• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2019

This paper reports an experimental investigation conducted to evaluate the durability performance of concrete mixtures prepared utilizing blends of Type I Portland cement (OPC) and natural pozzolans (NPs) obtained from three different sources in Saudi Arabia. The control concrete mixture containing OPC alone as the binder and three concrete mixtures incorporating NPs were prepared keeping water/binder ratio of 0.4 (by weight), binder content of $370kg/m^3$, and fine/total aggregate ratio of 0.38 (by weight) invariant. The compressive strength and durability properties that included depth of water penetration, depth of carbonation, chloride diffusion coefficient, and resistance to reinforcement corrosion and sulfate attack were determined. Results of this study indicate that at all ages, the compressive strength of NP-admixed concrete mixtures was slightly less than that of the concrete containing OPC alone. However, the concrete mixtures containing NP exhibited lower depth of water penetration and chloride diffusion coefficient and more resistance to reinforcement corrosion and sulfate attack as compared to OPC. NP-admixed concrete showed relatively more depth of carbonation than OPC when subjected to accelerated carbonation. The results of this investigation indicates the viability of utilizing of Saudi natural pozzolans for improving the durability characteristics of concrete subjected to chloride and sulfate exposures.

• Architectural research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2018

To improve the chloride ingress resistance of concrete, slag is widely used as a mineral admixture in concrete industry. And currently, most of experimental investigations about non steady state diffusion tests of chloride penetration are started after four weeks standard curing of concrete. For slag blended concrete, during submerged chloride penetration tests periods, binder reaction proceeds continuously, and chloride diffusivity decreases. However, so far the dependence of chloride ingress on curing ages are not detailed considered. To address this disadvantage, this paper shows a numerical procedure to analyze simultaneously binder hydration reactions and chloride ion penetration process. First, using a slag blended cement hydration model, degree of reactions of binders, combined water, and capillary porosity of hardening blended concrete are determined. Second, the dependences of chloride diffusivity on capillary porosity of slag blended concrete are clarified. Third, by considering time dependent chloride diffusivity and surface chloride content, chloride penetration profiles in hardening concrete are calculated. The proposed prediction model is verified through chloride immersion penetration test results of concrete with different water to binder ratios and slag contents.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.115-124
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• 2022

Porous basalt aggregate is commonly used in roadbed engineering, but its application in concrete has rarely been studied. This paper studies the application of porous basalt in concrete. Porous basalt aggregate is assessed for its effects on mechanical strength and durability of prepared C50 concrete; because it has a hole structure, porous basalt aggregate is known for its porosity, and porous basalt aggregates can be made full of water through changing the content of saturated basalt; after full-water condition is achieved in porous basalt aggregate mixture of C50 concrete, we discuss its mechanical properties and durability. The effects of C50 concrete prepared with basalt aggregate on the compressive strength, water absorption, and electric flux of concrete specimens of different ages were studied through experiments, and the effects of different replacement rates of saturated porous basalt aggregate on the properties of concrete were also studied. The results show that porous basalt aggregate can be prepared as C50 concrete. For early saturated porous basalt aggregate concrete, its compressive strength decreases with the increase of the replacement rate of saturated aggregate; this occurs up to concrete curing at 28 d, when the replacement rate of saturated basalt aggregate is greater than or equal to 40 %. The compressive strength of concrete increases with the increase of the replacement rate of saturated aggregate. The 28 d electric flux decreases with the increase of the replacement rate of saturated aggregate, indicating that saturated porous basalt aggregate can improve the chloride ion permeability resistance of concrete in later stages.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.793-802
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• 2017

The damage of concrete due to the expansion of alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) and thermal-chemical reactions affecting the strength of concrete is studied. The empirical equations for the variations of expansion of AAR, compressive strength and degradation of the modulus of elasticity with time, and compressive strength with degradation of the modulus of elasticity are proposed by analysing numerous experimental data. It is revealed that the expansion of AAR and compressive strength increase with time. The proposed combination of the time variations of chemical and mechanical parameters provides a satisfactory prediction of the concrete strength. Seismic analysis of the aged Koyna dam is conceded for two different long-term experimental data of concrete incorporating the proposed AAR based properties. The responses of aged Koyna dam reveal that the crest displacement of the Koyna dam significantly increases with time while the contour plots show that major principal stress at neck level reduces with time. As the modulus of elasticity decreases with ages the stress generated in the concrete structure get reduces. On the other hand with lesser value of modulus of elasticity the structure becomes more flexible and the crest displacement becomes very high that cause the seismic safety of the dam reduce.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.501-508
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• 2007

This paper presents the feasibility of using electromechanical impedance based active sensing technique for nondestructive strength gain monitoring of early-age concrete by employing piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) patches on concrete surface. The strength development of early age concrete is actively monitored by performing a series of experiments on concrete specimens under moist curing condition. The electrical admittance signatures are acquired for five different curing ages and compared with each other. The resonant frequency shifts of PZT patches with increasing days is observed which is on account of additional stiffening due to strength gain of concrete during curing and level of stiffening being related to strength obtained from compression tests on companion cylinder specimens. The proposed approach is found to be suitable for monitoring the development of compressive strength in early-age concrete. It is also observed in this study that root mean square deviation (RMSD) in admittance signatures of the PZT patches can also be used as an indicator of concrete strength development.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2017

In the present study an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to predict the compressive strength of self-compacting concrete. The data developed experimentally for self-compacting concrete and the data sets of a total of 99 concrete samples were used in this work. ANN's are considered as nonlinear statistical data modeling tools where complex relationships between inputs and outputs are modeled or patterns are found. In the present ANN model, eight input parameters are used to predict the compressive strength of self-compacting of concrete. These include varying amounts of cement, coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, fly ash, fiber, water, super plasticizer (SP), viscosity modifying admixture (VMA) while the single output parameter is the compressive strength of concrete. The importance of different input parameters for predicting the strengths at various ages using neural network was discussed in the study. There is a perfect correlation between the experimental and prediction of the compressive strength of SCC based on ANN with very low root mean square errors. Also, the efficiency of ANN model is better compared to the multivariable regression analysis (MRA). Hence it can be concluded that the ANN model has more potential compared to MRA model in developing an optimum mix proportion for predicting the compressive strength of concrete without much loss of material and time.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.249-260
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• 2006

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) in the fresh state is known for its excellent deformability, high resistance to segregation, and use, without applying vibration, in congested reinforced concrete structures characterized by difficult casting conditions. Such a concrete can be obtained by incorporating either mineral or chemical admixtures. This paper presents the results of an investigation to asses the applicability of Abram's law in predicting the compressive strength of SCC to any given age. Abram's law is based on the assumption that the strength of concrete with a specific type of aggregate at given age cured at a prescribed temperature depends primarily on the water-to-cement ratio (W/C). It is doubtful that such W/C law is applicable to concrete mixes with mineral or chemical admixtures as is the case for SCC where water to binder ratio (W/B) is used instead of W/C as the basis for mix design. Strength data of various types of SCC mixtures is collected from different sources to check the performance of Abram's law. An attempt has been made to generalize Abram's law by using various optimization methodologies on collected strength data of various SCC mixtures. A set of generalized equations is developed for the prediction of SCC strength at various ages. The performance of generalized equations is found better than original Abram's equations.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

A set of foamed concrete specimens with different densities were prepared, and several microscopic techniques, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) were used to characterize the foamed specimens. The pore and solid characteristics of the specimens at different ages were examined to investigate the effect of aging on the materials. The compressive strength and the thermal conductivity of the foamed specimens were also evaluated, and the relationship between the material characteristics and properties was integrated to identify the effect of density and aging on the material properties.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.531-538
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• 2018

The slag through sieve #4 replaced the natural fine aggregate in different proportions (0-50%) to make ready-mixed soil and slag (RMSAS). The fresh properties studied, and the concrete specimens were produced to test the hardened properties at different ages. Results showed that the workability of RMSAS decreases when the replacement increases. The unit weight increases with the replacement. The setting time extends when the replacement decreases and shortens when the replacement increases. The compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity and hammer rebound value increase with the replacement. However, the high-replacement results decrease because of the expansion factor at late age. Resistivity is close and less than $20k{\Omega}-cm$. After the industrial of steelmaking by-products are processed properly, they can be used in civil engineering, not only as a substitute for natural resources and to reduce costs, but also to provide environmental protection.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.621-632
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• 2014

This paper is aimed at adapting Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to predict the compressive strength of High Performance Concrete (HPC) containing binary and quaternary blends. The investigations were done on 23 HPC mixes, and specimens were cast and tested after 7, 28 and 56 days curing. The obtained experimental datas of 7, 28 and 56 days are trained using ANN which consists of eight input parameters like cement, metakaolin, blast furnace slag and fly ash, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, superplasticizer and water binder ratio. The corresponding output parameters are 7, 28 and 56 days compressive strengths. The predicted values obtained using ANN show a good correlation between the Experimental data. The performance of the 8-9-3-3 architecture was better than other architectures. It concluded that ANN tool is convenient and time saving for predicting compressive strength at different ages.