Comparative Analysis of Statistical Thickness Models for the Determination of the External Specific Surface and the Surface of the Micropores of Materials: The Case of a Clay Concrete Stabilized Using Sugar Cane Molasses

In this work, four empirical models of statistical thickness, namely the models of Harkins and Jura, Hasley, Carbon Black and Jaroniec, were compared in order to determine the textural properties (external surface and surface of micropores) of a clay concrete without molasses and clay concretes stabilized with 8%, 12% and 16% molasses. The results obtained show that Hasley’s model can be used to obtain the external surfaces. However, it does not allow the surface of the micropores to be obtained, and is not suitable for the case of simple clay concrete (without molasses) and for clay concretes stabilized with molasses. The Carbon Black, Jaroniec and Harkins and Jura models can be used for clay concrete and stabilized clay concrete. However, the Carbon Black model is the most relevant for clay concrete and the Harkins and Jura model is for molasses-stabilized clay concrete. These last two models augur well for future research.

Effects of Curing Methods on the Permeability and Mechanism of Cover Concrete

Curing methods are one of the most important factors in determining the quality and compactness of cover concrete.The effect of curing methods on the water absorption and sorptivity coefficient of cover concrete with the substitution ratio of fly ash(FA)and ground granulated blast slag(GGBS)for cement between 30 wt%and 40 wt%was studied by capillary water absorption test.The vacuum saturation test and mercury intrusion test were employed to characterize these differences in the pore structure of cover concrete under different curing methods.With further analysis of the compactness of microstructure by SEM,the mechanism of the impact of curing methods on the permeability of cover concrete was revealed.The results obtained indicate that the effect of curing methods on the water absorption,sorptivity coefficient and porosity of cover concrete shows the trend of natural curing>cover curing>water curing>standard curing.It is also shown that reasonable curing is advantageous to reduce the porosity and permeability of cover concrete.In natural curing conditions,the appearance of porosity increasing and pore structure coarsening is more critical for covering concrete with mineral admixtures than for pure cement concrete.Therefore,the permeability of cover concrete with mineral admixtures is more sensitive to the early-age curing methods.

Simulation of Corrosion-Induced Cracking of Reinforced Concrete Based on Fracture Phase Field Method

Accurate simulation of the cracking process caused by rust expansion of reinforced concrete(RC)structures plays an intuitive role in revealing the corrosion-induced failure mechanism.Considering the quasi-brittle fracture of concrete,the fracture phase field driven by the compressive-shear term is constructed and added to the traditional brittle fracture phase field model.The rationality of the proposed model is verified by a mixed fracture example under a shear displacement load.Then,the extended fracture phase model is applied to simulate the corrosion-induced cracking process of RC.The cracking patterns caused by non-uniform corrosion expansion are discussed for RC specimens with homogeneous macroscopically or heterogeneous with different polygonal aggregate distributions at the mesoscopic scale.Then,the effects of the protective layer on the crack propagation trajectory and cracking resistance are investigated,illustrating that the cracking angle and cracking resistance increase with the increase of the protective layer thickness,consistent with the experimental observation.Finally,the corrosion-induced cracking process of concrete specimens with large and small spacing rebars is simulated,and the interaction of multiple corrosion cracking is easily influenced by the reinforcement spacing,which increases with the decrease of the steel bar interval.These conclusions play an important role in the design of engineering anti-corrosion measures.The fracture phase field model can provide strong support for the life assessment of RC structures.

Analysis of a landfill cover without geomembrane using varied particle sizes of recycled concrete

Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of a novel three-layer landfill cover system constructed with recycled concrete aggregates(RCAs)without geomembrane in both laboratory and field.However,no systematic investigation has been carried out to optimize the combination of the particle sizes for fine-grained RCAs(FRC)and coarse-grained RCAs(CRC)that can be used for the three-layer landfill cover system.The aim of this paper is to assist engineers in designing the three-layer landfill cover system under a rainfall of 100-year return period in humid climate conditions using an easily controlled soil parameter D10 of RCAs.The numerical study reveals that when D10 of FRC increases from 0.05 mm to 0.16 mm,its saturated permeability increases by 10 times.As a result,a larger amount of rainwater infiltrates into the cover system,causing a higher lateral diversion in both the top FRC and middle CRC layers.No further changes in the lateral diversion are observed when the D10 value of FRC is larger than 0.16 mm.Both the particle sizes of FRC and CRC layers are shown to have a minor influence on the percolation under the extreme rainfall event.This implies that the selection of particle sizes for the FRC and CRC layers can be based on the availability of materials.Although it is well known that the bottom layer of the cover system should be constructed with very fine-grained soils if possible,this study provides an upper limit to the particle size that can be used in the bottom layer(D10 not larger than 0.02 mm).With this limit,the three-layer system can still minimize the water percolation to meet the design criterion(30 mm/yr)even under a 100-year return period of rainfall in humid climates.

Soil seed bank is affected by transferred soil thickness and properties in the reclaimed coal mine in the Qilian Mountains, China

Reclamation of lands abandoned after mining in mountain areas is critical to erosion control,safety from landslides,and ecological protection of mountain ecosystems.However,little is known about alpine coal mine reclamation using the soil seed bank as a potential source for revegetation.We collected samples of persistent soil seed bank for germination experiments from nine reclaimed sites with different soil cover thicknesses and from six control sites in the Qilian Mountains of China.Soil properties of each site were determined(including soil water content,soil available potassium,soil available phosphorus,soil total nitrogen,pH,soil organic matter,soil total phosphorus,and soil total potassium,and soil alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen),and the relationships of the characteristics of the soil seed bank with soil cover thickness and soil properties were examined.The results showed that the density,number of species,and diversity of the topsoil seed bank were significantly correlated with soil cover thickness,and all increased with the increment of soil cover thickness.Soil cover thickness controlled the soil seed bank by influencing soil properties.With the increase in soil cover thickness,soil properties(e.g.,soil organic matter,soil total nitrogen,etc.)content increased while soil pH decreased.The soil seed bank had the potential to restored the pre-mining habitat at reclaimed sites with approximately 20-cm soil cover thickness.Soil properties of reclaimed sites were lower than that of natural sites.The relationship between the soil seed bank and soil cover thickness determined in this study provides a foundation for improving reclamation measures used in coal mines,as well as for the management and monitoring of reclaimed areas.

Probabilistic Lifetime Assessment of Marine Reinforced Concrete with Steel Corrosion and Cover Cracking

In order to study the durability behavior of marine reinforced concrete structure suffering from chloride attack, the structural service life is assumed to be divided into three critical stages, which can be characterized by steel corrosion and cover cracking. For each stage, a calculated model used to predict the lifetime is developed. Based on the definition of durability limit state, a probabilistic lifetime model and its time-dependent reliability analytical method are proposed considering the random natures of influencing factors. Then, the probabilistic lifetime prediction models are applied to a bridge pier located in the Hangzhou Bay with Monte Carlo simulation. It is found that the time to corrosion initiation to follows a lognormal distribution, while that the time from corrosion initiation to cover cracking t~ and the time for crack to develop from hairline crack to a limit crack width t2 can be described by Weibull distributions. With the permitted failure probability of 5.0%, it is also observed that the structural durability lifetime mainly depends on the durability life to and that the percentage of participation of the life to to the total service life grows from 61.5% to 83.6% when the cover thickness increases from 40 mm to 80 mm. Therefore, for any part of the marine RC bridge, the lifetime predictions and maintenance efforts should also be directed toward controlling the stage of corrosion initiation induced by chloride ion.

Semi-theoretical analyses of the concrete plate perforated by a rigid projectile

Based on the three-stage perforation model, a semi-theoretical analysis is conducted for the ballistic per- formances of a rigid kinetic projectile impacting on concrete plates. By introducing the projectile resistance coefficients, dimensionless formulae are proposed for depth of penetra- tion （DOP）, perforation limit thickness, ballistic limit veloc- ity, residual velocity and perforation ratio, with the projec- tile nosed geometries and projectile-target interfacial fric- tion taken into account. Based on the proposed formula for DOP and lots of penetration tests data of normal and high strength concrete targets, a new expression is obtained for target strength parameter. By comparisons between the re- sults of the proposed formulae and existing empirical formu- lae and large amount of projectile penetration or perforation tests data for monolithic and segmented concrete targets, the validations of the proposed formulae are verified. It is found that the projectile-target interfacial friction can be neglected in the predictions of characteristic ballistic parameters. The dimensionless DOP for low-to-mid speed impacts of non-flat nosed projectiles increases almost linearly with the impact factor by a coefficient of 2/（nS）. The anti-perforation ability of the multilayered concrete plates is dependent on both the target plate thickness and the projectile impact velocity. The variation range of the perforation ratio is 1-3.5 for concrete targets.

Prediction of the Residual Strength for Durability Failure of Concrete Structure in Acidic Environments

According to the results of accelerated tests of acidification corrosion depth and compressive strength of concretes subjected to sulfuric acid environments,the acidification depth laws of concretes were predicted based on the grey system theory.Thus,the remaining compressive strength was calculated when the acidification depth reached the protection layer thickness of concrete structures,which indicates that the limit state of durability failure can be defined based on strength degradation,and the calculation process was illustrated by an example.The calculated results show that the remaining compressive strength values in the durability failure limit state for the concrete structures exposed to p H=2 and 3 sulfuric acid water environments and wet-dry cyclic sulfuric acid environment with p H=2 are 74%,72%,and 80% of initialstrength,respectively.The method provides references for the durability evaluation of concrete structure design under the acidic environments.

Experimental Study on the Effect of Steel-fibre in Concrete Thick Cap

The effect of steel fibre used in concrete was systematically analyzed by model testing of 30 2-pile thick caps of steel-fibre reinforced concrete, in which the model scale was 1：5. The experiment system composed of a loading device, strain measurement system and a data-acquisition system was used, also an electromechanic centigrade scale, a lens and a Y J-25 static resistance strainometer were used.The experimental results show that the volumetric rate of steel fibre and draw ratio have an important influence on its load-bearing capacity. The incorporation of steel fibre can effectively improve the extension and reduce the thickness of the caps.

Experimental study on the seismic behavior of high strength concrete fi lled double-tube columns

To study the seismic behavior of high strength concrete fi lled double-tube(CFDT) columns,each consisting of an external square steel tube and an internal circular steel tube,quasi-static tests on eight CFDT column specimens were conducted.The test variables included the width-to-thickness ratio(β1) and the area ratio(β2) of the square steel tube,the wall thickness of the circular steel tube,and the axial force(or the axial force ratio) applied to the CFDT columns.The test results indicate that for CFDT columns with a square steel tube with β1 of 50.1 and 24.5,local buckling of the specimen was found at a drift ratio of 1/150 and 1/50,respectively.The lateral force-displacement hysteretic loops of all specimens were plump and stable.Reducing the width-to-thickness ratio of the square steel tube,increasing its area ratio,or increasing the wall thickness of the internal circular steel tube,led to an increased fl exural strength and deformation capacity of the specimens.Increasing the design value of the axial force ratio from 0.8 to 1.0 may increase the fl exural strength of the specimens,while it may also decrease the ultimate deformation capacity of the specimen with β1 of 50.1.

Effect of W/C ratio and cover thickness on polarization characteristics of embedded steel in mortar

The effects of cover thickness and W/C(water-to-cement) ratio on polarization properties of embedded steel bar were investigated with electrochemical methods.Corrosion potentials shift to the noble direction with increasing the cover thickness.In addition,when the cover thickness increasingly becomes thinner and thinner,effect of the W/C ratio on variation of corrosion potential increases as well.Impedance value at 100 kHz indicating the resistance of cover thickness increases with the decrement of W/C ratio as well as the increment of cover thickness.However,in the case of W/C ratio at 0.6,impedance at 10 mHz shows the relatively larger value than that at W/C ratio of 0.4 or 0.5 in the range of cover thickness from 4 to 8 cm,which is probably expected that oxide film built up on the surface of steel bar due to strong alkali environment by hydration reaction with increasing W/C ratio is performed as the resistance polarization.It is also observed that liquid junction potential tends to increase with decreasing W/C ratio.

Rational concrete cover of prestressed concrete beams and slabs for fire resistance

As the influence of the ratio of the characteristic value of structural resistance to that of frequent combination effect,K,on the thickness of concrete cover of prestressed concrete (PC) beams and slabs for fire resistance is not considered sufficiently in design criteria for concrete structures in China and other countries at present,numerical analyses were carried out by ANSYS software on unbonded prestressed concrete (UPC) one-way simply-supported and continuous slabs and beams,and bonded PC simply-supported and continuous beams subjected to fire in 186 cases.In the analysis,K,section dimensions and the thickness of concrete cover are regarded as independent variables and some calculation parameters determined by trial and error based on test results.Calculation formula for fire endurance of UPC simply-supported and continuous slabs was proposed,and the recommended thicknesses of cover of PC beams and slabs was presented in consideration of the influence of K and section dimensions as well as fire endurance requirements.Comparison analysis of relevant design criterions in China and other countries was performed to verify the rationale of the proposed values.

Stress and thickness calculation of a bolted flat cover with double metal sealing rings

The design of a bolted flat cover is extremely important for the structural integrity of pressure vessels.The present design codes provide the thickness calculation equations for a bolted flat cover with single metal gasket.However,the rules for a bolted flat cover with double metal sealing rings are not developed to date.In the study,a new thickness calculation equation for the bolted flat cover with double metal sealing rings is proposed.First,the theoretical stress solution for bolted flat cover with the double metal sealing rings is obtained,based on the theory of simply supported circular plate and then verified using the results from finite element analyses.The results indicate that the influence of double metal sealing ring on the stress of the flat cover is more serious compared to single metal gasket.Second,a more accurate and reasonable equation is proposed to calculate the thickness of bolted flat cover with double metal sealing rings based on the derived theoretical equations of maximum stress.Finally,the influence of linear load and the spacing between rings on the thickness are discussed.Subsequently,a few suggestions are provided to design low-pressure or atmosphere pressure vessels.The study provides a theoretical foundation to develop design codes of pressure vessels in nuclear reactors.

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.

Improved Mechanical Properties of Textile Reinforced Concrete Thin Plate

Textile reinforced concrete （TRC） is especially suitable for the thin-walled and light-weight structural elements with a high load-bearing capacity. For this thin element, the concrete cover thickness is an important factor in affecting the mechanical and anti-crack performance. Therefore, the influences of the surface treatment of the textile and mixing polypropylene fiber into the concrete on the properties of the components with different cover thickness were experimentally studied with four-point bending tests. The experimental results show that for the components with the same cover thickness, sticking sand on epoxy resin-impregnated textile and adding short fiber into the concrete are helpful to improve their mechanical performance. The 2-3 mm cover thickness is enough to meet the anchorage requirements of the reinforcement fiber and the component has good crack pattern and mechanical behavior at this condition. Comparison between the calculated and the experimental Values of flexural capacity reveals satisfactory agreement. Finally, based on the calculation model of the crack spacing of reinforced concrete structures, the crack extension of this thin-wall component was qualitatively analyzed and the same results with the experimental were obtained.

Measuring Ice Thicknesses along the Red River in Canada Using RADARSAT-2 Satellite Imagery

The spring flood of 2009 in the Red River Valley was exacerbated with severe ice breakup and ice jamming. To assist ice jam mitigation by cutting and breaking up the river ice cover before the flood season and to support the operation of the Red River Floodway, Manitoba Water Stewardship is striving to model the occurrence of ice breakup and simulate the behaviour of ice jamming along the river. An important parameter in ice breakup forecasting is the ice thickness. RADARSAT-2 standard satellite images were collected along the course of the Red River in Manitoba during the 2009-2010 winter to help determine ice thicknesses along the river. Standard images can have transmit-receive polarizations in the horizontal-horizontal (HH) or horizontal-vertical (HV) configurations. Ice thickness measurements were taken in the field during the same time frame when the satellite passed over the Red River Valley. Good correlations were obtained between the HH-backscatter readings and the surveyed ice thicknesses. HV-backscatter readings correlate better with fresh snow depth measurements. Additionally, using same sensor incident angle and flight geometry allows ice thickening rate behavior over the course of the winter to be determined.

Oyster Cementation as Protective Covers for Exposed Marine Concrete

Cored concrete specimens from seawall exposed to marine environment for 22 years were evaluated by carbonation depth test,rapid chloride permeability test,absorption of water test and microstructure examination.The results show that concrete exposed to marine environment has smaller carbonation depth and carbonation depth of concrete exposed to tidal zone is less than that in splash zone.There are similar water absorption rate and chloride permeability for concrete exposed to splash zone compared with concrete exposed to splash zone removed 3mm surface layer.However,concrete exposed to tidal zone with bio-films has lower chloride permeability and water absorption rate than those of concrete exposed to tidal zone removed 3mm surface layer.In addition,Results of FE-SEM and EDAX indicate that concrete exposed to splash zone has loose structure,exposed finer aggregate and concrete exposed to tidal zone covers by dense structure of oyster cementation and shell.Microstructures analysis further verified that concrete covered with oysters and their cementation has beneficial effects to durability of concrete.

Changes in Lake Ice Cover on the Morskie Oko Lake in Poland(1971-2007)

根据从时期 1971-2007 的数据，并且由适用，湖冰的趋势分析，形成上的研究，消失和持续时间在南部的波兰在 Tatra 山在默斯基·奥科·莱克上盖住被执行。结果在冬季湖冰盖子的最大的厚度并且在湖冰现象的持续时间显示出减少的趋势，当在 Tatra 山的脚在一样的时期记录的空气温度显示出增加的趋势时。在湖冰现象和空气温度的功课之间有强壮的关系。

Size effect of confined concrete subjected to axial compression

In order to investigate the size effect and other effects on the stress-strain relationship of confined concrete, 42 specimens with different sizes and section shapes were placed under axial compression loading. Effects of key parameters such as size of specimens, tie configuration, transverse reinforcement ratio, and concrete cover were studied. The results show that for specimens with the same configuration and the same volumetric ratio of the transverse reinforcement, along with the increasing specimen size, the peak stress, peak strain and deformation of the post-peak show a down trend, however, the volumetric ratio of the transverse reinforcement is lowered, the decreasing of the peak stress is accelerated, but the decreasing of the deformation is slow down. For specimens with the same volumetric ratio but different configurations of transverse reinforcement, though the transverse reinforcement configuration becomes more complicated, the peak stress of the large size specimen does not improve more than that of the small size. However, the deformation occurs before the stress declines to 85% of peak stress, and the improvement with the grid pattern tie configuration is much greater due to size effect.

Preparation and properties of geopolymer-lightweight aggregate refractory concrete

Geopolymer-lightweight aggregate refractory concrete (GLARC) was prepared with geopolymer and lightweight aggregate. The mechanical property and heat-resistance (950 ℃) of GLARC were investigated. The effects of size of aggregate and mass ratio of geopolymer to aggregate on mechanical and thermal properties were also studied. The results show that the highest compressive strength of the heated refractory concrete is 43.3 MPa,and the strength loss is only 42%. The mechanical property and heat-resistance are influenced by the thickness of geopolymer covered with aggregate,which can be expressed as the quantity of geopolymer on per surface area of aggregate. In order to show the relationship between the thickness of geopolymer covered with aggregate and the thermal property of concrete,equal thickness model is presented,which provides a reference for the mix design of GLARC. For the haydite sand with size of 1.18-4.75 mm,the best amount of geopolymer per surface area of aggregate should be in the range of 0.300-0.500 mg/mm2.