• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.527-552
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• 2014

The development of modern concrete technology makes it much easier to produce high-strength concrete (HSC) or ultra-high-strength concrete (UHSC) with high workability. However, the application of this concrete is limited in practical construction of traditional reinforced concrete (RC) structures due to low-ductility performance. To further push up the limit of the design concrete strength, concrete-filled-steel-tube (CFST) columns have been recommended considering its superior strength and ductility performance. However, the beneficial composite action cannot be fully developed at early elastic stage as steel dilates more than concrete and thereby reducing the elastic strength and stiffness of the CFST columns. To resolve this problem, external confinement in the form of steel rings is proposed in this study to restrict the lateral dilation of concrete and steel. In this paper, a total of 29 high-strength CFST (HSCFST) columns of various dimensions cast with concrete strength of 75 to 120 MPa concrete and installed with external steel rings were tested under uni-axial compression. From the results, it can be concluded that the proposed ring installation can further improve both strength and ductility of HSCFST columns by restricting the column dilation. Lastly, an analytical model calculating the uni-axial strength of ring-confined HSCFST columns is proposed and verified based on the Von-Mises and Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria for steel tube and in-filled concrete, respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.133-149
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• 2022

This study investigates the resistance of sustainable ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) on steel reinforcement corrosion. For enhancing the sustainability of UHPC, concrete mixes were prepared with ordinary Portland cement main binder, and mixes with moderate to high percentages of blast furnace cement (CEM III), fly ash (FA), and slag cement as partial replacements of the full quantity of the used cement. Linear polarization resistance technique was employed to estimate the electrochemical behavior of the concrete specimens. Results showed that the compressive strength and the resistance of steel to corrosion in marine environments can be enhanced by improving the sustainability of UHPC through incorporation of CEM III, FA, and slag cement. FA replacement of up to 50% with the addition of 15% SF content produced better compressive strength and steel corrosion resistance than slag cement whether with the use of ordinary Portland cement or blast furnace cement as the main binder.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2020

This study intends to produce an ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) made with hybrid fibres (i.e., steel and polypropylene). Compressive and tensile strength characteristics of the hybrid fibres UHPFRC are considered. A total of 14 fibre-reinforced composites (FRCs) with different fibre contents or types of fibres were prepared and tested in order to determine a suitable hybrid fibre combination. The compressive and tensile strengths of each concrete at 7 days were determined. The results showed that a hybrid mix of micro-polypropylene and steel fibres exhibited good compromising performances and is the ideal reinforcement mixture in a strong, cost-effective UHPFRC. In addition, maximum compressive strength of 167 MPa was achieved for UHPFRC using 1.5% steel fibres blended with 0.5% macro-polypropylene fibres.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 2019

Composite columns made of high strength materials have been used in high-rise construction owing to its excellent structural performance resulting in smaller cross-sectional sizes. However, due to the limited understanding of its structural response, current design codes do not allow the use of high strength materials beyond a certain strength limit. This paper reports additional test data, analytical and numerical studies leading to a new design method to predict the ultimate resistance of composite columns made of high strength steel and high strength concrete. Based on previous study on high strength concrete filled steel tubular members and ongoing work on high strength concrete encased steel columns, this paper provides new findings and presents the feasibility of using high strength steel and high strength concrete for general double symmetric composite columns. A nonlinear finite element model has been developed to capture the composite beam-column behavior. The Eurocode 4 approach of designing composite columns is examined by comparing the test data with results obtained from code's predictions and finite element analysis, from which the validities of the concrete confinement effect and plastic design method are discussed. Eurocode 4 method is found to overestimate the resistance of concrete encased composite columns when ultra-high strength steel is used. Finally, a strain compatibility method is proposed as a modification of existing Eurocode 4 method to give reasonable prediction of the ultimate strength of concrete encased beam-columns with steel strength up to 900 MPa and concrete strength up to 100 MPa.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2024

With the increasing global interest in carbon neutrality, the automotive industry is also transitioning to the production of eco-friendly cars, specifically electric vehicles. In order to achieve comparable driving distances to internal combustion engine vehicles, the application of high-capacity battery packs has led to an increase in vehicle weight. To achieve light-weighting and durability requirements of automotive components simultaneously, there is a demand for research on the application of Ultra-High Strength Steel (UHSS). However, when manufacturing chassis components using UHSS, there are challenges related to fracture defects due to lower elongation compared to regular steel sheets, as well as spring-back issues caused by high tensile strength. In this study, a simulated specimen that is not affected by the property changes of four materials was designed to improve formability of the rear cross member, which is the most challenging automotive chassis component. The influence and correlation of material-specific variables were analyzed through finite element analysis (FEA) for each material with tensile strength of 440, 590, 780, and 980 MPa grades, resulting in the development of a predictive equation. To validate the equation, the simulated specimens of 980 MPa grade were produced from the test molds. Then the reliability of the FEA and predictive equation was verified with measured specimen data using a 3D scanner. The results of this study can be proposed to improve the formability of UHSS chassis components in future researches.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.1A
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• pp.55-64
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• 2012

Experimental investigation on the structural behavior of steel fiber-reinforced ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) beams subjected to shear are presented. Six tests carried out on simply supported I-beams under concentrated loads are presented. The parameters varied were the volume fraction of the fibers (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) and shear span-effective depth ratio (2.5, 3.4). The test results indicated that ultimate shear strength increased with increasing fiber volume, and that ultimate shear strength decreased with increasing shear span-effective depth ratio. In addition, applicability of predictive equations for evaluating the ultimate shear strength of steel fiber-reinforced UHPC beams are estimated based on the test results. The comparison between computed values and the experimentally observed values are shown to validate the proposed theoretical equations. It is found that predictions by using AFGC and JSCE recommendations provide the most accurate estimates of shear strength of steel fiber-reinforced UHPC beams.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.57-60
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• 2005

The objective of this paper is to investigate and analyze the behaviour of prestressed I section structural members constructed with ultra high perfomance steel fiber reinforced cementitious concrete (SFR-UHPC). This material is known as reactive powder concrete (RPC) mixed with domestic materials and its compressive strength is over 150MP. The parameters of test specimens were span to depth ratio, prestressing force, prestressing wire placement and web width. Most influential parameter to determine the failure mode between shear and flexural action was proved to be shear span ratio. The characteristics of ultra high-strength concrete is basically brittle, but due to the steel fiber reinforcement behaviour of this structure member became ductile after the peak load. As a result of the test, the stress block of compressive zone should be redefined. The proposed analytical calculation of internal force capacity based by plastic analysis gave a good prediction for the shear and flexural strength of specimens. The numerical verification of the finite element model which constitutive law developed for Mode I fracture of fiber reinforced concrete correctly captured the overall behaviour of the specimens tested.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.364-369
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• 2003

Non-heat treated steels are attractive in the steel-wire industry since the spheroidization and quenching-tempering treatment are not involved during the processing. However, non-heat treated steels should satisfy high strength and good formability without performing heat treatment. Therefore, it is important to investigate optimum materials showing a good combination of strength and formability after the drawing process. In this study, three different steels such as dual phase steel, low-Si steel, and ultra low carbon bainitic steel were used to study their mechanical properties and the cold formability. The cold formability of three steels was investigated by estimating the deformation resistance and the forming limit. The deformation resistance was estimated by calculating the deformation energy, and the forming limit was evaluated by measuring the critical strain revealing crack initiation at the notch tip of the specimens. The results showed that deformation resistance was the lowest in the low-Si steel, and the forming limit strains of ultra low carbon bainitic steel and low-Si steel were higher than that of commercial SWRCH45F steel.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.201-219
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• 2022

This paper firstly proposed high performance composite columns for cold-region infrastructures using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) and ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) Q960E. Then, 24 square UHPC-filled UHSS tubes (UHSTCs) at low temperatures of -80, -60, -30, and 30℃ were performed under axial loads. The key influencing parameters on axial compression performance of UHSS were studied, i.e., temperature level and UHSS-tube wall thickness (t). In addition, mechanical properties of Q960E at low temperatures were also studied. Test results revealed low temperatures improved the yield/ultimate strength of Q960E. Axial compression tests on UHSTCs revealed that the dropping environmental temperature increased the compression strength and stiffness, but compromised the ductility of UHSTCs; increasing t significantly increased the strength, stiffness, and ductility of UHSTCs. This study developed numerical and theoretical models to reproduce axial compression performances of UHSTCs at low temperatures. Validations against 24 tests proved that both two methods provided reasonable simulations on axial compression performance of UHSTCs. Finally, simplified theoretical models (STMs) and modified prediction equations in AISC 360, ACI 318, and Eurocode 4 were developed to estimate the axial load capacity of UHSTCs at low temperatures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2021

Ultra high strength concrete (UHSC) originally proposed by Richards and Cheyrezy (1995) composed of cement, silica fume, quartz sand, quartz powder, steel fibers, superplasticizer etc. Later, other ingredients such as fly ash, GGBS, metakaoline, copper slag, fine aggregate of different sizes have been added to original UHSC. In the present investigation, the combined effect of coarse aggregate (6mm - 10mm) and steel fibers (0.50%, 1.0% and 1.5%) has been studied on UHSC mixes to evaluate mechanical and fracture properties. Compressive strength, split tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were determined for the three UHSC mixes. Size dependent fracture energy was evaluated by using RILEM work of fracture and size independent fracture energy was evaluated by using (i) RILEM work of fracture with tail correction to load - deflection plot (ii) boundary effect method. The constitutive relationship between the residual stress carrying capacity (σ) and the corresponding crack opening (w) has been constructed in an inverse manner based on the concept of a non-linear hinge from the load-crack mouth opening plots of notched three-point bend beams. It was found that (i) the size independent fracture energy obtained by using above two approaches yielded similar value and (ii) tensile stress increases with the increase of % of fibers. These two fracture properties will be very much useful for the analysis of cracked concrete structural components.