Textile Reinforced Concrete: experimental investigation on design parameters

Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) is an advanced cement-based material in which fabrics used as reinforcement can bring significant loads in tension, allowing architects and engineers to use thin cross-sections. Previous research projects, developed during the last 10 years mainly in Germany, Israel and the USA, have shown the capabilities of such a material. In this paper an extensive experimental investigation of TRC is presented: tensile tests were carried out to obtain a complete mechanical characterization of the composite material under standard conditions, considering the influence of different variables such as reinforcement ratio, fabric geometry, curing conditions, displacement rate and specimen size.     

Using experimental design to optimize the process parameters in fluidized bed granulation

In this study many parameters were screened for a small-scale granulation process for their effect on the yield of granules between 75 and 500 μm and the geometrical granule mean size (d50). First a Plackett-Burman design was applied to screen the inlet air temperature, the inlet flow rate, the spray rate, the nozzle air pressure, the nozzle spray diameter, and the nozzle position. The Plackett-Burman design showed that the key process parameters were the inlet flow rate and the spray rate and probably also the inlet air temperature. Afterward a fractional factorial design (2^5-2) was applied to screen the remaining parameters plus the nozzle aircap position and the spraying time interval. The fractional factorial design showed that the nozzle air pressure was also important. As the target values for the granule yield (between 75 and 500 μm) and the geometric mean granule size (between 300 and 500 μm) were reached during the screening experiments, further optimization was not considered necessary.     

Computer-aided design and experimental investigation of a hydrodynamic device: the microwire electrode

The development and application of a new electrochemical device using a computer-aided design strategy is reported. This novel design is based on the flow of electrolyte solution past a microwire electrode situated centrally within a large duct. In the design stage, finite element simulations were employed to evaluate feasible working geometries and mass transport rates. The computer-optimized designs were then exploited to construct experimental devices. Steady-state voltammetric measurements were performed for a reversible one-electron-transfer reaction to establish the experimental relationship between electrolysis current and solution velocity. The experimental results are compared to those predicted numerically, and good agreement is found. The numerical studies are also used to establish an empirical relationship between the mass transport limited current and the volume flow rate, providing a simple and quantitative alternative for workers who would prefer to exploit this device without the need to develop the numerical aspects.     

钢筋混凝土腐蚀研究综述

综合探讨了混凝土中钢筋腐蚀的机理、影响因素及其检测方法,以及腐蚀结构的耐久性评定和使用寿命预测,通过分析提出了混凝土钢筋腐蚀研究的难点以及今后的重点研究方向。     

Preliminary investigation on the design of biodegradable microparticles for ivermectin delivery: set up of formulation parameters

The aim was to design sterile biodegradable microparticulate drug delivery systems based on poly(dl-lactide) (PLA) and poly(?-caprolactone) (PCL) and containing ivermectin (IVM), an antiparasitic drug, for subcutaneous administration in dogs. The drug delivery system should: (i) ensure a full 12-month protection upon single dose administration; (ii) be safe with particular attention regarding IVM dosage and its release, in order to prevent over dosage side effects. This preliminary work involves: polymer selection, evaluation of the effects of γ-irradiation on the polymers and IVM, investigation and set up of suitable microparticle preparation process and parameters, IVM-loaded microparticles in vitro release evaluation.

Results of gel permeation chromatography analysis on the irradiated polymers and IVM mixtures showed that combination of IVM with the antioxidant α-tocopherol (TCP) reduces the damage extent induced by irradiation treatment, independently on the polymer type.

Solvent evaporation process was successfully used for the preparation of PLA microparticles and appropriately modified; it was recognized as suitable for the preparation of PCL microparticles. Good process yields were achieved ranging from 76.08% to 94.72%; encapsulation efficiency was between 85.76% and 91.25%, independently from the polymer used. The type of polymer and the consequent preparation process parameters affected microparticle size that was bigger for PCL microparticles (480–800?µm) and solvent residual that was >500?ppm for PLA microparticles. In vitro release test showed significantly faster IVM release rates from PCL microparticles, with respect to PLA microparticles, suggesting that a combination of the polymers could be used to obtain the suitable drug release rate.     

钢筋混凝土在冲击载荷下的动态力学性能

利用一级轻气炮加载,对钢筋混凝土圆柱形靶板进行冲击压缩实验,飞片与靶板同质,由预埋的锰铜压阻传感器测量出压力-时间信号曲线.实验数据采用拉氏分析方法中的路径线法自编程序进行处理,反算出粒子速度、应变等力学参量.实验结果表明:钢筋混凝土材料的应力应变总体呈滞回特性,并具有明显的应变率相关性和波形弥散效应等动态力学性能.同时基于复合材料细观力学的方法,认为理想情况下钢筋混凝土本构关系可由混凝土材料粘弹性本构关系与一个依赖于增强钢筋材料特性的常量G的乘积确定,并假定损伤只发生在混凝土内部,给出了钢筋混凝土的损伤型动态本构关系,理论预测曲线与试验结果吻合良好.     

Study of Acoustic Surface Waveguides on Reinforced Concrete Slabs

This paper describes the development of a two-dimensional acoustic surface waveguide system to enhance the transmission of Acoustic Emission (AE) signals in high attenuation concrete materials. The design of the surface waveguide system and the AE source location results are described. In this study, steel wires were selected as a waveguide material and were attached on the surface area of reinforced concrete structures. AE sensors were mounted at the end of the waveguides. The waveguides were connected to a concrete slab at joints with small contact areas using epoxy. This minimizes the amount of AE energy that could dissipate back to concrete. Thus, AE signals can be transmitted a longer distance. Experiments using standard pencil-lead breaks were conducted at 49 locations on a surface of a reinforced concrete floor slab to provide artificial AE signals. High transmission efficiencies were experimentally determined for the epoxy joints developed to attach the waveguides on the concrete surface. Results confirm that the use of the two-dimensional surface waveguides can significantly increase the AE monitoring range. A multi-layer Neural Network (NN) system was employed to predict locations of the AE sources. Four data sets of AE parameters and their corresponding 49 source locations in each data set were used to train the NN system. A testing data set was then used to demonstrate the ability of the NN in identifying the locations of the AE sources. Satisfactory prediction results from the NN were obtained.     

钢筋混凝土烟囱拆除切口中脊高度的计算

拆除钢筋混凝土烟囱时,拆除切口中脊高度的合理选择是拆除成功的重要因素。根据钢筋混凝土烟囱在倒塌至拆除切口闭合时,倾覆力矩大于薄弱面的抵抗力矩的原则来确定钢筋混凝土烟囱定向倒塌的条件及拆除切口中脊高度对其定向倒塌的影响。在考虑烟囱是变截面筒体的情况下,通过对上述条件的分析,得到拆除切口中脊高度的计算公式,与烟囱的结构尺寸、拆除切口薄弱面位置、拆除切口所对圆心角、余留支撑体轴筋承受的拉力有关,不仅仅与烟囱的壁厚有关,与传统的经验公式是有较大差别的。     

钢筋混凝土烟囱的爆破拆除

本文介绍了由于受烟囱本身结构特点和周围环境的原则，对钢筋混凝土烟囱的上部采用定向倾倒爆破拆除；下部采用水压爆破拆除的设计和施工方法。     

Recommendation of RILEM Technical Committee 250-CSM: Test method for Textile Reinforced Mortar to substrate bond characterization

Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM), also known as Fabric Reinforced Mortar or Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix, composites are an emerging technology for the external repair and strengthening of existing structures. For most applications, the effectiveness of the TRM reinforcement relies on its bond performance. This recommendation identifies the best practice to characterize the bond behaviour of TRM. A shear bond test method is proposed to determine the peak axial stress (associated with the maximum load that can be transferred from the structural member to the externally bonded TRM reinforcement), the stress–slip relationship and the failure mode that controls the TRM-to-substrate load transfer capacity. Guidelines on specimen manufacturing, experimental setup, test execution, and determination of test results are provided.     

Application of Particle Methods to Static Fracture of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Particle methods for modeling reinforced concrete are described. The reinforcements are modeled by finite elements and are coupled to the particle method by Lagrange multipliers. The method is applicable to nonlinear problems, problems with moderate to severe cracking and deformable interfaces. Applications to the static response of reinforced concrete structures where the concrete is discretized with particles and the reinforcement with elements are described. The method is also tested for several static problems where no relative displacements between the concrete and the reinforcement are allowed.     

考虑自振周期的高层混凝土建筑结构动力优化设计

风载对高层建筑结构会产生一定的动力效应，控制这种动力效应的有效方法之一是限制结构的自振周期。本文提出了一种以有限元分析和严格推导的优化准则方法为基础的动力优化设计方法，将结构构件的截面尺寸作为设计变量，在构件单元的强度、构件单元尺寸和自振周期的限制等约束条件下，求解以最小结构重量为目标的最优解。算例表明，此算法十分有效、可靠，可适用于大型高层混凝土建筑结构的优化设计。     

Thermoplastic Composites Reinforced with Textile Grids: Development of a Manufacturing Chain and Experimental Characterisation

A significant improvement in the properties of plastic components can be achieved by introducing flexible multiaxial textile grids as reinforcement. This reinforcing concept is based on the layerwise bonding of biaxially or multiaxially oriented, completely stretched filaments of high-performance fibers, e.g. glass or carbon, and thermoplastic components, using modified warp knitting techniques. Such pre-consolidated grid-like textiles are particularly suitable for use in injection moulding, since the grid geometry is very robust with respect to flow pressure and temperature on the one hand and possesses an adjustable spacing to enable a complete filling of the mould cavity on the other hand. The development of pre-consolidated textile grids and their further processing into composites form the basis for providing tailored parts with a large number of additional integrated functions like fibrous sensors or electroconductive fibres. Composites reinforced in that way allow new product groups for promising lightweight structures to be opened up in future. The article describes the manufacturing process of this new composite class and their variability regarding reinforcement and function integration. An experimentally based study of the mechanical properties is performed. For this purpose, quasi-static and highly dynamic tensile tests have been carried out as well as impact penetration experiments. The reinforcing potential of the multiaxial grids is demonstrated by means of evaluating drop tower experiments on automotive components. It has been shown that the load-adapted reinforcement enables a significant local or global improvement of the properties of plastic components depending on industrial requirements.     

Experimental Study on Ultrasonic Monitoring of Splitting Failure in Reinforced Concrete

This paper investigates inspection of reinforced concrete elements sensitive to the splitting failure. The behaviour of a reinforced concrete specimen subjected to a tensile stress is considered. The damage detection procedure is based on the ultrasonic wave propagation technique. The piezoelectric transducers are located on both ends of the specimen and the measurements are taken periodically during the incrementally increased loading. The features of measured signals in time and frequency domains as well as wavelet transforms before and after the splitting failure are studied. The experimental results show that proposed method can be used for monitoring of damage evolution in concrete elements. The method makes possible detection of the moment just before the splitting failure occurs.