• Computers and Concrete
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.573-592
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• 2018

An analytical methodology for the calculation of the flexural and the shear capacity of concrete members with Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer (FRP) bars as tensional reinforcement is proposed. The flexural analysis is initially based on the design provisions of ACI 440.1R-15 which have properly been modified to develop general charts that simplify computations and provide hand calculations. The specially developed charts include non-dimensional variables and can easily be applied in sections with various geometrical properties, concrete grade and FRP properties. The proposed shear model combines three theoretical considerations to facilitate calculations. A unified flexural/shear approach is developed in flow chart which can be used to estimate the ultimate strength and the expected failure mode of a concrete beam reinforced with longitudinal FRP bars, with or without transverse reinforcement. The proposed methodology is verified using existing experimental data of 138 beams from the literature, and it predicts the load-bearing capacity and the failure mode with satisfactory accuracy.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.659-677
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• 2013

This paper introduces new specimens of Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite developed in accordance with standard test method and definition for mechanical testing of steel (ASTM-A370). The main purpose of this research is to study the behaviour of steel-CFRP composite specimen under uniaxial tension to use it in beams in lieu of traditional steel bar reinforcement. Eighteen specimens were prepared and divided into six groups, depending upon the number of the layers of CFRP. Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted to determine yield strength and ultimate strength of specimens. Test results showed that the stress-strain curve of the composite specimen was bilinear prior to the fracture of CFRP laminate. The tested composite specimens displayed a large difference in strength with remarkable ductility. The ultimate load for Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite specimens was found using the model proposed by Wu et al. (2010) and nonlinear FE analysis. The ultimate loads obtained from FE analysis are found to be in good agreement with experimental ones. However, ultimate loads obtained applying Wu model are significantly different from experimental/FE ones. This suggested modification of Wu model. Modified Wu's model which gives a better estimate for the ultimate load of Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SCFRP) composite specimen is presented in this paper.

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• 제7권1호
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• pp.16-20
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• 2020

The recent trend is increasing towards the usage of polymer matrix composites since they have a wide variety of applications. They have applications in the field of aircraft and space industry, sporting goods, medical devices, marine and automotive applications and also in commercial usage. The most commonly used fibre-reinforced polymer matrix composite is Glass fibre reinforced epoxy (GFRE) composite which is used in aviation, sports and automotive industries. However, the strength of GFRE composites is not adequate for structural applications. Therefore, the current research focuses on increasing the strength of GFRE composites by reinforcing with micro Graphite (Gr) particulates. The Gr used is an ultra-fine powder with particle size 250 ㎛. Gr is known to have good wear resistance, thermal conductivity and can operate at high temperatures. Gr particulates are mixed with the epoxy matrix in various weight ratios. Hand-lay technique is used for fabricating the composites. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, compressive strength and flexural strength are obtained experimentally to study the effect of change in Gr content (0-5 wt. %). The tests were done as per ASTM standards.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.331-349
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• 2016

Stiff and light fibre reinforced composites as used in air- and space-craft applications tend to high sound emission. Therefore, the damping properties are essential for the entire structural and acoustic engineering. Viscous damping is an established and reasonably linear model of the dissipation behaviour. Commonly, it is assumed to be isotropic and constant over all modes. For anisotropic materials it depends on the fibre orientation as well as the elastic and thermal material properties. To portray the orthogonal anisotropic behaviour, a model for unidirectional fibre reinforced plastics (frp) has been developed based on the classical laminate theory by ADAMS and BACON starting in 1973. Their approach includes three damping coefficients - for longitudinal damping in fibre direction, damping transversal to the fibres and shear based dissipation. The damping of a laminate is then accumulated layer wise including the anisotropic stiffness. So far, the model has been applied mainly to thermoset matrix materials. In this study, an experimental parameter estimation for different thermoplastic frp with angle ply and cross ply layups was carried out by measuring free vibrations of cantilever beams. The results show potential and limits of the ADAMS/BACON damping criterion. In addition, a possibility of modelling the anisotropic damping is shown. The implementation in standard FEA software is used to study the influence of boundary conditions on the damping properties and numerically estimate the radiated sound power of thin-walled frp parts.

• Advances in materials Research
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.191-209
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• 2022

Very slow degradation of synthetic based polymers has created a severe environmental issue that increased awareness towards research in polymers of biodegradable property. Soy protein isolate (SPI) is a natural biopolymer used as matrix in green composites but it has limitations of low mechanical properties and high water sensitivity. To enhance mechanical properties and reduce water sensitivity of Jute-SPI composites, SPI was modified with pine rosin which is also a natural cross-linking agent. 30% glycerol on the weight basis of a matrix was used as a plasticizer. The fibre volume fraction was kept constant at 0.2 whereas the pine rosin in SPI ranged from 5% to 30% of the matrix. The effects of pine rosin on mechanical, thermal, water sensitivity and surface morphology have been characterized using various techniques. The mechanical properties and water absorbency were found to be optimum for 15% pine rosin in Jute-SPI composite. Therefore, Jute-SPI composite without pine rosin and with 15% pine rosin were chosen for investigation through characterization by Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM). The surface morphology of the composite was influenced by pine rosin which is shown in the SEM image. TGA measurement showed that the thermal properties improved due to the addition of pine rosin. Antimicrobial test showed antimicrobial property in the composite occurring 15% pine rosin. The research paper concludes that the modification of SPI resin with an optimum percentage of pine rosin enhanced mechanical, thermal as well as water-resistant properties of jute fibre reinforced composites.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제74권4호
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• pp.515-520
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• 2020

In the modern era, the world is facing unprecedented challenges in form of environmental pollution and international agencies are forcing scientists and materialists to look for green materials and structures to counter this problem. Composites based on renewable sources like plant based fibres, vegetable fibres are finding increasing use in interior components of automobile vehicles, aircraft, and building construction. In the present study, jute and flax fibre based composites were developed and tested for assessing their suitability for possible applications in interior cabin and parts of automobile and aerospace vehicles. Matrix system involves epoxy as resin and fibre weight fractions used were 45% and 55% respectively. Composites samples were prepared as per American society for testing and materials (ASTM) standard and were tested for individual fiber tensile strength, composite tensile strength, and flexural strength to analyse its behavior under various loading conditions. The results revealed that the Jute fibre composites possess enhanced mechanical properties over Flax fibre composites.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제69권3호
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• pp.327-334
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• 2019

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the hygrothermal effects on the behavior of reinforced-concrete beams strengthened by bonded composite laminate plates (${\theta}n/90m)s$. This work is based on a simple theoretical model to estimate the interfacial stresses developed between the concrete beam and the composite with taking into account the hygrothermal effect. Fibre orientation angle effects of number of $90^{\circ}$ layers and effects of plate thickness and length on the distributions of interfacial stress in the concrete beams reinforced with composite plates have also been studied.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제70권3호
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• pp.303-310
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• 2019

Any revision of seismic codes usually demands a higher capacity from structural members, making existing structures unsafe particularly from strength considerations. Retrofitting of capacity deficient members is very suitable for tackling such situations. This paper presents an experimental study on different retrofitting measures adopted for strengthening a series of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Four identical RC beam specimens were casted, out of which three specimens were strengthened by different schemes (viz., bolted hot rolled flat, bolted cold-formed steel channel, and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate, respectively) on their tension face and tested under four-point monotonic loading. This study focuses on the investigation of the flexural behaviour of these retrofitted beams, observed in terms of strength and stiffness. It was concluded that all retrofitting measures improved the structural performance of these beams. However, the cost involved with each strengthening mode was proportional to the improvement in the performance achieved.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.613-625
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• 2013

In this study, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) analysis is used to predict the compression strength of polypropylene fibre mixed concrete. Polypropylene fibre admixture increases the compression strength of concrete to a certain extent according to mix proportion. This proportion and homogenous distribution are important parameters on compression strength. Determination of compression strength of fibre mixed concrete is significant due to the veridicality of capacity calculations. Plenty of experiments shall be completed to state the compression strength of concrete which have different fibre admixture. In each case, it is known that performing the laboratory experiments is costly and time-consuming. Therefore, ANN analysis is used to predict the 7 and 28 days of compression strength values. For this purpose, 156 test specimens are produced that have 26 different types of fibre admixture. While the results of 120 specimens are used for training process, 36 of them are separated for test process in ANN analysis to determine the validity of experimental results. Finally, it is seen that ANN analysis predicts the compression strength of concrete successfully.

• Advances in nano research
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.263-276
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• 2020

In this article, the acoustic responses of free vibrated natural fibre-reinforced polymer nanocomposite structure have been investigated first time with the help of commercial package (ANSYS) using the multiphysical modelling approach. The sound relevant data of the polymeric structure is obtained by varying weight fractions of the natural nanofibre within the composite. Firstly, the structural frequencies are obtained through a simulation model prepared in ANSYS and solved through the static structural analysis module. Further, the corresponding sound data within a certain range of frequencies are evaluated by modelling the medium through the boundary element steps with adequate coupling between structure and fluid via LMS Virtual Lab. The simulation model validity has been established by comparing the frequency and sound responses with published results. In addition, sets of experimentation are carried out for the eigenvalue and the sound pressure level for different weight fractions of natural fibre and compared with own simulation data. The experimental frequencies are obtained using own impact type vibration analyzer and recorded through LABVIEW support software. Similarly, the noise data due to the harmonically excited vibrating plate are recorded through the available Array microphone (40 PH and serial no: 190569). The numerical results and subsequent experimental comparison are indicating the comprehensiveness of the presently derived simulation model. Finally, the effects of structural design parameters (thickness ratio, aspect ratio and boundary conditions) on the acoustic behaviour of the natural-fibre reinforced nanocomposite are computed using the present multiphysical model and highlighted the inferences.