Fragility curves of concrete bridges retrofitted by column jacketing

The Northridge earthquake inflicted various levels of damage upon a large number of Caltrans' bridges not retrofitted by column jacketing.In this respect,this study represents results of fragility curve development for two (2) sample bridges typical in southern California,strengthened for seismic retrofit by means of steel jacketing of bridge columns.Monte Carlo simulation is performed to study nonlinear dynamic responses of the bridges before and after column retrofit.Fragility curves in this study are represented by lognormal distribution functions with two parameters and developed as a function of PGA.The sixty (60) ground acceleration time histories for the Los Angeles area developed for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) SAC (SEAOC-ATC CUREe) steel project are used for the dynamic analysis of the bridges. The improvement in the fragility with steel jacketing is quantified by comparing fragility curves of the bridge before and after column retrofit.In this first attempt to formulate the problem of fragility enhancement,the quantification is made by comparing the median values of the fragility curves before and after the retrofit.Under the hypothesis that this quantification also applies to empirical fragility curves developed on the basis of Northridge earthquake damage,the enhanced version of the empirical curves is developed for the ensuing analysis to determine the enhancement of transportation network performance due to the retrofit.

The Complete Stress-strain Curve of Recycled Aggregate Concrete under Uniaxial Compression Loading

The mechanical performance of recycled aggregate concrete （RAC） is investigated. An experiment on the complete stress-strain curve under uniaxial compression loading of RAC is carried out. The experimental results indicate that the peak stress, peak strain, secant modulus of the peak point and original point increase with the strength grade of RAC enhanced. On the contrary, the residual stress of RAC decreases with the strength grade enhancing, and the failure of RAC is often broken at the interface between the recycled aggregate and the mortar matrix. Finally, the constitutive model of stress-strain model of RAC has been constituted, and the results from the constitutive model of stress-strain meet the experiment results very well.

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.

The Testing Strength Curves of Lightweight Aggregate Concrete by Rebound Method and Ultrasonic-rebound Combined Method

The strength curves of lightweight aggregate concrete （LWAC） were tested based on detecting LWAC with density of 1 400-1 900 kg/m3 and LWAC with strength grade of LC15-LC50 by rebound method and ultrasonic-rebound combined method.The results show that the common measured strength curves tested by above two methods can not satisfy the required accuracy of LWAC strength test.In addition,specified compressive strength curves of testing LWAC by rebound method and ultrasonic-rebound combined method are obtained,respectively.

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.

Stress-strain behavior of plastic concrete using monotonic triaxial compression tests

The mechanical behavior of plastic concrete used in the cut-off walls of earth dams has been studied. Triaxial compression tests on the specimens in various ages and mix designs under different confining pressures have been done and the stress-strain behavior of such materials and their strength parameter changes have been experimentally investigated. It has been observed that increasing the confining pressures applied on the specimens causes the material behavior to be alike the more ductile materials and the compressive strength increases considerably as well. Moreover, a parametric study has been carded out to investigate the influence of essential parameters on the shear strength parameters of these materials. According to the research, increasing the coarse to fine aggregates ratio leads to the increase of compressive strength of the specimens as well as the increase of the cohesion and internal friction angle of the materials. Furthermore, the bentonite content decrease and the cement factor increase result in an increase of the cohesion parameter of plastic concretes and decrease of the internal friction angle of such materials.

ISOCHRONOUS STRESS-STRAIN CURVES OF LOW ALLOY STEEL CROSS-WELD-SPECIMEN AT HIGH TEMPERATURE

In this work, a parametric approach is presented and utilized to determine the creep properties of weldments; then the model of creep strain for cross weld specimen is given. On the basis of the experimental results, attempt has been made to establish equations of the isochronous stress-strain for weld joint that can predict the function of loading and service time in use of the creep data of base metal and weld metal.

Stress-Strain Relationship and Failure Criterion for Concrete after Freezing and Thawing Cycles

The research of the failure criterion and one-dimensional stress-strain relationship of deteriorated concrete were carried out. Based on the damage mechanics theory, the dsmage which reflects the alternation of internal state of material were introduced into the formula presented by Desayi and Krishman and the weighted twin-shear strength theory. As a nondestructive examination method in common use, the ultrasonic technique was adopted in the study, and the ultrasonic velocity was used to establish the damage variable. After that, the failure criterion and one-dimensional stress-strain relationship for deteriorated concrete were obtained. Eventually, tests were carried out to study the evolution laws on the damage. The results show that the more freezing and thawing cycles are, the more apparently the failure surface shrinks. Meanwhile, the comparison between theoretical data and experimental data verifies tile rationality of tile damage-based one-dimensional stress-strain relationship proposed.

Bond of Seawater Scoria Aggregate Concrete to Stainless Reinforcement

This study investigates the bond between seawater scoria aggregate concrete(SSAC)and stainless reinforcement(SR)through a series of pull-out tests.A total of 39 specimens,considering five experimental parameters—con-crete type(SSAC,ordinary concrete(OC)and seawater coral aggregate concrete(SCAC)),reinforcement type(SR,ordinary reinforcement(OR)),bond length(3,5 and 8 times bar diameter),concrete strength(C25 and C30)and concrete cover thickness(42 and 67 mm)—were prepared.The typical bond properties(failure pattern,bond strength,bond-slip curves and bond stress distribution,etc.)of seawater scoria aggregate concrete-stainless rein-forcement(SSAC-SR)specimen were systematically studied.Generally,the failure pattern changed with the con-crete type used,and the failure surface of SSAC specimen was different from that of OC specimen.SSAC enhanced the bond strength of specimen,while its effect on the deformation of SSAC-SR was negative.On aver-age,the peak slip of SSAC specimens was 20%lower while the bond strength was 6.7%higher compared to OC specimens under the similar conditions.The effects of variables on the bond strength of SSAC–SR in increasing order are concrete type,bond length,concrete strength and cover thickness.The bond-slip curve of SSAC-SR specimen consisted of micro-slipping,slipping and declining stages.It can be obtained that SSAC reduced the curve curvature of bond-slip,and the decline of curve became steep after adopting SR.The typical distribution of bond stress along bond length changed with the types of concrete and reinforcement used.Finally,a specific expression of the bond stress-slip curve considering the effects of various variables was established,which could provide a basis for the practical application of reinforced SSAC.

Experimental study on temperature stress calculation and temperature control optimization of concrete based on early age parameters

Temperature control curve is the key to achieving temperature control and crack prevention of high concrete dam during construction,and its rationality depends on the accurate measurement of temperature stress.With the simulation testing machine for the temperature stress,in the present study,we carried out the deformation process tests of concrete under three temperature curves:convex,straight and concave.Besides,we not only measured the early-age elastic modulus,creep parameters and stress process,but also proposed the preferred type.The results show that at early age,higher temperature always leads to greater elastic modulus and smaller creep.However,the traditional indoor experiments have underestimated the elastic modulus and creep development at early age,which makes the calculated value of temperature stress too small,thus increasing the cracking risk.In this study,the stress values of the three curves calculated based on the strain and early-age parameters are in good agreement with the temperature stress measured by the temperature stress testing machine,which verifies the method accuracy.When the temperature changes along the concave curve,the law of stress development is in consistent with that of strength.Under this condition,the stress fluctuation is small and the crack prevention safety of the concave type is higher,so the concave type is better.The test results provide a reliable basis and support for temperature control curve design and optimization of concrete dams.

A Numerical Stress-strain Response Model of All Grades of Concretes under Uniaxial Compression

An important problem facing stress-strain response modeling of concrete is the complexity of the compressive strength grades. 21 groups of speeimens with different cubic compressive strength （56.3- 164.9 MPa ） hate beets numerically analyzed. Using only the compressive strength, a stress-strain response model of different concrete grade was established. The numerical simulation model not only qualitatively reproduces the relationship of uniaxial compressive strength, peak value stress and cubic compressive strength, but realizes the consistence of the ascending branch of stress-strain cunts with different strength grades by introducing the correction coefficient k. The results indicate k increases gradually from 0 to approximate 1 with the increase of the compressive strength, corresponding to the transition from the paracurve to straight line branch in stress-strain curves. When k is 0, the madel is identical to the Hognestad equation. A good agreement with the experiment data was obtained.

On the calibration of a shear stress criterion for rock joints to represent the full stress-strain profile

Conventional numerical solutions developed to describe the geomechanical behavior of rock interfaces subjected to differential load emphasize peak and residual shear strengths.The detailed analysis of preand post-peak shear stress-displacement behavior is central to various time-dependent and dynamic rock mechanic problems such as rockbursts and structural instabilities in highly stressed conditions.The complete stress-displacement surface(CSDS)model was developed to describe analytically the pre-and post-peak behavior of rock interfaces under differential loads.Original formulations of the CSDS model required extensive curve-fitting iterations which limited its practical applicability and transparent integration into engineering tools.The present work proposes modifications to the CSDS model aimed at developing a comprehensive and modern calibration protocol to describe the complete shear stressdisplacement behavior of rock interfaces under differential loads.The proposed update to the CSDS model incorporates the concept of mobilized shear strength to enhance the post-peak formulations.Barton’s concepts of joint roughness coefficient(JRC)and joint compressive strength(JCS)are incorporated to facilitate empirical estimations for peak shear stress and normal closure relations.Triaxial/uniaxial compression test and direct shear test results are used to validate the updated model and exemplify the proposed calibration method.The results illustrate that the revised model successfully predicts the post-peak and complete axial stressestrain and shear stressedisplacement curves for rock joints.

Stress-strain Model of Corroded Concrete under Uniaxial Compressive Loading

The prism specimens of corroded concrete were subjected to uniaxial compressive load to develop the stress-strain model. Compared to the un-corroded concrete, the mechanical prop- erties of corroded concrete, such as peak strength, Young＇s modulus, and residual deformation, et al are degraded. The concrete, which were subjected to the aggressive media in the environment, were resulted in randomly distributed pre-loading flaws and defects. The propagation of these corrosion flaws during the procedure of loading was the main reason of degradation of corroded concrete properties. By the application of the statistic theory of continuum damage, the compressive stress-strain curve of corroded concrete was simulated. The initial damage factor was introduced to represent the corrosive effects of different media. The present damage constitutive model agreed well with the test results.

Relations of complete creep processes and triaxial stress-strain curves of rock

Based on the results of triaxial compressive creep tests for five kinds of rock under the different stress loading,unloading and cycle-loading-unloading conditions,the creep deformation is not only a function of stress and time,but also it has the corresponding relations to the triaxial stress-strain curves of rock.The deformation properties of soften-strain,harden-strain and ideal plasticity presented by conventional triaxial compressive test curves under the different stress states were utilized,and the creep characteristics,the creep starting stress and the different entire creep process curves of rock were studied systematically according to creep experiment results,and the relations of the triaxial stress-strain curves to the creeping starting stress,the terminating curve,the different creep processes,and the different creep fracture properties were established.The relations presented in this paper were verified partially by the creep experiment results of five types of rock.

Investigation into the stress-strain curves of deformation-induced ferrite transformation in a low carbon steel

A series of tests of deformation-induced ferrite transformation （DIP-T） in a low carbon steel were carried out by the Gleeble-3500 hot simulation machine at a temperature range of Ae3-Ar3. The overall stress-strain curves during DIFT can be divided into three typical types： ＂double-humped＂,＂ single-humped＂ and ＂transitional＂. The peaks exhibited in the curve are involved with deformation-induced transformation which happened in grains or at the grain boundaries. According to the stress-time curve and strain-time curve, strain capacity dramatically postponed the strain-induced transformation, which leads to the start of the transformation right ahead of the finish of deformation and the majority of the ferrite transformation process mainly happened after the deformation. Deformation-induced transformation is a metadynamic transformation process with dynamic nucleation.

Unsymmetrical Fibre-Reinforced Plastics for the Production of Curved Textile Reinforced Concrete Elements

A new constructive and technological approach was developed for the efficient production of large-dimensioned, curved freeform formworks, which allow the manufacturing of single and double-curved textile reinforced concrete elements. The approach is based on a flexible, multi-layered formwork system, which consists of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP). Using the unusual structural behavior caused by anisotropy, these GFRP formwork elements permit a specific adjustment of defined curvature. The system design of the developed GFRP formwork and the concrete-lightweight-elements with stabilized spacer fabric was examined exhaustively. Prototypical curved freeform surfaces with different curvature radii were designed, numerically computed and produced. Furthermore, the fabric’s contour accuracy of the fabric was verified, and its integration was adjusted to loads.

The analysis for stress-strain characteristics of concrete cutoff wall built in deep cladding foundation

Combined with a proposed homogeneous earth dam in deep cladding foundation, Duncan E-B model is applied to simulate dam-filled material, apply to three-dimensional nonlinear finite element method, attain the stress-strain distribution and alteration in concrete cutoff wall in completion and water storage periods, analysis the stress state in the contact element between concrete cutoff wall and cladding foundation, provide the corresponding measures. The calculation results show that the design of concrete cutoff wall and homogeneous earth dam is reasonable.

Stress-strain relationship for reactive powder concrete with recycled powder under uniaxial compression

The recycled powder(RP)from construction wastes can be used to partially replace cement in the preparation of reactive powder concrete.In this paper,reactive powder concrete mixtures with RP partially replacing cement,and natural sand instead of quartz,are developed.Standard curing is used,instead of steam curing that is normally requested by standard for reactive powder concrete.The influences of RP replacement ratio(0%,10%,20%,30%),silica fume proportion(10%,15%,20%),and steel fiber proportion(0%,1%,2%)are investigated.The effects of RP,silica fume,and steel fiber proportion on compressive strength,elastic modulus,and relative absorption energy are analyzed,and theoretical models for compressive strength,elastic modulus,and relative absorption energy are established.A constitutive model for the uniaxial compressive stress-strain relationship of reactive powder concrete with RP is developed.With the increase of RP replacement ratio from 0% to 30%,the compressive strength decreases by 42% and elastic modulus decreases by 24%.

Mechanical Properties of Sea Water Sea Sand Coral Concrete Modified with Different Cement and Fiber Types

The mechanical properties of modified sea water sea sand coral concrete(SWSSCC)under axial compression were experimentally studied.Two different parameters were considered in this test:types of cement and fiber.An experimental campaign was developed involving uniaxial compression tests and the use of digital image correlation(DIC)method to analyze the strain distribution and crack propagation of specimen.Test results indicated that the compressive strength and elastic modulus of SWSSCC were improved by adding stainless steel fibers(SSF),while polypropylene fibers(PF)enhanced the SWSSCC peak deformation.It was found that the elastic modulus and strength of SWSSCC using ordinary Portland cement(OPC)were higher compared to specimen with low alkalinity sulphoaluminate cement(LAS).Typical strain distribution changed with the variation of fiber types.The propagation and characteristics of cracks in SWSSCC containing PF were similar to those of cracks in SWSSCC.However,the propagation of cracks and the development of plastic deformation in SWSSCC were effectively hindered by adopting SSF.Finally,an analytical stress-strain expression of specimen considering the influences of fibers was established.The obtained results would provide a basis for the application of SWSSCC.

Numerical analysis of ultimate strength of concrete filled steel tubular arch bridges

The calculation of ultimate bearing capacity is a significant issue in the design of Concrete Filled Steel Tubular (CFST) arch bridges. Based on the space beam theory, this paper provides a calculation method for determining the ultimate strength of CFST structures. The accuracy of this method and the applicability of the stress-strain relationships were validated by comparing different existing confined concrete uniaxial constitutive relationships and experimental results. Comparison of these results indicated that this method using the confined concrete uniaxial stress-strain relationships can be used to calculate the ultimate strength and CFST behavior with satisfactory accuracy. The calculation results are stable and seldom affected by concrete con-stitutive relationships. The method is therefore valuable in the practice of engineering design. Finally, the ultimate strength of an arch bridge with span of 330 m was investigated by the proposed method and the nonlinear behavior was discussed.