• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.407-421
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• 2022

Prefabricated hybrid wind turbine towers (WTTs) are promising due to height increase. This study proposes the use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) to develop a new type of WTT without the need to use reinforcement. It is demonstrated that the UHPC WTT structure without reinforcing bars could achieve performance similar to that of reinforced concrete WTTs. To simplify the design of WTT, a design approach for the calculation of stresses at the horizontal joints of a WTT is proposed. The stress distribution near the region of the horizontal joint of the WTT structure under normal operating conditions and different load actions is studied using the proposed approach, which is validated by the finite element method. A further parametric study shows that the degree of prestressing and the bending moment both significantly affect the principal stress. The shear-to-torsion ratio also shows a significant influence on the principal tensile stress.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.359-376
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• 2023

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has become an attractive cast-in-place repairing material for existing engineering structures. The present study aims to investigate age-dependent high-early-strength UHPC (HESUHPC) material properties (i.e., compressive strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength, and tensile strength) as well as interfacial shear properties of HESUHPC-normal strength concrete (NSC) composites cured at different season temperatures (i.e., summer, autumn, and winter). The typical temperatures were kept for at least seven days in different seasons from weather forecasting to guarantee an approximately consistent curing and testing condition (i.e., temperature and relative humidity) for specimens at different ages. The HESUHPC material properties are tested through standardized testing methods, and the interfacial bond performance is tested through a bi-surface shear testing method. The test results quantify the positive development of HESUHPC material properties at the early age, and the increasing amplitude decreases from summer to winter. Three-day mechanical properties in winter (with the lowest curing temperature) still gain more than 60% of the 28-day mechanical properties, and the impact of season temperatures becomes small at the later age. The HESUHPC shrinkage mainly occurs at the early age, and the final shrinkage value is not significant. The HESUHPC-NSC interface exhibits sound shear performance, the interface in most specimens does not fail, and most interfacial shear strengths are higher than the NSC-NSC composite. The HESUHPC-NSC composites at the shear failure do not exhibit a large relative slip and present a significant brittleness at the failure. The typical failures are characterized by thin-layer NSC debonding near the interface, and NSC pure shear failure. Two load-slip development patterns, and two types of main crack location are identified for the HESUHPC-NSC composites tested in different ages and seasons. In addition, shear capacity of the HESUHPC-NSC composite develops rapidly at the early age, and the increasing amplitude decreases as the season temperature decreases. This study will promote the HESUHPC application in practical engineering as a cast-in-place repairing material subjected to different natural environments.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2011

In this study, in order to observe the behaviors of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthened and steel fiber reinforced concrete specimens for impact and static loads, flexural and punching tests were performed. For the one-way flexural and two-way punching tests, concrete specimens with the dimensions of $50{\times}100{\times}350$ mm and $50{\times}350{\times}350$ mm were fabricated, respectively. The steel fiber reinforced concrete specimens showed much enhanced resistance on two-way punching of static and impact loads. In addition the FRP strengthening system provided the outstanding performance under a punching load. Because of a large tensile strength and toughness of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC), the UHPC specimens retrofitted with FRP showed marginally enhanced strength and energy dissipating capacity.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.73-82
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• 2022

The study presents a three-dimensional approach to simulate the nonlinear behavior of a 72 m long Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) pre-stressed box girder for a pedestrian bridge in Busan, South Korea. The concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model is adopted to model the non-linear behavior of the UHPFRC material, in which the material properties are obtained from uniaxial compressive and tensile tests. The simulation model based on the proposed stress-strain curve is validated by the results of four-point bending model tests of a 50 m UHPFRC pre-stressed box girder. The results from the simulation models agree with the experimental observations and predict the flexural behavior of the 50 m UHPFRC pre-stressed box girder accurately. Afterward, the validated model is utilized to investigate the flexural behavior of the 72 m UHPFRC pre-stressed box girder. Here, the load-deflection curve, stress status of the girder at various load levels, and connection details is analyzed. The load-deflection curve is also compared with design load to demonstrate the great benefit of the slender UHPFRC box girder. The obtained results demonstrate the applicability of the nonlinear finite element method as an appropriate option to analyze the flexural behavior of pre-stressed long-span girders.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.761-769
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• 2014

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has been developed to overcome the low strengths and brittleness of conventional concrete. Considering that UHPC, owing to its composition and the use of steel fibers, develops a compressive strength of 180 MPa as well as high stiffness, the top flange of the steel girder may be superfluous in the composite beam combining a slab made of UHPC and the steel girder. In such composite beam, the steel girder takes the form of an inverted-T shaped structure without top flange in which the studs needed for the composition of the steel girder with the UHPC slab are disposed in the web of the steel girder. This study investigates experimentally and analytically the flexural behavior of this new type of composite beam to propose details like stud spacing and slab thickness for further design recommendations. To that goal, eight composite beams with varying stud spacing and slab thickness were fabricated and tested. The test results indicated that stud spacing running from 100 mm to 2 to 3 times the slab thickness can be recommended. In view of the relative characteristic slip limit of Eurocode-4, the results showed that the composite beam developed ductile behavior. Moreover, except for the members with thin slab and large stud spacing, most of the specimens exhibited results different to those predicted by AASHTO LRFD and Eurocode-4 because of the high performance developed by UHPC.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to induce the ductile behavior of the Ultra High Perfomance Concrete Reinforced I beam by substituting the part of steel fiber for bundle of reinforcing bars. Experiment of flexural behavior of the Ultra High Performance Concrete I shaped beam with the combination of the steel fiber and bundle of reinforcement bars was carried out. The volume fractions of steel fiber are 0%, 0.7%, 1%, 2%. The bundle of reinforcing bars and prestressing wire are used to restrain the concrete in compression zone. Length of bundle of reinforcing bar and prestressing wire is the one of test factors. The 9 Reinforced UHPC I shaped beam were made with these test factors. Not only steel fiber but also bundle of longitudinal reinforcing bar has effect to induce the ductile behavior of Reinforced UHPC I beam. The combination of 0.7% or 1.0% steel fiber and bundle of reinforcing bar showed the effective ductile behavior of I beam. The relationship of load-deflection and the crack pattern indicate the usefulness of the bundle of the longitudinal bar which has small diameter with close arrangement each other.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.119-143
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• 2010

This paper presents results from a study concerning the capability afforded by the RKPM (reproducing kernel particle method) meshfree analysis formulation to predict responses of concrete and UHPC components resulting from projectile impacts and blasts from nearby charges. In this paper, the basic features offered by the RKPM method are described, especially as they are implemented in the analysis code KC-FEMFRE, which was developed by Karagozian & Case (K&C).

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.185-193
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• 2015

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has been developed to overcome the low tensile strengths and brittleness of conventional concrete. Considering that UHPC, owing to its composition and the use of steel fibers, develops a compressive strength of 180 MPa as well as high stiffness, the top flange of the steel girder may be superfluous in the composite beam combining a slab made of UHPC and the steel girder. In such composite beam, the steel girder takes the form of an inverted-T shaped structure without top flange in which the studs needed for the composition of the steel girder with the UHPC slab are disposed in the web of the steel girder. This study investigates experimentally and analytically the flexural behavior of this new type of composite beam to propose details like stud spacing and slab thickness for further design recommendations. To that goal, eight composite beams with varying stud spacing and slab thickness were fabricated and tested. The test results indicated that stud spacing running from 100 mm to 2 to 3 times the slab thickness can be recommended. In view of the relative characteristic slip limit of Eurocode-4, the results showed that the composite beam developed ductile behavior. Moreover, except for the members with thin slab and large stud spacing, most of the specimens exhibited results different to those predicted by AASHTO LRFD and Eurocode-4 because of the high performance developed by UHPC.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.131-132
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• 2023

Recently, the construction industry has seen the emergence of interior and exterior finishes using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) and colored concrete products using precast concrete (PC). However, the excessive amount of pigment used for coloring reduces the strength of the concrete. There is a need to improve the durability and chromaticity of colored concrete, and further analytical studies on the properties of colored concrete are also required. Therefore, in this paper, colored ultra-high strength cement composites (C-UHSCC) containing red and green inorganic pigments were prepared, and the compressive strength and color of the specimens were measured according to the age, and the correlation between strength and color was analyzed by simple linear regression analysis using R² value. The results showed that the red color was highly correlated with L^* and a^*, and the green color was highly correlated with a^*. These results can be considered for various concrete formulations, but research is needed to suggest the optimal pigment mixing ratio for proper strength and color development.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.409-425
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• 2024

This paper utilizes LS-DYNA software to numerically investigate impact response and damage evaluation of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars-reinforced ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) composite beams (FRP-UHPC beams). Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models are established and calibrated by using literature-based static and impact tests, demonstrating high accuracy in simulating FRP-UHPC beams under impact loading. Parametric analyses explore the effects of impact mass, impactor height, FRP bar type and diameter, and clear span length on dynamic response and damage modes. Two failure modes emerge: tensile failure with bottom longitudinal reinforcement fracture and compression failure with local concrete compression near the impact region. Impact mass or height variation under the same impact energy significantly affects the first peak impact force, but minimally influences peak midspan displacement with a difference of no more than 5% and damage patterns. Increasing static flexural load-carrying capacity enhances FRP-UHPC beam impact resistance, reducing displacement deformation by up to 30%. Despite similar static load-carrying capacities, different FRP bars result in varied impact resistance. The paper proposes a damage assessment index based on impact energy, static load-carrying capacity, and clear span length, correlating well with beam end rotation. Their linearly-fitting coefficient was 1.285, 1.512, and 1.709 for the cases with CFRP, GFRP, and BFRP bars, respectively. This index establishes a foundation for an impact-resistant design method, including a simplified formula for peak midspan displacement assessment.