An Improved Technique of Calculating Deflections of Flexural Reinforced Concrete Elements Made of Conventional and High-Strength Concrete

The paper presents an improved technique of calculating total deflections of flexural reinforced concrete elements that takes discrete crack formation into account. The technique is based on determining the curvature of the cross section of reinforced concrete elements with cracks and fissures in the area between cracks. The curvature of the element is calculated using a non-linear function of the deformation of concrete under compression. Approximating dependency of concrete resistance on compression developed by one of the authors is presented. An algorithm of finding the curvature and formulas for calculating curvature and deflection are provided. The function of the curvature distribution along the length of a flexible element is proposed by the authors. The paper also presents the results of the author＇s experimental research. The characteristics of samples tested are described. The experimental research results of deflections of fiexural reinforced concrete elements made of conventional and high-strength concretes are presented. Comparison of the values calculated using the technique with those obtained from the experimental research as well as those calculated according to existing regulations in Russia, USA and Europe is drawn.

The Impact of Marine Water on Different Types of Coarse Aggregate of Geopolymer Concrete

This research studies the impact of different types of coarse aggregate on the behavior of geopolymer concrete based on both fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in different marine environments. Aiming to solve the problems caused by the construction and demolition waste and the depletion of natural aggregates, in the present study coarse recycled aggregates is used to produce new green concrete with a fly ash-slag based geopolymer. By this examination, the research seeks to improve the quality and productivity of concrete used in construction and hydraulic projects. For this research, four mixtures containing different types of coarse aggregate in two different water environments were used. The utilized mixtures contained natural aggregate concrete (NAC) such as basalt and crushed marble. Also, recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RAC), which totally replaced natural aggregate, was presented in this paper such as crushed concrete and crushed ceramic. For this study, in the sieve analysis;specific and unit weights, was recorded. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were determined, using a compressive test that was conducted on the 7th, 28th, 56th and 90th days at different water environments;potable water (PW) and sea water (SW). Durability test was also performed for total absorption measurement. Results indicated that geopolymer concrete exhibits better strength in marine environments than in those of potable water. Results also showed that crushed marble (CMA) exhibits higher compressive strength and durability.

Structural Preservationm Priority of the Sustainable Management of Bulgarian Cultural and Historical Heritage Buildings

Bulgarian cultural heritage is the most important part of the national wealth and a major factor in the accreditation of the Bulgarian cultural identity. Preservation of cultural and historical heritage valuables of one nation determines its development and presents an integrated project for their use in accordance with the contemporary needs of the society. Sustainable management and adaptation of Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage buildings are a guarantee for preservation of their value, including social, economical, political, scientific, aesthetic, philosophical, spiritual, architectural, structural, archeological and sentimental aspects of this value. Regarding to this, structural preservation presents a priority of the sustainable management of Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage buildings. For that type of buildings, the traditional methods for structural strengthening are not applicable and the development of individual rehabilitation programs is required. They must always reflect the specific conditions and building＇s importance. The existing technical regulations in Bulgaria are presented and general recommendations for their applications and future development are done. Regarding to the Bulgarian current law and governing regulations, the implementation plan for the conservation and management is presented in this paper. Based on the analysis of the principles of the sustainable management and especially of the structural preservation, some general conclusions are made.

Deflection analysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer under long-term load action

This paper presents the results of an experimental research on reinforced concrete beams strengthened with an external carbon fibre reinforced polymer(CFRP) layer under long-term load action that lasted for 330 d.We describe the characteristics of deflection development of the beams strengthened with different additional anchorages of the external carbon fibre composite layer during the period of interest.The conducted experiments showed that the additional anchorage influences the slip of the external layer with respect to the strengthened element.Thus,concrete and carbon fibre composite interface stiffness decreases with a long-term load action.Therefore,the proposed method of analysis based on the built-up-bars theory can be used to estimate concrete and carbon fibre composite interface stiffness in the case of long-term load.

Bi-normalized response spectra and seismic intensity in Bucharest for 1986 and 1990 Vrancea seismic events

The Vrancea subcrustal earthquakes of August 30,1986 and May 30,1990 are the two most recent seismic events that have occurred in Romania with moment magnitudes M W ≥ 6.9.The spectral analysis of the strong ground motions recorded in Bucharest reveals that despite small differences in magnitude between the 1986 and 1990 earthquakes,their frequency contents are very different,sometimes even opposing.The main focus of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the response spectra in terms of the bi-normalized response spectra(BNRS) proposed by Xu and Xie(2004 and 2007) for strong ground motions recorded in Bucharest during these two seismic events.The mean absolute acceleration and relative velocity response spectra for the two earthquakes are discussed and compared.Furthermore,the mean bi-normalized absolute acceleration and normalized relative velocity response spectra with respect to the control period T C are computed for the ground motions recorded in Bucharest in 1986 and 1990.The predominant period T P is also used in this study for the normalization of the spectral period axis.Subsequently,the methodology proposed by Martinez-Perreira and Bommer(1998) is applied in order to estimate the seismic intensity of the two events.The results are discussed and several conclusions regarding the possibility of using the bi-normalized response spectra(BNRS) are given.

Effect of rolling friction on wall pressure,discharge velocity and outflow of granular material from a flat-bottomed bin

The present paper provides both experimental and DEM analyses of the filling and discharge of pea grains from a 3D flat-bottomed bin. In the DEM model, the fixed mean values of the experimentally determined single particle data, such as the particle density, Young＇s modulus, Poisson＇s ratio as well as the sliding and rolling friction coefficients were incorporated to analyse their effects on the macroscale indicators, such as the wall pressure, discharge velocities and material outflow parameters. The effect of rolling friction was studied based on the experimentally measured single particle rolling friction coefficient. This analysis is aimed at the quantitative prediction of flow parameters as related to the identification of material parameters.