Strategies for Teaching the Reinforced Concrete Structures Course in Engineering Majors

The cultivation of engineering capabilities aims to equip engineering professionals with high-level expertise to meet the demands of society and industry development,thereby enhancing their competitiveness and career potential.This article focuses on engineering capability development,exploring teaching strategies for the Reinforced Concrete Structure course.It aims to provide insights for educators in engineering programs at universities and vocational colleges in China.By doing so,teaching plans that meet the needs of engineering capability development,laying a solid educational foundation for the healthy growth of engineering professionals in the new era,and enhancing their application of knowledge and skills can be developed.

Durability design of prestressed concrete structures

Based on the durability characteristics of prestressed concrete structures,the durability limit states of carbonation and chloride ion attack are defined, respectively.Durability predicting models on the basis of reliability mathematics and stochastic processes areconstructed, and the pure theoretical formulae of failure probability of prestressed concretestructures are analyzed. In addition, a simple durability design method for carbonation ofstructures is put forward. According to the analysis, the durability of prestressed concretestructures is superior to that of traditional structures. The research also indicates that theconcrete cover prescribed in the current code (GB 50010-2002) is not adequate. The rational coverthickness should notbe less than 35 or 45 mm according to carbonation or chloride ion attack,respectively.

Discrete Numerical Study on Type II Fracture of Partially Detached Concrete Panels in Cold Region

When the upper chord beam of the beam-string structure(BSS)is made of concrete-filled steel tube(CFST),its overall stiffness will change greatly with the construction of concrete placement,which will have an impact on the design of the tensioning plans and selection of control measures for the BSS.In order to accurately obtain the bending stiffness of CFST beam and clarify its impact on the mechanical properties of composite BSS during con-struction,the influence of some factors such as height-width ratio,wall thickness of steel tube,elasticity modulus of concrete,and friction coefficient on the bending stiffness are analyzed parametrically by the numerical simula-tion technology based on an actual project.The calculation formula of the equivalent bending stiffness of CFST is also established through mathematical statistical simulation.Then,the equivalent bending stiffness is introduced into the construction and use stages of the composite BSS,respectively,and the mechanical properties such as prestress-tensioning control value,structural deformation,and internal force of key members are comparatively analyzed when adopting two different construction plans.Moreover,the optimal construction plan of concrete placementfirst and then prestress-tensioning is proposed.

Micro-structure and Macro-performance:Surface Layer Evolution of Concrete under Long-term Exposure in Harsh Plateau Climate

We conducted a series tests on surface layers of plateau concrete at the ages of 180 and 540 days,including the most superficial cement paste,the 5 mm thick surface mortar,and the 50 mm thick surface concrete.Thermogravimetry and nitrogen absorption porosimetry on cement past,mercury intrusion porosimetry on mortar,and microhardness test on interface transition zone between mortar and coarse aggregate were conducted to evaluate the hydration degree and characterize the micro-structure.Whilst,tests for the rebound strength,abrasion resistance,and chloride ion impenetrability of concrete were conducted to assess the macro-performance.The experimental results show that,affected by the harsh plateau climate,outward surfaces have lower hydration degrees and worse pore structure than inward surfaces.As the hydration of concrete surface is ongoing after the age of 180 days,both the micro-structure and the macro-performance are continuously improved.In the long-term,either the orientation or the depth towards surface does not significantly affect concrete performance.Surface carbonation brings positive effects on mechanical properties but negative effects on the durability.Additionally,standard test result of chloride ion impenetrability is found significantly affected by the atmospheric pressure.For a same batch of concrete,charge passed in plateau regions is obviously lower than that in common regions.

The Effect of Core Eccentricity on the Structural Behavior of Concrete Tall Buildings

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of core eccentricity on the structural behavior of concrete tall buildings.Concrete buildings of 55 floors with plan dimensions 48.0×48.0 m2 were investigated.Three cases of main core locations are studied:centric(A),eccentric by one sixth(B)and one third(C)of building width.The three-dimensional finite element method has been used in conducting structural analysis through ETABS software.Gravity and lateral(wind and seismic)loadings are applied to all building cases.It has been concluded that the core location is the prime parameter governing the structural behavior of tall buildings.Although the first two cases(A,B)have acceptable and similar structural behaviors conforming to code limits,in the third case(C),the building behavior came beyond code limits.The author introduced remedial action by adding two secondary cores in the opposite direction of the main core(C-R)to restore the building behavior to the code limits.The results of this action were satisfactory.

Research on the Course of Principles of Concrete Structure Design

Nowadays,education and teaching have become a hot topic,and teaching in colleges and universities is facing a brand-new development direction.Principles of Concrete Structure Design,as one of the main courses,transmits professional knowledge for students,enhances the students’professional ability,and further carries out in-depth research on the course to bring a better teaching effect for students.The article mainly focuses on the research of the principles of concrete structure design course,conducts an analysis of the teaching characteristics of the principles of concrete structure design course,and reasonably sets the teaching content from the optimization of the course teaching objectives;innovative course teaching methods can deepen the effect of knowledge understanding;reform of experimental practice teaching can lay down the effect of the internalization of knowledge,etc.The in-depth description and discussion of the relevant aspects of the research aim to provide guidelines for related research.

Self-centering seismic retrofit scheme for reinforced concrete frame structures:SDOF system study

This paper presents the results of a parametric study of self-centering seismic retrofit schemes for reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings. The self-centering retrofit system features flag-shaped hysteresis and minimal residual deformation. For comparison purpose,an alternate seismic retrofit scheme that uses a bilinear-hysteresis retrofit system such as buckling-restrained braces (BRB) is also considered in this paper. The parametric study was carried out in a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system framework since a multi-story building structure may be idealized as an equivalent SDOF system and investigation of the performance of this equivalent SDOF system can provide insight into the seismic response of the multi-story building. A peak-oriented hysteresis model which can consider the strength and stiffness degradation is used to describe the hysteretic behavior of RC structures. The parametric study involves two key parameters -the strength ratio and elastic stiffness ratio between the seismic retrofit system and the original RC frame. An ensemble of 172 earthquake ground motion records scaled to the design basis earthquake in California with a probability of exceedance of 10% in 50 years was constructed for the simulation-based parametric study. The effectiveness of the two seismic retrofit schemes considered in this study is evaluated in terms of peak displacement ratio,peak acceleration ratio,energy dissipation demand ratio and residual displacement ratio between the SDOF systems with and without retrofit. It is found from this parametric study that RC structures retrofitted with the self-centering retrofit scheme (SCRS) can achieve a seismic performance level comparable to the bilinear-hysteresis retrofit scheme (BHRS) in terms of peak displacement and energy dissipation demand ratio while having negligible residual displacement after earthquake.

Seismic behavior of concrete filled steel tubular arch structures

Shaking table tests of a 1:10 scale arch model performed to investigate the seismic behavior and resistance of concrete filled steel tubular (CFT) arch structures are described in this paper. The El-Centro record and Shanghai artificial wave were adopted as the input excitation. The entire test process can be divided into three stages depending on the lateral brace configurations, i.e., fully (five) braced, two braces removed, and all braces removed. A total of 46 tests, starting from the elastic state to failure condition, have been conducted. The natural vibration frequencies, responses of acceleration, displacement and strain were measured. From the test results, it is demonstrated that the CFT arch structures are capable of resisting severe ground motions and that CFT arches offer a credible alternative to reinforced concrete arches, especially in regions of high seismic intensity.

The States-of-arts and Key Scientific Issues on Durability Research of Concrete Structures

Concrete has traditionally been regarded as a durable material requiring little or no maintenance. However, over the past several decades, a number of durability related problems have emerged and stimulated research into the factors relating to concrete durability globally. The challenge now facing practicing engineers is how to design and build structures that not only satisfy the specified structural requirements, but also achieve the performance levels required from a durability standpoint. Research works on concrete structural durability have been widely reported in the literature over the last several decades. In this paper, reviews of four stages of research work on durability, i e, environments, materials, components, and structures, were presented. Afterwards, the key scientific issues in this field were also pointed out.

Piezoelectric-based Crack Detection Techniques of Concrete Structures:Experimental Study

Feasibility of a wave propagation-based active crack detection technique for nondestructive evaluations （NDE） of concrete structures with surface bonded and embedded piezoelectric-ceramic （PZT） patches was studied. At first, the wave propagation mechanisms in concrete were analyzed. Then, an active sensing system with integrated actuators/sensors was constructed. One PZT patch was used as an actuator to generate high frequency waves, and the other PZT patches were used as sensors to detect the propagating wave. Scattered wave signals from the damage can be obtained by subtracting the baseline signal of the intact structure from the recorded signal of the damaged structure. In the experimental study, progressive cracked damage inflicted artificially on the plain concrete beam is assessed by using both lateral and thickness modes of the PZT patches. The results indicate that with the increasing number and severity of cracks, the magnitude of the sensor output decreases for the surface bonded PZT patches, and increases for the embedded PZT patches.

Design and Preparation of High Elastic Modulus Self-compacting Concrete for Pre-stressed Mass Concrete Structures

Requirements of self-compacting concrete （SCC） applied in pre-stressed mass concrete structures include high fluidity, high elastic modulus, low adiabatic temperature rise and low drying shrinkage, which cannot be satisfied by ordinary SCC. In this study, in order to solve the problem, a few principles of SCC design were proposed and the effects of binder amount, fly ash （FA） substitution, aggregate content and gradation on the workability, temperature rise, drying shrinkage and elastic modulus of SCC were investigated. The results and analysis indicate that the primary factor influencing the fluidity was paste content, and the main methods improving the elastic modulusof SCC were a lower sand ratio and an optimized coarse aggregate gradation. Lower adiabatic temperature rise and drying shrinkage were beneficial for decreasing the cement content. Further, based on the optimization of mixture, a C50 grade SCC （with binder amount of only 480 kg/ m3, fly ash substitution of 40%, sand ratio of 51% and proper coarse aggregate gradation （Vs.~0 mm： V10-16 ram： V16.20 mm= 30%： 30%：40%）） with superior workability was successfully prepared. The temperature rise and drying shrinkage of the prepared SCC were significantly reduced, and the elastic modulus reached 37.6 GPa at 28 d.

Reliability-based service life prediction of existing concrete structures under marine environment

Chloride-induced corrosion of the reinforcement is considered as one of the major mechanisms resulting in the reduction of structural resistance of reinforced concrete structural elements located in marine and other aggressive environments. A study of reinforced concrete structures located at the Fangcheng dock in the Beibu Gulf port, China, was present. The result from field survey indicates that the concrete cover depth and chloride diffusion coefficient fit best normal distribution and lognormal distribution, respectively. The service life of structure is about 55 a, while initiation time is 45 a. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the most influential factor of the structure service life prediction is concrete cover, followed by diffusion coefficient, diffusion decay index, critical chloride concentration, surface chloride concentration, current density and localized pitting corrosion. Finally, the effects of diffusion decay index and critical chloride concentration on structure service life prediction are discussed.

Corrosion risk assessment of chloride-contaminated concrete structures using embeddable multi-cell sensor system

Monitoring the service condition of concrete structures requires the quantitative assessment of properties and corrosion rate of structural steels surrounded by concrete.A multi-cell sensor system that included a reference electrode,a chloride content sensor,a macrocell current unit and an electrical resistance measurement unit was developed.This system provided the following important electrochemical data in the cover-zone concrete on site:open circuit potential,macrocell current from anodes to cathode,chloride profile,concrete resistance and corrosion rate of built-in anodes.The experimental results show that the macrocell current increases when the chloride content in concrete is higher.Thus,monitoring the chloride content is a good method for monitoring the corrosion state.The chloride ion content and cover depth are the key factors that affect the electrical resistance of concrete.Without considering the temperature and time,a simplified model of the instantaneous corrosion rate of steel rebar in a concrete structure based on the measured chloride contents and concrete resistance was proposed.The test results further prove the reliability of this simplified predicting model.

Achievements of Truss Models for Reinforced Concrete Structures

Achievements are presented for truss models of RC structures developed in previous years: 1. Two constitutive models, biaxial and triaxial, are based on regular trusses, with bars obeying nonlinear uniaxial σ-ε laws of material under simulation;both models have been compared with test results and show a dependence of Poisson ratio on curvature of σ-ε law. 2. A truss finite element has been used in the nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of plane RC frames;it has been compared with test results and describes, in a simple way, the formation of plastic hinges. 3. Thanks to the very simple geometry of a truss, the equilibrium equations can be easily written and the stiffness matrix can be easily updated, both with respect to the deformed truss, within each step of a static incremental loading or within each time step of a dynamic analysis, so that to take into account geometric nonlinearities. So the confinement of a RC column is interpreted as a structural stability effect of concrete. And a significant role of the transverse reinforcement is revealed, that of preventing, by its close spacing and sufficient amount, the buckling of inner longitudinal concrete struts, which would lead to a global instability of the RC column. 4. The proposed truss model is statically indeterminate, so it exhibits some features, which are not met by the “strut-and-tie” model.

DAMAGE LOCATION DUE TO CORROSION IN REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

An investigation on damage location due to the corrosion in reinforced concrete structures is conducted. The frequency change square ratio is used as a parameter for the damage. It is theoretically verified that the parameter is a function of the damage location. Experimental results of the corrosion in reinforced concrete structures show that the predicted damage location is in agreement with the real damage location. The modal parameters are used to detect the damages in structural concrete elements, and so they are useful for structural appraisal.

Full－range nonlinear analysis of fatigue behaviors of reinforced concrete structures by finite element method

The offshore reinforced concrete structures are always subject to cyclic load, such as wave load.In this paper a new finite element analysis model is developed to analyze the stress and strain state of reinforced concrete structures including offshore concrete structures, subject to any number of the cyclic load. On the basis of the anal ysis of the experimental data,this model simplifies the number of cycles-total cyclic strain curve of concrete as three straight line segments,and it is assumed that the stress-strain curves of different cycles in each segment are the same, thus the elastoplastic analysis is only needed for the first cycle of each segment, and the stress or strain corresponding to any number of cycles can be obtained by superposition of stress or strain obtained by the above e lastoplastic analysis based on the cyclic numbers in each segment.This model spends less computer time,and can obtain the stress and strain states of the structures after any number of cycles.The endochronic-damage and ideal offshore concrete platform subject to cyclic loading are experimented and analyzed by the finite element method based on the model proposed in this paper. The results between the experiment and the finite element analysis are in good agreement,which demonstrates the validity and accuracy of the proposed model.

Improving Concrete Containment Structures Associated with Fixed-Cone Valves

Fixed-Cone valves are often used to dissipate energy and regulate flow at the low level outlet works of dams. Fixed-Cone valves, also known as Howell-Bunger valves, create an expanding conical jet allowing the energy of the water to dissipate over a large area. However, in many applications constructing the large stilling basin necessary for these valves is either not possible or not feasible. In order to reduce the relative size of the stilling basin, hoods or concrete containment structures have been used in conjunction with Fixed-Cone valves. This paper discusses the use of baffles in concrete containment structures in order to dissipate energy in a considerably confined space. It was determined that using baffles, in place of a deflector ring and end sill (Used in traditional containment structures.), significantly improves the function of containment structures by reducing downstream flow velocities and improving flow patterns and stability. This information will be useful to engineers allowing them to minimize scour and erosion associated with concrete containment structures.

Introduction of a Japan Concrete Institute Guideline： Practical Guideline for Investigation, Repair and Strengthening of Cracked Concrete Structures

There are many cracked concrete structures worldwide. Although there have been numerous efforts to eliminate cracks, some cracks are very harmful and should be repaired as soon as possible. On the other hand, some cracks are almost harmless. So, a good guideline regarding how to deal with cracks in concrete structures is needed. In this guideline, the practical investigation, repair and strengthening method of cracked concrete structures is discussed. And the detecting subjects are cracks generated immediately after casting and during the service time. This guideline targets on the owners （including managers） of concrete structure and the engineers working for the maintenance of concrete structure. JCI （Japan Concrete Institute） published first version of ＂Practical Guideline for Investigation and Repair of Cracked Concrete Structures＂ in 1980, and then the fourth version titled ＂Practical Guideline for Investigation, Repair and Strengthening of Cracked Concrete Structures--2009＂ was published. This guideline is very practical when cracks are observed in existing concrete structures, in any other countries as well as in Japan. These three authors led the establishment of this guideline.

Progressive collapse resisting capacity of reinforced concrete load bearing wall structures

Reinforced concrete(RC) load bearing wall is widely used in high-rise and mid-rise buildings. Due to the number of walls in plan and reduction in lateral force portion, this system is not only stronger against earthquakes, but also more economical. The effect of progressive collapse caused by removal of load bearing elements, in various positions in plan and stories of the RC load bearing wall system was evaluated by nonlinear dynamic and static analyses. For this purpose, three-dimensional model of 10-story structure was selected. The analysis results indicated stability, strength and stiffness of the RC load-bearing wall system against progressive collapse. It was observed that the most critical condition for removal of load bearing walls was the instantaneous removal of the surrounding walls located at the corners of the building where the sections of the load bearing elements were changed. In this case, the maximum vertical displacement was limited to 6.3 mm and the structure failed after applying the load of 10 times the axial load bored by removed elements. Comparison between the results of the nonlinear dynamic and static analyses demonstrated that the "load factor" parameter was a reasonable criterion to evaluate the progressive collapse potential of the structure.

Development of high performance and high strength heavy concrete for radiation shielding structures

Heavy concrete currently used for construction contains special materials that are expensive and difficult to work with.This study replaced natural aggregate（stones） in concrete with round steel balls,which are inexpensive and easily obtainable.The diameters of the steel balls were 0.5 and 1 cm,and their density was 7.8 kg/m3.Dense packing mixture methods were used to produce heavy concrete with densities of 3500 and 5000 kg/m3.The various properties of this concrete were tested according to the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials（ASTM）.The results indicated that the construction slump of the concrete could reach 260-280 mm and its slump flow could reach 610-710 mm.More important,its compressive strength could reach 8848 MPa.These results will significantly alter traditional construction methods that use heavy concrete and enhance innovative ideas for structural design.