Strengthening mechanisms based on reinforcement distribution uniformity for particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites

A modified mixed strengthening model was proposed for describing the yield strength of particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites.The strengthening mechanisms of the composites were analyzed based on the microstructures and compression mechanical properties.The distribution uniformity of reinforcements and cooperation relationship among dislocation mechanisms were considered in the modified mixed strengthening model by introducing a distribution uniformity factor u and a cooperation coefficient fc,respectively.The results show that the modified mixed strengthening model can accurately describe the yield strengths of Al3Ti/2024Al composites with a relative deviation less than1.2%,which is much more accurate than other strengthening models.The modified mixed model can also be used to predict the yield strength of Al3Ti/2024Al composites with different fractions of reinforcements.

Effect of discrete fibre reinforcement on soil tensile strength

The tensile behaviour of soil plays a significantly important role in various engineering applications. Compacted soils used in geotechnical constructions such as dams and clayey liners in waste containment facilities can suffer from cracking due to tensile failure. In order to increase soil tensile strength, discrete fibre reinforcement technique was proposed. An innovative tensile apparatus was developed to deter- mine the tensile strength characteristics of fibre reinforced soil. The effects of fibre content, dry density and water content on the tensile strength were studied. The results indicate that the developed test apparatus was applicable in determining tensile strength of soils. Fibre inclusion can significantly in- crease soil tensile strength and soil tensile failure ductility. The tensile strength basically increases with increasing fibre content. As the fibre content increases from 0% to 0.2%, the tensile strength increases by 65.7%. The tensile strength of fibre reinforced soil increases with increasing dry density and decreases with decreasing water content. For instance, the tensile strength at a dry density of 1.7 Mg/m^3 is 2.8 times higher than that at 1.4 Mg/m^3. It decreases by 30% as the water content increases from 14.5% to 20.5%. Furthermore, it is observed that the tensile strength of fibre reinforced soil is dominated by fibre pull-out resistance, depending on the interracial mechanical interaction between fibre surface and soil matrix.

Effect of natural and synthetic fibers reinforcement on California bearing ratio and tensile strength of clay

Use of environmentally friendly approaches with the purpose of strengthening soil layers along with finding correlations between the mechanical characteristics of fiber-reinforced soils such as indirect tensile strength(ITS)and California bearing ratio(CBR)and as well as the evaluation of shear strength parameters obtained from the triaxial test would be very effective at geotechnical construction sites.This research was aimed at investigating the influence of natural fibers as sustainable ones including basalt(BS)and bagasse(BG)as well as synthetic polyester(PET)fibers on the strength behavior of clayey soil.To this end,the effects of various fiber contents(0.5%,1%and 2%)and lengths(2.5 mm,5 mm and 7.5 mm)were experimentally evaluated.By conducting ITS and CBR tests,it was found that increasing fiber content and length had a significant influence on CBR and ITS values.Moreover,2%of 7.5 mm-long fibers led to the largest values of CBR and ITS.The CBR values of soil reinforced with PET,BS,and BG fibers were determined as 19.17%,15.43%and 13.16%,respectively.The ITS values of specimens reinforced with PET,BS,and BG fibers were reported as 48.57 kPa,60.7 kPa and 47.48 kPa,respectively.The results of the triaxial compression test revealed that with the addition of BS fibers,the internal friction angle increased by about 100%,and with the addition of PET fibers,the cohesion increased by about 70%.Moreover,scanning electron microscope(SEM)analysis was employed to confirm the findings.The relationship between CBR and ITS values,obtained via statistical analysis and used for the optimum design of road pavement layers,demonstrated that these parameters had high correlation coefficients.The outcomes of multiple linear regression and sensitivity analysis also confirmed that the fiber content had a greater effect on CBR and ITS values than fiber length.

Study on time-varying seismic vulnerability and analysis of ECC-RC composite piers using high strength reinforcement bars in offshore environment

As the main seismic component of a bridge,seismic damage to the bridge pier has a greater effect on its subsequent service.In the offshore chloride environment,the issues(e.g.,reinforcement bar corrosion and attenuation of concrete strength)of piers caused by chloride ion seriously curtail the normal service life and deteriorate the anti-seismic property of bridge structures.The engineered cementitious composite(ECC)-reinforced concrete(RC)composite pier with high strength reinforcement bars(HSRB)is expected to solve the above problems.This study aims to clarify the time-varying seismic vulnerability(SV)of the HSRBECC-RC composite pier during its full life cycle(FLC).Based on OpenSees,the refined finite element analysis models of RC pier,ECC-RC composite pier,and HSRBECC-RC composite pier have been established.Moreover,using the nonlinear time-path dynamic analysis method,the influence of chloride ion erosion on the time-dependent seismic vulnerability(SV)of these different piers in different service life and different peak ground acceleration(PGA)were analyzed from a dynamic point of view.The research shows that the exceeding probability(EP)of the same damage level increases with the enhancement of service time and PGA and with the increase of destruction,the exceeding probability(EP)of slight damage(DL-1),moderate damage(DL-2),serious damage(DL-3),and complete collapse(DL-4)decreases in turn;the corrosion degree of chloride ion to piers is small during the early service period,the time-varying vulnerability curve of the bridge piers is almost the same as that of a new bridge,and during later service,as the extent of chloride ion corrosion deepens,exceeding probability(EP)under severe damage(DL-3)and complete collapse(DL-4)is increased,and the seismic performance is significantly enhanced.

Effects of weld reinforcement on tensile behavior and mechanical properties of 2219-T87 aluminum alloy TIG welded joints

Tungsten inert gas （TIG） welded joints for 2219-T87 aluminum alloy are often used in the fuel tanks of large launch vehicles. Because of the massive loads these vehicles carry, dealing with weld reinforcement on TIG joints represents an important issue in their manufacturing and strength evaluation. Experimental and numerical simulation methods were used to investigate the effects of weld toe shape and weld toe position on the tensile behavior and mechanical properties of these joints. The simulation results indicated that the relative difference in elongation could be as large as 96.9% caused by the difference in weld toe shape. The joints with weld toes located in the weld metal or in the partially melted zone （PMZ） exhibited larger elongation than joints with weld toes located at the juncture of the weld metal and the PMZ.

Precipitating thermally reinforcement phase in aluminum alloys for enhanced strength at 400℃

Heat-resistant aluminum alloys are widely used in aerospace and automotive fields for manufacturing hot components due to their advantages in lightweight design and energy conservation.However,the high-temperature strength of existing cast aluminum alloys is always limited to about 100 MPa at 350℃due to coarsening and transformation of strengthening phases.Here,we reveal that the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the T6 state Al-8.4Cu-2.3Ce-1.0Mn-0.5Ni-0.2Zr alloy at 400◦C increase by 34%and 44%after re-aging at 300℃for 100 h,and its thermal strength exhibits distinguished ad-vantage over traditional heat-resistant aluminum alloys.The enhanced elevated-temperature strength is attributed to the reprecipitation of the Ni-bearing T-Al_(20)Cu_(2)Mn_(3)phase,whose number density increases over one time.The significant segregation of Ni,Ce,and Zr elements at the interfaces helps improve the thermal stability of the T phase.The thermostable T phase effectively strengthens the matrix by in-hibiting dislocation motion.Meanwhile,a highly interconnected 3D intermetallic network along the grain boundaries can still remain after long-term re-aging at 300℃,which is conducive to imposing a drag on the grain boundaries at high temperatures.This finding offers a viable route for enhancing the elevated-temperature strength of heat-resistant aluminum alloys,which could provide expanded opportunities for higher-temperature applications.

Effects of culm carbohydrate partitioning on basal stem strength in a high-yielding rice population

Rice culm carbohydrate transport can simultaneously affect grain filling and stem lodging resistance by regulating non-structural carbohydrate(NSC) and structural carbohydrate(SC) contents. However, the relationship between carbohydrate transposition and culm strength is not well documented. Accordingly, a high-yielding hybrid rice cultivar(Y Liangyou 2) was tested under different N fertilization regimes at two locations, Taoyuan(a special high-yield eco-site), Yunnan province and Danyang(a representative eco-site of the middle and lower Yangtze), Jiangsu province, China. Significantly higher grain yield and basal stem strength were found at Taoyuan than Danyang under all N rates throughout the two-year experiment. At heading stage, soluble sugars, starch, cellulose and lignin contents of the basal culm at Taoyuan were significantly 132.0%, 73.7%, 1.2%, and 62.7% higher than those at Danyang, respectively. At 20 days after heading, soluble sugars and starch content at Taoyuan decreased significantly compared to Danyang, but lignin content remained higher. Culm carbohydrate transport to kernels at Taoyuan was significantly greater than that at Danyang, and the proportion of soluble sugars and starch was correspondingly 62.9%lower. However, the proportion of lignin and cellulose was 22.7% higher at Taoyuan than that at Danyang. Soluble sugars and starch partitioning were significantly reduced under an increased nitrogen application rate, but SC partitioning was little affected. There were significant positive correlations between basal culm bending stress and dry weight and cellulose and lignin proportions at both locations under all N rates, suggesting that the higher SC proportion at 20 days after heading was primarily responsible for culm strength.These results suggest that high-yielding rice populations with greater culm strength require both moderate NSC transport and greater SC accumulation.

Seismic performance of steel reinforced ultra high-strength concrete composite frame joints

To investigate the seismic performance of a composite frame comprised of steel reinforced ultra high-strength concrete （SRUHSC） columns and steel reinforced concrete （SRC） beams, six interior frame joint specimens were designed and tested under low cyclically lateral load. The effects of the axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio were studied on the characteristics of the frame joint performance including crack pattern, failure mode, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, strength degradation and rigidity degradation. It was found that all joint specimens behaved in a ductile manner with flexural-shear failure in the joint core region while plastic hinges appeared at the beam ends. The ductility and energy absorption capacity of joints increased as the axial load ratio decreased and the volumetric stirIup ratio increased. The displacement ductility coefficient and equivalent damping coefficient of the joints fell between the corresponding coefficients of the steel reinforced concrete （SRC） frame joint and RC frame joint. The axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio have less influence on the strength degradation and more influence on the stiffness degradation. The stiffness of the joint degrades more significantly for a low volumetric stirrup ratio and high axial load ratio. The characteristics obtained from the SRUHSC composite frame joint specimens with better seismic performance may be a useful reference in future engineering applications.

Charactersitics of Stress-strain Curve of High Strength Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete under Uniaxial Tension

A whole of 110 specimens divided into 22 groups were tested with varying the volume fraction of steel fibers and the matrix strength of these specimens. The stress-strain behaviors of four types of steel fiber reinforced concrete （SFRC） under uniaxial tension were studied experimentally. When the matrix strength and the fiber content increase, the tensile stress and tensile strain vary differently according to the fiber type. The mechanisms of reinforcing effect for different types of fiber were analyzed and the stress-strain curves of the specimens were plotted. Some experimental factors for stress or strain of SFRC were given. A tensile toughness modulus Re0.5 was introduced to evaluate the toughness characters of SFRC under uniaxial tension. Moreover, the formula of the tensile stress-strain curve of SFRC was regressed. The theoretical curve and the experimental ones fit well, which can be used for references in construction.

Water-induced changes in strength characteristics of polyurethane polymer and polypropylene fiber reinforced sand

As a new kind of air-hardening soil reinforcement material,polymer is being widely applied in river-bank slope reinforcement and ecological slope protection area.Thus,more attention should be paid to study the characteristics of reinforced soil after immersion.In this study,water-induced changes in strength characteristics of sand reinforced with polymer and fibers were reported.Several factors,including polymer content(1%,2%,3%and 4%by weight of dry sand),immersion time(6,12,24 and 48 h),dry density(1.40,1.45,1.50,1.55 and 1.60 g/cm^(3),)and fiber content(0.2%,0.4%,0.6%and 0.8%by weight of dry sand)which may influence the strength characteristics of reinforced sand after immersion were analyzed.The microstructure of reinforced sand was analyzed with nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)and scanning electron microscope(SEM).Experimental results indicate that the compressive strength increases with the increase of polymer content and decreases with the increase of immersion time;the softening coefficients decrease with the increase of the polymer content and immersion time and increase with an increment in density and fiber content.Fiber plays an active role in reducing water-induced loss of strength at 0.6%content.

Modified imperialist competitive algorithm-based neural network to determine shear strength of concrete beams reinforced with FRP

Fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs), unlike steel, are corrosion-resistant and therefore are of interest;however, their use is hindered because their brittle shear is formulated in most specifications using limited data available at the time. We aimed to predict the shear strength of concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars and without stirrups by compiling a relatively large database of 198 previously published test results (available in appendix). To model shear strength, an artificial neural network was trained by an ensemble of Levenberg-Marquardt and imperialist competitive algorithms. The results suggested superior accuracy of model compared to equations available in specifications and literature.

Effect of Interfacial Strength on Bending Properties of Reinforced Concrete Beams

By taking into consideration of meso-scopic level, four-point bending numerical model of different interfaces was established to analyze the effect of interracial strength on the bending properties of reinforced concrete beams with the diagrams of crack pattern, the load- step curve and the cumulative AE- loading step curve. The experimental result shows that the peak load, the cracking load and the stiffness before cracking increase with the interfacial strength. Furthermore, the specimen with strong interface presents high brittleness during the failure process, while both bearing capability and ductility could be found in the specimen with moderate interfacial strength.

Structural Behavior of Continuous Prestressed Steel Fiber Reinforced High Strength Concrete Beam

The flexural behaviors of continuous fully and partially prestressed steel fiber reinforced high strength concrete beams are studied by experiment and nonlinear finite element analysis. Three levels of partial prestress ratio （PPR） are considered, and three pairs of two-span continuous beams with box sections varying in size are designed. The major parameters involved in the study include the PPR and the fiber location. It is concluded that the prestressed high strength concrete beam exhibits satisfactory ductility; the influences of steel fiber on the crack behaviors for partially prestressed beams are not as obvious as those for fully prestressed ones; steel fibers can improve the structural stiffness after cracking for fully prestressed high strength concrete beams; the moment redistribution from mid-span to intermediate support in the first stage should be mainly considered in practical design.

Estimation of soil reinforcement by the roots of four postdam prevailing grass species in the riparian zone of Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Soil erosion and bank degradation is a major post-dam concern regarding the riparian zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir. The development and succession of vegetation is a main countermeasure,especially to enhance bank stability and mitigate soil erosion by the root system. In this study, the roots of four prevailing grass species, namely, Cynodon dactylon, Hemarthria altissima, Hemarthria compressa, and Paspalum paspaloides, in the riparian zone were investigated in relation to additional soil cohesion. Roots were sampled using a single root auger. Root length density（RLD） and root area ratio（RAR） were measured by using the Win RHIZO image analysis system. Root tensile strength（TR） was performed using a manualdynamometer, and the soil reinforcement caused by the roots was estimated using the simple Wu＇s perpendicular model. Results showed that RLD values of the studied species ranged from 0.24 cm/cm3 to20.89 cm/cm3 at different soil layers, and RLD were significantly greater at 0–10 cm depth in comparison to the deeper soil layers（＆gt;10 cm）. RAR measurements revealed that on average 0.21% of the reference soil area was occupied by grass roots for all the investigated species. The measured root tensile strength was the highest for P. paspaloides（62.26MPa） followed by C. dactylon（51.49 MPa）, H.compressa（50.66 MPa）, and H. altissima（48.81MPa）. Nevertheless, the estimated maximum root reinforcement in this investigation was 22.5 k Pa for H.altissima followed by H. compressa（21.1 k Pa）, P.paspaloides（19.5 k Pa）, and C. dactylon（15.4 k Pa） at0–5 cm depth soil layer. The root cohesion values estimated for all species were generally distributed at the 0–10 cm depth and decreased with the increment of soil depth. The higher root cohesion associated with H. altissima and H. compressa implies their suitability for revegetation purposes to strengthen the shallow soil in the riparian zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Although the soil reinforcement induced by roots is only assessed from indirect indicators, the present results still useful for species selection in the framework of implementing and future vegetation recovery actions in the riparian zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir and similar areas in the Yangtze River Basin.

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.

The ultimate strength of doubler plate reinforced Y-joints under compression loading

It is common practice in the offshore industry to solve the punching shear problem due to compression by using doubler plate. The finite-element method is a useful tool for studying this problem. The aim of this paper is to study the static strength of doubler plate reinforced Y-joints subjected to compression loading. The finite-element method is adopted in numerical parametric studies. The individual influences of the geometric parameters βand τd （doubler plate to chord wall thickness ratio） and ld/d1（dubler plate length to brace diameter ratio） on the ultimate strength are made clear. The results show the size of plate may have important effects on the strength of reinforced joints. It is found that the ultimate strength of Y-joints reinforced with appropriately proportioned doubler plates can be greatly improved nearly up tothree times to un-reinforced Y-joints.

Numerical Determination of Shear Strength of Steel Reinforced Concrete Column Strengthened by CFRP Sheets

The earthquake resistant property of reinforced concrete members depends on the interaction between reinforcing bars and surrounding concrete through bond to a large degree. In this paper a general system aimed at dealing with the failure analysis of reinforced concrete columns strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) sheets including bond slip of the anchored reinforcing bars at the foot of the columns is presented. It is based on the yield design theory with a mixed modeling of the structure, according to which the concrete material is treated as a classical two dimensional continuum, whereas the longitudinal reinforcing bars are regarded as one dimensional rods including bond slip at the foot of the columns. In shear reinforced zones both the shear CFRP sheets and transverse reinforcing bars are incorporated in the analysis through a homogenization procedure and they are only in tension. The approach is then implemented numerically by means of the finite element formulation. The numerical procedure produces accurate estimates for the loading carrying capacity of the shear members taken as an illustrative application by correlation with the experimental results, so the proposed approach is valid.

Compressive and Flexural Strengths of Cement Stabilized Earth Bricks Reinforced with Treated and Untreated Pineapple Leaves Fibres

This study compares the effect of treated pineapple leaves fibres (T-PALF) with sodium hydroxide solution and untreated fibres (N-PALF) on the compressive and flexural strength of earth bricks stabilized with 3% and 5% cement. The fibre content ranged from 0% to 5% in steps of 1% by weight. The compressive strength tests were made at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of curing;the flexural strength test were conducted at 28th day only. The results show that the T-PALF had a higher compressive strength when comparing to the N-PALF. The highest compressive strength of the bricks was obtained at 28 days of curing. The compressive strength at 28 days of stabilized brick at 3% and 5% of cement reinforced with T-PALF were 4.01 and 4.81 MPa, respectively, while the one reinforced with N-PALF was 3.19 and 4.63 MPa, respectively. The results further show that the highest flexural strength of both stabilized bricks at 3% and 5% of cement reinforced with T-PALF and N-PALF was obtained with the bricks stabilized with 5% of cement reinforced with T-PALF. This results show that bricks stabilized with 5% cement and reinforced with 3% of treated fibres content are good for construction of load bearing walls. It was observed;a significant improvement of the reinforced blocks under flexure than under compression.

An Application of the Modified Shear Lag Model to Study the Influence of Thermal Residual Stresses on the Stiffness and Yield Strength of Short Fiber Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites

The modified shear lag model proposed recently was applied to calculate thermal residual stresses and subsequent stress distributions under tensile and compressive loadings. The expressions for the elastic moduli and the yield strengths under tensile and compressive loadings were derived which take account of thermal residual stresses. The asymmetries in the elastic modulus and the yield strength were interpreted using the derived expressions and the obtained results of the stress calculations. The model predictions have exhibited good agreements with the experimental results and also with the other theoretical predictions

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.