• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.125-138
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• 2018

The research on the confinement behavior of ultra high performance concrete without and with the use of steel fibers (UHPC and UHPFRC) has been extremely limited. In previous studies, authors experimentally investigated the axially compressive behavior of circular steel tube confined concrete (STCC) short and intermediate columns with the employment of UHPC and UHPFRC. Under loading on only the concrete core, the confinement effect induced by the steel tube was shown to significantly enhance the utimate stress and its corresponding strain of the concrete core. Therefore, this paper develops a simplified stress - strain model for circular STCC columns using UHPC and UHPFRC with compressive strength ranging between 150 MPa and 200 MPa. Based on the regression analysis of previous test results, formulae for predicting peak confined stress and its corresponding strain are proposed. These proposed formulae are subsequently compared against some previous empirical formulae available in the literature to assess their accuracy. Finally, the simplified stress - strain model is verified by comparison with the test results.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.199-209
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• 2009

This paper deals with the three-dimensional finite element analysis of failure behavior of UHPFRC I-beam under monotonic load. Different from the constitutive law of normal and high strength concrete, an elastic-plastic fracture model that considers the tensile strain hardening is proposed to describe the material properties of UHPFRC. A multi-directional fixed crack criterion with tensile strain hardening is defined in the tensile region, and Drucker-Prager criterion with an associated flow rule is adopted in the compressive region. The influence of span, prestressing force and section on the behavior of UHPFRC I-beam are investigated. The comparison of the numerical results with the test results indicates a good agreement.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.361-377
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• 2020

In the present research work, the effectiveness and the efficiency of a retrofitting approach using a layer of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) jacket for damaged substandard exterior beam-column joints (BCJs) is experimentally investigated. The main objective of this study is to rehabilitate the already damaged BCJs to meet the serviceability requirements without compromising safety. According to the proposed strengthening technique, a chipped surface, lightly brushed with a dry condition was selected for making a successful bond between normal concrete substrate surface (NCSS) and UHPFRC. Then a fresh UHPFRC jacket with a thickness of 30 mm was cast around the damaged specimens. The entire test matrix was comprised of three 1/3 scale damaged exterior BCJs with a different column axial load (CAL). These specimens were repaired with UHPFRC and retested under monotonic loading. Based on the experimental results, repaired specimens showed an excellent performance in terms of their load-displacement response, maximum strength, displacement ductility, initial stiffness, secant stiffness and energy dissipation capacity when compared with the corresponding values registered when these specimens were tested in their virgin state. This rehabilitative intervention not only restored the strength, stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of severely damaged specimens but also improved their performance.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 2019

In this study, the shear behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams that were retrofitted using precast panels of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is presented. The precast UHPFRC panels were glued to the side surfaces of RC beams using epoxy adhesive in two different configurations: (i) retrofitting two sides, and (ii) retrofitting three sides. Experimental tests on the adhesive bond were conducted to estimate the bond capacity between the UHPFRC and normal concrete. All the specimens were tested in shear under varying levels of shear span-to-depth ratio (a/d=1.0; 1.5). For both types of configuration, the retrofitted specimens exhibited a significant improvement in terms of stiffness, load carrying capacity and failure mode. In addition, the UHPFRC retrofitting panels glued in three-sides shifted the failure from brittle shear to a more ductile flexural failure with enhancing the shear capacity up to 70%. This was more noticeable in beams that were tested with a/d=1.5. An approach for the approximation of the failure capacity of the retrofitted RC beams was evolved using a multi-level regression of the data obtained from the experimental work. The predicted values of strength have been validated by comparing them with the available test data. In addition, a 3-D finite element model (FEM) was developed to estimate the failure load and overall behaviour of the retrofitted beams. The FEM of the retrofitted beams was conducted using the non-linear finite element software ABAQUS.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.219-229
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• 2019

This paper presents an experimental study on the structural performance of an innovative ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) deck with coarse aggregate of composite bridge under shear force. Test parameters included curing method and shear span-to-height ratio. Test results indicated that more short fine cracks developed beside the existing cracks due to the randomly dispersed fibers, resulting in re-distributing and homogenizing of the concrete stress beside cracks and allowing for the occurrence of more cracks with small spacing compared to normal strength concrete beams. Curing methods, incorporating steam curing and natural curing, did not have obvious effect on the nominal bending cracking strength and the ultimate strength of the test specimens. Shear reinforcement need not be provided for UHPFRC decks with a fiber volume fraction of 2%. UHPFRC decks showed superior load resistance ability after the appearance of cracks and excellent post-cracking deformability. Lastly, the current shear provisions were evaluated by the test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.81-92
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• 2022

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is a composite building material with high ductility, fatigue resistance, fracture toughness, durability, and energy absorption capacity. The aim of this study is to develop a nonlinear finite element model that can simulate the response of the UHPFRC beam exposed to impact loads. A nonlinear finite element model was developed in ABAQUS to simulate the real response of UHPFRC beams. The numerical results showed that the model was highly successful to capture the experimental results of selected beams from the literature. A parametric study was carried out to investigate the effects of reinforcement ratio and impact velocity on the response of the UHPFRC beam in terms of midpoint displacement, impact load value, and residual load-carrying capacity. In the parametric study, the nonlinear analysis was performed in two steps for 12 different finite element models. In the first step, dynamic analysis was performed to monitor the response of the UHPFRC beam under impact loads. In the second step, static analysis was conducted to determine the residual load-carrying capacity of the beams. The parametric study has shown that the reinforcement ratio and the impact velocity affect maximum and residual displacement value substantially.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.4
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• pp.511-529
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• 2023

This paper aims to better understand the bonding behavior in Reinforced Concrete beams strengthened with an Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (RCUHPFRC) layer on the compression side using experimental tests and numerical analyses. The UHPFRC mix design was obtained through an optimization procedure, and the characterization of the materials included compression and slant shear tests. Flexural tests were carried out in RC beams and RC-UHPFRC beams. The tests demonstrated a debonding of the UHPFRC layer. In addition, 3D finite element analyses were carried out in the Abaqus CAE program, in which the interface is modeled considering a zero-thickness cohesive-contact approach. The cohesive parameters are investigated, aiming to calibrate the numerical models, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to check the reliability of the assumed cohesive parameters and the mesh size. Finally, the experimental and numerical values are compared, showing a good approximation for both the RC beams and the RC strengthened beams.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.152-163
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• 2019

In this paper, effect of steel fiber inclusion, compressive strength of matrix, shear reinforcement and shear span to depth ratio on the flexural behavior of UHPFRC(Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete) were investigated with test of 10-UHPFRC beam specimens. All test specimens were subjected to the flexural static loading. It was shown that steel fiber significantly improve the shear strength of UHPFRC beams. 2% volume fraction of steel fiber change the mode of failure from shear failure to flexural failure and delayed the failure of compressive strut with comparatively short shear span to depth ratio. UHPFRC beams without steel fiber had a 45-degree crack angle and fiber reinforced one had lower crack angle. Shear reinforcement contribution on shear strength of beams can be calculated by 45-degree truss model with acceptable conservatism. Using test results, French and Korean UHPFRC design recommendations were evaluated. French recommendation have shown conservative results on flexural behavior but Korean recommendation have shown overestimation for flexural strength. Both recommendations have shown the conservatism on the flexural ductility and shear strength either.

• 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 institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.57-65
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• 2022

This study investigated the electromechanical response of smart ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concretes (S-UHPFRCs) under flexural loading to evaluate the self-sensing capacity of S-UHPFRCs in both tension and compression region. The electrical resistivity of S-UHPFRCs under flexural continuously changed even after first cracking due to the deflection-hardening behavior of S-UHPFRCs with the appearance of multiple microcracks. As the equivalent bending stress increased, the electrical resistivity of S-UHPFRCs decreased from 976.57 to 514.05 kΩ(47.0%) as the equivalent bending stress increased in compression region, and that did from 979.61 to 682.28 kΩ(30.4%) in tension region. The stress sensitivity coefficient of S-UHPFRCs in compression and tension region was 1.709 and 1.098 %/MPa, respectively. And, the deflection sensitivity coefficient of S-UHPFRCs in compression region(30.06 %/mm) was higher than that in tension region(19.72 %/mm). The initial deflection sensing capacity of S-UHPFRCs was almost 50% of each deflection sensitivity coefficient, and it was confirmed that it has an excellent sensing capacity for the initial deflection. Although both stress- and deflection-sensing capacity of S-UHPFRCs under flexural were higher in compression region than in tension region, S-UHPFRCs are sufficient as a self-sensing material to be applied to the construction field.