Safety Performance of a Precast Concrete Barrier: Numerical Study

The numerical simulation for a new type of precast concrete barrier for viaducts is carried out systematically.To obtain an accurate representation of the damage state of the concrete barrier under the impact of a vehicle,a stochastic damage-plasticity model of the concrete is adopted in the finite element model.Meanwhile,a simplified mathematical model of the impact between vehicles and the concrete barrier was established and the input energy was converted to the impact load to facilitate the investigation of the safety performance of the concrete barriers.On this basis,a refined finite element(FE)model of a precast concrete barrier was developed.The impact locations,impact load,boundary constraints,and reinforcement types were used as variables and the dynamic response of the precast concrete barrier was systematically analyzed under 36 working conditions.The simulated results indicated that the damage state of the concrete barrier and the stress of the reinforcing bars were accurately and quantitatively reflected.According to the computed results,some suggestions were put forward for selecting the appropriate reinforcement type of the precast concrete barrier and the connection between the superstructure and foundation.

Experimental Study of the Anti-Corrosion Performance of Montmorillonite K-10 on Rebar in HCl Environment: Application in Mortar for the Rehabilitation of Reinforced Concrete Degraded by Corrosion

This work first investigates the corrosion-inhibiting behavior of montmorillonite K-10 on reinforcing steel. The corrosion-inhibiting power of the clay (Montmorillonite) is determined in a medium HCl (C = 1N) using free corrosion potential monitoring, Tafel potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results of this study showed a satisfactory corrosion-inhibiting efficiency of around 72.665% for the optimum content of 1%. This is due to the presence of a stable oxide layer that protects the metal against corrosion. To validate the concept of montmorillonite as a corrosion inhibitor in repair mortar, we now turn to the influence of montmorillonite on the mechanical properties of mortars in the hardened state. In this part, montmorillonite K-10 is added to the mortar by partial substitution of the cement by 5% and 10% of the cement mass. The aim of this study is to ensure that the addition of this clay to the mortar composition will not have a negative effect on its compressive and flexural strengths. The results of the compression and flexural tests showed that the presence of montmorillonite in the mortar improved flexural and compressive strengths for the different compositions studied.

Experimental study on the durability of BFRP bars embedded in concrete

This paper presents an experimental study on the alkali-resistant properties of basalt fiber reinforced polymers （BFRP） bars under a typical concrete environment. BFRP bars were embedded in concrete and exposed to different aggressive environments, including tap water, saline solution and ambient temperature environments, to study the effects of the type of solution and relative humidity （RH） on the durability of BFRP. Meanwhile, BFRP bars were directly immersed in an alkaline solution for comparison. The acceleration factor describing the relationship between the alkaline solution immersion and the moisture-saturated concrete was also obtained. Aging was accelerated with a temperature of 60 ℃. The results show that the chloridion in the saline solution does not have any harmful effects on the degradation of the concrete-encased BFRP bars. Contact with an alkaline （high pH） concrete pore-water solution is the primary reason for the degradation of the BFRP bars. The degradation rate of concrete-encased BFRP bars is accelerated when a high temperature and a high humidity are present simultaneously. The degradation rate of the BFRP bars is relatively quick at the initial stage and slows down with exposure time. Results show that the degradation of 2.18 years in moisture-saturated concrete at 60 ℃corresponds to that of one year when directly immersed in an alkaline solution （other conditions remaining the same） for the BFRP bars analyzed.

Experimental study on concrete columns hybrid reinforced by steel and FRP bars under seismic loading

In order to study the dynamic behavior of hybrid reinforced concrete columns, shaking table tests of three concrete columns with equal initial stiffness were conducted.The longitudinal reinforcements include an ordinary steel bar,a steel-fiber reinforced polymer（FRP） composite bar（SFCB）, and hybrid reinforcement（steel bar and FRP bar, CH）. Test results show that the peak ground acceleration（PGA） responses of different columns are similar to each other. For an ordinary reinforced concrete（RC） column, the plastic strain of the steel bar develops rapidly after the PGA of the input ground motion reaches 100 cm / s^2, and the corresponding residual strain develops dramatically. For a SFCB column, even after the peak strain reaches 0. 015, the residual strain is below 5 × 10^- 4. For the hybrid column C-H,the residual strain of the FRP bar is similar to that of the SFCB column. In general, concrete columns with hybrid steel and FRP bar reinforcement can achieve smaller residual deformation, and the SFCB reinforced columns can be constructed in extreme environments, such as offshore bridges, due to good anti-corrosion performance.

Seismic strengthening of reinforced concrete columns damaged by rebar corrosion using combined CFRP and steel jacket

In order to study the effectiveness of combined carbon fiber-reinforced polymer （CFRP） sheets and steel jacket in strengthening the seismic performance of corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete （RC） columns, twelve reinforced concrete columns are tested under combined lateral cyclic displacement excursions and constant axial load. The variables studied in this program include effects of corrosion degree of the rebars, level of axial load, the amount of CFRP sheets and steel jacket. The results indicate that the combined CFRP and steel jacket retrofitting technique is effective in improving load-carrying, ductility and energy absorption capacity of the columns. Compared with the corrosion-damaged RC column, the lateral load and the ductility factor of many strengthened columns increase more than 90% and 100%, respectively. The formulae for the calculation of the yielding load, the maximum lateral load and the displacement ductility factor of the strengthened columns under combined constant axial load and cyclically increasing lateral loading are developed. The test results are also compared with the results obtained from the proposed formulae. A good agreement between calculated values and experimental results is observed.

BOND PERFORMANCE EXPERIMENT FOR FLY ASH CONCRETE AND STEEL BAR

The impact of fly ash content on bond performance of steel bars and their surrounding concrete is studied by means of sticking strain gauges on steel bars. The average bond stress-slip curves, the steel strain-anchor location curves, and the bond stress-anchor position curves of the pullout specimens with various fly ash contents are obtained. Results indicate that the bond performance of concrete and steel bars can be improved and the distribution of steel strain along the anchorage length tends to be more uniform by adding fly ash in concrete specimens, and both ultimate bond stress and ultimate slip deformation increase the most when 20% of specimens′ content is fly ash.

Combined effect of steel fibres and steel rebars on impact resistance of high performance concrete

The impact properties of normal concrete (NC) and reinforced concrete (RC) specimens,steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) specimens and RC+SFRC specimens with different steel fibre dosages were investigated with the drop-weight impact test recommended by ACI Committee 544.The results indicate that the number of blows to final failure is greatly increased by addition of steel fibres.Moreover,the combination of steel fibres and steel rebars demonstrates a significant positive composite effect on the impact resistance,which results in the improvement in impact toughness of concrete specimens.In the view of variation of impact test results,the two-parameter Weibull distribution was adopted to analyze the experimental data.It is proved that the probabilistic distributions of the blows to first crack and to final failure of six types of samples approximately follow two-parameter Weibull distribution.

Degradation of bond between steel bar and freeze-thaw concrete after electrochemical chloride extraction

The effect of electrochemical chloride extraction （ECE） on bond strength between steel bar and freeze-thaw concrete contaminated by chloride was experimentally investigated for beam specimens with dimensions of 100 mm × 100 mm × 400 ram. During the experiment, 3% NaC1 （vs mass of cement, mass fraction） was mixed into concrete to simulate chloride contamination, and the specimens experienced 0, 25, 50, 75 freeze-thaw cycles before ECE. In the process of ECE, different current densities and durations were adopted. It is indicated that the bond strength between reinforcement and concrete decreases with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles; the more the current and the electric quantity of ECE are, the more the loss of bond strength is; and the largest loss is up to 58.7%. So, it is important to choose proper parameters of ECE for the reinforced concrete structures contaminated by chloride and subjected to freeze-thaw cycles.

Effect of Freeze-thaw Cycles on Bond Strength between Steel Bars and Concrete

The effect of freezing and thawing cycles on mechanical properties of concrete （compressive, splitting tensile strength） was experimentally investigated. According to the pullout test data of three kinds of deformed steel bars, the bond stress-slip curves after freezing and thawing were obtained. The empirical equations of peak bond strength were proposed that the damage accounted for effects of freezing and thawing cycle. Meanwhile, the mechanism of bond deterioration between steel bars and concrete after freezing and thawing cycles was discussed. All these conclusions will be useful to the durability design and reliability calculation of RC structures in cold region.

Accelerating Effect of Wetting-Drying Cycles on Steel Bar Corrosion in Concrete

Raining and sun-shining processes in natural climate were simulated by water spraying and infrared lightshining alternately as wetting-drying cycles in accelerated durability test. The accelerating effects of the wet-ting-drying cycles and the variation of corrosion current density and corrosion potential of steel bar in concrete undersuch conditions were studied. The result shows that the main reason leading to accelerating corrosion of steel bar inconcrete is the wetting-drying cycles, which can cause the increase of corrosion potential difference between the an-ode and cathode of steel bar corrosion cell and the decrease of concrete resistance. Corrosion rate of the steel bar inconcrete under four typical conditions, including wetting-drying cycle, long time submerging in water, long time ex-posure to indoor and outdoor environment were measured and compared. The test results indicate that the corrosionrates under the four typical conditions are in the order of spraying and infrared light shining cycles, outdoor environ-ment, indoor environment, and submerging in water, respectively.

Tensile Strength Characteristics of GFRP Bars in Concrete Beams with Work Cracks under Sustained Loading and Severe Environments

To investigate the effect of different environmental conditions of GFRP bars in concrete beams with work cracks subjected to sustained loads, the beams were exposed in indoor, freeze/thaw cycles and immersed in alkaline solution at elevated temperature. The bars were carefully extracted from the beams and tested in order to evaluate residual tensile properties. The results show that the tensile strength decreased significantly in the highly aggressive conditions but not in the natural conditions. The effect of GFRP bars casting in concrete beams demonstrated approximately 2.5% decrease of tensile strength caused by pore water environment in concrete beams on basis of those of the original bars. The effect of sustained loading plus work cracks demonstrated about 10.5% tensile strength decrease on basis of those of the bars only casted in concrete beams. The effect of environments under sustained loading plus work cracks demonstrated about 17% tensile strength decrease caused by a saturated solution of Ca（OH）2 and 60-2 ℃ tap water （pH=12-13） and about 8% tensile strength decrease caused by freezing and thawing cycle （F/T）, both on basis of those of the bars of the indoor beams only under sustained loading plus work cracks. The results demonstrate the effects of the tensile strengths under different environmental conditions of GFRP bars in concrete beams with work cracks subjected to sustained loads.

Electrochemical study on semiconductive properties of the passive film on rebar in concrete

The electrochemical behavior of metallic passive film on rebar in concrete is characterized by its semiconductive nature. The charge distribution at the interface between a semiconductor and an electrolyte is often determined by measuring the capacitance of the space-charge layer （Csc） as a function of the electrode potential （E）. When the space charge-layer serves as the depletion layer, the relation of Csc^-2 vs E resembles a Mott-Schottky plot （M-S plot）. The semiconductive properties of the passive film on rebar in concrete were analyzed with M-S plots to study the effect of chloride ions and mineral admixtures on rebar passive films. Some rebar electrodes were immersed in simulated concrete pore solutions, while others were embedded in concrete with/without mineral admixtures. In saturated Ca（OH）, solutions, the relation of Csc^-2-E of rebar electrodes shows linear MottSchottky relationship indicating that the passive film on rebar is a highly disordered n-type semiconductor, with donor density （ND） in the order of 10^26m^-3. After adding chloride ions （Cl wt%〈0.2%） in system solutions, the M-S plot slopes significantly decreased and ND increased, suggesting that chloride ion will cause passive film corrosion and breakdown. The M-S plots of the passive film on rebar electrodes embedded in concrete were similar to those immersed in simulated system solution. However, ND of those in concrete with mineral admixtures tended to be a little smaller, indicating that introducing proper quantity admixtures into concrete could make the rebar passive film have a thicker space-charge layer and therefore a thicker passive film layer.

Probability calculation of rebars corrosion in reinforced concrete using css algorithms

Reinforcement inside the concrete is protected from corrosion and its damages until several years after the construction. After corrosion initiation, the cross section of reinforcement begins to reduce and often load bearing of the reinforced concrete structure will be reduced significantly. Corrosion of reinforcements in concrete in polluted and contaminated areas can occur in two ways: chloride and carbonation. In this work, meta-heuristic approach of charged system search(CSS) is used to calculate corrosion occurrence probability due to chloride ions penetration. The model efficiency is verified by comparing the available examples in technical literature and results of Monte Carlo analysis. According to the analyses performed, using different probabilistic distributions regardless of probabilistic moments based on real distribution leads to diverse results. In addition, influence of each effective parameter in corrosion occurrence varies by changing other parameters.

Bond Behavior between BFRP Bars and Hybrid Fiber Recycled Aggregate Concrete after High Temperature

The aim of this study is to improve the bond performance of basalt fiber reinforced polymer(BFRP)bars and recycled aggregate concrete(RAC)after being exposed to high temperatures.The bond behavior(failure modes,bond strength,bond stress-slip curves)between BFRP bars and hybrid fiber recycled aggregate concrete(HFRAC)after being exposed to temperatures ranging from 20℃up to 500℃was studied by using pull-out tests.The effect of high temperatures on mechanical properties of concrete(compressive strength,splitting tensile strength)and tensile strength of BFRP bars was also investigated.The bond strength decreased as the temperature increased and the drop of bond strength between RAC and BFRP bar was larger than that between HFRAC and BFRP bar.As the temperature rises,the key factor affecting the bond strength was gradually transformed from concrete strength to BFRP bar strength.The relationship between bond stress and slip in the dimensionless bond stress-slip ascending section was established,which was in good agreement with the experimental results.

Experimental study on bond behavior between BFRP bars and seawater sea-sand concrete

Combining fiber reinforced polymer(FRP)with seawater sea-sand concrete(SSC)can solve the shortage of river sand that will be used for marine engineering construction.The bond performance of BFRP bars and SSC specimens is researched by pull-out test in this paper.The effects of the parameters,such as bar type,bar diameter,concrete type and stirrup restraint,are considered.It is beneficial to the bonding performance by the reduction of bar diameter.The utilization of seawater sea-sand has a low influence on the bond properties of concrete.The bond strength of BFRP is slightly lower than the steel rebar,but the difference is relatively small.The failure mode of the specimen can be changed and the interfacial bond stress can be improved by stirrups restraint.The bond-slip curves of BFRP ribbed rebar include micro slip stage,slip stage,descent stage and residual stage.The bond stress shows the cycle attenuation pattern of sine in the residual stage.In addition,the bond-slip model of BFRP and SSC is obtained according to the experimental results and related literature,while the predicted curve is also consistent well with the measured curve.

Preparation of Heavyweight Ultra-high Performance Concrete Using Barite Sand and Titanium-rich Heavy Slag Sand

The heavyweight ultra-high performance concrete(HUHPC)was prepared with barite sand partially replaced by titanium-rich heavy slag sand(THS)at replacement proportion of 0%,30%,50%,70%and 100%in this work.The results show that THS incorporation can effectively improve the mechanical properties and reduce the volume shrinkage of HUHPC.The HUHPC with 50%THS replacement reaches an apparent density of 2890 kg/m^(3)(for fresh HUHPC),28 d compressive strength of 129 MPa,28 d flexural strength of 23 MPa,28 d flexural toughness of 28.4,56 d volume shrinkage of 359×10^(-4) and,as expected,excellent durability.Microstructural investigation demonstrates that the internal curing of pre-wetted THS promotes the hydration of the surrounding cement paste thereby strengthening the interfacial transition zone,resulting in the“hard shell”formation around aggregate to“protect”the aggregate.Additionally,the“pin structure”significantly improves the cement paste-aggregate interfacial connection.The combination of“hard shell protection”and“pin structure”remarkably improve the mechanical properties of HUHPC produced with porous THS aggregate.

Bonding stress—slip constitutive behavior between bars and grout concrete

To establish bonding stress—slip constitutive model between bars and grout concrete,13 test specimens were employed to study the bonding behavior and the force transfer of bars adhered to grout concrete. The bonding stress development of bars adhered to grout concrete was analyzed. The local bonding stress—slip curve was obtained. Based on the test results,a new bonding stress— slip constitutive model between bars and grout concrete was proposed. The results show that the maximum bonding stress is not influenced by the bar bond length,but it is strengthened when the splitting strength of grout concrete is increased. The model matches the experimental results well,and the regressing coefficient equals 1.7.

Analysis of inhibition of concrete steel-rebar corrosion by Na_2Cr_2O_7 concentrations:Implications for conflicting reports on inhibitor effectiveness

Corrosion test data were measured using non-destructive electrochemical techniques and analysed for studying inhibition effectiveness by different concentrations of NazCr207 on the corrosion of concrete steel-rehar in NaC1 and in H2SO4 media. For these, specifications of ASTM G16-95 R04 were combined with the normal and the Gumbel probability density functions as model analytical methods for addressing issues of conflicting reports of inhibitor effectiveness that had generated concerns. Results show that reinforced concrete samples admixed with concentrations having 4 g （0.012 7 tool）, 8 g （0.025 4 mol） and 6 g （0.019 l tool） NaaCr207 exhibited, in that order, high inhibition effectiveness, with respective efficiency, r/, of （90.46±1.30）%, （88.41＋2.24）% and （84.87±4.74）%, in the NaC1 medium. These exhibit good agreements within replicates and statistical methods for the samples. Also, optimal inhibition effectiveness model in the H2SO4 medium was exhibited by 8 g （0.025 4 mol） Na2Cr207 concentration having r/=（78.44±1.10）%. These bear implications for addressing conflicting test data in the study of effective inhibitors for mitigating steel-rebar corrosion in aggressive environments.

A Study on the Bond Strength between High Performance Concrete and Reinforcing Bar

As a preliminary study for the erection of floating structures using high performance concrete, this paper examines the bond characteristics between concrete and the reinforcing bar. Since the floating structure is constructed in aquatic environment, corrosion of the reinforcing steel is likely to develop more prematurely than in onshore structure in case of concrete cracking. A solution to this corrosion problem could use FRP rebar instead of steel reinforcement. To that goal, an experimental study is conducted on the concrete-FRP bond strength to verify if such FRP rebar develops performance comparable to the conventional steel rebar. A series of tests are performed considering the bond length of ordinary steel rebar and G-FRP rebar as test variable with respect to the strength of concrete, and the results are presented.

Comparative Studies of Steel, Bamboo and Rattan as Reinforcing Bars in Concrete: Tensile and Flexural Characteristics

This study comparatively evaluated the flexural performance and deformation characteristics of concrete elements reinforced with bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris), rattan (Calamuc deerratus) and the twisted steel rebars. The yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and the elongation of 50 specimens of the three materials were determined using a universal testing machine. Three beams of concrete strength 20 N/mm2 at age 28 days were separately reinforced with bamboo, rattan and steel bars of same percentage, while the stirrups were essentially mild steel bars. The beams were subjected to centre-point flexural loading according to BS 1881 to evaluate the flexural behaviour. The YS of bamboo and rattan bars were 13% and 45% of that of steel respectively, while their UTS were 16% and 62% of that of steel in the same order. The elongation of bamboo, rattan and steel were 7.42%, 10% and 14.7% respectively. The natural rebars were less than the 12% minimum requirement of BS 4449. The load-deflection plots of bamboo and steel RC beams were quadratic, while rattan RC beams had curvilinear trend. The stiffness of bamboo RC beams (BB) and rattan RC beams (RB) were 32% and 13.5% of the stiffness of steel RC beams (SB). The post-first crack residual flexural strength was 41% for BB and SB, while RB was 25%. Moreover, the moment capacities of BB and RB corresponded to 51% and 21% respectively of the capacity of steel RC beams. The remarkable gap between the flexural capacities of the natural rebars and that of steel can be traced not only to the tensile strength but also the weak bonding at the bar-concrete interface. It can be concluded that the bamboo bars are suitable rebars for non-load bearing and lightweight RC flexural structures, while more pre-strengthening treatment is required more importantly for rattan for improved interfacial bonding and load-carrying capacity.