• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.243-256
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• 2017

Epoxy-coated reinforcing bars are widely used to protect the corrosion of the reinforcing bars in the RC elements under their in-service environments and external loads. In most field surveys, it was reported that the corrosion resistance of the epoxy-coated reinforcing bars is typically better than the uncoated bars. However, from the experimental tests conducted in the labs, it was reported that, under the same loads, the RC elements with epoxy-coated reinforcing bars had wider cracks than the elements reinforced with the ordinary bars. Although this conclusion may be true considering the bond reduction of the reinforcing bar due to the epoxy coating, the maximum service loads used in the experimental research may be a main reason. To answer these two phenomena, service performance of 15 RC beam specimens with uncoated and epoxy-coated reinforcements under different fatigue loads was experimentally studied. Influences of different coating thicknesses of the reinforcing bars, the fatigue load range and load upper limit as well as fatigue load cycles on the mechanical performance of RC test specimens are discussed. It is concluded that, for the test specimens subjected to the comparatively lower load range and load upper limit, adverse effect on the service performance of test specimens with thicker epoxy-coated reinforcing bars is negligible. With the increments of the coating thickness and the in-service loading level, i.e., fatigue load range, load upper limit and fatigue cycles, the adverse factor resulting from the thicker coating becomes noticeable.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.65-78
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• 2012

An experimental study was carried out to evaluate fresh properties of a moderately high-strength (high-flowing) self-compacting concrete (SCC) and to investigate shear behavior and performance of deep beams made with SCC. Fresh and hardened properties of normal concrete (NC) and SCC were evaluated. The workability and compacting ability were observed based on casting time and number of surface cavities, respectively. Four-point loading tests on four deep beams (two made with SCC and two with NC) were then conducted to investigate their shear behavior and performance. Shear behavior and performance of beams having two different web reinforcements in shear were systematically investigated in terms of crack pattern, failure mode, and load-deflection response. It was found from the tests that the SCC specimen having a normal shear reinforcement condition exhibited a slightly higher load carrying capacity than the corresponding NC specimen, while the SCC specimen having congested shear reinforcement condition showed a similar load carrying capacity to the corresponding NC specimen. In addition, a comparative study between the present experimental results and theoretical results in accordance with ACI 318 (Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-89) and Commentary-ACI 318R-89, 1999), Hsu-Mau's explicit method (Hsu, Cem Concr Compos 20:419-435, 1998; Mau and Hsu, Struct J Am Concr Inst 86:516-523, 1989) and strut-and-tie model suggested by Uribe and Alcocer (2002) based on ACI 318 Appendix A (2008) was carried out to assess the applicability of the aforementioned methods to predict the shear strength of SCC specimens.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.819-838
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• 2013

This paper summarises the results of an experimental study to investigate the flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams strengthened using carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate in four-point bending. The experimental parameters included are the reinforcing bar ratio ${\rho}_s$ and preload level. Four bar ratios were selected (${\rho}_s=0.13$ to 0.86%), representing the section of two longitudinal tensile reinforcements, with diameters of 8, 14, 16, and 20 mm in order to reveal the effect of bar ratio on failure load and failure mode. Eight beams that could be considered "full-scale" in size, measuring 200 mm in width, 400 mm in total height and 2300 mm in length, were tested. Three beams were selected with different bar ratios (${\rho}_1$, ${\rho}_2$, ${\rho}_3$), and considered as control specimens (without ), while three other beams identical to the control beams with the same CFRP laminates ratio and a seventh beam with ${\rho}_{min}$ (the lowest bar ratio) were also used. In the second part of the study, two beams with the bar ratio ${\rho}_2$ were preloaded at two levels, 50 and 100% of their ultimate loads, and then repaired. This experimental investigation was consolidated using an analytical model. The experimental and analytical results indicate that the flexional capacity and stiffness of strengthened and repaired beams using CFRP laminate were increased compared to those of control beams, and the behaviour of repaired beams was nearly similar to the undamaged and strengthened beams; unlike the ductility of strengthened beams, which was greatly reduced compared to the control.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.189-199
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• 2014

Currently, in the precast concrete construction, Precast Concrete (PC) and Cast-In-Place (CIP) concrete with different concrete strengths are frequently used. However, current design codes do not specifically provide shear design methods for PC-CIP hybrid members using dual concrete strengths. In the present study, simply supported composite beams with shear reinforcement were tested. The test variables were the area ratio of the two concretes, spacing of shear reinforcement, and shear span-to-depth ratio. The shear strengths of the test specimens were evaluated by current design codes on the basis of the test results. The results showed that the shear strength of the composite beams was affected by the concrete strength of the compressive zone and also proportional to the flexural rigidity of un-cracked sections. Furthermore, the contribution of shear reinforcements varied according to the concrete strength of the compressive zone.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.203-220
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• 2010

In the present study, exterior beam-column sub-assemblage from a regular reinforced concrete (RC) building has been considered. Two different types of beam-column sub-assemblages from existing RC building have been considered, i.e., gravity load designed ('GLD'), and seismically designed but without any ductile detailing ('NonDuctile'). Hence, both the cases represent the under-designed structure at different time frame span before the introduction of ductile detailing. For designing 'NonDuctile' structure, Eurocode and Indian Standard were considered. Non-linear finite element (FE) program has been employed for analysing the sub-assemblages under cyclic loading. FE models were developed using quadratic concrete brick elements with embedded truss elements to represent reinforcements. It has been found that the results obtained from the numerical analysis are well corroborated with that of experimental results. Using the validated numerical models, it was proposed to correlate the energy dissipation from numerical analysis to that from experimental analysis. Numerical models would be helpful in practice to evaluate the seismic performance of the critical sub-assemblages prior to design decisions. Further, using the numerical studies, performance of the sub-assemblages with variation of axial load ratios (ratio is defined by applied axial load divided by axial strength) has been studied since many researchers have brought out inconsistent observations on role of axial load in changing strength and energy dissipation under cyclic load.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.173-189
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• 2022

This study presents an experimental and numerically study about the effects of fiber reinforcement ratio on the behavior of concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST) under dynamic impact loading. In literature have examined the behavior of GFRP and FRP wrapped strengthened CFST elements impact loads. However, since the direction of potential impact force isn't too exact, there is always the probability of not being matched the impact force of the area where the reinforced. Therefore, instead of the fiber textile wrapping method which strengthens only a particular area of CFST element, we used fiber-added concrete-filled elements which allow strengthening the whole element. Thus, the effect of fiber-addition in concrete on the behavior of CFST elements under impact loads was examined. To do so, six simply supported CFST beams were constructed with none fiber, 2% fiber and 10% fiber reinforcement ratio on the concrete part of the CFST beam. CFST beams were examined under two different impact loads (75 kg and 225 kg). The impactors hit the beam from a 2000 mm free fall during the experimental study. Numerical models of the specimens were created using ABAQUS finite element software and validated with experimental data. The obtained results such as; mid-span displacement, acceleration, failure modes and energies from experimental and numerical studies were compared and discussed. Furthermore, the Von Misses stress distribution of the CFST beams with different ratio of fiber reinforcements were investigated numerically. To sum up, there is an optimum amount limit of the fiber reinforcement on CFST beams. Up to this limit, the fiber reinforcement increases the structural performances of the beam, beyond that limit the fiber reinforcement decreases the performances of the CFST beam under transverse impact loadings.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2012

PURPOSE. The aim of this study was to compare the flexural strength of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and bis-acryl composite resin reinforced with polyethylene and glass fibers. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Three groups of rectangular test specimens (n = 15) of each of the two resin/fiber reinforcement were prepared for flexural strength test and unreinforced group served as the control. Specimens were loaded in a universal testing machine until fracture. The mean flexural strengths (MPa) was compared by one way ANOVA test, followed by Scheffe analysis, using a significance level of 0.05. Flexural strength between fiber-reinforced resin groups were compared by independent samples t-test. RESULTS. For control groups, the flexural strength for PMMA (215.53 MPa) was significantly lower than for bis-acryl composite resin (240.09 MPa). Glass fiber reinforcement produced significantly higher flexural strength for both PMMA (267.01 MPa) and bis-acryl composite resin (305.65 MPa), but the polyethylene fibers showed no significant difference (PMMA resin-218.55 MPa and bis-acryl composite resin-241.66 MPa). Among the reinforced groups, silane impregnated glass fibers showed highest flexural strength for bis-acryl composite resin (305.65 MPa). CONCLUSION. Of two fiber reinforcement methods evaluated, glass fiber reinforcement for the PMMA resin and bis-acryl composite resin materials produced highest flexural strength. Clinical implications. On the basis of this in-vitro study, the use of glass and polyethylene fibers may be an effective way to reinforce provisional restorative resins. When esthetics and space are of concern, glass fiber seems to be the most appropriate method for reinforcing provisional restorative resins.

• Composite Materials and Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.167-178
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• 2021

In the present paper, the destructive behavior of distilled water, salty water, sulfuric acid, and heat on glass/vinyl ester composites was investigated by experimental methods. Hetron 922 vinyl ester resin and two types of mat and woven glass fibers as the reinforcements were used to fabricate composite test samples. All samples were immersed in distilled water, salty water, and sulfuric acid with three different concentrations. The tests were performed at 20℃ and 70℃ for the exposure duration of 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Bending tests were performed after aging for all composite samples to check the degradation of the bending modulus and strength. The results show that the effect of distilled water, in comparison with salty water, on the degradation of composite samples was significant. On the other hand, almost non-sensitivity of concentrations of salty water on the weight gain of specimens has been observed. In addition, it was also observed that the degradation of samples at 70℃ temperature is much more than that of at 20℃. Also, it was observed that the flexural modulus of virgin specimens exposed to salty water (2% concentration) has been recovered just after two weeks of immersion. Furthermore, in some cases, composite samples under the sulfuric acid solution have lost almost 80% of their mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.697-703
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• 2009

High-strength concrete corbels with varying percentage of steel fibers and two different anchorage types (welding to transverse bar, headed) for the main tension tie were constructed and tested. The results showed that performance in terms of load carrying capacities, stiffness, ductility, and crack width was improved, as the percentage of steel fibers was increased. In addition, the corbel specimens in which headed bars were used as the main tension tie reinforcements showed superior load carrying capacities, stiffness, and ductility compared to the corbel specimens in which the main tension ties were anchored by welding to the transverse bars. From the test results, it is expected that load carrying capacities, durability, and constructibility of high strength concrete corbels would be improved by using steel fibers and headed bars. Experimental results presented in this paper were also compared with various prediction models proposed by researchers and presented in codes. The truss model proposed by Fattuhi provides fairly good predictions for fiber reinforced high-strength concrete corbels.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.142-150
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• 2006

This study examines whether the reinforcement theory would be effectively applied to teaching assistant robots between a robot and a student in the same way as it is applied to teaching methods between a teacher and a student. Participants interact with a teaching assistant robot in a 3 (types of robots: positive reinforcement vs. negative reinforcement vs. both reinforcements) by 2 (types of participants: honor students vs. backward students), within-subject experiment. Three different types of robots, such as 'Ching-chan-ee' which gives 'positive reinforcement', 'Um-bul-ee' which gives 'negative reinforcement', and 'Sang-bul-ee' which gives both 'positive and negative reinforcement' are designed based on the reinforcement theory and the token reinforcement system. Participants' task performance and reaction rate are measured according to the types of robots and the types of participants. In task performance, the negative reinforcement robot is more effective than the other two types, but regarding the number of stimulus, the less the stimulus is, the more effective the task performance is. Also, participants showed the highest reaction rate on the negative reinforcement robot which implies that the negative reinforcement robot is most effective to motivate students. The findings demonstrate that the participants perceive the teaching assistant robot not as a toy but as a teaching assistant and the reinforcement interaction is important and effective for teaching assistant robots to motivate students. The results of this study can be implicated as an effective guideline to interaction design of teaching assistant robots.