International Concrete Abstracts Portal

Retrofit of reinforced concrete bridge columns with steel jackets is a commonly implemented strategy to increase column ductility in earthquakes. If the steel jacket retrofit is designed using available guidelines, fatigue fracture of longitudinal reinforcement is a likely cause of strength degradation. Fatigue fracture in reinforcement is dependent upon strain history in reinforcement. A model was developed to determine the strain history in longitudinal reinforcement at the plastic hinge in steel jacket retrofitted reinforced concrete columns. The model was validated with existing test data, and single degree of freedom nonlinear time history analyses were conducted using the model. Earthquake duration was shown to have a significant impact on the number of plastic excursions and the total plastic strain in the reinforcement, based on the results of analyses using an existing suite of long-duration earthquake ground motions that were each paired with a short-duration ground motion with similar response spectra. Results from analyses of 600 Magnitude-9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone simulated site-specific ground motions for western Washington State were used in the formulation of a new testing protocol for steel jacket retrofitted reinforced concrete bridge columns that better accounts for expected demands in this region.

Concrete median barriers (CMB) are installed to decrease the overall severity of traffic accidents by producing higher vehicle decelerations. In 2016, an update to the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) saw a 58% increase in impact severity of test level 4 (TL-4) impact conditions when compared to the NCHRP Report 350 testing criteria. This study investigates the use of fiber-reinforced rubberized CMBs in dissipating the impact energy to improve driver safety involved in crashed vehicles. Two full-scale barrier prototypes with shear keys were constructed and tested under impact conditions in a laboratory setting. Compared to the Georgia Department of Transportation specified single-slope barrier, the fiber-reinforced rubberized concrete mixture, a design with 20% replacement of the coarse aggregate by volume with recycled rubber tire chips and a 1.0% steel fiber addition, was evaluated based on its performance in toughness, energy absorption capacity, and its recoverable deformation. It is concluded that the TC20ST1 barrier performed as well as the control barrier at the impact load of 150.0 kips (667.2 kN), with neither barrier experiencing any visible damage.

Externally bonded (EB) steel reinforced grout (SRG) composites have the potential to improve the flexural and shear performance of existing concrete and masonry structural members. However, one of the most commonly observed failure modes of SRG-strengthened structures is due to composite debonding, which reduces composite action and limits the SRG contribution to the member load-carrying capacity. This study investigated an endanchorage system for SRG strips bonded to a concrete substrate. The end anchorage was achieved by embedding the ends of the steel cords into the substrate. Nineteen single-lap direct shear specimens with varying composite bonded lengths and anchor binder materials were tested to study the effectiveness of the end-anchorage on the bond performance. For specimens with relatively long bonded length, the end-anchorage slightly improved the performance in terms of peak load achieved before detachment of the bonded region. Anchored specimens with long bonded length showed notable post-detachment behavior. Anchored specimens with epoxy resin achieved load levels significantly higher than the peak load before composite detachment occurred. For specimens with relatively short bonded length, the end-anchorage provided a notable increase in peak load and global slip at composite detachment. A generic load response was proposed for SRG-concrete joints with end anchors.

This study examines the effect of fiber properties, single fiber type and hybrid fibers on the fresh-state and hardened-state properties of self-consolidating fiber-reinforced concrete (SCFRC). As part of the study, 16 mixtures are examined with variables including the effect of fiber type, length, aspect ratio, and hybrid use of fibers (short and long fibers). Properties in the fresh state are studied using standard SCC tests including: slump flow, V-funnel and visual stability index (VSI) tests. Mechanical properties are studied by testing prisms under four-point flexural loading in accordance with the ASTM C1609 standard. The results demonstrate that self-consolidating FRC mixtures are possible at moderate fiber contents, however, once the limiting fiber contents are exceeded workability and mix uniformity are lost. The results also show the effects of fiber content, fiber type, fiber properties and hybrid fibers on the flexural toughness of SCFRC.

This paper presents the results from tests examining the performance of high-strength concrete (HSC) and normal-strength concrete (NSC) columns subjected to blast loading. As part of the study six columns built with varying concrete strengths were tested under simulated blast loads using a shock-tube. In addition to the effect of concrete strength, the effects of longitudinal steel ratio and transverse steel detailing were also investigated. The experimental results demonstrate that the HSC and NSC columns showed similar blast performance in terms of overall displacement response, blast capacity, damage and failure mode. However, when considering the results at equivalent blasts, doubling the concrete strength from 40 MPa to 80 MPa (6 to 12 ksi) resulted in 10%-20% reductions in maximum displacements. On the other hand, increasing the longitudinal steel ratio from ρ = 1.7% to 3.4% was found to increase blast capacity, while also reducing maximum displacements by 40-50%. The results also show that decreasing the tie spacing (from d/2 to d/4, where d is the section depth) improved blast performance by reducing peak displacements by 20-40% at equivalent blasts. The use of seismic ties also prevented bar buckling and reduced the extent of damage at failure. As part of the analytical study the response of the HSC columns was predicted using single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) analysis. The resistance functions were developed using dynamic material properties, sectional analysis and a lumped inelasticity approach. The SDOF procedure was able to predict the blast response of HSC columns with reasonable accuracy, with an average error of 14%. A numerical parametric study examining the effects of concrete strength, steel ratio and tie spacing in larger-scale columns with 350 mm x 350 mm (14 in. x 14 in.) section was also conducted. The results of the numerical study confirm the conclusions from the experiments but indicate the need for further blast research on the effect of transverse steel detailing in larger-scale HSC columns.