This paper reports an evaluation of the properties of medium-quality concrete incorporating recycled coarse aggregate (RCA). Concrete specimens were prepared with various percentages of the RCA (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%). The workability, mechanical properties, and durability in terms of abrasion of cured concrete were examined at different ages. The results reveal insignificant differences between the recycled concrete (RC) and reference concrete in terms of the mechanical and durability-related measurements. Meanwhile, the workability of the RC reduced vastly since the replacement of the RCA reached 75% and 100%. The ultrasound pulse velocity (UPV) results greatly depend on the porosity of concrete and the RC exhibited higher porosity than that of the reference concrete, particularly at the transition zone between the RCA and the new paste. Therefore, the sound transmission in the RC required longer times than that in the reference concrete. Moreover, a predictive equation relating the compressive strength to the UPV was developed.
This paper presents a study (experimentally) for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams with Near-Surface-Mounted (NSM) technique. The use of this technique with CFRP strips or rebars is an efficient technology for increasing the strength for flexure and shear or for repairing damaged reinforced concrete (RC) members. The objective of this research is to study, experimentally, RC beams either repaired or strengthened with NSM CFRP strips and follow their flexural behavior and failure modes. NSM-CFRP strips were used to strengthen three RC beam specimens, one of them was initially strengthened and tested up to failure. Four beam specimens have been initially subjected to preloading to 50% and 80% of ultimate load. Two of the sp
... Show MoreThe action of high repeated trucks load associated with dramatically elevated ambient temperatures leads to the most harmful distress in asphalt pavements occurred in Iraq known as rutting. Essentially, it is produced from the accumulation of irrecoverable strains, which mainly occurred in the asphalt layers. That visually demonstrated as a longitudinal depression in the wheel paths as well as small upheavals to the sides. Poly Phosphoric Acid (PPA) has been used as a means of producing modified asphalt binders and the interest to use it has increased in recent years. The PPA provides modified asphalt binder, which is relatively cheaply produced compared to polymer-modified asphalt. In this paper, PPA was used by three-percentages 1
... Show MoreThe excessive permanent deformation (rutting) in asphalt-concrete pavements resulting from frequent repetitions of heavy axle loads is studied in this paper. Rutting gradually develops with additional load applications and appears as longitudinal depressions in the wheel path. There are many causes of the rutting of asphalt roads, such as poor asphalt mixing and poor continuous aggregate gradation. All factors affecting the mixture resistance to permanent deformation must be discussed, and all must be properly considered to reduce the rutting propensity of asphalt-aggregate mixtures. In this study, several mixtures were produced with the most common techniques in rutting resistance (using the most effective additives for each mixture), and
... Show MoreThis paper demonstrates an experimental and numerical study on the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns with longitudinal steel embedded tubes positioned at the center of the column cross-section. A total of 12 pin-ended square sectional columns of 150 × 150 mm having a total height of 1400 mm were investigated. The considered variables were the steel tube diameters of 29, 58, and 76 mm and the load eccentricity (0, 50, and 150) mm. Accordingly, these columns were divided into three groups (four columns in each group) depending on the load eccentricity (e) to column depth (h) ratio (e/h = 0, 1/3, and 1). For each group, one column was solid (reference), and the other three columns contained steel tubes with hollow rat
... Show MoreThis experimental study demonstrates the gable-reinforced concrete beams’ behavior with several number of openings (six and eight) and posts’ inclination, aimed to find the strength reduction in this type of beam. The major results found are: for the openings extending over similar beam length it is better to increase the number of posts (openings),
Modified asphalt is considered one of the alternatives to address the problems of deficiencies in traditional asphalt concrete, as modified asphalt addresses many of the issues that appear on the pavement layers in asphalt concrete, resulting from heavy traffic and vehicles loaded with loads that exceed the design loads and the large fluctuations in the daily and seasonal temperatures of asphalt concrete. The current study examined the role of polyphosphoric acid (PPA) as a modified material for virgin asphalt when it was added in different proportions (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%) of the asphalt weight. The experimental program includes the volumetric characteristics associated with the Marshall test, the physical properties, and th
... Show MoreA composite section is made up of a concrete slab attached to a steel beam by means of shear connectors. Under positive and negative bending moment, part of the slab will act as a flange of the beam, resisting the longitudinal compression or tension force. When the spacing between girders becomes large, it is evident that the simple beam theory does not strictly apply because the longitudinal stress in the flange will vary with distance from the girder web, the flange being more highly stressed over the web than in the extremities. This phenomenon is termed "shear lag". In this paper, a nonlinear three-dimensional finite element analysis is employed to evaluate and determine the actual effective slab width of the composite steel-concrete
... Show MoreReflective cracking is one of the primary forms of deterioration in pavements. It is widespread when Asphalt concrete (AC) overlays are built over a rigid pavement with discontinuities on its surface. Thus, this research work aims to reduce reflection cracks in asphalt concrete overlay on the rigid pavement. Asphalt Concrete (AC) slab specimens were prepared in three thicknesses (4, 5, and 6 cm). All these specimens were by testing machine designed and manufactured at the Engineering Consulting Office of the University of Baghdad to examine for the number of cycles and loads needed to propagate the reflection cracking in the asphalt concert mixture at three temperatures (20, 30, and 30°C). It was noticed that the higher thickness A
... Show MoreThis study examines the impact of different curing methods on the compressive strength of concrete. It investigates techniques such as air curing, periodic water spraying, full water submersion, and polyethylene encasement. Artificial neural network models were employed to evaluate the compressive strength under each curing condition. A model for calculating compressive strength that considers surrounding conditions was created using an artificial neural network. The current study’s figures were generated using this model. The research thoroughly examined the impact of curing environments and concrete mix components on strength properties, taking into account factors such as tempera