• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.18 no.1 s.91
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2006

This paper presents both experimental and analytical studies for the development of an ECC(Engineered Cementitious Composites) using ground granulated blast furnace slag(slag). This material has been focused on achieving moderately high composite strength while maintaining high ductility, represented by strain-hardening behavior in uniaxial tension. In the material development, micromechanics was adopted to properly select optimized range of the composition based on steady-state cracking theory and experimental studies on matrix, and interfacial properties. A single fiber pullout test and a wedge splitting test were employed to measure the bond properties of the fiber in a matrix and the fracture toughness of mortar matrix. The addition of the slag resulted in slight increases in the frictional bond strength and the fracture toughness. Subsequent direct tensile tests demonstrate that the fiber reinforced mortar exhibited high ductile uniaxial tension behavior with a maximum strain capacity of 3.6%. Both ductility and tensile strength(~5.3 MPa) of the composite produced with slag were measured to be significantly higher than those of the composite without slag. The slag particles contribute to improving matrix strength and fiber dispersion, which is incorporated with enhanced workability attributed to the oxidized grain surface. This result suggests that, within the limited slag dosage employed in the present study, the contribution of slag particles to the workability overwhelms the side-effect of decreased potential of saturated multiple cracking.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.185-193
• /
• 2015

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has been developed to overcome the low tensile strengths and brittleness of conventional concrete. Considering that UHPC, owing to its composition and the use of steel fibers, develops a compressive strength of 180 MPa as well as high stiffness, the top flange of the steel girder may be superfluous in the composite beam combining a slab made of UHPC and the steel girder. In such composite beam, the steel girder takes the form of an inverted-T shaped structure without top flange in which the studs needed for the composition of the steel girder with the UHPC slab are disposed in the web of the steel girder. This study investigates experimentally and analytically the flexural behavior of this new type of composite beam to propose details like stud spacing and slab thickness for further design recommendations. To that goal, eight composite beams with varying stud spacing and slab thickness were fabricated and tested. The test results indicated that stud spacing running from 100 mm to 2 to 3 times the slab thickness can be recommended. In view of the relative characteristic slip limit of Eurocode-4, the results showed that the composite beam developed ductile behavior. Moreover, except for the members with thin slab and large stud spacing, most of the specimens exhibited results different to those predicted by AASHTO LRFD and Eurocode-4 because of the high performance developed by UHPC.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2008.04a
• /
• pp.917-920
• /
• 2008

ECC is a special kind of high performance cementititous composite which exhibits typically more than 2% tensile strain capacity by bridging microcracks at a crack section. Therefore, micromechanics should be adopted to obtain multiple cracking and strain hardening behavior. This paper propose a linear elastic analysis method to simulate the multiple cracking and strain hardening behavior of ECC. In an analysis, the stress-crack opening relation modified considering the orientation of fibers and the number of effective fibers is adopted. Furthermore, to account for uncertainty of materials and interface between materials, the randomness is assigned to the tensile strength(${\sigma}_{fci}$), elastic modulus($E_{ci}$), peak bridging stress(${\sigma}_{Bi}$) and crack opening at peak bridging stress(${\delta}_{Bi}$), initial stress at a crack section due to chemical bonding, (${\sigma}_{0i}$), and crack spacing(${\alpha}_cX_d$). Test results shows the number of cracking and stiffness of cracked section are important parameters and strain hardening behavior and maximum strain capacity can be simulated using the proposed method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.163-177
• /
• 2020

Concentrically Braced Frames (CBFs) are commonly used in the construction of steel structures because of their ease of implementation, rigidity, low lateral displacement, and cost-effectiveness. However, the principal disadvantage of this kind of braced frame is the inability to provide deformation capacity (ductility) and buckling of bracing elements before yielding. This paper aims to present a novel Composite Buckling Restrained Fuse (CBRF) to be utilized as a bracing segment in concentrically braced frames that allows higher ductility and removes premature buckling. The proposed CBRF with relatively small dimensions is an enhancement on the Reduced Length Buckling Restrained Braces (RL-BRBs), consists of steel core and additional tensile elements embedded in a concrete encasement. Employing tensile elements in this composite fuse with a new configuration enhances the energy dissipation efficiency and removes the tensile strength limitations that exist in bracing elements that contain RL-BRBs. Here, the optimal length of the CBRF is computed by considering the anticipated strain demand and the low-cyclic fatigue life of the core under standard loading protocol. An experimental program is conducted to explore the seismic behavior of the suggested CBRF compare with an RL-BRB specimen under gradually increased cyclic loading. Moreover, Hysteretic responses of the specimens are evaluated to calculate the design parameters such as energy dissipation potential, strength adjustment factors, and equivalent viscous damping. The findings show that the suggested fuse possess a ductile behavior with high energy absorption and sufficient resistance and a reasonably stable hysteresis response under compression and tension.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.29 no.6
• /
• pp.328-335
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study is to develop fiber reinforced cement matrix composite (ECC) produced with limestone powder in order to achieve high ductility of the composite, and to evaluate flexural performance of structural members made with ECC. Four kinds of mixture proportions were determined on the basis of the micromechanics and a steady state cracking theory considering the matrix fracture toughness and fiber-matrix interfacial characteristics. The mechanical properties of ECC, represented by strain-hardening behavior in uniaxial tension, were investigated. Also, strength property of the composite was experimentally evaluated. Two structural members made with ECC were produced and tested. Test results were compared with those of conventional concrete structural members. Increased limestone powder contents of ECC provides higher ductility of the composites while generally resulting in a lower strength property. ECC structural members exhibited higher flexural ductility, higher flexural load-carrying capacity and tighter crack width compared to conventional structural members.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.195-204
• /
• 2012

In the construction of high-rise buildings, bent re-bars are manually straightened to connect slabs to core-walls, which are usually cast before floor structures. During cold bending and straightening of re-bars, plastic deformation causing work hardening, Bauschinger effect and aging hardening is unavoidable. Tensile tests of coldly bent and straightened re-bars were conducted with test parameters of grade, diameter, and bend radius of re-bars as well as age between bending and straightening. Test results showed that proportional limits were lower and strain hardening occurred without yield plateaus. Inside and outside of re-bars with compression and tension deformations, respectively, during bending showed lower yield points due to Bauschinger effect and no yield plateaus due to work hardening, respectively. When re-bar grade was higher, yield point became significantly lower where Grade 400 re-bars had yield strengths lower than specified yield strength of 400 MPa. Because the surface of re-bar has higher strength than the core of re-bar, Bauschinger effect was more obvious for higher-grade re-bars. When age between bending and straightening was greater, yield strength increased and elongation decreased (i.e. embrittlement occurs). Using measured data, stress-strain relationship for straightened re-bars was developed based on Ramberg-Osgood model, which can be used to evaluate stiffness of joints when straightened re-bars are applied.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.289-298
• /
• 2016

An experimental research was performed using fibers for the purpose of retrofitting existing reinforced concrete circular columns. Glass fiber (GF) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were used as well as combined GF+PET (HF). PET has high tensile strength (over 600 MPa) and high ductility (about 15%), but has very low elastic modulus (about 1/6 of GF). A total of four columns was tested against laterally applied reverse cyclic load: control column, GF-, PET-, and HF-strengthened columns. All columns retrofitted using fibers demonstrated improved moment capacity and ductility. Moment capacity of GF-, PET-, and HF-strengthened columns was 120%, 107%, and 120% of the control column, respectively. Drift ratio of all retrofitted columns also increased by 63 ~ 83% over the control column. The final failure mode of the control column was main bar buckling. The final failure mode of the GF- and HF-strengthened columns was GF rupture while that of the PET-strengthened column was main bar rupture in tension. No damage was observed for PET at the ultimate stage due to excellent strain capacity intrinsic to PET. Current test results indicate that PET can be effectively used for seismic retrofit of RC columns. It is noted that the durability characteristics of PET needs to be investigated in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.275-283
• /
• 2012

Steel Plate for Rebar Connection was recently developed to splice rebars in delayed slab-wall joints in high-rise building, slurry wall-slab joints, temporary openings, etc. It consists of several couplers and a thin steel plate with shear key. Cyclic loading tests on slab-wall joints were conducted to verify structural behavior of the joints having Steel Plate for Rebar Connection. For comparison, joints with Rebend Connection and without splices were also tested. The joints with Steel Plate for Rebar Connection showed typical flexural behavior in the sequence of tension re-bar yielding, sufficient flexural deformation, crushing of compression concrete, and compression rebar buckling. However, the joints with Rebend Connection had more bond cracks in slabs faces and spalling in side cover-concrete, even though elastic behavior of the joints was similar to that of the joints with Steel Plate for Re-bar Connection. Consequently, the joints with Rebend Connection had less strengths and deformation capacities than the joints with Steel Plate for Re-bar Connection. In addition, stiffness of the joints with Rebend Connection degraded more rapidly than the other joints as cyclic loads were applied. This may be caused by low elastic modulus of re-straightened rebars and restraightening of kinked bar. For two types of diameters (13mm and 16mm) and two types of grades (SD300 and SD400) of rebars, the joints with Steel Plate for Rebar Connection had higher strength than nominal strength calculated from actual material properties. On the contrary, strengths of the joints with Rebend Connection decreased as bar diameter increased and as grade becames higher. Therefore, Rebend Connection should be used with caution in design and construction.

• Explosives and Blasting
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.10-21
• /
• 2021

Brittle materials such as rocks and concretes exhibit large strain-rate dependency under dynamic loading conditions. This means that the mechanical properties of such materials can significantly be varied according to load velocity. Thus, the strain-rate dependency is recognized as one of the most important considerations in solving problems of blast engineering or rock dynamics. Unfortunately, however, studies for characterizing the dynamic properties of domestic rocks and other brittle materials are still insufficient in the country. In this study, dynamic tensile tests were conducted using the Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus to characterize the dynamic properties of Geochang granite and high-strength concrete specimens. The dynamic Brazilian disc test, which is suggested by ISRM, and the spalling method were applied. In general, the latter is believed to have some advantages in experiments under high-strain rate deformation. It was found from the tests that there were no significant difference between the dynamic tensile strengths obtained from the two different test methods for the two materials given. However, this was not the expected result before the tests. Actually, authors expected that there be some differences between them. Hence, it is thought that further investigations are needed to clarify this results.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.17 no.2 s.86
• /
• pp.263-271
• /
• 2005

HPFRCC(High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composite) is a class of FRCCs(Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites) that exhibit multiple cracking. Multiple cracking leads to improvement in properties such as ductility, toughness, fracture energy, strain hardening, strain capacity, and deformation capacity under tension, compression, and bending. These improved properties of HPFRCCs have triggered unique and versatile structural applications, including damage reduction, damage tolerance, energy absorption, crack distribution, deformation compatibility, and delamination resistance. These mechanical properties of HPFRCCs become different from the kinds and shapes of used fiber, and it is known that the effective size of fiber in macro crack is different from that in micro crack. This paper reports an experimental findings on the mechanical properties of HPFRCCs reinforced with the micro fiber(PP50, PVA100 and PVA200) and macro fiber(PVA660, SF500). Uniaxial compressive tests and three point bending tests are carried out in order to compare with the mechanical properties of HPFRCCs reinforced with micro fibers or hybrid fibers such as compressive strength, ultimate bending stress, toughness, deformation capacity and crack pattern under bending, etc.,