• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.61-67
• /
• 2015

The concept of horizontal shear connection utilization on wood-concrete beams intends to be an alternative connection detail for composite wood-concrete decks. The volume of sawn-wood is over three times more expensive than concrete, in Brazil. In order to be competitive in the Brazilian market we need a composite deck with the least amount of wood and a simple and inexpensive connection detail. This research project uses medium to high density tropical hardwoods managed from the Brazilian Amazon region and construction steel rods. The beams studied are composed of a bottom layer of staggered wood boards and a top layer of concrete. The wood members are laterally nailed together to form a wide beam, and horizontal rebar connectors are installed before the concrete layer is applied on top. Two sets of wood-concrete layered beams with horizontal rebar connectors (6 and 8) were tested in third-point loading flexural bending. The initial results reveal medium composite efficiency for the beams tested. An improvement on the previously conceived connection detail (set with six connectors) for the composite wood-concrete structural floor system was achieved by the set with eight connectors. The new layout of the horizontal rebar connectors added higher composite efficiency for the beams tested. Further analysis with advanced rigorous numerical Finite Element Modeling is suggested to optimize the connection parameters. Composite wood-concrete decks can attend a large demand for pedestrian bridges, as well as residential and commercial slabs in the Brazilian Amazon.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2014

The addition of steel fibers in concrete mixture is recognized as a non-conventional mass reinforcement scheme that improves the torsional, flexural, and shear behavior of structural members. However, the analysis of fiber reinforced concrete beams under combined torsion, bending, and shear is limited because of the complicated nature of the problem. Therefore, nonlinear 3D finite element analysis was conducted using the "ANSYS CivilFEM" program to investigate the behavior of fiber reinforced concrete L-beams. These beams were tested at different reinforcement schemes and loading conditions. The reinforcement case parameters were set as follows: reinforced with longitudinal reinforcement only and reinforced with steel bars and stirrups. All beams were tested under two different combined loading conditions, namely, torsion-to-shear ratio (T/V) = 545 mm (high eccentricity) and T/V = 145 mm (low eccentricity). Eight intermediate L-beams were constructed and tested in a laboratory under combined torsion, bending, and shear to validate the finite element model. Comparisons with the experimental data reveal that the program can accurately predict the behavior of L-beams under different reinforcement cases and combined loading ratios. The ANSYS model accurately predicted the loads and deformations for various types of reinforcements in L-beams and captured the concrete strains of these beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.60 no.5
• /
• pp.781-794
• /
• 2016

Due to its relatively good safety performance and aesthetic benefits, laminated glass (LG) is increasingly being used as load-carrying members in modern buildings. This paper presents an experimental study into one applicational scenario of structural LG subjected to in-plane bending. The aim of the study is to reveal the in-plane behaviors of the LG beams made up of multi-layered glass sheets. The LG specimens respectively consisted of two, three and four plies of glass, bonded together by two prominent adhesives. A total of 26 tests were carried out. From these tests, the structural behaviors in terms of flexural stiffness, load resistance and post-breakage strength were studied in detail, whilst considering the influence of interlayer type, cross-sectional interlayer percentage and presence of shear forces. Based on the test results, analytical suggestions were made, failure modes were identified, corresponding failure mechanisms were discussed, and a rational engineering model was proposed to predict the post-breakage strength of the LG beams. The results obtained are expected to provide useful information for academic and engineering professionals in the analysis and design of LG beams bending in-plane.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.67 no.1
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2018

Several techniques have been developed for shear strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) members by using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. However, debonding of FRP retrofits from concrete substrate still deemed as a challenging concern in their application which needs to be scrutinized in details. As a result, this paper reports on the results of an experimental investigation on shear strengthening of RC beams using near surface mounted (NSM) FRP reinforcing bars. The main objective of the experimentation was increasing the efficiency of shear retrofits by precluding/postponing the premature debonding failure. The experimental program was comprised of six shear deficient RC beams. The test parameters include the FRP rebar spacing, inclination angle, and groove shape. Also, an innovative modification was introduced to the conventional NSM technique and its efficiency was evaluated by experimental observation and measurement. The results testified the efficiency of glass FRP (GFRP) rebars in increasing the shear strength of the test specimens retrofitted using conventional NSM technique. However, debonding of FRP bars impeded exploiting all retrofitting advantages and induced a premature shear failure. On the contrary, application of the proposed modified NSM (MNSM) technique was not only capable of preventing the premature debonding of FRP bars, but also could replace the failure mode of specimen from the brittle shear to a ductile flexural failure which is more desirable.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.40-46
• /
• 2013

This paper presents the design, fabrication and performance of a reinforced concrete beam strengthened by GFRP box plate and its possibility for structural rehabilitations. The load capacity, ductility and failure mode of reinforced concrete structures strengthened by FRP box plate were investigated and compared with traditional FRP plate strengthening method. This is intended to assess the feasibility of using FRP box plate for repair and strengthening of damaged RC beams. A series of four-point bending tests were conducted on RC beams with or without strengthening FRP systems the influence of concrete cover thickness on the performance of overall stiffness of the structure. The parameters obtained by the experimental studies were the stiffness, strength, crack width and pattern, failure mode, respectively. The test yielded complete load-deflection curves from which the increase in load capacity and the failure mode was evaluated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.169-177
• /
• 2011

In this paper, the natural frequency of a cracked cantilever L-beams with a coupled bending and torsional vibrations is investigate by theory and experiment. In addition, a method for detection of crack in a cantilever L-beams is presented based on natural frequency measurements. The governing differential equations of a cracked L-beam are derived via Hamilton's principle. The two coupled governing differential equations are reduced to one sixth order ordinary differential equation in terms of the flexural displacement. Futher, the dynamic transfer matrix method is used for calculation of a exact natural frequencies of L-beams. The crack is assumed to be in the first mode of fracture and to be always opened during vibrations. In this study, the differences between the actual and predicted positions and sizes of crack are less than about 10 % and 39.5 % respectively.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.211-218
• /
• 2015

This study propose the organic fiber reinforcement for performance improvement of blast resistance. Proposed fibers are polyamide fiber, PET fiber and aramid fiber and fiber reinforcements were produced by ATY method. To evaluate strain energy absorption capacity of organic fiber reinforced concrete using organic fiber reinforcement, 4-point bending test and 3-point bending tests on notched beam were performed. Test results show that PET fiber reinforced concrete has outstanding performance. It is thought that the PET fiber is effective for the performance improvement of blast resistance.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.759-774
• /
• 2015

This study simulates the flexural behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beams reinforced with steel and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars. For this, micromechanics-based modeling was first carried out on the basis of single fiber pullout models considering inclination angle. Two different tension-softening curves (TSCs) with the assumptions of 2-dimensional (2-D) and 3-dimensional (3-D) random fiber orientations were obtained from the micromechanics-based modeling, and linear elastic compressive and tensile models before the occurrence of cracks were obtained from the mechanical tests and rule of mixture. Finite element analysis incorporating smeared crack model was used due to the multiple cracking behaviors of structural UHPFRC beams, and the characteristic length of two times the element width (or two times the average crack spacing at the peak load) was suggested as a result of parametric study. Analytical results showed that the assumption of 2-D random fiber orientation is appropriate to a non-reinforced UHPFRC beam, whereas the assumption of 3-D random fiber orientation is suitable for UHPFRC beams reinforced with steel and GFRP rebars due to disorder of fiber alignment from the internal reinforcements. The micromechanics-based finite element analysis also well predicted the serviceability deflections of UHPFRC beams with GFRP rebars and hybrid reinforcements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.559-578
• /
• 2011

In regions of high seismic risk, high-strength concrete (HSC) columns of tall buildings are designed to be fully ductile during earthquake attack by providing substantial amount of confining steel within the critical region. However. in areas of low to moderate seismic risk, the same provision of confining steel is too conservative because of the reduced seismic demand. More critically, it causes problematic steel congestion in the beam-column joints and column critical region. This will eventually affect the quality of concrete placing owing to blockage. To relieve the problem, the confining steel in the critical region of HSC columns located in low to moderate seismicity regions can be suitably reduced, while maintaining a limited ductility level. Despite the advantage, there are still no guidelines developed for designing limited ductility HSC columns. In this paper, a formula for designing limited ductility HSC columns is presented. The validity of the formula was verified by testing half-scale HSC columns subjected to combined high-axial load and flexure, in which the confining steel was provided as per the proposed formula. From the test results, it is evident that the curvature ductility factors obtained for all these columns were about 10, which is the generally accepted level of limited ductility.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.461-472
• /
• 2012

This study proposes an optics-based active sensing system for continuous monitoring of underground pipelines in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The proposed system generates and measures guided waves using a single laser source and optical cables. First, a tunable laser is used as a common power source for guided wave generation and sensing. This source laser beam is transmitted through an optical fiber, and the fiber is split into two. One of them is used to actuate macro fiber composite (MFC) transducers for guided wave generation, and the other optical fiber is used with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to measure guided wave responses. The MFC transducers placed along a circumferential direction of a pipe at one end generate longitudinal and flexural modes, and the corresponding responses are measured using FBG sensors instrumented in the same configuration at the other end. The generated guided waves interact with a defect, and this interaction causes changes in response signals. Then, a damage-sensitive feature is extracted from the response signals using the axi-symmetry nature of the measured pitch-catch signals. The feasibility of the proposed system has been examined through a laboratory experiment.