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Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 7770

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Prof. Dr. Haibo Jiang

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Guest Editor

School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: prestressed/precast concrete structures; novel steel–concrete structures; UHPC materials and structures; shear behavior of concrete structures; retrofitting/rehabilitation of concrete structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Renda Zhao

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Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610032, China
Interests: concrete structures; steel–concrete composite structures; high-performance concrete; geopolymer concrete; nonlinear behavior of concrete structures
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Dr. Fangwen Wu

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Guest Editor

School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi'an 710064, China
Interests: composite structures; advanced materials for civil infrastructure; bridge construction; high-performance shear connectors for composite structures; mechanical behavior of steel–UHPC/ECC/MPC composite beams; strengthening of NC–ECC concrete beams
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Xiaohong Zheng

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Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: UHPC; FRP; prefabricated bridge technology
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Dr. Yunchao Tang

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Structural Safety of Ministry of Education, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: high-performance concrete; steel composite structure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, numerous novel concrete materials and innovative concrete structures that enable accelerated construction, enhanced durability, cost-efficiency, and a longer service life have been developed. However, research on the structural behavior and the methods used to design such materials and structures is limited, and the codification of the corresponding standards is still in its infant phase. This has significantly hindered the wider application of these novel concrete structures. The purpose of this Special Issue is to illustrate the latest achievements regarding the fundamental and practical investigation of novel concrete structures, with a particular focus on their structural behavior and design methods.

The main topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Novel structures made of new concrete material, e.g., ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC), and engineering cementitious composites (ECC), etc.
Precast/prestressed concrete structures for accelerated construction.
Steel/FRP/UHPC–concrete composite structures.
Connections or joins of prefabricated modular concrete elements.
Rehabilitation/retrofitting of existing concrete structures.
Shear behaviors of advanced concrete structures.

Prof. Dr. Haibo Jiang
Prof. Dr. Renda Zhao
Dr. Fangwen Wu
Dr. Xiaohong Zheng
Dr. Yunchao Tang
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

UHPC structures
shear behavior of concrete structures
precast concrete structures
connections of prefabricated concrete elements
rehabilitations of concrete structures
novel concrete composite structures

Related Special Issue

Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods—2nd Edition in Buildings

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

37 pages, 14970 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Static and Dynamic Performance Analysis of Cable-Stayed Bridges with Cables Damaged Fire

by Xilong Zheng, Jiashuo Jian, Lei Liu, Baitao Sun, Kexin Zhang and Hongshuai Gao

Buildings 2024, 14(4), 884; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14040884 - 25 Mar 2024

Viewed by 495

Abstract

Cable-stayed bridges have been widely used in large-span bridge engineering because of their large span capacity and novel structure. The frequent traffic of vehicles transporting flammable and explosive materials has increased the incidence of bridge fires. After being burned, the cable-stayed bridge will suffer from varying degrees of damage, which affects its performance. Therefore, mechanical analysis and evaluation of the fire-damaged cable-stayed bridge are necessary. Due to the development of technology, the structural analysis of cable-stayed bridges has gradually shifted from experimental methods to numerical simulation or artificial intelligence methods, and from local performance research to holistic research. In this paper, a fire accident in the Sifangtai Bridge in Harbin, China, is taken as a case study. Finite element software and damage theory calculation methods were used, and the static and dynamic performances of the bridge under the condition of cable fire damage were analyzed. The results show that the variation of cable force during the movement of vehicle load along the bridge is relatively small, within the range of 7% to 12%. The fusing of the upper cables of the bridge tower has the greatest impact on the deflection of the beam, while the fusing of lower cables has the same impact on the deflection of the entire bridge as the undamaged state. Near the fused cables, cable forces change significantly, increasing by over 20%. As the degree of damage increases, the increase in deflection of the beam becomes more pronounced. The impact of different degrees of cable damage on the dynamic performance of cable-stayed bridges is reflected in quantitative changes. As the degree of cable damage and the amount of fusing increase, the change in structural frequency becomes more pronounced. This paper not only provides technical support and a theoretical basis for the performance analysis of cable-stayed bridges damaged by fire, but it also improves the research content of combining static and dynamic performance, which provides important reference values for similar research in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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16 pages, 7048 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Direct Tensile Capacity of Steel-Tube Connections in a Precast Concrete Double-Wall System

by Didar Meiramov, Yujae Seo, Hyunjin Ju and Hae-Chang Cho

Buildings 2023, 13(11), 2872; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13112872 - 16 Nov 2023

Viewed by 636

Abstract

This study introduces a new precast concrete (PC) double-wall system designed to simplify the complex fabrication process of existing PC double-wall systems and eliminate laitance and other defects that can occur during the manufacture of concrete panels. An experiment and finite element analysis were conducted on 11 specimens to determine the tensile resistance performance of rectangular steel tubes that maintain spacing to avoid damage to the PC panels during transportation or on-site installation. Specimens varied in terms of the end details of the rectangular steel tubes, such as the presence of welded steel plates or embedded concrete and total length in terms of whether longer or shorter specimens were used. As a result, the specimens showed a 20–30% increase in maximum tensile strength compared to the control specimen according to the end details, except for the case where side steel plates were cut and bent inward. The control specimen filled with concrete was the most suitable for connections when constructing PC double-wall systems. It has significant tensile resistance according to the experiment and finite element analysis and does not require additional construction steps or costs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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21 pages, 6976 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Test and Numerical Simulation of the Axial Compressive Capacity of Concrete Columns Reinforced by Duplex Stainless Steel Bars

by Zhenhua Ren, Hui Wang, Lizheng Fang, Peng Ding and Xiantao Zeng

Buildings 2023, 13(11), 2845; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13112845 - 14 Nov 2023

Viewed by 714

Abstract

Stainless steel has the characteristics of oxidation resistance, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, high strength, and high yield ratio. The use of stainless steel bars can extend the life of a structure, reduce later maintenance costs, and reduce the whole life cycle cost of the structure. In this paper, nine concrete columns reinforced with duplex stainless steel (S2205) (DSSRC) and nine ordinary reinforced concrete columns (ORC) were poured with the diameter of steel bars as the parameter, and axial compression tests were carried out on these eighteen concrete columns. The failure mode of the concrete columns is analyzed, and the compressive performance indexes of the two kinds of concrete columns are compared. The results show that, compared with the ORC, the cracking load of DSSRC is increased by 33%, the ultimate load is increased by 30.7%, and the deformation performance of the DSSRC is also improved significantly. On the basis of the test, the finite element model of DSSRC was established with the help of ABAQUS software, and the obtained failure law was consistent with the test; the experimental value, the calculated value, and the numerical simulation value of the axial compression capacity were in good agreement, which verified the feasibility of the test and provided a theoretical basis for practical engineering applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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18 pages, 6409 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Experimental Study on the Bond–Slip Relationship between Rebar and Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Grouted in Bellows

by Zhongling Wang, Xiaohong Zheng, Qiqi Wang and Qian Wang

Buildings 2023, 13(9), 2375; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13092375 - 18 Sep 2023

Viewed by 849

Abstract

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC)-filled duct connection is an innovative solution for joining assembled structures, in which the anchorage performance of the rebar and UHPC filled in bellows plays a critical role in determining the overall connection effectiveness. To establish a reliable anchorage length and a bond–slip relationship between rebar and UHPC within a bellow, a total of 16 specimens were conducted, and pullout tests were carried out. Two parameters were considered, including the diameter ratio (D/d), representing the proportion of the diameter of the bellow D to the diameter of the steel bar d, and anchorage length (L). By analyzing the failure modes, load versus deflection curves, and steel strain data, the influences of the diameter ratio and anchorage length on the anchorage performance were discussed. The test results showed that the failure mode changed from rebar pullout to rebar breakage as the anchorage length increased from 3 d to over 10 d. The reliable anchorage length of the rebar was recommended to be at least 10 d with a diameter ratio (D/d) of 2.4. Moreover, a fitting bond–slip model was proposed based on the experimental bond–slip curves between the rebar and UHPC interface within the bellows with high precision. These findings constitute a crucial basis for the comprehensive stress analysis of assembled structures connected using UHPC grouted in bellows. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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20 pages, 12497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Investigation on the Seismic Behavior of Precast Concrete Beam-Column Joints with Five-Spiral Stirrups

by Jinhu Zheng, Zezhou Pan, Hao Zhen, Xuhua Deng, Chumao Zheng, Zhenye Qiu, Longpan Xie, Zhe Xiong, Lijuan Li and Feng Liu

Buildings 2023, 13(9), 2357; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13092357 - 16 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 888

Abstract

Precast concrete structure is a low-carbon building system that has been attracting extensive attention in recent decades. Beam–column joints are the weak links in precast concrete structures. Past studies showed that the five-spiral stirrups had excellent confinement effects and had the potential to enhance the seismic performance of concrete structures. This study proposed the reinforcement of precast concrete beam–column joints by using five-spiral stirrups and investigated their seismic performance. Considering the influences of the joint failure mode, joint type, construction method, and stirrup type, low-cycle loading tests were conducted on six full-scale precast concrete beam–column joint specimens. Various seismic behavior indicators, such as failure modes, hysteresis curves, skeleton curves, ductility, and energy dissipation, were obtained. The results indicated that the deformation capacity of the precast joints with five-spiral stirrups was comparable to that of cast-in-place joints. Under different failure design criteria, the seismic performance of the precast joints was superior to that of cast-in-place joints. Furthermore, the experimental capacities of the precast joints, using five-spiral stirrups, were higher than the calculated values according to the design code, demonstrating an adequate safety margin. This research contributes to the development of low-carbon and sustainable construction practices in the field of precast concrete structures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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22 pages, 9871 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fatigue Behaviour of CFRP Bar-Reinforced Seawater Sea Sand Concrete Beams: Deformation Analysis and Prediction

by Jinshang Deng, Zezhou Pan, Guanghao Mai, Yaojian Long, Bingtian Kuang, Jianke Zhu, Quanxing Guo, Junjian Liang, Fengling Huang, Sihua Qiao, Xiaohui Li and Feng Liu

Buildings 2023, 13(9), 2273; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13092273 - 07 Sep 2023

Viewed by 668

Abstract

The new composite application of seawater sea sand concrete (SSC) and fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars had broad development prospects. In this paper, the load levels and stirrup spacing were the main research parameters. The fatigue behaviour of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bar-reinforced SSC beams was studied by four-point bending tests, and the development laws of fatigue crack width and fatigue deflection were deeply discussed. Results revealed that excessive stirrup spacing might change static failure modes of CFRP bar-reinforced SSC beams, resulting in a reduction in mechanical behaviour. This paper preliminarily suggested that the maximum stirrup spacing should be 200 mm. The fatigue failure mode of CFRP bar-reinforced SSC beams in this paper was mainly shear fatigue failure. The fatigue crack width and fatigue deflection increased with the cycle number. When the cycle number reached 80% of fatigue life, the fatigue crack width increased by about 100%. When the beam specimens were close to fatigue failure, the increase in fatigue deflection ranged from 166.5% to 188.9%. Load levels had a significant impact on fatigue life, and a fatigue limit of 0.5 was proposed as a threshold. In addition, the larger the stirrup spacing, the greater the growth rate of fatigue crack width and fatigue deflection. Therefore, based on the calculation equation for the maximum crack width in the code, the influence of stirrup spacing, load levels and n/N was further considered in this paper. Considering the influence of stirrup spacing and load levels, a calculation equation for fatigue deflection was proposed. Finally, the fatigue design concept was improved, and the fatigue life was further subdivided into the fatigue life on bearing capacity and normal service. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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17 pages, 3790 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Full-Scale Experimental Study of Shear and Flexural Behavior of 16-m Retired Reinforced Concrete T-Beams

by Haibo Jiang, Fan Mo, Zhiqin Chen, Jiajie Wu, Haozhen Fang, Zhuangcheng Fang, Shufeng Zhang and Zhenming Xu

Buildings 2023, 13(8), 2075; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13082075 - 15 Aug 2023

Viewed by 959

Abstract

Most of the existing engineering structures were built in the last century and have been in service for decades. However, environmental degradation may lead to a reduction in structural performance and service life. The mechanical property data of full-scale structures, such as bridges, are essential for structural health monitoring. For this purpose, five (half) reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams were removed from a retired 31-year-old bridge and subjected to destructive testing. Two loading points were employed, and the flexural and shear capacities of the retired T-beams were studied. The results showed that all the retired beams held high load capacities (exceeding 1400 kN). The two flexural test beams exhibited a high ductility, and the three shear test beams all failed. In addition, the existing cracks in the flexural test beams reopened when the load exceeded 200 kN, while it was 300 kN for the shear test beams. The load-carrying capacity experimental values of the test beams were compared with the ones calculated according to Chinese code JTG-3362-2018; it was shown that the retired T-beams still maintained a high degree of safety margins despite initial defects. The experimental results are expected to provide a reference for the assessment of in-service RC bridges. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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20 pages, 6420 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Numerical Study of UHPFRC Continuous Deep Beams with Openings

by Ahmed M. Yousef, Ahmed M. Tahwia and Meshal S. Al-Enezi

Buildings 2023, 13(7), 1723; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13071723 - 06 Jul 2023

Viewed by 805

Abstract

To study the performance of UHPFRC continuous deep beams with openings, experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out. The test program included seven continuous deep beams with openings, in addition to one similar solid beam. The variables were the ratio of transverse reinforcement and the position, height, and width of the opening. The results showed that the failure mode of UHPFRC two-span continuous deep beams depends mainly on the position and size of the opening in the shear span. The shear failure occurs in the diagonal strut between the support and the applied force through the opening edges. The maximum spacing between stirrups (s_v_,max) of ACI 318-2019 was not suitable for UHPFRC. Providing stirrups with spacing 129% greater than s_v_,max of ACI 318-2019 had a slight effect on the failure load. Web openings of 20% of beam height reduced the failure load by 31.6% to 43.0% compared with a similar solid beam. For specimens with the same opening height and position, increasing the width of the opening by about 75% more than that of a similar beam reduced the failure load by about 27.8%. The proposed 3-D numerical model successfully predicted the failure load and performance of UHPFRC continuous deep beams. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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18 pages, 4986 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Preparation of Ground Blast Furnace Slag-Steel Slag Pavement Concrete Using Different Activators and Its Performance Investigation

by Jun Yang, Li Liu, Gaozhan Zhang, Qingjun Ding and Xiaoping Sun

Buildings 2023, 13(7), 1590; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13071590 - 23 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 871

Abstract

Steel slag and ground blast furnace slag show good wear resistance, which is suitable for improving the abrasion performance of pavement concrete. This work presents an investigation of the activation of Na₂SO₄, Na₂CO₃ and Na₂SiO₃ on the GBFS-SS composite pavement concrete. The results showed that both Na₂SO₄ and Na₂SiO₃ can promote the strength development of the GBFS-SS composite cementitious system. Na₂CO₃ shows limited improvement in the strength of GBFS-SS composite paste. The GBFS-SS composite paste activated with Na₂SiO₃ and Na₂SO₄ combination shows hydration products of ettringite, portlandite and amorphous C-A-S-H gel. SO₄²⁻ can accelerate the depolymerization of the aluminosilicate network in GBFS and SS vitreous structure, while SiO₃²⁻ can only facilitate the pozzolanic reaction of GBFS and SS, but also participate in the hydration to form more C-A-S-H gel. Na₂SO₄ as the activator can reduce the dry shrinkage of the pavement concrete, while Na₂SiO₃ as the activator can further improve the compressive strength and abrasion resistance of the pavement concrete. The combined activation of Na₂SiO₃ and Na₂SO₄ shows a better effect on improving the performance of pavement concrete than the single Na₂SiO₃ or Na₂SO₄ activator. At the optimal content of 3% of Na₂SiO₃ and 1% of Na₂SO₄, the pavement concrete obtains the 60 d compressive strength of 73.5 MPa, the 60 d drying shrinkage of 270 × 10⁻⁶, the 60 d interconnected porosity of 6.85%, and the 28 d abrasion resistance of 28.32 h/(kg/m²). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Concrete Structures: Structural Behaviors and Design Methods)

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