Compressive Behavior and Analytical Model of Ultra-Early Strength Concrete-Filled FRP Tube With Zero Curing Time

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has been widely used in civil engineering due to its light weight, high strength, convenient construction, and strong corrosion resistance. One of the important applications of FRP composites is the concrete-filled FRP tube (CFFT), which can greatly improve the compressive strength and ductility of concrete as well as facilitate construction. In this article, the compressive performances of a normal concrete-filled FRP tube (N-CFFT) column with 5-hour curing time and an ultra-early strength concrete-filled FRP tube (UES–CFFT) column with zero curing time were studied by considering the characteristics of rapid early strength improvement of ultra-early strength concrete and the confinement effect of the FRP tube. Monotonic axial compression tests were carried out on 3 empty FRP tubes (FTs) without an internal filler and 6 CFFT (3 N-CFFTs and 3 UES-CFFTs) specimens. All specimens were cylinders of 200 mm in diameter and 600 mm in height, confined by glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP). Test results indicated that the compressive bearing capacity of the specimens increased significantly by adopting the ultra-early strength concrete as the core concrete of the CFFT, although the curing time was zero. It was also shown that the compressive behavior of the UES–CFFT specimens with zero curing time increased significantly than that of the N-CFFT specimens with 5-hour curing time because the former was able to achieve rapid strength enhancement in a very short time than the latter. The ultimate compressive strength of UES–CFFT specimens with zero curing time reached 78.3 MPa, which was 66.2 and 97.2% higher than that of N-CFFT with 5-hour curing time and FT specimens, respectively. In addition, a simple confinement model to predict the strength of UES–CFFT with zero curing time in ultimate condition was introduced. Compared with the existing models, the proposed model could predict the ultimate strength of UES–CFFT specimens with zero curing time with better accuracy.

Measuring Compressive Strength Characteristics of Soil-Dobak-Glue Mixtures over Curing Time

The building materials used by mankind in the past, such as stone, soil, and wood, have been environment-friendly. However, the various building materials invented over time with the development of the industrial age pose problems such as environmental hormone generation and waste generation/disposal. To overcome these problems, building materials based on soil, a traditional building material, are being developed by researchers. However, the improvement in soil’s structural characteristics is insufficient as it excessively emphasizes efficacy and function only. In this study, lime and Dobak-glue were mixed with soil to solve the structural problems and improve the strength of soil, and water content and change in strength in accordance with curing time were tested. In order to understand the change in strength, a compaction test was performed by preparing a standard specimen based on the optimum water content and maximum dry density. The lime mix required optimum water content and quantity of lime equal to 3% of soil weight, while the Dobak-glue mix was prepared by soil mixing in the same weight ratio as optimum water content. Changes in water content and compressive strength were measured over curing time of 3, 7, and 28 days. Three specimens, lime mixed specimen, Dobak-glue mixed specimen, and standard specimen, were prepared, and their water content and compressive strength values were averaged. Although the change in water content according to the curing period differed depending on the material mixed with soil, there was no significant difference between 7.12% and 2.82% after 7 days. As for the change in compressive strength, the initial compressive strength in lime mixed specimen was excellent, but the Dobak-glue mixed specimen displayed the greatest strength after 7 days. To conclude, Dobak-glue is an eco-friendly material, and it can be very useful in compensating for the structural shortcomings of soil.

Assessment of Soft Computing Techniques for the Prediction of Compressive Strength of Bacterial Concrete

In this investigation, the potential of M5P, Random Tree (RT), Reduced Error Pruning Tree (REP Tree), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Regression (SVR) techniques have been evaluated and compared with the multiple linear regression-based model (MLR) to be used for prediction of the compressive strength of bacterial concrete. For this purpose, 128 experimental observations have been collected. The total data set has been divided into two segments such as training (87 observations) and testing (41 observations). The process of data set separation was arbitrary. Cement, Aggregate, Sand, Water to Cement Ratio, Curing time, Percentage of Bacteria, and type of sand were the input variables, whereas the compressive strength of bacterial concrete has been considered as the final target. Seven performance evaluation indices such as Correlation Coefficient (CC), Coefficient of determination (R2), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Bias, Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), and Scatter Index (SI) have been used to evaluate the performance of the developed models. Outcomes of performance evaluation indices recommend that the Polynomial kernel function based SVR model works better than other developed models with CC values as 0.9919, 0.9901, R2 values as 0.9839, 0.9803, NSE values as 0.9832, 0.9800, and lower values of RMSE are 1.5680, 1.9384, MAE is 0.7854, 1.5155, Bias are 0.2353, 0.1350 and SI are 0.0347, 0.0414 for training and testing stages, respectively. The sensitivity investigation shows that the curing time (T) is the vital input variable affecting the prediction of the compressive strength of bacterial concrete, using this data set.

Mechanical Characteristics and Stress Evolution of Cemented Paste Backfill: Effect of Curing Time, Solid Content, and Binder Content

The clarification of the variation on the strength of the cemented paste backfill (CPB) under the coupling of multi-factor is the foundation of the CPB design of the mine. In this article, the physical and mechanical properties of the CPB under the coupling effect of curing time, solid content, and binder content were experimentally and theoretically investigated. The results show that 1) the increase in binder content can effectively increase the later strength of CPB. 2) A sensitivity parameter considering the span of multi-factor was constructed, indicating that the curing time has the greatest impact on the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), and the variation in solid content has the least impact on it, which can be verified by the stress–strain curves. 3) Curing time and binder content can effectively change the stress evolution, which is reflected in reducing the strain corresponding to the peak stress, enhancing the characteristics of the peak stress and increasing stress drop. The results of this study aim to explain the essence of the influence of each factor on the mechanical behavior of CPB in the view of stress–strain evolution, which will help to better understand the mechanical characteristics of CPB and quantify the sensitivity of the mechanical properties to various factors.

Mortar to Repair Rammed-Earth Walls’ Surfaces: Do we still Need it?

A rammed-earth technique has been echoed worldwide due to being conceived not only as an environment-friendly method of construction but also standing as an alternative method to arguably replacing cement. The technique however shows several pitfalls. One concerns the lengthy process of curing upon erecting the rammed-earth walls due to the low process of a chemical reaction occurred throughout the curing stage. A second bias followed from the slow curing and concerns the degradation accentuated at the outer wall’s texture, particularly at the edges, due to effects of the weather cycle. These drawbacks have been observed while accomplishing a funded research project. This article has at its stake remedying the above pitfalls. A natural sandy limestone shows a low percentage of calcium carbonate needed for a cohesive mixture. The method suggested here is based on an experiment that uses minerals of the fruits’ and vegetables’ waste as a binding substance. Curing time in this method has been reduced to the half. It is also suggested here that each stage has its importance, including mixing the soil particles dry and wet, compacting the moistened soil mixture, a well-made formwork and curing, towards remedying the above pitfalls.

Investigations on Flexural and Compressive Strengths of Mortar Dedicated to Clinker Units—Influence of Mixing Water Content and Curing Time

The article presents laboratory tests on the impact of the mixing water content used in the preparation of fresh mortar on the flexural and compressive strength of one of the dry-mix mortars produced by a leading European producer and dedicated to bricklaying with clinker elements. The development of these parameters in relation to curing time was also analyzed. The mortar samples were prepared from a factory-made mortar mix using 4.0 L (the value recommended by the mortar manufacturer), 4.5 L, and 5 L of water per 25 kg bag of ready-made, pre-mixed dry mortar mix. All samples were tested in five series after 5, 9, 14, 21, and 28 days of sample curing. The results of these tests showed that the use of 6 and 18% more mixing water than recommended by the manufacturer (4.5 and 5 L per bag) adversely affected the basic mechanical parameters of the tested mortar. Moreover, it was found that the highest compressive strength values were obtained after 21 days of curing and not after 28 days as usual. It was also found that hardening time and higher than recommended water content adversely affected the bending strength of the mortar.

Effect of the cure time on the Mechanical Properties of Silicone Rubber used as Socket Liners

This work is focused on the upper part of the prosthesis which is called a socket, it is in contact connect with the amputated part. The shear force between skin and socket, local pressure, sweating, and bacteria generation, all lead to skin inflammation and a bad smell. Consequently, the prosthesis became uncomfortable for a patient. To address this issue silicone rubber liners is proposed to use because it can absorb moisture, stress distribution, and anti-bacterial. The curing time and temperature are important factors for determining crosslink density, from the results obtained, can be noticed that, the cross-link density can greatly affect the silicone rubber properties, it can have a direct effect on the tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, percentage of elongation as well as the water absorption, and the cure time (15 min.) shoes the best resalt. As a result, using it making the prosthesis more comfortable and acceptable to the patient. In this paper, the effect of cure time on physical properties was studied.