• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.669-682
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• 2017

The use of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) in composite columns offers numerous structural benefits, and has received recent research attention. However, the information regarding the behavior of steel tube confined concrete (STCC) columns employing UHPC has been extremely limited. Thus, this paper presents an overview of previous experimental studies on circular STCC columns with taking into account various concrete strengths to point out their distinctive features. The effect of the confinement factor and the diameter to thickness ratio on both strength and ductility in circular STCC columns employing UHPC was investigated. The applicability of current design codes such as EC4, AISC, AIJ and some available analytical models for concrete confined by steel tube was also validated by the comparison of ultimate loads between the prediction and the test results of Schneider (2006) and Xiong (2012). To predict the stress-strain curves for confined UHPC in circular STCC stub columns, a simplified model was proposed and verified by the comparison with experimental stress-strain curves.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.327-337
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• 2023

Concrete is the most widely used building material, with various types including high- and ultra-high-strength, reinforced, normal, and lightweight concretes. However, accurately predicting concrete properties is challenging due to the geotechnical design code's requirement for specific characteristics. To overcome this issue, researchers have turned to new technologies like machine learning to develop proper methodologies for concrete specification. In this study, we propose a highly accurate deep learning-based predictive model to investigate the compressive strength (UCS) of lightweight concrete with natural aggregates (pumice). Our model was implemented on a database containing 249 experimental records and revealed that water, cement, water-cement ratio, fine-coarse aggregate, aggregate substitution rate, fine aggregate replacement, and superplasticizer are the most influential covariates on UCS. To validate our model, we trained and tested it on random subsets of the database, and its performance was evaluated using a confusion matrix and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) overall accuracy. The proposed model was compared with widely known machine learning methods such as MLP, SVM, and DT classifiers to assess its capability. In addition, the model was tested on 25 laboratory UCS tests to evaluate its predictability. Our findings showed that the proposed model achieved the highest accuracy (accuracy=0.97, precision=0.97) and the lowest error rate with a high learning rate (R2=0.914), as confirmed by ROC (AUC=0.971), which is higher than other classifiers. Therefore, the proposed method demonstrates a high level of performance and capability for UCS predictions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.305-316
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• 2022

Externally bonded ultrahigh performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is commonly used as a strengthening material for reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This study reports the results of an experimental program investigating the bonding behavior between concrete and prefabricated UHPFRC plates. The overall experimental program is consisting of five RC specimens, which are strengthened using the different lengths and widths of prefabricated UHPFRC plates. These specimens were analyzed using the pull-pull double-shear test. The performance of each strengthened specimen is presented, discussed and compared in terms of failure mode, maximum load, load-slip relationship, fracture energy and strain distribution. Specimen C-25-160-300 which bonded along the whole width of 160 mm recorded the highest maximum load (109.2 kN) among all the analysed specimens. Moreover, a 3D numerical finite element model (FEM) is proposed to simulate the bond behavior between concrete and UHPFRC plates. Moreover, this study reviews the analytical models that can predict the relationship between the maximum bond stress and slip for strengthened concrete elements. The proposed FEM is verified against the experimental program and then used to test 36 RC specimens strengthened with prefabricated UHPFRC plates with different concrete grades and UHPFRC plate widths. The obtained results together with the review of analytical models helped in the formation of a design equation for estimating the bond stress between concrete and prefabricated UHPFRC plates.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.449-455
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• 2016

This study is a part of research to develop a steel-concrete hybrid girder using ultra high-performance concrete with a compressive strength of 80 MPa. To this end, the Eurocode design formula for the shear resistance developed in a concrete-to-concrete interface was examined for the interface between concrete layers of different strengths. To examine the effect of the surface roughness on the shear resistance, a push-out test was conducted on specimens while considering the parameters of the Eurocode design equation. The actual behavior was evaluated with respect to the compressive strength of the concrete, the reinforcement ratio of the shear rebar, and the interfacial surface condition. The specimen with a rough interface shows 20-50% higher shear strength than that estimated by the design equation. In the case of failure mode, abrupt failure tends to occur at the interface of the concrete layer for the specimen with a low reinforcement ratio. It is expected that the shear strength of the concrete layer will increase according to the strength differential in the concrete layers.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.87-92
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• 2010

This study set up 25, 35% for silica fume, SFFB's 2 level and water-combination material ratio, silica fume 10% for substitution ratio, and 4 level of SFFB 5, 10, 15(%) in order to compare and analyze the quality characteristic of ultra high strength concrete according to the substitution ratio of silica fume free binder (SFFB) that can be utilized as a substitute material for silica fume. As a result of an experimentation, the lower water-combination material ratio was, the higher addition ratio of high performance water-reducing agent for securing target liquidity increased, and it indicated the tendency that addition ratio of high performance water-reducing agent decreases because of material characteristic that SFFB has a lower absorptiveness than silica fume. The best strength was shown when SFFB substitution ratio is 10% at compressive strength and when substitution ratio is 15% at tensile strength, and it was indicated that at autogenous shrinkage contraction decreases compared to Plain(SF) regardless of substitution ratio of W/B and SFFB.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.61-69
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• 2019

In this study, the flexural strength and curvature ductility factor of single and hybrid fiber reinforced ultra high strength concrete flexural members with conventional steel rebar were evaluated by experimental program with 3-UHSC beams. Test specimens were loaded by 4-pointed flexural loading. According to the test results, hybrid fiber reinforced UHPC test specimens had higher moment resisting capacity and ductility. For the safe design of hybrid fiber reinforced UHPC, test specimens were analyzed according to the sectional analysis method with material models suggested by K-UHPC design recommendation. Current K-UHPC design recommendation predict the moment resisting capacity of member conventionally and over-estimated the ductility.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2021

To address the limitation of the commonly used steam curing of reactive powder concrete (SC-RPC) in engineering, a preparation technology of normal curing reactive powder concrete (NC-RPC) is proposed. In this study, an experimental comparative research on the mechanical properties of NC-RPC and SC-RPC under uniaxial tension is conducted. Under the premise of giving full play to the ultra-high performance of RPC, the paper tries to explore whether normal curing can replace steam curing. The results show that various mechanical indexes of NC-RPC (e.g., tensile strength, ultimate tensile strain, elastic modulus and deformation performance) could basically reach the mechanical index values in steam curing at 28d age, some performance is even better at a longer age. So it affirms the feasibility of normal curing. In this paper, the influence of normal curing age on the tensile properties of RPC is discussed, and the relationship between each index and age is introduced in detail. Based on the experimental data, the tensile mechanism of RPC is analyzed theoretically, and two kinds of tensile constitutive models for RPC are proposed, one is curvilinear model, and another one is polygonal line model. The validity of the two models is further verified by the test results of others.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2022

In this article, the flexural and shear capacity of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete beams (UHPFRC) using two kinds of rebars, including GFRP and steel rebars, are experimentally investigated. For this purpose, six UHPFRC beams (250 × 300 × 1650 mm) with three reinforcement ratios (ρ) of 0.64, 1.05, and 1.45 were constructed using 2% steel fibers by volume. Half of the specimens were made of UHPFRC reinforced with GFRP rebars, while the other half were reinforced with conventional steel rebars. All specimens were tested to failure in four-point bending. Both the load-deformation at mid-span and the failure pattern were studied. The results showed that utilizing GFRP bars increases the flexural strength of UHPFRC beams in comparison to those made of steel bars, but at the same time, it reduces the post-cracking strain hardening. Furthermore, by increasing the percentage of longitudinal bars, both the post-cracking strain hardening and load-bearing capacity increase. Comparing the experiment results with some of the available equations and provisions cited in the valid design codes reveals that some of the equations to predict the flexural strength of UHPFRC beams reinforced with conventional steel and GFRP bars are reasonably conservative, while Khalil and Tayfur model is un-conservative. This issue makes it essential to modify the presented equations in this research for predicting the flexural strength of UHPFRC beams using GFRP bars.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2023

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is produced using high amount of cementitious materials, very low water/cementitious materials ratio, fine-sized fillers, and steel fibers. Due to the dense microstructure of UHPC, it possesses very high strength, elasticity, and durability. Besides that, the UHPC exhibits high ductility and fracture toughness due to presence of fibers in its matrix. While the high ductility of UHPC allows it to undergo high strain/deflection before failure, the high fracture toughness of UHPC greatly enhances its capacity to absorb impact energy without allowing the formation of severe cracking or penetration by the impactor. These advantages with UHPC make it a suitable material for construction of the structural members subjected to special loading conditions. In this research work, the UHPC mixtures having three different dosages of steel fibers (2%, 4% and 6% by weight corresponding to 0.67%, 1.33% and 2% by volume) were characterized in terms of their mechanical properties including facture toughness, before using these concrete mixtures for casting the slab specimens, which were tested under high-energy impact loading with the help of a drop-weight impact test setup. The effect of fiber content on the impact energy absorption capacity and central deflection of the slab specimens were investigated and the equations correlating fiber content with the energy absorption capacity and central deflection were obtained with high degrees of fit. Finite element modeling (FEM) was performed to simulate the behavior of the slabs under impact loading. The FEM results were found to be in good agreement with their corresponding experimentally generated results.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.295-301
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• 2011

Recently, the use of UHPC made of superplasticizers, silica fume, and steel fibers has been increasing worldwide. Although UHPC has a very high strength as well as an excellent durability performance due to its dense microstructures, earlyage cracks may occur due to the high heat of hydration and autogenous shrinkage caused by low W/B and high unit cement content. The early-age shrinkage cracking of UHPC can be controlled by using the shrinkage reducers and expansive admixtures having autogenous shrinkage compensation effect. In this paper, ultrasonic pulse velocity of UHPC containing shrinkage reducers and expansive agents was measured to predict its stiffness change. Also, the effect of shrinkage reducers and expansive agents on the autogenous shinkage of UHPC was investigated through the shrinkage test of UHPC specimens. Furthermore, the material coefficients of autogenous shrinkage prediction model were determined using the autogenous shrinkage values of UHPC with age. Consequently, the test results showed that, by adding shrinkage reducers and expansive agents, the stiffness of UHPC was rapidly developed at early-ages and the autogenous shrinkage was considerably reduced.