Mechanical properties of steel fibre reinforced and rubberised cement-based mortars

Previous studies demonstrated that crack cutting bonded cement-based repairs is highly detrimental to the durability of such applications. Laboratory tests and field experience showed that fibre reinforcement allowing the control of the crack opening and assuring the structural continuity is a solution to enhance the durability of bonded cement-based repairs. In other respect, recent work pointed out that the use of rubber aggregates obtained from grinding end-of-life tyres is a suitable solution to improve the strain capacity of cement-based materials. The present contribution focuses on the synergetic effect of rubber aggregate incorporation and of fibre reinforcement from the point of view of the use of the composite in the repair work application.     

Restrained shrinkage cracking in steel fibre reinforced and rubberised cement-based mortars

The paper focuses on the combined effect of Steel Fibre Reinforcement and of Rubber aggregates on the resistance to restrained shrinkage cracking of cement-based mortars. The kinetics of restrained shrinkage cracking of a control mortar is compared both to the one incorporating a single fibre content as reinforcement and to the above fibre reinforcement combined to rubber aggregates substitution. Two rates of substitution were considered in the case of Steel Fibre Reinforced and Rubberized Mortar (SFRRM). The used rubber aggregates are obtained by grinding used tyres, a way that may address the demand for the conservation of a clean environment by recycling an industrial by-product. Fibre-reinforced mortar was based on the control mortar and one metal fibre content was studied: 40 kg/m³ (0.5% by volume). The used fibres have a high bond with the cementitious matrix. SFRRM composites were cast using two contents of rubber aggregates: 20 and 30% by volume replacing mineral aggregates and the one fibre content reported here above (40 kg/m³). Tests were conducted using ring type specimens to simulate restrained shrinkage cracking according to ASTM C 1581-04 standard. Additionally, after the cracking occurred, the development of the crack widths was measured by video-microscope. Ring tests demonstrated that the SFRRM exhibit high strain capacity prior to macro-cracking localization and the effectiveness of rubber aggregates along with their positive synergistic effect when combined with fibre reinforcement to improve resistance to shrinkage cracking. It is a promising solution to improve the durability of large surface area such as pavements and thin bonded cement-based overlays, whose durability is often limited by shrinkage cracking.     

Bond of steel reinforcement with microwave cured concrete repair mortars

This paper investigates the effect of microwave curing on the bond strength of steel reinforcement in concrete repair. Pull-out tests on plain mild steel reinforcement bars embedded in four repair materials in 100 mm cube specimens were performed to determine the interfacial bond strength. The porosity and pore structure of the matrix at the steel interface, which influence the bond strength, were also determined. Test results show that microwave curing significantly reduces the bond strength of plain steel reinforcement. The reduction relative to normally cured (20 °C, 60% RH) specimens is between 21 and 40% with low density repair materials and about 10% for normal density cementitious mortars. The corresponding compressive strength of the matrix also recorded similar reduction and microwave curing resulted in increased porosity at the interface transition zone of the steel reinforcement. A unique relationship exists between bond strength and both compressive strength and porosity of all matrix materials. Microwave curing reduced shrinkage but despite the wide variation in the shrinkage of the repair mortars, its effect on the bond strength was small. The paper provides clear correlations between the three parameters (compressive strength, bond strength and porosity), which are common to both the microwave and conventionally cured mortars. Therefore, bond-compressive strength relationships used in the design of reinforced concrete structures will be also valid for microwave cured elements.     

水泥基材料中倾斜端钩型钢纤维拔出力学性能计算模型

端钩型钢纤维是结构工程中应用最广泛的钢纤维品类之一,单根钢纤维拔出力学性能对于确定钢纤维混凝土的受拉本构及受拉韧性具有重要意义。为了得到能够有效预测倾斜端钩型钢纤维拔出荷载-端部位移曲线的理论模型,首先将倾斜端钩型钢纤维拔出过程分为完全黏结、脱黏和拔出滑移阶段三种受力状态,考虑不同拔出阶段及基体孔道损伤,建立了钢纤维黏结应力与纤维端部位移之间的关系,同时考虑钢纤维塑性变形、附加摩擦力及纤维拔出角度导致的基体剥落和挤压摩擦效应,建立了一种可以预测倾斜端钩型钢纤维拔出全过程的理论计算模型,在此基础上提出形式简单的简化模型,选取已有试验数据对提出的计算模型进行验证,结果表明:本文提出的两种模型均能够有效预测端钩型钢纤维拔出全过程,具有较高的计算精度且变异系数小,为进一步分析钢纤维对水泥基材料受拉性能的增强作用提供了理论依据。      

Effects of steel fiber reinforcement on surface wear resistance of self-compacting repair mortars

Self-compacting repair mortars (SCRM), as new technology products, are especially preferred for the rehabilitation and repair of reinforced concrete structures. The self-compactability of repair mortars may bring considerable advantages at narrow mould systems. However, due to the high powder content and absence of coarse aggregate, plain SCRMs are susceptible to surface abrasion, especially in case of repair of surfaces under high rates of abrasion (floors, slabs). Steel fiber reinforcement can be an excellent solution for the abrasion resistance problem of SCRMs. However, the optimum amount of fiber reinforcement to sustain self-compactability should be pre-determined. In this study, the optimum superplasticizer dosage and the maximum possible amount of fiber addition, which maintain the self-compactability and stability, was determined for mortars incorporating steel fibers. In addition, the mechanical performance and abrasion resistance of SCRMs prepared by using these fibers were determined. It was concluded that steel fibers can have rheological and mechanical synergistic effects, and that optimised fiber – superplasticizer dosage combinations can better improve the wear resistance while maintaining adequate flow properties for FR-SCRM.     

Use of granite sludge wastes for the production of coloured cement-based mortars

The value of granite sludge wastes (GS) in cement-based mortar formulations was examined by assessing their potential as structural components and pigments. Full characterization of GS was accomplished by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. GS were found to be an effective filler or pozzolanic material for mortars. Also, GS were easily converted into a reddish pigment by calcination at low temperatures (700–900 °C) for a short time. UV–Vis–NIR spectra, colourimetric parameters and XRD analysis confirmed the presence of α-Fe₂O₃ in the pigment. Therefore, the preparation of coloured mortar with good compressive strength can be an attractive, environmentally friendly method of managing granite sludge wastes.     

Remote nondestructive evaluation technique using infrared thermography for fatigue cracks in steel bridges

Long‐standing infrastructure is subject to structural deterioration. In this respect, steel bridges suffer fatigue cracks, which necessitate immediate inspection, structural integrity evaluation or repair. However, the inaccessibility of such structures makes inspection time consuming and labour intensive. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing high‐performance nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to assist in effective maintenance of such structures. Recently, use of infrared cameras in nondestructive testing has been attracting increasing interest, as they provide highly efficient remote and wide area measurements. This paper first reviews the current situation of nondestructive inspection techniques used for fatigue crack detection in steel bridges, and then presents remote NDE techniques using infrared thermography developed by the author for fatigue crack detection and structural integrity assessments. Furthermore, results of applying fatigue crack evaluation to a steel bridge using the newly developed NDE techniques are presented.     

Structural build-up of rigid fiber reinforced cement-based materials

The structural build-up of rigid fiber reinforced cement-based materials is studied. It has recently been shown that the behaviour of fiber reinforced concrete depends on the orientation of the fibers that has to be optimized during casting. As a result, there is a great interest to study the rheology of fiber reinforced concrete. One of the most important characteristics of modern fresh concretes is the structural build-up which is involved in many recent issues of concrete casting. This characteristic depends on the cement pastes chemical activity. This present work shows that structural build-up modelling used for common concretes can be generalized to fiber reinforced concretes. It can be shown that, if the inclusions percolation threshold is not reached, the structural build-up rate A _thix is amplified by the addition of fibers and aggregates. Finally, this amplification of the structuration is estimated using modelling initially developed for spherical inclusions and aggregates.     

混杂纤维增强水泥基复合材料的力学性能

研究了化学改性聚丙烯（PP）纤维以及掺加聚丙烯纤维和芳纶纤维混杂比例和混杂效应对水泥基复合材料力学性能的影响,并构建了纤维增强水泥砂浆界面层的物理模型,描述了纤维对水泥砂浆的增强机制。实验表明,聚丙烯纤维经改性后使水泥砂浆前期抗折强度明显提高,聚丙烯纤维和芳纶纤维的混杂使水泥砂浆的后期抗折强度显著提高。改性聚丙烯纤维掺加体积分数为0.56%,芳纶纤维的体积分数为0.24%时,混杂纤维增强水泥砂浆试样较空白试样,3天、28天抗折强度分别提高了18.48%、31.17%,3天、28天抗压强度分别提高了7.16%、5.19%。     

Prediction of the diffusivity of cement-based materials using a three-dimensional spatial distribution model

A three-dimensional image of hardened cement paste was reconstructed using a backscattered electron image (BEI) and used to predict the diffusion properties of hardened cement paste. After the BEI observations, an autocorrelation function (ACF) was calculated for each phase of the hardened cement paste, including the unhydrated cement, portlandite, and large pores. A three-dimensional image was reconstructed on the basis of the ACF based on random distributions. The dynamic elastic modulus and diffusion coefficient were calculated using a finite-element or finite difference method with the reconstructed three-dimensional images. The elastic modulus of the C-S-H phase was determined by micro-indentation, and the diffusivity of C-S-H was calculated using this elastic modulus based on previous reports. The resulting predicted dynamic elastic moduli and diffusion coefficients were in good agreement with the experimental results. Although, it was observed that the predicted values of the diffusivity of the blended cement pastes is different from the measured values, a new relationship between diffusivity and porosity of C-S-H in blended cement pastes was developed in this study.     

水泥基复合材料中碳纤维的分散性研究

运用正交试验方法研究以羧甲基纤维素钠(CMC)和硅灰按不同比例配制的分散体系对碳纤维在水泥浆体中分散性的影响,采用新拌料浆法从多份新拌的水泥浆料中分离出碳纤维,并计算碳纤维质量的变动系数,由变动系数评价碳纤维的分散性和分散剂的作用效果.在各种CMC掺量下,硅灰均能显著改善碳纤维的分散性.随着CMC掺量的增加,碳纤维分散性提高.当CMC掺量为0.8%,硅灰掺量为15%时,CMC和硅灰的共同作用使变动系数最小,此时碳纤维在水泥基体中分散性最好,为最佳的分散剂配比.     

Photonic generation of tunable microwave signal using Brillouin fiber laser

A simple approach to generate two bands of tunable microwave signal is proposed and demonstrated. In this scheme, two single-mode fibers with optimized Brillouin frequency shift spacing have been chosen as the scattering medium in two cascaded ring cavities. Two bands of tunable microwave signal from 390 to 453 MHz and 10.863 to 11.076 GHz can be obtained through adjusting the temperature of the fiber and the pump wavelength. The tunable frequency range can be further expanded by using a temperature controller with a wider adjustment range. The generated microwave signal exhibits high stability on frequency.     

化学改性芳纶纤维增强水泥基复合材料的性能

采用化学改性法对芳纶纤维进行表面处理, 研究了改性前后芳纶纤维对水泥基复合材料强度及抗冲击性能的影响。结果表明: 芳纶纤维的掺入可以提高水泥砂浆的抗折强度和抗冲击性能, 经化学改性后的芳纶纤维增强效果更加明显。当掺杂纤维的体积分数为1.0%时, 化学改性前后芳纶纤维增强水泥砂浆试样与基准砂浆试样相比, 其28天抗折强度分别提高了15.18%和23.85%, 抗冲击韧性分别提高了276.74%和294.54%。采用SEM对芳纶纤维表面微观形貌及试样断口形貌进行了观察, 利用XPS对改性前后芳纶纤维表面元素变化进行了研究, 探讨了芳纶纤维对水泥砂浆的增强机制。      

Inclined tensile strength of steel fibres in a cement-based composite

An investigation of the behaviour of steel reinforcing fibres in a cement-based composite inclined to the direction of tensile load was carried out. Steel fibres with widely differing fibre parameters were tested and a new fibre characteristic, the inclined tensile strength (its), was identified. It was observed that the value of the its decreased with increasing inclination angle but the decrease varied according to the type of fibre. The ultimate tensile force sustained by the inclined fibres depended also on the magnitude of the strain. It indicated that for some types of fibre the properties of a randomly reinforced fibre composite after the first crack depended much more on the inclined fibres and their its than on the fibres aligned to the principal stress.     

Tension stiffening in reinforced high performance fiber reinforced cement-based composites

High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Cement-based Composite (HPFRCC) materials carry tension to strains greater than the yield strain of reinforcing steel and exhibit distributed compression damage with minimal spalling. Characterization of the interaction between the composite and steel reinforcement to large strains (i.e., >0.005) remains largely unknown. Three HPFRCC materials as well as concrete with a single reinforcing bar are tested in a prismatic specimen in uniaxial tension up to fracture of the reinforcement. Multiple cracking of the composite led to uniform bar yielding throughout the specimen and early hardening of the reinforcement at the location of dominant cracks. The reinforcement fractured within the HPFRCC at lower strain levels relative to the reinforced concrete. A modified approach based on planar analysis to estimate flexural strength of reinforced HPFRCC components using tension-stiffening data is proposed.     

Influence of silica fume content on microstructure development and bond to steel fiber in ultra-high strength cement-based materials (UHSC)

The use of silica fume can significantly enhance mechanical properties of concrete given its beneficial filling and pozzolanic effects. In this study, a simple and effective double-side pullout testing method was adopted to characterize the interfacial bond properties, which include pullout load-slip relationship, bond strength, and pullout energy, of steel fiber-matrix in ultra-high strength cement-based material (UHSC) with 0–25% silica fume by the mass of binder. The effects of silica fume content on flowability, heat of hydration, compressive and flexural strengths, hydration products, and pore structure of matrix at different curing time were evaluated as well. Backscatter scanning electron microscopy (BSEM) and micro-hardness measurement were used to examine the quality of interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around the fiber. In terms of the results, the optimal silica fume content could be in the range of 15%–25%. UHSC mixtures with these dosages of silica fume showed significant improvement in pullout behavior. Its bond strength and pullout energy at 28 d could increase by 170% and 250% compared to the reference samples without any silica fume. The microstructural observation verified the findings on the macro-properties development. Formation of more and higher strength of hydration products and refinement of ITZ around the fiber ensured higher micro-hardness, and thus improved the bond to fiber.     

超声波在碳纤维水泥基材料制备中的应用研究

为提高碳纤维在水泥基复合材料中的分散性,提出了两种改进的超声波辅助制备工艺——超声波分散纤维和超声波分散纤维加少量硅灰.应用电阻测试法评价了这两种工艺对碳纤维水泥浆的匀化效果,同时研究了超声波处理时间对复合材料匀化效果的影响.研究结果表明:由于超声波空化作用和机械作用可使纤维得到预分散,两种改进的超声波辅助制备工艺都可以提高碳纤维水泥基复合材料的均匀性;而且超声波处理时间越长,匀化效果越好,但达到一定时间后,匀化效果趋于饱和.     

Evaluation of fatigue life of steel using steel grain size

The insightful discussion of the relationship between the construction of metallographic and fatigue life and proposition of mathematical relationships describing this relationship was conducted in the paper. This paper presents a method for estimating the fatigue life, based on the construction of the microstructural material taking into account the grain size and the participation of ferrite and pearlite phase.