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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

Investigating The Use Of In-Place Lateral Pull Off Tests To Determine The Compressive Strength Of Structural Concrete, Charlie Sun

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s current practice for determining the compressive strength of structural concrete consists of two methods. Both methods require that samples be delivered to an off-site facility for testing. Accordingly, affected parties on the project site must wait for the delivery of samples to the off-site facility, the performance of tests and analysis of test data, and the return of test results to the project site. Analysis of existing structural concrete requires core samples to be taken from the structural element in question. As a result, sample locations must be patched and repaired. Sampling can also potentially damage …

Investigation Of Setting Time And Compressive Strength Of Ready-Mixed Concrete Blended With Returned Fresh Concrete, Negasi N. Gebremichael, S. Mahmoud Motahara Karein, Moses Karakouzian, Kazem Jadidi

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Returned fresh mix concrete (RFC) is a problem with both economic and environmental impacts. Therefore, investigators have recommended various ways to decrease the amount of RFC in manufacturing facilities. Among the most common procedures are dumping concrete in landfill, recycling it, using the aggregate, and using it to produce concrete blocks. In this study, the authors investigated the behavior of various proportions of RFC mixed with ready-mix plain and retarded concrete. The authors also studied the influence of aging by producing specimens after one, two, three, and four hours. In addition, the researchers investigated controlled and uncontrolled environments by mixing …

Ultrasonic Techniques For Air Void Size Distribution And Property Evaluation In Both Early-Age And Hardened Concrete Samples, Shuaicheng Guo, Qingli Dai, Xiao Sun, Ye Sun, Zhen Liu

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Publications

Entrained air voids can improve the freeze-thaw durability of concrete, and also affect its mechanical and transport properties. Therefore, it is important to measure the air void structure and understand its influence on concrete performance for quality control. This paper aims to measure air void structure evolution at both early-age and hardened stages with the ultrasonic technique, and evaluates its influence on concrete properties. Three samples with different air entrainment agent content were specially prepared. The air void structure was determined with optimized inverse analysis by achieving the minimum error between experimental and theoretical attenuation. The early-age sample measurement showed …

Dynamic And Static Behavior Of Hollow-Core Frp-Concrete-Steel And Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns Under Vehicle Collision, Omar I. Abdelkarim, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the difference in behavior between hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) columns and conventional reinforced concrete (RC) columns under vehicle collision in terms of dynamic and static forces. The HC-FCS column consisted of an outer FRP tube, an inner steel tube, and a concrete shell sandwiched between the two tubes. The steel tube was hollow inside and embedded into the concrete footing with a length of 1.5 times the tube diameter while the FRP tube stopped at the top of footing. The RC column had a solid cross-section. The study was conducted through extensive finite element impact analyses …

Evaluation Of Carbonation Resistance Of Paint Coated Concrete For Buildings, Tommy Y. Lo, Wenyu Liao, C. K. Wong, Waiching Tang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

When evaluating the carbonation resistance of paint coated concrete, the effects of both the strength grade and the curing conditions (standard curing and accelerated curing) of concrete substrate on carbonation resistance of paint coated concrete were investigated. The concept of the carbonation suppression ratio of paint was presented for evaluation of the anti-carbonation performance of the two types of paints (exterior and interior paints) when applied to a reference concrete substrate. The test results showed a good linear relationship between the carbonation depths of the paint coated concrete and the square root of exposure times. Concrete with higher strength grade …

Factorial Design Approach In Proportioning Prestressed Self-Compacting Concrete, Wu-Jian Long, Kamal Khayat, Guillaume Lemieux, Feng Xing, Wei-Lun Wang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In order to model the effect of mixture parameters and material properties on the hardened properties of, prestressed self-compacting concrete (SCC), and also to investigate the extensions of the statistical models, a factorial design was employed to identify the relative significance of these primary parameters and their interactions in terms of the mechanical and visco-elastic properties of SCC. In addition to the 16 fractional factorial mixtures evaluated in the modeled region of -1 to +1, eight axial mixtures were prepared at extreme values of -2 and +2 with the other variables maintained at the central points. Four replicate central mixtures …

Non-Linear, Elastic - Plastic Response Of Steel Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete To Uniaxial And Triaxial Compression Testing, Hla Aye Saw, Ernesto Villaescusa, Christopher R. Windsor, Alan G. Thompson

Shotcrete for Underground Support XI

Understanding the complete stress-strain behavior of shotcrete is extremely important in ground support design; especially in cases where large deformations are expected such as around mine excavations at great depth. The application of non-linear numerical modeling to mining industry problems has increased in recent years. More realistic stress-strain response and failure criteria in complex plasticity models are also being used in the design of the larger, deeper mines. One of the factors to improve the reliability of numerical modeling is to properly define geotechnical parameters for both the rock mass and shotcrete surface support. Uniaxial and triaxial compression tests on …

Shear Reinforcement Requirements For High-Strength Concrete Bridge Girders, J. A. Ramirez, Gerardo Aguilar

JTRP Technical Reports

A research program was conducted on the shear strength of high-strength concrete members. The objective was to evaluate the shear behavior and strength of concrete bridge members with compressive strengths in the range of 10 000 to 15 000 psi. The goal was to determine if the current minimum amount of shear reinforcement together with maximum spacing limits in the 2004 AASHTO LRFD Specifications, and the upper limit on the nominal shear strength were applicable to concrete compressive strengths up to 15 000 psi.

A total of twenty I-shaped specimens were tested monotonically to failure. Sixteen specimens were reinforced concrete …

Design Of Durable Concrete Railroad Crossings, Anthony J. Lamanna, Charles F. Scholer

JTRP Technical Reports

Existing precast concrete railroad crossings in the state of Indiana are experiencing too short a life expectancy. This study proposes methods that can be used to produce durable concrete railroad crossings with satisfactory rideability, durability, and longevity. Thirty-two precast concrete railroad crossings were visited in central and northern Indiana. Failures were determined to belong to three major categories: structural capacity causes, environmental causes, and material property causes. A concrete mix was evaluated at three different polyolefin fiber contents and without fibers. Beams were tested in flexure, and modulus of rupture and first crack deflection were recorded for each beam. Cylinders …

Strength And Durability Of Concrete: Effects Of Cement Paste-Aggregate Interfaces, Part I: Theoretical Study On Influence Of Interfacial Transition Zone On Properties Of Concrete Materials, Yiguo Zhang, Wai-Fah Chen

JTRP Technical Reports

This research was based on a two-part basic research investigation studying the effects of cement paste-aggregate interfaces (or interfacial transition zones-HZ) on strength and durability of concrete. Part I dealt with the theoretical study and Part II dealt with the experimental. Part I, the theoretical part, illustrates the effect of ITZ on the concrete properties by assuming its elastic moduli to be varied continuously in the region. A four-phase composite model is employed and three functions are chosen to model the moduli variation in the ITZ. A theoretical solution for an n-layered spherical inclusion model is used to estimate the …

Strength And Durability Of Concrete: Effects Of Cement Paste-Aggregate Interfaces, Part Ii: Significance Of Transition Zones On Physical And Mechanical Properties Of Portland Cement Mortar, Turng-Fang F. Lee, Menashi D. Cohen

JTRP Technical Reports

This research was based on a two-part basic research investigation studying the effects of cement paste-aggregate interfaces (or interfacial transition zones-HZ) on strength and durability of concrete. Part I dealt with the theoretical study and Part II dealt with the experimental. Part I, the theoretical part, illustrates the effect of ITZ on the concrete properties by assuming its elastic moduli to be varied continuously in the region. A four-phase composite model is employed and three functions are chosen to model the moduli variation in the ITZ. A theoretical solution for an n-layered spherical inclusion model is used to estimate the …