• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.491-502
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• 2017

In this research, the application of ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test as a nondestructive method for estimating some of the mechanical and dynamic properties of reactive powder concrete (RPC) containing steel and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers, as well as their combination was explored. In doing so, ten different mix designs were prepared in 19 experimental groups of specimens containing three different volume contents of steel fibers (i.e., 1, 2, and 3 %) and PVA fibers (i.e., 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 %), as well as hybrid fibers (i.e., 0.25-0.75, 0.5-0.5, and 0.75-0.25 %). The specimens in these groups were prepared under the two curing regimes of normal and heat treatment. Moreover, the UPV test results were employed to estimate the compressive strength, dynamic modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio of the RPC concrete and to investigate the quality level of the used concrete. At the end, the effect of the specimen shape and in fact the measuring distance length on the UPV results was explored. The results of this research suggest that the steel fiber-containing RPC specimens demonstrate the highest level of ultrasonic pulse velocity as well as the highest values of the mechanical and dynamic properties. Moreover, heat treatment has a positive effect on the density, UPV, dynamic modulus, Poisson's ratio, and compressive strength of the RPC specimens, whereas it leads to a negligible increase or decrease in the shear modulus and static modulus of elasticity. Furthermore, the specimen shape affects the UPV of fiber-lacking specimens while negligibly affecting that of fiber-reinforced specimens.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5A
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• pp.565-575
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• 2009

In recent years, there have been numerous explosion-related accidents due to military and terrorist activities. Such incidents caused not only damages to structures but also human casualties, especially in urban areas. To protect structures and save human lives against explosion accidents, better understanding of the explosion effect on structures is needed. In an explosion, the blast load is applied to concrete structures as an impulsive load of extremely short duration with very high pressure and heat. Generally, concrete is known to have a relatively high blast resistance compared to other construction materials. However, normal strength concrete structures require higher strength to improve their resistance against impact and blast loads. Therefore, a new material with high-energy absorption capacity and high resistance to damage is needed for blast resistance design. Recently, Ultra High Strength Concrete(UHSC) and Reactive Powder Concrete(RPC) have been actively developed to significantly improve concrete strength. UHSC and RPC, can improve concrete strength, reduce member size and weight, and improve workability. High strength concrete are used to improve earthquake resistance and increase height and bridge span. Also, UHSC and RPC, can be implemented for blast resistance design of infrastructure susceptible to terror or impact such as 9.11 terror attack. Therefore, in this study, the blast tests are performed to investigate the behavior of UHSC and RPC slabs under blast loading. Blast wave characteristics including incident and reflected pressures as well as maximum and residual displacements and strains in steel and concrete surface are measured. Also, blast damages and failure modes were recorded for each specimen. From these tests, UHSC and RPC have shown to better blast explosions resistance compare to normal strength concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2019

In this study, the mechanical properties of reactive powder concrete (RPC) with a constant cement to silica fume ratio of 4 were investigated. In the experimental program, reactive powder concretes with steel fiber at different ratios were produced. Five productions using quartz sand with a maximum grain size of 0.6 mm were performed. A superplasticizer with a ratio of 3% of the cement was used for all productions. $40{\times}40{\times}160mm$ prismatic specimens were prepared and tested for flexural and compression. The specimens were exposed to two different curing conditions as autoclave and standard curing condition. Autoclave exposure was performed for 3 hours under a pressure of 2 MPa. It was observed that the compressive strength of concrete, along with the flexural strength exposed to autoclave was quite high compared to the strength of concretes subjected to standard curing. The results obtained indicated that the compressive strength, along with the flexural strength of autoclaved concrete increased as the amount of cement used increases. Approximately 15% increase in flexural strength was achieved with a 4% steel fiber addition. The maximum compressive strength that has been reached is over 210 MPa for reactive powder concrete for the same steel fiber ratio and with a cement content of $960kg/m^3$. The relationship between compressive strength and flexural strength of reactive powder concrete exposed to both curing conditions was also identified.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.411-421
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• 2014

A central pullout test was conducted to investigate the bonding properties between high strength rebar and reactive powder concrete (RPC), which covered ultimate pullout load, ultimate bonding stress, free end initial slip, free end slip at peak load, and load-slip curve characteristics. The effects of varying rebar buried length, thickness of protective layer and diameter of rebars on the bonding properties were studied, and how to determine the minimum thickness of protective layer and critical anchorage length was suggested according the test results. The results prove that: 1) Ultimate pull out load and free end initial slip load increases with increase in buried length, while ultimate bonding stress and slip corresponding to the peak load reduces. When buried length is increased from 3d to 4d(d is the diameter of rebar), after peak load, the load-slip curve descending segment declines faster, but later the load rises again exceeding the first peak load. When buried length reaches 5d, rebar pull fracture occurs. 2) As thickness of protective layer increases, the ultimate pull out load, ultimate bond stress, free end initial slip load and the slip corresponding to the peak load increase, and the descending section of the curve becomes gentle. The recommended minimum thickness of protective layer for plate type members should be the greater value between d and 10 mm, and for beams or columns the greater value between d and 15 mm. 3) Increasing the diameter of HRB500 rebars leads to a gentle slope in the descending segment of the pullout curve. 4) The bonding properties between high strength steel HRB500 and RPC is very good. The suggested buried length for test determining bonding strength between high strength rebars and RPC is 4d and a formula to calculate the critical anchorage length is established. The relationships between ultimate bonding stress and thickness of protective layer or the buried length was obtained.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.457-465
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• 2013

This study discussed the influence of mixtures and curing conditions on the development of strength and microstructure of RPC using ternary pozzolanic materials. Through pilot experiment, various RPC was manufactured by adding single or mixed ternary pozzolanic materials such as silica fume, blast furnace slag and fly ash by mass of cement, up to 0~65%, and cured by using 4 types of method which are water and air-dried curing at $20^{\circ}C$, steam and hot-water curing at $90^{\circ}C$. The results show that the use of ternary pozzolanic materials and a suitable curing method are an effective method for improving development of strength and microstructure of RPC. The unit volume of cement was greatly reduced in RPC with ternary pozzolanic materials and unlike hydration reaction in cement, the pozzolanic reaction noticeably contributes to a reduction in hydration heat and dry shrinkage. A considerable improvement was found in the flexural strength of RPC using ternary pozzolanic materials, and then the utilization of a structural member subjected to bending was expected. The X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis and Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) revealed that the microstructure of RPC was denser by using the ternary pozzolanic materials than the original RPC containing silica fume only.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.393-411
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• 2022

A high-performance reactive powder concrete (RPC) has been readied alongside river sand, with 1.25 mm particle size when under the condition of 80C steam curing. As a heat and sound insulation, expanded perlite aggregate (EPA) provides economic advantages in building. Concrete containing EPA is examined in terms of cement types (CEM II 32.5R and CEM I 42.5R), doses (0, 2%, 4% and 6%) as well as replacement rates in this research study. The compressive and density of concrete were used in the testing. At the end of the 28-day period, destructive and nondestructive tests were performed on cube specimens of 150 mm150 mm150 mm. The concrete density is not decreased with the addition of more perlite (from 45 to 60 percent), since the enlarged perlite has a very low barrier to crushing. To get a homogenous and fluid concrete mix, longer mixing times for all the mix components are necessary due to the higher amount of perlite. As a result, it is not suggested to use greater volumes of this aggregate in RPC. In the presence of de-icing salt, the lightweight RPC exhibits excellent freeze-thaw resistance (mass is less than 0.2 kg/m²). The addition of perlite strengthens the aggregate-matrix contact, but there is no apparent ITZ. An increased compressive strength was seen in concretes containing expanded perlite powder and steel fibers with good performance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2019

This paper presents an experimental work on the post-fire behavior of two kinds of innovative composite stub columns under eccentric compression. The partially precast steel reinforced concrete (PPSRC) column is composed of a precast outer-part cast using steel fiber reinforced reactive powder concrete (RPC) and a cast-in-place inner-part cast using conventional concrete. Based on the PPSRC column, the hollow precast steel reinforced concrete (HPSRC) column has a hollow column core. With the aim to investigate the post-fire performance of these composite columns, six stub column specimens, including three HPSRC stub columns and three PPSRC stub columns, were exposed to the ISO834 standard fire. Then, the cooling specimens and a control specimen unexposed to fire were eccentrically loaded to explore the residual capacity. The test parameters include the section shape, concrete strength of inner-part, eccentricity ratio and heating time. The test results indicated that the precast RPC shell could effectively confine the steel shape and longitudinal reinforcements after fire, and the PPSRC stub columns experienced lower core temperature in fire and exhibited higher post-fire residual strength as compared with the HPSRC stub columns due to the insulating effect of core concrete. The residual capacity increased with the increasing of inner concrete strength and with the decreasing of heating time and load eccentricity. Based on the test results, a FEA model was established to simulate the temperature field of test specimens, and the predicted results agreed well with the test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2011

The response of concrete to transient dynamic loading has received extensive attention for both civil and military applications. Accordingly, thoroughly understanding the response and failure modes of concrete subjected to impact or explosive loading is vital to the protection provided by fortifications. Reactive powder concrete (RPC), as developed by Richard and Cheyrezy (1995) in recent years, is a unique mixture that is cured such that it has an ultra-high compressive strength. In this work, the concrete cylinders with different steel fiber volume fractions were subjected to repeated impact loading by a split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) device. Experimental results indicate that the ability of repeated impact resistance of ultra-high-strength concrete was markedly superior to that of other specimens. Additionally, the rate of damage was decelerated and the energy absorption of ultra-high-strength concrete improved as the steel fiber volume fraction increased.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.57-60
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• 2005

The objective of this paper is to investigate and analyze the behaviour of prestressed I section structural members constructed with ultra high perfomance steel fiber reinforced cementitious concrete (SFR-UHPC). This material is known as reactive powder concrete (RPC) mixed with domestic materials and its compressive strength is over 150MP. The parameters of test specimens were span to depth ratio, prestressing force, prestressing wire placement and web width. Most influential parameter to determine the failure mode between shear and flexural action was proved to be shear span ratio. The characteristics of ultra high-strength concrete is basically brittle, but due to the steel fiber reinforcement behaviour of this structure member became ductile after the peak load. As a result of the test, the stress block of compressive zone should be redefined. The proposed analytical calculation of internal force capacity based by plastic analysis gave a good prediction for the shear and flexural strength of specimens. The numerical verification of the finite element model which constitutive law developed for Mode I fracture of fiber reinforced concrete correctly captured the overall behaviour of the specimens tested.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.253-263
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• 2015

Ultra-high strength concrete which have 100 MPa compressive strength or higher can be developed applying RPC(Reactive Powder Concrete). Preventing brittle failure under compression and tension, ultra-high strength concrete usually use the steel fibers as reinforcements. For the effective use of steel fiber reinforced ultra-high strength concrete, estimation of tensile strength is very important. However, there are insufficient research results are available with no relation between them. Therefore, in this study, correlation between compressive strength and tensile strength of ultra-high strength concrete was investigated by test and statistical analysis. According to test results, increasing tendency of tensile strength was also shown in the range of ultra-high strength. Evaluation of test results of this study and collected test results were carried out. Using 284 splitting test specimens and 265 flexural test specimens, equations suggested by previous researchers cannot be applied to ultra-high strength concrete. Therefore, using database and test results, regression analysis was carried out and we suggested new equation for splitting and flexural tensile strength of steel fiber reinforced ultra-high strength concrete.