Engineering Commons^™

Assessment Of The Mechanical And Durability Characteristics Of Bio-Mineralized Bacillus Subtilis Self-Healing Concrete Blended With Hydrated Lime And Brick Powder, Mohd Abu Bakr, Birendra Kumar Singh, Ahmed Farouk Deifalla, Shatrudhan Pandey, Ahmed Hussain, Sahir Sultan Alvi, S.M. Mozammil Hasnain

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Highlights

• The present paper studied the effect of biomineralization on the properties of HBr concrete.

• Strength and durability properties are improved by calcite precipitation produced by bacteria.

• CaCO3 Precipitation was confirmed in the microstructure analysis through FESEM and EDS.

Abstract

Cement is the main constituent of the concrete structure. Using rejected brick as pozzolana in replacement of cement reduced the utilization of natural resources, conserved the environment, and controlled waste disposal. Hydrated lime has been utilized as a chemical additive to improve the pozzolanic reaction of finely ground waste brick particles. This research investigates the process of biomineralization to enhance …

Synergistic Effect Of Hedp.4na And Different Induced Pouring Angles On Mechanical Properties Of Fiber-Reinforced Alkali-Activated Slag Composites, Jingjie Wei, Jianwei Liu, Kamal Khayat, Wu Jian Long

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Poor Flexural and Damping Properties of Building Materials Damages Concrete Structures and Affects their Service Life When Concrete Structures Are Subjected to Dynamic Loads. Three Different Dosages (I.e., 0%, 0.3%, and 0.6%) of Organic Phosphonates (HEDP.4Na) and Different Pouring Methods (I.e., Conventional Pouring Method, 90°-Induced Pouring Method, and 150°-Induced Pouring Method) Were Designed to Improve the Flexural and Damping Performance of Fiber-Reinforced Alkali-Activated Slag Composites (FR-AASC). the Enhanced Mechanism of HEDP.4Na Was Revealed by Phase Analysis (X-Ray Diffraction, XRD), Pore Structure Analysis (Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry, MIP), the Heat of Hydration, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Analysis. the Results Showed …

Compressive And Tensile Properties Of Three Fiber-Lime-Soils Under Freeze-Thaw Cycle, Li Wei, Shou-Xi Chai, Lin Zhang, Yao Li

Rock and Soil Mechanics

Generally, synthetic fiber, mineral fiber and plant fiber are added into soil to enhance the strength and deformation resistance of soil. The unconfined compressive test and splitting tensile test of three fiber-lime-soils under freeze-thaw cycle were carried out to study the variation of compressive and tensile properties of soil with freeze-thaw times. The test results showed that the optimum fiber rates of polypropylene fiber-lime-soil, basalt fiber-lime-soil and palm fiber-lime-soil were 0.2%, 0.2%, and 0.4% respectively, whether under freeze-thaw cycle or not. With the increase of freeze-thaw times, the compressive strength and tensile strength of the three fiber-lime-soils demonstrated phased downward …

Behaviour And Material Properties Of Versaloc Semi-Interlocking Mortarless Masonry, Sonam Dorji, Hossein Derakhshan, David P. Thambiratnam, Tatheer Zahra, Alireza Mohyeddin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Masonry construction is popular around the world, but the use of mortared masonry presents numerous challenges. In recent decades, masonry construction systems incorporating interlocking masonry units have been proposed to eliminate mortar. The interlocking between masonry units can be achieved using specially shaped units. This paper presents a comprehensive experimental study to determine the behaviour as well as basic material properties of one such semi-interlocking mortarless masonry. The experiments included testings of ungrouted masonry units, prisms, and wallets. In addition, masonry prisms and wallets with grouted cores were also investigated to study the effect of grouting. A detailed description of …

Optimization Of Mixture Parameter For Physical And Mechanical Properties Of Reactive Powder Concrete Under External Sulfate Attack Using Taguchi Method, Umut Bakhbergen, Chang Seon Shon, Dichuan Zhang, Jong Ryeol Kim, Jenny Liu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is defined as a cementitious composite material with an optimized size of granular constituents, very low water-to-binder ratio (w/b), pozzolanic materials like silica fume (SF), and discontinuous fiber reinforcement. RPC applications include bridge decks and girders, seismic columns, wind turbine towers, and pile foundations. Especially, a durable and robust RPC pile foundation with long service life is essential in building construction because continuous maintenance is impossible. Moreover, natural in-situ conditions such as water table, temperature, and sulfate concentration in soil to which the pile foundation is exposed are critical and related to deteriorating the pile foundation. …

A Novel Iron Phosphate Cement Derived From Copper Smelting Slag And Its Early Age Hydration Mechanism, Yunlong Luo, Xintao Zhou, Zhongqiu Luo, Hongyan Ma, Yu Wei, Qin Liu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Copper slag (CS), a by-product of copper smelting, is normally stockpiled, leading to wastes of resource and space as well as environment pollution. It has not been massively reutilized as a supplementary cementitious material in Portland cement due to its low reactivity. In the present study, CS is for the first time utilized as the base component to prepare an iron phosphate cement (IPC) by reacting with ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) at room temperature. The influence of the raw materials mass ratio (CS/ADP) on the microstructure and performance of IPC pastes are investigated. It is found that the compressive strength …

Technical And Economic Viability Of Distributed Recycling Of Low-Density Polyethylene Water Sachets Into Waste Composite Pavement Blocks, Celestin Tsala-Mbala, Koami Soulemane Hayibo, Theresa K. Meyer, Nadine Couao-Zotti, Paul Cairns, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications

In many developing countries, plastic waste management is left to citizens. This usually results in landfilling or hazardous open-air burning, leading to emissions that are harmful to human health and the environment. An easy, profitable, and clean method of processing and transforming the waste into value is required. In this context, this study provides an open-source methodology to transform low-density polyethylene drinking water sachets, into pavement blocks by using a streamlined do-it-yourself approach that requires only modest capital. Two different materials, sand, and ashes are evaluated as additives in plastic composites and the mechanical strength of the resulting blocks are …

Physico-Mechanical Characterization Of Prototype Earth Block Material For Constitutive Modeling, Erika Lorena Rengifo-López

Theses and Dissertations

The comprehensive understanding and experimental characterization of the overall compressive behavior of earth masonry block materials, such as compressed and stabilized earth blocks (CSEBs), are essential for developing analytical and numerical tools to predict the mechanical response and designing earth masonry structures. Furthermore, advancing the understanding of the extent of the influence of testing parameters on the material's response, such as specimen geometry, is a critical step towards standardization.

CSEBs are produced by compressing a mixture of soil, water, and a stabilizer (e.g., Portland cement). The heterogeneity of the material accrues from the variety of soil particle morphology and potential …

Machine Learning Enabled Closed-Form Models To Predict Strength Of Alkali-Activated Systems, Taihao Han, Eslam Gomaa, Ahmed Gheni, Jie Huang, Mohamed Elgawady, Aditya Kumar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Alkali-activated mortar (AAM) is an emerging eco-friendly construction material, which can complement ordinary Portland cement (OPC) mortars. Prediction of properties of AAMs—albeit much needed to complement experiments—is difficult, owing to substantive batch-to-batch variations in physicochemical properties of their precursors (i.e., aluminosilicate and activator solution). In this study, a machine learning (ML) model is employed; and it is shown that the model—once trained and optimized—can reliably predict compressive strength of AAMs solely from their initial physicochemical attributes. Prediction performance of the model improves when multiple compositional descriptors of the aluminosilicate are combined into a singular, composite chemostructural descriptor (i.e., network ratio …

Evaluating The Effects Of Curing Methods On Bcsa Cement Concrete, Hannah Allen

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

BCSA cement is a type of cement that makes concrete set up much quicker than typical portland cement concrete. BCSA cement concrete also has a much higher compressive strength than that of portland cement concrete. This study was conducted to determine the effect of different curing conditions on the compressive strength of BCSA cement concrete.

Mechanical Properties Of Saline Soil Solidified With Lime, Fly Ash And Modified Polyvinyl Alcohol Under Freeze-Thaw Cycles, Min Li, He-Miao Yu, Hong-Pu Du, Bao-Yu Cao, Shou-Xi Chai

Rock and Soil Mechanics

The repeated freeze-thaw cycles with seasonal alternations have an obvious effect on soil structure. To reduce the temperature sensitivity of saline soil and then use it in engineering, a combined treatment method is proposed, where lime, fly ash and modified polyvinyl alcohol (MPA) are used as solidified materials. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests and microstructure characterization are firstly used to evaluate the solidified effect and obtain the parameters range of solidified materials. Then, the shear strength tests for determining cohesion and internal friction angle are conducted. Experiments are conducted by considering separate and combined treatments of materials mentioned above. The …

Shear Strength Of Concrete Beams Made With Belitic Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cement, Caleb W. Chesnut

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The need for a cleaner alternative to portland cement (PC) concrete has led to increasing interest in alternatives to PC. Structural properties of most of these alternative cements are still an open research topic. One promising alternative cement is belitic calcium sulfoaluminate (BCSA) cement. The study presented in this paper investigated the shear strength, long term compressive strength, and carbonation in BCSA cement and PC concrete beams. A total of twelve eight-foot long beams were made; eight BCSA cement concrete beams and four PC concrete beams to be tested at various ages depending on cement type. Two beams of each …

Prediction Model For Compressive Strength Of Rock-Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Composite Layer, Meng Chen, Xiu-Wen Cui, Xin Yan, Hao Wang, Er-Lei Wang

Rock and Soil Mechanics

To study the uniaxial compressive strength calculation method of rock-steel fiber reinforced concrete (R-SFRC) composite layer, uniaxial compression test was carried out on rock, steel fiber reinforced concrete and R-SFRC composite layer specimens. The influence of concrete strength grades (C30, C40 and C50) and fiber contents (0, 40, 60 and 80 kg/m3) on the uniaxial compressive strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete and composite layers was analyzed. RFPA2D was utilized to simulate the damage process and stress-strain curve of the composite layer under uniaxial compression. The compressive strength prediction model of R-SFRC composite layer was established based on Mohr-Coulomb yield …

Mechanical Characteristics Of Cement Paste In The Presence Of Carbon Nanotubes And Silica Oxide Nanoparticles: An Experimental Study, Moses Karakouzian, Visar Farhangi, Marzieh R. Farani, Alireza Joshaghani, Mehdi Zadehmohamad, Mohammad Ahmadzadeh

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Considering the remarkable characteristics of nanomaterials, previous research studies investigated the effects of incorporating different types of these materials on improving the concrete properties. However, further studies are required to evaluate the complementary hybridization and synergistic influence of nanomaterials. In this research, the combined effect of adding nano silica particles (NS) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) on enhancing both the compressive and flexural strengths of the cement paste was investigated. Moreover, the morphology of the interface between cement paste and aggregates was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mixtures were prepared using three different portions of MWCNT and NS. …

Possible Use For Recycled Disposable Face Masks In Concrete, Lauren Douglas

Construction Management

Disposable face masks are one of many single use products that are detrimental to the environment. The construction industry has been introducing new ways to incorporate recycled products into their materials. This paper addresses one possible way to use more environmentally friendly materials in the construction industry. 16 concrete cylinders were prepared using 4x8 forms. The mix was manipulated to test the impact of incorporating varying levels of disposable shredded face masks. Compressive strength and workability were measured in these cylinders. Eight cylinders were prepared for the control batch. Four cylinders were prepared using 10 oz. of shredded face masks …

Predicting The Effect Of Fly Ash On Concrete’S Mechanical Properties By Ann, Mohammad Mehdi Roshani, Seyed Hamidreza Kargar, Visar Farhangi, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Fly ash, as a supplemental pozzolanic material, reduces concrete’s adverse environmental footprint by decreasing the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) during the cement manufacturing process. Fly ash, which is a waste material, can enhance both the mechanical characteristics and durability of concrete, and has the capability to play an important role in sustainable design. Considering the widespread interest in applying Fly ash, and despite research studies, the level of replacement is still unclear. In this paper, a novel method using artificial neural networks (ANN) is presented to predict concrete’s mechanical …

The Impact Of Grinding Time On Properties Of Cement Mortar Incorporated High Volume Waste Paper Sludge Ash, Ali A. Shubbar, Monower Sadique, Mohammed S. Nasr, Zainab S. Al-Khafaji, Khalid S. Hashim

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Cement is considered a base material in preparing blending mixtures that applying in various projects in the civil engineering field. Nevertheless, the cement production process cause indubitable negative environmental influences such as emitting CO₂. The production of cement produces around 7% of the global CO₂ emissions. Thus, searching for alternate binders in building processes to minimise or substitute cement has been one of the social problems. A by-product or waste products are among the potential alternatives to the mentioned problem. The present investigation involves the consumption of paper sludge ash (PSA) waste as cement replacement to produce …

Using Bcsa Cement To Repair Waterway Transportation Structures, Anazaria Johanis Ortega Gonzalez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many maritime structures (e.g., locks, dams, ports) in the US are either reaching or are past their design lives, and there are limited funds for the necessary maintenance activities which can lead to repairs that requires closures. These structures are not easy to detour and often require dewatering before repairs can be made, closures can cause delays and business-related losses which can have a large effect on the nation’s economy. Thus, it is advantageous to reduce the repair time for maritime structures. BCSA (belitic calcium sulfoaluminate) cement is a promising material to perform this type of repair due to its …

Leveraging Biomimicry And Additive Manufacturing To Improve Load Transfer In Brittle Materials, Ana Paula Bernardo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence of Additive Manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) in construction, new strategically designed shapes can be created to improve load transfer through structural members and foundations. Cross-sections can be optimized to carry load using less material, or even using weaker constituent materials, like soils, which are cheap and abundant. The goal of this research is to investigate the benefits of using cellular patterns which leverage biomimicry in civil engineering applications, since nature has perfectly engineered materials and patterns which carry loads with the least amount of material possible. Most of the periodic cellular work to date has focused on …

The Effect Of Concrete Sample Size In The Compressive Strength Value Of Concrete, Erion Luga, Erion Periku, Paulin Sheperi

UBT International Conference

Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials. Compressive strength is one of the most important properties of hardened concrete. Different codes use different standards to define the characteristic strength. Albania nowadays is adapting the EN standards, but previously it used to apply the local code KTP. According to KTP standards the concrete samples were cubic specimens of 200mm side length. This study is an attempt to analyse the relation between sample size and compressive strength values of concrete specimens. For this purpose, 4 concrete classes of C8/10, C16/20, C20/25, C30/37 and 5 different cubic sizes of 50, …

Machine Learning Prediction Of Mechanical And Durability Properties Of Recycled Aggregates Concrete, Itzel Rosalia Nunez Vargas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Whilst recycled aggregate (RA) can alleviate the environmental footprint of concrete production and the landfilling of colossal amounts of demolition waste, there need for robust predictive tools for its effects on mechanical and durability properties. In this thesis, state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) models were deployed to predict properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A systematic review was performed to analyze pertinent ML techniques previously applied in the concrete technology field. Accordingly, three different ML methods were selected to determine the compressive strength of RAC and perform mixture proportioning optimization. Furthermore, a gradient boosting regression tree was used to study the …

Verifying The Calcium Oxychloride Threshold In Cementitious Pastes, Fatoumata Traore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Calcium oxychloride (CAOXY) formation is a serious deterioration mechanism known to cause joint damage in concrete pavements. CAOXY is the product of a chemical reaction between calcium chloride (CaCl2) or magnesium chloride (MgCl) deicing salts and calcium hydroxide in the cementitious matrix. Currently, the accepted CAOXY threshold at which deterioration is mitigated in cementitious paste is 15 g/100 g paste (15 oz/100 oz paste); however, this limit was developed using flexural strength testing. For this investigation, the current threshold was evaluated using compressive strength and mass change over time in paste specimens exposed to CaCl2. Fly ash is used to …

Examining The Effects Of Reducing The Cement Content Of Portland Cement Concrete Pavement, Bryan Casillas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Portland cement is a significant component in a concrete mixture. For concrete used in portland cement concrete pavement (PCCP), the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) specifies a minimum cementitious material content of 564 lb/yd3 and a maximum water-cementitious material ratio of 0.45. Prior research conducted at the University of Arkansas, TRC 0603, indicated concrete mixtures used in five bridge decks throughout Arkansas achieved the required 28-day strength at seven days, and the measured compressive strength at 28 days was 30% greater than required. The use of high strength concrete in pavements throughout the state can increase cracking and consequently reduce …

Adhesion Strength Of Modified Plaster Solutions For Restoration Of Rchitectural Monuments Of Bukhara, M.M. Vaxitov, A.A. Tulaganov, I.I. Tojiev

Journal of Tashkent Institute of Railway Engineers

In this work, the strength of historical mortars of brickwork of the Ismail Somoni mausoleum, the monument of architecture of the Kalyan minaret, the building of the Abdulazizkhan madrasah and the mausoleum of Abdukholik Gizhduvani were determined, and the compressive, tensile, bending and adhesion strengths of the developed modified gypsum mortars for restoration of the above architectural monuments were studied. It is shown that the adhesion strengths of modified gypsum mortars also meet the requirements of KMK 2-01-03-96.

A Laboratory Investigation Of Cement Based Materials With Cellulose Nanofibers, Parivash Takasi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cellulose Nanofibers (CNFs) are used as additives in cement-based products to modify their properties. Recent studies about the effects of CNFs on cement paste showed inconsistent results for several different important properties, including compressive strength and free shrinkage. There is reason to believe that the unsystematic results of the compressive strengths were affected by the lack of uniform dispersion of CNFs. As a potential remedy, two different mixing methods were applied. The first method used a basic mixer, but aggregates were added to the cement paste mixture to improve the blending process. The second method utilized a high-speed shear mixer …

Effect Of Mix Parameters On Strength Of Geopolymer Mortars - Experimental Study, Abdolhossein Naghizadeh, Stephen O. Ekolu

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

In this article, an investigation is reported on development of strength in South African fly ash (FA) – based geopolymer mixtures. Locally available Class F, FA from one of the coal power stations was used in the investigation. The alkali-activator used consisted of sodium silicate (SS) and sodium hydroxide (SH) mixed in varied ratios of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 SS to SH. The SS of silicate modulus = 2.5 was used but the SH concentration in the activator was varied to 10, 12, 14M NaOH. Mortars of 2.25 aggregate/binder ratio were used to prepare 50 mm cubes. In …

Compressive Strength, Free Expansion And Shrinkage Of Expansive Concrete Containing Fly Ash, Warangkana Saengsoy, Rachot Chatchawan, Somnuk Tangtermsirikul

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

This study is aimed to investigate effect of fly ash on compressive strength, free expansion and shrinkage of expansive concrete. High CaO and low CaO fly ashes are used in this study. The replacement percentages of total binders by fly ash are 0 and 30% by weight. The replacements of expansive additive are 0, 20 and 30 kg/m³ of concrete. The test results revealed that the use of fly ash especially the high CaO fly ash can enhance expansion of expansive concrete at early age. The use of fly ash also reduces shrinkage at long term of the expansive …

Mechanical Properties Of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon (A-Si:H) Particles, Taizhi Jiang, Fardin Khabaz, Aniket Marne, Chenglin Wu, Raluca Gearba, Revanth Bodepudi, Roger T. Bonnecaze, Kenneth M. Liechti, Brian A. Korgel

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A nanoindenter was used to compress individual particles of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) ranging in diameter from 290 nm to 780 nm. The colloidal synthesis used to produce the particles enables the hydrogen content to be manipulated over a wide range, from about 5 at. % to 50 at. %, making these a-Si:H particles promising for applications in lithium ion batteries, hydrogen storage, and optical metamaterials. Force-displacement curves generated using a tungsten probe flattened with focused ion beam exhibited elastic and then plastic deformations, followed by fracture and crushing of the particles. For particles with 5% and 50% H, Young's …

The Effect Of Fine And Coarse Recycled Aggregates On Fresh And Mechanical Properties Of Self-Compacting Concrete, Mahmoud Nili, Hossein Sasanipour, Farhad Aslani

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Today, the use of recycled aggregates as a substitute for a part of the natural aggregates in concrete production is increasing. This approach is essential because the resources for natural aggregates are decreasing in the world. In the present study, the effects of recycled concrete aggregates as a partial replacement for fine (by 50%) and coarse aggregates (by 100%) were examined in the self-compacting concrete mixtures which contain air-entraining agents and silica fumes. Two series of self-compacting concrete mixes have been prepared. In the first series, fine and coarse recycled mixtures respectively with 50% and 100% replacement with air entraining …

Development Of Heavyweight Self-Compacting Concrete And Ambient-Cured Heavyweight Geopolymer Concrete Using Magnetite Aggregates, Afsaneh Valizadeh, Farhad Aslani, Zohaib Asif, Matt Roso

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Heavyweight self-compacting concrete (HWSCC) and heavyweight geopolymer concrete (HWGC) are new types of concrete that integrate the advantages of heavyweight concrete (HWC) with self-compacting concrete (SCC) and geopolymer concrete (GC), respectively. The replacement of natural coarse aggregates with magnetite aggregates in control SCC and control GC at volume ratios of 50%, 75%, and 100% was considered in this study to obtain heavyweight concrete classifications, according to British standards, which provide proper protection from sources that emit harmful radiations in medical and nuclear industries and may also be used in many offshore structures. The main aim of this study is to …