Special Issue "Connections in Concrete Volume 2"

A special issue of CivilEng (ISSN 2673-4109). This special issue belongs to the section "Structural and Earthquake Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Akanshu Sharma
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Construction Materials, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 4, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Interests: performance based design of RC structures; static and dynamic testing of RC structures and sub-assemblages; seismic retrofitting of structures with innovative techniques; seismic behavior of cast-in and post-installed anchors in concrete; anchorages with supplementary reinforcement; numerical modeling of structures under seismic loads; modeling of anchorages for interaction between structure and equipment; impact behavior of reinforced concrete structures; fracture mechanics of concrete structures; modeling of bond between reinforcement and concrete; performance of RC structures subjected to fire loads; structural applications of new concrete based materials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Connections in a concrete structure are established either in the form of anchors (or fasteners) connecting structural or nonstructural components to the structure, or in the form of reinforcement embedded in concrete or as part of a steel–concrete composite construction. To ensure structural integrity, it is essential to form a reliable connection between steel and concrete. A well-performing anchorage (fastening) is a must to ensure the interaction between the components connected to the structure and the structure itself. The required flow of forces from concrete to steel and vice versa is established through a sufficient bond between reinforcement and concrete. The anchorage zones are crucial for desirable interaction between concrete and steel structural members in a composite construction. Thus, in principle, the integrity of the entire structure relies heavily on the connections between steel and concrete.

With the advancement in production technologies, new products such as post-installed anchors, anchor channels, high-strength-reinforcing bars, nonmetallic reinforcement, etc. are being developed, and it is essential to verify their performance in concrete. Similarly, the compatibility of newly developed concrete-based materials such as high-performance concrete, fiber-reinforced concrete, geopolymer concrete, etc. with anchorages and reinforcement must be verified.

Practical and innovative solutions are needed for connections in real-life situations, and corresponding reliable design models are needed. In particular, the design models for anchorages are rather limited in scope, and many design issues need to be addressed. Some of these include various geometric configurations, anchorages under seismic loading, anchorages with supplementary reinforcement, anchor channels under different loading combinations, fatigue behavior, long-term performance, influence of corrosion on performance of anchorages, anchorages under extreme loading, etc. Not only is experimental research needed to answer these questions, but new numerical modeling approaches also need to be developed for deeper understanding of the topics.

Another very important aspect is the harmonization of design methods. For example, post-installed reinforcement can be designed either as an anchorage following the principles of fastening technology or as a reinforcing bar following the principles of reinforced concrete. However, the two principles generally lead to quite different design solutions. Similarly, the fastening technology principles require the base plate connecting different anchors to be rigid and stiff elastic, while composite construction principles recommend designing the base plate for yielding. These approaches need harmonization.

Often, the performance of structures under extreme hazards of earthquakes, impact or fire is dominated by the performance of their connections. Reliable design of connections against such hazards calls for performance-based approaches where the compatibility requirements between different components are accounted for.

Every type of strengthening needs a certain type of anchorage. The performance of the strengthening largely depends on the performance of the anchorage itself. Extremely high and challenging demands are imposed on the anchorages used in strengthening (e.g., seismic strengthening). Some of these include high forces, large crack widths, combined load and crack cycling, limited area and depth to develop the required resistance, limited access due to existing reinforcement, etc. Innovative strengthening methods along with anchorage techniques need to be developed that would allow the strengthening to serve its desired function and ensure the safe functioning of the structure.

The proposed Special Issue targets the abovementioned issues in the field of connections in concrete and offers a platform to researchers and experts worldwide to showcase their work. Currently, there is no journal that is dedicated to the problems of connections in concrete, and therefore, publications in this field are often directed to journals that provide a more general scope. In the experience of the proposer, it is often quite difficult to find a suitable journal to present the work in the field of connections in concrete. This issue would offer a new chance to hundreds of researchers working in the field of connections in concrete to publish their work. Additionally, since connections in concrete are, in general, not widely covered in classroom teaching, practitioners and consultants often look for innovative answers and solutions to their problems. This issue would offer them a place to look for such innovative solutions.

Dr. Akanshu Sharma
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. CivilEng is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cast-in anchorages including anchor channels
  • bond between reinforcement and concrete
  • anchorages in composite construction
  • anchorages in structural strengthening
  • post-installed mechanical anchors
  • adhesive anchors and post-installed reinforcement
  • bond of special reinforcement in concrete
  • anchorages in special concretes
  • numerical modeling of anchorages and bond
  • code-based design models
  • performance-based approaches for anchorages
  • connections under seismic actions
  • connections under extreme situations (fire, impact)
  • connections under special actions.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Numerical Investigations on Non-Rectangular Anchor Groups under Shear Loads Applied Perpendicular or Parallel to an Edge
CivilEng 2021, 2(3), 692-711; https://doi.org/10.3390/civileng2030038 (registering DOI) - 28 Aug 2021
Viewed by 200
Abstract
Anchorages of non-rectangular configuration, though not covered by current design codes, are often used in practice due to functional or architectural needs. Frequently, such anchor groups are placed close to a concrete edge and are subjected to shear loads. The design of such [...] Read more.
Anchorages of non-rectangular configuration, though not covered by current design codes, are often used in practice due to functional or architectural needs. Frequently, such anchor groups are placed close to a concrete edge and are subjected to shear loads. The design of such anchorages requires engineering judgement and no clear rules are given in the codes and standards. In this work, numerical investigations using a nonlinear 3D FE analysis code are carried out on anchor groups with triangular and hexagonal anchor patterns to understand their behavior under shear loads. A microplane model with relaxed kinematic constraint is utilized as the constitutive law for concrete. Two different orientations are considered for both triangular and hexagonal anchor groups while no hole clearance is considered in the analysis. Two loading scenarios are investigated: (i) shear loading applied perpendicular and towards the edge; and (ii) shear loading applied parallel to the edge. The results of the analyses are evaluated in terms of the load-displacement behavior and failure modes. A comparison is made between the results of the numerical simulations and the analytical calculations according to the current approaches. It is found that, similar to the rectangular anchorages, and also for such non-rectangular anchorages without hole clearance, it may be reasonable to calculate the concrete edge breakout capacity by assuming a failure crack from the back anchor row. Furthermore, the failure load of the investigated groups loaded in shear parallel to the edge may be considered as twice the failure load of the corresponding groups loaded in shear perpendicular to the edge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Connections in Concrete Volume 2)
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