Deep beams are used in wide construction fields such as water tanks, foundations, and girders in multi-story buildings to provide certain areas free of columns. In practice it is quite often occurring to create web opening in deep beams to supply convenient passage of ventilation ducts, cable channels, gas and water pipes. Experimental studies of ten 10 deep beams were carried out, where two of them are control specimens without openings and eight with large web openings in the shear spans. The variables that have been adopted are the ratio of the shear span to the overall depth of the member cross-section, location and dimensions of the opening. Test results showed that there was a decrease in the load carrying capacity of deep beams with openings compared to the control deep beams. This reduction may reach 66% in particular cases. It is clear that, the position of opening in shear span has less effect on the performance of structural concrete deep beams at different serviceability stages. Only 11% increase in load capacity at failure was observed in specimens with openings adjacent to the interior edges of shear spans in comparison with specimens with openings at the center of shear span because the discontinuity of the load path is less. Also the midspan deflection at service load level of the reference beam in specimens with openings adjacent to interior edge of shear spans was less than the midspan deflection of reference specimens by 10% - 33%. Evaluating all these advantages facilitates to recommend, if it is very required, the creation of openings at the interior edges of shear spans of the structural concrete deep beams.
Concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns are being popular in civil engineering due to their superior structural characteristics. This paper investigates enhancement in axial behavior of CFST columns by adding steel fibers to plain concrete that infill steel tubes. Four specimens were prepared: two square columns (100*100 mm) and two circular columns (100 mm in diameter). All columns were 60 cm in length. Plain concrete mix and concrete reinforced with steel fibers were used to infill steel tube columns. Ultimate axial load capacity, ductility and failure mode are discussed in this study. The results showed that the ultimate axial load capacity of CFST columns reinforced with steel fibers increased by 28% and 20 % for circular and square c
... Show MoreThe 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 deflectio
This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
... Show MoreThis study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
... Show MoreThe conception and experimental assessment of a removable friction-based shear connector (FBSC) for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The FBSC uses pre-tensioned high-strength steel bolts that pass through countersunk holes drilled on the top flange of the steel beam. Pre-tensioning of the bolts provides the FBSC with significant frictional resistance that essentially prevents relative slip displacement of the concrete slab with respect to the steel beam under service loading. The countersunk holes are grouted to prevent sudden slip of the FBSC when friction resistance is exceeded. Moreover, the FBSC promotes accelerated bridge construction by fully exploiting prefabrication, does not raise issues relevant to precast co
... Show MoreRandom throwing of industrial waste has a significant impact on the environment unless it takes into account the conditions of engineered destroying and/or re-used. Taking the advantage of re-using waste materials in engineering projects represents a well-planned project in order to resolve a lot of engineering problems for some difficult soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate the capability and effects of Rubber Shreds (RS) from scrap torn belts towards improving the shear strength of soft clay. A direct shear tests were conducted on soft clay-RS mixture. The following parameters were investigated to study the influence of RS content, water content, normal stress, and dilation ratio. From experimental test results it was fou
... Show MoreThis research studies the influence of water source on the compressive strength of high strength concrete. Four types of water source were adopted in both mixing and curing process these are river, tap, well and drainage water (all from Iraq-Diyala governorate). Chemical analysis was carried out for all types of the used water including (pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), Turbidity, chloride, total suspended solid (TSS), and sulfates). Depending on the chemical analysis results, it was found that for all adopted sources the chemical compositions was within the ASTM C 1602/C 1602M-04 limits and can be satisfactorily used in concrete mixtures. Mixture of high strength concrete for compressive strength of (60 MPa) was designed and checked using
... Show MoreThis study presents a comprehensive set of laboratory works for the examined soil layers extracted from Baghdad city (specifically from Alkadhimya, Alaitaifiya, and Alhurriya) to illustrate their engineering properties. The researchers have adopted the unified soil classification system for soil classification purposes. Also, the direct shear test was performed for soil samples with various degrees of saturation (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%). The test results have shown a significant reduction in cohesion property with higher moisture content within soil samples. Also, a noticeable reduction in angle of internal friction value has occurred with such changes. Furthermore, it has been found that the bearing capacity of unsaturated soi
... Show MoreThis paper describes flexural behavior of two spans continuous rectangular concrete beams reinforced with mild steel and partially prestressing strands, to evaluate using different prestressing level and prestressing area in continuous prestressed beams at serviceability and ultimate stages. Six continuous concrete beams with 4550 mm length reinforced with mild steel reinforcement and partially prestressed with two prestressing levels of (0.7fpy or 0.55fpy.) of and different amount of 12.7 mm diameter seven wire steel strand were used. Test results showed that the partially prestressed reinforced beams with higher prestressing level exhibited the narrowest crack width, smallest deflection and strain in both steel and concrete at ul
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