Determining the Diameter of Reinforcing Bars Inside Concrete Structures Regardless of Magnetic Properties

In this work, using a series of numerical experiments, the dependence of the magnetic field strength of the response of the reinforcing bar to an external magnetizing field on the magnetic properties of the reinforcing bar was investigated. The possibility of determining with high accuracy the diameter of reinforcing bars, regardless of the magnetic properties of the material from which they are made, has been proven.

A novel strain-based finite element family for mesh-independent analysis of the tensile failure of reinforced concrete bars

The paper presents a novel family of strain-based beam finite elements (FE) for analysis of tensile failure of a reinforced concrete bar (RC bar), with results of the analysis being independent of the applied FE mesh. The composite bar consists of a continuous longitudinal ductile reinforcing bar(s) surrounded by brittle concrete cover, which are considered separately in the model. Longitudinal slip at the contact between the concrete cover and reinforcing bars is allowed, while their relative displacements perpendicular to the axis of the RC bar are prevented. Cracks in concrete cover occur when tensile stress in concrete exceeds its tensile strength. Propagation of partially connected crack, that is, softening of the material at the crack, is described through constitutive law in form of nonlinear relationship between stresses in concrete at the crack and the width of the crack. Each separate crack is considered discretely as a discontinuity in geometry of the element. In the analysis of cracking of concrete, it is commonly assumed that the discrete crack can occur at the nodes of FE only. However, this assumption leads to dependence of the analysis results on the employed FE mesh. The presented family of FE enables occurrence of the crack anywhere along the FE. In order to achieve this, the discrete crack is excluded from equations of FE and additional boundary conditions are introduced at the discontinuity. This approach ensures that the location of the cracks, their number and their propagation are independent of the applied FE mesh. Advantages of the novel family of FE are thoroughly presented in a parametric study which investigates influence of number of FE as well as influence of degrees of interpolation and integration on the cracking of RC bar under tensile loading. Experimental results of tensile tests on the analysed bar are available in literature. It can be concluded that the results obtained with the minimal possible number of novel FE and sufficiently high degree of numerical integration scheme, applied for solving integrals in equations of FE, are considerably more accurate than the results of previous analyses with model of discrete crack at the nodes of FE only.

Characterizing Steel Corrosion in Different Alkali-Activated Mortars

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) present a promising potential alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The service life of reinforced concrete structures depends greatly on the corrosion resistance of the steel used for reinforcement. Due to the wide range and diverse properties of AAMs, the corrosion processes of steel in these materials is still relatively unknown. Three different alkali-activated mortar mixes, based on fly ash, slag, or metakaolin, were prepared for this research. An ordinary carbon-steel reinforcing bar was installed in each of the mortar mixes. In order to study the corrosion properties of steel in the selected mortars, the specimens were exposed to a saline solution in wet/dry cycles for 17 weeks, and periodic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were performed. The propagation of corrosion damage on the embedded steel bars was followed using X-ray computed microtomography (mXCT). Periodic EIS measurements of the AAMs showed different impedance response in individual AAMs. Moreover, these impedance responses also changed over the time of exposure. Interpretation of the results was based on visual and numerical analysis of the corrosion damages obtained by mXCT, which confirmed corrosion damage of varying type and extent on steel bars embedded in the tested AAMs.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE REINFORCED STEEL BARS OBTAINED FROM A FAILED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING AND THE SHELVES

Nigeria is a developing nation, the need to build structures is on high rise. The rate of structure failure and building collapse is also on the rise. This paper presents a comparative study on Mechanical Properties of Reinforced steel bars obtained from the shelves, and that obtained from the failed structure of a residential building which is then compared to International standard NO-432 . Steels are main reinforcing materials for most structural buildings, but when the integrity is compromised, it leads to devastating consequences. The quality of concrete and steel reinforcement must be such that has appropriate yield strength so that the structure can sustain the require load within the required time interval. The Ultimate Tensile Strength and percentage elongation of the steel bars obtained from the two sources were investigated. One of the sources was a reinforcing bar used in Millennium Estate, Mary Land, Lagos State, Nigeria. The steel bar samples of sizes 10mm and 16mm diameter were subjected to mechanical testing using a universal testing machine. The percentage elongation met with the standards while the 16mm samples are below the standards for both the failed structure and shelves.

Shear Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Fibre Reinforced Polymer: A Critical Review

The primary purpose of reinforcing bar stirrups in a reinforced concrete beam is to improve shear strength. The FRP system may significantly improve a concrete beam’s ultimate shear strength, serviceability, and ductility. The application of FRP for the repair and reinforcement of the structures has become very popular due to its low weight, high tensile strength, and simplicity of installation on uneven surfaces. FRP material outperforms other traditional materials in strengthening applications due to its high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, resistance to corrosion, and ease of handling. The overall objective of this research is to investigate and improve the understanding of the recent research in the area of shear FRP strengthening of reinforced concrete beams. In this paper, recent publications were reviewed to see how different anchoring procedures, different factors that affect FRP performance and different failure scenarios affect the shear strengthening of concrete beams. The benefits and limits of FRP systems, as well as some current research trends are discussed in this project. From the research, it can be stated that type of anchorage technique and different parameter give a different impact to failure mode of the beam.

A Study on the Adhesion in the Interfacial Transition Zone Between Glass Fibre Reinforced Rebar and the Cement Matrix

This study is aimed at increasing the adhesion of the fibre-reinforced polymer rods to the binder in the cement-based composites in order to eliminate the problem of rod slippage under loading and broaden the application of composite reinforcement in the construction industry. It is assumed that the better adhesion of reinforcement rod to the cement matrix can be provided by increasing the cement stone structural density, and, in particular, by compacting the structure of the hydration products formed on the surface the fibre-reinforced polymer reinforcement rod. Such increase in strength and density can be achieved by adding nanodispersed additives such as metakaolin, the dispersion of carbon black and Peneco Nano Stachema primer into the composition of the cement matrix. Additional adhesion of the cement matrix to the reinforcement is ensured by coating it with the primer, which seals the structure of the cement matrix located in the interfacial transition zone between the reinforcing bar and the cement stone. Experimental study proved that the proposed approach allows the formation of a strong and dense structure in the interfacial transition zone between the cement matrix and the fibre-reinforced polymer reinforcement rod surface. The introduction of metakaolin and a dispersion of technical soot led to an increase in the adhesion strength of fibre-reinforced polymer rod with a cement matrix by 27% and 29%, respectively. The IR spectral analysis and DTA analysis results showed that the mineralogy and morphology of the hydration products was changed due to the addition of the modifying additives, thus improving the adhesion characteristics and corrosion resistance of fibre- reinforced polymer in the cement-based composites.

A Numerical Model for Tracing Structural Response of Ultra-High Performance Concrete Beams

This paper presents a finite element-based numerical model for tracing the behavior of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) beams. The model developed in ABAQUS can account for stress–strain response of UHPC and reinforcing bar in both tension and compression, bond between concrete and reinforcing steel, and strain hardening effects in bars and UHPC and can trace the detailed response of UHPC beams in the entire range of loading. This model is validated by comparing predicted response parameters including load-strain, load-deflection, and crack propagation against experimental data governed from tests on UHPC beams with different reinforcement ratios, fiber volume fractions, and loading configurations (shear and flexural loading). The validated model is applied to quantify the contribution of stirrups and concrete to shear strength of beams so as to explore the feasibility of removing shear reinforcement in UHPC beams.

Seismic performance evaluation of a precast concrete structure with deformation-based limit criterions

In precast reinforced concrete buildings, which constitute an important part of the industrial buildings in Turkey, the force flow between the structural elements is provided by beam-column connections with or without transferring moments. In general, moment resisting beam-column connections with mechanical or emulative components are applied at the mezzanine level. For precast concrete structures, strength-based design is the most common design approach in engineering practice. In recent years, performance based seismic design and evaluation approach also gained attention which provides numerical estimation of the damage in structural elements subjected to earthquake loading. This study presents the performance based seismic assessment of a two-story precast building based on the seismic evaluation requirements of Turkish Building Earthquake Code 2018. For this purpose, numerical simulation model has been established by using lumped plasticity models for connections and distributed plasticity models for columns. Strong ground motion records are scaled based on TBEC-2018 acceleration spectrum for a specific location, and nonlinear time history analyses are performed in x and y directions simultaneously. The performance evaluation results using average deformations show that there is a significant difference between plastic rotation and reinforcing bar strain performance limits.