Bond behaviour between recycled aggregate concrete and deformed steel bars

The results of thirty pullout tests carried out on 8 and 10 mm diameter deformed steel bars concentrically embedded in recycled aggregate concrete designed using equivalent mix proportions with coarse recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) replacement percentages of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % are reported towards investigation of bond behaviour of RCA concrete. Bond strengths of the natural aggregate concrete and the RCA concrete was found to be comparable, particularly for the 10 mm rebars, and the RCA replacement percentage had an insignificant effect on peak bond stress values. However, for both the bar sizes, when the measured bond strengths were normalized with the respective compressive strengths, then the normalized bond strengths so obtained across all the RCA replacement percentages were higher for the RCA concrete compared to the natural coarse aggregate concrete. Further, higher normalized bond strength values were obtained for the 8 mm rebars compared to the 10 mm bars. An empirical bond stress versus slip relationship between RCA concrete and deformed steel bars has been proposed on the basis of regression analysis of the experimental data and it is conservatively suggested that anchorage lengths of 8 and 10 mm diameter deformed bars in RCA concrete may be taken the same as in natural aggregate concrete.     

Bond strength of reinforcing steel embedded in fly ash-based geopolymer concrete

Geopolymer concrete (GPC) is an emerging construction material that uses a by-product material such as fly ash as a complete substitute for cement. This paper evaluates the bond strength of fly ash based geopolymer concrete with reinforcing steel. Pull-out test in accordance with the ASTM A944 Standard was carried out on 24 geopolymer concrete and 24 ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete beam-end specimens, and the bond strengths of the two types of concrete were compared. The compressive strength of geopolymer concrete varied from 25 to 39 MPa. The other test parameters were concrete cover and bar diameter. The reinforcing steel was 20 mm and 24 mm diameter 500 MPa steel deformed bars. The concrete cover to bar diameter ratio varied from 1.71 to 3.62. Failure occurred with the splitting of concrete in the region bonded with the steel bar, in both geopolymer and OPC concrete specimens. Comparison of the test results shows that geopolymer concrete has higher bond strength than OPC concrete. This is because of the higher splitting tensile strength of geopolymer concrete than of OPC concrete of the same compressive strength. A comparison between the splitting tensile strengths of OPC and geopolymer concrete of compressive strengths ranging from 25 to 89 MPa shows that geopolymer concrete has higher splitting tensile strength than OPC concrete. This suggests that the existing analytical expressions for bond strength of OPC concrete can be conservatively used for calculation of bond strength of geopolymer concrete with reinforcing steel.     

Steel–concrete bond strength of lightweight self-consolidating concrete

The bond behavior of lightweight self-consolidating concrete (LWSCC) must be understood in order to use this type of high performance concrete in structural members. The objective of this research program is to assess the bond behavior of reinforcing steel bars embedded in LWSCC members. Three different classes of LWSCC mixtures were developed with two different types of lightweight aggregates. In addition, one normal weight SCC (NWSCC) was developed and used as a control mixture. A total of twenty four pullout tests were conducted on deformed reinforcing bars with an embedded length of either 100 or 200 mm and the load-slip responses, failure modes and bond strengths of LWSCC and NWSCC were compared. Based on the results of this study, the bond strength of deformed bars for LWSCCs are found to be less (between 16 and 38%) as compared with NWSCC. Under the conditions of equivalent workability properties and compressive strength, bond slip properties were shown to be significantly influenced by the type of lightweight aggregate used. In this study, the use of expanded shale in the production of LWSCC significantly enhanced the pullout strength when compared with lightweight slag aggregate.     

Experimental study on the bond behavior of deformed bars embedded in concrete subjected to lateral tension

The bond behavior of steel bars embedded in concrete, including the anchorage capacity and bond stress–slip relationship, is highly concerned owing to its importance in the design and checking calculation of reinforced concrete structures. The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study on the bond behavior of deformed bars embedded in concrete subjected to lateral tension. In the experiment, a total of 237 pull-out specimens are tested. It is shown that the failure mode is influenced by the strength of concrete, ratio of the cover depth to bar diameter, and unfavorable lateral tension. The bond strength and the slip at the peak stress decreases with the increase of the unfavorable lateral tension for specimens in pull-out and splitting failures, but the ratio of the residual to ultimate bond strength almost keeps constant for specimens in pull-out failure. Based on the experimental results, an empirical formula for the bond stress–slip relationship is proposed. The empirical formula is in good agreement with the experimental results for specimens with different strengths of concrete, bar diameters, and combinations of lateral tensions.     

Bond behavior of GFRP and steel bars in ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete

The bond behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and steel bars embedded in ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) was investigated according to embedment length and bar diameter. Post-peak bond stress-slip softening curve of the GFRP bars was obtained, and a wedging effect was quantitatively evaluated. Test results indicated that a normalized bond strength of 5 was applicable for steel bars embedded in UHPFRC, and the development lengths of normal- and high-strength steel bars were determined to be 2 and 2.5 times the bar diameter, respectively. The GFRP bars exhibited approximately 70% lower bond strength than the steel bars, and the bond stress additionally applied by the wedging effect increased almost linearly with respect to the slip. Based on dimensionless bond stress and slip parameters, an appropriate theoretical model for the bond stress and slip relationship of steel bars in UHPFRC was suggested, and it was verified through comparison with the test data.     

Evaluation of bond quality at the interface between steel bar and concrete using the small-dimension break-off test

This paper investigates the feasibility of using the small-dimension break-off test for evaluation of the bond quality at the interface between steel bar and concrete. Experimental studies were performed on bar-type concrete specimens and reinforced concrete beams. Twelve bar-type concrete specimens containing plain and deformed steel bars with different diameters were used to develop the relationship between the break-off moment and the adhesive strength at the steel bar/concrete interface. Subsequently, three reinforced concrete beams containing normal reinforcing bars, epoxy-coated reinforcing bars, and bars smeared with oil to simulate various adhesive conditions at the bar/concrete interface were used to study how the break-off moment and the bond strength were affected by the different adhesive conditions. In addition, two beam specimens containing normal reinforcing bars were vibrated severely on a self-made shaking table shortly after initial setting of concrete to simulate the bond damage in fresh reinforced concrete beams due to unexpected vibration or impact. Experimental results show that the effective break-off moment has a good correlation with the adhesive strength at the interface between steel bar and concrete. The break-off moment increases with an increase in bond strength. It is demonstrated that the small-dimension break-off test is capable of evaluating damage at the steel bar/concrete interface.     

Effect of ground fly ash and ground bagasse ash on the durability of recycled aggregate concrete

This research aims to study the effect of ground fly ash (GFA) and ground bagasse ash (GBA) on the durability of recycled aggregate concrete. Recycled aggregate concrete was produced with recycled aggregate to fully replace crushed limestone in the mix proportion of conventional concrete (CON) and GFA and GBA were used to partially replace Portland cement type I at the rate of 20%, 35%, and 50% by weight of binder. Compressive strength, water permeability, chloride penetration depth, and expansion by sulfate attack on concretes were investigated.The results reveal that the use of GFA and GBA to partially replace cement in recycled aggregate concrete was highly effective in improving the durability of recycled aggregate concrete. The suitable replacement of GFA or GBA in recycled aggregate concrete to obtain the suitable compressive strength, low water permeability, high chloride penetration resistance, and high sulfate resistance is 20% by weight of binder.     

Influence of steam curing on the pore structures and mechanical properties of fly-ash high performance concrete prepared with recycled aggregates

In this research work, High Performance Concrete (HPC) was produced employing 30% of fly ash and 70% of Portland cement as binder materials. Three types of coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) sourced from medium to high strength concretes were employed as 100% replacement of natural aggregates for recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) production. The specimens of four types of concretes (natural aggregate concrete (NAC) and three RACs) were subjected to initial steam curing besides the conventional curing process. The use of high quality RCA (>100 MPa) in HPC produced RAC with similar or improved pore structures, compressive and splitting tensile strengths, and modulus of elasticity to those of NAC. It was determined that the mechanical and physical behaviour of HPC decreased with the reduction of RCA quality. Nonetheless steam-cured RACs had greater reductions of porosity up to 90 days than NAC, which led to lower capillary pore volume.     

Evaluation of the bond behavior of steel reinforcing bars in recycled fine aggregate concrete

This paper describes pullout test results on deformed reinforcing bars in natural and recycled fine aggregate (RFA) concrete. The effects of bar location and RFA grade on bond strength between reinforcing bar and recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) were evaluated through the experimental program. A total of 150 pullout specimens were fabricated for the experiment. Two reinforcing bar orientations were considered with respect to the casting direction; vertical bars and horizontal bars, the latter of which was prepared to evaluate top-bar effect. Considered variables included four RFA replacement ratios (RFArs), two water-absorption grades (RFA-A: 5.83%, RFA-B: 7.95%) of RFA and three reinforcing bar locations (75, 225 and 375 mm height from the bottom of the casting mold). In addition, to evaluate the thermal and aging effect on bond behavior between the reinforcing bar and RFA concrete, some parts of pullout specimens had exposed to rapid freeze–thaw environment or been cured at air during 28 or 730 days. Test results demonstrated that bond strength does not seem to be affected by the RFAr for higher RFA grades (RFA-A), at least up to 60% RFAr. In contrast, the RAC including lower RFA grade (RFA-B) showed clear decreases in bond strength with increasing RFAr, similar to the trend observed for compressive strength. For horizontal pullout specimens, RFA concrete specimens showed higher bond strength gap between top and bottom bars than natural aggregate concrete (NAC) specimens. Bond strengths of the horizontally cast pullout specimens were affected by the flowability of concrete rather than the RFAr or RFA grade. No noticeable degradation occurred during freeze–thaw cycling of the RAC specimens, indicating that the RFA used in this study is appropriate for use in freeze–thaw environments.     

Bond of ribbed galvanized reinforcing steel in concrete

The ASTM beam end test (ASTM A944) has been used to compare the bond and slip behaviour of deformed (i.e. ribbed) galvanized, epoxy-coated and black steel bars in concrete. The objective was to determine whether galvanizing adversely affects bond strength. From a series of thirty specimens, the average bond strength of black steel and galvanized steel reinforcement used in these tests has been determined and bond stress has been shown to act uniformly over the embedded bar area. A slip value of approximately 0.4 mm has been confirmed to be associated with bond failure by concrete splitting. The results indicated that while epoxy coating resulted in a significant loss in bond strength of the order of 20% compared to black steel, there is no adverse effect on bond with the use of galvanized steel. Chromate treatment of galvanized bars is deemed unnecessary since there was no evidence of long term reduction in bond due to the possible effects of hydrogen gas evolution resulting from the reaction between zinc and wet concrete.     

Bond and interfacial properties of reinforcement in self-compacting concrete

This paper reports a study carried out to assess the impact of the use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) on bond and interfacial properties around steel reinforcement in practical concrete element. The pull-out tests were carried out to determine bond strength between reinforcing steel bar and concrete, and the depth-sensing nano-indentation technique was used to evaluate the elastic modulus and micro-strength of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around steel reinforcement. The bond and interfacial properties around deformed steel bars in different SCC mixes with strength grades of 35 MPa and 60 MPa (C35, C60) were examined together with those in conventional vibrated reference concrete with the same strength grades.The results showed that the maximum bond strength decreased when the diameter of the steel bar increased from 12 to 20 mm. The normalised bond strengths of the SCC mixes were found to be about 10–40% higher than those of the reference mixes for both bar diameters (12 and 20 mm). The study of the interfacial properties revealed that the elastic modulus and the micro-strength of the ITZ were lower on the bottom side of a horizontal steel bar than on the top side, particularly for the vibrated reference concrete. The difference of ITZ properties between top and bottom side of the horizontal steel bar appeared to be less pronounced for the SCC mixes than for the corresponding reference mixes.     

Bond strength prediction for deformed steel rebar embedded in recycled coarse aggregate concrete

This paper summarizes the results of an experimental investigation into the bond behavior between recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) and deformed steel rebars, with the main variables being the recycled coarse aggregate replacement ratio (RCAr) and water-to-cement ratio of the concrete mixture. The investigation into splitting cracking strength indicates that the degradation of the bond splitting tensile stress of the cover concrete was affected by not only the roundness of the coarse aggregate particles but also the weak interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between the cement paste and the RCA that has a more porous structure in the ITZ than normal concrete. In this study, a linear relationship between the bond strength and the density of the RCA was found, but the high compressive strength reduced the effects of the parameters. To predict the bond strength of RAC using the main parameters, a multivariable model was developed using nonlinear regression analysis. It can be inferred from this study that the degradation characteristic of the bond strength of RAC can be predicted well, whereas other empirical equations and code provisions are very conservative.     

The role of 0–2 mm fine recycled concrete aggregate on the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of recycled concrete aggregate concrete

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of 0–2 mm fine aggregate on the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) concrete with normal and high strengths. Normal coarse and fine aggregates were substituted with the same grading of RCAs in two normal and high strength concrete mixtures. In addition, to keep the same slump value for all mixes, additional water or superplasticizer were used in the RCA concretes. The compressive and splitting tensile strengths were measured at 3, 7 and 28 days. Test results show that coarse and fine RCAs, which were achieved from a parent concrete with 30 MPa compressive strength, have about 11.5 and 3.5 times higher water absorption than normal coarse and fine aggregates, respectively. The density of RCAs was about 20% less than normal aggregates, and, hence, the density of RCA concrete was about 8–13.5% less than normal aggregate concrete. The use of RCA instead of normal aggregates reduced the compressive and splitting tensile strengths in both normal and high strength concrete. The reduction in the splitting tensile strength was more pronounced than for the compressive strength. However, both strengths could be improved by incorporating silica fume and/or normal fine aggregates of 0–2 mm size in the RCA concrete mixture. The positive effect of the contribution of normal sand of 0–2 mm in RCA concrete is more pronounced in the compressive strength of a normal strength concrete and in the splitting tensile strength of high strength concrete. In addition, some equation predictions of the splitting tensile strength from compressive strength are recommended for both normal and RCA concretes.     

Bond between deformed reinforcement and normal and high-strength concrete with and without fibers

This paper describes an experimental study that consisted of pullout tests of deformed reinforcing bars in NSC and HSC specimens, with and without hooked-end steel fibers. Two types of test setups were applied, direct and flexural tests, and three bar diameters were tested (8, 12 and 20 mm). The experimental setups were based on standard RILEM pullout (direct) and beam tests, with several modifications. The experimental program included study of the effects of concrete strength and inclusion of steel fibers on the bond strength, as well as the influence of bar geometry and concrete cover. Discussion of the results shows coupling of these effects and proposes an empirical expression that represents this coupling. The results from the current study are also compared with the design bond strengths specified in American and European standards as well as a known model.     

塑钢纤维轻骨料混凝土与钢筋粘结锚固试验研究

通过对内贴应变片钢筋的直接拔出试验,分析钢筋直径、相对锚固长度（l_a/d）及混凝土相对保护层厚度（c/d）对塑钢纤维轻骨料混凝土与钢筋间粘结性能的影响,得出不同钢筋直径、锚固长度及相对保护层厚度对试件粘结锚固性能的影响规律,并提出塑钢纤维轻骨料混凝土钢筋锚固长度计算公式。试验结果表明:随钢筋直径的增大,试件粘结刚度增强,极限粘结强度先提高后降低;增加钢筋锚固长度会降低试件极限平均粘结强度,同时极限粘结强度对应钢筋自由端滑移量减小,试件粘结韧性则随锚固长度的增加而减小;混凝土相对保护层厚度增加会使试件极限粘结强度先提高然后趋于平稳。根据试验结果得到的钢筋锚固长度计算公式与规范给出的计算公式进行比较,从极限粘结强度的角度看,规范中的钢筋锚固长度计算公式偏于保守。     

Influence of reinforcing bar type on autogenous shrinkage stress and bond behavior of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete

This study investigated the effects of reinforcing bar type and reinforcement ratio on the restrained shrinkage behaviors of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC), including autogenous shrinkage stress, degree of restraint, and cracking potential. In addition, the influence of the type and embedment length of reinforcing bars on the bond behavior of UHPFRC was evaluated by performing pullout test. Three different reinforcing bars (deformed steel bar, round steel bar, and GFRP bar) were investigated in the restrained shrinkage and pullout tests. The GFRP bar exhibited the best performance in relation to the autogenous shrinkage stress, degree of restraint, and cracking potential because of its low stiffness. The highest bond strength was obtained for the deformed steel bar, and the bar yielding was observed when the bar embedment length of l_b = 2d_b was used. The round steel bar exhibited the poorest behaviors for both of the restrained shrinkage and pullout.     

Strength and elastic properties of structural lightweight concretes

The study presents the influence of characteristics of four aggregate types (two sintered lightweight fly ash aggregates, cold-bonded lightweight fly ash aggregate and normalweight crushed limestone aggregate) on the strength and elastic properties of concrete mixtures. Different models were also used in order to predict the strength and modulus of elasticity values of concretes. The results of this study revealed the achievement of manufacturing high-strength air-entrained lightweight aggregate concretes using sintered and cold-bonded fly ash aggregates. In order to reach target slump and air content, less amount of chemical admixtures was used in lightweight concretes than in normal-weight concrete, leading to reduction in production cost. The use of lightweight aggregates (LWA) instead of normalweight aggregates in concrete production slightly decreased the strength. The models given by codes, standards and software and equation derived in this study gave close estimated values to the experimental results.     

Bond between steel reinforcement bars and Electric Arc Furnace slag concrete

This paper deals with the bond between steel reinforcement and recycled aggregate concrete, including Electric arc furnace (EAF) slag as full replacement of natural coarse aggregates. Pull-out tests were carried out according to RILEM standard on specimens made with six concrete mixtures, characterized by different w/c ratios and types of aggregates. Plain and ribbed steel reinforcement bars were used to observe the influence of steel roughness. Experimental bond-slip relationships were analyzed, and results show similar bond mechanisms between the reference and EAF concrete specimens. Significant bond strength enhancement is observed in concretes with low w/c ratio, when EAF slag is used as recycled coarse aggregate. Experimental results in terms of bond strength were also compared to analytical predictions, obtained with empirical formulations.     

Strain-hardening UHP-FRC with low fiber contents

This research work focuses on the optimization of strength and ductility of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concretes (UHP-FRC) under direct tensile loading. An ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) with a compressive strength of 200 MPa (29 ksi) providing high bond strength between fiber and matrix was developed. In addition to the high strength smooth steel fibers, currently used for typical UHP-FRC, high strength deformed steel fibers were used in this study to enhance the mechanical bond and ductility. The study first shows that, with appropriate high strength steel fibers, a fiber volume fraction of 1% is sufficient to trigger strain hardening behavior accompanied by multiple cracking, a characteristic essential to achieve high ductility. By improving both the matrix and fiber parameters, an UHP-FRC with only 1.5% deformed steel fibers by volume resulted in an average tensile strength of 13 MPa (1.9 ksi) and a maximum post-cracking strain of 0.6%.