Sharif Digital Repository

A significant amount of research on self-consolidating concrete (SCC) technology has been devoted to evaluating the suitability of the material for its use in structural applications. However, more research is required to confirm the adequacy of SCC structural members for resisting gravity and seismic loads. This study focuses on the experimental investigation of the seismic performance of interior reinforced concrete beam-column connections with SCC. Four beam-column connection specimens, three with SCC and one with normally vibrated concrete (NC), were designed for this experimental study. Factors such as concrete type (SCC or NC) and axial load ratio (0, 7.5 and 15 % of column section... 

Construction of underground structures in urban areas is a very challenging work. There are generally two methods of construction, an open cut-and-cover and underground method. To eliminate the subsurface and surface disturbance and street traffic problems, underground method is preferred. The stress redistribution caused by underground excavation induces movements and deformation in the earth mass and ultimately at the ground surface. This is more pronounced in large space excavations. Generally pre-supporting system is used to control ground deformation and thus enhance its stability. In this paper an innovative pre-supporting system is presented. Concrete Arch Pre-supporting System (CAPS)... 

Routinely, behavior of floor diaphragms is assumed completely rigid in their plane, which leads to erroneous results in analysis and design of some particular buildings. In this study, 4-story RC buildings, with end shear walls and plan aspect ratio of 3, are considered in order to investigate the influence of diaphragm openings on their seismic response. It is concluded that although in-plane floor flexibility has enormous effects on pre-yielding part of pushover curve, it has no influence on post-yielding part of that. Furthermore, the opening beside shear walls has crucial impact on response of building. Hence, it would be better off avoiding opening near the shear walls; if not, the... 

Heavy damages on structures caused by near field earthquakes in recent years has brought serious attention to this problem. An examination of previous records has shown significant differences for near field earthquakes, including a large energy pulse, unlike far field earthquakes. But as a general rule, the effects of near field earthquakes have been ignored in most building codes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of near field earthquakes on reinforced concrete (RC) moment frames. To achieve this goal, the Erduran damage index, an efficient way to calculate damage, was employed to analyze two 4- and 8-story RC moment frame buildings. The buildings with moderate and... 

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the application of pre-stressed high strength metal strips in retrofit of RC columns. Six 2/3 scale were deliberately designated with insufficient transverse reinforcement details and tested under constant axial and cyclic lateral load reversals. The level of axial load and the pattern of strengthening were parameters of this study. It was observed that the technique has been capable to enhance the lateral behavior of columns significantly, in terms of ductility. Very ductile behavior was obtained. The height-wise variations of lateral strain on confining strips are studied. The analysis of the fiber-based model of tested columns... 

Construction of underground structures in urban areas is a very challenging work. There are generally two methods of their construction, an open cut-and-cover and underground method. To eliminate the subsurface and surface disturbance and street traffic problems, underground method is preferred. The stress redistribution caused by underground excavation induces movements in the earth mass and ultimately at the ground surface. This is more pronounced in large space excavations. Generally pre-supporting system is used to control ground deformation and thus enhance its stability. In this paper an innovative pre-supporting system is presented. Concrete Arch Pre-supporting System (CAPS) is... 

Construction of underground structures in urban areas is a very challenging work. There are generally two methods of their construction, an open cut-and-cover and underground method. To eliminate the subsurface and surface disturbance and street traffic problems, underground method is preferred. The stress redistribution caused by underground excavation induces movements in the earth mass and ultimately at the ground surface. This is more pronounced in large space excavations. Generally pre-supporting system is used to control ground deformation and thus enhance its stability. In this paper an innovative pre-supporting system is presented. Concrete Arch Pre-supporting System (CAPS) is... 

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the stiffness and strength of damaged rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls after an earthquake using surface crack patterns. Assessing the damage severity of buildings after an earthquake is an important part of the emergency inspection operation of buildings. Expert inspectors tag buildings into two categories of safe or unsafe that are usually affected by subjective decisions, which may result in catastrophic events reported in previous earthquakes. In this research, an extensive database on the images of damaged rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls (RCSWs) is collected and used to develop predictive equations for updated stiffness and... 

A new expression for the shear capacity of reinforced concrete beams without stirrups was derived by calculating the aggregate interlock capacity across the major diagonal crack of the beam, a procedure somewhat similar to those based on the modified compression field theory. Two formulas were obtained from the simplification of this expression. All three relations capture the dependence of shear strength on the size of the beam, the ratio of shear span to beam depth, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, maximum aggregate size, and concrete strength. The limits of these formulas agree well with the limit solutions of shear failure load for very small and very large beams based on plastic and... 

Reinforced concrete columns with insufficient transverse steel reinforcement are not capable to dissipate seismic energy due to lack of necessary ductility. In this research, six RC columns with poor transverse reinforcements are tested under cyclic and axial loads as control columns and retrofitted ones. Prestressed and non-pre-stressed CFRP strips used as external transverse reinforcement to evaluate the benefits of active and passive confinement. Results indicate that additional confinement due to the use of CFRP strips enhances the strength, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of columns. The advantages of active confinement versus passive confinement are demonstrated too. © 2006... 

Reinforced concrete slabs are common structural elements that could be exposed to impact loading. Although use of reinforced concrete slabs and utilization of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) as alternative to traditional steel reinforcement slabs are growing, but the influence of various parameters on their response under impact loads is not properly evaluated. This study investigated the effect of rebar's material, amount and arrangement of reinforcements, concrete strength and slab thickness on dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete slabs using both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Performance of fifteen 1000 × 1000 mm concrete slabs, including two 75 mm thick plain slabs,... 

Braced frames, besides other structural systems, such as moment resisting frames or shear walls, have been an effective and valuable method to enhance structures against lateral loads. In wind or seismic excitations, inclined elements react as truss web elements which would bear compression or tension stresses. This axial reaction results in less moments and therefore smaller sizes in beam and column sections with respect to members in similar moment resisting frame. However, low tensile strength of concrete material, made it a challenge to use in inclined members. In practice, there have been various methods to consider this defect such as disengagement of brace elements in tension or... 

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... 

Mechanical properties and microstructural analysis of Expanded Perlite Aggregate (EPA) concretes are presented. Using 10% EPA, the effects of using various types of fibre were investigated. For all specimens, fibrous and non-fibrous, the compressive and the splitting tensile strengths were obtained. Complete stress–strain curves for fibre-reinforced specimens were obtained. A new index for representing the toughness of fibre-reinforced Perlite concretes is introduced. The addition of fibres substantially increased the splitting tensile strength. Steel fibres with “indentations” had the best performance in this regard. Regarding the toughness, specimens with “hooked” steel fibres performed... 

Mechanical properties and microstructural analysis of Expanded Perlite Aggregate (EPA) concretes are presented. Using 10% EPA, the effects of using various types of fibre were investigated. For all specimens, fibrous and non-fibrous, the compressive and the splitting tensile strengths were obtained. Complete stress–strain curves for fibre-reinforced specimens were obtained. A new index for representing the toughness of fibre-reinforced Perlite concretes is introduced. The addition of fibres substantially increased the splitting tensile strength. Steel fibres with “indentations” had the best performance in this regard. Regarding the toughness, specimens with “hooked” steel fibres performed...