SIZE EFFECT AND LOADING RATE DEPENDENCE OF THE PRESSURE-SENSITIVITY OF CARBON FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE(CFRC)

Carbon fiber reinforced concrete(CFRC) was found to be anintrinsically smart material. An experi- mental study is presented toexamine the influence of size effect and loading rate on thepressure-sensitivity of CFRC during the elastic regime. The resultsshow that the sensitiv- ity increases with the size of specimenincreasing and load- ing rate makes no influence on it. The former isbecause the deformation of higher specimen is larger than lower oneunder the same compressive stress. The behind is because thedeformation of specimen is the same under the same com- pressivestress although the loading rate is different. Therefore, the smartbeharvior of CFRC also reflects the Deformation of material undercompressive stress.

Mechanical Properties of Layered Steel Fiber and Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete

To explore a new structure form of fiber reinforced concrete, namely, the layered steel fiber and layered hybrid fiber reinforced concrete （LSFRC and LHFRC）, the mechanical properties of LSFRC and LHFRC, such as compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, fatigue and durability were focused on. The experimental results show that LSFRC and LHFRC can improve the flexural strength of concrete by 20%-50%. In the aspect of improving the flexural strength of concrete, adulterant rate has more obvious effect than length/diameter ratio. Double logarithmic fatigue equation considered liveability was founded. The impermeability of LHFRC is superior to LSFRC and plain concrete （C）. However, the porosity of LHFRC is lower than LSFRC and C. The shrinkage of LHFRC at every age is obviously lower than C. The antifreeze durability of LHFRC is also better than C.

Flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams with high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites

This article presents an experimental study on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete(RC)beams with fiber reinforced cementitious composites(FRCC)and hybrid fiber reinforced cementitious composites(HFRCC)in the hinge portion.Beam specimens with moderate confinement were used in the study and tested under monotonic loading.Seven diverse types of FRCC including hybrid composites using fibers in different profiles and in different volumes are employed in this study.Companion specimens such as cylindrical specimens and prism specimens are also used to study the physical properties of composites employed.The moment?curvature,stiffness behavior,ductility,crack pattern and modified flexural damage ratio are the main factors considered in this study to observe the efficacy of the employed hybrid composites.The experimental outputs demonstrate the improved post yield behavior with less rate of stiffness degradation and better damage tolerance capacity than conventional technique.

Effect of Acid Rain Erosion on Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Acid rain can deteriorate the performance of reinforced concrete structure.Combined with the characteristics of acid rain in China,the properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete subjected to acid rain were studied.The effects of steel fiber content and pH value of acid rain on the mass loss,erosion depth,neutralization depth,and splitting tensile strength of tested concrete were investigated.The mercury intrusion pore（MIP） test was used to analyze the influence of steel fiber on the acid rain resistance of concrete matrix.The results show that the corrosion of steel fiber reinforced concrete subjected to acid rain results from the combined effect of H^＋ and SO4^2- in the acid rain,and steel fiber can improve the acid rain resistance of the tested concrete by improving the pore structure and enhancing the tie effect of the concrete matrix.The experiment further indicates that the optimum content of steel fiber is 1.5%compared to the various mixing proportion in this tests.The tested concrete mass loss and splitting tensile strength decrease followed by increasing as a function of corrosion time when the pH value of the simulation solution is 3 or 4,while they decrease continuously in the simulation solution at pH 2.Thanks to the tie effect of steel fiber,the spalling of concrete matrix is significantly improved,and the erosion depth and neutralization depth are less than those of conventional concrete.

Spalling and Mechanical Properties of Fiber Reinforced High-performance Concrete Subjected to Fire

Spalling and mechanical properties of FRHPC subjected to fire were tested on notched beams. The results confirm that the internal vapor pressure is the leading reason for spalling of high-performance concrete （HPC）. At the same time, the temperature-increasing velocity and constrained conditions of concrete element also play significant roles in spalling. Steel fibers cannot reduce the risk of spalling, although they have obvious beneficial effects on the mechanical properties of concrete before and after exposure to fire. Polypropylene （PP） fibers are very useful in preventing HPC from spalling, however, they have negative effects on the strengths. By using hybrid fibers （steel fibers＋PP fibers）, both good anti-spalling performance and improved mechanical properties come true, which may provide necessary safe guarantee for the rescue work and structure repair after fire disaster.

Mechanical Properties of Layered Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete

To improve the mechanical properties of concrete,Layered Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete (LHFRC) was developed in this paper.Through comparative tests,the effects of layered hybrid fibers on a series of mechanical properties of concrete were discussed.The mechanical properties include compressive strength,tensile strength,flexural strength,compressive stress-strain relationship,flexural toughness and cracking resistance of concrete.The testing results and analysis demonstrate that layered hybrid fibers can significantly improve the flexural strength,toughness and cracking resistance of concrete while the cost of concrete increases slightly.

Strain coordination of quasi-plane-hypothesis for reinforced concrete beam strengthened by epoxy-bonded glass fiber reinforced plastic plate

The testing of thirteen reinforeed concrete （RC） beams strengthened by epoxy-bonded glass fiber reinforced plastic plate （GFRP） shows that the RC beam and the GFRP plate with epoxy bonding on it can work fairly well in coordination to eaeh other. But there is relative slipping between RC beam and GFRP plate. And the strain of GFRP and steel rebar of RC beam satisfies the quasi-plane-hypothesis, that is, the strain of longitudinal fiher that parallels to the neutral axis of plated beam within the scope of effective height （ h0 ） of the cross section is in direct proportion to the distance from the fiber to the neutral axis. The strain of GFRP and steel rebar satisfies the equation： εGFRP=Kεsteel.

Flexural Strength and Behavior of Polypropylene Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams

The strength and deformation characteristics of polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete ( PFRC) beams were investigated by four-point bending procedures in this paper. Two kinds of polypropylene fibers with different fiber contents (0.2% , 0.5% , 1.0% and 1.5% ) by volume were used in, the beam, which measured 100 × 100 mm with a span of 300 mm. It was found that the strength of the reinforced concrete beams was significantly decreased, whereas the flexural toughness was improved, compared to those unreinforced concrete beams. Geometry properties and volume contents of polypropylene fiber were considered to be important factors for improving the flexural toughness. Moreover, the composite mechanism between polypropylene fiber and concrete was analyzed and discussed.

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.

Dynamic Mechanical Behaviour of Ultra-high Performance Fiber Reinforced Concretes

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concretes （UHPFRC） were prepared by replacing 60% of cement with ultra-fine industrial waste powder. The dynamic mechanical behaviour of UHPFRC with different fiber volume fraction was researched on repeated compressive impact in four kinds of impact modes through split Hopkinson pressure bar （SHPB）. The experimental results show that the peak stress and elastic modulus decrease and the strain rate and peak strain increase gradually with the increasing of impact times. The initial material damage increases and the peak stress of the specimen decreases from the second impact with the increasing of the initial incident wave. Standard strength on repeated impact is defined to compare the ability of resistance against repeated impact among different materials. The rate of reduction of standard strength is decreased by fiber reinforcement under repeated impact. The material damage is reduced and the ability of repeated impact resistance of UHPFRC is improved with the increasing of fiber volume fraction.

Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Recently,addition of various natural fibers to high strength concrete has aroused great interest in the field of building materials.This is because natural fibers are much cheaper and locally available,as compare to synthetic fibers.Keeping in view,this current research conducted mainly focuses on the static properties of hybridized(sisal/coir),sisal and coir fiber-reinforced concrete.Two types of natural fibers sisal and coir were used in the experiment with different lengths of 10,20 and 30 mm and various natural fiber concentrations of 0.5%,1.0%,and 1.5%by mass of cement,to investigate the static properties of sisal fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC),coir fiber reinforced concrete(CFRC)and hybrid fiber reinforced concrete(HFRC).The results indicate that HFRC has increased the compressive strength up to 35.98%with the length of 20 mm and with 0.5%concentration,while the CFRC and SFRC with the length of 10 mm and with 1%concentration have increased the compressive strength up to 33.94%and 24.86%,respectively.On another hand,the split tensile strength was increased by HFRC with the length of 20 mm and with 1%concentration,CFRC with the length of 10 mm and with 1.5%concentration,and SFRC with the length of 30 mm and with 1%concentration have increased up to 25.48%,24.56%and 11.80%,respectively,while the HFRC with the length of 20 mm and with 0.5%concentration has increased the compressive strength of concrete but has decreased the split tensile strength up to 2.28%compared to PC.Overall,using the HFRC with the length of 20 mm and with 1%concentration provide the maximum output in terms of split tensile strength.

Mesoscopic Modeling Approach and Application for Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete under Dynamic Loading:A Review

Steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC)has drawn extensive attention in recent years for its superior mechanical response to dynamic and impact loadings.Based on the existing test results,the highstrength steel fibers embedded in a concrete matrix usually play a strong bridging effect to enhance the bonding force between fiber and the matrix,and directly contribute to the improvement of the post-cracking behavior and residual strength of SFRC.To gain a better understanding of the action behavior of steel fibers in matrix and further capture the failure mechanism of SFRC under dynamic loads,the mesoscopic modeling approach that assumes SFRC to be composed of different mesoscale phases(i.e.,steel fibers,coarse aggregates,mortar matrix,and interfacial transition zone(ITZ))has been widely employed to simulate the dynamic responses of SFRC material and structural members.This paper presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art mesoscopic models and simulations for SFRC under dynamic loading.Generation approaches for the SFRC mesoscale model in the simulation works,including steel fiber,coarse aggregate,and the ITZ between them,are reviewed and compared systematically.The material models for different phases and the interaction relationship between fiber and concrete matrix are summarized comprehensively.Additionally,some example applications for SFRC under dynamic loads(i.e.,compression,tension,and contact blast)simulated using the general mesoscale models are given.Finally,some critical analysis on the current shortcomings of the mesoscale modeling of SFRC is highlighted,which is of great significance for the future investigation and development of SFRC.

A Study on the Estimation of Prefabricated Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete Panel Strength Values with an Artificial Neural Network Model

In this study,artificial neural networks trained with swarm based artificial bee colony optimization algorithm was implemented for prediction of the modulus of rapture values of the fabricated glass fiber reinforced concrete panels.For the application of the ANN models,143 different four-point bending test results of glass fiber reinforced concrete mixes with the varied parameters of temperature,fiber content and slump values were introduced the artificial bee colony optimization and conventional back propagation algorithms.Training and the testing results of the corresponding models showed that artificial neural networks trained with the artificial bee colony optimization algorithm have remarkable potential for the prediction of modulus of rupture values and this method can be used as a preliminary decision criterion for quality check of the fabricated products.

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.

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.

Flexural Fatigue Behavior of Layered Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete

In order to obtain the fatigue life of layered hybrid fiber reinforced concrete （LHFRC） at different stress levels, flexural fatigue tests were carried out on specimens. The relation between fatigue lives and stress levels was simulated using the two-parameter Weibull distribution. Furthermore, both single- logarithmic and double-logarithmic regressive equations of various reliabilities were derived. It is evident that LHFRC gets the advantage of longer fatigue life over common concrete.

Long-term Behavior of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Exposed to Sulfate Solution Cycling in Drying-immersion

The damage process and corrosion ion distribution in concrete, which was exposed to 60 and 170 drying-immersion cycles of sulfate solution, were systematically investigated. The effects of plain concrete, plain concrete mixed with 4 and 8 kg/m^3 modified PP fiber and high-performance concrete（HPC） mixed with 0.8 kg/m^3 fine PP fiber on the damage process were also studied. The experimental results showed that thenarditeinduced surface scaling, as well as gypsum-and ettringite-induced cracks, were the main degradation forms of concrete under attack of sulfate solution and drying–immersion cycles. The relative dynamic modulus of elasticity of concrete initially increased, then reached stability and finally decreased to failure. The sulfate diffusion coefficients of plain and HPC were 10^（-12） and 10^（-13） m^2/s, respectively. The concentration of sodium ion increased with depth, then maintained stability and finally decreased rapidly with concrete depth. The content of calcium ion on the concrete surface was 110%-150% of that in the interior of specimens. Although fiber worsened the surface scaling of concrete, better resistance capacity of sulfate ion penetration into concrete was observed in plain concrete with 4 kg/m^3 modified PP fiber and HPC.

Compressive Performance of Fiber Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete by Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer-Polyvinyl Chloride Composite Jackets

The development of recycled aggregate concrete(RAC)provides a new approach to limiting the waste of natural resources.In the present study,the mechanical properties and deformability of RACs were improved by adding basalt fibers(BFs)and using external restraints,such as a fiber-reinforced polymer(FRP)jacket or a PVC pipe.Samples were tested under axial compression.The results showed that RAC(50%replacement of aggregate)containing 0.2%BFs had the best mechanical properties.Using either BFs or PVC reinforcement had a slight effect on the loadbearing capacity and mode of failure.With different levels of BFs,the compressive strengths of the specimens reinforced with 1-layer and 3-layer basalt fiber reinforced polymer(BFRP)increased by 6.7%–10.5%and 16.5%–23.7%,respectively,and the ultimate strains increased by 48.5%–80.7%and 97.1%–141.1%,respectively.The peak stress of the 3-layer BFRP-PVC increased by 42.2%,and the ultimate strain improved by 131.3%,relative to the control.This reinforcement combined the high tensile strength of BFRP,which improved the post-peak behavior,and PVC,which enhanced the structural durability.In addition,to investigate the influence of the various constraints on compressive behavior,the stress-strain response was analyzed.Based on the analysis of experimental results,a peak stress-strain model and an amended ultimate stress-strain model were proposed.The models were verified as well;the result showed that the predictions from calculations are generally consistent with the experimental data(error within 10%).The results of this study provide a theoretical basis and reference for future applications of fiber-reinforced recycled concrete.

Square concrete columns strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced plastics sheets at low temperatures

Twenty-one square concrete columns were constructed and tested. The testing results indicate that bonded carbon fiber reinforced plastics(CFRP) sheets can be used to increase the strength and improve the serviceability of damaged concrete columns at low temperatures. The failure of the specimens,in most cases,takes place within the middle half of the columns. And the failure of strengthened columns is sudden and explosive. The CFRP sheets increase both the axial load capacity and the ultimate concrete compressive strain of the columns. The ultimate loads of strengthened columns at-10,0 and 10 ℃ increase averagely by 9.09%,6.63% and 17.83%,respectively,as compared with those of the control specimens. The axial compressive strength of strengthened columns is related to the curing temperatures. The improvement of axial compressive strength decreases with reducing temperature,and when the temperature drops to a certain value,the improvement increases with falling temperature.

Complete splitting process of steel fiber reinforced concrete at intermediate strain rate

The complete splitting process of steel fiber reinforced concrete （SFRC） at intermediate strain rate was studied by experiment. The basic information of a self-developed SFRC dynamic test system matching with lnstron 1342 materials testing machine was given, and the experiment principle and the loading mode of cubic split specimen were introduced. During the experiment, 30 cubes of 150 mm×150 mm×150 mm and 36 cubes of 100 mm×100 mm×100 mm, designed and prepared according to C20 class SFRC with different volume fractions of steel fiber （0, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%） were tested and analyzed. At the same time, the size effect of SFRC at intermediate strain rate was investigated. The experimental study indicates that SFRC size effect is not influenced by the loading speed or strain rate. When the steel fiber content increases from 0 to 4%, the splitting strength of SFRC increases from 100% to 261%, i.e. increasing by 161% compared with that of the common concrete. The loading rate increases from 1.33 kN/s to 80.00 kN/s, and the splitting tensile strength increases by 43.55%.