International Concrete Abstracts Portal

Lightweight concrete (LWC) finds wide-ranging applications inthe construction industry due to its reduced dead load, good fireresistance, and low thermal and acoustic conductivity. Lightweightgeopolymer concrete (LWGC) is an emerging type ofconcrete that is garnering attention in the construction industryfor its sustainable and eco-friendly properties. LWGC is producedusing geopolymer binders instead of cement, thereby reducing thecarbon footprint associated with conventional concrete production.However, the absence of standard codes for geopolymer concreterestricts its widespread application. To address this limitation,an investigation focused on developing a new mixture design forLWGC by modifying the existing ACI 211.2-98 provisions has beencarried out. In this study, crucial parameters of LWGC, such asalkaline-binder ratio (A/B), molarity, silicate/hydroxide ratio, andcuring temperature, were established using machine learning techniques. As a result, a simple and efficient method for determining the mixture proportions for LWGC has been proposed.

With the development and commercialization of post-tensioned (PT) concrete structures, concerns pertaining to structural safety for disasters and diverse conditions, such as fire and high temperatures, have emerged. To better understand fire-resistance performance, effects associated with cover thickness and tendon configurations for six unbonded PT concrete slabs were evaluated in regardto temperature changes, deflection, tendon tensile forces, and fire endurance/time. In addition, the factors and relationship between the extent of damage caused by concrete cracking/delamination and tendon force at post-tensioning were evaluated. Thermal resistance and deflection rates for materials such as galvanized steel duct or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sheathing were also examined. It is the authors’ hope that the aforementioned informationidentifying parameters affecting fire-resistance performanceof PT slabs may be helpful to the practitioner when consideringtendon configurations for unbonded PT concrete structures.

Lightweight (LW) aggregates (LWAs) improve fire resistance, moisture resistance, and durability in addition to reducing the selfweight of concrete. However, the ACI 318 code includes a modification factor (lambda) to account for reduced tensile capacity in LW concrete. LWAs are not currently permitted for use in masonry grout due to lack of test data to establish appropriate modification factors for the TMS 402/602 code. This study is a pilot study that aims to experimentally determine how the tensile breakout and shear breakout capacity of cast-in-place bent-bar anchors in masonry assemblies with LW grout compare with the predictions of TMS 402-16 for anchors in normal weight (NW) grout, and with results in the literature for assemblies using NW grout to see if additional testing would be needed to determine a lambda factor for shear and tensile behavior of LW grout. The results indicate that a reduction factor for bent-bar anchor bolts in masonry constructed with LW grout may not be needed, but additional testing should be conducted with smaller bar diameters to demonstrate the consistency of these results across bar sizes.

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the comparative response of polypropylene (PP) fiber-incorporated reinforced concrete (RC) beams under fire conditions. Five fullscale RC beam specimens, made with different batch mixtures comprising normal plain concrete (NPC) and fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC), were tested to assess their spalling performance and structural behavior under fire conditions. The main variables in the experiments were the amount and length of PP fibers. Deflections, temperatures, and spalling in the beams were monitored during fire exposure. FRC beams’ flexural failure occurs after 151 minutes at heating temperatures beyond 850°C, when deflections exceed span/20. When the concrete contains PP fibers (that is, FRC beams), the gamut of fire-induced spalling in RC beams gets reduced, increasing the fire resistance from 147 to 171 minutes (approximately 17%). Furthermore, test results show that adding 2 to 3 kg/m3 of PP fibers effectively releases the pore pressure through tensile cracking and reduces the amount of spalling in the FRC beams.

Structural lightweight-aggregate concrete (LWAC) has gained a broad range of applications in the construction industry owing to its reduced dead load and enhanced fire resistance. In this study, the potential of using lightweight expanded clay aggregates as a partial replacement for fine and coarse natural aggregates was experimentally and numerically examined. Testing was performed on cylindrical specimens made of normalweight and lightweight concrete incorporating microsilica as a partial replacement for cement to determine the associated stress-strain behavior. Subsequently, three-point bending testing was conducted on reinforced concrete beams to evaluate their structural behavior. Four levels of temperature were considered: 25°C (ambient temperature), and 250, 500, and 750°C (elevated temperatures). The finite element method through Abaqus software was deployed to numerically investigate the behavior at elevated temperatures through a comprehensive parametric study. The experimental and numerical results indicate that under high-temperature exposure, LWAC outperforms its normal counterpart in terms of strength, stiffness, and Young’s modulus. It is also noticeable that LWAC beams retained their load-bearing capacity better than normal weight aggregate concrete (NWAC) after reaching the peak load.