• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.257-270
• /
• 2017

An experimental investigation was carried out to study the strength and behavior of reinforced cement concrete (RCC) frames with ferrocement and fiber reinforced concrete infill panel. Seven numbers of $1/4^{th}$ scaled down model of one bay-three storey frames were tested under reverse cyclic loading. Ferrocement infilled frames and fiber reinforced concrete infilled frames with varying volume fraction of reinforcement in infill panels viz; 0.20%, 0.30%, and 0.40% were tested and compared with the bare frame. The experimental results indicate that the strength, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of infilled frames were considerably improved when compared with the bare frame. In the case of infilled frames with equal volume fraction of reinforcement in infill panels, the strength and stiffness of frames with fiber reinforced concrete infill panels were slightly higher than those with ferrocement infill panels. Increase in volume fraction of reinforcement in the infill panels exhibited only marginal improvement in the strength and behavior of the infilled frames.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.63 no.2
• /
• pp.217-223
• /
• 2017

Glass fiber reinforced gypsum panels (GFRG) are hollow panels made from modified gypsum plaster and reinforced with chopped glass fibers. The hollow cores of panels can be filled with in-situ concrete/reinforced concrete or insulation material to increase the structural strength or the thermal insulation, respectively. GFRG panels are unfilled when used as partition walls. As load bearing walls, the panels are filled with M 20 grade concrete (reinforced concrete filling) in order to resist the gravity and lateral loads. The study was conducted in two stages: First stage involves formulation of the alternate light weight mix by conducting experimental investigations to obtain the optimum combination of phosphogypsum and shredded thermocol. In the second stage the alternate mixes are filled in GFRG panels and experimental investigations are conducted to compare the performance against panels filled with conventional M 20 mix.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2000.04a
• /
• pp.866-873
• /
• 2000

Reinforced concrete structure can be strengthened by glass fiber reinforced plastic thin panels. The GFRP-Thin Panels are manufactured by pressing form and their application technique are similar to steel plates. The use of FGRP-Thin Panels presents several advantages. The advantages of this structural system are the case of application, the elimination of joint and corrosion at the epoxy-panel interface. This paper introduces the method of manufacturing about GFRP-Thin Panels, mechanical properties and the application of reinforced concrete structures.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.451-461
• /
• 2018

Present study is mainly concerned about the idea of innovative utilization of bamboo in modern construction. Owing to its compatible mechanical properties, a beneficial effect of its use in reinforced concrete (RC) frame infills has been observed. In this investigation, finite element analyses have been performed to examine the failure pattern and stress distribution pattern through the infills of a moment resisting RC frame. To validate the pragmatic use of bamboo reinforced components as infills, earthquake loading corresponding to Nepal earthquake had been considered. The analysis have revealed that introduction of bamboo in RC frames imparts more flexibility to the structure and hence may causes a ductile failure during high magnitude earthquakes like in Nepal. A more uniform stress distribution throughout the bamboo reinforced wall panels validates the practical feasibility of using bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels as a replacement of conventional brick masonry wall panels. A more detailed analysis of the results have shown the fact that stress concentration was more on the frame components in case of frame with brick masonry, contrary to the frame with bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels, in which, major stress dispersion was through wall panels leaving frame components subjected to smaller stresses. Thus an effective contribution of bamboo in dissipation of stresses generated during devastating seismic activity have been shown by these results which can be used to concrete the feasibility of using bamboo in modern construction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.211-223
• /
• 2008

A number of studies have suggested that the use of high ductile and high shear materials, such as Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) and High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (HPFRCC), significantly enhances the shear capacity of structural elements, even with/without shear reinforcements. The present study emphasizes the development of a nonlinear model of shear behaviour of a HPFRCC panel for application to the seismic retrofit of reinforced concrete buildings. To model the shear behaviour of HPFRCC panels, the original Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT) for conventional reinforced concrete panels has been newly revised for reinforced HPFRCC panels, and is referred to here as the HPFRCC-MCFT model. A series of experiments was conducted to assess the shear behaviour of HPFRCC panels subjected to pure shear, and the proposed shear model has been verified through an experiment involving panel elements under pure shear. The proposed shear model of a HPFRCC panel has been applied to the prediction of seismic retrofitted reinforced concrete buildings with in-filled HPFRCC panels. In retrofitted structures, the in-filled HPFRCC element is regarded as a shear spring element of a low-rise shear wall ignoring the flexural response, and reinforced concrete elements for beam or beam-column member are modelled by a finite plastic hinge zone model. An experimental study of reinforced concrete frames with in-filled HPFRCC panels was also carried out and the analysis model was verified with correlation studies of experimental results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.6
• /
• pp.1435-1452
• /
• 2015

The performance of masonry infilled frames during the past earthquakes shows that the infill panels play a major role as earthquake-resistant elements. Experimental observations regarding the influence of infill panels on increasing stiffness and strength of reinforced concrete structures reveal that such panels can be used in order to strengthen reinforced concrete frames. The present study examines the influence of infill panels on seismic behavior of RC frame structures. For this purpose, several low- and mid-rise RC frames (two-, four-, seven-, and ten story) were numerically investigated. Reinforced masonry infill panels were then placed within the frames and the models were subjected to several nonlinear incremental static and dynamic analyses. In order to determine the acceptance criteria and modeling parameters for frames as well as reinforced masonry panels, the Iranian Guideline for Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Masonry Buildings (Issue No. 376), the Iranian Guideline for Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Structures (Issue No. 360) and FEMA Guidelines (FEMA 273 and 356) were used. The results of analyses showed that the use of reinforced masonry infill panels in RC frame structures can have beneficial effects on structural performance. It was confirmed that the use of masonry infill panels results in an increment in strength and stiffness of the framed buildings, followed by a reduction in displacement demand for the structural systems.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.29-43
• /
• 2017

This study investigates the blast resistance of fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (FRCC) panels, with fiber volume fractions of 2%, subjected to contact explosions using an emulsion explosive. A number of FRCC panels with five different fiber mixtures (i.e., micro polyvinyl alcohol fiber, micro polyethylene fiber, macro hooked-end steel fiber, micro polyvinyl alcohol fiber with macro hooked-end steel fiber, and micro polyethylene fiber with macro hooked-end steel fiber) were fabricated and tested. In addition, the blast resistance of plain panels (i.e., non-fiber-reinforced high strength concrete, and non-fiber-reinforced cementitious composites) were examined for comparison with those of the FRCC panels. The resistance of the panels to spall failure improved with the addition of micro synthetic fibers and/or macro hooked-end steel fibers as compared to those of the plain panels. The fracture energy of the FRCC panels was significantly higher than that of the plain panels, which reduced the local damage experienced by the FRCCs. The cracks on the back side of the micro synthetic fiber-reinforced panel due to contact explosions were greatly controlled compared to the macro hooked-end steel fiber-reinforced panel. However, the blast resistance of the macro hooked-end steel fiber-reinforced panel was improved by hybrid with micro synthetic fibers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2010

A total of 28 wall panels were cast and tested under uniformly distributed axial load in one-way in-plane action to study the effect of slenderness ratio (SR) and aspect ratio (AR) on the ultimate load. Two concrete formulations, normal concrete (NC) and self compacting concrete (SCC), were used for the casting of wall panels. Out of 28 wall panels, 12 were made of NC and the remaining 16 panels were of SCC. All the 12 NC panels and 12 out of 16 SCC panels were used to study the influence of SR and the remaining 4 SCC panels were tested to study the effect of AR on the ultimate load. A brief review of studies available in literature on the strength and behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) wall panels is presented. Load-deformation response was recorded and analyzed. The ultimate load of SCC wall panels decreases non-linearly with the increase in SR and decreases linearly with increasing values of AR. Based on this study a method is proposed to predict the ultimate load of reinforced SCC wall panels. The modified method includes the effect of SR, AR and concrete strength.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2018

An experimental investigation has been carried out on the use of an environmentally sustainable material, bamboo, in the construction of precast concrete structural wall panels. The strength and behaviour of three prototype bamboo reinforced concrete wall panel specimens under two-way in-plane action was studied. The specimens with varying aspect ratio and thinness ratio were tested to fail under a uniformly distributed in-plane load applied at an eccentricity of t/6. The aspect ratio of the specimens considered includes 1.667, 1.818 and 2 and the thinness ratio includes 12.5, 13.75 and 15. The influence of aspect ratio and thinness ratio of bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels, on its strength and behaviour was discussed. Varnished and sand blasted bamboo splints of 20 mm width and thickness varying from 8 to 15 mm were used as reinforcement in concrete. Based on the study, an empirical equation was developed considering the geometrical parameters of bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels for predicting its ultimate strength under two way in-plane action.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.1 no.4
• /
• pp.417-432
• /
• 2004

An analytical model which can simulate the post-cracking nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) members such as bars and panels subject to uniaxial and biaxial stresses is presented. The proposed model includes the description of biaxial failure criteria and the average stress-strain relation of reinforcing steel. Based on strain distribution functions of steel and concrete after cracking, a criterion to consider the tension-stiffening effect is proposed using the concept of average stresses and strains. The validity of the introduced model is established by comparing the analytical predictions for reinforced concrete uniaxial tension members with results from experimental studies. In advance, correlation studies between analytical results and experimental data are also extended to RC panels subject to biaxial tensile stresses to verify the efficiency of the proposed model and to identify the significance of various effects on the response of biaxially loaded reinforced concrete panels.