Interconnected microstructure and flexural behavior of Ti_(2)C-Ti composites with superior Young’s modulus

To enhance the Young’s modulus(E)and strength of titanium alloys,we designed titanium matrix composites with intercon-nected microstructure based on the Hashin-Shtrikman theory.According to the results,the in-situ reaction yielded an interconnected microstructure composed of Ti_(2)C particles when the Ti_(2)C content reached 50vol%.With widths of 10 and 230 nm,the intraparticle Ti lamellae in the prepared composite exhibited a bimodal size distribution due to precipitation and the unreacted Ti phase within the grown Ti_(2)C particles.The composites with interconnected microstructure attained superior properties,including E of 174.3 GPa and ultimate flexural strength of 1014 GPa.Compared with that of pure Ti,the E of the composite was increased by 55% due to the high Ti_(2)C content and interconnected microstructure.The outstanding strength resulted from the strong interfacial bonding,load-bearing capacity of interconnected Ti_(2)C particles,and bimodal intraparticle Ti lamellae,which minimized the average crack driving force.Interrupted flexural tests revealed preferential crack initiation along the{001}cleavage plane and grain boundary of Ti_(2)C in the region with the highest tensile stress.In addition,the propagation can be efficiently inhibited by interparticle Ti grains,which prevented the brittle fracture of the composites.

Experimental and numerical study on flexural behaviors of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite beams

To investigate the flexural behaviors of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite （ECC） beams, the behaviors of the steel reinforced ECC beam and the conventional steel reinforced concrete beam subjected to flexural load are experimentally compared. The experimental results show that the flexural strength and ductility of the steel reinforced ECC beam are 24.8% and 187.67% times larger than those of the steel reinforced concrete beam, and the substitution of concrete with ECC can significantly delay the propagation of cracks. Additionally, a simplified constitutive model of the ECC material is used to simulate the flexural behaviors of beams by the finite element analysis （FEA）. The results show a good agreement between the simulation and test results. The crack width of the steel reinforced ECC beam can be limited to 0.4 mm under the service load conditions. The application of ductile ECC can significantly increase the flexural performance in terms of flexural strength, deformation capacity and ductility of the beams.

Flexural behaviors of FRP strengthened corroded RC beams

The flexural behavior of eight FRP （ fiber reinforced polymer） strengthened RC （reinforced concrete） beams with different steel corrosion rates are numerically studied by Ansys finite element software. The influences of the corrosion rate on crack pattern, failure mechanism, ultimate strength, ductility and deformation capacity are also analyzed. Modeling results show that the beams with low corrosion rates fail by the crushing of the concrete in the compression zone. For the beams with medium corrosion rates, the bond slip between the concrete and the longitudinal reinforcement occurs after steel yielding, and the beams finally fail by the debonding of the FRP plates. For the beams with high corrosion rates, the bond slip occurs before steel yielding, and the beams finally fail by the crushing of the concrete in the compression zone. The higher the corrosion rates of the longitudinal reinforcement, the more the carrying capacity of FRP strengthened RC beams reduces. The carrying capacity of RCB-1 （the corrosion rate is 0） is 115 kN, and the carrying capacity of RCB-7 （the corrosion rate is 20% ） is 42 kN. The deformation capacity of FRP strengthened corroded RC beams is higher than that of FRP strengthened uucorroded RC beams. The ultimate deflection of RCB-1 and RCB-7 are 20 mm and 35 nun, respectively, and the ultimate deflection of RCB-5 （the corrosion rate is 10% ） reaches 60 ilUn.

Research on Flexural Behavior of Coral Aggregate Reinforced Concrete Beams

Through the flexural behavior test of coral aggregate reinforced concrete beams(CARCB) and ordinary Portland reinforced concrete beams(OPRCB), and based on the parameters of concrete types, concrete strength grades and reinforcement ratios, the crack development, failure mode, midspan deflection and flexural capacity were studied, the relationships of bending moment-midspan deflection, load-longitudinal tensile reinforcement strain, load-maximum crack width were established, and a calculation model for the flexural capacity of CARCB was suggested. The results showed that with the increase in the reinforcement ratio and concrete strength grade, the crack bending moment(Mcr)and ultimate bending moment(Mu) of CARCB gradually increased. The characteristics of CARCB and OPRCB are basically the same. Furthermore, through increasing the concrete strength grade and reinforcement ratio, Mcr/Mu could be increased to delay the cracking of CARCB. As the load increased, crack width(w) would also increase. At the beginning of the loading, w increased slowly. And then it increased rapidly when the load reached to the ultimate load, which then led to beam failure. Meanwhile, with a comprehensive consideration of the effects of steel corrosion on the loss of steel section and the decrease of steel yield strength, a more reasonable calculation model for the flexural capacity of CARCB was proposed.

Influence of steel corrosion to flexural behavior of coral aggregate concrete beam

To study the flexural behavior and calculation model,8 coral aggregate concrete(CAC)beams with different types of steel were designed.The flexural behavior of CAC beam was tested.The failure mode,bearing capacity,the maximum crack width(ws)and average crack spacing(lm)were studied.A calculation model for the bearing capacity of CAC beam was proposed.The results indicated that with the steel strength increased,the cracking moment(Mcr)and ultimate moment(Mu)of CAC beam increased,and the development of the ws gradually slowed,which effectively inhibited the formation of cracks and improved the flexural behavior of CAC beam.For CAC structures in the ocean engineering,it is recommended to use organic new coated steel to extend its effective service life.In addition,considering the influence of steel corrosion,a calculation model for the Mcr,Mu,lm and ws of CAC beam was established.

Flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams with high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites

This article presents an experimental study on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete(RC)beams with fiber reinforced cementitious composites(FRCC)and hybrid fiber reinforced cementitious composites(HFRCC)in the hinge portion.Beam specimens with moderate confinement were used in the study and tested under monotonic loading.Seven diverse types of FRCC including hybrid composites using fibers in different profiles and in different volumes are employed in this study.Companion specimens such as cylindrical specimens and prism specimens are also used to study the physical properties of composites employed.The moment?curvature,stiffness behavior,ductility,crack pattern and modified flexural damage ratio are the main factors considered in this study to observe the efficacy of the employed hybrid composites.The experimental outputs demonstrate the improved post yield behavior with less rate of stiffness degradation and better damage tolerance capacity than conventional technique.

Improvement of Cracking-resistance and Flexural Behavior of Cement-based Materials by Addition of Rubber Particles

By ring test and bend test, the improvement of waste tire rubber particles on the crack- resistance and flexural behaviors of cement-based materials were investigated. Test results show that the cracking time of the ring specimens can be retarded by the incorporation of rubber particles in the cement paste and mortar. The improvement in the crack-resistance depended on the rubber fraction. When the rubber fraction was 20% in volume, the cracking time was retarded about 15 h for the paste and 24 d for the mortar respectively. Flexural properties were evaluated based on the bend test results for both mortar and concrete containing different amount of rubber particles. Test results show that rubberized mortar and concrete specimens exhibit ductile failure and significant deformation before fracture. The ultimate deformations of both mortar and concrete specimen increase more than 2-4 times than control specimens.

Flexural behavior of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite beams

In order to enhance the durability of steel encased concrete beams, a new type of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite(SRECC) beam composed of steel shapes, steel bars and ECC is proposed. The theoretical analyses of the SRECC beam including crack propagation and stress-strain distributions along the depth of the composite beam in different loading stages are conducted. A theoretical model and simplified design method are proposed to calculate the load carrying capacity. Based on the proposed theoretical model, the relationship between the moment and corresponding curvature is derived. The theoretical results are verified with the finite element analysis. Finally, an extensive parametric study is performed to study the effect of the matrix type, steel shape ratio, reinforced bar ratio, ECC compressive strength and ECC tensile ductility on the mechanical behavior of SRECC beams. The results show that substitution concrete with ECC can effectively improve the bearing capacity and ductility of composite beams. The steel shape and longitudinal reinforcement can enhance the loading carrying capacity, while the ductility decreases with the increase of steel shape ratio. ECC compressive strength has significant effects on both load carrying capacity and ductility, and changing the ultimate strain of ECC results in a very limited variation in the mechanical behavior of SRECC beams.

Characterization of the Flexural Behavior of Bamboo Beams

Bamboo is a renewable and environmentally friendly material often used for construction.This study investigates the flexural behavior of bamboo beams through theoretical and finite element(FE)analyses.Considering the material’s nonlinearity,a method of calculating load-deflection curves is proposed and validated via FE analysis.The interfacial slippage dominated by the shear stiffness of the interface between two bamboo poles significantly influences the flexural behavior of double-pole bamboo beams.Thus,the load-deflection curves for different shear stiffnesses can be obtained via theoretical and FE analyses.Subsequently,a novel configuration using diagonal steel bands to avoid slippage is presented.An inclination angle of 45°is suggested to adequately develop the stiffness and bearing capacity of the steel band.

Experimental Study on Flexural Behavior of Corroded Channel Steel Beams

In order to study the mechanical behavior of corroded channel steel beam,experiment on five corroded channel steel beams is carried out. Test results show that the bending failures may occur under the ultimate load carrying capacity of members,compared with the calculating results of non-corrosion channel steel beam,and the bearing capacity of corroded channel steel beam is reduced,while the deflection is increased. With the increase of shear-span ratio,the bearing capacity of corroded channel steel beam reduces and the deflection increases gradually; with the increment of heightspan ratio, the bearing capacity increases and the deflection decreases gradually; with the enhancement of width-height ratio,the bearing capacity reduces and the deflection-span ratio increases gradually. The measured results indicate that the load-deflection relationship curves of corroded channel steel beam may be divided into four sections: the exfoliated rust layer stage,the elastic stage,the yielding stage and the descending stage. The load-strain relationship curves include two sections: the elastic stage and the yielding stage. The strain measurement of web proves that the average strains agree well with the assumption of plane section. This paper could provide some scientific bases for the maintenance and reinforcement of the corroded steel structure.

Experimental Study on Flexural Behavior of Post-Tensioning Bonded Partially Prestressed Ultra-High Strength Concrete Beams

This paper presents the results of four partially prestressed ultra-high strength concrete beams in flexure. The test results are used to evaluate the effects of prestressing tendon depth and area on flexure behavior of specimen beams. The test results indicate that: the cracking load,yielding load,peak load and stiffness postcracking of specimen beams are enhanced by reducing prestressing tendon depth or increasing prestressing tendon area, and the flexural ductility is improved by increasing prestressing tendon depth or reducing prestressing tendon area. The effect of complex reinforcement index considering the strength of the equivalence principle and the reinforcement position on loading levels under serviceability limit state,flexural strength and displacement ductility factor are studied. The influence coefficient of prestressing tendon kpis introduced in the complex reinforcement index. As the complex reinforcement index increases, the loading levels under serviceability limit state and flexural strength increases linearly,and the displacement ductility factor decreases linearly. The test results also verify the conventional beam flexural theory based on the plane cross-section assumption for predicting ultimate flexural strength of partially prestressed ultra-high strength concrete beams is valid. After the introduction of the coefficient kp,the calculation method of cracks in code for design of concrete structure in china are appropriated for the specimen beams.

Numerical study on flexural behaviors of steel reinforced engineered cementitious composite(ECC) and ECC/concrete composite beams

Engineered cementitious composite(ECC)is a class of high performance cementitious composites with pseudo strain-hardening behavior and excellent crack control capacity.Substitution of concrete with ECC can largely reduce the cracking and durability problems associated with brittleness of concrete.In this paper,a simplified constitutive model of the ECC material was applied to simulate the flexural behaviors of the steel reinforced ECC and ECC/concrete composite beams with finite element method.The simulation results are found to be in good agreement with test results,indicating that the finite element model is reasonably accurate in simulating the flexural behaviors of the steel reinforced ECC flexural members.The effects of the ECC modulus,ECC tensile ductility,ECC thickness and ECC position on flexural behaviors in terms of ultimate moment,deflection and the maximum crack width of the steel reinforced ECC or ECC/concrete composite beam are hence evaluated.

Flexural behavior of high-strength,steel-reinforced,and prestressed concrete beams

To study the flexural behavior of prestressed concrete beams with high-strength steel reinforcement and high-strength concrete and improve the crack width calculation method for flexural components with such reinforcement and concrete,12 specimens were tested under static loading.The failure modes,flexural strength,ductility,and crack width of the specimens were analyzed.The results show that the failure mode of the test beams was similar to that of the beams with normal reinforced concrete.A brittle failure did not occur in the specimens.To further understand the working mechanism,the results of other experimental studies were collected and discussed.The results show that the normalized reinforcement ratio has a greater effect on the ductility than the concrete strength.The cracking-and peak-moment formulas in the code for the design of concrete(GB 50010-2010)applied to the beams were both found to be acceptable.However,the calculation results of the maximum crack width following GB 50010-2010 and EN 1992-1-1:2004 were considerably conservative.In the context of GB 50010-2010,a revised formula for the crack width is proposed with modifications to two major factors:the average crack spacing and an amplification coefficient of the maximum crack width to the average spacing.The mean value of the ratio of the maximum crack width among the 12 test results and the relative calculation results from the revised formula is 1.017,which is better than the calculation result from GB 50010-2010.Therefore,the new formula calculates the crack width more accurately in high-strength concrete and high-strength steel reinforcement members.Finally,finite element models were established using ADINA software and validated based on the test results.This study provides an important reference for the development of high-strength concrete and highstrength steel reinforcement structures.

An experimental study on the flexural behavior of heavily steel reinforced beams with high-strength concrete

In recent years, an emerging technology termed high-strength concrete （HSC） has become popular in construction industry. Present study describes an experimental research on the behavior of high-strength concrete beams in ultimate and service state. Six simply supported beams were tested, by applying comprising two symmetric concentrated loads. Tests are reported in this study on the flexural behavior of high-strength reinforced concrete （HSRC） beams made with coarse and fine aggregate together with Microsilica. Test parameter considered includes effect of being compressive reinforcement. Based on the obtained results, the behavior of such members is more deeply reviewed. Also a comparison between theoretical and experimental results is reported here. The beams were made from concrete having compressive strength of 66.81-77.72 N/mm2 and percentage reinforcement ratio （P/Pb） in the range of 0.56% - 1.20%. The ultimate moment for the tested beams was found to be in a good agreement with that of the predicted ultimate moment based on ACI 318-11, ACI 363 and C SA-04 provisions. The predicted deflection based classical formulation based on code provisions for serviceability requirements is found to underestimate the maximum deflection of HSC reinforced beams at service load.

Flexural Fatigue Behavior of Polypropylene Fiber Reinforced Segment Concrete

The influence of polypropylene fiber on the flexural fatigue performance of high-strength concrete (HSC), which could be used as cover of reinforcement of segment, was investigate by three-point load bending tests. Also, the flexural fatigue equations of high-strength concrete with and without polypropylene fiber were established through test analysis. The experimental results indicate that the addition of polypropylene fiber can improve the static bending strength of segment concrete, and the important is that it can markedly increase the flexural fatigue performance of the HSC subjected to cyclic bending load. Especially when with 1.37 kg/m3 addition of the fiber was corporate with silica fume and slag powder, the fatigue life of the HSC can be increased by 43.4% compared to that of the segment concrete without fiber, silica fume and slag.

Preparation and Reinforcement Adaptability of Jute Fiber Reinforced Magnesium Phosphate Cement Based Composite Materials

To improve the brittleness characteristics of magnesium phosphate cement-based materials(MPC)and to promote its promotion and application in the field of structural reinforcement and repair,this study aimed to increase the toughness of MPC by adding jute fiber,explore the effects of different amounts of jute fiber on the working and mechanical properties of MPC,and prepare jute fiber reinforced magnesium phosphate cement-based materials(JFRMPC)to reinforce damaged beams.The improvement effect of beam performance before and after reinforcement was compared,and the strengthening and toughening mechanisms of jute fiber on MPC were explored through microscopic analysis.The experimental results show that,as the content of jute fiber(JF)increases,the fluidity and setting time of MPC decrease continuously;When the content of jute fiber is 0.8%,the compressive strength,flexural strength,and bonding strength of MPC at 28 days reach their maximum values,which are increased by 18.0%,20.5%,and 22.6%compared to those of M0,respectively.The beam strengthened with JFRMPC can withstand greater deformation,with a deflection of 2.3 times that of the unreinforced beam at failure.The strain of the steel bar is greatly reduced,and the initial crack and failure loads of the reinforced beam are increased by 192.1%and 16.1%,respectively,compared to those of the unreinforced beam.The JF added to the MPC matrix dissipates energy through tensile fracture and debonding pull-out,slowing down stress concentration and inhibiting the free development of cracks in the matrix,enabling JFRMPC to exhibit higher strength and better toughness.The JF does not cause the hydration of MPC to generate new compounds but reduces the amount of hydration products generated.

Fracture mechanism of 2D-C/C composites with pure smooth laminar pyrocarbon matrix under flexural loading

Using natural gas as carbon source, 2D needle felt as preform, 2D-C/C composites were prepared by thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration. Their microstructures were observed under polarized light microscope （PLM） and scanning electron microscope （SEM）, and the flexural behaviors before and after heat-treatment were studied with a universal mechanical testing machine. The fracture mechanism of the composites was discussed in detail. The results show that, carbon matrix exhibits pure smooth laminar （SL） characteristic including numerous wrinkled layered structures and some inter-laminar micro-cracks. With the decreasing density, the strength of the composites decreases and the toughness increases slightly; after 2500 °C heat-treatment, the inter-laminar micro-cracks in matrix increase, the strength decreases, and the toughness obviously increases. The fracture mode of the composites changes from brittle to pseudo-plastic characteristic due to more crack deflections in SL matrix.

Flexural response of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with post-poured ultra high toughness cementitious composites layer

Four-point bending tests were conducted up to failure on eleven reinforced concrete (RC) beams and strengthening beams to study the effectiveness of externally pouring ultra high toughness cementitious composites (UHTCC) on improving the flexural behavior of existing RC beams.The strengthening materials included UHTCC and high strength grade concrete.The parameters,such as thickness and length of strengthening layer and reinforcement in post-poured layer,were analyzed.The flexural behavior,failure mode and crack propagation of composite beams were investigated.The test results show that the strengthening layer improves the cracking and ultimate load by increasing the cross section area.Introducing UHTCC material into strengthening not only improves the bearing capacity of the original specimens,but also disperses larger cracks in upper concrete into multiple tightly-spaced fine cracks,thus prolonging the appearance of harm surface cracks and increasing the durability of existing structures.Compared with post-poured concrete,UHTCC is more suitable for working together with reinforcement.The load?deflection plots obtained from three-dimensional finite-element model (FEM) analyses are compared with those obtained from the experimental results,and show close correlation.

Properties and calculation of normal section bearing capacity of RC flexural beam with skin textile reinforcement

In order to overcome the wide crack of ordinary reinforced concrete (RC) at service stage which affects the service performance and durability of structures,a kind of concrete structure with skin textile reinforcement is proposed,namely a part of concrete cover of RC members is replaced by textile reinforced concrete (TRC).The flexural experimental results indicate that when the reinforcement ratios of steel bars are constant,compared with control beams,the average value of crack loads of the beams,whose reinforcement ratios of textile are 0.018%,0.036% and 0.055%,increases by 15.5%,20.4% and 31.1%,respectively,the average value of yield loads respectively increases by 12.5%,19.9% and 21.1% and the average value of ultimate loads respectively increases by 8.5%,26.0% and 44.0%,respectively.Considerable reduction in cracks width and spacing is observed for specimens with a TRC layer,and when the beams yield,the maximum crack width of the beam with textile stuck no sand and the beam with textile stuck sand is reduced by around 60% and 70%,respectively.Surface treatment of textile and mixing polypropylene fiber into fine grained concrete contribute to enhance the service performance of the flexural element.Embedding U-shaped hoop has almost no effect on the control of the crack width.Finally,the calculation method of ultimate bearing capacity of this flexural component with TRC layer was presented.Comparison between the calculated and the experimental values reveals satisfactory agreement,and the maximum error is no more than 6%.

Behavior of preloaded RC beams strengthened with CFRP laminates

Eighteen reinforced concrete beams, including 16 beams strengthened with CFRP laminate at different levels of preload and 2 control beams, were tested to investigate the influence of preload level on flexural behavior of CFRP-strengthened RC beam. The experimental parameters include rebar ratios, number of plies of CFRP laminates and preload level at the time of strengthening. Theoretical analysis was also carried out to explain the experimental phenomena and results. The experimental and theoretical results indicated that the preload level has more influence on the stiffness and deflection of the strengthened beam, both at post-cracking and post-yielding stage, than that on the yielding and ultimate flexural strength of the strengthened beam. The main failure mode of CFRP-strengthened beam is the intermediate crack-induced debonding of CFRP laminates, provided that the development length of CFRP laminates and shear capacity of the beam are sufficient.