• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.759-774
• /
• 2015

This study simulates the flexural behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beams reinforced with steel and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars. For this, micromechanics-based modeling was first carried out on the basis of single fiber pullout models considering inclination angle. Two different tension-softening curves (TSCs) with the assumptions of 2-dimensional (2-D) and 3-dimensional (3-D) random fiber orientations were obtained from the micromechanics-based modeling, and linear elastic compressive and tensile models before the occurrence of cracks were obtained from the mechanical tests and rule of mixture. Finite element analysis incorporating smeared crack model was used due to the multiple cracking behaviors of structural UHPFRC beams, and the characteristic length of two times the element width (or two times the average crack spacing at the peak load) was suggested as a result of parametric study. Analytical results showed that the assumption of 2-D random fiber orientation is appropriate to a non-reinforced UHPFRC beam, whereas the assumption of 3-D random fiber orientation is suitable for UHPFRC beams reinforced with steel and GFRP rebars due to disorder of fiber alignment from the internal reinforcements. The micromechanics-based finite element analysis also well predicted the serviceability deflections of UHPFRC beams with GFRP rebars and hybrid reinforcements.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.58-69
• /
• 1996

In recent years, the research and development about the new material proceeds rapidly and actively. In building industry, high strength concrete is of interest as a new material. Since the building structure becomes bigger, higher and more specialized, the demand of material and member with high strength expands greatly. Therefore in this experiment, cement complex with high strength was made using the condensed silica fume, a basic experiment was performed on strength property, and optimum-mixture-state was determined for manufacturing a high-strength concrete. Shear behaviour and fracture property of concrete beams with high strength were evaluated. On the whole, in spite of many researches, it is one of the difficult problems that shear fracture of concrete beams has not yet been clearly understood theoretically, and now the shear-design-standard forms in many countries are a formula based on experiment. In this study, the variable of shear behavior experiment was shear-reinforcement-ratio. By analyzing test results and comparing with computation value by ACI code, the basic data was offered on shear design of reinforced concrete beams with high strength. The effect of epoxy repair was also investigated for the beams with cracks due to flexural and shear loading.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.225-231
• /
• 2002

Severe cracks on Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures caused by structural displacement can be often one of the main reasons for the degradation of tensile and flexural rigidities of RC structures and for the deterioration of durability and serviceability of RC structures through accelerated steel corrosion. These combined factors adversely affect the performance of RC concrete, leading to shortened life time of RC structures. In consideration of these problems, we conducted 3 point bending experiments by employing three different types of concrete specimens: fiber-net reinforced concrete (FNRC), polypropylene-fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC), and plain concrete (PC). FNRC is well known for its strong corrosion resistance, light self-weight, and excellent tensile strength, while PFRC is known to be effective in crack control. FNRC was found to have the best first and final crack resistances followed by PFRC and PC, as evidenced by the highest initial crack load and the smallest final crack width, respectively. The FNRC specimens with various tensile strength of fiber net exhibited greater ultimate strengths than those for PFRC and PC. Furthermore, the crack widths of FNRC specimens were smaller than those calculated by the crack-width estimation equation of the KCI and ACI code. Therefore, we conclude that fiber net reinforcement is effective not only on crack control, but also on loading share.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.319-341
• /
• 2009

A new formulation based on lumped plasticity and inelastic hinges is presented in this paper for nonlinear analysis of Reinforced Concrete (RC) frame structures. Inelastic hinge behaviour is described using the principles of Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM). Member formulation contains provisions to model stiffness degradation due to cracking of concrete and yielding of reinforcing steel. Depending on its nature, cracking is classified as concentrated or distributed. Concentrated cracking is accounted through a damage variable and its growth is defined based on strain energy principles. Presence of distributed flexural cracks in a member is taken care of by modelling it as non-prismatic. Plasticity theory supported by effective stress concept of CDM is applied to describe the post-yield response. Nonlinear quasi-static analysis is carried out on a RC column and a wide two-storey RC frame to verify the formulation. The column is subjected to constant axial load and monotonic lateral load while the frame is subjected to only lateral load. Computed results are compared with those due to experiments or other numerical methods to validate the performance of the formulation and also to highlight the contribution of distributed cracking on global response.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.76 no.4
• /
• pp.491-503
• /
• 2020

This study extends previous experimental research on the shear behaviour of macrosynthetic fibre-reinforced concrete beams and compares them to steel fibre-reinforced concrete beams with similar mechanical and geometrical properties. This work employed two fibre types: 60/0.9 (long/diameter) double hooked-end steel fibre and 60/85 monofilament polypropylene fibre. Beams were tested by shear loading covering parameters, such as two different cross-section widths, two shear-span-to-effective-depth ratios, two fibre types and using repetitions with and without transverse reinforcement. For quantitative comparison purposes, crack pattern evolution was studied along increasing loads levels. Effects were studied by photogrammetry, including influence of fibres on crack propagation in uncracked and dowel zones, influence of fibres on stirrup behaviour, and shear deformation or kinematics of critical shear cracks. The results evidenced similar effectiveness for both fibre types in controlling shear crack propagation and horizontal dowel cracking. Both fibres provided similar shear ductility and shear deflections. Consequently, the authors confirm that residual flexural tensile strengths are a convenient parameter for characterising the shear behaviour of fibre-reinforced concrete beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.181-198
• /
• 2003

Six large scale models of conventionally reinforced concrete coupling beams with span/depth ratios ranging from 1.17 to 2.00 were tested under monotonically applied shear loads to study their nonlinear behavior using a newly developed test method that maintained equal rotations at the two ends of the coupling beam specimen and allowed for local deformations at the beam-wall joints. By conducting the tests under displacement control, the post-peak behavior and complete load-deflection curves of the coupling beams were obtained for investigation. It was found that after the appearance of flexural and shear cracks, a deep coupling beam would gradually transform itself from an ordinary beam to a truss composed of diagonal concrete struts and longitudinal and transverse steel reinforcement bars. Moreover, in a deep coupling beam, the local deformations at the beam-wall joints could contribute significantly (up to the order of 50%) to the total deflection of the coupling beam, especially at the post-peak stage. Finally, although a coupling beam failing in shear would have a relatively low ductility ratio of only 5 or even lower, a coupling beam failing in flexure could have a relatively high ductility ratio of 10 or higher.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.655-661
• /
• 2017

Fiber reinforced concretes exhibit higher tensile strength depending on the percent and type of the fiber used. These concretes are used to reduce cracks and improve concrete behavior. The use of these fibers increases the production costs and reduces the compressive strength to a certain extent. Therefore, the use of fiber reinforced concrete in regions where higher tensile strength is required can cut costs and improve the overall structural strength. The behavior of fiber reinforced concrete and normal concrete adjacent to each other was investigated in the present study. The concrete used was self-compacting and did not require vibration. The samples had 0, 1, 2 and 4 wt% polypropylene fibers. 15 cm sample cubes were subjected to uniaxial loads to investigate their compressive strength. Fiber Self-Compacting Concrete was poured in the mold up to 0, 30, 50, 70 and 100 percent of the mold height, and then Self-Compacting Concrete without fiber was added to the empty section of that mold. In order to investigate concrete behavior under bending moment, concrete beam samples with similar conditions were prepared and subjected to the three-point bending flexural test. The results revealed that normal Self-Compacting Concrete and Fiber Self-Compacting Concrete may be used in adjacent to each other in structures and structural members. Moreover, no separation was observed at the interface of Fiber Self-Compacting Concrete and Self-Compacting Concrete, either in the cubic samples under compression or in the concrete beams under bending moment.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.47-66
• /
• 2019

One method of retrofitting concrete structures is to use fiber reinforced polymers (FRP). In this research, the shear, torsional and flexural strengthening of self-compacting reinforced concrete (RC) girders are fulfilled with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials. At first, for verification, the experimental results were compared with numerical modeling results obtained from ABAQUS software version 6.10. Then the reinforcing sheets were attached to concrete girders in one and two layers. Studying numerical results obtained from ABAQUS software showed that the girders stiffness decreased with the propagations of cracks in them, and then the extra stresses were tolerated by adhesive layers and GFRP and CFRP sheets, which resulted in increasing the bearing capacity of the studied girders. In fact, shear, torsion and bending strengths of the girders increased by reinforcing girders with adding GFRP and CFRP sheets. The samples including two layers of CFRP had the maximum efficiencies that were 90, 76 and 60 percent of improvement in shear, torsion and bending strengths, respectively. It is worth noting that the bearing capacity of concrete girders with adding one layer of CFRP was slightly higher than the ones having two layers of GFRP in all circumstances; therefore, despite the lower initial cost of GFRP, using CFRP can be more economical in some conditions.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.163-171
• /
• 2021

This paper studies the effect of using multi-scale reinforcement additives on mechanical strengths, damage performance, microstructure, and water absorption of cementitious composites. Small dosages of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or polypropylene (PP) microfibers; 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% by weight of cement; were added either separately or simultaneously into cement mortar. The experimental results show the ability of these additives to enhance the mechanical behavior of the mortar. The best improvement in compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar reaches 28% in the case of adding a combination of 0.1% CNTs and 0.2% PP fibers for compression, and a combination of 0.2% CNTs and 0.2% PP fibers for flexure. Adding CNTs does not change the brittle mode of failure of plain mortar whereas the presence of PP fibers changes it into ductile failure and clearly enhances the fracture energy of the specimens. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the fracture surfaces highlights the role of CNTs in improving the adhesion between the PP fibers and the hydration products and thus enhance the ability of the fibers to mitigate cracks propagation and to enhance the mechanical performance of the mortar.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.68-80
• /
• 2022

Timber boardwalk decks are widely installed in parks and scenic areas to provide pedestrians an elevated footpath as well as harmony with the surrounding natural scene. In order to extend the lifespan of boardwalks in the outdoor environment, industrially treated pine timber, such as Pinus sylvestris, is often adopted. However, accidents of pedestrians injured by damaged boardwalk decks have been constantly reported. Therefore, the mechanical behavior of two different types of treated timber was examined in this study under repeated wetting and drying. An increasing number of radial cracks appeared with increasing length and width as more cycles were performed. A loss of more than 40% of the screw withdrawal capacity was observed in both end grain and face grain for the two types of timber after twelve accelerated wet-dry cycles, which coincides with the observation of damaged timber boardwalks in the field investigation. At the same time, it was found that both the compressive and the flexural strength was not sensitive to the wet-dry cycles especially at large cycle numbers.