• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.215-227
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• 2017

A finite element model (FEM) for predicting early-age behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge deck slabs with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars is presented. In this model, the shrinkage profile of concrete accounted for the effect of surrounding conditions including air flow. The results of the model were verified against the experimental test results, published by the authors. The model was verified for cracking pattern, crack width and spacing, and reinforcement strains in the vicinity of the crack using different types and ratios of longitudinal reinforcement. The FEM was able to predict the experimental results within 6 to 10% error. The verified model was utilized to conduct a parametric study investigating the effect of four key parameters including reinforcement spacing, concrete cover, FRP bar type, and concrete compressive strength on the behavior of FRP-RC bridge deck slabs subjected to restrained shrinkage at early-age. It is concluded that a reinforcement ratio of 0.45% carbon FRP (CFRP) can control the early-age crack width and reinforcement strain in CFRP-RC members subjected to restrained shrinkage. Also, the results indicate that changing the bond-slippage characteristics (sand-coated and ribbed bars) or concrete cover had an insignificant effect on the early-age crack behavior of FRP-RC bridge deck slabs subjected to shrinkage. However, reducing bar spacing and concrete strength resulted in a decrease in crack width and reinforcement strain.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.469-486
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• 2012

This paper presents Neuro-Fuzzy (NF) based empirical modelling of torsional strength of RC beams for the first time in literature. The proposed model is based on fuzzy rules. The experimental database used for NF modelling is collected from the literature consisting of 76 RC beam tests. The input variables in the developed rule based on NF model are cross-sectional area of beams, dimensions of closed stirrups, spacing of stirrups, cross-sectional area of one-leg of closed stirrup, yield strength of stirrup and longitudinal reinforcement, steel ratio of stirrups, steel ratio of longitudinal reinforcement and concrete compressive strength. According to the selected variables, the formulated NFs were trained by using 60 of the 76 sample beams. Then, the method was tested with the other 16 sample beams. The accuracy rates were found to be about 96% for total set. The performance of accuracy of proposed NF model is furthermore compared with existing design codes by using the same database and found to be by far more accurate. The use of NF provided an alternative way for estimating the torsional strength of RC beams. The outcomes of this study are quite satisfactory which may serve NF approach to be widely used in further applications in the field of reinforced concrete structures.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.361-371
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• 2005

The confined concrete subjected multi-axial stresses have been known as the fact it increases strength of concrete significantly compared with unconfined concrete. Many researchers have studied in confining effects of concrete, and now are studying in many fields. Although many researches about confined concrete using FRP have been studied recently, it is difficult to apply concrete confined by FRP in real structures because FRP is a brittle material. To investigate the influence of concrete strength and ductility increased by confining stiffness in steel, this study was tested and compared with 51 specimens confined by different shapes and thicknesses of steel tube. This test verified the increasement of strength and ductility in confined concrete. Also, analyzing the experimental data by regression method, this study provides stress-strain model about CSS and R4S considering effect of confinement stiffness on the stress-strain relations of concrete.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.229-234
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• 2022

The non-destructive method of easily evaluating concrete strength through the concept of maturity has been verified by many researchers. The current work introduced such a concept in concrete strength assessment that involved 843 variables and specific values that 11 papers used in experiments, including constant temperatures (5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50℃) with a W/B range of 18 to 70% and different curing ages (0.5 to 182 days). The classification of concrete as being of normal-strength concrete (40MPa or less), high-strength concrete (40~70MPa), and Super high-strength concrete (70MPa or more) enabled this study to identify the relationship between maturity and concrete strength using the most convenient and easily applicable maturity model in the construction field. A regression formula of lowest guaranteed concrete strength on the basis of maturity was presented.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.321-337
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• 2020

Contemporary design and construction of steel-concrete composite structures employs the use of prefabricated concrete elements and demountable shear connectors in order to reduce the construction time and costs and enable dismantling of elements for their potential reuse at the end of life of buildings. Bolted shear connector with mechanical coupler is presented in this paper. The connector is assembled from mechanical coupler and rebar anchor, embedded in concrete, and steel bolt, used for connecting steel to concrete members. The behaviour and ultimate resistance of bolted connector with mechanical coupler in wide and narrow members were analysed based on push-out tests and FE analyses conducted in Abaqus software, with focus on concrete edge breakout and bolt shear failure modes. The effect of concrete strength, concrete edge distance and diameter and strength of bolts on failure modes and shear resistance was analysed. It was demonstrated that premature failure by breakout of concrete edge occurs when connectors are located 100 mm or closer from the edge in low-strength and normal-strength reinforced concrete. Furthermore, the paper presents a relatively simple model for hand calculation of concrete edge breakout resistance when bolted connectors with mechanical coupler are used. The model is based on the modification of prediction model used for cast-in and post-installed anchors loaded parallel to the edge, by implementing equivalent influence length of connector with variable diameter. Good agreement with test and FE results was obtained, thus confirming the validity of the proposed method.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.603-620
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• 2013

This paper improves genetic programming (GP) and weight genetic programming (WGP) and proposes soft-computing polynomials (SCP) for accurate prediction and visible polynomials. The proposed genetic programming system (GPS) comprises GP, WGP and SCP. To represent confined compressive strength and strain of circular concrete columns in meaningful representations, this paper conducts sensitivity analysis and applies pruning techniques. Analytical results demonstrate that all proposed models perform well in achieving good accuracy and visible formulas; notably, SCP can model problems in polynomial forms. Finally, concrete compressive strength and lateral steel ratio are identified as important to both confined compressive strength and strain of circular concrete columns. By using the suggested formulas, calculations are more accurate than those of analytical models. Moreover, a formula is applied for confined compressive strength based on current data and achieves accuracy comparable to that of neural networks.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.183-195
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• 2020

Mineral admixtures have been widely used to produce concrete. Pozzolans have been utilized as partially replacement for Portland cement or blended cement in concrete based on the materials' properties and the concrete's desired effects. Several environmental problems associated with producing cement have led to partial replacement of cement with other pozzolans. Furnace slag and fly ash are two of the pozzolans which can be appropriately used as partial replacements for cement in concrete. However, replacing cement with these materials results in significant changes in the mechanical properties of concrete, more specifically, compressive strength. This paper aims to intelligently predict the compressive strength of concretes incorporating furnace slag and fly ash as partial replacements for cement. For this purpose, a database containing 1030 data sets with nine inputs (concrete mix design and age of concrete) and one output (the compressive strength) was collected. Instead of absolute values of inputs, their proportions were used. A hybrid artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) was employed as a novel approach to conducting the study. The performance of the ANN-GA model is evaluated by another artificial neural network (ANN), which was developed and tuned via a conventional backpropagation (BP) algorithm. Results showed that not only an ANN-GA model can be developed and appropriately used for the compressive strength prediction of concrete but also it can lead to superior results in comparison with an ANN-BP model.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.563-564
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• 2009

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) compared to normal concrete is exhibiting extremely high strength characteristics with compressive strength and tensile strength reaching 200MPa and 15MPa, respectively. The mechanical characteristics of UHPC can be thus exploited advantageously in the construction of structure through the reduction of the cross-sectional area and fabrication of slim and light-weight of the structural members. In the case where the structural member is made of UHPC, the occurrence of crack can be prevented by releasing the restraint provided by the form in due time. This research performs parametric study of the failure characteristics of concrete such as failure energy and softening curve suggested by the viscous crack model approximating the failure of concrete. The scope of this research contains the results of tests performed to investigate the strength of UHPC during early elapsed time.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.863-878
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• 2004

Steel corrosion in reinforced concrete structures leads to concrete cover cracking, reduction of bond strength, and reduction of steel cross section. Among theses consequences mentioned, reduction of bond strength between reinforcement and concrete is of great importance to study the behaviour of RC members with corroded reinforcement. In this paper, firstly, an analytical model based on smeared cracking and average stress-strain relationship of concrete in tension is proposed to evaluate the maximum bursting pressure development in the cover concrete for noncorroded bar. Secondly, the internal pressure caused by the expansion of the corrosion products is evaluated by treating the cracked concrete as an orthotropic material. Finally, bond strength for corroded reinforcing bar is calculated and compared with test results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.533-547
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• 2010

Recent developments in concrete mixing made possible the production of concretes with high compressive strength showing, simultaneously, high workability. These concretes also present high strengths at young ages, allowing the application of loads sooner. It is of fundamental importance to verify if creep models developed for current concrete still apply to these new concretes. First, a FEM-based software was adopted to test available creep models, most used for normal strength concrete, considering examples with known analytical results. Several limitations were registered, resulting in an incorrect simulation of three-dimensional creep. Afterwards, it was implemented a Kelvin-chain algorithm allowing the use of a chosen number of elements, which adequately simulated the adopted examples. From the comparison between numerical and experimental results, it was concluded that the adopted algorithm can be used to model creep of high strength concrete, if the material properties are previously experimentally assessed.