• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.739-754
• /
• 2013

Creep and shrinkage have pronounced effects on the long-term deflection of prestressed concrete members. Under repeated loading, the rate of creep in prestressed concrete members is often accelerated. In this paper, an iterative computational procedure based on the well known Model B3 for creep and shrinkage was developed to predict the time-dependent deflection of partially prestressed concrete members. The developed model was validated using the experimental observed deflection behavior of a simply supported partially prestressed concrete beam under repeated loading. The validated model was then employed to make predictions of the long-term deflection of the prestressed beams under a variety of conditions (e.g., water cement ratio, relatively humidity and time at drying). The simulation results demonstrate that ignoring creep and shrinkage could lead to significant underestimation of the long-term deflection of a prestressed concrete member. The model will prove useful in reducing the long-term deflection of the prestressed concrete members via the optimal selection of a concrete mix and prestressing forces.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.137-147
• /
• 2018

Heavy damages to properties with attendant losses were frequently caused by tornadoes in recent years. This natural hazard is one of the most destructive wind events that must be fully studied and well understood in order to keep the safety of structures and infrastructure facilities. On June 23, 2016, a severe tornado, which is an Enhanced Fujita (EF) 4 storm, occurred in the rim of a coastal city named as Yancheng in China. Numerous low-rise buildings as well as facilities (e.g., transmission towers) were destroyed or damaged. In this paper, damages to structures and infrastructure facilities by the severe tornado are reviewed. The collapses of residential buildings, industrial structures and other infrastructure facilities are described. With an overview of the damages, various possible mechanisms of the collapse are then discussed and utilized to reveal the initiation of the damage to various facilities. It is hoped that this paper can provide a concise but comprehensive reference for the researchers and engineers to help understand the tornado effects on structures and expose the vulnerabilities that need to be improved in current wind-resistant design practices.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2020

Fly ash has become an important component of concrete as supplementary cementitious material with the development of concrete technology. To make use of fly ash efficiently, four types of fly ash with particle size distributions that are in conformity with four functions, namely, S.Tsivilis, Andersen, Normal and F distribution, respectively, were prepared. The four particle size distributions as functions of the strength and pore structure of concrete were thereafter constructed and investigated. The results showed that the compressive and flexural strength of concrete with the fly ash that conforming to S.Tsivilis, Normal, F distribution increased by 5-10 MPa and 1-2 MPa, respectively, compared to the reference sample at 28 d. The pore structure of the concrete was improved, in which the total porosity of concrete decreased by 2-5% at 28 d. With regarding to the fly ash with Andersen distribution, it was however not conducive to the strength development of concrete. Regression model based on the grey multiple linear regression theory was proved to be efficient to predict the strength of concrete, according to the characteristic parameters of particle size and pore structure of the fly ash.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.327-342
• /
• 2018

Geopolymer concrete (GPC), which is recognised as an environmentally friendly alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, has been reported to possess high fire resistance. However, very limited research has been conducted to investigate the behaviour of geopolymer concrete-filled steel tubular (GCFST) columns at either ambient or elevated temperatures. This paper presents the compressive test results of a total of 15 circular concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) stub columns, including 5 specimens tested at room temperature, 5 specimens tested at elevated temperatures and the remaining 5 specimens tested for residual strength after exposure to elevated temperatures. The main variables in the test program include: (a) concrete type; (b) concrete strength; and (c) curing condition of geopolymer concrete. The test results demonstrate that GCFST columns have similar ambient temperature behaviour compared with the conventional CFST counterparts. However, GCFST columns exhibit better fire resistance than the conventional CFST columns. Meanwhile, it is found that the GCFST column made with heat cured GPC has lower strength loss than other columns after exposure to elevated temperatures. The research results highlight the possibility of using geopolymer concrete to improve the fire resistance of CFST columns.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.69-84
• /
• 2017

This paper presents results of an experimental investigation on the behaviour of bond between external glass fibre reinforced polymer reinforcement and concrete exposed to three different environmental conditions, namely, temperature cycles, wet-dry cycles and outdoor environment separately for extended durations. Single shear tests (pull-out test) were conducted to investigate bond strengths (pull-out strengths) of control (unexposed) and exposed specimens. Effect of the exposure conditions on the compressive strength of concrete were also investigated separately to understand the effect of changing concrete compressive strength on the pull-out strength. Based on the comparison of experimental results of exposed specimens to control specimens in terms of bond strengths, failure modes and strain profiles, the most significant degradation of pull-out strength was observed in specimens exposed to outdoor environment, whereas temperature cycles did not cause any deterioration of strength.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.562-565
• /
• 2006

Recently, the public interest for infrastructure safety has been growing, but the process of data acquisition and management system for safety is being carried out in an inefficient manner. The data obtained during the inspection for the safety of infrastructure tends to be documented using papers, which is not efficient in the stage of post analyses. The information technology (IT), which is rapidly being developed, is applied to the new system as a solution. Information technology provides valuable tools for converting and generating digital data, handling the history of defects, and assessing the condition and estimating the service life of infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to introduce Infrastructure Management System(IMS). It is expected that the IMS would minimize the manpower, time and maintenance cost, and improve the safety of infrastructure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.269-282
• /
• 2009

Responding to the threat of terrorist attacks around the world, numerous studies have been conducted to search for new methods of vulnerability assessment and protective technologies for critical infrastructure under extreme bomb blasts or high velocity impacts. In this paper, a two-dimensional behavioral rate dependent lattice model (RDLM) capable of analyzing reinforced concrete members subjected to blast and impact loading is presented. The model inherently takes into account several major influencing factors: the progressive cracking of concrete in tension, the inelastic response in compression, the yielding of reinforcing steel, and strain rate sensitivity of both concrete and steel. A computer code using the explicit algorithm was developed based on the proposed lattice model. The explicit code along with the proposed numerical model was validated using experimental test results from the Woomera blast trial.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.541-553
• /
• 2019

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete can induce degradation in its mechanical properties, leading to compromised serviceability and even loss in load capacity of concrete structures. Compared to other properties, ASR often affects the modulus of elasticity more significantly. Several empirical models have thus been established to estimate elastic modulus reduction based on the ASR expansion only for condition assessment and capacity evaluation of the distressed structures. However, it has been observed from experimental studies in the literature that for any given level of ASR expansion, there are significant variations on the measured modulus of elasticity. In fact, many other factors, such as cement content, reactive aggregate type, exposure condition, additional alkali and concrete strength, have been commonly known in contribution to changes of concrete elastic modulus due to ASR. In this study, an artificial intelligent model using artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed for the first time to provide an innovative approach for evaluation of the elastic modulus of ASR-affected concrete, which is able to take into account contribution of several influence factors. By intelligently fusing multiple information, the proposed ANN model can provide an accurate estimation of the modulus of elasticity, which shows a significant improvement from empirical based models used in current practice. The results also indicate that expansion due to ASR is not the only factor contributing to the stiffness change, and various factors have to be included during the evaluation.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.337-351
• /
• 2016

This paper presents the properties of pervious concrete containing high-calcium fly ash. The water to binder ratios of 0.19, 0.22, and 0.25, designed void ratios of 15, 20, and 25%, and fly ash replacements of 10, 20, and 30% were used. The results showed that the use of fly ash as partial replacement of Portland cement enhanced the mixing of paste resulting in a uniform mix and reduced amount of superplasticizer used in the mixture. The compressive strength and flexural strength of pervious concrete were slightly reduced with an increase in fly ash replacement level, while the abrasion resistance increased due mainly to the pozzolanic and filler effects. The compressive strength and flexural strengths at 28 days were still higher than 85% of the control concrete. The aggregate size also had a significant effect on the strength of pervious concrete. The compressive strength and flexural strength of pervious concrete with large aggregate were higher than that with small aggregate.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.215-223
• /
• 2013

This study presents the effect of incorporating metakaolin (MK) on the mechanical and durability properties of high strength concrete for a constant water/binder ratio of 0.3.MK mixtures with cement replacement of 5, 10 and 15 % were designed for target strength and slump of 90 MPa and $100{\pm}25mm$. From the results, it was observed that 10 % replacement level was the optimum level in terms of compressive strength. Beyond 10 %replacement levels, the strength was decreased but remained higher than the control mixture. Compressive strength of 106 MPa was achieved at 10 % replacement. Splitting tensile strength and elastic modulus values have also followed the same trend. In durability tests MK concretes have exhibited high resistance compared to control and the resistance increases as the MK percentage increases. This investigation has shown that the local MK has the potential to produce high strength and high performance concretes.