• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.215-225
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• 2022

Thermal comfort and energy conservation are critical issues in the building sector. Energy consumption in the building sector should be reduced whilst enhancing the thermal comfort of occupants. Concrete is the most widely used construction material in buildings. Its thermal conductivity (k-value) has a direct effect on thermal comfort perception. This study aims to find the optimum value of replacing the normal aggregate with lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) under high strengths and low thermal conductivity, density and water absorption. The k-value of the LECA concrete and its physical and mechanical properties have varying correlations. Results indicate that the oven-dry density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and k-value of concrete decrease when normal coarse aggregates are replaced with LECA. However, water absorption (initial and final) increases. Thermal conductivity and the physical and mechanical properties have a strong correlation. The statistical optimisation of the experimental data shows that the 39% replacement of normal coarse aggregate by LECA is the optimum value for maximising the compressive and splitting tensile strengths whilst maintaining the k-value, density and water absorption at a minimum.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2024

This study examined the changes in the mechanical properties of coral concrete under different coconut fiber admixtures. To accomplish this goal, the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and elastic modulus properties of coral concrete blocks reinforced with coconut fibers were measured. The results showed that the addition of coconut fiber had little effect on the cube and axial compressive strengths. With increasing coconut fiber content, the flexural strength and splitting tensile strength of the concrete changed substantially, first by increasing and then by decreasing, with maximum increases of 36.0% and 12.8%, respectively; additionally, the addition of coconut fibers resulted in a failure type with some ductility. When the coconut fiber-reinforced coral concrete was 7 days old, it reached approximately 74% of its maximum strength. The addition of coconut fiber did not affect the early strength of the coral concrete mixed with seawater. When the amount of coconut fiber was no more than 3 kg/m3, the resulting concrete elastic modulus decreased only slightly from that of a similar concrete without coconut fiber, and the maximum decrease was 5.4%. The optimal dose of coconut fiber was 3 kg/m3 in this study.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2023

Steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) has good workability such as high flowability and good cohesiveness. The workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and anti-penetration characteristics of three kinds of SFRSCC were investigated in this paper. The fraction of steel fibers of the SFRSCC is 0.5%, 1.5% and 2.0% respectively. The results of the static tests show that the splitting tensile strength increases with the increase of fraction of steel fibers, while the compressive strength of 1.5% SFRSCC is lowest. It is demonstrated that the anti-penetration ability of 1.5% SFRSCC subjected to a velocity projectile (200-500 m/s) is better than 0.5% and 2.0% SFRSCC according to the experimental results. Considering the steel fiber effects, the existing formula is revised to predict penetration depth, and it is revealed that the revised predicted depth of penetration is in good agreement with the experimental results. The conclusion of this paper is helpful to the experimental investigations and engineering application.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.375-394
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• 2024

The extensive utilization of concrete has given rise to environmental concerns, specifically concerning the depletion of river sand. To address this issue, waste deposits can provide manufactured-sand (MS) as a substitute for river sand. The objective of this study is to explore the application of machine learning techniques to facilitate the production of manufactured-sand concrete (MSC) containing stone nano-powder through estimating the splitting tensile strength (STS) containing compressive strength of cement (CSC), tensile strength of cement (TSC), curing age (CA), maximum size of the crushed stone (Dmax), stone nano-powder content (SNC), fineness modulus of sand (FMS), water to cement ratio (W/C), sand ratio (SR), and slump (S). To achieve this goal, a total of 310 data points, encompassing nine influential factors affecting the mechanical properties of MSC, are collected through laboratory tests. Subsequently, the gathered dataset is divided into two subsets, one for training and the other for testing; comprising 90% (280 samples) and 10% (30 samples) of the total data, respectively. By employing the generated dataset, novel models were developed for evaluating the STS of MSC in relation to the nine input features. The analysis results revealed significant correlations between the CSC and the curing age CA with STS. Moreover, when delving into sensitivity analysis using an empirical model, it becomes apparent that parameters such as the FMS and the W/C exert minimal influence on the STS. We employed various loss functions to gauge the effectiveness and precision of our methodologies. Impressively, the outcomes of our devised models exhibited commendable accuracy and reliability, with all models displaying an R-squared value surpassing 0.75 and loss function values approaching insignificance. To further refine the estimation of STS for engineering endeavors, we also developed a user-friendly graphical interface for our machine learning models. These proposed models present a practical alternative to laborious, expensive, and complex laboratory techniques, thereby simplifying the production of mortar specimens.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.691-707
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• 2004

This paper presents the micro-mechanical modeling for predicting concrete behavior under compressive loading. The model is able to represent the heterogeneities in the microstructure up to three phases, i.e., aggregate particles, matrix and interfaces. The smeared crack concept based on non-linear fracture mechanics is implemented in order to formulate the constitutive relation for each component. The splitting tensile strength is considered as a fracture criterion for cracking in micro-level. The finite element method is employed to simulate the model based on plane stress condition by using quadratic triangular elements. The validation of the model is verified by comparing with the experimental results. The influence of tensile strength from both aggregate and matrix phases on the concrete compressive strength is demonstrated. In addition, a guideline on selecting appropriate tensile strength for each phase to obtain specified concrete compressive strength is also presented.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.287-292
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• 2003

The large-scale direct tension tests of plain concrete were performed and then the complete load-CMOD(crack mouth opening displacement) curves with a stable postpeak descending part were presented. Two independently controlled actuators were used to ensure a homogeneous increasing of CMOD in both notches of a specimen and to avoid secondary flexural stresses. It was compared the fracture energies from the test results with them from a classical prediction equation by Bazant and Oh (983), The results are indicated that the fracture energies from these large-scale direct tensile tests are large as 1.5-2 times on average against them from the Bazants prediction equation. But the tensile strength for large-size specimens was about half of the values determined from the splitting tensile strength tests for 10 by 20mm cylindrical specimens due to size effect.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.447-458
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• 2013

Splitting tensile strength (STS) is a respectable mechanical property reflecting ability of the concrete. The STS of concrete is mainly related to compressive strength (CS), water/binder (W/B) ratio and concrete age. In this study, the assessment of STS is made by a novel uncertainty-oriented method which uses least square optimization and then predicts STS of concrete by uncertain (fuzzy) numbers. The approximation method addresses a novel integration of fuzzy set theory and multivariate statistics. The numerical examples showed that the method is applicable with relatively limited data. In addition, the prediction of uncertainty at various levels of possibility can be described. In conclusion, the uncertainty-oriented interval analysis can be suggested an effective tool for appraising the uncertainties in concrete technology.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.102-108
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• 2010

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of recycled PET (RPET) fiber made from waste PET bottles to examine application on concrete member. To evaluate the reinforcement effect of RPET fiber in concrete member, experimental tests were performed, such as mechanical property tests (compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and splitting tensile strength) and drying shrinkage test. In mechanical property tests, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity in concrete mixed with RPET fiber gradually decreased, but splitting tensile strength gradually increased as volume fraction of fiber increased. In drying shrinkage test, free drying shrinkage increased. In restrained case, in contrast, crack occurrence was delayed because of tensile resistance increase by RPET fiber. The comparison of RPET and PP fiber added concrete specimen's properties showed that two materials had similar properties. In conclusion, RPET fiber is an alternative material of PP fiber, even finer for its excellence in eco-friendliness due to the recycling of waste PET bottles and its possible contribution to the pollution declination.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.355-368
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• 2022

This paper investigates the impact of length and volume fractions (VFs) of banana fibres (BFs) on the mechanical and physical properties of concrete. The mechanical properties were compressive strength, splitting tensile, flexural strength, and bond stress, while the physical properties were unit weight and absorption. The slump test was used to determine workability. The concrete's behaviour with BFs was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Experimental work of concrete mixtures with BFs of various lengths (12 mm, 25 mm, and 35 mm) and VFs (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) were carried out. The samples did not indicate any agglomeration of fibres or heterogeneity during mixing. The addition of BFs to concrete with VFs of up to 1.50% for all fibre lengths have a significant impact on mechanical properties, also the longer fibres performed better than shorter ones at all volume fractions of BFs. The mix10, which contain BFs with VFs 1.5% and length 35 mm, demonstrated the highest mechanical properties. The compressive strength, splitting tensile, flexural strength, and bond stress of the mix10 were 37.71 MPa, 4.27 Mpa, 6.12 MPa, and 6.75 MPa, an increase of 7.37%, 20.96%, 24.13%, and 11.2% over the reference concrete, which was 35.12 MPa, 3.53 MPa, 4.93 MPa, and 6.07 MP, respectively. The absorption is increased for all lengths by increasing the VFs up to 1.5%. Longer fibres have lower absorption, while shorter fibres have higher absorption. The mix8 had the highest absorption of 4.52%, compared to 3.12% for the control mix. Furthermore, the microstructure of concrete was improved through improved bonding between the fibres and the matrix, which resulted in improved mechanical properties of the composite.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2022

This paper aims to adapt Multilinear regression (MLR) to predict the strength and toughness of SIFCON containing various pozzolanic materials. Slurry Infiltrated Fibrous Concrete (SIFCON) is one of the most common terms used in concrete manufacturing, known for its benefits such as high ductility, toughness and high ultimate strength. Assessment of compressive strength (CS.), flexural strength (F.S.), splitting tensile strength (STS), dynamic elasticity modulus (DME) and impact energy (I.E.) using the experimental approach is too costly. It is time-consuming, and a slight error can lead to a repeat of the test and, to solve this, alternative methods are used to predict the strength and toughness properties of SIFCON. In the present study, the experimentally investigated SIFCON data about various mix proportions are used to predict the strength and toughness properties using regression analysis-multilinear regression (MLR) models. The input parameters used in regression models are cement, fibre, fly ash, Metakaolin, fine aggregate, blast furnace slag, bottom ash, water-cement ratio, and the strength and toughness properties of SIFCON at 28 days is the output parameter. The models are developed and validated using data obtained from the experimental investigation. The investigations were done on 36 SIFCON mixes, and specimens were cast and tested after 28 days of curing. The MLR model yields correlation between predicted and actual values of the compressive strength (C.S.), flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, dynamic modulus of elasticity and impact energy. R-squared values for the relationship between observed and predicted compressive strength are 0.9548, flexural strength 0.9058, split tensile strength 0.9047, dynamic modulus of elasticity 0.8611 for impact energy 0.8366. This examination shows that the MLR model can predict the strength and toughness properties of SIFCON.