Assessment of Polymer Concrete Sample Geometry Effect on Ultrasonic Wave Velocity and Spectral Characteristics

In this paper an analysis of the influence of polymer concrete sample shape and dimensions on ultrasonic wave propagation is carried out. Compositions of tested fly ash polymer concretes were determined using a material optimization approach. The tests were carried out on the samples of three shapes: cubes, beams, and plates. The ultrasonic testing was done by a direct method (transmission method) using a digital ultrasonic flow detector and piezoelectric transducers of 100 kHz central frequency. Propagation of the ultrasonic wave was characterized by pulse velocity. Frequency spectra and time-frequency spectrograms obtained using Fourier transform and Fourier-based synchrosqueezing transform were also presented. The correlation analysis showed that neither the path length nor the lateral dimension to the direction of wave propagation are not statistically significant for the UPV variability. However, a general trend of decrease in the UPV with increasing the path length was noticed. The analysis of the signal in time-frequency domain seemed to be useful in the analysis of particulate composites properties, especially when UPV changes are not clear enough, since it revealed greater differences in relation to changes in sample geometry than frequency spectra analysis.

Anti-adherent Molds Yield Hydraulic Concrete Samples Suitable for Assessments of Surface and Water Absorption

To assess several quality parameters of hydraulic concrete, cubic samples of this material are commonly assembled in engineering laboratories using molds. It is ubiquitous the use of cubic metallic molds of volume 125 cm3; these molds require the application of demolding substances (such as oils) on their surfaces to avoid the adhesion of the final hardened concrete sample to the molds. Despite this common practice suitable for evaluating mechanical traits of the materials, the use of a demolding agent spoils the concrete samples for the assessment of surface and water absorption parameters. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a new anti-adherent cubic mold that requires no demolding agent. The construction of the new mold based on anti-adherent polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE, Teflon®) is described with its use. To assess the claimed advantages of the new anti-adherent molds in testing surface and water diffusion traits of concrete samples, experiments on water contact angles, rates of water absorption and drying were performed on concrete specimens obtained with the classic and the new PTFE molds. It was proved the advantage of the anti-adherent mold over common metallic molds. The use of an oil as demolding agent in the concrete samples assembled in metallic molds produced conspicuous differences of water contact angles and absorption in comparison to clean concrete samples produced with PTFE molds.

Comparative study of concrete constructed using wastewater and potable water

80% of the water supplied, normally comes out as wastewater either domestic or industrial. The utilization of wastewater in concrete will reduce potable water usage in the construction industry. Approximately 150 litres of water are required for lm3 of concrete without considering other applications of water in the concrete industry. This research study has investigated the performance of concrete using wastewater. 60 total number of concrete cubes have been designed and constructed using 10%, 20%, 30% and 100% of wastewater. The experimental data indicated that 30% of wastewater content in the concrete mix have increased 18% of the concrete strength compared with the control sample. Meanwhile, the result of the X-Ray Fluorescence Test (XRF) test for the concrete sample recorded that the CA is higher than the 30% concrete sample.

Mechanical Modification of Nanomaterials on Fully Saturated Concrete in Groundwater Reservoir Under Long-Term Water Immersion

With the increasing number of hydraulic structures in service, many scholars have investigated the performance of saturated concrete, however, there are few studies on the influences of different contents and types of nanomaterials on the performance of fully saturated concrete. In this paper, a series of experiments on concrete with different contents of nano SiO2, nano Al2O3 and nano TiO2 are performed, such as electron mirror scanning, uniaxial compression, acoustic emission, etc., and the microstructure, mechanical properties of samples are compared and analyzed. The results show that: 1) By the addition of various kinds of nanomaterials to saturated concrete, the microstructure of saturated concrete is significantly improved, and the compactness and integrity of the slurry are improved 2) The mechanical properties of saturated concrete are significantly improved by the addition of 3 wt% nanomaterials. And the compressive strength of the saturated concrete sample containing 3 wt% nano-Al2O3 is the largest and the deformation modulus of the saturated concrete sample containing 6 wt% nano-Al2O3 is the largest. 3) Compared with dry concrete, when the concrete is saturated, the modifying effect of nanomaterials on the mechanical properties of concrete is weakened. The results of this study have important guiding significance for the study of the nano-modification and the safe operation of hydraulic structures.

Effect of Ultrafine Metakaolin on the Properties of Mortar and Concrete

This study investigated the influence of ultrafine metakaolin replacing cement as a cementitious material on the properties of concrete and mortar. Two substitution levels of ultrafine metakaolin (9% and 15% by mass) were chosen. The reference samples were plain cement concrete sample and silica fume concrete sample with the same metakaolin substitution rates and superplasticizer contents. The results indicate that simultaneously adding ultrafine metakaolin and a certain amount of polycarboxylate superplasticizer can effectively ensure the workability of concrete. Additionally, the effect of adding ultrafine metakaolin on the workability is better than that of adding silica fume. Adding ultrafine metakaolin or silica fume can effectively increase the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, resistance to chloride ion penetration and freeze–thaw properties of concrete due to improved pore structure. The sulphate attack resistance of mortar can be improved more obviously by simultaneously adding ultrafine metakaolin and prolonging the initial moisture curing time.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSVERSE REINFORCEMENT FOR STRENGTH OF COMPRESSED REINFORCED CONCRETE ELEMENTS

The infl uence of transverse reinforcement, including indirect reinforcement, on the strength of compressed reinforced concrete elements is analyzed. This question arose in connection with the possibility of increasing the strength of short reinforced concrete elements loaded with a longitudinal force with small eccentricities within the section of the element. For such elements, the cage eff ect may appear, associated with the coeffi cient of transverse deformations, the magnitude of which is a direct factor in the destruction of the concrete sample, and the limitation of these directly aff ects the bearing capacity of the sample in the direction of increase. The infl uence of transverse reinforcement in the form of stirrups located with diff erent spacing, as well as indirect reinforcement in the form of meshes with a classical rectangular cell and meshes of the “zigzag” type is considered.

DETERMINATION OF DEFORMABILITY PARAMETERS OF CONCRETE SAMPLES BY THE FORMULAS OF FRACTURE MECHANICS

To determine the deformability parameters of concrete samples by the formulas of fracture mechanics, equilibrium tests were carried out at the stage of local deformation of the sample, which showed the correspondence of the change in external forces to the internal forces of the material resistance with the corresponding static development of the main crack. For the same purpose, the samples are tested for bending with an initial notch and the “load-deflection” diagram is recorded. In this work, we presented a test scheme for a specimen with a notch (crack) and constructed a diagram of the deformation of a specimen under bending “load-deflection”. Based on it, it is possible to predict the destruction of the material, that is, to determine the value of the load at which the limit value of deflection or the displacement of the outer edges of the notch (opening the throat of the crack on the lower surface of the specimen) can be taken as the moment of loss of the resource of the material. Also, we examined the deformation of a concrete sample during three-point bending and presented a diagram of the deformation of a concrete sample within the plastic zone. Dependencies were derived for determining the ultimate relative strains under tension and bending. Based on the results obtained, the state diagrams of the stretched concrete and the deformation scheme of the normal section of the concrete sample were constructed. As a result, the conclusion and convergence of the results.

The Use of Thermogravimetric Analysis to Characterize the Metallic Slag Aggregates in Structural Concrete

Structural concretes must have a set of chemical characteristics to present a satisfactory resistance to the degradation in environment conditions. Besides the several types of mineralogical compositions, the calcium-rich sulfates, silicates and aluminates phases appear as majority components, but the gypsum one seems to play the most important rule in morphological changes during the concrete cure. In this work, it was carried out several characterizations in commercial Portland cement and the structural concrete sample. Nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K for Portland cement showed the thermal treatment at 500 oC does not undergo significant decreasing in surface area due the high content of porous silicates and aluminates components. The additional resistance to the corrosion of structural concretes exposed at environment conditions can be associated to presence of slag metallic aggregates, which could be characterized successfully by thermal analysis. The amount of embedded metallic component in concrete sample was detected by typical weight gain originated form oxygen incorporation above 700 oC.