Laminated Solid Timber Slab with Transverse Prestressing Using the Strategy of Interleaved Vertical Displacement of Lamellae

This article presents a study on the structural behavior of transversely prestressed laminated timber slabs,focusing on an innovative approach:vertically misaligned lamellae.This misalignment,achieved by sliding vertically the wooden lamellae rather than aligning them,enhances the slab’s cross-section moment of inertia,thereby improving load-bearing capacity and stiffness.Testing involved two groups of structural size specimens:one with vertically aligned lamellae(control group)and the other with misaligned lamellae(study group).Results showed the study group exhibited 42%superior stiffness and 10%less load capacity compared to the control.Failures typically occurred individually in the lamellae,particularly in those with defects or lower modulus of elasticity,concentrated in the middle third of the slabs’free span where tensile stresses peak.Despite a higher number of failed lamellae,the study group demonstrated promising performance.Analysis of prestressing bar indicated no damage at all in the thread,suggesting potential for reducing bar diameter.These findings offer crucial insights into applying these slabs in timber construction as well as to any kind of construction.

Flexural Bond Behavior of Rebar in Ultra-High Performance Concrete Beams Considering Lap-Splice Length and Cover Depth

This study intends to find out the correlation between the cover depth and the bond characteristics of UHPC through pull-out tests of UHPC specimens with different cover depths and bond tests of rebar using flexural members. In this experimental study, specimens are fabricated with the lap-splice length as test variable in relation with the calculation of the lap-splice length for 180- MPa UHPC. Moreover, specimens are also fabricated with the cover depth as test variable to evaluate the effect of the cover depth on the UHPC flexural members. The load-displacement curves are analyzed for each of these test variables to compute the lap-splice length proposed in the K-UHPC structural design guideline and to evaluate the influence of the cover depth on the flexural members. As a result, the stability of the structural behavior can be significantly enhanced by increasing slightly the cover depth specification of the current UHPC Structure Design Guideline from the maximum value between 1.5 times of rebar diameter and 20 mm to the maximum value between 1.5 times of rebar diameter and 25 mm.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the Tensile Fracture of Compacted Clay

This paper performed flexural test and numerical simulation of clay-beams with different water contents to study the tensile fracture of clay soil and the relevant mechanisms.The crack initiation and propagation process and the accompanied strain localization behaviors were all clearly observed and analyzed.The exponential cohesive zone model was proposed to simulate the crack interface behavior of the cohesive-frictional materials.The experimental results show that the bending capacity of clay-beams decrease with the water content,while those of the crack mouth opening displacement,crack-tip strain and the strain localization range increase.The numerical predictions successfully reproduce the evolving tensile cracks and the strain localization phenomenon of the clay beams with different fracture ductility,which demonstrates the validity of the proposed cohesive zone model in modelling clay fractures.

Analysis of stiffness and flexural strength of a reinforced concrete beam using an invented reinforcement system

In this study,we conducted experimental tests on two specimens of reinforced concrete beams using a three-point bending test to optimize the flexure and stiffness designs.The first specimen is a reinforced concrete beam with an ordinary reinforcement,and the second specimen has an invented reinforcement system that consists of an ordinary reinforcement in addition to three additional bracings using steel bars and steel plates.The results of the flexure test were collected and analyzed,and the flexural strength,the rate of damage during bending,and the stiffness were determined.Finite element modeling was applied for both specimens using the LS-DYNA program,and the simulation results of the flexure test for the same outputs were determined.The results of the experimental tests showed that the flexural strength of the invented reinforcement system was significantly enhanced by 15.5%compared to the ordinary system.Moreover,the flexural cracks decreased to a significant extent,manifesting extremely small and narrow cracks in the flexure spread along the bottom face of the concrete.In addition,the maximum deflection for the invented reinforced concrete beam decreased to 1/3 compared to that of an ordinary reinforced concrete beam.The results were verified through numerical simulations,which demonstrated excellent similarities between the flexural failure and the stiffness of the beam.The invented reinforcement system exhibited a high capability in boosting the flexure design and stiffness.

Connection of the prefabricated updeck of road tunnels by a short lap-spliced joint using ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete

Prefabricated internal structures of road tunnels,consisting of precast elements and the connections between them,provide advantages in terms of quality control and manufacturing costs.However,the limited construction space in tunnels creates challenges for on-site assembly.To identify feasible connecting joints,flexural tests of precast straight beams connected by welding-spliced or lap-spliced reinforcements embedded in normal concrete or ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete(UHPFRC)are first performed and analyzed.With an improvement in the strength grade of the closure concrete for the lap-spliced joint,the failure of the beam transforms from a brittle splitting mode to a ductile flexural mode.The beam connected by UHPFRC100 with short lap-spliced reinforcements can achieve almost equivalent mechanical performance in terms of the bearing capacity,ductility,and stiffness as the beam connected by normal concrete with welding-spliced reinforcements.This favorable solution is then applied to the connection of neighboring updeck slabs resting on columns in a double-deck tunnel.The applicability is validated by flexural tests of T-shaped joints,which,fail in a ductile fashion dominated by the ultimate bearing capacity of the precast elements,similar to the corresponding straight beam.The utilization of UHPFRC significantly reduces the required lap-splice length of reinforcements owing to its strong bonding strength.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HYBRID GLASS/SUGAR PALM FIBRE REINFORCED UNSATURATED POLYESTER COMPOSITES

A research has been carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of composites made by hybridizing sugar palm fibre （Arenga pinnata） with glass fibre into an unsaturated polyester matrix. Hybrid composites of glass/sugar palm fibre were fabricated in different weight ratios of strand mat glass fibres ： sugar palm fibres 4：0, 4：1, 4：2, 4：3, 4：4, and 0：4. The hybrid effects of glass and sugar palm fibre on tensile, flexural and impact properties of the composites were evaluated according to ASTM D5083, ASTM D790 and ASTM D256 respectively. Results have been established that properties of hybrid glass/sugar palm composites such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, toughness, flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength are a function of fibre content. The failure mechanism and the adhesion between fibres/matrix were studied by observing the scanning electron micrographs of impact fracture samples. In general, the incorporation of both fibres into unsaturated polyester matrix shows a regular trend of increase in the mechanical properties.

Effects of High Temperature Oxidation on Mechanical Properties of Ti_3AlC_2

The oxidation tests of Ti_3AlC_2 were conducted at 1100 and 1200？C in air for 48 and 360 h, respectively,and the effects of high temperature oxidation on the flexural strength and hardness of Ti_3AlC_2 were investigated. The microstructure, grain size and phase compositions of Ti_3AlC_2 substrate didn＇t change after oxidation, hence the oxide removed Ti_3AlC_2 substrate maintained its initial flexural strength and hardness. However, the flexural strength of oxide retained Ti_3AlC_2 decreased by about 5%. Acoustic emission monitoring indicated that during the process of three-point bending test, the formed Al_2O_3 scale on Ti_3AlC_2 surface fractured firstly in a cleavage manner, then the substrate/oxide interface cracked,and finally the Ti_3AlC_2 substrate fractured. The mechanical degradation was caused by the preferential formation of cracks in brittle Al_2O_3 scale as well as at defective and lacunose grain boundaries of the substrate where stress concentration generated. The mechanical degradation was insensitive to oxidation temperature and time in the present conditions. In addition, the surface hardness increased significantly after oxidation due to the formed hard Al_2O_3 scale on the surface of Ti_3AlC_2 substrate.