• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.253-264
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• 2013

A major difference between high-strength reinforcing steel and conventional steel in concrete is that the service-load steel stress is expected to be greater. Consequently, the service-load steel strains are greater affecting cracking behavior. A parametric study investigating crack widths and patterns in reinforced concrete prisms is presented in order to establish limits to the service-load steel stress and strain. Additionally, based on the results of available flexural tests, crack widths at service load levels were evaluated and found to be within presently accepted limits for highway bridge structures, and were predictable using current AASHTO provisions. A limitation on service-level stresses of $f_s{\leq}414$ MPa (60 ksi) is nonetheless recommended.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.817-834
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• 2014

An experimental program was designed in the current work to examine the structural behavior of ferrocement beams reinforced with composite materials under three point loadings up to failure. The experimental program comprised casting and testing of twelve ferrocement beams having the dimensions of 120 mm width, 200 mm depth and 1600 mm length. The twelve beams were different in the type of reinforcements; steel bars, traditional wire meshes (welded and expanded wire meshes) and composite materials (fiberglass wire meshes and polypropylene wire meshes). The flexural performances of the all tested beams in terms of strength, ductility, cracking behavior and energy absorption were investigated. Also all the tested beams were simulated using ANSYS program. The results of the experimental tests concluded that the beam with fiber glass meshes gives the lowest first crack load and ultimate load. The ferrocement beam reinforced with four layers of welded wire meshes has better structural behavior than those beams reinforced with other types of wire meshes. Also the beams reinforced with metal wire meshes give smaller cracks width in comparing with those reinforced with non-metal wire meshes. Also the Finite Element (FE) simulations gave good results comparing with the experimental results.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.694-701
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• 2018

Larger crack widths can be observed more in FRP-reinforced concrete members than in steel-reinforced concrete members as a result of the lower elastic modulus and bond strength of FRP reinforcement. The ACI 440.1R-15 design guide provides equations derived as the maximum bar spacing to control the crack widths indirectly. On the other hand, it is not concerned with long-term effects on the crack control design provisions. This study provides suggestions for how to incorporate time-dependent effects into the crack width equation. The work presented herein includes the results from 8 beams composed of four rectangular and T-shaped FRP-reinforced concrete beams tested for one year under four-point bending. Over a one year period, the crack widths increased as much as 2.6~3.0 times in GFRP and AFRP-reinforced specimens and 1.1~1.4 times in the CFRP-reinforced specimens compared to steel-reinforced specimens. In addition, the average multiple for crack width at one year relative to the instantaneous crack width upon the application of the sustained load was 2.4 in the specimens with a rectangular section and 3.1 in the specimens with a T-shaped section. As a result, it is recommended conservatively that the time-dependent coefficient be taken as 2.5 for the rectangular beams and 3.5 for T-beams.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.385-404
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• 2005

The paper presents a model to calculate reinforcement strain using measured crack width in members under applied tension, flexure, and/or shear stress. Crack mapping using a new type of distributed coaxial cable sensors for health monitoring of large-scale civil engineering infrastructure was recently proposed and developed by the authors. This paper shows the results and performance of such sensors mounted on near surface of two flexural beams and a large scale reinforced concrete box girder that was subjected to cyclic combined shear and torsion. The main objectives of this health monitoring study was to correlate the sensor's response to strain in the member, and show that magnitude of the signal's reflection coefficient is related to increases in applied load, repeated cycles, cracking, and reinforcement yielding. The effect of multiple adjacent cracks, and signal loss was also investigated. The results shown in this paper are an important step in using the sensors for crack mapping and determining reinforcement strain for in-situ structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.759-774
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• 2015

This study simulates the flexural behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beams reinforced with steel and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars. For this, micromechanics-based modeling was first carried out on the basis of single fiber pullout models considering inclination angle. Two different tension-softening curves (TSCs) with the assumptions of 2-dimensional (2-D) and 3-dimensional (3-D) random fiber orientations were obtained from the micromechanics-based modeling, and linear elastic compressive and tensile models before the occurrence of cracks were obtained from the mechanical tests and rule of mixture. Finite element analysis incorporating smeared crack model was used due to the multiple cracking behaviors of structural UHPFRC beams, and the characteristic length of two times the element width (or two times the average crack spacing at the peak load) was suggested as a result of parametric study. Analytical results showed that the assumption of 2-D random fiber orientation is appropriate to a non-reinforced UHPFRC beam, whereas the assumption of 3-D random fiber orientation is suitable for UHPFRC beams reinforced with steel and GFRP rebars due to disorder of fiber alignment from the internal reinforcements. The micromechanics-based finite element analysis also well predicted the serviceability deflections of UHPFRC beams with GFRP rebars and hybrid reinforcements.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.197-206
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• 2023

In this paper, the bending performance of a MSFRHPC (containing steel fiber, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber, and CW)-reinforced beam was studied for the first time. Introducing a multiscale fiber system increased the first crack load (up to 150%), yield load (up to 50%), and peak load (up to 15%) of reinforced beams. The multiscale fiber system delays cracking of the reinforced beam, reduces crack width of the reinforced beam in normal use, and improves the durability of the beam. Considering yield load and peak load, the reinforcing effect of multiscale fiber on the high-reinforcement ratio beam (1.00%) is better than that on the low-reinforcement ratio beam (0.57%). Introducing fibers slowed the development of cracks in the reinforced beam under bending. With the added hybrid fiber, the deformation concentration of reinforced beams after yield was more significant with concentration in 1 or 2 cracks. A model for predicting the flexural capacity of MSFRHPC-reinforced beams was proposed, considering the action of multiscale hybrid fibers. This research is helpful for structure application of MSFRHPC-containing CW.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.18 no.5 s.95
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• pp.579-588
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• 2006

In recent years, the availability of high-strength reinforcing and prestressing steels leads us to build economically and efficiently designed concrete structural members. One of critical problems faced to the structural engineers dealing with these types of structural member is controls of crack width that is used as a criterion for the serviceability in the limit state design. Especially, flexural cracking must be controlled to secure the structural safety and to improve the durability as well as serviceability of the load carving members. The proposed method utilizes the results of pure tension test in which tensile loads are applied both side of specimen, done by Ikki. The bond characteristics of deformed reinforcing bar under pure tension is considered by the area of concrete and rib area. The results of proposed method are compared with the test data and the results show that the proposed method can take into account the dimensions, variation of sectional properties, and direction of reinforcing and gives more accurate maximum bond stress and corresponding relative slip than the existing methods. the characteristics of bonding is considered by using dimensionless slip magnitude and effective reinforcement ratio. The validity of the proposed equation is verified by test experimental data.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.567-594
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• 2016

The main objective of the current research is estimating the flexural behavior of ferrocement Ribbed Plates reinforced with composite material. Experimental investigation was carried out on fifteen plates; their dimensions were kept constant at 1200 mm in length, 600 mm width and 100 mm thick but with different volume fraction of steel reinforcement and number of ribs. Test specimens were tested until failure under three line loadings with simply supported conditions over a span of 1100 mm. Cracking patterns, tensile and compressive strains, deformation characteristics, ductility ratio, and energy absorption properties were observed and measured at all stages of loadings. Experimental results were compared to analytical models using ANSYS 10 program. Parametric study is presented to look at the variables that can mainly affect the mechanical behaviors of the model such as the change of plate length. The results showed that the ultimate strength, ductility ratio and energy absorption properties of the proposed ribbed plates are affected by the volume fraction and the type of reinforcement, and also proved the effectiveness of expanded metal mesh and woven steel mesh in reinforcing the ribbed ferrocement plates. In addition, the developed ribbed ferrocement plates have high strength, ductility ratio and energy absorption properties and are lighter in weight compared to the conventional RC ribbed plates, which could be useful for developed and developing countries alike. The Finite Element (FE) simulations gave good results comparing with the experimental results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.241-266
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• 2011

The Self Compacting Concrete, SCC is the new generation type of concrete which is not needed to be compacted by vibrator and it will be compacted by its own weight. Since SCC is a new innovation and also the high strength self compacting concrete, HSSCC behavior is like a brittle material, therefore, understanding the strength effect on the serviceability performance of reinforced self compacting concretes is critical. For this aim, first the normal and high strength self compacting concrete, NSSCC and HSSCC was designed. Then, the serviceability performance of reinforced connections consisting of NSSCC and HSSCC were investigated. Twelve reinforced concrete connections (L = 3 m, b = 0.15 m, h = 0.3 m) were simulated, by this concretes, the maximum and minimum reinforcement ratios ${\rho}$ and ${\rho}^{\prime}$ (percentage of tensile and compressive steel reinforcement) are in accordance with the provision of the ACI-05 for conventional RC structures. This study was limited to the case of bending without axial load, utilizing simple connections loaded at mid span through a stub (b = 0.15 m, h = 0.3 m, L = 0.3 m) to simulate a beam-column connection. During the test, concrete and steel strains, deflections and crack widths were measured at different locations along each member. Based on the experimental readings and observations, the cracked moment of inertia ($I_{cr}$) of members was determined and the results were compared with some selective theoretical methods. Also, the flexural crack widths of the members were measured and the applicability for conventional vibrated concrete, as for ACI, BS and CSA code, was verified for SCCs members tested. A comparison between two Codes (ACI and CSA) for the theoretical values cracking moment is indicate that, irrespective of the concrete strength, for the specimens reported, the prediction values of two codes are almost equale. The experimental cracked moment of inertia $(I_{cr})_{\exp}$ is lower than its theoretical $(I_{cr})_{th}$ values, and therefore theoretically it is overestimated. Also, a general conclusion is that, by increasing the percentage of ${\rho}$, the value of $I_{cr}$ is increased.