• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.3
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• pp.337-351
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• 2023

In this paper, the shear behavior of soft filling in rectangular-hollow concrete specimens was simulated using the 2D particle flow code (PFC2D). The laboratory-measured properties were used to calibrate some PFC2D micro-properties for modeling the behavior of geo-materials. The dimensions of prepared and modeled samples were 100 mm×100 mm. Some disc type narrow bands were removed from the central part of the model and different lengths of bridge areas (i.e., the distance between internal tips of two joints) with lengths of 30 mm, 50 mm, and 70 mm were produced. Then, the middle of the rectangular hollow was filled with cement material. Three filling sizes with dimensions of 5 mm×5 mm, 10 mm×5 mm, and 15 mm×5 mm were provided for different modeled samples. The parallel bond model was used to calibrate and re-produce these modeled specimens. Therefore, totally, 9 different types of samples were designed for the shear tests in PFC2D. The shear load was gradually applied to the model under a constant loading condition of 3 MPa (σc/3). The loading was continued till shear failure occur in the modeled concrete specimens. It has been shown that both tensile and shear cracks may occur in the fillings. The shear cracks mainly initiated from the crack (joint) tips and coalesced with another one. The shear displacements and shear strengths were both increased as the filling dimensions increased (for the case of a bridge area with a particular fixed length).

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.393-405
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• 2022

Lightweight concrete is a superior material due to its light weight and high strength. There however remain significant lacunae in engineering knowledge with regards to shear failure of lightweight fiber reinforced concrete beams. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the optimum usage of steel fibers in lightweight fiber reinforced concrete (LWFRC). Multi-scale finite element model calibrated with experimental results is developed to study the effect of steel fibers on the mechanical properties of LWFRC beams. To decrease the amount of steel fibers, it is preferred to reinforce only the middle section of the LWFRC beams, where the flexural stresses are higher. For numerical simulation, a multi-scale finite element model was developed. The cement matrix was modeled as homogeneous and uniform material and both steel fibers and lightweight coarse aggregates were randomly distributed within the matrix. Considering more realistic assumptions, the bonding between fibers and cement matrix was considered with the Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) and its parameters were determined using the model update method. Furthermore, conformity of Load-Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) curves obtained from numerical modeling and experimental test results of notched beams under center-point loading tests were investigated. Validating the finite element model results with experimental tests, the effects of fibers' volume fraction, and the length of the reinforced middle section, on flexural and residual strengths of LWFRC, were studied. Results indicate that using steel fibers in a specified length of the concrete beam with high flexural stresses, and considerable savings can be achieved in using steel fibers. Reducing the length of the reinforced middle section from 50 to 30 cm in specimens containing 10 kg/m3 of steel fibers, resulting in a considerable decrease of the used steel fibers by four times, whereas only a 7% reduction in bearing capacity was observed. Therefore, determining an appropriate length of the reinforced middle section is an essential parameter in reducing fibers, usage leading to more affordable construction costs.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.419-430
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• 2023

In this study, the effect of two types of aggregates (fly ash aggregate and shale aggregate) on the density, strength, and durability of preplaced lightweight aggregate concrete (PLWAC) was studied. The results showed that the 7 - 28 days strength of concrete prepared with fly ash aggregates (high water absorption rate) significantly increased, which could attribute to the long-term water release of fly ash aggregates by the refined pore structure. In contrast, the strength increase of concrete prepared with shale aggregates (low water absorption rate) is not apparent. Although PLWAC prepared with fly ash aggregates has a lower density and higher strength (56.8 MPa @ 1600 kg/m³), the chloride diffusion coefficient is relatively high, which could attribute to the diffusion paths established by connected porous aggregates and the negative over-curing effect. Compared to the control group, the partial replacement of fly ash aggregates (30%) with asphalt emulsion (20% solid content) coated aggregates can reduce the chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete by 53.6% while increasing the peak load obtained in a three-point bending test by 107.3%, fracture energy by 30.3% and characteristic length by 103.5%. The improvement in concrete performance could be attributed to the reduction in the water absorption rate of aggregates and increased energy absorption by polymer during crack propagation.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.359-376
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• 2023

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has become an attractive cast-in-place repairing material for existing engineering structures. The present study aims to investigate age-dependent high-early-strength UHPC (HESUHPC) material properties (i.e., compressive strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength, and tensile strength) as well as interfacial shear properties of HESUHPC-normal strength concrete (NSC) composites cured at different season temperatures (i.e., summer, autumn, and winter). The typical temperatures were kept for at least seven days in different seasons from weather forecasting to guarantee an approximately consistent curing and testing condition (i.e., temperature and relative humidity) for specimens at different ages. The HESUHPC material properties are tested through standardized testing methods, and the interfacial bond performance is tested through a bi-surface shear testing method. The test results quantify the positive development of HESUHPC material properties at the early age, and the increasing amplitude decreases from summer to winter. Three-day mechanical properties in winter (with the lowest curing temperature) still gain more than 60% of the 28-day mechanical properties, and the impact of season temperatures becomes small at the later age. The HESUHPC shrinkage mainly occurs at the early age, and the final shrinkage value is not significant. The HESUHPC-NSC interface exhibits sound shear performance, the interface in most specimens does not fail, and most interfacial shear strengths are higher than the NSC-NSC composite. The HESUHPC-NSC composites at the shear failure do not exhibit a large relative slip and present a significant brittleness at the failure. The typical failures are characterized by thin-layer NSC debonding near the interface, and NSC pure shear failure. Two load-slip development patterns, and two types of main crack location are identified for the HESUHPC-NSC composites tested in different ages and seasons. In addition, shear capacity of the HESUHPC-NSC composite develops rapidly at the early age, and the increasing amplitude decreases as the season temperature decreases. This study will promote the HESUHPC application in practical engineering as a cast-in-place repairing material subjected to different natural environments.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.5A
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• pp.823-832
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• 2006

To ensure the serviceability requirements of PSC composite girder bridges, it is essential to predict the stresses and deformations of the structure under service load conditions. Stresses and deformations vary continuously with time due to the effects of creep and shrinkage of concrete and relaxation of prestressing steel. The importance of these time-dependent effects is much more pronounced in precast prestressed concrete structures built in stages than in those constructed in one operation. In this paper, time-dependent analyses for PSC composite bridges using 30m standard girders have been conducted considering with the variation of the times of introducing initial prestressing forces and casting concrete. A computer program has been developed for the time-dependent analysis of simple or continuous PSC composite girders and parametric studies are conducted. Based on the numerical results, it is investigated the long-term behaviors of PSC composite girder bridges and discussed the limitations of the current codes for the prestress loss.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6A
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• pp.943-953
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• 2006

We investigated experimentally the static behavior of an orthotropic bridge deck which is made from glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and polyurethane foam. The bridge deck consists of many unit cells with rectangular holes which are filled with the foam to improve its structural behavior in its weak axis. It is found that although the elastic modulus of the foam compared to that of the GFRP is about the order of, the structural behaviors in the weak axis such as nominal strength, stiffness, etc. are greatly improved. Owing to the low mass density of the foam used in this study, the bridge deck is still light enough with the improved structural properties. Webs of the cells filled with the foam did not significantly contribute to the strength development of the deck. However, the propagation of a crack initiated in a cell is caught by the webs and limited to the inside of that cell only, which makes the load-displacement behavior of the foam-filled GFRP deck less brittle.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.3A
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• pp.309-316
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• 2010

This paper proposed a nonlocal anisotropic damage model to simulate the behavior of plain and reinforced concrete structures that are predominantly tensile and compressive load. This model based on continuum damage mechanics, used a symmetric second-order tensor as the damage variable. For quasi-brittle materials, such as concrete, the damage patterns were different in tension and in compression. These two damage states were modeled by damage evolution laws ensuring a damage tensor rate proportional to the total strain tensor in terms of principal components. To investigate the effectiveness of proposed model, the double edge notched specimen experimented by nooru-mohamed and reinforced concrete bending beam were analyzed using the implementation of the proposed model. As the results for the simulation, the nonlocal anisotropic damage model with an adequate control of rupture correctly represented the crack propagation for mixed mode fracture. In the structural failure of reinforced concrete bending beam, the proposed model can be showed up to a very high damage level and yielding of the reinforcements.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.193-200
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• 2023

This paper investigates the effect of directional alignment of steel fibers using an electromagnetic field on the flexural fracture behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete. A specially designed and manufactured solenoid, capable of aligning steel fibers in the longitudinal direction of the beam specimen, was employed for this purpose. Beam specimens with a design strength of 30 MPa were produced, and failure tests were conducted on specimens exposed to electromagnetic fields and those without exposure. Experimental variables included the mixing ratio and aspect ratio of steel fibers. The results of the experiments revealed a slight increase in flexural strength and crack mouth opening displacement at the maximum load for specimens exposed to the electromagnetic field. Notably, a significant enhancement in fracture energy was observed.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.83-90
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the inter-laminar fracture toughness characteristics of CFRP pultrusion spar cap materials reinforced with non-woven glass fabric. Test specimens were fabricated by the infusion technique. A non-woven glass fabric and artificial defects were embedded on the middle surface between two pultruded CFRP panels. Double cantilever beam (DCB) and End Notched Flexure (ENF) tests were performed according to ASTM standards. Fracture toughness and crack propagation characteristics were evaluated with load-displacement curves and delamination resistance curves (R-Curve). The fracture toughness results were calculated by compliance calibration (CC) method. The initiation and propagation values of Mode-I critical strain energy release rate value G_Ic were 1.357 kJ/m2 and 1.397 kJ/m2, respectively, and Mode-II critical strain energy release rate values G_IIc were 4.053 kJ/m2 for non-precracked test and 4.547 kJ/m2 for precracked test. It was found that the fracture toughness properties of the CFRP pultrusion spar-cap are influenced by the interface between the layers of CFRP and glass fiber non-woven.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.419-428
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• 2013

In this study, experimental research was carried out to evaluate the constructability and seismic performance of high strength R/C exterior beam-column joints regions, with or without the shear reinforcement, using high ductile fiber-reinforced mortar. Five specimens of retrofitted the exterior beam-column joint regions using high ductile fiber-reinforced mortar are constructed and tested for their retrofit performances. Specimens designed by retrofitting the exterior beam-column joint regions (BCJNSP series) of existing reinforced concrete building showed a stable mode of failure and an increased its maximum load-carrying capacity by 1.09~2.03 times in comparison with specimen of BCJNS due to the effect of enhancing dispersion of crack control at the time of initial loading and bridging of fiber from retrofitting new high ductile materials during testing. Specimens of BCJNSP series attained its maximum load carrying capacity by 0.92~0.96 times and increased its energy dissipation capacity by 1.62 times when compared to standard specimen of BCJC with a displacement ductility of 4.