In this study, the response of ten composite post-tensioned concrete beams topped by a reinforced concrete deck with adequate reinforcing shear connectors is investigated. Depending on the concrete compressive strength of the deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa), beams are grouped into three categories. Seven of these beams are exposed to a fire attack of 700 and 800 °C temperature simultaneously with or without the presence of a uniformly distributed sustained static loading. After cooling back to ambient temperature, these composite beams are loaded up to failure, using a force control module, by monotonic static loading in a four-point-bending setup with two symmetrical concentrated loads applied in the middle third of the effective span. The objectives of this study include investigating the behavior of the composite prestressed concrete beams under and after the exposure to a direct fire flame, as well as finding their residual load-carrying capacity. Tests demonstrate significant deteriorations caused by exposure to high temperatures associated with the increase of the member’s camber. The increase of the midspan camber after heating exposure reached approximately 200%. On the other hand, the 1-h steady-state exposure of test specimens to temperatures of 700 and 800 °C led to reduce the load-carrying capacity of the heat-deteriorated beams up to 45% and 54%, respectively.
This study examines the structural performance of concrete-encased pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) I-sections with shear connections. It specifically focuses on how different parameters affect the latter’s ductility, flexural strength, and load-carrying capacity. The key variables studied include various shear connector types, spacing, and geometries, as well as the compressive strength of concrete and the properties of GFRP. The finite element modeling and experimental validation show that the shear connectors significantly improve the ductility, ultimate capacity, and load transmission efficiency. The present review emphasizes that the shear connectors greatly enhance the structural performance when they are prop
... Show MoreThis research is devoted to investigate the behavior and performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates under the effect of torsion. In this study a theoretical analysis has been conducted using finite element code ANSYS. Six previously tested beams are used to investigate reinforced concrete beams behavior
under torsion, two of them are solid and the rest are box-section beams. Also, two beams are without CFRP reinforcement, which are used as control beams for the strengthened one, and the other four beams are strengthened with CFRP laminates with different number of layers and spacing. Numerical investigation is conducted on these beams, and comparisons b
The main objective of this study is to introduce a systematic design procedure for short-span segmental beams following a sophisticated ACI 440.2R-17 design procedure. The general aspects of innovative short-span segmental beams are easy to fabricate, economical and rapidly placed in pre-specified positions. Short-span segmental beams fabricated from individual precast plain-concrete blocks and CFRP plates. Recently, experimental tests performed on short-span segmental beams, by the authors, investigated CFRP plate-bonding, CFRP plate cross-sectional area, the thickness of plate-bonding epoxy resin, surface-to-surface condition of concrete blocks, as well as, interface condition of the bonding surface. The experimental program comprises tes
... Show MoreThis research presents an experimental investigation of the rehabilitation efficiency of the damaged hybrid reinforced concrete beams with openings in the shear region. The study investigates the difference in retrofitting ability of hybrid beams compared to traditional beams and the effect of two openings compared with one opening equalized to two holes in the area. Five RC beams classified into two groups, A and B, were primarily tested to full-failure under two-point loads. The first group (A) contained beams with normal weight concrete. The second group (hybrid) included beams with lightweight concrete for web and bottom flange, whereas the top flange was made from normal concrete. Two types of openings were considered in this s
... Show MoreTwo of the main advantages of segmental construction are economics, as well as the rapid construction technique. One of the forms of segmental construction, for structural elements, is the segmental beams that built-in short sections, which referred to segments. This research aims to exhibit a new technique for the fabrication of short-span segmental beams from wedge-shaped concrete segments and carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) in laminate form. The experimental campaign included eight short-span segmental beams. In this study, two selected parameters were considered. These parameters are; the number of layers of CFRP laminates and the adhesive material that used to bond segments to each other, forming short-span segmental be
... Show MoreInterest has largely centered on the use of plant fibers to reinforce plastics, because these fibers are abundant and cheap. Carrot fibers (Curran) have been extracted from carrot, left over from carrot juice manufacture. The fibers of two sizes fine (50<µm) and coarse (100-150 µm) have been mixed with epoxy in four levels of loading (10, 20, 30, 40 wt %) respectively. Impact test, shore d hardness test and three point bending test of epoxy and carrot fiber-epoxy composites samples have been determined. The impact strength values of samples prepared with fine and coarse fibers increased as compared with pure epoxy sample. Hardness values increased, and the Young’s modulus values decreased with fiber content of both sizes.
This research aims to investigate the thermal performance of different thermal composite insulators, wrapped around a closed-loop copper pipe (CLP). To achieve this aim a system was designed and manufactured. It is consisted of closed water tank insulated by Rock Wool, and supplied with two electric heaters, two thermostat, a flow meter, a water pump, digital temperature scales, and four series of (CLP).
Six insulators were prepared namely; composites of Impregnated Fiberglass with Elastoclad and foaming Rubber (FER), Impregnated Fiberglass with Elastoclad resin and Polymeric Membrane (FEM), Impregnated Fiberglass with Polyurethane thermoset resin and Foaming Rubber (FUR), Impregnated Fiberglass with Polyurethane thermoset resin and P
SIFCON is characterized as a construction material of high ductility and very high strength. It is suitable for concrete structures used for special applications. However, the density of SIFCON is much higher than that of Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) due to the need for a large amount of high-density steel fibers. This work examines the split tensile behavior of modified weight slurry infiltrated fiber concrete utilizing a mixture of two types of fibers, steel fiber, and polyolefin fiber. For the investigation, 30 cylinders and 15 cubes were poured. The used volume fraction (V.F) is (6 %) and the use of five series once as each type separately and once a hybrid in proportions of 2/3 polyolefin with 1/3 steel fiber and
... Show MoreCarbonized nonwoven nanofibers composite were fabricated using the electrospinning method of a polymeric solution composite followed by heat treatment including stabilization and calcination steps. The spun polymeric solution was a binary polymer mixture/organic solvent. In this study, two types of polymers (Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and Polyethylene glycol (PEG)) were used separately as a copolymer with the base polymer (Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)) to prepare a binary polymer mixture in a mixing ratio of 50:50. The prepared precursor solutions were used to prepare the precursor nanofibers composite (PAN: PMMA) and (PAN: PEG). The fabricated precursors nonwoven fibers composite were stabilized and carbonized to produce carbon nonw
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