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Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Composites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2025) | Viewed by 9797

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Dr. Zhihua Xiong

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: composite bridges; rapid evaluation of the structural status of bridge structures; safety evaluation; reinforcement of lifeline engineering structures
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Prof. Dr. Haohui Xin

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: fiber-reinforced polymer composites; 3D-printed steel; multiscale analysis; failure and fatigue evaluation of steel and composite structures
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Composite materials and structures are widely applied in civil engineering, such as in bridges, buildings, pipelines, etc. The modeling and analysis of these materials and structures are vital for their integrity and performance evaluation. In terms of composite materials, the fracture, size effect and other mechanical properties are evaluated both via experiments and numeric analyses. At the same time, with respect to the infrastructures such as bridges and pipelines, the integrity and seismic risk are usually evaluated using numeric approaches. This Special Issue explores the latest research in the modeling and analysis of composite materials and structures in civil engineering, including FRP, cement materials, steel–concrete composite structures, bridges, buildings, pipelines and their related integrity and risk analysis.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Applied Sciences.

Dr. Zhihua Xiong
Prof. Dr. Haohui Xin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

strength
damage
fatigue
numeric modeling
structural performance
risk
machine learning
bridge
FRP
composite structures

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 9696 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigations on the Deflection of Carbon-Reinforced Concrete Hollow-Core Slabs

by David Sandmann, Michael Frenzel, Steffen Marx and Manfred Curbach

Materials 2025, 18(6), 1212; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18061212 - 8 Mar 2025

Viewed by 769

Abstract

The article presents the experimental and computational investigations on carbon-reinforced concrete (CRC) slabs with hollow-core cross-sections. Designed for use in building construction, they combine the benefits of lightweight construction, resource efficiency, and precise prefabrication. Three geometrically identical elements were manufactured and tested until failure in four-point bending tests. The slabs demonstrated a high load capacity of around 50 kNm, together with high ductility due to a deformation of more than 80 mm before failure. The load-deflection curves recorded could be reproduced very well with the analytical-physical calculation model created for both the non-cracked and cracked slab states. The strengths and stiffnesses of the materials used for input were derived from small-scale, accompanying material tests. As a result, the calculation model was ultimately used to design the carbon-reinforced ceilings of the CRC technology demonstration house CUBE, which was finished in 2022 in Dresden, East Germany. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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25 pages, 27266 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shear Energy Evolution and Fracture Behavior of Rock–Concrete Interfaces Under Different Stress-Level Conditions

by Taoying Liu, Min Tang, Ping Cao, Mengyuan Cui and Longjun Dong

Materials 2025, 18(4), 795; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18040795 - 11 Feb 2025

Viewed by 689

Abstract

Indoor direct shear tests under different stress levels were conducted on sandstone–concrete samples to investigate the rock–concrete interfaces’ shear energy evolution features and fracture behaviors under different normal stresses, combined with acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) techniques. The research results show that the growth of normal stress restricts the coalescence and failure of micro-cracks inside the sample and improves the bearing capacity. The shear strength of the sandstone–concrete cemented interface increases by 12.3–34.34% with increasing normal stress. The evolution behaviors of the total input energy, elastic strain energy and dissipated energy density are similar under different normal stress conditions, and the increase in normal stress raises the energy storage capacity of the sample, as well as the input external energy required for a sample’s failure, thereby enhancing the bearing capability of the sample. In addition, the AE count and b value characteristics indicate that crack propagation shows a three-stage variation trend. It can be seen from the RA (rise time/amplitude)-AF (AE count/duration time) curves that as the normal stress increases, the proportion of shear cracks in the sample progressively increases. When the final overall failure of the sample is imminent, the high-energy level fracture type changes from tensile fracture to shear fracture with increased normal stress, leading to an increasing percentage of shear fracture. Finally, the speckle results indicate that the nucleation and coalescence of tensile wing-shaped cracks are the main causes of sample failure. Under relatively high normal stress conditions, the damage degree of the serrated interface increases and the crack morphology becomes more intricate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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17 pages, 4961 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanical Model of Tensile Loading of Geotechnical Reinforcement Materials

by Hao Liu, Zhen Zhang, Zuhui Long, Bin He, Feng Chen, Ziang Chen and Yuliang Lin

Materials 2025, 18(2), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18020241 - 8 Jan 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 551

Abstract

To reveal the mechanical behavior and deformation patterns of geotechnical reinforcement materials under tensile loading, a series of tensile tests were conducted on plastic geogrid rib, fiberglass geogrid rib, gabion steel wire, plastic geogrid mesh, fiberglass geogrid mesh, and gabion mesh. The full tensile force–strain relationships of the reinforcement materials were obtained. The failure modes of different geotechnical reinforcement materials were discussed. The standard linear three-element model, the nonlinear three-element model, and the improved Kawabata model were employed to simulate the tensile curves of the various geotechnical reinforcement materials. The main parameters of the tensile models of the geotechnical reinforcement materials were determined. The results showed that a brittle failure occurred in both the plastic geogrid rib and the fiberglass geogrid rib subjected to tensile loading. The gabion steel wire presented obvious elastic–plastic deformation behavior. The tensile resistance of fiberglass geogrid mesh was higher compared to that of plastic geogrid, which was mainly caused by the difference in the cross-sectional areas of these two types of geogrid. Due to a hexagonal mesh structure of gabion mesh, there was a distinct stress adjustment during the tensile process, resulting in a sawtooth fluctuation pattern in tensile curve. Compared to the strip geogrid material, hexagonal-type gabion mesh could withstand higher tensile strain and had greater tensile strength. Brittle failure occurred in both the plastic geogrid rib and the fiberglass geogrid rib when subjected to tensile loading. The gabion steel wire presented obvious elastic–plastic deformation behavior. The standard linear and nonlinear three-element models as well as improved Kawabata model could all well reflect the tensile behavior of geotechnical reinforcement materials before the failure of the material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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20 pages, 4986 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Compressive Strength of Fly Ash-Recycled Mortar Based on Grey Wolf Optimizer–Backpropagation Neural Network

by Jing-Jing Shao, Lin-Bin Li, Guang-Ji Yin, Xiao-Dong Wen, Yu-Xiao Zou, Xiao-Bao Zuo, Xiao-Jian Gao and Shan-Shan Cheng

Materials 2025, 18(1), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18010139 - 1 Jan 2025

Viewed by 838

Abstract

The evaluation of the mechanical performance of fly ash-recycled mortar (FARM) is a necessary condition to ensure the efficient utilization of recycled fine aggregates. This article describes the design of nine mix proportions of FARMs with a low water/cement ratio and screens six mix proportions with reasonable flowability. The compressive strengths of FARMs were tested, and the influence of the water/cement ratio (w/c) and age on the compressive strength was analyzed. Meanwhile, a backpropagation neural network (BPNN) model optimized by the grey wolf optimizer (GWO), namely the GWO-BPNN model, was established to predict the compressive strength of FARM. The input layer of the model consisted of w/c, a cement/sand ratio, water reducer, age, and fly ash content, while the output layer was the compressive strength. The data set consisted of 150 sets from this article and existing research in the literature, of which 70% is used for model training and 30% for model validation. The results show that compared with the traditional BPNN, the coefficient of determination (R²) of GWO-BPNN increases from 0.85 to 0.93, and the mean squared error (MSE) of model training decreases from 0.018 to 0.015. Meanwhile, the convergence iterations of model validation decrease from 108 to 65. This indicates that GWO improved the prediction accuracy and computational efficiency of BPNN. The model results of characteristic heat, kernel density estimation, scatter matrix, and the SHAP value all indicated that the w/c was strongly negatively correlated with compressive strength, while the sand/cement ratio and age were strongly positively correlated with compressive strength. However, the relationship between the contents of fly ash, the water reducer, and the compressive strength was not obvious. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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18 pages, 5086 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analyzing the Vibration Response of Adhesively Bonded Composite Cantilevers

by Jarosław Chełmecki, Paweł Szeptyński, Dorota Jasińska and Arkadiusz Kwiecień

Materials 2025, 18(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18010093 - 29 Dec 2024

Viewed by 569

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the vibration of adhesively bonded composite cantilevers consisting of two beech wood lamella and a bondline of flexible polyurethane. The beams had a constant total height, while the thickness of the adhesive layer varied. We analyzed both the driven and free vibration of a single cantilever beam and a cantilever with an additional mass attached to its end. The eigenfrequencies were determined using Fourier analysis of a sweep load response, the response to an impact load excited using an impact hammer, and the response observed via the manual displacement of the beam’s tip. The system’s damping was estimated according to the recorded logarithmic decrement. Theoretical estimates of the fundamental natural frequency were obtained using the γ-method and employing a linear elastic theory of composite beams. A numerical modal analysis was carried out using the finite element method. Upon comparing the results of our experiments with the numerical estimates and theoretical predictions, a fair agreement was found. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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16 pages, 2014 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Dynamic Strength Characteristics of Sand Solidified by Enzyme-Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (EICP)

by Gang Li, Xueqing Hua, Jia Liu, Yao Zhang and Yu Li

Materials 2024, 17(20), 4976; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17204976 - 11 Oct 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1053

Abstract

Saturated sand foundations are susceptible to liquefaction under dynamic loads. This can result in roadbed subsidence, flotation of underground structures, and other engineering failures. Compared with the traditional foundation reinforcement technology, enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation technology (EICP) is a green environmental protection reinforcement technology. The EICP technology can use enzymes to induce calcium carbonate to cement soil particles and fill soil pores, thus effectively improving soil strength and inhibiting sand liquefaction damage. The study takes EICP-solidified standard sand as the research object and, through the dynamic triaxial test, analyzes the influence of different confining pressure (σ₃) cementation times (CT), cyclic stress ratio (CSR), dry density (ρ_d), and vibration frequency (f) on dynamic strength characteristics. Then, a modified dynamic strength model of EICP-solidified standard sand was established. The results show that, under the same confining pressure, the required vibration number for failure decreases with the increase in dynamic strength, and the dynamic strength increases with the rise in dry density. At the same number of cyclic vibrations, the greater the confining pressure and cementation times, the greater the dynamic strength. When the cementation times are constant, the dynamic strength of EICP-solidified sand decreases with the increase in the vibration number. When cementation times are 6, the dynamic strength of the specimens with CSR of 0.35 is 25.9% and 32.4% higher than those with CSR of 0.25 and 0.30, respectively. The predicted results show that the model can predict the measured values well, which fully verifies the applicability of the model. The research results can provide a reference for liquefaction prevention in sand foundations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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16 pages, 3863 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Pore Water Pressure Model of EICP-Solidified Sand under Cyclic Loading

by Gang Li, Yu Li, Xueqing Hua, Jia Liu, Shasha Yang and Yao Zhang

Materials 2024, 17(19), 4800; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17194800 - 29 Sep 2024

Viewed by 953

Abstract

Under traffic load, earthquake load, and wave load, saturated sand foundation is prone to liquefaction, and foundation reinforcement is the key measure to improve its stability and liquefaction resistance. Traditional foundation treatment methods have many problems, such as high cost, long construction period, and environmental pollution. As a new solidification method, enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (EICP) technology has the advantages of economy, environmental protection, and durability. Through a triaxial consolidated undrained shear test under cyclic loading, the impacts of confining pressure (σ₃), cementation number (P_c), cyclic stress ratio (CSR), initial dry density (ρ_d), and vibration frequency (f) on the development law of pore water pressure of EICP-solidified sand are analyzed and then a pore water pressure model suitable for EICP-solidified sand is established. The result shows that as σ₃ and CSR increase, the rise rate of pore water pressure of solidified sand gradually accelerates, and with a lower vibration number required for liquefaction, the anti-liquefaction ability of solidified sand gradually weakens. However, as P_c, ρ_d, and f rise, the increase rate of pore water pressure of solidified sand gradually lowers, the vibration number required for liquefaction increases correspondingly, and its liquefaction resistance gradually increases. The test results are highly consistent with the predictive results, which show that the three-parameter unified pore water pressure model is suitable for describing the development law of A-type and B-type pore water pressure of EICP-solidified sand at the same time. The study results provide essential reference value and scientific significance in guidance for preventing sand foundations from liquefying. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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18 pages, 3954 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Rock Unloading Strength Based on PSO-XGBoost Hybrid Models

by Baohua Liu, Hang Lin, Yifan Chen and Chaoyi Yang

Materials 2024, 17(17), 4214; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17174214 - 26 Aug 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1156

Abstract

Rock excavation is essentially an unloading behavior, and its mechanical properties are significantly different from those under loading conditions. In response to the current deficiencies in the peak strength prediction of rocks under unloading conditions, this study proposes a hybrid learning model for the intelligent prediction of the unloading strength of rocks using simple parameters in rock unloading tests. The XGBoost technique was used to construct a model, and the PSO-XGBoost hybrid model was developed by employing particle swarm optimization (PSO) to refine the XGBoost parameters for better prediction. In order to verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed hybrid model, 134 rock sample sets containing various common rock types in rock excavation were collected from international and Chinese publications for the purpose of modeling, and the rock unloading strength prediction results were compared with those obtained by the Random Forest (RF) model, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) model, the XGBoost (XGBoost) model, and the Grid Search Method-based XGBoost (GS-XGBoost) model. Meanwhile, five statistical indicators, including the coefficient of determination (R²), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean square error (MSE), and root mean square error (RMSE), were calculated to check the acceptability of these models from a quantitative perspective. A review of the comparison results revealed that the proposed PSO-XGBoost hybrid model provides a better performance than the others in predicting rock unloading strength. Finally, the importance of the effect of each input feature on the generalization performance of the hybrid model was assessed. The insights garnered from this research offer a substantial reference for tunnel excavation design and other representative projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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17 pages, 9791 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fatigue Life Prediction Model of FRP–Concrete Interface Based on Gene Expression Programming

by Zhimei Zhang and Yinglong Huo

Materials 2024, 17(3), 690; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17030690 - 31 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1064

Abstract

Under fatigue loading, the interfacial fatigue life of fiber-reinforced polymer(FRP)–concrete is an important index for the analysis of the fatigue performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with FRP materials and the evaluation of the reinforcement effect. To solve the problems of the inconsistent and limited accuracy of existing fatigue life prediction models, gene expression programming (GEP) was used to study the interfacial fatigue life of FRP–concrete. Firstly, 219 sets of interfacial fatigue test data were collected, which included two kinds of reinforcement methods, namely, externally bonded (EB) reinforcement and near-surface-mounted (NSM) reinforcement; secondly, Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the key factors affecting the fatigue life, and then GEP was used to explore the influence of different input forms on the prediction accuracy of the model. Fatigue life calculation formulas applicable to the two kinds of reinforcement methods, i.e., EB and NSM, were established, and a specific calculation formula was established. The model was subjected to parameter sensitivity analysis and variable importance analysis and was found to reflect the intrinsic relationship between the fatigue life and various factors. Finally, the GEP model was compared with the models proposed by other researchers. Five statistical indices, such as the coefficient of determination and the average absolute error, were selected to assess the model, and the results show that the GEP model has higher prediction accuracy than other models, with a coefficient of determination of 0.819, and indicators such as the average absolute error are also lower than those of the rest of the models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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17 pages, 6198 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determining Compressed Concrete Element Limit States Based on the Widths and Depths of Cracks Caused by Transverse Deformations

by Iakov Iskhakov, Ilya Frolov and Yuri Ribakov

Materials 2024, 17(2), 355; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17020355 - 10 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1009

Abstract

In the modern theory of compressed concrete elements, the most attention is paid to longitudinal deformations, whereas transverse ones are rarely considered and just within Poisson’s coefficient limits (i.e., elastic concrete behavior in the transverse direction). However, transverse deformations significantly develop beyond the limits corresponding to Poisson’s coefficient, where they lead to longitudinal crack initiation and development. In-depth experimental and numerical investigations of transverse deformations in the inelastic stage showed that it is necessary to consider crack propagation. The present study proposes simultaneous consideration of longitudinal and transverse deformations, as well as the appearance of cracks and their widths and depths. This allowed us to obtain a complete compressed concrete element behavior pattern at all performance stages in two types of limit states (based on longitudinal and transverse deformations). Consequently, new ultimate limit states by the depth and width of cracks caused by transverse deformations are proposed to be included in modern design practices and codes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Analysis of Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering)

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