• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.309-324
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• 2022

The post-fire elastic stiffness and performance of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns containing recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) has rarely been addressed, particularly in terms of material properties. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the modulus of elasticity of recycled aggregate concrete-filled steel tube (RACFST) stub columns following thermal loading. The test data were employed to model and assess the elastic modulus of circular RACFST stub columns subjected to axial loading after exposure to elevated temperatures. The length/diameter ratio of the specimens was less than three to prevent the sensitivity of overall buckling for the stub columns. The gene expression programming (GEP) method was employed for the model development. The GEP model was derived based on a comprehensive experimental database of heated and non-heated RACFST stub columns that have been properly gathered from the open literature. In this study, by using specifications of 149 specimens, the variables were the steel section ratio, applied temperature, yielding strength of steel, compressive strength of plain concrete, and elastic modulus of steel tube and concrete core (RAC). Moreover, parametric and sensitivity analyses were also performed to determine the contribution of different effective parameters to the post-fire elastic modulus. Additionally, comparisons and verification of the effectiveness of the proposed model were made between the values obtained from the GEP model and the formulas proposed by different researchers. Through the analyses and comparisons of the developed model against formulas available in the literature, the acceptable accuracy of the model for predicting the post-fire modulus of elasticity of circular RACFST stub columns was seen.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.315-325
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• 2022

Reinforced concrete structures are exposed throughout their lifetime to the phenomenon of carbonation, which considerably influences their durability by causing corrosion of the reinforcements. The fight against this phenomenon is usually ensured by anti-carbonation coatings which have the possibility of limiting the permeability to carbon dioxide or with coatings which absorb the CO₂ present in the air. A coating with good crack-bridging (sealing) capacity will prevent water from entering through existing cracks in concrete. Despite the beneficial effect of these coatings, their durability decreases considerably over time with temperature and humidity. In order to use coatings made from local materials, not presenting any danger, available in abundance in our country, very economical and easy to operate is the main objective of this work. This paper aim is to contribute to the formulation of a corrected dune sand-based mortar as an anti-carbonation coating for concrete. The results obtained show that the cement mortar based on dune sand formulated has a very satisfactory compressive strength, a very low water porosity compared to ordinary cement mortar and that this mortar allows an improvement in the protection of the concrete against the carbonation of 60% compared to ordinary cement mortar based on alluvial sand. Moreover, the formulated cement mortars based on dune sand have good adhesion to the concrete support, their adhesion strengths are greater than 1.5MPa recommended by the standards.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.779-789
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• 2022

This work presents a non-linear cylindrical bending analysis of functionally graded plate reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in thermal environment using a simple integral higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). This theory does not require shear correction factors and the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically through the thickness. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTCRs) are considered to be graded in the thickness direction, and are estimated through a micromechanical model. The non-linear strain-displacement relations in the Von Karman sense are used to study the effect of geometric non-linearity and the solution is obtained by minimization of the total potential energy. The numerical illustrations concern the nonlinear bending response of FG-CNTRC plates under different sets of thermal environmental conditions, from which results for uniformly distributed CNTRC plates are obtained as benchmarks.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.805-826
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• 2022

The free and live load-forced vibration behaviour of porous functionally graded (PFG) higher order nanobeams in the thermal and magnetic fields is investigated comprehensively through this work in the framework of nonlocal strain gradient theory (NLSGT). The porosity effects on the dynamic behaviour of FG nanobeams is investigated using four different porosity distribution models. These models are exploited; uniform, symmetrical, condensed upward, and condensed downward distributions. The material characteristics gradation in the thickness direction is estimated using the power-law. The magnetic field effect is incorporated using Maxwell's equations. The third order shear deformation beam theory is adopted to incorporate the shear deformation effect. The Hamilton principle is adopted to derive the coupled thermomagnetic dynamic equations of motion of the whole system and the associated boundary conditions. Navier method is used to derive the analytical solution of the governing equations. The developed methodology is verified and compared with the available results in the literature and good agreement is observed. Parametric studies are conducted to show effects of porosity parameter; porosity distribution, temperature rise, magnetic field intensity, material gradation index, non-classical parameters, and the applied moving load velocity on the vibration behavior of nanobeams. It has been showed that all the analyzed conditions have significant effects on the dynamic behavior of the nanobeams. Additionally, it has been observed that the negative effects of moving load, porosity and thermal load on the nanobeam dynamics can be reduced by the effect of the force induced from the directed magnetic field or can be kept within certain desired design limits by controlling the intensity of the magnetic field.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.263-278
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• 2022

Limestone calcined clay cement (LC³) is a low carbon alternative to conventional cement. Literature shows that using limestone and calcined clay in LC³ increases the thermal degradation of LC³ pastes and can increase the magnitude of fire risk in LC³ concrete structures. Higher thermal degradation of LC³ paste prompts this study toward understanding the fire performance of LC³ concrete and the associated magnitude of fire risk. For fire performance, concrete prepared using ordinary Portland cement (OPC), pozzolanic Portland cement (PPC) and LC³ were exposed to 16 scenarios of different elevated temperatures (400℃, 600℃, 800℃, and 1000℃) for different durations (0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h, and 4 h). After exposure to elevated temperatures, mass loss, residual ultrasonic pulse velocity (rUPV) and residual compressive strength (rCS) were measured as the residual properties of concrete. XRD (X-ray diffraction), TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) and three-factor ANOVA (analysis of variance) are also used to compare the fire performance of LC³ with OPC and PPC. Monte Carlo simulation has been used to assess the magnitude of fire risk in LC³ structures and devise recommendations for the robust application of LC³. Results show that LC³ concrete has weaker fire performance, with average rCS being 11.06% and 1.73% lower than OPC and PPC concrete. Analysis of 106 fire scenarios, in Indian context, shows lower rCS and higher failure probability for LC³ (95.05%, 2.22%) than OPC (98.16%, 0.22%) and PPC (96.48%, 1.14%). For robust application, either LC³ can be restricted to residential and educational structures (failure probability <0.5%), or LC³ can have reserve strength (factor of safety >1.08).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제81권5호
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• pp.617-631
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• 2022

In this paper the viscoelastic responses of four experimental steel-concrete composite beams subjected to highly variable environmental conditions are investigated by means of a finite element (FE) model. Concrete specimens submitted to stepped stress changes are also evaluated to validate the current formulations. Here, two well-known approaches commonly used to solve the viscoelastic constitutive relationship for concrete are employed. The first approach directly solves the integral-type form of the constitutive equation at the macroscopic level, in which aging is included by updating material properties. The second approach is postulated from a rate-type law based on an age-independent Generalized Kelvin rheological model together with Solidification Theory, using a micromechanical based approach. Thus, conceptually both approaches include concrete hardening in two different manners. The aim of this work is to compare and analyze the numerical prediction in terms of long-term deflections of the studied specimens according to both approaches. To accomplish this goal, the performance of several well-known model codes for concrete creep and shrinkage such as ACI 209, CEB-MC90, CEB-MC99, B3, GL 2000 and FIB-2010 are evaluated by means of statistical bias indicators. It is shown that both approaches with minor differences acceptably match the long-term experimental deflection and are able to capture complex oscillatory responses due to variable temperature and relative humidity. Nevertheless, the use of an age-independent scheme as proposed by Solidification Theory may be computationally more advantageous.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제82권3호
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• pp.295-312
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• 2022

This study investigates the effects of nano silica (NS) and micro steel fiber on the properties of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). The experimental consists of three groups, each one with five percentages of NS content (0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) in addition to the 20% silica fume and 20% quartz powder proportioned according to the weight of cement added to the mixtures. In addition, three percentages of micro steel fibers (0%, 1% and 2%) were considered. Different mixtures with varying percentages of NS and micro steel fibers were prepared to set the water-to-binder ratio, such as 0.16% and 1.8% superplasticizer proportioned according the weight of the binder materials. The fresh properties, mechanical properties and elevated temperatures of the mixtures were calculated. Then, the results from the microstructure analyses were compared with that of the reference mixtureand it was found that 6% replacement of cement with NS was optimum replacement level. When the NS content was increased from 0% to 6%, the air content and permeability of the mixture decreased by 35% and 39%, the compressive and tensile strength improved by 21% and 18% and the flexural strength and modulus of elasticity increased by 20% and 11.5%, respectively. However, the effect of micro steel fibres on the compressive strength was inconclusive. The overall results indicate that micro steel fibres have the potential to improve the tensile strength, flexure strength and modulus of elasticity of the UHPC. The use of 6% NS together with 1% micro-steel fiber increased the concrete strength and reduce the cost of concrete mix.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.159-167
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• 2022

In the past few decade years, laboratory-grown diamonds, also known as synthetic diamonds usually, have become more and more prosperous in the global diamond market. There are two main crystal growth processes of the gem-quality laboratory-grown diamond, the high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Synthetic gem diamonds grown by the HPHT press have been commercially available since the mid-1990s. Today, significant amounts of gem-quality colorless HPHT laboratory-grown diamonds have been producing for the jewelry industry. In the last several years, the CVD laboratory-grown diamonds have been gaining popularity in the market. In 2021, the CVD production rose and there are expectations that the trend would move upward continuously. This article presents information about the current status of laboratory-grown diamonds, lower cost compared to natural diamonds, market share, color distribution, spectroscopic properties of laboratory-grown diamonds, and so on.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• 제32권12호
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• pp.553-559
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• 2022

In this work, the ablation behavior of monolith ZrB₂-30 vol%SiC (Z30S) composites were studied under various oxy-acetylene flame angles. Typical oxidized microstructures (SiO₂/SiC-depleted/ZrB₂-SiC) were observed when the flame to Z30S was arranged vertically. However, formation of the outmost glassy SiO₂ layer was hindered when the Z30S was tilted. The SiC-depleted region was fully exposed to air with reduced thickness when highly tilted. Traces of the ablated and island type SiO₂ were observed at intermediate flame angles, which clearly verified the effect of flame angle on the ablation of the SiO₂ layer. Furthermore, the observed maximum surface temperature of the Z30S gradually increased up to 2,200 ℃ proving that surface amorphous silica was continuously removed while monoclinic ZrO₂ phase began to be exposed. A proposed ablation mechanism with respect to flame angles is discussed. This observation is expected to contribute to the design of complex-shaped UHTC applications for hypersonic vehicles and re-entry projectiles.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.221-230
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• 2023

The liquefaction of soil occurs when a soil loses strength and stiffness because of applied stress, such as an earthquake or other changes in stress conditions that result in a loss of cohesion. Hence, a method for improving the strength of liquefiable soil needs to be developed. Many techniques have been presented for their possible applications to mitigate liquefiable soil. Recently, alternative methods using biopolymers (such as xanthan gum, guar gum, and gellan gum), nontraditional additives, have been introduced to stabilize fine-grained soils. However, no studies have been done on the use of carrageenan as a biopolymer for soil improvement. Due to of its rheological and chemical structure, carrageenan may have the potential for use as a biopolymer for soil improvement. This research aims to investigate the effect of adding carrageenan on the soil strength of treated liquefiable soil. The biopolymers used for comparison are carrageenan (as a novel biopolymer), xanthan gum, and guar gum. Then, sand samples were made in cylindrical molds (5 cm × 10 cm) by the dry mixing method. The amount of each biopolymer was 1%, 3%, and 5% of the total sample volume with a moisture content of 20%, and the samples were cured for seven days. In terms of observing the effect of temperature on the carrageenan-treated soil, several samples were prepared with dry sand that was heated in an oven at various temperatures (i.e., 20℃ to 75℃) before mixing. The samples were tested with the direct shear test, UCS test, and SEM test. It can increase the cohesion value of liquefiable soil by 22% to 60% compared to untreated soil. It also made the characteristics of the liquefiable increase by 60% to 92% from very loose sandy soil (i.e., ϕ=29°) to very dense sandy soil. Carrageenan was also shown to have a significant effect on the compressive strength and to exceed the liquefaction limit. Based on the results, carrageenan was found to have the potential for use as an alternative biopolymer.