Performance Evaluation of Concrete Structures and/or High-Performance Concrete/Cement-Based Composite Structures

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 5377

Special Issue Editors

School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210000, China
Interests: concrete structures; high-performance concrete materials and structures; engineered/strain-hardening cementitious composites; resilient and sustainable structures

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Guest Editor
School of Mechanics and Safety Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: construction materials; mechanics of fiber composites
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the continuous development of material technology, concrete materials are rapidly being developed to have a high performance, which leads to significant innovations in concrete structures. All types of high-performance cement-based materials, e.g., engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), have unique characteristics, and will play an important role in future building and infrastructure construction. Reasonably and effectively using these novel high-performance concrete materials in engineering structures to achieve a high performance from the "material level" to the "structure level" is a key issue that needs to be addressed in the development and application of novel material structures.

This Special Issue aims to present the recent progress and latest findings on the performance evaluation of traditional concrete structures or novel high-performance concrete/cement-based composite structures in terms of seismic resistance, durability, sustainability, resilience, etc. We welcome high-quality original research papers and state-of-the-art reviews dealing with, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Concrete structures;
  • High-performance concrete materials and structures;
  • Resilient and sustainable structures;
  • Seismic performance evaluation;
  • Modeling and numerical simulation;
  • Structural design and performance;
  • Structural strengthening and rehabilitation;
  • Sustainable and resilient structures;
  • Mechanical properties and durability;
  • Lifecycle assessment.

Dr. Chang Wu
Dr. Jiajia Zhou
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • concrete structures
  • engineered cementitious composites (ECCs)
  • ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPCs)
  • performance assessment
  • structural performance analysis
  • seismic performance
  • structural design
  • extreme loading
  • durability
  • resilience

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

35 pages, 9997 KiB  
Article
The Flexural Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Super High-Performance Concrete (SHPC) Reinforced Using the Hybridization of Micro Polypropylene and Macro Steel Fibers
by Ahmed M. Yassin, Mohammad Mohie Eldin, Mohamed Ahmed Hafez and Mohamed A. Elnaggar
Buildings 2024, 14(7), 1887; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14071887 - 21 Jun 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1102
Abstract
There is a need to investigate the flexural behavior and mechanical properties of super high-performance concrete (SHPC) for a better understanding of its response to compression, tension, and bending. Super-high-performance concrete (SHPC) lies between high-performance concrete (HPC) and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) in strength, [...] Read more.
There is a need to investigate the flexural behavior and mechanical properties of super high-performance concrete (SHPC) for a better understanding of its response to compression, tension, and bending. Super-high-performance concrete (SHPC) lies between high-performance concrete (HPC) and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) in strength, durability, and workability and is suitable for sustainable buildings. This paper presents an extensive experimental and analytical study to investigate the effect of the hybridization of micro-polypropylene and macro-steel fibers on the flexural behavior and mechanical properties of super-high-performance concrete (SHPC). The hybridization of both micro-PP fibers and macro-hooked-end ST fibers gathers the benefits of their advantages and offsets their disadvantages. Three types of fibers (micro polypropylene fibers (PP), macro hooked-end steel fiber (ST), and hybrid fiber (PP + ST)) with different fiber content up to 2% were tested to study their effect on the following: (a) the workability of fresh concrete, (b) concrete compressive strength, (c) splitting tensile strength, (d) flexural behavior, including flexural tensile strength and toughness, and (e) the optimum percentage of each of the two fibers, PP and ST, in the hybrid to get the maximum structural and economic benefits of hybridization. Based upon the experimental results and using a statistical program, formulae to calculate both the tensile splitting strength (fsp) and the flexural tensile strength in the form of the modulus of rupture (fctr) were obtained. These formulae were able to predict accurately both the splitting tensile strength and modulus of rupture for SHPC with each of the three types of fibers used in this research. Also, they were in very good agreement with the values corresponding to different experimental results of other research, which means the ability to use these equations more generally. In addition, the prediction of the additional ultimate moment provided for all fibers was investigated. This research confirms the structural and the economical efficiency of hybridization in the behavior of SHPC. It was found that the optimum percentage of the fiber volume content for the hybrid of ST and PP is 1%; 0.5% for each of the two kinds. Full article
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19 pages, 7068 KiB  
Article
Rebound Characteristics of Wet-Shotcrete Particle Flow Jet from Wall Based on CFD-DEM
by Lianjun Chen, Yang Zhang, Pengcheng Li and Gang Pan
Buildings 2024, 14(4), 977; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14040977 - 2 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1018
Abstract
This paper aims to reveal the motion law and collision behaviors of shotcrete particle flow jets. A physical model of the jet flow field composed of a nozzle structure and jet area was constructed and meshes with various sizes were used to mesh [...] Read more.
This paper aims to reveal the motion law and collision behaviors of shotcrete particle flow jets. A physical model of the jet flow field composed of a nozzle structure and jet area was constructed and meshes with various sizes were used to mesh the nozzle and jet area. With the basic contact parameters and contact model parameters of the particles set, the CFD-DEM-coupling simulation method was adopted to perform the numerical simulation of concrete-particle-flow-jet impingement. The variation laws of the continuous-phase velocity and pressure drop of the shotcrete, coarse-aggregate motion characteristics, and particle collision behavior under the interaction of the continuous and discrete phases were obtained. The results showed that the velocity field and pressure-drop field of the continuous phase had an ideal symmetry in the XY plane in the stable injection stage, the continuous-phase velocity gradually increased inside the nozzle and gradually decreased after entering the jet area, the continuous-phase pressure drop was the maximum at the nozzle inlet, and the pressure value at the nozzle outlet became atmospheric pressure. The central axis of the particle flow jet was displaced by 0.15 m in the negative direction of the Y-axis under the action of gravity, the diffusion angle of the small particles that exited the nozzle and entered the jet area was larger than that of the large particles, and the large-particle jets were more concentrated and easier to spray into the designated spraying areas. The particle flow reached a stable jet state about 0.3 s after the jet began, and the peak velocity of the 4 mm particles in the flow reached 25 m/s, while the peak velocity of the 12 mm particles was only 19 m/s. The acceleration time for particles of different sizes to reach the peak velocity also varied, and the large particles took longer to reach the maximum velocity: small particles reached their peak within 0.4 m–8 m of the jet area, and large particles reached their peak within 0.8 m–1.2 m of the jet area. The particle velocity peaked within 0.6 m–1 m of the jet area. Particle collision took three forms: particle collision with the inner wall of the nozzle, interparticle collision, and particle collision with the sprayed wall. The collision between the particles and the sprayed wall was the main form leading to the rebound of the wet shotcrete, and the rebound angle after particle collision was uncertain. Full article
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19 pages, 9132 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study and Finite Element Modelling of Squat Shear Walls under Combined Cyclic Loads and High Axial Loads
by Chenhua Jin, Yanli Su, Zuanfeng Pan and Shaoping Meng
Buildings 2023, 13(8), 2104; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13082104 - 20 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1582
Abstract
Experimental observations on three reinforced concrete shear walls with small shear span-to-depth ratio (SDR) under combined high vertical axial load and horizontal cyclic loads are presented. The influence of high axial load ratio (ALR) on the failure mode, hysteretic behaviour, displacement ductility, shear [...] Read more.
Experimental observations on three reinforced concrete shear walls with small shear span-to-depth ratio (SDR) under combined high vertical axial load and horizontal cyclic loads are presented. The influence of high axial load ratio (ALR) on the failure mode, hysteretic behaviour, displacement ductility, shear strength and stiffness of the squat shear walls is investigated. In addition, a novel built-in strain gauges measuring system is employed for measuring the strain conditions in the reinforcements during the whole test process. Test results indicate that high axial load restrains the development of cracks and improves the shear load capacity, but that it also decreases ductility and energy dissipation and aggravates stiffness degradation. Concrete crush and out-of-plane buckling were observed in all specimens, resulting in the final failure of the specimens. According to the strain analysis, the section of the squat walls coincided well with the assumption of plane section under the condition of high ALR. With the increase of ALR, the depth of the compression zone of members increases, while the length of plastic hinge decreases. When the axial load is relatively small, the vertical and horizontal reinforcements provided almost equal contribution to the shear capacity of squat shear walls. However, under extremely high axial load, both vertical and horizontal reinforcements cannot provide full contribution to the shear capacity. The hysteretic behaviours of the tested shear walls were simulated by a cyclic softened membrane model (CSMM). Simulation results indicate that CSMM captured well the nonlinear characteristics of the squat shear wall under high axial load. Full article
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38 pages, 45961 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study in Design of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete at Elevated Temperatures by Numerical Evaluation through Developed Hybrid Metaheuristic Algorithms
by Lihua Chen, Harry Far, Mina Mortazavi and Adham E. Ragab
Buildings 2023, 13(8), 2045; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13082045 - 10 Aug 2023
Viewed by 992
Abstract
Fibrous concrete has good properties such as high ductility, high strength, suitable energy absorption and cracking resistance, which can be useful in many applications. This type of concrete is one of the best materials used in the construction of impact-resistant masonries, such as [...] Read more.
Fibrous concrete has good properties such as high ductility, high strength, suitable energy absorption and cracking resistance, which can be useful in many applications. This type of concrete is one of the best materials used in the construction of impact-resistant masonries, such as burial masonry structures, and explosive masonry warehouses. In this study, an artificial intelligence assessment based on the experimental test data from a laboratory has been performed on the fibrous concrete to evaluate the behavior of the samples at elevated temperatures and determine the most governing parameter on the mechanical properties of the fibrous concrete at elevated temperatures. For the first time, a hybrid intelligence algorithm has been developed based on the neural network structure using both genetic and swarm optimization algorithms. The ANFIS-PSO-GA (APG) algorithm was trained with experimental data and evaluated the flexural load and deflection of the samples. In order to detect the most prominent feature in the fire resistance of the fibrous concrete, five different subdatasets were designed. The results of the APG algorithm have been challenged with the ANFIS-PSO algorithm, which is a well-known hybrid numerical evaluation algorithm. As per the results, the newly designed APG algorithm has been successfully performed on both deflection and flexural prediction phases. Based on the numerical achievements, fiber features such as the fiber content and fiber mechanical properties are governing factors on the fibrous concrete resistance at elevated temperatures. Full article
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