The conception and experimental assessment of a removable friction-based shear connector (FBSC) for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The FBSC uses pre-tensioned high-strength steel bolts that pass through countersunk holes drilled on the top flange of the steel beam. Pre-tensioning of the bolts provides the FBSC with significant frictional resistance that essentially prevents relative slip displacement of the concrete slab with respect to the steel beam under service loading. The countersunk holes are grouted to prevent sudden slip of the FBSC when friction resistance is exceeded. Moreover, the FBSC promotes accelerated bridge construction by fully exploiting prefabrication, does not raise issues relevant to precast construction tolerances, and allows rapid bridge disassembly to drastically reduce the time needed to replace any deteriorating structural component (e.g., the bridge deck). A series of 11 push-out tests highlight why the novel structural details of the FBSC result in superior shear load-slip displacement behavior compared to welded shear studs. The paper also quantifies the effects of bolt diameter and bolt preload and presents a design equation to predict the shear resistance of the FBSC.
The study focused on examining the behavior of six concrete beams that were reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars to evaluate their performance in terms of their load-carrying capacity, deflection, and other mechanical properties. The experimental investigation would provide insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of GFRP bars as an alternative to traditional reinforcement materials like steel bars in concrete structures. The GFRP bars were used in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. Each beam in the study shared the following specifications: an overall length of 2,400 mm, a clear span of 2,100 mm, and a rectangular cross-section measuring
No-fines concrete is an advanced pavement material known for its strong drainage capabilities, making it a widely used rigid road surface. With growing demand for reduced cement content due to industrial advancements, researchers have explored epoxy resin as a partial or total cement replacement. This study examines the mechanical properties of no-fines concrete with varying epoxy replacement levels and applies KENSLAB analysis for pavement thickness design. Seven concrete mixes were prepared with epoxy replacing cement at 100%, 95%, 75%, 55%, 35%, and 15%. Mechanical tests, including compressive strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, bulk density, water absorption, and durability (wet-dry), were conducted after 7 and 2
... Show MoreThis paper introduces experimental results of eighteen simply supported reinforced concrete beams of cross sections ( ) and length 3000 mm to study the effect of lacing reinforcement on the performance of such beams under static and fatigue loads. Twelve reinforced concrete beams (two of them are casted with vertical shear reinforcement used as control beams) are tested under four points bending loading with displacement control technique and six laced reinforced concrete beams were exposed to high frequency (10 Hz) by fixing the fatigue load in each cycle. Three parameters are used in the designed beams, which are: lacing bar diameter (4mm, 6mm, and 8mm), lacing bar inclination angle to horizontal , and lacing steel rat
... Show MoreThis paper is devoted to investigate the effect of internal curing technique on the properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC). In this study, SCC is produced by using silica fume (SF) as partial replacement by weight of cement with percentage of (5%), sand is partially replaced by volume with saturated fine lightweight aggregate (LWA) which is thermostone chips as internal curing material in three percentages of (5%, 10% and 15%) for SCC, two external curing conditions water and air. The experimental work was divided into three parts: in the first part, the workability tests of fresh SCC were conducted. The second part included conducting compressive strength test and modulus of rupture test at ages of (7, 28 and 90). The third part i
... Show MoreApplying load to a structural member may result in a bottle-shaped compression field especially when the width of the loading is less than the width of bearing concrete members. At the Building and Construction Department – the University of Technology-Iraq, series tests on fibre reinforced concrete specimens were carried out, subjected to compression forces at the top and bottom of the specimens to produce compression field. The effects of steel fibre content, concrete compressive strength, transverse tension reinforcement, the height of test specimen, and the ratio of the width of loading plate to specimen width were studied by testing a total of tenth normal strength concrete blocks with steel fibre and one normal s
... Show MoreThe effect of considering the third dimension in mass concrete members on its cracking behavior is investigated in this study. The investigation includes thermal and structural analyses of mass concrete structures. From thermal analysis, the actual temperature distribution throughout the mass concrete body was obtained due to the generation of heat as a result of cement hydration in addition to the ambient circumstances. This was performed via solving the differential equations of heat conduction and convection using the finite element method. The finite element method was also implemented in the structural analysis adopting the concept of initial strain problem. Drying shrinkage volume changes were calculated using the procedure suggested
... Show MoreThe effect of considering the third dimension in mass concrete members on its cracking behavior is investigated in this study. The investigation includes thermal and structural analyses of mass concrete structures. From thermal analysis, the actual temperature distribution throughout the mass concrete body was obtained due to the generation of heat as a result of cement hydration in
addition to the ambient circumstances. This was performed via solving the differential equations of heat conduction and convection using the finite element method. The finite element method was also implemented in the structural analysis adopting the concept of initial strain problem. Drying shrinkage volume changes were calculated using the procedure sug
The corrosion inhibition of low carbon steel in1N HCl solution in the presence of peach juice at temperature (30,40,50,and 60)°C at concentration ( 5, 10, 20, 30, 40and 50 cm3/L)were studied using weight loss and polarization techniques. Results show that the inhibition efficiency was increased with the increase of inhibitor concentration and increased with the increase of temperature up to 50ºC ,above 50ºC (i.e. at 60 ºC) the values of efficiency decreases. Activation parameters of the corrosion process such as activation energies, Ea, activation enthalpies, ΔH, and activation entropies, ΔS, were calculated. The adsorption of inhibitor follows Langmuir isotherm. Maximum inhibition efficiency obtained was a bout 91% at 50ºC in the
... Show MoreIn this study, experimental mortar combinations with 1% micro steel fibers, were examined to create geopolymer mortars. To test the effect of the fibers on the mortar's resistance, the geopolymer mortar was designed with various proportions of more environmentally friendly materials fly ash and slag. The percentage of fly ash by weight was 50, 60, and 70% of the slag. The best results were obtained when a 50:50 ratio of fly ash and slag were mixed with 1% micro steel fibers. The results showed that the mixtures containing fibers performed better in the considered tests (toughness index, ductility index, and resilience index). In the impact resistance test, the mixture contained 50% fly ash by weight of the slag with a temperature of
... Show MoreBackground: This study aimed to compare the mechanical properties between four groups of newly fabricated combination wires according to their method of union, according to the gauges of wires and a comparison were made between them and their originals. Materials and method: A total of 60 stainless steel combination wires were fabricated , divided into four groups according to gauge of wires and their method of union, each of them with 15 samples, the groups were welded (0.016x0.022-0.016 and 0.016x0.022-0.018) and soldered (0.016x0.022-0.016 and 0.016x0.022-0.018), samples were made according to certain parameters which were : for the welded samples: length,weight, duration of pulsation and size of copper electrode tips used; for the sold
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