Influence of High Temperatures on the Mechanical Properties of Wood Bio-Concretes

The use of wood wastes in the production of bio-concrete shows high potential for the development of sustainable civil construction, since this material, in addition to having low density, increases the energy efficiency of buildings in terms of thermal insulation. However, a concern arising from the production of bio-concretes with high amounts of plant biomass is how this material behaves when subjected to high temperatures. Therefore, this work aims to evaluate the influence of high temperatures on the mechanical properties of wood bio-concretes. The mixtures were produced with wood shavings volumetric fractions of 40, 50 and 60% and cementitious matrix composed of a combination of cement, fly ash and metakaolin. Uniaxial compression tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed, with bio-concrete at age of 28 days, at room temperature (reference) and after exposure to temperatures of 100, 150, 200 and 250 °C. The density and compressive strength of the bio-concrete gradually decreased with increasing biomass content. Up to 200 °C, reductions in strength and densities less than 19% and 13%, respectively, were observed. At 250 °C, reductions of compressive strength reached 87%. Analysis performed by SEM showed an increase in the number of cracks in the wood-cementitious matrix interface and wood degradation by increasing the temperature.

Continuous Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened with Fabric-Reinforced Cementitious Matrix: Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation

This paper aims to examine the nonlinear flexural behavior of continuous RC beam specimens strengthened with fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) composites through experimental testing and numerical modeling. A total of nine two-span RC beam specimens were constructed and tested. Test parameters included the type of FRCM (carbon (C-FRCM) and polyparaphenylene benzobisoxazole (PBO-FRCM), location of strengthening (sagging and hogging regions) and number of FRCM layers (two and four layers). Test results indicated that sagging strengthening resulted in a strength gain in the range of 17 to 29%, whereas hogging strengthening increased the load capacity by 9 to 17%. The use of C-FRCM resulted in a higher strength gain than that provided by PBO-FRCM composites. Specimens strengthened with PBO-FRCM exhibited, however, higher ductility and deformational capacity than those of their counterparts strengthened with C-FRCM. Doubling the number of FRCM layers resulted in no or insignificant increase in the load capacity but reduced the beam ductility. Specimens strengthened in the sagging regions exhibited moment redistribution ratios of 13 to 26% between the hogging and sagging regions. Insignificant moment redistribution was recorded for the specimens strengthened in the hogging region. Three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation models, with and without an interfacial bond-slip law at the fabric–matrix interface, were developed. The inclusion of the bond-slip law in the modeling had an insignificant effect on predicted response. Although the models tended to underestimate the deflection, the predicted load capacities were within a 12% error band. Numerical findings were in agreement with those obtained from laboratory testing.

Strength of Chemically Stabilized Sewage Sludge—Some Inferences from Recent Studies

Although there has been a substantial body of research on the chemical stabilization of sewage sludge, most of these results are project-specific and relate mainly to the use of new binders and sewage sludge from specific sources. In this sense, much of the work to date is context-specific. At present, there is still no general framework for estimating the strength of the chemically treated sludge. This paper proposes one such general framework, based on data from some recent studies. An in-depth re-interpretation of the data is first conducted, leading to the observation that sludge, which has coarse, hard particulate inclusions, such as sand, premixed into it, gives significantly higher strength. This was attributed to the hard coarse particles that lower the void ratio of treated soil, are much less susceptible to volume collapse under pressure, and contribute to the strength through frictional contacts and interlocking. This motivates the postulation of a general framework, based on the premise that coarse, hard particulate inclusions in the sludge which do not react with the binders can nonetheless contribute to the strength of the treated soil. The overall void ratio, defined as the volume of voids in the cementitious matrix normalised by the overall volume, is proposed as a parameter for quantifying the combined effect of the coarse particulate inclusions and the cementitious matrix. The binder-sludge ratio is another parameter which quantifies the strength of the cementitious matrix, excluding the hard particulate inclusions. Back-analysis of the data suggests that the significance of the binder-sludge ratio may diminish as the content of hard particulate inclusions increases.

Effect of Different Environments’ Conditioning on the Debonding Phenomenon in Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Matrix-Concrete Joints

This paper presents the results of an experimental study conducted to understand the bond capacity through single-lap, direct-shear tests of fiber-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM)-concrete joints under an alkaline and hot water environment. The experimental campaign was focused on a FRCM system equipped with two different types of fibers, (PBO) and Carbon. After the conditioning, the specimens conditioned were subjected to visual inspection, and the experimental results were compared with the unconditioned specimens. Moreover, in this present work, the number of layers and the conditioning time were varied.

Investigation the influence of spacer yarns orientation angle on the thermal behavior of 3D textile reinforced concrete (TRC)

Thermal behavior such as heat transfer is an important parameter for construction composites. Three-dimensional textile reinforced concrete (TRC) is one of the construction composites which is recently being used in the building industry. Therefore, in this study, the thermal behavior of three different TRC samples was investigated by a heat transfer test using an infrared method. The cementitious matrix was reinforced by 3D fabric with three different spacer yarn orientation angles. The cementitious matrix was fabricated by cement and waste stone powder. The TRC sample was put on the hot plate of the heat transfer apparatus and the temperature variations of the top surface of the sample were obtained. According to the test results, increasing the orientation angle of spacer yarns leads to a decrease in the thermal conductivity of the TRC sample and reduces heat transfer. On the other hand, a theoretical model was used to calculate the thermal conductivity and resistance coefficients of sandwich samples. Furthermore, a 3D finite element model was used to predict the heat transfer of TRC specimens. A unit cell of the TRC model was created in Abaqus software and finite element (FE) analysis was carried on a created model. Thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of samples according to FE results were calculated and compared with experimental results. FE results showed good agreement with the experimental data.