Behavior of RC two-way slabs strengthened with CFRP-steel grid under concentrated loading

A novel composite technique of orthogonally bonding carbon fiber-reinforced polymer （CFRP） strips and steel strips is proposed to improve the performance of reinforced concrete （RC） structures based on co-working of CFRP strips and steel strips. To verify the effectiveness of the method for strengthening RC two-way slabs, seven flat slabs with the dimensions of i 500 mm x 1 500 mm x 70 mm and an internal reinforcement ratio of 0.22% were prepared and tested until failure under concentrated loading, of which one was unstrengthened, one was strengthened with CFRP strips bonded to its soffit making a grid pattern （termed the CFRP grid）, and five were strengthened with a hybrid grid of CFRP strips and steel strips in two orthogonal directions （termed the CFRP-steel grid） to the bottom with steel bolt anchorage. The investigation parameters are the strengthening method, the strip spacing （150, 200, and 250 mm） and the layers of CFRP strips （one layer, two layers, and three layers of CFRP strips are applied for CFRP-steel grid）. The experimental results show that the strengthening RC two-way slabs with CFRP-steel grid are effective in delaying concrete cracking and enhancing the load-carrying capacity and deformability in comparison to the CFRP grid strengthening. The yield-line analysis model is proposed to predict the load-carrying capacity of the strengthened slabs. The prediction results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Sensor location in concrete slabs with various layout of opening using modified ‘FEMS-COMAC’ approach

Two-way concrete slabs are widely used around the world for the construction of many types of infrastructures and common buildings. The optimal sensor placement(OSP) in slabs with various opening positions is the most important issue in structural health monitoring(SHM) to increase reliability. In this study, a novel approach of OSP was evaluated to obtain the number and placement of sensors using examination of the closed loop performance. The nonlinear finite element(NFE) was used to discretize the mechanism behavior of slab. Multi-Objective Optimization based on the coordinate modal assurance criterion(COMAC) and cost considerations was considered in the optimization processes. All of the analysis, discretization and optimization process was designed and developed as a novel approach in Matlab by the author under the name ‘FEMS-COMAC’(FEM analysis of slab with COMAC). The points in the finite element method(FEM) mesh were classified as line by line information along the slab. The OSP in each line was optimized according to the objective function. The slabs with various width, thickness, aspect ratio and opening position were selected as case studies. The results of the OSP using the COMAC algorithm around the slab openings were compared with the novel ‘FEMS-COMAC’ method. The statistical analysis according Mann-Whitney criteria shows that there were significant differences between them in some of the case studies(mean P-value=0.54).

Punching shear behavior of steel fiber reinforced recycled coarse aggregate concrete two-way slab without shear reinforcement

In this paper,the punching shear performance of 8 steel fiber reinforced recycled coarse aggregate concrete(SFRCAC)two-way slabs with a size of 1800 mm×1800 mm×150 mm was studied under local concentric load.The effects of RCA replacement ratio(rg)and SF volume fraction(Vf)on the punching shear performance of SFRCAC two-way slabs were investigated.Digital Image Correlation(DIC)measurement and Acoustic Emission(AE)technique were introduced to collect pictures and relevant data during the punching shear test.The test results show that the SFRCAC two-way slab mainly exhibits punching shear failure and flexure failure under local concentric load.The punching shear failure space area of SFRCAC two-way slab has no obvious change with increasing rg,however,show a gradual increase trend with increasing Vf.Both of the punching shear ultimate bearing capacity(Pu)and its deflection of SFRCAC two-way slab decrease with increasing rg and increase with increasing Vf,respectively.Finally,through the regression analysis of the results from this study and the data collected from related literature,the influence of rg and Vf on the Pu of two-way slabs were obtained,and the equations in GB 50010-2010,ACI 318-19,and Eurocode 2 Codes were amended,respectively.Furthermore,the amended equations were all applicable to predicted the ultimate bearing capacity of the ordinary concrete two-way slab,RCAC two-way slab,SFRC two-way slab,and SFRCAC two-way slab.