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Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2023) | Viewed by 13733

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Gintaris Kaklauskas

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Guest Editor

Department of Reinforced Concrete Structures and Geotechnics, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech), 10221 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: deformation and cracking of concrete structures; tension stiffening; constitutive and numerical modeling; bond between concrete and reinforcement; long-term effects; steel fiber concrete

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reinforced concrete is a unique material in two aspects. The first regards the extent of its application: concrete is the second human consumable after water. With the current yearly consumption of concrete of three tons per person, it is going to be doubled during the next decade. The second aspect of uniqueness is a highly complex mechanical behavior: concrete cracks, creeps, and shrinks. The interaction of concrete and reinforcement, known as the effect of tension stiffening, is extremely intricate. These effects have a key influence on the serviceability behavior of concrete structures. It must be remembered that serviceability designs limit the ability to achieve reliable predictions of deformations, cracking, and vibrations of the structures.

This Special Issue will compile recent developments in various aspects of the serviceability analysis of concrete structures. Analytical, numerical, and experimental investigations are welcome. The topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Deformations
Cracking
Shrinkage
Creep
Tension stiffening
The range of concrete and reinforcement types
Pre-stressed concrete
Various loading cases

Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Gintaris Kaklauskas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

reinforced concrete
serviceability
deformation
cracking
creep
shrinkage
tension stiffening

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 9300 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deflection Estimation Model for Prestressed Concrete Slabs with Plastic Inserts Forming Voids

by Mindaugas Zavalis, Mykolas Daugevičius, Aidas Jokūbaitis, Robertas Zavalis and Juozas Valivonis

Materials 2022, 15(9), 3013; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15093013 - 21 Apr 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1745

Abstract

Developed and patented more than 30 years ago, the system of slabs with plastic inserts has become very popular, and it is used all over the world today due to the significantly reduced cost of building construction. Experimental tests have shown that the behaviour of simple bending voided slab structures with plastic inserts during loading is very similar to that of solid slabs. However, their deflection and crack resistance are both slightly inferior to those of solid slabs. When using pretensioned reinforcement, the deflection and crack resistance of voided slabs exceed the above parameters for solid slabs. However, when using plastic inserts to form inner voids in slabs, their cross-section along the span becomes variable. In determining the stiffness of such slab, a problem arises in estimating the moment-of-inertia when the cross-section is variable. To estimate the influence of the voids formed by the plastic inserts on the deflection of prestressed concrete slabs, bending tests of two life-size reinforced concrete slabs were performed. The bending results obtained during the experiment were compared with the results obtained from the numerical model and analytical calculations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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15 pages, 4435 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Strength and Hydration Behavior of Sulfate-Resistant Cement in High Geothermal Environment

by Yan Wang, Yahao Chen, Bingbing Guo, Shaohui Zhang, Yueping Tong and Ditao Niu

Materials 2022, 15(8), 2790; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15082790 - 11 Apr 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1457

Abstract

The hydration process and compressive strength and flexural strength development of sulphate-resistant Portland cement (SRPC) curing at 20 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C were studied. In addition, MIP, XRD, SEM, and a thermodynamic simulation (using Gibbs Energy Minimization Software (GEMS)) were used to study the pore structure, the types, contents, and transformations of hydration products, and the changes in the internal micro-morphology. The results indicate that, compared with normal-temperature curing (20 °C), the early compressive strength (1, 3, and 7 d) of SRPC cured at 40~60 °C increased by 10.1~57.4%, and the flexural strength increased by 1.8~21.3%. However, high-temperature curing was unfavorable for the development of compressive strength and flexural strength in the later period (28~90 d), as they were reduced by 1.5~14.6% and 1.1~25.5%, respectively. With the increase in the curing temperature and curing age, the internal pores of the SRPC changed from small pores to large pores, and the number of harmful pores (>50 nm) increased significantly. In addition, the pore structure was further coarsened after curing at 60 °C for 90 d, and the number of multiple harmful pores (>200 nm) increased by 17.9%. High-temperature curing had no effect on the types of hydration products of the SRPC but accelerated the formation rate of hydration products. The production of the hydration products C-S-H increased by 13.5%, 18.6%, and 22.8% after curing at 40, 50, and 60 °C for 3 d, respectively. The stability of ettringite (AFt) reduced under high-temperature curing, and its diffraction peak was not observed in the XRD patterns. When the curing temperature was higher than 50 °C, AFt began to transform into monosulfate, which consumed more tricalcium aluminate hydrate and inhibited the formation of “delayed ettringite”. Under high-temperature curing, the compactness of the internal microstructure of the SRPC decreased, and the distribution of hydration products was not uniform, which affected the growth in its strength during the later period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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15 pages, 21448 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physical and Numerical Simulations on Mechanical Properties of a Prefabricated Underground Utility Tunnel

by Yachuan Kuang, Zhiwei Peng, Jiahui Yang, Miaomiao Zhou, Chang He, Yinhu Liu, Xiaofei Mo and Zhexuan Song

Materials 2022, 15(6), 2276; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15062276 - 19 Mar 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2085

Abstract

The “U-shaped ferrule joint bars connections” have a stable mechanical property, requiring a low level of construction accuracy and a relatively simple connection process, which significantly increase the construction speed. Based on the “U-shaped ferrule joint bars connections” technology, a new type of prefabricated concrete underground utility tunnel was proposed. This prefabricated technology realizes a formwork-free construction and vertical support-free assembly of the top plate on site. Through the full-scale model static test and numerical analyses, the mechanical properties, i.e., the crack development law and bearing capacity, were systematically investigated to validate the effectiveness of the “U-shaped ferrule joint bars connections”. The test results indicated that the performance of the “U-shaped ferrule joint bars connections” is reliable. During the loading process, the prefabricated utility tunnel experienced three stages, i.e., cracking, stiffness degradation, and ultimate failure. The numerical analysis results correlated with the test results well. The simulation results showed that the bearing capacities of the prefabricated underground utility tunnel and the cast-in-place utility tunnel were similar. The longitudinal joint connections of the prefabricated utility tunnel allow the structure as an integration to maintain favourable mechanical properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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14 pages, 2812 KiB

Open AccessArticle

RC Medium-Rise Building Damage Sensitivity with SSI Effect

by Liga Gaile, Lasma Ratnika and Leonids Pakrastins

Materials 2022, 15(5), 1653; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15051653 - 23 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1503

Abstract

Global vibration-based methods in the field of structural health monitoring are intended to capture structural stiffness changes of buildings or other civil engineering structures. Natural frequencies of buildings or bridges are commonly used parameters to monitor these stiffness changes. Therefore, it is essential to clarify the limit at which this method is no longer sensitive enough to be useful for structural health monitoring purposes. This paper numerically investigates the effect of structural damage and soil–structure interaction on cellular-type reinforced concrete buildings’ natural frequencies. These buildings are a common housing stock of Eastern Europe but are rarely investigated in this context. Comparisons with a reinforced concrete frame and infill structure building are made. Finite element models representing three structural system types of nine-story reinforced concrete buildings were used for the numerical simulations. Furthermore, a five-story finite element model was used for a damage sensitivity comparison. It is established that, for cellular-type structure buildings to detect damage comparable to that investigated in the paper, structural health (fixed base model frequency) should be monitored directly. Then, a statistical significance level for frequency changes of no more than 0.1% should be adopted. Conversely, the rocking frequency is a very sensitive parameter to monitor building base condition changes. These changes are often a cause of the cracking of building elements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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13 pages, 3620 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Deformation Analysis of Reinforced Lightweight Aggregate Concrete Flexural Members

by Darius Bacinskas, Deividas Rumsys and Gintaris Kaklauskas

Materials 2022, 15(3), 1005; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15031005 - 27 Jan 2022

Viewed by 1805

Abstract

In the modern construction industry, lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) is often used to produce load-bearing structural members. LWAC can be up to 40% lighter by volume than normal strength concrete. However, the lack of adequate numerical models often limits the practical application of innovative building materials such as lightweight concrete in real projects. The present study conducted a comparative numerical deformation analysis of a full-scale bridge deck slab and girder. Using the physical model proposed by the authors and the finite element software ATENA, the deformations of full-scale lightweight and traditional reinforced concrete elements under the short-term effects of permanent and variable loads were compared. Depending on the safety and serviceability limit requirements, it was found that the amount of longitudinal reinforcement in lightweight reinforced concrete elements could be reduced compared with that in standard reinforced concrete elements with the same parameters. The results of the numerical analysis showed that the deformation analysis model proposed by the authors could serve as an alternative tool for the design of lightweight concrete flexural members with the selection of optimum geometric and reinforcement parameters limited by the stiffness condition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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13 pages, 3207 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Bond-Slip Behavior of High-Strength Reinforced Concrete at Service Load

by Alinda Dey, Domas Valiukas, Ronaldas Jakubovskis, Aleksandr Sokolov and Gintaris Kaklauskas

Materials 2022, 15(1), 293; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15010293 - 31 Dec 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2259

Abstract

A bond mechanism at the reinforcement-concrete interface is one of the key sources of the comprehensive functioning of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. In order to apprehend the bond mechanism, the study on bond stress and slip relation (henceforth referred as bond-slip) is necessary. On this subject, experimental and numerical investigations were performed on short RC tensile specimens. A double pull-out test with pre-installed electrical strain gauge sensors inside the modified embedded rebar was performed in the experimental part. Numerically, a three dimensional rib scale model was designed and finite element analysis was performed. The compatibility and reliability of the numerical model was verified by comparing its strain result with an experimentally obtained one. Afterwards, based on stress transfer approach, the bond-slip relations were calculated from the extracted strain results. The maximum disparity between experimental and numerical investigation was found as 19.5% in case of strain data and 7% for the bond-slip relation at the highest load level (110 kN). Moreover, the bond-slip curves at different load levels were compared with the bond-slip model established in CEB-fib Model Code 2010 (MC2010). Overall, in the present study, strain monitoring through the experimental tool and finite element modelling have accomplished a broader picture of the bond mechanism at the reinforcement-concrete interface through their bond-slip relationship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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17 pages, 4401 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Influence of Sand-Cement Ratio and Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer on the Basic Properties of Mortar Based on Water Film Thickness

by Zhao Zhang, Qingge Feng, Weiwei Zhu, Xianhao Lin, Kao Chen, Wuxiao Yin and Changhai Lu

Materials 2021, 14(17), 4850; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14174850 - 26 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1762

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that water film thickness (WFT) is a key factor that affects the fluidity of mortar. Changes in the sand-cement (S/C) ratio and polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE) dosage will affect the WFT. In this study, several mortar samples with different S/C ratios and different PCE dosages were prepared, and the basic properties of the mortar were measured. The results show that as the S/C ratio increases, the packing density of the mortar will decrease, the WFT will decrease, and the cohesiveness will increase, resulting in a decrease in the flow spread and strength of the mortar. When the PCE dosage is increased, the packing density of the mortar will increase, the WFT will increase, and the cohesiveness will decrease, which increases the flow spread of the mortar. When the water-cement (W/C) ratio is low, the S/C ratio has a significant effect on the strength, and the strength will increase with the increasing of the PCE dosage. When the W/C ratio is high, the strength of the mortar will be reduced once the PCE dosage exceeds the saturation value. In the case of different S/C ratios or different PCE dosages, the WFT can be used as a measure of mortar cohesiveness and flow spread. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serviceability Analysis of Concrete Structures)

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