• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.587-613
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• 2013

A 3-node 3D co-rotational beam element using vectorial rotational variables is employed to consider the geometric nonlinearity in 3D space. To account for shape versatility and reinforced concrete cross-sections, fibre model has been derived and conducted. Numerical integration over the cross-section is performed, considering both normal and shear stresses. In addition, the derivations associated with material nonlinearity are given in terms of elasto-plastic incremental stress-strain relationship for both steel and concrete. Steel reinforcement is treated as elasto-plastic material with Von Mises yield criterion. Compressive concrete behaviour is described by Modified Kent and Park model, while tensile stiffening effect is taken into account as well. Through several numerical examples, it is shown that the proposed 3D co-rotational beam element with fibre model can be used to simulate steel and reinforced concrete framed structures with satisfactory accuracy and efficiency.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.419-444
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• 2014

In this study experimental result of a total of eight SCC and FRSCC slabs with the same cross-section were monitored for up to 240 days to measure the time-dependent development of cracking and deformations under service loads are presented. For this purpose, four SCC mixes are considered in the test program. This study aimed to compare SCC and FRSCC experimental results with conventional concrete experimental results. The steel strains within the high moment regions, the concrete surface strains at the tensile steel level, deflection at the mid-span, crack widths and crack spacing were recorded throughout the testing period. Experimental results show that hybrid fibre reinforced SCC slabs demonstrated minimum instantaneous and time-dependent crack widths and steel fibre reinforced SCC slabs presented minimum final deflection.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.437-459
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• 2015

An experimental investigation on the behaviour of geopolymer composite concrete beams reinforced with conventional steel bars and various types of fibres namely steel, polypropylene and glass in different volume fractions under flexural loading is presented in this paper. The cross sectional dimensions and the span of the beams were same for all the beams. The first crack load, ultimate load and the loaddeflection response at various stages of loading were evaluated experimentally. The details of the finite element analysis using "ANSYS 10.0" program to predict the load-deflection behavior of geopolymer composite reinforced concrete beams on significant stages of loading are also presented. Nonlinear finite element analysis has been performed and a comparison between the results obtained from finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments were made. Analytical results obtained using ANSYS were also compared with the calculations based on theory and presented.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.11-25
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• 2018

A numerical approach for the evaluation of the flexural response of Steel Fibrous Concrete (SFC) cross-sections with arbitrary geometry, with or without conventional steel longitudinal reinforcing bars is proposed. Resisting bending moment versus curvature curves are calculated using verified non-linear constitutive stress-strain relationships for the SFC under compression and tension which include post-peak and post-cracking softening parts. A new compressive stress-strain model for SFC is employed that has been derived from test data of 125 stress-strain curves and 257 strength values providing the overall compressive behaviour of various SFC mixtures. The proposed sectional analysis is verified using existing experimental data of 42 SFC beams, and it predicts the flexural capacity and the curvature ductility of SFC members reasonably well. The developed approach also provides rational and more accurate compressive and tensile stress-strain curves along with bending moment versus curvature curves with regards to the predictions of relevant existing models.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.173-184
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• 2019

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the true fracture energy and monitor the damage progression in steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) specimens using acoustic emission (AE) features. Four point bending test is carried out using pre-notched plain and fibre reinforced (0.5% and 1% volume fraction) - concrete under monotonic loading. AE sensors are affixed at different locations of the specimens and AE parameters such as rise time, AE energy, hits, counts, amplitude and duration etc. are obtained. Using the captured and processed AE event data, fracture process zone is identified and the true fracture energy is evaluated. The AE data is also employed for tracing the damage progression in plain and fibre reinforced concrete, using both parametric- and signal- based techniques. Hilbert - Huang transform (HHT) is used in signal based processing for evaluating instantaneous frequency of the acoustic events. It is found that the appropriately processed and carefully analyzed acoustic data is capable of providing vital information on progression of damage on different types of concrete.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.877-889
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• 2020

This work features the outcomes of an empirical investigation into the characteristics of steel reinforced grout (SRG) composite - concrete interfaces. The parameters varied were loading rate, densities of steel fibres and types of load displacement responses or measurements (slip and machine grips). The following observations and results were derived from standard single-lap shear tests. Interfacial debonding of SRG - concrete joints is a function of both fracture of matrix along the bond interface and slippage of fibre. A change in the loading rate results in a variation in peak load (P_max) and the correlative stress (σ_max), slip and machine grips readings at measured peak load. Further analysis of load responses revealed that the behaviour of load responses is shaped by loading rate, fibre density as well as load response measurement variable. Notably, the out-of-plane displacement at peak load increased with increments in load rates and were independent of specimen fibre densities.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.437-450
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• 1996

A study on the behaviour of fibre reinforced concrete deep beams with and without web openings is carried out using nonlinear finite element analysis. Eight node isoparametric plane stress elements are employed to model the fibre reinforced concrete materials. Steel bars are treated using a compatible three node truss elements. The constitutive equations for fibre reinforced concrete materials take into account the softening effect of co-existing shear strains. Element stiffness at each step is formulated based on the tangent modulus at the current level of principal strains. Transformation between principal directions and global coordinate system is imposed. Comparison of analytical results with experimental values indicates reasonably good agreement. The proposed numerical model can be used to study the behaviour of this composite structures of practically any geometries.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2013

Discrete steel fibres can increase significantly the bending and the shear resistance of concrete structural elements when Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) is designed in such a way that fibre reinforcing mechanisms are optimized. To assess the fibre reinforcement effectiveness in shallow structural elements failing in bending and in shear, experimental and numerical research were performed. Uniaxial compression and bending tests were executed to derive the constitutive laws of the developed SFRC. Using a cross-section layered model and the material constitutive laws, the deformational behaviour of structural elements failing in bending was predicted from the moment-curvature relationship of the representative cross sections. To evaluate the influence of the percentage of fibres on the shear resistance of shallow structures, three point bending tests with shallow beams were performed. The applicability of the formulation proposed by RILEM TC 162-TDF for the prediction of the shear resistance of SFRC elements was evaluated. Inverse analysis was adopted to determine indirectly the values of the fracture mode I parameters of the developed SFRC. With these values, and using a softening diagram for modelling the crack shear softening behaviour, the response of the SFRC beams failing in shear was predicted.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.81-100
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• 2006

To calculate the shear capacity of concrete beams reinforced with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP), current shear design provisions use slightly modified versions of existing semi-empirical shear design equations that were primarily derived from experimental data generated on concrete beams having steel reinforcement. However, FRP materials have different mechanical properties and mode of failure than steel, and extending existing shear design equations for steel reinforced beams to cover concrete beams reinforced with FRP is questionable. This paper investigates the feasibility of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to estimate the nominal shear capacity, Vn of concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars. Experimental data on 150 FRP-reinforced beams were retrieved from published literature. The resulting database was used to evaluate the validity of several existing shear design methods for FRP reinforced beams, namely the ACI 440-03, CSA S806-02, JSCE-97, and ISIS Canada-01. The database was also used to develop an ANN model to predict the shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete beams. Results show that current guidelines are either inadequate or very conservative in estimating the shear strength of FRP reinforced concrete beams. Based on ANN predictions, modified equations are proposed for the shear design of FRP reinforced concrete beams and proved to be more accurate than existing equations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.4
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• pp.407-416
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• 2019

Novel steel fibre reinforced ultra-lightweight cement composite (ULCC) with compressive strength of 87.3MPa and density of $1649kg/m^3$ was developed for the flat slabs in civil buildings. This paper investigated structural behaviours of ULCC flat slabs according to a 4-specimen test program under concentrated loading and some reported test results. The investigated governing parameters on the structural behaviours of the ULCC slabs include volume fraction of the steel fibre and the patch loading area. The test results revealed that ULCC flat slabs with and without flexure reinforcement failed in different failure mode, and an increase in volume fraction of the steel fibre and loading area led to an increase in flexural resistance for the ULCC slabs without flexural reinforcement. Based on the experiment results, the analytical models were developed and also validated. The validations showed that the analytical models developed in this paper could predict the ultimate strength of the ULCC flat slabs with and without flexure reinforcement reasonably well.