• Architectural research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2013

High strength concrete is being used increasingly in mass structure projects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of temperature during mixing, placing and curing on the strength development, hydration products and pore structures of high strength concrete in mass structures. The experiments were conducted with two different model walls, viz.: 1.5 m and 0.3 m under typical summer and winter weather conditions. The final part of this study deal with the clarification of the relationship between the long-term strength loss and the microstructure of the high strength concrete at high temperatures. Test results indicated that high elevated temperatures in mass concrete structures significantly accelerate the strength development of concrete at the early ages, while the long-term strength development is decreased. The long-term strength loss is caused by the decomposition of ettringite and increased the total porosity and amount of small pores.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.6
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• pp.671-681
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• 2019

This paper examines the applicability of artificial neural network (ANN) and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) to predict the compressive strength of bacteria incorporated geopolymer concrete (GPC). The mix is composed of new bacterial strain, manufactured sand, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, metakaolin and fly ash. The concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is maintained at 8 Molar, sodium silicate ($Na_2SiO_3$) to NaOH weight ratio is 2.33 and the alkaline liquid to binder ratio of 0.35 and ambient curing temperature ($28^{\circ}C$) is maintained for all the mixtures. In ANN, back-propagation training technique was employed for updating the weights of each layer based on the error in the network output. Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was used for feed-forward back-propagation. MARS model was developed by establishing a relationship between a set of predictors and dependent variables. MARS is based on a divide and conquers strategy partitioning the training data sets into separate regions; each gets its own regression line. Six models based on ANN and MARS were developed to predict the compressive strength of bacteria incorporated GPC for 1, 3, 7, 28, 56 and 90 days. About 70% of the total 84 data sets obtained from experiments were used for development of the models and remaining 30% data was utilized for testing. From the study, it is observed that the predicted values from the models are found to be in good agreement with the corresponding experimental values and the developed models are robust and reliable.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.193-202
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• 2013

Geopolymer mortar compressed blocks were prepared using fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume and metakaolin as binders and sand/quarry dust/pond ash as fine aggregate. Alkaline solution was used to activate the source materials for synthesizing the geopolymer mortar. Fresh mortar was used to obtain the compressed blocks. The strength development with reference to different parameters was studied. The different parameters considered were fineness of fly ash, binder components, type of fine aggregate, molarity of alkaline solution, age of specimen, fluid-to-binder ratio, binder-to-aggregate ratio, degree of saturation, etc. The compressed blocks were tested for compression at different ages. It was observed that some of the blocks attained considerable strength within 24 h under ambient conditions. The cardinal aim was to analyze the experimental data generated to formulate a phenomenological model to arrive at the combinations of the ingredients to produce geopolymer blocks to meet the strength development desired at the specified age. The strength data was analyzed within the framework of generalized Abrams' law. It was interesting to note that the law was applicable to the analysis of strength development of partially saturated compressed blocks when the degree of saturation was maintained constant. The validity of phenomenological model was examined with an independent set of experimental data. The blocks can replace the traditional masonry blocks with many advantages.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.124-133
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• 2012

Compressive strength in concrete increases with time. Regression analysis with time is conventionally performed for strength evaluation and prediction. In this study, hydrate amount is assumed as a function of hydration rate and porosity, and modeling on compressive strength is carried out considering decreasing porosity with time, which does not need the regression analysis with time. For twenty one mix proportions of HPC (High Performance Concrete), DUCOM (FE program) which can simulate the behavior in early aged concrete is utilized, and porosity from each mix proportions is obtained with time. For HPC with OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) concrete, modeling on compressive strength is performed considering hydration rate, unit content of cement, and porosity with time. For HPC with mineral admixtures, a long-term parameter which can handle long-term strength development is additionally considered. From the comparison with the previous test results, the applicability of the proposed model is verified.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.169-190
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• 2010

The focus of this research effort was characterization of the flexural and tensile properties of a specific ultra-high-strength, fiber-reinforced concrete material. The material exhibited a mean unconfined compressive strength of approximately 140 MPa and was reinforced with short, randomly distributed alkali resistant glass fibers. As a part of the study, coupled experimental, analytical and numerical investigations were performed. Flexural and direct tension tests were first conducted to experimentally characterize material behavior. Following experimentation, a micromechanically-based analytical model was utilized to calculate the material's tensile failure response, which was compared to the experimental results. Lastly, to investigate the relationship between the tensile failure and flexural response, a numerical analysis of the flexural experiments was performed utilizing the experimentally developed tensile failure function. Results of the experimental, analytical and numerical investigations are presented herein.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2020

This numerical study demonstrates the porosity conditions and the intensity of the interactions with the aggressive agents. It is established that the density as well as the elastic modulus are correlated to ultrasonic velocity The following investigation assessed the effects of cement grade and porosity on tensile strength, flexural and compressive of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) as a numerical model in PLAXIS 2d Software. Initially, the existing strength-porosity equations were investigated. Furthermore, comparisons of the proposed equations with the existing models suggested the high accuracy of the proposed equations in predicting, cement grade concrete strength. The outcome obtained showed a ductile failure when un-corroded reinforced concrete demonstrates several bending-induced cracks transfer to the steel reinforcement. Moreover, the outcome also showed a brittle failure when wider but fewer transverse cracks occurred under bending loads. Sustained loading as well as initial pre-cracked condition during the corrosion development have shown to have significant impact on the corrosion behavior of concrete properties. Moreover, greater porosity was generally associated with lower compressive, flexural, and tensile strength. Higher cement grade, on the other hand, resulted in lower reduction in concrete strength. This finding highlighted the critical role of cement strength grade in determining the mechanical properties of concrete.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 2013

The curing temperature is known to influence the rate of mechanical properties development of early age concrete. In realistic sites the temperature of concrete is not isothermal $20^{\circ}C$, so the paper measured adiabatic temperature increases of four different concretes to understand heat emission during hydration at early age. The temperature-matching curing schedule in accordance with adiabatic temperature increase is adopted to simulate the situation in real massive concrete. The specimens under temperature-matching curing are subjected to realistic temperature for first few days as well as adiabatic condition. The mechanical properties including compressive strength, splitting strength and modulus of elasticity of concretes cured under both temperature-matching curing and isothermal $20^{\circ}C$ curing are investigated. The results denote that comparing temperature-matching curing with isothermal $20^{\circ}C$ curing, the early age concretes mechanical properties are obviously improved, but the later mechanical properties of concretes with pure Portland and containing silica fume are decreased a little and still increased for concretes containing fly ash and slag. On this basement using an equivalent age approach evaluates mechanical properties of early age concrete in real structures, the model parameters are defined by the compressive strength test, and can predict the compressive strength, splitting strength and elasticity modulus through measuring or calculating by finite element method the concreted temperature at early age, and the method is valid, which is applied in a concrete wall for evaluation of crack risking.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2023

In this study, on the structure simulation for manufacturing a high strength/light weight 48V battery housing for a mild hybrid vehicle was conducted. Compression analysis was performed in accordance with the international safety standards(ECE R100) for existing battery housings. The effect of plastic materials on compressive strength was analyzed. Three models of truss, honeycomb and grid rib for the battery housing were designed and the strength characteristics of the proposed models were analyzed through nonlinear buckling analysis. The effects of the previous existing rib, double-sided grid rib, double-sided honeycomb rib and double-sided grid rib with a subtractive draft for the upper cover on the compressive strength in each axial direction were examined. It was confirmed that the truss rib reinforcement of the battery housing was very effective compared to the existing model and it was also confirmed that the rib of the upper cover had no significant effect. In the results of individual 3-axis compression analysis, the compression load in the lateral long axis direction was the least and this result was found to be very important to achieve the overall goal in designing the battery housing. To reduce the weight of the presented battery housing model, the cell molding method was applied. It was confirmed that it was very effective in reducing injection pressure, clamping force and weight.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2016

The objective of this study is to find the effective stiffness and compressive strengths of a unit-cell pinwheel truss and double pinwheel truss model designed following a double helical geometry similar to that of the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) structure in biology. The ideal solution for their derived relative density is correlated with a ratio of the truss thickness and length. To validate the relative stiffness or relative strength, ABAQUS software is used for the computational model analysis on five models having a different size of truss diameter from 1mm to 5mm. Applied material properties are stainless steel type 304. The boundary conditions applied were fixed bottom and 5 mm downward displacement. It was assumed that the width, length, and height are all equal. Consequently, it is found that the truss model has a lower effective stiffness and a lower effective yielding strength.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.589-604
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• 2016

Kenya has recently experienced worrying collapse of buildings during construction largely attributable to the poor quality of in-situ concrete and poor workmanship. The situation in the country is further compounded by rapid deterioration of infrastructure, hence necessitating the development of alternative structural systems such as concrete filled unplasticized poly vinyl chloride (UPVC) tubes as columns. The work herein adds on to the very limited and scanty work on use of UPVC tubes in construction. This study presents the findings of experimental and analytical work which investigated the structural response of composite concrete filled UPVC tubes under compressive load regime. UPVC pipes are cheaper than steel tubes and can be used as formwork during construction and thereafter as an integral part of column. Key variables in this study included the strength of infill concrete, the length to diameter ratio (L/D) of the plastic tube, as well as the diameter to thickness ratio (D/2t) of the plastic tube. Plastic tubes having varying diameters and heights were used to confine concrete of different strengths. Results obtained in the study clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of UPVC tubes as a confining medium for infill concrete, attributable to enhanced composite interaction between the UPVC tube and infill concrete medium. It was determined that compressive strength of the composite column specimens increased with increased concrete strength while the same decreased with increased column height, albeit by a small margin since all the columns considered were short columns. Most importantly, the experimental confined concrete strength increased significantly when compared to unconfined concrete strength; the strength increased between 1.18 to 3.65 times the unconfined strength. It was noted that lower strength infill concrete had the highest confined strength possibly due to enhanced composite interaction with the confining UPVC tube. The study further proposes an analytical model for the determination of confined strength of concrete.