International Concrete Abstracts Portal

Pour-backs and overlays are utilized commonly in bridge elements and repairs; it is crucial to corrosion protection that the bond between grout and concrete in these regions is carefully constructed. The integrity of the bond is crucial to ensure a barrier against water, chloride ions, moisture, and contaminants; bond failure can compromise the durability of concrete structures' long-term performance. This study examines the influence of surface preparation methods on the bond durability and chloride permeability between concrete substrate and grouts, including both "non-shrink" cementitious and epoxy grouts. A microstructural analysis of scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images was conducted to characterize the porosity of specimen interfaces. Pull-off testing was performed to quantify tensile strength. Results show that a water-blasted surface preparation technique improved the tensile bond strength for cementitious grout interfaces and reduced porosity at the interface. In contrast, epoxy grout interfaces were less affected by surface preparation. The study establishes a relationship between chloride ion permeability, porosity, and bond strength. The findings highlight the importance of surface preparation in ensuring the durability of concrete-grout interfaces.

This paper describes the experimental testing of a reinforced concrete tessellated shear wall. The wall specimen was tested as part of a National Science Foundation-funded research project designed to demonstrate the concept of tessellated structural-architectural (TeSA) systems. TeSA systems are constructed of topologically interlocking tiles arranged in tessellations, or repeating geometric patterns. As such, these systems are designed with easy repair and reuse in mind. The specimen discussed in this paper is a TeSA shear wall constructed from individually precast I-shaped tiles. This paper presents the results of reverse cyclic loading of the specimen, including load-displacement behavior, crack propagation, and energy dissipation. A simplified analytical model for predicting the wall’s flexural capacity is also discussed.

This paper investigates the efficacy of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) jacketing as an option for seismic retrofit (repair or strengthening) of structural components that have been damaged by reinforcement corrosion. Previous work has illustrated that UHPC cover fully mitigates corrosion in the absence of service cracks and significantly reduces the corrosion rate in the case of preexisting cracks. In the present experimental study, cover replacement by UHPC is used to repair and strengthen corroded columns. Six lap-spliced columns designed based on pre-1970s design standards were constructed and subjected to artificial corrosion. Parameters of the investigation were: a) the aspect ratio of the specimens; b) the bar size (to account for the effect of bar diameter loss on bond); and c) the condition of the specimen (repair or strengthening after damage due to application of simulated seismic load to assess the effectiveness of retrofitting corroded components, even after having endured earthquake damage). The results show that thin UHPC jackets replacing conventional concrete cover suffice to impart a significant increase in strength and ductility of the columns. The jackets also endow the corroded and unconfined lap splices with significant force and deformation development capacity, thus alleviating a source of excessive column flexibility in existing construction.

Bridges subjected to extreme damage from earthquakes are usually considered unrepairable, and therefore must be replaced. One location where damage is concentrated in reinforced concrete bridges is in the plastic hinges that form at the ends of columns where the moment demand is the largest, causing buckling or fracture of the reinforcement. Recent studies have shown that plastic hinge relocation can restore reinforced concrete columns to their original force and displacement capacities. In this repair, a plastic hinge damaged by a seismic event is strengthened so that in subsequent seismic events, damage will form in an undamaged section, ensuring a ductile response. The aim of this research is to improve the constructability and performance of the repair using a steel jacket. Tests were conducted on columns subjected to reversed cyclic loading, repaired, and retested. A bolted connection simplified construction. Research has shown that the repair’s response is weakened when fractured bars in the original plastic hinge debond. In these tests, anchorage and bond conditions were improved by increasing the confining stresses by using a larger jacket thickness. This enhanced the seismic resilience, evident by an increase in dissipation of energy and reduction in strength degradation.

Most of the studies conducted on the rehabilitation of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joints are on pre-1970 structures. Recently, it was reported that seismically designed beam-column joints might also suffer damage under lateral loading. On the other hand, there is an increasing interest among researchers to study the effectiveness of geopolymer as an alternative repair material. To date, no study has been conducted to examine the performance of geopolymer for the rehabilitation of seismically detailed beamcolumn joints following the removal and replacement method under cyclic loading. In the present investigation, two groups of exterior beam-column joints with different flexural strength ratios were rehabilitated with geopolymer mortar. For comparison, another set of beam-column joints (one from each group) were rehabilitated with cement mortar following the same rehabilitation technique and testing. Test results indicated that geopolymer rehabilitated specimens exhibited 20 to 21% higher initial stiffness, 19 to 22% higher displacement ductility, 24 to 37% higher cumulative energy dissipation, 14 to 17% higher initial equivalent viscous damping ratio, 21 to 26% higher ultimate equivalent viscous damping ratio at failure, and 10 to 14% lower damage index compared to specimens rehabilitated with cement mortar. However, irrespective of repair material, removal and replacement technique was only able to partially restore the cyclic performance of rehabilitated specimens.