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A polymeric hybrid composite system made of high-performance concrete (HPC) and an innovative carbon/epoxy reinforced polymer (CFRP) unidirectional laminates was proposed as a retrofit system to enhance flexural strength and ductility of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. The effectiveness of the proposed system was confirmed through experimental evaluation of three full-scale one-way slabs having two continuous spans. In this study, the results of the loading tests for the hybrid high-performance retrofit system are presented and discussed. Design limits to derive a flexural failure of a continuous RC slab strengthened with the hybrid retrofit system are extracted. Using the proposed design limits, the procedure of a flexural failure design for a continuous RC slab strengthened with the hybrid retrofit system is demonstrated with numerical examples for two types of the retrofit systems with respect to overlay strength. The flexural failure design limits can be extended for flexural and shear strengthening design with externally bonded FRP to ensure flexure failure for a continuous flexural members. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

This paper describes an alternative perspective in evaluating of computational models for predicting deflection of cracked reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The concept of robustness to uncertainty in modeling input parameters is introduced in addition to the classical perspective of modeling accuracy. A new method to quantify robustness to uncertainty is proposed and applied to the problem of modeling deflection of RC structures. Monte Carlo simulation is used for uncertainty propagation in serviceability calculations. The propagation of random uncertainties in deflection of a continuous one-way RC slab is examined. We introduce a method for the practical use of the proposed robustness metric by considering the reliability analysis. A cracked plane frame model to simulate deflection of the RC slab was adopted. We show that by considering a threshold of uncertainty in predicted deflection, the robustness to uncertainty in model inputs for different deflection prediction models can be evaluated. Our investigation proves that a tradeoff between model robustness and model accuracy exists in modeling deflection of RC structures. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(2009)135:8(998) CE Database subject headings: Concrete structures: Deflection; Uncertainty principles; Serviceability; Reinforced concrete.

This study presents the feasibility of improving some selected mechanical strengths and the inner-structural analyses of cement matrix by electrospun nanofibers containing nylon 66, nanosilica, and carbon nanotube. The hybrid electrospun nanofibers were fabricated and mixed into ordinary Portland cement. From the mechanical strength test results, the hybrid nanofibers have shown their role in improving the tensile, compressive, and toughness behavior of the mixed cement material. The improvements of 62%, 38%, and 69%, respectively, were observed compared to those of the control paste. The novelty of the surface and inner structure of the hybrid fibers, as well as the modified cement matrix, were observed by the scanned images from electron microscopes. Besides, the additional pozzolanic reaction between the generated calcium hydroxide and the attached silica was clarified thanks to the results of energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermal gravimetric analysis. Finally, the consistency between mechanical strength results and inner-structure analyses showed the potential of the proposed fiber to improve cement-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this paper is to investigate the carbonation resistance of concretes containing different pozzolanic materials. Three concrete mixtures that included fly ash, silica fume, and nanosilica were prepared, and the mixtures were designed to have similar mechanical properties to exclude the effect of mechanical properties on the carbonation. These pozzolanic materials in concretes have different silicate contents and grain size distributions. Rapid carbonation tests were conducted to investigate the durability of pozzolan blended concretes for carbonation, and the carbonation depth was measured at one, two, four, and eight weeks after 28-day water curing. 29Si NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) experiments were performed, and the conversion fractions for each pozzolan blended concrete were extracted. The degree of carbonation was also assessed based on the Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxidized natural rubber fibers (ERFs) are developed through one-step electrospinning and directly deposited into epoxy resins without collecting and distributing of fibers. The shape of ERFs shows rough surface due to different evaporation rate of solvent mixture consisting of chloroform and dichloromethane and the average diameter of ERFs is 6.2 µm. The increase of ERFs loading from 0 to 20 wt % into the epoxy resin increases the fracture strain significantly from 1.2% to 13% and toughness from 0.3 MPa to 1.9 MPa by a factor of 7. However, the tensile strength and Young’s modulus decrease about 34% from 58 MPa to 34 MPa and from 1.4 GPa to 0.9 GPa, respectively. Due to the crosslinking reactions between oxirane groups of ERFs and amine groups in the resin, surface roughness and the high aspect ratio of ERFs, ERFs result in more effective toughening effect with the minimum loss of tensile properties in epoxy resins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]