• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.469-484
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• 2023

The response mechanism of simply supported two-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs under fire was numerically studied from the view of stress redistribution using the finite element software ABAQUS. Results show that: (1) Simply supported two-way RC slabs undergo intense stress redistribution, and their responses show four stages, namely elastic, elastic-plastic, plastic and tensile membrane stages. There is no cracking in the fire area of the slabs until the tensile membrane stage. (2) The inverted arch effect and tensile membrane effect improve the fire resistance of the two-way slabs. When the deflection is L/20, the slab is in an inverted arch effect state, and the slab still has a good deflection reserve. The deformation rate of the slab in the tensile membrane stage is smaller than that in the elastic-plastic and plastic stages. (3) Fire resistance of square slabs is better than that of rectangular slabs. Besides, increasing the reinforcement ratio or slab thickness improves the fire resistance of the slabs. However, an increase of cover thickness has little effect on the fire resistance of two-way slabs. (4) Compared with one-way slabs, the time for two-way slabs to enter the plastic and tensile cracking stage is postponed, and the deformation rate in the plastic and tensile cracking stage is also slowed down. (5) The simply supported two-way RC slabs can satisfy with the requirements of a class I fire resistance rating of 90 min without additional fire protection.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.639-642
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• 2003

In this paper, fatigue behavior of concrete slab tracks under railway loads by experimental method is discussed. The addition of steel fibers to concrete mix has been receiving more attention as a way of improving the crack behavior of concrete beams an slabs tacks. This study two objectives: 1) to observe the fatigue behavior of fiber reinforced concrete slab in labor, and 2) to present crack propagation and deflection of fiber reinforced concrete slab track under railway loads in the Waghauser test line. Nine beams, two slabs and one test track were experimentally tested.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.727-734
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• 2007

The influence of the differences in the physical and mechanical properties between fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) and conventional steel, concentrated reinforcement in the immediate column region, as well as using steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) in the slab near the column faces, on the punching behavior of two-way slabs were investigated. The punching shear capacity, stiffness, ductility, strain distribution, and crack control were investigated. Concentrating of the slab reinforcement and the use of SFRC in the slab enhanced the punching behavior of the slabs reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. In addition the test results of the slabs with concentrated reinforcement were compared with various code equations and the predictions proposed in the literature specifically for FRP-reinforced slabs. An appropriate method for determining the reinforcement ratio of slabs with a banded distribution was also investigated to allow predictions to properly reflect the benefit of the slab reinforcement concentration.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.173-184
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• 2023

In this study, the flexural behaviors of one- and two-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs strengthened with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips under impact loads were investigated. The flexural strengthening of RC slabs under simulated static monotonic loads has been comprehensively studied. However, the flexural behavior of RC slabs strengthened with CFRP strips has not been investigated extensively, particularly those conducted numerically. Nonlinear three-dimensional finite element models were developed, executed, and verified against previous experimental results, producing satisfactory models with approximately 4% error. The models were extended to a parametric study, considering three geometric parameters: the slab rectangularity ratio, CFRP strip width, and CFRP strip configuration. Finally, the main results were used to derive a new formula for predicting the total deflection of RC slabs strengthened with CFRP strips under impact loads with an error of approximately 10%. The proposed equation reflected the slab rectangularity, CFRP strip width, equivalent slab stiffness, and dropped weight. Results indicated that the use of CFRP strips enhanced the overall impact performance, the wider the CFRP width, the better the enhancement. Moreover, the application of diagonally oriented CFRP strips diminished the cracking zone compared to straight strips. Additionally, the diagonal orientation of CFRP strips was more efficient for two-way slabs while the vertical orientation was found to be better in the case of one-way slabs.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-363
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• 2023

Reducing the self-weight of reinforced concrete structures problem is discussed in this paper by using two types of self-weight reduction, the first is by using lightweight coarse aggregate (crushed brick) and the second is by using styropor block. Experimental and Numerical studies are conducted on (LWAC) lightweight aggregate reinforced concrete slabs, having styropor blocks with various sizes of blocks and the ratio of shear span to the effective depth (a/d). The experimental part included testing eleven lightweight concrete one-way simply supported slabs, comprising three as reference slabs (solid slabs) and eight as styropor block slabs (SBS) with a total reduction in cross-sectional area of (43.3% and 49.7%) were considered. The holes were formed by placing styropor at the ineffective concrete zones in resisting the tensile stresses. The length, width, and thickness of specimen dimensions were 1.1 m, 0.6 m, and 0.12 m respectively, except one specimen had a depth of 85 mm (which has a cross-sectional area equal to styropor block slab with a weight reduction of 49.7%). Two shear spans to effective depth ratios (a/d) of (3.125) for load case (A) and (a/d) of (2) for load case (B), (two-line monotonic loads) are considered. The test results showed under loading cases A and B (using minimum shear reinforcement and the reduction in cross-sectional area of styropor block slab by 29.1%) caused an increase in strength capacity by 60.4% and 54.6 % compared to the lightweight reference slab. Also, the best percentage of reduction in cross-sectional area is found to be 49.7%. Numerically, the computer program named (ANSYS) was used to study the behavior of these reinforced concrete slabs by using the finite element method. The results show acceptable agreement with the experimental test results. The average difference between experimental and numerical results is found to be (11.06%) in ultimate strength and (5.33%) in ultimate deflection.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.223-231
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• 2018

A numerical investigation of the impact of steel ductility on the strength and ductility of two-way corner and edge-supported concrete slabs containing low ductility welded wire fabric is presented. A finite element model was developed for the investigation and the results of a series of concurrent laboratory experiments were used to validate the numerical solution. A parametric investigation was conducted using the numerical model to investigate the various factors that influence the structural behavior at the strength limit state. Different values of steel uniform elongation and ultimate to yield strength ratios were considered. The results are presented and evaluated, with emphasis on the strength, ductility, and failure mode of the slabs. It was found that the ductility of the flexural reinforcement has a significant impact on the ultimate load behavior of two-way corner-supported slabs, particularly when the reinforcement was in the form of cold drawn welded wire fabric. However, the impact of the low ductility WWF has showed to be less prominent in structural slabs with higher levels of structural indeterminacy. The load-deflection curves of corner-supported slabs containing low ductility WWF are brittle, and the slabs have little ability to undergo plastic deformation at peak load.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.373-380
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• 2017

Concrete structures are often subjected to long-term static and short-term dynamic loads. Due to a relatively low tensile strength and energy dissipating characteristics, the impact resistance of concrete is considered poor. This study investigates the feasibility of using polypropylene fibers to improve the impact resistance of reinforced concrete slabs. Fourteen polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete slabs were fabricated and tested using a drop weight test. The effects of slab thickness, fiber volume fractions, and impact energy on the dynamic behaviors were evaluated mainly in terms of impact resistant, crack patterns, and failure modes. The post impact induced strains versus time responses were obtained for all slabs. The results showed that adding the polypropylene fiber at a dosage of 0.90% by volume of concrete leads to significant improvement in the overall structural behavior of the slabs and their resistance to impact loading. Interestingly, the enhancement in the behavior of the slabs using a higher fiber dosage of 1.2% was not as good as achieved with 0.90%.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.545-559
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• 2023

Nanoparticle strips (NPS) are widely used as external reinforcers for two-way reinforced concrete slabs. However, the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of these slabs is a very important issue and was evaluated in this study. This study has been done analytically and numerically to optimize the placement of sensors. The properties of slabs and carbon nanotubes as composite sheets were considered isotopic and orthotropic, respectively. The nonlinear Finite Element Method (FEM) approach and suitable optimal placement of sensor approach were developed as a new MATLAB toolbox called DECOMAC by the authors of this paper. The Suitable multi-objective function was considered in optimized processes based on distributed ECOMAC method. Some common concrete slabs in construction with different aspect ratios were considered as case studies. The dimension and distance of nano strips in retrofitting process were selected according to building codes. The results of Optimal Sensor Placement (OSP) by DECOMAC algorithm on un-retrofitted and retrofitted slabs were compared. The statistical analysis according to the Mann-Whitney criteria shows that there is a significant difference between them (mean P-value = 0.61).

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.271-284
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• 2021

This study aims to trace the response of twelve one-way sustainable concrete hollow-core slabs made by reducing cement content and using replacement of coarse aggregate by plastic aggregate. The trial mixes comprise the 25, 50, 75, and 100% replacement of natural coarse aggregate. The compressive strength of the resulting lightweight concrete with full replacement of coarse aggregate by plastic aggregate was 28 MPa. These slabs are considered to have a reduced dead weight due to using lightweight aggregate and due to reducing cross-section through using voids. The samples are tested under two verticals line loads. Several parameters are varied in this study such as; nature of coarse aggregate (natural or recycled), slab line load location, the shape of the core, core diameter, flexural reinforcement ratio, and thickness of the slab. Strain gauges are used in the present study to measure the strain of steel in each slab. The test samples were fourteen one-way reinforced concrete slabs. The slab's dimensions are (1000 mm), (600 mm), (200 mm), (length, width, and thickness). The change in the shape of the core from circular to square and the use of (100 mm) side length led to reducing the weight by about (46%). The cracking and ultimate strength is reduced by about (5%-6%) respectively. With similar values of deflection. The mode of failure will remain flexural. It is recognized that when the thickness of the slab changed from (200 mm to 175 mm) the result shows a reduction in cracking and ultimate strength by about (6% and 7%) respectively.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.451-468
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• 2017

The problem of reducing the self-weight of reinforced concrete structures is very important issue. There are two approaches which may be used to reduced member weight. The first is tackled through reducing the cross sectional area by using voids and the second through using light weight materials. Reducing the weight of slabs is very important as it constitutes the effective portion of dead loads in the structural building. Eleven slab specimens was casted in this research. The slabs are made one way though using two simple supports. The tested specimens comprised three reference solid slabs and eight styropor block slabs having (23% and 29%) reduction in weight. The voids in slabs were made using styropor at the ineffective concrete zones in resisting the tensile stresses. All slab specimens have the dimensions ($1100{\times}600{\times}120mm$) except one solid specimens has depth 85 mm (to give reduction in weight of 29% which is equal to the styropor block slab reduction). Two loading positions or cases (A and B) (as two-line monotonic loads) with shear span to effective depth ratio of (a/d=3, 2) respectively, were used to trace the structural behavior of styropor block slab. The best results are obtained for styropor block slab strengthened by minimum shear reinforcement with weight reduction of (29%). The increase in the strength capacity was (8.6% and 5.7%) compared to the solid slabs under loading cases A and B respectively. Despite the appearance of cracks in styropor block slab with loads lesser than those in the solid slab, the development and width of cracks in styropor block slab is significantly restricted as a result of presence a mesh of reinforcement in upper concrete portion.