Abstracts:This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the distribution of strain on a unidirectional basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapped around concrete cylinders. A total of 12 cylinders (150 mm x 300 mm) were wrapped with 2, 4, and 6 layers of basalt FRP (BFRP) and the distribution of hoop strain under axial compression load was studied using multiple strain gauges. The new aspect of this study is the use of BFRPs as a new construction material for wrapping concrete elements with a focus on the distribution of hoop strain towards refining design strain of the wrap. Also, the effect of number of BFRP layers on the premature rupture of the wrap with respect to flat coupon test was evaluated in the form of a strain efficiency factor. It was concluded that the maximum hoop strain was not necessarily associated with the ruptured areas of the wrap. Also, an analysis of variances showed that the difference between hoop strains in the overlap and non-overlap regions was non-significant and an average hoop strain can represent the overall dilation of the specimens. The average strain efficiency factor was found ranging from 0.61 to 0.86. The test data was added to a large database of concrete cylinders wrapped with unidirectional FRPs and after statistical evaluations a refined strain efficiency factor of 0.70 was proposed instead of the current factor of 0.55 in ACI 440.2R-17 for design applications.

Abstracts:Serious environmental problems are due to large amounts of polymer waste, which are mostly thrown into landfills. As we known, polymer composites has been used to produce a variety of products like acid tanks, manholes, drains, highway median barriers, and so forth. One option is to use waste polymers as aggregates in polymer composites. In this work, waste polymers (PET, polycarbonate and automotive tires), partially replaced silica sand in polyester based mortar. Waste particles (0.7–2.36 mm), in concentrations of 1, 2 and 3% by weight, were used. The polymer mortar specimens were subjected to compressive and flexural tests, and the elasticity modulus was calculated. In addition, mechanical values were calculated by Finite Element Method (FEM), and compared with experimental data. Surface morphology and degree of crystallinity of waste particles were analyzed by SEM and XRD techniques, respectively. The results show improvement on the mechanical strength (up to 20%) for polymer mortar with waste PET; but lower mechanical values when adding polycarbonate or tire particles, compared to control mortar. These mechanical results can be related to the crystallinity degree, because PET particles shown higher crystallinity than those for polycarbonate and tire particles. This work is an alternative to reduce environmental contamination through to use waste polymers as fillers in polymer mortars.

Abstracts:The waste problem is a problem faced throughout the world. This research aims to save the environment with on the utilization of recycling waste materials that do not contribute much in people's lives over the years. Organic cement is an alternative cement besides portland cement made from organic waste recyled and substitution of mediteran soil. The research is oriented to chemical compounds, compressive strength, and tensile strength testings of concrete by using organic and portland cements. Age of concrete in the research are 3, 4, 14, 21, and 28 days old. Result for compressive test of cylinder concrete with organic cement, it obtained 6.10 MPa while the cylincer concrete with portland cement, it obtained 20.22 MPa. For tensile strength test of cylinder concrete with organic cement on 28-days-old concrete reached 1.09 MPa and those with portland cement reached 2.01 MPa. From the physical test result, it obtained the density of organic cement is 3.01 g/ml, while for the density of portland cement is 3.16 g/ml. From the analysis of organic cement chemical compounds through laboratory testing methods result, it found indications that resemble portland cement chemical compounds that are CaO;65,36%, SiO₂; 18,84%, Al₂O₃; 6,33%, Fe₂O₃; 2,29%, SO₃ ; 3,64%, MgO; 1,35%, C₃S; 66,72%, C₂S; 3,98%, C₃A; 12,9%, and C4Af; 6,97%.

Abstracts:This paper presents an experimental study of behaviour of externally strengthened short reinforced concrete (RC) corbels by carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) fabrics. For this purpose, twelve specimens were prepared and tested. The study inspected the effect of some parameters on the structural behaviour of corbels. The parameters included: the amount of internal secondary steel bars and external composite sheets configurations. The ultimate load obtained from static load resulted in up to 27% increase in the load bearing capacity through external CFRP composite reinforcement compared to control samples. The diagonal 45 °CFRP reinforcement constrained widening and growth of the shear cracks, and hereafter, improved the gain in the load capacity and axial toughness. The addition of secondary reinforcement at the mid-height of the corbels produced additional strength increase. Finally, the cracking and failure pattern modes of corbels are presented.

Abstracts:The use of titanium as a near surface mounted (NSM) reinforcing material has been proposed. This study assesses the effects of coupling 6Al-4V titanium and ASTM A615 black steel in NSM applications. In order to place the use of titanium in context, duplicate specimens having stainless steel and CFRP NSM bars are also tested. Sixty-two concrete prisms were tested, each having a single embedded #4 ASTM A615 (Grade 60) black steel bar. A 12.7 mm diameter titanium (Ti), CFRP or 2205 stainless steel (SS) NSM bar is embedded along one side of the concrete prism into NSM ‘slots’. Specimens were conditioned in a cyclic temperature and humidity environment for two years during which half-cell potential (ASTM C876) and macrocouple current (ASTM G102) were monitored. Following conditioning, all steel bars were removed and mass loss due to corrosion determined. The comparison of interest in this study is as follows: does the presence of titanium accelerate or result in greater steel corrosion than other materials coupled with mild reinforcing steel; that is, does a more aggressive galvanic cell develop? For the conditions tested, corrosion was present in all specimens. There was no evidence that the presence of 6Al-4V titanium reinforcing bars in close proximity to (or in electrical contact with) A615 steel reinforcing bars results in any change in the rate or nature of corrosion.

Abstracts:In France, the vertical deflection measurements of Cheviré free end cantilever bridge have shown unexpected excessive creep deformations. To understand this phenomenon, a large experimental database coming from different laboratories and research centers is used to compare the creep experimental deformation results to the long-term deformation predicted by the design codes of practice. These codes include BPEL code that was used in designing Cheviré bridge and Eurocode 2 that is applied nowadays in structures designs. Then, a coupling between the reliability software PHIMECA and the finite element tool ST1 was performed to analyze the sensitivity measures of creep parameters of Cheviré bridge. The results showed that creep deformation is relatively underestimated in the codes considered. Moreover, the sensitivity study applied to Cheviré bridge showed that the parameters used in creep calculation are equally distributed in Eurocode 2 contrary to BPEL code. Thus, in this reliability assessment performed, Eurocode 2 gave better results regarding Cheviré bridge concrete creep strains predictions.

Abstracts:Steel shear walls are usually constructed in two forms, solid and non-solid. Generally, the solid ones function better in terms of seismic performance and exploitation; however, their construction is costly and time-consuming due to the use of various solidifiers and much executive details. Wavy steel shear walls have been proposed as a substitute to solid shear walls. High arch resistance as well as an operation similar to stiffed shear walls are expected due to inter-sheet stiffness. This study tries to evaluate steel sheet placement and the impact of geometrical parameters including wavelength and wave depth in steel shear wall on final shear capacity. For this purpose, ABAQUS finite element software was used. Finally, it was observed that steel shear wall capacity increased if waves were aligned with beams. Also, resistance of steel shear wall increased as wave length decreased and wave depth increased.

Abstracts:This study was conducted to develop an alternative method of utilizing fly ash as an alternative stabilizer to build affordable earth masonry units named “mud concrete blocks”. Mud concrete masonry block is a novel invention in which the mud helps to self-compact the mixture to reduce the production of energy content. This study uses fly ash from electric power generating plant with an alkaline solution made of Sodium hydroxide and Sodium chloride. Different combinations of mixtures (fly ash, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide and soil) were taken into consideration to study a suitable mix design. And compressive strength was tested to understand each mix suitability.

Abstracts:This paper presents the analysis and repair of a cracked reinforced concrete beam in a 3-story office building in Riyadh, KSA during its construction and near completion. In October 2015, a reinforced concrete beam with a cross section of 300 mm x 1500 mm and a clear span of 16.5 m in this building cracked at the connection with one of its supporting columns. This crack propagated on both sides of the beam. To investigate the main reason of the beam cracking, a site visit was conducted to visually inspect the cracking beam and the connecting structural elements. After that a detailed analysis of the beam using PLAXIS and SAP2000 to investigate the stresses developed in the beam, spot the most stressed parts and to check the adequacy of the design. The analysis revealed the inadequacy of flexural resistance of the beam as well as the shear and torsion capacity. The main reason of the crack is underestimating the cladding weight. Based on the results, a repair methodology was selected using CFRP sheets to increase the flexural capacity of the beam section with enhancement to its torsional and shear carrying capacity to meet the design demand.

Abstracts:The main objective of this study is to utilize waste foundry sand (WFS) from Belgaum foundry industry in manufacturing of bricks. The process involved production of bricks in a fully functioning brick manufacturing plant, which has a production capacity of approximately 50000 bricks per month. The entire process of combining clay-sand mixtures, forming of bricks, drying and firing was done with local conditions. With minimum process it was possible to introduce upto 50% WFS in clay bodies to produce bricks of desirable properties. The minimum average wet compression resistance of 3.3 Mpa, and maximum average water absorption of 21.6% was obtained for bricks containing 50% WFS, when fired at 900 °C. There was insignificant difference in apparent porosity, water absorption, and specific gravity of bricks containing WFS, when compared to commercial bricks. The addition of WFS reduced the bulk density of the bricks, which has also caused reduction in compressive strength. WFS bricks can be classified as class III bricks, based on recommendations of IS 1077 standard specification. These bricks can be used in single storied load bearing structures, and also in the construction of infill walls in multi-storied framed structures. The structure, composition, and morphology of the raw materials, as well as bricks were studied by XRD, XPS, and SEM, respectively.