• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.243-257
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• 2017

Investigating the properties and durability of high-strength concrete exposed to sulfuric acid attack for the purpose of its application in structures exposed to this acid is of outmost importance. In this research, the resistance and durability of high-strength concrete containing macro-polymeric or steel fibers together with the pozzolans of silica fume or nano-silica against sulfuric acid attack are explored. To accomplish this goal, in total, 108 high-strength concrete specimens were made with 9 different mix designs containing macro-polymeric and steel fibers at the volume fractions of 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0%, as well as the pozzolans of silica fume and nano-silica with the replacement levels of 10 and 2%, respectively. After placing the specimens inside a 5% sulfuric acid solution in the periods of 7, 21, and 63 days of immersion, the effect of adding the fibers and pozzolans on the compressive properties, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and weight loss of high-strength concrete was investigated and the respective results were compared with those of the reference specimens. The obtained results suggest the dependency of the resistance and durability loss of high-strength concrete against sulfuric acid attack to the properties of fibers as well as their fraction in concrete volume. Moreover, compared with using nano-silica, using silica fume in the fibrous concrete mix leads to more durable specimens against sulfuric acid attack. Finally, an optimum solution for the design parameters where the crushing load of high-strength fibrous concrete is maximized was found using response surface method (RSM).

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.219-228
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• 2010

It has been well known that concrete structures exposed to acid and sulfate environments such as sewer, sewage and wastewater, soil, groundwater, and seawater etc. show significant decrease in their durability due to chemical attack. Such deleterious acid and sulfate attacks lead to expansion and cracking in concrete, and thus, eventually result in damage to concrete matrix by forming expansive hydration products due to the reaction between portland cement hydration products and acid and sulfate ions. Objectives of this experimental research are to investigate the effect of mineral admixtures on the resistance to acid and sulfate attack in concrete and to suggest high-resistance concrete mix against acid and sulfate attack. For this purpose, concretes specimens with three types of cement (ordinary portland cement (OPC), binary blended cement (BBC), and ternary blended cement (TBC) composed of different types and proportions of admixtures) were prepared at water-biner ratios of 32% and 43%. The concrete specimens were immersed in fresh water, 5% sulfuric acid, 10% sodium sulfate, and 10% magnesium sulfate solutions for 28, 56, 91, 182, and 365 days, respectively. To evaluate the resistance to acid and sulfate for concrete specimens, visual appearance changes were observed and compressive strength ratios and mass change ratios were measured. It was observed from the test results that the resistance against sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate solutions of the concretes containing mineral admixtures were much better than that of OPC concrete, but in the case of magnesium sulfate solution the concretes containing mineral admixtures was less resistant than OPC concrete due to formation of magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H) which is non-cementitious.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.293-307
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• 2005

The development and the main features of an expert system for modeling the requirements of durable concrete in chemical exposure, called the Durable Concrete Advisor for Chemical Exposure (DCACE), are described. The system was developed to help improve the quality of concrete exposed to chemical environment by minimizing mistakes and deficiencies in selecting concrete constituents. Using Kappa-PC expert system shell, an object-oriented model was developed where the rule-based reasoning operates on or across objects. The American Concrete Institute manual of concrete practice was chosen as the main source of knowledge. Other textual sources were also consulted for knowledge acquisition. The major objectives of the research were acquisition and formalization of the relevant knowledge and building an expert system for making durable concrete for chemical exposure regarding sulfate attack, acid attack, seawater attack and carbonation. Similar to most expert systems, this system has explanation facilities, can be incrementally expanded, and has an easy to understand knowledge base. The performance of the system is demonstrated by an example session. The system is user-friendly and can be used as an educational tool.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.05b
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• pp.249-252
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• 2006

Recently, as it has greatly increased the demand on the serviceability of subway, cable tunnel and underground storage, the stability of tunnel structures has been attracting the concern of engineers and researchers. Thus the aim of the present study is to evaluate acid attack resistance of shotcrete using in tunnel structures. And, in order to understand the deterioration mechanism, test using scanning electron microscopy(SEM) analysis and X-ray diffraction showed that the deterioration mechanism due to acid attack in shotcrete.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.189-196
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• 2003

Soil-cement column is often used as a contaminant barrier. This study presents the results of experimental study performed to investigate the changes of properties of soil-cement column under the attack of acids. Sulfuric nitric, and ascetic acid were used as contaminants. Specimen were made of clayey and sandy soils with addition of cement and water Permeability of soil-cement decreased with time during permeability test. When significant amount of acid percolated the specimen, permeability increased and compressive strength decreased due to the dissolution and leaching of cement and its chemical reaction compounds. Sulfuric and nitric acid were more effective than ascetic acid in deteriorating soil-cement column. Amount of acid required to lower the pH of soil cement below 12 was calculated from the results of permeability tests. This leads to a conclusion that, under the conditions employed in this study, the chemical stability of soil-cement column could be maintained against acid attack for longer than generally accepted lifetime of contaminant barriers.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.221-236
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• 2020

To reduce the CO₂ emissions associated with the manufacture of portland cement (PC), an efficient alternative like an alkali-activated binder (AAB) is the requirement of the industry. To promote the use of AAB in construction activities, a practically implementable mix proportion is required. Owing to the several raw ingredients of AAB concrete and their associated uncertainties, partial replacement of PC by AAB may be adopted instead of complete replacement as per industrial requirements. Hence, the present study aims to determine an optimal proportion for partial replacement of PC with AAB and recommend a technique for it based on site conditions. Three modes of partial replacement are followed: combining all the dry ingredients for AAB and PC followed by the addition of the requisite liquids (PAM); combining the PC and the AAB concrete in two horizontal layers (PAH); and two vertical layers (PAV). 28-day old specimens are exposed to 10% v/v solutions of HCl, H₂SO₄, and HNO₃ to evaluate changes in mechanical, physical, and microstructural characteristics through compressive strength, corrosion depth, and microscopy. Based on deterioration in strength and integrity, PAH or PAV can be adopted in absence of acid attack, whereas PAM is recommended in presence of acid attack.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.671-683
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• 2017

Commonly used concrete in general, consists of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water. Natural river sand is the most commonly used material as fine aggregate in concrete. One of the important requirements of concrete is that it should be durable under certain conditions of exposure. The durability of concrete is defined as its ability to resist weathering action, chemical attack or any other process of deterioration. Durable concrete will retain its original form, quality and serviceability when exposed to its environment. Deterioration can occur in various forms such as alkali aggregate expansion, freeze-thaw expansion, salt scaling by de-icing salts, shrinkage, attack on the reinforcement due to carbonation, sulphate attack on exposure to ground water, sea water attack and corrosion caused by salts. Addition of admixtures may control these effects. In this paper, an attempt has been made to replace part of fine aggregate by tailing material and part of cement by fly ash to improve the durability of concrete. The various durability tests performed were chemical attack tests such as sulphate attack, chloride attack and acid attack test and water absorption test. The concrete blend with 35% Tailing Material (TM) in place of river sand and 20% Fly Ash (FA) in place of OPC, has exhibited higher durability characteristics.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.35-49
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• 2014

This paper studies the behaviour of deteriorated reinforced concrete (RC) beams attacked by various forms of simulated acid rain. An artificial rainfall simulator was firstly designed and evaluated. Eleven RC beams ($120mm{\times}200mm{\times}1800mm$) were then constructed in the laboratory. Among them, one was acting as a reference beam and the others were subjected to three accelerated corrosion methods, including immersion, wetting-drying, and artificial rainfall methods, to simulate the attack of real acid rain. Acid solutions with pH levels of 1.5 and 2.5 were considered. Next, ultrasonic, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic, and three-point bending tests were performed to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete and flexural behaviour of the RC beams. It can be concluded that the designed artificial simulator can be effectively used to simulate the real acid rainfall. Both the immersion and wetting-drying methods magnify the effects of the real acid rainfall on the RC beams.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 1964

A comparative study of free amino acid content in healthy and virus diseased tobacco leaves was carried out by author throughout the gorwing season from June to November of 1963. The methods of qualitative analysis of free amino acids applied in this experiment is followed by Moore and Stein. 1,2 Free amino acids determined in this experiment are shown in Fig. Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Table Ⅰ. As the figure and the table are shown, four more amino acids such as a spartic acid, glutamic acid, tyrosine and phenylalanine are detected in the healthy leaves; these four additional amino acids in the healthy leaves are conspicuous. More quantities of asparagine and alanine are detected in the diseased leaves than the healthy leaves and more quantities of tryptophan is detected in the healthy leaves. It is presumed that such amino acids as tyrosine and phenyllanine are decreased by the incooperation of free amino acid to TMV protein in the process of the process of the leaf protein metabolism which is caused by TMV-RNA trapping action in the diseased leaf protoplasm. It is thought that the decrease of asparagine and the increase of asparic acid in the healthy leaves are the results of in incooperaton of NH2, produced by the protein dissimilation in the diseased leaves, to aspartic acid; it's reaction is caused by the respiration of the diseased leaves accelerated by TMV attack. It is presumed, consequently, that the check of the diseased tobacco leave growth is influenced by the reduction of such amino acids as tryptophane and glutamic acid, which reduction may be due to the abnormal protein metabolism and the action of certain enzyme caused by TMV attack on host protoplast.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.171-183
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• 2019

As China's infrastructure continues to grow, concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) structures are attracting increasing interest for use in engineering applications in earthquake prone regions owing to their high section modulus, high strength, and good seismic performance. However, in a corrosive environment, the seismic resistance of the CFST columns may be affected to a certain extent. This study attempts to investigate the mechanical behaviours of square CFST members under both a cyclic load and an acid rain attack. First, the tensile mechanical properties of steel plates with various corrosion rates were tested. Second, a total of 12 columns with different corrosion rates were subjected to a reversed cyclic load and tested. Third, comparisons between the test results and the predicted ultimate strength by using four existing codes were carried out. It was found that the corrosion leads to an evident decrease in yield strength, elastic modulus, and tensile strain capacity of steel plates, and also to a noticeable deterioration in the ultimate strength, ductility, and energy dissipation of the CFST members. A larger axial force ratio leads to a more significant resulting deterioration of the seismic behaviour of the columns. In addition, the losses of both thickness and yield strength of an outer steel tube caused by corrosion should be taken into account when predicting the ultimate strength of corroded CFST columns.