Sharif Digital Repository

This article presented an efficient deep learning technique to predict the compressive strength of high-performance concrete (HPC). This technique combined the convolutional neural network (CNN) and genetic algorithm (GA). Six CNN architectures were considered with different hyper-parameters. GA was employed to determine the optimum number of filters in each convolutional layer of the CNN architectures. The resulted CNN architectures were then compared to each other to find the best architecture in terms of accuracy and capability of generalization. It was shown that all of the proposed CNN models are capable of predicting the HPC compressive strength with high accuracy. Finally, the best of... 

The present study investigates the lowest possible amount of steel and polypropylene fibers in improving the compressive and flexural strength, stiffness, and energy capacity of high strength 100 MPa concrete with a mix design similar to that of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC). Twenty-eight 100 × 200 mm cylindrical specimens with 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6% volumetric percentage of short steel fibers and polypropylene fibers were fabricated, which were at the lowest predicted percentages with respect to fiber content recommended in the literature. To assess the flexural performance of fiber-reinforced concrete panels, specimens with dimensions of 200 × 600 × 20 mm were made with the same... 

Fracture process of fiber-reinforced concrete notched beams is investigated here. Polypropylene macrosynthetic fibers are utilized for reinforcing concrete specimens, and a high-strength mix design is used to produce strong bonds between the embossed polypropylene fibers and the cementitious matrix of beams. Considering different locations for the notch, this study focuses on bridging mechanism under different conditions using both experimental and numerical approaches. First mode of fracture occurs due to opening of crack faces. This mode of failure is simulated by imposing symmetric boundary conditions on middle-notched beams. Inducing the notch with an offset from the middle, mixed-mode... 

Assessing the durability of concrete is of prime importance to provide an adequate service life and reduce the repairing cost of structures. Freeze-thaw is one such test that indicates the ability of concrete to last a long time without a significant loss in its performance. In this study, the freeze-thaw resistance of polymer concrete containing different polymer contents was explored and compared to various conventional cement concretes. Concretes’ fresh and hardened properties were assessed for their workability, air content, and compressive strength. The mass loss, length change, dynamic modulus of elasticity, and residual compressive strength were determined for all types of concretes... 

Fracture process of fiber-reinforced concrete notched beams is investigated here. Polypropylene macrosynthetic fibers are utilized for reinforcing concrete specimens, and a high-strength mix design is used to produce strong bonds between the embossed polypropylene fibers and the cementitious matrix of beams. Considering different locations for the notch, this study focuses on bridging mechanism under different conditions using both experimental and numerical approaches. First mode of fracture occurs due to opening of crack faces. This mode of failure is simulated by imposing symmetric boundary conditions on middle-notched beams. Inducing the notch with an offset from the middle, mixed-mode... 

Pervious concrete (PC) has been detecting application in pavement and concrete structures such as dams, small retaining walls, and etc during the past decades. Also, in recent years, the types of resins have been introduced to apply in concrete owing to the enhancing in mechanical and durability characteristics. However, few studies have investigated the mechanical behavior of high performance pervious concrete (HPPC) incorporated by polyester and epoxy resins as polymeric composites, where ordinary cement material has been completely deleted. The purpose of this investigation is to compare the mechanical properties, permeability, and durability of HPPCs made by polymeric composites (i.e.... 

This paper investigated the combined utilization of recycled waste ceramic aggregate (RWCA) and waste carpet fibers (WCFs) in high strength concrete (HSC). Concrete mixes containing different percentages of RWCA including 20%, 40%, 60% (by weight) as partial replacement of natural coarse aggregate (NCA) were prepared. To enhance the tensile and flexural strength of concrete, 1.0% (by volume) WCF was added to the mixes. The slump and density of the fresh concrete were evaluated, both of which demonstrated a decreasing trend with incorporation of RWCA and WCF. With regard to the hardened concrete, replacing 40% of NCA with RWCA led to the optimum mechanical properties and increased the... 

This study presents the results of an experimental evaluation of the performance of high strength concrete (HSC)with basic oxygen steel-making (BOS)slag and nano-silica respectively used as a partial replacement of sand and cement. The properties of fresh and hardened concrete specimens containing 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% BOS as partial replacement of sand and 2% of cement replaced with nano-silica were evaluated. According to the results, concrete samples containing nano-silica with higher BOS percentages, demonstrated improvements in strength and durability properties, while workability was reduced. For example, at 50% BOS content, about 18% increase in compressive strength and 50%... 

This study investigated the effects of combined utilization of wollastonite particles and recycled waste ceramic aggregate (RWCA) on high strength concrete (HSC) properties. Two groups of mixtures were manufactured: 1) concrete mixtures in which cement was partially replaced with wollastonite at values ranging from 10% to 50%, and 2) mixtures in which wollastonite was used at the aforementioned dosages and 50% of natural coarse aggregate was replaced with RWCA. In addition, 10% of cement weight micro-silica was added to all mixtures. The concrete behavior in terms of strength, durability, resistance against acidic environment, and performance under elevated temperatures ranging from 20 °C to... 

In this research, 19 specimens of ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete rectangular beams were made and their shear resistance was determined experimentally. The results were compared with estimations by ACI 318, RILEM TC 162-TDF, Australian guideline, and Iranian national building regulations. To compare the code estimations, the ratio of experimental shear strength to predicted shear strength was calculated for each code. This ratio is in fact a measure of safety factor on the one hand and a measure of precision of the estimation on the other hand. Based on the results of both studies, the authors concluded that the Australian guideline, with the amount of 2.5, provided the... 

In this research, 19 specimens of ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete rectangular beams were made and their shear resistance was determined experimentally. The results were compared with estimations by ACI 318, RILEM TC 162-TDF, Australian guideline, and Iranian national building regulations. To compare the code estimations, the ratio of experimental shear strength to predicted shear strength was calculated for each code. This ratio is in fact a measure of safety factor on the one hand and a measure of precision of the estimation on the other hand. Based on the results of both studies, the authors concluded that the Australian guideline, with the amount of 2.5, provided the... 

The application of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as an alternative to conventional/normal concrete (NC) has grown rapidly in recent years. However, there is limited knowledge on its shear behavior, which is essential for developing design guidelines for structural applications. A detailed parametric study was conducted on 38 beam specimens, half of which were made of UHPC and the other half made of NC. To ensure applicability of findings, two types of UHPC mixes were used, a proprietary and a generic mix. Eighteen of the beams were prepared and tested in Tabriz, Iran, while the other 20 were made and tested in Miami, FL. Test parameters included type of concrete (UHPC and NC), shear... 

This paper deals with investigation of fracture behavior of steel fiber reinforced high strength concrete (SFRHSC) and compare it to plain high strength concrete (HSC). Based on an experimental program, a series of three point bending tests were carried out on 54 notched beams, as recommended by RILEM. The fracture parameters were measured by two methods: work of fracture method (WFM) and size effect method (SEM). Then the fracture parameters obtained from these two methods were compared. The results showed that with increase of steel fibers, fracture energy of GF in WFM and Gf in SEM increase but this increase in work of fracture method is more significant. The effective size of the process... 

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of applying low replacement ratios (0.75% and 1.50% of the binder weight) of nano-SiO2 particles with different specific surface areas (200 and 380 m2/g) on the properties of high-performance concrete (HPC). Mechanical (compressive and splitting tensile strengths), electrical resistivity, non-destructive (ultrasonic pulse velocity), and microstructural (mercury intrusion porosimetry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy) tests were conducted to investigate the macroscopic and microscopic effects of nano-SiO2 particles on HPC characteristics. The results indicated that the performance of nano-SiO2 particles significantly... 

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of pyrogenic nanosilica with different specific surfaces areas (200 and 380 m2/g) on mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced high-performance concrete (FRHPC) produced with two different types of fibers including steel and polypropylene fibers. Accordingly, different mechanical tests (compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths) as well as electrical resistivity were performed at 7, 28, and 91 curing days. In addition, the modulus of rupture and flexural toughness of FRHPC prisms were calculated based on the flexural testing results. Also, scanning electron microscopy test (SEM) was conducted to evaluate the... 

The present paper discusses the possibility of adding recycled polymer fibres to high performance concrete (HPC). Fibres used in this study were recovered from discarded car timing belts. To investigate different characteristics of the concrete specimens several destructive and non-destructive tests, such as compressive strength, modulus of rupture, flexural toughness, ultrasonic velocity and electrical resistance tests were carried out. In addition, slump flow tests were conducted on the fresh concrete. Experimental results from the study showed that the use of low percentages (up to 0.5%) of waste fibres improved the modulus of rupture and flexural toughness. Based on ultrasonic and... 

Self-Compacting concrete (SCC) is identified as a high performance concrete with the ability of self compaction, using its own weight without any external vibration. SCC is able to fill congested area and voids, even in highly reinforced concrete members whilst it flows without segregation. The fresh properties of SCC such as workability can be determined using different tests including slump-flow, J ring, V-funnel, U box, L box, GTM and column technique. In this paper the effect of different amount of cementitious material, silica fume and W/C ratios on workability and compressive strength of SCC are investigated. The results indicate that the workability of mixtures is reduced by... 

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the flexural behavior of ten 10 × 15 × 120 (cm) steel reinforced high strength concrete beams under deflection control loading conditions. Test variable includes volumetric percentage of steel fibers (0%, 1.5%, 3%, 4%, 5%). The plain concrete strength was 30MPa. The monotonic concentrated load was applied at the center of the beam, the relative deflection was measured, and demec points were used to determine curvature of the beam. Load-deflection and moment-curvature diagrams have been obtained and plotted for each beam individually. Test results indicate that higher fiber content considerably improves flexural behavior and provides... 

In this study, a hybrid search algorithm combining genetic programming with orthogonal least squares (GP/OLS) is utilized to generate prediction models for compressive strength of high performance concrete (HPC) mixes. The GP/OLS models are developed based on a comprehensive database containing 1133 experimental test results obtained from previously published papers. A multiple least squares regression (LSR) analysis is performed to benchmark the GP/OLS models. A subsequent parametric study is carried out to verify the validity of the models. The results indicate that the proposed models are effectively capable of evaluating the compressive strength of HPC mixes. The derived formulas are...