The main aim of this study is to assess the performance and residual strength of post-fire non-prismatic reinforced concrete beams (NPRC) with and without openings. To do this, nine beams were cast and divided into three major groupings. These groups were classified based on the degrees of heating exposure temperature chosen (ambient, 400, and 700°C), with each group containing three non-prismatic beams (solid, 8 trapezoidal openings, and 8 circular openings). Experimentally, given the same beam geometry, increasing burning temperature caused degradation in NPRC beams, which was reflected in increased mid-span deflection throughout the fire exposure period and also residual deflection after cooling. But on the other hand, the issue with existing openings was exacerbated. The burned NPRC beams were then gradually cooled down by leaving them at ambient temperature in the laboratory, and the beams were loaded until failure to examine the effect of burning temperature degree on the residual ultimate load-carrying capacity of each beam by comparing them to unburned reference beams. It was found, increasing the exposure temperature leads to a reduction in ultimate strength about (5.7 and 10.84%) for solid NPRC beams exposed to 400 and 700°C, respectively related to unburned one, (21.13 -32.8) % for NPRC beams with eight trapezoidal openings, and (10.5 - 12.8) % for those having 8 circular openings. At higher loading stage the longitudinal compressive strain of Group ambient in mid-span of solid beams reach 2700 με, while the others with openings exhibit divergent strain higher than that, it’s about 3300 με meanwhile, the lower chord main reinforcements have been pass beyond yielding stress. Exposure to high temperatures reduces rafters’ stiffness causing a reduction in load carrying capacity, companion with premature failure consequently reduce the strain at the ultimate stage.
This research is carried out to study the effect of the external post-tensioning technique on the flexural capacity of simply supported composite castellated beam experimentally. In this research, seven composite castellated beams having the same dimensions and material properties were cast and tested up to failure by applied two concentrated loads at 700 mm from each end. Two external strands of 12.7 mm diameter were fixed at each side of the web of strengthening beams and located at depth 180 mm from top fiber of the section (dps) at each end of the beam. The strands have been tensioned by using a hydraulic jack with a constant stress of 100 MPa. This research aims to study the effect of the strengthening by different shapes of st
... Show MoreThe shear strength of soil is one of the most important soil properties that should be identified before any foundation design. The presence of gypseous soil exacerbates foundation problems. In this research, an approach to forecasting shear strength parameters of gypseous soils based on basic soil properties was created using Artificial Neural Networks. Two models were built to forecast the cohesion and the angle of internal friction. Nine basic soil properties were used as inputs to both models for they were considered to have the most significant impact on soil shear strength, namely: depth, gypsum content, passing sieve no.200, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, water content, dry unit weight, and initial
... Show MoreApplying load to a structural member may result in a bottle-shaped compression field especially when the width of the loading is less than the width of bearing concrete members. At the Building and Construction Department – the University of Technology-Iraq, series tests on fibre reinforced concrete specimens were carried out, subjected to compression forces at the top and bottom of the specimens to produce compression field. The effects of steel fibre content, concrete compressive strength, transverse tension reinforcement, the height of test specimen, and the ratio of the width of loading plate to specimen width were studied by testing a total of tenth normal strength concrete blocks with steel fibre and one normal s
... Show MoreOne of the most important problems that faces the concrete industry in Iraq is the deterioration due to internal sulfate attack , since it reduces the compressive strength and increases the expansion of concrete. Consequently, the concrete structure may be damage .The effects of total and total effective sulfate contents on high strength concrete (HSC) have been studied in the present study.
The research studied the effect of sulfate content in cement , sand and gravel , as well as comparing the total sulfate content with the total effective SO3 content. Materials used were divided into two groups of SO3 in cement ,three groups of SO3 in sand ,and two groups of SO
... Show MoreThe present investigation considers the effect of curing temperatures (30, 40, and 50˚C) and curing compound method on compressive strength development of high performance concrete, and compares the results with concrete cured at standard conditions and curing temperature (21˚C). The experimental results showed that at early ages, the rate of strength development at high curing temperature is greater than at lower curing temperature, the maximum increasing percentage in compressive strength is 10.83% at 50C˚ compared with 21C˚ in 7days curing age. However, at later ages, the strength achieved at higher curing temperature has been less, and the maximum percentage of reduction has been 5.70% at curing temperature 50C˚ compared with 21
... Show MoreSand dunes are spread in multiple places in the world especially in a desert area as a result of economic development and construction processes, there was a need to study the behavior of sand dunes and make it suitable for construction. This paper aims to study the effect of adding sodium silicate on the cohesion strength of sand dune and its behavior. The results show that the cohesion strength increase as a percentage of sodium silicate increase (addition 8% Sodium silicate show the higher cohesion) and the cohesion between sand dune particles increase excepted when using 10% sodium silicate the cohesion began to decrease. However, the effect of curing time is significant and shows
One of the most important problems that faces the concrete industry in Iraq is the deterioration due to internal sulfate attack , since it reduces the compressive strength and increases the expansion of concrete. Consequently, the concrete structure may be damage .The effects of total and total effective sulfate contents on high strength concrete (HSC) have been studied in the present study. The research studied the effect of sulfate content in cement , sand and gravel , as well as comparing the total sulfate content with the total effective SO3 content. Materials used were divided into two groups of SO3 in cement ,three groups of SO3 in sand ,and two groups of SO3 in gravel. The results show that considering the total effective sulfate con
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