Innovative Structural Applications of High Performance Concrete Materials in Sustainable Construction

Concrete is the most widely utilized construction material in the world. Thus, any action intended to enhance the sustainability of the construction industry must consider the supply chain, production, distribution demolition and eventual disposal, landfilling or recycling of this composite material. High-performance concrete may be one of the most effective options to make the construction sector more sustainable. Experience proves that the use of recycled concrete aggregates, as well as the partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement with other supplementary cementitious materials or alternative binders, are generally accepted as the most realistic solutions to reduce the environmental impacts, leading to sufficiently high mechanical performances. In structural applications such as those concerning the seismic and energy retrofitting of existing buildings, the use of high-performance cementitious composites often represents the more cost-effective solution, which allows us to minimize the costs of the intervention and the environmental impact. Eventually, the challenge of enhancing sustainability by raising durability of concrete structures is particularly relevant in those applications where maintenance is particularly expensive and impactful, in terms of both direct intervention costs and indirect costs deriving from downtime. The present Special Issue aims at providing readers with the most recent research results on the aforementioned subjects and further foster a collaboration between the scientific community and the industrial sector on a common commitment towards sustainable concrete constructions

Challenges and perspectives for the protection of masonry structures in historic centers: the role of innovative materials and techniques

Lessons learned from natural events which caused severe damage to existing constructions have repeatedly shown the high vulnerability of historically important masonry, often worsened by inaccurate or dubious applications of modern or innovative interventions. Especially in the field of new technologies and materials applied to historical assets, experimental validation integrated at multi-disciplinary level is essential, to implement correct choices able to balance the respect of tradition and the requirements of innovation. The common objective is the transmission of educational values through the conservation of the historical identity of constructions which have survived over time and are still functional today. Planning agreements among academic and industrial research, management and governing bodies constitute preconditions for selecting consistent strategies for the protection of the built environment. However, the effects of technical advances and trends on historical assets should be carefully evaluated when influencing common practices, before recommendations, standards or execution protocols based on sufficiently long-lasting experience are available. This paper discusses a series of issues involved in the complex process of methodological and operative options currently feasible in the field of historical masonry structures. It also focuses on the progressive role of composite materials and the consequent implications on the implementation of preservation criteria

Application of functionally graded materials for severe plastic deformation and smart materials: experimental study and finite element analysis

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) refer to the composite materials where the compositions or the microstructures are locally varied so that a certain variation of the local material properties is achieved. Determination of compositional gradient and the process of making an FGM are dependent on its intended use. In this study, new possible applications of FGM and its production process were investigated. Three possible application of FGM were proposed. First, the novel technique in producing ultra fine grain of difficult-to-work materials by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) process at ambient temperature was developed by using FGM. For this study, Ti as the difficult-to-work material was tightly encapsulated in a hollow host material made of Al-based FGM matrix. The Al-based FGM as a host material assists the deformation of Ti. The ECAP process was simulated by the finite element method (FEM) to determine the appropriate compositional gradient of Al-based FGM and the position to embed Ti wire. FEM was conducted with Ti embedded into a different host material type as well as different die channel geometry. The strain distribution of the specimen after a single ECAP pass was analyzed. From the obtained results, it is found that the strain distribution in Ti is strongly influenced by the host material and the shape of the die channel. An experimental work was carried out to confirm the ability of the proposed technique in producing ultra fine grain of Ti. The host material was prepared by embedding Al-Al3Ti alloy into Al. Three types of the Al-Al3Ti alloys with different Al3Ti volume fractions were used to prepare the host materials. ECAP for specimens was carried out for up to eight passes by route A. The microstructure and hardness of ECAPed specimens were investigated. The changes in microstructure and the increase in the hardness value of Ti with increased number of ECAP passes are evidences showing that Ti is successfully deformed by this technique. Second, new types of FGM crash boxes with stepwise strength gradient in longitudinal directions were proposed. The property of the proposed FGM crash boxes were analyzed using FEM. Crash behavior of the crash box under axial quasi-static and dynamic impact loads were studied. The obtained load-displacement curves and the crash failure patterns then were evaluated to assess the effect of the stepwise strength gradient of the crash-box. II Moreover, four different shapes of cross-sectional i.e. square, circle, pentagon and hexagon were considered. The results show that the FGM crash box is superior to than the homogeneous crash box in overall crashworthiness. Although there were no trigger mechanism introduced, the FGM crash boxes experience the progressive crushing initiated at the impact side. Third, the FGMs were applied in pipe and pressure vessel field. A solution procedure for finite element thermo-visco-plasticity and creep analysis in an FGM thick-walled pressure vessel subjected to thermal and internal pressure was presented. The thick�walled pressure vessel was replaced by a system of discrete rectangular cross-section ring elements interconnected along circumferential nodal circles. The property of FGM was assumed to be continuous function of volume fraction of material composition. The thermo-visco-plasticity and creep behavior of the structures were obtained by the use of an incremental approach. The obtained results show that the material composition significantly affects the stress as a function of time at the inside and outside surface of thick-walled pressure vessel. The use of FGM can adjust the stress distribution in the structure. Moreover, one of the FGM fabrication method, centrifugal casting, was investigated. Two types of centrifugal casting method namely, centrifugal solid-particle method (CSPM) and centrifugal mixed-powder method (CMPM), were used to fabricate Al/SiC FGM. Formations of graded distribution of SiC particles within molten Al by CSPM and CMPM under huge centrifugal force were examined and simulated. The movement of SiC particles in viscous liquid under centrifugal force was explained theoretically based on Stoke’s law. The effect of composition gradient of particles on viscosity was taken into account. Also, the effect of temperature distribution on viscosity and density were considered. A computer code to simulate the formation of compositional gradient in an Al/SiC FGM manufactured by CSPM and CMPM was developed. From the obtained results, it was found that the SiC particles can be graded from inner to outer surface of Al/SiC FGM by CSPM. Meanwhile by CMPM, the SiC particles can be dispersed on the surface of Al/SiC FGM. The graded distribution in Al/SiC FGM under huge centrifugal force was significantly affected by the mold temperature but less affected by the initial temperature of molten Al and casting atmosphere

US Office of Naval Research, Solid Mechanics Program Review

The purpose of this extended abstract is to provide an overview of activities relating to performance assessments. The work described is wide ranging and not intended to provide a detailed account of any particular approach

Effects of Steel and Polypropylene Fiber Addition on Interface Bond Strength between Normal Concrete Substrate andSelf-Compacting Concrete Topping

Based on facts that the composite action in semi-precast and strengthened structural system depends on the bond strength of the interface between concrete faces of different ages, this preliminary research is aimed to investigate effects of mixed polypropylene (PPF) and steel fiber (SF) addition on the hardened properties of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) and its bond strength when used as topping layer on normal concrete substrate. Effects of hybrid fiber addition on the hardened properties of SCC were investigated based on the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength of concrete specimens which is tested in 28 days of age. In the next step, the tensile and shear strength of the interface were evaluated using indirect splitting tensile and bi-surface shear test method. In this research, fiber addition were prepared using 1 kg/m PPF and various SF addition ranging from 15 kg/m3, 20 kg/m3, 25 kg/m3 and 30 kg/m3. Test results indicate that hybrid fiber addition does not affect the compressive strength significantly but it leads ositive improvement to the splitting tensile and flexural strength of hardened SCC and also improve the bond strength between SCC and normal concrete. Hybrid fiber addition of 1 kg/m3 PPF which is combined with 20 kg/m3 SF can be suggested as optimum composition for Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Self-Compacting Concrete (HyFRSCC) that will be used as topping or overlay material based on its hardened properties and interface strength

Design and construction of a carbon fiber gondola for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

We introduce the light-weight carbon fiber and aluminum gondola designed for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope. SPIDER is designed to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation with unprecedented sensitivity and control of systematics in search of the imprint of inflation: a period of exponential expansion in the early Universe. The requirements of this balloon-borne instrument put tight constrains on the mass budget of the payload. The SPIDER gondola is designed to house the experiment and guarantee its operational and structural integrity during its balloon-borne flight, while using less than 10% of the total mass of the payload. We present a construction method for the gondola based on carbon fiber reinforced polymer tubes with aluminum inserts and aluminum multi-tube joints. We describe the validation of the model through Finite Element Analysis and mechanical tests.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. Presented at SPIE Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V, June 23, 2014. To be published in Proceedings of SPIE Volume 914