Search

The aim of this research work is to develop a corrosion resistant fiber-reinforced concrete for radioactive waste disposal structures. In the case of precast concrete, the use of fibers is a solution to reduce the amount of steel reinforcement while maintaining high mechanical performance and durability. Concrete has a low strain capacity and a limited tensile strength. Generally, reinforcing bars are used to ensure tensile strength. A fiber reinforcement can also help to overcome such a mechanical weakness. For this purpose, an amorphous metallic fiber (AMF), corrosion-resistant and suitable for application in severe environment conditions are used. The fresh and hardened properties of the self-compacting fiber reinforced concrete (SCFRC) are studied with volume fractions of AMF of 0% and 0.28% and with three different aspect ratios (82, 114 and 123). Flexural tensile tests according to European standard EN 14651 are conducted to quantify the contribution of the fiber reinforcement on the residual flexural tensile strength. Since these fibers are electrically conductive, they are also tested to design a smart concrete. For this purpose, electrical resistance of specimens submitted to cyclic flexural loadings are monitored using a Wheatstone bridge.

The purpose of this study is to develop smart cementitious material by incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Two different types of carbon nanotubes (CNT) were dispersed using probe ultrasonicator; (i) Pristine CNT (P-CNT), and (ii) Functionalized CNT through annealing (A-CNT). Percolation threshold and optimum content of CNTs were determined by measuring electrical resistivity, porosity, compressive and flexural strengths at various contents of CNTs (0, 0.5 %, 0.75 %, and 1 % with respect to mass of cement). Self-sensing study was also carried out on smart material by relating the electrical properties with cyclic compressive loading. For this purpose, the electrical response was recorded with Wheatstone Bridge (WSB) circuit. The effect of curing and saturation degree of specimens on the resistivity pattern was also discussed. The results of electrical resistivity and mechanical properties showed that the content of CNTs should be at least 0.75 % to develop smart cementitious materials with a significant sensitivity and without detrimental effect on the mechanical properties. Moreover, smart material incorporating pristine CNT provides better sensitivity of self-sensing response as compared to the annealed CNT. Self-sensing test results also showed that with the increase in the content of CNT, sensitivity and repeatability of the sensing response were improved.

Using crumb rubber particles obtained from end-of-life tires as aggregate in concrete can reduce the environmental overburden caused by the huge accumulation of these scrap tires. However, reduction in the mechanical properties of concrete is observed with the incorporation of rubber aggregates. To counter this detrimental effect of crumb rubber in concrete, amorphous metallic fibers are added to balance the loss in strength and durability issues. Mechanical characteristics along with the fracture energy of rubberized fiber-reinforced mortar are presented here. Four mortar mix compositions were investigated; the first one is reference mortar (control mortar), the second mix containing 30 kg/m3 of metallic fibers, the third mix containing 30% of rubber aggregates as replacement of sand by equivalent volume and fourth containing both rubber aggregates and metallic fibers with the dosage 30% and 30 kg/m3, respectively. Compression tests, modulus of elasticity and direct tension tests were conducted for mechanical characterization. Deformation capacity, residual post-cracking strength and fracture energy of these composite mortar mixes were evaluated through uniaxial direct tension tests. The fracture energy was determined from the obtained complete softening curves. Test results show a reduction in mechanical properties with the incorporation of crumb rubber as aggregates in mortar. However, a significant increase in fracture energy was observed in rubberized fiber-reinforced mortar mixes. Moreover, the mortar mixes containing both rubber aggregates and metallic fibers show positive synergetic effect resulting in enhanced post-cracking residual tensile strength, strain capacity and energy dissipation capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to establish the cyclic bridging law of fibre-reinforced and rubberised materials. In this regard, uniaxial tensile fatigue tests controlled by crack mouth opening displacement were conducted. Different mortars incorporating or not rubber aggregates were tested and compared. Results show that the bridging stress decreases with the number of fatigue cycles for the same maximum crack width, irrespective of nature of the composite. The cyclic bridging stress degradation for large pre-cracked widths is limited for mortar reinforced with metallic fibres. In case of rubberised mortar, cyclic bridging stress degradation is limited at small pre-cracked width values. A combined use of rubber aggregates and fibres in the mortar appeared to be a suitable solution to limit the cyclic bridging stress degradation. Moreover, a mathematical fit on cyclic crack bridging law for fibre-reinforced and rubberised materials is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses with the extension of the circle diagram to the doubly fed synchronous machine (DFSM). Beyond the slip, this graphical approach is characterized by two leading parameters: the rotor voltage root-mean-square value and the angle between the stator voltage phasor and the rotor voltage phasor referred to as the stator windings. The generalization of the torque line in the case of the DFSM has allowed the machine power flow analysis. Index Terms--Circle diagram, doubly fed synchronous machine, focal slip, power flow analysis, torque line.

The paper focuses on the debonding between a cement-based overlay and a concrete substrate under a mechanical loading. Two categories of substrate surface preparation were considered: Sawing the Substrate and Sand Blasting of the casting surface of the substrate. Untreated substrate surface used in its original state was taken as the Reference Surface. The overlay material investigated was a cement-based mortar. Direct tensile tests perpendicular to the overlay-substrate interface were carried out at the age of 28 days and the results (tensile strength, residual post peak behavior) are presented and discussed. Attention was paid to the Sand Blasted surface which is a more realistic model of practical field conditions. The debonding propagation under monotonic and fatigue loading was monitored for sand blasted surfaces using the Digital Image Correlation technique. Results indicate that both surface preparation technique has its own efficiency level and gives different roughness. Among the techniques used, greater bond strength improvement was observed with the sawn substrate surface than with the sandblasted one. Moreover, under cyclic loading, major debonding along the interface occurs from the first cycle to the 20000th cycle and is negligible thereafter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Hafedh Abid, Mohamed Chtourou, Ahmed Toumi In this paper, we propose an indirect adaptive fuzzy controller for a class of SISO non-linear systems. The plant model structure is represented by a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) type fuzzy system. The parameters of the T-S fuzzy model are adjusted online; the proposed algorithms are based on sliding manifold. The indirect adaptive fuzzy controller is based on a adjustable T-S fuzzy parameters model and sliding mode theory. The analysis of the stability of the adaptive algorithms is based on the Lyapunov approach. The plant state tracks asymptotically any bounded reference input signal. Inverted pendulum and mass spring damper are two examples used to check performances of the proposed fuzzy adaptive control scheme.

This paper addresses the problem of state estimation and sensor fault reconstruction conjointly for a class of nonlinear systems with time-varying uncertainties for which the nonlinear characteristic satisfies the Lipschitz circumstance. A hybrid approach based on an integral observer and sliding-mode theory has been proposed in order to model sensor fault as a virtual actuator one. For the augmented model, the observer matching condition is not satisfied. To overcome this problem, a new method, which improves the design approach and enhances the rapidity of the fault estimation convergence, has been proposed. The fault estimation error effect is minimized by integrating the H ∞ disturbance attenuation level. The proposed design is formulated and derived as a linear matrix inequality problem. Parameters of this observer are calculated through the linear matrix inequality technique. The proposed method has been validated through an example of a single-link manipulator robot. Simulation results show that this approach can estimate the state and the sensor fault successfully, despite the time-varying uncertainties and the presence of unknown inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]