• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.145-154
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• 2019

The present experimental study addresses the structural response of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in shear. Thirteen RC beams were divided into four different sets to investigate the effect of transverse and longitudinal steel reinforcement ratios, concrete compressive strength change and orientation for installing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. Then, we employed a shear strengthening solution through externally bonded reinforcement in grooves (EBRIG) and externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) techniques. In this regard, rectangular beams of $200{\times}300{\times}2000mm$ dimensions were subjected to the 4-point static loading condition and their load-displacement curves, load-carrying capacity and ductility changes were compared. The results revealed that using EBRIG method, the gain percentage augmented with the increase in the longitudinal reinforcement ratio. Also, in the RC beams with stirrups, the gain in shear strength decreased as transverse reinforcement ratio increased. The results also revealed that the shear resistance obtained by the experimental tests were in acceptable agreement with the design equations. Besides, the results of this research indicated that using the EBRIG system through vertical grooves in RC beams with and without stirrups caused the energy absorption to increase about 85% and 97%, respectively, relative to the control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.111-129
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• 2011

This paper presents a nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete column with lap splice confined by FRP wrapping in the critical hinging zone. The steel stress-slip model derived from the tri-uniform bond stress model presented in the companion paper is included in the nonlinear frame analysis to simulate the response of reinforced concrete columns subjected to cyclic displacement reversals. The nonlinear modeling is based on a fiber discretization of an RC column section. Each fiber is modeled as either nonlinear concrete or steel spring, whose load-deformation characteristics are calculated from the section of fiber and material properties. The steel spring that models the reinforcing bars consists of three sub-springs, i.e., steel bar sub-spring, lap splice spring, and anchorage bond-slip spring connected in series from top to bottom. By combining the steel stress versus slip of the lap splice, the stress-deformation of steel bar and the steel stress-slip of bars anchored into the footing, the nonlinear steel spring model is derived. The analytical responses are found to be close to experimental ones. The analysis without lap splice springs included may result in an erroneous overestimation in the strength and ductility of columns.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.607-622
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• 2018

A non-linear finite element model (FEM) was constructed using a three-dimensional software (ATENA-3D) to investigate the effect of strengthening on the behavior of prestressed hollow-core (PHC) slabs with or without openings. The slabs were strengthened using near surface mounted (NSM)-carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The constructed model was validated against experimental results that were previously reported by the authors. The validated FEM was then used to conduct an extensive parametric study to examine the influence of prestressing reinforcement ratio, compressive strength of concrete and strengthening reinforcement ratio on the behavior of such slabs. The FEM results showed good agreement with the experimental results where it captured the cracking, yielding, and ultimate loads as well as the mid-span deflection with a reasonable accuracy. Also, an overall enhancement in the structural performance of these slabs was achieved with an increase in prestressing reinforcement ratio, compressive strength of concrete, external reinforcement ratio. The presence of openings with different dimensions along the flexural or shear spans reduced significantly the capacity of the PHC slabs. However, strengthening these slabs with 2 and 4 (64 and $128mm^2$ that represent reinforcement ratios of 0.046 and 0.092%) CFRP strips was successful in restoring the original strength of the slab and enhancing post-cracking stiffness and load carrying capacity.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2019

In recent years, multiple experimental studies have been performed on using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars in reinforced concrete (RC) structural members. FRP bars provide a new type of reinforcement that avoids the corrosion of traditional steel reinforcement. In this study, predicting the shear strength of RC beams with FRP longitudinal bars using artificial neural networks (ANNs) is investigated as a different approach from the current specific codes. An ANN model was developed using the experimental data of 104 FRP-RC specimens from an existing database in the literature. Seven different input parameters affecting the shear strength of FRP bar reinforced RC beams were selected to create the ANN structure. The most convenient ANN algorithm was determined as traingdx. The results from current codes (ACI440.1R-15 and JSCE) and existing literature in predicting the shear strength of FRP-RC beams were investigated using the identical test data. The study shows that the ANN model produces acceptable predictions for the ultimate shear strength of FRP-RC beams (maximum $R^2{\approx}0.97$). Additionally, the ANN model provides more accurate predictions for the shear capacity than the other computed methods in the ACI440.1R-15, JSCE codes and existing literature for considering different performance parameters.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.437-445
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• 2021

Retrofitting of structures has gained importance over the recent years. Particularly, Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) column strengthening has become a challenge to the structural engineers, owing to the risks and complexities involved in it. There are several methods of RCC column strengthening viz. RCC jacketing, steel jacketing and Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) wrapping etc., FRP wrapping is the most promising alternative when compared to the others. The large research database shows FRP wrapping, through lateral confinement, improves the axial load carrying capacity of the columns under concentric loading. However, its confining efficiency reduces under eccentric loading. Hence a relative newer technique called Near Surface Mounting (NSM), in which Carbon FRP (CFRP) strips are epoxy grouted to the precut grooves in the cover concrete of the columns, has been thrust domain of research. NSM technique strengthens the column nominally under concentric load case while significantly under eccentric case. A novel configuration of NSM in which the vertical NSM (VNSM) strips are being connected by horizontal NSM (HNSM) strips was numerically investigated under both concentric and eccentric loading. It was found that the configuration with 6 HNSM strips performed better under eccentric loading than under concentric loading, while the configuration with 3 HNSM strips performed better under concentric loading than under eccentric loading. Hence an optimum of 4 HNSM strips is recommended as strengthening measure for the given column specifications. It was also found that Aluminum alloy cannot be used instead of CFRP in NSM applications owing to its lower mechanical properties.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.637-650
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• 2021

The paper presents an investigation of the widely varying mechanical performance and behaviour of steel and Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforced concrete beams using non-destructive techniques of Acoustic Emission (AE) and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) under four-point bending. Laboratory experiments are performed on both differently reinforced concrete beams with 0.33%, 0.52% and 1.11% of tension reinforcement against balanced section. The results show that the ultimate load-carrying capacity increases with an increase in tensile reinforcement in both cases. In addition to that, AE waveform parameters of amplitude and number of AE hits successfully correlates and picks up the divergent mechanism of cracking initiation and progression of failure in steel reinforced and GFRP reinforced concrete beams. AE activity is about 20-30% more in GFRP-RC beams as compared to steel-RC beams. It was primarily due to the lower modulus of elasticity of GFRP bars leading to much larger ductility and deflections as compared to steel-RC beams. Furthermore, AE XY event plots and longitudinal strain profiles using DIC gives an online and real-time visual display of progressive AE activity and strains respectively to efficaciously depict the crack evolution and their advancement in steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams which show a close matching with the micro-and macro-cracks visually observed in the actual beams at various stages of loading.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.259-270
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• 2022

This study explores the use of the recently developed "strain-sensing smart skin" (S⁴) method for noncontact strain measurements on cement-based samples. S⁴ sensors are single-wall carbon nanotubes dilutely embedded in thin polymer films. Strains transmitted to the nanotubes cause systematic shifts in their near-infrared fluorescence spectra, which are analyzed to deduce local strain values. It is found that with cement-based materials, this method is hampered by spectral interference from structured near-infrared cement luminescence. However, application of an opaque blocking layer between the specimen surface and the nanotube sensing film enables interference-free strain measurements. Tests were performed on cement, mortar, and concrete specimens with such modified S⁴ coatings. When specimens were subjected to uniaxial compressive stress, the spectral peak separations varied linearly and predictably with induced strain. These results demonstrate that S⁴ is a promising emerging technology for measuring strains down to ca. 30 𝜇𝜀 in concrete structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.5
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• pp.687-704
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• 2023

This study aims to examine the structural response of glass fibre-reinforced polymer (Glass-FRP) reinforced geopolymer electronic waste aggregate concrete (GEWC) compression elements under axial compression for sustainable development. The research includes the fabrication of nine GEWC circular compression elements with different reinforcement ratios and a 3-D nonlinear finite element model using ABAQUS. The study involves a detailed parametric analysis to examine the impact of various parameters on the behavior of GEWC compression elements. The results indicate that reducing the vertical distance of glass-FRP ties improves the ductility of GEWC compression elements, and those with eight longitudinal rebars have higher axial load-carrying capacities. The finite element predictions were in good agreement with the testing results, and the put forwarded empirical model shows higher accuracy than previous models by involving the confinement effect of lateral glass-FRP ties on the axial strength of GEWC compression elements. This research work contributes to minimizing the carbon footprint of cement manufacturing and electronic waste materials for sustainable development.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.115-132
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• 2023

The present study experimentally and analytically investigates the effect of tensile reinforcement ratio and arrangement on the behavior of FRP strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The experimental part of the program was comprised of 8 RC beams that were tested under four-point bending. Results have shown that by keeping the total cross-section area of tensile reinforcing bars constant, in specimens with a low reinforcement ratio, increasing the number and decreasing the diameter of bars in the section lead to 21% and 29% increase in the load-carrying capacity of specimens made with normal and high compressive strength, respectively. In specimens with high reinforcement ratio, a different behavior was observed. Furthermore, the accuracy of the existing code provisions and analytical models in predicting the load-carrying capacity of the FRP strengthened beams failed by premature debonding mode were evaluated. Herein, a model is proposed which considers the tensile reinforcement ratio (as opposed to code provisions) to achieve more accurate results for calculating the load carrying capacity of FRP strengthened RC beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.193-204
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• 2022

The need for establishing the contribution of pultruded FRP encasements and additional FRP wraps around these encasements to the shear strength and load-deflection behavior of reinforced concrete beams is the main motivation of the present study. This paper primarily focuses on the effect of additional wrapping around the composite beam on the flexural and shear behavior of the pultruded GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) beams infilled with reinforced concrete, taking into account different types of failure according to av/H ratio (arch action, shear-tension, shear-compression and pure bending). For this purpose, nine hybrid beams with variable shear span-to-depth ratio (av/H) were tested. Hybrid beams with 500 mm, 1000 mm, and 1500 mm lengths and cross-sections of 150x100 mm and 100x100 mm were tested under three-point and four-point loading. Based on the testing load-displacement relationship, ductility ratio, energy dissipation capacity of the beams were evaluated with comprehensive macro damage analysis on pultruded GFRP profile and GFRP wrapping. The GFRP wraps were established to have a major contribution to the composite beam ductility (90-125%) and strength (40-75%) in all ranges of beam behavior (shear-dominated or dominated by the coupling of shear and flexure). The composite beams with wraps were showns to reach ductilities and strength values of their counterparts with much greater beam depth.