Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 April 2024 | Viewed by 7158

Special Issue Editors

School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, No.2 Dongnandaxue Road, Nanjing 211189, China
Interests: precast concrete structure; construction method; prestressing steel structure; energy dissipator; high-performance concrete
College of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211800, China
Interests: precast concrete structures; precast steel-concrete composite structures; hybrid connection methods; seismic performance; design methods
School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Interests: precast concrete structure; strengthening and retrofitting of engineering structures; conservation of historic buildings
College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 10024, China
Interests: precast concrete structures; post-tensioned self-centering structures; earthquake engineering; seismic design and assessment of structures; probabilistic structural analysis
Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Interests: precast concrete structure; resilient structure; structural damper; seismic behaviour; energy dissipation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Precast concrete structures, with increasing global construction demand, are commonly deemed to be advantageous in terms of their building quality, time and labor savings, cost efficiency, environmental friendliness, etc. Various precast concrete structures have been developed and constructed, including an emulative system, pretensioning system, rocking system, and modular system. New technologies in the civil engineering field, e.g., novel energy-dissipators and advanced materials like FRP, UHPC, and ECC, are increasingly combined with precast concrete structures. Furthermore, many recent construction ideas or concepts, such as building industrialization, smart construction, and intelligent construction, are actually mainly related to precast concrete structures. Therefore, precast concrete structures remain one of the most active and prosperous research areas in civil engineering.

This Special Issue aims to promote the high-quality works in developing and studying novel precast concrete structures for high performance and satisfactory construction efficiency, with a focus on state-of-the-art progress, development, and new trends. Original research and review articles that are not published elsewhere are welcome to be included in this Special Issue. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • High-efficient emulative precast concrete structures;
  • Application of high-performance concrete in precast structures;
  • Novel precast concrete structures with energy-dissipators;
  • Precast steel–concrete composite structures;
  • Precast underground concrete structures;
  • Modular concrete structures;
  • Static and seismic performance of connections between prefabricated elements;
  • Analytical and design method of precast structures;
  • Reliability and probabilistic safety assessment of precast structures;
  • Long-term performance and life-cycle cost analysis of precast structures.

Dr. Dong-Zhi Guan
Dr. Zhangfeng Zhu
Dr. Jian Sun
Dr. Lianglong Song
Dr. Sen Yang
Guest Editors

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.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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

  • precast concrete
  • high-performance concrete
  • composite structure
  • energy dissipator
  • mechanical performance
  • analytical and design method

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5582 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study on Seismic Performance of Prefabricated Monolithic Concrete–Polystyrene Panel Composite Wall Panels
by Kaozhong Zhao, Zijia Fan, Yuming Zhang, Yufeng Xu and Sihong Liu
Buildings 2024, 14(2), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14020442 - 06 Feb 2024
Viewed by 471
Abstract
A normal composite wall panel is a structural component composed of polystyrene insulation boards and concrete surface layers reinforced with steel wire mesh. It can be entirely prefabricated in a factory or constructed with the concrete surface layers cast on-site. A novel prefabricated [...] Read more.
A normal composite wall panel is a structural component composed of polystyrene insulation boards and concrete surface layers reinforced with steel wire mesh. It can be entirely prefabricated in a factory or constructed with the concrete surface layers cast on-site. A novel prefabricated monolithic concrete–polystyrene panel composite wall panel (CPC wall panel) is proposed in this study. The CPC panel features a middle part that is prefabricated in the factory while the reinforced concrete regions at its two side ends are cast on-site. To evaluate the seismic performance of the wall panel, 18 CPC specimens were designed, manufactured, and quasi-statically tested, through which the structural behaviors, failure mode, and load-bearing capacity were studied. In addition, the influences of the height-to-width ratio and the vertical compressive stress level on the seismic performance of the CPC panels were also investigated. The test results showed that the connectors spaced at 400 mm × 500 mm could ensure the concrete layers on both sides of the polystyrene board worked collectively under seismic conditions. When subjected to lateral loads, the interface between the newly poured concrete and the existing concrete exhibited good bonding. Moreover, the failure mode of the CPC wall panel was largely correlated to the height-to-width ratio that, for specimens having four steel bars of 12 mm diameter and a height-to-width ratio greater than 1, the flexural failure was initially developed, followed by diagonal shear failure. In specimens with a height-to-width ratio of 1, flexural and diagonal shear failures occurred almost simultaneously. For specimens with a height-to-width ratio of less than 1, the final diagonal shear failure was predominant. The longitudinal reinforcing bars at the two ends of the CPC panels could effectively improve their lateral load-bearing capacity, with the enhancement influenced by the height-to-width ratio, the vertical load applied to the wall panel, and the cross-sectional area of the steel bars. In practice, the lateral load-bearing capacity of the CPC panel can be conservatively evaluated using the calculation method of the reinforced concrete shear walls. Finally, the ductility of the CPC specimens was affected by the height-to-width ratio and the axial compressive stress level, such that the specimens with a larger height-to-width ratio and lower axial compressive stress exhibited better ductility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures)
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21 pages, 17370 KiB  
Article
Experimental Evaluation of Precast Concrete Walls with High-Tension Bolted Vertical Joints for Enhanced Ductile Behavior
by Kyo Young Moon, Sung Jig Kim and Kihak Lee
Buildings 2024, 14(1), 255; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010255 - 17 Jan 2024
Viewed by 467
Abstract
This paper presents an experimental program investigating the seismic performance of Precast Concrete (PC) walls incorporating a novel vertical joint featuring high-tension bolts. The proposed joint aims to enhance both the constructability and ductile behavior of PC walls while eliminating defects due to [...] Read more.
This paper presents an experimental program investigating the seismic performance of Precast Concrete (PC) walls incorporating a novel vertical joint featuring high-tension bolts. The proposed joint aims to enhance both the constructability and ductile behavior of PC walls while eliminating defects due to bolt exposure associated with conventional dry joints. To evaluate the shear performance of the joints, three specimens were constructed: a cast-in-place concrete wall, a PC wall with the conventional wet joint, and a PC wall with the proposed joint. Direct shear tests revealed a substantial improvement in the ductile behavior of the proposed vertical joint, demonstrating gradual and controlled failure, even at high strains. Static cyclic loading tests further assessed the seismic performance of two PC walls: one with the conventional wet joint and the other with the high-tension bolted vertical joint. The PC wall with the proposed joint exhibited a substantial 20% increase in ultimate displacement compared to the control specimen, along with demonstrably improved crack control and reduced damage. Therefore, it is concluded that although the strength and stiffness decreased due to its design characteristics, the proposed vertical joint could mitigate damage and improve the ductility capacity of the PC wall. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures)
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13 pages, 2237 KiB  
Article
Post-Cracking Shear Stiffness Model of Reinforced Concrete Beams
by Kaiqi Zheng, Siwen Ni, Yaohui Zhang, Junxuan Gu, Mingming Gao and Yang Wei
Buildings 2023, 13(11), 2814; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13112814 - 10 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 651
Abstract
Macro diagonal cracks can significantly reduce the stiffness of slender reinforced concrete (RC) beams, which results in excessive deflection compared with limitations from design specifications. To evaluate the post-cracking stiffness of slender RC beams with diagonal cracks, a shear degradation model that considers [...] Read more.
Macro diagonal cracks can significantly reduce the stiffness of slender reinforced concrete (RC) beams, which results in excessive deflection compared with limitations from design specifications. To evaluate the post-cracking stiffness of slender RC beams with diagonal cracks, a shear degradation model that considers shear deformation is proposed. Based on the variable angle truss model, this study deduced the strut angle formula based on the minimum energy principle. Then, the relationship between the stirrup yielding shear stiffness and elastic shear stiffness was modeled. Finally, the calculation procedure was developed by quantifying the stiffness degradation tendency. The comparison between the experimental results of deflection and the proposed analytical method showed good agreement. Additionally, the proposed method can capture the full-range features of shear strain curves. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures)
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28 pages, 9446 KiB  
Article
Effect of Entrance Frame on Crack Development around Prefabricated Subway Station Openings
by Zhenze Mo, Shuaike Feng, Dongzhi Guan and Zhengxing Guo
Buildings 2023, 13(4), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13041032 - 14 Apr 2023
Viewed by 978
Abstract
The openings at the sidewalls of subway station entrances generally reduce the localized load-bearing capacity of the sidewalls and lead to concentrated stress around the openings. In this study, to strengthen the sidewalls with openings in a newly-developed prefabricated subway station, a prefabricated [...] Read more.
The openings at the sidewalls of subway station entrances generally reduce the localized load-bearing capacity of the sidewalls and lead to concentrated stress around the openings. In this study, to strengthen the sidewalls with openings in a newly-developed prefabricated subway station, a prefabricated steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) frame around the entrance was developed. To further investigate the effect of the developed entrance frame on the mechanical behavior of the sidewalls, a monotonic static test and finite element analysis were performed on a 1/2 scale station entrance substructure, including the proposed entrance frame and the adjacent top slab, bottom slab, and sidewalls. It was found that the developed entrance frame could effectively prevent stress concentration in the adjacent sidewall region. The most severe crack development was concentrated at the corner of the opening, which could be attributed to the torsional moment at the SRC beam end. The ratio of the torque shared by the beam to the total bending moment of the slab end varied from 21.2% to 26.8% in the elastic stage of all cases. In addition, both the improvement in the torsional bearing capacity of the SRC beam and the out-of-plane flexural capacity of the SRC column could positively contribute to controlling the crack development around the opening. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures)
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18 pages, 6703 KiB  
Article
Prediction of the Shear Resistance of Headed Studs Embedded in Precast Steel–Concrete Structures Based on an Interpretable Machine Learning Method
by Feng Zhang, Chenxin Wang, Xingxing Zou, Yang Wei, Dongdong Chen, Qiudong Wang and Libin Wang
Buildings 2023, 13(2), 496; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13020496 - 11 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1952
Abstract
Headed shear studs are an essential interfacial connection for precast steel–concrete structures to ensure composite action; hence, the accurate prediction of the shear capacity of headed studs is of pivotal significance. This study first established a worldwide dataset with 428 push-out tests of [...] Read more.
Headed shear studs are an essential interfacial connection for precast steel–concrete structures to ensure composite action; hence, the accurate prediction of the shear capacity of headed studs is of pivotal significance. This study first established a worldwide dataset with 428 push-out tests of headed shear studs embedded in concrete with varied strengths from 26 MPa to 200 MPa. Five advanced machine learning (ML) models and three widely used equations from design codes were comparatively employed to predict the shear resistance of the headed studs. Considering the inevitable data variation caused by material properties and load testing, the isolated forest algorithm was first used to detect the anomaly of data in the dataset. Then, the five ML models were established and trained, which exhibited higher prediction accuracy than three existing design codes that were widely used in the world. Compared with the equations from AASHTO (the one that has the best prediction accuracy among design specifications), the gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) model showed an 80% lower root mean square error, 308% higher coefficient of determination, and 86% lower mean absolute percent error. Lastly, individual conditional expectation plots and partial dependence plots showed the relationship between the individual parameters and the predicted target based on the GBDT model. The results showed that the elastic modulus of concrete, the tensile strength of the studs, and the length–diameter ratio of the studs influenced most of the shear capacity of shear studs. Additionally, the effect of the length–diameter ratio has an upper limit which depends on the strength of the studs and concrete. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures)
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20 pages, 78215 KiB  
Article
Cyclic Behavior of Multiple Hardening Precast Concrete Shear Walls
by Hongbo Jiang, Jian Sun, Hongxing Qiu, Dafu Cao, Wenjie Ge, Qiang Fang, Hengwei Cui and Kongyang Chen
Buildings 2022, 12(12), 2069; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12122069 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1518
Abstract
Precast Concrete (PC) shear walls are becoming popular in building structures. With “wet” connection techniques, PC shear walls often behave like conventional cast-in-place walls, where hardening occurs after yielding. In this study, two PC shear walls assembled by the “dry” connection technique, and [...] Read more.
Precast Concrete (PC) shear walls are becoming popular in building structures. With “wet” connection techniques, PC shear walls often behave like conventional cast-in-place walls, where hardening occurs after yielding. In this study, two PC shear walls assembled by the “dry” connection technique, and one cast-in-place shear wall, were tested by means of quasi-static cyclic loading. The main purpose of the experiment was to systematically investigate the cyclic response of PC shear walls with varying types of vertical connection in the form of a friction-bearing device. The results showed that vertical bearing in devices, which mainly stems from the longitudinal elongation of PC wall panels, could enlarge the axial force of end column so that it provided an additional resistance moment. The PC shear wall with weak connection achieved ductile failure and second ascending branches on load-displacement relationship, i.e., secondary hardening, and the wall with strong vertical connection performed great moment capacity as well as tertiary hardening. Compared to cast-in-place walls, the peak load and cumulative hysteretic energy of PC shear walls increased by about 60% and 100%, respectively. A conceptual analysis of the multiple hardening phenomenon is presented based on experimental results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Precast Concrete Structures)
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