• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2022

To study the working mechanism and size effect of an innovative dovetail UHPC joint originated from the 5th Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, a large-scale testing subject to negative bending moment was conducted and compared with the previous scaled specimens. The static responses, i.e., the crack pattern, failure mode, ductility and stiffness degradation were analyzed. It was found that the scaled specimens presented similar working stages and working mechanism with the large-scale ones. However, the post-cracking ductility and relative stiffness degradation all decrease with the enlarged length/scale, apart from the relative stiffness after flexural cracking. The slab stiffness at the flexural cracking stage is 90% of the initial stiffness while only 24% of the initial stiffness reserved in the ultimate stage. Finite element model (FEM) was established and compared with the experiments to verify its effectiveness in exploring the working mechanism of the innovative joint. Based on this effective method, a series of FEMs were established to further study the influence of material strength, pre-stressing level and ratio of reinforcement on its deflection-load relationship. It is found that the ratio of reinforcement can significantly improve its load-carrying capacity among the three major-influenced factors.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.573-579
• /
• 2014

Typical composite girder has been composed with conventional concrete deck and steel girder. Recently, ultrahigh-performance-concrete (UHPC) deck is proposed in order to enhance durability and reduce weight of deck as well as to increase stiffness and strength of the composite girder. This study investigates that a headed stud is still compatible as a shear connector for the UHPC deck and steel girder composite beam. Twelve push-out specimens are prepared to evaluate the static strength of stud shear connectors embedded in the UHPC deck. The test program proves that the static strength of the stud shear connectors embedded in UHPC well meets with design codes described in AASHTO LRFD. Chosen experimental variables are aspect ratio of height to diameter of stud, thickness of deck and thickness of concrete cover over the head of stud. From the test program, aspect ratio and cover thickness are investigated to mitigate the regulations of the existing design codes. The minimum aspect ratio and the minimum cover thickness given in AASHTO LRFD are four and 50mm, respectively. This limitation hinders to lower the thickness of the UHPC deck. The results of the experiment program give that the aspect ratio and the cover thickness can be lower down to three and 25mm, respectively. Eurocode-4 regulates characteristic relative slip at least 6mm. However, test results show that stud shear connectors embedded in UHPC provide the characteristic relative slip only about 4mm. Therefore, another measures to increase ductility of stud should be prepared.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.143-150
• /
• 2011

This paper presents a preliminary study for air-tightness evaluation of vacuum tube structures for super-speed tube railway systems. The formula for flow rate of the air caused by the pressure difference of the inside and outside of the tube structure is derived based on Darcy's law. A test is then performed to measure the air-permeability of concrete with various compressive strengths, the result of which is used for analytical simulation of the air intrusion for a tube structure with a preliminarily defined section. It has been shown that concrete with the compressive strength of at least more than 50MPa is recommended for effective operation and maintenance of the vacuum pump systems, as the air-permeability of concrete is inversely proportional to the exponent of its compressive strength.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.311-320
• /
• 2019

In this study, the effect of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) on the fire resistance properties of fiber-reinforced cement composites was investigated. The main variables were CNCs content (0.4, 0.8 and 1.2vol.% compared with cement), steel fiber ratio, and exposure temperature (100, 200, 400, 600 and 800℃). The fire resistance properties, i.e., residual compressive strength, flexural strength, and porosity, were evaluated in relation with the exposure temperature of the specimens. The CNCs suspensions were prepared to composited dispersion method of magnetic stirring and ultra-sonication. CNCs are effective for increasing the compressive strength at high temperatures but CNCs do not seem to have a significant effect on flexural reinforcement. Porosity test result showed CNCs reduce the non-hydration area inside the cement and promote hydration.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.31 no.3A
• /
• pp.207-214
• /
• 2011

Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC), which is characterized by its high strength and advanced ductile behavior that is much superior to those of convention concrete, is a useful material to make thinner and longer bridges. The precast segmental construction method utilizing UHPC has been mainly studied because cast-in-place UHPC is very difficult and complicate to be achieved. As a part of those research, the structural performance evaluation of different types of joint connection method for hybrid cable-stayed bridge utilizing UHPC by using nonlinear analyses is performed in this study. The bond stress at joint is obtained by section force analyses for a 600 m cable-stayed bridge deck, and compared with the required bond stress at joint. Analysis results show that the U Type connection and straight type connection resist the highest ultimate load and bond strength, respectively. In addition, all considered joint connection systems satisfy the bond performances at joint required in the final stage of cable-stayed bridge utilizing UHPC.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.295-301
• /
• 2011

Recently, the use of UHPC made of superplasticizers, silica fume, and steel fibers has been increasing worldwide. Although UHPC has a very high strength as well as an excellent durability performance due to its dense microstructures, earlyage cracks may occur due to the high heat of hydration and autogenous shrinkage caused by low W/B and high unit cement content. The early-age shrinkage cracking of UHPC can be controlled by using the shrinkage reducers and expansive admixtures having autogenous shrinkage compensation effect. In this paper, ultrasonic pulse velocity of UHPC containing shrinkage reducers and expansive agents was measured to predict its stiffness change. Also, the effect of shrinkage reducers and expansive agents on the autogenous shinkage of UHPC was investigated through the shrinkage test of UHPC specimens. Furthermore, the material coefficients of autogenous shrinkage prediction model were determined using the autogenous shrinkage values of UHPC with age. Consequently, the test results showed that, by adding shrinkage reducers and expansive agents, the stiffness of UHPC was rapidly developed at early-ages and the autogenous shrinkage was considerably reduced.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.71-79
• /
• 2020

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is recognized as a promising material in future civil engineering projects due to its outstanding mechanical and durability properties. However, the lack of local UHPC materials and official standards, especially for prestressed UHPC structures, has limited the application of UHPC. In this research, a large-scale prestressed bridge girder composed of nonproprietary UHPC is produced and investigated. This work has two objectives to develop the mixing procedure required to create UHPC in large batches and to study the flexural behavior of the prestressed girder. The results demonstrate that a sizeable batch of UHPC can be produced by using a conventional concrete mixing system at any precast factory. In addition, incorporating local aggregates and using conventional mixing systems enables regional widespread use. The flexural behavior of a girder made by this UHPC is investigated including flexural strength, cracking pattern and development, load-deflection curve, and strain and neutral axis behaviors through a comprehensive bending test. The experimental data is similar to the theoretical results from analytical methods based on several standards and recommendations of UHPC design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.531-545
• /
• 2023

Composite dowels are implemented as a powerful alternative to headed studs for the efficient combination of Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) with high-strength steel in novel composite structures. They are required to provide sufficient shear resistance and ensure the transmission of tensile forces in the composite connection in order to prevent lifting of the concrete slab. In this paper, the load bearing capacity of puzzle-shaped and clothoidal-shaped dowels encased in UHPC specimen were investigated based on validated experimental test data. Considering the influence of the embedment depth and the spacing width of shear dowels, the characteristics of UHPC square plate on the load bearing capacity of composite structure, 240 numeric models have been constructed and analyzed. Three artificial intelligence approaches have been implemented to learn the discipline from collected experimental data and then make prediction, which includes Artificial Neural Network-Particle Swarm Optimization (ANN-PSO), Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). Among the factors, the embedment depth of composite dowel is proved to be the most influential parameter on the load bearing capacity. Furthermore, the results of the prediction models reveal that ELM is capable to achieve more accurate prediction.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.18-22
• /
• 2015

The importance of emotional quality of car is getting higher in these days. Noise takes great portion in emotional quality because it is detectable problem with just a few rides. The sources of car noise during operation are various and the related technical issues are vast. Sometimes weldments of auto body are referred as the source of noise and the suspicious weldment shows unsatisfactory welding quality in most cases. In this research, cases of noise making weldments are investigated to figure out the solution for welding quality improvement. They are categorized into several groups in according to the inferred types of the error source then appropriate solutions are suggested. Auto body has weldments of resistance spot welding and gas metal arc welding in general. Therefore the solutions are suggested as adjustment of welding process variables and related machineries. Inevitable error source is also referred which is originated from thermal expansion rate difference between ultra high strength steel and mild steel. This new approach is validated through simple calculation then more concrete investigation with numerical analysis is remained as further works to be done.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.93-99
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the bond strength and corrosion resistance of coated reinforcing bar using hybrid-type polymer cement slurry(PCS). PCS coated steels, which is made from two types of polymer dispersions such as St/BA and EVA are prepared, and tested for bond strength and various corrosion resistances such as autoclaved cure, carbonation and H2SO4 solution. From the test results, the bond strength of PCS coated reinforcing bar using ordinary portland cement at 1-5, 2-1 and 4-5 of mixes is higher than that of uncoated regular steel. However, bond strength of almost PCS coated reinforcing bars using ultra rapid high strength cement is higher than that of epoxy coated bar, is also in ranges of 102% to 123% compared to that of uncoated regular steel. In autoclaved accelerating test, the ratio of corrosion of uncoated regular steel is increased with the increase in NaCl content, but the corrosion of PCS coated steel was very small. In the acceleration test for carbonation, increasing the amount of NaCl the corrosion of coated steel did not produce. The corrosion of uncoated regular steel is increased with the increase in the amount of NaCl. It can be seen that the NaCl following the acceleration test for carbonation can lower the corrosion resistance of concrete. As a result, the corrosion of steel largely is affected by the acceleration curing, chloride ion penetration and carbonation and shown more severe corrosion by applying complex factors. These corrosions of steel can be suppressed by the coating of PCS.