can increase resisting capacity up to three times compared with no pre-stressing.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2396-2402
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• 2012

In recent years, the use of hybrid fiber reinforced polymer(FRP)-concrete members with a dual purpose of both formwork and reinforcement, has been considered in some structures and has been applied in a small number of bridge decks. Numerical simulations of the beam failure tests were performed using nonlinear finite element program and a parametric study was performed with variables of perfobond shape. The ultimate strength was increased with perfobond shape because of dowel action. It was showed a good performance in case of approximately perforate diameter 25~35mm in this case.