• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.165-178
• /
• 2016

The present work is concerned with a numerical investigation of the behaviour of reinforced-concrete beams with non-bonded flexural tension reinforcement. The numerically-established behaviour of such beams with and without transverse reinforcement is compared with its counterpart of similar beams with bonded reinforcement. From the comparison, it is found that the development of bond anywhere within the shear span inevitably leads to inclined cracking which is the cause of 'shear' failure. On the other hand, the lack of bond within the shear span of the beams is found, not only to prevent cracking within the shear span, but, also, to lead to a flexural type of failure preceded by the formation of horizontal splitting of concrete in the compressive zone. It is also found that delaying the extension of horizontal splitting through the provision of transverse reinforcement in the beam mid span can lead to flexural failure after yielding of the tension reinforcement. Yielding of the tension reinforcement before the horizontal splitting of the compressive zone may also be achieved by reducing the amount of the latter reinforcement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.409-426
• /
• 2007

Following previous work carried out in Building Research Institute in Japan, finite element analyses of conceptual column designs are performed in this paper. The effectiveness of the numerical model is evaluated by experimental tests and parametric studies are conducted to determine influential factors in conceptual column designs. First, three different column designs are analysed: bonded, un-bonded, and un-bonded with additional reinforcing bars. The load-displacement curves and cracking patterns in concrete are obtained and compared with experimental ones. The comparisons indicate that the finite element model is able to reflect the experimental results closely. Both numerical and experimental results show that, the introduction of un-bonded zones in a column end can reduce cracking strains, accordingly reduce the stiffness and strength as well; the addition of extra reinforcement in the un-bonded zones can offset the losses of the stiffness and strength. To decide the proper length of the un-bonded zones and the sufficient amount of the additional reinforcing bars, parametric studies are carried out on their influences. It has been found that the stiffness of un-bonded designs slightly decreases with increasing the length of the un-bonded zones and increases with the size of the additional reinforcing bars.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.943-957
• /
• 2014

When subjected to fatigue loading, the main failure mode of partially prestressed concrete (PPC) structure is the fatigue fracture of tensile reinforcement. Therefore, monitoring and evaluation of the steel stresses/strains in the structure are essential issues for structural design and healthy assessment. The current study experimentally investigates the possibility of using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to measure the steel strains in PPC beams in the process of fatigue loading. Six full-scale post-tensioned PPC beams were exposed to fatigue loading. Within the beams, the FBG and resistance strain gauge (RSG) sensors were independently bonded onto the surface of tensile reinforcements. A good agreement was found between the recorded results from the two different sensors. Moreover, FBG sensors show relatively good resistance to fatigue loading compared with RSG sensors, indicating that FBG sensors possess the capability for long-term health monitoring of the tensile reinforcement in PPC structures. Apart from the above findings, it can also be found that during the fatigue loading, there is stress redistribution between prestressed and non-prestressed reinforcements, and the residual strain emerges in the non-prestressed reinforcement. This phenomenon can bring about an increase of the steel stress in the non-prestressed reinforcement.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.290-293
• /
• 2015

Recently, a lot of interest has been shown in structural maintenance managements of civil infrastructures. Many researchers have been conducted on various maintenance techniques and repair materials. Among other fiber materials the carbon fiber materials are especially focused on maintenance management of Highway Bridges. Extensive work has been done on Carbon Fiber Sheet (CFS). Nevertheless, Carbon Fiber Strand Sheet (CFSS) is a newly developed material, on which limited work has been done until now. Therefore, in this study bonding the CFSS to RC slab specimen and fatigue resistance evaluation has been conducted. The results demonstrated an increase of 25.3 times more reinforcement of RC slab compared to non-reinforced RC slab. Moreover, compared to CFS-bonded RC slab, The CFSS-bonded RC slab showed 1.2 times greater reinforcement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.391-404
• /
• 2003

Local reinforcement in dowel type timber joints is essential to improve ductility, to increase load carrying capacity and to reduce the risk of brittle failure, especially in the case of using solid dowel. In many types of reinforcing materials available today, DVW (densified veneer wood) has been demonstrated to be the most advantages in terms of compatibility, embedding performance and ductility. Preliminary studies show that using appropriately sized DVW discs bonded into the timber interfaces may be an effective way to reinforce the connection. In this paper, non-linear 3-dimensional finite element models, incorporating orthotropic and non-linear material behaviour, have been developed to simulate structural performance of the timber joints locally reinforced by DVW discs. Different contact algorithms were applied to simulate contact conditions in the joints. The models were validated by the corresponding structural tests. Correlation between the experimental results and the finite element simulations is reasonably good. Using validated finite element models, parametric studies were undertaken to investigate effects of the DVW disc sizes and the end distances on shear stresses and normal stresses in a possible failure plane in the joint.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.149-157
• /
• 2017

An innovative analysis method is proposed in this paper for the determination of ultimate resistance of prestressed concrete beams. The proposed method can be applied to simply supported or continuous beams in a unified manner whether structure and external loads are symmetric or not. Through the iterative nonlinear strain compatibility solutions, this method can also be applied to the non-prismatic section/un-symmetrical composite structures under moving load. The conventional studies have used the failure criteria when the strain of concrete reaches 0.003. However compared with bonded case, the value of strain in the reinforcement is much smaller than bonded case, thus, unbonded prestressed cases show compressive failure mode. It is shown that the proposed method gives acceptable results within 5% error compared with the prior experimental results. It can be shown that the proposed method can reach the solution much faster than typical three-dimensional finite element analysis for the same problem. This method is applicable to the existing unbonded prestressed members where deterioration has occurred leading to the reduced ultimate resistance or safety. In all, the proposed procedure can be applied to the design and analysis of newly constructed structures, as well as the risk assessment of rehabilitated structures.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.163-173
• /
• 2024

Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) have a proven strength enhancement capability when installed into Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams. The brittle failure of traditional FRP strengthening systems has attracted researchers to develop novel materials with improved strength and ductility properties. One such material is that known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This study presents a numerical investigation of the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams externally strengthened with PET-FRP systems. This material is distinguished by its large rupture strain, leading to an improvement in the ductility of the strengthened structural members compared to conventional FRPs. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) model is developed in this study to predict the load-deflection response of a series of experimentally tested beams published in the literature. The numerical model incorporates constitutive material laws and bond-slip behavior between concrete and the strengthening system. Moreover, the validated model was applied in a parametric study to inspect the effect of concrete compressive strength, PET-FRP sheet length, and reinforcing steel bar diameter on the overall performance of concrete beams externally strengthened with PET-FRP.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.88 no.1
• /
• pp.67-81
• /
• 2023

The reinforced concrete (RC) structures might need strengthening or upgradation due to adverse environmental conditions, design defects, modification requirements, and to prolong the expected lifespan. The RC beams have been efficiently strengthened using the near surface mounted (NSM) approach over the externally bonded reinforcing (EBR) system. In this study, the performance of RC beam elements strengthened with NSM-steel rebars was investigated using an experimental program and nonlinear finite element modeling (FEM). Nine medium-sized, rectangular cross-section RC beams total in number made up for the experimental evaluation. The beams strengthened with varying percentages of NSM reinforcement, and the number of grooves was assessed in four-point bending experiments up to failure. Based on the experimental evaluation, the load-displacement response, crack features, and failure modes of the strengthened beams were recorded and considered. According to the experimental findings, NSM steel greatly improved the flexural strength (up to about 84%) and stiffness of RC beams. The flexural response of the tested beams was simulated using a 3D non-linear finite element (FE) model. The findings of the experiments and the numerical analysis showed good agreement. The effect of the NSM groove and reinforcement on the structural response was then assessed parametrically.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2002.10a
• /
• pp.469-474
• /
• 2002

Recently fiber sheets are used for strengthening the damaged concrete structures due to its many advantages such as its durability, non-corrosive nature, low weight, ease of application, cost saving, control of crack propagation, strength to thickness ratio, high tensile strength, serviceability and aesthetic. However, the lack of analytical procedures for predicting the nominal moment capacity by the fiber sheet reinforcement leads to difficulties in the effective process of decisions of the factors in the strengthening procedure. In this work, flexural strengthening effects by fiber sheets bonded on soffit and web of the member are theoretically studied for the reinforced concrete T beam. The analytical solutions are compared with experimental results of several references to verify the proposed approach.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.61 no.3
• /
• pp.397-406
• /
• 2017

The use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) for torsional strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) single cell box beams has been analyzed considerably by researchers worldwide. However, little attention has been paid to torsional strengthening of multicell box girders in terms of both experimental and numerical research. This paper reports the experimental work in an overall investigation for torsional strengthening of multicell box section RC girders with externally-bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer CFRP strips. Numerical work was carried out using non-linear finite element modeling (FEM). Good agreement in terms of torque-twist behavior, steel and CFRP reinforcement responses, and crack patterns was achieved. The unique failure modes of all the specimens were modeled correctly as well.