• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.607-642
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• 2015

The stress-strain relationship of concrete in flexure is one of the essential parameters in assessing the flexural strength and ductility of reinforced concrete (RC) columns. An overview of previous research studies revealed that the presence of strain gradient would affect the maximum concrete stress developed in flexure. However, no quantitative model was available to evaluate the strain gradient effect on concrete under flexure. Previously, the authors have conducted experimental studies to investigate the strain gradient effect on maximum concrete stress and respective strain and developed two strain-gradient-dependent factors k3 and ko for modifying the flexural concrete stress-strain curve. As a continued study, the authors herein will extend the investigation of strain gradient effects on flexural strength and ductility of RC columns to concrete strength up to 100 MPa by employing the strain-gradient-dependent concrete stress-strain curve using nonlinear moment-curvature analysis. It was evident from the results that both the flexural strength and ductility of RC columns are improved under strain gradient effect. Lastly, for practical engineering design purpose, a new equivalent rectangular concrete stress block incorporating the combined effects of strain gradient and concrete strength was proposed and validated. Design formulas and charts have also been presented for flexural strength and ductility of RC columns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.239-251
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• 2022

The use of lateral reinforcement in confined concrete columns can improve bearing capacity and deformability. The lateral responses of lateral reinforcement significantly influence the effective confining pressure on core concrete. However, lateral strain-axial strain model of concrete columns confined by lateral reinforcement has not received enough attention. In this paper, based on experimental results of 85 concrete columns confined by lateral reinforcement under axial compression, the effect of unconfined concrete compressive strength, volumetric ratio, lateral reinforcement yield strength, and confinement type on lateral strain-axial strain curves was investigated. Through parameter analysis, it indicated that with the same level of axial strain, the lateral strain slightly increased with the increase in the unconfined concrete compressive strength, but decreased with the increase in volumetric ratio significantly. The lateral reinforcement yield strength had slight influence on lateral strain-axial strain curves. At the same level of lateral strain, the axial strain of specimen with spiral was larger than that of specimen with stirrup. Furthermore, a lateral strain-axial strain model for concrete columns confined by lateral reinforcement under axial compression was proposed by introducing the effects of unconfined concrete compressive strength, volumetric ratio, confinement type and effective confining pressure, which showed good agreement with the experimental results.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2012

This paper presents the differences in growth of time-dependent strain values in reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and pre-stressed concrete (PSC) flexural members through experiment. It was observed that at any particular age, the time-dependent strain values were less in RCC beams than in PSC beams of identical size and grade of concrete. Variables considered in the study were percentage area of reinforcement, span of members for RCC beams and eccentricity of applied pre-stress force for PSC beams. In RCC beams the time-dependent strain values increases with reduction in percentage area of reinforcement and in PSC beams eccentricity directly influences the growth of time-dependent strain. With increase in age, a non-uniform strain develops across the depth of beams which influence the growth of concave curvature in RCC beams and convex curvature in PSC beams. The experimentally obtained strain values were compared with predicted strain values of similar size and grade of plane concrete (PC) beam using ACI 318 Model Code and found more than RCC beams but less than PSC beams.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2000.10b
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• pp.1145-1150
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• 2000

Concrete behaves as ductile material at high temperature. The existing stress-strain relationship is not valid at high temperature condition. Thus, stress-strain curve of concrete at high temperature is re-established by modifying Saenz's suggestion in this study. A constitutive model of concrete subjected to elevated temperature is also suggested. The model consists of three components; free thermal stain, mechanical strain and thermal creep strain. As the temperature increase, the thermal creep becomes more critical to the failure of concrete. The thermal creep strain of concrete is derived from the modified power-law relation for the steady state creep. The proposed equation for thermal creep employs a Dorn's temperature compensated time theorem

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 2022

It is widely known that axially loaded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confined concrete presents significant and enhanced mechanical properties with reference to the unconfined concrete. Therefore, to predict the mechanical behavior of FRP-confined concrete two quantities-peak strength and ultimate strain are required. Despite the significant advances, the determination of the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete is one of the most challenging problems to be resolved. This is often attributed to our persistence in desiring the conventional methods as the sole technique to examine this phenomenon and the complex nature of the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. To bridge the research gap, this study adopted two machine learning (ML) techniques-artificial neural network (ANN) and Gaussian process regression (GPR)-to analyze observations obtained from 627 datasets of FRP-confined concrete circular and non-circular sections under axial loading test. Besides, the techniques are also used to predict the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. Seven parameters namely width/diameter of the specimens, corner radius ratio, the strength of concrete, FRP elastic modulus, FRP thickness, FRP tensile rupture strain, and the axial strain of unconfined concrete-are the input parameters used to predict the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. The results of the current study highlight the merit of using AI techniques in structural engineering applications given their extraordinary ability to comprehend multidimensional phenomena of FRP-confined concrete structures with ease, low computational cost, and high performance over the existing empirical models.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.375-382
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• 1997

In this paper, a unified micromechanics-based model which can be applied to both tensile and compressive member of concrete is suggested and to the analysis of the strain-localization in concrete. From the comparison of the analysis results obtained from different size of concrete members with experimental data, it id shown that the model in this paper can be applied to the analysis of the strain localization concrete. For the finite element analysis of the strain-localization in concrete, the localized zone in concrete under strain localization is modeled as ad plastic model which can consider nonlinear strain softening and the non-localized zone is modeled as a nonlinear elastic-damage model. Using developed finite element analysis program. strain localization behaviors under compressive force for the different sizes of concrete having different sizes of the localized zone are simulated.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.375-388
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• 2006

Poor strength test results are sometimes not an indication of low concrete quality, but rather inferior testing quality. In a compression test, the strain distribution over the ends of the specimen is a critical factor for the test results. Non-uniform straining of a concrete specimen leads to locally different compressive stresses on the cross-section, and eventual premature breaking of the specimen. Its effect on a specimen can be quantified by comparing the compressive strength results of two specimens, one subjected to uniform strain and another to a specified strain gradient. This can be done with the help of a function that relates two parameters, the strain ratio and the test efficiency. Such a function depends on the concrete strength and cross-sectional shape of the specimen. In this study, theoretical relationships between the strain ratio and test efficiency are developed using a concrete stress-strain model. The results show that for the same strain ratio, the test efficiency is larger for normal strength concrete than for high strength concrete. Further, the effect of the strain gradient on the test result depends on the cross-sectional shape of the specimen. Implementation of the results is demonstrated with the aid of two examples.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.207-227
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• 2011

In flexural strength design of unconfined reinforced concrete (RC) members, the concrete compressive stress-strain curve is scaled down from the uni-axial stress-strain curve such that the maximum concrete stress adopted in design is less than the uni-axial strength to account for the strain gradient effect. It has been found that the use of this smaller maximum concrete stress will underestimate the flexural strength of unconfined RC members although the safety factors for materials are taken as unity. Herein, in order to investigate the effect of strain gradient on the maximum concrete stress that can be developed in unconfined flexural RC members, several pairs of plain concrete (PC) and RC inverted T-shaped specimens were fabricated and tested under concentric and eccentric loads. From the test results, the maximum concrete stress developed in the eccentric specimens under strain gradient is determined by the modified concrete stress-strain curve obtained from the counterpart concentric specimens based on axial load and moment equilibriums. Based on that, a pair of equivalent rectangular concrete stress block parameters for the purpose of flexural strength design of unconfined RC members is determined.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.541-563
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• 2004

For reaching large inelastic deformations without a substantial loss in strength, the potential plastic hinge regions of the reinforced concrete structural members should be confined by adequate transverse reinforcement. Therefore, simple and realistic representation of confined concrete behaviour is needed for inelastic analysis of reinforced concrete structures. In this study, a trilinear stress-strain model is proposed for the axial behaviour of confined concrete. The model is based on experimental work that was carried out on nearly full size specimens. During the interpretation of experimental data, the buckling and strain hardening of the longitudinal reinforcement are also taken into account. The proposed model is used for predicting the stress-strain relationships of confined concrete specimens tested by other researchers. Although the proposed model is simpler than most of the available models, the comparisons between the predicted results and experimental data indicate that it can represent the stress-strain relationship of confined concrete quite realistically.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.225-240
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• 1999

This paper presents a mechanistic approach to uniaxial viscoelastic constitutive modeling of asphalt concrete that accounts for damage evolution under cyclic loading conditions. An elasticviscoelastic correspondence principle in terms of pseudo variables is applied to separately evaluate viscoelasticity and time-dependent damage growth in asphalt concrete. The time-dependent damage growth in asphalt concrete is modeled by using a damage parameter based on a generalization of microcrack growth law. Internal state variables that describe the hysteretic behavior of asphalt concrete are determined. A constitutive equation in terms of stress and pseudo strain is first established for controlled-strain mode and then transformed to a controlled-stress constitutive equation by simply replacing physical stress and pseudo strain with pseudo stress and physical strain. Tensile uniaxial fatigue tests are performed under the controlled-strain mode to determine model parameters. The constitutive equations in terms of pseudo strain and pseudo stress satisfactorily predict the constitutive behavior of asphalt concrete all the way up to failure under controlled-strain and -stress modes, respectively.