• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.417-430
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• 2017

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has aroused interest around the world owing to superior mechanical and durability properties over conventional concrete. However, the application of UHPC in practice poses difficulties due to its inherent brittleness. UHPC filled in steel tube columns (UHPC-FSTCs) are capable of restricting the brittle failure of non-reinforced UHPC columns and forming a high performance member with enhancement of strength and ductility. Currently, research on UHPC-FSTCs remains very limited and there is relatively little information about the mechanical behavior of these columns. Therefore, this study presents a review of past experimental studies to have a deeper insight into the compressive behavior of UHPC-FSTCs under axial loading on entire section and on concrete core. Based on the test results obtained from Schneider (2006) and Xiong (2012), an analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of the confinement index (${\xi}$) and diameter to steel tube thickness ratio (D/t) on the strength and the ductility in short circular UHPC-FSTCs. Furthermore, the appropriateness of current design codes including EC4, AISC, AIJ and previous analytical models for estimating the ultimate loads of composite columns was also examined by the comparison between the predictions and the test results. Finally, simplified formulae for predicting the ultimate loads in two types of loading pattern were proposed and verified.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.677-685
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• 2015

In a will to subdue the brittleness as well as the low tensile and flexural strengths of ordinary concrete, researches are being actively watched worldwide on steel fiber-reinforced Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) obtained by admixing steel fibers in ultra high strength concrete. For the purpose of maximizing advantage of UHPC, this study removes the upper flange of the steel girder to apply an inverted T-shape girder for the formation of the composite beam. This paper intends to evaluate the behavior of the shear connectors and the flexural characteristics of the composite beam made of the inverted T-shape girder and UHPC slab using 16 specimens considering the compressive strength of concrete, the mixing ratio of steel fiber, the spacing of shear connectors and the thickness of the slab as variables. In view of the test results, it seemed that the appropriate stud spacing should range between 100 mm and 2 or 4 times the thickness of the slab. Moreover, the relative displacement observed in the specimens showed that ductile behavior was secured to a certain extent with reference to the criteria for ductile behavior suggested in Eurocode-4. The specimens with large stud spacing exhibited larger values than given by the design formula and revealed that the shear connectors developed larger ultimate strength than predicted owing to the action of UHPC and steel after non-composite behavior. Besides, the specimens with narrow stud spacing failed suddenly through compression at the upper chord of UHPC before reaching the full capacity of the shear connectors.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.315-325
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• 2017

The purpose of the paper is to determine the influence of two widely used steel fibers and polypropylene fibers on the sulphate crystallization resistance, freeze-thaw resistance and surface wettability of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). Tests were carried out on cubes and cylinders of plain UHPC and fiber reinforced UHPC with varying contents ranging from 0.25 to 1% steel fibers and/or polypropylene fibers. Extensive data from the salt resistance test, frost resistance test, dynamic modulus of elasticity test before and after freezing-thawing, as well as the contact angle test were recorded and analyzed. Fiber hybridization relatively increased the resistance to salt crystallization and freeze-thaw resistance of UHPC in comparison with a single type of fiber in UHPC at the same fiber volume fraction. The experimental results indicate that hybrid fibers can significantly improve the adhesion properties and reduce the wettability of the UHPC surface.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.387-398
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• 2016

In order to evaluate the effects of U shape ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) permanent form on the behaviors of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam, a full scale RC composite beam is designed and tested with U shape UHPC permanent form and a reference RC beam with same parameters is tested simultaneously for comparison. The effects of the permanent form on the failure mode, cracking strength, ultimate capacity and deformation are studied. Test results shows that the contributions of the U shape UHPC permanent form to the flexural cracking behaviors of RC beam are significant. This study may provide a reference for the design of sustainable RC beam with high durable UHPC permanent form.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.sup3
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• pp.33-41
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• 2016

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is one of the most promising construction materials because it exhibits high performance, such as through high strength, high durability, and proper rheological properties. However, it has low tensile ductility compared with other normal strength grade high ductile fiber-reinforced cementitious composites. This paper presents an experimental study on the tensile behavior, including tensile ductility and crack patterns, of UHPC reinforced by hybrid steel and polyethylene fibers and incorporating plastic beads which have a very weak bond with a cementitious matrix. These beads behave as an artificial flaw under tensile loading. A series of experiments including density, compressive strength, and uniaxial tension tests were performed. Test results showed that the tensile behavior including tensile strain capacity and cracking pattern of UHPC investigated in this study can be controlled by fiber hybridization and artificial flaws.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.139-154
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• 2016

Since the concrete strength around the reinforcement rebar affects the tension stiffening, the tension stiffening effect of ultra high performance concrete on the concrete members reinforced by steel rebar is examined by testing the specimens with circular cross section with the length 850 mm reinforced by a steel rebar at the center of a specimen's cross section in this research. Conducting a tensile test on the specimens, the cracking behavior is evaluated and a curve with an exponential descending branch is obtained to explain the post-cracking zone. In addition, this paper proposes an equation for this branch and parameters of equation is obtained based on the ratio of cover thickness to rebar diameter (c/d) and reinforcement percentage (${\rho}$).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.709-722
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• 2014

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is an innovative new material that, in comparison to conventional concretes, has high compressive strength and excellent ductility properties achieved through the addition of randomly dispersed short fibers to the concrete mix. This study presents the results of an experimental investigation on the behavior of axially loaded UHPC short circular columns wrapped with Carbon-FRP (CFRP), Glass-FRP (GFRP), and Aramid-FRP (AFRP) sheets. Six plain and 36 different types of FRP-wrapped UHPC columns with a diameter of 100 mm and a length of 200 mm were tested under monotonic axial compression. To predict the ultimate strength of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns, a simple confinement model is presented and compared with four selected confinement models from the literature that have been developed for low and normal strength concrete columns. The results show that the FRP sheets can significantly enhance the ultimate strength and strain capacity of the UHPC columns. The average greatest increase in the ultimate strength and strain for the CFRP- and GFRP-wrapped UHPC columns was 48% and 128%, respectively, compared to that of their unconfined counterparts. All the selected confinement models overestimated the ultimate strength of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.413-429
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• 2013

The primary aim of this study is to develop a three dimensional finite element (FE) model to predict the axial stress-strain relationship and ultimate strength of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns by comparing experimental results. The reliability of four selected confinement models and three design codes such as ACI-440, CSA-S806-02, and ISIS CANADA is also evaluated in terms of agreement with the experimental results. Totally 6 unconfined and 36 different types of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns are tested under monotonic axial compression. The values of ultimate strengths of FRP-wrapped UHPC columns obtained from the experimental results are compared and verified with finite element (FE) analysis results and the design codes mentioned above. The concrete damage plasticity model (CDPM) in Abaqus is utilized to represent the confined behavior of the UHPC. The results indicate that agreement between the test results and the non-linear FE analysis results is highly satisfactory. The CSA-S806-02 design code is considered more reliable than the ACI-440 and the ISIS CANADA design codes to calculate the ultimate strength of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns. None of the selected confinement models that are developed for FRP-wrapped low and normal strength concrete columns can safely predict the ultimate strength of FRP-wrapped UHPC columns.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2014

The flexural behavior test of UHPC segmental box girder which has 160 MPa compressive strength and 15.4 m length was carried out. The effect of steel fibers in combination with reinforcing bars on improving the ductile performance of UHPC box girder was evaluated by comparing the flexural behavior of the UHPC segmental box girders made by the two kinds of mixing portion. The test variables are volume fraction of steel fibers and the arrangement of reinforcing bars. The behavior of UHPC box girder BF2 composed of 1% volume fraction of steel fibers and longitudinal reinforcing bars in web and upper flange with stirrup showed the similar ductile behavior with the girder BF1 composed of 2% volume fraction without stirrup in elastic stress region. But BF1 had the better stiffness and showed the more ductile behavior in inelastic stress region. Segmental interfaces of UHPC box girder have not any crack and slide until the final flexural collapse load.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.451-465
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• 2020

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations on mechanical properties of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with four types of steel fibers; micro steel (MS), crimped (C), round crimped (RC) and hooked-end (H), in two fiber contents of 1% and 2% (by volume) and two lengths of 13 and 30 mm. Compression, direct tension, and four-point bending tests were carried out on four types of specimens (prism, cube, dog-bone and cylinder), to study tensile and flexural strength, fracture energy and modulus of elasticity. Results were compared with UHPC specimens without fibers, as well as with available equations for the modulus of elasticity. Specimens with MS fibers had the best performance for all mechanical properties. Among macro fibers, RC had better overall performance than H and C fibers. Increased fibers improved all mechanical properties of UHPFRC, except for modulus of elasticity, which saw a negligible effect (mostly less than 10%). Moreover, nonlinear finite element simulations successfully captured flexural response of UHPFRC prisms. Finally, nonlinear regression models provided reasonably well predictions of flexural load-deflection behavior of tested specimens (coefficient of correlation, R² over 0.90).