Peridynamic Modeling and Simulation of Fracture Process in Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

In this study,a peridynamic fiber-reinforced concrete model is developed based on the bond-based peridynamic model with rotation effect(BBPDR).The fibers are modelled by a semi-discrete method and distributed with random locations and angles in the concrete specimen,since the fiber content is low,and its scale is smaller than the concrete matrix.The interactions between fibers and concrete matrix are investigated by the improvement of the bond’s strength and stiffness.Also,the frictional effect between the fibers and the concrete matrix is considered,which is divided into static friction and slip friction.To validate the proposed model,several examples are simulated,including the tensile test and the three-point bending beam test.And the numerical results of the proposed model are compared with the experiments and other numerical models.The comparisons show that the proposed model is capable of simulating the fracture behavior of the fiber-reinforced concrete.After adding the fibers,the tensile strength,bending strength,and toughness of the fiber-reinforced concrete specimens are improved.Besides,the fibers distribution has an impact on the crack path,especially in the three-point bending beam test.

Anti-cracking Property of EVA-modified Polypropylene Fiber-reinforced Concrete Under Thermal-cooling Cycling Curing

In order to investigate the synergistic effect of re-dispersible powder-ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer(EVA) and polypropylene fiber on the crack resistance of concrete under thermal fatigue loading, the compressive strength, ultimate tensile strength, ultimate tensile strain and tensile modulus of elasticity were tested. In addition, ultrasonic method and scanning electron microscope analysis were used to explain the microstructure mechanism. The results show that polypropylene fiberreinforced concrete presents a better performance on crack resistance than ordinary concrete, and the synergism of EVA and polypropylene fiber can improve the anti-cracking ability of concrete further.

Damage Self-diagnoses Feasibility of Fiber-reinforced Concrete Structure

The seepage theory was used to explain the variation between the specific resistance of the carbon fiber reinforced cement concrete and the carbon fiber volume ratio. The electro-dynamic seepage was observed in the cement. The longer the carbon fiber is, the smaller the critical volume to produce the electro-dynamic seepage phenomenon will be. However, the forming and stirring process is harder. In general, the average length of carbon fiber is 5 mm. Under the condition of three-point bending load, the specific resistance changes with the loading process, and a good correlation could be obtained according to the load-deflection relationship. The experimental results reveal that the carbon fiber reinforced cement based composites can be used as sensors to self-diagnoses of the damage.

Impact of Polymer Coating on the Flexural Strength and Deflection Characteristics of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Beams

Liquid polymers(LP)have become an important structural material used in the construction industry in the last decade.This paper investigates the via­bility of using commercially available LPs as a coating material to improve the flexural strength of fiber-modified concrete beams.The scope included preparing rectangular prism concrete beams with a concrete mixture includ­ing fly ash and fiber and coating them with four different liquid polymers at a uniform thickness following the curing process while one set of sam­ples was maintained under the same conditions as a control group without coating.In addition,cylindrical samples were prepared to determine the compressive strength of the concrete mixture.Following the curing process in an unconfined open-air laboratory environment for another 28 days,con­crete samples were tested to determine the flexural strength and deflection characteristics under center point loading equipment.The results revealed that all four coating types enhanced both the flexural strength and the av­erage maximum deflection of the beams compared to the control group.While the enhancement in the flexural strength changed approximately between 5%and 36%depending on the coating type,the improvements in average maximum deflections varied between 3.7%and 28.4%.

Protection of steel hooks embedded in glass-fiber-reinforced concrete against macrocell corrosion

This study evaluated the corrosion behavior of steel hooks embedded in GFRC,which were protected by a zinc-rich(96%Zn)galvanizing coating.The coating provided the hooks with active cathodic protection and a passive physical shield.Macrocell corrosion may form when the anode is smaller than the total steel surface.Thus,the steel hooks at the embedment juncture were additionally sealed against water ingress and air exchange using a construction sealant.The study was conducted in three phases in a salt-spray chamber.First,the electrogalvanized steel hooks embedded in GFRC were allowed to freely corrode for 7 days.In the second phase,the electrogalvanized steel hooks were painted with the zinc-rich coating and observed over 7 days.In the third phase,the steel hooks were protected by the zinc-rich coating together with a primer and construction sealant,and observed over 7 days.To evaluate the electrogalvanized hooks and the corrosion products formed,the thickness of the material was measured.Corrosion on the metal surface was inferred by studying the surface morphology of the hooks at various points of contact and after different periods of time.

Fresh and hardened properties of high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete containing fly ash and rice husk ash:Influence of fiber type and content

Although fibers are used only infrequently as an additive in concrete in the construction industry,fiberenhanced concrete is known to provide a wide range of advantages over conventional concrete.The main objective of this study was to investigate the influences of fiber type and content on the mechanical properties and durability of highperformance fiber-reinforced concrete(HPFRC)designed using a novel densified mixture design algorithm with fly ash and rice husk ash.Three types of fiber,including polypropylene(PP)fiber,steel fiber(SF),and hybrid fiber(HF),were considered.Based on the results,the inclusion of fibers decreased HPFRC flowability,regardless of fiber type.Although the compressive strength of HPFRC with 1.6%PP fiber content was 11.2%below that of the reference HPFRC specimen at 91 d of curing age,the 91-d compressive strengths of both SF and HF-enhanced HPFRC specimens were significantly better than that of the reference HPFRC specimen.Furthermore,the HPFRC specimens incorporating SF and HF both exhibited better splitting tensile and flexural strengths as well as less drying shrinkage than the HPFRC specimens incorporating PP fiber.However,the fiber-enhanced specimens,especially those with added SF,registered less surface electrical resistivity and greater vulnerability to chloride ion penetration than the reference HPFRC specimen.

Compressive behavior of hybrid steel-polyvinyl alcohol fiber-reinforced concrete containing fly ash and slag powder:experiments and an artificial neural network model

Understanding the mechanical behavior of hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete(HFRC),a composite material,is crucial for the design of HFRC and HFRC structures.In this study,a series of compression experiments were performed on hybrid steelpolyvinyl alcohol(PVA)fiber-reinforced concrete containing fly ash and slag powder,with a focus on the fiber content/ratio effect on its compressive behavior;a new approach was built to model the compression behavior of HFRC by using an artificial neural network(ANN)method.The proposed ANN model incorporated two new developments:the prediction of the compressive stress-strain curve and consideration of 23 features of components of HFRC.To build a database for the ANN model,relevant published data were also collected.Three indices were used to train and evaluate the ANN model.To highlight the performance of the ANN model,it was compared with a traditional equation-based model.The results revealed that the relative errors of the predicted compressive strength and strain corresponding to compressive strength of the ANN model were close to 0,while the corresponding values from the equation-based model were higher.Therefore,the ANN model is better able to consider the effect of different components on the compressive behavior of HFRC in terms of compressive strength,the strain corresponding to compressive strength,and the compressive stress-strain curve.Such an ANN model could also be a good tool to predict the mechanical behavior of other composite materials.

Assessment of fracture process in forta and polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete using experimental analysis and digital image correlation

This paper aims to characterize the evolution of the fracture process and the cracking behavior in fortaferro(FF)and polypropylene(PP)fiber-reinforced concrete under the uniaxial compressive loading using experimental analysis and digital image correlation(DIC)on the surface displacement.For this purpose,6 mix designs,including two FF volume fractions of 0.10%,and 0.20%and three PP volume fractions of 0.20%,0.30%,and 0.40%,in addition to a control mix were evaluated according to compressive strength,modulus of elasticity,toughness index,and stress–strain curves.The influence of fibers on the microstructural texture of specimens was analyzed by scanning electron microscope(SEM)imaging.Results show that FF fiber-reinforced concrete specimens demonstrated increased ductility and strength compared to PP fiber.DIC results revealed that the major crack and fracture appeared at the peak load of the control specimen due to brittleness and sudden gain of large lateral strain,while a gradual increase in micro-crack quantity at 75%of peak load was observed in the fiber specimens,which thenbegan to connect with each other up to the final fracture.The accuracy of the results supports DIC as a reliable alternative for the characterization of the fracture process in fiber-reinforced concrete.

Bending Stiffness of Concrete-Filled Steel Tube and Its Influence on Concrete Placement Timing of Composite Beam-String Structure

When the upper chord beam of the beam-string structure(BSS)is made of concrete-filled steel tube(CFST),its overall stiffness will change greatly with the construction of concrete placement,which will have an impact on the design of the tensioning plans and selection of control measures for the BSS.In order to accurately obtain the bending stiffness of CFST beam and clarify its impact on the mechanical properties of composite BSS during construction,the influence of some factors such as height-width ratio,wall thickness of steel tube,elasticity modulus of concrete,and friction coefficient on the bending stiffness are analyzed parametrically by the numerical simulation technology based on an actual project.The calculation formula of the equivalent bending stiffness of CFST is also established through mathematical statistical simulation.Then,the equivalent bending stiffness is introduced into the construction and use stages of the composite BSS,respectively,and the mechanical properties such as prestress-tensioning control value,structural deformation,and internal force of key members are comparatively analyzed when adopting two different construction plans.Moreover,the optimal construction plan of concrete placement first and then prestress-tensioning is proposed.

Discrete Numerical Study on Type II Fracture of Partially Detached Concrete Panels in Cold Region

When the upper chord beam of the beam-string structure(BSS)is made of concrete-filled steel tube(CFST),its overall stiffness will change greatly with the construction of concrete placement,which will have an impact on the design of the tensioning plans and selection of control measures for the BSS.In order to accurately obtain the bending stiffness of CFST beam and clarify its impact on the mechanical properties of composite BSS during con-struction,the influence of some factors such as height-width ratio,wall thickness of steel tube,elasticity modulus of concrete,and friction coefficient on the bending stiffness are analyzed parametrically by the numerical simula-tion technology based on an actual project.The calculation formula of the equivalent bending stiffness of CFST is also established through mathematical statistical simulation.Then,the equivalent bending stiffness is introduced into the construction and use stages of the composite BSS,respectively,and the mechanical properties such as prestress-tensioning control value,structural deformation,and internal force of key members are comparatively analyzed when adopting two different construction plans.Moreover,the optimal construction plan of concrete placementfirst and then prestress-tensioning is proposed.

Fiber-reinforced Mechanism and Mechanical Performance of Composite Fibers Reinforced Concrete

To understand the enhancing effect and fiber-reinforced mechanism of composite fibers reinforced cement concrete, the influences of composite fibers on micro-cracks and the distribution of composite fibers were evaluated by optical electron micrometer(OEM) and scanning electron microscope(SEM). Three kinds of fiber, such as polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fiber, basalt fiber, and glass fiber, were used in the composite fibers reinforced cement concrete. The composite fibers could form a stable structure in concrete after the liquid-phase coupling treatment, gas-liquid double-effect treatment, and inert atmosphere drying. The mechanical properties of composite fibers reinforced concrete(CFRC) were studied by universal test machine(UTM). Moreover, the effect of composite fibers on concrete was analyzed based on the toughness index and residual strength index. The results demonstrated that the composite fibers could improve the mechanical properties of concrete, while the excessive amount of composite fibers had an adverse effect on the mechanical properties of concrete. The composite fibers could significantly improve the toughness index of CFRC, and the increment rate is more than 30%. The composite fibers could form a mesh structure, which could promote the stability of concrete and guarantee the excellent mechanical properties.

Compressive Strength Estimation for the Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP)-Confined Concrete Columns with Different Shapes Using Artificial Neural Networks

An evaluation of existing strength of concrete columns confined with fiber-reinforced polymer( FRP) was presented with extensive collection of experimental data. According to the evaluation results, artificial neural networks( ANNs) model to predict the ultimate strength of FRP confined column with different shapes was proposed. The models had seven inputs including the column length,the tensile strength of the FRP in the hoop direction,the total thickness of FRP,the diameter of the concrete specimen,the elastic modulus of FRP,the corner radius and the concrete compressive strength. The compressive strength of the confined concrete was the output data. The results reveal that the proposed models have good prediction and generalization capacity with acceptable errors.

Strengthening reinforced concrete beams using prestressed glass fiber-reinforced polymer-Part II:Analytical study

Strengthening reinforced concrete (R. C.) beams using prestressed glass fiber-reinforced polymer (PGFRP) was studied experimentally as described in Part I of this paper (Huang et al., 2005). In that paper, R. C. beams, R. C. beams with GFRP (glass fiber-reinforced polymer) sheets, and R. C. beams with PGFRP sheets were tested in both under-strengthened and over-strengthened cases. The test results showed that the load-carrying capacities (ultimate loads) of the beams with GFRP sheets were greater than those of the beams without polymer sheets. The load-carrying capacities of beams with PGFRP sheets were greater than those of beams with GFRP sheets. The objective of this work is to develop an analytical method to compute all of these load-carrying capacities. This analytical method is independent of the experiments and based only on the traditional R. C. and P. C. (prestressed concrete) theory. The analytical results accorded with the test results. It is suggested that this analytical method be used for analyzing and designing R. C. beams strengthened using GFRP or PGFRP sheets.

A precise solution for prediction of fiber-reinforced concrete behavior under flexure

This paper presents a precise solution to predict the behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC) under the four point bending test(FPBT).All the force components at the beam section(before and after cracking) are formulated by applying these assumptions:a realistic stress-strain model is used for concrete behavior in compression,a linear response is considered for the uncracked tension region in a concrete constitutive model,and an exponential relationship is proposed as a stress-crack opening in the crack region which requires two parameters.Then the moment capacity of the critical cracked section is calculated by using these forces and satisfying equilibrium law at the section.Parametric studies are done on the behavior of SFRC to assess the sensitivity of the solution.Finally,this solution is validated with some existing experimental data.The result shows the proposed solution is able to estimate the behavior of SFRC under FPBT.

Experimental Study on the Axial Compression Behavior of Short Columns of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete

In order to study the axial compression performances of short columns made of recycled aggregate concrete,four samples were designed with different recycled aggregate replacement rates and carbon fibre reinforced plastics(CFRP)sheets.Then,monotonic loading was implemented to assess the variation trends of their axial compression properties.The ABAQUS finite element software was also used to determined the compression performances.Good agreement between experimental and numerical results has been found for the different parameters being considered.As shown by the results,recycled coarse aggregates result in improved ductility and better deformation performance of the specimens.The failure of specimens caused by pre damage can be compensated by using CFRP sheets,by which both the resistance to deformation and the axial carrying capacity of columns can be increased.

Tekcrete Fast~: Fiber-reinforced, rapid-setting sprayed concrete for rib and surface control

Fiber-reinforced spayed concrete has been used for several years in civil and tunneling operations.Research conducted to reduce cure times and increase compressive and flexural strengths resulted in the development of Tekcrete Fast~, a cementitious product capable of obtaining 41 MPa compressive strength and 8 MPa flexural strength in only 3 h and reaching 7 d strengths of 62 and 11.7 MPa, respectively.A single bag product that uses conventional shotcrete and gunite application systems makes it a natural crossover product for mining applications.The discovery of incredible adhesion properties and high resistance to chloride permeability helps ensure long-term stability and increases the ease of application.Project results from Disaster City~ in Texas and the application for rehabilitating a coal mine belt entry are presented.The case study illustrates the effectiveness of the product in stabilizing a coal mine beltway and adjacent cross-cuts that were subjected to progressive sloughage due to humidity and cyclical loading.

Carbon-Coated-Nylon-Fiber-Reinforced Cement Composites as an Intrinsically Smart Concrete for Damage Assessment during Dynamic Loading

Concrete containing short carbon-coated-nylon fibers (0.4-2.0 vol. pct) exhibited quasi-ductile response by developing a large damage zone prior to fracture localization. In the damage zone, the material was microcracked but continued to local strain-harden. The carbon-coated-nylon-fiber-reinforced concrete composites (NFRC) were found to be an intrinsically smart concrete that could sense elastic and inelastic deformation, as well as fracture. The fibers served to bridge the cracks and the carbon coating gave the conduction path. The signal provided came from the change in electrical resistance, which was reversible for elastic deformation and irreversible for inelastic deformation and fracture. The resistance decrease was due to the reduction of surface touch resistance between fiber and matrix and the crack closure. The resistance irreversible increase resulted from the crack opening and breakage of the carbon coating on nylon fiber.

Dynamic Impact Compressive Behavior Investigation of Sisal Fiber-reinforced Coral Seawater Concrete

Split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)was used to investigate the dynamic compressive properties of sisal fiber reinforced coral aggregate concrete(SFCAC).The results showed that,with the increase of strain rate,the dynamic compressive strength,peak strain and toughness index of SFCAC are all greater than its static properties,indicating that SFCAC is a kind of rate-sensitive material.When the sisal fiber was blended,the failure mode showed obvious ductility.At high strain rates,the SFCAC without sisal fiber specimen was comminuted,and the SFCAC showed a"cracked without breaking"state.The results indicated that the sisal fiber played a significant role in reinforcing and strengthening the properties of concrete.The finite element software LS-DYNA was used to simulate two working conditions with strain rates of 78 and 101 s-1.The stressstrain curves and failure patterns obtained were in good agreement with the experimental results.

Intelligent Small Sample Defect Detection of Concrete Surface Using Novel Deep Learning Integrating Improved YOLOv5

Dear Editor,This letter presents an intelligent small sample defect detection of concrete surface using novel deep learning integrating the improved YOLOv5 based on the Wasserstein GAN(WGAN)enhancement algorithm.The proposed method is capable of producing top-notch data sets to address the issues of insufficient samples and substandard quality.