Frost Resistance and Damage Velocity of Compressively Preloaded Concrete

The frost resistance and compressive strength degradation of concrete under the simultaneous action of compressive load and freeze-thaw cycles were experimentally investigated. Air-entrained and non-air-entrained specimens with different water/cement(w/c) ratios were subjected to different compressive stress by specially designed apparatus, while the specimens suffered freeze-thaw cycles. In order to track the strength degradation process, the nondestructive tests were carried out after each freeze-thaw cycle got the residual strength for each specimen. Based on the experimental data, a variable Kss was proposed to describe the damage velocity. Experimental results indicate that the deterioration processes are accelerated by the compressive loads, and the damage velocity increases with the increases of the preloading levels and w/c ratios. The air entrainment decreases the damage velocity and improves the frost resistance of non-air-entrained concrete, although it would reduce the compressive strength of concrete.

Simultaneous investigation of blast induced ground vibration and airblast effects on safety level of structures and human in surface blasting

The significance of studying, monitoring and predicting blast induced vibration and noise level in mining and civil activities is justified in the capability of imposing damages, sense of uncertainty due to negative psychological impacts on involved personnel and also judicial complaints of local inhabitants in the nearby area. This paper presents achieved results during an investigation carried out at Sungun Copper Mine, lran. Besides, the research also studied the significance of blast induced ground vibration and air- blast on safety aspects of nearby structures, potential risks, frequency analysis, and human response. According to the United States Bureau of Mines （USBM） standard, the attenuation equations were devel- oped using field records. A general frequency analysis and risk evaluation revealed that： 94% of generated frequencies are less than 14 Hz which is within the natural frequency of structures that increases risk of damage. At the end, studies of human response showed destructive effects of the phenomena by ranging between 2.54 and 25.40 mm/s for ground vibrations and by the average value of 110 dB for noise levels which could increase sense of uncertainty among involved employees.

Continuum damage mechanics based modeling progressive failure of woven-fabric composite laminate under low velocity impact

A continuum damage mechanics (CDM) meso-model was derived for both intraply and interply progressive failure behaviors of a 2D woven-fabric composite laminate under a transversely low velocity impact.An in-plane anisotropic damage constitutive model of a 2D woven composite ply was derived based on CDM within a thermodynamic framework,an elastic constitutive model with damage for the fibre directions and an elastic-plastic constitutive model with damage for the shear direction.The progressive failure behavior of a 2D woven composite ply is determined by the damage internal variables in different directions with appropriate damage evolution equations.The interface between two adjacent 2D woven composite plies with different ply orientations was modeled by a traction-separation law based interface element.An isotropic damage constitutive law with CDM properties was used for the interface element,and a damage surface which combines stress and fracture mechanics failure criteria was employed to derive the damage initiation and evolution for the mixed-mode delamination of the interface elements.Numerical analysis and experiments were both carried out on a 2D woven glass fibre/epoxy laminate.The simulation results are in agreement with the experimental counterparts,verifying the progressive failure model of a woven composite laminate.The proposed model will enhance the understanding of dynamic deformation and progressive failure behavior of composite laminate structures in the low velocity impact process.