The paper presents the thermo-mechanically induced non-linear response of multiwall carbon nanotube reinforced laminated composite beam (MWCNTRCB) supported by elastic foundation using higher order shear deformation theory and von-Karman non-linear kinematics. The elastic properties of MWCNT reinforced composites are evaluated using Halpin-Tsai model by considering MWCNT reinforced polymer matrix as new matrix by dispersing in it and then reinforced with E-glass fiber in an orthotropic manner. The laminated beam is supported by Pasternak elastic foundation with Winkler cubic nonlinearity. A generalized static analysis is formulated using finite element method (FEM) through principle of minimum potential energy approach.

This paper presents a numerical study on the performance of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge structures subjected to heavy goods vehicle (HGV) collision. The objectives of this study are to investigate the dynamic response and failure modes of different types of bridges under impact loading as well as to give an insight into the simplified methods for modeling bridge structures. For this purpose, detailed finite-element models of HGV and bridges are established and verified against the full-scale collision experiment and a recent traffic accident. An intensive parametric study with the consideration of vehicle weight, vehicle velocity, structural type, simplified methods for modeling bridges is conducted; then the failure mode, impact force, deformation and internal force distribution of the validated bridge models are discussed. It is observed that the structural type has a significant effect on the force-transferring mechanism, failure mode and dynamic response of bridge structures, thus it should be considered in the anti-impact design of bridge structures. The impact force of HGV is mainly determined by the impact weight, impact velocity and contact interface, rather than the simplification of the superstructure. Furthermore, to reduce the modeling and computing cost, it is suggested to utilize the simplified bridge model considering the inertial effect of the superstructure to evaluate the structural impact behavior within a reasonable precision range.

Buckling of longitudinal bars is a brittle failure mechanism, often recorded in reinforced concrete (RC) structures after an earthquake. Studies in the literature highlights that it often occurs when steel is in the post elastic range, by inducing a modification of the engineered stress-strain law of steel in compression. A proper evaluation of this effect is of fundamental importance for correctly evaluating capacity and ductility of structures. Significant errors can be obtained in terms of ultimate bending moment and curvature ductility of an RC section if these effects are not accounted, as well as incorrect evaluations are achieved by non-linear static analyses. This paper presents a numerical investigation aiming to evaluate the engineered stress-strain law of reinforcing steel in compression, including second order effects. Non-linear FE analyses are performed under the assumption of local buckling. A role of key parameters is evaluated, making difference between steel with strain hardening or with perfectly plastic behaviour. Comparisons with experimental data available in the literature confirm the accuracy of the achieved results and make it possible to formulate recommendations for design purposes. Finally, comparisons are made with analytical formulations available in the literature and based on obtained results, a modification of the stress-strain law model of Dhakal and Maekawa (2002) is proposed for fitting the numerical predictions.

Concrete is highly non-linear material which is originating from the transition zone in the form of micro-cracks, governs material response under various loadings. In this paper, the constitutive models published by many researchers have been used to generate novel stiffness parameters and constitutive curves for concrete. Following such linear material formulations, where the energy is conservative during the curvature, and a nonlinear contribution to the concrete has been made and investigated. In which, nonlinear concrete elastic modulus modeling has been developed that is capable-of representing concrete elasticity for grades ranging from 10 to 140 MPa. Thus, covering the grades range of concrete up to the ultra-high strength concrete, and replacing many concrete models that are valid for narrow ranges of concrete strength grades. This has been followed by the introduction of the nonlinear Hooke's law for the concrete material through the replacement of the Young constant modulus with the nonlinear modulus. In addition, the concept of concrete elasticity index (${\varphi}$) has been proposed and this factor has been introduced to account for the degradation of concrete stiffness in compression under increased loading as well as the multi-stages micro-cracking behavior of concrete under uniaxial compression. Finally, a sub-routine artificial neural network model has been developed to capture the concrete behavior that has been introduced to facilitate the prediction of concrete properties under increased loading.

The percolation of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) in cementitious materials is of great importance to the transport properties and durability issues. This paper presents numerical simulation research on the ITZ percolation threshold of mortar specimens at meso-scale. To simulate the meso-scale model of mortar as realistically as possible, the aggregates are simplified as ellipsoids with arbitrary orientations. Major and minor aspect ratios are defined to represent the global shape characteristics of aggregates. Some algorithms such as the burning algorithm, Dijkstra's algorithm and Connected-Component Labeling (CCL) algorithm are adopted for identification of connected ITZ clusters and percolation detection. The effects of gradation and aspect ratios of aggregates on ITZ percolation threshold are quantitatively studied. The results show that (1) the ITZ percolation threshold is mainly affected by the specific surface area (SSA) of aggregates and shows a global decreasing tendency with an increasing SSA; (2) elongated ellipsoidal particles can effectively bridge isolated ITZ clusters and thus lower the ITZ percolation threshold; (3) as ITZ volume fraction increases, the bridging effect of elongated particles will be less significant, and has only a minor effect on ITZ percolation threshold; (4) it is the ITZ connectivity that is essentially responsible for ITZ percolation threshold, while other factors such as SSA and ITZ volume fraction are only the superficial reasons.

Uniaxial compressive strength test and uniaxial compression creep one were produced on four groups of twelve concrete specimens with different hole number by RLW-2000 rock triaxial rheology test system. The relationships between horizontal holes and instantaneous failure stress, the strain, and creep failure stress, the strain, and the relationships between stress level and instantaneous strain, creep strain were studied, and the relationship between horizontal holes and failure mode was determined. The results showed that: with horizontal hole number increasing, compressive strength of the specimens decreased whereas its peak strain increased, while both creep failure strength and its peak strain decreased. The relationships between horizontal holes and compressive strength of the specimens, the peak strain, were represented in quadratic polynomial, the relationships between horizontal holes and creep failure strength, the peak strain were represented in both linear and quadratic polynomial, respectively. Instantaneous strain decreased with stress level increasing, and the more holes in the blocks the less the damping of instantaneous strain were recorded. In the failure stress level, instantaneous strain reversally increased, creep strain showed three stages: decreasing, increasing, and sharp increasing; in same stress level, the less holes the less creep strain rate was recorded. The compressive-shear failure was produced along specimen diagonal line where the master surface of creep failure occurred, the more holes in a block, the higher chances of specimen failure and the more obvious master surface were.

An analytical methodology for the calculation of the flexural and the shear capacity of concrete members with Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer (FRP) bars as tensional reinforcement is proposed. The flexural analysis is initially based on the design provisions of ACI 440.1R-15 which have properly been modified to develop general charts that simplify computations and provide hand calculations. The specially developed charts include non-dimensional variables and can easily be applied in sections with various geometrical properties, concrete grade and FRP properties. The proposed shear model combines three theoretical considerations to facilitate calculations. A unified flexural/shear approach is developed in flow chart which can be used to estimate the ultimate strength and the expected failure mode of a concrete beam reinforced with longitudinal FRP bars, with or without transverse reinforcement. The proposed methodology is verified using existing experimental data of 138 beams from the literature, and it predicts the load-bearing capacity and the failure mode with satisfactory accuracy.