Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Mat-734: Increasing The Durability And Resilience Of Tall Buildings With Precast Concrete Enclosure Systems, Randy A. Van Straaten, John F. Straube, C. Alex Lukachko

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

In this paper precast concrete wall systems are compared to curtain wall and window wall systems in terms of durability and disaster resilience of multi-story buildings. Window wall systems are currently the enclosure system of choice for tall residential buildings in most parts of North America.

Precast concrete wall systems can be expected to last the lifetime of a building with routine seal replacement. These are highly durable systems. Windows within precast concrete wall systems will require replacement in 25-35 years but represent a limited portion of the wall area and hence are less costly and have less impact on …

Mat-735: Optimizing Performance Of Zinc Coated Reinforcing Steel In Concrete Structures, Martin Gagné, Shannon Pole, Frank Goodwin, Gary Dallin

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Corrosion of steel reinforcing bar (rebar) is the most significant cause of concrete failure, resulting in expensive repairs and premature structure replacements across the country. This paper will discuss a new, low-cost, zinc coating process for rebar. The properties of this new coated rebar and its contribution to improvement of concrete performance will be presented together with the status of related national and international standards. The Continuous Galvanized Rebar (CGR) coating process is similar to galvanizing of sheet steel. The zinc coating is durable and resistant to abrasion that is routine during transport and construction, but is also highly ductile …

Mat-736: Development Of High Strength Nano-Silica Modified Rubbercrete, Bashar S. Mohammed, Muhd Fadhil Nuruddin, Nasir Shafiq

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Several research works have been carried out to study properties of concrete containing crumb rubber (rubbercrete) as a partial replacement to fine aggregate. Rubbercrete exhibits numerous benefits compared to conventional concrete such as lower in density, increased ductility, enhanced plastic capacity, higher toughness, higher impact resistance, better chloride penetration, lower thermal conductivity, higher noise reduction factor and better electrical resistivity. It has also been known to have better energy dissipation, durability and damping ratio. However, the main drawbacks of rubbercrete are decreasing in strengths and Young's modulus. Therefore, to improve strengths of the rubbercrete, the crumb rubber has been pre-coated …

Mat-737: The Use Of Ultrasonic Waves And Analytical Modeling To Estimate Elasticity Modulus Of Rubber Concrete Specimen, Hadda Hadjab, Ahmed Arbia, Oussama Boulekfouf

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

This research work aims to evaluate the influence of the addition of rubber aggregates on elasticity modulus experimentally by using ultrasonic waves and theoretically by analytical models. Based on ultrasonic waves in concrete specimen at different percentages of rubber granules, one can evaluate the static modulus (Estatic) from the dynamic elastic modulus (Edynamic), according to British code. From the obtained experimental results, one can conclude that the use of rubber granules has the potential for vibration damping capacity. In other words, the rubber granules, reduces the kinetics of ultrasonic pulses in the material. This reduction is due to the decreasing …

Mat-739: Influence Of Slag Chemistry And Composition On The Hydration And Mechanical Properties Of Supersulfated Cement, Rana Masoudi, R. Douglas Hooton

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

This research evaluates ways of improving early-age property of supersulfated cements. Mechanical performance of SSC was studied after optimizing the slag- calcium sulfate- alkali activator composition. This study was conducted using four slags of different chemical composition. The purpose was to find a correlation between slag composition and compressive strength and determine the influence of anhydrite content and alkali activator content on the hydration process of SSC. The results demonstrated that the compressive strength of mortars was strongly influenced by the Al2O3 content of the slag, which also influenced the optimum mix composition of the SSC mixtures. Mixtures containing slags …

Mat-741: Impact Behaviour Of Shape Memory Alloy Hybrid Fibre-Reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composite, Mohamed A. E. M. Ali, Ahmed M. Soliman, Moncef L. Nehdi

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the impact behaviour of an innovative hybrid-fibre engineered cementitious composite (ECC) incorporating randomly dispersed short shape memory alloy fibres (SMA). A modified drop weight test was conducted on specimens from various ECC mixtures with and without SMA fibres. The impact behaviour was evaluated and compared based on the ability to dissipate energy and sustain impact load without damage. Results show that the addition of SMA to ECC mixtures significantly enhanced their performance under impact loading. The amount of dissipated energy by ECC increased by about 51% as a result of SMA fibre addition. …

Mat-742: Effect Of Supplementary Cementitious Materials On The Resistance Of Mortar To Physical Sulfate Salt Attack, Semion Zhutovsky, R. Douglas Hooton

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Physical sulfate salt attack is one of the most rapid and severe deterioration mechanisms in concrete structures. One of the most common approaches to improve resistance of concrete to sulfate attack is to use supplementary cementitious materials. However, physical salt attack may still cause damage to concrete with supplementary cementitious materials. Moreover, according to some literature sources, some supplementary cementitious materials may even reduce resistance to physical salt attack. The current research investigates the effect of supplementary cementitious materials on the ability of mortars to resist physical sulfate salt attack and its relationship with pore structure and transport properties. Mortar …

Mat-743: Full Scale Manufacturing Of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete Pipe, Lui S. Wong

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

A research project titled “Development of Fibre-Reinforced Concrete Pipes” funded by Con Cast Pipe and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) was conducted between 2011 and 2014 by Professor Moncef Nehdi and his research team at Western University to study the structural behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete pipe (SFRCP). 142 pieces of SFRCP, and 58 pieces of conventional reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) and non-reinforced concrete pipe with 300 mm, 450 mm, 600 mm inner diameters were manufactured using existing fully-automated equipment. These SFRCP specimens contain various fibre contents and two fibre types. During the manufacturing week, …

Mat-744: Assessment Of Performance Of Bio Self-Healing Mortar Using Diatomaceous Earth And Silica Fume, Ahmed J. Al Bughdadi, Mohamed N. Abou-Zeid

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Cracking represents a major threat for the integrity and performance of structures. Self-healing concept was introduced to construction materials in order to enhance their performance and extend their service life with less repair. This study aims at assessing the performance of Portland cement mortar incorporating self-healing Bacillus Pseudofirmus bacteria using Diatomaceous earth (DE) to immobilize precursor and bacteria in mortar and lowering the pH level of mortar by using silica fume to provide a suitable growth environment for bacteria to generate limestone. The specimens were prepared at three different bacteria dosages and three DE dosages. Cracking of specimens was induced …

Mat-745: The Effect Of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag And Silica Fume On The Durability Of High Performance Concrete In Bridge Decks, Abdulaziz Alaskar, R. Douglas Hooton

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

High-performance concrete typically has a low water to cementing materials ratio (w/cm), high binder content and may contain high levels of supplementary cementitious materials. The effects of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and silica fume (SF) on the durability of HPC were investigated. In this study, HPC mixtures at 0.33 w/cm were made with two sources of blended cements containing 8% SF mixed with 25 and 50% GGBFS replacements by mass of cement. The compressive strength, drying shrinkage, thermal deformation and transport properties were tested. The preliminary test results have shown that increased fineness of the blended cement enhances …

Mat-752: Field Testing And Evaluation Of Reclaimed Materials As Aggregate For Opss Granular B Type Ii, Adam C. Schneider, Hassan Baaj, Paul Lum, Stephen Senior

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

In urbanized regions of Ontario, the road construction industry faces a number of challenges due to the growing scarcity of locally-sourced natural aggregate materials and increased restrictions on the approval and development of new aggregate extraction sites. In an effort to maintain sustainable and economical sources of construction aggregates, companies are increasingly seeking to supplement or replace natural aggregates with available artificial materials such as crushed reclaimed concrete aggregate (RCA), and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP).

Currently, Ontario Provincial Standard Specification (OPSS) 1010 permits the use of processed reclaimed construction materials in a variety of road base, subbase and asphaltic concrete …

Mat-754: Internal Curing Of High Performance Concrete Using Lightweight And Recycled Concrete Aggregates, Mohamed S. Afifi, Mohamed N. Abou-Zeid

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Concrete curing is of paramount importance in order for concrete to meet performance requirements. Conventionally, curing has been conducted by means of water sparkling, wet burlap or a curing compound. For performance and environmental reasons, internal curing has been gaining increased attention. However, more data is needed for the effectiveness of this curing technique when used in various concrete mixtures.

This investigation addresses potential utilization of internal curing in high performance concrete (HPC). Internal curing was introduced by means of three aggregates: perlite, pumice and recycled aggregates; all of which were incorporated into HPC mixtures. Conventional mixtures were prepared and …

Mat-755: Sustainable Road Construction For Heavy Traffic Using High Strength Polymeric Geocells, Sanat K. Pokharel, Meisam Norouzi, Ian Martin, Marc Breault

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Construction Sustainability has been the focus of debate ever since the Brundtland commission report ‘Our Common Future’ defined Sustainable Development. Kyoto Protocol and subsequent climate change conferences leading up to the Paris submit this year has put still more emphasis on this agenda. Construction of heavy traffic unpaved access roads require huge amount of aggregate mining and long haulage in the areas of scarce virgin aggregate. Conventional practices in these road constructions seek structural adequacy but never specifically address the sustainability issue. Innovative technology that can reduce the volume of aggregate material while maintaining the structural integrity is required to …

Mat-756: Investigation Of The Impact Of Rap Gradation On The Effective Binder Content In Hot Mix Asphalt, Saeed S. Saliani, Alan Carter, Hassan Baaj

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Nowadays, it is common to add a little amount of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in asphalt mixes without changing too much properties such as modulus and low temperature cracking resistance. Not only will those mixes be able to make roads last longer, but they will be a greener alternative to usual mixes. In order to make a flexible pavement design, the mixture behavior is usually characterized with the complex modulus. To have a high modulus mix, you need to control the gradation precisely even when RAP is added. When performing a mix design to incorporate RAP, it is desirable to …

Mat-758: Constructability Benefits Of The Use Of Lightweight Foamed Concrete Fill (Lfcf) In Pavement Applications, Michael L. J. Maher, John B. Hagan

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Lightweight Foamed Concrete Fill (LFCF), also known as cellular concrete, has been growing in use in transportation infrastructure projects over recent years. LFCF is a versatile construction material that has now been in use for over 30 years. A number of recent road rehabilitation projects have demonstrated some of the benefits of use. With a greater emphasis on sustainability on all provincial and municipal road projects, new solutions are being sought to minimize the generation of waste and deliver better performing pavements that require less maintenance interventions. Roads over peat and organic deposits pose challenges for road agencies. They are …

Mat-759: Particle Size Analysis As A Means To Better Understand The Influence Of Fly Ash Variability In Concrete, Yasar Abualrous, Daman K. Panesar, R. Doug Hooton, Bhupinder Singh

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Fly ash is generated from thermal power stations as an industrial by-product of coal combustion materials. Its particles are generally glassy, spherical in shape, and typically range in size from 0.5-300 µm. Coal fly ash is widely used as a partial cementitious material in concrete, which not only offers economic and environmental benefits but also improves concrete performance. However, variability of the physical description and chemical composition of fly ash has been considered to be a major barrier to its increased use in cement and concrete. In this study the variability and properties of fly ash are characterized with an …

Mat-760: Comparison Of Laboratory Performance Tests Used To Assess Alkali-Silica Reactivity, Farideh Golmakani, R. Douglas Hooton

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Alkali-silica reaction of certain concrete aggregates can lead to premature deterioration and maintenance problems in concrete structures. The CSA A23.1-14A/ASTM C1293 concrete prism test (CPT) and the CSA A23.2-25A/ASTM C1260/ASTM C1567 accelerated mortar bar test (AMBT) are the two main procedures used in CSA and ASTM standards for examining the potential alkali-silica reactivity (ASR) of aggregates and also for assessing the effectiveness of supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) in suppressing ASR. The long testing duration of the CPT and the unreliability of the rapid AMBT have led to development and evaluation of a third method, the accelerated concrete prism test (ACPT). …

Mat-761: The Effect Of Temperature On The Lateral Response Of Unbonded Fiber-Reinforced Elastomeric Isolators, Alexander N. Sciascetti, Yasser M. Al-Anany, Michael J. Tait

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Base isolation is a method that can be employed to significantly reduce the demands on a structure during a seismic event. This method has shown considerable success in reducing the adverse effects of earthquakes, including damage and loss of life. The main concept of base isolation is to reduce the seismic demand on a structure by placing isolators beneath the superstructure at points where load is transferred to the foundation. One of the most commonly used types of isolator is the elastomeric isolator. These isolators are traditionally comprised of layers of elastomer and steel. More recently, research has been completed …

Mat-762: Building Sustainable Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement Using Gfrp Bars: Case Study-Highway 40 West-Montreal, Canada, Abdoulaye Sanni B., Hamdy M. Mohamed, Denis Thébeau, Brahim Benmokrane

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Continuously reinforced concrete pavement designs (CRCP) are premium pavement designs that are often used on heavily-trafficked roadways and urban corridors. Although CRCP typically is an effective, long-lasting pavement design, it can develop performance problems when the aggregate-interlock load transfer at the transverse cracks is degraded. The prevalence of wide cracks in CRCP has frequently been associated with ruptured steel and significant levels of corrosion. Because of that, there has been recent interest in identifying new reinforcing materials that can prevent or minimize corrosion-related issues in CRCP. Glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars are one product being investigated for use in CRCP …

Mat-763: Assessment Of Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete- Normal Strength Concrete Or High Strength Concrete Composite Members In Chloride Environment, Luaay Hussein, Lamya Amleh

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of composite members of ultra-high performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) and normal strength or high strength concrete (NSC/HSC) in chloride environments. Experimental studies were carried out on UHPFRC-NSC/HSC prisms in order to investigate the effect of dry and wet cycles on the flexural capacity of those composite members. Each prism specimen was designed with the UHPFRC layer in tension and the NSC/HSC layer in compression. Three fibre volume contents (1%, 1.5%, and 2%) were investigated. The test results revealed that the degradation in the flexural capacity of UHPFRC-NSC/HSC specimens after exposure …

Ndm-500: Optical Tracking Of Debris In Extreme Hydrodynamic Conditions, Jacob Stolle, Ioan Nistor, Nils Goseberg

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Debris impact on structures have been reported and shown to be a major reason for structural failure in many post-mortem site assessments of tsunami devastated communities. However, due to the random nature of the debris motion, determining areas at-risk for debris impact is difficult. This paper presents a novel camera-based object tracking algorithm which allows for the quick and accurate tracking of debris trajectory in highly turbulent flows. The algorithm was used to determine debris motion observed during an experimental program on the displacement of scaled-down shipping containers (debris), carried out by the authors in the Tsunami Wave Basin at …

Ndm-501: Wind Pressure Coefficient Provisions For Large Flat Roofs, Hatem Alrawashde, Ted Stathopoulos

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

The existing literature on wind-induced pressures on roofs of low-rise buildings is generally limited to regular-shaped, mostly rectangular roofs with relatively small dimensions, say less than 60 m. Large roofs for industrial and institutional buildings have not been considered in the formulation of wind code and standard provisions. Therefore, it is important to assess the efficiency of the current national building code/standard provisions as to their applicability for very large roofs. This paper presents experimental results of wind loads on flat roofs of low-rise buildings with large dimensions carried out in an atmospheric boundary-layer wind tunnel for different wind directions. …

Ndm-502: Integration Of Site Conditions Information Using Geographic Information System For The Seismic Evaluation Of Bridges, Azarm Farzam, Marie-José Nollet, Amar Khaled

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

While seismic hazard is generally moderate in eastern Canada, the seismic risk in urban area is increased by the density of the population, the value and the age of the infrastructure and the relative importance of the economic activities. Among the consequences of a seismic event, damages to infrastructures, such as bridges and overpasses, may compromise the safety of users and the free movement of people and goods. According to modern seismic codes and regulations, structures designed for seismic loading should sustain moderate to severe earthquakes with minimal and reparable damages and without collapse. However, older structures build prior to …

Ndm-504: Multi-Platform Tornado Damage Scene Preservation, J. Arn Womble, Richard L. Wood, Elizabeth I. Louden, Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammadi, Douglas A. Smith, Kenneth R. Leitch

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

A severe tornado system produced damage to engineered metal buildings at an industrial facility outside Pampa, TX and toppled several nearby center-pivot irrigation structures. Rapid remote-sensing preservation of this overall damage scene was of particular necessity: access to the industrial facility was prohibited, and the overall size of the center-pivot irrigation system disallowed rapid direct measurement of member displacements. Engineers and architects from West Texas A&M University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Texas Tech University collaborated to acquire and preserve the damage scene for future study, using a suite of existing and emerging platforms: including 3D point clouds derived from aerial …

Ndm-505: Development Of The Asce/Sei Standard For The Estimation Of Tornado Wind Speeds, J. Arn Womble, James G. Ladue, Marc L. Levitan, Tanya Brown-Giammanco, Bill Coulbourne, Franklin T. Lombardo, Gregory A. Kopp

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Development of the new ASCE/SEI consensus standard for wind speed estimation in tornadoes began in 2014 and is currently underway. The intent of the new standard is to standardize the methods used to estimate the wind speeds in tornadoes including improvements and expansions for the damaged-based Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale), with potential to extend the scope of the standard to include other windstorms. The standard will include sections on the EF Scale, radar measurements, tree fall pattern analysis, data archives, forensic engineering analysis, in-situ measurements (anemometry), and remote-sensing applications. Users of the standard will include wind, structural and forensic …

Ndm-506: Current Methods And Future Advances For Rapid, Remote-Sensing-Based Wind Damage Assessment, J. Arn Womble, Richard L. Wood, Ronald T. Eguchi, Shubharoop Ghosh, Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammadi

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Remote-sensing information provides an effective basis for the rapid assessment of wind damage. The development of remote-sensing based assessments has received notable attention over the past decade, although automated algorithms have not yet achieved the speed, objectivity, and reliability desired for practical implementation in time-critical damage assessments. The current standard practice for making swift, objective, and widespread assessments of wind damage currently consists of rapid visual interpretation of first-available imagery. Techniques for rapidly accomplishing widespread damage assessments by visual inspection have been implemented in recent major tornado outbreaks in Birmingham-Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri (2011). Quickly emerging technologies, such as …

Ndm-510: Analysis Of Spatially-Varying Wind Characteristics For Distributed Systems, Thomas G. Mara

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Design wind speeds for various return periods are provided in most national design codes throughout the world (e.g., NBCC 2010, ASCE 7-10). The design wind speeds are often based on an extreme value analysis of historical data obtained from a number of meteorological stations distributed over the region of interest. However, only the extreme wind speed magnitude is typically available to the designer, which does not provide information on the directional characteristics or underlying probability distribution of the wind. These parameters of the local wind characteristics may be useful for designers of directionally-sensitive structures or for higher-order reliability-based design. This …

Ndm-509: Full-Scale Test Methods For Multi-Layer Cladding Systems: Wind Tunnel Vs. Multi-Chamber Airbox, Connell S. Miller, Gregory A. Kopp

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Wind loads on multi-layer wall systems are complicated because the loads on each particular layer are poorly understood and difficult to quantify. This is because of pressure equalization, which is the mechanism whereby the pressures on the external building surface are transmitted through the air-permeable outer layer to interior layers. Recent testing at IBHS in a full-scale wind tunnel has shown that the extent of pressure equalization is more limited than is assumed in the test standard, ASTM D3679-13. Multi-chamber pressure testing performed by the authors at the Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes was able to capture these features …

Ndm-511: Pressure Fluctuations On The Roofs Of Low-Rise Buildings In Turbulent Boundary Layers, Abul Fahad Akon, Gregory A. Kopp

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Buildings are often exposed to the highly turbulent atmospheric boundary layer flows near the earth’s surface. Roofs of low-rise buildings in particular are vulnerable to the resulting aerodynamic loads, especially during the extreme wind storms. For flat-roofed, low-rise buildings with relatively large plan dimensions, the approach flow separates at the leading edge of the roof and then reattaches creating a separation bubble. This separation bubble is a turbulent recirculating flow region that is responsible for causing large-magnitude uplift on the roof surface. Such large, uplifting forces can cause damage to the roofs and roof-mounted structures. There are a limited number …

Ndm-514: Large Eddy Simulation Of Wind Induced Loads On A Low Rise Building With Complex Roof Geometry, Bodhisatta Hajra, Girma T. Bitsuamlak, Haitham Aboshosha, Ahmed Elshaer

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Wind induced damage on low-rise buildings with complex roof geometry is common in coastal areas of USA, such as Florida and Louisiana. Available design codes provide information about the design of regular roof geometries (e.g. hip/gable roofs), but refer to wind tunnel modelling for complex roof geometries. Due to time and financial constraints physical modelling may not always be possible to carry out. Computational modelling through Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has been used successfully for several wind engineering applications. This paper presents comparisons between LES and previously obtained wind tunnel data of mean and peak pressure coefficients on a low …