The Tenth Arab Structural Engineering Conference Paper Page 313

Proceedings of
The Tenth Arab Structural Engineering Conference

13 15 November, 2006
Kuwait
Editors
Husain Al-Khayat and Mohamed Abdel-Rohman
Sponsors
Kuwait University (KU)
Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE)
Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Science (KFAS)
Co-Sponsors
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR)
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC)
American Society of Civil Engineers
Preface
The main objective of the Arab Structural Engineering Conference (ASEC) is to
provide a forum for the structural engineering researchers and engineers to discuss
their recent research results and applications in the area of structural engineering. The
conference is held every two or three years in an Arab Country. The first conference
was held in 1985 in Egypt, the second conference was in 1987 in Jordan, the third
conference was in 1989 in the United Arab Emirates, the fourth conference was in
1991 in Egypt, the fifth was in 1993 in Libya, the sixth was in 1995 in Syria, the
seventh was in 1997 in Kuwait, the eighth was in 2000 in Egypt, the ninth was in
2003 in the United Arab Emirates.
The current conference is the tenth which is held in Kuwait during the period from 13
to 15 November 2006. The conference was organized by the Department of Civil
Engineering in Kuwait University and the Kuwait Society of Engineers. The main
sponsors were Kuwait University (KU), Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE) and
Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). The co-sponsors were
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Kuwait National Petroleum
Company (KNPC).
The organizers invited five world known speakers from Australia, Turkey, UK and
USA to present state of art papers in their specialties.
The main topics of the papers presented in the conference are:
Composite and steel structures
Construction Management
Damage assessment
Materials
Reinforced concrete structures
Soil-structure interaction
Structural analysis
Structural behavior
Structural design
Structural repair
Structural testing
Each abstract or paper was subjected to the review process by two specialized
referees. The total number of full-length papers which were received and met the
deadlines was 86 papers from which 68 papers were accepted for the presentation and
included in this proceedings.
The organizing and scientific committees greatly appreciate the cooperation from the
authors, reviewers and keynote speakers who shared in the success of this conference.
Thanks to the members of the committees who accomplished their assigned tasks on
time since the beginning of organizing this conference.
Husain Al-Khaiat Mohamed Abdel-Rohman
Chairman of the Conference Chairman of The Scientific Committee
COMMITTEES
CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN
Prof. Husain Al-Khaiat
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Prof. Husain Al-Khaiat (Chairman)
Prof. Mohamed Abdel-Rohman (KU)
Dr. Naji Al-mutarey (KFAS)
Dr. Hasan Kamal (KISR)
Eng. Mohammed Al-Rasheedi / Ashwaq Al-Mudhaf (KSE)
Eng. Ahmad Al-Dosari (KSE)
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Prof. Mohamed Abdel-Rohman (Chairman)
Prof. Husain Al-Khaiat
Prof. Mohammed Naseer Haque
Prof. Abdul Latif Al-khulaify
Prof. Humayun Raibul-Hasan Kabir
Dr. Khaldon Rahal
THE PERMANENT ORGANIZING COMMITTEE FOR THE ARAB
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING CONFERENCES:
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Aly Reda Youssef (Egypt) (Chairman)
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Atef Rashed (Egypt)
Prof. Dr. Osman Mohamed Osman (Egypt)
Prof. Dr. Husain Al-Khaiat (Kuwait)
Prof. Dr. AbdelKader Cherrabi (Morocco)
Dr. Amer Ali Al-Rawas (Oman)
Dr. Khaled Kamal Naji (Qatar)
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Abdul-Latif Al-Khaleefi, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Abdul Q. M Ezzeldin Yazeed Sayed-Ahmed, University of Qatar, Qatar
Abdul Q. Melhem, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria
Ahmed Abdel raheem, Mansoura University, Egypt
Ahmed Mohamed Farahat, Cairo University, Egypt
Ahmed Rashed, Cairo University, Egypt
Ali zregh, Al-Fateh University, Libya
Alsanusi, Garyounis University, Libya
Ammar Bin Nakhi, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Amr Sadek, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Azza M. Elleboudy, Banha University, Egypt
Bachir REDJEL , Univerisity of Annaba, Algeria
Brahim NECIB, University of Constantine, Algeria
Hamayun Kabir, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Hasan Kamal, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Hashem Al-Tabtabai, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Hossam Hodhod, Cairo University, Egypt
Husain Al-Khayat, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Ishac Ishac, Zagazig University, Egypt
Kamal Sharobim, Suez Canal University, Port Said, Egypt
Khaldoun Rahal, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Mahmoud Aly Reda Youssef, Cairo University, Egypt
Mahmud Akkari, Libya
Mohammad Al-Ani, University of Technology, Iraq
Mohamed Abdel-Rohman, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Mohamed Terro, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Mohammed Naseerul Haque, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Moetaz Al-Hawary, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Nabil A.B. Yehia, Cairo University, Egypt
Nabil Kartam, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Nabil S. Mahmoud, Mansoura University, Egypt
Obada Al-Kayali, UNSW, Australia
Osman Ramadan, Cairo University, Egypt
Parviz Koushki, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Rana Alfares, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Sami Tabsh, American University, Al-Sharqa, UAE
Sanaa Al-Desouki, Cairo University, Egypt
Sayed Abdel-Salam, Zagazig University, Egypt
S.Y. Barony, University of Al-Fateh, Libya
Suresh Shrivastava, McGill University, Canada
Ted Stathopoulos, Concordia University; Montreal, Canada
TABLE OF CONTENTS
KEYNOTE PAPERS
CEMENTS AND CONCRETE MIXTURES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT -
STATE OF THE ART
page 1
P. KUMAR MEHTA
Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Berkeley, USA
TAILORING THE DESIGN OF CONTEMPORARY TALL BUILDINGS FOR WIND
EFFECTS
page 17
AHSAN KAREEM
Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, USA
INTER-STORY DRIFT REQUIREMENTS FOR NEAR-FIELD EARTHQUAKES
page 35
P. GLKAN
Disaster Management Research Center and
Department of Civil Engineering
Middle East Technical University
Ankara, Turkey
DURABILITY DESIGN A HOLISTIC CONCRETE CODE FOR THE 21
ST
CENTURY
page 49
R.N. SWAMY
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Sheffield
Sheffield, UK
THE EFFECT OF REINFORCEMENT TYPE ON THE DUCTILITY OF
SUSPENDED REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS
page 57
R.I. GILBERT
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The University of New South Wales
Sydney, Australia
TECHNICAL PAPERS
Composite and Steel Structures
Modeling of Local Buckling in Continuous Composite Beams
M. TEHAMI and M. HAMANE, University of Sciences and Technology of Oran, Algeria
page 69
Modeling Effect of the Shear Connector-Welding Region on the Nonlinear
Analysis of Composite Beams
A. F. KADHIM, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
page 77
Behavior Factor for Moment Resisting Steel Frames with End Plate Connections
A. I. RAMADAN, A. F. HASSAN, and S. A. MOURAD, Cairo University, Egypt
page 85
Partial Interaction in Composite Beams Subjected to Torsion in Sagging Moment
Region
A. M. EL-SHIHY, H. SHEHAB EL-DIN, H. FAWZY SHABAAN, S. A. A. MUSTAFA,
Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt and S.S.J. MOY, Southampton University, UK
page 93
Construction Management
Analyzing Engineering-Related Delays: An Expert System Approach
M. M. MARZOUK, A.M. EL-DOKHMASEY AND M.E. IBRAHIM, Cairo University and
ALEZZ Flat Steel, Egypt
page 105
Damage Assessment
Assessment of Pounding Damage Potential for Buildings
M. M. MOKHTAR, A. F. HASSAN AND S. A. MOURAD, Cairo University, Egypt
page 113
Prospective for Developing Rating and Monitoring Systems for Libyas Bridge
Network
MILAD M. ALSHEBANI, Alfateh University, Tripoli, Libya
page 121
Characterisation and Analysis of Smart Materials Based on Adaptable Shape
Memory Alloys
B. NECIB, M. S. SAHLI, F. MILI, A. MERABET and E. FERKOUS
University of Mentouri Constantine, Constantine, Algeria
page 129
New Sensors for Damage Detection Using Nano Photonic Bandgap Materials
M.M. REDA TAHA, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA
page 141
A Nouvelle Approach for Assessing the Possibility of Damage in Structures
M.M. REDA TAHA and E. ALTUNOK, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA
page 149
Materials
The Effect of Using Urea and Urea-Formaldehyde Polymer on the Properties of
Concrete
A. A. MAHMOUD, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
page 157
Studying the Effect of Using Polymerized Alpha and Beta Naphthol with
Formaldehyde on the Properties of Concrete
A. A. MAHMOUD and E. A. NASR, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
page 169
Balancing Flowability and Stability of Self-Compacting Concrete
Y. A. ABDEL-JAWAD QAWASMI, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbid, Jordan
page 177
- - -
page 185
Mechanical Behavior of Two-Stage (Pre-Placed Aggregate) Concrete
H. S. ABDELGADER, A. E. BEN-ZEITUN, A. F. SAUD and A. A. ELGALHUD
Al. Fateh University, Tripoli, Libya
page 191
- - -
page 199
Effectiveness and Mechanism of Corrosion Inhibiting Admixtures
A. M. K. ABDELALIM, G. E. ABDELAZIZ and Y. A. FAWZY, Banha University, Shoubra,
Cairo, Egypt
page 205
Development of Perlite-Gypsum-Slag-Lime Sludge Composite System for
Building Application
M. S. MORSY, S. S. SHEBL and M. ABD EL GAWAD SAIF, Housing & Building
National Research Center, Giza, Egypt
page 213
A Draft Code for Designing Durable Concrete Structures in the Arabian Gulf
B. E. JOHN, M. N. HAQUE and H. AL-KHAIAT, Kuwait University, Kuwait
page 223
High Performance Concrete Using Slags as Mineral Additives and Steel Fibres
M. CHEMROUK, B. BOULEKBACHE, M. HAMRAT and T. TAHENI, University of
Science & Technology, Houari, Boumediene, Algiers, Algeria
page 231
Performance of Portland and Natural Pozzolana Cement Mortars Exposed to
Sulfate Environments
S. KENAI, University of Blida, Blida and M. GHRICI, University of Chlef, Chlef, Algeria
page 241
Theoretical Simulation and Applied Measures of Roller Compacted Concrete
(RCC) Strength: Case of Local Materials Quarries of Tunisia
M. ZDIRI, M. BEN OUEZDOU and J. NEJI, National Engineering School of Tunis, Higher
Institute for Technological Studies, Tunis Polytechnic School, Tunisia
page 249
Ductility and Energy Absorption of Polyester Mortar
M.M. EL-HAWARY, S.AL-OTAIBI AND A. ABDUL-JALEEL, KUWAIT INSTITUTE FOR
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, KUWAIT
page 257
Reinforced Concrete Structures
Method for Predicting Prestressing Force Needed to Close Crack in R.C. Beams
Strengthened by External Tendons
ABDELSALAM M. AKASHA, Sebha University - Libya
page 265
A Truss Model for Eccentric Shear Transfer at Edge-Column Slab Connections
A. G. SHERIF, Helwan University, Mataria, Cairo, Egypt
page 273
Curvature and Displacement Ductilities of Reinforced Concrete Columns
B. BOUSALEM AND N. CHIKH, University Mentouri Constantine, Algeria
page 281
Post-Installed Reinforcing Bar Splices in Concrete Beams
Y. K. AL-GHADANI, Building Permit Department, Muscat Municipality, Oman
A. S. AL-HARTHY, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
page 289
Mechanical Reinforcing Bar Coupler Based on Bar Deformations
S.S. ALI-ELDIN and A.A. AL-TUHAMI, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
page 297
Soil-Structures Interaction
Safety of Skin Friction Drilled Shaft Foundations in Gravelly Soils
A. M. HARRAZ and M. M. EL-MELIGY, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
page 305
Buckling Analysis of Piles Using The Finite Difference Method
ABDULSALAM I. M. AL-JANABI, SALEH A. M. H. MIRAN and BALSAM J. M.
FARID, University of Altahadi, Sirt, Libya
page 313
Optimum Structural Design of Counterfort Retaining Walls
ABDULSALAM I.M. AL-JANABI, AZIZA M.A. MELAD and MARIAM M.A.
ABUALAWAFI, University of Altahadi, Sirt, Libya
page 323
Behavior Improvement of Footings on Soft Clay Utilizing Geofoam
G. E. ABDELRAHMAN and A. F. ELRAGI, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt
page 333
The Effect of Interface on the Performance of Piles in Expansive Soils
Y. E. A. MOHAMEDZEIN, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman
F. E. NOUR ELDAYEM, Al-Azhari University, Omdurman, Sudan
page 339
Innovative Use of Piled Raft Foundation to Optimize the Design of High-Rise
Buildings
Y. M. EL-MOSSALLAMY, F. M. EL-NAHHAS and A. S. ESSAWY, Ain Shams
University, Cairo, Egypt
page 347
Effect of Flexibility of Spread Footings on Structural Behavior
S. W. TABSH, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah and A.R. AL-SHAWA, Toshiba
Corporation, Abu Dhabi, UAE
page 359
Structural Analysis
Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Concrete Beams Reinforced with FRP
Rebars
H.M. IBRAHIM, Suez Canal University, Port Said, Egypt
page 369
Selection of Optimum Lateral Load-Resisting System Using Artificial Neural
Networks
M.H. ELGAMMAL, M.M. WAHBA and S.A. MOURAD, Cairo University, Egypt
M.A. BADR EL DIN, EETC, Giza, Egypt
page 377
Optimal Lateral Displacement Control of High-Rise Buildings Using the DPFs
Method
S.S. ABDEL-SALAM, O.E. SHALLAN and M.I. MOUSTAFA, Zagazig University,
Egypt
page 385
Elastic Stability of Ponded Clamped Beams
M. M. TAWIL, Academy of Graduate Studies, Janzur, Libya
page 393
Analysis of Rectangular Plates: A Variational Symbolic Approach
HUSAIN JUBRAN AL-GAHTANI, King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
page 399
Dynamic Analysis of Fixed Offshore Structures in Deep Water under the Action
of Earthquake Load
R. A. OTHMAN and B. B. AL-ALOUSI, University of Baghdad, Iraq
page 405
Effect of Shear Deformation on the Flexural Vibration of Multilayered Beams
A.M. SEGAYER, Al-Fateh University, Tripoli, Libya
M.A. WAHAB and N.A. MAREIMI, High Institution of Global Professions, Rigdalin, Libya
page 413
Analysis of Elastio-Plastic Deformations of Shells of Revolution by the Finite
Element Method
A. ROUABHI, MHamed Bouguerra University, Boumerdes, Algrie, Algeria
page 423
Structural Behavior
Fracture Behavior of Flanged Reinforced Concrete Beams Experimental
Investigation
N. M. WAHAB and N. A. B. YEHIA, Cairo University, Egypt
page 431
Mitigation of Progressive Collapse Initiation in High Rise Buildings
F.A. KASTI, Dar Al-Handash, Beirut, Lebanon
page 439
Economic Feasibility and Structural Modeling of Post-Tensioned Flat Slabs
A. S. ESSAWY, A. A. ABDELRAHMAN, and E. A. YEHIA, Ain Shams University, Egypt
page 449
Behavior of High-Strength Reinforced Concrete L-Beams Subjected to
Combined Shear and Torsion
ALAA ZOHERY, HAMED SALEM, WAEL ELDEGWY and AHMED FARAHAT, Cairo
University, Egypt
HAMDY SHAHEEN, Housing and Building Research Institute, Egypt
page 457
Effect of Tension Reinforcement Ratio on Curvature and Displacement Ductility
Indices of HSC Beams
S. F. KANSOUH, Helwan University, Mattaria, Cairo, Egypt
page 467
Shear Behavior of Self Compacting Concrete Beams
S. F. KANSOUH, Helwan University, Mattaria, Cairo, Egypt
page 477
Shear Behavior of High Strength Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams Under
Different Levels of Axial Compression Forces
IBRAHIM G. SHAABAN, Banha University, Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt
page 489
Structural Design
Design of Structures for Tsunamis
A. GHOBARAH, UAE University, AlAin, United Arab Emirates
page 497
Shear-Torsion-Bending Interaction Using AASHTO-LRFD General Procedure
KHALDOUN N. RAHAL, Kuwait University, Kuwait
page 505
MODELING TERRAIN EFFECTS And APPLICATION To The WIND
LOADING OF BUILDINGS
K. WANG, RWDI Inc., Guelph, Canada
T. STATHOPOULOS, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
page 515
A Design Procedure for Proportioning Regular Earthquake Resistant RC
Frames
N. DJEBBAR and N. CHIKH, Constantine University, Constantine, Algeria
page 525
Comparative Study of Quantity and Cost of a Multistory Building with Different
R/C Floor Systems
J.A. ABDALLA and S. EL-SAYEGH, American Univ. of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
K. AL-SUWAIDI and S. BAJUBAIR, ADNOC, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
page 533
Towards A New African Concrete Code (ACC)
A. S. NGAB, Al Fatah University, Tripoli, Libya
page 543
Structural Repair
CFRP Strengthening of Prestressed-Precast Hollow Core Slabs to Resist
Negative Moments
A. HOSNY and A. A. RAHMAN, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
E. Y. SAYED-AHMED, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
N. A. ALHLABY, Trust Group, Doha, Qatar
page 551
Repair of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Debonded Bars
H.A. ABDALLA, College of Technological Studies, Kuwait
H. MOSTAFA and T. GAMAL EL-DEEN, Cairo University, Egypt
page 559
Flexural Repair of Reinforced Concrete Beams - Experimental Investigation
N. A. B. YEHIA, Cairo University, Egypt
page 567
Behavior of Concrete Beams Repaired with Lightweight Epoxy Mortar
H. I. ABDEL-FATTAH, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
page 575
Strengthening of High Strength Concrete Columns with External Glass Fiber
Composite
N. CHIKH and R. BENZAID, Constantine University, Constantine, Algeria
B. BOUSALEM and N. DJEBBAR,

Jijel University, Jijel, Algeria
page 581
Retrofitting of RC Columns with Accessible and Inaccessible Faces Using the
Mechanical Strengthening Technique
A. A. AL-TUHAMI, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
page 589
Strengthening of Masonry Walls Subjected to In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Loads
A. A. AL-TUHAMI and H. K. SHEHAB, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
page 601
Structural Testing
Influence of Loading Rate on Axial Capacity of Pile Groups in Clay from
Laboratory Model Tests
A. I. AL-MHAIDIB, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
page 611
Experimental Study of Steel-Concrete-Steel Sandwich Beams with Partial Shear
Connection
H. M. HUSAIN, Tikrit University, Tikrit, Iraq
B. S. AL-NU'MAN and M. A. ZEBUN, Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq
page 621
Effect of High Temperature on Load-Slip Relationship of Shear Connectors in
Sandwich Beams
M. A. ZEBUN, Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq
page 629
Load-Slip Relationship in Sandwich Beams Using Modified Push-Out Test
M.A. ZEBUN, Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq
page 637
Buckling of Steel Portal Frames Considering Material Nonlinearity: An
Experimental Study
G. ABU-FARSAKH, Al-Isra University and Y. HUNATI and H. QADAN, Jordan
University, Amman, Jordan
page 645
Full-Scale Dynamic Testing of the Alfred Zampa Memorial Suspension Bridge
A.M. WAHBEH, J.P. CAFFERY, F.TASBIHGOO, California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona, S.F. MASRI, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, J. CONTE, X. HE, B.
MOAVENI, A. ELGAMAL, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California.,
USA
page 657
CEMENTS AND CONCRETE MIXTURES FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT STATE OF THE ART

P. KUMAR MEHTA

Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT: After a century of unprecedented and unrestricted industrial growth, now we are
entering into an era of sustainable development. Portland-cement concrete is the most commonly
used material today for the construction of buildings and infrastructure. However, future viability
of the concrete industry is threatened not only by potential shortage of energy and materials, but
also by unacceptable levels of environmental pollution from the solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes
of the industry. This paper presents a state of the art report showing how the industry is
responding to the challenge for sustainable growth by developing cements and concrete mixtures
which consume less energy and natural resources, while reducing environmental pollution.

INTRODUCTION

In our industrial and urban world of today, portland-cement concrete is the most widely used
material of construction for buildings and infrastructure. How long in the foreseeable future
would concrete continue to dominate the field of construction materials? This depends on the
response of designers and builders of concrete structures to the powerful forces that are shaping
the world, namely global warming and sustainable development.
The term, sustainability, entered into the public discourse with the issue of the Brundtland
Report in 1987 by the U.N. Commission on Environment and Development. The Commission
defined sustainable development as the ability to meet our needs without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their needs.
Have we entered into an era of unsustainable growth. If so, when and how? What are the
causes of global warming and related climate change, and how can they be mitigated? How are
the sustainability issues affecting the construction industry in general, and the concrete
construction practice in particular? A brief review of this background information is included in
this paper which presents a global review of cements and concrete mixtures that are being
developed as a part of the strategies for reducing the environmental impact of the concrete
industry.

SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

Since the end of the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago, the earths climate has remained
reasonably stable. There is strong evidence that climate change attributable to radical planetary
changes during the 20
th
century is now underway. Let us take a look at some of the changes that
have occurred during the short span of the last 100 years:
Human population, that had taken ten thousand years to grow to 1500 million, rose from
1500 to nearly 6000 million.
Fueled by technology and cheap sources of energy, water, and minerals, the production
rates of basic agricultural and industrial products increased 10 to 20 times.
1
The 10th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 13 -15 November 2006, Kuwait
1
Statistics show that there is a direct relationship between population growth,
industrialization, and urbanization. At the beginning of the 20
th
century, nearly 150
million people lived in cities; now the number of people who are living in and around the
cities has risen to approximately 3000 million. The world today also has 20 mega-cities
of more than 10 million people each.
2
This shows that a rapid urbanization of the planet
has taken place.
Not only the world is running out of cheap, non-renewable, sources of energy and
materials but also the space for disposal of waste products of our civilization. According
to Hawken et al
1
, only 6% of the total global flow of materials (i.e. 30 billion tonnes out
of 500 billion tonnes a year), ends up in consumer goods; thus the yearly volume of
industrial solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes that require disposal amounts to some 470
billion tonnes.
In recent years, there is an increasing frequency and intensity in weather-related disasters
in the world that are attributable to man-made global warming, caused by steadily rising
concentration of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide, mostly produced by the
combustion of fossil fuels, is the major greenhouse gas. According to a 2001 report by
IPCC (Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change), carbon dioxide level in the
atmosphere has risen well above the pre-industrial level of about 280 ppm to over 375
ppm and, with business-as-usual, an exponential rise is predicted during the next 100
years (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Historical and future atmospheric CO
2
concentrations. (From Mehta, P.K., Conc. Int.,
Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 61-66, Oct 2001.)

Due to our highly wasteful technology choices, we have reached a point when it is becoming
increasingly clear that, in a finite planetary space the pursuit of unlimited industrial growth,
unrestricted use of natural resources, and uncontrolled pollution of our life-supporting
environment is a recipe for self-destruction.
2
The status of the sustainability issue was recently summarized in a joint statement by
representatives of science academies from 11 major countries of the world, namely Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, U.K., and U.S.A. The following
excerpts are taken from this statement, which was published by the New York Times on June 7,
2005.
There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the worlds climate.
However, there is now a strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The
evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface
ocean temperatures, and from phenomena such as increases in global sea levels, retreating
glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the
warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities. This warming has already led to
changes in the Earths climate.
Increasing temperatures are likely to increase the frequency and severity of extreme-weather
events such as heat waves and heavy rainfall. Increasing temperatures could lead to large-scale
effects, such as melting of large ice sheets with major impact on low-lying regions throughout the
world.
We call on world leaders:
to acknowledge that this threat of climate change is clear and is increasing
to identify cost-effective steps that can be taken now to contribute to substantial and
long-term reduction in net global greenhouse emissions
to recognize that delayed action will increase the risk of adverse environmental effects
and will likely incur a great cost.
According to a more recent report, published in the April 3, 2006 issue of the Time Magazine,
many climate scientists believe today that we have already crossed a tipping point beyond which
the slow creep of environmental degradation has given way to a sudden and self-perpetuating
collapse of the global climate. So far, the response of the world political and corporate leaders to
stabilize and reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions has been rather mixed. According to the Kyoto
Protocol, signed by 141 countries in February 2005, the signatory countries agreed to stabilize the
GHG emissions by the year 2012 to a level that is at least 6% below the 1990 level. Among the
industrially developed countries the U.S., which is responsible for nearly 25% of the worlds GHG
emissions, did not sign the Kyoto Protocol. Some of the rapidly developing, large economies,
such as China and India, also have not signed it. On the other hand, many states in the U.S., some
80 large cities around the world, and numerous multinational corporations have individually
signed onto programs that intend to meet or beat the Kyoto targets.

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

In the context of sustainability and global warming as two of the most powerful forces shaping
our world, let us review the trends in the construction industry. Worldwide, buildings and other
structures are a large consumer of energy and natural resources. They consume nearly 40% of the
crushed stone together with sand and gravel, 25% virgin wood, 16% water, and 40% of the total
energy.
4
The most significant environmental impact of buildings is associated with their use, such
as heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, and waste disposal. In industrialized countries, green
building design is a growing movement that places environmental considerations at the forefront
of the design process in order to encourage ways of minimizing the use of energy and materials,
and maximizing the recycling of waste. For instance, the U.S. Green Building Council has a
certification program for buildings that involves a point rating system called the LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) System. It has five main credit categories;
3
namely sustainable site, water use efficiency, energy use efficiency, materials and resources, and
indoor environmental quality.

Environmental Impact of the Concrete Industry

Energy and resources: Portland cement, the principal hydraulic cement used worldwide for
modern concrete structures, not only is a product of an energy-intensive industry but also is
responsible for large greenhouse-gas emissions that are associated with its production. Producing
a tonne of portland-cement requires nearly 4 GJ energy, and the manufacture of portland clinker
releases approximately 0.8 to 1 tonne carbon dioxide depending on the chemical composition of
the fuel used for clinker burning.
The worlds present annual production rate of 1800 million tonnes of cement and 14000
million tonnes of concrete, raises some serious issues about the environmental impact of the
concrete industry. Assuming an average of 0.6 water-cement ratio and 75% aggregate content by
mass, more than 1,000 million tonnes of potable water, and 11 billion tonnes of sand, gravel, and
crushed rock are consumed worldwide for making concrete every year. Large quantities of
additional water are required as wash-water for aggregate and ready-mixed concrete trucks, and
for curing concrete. Therefore, among the manufacturing industries, the concrete industry is the
largest consumer of natural resources in the world. The mining, processing, and moving
operations, involving huge quantities of cement-making and concrete-making raw materials,
require large amounts of energy besides leaving destructive footprints on the ecology of riverbeds
and forests. Transport of huge volumes of cement, concrete mixtures, and precast concrete
products also consumes considerable energy.

Durability and resource productivity: Increase in the durability of a manufactured product
means a more efficient use of energy and resources that have gone into its production. This
approach, in the long term, provides an obvious solution for minimization of the environmental
pollution, associated with wasteful consumption of the earths non-renewable resources. Hawken
et al
1
describe the Factor Ten Club movement toward enhancement of resource productivity. The
club has challenged the nations of the world to achieve, within one generation, a ten-fold increase
in the efficiency with which they use energy, natural resources and other materials. This would
mean a 90% reduction in the consumption of energy and materials. The European Union has
endorsed this approach as the new paradigm for sustainable development. Hawken and his co-
authors wrote:

Minimization of materials use, maximization of product durability, and reduction of the
maintenance cost would not only increase customer satisfaction and product value but also the
profitability of the business enterprise. The worlds ecosystems will be protected when both
consumers and producers acquire a stake in improving the resource productivity.

The report card on the durability of concrete in modern structures is not satisfactory. Whereas
some of the ancient concrete structures built with Roman cements are still in good condition after
nearly two thousand years, portland-cement based structures, usually designed for a service life of
40 to 50 years, often crack and start deteriorating soon after installation, thus requiring repair and
replacement much earlier than their designed life. According to the April 1998 issue of ASCE
News, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nations infrastructure a failing grade of
D, and estimated that it will take more than a trillion U.S. dollars to fix the problems. In
conclusion, the resource productivity of the concrete industry requires considerable improvement.
4

CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In an earlier paper
5
, I identified the three main pillars of the foundation upon which the structure
of a sustainable concrete industry can be built, namely the conservation of concrete-making
materials by increasing the use of recycled industrial wastes, increasing the resource productivity
of the industry by radical enhancement of durability of concrete products, and a holistic approach
that gives top priority to environmental-friendly solutions in concrete design and construction
practice. Described below are recently developed cement compositions and concrete mixtures
that meet these guiding principles.

Reduction of Portland Clinker in Cement

In the short term, the two best strategies to obtain a major reduction in the carbon dioxide
emissions associated with cement production, are to lower the clinker factor of the final product
as much as possible by maximizing the proportion of mineral additions to clinker, and to increase
the use of blended portland cements in general construction. Note that in some countries the
mineral additions are batched directly with portland cement at the ready-mixed concrete plants.
Portland cement, typically, contains 95% portland clinker and 5% gypsum. Production of
blended portland-cements containing less than 95% portland clinker is a well-known method that
is already helping to reduce the impact of the cement industry on energy and carbon-dioxide
emissions. Today, in many countries, blended portland-cements containing 15 to 20% coal fly
ash or limestone dust, or 30 to 40% granulated blast-furnace slag are being produced. In fact, in
the European Union, portland cements market share has shrunk to nearly one-third of the total
cement consumed by the construction industry. Although blended portland-cements are being
increasingly produced worldwide, Jahren
6
has estimated that, in the year 2002, the total volume
of mineral additions was approximately 240 million tonnes in 1700 million tonnes of cement.
This corresponds to 1460 million tonnes of clinker, or 0.86 clinker factor (i.e. the proportion of
clinker per tonne of cement). Thus, the cement industry was responsible for generating some
1200-1400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in the year 2002, which is approximately 6% of the
total global emissions.
Among the technically acceptable and economically available mineral additions, coal fly ash
offers the best potential for achieving a considerable reduction in carbon emissions attributable to
the cementitious materials in concrete. According to Jahren, in a 20 years perspective fly ash
offers by far the most powerful tool toward sustainable development of the concrete industry.
Recent estimates show that worldwide, approximately 500 million tonnes of fly ash are being
produced every year. For a variety of reasons, the total consumption of fly ash by the cement and
concrete industries is limited to about 75 million tonnes annually (15% of the available amount),
and large volumes of the material are disposed by low-value applications or by ponding and
landfills. As will be described below, we now have a proven technology to produce highly
durable concrete products made with blended portland cements containing 50 to 60% ASTM
Class F or Class C fly ash.
Based on an estimate of 2500 million tonnes of cement consumption in the year 2020, Jahren
has projected the following amounts of clinker additions that could possibly be used as a potential
tool for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions associated with cement production:

5

Fly Ash = 500 million tonnes
Limestone = 170
Blast-furnace slag = 75
Natural pozzolan = 50
Other ashes = 25______________

Total 820 million tones

If we include 125 million tonnes of gypsum (5 % of cement) that is generally required for
control of setting and hardening properties of cement, the total mineral additions in 2500 million
tonnes cement amount to 945 million tonnes. This gives a clinker factor of 0.62 compared to
0.84, which is the estimated clinker factor today. Thus, a 27% reduction in the clinker factor,
with a corresponding reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions (approx. 350 million tones/year),
is achievable provided we vigorously pursue the strategies of maximizing the amount of mineral
additions to cement and the use of such blended cements in the concrete construction practice.
This approach will help the cement industry when the world governments make a serious
commitment to pursue the goal of stabilizing the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide,
and call upon every major industry to make significant emission-reductions that may go well
beyond those prescribed by the Kyoto Protocol.

Cement Standards of the World

Worldwide, the prescriptive cement standards are under pressure to accommodate the need for
reduction in carbon emissions associated with the cement production. For instance, the European
Cement Specification, EN 197, covers 26 types of blended portland cements including some
pozzolanic cements (Type CEM IV B) containing 26 to 55% by mass natural pozzolan or
siliceous fly ash. This specification also includes composite cements (Type CEM V A)
containing 18 to 30% blast-furnace slag plus 18 to 30% natural pozzolan or fly ash. By reducing
the portland clinker factor to as low as 0.45 or 0.40, respectively, both these cement types are
excellent examples of sustainable materials for general construction.
In the U.S., ASTM has issued a new standard covering all hydraulic cements, which is not
prescriptive but performance-based. According to ASTM C 1157-98, there are no requirements
for blended portland cements with regard to the types of blending materials used, their
proportion, and their chemical characteristics. The six cement types, with their key performance
requirements are as follows:

Type GU for general use (10 MPa compressive strength at 3-d, and 17 MPa at 7-d).
Type HE for high early-strength (10 MPa at 1-d and 17 MPa at 3-d).
Type MS for moderate sulfate resistance (max 0.1% expansion, ASTM Method C 1012).
Type HS for high sulfate resistance (max 0.05% expansion, ASTM Method C 1012).
Type MH for moderate heat of hydration (max .290KJ/kg, ASTM Method C 186).
Type LH for low heat of hydration (max 250 KJ/kg, ASTM Method C 186).

Reducing the Use of Natural Aggregate

6
Rubble from demolished concrete pavements, foundations, and floor slabs mostly contains stone
particles coated with cement mortar. Brick and concrete masonry walls on crushing produce
coarse fragments together with a large amount of fines, contaminated with hydrated cement paste
and gypsum stucco. In early research, the size fraction that corresponds to fine aggregate, due to
its very high water requirement, was found unsuitable for use in concrete mixture. The size
fraction that corresponds to coarse aggregate grading is suitable but has a higher absorption
capacity compared to natural aggregate particles and, therefore, yields concrete mixtures with a
higher w/cem ratio and a correspondingly lower strength and elastic modules. European and
Japanese researchers have published numerous reports on complete or partial substitution of
natural coarse aggregate by recycled-concrete aggregate. Reported below are examples of recent
research findings from Italy showing that the goal of complete utilization of the construction and
demolition waste is attainable.
For structural concrete mixtures, Corinaldesi and Moriconi
7
reported that the strength loss
associated with complete replacement of natural aggregate with a recycled-concrete aggregate
(both coarse and fine fraction) was fully compensated by incorporation of fly ash and a water-
reducing admixture in fresh concrete mixtures. In another study, Moriconi et al
8
reported that the
fine fraction from recycled concrete aggregate, when used as a partial replacement for cement in
a masonry mortar, improved the bond strength between the mortar and fired-clay bricks.
Although reliable estimates are not available, reportedly some 1,000 million tonnes a year of
the construction and demolition waste is being generated worldwide.
9
In Europe, nearly two-third
of this waste consists of concrete, brick, and stone masonry rubble, and a large proportion of it
can be easily processed for use as a substitute material for natural coarse aggregate in fresh
concrete mixtures. In fact, it is reported that, in some countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium,
Denmark, Italy, and U.K., relatively large amounts of the construction and demolition waste are
already in use as recycled-concrete aggregate. However, in most countries including the U.S.
huge quantities still end up in landfills.

Reducing the Concrete Mixing Water

The practice of using only the municipal drinking water for concrete mixing should not be
followed blindly, especially in the areas of fresh water scarcity. Most recycled-waters from
industrial and urban sources, or brackish and turbid waters from mining pits are suitable for
making concrete unless proven otherwise by testing the concrete mixtures containing the
questionable water. For instance, investigations at the Research Institute of German Cement
Industry
10
have shown that the use of wash water containing 18 kg/m
3
or even larger content of
fines from ready-mixed concrete plants, did not impair the compressive strength, elastic modulus,
drying shrinkage, and creep characteristic of conventional concrete mixtures. This is a good
example showing that, in order to achieve sustainability, a diversification of material resources
will have to be encouraged instead of rigid adherence to absolute standards requiring that only
municipal drinking water shall be used for mixing concrete. In the interest of sustainable
development, in fact, many of such prescriptive standards can be eliminated in favor of
performance standards.
Also, to move toward a more efficient utilization of water, a number of steps can be taken by
the concrete industry. First, many mix-proportioning methods, e.g., the ACI Committee 211
Guideline for Mix Proportioning, generally permit too much mixing water to obtain the desired
consistency. By paying closer attention to the aggregate grading, and incorporation of a high
proportion of standard fly ash and/or a high-range plasticizer into the fresh concrete mixture, it is
usually possible to save up to 40% of the concrete mixing water.

7

Reducing the Curing Water

It is a common practice in the construction industry to cure concrete structures by spraying liquid
membrane-forming curing compounds. Usually, this method does not provide adequate curing
when cements or concrete mixtures containing large volumes of pozzolanic materials are used.
With cast-in-place concrete members that require moist-curing, many codes of construction
practice recommend spraying of water or ponding methods that waste too much water. Large
savings in the curing water can result from the application of textile composites with a water-
absorbent fabric on one side and an impermeable plastic membrane on the other. The use of a
small amount of lightweight aggregate fines, batched with a high degree of absorbed water, is
another innovative method that provides internal curing of very low w/cem concrete mixtures,
especially those containing high volume of cementitious materials. In the absence of proper
moist-curing, these concrete mixtures, although designed for high performance, fail to perform
because they tend to crack at early-age due to excessive self-desiccation, thermal shrinkage, and
drying shrinkage. In a recently published review of several reports, Holm and Ries
11
concluded:

Blending light-weight aggregate containing absorbed water is significantly helpful for concretes
made with a low ratio of water-cementitious material or concretes containing high volume of
supplementary cementitious materials that are sensitive to curing procedures. This process is
often referred to as water entrainment.

DURABILITY OF CONCRETE

Due to the large volume of energy and material resources consumed by the concrete industry
today, and the limited quantities of recycled products that are available for replacement of
concrete-making materials, the short-term solutions described above are no doubt helpful but they
would be inadequate to bring this industry into an era of sustainable development unless,
simultaneously, we also pursue the long-term solution.
In general, to restore the ecological balance on the planet, it should be obvious that the long-
term solution lies in a drastic reduction of the production rates of industrial products by a
corresponding reduction in their consumption levels. A review of the global consumption
patterns shows that, due to lack of durability, more than one-third of the freshly produced
concrete ends up in the repair and replacement of structures that are deteriorating much faster
than their expected service life of 50 years or more. Assuming that without any delay, we begin to
build structures with highly durable concrete mixtures that endure for 500 years or more instead
of 50. In fact, as described below, we do have the scientific knowledge base and a cost-effective,
proven, technology to enhance the durability of ordinary concrete structures by a factor of 10 or
more. Fig 2 illustrates how the immediate steps for radical enhancement of durability of concrete
mixture would influence the consumption pattern of the material during the second half of the 21
st

century
11
.

Principles Controlling the Durability

From field experience with structures that have suffered from lack of durability we know that
deterioration of concrete is seldom due to a single cause. Also, too often the principal cause of
deterioration turns out to be different from the one for which the concrete mixture has been
8
designed. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s numerous cases of serious concrete deterioration
of reinforced concrete structures, exposed to sea water or de-icing chemicals, were reported
worldwide, and they were attributed to corrosion of the reinforcement
11
. Reportedly, in Saudi

Fig 2. Forecast of future population growth and concrete consumption. (From Mehta, P.K.,
Concr. Int., Vol. 24, No. 7, pp. 23-28, July 2002.)

Arabia, concrete mixtures designed with low C
3
A portland cement to resist sulfate attack,
suffered damage not due to sulfate attack but due to the corrosion of the reinforcing steel.
By following the sequence of changes that occur in the microstructure of ordinary concrete
when reinforced structures are subjected to severe weathering conditions and corrosive sea water,
Mehta and Gerwick
12
proposed a theory of the concrete damage process that is also applicable to
other commonly known physical-chemical phenomena responsible for deterioration of concrete,
such as cycles of freezing and thawing, alkali attack on aggregate, and sulfate attack on cement
paste. In a recently published paper
13
, the author has used the holistic approach to develop a
three-stage concrete damage process and a cost-effective method of modifying the microstructure
of concrete that could lead to radical enhancement of durability. Selected excerpts from this paper
are as follows:

Root causes of concrete deterioration: A high degree of water saturation is one of the three
root causes for durability problems because, in almost every case, it precedes the occurrence of
any visible damage to concrete structures. Water is not only the primary vehicle for transport of
ions and gases into concrete but also is implicated in the expansion and cracking mechanisms in
solids. Microcracks in concrete are another root cause because their growth and connectivity
with macrocracks and voids marks the point in time when the stage of no damage ends, and the
stages of initiation and propagation of damage begin as a result of loss in water-tightness. Being
discontinuous and invisible to the human eye, microcracks are ignored by the strength-driven
design and construction practice in the concrete industry. A search for the origin of microcracks
will take us to the first root cause - the heterogenous microstructure of concrete as a result of
9
inhomogeneities in the hydrated cement paste. As described below, these inhomogeneities serve
as potential sites for the formation of microcracks when concrete experiences tensile stresses
from mechanical loading and environmental exposure conditions, e.g. cycles of freezing-thawing,
heating-cooling, and wetting-drying.

Microcracks their origin and significance: For a variety of well-known reasons, even
with structural members designed for compressive loads, tensile stress and tensile cracking are
unavoidable. The reinforcement of concrete with steel does not eliminate tensile cracks but it
does restrict the crack-widths to 0.15 mm or less. The fine cracks, known as microcracks, are too
small to be visible and quantified, and are therefore ignored in the structural design and
construction practice. It is generally accepted that microcracks caused by settlement, plastic
shrinkage, restrained thermal shrinkage and drying shrinkage, and accidental overloads would not
have any adverse effect on the static behavior of concrete structures. However, due to the
important role in determining the permeability and durability of concrete in service, it is
important to understand the origin and growth of microcracks.
Hydration reactions of portland cement minerals produce a multiphase product that consists
primarily of an adhesive, poorly crystalline, C-S-H (calcium silicate hydrate) phase, and some
well crystalline products including calcium hydroxide. In freshly mixed and compacted concrete,
water films forming around the coarse aggregate particles raise the w/c in close proximity to these
particles. In the interfacial transition zone between a coarse aggregate particle and cement
mortar, the spaces with high w/c become filled with a porous framework of large, plate-like,
oriented, and non-adhesive crystals of calcium hydroxide. In conventional concrete mixtures this
is a weak area that is highly vulnerable to microcracking. Therefore, the tensile stress generated
by differential movement between the cement paste and the aggregate is relieved by the
formation of microcracks in the interfacial transition zone. It means that ordinary concrete
contains microcracks in the interfacial transition zone even before a structure is loaded.
Let us now examine the influence of microcracks on the behavior of concrete in a structure
exposed to stress effects from mechanical loading and environmental loading under severe
climatic conditions. From a typical strain-stress diagram of a concrete specimen loaded under
compression it can be seen that, until about 50 percent of the ultimate stress, there is no
significant change in the strain/stress ratio. However, beyond this point the stress/strain curve
begins to deviate appreciably from the straight line, as increasingly higher strains are recorded
with every unit of additional stress. This phenomenon is attributed to increase in the length,
width, and number of pre-existing microcracks in the interfacial transition zone and the beginning
of some microcracking in the mortar matrix. In the long run, the proliferation and growth of
microcracks will have the effect of reducing significantly not only the elastic modulus and tensile
strength, but also the water-tightness of concrete.
Once concrete becomes saturated and any one of the four above-described expansive
phenomena is initiated, the hydraulic pressure in the pore fluid would increase, enabling the
microcracks to grow rapidly. The end result is a further loss of water-tightness of concrete
followed by expansion, cracking, spalling, and loss of mass. Obviously, for a holistic approach to
radical enhancement of concrete durability the formation of microcracks and their growth under
service conditions has to be controlled. And for this purpose, we have to understand and control
the microstructure of concrete.

Three stages of the damage process: Let us consider the three-stage damage process
graphically presented in Fig. 3. The growth of microcracks in the concrete microstructure may be
looked upon as a kind of internal damage, because microcracks provide the bridges that interlink
macrocracks and voids, and would eventually lead to a breach of water-tightness in concrete,
10
which is a necessary pre-requisite for the subsequent stages of damage. Before the advent of the
two stages of initiation and propagation of damage, there exists a stage when there is no damage

Fig. 3 A holistic approach illustrating the three-stages of concrete damage process
13
.

whatsoever, i.e. not even internal damage to concrete (e.g., interlinked microcracks). It is
proposed to call this a no-damage stage.
The concept of no damage state is useful for achieving a radical enhancement in concrete
durability. Clearly, without the growth in microcracks, there would be no increase in the
permeability of concrete. Any method that successfully prolongs the Stage 1 of the damage
process would have the effect of delaying the exposure of the structure to subsequent stages of
damage. Thus, by holding the structure in the Stage 1 for a very long period of time, it is possible
to achieve a radical enhancement in durability.

Modifying the microstructure of concrete: As mentioned above, the inhomogeneities present
in the microstructure of hydrated cement paste (e.g., capillary voids and oriented layers of
crystalline calcium hydroxide) are the primary source of microcracks in concrete. The interfacial
transition zone next to the coarse aggregate particles (also next to the steel reinforcement) tends to
contain a relatively large proportion of capillary voids and microcracks. Reducing the cement
paste content in concrete, and elimination of the defects and inhomogeneities within the hydrated
cement paste, are the obvious tools by which microcracks can be reduced.
The use of low w/c, as mentioned by the ACI Building Code and other codes for durable
concrete, enables a reduction in the volume and size of capillary voids, but this alone is not
sufficient to reduce the proportion of the cement paste which is the source of microcracking from
thermal shrinkage and drying shrinkage. To reduce the cement paste, both the water content and
SERVICE LIFE, YEARS
D
A
M
A
G
E
NO DAMAGE
STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3
GRADUAL LOSS OF
WATER-TIGHTNESS
END OF
SERVICE
LIFE
DAMAGE
INITIATION
NO LOSS IN
WATER-TIGHTNESS
DAMAGE
PROPAGATION
11
the cement content must be reduced as much as possible. Unfortunately, this is not mandated by
building codes because a reduction in the cement content is accompanied by a corresponding
reduction in early strength, which seems unacceptable to the strength-driven construction practice
of today.
In fully hydrated portland-cement pastes, approximately 24% of the hydration product by mass
consists of oriented, heterogeneously distributed, and weakly bonded layers of calcium hydroxide
crystals. They debond easily under the influence of tensile stress, and therefore serve as potential
site for the formation of microcracks. By transforming all or most of the calcium hydroxide into
the calcium silicate hydrate phase (the predominant phase produced by portland cement
hydration), a much more homogenous hydration product would result. Thus, concrete mixtures
with fewer microcracks can be produced by the use of blended portland cements containing a large
proportion of pozzolanic cementitious materials. It is in this context that high-volume fly ash
concrete mixtures, briefly described below, look most promising for the radical enhancement of
durability of structures.

HIGH-VOLUME FLY ASH CONCRETE MIXTURES

The high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete developed by Malhotra
14-18
and other researchers is an
excellent example of a microstructurally homogeneous material that can be used for building
highly durable concrete structures. Laboratory and field experience has shown that fly ash from
modern coal-fired power plants, generally characterized by low carbon content and high fineness,
when used in a large volume (typically 50-60% by mass of the total cementitious material) is able
to impart excellent workability to concrete mixtures at a water content that is 15-20% less than
without the fly ash. To obtain adequate strength at early age, further reductions in the mixing
water content can be achieved with better aggregate grading and by the use of a superplasticizing
admixture. Table 1 shows the mix proportions and typical properties of HVFA concrete used in
some recently built structures in the U. S.
15, 16
Petrographic examination of a HVFA concrete core, obtained from a massive unreinforced
monolith foundation, 36 x 17 x 1.25 m, designed for a service life of 1000 years, revealed a very
homogeneous microstructure with essentially no microcracks, capillary voids, and calcium
hydroxide crystals
3
. The foundation is now seven years old, and to date has shown no cracking
whatsoever. From laboratory test data on corrosion of steel reinforcement, alkali aggregate
expansion, sulfate attack, and chloride permeability (ASTM C1202), Malhotra
17
has confirmed the
excellent durability characteristics of HVFA concrete mixtures. Mixture proportions, construction
practice, and properties of HVFA concrete used for massive structures in North America and for
pavements in India are described in a recent publication by Malhotra and Mehta
18
. According to
the authors, proper moist-curing of HVFA concrete for at least a week is essential to achieve the
desirable strength and durability characteristics.

12

Table 1. Typical Mix Proportions and Characteristics of High-Volume
Fly Ash Concrete Used in Some Recent Structures
15,16

Structure San Francisco Bay Area Chicago
Location and
type
Post-
tensioned
foundation
Reinforced
shear
walls
Residential
beams,
floors,
walls
Unreinforced
piers
Unreinforced
foundations
Mix-
proportions,
kg/m
3

portland cement 160 195 150 125 105
Fly ash 195* 195* 150* 215** 195**
Fine aggregate 849 859 890 780 820
Course
aggregate:

25 mm, max. 872 - 1130 905 950
12 mm, max. - 864 - - -
9 mm, max. 267 228 - 300 300
Water 118 118 133 107 100
Superplast.L/m
3
0.75 1.0 0 2.3 2.0
W/cm 0.30 0.33 0.44 0.31 0.33
Fly Ash/cm 0.55 0.50 0.50 0.63 0.65
Properties
Slump, mm 150 175 150 150 150
Comp. Str. MPa
7-d 20 25 11 29 27
28-d 28 32 19 45 40
56-d 38 40 25 55 48
Chloride
penetration
ASTM C1202,
Coulombs @
90-d

1500

-

-

-

800
* ASTM Class F fly ash ** ASTM Class C fly ash
13

CONCLUDING REMARKS

There is no doubt that the current spell of global warming and extreme weather events, attributed
primarily to the high rate of carbon dioxide gas emissions from our heavily industrialized and
urbanized world, has emerged as a serious and credible threat to life on the planet. To bring the
world back into a state of sustainable development, major efforts are needed by national
governments, multinational corporations, and major industries.
The concrete industry is responsible for considerable carbon emissions that are associated with
the production of portland-cement clinker. Both short-term and long-term approaches need to be
pursued without delay to bring this large industry into the era of sustainability. The short-term
approach lies in partial replacement of concrete-making materials by recycling suitable industrial
wastes. For instance, large amounts of coal fly ash, metallurgical slags, silica fume, and rice husk
ash, individually or in combination, can be used as replacement materials for up to 50% of
portland-cement clinker in blended cements. The long-term approach lies in reducing the
consumption and production of fresh concrete through major enhancement of durability of
concrete structures. The high-volume fly ash concrete system described in this paper is an
example of the type of blended cements and concrete mixtures that would be increasingly used for
building durable structures in the future.

REFERENCES

1. Hawken, P., Lovens, E., and Lovens, H., Natural Capitalism-Creating the Next Industrial
Revolution, Little Brown and Company, 1999, 369 pages.
2. United Nations Report, The State of the World Cities, U N Center for Human Settlements,
New York, 2001.
3. Mehta, P.K., Reducing the Environmental Impact of Concrete, Concrete International,
American Concrete Institute, 23 (10), 2001, pp. 61-66.
4. Shell, S. Environmental Impacts of Cement and Fly Ash, Unpublished Report, EHDD
Architects, San Francisco, California, 1998.
5. Mehta, P.K., Concrete Technology for Sustainable Development, Concrete International,
American Concrete Institute, 21 (11), 1999, pp 47-53.
6. Jahren, P., Greener Concrete-What are the Options?, Sintef Report, STF-A0860, August 2003,
84 pages.
7. Corinaldesi, V., and Moriconi, G., Role of Chemical and Mineral Admixtures on
Performance and Economics of Recycled-Concrete Aggregate, ACI, SP 199, American Concrete
Institute, 2001, pp. 869-884.
8. Moriconi, G., Corinaldesi, V., and Antonucci, R., Environmental-friendly Mortars: A Way to
Improve Bond Between Mortar and Brick, Materials and Structures, Vol. 36, 2003.
9. Lauritzen, E.K., The Global Challenge for Recycled Concrete. Proc. Symp. On Sustainable
Construction, Ed: R.K. Dhir, N. A. Henderson, and M. Limbachya, Thomas Telford, U.K., 1998,
pp. 505-519.
10. Activities Report of the Research Institute of the German Cement Industry, Use of Recycled
Water and Residual Concrete, Verein Deutscher Zementwerke, Dusseldorf, Germany, 2001-2003,
p.100.
11. Mehta, P.K., and Monteiro, P. J. M., Concrete: Microstructure, Properties, and Materials,
McGraw Hill, New York, 2006, pp. 176-195.
14
12. Mehta, P.K., and Gerwick, B.C., Cracking-Corrosion Interaction in Concrete Exposed to
Marine Environment, Concrete International, American Concrete Institute. 4 (10), 1982, pp. 45-
51.
13. Mehta, P.K.,Durability of Concrete The Zigzag Course of Progress American Concrete
Institute, STP 234, 2006, PP. 1-16.
14. Malhotra, V.M.,Superplasticized Fly Ash Concrete for Structural Applications, Concrete
International, American Concrete Institute, 8 (12), 1986, pp. 28-31.
15. Manmohan, D., and Mehta,P.K., Heavily Reinforced Shear Walls and Mass Foundation
Built with Green Concrete, ibid, 24 (8), 2002, pp. 64-70.
16. Mehta, P.K., and Manmohan, D., Sustainable High-Performance Concrete Structures, ibid,
28 (7), 2006, pp. 37-42..
17. Malhotra, V.M., High-Performance High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete, ibid, 24 (7), 2002, pp.
30-34.
18. Malhotra, V.M., and Mehta, P.K., High-Performance High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete,
Supplementary Cementing Materials for Sustainable Development, Inc. Ottawa, ONT, 2005, 120
pages.
15
16
Tailoring Contemporary Tall Buildings for Wind
Effects

Ahsan Kareem

NatHaz Modeling Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana USA

ABSTRACT: Globally, high-rise developments in urban settings have become a venue of
choice for both business and residence. This has brought about trends toward structures
with increasing heights, lighter and more slender construction whose performance is
sensitive to complex wind environments. Most recent architectural trends exploit building
shapes and configurations for aesthetic motives which result in buildings with
asymmetrical aerodynamic profiles and coupled structural systems immersed in
unsymmetric urban wind environment amid other buildings This has also posed new
challenges in designing structural systems with adequate stiffness and damping to ensure
acceptable performance in survivability, serviceability and habitability. Quantification of
aerodynamic loads on these structures is central to the assessment of these performance
limit states. This paper addresses related topics and emerging developments with a focus
on recasting of the gust loading factor, widely used in all building codes and standards,
introduction of 3-D gust loading factors, an example of aerodynamic loading data base
and e-design, trends in codes and standards, importance of full-scale monitoring, issues
related to coupled building response, aerodynamic tailoring of buildings, human comfort
consideration and effectiveness of auxiliary damping systems.

KEYWORDS: Tall buildings; Wind loads; Building Standards; Wind Tunnel; Damping,
Damping devices

1 BACKGROUND

Under the action of wind, tall buildings oscillate simultaneously in the alongwind,
acrosswind and torsional directions (Fig. 1). The alongwind response has been
successfully treated using quasi-steady and strip theories in terms of gust loading factors
(Davenport 1967); however, the acrosswind and torsional loads cannot be treated in the
same manner as alongwind loads, since they cannot be related in a straightforward
manner to the fluctuations in the approaching flow. Accordingly, most current codes and
standards provide little guidance for the acrosswind and torsional response.
Unfortunately, for many high-rise buildings, these responses may exceed the alongwind
in terms of both serviceability and survivability design considerations. Modern trends
towards unconventional architectural shapes with innovative structural systems have led
to buildings dynamically more sensitive to torsional loads resulting from asymmetrical
wind pressures, and static and/or dynamic coupling among modes. There has been a
significant focus over the years on developing load descriptions on buildings relying on
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17
Figure 1 Aerodynamic loads on buildings
high frequency force balance (HFFB), or synchronous scanning of multi-point pressures.
The spectral and time-history information derived from these studies has been
traditionally employed in a random vibration analysis framework for response
predictions. In the case of slender structures, or those with complex coupled modes,
reliance has been made on aeroelastic balance studies or multi-level aeroelastic model of
structures to address the concerns surfacing from motion-induced loads and coupled
motions, respectively. While these experimentally derived procedures met practical
design needs, researchers have been active in developing analytical procedures based on
the concept of the gust loading factor. These developments have led to initial
formulations for 3-D gust loading factor.

This paper highlights some recent developments with a potential of having a
significant impact on the design of tall buildings in urban environment. These
developments include recasting of the gust loading factor, 3-D gust loading factors,
aerodynamic loading data base, codes and standards, full-scale monitoring, analysis of
coupled building response and damping systems. Most of these topics will be discussed
briefly here by including appropriate references.

2. ANALYSIS & DESIGN TOOLS

This section highlights some recent developments in the analysis and design tools for
tailoring contemporary tall buildings exposed to winds.

2.1 Scale Models in Wind Tunnel

Scale model tests in wind tunnels are absolutely essential, especially when dealing with
novel designs or designs for which dynamic and aeroelastic effects are difficult to
anticipate. This primarily concerns long-span bridges and tall buildings, though wind
sensitivity is not limited to these classes of structures. Regarding the instrumentation in
scaled model testing, significant advances have taken place both in sensors and data
acquisition systems. High sensitivity sensors at low cost have allowed synchronous
scanning of pressures over building models for capturing individual point pressure
variations as well as the integral loads. These scanning devices are a major leap forward
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from earlier systems involving statistical integration with a limited number of pressure
transducers or spatial averaging using pneumatic and PVDF films (Kareem 1982, 1989).
These developments have made it possible to explore a space-time portrait of pressure
field over building surfaces.

Similarly, the HFBB has revolutionized wind tunnel testing of most high-rise
structures, as it has evolved from earlier versions involving foil-strain gauged beam type
balances to present day ultra-sensitive piezoelectric load cells (Kareem and Cermak,
1979, Tschanz and Davenport, 1983, Boggs and Peterka, 1989, Zhou et al. 2003).
However, both pressure scanning systems and HFBB do not account for negative
aerodynamic damping, which may become important for structures that experience
significant lateral displacements. A comprehensive review of advanced monitoring
techniques is described in Tamura (2002). Future developments in laser vibro-meters and
GPS-like pseudolites -- indoor navigational systems -- would aid in further advancing our
ability to measure structural displacements. Researchers would be able to draw similar
benefits from advances in wireless accelerometers and load cells.

The HFFB technique has widely been recognized for conveniently quantifying
generalized forces on buildings with uncoupled mode shapes through measured base
forces on stationary scaled building models (e.g., Kareem and Cermak 1979, Tschanz and
Davenport 1983, Reinhold and Kareem 1986, Boggs and Peterka 1989). The generalized
forces are then utilized for estimating dynamic response of buildings with given structural
characteristics. The application of this technique to buildings with 3-D coupled mode
shapes has been discussed in Irwin and Xie (1993), Yip and Flay (1995) and Holmes et
al. (2003) for the estimation of resonant response.

The HFFB measurements have also been utilized for identifying
spatiotemporarily varying dynamic wind loads on buildings (Yip and Flay 1995, Ohkuma
et al. 1995, Solari et al. 1998 and Xie and Irwin 1998). In these studies, analytical wind
loading models with unknown parameters are assumed in the frequency domain in terms
of their spectral descriptions (Yip and Flay 1995, Ohkuma et al. 1995 and Solari et al.
1998), or in the time domain in terms of their spatial distributions (Xie and Irwin 1998).
These unknown parameters are then identified using the base force measurements. Once
the dynamic wind loads are determined, any response component of interest can be
subsequently analyzed using actual building dynamics without introducing any mode
shape correction procedure. It has been pointed out that, akin to the traditional HFFB
technique, the accuracy of these identification schemes depends on the efficacy of the
assumed wind loading models (Chen and Kareem 2005).

2.1 New Gust Loading Factor/3-D Gust Loading Factors

The gust loading factor has been used extensively to determine equivalent static wind
loads (ESWL) on structures. In its most general form, the factor represents the ratio
between the expected maximum mean value of a random variable and its mean value.
Although this generalized definition is applicable to any load effect, the GLF, as it is
traditionally envisioned, is actually based on the displacement response. The ESWL in
this format is of the same distribution as the mean wind load, contradictory to the
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common understanding of ESWL for flexible structures, where the resonant response
dominates, thereby necessitating that the ESWL should distribute in accordance with the
structural mass and mode shape. Consequently, when using the traditional GLF,
structural displacements are determined with accuracy, while other response quantities,
such as base shear, are not (Zhou and Kareem 2001).

In response to this concern, a GLF cast in terms of base bending moments or
MGLF is introduced (Zhou and Kareem 2001), which allows the mean base bending
moment to be factored by the MGLF and distributed to the other floors in a manner
similar to the convention used in earthquake engineering for the distribution of base
shear. In addition to providing a realistic framework for gust loading factors, particularly
for long period structures, the approach more importantly accommodates nonlinear and
non-uniform mass distributions, circumventing the need for exact mode shape correction,
resulting in a computationally efficient scheme that directly approximates non-ideal mode
shapes.

Further, this approach based on the base bending moment has been tailored for the
acrosswind and torsional response calculations, using new aerodynamic loads database in
an electronic frameworks (Zhou et al. 2003). This development offers a convenient and a
reliable framework for the 3-D gust loading factor in a format very familiar to design
engineers (Zhou et al. 2003 & Kareem and Zhou 2003). Another formulation of 3-D gust
factors based on the quasi-steady theory and empirical description of loads is given in
(Piccardo and Solari 2000).

2.3 Equivalent Static Wind Loads

There are a number of equivalent static load descriptions available in the literature, e.g.,
(Holmes 2002, Solari and Repetto 2002, Davenport 1985, and Kasperski 1992). Recently,
a new framework for evaluating the equivalent static wind load (ESWL) for any given
peak response of a building characterized by uncoupled and coupled motions in the three
primary directions was presented in Chen and Kareem (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2005a).
This includes a new description of the background loading based on the gust loading
envelope, whereas the resonant component was described in terms of the inertial loading.
In this scheme, the proposed background load based on the gust loading envelope offered
a very simplified load description in comparison with the load-response-correlation
approach whose spatial distribution exhibits a clear dependence on the response
component of interest (Kasperski 1992). It also provided a physically more meaningful
and efficacious description of the loading as compared to the conventional gust response
factor approach. The ESWL for the total peak response was then expressed as a linear
combination of the background and resonant components. It was demonstrated that the
proposed equivalent static load in terms of the external fluctuating wind load and the
inertial load description provided a convenient and meaningful load description for future
applications to building codes and standards.

Buildings with either complex geometric shapes or structural systems with non-
coincident centers of mass and resistance, or both, may undergo three dimensional (3-D)
coupled motions when exposed to spatiotemporarily varying dynamic wind loads. To
capture these dynamic load effects, Chen and Kareem (2005) presented a framework for
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the analysis of 3-D coupled dynamic response of buildings and modeling of the
equivalent static wind loads (ESWLs). This framework took into account the correlation
among wind loads in principle directions and the inter-modal coupling of modal response
components. The wind loading input for this scheme may be derived either from multiple
point synchronous scanning of pressures on building models or through high-frequency
force balance (HFFB) measurements. The ESWL for a given peak response was
expressed as a linear combination of the background and resonant loads, which
respectively reflect the fluctuating wind load characteristics and inertial loads in
fundamental modes of vibration. The nuances of utilizing HFFB measurements for
buildings with 3-D coupled mode shapes were elucidated with a focus on the evaluation
of the generalized forces including mode shape corrections, the background and resonant
responses, and the associated ESWLs. Utilizing a representative tall building with 3-D
mode shapes and closely-spaced frequencies, the framework for the analysis of coupled
dynamic load effects and modeling of 3-D ESWLs was demonstrated in (Chen and
Kareem, 2005 and 2005a).

2.4 Aerodynamic Loads Database

Most standards and codes traditionally have relied on reductive formats and
simplifications, which lead to tables and plots to describe wind loads on structures. The
level of accuracy inherent in codified information in this format and the uncertainty
associated with interpolation or extrapolation of information may compromise the overall
accuracy in the code-specified load effects. This has recently led to the initial
development of database-assisted design procedures, which offer convenient meshing
with existing analysis software. Primarily, such databases rely on wind tunnel-derived
data, which may be couched in analysis portals to provide desired loads effects. One such
example, concerning tall buildings, manages information via an e-database of
aerodynamic wind loads. This was introduced by Zhou et al. (2003), based on HFBB
measurements on a host of isolated tall building models, and is currently accessible to the
Figure 2 Input portal for aerodynamic data base
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worldwide Internet community via Microsoft Explorer at the URL address
http://aerodata.ce.nd.edu, which has been modified in light of recent advances in web-
based and file manipulation tools Through the use of this interactive portal, users can
select the geometry and dimensions of a model building, from the available choices, and
specify an urban or suburban condition. Upon doing so, the aerodynamic load spectra for
the alongwind, acrosswind or torsional response is displayed with a Java interface
permitting users to specify a reduced frequency of interest and automatically obtain the
corresponding spectral value.

Based on recent advances in data management, mining and software tools, this
interactive database was revised to enhance, for the purposes of analysis and design, the
accessibility, organization, dissemination and utility of wind tunnel data (Kwon et al.
2005). The revised website offers more attractive and user-friendly features to allow on-
line determination of equivalent static wind loads and accelerations for survivability and
habitability designs, respectively (Fig. 2). It also offers the users with the options of
either using the NatHaz database or introducing user supplied data or utilizing analytical
description of the spectra. These changes were achieved using a combination of several
web-based programming tools and popular software. When coupled with the subsequent
Figure 3 Aerodynamic database output
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Figure 4 Output of building load effects
section on design, a comprehensive tool for computation of the wind-induced response of
tall buildings suitable for possible inclusion in codes and standards as a design guide in
the preliminary stages is offered. For example, in Fig. 3 a typical output from the
database for a building is provided. The final base bending moments and rooftop
accelerations are listed in Fig. 4. Other databases in different formats at various stages of
development exist e.g., Cheng and Wang, et al. 2005 and Ning et al. 2005).

2.5 Codes/Standards

The ultimate end of the research is to enhance the performance and safety of the built
environment under wind. International codes and standards represent the most direct
manner by which this research comes together in a form that dictates the daily design and
construction of civil engineering structures. Most international codes and standards
utilize some form of the traditional displacement-based gust loading factor for assessing
the dynamic alongwind loads and their effects on tall structures. Although deriving
themselves from a similar theoretical basis, considerable scatter in the predictions of
codes and standards have been reported, e.g. (Kijewski and Kareem 1998).
Unfortunately, the globalization of the construction industry and the prospect of
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developing unified international codes and standards make it increasingly important to
better understand the underlying differences, prompting an in-depth investigation by
Zhou et al. (2002). The major international codes and standards (Zhou et al. 2002): the
US Standard (ASCE 7-98), the Australian Standard (AS1170.2-89), the National
Building Code of Canada (NBC-1995), the Architectural Institute of Japan
Recommendations (RLB-AIJ-1993) and the European Standard or Eurocode 1993 were
compared. It was found that the varying definitions of wind field characteristics,
including mean wind velocity profile, turbulence intensity profile, wind spectrum,
turbulence length scale, and wind correlation structure, were the primary contributors to
the scatter in predicted response quantities. An example presented in Zhou et al. (2002)
highlights these differences. Current efforts are underway in trying to bridge these
differences for better agreement between the predictions based on different major codes
and standards. In the following section, some recent developments and future prospects
related to codes/standards and design tools are discussed.

3 COUPLED BUILDING RESPONSE

Buildings with complex geometric shapes or structural systems with non-coincident
centers of mass and resistance, or both, may undergo three dimensional (3-D) coupled
motions when exposed to spatiotemporarily varying dynamic wind loads. It is also worth
paying attention to buildings with similar dynamic properties in orthogonal directions as
a small change in structural property may shift the principal axes. In some cases the
analysis may be performed along the principal axes to avoid analysis based on 3-
dimensional mode shapes. In these cases proper care must be exercised to take into
account the building principal axes, the force balance orientation and necessary
correlations. Accordingly, the prediction of coupled building response requires analysis
frameworks that take into account the cross-correlation of wind loads acting in different
primary directions and the inter-modal coupling of modal responses (e.g., Chen and
Kareem 2005, Kareem 1985, Tallin and Ellingwood 1985, Shimada et al. 1990 and Flay
et al. 1999). The coupled building response analysis based on HFFB measurements have
been studied in Irwin and Xie (1993), Yip and Flay (1995), Holmes et al. (2003), and
Chen and Kareem (2005). The inter-modal coupling is often considered by utilizing the
complete quadratic combination (CQC) rule to combine the modal responses for the
estimate of total dynamic response. It is worth emphasizing that the modal correlation
coefficient of two adjacent modes estimated by the closed form formulation given in (Der
Kiureghian 1980) is only valid when the generalized forces are fully correlated as for the
case of buildings experiencing a single earthquake excitation input. The modal
correlation coefficient of two adjacent modes depends not only on the frequencies and
damping ratios, but also on the correlation/coherence of the generalized forces (Chen and
Kareem 2005a and 2005b). This important consideration of the CQC rule for partially
correlated generalized forces associated with multiple inputs of loadings has not been
completely recognized in the analysis of wind load effects on buildings and other
structures (e.g., Xie et al. 2003). This lack of understanding may significantly impact the
accuracy of the response analysis.
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4 FULL-SCALE BUILDING RESPONSE MONITORING
Although scale model studies, traditionally employed to quantify wind loads on
buildings, are often useful, they are at times unable to capture the underlying
characteristics of structural response and require validation from full-scale observations.
In the new era of high-rise buildings design challenges continually rise that motivate the
need for better understanding of the dynamic behavior of these structures through full-
scale monitoring. Recent interest in structural health monitoring has increased activity in
the area of full-scale monitoring. While there are numerous examples of such studies
around the world, one such example concerns the Chicago monitoring project, for which
the measured characteristics of tall buildings under a wide range of wind environments
are being correlated with the behavior predicted via analyses performed as a part of the
design process and wind tunnel testing (Kijewski et al. 2006; www.windycity.ce.nd.edu).
Instrumentation in this project includes high sensitivity accelerometers, ultrasonic
anemometers, and a Global Positioning System. Limited data collected thus far appears to
be consistent with wind tunnel studies. Preliminary system identification of the dynamic
properties of one of the buildings indicates that fundamental frequencies were accurately
predicted by the finite element models and that the damping values displayed some
amplitude dependence and were slightly lower than those assumed during design. The
continued monitoring and analysis of information from the Chicago and similar other
projects, especially in the Pacific-rim will enable a more complete description of
damping over a range of amplitudes and performance of tall buildings in winds.

5 HUMAN COMFORT THRESHOLDS AND SERVICEABILITY OF TALL
BUILDINGS

The design of tall buildings, while concerned with efficiently and effectively carrying the
anticipated loads imposed upon the structures, is largely concerned with serviceability
and habitability issues. The latter issue may still require attention, even for buildings
designed to meet lateral drift requirements. As a result, over recent decades, there has
been a concerted effort to quantify acceleration levels that induce negative response in
building occupants.

Perception limits have been traditionally determined based on the response of
individuals to tests using uni-axial motion simulators (e.g., Chen & Robertson 1973,
Irwin 1981, Goto 1983), though current efforts are directed toward bi-directional motion
simulation tests (Denoon et al. 2001). In most cases, such experiments rely on sinusoidal
excitations, easily quantified by either peak or RMS acceleration limits. However, there
appears to be some discrepancies between the these test environments and those of actual
structures which experience in some cases combined lateral torsional motion which on
occasions is amplified dues to coupled dynamic effects. In addition, the absence of visual
and audio cues in most of the test environments neglects potentially critical stimuli,
particularly for torsional motions, which may trigger visual stimulus.

As such, structural accelerations, as a function of return period, must be
considered to ensure acceptable occupancy comfort in buildings. Hansen et al. (1973)
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attempted to capture actual experience of people in two tall buildings in Boston following
a significant storm and established a tentative criterion for limiting motion, which
resulted in a 5 milli-g RMS criteria for a six-year event. However, the frequency
dependence of perception thresholds becomes critical, since there is experimental
evidence that with decreasing frequency of oscillation, there is an increase in perception
levels. Later work, such as Irwins RMS criterion, known as the ISO 6897 Standard,
accounted for this feature. On the other hand, AIJ (Architectural Institute of Japan) has
developed frequency-dependent peak acceleration curves to define acceptable motions
for four types of occupancy levels. North American practice similarly uses peak
accelerations, commonly limiting horizontal accelerations at the top floor to 10-15 milli-g
in residential buildings and 20-25 milli-g in office buildings, based on a 10-year return
period (Isyumov 1993). For hurricane prone areas, even shorter recurrence intervals than
10 year are considered for human comfort consideration. Currently, in some quarters a
debate is in progress concerning the level of thresholds for the type of occupancy, i.e.,
residential or office, which may lead to a departure from the current practice.

As noted in the preceding discussion, the international community, however, has
also not agreed as to whether RMS or peak values should serve as a universal descriptor
of acceleration. On one hand, negative reactions by occupants may be a result of a
sustained motion, best described by an averaged effect like RMS. The other viewpoint
asserts that perception and reaction to motion is most dramatically affected by large
events better characterized by peak values. While humans are capable of adjusting to
accelerations, any change in the acceleration will require additional adjustments for
equilibrium. For this reason, ergonomical studies concerning vibration and comfort
suggest that motions containing impulsive vibration or shocks may lead to higher
discomfort. Furthermore the transient nature of such impulsive motions repeated at
frequent intervals may compound this effect. As a result, basing perception criteria on a
measure of jerk, or rate of change in acceleration, may better capture the stimulus
defining perception thresholds under random motion. The adoption of such a criterion
may altogether override the need for the peak acceleration criteria.

Many favor the RMS index due to the ease with which it is measured
experimentally or predicted analytically, citing the variability in peak acceleration
measurements in wind tunnel testing as one demonstration (Kareem 1992).
Unfortunately, the quantification of peak accelerations associated with perception issues
becomes more challenging in buildings with either complex geometric shapes or
structural systems with non-coincident centers of mass and resistance, or both (Chen and
Kareem 2005a, 2005b). Such buildings may undergo three-dimensional (3-D) coupled
motions when exposed to spatiotemporally varying dynamic wind loads. As there is
experimental evidence that, with decreasing frequency of oscillation, there is a
concomitant increase in perception levels, buildings undergoing complex motions at
different frequencies may present different thresholds. This further complicates the
assessment of human comfort in actual buildings.

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Figure 5 Aerodynamic modifications to square building shape (after Kareem et al. 1999)

6 AERODYNAMIC/AEROELASTIC TAILORING

Aerodynamic tailoring can be used to achieve optimal performance of buildings and
bridges under winds like it is used routinely in the aerospace and automobile industries.
While some aerodynamic modifications may detract from the aesthetics of the structure,
recent trends in joint architect-engineer involvement in the overall evolution of a building
project has led to building shapes that benefit from aerodynamic profiling to help deter
formation of flow fields around buildings with higher loads. Some recent examples have
shown that these considerations can be integrated into the design of tall buildings without
sacrificing their appearance and often creating an aerodynamically efficient signature of
the structure, e.g., Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Modifications to the corner geometry and building shape, e.g., inclusion of
chamfered corners and horizontal slotted corners, have been found to considerably reduce
the response of buildings, in comparison with the performance of a basic square plan,
with these improvements becoming more marked as the corners are progressively
rounded (Fig. 5). Some of the most graceful and notable structures incorporate a series of
setbacks and tapering in their design, accentuating the height of the structure (Fig. 6), but
also serving practical aerodynamic purpose. Improvements have been noted in buildings
that vary their cross-sectional shape with height or which reduce their upper level plans
through tapering effects, cutting corners, or progressively dropping off corners with
height (e.g., Kareem et al, 1999).

In the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, the repeated use of multi-level setbacks to
taper the tower to reduce the plan with height provided a sleek and elegant appearance
while still allowing the integration of Islamic geometric patterns in the cross-sectional
shape merging cultural imagery with modern architecture. Further evidence of the
aesthetic benefits of aerodynamic modifications is provided by the Jin Mao building in
Shanghai, which uses setbacks to gently taper its faade. More importantly, while the
setbacks draw the eyes attention up the structure towards its crown, they gradually
reduce and redefine the shape of the structure at the upper levels, where the effects of
wind are most critical. The structure is literally transformed by subtle setbacks from a
square plan to a complex cruciform, as if slowly twisted from above. The breathtaking
structure not only pays tribute to the Chinese culture, with its ornate tiers reminiscent of
the ancient pagodas, but also withstands typhoon winds, in part due to judicious choice of
lateral system and the use of aerodynamic tapering. More recent structures with setback
along the height include Tower Palace III in Seoul and Burj Dubai, a 2000 ft plus tall
27
Figure 6 Aerodynamic tailoring and load reduction (after
Kareem et al. 1999)
building currently under construction in Dubai. The influence of vortex-induced
excitations was minimized by deterring the formation of a coherent wake structure. This
favorable aerodynamic behavior of the tower was achieved by varying the building shape
along the height which offered building cross-section that was aerodynamically less
conducive to vortex shedding and lacked dynamic interaction of vortices from both sides
of the cross-section (Abdelrazak et al., 2005). In the case of Burj Dubai, the basic
footprint of the building represents petals of a desert flower with setbacks that follow a
spiral along the height, further vitiating the impact of any potentially coherent formation
of vortices.

The inclusion of openings completely through the building, particularly near the
top, provides yet another means for improving aerodynamic response, significantly
reducing wake induced forces. Such a design strategy has been utilized in several
buildings, most noteworthy of which is the planned Shanghai World Financial Center,
which features a diagonal face that is shaved back with an aperture at the top of the
building. As we embark on new challenges in conquering new heights, it is imperative
that aerodynamic tailoring be considered as a first choice from a pool of candidate
solutions in optimizing the building shape to reduce the penalty for height. The next
generation of high-rise buildings would heavily rely on implementing fundamental
principles of aerodynamics in the design process aided by the wind tunnel as a tool for
28
tailoring/sculpturing building shape to manage the demand posed by survivability,
serviceability and human comfort perspectives.

7 DAMPING AND MOTION CONTROL DEVICES

This section addresses inherent damping in structures, its quantification and the role of
auxiliary damping in taming potentially lively structures.
7.1 Structural Damping

With the advancement of modern structures to new heights with greater dynamic
sensitivity, the issue of serviceability, occupant comfort and fatigue has come to the
forefront in design, making damping now more than ever, a critical design parameter.
Despite its significant role, damping continues to be an enigma in design (Kareem and
Gurley 1996). As damping does not relate to physical properties of the structure in a
direct way like mass and stiffness, it cannot be estimated with much uncertainty in
design. While the examination of existing structures has resulted in international
databases of actual damping values, there is considerable scatter in the data, partly
attributed to the amplitude dependence of damping, but more so due to errors in the
identification of parameter (Davenport and Hill-Carrol 1986, Jeary 1986, Logomarsino
1993, Satake et al. 2003). This is complicated by the fact that much of the full-scale data
results from ambient excitations, providing the analyst with no measured input for the
system identification. As a result, system identification must be conducted using
unknown input system identification schemes or those that only make some general
assumptions about the nature of the input.

This restriction is often problematic and leads to a host of possible errors. The
random decrement technique and spectral analysis are commonly invoked system
identification techniques for this problem, e.g., (Kareem and Gurley 1996, Jeary 1986,
and Tamura and Suganuma 1996). Although there is well-established theory regarding
the bias and variance errors of power spectra and random decrement signatures, the
theoretical error formulae give only approximate indications of errors inherent to the
estimated dynamic properties. Kijewski and Kareem (2002) utilized a bootstrapping
approach to assess the quality of system identification by providing surrogate estimates of
damping and natural frequencies to generate useful statistics and confidence intervals.
Since the damping in structures cannot be engineered like the mass and stiffness, nor it
can be accurately estimated until the structure is completed, resulting in a certain level of
uncertainty. Therefore, the treatment of the propagation of damping uncertainty in the
dynamic response analysis becomes essential (Kareem and Gurley 1996).
7.2 Auxiliary Damping Devices

29
In structures, where the inherent damping is not sufficient, auxiliary damping devices
may be introduced, offering somewhat more predictable, adaptable and reliable method
of imparting additional damping to the system. In Kareem et al. (1999), an overview of
the state-of-the-art measures that reduce the structural response of buildings including a
summary of auxiliary damping devices and their applications to buildings around the
world is presented. These devices range from active and passive tuned mass dampers to a
host of liquid damping technology, which is currently receiving considerable attention
from design engineers. For wind applications, among all inertial devices, liquid dampers,
i.e., liquid sloshing dampers and tuned liquid column dampers (TLCD), have
demonstrated both effectiveness in controlling building/structural motions as well as
utilitarian value, as the water can be used for fire extinguishing purposes, which
otherwise has to be pumped up. The liquid sloshing has been modeled with different
levels of sophistications, i.e., it ranges from simplistic models based on tuned mass
damper analogy to the solution of shallow water equation representing sloshing. Despite
these advances, most models need some tweaking to account for large damping at wave
breaking. Yalla and Kareem developed a mechanical analog of the sloshing action named
sloshing-slamming damper, or S
2
damper (Yalla and Kareem 1999). The model consists
of linear sloshing model at low amplitudes of base excitation, whereas at higher
amplitudes of motion, a part of its mass transforms from sloshing action to rolling
between the tank walls, thus it acts as an impact damper. The impact action adds
damping, thus explaining the high level of damping at large amplitudes. The non-optimal
performance of TLCDs at a wide range of wind speeds is enhanced by introducing a
semi-actively controlled electro-pneumatic valve (Yalla and Kareem 2003). Some
examples of other popular damping systems are shown in Fig. 7.

The decision to use one damping system over another or not to use one at all
can be better accomplished through a utility analysis (Satake et al. 2003). The future in
damping technologies lies in distributed damping devices integrated in the overall
structural system to resist the dynamic actions of wind as well as seismic action if
needed. Some combination of viscous dampers, liquid dampers and tuned mass damper,
placed at optimal locations, may offer a reliable and robust solution to controlling wind-
induced motion as opposed to relying simply on one device. The use of these damping
devices in future promises to impel buildings to reach even greater heights, while
Figure 7 Damping devices for high-rise buildings
(Courtesy Prof. Y. Tamura)
30
maintaining acceptable levels of motion. In addition to damping systems, wind-induced
motions can be controlled via global design modifications, innovative structural systems,
and utilization of efficient aerodynamic profiles, e.g., openings, set-backs, drop-off
corners and sculptured building tops as alluded to earlier (Kareem et al. 1999). Some of
the more recent damping concepts utilizing unbonded bracings, damping studs and walls,
oil damper and viscous and friction dampers are shown schematically in Fig. 7.

While the incorporation of such technologies permit contemporary structures to
8 CONCLUDING REMARKS
he paper highlights techniques and recent developments in the quantification of wind
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
he support for this work was provided in part by NSF Grants CMS 00-85019 and
REFERENCES
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outlook for the future!

T
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scale building response monitoring; human comfort thresholds and serviceability of tall
buildings; aerodynamic and aeroelastic tailoring; damping and motion control devices. It
is envisaged that this brief introduction to these topics would encourage readers to
explore these topics in further details to gain better familiarity with the subject.

9

T
CMMI 06-01143. This support is gratefully acknowledged.

10

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34
INTER-STORY DRIFT REQUIREMENTS FOR NEAR-FIELD EARTHQUAKES

P. Glkan
Disaster Management Research Center and
Middle East Technical University
Ankara 06531, Turkey

ABSTRACT

The improvement of understanding structural capacity against large displacement
demand of near-fault ground motions has become the subject of research for the last decade.
Parallel to the developments in performance-based seismic design (PBSD) this issue has
attracted researcher interest further, as assessment of structural displacement capacity has
become one of the main issues for the procedures employed in this new concept. This study
focuses on the near-fault ground motion demand. I have used soil site, near-field records from
various M > 6.5 events including the 1999 Turkey and Taiwan earthquakes. The spectral
quantities were computed using an attenuation relationship that is based partly on these near-
fault ground motion records. The derived spectral quantities were evaluated for the global
displacement demand definition of such ground motions. This global demand definition is
used to calculate the distance and magnitude dependent inter-story drift demand limits for
frame-type structures. This is applied for nonlinear structures as well. Comparison of these
preliminary findings with the Uniform Building Code provisions is encouraging.

INTRODUCTION

Unexpected structural integrity problems observed in framed buildings situated in the
near field during the 1994 Northridge, 1995 Kobe and 1999 Kocaeli earthquakes were
forceful reminders of what some seismologists had speculated might distinguish distant and
close earthquake effects (Bolt, 1996). It appeared that the large displacement demand of near-
fault ground motions due to pulse-like velocity waveforms could not be met by structures
proportioned to fulfill requirements of traditional force-based design (FBD). The 1999 Turkey
and Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquakes had many cases that seemed to support these observations.
These near-fault events have motivated a considerable amount of research for design against
effects of near-by ruptures. Some of these have integrated their results with the PBSD concept
in which the structural performance is described by the earthquake-induced displacements
through the implementation of displacement-based design (DBD) procedures.
Performance based procedures require that, both for assessment and for design
purposes a means should be at hand to estimate structural displacements in structures situated
in seismic regions. These will be at different distances to the earthquake-generating fault. An
attenuation relationship (appropriate, in this case, for near-fault situations) then needs to be
utilized to convert the ground motion descriptors into some estimate for the structural drift. A
good deal of research has been conducted on strong ground motion records to acquire the
ability to predict what some desired index of the likely ground motion as a function of
magnitude, distance, site geology or type of faulting. These attenuation relations have also
been derived for spectral quantities. Widespread use of attenuation curves commonly ignores
a basic caveat of the trade: recording instrument characteristics, pre-processing techniques
35
35
applied to the records, any filter characteristics and other features all leave subtle but
important marks on the records, and more importantly, on calculated quantities for which they
serve as the source (Akkar and Bommer, 2006). With the increase in the number of
instruments deployed in many different parts of the world, and their increasing sensitivity
attenuation relations undergo constant updating and revision. There exists little convincing
evidence for the export to other regions of attenuation relations, and yet they are often used
for design purposes in environments quite different from those under which they have been
generated. Attenuation curves that have been developed for a given region have been updated
over time as new data has been collected.
A test of the hypothesis on the cross utilization of attenuation relations is attempted in
this article by using a suite of near-field records that include ground motions from the 1999
Turkey and Taiwan earthquakes in calculating the exact drifts in framed structures. An
attenuation relationship calculated from a number of records from Turkey is employed in
computing the magnitude- and site-dependent spectral values for periods less than 2 s. These
results are used for describing the amount of near-source roof-level displacement demand that
is a critical measure for near-field excitations. The adequacy of near-fault factors
implemented by the UBC97 (ICBO, 1997) provisions is discussed in view of the attenuation
relationship based on a statistical study of records made in Turkey. The motivation for this
test is one of checking code provisions with the benefit of hindsight. Based on this new
attenuation relationship, the drift limits for frame type structures will be calculated as a
function of magnitude and distance to account for the local displacement demand of near-
source ground motions. These will then be compared with the drift limits specified by UBC97
and NEHRP (FEMA, 1997) provisions. The results presented are expected to clarify some
important aspects of near-fault ground motions for engineering studies that aim to improve
the DBD procedures employed in PBSD.

NEAR-FAULT ACCELERATION RECORDS

The near-fault database consists of horizontal components of firm soil records from
shallow crustal earthquakes. The ground motions are either from free field stations or from
instruments housed in shelters and ground levels of mostly one-story structures. I have used
the shortest distance from the station to fault rupture as the distance measure. The records
selected have peak ground velocity (PGV) greater than 40 cm/s at least in one component.
The PGV preference is attributed to the results of near-fault related studies that anticipated the
structural damage of such excitations to their large amplitude and long period velocity pulses
(Hall et al., 1995). Most of the records pertain to moment magnitude of at least (M
w
) 6.5.
Forward directivity (the alignment of rupture direction and wave propagation) is
important for near-fault ground motions, and causes higher demands in fault normal
components as these comprise a larger amount of accumulated energy in their pulse-like
signals (Somerville et al., 1997). This suggests that fault-normal components would be a
major consideration in near-fault related attenuations relationships. However, it is not always
straightforward to obtain the parameters that help in defining the fault-normal components.
Akkar and Glkan (2001) observed evidence that the maximum-velocity-direction component
is as critical as the corresponding fault-normal component not only for records with forward
directivity but also for cases with backward directivity effects. This component appears to
mask the essential characteristics (i.e. large velocities and/or pulse-like waveforms) that cause
each near-fault case potentially critical for structural damage.
36
GROUND MOTION PREDICTION RELATIONSHIP

For purposes of this study the form used by Joyner and Boore (1997) for ground
motion prediction purposes is used:
lnY = b
1
+ b
2
(M - 6) + b
3
(M - 6) + b
5
ln r + b
V
ln (V
S
/ V
A
) (1)
r = (r
cl
+ h)
1/2
(2)
Here Y is the ground motion parameter (peak horizontal acceleration (PGA) or pseudo
spectral acceleration (PSA) in g for 5 percent damping, M is the (moment) magnitude, r
cl
is
the closest horizontal distance from the station to a site of interest in km, V
S
is the
characteristic shear wave velocity for the station in m/s, b
1
, b
2
, b
3
, b
5
, h, b
V
, and V
A
are the
parameters to be determined. In the expression h is a fictitious depth, and V
A
is a fictitious
velocity that is determined by regression. This form has been adopted by Kalkan and Glkan
(2004) on the basis of 112 records recorded prior to 2003 during earthquakes in Turkey.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER PREDICTION EQUATIONS

The attenuation relations given in Equation 1 with the coefficients derived was
compared to those recently developed by Ambraseys et al. (1996), Boore et al. (1997),
Campbell (1997), Sadigh et al. (1997), and finally Spudich et al. (1999). There exist some
interpretation difficulties in transcribing condition among competing attenuation relations.
The equations in Boore et al. (1997) and Ambraseys et al. (1996) divide site classes into four
groups according to their shear wave velocities. The Campbell (1997) equations refer to
alluvium (or firm soil), soft rock and hard rock. Sadigh et al. (1997) and Spudich et al. (1999)
state that their equations are applicable for rock and soil sites. Since the backbone of the
equation we use here is the equivalence of that of Boore et al. (1997), Figure 1 gives the
comparison between this model and that adapted for Turkey for soft soil site condition. The
attenuation of PGA for M
w
= 7.4 earthquake for rock and soil sites is next compared with
recent models in Figure 2. The measured data points from the 1999 Kocaeli event are marked
on these figures to show how predictions fit with the observations.

0
200
400
600
800
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
10
100
P
G
A

(
m
g
)
M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

(
M
W
)
Distance (km)
This Study
0
200
400
600
0
200

Figure 1. Comparison of the predictive model with that of Boore et al. (1997) on 3D plot for
magnitude range of 5 to 7.5 and distance range of 0 to 150 km
400
0
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
10
100
P
G
A

(
m
g
)
M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

(
M
W
)
Distance (km)
Boore et al. (1997)
0
200
400
600
800
60
37
Closest Distance (km)
1 10 100
P
G
A

(
g
)
0.01
0.1
1
0.01
0.1
1
KOCAELI DATA (Max. H. Comp.)
This Study
+/- 1 Sigma
Boore et al. (1997)
Ambraseys et al. (1996)
Campbell (1997)
Sadigh et al. (1997)
Spudich et al. (1999)
Rock, Mw = 7.4

Closest Distance (km)
1 10 100
P
G
A

(
g
)
0.01
0.1
1
0.01
0.1
1
KOCAELI DATA (Max. H. Comp.)
This Study
+/- 1 Sigma
Boore et al. (1997)
Ambraseys et al. (1996)
Campbell (1997)
Sadigh et al. (1997)
Spudich et al. (1999)

Figure 2. Curves of peak acceleration versus distance for a magnitude-7.4 earthquake at rock
and soil sites
38
Given S
a
, the spectral acceleration, it is a straightforward matter to convert to other
spectral quantities. The use of S
v
might lead to more useful results in highlighting the near-
fault ground motion features on structural response. The pseudo-velocity spectrum has the
ability to reflect the period of pulse-like near-fault waveform (T
p
) that shifts the constant
acceleration plateau of the spectrum, affecting both the elastic and inelastic structural
behavior (Akkar and Glkan, 2002). Pulse period also affects the structural behavior in terms
of local and global near-fault ground motion demand (Alavi and Krawinkler, 2001). We did
not attempt to classify the records with respect to their fault mechanisms. Limited to these
observations, the discussions in the rest of the article will concentrate generally on these
ranges.
Figure 3 displays the results of an earlier relationship for smoothed mean PSV in
different distance and magnitude ranges. The use of the letter d instead of r
cl
is noted in these
diagrams. These curves indicate that the velocity-sensitive region (intermediate periods where
the response is related to ground velocity) seems to fall more quickly for increased magnitude
values. This region is flatter and longer for M
w
= 6.5 than the corresponding one for M
w
= 7.5.
The corner period that separates the acceleration-sensitive region (short periods where the
response is related to peak ground acceleration) from the velocity-sensitive region ranges
between 0.7-0.8 seconds. For comparison purposes we include the UBC curves that are
discussed in the next section.

M
w
=7.5, Soft Soil, S
D
1
10
100
1000
0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s)
PSV (cm/s)
Glkan and Kalkan (2002) d=2
UBC97, d=2km
UBC97, d=5km
UBC97, d=10km

Figure 3. Mean PSV curves from the derived prediction relationship for different magnitude
and distance ranges

39
M
w
=7.5, Soil, S
C
1
10
100
1000
0.01 0.1 1 10
Period (s)
PSV (cm/s)
UBC97, d=2km
UBC97, d=5km
UBC97, d=10km

Figure 3 (Cont.). Mean PSV curves from the derived prediction relationship for different
magnitude and distance ranges

COMPARISONS WITH UBC PROVISIONS

The UBC97 design spectrum is a function of two coefficients, namely C
a
and C
v
that
control the acceleration- and velocity-sensitive spectral regions. The coefficient C
a
represents
the effective peak acceleration (EPA) of the ground whereas C
v
is the spectral response of a T
= 1 s system. It is related to the definition of effective peak velocity (EPV), Kramer (1996).
Evolutionary to other design spectra, this code incorporated near-source factors for the short
and intermediate period spectral regions regarding the near-fault ground motion effects. These
factors are designated as N
a
and N
v
, and are applicable only for most earthquake prone sites of
the United States that are located within the near-field area of an active fault. The factor N
a

modifies C
a
to account for the near-fault effects in the short period range. Similarly, N
v

amplifies C
v
in order to modify the seismic hazard level of velocity sensitive region against
near-fault earthquakes. The modification factors N
a
and N
v
attained values considering the
fault activity and closest site distance. Specifically, UBC97 considered near-fault effects as
relevant for M
w
6.5 and distances less than 15 km. The N
a
and N
v
factors are assumed to
change linearly between distances steps (e.g. between 2 to 5 km, and 5 to 10 km, etc.), and
range from 1 to 1.5 and 1 to 2, respectively. Regardless of the fault seismicity, both N
a
and N
v

factors ignore the amplification of spectral ordinates for distances less than 2 km. I compare
in Figure 4 the near-fault demand estimates of UBC97 with these findings. This comparison is
relevant for discussions that question the performance of UBC97 amplification factors in
enveloping the demand of particular ground motions either for large or small magnitude
events. I have fitted smooth curves to our spectral quantities via EPA concept as in the case of
UBC97. Figure 4 displays the comparisons of our demand estimates with the corresponding
UBC97 spectra in terms of spectral displacement, SD. The comparisons are exhibited for
distances 2, 5, and 10 km as UBC97 defines specific amplification values at these distances,
and assumes a linear amplification variation for the corresponding intermediate distances.
40
M
w
=6.5, Soil, S
C
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Period (s)
SD (cm)
UBC97, d=2km
UBC97, d=5km
UBC97, d=10km

M
w
=7.5, Soil, S
C
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Period (s)
SD (cm)
UBC97, d=2km
UBC97, d=5km
UBC97, d=10km

Figure 4. Comparison of displacement demand estimates with the corresponding UBC97
spectra

These results fall below the UBC97 estimates for M
w
= 6.5 at all distances ranges. The
difference between these two approaches is less substantial for M
w
= 7.5 and sites 2 km from
the fault rupture beyond which range a reversal occurs. This discrepancy becomes less as the
magnitude diminishes. For M
w
= 6.5 and all distances greater than 2 km, UBC97 estimates
yield more conservative values. The two approaches overlap when the sites are at distances
greater than 5 km from the fault rupture for M
w
= 7.5. The prediction relationship appears to
yield more conservative spectral values for magnitudes 7+ and distances greater than 5 km. I
refrain from commenting on whether similar discrepancies would have resulted if I had used a
different set of curves for comparison purposes.
41
In view of these results, we can calculate a set of distance-dependent amplification
factors to provide a near-fault response spectrum. They are presented in the two-part Table 1.
The first part of the table lists EPA and EPVA values at mean + standard deviation level at d
= 10 km for different magnitude and site classes. Confined to the limits of the expression, I
have accepted the d = 10 km EPA and EPV related acceleration (EPVA) values as the basis.
The latter term is the spectral acceleration of a T = 1 s oscillator, and controls the intermediate
periods of the spectrum. The ratios of the other EPA and EPVA values at closer distances
with respect to those at 10 km distance serve as the amplification factors (). For a given
magnitude and site classification the ratio of two numbers calculated using Equation (1)
becomes dependent only on distance. The entries for
EPA
and
EPVA
in the second part of the
table have been derived from a different premise, but they may be considered to be analogous
to N
A
and N
V
in the UBC97 lexicon.

Table 1. Effective peak acceleration (EPA), effective peak velocity related acceleration
(EPVA) and computed amplification factors to construct the near-fault sensitive spectrum
EPA (g) (Mean + SD of 0.1-0.5 s) EPVA (g) Mean + SD T = 1 s
M
w

Rock Soil Soft Soil Rock Soil Soft Soil
6.5 0.30 0.35 0.43 0.40 0.45 0.52
7.0 0.34 0.40 0.49 0.56 0.62 0.72
7.5 0.38 0.44 0.54 0.71 0.79 0.91

d
*

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
EPA
1.66 1.57 1.47 1.37 1.29 1.22 1.15 1.10 1.05 1.00
EPVA
1.29 1.28 1.25 1.21 1.18 1.14 1.10 1.07 1.03 1.00

*
Closest distance from the fault rupture (km)

DRIFT LIMITS
The displacement control in evaluating the structural performance against a seismic
action is an important design objective. Recent structural performance assessment methods
place priority on structural displacement capacity. The main goal of these DBD procedures is
to achieve a satisfactory structural performance under the earthquake-induced deformation.
They constitute an important topic in PBSD, and have persuaded engineers of their relevance
especially in local displacement terms (i.e. inter-story drift) caused by the near-fault ground
motions.
The drift spectrum concept was introduced by Iwan (1997). It utilizes the mechanical
analog for a shear beam where velocity and displacement waves travel, causing shear
deformations for which the corresponding structural engineering parameter is the inter-story
drift. Chopra and Chintanapakdee (2001) have confirmed that by including a proper number
of modes in direct integration for modal response, the base level drift can be estimated
accurately. Recent research has shown that the drift spectrum can be obtained through spectral
quantities more easily. Glkan and Akkar (2002) and Heidebrecht and Rutenberg (2000) have
derived drift formulations that depend on the fundamental mode contribution of spectral
42
quantities. In this article, we focus on a elastic base level drift formulation described in
Glkan and Akkar (2002):

Tc
h 2
sin
h
) T , ( SD
27 . 1 D
r

= (3)

The term h is the story height and the constant 1.27 is the modal participation factor of
the fundamental mode when a half sine displacement pattern is used to represent the deformed
shape, equal to 4/. In Equation (3), T represents the fundamental period and c corresponds to
the shear wave velocity traveling along the structure, generally in the range 120-180 m/s for
most structural framing systems. I use c = 120 m/s and h = 3 m in the following.

The applicability of Equation (3) is tested for calculation of drift in structural systems
situated in the near-field in two ways: First, the spectral acceleration is estimated using
Equation (1) at the same magnitude, distance and site classification. This is then converted
into SD through the spectral relationship. Equation (3) is evaluated next for the drift estimate
for that record. For comparison, a time history analysis is made for each record to calculate
the exact drift in a framed system with the same fundamental period. The ratios of the drift
estimates calculated this way are displayed in Figure 5. It is immediately noted that Equation
(3) errs on the unsafe side in this comparison. There are two principal reasons for this. First,
the derived spectral displacement is based on an attenuation relationship whose data set is
fundamentally foreign. An issue is thereby raised in relation to the application of importing
different datasets for estimation of drift. The other, relatively minor reason is the omission of
higher modes in the calculation of drift.

0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 0.5 1 1.5
Period (s)
2
Equation (3)
Mean (D
r
)
app.
./(D
r
)
ex.

Figure 5. Estimated vs. Calculated Drift

A more rigorous test for the accuracy of Equation (3) is possible by utilizing the
calculated spectral displacement for each record in the dataset, and comparing the
approximate drift with its counterpart found from a time-history analysis. This way, the
uncertainty caused by using the attenuation relationship can be eliminated. We display the
results in Figure 6.

43
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 0.5 1 1.5
Period (s)
2
Equation (3)
Mean (D
r
)
app.
./(D
r
)
ex.

Figure 6. Estimated Drift Using Exact SD in Equation (3)

The information conveyed by Figure 6 is a strong confirmation of the prescience
displayed by Equation (3) when the correct spectral displacement is used to estimate the drift.
When the spectral displacement itself is an estimate, then the accuracy of Equation (3) is
seriously compromised. Figure 6 suggests that higher mode effects are really not all that
important in this context.

NONLINEAR DRIFT

Inelastic behavior of structures is likely in the case of near-fault ground motions that
exhibit large deformation demands. This requires structural ductility as determined through
the inelastic analysis. To this end, emphasis should be placed on the definition of inelastic
drift limits for more realistic assessment of structural performance. Converting the elastic
spectral displacement into inelastic range is one way of obtaining the inelastic base level drift
from Equation (3). The inelastic spectral displacements are estimated by a constant ductility
inelastic displacement equation (Miranda, 2000). This expression is:
1
8 . 0
) 12 exp( ) 1
1
( 1

+ = =
T
SD
SD
C
elastic
inelastic
(4)
In the above equation, C
designates the inelastic to elastic displacement modification

factor that is dependent on period (T) and displacement ductility (). Equation (4) is valid for
elasto-plastic hysteretic behavior.

In order to increase the versatility of the drift estimations, Equation (3) is modified by
making use of code expressions such as T=aH
b
. I have utilized a recent proposal made by
Chopra and Goel (2000). This equation reflects the building fundamental period for DBD
approach. Equation (5) gives the upper bound regression results of the proposed regression
formulas for reinforced concrete (RC) frames.

44
(5)
9 . 0
RC
H 067 . 0 T =

In the above expression H is in meters. The expression for inelastic base level drift
limit is given in Equation (6) where SD for near-fault conditions is calculated by the
smoothed response spectrum by Kalkan and Glkan (2002). The equation below reflects
distance and magnitude dependency of near-fault ground motions when appropriate spectral
displacement is used.
[ ]
b
b
w
inelastic w r
T 2
h a
sin
h
) M , d , T , ( SD
27 . 1 C ) M , d , T , ( D

=

(6)
Constant ductility, inelastic drift limits for = 2, 4 and 6 are shown in Figure 7. The
results are computed for RC frames by employing Equations (5) and (6) at 2 and 10 km. As in
other frames the curves are drawn for periods between 0.3 to 2 s. The plots emphasize the
frequency dependence of drift. The drift increases until the end of the constant acceleration
spectral region due to the increase in seismic energy. This demand gradually decreases in the
velocity sensitive region, indicating that the earthquake input energy can be balanced more
easily. These observations derive from principles of structural dynamics. In the long period
range, the displacement ductility does not cause large differences in base level drift for a
given distance. These curves describe high drift demands for large magnitude and short
distance cases. Within the general perspective of these curves, one may conclude that the drift
levels of UBC97 and NEHRP may fall short for close distances and large magnitude events
(M
w
> 7). The drift limits of these provisions are on the safe side for larger distances and
smaller magnitudes.
RC, Mw = 6.5
0
1
2
3
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Period (s)
M
e
a
n

I
n
e
l
a
s
t
i
c

B
a
s
e

L
e
v
e
l

D
r
i
f
t
D
e
m
a
n
d

(
%
)
=2 =4 =6
=2 =4 =6
d = 2.0
d = 10.0 km
Soil

Figure 7. Distance and magnitude dependent inelastic base level drift limits for RC frame
structures

45

RC, Mw = 7.5
0
1
2
3
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Period (s)
M
e
a
n

I
n
e
l
a
s
t
i
c

B
a
s
e

L
e
v
e
l

D
r
i
f
t
D
e
m
a
n
d

(
%
)
=2 =4 =6
=2 =4 =6
d = 2.0 km
d = 10.0 km
Soil

Figure 7 (Cont.). Distance and magnitude dependent inelastic base level drift limits for RC
frame structures

CONCLUSIONS

This study has dealt with estimating elastic and inelastic drift in framed systems in
near-fault distances. This has been done by a simplified expression that uses the spectral
displacement as its input. As spectral displacement is calculated using only the acceleration
record effects of different processing and filtering processes are minimized. When spectral
displacement is estimated by making use of attenuation relations that do not adequately
represent the tectonic framework then estimates of drift can be quite unsafe. When the exact
spectral displacement is substituted in Equation (3) estimates for drift are very good,
indicating the applicability of the expression for near-field conditions.

The results are expected to highlight some important aspects of near-fault ground
motions in terms of engineering issues. The derived spectral quantities indicate that UBC97
can underestimate the short period near-fault drift demand. This observation is valid for large
magnitude events (i.e. M
w
> 7) and distances less than 5 km from the fault rupture. The drift
limits computed by using the proposed spectral values display a frequency dependent
character of local demands. According to these findings, for sites located in the very near
vicinity of active faults, the code drift requirements underestimate the actual demand. A
corollary is appended to suggest that loss estimates based on building stock properties, as
reflected in the drift limits corresponding to various damage states, must not be judged
independently of ground motion intensity measures applicable to where that building stock is
situated.

46
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Appreciation is extended to the Graduate School of Science at Middle East Technical
University for the grant to Ufuk Yazgan, currently graduate student at ETH Zrich, which
enabled him to work on this paper. I am also indebted to Professor Sinan Akkar whose work
has infiltrated into this article in several instances.

REFERENCES

Akkar, S., and J. Bommer (2006). Influence of long-period filter cut-off on elastic spectral
displacements, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 35(9):1145-1165.

Akkar, S. and P. Glkan (2001). Near-field earthquakes and their implications on seismic
design codes, Earthquake Engineering and Research Center, Report 2001-01,
Department of Civil Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Akkar, S. and P. Glkan (2002). Spectral velocity and displacement in performance based
earthquake resistant design, Proc. 12th European Conference on Earthquake
Engineering-CD ROM, Paper No. 137, London.

Alavi, B. and H. Krawinkler (2001). Effects of near-fault ground motions on frame
structures, The John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, Report No. 138, Stanford
University, California.

Ambraseys, N.N., K.A. Simpson and J. Bommer (1996). Prediction of horizontal response
spectra in Europe, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 25(4), 371-400.

Bolt, B.A. (1996). From earthquake acceleration to seismic displacement, The Fifth Mallet-
Milne Lecture, Wiley.

Boore, D.M., W.B. Joyner and T.E. Fumal (1997). Equations for estimating horizontal
response spectra and peak acceleration from Western North American earthquakes: A
Summary of Recent Work, Seismological Research Letters, 68(1), 128-153.

Campbell, K.W. (1997). Empirical near source attenuation relationships for horizontal and
vertical components of peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and pseudo-
absolute acceleration response spectra, Seismological Research Letters, 68(1), 154-179.

Chopra, A.K. and R.K. Goel (2000). Building period formulas for estimating seismic
displacements, Earthquake Spectra; 16(2): 533-536.

Chopra, A.K. and C. Chintanapakdee (2001). Drift spectrum vs. modal analysis of
structural response to near-fault ground motions, Earthquake Spectra; 17(2):221-234.

Douglas, J.A. (2001). Comprehensive worldwide summary of strong motion attenuation
relationships for peak ground acceleration and spectral ordinates (1969-2000),
Engineering Seismology and Earthquake Engineering (ESEE), Report 01-1, Civil
Engineering Department, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London.

47
Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA (1997). NEHRP recommended
provisions for seismic regulations for new buildings and other structures. Report No.
FEMA-302, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC.

Glkan, P. and S. Akkar (2002). A simple replacement for the drift spectrum,
Engineering Structures; 24(11):1477-1484.

Glkan, P., and Kalkan, E. (2002). Attenuation modeling of recent earthquakes in Turkey,
Journal of Seismology, 6, 397-409.

Hall, J.F., T.H. Heaton, M.W. Halling and D.J. Wald (1995). Near-source ground motion
and its effects on flexible buildings, Earthquake Spectra; 11(4):569-605.

Heidebrecht, A.C. and A. Rutenberg (2000). Applications of drift spectra in seismic
design, Proc. 12th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Paper No. 290,
Auckland, New Zealand.

International Conference of Building Officials, ICBO (1997). Uniform Building Code,
Whittier, California.

Iwan, W.D. (1997). Drift spectrums: measure of demand for earthquake ground motions,
Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE; 123(4): 397-404.

Kramer, S.L. (1996). Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. Prentice-Hall Inc.: New Jersey.

Miranda, E. (2000). Inelastic displacement ratios for displacement-based earthquake
resistant design, Proc. of the 12th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Paper
No. 1096, New Zealand.

Sadigh, K., C.Y. Chang, J.A. Egan, F. Makdisi and R.R. Youngs (1997). Attenuation
relationships for shallow crustal earthquakes based on California strong motion data,
Seismological Research Letters, 68(1) 180-189.

Somerville, P.G., N.F. Smith, R.W. Graves and N.A. Abrahamson (1997). Modification
of empirical strong ground motion attenuation relations to include the amplitude and
duration effects of rupture directivity, Seismological Research Letters; 68(1):199-222.

Spudich, P., W.B. Joyner, A.G. Lindh, D.M. Boore, B.M. Margaris and J.B. Fletcher
(1999). SEA99: A revised ground motion prediction relation for use in extensional
tectonic regimes, Bull. Seismol. Soc. of Am., 89(5), 1156-1170.
48
DURABILITY DESIGN
A HOLISTIC CONCRETE CODE FOR THE 21
ST
CENTURY

R.N. SWAMY
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield,
Mappin Street, Sheffield, UK

ABSTRACT: The overall aim of this paper is to show that if sustainability in concrete
construction is to be achieved, then the first step to take is to design concrete materials and
concrete structures to have a durable service life with adequate ductility to preserve structural
integrity. The paper advocates an integrated material and structural design strategy a Holistic
Approach based on the principle Strength through Durability rather than Durability through
Strength. Such a holistic design strategy will have three key elements. The material strategy will
involve the development of a concrete matrix of high impermeability by taking advantage of the
synergistic interactions of the cementitious system. However, development of strength and a
highly refined pore structure are time-dependent phenomena, and in aggressive and extreme
environments, it may well also be necessary to protect the concrete from its surroundings, and
further ensure the electrochemical stability of the steel reinforcement. The combination of a high-
durability cement matrix, a protective system for the concrete and a corrosion-resistant steel can
ensure durable and ductile service life even in the most aggressive and unfriendly exposure, load
and climatic conditions. We live in a rapidly changing world where sustainable development of the
concrete industry is no longer an option. The most pressing and urgent need worldwide now is the
regeneration and rehabilitation of our infrastructure such as affordable housing, water, energy and
sanitation systems. Low energy cement production technologies should enable us to develop and
produce a wide-range of cost-effective, environmentally friendly and low energy building
materials that will save energy, conserve resources and reduce environmental pollution.

INTRODUCTION

We live in a rapidly changing world. The world at the end of the twentieth century was very
different to that we inherited at the beginning of that century. All the present indications are that
the twenty-first century will be the most challenging, in almost all aspects of human life on this
planet, not only to humanity as a whole, but to engineers especially, and to material scientists and
civil/structural engineers in particular.
The most direct and unquestionable evidence of the last two/three decades and the resulting
challenge that confronts us, is the alarming and unacceptable rate at which our infrastructure
systems all over the world are suffering from deterioration when exposed to real environments
1-5
.
What is most surprising is that this massive and horrendous Infrastructure Crisis has occurred in
spite of the tremendous advances that have been made in our understanding of the science,
engineering and mechanics of materials and structures. This is not a simplistic statement, but the
evidence is there in black and white for us all to see. The crisis is world-wide, and there is no
doubt that this deterioration process has been fuelled by environmental disasters, human conflict,
wanton destruction, and the increasing economic divide between the rich and the poor.
What does this state of affairs tell us? No doubt, it sends us many messages but basically,
the Ultimate Strength Design approach to materials and structures is now shown to be irrelevant,
inappropriate, and indeed flawed for the construction industry in the 21
st
century
6
. We seem to be
obsessed with Strength and what experience has shown us is that the concept/philosophy of
Durability through Strength is simply invalid and unattainable. There is no simple or unique
49
1
relationship between Strength and Durability; and it is clear that what we need to do is Design for
Durability in its widest sense, and check for Ultimate Strength. Such a Design approach has many
implications but most importantly, we should manufacture and produce materials for Durability
and not for Strength.
The arguments for such a new Design Code are unchallengeable. The last few decades
have shown us convincing proof that the construction industry is faced with two further challenges
Sustainability in Construction and Global Warming/Climate Change. Both have a direct and
immediate impact on all aspects of civil engineering construction. We cannot achieve
Sustainability in Construction if the materials we use and the structures we design and build
cannot give durable service life. We cannot control environmental degradation or pollution, or
conserve our material and energy resources if materials and structures have to be repaired and
strengthened time and time again. The impact of Global Warming and Climate Change, on the
other hand, on strength, safety and stability of structures shows us that we need to consider a new
dimension to our conventional concept of Durability that of Ductility. That is, in more general
terms, we need to think of Material Stability and Structural Integrity which leads us to the
Holistic Concept of Material and Structural Stability Design, i.e. Design for Structural Integrity,
Design for the Environment and Design for the effects of Climate Change.

CONCRETE STRUCTURAL DESIGN

Durability Through Strength? OR Strength Through Durability

There is now massive evidence, growing all the time, and, from all over the world, that the major
problem facing the concrete and construction industry is our inability to achieve a specified and
durable service life for concrete structures. Structures seldom fail due to lack of intrinsic strength,
per se. There are very few examples where structures have collapsed due to lack of adequate
strength, unless of course, some fundamental mistakes have been made in design or construction,
or some unexpected dynamic forces have occurred. Ultimate strength failures are thus, in general,
very rare. Serviceability failures on the other hand, appear to be the constant and unending
problem affecting concrete structures. Lack of Serviceability leading to lack of safety, loss of
strength, loss of ductility and loss of structural integrity is, without a shadow of doubt, the
perennial disease afflicting concrete structures. Lack of Serviceability can arise from a number of
sources design deficiencies, lack of adequate impermeability of the concrete, steel corrosion,
internal material reactions such as delayed ettringite formation, sulphate attack, and alkali-
aggregate reaction or freeze-thaw expansion
7-16
.

Infrastructure Deterioration

The ASCE Reports on Americas Infrastructure and the ICE State of the Nation Reports in the
UK, all confirm the one undeniable fact that we face a horrendous, and an almost unstoppable,
situation in being unable to ensure that the materials we manufacture and use, and the structures
we design and build can meet up with the Limit State of Serviceability during the specified design
service life of a structure. This inevitably leads to the conclusion that the present approach to
structural design Design for Ultimate Limit State and checking for Serviceability Limit State is
no longer valid or relevant indeed fundamentally flawed to the construction industry of the 21
st

century. All the evidence that stares at our face confirms that we need to adopt a totally different
DESIGN philosophy a HOLISTIC approach where structures should be designed for
Serviceability Limit State and checked for the Ultimate Limit State. The Holistic approach implies
a Management Strategy of Structural Health Monitoring during the service life of all concrete
structures that have an impact on Society and the Quality of Human Life.
50
The incontrovertible, unchallengeable and unquestionable evidence that our infrastructure
systems all over the world are deteriorating at an alarming and unacceptable rate makes us realise
that if we allow this situation to continue, it will be impossible for us to achieve an
environmentally friendly, energy efficient and sustainable development of the construction
industry for the 21
st
century and this will be a great tragedy if we bear in mind that it is the
construction industry that can enhance the Quality of Life for all peoples of the world. A critical
analysis and appraisal of all the different types and modes of serviceability failures all over the
world teaches us two fundamental lessons. Firstly, the damage mechanics and the deterioration
processes of concrete materials is a time-dependent, and interdependent interactivity of load,
ageing, cracking, immediate environmental conditions and climatic changes. The progress of
degradation in concrete is then not the result of one factor, one process, or one set of aggressive
agents. Indeed, it is a progressively cumulative damage activity, an overall synergistic process, a
complex combination of several individual mechanisms, the exact role, effect and contribution of
each of which to the totality of damage cannot be clearly and fully evaluated or even estimated.
Secondly, engineers invariably tend to underestimate the durability effects of aggressive
environments on concrete, and the time-dependent and interactive effects of exposure and climatic
conditions which ultimately decide the stability and serviceability of materials and structures.
Continual exposure to ambient environment is thus the one single predominant external factor that
is beyond human control, and that can create an alarming degree of degradation in a short time
immediately on exposure, and particularly at early ages.

CHALLENGE OF DURABILITY DESIGN

It is thus clear that the current structural design philosophy of designing concrete structures for
Ultimate Limit State and Checking for Serviceability Limit State is no longer valid or relevant to
the construction industry of the 21
st
century. Indeed, with our present knowledge and
understanding of the mechanics and mechanisms of reinforced concrete deterioration processes,
Design for Serviceability Limit State i.e. Designing for Durability and Structural Integrity is
far more critical and of paramount importance, if we are to ensure that our stock of structures are
able to deliver the durable service life for which they are designed. But designing for the
Serviceability Limit State needs a clearer and thorough understanding of the performance of
materials and structures in their real life exposure conditions. And experience tells us that this is
not a simplistic process, as the progress of damage involves many interactive and inter-dependent
parameters, several of which are beyond the control of engineers, and indeed, not anticipated or
fully appreciated at the design stage. So the fundamental question is this can engineers rise to
this challenge and be able to design structures which will give durable performance for the period
of service life for which they are designed?

Climate Change

There is now conclusive evidence that extreme weather events and drastic climate changes can
prove to be the costliest occurrences in the service life of civil engineering infrastructure.
Experience tells us that we shall never know the precise cost of repair, rehabilitation and
regeneration following the damage and destruction to infrastructure caused by hurricanes and other
meteorological events and geological upheavals like the recent earthquake in Pakistan and India,
and the Boxing Day Tsunami in Asia last year. Destruction of our built environment, whether due
to natural or manmade activities, occurs extremely rapidly and very dramatically, but repair,
rehabilitation and regeneration invariably take many years to complete and often cripple the social
and economic fabric, and the political development of a country for many decades.
51
All climate change events pose severe challenges to the civil engineering and construction
industry, and material scientists and design engineers need to reflect intensely and deeply as to
how we can minimize the severity of damage caused to our infrastructure. What are the material
and structural implications, for example, of these extreme weather events? We need to understand
the process of damage inflicted by these unpredictable and immense dynamic forces if we are to
produce effective material and structural designs and solutions capable of absorbing and
accommodating the consequences of climate change with little loss of life and limited damage to
the infrastructure. But one conclusion is certain and undeniable that the present philosophy of
designing materials and structures for ultimate strength is fundamentally invalid, irrelevant, and
indeed flawed, if we are to meet the challenge of the effects of climate change on our
infrastructure. Design for climate change has now become imperative, and a necessity. Experience
of the damage caused to our infrastructure during their service life in the last three/four decades
tells us that we need to adopt a Holistic approach to design, focussing on material stability and
structural integrity, rather than merely on strength. Perhaps it would be appropriate at this stage to
reflect briefly on the structure and composition of hurricanes and other similar events, from an
engineering point of view, and analyse how they impact on civil engineering infrastructure that
stand in their way.
Radar images reported from the National Hurricane Centre in Miami tell us, for example, that
hurricanes are huge covering large areas, and whip up winds in excess of 200km/h. Hurricane
Katrina, for example, was initially some 500 km wide, with winds in excess of 250 km/h such that
towns and cities, houses and buildings that stood in its way had no option but to face the brunt and
the onslaught of its immense and unpredictable dynamic forces. High winds are not the only
danger facing those that stand in the way of a hurricane. The low pressure at the heart of the
hurricane can swell the waves, and make the ocean rise up and create potentially devastating storm
surges that are dragged along by the hurricane. We are told that such storm surges can sometimes
be as high as 8 m. The high winds also produce huge surface waves on top of the storm surge, and
exacerbate the damage further caused by the storm surge. With Hurricane Katrina, it is reported
that surface waves were in excess of 6 m on top of the storm surge.
How do we then design structures that have to resist such huge and unforeseen dynamic
forces from high winds and the resulting floods? How do we design flood defence schemes to
resist such unpredictable forces? The massive storm surges arising from Hurricane Katrina
destroyed two major highway bridges. The Biloxi Bridge lost more than 50 spans whilst the bridge
spanning Lake Pontchartrain lost near one half of its deck where the storm surge lifted the deck
sections off pier supports. Both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are reported to have destroyed some
109 oil platforms and five drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and serious and extensive damage
was caused to some 50 platforms and 19 drilling rigs. It is clear that high winds + heavy rainfall +
storm surges + high tides can totally destroy houses, buildings and flood defences over a wide area
in a very short time. How do engineers assess the probability of the occurrence of such extreme
weather events in the present context of so many unknowns and other imponderables? How do we
assess, effectively and efficiently, the damage to foundations, ground swelling, subsidence,
damage to gas, sewer and water pipes, contamination by sewage and toxic chemicals, oil and gas
leaks from petrol stations, ground movements, damage to and destruction of highways and roads,
??? Buildings could be contaminated by sewage and toxic chemicals and they may need
environmental cleaning. What about the structural integrity of the buildings left standing? and
damage to submerged fabrics such as plaster, timber and concrete??
In a week of hurricane-related heavy rains, mudflows and mudslides in Central America and
Southern Mexico, towns and villages disappeared under a thick apron of mud estimated to be up to
12 m deep. How many structures will remain firm, solid and stable under such an onslaught? What
do engineers do with land where bodies are buried, and corpses decompose? how do we renovate
and regenerate such land? Heavy and constant rain falling on deforested hills- how do we stabilise
soil before rebuilding?
52
Persistent heavy rains and the resulting flash floods are known to wreak similar widespread
havoc and destruction to our infrastructure. Bridges have been known to have been washed away
and smashed; network of roads have been ripped up and washed away. In southern India recently
three days of particularly heavy rain caused three reservoirs to breach their banks, triggering flash
floods. In another area, these flash floods washed away a portion of a railway track, causing a train
to derail and plunge into a rain-swollen river! Intense rain storms in southern Italy washed away a
section of a railway embankment causing the trailing locomotive of a high speed train poised over
empty space the floods had washed away the earth and the rock beneath the railway line for
about 20 m. European satellite data show heavy environmental pollution in China, and it is
reported that some 70% of the rivers and lakes are reported to be so full of toxins that they can no
longer be used for drinking water!
The ASCE 2005 Report Card for Americans Infrastructure calls attention to the parlous and
deplorable state of US Infrastructure, and the need for urgent action to prevent its slide toward
failure. The ASCE gave an overall grade of D to the nations infrastructure, and it is now estimated
that an investment of $1.6 trillion is required to raise the quality of infrastructure to a satisfactory
level.
We need investment but we also need a new Holistic approach to DESIGN. And above all,
we need to rethink the fundamental basis of the education and training of civil engineers for the
twenty-first century.

HOLISTIC DESIGN

Although the adoption of Limit State Design based on Ultimate Strength Analysis has
tremendously advanced our understanding of the mechanics and engineering behaviour of
materials and structures under controlled conditions, experience during the last four/five decades
shows that premature deterioration of concrete structures continues to be a major problem against
achieving their durable service life. There is strong evidence to identify that current design codes
and specifications lead to structures that do not provide adequate resistance to the time-dependent
interactions of loads, ageing, cracking, exposure and environment in which structures have to live,
breathe, carry loads, and provide durable service life. The assumption that if concrete is
proportioned to give high compressive strength, then somehow its impermeability, and the
protection of the embedded steel against aggressive agents will be automatically and adequately
provided for by the cover thickness and the presumed quality of concrete as specified in building
code requirements is not valid.
We can achieve Sustainable Growth only if the materials we create and use, and the
structures we design and build are such that
they give durable service performance during their specified design life i.e. materials are
manufactured and structures are designed for Durability rather than for Strength.
materials and structures are cost-effective, energy-efficient and eco-friendly.
the engineering capabilities of the materials and structural elements are fully utilized and
optimized in their service behaviour.
the structures have a high degree of ductility and energy absorption capability.
A concrete structure that subscribes to this concept can now be defined as A High
Durability Concrete Element is that which is designed to give optimized performance
characteristics for a given set of load, usage and exposure conditions consistent with the
requirements of cost, service life, durability, ductility, environment and sustainability.
The only way to achieve these challenging goals is to develop and adopt a Global Holistic
Design Strategy that would integrate material properties with those factors that produce durable
53
in-situ structural performance and preserve structural integrity. Such a Design Strategy will
involve three distinct but inter-related and interactive approaches, namely
A Material Strategy to develop a high durability concrete i.e. High Strength through
Durability rather than High Durability through Strength.
A Structural Strategy to develop an efficient Protective System to protect concrete and
steel from aggressive environmental attack.
A Design Strategy to integrate material properties with structural performance that will
ensure Material Stability and Structural Integrity throughout design service life.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

A durable, efficient and effective infrastructure system is fundamental to economic prosperity,
social justice, political stability and the Quality of Human Life. Civil engineering infrastructure is
the most costly to create, develop and maintain. It is thus the most precious national asset for any
country. There is, however, massive and growing evidence that our infrastructure systems are
deteriorating at an alarming and unacceptable rate. We cannot achieve Sustainability in
Construction if the materials we use and the structures we design and build cannot give durable
service life. We cannot control environmental degradation or pollution, or conserve our material
and energy resources if materials and structures have to be repaired and strengthened time and
time again.
All the evidence that we have of material degradation and structural damage in service shows
that the current ultimate strength design procedure with a check on the serviceability limit state is
longer valid or relevant indeed fundamentally flawed for sustainable development of the
concrete industry for the 21
st
century. Indeed, the current design approach based on the deemed to
satisfy premise has been proved to be totally inadequate to ensure Durability even when the
design specification are correctly implemented.
This paper advocates a Holistic Durability Design Philosophy - an integrated material and
structural design strategy of Strength through Durability rather than of Durability through
Strength where materials are manufactured for Durability rather than for Strength, and structures
are designed for Ductility and Structural Integrity. Holistic Design envisages a global approach
to all aspects of concrete and construction technology from material selection, design, construction,
and maintenance to service life, integrating material characteristics with in-situ performance. Use
of cement replacement materials, design for material stability, design for structural integrity and
design for sustainability are the key elements of this holistic durability design to achieve durable
service life performance.

REFERENCES

1. Rasheeduzzafar, F. H. Dakhil and A. S. Al-Ghatani, Corrosion of Reinforcement in
Concrete Structures in the Middle East, Concrete International, 7(9), 1985, pp 48-
55.
2. Ingvarsson, H. and Westerberg., B, Operation and Maintenance of Bridges and
Other Bearing Structures Swedish Transport Research Board Publication No 42,
1986.
3. Concrete Durability a Multibillion Dollar Opportunity, National Materials
Advisory Board Publication No NMAB-437, National Academy of Sciences, 1987.
54
4. Wallbank, E. J., The Performance of Concrete Bridges Her Majestys Stationery
Office, 1989.
5. Mehta, P. K., Concrete Technology at the Cross-Roads Problems and
Opportunities, ACI Special Publication SP-114, American Concrete Institute, 1994.
6. Swamy, R. N., Durability Design A Holistic Philosophy for Sustainable
Construction A New Concrete Code for the 21
st
Century, International Symposium
on The First African Concrete Code, Libya, November 28-20, 2005, pp 76-103.
7. Swamy, R. N., Durability Rebars in Concrete, ACI Special Publication SP-131,
American Concrete Institute 1992.
8. Swamy, R. N., Alkali-Aggregate Reaction The Bogeyman of Concrete, ACI
Special Publication SP-114, American Concrete Institute, 1994.
9. Swamy, R. N., Design The Key to Concrete Material Durability and Structural
Integrity International Conference on Reinforced Concrete Materials in Hot
Climates, Al-Ain, 1994, vol 1, pp 3-36.
10. Swamy, R. N., Oshiro, T. and Tanikawa, S., Global Strategy to Enhance Service
Life of Deteriorating Structures International Symposium on Extending the Life
Span of Structures, Zurich, July 4-8, 1995, pp 459-467.
11. Swamy, R. N., Design for Durability and Strength Through the use of Fly Ash and
Slag in Concrete ACI Special Publication SP-171, American Concrete Institute,
1997.
12. Swamy, R. N., Design for Chloride Contaminated Harsh Environments: Concrete
Protection The Key to Durable Service Life The Arabian Journal for Science and
Engineering, 23 (2C), 1998, pp 3-40.
13. Swamy, R. N., Design for Durable Service Life Linchpin for Sustainability in
Concrete Construction ACI Special Publication SP-186, American Concrete
Institute, 1999.
14. Swamy, R. N., The Magic of Synergy Chemical and Mineral Admixtures for High
Durability Concrete International Symposium on the Role of Admixtures in High
Performance Concrete, Mexico, March 21-26, 1999, pp 3-18.
15. Swamy, R. N., High Performance Cement Based Materials Holistic Design for
Sustainability in Construction Lecture Notes 18, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2003.
16. Swamy, R. N., Design for Durability with Galvanized Reinforcement Galvanized
Steel Reinforcement in Concrete, Elsevier Ltd, 2004.

55
56

THE EFFECT OF REINFORCEMENT TYPE ON THE DUCTILITY OF
SUSPENDED REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS
R. I. GILBERT
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of New South Wales
UNSW Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

ABSTRACT: Reinforced concrete slabs typically have relatively small tensile reinforcement
ratios and are traditionally regarded as very ductile structural elements. This is not the case for
slabs reinforced with low-ductility welded wire fabric (WWF). Such slabs fail with little warning
by fracture of the reinforcement in a brittle and catastrophic manner and, as a consequence, many
of the assumptions implicit in structural design are not applicable. Slabs containing low ductility
reinforcement lack robustness and cannot absorb the energy required to resist significant impact or
blast loading. This paper outlines the importance of ductility in concrete structures and describes
the observed failure mode and ductility of reinforced concrete slabs containing both normal and
low-ductility reinforcement. For slabs reinforced with low-ductility welded wire mesh, failure is
characterized by relatively little plastic deformation prior to collapse, with small rotational
capacities of the critical regions and, consequently, little moment redistribution.
INTRODUCTION
The ductility of reinforcing steel is usually specified in terms of its minimum elongation at
maximum force (
uk
) and the minimum tensile strength to yield stress ratios (f
t
/f
y
)
k
. The term
uk
is
the minimum value for the strain at peak stress, corresponding to the onset of necking. For low
ductility steels (Class A), Eurocode 2
1
specifies
uk
= 2.5% (1.5% elsewhere
2
) and (f
t
/f
y
)
k
= 1.05
(1.03 elsewhere
2
). For normal ductility reinforcement (Class B), Eurocode 2
1
sets
uk
= 5% and
(f
t
/f
y
)
k
= 1.08. Low ductility reinforcement in the form of cold worked welded wire fabric (WWF)
with
u
in the range 1.5% to 3.5% is quite brittle, yet its use is permitted in suspended floor slabs
by many national standards, albeit with certain restrictions.
Reinforced concrete slabs typically have relatively small tensile reinforcement ratios and,
provided the stress-strain relationship of the tensile steel is elastic-plastic with
u
exceeding about
5%, are very ductile structural elements. The usual methods for the analysis and design of concrete
slabs at the ultimate limit states rely on the essential requirement that individual cross-sections
possess significant ductility. Reinforced concrete slabs containing Class A steel do not have
sufficient ductility. Fracture of the tensile steel is the usual failure mode for flexural members and
the conventional understanding of ductile under-reinforced flexural failure is not valid. The usual
assumption that flexural failure is initiated by concrete crushing is quite wrong. The failure mode is
brittle (sudden) and at curvatures far less than predicted by current ultimate strength design theory.
This has been shown analytically by several research groups
3-8
.
One of the factors that has been identified as significant in the lack of ductility of members
containing low ductility steel is strain localization. Strain localization in reinforced concrete is the
57
The 10th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 13 -15 November 2006, Kuwait The 10th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 13 -15 November 2006, Kuwait

phenomenon whereby the local steel strain on a cracked section at the ultimate limit state just
before the steel fractures is significantly larger than the average steel strain taken over a gauge
length containing several cracks.
Tests on reinforced concrete slabs by Gilbert & Smith
8
have shown that deformed welded wire
fabrics have excellent bond characteristics and this facilitates strain localization. Unexpectedly
large drop offs in steel stress and strain in the regions immediately adjacent to each critical section
were measured, with plastic deformation in the steel confined to a very short length of bar in the
vicinity of the critical crack. The average curvature in the critical moment region of a typical slab
containing welded wire fabric is therefore much lower than the local value at the critical crack
where the steel fractures. As a consequence, the rotation capacity at the critical section is very
small indeed and the deflection of the slab just before failure can be alarmingly small. With
fracture of the tensile steel, the failure mode is sudden and catastrophic. In addition, slabs
containing Class A steel lack robustness and cannot absorb the energy required to resist significant
impact or blast loading.
An extensive experimental program funded by the Australian Research Council is currently
underway at UNSW to investigate the collapse load behaviour and robustness of reinforced
concrete slabs containing low ductility reinforcement. This paper reports the results of a series of
deformation-controlled laboratory tests on one-way slabs containing low-ductility reinforcement
and discusses the importance of ductility as a design requirement. The tests reported herein are a
precursor to an extensive experimental program on two-way slabs. Of particular interest are the
failure modes, the amount of plastic deformation, the rotational capacities of the critical regions
and the measured redistribution of internal actions as the collapse load is approached.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Ductility is important for many reasons. Ductility provides concrete structures with alternative load
paths and the ability to redistribute internal actions as the collapse load is approached. Reinforced
concrete structures are non-linear and inelastic and the stiffness of a typical element varies from
location to location depending on the extent of cracking and the reinforcement layout. In addition,
the stiffness of a particular cross-section or region is time-dependent, with the distribution of
internal actions changing under service loads due to creep and shrinkage, as well as other imposed
deformations such as support settlements and temperature gradients. All these factors cause the
actual distribution of internal actions in an indeterminate structure to deviate from that calculated
in an elastic analysis. Despite these difficulties, codes of practice permit the use of elastic analysis
based on uniform properties and uniform loading. This is quite reasonable provided the critical
regions possess sufficient ductility (plastic rotational capacity) to enable the actions to redistribute
towards the calculated elastic distribution as the collapse load is approached. Critical regions
reinforced with low ductility steel do not have the necessary ductility.
Ductility is also important to provide robustness and to resist impact and cyclic loading. With
proper detailing, ductile structures can absorb the energy associated with sudden impact (as may
occur in an accident or a blast) or cyclic loading (such as a seismic event) without collapse. With
proper detailing, ductile structures can also be designed to resist progressive collapse. Structures
reinforced with low ductility reinforcement are simply too brittle to perform adequately under
significant impact or seismic loading. Slabs containing low ductility reinforcement fail by fracture
of the tensile steel with little warning and often at very small deflections. Such failures are
catastrophic and result in complete collapse of the span.
Despite the importance of ductility as a design requirement, many structures containing low
ductility reinforcement are still being built.
58

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
The experimental program consisted of testing nine RC one-way slabs to failure. Four slabs were
simply-supported over a span L of 2000 mm (SS1 to SS4) and five slabs were continuous over two-
spans each of 2000 mm (CS1 to CS5). All slabs were of rectangular section, with width b = 850
mm, overall depth nominally 100 mm and reinforced with varying amounts of low ductility WWF
(with wire diameters d
b
of 6.0, 7.6 or 9.5 mm) or, in the case of SS4 and CS5 only, normal ductility
deformed bars (d
b
= 12 mm). The clear cover from the longitudinal steel to the nearest concrete
surface was nominally 15 mm, and the slabs were designed and detailed to satisfy AS 3600-2001
2
.
Figures 1 and 2 show elevations and sections of the test specimens, including support, loading
and reinforcement details. Details of the reinforcement quantities and the span to effective depth
ratios are given in Table 1, where d
b
is bar or wire diameter (mm), A
st
is the area of the tensile steel
(mm
2
), d is the effective depth to the tensile steel area (mm) and is the reinforcement ratio
(=A
st
/bd).

The applied load P (Figs. 1a and 2a) was distributed across the full width of the slab at each
load point. The test specimens were loaded with controlled deformation in a 100 kN hydraulic jack
located in a stiff testing frame. Deformation was applied continuously and very slowly throughout
Figure 1. Test arrangement and details for simply-supported slabs (SS1 to SS4).

Figure 2. Test arrangement and details for continuous slabs (CS1 to CS5).

59

the test in order to monitor the post peak load response of each slab. Reactions were measured
using load cells in order to trace the redistribution of internal actions as loading progressed.
To measure deflection, linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs) were placed beneath the
soffit of each of the slabs at the load position. Electrical resistance strain gauges of 60 mm gauge
length were attached to the top surface of each slab at mid-span in the positive moment region and
to the bottom surface of each continuous slab over the support in the negative moment region to
measure concrete surface compressive strains.
Reinforcement strains were measured in specimens SS1, SS2 and SS3 by 5 strain gauges, of 10
mm gauge length, attached to one of the longitudinal wires at 100 mm centres at and adjacent to
the peak moment region. One strain gauge was located at the cross-wire located directly under the
applied load at mid-span, two additional strain gauges were located 100 mm each side of mid-span
midway between cross-wires and two more were located 200 mm each side of mid-span at the
adjacent cross-wire location.
Table 1. Designation and details of the slab specimens.
Bottom Steel Top Steel Slab

Type
*
D
mm d
b
A
st
d (%)
L/d
d
b
A
st
d
SS1 S-S 100 6.0 141 81.4 .204 24.6 - - -
SS2 S-S 102 7.6 227 81.7 .327 24.5 - - -
SS3 S-S 107 9.5 354 85.9 .485 23.3 - - -
SS4 S-S 106 12
#
339 83.2 .480 24.0 - - -
CS1 CONT 100 6.0 141 82.0 0.203 24.4 6.0 141 82.0
CS2 CONT 100 6.0 141 80.5 0.207 24.8 9.5 354 78.7
CS3 CONT 100 7.6 227 80.8 0.330 24.8 7.6 227 82.3
CS4 CONT 100 7.6 227 80.1 0.333 25.0 9.5 354 78.3
CS5 CONT 100 12
#
339 83.5 0.478 24.0 12
#
339 76.6
* S-S = simply supported; and CONT = two span continuous.
#
SS4 & CS5 reinforced with 12mm dia. Class N deformed bar.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Material Properties
The concrete properties were determined at the time of testing each slab. The mean compressive
strength f
cm
, the elastic modulus E
c
, and the splitting tensile strength f
ct
were obtained from standard
150 mm dia. cylinders. The flexural tensile strength, f
cf
, was determined from rectangular prisms
(100 x 100 x 500 mm). The mechanical properties of the concrete are given in Table 2.
Three types of low ductility WWF, referred to as SL62, SL82, and SL102, were used in the
experiments (SS1 to SS3 and CS1 to CS5) and one type of normal ductility deformed bar (SS4 and
CS6). A summary of the geometrical and material properties determined from tension tests is also
given in Table 2. Based on an average of the results for at least three specimens from each sheet of
mesh, the 0.2% proof stress f
y
, ultimate stress f
t
, uniform elongation
u
and ratio of ultimate to yield
stress f
t
/f
y
were determined. In Table 2, d
b
is the diameter of the longitudinal wires or bars. For each
type of WWF, cross-wires of the same diameter as the five longitudinal wires are spaced at 200
mm centres. Stress-strain curves for the welded wire mesh and deformed bars are shown in Fig. 3.
60

Table 2. Material properties.
Concrete Properties Reinforcement Properties Slab
f
cm

(MPa)
E
c

(MPa)
f
cf

(MPa)
Reinf.
Type
d
b

(mm)
E
s

(MPa)
f
y
(MPa)
f
t
(MPa)
f
t
/f
y

u
(%)
SS1 38.0 27470 4.42 SL62 6.0 2x10
5
574 620 1.08 2.3
SS2 38.0 27470 4.42 SL82 7.6 2x10
5
581 638 1.10 2.4
SS3 38.0 27470 4.42 SL102 9.5 2x10
5
578 626 1.08 3.3
SS4 38.0 27470 4.42 N12 12.0 2x10
5
591 678 1.15 9.8
CS1 37.8 26470 3.80 SL62 6.0 2x10
5
574 614 1.07 2.7
CS2 45.0 28670 4.70 SL62
SL102
6.0
9.5
2x10
5
2x10
5

588
578
622
626
1.06
1.08
2.6
3.3
CS3 37.8 26470 3.80 SL82 7.6 2x10
5
581 638 1.10 2.4
CS4 37.8 26470 3.80 SL82
SL102
7.6
9.5
2x10
5
2x10
5

615
578
656
626
1.07
1.08
1.9
3.3
CS5 37.8 26470 3.80 N12 12.0 2x10
5
591 678 1.15 9.8
Note: The WWF has a strain at peak stress
u
in the range 1.9 to 3.3% and the ratio f
t
/f
y
in the
range 1.06 to 1.10, whilst the deformed bar is much more ductile at
u
= 9.8% and f
t
/f
y
= 1.15.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 5 10 15
Strain (%)
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
SL62
SL82
SL102
N12

Figure 3. Typical stress versus strain curves for reinforcement.
Simply-Supported Slabs
All simply-supported slabs containing WWF (SS1 to SS3) failed in the same non-ductile manner,
as shown by the mid-span moment vs deflection curves in Figures 4a, 4b and 4c. The slabs had
little ability to maintain peak moment capacity. After the peak moment was first reached at a
deflection
1
it was sustained for a short period of further deformation until the deflection reached
2
. The slabs then began to unload as deformation increased. Failure was eventually initiated by
fracture of one or more of the longitudinal tensile reinforcing wires and the slabs collapsed. There
was no evidence of crushing of the concrete at the critical section at mid-span prior to collapse.
The top fibre concrete compressive strains at mid-span when the peak load was reached were
-0.000359 (SS1), -0.00141 (SS2) and -0.00228 (SS3).
Earlier tests by Gilbert and Smith
8
demonstrated that when subjected to load control rather than
deformation control, slabs containing low-ductility reinforcement fail suddenly and catastroph-
ically soon after the peak moment is reached (at
2
). By contrast, SS4 containing normal-ductility
bars failed in a ductile manner by crushing of the compressive concrete. The reinforcement did not
fracture at any stage of the test and the slab maintained its peak load as the mid-span deflection
increased from about
1
= 17 mm to
2
= 130 mm (i.e. span/15) as shown in Figure 4d. At the peak
load the measured top fibre concrete strain just prior to crushing was -0.00508.
800

600

400

200

0
0 5 10 15
Strain (%)

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)

61

0
2
4
6
8
10
0 20 40
M
i
d
s
p
a
n

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)
0 20 40
(a) SS1 Mid-span Deflection (mm)

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14

0 20 40
(b) SS2 Mid-span Deflection (mm)

4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

0 20 40
(c) SS3 Mid-span Deflection (mm)
?
0
4
8
12
16
20
M
i
d
s
p
a
n

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)

0 50 100 150 200
Figure 4. Mid-span moment vs mid-span deflection for the simply-supported slabs (SS1 to SS4).
The deflections
1
and
2
in Figs. 4a to 4d represent the limits of the plastic plateau often used
to represent the ductility of a structural member. A measure of the work done in deforming the slab
is the area under the load-deflection plot and this can also be used to compare the relative ability of
each slab to absorb energy. The work done in the plastic range by the point load P from
1
to
2

(W
1
) for slabs SS1 to SS4 (in kN.mm) is 33, 75, 329 and 3427, respectively. Comparing SS3 (with
u
= 3.3%) and SS4 (
u
= 9.8%), although the strength is similar, the ductility of the slab with
WWF is an order of magnitude less than the slab with ductile deformed bars.
Continuous Slabs
The load vs mid-span deflection curves for CS1 to CS5, together with the moment vs mid-span
deflection plots for the maximum +ve moment directly under the load P and the maximum ve
moment at the interior support are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. As each slab approached its peak load
capacity, the first plastic hinge developed when the maximum moment was reached at either the
mid-span or the interior support (depending on the steel quantities in these regions). The load
continued to increase until either a second hinge formed, signaling the peak load capacity, or the
first hinge began to unload before a second hinge could develop and the load dropped away.

M
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)

M
max

1

2

M
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)

M
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)
)
M
max
= 12.5
kN.m

1

2

1

2

M
max

1

2

M
max
= 17.6 kN.m

1
= 9.0 mm

2
= 11.7 mm
M
max
= 7.68 kN.m

1
= 18.0 mm

2
= 21.5 mm

1
= 16.8 mm

2
= 126.2 mm
Mid-span Deflection (m m)

(d) SS4
4

M
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)
)

20

16

12

8

4

0

1
= 23.2 mm

2
= 33.8 mm
M
max
= 19.1 kN.m
62

0
5
10
15
20
0 10 20 30
P
o
i
n
t

L
o
a
d
,

P

(
k
N
)
Pmax

-10
-5
0
5
10
0 10 20 30
Midspan Deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)
+ve moment at midspan
-ve moment at
interior support

0
10
20
30
0 10 20 30

-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
0 10 20 30
Midspan Deflection (mm)

0
10
20
30
40
0 10 20 30

-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
0 10 20 30
Midspan def lection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)
+ve moment
at midspan
-ve moment at
interior support

(a) CS1 (b) CS2 (c) CS3
Figure 5. Load-deflection and moment-deflection curves for CS1 to CS3.
In Figures 5 and 6,
0
is the mid-span deflection corresponding to the development of the first
plastic hinge,
1
is the mid-span deflection when the slab first reached its peak load, P
max
, and
2
is
the mid-span deflection when the slab first began to unload. In Table 3,
0
,
1
and
2
are given,
together with the corresponding values of P and moments at each critical section. For the slabs
where the +ve moment capacity equals the ve moment capacity (ie. CS1, CS3 & CS5), the first
plastic hinge developed at the interior support and the second plastic hinge developed soon after at
mid-span. For slabs CS2 and CS4, the first plastic hinge developed at mid-span and the slab
reached its peak load well before a second hinge developed.
The work done by the point load P in each span in the elastic range from first loading to
0
(W
0
)
and the work done in the plastic range from
1
to
2
where P = P
max
(W
1
) are also given in Table 3.
W
1
is a useful measure of the ability of a slab to absorb energy at failure (i.e. robustness) and can
be used to compare the relative ductility of slabs with similar load carrying capacities. The ratio
(
2
-
1
)/
1
is also a measure of ductility and is given in Table 4, together with the values of
u
for
the tensile steel at the first hinge. Clearly, the slabs containing low-ductility WWF (SS1-SS3, CS1-
CS4) are very brittle compared to the slab containing normal-ductility bars (SS4 & CS5).
Photographs of slabs CS3 and CS5 under peak load are shown in Figure 7. The deflection in the
left hand span of CS3 (the failure span) is only just noticeable, while CS5 containing normal
ductility bars is suffering excessive deformation.
2

-ve Mu

0
2

+ve moment at midspan
Pmax

P
(kN)
P
(kN)
0 10 20 30
Mid-span Deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
.
m
)

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
.
m
)


-ve moment at
interior support
0 10 20 30

0
2

63

?
0
10
20
30
40
0 10 20 30
?
?
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
+ve moment
at midspan
-ve moment at
interior support

(a) CS 4
Figure 6. Load-
?
0
10
20
30
40
50
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

L
o
a
d
,

P

(
k
N
)

?
?
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Midspan deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)

(b) CS 5

deflection and moment-deflection for CS4 and CS5.

Table 3. Results from continuous slab tests.
At Peak Load
(P = P
max
)
At Peak Load
(P = P
max
)
Slab First
hinge
At
0
At
1
At
2

Elastic &
plastic work
(kN mm)
Slab First
hinge
At
0
At
1
At
2

Elastic &
plastic work
(kN.mm)
CS1 (mm)
P (kN)
+ve M (kNm)
-ve M (kNm)
8.0
17.4
7.30
-7.75*
10.6
18.1
7.65
-7.80
12.7
18.1
7.70
-7.60
W
0
=108

W
1
=84
CS4 (mm)
P (kN)
+ve M (kNm)
-ve M (kNm)
13.1
34.1
12.6*
-14.0
16.9
35.7
12.6
-15.4
19.3
35.6
12.5
-15.5
W
0
=278

W
1
=221
CS2 (mm)
P (kN)
+ve M (kNm)
-ve M (kNm)
11.4
22.0
7.40*
-12.10
17.0
24.3
7.40
-14.4
19.1
24.2
7.05
-15.05
W
0
=177

W
1
=183
CS5 (mm)
P (kN)
+ve M (kNm)
-ve M (kNm)
11.2
40.6
14.7
-16.0*
15.0
43.3
16.0
-16.3
71.3
44.2
16.7
-15.7
W
0
=277

W
1
=2665
CS3 (mm)
P (kN)
+ve M (kNm)
-ve M (kNm)
11.5
30.6
11.7
-12.0*
14.5
31.4
12.2
-12.1
16.5
31.3
12.2
-11.9
W
0
=244

W
1
=155

* Location of first plastic hinge
Table 4. Relative ductility of test slabs.
Slab SS1 SS2 SS3 SS4 CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4 CS5
(
2
-
1
)/
1
0.30 0.20 0.41 6.51 0.20 0.12 0.14 0.14 3.75

0
2

0 10 20 30
10 20 30
15
10
5
0
-5
- -10
-15
-20

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
.
m
)

A
p
p
l
i
e
d

L
o
a
d
,

P

(
k
N
)

40

30

20

10

0
+ve moment at mid-span
-ve moment at interior support
0 20 40 60 80 100

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
.
m
)

A
p
p
l
i
e
d

L
o
a
d
,

P

(
k
N
)

0
2

20 40 60 80 100
64

(a) CS 3 (containing WWF)

(b) CS 5 (containing hot-rolled deformed bars).
Figure 7. Continuous slabs under peak load (at
2
) just prior to failure
The continuous slabs containing WWF showed limited ability to redistribute internal actions.
The increase in load carrying capacity after the first plastic hinge developed in CS1 to CS5 is 0.7
kN, 2.3 kN, 0.8 kN, 1.6 kN and 3.6 kN, respectively, or 2.8%, 7.2%, 2.1%, 3.7% and 6.9%,
respectively, of the total load on the span. For these point loaded slabs with equal quantities of
tensile steel in the +ve and ve moment regions (CS1, CS3 and CS5), the plastic hinge at the
interior support and the hinge at mid-span formed almost simultaneously so little redistribution was
possible. For slabs CS2 and CS4, after the hinge formed at mid-span, the -ve moment at the interior
support increased from -12.1 to -14.4 kN.m (CS2) and -14.0 to -15.4 kN.m (CS4) and the total load
on the span increase by 7.2% (CS2) and 3.7% (CS4). Both slabs failed well before the strength of
the section at the interior support was approached. This limited ability to redistribute moments is
reflected in the low values of work done during plastic deformation.
DESIGN IMPICATIONS
In the analysis and design of reinforced concrete floor slabs, it is common practice to make some
or all of the following assumptions: (i) linear elastic analysis based on uniform stiffness may be
used to calculate the internal actions; (ii) the design loads are uniformly distributed; (iii) partially-
restrained supports may be idealized as simple pins or fully-fixed supports; (iv) the supports are
unyielding (even when the supports are beams prone to significant deflection); and (v)
redistribution of actions caused by shrinkage warping or temperature gradients may be ignored.
In reality, reinforced concrete is not linear or elastic. Cracking caused by external loads and
restrained shrinkage and temperature changes leads to variations in member stiffness along every
span and analysis based on gross or uniform stiffness will often predict internal actions that are
significantly different from those in the real structure. In practice, live loads are rarely uniformly
distributed, so the parabolic distribution of bending moments calculated in design rarely occurs in
real structures. In addition, external supports of real slabs are rarely simply-supported or fully-fixed
and it is often impractical to accurately determine the relative stiffnesses of the slab and its
supports so that a reliable estimate of end moments can be made.
Support settlement in beam-supported slabs occurs whenever a beam support deflects relative to
adjacent supports. This can cause dramatic changes in the distribution of internal actions in a slab,
but is often not considered in design. In addition, shrinkage warping can cause a gradual
redistribution of internal actions with time, depending on the reinforcement layout and the extent of
65

cracking, and this can significantly affect the final distribution of actions when the slab is
subsequently subjected to overloads.
When making these simplifying but unrealistic approximations, the designer is in fact relying on
the ductility of the critical cross-sections to redistribute actions as the ultimate load is approached.
With ductility, redistribution of internal actions can occur and the full plastic collapse load of the
slab can be reached. From the point of view of adequate strength and robustness, all the above
assumptions are perfectly reasonable if individual cross-sections are ductile. For the continuous
slabs containing WWF tested in this study, there was little ability to redistribute actions after one of
the critical sections reached its moment capacity. Cross-sections were brittle, with plastic rotation
all but eliminated by strain localization and fracture of the tensile steel.
At present, it is permissible to design suspended slabs containing low-ductility reinforcement
provided that the designer does not redistribute internal actions when proportioning the
reinforcement
1,2
. This of course is nonsense. The assumptions that must be made in design rely on
the structures ability to redistribute internal actions, because the calculated distribution of actions
will probably bear little resemblance to that in the real structure.
Consider, for example, the test slab CS4 with properties given in Tables 1 and 2. The positive
moment region contained five 7.6 mm diameter wires (SL82) similar to the simply-supported slab
SS2 and the negative moment region contained five 9.5 mm diameter wires (SL102) similar to the
simply-supported slab SS3. Based on the measured strength of the critical cross-sections in SS2
and SS3 (given as M
max
in Figure 4) and adjusting to account for the slight differences in effective
depth, d, and tensile steel strength, f
t
, the maximum moment capacity of the critical section at mid-
span of CS4 is M
max
= +12.6 kNm (this in fact corresponds to the measured moment at peak loads
see Table 3) and the maximum moment capacity of the critical section at the interior support of
CS4 is M
max
= -17.4 kNm.
If the reinforcement at mid-span was ductile then failure would occur when the moment at each
critical section equaled the moment capacity, i.e. when the applied concentrated load in each span
was P = 40.6 kN. As indicated earlier, the peak load in the actual slab was only P = 35.7 kN,
because after the slab first reached its moment capacity at mid-span (when P = 34.1 kN) the
rotational capacity of the so-called plastic hinge at mid-span was very limited.
The reactions measured during the testing of CS4 when the applied load was P = 24 kN (67% of
the actual peak load) are shown in Figure 8a and the corresponding bending moment diagram in
CS4 is shown in Figure 8b and was determined from the measured reactions. The bending moment
diagram calculated from an elastic analysis based on uniform stiffness is also given in Figure 8c.
Even in this carefully controlled laboratory experiment, the actual distribution is markedly different
from the calculated idealized elastic distribution due to the effects of cracking in the more heavily
loaded regions, variations in the reinforcement layout along the slab, and possible initial
imperfections in the levels of the three supports or in the straightness of the soffit of the precast
slab, or both.
Suppose that at this load level (P =24 kN), the interior support at B suffered a 15 mm downward
settlement relative to the supports at A and C as shown in Figure 9a. Taking account of the level of
cracking in the slab, the calculated reactions induced in the slab by the support settlement and the
corresponding additional bending moments are shown in Figure 9. The resulting reactions and
bending moment diagram caused by both the applied loads and the assumed support settlement are
shown in Figure 10.
66

.
The critical section at mid-span has reached its maximum moment capacity (12.6 kN.m see
Table 3) and a hinge will develop here under this load level. If the reinforcement was ductile,
plastic rotation would occur at the hinge as the load P was increased and failure would occur when
the -ve moment at B reached the moment capacity of -17.4 kNm when P = 40.6 kN. That is, if
ductile reinforcement was used, the support settlement at B would not affect the collapse load.
However, in the experiment, after a hinge developed at the mid-span of CS4 (with low- ductility
WWF), the critical section had very limited rotational capacity and an additional load P of just
1.6 kN could be developed prior to failure. The lack of ductility of the critical section did not allow
the reserve strength in the -ve moment region to be utilized. The same will be true if the slab
suffered the modest support settlement considered here, except that fracture of the bottom steel
would occur when the applied load P reaches about 24 + 1.6 = 25.6 kN. A support settlement in
excess of 15 mm may even cause failure of the slab without any additional applied load.
Evidently, a support settlement can cause a significant loss of strength for a continuous slab
containing low-ductility reinforcement. In fact, any significant change in the distribution of internal
actions from that assumed in design can reduce the strength of a continuous slab containing low-
ductility steel reinforcement.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Slabs reinforced with low-ductility WWF fail in a brittle manner by fracture of the tensile
reinforcement. Although individual cross-sections easily meet their strength requirements, the slabs
lack robustness, with little ability to deform plastically or to redistribute actions, and little ability to
- 7.92
A C
+ B +
9.06 9.06

(b) Measured bending moment diagram (kN.m)

-10.04
-
A C
+ +
8.06 8.06

(c) Elastic bending moment diagram assuming
idealised planar supports and uniform stiffness
(kN.m)

24 kN 2.04 kN/m 24 kN
A C
B
10.08kN 36.00 kN 10.08 kN
(a) Loads and measured reactions
24 kN 2.04 kN/m 24 kN

A B 28.92 kN C
13.62 kN 13.62 kN
(a) Loads and reactions
A B -0.84 C

+ +
12.60 12.60
(b) Bending moment diagram (kN.m)
Figure 10. Combined actions in CS4 due to
15 mm support settlement at B and P = 24 kN.
in CS4 when P = 24 kN.
Figure 8. Measured and calculated actions
in CS4 when P = 24 kN.
A B C

3.54 kN 7.08 kN 15 mm settlement 3.54 kN
(a) Reactions caused by support settlement at B
A B C
+
7.08
(b) Induced bending moment diagram (kN.m)
Figure 9. Calculated actions in CS4 due to 15 mm
support settlement at B when P = 24 kN.

67

absorb the energy associated with unanticipated impact or overloads. The plastic deformation in
the reinforcing steel as the ultimate load is approached is confined to a very small length of bar
8

and the resulting deformation of the member just prior to collapse is small.
Since unanticipated support settlements or rotations are often possible (even likely) and, hence,
redistribution of internal actions is necessary to achieve the design strength, the use of low-ductility
reinforcement is unwise. In an attempt to account for the loss of strength associated with
uncertainty in the actual distribution of actions in real structures, the Australian Standard AS3600
has recently imposed a 20% strength penalty when low-ductility reinforcement is used. Whilst this
may solve problems associated with strength loss in indeterminate members, it does little to address
problems associated with lack of robustness and the inability to absorb energy.
The ductility limits in European and Australian standard
1, 2
for low-ductility reinforcing steel
are inappropriately low. Steels with uniform elongations in the range 2.5 to 3.0% lead to
unacceptably brittle slabs. Unfortunately, low-ductility WWF is still being promoted in Australia
for use as the main tensile reinforcement in suspended slabs
9
.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was undertaken as part of an ARC Discovery project (DP0558370). The support of the
Australian Research Council is gratefully acknowledged. The writer also thanks Z.I. Sakka, M.
Curry and staff of the Heavy Structures Laboratory at UNSW for their assistance with the
experimental aspects of this paper.
REFERENCES
1. European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) (1992), Eurocode 2: Design of concrete
structures Part 1-1: General rules for buildings, (DD ENV 1992-1-1), Euro. Prestd. Brussels.
2. Standards Australia, Cmte BD-002, Concrete Structures, AS 3600-2001, Sydney, Australia.
3. Alvarez, M., Koppel, S. and Marti, P., Rotation Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Slabs,
ACI Structural Journal 97(2), 2000, pp. 235-242.
4. Shakir, A. and Rogowsky, D.M., Evaluation of ductility and allowable moment redistribution
in reinforced concrete structures, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 27, 2000, pp.
1286-1299.
5. Gilbert, R.I., The impact of 500 MPa steel reinforcement on the ductility of concrete
structures - revision of AS3600, 20
th
CIA Conference - Adding Value Through Innovation,
Concrete Institute of Australia, Perth, September, 2001, pp 597-603.
6. Gravina, R.J., Non-linear overload behaviour and ductility of Reinforced Concrete Flexural
Members containing 500 MPa grade steel reinforcement, PhD Thesis, Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering, University of Adelaide, 2002.
7. Smith, S.T. and Gilbert, R.I., Tests on RC Slabs Reinforced with 500 MPa Welded Wire
Fabric, 21
st
CIA Conference - Concrete in the 3
rd
Millennium, Concrete Institute of Australia,
Brisbane, July 17-19, 2003, pp. 561-570.
8. Gilbert, R.I. and Smith, S.T., Strain Localization and its Impact on the Ductility of
Reinforced Concrete Slabs containing Welded Wire Fabric, Advances in Structural
Engineering, 9(1), 2006, pp. 117-127.
9. Patrick, M., Safe design of slabs and beams incorporating Class L mesh, Concrete in
Australia, 31(4), pp. 23-27.
68

MODELING OF LOCAL BUCKLING
IN CONTINUOUS COMPOSITE BEAMS

M. TEHAMI AND M. HAMANE
Department of Civil Engineering , University of Sciences and Technology of Oran
Oran, P.O.Box 1505, Oran El M'Naouer,Algeria

ABSTRACT: Currently, the field of steel-concrete composite construction is in full evolution and covers very
varied techniques according to the types of works: buildings and civil engineering, special constructions,
bridges,etc. Certain works associate closely both steel and concrete such as coated girders, others a combination
of concrete elements and steel elements, and furthermore there are all the intermediate possibilities.
The work presented in this article is a theoretical study on the behaviour of continuous composite beams with
respect to the problem of local buckling.
Indeed, for a continuous steel-concrete composite beam, with a slab that is supported directly on a metal section,
of negative bending, an important part of the web is subjected to compressive stresses, thus its buckling which
limits the rotation capacity of the cross section, preventing it therefore from reaching its ultimate resistance.
An analytical model was developed, based on the mechanism of collapse, allowing to evaluate with a sufficient
precision, the rotation capacity at the position of the intermediate support in accordance to the assessment of
bending . This model was validated by experimental results that were carried out at the INSA of Rennes
(France), and were also compared with other models proposed in literature.

INTRODUCTION

It is assumed, in the plastic design of structures, that elements possess infinite rotation capacity at plastic
hinge locations. It is, however, well known that when I-shaped steel sections, which are not in class 1
such as defined by Eurocode 4 [1], are used rotation capacity is often limited by local flange and web
buckling. All past research [2,3,5,6,7] has shown that this problem is particularly important in the central
support regions of continuous composite beams.
Design method allowing to predict the moment-rotation curves in the central support of continuous beams
which are susceptible to buckle locally, is developed, in this paper, with the objective to give more information
on the ultimate strength of these members.

b
eff

t
c

concrete
t
w
h
w

steel

t
f

b
f

Figure 1 Typical cross-section

69
HYPOTHESIS AND BASIS OF METHOD

The traditional theory, which requires the use of moment-curvature curves to calculate rotations, is not valid for
structural members, which are subjected severe cross-sectional distortions. One of its basic hypothesis is that
plane sections remain plane after deformation, and this cannot be rationally applied to situation such as those
which occur when steel-I of continuous composite beams buckle locally.
This approach is therefore abandoned in favor of a method based on the plastic limit theory. A collapse
mechanism is chosen for the locally buckled composite beam, satisfying, as much as possible, compatibility
with experimental observation.
The method proposed consists of analyzing the collapse mechanism with plastic hinges which can explicit
more directly the local buckling of the web which is in class 2 [1], with the participation of possible buckling or
deformation due to plastification of compressed flange, depending on whether this flange is in class 2 or in
class 1.
The M- relationship is then derived directly from the equation of work absorbed by the collapse mechanism.
A similar approach has been used by Johnson and Climenhaga [2] and retaken by Ivanyi [8].

PRESENTATION OF THE METHOD

The mechanism proposed is shown in figure (2.a and b). It is characterised by the formation of many plastic
articulation lines and two geometrical areas in plastic distortion, in the web and the compressed flange. We, of
course, consider an interaction between the two zones, the web and the flange, with an approach in which the
displacement is of second geometrical order.

Photography 1 Experimental observation of the collapse mechanism [9].

The choice of this mechanism type and the plastic hinges position is based essentially on the experimental
observations done on the continuous beams tests executed in structural laboratory of INSA of Rennes [9] is
shown in Photography 1.
To simplify the calculations, we have assumed that all plastic articulation lines were constituted of rectilinear
segments, while paying attention to conserve, at the proposed mechanism, a character kinematically admissible.
Deforming material is found only in the hatched areas and in plastic hinges described below (figure 2.a and b).
The beam rotates about the point A whose position is fixed by the plastic neutral axis, which is supposed to be
fixed in all the analysis.
As rotations occur, the zone above A remains in-plane and experiences simple tensile inelastic deformation.
Below A, the web buckles due to the formation of hinges AB, AC, AD, BD and CD through plastic distortion
of BCD. The plastic deformation, or possibly the buckling, in the bottom flange occurs by simultaneous
compression and rotation, about the flange center line, of EFGH, and compatible displacements of the rigid
trapezoidal areas EKLF, FMNG, GNPH and HJKE, which are allowed by the formation of plastic hinges EF,
FG, GH, HE, LF, FM, PH, HJ, KE and GN.
70
M M
y

z x

x
p

A

A

Z w

y

D

x
C B
y 45
C B
w
h
w
/3 -..h
w
..h
w

J K L

E

45 2 N

b
f
H F h
w
/6

h
w
/6
y
s

G

P N M P N

b-Compressed flange deformation d-Line elevation of flange

Figure 2 The local bucking collapse mechanism of the proposed method
h
w
3
D
x
z
a- The local bucking collapse mechanism c- Undeformed configuration of web
.h
w

(1-)h
w
+t
f

h
w
h
w
6 2
. . h
w
h
w
6 2
. .
..h
w

71
The steel member is assumed to be composed of a rigid perfectly plastic material which is isotropic,
incompressible and obeys a Tresca yield criterion.
In the undeformed state, the areas BCD and EFGH have a rigid boundarie at 45 to the longitudinal axes
(figure 2.b and c).
For small rotation , strains in the x and y directions, x and y, are equal but opposite, and to satisfy
incompressibility the strain in the z direction, z, must be taken as zero. The criterion for a Tresca material is
then satisfied if stresses y and z are assumed to be zero, and if along the x-axis the stress, x, is assumed
equal to o; the yield stress in simple tension or compression.
The web mechanism compatible with the flange can occur only when points B and C coincide with F and H.
The areas BCD and EFGH remain joint during the deformation, maintaining an angle of 90 between its plane.
Moreover, from the experimental observations made during the tests realized in laboratory of INSA of Rennes
[9], the length of buckling is taken equal to hw/3.
The energy dissipated in cross-section deformation will be WD=M.; where M is the applied moment and the
neutral axis rotation about the point A.
The energy absorbed, WA, by the mechanism is the summation of energies absorbed in each part deformed;

WA=Wi (1)

Equating energy dissipated to energy absorbed (WD=WA), and dividing by , with not equal to zero,we obtain:

M=Wi (2)

MOMENT-ROTATION CURVE:

Figure 3 shows the model moment-rotation curve at the continuous composite beam support. This M- curve
is composed of three parts: (1), (2) and (3).
Part (3) given by the expression (2) is the moment-rotation relationship due to continuous composite beam local
buckling. This M- curve is not defined for values of infinitely small.
A more practical approximation of the real behaviour can be given by interaction of M- curve due to local
buckling with horizontal line M=Mpl (part (2) of figure 3), where Mpl is plastic moment of the cross-section.
The part (1) of the model M- curve can be determined by simple yield theory.

THE MOMENT-ROTATION CURVE LIMITS

The M- curve is limited by the nature of failure that the composite beam can have. This failure can be caused
by the concrete slab crushing, or by steel ultimate strain in the steel I-beam or the reinforcement steel.
The limit rotation at the central support of the continuous composite beam is then reached when one of the
below conditions is developped:
- The strain of compressed concrete reaches 0,0035.
- The tensile stress reaches 1,3.fy in the steel cross section (fy is the limit yield stress of the steel).
- The strain in the reinforcement steel reaches its limit value.

VERTICAL SHEAR EFFECT

In the proposed model, the vertical shear effect, Vsd, is taken into consideration when it exceeds half the
plastic shear resistance, Vpl, according to the Eurocode 4 [1].
For that, the moment calculated by the proposed model is reduced for vertical shear using a reduced yield
strength (1-1)fy/a for the section 2.Aw , where:

2
1 1
. 2
=
pl
sd
V
V
(3)
where 2=1,0 excepted in cross sections where the web in class 3 has been represented by an effective web in
class 2.

w h
h0
2 1 =

where ho is the web depth neutralized.
72
0
M

M
pl
(2)

(1) (3)

Figure 3 The model moment - rotation curve on the continuous
composite beam support

0.00 0.91 1.82 2.73 3.64 4.55
0
28
56
84
112
140
168
196
224
252
280
model
test
M (kN.m) 2
Rotation 10
-2
rd

Figure 4 Experimental and theoritical curves M- of continuous
composite beam [9]

73
0.00 0.21 0.42 0.64 0.85 1.06
0.00
0.11
0.22
0.33
0.44
0.55
0.66
0.77
0.88
0.99
1.10
(rd)
M/Mpl
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(1) experimental curve
(2) Johnson and Climenhaga model [2]
(3) Johnson and Chen model [3]
(4) Proposed model

Figure 5 Experimental and theoritical moment-rotation curves
of HB41 beam [5].

JUSTIFICATION OF THE METHOD IN COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTS AND OTHERS
METHODS

In order to justify the validity of the proposed method, we have first compared it directly to results of
continuous composite beam [9,10].
Figure 4 shows the test results curve and the curve given by the method applied to the tested beam.
In order to have validity support other than experiments, the proposed method has been compared to others
design methods.
The first method studied in this comparison is of Johnson and Climenhaga [2]. This method presents an
approach similar to the proposed method.
The second method studied in the comparison is of Johnson and Chen [3].
In Figure 5, we have made a copy of the experimental moment-rotation curve of the HB41 beam tested by
Johnson and Climenhaga [4], and the theoritical curves given by the application of the proposed method and the
methods [2,3] to this beam HB41.

CONCLUSION

The method proposed in this paper allows the prediction of the moment-rotation curves in continuous
composite beams susceptible to local buckling.
The scope of this study is limited to continuous composite beams in which the cross-sections at the supports are
in class 2 [1].
The proposed method is based on plastic limit theory. A collapse mechanism, satisfying as much as possible,
the compatibility with the experimental observation, has been chosen for the local buckling of cross-section.
The determined moment-rotation curve has been compared with experimental curves given by test results [4,9],
and to other methods [2,3]. This comparison has allowed to have justification and validity in favor of the
proposed method.

REFERENCE:

[1]- EUROCODE 4.," Design of Composite Steel and Concrete Structures",Part 1: General Rules and Rules for
Buildings. Revised draft, 1992. Prepared for the Commission of the European Communauties and the European
Committee for Standardisation.
74

[2]- JOHNSON R.P and CLIMENHAGA J.J., "Moment-rotation curves forlocally buckling beams", Journal
of the structural Division, Proc. ASCE, vol.98, NST6, June 1972, p.1239-1254.

[3]- JOHNSON R.P. and CHEN S., "Local buckling and moment redistributionin class 2 composite beams",
The Structural Engineering International,April 1991, p.27-34.

[4]- JOHNSON R.P. and CLIMENHAGA J.J.,"Local buckling in continuouscomposite beams", The
Structural Engineer, vol.50 N9, 367-374 - Sept.1972.

[5]- JOHNSON R.P. and FAN C.K.R., "Strength of continuous class 3 composite beams designed to
Eurocode 4", Research Report CE 24-October 1987.

[6]- ROIK K. and EHLERT W., "Beitrag zurgrenztragfhigkeit durchlaufender verbund trger-Elastisch-
plastische berechnungen, versuche"- (Ultimate strength capacity in composite continuous beams. Elasto-
plastic designs. Tests results), Bauingenieur 58-1983. p381-386.

[7]- LUKEY A.F. and ADAMS P.F., "Rotation capacity of beams under moment gradient". Proc.ASCE,
1969,95, ST6, June, p.1173-1188.

[8]- IVANYI M., "The model of the interactive plastic hinge". department of Steel Structures,Technical
University, H-1521 Budapest, Received Sept.26, 1984.

[9]- TEHAMI M., Local buckling in continuous composite beams Experimentation and modelisation,
these of doctorat, U.S.T.Oran, Algria, november 1997.

[10]- TEHAMI M., Local buckling in class 2 continuous composite beams , Journal of Construction Steel
Research, Vol.43, Nos 1-3, pp. 141-159,1997.
75
76

MODELING EFFECT OF THE SHEAR CONNECTOR-WELDING REGION ON THE
NONLINEAR ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE BEAMS

A. F. Kadhim
Department of Building and Construction, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq. Email:
Ahmedms1976@yahoo.co.uk, P.O. Box 35348-Tell-Muhammad, Baghdad

ABSTRACT: In this paper a full range analysis using a large-displacement stability formulation,
inelastic effects for the steel element in the form of plastic hinge approach, considering geometric
and material non-linearties, of composite beam is carried out. On the other hand, special attention
is given to the simulation of the welding region between the steel beam and the shear connector of
the composite beams. A specialized stub element is proposed at shear connector steel profile
welding region. The benefit of this assumed element is to prevent the effect of the fast collapse of
the shear connectors on the steel beam behavior during the analysis. The element implemented is
verified by the analysis of a composite beam tested by other researchers. The analytical results are
compared with experimental data, showing a good agreement and the accuracy of the proposed
element is verified

INTRODUCTION

Composite construction using steel and concrete has been used since the early 1920s. It gained
widespread use in bridges in the 1950s and in buildings in the 1960s
1
. In composite beams, the
steel and concrete are joined by mechanical connections; the most popular form being welded
headed shear studs. The shear studs are welded to the flange of the steel beam.

STRUCTURAL MODELING

The composite beam consists of two components, identified by the subscript S for the lower steel
beam and C for the concrete slab, and the shear connectors are considered in their actual position
along the beam.
The theoretical bases for the analysis of plane steel profile are restricted to the following
assumptions and limitations:
Frames are considered planar.
Loads are applied at the connecting joints only. Hence, a member with loads between its ends
must be further divided.
Structures are assumed to be as proportioned such that out-of-plane and local instabilities are
prevented.
The material is assumed to be ideally elastic-plastic, and yielding is considered to be
concentrated at member ends in the form of plastic hinges. The members are assumed to
remain elastic between plastic hinges.
Influence of axial force on member stiffness and plastic moment capacity is considered. Also,
changes in member chord length due to strain and flexural bowing are taken into account.
Shear deformations are neglected.
While the concrete slab is modeled as a conventional reinforced concrete beam, so its
analysis is based on the following hypotheses:
Bernoulli-Navier hypothesis is valid (i.e. linear strain distribution is assumed across the depth
of the section).
Shear deformations are neglected.
77

Both the axial forces and the bending moment are always applied at the mid-depth of the
section and then transferred to the updated centroid by simple concept of engineering
mechanics.
Steel reinforcement of the section is considered to be lumped at two locations (top and bottom
reinforcement) positioned at the centroid of each.

CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS

In the present section some constitution laws capable of modeling the mechanical behavior of
materials and the interaction phenomena will be introduced.

Reinforcing Steel

The bilinear representation of the stress-strain relation of the reinforcement is found to be adequate
for the proper simulation of the behavior since the elatsicplastic behavior with or without the
introduction of the strain-hardening region is easily simulated by controlling the slope of the line
as suggested by
2
.

Concrete

For the concrete, it is needed to model the stress-strain both in compression and in tension. An
effective analytical model has been proposed by
3
. In this model the uniaxial compressive stress-
strain curve is assumed to be linear up to 0.3 fc, where fcis the cylinder compressive strength of
the concrete and beyond that point, it is represented by using Eq.(1)

'
c
f
c
f
=

+
'
c
'
c
1
(1)

where, = strain in concrete (< u)
c is the strain corresponding to the maximum stress fc which it is in MPa
and

3 2 1
2
c
' c
'
c
f
c
' c
'
c
f
c + + =

(2)
Where:
c1= 8.22 10
-9

c2= -2.59 10
-5
(3)
c3= 1.37025 (in MPa)

The strain at which maximum compressive stress occurs is taken as 0.002. The same
general form of the serpentine curve, which is proposed by Carreira and Chu
2
, is also proposed for
the average stress-strain diagram of reinforced concrete in tension by only exchanging (fc and c)
with (ft and t).

Shear Connection

The shear connection consisting of headed studs are by far the most popular devices, and they will
be considered in the present paper. Shear connectors can be welded through metal decking or
78

directly to the beam or girder which their job transfer the horizontal shear from the slab to the
beam.
Many analytical models are available in literature
4,5
but for the headed studs the constitutive
relationship introduced by
1
. The analytical relation between the force Q and the slip s of the
generic stud is given by:
.
= ) e 1 ( . Qu Q
s
(4)

where Qu = ultimate strength of the shear connectors obtained by push-out tests. The other
parameters are manage the initial slope and the shape of the curve .
The curves are strongly nonlinear and are characterized by a very stiff initial slope, which is
basically due to adhesion and friction between steel and concrete; as a result the mechanical
behavior of the connection is nonlinear even for low stress levels.

SHEAR CONNECTOR WELDING REGION ELEMENT

A specialized stub element is proposed in the present paper at shear connector-steel profile
welding region, to prevent the steel profile element from the effect due to the fast collapse of the
shear connectors during the analysis. Headed shear connectors can be used as a simple concrete
anchor, or they can be employed to provide an interface between steel and concrete; the welding
region can be idealized as a new beam element with circular cross section.
The effective stress area of this element is defined by the projected area of stress cones
radiating toward the attached from the bearing edge of the shear connector.
For more than one shear connector across the width of the steel beam the effective area is
limited by overlapping stress cones, by the bearing area of shear connector heads, as shown in fig.
(1).
Figure 1. Effective stress area for headed shear connector.

The inclination angle for calculating projected areas shall be 45 degree
6
. For the purpose of
analysis, the rows of studs were merged into a single row thus the cross section properties
(moment of inertia) of the welding element can be taken as:
I
total
= n ( r
4
/4) (5)

Where:
= reduction stress area factor due to the overlapping, (0.89-0.95); assumed.
n = rows number of shear connectors.

stress cones
*effective stress area steel beam
Shear connector
45
o
stress cones
l1
r
*reduced by the total bearing
area of the stud steel
PLAN
A A
A-A
79

COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTAL DATA

Any analytical model for complex nonlinear problems has to be verified by means of experimental
data to ensure its validity and degree of accuracy.
The theoretical-experimental comparison is carried out considering a test on two equal
spans beam (4500 mm), symmetrically loaded, that have been reported by
7
. The beam examined
in the following is identified as CTB4 and is loaded with a single force at midspan of each field.
The details about the sample beam and the materials properties are reported in Table (1) and fig.
(2).
In this section a continuous composite beam is analyzed using a nonlinear beam column
program (INTERPRO), this program is coded in (Quick Basic 4.5) and consists of a main routine
and two subroutines, which work under the management of the main routine.

Table 1.Cross-section and materials properties of the beam CTB4.

Beam identification Value

Number of spans
Span length (mm)
Loading type
Concrete slab Thickness (mm)
Width (mm)
Steel beam section
Area (mm
2
)
Shear connectors Kind of studs
Number of studs
Height of welding (mm)
Spacing (mm) Sag
Hog
Reinforcement (mm
2
) Positive bending
Negative bending
Concrete Compressive strength fc (MPa)
Tensile strength fct (MPa)
Peak strain in compression
c1

Peak strain in tension
ct1

Steel Yield stress (MPa) Flange & Web
Reinforcement
Ultimate stress (MPa) Flange & Web
Reinforcement
Strain hardening
sh

Strain hardening secant modulus (MPa)
Elasticity modulus Es (MPa)
Connection Qu (kN)
(mm
-1
)

2
4500
Midspan point load
100
800
HEA 200
5380
19 75
84
10
*
350
300
804 + 767
160 + 160
34
3.15
0.0022
0.00015
236
430
393
533
0.018
3,000
206,000
110
1.2
0.85

*Assumed according to manufacture data.

The idealization of the beam is done by subdivided the structure into elements as shown in
fig. (3). A total number of 59 elements per span were used to model the beam. As the beam was
symmetric, only one half of the beam was modeled.

80

Figure 2. Geometrical characteristics of test beam CTB4
8
.

Figure 3. Idealization of the composite beam CTB4.

The comparison of the analysis results of the simulation of beam CTB4 and the
corresponding experimental results, the load versus midspan deflection is shown in fig. (4). The
800
100
190
200
Ast
Asb
3 @ 300 mm 3 studs 19 75 @ 350 mm
HEA 200
W
2250 2250
Beam CTB4

10

12

13

14

15

11

7

16

8

9

17

1

3

4

5

6
2

26

28

29

30

31

27

23

24

25

21

22

19

20

18

47

40

42

43

44

45

41

37

46

38

39

35

36

33

34

32
1 2 3 4 5 7 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 21 20 22 23 24 25 26 28 27
31 32 33 35 34 36 37 38 39 40 42 41 43 44
45 46 47 48 50 49 51 52 53 54 55 57 56 58 59
W Concrete
Steel
Stud
Welding Element
Node Number
Element Number
Steel Beam Steel Beam
Stud
Welding Element
I = )
4
R
(
4
I = )
4
R
( n
4

For one row of shear connectors
For more than one row of shear
connectors
= reduction stress area factor
n = number of rows of shear connectors
(a) Composite beam-CTB4 mesh.
(b) Join details of welding element.
29 30
81

computed deflection shows good agreement with the experimental values. The experimental
collapse has been reached for a load 259 kN and deflection equal to 53 mm. The calculated
ultimate load is very close to the experimental one which is 252 kN and the calculated ultimate
deflection is 55.5 mm.
Some results of the numerical analysis are reported in figs. (5-10). In particular the load
versus rotation at midspan fig. (5), the load versus slip at midspan fig. (6) the computed
longitudinal strain in the steel beam along the span fig. (7), the vertical displacements along the
beam depending on the three load levels (154 kN, 182 kN, 224 kN) respectively is plotted in fig.
(8), While the slip distribution along the span at 224 kN is illustrated in fig. (9). Finally fig. (10)
shows the structure analysis response to the welding element height, it is worth noting that the
appropriate height for this case is 10 mm.

Figure 4. Load deflection relationship: theoretical experimental comparison.

Figure 5. Calculated rotation at midspan section of the beam.

Figure 6. Calculated strain at midspan section of the beam.
-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000
Strain at midspan (mm/mm)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Deflection at midspan (mm)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
L
o
a
d

(

k
N
)
Numerical results
Experimental
-0.06 -0.05 -0.04 -0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0.00 0.01
Rotation at midspan (radians)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
82

Figure 7. Longitudinal strain along the span at P = 112 kN.

Figure 8. Vertical displacements along the beam depending on three load level.

Figure 9. Slip distribution along the span at P = 224 kN.

Figure 10. Composite beam response to the welding element height.
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Distance from the left support (mm)
-30
-20
-10
0
D
e
f
l
e
c
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
P = 154 kN
P = 182 kN
P = 224 kN
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Distance from the left support (mm)
-0.12
-0.09
-0.06
-0.03
0.00
0.03
0.06
0.09
S
l
i
p

(
m
m
)
X
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Distance from the left support (X / L)
-0.00010
-0.00005
0.00000
0.00005
0.00010
S
t
r
a
i
n

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Midspan deflection (mm)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Welding Element Height (mm)
h = 5 mm
h = 10 mm
h = 15 mm
83

CONCLUSIONS

A specialized stub element is proposed at shear connector steel profile welding region. The
element is modeled as a beam element with circular projected cross section, which its formulation,
section properties (moment of inertia) is carried out. The benefit of this assumed element is to
prevent the effect of the fast collapse of the shear connectors on the steel beam behavior during the
analysis. The element implemented is verified by the analysis of a tested composite beam. The
analytical results are compared with experimental data, showing good agreement and the accuracy
of the proposed element is verified.

REFERENCES

1. Ollgard, J. G., Slutter, R. G., and Fisher, J. W., Shear Strength of Stud Connectors in
Lightweight and NormalWeight Concrete, Engineering Journal, AISC, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1971,
pp. 55-64.
2. Seniwongse, M., The Deformable of Reinforced Concrete Beams and Frames Up to Failure,
The Structural Engineer, Vol. 57B, No. 4, Dec., 1979, pp. 77-81.
3. Carreira, D. J., and Chu, K. H., StressStrain Relationship for Plain Concrete in
compression, ACI Journal, Proc. Vol. 82, No. 6, Nov. - Dec., 1985, pp.797 - 804.
4. Yam, L. C. P., and Chapman, J. C., The Inelastic Behaviour of the Continuous Composite
Beams of Steel and Concrete, Proc. ICE, Vol. 53, No. 7551, Dec., 1972, pp. 487-501.
5. Ansourian, P., and Roderick, J. W., Analysis of Composite Beams, Journal of Structural
Division, ASCE, Vol. 104, 1978, pp. 1631-1645.
6. Cannon, R. W., Godfrey, D. A., and Moreadith , F. L., Guide to the Design of Anchor Bolts
and Other Steel Embedments, Reprint from Concrete International Design and
Construction, ACI, Vol. 3, No. 7, Jul., 1981, pp.1-14.
7. Ansourian, P., Experimental on Continuous Composite Beams, Proc. ICE, London, Vol. 71,
No. 2, 1981, pp. 25-51.
8. Gattesco, N., Analytical Modeling of Nonlinear Behavior of Composite Beams with
Deformable Connection, Journal of Constructional Steel Research, Vol.52, 1999, pp.195-
218.
84

BEHAVIOR FACTOR FOR MOMENT RESISTING STEEL FRAMES
WITH END PLATE CONNECTIONS
A.I. RAMADAN, A.F. HASSAN, S.A. MOURAD
Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Modern seismic concepts are primarily based on the assumption that structures are
capable of dissipating energy through inelastic deformations. In general, steel moment resisting
frames are used in regions of moderate to high seismic risk, because they provide sufficient
strength, ductility and energy dissipation capability and exhibit stable hysteretic behavior during
major seismic events. The present study aims at evaluating the seismic reduction factors for
moment resisting steel frames commonly constructed in Egypt, considering different connection
behaviors. For such a purpose, parametric studies were carried out to evaluate this factor for
various moment resisting steel frames under the effect of different earthquake records with
different P.G.A levels. A general multi-purpose finite element program was used to perform
nonlinear pushover analysis, linear time history dynamic analysis and nonlinear time history
dynamic analysis for the studied frames. In addition, various methods and approximate simplified
formulas have been applied on the examined frames for evaluating the behavior factor. A
comparison between the values of the factor obtained by these methods and those given by
different seismic codes is presented and the parameters that influence this factor are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
Moment resisting steel frames (MRF) are one of the frequently used lateral load resisting systems
in many steel structures and are highly regarded for their seismic performance and great ductility.
It is known that structural response under strong ground motions cannot be accurately predicted
due to large uncertainties and randomness of structural properties and ground motion parameters.
Researchers have studied the performance of steel moment resisting frames and have deduced
different formulas for computing the behavioral factor for earthquakes, which may be suitable for
their countries. Although the current Egyptian code
1
recognizes the use of the reduction factor
concept in the evaluation of earthquake loads, the reduction factor value is not tuned for the steel
frame connections commonly used in Egypt
2
.
Therefore, there is a strong need to quantify the expected performance of the various moment
resisting frames in order to obtain realistic estimates for the seismic loading. This need is driven
by the desire to demonstrate adequate margins against seismic failure and to minimize the risk to
human lives and loss of investment associated with the structural damage.
It is a common design principle for moment resisting frames to dissipate some of the input
energy during severe earthquakes through inelastic deformations. Therefore, in order to evaluate
the degree of safety against earthquake, it is required to investigate the inelastic deformations that
the frame can sustain without collapse. As a consequence, the magnitude of the inelastic
deformation has to be limited to values that are compatible with the energy dissipation capacity.
These values are namely the seismic reduction factor under earthquake loading.
85

This research presents a parametric study on seven steel moment resisting frames to assess the
values of the behavior factors under the effect of different earthquake records at different peak
ground acceleration levels. The parametric study includes the effect of different beam-to-column
connections on the seismic performance of the examined frames. The behavior factor was
evaluated using various methods, namely; approximate simplified formulas
2,3
, N2-method
4
and
energy approach (modified Kato-Aqiyama method)
5
.
STUDIED FRAMES
The following data were assumed in the parametric study:
(a) Beam column element data: The examined frames are constructed from mild steel (Es = 2100
t/cm
2
, Fy = 2.4 t/cm
2
). The material nonlinearity was included through Von-Misses kinematic
hardening rule with strain hardening ratio, 1.0%. The geometric nonlinearity was accounted for
through the use of the large deformation scheme.
(b) Damping ratio, = 5%.
(c) Ground acceleration levels are 0.2g, 0.35g and 0.5g.
(d) Distributed uniform dead load on each bay of each frame W
dl
= 2.0 t/m
\
.
The parametric study has concentrated on seven steel moment resisting frames, representing
different dynamic characteristics. These frames have one to three bays and have one to eight floors
and were designed according to the current E.C.P
6
with a condition that the member cross sections
satisfy the recommendations of the AISC seismic provisions
7
for special moment resisting frames.
The modeling of the elements of the frames was executed using the multi purpose finite element
program Cosmos/M
8
in which beams and columns were modeled using 3-dimensional beam
element with 6-degree of freedom at each node. The connections between beams and columns
were modeled using nonlinear rotational springs. The types of connections considered were small
rigidity (connection J1), full restrained connection with high rigidity (connection J2) and partial
restrained semi-rigid connection (connection J5)
2
. The moment rotation capacity of these
connections has been obtained through an experimental program and an analytical study
2
. The
frames are referred to as Fnbmf, where n stands for the number of bays, m the number of stories.
Figure 1 shows the geometry and cross-sections of the three stories frames.
ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
The performed parametric study has been carried out considering different types of analyses
including inelastic static pushover analysis, linear time history dynamic analysis and nonlinear
time history dynamic analysis. The pushover analysis was carried out considering linear triangular
increasing load pattern and the dynamic analyses were carried out under the effect of five different
earthquake records. These records were scaled to peak ground acceleration values of 0.2, 0.35 and
0.5g.
The chosen ground motions were selected to assure different frequency contents and different
durations of strong motions. Figure 2 shows the elastic response spectra for these records scaled at
peak ground acceleration of 1.0g together with that proposed by Eurocode8
9
for subsoil class B.

86

EVALUATION OF THE BEHAVIOR FACTOR (Q-FACTOR)
In this research two different methods have been adopted for evaluating the q-factor. The first
method that has been proposed in ATC (1995)
10
in which the behavioral factor (q-factor) can be
expressed as the product of three factors as follows:-
R u S
R R R q * * = (1)
where
R
S
, R
u
are the period dependent over-strength and ductility reduction factors, respectively.
R
R
is the redundancy factor which is equal to (1.0) for steel moment resisting frames.

I
.
P
.
E

4
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

3
6
0
I.P.E 330
I.P.E 400
3
0
0
500

I
.
P
.
E

5
5
0
4
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0

I
.
P
.
E

5
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0
I.P.E 360
I.P.E 330
3
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

3
6
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

3
6
0
500
I.P.E 400 I.P.E 400
500

I
.
P
.
E

5
5
0
F3b3f
I.P.E 360

I
.
P
.
E

5
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0
I.P.E 330
I.P.E 360
I.P.E 330
I.P.E 400

I
.
P
.
E

5
5
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0
I.P.E 360

I
.
P
.
E

5
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0
I.P.E 330

I
.
P
.
E

4
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

3
6
0
500
F2b3f
500
I.P.E 400
3
0
0
4
0
0

I
.
P
.
E

4
5
0
3
0
0
I.P.E 360

Figure 1. Configuration of three stories frames
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Natural Period (sec)
P
s
e
u
d
o
-
A
c
c
e
l
e
r
a
t
i
o
n

(
G
)
Elcentro
Loma-Prieta
Northridge
Cobe, 1995
Aqaba, 1995
Eurocode, 8

Figure 2. Elastic response spectra of the selected earthquake records
87

The second method depends on the energy approach using the modified Kato-Akyiama
method
5
.
Evaluation of the Ductility Reduction Factor (R
u
)
Two simplified formulas were considered for assessing the values of the ductility reduction factor;
Newmark and Hall formula as used by Ramadan
2
, and Krawinkler and Nassar formula
3
. Nonlinear
time history dynamic analyses were performed for the studied frames considering both geometrical
and material nonlinearities. The analyses were executed for El Centro earthquake record at peak
ground acceleration of 0.35g. From these analyses, the relationships between base shear and top
displacement were plotted, the maximum excursion was then determined and the ductility
reduction factor was evaluated using the suggested equations
11
.
The N2-method is another simple method to evaluate the ductility reduction factor (Ru)
4
by
using nonlinear analysis. This method combines the pushover analysis of a multi-degree of
freedom (MDOF) system with the response spectrum analysis of an equivalent single degree of
freedom (SDOF) system. Table 1 shows a summary of the calculated ductility reduction factor for
the different frames using the simplified approximate equations considering El Centro earthquake
at P.G.A =0.35g and the N2-method at P.G.A level, 0.35g.
Table 1. Summary of (R
u
) using simplified formulas and N2-method
Method Newmark & hall Krawinkle r& Nassar
N2-method
Frame J1 J2 J5 J1 J2 J5 J1 J2 J5
F1b1f
F2b3f
F3b3f
F2b5f
F3b5f
F2b8f
F3b8f
1.784
2.527
2.672
1.664
1.663
1.807
1.918
1.802
2.915
3.054
2.223
2.251
2.529
2.584
2.419
1.938
1.791
1.554
1.567
1.633
1.678
1.565
2.317
2.403
1.517
1.518
1.671
1.768
1.584
2.589
2.707
2.026
2.047
2.353
2.363
2.351
1.801
1.682
1.488
1.493
1.558
1.600
1.565
1.439
1.451
1.124
1.127
0.884
0.921
1.564
1.602
1.612
1.274
1.281
1.001
1.047
2.188
1.776
1.783
1.428
1.433
0.991
1.001
Evaluation of the Over-strength Reduction Factor (Rs)
The over-strength factor was assessed using the inverted triangular pattern pushover analysis
method
10
. Table 2 shows the values of the over-strength factor (Rs) for the studied frames
considering different types of connections. From the analysis of these values, it was noticed that
the over-strength factors of the frames having the same number of bays and floors is directly
proportional to the rigidity of the connection. Also, the over-strength factor is proportional to the
height-to-width ratio of the frames having the same number of stories.
Table 2. Summary of the values of the over-strength reduction factor (Rs)
Frame F1b1f F2b3f F3b3f F2b5f F3b5f F2b8f F3b8f
J1 4.384 3.527 3.508 3.243 3.230 3.596 3.511
J2 4.419 3.611 3.596 3.321 3.307 3.691 3.600
J5 2.947 2.518 2.512 2.228 2.226 2.733 2.716

88

Evaluation of the behavior Factor (q-factor) Using Energy Approach
Another well recognized method for evaluating the q-factor is the energy approach using modified
Kato-Akiyama approach
5
. This method represents the background of the modern Japanese Seismic
code in which the damage coefficient is based on the energy concept. In fact, this method joins the
safety of a structure against earthquake by comparing the structure energy dissipating capacity
with the earthquake input energy into the structure. This method requires performing nonlinear
static pushover analysis, linear dynamic time history analysis and nonlinear dynamic time history
analysis. Figure 3 shows the inelastic base shear-lateral drift relationship for the first story of the
frame F3b5f-J1, obtained from the nonlinear dynamic time history results. Figure 4 shows a
summary of the steps and equations proposed by this approach. Table 3 shows the results of the q-
factor for the different frames considering different earthquake records at the same P.G.A level.
Table 3. Summary of the q-factor using Energy Approach at P.G.A. = 0.35g
Frame
El Centro,
1940
Loma-Prit,
1989
Northridg,
1940
Kobe, 1995 Aqaba, 1995
F1b1f - J1 3.073 2.552 3.81 3.628 2.303
F2b3f - J1 3.685 2.784 4.263 4.963 3.620
F3b3f - J1 3.834 2.898 4.466 5.140 3.786
F2b5f - J1 3.376 2.681 3.842 4.62 3.438
F3b5f - J1 3.550 2.860 4.162 4.894 3.683
F2b8f - J1 3.271 2.652 Failed 4.562 3.380
F3b8f - J1 3.450 2.861 Failed 4.960 3.660

-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
Lateral Drift (cm)
S
t
o
r
e
y

S
h
e
a
r

(
t
o
n
)

Figure 3. Inelastic lateral shear- lateral drift relationship for first story of the frame (F3b5f-J1),
considering Kobe E/Q at P.G.A, 0.35G
89

Figure 4. Summary for the steps of the energy approach method
Qi-i relation at story(i)
Structural system
m1
m2
m3

Qy
yi Q
{p}
yi

i
Q
i
Total strain energy (w
i
)
Dynamic nonlinear time history analysis
- Calculate the total cumulative strain energy for each
floor (w
i
).
Dynamic linear time history analysis
1-Calculate the elastic strain energy for each floor (w
ei
)
2- Calculate the cumulative plastic strain energy for
each floor (w
pi
)
i i pi
e w w w . =
3- Calculate the cumulative strain energy
=
=
N
i
i P P
W W
1

Dynamic coefficients for each story
pi
P
i
w
W
= ,
yi yi
pi
i
Q
w
.
= ,
=

=
N
i J
j
i
i
m
K T M
C .
. .
4
2
2

Determine the seismic reduction factor (q)

2
1
. . . . 2 1
+ =

i
i i i i
C q
, q = min (q
1
, q
2
,, q
n
)
Pushover Analysis
1-Use the inverted triangular load pattern
2- For each story calculate K
i
, Q
yi
and
yi
3- Calculate
=
N
i j
j
yi
i
g m
Q
.
,
g M
Q
y
.
1
=
Start
Data
1-Describe structure data
2-Define the acceleration time history
Q

Q
90

Comparison between Different Methods of Evaluating the Q-factor
Figure 5 shows the relationship between the q-factor for the different frames using the various
methods at P.G.A level, 0.35g, considering different beam to column connections (J1, J2 and J5)
together with those proposed by various seismic codes. From the obtained results, it is important
to show the differences and similarities between the various methods for assessing the values of
the seismic reduction factor for moment resisting steel frames. These can be summarized as
follows:
The reduction factor is inversely proportional to the flexibility of the beam to column
connection, due to the high appearance of the second order effect.
The seismic reduction factor is directly proportional to the increase of height to width ratio of
the frames, for frames having the same number of stories.
The values of the q-factor obtained by the simplified equations are much higher than those
obtained by N2-method or by the energy approach (modified Kato-Aqyiama method).
The values of the q-factor obtained by N2-method or by energy approach are more
conservative than the values proposed by Eurocode8 or by UBC.1997.
The energy approach method gives the smallest scatter of the q-factor for different acceleration
histories, at the same P.G.A level and for different frames.
For M.D.O.F frames having connection with high rigidity, N2-method gives q-factor values
approximately equal to that given by the energy approach.
Q-factor for frames having beam to column connections of the type (J1) (rigid-full strength
connections with small rigidity (stiffness 1010
6
Kg/cm)), is about 3.6.
Q-factor for frames having beam to column connections of the type (J2) (rigid-full strength
connections with high rigidity (stiffness 2010
6
Q-factor for frames having beam to column connections of the type (J5) (semi-rigid-partial
strength connections (stiffness 510
6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
F1b1f F2b3f F3b3f F2b5f F3b5F F2b8f F3b8f
Frame
R
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

F
a
c
t
(
q
)
Energy app.
N2-method
New&Hall
Kr.&Nassar
Eurocode8
UBC,1997
JBLS

Figure 5. Q-factor values for the frames, considering El Centro E/Q at 0.35g (connection-J1)
91

CONCLUSIONS
The current study has focused on evaluating the seismic reduction factor of moment
resisting steel frames with connections commonly constructed in Egypt. The analysis of the values
of the behavioral factor of the examined frames, leads to the following conclusions:
(1) For the MDOF moment resisting frames, the ductility reduction factor (R
u
) computed by the
simplified formulas is inversely proportional to the natural period of the studied frames.
(2) The value of the ductility reduction factor computed by the simplified formulas or by N2-
method is inversely proportional to the height to width ratio of the frames, for frames having
the same number of stories due to the appearance of the second order effect.
(3) The over-strength factor is directly proportional to the height-to-width ratio of the frames, for
frames having the same number of stories.
(4) The over-strength factor for the examined moment resisting frames is directly proportional to
the rigidity of the beam-to-column connections.
(5) The behavioral factor (q-factor) is directly proportional to the increase of height-to-width ratio
of the frames, for frames having the same number of stories and the same beam-to-column
connections.
(6) For all the examined frames, the energy approach gives the smallest scatter between the values
of the q-factor for the different acceleration histories and at the same P.G.A level.
(7) The values of the q-factor computed by the N2-method or by the energy approach are more
conservative than the values proposed by Eurocode8 or by UBC 1997.
REFERENCES
1. HBRC, "Egyptian Code for Force and Load Calculations in Structures and Buildings", 2003.
2. Ramadan, A.I., Seismic Reduction Factor for Moment Resisting Steel Frames with End
Plate Connections, Ph.D. thesis, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, 2005.
3. Nassar, A.A., "Seismic Demand for SDOF and MDOF Systems", PHD Thesis, Stanford
University, June, 1991.
4. Fajfar, P. and Eeri, M., "A Nonlinear Analysis Method for Performance Based Seismic
Design", Earthquake Spectra, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 573 592, August, 2000.
5. Milev, J., Petkov, Z.B., Sotirov, P., Rangelov, N. and Georgiev, T.Z., "Energy Based
Methods and Time History Response Analysis for Behavior Factor Evaluation of Moment
Resisting Steel Frames", Proceedings of the 6th International Colloquium on Stability and
Ductility of steel Structures, September, 1999, Timisoara, Romania.
6. HBRC, "Egyptian Code of Practice for Steel Construction and Bridges", 2001.
7. AISC, INC. "Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings", AISC, April, 1997.
8. Structural Analysis and Research Corporation, (SARC), COSMOS/M advanced modules
user guide, Version 2.6, September 2000, Santa Monica, California.
9. Commission of European Communities, Eurocode 8, "Design Provisions for Earthquake
Resistance of Structures", European Pre-standards ENV 1998.
10. Applied Technology Council (ATC) "Structural Response Modification Factors", Rep. No.
ATC-19, Redwood city, California, 1995.
11. Mazzolani, F.M. and Piluso, V., "Theory and Design of Seismic Resistant Steel Frames", E
& FN SPON, London, 1996.
12. Zienkiewicz and Taylor, "The Finite Element Method", Volume 2, McGraw-Hill Book
Company, London, 1994.
92
PARTIAL INTERACTION IN COMPOSITE BEAMS SUBJECTED TO
TORSION IN SAGGING MOMENT REGION

A. M. EL-SHIHY, H. SHEHAB EL-DIN , H. FAWZY SHABAAN, S. A. A. MUSTAFA
Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University
Zagazig, P.O.Box 44519, Egypt

S.S.J. MOY
School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, Southampton University
Southampton, UK

ABSTRACT: In this research, a study for the composite beam subjected to torsion in sagging
moment regions was presented both experimentally and numerically. Two full scale composite
beams with corrugated steel sheet were utilized in this study. The beams were tested under the
same loading combination; shear, torsion and positive bending; with different percentages of load
to produce torsion of about 25% and 33% of the total applied load to the beam. Three push-out
tests were performed to obtain the characteristic strength of the used stud shear connectors. A non-
linear analysis for the tested composite beams with partial interaction between the steel I-beam
flange and the composite slab was presented. The composite beam was simulated using the
software package ANSYS 8.1, where seven different elements were utilized to simulate the
different components of the composite beam. The change in the stud behaviour was accurately
recorded using a newly proposed simulation. In addition, two other beams with different
percentages of torsion were studied using the presented model. The study insured the accuracy of
the proposed model revealed some important results concerning the behaviour of the composite
beam under the effect of torsion, shear and positive bending moment.

INTRODUCTION

To date, a great deal of research has been conducted on composite beam tests; but only a few
studies of the numerical analysis of composite beams have been introduced. Moreover, most of the
available researches deal with solid slabs; this is due to the difficulty of modelling composite slabs
connected to steel beams. In a composite beam, shear connectors are welded to the top flange of
the steel I-beam to achieve composite action between the I-beam and the slab. The composite
action significantly improves the strength and the stiffness performance of the composite beams,
which depend on the degree of shear connection.
In addition to the experimental tests, a new finite element model is discussed. The most
important part of the proposed model is the connection between the steel I-beam flange and the
slab. This was successfully modelled using a proposed Beam-Spring modelling technique. Many
researchers have undertaken the non-linear analysis of the composite beams considering the
interaction between the steel I-beam and the slab. A three dimensional bar element has been
formulated by Razaqpur and Nofal
1
for modelling shear connectors in composite beams. The
stiffness properties of the bar element were defined by a shear-slip relationship derived from
experimental data. This relationship; Eq. (1); was first presented by Ollgaard et al.
2
. This relation
has been used extensively by other researchers
1,3,4,5,6,7,8
. This equation was utilized in this paper to
simulate the load-slip curve of the used stud shear connector. The accuracy of using this equation
in case of applying torsion on composite beams was insured also by performing the two full-scale
composite beams.
Q = Q
u
(1 e
-S
)

(1)
93
Where
Q, Q
u
Shear force and Characteristic strength of stud shear connector.
, Two parameters manage the initial slope and the shape of the curve.
S Slippage.

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

Two full-scale composite beams with corrugated steel sheet were tested to study the behaviour of
composite beams under torsion. The steel sheet was considered the main reinforcement for the
composite slab. The main parameter that was investigated was the percentage of the load applied
to the beam to produce torsion with respect to the total load applied to the beam. In addition, three
push-out tests were conducted to obtain the load-slip characteristics of the shear connectors,
9
.

Design of Beam Specimens

The composite beams were designed according to the BS 5950 parts 3, 4. The dimensions were
chosen to prevent all types of possible modes of failure in the composite section; such as the rib-
shear failure and the shear-cone failure. Figure 1 shows the main details of the tested specimens.
The total length of the main beam was 3600 mm, and the width of the composite slab was 1200
mm. This design of the beams was suggested to simulate one half of the composite panel as shown
in Figure 2. The secondary beams had the same cross section of the main beam. To simulate this
composite panel, the two secondary beams were represented by two steel I-beams of 900 mm
length. These beams were fixed from one end to the main steel I-beam with 3300 mm distance in
between, and the other ends of the secondary beams were rested on rubber plates under roller
support to simulate the deflection that may happen in the cross beams. The rubber plates were
squashed to measure the expected deflection that will happen during loading the beams. The studs
were arranged in pairs at one side of each rib of the steel sheet due to the existence of an
embossment in the middle of each rib. A total of 22 studs were used in each beam. The degree of
interaction with this number of studs was 60%.

Details of Beam Specimens

A universal beam of 30516554 kg/m was designed for the main beam and the secondary beams.
The slab was reinforced by 3712 in the short direction and 712 reinforcing bars in the long
direction. The mesh was adjusted over the steel sheet so that the lower reinforcement bars were
positioned at the stud shear connector head level while the long reinforcement was kept over the
stud head level. The concrete thickness in the slab of the composite beam was 130 mm. A 20 mm
cover was allowed at each end of the slab,
9
.

Instrumentation

The test measurement devices are shown in Figure 3. Six dial gauges were positioned in each
beam to measure the steel I-beam and the composite slab deflections, and the uplift between the
slab and the I-beam due to torsion. In each beam specimen, a total of 10 strain gauges of type
(FLA-10-11) with 10 mm length and 120 resistance, were directly glued to the stud shank near to
the stud base, since the straining actions are expected to be greatest at the base.
94

Figure 1. Studied composite beam and loading setup

Figure 2. Representation of the composite panel examined to study Figure 3. Positions of the
composite beam behaviour under shear, torsion and positive bending instrumentation

Material Properties

The properties of all the used material are summarized in Table 1. The used corrugated steel sheet
was ribdeck-AL trapezoidal type. The cover width of this type of sheet is 900 mm. The sheet had a
height of 50 mm and a nominal gauge of 1.0 mm throughout.. A ready mix concrete with an
average final expected strength of 40 N/mm
2
was used. The slabs of the push-out specimens were
concreted in a vertical position at the same time. Compaction was done using a poker vibrator with
30 mm diameter. Nelson headed stud shear connectors were used in all of the tested specimens.
The diameter of these studs was 19 mm and the height was 100 mm before welding and 95 mm
after welding. The studs were welded to the steel I-beam through the steel sheet. The elongation of
this type of studs is 15 %, according to the manufacturers data; NELSON, T.R.W. To ascertain
the load-slip characteristics of the studs, three push-out tests were carried out. A typical shape of
the tested push-out specimen and the setup are shown in Figure 4. Figure 5 presents the load-slip
curve. The ultimate shear strength was averaged to be 117 kN per connector, and the average slip
at failure was 15 mm.
95
Table (1) Used Material Properties
Material Property Value
Concrete Compressive strength N/mm
2
Ec N/mm
2
*
Poissons ratio
40
2.65E04
0.2
Corrugated steel sheet Yield stress N/mm
2
550
Reinforcing bars Yield stress N/mm
2
Ultimate stress N/mm
2
490
560
Stud shear connector Yield stress N/mm
2
Tensile strength N/mm
2
350
450
* Calculated according to BS8110 using the measured concrete compressive strength.

Figure 4 Push-out specimen and the set-up for the specimen
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Slippage (mm)
L
o
a
d

p
e
r

s
t
u
d

(
k
N
)
Slab (1)
Slab (2)

Figure 5. Load-slip relation Figure 6. Slab shear connectors

To examine the changes that happen to the stud shear connector and the overall behaviour of the
composite section during the application of torsion, it was better to avoid any possibility of any
premature failure that could happen to the composite section. As a trial to prevent the rib-shear
failure and the shear-bond failure in the composite slabs of the tested beams, 24 fasteners (slab
shear connectors) of 8.8 mm diameter with 43 mm clear height above the surface of the steel sheet
after fixing, were used in each slab of the tested beams; as shown in Figure 6. A distance of 400
mm was left between these connectors in each row. Six fasteners were used at each slab of the
push-out specimens as well, 9.

Test Set-up and Loading Procedure

The set-up of the tested beams is shown in Figure 1. The total beam length was 3.6 m resting on
supports of 3.3m span. The load was applied on the composite slab using a system of steel beams
resting on rollers. The main part of the load was positioned over the steel I-beam web and the
96
other part was positioned at 300 mm from the edge of the composite slab. The later group
produced torsion on the tested composite beam, which was the main changed parameter in the two
beams. This percentage was controlled by changing the position of loading set up from the main
steel I-beam. These positions allowed applying load for torsion equals one third and one fourth of
the total load in Beam1 and Beam2 respectively. The load was increased gradually with a rate of
50 kN/min. This rate was reduced to 25 kN/min close to failure. The push-out specimens were
loaded in an ordinary way of the push-out tests; as shown in Figure 4.

FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING

The present study utilized the finite element program ANSYS version 8.1 to simulate the
behaviour of the composite beam and the stud shear connectors. A three dimensional finite
element model was presented to simulate the material non-linear behaviour of the composite beam.
The used elements are summarized in the following lines.
The concrete slab was modelled using a three dimensional concrete element (solid 65). The
most important aspect of this element is the treatment of the non-linear material properties. In the
proposed concrete material model, tension stress, relaxation coefficient, shear transfer for open and
closed cracks, and concrete crushing were considered. Figure 7 shows the used stress-strain curve
of concrete. A four-node shell element (shell43) was used to represent the corrugated steel sheet.
This element has a bending and a membrane capability. The steel reinforcement was simulated by
a three dimensional spar element (link 8) embedded in the concrete. The element X-axis is
oriented along the length of the element from node I towards node J. The spar element was
connected to the concrete nodal points applying full bond between them. Using this separate spar
element for representing steel reinforcement in the concrete slab allowed the bars to be placed in
their exact position. The steel I-beam was modelled using two types of elements; the three
dimensional solid element (Solid 185) was used to represent the steel I-beam flanges. The plastic
large strain shell element (Shell 43) was used to model the steel I- beam web. For all structural
steel, the stress-strain curve was represented using a tri-linear relationship as shown in Figure 8.
Sufficient accuracy was achieved by using this relationship. Material properties of all the used
materials were taken as the experimental materials for the finite element model which were
summarized in Table 1
9
.

Figure 7. Stress-strain curve of concrete Figure 8. Stress-strain curve of steel.

Modelling of Shear Connector

A 2 mm gap was left between the steel I-beam and the slab, as it was the minimum gap permitted
by the ANSYS program without producing any errors. This gap was left for two important
97
reasons. First, to be sure that any horizontal shear force produced between the steel I-beam and the
slab would be carried only by the shear connectors. So, the behaviour of the shear connectors
under the effect of any load type; bending or torsion; can be studied accurately. Second, in this
way, it was easy to read the slippage and the uplift at the interface between the components of the
composite beam. The slippage and the uplift were calculated by estimating the horizontal and the
vertical differences between the two ends of the elements representing the studs in the 2 mm gap.
Beam element (Beam188) was used to represent the shear connector in the normal direction within
the 2 mm gap. In this gap, zero transverse shear stiffness and solid-rounded cross-section was used
in the direction of the stud shank. Inside the concrete, only the beam element with its normal and
shear stiffness was used to represent the stud. The transverse shear stiffness for this element can be
controlled and different cross sections can be used. Two non-linear springs (Combin 39) elements
were used in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the steel I-beam to simulate the behaviour
of the stud shear connector in these horizontal directions. The load-slip curve of these springs was
taken from Eq. (1). Figure 9. shows the detail of the proposed finite element model of the
composite section and the stud shear connector.

Beam-Slab Interface

The interface between the steel flange and the slab was represented by using two-nodded gap
elements (Contact 52). The contact element was directed to behave in the normal direction only.
So the sticking stiffness which represents the stiffness in the tangential direction was eliminated by
setting the value of (KS) near to zero. The coefficient of friction () which is the only material
property for this element was set to zero. This was to force the elements which represent the shear
connectors to bear the entire horizontal shear produced between the components of the composite
beam. On the other hand, the normal stiffness (KN) was calculated as the weakest stiffness of the
surfaces in contact; steel flange and the slab. These elements were used at all nodes between the
steel flange and the slab, except the nodes at which the stud elements were positioned. The
purpose of using these elements was to ensure physical separation and prevent penetration that
may occur between these two surfaces while loading the model. The associated value of stiffness
for the gap element was calculated using Eq. (2). Both the shear and the normal stiffness were
considered between the steel sheet and the concrete slab, as shown in Figure 9 detail (B).
K = EA / L (2)
Where
A, L Area of the adjacent element, and element thickness, respectively.
E Youngs modulus of the adjacent element.

Boundary Conditions and Loading Schemes

All the nodes at the lower surface of the steel I-beam lower flange at the support position were
restrained except for translation in X-direction and rotation about Z-direction. Boundary
conditions for symmetry were used at the centre line of the beam, i.e. movement in X-direction
and rotation about Y and Z directions were restrained. The self weight of the materials was
included in the process. The continuity of the slab was considered in Z-direction for stability and a
limited deflection was allowed at the position of the secondary beam. More than ten load steps
were utilized and each load step was divided into a reasonable number of sub-steps.


Table 2 summarizes the results of the tested full-scale beams. The average strength of the concrete
cubes obtained at the test day of each specimen is mentioned in the tables as well. Analysis of the
Results of Full-Scale Composite Beams is shown in Table 3.
98

Figure 9. Finite element model for the composite section and the stud shear connector

Table 2 Results of tested full-scale composite beams
Label P
v
` (kN) R
b
(mm)
s
(mm) Max. Uplift (mm) Mode of failure
Beam1 635 33% 18.26 62 2.6
Beam2 775 25% 18.9 55 2.1
shear-bond failure
accompanied with diagonal
shear in the concrete slab

Table 3 Analysis of the results of full-scale composite beams
label
Q
exp
kN
Q
exp
/Q
ref.
Q
F.E
kN
Q
exp
/Q
F.E
.
F
exp
kN
F
exp/
Q
exp
F
exp
/F
ref.
F
F.E
kN
F
exp
/F
F.E.
Beam1 79 0.67 71 1.12 22 0.27 3.52 24 0.9
Beam2 96 0.81 86 1.11 20 0.21 3.2 21 0.95

Where
P
v
` Failure load of the tested composite beam.
R

Ratio of the applied load to produce torsion with respect to the total load.
b,
s
Maximum deflection at the centre of the steel I-beam and the composite slab at failure.
F
exp,
F
F.E.
Maximum axial force on stud from experimental test and finite element results.
Q
ref.,
F
ref
Reference value of the shear and the axial force in the stud.
Q
exp,
Q
F.E.
Maximum shear on stud from experimental test and finite element results.

The total amount of the load applied to both beams; Beam1 and Beam2; was the same at each load
step. However, the applied load to produce torsion in Beam1 was 32% greater than that in Beam2.
This increase in torsion reduced the ultimate capacity of Beam1 by 18% than that of Beam2. The
failure load for Beam1 and Beam2 were 61% and 74% of the calculated failure load according to
the BS 5950, for the tested composite beam under bending and the produced longitudinal shear
only.

Behaviour and Crack Pattern, The composite slab started to ping at a load of 250 kN and
300 kN in Beam1 and Beam2 respectively. This noise was due to local deformations in the steel
sheet and de-bonding between the decking and the concrete. Diagonal cracks in the concrete slabs
started from the edges of the ribs at the two ends of each beam moving towards the centre of the
beam at about 300 kN and 350 kN in Beam1 and Beam2 respectively. The typical shape of the
crack pattern in the tested composite beams is shown in Figure 10 {crack I}. At the next loading
step, a couple of cracks appeared {cracks II}. These diagonal cracks increased and expanded with
99
loading continuity and propagated towards the centre line of the composite beam. At a load of 425
and 500 kN, {cracks III} appeared in Beam1 and Beam2, respectively. Separation between the
steel sheet and the concrete at the front of the composite slab was increased rapidly. This
separation was due to the load applied to produce torsion in the composite beam. Increasing the
applied load produced the rest of the cracks {IV and V} as shown in Figure 10. Figures 11 and 12
show the shape of these cracks in each beam. These cracks were due to the shear produced on the
beam, and from the big deformation of the corrugated steel sheet during the test. In the other edge
of the beam and at the two sides, severe separation was noticed between the concrete and the steel
sheet especially at the corners of the slabs.
The behaviour of the stud shear connectors was noticed throughout the test by monitoring the
strain values transferred to the computer from the data logger. Similar behaviour was noticed in
the studs positioned at the similar ribs of the two tested beams. However, noticeably higher
stresses were recorded at the edge stud in Beam1 by 30.9% than its alternative in Beam2. High
value of axial force was produced in the studs of the tested beams. The maximum recorded axial
force in the studs were 3.5 and 3.2 times of that in the specimen under shear only (push-out tests).
This axial force was found to be tensile force. In composite beams under positive bending, the
major axial force in the studs is compression. The maximum axial force in the studs of Beam1 was
higher than its alternative in Beam2 by 10%. This means that applying torsion to a composite
beam transforms the axial force in the studs form compression to tension, and increasing the value
of torsion increases this tension. Care should be taken for this change and the produced tension
should be considered while designing composite beam with this loading scheme, since the shear
capacity of the stud is reduced with the existence of tension force.
Deflection of the composite slabs and the I-beams of the two tested beams were recorded. At the
beginning of the test, no big difference was noticed in the deflection of the steel I-beams of the
two tested specimens. However, increasing the portion of the applied load to produce torsion
increased the beam deflection in Beam1. The final deflection of the steel I-beam of Beam1 was
about 96% of that in Beam2. In the composite slabs, increasing torsion applied to the Beam1
increased the deflection of its composite slab by 12.7% at failure than that in Beam2; as shown in
Figure 13. The slab deflection at the service load; within the elastic behaviour; was about 2 and 1.5
times that calculated value according to the BS 5950 Part: 4, while the maximum recorded slab
deflections at failure exceeded this value by 5.2 to 4.7 times in Beam1 and Beam2, respectively.
Uplift was the second variable noticeably affected by increasing torsion applied to the beams. The
maximum uplift in Beam1 was about 23% greater than that of Beam2 at failure. The recorded
uplift in the two beams is plotted in Figure 14. Shear-bond failure and the severe diagonal cracks
produced in the concrete were the controlling modes of failure in the two beams.

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE EXPERIMENTAL AND THE ANALYTICAL
RESULTS

The same loading sequence was applied to models simulating the beams. The first crushed
concrete element happened at a load level of about 55% of the failure load. Failure loads of the
finite element simulation were about 9% and 10% higher than those of Beam1 and Beam2
respectively. Figure 15 shows the recorded deflection in the composite slabs of the tested
composite beams in the finite element models compared to the experimental results. Stud
behaviour was checked in the analytical study as well. The axial force in the different studs were
recorded in the finite element models and compared to the experimental data in Figure 16. The
comparison indicates how close the analytical results to the experimental tests and summarizes
that the finite element model is reliable. The maximum difference between the analytical and the
100
experimental shear force in the studs was 12%. The effect of torsion on the slab of the tested
composite beam was clear in the studied model.

Figure 10.Typical crack pattern in the full-scale composite beams

Figure 11. Shear-bond failure and diagonal shear in full-scale composite beam (Beam2)

Figure 12. Separation between concrete and sheet in the tested full-scale composite beams

Figure 13. Mid-span deflection of the slabs Figure 14. Uplift between slab and steel I-beam
101
EXTENDED STUDY OF FULL-SCALE COMPOSITE BEAMS UNDER SHEAR,
TORSION AND POSITIVE BENDING

A study of two additional finite element models of the full-scale composite beam under shear,
torsion and positive bending was carried out. These percentage of the load applied to produce
torsion in these two models and the two other models simulated the experimental beams will vary
from 0.0% up to 33%. The results of the concerned beams are summarized in Table 4. The failure
load of the finite element model for the composite beam under shear and positive bending was
about 95 % of that calculated according to the BS 5950. At the same time, the difference between
the failure loads of the tested beams and their finite element simulations did not exceed 10%.
These results proved the reliability of the proposed finite element model. The results show that the
maximum carried shear by the stud decreases with the increase of the applied load for torsion,
while the produced axial force increases.

Figure 15. Slab deflection Figure 16. Axial force in studs

Table 4 Results of composite beams under shear, torsion and positive bending
Label R P
v`
(kN) Q (kN) Q/Q
ref
F (kN)
Beam1* 33% 635 79 0.67 22
Beam2 * 25% 775 96 0.81 20
Beam3 ** 33% 694 71 0.6 24
Beam4** 25% 853 86 0.73 21
Beam5 ** 15% 902 91 0.77 12
Beam6** 0.0 992 98 0.83 -19
* Experimental ** Finite Element

As noticed from Table 4, the axial force in the studs of Beam6 was compressive, while tensile
axial forces were found in Beam1, Beam2 and the rest of the finite element models. This change in
the axial force was due to the application of torsion. These data were taken from the outer row of
the studs. It is shown from Figure 17 that slope of the curve is decreasing with the increase of the
percentage of the applied load to produce torsion. Also, it can be seen from the curve that at a
percentage 10% of the applied load to produce torsion and with these dimensions of the beam, the
axial force in the outer stud will be zero. The same technique was performed for the inner row of
studs. It was found that applying a percentage of loads equals 33% of the total load at the same
distance used in this model; the axial force in these studs will be zero. A similar relation was
plotted in Figure 18 to correlate the maximum shear carried by the stud and the percentage of load
applied to produce torsion. It is noticed that until applying 15% of the load to produce torsion the
slope of the curve is very small. This means that the decrease in the carried shear by the stud is
small. This may be due to the compression axial force in the stud at this percentage of loading
torsion. When the axial force in the stud became tension, the slope of the curve in Figure 18
102
increased; i.e. the reduction in the shear carried by the stud decreases. The forces in the studs of
the two rows used in the composite beams were compared. The comparison showed similar values
for the shear force in the two beams. The difference in the behaviour was clear in the axial forces;
as shown in Figure 19. The longitudinal and the perpendicular slippage values were compared for
the four finite element models in Figure 20. The most noticeable thing was that applying torsion
produced slippage in the perpendicular direction more than 40% of the longitudinal direction. The
figure shows that almost no slippage in the perpendicular direction was produced in the model of
the composite slab without torsion. It can be noticed that the increase of slippage is proportional to
the increase in the shear in the studs.
The produced perpendicular shear and slippage in the specimens under torsion affect the stress
distribution in both the studs and the steel sheet as well. In the composite beam without torsion,
the longitudinal slippage cause stress in front of the studs at the direction of this slippage, while
applying torsion disturb the stress contours.

-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Percentage of load applied
to produce torsion
A
x
i
a
l

f
o
r
c
e

(
k
N
)

Figure 17. Axial force in the studs Figure 18. Shear force in the studs

Figure 19. Axial force in the studs of Figure 20 Slippage along and perpendicular
model beam3 (load for torsion =33%) to the beam at the failure load of Beam1

CONCLUSIONS

(1) No danger was observed in applying torsion to a composite beam under positive
bending and shear, since no stud failure was noticed within the loading value and a
degree of shear interaction of 60 % and up.
(2) Torsion transforms the axial force in the studs from compression to tension, and
increasing the value of torsion increases this tension. So, care should be taken for
this change and the produced tension should be considered while designing
composite beam with this loading scheme, since the shear capacity of the stud is
reduced with the existence of tension force. Increasing the percentage of load to
103
produce torsion by 32% reduces the shear carried by the stud down to 18% and
increases the axial force by 10%.
(3) Adding torsion to shear and positive bending reduces the ultimate capacity of the
composite beam up to 40% than the similar beam without torsion.
(4) Serviceability limits should be checked carefully when designing the composite
section under torsion, shear and positive bending. The recorded slab deflections at
serviceability load and failure load exceeded the calculated value according to the BS
5950 Part4 by 2 and 5 times, respectively.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This investigation was carried out in the heavy structures laboratory in Southampton University,
UK.

REFERENCES

1. Razaqpur, A. G. and Nofal, M. A finite Element for Modeling the Nonlinear
Behavior of Shear Connectors in Composite Structures, Computers & Structures,
32(1), 1989, pp. 169-174.
2. Ollgard, J. G. Slutter, R. G. and Fisher, J. W. Shear Strength of Stud Connectors in
Lightweight and Normal-Weight Concrete AISC Engrg. J., 1971, Vol. 8, pp. 55-64.
3. Johnson, R. P. and Molenstra, N. Partial Shear Connection in Composite Beams for
Buildings, Proc., Inst. Civ. Engrs., Part 2, 1991, Vol. 91, pp. 679-704.
4. Manfredi, G. Fabbrocino, G. and Cosenza, E. Modeling of Steel-Concrete
Composite Beams Under Negative Bending, Journal of Engineering Mechanics,
125(6), 1999, pp. 654-662.
5. Gattesco, N. Analytical Modelling of Non-linear Behaviour of Composite Beams
With Deformable Connection, Journal of Constructional Steel Research,1999,
No.52, pp.195-218.
6. Fabbrocino, G. Manfredi, G. and Cosenza, E. Non-linear analysis of Composite
Beams Under Positive Bending, Computers and Structures, 1999, Vol. 70, pp. 77-
89.
7. Gattesco, N. and Giuriani, E. Experimental Study on Stud Shear Connectors
Subjected to Cyclic Loading, Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 38(1),
1996, pp. 1-21.
8. Sebastian, W. M. and McConnel, R. Nonlinear FE Analysis of Steel-Concrete
Composite Structures, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 126(6), 2000, pp.
662-674.
9. Mustafa, S. A. A. Torsional Effect on Composite Beams, Ph.D. Thesis, Zagazig
University, Zagazig, Egypt, 2006.

104

ANALYZING ENGINEERING-RELATED DELAYS: AN EXPERT
SYSTEM APPROACH
M. M. MARZOUK
1
, A.M. EL-DOKHMASEY
2
AND M.E. IBRAHIM
1
1
Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering
Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
2
ALEZZ FLAT STEEL
10
th
Shehab St., Mohandeseenm, Giza, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Construction delays can be grouped into five main categories: engineering-related,
construction-related, financial/economic, management/ administrative and force majeure. This
paper presents a knowledge base expert system, named ES_EngClaim, dedicated to engineering-
related delays. In ES_EngClaim, delays are classified, according to their source, to: 1) design
development, 2) workshop drawings, and 3) changes delays. The knowledge of the system is
acquired from literature, FIDIC contract forms, domain experts, as well as questionnaire survey.
Whereas, its inference engine is coded utilizing Microsoft Visual Basic. The proposed system
analyzes the procedure of the claim considering the adopted contract form for the case under
consideration. ES_EngClaims built-in rules utilize the procedure of FIDIC contract forms for
both design-bid-build and design-build projects. In addition, the system provides flexibility in
analyzing other customized procedures. ES_EngClaim outputs include claim entitlement,
responsibility, and compensability of claims. A case study is presented to validate the system and
to illustrate its capabilities.
INTRODUCTION
Claims and disputes arise in construction industry due to several reasons. Construction disputes
are different than other types of disputes due to their unique characteristics. Riad
1
summarized
these unique characteristics as: 1) construction disputes usually involve more parties other than
prime contractor; 2) the issues commonly raised are diverse, numerous, and complex; 3) The
events leading up to the disputes may take place over months, or even years; and 4) The dispute
often arise during construction, thereby requiring immediate discussions and actions rather than
affording the parties a reasonable period for reflection, study, review and consideration. Delays
are considered one of the most common reasons that lead to litigation. Delays in construction are
attributed to faults or deficiencies of any of the construction contract parties (the employer or the
contractor) or due to a fault of a third party. They cause severe loss to both contract parties. To the
employer, delay means loss of revenues; as it hinders running the new facilities in addition to the
high cost of investment and interest during construction. To the contractor, delay means: i)
increasing overhead costs because of the longer construction period, ii) increasing material costs
through cost escalation due to wage increases and iii) applying of a liquidated damage or even a
penalty clause
2
.
Engineering efforts start before construction during the design and preparation of tender
document phases. Such efforts continue, after signing the contract, during the construction phase
and remain till testing and commissioning phase. This is the case where the construction contract
is based on employer design (i.e. design-bid-build delivery system). In case of design-build
contracts, the design is made by the contractor and the employers engineers are responsible for

105

reviewing, approving and supervising the entire project' stages. It was reported that engineering-
related delay claims represent one of the major sources of the claims in the construction industry
3
.
This paper presents a knowledge base expert system, named ES_EngClaim, dedicated to
engineering-related delays. ES_EngClaim classifies delays according to their source into: 1)
design development, 2) workshop drawings, and 3) changes delays. A case study is presented to
illustrate the main features of the developed system.
CONSTRUCTION DELAYS
Many studies were carried to assess the causes of delays in construction projects. Assaf et al.
4
studied the causes of delay in large building construction projects in Saudi Arabia. These causes
include; approval of workshop drawings, delays in payments to contractors and the resulting cash-
flow problems during construction, design changes, conflicts in work schedules of subcontractors,
slow decision making and executive bureaucracy in the employers organizations, design errors,
labor shortage and inadequate labor skills. Mezher et al.
5
conducted a survey of the causes of
delays in the construction industry in Lebanon from the viewpoint of employers, contractors and
architectural/engineering firms. It was found that employers had more concerns with regard to
financial issues, whereas contractors regard contractual relationships as the most significant causes
of delays, while consultants considered project management issues to be the most significant ones.
Classification of the construction delays can take many forms according to the criteria of
classification. Ahmed et al.
3
classified construction delays, according to their type, in six
categories; engineering related, construction related, financial/economic, management/
administrative, code-related and acts of God. The authors identified the key causes of delays for
each type based on a questionnaire survey. Kartam
6
classified delays, according to their origin to:
1) employers responsibility, 2) contractors responsibility and 3) neither of the contracting party
responsibility (third party causes the delay). With respect to timing, delays are classified into
concurrent and non-concurrent delays. Concurrent delays refer to delay situations when two or
more delays (regardless of the type and/or origin) occur at the same time or overlap to some
degree. On the other hand, non-concurrent delays are those delays that occur alone at the time in
which the delay took place. Alkass et al.
7
classified the delay claims with respect to their
compensability into excusable and non-excusable (non-compensable) delays. Moreover, excusable
delays were divided in compensable and non-compensable claims.
MODELING ENGINEERING-RELATED DELAY CLAIMS
The knowledge base of the proposed expert system was acquired through several interviews with a
domain expert in addition to questionnaire survey to ensure the accuracy of the gathered
knowledge. Several sessions of structured and unstructured interviews were held with an
arbitrators in the field of construction claims analysis, evaluation and arbitration. The first
interview with the domain expert was conducted for acquiring the general knowledge regarding
the domain problem. First sessions were unstructured interviews without organized questions. In
subsequent sessions, focused questions were asked. The work of the domain expert as an arbitrator
enabled him to answer fine questions that cannot be easily found in literatures. Finally, a
questionnaire had been prepared, as an output to the unstructured sessions, in order to ensure the
accuracy of the collected knowledge via a questionnaire survey.
The questionnaire was prepared after extracting the knowledge from the domain expert. Then
the questionnaire was distributed to ten experts in order to get their feedback on the acquired
knowledge and to give those experts the opportunity to express their point of view. The selected
experts encompass all parties of construction; three of them represent contractors; three represent

106

employers and the remaining four experts represent engineering firms. The questionnaire was
prepared in a multiple choice format in a form of a point scale that ranges from zero to four.
The zero values express the disagreement of the expert to the attribute under consideration,
while four values express his full agreement. In addition, the experts were allowed to express
their point of view by adding more attributes; not listed in the questionnaire. The feedback of
experts was collected and analyzed in order to ensure the accuracy of the knowledge received
from the domain expert. It was found that experts opinions have a great compatibility with the
conducted knowledge from the domain expert. As an outcome from both knowledge extracting
and questionnaire survey, the specified attributes that cause engineering-related delays are
presented in following sections.
Causes of Design Development Delays
Design development is the major engineering activity in the project life cycle. It starts by
identifying the needs of the employer in a form of conceptual design and preliminary documents
(drawings, specifications or bills of quantities). These documents are essential for developing
project design documents. Such documents allow the designer to recognize the employer
requirements. Any changes or discovering mistakes in these preliminary documents may lead to a
delay in the overall project time schedule. Another bad practice that leads to a delay is the
employers delay (or his representatives) in responding to the designer queries which might arise,
during the development stage, due to incompleteness of the preliminary documents received from
the employer. The employer is responsible for all the above-listed sources of delays. Designers
also could be a source of delay due to lack of recourses such as human, facilities, or experience
which might lead to a delay in design development activity.
Project delivery system, either design-bid-build or design-build, governs the responsible party
of the delay. Design-bid-build projects, as previously mentioned, are those in which the employer
(either with in-house staff or by use of a design consultant) designs the project and puts together
the plans and specifications of bid package. Subsequently, contractors submit their bids and the
project is awarded to one of them. While in the design-build delivery approach, the employer
assigns a single entity for both design and construction as a single point of responsibility for the
project. The design-build entity may be either a single organization with design and construction
staffs, or a construction organization that hires a designer firm as part of design-build team. In
that type of delivery systems, design development activity is one of the contractor responsibilities.
The causes of delay in the design development activity could be summarized as follows:
Incapability of the designer to carry out design tasks due to shortage of manpower, software
facilities, etc.
Delay in submitting the preliminary documents to the designer.
Incompleteness of the preliminary documents, prepared by the employer.
Delay in responding to designer queries or proposal.
Modifications during development stage due to satisfy the requirements of the employer.
Causes of Workshop Drawings Delays
Workshop drawings are prepared in order to describe the details of the project components as
presented in the design documents (drawings, specifications and/or bill of quantities). Regardless
the project delivery system, preparation of these workshop drawings is always the contractor
responsibility. Accuracy of the prepared workshop drawings depends on the quality of the design
documents produced by the project designer, in addition to the qualification and experience of the
teamwork which is responsible for preparing such drawings. Delays in workshop drawings may

107

occur either in the preparation/submission, approval stage or in both of them. Litigations always
exist between the contract parties in defining the responsibility due to these delays.
Workshop drawings preparation is the successor engineering activity to the design
development, which is always the contractors responsibility, Contractors engineer could not start
in that activity without receiving the design documents prepared by the project designer. Any
delay in submitting the design documents to the contractor after the contracted submission date
may lead to a delay in the preparation activity. In addition, any inaccurate information included in
the design documents could also lead to a delay in the workshop drawings preparation activity.
These delay causes are considered the employer responsibility in case of design-bid-build projects.
While in case of design-build delivery projects, the employer is relieved from that responsibility,
since the design documents preparation is one of the contractor scope of work. Sometimes,
contractors request clarifications or proposals' approval from the employers' representatives in
order to proceed with the work in workshop drawings preparation activity. If those representatives
delay in giving their responses, a correspondence delay takes place. This delay in responding to
the contractor queries is considered an excusable and compensable delay to the contractor. The
causes that lead to a delay in the workshop drawings preparation are:
Delay in submitting the design documents to the contractor (only in case of design-bid-build
projects).
Errors and/or modifications in the design documents.
Delays in preparation or submission process due to contractor faults.
Delay in responding to contractor queries or proposal.
Although workshop drawings approval activity is always the employer representative's
responsibility, contractors should support those representatives with all needed documents to
achieve this task. Delays in submitting the workshop drawings to employer representatives, or
even discovering errors in these drawings during checking stage, may lead to a great delay in the
approval activity. Causes of delay in workshop drawings approval are:
Delay in submitting the workshop drawings to the employer.
Errors in workshop drawings.
Delays in the checking and approval process.
Delay in responding to employer representatives' requests of clarifications.
Causes of Changes Delays
Changes are considered among the greatest causes of delays in the construction projects. The
impact of changes may affect one or more of the project activities. This might cause either a delay
in this particular activity(ies) or even a global delay in the overall project time schedule. Changes
may be requested by one of the contract parties or even by a third party such as local authorities.
Changes are requested due to several reasons. Studying these reasons is an essential step in order
to analyze the responsibility and compensability of each delay claim that may arise due to these
changes. Both contract parties may request changes during the engineering or construction phases
of the projects due to several reasons such as:
Changes due to discovering errors in design documents and/or workshop drawings.
Changes in method of construction due to constructability problems.
Changes in project specifications due to shortage of some materials, to save time and/or cost.
Changes in construction procedure due to own interest of either the employer or contractor.
Changes due to fault of one of the contracting parties in delivery of materials or equipment.
Changes in the contracted scope of work, by adding, omission or postponing some project
activities.

108

Changes in construction procedure or project specifications due to bad performance of the
contractor.
Changes due to unexpected conditions.
Changes could be also requested by the local authorities or governmental entities due to
different reasons such as:
Incompatibility of design documents or workshop drawings with the domestic code regulations.
Conflict between construction method, material and/or procedure with local safety or
environment laws.
Issuance of new regulations that lead to a delay in the project time schedule.
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
The knowledge of the proposed system (ES_EngClaim) models engineering-related delays. The
system is coded utilizing Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 in a form of rules (IF-THEN statements).
ES_EngClaim has several interesting features:
1) It enables connectivity with other scheduling software (including Microsoft Project and
Primavera) in an effort to allow retrieval of activities attributes.
2) It aids junior engineers who have limited experience in handling the engineering-related delay
claims. Moreover, it enables the non-engineers arbitrators in assessing the claim cases relevant
to the engineering activities.
3) It is able to assess claims under different contract forms such as FIDIC
10
forms in addition to
any other customized forms.
4) It is able to handle two delivery systems; design-bid-build or design-build projects.
However, ES_EngClaim has the following limitations: 1) it only analyzes engineering-related
delay claims, 2) only one claim can be analyzed per session, and 3) it does not provide the
associated cost of claims. The system consists of five main modules, which interact via a user
interface that controls the connectivity among those components. These components are:
System Input: it acquires project information (e.g., delivery system, type of contract, time
schedule control technique, etc.) that has a great impact on claim analysis. The information is
processed by Claim Identifier, Claim Procedure and Claim Analyzer modules. Also, such project
information is exported to System Output module.
Claim Identifier Module: it defines the causes of the delay and their relevant sub-causes. It also
identifies the time frame of the delayed activity before and after the event that led to the delay in
order to identify the effect of the activity delay on the overall project time schedule.
Claim Procedure Module: it reviews the timing procedure of the claim in order to ensure the
abidance of the contractual terms and conditions. This module interacts with the claim procedures
stated in FIDIC forms of contracts. It is fixable enough to handle any other contracts procedures
rather than those mentioned in the FIDIC contracts.
8
Claim Analyzer Module: it analyzes the claim considering the information acquired in the
Claim Identifier and Claim Procedure modules. This module presents a conclusion of the
examination and illustrates the reasons that lead to the decision.
System Output: it provides the assessment of the claim in a form of summary and detailed
reports. Acquired session information, assessment conclusion and reasons lead to that assessment
are included in the output detailed report.

109

CASE STUDY
This case considers an employer (Employer_X) who is willing to construct an administration
building (Project_B). A tender had been issued based on a general design documents prepared by
the employer's consultant. It is mentioned in tender documents that the contractor scope of work
includes carrying out detail design for structural joints according to the latest version of the
relevant local code requirements. FIDIC 1987 form was utilized as a project contract and mutually
signed by the employer and the contractor (Contractor_Y) without any modifications in the claim
procedure clauses. Meanwhile, it was agreed between both parties that the employer is entitled to
add some design activities to the contracted scope of work. The contract came into force on
December first, 2004. The following events led to litigation between the contract parties, hence the
contractor issued a claim requesting an extension of time.
A particular structural joint was planed to be designed within five calendar days starting from
January 25, 2005 (activity ref. no. E 4792).
On December 7, 2004, the contractor requested from the Engineer to specify the base of seismic
code is it 1993 or 2003 seismic code, giving the fact that the whole tender design documents had
been prepared based on 1993 seismic code.
On December 14, 2004, the Engineer notified the contractor that he should abide by 2003 code
requirements.
The contractor submitted the design document of structure joints on February 14, 2005 to the
Engineer, requesting his approval. Contractor_Y mentioned that the delay in activity E4792 is
attributed to applying the new code requirements. Consequently, the Contractor requested the
Engineer to shift the project end date by 15 days.
The Engineer proved that the new seismic code was published in the Egyptian official newspaper
on January 18, 2004 (i.e., one year before the starting date of activity E4792) and hence the
contractor is not entitled to the claim and in contrary, the employer is entitled to delay damage
equivalent to the delay of the contractor in achieving the activity.
After long negotiation between project parties, the contractor admitted his responsibility
regarding the stated delay.
Upon consulting ES_EngClaim regarding the above mentioned case as a delay in design
development, the system reported the same decision which had been agreed between the project
parties (i.e. the delay is contractor responsibility). The claim details and summary report of that
session are depicted in Figures 1 and 2, respectively.
CONCLUSION
This paper presented the different types of construction delay claims and focused on the
engineering-related delay claims since it was considered one of the major sources of delays in
construction projects. Interviews with a domain expert were arranged and questionnaire surveys
were conducted. The results of the questionnaire surveys have been analyzed in order to extract
the knowledge which subsequently used to develop an expert system, named ES_EngClaim. The
paper described the causes of delays in design development, workshop drawings, and changes.
The proposed ES_EngClaim consists of five component; system input, claim identifier module,
claim procedure module, claim analyzer module, and system output. A case study was presented
to demonstrate the main features of the developed system.

110

Figure 1: Claim Details Interaction Screen

Figure 2: Assessment Summary Report Screen

111

REFERANCES
1. Riad, N., MODA-An Export System for Managing Owner Directed Acceleration, Ph.D.
Dissertation, Illinois Institute Of Technology, Chicago, U.S.A, 1990.
2. Fahmy, Y., Managing Material Shortage Claims, M.Sc. Dissertation, Cairo University,
Egypt, 1995.
3. Ahmed, S.M., Azhar, S., Kappagantula, P., and Gollapudi, D. Delay in Construction: A
Brief Study of the Florida Construction Industry. ASC Proceedings of the 39th Annual
Conference, Clemso University, Soutth Carolina, April 10-12, 2003, pp. 257-266.
4. Assaf, S., Al-Khalil, M., and Al-Hazmi, M. Causes of Delay in Large Building Construction
Projects, Journal of Management in Engineering, 11(2) 1995, pp. 45-50.
5. Mezher, T. and Tawil, W. Causes of Delays in the Construction Industry in Lebanon,
Engineering Construction and Architectural Management, 53, 1998, pp. 251-260.
6. Kartam, S. Generic Methodology for Analyzing Delay Claims," Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, 125(6), 1999, pp. 409-419.
7. Alkass, S. Construction Delay Analysis Techniques, Construction Management and
Economics, 14(3), 1996, pp. 375-394.
8. FIDIC, Condition of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works
Designed by the Employer, 1st ed., Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs-Conseils, 1999.

112

ASSESSMENT OF POUNDING DAMAGE POTENTIAL FOR BUILDINGS
M. M. MOKHTAR, A. F. HASSAN AND S. A. MOURAD
Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Four-prototype reinforced concrete buildings with different heights, designed under
gravity and lateral loads, are used to investigate pounding between each pair of these buildings.
Investigation is carried-out by time history dynamic analyses on 2-D non-linear models to explore
the factors influencing pounding occurrence and severity of collision. Excitations are performed
using five different ground motion records. The adequacy of minimum separation distance
between each pair of buildings to preclude pounding according to code requirements is tested. In
addition, analyses are performed adopting separation distances that are less than the minimum safe
separation distance, with the aim of investigating the effect of separation distance on structural
damage, variation in lateral deformations, base shear, and pounding force. The results of this
parametric study are compared to the corresponding time history analyses without pounding to
determine the sustained change in structural behaviour as well as the damage due to pounding
impact. The study showed that code provisions adequate to prevent pounding as long as the height
of the taller building is less than twice the height of the shorter one. It was also found that
pounding can magnify base shear by up to 40% compared to the base shear value of separate
buildings analyzed using time history loading.
INTRODUCTION

Pounding between adjacent buildings during earthquakes has been one of the causes of severe
structural damage. In some cases, the additional forces generated by the impact interactions have
lead to structural collapse. In other cases, the buildings sustained minor local damage, indicating
that seismic pounding may be a serious threat to the structures if a stronger earthquake takes place.
Structural pounding between adjacent structures occurs during an earthquake, when buildings
vibrate out of phase, and the separation distance is not sufficient to accommodate the relative
displacement. Therefore, a sufficient separation-gap between the structures would eliminate the
problem. In metropolitan areas, the expensive cost of land and the need for more buildings have
led to small or null separations between adjacent buildings, which leave these structures
susceptible to pounding during strong earthquakes. The problem is complicated by the fact that, in
general, adjacent buildings belong to different owners, and in most cases are built with different
materials, different geometrical aspects, at different times, according to different building codes
and specifications, and designed with different functional objectives. All this translates into
different dynamic characteristics.
Damage due to pounding may loosen or damage cladding materials, thus endangering
pedestrians below. Pounding of adjacent buildings has made damage worse, and/or cause total
collapse of the buildings. The earthquake that struck Mexico City in 1985 has revealed that
pounding was present in over 40% of 330 collapsed or severely damaged buildings surveyed, and
in 15% of all cases it led to collapse
1
. Observations of pounding damage during past earthquakes
revealed the typical structural damage modes listed below in addition to the expected damage in
external cladding and the displacement of equipment inside buildings subject to pounding. These
damage modes include:
Inelastic deformations (non-ductile response).
113
113

Foundation rotation,
High frequency pulses that may damage sensitive equipment.
PROTOTYPE BUILDINGS

To study pounding phenomenon, dynamic analyses have been performed on adjacent buildings
separated by small gaps. As shown in Fig. 1, two-bay reinforced concrete structures, regular in
both plan and elevation, were selected to reach large height-to-width ratio in the direction of
study. This structural configuration is imposed by limited construction area. In the direction
normal to the direction of study, these buildings consist of five bays, each 5.0m span. Typical bay
width is 5.0m, typical floor height is 3.0m, and ground floor is 5.0m high. Prototype buildings are
assumed to be fixed at top of foundation level. Different aspects of pounding phenomenon are
investigated on selected structures with 7, 10, 15, and 20 stories high, with a total height of 23m,
32m, 47m, and 62m, respectively
2
.

Design of prototype buildings
Prototype buildings are designed under vertical loads corresponding to residential structures.
Lateral load analysis is performed to design prototype buildings against earthquake loads with
peak ground acceleration of 0.15g, using the equivalent static method according to UBC
3
. Their
ductility is assumed to correspond to intermediate-moment resisting frames according to UBC
classification. This model considers gross inertias and areas for heterogeneous sections. Necessary
verifications are made to ensure non-existence of soft storey at ground level (5.0m high) according
to UBC recommendations in case the structure is subjected to lateral loads. In addition, resultant
elastic roof displacement S of the different 2D frames is later used, as given below, to calculate
non-linear lateral displacement of the structure. It permits the determination of the safe separation
distance between any two adjacent buildings to preclude pounding.
Non-linear numerical presentation
Prototype buildings are numerically modelled considering material non-linearity using
OPENSEES software
4
, courtesy of Berkeley University, California, USA. Chosen structures are
represented as 2D frames. OPENSEES library encloses special bi-linear materials to represent
concrete and steel separately. In addition, it allows for the input of location and size of each
reinforcement bar in the input concrete section. Fundamental period is determined for the
5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Figure 1: 7 and 10 stories prototype buildings
Gap
Distance
114

stressed/cracked status of prototype structures under gravity loads instead of the usual zero stress
condition, which gives a larger fundamental period.
Moment-Rotation relation
Moment-rotation relation is established for all beams and columns part of different prototype
buildings to determine their yield, and nominal capacities, and subsequently their ductility. For
columns, these curves are plotted under the axial force from all sustained loads. For beams, axial
loads are neglected due to their insignificant values. Sectional moment-rotation relation is
calculated using RESPONSE 2000 software
5
; courtesy of the University of Toronto, Canada.
Establishing these rotation values enables the evaluation of the structural elements capacity to
handle straining actions due to earthquakes safely without collapse with acceptable deformations.
The acceptance criteria for plastic rotations in beams and columns are detailed herein after.
Acceptance criteria for plastic rotation
The Federal Emergency Management Agency standard (FEMA 356)
6
defines three levels of
structural performance to assess the overall post earthquake structural damage of existing
structures and whether is it repairable or beyond economical repair due to excessive deformations.
Each performance level gives limiting value for allowable plastic rotations for columns and beams
resulting from non-linear analyses as listed in Table 1, and Fig. 2. Results for plastic rotation
showed that columns and beams for prototype buildings could sustain the required rotation by
collapse prevention performance level.

Table 1: Damage control and building performance level
6

Performance Level
Collapse Prevention
Level (CP)
Life Safety Level
(LS)
Immediate Occupancy
Level (IO)
Overall Damage Severe Moderate Light
Beams 0.025 radian 0.020 radian 0.010 radian Allowable
Plastic
rotation
Columns 0.020 radian 0.015 radian 0.005 radian
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Deformation
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
s
e
d

f
o
r
c
e
IO
CP
LS
A
B
C
D
E
P,S
P
P
S
S

Figure 2. Structural performance levels acceptance criteria for deformations
6

Dynamic properties of prototype buildings
Eigen value analysis is performed, considering damping, for each building to determine its
dynamic properties. Table 2 lists the fundamental periods of vibration (Tn) for the first four modes
115

of each building. The sum of mass participation ratios for the first four modes is also given in
Table 2. These periods are calculated for stressed buildings due to gravity loads (i.e. cracked
structural elements). Viscous damping is considered applying Rayleigh technique.
Table 2: Periods of vibration in seconds of first four modes for all prototype buildings.
Building 7-storey 10-storey 15-storey 20-storey Mass participation ratio
T1(seconds) 1.406 1.664 2.399 3.175 99.5%
T2(seconds) 0.471 0.599 0.833 1.054 98.6%
T3(seconds) 0.249 0.334 0.472 0.588 97.2%
T4(seconds) 0.161 0.215 0.307 0.385 95.7%
NON-LINEAR TIME HISTORY ANALYSES FOR PROTOTYPE
BUILDINGS WITHOUT POUNDING
Drift of prototype buildings due to time history analysis
Time history analyses for the prototype buildings are conducted using five different ground
motion records namely; El Centro 1940, Aqaba 1995, Loma Prieta 1989, Long Beach 1936 and,
Borrego 1968. These records are scaled to 0.15g based on Egyptian Code recommendation for
Cairo zone
7
. The solution time step is 0.00125 seconds compared to time step of 0.02 seconds for
Elcentro and Long Beach, and 0.005 seconds for Aqaba, Loma Prieta and, Borrego. The solution
time domain is 31.18 seconds. Table 3 shows that Long Beach followed by Borrego, both induced
the highest lateral deformations in all subject buildings, which are the absolute maximum values.
This was expected as these earthquakes have a significant long period frequency content and thus
affect severely long period structures. Stresses at several sections have reached yield; especially
ground floor beams and base sections of columns. The pseudo spectral acceleration response,
assuming 5% damping, for each of the selected ground motions is plotted in Fig. 3. Figure 4
shows the envelope of lateral displacements for 10-storey building for no-pounding and pounding
time history analyses.

0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
Fundamental Period (seconds)
P
s
e
u
d
o

A
c
c
e
l
e
r
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
/
s
e
c
2
)
Elcentro Aqaba Loma Prieta Long Beach Borrego

Figure 3. Pseudo Acceleration Spectrum for selected ground motions records
116

Table 3: Percentage drift to height ratios for prototype buildings
% drift to height ratio
Building Elcentro Aqaba Loma Prieta Long Beach Borrego
7-storey 0.26 0.37 0.41 0.81 0.72
10-storey 0.22 0.31 0.44 1.19 0.69
15-storey 0.36 0.68 0.47 0.87 0.79
20-storey 0.34 0.39 0.47 1.48 0.61
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Displacements (m)
S
t
o
r
e
y
No pounding
Pounding

Figure 4. Envelope of displacement of 10-storey for pounding and no-pounding analyses
RESULTS OF NON-LINEAR POUNDING ANALYSIS
Pounding occurrence
Parametric study assumes that each pair of buildings are separated by five different gaps; namely
zero, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the minimum safe separation distance to preclude pounding
according to UBC procedure. The safe separation distance against pounding, given in Table 4, is
different for each pair of buildings depending on the amplitude of lateral displacements of both
buildings. Table 4 gives also the separation distance, as percentage of the safe separation distance,
after which pounding between each pair of buildings did not take place. For instance, pounding
between 7 and 15 stories buildings occurred when the separation was set to 50% of the minimum
safe separation distance under excitation of Elcentro earthquake; however, pounding did not occur
when this gap was increased to 75% of the minimum safe separation distance. It should be noted
that pounding did not occur in most cases for half the value of the safe separation distance. In
addition, pounding took place between adjacent buildings while separated with the safe separation
117

distance when the height of the taller building was double or more the height of the shorter one,
under the excitation of a long period earthquake like Long Beach.

Table 4: Pounding occurrence with respect to the percent minimum safe separation distance.
Ground motion record
Pounding
case
Separation
distance(cm)
7-10 17.25 25% 25% 50% 50% 25%
7-15 18.34 50% 25% 50% 100% 50%
7-20 18.26 50% 50% 50% 100% 75%
10-15 26.95 50% 50% 50% 25% 25%
10-20 27.25 25% 50% 50% 25% 75%
15-20 48.26 25% 50% 50% 100% 50%
Lateral Displacement
Table 5 summarises the maximum non-linear lateral displacements due to pounding of 10-storey
building with other buildings for five separation distances under the excitation of selected
earthquakes. Non-linear lateral displacements for corresponding no-pounding case are also listed
in the latter Table. N.P. denotes the non-occurrence of pounding. Due to space limitation, only a
sample of the results is presented
2
. Compared to no-pounding time history analyses, lateral
displacements for 10-storey building were suppressed due to pounding in most cases. For its
counterpart building an opposite behaviour is obtained in most cases. The rate of change in
displacements with separation distance increase is not significant in most cases, and it is in the
order of 5%. Furthermore, no uniform pattern could be established between the increase of
buildings separations and the variation in lateral displacement.

Table 5: Maximum non-linear lateral displacement M in metres, at the roof of 10-storey
building.
Pounding
case
Separation %
of UBC
M
Elcentro
M
Aqaba
M Loma
Prieta
M Long
Beach
M
Borrego
No-pounding 0.0739 0.0978 0.1427 0.3903 0.2214
zero 0.0623 0.0886 0.1070 0.3582 0.2379
25% 0.0661 0.0733 0.1215 0.3650 0.2000
50% N.P. 0.0955 0.1408 N.P. 0.2000
10 -20
75% N.P. N.P. N.P. N.P. 0.2052
zero 0.0720 0.1310 0.1140 0.4120 0.2250
25% 0.0770 0.1010 0.1220 0.2340 0.2840 10 -15
50% 0.0800 0.0900 0.1500 N.P. N.P.
zero 0.0763 0.0875 0.1362 0.3423 0.2252
25% 0.0746 0.0915 0.1377 0.3033 0.2303 7-10
50% N.P. N.P. 0.1427 0.3866 N.P.

118

Base Shear
Base shear resulting from pounding time history analysis is listed in Table 6. Base shear due to
pounding increased by 10% to 20% in most pounding analyses, with a maximum value of 40%,
compared to those resulting from corresponding no-pounding analyses. In other cases, base shears
has decreased. It should be noted that base shear for 20-storey building calculated from UBC
equivalent static method, assuming no-pounding, is 63 tons.

Table 6: Base shear V
EQ
in tons for 20-storey building due to pounding.
Building
Separation
% of UBC
V
EQ

Elcentro
V
EQ

Aqaba
V
EQ
Loma
Prieta
V
EQ
Long
Beach
V
EQ
Borrego
No-pounding
92.22 84.36 96.49 101.18 99.10
zero 91.67 96.49 113.51 117.35 108.95
25% 92.22 91.67 112.69 116.54 117.13
50% N.P. 90.35 110.11 118.46 103.70
75% N.P. N.P. N.P. 118.91 N.P.
20-15
100% N.P. N.P. N.P. 118.91 N.P.
zero 88.30 76.32 85.87 117.79 141.89
25% 72.17 80.45 84.94 119.60 119.83
50% N.P. 71.76 83.35 N.P. 122.65
10-15
75% N.P. N.P. N.P. N.P. 120.29
zero 95.02 80.55 109.53 125.36 131.43
25% 101.51 84.14 108.01 119.14 101.84
50% 92.35 88.18 110.11 119.14 101.68
20-7
75% N.P. N.P. N.P. 119.14 101.18
Magnitude of pounding force
Results showed that magnitude of mutual pounding between pair of buildings depends largely on
the stiffness of the contact or gap element, the separation distance, and the out of phase response
of both buildings under the excitation of a given earthquake, which is dictated by the dynamic
properties of the subject structure. Table 7 gives the magnitude of pounding forces for the 10-
torey building because of its collision with 7, 15, and 20 stories buildings. Parametric study
outcome showed that collision between adjacent buildings decreases with the increase of
separation and the magnitude of pounding force decreases in most cases. Thus, damage is
expected to lessen with larger separation between adjacent structures.
Table 7: Maximum pounding force in tons, due to pounding of 10-storey building.
Ground Motion
Record
Separation
distance
Elcentro Aqaba
Loma
Prieta
Long
Beach
Borrego
Zero 1736 1837 3163 1461 2598
25% 812 580 1000 1384 3680
50% N.P. 366 1021 N.P. 984
Pounding force
for 10-20-stories
75% N.P. N.P. N.P. N.P. 652
119

Table 7 contd: Maximum pounding force in tons, due to pounding of 10-storey building.
Ground Motion
Record
Separation
distance
Elcentro Aqaba
Loma
Prieta
Long
Beach
Borrego
Zero 1273 1462 3593 1042 2203
25% 1302 692 2171 938 1929
Pounding force
for 10-15-stories
50% 305 508 445 N.P. N.P
Zero 1416 1659 1268 696 1043
25% 432 708 700 761 494
Pounding force
for 10-7-stories
50% N.P. N.P. 417 681 N.P.
CONCLUSIONS
The main conclusions of this paper are summarises as follows:
1- Safe separation distance between adjacent buildings as defined in the UBC is adequate to
prevent pounding, except in cases where the height ratio of the taller structure to the shorter
one is equal to or greater than two.
2- Lateral deformations of the pair of buildings subject to pounding are either suppressed or
magnified. Magnification was maximum 30% compared to corresponding no pounding
cases. In most cases, displacements of the shorter building (i.e. the stiffer building) are
magnified associated with a reduction in lateral displacements of taller building (i.e. the
flexible building).
3- Pounding magnifies or reduces base shear and over all overturning moments. Magnification
of base shear, as observed from analyses conducted in this study, had a maximum value of
40%.
REFERENCES
1. R. Valles, and A. Reinhorn, "Evaluation, Prevention and Mitigation of Pounding Effects in
Building Structures", Technical Report NCEER-97-0001, State University of New York at
Buffalo, 1996.
2. M. Mourad, "Investigation of Seismic Pounding between Buildings Using Non-Linear
Time History Analysis", M. Sc. Thesis, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt (2005).
3. Uniform Building Code, Structural Engineering Design Provisions, International
Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, California, 1997.
4. Mazzoni, S., McKenna, F., Scott, M., Fenves, G. and Jeremie, B., "OPENSEES: An Object
Oriented Frame Work for Finite Elements Analysis, Users Manual", Berkeley University,
California, 2005.
5. E. Bentz, "Response-2000: A Non-linear Sectional Analysis Program for the Analysis of
Reinforced Concrete elements Subjected to Shear Based on the Modified Compression
Field Theory, Users Manual", Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Toronto, 1999.
6. Federal Emergency Management Agency, "Standard for the Seismic Rehabilitation of
Buildings, FEMA 356" by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Nov. 2000.
7. ECP-2003, "Egyptian Code for Design Loads on Structures", Housing and Building
Research Centre, 2003.

120

PROSPECTIVE FOR DEVELOPING RATING AND MONITORING
SYSTEMS FOR LIBYAS BRIDGE NETWORK

MILAD M. ALSHEBANI

Department of Civil Engineering, Alfateh University
Tripoli Libya

ABSTRACT: Major planned highway and railway projects in Libya will cause significant
increase in the number of bridges throughout the country. The fast majority of the countrys
bridges are of concrete type and most of these bridges are located along the coastal area. Current
practice of bridge maintenance is not linked to any rating data or monitoring system.
Consequently, the bridges conditions are not systematically updated nor the maintenance is a
response to the actual defects that the bridge suffer. Existing and anticipated expansion of bridge
network in Libya would certainly require a better management scheme that can safeguard the
safety and durability of bridge inventories. This paper assesses the country bridge network and
recommends ways to develop bases for rating procedures and monitoring system.
INTRODUCTION
The biggest development projects of Libyas highways were carried out during the 70s and 80s
with thousands of kilometers of roads being constructed, making Libya one of the most accessible
region among the developing countries. The modernization and expansion of the roadways had of
course increased significantly the number of the bridges in use throughout the country. Bridges
were used to overcome terrain and topography difficulties when roadways pass over valleys and
water streams in remote areas. In large cities such as Tripoli and Benghazi, new bridges have
helped divert the traffic flow and ease up the traffic congestions. Culverts and conduits were
widely used as a substitute to bridges whenever it is possible where roads cross valleys.
Since the beginning of the road network expansion until now, Libyan society has gone through
major economic and demographic changes. During the last three decades the population has risen
by more than 80% and the number of cars per house hold has nearly tripled. As a result, the
volume and intensity of traffic on roads have been substantially increased. With growing domestic
and international trade activities the traffic volume is steadily rising. Such an increase in traffic
volume has magnified the need to further modernize Libya's road network. New Libyan
transportation projects, such as Tripoli Ring Road, Qaddafi`s Sub-Sahara Highway and planned
railway projects will result in a remarkable increase in the total number of bridges which will be
in use in the near future. It is evident that a better management scheme for Libya's old, new and
future bridges is urgently needed.

121
121

THE STATUS OF LIBYAN BRIDGES

It is estimated that more than 150 bridges and many more of other types of culverts and conduits
are in service throughout the country. More than 60% of the bridges are located along the coastal
highway or in cities located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. By and large, bridges in Libya
are concrete, short span bridges, with one, two or three span type. Very few bridges are considered
medium or long span bridges, and multi-span bridges are usually flyover type bridges. Inspections
of the bridges are irregular and so does the maintenance. Some of the bridges, however, have
undergone proper diagnostic assessments followed by partial or comprehensive rehabilitations
such the case in Wadi ElKoof Suspension Bridge and Wadi Alhinaiwa Bridge
1,2
. Although some
of the bridges are quite old, very few have been considered for upgrading.
Because of the absence of health monitoring system and lack of defined rating procedures, the
reliability of current practice of bridge assessment in Libya is questionable. Current assessments
are not usually quantified in procedural manner and are mainly based on observing visible
defects. Most deteriorations of the country bridges are due to the aggressiveness of the
surrounding environment, especially along the coastal route. Penetration of salt saturated air
coming from the sea are the most damaging factor for bridges along the coastal area. For bridges
crossing valleys and water streams, the most series deteriorations occur in the abutments and
foundation due to scouring effects. A wide spread but less series deteriorations are those related to
the deck surface, gutters, drainage or side rails due to lack of routine maintenance.

MANAGING LIBYAN NATIONAL BRIDGES

In order to address existing and future anticipating problems within Libyan's bridge network, a
broader management scheme need to be employed to ensure the safety, durability and efficiency
of the bridges. The objectives of such management scheme are to establish technical national
guidelines and policies for bridges local authorities to follow and adopt. Points in focus are:

(a) an inventory of all the bridges in Libya sorting them based on the basic features of each
bridge.
(b) collection and documentation of all available information for all bridges.
(c) retrieving missing data for each bridge
3
.
(d) prioritizing all bridges according to the urgency for their assessment, rehabilitation or
replacement.
(e) establishing guidance and documentation procedures for routine inspections and
assessments.
(f) preparing systematic plans for traffic data collection updating and establishing limits
on truck size and weight.
(g) adopting a national code for bridge design and assessment.
(h) establishing a suitable health monitoring system for all the bridges network.
(i) establishing a data base for the bridges within the network.
(j) adopting a rating criteria for bridge condition.

While priorities should be given to employing a health monitoring system and rating
criteria, other points need to be considered according to their urgency. Monitoring and
rating systems should clarify many of management concerns, while some less concern
points like national code for design and assessment
4
should not be reflected in
management priorities.
122

ASSESSMENT OF BRIDGE PERFORMANCE

Assessment Methods

A major problem faces the assessment of many old bridges in Libya is the missing of as built
drawings documents. In such cases, the concrete properties and reinforcement details need to be
rectified before any meaning assessment can be considered. The main objective of bridge
assessment is to determine the remaining strength of the bridge
5,6
. There are generally two
assessment methods; (i) damage classification methods, and (ii) reliability analysis (probabilistic
assessment approach
7
). The damage classification approach normally results in a rating system
with recommended actions for each rating.
The most advanced technique is the reliability analysis where safety in assessment term can be
related to that in the original design. It is unlikely that the reliability approach can be used for
Libyan bridge assessments since design documents may not be fully available and it is likely that
bridges have been designed each with a different design philosophy.
In assessing Libyan bridges by damage classification method, one may consider the following
schematic representation of the main factor affecting bridge load capacity as shown in figure (1).

Fig (1): factors affecting bridge load capacity

In many cases, engineering judgment is the best tool to decide on the degree of maintenance,
upgrading or replacement
8
. Upon the completion of the assessment, recommendation can fall
within the following action categories:
1. Strengthening of the bridge.
2. Intensive periodic inspection of critical parts.
3. Partial or complete renewal.
4. Routine maintenance.
5. No action needed at this time.

Cracking and spalling of
concrete
Corrosion of reinforcement Inadequate material
properties
Insufficient load capacity
123

Performance Rating

Each of the action categories is assigned a rating range, usually on a scale of 0 to 10, in which the
rating numbers are ascending with severity. Upon the completion of assessment, the rating number
obtained is compared with the categories ranges in order to decide on the most suitable action
needed. Inspection of bridges in Libya is focused on two main areas; distress due to aggressive
environment along the coastal route, and scouring effects on foundations and abutments in bridges
crossing valleys. The two areas of inspection can be rated separately or integrated in a single
rating for the same bridge. In this case the rating range of 0 to 1 is assigned to good performance
and no action is needed, while the rating range of 9 to 10 is considered sever case where the
bridge needs immediate strengthening. Recently, a number of bridges along the coastal area were
visibly inspected at random. Inspection results these bridges suggested that an overall performance
rating range of 1 to 7 is where most of them fall
9
. However, a more thorough diagnostic
assessment for some of these bridges is needed and could upgrade the severity of their conditions.
Nevertheless, bridge durability becomes the main focus of any inspection in the coastal area.
Concrete durability, for example, can be evaluated by assessing the moisture content in concrete.
The risk factor associated with concrete durability is rated with a number from 0 to 3 to
signify the risk level
10
as shown in Table ( 1 ). Most Libyan bridges are located along the
coastal area which is known to be an area of "aggressive environment". Therefore, bridge
structural serviceability and durability remains a high priority in any assessment procedures.

Table (1 ): Significance of moisture state in influencing different durability processes

Process
Corrosion of steel which is
Chemical
attack
Effective
relative
humidity Carbon-
ation
Carbonated
Chloride
contaminated
Frost
attack

Very low
(<45%)
1 0 0 0 0
Low (45-65%) 3 1 1 0 0
Medium (65-
85%)
2 3 3 0 0
High (85 98%) 1 2 3 2 1
Saturated
(>98%)
0 1 1 3 3
Risk : 0 = not significant 1 = slight 2= medium 3= high

124

SCOPE OF INSPECTION

Bridges in various parts of the country are still in service even though some of these bridges were
built during the 50s and the 60s. It is expected that the reserve capacity inherent in the design of
such bridges is the main reason for their current fitness. Serviceability requirements, however,
may not be met in these bridges even in relatively newly built bridges. It is anticipated that any
diagnostic assessment of bridges in Libya should consider the following targets:
1. Serviceability requirements in areas of aggressive environments such as the coastal area
where many bridges exist, it is expected that structural serviceability problems will be
the main focus of any assessment .
2. The bridge needs to be load tested if the remaining capacity of the bridge is not
determined with confidence.
3. The extent of scouring underneath the abutments for bridges crossing valleys must be
determined as well as the lining or lack of it for the upstream and downstream of the
valley within the bridge site.
4. A study of the intensity of the traffic on the bridge will determine the need for upgrading
, widening, or replacing the bridge.
5. Evaluation of the road surface over the deck and its contribution to the bridge vibration.
6. Inspection of expansion joints, gutters, and drainage which are most likely blocked by
debris, and dirt due to the lack of regular maintenance.
7. Determination of whether or not the openings of the bridge meet the flood design levels.
This requirement is extremely important for culverts as well.
BRIDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
In general, the Libyan bridge management system could be structured into several functional
modules
11
. Each module is a computerized database and associated with certain task; such as
physical properties, inspection observations, or bridge location.
The bridge management system provides itemized reports on the components of each module and
allows the data to be continuously updated . The inspection module is used by trained bridge
inspectors to record their observations subsequent to each inspection. A rating out of 10 is
provided by the inspector and the main components of the bridge are given global ratings. The
recommendation for Libyan bridges calls for a routine inspection every three years for old bridges
and every five years for relatively new bridges.
The essence of bridge management system is shown in the flow chart in Fig (2)

125

Fig ( 2) : Schematic flow chart program for a bridge management system

Bridge management systems are usually driven by visual inspection data that is collected on the
condition of all the bridges within the network. However, deterioration that does not manifest
some visible symptoms ( such as steel corrosion) is not detected or quantified. Serviceability is a
major concern in many of the bridges in Libya. Technology
12
that help to detect delaminations of
bridge decks, corrosion activity inside concrete and fatigue cracks is, therefore, fatal in providing
a more accurate bridge conditions.
HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM
One of the important strategies for managing Libyan national bridges is to implement an effective
system of monitoring the "health" of existing and future bridges. Employment of any monitoring
devices should be able to provide the following information
13
:
1. Quantify the extent and progress of distress.
2. Pinpoint the cause of the problem allowing efficient repair .
3. Determine the effectiveness of repair .
4. Warn of future degradation.
Since bridges in Libya are located far apart and scattered throughout the country, and because
of budget constraints, sensors used for monitoring should meet the following requirements:

1. No power supply needed .
2. High long-term durability.
Bridge Management
System
Data
Base
Data
Collection
Management
Analysis

Action
Formulation

Rating
Needs
Options
126

3. Reduce time and cost of inspection.
4. Reduce labor needed for inspection.
It is the intention of any bridge monitoring strategy to meet at least the last two mentioned
requirements. The latest technology in health monitoring is the use of Strain Monitor System
(SMS) sensors
14
. These sensors can always remember the maximum strain recorded . The peak
strains are the most useful in judging damage. The system provides useful information by sending
updated data and analyses results.
Today, the system is internet based where data produced by the system is available online. It
appears that SMS sensors are well suited for Libyas bridges monitoring system, because of the
advantages previously mentioned. More importantly, communication with the system even in
remote areas can be easily handled via cellular phone or even via internet.

CONCLUSION

Future expansion of highways and planned railway projects are likely to increase the number of
bridges throughout the country. Existing bridges are mostly concrete bridges and the majority are
located along the coastal area. Current evaluation of bridge condition is not linked to any rating
system and therefore, can not produce a quantitative measure of the bridge performance. The main
factors contributing to the deteriorations of bridges in Libya are the effects of coastal aggressive
environments, valleys seasonal flooding and lack of regular routine maintenance. To deal with
growing technical challenges, abasic feature of bridge management scheme was introduced in this
paper. A rating procedures for the country bridge network was explained in combination with a
recommended monitoring system that most suits the Libyan environment.

REFERENCES

1. Alshebani, M., Barouni, S., Benzeeton, A. and Galhood, L. "Alhiniwa Bridge Loading Test",
Proc. Of 18
th
Conf. on Our World in Concrete & Structures", Singapore,1993.
2. Alshebani, M., Barouni, S., Benzeeton, A. and Galhood, L. "Studies of Maintenance
Requirements of Alhinewa Bridge (in Arabic), Proc. Of 5
th
Arabic Conference of Engineering
Structures, Libya, 1993.
3. Hellow, A. "Retrival of System Properties of Existing Structures'. Remaining Structural
Capacity Report, IABSE Colloquium, Copenhagen, 1993.
4. CSN73-0083, "Czechoslovak Code for the Design and Assessment of Building Structures
Subjected to Reconstruction", Prague, 1996
5. Vrouwenvelder, T., "Codes of Practice for Assessment of Existing Structures" Remaining
Structural Capacity Report, IABSE Colloquium, Copenhagen, 1993.
6. Wu, Souxin, et "Methods for Evaluating Load capacity of Existing Bridges" Remaining
Structural Capacity Report, IABSE Colloquium, Copenhagen, 1993
7. Allen,D.E., "Criteria for Structural Evaluation and Upgrading of Existing building",
Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 1991
8. Phases, B., et al "Reliability of Visual bridge Assessment", USA Federal Highway
Administration's Report, Public Roads Magazine, 2001
9. Alemaad Consulting Engineers Report on the Conditions of Some of the Coastal Bridges,
ACE Document Tripoli, 2005

10. COMITE Eur International De Beton (CEB), "Durable Concrete Structures", CEB Design
Guide, 2
nd
Edition, bulletin d'information, No. 182, 1989.
127

11. "The Africon Bridge Management System", Africon Company Publications, South Africa,
2004.
.
12. Kim, K., et "Integrity Assessment of Concrete Bridge Deck by Impact-Echo Testing', Proc. Of
1
st
Int. Conf. on Advances in Structural Engineering and Mechanics, Seoul, south Korea, 1999.
13. Middleton, C. 'Concrete Bridge Assessment", Proc. Of Bridge Surveyor Conf., University of
Cambridge, UK, 1998.
14. Tominago, M., kato, Y. and Shinkawa, M. "A New Technology Using Strain Memory System
and Remote data Acquisition for maintenance of Structures", 1
st
Int. Conf. on Advances in
Structural Engineering and Mechanics, Seoul, south Korea, 1999.
.

128

CHARACTERISATION AND ANALYSIS OF SMART MATERIALS
BASED ON ADAPTABLE SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS
B.NECIB, M.S.SAHLI, F.MILI, A.MERABET AND E.FERKOUS
Laboratory of Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University Mentouri Constantine
Route de Ain El Bey 25000 Constantine, ALGRIA
Tel/Fax : 213 31 81 88 53 ; email : necibbrahim2004@yahoo.fr

ABSTRACT: The application fields of smart materials have been of great importance in the areas
of new technologies such as high rise intelligent buildings, space structures and aeronautics
constructions. These structures are made of new materials and/or systems which allow them to feel
and control their own characteristics and their own state to attaint a higher level of operational
performance than those of conventional structures and/or tall buildings. The application interest of
these types of materials is increasing rapidly because of their activity, their adaptation, their
performance and their lightness. Actually they create a wide range of research axes especially in
the advanced field of the leading-edge technologies such as the aeronautics and space structures,
the intelligent buildings in civil engineering and are also of big interests in the medical
professions. In this paper, examples of smart structures with shape memory alloy materials, their
definitions, their work principles with simple or double memory effects as well as their super
thermo elasticity phenomenon will be considered.
1. INTRODUCTION

During the last decade, the technology of smart materials is taking an application field of great
interest to the areas of new technologies and scientific researches whose results were strongly
validated by the fact of the direct transfer of these new technologies into the economic and
industrial mediums. The interest of these new technologies is to create smart structures or systems
based on these types of materials, which will let them have a presentiment and control their own
state so that they can reach a higher level of operational performance than that of the conventional
materials, structures, and/or systems. Recently their application has become extensive in the field
of advanced technologies and especially in the industrialized countries such as: the USA, Japan
and European countries. Indeed, in this field of research, several works describing the design, the
realization and the development of these types of materials and/or structures were considered and
realized. Their application includes especially the technology of mechanical, aeronautical,
aerospace and civil engineering, as well as the sea and car industry in addition to their
considerable interest to the medical profession.
Smart materials are often composite materials with multiple functions. Their concept is
simple: It consists of the incorporation of additional functions to transform the basic structural
materials into functional, active and adaptable materials which allow them to be controlled or to be
directed even from considerable distances.
It is then clear that the need of a material or a quite specific mechanism is necessary so that
these types of materials and/or structures can be actuated while into taking account their precision,
their dimensional stability and their autonomy. Their objective is not only to fill of programmed
functions, but to learn and answer in an appropriate way to a broad range of situations. The
129

technological result is then an assembly of several components macroscopically distinct around a
basic original component which is generally the composite material. Mainly, we meet two
characteristics for these types of materials:
- a material is known as sensor or captor when it is able to bring to the system information on
the environment or on itself; the material or the structure is known then as sensitive.
- a material is known as actuator when it is able to produce an action which can modify the
behavior of the system; the material is then called adaptable.
If a material, a system and/or a structure have both characteristics, which means, it is at the
same time sensitive and adaptable, then it is called adaptive, i.e.: it collects information, drafts
them and then reacts in a suitable way. However such a material or system can answer only in a
one way solicitation, according to a quite precise law which was subscribed to him during its
development, and which cannot be modified.
Moreover, if the material and/or system is able to choose among a range of possible answers, then
it is described as a smart material. Consequently, a smart material is sensitive, adaptive and
evolutionary. It has functions which enable him to behave like:
- a sensor "to detect signals "
- an actuator "to carry out an action on its environment "
- or like a processor "to process, compare and store data "
This material is indeed able to modify its physical properties spontaneously (its form), its
conductivity, its visco-elasticity or its color in response to natural or caused excitations, coming
from the interior or the outside of material: (variation in temperature, the stress fields, electric or
magnetic fields). The material then will adapt its answer by announcing a modification appeared
in the environment or by causing an action of correction. Consequently it becomes possible to
detect the weakness of structures (wide deformation), the appearance of the crack propagation
and/or the increase in the vibrations; and then to envisage solutions such as: structures coating (of
aircraft or civil structure) and/or reduction in the vibration (blades of helicopters and others).
In general, a really smart material does not exist, because it would be then able to give creative
intuitions in front of unexpected situations (smart means here only adaptive structure) and which
is the objective of future research works.
2. TYPES OF SMART MATERIALS
2.1. Sensor and actuator materials
The sensitive part of the structure or smart material is addressed to the various types of current
sensors (such as insertion of optical fibers in composite materials) and for the actuators, the
materials have variable properties or compositions such as: mechanical properties (form,
viscosity), temperature, pressure, etc.
2.2. Shape memory materials
They are the alloys most often met. When they are deformed at cool temperature, they find
their initial form beyond a certain temperature in consequence of a phase lengthening
(modification of the crystalline structure). They are adaptable hybrid materials in which actuators
are embedded into polymer matrix composites. One particular class of these actuators are shape
memory alloys: Thin wires ( = 200 m) of Nickel-Titanium-Copper (Nitinol) were
incorporated into a glass-epoxy unidirectional laminated during lay-up. Then the whole structure
was subjected to different curing procedures where the quality of the memory alloys will be
determinate.
130

2.3. Piezoelectric materials
These materials produce an electric tension when they subject to mechanical constraints. For
example, when they are compressed, subjected to an electrical current they can be deformed
mechanically and return to their initial position. Indeed the frequency of the electric signal and its
amplitude vary directly according to the mechanical deformation. These materials consist of
ceramics and more recently of polymers: (Actuators piezo-ceramics and piezo-polymere).
2.4. Magneto-structive materials
These materials can become deformed under the action of the magnetic fields. They are able
to adapt their selves automatically to the environment by taking forms useful in reaction of
external stresses of an acoustic, vibratory, mechanical or thermal nature.
3. APPLICATIONS OF THE SMART MATERIALS

Smart materials are materials with multiple functions whose mechanical and/or thermal
characteristics are definitely higher than those of other alloys or traditional material composites. In
fact, the application range of the traditional composite materials is very wide and includes
practically all the branches of industry, especially:
- Electricity and electronics: insulators, support of circuit breakers, cupboards, antennas, wind-
engines....
- Building structures: cells of dwellings, factory chimneys, formwork, panels exterior walls,
sections,
- Road Transport: body, wheels, grills, driveshaft, beam of frame, suspension springs,
suspension arm...
- Rail-bound Transport: fronts of motor coaches, conveys, Wagon, seats...
- Maritime transport: sailing ships, units of unloading...
- Air transport: private plane or sailplanes (any composite), some parts of aircraft (random,
leading edges, shutters, drifts...), floors, seats, blades of helicopters, drive shafts, discs of
brakes....
- Transport space: body of engines, re-entry vehicle in the atmosphere, conduits, tanks...
- General Mechanics: gears, bearings, cases, casings, jack, piping, arm of robots manipulators,
oil borehole tubes
- Sport and leisure: tennis racket, skiing, fishing cane, tallies of bicycle.
On the other hand, the smart materials are materials with high performances and whose
mechanical and/or thermal characteristics are definitely much better than those of other alloys or
these composite materials. Their applicability includes especially new technologies such as: the
aeronautics, the aerospace, the modern car industry and interest enormously the medical
profession.
3.1. Aeronautics
The use of smart materials is of great importance in aeronautics: the piezoelectric actuators are
incorporated on the structures of aircraft or industrial vehicle to reduce the vibrations so that these
later could be to use under good environmental conditions. While with shape memory materials
or adaptable structures that their spatial goal is:
To control the structures of aircraft during the deformations: to determine the aerodynamic
loads on the fuselage, the wings of aircraft, the leading edges, and the wing-engine pylon
131

To control circulations on the upper and lower surfaces of the wings (upper and down
wing) in order to increase the lift and to decrease the drag (or vice versa)
To control and decrease the shock waves on the wings of aircraft (within the limit of the
supersonic area of the profile) and this by creating flexible leading edges to the back
To control the structures of aircraft (fuselage) during the deformations
To control the forms of structures of wing of aircraft during aerodynamic circulations
(subsonic, supersonic)
To control the vibration and the breaking stresses on the blades of helicopters
To control the vibrations and the reduction of the noise inside the aircraft or the cars.
3.2. Space structures
The space structures are wide structures made up of an assembly of trusses, beams or plates
elements and which are often permanent structures (passive) or adaptable structures (controlled).
In fact, the adaptable structures are those where are installed intelligent mechanisms or smart
materials as active part or robots to direct their orientation or to change their form under desired
conditions. Their application is often in the space telecommunication, such as:
Space structure with systems controlled from the ground to reach geometries with
determined shapes
System ordered by remote manipulators arm
Control the temperatures and the deformations of the bodies during their re-entry in the
atmosphere such as the Space shuttles.
3.3. Civil Engineering
The use of smart materials is also of great importance in modern civil engineering
constructions especially in:
the detection of innovative seismic retrofit of buildings and bridges
the prediction the choc wave propagation in concrete and metallic structures
the analysis of crack propagation in concrete structures
vibration of high rise and tall buildings
3.4. Medical fields
In general, the intelligent materials interest enormously the medical field. To use a robot for
the surgery is not new idea. Indeed, of the small industrial robots were used to orient according to
a well defined position a guided tube to allow the surgeon to introduce more precisely a probe into
the desired part of the body. For example neurosurgical robot MINERVA (To carry out
operational acts).
3.5. Car industries
For economic reasons, modern industry is undertaking the study of a completely integrated
system in which the drawing of the car is carried out on the terminal group of computer-aided
design (CAD). The flow around the vehicle is obtained on computer by numerical solution of the
basic mathematical equations which describe the air flow. This principle is known as: "numerical
blower". This numerical blower provides total information in connection with the flow pattern.
Any defect in the flow is corrected by a change of the geometry provided by the CAD; the
132

resulting flow will be quickly recomputed and then analyzed. This will make it possible to the
manufacturer to reduce the time of the cycle of drawing and to improve the final automobile
product as well as the productivity, and thanks are to these types of materials.
Indeed to replace the car in the screenplay described above, by an aircraft, a space shuttle, a
water or gas turbine, a chemical engine, or an artificial core seem to us completely obvious ; in
order to improve the form and/or the performances of the used object. And which is the object of
the research concept in the new technologies using these types of materials.
4. ADVANTAGES OF THE SMART MATERIALS

For the new technologies, the choice of materials is a significant stage which must be carefully
argued on the technical and economic level. In addition to their activity, adaptation and control,
the smart materials present a common whole of characteristics such as: lightness, higher
mechanical performances and fragile behaviour. Also, these materials are more expensive than the
traditional ones (metallic materials) regarding to the used basic materials. On the other hand, other
essential characteristics can be very dissimilar such as: stiffness, resistance in compression,
behaviour with the shocks.
The cost of a part or a production of a smart material can be calculated according to the costs
of the used basic materials and the different transformation process which conditions highly the
saving of this product (Figure 1a). In fact they are more expensive than the traditional metallic
materials. However they are used more and more in the field of new technologies and industries
because of their many advantages such as:
Saving of weight and time response
Not corrosive
Massive or thermal mechanical characteristics improved over those of metal alloys
Increase in the lifespan of the structure or the system.
Other advantage is that such materials are marketed in thin section and are integrated in very
expensive structures to a high degree and especially in the fields of electronics, aeronautics and
medicine.

Reduction in the empty weight

Reduction in the motorization

Reduction in the fuel

Reduction in the total mass
c
Gain of at least of 30% (for the same mission)

Figure 1a: Transformation process of mass and fuel reduction for a smart material
133

5. THE SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS AND ADAPTABLE MATERIALS

In general the main materials which are usually used in order to control and to analyze the
propagation of stress wave due to impact forces or earthquake motion in multi-purpose high-rise
towers or tall buildings are classified under two main headings which can be essentially summed
up into: the shape memory alloy materials (SMA) and the functional or adaptable ones. The SMA
are mainly used for their mechanical properties such as the super thermo-elasticity the effect of
their simple or double way shape memory and their adaptability. They are, however, used for their
capacity to conduct an electrical current able to change both the action and the form of the
structure.
5.1 The shape memory alloys materials
The shape memory alloys materials own the characterization to get a martensitic
transformation at high or low temperature (figure1). Also, the temperature and the stresses act as a
part of a change of phase on the material because they are linearly related in thermo elasticity. As
a result, these two parameters are interchangeable and they can be the origin of the shape memory
of the material (figure2). The shape memory effect is in direct relation with the phase
transformation which can be done by a sheering stress or an anisotropic dilatation of the mesh. In
fact the response of a SMA material in terms of external solicitations is represented on figure 4.
During the phase AB the stress increases linearly with the deformation until the value of
MS

where the super elasticity occurs which is a phenomenon of martensitic transformation where the
slope of the curve is weak and the deformation is easier (BC). After this phase the deformation of
the materiel will be linear (CD) until
P
, the threshold of the martensite plasticity. On the other
hand and at this stage we unload the materiel, the martensite transformation occurs at
AS
; where
AS
<
MS
and when it vanishes totally the sample finds its complete elastic behaviour (figure 3).
On the other hand, The simple direction memory effect can be explained by thermo mechanical
behaviour of the material i.e. originally and free from any stress application, the sample is cooled
at a low temperature until martensitic phase where the temperature is taken constant, then the
stress (deformation) is increased until the reorientation of the martensity; after that the stress is
gate back to zero, then with a temperature elevation the sample will take its initial form (figure 4)
5.2. The piezoelectric materials
In the same way, this phenomenon can also be reached using piezoelectric materials which are
able to convert an electrical energy to a mechanical one i.e.: an electrical wave can be transformed
into an acoustic wave or conversely. In fact, the mechanical energy is due to a stress initiation in
the material. Consequently, the theoretical relationship between the stress and the polarisation in a
natural piezoelectric effect is given by:

P
i
= d
ij

j
; i = 1,3 and j = 1,6 (1)

Where: P
i
are the polo ration values;
j
the stresses and the d
ij
the piezoelectric matrix (constants).
Similarly, the tensor deformation (
j
) is given by:

j
= d
ij
T
E
i
(2)

Where: d
ij
T
is the transformed matrix of d
ij
, and E
i
electrical field.
134

As a result, the polarisation phenomenon can be obtained by the application of an intense
electric field at a high temperature primarily, then at atmospheric pressure during the return phase
where the grain senses of the material can oriented. The most important are the electronic, atomic,
interfacial and oriented polarisation.
Among the materials which can be polarised:
- the crystals (fibber quartz ) which have a weak coupling coefficient and used specially in
medical transductions
- the ceramics which the most abatable materials at this time, for example: the barium titanates,
the PZT (plumb, zircon ate, titanate) material family
- the polymers and copolymers which have the property of sonde minimization
- etc.
6. EXAMPLE ANALYSIS OF SMART STRUCTURE USING FINITE
ELEMENT METHOD

An example analysis of smart structure using the finite element method based on the first
degree Kirchoff theory is considered and the structure with two piezoelectric elements are pasted
on the composite plate under a compressed stress in X-direction is presented on figure 5.
6.1. Equations
The piezoelectricity has been a coupling phenomenon between the electrical and the
mechanical energy, and then the equations at this state are as fallows:

D = d + E or E = - g + D (3)

Where: E and D are the electrical field and the electrical induction.

The material used in our micromechanical application is a unidirectional reinforced smart material
T300/resineEpoxyde/PZT, using the anisotropic law under electrical field given by:

ij
= C
ij

ij
e
T
mi
E
m

ij
(4)
6.2. Elastic constants properties of the composite plate
The elastic constants properties of the composite plate are:

E
11
= 82.38 GPa
E
22
= 8.30 GPa
G
12
= 3.19 Gpa (5)
12
= 0.324
= 1550 kg/m
3

The obtained results are presented on the figure6 and 7. These results show that the
deformation behaviours are proportional to either the stress or to electrical field, but with an
inverse phenomenon which explain that the deformation due to external stresses in the material
can be eliminated by an electrical field and vice versa. That is, the plate recovers its initial position
as a result of an applied electrical field.
135

Figure 1. Temperature low hysteretic of memory alloy material

Figure 2. Stress hysteretic alloy material

136

Figure 3. Pseudo-elasticity phenomenon of memory alloy material

Figure 4. Education cycle of simple memory affect

137

Figure 5. Piezo-electrical elements pasted on a plane plate composite

Figure 6. Normal stress deformation variation of the composite plate

138

Figure 7. Electrical field deformation variation of the composite plate
CONCLUSION
Smart materials are new materials that are very likely to adapt to their surrounding. In the field
of contemporary scientific research of these materials, important theoretical and experimental
results were developed and strongly validated by the fact that this technology has been directly
transferred to the economic and industrial middles. This field of research occupies a significant
interest in the field of modern industry such as in tall and high rise building analysis, in
mechanics, biomechanics, aeronautics, and in aerospace engineering. These types of materials are
generally classified under two main headings: the shape memory alloys materials (SMA) used
mainly for their mechanical properties such as super-thermo-elasticity and the effect of their
simple or double-way form memory, and the adaptable materials used for their capacity to conduct
electrical current able of changing both their action and form. In our study, the piezo-electrical
material, more precisely the plumb titano zirconate (PZT), has been integrated in the composite
material of the carbon fiber/Epoxy resin. A theoretical model has been developed to determine the
mechanical feature of this material. It has been observed that due to external pressure, the plate
can recover its initial position as a result of an applied electrical field.
139

REFERENCES
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wards AFB, CA the 93523 USA, First Joint U.S./Japan Adaptive Conference one Structures,
Nov. 13-15, 1990, Hawaii, USA.
2. Sirlin, S.W. & Laskin, R.A.1990. Sizing of Active Piezoelectric Struts for Vibration
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Institue of Technology the USA, First Joint U.S./Japan Conference one Adaptive
Structures, Nov.13-15, 1990, Hawaii, the USA.
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Truss Structure, Department of Aeronautical Engineering University Osaka Japan, First
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Aeroelas-ticity Germany, Second Japan/U.S Joint. Adaptive conference one Structures, Nov.
12-14, 1991, Nagoya, Japan.
5. Modi,V.J & Ohan, J.K.1991. In Formulation for has Class of Adaptive Structures with
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8. Tomlinson,G.R. & Bullough. W.A.1998. Smart Materials and Structures, Proceeding of the
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th
European and 2
nd
MIMR Conference, Harrogate, U.K., 6-8 July 1998.
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th

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nd
MIMR Conference, Harrogate, the U.K., 6-8 July 1998.
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th
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nd
MIMR Conference, the U.K. 6-8 July 1998.
140

NEW SENSORS FOR DAMAGE DETECTION USING
NANO PHOTONIC BANDGAP MATERIALS
M. M. REDA TAHA
Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico
MSC01-1070, Albuquerque, NM, USA

ABSTRACT: Photonic crystals (PC) are artificially fabricated crystals with a periodicity in the
dielectric function. These crystals have the novel ability control light propagation in three
dimensions. The photonic band structure occurs when light encounters a well-defined repeating
arrangement of materials with varying refractive indices. When correctly designed and fabricated,
Nano Photonic Bandgap Materials (NPBM) materials can exhibit the property that photons with
the bandgap energy can not penetrate the lattice regardless of their angle of incidence. The arising
photonic bandgap is inherently tied to the underlying crystal topology, periodicity, and integrity.
As such the spectral response of these materials is very sensitive to geometrical variations due to
non-uniform strains that might be induced from microdamage. This research suggests the use of
NPBM as sensors for sub-micron damage detection and quantification. Here, we demonstrate
using a simulation model that a sensor made of NPBM attached to a polymer substrate will
experience a significant change in its bandgap profile when damage is induced in the polymer
substrate. The model predicts the frequency response of the NPBM sensor using the finite
difference time domain (FDTD) method. A damage metric using principles of fuzzy pattern
recognition is developed to quantify the change in the frequency response in relation to the
induced damage. Successful developments of NPBM sensors will allow damage identification at
scales not attainable using current sensing technologies.
INTRODUCTION
Nano photonic Bandgap Materials
Nano Photonic crystals are artificial crystals fabricated at the nano scale with the aim of producing
materials that have the ability to control light propagation in three dimensions by opening a
frequency (band) gap where light cannot propagate
1, 2
. This special photonic structure is created
when light encounters a well-defined repeating arrangement of materials with different refractive
indices. Interestingly, the photonic properties of nano photonic bandgap materials (NPBM) are not
attributed to the photonic properties of the materials only, but mainly to the arrangement of the
crystalline geometry
2
. Researchers showed the possible production of non-metallic and metallic
NPBM with wide varieties of mechanical properties
1,3
. Recent advances in photolithography in
defining extremely fine features and the ability of the new chemical mechanical polishing
techniques to maintain planarity through the fabrication process
4
enabled the production of
NPBM. These materials exhibit photonic bandgap plateau in the visible to near infrared (IR)
regimes (400-4000 nm), with the smallest necessary size range from 0.1 to 1 micrometer
3,4
. Figure
1 shows two exemplar structures of NPBM fabricated at the nano scale using integrated circuitry
production methods. The two examples demonstrate the microstructural periodicity of the NPBM.
141

[a] [b]
Figure 1. Scanning electron micrographs of two exemplar nano photonic bandgap materials
[a] wood pile photonic crystal [b] cubic array of cubes photonic crystal
(Courtesy of J. G. Fleming, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA)

Given their unique properties, it has been recently proposed to create sensors using NPBM and to
use these sensors to detect submicron damage in materials and structures
5,6
. The idea is that a
sensor made of a three-dimensional NPBM will exhibit a unique frequency bandgap under normal
service condition, when a micro-damage in the substrate occurs, the photonic bandgap will be
disrupted due to the disturbance in the crystalline micro-periodicity. Such change in the photonic
bandgap can be identified by measuring the photonic response of the sensor
5,6
.

Here we demonstrate the possible simulation of the photonic response of the NPBM. A case study
of a NPBM sensor attached to a polymer substrate is discussed. An integrated numerical
simulation combining the finite element (FE) method and the finite difference time domain
(FDTD) method to obtain the reflectance-frequency/wavelength spectrum is presented. Finally, we
introduce a damage metric based on fuzzy pattern recognition to detect damage occurrence and
quantify the severity of damage in the polymer substrate.
SIMULATION METHODS
Photonic simulation of strain effect
The photonic response of NPBM can be simulated using one of three techniques: the Transfer
Matrix Method (TMM)
7
, the Modal Expansion Method (MEM)
8
and the Finite Difference Time
Domain (FDTD) method
9
. The three techniques allow computing the reflectance and transmittance
of the NPBM due to principal light modes propagating in free space. A fundamental challenge in
the modeling process is the need to be able to simulate uniform and non-uniform strain effects in
the NPBM on the photonic spectral response. Therefore, the method shall be computationally
inexpensive and shall allow representation of strain effects on the micro-periodicity of the NPBM
without much complexity. These requirements of the computational model ruled out the use of
TMM for being computationally expensive when small mesh size (fine grid) is used. Such
requirements also resulted in excluding the option of using MEM due to the extreme difficulty in
simulating microstructural line defects in the NPBM. On the other hand, it has been shown that the
time and storage demand for FDTD scale linearly with the size of the NPBM grid. This makes
modeling defects in NPBM possible with manageable computational resources
10
. Therefore, the
FDTD approach was chosen to solve Maxwells equations for the NPBM sensor. This solution is
further processed with spectral analysis techniques to obtain transmission and reflection
coefficients of the sensor. FDTD is a direct integration method that replaces the partial derivatives
142

in Maxwells equations represented in Equation (1) with the finite differences described in
Equation (2)
11
:

t
H
) r ( E
t
E
) r ( H
0
0
=

(1)

( ) [ ]
( ) [ ]
t
) t , r ( H t t , r H
t
H
t
) t , r ( E t t , r E
t
E
(2)
where 3 , 2 , 1 i ,
q
z
q
y
q
x
Q , H Q H , E Q E
2
i
2
i
2
i
i i i i i
=
= = = and E is the electric field

vector, H is the magnetic field vector,
0
and
0
are the free space permittivity and permeability
constants, and are the permittivity and permeability of the NPBM sensor. Finally q
i
and Q
i
are
the space vectors and coefficients in a generalized coordinate system respectively. Ward and
Pandy
11
showed the possible use of these principles with appropriate boundary conditions to
obtain the electric and magnetic fields as a function of time. To obtain the transmission and
reflection coefficients, Fourier transform is applied.
Damage quantification using reflectance-Wavelength spectrum
Extensive research has been carried out in the last two decades for developing efficient damage
detection techniques
12,13
. The essence of damage detection research is to elect a feature that is
sensitive to damage occurrence in the material such that a change in the material response due to
damage is magnified by this feature. The process of damage detection thus involves feature
extraction and damage pattern recognition
13,14
. Exemplar damage features that were promoted for
quantifying damage in materials included phase angle based on phase measurements using fiber
optics Bragg grating
14
and modal metrics for vibration based damage detection
15
.

The damage quantification approach here is based on the fact that the photonic spectral response
of NPBM sensor is inherently tied to the microstructural periodicity of the nano photonic crystal.
Thus a small change in lattice periodicity as a result of induced strains will inadvertently change
the photonic signature. Moreover, an increase in the lattice constant due to application of uniform
strain to the substrate will result in linear migration of the photonic bandgap to lower frequencies
compared with the non-strained status. Furthermore, upon induction of non-uniform local strains
due to damage, a significant change in the microstructural periodicity of the NPBM will take
place, which in turn will cause changes in the reflectance spectrum, specifically destroying the
photonic bandgap. To quantify the change in the photonic bandgap and relate it to the damage
level in the substrate, we suggest a new damage feature that is based on quantifying the degree of
dissimilarity between the reflectance spectrums of the NPBM sensor at different states.

The hypothesis starts by assuming that all states in a material can be described by a finite number
of overlapping fuzzy sets
~
i
such that 1 < i < N with N representing the total number of states.
The use of fuzzy set theory allows accounting for nonspecificity type of uncertainty in modeling
143

damage which accounts for uncertainty in the boundaries of the damage event
16
which has always
hindered precise damage modeling due to the overlapping states of damage
17
. Moreover, we
assume that at any damage state in the substrate material, the photonic reflectance ( R ) at the
wavelength () represents the degree of membership () by which this wavelength belongs to the
damage fuzzy set
~
as

( ) ) ( R
i i
~

=
(3)
The use of the reflectance spectrum to represent the membership function representing the damage
fuzzy sets is based on the fact that all values in the reflectance spectrum range between zero and
one and thus can be used to correspond to membership of any wavelength to all damage fuzzy sets
defined over the wavelength domain. Membership values in the context of fuzzy set theory
represent the level of belonging and do not represent probabilities
18
. We thus define the damage
fuzzy set
~
over the wavelength domain as

( )
=

i i
i
~
~

(4)
In this definition the numerator ( )
i
~

is the membership value to the fuzzy set

~
associated with
the element of the universe of discourse indicated in the denominator. The summation is not to be
interpreted as an algebraic summation but rather denotes the aggregation of each element. The
notation is widely established in defining fuzzy sets
19
. Schematic representation of the NPBM
sensor reflectance spectrum at different states of damage described as fuzzy sets defined on the
wavelength domain is shown in Figure 2. Five fuzzy sets are shown with each set representing a
possible reflectance-wavelength spectrum.

Figure 2. Schematic representation of damage fuzzy sets representing the change
of photonic bandgap in NPBM due to damage

An obvious advantage of describing the spectral response of a NPBM sensor in the context of
fuzzy sets is the possibility to use fuzzy operations such as fuzzy pattern recognition
19,20
to
identify patterns in the spectral response and relate changes in these patterns to damage in the
underlying substrate. Here, the principle of maximum approaching degree
19
for quantifying the
level of similarity between fuzzy sets is used for damage pattern recognition. In this context, the
spectral response of a non-damaged material is defined as the reference fuzzy set. Then at any
144

instance of unknown material performance, the level of dissimilarity between the sensor
reflectance and the reference performance can be quantified to describe the level of damage in the
substrate material.

We detect and quantify microdamage using this approach by defining a damage metric D that
describes the level of damage in the material by correlating it to the level of dissimilarity between
the fuzzy set
~
depicting the reflectance-wavelength spectrum at any instance and the reference
fuzzy set
~
H as

= ) H ( ) H ( 1 D
~ ~ ~ ~

(5)
) H (
~ ~
represents the inner product of the two fuzzy vectors and ) H (
~ ~
represents the
outer product of the two fuzzy vectors. These operations are defined as
( )
k k
n
1 k ~ ~
H ) H ( =
=
(6)

( )
k k
n
1 k ~ ~
H ) H ( =
=

(7)
where k is a counter and n is the total number of observations in each fuzzy vector. The operators
and are the maximum and minimum operators respectively. The damage metric is equal to
1.00 when the material is completely damaged (macro-damage) and will equal to zero when the
material is non-damaged. Calibration of the metric for all damage levels (micro, macro, etc.) is
necessary to allow the usage of NPBM in non-destructive testing applications. However, it is
beyond the scope of this paper which aims to demonstrate the ability of a NPBM sensor to detect
and quantify microdamage in materials.
CASE STUDY

The sensor efficiency in detecting and quantifying microdamage in a polymer bar is demonstrated.
It is therefore assumed that a NPBM sensor is adhered to the surface of a Poly Methyl Metha
Crylate (PMMA) polymer bar. The NPBM sensor is made of face-centered cubic (FCC) inverse
opal photonic crystal compromised of air voids in a dielectric matrix. The matrix material was
assumed to be silicone-like, the lattice constant was chosen to be 1.0m, and the air filling fraction
was adjusted to be 28.5%. These parameters yield a photonic bandgap observable in the near IR
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The simulation assumes non-dispersive media and a
refractive index contrast of 2.25 to 1.00. The refractive index chosen for the base material can be
easily attained using nano-particle loaded polymers. The assumption of non-dispersive media
enables one to scale the results over frequencies by merely scaling the photonic crystal itself. A
schematic representation of the PMMA substrate/NPBM sensor arrangement is shown in Figure 3.
First, the finite element (FE) method is used to simulate the strain and displacement at the surface
of the PMMA bar. The spectral response of the NPBM sensor is then simulated based on the
PMMA displacements using the FDTD method. The PMMA substrate was modeled as
quadrilaterals elements with 0.5 m height and length in plane strain conditions. The substrate was
assumed to experience a uniform tensile stress of 30 MPa. The model was implemented using
145

ANSYS 7.1
finite element package. The PMMA healthy material was assumed to have a youngs
modulus of 172 MPa. Damage was introduced in the bar by considering the area of damage to
have a reduced stiffness compared with the original bar stiffness.

Figure 3. NPBM sensor attached to the surface of a PMMA polymer bar

Using the FE model four cases were simulated: Case 1: the substrate is healthy, Case 2: the
substrate is uniformly strained up to 50% strain, Case 3: the substrate is damaged and the
damaged substrate resulted in one fault line in the NPBM sensor and finally Case 4: damage was
assumed to occur over 3 m width from one end of the substrate resulting in non-uniform
displacement in the NPBM sensor. The cases as felt by the NPBM sensor are shown in Figure 4.

[a] [b] [c] [d]
Figure 4: Four cases of simulation in the NPBM sensor [a] Case 1: non-strained [b] Case 2: 50%
strain [c] Case 3: one fault line and [d] Case 4: non-uniform strain due to microdamage
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The reflectance spectrum for the four cases is presented in Figure 5. The values of the damage
metric D for the four cases are listed in Table 1. As expected, an increase in the lattice constant
due to uniform strain results in a linear migration of the photonic bandgap to lower
frequencies/high wavelength preserving the shape and hence the similarity of the spectral response
to the reference set. On the other hand, when microdamage occurs, the strain distribution in the
NPBM sensor becomes non-uniform represented as a single spike with one fault line (Figure 4[c])
or with a non-uniform strains spreading over the sensor (Figure 4 [d]). Both cases resulted in a
significant deterioration of the bandgap profile with increasing levels of dissimilarity with the
original reference spectral response as high microdamage took place.

Obvious changes in the NPBM bandgap shape, size and height are evident. The damage metric
(Equations 5 to 7) was capable of capturing these changes and quantifying damage in a systematic
way. The damage metric thus ranges between zero and one with zero indicating no damage and
146

one being the case of severe damage. It is obvious from Figure 5 and Table 1 that the damage
metric reflects the state of microdamage in the substrate very accurately. At the time where no
damage in the material but uniform strain existed, the damage metric value was very close to zero
(0.02). As the amount of damage increased the damage metric value also increased. Therefore, the
metric value jumped from 0.25 for Case 3 (one fault line) to 0.87 when the significant
microdamage was spread in the substrate (Case 4). It is important to recognize that the spread of
damage did not exceed 3 m width and 1m deep in the substrate. The proposed technique and
metric are therefore sensitive enough to identify damage occurrence at the micro-scale length and
to also quantify this damage and relate it to the level of damage in the substrate.

Figure 5. Reflectance spectrum of the NPBM sensor for the four simulated cases

Table 1. Damage metric D for the four simulated cases
CASE CASE 1 CASE 2 CASE 3 CASE 4
D 0.01 0.02 0.25 0.87
CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated the possible use of nano photonic bandgap materials (NPBM) as sensors to
detect and quantify microdamage in materials. The new sensors make use of the inherent ability of
NPBM to control light propagation in three dimensions creating a bandgap and being sensitive to
any change of its microstructural periodicity. We also introduced a possible method for
microdamage quantification using principles of fuzzy pattern recognition. The proposed scale of
damage quantification is not attainable by existing sensing technologies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank his collaborators Dr. Ihab El-Kady, Dr. Tariq Khraishi, Dr. Jim G.
Fleming and Jason Verley for their contribution to this research. This research is funded by Sandia
147

National Laboratories (SNL). SNL is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation,
a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energys National Nuclear
Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. We acknowledge this support.
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Operating at Infrared Wavelengths, Nature, 394, 1998, pp. 251-253.
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148

A NOUVELLE APPROACH FOR ASSESSING
THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE IN STRUCTURES
M. M. REDA TAHA AND E. ALTUNOK
Department of Civil Engineering and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico MSC01-1070, Albuquerque, NM, USA

ABSTRACT: Damage feature extraction and damage pattern recognition are two fundamental
steps in structural health monitoring of existing structures. Currently, most researchers focus on
using statistical based damage detection approaches based on the Theory of Probability. The
application of these techniques requires special knowledge concerning the statistical properties of
the damage features which are usually not available. Moreover, it is well established that statistical
methods can handle only one type of uncertainties being the aleatoric uncertainty that is based on
randomness. This article introduces an approach for damage detection for structural health
monitoring based on the Theory of Possibility. The proposed approach has the ability to handle
both aleatoric (random) and epistemic (non-random) types of uncertainty due to vagueness,
fuzziness and ambiguity without the need to force any statistical assumptions about the damage
features. We introduce the method for establishing the possibility distributions of damage features
and we demonstrate the use of these distributions to detect damage in structures. We illustrate the
ability of the proposed approach in detecting damage in the ASCE benchmark structure.
INTRODUCTION
Structural Health Monitoring
Structural health monitoring (SHM) targets detecting damage existence, identifying damage
location and quantifying damage severity in structures by examining the in-situ behavior of the
structures. Most existing SHM damage identification techniques are vibration-based which assume
that changes in a structure as a result of localized damage cause apparent changes in the
structures dynamics response. It is well established that SHM incorporates three major steps: data
acquisition, data communication, feature extraction and pattern recognition
1-5
. The structural
dynamic response signals can be processed into frequency or time domains using Fourier
Transforms or Wavelet Transforms for damage feature extraction
1-2
. Most SHM research in the
last decade focused on electing sensitive features for damage detection such as frequencies peaks
3
,
modal strain energy
4
, windowed wavelet energy
5
and others. The goodness of any feature can be
demonstrated by testing its efficiency in detecting damage in structures.

Most current damage detection research focused on statistical analysis to categorize damage in
structures using several methods such as statistical process control
6
, defining confidence intervals
for damage indices
7
and Bayesian updating for damage accumulation
8
. While many of these
methods were proved efficient for damage detection, the dependency of these methods on
statistical assumptions allows handling only one type of uncertainty that is aleatoric (random)
uncertainty. Aleatoric uncertainty is the type of uncertainty that accounts for natural variability in
the process and/or the measurements
9
. On the other hand, epistemic uncertainty incorporates other
149

types of uncertainty such as vagueness, ambiguity, fuzziness and ambiguity. Epistemic
uncertainties occur due to lack of specific information, ignorance, scarcity of data and misleading
or conflicting evidence and they are difficult to address using the theory of probability
9,10
.
ambiguity represents the difficulty to choose from among many alternative features to express
damage (frequency, energy spikes, wavelet energy, etc.), while fuzziness represents the lack of
sharpness in the damage feature. Both types of uncertainty occur in the area of structural health
monitoring as most damage features are indirectly measurable quantities such as energy. Fuzziness
in damage features is also very common due to the overlapping damage states
11-12
. Therefore, we
suggest using the theory of possibility for damage detection in lieu of the theory of probability for
its ability to consider both random and non-random types of uncertainty.
Theory of Possibility
Fuzzy set theory is a broad developed tool that enables mathematical representation of aleatoric
and epistemic uncertainties
9,10
. Possibility theory is a natural extension of fuzzy set theory where
the set of all possible alternatives for an unknown parameter can be included
13,14
. To compute the
possibility distribution of a variable x, let us consider A be the set of possible alternatives
defined on the universe X , then the possibility distribution for A denoted ) x ( can be defined
as
9,10

] 1 , 0 [ X : while 1 ) x ( max
X x
=
(1)
with the possibility measure of the alternatives set A given by
) x ( max ) A ( Poss
A x
= (2)
The basic features of the possibility distribution function can be explained with the following
axioms:
1 ) x (
A
= , for A x (3)

0 ) x (
A
= , for A x (4)

)) ' x ( ), x ( max( ) ' x x (
A A A
=
(5)
The third axiom indicates that x is a more possible than ' x . In addition to the possibility measure,
possibility theory provides another measure called necessity for a complete characterization of
an event
10
. The necessity describes the certainty of the alternative set (A) and is defined as

) A ( Poss 1 ) A ( Nec = (6)
where A represents the complimentary set of set (A). Such two measures can also be integrated
into a single measure to represent our confidence in the data set (A). The confidence measure
ranges between -1 and 1 with -1 representing our complete disconfirmation and 1 representing
complete confirmation
10
. The confidence measure denoted C(A) can be computed as

1 ) A ( Poss ) A ( Nec ) A ( C + = (7)
150

ASSESSING THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE
Establishing possibility distribution of a damage feature
It is evident that varying environmental and service conditions might result in variations in the
damage feature(s) values with no change in the damage state. It has been argued that when
observation data are available as a set of intervals, possibility analysis would effectively consider
the uncertainty in the observation intervals without relying on predetermined distributions and
without requiring special statistical assumptions
14,15
. Analytical investigations also showed that a
reliable set of observation intervals shall contain non-consonant (consistent, partially overlapping
inconsistent or disjoint) intervals as well as consonant (nested) intervals. Dealing with interval
data rather than crisp point data, other challenges are encountered. While possibility distribution
of consonant intervals can be developed by tracing a contour over all nested intervals
9
, the case of
nested intervals are rarely encountered in practical observations. Thus the challenge is for
developing possibility distributions for overlapping and non-overlapping intervals such as those
observed in most SHM systems. Here we provide the analytical framework for such development.
In a typical set of SHM observations, non-consonant intervals can be observed in any of the
following formats: (1) Consistent, where all the observations have at least one common interval;
(2) Partially overlapping inconsistent, where some intervals overlap; (3) Disjoint, where the
intervals do not have any overlapping portions. Schematic representations of all possible
observation intervals are shown in Figure 1.

[a] [b]

[c] [d]
Figure 1: Examples of intervals of damage feature observations (a) Nested (consonant) intervals,
(b) Consistent (non-consonant) intervals, (c) Partially overlapping inconsistent (non-consonant)
intervals, (d) Disjoint (non-consonant) intervals
151

To transform the non-consonant intervals into consonant intervals in accordance with the available
evidence we follow the approach by Donald
15
with modification to suite damage features.
Transformation of non-consonant intervals into consonant intervals allows defining possibility
distribution on intervals. We start by considering the structural damage state to be defined by the
evidence obtained from observations of M sets of the damage feature . Let { }
j j
w , A F =
represent the damage feature sets
j
A along with their weights
j
w . The weight
j
w of each
observation set
j
A can be computed as the frequency of observing the set as
( )
M
A n
w
j
j
= (8)
such that
=
j
j
1 w . It is also justified to assume all sets to have equal weights if all sets are
identified from the same source of information. It is evident in SHM observations, some of the
observation sets
j
A overlap. Therefore, F consists of consonant and non-consonant sets. The
transformation of the non-consonant sets into consonant sets starts with selecting the smallest set
that has the highest number of intersections with other sets and the next smallest set that has the
second highest number of intersections, and so forth. This process results in Q unique
intersections and allows establishing a focal set { } ) B ( v , B G
k k
= , Q ,..., 2 , 1 k = of intersections,
where
k
B is the interval obtained by the
th
k intersection of original sets
i
A and
j
A , and ) B ( v
k
is
the weight assigned to this interval. The weight ) B ( v
k
of the interval
k
B might be determined
using classical T-norm operators
9,15
.
k j i k
) w , w min( ) B ( v = (9)
We can also define a support interval (SI) and its weight as
=

i i i i
A x , F A A x , F A
) max( , ) min( SI (10)
( )
M 2 1
w ,..., w , w min ) SI ( v = (11)
The set of all new intervals including the support interval and their weights can be defined as
{ } ) I ( v , I IN
l l
= (12)
where L ,..., 2 , 1 l = , and 1 Q L + = . The weights of these intervals do not necessarily add to unity.
Thus a normalized weight (I
l
) can be computed as
=
=
L
1 l
l
l
l
) I ( v
) I ( v
) I ( (13)
that yields the condition
=
l
l
1 ) I ( . The next step is to identify a set of consonant intervals out
of all new intervals by selecting the most possible interval and then choosing intervals in the order
of increasing cardinality such that the selected intervals are nested. The intervals that are not
152

included in this nested structure are non-consonant. Thus the set of all intervals IN includes a
number of consonant intervals
C
L and a number of non-consonant intervals
N
L such that
0 . 1 ) I ( ) I (
N C
L
1 j
j
L
1 k
k
= +

= =
(14)
Once the consonant and non-consonant intervals are determined, weights are redistributed from
non-consonant denoted (N) to consonant intervals denoted (C). The redistribution can be done
considering the similarity between these intervals. In other words, the higher the similarity
between two intervals, the greater is the weight that can be transferred between them. Parameters
that are useful in the redistribution of the weights are the cardinality of the i
th
consonant
interval,
i
C , and the number of common elements between the i
th
consonant interval and the j
th

non-consonant interval,
j i
N C . The similarity of the i
th
and j
th
intervals,
ij
, can thus be
computed as
i
j i
ij
C
N C
=
(15)
To determine the fraction of the weight that is transferred from the non-consonant interval to the
consonant interval a redistribution factor defined as
=
=
C
L
1 i
ij
ij
ij
(16)
such that, for any j,
=
=
C
L
1 i
ij
0 . 1 . The redistribution weight,
ij
, is then calculated by determining
the weight of the j
th
non-consonant interval
j
N that is transferred to the corresponding i
th

consonant interval
i
C as
) N (
j ij ij
= (17)
The final weights of the consonant intervals can be computed as
) N ( ) C ( ) C ( m
j
L
1 j
ij i i
N

=
+ = (18)
such that,
=
=
C
L
1 i
i
0 . 1 ) C ( m . As the weights of consonant intervals are determined, the possibility
distribution can be determined using these weights as
=
i
C x
i
) C ( m ) x ( (19)
A schematic representation of the possibility distribution of a damage feature is shown in Figure 2.

153

Figure 2. Schematic representation of suggested possibility distribution of a damage feature ()
CASE STUDY
In 1996 the structural health monitoring task group of the American Society of Civil Engineering
(ASCE) began generating structural response data as a benchmark study for structural health
monitoring. The structure (known as the ASCE benchmark structure) is a 2 x 2 bay, 4 story,
rectangular steel test structure built at approximately one third scale at the University of British
Columbia
16
. The benchmark structure is shown in Figure 3. A series of acceleration data was
collected by exciting the structure under externally forced vibration while considering nine
different levels of damage. Detailed information about the Benchmark study can be found in
Dyke et al.
17
. Many researchers worldwide
18,19
used the benchmark structural data for
experimental validation of theoretically derived damage features.

Figure 3. ASCE benchmark structure and its configuration.
16

Damage in the ASCE benchmark structure is classified according to the structural configuration.
For space limitations we only present two damage cases. Case 1 (Healthy) and Case 2 (Partially
Damage). A study recently performed by McCuskey et al.
20
showed the efficiency of a damage
feature based on integrating neural networks and wavelet-multi-resolution analysis. Table 1
presents the numerical values for neural-wavelet damage feature (denoted
1
) as computed for 15
time windows from the acceleration signals. Details about the computation of the windowed
energy using the neural-wavelet module can be found elsewhere
20
.
154

Table 1: Neural wavelet energies (
1
) computed for 15 time windows for two damage cases in the
ASCE benchmark structure Case 1: Healthy and Case 2: Partially damaged
Window 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Case 1 93.9 115 48.5 54.2 38.2 95.8 74.9 71.7 74.7 84.3 55.5 58.3 50.4 110 32
Case 2 196 99.2 131.7 161 70.5 119 77.4 150 129.9 91.1 100 89.7 82 70 130.8

Consonant and non-consonant intervals for both damage cases were identified and weight
redistribution was performed as explained above. The possibility distributions of the damage
feature
1
for both cases were computed and are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Possibility distributions of damage feature for Case 1: Healthy and Case 2:
Unknown for detecting damage in the ASCE benchmark structure

It is evident that the possibility distribution was capable of capturing the difference between the
two damage states. A damage metric based on the ratio of the area of intersection between the
healthy (reference) distribution and the distribution of the unknown set of observations to the area
of joint distribution can identify the level of damage in the structure
21
. This metric can distinguish
between cases of healthy performance (as the metric approaches one) and severe damage (as the
metric approaches zero). A value of 0.54 for this metric was computed for the case of intermediate
damage based on the possibility distributions shown in Figure 4. It is therefore evident that such
damage metric can distinguish cases of intermediate damage such as that in the ASCE benchmark
study
21
. The use of possibility distribution and such metric shall provide the ability for robust
damage detection while considering epistemic and aleatoric uncertainties.
CONCLUSIONS
Robust damage detection in structural health monitoring requires considering the different types of
uncertainty in damage features. Most existing damage recognition methods acknowledge aleatoric
(random) uncertainty but neglects epistemic uncertainties due to ambiguity, fuzziness and
nonspecificity. We presented here a method for addressing both aleatoric and epistemic
uncertainty in damage detection using the theory of possibility. The proposed method is
demonstrated on a case study using the ASCE benchmark experimental data. The proposed
method showed good ability to identify damage with a good level of accuracy.
155

REFERENCES
1. Los Alamos National Laboratory. 2004. A Review of Structural Health Monitoring
Literature:1996-2001, LANL Report LA-13976-MS, 2004.
2. Worden, K., and Delieu-Barton, J. M. An Overview of Intelligent Fault Detection in
Systems and Structures, Structural Health Monitoring, (3), pp. 85-98.
3. Melhem, H. and Kim, H., Damage Detection in Concrete by Fourier and Wavelet
Analyses, Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 129 (5) 2003, pp. 571-577.
4. Shi, Z. Y. and Law, S. S. Structural Damage Localization from Modal Strain Energy
Change, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 218 (5), 1008, pp. 825-844.
5. Reda Taha, M. M., Noureldin, A., Osman, A., and El-Sheimy, N. Introduction to the Use of
Wavelet Multi-Resolution Analysis for Intelligent Structural Health Monitoring, Canadian
Journal of Civil Engineering, 31 (5), 2003, pp. 719-731.
6. Sohn, H., Czarnecki, J. J. and Farrar, C. R. Structural Health Monitoring Using Statistical
Process Control, Journal of Structural Engineering, 126 (11), 2000, pp. 1356-1363.
7. Gutschmidt, S., and Cornwell, P.J. Statistical Confidence Bounds for Structural Health
Monitoring Damage Indicators, CD Proceedings of the 19
th
IMAC Conference on Structural
Dynamics, Kissimmee, FL, USA, 2001.
8. Shiao, M. Risk Forecasting and Updating for Damage Accumulation Processes with
Inspections and Maintenance, Proceedings of the Structural Health Monitoring Workshop
on Structural Health Monitoring, Stanford, USA, 2005, pp. 1190- 1997.
9. Ross, T. J. Fuzzy Logic with Engineering Applications. 2004, John Wiley & Sons, UK.
10. Klir, G. J. and Yuan, B. Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic, Theory and Applications. 1995,
Prentice Hall, NJ, USA.
11. Inman, D. J., Farrar, C. R., Junior, V. L. and Junior, V.S. (Editors). Damage Prognosis: For
Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Systems, John Wiley and Sons, U.K, 2005.
12. Reda Taha, M. M. and Lucero, J. Damage Identification for Structural Health Monitoring
using Fuzzy Pattern Recognition, Engineering Structures, 27 (12), 2005, pp. 1774-1783.
13. Zadeh, L. Fuzzy Sets as a Basis for a Theory of Possibility, Fuzzy Sets and Systems (1)
1973, pp. 3-28.
14. Jamison, K. D. Modeling Uncertainty Using Probabilistic Based Possibility Theory with
Applications to Optimization, PhD thesis, Dep. of App. Math. Univ. of Colorado, USA,1998.
15. Donald, S. Development of Empirical Possibility Distributions in Risk Analysis, PhD thesis,
Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 2003.
16. ASCE Benchmark Group Webpage: http://wusceel.cive.wustl.edu/asce.shm/benchmarks.htm
17. Dyke, S.J., D. Bernal, J.L. Beck and C. Ventura. An Experimental Benchmark Problem in
Structural Health Monitoring, Proceedings of Third International Workshop on Structural
Health Monitoring, 2001.
18. Hera, A. and Z. Hou. Application of Wavelet Approach for ASCE Structural Heath
Monitoring Benchmark Studies, J. of Engineering Mechanics. 130 (1) 2004, pp. 96-104.
19. Nair, K. K., A. S. Kiremidjian and K. H. Law. Time series-based Damage Detection and
Localization algorithm with Application to the ASCE Benchmark Structure, Journal of
Sound and Vibration, (291), 2006, pp. 349-368.
20. McCuskey, M. C., Reda Taha, M. M., Horton, S. R. and Baca, T. J. Identifying Damage in
the ASCE Benchmark Structure Using a Neural Wavelet Module, Proceedings of Sixth Int.
Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, Granada, Spain, 2006, pp. 421-428.
21. Altunok, E., Fuzzy and Possibility Methods for Damage Detection in Structural Health
Monitoring. M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University
of New Mexico, USA, 2006.
156

THE EFFECT OF USING UREA AND UREA-FORMALDEHYDE POLYMER
ON THE PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

A.A. MAHMOUD
Engineering Physics and Mathematical Department, Chemistry Section , Faculty of Engineering, Ain
Shams University, 1 El-Sarayat St. , Abbasia 11517, Cairo, Egypt.

ABSTRACT: The properties of concrete in the presence of urea and urea formaldehyde were studied
by using different experimental techniques. In this study the influence of urea and urea formaldehyde
in concrete on flowability, setting time and strength are discussed. The results of the experiments show
that both of them enhance flowability, performance of concrete and reduce the water content, but the
decrease in the water content using urea formaldehyde is more compared to urea.
Hydration of Portland cement in the presence of urea and urea-formaldehyde polymer shows
that the increase in compressive strength by using urea formaldehyde is much higher compared to urea
and also shows that urea acts as a retarder while urea formaldehyde acts as an accelerators.

INTRODUCTION

When urea is mixed with concrete, the temperature of the concrete is reduced by endothermic
(1) reaction between water and urea. By using this property, it is possible to reduce the temperature of
concrete at both casting stage and during the hydration process. This can be very advantageous in mass
concrete constructions and when concrete is being cast under high temperature like during the summer
or in hot tropical areas. A part from immediate reduction of temperatures at casting stage, there is also
reduction of temperature during hydration process which is caused by a reaction between some parts of
cement products with urea and consequently reducing a temperature of concrete. The mechanism
behind seems to be that in its first reaction with water. Secondly, the main products from this reaction
which is carbonic acid H
2
CO
3
, reacts with calcium hydroxide an important ingredient in the cement
paste and therefore affecting hydration setting time and performance of concrete (2).
Since the development of an admixture to produce high workability concrete without the
usual side effects and without affecting concrete properties in the hardened state would be of great
interest to the construction industry. So, superplasticizers are increasingly being used because of the
benefits they provide in the handling, placing compacting and fixing of cement along with other
technical economic advantages.
Superplasticizers are additives which are water-soluble natural or artificial polymeric
dispersing agents. They used to increase the strength; reduce the permeability of concrete by reducing
the water content in the mixture and (or) increase the slump to produce flowing concrete without
adding water.
The superplasticizer urea-formaldehyde was polymerized inside the concrete, the polymer
will allow conventional concrete to be converted to high workability concrete as well as the using of
157
157
melamine-formaldehyde sulphonate (melment) and naphthalene-formaldehyde sulphonate (NFS) for
the same purpose.
The effects of both melamine and naphthalene-formaldehyde condensates on concrete
properties when made with cements containing (C
3
A) contents of 7.2% and 6% were studied (3). It
was found that the melamine superplasticizers generally provided higher strengths while naphthalene-
based superplasticizers provided better workability.
The effects of delayed additions of naphthalene and melamine formaldehyde sulphonate
condensates on the workability of the Portland cement pastes over time were examined (4). The
maximum workability was obtained when the dispersant was added to the (OPC) at the beginning of
dormant period.
The using of sulphonated formaldehyde-naphthalene condensates as superplasticizers on the
properties of concrete were investigated (5). The properties studied including workability, water
reduction, compressive strength and durability.
The preparation of Sodium-Sulfanilate phenol-formaldehyde condensate (SSPF) and its
performance in concrete was studied (6). It was noticed that the synthesized (SSPF) is more suitable to
prepare pumping and self-compacting concretes.
In spite of the large number of studies, the part played by urea and urea formaldehyde is still
unresolved. In this research, the effect of urea and urea formaldehyde polymer in concrete has been
studied to investigate and view their effect.

EXPERIMENTAL

Concrete Materials:

(1) Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
(2) Aggregate [Sand and Gravel]
(3) Clean tap water for curing

Table (1): The chemical analysis of the (OPC)
Property Chemical Analysis%
Moisture 0
Loss of ignition 2.0
SiO
2
22.0
Al
2
O
3
8.3
CaO 58.0
MgO 2.4
Fe
2
O
3
2.8
SO
3
2.5
Na
2
O 0.4
K
2
O 0.3

158
Table (2): Physical and Chemical properties of the used sand and gravel
Property Test results
For Sand
For gravel
Specific gravity 2.5 Specific gravity 2.5
Bulk density (t/m
3
) 1.585 Bulk density (t/m
3
) 1.759
Fineness modulus 2.3 Nominal max. (mm) 20
Clay, silt and fine
dust % ( by volume )
2.8 Crushing value % 11.1%
T.D.S. 0.06% T.D.S. 0.03%

Table (3): Concrete mix design
Cement (kg) Sand (kg) Gravel (kg) Water/cement Ratio

310 kg/m
3

715

1215
Variable to have a slump 11 to 12
cm.
Cement/aggregate Ratio 1 : 6.2
Sand/gravel Ratio 1 : 1.7

Chemical Materials:

(1) Urea
Urea, which is correctly known as carboxamide, has the distinction of being the first organic
compound to be made in a laboratory (1828); it is the main nitrogenous excretion product of most
mammals.
Urea is manufactured from ammonia and carbon dioxide.

The equation for this condensation reaction can be written as:

159

The used urea is odorless white granules or with slight ammonia odor having specific gravity
= 1.34 at 20C, pH = 7.5. It is soluble in water (Solubility = 119g per 100g water at 25C) and it
decomposes at 132.7C into ammonia and carbon dioxide.

(2) Urea-formaldehyde polymer
Urea formaldehyde is made by condensation polymerization of urea and formaldehyde.
The used polymer is prepared by stirring 60 ml of 35% formalin solution with 30 gm of urea

(ratio 2:1) for 5 minutes on cold to produce clear viscous liquid. The preparation occurs at room
temperature and the polymer becomes hardened day by day. The produced polymer has specific
Gravity = 1.325 at 25
0
C and pH = 7-8. The average molecular weight = 5000.
160
Program of Studying the Physical Properties of Urea based admixtures
Admixture type Urea based admixtures
Cement content(Kg/m
3
) 310 kg/m
3

Admixture dose (% from cement content) 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06
Slump value 11-12cm
Water content (W/C) Varied to reach 11-12cm slump
Concrete tests Fresh (setting time and air content% )
Hardened (compressive strength)
Age of hydration (days) 1, 3, 7, 28 and 90

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Preliminary investigations were first made to determine the influence of urea and urea
formaldehyde polymer on slump flow, air content, setting time and compressive strength.

Table (4): Experimental results and mix proportions for urea
Compressive strength
(kg/cm
2
) % additive

W/C ratio

Air
content
% 1 day 3 days 7 days 28 days 90
days
Control 0.6 3 80 140 210 270 285
0.005%
urea
0.52 3 130 195 263 315 325
0.01 %
urea
0.55 3.1 120 180 250 300 310
0.02 %
urea
0.57 3.2 115 170 240 292 295
0.04 %
urea
0.6 3.4 110 163 235 290 292
0.06 %
urea
0.61 3.5 100 155 222 280 290
161
Table (5): Experimental results and mix proportions for urea formaldehyde

(kg/cm
2
)

% additive

W/C

Air content
%
1 day 3 days 7 days
28
days
90
days
Control 0.6 3 80 140 210 270 285
0.005% urea
formaldehyde
0.6 3.4
100 180 240 320 330
0.01 % urea
formaldehyde
0.55 3.2
105 175 265 335 345
0.02 % urea
formaldehyde
0.48 3
130 200 275 345 355
0.04 % urea
formaldehyde
0.46 2.8
143 211 290 360 366
0.06 % urea
formaldehyde
0.49 3
134 205 284 350 352

The following show chemical reactions of the alite, belite, and other elements of the cement paste.
Hydration Reactions:
2C
3
S + 6H C
3
S
2
H
3
+ 3Ca (OH)
2
----- 1
2C
2
S + 4H C
3
S
2
H
3
+ Ca (OH)
2
----- 2

Urea Reaction with Water:
(NH
2
)
2
CO + 2H
2
O H
2
CO
3
+ 2NH
3
----- 3
H
2
CO
3
+ Ca (OH)
2
CaCO
3
+ 2H
2
O ----- 4

Equations (1) and (2) show hydration reactions between alite and belite with water. The alite
and belite reaction with water produce calcium hydroxide and the gel. Equation (3) shows the reaction
between urea and water. Ammonia gas and carbonic acid are produced from this reaction. This
reaction is fast and absorbs heat which in turn causes the cooling effect in concrete. The ammonia gas
quickly disappears in air but carbonic acid remains and it reacts with calcium hydroxide which is
produced from the hydration reaction. Briefly, the reaction between urea and concrete leads to; one is
the temperature reduction, second is the gradual decrease of calcium hydroxide content in concrete.
Urea formaldehyde reaction with cement hydrates
The nature of the bond between the molecules of superplasticizing and the surface of the
cement constituent hydrates has been described as ionic group out wards in many references (7, 8)
162
mainly based on early work showing migration of cement particles under the influence of an electric
current when lignosulphonate molecules are adsorbed on the surface.
In model studies with a hydroxycarboxylic acid, a coordination complex has been isolated
from the reaction with the C
3
A hydrates (9). In addition, infrared evidence exists for the formation of a
bond between the sulponate group and the C
3
A hydrates for the MFS superplacticizer (10).
It can therefore be concluded with some confidence that superplacticizing admixtures
chemically bond through their carboxyl, sulphonate and/or amino groups to surface calcium or
aluminum ions as illustrated in figure (1).

Fig (1) schematic diagram

Influence on water cement ratio:
Figure (2) shows the influence of urea and urea formaldehyde on W/C ratio compared to
control mix, it is clear from the figure that by adding different percentages of urea to the mixes give
considerable water reduction by about 7% - 10%. But by adding different percentages of the polymer
to the mixes give considerable water reduction by about 11%-28.5% (so it acts as a superplacticizer).

NH
2
OH OH NH
2
OH SO
3
H
O O O O O O
M M M M M M
Crystal surface of hydrate (M = Ca, Al, and Si)

OH OH OH OH OH OH
OH OH NH
2
OH SO
3
H NH
2
163
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.005 0.025 0.045 0.065
%Admixture
W
/
C
UF control urea%

Fig (2) Relation between Admixture % and W/C ratio
Influence on air content:
Figure (3) shows the air content of concrete with varying percentage of urea and urea
formaldehyde polymer. The results clearly show that by increasing urea%, the air content increases.
Adversely, the air content decreases up to 0.04% then increases to 0.06% with urea formaldehyde.
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
0.005 0.015 0.025 0.035 0.045 0.055 0.065
Admixture%
A
i
r

C
o
n
t
e
n
t
%
Control
UF
urea%

Fig (3) Relation between Admixture % and Air content.
164
Influence of strength on concrete:
Figure 4 shows that the compressive strength progress for 0.005 to 0.02% addition of both
urea and urea formaldehyde polymer in concrete.
p g g ( y )
55
105
155
205
255
305
355
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
age(days)
C
.
S
t
.
(
K
g
/
c
m
2
)
Control
0.005UF
0.01UF
0.02UF
0.005% urea
0.01 % urea
0.02 % urea

Fig (4) Relation between compressive strength and age of hydration

The following figure represents the compressive strength development by using 0.04 and
0.06% urea and urea-formaldehyde polymer in concrete.
p g g ( y )
5
55
105
155
205
255
305
355
405
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Age(days)
C
.
S
t
.
(
K
g
/
c
m
2
)
Control
0.04UF
0.06UF
0.04 % urea
0.06 % urea

Fig (5) Relation between compressive strength and age of hydration
165
It is obvious from figures 3 and 4 that the optimum % for both urea and urea formaldehyde
polymer is 0.005 and 0.04% respectively and by increasing the percentage higher than the optimum
dose, compressive strength decreases for both admixtures; This can be attributed to the adsorption of
more than one layer of the admixture on the crystal surface of the hydrates, which preventing the
diffusion of the hydration products. Thus maintaining the porosity of the concrete is high leading to a
decrease in strength.

Influence on the Setting time of Concrete:
Figure (6) shows the penetration resistance of concrete against time by using proctor needle, to show
the effect of admixtures on the setting characteristics of concrete.
For concrete mixes which contain the optimum percentage of both urea and urea formaldehyde
polymer.

( ) ( )
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time(hours)
F
o
r
c
e
(
l
b
s
)
0.04UF
0.005U
control

Fig (6) Relation between force and time using optimum % of the admixtures

The results clearly show that the urea formaldehyde polymer with the optimum percentage,
accelerate the setting time of concrete mixes compared with control mix. this is due to the high
concentration of sulphate ion maintained with the introduction of this competitive material for sites,
particularly on the C
3
A phase; this causes a delay in the hydration reaction between C
3
A and gypsum
in the early stages of hydration (14). Hence the setting time is accelerated for all concrete mixes which
contain different percentages of the admixture.
And also it can be observed that urea delay the setting time of concrete and this is may be due
to the decrease in the amount of calcium hydroxide, which as already explained keeps on diminishing
as the reaction between urea and concrete continues.

166
CONCLUSION
Generally it can be said that the flowability and durability of concrete by using urea and urea
formaldehyde are improved, but the improvement by using of urea formaldehyde is much greater than
by using urea as seen. And this can be advantageous especially for situations where strength is not an
important factor like filling in the inner parts of the large mass concrete construction.
Urea delays the setting time of concrete (retarder) while urea formaldehyde accelerates the
setting time (accelerator).
Since urea and urea formaldehyde are new materials in concrete, further research is needed
especially for long term conditions. The authors are currently investigating the effect of mixing urea
formaldehyde polymer with a foaming agent like sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate on the properties
of concrete.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author is thankful to Ass. Prof. A. M. Hataba. , Chemistry department, for his support and keen
interest. Thanks are due to Prof.Dr. E.A. Elraouf Nasr. and Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams
University, for providing facilities for doing the experimental work.

REFERENCES
[1] S. Mwaluwinga, T. Ayano, K. Sakata, Influence of Urea in Concrete, Cem. Conc. Res., 27, 5,
(1997), 733-745.
[2] M. Sadegzadeh, C. L., Influence of Urea in Concrete, Cement and Concrete Research ., 27, 5,
(1997), 733-745.
[3] Savvina Yu. A. and Shcherbak, Yu. V., High-Strength Concretes Containing Superplasticizers,
Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Betona Zhelezobetona, Moscow, 28-34(1984).
[4] Chiocchio G. and Paolini, A. E., Optimum Time for Adding Superplasticizers to Portland Cement
Pastes,, Cem. Concr. Res., 15, 901-908 (1985).
[5] Fucili, B., Formaldehyde-Naphthalene Sulfonic Condensates as Superplasticizers in Concrete,
Herstell. Anwend. Mehrkernigher aromaten heteroaromaten, 23-42 (1993).
[6] Meishan Pei, Dujin Wang, Xianbo Hu and Duanfu Xu, Synthesis of Sodium Sulfanilate-Phenol-
Formaldehyde Condensate and Its Application as a Superplasticizers in Concrete, Cem. Conc.
Res., 30 (11) (2000).
[7] Rixom, M.R. , Precast Concrete Journal, 5,633-7 (1974).
[8] Flateau, A.S. Concrete, 8, (1974), 45-7.
[9] Diamond,S. Journal of the American Ceramics Society, 55, (1972), 405-8
[10] Dierkes, P. Proceedings of the Melment Symposium, Trotsberg, (1973), 5-24.

167
168

Studying the Effect of using polymerized Alpha and Beta Naphthol with formaldehyde
on the Properties of Concrete.

A.A. MAHMOUD
1
1
Engineering Physics and Mathematical Department, Chemistry Section , Faculty of Engineering, Ain
Shams University, 1 El-Sarayat St. , Abbasia 11517, Cairo, Egypt.

E.A. NASR
2

2
Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, 1 El-Sarayat St. ,
Abbasia 11517, Cairo, Egypt.

ABSTRACT

Admixtures are used to give special properties to fresh and hardened concrete, such as
enhancing the durability, workability, or strength characteristics of concrete made with admixtures.
They are also used to overcome difficult construction situations such as hot or cold weather
placements, pumping requirements, early strength requirements, or very low water-cement ratio
specifications.
Water soluble sulphonated Naphthol and Naphthol formaldehyde resins were
synthesized by the reaction of Naphthol and Naphthol , formaldehyde and sodium bisulphate.
The effect of the synthesized resins on the performance of the superplasticized concrete was
determined. The results showed that the synthesized resins have the potential to be developed as a
superplasticizer used in concrete.

INTRODUCTION

Superplasticizers are additives which are water-soluble natural or artificial polymeric
dispersing agents. They are used to increase the strength, reduce the permeability of concrete by
reducing the water content in the mixture and (or) increase the slump to produce flowing concrete
without adding water.
Sulphonated melamine formaldehyde condensate (SMF) and sulphonated naphthalene
formaldehyde condensate (SNF) are two typical superplasticizers used commercially
1
.but due to the
high cost of SMF, the relatively low-cost SNF is the main kind of superplasticizer being used in Egypt.
The application of SNF is limited in concrete due to its higher content of sodium sulphonate, which
induces alkali-aggregate reaction, large slump loss and complicated synthetic process
(2)

Based on the analysis of the chemical structure of polycarboxylate-type superplasticizers with
polyoxyethylene (POE) side chains, the dispersing properties of cement particles were increased. The
composition of functional groups, such as carboxylic and sulfonic groups, affects the properties of
cement paste by measuring paste flow and plastic viscosity. Hgher contents of sulfonic groups showed
higher dispersing power and delay the setting time of cement paste
(3)
.
The use of cellulose waster as a new technique for the controlled combustion of Egyptian rice
husk to contribute in environmental protection associated with its uncontrolled burning has been
investigated
(4)
; it was found that the compressive strength exceeded those of concretes containing
similar proportions of silica fume (SF) and the chloride penetrability was enhanced.
The effects of both melamine and naphthalene-formaldehyde condensates on concrete
properties when made with cements containing (C
3
A) contents of 7.2% and 6% were studied
(5)
. It was
found that the melamine superplasticizers generally provided higher strengths while naphthalene-based
superplasticizers provided better workability.
The effects of delayed additions of naphthalene and melamine formaldehyde sulphonate
condensates on the workability of the Portland cement pastes over time were examined
(6)
. The
169
maximum workability was obtained when the dispersant was added to the (OPC) at the beginning of
dormant period.
The preparation of Na-sulfanilate phenol-formaldehyde condensate (SSPF) and its
performance in concrete was studied
(7)
. It was noticed that the synthesized (SSPF) is more suitable to
prepare pumping and self-compacting concretes.
Because of the industrial importance of superplasticizers in concrete technology, research and
development focused on them have attracted great attention recently. In this article we have prepared a
new, water-soluble sulphonated Naphthol and Naphthol formaldehyde resins as
superplasticizers, and examine their effects on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete.

EXPERIMENTAL

Concrete Materials:

(1) Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
(2) Aggregate [Sand and Gravel]
(3) Clean tap water for curing
Table (1): The chemical analysis of the (OPC)
Property Chemical Analysis%
Moisture 0
Loss of ignition 2.0
SiO
2
22.0
Al
2
O
3
8.3
CaO 58.0
MgO 2.4
Fe
2
O
3
2.8
SO
3
2.5
Na
2
O 0.4
K
2
O 0.3
Table (2): Physical and Chemical properties of the used sand and gravel
For Sand
For gravel
Specific gravity 2.5 Specific gravity 2.5
Bulk density (t/m
3
) 1.585 Bulk density (t/m
3
) 1.759
Fineness modulus 2.3 Nominal max. (mm) 20
Clay, silt and fine
dust % ( by volume )
2.8 Crushing value % 11.1%
T.D.S. 0.06% T.D.S. 0.03%
Table (3): Concrete mix design
Cement (kg) Sand (kg) Gravel (kg) Water/cement Ratio
310 kg/m
3
715 1215
Variable to have a slump 11 to 12
cm.
Cement/aggregate Ratio 1 : 6.2
Sand/gravel Ratio 1 : 1.7

170
Chemical Materials:
The research work experimental program is designed to study the different properties of
superplasticizers on concrete using different dosages in order to select the best admixture and to find
the optimum dose to be used compared to the control concrete mix.
The main purpose of using superplasticizers is to produce concrete with a very high slump range
between 8 and 9 inches (175 225 mm), to be used in heavily reinforced structures and in placements
where vibrations can not be achieved. Most of the commercial formulations belong to one of the four
families:
sulphonated naphthalene formaldehyde ( NFS ).
sulphonated melamine formaldehyde ( MFS ).
polycarboxylate derivatives.
Modified lignosulphonate
In this work, new synthetic superplasticizers were prepared by polymerization of -
Naphthol,and - Naphthol with formaldehyde then compare the results with NFS (Naphthalene
Formaldehyde Sulphonate) that is used commercially.
1. Polymerization of naphthalene-1-sulphonic (Additive 1)
2. Polymerization of -Naphthol (Additive 2)
3. Polymerization of -Naphthol (Additive 3)

Synthesis of Sulfonated -Naphthol formaldehyde resin (additive 2)
Procedure:
To 30 gm of alpha-naphthol add 90 ml of sodium bisulfite (15%) in a flask equipped with a
stirrer and reflux condenser at 50 C. As soon as the solution becomes clear, the temperature was
decreased to 40 C for 1 hour. Formaldehyde aqueous solution (30 %) was fed into the reactor through a
dropping funnel, the reaction continued for another 1 hour when the feeding of formaldehyde finished.
The temperature was raised to 75 C and the reaction continued for 4 hours. After cooling, the resin
prepared has a solid content of approximately 50 % and has a pH ranged between 10 12.

Synthesis of Sulfonated -Naphthol formaldehyde resin (additive 3)
Procedure:
By using the same method with -Naphthol, the produced resin has a solid content
approximately 55 % and has a pH ranged between 12 14.
The detailed program for the experimental investigation is as follows:

Studying the effects of different types of Superplasticizers

Admixture type
3 Types of Admixtures act as superplasticizers
1- N.F.S.R. 2- Naph.F..R 3- Naph.F.R.
Superplasticizers dose
(% from cement content)

1 %
Cement content (Kg/m
3
) 310
Slump value ( cm ) 11 to 12 cm
Water content ( w/c ) Varied to reach 11 to 12 cm slump
Concrete tests Fresh ( mainly setting time )
Hardened ( mainly compressive strength )
Age ( days ) 1 , 3 , 7 , 28 , 90

Fig. 1: Shows the program of studying the physical properties of Concrete mixes.

171

Preliminary investigations were first made to determine the influence of polymerization of
- Naphthol,and - Naphthol with formaldehyde on slump flow, water contet, setting time and
compressive strength. Then compare the results with NFS that is used commercially.

Table4: Experimental results for the used Superplasticizers.

Compressive strength kg/cm
2
Name of
admixture
W/c
Ratio
1 day 3 days 7 days 28 days
3
months
97 days air
curing
Control
0.61
75 130 200 275 285
290
Additive 1
(N.F.S.R.)
0.51 75 202 308 376 390 397
Additive 2
(-Naphthol)
0.48 70 162 277 355 367 375
Additive 3
(-Naphthol)
0.49 65 158 268 345 356 365

Mode of action of Superplasticizers

The mechanism by which superplasticizers produce their effect is very similar to that of
normal plasticizers. The main difference is that the former consists of very large molecules (colloidal
size) which dissolve in water to give ions with a very high negative charge (anions). Although the
configuration of the anions is not known (except in the case of lignosulphonate ) they may be
represented as in fig. 2 The sulphonic acid groups are responsible for neutralizing the surface charges
on the cement particles and causing dispersion , thus releasing the water tied up in the cement particles
agglomerations and thereafter reducing the viscosity of the paste and concrete.
(8)
thats mean with
sulphonate groups oriented outwards into the water. These anions are attracted to the surface of cement
grains and, at the normal levels of admixture usage, are adsorbed in sufficient numbers to form
complete monolayer around them.
The combination of electrostatic repulsion and large ionic size (which provide physical
separation) brings about a rapid dispersion of the individual cement grains. In doing so, water trapped
within the original flocs is released and can then contribute to the mobility of the cement paste and
hence to the workability of the concrete.

Fig.2: Representation of superplasticizer molecule and mode of Adsorption on cement.
172
Influence on water reduction:

Figure (3) shows the influence of the used superplasticizers on water reduction, analysis of the
data shows that - Naphthol,and - Naphthol gave approximately the same reduction in W/C ratio
compared to the control mix, which will be reflected on the compressive strength.
The observed higher water reduction compared to the control can be attributed to greater
negative charges on the cement surface and, therefore, stronger electrostatic repulsions generated
among the solid particles.
.
0
5
10
15
20
25
w
a
t
e
r

r
e
d
.

%
beta-naph. alpha-naph. N.F.S.R.
Fig.3 : Water reduction % for different superplasticizers.

Influence of Compressive Strength:

This investigation also included a comparison of compressive strength results of the used
superplasticizers compared to the control. The results illustrate that - Naphthol gives a the higher
compressive strength compared to with - Naphthol as shown in figure (4) due to the plasticizing
effect of the synthesized resins.
Although naphthalene formaldehyde sulphonate condensate gives lowest water reduction,
compared to and Naphthols , it gives the highest compressive strength.
Sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde polymer is a major ingredient of superplasticizers. It
takes up the role in neutralizing the surface charges on the cement particles and enhancing water tied
up in the cement agglomerations and thereafter reducing the viscosity of the paste and concrete.
It promotes the dispersing of cement particles and reduces water requirements without
affecting the workability, thus resulting high-strength concrete and lower permeability. This
superplasticizer is a linear polymer containing sulfonic acid groups attached to the polymer backbone
at regular intervals. And it should be noted that the structure of the backbone of the resulting polymer
has higher strength compared to the other two polymers and this explains its high compressive strength
in comparison to alpha and beta naphthols.

173
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Control Naph-1-sulph Alpha-Naph Beta-Naph
C
.
S
.

[
k
g
/
c
m
2
]
1 days 3 days 7 days 28 days 90 days 97 days
Fig.4 : Compressive strength and age (days) for concrete mixes containing different superplasticizers.

Influence of Setting Time:

Figure (5) shows the penetration resistance of concrete against time by using proctor needle,
to show the effect of admixtures on the setting characteristics of concrete.
For all concrete mixes which contain the used superplasticizers it can be concluded that they
are act as retarders compared to the control.

Fig.5 : Relation between time and force for used superplasticizer.

It is believed that in the early ages, there is a low rate of hydration which may be attributed to
the formation of ettringite layers around the C
3
A grains. This stage is known as dormant period.
These coating layers retard the hydration during this period. Later, due to the development and growth
of ettringite crystals during this dormant period, cracks begin to form. Then, the reaction rate increases
markedly and much more ettringite forms. This is the acceleration period. In this period, the
diffusion of water through the crystalline ettringite coating is unhindered, leading to the formation of
larger amounts of ettringite located deeper on the C
3
A grains. The formation of inner ettringite coatings
blocks the cracks, and therefore a second dormant period occurs up to 7days of hydration.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (hrs.)
Force (lbs.)
1% N.F.S.R.
1% alpha-naph.
1% beta-naph.
Control
174
CONCLUSIONS

Analysis of the results shows that after 90 days - Naphthol formaldehyde resin is better
than - Naphthol since it decreases w/c ratio and also gives higher compressive strength.
After 97 days (air curing) - Naphthol gives higher compressive strength.
From the results it can be concluded that the used resins delay the setting time of concrete.

So if we want to compare each one of the admixtures with N.F.S.R through effect on C.S. it
can be deduced that N.F.S.R. gives highest compressive strength than -Naphthol and -Naphthol.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Ass. Prof. A. M. Hataba. , Chemistry department , for his
support and keen interest. Appreciation is also expressed to Prof.Dr. E.A.Elraouf Nasr, for his advice in
the planning and execution of this research. Thanks are due to the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams
University, for providing facilities for doing the experimental work.

REFERENCES

[1] A.M. Paillere, Application of Admixtures in Concrete, E & FN Spon, London, 1996,pp. 56-68.
[2] G.-G. Lim, S.S. Hong, D.-S. Kim, B.-j. Lee, j.-S. Rho, Slump loss control of cement paste by
adding polycarboxylic type slump-releasing dispersant, Cem. Concr. Res. 29 (1999 ) 223-229.
[3] Kazuo Yamada, Effects of the chemical structure on the properties of polycarboxylate-type
superplasticizer, 30, 2( 2000 ) P.197-207.
[4] M. Nehdi, J. Duquette and A. El Damatty, Performance of rice husk ash produced using a new
technology as a mineral admixture in concrete, Cem. Conc. Res., 33, 8 (2003) P.1203-1210.
[5] Savvina Yu. A. and Shcherbak, Yu. V., High-Strength Concretes Containing Superplasticizers,
Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Betona Zhelezobetona, Moscow, 28-34(1984).
[6] Chiocchio G. and Paolini, A. E., Optimum Time for Adding Superplasticizers to Portland Cement
Pastes,, Cem. Concr. Res., 15, 901-908 (1985).
[7] Meishan Pei, Dujin Wang, Xianbo Hu and Duanfu Xu, Synthesis of Sodium Sulfanilate-Phenol-
Formaldehyde Condensate and Its Application as a Superplasticizers in Concrete, Cem. Conc.
Res., 30 (11) (2000).
[8] Mindess,S., and J.F.Young. 1981 Concrete.Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

175
176

BALANCING FlOWABILITY AND STABILITY OF SELF-COMPACTING
CONCRETE

Y. A. Abdel-Jawad (Qawasmi)
Department of Civil Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology
Irbid- Jordan

ABSTRACT: Self-compacting concrete (SCC) may be considered as one of the remarkable advances in
concrete technology in the last decade. Self-compacting concrete is a concrete that can flow unsegregated,
be able to compact itself and fill different shapes of forms without any kind of vibration or compaction. The
key in producing these desirable properties of SCC is to produce a very flowable mortar that has a high
enough viscosity to support the coarse aggregate. Thus, viscosity plays a vital role in the performance of
SCC. On one hand, a low viscosity is needed so that concrete can deform and flow easily, and on the other
hand SCC needs a high viscosity to avoid segregation. The way to balance these conflicting requirements
becomes the art and science of self-compacting concrete mix proportions. In this paper the different
techniques used to achieve this balance will be presented, analyzed and discussed. Examples of SCC mixes
produced using these different techniques will be shown along with their properties.
INTRODUCTION
Conventional concrete tends to present a problem with regard to adequate consolidation in thin concrete
sections, inaccessible zones and in heavy reinforced sections resulting in large number of air voids
affecting the strength and durability of the concrete. Self-compacting concrete (SCC) represents one of the
most outstanding advances in concrete technology during the last decade. SCC technology was developed
in Japan in the late 1980s, and then spread in Europe, North America and other countries. Due to its
specific properties, SCC may contribute to a significant improvement of the quality of concrete structures.
SCC is designed to consolidate under its own weight without the requirement of vibration. It fills all
recesses, reinforcement spaces and voids, even in highly reinforced concrete members and flows free of
segregation.

Many advantages have been gained by using SCC in concrete structures. These may include, but not
limited to; reduction in labor cost, fast construction, lack of vibration noise, better strength and durability of
concrete, and using complicated shapes in forming concrete elements without problems.
The workability of SCC is higher than the highest class of workability associated with normal high
performance concrete. This workability can be characterized by the following properties:

1- Filling ability: The ability to flow under its own weight into and fill completely all spaces within
intricate formwork, containing obstacles, such as reinforcement.
2- Passing ability: The ability to flow through openings approaching the size of the mix coarse
aggregate, such as the spaces between steel reinforcing bars, without segregation
or aggregate blocking.
3- Stability: The ability to remain homogeneous during transporting and placing.

The key property which controls the above properties is the concrete viscosity. Low viscosity is needed
to achieve the filling and passing ability, and on the other a high viscosity is needed to have stability and
prevent segregation. To accomplish a balance between these contradictory behaviors in concrete mixes, a
better understanding of the factors affecting concrete rheology is needed and especial materials should be
used and new proportioning techniques should be developed.
177
RHEOLOGY OF SELF-COMPACTING CONCRETE
It has been agreed by concrete scientists that the rheology of fresh concrete is described by the Bingham
model
1-3
. According to this model, as shown in Fig.1, fresh concrete must overcome a stress known as the
yield stress or the limiting stress (
)

before it can flow. After the concrete starts to flow, shear stress
increases linearly with the strain rate (flow rate). The slope of the line represents the plastic viscosity.

Fig.1- Binghams Model Parameters

Yield stress and plastic viscosity depend on the properties and quantity of cement paste and aggregate.
To understand the rheological properties of concrete, concrete is considered as a composite material
consisting of a concentrated suspension of solid particles (aggregates) phase (solid) dispersed in a viscous
liquid (cement paste). Therefore, the rheology of fresh concrete depends on the quantity and the properties
of the aggregate and the cement paste.
Role of cement paste:
The cement paste has a dual role in a workable concrete. It separates the aggregate particles from each
other and it acts as a lubricating material between the aggregate particles, improving the capability of
concrete plastic deformations. Decreasing the quantity of the paste reduces the degree of dispersion of the
aggregate particles, thus increasing the interference between the particles resulting in harsh and segregating
concrete. On the other hand, increasing the quantity of the cement paste softens the concrete consistency.

The plasticity of the concrete depends on the composition of the cement paste. A cement paste with a
low water-to-cement (w/c) ratio is itself stiff. Such a paste can separate the aggregate particles in concrete
but cannot lubricate them and hold them well. With increasing w/c ratio, up to a point, the consistency of
the cement paste and thus that of concrete become softer. But if the w/c ratio is too high, the matrix may be
so thin that is unable to disperse the aggregate particles and hold them in a cohesive mass. Thus concretes
with high w/c ratios usually show tendencies for segregation. Increasing water content will increase
flowability, but at the same time reduces paste viscosity. Therefore, optimum water content (basic water
content) can be obtained for each mix depending on the maximum aggregate size, aggregate grading and
fine to coarse aggregate ratio. To increase concrete workability beyond the optimum water limit, high -
range water reducers (super-plasticizers) have to be used. Superplasticizers will increase concrete
flowability without affecting cement paste viscosity as illustrated in Fig.2.

Strain rate,

S
h
e
a
r

S
t
r
e
s
s

178

Fig. 2 Effect of water content and superplasticizer on concrete viscosity and flowability

Role of Aggregate

The yield stress and plastic viscosity increase as the maximum aggregate particle size increases. This is
because aggregate is capable of withstanding the applied stresses without deformation: consequently the
yield stress is higher. The increased plastic viscosity is partly due to the increased interparticle contact and
surface interlocking and the inability of the aggregate to be sheared. This higher shear rate results in a
higher stress and resistance to flow in the paste which in turn accounts for the increase in the plastic
viscosity of the concrete. Therefore, to produce concrete with high workability, together with a good
resistance against segregation, the amount of coarse aggregates has to be reduced and replaced by fine
materials.
Concrete Mix Design
To produce a self-compacting concrete which have a fluidity that allows self-consolidation, flow easily in
the forms and through reinforcement and in the same time remain homogeneous (no segregation), Okamura
and Ozawa
4
outlined a general concept as illustrated in Fig. 3

Fig.3 - Criteria for achieving self- Compactability

Limited coarse aggregate content
(50% of solid volume)

Self-Compacting Concrete
Appropriate mortar
Limited fine aggregate content
(40% of mortar volume)
Higher deformability
Moderate viscosity
* Lower w/c ratio
* Increase filler content
* High dose of
Superplasticizer
* Viscosity Modifier
Flowability
Adding Super-plasticizer
Adding water
V
i
s
c
o
s
i
t
y

179
Accordingly, one of the following concepts may be employed to produce self-compacting concrete
5-7
.

1- Increasing the fine aggregate portion (using filler material) portion in expense of the coarse aggregate
portion and using superplasticizer to improve concrete workability beyond the level produced by using
the optimum water content. The self-compacting concrete produced according to this criterion is known
as filler-type.

2- Increasing the fine aggregate portion to a content less than that used in the first approach and enhancing
concrete viscosity by using special admixtures known as viscosity modifying agents (VMA), while using
superplasticizer to improve workability. The self-compacting concrete produced according to this
criterion is known as viscosity modified type.

3- Combining the first and the second approach, by using both filler material along with using viscosity
modifying agent. The self-compacting concrete produced by this approach is known as combination type.

Several trials were conducted to produce self-compacting concrete mixes using the above concepts.
The concrete mixes were produced using same materials with a constant water to cement ratio (w/c) = 0.50.
The materials used in preparing the concrete mixes are as follows:
1- Coarse aggregate: crushed limestone with 16 mm maximum size. (B.S.G. = 2.60)
2- Fine aggregate: natural sand (B.S.G. 2.65)
3- Filler: limestone powder
4- Cement: CEM I 42.5 N
5- Chemical admixtures: superplasticizer (FM 800) and viscosity modifier (stabilizer) (Viscoguard
SCC 916) produced by degussa - Germany.

Examples of mix proportion of self-compacting concretes produced using the three different types are
shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Examples of Self-Compacting Concretes

Concrete Mixes
Combined
Type
VMA Type Powder Type
Mix Ingredients
(Kg/m
3
)
340 340 340 cement
170 170 170 water
704 940 760 sand (0-2mm)
462 480 380 medium aggregate
(2mm-8mm)
462 480 380 coarse aggregate
(8 mm-16mm)
235 - 340 limestone filler
6.3 6.5 8.6 superplasticizer
1.7 4.5 - stabilizer

180
Fresh Concrete Properties
The main characteristics of SCC are the properties in the fresh state. SCC mix design is focused on the
ability to flow under its own weight without vibration, the ability to flow through heavily congested
reinforcement under its own weight, and the ability to obtain homogeneity without segregation of
aggregates.

Several test methods have been developed world wide to evaluate these main characteristics of SCC
8-10
.
The tests have not been standardized by national or international organizations such as ASTM or European
standards. The more common tests used for evaluating the compacting characteristics of fresh SCC in
accordance with the draft standards of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers are:

1- Slump flow test and T
50 cm
test
2- J ring test
3- V funnel test
4- L box test
5- U box test

In this research the slump flow test and T
50 cm
test, and the V funnel test have been used to evaluate
concrete compactability and flowability. The slump flow test parameter is a measure of the yield value
while the V- funnel parameter is a measure of the concrete viscosity. Brief description of these tests is
given below.

Slump flow test; it is the most commonly used test because it is simple and rapid test procedure. It gives a
good assessment of filling ability and gives some indication of concrete resistance to segregation. The same
slump cone used in the conventional slump test is used either inverted or in upright position. The cone,
after filled with concrete without compaction, is lifted up vertically and the final diameters of the concrete
in two perpendicular directions are measured and the average of the two values is considered as the slump
flow value in mm as shown in Fig. 4. In the same test, the time taken for the concrete to reach the 500 mm
is recorded and known as T
50
time.

The higher the slump flow (SF) value, the greater the ability of concrete to fill formwork under its own
weight. A value of at least 650 mm is required for self-compacting concrete. The T
50
time is another
indication of flow. A lower time indicates greater flowability. A time of 3-7 seconds is reasonable range for
SCC. Also an indication of concrete segregation can be observed in this test.

Fig. 4 Slump flow test
181

V-funnel test; this test was developed in Japan and used by different researchers [8-10]. The equipment
consists of a V-shaped funnel as shown in Fig. 5. In this test the funnel is filled completely with concrete
without compacting, within 10 sec after filling the trap door is opened and allows the concrete to flow out
under gravity. The time for the discharge of concrete (flow time) is recorded.

Fig. 5- V-funnel test

The test measure the ease of flow of the concrete, the shorter the flow time the greater the flowability.
A flow time of 10 seconds is considered appropriate for SCC. High flow time can also be associated with
low deformability due to a high paste viscosity, and with high inter-particle friction.

Workability Tests Results

The concrete mix ingredients were mixed in a rotary- pan mixer for about 5 minutes. After the completion
of the mixing process, the fresh concrete properties were evaluated by measuring the slump flow and the V-
funnel time as shown in Table 2.

Table 2- Workability tests results

Concrete Mix Slump Flow, cm T
500 mm,
sec. V-funnel, sec.
Powder type 72 10 13
VMA type 68 8 10
Combined type 71 6 11

The slump-flow values and V-funnel flow times are used to construct a workability diagram to assess the
flowability and compactability of SCC. In the diagram a workability window is constructed for each
concrete mix by varying the concrete proportion including the amount of superplasticizer and the viscosity
modifier. Fig. 6 illustrates the construction of the workability diagram for the three different concrete
mixes. When a self-compacting concrete produced by one of the methods mentioned using same materials
and the slump-flow value and V-funnel flow time lie within the workability window, this will assure that
the produced concrete will have an adequate workability balancing its flowability and viscosity with good
filling and passing ability without segregation. This ability is achieved by ensuring suitable rheological
properties of fresh concrete: a low yield stress value associated with adequate plastic viscosity.
182

Fig. 6 - Workability diagram

CONCLUSIONS

The factors and parameters affecting the rheology of self-compacting concrete (SCC) have been analyzed
and the following conclusions can be drawn:

1- Although same materials used in the production of conventionally vibrated concrete can be used in the
production of self-compacting concrete, self-compacting concrete needs a more advanced mix design
than traditional vibrated concrete.

2-The philosophy of self-compacting concrete mix design is based on improving the cement paste
flowability while improving the paste viscosity to decrease the potential of concrete segregation.

3-The powder content, the amounts and type of superplasticizer and viscosity modifying agent are the key
parameters affecting self-compacting concrete workability.

4- The slump-flow value and V-funnel flow time are suitable measures to evaluate SCC rheology. The
slump-flow value is a measure of the yield value while the V- funnel parameter is a measure of the
concrete viscosity.

REFERENCES

1- Ferraris, C.F., Measurement of the Rheological Properties of High Performance Concrete: State of the
Art Report J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. 104, 1999, 461-478.
2- Banfill, P.F., Rheology of Fresh Cement and Concrete, E and FN Spon, London, 1991.
400 700 800 900
4
8
12
16
20
500 600
Slump-flow value, mm
F
u
n
n
e
l

f
l
o
w

t
i
m
e
,

s
e
c

VMA type
Powder type
Combined type
183
3- Wstholz, T., A Model Approach to Describe the Fresh Properties of self-Compacting Concrete (SCC)
Otto-Graf-Journal Vol. 16, 2005, pp. 79-93.
4- Okamura, H., and Ozawa, K., Mix Design for Self-Compacting Concrete, Concrete library of JSCE,
Vol.25, 1995, pp. 107-120.
5- Hollingsworth, D., Design and Use of Self-consolidating Concrete, Conference proceedings: First
North American Conference on the Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete, Nov. 12-13, 2002.
6-Khayat, K.H.; Daczko, J.A., The Holistic Approach to Self-Consolidating Concrete, Conference
proceedings: First North American Conference on the Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete,
Nov.12-13, 2002, p. 3-8.
7- Okamura, Hajime. Self-Compacting High-Performance Concrete. Concrete International, v. 19, no. 7,
July 1997, p. 50-54.
8- Khayat, K.H., Workability Testing and Performance of Self-Consolidating Concrete, ACI Materials
Journal, Vol.96, No.3, 1999, pp.346-353.

9- EFNARK Specification and Guidelines for Self-Compacting Concrete February 2002, 32p.
10- Ozawa, K., Sakata, N., Okamura, H., Evaluation of Self-Compatibility of Fresh Concrete Using the
Funnel Test Concrete Library of JSCE,25, June 1995, pp. 59-75.

184

. 1308

:

.

.

.

1

.

) ( 100 % ) (

1

:
) 1 ( .
) 2 (
.
) 3 ( .
) 4 (
.

185

2

.

3

1 . .

1 . .

A B C D E F G H I J
% 0.64 0.79 0.86 0.65 0.64 3.08 1.6 13.25 7.09 13.3

J

3 4
2 . .

2 . J
% mm %
20

J

16.5 N/mm
2
31.5 N/mm
2
.

.

)
(
.
) (
)
( .

.

.
3 . 28 .

3 . 28 .
186

80 .

.

.
4 .
.

4 .

%

%
0.0 0.0 0.0
5.0 1.729 13.0
10.0 3.325 25.0
15.0 4.456 33.0
20.0 5.852 44.0
30.0 7.182 54.0
40.0 7.847 59.0
50.0 8.366 62.0
60.0 8.751 65.8
100.0 9.443 71.0
150.0 9.975 75.0
200.0 10.48 78.8
400.0 11.704 88.8
1000.0 12.901 97.0
1440.0 13.30 100

4 .

.

.
5 . 28
A .

Kg
Kg
Kg
Kg
mm

%

28 N/mm
2

A 13.5 6.5 18 30 100 96 31.5
B 10 6.5 18 30 150 98.5 16.6
187

5 .
28 A .

%

7 N/mm
2

A1 0.0 18.6
A2 1.729 23.47
A3 3.325 30.51
A4 4.456 35.81
A5 5.852 33.48
A6 7.182 31.18
A7 7.847 30.09
A8 8.366 29.17
A9 8.751 28.54
A10 9.443 27.33
A11 9.975 26.61
A12 10.48 25.95
A13 11.704 24.32
A14 12.901 22.68
A15 13.30 22.19

A4 .
6 . 28
B) ( .

6 .
28 B) (

%

7 N/mm
2

B1 0.0 14.31
B2 1.729 17.65
B3 3.325 20.60
B4 4.456 33.63
B5 5.852 30.03
B6 7.182 26.8
B7 7.847 25.46
B8 8.366 24.44
B9 8.751 23.65
B10 9.443 22.25
B11 9.975 21.25
B12 10.48 20.31
B13 11.704 16.86
B14 12.901 16.14
B15 13.30 15.74

B4 .

188

5 . 6 . :
) 1 ( A4
B4
.
) 2 ( A4
B4
.
) 3 ( 5 .
N/mm
2
31.1 1 A5 A6

7 % 30
51.5 %

30
.
) 4 ( 6 .
N/mm
2
16.6 1 B13 B14

12.5 % 92.6 %
.

:
) 1 (

.
) 2 (

.
) 3 ( 30
.

1. Neville, A.M., Properties of concrete, 4
th
ed., Longman publishing limited, U.K,
1995.
2. BS 882,812: Part1: 1975 Methods for the sampling and testing of mineral
aggregates, sands and fillers.
3. BS 812: Part1-1975: Methods for determination of particle size and shape.
4. BS812: Part 112-1990: Methods for determination of aggregate impact value (AIV).
5. Kaplan, M, Flexural and compressive strength of concrete as affected by the properties of
coarse aggregates, J. Amer. Concr. inst., vol. 55,May 1959,pp 193-208.

189
190

MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF TWO-STAGE
(PRE-PLACED AGGREGATE) CONCRETE

H. S. ABDELGADER AND A. E. BEN-ZEITUN
A. F. SAUD AND A. A. ELGALHUD

Civil Engineering Department, Al. Fateh University
P O Box 83038 Tripoli, Libya

ABSTRACT: As concrete technology develops, basic grouts composed of only cement, sand and
water can be modified to produce structural concrete more effectively. Such grouts may be
modified chemically by using suitable admixtures or mechanically by using a specially designed
high-speed mixer. But there has been no precise information on the either possibility to modify
grout in the manufacture of two-stage (Pre-placed aggregate) concrete. This paper deals with the
effect of grout proportions with high-range water-reducing admixtures (HRWRA) on the behavior
of two-stage (Pre-placed aggregate) concrete in unconfined compression and tensile strength (split
test). This paper presents also the experimental results of preplaced, crushed aggregate concreted
with eighteen different mortar mixture proportions. A total of 180 concrete cylinders were tested
in unconfined compression and splitting tension at 28 days. On the basis of these results a
relationship between the tensile strength and the compressive strength of two-stage (Pre-placed
aggregate) concrete is statistically derived.
INTRODUCTION

Two-stage (Pre-placed Aggregate) concrete (TSC) unlike normal concrete (NC), it is made by first
placing the coarse aggregate in the formwork and then injecting a grout of sand, cement and water
to fill the voids between the aggregate particles Figure 1.
The method of preparing two-stage (Pre-placed Aggregate) concrete has proved particularly
useful in a number of applications like underwater constructions concrete and masonry repair,
situations where placement by usual method is extremely difficult, mass concrete where low
cement content, low heat of hydration are required, tunnels and where very low shrinkage is
important
1
. Two-stage (Pre-placed Aggregate) concrete is also useful in the manufacture of high
density concrete for atomic radiation shielding where steel and heavy metallic are used as coarse
aggregate ACI
2
.
Two-stage (Pre-placed Aggregate) concrete differs from normal traditional concrete not only
in the method of placement but also in it
s
content of a higher proportion of coarse aggregate. It
may be regarded as a skeleton concrete as the coarse aggregate effectively rests against one
another and the remaining voids is filled with grout. Because of the initial point-to-point contact of
the coarse aggregate, as placed the modulus of elasticity of two-stage (Pre-placed Aggregate)
concrete is very high
3, 4
. The other hypothesis of two-stage concrete is also different from
conventional concrete; because of the particle-to-particle contact of coarse aggregate shrinkage is
lower than normal concrete
5
.

191

According to ACI

Committee
2
, compressive strengths up to 41 MPa at 28 or 90 days,
depending on water-cementitious material ratio, are readily attainable. Strengths of 62 MPa at 90
days and 90 MPa at 1 year have been reported. It would appear that strength could be increased
through the use of high-range water-reducing admixtures, silica fume, and/or other admixtures,
but neither research nor performance data are available.
The objective of this investigation was to study the strength of two-stage concrete in
compression and tension at 28 days using different grout mixtures.

Aggregate dispersion in NC

Materials
Cement: There is no special type of cement to make grout for two-stage concrete. The cement
used throughout the experiments was Ordinary Portland Cement (Type I) with 28-days
compressive strength of 41 MPa and Blaine fineness of 3497 cm
2
/g.

Fine Aggregate: The fine aggregate used in the manufacture of grout was a natural beach sand
from Zlietn quarry (nearly 150 km east of Tripoli city) with specific gravity 2.63 and the
maximum greatest size 1.18 mm according to specification. The grading of the fine aggregate
obtained from the sieve analysis is shown below in Figure 2.

Coarse Aggregate: The coarse aggregate used in these experiments was angular basalt aggregate;
the source of the stone aggregate is obtained from "Abou-Arogub region quarry" 40 km south of
Tripoli. Maximum sizes of angular coarse aggregate approximately 38 mm, which is less than one
Figure 1. Philosophy of Concreting
Coarse
aggregate
Grout filling
the voids
No vibration is applied
Self-compacting aggregate
Injection of the grout

mortar
Figure 2. Grading of fine aggregate
Sieve Size (mm)
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

p
a
s
s
i
n
g

ACI 304 limits for Sand.
Zletin Sand.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0.07 0.15 0.3 0.6 1.18 2.36 4.75
192

third (1/3) of the mould width Figure 3. Physical properties of coarse aggregates are shown in
(Table 1).
Table 1 Physical Properties of Coarse Aggregates
Test Results
Fines Content 2.47 %
Specific Gravity 2.69
Water Absorption

1.96 %
Abrasion Value 23.81 %
Crushing Value 20.74 %
Impact Value 22.55 %
Voids Ratio 47.18 %
Flakiness Index 11.22 %
Elongation Index 10.30 %

Admixtures: The superplasticizer used in the grout was naphthalene- formaldehyde derivative of
trade name "Superplasticizer SikaMent-163" and was mixed at the rate of 2 percent by weight of
cement.

GROUT MIX PREPARATION AND CONCRETE SPECIMEN
The selection of sand-cement and water-cement ratios are more critical in two-stage concrete than
in normal concrete, because the amount of sand and water control the fluidity of grout; an essential
requirement in the manufacture of two-stage concrete. With a certain proportion of sand, cement
and water, it may be possible to cast normal concrete, but it may not be at all possible to grout
two-stage concrete at that proportion. It is therefore necessary to use trials to obtain a suitable mix
for each particular condition of grout mix.
To establish suitable mix proportions for intrusion grouting using cement, sand, water and
admixture, several trial mixes were used. The major criterion adopted to maintain the uniformity
of grout was its consistency. To measure this consistency a flow cone
2
and flow table
6
were used
as shown in Figure 4. Three different proportions of cement-to-sand 0.5:1, 1:1 and 1.5:1, with
varying ratios of water-to-cement 0.38, 0.55 and 0.80 were tried out to determine the optimum mix
proportions (Table 2).
ACI 304 limits.
Combined Coarse Aggregate.
Figure 3. Grading Curve of coarse aggregate
Sieve Size (mm)
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

p
a
s
s
i
n
g

0
20
40
60
80
100
9.5 12.5 19 25 37.5
193

Coarse aggregate was first placed in 150 x 300-mm hard plastic cylindrical molds. The void
content of the preplaced aggregate was 47.18%. Grout preparation was accomplished by
combining ingredients with an electric mixer for about three minutes to achieve the desired grout
uniformity and consistency. It was found that a w/c ratio of 0.38 without admixture is the
minimum ratio suitable for grouting
7
; it was not possible to penetrate all voids in the aggregate
skeleton with all grout of c/s ratios. As a result, the concrete specimen has a honeycombed
structure with partial binding of the aggregate skeleton. Grout containing admixture at w/c ratio of
0.38, on the other hand, filled all voids and created a smooth surface of the sides and ends of each
cylinder.
Five specimens from each one of the nine grout mixtures were tested in unconfined
compression and split tension. The investigation of strength of concrete of the two series was
carried out at 28 days. Superplasticizer was used only in series 2. After one day of casting the
concrete specimens were removed from the cylinders and immersed in water tank for seven days.
All cylinder specimens were then stored in the laboratory at constant temperature and relative
humidity.

Table 2. Mix Proportions of Grout
Unit Quantities (kg/m
3
) Water-Cement
Ratio, W/C
Cement-Sand
Ratio, C/S Cement Sand
0.5 295 590
1 421 421 0.38
1.5 525 350
0.5 282 564
1 407 407 0.55
1.5 508 338
0.5 265 530
1 396 396 0.80
1.5 490 326
a. Flow Cone
b. Flow Table (Meter)
Figure 4. Fluidity Equipments
194

Compressive Strength of TSC
The compressive strength f
c
of two-stage concrete was tested with and without admixture at 28
days. On the basis of the results a relation for f
c
has been assumed, but it can be also calculated
according to the design algorithm presented
8
. For the compressive strength of two-stage concrete
(f
c
) an empirical equation was calculated using the following formulae:

f
c
=A + (B) w/c + (C) (w/c)D + (E) c/s [MPa] (1)
where f
c
stands for the estimated compressive strength of two-stage concrete, w/c is the water-to-
cement ratio and c/s is the cement-to-sand ratio.
Table 3 Regression Coefficients of f
c
Eq. (1)
Type of Grout
A B C D E Correlation
Coefficient
Without Admixture*

-3.67 11.20 3.96 -1.79 3.70 0.883
With Admixture 43.90 -32.55 -3.27 -1.68 2.42 0.944
*Does not include water/cement ratio= 0.38 at all cement sand ratios

The experimental results from equation 1 clearly reveal that the compressive strength of two-stage
concrete without admixture is almost equal to that of compressive strength with admixture at the
same water to cement and cement to sand ratios.
The compressive strength obtained was unsatisfactory when the superplasticiser was used. The
superplasticizer might have produced air-voids. The reason for identical strength of two-stage
concrete with admixture might be associated with bleeding of water in grout. This was also
evident by the loss of grout-aggregate bond of aggregate particles upon examination of the
fractured specimens. Another reason for identical strength is attributed to the close contact of
coarse aggregate before and after grouting; indicating primary stress transfer takes place through
coarse aggregate
9,10
.
Tensile Strength of TSC
The split tensile strength of TSC was investigated at 28 days. The split tensile strength is
calculated according to ASTM C 496, as follows:

HD
P
f
t
2
=
(2)

where f
t
= splitting tensile strength; P = maximum applied load; and H and D = length and
diameter of the specimen, respectively.

The test results on tensile strength of two-stage concrete in the two series (with and without
admixture) are high. The values of tensile strength for grout proportion are estimated by equation
3. No cause was apparent for the relatively high tensile strength. However, it is believed that the
amount of coarse aggregate content, method of placement and the greater mechanical interlocking
among the particles could be responsible for the high tensile strength.
195

Failure in splitting tension was restricted principally due to the line of split and occurs through
the mortar and coarse aggregate.
f
t
=A + (B) w/c + (C) (w/c)D + (E) c/s [MPa] (3)
where f
t
stands for the estimated splitting tensile strength of two-stage concrete, w/c is the water-
to-cement ratio and c/s is the cement-to-sand ratio.
Table 4 Regression Coefficients of f
t
Eq. (3)
Type of Grout
A B C D E Correlation
Coefficient
Without Admixture*

-0.25 1.26 0.67 -1.29 0.51 0.833
With Admixture -12.75 -25.27 39.03 0.50 0.39 0.860
*Does not include water/cement ratio=0.38 at all cement sand ratios
Compressive and tensile strength of TSC
A number of formulas have been suggested for the relationship between the compressive strength
and the tensile strength of two-stage concrete. The results of this investigation show an important
feature. It appears that there is a good correlation between the compressive strength and tensile
strength of two-stage concrete. As the compressive strength increases with grout the tensile
strength was also found to increase in the same manner. The following formula was developed by
regression analysis to relate splitting tensile strength (f
t
) to the compressive strength (f
c
). The
relationship between the compressive strength and the tensile strength of different grout
proportions without admixture is shown in Figure 5.
f
t
=A + (B) f
c
+ (C) (f
c
)D [MPa] (4)
where f
t
splitting tensile strength and f
c
compressive strength.
Table 5 Regression Coefficients of Eq. (4)
Type of Grout
A B C D Correlation
Coefficient
Without Admixture

-49.67 -0.44 38.63 0.15 0.724
With Admixture 39.97 0.36 -32.28 0.10 0.80

The limit values of the compressive strength (f
c

) in equation (4) are:

13 f
c
22 [MPa] (5)

196

Figure 5. Split tensile strength versus compressive strength of two-stage concrete
CONCLUSIONS
(1) To establish a suitable mix proportion for grout, the flow-cone test by itself was not sufficient
to provide a suitable answer, particularly when admixture was used. Depending upon grading
of aggregate and grouting equipment it was found that the manufacture of grout and it
s

pumpability should be best judged by personal experience based on trials.
(2) As the method of placement in pre-packed concrete is entirely different from that of normal
concrete, a suitable admixture is necessary for the requirement of pumpability of grout. The
use of superplasticizer admixtures was found to improve flowability obviously.
(3) The compressive strength of two-stage concrete f
c
was tested with and without admixture at 28
days for all grout proportions. On the basis of the results a correlation between compressive
strength and grout proportions was statistically derived.
(4) The splitting tensile strength of two-stage concrete was found high at all grout proportions.
The relationship between tensile and compressive strength suggests that the tensile strength
of TSC increases with an increase in compressive strength.
(5) The fractured specimens of two-stage concrete in compression showed numerous cracks
around its surface. It showed extensive lateral expansion in the form of bulging prior to the
failure and the failure in general was not sudden and explosive. It was also noticed that a
large proportion of failures occurred by cracking through the aggregate particles.

Compressive Strength [MPa]
S
p
l
i
t
t
i
n
g

T
e
n
s
i
l
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

[
M
P
a
]
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
12 14 16 18 20 22
197

REFERENCES
1. King, J.C., Concrete by intrusion grouting, in: F.W. Stubbs, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of Heavy
Construction, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1959.
2. ACI Committee 304, Guide for the Use of Pre-placed Aggregate Concrete for Structural and
Mass Concrete Applications, Reported by American Concrete Institute ACI Committee 304.
Reapproved 2005, (in publisher).
3. Abdelgader, H. S. and Grski, J., Influence of Grout Proportions on Modulus of Elasticity of
Two-Stage Concrete, Magazine of Concrete Research. No.4, 2002, Vol. 54, pp. 251-255.
4. Abdelgader, H. S. and Grski, J., Stress-strain Relations and Modulus of Elasticity of Two-
Stage Concrete, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering ASCE. No. 4, 2003, Vol. 15, pp.
329-334.
5. Abdelgader, H. S. and Zregh, A. S., High Elasticity Advantages of Mass Concrete,
Emerging Technologies in Structural Engineering. Proceedings of the 9th Arabic Engineering
Conference, November 29-December 1, 2003, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
6. Abdelgader, H.S., Effect of Quantity of Sand on the Compressive Strength of Two-Stage
Concrete, Magazine of Concrete Research, No.177, 1996, Vol. 48, pp. 353-360.
7. Elgalhud, A. A. Influence of Some Types of Admixtures on the Mechanical Properties of
Two Stage Concrete at the Long Term, Master's Thesis, Civil Engineering Department of
Al- Fateh University of Tripoli, Libya, March 2006.
8. Abdelgader, H.S., How to Design Concrete Produced by a Two-Stage Concreting Method,
Cement and Concrete Research, No. 3, 1999, Vol. 29, pp. 331-337.
9. Abdelgader, H. S. and Ben-zeitun, A. E., Effect of Grout Proportions on Tensile Strength of
Two-Stage Concrete Measured by Split and Double-Punch Tests. Structural Concrete, No.4,
2004, Vol. 5, pp. 173-177.
10. Abdelgader, H. S. and Ben-zeitun, A. E., Tensile strength of Two-Stage Concrete Measured
by Double-Punch and Split Tests, Global Construction, Role of Concrete in nuclear
facilities, Proceedings of the International Conference, 5-7 July 2005. University of Dundee,
Scotland, UK.
198

. 1308

:

.
.

.

.

: .

60 % 80 %
85 % 95 %
1

.

.

2
31
% 22 % :

3
.

3

) (
.
199

.

.

1 .
4

7, 6, 5

.
.

1 . .

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
% 24.3 23.1 23.0 25.6 26 27.9 28.1 27.6 30.5 30.7 46 23.7 26
% 29 28.6 28.2 30.3 34 33.4 33.6 33.8 39.1 39.4 59 27.8 31
% 32.5 31.7 31 33.8 37 37.4 37.7 37.2 42.6 42.9 64 40.8 35

C
.

1
: -
:
W = G.V.n (1)

w
n .
200

G .
V .
:

(2)

d ] + .[
(v) :
.d
2
. n = A.n (3)

A .
n V
(4)
:
(5)

= 1/G
: (6)

(F)
=
d
F
6
(7)

F 1
: -
=
=
3
2
. .
. 6
) (
.
. 6
d G
w
d
d G
w
=
d G .
6
=
d
6
(C)
n
v G
w
d G
w
= =
. . .
. 6
3
201

(8)

m .
F
1
,F
2
.
W
1
, W
2
.
W .
) F (

8
.

C

8

7, 6, 5
2 .
.

2 . .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.101 1.169 1.195 1.224 1.256 1.276 1.297 1.345 1.394 1.457
5.504 5.844 5.974 6.119 6.281 6.382 6.485 6.723 6.969 7.283
%
20.88 24.71 25.49 26.01 26.21 26.16 25.99 25.23 24.02 22.08
% 28.08 28.85 29.21 29.66 30.23 30.62 31.06 32.21 33.63 35.84
% 29.77 30.66 31.08 31.62 32.3 32.78 33.32 34.75 36.56 39.42

2 .
6.281
6 / d) ( d
.
6 / d) (

.

: -

IMP = 375[ln(D.S/6)]
3
506.25[ln(D.S/6)]
2
+ 173.25ln(D.S) 301.842 (9)

=
=
+ +
=
1
1
1 1
2
2 2
6
6
...
.
6
i
m i
w
d
w F
d
w F
wi
di
Fi
w
(S) =
202

S
D
IMP (%)

.
C .

.

:

:

:

) 1 ( .
) 2 ( = 6.2805 1.2 cm

C .
) 3 (

.

3 . 26 ) 6 / . (
842 . 301 ) . ln( 25 . 173 )] 6 / . [ln( 25 . 506 )] 6 / . [ln( 375
. 100
6
2 3
+
+
=
S D
S D S D S D
CRU
IMP
9 . 27 ) 6 / . (
842 . 301 ) . ln( 25 . 173 )] 6 / . [ln( 25 . 506 )] 6 / . [ln( 375
. 100
13
2 3
+
+
=
S D
S D S D S D
LOS
IMP
9 . 27 ) 6 / . (
3 . 26 ) 6 / . (
. 100
13
6
+
+
=
S D
S D
LOS
CRU
203

1. Neville,A.M.Properties of concrete,4
th
edition,Longman publishing limited 1995.
2. Kaplan, M.F. Flexural and compressive strength of concrete as affected by the
properties of coarse aggregates, J.Amercan. concrete. Insttute., vol.55 May 1959,
pp. 193-208.
3. Kaplan, M.F "The effects of the properties of coarse aggregates on the workability of
concrete, Mag.conc. Res., vol 10, No. 29, Aug 1958, pp. 63-74.
4 .
) ( 1999 .
5. BS 812 : Part 112 : 1990 Method for determination of aggregate impact value (AIV).
6. BS 812 : Part 110 : 1990 Methods for determination of aggregate crushing value
(ACV).
7. C 131-89 Test for Resistance to Degradation of small-size Coarse Aggregate by
Abrasion and Impact in the Los Angles Machine.
8. BS 812 : Part 1 : 1975 Methods for determination of particle size and shape.

204

EFFECTIVENESS AND MECHANISM OF CORROSION
INHIBITING ADMIXTURES

A.M.K. ABDELALIM, G.E. ABDELAZIZ and Y.A. FAWZY

Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra,
Banha University, 108 Shoubra Street, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Steel reinforced concrete is one of the most durable and cost effective construction materials but it
can suffer in high chloride environments from corrosion due to chloride induced break down of the
normal passive layer protection. One way of protection embedded steel reinforcement from chloride
induced corrosion is by the addition of corrosion inhibiting admixtures (CIA) to the concrete mixes.
In this paper, the effectiveness of various corrosion inhibiting admixtures (CIA), namely
calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate, admixed with OPC mortar on fresh parameters (initial
flowability and rate of flowability loss), microstructure related properties (cement-phase
composition, capillary porosity and permeation) and reinforcement corrosion activity are reported.
The role of these CIA on the mechanical properties (such as compressive, tensile and bond
strength) of OPC matrix was also studied. Therefore, various 0.50 w/c OPC mortars made with 0,
2, 4 and 5% of either calcium nitrite or sodium benzoate were prepared and then assessed using
mortar flow table, thermo-gravimetric analysis de-sorption test, initial surface absorption test and
half-cell apparatus.
The results suggest that the beneficial role of corrosion inhibiting admixtures on enhancing
the resistance of reinforcement against corrosion is dependent on the modifications that occur to the
microstructure of OPC matrix as a result of inclusion of CIA. The use of calcium nitrite and sodium
benzoate had reduced the capillary porosity and rate of water flow into OPC matrix and increased
the amount of C-S-H. The amount of enhancement in the microstructure related properties is
generally increased with CIA content. Also, the tensile and bond strength are significantly
improved as a result of admixing calcium nitrite in OPC mix, while, all studied mechanical
properties (compressive, tensile and bond strength) have been degraded when sodium benzoate was
utilized.

INTRODUCTION

There is no doubt that, the corrosion of reinforcing steel embedded in concrete is considered as a
major world-wide problem. This problem takes place because of the effect of the chlorides,
sulphates or carbonation. It has been estimated that the annual cost of repair to UK concrete
structures due to reinforcement corrosion is about 500 million, while in the USA, the associated
repair due to reinforced corrosion for concrete bridges alone has been estimated at $ 50 billion per
annum. In the Middle East, 74% of reinforced concrete structures show significant corrosion
damage after as little as ten to fifteen years, and many structures have to be rebuilt every ten years
or so unless extensive rehabilitation or repair is carried out [1,2]. Generally, chlorides are the
principal cause of reinforcement corrosion in concrete structures. If the concentration of chlorides
exceeds a threshold value, the passive oxide film on the surface of the reinforcement can be
disrupted, in the presence of oxygen and moisture [2,3].
205

Therefore, a number of corrosion protection systems, such as corrosion inhibitors, epoxy-
coated reinforcing steel, stainless steel, surface impregnation of concrete and cathodic protection
are introduced to address corrosion of steel in reinforced concrete. From among them , the paper
discusses the use of chemical corrosion inhibitors as concrete admixtures [4,5].
The possible mechanisms of corrosion inhibitors in reinforced concrete exposed to chloride
have been discussed [5,6,7]. The inhibitor can delay the onset of corrosion by a) reducing the rate
of ingress of aggressive ions (chlorides) by increasing the rate of chemical binding of chlorides
and/or raising the chloride threshold value for corrosion initiation, and b) reducing the rate of
corrosion once it is initiated. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence to confirm these
above-mentioned mechanisms. Moreover, to the authors' knowledge, no attempt has been made in
literature to elaborate the effectiveness of CIA on pore structure, cement-phase composition and
permeation properties of concrete. If such elaborations are available, the mechanism of CIA on the
corrosion activity of reinforcement will be clearly understood and identified. Consequently, there is
a need for carrying out such study to find a scientific explanation for the mechanism of CIA and
then provide a reasonable explanation to its effectiveness on various fresh and mechanical
properties of OPC matrix.
Gaidis [7] and Brown et al [8] have investigated the effect of corrosion inhibitors, such as
calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate, on slump, setting time and compressive strength of concrete.
Their results have shown that the addition of such inhibitors has led to decreasing the slump and
accelerating the initial and final setting time. However, there is a lack of information regarding their
effectiveness on the other aspects of fresh concrete, rate of flowability loss of concrete.
Hansson et al [6] and Berke and Hicks [9] had recently studied the effect of calcium nitrite and
sodium benzoate as CIA on the early-age compressive strength of OPC concrete. They found that
the inclusion of calcium nitrite on OPC concrete had led to a slight increase in the compressive
strength of concrete. An opposite finding was obtained by Batis et al [10] when they used sodium
benzoate as CIA. However, the effectiveness of CIA on the other mechanical properties of concrete
(such as tensile and bond strength) has not been fully investigated yet.
Therefore, the main aims of this study can be summarized as follows:
1- To investigate the role of CIA (calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate) on cement- phase
composition, pore structure and permeation characteristics of OPC matrix.
2- To clarify the role of CIA on the various mechanical properties (compressive, tensile and bond
strength) and fresh parameters (initial flowability and rate of flowability loss) of OPC matrix.
3- To signify the importance of using CIA on reducing the corrosion activity of
reinforcing steel.

EXPERIMENTAL

Mixes were prepared using locally produced ordinary Portland cement (OPC), complying with
BS12 (1978) and ESS 373 (1991). The chemical analysis of the cement used is summarized in
Table 1. Natural siliceous sand was used as fine aggregate in all mixes considered in this
experimental program. Tap water was used for mixing and curing. 10 and 16 mm diameter mild
steel (grade 24/37) complying with ESS 262 (2000) were used for corrosion potential and bond
strength measurements, respectively. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used as a source of chloride ions.
Calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate were used as corrosion inhibiting admixtures, which are
denoted by N and B, respectively. The applied dosages of calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate were
0, 2, 4, and 5% (by weight of OPC).
Seven OPC mortar mixes made with different contents of calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate
were prepared according to BS 5075 part 2 (1982). Constant w/b ratio of 0.5 and binder/sand of 1:
2.75 were considered. These mixes were used for mortar flow test, 28-days compressive, tensile
and bond strength testing, initial surface absorption test and corrosion potential measurements.
206

Another seven OPC cement paste mixes of 0.50 w/c made with the same dosages of CIA mentioned
above were prepared for thermo-gravimetric analysis and de-sorption test.

Table 1 Chemical analysis of OPC
SiO
2
AL
2
O
3
Fe
2
O
3
CaO MgO Na
2
O
K
2
O
SO
3
LOI Insoluble
residue
21. 72 4.80 3.78 62.9 1.94 0.45 0.3 2.2 1.01 0.90

Mortar flow table apparatus was used for determining the initial flowability (measured at zero
time from mixing) and rate of flowability loss of OPC mortar mixes, as described in ASTM C 230-
80. The rate of flowability loss was determined by recording the instant flow at various elapsed
periods from mixing, 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min.
Six cube specimens (70x70x70 mm), six specimens of a briquette shape, six cylinders (100
mm diameter, 200 mm height) and six cube specimens (100x100x100 mm) were taken from each
mortar mix, demolded, cured in water for 27 days (20 2
o
C), and then subjected to compressive
strength, tensile strength, bond strength and initial surface absorption test, respectively. The initial
surface absorption test was carried according BS 1881: parts 5 (1970).
For corrosion potential measurements, three reinforced prismatic mortar specimens
(80x80x100 mm) were prepared from each mortar mix. Four steel bars (10 mm diameter) with 100
mm length were embedded in each specimen during its casting such that 80 mm was fixed inside
the mortar while the reminder 20 mm was kept outside. The thickness of the cover was kept
constant, 20 mm. After 28 days of water curing, the specimens were submerged in 3% NaCl
solution for 3 days and followed by drying the specimens in air for another 11 days. This cycle of
wetting/ drying was repeated up to one year. The corrosion potential of the imbedded reinforcing
steel bars in mortar was determined every two weeks using half-cell device, according to the
procedures described in ASTM C876 (1980).
The pore structure of hardened cement pastes (in terms of capillary porosity) and cement-phase
composition (amount of bound water and CSH) were measured by de-sorption test and thermo-
gravimetric analysis, respectively, using the same test procedures described elsewhere [11,12]. For
each test, six discs (25 mm thick and 50 mm diameter) were taken from each cement paste mix,
cured in water for 27 days (20 2
o
C), and subjected to the specified test procedures. The average
result of six samples was then regarded for each case of study.

RESULTS AND DISCUSION

Microstructure and Permeation Related Properties

In this study, the microstructure related properties of OPC matrix admixed with or without
corrosion-inhibiting admixtures (CIA) were investigated by assessing the amount of bound water
(representing degree of hydration), CSH and amount of interconnected pores (expressed by
capillary porosity), using thermo-gravimetric analysis and de-sorption test. These two tools of
assessment have been successfully used for such purposes [11,12]. If these related properties were
clarified, the role of CIA on the permeation, mechanical and reinforcement corrosion characteristics
of reinforced concrete will be better understood.
Therefore, the amount of bound water and weight loss due to decomposition of CSH (deduced
from thermo-gravimetric analysis) and amount of inter-connected pores (deduced from de-sorption
test) of OPC hardened cement paste admixed with or without CIA (calcium nitrite and sodium
benzoate) were estimated as described earlier [11,12]. The estimated results are listed in Table 2. It
can be seen from these results that the amount of bound water and CSH of OPC mortar containing
calcium nitrite (N) were reasonably increased with increasing the content of calcium nitrite.
207

Meanwhile, sodium benzoate (B) had caused a slight increase in CSH and negligible effect on the
amount of bound water, as compared to the effect of calcium nitrite.
Regarding the effect of CIA on the amount of interconnected pores, it is clear from the data
illustrated in Table 2 that both inhibitors (N and B) had reduced the capillary porosity of OPC
mortar. The amount of reduction in the amount of the interconnected pores is increased with
increasing the dosage of CIA content. Generally, the use of calcium nitrite has led to reducing the
capillary porosity of OPC mortar more than the use of sodium benzoate.

Table 2 Bound water, decomposition loss due to C-S-H and capillary porosity
of OPC hardened cement pastes containing different contents of CIA.
Code Corrosion inhibitor
Type Content
Bound
water,%
Decomposition
due to C-S-H, %
Capillary
porosity, %
Control - - 18.9 5.6 2.4
2N 2% 22.1 6.8 1.7
4N 4% 26.7 7.3 1.6
5N
Calcium
nitrite
5% 28.0 8.5 1.5
2B 2% 20.5 6.3 2.0
4B 4% 19.0 6.2 1.9
5B
Sodium
benzoate
5% 17.5 6.0 1.9

These results agree with those obtained in previous study carried out by Batis et al [10], who
found that, for light weight mortar at w/C=0.5, cement/ sand = 1: 3, the total water porosity of OPC
mortar were decreased by using sodium nitrite or sodium benzoate and the amount of decrease was
increased with an increase of the inhibitor content. This beneficial effect of the corrosion inhibiting
admixtures on the pore structure of OPC matrix may be attributed to their significant role on the
cement-phase composition (especially CSH), as discussed above.
In this study, the permeation properties of OPC matrix made with CIA were investigated by
measuring the initial surface absorption (ISA) using initial absorption test (ISAT). The ISAT is
considered as one of the most common, simplest, and longest established method for measuring the
absorptivity of concrete, by providing data to indicate the water flow into the surface of dry
concrete [13].
The ISAT was carried out, as described elsewhere [13], on different OPC mortars containing
either calcium nitrite or sodium benzoate. The results of this investigation are demonstrated in
Figure 1. It is clear that the use of both inhibitors had led to reducing the value of ISA, compared to
control mix. The amount of reductions increased with increasing the dosage of CIA, up to 4%.

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0 2 4 6
CIA content, %
I
S
A
,

m
l
/
m
2
/
s
N
B

Figure 1 Initial surface absorption of OPC mortars containing various CIA.
208

This means that the inclusion of both inhibitors under study would minimize the rate of flow
of aggressive fluids into the cover concrete. Such observation may be attributed to the densification
effect of CIA on the pore structure of OPC matrix through reducing the amount of interconnected
pores, as proved above by capillary porosity results shown in Table 2.

Corrosion Activity

Such modifications in the microstructure and permeation related properties of OPC matrix as a
result of inclusion CIA, described in the above section, can also lead to reducing the amount of
aggressive ions that would reach the reinforcement, thus reducing the risk of reinforcement
corrosion. However, an experimental proof has to be provided to confirm this opinion. This led the
authors to extend their work to study the corrosion activity of reinforced OPC mortar incorporating
CIA. In this study, the corrosion activity of reinforcement was assessed by monitoring its corrosion
potential at regular periods, using half-cell device according ASTM C876.
The relationship between the corrosion potential measurements of reinforcement embedded in
OPC mortars subjected to 3% NaCl environment and exposure period was depicted, as shown in
Figure 2. Two stages were observed with such a relationship. The first stage represents the period at
which the corrosion potential varied between 0.2V and 0.35V, CSE, i.e., greater than 90%
probability that corrosion does not occur as specified by ASTM C876 limits. While, stage II
represents the period at which the corrosion potential varied between 0.35V and 0.50V, CSE i.e.,
greater than 90% probability that corrosion occur according to ASTM C876 limits. The duration of
these two stages was denoted by T
1
and T
2
, and can be referred as stage of onset of corrosion and
stage of corrosion propagation, respectively.
a- Calcium Nitrite
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Exposure period, week
C
o
r
r
o
s
i
o
n

p
o
t
e
n
t
i
a
l
,

-
V
Control 2N 4N 5N
b- Sodium Benzoate
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Exposure period, week
C
o
r
r
o
s
i
o
n

p
o
t
e
n
t
i
a
l
,

-
V
Control 2B 4B 5B

Figure 2 Corrosion potential of OPC mortars made with either a) calcium nitrite or (b) sodium
benzoate and exposed to 3% NaCl environment.

The results shown in Figure 2 indicated that, compared to control mix, calcium nitrite (N) was
more effective in reducing the corrosion potential measurements than sodium benzoate (B).
Increasing the content of CIA from 2 to 4 or 5% had no significant effect on corrosion potential
measurements. It seems also from the data represented in Figure 2 that the inclusion of either N or
209

B in OPC matrix resulted in extending both stages of corrosion, T
1
and T
2
. The estimated values of
T
1
and T
2
of specimens made with N seems to be higher than that of specimens made with B, where
the values of T
1
were 6, 8, 12, 8 and 10 weeks for 0%, 2%N, 4%N, 5%N and 2% B, respectively,
and the values of T
2
were 40, 52, 52, 52, 42, 40 and 22 weeks for 0%, 2%N, 4%N, 5%N, 2%B, 4%
B and 5% B, respectively. These findings may be attributed to the effective role of CIA on the
cement-phase composition, pore structure and permeation properties of OPC matrix, as described in
the previous section.

Fresh and Mechanical Properties

To the authors' knowledge, there is a little information in literature regarding the effectiveness of
CIA on the loss of fresh parameters and most of mechanical properties of OPC matrix, e.g.
compressive, tensile and bond strength. This led the authors to conduct this study to cover such
aspects. Consequently, the effectiveness of calcium nitrite and sodium benzoate on the initial
flowability (measured at zero time from mixing) of OPC mortar mixes was investigated and the
results are demonstrated in Figure 3. As seen, compared to control mix, sodium benzoate inhibitor
has reasonably reduced the initial flowability of OPC mortar and the highest reduction was
produced when 4% of sodium benzoate was utilized. While, the effect of calcium nitrite was not
significantly notable. Generally, the initial flowability of OPC mortar made with N was greater than
that made with B. However, these observations are contradictory with those made earlier by Brown
et al [8] who found that the use of calcium nitrite had led to reducing the slump of concrete.
100
150
200
250
300
0 2 4 6
CIA Content, %
I
n
i
t
i
a
l

f
l
o
w
,

m
m
N B

Figure 3 Flowability of OPC mortar made with various corrosion inhibitors.

The influence of corrosion inhibiting admixtures on the rate of loss in fresh properties of
concrete is very important for engineers on site in order to determine the suitable period between
mixing and casting. Therefore, the effect of CIA on the rate of flowability loss of OPC mortar was
studied, as shown in Figure 4. It is noted that, the % instant/initial flow of OPC mortars containing
0, 2, 4 and 5% calcium nitrite decreased with increasing the elapsed period from mixing. After 120
min from mixing, the amount of loss in flowability reached 33%, 29%, 29% and 24% for mixes
containing 2, 4 and 5 % N, respectively. Similar effect was produced when 2% sodium benzoate
was used. These findings agree with the results reported by Gaidis [7] and Brown et al [8], who
noted that the inclusion of 1 and 2% of N had led to decreasing the initial and final setting time of
OPC concrete.
On the other hand, the dosage of 4 and 5% sodium benzoate seems to retard the setting time of
OPC matrix, where the % instant/initial flow values were always greater than 100%. This means
that no flowability loss would occur at such dosages during the considered time of testing.
However, a rhyological study is required to find an explanation for such phenomena.
Table 3 represents the average results of 28-days compressive, tensile and bond strength of
OPC mortar admixed with different contents of N and B. It is apparent that all mechanical
properties of mortar made with N were always higher than the corresponding OPC mortars made
with B. For OPC mortars made with N, the compressive, tensile and bond strength results were
210

enhanced with increasing dosage of N. However, the use of N had led to the reduction of
compressive strength of OPC specimens, compared to control specimen (0% N), especially at low
dosages (2% and 4%).
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
0 30 60 90 120
Elapsed period from mixing, min
I
n
s
t
a
n
t
/
I
n
i
t
i
a
l

f
l
o
w
,

%
Control 2%N 4%N 5%N
2%B 4%B 5%B

Figure 4 Rate of flowability loss of OPC mortar made with various CIA.

On the other hand, for specimens containing sodium benzoate (B), all mechanical properties
significantly diminished as a result of inclusion B in OPC matrix, especially compressive strength.
Such a diminishing effect increases with increasing B content. Therefore, it can be recommended
that, from the mechanical properties of mortar point of view, the optimum ratio of calcium nitrite
and sodium benzoate to be used in concrete industry are 5 and 2%, respectively, for achieving the
highest possible mechanical properties. These two dosages can also be used successfully for
inhibiting/delaying corrosion, see the results shown in Figure 2 and Table 2.

Table 3 28-days compressive, tensile and bond strength of OPC mortars
containing different contents of CIA.
Code Corrosion inhibitor
Type Content
Compressive
strength
(kg/cm
2
)
Tensile
strength
(kg/cm
2
)

Bond
strength
(kg/cm
2
)

Control - - 360 21 45
2N 2% 260 24 49
4N 4% 270 26 50
5N
Calcium
nitrite
5% 370 27 52
2B 2% 270 20 45
4B 4% 210 18.5 44
5B
Sodium
benzoate
5% 150 16 41

The degrading effect of sodium benzoate on the various mechanical prosperities may be
attributed to change of cation system of OPC matrix due to the presence of sodium ions in the
inhibitor [7]. However, pore solution analysis is necessary to confirm such explanation. While, the
beneficial effects of calcium nitrite on tensile, bond and compressive strength, especially at high
dosages, may be due to the enhancement effect of calcium nitrite on cement-phase composition, as
described by the data shown in Table 2.

CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions can be drawn from the present study:-
211

1- Inclusion of calcium nitrite into OPC mixes can lead to a significant modification in its
microstructure and permeation related characteristics. Increasing the dosage of calcium nitrite
resulted in enhancing the degree of hydration and amount of CSH, and reducing the amount of
interconnected pores and rate of fluid transport. Meanwhile, sodium benzoate had a little effect
on cement-phase composition when compared to calcium nitrite.
2- Calcium nitrite reasonably reduces the corrosion activity of reinforcement more than sodium
benzoate. Generally, both stages of reinforcement corrosion (onset of corrosion and corrosion
propagation) could be extended if these inhibitors are utilized in concrete mixes.
3- The initial flowability of OPC matrix is inversely affected with increasing the dosage of
sodium benzoate and this effect would increase with increasing sodium benzoate content.
While, calcium nitrite has an insignificant role on initial flowability, on the other hand, the rate
of flowability loss is significantly increased with calcium nitrite in OPC mixes, compared to
sodium benzoate.
4- The tensile and bond strength are significantly improved as a result of admixing calcium nitrite
in OPC mixes and the amount of improvement increases with increasing its content. On the
other hand, the studied mechanical properties (compressive, tensile and bond strength) have
been degraded when sodium benzoate was used.

REFERENCES

1. Wyatte B.S., Cutting the Cost of Corrosion of Reinforced Concrete Highway Structures,
Structural Faults and Repair 93, Vol. 1, pp. 129-142, 1993.
2. Lambert, P., "Cathodic Protection of Reinforced Concrete", Society for the Cathodic Protection of
Reinforced Concrete, Report No 001.95, Bedfordshire, UK, 24 pp. Feb. 1995.
3. Arya, C. and Xu, Y., "Effect of Cement Type on Chloride Binding and Corrosion of Steel in
Concrete", Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 25, No 4, pp. 893-902, 1995.
4. Sideris, K.K. and Savva, A.E., "Durability of Mixtures Containing Calcium Nitrite Based
Corrosion Inhibitor", Cement and Concrete Composite, Vol. 27, pp. 277-287, 2005.
5. Trepanier, F.M., Hope B.B. and Hansson, C.M., "Corrosion Inhibitors in Concrete Part III. Effect
on Time to Chloride-Induced Corrosion Initiation and Subsequent Corrosion Rate of Steel in
Mortar", Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 713-718, 2001.
6. Hansson, C.M., Mammolit, L. and Hope, B.B., "Corrosion Inhibitors in Concrete- Part 1: The
Principles", Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 28, No 12, pp. 1775-1781, 1998.
7. Gaidis, J.M., "Chemistry of Corrosion Inhibitors", Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol. 26,
pp. 181-189, 2004.
8. Brown, M.C., Weyers, R.E., and Sprinkel, R.E., "Effect of Corrosion-Inhibiting Admixtures on
Material Properties of Concrete", ACI Materials, Vol. 98, No. 3, pp. 240-250, 2001.
9. Berke, N. S. and Hicks, M. C., Predicting Long-Term Durability of Steel Reinforced Concrete
with Calcium Nitrite Corrosion Inhibitor", Cement Concrete Composite, Vol. 26, pp. 191-198,
2004.
10. Batis, G., Koulombi, N. and Katsiambolas, A., "Durability of Reinforced Lightweight Mortars
with Corrosion Inhibitors", Cement and Concrete Aggregate, Vol. 18, No 2, pp. 118-125, 1996.
11. Parrott, L.J. Variations of Water Absorption Rate and Porosity with Depth from an Exposed
Concrete Surface: Effect of Exposure Conditions and Cement Type Cement and Concrete
Research, Vol. 22, pp. 1077-1088, 1992.
12. Rahman, A.A. and Glasser, F.P., "Comparative Studies of the Carbonation of Hydrated
Cements", Advances in Cement Research, Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 49- 54, 1989.
13 McCarter, W. J., "Influence of surface finish on sorptivity on concrete", Journal of Materials in
Civil Engineering, Vol. 5, No 1, pp. 130-136, 1993.

212

DEVELOPMENT OF PERLITE-GYPSUM-SLAG-LIME SLUDGE
COMPOSITE SYSTEM FOR BUILDING APPLICATION

M. S. MORSY, S. S. SHEBL AND M. ABD EL GAWAD SAIF
Department of Building Physics & Environment
Housing & Building National Research Center,
87 El Tahrir St,. Dokki, Giza, P. O. Box, 1770, Egypt

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an experimental analysis on a new composite material, perlite-
gypsum-slag-lime sludge composite system. It is shown that perlite and plaster are mutually
compatible. Mixing those materials in different volume fractions makes a lot of new building
materials. Mechanical properties of the new composite system with different alternatives have
been evaluated. The thermal conductivity and acoustical characteristics have also been
experimentally measured and those values are reported for design purposes. Fire resistance of the
composite system was also evaluated. For thermal insulation purposes, the properties of composite
system are quite good as a result of thermal conductivity tests. A quite good fire resistance of
about 45 minutes was obtained. The composite system can be used for acoustical treatment in the
range of speech frequency. Also, it is suggested to be use for building applications such as
building units, partition, plaster and false ceiling tiles.

INTRODUCTION

Thermal insulation in some situations is desirable to keep heat from escaping or entering an area.
Insulators such as perlite, vermiculite, rock wool, etc. are used to resist heat transfer and fire. In
building insulation, the R-value is an indication of how well a material insulates. Differences in
the apparent density and the effective thermal conductivity of materials arise from differences in
their porosity. Therefore, the voids filled with air contribute nothing to the weight, while the
overall conductivity of porous materials is the result of the thermal conductivity of the solid
structure and that of the air contained in it. However, the thermal conductivity of the porous
materials is related to the apparent density [1].
Gypsum is a material with a relatively small weight per unit volume under normal conditions.
For further reducing the density of gypsum, either the water ratio can be increased or adding
lightweight aggregates such as vermiculite, perlite, and expanded polystyrene. Beside these
methods aeration of gypsum is also widely used. Two methods are commonly used for the
production of porous gypsum. The first is based on the principles of forming gas bubbles in
gypsum paste through chemical additives. The second method is entrapment of air in wet gypsum
paste through whisking and tempering by using additives that reduce the internal surface tension,
resulting in aerated gypsum. Hemi-hydrated gypsum that represents the main component of plaster
is a well known building material. Its chemical formulation is CaSO
4
.0.5H
2
O. It reacts with water
in few minutes, for setting and hardening. Commercial plaster for building applications is mainly
composed of hemi-hydrate and hemi-hydrate.
Blast furnace slag is the most useful latent hydraulic material, because the amount produced
is very large and has very stable properties compared with other industrial by-products. The
granulated blast furnace slag is made by rapid quenching of molten slag formed during
manufacture of pig iron. The blast furnace slag has been used as a pozzolanic admixture in
213
Portland cement [2]. The major components of blast furnace slag are SiO
2
, CaO, MgO and Al
2
O
3
,
which are common components in commercial silicate glasses.
An industrial by-product, considered as a pollutant namely the lime sludge, is produced as a
by-product from the manufacturing process of acetylene gas. Acetylene gas produced from the
hydrolysis of calcium carbide CaC
2
, is lifted to leave behind the lime sludge. The pollutant had
been wangled by billing of the lime sludge and naturally drying in open air conditions then,
transporting into landfills.
All building materials have some acoustical properties in that they will all absorb, reflect or
transmit sound striking them. Conventionally speaking, acoustical materials are those materials
designed and used for the purpose of absorbing sound that is otherwise reflected. Sound absorption
is defined, as the incident sound that strikes a material that is not reflected back. When a sound
wave strikes an acoustical material the sound wave causes the fibers or constituents makeup of the
absorbing material to vibrate. This vibration causes tiny amounts of heat due to the friction and
thus sound absorption is accomplished by way of energy to heat conversion. The more fibrous a
material is the better the absorption; conversely denser materials are less absorptive. The sound
absorbing characteristics of acoustical materials vary significantly with frequency. In general low
frequency sounds are very difficult to absorb because of their long wavelength. On the other hand,
we are less susceptible to low frequency sounds, which can be to our benefit in many applications.
For the vast majority of conventional acoustical materials, the material thickness has the greatest
impact on the material sound absorbing qualities. While the inherent composition of the acoustical
material determines the material acoustical performance, other factors can be brought to bear to
improve or influence the acoustical performance. Incorporating an air space behind an acoustical
ceiling or wall panels often serves to improve low frequency performance.
The present work is focused on the recycling of both lime sludge and granulated blast-furnace
slag as solid waste materials. The effect of substitution of gypsum by perlite for the composite
system was also studied. Mechanical, physical and acoustical properties of the composite system
were evaluated. Fire resistance was also determined. The aim of the present work is to use the
composite system for building applications such as building units, partition, plaster and false
ceiling tiles.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK

The starting materials used in this study were gypsum, lime sludge and granulated blast-furnace
slag of Blaine surface area of about 3000, 3100 and 3000 cm
2
/g, respectively. The oxide
composition of gypsum, lime sludge and granulated blast-furnace slag has been found to be as
indicated in table (1).

Table 1. Chemical composition, %

CaO SiO
2
MgO SO
3
Cl
Ignit.
loss
Al
2
O
3
Fe
2
O
3
K
2
O Na
2
O
Gypsum 38.02 1.52 53.4 0.01 7.38
Lime-Sluge 67.01 1.21 0.29 0.19 0.01 27.53 2.25 0.08 0.16
Slag 33.76 38.6 5.36 0.55 0.07 0.2 13.2 3.53 0.66 1.33

The lime sludge is composed mainly of Ca(OH)
2
. The blended compositions by weight are
shown in table 2. The pastes were cast in 5cm cubic steel molds, cured in a humidity chamber at
room temperature for 24 hours, then demolded and cured at room temperature until the time of
214
testing. For each test the average results of the two close values are reported. The compressive
strength of the hydrated pastes was determined after 7days.

Table 2. Mix compositions of different mixtures, %

Mix No. Gypsum Lime Sludge Slag Perlite
M0 100 0 0 0
M1 70 10 20 0
M2 60 10 20 10
M3 50 10 20 20
M4 40 10 20 30

For thermal conductivity measurements, samples of 20x20x4 cm dimensions were molded,
while samples of 30x30x2 cm dimensions for fire resistance tests. Thermal conductivity
measurements were carried out according to ASTM C518 standard [3]. Many runs as a function of
the working temperature had been evaluated. Fire resistance property was tested according to
ASTM E119 standard [4]. An electrical furnace of 1200
o
C heating capacity had been used. Fire
resistance properties were determined when the temperature of the unexposed surface reached to
about 140
o
C above the ambient temperature.
PULSE Material Testing Tube is a complete and fully integrated system for acoustic
measurements in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 3150 kHz, fig. (1), [5, 6, 7]. The system
consists of:
PULSE Material Testing.
Program Type 7758.
Impedance Tube Kit (100 Hz 3150 Hz) Type 4206 A.
Power Amplifier Type 2706 and PULSE.
The Multi-analyzer System Type 3560.

Figure 1. Arrangement of sound absorption coefficient measuring system
215
The system is based on the two- microphone, transfer-function test method, which means that
measurements take only a fraction of the time required by traditional, standing-wave, ratio
systems. Using two fixed microphones, the test system makes simultaneous measurements at all
frequencies of interest.
Measurements are based on the two-microphone transfer-function method as described in the
ISO 10534-2 [8] and ASTM 1050-98 standards [6]. The two-microphone impedance measurement
tube is used for measuring the acoustic absorption coefficient, acoustic reflection coefficient and
normalized impedance of small test samples. The impedance measurement tube is supplied with
two specially designed 1/4-inch Microphones (Type 4187) with preamplifiers.
PULSE Material Testing software Type 7758 works in conjunction with PULSE, the multi-
analyzer system and Impedance Tube Kit (100 Hz-3150 Hz) Type 4206 A. The two microphone
method of measuring the acoustic absorption coefficient involves the decomposition of a
broadband stationary random signal into its incident (Pi) and reflected (Pr) components. The signal
is generated by a sound source, and the incident and reflected components are determined from the
relationship between the acoustic pressures measured by microphone at two locations on the wall
of the tube.
The different mixtures as cylindrical shape samples of 63 mm diameter with different
thicknesses of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mm were molded for acoustic measurements.


Figure 2 illustrates that, substitution of gypsum by perlite affects strongly the density and
compressive strength of the composite system. Increasing the perlite volume fraction of the
composite system to 10, 20, and 30% with respect to M0, decrease the density to about 55, 50, and
35%, respectively, from its initial value. Consequently, the compressive strength suffers a rapid
decrease to about 12, 9, and 3%, respectively, from its initial value.
It can be seen also that, replacing gypsum by 10% lime-sludge and 20% slag without any
perlite, causes the density to decrease to about 95% w.r.t. M0 and the compressive strength to 63%
from its original value. As a result, it can be concluded that using perlite in the composite system
effectively decreasing both density and compressive strength.
Figure 3 shows the effect of substitution of gypsum by Lime-sludge, slag and perlite on the
thermal conductivity as a function of the average working temperature. It can be seen that,
replacing of gypsum by lime-sludge and slag (i.e. M1), increases the thermal conductivity by
about 20% from its original value at ambient temperature and about 140% at elevated temperature.
It can be seen also that, use of perlite up to 20% volume fraction decreases the thermal
conductivity for the tested temperature range of (40 75
o
C) while, increasing the volume fraction
any more, slightly affects the thermal conductivity of the composite system in the undesirable
direction.
It can also be seen that, for the composite system that has only gypsum, the thermal
conductivity generally has downward trend as the working temperature increases, while, adding
lime-sludge and slag to the composite system stabilize the thermal conductivity as the working
temperature increases.
216

Figure 3. Thermal conductivity for different systems at different temperatures
Temperature (
o
C)
T
h
e
r
m
a
l

c
o
n
d
u
c
t
i
v
i
t
y

(
W
/
m
.
o
C
)

0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
M0
M1
M2
M3
M4
Figure 2.: Compressive Strength with corresponding density for
different mixtures of the composite system
D
e
n
s
i
t
y
*
1
0
-
1
(
k
g
/
m
3
)
System
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e
S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h
(
M
P
a
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
M0 M1 M2 M3 M4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Density
Compressive Strength
217
Figure 4 indicates the effect of using pollutants on the fire resistance. It can be seen that, the
traditional gypsum sample has a fire resistance of 20 minutes. Use of lime-sludge and blast furnace
slag beside gypsum, improve the fire resistance to 25 minutes, while using of 10% volume fraction
of perlite improve the fire resistance to 35 minutes. Increasing the volume fraction of perlite to
30% improve the fire resistance of the composite system to 45 minutes.
Figure 5 shows the sound absorption coefficient of sample M1

with 10 and 30 mm thickness.
While, figure 6 shows the sound absorption coefficient of sample M4

with 10 and 50 mm
thickness. From these figures, it can be illustrated that the sound absorption coefficient increases
as the frequency increases and also as the thickness increases. This is due to the increasing
attenuation of sound wave through the material, the best results lie in the high frequency range
(from 630 Hz to 3000 Hz). This range is active for speech frequency band.
Figure 7 shows the effect of mass density of the samples on the sound absorption coefficient.
It can be noticed that the sound absorption coefficient increases as the density of the material
decreases. This is due to the increase of the porosity of the material which permits the sound wave
to penetrate inside the material and damped through it.
As a result, controlling the perlite volume fraction has very important effects on both thermal
conductivity and fire resistance, while degradation for both density and compressive strength had
occurred.

Figure 4. Fire resistance for different systems
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Furnace M0 M1 M2 M3 M4
Time (minutes)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
o
C
)

218

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
100 125 160 200 250 315 400 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150
Frequency (Hz)
S
o
u
n
d

a
b
s
o
r
p
t
i
o
n

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

A130 A110
Figure 5. Sound absorption coefficient of sample M1 with 10 and 30 mm thickness
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
100 125 160 200 250 315 400 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150
Frequency (Hz)
S
o
u
n
d

a
b
s
o
r
p
t
i
o
n

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

A450 A410
Figure 6. Sound absorption coefficient of sample M4 with 10 and 50 mm thickness
219
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
100 125 160 200 250 315 400 500 630 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150
Frequency (Hz)
S
o
u
n
d

a
b
s
o
r
p
t
i
o
n

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

A110 A210 A410

Figure 7. Sound absorption coefficient of sample M1, M2 and M4 with 10 mm thickness

CONCLUSION

Recycling of pollutants is a very important strategy helping in developing a clean environment.
Lime-sludge and blast furnace slag are very important byproducts, and can be added to gypsum
producing a dense and fire resistant recycled product has a compressive strength of about 63%
compared to that of gypsum alone. Using perlite as a part of the composite system improved the
thermal properties but reduced the compressive strength.
It can be also concluded that, the sound absorption coefficient of the composite system
increases as the frequency and thickness of the material increase. But the absorption increases as
the density of the material decreases. The best absorption of the samples lies in the range of speech
frequency (from 360 Hz to 3000 Hz); therefore, it can be used in acoustical treatment in the speech
frequency range.
Perlite-Gypsum-Slag-Lime sludge composite system can be used successfully as building
units, partitions and false ceiling tiles.

REFERENCES

1. IHVE Guide, "Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers", London, 1971.
2. M. Heikal, H. El-Didamony and M. S. Morsy, "Limestone Filled Pozzolanic Cement",
Cem. Concre. Res., Vol. 30, pp. 1827-1834, 2000.
220
3. ASTM C518-04, "Standard Test Method for Steady-State Thermal Transmission
Properties by Means of the Heat Flow Meter Apparatus", 2004.
4. ASTM E119-05a, "Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and
Materials", 2005.
5. B&K "Impedance Tube Kit Catalogue (100 Hz 3.2 kHz), type 4206 A", Denmark,
2004.
6. ASTM E1050-98, "Standard Test Method for Impedance and Absorption of Acoustical
Materials Using a Tube, Two Microphones, and a Digital Frequency Analysis System",
1998.
7. ASTM C423-02a, "Standard Test Method for Sound Absorption and Sound Absorption
Coefficients by the Reverberation Room Method", 2002.
8. ISO 10534-2:2001, Acoustics. "Determination of Sound Absorption Coefficient and
Impedance in Impedance Tubes. Transfer-Function Method", 2001.

221
222

A DRAFT CODE FOR DESIGNING DURABLE CONCRETE
STRUCTURES IN THE ARABIAN GULF

B. E. JOHN, M. N. HAQUE AND H. AL-KHAIAT

Civil Engineering Department, Kuwait University
P.O.Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait.

ABSTRACT: The severity of the Arabian Gulf environment demands certain provisions for a
design code that would cater to local challenges in concreting. With this view in mind, an
apparent climatic divide was identified for the Arabian Peninsula viz. Hot-Dry and Hot-Humid
zones which were further classified into an order of exposures, detailing the potential dangers to
concrete durability. Moreover, suggestions are included based on both research and experience in
the Gulf, to practice essential quantitative and qualitative checks on concrete mix design
parameters. It is intended that this contribution would help formulate a design code for concrete
durability in this part of the world.

INTRODUCTION

The Arabian Gulf environment has long been eyed for its adverse impact on concrete structures.
The combination of high ambient temperature, low relative humidity, salt-contaminated dust, sea
water and underground salts makes up for the destructive elements that exacerbate concrete
deterioration in the region. Typically, one of the reasons speculated for such poor performance of
concrete has been the use of international building codes of concrete practice such as ACI-318
1
,
AS 3600
2
, EuroCode
3
and likewise. These codes catered more to their own countries of origin.
But when they are followed for the Gulf; their provisions fail to account for the harsh
environmental conditions. Hence the development of a regional code of practice would help deal
with the challenges of hot weather and various exposures.

With durability taking the foreground these days, such a code must duly incorporate all
factors that ensure the same viz. type and amount of cement, aggregates, methods of curing and its
duration, cover, water-cement ratio, chloride and sulfate limits and minimum compressive strength
required for different kinds of exposure. These provisions are vital in maintaining the structural
integrity of concrete.

Upholding this concept, the authors have highlighted significant exposure conditions for the
Arabian Gulf in order to suggest appropriate measures of concrete practice for long-term
durability. These recommendations are designed to help draft a concrete code to benefit
construction practice in the region.

223

EXPOSURE CONDITIONS IN THE ARABIAN GULF

An analysis of the climate, geology and location of the Arabian Peninsula reveals that this region
does not have a uniform environment throughout. Broadly speaking, this region can be
differentiated by two climatic zones where one zone encloses parts of the Peninsula in and around
inland deserts and the other encloses those parts near the water bodies viz. the Arabian Gulf,
Arabian Sea and the Red Sea. Hence these zones are named as Hot-Dry (inland) and Hot-
Humid (coastal) zones as illustrated in figure 1. It is thought that such a classification would
enable better concreting practices respecting the nature and location of each zone.

Furthermore, these zones, by itself, are a confluence of exposures; otherwise known as
microclimates
4
(immediate surroundings of a structure). Microclimates of a structure determine
the potential for deterioration from various elements in the environment. In the following sections,
the authors focus on the Arabian (Persian) Gulf strip of the Peninsula and classify the exposures
based on both their severity and location from the sea to explain the actual extent of hot-dry and
hot-humid conditions in the Gulf.

Classification based on degree of threat to concrete

This classification is described in Table 1 and is similar to that found in design codes such as BS:
8110: Part I: 1985
5
and IS: 456 1994
6
.

Table 1. Classification based on degree of threat
Exposure Description
Mild
Structures in dry and chloride-free service environments
Moderate
Structures submerged in water, structures sheltered from rains, salt spray and heavy
winds, structures exposed to dry winds, underground structures.
Severe
Structures exposed to spray or abrasive action of sea water, alternate wetting and drying,
structures exposed to corrosive fumes in industrial areas, underground structures.

Figure 1. Hot-Dry and Hot-Humid Zones of the Arabian Peninsula
224

Classification based on proximity to the sea

A survey conducted in Kuwait pointed out how the location of a structure from the sea could affect
the rate of chloride and sulfate ingress and also the depth of carbonation in concrete
7, 8
. Figures 2
6 validate the idea behind this exposure classification where structures located within 0 2 km
from the sea are recognized as coastal, those within 3 10 km are near-coastal and those above
10 km are inland. It is found that coastal structures (Figure 2) have a yearly surface chloride
increment of 0.16 kg/m
3
of concrete while it is nearly less than half of that (0.07 kg/m
3
) for inland
structures (Figure 3). These values, though highly conservative, are used for comparison since
only a combination of factors (cover, concrete quality, chloride source etc.) can decide the exact
rate of chloride build-up on the surface.

Likewise, the chloride content, sulfate content and carbonation depths in structures of the
same age vary with distance from the sea. The chloride profile (Figure 4) has a declining slope
indicating the decreasing severity of sea exposure with distance
7
. The sulfate profile (Figure 5)
records high values both near the coast and further inland since soils and groundwater here are rich
in sulfates
7
. The carbonation profile (Figure 6) has high values (12 14 mm) near the coast due to
high heat and relative humidity; decreases with decreasing humidity as it approaches inland and
rises further inland. Haque and Al-Khaiat
8
have speculated this rise in areas inland, possibly due
to the vast drop in temperature during the night. All this implies that structures located near the
coast have a greater risk of concrete deterioration such as reinforcement corrosion while structures
inland face other challenges arising from climate and soil conditions. Hence Table 2 presents a
possible classification of the Arabian Gulf into GM (Gulf Marine), GC (Gulf Coastal), GI (Gulf
Inland) and GL (Gulf Low-Risk) exposures along with their effects on concrete structures.

Figure 2. Surface chloride build-up
near the coast
7

Figure 3. Surface chloride build-up
further inland
7
Figure 5. Sulfate-distance profile
7
Figure 4. Chloride-distance profile
7
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 10 20 30 40 50
Distance from sea (km)
C
h
l
o
r
i
d
e

(
%

w
t
.

o
f

c
e
m
e
n
t
)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 10 20 30 40 50
Distance from s ea (km)
S
u
l
f
a
t
e
s

(
%

w
t
.

o
f

c
e
m
e
n
t
)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
2 4 6 8 10
time in years
C
h
l
o
r
i
d
e

(
%

w
t
.

o
f

c
e
m
e
n
t
)
Actual Data
Linear (Actual
Data)
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
2 4 6 8 10
time in years
C
h
l
o
r
i
d
e

(
%

w
t
.

o
f

c
e
m
e
n
t
)
Actual Data
Linear (Actual
Data)
225

Table 2. Classification based on distance from the sea
Exposure Distance
from sea
Subdivision Description of attack
GM
1
Spray
Active corrosion due to
aerosols and salts
GM
2
Splash/tidal
Acute chloride-induced
corrosion due to sea waves
and current abrasion
Gulf
Marine
Zone
GM
0-100 m
within the
shore
GM
3
Submerged
Minimum corrosion risk
Chloride and sulfate
decomposition
Biological attack
Gulf
Coastal
Zone
GC
100 m from
the shore up
to 5 km
-
Dampness on structures
attracting salts and fungal
growth
Chloride build-up from salt
spray, soils and ground water
Carbonation due to high
relative humidity (55-75%)
Sulfate-rich coastal soils
induce sulfate attack
GI
A

Within
capillary-
rise zone (i.e.
3m or less
above water
table)
Attack due to sulfates and
chlorides present in soil and
groundwater from either
natural or industrial sources
Gulf
Inland
Zone
GI 5-50 km
GI
B

Above
capillary-
rise zone
Deterioration due to salt-
weathering/carbonation
and/or dry winds carrying
aggressive salts
Gulf
Low -
Risk
Zone
GL
50 km and
above
-
Occurrence of contamination
or attack is low

Figure 6. Carbonation depth-distance profile
8
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
0 5 10 15 20
Distance from sea (km)
D
e
p
t
h

o
f

c
a
r
b
o
n
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
226

The hot-dry and hot-humid climates are better understood in the order of predominance of
specific Gulf exposures as shown in Table 3. Also, these exposures can be attributed a degree of
severity thereby creating a link between the two classes of exposure (Figure 7). It is to be noted that
GI
B
exposure has been grouped under 3 different categories such that when it involves salt
weathering, the danger can be highly moderate to severe. Where carbonation is more likely, it
would be of moderate threat whereas with dry winds laden with salts, it would only have a mild to
moderate degree of threat.

Table 3. Exposures in the descending order
of predominance for each zone
Hot-Dry Zone Hot-Humid Zone
GI GM
GL GC

CONCRETE CODE - SPECIFICATIONS

Cement

Along with other factors, the amount of Portland cement used in concrete is hugely responsible for
the ill-effects of cracking due to plastic shrinkage and thermal gradients resulting from cement
hydration in the region
9
. Furthermore, lime, a product of cement hydration is susceptible to
chemical attack. Hence, an injudicious use of cement content would only do more harm than
good. Also the quality of cement used greatly controls the permeability of the hydrated paste.
The authors suggest that an amount of Portland cement maintained at 350 to 410 kg/m
3
of concrete
with water-cement ratios not greater than 0.45 or 0.5, should be sufficient to obtain concrete of
adequate strength, density and durability for the Gulf.

Cover

The cover to reinforcement is the breastplate of concrete in aggressive exposure. Apparently, the
rate of progress of carbonation and chlorides in concrete could be predicted as a function of the
square root of time
10
as shown in equation (1) wheret is the time of measurement in years.

Depth = kt (1)

On study, it is observed that k has a value of 4.5 mm/yr
1/2
and above for chloride penetration
in hot-humid exposures whereas it is below 4 mm/yr
1/2
in hot-dry exposures for concrete of
compressive strength 20 - 30 MPa. At the same time, carbonation penetrates at a rate k
equivalent to 10 times B, where B is a constant depending on the strength of concrete and
storage conditions
11
. Haque and Al-Khaiat have investigated the values of B in a survey
Figure 7. Relationship model between
the two classes of exposure
S
e
v
e
r
e
M
o
d
e
r
a
t
e
-
s
e
v
e
r
e
M
o
d
e
r
a
t
e
M
i
ld
-
M
o
d
e
r
a
t
e
M
i
ld
GM1,GM2
GIB,GIA,GC
GIB
GIB,GM3
GL
Severity of Exposures
227

conducted on various structures in Kuwait. Its value was approximated as 0.3 for concrete of
compressive strength 30 to 50 MPa
8
. These values of penetration rates are thought to be
instrumental in determining proper covers for concrete structures exposed to different
environments. A minimum cover thickness of 40 mm is an agreeable specification for the region.
Table 4 specifies concrete covers for various exposures.

Table 4. Recommended mix design parameters for reinforced ordinary Portland cement concrete
*

Type of Exposure Minimum Cover
(mm)
Maximum water-
cement ratio
Minimum 28-day
compressive strength (MPa)
GM (Gulf Marine) 60-80
**
0.35-0.4 35-45
GC (Gulf Coastal) 60-70
**
0.4 35-40
GI (Gulf Inland) 50-60 0.45 30-45
GL (Gulf Low-risk) 25-40 0.5 30
* Quantities in the table are provided in ranges since above exposures vary in their degree of threat from mild to severe.
** 70-80 mm cover should only be adopted in the event that other measures of reinforcement protection are not feasible or
ineffective.

Curing

This might be considered a low-key and tedious operation but its negligence, especially in the
Gulf, could highly impair the concrete, calling upon huge costs in terms of repair of cracks and
reconstruction. Curing can be done both by external wetting and membranes. But for Gulf
conditions, membrane curing should not be counted as a sole alternative to wet curing. Rather
both should go hand in hand such that the membranes (hessian) are kept wet permanently.
Haque
12
further brought out that a mandatory initial curing period of 7 days is satisfactory for
achieving good quality concrete. A more general rule of thumb is to continue curing until concrete
has attained nearly 70% of its design strength. Moreover, sea water should never be used for
curing.

Minimum Compressive Strength

It was a long-held myth that compressive strength and durability of concrete are synonymous
when in reality; strength is only one of the indicators of durability. Today, high strength is
achieved by implementing high quality materials, lower water-cement ratios, state-of-the-art
superplasticisers and so on. Haque and Khaiat
13
recommend that structural reinforced concrete in
the Gulf should have a minimum 28-day compressive strength of 30 MPa. This is essential to
ward off the effects of harsh exposure. Refer Table 4 for desired compressive strength.

Protection from chloride attack

Reinforcement holds out much longer in a corrosion-free, passive environment offered by concrete
but this fails, when concrete renders itself inadequate with time in a hot and aggressive
environment. Without mentioning the importance of cement, cover and curing all over again,
plain concrete with low water-cement ratio (0.35 - 0.5) is found to have slower chloride
penetration and lesser sensitivity to carbonation and external chemical attack
14
. The
impermeability of concrete does not arise with the use of low water-cement ratios solely but also
comes with proper mixing, consolidation, placing and curing techniques.

It is crucial that concrete mixes adhere to the limits set for chlorides due to huge risks of
corrosion from external salt contamination encountered in the Gulf. The critical levels of chloride
228

that would trigger corrosion in reinforcement vary from code to code. For durability performance
in the Gulf, total (acid-soluble) chloride content of around 0.15 - 0.2 % by weight of cement and
0.3 % by weight of cement would serve as reasonable limits for highly aggressive and moderate
exposures respectively. Table 5 presents these limits for reinforced concrete using ordinary
Portland cement in different exposures. However, all pre-stressed concrete should have chloride
limits never exceeding 0.08 - 0.1%.
Table 5. Maximum limits for chlorides in concrete at the time of placing
Type of exposure Max. total chlorides (% weight of
cement)
Mild 0.4
Moderate 0.3
Severe 0.15 - 0.2

Protection from sulfate attack

Sulfate contamination from both inherent mix ingredients and external sources (soil and
groundwater) has a disintegrating effect on concrete causing the formation of large cracks. Sulfate
attack can be controlled by the use of highly impermeable concrete and more recently, surface
coatings provide an added safeguard for footings and foundations located in areas susceptible to a
rise in ground water table. Guides like the CIRIA
15
recommend that the amount of water soluble
sulfates in the concrete mix be limited to 4 % by weight of cement. Haque and Al-Khaiat
7
have
stated that sulfate contamination in the concrete mix should not be allowed to exceed 2 % by
weight of cement.

CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions provide a gist of the specifications discussed.
(1) The Arabian Gulf is not influenced by a single climatic pattern but is a combination of
extreme humid conditions near the coast and lesser humid conditions, inland. Also, the various
exposures are grouped according to their severity and proximity to the sea.
(2 Cement content of 350 - 410 kg/m
3
of concrete is satisfactory for high strength and durability.
(3) Maximum water-cement ratios in the range of 0.35 to 0.5 are recommended for ordinary
Portland cement concrete.
(4) Concrete structures perform better in severe conditions with minimum compressive strength
specified in the range of 30 to 45 MPa.
(5) Curing should take place uninterruptedly during the first one week of placing.
(6) Concrete covers for each exposure must be strictly followed to prevent external attack.
(7) Abidance of limits set for both chlorides and sulfates in concrete enable high performance of
structures.

It is hoped that these suggestions would assist engineers and researchers involved in durability
studies to unitedly combine all efforts towards the launching of a design code for the Arabian
Gulf.

229

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the office of the Vice President of
Research, Kuwait University in the project EV09/00 for studies on the durability of concrete in the
Arabian Gulf.

REFERENCES

1. ACI 318M-95 & 02, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary,
American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI, USA.

2. Standards Australia, Concrete Structures, AS 3600, Sydney, Australia, 1994.

3. European Standard, Concrete Specification, Performance, Production and Conformity, BS EN
206-1, 2001.

4. P. Fookes, Concrete in Hot, Dry and Salty Environments, Concrete, Jan/Feb 1995, pp. 34-
39.

5. British Standard Institution, The Structural Use of Concrete, BS 8110: Part 1:1985.

6. Indian Standard, Code of Practice for Plain and Reinforced Concrete, IS: 456 1994, Bureau
of Indian Standards, pp. 28-29.

7. M.N. Haque and H. Al-Khaiat, Durable Concrete Structures in a Chloride-Sulfate Rich
Environment, Concrete International, 21(9), September 1999, pp. 49-52.

8. M.N. Haque and H. Al-Khaiat, Carbonation of Concrete Structures in Hot Dry Coastal
Regions, Cement and Concrete Composites, 19, 1997, pp. 123-129.

9. A. Neville, Good Reinforced Concrete in the Arabian Gulf, Materials and Structures,
33(234), December 2000, pp. 655-664.

10. Walker, M., Guide to evaluation and repair of concrete structures in the Arabian Peninsula,
Concrete Society Special Publication CS 137, 2002, pp. 31-35.

11. I. Sims, The Assessment of Concrete for Carbonation, Concrete, 28(6), 1994, pp. 33-38.

12. M.N. Haque, Give it a Week: Seven days initial curing, Concrete International, 20(9),
1998, pp. 45-48.

13. H. Al-Khaiat, and M.N. Haque, Carbonation of some Coastal Concrete Structures in
Kuwait, ACI Materials Journal, 94, 1997, pp. 602-607.

14. Aitcin, P.C., Durable Concrete Current Practice and Future Trends, Concrete Technology
Past, Present and Future, Conference Proceedings of V. Mohan Malhotra Symposium, SP-
144, 1994, pp. 85-104.

15. Walker, M. and Ted, Guide to Construction of reinforced concrete in the Arabian Peninsula,
CIRIA Publication C 577, Concrete Society Special Publication CS 136, 2002.
230

HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE USING SLAGS AS
MINERAL ADDITIVES AND STEEL FIBRES

M. CHEMROUK, B. BOULEKBACHE, M. HAMRAT and T. TAHENI
University of Science & Technology Houari Boumediene, Algiers.
BP 32 El-Alia, Bab-Ezzouar, Algiers, Algeria.

ABSTRACT : With the continuous advances in materials technology, the qualities of concrete
are being continuously improved and compressive strengths well in excess of 40 MPa are
commonly achieved industrially in many parts of the world. The use of this type of concrete is
justified not only by its short term structural properties, but, most of all, by its long term durability
which contributes towards a sustainable built environment for future generations. This highly
performing concrete material may be achieved with industrial by-products such as blast furnace
slags as fine additives; this relieves the environment from none-biodegradable damping materials
and contributes towards a green environment. These fine additives densen the structure of the
material and improve its construction properties.
However, with the increase in strength, the hardened concrete material becomes brittle and hence
liable to sudden and catastrophic failures, particularly in seismic regions such as the north of
Algeria. To improve its ability to absorb energy and deform before failing, and hence to behave in
a ductile manner, steel fibres are added to the concrete at the mixing stage. The steel fibres will
also improve the tensile strength of the hardened concrete, considered as the main weakness in the
structural properties of concrete in general, and restrain the cracks from widening, eventhough
their distribution is random within the internal structure of the material. The extent of the
improvement in ductility and tensile resistance is, however, dependant on a number of parameters
related to the fibres such as their type, their geometry and the quantity used. Furthermore, the
geometry and the quantity of the fibres used influence directly the workability of the fresh
concrete and its placing ability.
The present work reports on tests carried out on high performance concrete containing slags as
mineral additives. When using steel fibres in the mix, the test results highlighted the improvement
in the ductility of the material as well as its tensile strength.

INTRODUCTION

Avoiding brittle failure due to cracks in a structure is one of the major concerns of structural
engineers. This is even more so with the continuous advances in materials technology resulting in
concrete having higher strengths and hence becoming more fragile as ductility is inversely
proportional to strength. From strength and durability point of view, high performance concrete is
emerging as a challenging building material
1
in terms of strength as well as durability since
becoming denser and impermeable.
231
The improvement of the mechanical properties is however making this material more brittle
and explosive and less ductile at failure than already is ordinary concrete, particularly in tension.
The brittle behaviour of concrete is particularly troublesome in seismic regions and have caused
the losses of many lives and induced unquantified damages
2
, even though, confining
reinforcement have been used. Ductility is thus emerging as a major design factor in seismic
regions. It is, thus, unreliable to use high performance concrete where ductility is needed to absorb
the shaking energy developed by seismic movements, unless a solution to make such a material
more ductile is found.
Steel fibres added to the fresh concrete mix in the same manner as aggregate appear to be
rendering the hardened concrete material more ductile and deformable
3
. Indeed, in addition to
improving the strengths in tension and in compression, the use of fibres, randomly oriented, in
concrete is found to help bridging and arresting the cracks formed in the brittle concrete matrix
under applied stresses and enhance the ductility and energy absorption of the composite material.
The strength improvement is however, limited according to a number of research work reported in
the literature and to the present investigation.
The role of fibres in concrete is then to transform the brittle behaviour of the material into a
ductile one which ensures security at ultimate loading states and to restrain cracking from opening
wider at the service states. By bridging across a crack, fibres take up partially the tension force
and hence cracked concrete does loose completely its tensile strength after cracking. A residual
tensile strength still remains in fibre concrete after cracking, contrary to unreinforced concrete.
The importance of this residual tensile strength depends on the efficiency of the fibres in terms of
bonding and anchorage and on their quantity in the concrete mix.
Crack widths should be controlled to acceptable limits in reinforced concrete members for
different reasons
4, 5, 6
such as control of deflection, corrosion protection, impermeability,
durability, maintenance of integrity and appearance of the structure. Fibres represent a restraint to
tensile stresses which cause cracks in concrete along the principal directions, whether it is in the
flexural zone or in the shear zone. They modify the nature of cracks by sewing them and hence
make the concrete material more ductile, needing more energy for the cracks to diffuse and
propagate and hence the structure will be capable of large deformations at near ultimate that will
give ample warning of failure. A ductile behaviour of a structure enables the redistribution of
internal bending moment forces through the hinging phenomenon within the structural members
and prevents instantaneous and brittle collapses that endanger lives.
A building material is said to present a ductile behaviour when it is able to show, under
sensibly constant load, strains largely in excess of the elastic limit. Mathematically, the ductility
factor could be defined as the ultimate strain
u
over the limiting elastic strain
e
, or equally the
ultimate curvature over that at the end of the elastic range. It is well established and reported in the
literature that as the strength of concrete increases, the ultimate strain
u
decreases and hence the
ratio
u
/
e
decreases, translating a reduction in the ductility of high performance concrete in
comparison with ordinary concrete. To take full advantage of this material, particularly in
seismically active regions, its ductility must be improved.
To achieve this objective, the present work attempts to make into evidence the positive aspect
of steel fibres when added to a high performance concrete mix using slags as mineral additives to
densen the structure of the material. The use of this industrial by-product relieves the environment
from industrial dumping that is not biodegradable and hence yields to a green and friendlier
environment.

232
TESTING PROCEDURE
Fibres have always been used to reinforce brittle materials since the old times, when straw was
used to reinforce unbaked earth bricks, horse hair was used to reinforce plaster and lime mortar,
and in more recent times asbestos fibres to reinforce cement paste which became widely used
throughout the world. It is partly because of the health hazards associated with asbestos fibres that
other types of fibres have been developed in the last three or four decades. The type of fibres to be
used depends on the targeted objective such as improving cohesion at the fresh state for pumping
ease, for projected concrete through faults and for concrete in slopes, improving impermeability
of mortars, limiting cracking, improving ductility, improving toughness and resistance to impacts.
In the present experimental work, the aim is to improve the ductility and crack limitation of high
performance concrete and to a lesser extent improve the mechanical properties of the material. For
this targeted objectives, steel fibres are the relevant ones.
Material Properties:
Ordinary Portland cement containing 50.3% of C
3
S, 28.5% of C
2
S and 6.4% of C
3
A was used. The
last component requires more mixing water and hence its content should not be more than 10% in
a cement
7
for obtaining higher performance concrete. The specific surface of the cement is 3100
cm
2
/g, just short of what is normally recommended for obtaining hpc concrete
6, 7
. Aggregate
consisted of a river sand having 4 mm maximum particle size and a crushed calcareous coarse
aggregate of 10 mm maximum particle size. Table 1 presents the main characterisristics of the
aggregate used in the concrete mix.

Table 1. Properties of aggregates
Characteristics Sand
Coarse
Aggregate
Specific Gravity (SG) 2.6 2.7
Los Angeles coefficient (LA) / 23
Shape coefficient (Cv) / 0.24
Sand Equivalent (SE) 88 /
Fineness Modulus (Mf) 2.80 /

The steel fibres used are high strength cold-drawn wires, supplied freely by the manufacturer.
They present anchor hooks at both fibre ends for improvement of anchorage in concrete and are
supplied in plates of 40 to 44 fibres glued together with a water soluble material as in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Shape of fibres used in the concrete mix

Since fibres are added to the concrete mix, they can be assimilated to a special aggregate with
a very elongated shape and having high tensile stresses that can improve the tensile strength of the
233
cement matrix and restrain the cracks by sewing them and hence improving the post cracking
behaviour of the hardened cement paste with maintained loaded capacity under increasing
deformations. Such improvement in structural behaviour will be achieved with sufficient steel
fibres in the mix and with fibre shapes that favour bonding and anchorage. In this sense, longer
fibres with deformed ends would be effective. However, experimental evidence reported in the
literature
8, 9, 10
has concluded that higher fibre lengths result in workability problem for the fresh
mix and fibres may not be uniformly distributed within the concrete matrix. It is argued that for
better results, fibre lengths should not be more than about four times the maximum particle size of
aggregate with an absolute maximum length of about 60 mm. Moreover, the number of fibres per
unit weight increases with a reduced diameter of fibres. Hence, it can be concluded that the
efficiency of fibres increases with the ratio l/d, length over diameter, commonly known as the
aspect ratio in concrete fibre industry. The quantity of fibres used in any concrete mix is better
defined as the volume occupied by the fraction of fibres, V
f
, in relation to the total volume of the
structural element. In the present work, the aspect ratio l/d of the fibres was kept constant at 64 and
the fraction of volume occupied by fibres, V
f
(volume percentage of fibres), varied from 0 % to 1.5
% as in table 2 below.

Table 2. Properties of steel fibres

Length Diameter
Aspect Ratio
l/d
Specific
Gravity
Tensile
strength
(MPa)
Elastic
Modulus
(GPa)
Number of
fibres per
kg
Length (m)
of fibres/kg
35 mm 0,55 mm 64 8.0 1100 210 14500 508

To ensure an even distribution of the fibres, the mix content containing the fibre plates is first
mixed dry to dislocate mechanically the fibres and then water is added in the mix. The glue
dissolves under the effect of water and the fibres become homogeneously distributed in the fresh
concrete mix. It is to be noted that the mixing time should be a little bit more than required for
ordinary concrete.
Mix Design
The present study is a part of an extensive research programme on high performance concrete. The
use of mineral additives consisted of blast furnace slags, finely ground to a specific surface 4000
cm
2
/g, higher than that of the cement particles and used in proportion of 15% by weight of cement.
This industrial by-product is brought from a steel plant in the eastern part of Algeria. Mineral
additives are known to densen the structure of the material and hence to fulfil an in-fill granular
role and attenuate the heat resulting from the hydration reaction of the cement. By filling all the
gaps, they reduce the loss of water by evaporation and by bleeding. In addition, mineral slags
increase the paste content, enabling the steel fibres to move freely without being obstructed by
aggregate. They also react, to a certain extent, with hydrated components of the cement. The use
of slags from the steel industry as mineral additives is motivated by environmental aspects in the
hope of protecting our nature from solid wastes.
Water/cement ratio is a very important parameter for achieving high performance concrete as
this parameter, which varies from 0.5 to 0.7 for ordinary concrete depending on the climate and on
the types of aggregate used, should be less than 0.4. The lack of workability should be overcome
by the use of adequate superplasticisers
1, 7
. In the present work, The W/(C+Slags) ratio was 0.36
and kept constant for all the specimens cast since one type of concrete was fabricated leading to an
average stength at 28 days of 60 MPa. Superplaticisers in a liquid form, based on
234
polycarboxylates locally produced, were used in a proportion of 1.4% by weight of cement. The
studied parameter in the present work was the effect of the fibres on the behaviour of hpc. Five
volume fractions of steel fibres were used in the mix as in the table below. It is reported
10
that
due to workability problem that may result from the use of high quantities of fibres, the volume
fractions should not exceed 3% even with the use of superplasticisers. The mixing ingredients are
retained in table 3 below.

Table 3. Mixing Proportions of the ingredients (kg/m
3
)
Volume fractions of fibre (V
f
)
Ingredients
0 % 0.5 % 0.75 % 1 % 1.5 %
Cement 450 450 450 450 450
Slags (15%) 67.5 67.5 67.5 67.5 67.5
Water 186.3 186.3 186.3 186.3 186.3
W /(C+ Slags)) 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36
Sand 0/4 710 710 710 710 710
Coarse
Aggregate 3/8
1010 1010 1010 1010 1010
Superplasticisers 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3
Fibres 0 40 60 80 120
Slump test 11 cm 10 cm 9 cm 9 cm Dry

Testing
The test specimens were vibrated externally since internal vibration might disturb the orientation
of the fibres. After 24 hours of casting, the specimens were demolded and placed at an ambient
temperature of 22C until testing. The loading was carried out at a rate of 0.3 mm/min. The
tensile strength of the fibrous material was determined through a three-point flexural testing of
prismatic concrete specimens having 7x7x28 cm dimensions, (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Three-point loading test for flexural tension

a/2 a/2
3a/2 3a/2
F
235
Fibres
elongated
Fibres not
stressed

Observations were made concerning the crack development in specimens containing fibres. After
the formation of the first crack, the specimen continued taking up more loading. As the load was
increased, the crack widened smoothly through the pulling of the fibres from concrete. The fibre
ends, presenting deformations to improve anchorage, straightened as the load was increased and
ended by pulling out from concrete at failure at the tension face as in Figure 5, resulting in smooth
failure of the specimens.

Figure 3. Typical ductile failure of fibre Figure 4. Failure in hpc concrete specimens
reinforced hpc concrete specimens without fibres

In the case where no fibres were used, no crack could be observed and the specimens failed
suddenly without any warning of impending failure, in a brittle and explosive manner as in figure
4. Figure 5 which presents specimens at failure illustrates clearly the homogeneous distribution of
the fibres through the concrete surface. In the same figure, the straightened ends of the fibres
pulling out of concrete and resulting in failure are also clearly apparent.

Figure 5. Fibres pulled out at failure in hpc specimens

The results concerning the flexural tensile strength, expressed by the modulus of rupture,
show an improvement in the presence of fibres. Such improvement depends on the proportions of
fibres used. Table 4 and Figure 6 below show an improvement of 46% for the modulus of rupture
when a volume fraction of 1% is used. The present tests showed that with hpc having less water, a
volume fraction of more than 1.5% would cause serious workability problem, making the fresh
concrete unworkable. Indeed, in the present test, a volume fraction of 1.5% has caused the loss of
workability and made the concrete impracticable, even with the use of an additional quantity of
superplasticiser. This suggests that the quantity of fibres that can be used in a concrete mix could
be even less than previously recommended in the literature, particularly for high performance
236
concrete. After the cracking, the resistance is carried out by the fibres crossing the crack; this
enables the concrete specimen to take up more loading. The modulus of rupture increases with the
increased volume fraction of fibres in the specimens as in table 4 and Figure 6.

Table 4. Modulus of rupture f
rj
and compression strength f
cj

Modulus of Rupture (Mpa) Compression Strength (MPa)
Volume fraction of fibre (V
f
) Volume fraction of fibres (V
f
)
A
g
e

0.0 0.5 0.75 1.0 0.0 0.5 0.75 1.0
3 5,5 5,9 7,6 7,9 29,9 31,2 35,2 43,6
7 6,2 7,4 8,6 9,0 31,8 38,4 45,9 51,3
14 7,2 8,3 9,0 10,5 49,9 51,2 55,8 64,0
28 8,6 9,0 9,6 11 61,8 61,7 64,9 65
56 8,7 9,5 9,8 11.2 63,7 67,5 68,1 70

The increase of the modulus of rupture with the quantity of fibres was 20% for a fraction of 05%,
38% for a fraction of 0.75% and 46% for 1% addition of fibres.

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63
Age (days)
m
o
d
u
l
u
s

o
f

r
u
p
t
u
r
e

(
M
P
a
)
Vf = 0%
Vf = 0,5%
Vf = 0,75%
Vf = 1%

Figure 6. Modulus of rupture of fibre reinforced high performance concrete

The gradual increase in strength when the fresh concrete was workable, hence allowing the spread
of the fibres homogeneously as seen in figure 5, shows the efficiency of steel fibres in improving
the tensile behaviour of concrete and increasing its tensile strength. They restrain the development
and widening of the cracks by taking themselves part of the tensile force. The principle of fibre
arresting of cracking is shown in figure 7. The fibres that cross the cracking take up the residual
237
strength and deform at the anchored ends which straighten gradually as the load is increased
beyond cracking. They end up by eventually pulling out at failure as in figure 5.

Figure 7. Fibre effects on crack opening, the anchor ends of the fibres crossing the crack take
up stresses and deform; those not crossing cracking remain almost unstressed.

Table 4 and Figure 8 give the compressive strength development of the fibrous concrete
material. It can be seen through the results that a slight improvement is recorded at all the stages of
the strength development. It varied from 4 to 12% depending on the quantity of fibres used. The
expectations are not, however, to improve the compressive strength since it is already high for
high performance concrete, but mainly to improve the impact resistance, the wear and the fatigue
of the material under the effect of impact and/or repeated loading.

0
20
40
60
80
0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63
Ages (days)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
Vf =0%
Vf = 0,5%
Vf = 0,75%
Vf = 1%

Figure 8. Development of the compressive strength f
cj
with age

The strength reserve of the specimens, which is defined as the ratio of the difference between
the rupture load and the cracking load, expressed as a percentage, also increases considerably
238
because of the crack arrest mechanism. Table 5 shows the strength reserve of high performance
fibre concrete.

Table 5. Strength reserve after cracking at 28 days
Fibre
Proportion
Rupture Load
Pu (kN)
Cracking Load
Pcr (kN)
Strength reserve
Pu Pcr
----------- x 100
Pcr
0.5 9.77 8.30 17.67
0.75 10.47 8.70 20.31
1.0 12.20 10.00 22.00

CONCLUSIONS

From the present tests, the addition of fibres was found to improve the material behaviour under
loading conditions. The rupture changes from an explosive break to a smooth failure after the
formation of many cracks that were stitched up by steel fibres. The effective stitching depends,
however, on the distribution of the fibres within the concrete matrix, which itself is dependent on
the workability of the fresh concrete. Slags as mineral additives were found to facilitate the
movement of the fibres in the cement paste and hence to improve the workability of the fibrous
concrete material. The inclusion of steel fibres in high performance concrete made the brittle
concrete material more ductile with less spalling at failure.
Tensile strength measured through the modulus of rupture has improved, particularly at
volume fraction of fibres in the ranges of 1%. After cracking, the hardened material still takes up
more loading through crack fibre bridging. More cracking develops as load increases and failure
occurs through fibres yielding and eventually fibres pulling out at the level of a crack that is not
necessarily the first one to have formed, but the one that is the least stitched up by fibres.
Besides arresting cracks, improving ductility and increasing strength parameters, fibres
improve the toughness and the resistance to wear and fatigue of the concrete material caused by
impact and repeated loading. The extent of improvement of these properties depends on the
quality of fibres, particularly the bond characteristics and on the specific surface area. It is to be
noted, however, that a higher volume fraction of fibres might affect negatively the quality of
concrete by making it unworkable. In this sens, the recommendations of 3% maximum fibre
content made in the literature for ordinary concrete might be too high for high performance
concrete containing less water. In the present test, a volume quantity of 1.0% seemed to be a
reasonable one for high performance concrete having 10 mm maximum size for aggregates.

REFERENCES
1. Chemrouk, M., and Hamrat, M., : High Performance Concrete Experimental Studies of
the Material ; Proceedings of the 5th International Congress : Challenges of Concrete
Construction; held at the University of Dundee, Scotland, 5 11 September 2002;
Volume 1: Innovations and Developments in Concrete Materials and Construction;
Published by Thomas Telford, pp 869877.
2. Chemrouk, M. Attari, N. and Si-Youcef, Y :Lessons from the Boumerdes-Algiers
Earthquake ; Proceedings of the 6th International Congres:Global Construction -
239
Ultimate Concrete Opportunities; held at the University of Dundee, Scotland 5 7 July
2005; Volume 3: Application of Codes, Design and Regulations; Published by Thomas
Telford, London, Vol.3, pp. 443-454.
3. Rasheed T.A.M. and Rjoub, M.I.M. : Ductility and Toughness Characteristics of Steel
Fibre High Strength Concrete ; Proceedings of the 6th International Congress :Global
Construction - Ultimate Concrete Opportunities; held at the University of Dundee,
Scotland 5 7 July 2005; Volume 1: Cement Combinations for Durable Concrete,
Published by ThomasTelford, London, Vol.2, pp.516-526.
4. Chemrouk, M. and Attari, N., : Durability of Concrete with Particular Reference to High
Performance Concrete ; Proceedings of the International Symposium : Role of Concrete
in Sustainable Development; held at the University of Dundee, Scotland, 3-4 September
2003; Published by Thomas Telford, pp.245 254.
5. Alexander, S. : Why does Concrete still Crack ; Proceedings of the 6th International
Congress: Global Construction - Ultimate Concrete Opportunities, held at the
University of Dundee, Scotland 5 7 July 2005; Volume 3: Application of Codes,
Design and Regulations, Published by Thomas Telford, London, Vol.3, pp.155-164.
6. Chemrouk, M. : Inflluence of Construction Defects with Emphasis on Insuffcient Cover
on the Strength and Durability of Concrete Constructions; Abstract accepeted for the 7
th

International Congress : CONCRETE - constructions sustainability; to be held at the
University of Dundee, Scottland, 4- 6 September 2007, (paper in preparation to be sent
by 31 August 2006).
7. Chemrouk, M. : High Performance Concrete : Selection of the Mix Constituents to
Produce a Highly Performing and Durable Building Material; Proceedings of the 3
rd

Symposium on Scientific Research and Technology Development in the Arab World; 11-
14 April 2004, Riyadh, Saudi-Arabia.
8. Ghosh, S. and Munshi, P. : Ductility of Steel Fiber Reinforced Exposed to High
Temperature; Proceedings of the International Symposium : Role of Concrete in
Sustainable Development; held at the University of Dundee, Scotland, 3-4 September
2003; Published by Thomas Telford, pp.113 -125.
9. Cangiano, S., Plizzari, G.A., Cadoni, E., Frigeri, G. and Terzzi, T. :On Durability of
Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete; Proceedings of the 6th International Congress
:GlobalConstruction - Ultimate Concrete Opportunities; held at the University of
Dundee, Scotland 5-7 July 2005; Volume 1 : Cement Combination for Durable
Concrete; Published by Thomas Telford; London, Vol.2, pp. 476-486.
10. Kong, F.K., Evans, R.H., Cohen, E. and Roll, F. : Handbook of Structural Concrete;
Pitman Publisher, London, Melbourne, Boston, 1983.

240

PERFORMANCE OF PORTLAND AND NATURAL POZZOLANA
CEMENT MORTARS EXPOSED TO SULFATE ENVIRONMENTS
S. KENAI
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Blida
Blida, P.O.Box 270, Algeria
M. GHRICI
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Chlef
Hay Essalam, Chlef, P.O.Box 151, Algeria

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the results of an experimental study on the mechanical properties and
durability performance of Algerian natural pozzolana cement are given. The effects of curing
environment and the period of initial curing on the mechanical properties are studied. The results
indicate that the strength of pozzolanic cement is lower than that of plain Portland cement at early
ages, but can reach the same order of strength at longer curing periods. Better performance is
obtained when combining a very active mineral addition (silica fume) and an inert mineral
addition (limestone filler) with natural pozzolana. Optimal couples ''natural pozzolana/silica fume''
and ''natural pozzolana/limestone'' are proposed based on their mechanical properties and
durability performance. The results confirm that the use of ternary cements contributes to the
improvement of the strength at the early age and to the enhancement of durability by better
resistance to sulfate attack.
INTRODUCTION
Cement is responsible for 7% of the world total emission of CO
2
, which is a major greenhouse
gas, implicated in global warming. The addition of industrial waste and natural resources such as
slag, fly ash, silica fume or natural pozzolana to cement during manufacture contributes to the
decrease in the energy consumption and to the decrease in the amount of CO
2
released in the air.
Hence, low-cost environment-friendly cement is obtained. Also, when used as a concrete
admixture, amorphous silica present in these additives combine with calcium hydroxide liberated
during the hydration of cement in concrete, to form additional cementitious compound, namely
calcium silicate hydrate (CSH). The resultant binder matrix is more chemically resistant, by virtue
of its denser microscopic pore structure.
In practice, proper curing (suitable temperature and moisture humidity) is critical to achieving
concrete that lives up to its intended functionality
1
. Blended cement concretes may be particularly
sensitive to curing conditions, as blending components such as natural pozzolana do not react as
rapidly as the plain cement. In these cases, prolonged moist curing may be required to achieve full
development of strength and durability-related properties
2
.
In Algeria, most of the cement is being blended with additions such as slag and limestone. A
lot of volcanic sediments of natural pozzolana are known but only the western region of Beni-Saf
is being used for cement manufacture by at least six of the twelve Algerian cement plants. These
cement plants add usually about 15% of natural pozzolana as cement replacement by weight and
hence less than 500 thousands tonnes is exploited annually. Apart from the internal quality control
testing for conformity to standard requirements, no detailed investigation has been done to
evaluate the performance of natural pozzolana cement mortar and concrete under local
environmental conditions. In addition, deterioration of concrete structures by sulphate attack is

241

commonly observed in building foundations and other structures exposed to soils or ground water
with high concentration of sulphate ions in the west and south regions of Algeria. Natural
pozzolana addition has been found to improve sulphate performance of ordinary Portland cement
3
.
Natural pozzolana addition could also be useful in hot climate regions due to its reduction of the
heat of hydration.
The objective of this paper is to report a part of an ongoing project on the effect of different
amounts of natural pozzolana on the mechanical properties of mortar. The sulphate rsistance of
mortars containing binary and ternary blended cements is also presented.
EXPERIMENTATION
Material used
A local ordinary Portland cement with a fineness of 350 m
2
kg
-1
was used for all the mixes. The
natural pozzolana used in this work was from Beni-Saf quarry in the west of Algeria. The
limestone and pozzolana were ground in a laboratory mill to a specific surface of 370 m
2
kg
-1
and
420 m
2
kg
-1
respectively. The chemical composition of the cement, natural pozzolana and limestone
are given in Table 1. The mineralogical composition of the natural pozzolana was determined by
X-ray diffraction and is presented in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the Scanning Electron Microscopic
(SEM) of this natural pozzolana. The main constituent of the limestone used in this study is calcite
(96.5%). The silica fume is commercial silica fume called Sikacrete HD from Sika Algeria. The
sand used in mortar mixes was a standard sand of 2 mm maximum aggregate size.

Table 1. Chemical composition (%) of the cement, natural pozolana and limestone filler used.
SiO
2
Al
2
O
3
Fe
2
O
3
CaO MgO CaO(free) SO
3
IR* LOI**
Cement 23.7 6.58 4.0 64.95 0.32 0.33 / / /
Pozzolana 46.86 16.62 9.37 9.38 2.84 / 0.36 / 5.79
Limestone 0.55 0.40 0.17 53.47 1.02 / 1.50 / 43.13
*) Insoluble residue
**) Loss on ignition

Figure 1. X-Ray diffraction of natural pozzolana.

Figure 2. View at SEM of natural
pozzolana.

60 50 40 30 20 10
2-Theta- Scale

242

Mixes used
The mortar mixes had proportions of 1binder: 3 Sand. The binder consisted of cement and
natural pozzolana. The cement was partially replaced by 0, 10, 20, 30, or 40% of natural
pozzolana. All replacements were made by mass of cement. The water: binder ratio was kept
constant at 0.5. The durability was conducted on control cement and the cement containing 30%
of natural pozzolana, 15% of limestone, 10% of silica fume, 20% of natural pozzolana with 10%
limestone and 20% of natural pozzolana with 10% silica fume.
Specimen preparation, curing and testing
The mechanical properties of the mortars were determined in accordance with European standard
specification EN 196-1. The mortar was placed in prismatic steel moulds having dimensions of
40x40x160 mm. After casting, specimens were left covered with a plastic sheet. After removal
from the moulds at 24 hours of age, mortar specimens were cured under the following conditions:
Standard water curing: specimens immersed in water saturated with lime at 20 C until
the age of testing;
Air laboratory curing: specimens were air cured in normal laboratory environment of an
average (T = 23 2 C, R.H = 60 10%);
Hot climate: specimens were cured outside the laboratory under atmospheric conditions
(average T= 38 2 C, R.H = 35 10%).
Compression and bending tests were conducted at 2, 7, 28 and 90 days of age. The results
reported are the average of three flexural specimens and six compression tests.
In order to analyse the effect of duration of curing on the compressive and the flexural
strength, specimens were cured for either 1, 3, 7 or 14 days before being left in the outdoor hot
environment until the age of testing at either 28 or 90 days.
For the sulfate attack tests, the mortars specimens were cured in water at 23 2C for 30 days.
After that, the mortars specimens were immersed in 5 % sodium sulfate (Na
2
SO
4
) or 5 %
magnesium sulfate (MgSO
4
) which was renewed every 30 days. The sulfate attack was evaluated
through the measurement of the expansion of prismatic mortar specimens measuring 25 x 25 x 285
mm in accordance with ASTM C-1012.
Development of the compressive and flexural strength
The development of the compressive strength with age of blended cement with different levels of
cement substitution is shown in Figure 3 whereas that of the flexural strength is given in Figure 4.
As expected, the compressive strength of the mortar increases with age with a high rate of strength
gain at early ages which gradually decreases at longer ages. Plain mortar specimens have a high
compressive strength at any age in comparison with that of pozzolanic mortars. This diminution of
strength of natural pozzolana (NP) specimens is higher at early age and increases with the
percentage of pozzolana. The compressive strength at 7 days decreases from 45 MPa to 28 MPa
when the natural pozzolana content increases from 10 to 40%. The relative compressive strength
at 2 days of age for specimens with 30% of natural pozzolana is only 53% of that of OPC
specimens. This could be explained by the slowness of the pozzolanic reactions between the

243

glassy particles in the natural pozzolana with the CH released during cement hydration. However,
due to the continuation of this reaction and the formation of a secondary C-S-H that enhances the
paste-aggregate interface and decreases the capillary porosity of the mortar, a greater degree of
hydration is achieved resulting in strengths comparables at 90 days of age to those of ordinary
Portland cement specimens. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the decrease in strength at early
age could be compensated by prolonged grinding, elevated temperature curing or the use of
chemical activators. Prolonged grinding has been found to increase the compressive strength of
natural pozzolana cement mortar by 50 to 130% at 3 days and 10 to 50% thereafter
4
.
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80 10
Age (days)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)

0
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%

0
2
4
6
8
10
0 20 40 60 80 10
Age (days)
F
l
e
x
u
r
a
l

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
0
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%

Figure 3. Development of the compressive
strength under standard water curing.
Figure 4. Development of the flexural strength
under standard water curing.

Flexural strength test results (Figure 4) shows a similar trend to those of the compressive strength.
However, the decrease in flexural strength at early ages was relatively less important for higher
cement replacement levels than that for compressive strength.
Effect of curing environment
The effect of air laboratory curing environment on compressive strength is shown in Figure 5.
The air laboratory temperature is similar to that of water curing. However, the relative humidity is
lower and hence higher water evaporation from the mortar surface and a more rapid cessation of
hydration especially on the skin of the specimens.

0
20
40
60
80
2 7 28 90
Age (days)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)

0%

0
20
40
60
80
2 7 28 90
Age (days)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
10%
20%
30%
40%

Figure 5. Development of the compressive
strength under air laboratory curing.
Figure 6. Development of the flexural
strength under external hot climate curing.

244

The compressive strength at 28 days in laboratory air curing was about 72% of that of water
curing for both OPC and NP specimens at 10 to 20% replacement level. For higher replacement
level, the relative strength was lower (48 to 62%) showing the sensitivity of blended cement
specimens to the lack of humid curing. Only a slight relative gain in strength after 7 days was
observed for all specimens indicating a cessation of the hydration due to the lack of humidity.
The negative effect of hot climate on the compressive strength is shown in Figure 6. The
reduction in strength was higher than that of air laboratory curing specimens. The compressive
strengths development seems to stop at 7 days. The ultimate strength at 90 days of age was only
about 52% of that under water curing. This is due to the fact that dry curing at high temperature
leads to higher water evaporation from the surface leading to micro-cracks and restricted
hydration, therefore higher porosity and permeability and lower strength are expected
5
.

A reduction in the flexural strength is observed under both air laboratory and outdoor curing.
However, the reduction in the flexural strength was slightly lower especially under air laboratory
curing environment.
Effect of period of humid curing
The effect of duration of initial humid curing on the compressive and flexural strength are
summarised in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.

Table 1. Effect of duration of the initial humid curing on the compressive strength.
Compressive strength at 28 days
(MPa)
Compressive strength at 90 days
(MPa)

Duration of initial curing (days) Duration of initial curing (days)

1 3 7 14 28 1 3 7 14 90
0% 29.5 39.8 43.7 44.6 59.6 34.1 44.5 54.4 56.1 63.3
10% 27.5 37.6 41.9 46.0 57.8 31.2 43.5 51.9 55.8 60.2
20% 26.8 37.1 44.1 45.5 54.8 30.0 39.8 49.7 52.8 58.1
30% 24.5 34.8 41.7 44.6 52.1 28.5 33.9 44.2 50.1 53.9
40% 21.2 30.9 34.9 38.1 44.2 24.8 23.3 26.6 48.4 52.2

Table 2. Effect of duration of the initial humid curing on the flexural strength.
Flexural strength at 28 days
(MPa)
Flexural strength at 90 days
(MPa)

Duration of initial curing (days) Duration of initial curing (days)

1 3 7 14 28 1 3 7 14 90
0% 4.28 5.82 5.98 6.32 8.13 5.04 7.47 7.86 8.36 8.87
10% 4.38 5.46 6.02 6.35 8.52 5.22 7.56 7.96 8.74 8.82
20% 3.78 5.72 5.82 6.19 7.65 4.78 7.99 8.31 9.10 9.30
30% 3.11 4.45 4.92 4.56 7.07 4.66 6.19 7.17 8.13 7.90
40% 2.39 3.01 3.82 4.12 7.07 2.76 5.54 6.17 7.25 7.65

Based on the experimentally obtained results, the model for the prevision of the compressive
strength is developed. This model is based on the quadratic response surface where the two

245

experimental variables (the proportion of NP and the duration of the initial humid curing) have
been used. The model is as follows:

f
c28
(p , d)=29,51+ 0,164 p + 1,888 d - 0,01 p
2
- 0,003 p d - 0,032 d
2
(1)

Where f
c28
(p, d) is the compressive strength at 28 days, p is the percentage of NP and d is the
duration of initial humid curing, the coefficient of determination R
2
was 0.958.
Figure 7-a illustrates the isoresponse curves of compressive strength showing the interaction
effect of p and d. It seems that the period of initial humid curing has a significant effect on the
mechanical properties as natural pozzolana does not react as rapidly as the plain cement. Longer
curing periods allow sufficient moisture for continued hydration resulting in higher strength. A
duration of 7 days improved the compressive strength at 90 days of age up to 82% of that of
continuous humid curing of mortars containing 30% of natural pozzolana as compared to only
53% with one day curing. This shows the importance of proper curing for strength development.

Percentage of NP (%)
I
n
i
t
i
a
l

h
u
m
i
d

c
u
r
i
n
g

(
d
a
y
s
)
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
0 10 20 30 40
4
6
5
8
7
Flexural strength

Figure 7. Isoresponse curves for the compressive and flexural strengths (in MPa) at 28 days.
Percentage of NP (%)
I
n
i
t
i
a
l

h
u
m
i
d

c
u
r
i
n
g

(
d
a
y
s
)
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
0 10 20 30 40
32.5
37.5
42.5
47.5
52.5

However, the increase of compressive strength, when the period of initial humid curing
increases from 7 to 14 days, is negligible and one can conclude that a minimal period of initial
humid curing of 7 days could be sufficient. Prolonged moist curing may be required not only to
achieve full development of strength but also for durability-related properties as inadequate curing
has been found to hinders the refinement of the pores structure and increases the permeability and
absorptivity of concrete
2,5
.
The model for the prevision of the flexural strength based on the quadratic response surface is
as follows:

f
t28
(p , d)=5.154+ 0,154 p + 1,08 d - 0,01 p
2
(2)

the coefficient of determination R
2
was 0.949.
Figure 7-b illustrates the isoresponse curves of flexural strength showing the interaction effect
of p and d. A similar trend to that observed for compressive strength seems to be followed by the
flexural strength results. However, the results show that the flexural strength is slightly less
sensitive than the compressive strength to inadequate curing.

246

Sulphate attack
Figure 8 shows the expansion of mortars exposed to 5% Na
2
SO
4
and 5% MgSO
4
. Higher
expansion in specimens placed in ( S N ) environment compared to those placed in ( S M )
environment are observed. Also, higher expansion was observed for OPC mortar prisms.

E
x
p
a
n
s
i
o
n

(
%
)

0,00
0,05
0,10
0,15
0,20
0,25
0,30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
OPC
30NP
15LF
10SF
20NP10LF
20NP10SF
(a)

Immersion time (weeks)
E
x
p
a
n
s
i
o
n

(
%
)

0,00
0,05
0,10
0,15
0,20
0,25
0,30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
OPC
30NP
15LF
10SF
20NP10LF
20NP10SF
(b)

Immersion time (weeks)
Figure 8. Expansion of mortar exposed to (a) 5% Na
2
SO
4
and (b) 5% MgSO
4
.

After 32 weeks of exposure to ( S N ) solution or ( S M ) solution, the addition of 10% of
silica fume produces an important reduction of expansion of 83% and 63%, respectively, than the
corresponding expansion of the OPC mortar, and the addition of 30% of natural pozzolana
produces a reduction of 54% in the ( S N ) solution and 44% in the ( S M ) solution. The higher
expansion observed in plain mortar may be attributed to the formation of secondary ettringite,
witch is characterized by expansion and cracking. In mortar containing pozzolanic materials,
pozzolanic reaction consumes part of the Ca(OH)
2
produced by the hydration of cement. Hence,
the quantity of gypsum formed in the reaction between sulphates and Ca(OH)
2
, wich is responsible
for the formation of secondary ettringite, will be smaller in pozzolanic cement than in plain
cements. Further, the pozzolanic reaction produces a secondary CSH gel that also results in the
densification of the hardened cement paste since it is deposited in the pores and enhances the

247

paste-aggregate interface. These effects reduce significantly the diffusion of SO
4
--
ions and explain
the lower expansion observed in pozzolanic cement as compared to plain cement.
The addition of 15% of limestone caused a reduction of expansion of 36% and 24% in ( S N )
solution or ( S M ) solution, respectively, than the corresponding expansion of the OPC mortar.
Gonzales and Irassar
5
reported that the addition of 10% of limestone reduced the expansion by
30% after 6 months exposure to 5% Na
2
SO
4.

However, the silica fume improves significantly the sulfate resistance of the natural pozzolana
cement. But, natural pozzolana did not change the sulfate resistance of the limestone cement
investigated in this study. This trend of result was similar to the results published by Tsivils et al
6
.
Also, Vuk et all
7
studied the influence of silica fume, fly ash and bastfurnace slag on the sulfate
resistance of limestone cements. They found that silica fume improved the resistance to sulfate
attack but fly ash and bastfurnace slag did not.
CONCLUSIONS
This study was conducted to assess the effect of incorporating natural pozzolana with ordinary
Portland cement on the properties of mortar. The experimental results presented in this paper
showed that the strength of pozzolanic cement is lower than that of the plain Portland cement at
early age, but can reach the same order of strength at longer term ages. It seems that the period of
initial humid curing has a significant effect and a minimal period of initial humid curing of 7 days
is necessary. Lower expansion as observed in pozzolanic cement and natural pozzolana did not
change the sulfate resistance of the limestone cement investigated in this study. But, the silica
fume reduces the expansion of the natural pozzolana cement.
REFERENCES
1. D.P. Bentz, Influence of curing conditions on water loss and hydration in cement pastes
with and without fly ash substitution, NISTIR 6886, BFR Laboratory, 2002, 21p.
2. R.L. Day and C. Shi, Effect of initial water curing on the hydration of cements containing
natural pozzolan, Cement and Concrete Research, 24(3), 1994, pp.463-472.
3. E.F. Irassaar, M. Gonzalez and V. Rahal, Sulphate resistance of Type V cements with
limestone filler and natural pozzolan, Cement and concrete composites, 22(5), 2000,
pp.361-368.
4. C. Shi and R.L. Day, Comparison of different methods for enhancing reactivity of
pozzolans, Cement and Concrete Research, 31(4), 2001, pp.813-818.
5. A.M. Al-Amri, Durability of concrete in hot climate, PhD Thesis, University of Leeds,
1988, 261p.
6. M.A. Gonzalez and E.F. Irassar, Effect of limestone filler on the sulfate resistance of low
C
3
A Portland cement, Cement and Concrete Research, 28(11), 1998, pp.1655-1667.
7. S. Tsivilis, G. Kakali, A. Skaropoulou, J.H. Sharp and R.N. Swamy, Use of mineral
admixtures to prevent thaumasite formation in limestone cement mortar, Cement and
Concrete Composites, 25(8), 2003, pp.969-976.
8. T. Vuk, R. Gabrovsek and V. Kaucic, The influence of mineral admixtures on sulfate
resistance of limestone cement pastes aged in cold MgSO
4
solution, Cement and Concrete
Research, 32(6), 2002, pp.943-948.

248

THEORETICAL SIMULATION AND APPLIED MEASURES OF
ROLLER COMPACTED CONCRETE (RCC) STRENGTH: CASE OF
LOCAL MATERIALS QUARRIES OF TUNISIA
M. ZDIRI
(1) (2)
, M. BEN OUEZDOU
(1) (3)
& J. NEJI
(3) (4)

(1)
Civil Engineering Laboratory LGC, National Engineering School of Tunis
BP 37, 1002 Tunis-Belvdre, Tunisia.
(2)
Higher Institute for Technological Studies of Rads.
(3)
National Engineering School of Tunis, ENIT Tunisia, BP 37, 1002 Tunis Belvdre, Tunisia
(4)
System and Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Tunis Polytechnic school.

ABSTRACT: Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is presented as an evolutionary technology for a
large diversity of applications: Dams, roads, parking areas The present work deals, for a road
application and using some materials of local quarries, with the development of compressive and
tensile strengths of RCC with the specification of a low cement content. This study includes the
following steps: at first, we started with a characterization of different granular constituents based
on local materials quarries. The second step was to find a formulation of various granular
mixtures, by the Compressive Packing Model Ren-LCPC and therefore to determine the
percentages of the constituents with respect to a minimal porosity and therefore to a maximal
compactness (model of Sedran and de Larrard). The following step was to make a simulation by
theoretical models, developed by Feret, de Larrard and Tondat for the evaluation of compressive
and tensile strengths. Then, we made compression and Bresilian tensile (by splitting) tests on the
cylindrical specimens' type 16/32 cm, prepared according to the National French Project Method
BaCaRa. Finally, a comparison was made between the experimental and the theoretical model
results, showing a good agreement between both results.
INTRODUCTION
The Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) mixture formulated by any method should acquire
properties, in the hardened state, higher than those of a conventional concrete mixture while
preserving the same cement proportioning and with the same water/cement ratio. Some applied
studies are worked out by Gauthier et al.
1,2
to characterize and to assess RCC mixtures with
cement proportioning varying between 225 and 300 kg/m
3
. Furthermore, in France, at
Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chausses LCPC, de Larrard and Tondat defined a concept
called MPT and a model for the concrete strength evaluation which was validated by the
experimental tests on pastes, mortars and conventional concretes
3
.
In this work, we adopted the models developed by Feret, de Larrard and Tondat for the
simulations of RCC pavement mixtures and for the compressive and tensile strengths evaluation.
These mixtures had the specificity of low cement content varying between 100 to 250 kg/m
3
. Our
study was supported by an experimental study on the same granular mixtures in order to make a
comparison between strength results found by simulations and those found experimentally.
MATERIALS
The used binding is a hydraulic Portland cement which represents the permanent element for the
RCC manufacture
4
. The used cement, C.P.C. II/C-L 32.5, was from the Kharrouba cement factory
249

(North of Tunisia) and had a relative density
5
equal to 3029 kg/m
3
. In this work, we could not use
additions such as the fly ashes, slag, silica fumes and pouzzolanes because of their no availability
in Tunisia (expensive at import). Different classes of aggregates are necessary to fill at the
maximum the inter-aggregate space. We used two types of aggregates: rolled for the siliceous
sands and crushed for the limestone sands, and gravels
5
. Characteristics and data relative to these
aggregates are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Characteristics of aggregates.
(1)
Career in the North of Tunisia,

Aggregates Type Source Relative density

kg/m
3

Los
Angeles
Micro-
Deval
Flatting
Ratio %
Sand Kh Rolled sand 0/5 Khlidia
(1)
2575 -
Sand JO Crashed sand 0/5 Djebel Ouest
(1)
2530 -
Gravel 4/8 Crashed gravel 4/8 Djebel Ouest
(1)
2614 28.25 21 12.83
Gravel 4/16 Crashed gravel 4/16 Djebel El-Ressas
(1)
2650 28.30 18 19.37
Gravel 0/20 Crashed gravel 0/20 Djebel El-Ressas
(1)
2631 26.50 12 25.58
FORMULATION BY THE SOFTWARE REN LCPC
To prepare RCC mixtures, we used the Ren LCPC model
5
. This model allowed us to produce
RCC mixtures with minimal porosity (which means a maximal compactness). It was used to
achieve sufficient properties, at hardened state, assuring the function of the pavement layer once
implemented. In the fresh state, the RCC behavior is similar to humid soil. But, while passing to
the hardened state, it will be like conventional concrete. These properties, similar to conventional
concrete, depended essentially on the nature and the quality of binding, of water/cement ratio and
of the aggregates nature. Therefore, the method and the compaction degree of the RCC play a
major role in its properties
6,7
.
PREPARATION OF THE RCC MIXTURES
We applied the Compressive Packing Model (CPM) developed at LCPC in France
7
. With this
model, we showed the possibility of its application for the formulation of these types of concrete
mixtures giving an optimal compactness. To determine the percentages, we used the
computational software Ren LCPC
6,7
. The results of the eight mixtures are in Table 2.

Table 2. Constituents of the used aggregates mixtures (%).
N Mixture Cement Sand
Kh
Sand
JO
Gravel
4/8
Gravel
0/20
Gravel
4/16
Water content
W op
M1 Sand Kh and Gravel 0/20 9.03 27.29 63.68 5.4
M2 Sand Kh, Sand JO and
Gravel 0/20 9.01 18.39 18 54.59

5.6
M3 Sand Kh, Sand JO and
Gravel 4/16 9.01 15.49 15 15 45.49

5.8
M4 Sand JO and Gravel 0/20 9 27.3 63.7 5.7
M5 Sand Kh, Sable JO and
Gravel 4/16 8.86 23 22.57

45.57

5.5
M6 Sand Kh, Gravel 4/16, 8.97 36.41 54.61 5.3
M7 Sand Kh, Sand JO, gravel
4/8 and Gravel 4/16 8.96 18.62 18 18 36.42

5.4
M8 Sand Kh, and Gravel 4/8 8.98 45.51 45.51 5.8
250

MIXING AND TEST SET-UP
We used the formulation method of "Ren LCPC", presented above which allowed us to
determine the percentages of the different constituents of the mixtures. The mixing of these
constituent was achieved in a mixer with tilted drum. Specimens were prepared in the 30 minutes
following the mixing by the vibro-compaction technique. This method adopted in this work
followed the recommendations of the National French Project Process BaCaRa
8
. The used
specimens were cylindrical test-tubes type 16/32. The concrete was implemented into the mould in
two layers; each layer was compacted with a metallic rod, 25 strokes, and then vibrated 90
seconds under the load of 13 kg on a vibrating table
8
.
THEORETICAL SIMULATION BY MODELS:
In this work, we applied a theoretical model which describes the compressive strength (at 28 days)
of hardened concretes using Portland cement. Furthermore this model takes into account, the
characteristic resistance of cement, the cement concentration in paste, the MPT, the adhesion
between paste and aggregates, and the intrinsic strength of the rock
3
.
The compressive strength of the RCC is considered as its most important property, it gives us a
global idea on the quality of a concrete because it is linked directly to the structure of the hydrated
cement paste and to the kind of aggregates. Furthermore, the concrete strength represents the main
element for the conception of RCC pavement structures
9,10,11
. The RCC mixtures used were
characterized by low cement content and therefore the volume of paste covering aggregates was
relatively low. The compact granular skeleton should necessarily support the applied stresses and
should contribute strongly to the mechanical strength of the RCC.
1-The Maximum Paste Thickness MPT: de Lerrard and Tondat model
We considered that aggregates were distributed according to an uncertain way in cement matrix.
Furthermore, we admitted, in a first approach, that in a dry stacking under the compression, the
coarse grains had tendency to support the maximal strength. And so, they act as the "hard points"
in the "flexible" environment composed by the porous stacking of more thin grains. The highest
strength in the mixture was recorded in these contact points
3, 7
(Fig. 1a). However, we considered
in a second approach, that this stacking was filled with cement paste, by a larger volume than the
dry stacking porosity. This hypothesis was made in order to provide more of workability.
Therefore, the paste placed between two of these near grains was highly compressed
3,7
(Fig. 1b).

Figure 1a. Dry stacking of particle
solicited to uniaxial loading
3
.
Figure 1b. Roller Compacted Concrete assimilated to a
stacking with intercalation of the cement paste
3
.
Coarse grains
Cement paste
MPT
251

The MPT, which is the maximum thickness of paste, is the distance between the two adjacent
coarse aggregates. It represents the biggest interval which exists between these particles seen in
three dimensions. The following equation gives the MPT
3
:

= 1
g
g
D MPT 3
*
max
(1)
Where Dmax is the maximal diameter of the thickest aggregates and g is the volume of aggregate
in a unit volume of concrete. g* is equal to the aggregate compactness assimilated to a granular
mixture. It can be measured or calculated with the Compressible Packing Model
3,7
. We calculated
the MPT of the 8 mixtures produced with a Portland cement and this by varying the aggregates
type and by adopting the proportions optimized in advance by the Ren LCPC model used for
the formulation. Values of the MPT are given in Table 3.
2-The Feret-deLarrard-Tondat Model:
The compressive strength determined by theoretical model was the one measured in laboratory on
normalized cylindrical specimens 16/32 conserved 28 days in water
3,7
. The principle consisted in
analyzing the relations between formulation and compressive strength. This principle was
achieved by assimilating the RCC to a composite material formed by a rigid, hard and inert phase
(aggregate) dispersed in a binding matrix (cement paste). The whole was considered homogeneous
at the macroscopic scale
3,7
. To show the MPT effect on the compressive strength, we made
simulations on eight granular mixtures. The compressive strength of the matrix followed the
equation 2
3
.

13 . 0
85 . 2
a e C
C
28 c cm
MPT
V V V
V
R 4 . 13 F

+ +
=
(2)
Where Vc, Ve and Va are consecutively the cement, water and air volume, R
c28
is the cement
characteristic resistance. These mixtures were chosen by varying maximal diameter and
proportioning of aggregates. The recorded results are presented in table 3 for 200 kg cement
proportioning and similar results were found for the 150 kg and 250 kg cement proportioning.
Furthermore the RCC compressive strength followed the equation 3 with, for our case, K= 1.0062.

13 . 0
85 . 2
a e C
C
28 c c
MPT
V V V
V
R 4 . 13 K F

+ +
=
(3)
3- The Oluokun model to determine the tensile strength
To estimate the tensile strength, we used the Oluokun model
12
intended to predict from the
composition, the tensile strength of the RCC on the cylindrical specimens type 16/32.

Table 3. Values of the MPT, Compressive and Tensile strength using the two models for the 8
granular mixtures and for 200 kg cement proportioning.

Mixtures M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8
Dmax (mm) 20 20 20 20 16 16 16 8
Mesured compacteness g 0,720 0,715 0,711 0,713 0,718 0,722 0,720 0,696
Porosity 0,185 0,205 0,236 0,260 0,221 0,205 0,253 0,277
Calculeted compacteness g*(MEC) 0,815 0,796 0,764 0,740 0,779 0,795 0,747 0,723
MPT (cm) 0,848 0,722 0,482 0,244 0,442 0,522 0,197 0,102
Compressive strength Fc (MPa) 9,940 9,691 9,711 10,883 11,459 11,514 13,072 12,824
Tensile strength Ft (MPa) 1,044 1,026 1,027 1,111 1,151 1,155 1,261 1,244

252

The used model consists in relating the tensile strength to the compressive strength by an empiric
approach (4) and the results are presented in Table 3.
69 . 0
c t
F 214 . 0 F = (4)
Observation:
Simulations gave us a conventional indication of the compressive and splitting tensile strength.
The variation of strength depended essentially on the characteristic resistance of cement, the
maximal diameter Dmax, the water and cement proportioning and the mixtures compactness.
Therefore, the evolution of the compressive strength as a function of the conservation age was
higher than the tensile strength evolution.
EXPERIMENTAL TESTS
The aim of the proportioning of different dry materials for RCC mixtures is to get the best
compressive strength particularly when cement contents of these concretes are low. To increase
the compactness and to reduce the porosity of the granular skeleton we had varied the mixtures
constituents by fixing cement proportioning. The proportioning was completed without using the
fine addition as silica fume, fly ashes, slags and other thin materials because of their absence and
their high cost in import. The low cement proportioning was chosen for economic reasons for
which we recommend a smaller quantity of paste, just what is necessary to bind aggregates.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 7 14 21 28 35
Age (days)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8

Figure 2. Compressive strength versus age for eight mixtures with 200 kg cement proportioning.
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
1,2
1,4
1,6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
T
e
n
s
i
l
e

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
p
a
)
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8
Age (days)

Figure 3. Tensile strength versus age for eight mixtures with 200 kg cement proportioning
253

The confection was made according to the National French Project Method BaCaRa
8
, the
specimens are released from the mould after 24 hours and they were conserved in water at a
temperature of about 20C and hygrometry more than 95%. Compression and splitting tensile tests
were made by the Tensile-Compression machine Model C70-Matest of 3000 KN capacity at 3,
7, 14, and 28 days of age. Results are reported on Figures 2 & 3 for a 200 kg cement
proportioning. Similar results were obtained for 150 kg and 250 kg cement proportioning.
INTERPRETATION
Generally the RCC strength, as for conventional concretes, is characterized by the value at 28
days. However, in our survey; we considered that it is important to know the strength evolution as
a function of age. This simulation corresponds to the pavement exploitation when the RCC is
implemented. This RCC should support, in most cases, at young age, the total road loads for
which it was designed. This evolution is linked to the cement quality and proportioning that means
also to the cement hydration ratio, because the more the cement quantity is important the faster the
evolution is. The high compressive strength results of the RCC mixtures such as M1 and M6 (Fig.
2), formulated by the Ren LCPC model, can be explained by the development of a
phenomenon of a tangling up and aggregates arrangement inside mixtures.
Some RCC mixtures formulated by the models, such as M1, M4, M5, and M6 (Fig. 2 & 3), can
develop high mechanical properties. Generally, the mechanical strengths of RCC mixtures at
young ages and after 28 days are comparable and higher than those of the conventional concrete
mixtures with the low cement contents. As shown in Figure 2, M4 and M6 mixtures have a
compressive strength higher than 13 MPa.
COMPARISONS BETWEEN THEORITICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL
VALUES
The compressive strengths of RCC mixtures found experimentally were estimated by the Feret-de
Larrard-Tondat models (Fig. 4). We noticed that for seven of the eight mixtures chosen in this
work (M1-M7), the values of models were close to the experimental values recorded. For some
mixtures such as M1, M4, and M6, we found the same results (Fig. 4).

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
M
1

T
h
e
o
M
1

E
x
p
e
M
2

T
h
e
o
M
2

E
x
p
e
M
3

T
h
e
o
M
3

E
x
p
e
M
4

T
h
e
o
M
4

E
x
p
e
M
5

T
h
e
o
M
5

E
x
p
e
M
6

T
h
e
o
M
6

E
x
p
e
M
7

T
h
e
o
M
7

E
x
p
e
M
8

T
h
e
o
M
8

E
x
p
e
C
o
m
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
M
P
a
)
150kg/m3 200kg/m3 250kg/m3

Figure 4. Strength values of experimental tests and models for eight mixtures with cement
proportioning 150, 200 and 250 kg/m
3

254

The only case, where we recorded a difference between the values of models and the experimental
results, was for the mixture M8, which was composed of a relatively fine granulometry (0/8)
compared to the other mixtures. This mixture was characterized by the low strength for all the case
of cement proportioning (150, 200 and 250 kg/m
3
).
COMPRESSIVE-TO-TENSILE STRENGTH RATIO
We usually consider the compressive strength as being the most important property for the
conventional concretes but the tensile strength is also necessary and must be taken into account for
the RCC. These two strength types are intimately linked and the direct ratio of proportionality
depends essentially on the global level of the concrete strength
13, 14
. In our work, this ratio varied
for RCC mixture between 6 and 9 as shown in Figure 5. We noticed that tensile strength Ft
increases with the compressive strength Fc but to a decreasing ratio. The tensile strength increased
more slowly than the compressive strength so that Fc/Ft ratio increased in time (Fig 5). These
results are also in agreement with the general tendency of strength evolution determined by the
adopted models.
The average of the calculated compressive-to-tensile ratio Fc/Ft varies between 8 and 9 and its
considered as a low ratio compared to the conventional concrete ratio which is about 12.
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
1,2
1,4
1,6
1,8
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
T
e
n
s
i
l
e

s
t
r
e
n
g
t
h
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8

Figure 5. Tensile strength variation as a function of the compressive strength (for the case: 250Kg)
CONCLUSION
In This work, we can conclude that:
(1) The experimental results showed the importance of an appropriate choice of dry constituent
formulation, it is the notion of the granular skeleton optimization. And we aim through this
optimization at the reduction of the RCC manufacturing cost.
(2) Physically, MPT is mainly influenced by cement volume and the mixture compactness. We
noticed that when MPT decreases, we gave to the coarse aggregates the possibility to support
significant loads and therefore the compressive strength increases.
(3) The results of the theoretical simulation and the experimental tests showed that the values of
models were close to the experimental values recorded (Fig. 4). For some mixtures such as
M1, M4, and M6, we found the same results.
(4) The used Models were concluded reliable for the strength evaluation; we can also look for
the relation between the Young modulus and the Poisson ratio with the MPT.
255

(5) The average of the compressive-to-tensile ratio Fc/Ft recorded experimentally or estimated
by the models varied between 8 and 9. The conventional concrete ratio is about 12 which
means that the RCC developed higher tensile strength compared to the conventional
concrete, for an equivalent compressive strength.
REFERENCES
1. Gauthier P. and Marchand J., Conception et ralisation de revtements en bton compact
au rouleau au Qubec, Association Bton Qubec (ABQ), 2002 (in French).
2. Gauthier P., Marchand J., Boisvert L., Ouellet E. and Pigeon M., Conception, formulation,
production et mise en oeuvre de revtement en bton compact au rouleau, Formation
continue GCI-A2455, Universit Laval, 2000, (in French).
3. De Larrard F. Concrete Mixing Proportioning: A Scientific Approach, Modern Concrete
Technology Series, 9, S. Mindess ans A. Bentur, Editors, E & FN Spon, Lodon, 1999.
4. Qasrawi H.Y., Asi I.M. and Al-Abdul Wahhab H.I., Proportioning RCCP mixes under hot
weather conditions for a specified tensile strength, Cement and Concrete Research, 35(4),
pp. 267-276.
5. Zdiri M., Nji J., Ben Ouezdou M. and El Ouni M.R., Formulation et Simulation des Btons
Compacts au Rouleau: Applications aux Matriaux de Gisements Locaux, Colloque
Mditerranen sur les Matriaux (CMEDIMAT 2005), Algeria, December 6-7, 2005. CD-
Rom, (in French).
6. Sedran T. and de Larrard F., RENE-LCPC: Software to Optimize the Mix-design, website:
http://www.lcpc.fr/fr/presentation/organigramme/div_tgce/result/rene.php, accessed April
2005. (in French).
7. De Larrard F. and Sedran T., Mixture-proportioning of high-performance concrete,
Cement and Concrete Research, 32(11), 2002, pp. 1699-1704.
8. Projet National BaCaRa 1988-1996, Le Bton Compact au Rouleau, Presses ENPC, Paris,
1996, (in French).
9. Anderson R., Roller Compacted Concrete Pavements- Physical Properties, CBI report N
o
.
Ra 3:86, Swedish Cement and Concrete Research Institute, Sweden 1986.
10. Dreux G. and Festa J., Nouveau Guide du Bton et de ses Constituants, 8
th
ed., Eyrolles,
Paris, 1998, (in French).
11. Neville A., Properties of Concrete, 4
th
ed., Longman, UK, 1995.
12. Oluokun F. A., Prediction of Concrete Tensile Strength from Compressive Strength
Evaluation of Existing Relations for Normal Weight Concrete, ACI Materials Journal,
88(3), 1991, pp. 302-309.
13. Baalbaki W., Bton Haute Performance Matrice Constante: Influence de la Nature des
Granulats sur le Comportement Mcanique, PhD dissertation, Universit de Sherbrooke,
1990, (in French).
14. Piggot R., Roller Compacted Concrete for Heavy-duty Pavement: Past Performance, Recent
Projects and Recommended Construction Methods, TRR 1062, National Research council,
Washington, DC, 1986, pp 7-12.

256

DUCTILITY AND ENERGY ABSORPTION OF POLYESTER MORTAR
M. M. EL-HAWARY, S.AL-OTAIBI AND A. ABDUL-JALEEL
Building and Energy Technologies Department, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
P.O.Box 24885, Kuwait

ABSTRACT: Due to its superiority and endless advantages, a type of polymer mortar based on
polyester is proposed as a new building material to replace the problematic cement based
conventional concrete which often experience some kind of deterioration that causes lack of
serviceability and requires frequent maintenance and repair. This is more apparent in Kuwait due
to its hot marine environment. A mix consists of polyester to sand of ratio 1:5 was found to be the
optimum. Using the selected mix proportions different types of samples were cast and tested.
Some samples were tested first in compression at 1,2,3,5,7and 10 days to determine the
compressive strength and the optimum hardening period. Other essential mechanical and physical
properties of the material were then evaluated. The stress-strain diagram of the material in
compression was also established. The diagram was used to evaluate the modulus of elasticity,
toughness, resilience and ductility of the proposed material. Along with the observed very high
energy absorption capabilities of the material, astonishing ultimate strains, exceeding 50%, were
noticed. This high ductility and energy absorption capabilities will enable the designers to easily
meet the safety and design requirements of high rise buildings and other structures where high
energy absorption is specified such as road barriers or blast resistant structures. The observed high
resilience along with the high tensile and flexural strengths of the material will reduce or eliminate
the cracking in the tension zone and hence, increase the material durability. It was concluded that
the proposed material is mush superior to conventional concrete. The presented paper contains the
properties of the proposed material along with the results of the conducted tests. Conclusions and
recommendations are also included.
INTRODUCTION

Although the concrete- polymer materials are relatively new in the construction industry, they
received wide attention and extensive research works were conducted on these materials.
Polymers are generally inert, environmental- friendly, non-toxic materials. They are also chemical
resistance, durable, strong and flexible materials along with their adhesive, rapid hardening and
moisture resistance properties. As for conventional concrete, polymer concrete can be easily
moulded in the fluid state and becomes hard after polymerization. The advancement in polymer
technology made it possible to produce a tailored type of polymer that suit the required
specifications and applications.
Epoxy and polyester are the most widely used types of polymers in the structural industry.
Extensive research was conducted on polymer concrete and polymer modified concrete. This
includes flexural behavior of polymer concrete
1
, its use in repair
2
, properties of polyester
concrete
3
, use of recycled polyester in concrete
4
, behavior of epoxy modified concrete
5
, and
structural design of polymer modified beams
6
.
Due to the harsh environment in Kuwait, conventional concrete structures often experience some
kind of premature deterioration that causes lack of serviceability. This deterioration affects the
cost of the structure as it requires some type of rehabilitation and repair, the aesthetic appearance
257

of the structure and might affect the safety of the structure. This deterioration is in general the
result of the interaction between the constitutive materials and the environment. As the
environment cannot be altered, the deterioration may be controlled by the introduction of a new
durable constitutive material. Some work was conducted on the durability of an epoxy mortar
system
7
,on the mechanical behavior of polymer concrete
8
and on the durability of conventional
concrete repaired using different types of polymers in the Kuwaiti marine environment
9
.
Concrete consists of a matrix or a binding material and filler. The interaction between the
cementitious binder in conventional concrete and the environment is the main reason for the
concrete deterioration. The introduction of polymer binder will eliminate leaching, carbonation,
alkali- aggregate reaction and sulphate attack. It will also reduce permeability, which in turn will
reduce corrosion and chloride penetration. Polymer binders are also chemical resistant and posses
higher strength, which means that smaller sections may be used, and that tensile cracking may be
eliminated or reduced. Polymers are faster in hardening and require no curing, which is one of the
tedious tasks in the hot weather of Kuwait.
The reason for the limited structural use of polymer concrete is the cost. This cost, however, is
decreasing internationally due to the modern manufacturing techniques and the mass production.
The cost of polyester has dropped significantly in the past years and this trend is expected to
continue. Cost of polymers, being a petrochemical product, should be less in Kuwait especially if
a special type of polymer is tailored to suit the structural industry. In calculating costs, the savings
due to the elimination of repair and curing, the use of smaller sections, the increased life span and
the fast erection of the structure should be kept in mind.
The quarrying for coarse aggregates in Kuwait has been banned for environmental reasons. Fine
aggregates, however, are available in abandon and may be utilized in the production of polymer
mortar which may be used as a structural building material instead of conventional concrete. The
proposed material is expected to render the same advantages as polymer concrete, mentioned
before, with a little increase in cost , that is diminishing with time. This building material may be
produced using only local available resources. The investigation of the behavior of polymer
mortar as a building material in the Kuwaiti environment is proposed. Polyester polymer is
utilized at this stage.
The main objective of this work is to introduce and investigate the mechanical and physical
properties of a new durable building material that may replace the problematic conventional
concrete and to establish the possibility of using polymer mortar as a new building material.

COSTITUENT MATERIALS AND MIX DESIGN

The type of polymer utilized for this work is Nitomortar EP , which is based on polyester resin,
specially formulated to minimize shrinkage to 0.8%. The material is recommended by the
manufacturer as multipurpose high strength repair compound. The Polyester was delivered as two
components, liquid and powder. The liquid contains the resin while the powder contains solid
hardener and fillers, which was tested for size distribution using sieve analysis, Table 1, and used
as part of the fine aggregates. Natural sand of the sizes shown in Table 2, was used as the
remaining part of the fine aggregates required for the mortar mix.
To determine the optimum mortar mix design, samples of different polymer to sand ratios were
cast and tested. Ratios of 1:4, 1:5, 1:6 and 1:7 and 1:8 were tried. Filler delivered with polyester
was considered as part of the sand. Resin was added to the hardener and filler at the ratio
recommended by the manufacturer. The mix was thoroughly mixed by hand for two minutes
before the extra send was added. The mix was then mixed thoroughly and was poured into
moulds. Cube samples of two different sizes, 150 and 50mm were used for comparison. Release
agent was applied in all moulds to allow easy release of specimens. Samples were vibrated on the
258

vibrating table, covered for two days for curing before being demoulded. Three samples were
prepared for each mix. Samples made using polymer to sand ratios of 1:8 and 1:7 were found to be
very weak and some of them were broken during handling. Those ratios were hence discarded.
Remaining samples were tested in compression after 28 days. Results are shown in Table 3.
The results indicated that both the 1:4 and 1:5 ratios of polyester to sand may be utilized.
Although the ratio 1:4 gives higher strength, the ratio 1:5, however, was selected as optimum, as
the increase in strength is of the same order as the increase in the amount of polyester and hence
the increase in cost. The increase in strength was found to be 24.6% compared to 20% increase in
the amount of polyester. The increase in the amount of sand will also improve the volume
stability and reduce shrinkage as will be tested later. The ratio 1:5 also gives strength in excess of
40 MPa which is usually the maximum specified for normal structures. This ratio was utilized in
all remaining tasks of this project. Analogous results were obtained using either 150mm or 50mm
cubes

Table 1: Sieve Analysis of the Filler
.
SIEVE #
DIAM.
(mm)
% FINER
3/8" 9.5 100.00
4 4.75 100.00
8 2.36 100.00
16 1.18 99.90
30 0.6 94.00
50 0.3 29.70
100 0.15 25.00
200 0.075 22.40

Table 2: Sieve Analysis of Sand

SIEVE #
DIAM.
(mm)
% FINER
3/8" 9.5 100.00
4 4.75 99.48
8 2.36 96.82
16 1.18 90.20
30 0.6 74.14
50 0.3 27.64
100 0.15 7.88
200 0.075 4.98

259

Table 3: Compressive strength of mortar cubes

Ratio of Polyester
to sand
1:4 52.28 MPa
1:5 41.96 MPa
1:6 20.31 MPa

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

The selected mix and the procedure described above were used to investigate the mechanical
properties of the polyester mortar.


Using the optimum selected ratio of polymer to sand, cubes were cast and compressive strengths
were evaluated at 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days. Averages of three results at each age are shown in
figure 1. Almost same results were obtained at all ages which indicates that the materials gains full
strength in 24 hours and may be tested at any time after the first day. Average compressive
strength of the material was found to be 602 Kg/cm
2
.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Curing Time (days)
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
v
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h

(
k
g
/
c
m
2
)
Epoxy : Sand = 1: 5

Figure 1: Average compressive strength against time

Tensile Strength

To evaluate the tensile strength of the proposed material, standard cylinders were cast and tested
in split as shown in figure 2. Average tensile strength was found to be 46 kg/cm
2
, which represent
7.7% of the average compressive strength
260

Flexural Strength

Flexural strength was evaluated using beams of size 70x15x15 cm, tested under four points
loading as shown in figures 2. Loads, deflections and flexural strengths are shown in table 4.
Average flexural strength was found to be 115.8 kg/cm
2
, which is 19.2% of compressive strength.
To evaluate the effect of casting members at different times, beams were cast at two and three
intervals at different times. The beams were tested in flexure using the four points loading as
before. Beams failed along the construction joints. Testing is shown in figures 11 and 12 while
flexural strengths are shown in tables 5 and 6 for the two and three intervals beams, respectively.
Flexural strength was found to be less for the three intervals beams as the failure was due to
combined flexure and shear, while failure for the two intervals case was inside the pure bending
zone.

Figure 2: Flexural testing of beams

Table 4: Flexural strength of mortar beams

Specimen
No.
Load at Peak
(kg)
Deflection
at Peak
(mm)
Flexural Strength (kg/cm
2
)
1 6801.5 7.838 119.0
2 7799.8 6.773 138.4
3 5195.5 6.050 90.0
Average 115.8
261

Bond Strength

Bond strength was also evaluated. Standard cylinders were cast with a 10mm steel bar inserted
centrically and longitudinally before being subjected to pull out test as shown in figure 3. Due to
the high bond strength, however, yielding of steel was observed before the pull out of the bars
which were inserted full length. The test was repeated with the bars partially embedded in the
cylinders. Average bond strength of ten samples was calculated and found to be 85.8 Kg/cm
2
,
representing 14.3 % of the average compressive strength.

Figure 3: Pull out test

Effect of High Temperature

To capture the effect of high temperatures, cubes were heated for 8 hours to 90 and 180C
o
, before
being tested in compression. Samples at 180 were allowed to cool to room temperature before
being tested, while at 90C
o
three samples were tested hot and three were cooled before being
tested. Compressive strengths for the mentioned three cases are shown in tables 7-9. It was found
that, while hot, samples at 90C lost 47% of their strength. However after cooling, the residual
strength was found to be 7.9% higher than the original due to material hardening. Residual
strength at 150C was found to be 3.2% higher than original.

262

Table 5: Compressive strength for cubes at 90C
o
Specimen
No.
Weight Before
Heating (g)
Weight After
Heating (g)
Max.Load
(kN)
Compressive
Strength (kg/cm
2
)
1 6594.8 6556.1 669.9 304.4
2 6624.5 6719.6 731.3 331.5
3 6698.3 6693.4 709.4 315.4
Average 317.1

Table 6: Residual compressive strength for cubes heated to 90C
Specim
en
No.
Weight Before
Heating (g)
Weight After
Heating (g)
Max.Load
(kN)
(kg/cm
2
)
1 6635.8 6535.3 1403.0 635.0
2 6607.8 6607.4 1464.0 661.3
3 6629.0 6627.3 1444.0 651.8
Averag
e
649.3

Table 7: Residual compressive strength for cubes heated to 180C
Specimen
No.
Weight Before
Heating (g)
Weight After
Heating (g)
Max.Load
(kN)
Compressive
Strength (kg/cm
2
)
1 6587.4 6542.8 1375 619.4
2 6539.3 6498.7 1366 621.1
3 6437.5 6397.5 1377 623.6
Average 621.4

Ductility and Other Mechanical Properties

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Some important physical characteristics of the utilized polymer mortar were evaluated, including
density, water absorption, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion. The average density was
found to be 2.01 gm/cm
3
and the average absorption is o.25%. The coefficient of thermal
263

expansion was found to be 1.8648 x 10
-5
and the thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.70004 w/m
k
o
.
CONCLUSIONS
Please comply with the format in preparing your manuscript. This will facilitate consistency in
style. When itemizing the conclusions, do not use bullets, but the following numbering system
could be used:
(1) The maximum number of pages per manuscript is 8. Please do not exceed this number, and
do not use an odd number of pages.
(2) Please submit three copies of the manuscript for review if you are not able to submit the
paper electronically.
(3) The deadline for submission of the full-length paper is 1 May 2003.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of
Science are greatly acknowledged for the support and funding provided for this research.
REFERENCES
1. Abdel-Fattah, H. and El-Hawary, M.M., Flexural Behavior of Polymer Concrete,
Construction and Building Materials, Vol.13, 1999.
2. Fowler, D.W., Future Trends in Polymer Concrete, Special Publication 116-118, ACI,
1989, pp.129-143.
3. Vipulandan,C. and E. Paul., Characterization of Polyester Polymer and Polymer Concrete,
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol5, No.1, 1993, pp.62-82.
4. Rebeiz,K.S., Time-Temperature Properties of Polymer Concrete Using Recycled
PET,Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol.17, 1995, pp.119-124.
5. Abdel-Fattah,H.; El-Hawary, M.M. and A. Falah., Effect of Elevated Temperature on the
Residual Fracture Toughness of Epoxy Modified Concrete, Kuwait Journal of Science and
Engineering, Vol.27, No.1, June 2000.
6. El-Hawary, M.M. and Rahal, K.,Experimental Investigation of Shear Strength of Resin-
Modified Concrete, Proceedings of the Turkish Cement Manufacturers Association, II.
International Symposium, Cement and Concrete Technology in the 2000s, Istanbul,
Turkey, September 2000.
7. El-Hawary, M.M., "Testing for Engineering and Durability Properties of an Epoxy
Mortar
System", Kuwait Journal of Science and Engineering, Vol.25, No. 1, 1998.
8. El-Hawary, M.M. and Abdel-Fattah, H., Effect of Temperature on the Mechanical
Behavior of Resin Concrete, Proceedings of the Arab Conference on Repair and
Rehabilitation of Structures, Cairo, Egypt, September 1998.
9. El-Hawary, M.M.; Al-Khaiat,H. and Fereig, S., Performance of Epoxy- Repaired Concrete
in Marine Environment, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol.30, No.2, 2000.

264

METHOD FOR PREDICTING PRESTRESSING FORCE NEEDED TO
CLOSE CRACK IN R.C. BEAMS STRENGTHENED BY EXTERNAL
TENDONS

ABDELSALAM M. AKASHA
Associate Professor
Sebha University - Libya

ABSTRACT

A new method is presented to calculate the prestressing force needed to close cracks in reinforced
concrete beams, strengthened by external prestressing method. The amount of the prestressing
force needed depends on the ratio of bonded reinforcement and crack stage under consideration.
The crack stage is represented by the steel tensile stress. Numerical example is given to calculate
the prestressing force needed by the proposed method.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, strengthening of reinforced concrete structures becomes a common solution to
increase the load carrying capacity and to extend the life of damaged structures. These damages
may accur due to several reasons such as inadequate design, poor construction, overloads,
vehicular impact. and environmental attacks. Such defects may result in cracking and excessive
deformation of the concrete element (1).

The structural element which is to be strengthened is usually cracked. These cracks usually
occur in the flexural member, when the principal tensile stress from loads exceeds the tensile
strength of the concrete. Due to the cracks, the compatibility of deformations between steel and
concrete section is not maintained. When the external prestressing force is applied to the cracked
member, part of that force will close the cracks. This force needs to be taken into consideration
when the prestressing force needed for strengthening the reinforced concrete beams is calculated.
In this paper, a method is presented to predict the amount of the prestressing force needed to close
the cracks in simply supported cracked reinforced concrete beam strengthened by external
prestressing tendons.

GENERAL FORMULATION

Figure (1.a) shows a simply supported reinforced concrete beam that has uniformly
distributed cracks, where (w) is the crack width and l
b
is the distance between two cracks. For
strength consideration , external straight tendon profile is applied at the centroied of the beam. At
section (a-a), the effective section is shown in Figure (1.b), where the concrete at the top of the
section resists compression and the steel resists tension.
265
b
b
a
a
a
a
P P
l
b External tendon
Bonded reinforcement

(a)

(b)
Figure 1 General layout of a cracked R.C beam strengthened by external straight tendon

ANALYSIS OF CRACKED SECTION

Figure (2) shows the free-body diagram of sec. (a-a) under external prestressing force. Before
strengthening , the concrete tensile strength at bottom of the cross section can be expressed in
terms of crack width as follows:
ct
b
c
w
l
E = (1)
where (w) is the crack width.
The crack moment can be expressed as :

M
I
y
cr ct
= (2)

d
s
d
p
b
a
a
cc
ct
x
h
h x
2
F
c
F
s
s
P

Figure 2 The applied forces at section a-a
From Figure (2), the equilibrium of the internal force and external prestressing force at section (a-
a) gives :

d
p
d
s
x
h
A
s
A
c
b
266
P F F
s c
= so F F P
c s
= (3)
and ;
M F P
h x
F d
h
s s s
=

+ ( )( ) ( )
2 2
(4)
where F bx
c cc
= , and F A
s s s
= (where
s
is the steel stress and
cc
is the concrete
compression stress)

To close cracks,
cr
M M
therefore, by equating equation (2) and (4) we get:

ct s s s s s
I
y
A P
h x
A d
h
=

+ ( )( ) ( )
2 2
(5)

where the depth of the neutral axis (x) can be written as :

x
F
b
A P
b
c
cc
s s
cc
= =

(6)

By substitute equations (6) in (5),
ct
can be expressed as :

ct
s s s s s
cc
s s
cc
s s
cc cc
A d y
I
A y
bI
PA y
bI
Phy
I
PA y
bI
P y
bI
= + +
2 2 2
2 2 2 2 2
(7)
The stress from the external prestressing on the cracked section can be expressed as :

p
i e s
P
A
P
bx A
= =
+
(8)

where A A A
i c s
= + ( )

By substitute equation (6) in (8) equation (8) is rewritten as :

p
cc
s s e s cc
P
A P A
=
+
(9)
267
To close a crack, the tensile stress in the concrete which causes cracks should be less than the
applied stress by the external prestressing on the cracked section, so by equating equation (7) and
(9) :

P
A P A
cc
s s e s cc
+
=
A d y
I
A y
bI
PA y
bI
Phy
I
PA y
bI
P y
bI
s s s s s
cc
s s
cc
s s
cc cc

+ +
2 2 2
2 2 2 2 2
(10)

From equation (10) we have :

P
y
Ib
P
A y
bI
A y
Ib
hy
I
P
A d y
I
A d y
b I
A y
bI
A hy
I
A hy
I
A d y
I
A d y
I
A y
bI
A y
bI
cc
s s
cc
s
cc cc
s s s
cc
s s s
cc
s s
cc
s s
cc
s
s s s
cc
s s s s s
cc
s s
cc
3 2
2
2 2
2
2
2 2 2 3 3
2
3 2
2
3
2 2 2
3
2 2 2
2 2
0
[ ] [ ]
[ ]
[ ]
+
+ + +
+ + =
(11)
By rearranging equation (11) we can have the following algebraic cubic equation:

P P A A bh
P A d b A A A bh A bh
A d b A d b A A
s s e s cc cc
s s s cc s s e s s cc s s cc e s cc
s s s cc e s s s cc s s e s s cc
3 2
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2
3
2 3 2
2 2 0
+
+ + +
+ + =
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]

(12)

Using Cardano Formula or Newton method, the solution of equation (12) can be evaluated to give
the amount of the prestressing force needed to close crack in terms of bounded reinforcement area,
steel stress and concrete compressive stress. It should be noted that the steel
s
and concrete
cc

stresses used in equation (12) must be calculated from the stress distribution of the cracked
section according to the crack stage under consideration.
By using Newton's method, the solution of the equation can be as follows:-

f x ( )
x
f x
n
( )
f x
n
( )
+ 1
t a n g e n t
x
n
x
n + 1

Figure 3 the solution of the equation
268

f x x ax bx c ( )= +
3 2
, where x = P and (a,b,c) are constants. (13)

df x
dx
x x b
( )
= 3 2
2
(14)

df x
dx
f x
x x
n n
n n
( ) ( )
=
+1
(15)

x x
f x
df x
dx
n n
n
n
+
=
1
( )
( )
(16)

Knowing equation (12), the prestressing force needed with respect to the steel ratio at
different crack stage can be plotted as shown in Figure 4. From the figure, it can be seen that the
prestressing force needed to close crack is largely effected by the amount of the bonded
reinforcement and cracks stage, so with the increasing of the bonded reinforcement ratio, the
prestressing force needed is increased. Also with increase of the steel stress which represents the
crack stage, the prestressing force is increased. Just at the crack stage, the steel stress will be equal
to 20 N mm /
2
which is approximately 10 times the tensile strength of the concrete. With the
increase of the load, the crack width increases which results in the increasae of steel stress. The
range 20-300 N mm /
2
is chosen to calculate the prestressing force needed at different crack stages
of simply supported cracked beam with cross section (200x330mm) and concrete class C25,
strengthen with straight tendon profile.

CONCLUSION

A method to predict the external prestressing force needed to close the cracks in reinforced
concrete beams strengthen with external prestressing tendons is proposed. The prestressing force
needed to close crack is largely effected by the reinforcement ratio and the tensile steel stress.
269
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
External Pres tres s ing Force [KN]
R
e
i
n
f
o
r
c
e
m
e
n
t

R
a
t
i
o

[
%
]
200 mm
330 mm
A
s
C 25
20 60 100 140 180 220 260 300

Figure 4 The amount of the prestressing force needed to close crack for different steel
stress[ N mm /
2
].

REFERENCES

1. A.M.Akasha(1997)"Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Beams by External Prestressing
Tendons" International Conference of Ph.D. Student, Miskolic-Hungary August, pp 3-9.

2. G.Farkas and A.M.Akasha(1998) "Laboratory testing of post tensioned reinforced concrete
beams " Proceeding of FIP congress, Amsterdam, May 1998, pp 537-538.

3. F.M.Alkhairi, and A.E.Naaman(1993) " Analysis of beams prestressed with unbonded
internal or external tendons "Journal of structural engineering ,Vol.119, No.9, September
1993.

4. K.H.Reineck and T.Kuchler(1995)."A discussion on Analysis of beams prestressed with
unbonded internal or external tendons" Journal of structural engineering ,Vol.121, No.12,
December1995.

5. Khaled Shawwaf (1996)" Rehabilitation Strengthening of Concrete Structures by Post
Tensioning Methods" FIP Symposium on Post-Tensioned Concrete Structures 1996.

270
6. NOTATION

l
b
= distance between two cracks
M
cr
= crack moment
I = second moment of area
y = distance from neutral axis to the bottom of the section
P = prestressing force
F
c
= compression force
F
s
= tension force
A
s
= reinforcement area
s
= steel stress
ct
= concrete tensile stress
cc
= concrete compressive stress
e
= effective modular ratio

Example.1

A Simply supported beam with mm x330 200 cross section, the tension reinforcement ratio
=1.0%, concrete class C25, d mm
s
= 300 , E KN mm
c
= 29
2
/ , the crack stage represented by
the steel stress is equal
s
N mm = 60
2
/ . What is the prestressing needed to close cracks in the
beam.

Answer :

To find the value of the prestressing force needed to close the crack, the following steps were
carried out :

Step 1 : Determination of the neutral axis depth of cracked section:

The position of the neutral axis can be obtained from the following equation :
x
d
A
bh
A
bh
A
bh
s
e
s
e
s
e
s
= + + ( ) [ ( ) ( )]
. 2 2 0 5
2 x mm = 77 16 .
Where, A mm
s
= = 0 01 200 330 660
2
. * * ,
e
s
c
E
E
= = =
200
29
6 89 . .

Step 2 : Calculation of concrete compressive stress :

The concrete compressive stress can be found from the stress distribution at cracked section,
corresponding to the steel stress as follows:

cc
s
x
d x
s

271

cc s
s
x d x
=

cc
s
s
x
d x
N mm =
= 26 78
2
. /

Step 3 : Calculation of the constant :

From equation (12), the following constants are calculated as follows:
A A A bh
s s e s cc cc
= + = [ ] 3 954592
B A d b A A A bh Abh
s s s cc s s e s s cc s s cc e s cc
= + + = [ ] . * 2 3 2 1 56 10
2 2 2 2 11

C A d b A d b A A
s s s cc e s s s cc s s e s s cc
= + = [ ] . * 2 2 1 31 10
2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 15

Step 4 : Calculation of the prestressing force needed :

From equation (13) we get:
f x x x x ( ) . * . * = + +
3 2 11 15
954592 1 56 10 1 31 10
df x
dx
x x
( )
. * = + 3 1909184 1 56 10
2 11

By using equation (15 , 16) the value of x can be found by iteration as shown in the following
table. Where x P = .

n x
n
f x
n
( ) df x
dx
n
n
( )

x
f x
df x
dx
n
n
n
n
( )
( )

1 200000
1 63 10
16
. * 3 46 10
11
. *
152886.2
2 152886.2
3 35 10
15
. * 2 06 10
11
. *
136643.5
3 136643.5
3 69 10
14
. * 1 61 10
11
. *
134352.8
4 134352.8
7 15 10
12
. * 1 55 10
11
. *
134306.6
5 134306.6
9 51 10
9
. * 1 55 10
11
. *
134306.5
So the prestressing force needed : x P KN
n
= = 134 3 .

272

A TRUSS MODEL FOR ECCENTRIC SHEAR TRANSFER AT EDGE-
COLUMN SLAB CONNECTIONS
A. G. SHERIF
Department of Civil Engineering, Helwan University
Mataria, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Moment transfer adds to the complexity of the punching shear problem of slab-
column connections. While for interior-slab column connections moment transfer occurs due to
different span lengths or load patterns, for edge column connections moment transfer is
unavoidable. Several codes
1,2
treat the problem of moment transfer by the Eccentric Shear Stress
Model. In such a model part of the moment is resisted by shear stresses. The portion of the
moment to be resisted by shear stresses depends only on the geometry of the connection. The
Eccentric Shear Stress model, which originally has been developed for interior slab-column
connections, is also adopted for edge column connections. In the current research the application
of the Eccentric Shear Stress Model to edge column connections is critically investigated and the
problems associated with this model are highlighted. In order to address the drawbacks a new
method for calculating the portion of the moment to be resisted by shear stresses is developed. The
method is based on a truss model. By comparing with test results it is shown that the proposed
model captures the punching behaviour of edge column slab connections more accurately than the
eccentric shear stress model does.
THE ECENTRIC SHEAR STRESS MODEL
For connections subjected to unbalanced moment M
u
and direct shear force V
u
the Eccentric Shear
Stress Model implies that a portion of the unbalanced moment is resisted by shear stresses. The
ACI Code
1
does not distinguish in concept between edge and interior connections. The Eccentric
Shear Stress Model is applied for edge columns as shown in Fig. 1. In general, the critical shear
stress v is the greater of the absolute value v
AB
or v
CD
calculated as follows:

Figure 1. Eccentric Shear Stress Model according to ACI punching provisions
c
1
+d/2
c
2
+d
e
2
e
1
D A
C B
Critical section
c.g. of critical section
D
C
v
AB
v
CD
a) Critical section b) Shear stress distribution
A
B
273

v
V
b d
M e
J
AB
u
o
v u
= +

1
(1a)

v
V
b d
M e
J
CD
u
o
v u
=

2
(1b)
where b
o
is the perimeter of the critical section, d is the effective slab depth, M
u
is the unbalanced
moment at the centroid of the critical section, e
1
and e
2
are the distances from the centroid of the
critical section to the face of the critical section where the shear stress is to be calculated (Fig. 1), J
is a property of the assumed critical section analogous to the polar moment of inertia, and
v
is the
portion of the of the unbalanced moment to be resisted by shear stresses calculated as:

v
b
b
=
+
1
1
1
2
3
1
2
(2)
where b
1
and b
2
are the lengths of the critical section in the direction perpendicular and parallel to
the moment axis respectively. According to Eq. 2,
v
is a function of the geometry of the
connection only. The remaining portion of the unbalanced moment (1-
v
)M
u
has to be resisted by
flexure within a width of c
2
+ 3h, where c
2
is the column dimension parallel to the moment axis
and h is the slab thickness.
INTERACTION BETWEEN SHEAR AND MOMENT
The validity of the Eccentric Shear Stress Model for interior slab-column connections has been
discussed and verified
3
. The interaction between shear and moment for edge column-connections
can be studied using results of the series of tests by Stamenkovic
4
and a subset of the test series of
Zaghlool
5
. In these tests the main variable was the ratio between the applied shear force and
moment. In Fig. 2 the ratio V/V
o
is plotted against the ratio M
v
/M
o
, where V and M
v
are,
respectively, the shear force and moment at failure at the c.g. of the critical shear section d/2 from
the column face. V
o
is the failure shear force when no moment is applied, and M
o
is the failure
moment when no shear force is present. Strictly speaking, V
o
used in Fig. 2 should be the shear
force for the case when the moment M
v
at the c.g. of the shear critical section is zero. This value is
not available from the tests. Therefore, V
o
is taken as the shear force for the case of M applied at
the c.g. of the column is zero. Figure 2 shows that although there is interaction between shear and
moment for edge columns, the degree of this interaction is far from linear. Assuming no
interaction at all as shown by the dashed line in Fig. 2 would certainly lead to unconservative
design (e.g., Test C/E/2). The ACI Code predicts a bilinear interaction diagram consisting of two
straight lines as shown in Fig. 2. Line 1 is for a governing critical stress at the inner face of the
critical section (Eq. 1a), while Line 2 is for a governing critical stress at the free edge (Eq. 1b).
The location of the intersection point of these two lines depends on the ratio e
1
/e
2
, i.e., on the
dimensions of the critical section. It should be noted that the governing critical stress at the free
edge which is represented by Line 2 appears at two single points only, namely at the free edge of
the slab. It is doubtful that failure of the connection will be governed by the stress at one particular
point. This leads to the underestimation of the shear stress resistance of edge column-slab
connections subjected to high load eccentricities by the ACI Code. The situation is more realistic
at the inner face of the critical section, where the maximum stress develops along the whole face.
274

Figure 2. Interaction diagram between shear and moment according to Eccentric Shear Model
DETERMINATION OF
V
BASED ON MEASURED STEEL STRAINS
For the following discussion the shear critical section is chosen at d/2 from the column face as
specified by the ACI Code. The portion of the unbalanced moment M which has to be resisted by
shear can be calculated by the following equation:

v
M
M
= 1
resisted by flexure at the shear critical section
applied at the c.g. of the shear critical section
(3)
The moment resisted by flexure at the shear critical section will be called M
v-flex
. The moment
applied at the c.g. of the shear critical section, which is called M
v
can be calculated as follows:
M M Vx
v c g column c g
=
. . . .
(4)
where V is the shear force and x
cg
is the distance from the c.g. of the column to the c.g. of the
shear critical section. The moment resisted by flexure can be calculated via the strains measured
on the steel within the critical section. Strictly speaking, the strains measured are caused by shear
as well as bending. However, evaluating the test results
5
in this way the following can be
concluded:
1. The portion
v
of the unbalanced moment resisted by shear stresses is different for connections
with and without shear reinforcement as can be seen in Fig. 3. At low load levels at which the
concrete is not cracked, and which can be regarded as an elastic stage,
v
is the same for both cases.
However, the behaviour changes with increasing loads. For edge column connections without
shear reinforcement
v
is drastically reduced with increasing loads, reflecting the reduced shear
capacity of the connection with the formation of shear cracks. For a connection with shear
reinforcement
v
remains almost constant till failure, suggesting that the connection maintains its
shear capacity.
2. If the flexural reinforcement is concentrated inside the critical shear section, the method
described above leads to
v
values which are too low. These low values for
v
result in unrealistic
low failure shear stresses. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of the full value of the moment
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
-0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6
M
v
/ M
o
V

/

V
o
Zaghlool (1971)
Stamenkovic (1972)
Eccentric Shear Model
V/E/1
Z-V(5)
C/E/1
Z-V(1)
C/E/2
Z-V(6)
C/E/3
C/E/4
No Interaction
V/V
o
+M
v
/M
o
(e
1
/e
2
)=1
-V/V
o
+M
v
/M
o
=1
[1]
[2]
275

M
v-flex
calculated via the steel strains in the bars within the critical shear section for calculating
v

cannot be correct. These two points will be used in developing a new method for calculating
v.
Figure 3.
v
determined by steel strains measured in tests
3

PROPOSED SHEAR MODEL

Development of the Model
The calculation of the moment resisted by flexure M
v-flex
is based on the truss model shown in
Fig.4. The model consists of tension ties (T
1
, T
2
. . .) which are the bars within the torsional yield
line of the connection and the concrete compressive struts (C
1
, C
2
. . .) which connect the bars
with the column in the same horizontal plane as the bars. Through this mechanism, bars at some
distance from the column can exert a moment on the connection by flexure. As in the model by
Simmonds and Alexander
6
, it is assumed that all the compressive struts meet at the inside corner
of the column (Joint A in Fig. 4a). The moment resisted by flexure M
v-flex
can be calculated as:

( )
M T C z T
C
T
z
v flex i i i i
i i
i
i
n
i
n
= =
= =

cos
cos

1
1 1
(5)
where T
i
is the tensile force in bar i, C
i
is the compressive force in concrete strut i,
i
is the angle
between bar i and concrete compressive strut i, for bars going through the column
i
= zero, n is
the number of bars within the torsional yield line and z is the moment arm of concrete section
taken in this study as 0.9d. Putting:
1 =
C
T
a
i i
i
ri
cos
(6)
and substituting Eq. 6 into Eq. 5 gives:
( ) M T a z
v flex i ri
i
n
=
=
1
(7)
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
50 100 150 200 250
Column shear force (kN)
v
S1-2
S1-3 (Shear studs)
S2 (Shear studs)
ACI Code
276

Figure 4. Proposed model
The quantity a
ri
is a measure of the fraction of the bar force mobilized to resist the moment by
flexure. According to Eq. 6 a
ri
is a function of C
i
,
i
and T
i
, i.e.:
a f
C
T
ri
i
i
=

cos
(8)
The force in the compression strut C
i
is a function of the following product:

( )
C f f s d
i c i i
= ' cos ' (9)
where f
c
is the concrete compressive strength, s
i
is the tributary spacing of bar i, and d is the
distance from the c.g. of top reinforcement to the top of the slab. The quantity (s
i
cos
i
d) in Eq.9
is the area of the compression strut. In addition to the parameters expressed in Eq. 9, C
i
is a
function of the geometry of the connection. From equilibrium (see Fig. 4(b)):

( )
C
f C
f C
i
i i
i
i
i
i
= =

' cos '

cos
'
cos '
cos
(10)
But:
cos '
i i i
s s d = +
2 2
(11)
and as an approximate assumption which leads to good results as will be shown later:
cos
i i i
s s b = +
2 2
(12)
where b is the distance from the anchoring bar (bar parallel and closest to free edge of the slab) to
the inner face of the column as shown in Fig. 4(b). Substituting Eqs.11 and 12 into Eq. 10 we get:
C f C
b s
d s
i i
i
i
=
+
+
'
2 2
2 2
(13)
1
2
C
1
C
2
T
1 T
2
T
3
s
Torsional
yield line
Joint A
C.G. of shear critical section d/2
from column face
Rebar
(Tension tie)
Compression strut
Rebar
Torsional yield line
a) Top view
1
d
s
1
C
1
C
1
T
1
b
Rebar
Torsional yield line
a) Top view
b) Free edge of slab
277

The square root in Eq. 13 is the effect of the geometry of the connection. Adding this effect into
Eq. 10 yields:
C f f s d
b s
d s
i c i i
i
i
=
+
+
' cos '

2 2
2 2
(14)
The tensile force T
i
in the bar is a function of:

( )
T f A f
i i yi
= (15)
where A
i
is the cross sectional area of bar i and f
yi
is the yield strength of bar i. Substituting Eqs.
14 and 15 into Eq. 8 we get:

( )
( )
a f
f s d
A f
b s
d s
f K
ri
c i i
i yi
i
i
i
=
+
+
=
' cos '
2
2 2
2 2
(16)
The problem is now to find a relationship between the quantity K and a
r
, besides determining
which bars are inside the torsional yield line of the connection.
Determination of the Torsional Yield Lines
The proposed model deals with the reinforcement in a discrete way. The bars which are effective
in resisting the moment are those which are inside the torsional yield line (see Fig. 4). The ACI
and CSA codes states that the effective width for resisting the moment is c
2
+3h, where c
2
is the
dimension of the column parallel to the free edge and h is the slab thickness. Here, the more
rational approach by Regan
7
is adopted. According to Regan the angle of the torsional yield line
depends on the reinforcement of the connection and can be calculated as follows:
tan / =
t l
(17)
where
t
is the ratio of reinforcement parallel to the free edge of the slab and
l
is the ratio of
reinforcement perpendicular to the free edge of the slab. Only the bars with (see Fig. 4(a)) less
than will then be considered effective in resisting the unbalanced moment.
Relationship between a
r
and K
If the shear stress at failure v
u
is known for a particular connection, then the following steps can be
taken to establish a relationship between a
r
and K:
1.
v-Test
is calculated from Eq. 1 using the shear force and moment values at failure
2. The moment resisted by flexure M
v-flex
is calculated from Eq. 3
3. For each bar within the torsional yield line of the connection the value of K
i
is determined
according to Eq. 16
4. By trial and error find a
ri
corresponding to each K
i
so that:
T a d M
i ri v flex
i
n
09
1
. =

=
(18)
The right-hand side of Eq. 18 is known from Step 2, so that the only unknown is a
ri
. Since the
procedure is based on known v
u
, tests have to be used in the calibration process in which v
u
is
approximately known. For this purpose tests
5
in which the layout of the flexural reinforcement is
given are used as shown in Table 1. For test Z-V(5) the applied load was only a shear force V. The
278

shear stress at a section d/2 from the column face due to V is about 0.38 f
c
. For the calibration
process a slightly higher value, 0.4 f
c
, is used for the shear stress v
u
at failure to account for
eventual shear stresses due to M
v
.
Table 1. Tests
5
used for the calibration process
Test f'
c

(MPa)
V
u

(kN)
M
u
(kN.m) M
v
(kN.m) v
u
/f
c

v-Test
M
v-flex
(kN.m)
Z-V(5) 35.1 279.3 0 -25.4 0.38 - -
Z-IV(1) 27.4 122.3 45.0 35.7 0.40 0.176 29.4
Z-V(1) 34.3 215.3 84.6 65.1 0.40 0.140 55.9
Z-V(6) 31.2 117.0 88.1 77.5 0.40 0.244 58.6
Z-VI(1) 25.9 265.1 106.9 78.8 0.40 0.103 70.7

The results of the calibration process are shown in Fig. 5. An exponential curve is chosen and the
best curve fitting technique gives the following relationship between a
r
and K:
a e
r
K
=

1
111 .
(19)
For design purposes a slightly more conservative equation is adopted:
a e
r
K
=

1
0 9 .
(20)
Figure 5. Relationship between K and a
r
BEHAVIOUR OF PROPOSED MODEL
The interaction diagram predicted by the proposed model as well as the one predicted by the
eccentric shear stress model are compared with test results in Fig. 6. It is obvious that the proposed
model reflects better the test results.
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
K
a
r
Tests by Zaghlool
Best fit
Proposed
279

Figure 6. Interaction diagram between shear and moment as predicted by proposed model and ACI
CONCLUSIONS
A new method to calculate the portion
v
of the unbalanced moment which is resisted by shear
stresses for edge column-slab connections is proposed. The method is based on a strut model to
calculate the maximum moment M
v-flex
which can be resisted by flexure. The rest of the
unbalanced moment has to be resisted by shear. The main advantages of a truss model are as
follows:
a) It includes the effect of the flexural reinforcement on the portion of the unbalanced moment
which has to be resisted by shear stresses.
b) The flexural reinforcement is dealt within a discrete manner which has several advantages over
the concept of smeared distribution of the reinforcement. In reality a bar either crosses the failure
surface or it does not. Also, based on a smeared distribution concept, there is no clear indication
where a particular bar is placed best.
The model is applied successfully to tests with different parameters affecting the shear
strength. The model predicts a lower degree of interaction between shear and moment, a
phenomenon which is supported by test results from the literature.
REFERENCES
1. ACI Committee 318, Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-02)
and Commentary (ACI 318R-02), American Concrete Institute, Detroit
2. Egyptian Code, Design and Construction of Concrete Structures, 2001
3. Sherif, A.G., Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Flat Slabs, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of
Civil Engineering, The University of Calgary, 1996, 397 pp.
4. Stamenkovic, A., Chapman, J.C., Local strength of flat slabs at column heads,
Construction Industry Research and Information Association, Report 39, London, 1972, pp.
205-232
5. Zaghlool, E.R.F., Strength and behaviour of corner and edge column-slab connections in
reinforced concrete flat plates, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, The
University of Calgary, 1971, 366 pp.
6. Simmonds, S.H. and Alexander, S.D., Truss Model for Edge Column-Slab Connections,
American Concrete Institute Structural Journal, Vol. 84, No. 4, 1987, pp. 296-303
7. Regan, P.E., Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Flat Slabs. Construction Industry Research
and Information Association, Report 89, 1981, London
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
-0.4 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6
M
v
/M
o
V
u
/
V
o
Proposed
ACI
(a) Tests by Zaghlool (1971)
Z-V(5)
Z-V(1)
Z-V(6)
Z-V(4)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
-0.4 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6
M
v
/M
o
V
u
/
V
o
(b) Tests by Stamenkovic (1972)
V/E/1
C/E/2
C/E/3
C/E/4
C/E/1
M/E/2
280
CURVATURE AND DISPLACEMENT DUCTILITIES OF REINFORCED
CONCRETE COLUMNS
B. BOUSALEM AND N. CHIKH
Department of Civil Engineering, LMDC, University Mentouri Constantine
Route An El Bey, Constantine 25000; Algeria
ABSTRACT: Building codes require that columns subjected to lateral forces such as seismic loads
must be designed according to the displacement approach or the performance based approach.
However, the new edition of the Algerian code provisions (RPA 99) on the subject are not suitable
to provide the necessary lateral steel content required for a given ductility demand. In this study, a
design procedure for determining the amount of the transverse steel associated with the column
performance is presented. The method is based on load deformation characteristics of flexural
members in the inelastic range. Such characteristics are mainly dependant on the moment curvature
characteristics of sections, since most of the deformations of members of normal proportions arise
from strains associated with flexure. Large curvatures can be reached due to strength and ductility
enhancements of confined concrete. The relationship that correlates curvature and displacement
dutilities in a sample case is illustrated with reference to the cantilever column subjected to a
lateral load at the end. The study involves also an introduction of a proposed model for concrete
confinement considered as a crucial element in seismic design.
INTRODUCTION
Moment resisting frames are generally designed to develop inelastic strains during a severe seismic
action. The seismic induced energy is dissipated through the development of plastic hinging,
preferably in beams. However some plastic hinging in columns could be unavoidable such as the
case of base columns and particularly in the event of an extreme seismic motion. Consequently, it
is essential to achieve a ductile column behavior. In this case the potential plastic hinge regions
should be carefully detailed. The presence of transverse reinforcement to increase strength and
ductility in these regions of the columns is a major consideration. Therefore, a significant amount
of transverse reinforcement, which has a double function in resisting shear forces as well as
providing confinement to the concrete core, must be provided. Experimental evidence
1,2,3
has
shown that the confinement of concrete by adequate arrangement of transverse reinforcement will
cause a significant enhancement in the flexural strength capacity of the reinforced concrete column.
This paper proposes a design equation for determining the quantity of the confining steel
required in reinforced concrete columns sections to achieve the ultimate curvatures required in
seismic design for ductility demands. The study is also intended to check that the compatibility
involving the column displacement capacity and the section rotational capacity is validated. This
compatibility checking is not yet considered in the RPA 99
4
. An analytical study was conducted, to
develop respectively the curvature and displacement ductilities integrating a proposed concrete
confinement model. The designing procedure includes the effect of different variables namely the
axial load level, concrete strength, the ratio and the yield strength of longitudinal steel, the ratio
and the yield strength of transverse steel and the column slenderness.
281
CONFINEMENT MODEL
A typical stress strain curve as determined by the proposed model is schematically represented by
figure 1.
Figure 1. Proposed Stress strain curve for ordinary strength confined concrete
5
The governing equations are as follows
n
cc
c
x n
xn f
f
+
=
1
(1)
( )
cc c soft cc c
E f f =
cc
f .3 0 > (2)
For the ascending and descending branch respectively,
where
cc
c
x
= and
cc cc c
cc c
f E
E
n

and
co
co
yh sh e
cc
f
f
f k
. f
+ =

4 0 1 (3)
co
co
yh sh e
cc
f
f k
.
+ = 7 2 1 (4)
in which f
cc
,
cc
and , f
co
,
co
are respectively the peak compressive stress and the corresponding
strain in confined and unconfined concrete, k
e
is a confinement effectiveness coefficient,
sh
and f
yh
are respectively the volumetric ratio and the yield strength of transverse steel , E
soft
is the softening
rate of the descending branch, E
c
is the young modulus of concrete.
VOLUMETRIC RATIO OF TRANSVERSE STEEL
A computer programme was developed, ANAPOT
6
to study the correlation between the available
ductility ratio in column sections and different influencing parameters.
By generating a moment curvature analysis for diverse sets of combinations associated with the
values of f
co,
f
yh
,
sh
, et
l
, the corresponding ductility factor is obtained for each case.
co
f
cc
f .3 0
co
cc
cu
Axial strain
Confined concrete
Unconfined
concrete
A
x
i
a
l
s
t
r
e
s
s
cc
f
c
c
f
282
By using a linear regression analysis, it has been proposed
6
to correlate the curvature ductility
factor with the ductility enhancement coefficient defined as
co
yh sh
f
f
. The ratio of the transverse
steel corresponding to a desired ductility factor has been found as:
yh
co
c
g
l
sh
f
f
A
A

55
2
= (5)
in which
is the curvature ductility factor, is the axial load level,

l
is the ratio of longitudinal
steel, A
g
is the gross cross-sectional area of the column and A
c
is the confined area defined by the
perimeter of the hoop centre line. The comparison with some established code equations has shown
the validity of the proposed equation
6,7
.
DISPLACEMENT DUCTILITY AND PARAMETRIC STUDY
A cantilever column serving as the analysis model to evaluate the displacement ductility of
reinforced concrete columns is considered.
Figure 2. Cantilever column under lateral loading
The force displacement analysis of reinforced concrete columns was made possible by using the
developed software ANAPOT
6
. The program was based on the modified Lehman method
8
. A
typical column capacity curve is presented in figure 3 along with definitions. The next section
gives the algorithm that has been used to determine the force displacement behaviour.
1- Assign an initial compressive concrete strain,
2- Perform a moment curvature analysis,
3- Calculate the yield moment and curvature and the corresponding yield displacement,
4- Compute the displacement value corresponding to each point M
i

i
,
5- Determine the lateral force value according to the used model element,
6- Check if the section ultimate limit state was reached. Otherwise return to point 1 and increase
the concrete compressive strain value.
Column Moments Curvatures Deformations
H
l
c
M
u
M
y
L
p
u
'
y
P
283
Figure 3. Definition of column ductility capacity
Concrete Strength f
co
Figure 4a shows the effect of concrete strength f
co
on the analytical capacity curves. Firstly it is
noticed that the strength capacity of columns increase with the strength of concrete. However the
deformational capacity decreases with the increase of f
co
. Table 1 reveals that the increase of the
strength capacity corresponding to a variation of the concrete strength of 25 to 40 MPa is 24.7%;
on the other hand, the decrease of the strain capacity is 64.5%. The yield strength seems to be not
affected by f
co
Volumetric ratio of Transverse Steel
sh
The effect of volumetric ratio of transverse steel

sh
on the force displacement curve is represented
on Figure 4b. The curves show that, for a constant axial load level, the ultimate displacement
increase with the degree of transverse steel, whereas its effect on the strength capacity is
insignificant. Table 1 indicates that for a variation of
sh
from 1 to 2.28 %, there is an increase in
the displacement capacity of 87%.
a) Effect of f
co
b) Effect of
sh
Figure 4. Force displacement capacity curve
0
100
200
300
400
0 20 40 60
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
fco = 25 MPa
fco = 30 MPa
fco = 35 MPa
fco = 40 MPa
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0 40 80 120
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
=1%
=1.58%
=2.28%
sh
sh
sh
H
H
u
0.8H
u
H
y
Actual envelope curve
Idealised elasto plastic
behaviour
1 =
y
u
=
u

L
a
t
e
r
a
l
f
o
r
c
e
Displacement
Force = 0.8Hu
or onset of
hoop fracture
y
284
Table 1. Displacement ductility values
co
f bh P
2
= ,H
max
and H
u
are respectively the maximum value of the lateral load and the lateral
load corresponding to the ultimate displacement ductility
u
(see figure 3).
Axial load Level
Figure 5a illustrates the effect of the axial load level on the force displacement capacity curves. It
can be noticed that ultimate ductility decreases with the increase of . Table 1 indicates also the
similar effect of the axial load level on the yield displacement. It is worth mentioning that the
resultant moment at the critical section, is composed of two secondary moments, due to the lateral
and the axial force respectively. At the initial loading, the moment due to the lateral force is
predominant; however with the increase of this force, the P- becomes important, particularly
beyond the peak point, and the resulting moment becomes insignificant, consequently the lateral
resistant force too. Theses statements inform that for a constant transverse volumetric ratio, the
columns heavily loaded dot not exhibit a ductile behaviour and therefore can endure a more
important damage levels beyond yield displacement.
Parameter
H
max
(kN)
H
u
(kN)
y
(mm)
u
(mm)
(RPA)
(mm)
RPA
u
drift
(%)
drift
(EC8)
(%)
25 287.0 237.0 13.2 60.6 4.59 66.0 0.92 4.66 2.5
30 310.5 257.7 13.0 47.9 3.68 65.0 0.74 3.68 2.5
35 333.4 276.8 12.8 41.2 3.22 64.0 0.64 3.17 2.5
co
f
40 360.2 295.6 12.7 35.4 2.79 63.5 0.56 2.72 2.5
0.1 287.0 237.0 13.2 60.6 4.59 66..0 0.92 4.66 2.5
0.2 369.9 276.8 9.1 26.9 2.96 45.5 0.59 2.07 2.5
0.3 422.8 321.5 7.2 18.1 2.51 36.0 0.50 1.39 2.5
1.00 287.0 237.0 13.2 60.6 4.59 66.0 0.92 4.66 2.5
1.58 287.7 231.6 13.7 88.1 6.43 68.5 1.29 6.78 2.5
sh
2.28 286.9 231.3 14.0 113.2 8.09 70.0 1.62 8.71 2.5
200 287.0 237.2 12.6 34.4 2.73 63.0 0.55 2.65 2.5
300 292.3 239.0 12.9 46.6 3.61 64.5 0.72 3.58 2.5 yh
f
400 291.9 237.0 13.2 60.6 4.59 66.0 0.92 4.66 2.5
0.77 253.8 203.1 13.5 57.5 4.26 67.5 0.85 4.42 2.5
1.00 287.0 237.0 13.2 60.6 4.59 66.0 0.92 4.66 2.5
l
1.57 371.1 321.1 12.6 64.5 5.12 63.0 1.02 4.96 2.5
300 251.6 211.5 13.1 52.7 4.02 65.5 0.80 4.05 2.5
400 285.9 246.6 12.9 53.7 4.16 64.5 0.83 4.13 2.5 y
f
500 317.5 272.8 13.2 57.9 4.39 66.0 0.88 4.45 2.5
19.03 345.0 291.2 9.9 45.4 4.59 49.5 0.92 3.49 2.5
22.49 287.2 237.0 13.2 60.6 4.59 66.0 0.92 4.66 2.5
25.95 244.7 196.2 16.9 77.9 4.61 84.5 0.92 5.99 2.5
29.41 211.8 164.0 21.2 97.3 4.59 106.0 0.92 7.48 2.5
285
Yield Strength of the Transverse Steel f
yh
The analytical results corresponding to three levels of yield strength of the transverse steel are
evidenced by the curves demonstrated in Figure 5b. It can be noticed that the ultimate ductility
increase significantly with the increase of f
yh
. Nevertheless no improvement in the strength capacity
was recorded.
a) Effect of v b) Effect of f
yh
Yield Strength of the Transverse Steel f
y
and the Longitudinal Steel Ratio
l
Figure 6 and Table 1 represent the effect of f
y
and
l
on the capacity curves. It is clear that the two
parameters have the same incidence on the enhancement of the strength capacity of the columns,
though their effects on the yield strength and the ultimate ductility is inconsiderable.
a) Effect of f
y
b) Effect of
l
0
100
200
300
400
0 20 40 60
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
fy = 300 MPa
fy = 400 MPa
fy = 500 MPa
0
80
160
240
320
400
0 20 40 60
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
= 0.769 %
= 1 %
= 1.57 %
l
0
100
200
300
400
500
0 20 40 60
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
= 0.1
= 0.2
= 0.3
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0 20 40 60
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
fyh = 200 MPa
fyh = 300 MPa
fyh = 400 MPa
286
Slenderness Ratio
The slenderness ratio of the reference column, i.e. the ratio of length of the column (l
c
) to the
radius of gyration (i) was 22.49 which correspond to a shear span to depth ratio of 3.25. Three
other columns with different lengths have been analyzed. The results obtained in figure 7 and Table
1 indicates that the yield displacement as well as the ultimate ductility increase with the slenderness
ratio. Table 1 reveals also that for a given drift ratio, the slender columns exhibit more ductility
that current ones.
Figure 7. Effect of on the force displacement curve
Ductility Values
The ultimate ductility values according to the RPA 99
4
recommendations as well as the inter-story
drifts recommended by the EC8
9
are illustrated in Table 1. It is commonly observed that the RPA
99
4
ultimate displacements are higher than the capacity displacement ductility. In other words, the
correlation between demand and capacity is not satisfied. The RPA 99
4
confers to the structure a
behaviour factor of 5 (the case of frames) without guarantying the deformational capacity at the
potential plastic hinge regions. Of course, this is possible only if an adequate tool such as the
introduction of a confinement concrete model is considered in the design procedure. As for the
EC8
9
, the ultimate value of 2.5% is always less than the drift values obtained in this analysis, which
place the predicted value given by the program ANAPOT
6
on the conservative side.
Correlation
The capacity curves obtained in this study were based on the plastic hinge model
10
. By using the
Lehman model
7
, the following expression correlating the curvature and the displacement factors
was derived
6
:
co
y b
c
b
y su
c
p
p
f
f d
l
u
d
) f f (
l
L
L ) (
8
3
4 2
1
2
1 1
1
+
+
|
|
.
|
\
|

+ =

(6)
where the plastic hinge length was calculated by the relationship proposed by Paulay et Priestley
10
b y c p
d f . l . L 022 0 08 0 + = (7)
0
80
160
240
320
400
0 25 50 75 100
Displacement (mm)
F
o
r
c
e
(
k
N
)
= 19.03
= 22.49
= 25.95
= 29.41
287
and u is the uniform bond stress, f
su
and f
y
are respectively the ultimate and yield stress of
longitudinal steel, the other terms are as defined previously.
The results from this analysis showed clearly the performance and the satisfying behaviour of the
considered columns, reaching a displacement ductility factor matching values up to 8.09. This state
clarifies well the need to take into account the influence of confinement in order to achieve the
necessary ductility in reinforced concrete columns.
CONCLUSIONS
(1) An equation providing the transverse steel quantity corresponding to a curvature ductility
factor has been proposed. The equation takes into account the influence of various parameters
particularly the axial load level, yield strength of the hoop steel, concrete strength and the
ratio of longitudinal steel. The comparison with some established code equations has shown
the validity of the proposed equation.
(2) The analytical study carried out have permitted to make evident the influence of series if
parameters on the column displacement capacity and to compare the ultimate displacements
respectively with the recommended limits of both the RPA99 and EC8.
(3) As it stands, the RPA99 must introduce an expression based on a confined concrete model, in
order to be able to assess the curvature ductility required for a desired ductility demand by
considering the influence of the above-mentioned parameters.
REFERENCES
1. Sheikh S.A., Uzumeri S.M., Strength and Ductility of Tied Columns, Journal of Structural
Division, May 1980, Vol.106, NST5, pp. 1079 1102.
2. Zahn F. A., Park R., Priestley M. J. N., Design of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns for
Strength and Ductility, Research Report 86-7, 1986, Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
3. Saatcioglu M., Razvi S. R., Displacement Based Design of Reinforced Concrete Columns
for Confinement, ACI Structural Journal, Jan-Feb 2002, pp.3 11.
4. Rgles Parasismiques Algriennes, RPA 99, CGS, Alger 2000.
5. Bousalem B., Chikh N., Modeling of Laterally Confined Normal Strength Concrete under
Compression Loading, International Symposium on Confined Concrete, June 12-14, 2004,
Changsha, China.
6. Bousalem B., Study of the influence of strength and ductility on the performance and
behaviour of seismic concrete columns, PhD Thesis, University of Constantine, Algeria,
2005, 400 pp.
7. Bousalem B., Chikh N., Djebbar N., Proposition of a Transverse Steel Ratio in Ordinary
Confined Column Sections; CD Proceedings of 4
th
International Symposium on
Construction, Hassiba Ben Bouali University, 22-24 November, 2005, Chlef, Algeria.
8. Lehman D. E., Moehle J. P., Seismic Performance of Well-Confined Concrete Bridge
Columns, PEER Report 1998/01, College of Engineering, University of California,
Berkeley, Dec. 2000.
9. Eurocode 8: Design of structures for earthquake resistance - Part 1: General rules, seismic
actions and rules for buildings, December 2003.
10. Paulay T., Priestley M. J. N., Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Columns and Masonry
Building, John Wiley & Sons, 1992.
288

POST-INSTALLED REINFORCING BAR SPLICES
IN CONCRETE BEAMS

Y. K. AL-GHADANI

Building Permit Department, Muscat Municipality
Darsait, Muscat, P.O.Box 3667, Ruwi, Oman 112

A. S. AL-HARTHY

Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering,
Sultan Qaboos University, P.O.Box 33 Al-Khaudh Oman 123,

ABSTRACT: Post-installed reinforcements are used in many strengthening, repair and extension
works of concrete members to other parts of a structure. Structural codes define anchorage and
splice lengths of cast-in reinforcement as a multiple of the bar diameter or as a bond stress which
corresponds to the most minimum cover allowed by the corresponding code. In post-installed
anchorages, smaller anchorage lengths are used because the bonding agents have higher strength
than concrete. The cost for material is proportional to the lap lengths, and there is an economic
interest in using smaller lengths than those prescribed by the codes for cast-in bars in concrete.
Twelve concrete beams with different post-installed lap lengths, bar diameter and splice
confinements are tested to study their flexural behaviour. The results are compared with the
recommendations of the ACI318 code.

INTRODUCTION

The fastening of additional structural components to already built constructions has been common
practice for decades in civil engineering practice. Post-installed bars have been widely used in
many structures such as bridges, buildings, or other traditional concrete structures. Although
numerous experimental works have investigated the splice and development of cast-in reinforcing
bars
1,2,3,4,5
, very few publications exist on the behavior of post installed bars in beams
6,7
. The aim
of this project is to study the behaviour of post-installed rebars in beams and to compare with the
lap splice length for normal reinforced bars provided by the American Building Code Requirement
for Reinforced Concrete, ACI 318-02
8
. Simply supported beams were tested in flexure to
determine if the ultimate strength of the rebars could be developed by bond.
Anchorage and splice length of cast-in reinforcement bars are defined by the applicable
structural concrete design codes. In many cases these anchorage lengths are multiples of the bar
diameter. The multiplying factor usually depends on the state of stress around the anchorage and
also on the concrete cover and bar spacing dimensions. Splitting and pullout failures, as well as
displacement conditions, are covered by the prescribed anchorage lengths. For post- installed bars,
the same failure and serviceability criteria must be met. Splitting is the failure of the concrete
surrounding the anchorage because of excessive radial stresses. Since splitting is a pure concrete
failure, the design of post-installed bars should respect the same splitting criteria as cast-in bars.
The other failure criterion for reinforcement bars is bond failure (pullout). If spacing and edge
distances have no influence, the bond strengths of cast-in and post-installed bars may differ
289
considerably. With cast-in bar, the bond strength is mainly a function of the rib geometry while
post-installed bars take their pullout resistance from the characteristics of the bonding agent. These
characteristics vary from one product to another.The ACI 318-02 Code
8
gives an explicit formula
for the design of anchors and splices that consider splitting as a function of concrete cover and bar
spacing. The embedment length of an anchorage or splice is defined as a function of steel yield,
concrete strength, the bar diameter, the minimum edge distance or spacing and a coefficient taking
into account the transverse reinforcement.
Design equations for the anchorage of reinforcing bars do not present results in terms of
predicted bond stresses, rather they provide a required development length necessary to achieve
the full yield strength of a bar. The equation for calculating a development length (L
d
) for
deformed bars or wires in tension is:
mm
d K c
f
f
d L
b tr
c
y
b d
300 )
/ ) ( 10
9
(
'

+
=

(1)
Where L
d
is in (mm); d
b
is the nominal bar diameter (mm); f
y
is the yield stress of the reinforcing
steel being developed (MPa); f
c
' is the cylinder compressive stress of concrete (Mpa); is a
reinforcement location factor (1.3 if 300 mm of concrete is cast below the bar and for other
reinforcement is equal to 1.0); is a coating factor (1.5 for epoxy-coated bars with cover less than
3d
b
or clear spacing less than L
d
, 1.2 for all other epoxy coated bars or wires and 1.0 for uncoated
reinforcement); is the reinforcement size factor (0.8 for No. 19 bars and smaller, and 1.0 for No.
22 and larger); is a light weight aggregate factor (1.3 when light weight aggregates are used); c is
minimum of half the center to center bar spacing or the cover dimension measured from the center
line of the bar to the surface of the concrete; K
tr
is a transverse reinforcement index (=A
tr
f
yt
/10sn);
s is the maximum spacing of transverse reinforcement within L
d
, center-to-center (mm); n is the
number of bars or wires being developed along the plane of splitting; A
tr
is the total area of
transverse reinforcement within the spacing, s, that crosses the plane of splitting through the
reinforcement being developed (mm); f
yt
is the yield stress of transverse reinforcement (MPa)
A limit of 2.5 is placed on the term (c + K
tr
)/d
b
. When (c + K
tr
)/d
b
is less than 2.5, splitting
failures are likely to occur. For values above 2.5, a pullout failure is expected and an increase in
cover or transverse reinforcement is unlikely to increase the anchorage capacity.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK

The experimental program consisted of third points loading to failure performed on twelve full-
scale rectangular reinforced concrete beams. Load displacement curves and development of cracks
were measured and monitored. The beams were investigated using chapter twelve of the ACI-318-
02 building code
8
. The effect of the following parameters were investigated: splice length, main
bar diameter, and transverse reinforcements. Figure 1 shows the beam elevation and cross-section.
Table 1 shows detailed description of the beams studied. The mortar used for the post-installed bar
is cured adhesive with compressive and tensile strength equal to 72 MPa and 16 MPa,
respectively. The steel reinforcement used was Grade 460 B (specified yield strength=460 MPa).
Concrete for the test specimens was ready mix of Grade C25 (specified cube strength=25 MPa)
with maximum aggregate size of 20 mm The average 28 cylinder strength was 26 MPa. Cover to
reinforcement was 30 mm.
290

Figure 1: Specimens longitudinal and cross sections.

Table 1: Descriptions of Beam series
Stirrups Sp.
No.
Series Dimension:
mm
Dia.
[mm]
Spacing
[mm]
Bottom
Bar
Diam.
(mm)
Splice
Length
[mm]
Beam Span
L
(m)
BO Reference 300x250 8 150 20 600 3.6
B11 300x250 8 150 20 450 2.85
B12 300x250 8 150 20 600 2.85
B13 300x250 8 150 20 750 2.85
B14
I
300x250 8 150 20 900 2.85
B21 300x250 8 150 16 450 3.6
B22 300x250 8 150 16 600 2.85
B23
II
300x250 8 150 16 750 2.85
B31 300x250 8 100 20 600 3.6
B32 300x250 8 200 20 600 3.6
B33
III
300x250 8 300 20 600 3.6
B41 IV 300x250 10 150 20 600 3.6

In order to allow lapping of the post-installed reinforcement, the beam was cast in two
portions. A longer portion of the beam of length 2.2 m was cast first. After curing, the post-
291
installed lapping were installed by drilling a hole and using a commercial adhesive grout. The
shorter portion of the beam of length 1.6 m was then cast to make a full beam of length equal to
3.8 m. The contact surface of the first part was roughened before casting the second part to create
sufficient bonding. This can be done by high pressure water jetting, sandblasting, chiseling or
chipping and hammering with small pieces of bars. Two span lengths were used (see Table 1).
Figure 1 shows the 3.6 m span. For the 2.85 m span specimens, the roller support of the specimen
shown in Figure 1 was moved 0.75 m inward.
Beam loading tests were performed at the Structural Engineering Laboratory at Sultan Qaboos
University. Load was applied by a 250-kN capacity actuator in deflection control mode to a
spreader beam centered along the simply supported region of the test beam. The instrumentation
for each test was designed to monitor the applied load, the deflections at mid-span and under the
loads using LVDT, the crack Pattern development, the steel rebars end slip using LVDT, the rebar
strains in the lapped region using strain gauges and the concrete strains in the lapped region using
displacement transducer. Strain gauges were installed in two position along the splice length for
the cast-in and the post-installed reinforcing bar. A single experimental test typically took 1.5 to 2
hours.


Table 2 shows a comparison between provided and required lap lengths, comparison between the
calculated moment capacities and the applied maximum moment, as well as types of failures. As
the depth to post-installed reinforcing bars in the short portion of the beam is smaller than in the
long portion of the beam (Figure 1), its moment capacity is also smaller. Each failure is classified
as either a flexural or bond failure, depending on whether moment capacity is reached or splitting
along the rebars occurs based on observed behavior and beam design.

Table 2: Comparison of calculated and experimental beams capacities
Lap Splice
Length
(Provided)
Required
Lap Splice
Length
Max.
Load
Pmax
Applied
Moment
Moment
Capacity
Long
portion of
beam
Moment
Capacity
Short
portion of
beam
Type of
Failure
Beam
No.
mm mm KN (KN.m) (KN.m) (KN.m)
BO 600 782 78.06 46.84 54.39 54.39 Bond
B11 450 79.82 37.91 Bond
B12 600 91.69 43.55 Bond
B13 750 97.78 46.45 Bond
B14 900
782
116.08 55.14
54.39 39.06
Flexure
B21 450 58.8 35.28 Flexure
B22 600 83.37 39.6 Flexure
B23 750
530
81.17 38.56
36.44 28.11
Flexure
B31 600 712 66.85 40.11 Flexure
B32 600 823 66.75 40.05 Bond
B33 600 868 76.06 45.63
54.39 39.06
Flexure
B41 600 689 69.53 41.72 54.39 38.49
292

All lap failures occurred along the cast-in bars and no observed splitting along the post-installed
reinforcements was observed. In series four beam (B41), due to the actuator reaching its maximum
extension, loading test could not be continued.

Series : splice lengths of 450 mm, 600 mm, 750 mm and 900 mm with main rebar diameter of
20 mm were tested for this series. The Moment-deflection responses of the specimens consisted
typically of a stiff pre-cracking stage, followed by a post- cracking stage from first cracking up to
the maximum load. For bond failure, splitting cracks occur decreasing the load carrying capacity
of the beam and a gradual degrading stiffness. Plots of Moment-deflection responses for the
specimens of the series one tests are shown in Figure 2.
In this test series there was a consistent increase in the maximum load capacity of the
specimens with an increase in the lap splice length. Ductile behavior improvement was very
evident with increased lap length values. All beams failed in bond except beam B14 where the
provided lap length is about 15% more than required by the code. Steel strains in cast-in bars
where lap failure occurred were less than yield although some post-installed bars showed yielding
at lap failure. This may be due to the high strength of the bonding agent.
When the lap length provided is less than the required ACI 318 lap length bond failure occurs.
All bond failures occurred in the ordinary bars rather than the spliced post-installed bars. This is
due to the high bond strength of the mortar used in the post-installed bars.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

K
N

m
B11
B12
B13
B14
BO
Figure 2- Deflection at center versus moment for series

Series : Splice lengths of 450 mm, 600 mm and 750 mm with main rebar diameter of 16 mm
were tested on this series. Plots of Moment-deflection responses for the specimens of the series
tests are shown in Figure 3. Flexural failure governed because the provided lap lengths were more
than required by the code except in beam B21. In this beam, a premature flexural failure occurred
in the short portion of the beam instead of bond failure due to a smaller moment capacity in the
short portion. Increase in lap length has no major effect in the moment capacity of the beam in
293
these cases. No effect on ductility is seen when lap lengths are increased very much beyond the
required lengths. Flexural failure is more ductile than bond failure. Beyond the maximum load, the
reference beam with no pre-qualified mortar experienced a sudden loss of load carrying capacity
due to bond failure, followed by a rapid reduction in the load resistance with increasing deflection.

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

k
N

m
B21
B22
B23
BO
Figure 3: Deflection at center versus moment for series

Series : this series examined the effect of the spacing of stirrups. The spacing were 100 mm,
200 mm and 300 mm with main rebar diameter (20 mm). Plots of moment-deflection responses for
the beams of the series are shown in Figure 4. Beams B31 and B33 reached ultimate capacity
prematurely in the short portion and it was therefore not possible to study the effect of stirrup
spacing on lap failure. Beam B32 failed in bond although the stirrup spacing is less than in B33
which pre-maturely failed in flexure at the short span. Comparing B12 (stirrups spacing = 150
mm) and B32 (stirrups spacing = 200 mm), the closer the spacing, the higher the bond capacity
and the stiffer the beam as shown in figure 5.
294
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

K
N

m
B31
B32
B33
Figure 4: Deflection at center versus moment for series

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Deflection (mm)
M
o
m
e
n
t

K
N

m
B12
B32

Figure 5: Deflection at center versus moment for series and I

295

CONCLUSIONS

In this project, reinforced concrete beams containing lapped post-installed reinforcement were
investigated. The beams were investigated using the requirements of the ACI 318-02 Code for lap
lengths. Although the bonding agent in post-installed bars has higher strength properties, it is the
cast-in bars that control the design of the lap length. All lap failures occurred along the cast-in
reinforcing bars and no splitting failure occurred in post-installed bars due to the higher strength of
the bonding agent. The following conclusions are made:
1. The ACI equations for lapped bars in tension are also valid when post-installed bars are
lapped to cast-in bars.
2. Bond failure is less ductile that flexural failure
3. As the lap length increases, the load carrying capacity and ductility of the beam increase
in beams where bond failure occurred.
4. The higher the confinement in lapped regions, the higher the load carrying capacity and
the ductility.

REFERENCES

1. Cannon, R. W., Straight Talk about Anchorage to Concrete, ACI Structural Journal,
V. 92, No.6, 1995, p. 724-734.
2. Azizinamini, A, Darwin, D., Eligehausen, R., Pavel, R. and Ghosh, S.K., Proposed
Modifications to ACI 318-95 Tension Development and Lap Splice for High Strength
Concrete, ACI Structural Journal, V. 96, No.6, 1999, p. 922-926.
3. Sener, S., Bazant, Z. P. and Beck-Giraudon, E., Size Effect on Failure of Bars in
Concrete, ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 125, No. 6, 1999, p. 653-660.
4. M. Harajli, B. Hamad, and K. Karam, Bond-Slip Response of Reinforcing Bars
Embedded in Plain and Fiber Concrete, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol.
14, No. 6, 2002, p. 503-511.
5. Hamad, B.S., Najjar, S. S. and Jumaa, G. K., Correlation between Roles of Transverse
Reinforcement and Steel Fibers in Confining Tension Lap Splices in High Strength
Concrete, ACI Structural Journal, V. 100, No.1, 2003, p. 19-24.
6. K. Jacob and Muenger F., Splitting and Bond of Post-installed Rebar Splices and
Anchorages, Hilti Corp., 2002.
7. Savliaris, K.D., Kollias, S. and Speare, P.R.S., Experimental Study of Adhesively
Bonded Anchorage in Concrete, Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 48, No. 175,
1996, p. 79-93.
8. ACI 318-02, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary,
American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2002.

296

MECHANICAL REINFORCING BAR COUPLER BASED ON BAR
DEFORMATIONS
*

S. S. ALI-ELDIN* AND A. A. AL-TUHAMI**
*Mechanical Design and Production Dept., **Structural Engineering Dept., Faculty of
Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.

ABSTRACT: In the present work, a new mechanical coupler for connecting the ends of
reinforcing bars is proposed and examined. The coupler is made of a sleeve split up along its
longitudinal axis, into two halves. Each half is grooved (female) along its inner surface to match
with the deformations (male) on the reinforcing bars. Three methods for closing the two sleeve
halves are presented. The coupler does not need any preparation for the reinforcing bar ends such
as threading or notching, therefore, the effective cross-section area of the reinforcing bars is not
affected and there is no stress concentration. The present coupler can be also connecting
reinforcing bars ends with different diameters. The study includes a series of tensile tests for
specimens with and without couplers. Two bars from two different stocks were taken as reference
specimens without using couplers. Eleven coupler specimens for the three types of coupler,
according to the closure method, were tested. The results showed that the load elongation behavior
for the coupler specimens and the reference bar without coupler are very close.
INTRODUCTION
In steel reinforced concrete construction, there are generally three types of splices or
connections, namely; mechanical splices, welding splices, and lap splice which is the most widely
used in building construction
1-4
. This splice is made by lapping one of the reinforcing bars over the
other with a suitable length sufficient to transmit the tension or the compression forces. Spalling of
the concrete cover due to corrosion of reinforcing bars make the lap splice ineffective. Moreover,
wasting large amount of steel reinforcement and congestion caused by laps are the common
shortcomings in this technique. Welding is suitable for some steels bars, but not for others and the
heat may actually weaken some steel bars. Welding also requires good weather, great skill, in
addition to being expensive. Mechanical splices normally require a bar end preparation or special
treatment such as threading, upsetting, or friction welding. Threading techniques require that at
least one of the bars be rotated relative to the splice sleeve. This operation may require hand
turning of long and heavy steel bars, and sometimes it is physically impossible to rotate either bars
when a first bar is already embedded in the concrete and the second is bent. For these reasons,
continuing need exists for a mechanical coupler that can easy be installed.
In this paper details and experimental study of a mechanical reinforcing bar coupler, based on
bar deformations is presented. The coupler is made as a sleeve; this sleeve is split up along its
longitudinal axis, into two halves. Each half is grooved (female) along its inner surface to match

*
More details showing the idea and different closure techniques are presented in a patent
application WO 2005/111336 A1 presented to the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO).
297

with the deformations (male) on the reinforcing bars. The sleeve is adopted to connect the ends of
the two reinforcing bars in which the deformations of the reinforcing bars 'male' fitted into the
grooves 'female' made in the inner surface of the sleeve without clearance or any filling materials
to be added. The outer surface of sleeve is processed to be suitable to the technique of closing the
two sleeve halves over the reinforcing bars ends. The sleeve parts can be manufactured using
casting, forging or rolling methods.
The coupler as presented overcomes the shortcoming in the previously mentioned methods.
However, it does not need end preparations nor affect the effective cross-section area of the
reinforcing bars in addition to not needing the bar rotation relative to the sleeve. In order to check
the applicability and reliability of the suggested technique, a number of 16 mm deformed bar steel
specimens were tested under axial tension.
TECHNIQUE DESCRIPTION:
A sleeve is chosen as a pipe made from steel or steel alloys with internal diameter that equals
to the core diameter of the reinforcing bars to be connected without accounting for the reinforcing
bars male deformations. The pipe thickness (the solid part between the internal and external
diameters of the pipe) is chosen to be proportional to the reinforcing bars diameters and the
material strength. The pipe is split into two halves along its longitudinal axis.
The idea of the coupler depends on copying the reinforcing bar deformations (male) on two halves
of the sleeve to form identical grooves (female) in the inner surface of the coupler sleeve.
The sleeve halves are assembled along the ends of the two reinforcing bars to be connected
assuring the coincidence of the reinforcing bars male deformations with the sleeve halves-female
grooves. The two sleeve halves are tightly closed on the two bar connection either by a steel pipe
with inner diameter form a press fit with the outer diameter of the halves containing the steel bar
connection, or by two pipes with inner conical shape pressed at the ends of the two halves or by
number of rings with pre-bored threaded hole and bolt.
First Coupler Closure Technique:
a. As shown in Figure 1-a, two reinforcing bars 1 and 2 to be connected are axially aligned, then
the two sleeve halves with protruded end, 4(a) are assembled around the reinforcing bars ends by
matching the bar male deformations with the coupler female grooves.
b. A special pipe, 5 in Figure 1-a, is prepared having an interior diameter equal to the outside
diameter of the two sleeve halves with the two reinforcing bars ends inside them and also having a
suitable thickness.
c. The pipe is intruded by compression into the sleeve halves with the connected reinforcing bars
inside them.
Second Coupler Closure Technique:
The connection shape shown in Figure 1-a is resembled as that shown in Figure 1-b except for
the two sleeve halves 4(b) are tapered with gentle slope towards the sleeve ends forming two
partial cones at the sleeve ends. The coupler is tightly closed over the two reinforcing bars ends
through matching the reinforcing bars male deformations with the sleeve female grooves. An outer
tapered pipe lock 8, having an inner slope matching the original sleeve external slope (20), is
entered from the two sleeve ends with specific axial force achieving pressure that prevents the two
reinforcing bars ends from splitting.
298

Third Coupler Closure Technique:
As shown in Figure 1-c, the third technique for tightly closing the coupler halves 4(c) is
comprised of outer rings with threaded holes, 9, having specific length, thickness, and an
internal diameter. Threaded bolts 10 assemble the rings. The coupling is performed by exactly
entering the two reinforcing bars ends male deformations into the two said sleeve halves female
grooves, then intruding the outer rings 9 in Figure 1-c over assembled the axially aligned two
reinforcing bars and sleeve halves. However, the threaded bolts 10 are tighten in the threaded
holes over the sleeve halves to press the coupler halves over the two reinforcing steel bar ends.

9
4(c)
10
1
2
3
Sec. c-c
4(c)
Sec. Elev.
c
c
Sec. b-b
b
b
8
1
8 8
2
5 4(a)
2 1
5
4(a)
6
7
2
A
Detail A
a
a
Sec. a-a
1: Reinforcing bar 1, 2: Reinforcing bar 2, 3: bar Deformations ,4(a): One half of sleeve with protruded end,
4(b): one half of sleeve with tapered end , 4(c): One half of sleeve without protruded tapered ends, 5: Closure pipe,
Sec. Elev.
Sec. Elev.
6: Female grooves, 7: protruded sleeve end (lip), 8: Tapered sleeve, 9: Rings with threaded holes, 10: Threaded bolts.
Figure.1-a:The coupler with closure pipe
Figure.1-b: The coupler with tapered sleeve lock
Figure.1-c: The coupler with rings and bolts closure system
1
3
4(a)
4(a)
5
4(b)
1
4(b)
1
10
Numerals in the drawings:

Figure 1: Coupler details with different closure techniques.
299

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
In Figure (2), sectional elevation and cross-section of
two ends of the reinforcing bars (a and b) are axially
aligned with the two coupler halves. When the
Reinforcing bars are subjected to tensile forces Q, the
resulting forces in the reinforcing bar deformation P
n

divided into S
n
and N
n
where:

Q = ultimate tensile load for bar
P
n
= reaction force on the bar deformation
S
n
= separation force on one halve of the two splits
N
n
= the vertical force on the bar and sleeve deformation
Z = No. of deformation in one halve of split for bar (a)
F
n
= confining force
Design Due To Bearing Pressure:
The maximum bearing pressure on the deformation
can be calculated by the following equation:
b
b
A
N
max
= (1)
where:
A
b
: the horizontal projection area of one deformation.
b
: the safe bearing stress for bar and sleeve material.

Design Due To Shear Stress:

The maximum direct shear stress on the deformation
can be calculated by the following equation:
s
s
A
N
max
= (2)
Where:
A
s
: the shear area of one deformation (the
development area)
s
: the safe shear stress for bar material.

Design due to tension stress:

The maximum tensile stress on the sleeve half can be
calculated by the following equation:

t
t
A
Q 2 /
= (3)
Where:
A
t:
the net cross-section area of one halve of the sleeve
t
: the safe tensile stress for split material.
Confining force:
Figure 2: Two ends of the reinforcing bars
subjected to axial force Q.
Figure 3: Details of produced forces on the
sleeve grooves due to applied axial force Q on
the bars.
F
F
external
confining forces
sleeve half
N
1
S
1
N
n
S
z
1
z
Q/2
Bar (b)
Bar (a)
Q
P
N
F
F
F
F
F
a sleeve half
A
t
A
b
A
t
A
b
external
confining forces
Bar
P
N
z
z
1
1
deformation
F
section plane

300

The confining forces results from closure systems must be greater than the summation of the
separation forces as follows:

=
=
=
=
z n
n
n
z n
n
n
S F
1 1
f (4)

and

=
=
=
z n
n
n
N
Q
1
2
(5)
EXPERMENTAL RESULTS
A series of deformed steel reinforcing bar specimens of 16 mm diameter were tested under
axial tension. Two bars from two different stocks were taken as reference specimens without using
couplers. The tested coupler specimens employed three different closure techniques. The gauge
length in all tested specimens, with or without coupler, was kept constant with the coupler
accounted as part of that gauge length (400 mm). Summary of the test specimens (dimensions,
closure types and the mechanical properties of used material) are given in Table 1.
Table 1. Test specimens and couplers details.
Steel properties (MPa) Type closure techniques Sleeve dimensions
sleeve

closures
No
of
specimens
Bar
diameter
(mm.)
yield ult. yield ult.
closure
pipe
tapered
sleeve
lock
rings
and
bolts
Length
(mm.)
Outer
diameter
(mm.)
3
16 400 700 400 700 Without coupler
-- --
3
16 400 700 400 700 Closure pipe
130 32
3
16 400 700 400 700 Tapered sleeve lock
134 33
3
16 400 700 400 700 Rings and bolts
124 25
1
16 400 700 280 450 Rings and bolts
124 25
1
16 280 450 400 700 Rings and bolts
124 25

The specimens were tested in a Universal Hydraulic Testing Machine, with capability of
tracing the load elongation curve of the tested specimen. The load elongation curves are plotted for
every specimen. Figures 4 and 5 show comparisons of load-elongation curves for three coupler
specimens with different closure techniques along with reference specimens without using
couplers. The curves show a continuous and smooth behavior throughout the load application. A
clear kink is observed after the linear portion of the curve, indicating specimens' initial yield. This
is followed by linear hardening, which soon becomes nonlinear and finally become perfect plastic,
up until specimen fracture.
The results showed that the load elongation curves for the specimens with couplers are very
close to the reference specimens, indicating that the presence of couplers in the tested specimens
gave the same trend as the original specimens without couplers. The yield load for all the tested
specimens, including the reference specimens, ranged from 82 to 87 kN, and the ultimate load
ranged from 140 to 144 kN. In the three tested closure techniques, the tension failure took place
outside the coupler itself, assuring the effectiveness of the coupler in connecting the two
301

reinforcing bar ends together. On the other hand, the elongation that took place in the tested
closure techniques is almost the same as that of the original steel bar, till the yield and ultimate
tension capacity of that reinforcing steel bar.
Photo 1 shows the coupler with tapered sleeve lock during test with fracture of the reinforcing
steel bar outside the coupler. On the other hand, Photo 2 shows complete fracture in the
reinforcing steel bar outside the cylindrical closure system. The third closure technique is shown in
Photo 3, in which with a successful rings and bolts closure system is applied, with failure also took
place outside the coupler body.

Photo 1: Coupler with tapered sleeve lock during test
showing failure of the reinforcing steel bar outside the
coupler.
Photo 2: Complete fracture in the reinforcing steel bar,
outside the cylindrical closure system.
Figure 5: comparison of load elongation curves
of a reference specimen and the coupler with
rings and bolts.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 1 2 3 4 5
elongation (cm)
l
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
reference (b)
rings and bolts
Figure 4: comparison of load elongation curves
of a reference specimen and the coupler with
tapered sleeve lock.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 1 2 3 4 5
elongation (cm)
l
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
reference (a)
cone and cylindrical
closure system
302

Figure 6 shows two types of connection
failures. The first is due to unsuccessful choice
of the sleeve material, where bearing failure
took place, and the other is due to the
insufficient closure confining forces in which
slipping failure occurred. During test, the load
must increase up at the bar deformations to
move them away from the grooves due to
plastic deformation or slipping, then the load
drops. The little rebound that took place after
that failure is attributed to interlocking of the
sleeve grooves with the consequent bar
deformations, until the coupler grooves end.
Thus, the load-elongation curves show
repeated increasing and dropping of the load in
both the slipping and bearing failure modes.
Photos 4 and 5 show the remaining portions of
the coupler grooves with the first photo
showing the effect of slipping the deformation
of the steel bar over the sleeve grooves and
deformations. On the other hand, Photo 5
shows approximate erosion of the sleeve
grooves and deformations due to the low
strength material used in this specific
specimen.
Photo 3: Cup and cone fracture in the reinforcing steel bar outside the coupler with rings and
bolts closure system.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 1 2 3 4 5
elongation (cm)
l
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
reference (a)
bearing failure
slipping failure
Figure 6: The behavior of connections
failed under bearing and slipping along
with reference specimen.
Photo 4: A sleeve half showing the effect of slipping the deformation of the steel bar
over the sleeve grooves and deformations.
303

CONSLUSIONS
In this paper, details of a new mechanical reinforcing bar coupler, based on bar deformations
are presented. The coupler overcomes the shortcoming in the previously mentioned techniques.
However, it does not need end preparations nor affect the effective cross-section area of the
reinforcing bars in addition to not needing the bar rotation relative to the sleeve. Moreover, the
coupler is easy to design, manufacture and install in addition to being of low cost.
In order to check the applicability and reliability of the suggested technique, a series of deformed
steel reinforcing bar specimens of 16 mm without coupler and with different closure systems are
tested.
The results showed that the load elongation curves for the specimens with couplers are very
close to the reference specimens, indicating that the presence of couplers in the tested specimens
gives the same trend as the original specimens without couplers.
The different failure types which may be due to the sleeve material or closure systems are
discussed through using a coupler with low material strength and another one with low closure
pressure. Results obtained in the two types of coupler failure are also discussed.
REFERENCES
1. ACI Committee report number 439 "Mechanical Connections of Reinforcing Bars" ACI
structural Journal, V. 88, No. 2, pp. 222-237, March-April 1991.
2. Reinforcing Steel Institute of Ontario, "Reinforcing Steel Manual of Standard Practice",
Fourth Edition, 1991.
3. ACI 318-95, "Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete," American Concrete
Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich., 1995.
4. The Oklahoma City Bombing, "Improving Building Performance Through Multi-Hazard
Mitigation," ASCE-FEMA, August 1996.

Photo 5: Erosion of the sleeve
grooves and deformations due
to the low strength material of
the sleeve.
304

SAFETY OF SKIN FRICTION DRILLED SHAFT FOUNDATIONS IN
GRAVELLY SOILS
A. M. HARRAZ AND M. M. EL-MELIGY
Structural Engineering Department, Mansoura University
Mansoura, Egypt

ABSTRACT: The great amount of uncertainty associated with the design process in geotechnical
problems necessitates the inclusion of reliability principles in the design process. This can be
partly achieved by the use of partial safety factors in the codified design. The scope of this paper
is to conduct component reliability analyses on skin friction shafts in gravelly soils and to study
the probability of failure and determine the reliability indices and partial factors of safety of these
kinds of shafts. The response surface methodology is used to link between the finite element
analyses phase and the reliability analyses. As a result of this study, two limit state functions,
ultimate bearing capacity function and settlement (serviceability) function were developed and
used in the reliability analyses. Linear and quadratic closed form equations were developed for
each limit state. It is found that soil angle of internal friction and soil dilation are the most
important parameters controlling the probability of failure of friction piles in gravelly soils
considering bearing capacity limit state. However, the soil dilation is the most important variable
taking shaft settlement limit state into consideration.
INTRODUCTION
The safety and reliability of drilled shaft foundations is a geotechnical problem of great
engineering importance. The reliability of drilled shafts is strongly affected by a number of
uncertainties that exists in soil properties, reinforced concrete properties, loading, and system
geometry. Consequently perfect design situation necessitates a methodology that reflects the
aforementioned uncertainty into design. This may be partly achieved by employing the concept of
partial safety factor in codified design. This concept enables to take into consideration the relative
importance of the design parameters. Moreover, the partial safety factors may take into
consideration the consequences of failure as well as the safety cost. In the present work, the safety
of friction drilled shafts is investigated from component reliability point of view. The partial safety
factors that achieve specific reliability level are determined.
ANALYTICAL APPROACHES
All methods for determining the axial capacity of drilled shafts are based upon the equation:

ult p s
Q Q Q = + (1)
where Q
ult
is the ultimate axial capacity of the shaft, Q
p
is the tip bearing capacity component of
the shaft, and Q
s
is the side resistance component of the shaft. The components Q
p
and Q
s
are
calculated by the following two equations:
305

p p p
Q q A = (2)

s s s
Q f A = (3)
where q
p
is the base resistance per unit area, A
p
is the cross-sectional area of the tip, f
s
is the shaft
resistance per unit area, and A
s
is the surface area of the sides of the shaft in contact with the soil.
For differing layers of soils, Q
s
consist of contributions from each layer. The scope of this paper is
on skin friction piles (pull out test). Different methods such as, Tomlison
1
, Meyerhoff
2
, Reese and
O'Neil
3
(AASHTO method), Kulhawy
4
and Rollins et al
5
can be used to determine the skin friction
values of drilled shafts in clay or sand. All these methods found to be under-estimate the skin
friction capacity in gravelly soils due to the high dilations of gravels compared to sands
5
.
RELIABILITY METHODS
Reliability theory has been developed rapidly over the last two decades. An index called the
reliability index is used as a measure of safety. This measure is directly related to the probability
of failure P
f
as
6

( )
f
P = (4)
where = cumulative normal distribution function. For linear normal limit states

g
g
= (5)
where
g
and
g
the mean and the standard deviation; respectively, of the limit state under
consideration. However, for nonlinear/ non-normal limit states the problem is to be first
transformed into the uncorrelated standard normal space as
7

( ) Z T X = (6)

1
( ) ( ) ( ) 0 g X g T Z g Z
= = =

(7)
where Z = vector of uncorrelated standard normal variables, X = vector of random variables in
original space, T is the transformation operator, and g(X) and g(Z) are the limit states in the
original and standard space, respectively. The reliability index is then obtained as the minimum
distance between the origin and the limit state surface in the standard normal space
7
. The point on
the limit state surface which has the minimum distance to the origin is called the design point or
the most likely failure point. This point can be found by a minimization procedure as
8

0.5
min( )
T
Z Z = (8)
subject to
( ) 0 g Z = (9)
Rackwitz and Fiessler
9
developed an iterative algorithm for evaluating the design point and the
reliability index. When the limit state is approximated by a tangent hyper-plane at the failure point
the method is called first-order reliability method (FORM)
6
. In the second-order reliability method
306

(SORM)
6, 9
a quadratic surface is used to approximate the limit state at the failure point. During
the last decade many improvement have been introduced to the algorithm aiming at more
efficiency and robustness. These up-to-date improvements have been implemented in the
reliability code COMREL
10
which is used in this study.
PARTIAL SAFETY FACTORS
Generally, the partial safety factor can be defined as the factor by which the variable is multiplied
in order to achieve a target reliability index
6
,
T
; i. e.,

*
,
i
i
c i
x
x
= (10)
where
i
is the partial safety factor for either the loading variable or the strength variable, x
c,i
is the
characteristic value of the random variable x
i
, and x
i
*
is the design value of the random variable
which can be calculated as

[ ]
* 1
( )
i i i T
x F
= (11)
where F
i
[.] is distribution function of the random variable under consideration,
T
is the target
reliability index, and
i
is the normalized sensitivity of the reliability index with respect to the
random variable x
i
in the u-space; i. e.,

*
1
i
i
u
u

= (12)
and . indicates Euclidean norm. If
i
has a positive sign this means that the random variable is a
strength variable; otherwise, it is a loading variable. Clearly, a partial safety factor, in this concept,
is dependent on the probability distribution and sensitivity of the random variable under
consideration as well as on the target reliability index.
Proposed Algorithm
The proposed algorithm for the reliability assessment of skin friction drilled shaft foundations in
gravelly soils is summarized as follows:
(1) Prepare the mechanical as well as the stochastic models.
(2) Perform the required numerical experiments using ABAQUS code
11
. Then, using regression
analysis find in closed form the limit states considered in the assessment; i.e., the shaft
bearing capacity and settlement.
(3) The reliability package COMREL
10
is used for component reliability analysis.
(4) In the first run use COMREL
10
to perform sensitivity analysis for the random variables with
respect to the failure probability for each limit state.
(5) Based on the sensitivity analysis reduce the stochastic model by replacing the unimportant
random variables by deterministic (constant) variables at their mean values.
(6) Perform the reliability analysis using COMREL
10
based on the reduced stochastic model in
order to determine the reliability indices and the sensitivity coefficients required for the
evaluation of the partial safety factors.
(7) Get the partial safety factors using the aforementioned sensitivity coefficients and based on
the target reliability indices of EUROCODE

1
12
.
307

CASE STUDY
Finite Element Analyses
Finite element analyses using the program ABAQUS
11
were performed on a 3-D finite element
model with 8-node elements. The boundary conditions include infinite (continuous) elements to
reduce the effect of stress concentrations. The behavior of the reinforced concrete shaft was
modeled as linear elastic. The soil was modeled as an elastic-perfectly-plastic, Drucker-Prager-
Type material
13
, with volumetric dilation. Friction elements with a coefficient of friction, f, were
used to represent the interaction between the soil and the shaft. The FEM was used to simulate a
pull out field test conducted at Mapleton, Utah, USA
5
. Harraz et al.
14
developed the soil set
parameters which mostly fit the load deflection curve of this test as shown in Table 1. A
parametric study using the soil parameters shown in Table 1 and using different coefficient of
variations for each variable was performed. As a result of these finite element runs, two response
surfaces, ultimate bearing capacity and serviceability (settlement), were developed. Linear and
quadratic closed form equations using regression analyses were used for each limit state function.
Table 1. Soil Parameters at Mapleton
14

Parameter Definition Values
Soil angle of internal friction 42
Soil dilation angle 42
c (kPa) Soil cohesion 23.85
E (kPa) Soil modulus 1.010
5

(kN/m3) Soil unit weight 19.6
k Coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest 1.0
f Coefficient of friction between soil and concrete 1.0
L (m) Shaft length 3.9
Reliability Analyses
Ultimate limit state function: A sensitivity analyses performed by the authors using
COMREL
10
on the ultimate bearing capacity limit state function of the friction shafts showed that
the soil cohesion, c, and soil shaft friction, f, have the lowest normalized sensitivity factors in the
model. Therefore, these two variables are taken as constants. Table 2 shows the reduced stochastic
model. Random variables are assumed to be uncorrelated in this model. Figures 1, 2 show the
effect of the change in coefficient of variation of different variables on the reliability indices,
probability of failures, and partial safety factors for both the linear and quadratic limit states. It can
be seen that the effect of nonlinearity is considerable. The partial safety factors for the different
variables considering the target reliability equals to 3.8 based on EUROCODE 1
12
is shown in
Table 3. From previous results, we can conclude that the change of soil angle of internal friction
values causes a sound effect on the probability of failure of the shaft and this is due to the high
sensitivity of the reliability with respect to in comparison with the other variables.

Table 2. Reduced stochastic model.
Random
Units Probability Mean
Coefficient
308

variable distribution of variation
degree Normal 42 0.25
E kPa Normal 110
5
0.25
kN/m
3
Normal 19.6 0.20
L meter Normal 3.9 0.10
c kPa Constant 23.85 -----
f ----- Constant 1.0 -----

0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
2.00
2.20
2.40
2.60
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V. (%)
R
e
l
i
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

I
n
d
e
x
,

E
L
Linear Limit State

Quadratic Limit State
0.00
0.10
0.20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V. (%)
P
r
o
b
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

o
f

F
a
i
l
u
r
e
E
L
Linear Limit State

Figure1. Effect of coefficient of variation of different variables on reliability index and probability
of failure
Table 3. Partial safety factors,
T
= 3.8
Partial safety factors
Variable
Linear limit state Quadratic limit state
0.18 0.20
0.63 0.61
E 0.78 0.77
0.90 0.88
L 0.94 0.93
Serviceability limit state function: Another sensitivity analyses performed by the authors using
COMREL
10
on the settlement limit state function of the friction shafts showed that the soil angle
of internal friction, , soil cohesion, c, and soil-shaft friction, f, have the lowest normalized
sensitivity factors in the model. The reduced stochastic model is shown in Table 4. Figures 3, 4
show the effect of the change in coefficients of variation of different variables on the reliability
indices, probability of failures, and partial safety factors. Generally, the increase of the variability
of a random variable results in decrease of its partial safety factor and increase in the partial safety
factors of the other variables. Table 5 shows the partial safety factors for the different variables
considering the target reliability equals to 1.5 based on EUROCODE 1
12
. From previous results, it
is clearly shown that plays the most important rule in component reliability of the settlement of
the skin friction drilled shaft foundations in gravelly soils.
309

0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V., (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V., (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V., E (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V., (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V., L (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State


Figure 2. Effect of coefficient of variation of different variables on partial safety factors

1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
2.00
2.20
2.40
2.60
2.80
3.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V. (%)
R
e
l
i
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

I
n
d
e
x
,

E
L
Linear Limit State

0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
C.O.V. (%)
P
r
o
b
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

o
f

F
a
i
l
u
r
e
E
L
Linear Limit State

Figure 3. Effect of coefficient of variation of different variables on reliability index and
probability of failure

310

Table 4. Reduced stochastic model.
Random
variable
Units Probability
distribution
Mean Coefficient
of variation
E kPa Normal 110
5
0.25
kN/m
3
Normal 19.6 0.20
L meter Normal 3.9 0.10
degree Constant 42 -----
c kPa Constant 23.85 -----
f ----- Constant 1.0 -----

0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
C.O.V., (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
C.O.V., E (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
C.O.V., (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
C.O.V., L (%)
P
a
r
t
i
a
l

S
a
f
e
t
y

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
,

(
P
S
F
)
E
L
Linear Limit State

Figure 4. Effect of coefficient of variation of different variables on partial safety factors
Table 5. Partial safety factors,
T
= 1.5
Partial safety factors
Variable
Linear limit state Quadratic limit state
0.71 0.70
E 0.81 0.81
0.96 0.96
L 0.95 0.95
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The reliability of skin friction drilled shaft foundations in gravelly soils is investigated based on
bearing capacity and serviceability criteria. The reliability method SORM is used in the reliability
evaluation. It is found that the soil angle of internal friction and the soil dilation , which are
strength variables, are the most important variables. For the case of ultimate bearing capacity limit
311

state, the normalized sensitivities are affected by the value of the soil angle of internal friction, ,
more than it is affected by the value of soil dilation . In case of serviceability limit state, the soil
dilation is the most important variable controlling the pile settlement. The partial safety factors
required for the codified design of skin friction drilled shaft foundations in gravelly soils are
determined for the cases of ultimate bearing capacity and serviceability limit states. Since the
change in the coefficient of variations of the soil angle of internal friction, , and the soil dilation,
, are expected to be large, it is recommended to have the partial safety factors as function of the
variability of and . Finally, it should be noted that the presented partial safety factors should be
used cautiously due to the following reasons:
(1) The generalization requires testing wide spectrum of problems in order to capture the
extreme values of the partial safety factors.
(2) The two basic criteria should be investigated using system reliability analysis.
(3) In a next paper the basic criteria will be investigated in a system reliability analysis in order
to reach final conclusions concerning the partial safety factors required for the codified
design of friction drilled shaft in gravelly soils.
REFERENCES
(1) Tomlinson, M.J., "Foundation Design and Construction," 7
th
ed., Prentice Hall, 2001.
(2) Meyerhoff, G.C., "Bearing Capacity and Settlement of Pile Foundations," Journal of the
Geotechnical Engineering Division, Vol. 102, No. GT3, March, 1976, pp 197-228.
(3) Reese, L. C., and M. W. O'Neill, "New Design Method For Drilled Shafts From Common
Soil and Rock Tests," Foundation Engineering: Current Principles and Practices, Vol. 2,
ASCE, June 1989.
(4) Kulhawy, F. H. "Drilled Shaft Foundations, Foundation Engineering Handbook," 2nd ed.
Edited by H.Y. Fang, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY: 1991.
(5) Rollins, K.M., Clayton, R.J., Mikesell, R.C., and B.C. Blaise, "Drilled Shaft Side Friction in
Gravelly Soils," Report No. UT-90.02, January 1997.
(6) Rangannathan, R., "Reliability Analysis and Design of Structures," 1
st
(ed), Tata Mcgraw-
Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, 1990.
(7) Hohenbichler, M. and Rackwitz, R., "Improvement of Second -order Reliability Estimates by
Importance Sampling," Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, Vol. 114, No. 12, pp
2195-2199, 1988.
(8) Vanmarcke E. H., "Probabilistic Modeling of Soil Profiles," Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol. 103, No. GT11, November, 1977: 1227-1246.
(9) Rackwitz, R. and Fiessler, B., "Structural Reliability under Combined Random Load
Sequences," Computer and Structures, No. 9, pp 484-494, 1987.
(10) COMREL, "A Structural Reliability Analysis Program System, Users Manual, RCP GmbH,"
Munich, Germany, 1997.
(11) ABAQUS, "Standard Users Manual (ver. 5.8)," Hibbitt, Karlsson, & Sorensen, Inc, 1998.
(12) EUROCODE 1, "European Committee for Standardization," 1991.
(13) Chen, W. F and Baladi, G.Y., "Soil Plasticity: Theory and Implementation," Published by
Elsevier, New York, 1985.
(14) Harraz, A.M., Houston, W.N., Houston, S.L. & Walsh, K.D. 2005. Parameters Controlling
the Capacity of Axially Loaded Drilled Shaft Foundations in Sand, Gravel, and Cobbles.
Proceeding of the 16
th
International conference of Geomechanics, Osaka, Japan, September
12-15, 1987-1991.
312
%8&./,1*$1$/<6,62)3,/(686,1*7+( ),1,7(',))(5(1&(
0(7+2'
ABDULSALAM I. M. AL-JANABI. SALAH A. M. H. MIRAN AND BALSAM J. M. EARID
Department of Civil Engineering. Universitv of ALTAHADI. SIRT. LIBYA
$%675$&7 This study presents a finite difference analysis for predicting the buckling load of
slender elastic pile partially or completely embedded in the foundation soil. The soil is modeled as
an elastic Winkler foundation having normal and tangential components of moduli of subgrade
reactions. The variation of the moduli of subgrade reactions can be constant or variable with depth
and controlled by power indices. The part of the foundation soil reaction at the pile tip is also
considered and modeled by an equivalent elastic spring. Thus. the end bearing resistance of the
pile and the axial force variation along the pile shaft are included. A MATLAB computer program
using the finite difference formulation is written to estimate the axial force distribution in the
embedded part of pile firstly. Secondly. the buckling load is obtained by solving a set of linear
homogenous simultaneous equations for the lowest Eigenvalue. Convergence and comparative
studies are performed to confirm the validity of the developed formulations. Selected case studies
are performed investigating the effect of soil support. boundary conditions. and partial embedment
ratio on the pile buckling load and mode shapes.
,1752'8&7,21
With the increasing use of long slender piles that may extend for a considerable distance above the
ground level (e.g. in offshore structures). the possibility of buckling has to be considered. Various
analytical and approximate methods were used
1
to estimate the buckling loads of piles partially or
completely embedded in foundation soils. Toakley
2
and Prakash
3
have applied energy methods for
the determination of elastic buckling loads for axially loaded piles having continuous normal
spring supports (Winkler foundation). Reddy and Valsangkar
4
have investigated the problem of
partially embedded piles using energy methods. Gabr
5
et al. developed a model for evaluating the
critical buckling capacity of long slender friction piles with a general power distribution of the
modulus of normal subgrade reaction. The minimum potential energy concept was used to develop
the model with suitable deflection functions selected using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Heelis
6
et al.
studied the stability of piles vertically supported by assumed constant frictional forces. and laterally
by elastic Winkler spring foundation. An exact closed form solution for any lateral end condition is
introduced. Comparison between end bearing and pure side friction buckling loads for fully
embedded piles was also presented. However. this solution didn't include the case of combined end
bearing and side friction and it was restricted to fully embedded piles. Heelis
7
et al. extended their
previous work to a more general non-dimensional analytical solution to the stability problem of a
pile partially embedded in an elastic Winkler foundation. The pile can be supported by a
combination of end bearing and side resistance. Nevertheless. incorporating the axial force
variation was still based on an assumed pattern. In all the above mentioned studies. the foundation
313
was modeled as a Winkler foundation in the normal direction only. In some of these studies the
variation in the axial force was accounted for by assuming certain distributions for the axial force
along the pile shaft (e.g. linear or parabolic variation).
In the present work a mathematical model. considering both the tangential and normal soil
resistances. is suggested. Then. the finite difference method is used to predict the elastic buckling
load for piles partially or completely embedded in a Winkler foundation having normal and
tangential moduli of subgrade reactions. These moduli of subgrade reactions may be constant or
variable with depth. The end bearing resistance at the pile tip is also considered in the analysis.
0$7+(0$7,&$/02'(/,1*2)7+(352%/(0
Eigure 1 shows a prismatic elastic pile of a total length L
t
and a supported length L
s
under an axial
load P. The pile may be partially or completely embedded in the foundation soil. The foundation
soil is modeled as a continuous elastic linear Winkler foundation having normal modulus of
subgrade reaction k
nx
and tangential modulus of subgrade reaction k
tx
. Thus. the frictional as well as
the normal reactions of the foundation soil are included in the analysis. Both k
n
and k
t
may be
constant or variable along the embedded part of the pile. k
t
and k
n
at any point x are expressed by:

mt
s
s
tt tb tt tx
L
x L
k k k k

(1)

mn
s
s
nt nb nt nx
L
x L
k k k k

(2)
Where k
tb
and k
nb
are the values for the tangential and lateral moduli of subgrade reactions at the
bottom of the pile. k
tt
and k
nt
are the values for the tangential and lateral moduli of subgrade
reactions at the top of the embedded part of the pile. Here. mt and mn are empirical power indices
controlling the variation of k
tx
and k
nx
respectively. with a value of zero for constant distribution
and one for linear variation while any other value between zero and one will reflect a power
distribution. Eigure 2 shows the effect of mn on the distribution of lateral subgrade reaction with
depth. The coefficient of tangential subgrade reaction is controlled by the index mt in a similar
manner. The reaction of the foundation soil under the pile tip is represented as an elastic linear
spring of modulus k
eb
.
The distribution of the axial force in the embedded part of the pile is obtained from the distribution
of the vertical displacement u. The differential equation governing the axial displacement is. Scott
8
:
0
2
2

x
u
tx
k
dx
u d
EA
(3)
Where EA is the axial rigidity of the pile shaft. u is the axial deformation of the pile shaft. The
boundary conditions required for solving Eq (3) are:
0 0 0

x
u
eb
k
x
dx
du
EA
x
P
(4)
And
P
t
L x
dx
du
EA
t
L x
P
(5)
Erom the solution of Eq (3). the axial force distribution within the pile (in terms of P) can be
obtained from the following equation:
314
dx
du
EA
x
P
(6)
Winkler spring
of stiffness k
Elastic spring of
stiffness k
Pile
L
t
L
End Bearing
Reaction
Winkler spring
of stiffness k s
tx
nx
Eictitious nodes
Real nodes
1
eb
0
-1
i1
i-1
v .
3
2
x
i
L
u
Ground Level
Applied Load . P
P
x. u
Eictitious nodes
n-1
n1
n
n2
a) Real model b) Idealized model c) ED Model and mesh
Eigure 1: Modeling of the problem
End Bearing
Reaction
Pile
L
t s
L
nb
k
nb
k
mn 0 mn1
nb
k
0 mn 1
Ground Level
Applied Load . P
x. u
u
L
k
nt
k
nt
k
nt
Eigure 2: Distribution of lateral subgrade reaction within embedded part of the pile
In the lateral direction. the lateral displacement is governed by the following fourth order
differential equation. Miran
9
:
0
2
2
4
4

x
v
nx
k
dx
dv
dx
x
dP
dx
v d
x
P
dx
v d
EI
(7)
Where k
nx
0 for the pile part above the ground level. Eq (7) is the differential equation governing
the lateral behavior of piles in elastic foundation. It is a 4th order homogeneous linear differential
equation. generally with variable coefficients. The solution of Eq (7) leads to an Eigen value
315
problem from which the critical loads and the corresponding mode shapes can be obtained.
However. Eq (7) requires that the axial force distribution within the pile length be defined first
from solving Eq (3) in which EI is the flexural rigidity of the pile member and k
nx
is the modulus of
lateral subgrade reaction at point x. Eour boundary conditions reflecting the particulars of each
specific problem are needed to get the solution. These boundary conditions can be any one of those
introduced in Table 1.
Table 1: Lateral behavior boundary conditions
Boundary condition type
End condition
Geometric Natural
Hinged end
0
M0 gives:
0
2
2
dx
d Q
Eixed end
0
0
dx
dQ -----------------
Eree end
------------------------
J0 gives:
0
3
3

dx
d
P
dx
v d
EI
x
Q
M0 gives:
0
2
2
dx
d Q
Eixed with sway end
0
dx
dQ J0 gives:
0
3
3

dx
d
P
dx
v d
EI
x
Q
),1,7(',))(5(1&()2508/$7,21
In the present work. the numerical method of Central Einite Difference is used to solve the
problem. As shown in Eigure 1. the pile length is divided into finite segments of length x each.
and the differential equations are applied at the nodes after replacing the derivatives by the
corresponding finite difference expressions. The finite difference form of Eq (3) becomes:
0
2
1
2
1

i
u
ti
k
x
i
u
i
u
i
u
EA
'
(8)
Applying Eq (8) and the boundary conditions (in central finite difference form) yields a set of
linear simultaneous equations. Erom the solution of this set of equations. the displacement
distribution u in terms of the axial force P is obtained. Then. the axial force distribution within the
pile in terms of P is obtained after presenting Eq (6) in finite the difference form:
316

x
i
u
i
u
EA
i
P
' 2
1 1
(9)
Eq (7) in finite difference form will be:
0
2
1 1
2
1 1
2
1
2
1
4
2 1
4 6
1
4
2

i
v
ni
k
x
i
v
i
v
x
i
P
i
P
x
i
v
i
v
i
v
i
P
x
i
v
i
v
i
v
i
v
i
v
EI
' '
' '
(10)
Applying Eq (10) with the applicable boundary condition equations will produce a set of linear.
homogeneous equations. By obtaining the Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of this set of equations.
the pile buckling loads and the associated buckling modes can be found. Based on the above
formulation. a MATLAB
10
computer program is written to find the buckling load and mode shapes
for an elastic pile partially or completely embedded in a Winkler elastic foundation.
5(68/76$1'',6&866,216
A convergence test for the developed computer program showed that dividing the pile length into
fifty divisions is quite enough to ensure high accuracy in the numerical results ( within 1 error
in the studied cases). Various cases were investigated using this program. Miran
9
. however. only
the following cases will be discussed here because of space limitations.
&RPSDUDWLYH6WXGLHV
In this case study. the finite difference results are compared with results of similar problems
published in the reviewed literature of which two selected cases are chosen. In the first case. the
current finite difference formulation results for a fixed-fixed end bearing pile totally embedded in a
non-homogeneous soil are compared with the exact solution of a similar problem introduced by
Heelis
6
et al.. as shown in Eigure 3. Results confirm the reliability of the current finite difference
formulation. In the second case. the finite difference results for the problem of a free-free end
bearing pile half embedded ( L
s
/L
t
0.5) in a homogeneous soil. are compared with the solution
of Heelis
7
et al. of the same problem. The result presented in Eigure 4 shows an excellent
agreement between the current finite difference solution and the Heelis
7
solution. where the
maximum discrepancy is only 1.034.
In the current study. the following non-dimensional parameters are used:
E
P
cr
P
T
. and
EI
t
L
nb
k
4
O
Where is the non-dimensional buckling capacity. P
cr
is the buckling load. P
E
is the Euler load of a
pinned-pinned strut in air. and is the relative lateral soil stiffness.
317
0
16
S0
46
0 100 200 S00 55
&&
Mee|is
FO
Eigure 3: Comparison between ED & Heelis
6
et al. for fixed-fixed end bearing pile totally
embedded in homogeneous soil
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0 20 40 60 80
55
&&
Mee|is
FO
Eigure 4: Comparison between ED & Heelis
7
et al. for free-free end bearing pile half embedded in
homogeneous soil
(IIHFWRIWLSFRQGLWLRQIRUWRWDOO\HPEHGGHGSLOHV
A parametric study is conducted herein to investigate the effect of tip condition on the buckling
capacity of fully embedded piles. - relationship is plotted for fixed top end while the tip
condition is allowed to vary; fixed. pinned and free. Two different states of soil support; end
bearing or pure side resistance were considered with the soil being either homogenous or
inhomogeneous where a linear variation of the moduli of subgrade reaction is considered. mn
and/or mt 1. Results of this case are presented in Eigure 5. Eor the case of fixed top condition. the
tip condition is of negligible effect only in the case of side resistance piles with ~ 50.
318
a)
0
25
50
75
100
0 100 200 300
55
&&
f - f
p - f
r - f
b)
0
25
50
75
100
0 100 200 300
55
&&
f-f
p-f
r-f
c)
0
25
50
75
100
0 100 200 300
55
&&
f - f
p - f
r - f
d)
0
25
50
75
100
0 100 200 300
55
&&
f - f
p - f
r - f
Eigure 5: Tip condition effect for a totally embedded fixed top pile. a) End bearing in
homogeneous soil. mn 0. b) End bearing in inhomogeneous soil. mn 1. c) Pure side resistance
in homogenous soil. mn and mt 0. 0.1875. % 0. d) Pure side resistance in inhomogeneous
soil. mn and mt 1. 0.1875. % 0
(IIHFWRIWRSODWHUDOHQGUHVWUDLQW
Unlike the tip condition. certain type of top end condition can be either enforced when designing
the pile-super structure ioint (connection) or determined using structural analysis techniques for an
already designed connection. The tip boundary condition has negligible effect in the case of pure
side resistance pile totally embedded in homogeneous soil when ~ 50. Therefore. this state of
condition is considered to highlight the top end condition effect. In Eigure 6 the top end condition
is allowed to vary while the tip is restricted to being pinned. Inspecting the results. the conclusion
is that the fixed top condition gives the highest rate of increase in buckling capacity. while the free
top yields the least. as expected. At 300. the pinned and almost similarly the fixed with sway
top conditions give 78.7 of that for the fixed top condition. while the free top condition gives
34 of the fixed one.
319
0
25
50
75
100
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
55
& &
p - f
p - p
p - r
p - f ws
Eigure 6: Effect of top condition on the buckling capacity of pinned tip pure side resistance piles
totally embedded in homogeneous soil. mn and mt 0. 0.1875
&RPELQHGHIIHFWRIHQGEHDULQJDQGVLGHUHVLVWDQFH
This case study presents how the non-dimensional buckling capacity . of a pile fully embedded in
a homogeneous soil. is affected by the combined action of the relative axial soil stiffness. . and the
relative end bearing soil stiffness. %. where:
AE
s
L
tb
k
2
[
and
AE
s
L
eb
k
\
. Results are introduced in Eigure 7 for the symmetric boundary
conditions; fixed. pinned and free.
10
14
18
22
0 1 2 3
__
&&
<
<
<
10
20
30
40
0 1 2 3
__
& &
<
<
<
4.5
5.5
6.5
7.5
0 1 2 3
_ _
&&
<
<
<
a) fixed-fixed pile b) pined-pined pile c) free-free pile
Eigure 7: Effect of relative axial soil stiffness . on buckling capacity of piles totally embedded in
homogeneous soil with 50 and different % values
Examining the results. it can be concluded that: 1) The non-dimensional buckling capacity.
highly decreases with increasing the relative end bearing soil stiffness up to % 1. especially at low
values of . Increasing the relative end bearing soil stiffness over than 1. (%~1) showed only
marginal additional decrease in . 2) Eor the same value of %. is higher for higher values of
relative axial soil stiffness. . 3) At relatively high value of . the % effect becomes negligible.
320
(IIHFWRIHPEHGPHQWUDWLR
In this case study. the effect of the embedment ratio ( Ls /L
t
) is investigated for pure side friction
Piles embedded in homogeneous soil. Symmetric boundary conditions are considered. as shown in
Eigure 8. - relationship is plotted for different embedment ratios. As expected the results show
that increases with increasing the embedment ratio and the rate of increase is higher for higher
embedment ratios. It can be noticed that on increasing (for values of other than 1). converges
to a stable limit which is very clear for low embedment ratios and expected to occur for other
partially embedment ratios on extending the range of to higher values. Actually. the upper limit
of the stable value is for the same pile but of a length equal to the unsupported length and with a
fixed tip condition. The buckling capacity of a totally embedded pile subiected to 10 loss of the
supporting soil at its top. due to scour. settlement or any other reason becomes 68.07. of the
original capacity for the fully embedded pinned-pinned pile.

55
&&
~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
Eigure8: Effect of embedment ratio. on buckling capacity of a pure side
resistance pinned - pinned pile embedded in homogeneous soil foundation
(IIHFWRIODWHUDOVRLOVXSSRUW
Qualitatively. it is well known that the pile buckling capacity increases as the lateral support
provided by the surrounding soil media increases. The reason behind this is clear when examining
the current formulations. the characteristic equation consists of two parts; one has a stabilizing
effect. that is the elastic coefficient matrix. and the other. the geometric one has a destabilizing
effect (in the case of compressive axial load). The elements of the stabilizing part are relevant to
the pile flexural rigidity reinforced by the lateral soil support. This fact can also be clarified when
examining the changes in the mode shape associated with the first buckling load as the lateral soil
support (represented by the relative lateral soil stiffness ) increases. As an example. the case of
pinned-pinned end bearing pile totally embedded in homogeneous soil is chosen and the mode
shapes are shown in Eigure 9. It is obvious that as increases then a single half sign wave is added
to the fundamental mode shape (an inflection point develops). thus the wave length decreases
which simply means that the pile effective length decreases leading to increased buckling capacity.
321
0 50 100 150 300
Eigure 9: Eirst mode shapes associated with the buckling load for a pinned-pinned pile
&21&/86,216
The analysis and results presented herein showed that the mathematical model and the numerical
method of finite difference can be successfully used for predicting the buckling loads of elastic
slender piles partially or completely embedded in an elastic Winkler foundation. The foundation
reactions in the lateral and tangential directions. and the end bearing resistance of the foundation
are included. Selected case studies are investigated to show the accuracy of the results and the
effect of various parameters affecting the problem of buckling loads in piles.
5()(5(1&(6
1. Poulos. H. G. and Davis. E. H.. Pile Foundation Analvsis and Design. John Wiley and
sons Inc.. New York. (1980).
2. Toakley. A. R.. 'Buckling Loads for Elastically Supported Struts. J. Eng. Mech..
A.S.C.E. Vol. (91). No. (3 ). (1965). pp. 205-231
3. Prakash. S.. 'Buckling Loads of Eully Embedded Vertical Piles. Computers and
Geotechnics. Vol. (4). No. (2 ). (1987). pp. 61-83
4. Reddy. A. S. and Valsangkar. A. J.. 'Buckling of Eully and Partially Embedded Piles. J.
Soil Mech. Fdns.. A.S.C.E.. Vol. (96). No. ( 6). (1970). pp.1951-1965
5. Gabr. M. A.. Wang. J. J.. and Zhao. M.. "Buckling of piles with general power
distribution of lateral subgrade reaction." Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering. ASCE. Vol. 123. No. 2. Eeb. 1997. pp. 123-130.
6. Heelis. M. E.. West. R. P. and Pavlovic'. M. N.. "The stability of uniform friction piles in
homogenous and non-homogeneous elastic foundations". Int. J. solids struct.. 36. No. 2.
1999. pp. 3277-3292.
7. Heelis. M. E.. Pavlovic'. M. N. and West. R. P.. "The analytical prediction of buckling
loads of fully and partially embedded piles". Geotectnique. Vol.54. No. 6. 2004. pp.
363-373.
8. Scott. R. E.. 'Foundation Analvsis. Prentice-Hall Inc.. Englewood Cliffs. N. J.. (1981).
9. Miran. S. M. H.. 'Buckling of Piles Partiallv or Completelv Embedded in Elastic
hinkler Foundation Using the Finite Difference and the Finite Element Numerical
Methods. Thesis submitted to The Eaculty of Engineering. AL-Tahadi University in
partial fulfillment of Master of Science in Structural Engineering. Nov. 2005
10. MATLAB. The Language of Technical Computing. Version 5.3. The MathWorks Inc..
copyright 1984-1999
322

OPTIMUM STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF COUNTERFORT RETAINING
WALLS

ABDULSALAM I. M. AL-JANABI, AZIZA M. A. MELAD
AND MARIAM M. A. ABUALAWAFI

Department of Civil Engineering, University of ALTAHADI
SIRT, LIBYA

ABSTRACT: In the present work, a procedure for the optimal design of counterfort retaining
walls is suggested. The height and spacing of the counterforts are selected such that the resulting
design governing bending moments will require minimum steel reinforcements. In the first stage
of this work, a finite element model for the counterfort retaining wall is used to investigate the
effect of height and spacing of the counterforts, and the effect of other parameters on the behavior
of the retaining wall structure. The results of the parametric study showed that there is an optimum
(counterfort height) to (wall height) ratio above which there will be no decrease in the design
bending moments. In the second stage, a design procedure for counterfort retaining walls with
optimum counterfort height and maximum counterfort spacing is suggested. In this procedure,
graphs are presented for the design of such retaining walls. It is expected that this procedure will
lead to an optimal design of counterfort retaining walls.

INTRODUCTION

Many types of concrete retaining walls are used in practice such as gravity retaining walls,
cantilever retaining walls, buttress, and counterfort retaining walls. In design, the treatment of all
the above mentioned types from the stability point of view is nearly the same. The main difference
is in their structural behavior and design. It is also found from practie
1
that for certain heights, a
specific type of retaining wall may prove to be more economical than others. For example,
counterfort retaining wall is expected to be more economical than other types when the height of
the wall is greater than 7.5 m. On the other hand, counterfort retaining wall has a more
complicated type of geometry. The counterfort retaining wall can be considered as a folded plate
type of structure consisting of three main parts (wall, base, and counterfort), as shown in Figure 1.
The wall and base act mainly as plates under bending due to the lateral loads acting on them, with
negligible in plane forces. Therefore, these two parts are designed for bending action mainly. On
the other hand, the counterfort works as a plate subjected to in-plane forces with negligible
bending moments. The counterfort is usually designed for these in-plane forces. Because of the
complex geometry of the problem, analytical solutions are extremely difficult; hence simplified or
sub-structuring solutions are conventionally used
1
. For example counterfort retaining wall is
analyzed by assuming the slab between any two successive counterforts as a plate fixed from three
sides and free from the top and subjected to triangular pressure distribution
1,2
, then this
substructure may be analyzed using exact or approximate numerical methods.

323

THE FINITE ELEMENT MODEL:

Counterfort retaining wall is usually constructed as a continuous structure, as shown in Figure 1-a,
in which the counterfort part is repeated at a certain spacing. The behavior of a segment from the
counterfort retaining wall of length (S) will be repeated. Thus, the centerlines bisecting the
distances between two successive counterforts can be considered as axes of symmetry. Hence,
only one segment of the wall needs to be considered, as shown in Figure 1-b, provided that
appropriate boundary conditions are used along these axes of symmetry. The Finite Element
Method through SAP
3
software is used for modeling the counterfort retaining wall. Only one bay
of the structure is included in the model, and Figure 2 shows a typical mesh used in the present
study. It should be noted that the base is modeled as plate on elastic Winkler foundation to include
the soil structure interaction in the analysis.

Loads Acting on the Counterfort Retaining Wall:

The loading case considered is a uniform downward soil pressure q
b
= H on the retaining wall
base and a lateral earth pressure on the wall, as shown in Figure 3. Since the most commonly used
filling material is sandy soils, the lateral earth pressure distribution considered in this case will be
triangular with maximum value of q
w
= k
a
H. This loading condition represents the most
expected general case for such retaining wall structures. The live load effect is expected to be
small compared with the load from filling material, because counterfort retaining walls are used
for retaining relatively high soil masses.

Parameters of the Problem:

The parameters affecting the structural behavior of the counterfort retaining wall are listed below,
as shown in Figure 4:-
: unit weight of retained soil (kN/m
3
), B: the base width (m), H: the wall height (m), S: spacing
between two adjacent counterforts (m), h: height of counterfort (m), t
B
: thickness of base (m), t
w
:
thickness of wall (m), t
c
: thickness of counterfort (m), L: length of toe (m), : Poisson 's ratio of
the concrete wall, k
a
: active lateral earth pressure coefficient, K
s
: modulus of subgrade reaction for
soil under the base (kN/m
3
), E
c
: modulus of elasticity for concrete (wall material) (kN/m
2
).

s
(b)
Axis of symmetry
(a)
Figure 1. (a) Real structure.
(b) Studied part of the structure.
Z=0
X=0
y =0
x =0
Z=0
X=0
y =0
x =0
S
Figure 2. F.E. Mesh and Boundary
conditions.
324

However, the above parameters can be reduced into non-dimensional parameters, as described
below. Form a preliminary study, the parameters affecting the structural behavior of the retaining
wall can be classified into main and secondary parameters as follows:
I. Main Parameters: Main parameters are those having major effect on the structural behavior of
the counterfort retaining wall. These parameters and their investigated values are:
- Height of counterfort as related to the retaining wall height (h/H) = (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6,
0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1). For (h/H = 0), the retaining wall will be a cantilever one with no counterforts.
- Spacing between counterforts to wall height ratio (S/H) = (0.4, 0.6, 0.8,1.0, 1.2).
II. Secondary Parameters: These parameters cause minor or linear effects on the behavior of the
counterfort retaining wall. The numerical values of these parameters used in this study are:
- G
r
= (24, 100, 200, 240) where G
r
is a parameter relating the soil stiffness to the wall height and
the flexural rigidity of the wall:
G
r
=
w
D
4
H
s
K
(1)
where

)
2
12(1
3
w
t
c
E
D
=
w
(2)
- The base length to height of the wall ratio (B/H) = (0.5, 0.6, 0.7).
- Length of toe to height of the wall ratio (L/H) = (0, 0.05, 0.1).
- Thickness of counterfort to the wall thickness ratio (t
c
/t
w
) = (1, 1.5, 2).
- Thickness of base to the wall thickness ratio (t
b
/t
w
) = (1, 1.5, 2).
The effect of the secondary parameters will only be investigated for optimum position of the
counterforts.


Figure 5 shows the deflected shape of a cantilever retaining wall, counterfort retaining wall (full
counterfort height) and counterfort retaining wall (partial counterfort height, with h/H = 0.7).
In general for all these cases, deflections of the wall increase as the wall height increases.
However, the cantilever retaining wall has much greater deflections than the two counterfort
(a)
(b)
(c)
Springs representing elastic foundation
Figure 3. Loads acting on counterfort
retaining wall.
Figure 4. Dimensions the
retaining wall.
325

retaining wall cases. The figure also shows that in a cantilever retaining wall the curvature takes
place in the vertical direction only, this means that the main bending moments are in the vertical
direction (M
y
)

(or one way action), as shown in Figure 6. On the other hand, counterfort retaining

Figure 5. Deflected shape for cantilever retaining wall, counterfort retaining wall (full counterfort height) and
counterfort retaining wall (partial counterfort height with h/H = 0.7).

Figure 6. Bending Moments Distributions in
cantilever and counterfort retaining wall for typical
dimensions and loading:
(a) Sign convention for positive M
x
and M
y

(b) Contour lines for (M
x
)
(c) Contour lines for (M
y
)
(a)
(c)
(b)
326

(a)
(b)
S/H=0.4
S/H=0.6
S/H=0.8
S/H=1
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1
h/ H
C
x
s/H=(1,0.8,0.6,0.4)
C
x
(-ve)
C
x
(+ve)
M
x Max
= C
x
k
a
H
3

G
r
= 24, t
b /
t
w
= 1 , t
c /
t
w
=1 ,B/H= 0.6 , L/H =0

Figure 7. Maximum bending moment coefficients in the wall:
(a) (C
x
) with ( h/H) for different ratio (S/H).
(b) (C
y
) with( h/H) for different ratio (S/H).
walls (full and partial counterfort) have curvatures in both vertical and horizontal directions,
assuring the two way action for this type of wall. This leads to bending moments in both vertical
and horizontal directions (M
x
)

and (M
y
). A similar behavior is noticed for the retaining wall base.
Figure 7 shows the variation of the maximum positive and negative bending moment coefficients

s/H=0.4
s/H=0.6
s/H=0.8
s/H=1
0
0.15
0.3
0.45
0.6
0.75
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1
h/H
C
y
s/H=(1,0.8,0.6,0.4)
G
r
= 24, t
b /
t
w
= 1 , t
c /
t
w
=1 ,B/H= 0.6 , L/H =0
M
x Max
= C
x
k
a
H
3

. C
x
(-ve)
C
x
(+ve)
327

in the wall (C
x
and C
y
) with the ratio of counterfort height to wall height (h/H), for different
counterforts spacing ratio (S/H). As can be noticed from Figure 7-a, the variation of the maximum
(C
x
-
) with (h/H) can be divided into three intervals. In the first interval (low value of h/H), (C
x
-
)
has significantly increased above the value of (C
x
-
) for the cantilever retaining wall (h/H = 0). In
the second interval (approximately for h/H ranging between 0.1 to 0.7), (C
x
-
) is greatly reduced to
a value less than that of cantilever retaining wall. For the third interval with (h/H 0.7), it is
noticed that there is no significant reduction in the value of (C
x
-
), and this is true for all values of
(S/H). However, for all values of (h/H), the value of (C
x
-
) is increased with the increase of (S/H).
In general, (C
x
+
) have smaller values as compared with (C
x
-
). Figure 7-b shows a quite similar
behavior for (C
y
-
and C
y
+
) with increasing (h/H) ratio. The above discussion, reveals that using
counterfort height ratio (h/H) larger than (0.7) will not decrease the maximum bending moments,
and hence there is no benefit in using counterfort height ratio larger than (0.7). Thus, this ratio
represents an optimum design ratio for (h/H). For this ratio, the bending moments in the base are
relatively small. Thus, it is expected that low or minimum reinfocement ratio will be needed in
both directions of the base.

Effect of Secandary Parameters

It is obvious from previous section that secondary parameters are kept constant when determining
the optimum counterfort height. Detailed investigation
4
showed that the G
r
ratio has a negligible
effect on the bending moment coefficients of the wall. In real design of such retaining walls, the
values of bending moment coefficients in the wall and base corresponding to G
r
= 24, and (B/H) =
0.6 can be used for all other values G
r
and (B/H). The results also showed that, in the design of
such retaining walls the values of bending moment coefficients in the wall and base
corresponding to (t
b
/t
w
) = 1 and (t
c
/t
w
) = 1 can be used for all other values (t
b
/t
w
) and (t
c
/t
w
). It is
also shown
4
that (L/H) ratio a has relatively small effect on the bending moment coefficients in the
wall. This is true for the studied range (L/H = 0 to L/H = 0.1).

DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR COUNTERFORT RETAINING WALL

In this section a procedure for the structural design of the counterfort retaining wall is suggested,
in which the optimum partial counterfort height of (h/H = 0.7) is used. The basic idea in the
proposed method is to use spacing of counterforts (S/H ratio), such that the resulting ultimate
bending moments in the horizontal direction (M
x max
)
u
will require minimum steel ratio. The
method will be based on ACI 318
5
recommendations for reinforced concrete design. It is expected
that the following proposed procedure will permit larger counterfort spacing than conventionally
used
1
and the design is expected to be more economical.

General Steps of the Proposed Design Method:

In a real design problem, the basic data required are the wall height (H) and properties of the
backfill soil (i.e., soil unit weight , and soil angle of internal friction ). On the other hand, the
properties of construction materials ( f
c
`
for concrete and f
y
for reinforcement steel) are assumed
according to design requirements and conditions. From these data, the counterfort retaining wall
can be designed as follows:-

328

Figure 8. Ultimate bending moment M
min
with thickness of the
concrete section t.
Step One: Determine or assume appropriate values for counterfort dimensions (Base length (B),
thickness of the wall (t
w
), and thickness of the base (t
b
)) such that stability of the retaining wall
and other requirements (e.g., soil bearing capacity) are achieved.

Step Two: In this step, design curves, shown in Figure 8, are used to determine the ultimate
bending moment (M
min
)
x
for the corresponding thickness of the reinforced concrete wall (t
w
), when
using minimum steel area in the horizontal direction. It should be noted that this relation is plotted
for (f
y =
410 MPa), and for the shown values of concrete strength (f
c
).

Step Three: By limiting the value of ultimate maximum bending moment in the x-direction (M
x
max
)
u
in the wall, to the value of (M
min
)
x
determined from previous step, the value of C
x
H
3
is
computed from the following equation:

(M
x max
)
u
= M
x max
LF = LF. C
x
k
a
H
3
= (M
min
)
x
(3)

C
x
H
3
=
. .
) (
min
a
x
k LF
M

(4)
Where: LF = the ultimate load factor which is taken as 1.7 in the present study, k
a
= the active
lateral earth pressure coefficient, = unit weight of retained soil (kN/m
3
).

Step Four: In this step the value of (S/H) is obtained from Figure 9-a. This is done by entering the
figure with the values of C
x
H
3
obtained from step (3), and the required wall height H in (m). The
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700
t (mm)
M

m
i
n

(
K
N

.
m
)
Asmin
*$
= 0.0025bt
Asmin
#$
= 0.002bt
Asmin
*~
= 0.0015bt
Asmin
#$
= 0.0012bt
fy = 410 MPa
fc = 25 - 45 MPa
* for bar diameter 16mm $ for horizontal direction
6

# for bar diameter 16mm ~ for vertical direction
329

S/ H=0.4
S/ H=0.6
S/ H=0.8
S/ H=1
S/ H=1.2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
H ( m)
C
x
H
3

(
m
3
)
S/H=0.4
S/H=0.6
S/H=0.8
S/H=1
S/H=1.2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
H(m)
C
y
H
3
(
m
3
)
Figure 9. Variation of (C
x
H
3
) in the wall with (H) for different (S/H) ratios.
(a)C
x
H
3
. (b) C
y
H
3
.

intersection of the lines specifying the values of C
x
H
3
and H will give the value of (S/H). It should
be noted that the obtained value of (S/H) will produce bending moment (M
x max
)
u
that will need the
minimum steel area in the x-direction only. Hence it is not economical to use (S/H) less than this
value, next S is computed from S = (S/H) ratioH.

Step Five: The aim of this step is to obtain the required steel reinforcement area for the ultimate
bending moment in the vertical direction of the wall. This is done as follows:-

- From Figure 9-b and by using the value of (S/H) and (H) compute C
y
H
3
, thus:

(M
y max
)
u
= LF C
y
K
a
H
3
(5)

- Using Figure 8, compute (M
min
)
y
corresponding to (t
w
) and the minimum steel area in the vertical
direction.
- Check if (M
y max
)
u
is less than (M
min
)
y
, then the minimum steel area in vertical direction is used.
If this check is not satisfied, the required steel area is computed according to (M
ymax
)
u
value.

Step Six: Design the retaining wall base by computing the bending moments in the x and y
directions from Figure 10, then compute the required steel area.

Step Seven: Design the counterfort for the in plane forces acting on it. To simplify its design, the
counterfort is divided into three sectors as shown in Figure 11. Sector (3) will require minimum
reinforcements because it is always in low compression or tension stress value, but sectors (1) and
(2) should be designed for the tension forces acting parallel to the inclined counterfort edge, using
the selected (S/H) and (B/H) ratios. The force in each sector will be given by the following
equation:

F
i
= LF C
ci
C
fi
k
a
H
2
d
i
(6)

(a) (b)
330

Figure 10. Variation of (CH
3
) in the base with (H) for different (S/H) ratios:
(a) (C
x
H
3
). (b) (C
y
H
3
).
Figure 11. Sectors for design of the counterfort.

Where: F
i
= is the force in the sector (i) parallel to the inclined counterfort edge.
C
ci
= average force coefficient of the sector (i), Figure 12-a.
C
fi =
correction factor of force in sector (i), Figure 12-b.
d
i
= distances d
1
, d
2
, or d
3
as shown in Figure 11.
The steel reinforcement areas obtained from the forces in sectors (1) and (2) should be placed
parallel to the inclined counterfort edge. Detailed design examples are given elsewhere
3
.

Modified Design procedure:

Studying the distribution of M
x
and M
y
in the wall, shows generally that the maximum bending
moments (M
x max
and M
y max
) are of localized nature and occur in a small region close to the
counterfort. In the regions of the wall far from the counterfort, the values of the M
x
and M
y
are
about 25% to 50 % smaller than that in the counterfort region. Thus, it is suggested that the wall
can be designed for moments far from the counterfort (which is about 25% to 50 % less than that
near the counterfort), and extra reinforcements are added in the counterfort area to resist the
localized high bending moments. Based on this concept, design curves, similar to the above one
S/H=0.4
S/H=0.6
S/H=0.8
S/H=1.
S/H=1.2
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
H (m)
(a)
C
x
H
3
(
m
3
)

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
H (m)
(b)
C
y
H
3
(
m
3
)

S/H=1.2
S/H=1.
S/H=0.8
S/H=0.6
S/H=0.4
331

1
2
3
0.8
0.85
0.9
0.95
1
1.05
1.1
1.15
1.2
1.25
0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75
B/H
C
f
1
2
3
- 1
- 0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
0.4 0.6 0.8 1
S/H
C
c
Figure 12. Counterfort Forces Coefficien
(a) Variation of the counterfort force coefficient (C
c
) with (S/H).
(b) Correction factor (C
f
) to account for the affect of (B/H).
can be prepared
4
. The main advantage of using this modified procedure is that it will permit using
larger spacing between counterforts (up to S/H = 1), and hence, it will be more economical.
Details of this modified procedure are given elsewhere
4
.

CONCLUSIONS

The research results showed that there is a value of counterfort height to the wall height, of the
counterfort retaining wall, above which the resulting bending moments are not decreased by
increasing the counterfort height. It is found that this optimum value is (h/H) = 0.7 for all values of
spacing ratios (S/H). The study also showed that there are some parameters of secondary effect on
the values of the design bending moments for the optimum (h/H) value. A design procedure for
counterfort retaining walls with optimum counterfort height is also suggested, in which design
graphs are presented. It is expected that this procedure will permit larger spacing of the
counterforts and hence leads to a more economical design of counterfort retaining walls.
REFERENCES
1. Bowels, J.E., Foundation Analysis and Design, 5th, Edition, McGraw Hill Company, N.Y.
1996.
2. Timoshenko, S. P. and WoinoWsky, Krieger, S., Theory of Plates and shells, 2nd Edition
McGraw Hill Company, N.Y., 1959.
3. Computers and structures, Inc., SAP 2000, Structural Analysis Package, Ver. 8, Berkely,
2003.
4. Abualawafi, M. M. A. and Melad, A. M. A., Optimum Design of Counterfort Retaining
Walls, Graduation Project in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of B.Sc.
in Civil Engineering, Submitted to Department of Civil Engineering, University of
AL-Tahadi, Sirt, Libya, 2005.
5. Leet, K., Reinforced Concrete Design, 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill Company, N.Y., 1991
6. Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, CRSI Design Handbook, Illinois, 1996.
332

BEHAVIOR IMPROVEMENT OF FOOTINGS ON SOFT CLAY
UTILIZING GEOFOAM
G. E. ABDELRAHMAN AND A. F. ELRAGI
Department of Civil Engineering, Fayoum University
Fayoum, Egypt

ABSTRACT: EPS, expanded poly-styrene geofoam in the last three decades appeared to be the
lightweight solution of a number of civil engineering problems. One the most important problems
are to construct on soft clay soil, which extends in Egypt in many areas. Soil replacement can be
fulfilled by using EPS blocks underlay footings. Three different EPS thicknesses are used in this
study as soft clay replacement. A numerical finite element analysis program, PLAXIS, was used to
simulate the problem. The decrease in settlement under the footing and the increase in bearing
stresses were compared to those without EPS. An experimental model was used in the laboratory
using white Kaolin with three different strengths as soft clay soil underneath square footings with
fixed dimensions. Load settlement relationship was measured. Comparison was made between
analytical and experimental results. Results showed that utilizing EPS decreases the settlement and
increases the footing load. EPS thickness appeared to be an important factor in improving footing
behavior on soft clay.
INTRODUCTION
Horvath
1
classified the applications utilizing EPS blocks by (their function). The four
functions of EPS are lightweight fill, compressible inclusion, thermal insulation and small
amplitude wave damping (ground vibration and acoustic). Horvath
1
add two more function,
drainage and structural another way to classify the applications is by engineering properties. Five
EPS properties appear to be very useful when utilizing EPS. These properties are: density,
compressibility, thermal resistance, vibration damping and self-supporting nature of the EPS.
These properties can solve many important engineering problems such as settlement problems,
slope stability problems and bearing capacity problems such as embankments bridge approaches,
earth retaining structures, bridge abutment, buried pipes, landscape architectural plaza, deck
basement and insulation railways. Conventional geotechnical solutions for such problems (e.g.,
deep foundations, sheet piles, retaining walls or other solutions) may be economically unfeasible.
In this research, EPS, as a lightweight material, was used as replacement material of soft clay
underlain a footing foundation in order to decrease footing settlement and to increase the footing
stress as the geofoam layer redistribute the footing stress over the clay layer.
An experimental program, included, a model were embedded in Egyptian white kaolin that
was reconstituted and pre-stressed to different clay consistencies and the EPS which have different
thicknesses and a constant footing dimensions.
Comprehensive finite-element analysis, where the footing underlay foam are represented in
the mesh is adopted here using the nonlinear elasto-plastic finite element program PLAXIS. The
program is plane strain, finite element program for soil modeling. The soil is modeled using 6
nodded triangular elements. The soil model is Mohr-Columb method with nonlinear failure
envelope.
The experimental and analytical models showed that EPS decrease the settlement under
the footing as a replacement layer for soft clay and underlay the footing which allowing the
333

designer to increase the stress load. Also the results showed that the EPS layer thickness
compared to footing thickness has great effect on the analysis.
EXPERIMENTAL MODEL
The experimental study described herein is concerned with the effect of EPS on the footing
behavior on homogenous soft to firm clay. The experimental program, included, the model were
embedded in Egyptian white Kaolin that was reconstituted and pre-stressed to different clay
consistencies and the geofoam which have different thicknesses and constant footing dimensions.
1 Model Description
To provide a soil deposit of high uniformity in water content, and degree of saturation
throughout the bed, than can be usually found in nature, a special construction method was,
therefore, required for forming artificial beds of clay that had homogeneous profiles of shear
strength as practically possible. The apparatus used was developed in order to prepare uniform
kaolin-clay beds in rectangular steel containers. The dimensions were sufficient to minimize any
effect of the walls or the bottom of the containers on the soil resistance. The apparatus was built to
act as a vertical consolidation cell which is composed of the following:
1.1 The Steel Tank
A steel chamber 1050 x 200 x 600 mm deep was used with wall thickness of 5 mm. A geo-
textile filter covered the inner wall to allow the water movement in and out of the clay bed without
the soil particles. During the vertical consolidation process, a vertical settlement occurred in the
clay bed. A rectangular steel cover with dimensions 1030 mm and 183 mm and 20 mm in
thickness, it weigh 31.4 kg covered with geo-textile filter, was placed over the clay slurry to
distribute the vertical load during the vertical consolidation as shown in Figure 1.
1.2 Footing and Geofoam Dimensions
Square blocks of wood were used as footing model with fixed dimension 70 x70mm and with
15 mm depth. EPS density was 16 kg/m
3
and its dimensions were the same as footing with three
different depths, 30, 50, and 70 mm
1.3 Vertical Loading System
Pre-stress pressure was used during the vertical consolidation phase. Two criteria controlled
the pre-stress pressure; first to get the clay bed consolidated in the shortest possible time, and the
second is getting desired shear strength, including soft to firm clay.
A load of 320 ,177 and 55 kg was chosen to give a pre-stress clay of bearing capacity equal
to 0.6, 0.3 and 0.125 kg/cm
2
, respectively. A steel bar was calibrated to transform vertical load to
the top cover plate to allow bed consolidation, one kilogram on loading bar equal to 10 kilogram
on the soil bed as shown in Figure 1.

334

0
.2
m

Figure 1 Experimental Model
2 Clay Deposit
Kaolin based artificial soils have been particularly popular for laboratory work, and has been
widely used both in fundamental studies of soil behavior and in physical model tests. The
properties of pure kaolin are somewhat a typical of natural clay soils. The physical properties of
Egyptian white Kaolin were measured. It has a liquid limit, w
L,
of 47.6 %, plastic limit, w
p,
of 25
%, plasticity index, PI, of 22.6 %, dry density,
d
, of 1.7 kg/cm
3
, wet density,
w,
=1.9 kg/cm
3
,
Poissons ratio, , = 0.49, and specific gravity, G
s,
of 2.7 . Hydrometer test result shows that
93.5 percent of the material passes a No 200 sieve and that the clay fraction is 50 percent, the silt
is 46.5 percent, and the fine sand is 3.5 percent. Modulus of elasticity, E, of 1.89,1.51,1.36 kg/cm
2

for bearing capacities 0.6, 0.3, and 0.125 respectively.
White kaolin was used to prepare three different bearing capacities clay deposits. In order to
reach full saturation and homogeneity, the clay slurry was mixed at initial water content close to
the value of its liquid limit, 10 liters water added to 30kg kaolin powder to give 33% water content
in a concrete mixer for 15 minutes. Before placing the clay mixture inside the model, clean fine
sand was used to fill the bottom to serve as a filter. The thickness of the bottom layer was for 35
mm thick. The sand layer was saturated. The mixed clay was then transferred from the concrete
mixer to the tank up to the top level of the model. The top steel cover was placed on the clay
surface. The consolidation load was then distributed on the cover. Clay deposits were
consolidated vertically using distributed pressure to reach different clay bearing capacities, 0.125,
0.3, 0.6 kg/cm
2
. During the vertical consolidation, the settlement of the steel plate was measured.
3 EPS Properties
Expanded Polystyrene, EPS is a plastic polymeric material with chemical composition of
C
8
H
8
. Material prices vary depending on the type and density of EPS as well as the job size and
location. EPS is a lightweight material with a good insulation and energy absorption
characteristics. Its strength and stiffness are comparable to medium clay. EPS density appears to
be the main parameter that correlates with most of its mechanical properties. Compression
strength, shear strength, tension strength, flexural strength, stiffness, creep behavior and other
mechanical properties depend on the density. Non mechanical properties like insulation
coefficients are also density dependent. EPS densities for practical civil application range between
335

11 and 30 kg/m for other applications like insulation higher densities are more efficient, Van
Drop
2
, with its lightweight property, EPS blocks can be easily handled after manufacturing, during
curing, transportation or placement in the field.
Sun
3
reported that, EPS under confining compression the strength and initial tangent
modulus decrease with the increase in confining stress. Sun
3
concluded these results based on
axial deviator stress strain curves, which are important for submerged geofoam. The elastic
modulus of EPS is small compared to the elastic modulus of some other engineering materials
such as soil, concrete, and wood. EPS initial modulus is a function of the density. For EPS
Young s modulus, there is no agreement from the researchers on a constant value of Young s
modulus for each density. In this research Youngs modulus was choose to be equal to 4 MPa
(40 kg/cm
2
) Elragy and Negussy
4

Table 1. ASTM-C 578 EPS densities and compressive strength
Type XI I VIII II IX

Density (kg / m
3
) 12 15 18 22 29

Compressive strength at 10% strain ( kg/m
3

0.35 0.69 0.90 1.04 1.73

Poissons ratio is an index of the lateral pressure of EPS in contact on adjacent structural
elements for a certain applied vertical load on the geofoam. Most of the researchers measured
different value for Poissons ratio ranges from 0. 5 to 0.05). In this study Poissons ratio, , was
assumed to be equal 0 .08, and dry density
dry
of 16 kg/ m
3
.
4 EPS DESIGN CONSEDRATION
Foundation engineers often use an approximate method to determine the increase of stress with
depth caused by the construction of a foundation. Generally the load distribution from footing to soil
is referred to as the 2:1 method. In case of using EPS layers underlay the footing, Nishi
5
suggested that
,

the load distributed at an angle which equal 20 for EPS layers as shown in Figure 2.
Theta=20
Theta=10
Stress by
Boussines
q's Eq.
Theta=30
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75
Deapth from loading point (m)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
t
/
m
2
)
Field Test
Laboratory
Test

Figure 2 Vertical stress in the EPS (after Nishi, et al., 1996)
336

TESTING PROCEDURES
The main objective of this study is to measure the settlement under sustained loads for
different soil consistencies with EPS existence. To achieve this goal, an accurate measurements of
footing settlement, and soil movement changes with time had been recorded. After the footing
was placed over the foam footing inside the clay bed, and the dial gauges placed around it, for
each load, dial gages (0.01-mm accuracy) , was read till the end of primary consolidation is
finished, around 3 days after applying the load. Dial gauges were placed at the footing top. After
the test was completed, dial gauges were removed, the footing was pulled out carefully from the
clay bed. The tank was then cleaned out from all the clay and filters sand and washed with clean
water in preparation for the next test.
EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL RESULTS
From the experimental model and as shown in Figure 3, the existence of EPS decrease the
settlement for different bearing capacities depending on EPS thickness E, compared to footing depth,
F. Higher EPS thickness, less settlement decrease proportional to soil bearing capacity as shown in
table 2. From measured results it is concluded that, EPS layer as clay replacement decrees the
settlement under the footing for two reason, the first is because it carries the load and absorb the
energy ( 97% is air) of footing stress, and the second reason that the EPS redistribute the stress footing
so less stress reach the clay soil. If the EPS layer has a small thickness, it does not show a good
effect.
Numerical program, PLAXIS shows good results which give similar as experimental results.
These percentages show typical results as measured from the experimental model and analyzed using
PLAXIS as shown in Figure3.

Table 2 Percentage of settlement decrees at different stress and different EPS thickness.
E/F 4.66 3.33 2

PLAXIS 25-45% 9-32% 4-12%

Experimental results 26-34% 5-15% 5%

337

000000
E/F=2
E/F=3.33
E/F=4.66
E/F=2
E/F=3.33
E/F=zero
E/F=3.33
E/F=Zero
E/F=2
E/F=4.66
E/F=zero
E/F=4.66
E/F=3.33 E/F=2
E/F=Zero
E/F=4.663
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
Total Settlement (mm)
T
o
t
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
k
g
/
c
m
2
)
Measured
Plaxis

Figure 3 Results of experimental and numerical for different EPS thickness.
CONCLUSIONS
(1) EPS decrease the settlement under the footing.
(2) Using EPS as a replacement layer for soft clay and underlay the footing allow the designer
to increase the stress load
(3) Finite element analysis using PLAXIS program, shows good agreement with that measured
with the experimental model results.
(4) EPS thickness compared to footing depth is important factor.
REFERENCES
1. Horvath, J., S., Geofoam Geosynthetic Horvath Engineering, P. C, Scarsdale, New York,
USA 1995a.
2. van Dorp, T., Expanded Polystyrene Foam as Light Fill and Foundation Material in Road
Structures, International Congress on Expanded Polystyrene, Milan, Italy, 1998.
3. Sun, M., Engineering Behavior of Geofoam (Expanded Polystyrene) and Lateral Pressure
Reduction in Substructures, Masters Thesis, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA,
1997.
4. Negussey, D., and Elragi, A., EPS Geofoam, an Overview, Internal Report AE1-00,
Geofoam Research Center, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA, 2000a.
5. Nishi, T., Hotta, H., Kuroda, S., and Hasegawa, H., Feedback to Design Based on Results
of Field Observations of EPS Embankments Proceedings of International Symposium on
EPS Construction Method, Tokyo, 1996.

338

THE EFFECT OF INTERFACE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PILES IN
EXPANSIVE SOILS
Y. E-A. MOHAMEDZEIN
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University
P. O. Box 33, Al-Khod 123, Sultanate of Oman
F. E. NOUR ELDAYEM
Department of Civil Engineering, Al-Azhari University, Omdurman, Sudan

ABSTRACT: A finite element model for analysis of soil-pile system in an expansive soil with the
emphasis on the effects of the interface was developed. The model simulates the actual sequences
of events that the piles are subjected to during and after construction which include non-loaded
pile after installation, gradual application of load from structure and swelling due to saturation of
soil sometimes after the end of construction. The condition of axisymmetric for a single pile was
assumed and the soil was modeled as a nonlinear elastic material. The formulation of the interface
element was derived on the basis of relative nodal displacement of the solid elements surrounding
the interface element. Modes of relative movements at the interface were considered with special
selection of the values of normal and tangential stiffness coefficients. The predictions of the
model were compared with actual field measurements from piles installed in an expansive soil site
at Elfao (Sudan). The simulation of the interface improved the predictions capabilities of the
model when compared to actual field measurements. Parametric studies were performed to study
the effect of simulation of the behavior at interface on the performance of soil-pile systems. The
study revealed that the simulation of interface behavior decreases the pile settlement due to
applied load, decreases pile heave due to change of soil moisture content and decreases the
stresses within the pile.
INTRODUCTION

The soil-structure system is composed of two different materials which have very different
properties and, thus will respond differently under the applied loads: relative movements may
exist at the interface. Both analytical and experimental studies have demonstrated the influence of
the interface conditions on the overall response of the soil-structure system. For example, Poulos
1

presented analytical elastic solutions for piles in expansive soils with and without simulation of
the interface. He found that the elastic solutions without interface are conservative and give larger
movements and stresses than solutions incorporating interface.
An appropriate modeling of the behavior at soil-structure interface is very important in
geotechnical engineering. To satisfy the compatibility conditions in this system and to bridge the
difference between the two materials, interface elements are introduced. These interface elements
must satisfy the physics of the problem as closely as possible, i.e. they must duplicate the actual
relative movement between the soil and the structure. Studies have shown that three types of
movements may occur at the interface between the soil and structure
2
: debonding, rebonding, and

339

slip. Debonding is the separation of the soil and the structure normal to the interface element,
whereas rebonding defines the opposite movement. Slip relates to tangential movement between
soil and structure.
The finite element method was used to simulate the effect of the interface on the overall response
of the soil-structure systems
3-5
. The finite element formulation of the interface behavior should
have the capability to include all the interface modes, without violating the mathematical
requirements of the finite element theory, in a simple and economical way. Toward this goal,
several investigators have developed different techniques to cope with interface behavior. Some of
these techniques were developed from physical intuition; others were developed from energy or
variational principles. The energy-based methods are subdivided into two groups: stiffness
method
6
and the constraint method
7
, or equivalently, penalty and Lagrangian multipliers methods
8
.
These two energy methods differ in the way they include the interface energy in the total energy of
the soil-structure system.
The objective of this study is to develop a finite element model for analysis of soil-pile system in
an expansive soil with the emphasis on the effects of the interface. In the present study a 6-node
interface element is used with 2 degrees of freedom at each node. The formulation of the interface
element was derived on the basis of relative nodal displacement of the solid elements (i.e. the soil
and pile elements). The formulation was based on the stiffness method with special selection to the
values of normal and tangential stiffness coefficients.
FINITE ELEMENT FORMULATION

Finite Element formulation of a Pile in Expansive Soil

The finite element formulation is described in detail elsewhere
8
. The equilibrium equations for a
soil element undergoing volume change were developed following the usual displacement based
finite element formulation
9
. Special attention was given to the swelling-induced strains and was
related to the change in moisture content. Using a relation between the change in moisture content
and soil suction, swell was related to the change in soil suction through a volume change
parameter which is an intrinsic property of the soil. The volume change parameter, called the
suction compression index, can be obtained from the results of one-dimensional swelling tests by
measuring the amount of swelling and change in suction.

Finite Element Formulation of a 6-Node Quadrilateral Interface Element

In this study a 6-node interface element was used with two degrees of freedom at each node
(Figure 1): the normal displacement ( U
1
, U
4
, U
6
) at the pile side and (U
2
,U
3
,U
5
) at the soil side,
and the tangential displacements (V
1
, V
4
, V
6
) at the pile side and (V
2
, V
3
, V
5
) at the soil side.
Since the interface thickness is very small compared to the average dimension of the adjacent
elements, then the normal and the tangential movements at the pile side and the soil side can be
considered as relative movements. Generally, two different laws are used to govern the admissible
relative motion at the interface, one for the normal movements (U
1
, U
2
, U
3
, U
4
, U
5
, U
6
) and the
other for the tangential movements (V
1
, V
2
, V
3
, V
4
, V
5
, V
6
).
The stiffness matrix can be derived in terms of interface dimensions, normal and tangential
stiffness coefficients (k
n
and k
s
) using the usual finite element method techniques. The relative
displacement can be related to the displacements of the soil and the pile and hence to the interface
nodal displacement. The complete derivation of the stiffness matrix is presented elsewhere
10
.

340

y

3
5
4
6
2 1
t
x
V
3
V
4
U
4
U
3

Pile side Soil side

V
5 V
6
U
6
U
5

V
2

V
1 U
1
U
2

Figure 1. A 6-node interface element with two degrees of freedom at each node

THE COMPUTER PROGRAM

The above displacement based finite element formulation for soil-pile interaction was
implemented in a computer program. Figure 2 shows a typical finite element mesh for a single
pile. The dimensions of the mesh are given in terms of pile length, pile diameter and the thickness
of expansive layer from the ground surface. The pile is divided into ten 8-noded isoparametric
elements. The soil media is represented by 95 8-noded isoparametric elements. The boundary
conditions are shown in the figure. The rollers on the left vertical face of the mesh are intended to
simulate the condition of symmetry. The figure also shows the thin interface elements. The soil
was modeled as non-linear elastic by using the Duncan-Chang model or modified Duncan-Chang
model
11
. The pile material is assumed linear elastic.

The program simulates the actual sequences of events that the piles are subjected to during and
after construction. These sequences are:
1. Non-loaded pile after installation.
2. Gradual application of load from structure. Under this load the pile will move downward.
3. Swelling due to the saturation of soil sometimes after the end of construction. Due to
swelling the pile will move upward.
VALIDATION OF THE PROGRAM

Field experiments and laboratory testing on piles installed in an expansive soil were carried out by
Elsharief
12
at Elfao town, the head quarter of Rahad Irrigation Scheme (Sudan). The finite
element computer program is used to predict the vertical displacement or heave of a single pile in
this expansive soil. The soil model parameters needed for the Duncan-Chang nonlinear elastic
model are listed in Table 1. The values of these parameters were obtained from the data published
in the literature
11
.

341

10 @ 0.1L
0.1 (H-L)
0.1 (H-L)
0.2 (H-L)
0.25 (H-L)
0.35 (H-L)
H
0.5D0.5D0.5D0.5D D D 1.5D
Thin interface elements (thickness t)
Pier elements

Figure 2. Typical Finite Element Mesh.
( Note: H = thickness of compressible layer; L= length of pier; D= diameter of pier; t = thickness
of the interface element).

Figure 3 represents a comparison between the measured vertical upward movements of the pile
and that predicted by the numerical model. The predictions of the model with and without
simulation of the interface are shown. The displacements predicted by the analysis without
simulation of the interface are greater than the field measurements. On the other hand, in the case
of interface simulation, the model predicts less upward movements than the field results. However,
the upward movement values obtained by the numerical analysis in case of interface are closer to
the values obtained from the field. Therefore, the predictions of this proposed model are
acceptable.

342

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 1 2 3 4 5
Pile Length (m)
P
i
l
e

H
e
a
v
e

(
m
m
)
.
FE (with interface)
FE (no interface)
Experimental

Figure 3. Comparison between the Predictions of the Model and Field Measurements

Pile length = 6m; Pile Diameter= 0.25m
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Load (kN)
S
e
t
t
l
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
.
No Interface
With Interface

Figure 4. Settlement of Pile with and without Interface

343

Table 1. Parameters for Duncan-Chang Model
.Parameter Value
Cohesion intercept, c(kN/m
2
) 67.57
Frictional angle parameter , ( in parentheses
)
1.0(0.0
)
Modulus number K 65.0
Modulus exponent, n 0.14
Failure ratio R
f
0.77
Bulk modulus number k
b
25.0
Bulk modulus exponent, m 1.05
Dry unit weight, (kN/m
3
) 15.11
Earth pressure coefficient k
o
0.75

Diameter= 0.25m; Length=6m; Heave+ive
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
0 20 40 60 80 10
Applied Load (kN)
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

M
o
v
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
0
No Interface
With Interface

Figure 5. Heave of Pile with and without Interface
PARAMETRIC STUDY

The soil parameters shown in Table 1 for Elfao site are used in this parametric study. The
parametric study is conducted to study the effect of interface on pile displacement and axial
stresses for different pile lengths subjected to different loading. Analyses were performed for
different pile lengths (i.e. 4, 6 and 8 m), however, since the trend is same, only the results for a
pile length of 6m is presented here. The analyses were performed with and without simulation of
the interface.

344

Effect of Interface on Pile Settlement
Figure 4 shows the vertical settlement of the pile due to different loading before wetting. The
model predicts less settlement for the case of interface simulation than that for the case without
interface simulation. The difference between the two cases increases with increasing the applied
loads. This is expected since at higher load more relative movement occurs between the pile and
the soil.

Effect of Interface on Pile Heave
The vertical heave of the pile due to saturation-induced swelling of the soil is presented in Figure
5. It is clear that the interface is reducing the upward movement of the pile due to change in soil
moisture content. Also this upward movement of the pile is decreasing by increasing applied load.
Since heave is expected at smaller vertical loads, the relative movement between the soil and the
pile is expected to be higher at these situations.

Effect of Interface on Pile Stress after Saturation
The distribution of axial stresses acting on the piles of length 6 m due to the combined effects of
vertical load and heave is presented in Figure 6. The figure shows that for an axial load of 90 kN,
all the stresses exerted on the pile are tensile stresses, except near the top and the bottom of the
pile. Also the figure shows that the maximum axial tensile stress acting on the pile is occurring at
a depth of 2 m below the soil surface. This indicates that the maximum axial tensile stress is acting
at the mid-height of the depth of the active zone of the soil (the depth of the active zone of this soil
is considered as 4 m). The figure shows that the trend of stress distribution is similar for the two
cases of interface simulation.
Pile length= 6m; Pile diameter =0.25m;
Load = 90 kN; Tension +ive
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
-1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Stress (kN/m
2
)
D
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
No interface
With interface

Figure 6. Stresses in the Pile with and without Interface

345

CONCLUSIONS

A finite element model was developed for analysis of soil-pile system in expansive soil. The
interface between the soil and the pile was modeled using a six-node thin element. The simulation
of the interface improved the predictions capabilities of the model when compared to actual field
measurements. Parametric studies were performed using the model to demonstrate the importance
of the simulation of the interface. Based on these studies, the following conclusions can be made:
1. The interface decreases pile settlement due to applied loads.
2. The interface decreases pile heave due to swelling of soil.
3. The maximum axial tensile stress in the pile always occurs at a depth of 2.0 m below the
soil surface, i.e. at the mid-height of the active zone depth (the active zone depth for this
site is considered as 4.0 m).
REFERENCES
1. Poulos, H.G., "Pile Behaviour: Theory and Application," Geotechnique, v 39, n 3, Sep, 1989,
pp. 365-415.
2. Leonards, G. A.; Wu, T. H., and Juang, C. H., "Predicting Performance of Buried Conduits,"
Report FHWA/IN/JHRP-81-3. School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, W.
Lafayette, Indiana, USA, 1982.
3. Desai, C. S., Zaman, M. M., Lightner, J. G. and Siriwardane, H. J., "Thin-Layer Element for
Interface and Joints," International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in
Geomechanics, Vol.8, 1984, pp. 19-43.
4. Mohamedzein, Y. E-A., "Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Soil-Culvert Interaction,"
PhD Thesis Presented to Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U. S. A., 1989.
5. Hu, L. and Pu, J., "Testing and Modelling of Soil-Structure Interface," Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 130, No. 8, 2004, pp. 851-
860.
6. Goodman, R. E., Taylor, R. L. and Brekke, T. L., "A Model for the Mechanics of Jointed
Rock," Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Division, ASCE, Vol. 94, No. SM3, 1968,
pp. 637-659.
7. Katona, M. G., "A Simple Contact Friction Interface Element with Applications to buried
Culverts," International Journal of Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol.
7, 1983, pp. 371-384.
8. Bathe, K. J., Finite Element Procedures in Engineering Analysis, Prentice Hall Inc., 1996.
9. Mohamedzein, Y. E-A.; Mohamed, M. G. and Elsharief, A. M., "Finite Element Analysis of
Short Piles in Expansive Soils," Journal of Computer and Geotechnics, No. 24, 1999, pp.
231-243.
10. Nour Eldayem, F. E., "The Effect of Interface on Soil-Pile Interaction in Expansive Soil," A
Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Science in Structural
Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan,
1999.
11. Duncan, J. M.; Byrne, P.; Wong, K. S. and Mabry P., "Strength, Stress-Strain and Bulk
Modulus Parameters for Finite Element Analysis of Stress and Movements in Soil Masses,"
Report No. UCB(GT(78-02), University of California, Berkeley, 1978.
12. Elsharief, A. M., "Foundations on Expansive Soils," A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the
Degree of Master of Building Technology, Building and Road Research Institute, University
of Khartoum, Sudan, 1999.

346

INNOVATIVE USE OF PILED RAFT FOUNDATION TO OPTIMIZE THE
DESIGN OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS
Y. M. EL-MOSSALLAMY
Arcadis, Darmstadt, Germany & Assoc. Prof. Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
F. M. EL-NAHHAS
Prof. of Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
A. S. ESSAWY
Prof. of Concrete Structures, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Piled raft foundation was extensively utilized in the last two decades in different
soil conditions; e.g. in soft to stiff clay as well as in medium to dense sand and even in highly
weathered rock. Piled raft is currently used not only to control the foundation settlement but also
to minimize the required raft thickness to reach the most economic foundation design. An
innovative application of the piled raft is its special adjustment to cases of foundations with large
load eccentricities or very different loaded parts of buildings to avoid the need of settlement joints,
which are especially complex below groundwater table. Recently, the piled raft is used as a
foundation system of highway and railway bridges with special serviceability requirements
regarding the allowable total and differential settlement as well as tilting. Sophisticated numerical
modeling is commonly used for the required analysis during the design of piled rafts. In this paper,
a general overview on the recent innovative applications of piled rafts in Germany will be
presented. The remarkable number of recently constructed and planned tall buildings, especially in
the Gulf Countries, makes the need of the shortest construction time of their foundations a real
engineering challenge. The piled raft can help to achieve the desired short construction time
through optimizing the required number of piles. The piled raft can be considered as a suitable
foundation system for most of prevailing subsoil conditions in Gulf Countries. The possibilities of
the piled raft as an innovative geotechnical foundation for high rise buildings in Gulf Countries
will be presented and discussed in details.
INTRODUCTION
The piled raft is a foundation system consisting of piles, raft and soil. In the conventional design
of pile foundations, it is assumed that the total applied load has to be carried only by the piles with
a certain factor of safety against bearing capacity. On one hand, considering the contribution of
the raft bearing capacity can lead to a more economic foundation in comparison with a pure pile
foundation. On the other hand, the contribution of piles reduces the settlement significantly in
comparison with a conventional raft foundation. Moreover the piles can be designed in such cases
to carry loads close to their ultimate capacity (Burland et al. 1977, Hanisch et al. 2002) whilst the
whole system (raft and piles) has an adequate bearing capacity against failure. Field measurements
on several projects have shown that this idea of overloading of the piles to a value close to their
347

ultimate does not occur (Lutz et al. 1996 and Lutz 2002). The actual measured behavior indicates
that the raft contact stresses lead to an increase in the bearing capacity of the individual pile within
the piled raft system. This effect can be illustrated utilizing adequate numerical analyses to
simulate the behavior of piled rafts (El-Kadi et al., 1989, Randolph & Clancy 1993, El-
Mossallamy & Franke, 1997 Franke et al. 2000, Poulos 2002 and El-Mossallamy, 2004).
CONCEPT OF PILED RAFT
The piled raft is a composite geotechnical foundation system consisting of piles, raft and soil.
Figure 1 demonstrates the principles of piled raft foundation and the different interactions (e.g.
pile/pile and pile/raft) that govern its behavior (El-Mossallamy 1996 and Hanisch et al. 2002).

Figure 1. Principles of piled raft

In the conventional design of pile foundations, it is assumed that the total applied load has to
be carried only by the piles with a certain factor of safety against bearing failure. Considering the
contribution of the raft can lead to a more economic foundation in comparison with a pure pile
foundation. The piles can be designed in such cases to carry loads close to their ultimate capacity.
The main criterion that governs the design of piled rafts concerns the relative proportion of load
carried by raft and piles
L
and the effect of the additional pile support on foundation
settlements
s
(Fig. 1).
THE GERMAN EXPERIENCE AND INNOVATIVE APPLICATION OF
PILED RAFTS
The piled raft was extensively used in Germany to optimize the foundation of high-rise buildings
as well as bridges in different subsoil conditions. Some case histories will be given to demonstrate
the application of the piled raft as an economic foundation system.
348

Piled raft of high-rise buildings on overconsolidated Frankfurt-clay
During the course of its development into a European centre of finance, the Rhein-Main
metropolis Frankfurt has developed a skyline unique in Europe with regard to its prominent high-
rise buildings.
The piled raft was developed to optimize the foundations of these high-rise buildings on the
overconsolidated highly plastic clay subsoil, which may be compared to London-clay. The
development of high-rise building foundation in Frankfurt can be divided into two main
generations. In the first one, high-rise buildings were founded on raft foundations which suffered
from settlements of about 31 cm and more together with a tilting of up to about 1:300 (SGZ Bank,
Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). The piled raft foundation is extensively applied in the second generation of
high-rise buildings to achieve economic solutions that fulfill the stability as well as the
serviceability requirements. The settlements of different foundation types in Frankfurt are
compared in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Settlement behavior of high-rise buildings in Frankfurt, Germany

The Messeturm (Sommer/Hoffmann 1991, Fig. 3) is a good example of this new foundation
type. Only 64 piles with pile length of 29 to 35 m and a pile diameter of 1.3 m were enough to
reduce the settlement to 14.4 cm and the tilting to 1:2400.

Figure 3. Selection of 3 high-rise buildings in Frankfurt
349

The Commerzbank building (Holzhuser 1998, Fig. 3) is comparable to the Messeturm
regarding the height and total load. The Commerz-Bank is located directly next to a 100 m high
existing building that was founded on a raft foundation. In order to reduce the additional
settlement of the existing building to an absolute minimum, it was decided to found the new tower
on conventional deep foundation. A sum of 111 piles with lengths up to 45 m was needed to
transfer the building loads into the lower firm-bearing stratum of limestone. These piles were
constructed as telescopic piles with diameter of 1.8 m for the upper 20 m and 1.5 m for the lower
25 m. The measured settlement was about 2 cm. The cost of this pile foundation remarkably
exceeded those of the Messeturm.
High-rise building Japan-Center, Frankfurt
The construction of heavy high-rise buildings with large load eccentricities represents a
challenging task to engineers. The high-rise building Japan-Center (Fig. 4) demonstrates the
application of piled raft foundation to avoid the need of settlement joints between different loaded
parts of the building.

Figure 4. High-rise building Japan-Center in Frankfurt

The main tower of the building complex has an area of about 37 x 37 m and is located
eccentric to the basement area as shown on Fig. 4. The pile positioning beneath the tower resists
the load eccentricity related to the total foundation area. Therefore, the foundation of both the
main tower and the side basements could be constructed without settlement joint and the building
tilting could be minimized to acceptable limits. The measured pile head loads, raft contact stresses
and water pressure with time are shown in Figure 5a. It can be recognized from the measurements
that the total load of the building is about 600 MN and the effective load (acc. to normal ground
water table) is about 400 MN. With a total pile group load of about 300 MN the pile load share
L

is about 70 to 75 %. The measured settlement trough of the foundation is shown in Figure 5b in
comparison with the calculated values during the design stage applying the program GAPR (El-
Mossallamy 1996). The calculated settlement is more curved than the measured one due to the
conservative estimation of the building stiffness that was applied in the design stage as an
equivalent stiffness corresponding to the stiffness of the raft only without considering the stiffness
350

of the relatively rigid compact basements box. The measured settlements are about 7 cm and
tilting is smaller than 1:1000. These results confirm the design philosophy of piled raft
foundations.

Figure 5: Foundation behavior, Japan-Center
Piled raft in Berlin sand and Marl
The Berlin subsoil general condition is dominated by sand and marl layers, which are different and
somewhat stiffer than the Frankfurt clay. At some project sites, the soil condition may differ from
the general conditions. For example; huge deposits of loose to medium dense sand or soft to stiff
marl deposits may be encountered. Under these subsoil conditions, or in order to avoid
unacceptable effects on existing near-by buildings, piled rafts have been used in Berlin too
(Richter et al. 1996 and 2005).

Figure 6. High-rise building Sony Center, Berlin and its load settlement relationship with time
351

One example is the Sony-Center at the Potsdamer Platz. The building is located directly
beside the new built railway tunnel. The raft foundation level is located within the upper part of
the marl layer. Therefore, the settlement and the soil pressure under the raft foundation had to be
reduced by introducing piles to form a piled raft foundation. The utilized piles were of 1.5-m
diameter having variable lengths of 15 to 25 m (Fig. 6a). Up to the end of construction a total of 3
cm settlement has been observed (Fig. 6b).
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY OF THE PILED RAFTS
Figure 7 shows schematically the proposed design sequence of piled raft foundations considering
the required co-operation between both the geotechnical and the structural engineers. The pile/soil
stiffness and the subgrade reaction distribution beneath the raft were found to be a very convenient
interface between the geotechnical and the structural engineers.

Figure 7. Flow chart for the design of piled raft

A realistic numerical model is a central part of the design of the piled raft foundation. The
numerical model includes the applied numerical method and the constitutive laws to model the soil
stress-strain behavior. According to the gathered experience, the three dimensional nature of the
complex PRF plays a very important role and should be considered by the applied numerical
model to obtain realistic results (e.g. pile stiffness and soil subgrade reaction modulus) which can
be used for the design of the structural elements. The nonlinear behavior at pile shaft and pile base
should be modeled in a realistic manner.
352

PILED RAFT FOR SUBSOIL CONDITIONS IN THE ARAB
COUNTARIES
The piled raft was developed to achieve a more economic and, at the same time, a safe structure.
There is a rapidly developing trend to construct tall buildings in the Arab Countries. In Egypt, raft
foundations resting on piles have been utilized as a foundation system for many tall buildings
during the last two decades (El-Nahhas, et al. 1992). However, there is an urgent need to include
an updated provision or guidelines for the design of piled rafts in the Egyptian Code of
Foundation Engineering.
On the other hand, the remarkable number of recently constructed and planned tall buildings,
especially in the Gulf Countries, makes the need of the shortest construction time of their
foundations a real engineering challenge. The piled raft can help to achieve the desired short
construction time through optimizing the required number of piles. Simultaneously, the use of
piled raft can lead to more optimization of the raft thickness that can reduce the required
excavation volume, optimize the pit excavation support system and reduce the dewatering required
for the construction under groundwater table. All these aspects have a very positive effect on the
required construction time and on the total costs.
The piled raft is a suitable foundation system for most of prevailing subsoil conditions in Gulf
Countries. In most cities in the Gulf Countries (e.g. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha), there is a
surface layer of sandy soil followed by rock formations with different degrees of weathering. The
foundation level lies in most cases in the rock formation. Due to the very heavy loads of the tall
building and due to the highly heterogeneous properties of the rock formation, deep foundation
using large diameter bored piles extending to great depths are applied in most cases. The piles are
utilized mainly to control the settlement and differential settlements within the structural
requirements. In such cases, the piled raft can be applied successfully to reduce the required
number of piles and hence to reduce the required construction time.
The subsoil conditions in other Gulf Countries such as Kuwait are different from the above-
mentioned conditions (Ismael et al., 1986, Al-Sanad et al. 1989, and Mossaad et al., 2000). In
Kuwait, the subsoil consists mainly of thick layers of calcareous sand. Despite that the
deformation behavior of the calcareous sand is in general more compressible than that of other
sand types such as quartz sand; its shear strength depends on its structure especially on the type of
the chemical bounds between the sand particles. Furthermore, the potential of dissolution of
soluble salts from the soil matrix is considered among the most alarming phenomena (El-Nahhas
et al., 1999). This process could cause long-term detrimental effects on some of the shallow
foundations resting on such deposits and subjected to relatively high pressures.
To illustrate the feasibility of piled raft in soil conditions such as that in Kuwait, a practical
example is demonstrated in the next paragraph.
Piled raft in Kuwait
The Salimia Complex in Kuwait demonstrates an excellent example of the proposed piled raft
foundation in Kuwait subsoil conditions. The proposed site of Salimia Complex (Fig. 8) is located
adjacent to the Gulf, southeast of Kuwait City, and has dimensions of about 120 m x 96 m with
two underground floors. The foundation level lies about 10.0 m beneath the ground surface. The
structure consists of a curved building including a main cylindrical tower having 20 stories and
side buildings with about 5 to 7 stories.

353

Figure 8. High-rise building Salimia Complex, Kuwait

The subsoil at the project site consists mainly of two sandy layers with a relatively thin silty
layer in-between. The upper layer is the commonly encountered cemented calcareous sand. The
lower sand layer is a noncemented formation that extends to a large depth beneath the ground
surface. The thin impermeable silty layer, with depth of few meters, separates the two main layers
forming two separate aquifers. The groundwater table in the upper aquifer lies about 4 m below
the ground surface while that in the lower aquifer has an artesian pressure that can reach
approximately the ground surface. The water of the two aquifers is also different in its chemical
composition. The lower one has more minerals and can be classified as very aggressive to
concrete.
The design value of the groundwater level, considering the possible rising of the groundwater
table in the area, was taken about 3 m below the ground surface. Therefore, tension piles are also
needed under the lightly loaded areas to resist possible uplift. As the settlement using a raft
foundation would reach the order of 10 to 15 cm with relatively large differential settlement, a
traditional raft foundation cannot fulfill the serviceability requirements. Therefore, a traditional
deep foundation applying a relatively thick raft on large diameter bored piles was designed.
Figure 9 shows the first design of the pile foundation. A sum of 624 piles with 0.9 pile
diameter as well as 461 piles with 0.6 pile diameter is needed to carry the full structure loads as
traditional deep foundation to the lower layer. The piles should have a length of about 22 m.
Therefore, the piles penetrate the upper layer and are socketed into the lower sand layer. The
construction of the piles has also a large environmental impact on the hydraulic condition of the
site and the surrounding areas causing a hydraulic connection between the two existing aquifers.
354

Figure 9. Traditional deep foundation of the high-rise building Salimia, Kuwait

The conducted compression and tension pile load tests on large diameter bored piles are
demonstrated in Figure 10.

Figure 10. Results of pile load tests in Calcareous sand
355

According to the results of the conducted load tests and based on the available experience
with large diameter bored piles in similar soil conditions, it was recommended to increase the
diameter of the foundation piles and apply the shaft post-grouting to enhance its bearing capacity.
Therefore, the pile length can be reduced to lie within the upper layer to minimize the
environmental impact due to the construction of the piles within acceptable level. The piled raft
could be further utilized to reduce the number of required piles and achieve the more economic
solution. Figure 11 shows a proposal for a piled raft in such conditions. In this case, only 250 piles
with 1.2 pile diameter as well as 146 piles with 0.6 pile diameter are needed (compared to the
proposed 1085 piles in the traditional pile foundation) to resist the superstructure loads and to
minimize the foundation deformation to achieve the structural requirements. The pile length could
be reduced to 17 m so that the piles do not penetrate the lower aquifer.

Figure 11. Proposal of a piled raft for the high-rise building Salimia, Kuwait
CONCLUSIONS
Geotechnical engineers aim at accomplishing safe economical foundation design. The piled raft
foundation is an excellent example to achieve this goal showing the interactive process between
the observational method and the development of new geotechnical systems. The piled raft system
provides a new geotechnical concept for the design of foundations not only for high-rise buildings
but also for residential buildings and bridges, which allows a high-grade technical and economical
optimization of the construction. The fact, piled raft proved its success on a wide range of
eccentrically loaded structures that can be safely founded on soft to stiff clay (now also on
medium to dense sand) by appropriate distribution of piles, staggering the different pile lengths
356

and utilizing the suitable pile diameters. These combinations mean almost unlimited alternatives
for the construction of foundations. The illustrated examples in this paper demonstrate the
essential role of combining the appropriate theoretical knowledge, experienced application of
measurement techniques and numerical modeling together with tested and proven implementation
design methods are the necessary qualification for a safe and economic design for such complex
foundation system.
REFERENCES
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cemented sands from Kuwait. First Regional Conference in Civil Engineering, Bahrain, V,
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Burland, J.B., Broms, B.B. and DeMello, V.1977. Behaviour of foundation and structures, Proc.
9th. ICSMFE, Tokyo pp.495-546.
El-Kadi, F., El-Nahhas, F., and El-Mosallamy, Y. 1989. Analysis of pile-raft-soil interaction.
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of Civil Engineers, Paper No. 41, Session 6A, 20 p.
El-Mossallamy, Y. 1996. Ein Berechnungs-modell zum Tragverhalten der Kombinierten Pfahl-
Plattengrndung, Dissertation und Mitteilungen des Institutes und der Versuchsanstalt fr
Geotechnik der Technischen Universitt Darmstadt, Heft 36
El-Mossallamy, Y. and Franke, E. 1997. Piled Rafts -Numerical Modelling to Simulate the
Behaviour of Piled Raft Foundations. Published by the Authors, Darmstadt, 1997.
El-Mossallamy, Y. 2004. The Interactive Process between Field Monitoring and Numerical
Analyses by the Development of Piled Raft Foundation. Proceeding of the International
Symposium on geotechnical innovations, Stuttgart June 2004, pp. 455-474.
El-Nahhas, F., El-Kadi, F., Khafagy, A., and Mazen, H. 1992. Settlement of piled-raft foundation
of a tall building. Proc. of Int. Colloquium on Structural Engineering - Ain Shams Univ.,
Egyptian Society of Engineers and Canadian Society of Civil Eng., Vol. 1, pp. 181-193.
El-Nahhas, F., Jefferis, S., Abdullah, W., and El-Shinnawy, A. 1999. One-dimensional leaching-
settlement experiments on undisturbed samples of soils from Kuwait. Proc. of the 52nd
Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Saskatchewan, Canada, pp. 31-38.
Franke, E., El-Mossallamy, Y. and Wittmann, P.2000. Calculation methods for raft foundation in
Germany, Design applications of raft foundation, edited by Hemsley, Thomas Telford
pp.283-322.
Hanisch, J., Katzenbach, R. und Knig, G. 2002. Kombinierte Pfahl-Plattengrndung, In
Zusammenarbeit mit dem Arbeitskreis Pfhle der Deutschen Gesellschaft fr Geotechnik
e.V. (DGGT), Ernst & Sohn.
Holzhuser, J.1998. Ein Experimentelle und numerische Untersuchungen zum Trag-verhalten von
Pfahlgrndungen im Fels, Dissertation, Fachbereich Bauingenieurwesen der Technischen
Hochschule Darmstadt.
Ismael, N. F., Mollah, M. A., and Al-Khalidi, O. 1986. Geotechnical properties of cemented soils
in Kuwait. Australian Road Res. J., 16(2), pp. 94-104.
Lutz, B., Wittmann, P., El-Mossallamy, Y. und Katzenbach, R. 1996. Die Anwendung von Pfahl-
Plattengrndungen Entwurfspraxis, Di-mensionierung und Erfahrungen mit Grn-dungen
in berkonsolidierten Tonen auf der Grundlage von Messungen, Baugrundtagung 1996,
Berlin, pp. 153-164
Lutz, B. 2002. Beitrag zur Modellierung des Tragverhaltens Kombinierter Pfahl-Plattengrndung
(KPP) unter Verwendung geotechnischer Messungen. Dissertation, Fachbereich
357

Bauingenieurwesen und Mitteilungen des Institutes und der Versuchsanstalt fr Geotechnik
der Technischen Universitt Darmstadt, Heft 63.
Mossaad, M., El-Nahhas, F., and Al-Sumait, A., 2000. Drawdown-deformation behaviour in a
pilot drainage project in Kuwait. Proc. of the Fourth International Geotechnical Conference,
Cairo University, Egypt, pp. 625-649.
Poulos, H.G. (2002). Simplified design procedure for piled raft foundations. Deep Foundations
2002, Ed. M.W. ONeill and F.C. Townsend, ASCE Spec. Geot. Pub. No.116, 441-458.
Randolph, M.F. and Clancy, P. 1993. Efficient design of piled raft. 2nd International Geotechnical
Seminar on Deep Foundations on Bored and Auger Piles, Gent pp. 119-130.
Richter, Th., Savidis, S., Katzenbach, R. und Quick, H. 1996. Wirtschaftlich optimierte
Hochhausgrndungen in Berliner Sand. Vortrge der Baugrundtagung in Berlin, pp.129-146.
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Grndungsalternative ? Vortrge zum 1. Hans Lorenz Symposium, Verffentlichungen des
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Partner, pp. 63-71.

358

EFFECT OF FLEXIBILITY OF SPREAD FOOTINGS ON STRUCTURAL
BEHAVIOR
S.W. TABSH
Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah
P.O.Box 26666, Sharjah, UAE
A.R. AL-SHAWA
Toshiba Corporation
P.O. Box 36967, Abu Dhabi, UAE

ABSTRACT: Reinforced concrete spread footings are economical to use as foundations for
common buildings and bridges in areas where the subsurface conditions present no unusual
difficulties. The current approach for the structural design of a spread footing considers the
footing to be much more rigid than the surrounding soil; hence bending of the footing does not
affect distribution of the bearing pressure. In this approach, the distribution of the bearing
pressure is either uniform or varies linearly, depending on the location of the applied load. In
reality, the assumption of linear distribution of bearing pressure is not always correct because
regions of the spread footing beneath the heavily loaded zones will settle more than other regions,
which increases the soil bearing pressure beneath the column. This is especially true for thin
footings on stiff soils and rock. In this study, a relative stiffness factor is developed that can
determine if a footing can be assumed rigid for the purposes of structural analysis and design.
This factor is a based on an expression first proposed by Meyerhof in 1953, but takes into account
the dimension of the column supported on the footing. The study considers square and
rectangular spread footings subjected to concentric loadings. The footings and their supports are
modeled by finite elements consisting of thick rectangular plate elements and elastic springs. The
results of the study showed that a footing with relative stiffness factor greater than 1.0 can be
analyzed as a rigid footing with reasonable accuracy. This includes determination of soil
pressures, vertical footing displacements, shear forces and bending moments.

INTRODUCTION
All structures require foundations to transmit the design loads from the superstructure into the
underlying soil mass either through direct contact with the soil immediately beneath the
foundation, or into the deep soil mass below the structure through friction, end bearing, or both.
The most popular structural foundation in the construction industry is the shallow foundation.
They are used when surface soils are sufficiently strong and stiff to support the imposed loads, and
are not appropriate to use in highly compressible soils, such as poorly-compacted fill, peat, and
alluvial deposits, etc. Other types of foundations, such as piles and drilled shafts, are usually
utilized in major structures and where the soil conditions are weak. The main advantages of
shallow foundation are: (1) economy, (2) simple construction, (3) material availability, and (4)
unnecessary skilled labor. The disadvantages are: (1) excessive settlement, (2) limited capacity,
(3) difficulty to use on irregular ground surface, and (4) inability to resist pullout forces and
torsional moments
1
.
359

Shallow foundations are those founded near to the finished ground surface; generally where
the founding depth is less than the width of the footing and less than 3 m. They are often called
spread footings, and include pads (isolated footings), combined footings, strip footings and rafts
(mats). Pad foundations are used to support an individual point load such as that due to a
structural column, as shown in Figure 1. The plan geometry may be circular, square or rectangular
in shape. They usually consist of a block or slab of uniform thickness, but they may be stepped or
haunched if they are required to support extremely heavy loads. Combined footings are generally
required when the isolated footings of two nearby columns are interacting. They are accomplished
by one of two methods, either by forming a single rectangular or trapezoidal footing under the two
columns or by structurally connecting a narrow concrete beam (strap) between the two spread
footings. Strip foundations are used to support a line of loads, either due to a load-bearing wall, or
if a line of columns need supporting where column positions are so close that individual pad
foundations would be inappropriate. Raft foundations are used to spread the load from a structure
over a large area, normally the entire area of the structure. They are used when column loads or
other structural loads are close together and individual pad foundations would overlap. Raft
foundations have the advantage of reducing differential settlements as the concrete slab resists
differential movements between loading positions, and are often needed on soft or loose soils with
low bearing capacity.

Figure 1. Isolated footings at a building site

STRUCTURAL DESIGN
The structural design of a spread footing starts with the determination of the plan area, based on
the column load, footing weight and surcharge pressure, soil buoyancy pressure and the bearing
capacity. In all cases, the maximum soil pressure due the applied loads must be below the bearing
capacity of the soil.

For concentrically loaded rigid footings, the relationship between the soil pressure, q, applied
load, P, and the footings plan area (defined by the length, L, and width, B) is:

LB
P
q =
(1)
360

For eccentrically loaded rigid footings, the maximum soil pressure under the footing, q
max
,
depends on the eccentricity of the applied load, e, with respect to the center of the footing:

a) e < L/6:
+ =
L
e
LB
P
q
6
1
max
(2)

b) e > L/6:
B e L
P
q
) 2 / ( 3
2
max
=
(3)

It is common practice to design footings such that shear reinforcement will not be necessary.
For this reason, the minimum thickness of a footing with flexural reinforcement is generally
governed by one or two way shear, although it can be dependent on the compression development
length of the column steel dowels. If the footing base is rectangular or continuous in one direction,
its thickness will likely be governed by one way shear, also called beam shear. On the other hand,
if the shape of the footing is square or almost square, then the effective thickness of the footing is
usually governed by two way or punching shear. The final step in the structural design of spread
footings is flexural design. In this step, longitudinal steel rebars are selected in the two directions,
based on the applied bending moments at the face of the column. Figure 2 shows typical
reinforcement in an isolated footing. All structures require foundations to transmit the design
loads from the superstructure into the underlying soil mass either through direct contact with the
soil immediately beneath the foundation, or into the deep soil mass below the structure through
friction, end bearing, or both.

Figure 2. Reinforcement in an isolated footing

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Although it is customary to assume a footing to be rigid for the sake of structural analysis and
design, the actual soil pressure distribution is not constant or linearly varying. Field studies have
shown that the stress distribution beneath a footing can be either concave up or down, as shown in
Figure 3, depending on whether the soil is cohesive or cohesionless.
361

Figure 3. Effects of soil type on pressure distribution under a footing

For the case of footings supporting a rigid structure, the American Concrete Institute
Committee 336
2
recommends the use of a relative stiffness factor, K
r
, developed by Meyerhof
3
, to
check the flexibility of the footing:

4 2
) 1 ( B k
EI
K
s
b
r

=
(4)

where E is the modulus of elasticity of the structure, B is the width of the foundation, I
b
is the
moment of inertia of the structure per unit length at right angle to B, k is the soil subgrade reaction,
and
s
is the Poissons ratio of the soil. ACI Committee 336 recommends treating the footing as
rigid if K
r
is 0.5 or larger.

Meyerhofs expression is limited in application because it does not account for the size of the
column, the load is applied on the footing as a point load, and it neglects the width of the footing.
Hence, there is a need to develop a new measure of footing flexibility to check whether a spread
footing can be treated as rigid or flexible for the sake of the structural analysis and design.

METHODOLOGY
Several isolated footings are analyzed in this study using the computer program SAFE
4
. The
analysis is based on the finite element method, with consideration for the effects of twisting
moments, which are related to the rate of change of slope in a given direction as one move in the
other perpendicular direction, within the plane of the footing. SAFE allows for automatic meshing
generation based on user specified parameters. Foundations are modeled as thick plates on elastic
foundations, where the compression-only soil springs are automatically discretized based on a
specified modulus of subgrade reaction. The thick plate elements have 4 nodes, one at each
corner, and each node has three degrees of freedom two rotations and one translation
5
.
Uncracked (or gross) section properties are considered for the footings because the objective of
the study is to check the appropriateness of Meyerhoffs equation to spread footings and propose
modification to it with consideration to footing dimensions and column size. Meyerhoffs
equation has been derived taking into account gross section properties. Further, the study is not
intended to develop a research tool, but rather a practical guidance on minimum thickness
requirement for spread footing. In practice, structural analysis is normally carried out by
engineers with the use of gross-section properties.
(a) on saturated clay
(b) on cohesionless soil
362

The finite element mesh is either square or rectangular in shape, with additional mesh lines
being introduced at the column location, as shown in Figure 4. Linearly-elastic springs are located
at the nodes, with the properties being lumped at these points based on the tributary areas
associated with the nodes. An iterative process is used to eliminate any tension in the springs due
to the applied loading on the footing.

Figure 4. Finite element mesh generation

The loading on the footing is applied through the nodal mesh points within the column
location based upon the tributary areas associated with these nodes. The weight of the footing is
neglected. Vertical deflection of all nodal points on the footing is obtained from the analysis.
Shear force and bending moment results are reported with reference to strips within the finite
element mesh. The shears and moments along the length of a strip are obtained for the purpose of
structural design and graphical display. Figure 5 shows typical graphical display of the results.

(a) Deflected shape
(b) Moment M
x
(c) Shear V
y
(a) Deflected shape
(b) Moment M
x
(c) Shear V
y

Figure 5. Graphical display of the results

363

PROPOSED FACTOR
In this study, Meyerhofs expression in Eq. (4) is modified to include all dimensions of the
isolated footing, as well as the cross-section dimensions of the supported column:

2 2 2
3
) ( ) )( 1 (
'
l L b B k
t E
K
s
r

=
(5)

where t is the thickness of the footing, b is the column dimension along the footing dimension B,
and l is the column dimension along the footing dimension L. Other variables have been defined
earlier. In the absence of field data, the soil properties shown in Tables 1 and 2 may be used when
computing K
r
1
.

Table 1. Range of values of modulus of subgrade reaction for soil
Soil Type k (MN/m
3
)
Sand:
Loose sand 4.8-16
Medium dense sand 9.6-80
Silty medium dense sand 24-48
Clayey medium dense sand 32-80
Dense sand 64-128
Clay:
q
u
* < 200 kPa 12-24
200 < q
u
< 200 kPa 24-48
q
u
> 200 kPa > 48
* q
u
= ultimate bearing capacity
Soil Type k (MN/m
3
)
Sand:
Loose sand 4.8-16
Medium dense sand 9.6-80
Silty medium dense sand 24-48
Clayey medium dense sand 32-80
Dense sand 64-128
Clay:
q
u
* < 200 kPa 12-24
200 < q
u
< 200 kPa 24-48
q
u
> 200 kPa > 48
* q
u
= ultimate bearing capacity

Table 2. Range of values of Poisson ratio for soil
Soil Type
s
Saturated clay 0.4-0.5
Unsaturated clay 0.1-0.3
Sandy clay 0.2-0.3
Silt 0.3-0.35
Dense sand 0.15-0.25
Rock 0.1-0.4
Soil Type
s
Saturated clay 0.4-0.5
Unsaturated clay 0.1-0.3
Sandy clay 0.2-0.3
Silt 0.3-0.35
Dense sand 0.15-0.25
Rock 0.1-0.4

The approach followed in this study consists of analyzing many square and rectangular
isolated footings subjected to concentric loads at the column location. Each footing is analyzed
twice, one time with the actual thickness, and another time with an infinitely large thickness. The
ratio of the strip moment (or shear) in a flexible footing to the corresponding strip moment (or
shear) in a rigid footing is computed. The results are presented in a graphical form showing ratios
of moment (or shear) in footings versus the proposed footing stiffness factor, K
r
.

364

RESULTS
The modulus of elasticity of the concrete in the analyzed footings is taken 25000 MPa, which
is typical for isolated foundations. In order to investigate the validity of the proposed relative
stiffness factor, K
r
, a wide range of variables is considered. The footing width, B, was varied
between 0.75 and 12 m, the footing thickness, t, was varied between 0.15 and 3 m, the dimension
of the column, b, was varied between 0.15 and 3 m, and the modulus of subgrade reaction of the
soil was varied between 5 MN/m
3
and 150 MN/m
3
.
The results of the computer analysis are presented in Figures 6 and 7, showing shear and
moments in footing strips at the face of the column. Figure 6 shows the results for concentrically
loaded square isolated footings. The results of the analysis show that as K
r
increases above 1.0,
the footing behaves like a rigid slab over an elastic support, as indicated by a load effect ratio
(pressure, displacement, shear and moment) equal to about 1.0. This finding is not in agreement
with Meyerhofs limit of 0.5. Also, Figure 6 shows that shear forces in an isolated footing are less
sensitive to the stiffness of a footing than bending moments.

0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'
r
S
O
I
L

P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E
R
A
T
I
O
Max. Pressure
Min. Pressure
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'
r
D
I
S
P
L
A
C
E
M
E
N
T
R
A
T
I
O
Max. Displacement
Min. Displacement
(a) Soil pressure (b) Displacement
(c) Shear
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'r
M
O
M
E
N
T
R
A
T
I
O
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'r
S
H
E
A
R
R
A
T
I
O
(d) Moment
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'
r
S
O
I
L

P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E
R
A
T
I
O
Max. Pressure
Min. Pressure
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'
r
D
I
S
P
L
A
C
E
M
E
N
T
R
A
T
I
O
Max. Displacement
Min. Displacement
(c) Shear
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'r
M
O
M
E
N
T
R
A
T
I
O
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
K'r
S
H
E
A
R
R
A
T
I
O
(d) Moment
Figure 6. Results of the analysis for square footings

Figure 7 presents the results for rectangular footings. The length-to-width ratio of the footing,
L/B, is varied between 0.5 and 2. The ratio of one dimension of the columns cross-section to the
other, l/b, is also varied between 0.5 and 2.0. As in the case of square footings, the footing
thickness t and modulus of subgrade reaction k were also varied over a wide range in order to
obtain a spectrum of K
r
. The results of the analysis in Figure 7 are similar to those in Figure 6.
365

EXAMPLE
Determine the maximum size of a square footing that can be used with a thickness equal to 0.75 m
such that it can be analyzed as a rigid footing with adequate accuracy. Given: column size =
0.5x0.5 m, E
c
(concrete) = 22,000 MPa, and soil type = dense sand (
s
= 0.2 and k = 95 MN/m
3
).

Solution:

Equating the expression of K
r
in Eq. (5) to unity and noting that B = L, we get:
4 2
3
) )( 1 (
0 . 1
b B k
t E
s

=
=>
4 2
3
) 5 . 0 )( 2 . 0 1 ( ) 95 (
) 75 . 0 ( ) 000 , 22 (
0 . 1

=
B

Solving the above equation, we get the maximum size of the square footing: B = 3.70 m.

0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
S
O
I
L

P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E

R
A
T
I
O
Max. Pressure
Min. Pressure
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
D
I
S
P
L
A
C
E
M
E
N
T

R
A
T
I
O
Max. Displacement
Min. Displacement
(d) Moment (c) Shear
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
S
H
E
A
R
R
A
T
I
O
Vy
Vx
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
M
O
M
E
N
T
R
A
T
I
O
My
Mx
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
S
O
I
L

P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E

R
A
T
I
O
Max. Pressure
Min. Pressure
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
D
I
S
P
L
A
C
E
M
E
N
T

R
A
T
I
O
Max. Displacement
Min. Displacement
(d) Moment (c) Shear
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
S
H
E
A
R
R
A
T
I
O
Vy
Vx
0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
K'
r
M
O
M
E
N
T
R
A
T
I
O
My
Mx

Figure 7. Results of the analysis for rectangular footings
CONCLUSIONS
The finite element results of the study lead to the following conclusions:

(1) The important parameters that affect the stiffness of isolated footings are the footing
dimensions, column cross-section, and soil properties.
(2) A K
r
-factor greater than 1 indicates that a footing can be analyzed as rigid footing for the
sake of calculating the soil pressure, vertical displacement, shear forces and bending
moment.
(3) Shear forces are less sensitive to variations in the stiffness of a footing than bending
moments.
366

REFERENCES
1. Bowels, J.E., Foundation Analysis and Design, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company,
New York, 1988, 1004 pp.
2. American Concrete Institute Committee 336, Suggested Design Procedures for Combined
Footings and Mats, Journal of the American Concrete Institute, Vol. 63, No. 10, 1988.
3. Meyerhof, G.G., Some Recent Foundation Research and Its Application to Design, The
Structural Engineer, Vol. 31, No. 6, June, 1953, London.
4. SAFE, Users Manual, Educational Version 6.0, Computers and Structures, Inc., Berkeley,
October, 1998.
5. Ibrahimbegovic, A., Quadrilateral Finite Elements for Analysis of Thick and Thin Plates,
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Vol. 110, 1993.
367
368

NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
OF CONCRETE BEAMS REINFORCED WITH FRP REBARS

H. M. Ibrahim
Associate Professor of Concrete Structures, Civil Engineering Dept.,
Faculty of Engineering, Suez Canal University, Port Said, Egypt.

ABSTRACT: The advances in constitutive models made possible the application of Non-Linear
Finite Element Analysis in the practical engineering design. Most incorporated efforts have been
focused on simulating response of concrete structures reinforced with traditional steel
reinforcement. Application of NLFEA to structures reinforced with non-ferrous rebars has been
limited. The present study aims to develop new models for the analysis of concrete beams
reinforced with FRP rebars. Non-linearity is introduced through the material models of concrete,
FRP rebars, cracks, and interaction effect between concrete and reinforcement. The predicted
results obtained from the FEM for deflections and stresses are compared with those available by
previous theoretical and experimental investigations. The author feels that the present work
provides an effective model for the analysis of concrete beams reinforced with FRP rebars.

INTRODUCTION

In order to assess the margin of safety against failure an accurate estimation of the ultimate load is
essential and the prediction of the load-deformation behavior of the structure throughout the range
of elastic and inelastic response is desirable. Modeling the behavior of concrete reinforced with
fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) bars requires constitutive models for concrete, FRP, and their
interaction. Developing advanced design and analysis methods to capture the behavior of such
structures still needs continuous research.

The present work used the core of an existing finite element program
1
to develop a nonlinear
finite element program which traces the response of two-dimensional concrete structures
reinforced with FRP rebars from initial loading to failure. Incremental loading with iterations
within each increment was used. Analyzed beams made up of two-dimensional plane stress
elements with layered cross sections which accounted for progressive cracking and changing
material properties through the depth of the cross section as a function of load.

The present study is part of continuing efforts that concerns the analysis of reinforced
concrete beams reinforced with FRP rebars under monotonic loads. The attempt is made to find
the simplest possible constitutive models that can capture the essential characteristics of the
behavior of concrete beams reinforced with FRP rebars as an alternative to ordinary steel
reinforcement. The main objective of this study is to develop improved numerical models for such
an analysis . These models should be simple enough to allow extension to cyclic loading conditions
without undue computational cost.

369
369
MATERIAL MODELING

The nonlinear response is caused by cracking of concrete in tension, and crushing of concrete in
compression. Nonlinearities also arise from the interaction of the constituents of reinforced
concrete, such as bond-slip between reinforcing rebars and surrounding concrete, aggregate
interlock at a crack and dowel action of the reinforcing rebars crossing a crack. For concrete, the
nonlinear elasticity model which based on the concept of variable moduli is adopted. The
nonlinear response of concrete is simulated by a piecewise linear elastic model with variable
moduli. The model is, therefore, computationally simple and is particularly well suited for finite
element calculations. In the present study, the model of Balakrishnan et al.
2
is used after some
modifications. These modifications are introduced in order to increase the computational
efficiency of the model, and in view of the fact that the response of typical reinforced concrete
structures is much more affected by the tensile than by the compressive behavior of concrete.

The present work adopts a model uses a number of damage regions in which the material
properties are altered to match the state of stress. Within each region the modulus of elasticity and
Poissons ratio are constant as shown in Figure 1.a. The behavior of the proposed model depends
on the location of the present stress state in the principal stress space as shown in Fig. 2. In the
biaxial compression region the model remains linear elastic for stress combinations inside the
failure surface that described by the expression proposed by Kupfer et al
3
:

( )
'
1 2
2
2 1
65 . 3
c
f F -
+
+
=

(1)

where
1
and
2
are the principal stresses, f
c
is the uniaxial compressive strength.
f
c
is the uniaxial compressive strength

As shown in Fig. 2, in the biaxial compression region the model remains linear elastic for
stress combinations inside the failure surface. When the biaxial stresses exceed Kupfer's failure
envelope, concrete enters into the strain softening. In this region failure occurs by crushing of
Figure 1 Concrete stress-strain idealization Figure 2 Concrete failure criterion
1

Tension-Tension
ft

fc

Failure
surface
fc

Compression-Compression
2
Compression Tension
a) Multilinear
idealization
0.9 fc
Stress
G
2

G1 Gcr
ut

Compression
softening
Comp.
hardening
Ec
*
Ec2

Ec1

Eco
t
ft
0.002 0.003
Strain
fc

0.6 fc
G
b) Shear modulus
idealization
370
concrete. In an undamaged zone, concrete is considered isotropic elastic and the incremental
stress-strain relation can be written as:

-
-
=
12
2
1
2
12
2
1
2
1
0 0
0 1
0 1
1
d
d
d
E
d
d
d
co
(2)

The minimum algebraic principal stress value is compared to 0.6 f
c
as shown in Figure 1.a in
which f
c
is determined from the stress envelop of Figure 2. If the absolute value of minimum
principal stress exceeds the absolute value of 0.6 f
c
, the concrete is assumed to have entered
damage region 1 and the modulus of elasticity E
co
in the above equation is replaced by E
c1
, and so
on. Poissons ratio is considered t o be 0.2 for concrete elements.

The smeared crack model represents cracked concrete as an elastic orthotropic material with
reduced elastic modulus in the direction normal to the crack plane. Cracking is assumed to occur
on the plane of maximum principal stress, with the axes of orthotropy are parallel and orthogonal
to the crack. Poissons ratio is set to be zero when cracking is initiated and the incremental stress-
strain relation can be written as:

12
2
1
*
12
2
1
0 0
0 0
0 0
d
d
d
G
E
E
d
d
d
cr
i
c
c
(2)

where;

E
c
i
is the tangent modulus of elasticity for damage region i, and
E
c
*
is the post cracking modulus in the direction of tensile stress.

A variable cracked shear modulus to represent the change in shear stiffness, as the principal
stresses in the concrete vary from tension to compression is put into practice. The shear modulus
for non-cracked concrete is assumed to be proportional to the elastic modulus in the elastic region
with constant Poissons ratio. The cracked shear modulus
2
is taken as the ratio of tangent modulus
of the present region and the previous one as shown in Figure 1.b.

co
c
E
E
G G
1
1
. =

co
c
E
E
G G
2
2
. = (3)

-
-
=
t ut
ut
cr
G G

.
To account for tension stiffening effect, the proposed method assigns a descending linear branch
in the tension portion of the concrete stress-strain as shown in Figure 1.
371

The properties of FRP rebars, unlike concrete, are generally uniaxial. Thus, the specification
of a single stress-strain relation is sufficient to define the material properties needed in the analysis
of concrete structures. The stress-strain relation exhibits a linear elastic form up to failure. In the
present analysis, complete compatibility of strains between concrete and steel is assumed, which
implies perfect bond. The effect of dowel action is not considered.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

A four-point loaded beam of 3300-mm long with effective span of 3000 mm was examined. The
beam section is 200x300 mm. The beam is one of series 1 tested by Masmoudi et al.
4
which
denoted ISO and reinforced with two FRP rebars of diameter of 19.1 mm. Concrete compressive
strength was 43 MPa, and its modulus of elasticity is 33 GPa. The material properties of FRP are;
tensile Strength of 690 MPa, modulus of elasticity of 45 GPa, Strain at failure of 1.8 %, and
Poissons ratio of 0.28. Test results indicated that perfect bond exists between FRP reinforcing
bars and the surrounding concrete
4
.

The beam is analyzed using a load step of 5 kN similar to the test up to failure. Predicted load-
deflection, stresses in FRP rebars along half-span, strains at top fiber of concrete at mid-span, FRP
strains at mid span, and the cracked elements at 40 kN are presented in Figures. 3 to 6.

Figure 3 Comparison of load deflection diagram

As shown in Figure 3, the predicted results of load deflection response are in a good agreement
with test results. The prediction of cracking load is 15 kN as predicted from test
4
whereas the
ultimate load is slightly higher. However, the full load response is close to test results.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Deflection (mm)
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

m
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
.
m
)

Test [4]
Present Prediction
ACI Prediction [4]
Analysis [4]
372
Figures 4 to 6 shows the capability of the model to predict stresses, strains in concrete and FRP as
well as the cracking pattern.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
-5000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Midspan Strain (x10
-6
mm/mm)
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
.
m
)
FRP Strain
Concrete strain at
top fiber

Figure 4 Predicted concrete and FRP strains

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500
Half-span Length (mm)
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
M=10 kN.m
M=15 kN.m
M=20 KN.m
M=25 kN.m

Figure 5 Predicted FRP stress distribution

Figure 6 Predicted cracking pattern (without scale)

1
1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
373

However, most finite element studies do not account for bond-slip and consider this effect is
included in the tension-stiffening model, the author believes that considering bond-slip in the
analysis will improve the predicted response of RC structures in which shear plays an important
role.

Another Example to compare the finite element prediction with the results of the different types of
deflection methods available for FRP in concrete flexural members is the Cosenza beam
5
. These
methods to be compared are; Comite Euro-International du Beton et Federation International de la
Precontrainte (CEB-FIP) model by the bilinear method, CEB-FIP by the mean moment of inertia
and the method formulated by Benmokranes
5
. The experimental results for the Cosenza et al
Beam will be presented herein. The details of the beam and the material properties are illustrated
in Figure 7.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Deflection (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Present work
Test (Cosenza et al
1997)
Bilinear (CEB-FIP) [5]
Mean moment Inertia
(CEB-FIP) [5]
Benmokrane [5]

Figure 8 Comparison between the FE results of load deflection and the test as well as results
computed by others
5

Figure 8 illustrates that the present prediction is much better than CEB-FIP model results.
However, the predict results well with test results near failure load and has a good prediction of
the ultimate load, it still need more refinement especially after the onset of cracking.

Figure 7 Geometry and Reinforcement Details
5

Ec= 24.65 GPa EFRP = 42 GPa
fc= 30 MPa fFRP = 886 MPa
AFRP = 887 mm
2

180
35
500
3400 mm
1200 mm
P
P
374

Three-point bending tests of concrete beams using two different reinforcement cross-sections
(circular and dog-bone rebars) were executed and presented in Figure 9 (Fernandes et al
6
). The
test beams is reinforced with R4 (12.7 mm) circular FRP rebars and dog-bone rebars with the
same cross-sectional area.

Load Deflection Diagram for Fernandes Beam
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Displacement (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Dog-bone (top) (Fernandes et al 2001)
Dog-bone (bottom) (Fernandes et al 2001)
Circular bars (top) (Fernandes et al 2001)
Circular bars (bottom) (Fernandes et al 2001)
FEM (Fernandes et al 2001)
Present Work

Figure 10 Present predictions vs. test result and FEM of Fernandes of load deflection

The beams are loaded incrementally up to failure. The test results of Fernandes et al.
6
and their
FEM prediction as well as the present work prediction are illustrated in Figure 10. The present
E
c
= 29800 MPa E
FRP
= 70 GPa
f
c
= 43 MPa f
FRP
= 800 MPa
c
= 0.15
50
10
50
600 mm
Figure 9 Geometry and Reinforcement Details
6

375
work prediction shows a good agreement with the FEM predictions of Fernandes et al.
6
, although
the failure load is higher. The present prediction lies between the results of circular rebars and
dog-bone rebars. The present analysis does not affected by the shape of FRP cross section;
however, this could be introduced by inserting bond models in the finite element analysis

CONCLUSION

Although the results of the proposed model demonstrate an acceptable agreement with the actual
observed behavior, certain discrepancies also exist Before the onset of cracking load the stiffness
of the model is relatively high which leads to underestimates the deflection. The model should be
refined and developed to capture the prediction of ultimate load. Bond model should be
introduced. Moreover, bond between concrete and FRP rebars should be studied carefully and
introduced into the finite element analysis .

REFERENCES

1. Ibrahim H.M., Application of the Finite Element Method to Reinforced Concrete Structures
Alternative Structure and Material Models, M.Sc. Thesis, 1991, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

2. Blakrishnan S., and Murray D., Concrete Constitutive Model for NLFE Analysis of
Structures, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 114, No.7, 1988, pp. 1449-1466.

3. Kwak H.G. and Filippou F.C., "Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures
Under Monotonic Loads", Report No.UCB/SEMM-90/14, University of California, Berkeley,
1990, USA.

4. R. Masmoudi R., Chaallal O., and Benmokrane B., Flexural Response of Concrete Beams
Reinforced with FRP Reinforcing Rebars, ACI Structural Journal, V. 91, No. 2, 1995, pp.46-55

5. Bogdanovic B. "Deflection Calculations of FRP-Reinforced Concrete Beams, Report, 2002,.
www.ce.umanitoba.ca/~svecova/ ftp/Report/BBogdanovic-report.pdf, accessed March 14,
2006.

6. Fernandes A.A., Marques A.T., Camanho P.P., and Ferreira A.J.M., Modeling of Concrete
Beams Reinforced with FRP Re-Bars, Journal of Composite Structures 53, Elsevier Science,
2001, pp.107-116.

376

SELECTION OF OPTIMUM LATERAL LOAD-RESISTING
SYSTEM USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
M. H. ELGAMMAL, M. M. WAHBA AND S. A. MOURAD
Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt
M. A. BADR EL DIN
EETC
6, El Mathaf El Zeraie St., Agouza, Giza, Egypt

ABSTRACT: This paper proposes an artificial neural network for the selection of optimal lateral
load resisting system for multi-storey steel frames. The lateral load resisting systems include rigid
frames, braced frames and braced frames with single outrigger truss. The frame parameters
included the number of bays, the number of stories, in addition to the lateral load-resisting system.
The frame design is based on both stress and deformation criteria under the load combinations of
dead, live, and wind loads. Several cycles of analysis and design are performed to achieve an
optimum design for individual elements. A neural network is then proposed in order to reduce the
amount of computing time required in the numerous iterations involving structural analysis and
design programs. A feed-forward backpropagation neural network is trained based on the results
of the design of specific frame configurations. Input parameters for network define the frame
configuration, whereas the output parameters define the frame maximum lateral drift and expected
optimum weight. Different architectures of networks are studied to solve the problem. The
accepted network is chosen based on the minimum value of the root-mean square error.
INTRODUCTION
The design of a multi-story steel building under lateral loads is usually governed by system
performance criteria (overall stiffness) rather than by component performance criteria (strength)
1
.
An important task for the structural engineer is to explore the structural lateral load resisting
system and to recommend a system that not only satisfies all disciplines but is also cost-efficient.
The structural cost of steel buildings is the summation of the total tonnage of the steel used, in
addition to fabrication and erection costs. It can be assumed that the steel fabrication and erection
costs remain the same for different structural steel schemes
2
. Design comprises selecting and
proportioning member sizes in which the stresses do not exceed the permissible values under any
combination of loads, and deformations meet applicable serviceability criteria. It is a challenging
task for the structural designer, because it involves a large number of possibilities to achieve a
selection satisfying design criteria while maintaining the least possible weight.
This study explores the feasibility of using a multilayer feed-forward backpropagation
artificial neural network (ANN) to map the relation between the lateral load resisting systems for
multi-storey steel frames and their expected lateral drift and optimum weight. An artificial neural
network is a type of information processing system, modelled to simulate the biological processes
of the brain. It is an interconnected network of processing elements that has the ability to be
trained to map a given input into the desired output. If the training data are the analytical results
377

for several configurations of lateral load resisting frames, then the neural network gives to the
structural designer the expected maximum lateral drift and optimum weight without repetitive
trial-and-error procedures. Neural network modelling techniques have been successfully applied to
different areas of structural engineering, including structural analysis and design
3,4
.
In this study three types of lateral load resisting frames are analyzed under the same
conditions, in order to prepare the necessary data for training, testing and modelling the optimum
artificial neural network architecture.
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
Design Parameters
The analysis of multi-story steel frames includes rigid frames, braced frames, and braced frames
with single outrigger truss.
The frames have constant bay width, height and spacing of 4.0 meters. The studied frames are
subdivided into 4 groups which are; 3-bay group with 12.0m width, 4-bay group with 16.0m
width, 5-bay group with 20.0m width, and 6-bay group with 24.0m width. The considered heights
are 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 152, 160 meters.
The braced frames considered all possible cases for braced bays as shown in Fig. (1). The
braced frames with outrigger truss are analyzed with only one braced bay, except for the 6-bay
group which is also analyzed with two braced bays.

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
Rigid
One braced
bay
Br. (1B)
Two braced
bays
Br. (2B)
Three braced
bays
Br. (3B)
One braced bay
with outrigger
OR. (1B)
Figure 1. Lateral load resisting frames for 3-bay group with 10 stories.
The standard HEB rolled steel sections are used for sizing columns, HEA sections are used for
girders of rigid frames, IPE are used for girders of braced frames, and the standard hollow circular
pipes are used for the bracing elements. For columns where the design requirements exceeded the
largest available HEB section, welded cover plates are added to the flanges of the rolled section.
The maximum plates width and thickness are 500 and 50 millimetres respectively.
378

The design is to conform to the Egyptian Code of Practice for Steel Constructions and
Bridges
5
using high grade steel ST-52. The maximum lateral drift is limited to 1/500 of the frame
height.
The frames are analyzed under the effect of uniform dead load of 2.2 t/m, uniform live load
of 1.0 t/m, and lateral wind load intensity 0.08 t/m
2
. The design considered the critical load
combinations for both strength and serviceability.
Design Tools and Procedures
Analysis is performed using a finite-element program whereas the design is implemented using
three auxiliary programs generated for the optimal design of the three lateral load resisting frames
using MATLAB language. Each program performs the design verifications for all members in the
desired frame and returns new optimum sections based on strength criterion.
Optimal design is in general an iterative process. First the frame model is created, analysis is
performed and the preliminary design of sections is implemented using the generated program.
Second the maximum lateral drift is derived after performing another analysis for the model with
the new optimal sections resulting from first iteration of design. If the deflection is within the
limiting value then iterations for resizing members are continued until the returned optimum
sections from the program are typical to the final analysis sections, otherwise the deflection
governs the design and the members are resized using the same program for analysis.
Optimization of lateral displacement is achieved in the program after following iterative
procedures where the members are resized based on their energy per unit volume. Finally for each
studied case the maximum lateral drift and optimum weight are listed for the design of artificial
neural network.
Recommendations for Optimum Lateral Drift
The location of both the braced bay in braced frames and the outrigger truss in braced frames with
outrigger truss have a significant influence on the maximum lateral drift exerted on the frame.
The location of the braced bay in braced frames is preferable to be at centre or close to centre
of frame. This will not induce additional lateral drift on frame under vertical load due to
unsymmetrical stiffness. The location of single outrigger truss for optimum lateral drift has been
investigated based on Hoenderkamp and Bakker
6
. It was often taken at a distance 1/3 of the total
height of frame measured from the top.
The relation between the frame height and resulting lateral drift and weight per unit area of the
four groups of different lateral load resisting systems are presented in Figs. (2) to (9). Some cases
were ignored from the analysis, because the standard rolled sections could not provide the
required stiffness to control lateral drift.
From the lateral drift results, it is clear that deflection controlled the design of all rigid frame
systems, while it controlled design of one-bay braced frames starting from 40.0m height, two-bay
braced frames starting from 60.0m height, three-bay braced frames starting from almost 90.0m
height, four-bay braced frames starting from 120.0m height, and five-bay braced frames starting
from 140.0m height. Deflection controlled the one-bay braced frames with outrigger truss starting
from 60.0m height and the two-bay braced frames with outrigger truss starting from 100.0m
height. The design of the six-bay braced system was controlled by strength.
379

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Lateral Drift (cm)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
OR (1B)

0 2 4 6 8
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Weight (Ton/m2)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
OR (1B)

Figure 2. Lateral drift versus height for 3- bay
frames with 12.0 m width.
Figure 3. Weight versus height for 3-bay
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Lateral Drift (cm)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
Br. (4B)
OR (1B)

0 2 4 6 7
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Weight (Ton/m2)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
Br. (4B)
OR (1B)

Figure 4. Lateral drift versus height for 4-bay
It is clear that deflection controlled the design of braced frames without outrigger truss
when the ratio of the total height to the total width of braced bays approaches 7.5. In addition to
that the lateral drift behavior of (n) braced frames with outrigger truss is almost typical to (n+1)
braced frames without outrigger truss, where (n) is the number of braced bays.
380

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Lateral Drift (cm)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
Br. (4B)
Br. (5B)
OR (1B)

0 2 4 6 7
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Weight (Ton/m2)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
Br. (4B)
Br. (5B)
OR (1B)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Lateral Drift (cm)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
Br. (4B)
Br. (5B)
Br. (6B)
OR (1B)
OR (2B)

0 2 4 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Weight (Ton/m2)
H
e
i
g
h
t

(
m
)
Rigid
Br. (1B)
Br. (2B)
Br. (3B)
Br. (4B)
Br. (5B)
Br. (6B)
OR (1B)
OR (2B)

The results for both lateral drift and weight of rigid frames are generally higher than braced
frames systems with few exceptions. The results for both lateral drift and weight of braced
frames without outrigger truss decrease when the number of braced bays increases. The weight
of (n) braced frames with outrigger is high if compared with (n+1) braced bays without
381

outrigger truss. It is clear from the presented relations that the braced frame system without
outrigger truss is the most cost-efficient lateral load resisting system, within the range of spans
and heights studied.
NEURAL NETWORK MODEL
The feed-forward backpropagation neural network is the commonly used networks for function
approximation problems. Feed-forward networks often have one or more hidden layers of sigmoid
neurons followed by an output layer of linear neurons. The design of neural network is
implemented using the neural nets toolbox in MATLAB 7.0
7
.
Input and Output Parameters Identification
In our problem, the number of inputs in the (NN) has to define the frames dimensions and
classify the lateral load resisting systems. Two neurons in the output layer will be considered to
define the lateral drifts and optimum weights. Since the neural network can deal with only
numerical parameters, then all the non numerical input parameters should be identified in a
numerical basis. Consider vector P as a vector including five input parameters of our problem.

] , , , , [
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P P =
(1)
where
P
1
defines the total width of frame or number of bays.
P
2
defines the total height of frame or number of stories.
P
3
identifies the rigid frame systems in which it is either zero for non rigid frames or one for
rigid frames.
P
4
identifies the braced frame systems in which it is either zero for non braced frames or
another value from one to six to define the number of braced bays.
P
5
identifies the braced frames with outrigger trusses in which it is either zero for both
braced frames and rigid frames or one for braced frames with outrigger truss.
Network Setup
To enhance the training process, inputs and targets have to be normalized so that they always fall
in a small range and help network to converge easily. Normalization of the training set is
performed using the mean and standard deviation of the training set. MATLAB preprocessing
function normalizes the inputs and targets so that they will have zero mean and unity standard
deviation.
MATLAB provides several high performance training algorithms. The Levenberg-Marquardt
algorithm is selected for our problem, because it proved to be the fastest algorithm after several
trials of comparison. Moreover the tan-sigmoid transfer function is used for neurons on the
hidden layers. This function takes the input, which may have any value between plus and minus
infinity, and squashes the output into the range [-1 to 1].
Training and Validation of Network
The network has been trained with 164 training sets chosen from the performed analysis. To
ensure capability of network to generalize, it has been tested with 54 testing sets selected from the
plotted charts. The early stopping approach existing in neural nets toolbox is applied to improve
generalization and prevent over fitting of networks. By this approach the training will stop when
the error in the testing targets is increased.
382

The accepted network architecture is based on watching the correlation coefficient (R)
resulting from the performed linear regression between the network outputs (A) and the
corresponding targets (T) and also the non dimensional root-mean square error (RMSE).
100 .
) (
1
2
m
N
i
i i
T
N
T A
RMSE

=
=
(2)
in which
A
i
the i
th
(NN) output
T
i
the target for the i
th
output
N the number of training sets
T
m
the target mean value
The network architecture is arrived after examining the performance of different architectures
trained with several random initial starting conditions. The architecture accepted here consists of
two hidden layers, the first layer with 12 neurons and the second layer with 5 neurons.
The linear regression of the accepted network presented in Fig. (10) shows that the best linear
fit for the plotted network outputs versus targets almost coincides with the perfect fit (output
equals to targets). The correlation coefficient (R) for the lateral drift is 0.9993 while for the
optimum weight is 0.9994. This means that the network has approximated the relation quite
satisfactorily as the best performance of a network is when (R) approaches one.

0 8 16 24 32
0
8
16
24
32
T (cm)
A

(
c
m
)
Best Linear Fit
For Lateral Drift:
A = (1) T + (0.0188)
R = 0.9993
0 2 4 6 8
0
2
4
6
8
T (T/m2)
A

(
T
/
m
2
)
Best Linear Fit
For Weight:
A = (0.997) T + (-0.00451)
R = 0.9994
Data Points Best Linear Fit A = T

Figure 10. Linear regression between network outputs (A) and targets (T)
The training progress of the accepted network presented in Fig. (11) shows that network
converges within the acceptable limits of error in 3.08 seconds after 100 iterations. The training
set error and testing set error have similar characteristics, and it doesnt appear that any
significant over fitting has occurred. The root-mean square error (RMSE) for the training set is
2.70% while for the testing set is 4.45%. This means that network outputs are reasonable as the
best performance of a network is when (RMSE) approaches zero.
383

0 20 40 60 80 100
10
0
10
1
10
2
No. of Epochs
R
M
S
E

(
%
)
Training
Testing
4.45%
2.7%

Figure 11. Training plot for network
CONCLUSION
The use of artificial neural networks for estimating the maximum lateral drift and optimum weight
of lateral load-resisting systems was investigated. Input parameters were the frame geometry and
structural system. The results indicate the feasibility of developing a single network for mapping
the relationship between the lateral drift, optimum weight and a variety of lateral load-resisting
systems that are commonly used by designers. The optimum neural network architecture was
chosen based on the root mean square error.
REFERENCES
1. Liang, Q.Q., Xie, Y.M., and Steven, G.P., Optimal Topology Design of Bracing
Systems for Multistory Steel Frames, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 126, No.
7, July 2000, pp. 823-829.
2. Taranath, B. S., Structural Analysis and Design of Tall Buildings, McGraw-Hill, 1988.
3. Sircar, G.F., and Adeli, H., Neural Network Model for Uplift Load Capacity of Metal
Roof Panels, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 127, No. 11, November 2001, pp.
1276-1285.
4. Mukherjee, A., Deshpande, J.M., and Anmala, J., Prediction of Buckling Load of
Columns using Artificial Neural Networks, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 122,
No. 11, November 1996, pp. 1385-1387.
5. HBRC, Egyptian Code of Practice for Steel Constructions and Bridges, Ministerial
Decree No. 279-2001, Housing and Building Research Centre, 2001.
6. Hoenderkamp, J.C.D., and Bakker, M.C.M., Analysis of High-rise Braced Frames with
Outriggers, The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, Vol. 12, No. 4,
December 2003, pp. 335-350.
7. "MATLAB Neural network Users Guide," http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/
help/toolbox/nnet, 2004, accessed July10, 2005.
384

OPTIMAL LATERAL DISPLACEMENT CONTROL OF HIGH-RISE
BUILDINGS USING THE DPFs METHOD

S. S. ABDEL-SALAM

, O. E. SHALLAN AND M. I. MOUSTAFA

Structural Engineering Department, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

ABSTRACT: The use of Displacement Participation Factors (DPFs) obtained by the unit load
method provides an effective drift control tool for high-rise-buildings excited by equivalent static
lateral loads. The DPFs for members in a structure with respect to the lateral displacement to be
controlled are computed and used for identifying active members and their corresponding
displacement components. The drift control method using DPFs have been formulated ideally to
determine the amount of structural material to be modified or added. Based on the calculated
DPFs, the excess of structural materials in the non-active members, if found, is taken out, without
affecting their strength requirements, and then supplemented to the active members according to
their activity ratios to satisfy the serviceability requirements effectively, while keeping minimal
changes in the total structural material volume if compared with traditional strengthening
techniques. In addition, the minimum additional material volume that reduces the lateral
displacement effectively to any desired extent could be specified and then allocated properly to
strengthen the most operative members in lateral direction. This has been accomplished by solving
the governing equation in an inverse order symbolically to avoid the time consuming trial-and-
error processes related to the structural design of high-rise-buildings. The proposed procedure was
demonstrated numerically using a variety of structures having 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 stories to prove
its efficiency in properly reassigning excessive as well as additional, if needed, structural materials
to the active members rather than the inactive ones to minimize the lateral displacement to a great
extent keeping minimum expenditures.

INTRODUCTION

The current trend toward buildings of ever increasing heights and the use of light weight, high
strength materials, and advanced structural techniques have led to increasingly flexible and lightly
damped structures. These structures are very sensitive to environmental dynamic excitations. So,
unwanted vibrations amplitudes that may exceed the allowable limits occur. Hence it has become
important to search for practical and effective solutions for suppressing these excessive vibrations.
Accordingly, structural control for civil engineering structures was born out of a need to
provide safer and more efficient designs with the reality of limited resources. But then, structural
control systems' design and implantations provided an expensive solution. In addition it represents
unusual design technique for the majority of structural engineers to protect their structures
1
. So, it
is of much importance to develop a popular non-expensive solution prior to installing any control
mechanisms.

BACKGROUND

Many studies have attempted to improve the lateral stiffness of tall steel and concrete buildings.
Chan
2
presented an optimal seizing technique for lateral stiffness design of tall building of mixed
385

steel and concrete construction depending on derived optimality criteria. While a drift design
method based on resizing algorithms were presented to control lateral displacement of steel-frame
shear-wall systems for tall buildings by Hyo et al
3
, these algorithms were formulated into an
optimization problem that minimizes lateral displacement of the system without changing the
weight of the structure. In (2003) Hyo et al
4
presented an optimal drift design for a linear multi-
story building structures under dynamic lateral forces to be a more representative solution to the
environmental loads. A computer based technique that couples together an aerodynamic wind
load analysis and an element stiffness design optimization procedure to minimize the
structural cost of tall steel buildings subject to lateral drift design criteria was presented by
Chan et al
5
. In (2005) Rai et al
6
attempted to find a suitable arrangement of conventional shear
walls and R.C. frames to resist lateral loads considering the most influencing solutions to the
serviceability is the appropriate selection of an efficient structural system.
In what follow, another simple method is proposed to control the lateral drift as well as the
total lateral structural displacement for framed tall building steel or concrete structures. This
straightforward method is based on identifying the most operative or active members in the lateral
direction to be enlarged either on the account on the other inactive ones without impact to the
strength requirements or by supplying them minimum additional material externally.

OPTIMAL STIFFNESS DISTRIBUTION USING DPFs, STATIC APPROACH

As usual in the structural design of high-rise buildings, the amount of required material is mainly
determined to fulfill the structural serviceability rather than structural strength criteria
1
. So, at the
end of the structural design process, the non-traditional designer, who understands each structural
member's contribution to the lateral displacement and the sources of the displacement, has to select
the active members that are most sensitive to withstand displacement and then modifies their
cross-sectional properties to attain the desired lateral structural response with minimum increase in
the structural material. This will provide an excellent and prevailing alternative to the traditional
strengthening technique that magnifies only the columns of framed structures.

Selection of Active Members

During the structural design process of large-scale structures with a large number of members, it is
necessary for the effective control of the displacement to identify the active members which have a
relatively large influence on the magnitude of a target displacement. Among the methods that are
adopted to select active structural members are the displacement participation factors (DPF) and
the displacement sensitivity coefficients (DSC) as they provide useful information on the
relationship between changes in the cross-sectional properties as well as the sources of the
displacement, such as flexural, axial, shear, and torsional components and changes in
displacements. This paper employs the first method to identify the active members.
The member Displacement Participation Factor may be defined as its contribution to the total
lateral displacement caused by four components: bending, M , axial, N , shear, Q , and torsional,
t
M , displacement components. The DPF for each member is calculated using preliminary
structural analysis and especially the principal of virtual work, by which the total lateral
displacement, , of the structure could be found by the unit load method as

1 1
0 0 0 0
l l l l
m m L U L U L U L U
i i i i i i t i t i
i
i i r i i
i i
M M N N Q Q M M
dx dx dx dx
EI EA GA GJ

= =

= = + + +

(1)
386

Where , , , , , ,
L U L U L U L
i i i i i i t i
M M N N Q Q M and
U
t i
M are the stress resultants in the ith
member due to the actual lateral loads, equivalent static seismic force
7
, and the unit load
respectively. ,
i r i i
E G, A , A , I and
i
J are Young's modulus, shear modulus, gross and shear
areas, moment of inertia, polar moment of inertia of the i
th
member respectively and m is the total
number of structural members while is the displacement to be controlled. The total
displacement is obtained by summing all structural member distribution factors
i
.
Based on the calculated member displacement participation factors, active members, the
members having greater DPF than others, are selected to control the displacement by modifying
their cross-sectional properties. In other words, a certain portion of excessive structural materials
in the non-active members, if any, may be taken out, without affecting their strength, and then
added to the active members to control the story drift effectively as well as the total lateral
displacement at the top of the high-rise building.

Problem Formulation

Yes
Calculate the Volume Increment and then
Added Cost
Is the
Desired Output
Yes
Acceptable
Calculate the Total Structural
Weight Increment
Added Weight for Each Member
for Each Member
No
Calculate the Corresponding new Depth
According to their Activity Ratios
Distribute the Target Displacement among Members
Input the Target Reduction %
in the Overall Lateral Displacement
DPF for all Members
Specify the Active Members
Calculate
X. Secs. into Equivalent
Rectangular ones
Convert all Non- Rectangular
For Each Member
Displacement Displacement
Torsional Shear
No
Calculate
Displacement
Flextural
Displacement
Axial
Serviceability
Requirements
Check
Assume Preliminary
Structural Analysis
Structural Design
X. Sec. dimensions

Figure 1: Proposed structural design model for high-rise buildings

387

To describe the selection process of the active members based on the DPFs method to control
the total structural lateral displacement and the inter-story drifts, Figure (1), single bay moment
resisting steel plane frames are tested numerically. For plane structures, the torsional component is
absent. The resulting equation may be solved in an inverse order, i.e. is assumed and then the
corresponding cross-sectional properties are computed. To generalize and simplify the procedure,
any non-rectangular sections are converted to those of equivalent rectangular ones having the same
area and inertia.
The desired or prescribed overall lateral displacement is denoted by
. Assuming a properly
selected constant sectional width, b ,then the main unknown sectional dimension is the required
depth
i
h
that is corresponding
. Equation (1) is rewritten for plane structures to express

i
h
as a
function of
as

= =

+ + = =
m
1 i
l
0
l
0 i r
U
i
L
i
i
U
i
L
i
l
0 i
U
i
L
i
m
1 i
i
dx
A
G
Q Q
dx
A
E
N N
dx
I
E
M M

(2)

where
i
I
,
i
A
, and
ri
A
are the modified cross-sectional properties that are expressed as a function

of the desired depth
i
h
as follow:

12
h
b
I
3
i
i
= ,
i i
h
b A
= ,
i ri
h
b 85 . 0 A
=

substituting in Eq. (2) and consider a single member, then

+ + =
l
0
l
0
U
i
L
i
i
U
i
L
i
i
l
0
U
i
L
i
2
i i
i
dx
G
Q Q
b 85 . 0
1
dx
E
N N
b
1
dx
E
M M
h

b
12
h

(3)

where
DPF
i i
=

3 2 2
i
1
i
C C
h
C
h
+ + = (4)

Where
1
C ,
2
C , and
3
C are constants that are expanded as:

=
l
0
U
i
L
i
i
1
dx
E
M M
b
12
C
=
l
0
U
i
L
i
i
2
dx
E
N N
b
1
C
=
l
0
U
i
L
i
i
3
dx
G
Q Q
b 85 . 0
1
C

Eq. (4) is a third order algebraic equation; it is solved symbolically to express the desired depth
i
h

388

( )
3
C
3
C
D
C C
3
2
D
6
1
h
3 2
3
1
2
3 2
3
1 i
+ +
+
+ = (5)

where
3 2 1
D D D + =

( )
3
3
3
2
2
3 2 3
2
2 1 2
C 8 C 8 C C 24 C C 24 C 108 D + + + + =

( )
2
3 2 1 3
2
2 1
3
3 1
3
2 1
2
1 3
C C C 36 C C C 36 C C 12 C C 12 C 81 12 D + + + + =

The determination of
i
h
is followed by calculating the additional minimum structural material

to strengthen the active members according to their DPFs keeping minimum possible costs. Thus
the percentage increase in structural material volume is expressed as:

( )
m m
i i i i i i i
i 1 i 1
V h h b l h b l
= =
=

(6)

It has to be noted that the added structural materials are assigned to each member according to the
ratio of its DPF to the sum of all DPFs of all structural members
m
i i
i 1
DPF DPF
=
, and is devoted
to only magnify the member's depth by the value

( )
i
i m
i i
i
i 1
DPF V
h
b l
DPF
=
=
(7)

Numerical Investigation

To investigate the efficiency of applying the DPFs method to passively control the total lateral
displacement of a structure as well as the inter-story drifts, single bay moment resisting steel plane
frames of five, ten, fifteen, thirty, and sixty stories, Figure (2), are strengthened using DPFs during
the design stage. The example structures are then strengthened traditionally i.e. the columns' depth
in plan are increased each 3 stories to satisfy serviceability constraints.
The typical story height is 3.00 m while the frame single span is 6.00 m, this to ensure a slim
cantilever building behavior. Each frame supports a width of 6.00 m in the out of plan direction
and located in an apartment building. The lateral loads are calculated using static lateral force
procedure recommended by the Uniform Building Code (UBC)
7
. The modulus of elasticity of
construction material and its unit weight are
2
E 2100 t cm = and .
3
7 85 t m = respectively.

Results and Discussion

The proposed method was applied to the example structures by entering a desired lateral
displacement and then the corresponding inter-story drift as well as the increase in material
volume is computed as demonstrated by Figures (3 and 4). A back check using a finite element
program is carried out. It was found that the gap between the costs of the same displacement
389

control level for a variety of structures are nearly the same for low heights. This gap increases with
increasing the required control level for the same structures as shown in Figure (5). In addition, it
recommends not to install expensive and difficult to maintain control mechanisms prior to
performing this optimal distribution of minimum additional structural materials.
A proof to put the traditional strengthening technique aside especially for low rise buildings is
shown by Figures (6, 7 and 8). These figures reflect the great influence of structural beams on the
overall lateral displacement, Figure (6). This role of beams becomes of less importance as the ratio
of structural height to width ratio increases, Figure (7). In Figure (8), the columns nearly influence
the lateral displacement alone after the height to width ratio of 15. This necessitates not to neglect
the structural beams in the lateral strengthening process.
After strengthening the example structures traditionally, it was found that the proposed
method is a more economic alternative to optimally enhance lateral loads structural resistance than
only increasing the columns dimensions to achieve the same goal, Figures (9 and 10). In addition,
its simplicity may guarantee a wide application between structural engineers, then a wide range of
structures are simply controlled, which is in favor of occupant comfort.

nd
2 Story Level
1 Story Level
st
3

m
6 m
rd
3 Story Level
C
o
l
.

2
(n- 1) Story Level
th
n Story Level
th
C
o
l
.

1
C
o
l
.

3
C
o
l
.

4
C
o
l
.

5
C
o
l
.

6
B. 1
B. 2
B. 3
n = 60 stories
stories n = 10
stories n = 30
stories n = 15
stories n = 5
0 50 100 150
0
5
10
15
Lateral Displacement (mm)
S
t
o
r
e
y

L
e
v
e
l
5 Story Structure
0 50 100 150
0
5
10
15
S
t
o
r
e
y

L
e
v
e
l
10 Story Structure
0 50 100 150
0
5
10
15
S
t
o
r
e
y

L
e
v
e
l
15 Story Structure
Uncontrolled
25 % Control
50 % Control
Uncontrolled
25 % Control
50 % Control
Uncontrolled
25 % Control
50 % Control

Figure 2: Example structure Figure 3: Lateral displacement (mm) control of 5, 10 and 15
story building structures

0 2 4 6 8 10
0
5
10
15
S
t
o
re
y

L
e
v
e
l
0 2 4 6 8 10
0
5
10
15
S
t
o
re
y

L
e
v
e
l
0 2 4 6 8 10
0
5
10
15
S
t
o
re
y

L
e
v
e
l
Uncontrolled
25 % Control
50 % Control
Uncontrolled
25 % Control
50 % Control
Uncontrolled
25 % Control
50 % Control

Figure 4: Lateral inter-story drift (mm) control of 5, 10 and 15 story structures
390

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Reduction in Overall Lateral Response (%)
I
n
c
r
e
a
s
e

i
n

S
t
r
u
c
t
u
r
a
l

W
e
i
g
h
t

(
%
)
5 Story Structure
10 Story Structure
15 Story Structure
30 Story Structure
60 Story Structure

Figure 5: The cost of controlling the overall lateral displacement for
a variety of structures partially from (0 up to 60 %).

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
2
4
6
8
10
Columns (1:20), Beams (21:30)
D
P
F
s

(
%
)
( ) g g
0 30 60 90 120 150 180
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Columns (1:120), Beams (121:180)
D
P
F
s

(
%
)
( ) g g
Beams Beams Columns Columns

Figure 6: DPFs of Ten story structural members Figure 7: DPFs of Sixty story structural members
Columns (1:20), Beams (21:30) Columns (1:120), Beams (121:180)

0
20
40
60
80
100
5 Story Str.
A
v
e
r
a
g
e

D
P
F
s

(
%
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
10 Story Str.
0
20
40
60
80
100
15 Story Str.
0
20
40
60
80
100
30 Story Str.
0
20
40
60
80
100
60 Story Str.
C
o
l
u
m
n
s

B
e
a
m
s

C
o
l
u
m
n
s

B
e
a
m
s

B
e
a
m
s

B
e
a
m
s

B
e
a
m
s

C
o
l
u
m
n
s
C
o
l
u
m
n
s

C
o
l
u
m
n
s

Figure 8: Average DPFs for columns and beams considering a variety of structures.

45%
55%
5 Story Structure
22%
78%
15 Story Structure
DPFs
Traditional
DPFs
Traditional
32%
68%
10 Story Structure
10%
90%
30 Story Structure
DPFs
Traditional
DPFs
Traditional

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%

o
f

M
a
t
e
r
i
a
l

S
a
v
e
d

t
o

b
e

S
a
f
e

D
e
f
l
e
c
t
i
o
n
5 Story 10 Story 15 Story 30 Story 60 Story
18 %
54 %
72 %
89 %
79 %

Figure 9: Cost ratios to satisfy serviceability Figure 10: Percentage of saved costs to
requirements for a variety of structures satisfy serviceability requirements using
using DPFs and Traditional methods DPFs method
391

CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, an effective lateral displacement and inter-story drift control method was
proposed and numerically tested and compared to the traditional one. This method is valid for
laterally excited buildings by equivalent static lateral loads.. This method helps to redistribute
the structural material optimally between all structural members according to their influence
on the overall lateral displacement, and without affecting their strength. The proposed method
seems to be simple and depends on a will known concept by structural engineers, so it will
approach them to the concept of structural control easily. A very important conclusion was
come to light. That is, traditional designers to improve their structures to resists lateral loads;
they magnify the columns dimensions only, while the fact is the structural beams are of much
importance than columns up to a certain structural height to in plan width ratio. After this
limit, the columns begin to influence the lateral structural resistance singly. According to the
study at hand, the concept of structural control is presented by a simple mean to the majority
of structural engineers, therefore many structures could be controlled up to a certain
economic limit without introducing any control mechanism, which is the goal of this paper.

REFERENCES

1. G. W. Housner, L. A. Bergman, T. K. Caughey, A. G. Chassiakos, R. O. Claus, S. F. Masri. R.
E. Skelton., T. T. Soong, B. F. Spencer, and J. T. P. Yao, "Structural Control: Past, Present,
and The Future". Journal of engineering mechanics, special issue, September 1997, Vol. 123,
No. 9, pp. 897-972.
2. Chun-Man Chan, "Optimal Lateral Stiffness Design of Tall Buildings of Mixed Steel and
Concrete Constructuon". The Structural Design Of Tall Buildings, 2001, Vol. 10. pp. 155-177.
3. Hyo Seon Park, Kappyo Hong and Ji Hyun Seo, "Drift Design of Steel-Frame Shear-Wall
Systems for Tall Buildings". The Structural Design Of Tall Buildings, 2002, Vol. 11. pp. 35-
49.
4. Hyo Seon Park and Jun Hyeok Kwon, "Optimal Drift Design Model for Multi-Story Buildings
Subjected to Dynamic Lateral Forces". The Structural Design Of Tall And Special Buildings,
2003, Vol. 12. pp. 317-333.
5. C. M. Chan and M. F. Huang, " An Automatic Computer Based Technique for Integrated
Wind Load Updating and Lateral Stiffness Design Optimization of Tall Steel Buildings".
Paper IFHS-038, The 7th International Conference on Multi-Purpose High Rise Towers and
Tall Buildings, Dec. 10-11, 2005, Dubai, UAE.
6. Santosh Kumar Rai and J. Prasad, " Shear Wall Panels - R.C. Frame Interaction in Tall
Buildings". Paper IFHS-070, The 7th International Conference on Multi-Purpose High Rise
Towers and Tall Buildings, Dec. 10-11, 2005, Dubai, UAE.
7. UBC, Uniform Building Code-Vol. 2: Structural Engineering, Design Provisions,
International Conf. of Building Offecials, Whitter, California, U. S. A., 1994.

392

ELASTIC STABILITY OF PONDED CLAMPED BEAMS

M. M. TAWIL
Department of Civil Engineering, Academy of Graduate studies
P.O.Box 72331,Janzur, Libya

ABSTACT: In this paper a clamped prismatic beam is analyzed being subjected to a compressive
axial force acting simultaneously with transverse ponding load of materials having different
characteristics. The governing differential equation will be derived, and two numerical techniques
will be used to solve for the critical loads for such type of loading on a clamped prismatic beam.
Both finite difference and finite integral methods will be applied in the solution of such a beam
under a wide range of ponded materials with different specific weights. A discussion of such a
problem will be presented and handling this type of structures will be highlighted.
INTRODUCTION
Flat surfaces may experience ponding loads if no outlet is available in their structural elements.
This type of loading is generally known in the case when rain water is trapped on flat roofs of
buildings, and this load will increase the deflection initiating an additional load in terms of the
deflected shape causing the applied load to be nonlinear
1, 2
. This additional load will increase the
deflection and again increase the applied load; and the process will continue due to the increased
ponded load until failure happens if no outlet is available to prevent the water from accumulation.
If a structural member is subjected to ponding loads, as well as to a compressive axial load, then
the problem will form a stability phenomenon which is here solved analytically and numerically.
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION FORMULATION
The governing differential equation that controls the behavior of axially compressed ponded beam
is given as:

( ) ( ) ( )
2 2 4 4
/ / dx y d P y w dx y d EI + =
(1)

In which EI is the bending rigidity of the cross section of the beam, w is the intensity of the
uniform load applied to the beam, is the specific weight of the retained material, P is the axial
compressing force, y is the lateral deflection and x is the independent variable.
Equation (1) can be reformulated using the non-dimensional parameter, z = x/L, and can be
expressed as:

EI wL y EI L dz y d EI PL dz y d / ) / ( / ) / ( /
4 4 2 2 2 4 4
= +
(2)

In which L is the span length of the beam.

Analytical Solution of the Problem

The homogeneous solution of Eq. (2) may be expressed as:

z D z C z B z A y cosh sinh cos sin + + + =
(3)

393
where

and

(4)

(5)

A, B, C and D are constants of integration.
Using the boundary conditions of the ponded clamped beam, Figure 1, which are defined as
slope and deflection at both ends of the beam being zeros, the instability relation can be derived as:

(
2

2
) sin sinh = 2 (1-cos cosh) (6)

Figure 1. Ponded clamped beam axially compressed

For given values of (L
4
/EI), the roots of Eq. (6) will yield the critical loads for this kind of
beam. Solution starts with assuming values for (PL
2
/EI) and then calculating and from Eq. (4)
and Eq. (5). Substituting these values of and in Eq. (6) and if satisfied then the critical load is
defined, otherwise new value for (PL
2
/EI) is considered and previous steps have to be repeated.
Table 1 gives the lowest critical loads for ponded clamped beam with different values of (L
4
/EI).

Table 1. Analytical values for lowest critical load

L
4
/EI 0 5 10 15 20 25
PL
2
/EI 39.478 39.098 38.718 38.337 37.956 37.574
L
4
/EI 30 35 40 45 50
PL
2
/EI 37.193 36.810 36.428 36.045 35.661

Numerical Solution of the Problem

The ordinary differential equation (2) is solved numerically using both finite difference method
(FDM) and finite integral method (FIM). The clamped beam length is divided into 4 and 6 equal
segments in each case.

Finite difference method, applying central difference operators for second and forth order
differentials about node (i), Eq. (2) will take the following form:
( ) ( ) ( ) 2 / / 4 / /
4
2
2 2 2
+ + = EI L EI PL EI PL
( ) ( ) ( ) 2 / / 4 / /
4
2
2 2 2
+ + = EI L EI PL EI PL
P P
L
w
y
x
394

( ) ( )( ) EI wL y h y y y h y y y y y
i i i i i i i i i
/ / 2 / 4 6 4
4 2
1 1
4
2 1 1 2
= + + + +
+ + +

(7)

where

and

h is the unit segment length

(8)

(9)

Table 2 includes the instability relations derived from the singularity matrix dividing the beam
length into 4 and 6 equal segments.

Table 2. Instability relations using finite difference method (FDM)

Number of
equal
segments
Segment
length
(h)

Instability relations
4 1/4 512
2
+ 16384 (1048576 3584 +
2
) = 0
6 1/6 93312
3
(26873856 11664)
2
+ (2297714688 2612736 +
216
2
) [5.224277605(10)
10
139408128 + 25920
2

3
] = 0

For given values of , the instability relation is solved for . The critical load is then
determined.

Finite integral method, the governing differential equation, Eq. (2), is transformed into
numerical integral equation
3,4
and arranged in matrix form as follows:

[ [I] + ([N2] + [z][2N4L N3L] 2[3N4L N3L])
- ([N4] + [z
3
][2N4L N3L] [z
2
][3N4L N3L]) ]{f} = (wL
4
/EI){1}

(10)

Where

[I] = the identity matrix
[z] = diagonal matrix with elements z = x/L
[z
2
] = diagonal matrix with elements z
2
= (x/L)
2
[Z
3
] = diagonal matrix with elements z
3
= (x/L)
3

[N2] = numerical integral matrix of second order
[N2L] = matrix with all rows being the last row of [N2]
[N3] = numerical integral matrix of third order
[N4] = numerical integral matrix of forth order
{f} = vector of nodal values for {d
4
y/dz
4
}
{1} = unit vector
EI PL /
2
=
EI L /
4
=
395
The ponded beam with different values of becomes unstable when the determinant of the
coefficient matrix given as the left part of Eq. (10) equals zero. Equating the determinant to zero
will yield values from which the critical loads can be determined.
The original finite integral method (FIMO)

and the modified finite integral method (FIMM)
3,4
are both used for solving the matrix equation, Eq. (10). The elements of matrices [N2], [N3] and
[N4] required for application of the (FIMO) method can be derived directly as powers of [N]
while those for (FIMM) are derived from the following recurrence relations
4
:

) (
!
) 1 ( 2
1
0
) 1 2 (
m N N
k
h
N
h
i
h m
k i
i
k
k
h m
i
+ =

(11)
) (
!
) 2 (
2 ) 1 ( 2
1
0
) 2 (
m N N
k
h
N
h
i
h m
k i
i
k
k
h m
i
+ =

=
(12)
Where
m = 2, 3, 4, . , n/2
n = number of equal segments (always even)
0! = 1
N
i
h
(m) = the ith integration between the limits 0 and h of the two segments numbered m
N
i
2h
(m) = the ith integration between the limits 0 and 2h of the two segments numbered m

Related matrices are given in Table 3 and for spans divided into up to 6 equal segments.

Table 3 Elements of matrices [N2], [N3] and [N4] for 6 equal segments

[N2] elements (FIMO) [N3] elements (FIMO)

(L/72)
2

0 192 192 576 384 960 288

12 48 84 384 288 768 240
0 0 0 192 192 576 192
0 0 12 48 84 384 144
0 0 0 0 0 192 96
0 0 0 0 12 48 36
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(L/72)
3

192 1536 1920 10752 8832 29184 10176

96 192 288 4992 4800 18816 7008
0 0 192 1536 1920 10752 4416
0 0 96 192 288 4992 2400
0 0 0 0 192 1536 960
0 0 0 0 96 192 192
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[N4] elements (FIMO)

(L/72)
4

2304 9216 9216 138240 129024 599040 237312

576 0 2880 46080 48384 313344 134784
0 0 2304 9216 9216 138240 66816
0 0 576 0 2880 46080 26496
0 0 0 0 2304 9216 6912
0 0 0 0 576 0 576
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

396
Table 3(Continued) Elements of matrices [N2], [N3] and [N4] for 6 equal segments

[N2] elements (FIMM) [N3] elements (FIMM)

(L
2
/864)

0 32 32 96 64 160 48
1 6 15 64 48 128 40
0 0 0 32 32 96 32
0 0 1 6 15 64 24
0 0 0 0 0 32 16
0 0 0 0 1 6 7
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(L
3
/51840)

16 192 288 1472 1248 4032 1424

3 16 51 672 688 2592 984
0 0 16 192 288 1472 624
0 0 3 16 51 672 344
0 0 0 0 16 192 144
0 0 0 0 3 16 27
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[N4] elements (FIMM)

(L
4
/466560)

16 128 224 2304 2368 10240 4192

1 5 9 736 936 5312 2396
0 0 16 128 224 2304 1200
0 0 1 5 9 736 484
0 0 0 0 16 128 128
0 0 0 0 1 5 11
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

COMPARISON OF LOWEST CRITICAL LOADS

Comparison between the analytical and numerical values of the lowest critical axial forces in a
ponded axially compressed clamped beam is given in Figures 2 and 3.

20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
L
4
/EI
P
L
2
/
E
I
Exact FDM FIMO FIMM

Figure 2. Beam divided into 4 equal segments

397
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
L
4
/EI
P
L
2
/
E
I
Exact FDM FIMO FIMM

Figure 3. Beam divided into 6 equal segments

Values of the parameter () are taken as 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 for the two
figures. The considered beam has been divided into 4 and 6 equally spaced segments.
It is clear in all these figures that the effect of ponding loads is to decrease the lowest critical
axial forces. The modified finite integral method (FIMM) yields closer results to the analytical
values than the other numerical methods considered here. Accuracy of results increases with
increasing of the segments which the beam is divided into.

CONCLUSION

Analytical solution of instability of ponded clamped beam subjected to compressive axial forces at
its ends has been developed in this paper. Numerical solutions using finite difference method,
original finite integral method and modified finite integral method are presented and compared to
the analytical ones. Numerical results show that the modified finite integral method is the closest
to the analytical values as compared to the other two numerical methods covered in this study.
Using only 6 segments, the modified finite integral method yielded acceptable results and this
represents a positive sign using this method with small number of elements.

REFERENCES

1. Chinn, J., Mansouri, A. H. and Adams, S. F., Ponding of Liquids on Flat Roofs,
Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol.95, ST5, 1969, pp.797-807.
2. Tawil, M. M., Elastic Stability of Ponded Propped Cantilevers, Intl. Conf. on Urban
Developments, Cairo-Egypt, Paper SG124, 20-22 December 2004
3. Tawil, M. M., Finite Integral Method (A Modified Approach), Al faatih University,
Bulletin of the Faculty of Engineering, V 3(Third Issue), 1979, Tripoli-Libya, pp.87-93.
4. Tawil, M. M., Formulation of the Modified Finite Integral Method, Journal of
engineering research ,V.1, March 1989, Tripoli-Libya ,pp. 3-28

398

ANALYSIS OF RECTANGULAR PLATES: A VARIATIONAL
SYMBOLIC APPROACH
HUSAIN JUBRAN AL-GAHTANI
Department of Civil Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
KFUPM, P.O. Box 5058, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT: Due to the emerging of computer algebra software packages like MATHEMATICA,
MAPLE, etc., symbolic computation has become a powerful tool for the analysis of various
problems in science and engineering. These computer packages have the remarkable capability of
performing the analysis numerically, symbolically and graphically; and, as such, they are more
versatile than traditional computer languages, like FORTRAN and BASIC, which perform only
numerical computations. This paper illustrates how one can implement the well-known classical
Ritz method in a MATHEMATICA code to get approximate polynomial solutions for the bending
of rectangular thin plates. Two examples are given to show the simplicity and efficiency of the
procedure.
INTRODUCTION
Symbolic computation or computer algebra has attracted many researchers in recent years
1-4
.
Examples of the new computer packages performing these computations are MATHEMATICA,
MAPLE. Unlike traditional computer programs that perform only numerical computations, the
above packages possess the remarkable capability of manipulating both numerical, symbolic and
graphical computations. Although computer-algebra systems have been in existence since 1953
3
,
their usage has been restricted to the research of specialist groups and, moreover, their extensive
memory had required large mainframe computers at that time. Due to the emergence of relatively
inexpensive, yet powerful, personal computers, the use of computer-algebra systems has become
gradually more widespread.
The aim of this paper to demonstrate the efficiency of one of these computer packages,
namely Mathematica to obtain a variational-based solution of thin plates. In this paper, the well-
known Ritz method is utilized to show how one can easily derive approximate solutions for certain
plate problems that either do not have exact solutions or their exact solutions are too complicated
to be obtained algebraically. The approach is not new and it is well documented in the literature on
energy methods solutions for plates. However, most of the previous work has been limited to
crude one-term approximations. It is the purpose of this paper to utilize the power of Mathematica
for extending the previous work to higher approximations. Furthermore, Mathematica enables us
to get closed form solutions which are useful for design purposes.
FORMULATION
The problem of linear elastic bending of an isotropic plate can be represented by the following bi-
harmonic differential equation:
) ( ) (
4
x q x w D = in , (1)
399

where w is the deflection of the plate, ) (x q is the distributed load, D is the flexural rigidity of the
plate and is a 2-dimensional computational domain. Furthermore, the stress couples M
x
, M
y
, M
xy

and effective shear forces V
x
, V
y
acting on the plate can be calculated from the displacement
function w through the following relations:

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
2
2
2
2
y
w
x
w
D M
x
(2)

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
2
2
2
2
x
w
y
w
D M
y
(3)

xy
w
D M
xy
=
2
) 1 ( (4)
' ) 2 (
2
2
2
2
=
y
w
x
w
x
w
D V
x
(5)

=
2
2
2
2
) 2 (
x
w
y
w
y
w
D V
y
(6)
Let us assume that the defection function w can be represented in the form of a series

=

0
) , (
k
k k
y x c w (7)
where
k
denote a complete set of independent, continuous functions suitable for the
representation of the defected surface and the satisfaction of all geometric boundary conditions,
and c
k
are unknown numerical coefficients. Then the Ritz method leads to the following system of
equations:

= |
.
|
\
|
, 0
4
dy dx
D
q
w k = 0,1,2, (8)
Thus, the problem can essentially be solved by substituting expression (7) into Eq. (8) and solving
the resulting system of linear algebraic equations for the unknown coefficients c
k
and, therefore,
the deflection of the plate can be obtained. Once the deflection is determined in a closed form, the
secondary solutions, i.e. bending moments and shear forces, can be easily obtained through the
relations given by Eqs. (2-6). The following examples demonstrate the efficiency of Mathematica
in obtaining closed form solutions.
Example 1
Consider the case of a rectangular plate (a by b) with constant stiffness D and = 0.3, subjected to
a uniform load q and clamped at all four edges. Due to the symmetry, the origin of coordinates is
assumed at the center of the plate. Therefore, the boundary conditions are:
400

, 0 ,
2
,
2
= |
.
|
\
|
= |
.
|
\
|
y
a
x
w
y
a
w 0
2
,
2
, = |
.
|
\
|

= |
.
|
\
|

b
x
y
w b
x w (9)
The above boundary conditions are satisfied if the following forms of
k
are used to represent the
deflection
4
: { } ( ) . , 1
4 4
,... , ,
2 2
2
2
2
2
2
3 2 1
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
= y x
b
y
b
x Using Mathematica, we get the
following one-term approximation

) 7 4 7 ( 8
49
4 2 2 4
1
b b a a
c
+ +
=
For two-term approximation, we get
,
) 85 95 196 95 85 ( 16
1177 637 1177
8 6 2 4 4 2 6 8
4 2 2 4
1
b b a b a b a a
b b a a
c
+ + + +
+ +
=
) 85 95 196 95 85 (
7 11 7 ( 143
8 6 2 4 4 2 6 8 2 2
4 2 2 4
2
b b a b a b a a b a
b b a a
c
+ + + +
+ +
=
The closed form solutions for higher approximations are very lengthy and therefore, they are not
given here. The results for deflection and moments are presented in Figures 1-5 for different plate
aspect ratios. Figure 1 shows the convergence of the approximate series solution to the analytical
solution
5
for the central deflection. Figures 2 and 3 give the solution for M
x
at the plate center and
at the middle of the vertical edges, respectively. Similar results for M
y
are given in Tables 4 and 5.
It is clear from the figures that the solutions for both M
x
and M
y
converge to their counterpart
analytical solutions.
Example 2
Consider the case of a rectangular plate (a by b) with variable stiffness D = D
0
(1+7y/b) and =
0.16, subjected to a linearly varying load q = q
0
(1+7y/b) and simply supported at all four edges.
For convenience, the origin of the coordinates is assumed (a/2,0). Therefore, the boundary
conditions become:
0
2
2
=
=
x
w
w at 2 / & 2 / a x a x = = and 0
2
2
=
=
y
w
w at b y y = = & 0
Let us make the coordinates dimensionless such that x = x/a, y = y/b. Then, the boundary
conditions are satisfied if w is represented by:
( ) |
.
|
\
|
+ + + =
2
4 3
1
4 3 4 2
) 6 10 1 (
75
512
) 2 (
5
16
16 24 5
5
1
c y y y c y y y x x w
The above form for w has been derived by assuming various polynomials, the coefficients of
which satisfy the boundary conditions. Applying the same variational procedure, we get
0
1
004308 . 0
D
c = ,
0
2
000235 . 0
D
c =
401

0
0.0005
0.001
0.0015
0.002
0.0025
0.003
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
b/a
wD/qa
4
1 Term
4 Terms
6 Terms
Exact
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.09
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
b/a
M
x
/qa
2
Mx-Edge (3 Terms)
Mx-Edge (Exact)
Mx-Center (3 Terms)
Mx-Center (Exact)
Comparison of the current solution with that obtained by Timoshenko
5
is given in Figure 6, which
shows excellent agreement between the two solutions for deflection. The moment results, on the
other hand, have less agreement as compared to the deflection results. However, the maximum
relative error in the moment solutions is 6%.

Figure 1. Central deflection for uniformly loaded clamped plate

Figure 2. Bending moment M
x
for uniformly loaded clamped plate
402

0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
b/a
My-Edge (3 Terms)
My-Edge (Exact)
My-Center (3 Terms)
My-Center (Exact)
M
y
/qa
2
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
y/b
Approx
Exact
5
w
D
/
4
q
a
4

Figure 3. Bending moment M
y
for uniformly loaded clamped plate

Figure 4. Deflection for the tapered plate in Example 2

403

0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
y/b
Mx (Approx)
Mx (Exact)
My (Approx)
My (Exact)
3
M
/
4
q
a
4

Figure 5. Bending moments for the tapered plate in Example 2
CONCLUSIONS
The well-known Ritz method has been implemented in a symbolic code to obtain the solution of
the classical bending problem of a rectangular thin plate. Two examples have been given to
demonstrate the efficiency of the procedure. All computations have been performed using
Mathematica, a versatile computer algebra system capable of performing numerical, symbolic and
graphical calculations. The presented procedure can be extended easily to rectangular plates
having different boundary conditions. The method has the advantage of having the solution in a
polynomial form which is useful for performing parametric and optimization studies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to express his appreciation to King Fahd University of Pertoleum &
Minerals (KFUPM) for their support.
REFERENCES
1. Pavlovic, M.N. and Sapountzakis, E.J., Computers and Structures: Non-numerical
Applications, Computers and Structures, 24, 1986, pp. 455474.
2. Beltzer, A.I., Engineering Analysis via Symbolic Computation A Breakthrough, Appl.
Mech. Rev., 43, 1990, pp. 119127.
3. Beltzer, A.I., Variational and Finite Element Methods: A Symbolic Computation Approach,
Springer, Berlin, 1990.
4. Pavlovic, M.N., Symbolic Computation in Structural Engineering, Computers and
Structures, 81, 2003, pp. 21212136.
5. Timoshenko S.P. and Woinowsky-Krieger, S., Theory of Plates and Shells, 2nd ed., McGraw-
Hill, New York, 1959.
404

DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF FIXED OFFSHORE STRUCTURES IN DEEP
WATER UNDER THE ACTION OF EARTHQUAKE LOAD
R. A. OTHMAN AND B. B. AL-ALOUSI
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Baghdad
Al-Jadiriah Quarter, Baghdad, IRAQ (raidalio@yahoo.com)

ABSTRACT: The present study is directed towards the analysis of three-dimensional fixed
offshore structures (not floating or moving) subjected to different types of loading. Fixed offshore
structures are normally subjected to horizontal loadings such as impact forces, wave forces,
earthquakes and wind forces. Both dead loads and vertical imposed live loads were also
considered in the analysis. The free and forced vibrations for damped and undamped systems of
three-dimensional fixed offshore structures subject to different types of loading were investigated
by using the finite element method. Three offshore platform configurations were considered. The
offshore platforms consist of superstructure and substructure. The superstructure (Deck) was
idealized by using 3D-frame elements and plate elements. The substructure which consists of
columns, ties and bracings were idealized by using 3D-frame elements. The foundation was
modeled as fixed support to present the piles. The effects of the N-S horizontal components of the
El- Centro California earthquake on the free and forced vibration dynamic responses for damped
and undamped systems were investigated. The analysis was made using SAP2000n computer
program. The number of modes that must be considered in modal analysis was well investigated.
Results of the present study provide a useful knowledge for researchers and engineers in offshore
engineering and in soil-structure and fluid-structure interaction.
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes offshore structures are to be built in seismically active regions. The response of the
structure to earthquakes must then be taken into account [1]. The waves that make up the
earthquake are called seismic waves [2].
The most serious earthquakes occur on active tectonic plate margins such as the ring which
surrounds the Pacific. These vary in intensity up to such cataclysmic events as the Alaskan
earthquakes of 1964. The effect of these stretches over 100 km or even more [3].
Earthquakes also occur within plates, these typically have long return periods, so that the area
may have been popularly considered to be free from earthquakes. Their magnitude is usually
limited to force 6 (very rarely force 7) on the Richter scale, but their effects spread for very long
distances. Finally, local earthquakes of moderate intensity (force 4 to 5) are associated with
volcanism, both on adjacent islands and sub sea [3].
Earthquake accelerations are modified with distance, the higher frequency components being
filtered out, so that only long-period energy reaches the peripheral areas. Many of the structures
built offshore, especially those in deeper water, and on weaker soils have long natural periods (2
to 4 seconds). However, the amount of energy in this frequency range is usually well below the
peak energy in an active-margin-type earthquake. In evaluating the effect of earthquakes on
structures, the designer will consider added mass effects and the nonlinear soil-structure
interaction [3].
405

Idealization of the Offshore Platform
The fixed offshore platform is simulated using two types of elements. The main columns, beams
and bracings are simulated using two-noded 3D frame elements. The four noded plate elements
are used with 3D frame element to simulate the deck slab [4]. SAP 2000n elements are adopted.

Method of Analysis
The dynamic analysis of structures should be adopted when there is a need to find the response of
the structure due to the earthquake ground motions.
The data adopted in the present study is the north-south component of the ground motion
recorded at a site in El Centro, California during the Imperial Valley, California earthquake of
May 18, 1940 as shown in Figure 1. Numerical values for the ground acceleration in units of g, the
acceleration due to gravity, are presented in this figure which includes 1559 data points at equal
time spacing of 0.02 second. The first value is at t = 0.
It can be seen that the maximum recorded ground acceleration is about 0.33g. Similar
diagrams are obtained from other earthquakes, but in general most of them indicate lower
intensities of acceleration. The 1940 El Centro earthquake is characterized by a relatively long
duration of intense motion. The random character of this motion is evident. The displacements,
velocities, and accelerations are large in only the first 12 seconds of motion [5].
These accelerations are applied on the base of the structure (at supports) by using SAP2000
engineering program. The supports are considered fixed.

-0.35
-0.28
-0.21
-0.14
-0.07
0
0.07
0.14
0.21
0.28
0.35
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32
Time, sec
G
r
o
u
n
d

a
c
c
e
l
e
r
a
t
i
o
n

i
n

u
n
i
t
s

o
f

g
,

m
/
s
e
c
2
Figure 1. North-south component of the ground motion recorded at a site in El Centro, California
earthquake of May 18, 1940.
406

Applications and Results
Figures 2 and 3 show the three models of fixed offshore platform steel structures considered in the
present study. The first example (model 1) has K-bracing, [1]. The second example (model 2) has
the same dimensions of model 1 but with cross bracing. The third example (model 3) is inclined
by 80 degree in all faces and it has K-bracing. The third example is selected so that all members
make an angle with vertical to show the effect of geometry on the results. In these three models
the viscous damping ratios are taken 7 % for all modes of vibration.

Model One
Figure 2 shows this model which consists of steel girders carrying the deck (80x80) meter which
sits on steel pipe columns for height 180 meter from sea bed with steel pipe bracings. The depth of
the sea is 155 meter. The girders are represented by I-steel frame elements every 5m in two
directions with plate element (5x5)m. It has K-bracing. The columns, impact beam and the
bracings are represented by steel pipe frame elements. The deck girders consist of (544) frame
elements and there are several steel pipes to tie the four columns every 30 meter in height. This
model consists of (1009) nodes, 1344 frame elements and 256 plate elements [6].
Considering that dead and live load on the deck including secondary beams and sheet plates,
is equal to 15 kN/m
2
, the total mass of this model is equal to (26519.43) tons. The numerical data
for this model are:
The height from sea bed to its deck = 180 meter
The dimensions of deck = (80x80) meter
The depth of the water= 155 meter
E=200000000
2
kN/m
(modulus of elasticity of steel)
= 76.8 kN/m
3
(weight density of steel)
= 0.3 (Poissons ratio)
= 7% (Damping ratio)
Column diameter = 3m and thickness = 0.04
Bracing and tie diameter = 2m and thickness = 0.03
The dimensions of plates are (5x5x0.15) m
The section of main girder is I-section as shown in Figure 4.
The three dimensional free vibration analyses are done by using the SAP2000 computer
program and the results of the analysis are shown in Table 1 for 15 modes.
The accelerations of the El Centro earthquake load are applied in the x-axis direction. The
maximum forced time is 31 seconds which is divided into 1550 divisions with time.
Figure 5 shows the dynamic responses in x-direction for a fixed offshore structure without and
with damping, when the damping ratio is 7%.

Model Two
Figures 2 and 3 show this model which consists of steel girders carrying the deck (80x80) meter
and sits on steel pipe columns for height 180 meters from sea bed with steel pipe bracings. The
depth of the sea is 155 meters. The girders are represented by I-steel frame elements every five
meters in two directions with plate element (5x5) meter. It has cross bracing. The columns, impact
beam and the bracings are represented by steel pipe frame elements. The deck girders consists of
407

(544) frame elements and there are several steel pipes to tie the four columns every 30 meter in
height. This model consists of (989) nodes, 1344 frame elements and 256 plate elements.
The total mass of this model is equal to (28580.5) tons. The same numerical data used in
model one are adopted.
The accelerations of the El Centro earthquake load are applied in the x-axis direction. Also
fifteen modes are considered. The maximum time is 31 seconds which is divided into 1550
divisions with time.
Figure 6 shows the dynamic responses in x-direction for a fixed offshore structure without and
with damping, when the damping ratio is 7%.

Model Three
This model is similar to model one but the columns are inclined by 80 degrees from the horizontal.
Figures 2 and 3 show this model which consists of steel girders carrying the deck (80x80) meters
sitting on steel pipe columns of height 180 meters from sea bed and with steel pipe bracings. The
depth of the sea is 155 meters. The girders are represented by I-steel frame elements every 5m in
two directions with plate element (55) meters. It has a cross bracing. The columns, impact beam
and the bracings are represented by steel pipe frame elements. The deck girders consist of (544)
frame elements and there are several steel pipes to tie the four columns every 30 meter in height.
This model consists of (1009) nodes, 1344 frame elements and 256 plate elements.
The total mass of this model equal to (28685.65) tons. The same numerical data used in model
one are adopted.
The three dimensional free vibration analyses are done by using SAP2000 computer program
and the results of the analysis are shown in Table (1) for 15 modes.
The accelerations of the El Centro earthquake load are applied in the x-axis direction. The
maximum time is 31 seconds which is divided into 1550 divisions with time. Figure 7 shows the
dynamic responses in x-direction for a fixed offshore structure without and with damping, when
the damping ratio is 7%.
Finally, Figure 8 presents the maximum lateral dynamic deflections in x-direction with height
for the three models and shows the summary of the maximum deck drift due to earthquake of the
three models.

Table 1. Free vibration analysis for the three models
Eigenvalue (rad/sec)2
Mode
number
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
1 6.284728 6.018497 8.253282
2 6.284728 6.018497 9.405661
3 25.764384 29.166252 9.405658
4 30.478953 33.388193 12.086051
5 34.618527 34.664476 12.086049
6 49.534969 51.577679 12.927768
7 52.914 61.271003 14.17062
8 52.914341 61.271025 15.425149
9 67.744746 72.720315 15.425137
408

Table 1. Continued.
10 68.800087 79.46106 17.408117
11 68.800102 79.461229 18.958345
12 80.418428 91.62631 21.179589
13 80.41823 94.271048 21.179589
14 80.80117 94.271688 25.406385
15 87.765344 105.309061 26.125503

Figure 2. Offshore platform models used in the analysis and Dimensions of the offshore platform for model one.
409

Figure 3. Dimensions of the offshore platform for models two and three.

Figure 4. Dimensions of the cross sections of the main girder, column, ties and bracings for the three models.
410

Figure 5. Translation along x-axis time history and Effect of damping for model one.

Figure 6. Translation along x-axis time history and Effect of damping for model two.

Figure 7. Translation along x-axis time history and Effect of damping for model three.
=0
=0
=0
=7%
=7%
=7%
411

Figure 8. Lateral dynamic deflection with height and Max. deck drift due to earthquake.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be drawn from the present study:
1. The present method of simulation and analysis gives stable and reliable results.
2. Model three is the stiffest model regarding the behaviour under earthquake loading.
3. Damping has a considerable effect on the magnitude of the dynamic responses of fixed
offshore structures.

REFRENCES
1. Brebbia C. A. and Walker S. Dynamic Analysis of Offshore Structures Butterworth
and Co.(Canada) Ltd ,1979.
2. Bolt Bruce A., Earthquakes: A PRIMER W. H. Freeman and Company, 1978.
3. Quinn A. D. Design and Construction of Ports and Marine Structures, Second Edition.
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1972.
4. Dawson T. H Offshore structural engineering Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, USA,
1983.
5. Chopra A. K., Dynamic of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake
Engineering Prentice-Hall, 1995.
6. AL-Alousi B. B. N. Analysis of Fixed Offshore Structures under Dynamic Loads
M.Sc. Thesis, Civil Engineering Department, University of Baghdad, Iraq, July 2005.
412

EFFECT OF SHEAR DEFORMATION ON THE FLEXURAL
VIBRATION OF MULTILAYERED BEAMS
A. M. SEGAYER
Department of Civil Engineering, Al-Fateh University
Sidi Al Masri, Tripoli, P.O.Box 13049 Al-Fateh, Libya
M. A. WAHAB AND N. A. MAREIMI
High Institution of Global Professions
Rigdalin, Libya

ABSTRACT: It has always been the hope of metallurgists to be able to produce structural
materials possessing both great strength and extreme ductility. Great strength offers high load-
carrying capacity, and good ductility prevents sudden failures. However, good ductility and
strength are generally incompatible. By combining two or more materials together, it is possible to
advance composite materials, which are lighter, stiffer, and stronger than any other structural
materials man has ever used. The principle of composite materials can be found in numerous
forms of materials such as sandwich beams with stiff laminated faces
1
. In this paper we will
investigate the natural frequencies of multi-layered beams under various boundary conditions
under effect of the shear deformation and rotary inertia. Different values of the shear coefficient
were utilized such as 0.8224 and 0.667. The first one derived theoretically and the second one is
suggested in some of the literatures.
INTRODUCTION
Laminated beams have great uses in engineering application. It is used in aerospace, naval,
building, and automobile applications. Due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, this structure has
an increasing demand in fabrication of domes, beams, and building structures where the stiffness-
to-weight ratio is the major factor in the design of the structure. Laminated beams are used in
panel application where the main loads are flexural such as in buildings. The usage of such
structures (laminated beams) is to reduce the weight or cost of the structure. The laminate of these
structures may be metal, plastic, wood, and other structural materials such as impregnated paper.
In building applications, materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy and aluminum can
be used in many parts
2
. For certain structures, as in aerospace, such structures should be light in
weight but must be of less cost. All metal panels may be used in buildings but many materials find
their way in these applications. These are asbestos cement, glass-reinforced plastic, plywood,
glass-reinforced cement, plaster board resin impregnated, hard board, Ferro-cement, perforated
chip board, balsa wood, expanded plastic, foamed glass, light weight concrete, and clay products
3
.
The effect of shear deformations different on the natural frequency values of the shear
coefficient were utilized such as 0.8224 and 0.667. The first one derived theoretically and the
second one is suggested in some of the literatures. The effect of the shear deformations was found
to be greater than the effect of the rotary inertia on the natural frequency of the laminated beams
under various boundary conditions shows that must be taken into consideration in the dynamic
analysis, because it has a significant effect on the natural frequencies
4,5
.
413

Equation of motion of beams
The shear forces, inertia force, external force per unit length of the beam, and moments acting on
an element of the beam as shown in Figure 1 can be written as:

2
2
( ) ( , ) ( , )
w
V dV f x t d x V A d x x t
t

+ + + =
(1)
( ) ( ) ( , ) 0
2
dx
M dM V dV dx f x t dx M + + + = (2)
Using the definition of partial derivatives and ignoring 2nd order derivatives of d x, Eqs. (1)
and (2) can be written as follows:

2
2
( , ) ( , ) ( , )
V w
x t f x t A x t
x t

+ =

(3)
( , ) ( , ) 0
M
x t V x t
x
(4)
With the definition of the elementary theory of bending of beams (Euler-Bernoulli theory) and
Eqs. (3) and (4) the equation of motion of uniform beam can be written as:

) , ( ) , (

2
2
2
2
2
2
t x f t x
t
w
A
x
w
EI
x
= +
(5)
For free vibration case f (x, t) = 0, then Eq. (5) becomes:
0
2
2
4
4
= +
t
w
A
x
w
EI
(6)
Effective properties of laminated beams
The stress - strain relations derived for plane stress in the mth layer are:
[ ]
xx x o
m
m
xm
w z u
E
,
1
, 2
(7)
( ) [ ] ,
1
, 2 xx x o m
m
m
ym
w z u
E
(8)

0

0
=
=
=
yzm
xzm m xzm
xym
G
(9)
414

where u
o
and w are the components of displacement vector of a point for the layer and commas
denote partial differentiation.

Figure 1. m
th
layer of the beam.

Using Eqs.(7), (8), and (9) we can write the force and moment equations for the beam consists
of mth layer, after making the integration for the force and moment equations it will become as
follows:

xx o x o o x
w B u A N , , = (10)

xx o x o o x
w D u B M , , = (11)
where

( )
( )
NL
m
m m
m
m
o
h h
E
b A
1
1 2

1
=

( )
( )
=
NL
m
m m
m
m
o
h h
E b
B
1
2 2
1 2

1 2
(12)

( )
( )
=
NL
m
m m
m
m
o
h h
E b
D
1
3 3
1 2

1 3

Now, the equilibrium differential equations in terms of the force and moment resultant for the
beam under considerations is:
415

P M
N
xx x
x x
=
=
,
0 ,
(13)
Then from Eqs. (10), (11), and (13):
0 ,
2
= +
p w D
A
B
xxxx o
o
o
(14)
Now, comparing Eqs. (6) and (14) we were get that:
( )

=
o
o
o e
A
B
D EI
2
(15)
( )
=

=
NL
m
m m m e
h h b A
1
1
(16)
When the laminate is symmetric, the coupling stiffness B
o
vanishes, then eqs.(15) and (16) can be
expressed as follows (these equations represents the effective bending stiffness and mass density
for the multi-layered beams with isotropic, homogeneous, and linearly elastic layers):
( )
o e
D EI = (17)

( )
( )
=

=

=
NL
m
m m
NL
m
m m m
e
h h
h h
1
1
1
1

(18)
Effect of rotary inertia and shear deformations
If the cross-section dimensions are not small compared to the length of the beam, it is needed to
consider the effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation. The procedure given by Timoshenko
6

is known as the Timoshenko Beam Theory which states that it is assumed that the deformation in
the beam is purely due to shear and that a vertical element before deformation remains vertical
after deformation and moves by a distance w in the transverse z-direction.
let an element of the beam shown in Figure 2, if the effect of shear deformation is disregarded,
the tangent to the deflected center line O' T coincides with the face Q' R' (since the cross-sections
normal to the center line remain normal after deformation). Due to shear deformation, the tangent
to the deformed center line O'T will not be perpendicular to the face O'R'. The angle between the
tangent to the deformed center line and normal to the face O'N, , denotes the shear deformation of
the element. Since positive shear on the face O'R' acts downwards, Figure 2 show that,

w
x

=
(19)
416

Note that because of shear alone, the element undergoes distortion but no rotation. The bending
moment M and the shear force V are related to the slope of the deflected curve and the transverse
deflection w by the following relations:

( )
e
M E I
x

=
(20)

e e
w
V k AG k AG
x

= =

(21)
k is a constant, known as Timoshenko
'
s shear coefficient, which depends on the shape of the cross-
section. For a rectangular section the value of k is (5/6), for circular section it is (9/10)
7
and it is
derived using the three-dimensional theory to be equal to (
2
/12).
The equation of motion for the element shown in Figure 1. Noting that the right-hand side of Eq.
(1) represents the translational inertia of the element. Now, For the rotation about a line passing
through the point (intersection of o`x` and p`s`) and parallel to the y-axis,

2
2 e
I d x
t

Rotary inertia of the beam element. (22)

Figure 2. An element of beam with Rotary inertia and shear deformation effects.

Using Eqs. (3), (4), (21), and (22) and ignoring terms involving 2nd order, Eqs. (1), (2), and
(20) can be expressed as:

( )
2 2
2 2
,
e e
w w
k AG f x t A
x x t

+ =

(23)

( )
2 2
2 2 e e
e
w
E I k A G I
t x t

=

(24)
417

by solving Eq. (23) for / x and by substituting the estimated result in Eq. (24), the desired
forced vibration equation for uniform beam is obtained, but for free vibration the external excited
force must be equal to zero (i.e. f = 0), then equation of motion for free lateral vibration of
laminated beams including the effect of the rotary inertia and the transverse shear deformation as
is obtained as follows
8
:

( )
2 4 2 4 4
4 2 2 2 4
1 0
e e
e e
e e
e
E I w w w w
E I A I
x t k G x t k G t

+ + + =

(25)
Timoshenko Theory
If f(x, t) =0 (free vibration case) and w is set equal to zero in the above two equations (23) and
(24), then the Eq.(23) gives that /x = 0, then substituting into Eq.(24) gives:

2
2
0
e e
k AG I
t

+ =
(26)
Dividing Eq.(26) by
e
I and substituting for
A I r =
2
, then Eq.(26) yields to:

2
2 2
0
e
e
G
k
t r

+ =

(27)
Then, the frequency of pure thickness-shear vibration of a Timoshenko beam,
T
is:

1
2
1
T
e
e
k G
r

=

(28)
RESULTS
In this paper, A two laminated beams used as a test models when we get the following results
which are tabulated below the first one consist of three layers of steel 2mm, aluminum 1mm,
steel 2mm but the second one consist of five layers steel 1mm, aluminum 1mm, steel 1mm,
aluminum 1mm, and steel 1mm in thickness.
a summary of the results are presented to demonstrate the effect of Rotary Inertia (RI) and
shear deformation (SD) on natural frequencies of laminated beams under various boundary
conditions.
The results are presented in tables containing the natural frequencies (in Hz) obtained by
using computer program. Two different values of the shear coefficient (0.8224 and 0.667) were
utilized, which were suggested in some of the literatures.
Three combinations of boundary conditions were investigated to demonstrate the effect of the
Rotary Inertia (RI), and shear deformation (SD): 1) Table 1 and Figure 3 for SS-simply supported;
2) Table 2 and Figure 4 for CCboth ends clamped; and 3) Table 3 and Figure 5 for CF-clamped
one end and free on the other.

418

Table 1. Natural frequencies (Hz) for SS-multilayered beam with different effective
parameters (RI rotary inertia & SD shear deformation) L = 350 mm, b=50 mm.
SD included (Exact)
Mode No
(n)
No. of layers
(NL)
RI & SD
not included
(Exact)
RI
included
(Exact) k = .667 k = .822
3 118.11 118.10 118.08 118.09
1
5 88.18 88.17 88.15 88.16
3 472.42 472.31 471.86 471.97
2
5 352.74 352.62 352.28 352.36
3 1063.06 1062.26 1059.99 1060.53
3
5 793.66 793.06 791.37 791.77
3 1889.88 1887.35 1880.22 1881.92
4
5 1410.96 1409.07 1403.74 1405.01
3 2952.95 2946.77 2929.44 2933.56
5
5 2204.63 2200.02 2187.07 2190.14

Figure (3) Natural frequency vs. Mode number for 3-layers SS beam.

419

Table 2. Natural Frequencies (Hz) for CC-multilayered beam with different effective
SD included (Exact)
Mode No
(n)
No. of layers
(NL)
RI & SD
not included
(Exact)
RI
included
(Exact) k = .667 k = .822
3 267.76 267.71 267.56 267.6
1
5 199.91 199.86 199.76 199.78
3 738.24 737.85 736.73 737.02
2
5 551.15 550.87 550.03 550.24
3 1446.95 1445.46 1441.18 1442.26
3
5 1080.27 1079.16 1075.96 1076.77
3 2391.89 2387.84 2376.20 2379.14
4
5 1785.74 1782.72 1774.04 1776.23
3 3573.07 3564.04 3538.23 3544.74
5
5 2667.6 2660.85 2641.58 2646.44

Figure 4. Natural frequency vs. Mode number for 3-layers CC beam.

420

Table 3. Natural Frequencies (Hz) for CF-multilayered beam with different effective
SD included (Exact)
Mode No
(n)
No. of layers
(NL)
RI & SD
not included
(Exact)
RI
included
(Exact) k =.667 k =.822
3 42.07 42.07 42.07 42.07
1
5 31.41 31.41 31.40 31.41
3 265.76 265.71 265.57 265.60
2
5 198.41 198.38 198.27 198.29
3 738.23 737.85 736.73 737.02
3
5 551.15 550.87 550.03 550.24
3 1446.95 1445.46 1441.18 1442.24
4
5 1080.27 1079.16 1075.96 1076.77
3 2391.89 2387.84 2376.20 2379.14
5
5 1785.75 1782.72 1774.03 1776.23

Figure 5. Natural frequency vs. Mode number for 3-layers CF beam.

421

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper the conclusions drawn as follows:
(1) The effect of the shear deformation and the rotary inertia increase with the variation of the
natural frequency of vibrating multi-layered beams under three different boundary conditions
including the effect of the rotary inertia and shear deformation.
(2) According to the effective theory it is noted that Rayleigh's rotary inertia is more significant
in reducing the natural frequencies in the higher modes. For stubby cross-sections of the
laminated structures while in the lower modes and for long and thin multi-layered beams
(laminated beams) this effect is so small. In this case the rotary inertia effect may be
disregarded at the lower modes. Increasing the layer thickness and vice versa.
(3) The natural frequency will increasing with increasing the geometry ratio (2H/L) for the
boundary conditions under considerations, it means that the effect of the transverse shear
deformation at the higher modes of vibration is greater than that at the lower modes.
REFERENCES
1. Chakrabarti, A. and Sheikh, A. H.; Analysis of Laminated Sandwich Plates Based on
Interlaminar Shear Stress Continuous Plate Theory; Journal of Engineering Mechanics,
Vol. 131, No. 4, April 2005, pp. 377-384
2. Ahmed, K. H., Dynamic Analysis of Sandwich Beams; Journal of Sound and
Vibration, Vol. 21, 3, 1972, pp. 263-276.
3. Timoshenko, S. P.; "Strength of Materials"; part 1, 2
nd
edition, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.,
New York, 1940, pp.170-171.
4. Traill-Nash, R.W. and Collar, A.R.; "The Effects of Shear Flexibility and Rotatory Inertia on
the Bending Vibrations of Beams"; Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied
Mathematics, Vol. 6, 1953, pp. 186-222.
5. Chandrashekhara, K., Krishnamurthy, K. and Roy, S.; "Free Vibration of
Composite Beams Including Rotary Inertia and Shear Deformation"; Composite
Structures, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 269-279, 1990.
6. Singer, F. L.; "Strength of Materials"; Harper International Edition, Harper & Row
publishers, New York, 1980.
7. Kalnins, A. and Dym, C. L.; "Vibration Beams, Plates, and Shells"; Dowden Hutchinson and
Ross, Inc., 1976.
8. Mead, D.J. and Sivakumaran, S.; "The Stodola Method Applied to Sandwich Beam
Vibration"; Proceedings of The Symposium on Numerical Method For Vibration Problems,
University of South Hampton, 1966.

422

ANALYSIS OF ELASTIO-PLASTIC DEFORMATIONS OF
SHELLS OF REVOLUTION BY THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

A. ROUABHI

Department of Civil Engineering, MHamed Bouguerra University
Avenue de lindpendance,35000 Boumerdes - Algrie

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a numerical algorithm for the analysis of elastic-perfectly
plastic symmetrically deformed thin shells of revolution by the FEM. The variational formulation
of the problem is based on a mixed functional of Reissners type in elasticity . At each level of
loading above the elastic limit, the functional is approximated by the finite principle of Haar and
Karman which allows to solve the problem of the plastic flow using finite increments of the load .
A software is developed on the basis of the present algorithm .The numerical results of the
presented problems show the efficiency and performance of the algorithm.

OPERATIONAL (DIFFERENTIAL) FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM:

Consider the middle surface of a shell of thickness h , occupying a limited surface A. A s are
the coordinates of points on the meridian of the shell. ) , w , u ( (s) V
T
&
& &
&
= is the speed vector of
generalized displacements of those points. These displacements generate generalized deformation
speeds ( ) s V B (s)
T
&
& = , where ) , , , ( (s)
s s
T

& & & & & = , and generalized force speeds per
unit length of the normal section ) M , M , N , N ( (s) q
s s
T

& & & &
& = , the dot indicates speed .
Let us write the plastic flow associated law
1
:

0 (q) 0, ,
q
(q)
q C + =
& &
& &

0 (q) q
q
(q)
0; (q) q
q
(q)
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
&
&
&
(1)

<
=
0 (q) if ,
0 (q) if 0,
= (q)
where:
0 (q) represents the plasticity conditions,
1
D C

= D is the elasticity matrix,
&
an undetermined plastic multiplier ,
besides , it is necessary to satisfy the equilibrium equations: P q B
*
&
& =
423

where: P
&
is the speed vector of the exterior load components. Further, the boundary
conditions for force speeds and kinematic conditions must be satisfied.

VARIATIONAL FORMULATION OF THE PLASTIC FLOW PROBLEM:

Using the variational principles of the theory of plasticity
2
, it is possible to transform the problem
of the plastic flow presented above into a problem of research of the minimum of some functional.
For elastic-perfectly plastic shells , the solution of the static problem may be obtained on the basis
of the minimal principle for the variations of force speeds , that is the minimization of the
following functional:

q
A
T
min dA q C q
2
1
) q K(
&
& & & =

(2)
satisfying conditions: P q B
*
&
& = ; q
q
(q)
&
0 (q) (3)

where , ) q K( & , that is a functional of force speeds , is similar to the Castiglianos functional in
elasticity. Among all the possible vectors q& of effort speeds which satisfy the equilibrium
equations, the static boundary conditions and the plasticity conditions, there is one vector q& *
which is a solution of the problem :
) q minK( ) q K(
*
& & = (4)

The functional (2) with conditions (3) is equivalent to the following free mixed
functional of the Reissners type in elasticity
3
, completed by plasticity conditions:

|
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ + =
A
T
T T T
dA (q) q
q
) q (
V P V B q q C q
2
1
) , V , q ( R &
&
&
& & & &
& & &
& &
&

0
V q
max min
&
&
&
(5)
From the variational principles of the plastic flow, it results that the real vectors
* * *
, V , q
& &
& correspond to the saddle point of the convex-concave functional (6), defined as a
minimum relative to q& and as a maximum relative to 0 and V
& &
, and V
&
must further
satisfy the kinematic boundary conditions
1
. Said otherwise:
) , V , q ( R ) , V , q ( R ) , V , q R(
* * * * * *
& &
&
& &
&
& &
& (6)
The mixed functional ) , V , q ( R
& &
& describes the variation of the stress-strain state in an
infinitesimal neighbourhood , that is in a given state, compatible with the plasticity and plastic
flow conditions. To enlarge this neighbourhood up to finite dimensions, in the limits of
which, we have to approximate the functional (5) , we will use the Haar and Karmans finite
principle, which allows to solve the problem step by step using finite increments of the load.
424

Let us assume that the load increment P is finite but not infinitesimal, then the vectors of
generalized forces and displacements undergo finite increments V and q for which
plasticity conditions must be verified 0 q) (q + , and thus, according to the Haar and
Karmans principle
4
, the real vectors
* * *
, V , q correspond to the saddle point of the
functional:

+ + + =
A
T T T
dA q) (q V P V B q q C q
2
1
) V, q, ( R
~
) 7 (

DISCRETE MODEL OF THE PROBLEM:

On the basis of the Haar and Karmans principle , we can build an efficient algorithm to solve
the plastic flow problem step by step , using the finite element method.
Let us consider that n is the number of finite elements and V the vector of
nodal displacements, then we can write : F(s)V (s) = , where: F(s) is an interpolation
operator and ) s ( is a continuous and differentiable function
The approximation of the generalized internal forces and the plastic multiplier are locally done for
every finite element and node j by the vectors
i i
and q . Projecting the Haar and
Karmans functional on the discrete model, and by integrating it along the finite element, we get:

+ + +
+ =
n
m
j
j j j j j h
T
n
m
j
j h j
T
j j
n
m
j
j j
T
j j h
S r ) q (q g V P
S r V B q g S r q C q g
2
1
R
(8)
where :

j
g - weight of the Gauss point ; , j - indices of the elements;
r - revolution radius of the shell; n - number of elements; m - number of Gauss points .
The saddle point of this functional is determined for the variables
h
V - global for the
shell and
j j
, q - local for each element. Let us look for the saddle point with respect to
j
q
, then from the condition: 0

) q (
R
j
h
=

we get :
0
) q (
) q (q
V B q C
j
j j
j h j j
=
+
+
(9)

solving (9) in an iterative way, relative to
j
q we get :
425

m 1, j n 1, ;
) q (
) q (q
V B D q
k
j
k
j j
j h j
1 k
j
= =
|
|
.
|
\
| +
=
+
(10)
substituting (10) into (8) we obtain the following functional, which only depends on
j h
and V :
+ + +
+
|
|
.
|
\
| +
|
|
.
|
\
| +
=
n
m
j
j
k
j j j j h
T
n
m
j
j
k
j
k
j j
j h j
T
k
j
k
j j
j h j j
*
S r ) q (q g V P
S r
) q (
) q (q
V B D
) q (
) q (q
V B g L
(11)
then we have to find the maximum of (11) relative to 0 and V
j h
, then from the
condition :
0
) V (
) , V , q ( L
k
j h
1 k
j
*
=
+

we get the canonical formula of the FEM with nonlinear additional terms on the right side :

+ =
n
m
j
j
k
j
T
j j j h
S r
) q (
D B g P V K

(12)
where: K is the stiffness matrix of the shell , it is a symmetric and positive definite matrix .
Solving the nonlinear system of equations (12) in an iterative way, we find
1 k
h
V
+
.
Finally we must look for the maximum of the function ) , V , q ( R
j
1 k
h
1 k
j h
+ +

relative to 0
j
, to this end, by applying the gradient method, we get the direction of the
fastest increase: ) q (q g
) (
R
1 k
j j
j
h +
+ = =
(13)
then:
) q (q
1 k
j j
k
j
1 k
j
+ +
+ + = (14)
where 0 is the step which can be selected in different ways . Here we will proceed to the
minimization of (14) along the direction of maximal speed increase.
So from the condition:
0
1 k
j h
max g) ( R
+
+ ,
we get :
1
1 k
j
1 k
j j
T
1 k
j
1 k
j j
) q (
) q (q
D
) q (
) q (q
+
+
+
+
|
|
.
|
\
| +
|
|
.
|
\
| +
=
(15)
426

Solving the system (12), we keep the factors of the Choleskys decomposition, where for
each iteration, there only remains to carry out the backward computations. This approach
improves very much the characteristics of the iterative process.

NUMERICAL APPLICATIONS :
To solve concrete examples based on the above algorithm , we have developed and implemented a
FORTRAN software to verify the efficiency of that algorithm.
In this work we use the following plasticity conditions of Mises in terms of forces and
moments :

0 1
m
M M M M
n
N N N N
(q)
2
t
s
2 2
s
2
t
s
2 2
s

+
+
+
=

4
h
m , h n
2
t
t t t

= = ; { }

M , M , N , N q
S S
t
=
Where:
t
is elastic limit ;
h is shell thickness ;

1) Cylindrical shell under symmetrical load with respect to its axis (Fig. 1.) :

We have selected this example which has already been
solved for the elastic state, using the same data mentioned
below, th same element and the same number of finite
elements, with the aim of comparing results
5
.
Thickness : h = 0,0254 cm ; the load : P = 0,1786 kg/cm ;
Youngs modulus : E =
5
10 03 , 7 kg/cm
2
;
elastic limit stress : 2160
= kg/cm
2
; r = 12,7 ;
Poissons ratio : 0,3 = ; L = 15,24 cm . Figure 1.

The results obtained for this example , which are presented in the following table , agree
well with the solutions given in Ref.
5
( FEM and theoretical) .

427

Table 1. Comparison of results :

Elastic solution
p = 0,1786 g/cm
Horizontal maximum displacement W,
3
10
cm
Error, %
Theoritical

7,3 -
FEM ( 24 Elements )
5
7,29 0,14
Author ( 24 Elements ) 7,17 1,5

Subsequently, beyond the
elastic limit, calculation is
performed step by step,
incrementing the load at each
step, starting with the load
corresponding to the elastic limit
=
lim
p 1 kg/cm and then at each
following step , we have
applied a load increment
p= 0,06 kg/cm

. The total load
= p 1,54 kg/cm for which
computation is stopped is the
one that has caused an abrupt Figure 1.1. Load versus tip displacement w
increase of the characteristic
displacement , that correspond to the horizontal displacement ( W = 0,12 cm) .
As results beyond the elasticity limit, we present the curve that shows the nonlinear
increase of the characteristic displacement while the load is incremented by step (fig. 1.1.)

2) Truncated semi-spherical shell under uniform axisymmetrical load (Figure 2.) :

Initial data: R = 2,54 m ;
h/R = 1/100 ;
E = 7,03
5
10 kg/cm
2
;
3 , 0 = ;
2160
T
= kg/cm
2
.

Figure 2.

The first value of the load applied is that which corresponds to the elastic limit load
=
lim
q 33,5 kg/cm

, and then the load is gradually increased using an increment q =0,75
kg/cm

until the total load reaches the value = q 38,75 kg/cm which has caused an abrupt increase
of the characteristic displacements. The no null values of plastic multiplier obtained at the gauss
points of the finite elements, for various loading stages, are presented in table 2. , these values
show the order of appearance of the various plastic zones and their widenings by incrementing
the load gradually.

428

Different results of the computation are presented below, figure 2.1 represents the
meridian before and after the application of the load. Figure 2.4 shows residual displacements u
an w of the superior tip after removal of the load from the elasto-plastic state. Figure 2.2. shows
the same results as 2.4 but relative to the meridian and figure 2.3 shows the load versus the tip
displacements u and w .

Table 2. values of the plastic multiplier at the gauss points of the finite elements

Total load
(kg/cm)

of finite
element
Z(cm) of
Gauss points

q
1

(33,5)
q
2

(34,25)
q
3

(35)
q
4

(35,75)
q
5

(36,5)
q
6

(37,25)
q
7

(38)
q
8

(38,75)
1 35,08 0,0183 0,4827 0,4682 0,4810 0,4874 0,4811 0,7706 0,9239
42,95 0,3497 0,5299
2 45,06
52,94
13 155,06 0,013
162,94 0,000
14 165,06 0,1917 1,567
172,94 0,000 1,389
15 175,06 0,3476 1,148 2,282
182,94 0,1570 1,092 2,169
16 185,06 0,2898 0,9362 1,492 2,908
192,94 0,1555 0,9087 1,450 2,820
17 195,06 0,1307 0,5617 1,104 1,683 3,270
202,94 0,0457 0,5562 1,092 1,666 3,229
18 205,06 0,0735 0,5559 1,096 1,603 3,178
212,94 0,0428 0,5605 1,104 1,617 3,198
19 214,85 0,8428 1,267 2,647
221,15 0,8847 1,295 2,701
20 222,85 0,1071 1,917
229,15 0,2272 2,00
3
22 238,85
245,15
23 246,85
253,15 0,2761 1,954

429

Fig. 2.1. the shell meridian Fig. 2.2. U and W relative to the meridian
after application of the elastic limit load after unloading from the elasto-plastic state

CONCLUSION:

The results obtained in this work give the possibility to come to the coclusion that the use of haar
and karmans principle allows to have a very good approximation of the solution of the plastic
flow problem.

REFERENCES :

1. Protsinko, A. M. : Theory of elastic-ideally plastic systems. M.: Nawuka, 1982. -288 p.
2. Koiter , W. T. : General theorems for elasto-plastic solids, progress in solid mechanics,
Vol. 1, North-Holland, Amesterdam, 1960 .
3. Reissner, E. : On a Variational Theorem in Elasticity J. Math. Phys., vol. 29 , 1950.
4. Haar A. and Karman T. Plastic theory .- M.: Fizmat, 1948, p. 41-56.
5. Rockey L., Evans R., Griffiths W., Nethercot D. : Introduction la Mthode des Elments
Finis , PARIS, Editions Eyrolles , 1975.

Fig 2.3. load versus the superior tip
displacements

Fig 2.4. Residual U and W
after removal of the total load
430

FRACTURE BEHAVIOR OF FLANGED REINFORCED CONCRETE
BEAMS- EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

N. M. WAHAB and N. A.B.YEHIA
Structural Engineering Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: This paper investigates the application of fracture mechanics to study the behavior of
the T-sections reinforced concrete beams in flexure. Twelve beam specimens; nine flanged and
three rectangular, are tested experimentally in a four point bending test under displacement
controlled environment. Three main parameters are considered: the ratio of the flange width to
web thickness (B/b), the ratio of slab thickness to total height (t
s
/h), the tension steel
reinforcement. The beams size is 70x300x1400mm , while the tension reinforcing steel ratios
varies between 0.48%,0.61% and 0.73%.The values of (B/b ) were 1,1.5,2,2.5 while the values of
(t
s
/h) were 0,0.1,0.15,0.2. All the beams have constant span/depth ratio of 4, and initial
notch/depth ratio of 0.3. The concrete used has a cube strength of 25 MPa at the time of testing
while reinforcing steel has nominal yield strength of 530 MPa. Measurements included load, steel
strain, concrete strain and deflection. T-beam's behavior was investigated and compared to the
behavior of the rectangular section beam.
INTRODUCTION:
Experimental investigation has been used as a tool in investigating the fracture behavior of plain
and reinforced concrete. A number of experimental testing techniques and specimen types have
been proposed and used in order to determine fracture parameters of plain concrete in mode I
fracture
1,2,3,4
. Yehia
5, 6
experimentally investigated the fracture behavior of the notched plain
concrete beams with large specimen size as close as possible to the practical beam dimensions.
Yehia
7
compared the three point bend specimens to the four point bend specimens in studying the
size effect on fracture of concrete.
Meanwhile, for reinforced concrete beams, experimental investigation has been used for many
purposes. Baluch
8
presented a LEFM based model for studying crack propagation in RC beams
subjected to mode I stress field, where he checked his model experimentally. Yehia et al.
9

investigated experimentally the effect of concrete strength and reinforcement ratio on the fracture
behavior of the reinforced concrete beams. They used this experimental investigation in modifying
the model proposed by Balauch
8
. Bosco et al.
10
have proposed a minimum reinforcement ratio for
concrete beams based on an experimental investigation. Yehia
11
conducted a four point bending
test to study the size effect on reinforced concrete beam behavior and fracture with beam
dimensions up to full scale. Yet, all these researches were conducted on reinforced concrete beams
with rectangular sections. The aim of this research is to study the fracture behavior of T-shaped
sections in reinforced concrete beams. To the knowledge of the writer, the effect of variation of the
cross section shape has not yet been studied. The main objective of the part of the experimental
program presented here in this paper is studying the effect of changing the ratio of flange width to
web thickness (B/b) and the ratio of slab thickness to beam height (t
s
/h) of the Tee section on the
behavior of the beam. The application of linear elastic fracture mechanics to the analysis of the
tested beams shall be conducted in a following paper.
431
The test program is designed to investigate the fracture behavior of T-section reinforced
concrete beams. Twelve beams were cast and tested experimentally. The concrete is composed of
dolomite, as coarse aggregate, well graded sand, as fine aggregate. The cement used is ordinary
Portland cement of Suez factory. The steel used for reinforcement is of diameters 6, 8, 10, 12 mm.
The diameters 6, 8 mm had a yield strength of 310 N/mm
2
and the diameters 10, 12 had a yield
strength of 520 N/mm
2
.
All beams are 1400mm long. Figure 1 shows the concrete dimensions. The beam section near
the support is 70mm *450mm to prevent shear failure. The beam section at mid span is 70mm
*300mm to ensure that at failure the neutral axis lies outside the flange. Although, the flange is
necessary only at mid span it is extended 350mm in each side of the mid span to avoid sudden
change in cross section. All beams have typical shear reinforcement. They are provided with
concentrated stirrups reinforcement at supports and at point of load application to avoid bearing
failure as shown in Figure 1. All flanges are provided with (8 6) as they are only subjected to
flexural loads due to their own weight.
The 12 beams consist of 3 rectangular section beams and 9 T- section beams as following:
Group1: having variable (B/b):1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, with constant ratio of (t
s
/h) =0.2 and =0.6%
Group2: having variable (B/b):1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, with constant ratio of (t
s
/h) =0.15 and =0.48%
Group3: having variable (t
s
/h):0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, with constant ratio of (B/b) =1.5 and = 0.73%.
The specimen then undergoes a four point bending testing to ensure pure bending (Mode
fracture) with a constant rate of displacement 1mm/min. This is achieved by using a closed loop
servo-controlled testing machine
SPECIMEN MANUFACTURING, PREPARATION AND TEST PROCEDURES
A wooden form was designed to allow for the casting of the beams. A groove was made at the
sides and base of the wooden form, at the middle of each beam, with a depth equal to the notch
depth. At this groove a piece of foam 5 mm thick was placed with an aluminum plate of 0.5mm
thickness fixed at one end, to create the notch with a sharp notch tip. The reinforcing steel is
placed in the wooden form. Each piece of foam was shaped so as to be mounted on the
corresponding reinforcing steel as shown in Figure 2.
At the age of 28 days, the specimens were prepared for testing. Benzene is poured over the
foam to dissolve it, the aluminum plate is pulled out, and the notch is cleaned. The surface of each
beam is painted with white color to facilitate the detection of crack propagation during the test.
The beams are further prepared for the testing by attaching an electrical strain gauge to the top
concrete surface at mid span. A grid of 10 mm spacing is drawn on both sides for crack detection.
The LVDTs on both sides of the specimen are set to measure the deflection; their maximum gauge
length is 50mm. The general set up for the experiment is shown in Figure 3. The load cell, LVDTs,
and strain gauges are connected to the data logger for continuous data monitoring and recording
during the test
TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Loadmid span deflection, Loadsteel strain and load-concrete strain for all beams are shown
in Figures 4 to 12. Comparing data in Figures, it is clear that increasing the ratio of B/b or the ratio
of t
s
/h, increases the specimen stiffness, as well as the yield load (max capacity). Also, it can be
432
seen clearly that increasing the reinforcement ratio increases the stiffness of the beam for Tee
shaped sections as well as yield load .In addition to that, the initial slope of the load steel strain
curve increases when the cross section of the beam is changed from rectangular to T- section, as
well as, when the value of B/b increases. Also, increasing the ratio of the B/b increases the
maximum capacity of the cross section while increasing the ratio of t
s
/h increases slightly the
maximum capacity of the cross section.
6@50mm 6@40mm
1
5
0
1
6
0
1
0
0
var. according to
beam capacity
1400
580 240 580
3
0
0
4
5
0

Figure 1; Typical concrete dimensions and longitudinal reinforcement for the specimen
Figure 2; Steel placed in the wooden form
B1;B/b=1
B2;B/b=2
B3;B/b=1.5
B4;B/b=2.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
deflection (mm)
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)

C o n c r e t e b e a m
s t e e l s t r a i n g a u g e
C o n c r e t e s t r a i n g a u g e
S t e e l I - b e a m
l o a d c e l l
S t e e l I - b e a m
R o l l e r
b a s e o f
t e s t i n g m a c h i n e
L V D T
l o a d

Figure 4; Load versus deflection for beams
having variable B/b , t
s
/h =0.2
and =0.6%
Figure 3; Schematic drawing showing the
general set up

433
B1;B/b=1
B2;B/b=2
B3;B/b=1.5
B4;B/b=2.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
deflection (mm)
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)

B1 ;B/b=1
B2 ;B/b=2
B3 ;B/b=1.5
B4 ;B/b=2.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
steel strain
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
Figure 6; load versus concrete strain for beams
having variable B/b ratio, t
s
/h =0.2
and =0.6%
Figure 5; Load versus steel strain at mid span
for beams having variable B/b
ratio, t
s
/h =0.2 and =0.6%
B5 ;B/b=1
B6;B/b=1.5
B7;B/b=2
B8;B/b=2.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
steel strain
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)

B5; B/b=1
B8;B/b=2.5
B6;B/b=1.5
B7;B/b=2
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
deflection(mm)
l
o
a
d
(
k
N
)
Figure 8; Load versus steel strain at mid span
for beams having variable B/b
ratio, t
s
/h =0.15 and =0.48%
Figure 7; Load versus deflection for beams
having variable B/b , t
s
/h =0.15
and =0.48%
B9;ts/h=0
B10;
ts/h=0.25
B11;ts/h=0.2
B12;
ts/h=0.15
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
deflection (mm)
l
o
a
d
(
K
n
)
B5;B/b=1
B6;B/b=1.5
B7;B/b=2
B8;B/b=2.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003 0.0035 0.004
concrete strain
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
Figure 10; load versus deflection for beams
having variable t
s
/h , B/b=1.5 and
=0.73%
Figure 9; load versus concrete strain for
beams having variable B/b ratio,
t
s
/h =0.15 and =0.48%
434
B11;
ts/h=0.2 B12;
ts/h=0.15
B9;ts/h=0
B10;ts/h=0.25
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003
concrete strain
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)

B11;
ts/h=0.2
B12;
ts/h=0.15
B9;ts/h=0
B10;
ts/h=0.25
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02
steel strain
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
Figure 12; Load vs conc. strain for variable
t
s
/h with B/b=1.5 and =0.73%
Figure 11; Load vs steel strain for variable
t
s
/h with B/b=1.5 and =0.73%
CRACK PROPAGATION AT MID SPAN
The crack propagation at mid span as the load increased was monitored. Figures 13 to 24 show
the ratio of crack length (a) to the total height (h) versus load for all beams. Several remarks were
made that could be summarized as follows:
1- Observing the load at which the first crack appeared, it could be concluded that for the first
crack to appear there should be several internal micro cracks taking place before it.
2- Monitoring both sides of the specimen showed that the crack did not propagate on both sides at
the same time; instead it propagates on one side till certain load level where it stops then starts
propagation on other side.
3- It was clear that when the steel starts yielding the crack widens.
4- Although there was a notch at mid span to ensure that it is the weakest section, the first crack
propagated from this section then it stops where another crack at the zone of maximum bending
moment but not mid section occurs. This crack is a bending crack yet it is not at the weakest
section and not at the extension of the mid span crack. This crack propagates then suddenly
stops to allow the main crack to continue its propagation
5- It was clear that the flange arrested the crack propagation for all T-shaped beams. In addition to
that, by comparing the recorded load when the crack was at the bottom of the flange and the
load at failure, it was noticed that the latter slightly exceeded the former by few tons

B2(face1)
B2(face)
B2(average)
0
50
100
150
200
250
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
k
n
)
B2(face1)
B2(face)
B2(average)
B1(face1)
B1(face2)
average
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B1(face1)
B1(face2)
average
Figure 14; B2 having T-section with B/b=2,
ts/h=0.2 and =0.6%
Figure 13; B1having rectangular section and
=0.6%
435
B4(face1)
B4(face2)
0
50
100
150
200
250
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B4(face1)
B4(face2)
B4-average
B3(face1)
B3(face2)
B3-average
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B3(face1)
B3(face2)
B3-average
Figure 16; B4 having T-section with B/b=2.5,
t
s
/h=0.2 and =0.6%
Figure 15; B3 having T-section with
B/b=1.5,t
s
/h=0.2 and =0.6%
B6(face2)
B6(face2)
B6-average
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B6(face1)
B6(face2)
B6-average
B5(face1)
B5(face2)
B5-average
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B5(face1)
B5(face2)
B5-average
t
s
/h=0.15 and =0.48%
Figure 17; B5 having rectangular section with
=0.48%
B8(face1)
B8(face2)
B8-average
0
50
100
150
200
250
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B8(face1)
B8(face2)
B8-average
B7(face1)
B7(face2)
B7-average
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B7(face1)
B7(face2)
B7-average
t
s
/h=0.15 and =0.48%
Figure 19; B7 having T-section with B/b=2,
t
s
/h=0.15 and =0.48%
436
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B10(face1)
B10(face2)
B10-average
B9(face1)
B9(face2)
B9-average
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B9(face1)
B9(face2)
B9-average
t
s
/h=0.25 and =0.73%
Figure 21; B9 having rectangular section with
=0.73%
b12(face1)
b12(face2)
B12-average
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
b12(face1)
b12(face2)
B12-average B11(face1)
B11(face2)
B11-average
0
50
100
150
200
250
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
a/h
l
o
a
d

(
K
n
)
B11(face1)
B11(face2)
B11-average
t
s
/h=0.15 and =0.73%
t
s
/h=0.2 and =0.73%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
ts/h
l
o
a
d
(
K
n
)
ts/h=0.15
& r=0.48%
ts/h=0.2
& r=0.6%
0
50
100
150
200
250
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
B/b
l
o
a
d
(
K
n
)
Figure 26; Maximum load versus flange
thickness to beam depth ; t
s
/h
Figure 25; Load versus flange to web ratio; B/b
at maximum crack
MAXIMUM LOAD ATTAINED VERSUS RATIO OF B/b
Maximum load attained experimentally was compared for samples having different B/b ratio,
same ratio of t
s
/h and same reinforcement ratio in Figure 25. It is clear that for same t
s
/h and
ratio as the ratio of B/b increases the maximum crack load increases. In addition to that by
comparing the two curves in Figure 25, it is found that for the same ratio of B/b, as the ratio of t
s
/h
and increases the maximum load increases
437
MAXIMUM LOAD ATTAINED VERSUS RATIO OF t
s
/h
Maximum load was compared for samples having different ratio of t
s
/h, same ratio of B/b and
same ratio in Figure 26. It can be seen that as the ratio of t
s
/h increases the maximum load
increases. Yet, this increase is maximum as the cross section changes from rectangular to Tee.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions could be made:
1- The deflection is less for T shaped beams than rectangular beams especially for wide flanged T
beams and thick flanged T beams. Also, both beams get stiffer as increases.
2- The maximum capacity of the beam increases as the flange width increases or as increases.
On the other hand, the capacity is not much affected by increasing the slab thickness.
3- Bending cracks occur during loading at different sections other than the mid section (weakest
section). They cause some dissipation to the fracture energy.
4- The rate of the crack propagation decreases as the crack reaches the flange for T shaped beams.
Thus, the flange almost arrests the propagation of the cracks until maximum capacity is
reached.
REFERENCES
1. Naus; D. J., and Lott; J. L., Fracture Toughness Of Portland Cement Concrete,ACI, 1969.
2. Walsh; P. F., Fracture Of Plain Concrete, Indian Concrete Journal, 1972, pp.469-470.
3. Walsh; P. F.,Crack Initiation In Plain concrete , Magazine Of Concrete Research , Vol. 28,
1976, pp.37-41.
4. Carpentari; A. application Of Fracture Mechanics To Concrete structures, ASCE, Structural
division, Vol. 108, 1982, pp.883-848.
5. Yehia; N. A.B. "On the size effect on behavior and fracture of concrete beams", Journal of
Engineering and Applied Science, Cairo university, Vol. 48, No. 6, Dec 2001, pp. 1165-1182.
6. Yehia; N. A.B. "Determination of fracture parameters of concrete", Proceedings of the ninth
international colloquium on structural and geotechnical engineering, Cairo, April 2001.
7. Yehia; N. A.B. "Concrete Fracture in three and four point testing; Part2: Size effect and
modified work of fracture", Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, Cairo university,
Vol., 49 ,No. 6, Dec. 2002 , pp. 1123-1138 .
8. Baluch; M. H., Azad; A. K., and Ashmawi; W. Fracture Mechanics Application To
Reinforced Concrete Members In Flexure, In Application of Fracture Mechanics to
Reinforced Concrete, Edited by Carpentari; A., Elsevier Applied Science, London,pp.413-
436,1992.
9. Yehia; N. A.B., El-Tahan; W. W. , and Sorour; M. M., "Fracture of reinforced concrete
beams under displacement controlled testing" , The 7th International Conference on Concrete
Technology in Developing Countries, 58 October, 2004, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia..
10. Bosco; C., Carpentari; A., and Debernardi; P. G., Minimum Reinforcement In High Strength
Concrete, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE , Vol. 116, 1990, pp.427-437.
11. Yehia; N. A.B. "Size effect on Fracture of reinforced concrete beams: Experimental
investigation", proceedings of The Ninth Arab Structural Engineering Conference, Abu
Dhabi, Dec. 2003.
438
1. INTRODUCTION

Progressive collapse is a chain reaction mode of failure that is typically initiated with a local struc-
tural member failure spinning out of control and leading to a total catastrophic structural system
failure. Collapse propagation from the local member to the structure level is typically accompanied
with extensive structural and non-structural damage, significant loss in serviceability as well as
substantial loss in human life.

Progressive collapse is based on significant redistribution with the objective to achieve re-
quired strength at the cost of serviceability. Redistribution is therefore based on redundancy and
ductility. Redundancy is the ability to device an alternative load path for the structural system to
meet strength requirements. Ductility is the ability to exhibit large deformations. Progressive col-
lapse is consequently the ability of a structural system to device alternative configurations subse-
quent to cumulative loss of structural members with significant plastic deformations.

Unfortunately, progressive collapse is dealt with at the global level where progressive collapse
has already developed substantially. Containment in spread of collapse should be achieved to
minimize loss in strength and serviceability as well as loss in human life. Building structural sys-
tems should be ameliorated at design phase or retrofitted with existing conditions to intercept this
chain reaction ideally at inception stage. Mitigation of progressive collapse should eliminate local-
ized member collapse at inception and hence prevent the propagation of collapse before it has been
initiated.

Redistribution based on alternative load path to meet strength at the expense of ductility
should be avoided. This is commonly the case for structural members where the initiation of local-
ized failure can be identified.

With the recent events, particularly in catastrophic high rise building collapse, ground floor
structural members can be subjected to severe and exceptional events particularly vehicular impact
and explosions. Structural and non-structural components can be particularly subjected to signifi-
cant lateral concentrated and pressure loading generated by such events. The more severe and the
closer proximity to these structural elements the event is, the larger the impact on structural and

MITIGATION OF PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE
INITIATION IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

F. A. KASTI
Dar Al-Handasah,Verdun St.
P.O. Box: 11-7159, Beirut 1107 2230, Lebanon

ABSTRACT: The initiation of a number of progressive collapses in high rise buildings has been
attributed to environmentally and socially generated severe events. Progressive collapse has typi-
cally been initiated with structural components overloads in the immediate vicinity of such severe
events commonly leading to a catastrophic structural failure. Indirect measures have been under-
taken to prevent such severe events from adversely affecting building structural components. The
current research evaluates direct measures to enhance structural components to deal with such se-
vere events including explosion and building footprint penetration. The objective in upgrading
structural components is to prevent the initiation of the progressive in its initial phases. Recom-
mended design guidelines are discussed to upgrade structural systems at design stage to mitigate
progressive collapse due to undesirable overload and loss in carrying capacity. The current re-
search may be adapted as well to retrofit existing high rise structures to fulfill the same objectives.
Amplification of the load carrying capacity of vertical as well as horizontal structural elements is
required to directly overcome the overload.
439
non-structural components is expected. Localized failure will occur when the capacity of the struc-
tural element is exceeded.

Proper identification and selection of such classes of structural elements should be made be-
fore an adequate structural assessment and an upgraded design is implemented. The objective of
progressive collapse mitigation should consist in an enhanced structural system to resist the effects
of such severe events without any structural failure and loss in human life. Loss in serviceability
even with substantial damage to non-structural components should be limited.
2. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Recent unfortunate events related to the catastrophic failure of critical and special structural sys-
tems such as the World Trade Centers in New York and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City have initiated a new perspective to progressive collapse of such classes of struc-
tures given the unexpected severe loadings incurred and the sizeable sequence of events leading to
the total collapse.

Research into progressive collapse of structural systems can be classified into three broad
categories namely external protective measures and general guidance, analysis and design of struc-
tural systems as well as retrofit strategies. The current investigation falls within the class of struc-
tural protective measure retrofit strategy with the objective to prevent the initiation of localized
structural collapse that could have lead to catastrophic failure.

Astaneh-Asl
1
has investigated the collapse of both the World Trade Centers in New York as
well as the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The investigation discussed a practical and eco-
nomical approach that could be adopted for new construction as well as the retrofit of existing
structures. Additional external cable elements to an existing floor slab system could ameliorate the
behavior and prevent progressive collapse. Similar results are achieved with embedded internal
cable elements within a newly cast floor slab. Large deformations accompanied with substantial
inelastic behavior should be expected to induce catenary actions of the added cables. The use of
steel cables as a retrofit strategy is a simple and cost efficient measure to enhance strength and
stiffness at the expense of large inelastic behavior of floor systems.

Kasti
2
has proposed a new design concept and retrofit strategy for special structures particu-
larly high rise buildings. The proposal is largely based on similar design strategies preached by
other investigations to limit the extent of progressive collapse to a localized area. The proposed
approach is based on an added boundary beam element over the line of peripheral columns. The
approach can prove to be superior given the added stiffness and enhanced inelastic behavior
achieved with similar simplicity and cost efficiency to existing or new constructions.

Warn et al.
3
addressed the loss of vertical supports and subsequent progressive collapse in tall
buildings. Redundancy, continuity and ductility in gravity and lateral force resisting systems im-
prove building response to progressive collapse.

Kaewhulchai and Williamson
4
discussed the impact of dynamic effects on progressive col-
lapse. Dynamic effects amplify the effects of progressive collapse yielding higher forces, damage
and inelastic deformations.

440
Smith et al.
5
indicated that added robustness and redundancy conclude in effective alternative
load paths and reduced human loss and property damage. The concept of Demand to Capacity Ra-
tio (DCR) is introduced and indicates higher damage for higher ratio. A structural element is con-
sidered severely damaged or has already collapsed for DCR ratio less than 1.5 to 2.

Marjanishvili
6
discussed the advantages and disadvantages of a number of analytical methods
available for the study of progressive collapse ranging from linear-elastic static to nonlinear dy-
namic.
3. FORMULATION

Progressive collapse is a chain of events commonly initiated with a severe event such as an explo-
sion causing a localized element failure and leading to catastrophic failure. The objective of the
present study is the mitigation of progressive collapse before it is initiated. The goal is achieved
with the prevention of the initiation of localized structural collapse that could have lead to catas-
trophic failure.

The present study will be limited to the structural implications of the following two primary
classes of severe events: vehicle direct impact and explosion remote pressure loading. Vehicle di-
rect impact loading covers instances where vehicles such as cars and trucks penetrate building pe-
riphery and directly hit a structural element typically a major structural column. Explosion remote
pressure loading covers situations where vehicles such as cars and trucks are prohibited from
breaching the periphery of buildings. The explosion of such vehicles however, indirectly impact
individual structural elements through the applied pressure generated from event waves.

For vehicle direct impact loading, the response of structural elements is proportional to the
force (Fv) generated by the impact between the vehicle and the structural element it hits. The force
level due to impact will be function of the vehicle configuration and weight (Wv), the amplifica-
tion or dynamic factor (Fi) to scale up the vehicle weight, and the impact location within the struc-
tural element. A dimensionless number (Fl) equal to the fraction of the structural element length
(L) at which the impact occurs will be used in the formulation below (Figure 1).

For explosion remote pressure loading, the generated force level (Fe) will be function of the
severity or amplitude of the event or explosion (Ae), its vicinity to the structural element (De) and
the structural panel size or tributary width (Wt) and length (L) contributing to the generated force
on the structural element. The generated force is assumed uniformly distributed over the structural
element length (Figure 1). Other force configuration can be treated similarly.

In addition, an amplification factor due to disintegration (Fd) will also be used to represent the
degree of damage the structural element will be experiencing when subjected to impact or pressure
loading. The higher the damage, the less reserve capacity should be projected to remain and resist
impact or pressure loading, hence the higher disintegration factor (Fd).

For vehicle impact loading, the generated shear demand is directly proportional to the magni-
tude of the impact force and to its location measured as a fraction of the member length from
member ends. The magnitude of the impact force is obtained by scaling the vehicle weight with
the amplification factor (Fi) to account for the dynamic impact effects of the vehicle against the
structural element and by the disintegration factor (Fd) to amplify the shear force level to account
441
for capacity reduction due to expected damage. The magnitude of the maximum shear force gener-
ated along the member length can be conveniently expressed as follows:

Vi = maximum [Fl, (1-Fl)] * Fv (1)
Where
Fv = Wv * Fi * Fd

Similar reasoning can be applied to bending moment generated due to impact loading. For the
maximum moment located at the point of application of the lateral load, the expression can be
conveniently expressed for a simply supported element as follows:

Mi = Fl * (1-Fl) * Fv * L (2)

The value of Fi is primarily function of vehicle speed, commonly assumed to be 5. The value
of Fl varies between 0 and 0.5 for impact location closer to the ends or midspan of the member
respectively.

For explosion remote pressure loading, the generated shear demand is directly proportional to
the magnitude of the pressure generated by the explosion and the tributary area against which it is
acting. The magnitude of the remote pressure is proportional to the amplitude of the event (Ae),
distance from the structural element to the event (De) and the tributary width of the structural ele-
ment (Wt). An exponential variation in pressure magnitude in terms of distance will be represented
with a P function (Figure 2). The maximum shear generated at the ends of the member is obtained
for a simply supported element subjected to a uniform load:

Vp = * Fe * L, (3)
Where
Fe = Wt * [ Ae * P (De) ] * Fd

Maximum moment generated due to pressure loading is located at midspan of the structural
element assuming an ideal uniformly distributed equivalent load on the member. The maximum
bending moment is again obtained for a uniform load acting over a simply supported element:
Wt
Fv
Fl * L
L
Figure 1 Typical Loading Configuration
(a) Structural Element Subjected to Impact Loading Fv
(b) Structural Panel Subjected to Pressure Loading Fe
(a) (b)
L
442

Mi = 1/ 8 * Fe * L
2
(4)

4. PARAMETRIC STUDY

A comprehensive parametric study based on the expressions for shear and moment demand in
structural elements subjected to direct impact and remote pressure loading will be carried out. The
discussions will be based on the effects of geometry, event intensity and structural element disin-
tegration. Pinned-pinned member ends restraints will be assumed for the discussions. Other type of
restraints could be treated similarly and similar conclusions made.

The response of structural elements is significantly affected by geometrical considerations in
particular the proximity and distribution of the event away and within the element tributary length
or area respectively.

For vehicle impact loading, the impact location along the element length is of concern as
penetration of the building footprint has already taken place. Vehicular impact critical location
along the structural element is function of the response quantity sought as well as its location along
the structural element. The configuration of the structural element simplifies to a simply supported
member subjected to a concentrated impact loading along its length (Eq (1) and Eq (2)).

The variation of member internal shear force is linear for member end locations otherwise
piecewise-linear. In all cases, maximum shear is generated at the point where the shear force is
considered (Figure 3).

At member end points, the shear force distribution varies linearly from a maximum value at
the end considered to 0 on the other end. The magnitude of the maximum shear force is simply the
value of the vehicular impact force (Fv). The closer the impact is to the structural element ends,
the higher the shear force generated at the end locations.

At intermediate member locations, the shear force distribution is piecewise linear peaking out
at midspan. The shear force distribution increase from a 0 value at member ends to a maximum
value at midspan. The magnitude of the shear at midspan is half the value of the vehicular impact
force (Fv). The closer the impact is to the structural element midpsan, the higher the shear force
generated at that location.

De
P (De)
Figure 2 Exponentiel Variation of Remote Pressure Loading
443
Vehicular impact loading shear response is function of the relative location of the impact force
along the structural member in addition to the magnitude of the impact force. The impact force is
assumed to be acting perpendicular to the axis of the member to response of the element. The
configuration of the vehicle causing the impact loading is therefore critical. A truck size impact
loading could be as high as 60 Tons compared to a normal 1 Tons passenger car size. The differ-
ence is substantial and an increase in impact force should be expected for larger size heavier vehi-
cles.

For explosion remote pressure loading, the geometry of the tributary area impacted by the
event waves and the proximity of the event to the structural element is of concern. Explosion re-
mote pressure critical location along the structural element is function of the response quantity
sought and its location along the structural element length. The configuration of the structural ele-
ment simplifies to a simply supported member subjected to a uniformly distributed remote pres-
sure loading along its length (Eq (3) and Eq (4)).

The variation of member internal shear force is linear. The maximum shear force is generated
at member ends with a zero shear along member length. The magnitude of the maximum shear
force is half the remote pressure total resultant force (Fe) * (L) (Figure 4). The closer the event oc-
curs to the structural element, the higher the intensity of the remote pressure force and hence the
higher the shear force generated at the end locations.

Comparable statements can be issued for bending moment distributions along structural mem-
ber length.

Fv
Fv / 2
Shear at B
Fv
L
Fl * L
Fv
C B A
Figure 3 Shear force Distribution
Simply Supported System Subjected to a Concentrated Impact Load
Shear at A
Shear at C
444
For vehicular impact loading, the structural system simplifies to a simply supported element
subjected to a concentrated load along its span. Internal bending moment distribution is piecewise
linear peaking out at midspan. Bending moment distribution increases from a 0 value at member
ends to a maximum value at midspan. The closer the impact is to the structural element midpsan,
the higher the bending moment generated at that location. The envelope of the maximum bending
moment coincides with a vehicular impact location at element midspan (Figure 5).

For remote pressure loading, the simply supported element is subjected to a uniform load ex-
tending over the full element length assuming that the tributary area subjected to the pressure load-
ing extends over the member full length and width. Internal bending moment distribution is para-
bolic. The maximum bending moment is generated at element midspan (Figure 6).

Proximity to events is of concern for remote pressure loading only. Earlier discussions indicate
that pressure loading on structural elements is proportional to the intensity as well as the proximity
of the event to the structural element. The variation of the pressure loading in terms of the prox-
imity is exponential.

A disintegration factor is embedded in the formulation for structural element response to se-
vere events such as structural system boundary penetration and vicinity explosions. The disintegra-
tion factor accounts for potential damage structural elements can be subjected to when exposed to
these severe events.

The disintegration factor is a parameter that can be introduced at design stage and assessed to
suit the performance level expected and reduce the capacity of designed structural elements or am-
plify the response. The effective capacity of structural elements is therefore proportional to disin-
tegration. The higher the expected level of damage is the higher disintegration and the lower effec-
tive capacity that should be left over in resisting such severe events.

Fe * L / 2
Fe * L / 2
A
L
Fe
B
Figure 4 Shear force Distribution
Simply Supported System Subjected to a Uniformly Distributed Remote Load
445
The impact of successive severe events on structural elements can be represented in the disin-
tegration factor. Structural elements capacity is reduced to take into consideration the damage ex-
pected and the effective capacity left over. The disintegration factor should be carefully assessed
and increased to account for any expected cumulative increase in damage taking place for such
successive events.

The combination of vehicular impact loading together with explosion remote pressure loading
is potentially catastrophic. The vehicular impact loading will weaken the structural element
through the disintegration factor. The element is subsequently subjected to the explosion remote
pressure loading with an extremely high level intensity due to practically negligible event prox-
imity relative to the structural element.

Fe * L
2
/ 8
A
L
Fe
B
L
Fl * L Fv
C
B A
Figure 5 Bending Moment Distribution
Simply Supported System Subjected to a Concentrated Impact Load
Moment at C
Fv * L / 4
Figure 6 Bending Moment Distribution
Simply Supported System Subjected to a Uniformly Distributed Remote Load
446
5. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the most effective mean for mitigation of progressive collapse remains total preven-
tion. Such a perspective is based on the assumption that severe events such as explosions are not
allowed to penetrate the periphery of the structural system and does not directly load or overload
structural elements. Such an assumption is ideal. Structural designers should always consider the
potential that the boundary line can be violated and as such structural elements localized failure
could occur if overloaded by such severe events unless structural capacities are enhanced to cater
for such overloads.

Progressive collapse commonly yields catastrophic structural failure if not properly mitigated.
Progressive collapse is commonly initiated with the loss of a vertical or horizontal structural ele-
ment at any floor level within the structure particularly in the neighborhood of ground floors of
high-rise building structural systems. Structural components such as column and beam elements
are most susceptible to severe events such as explosions even within the vicinity. The mitigation of
progressive collapse typically should address strengthening both classes of horizontal and vertical
structural components within the structure to allow alternative load path to develop and redistrib-
ute the sustained loads.

Prevention of progressive collapse should however ideally eliminate local structural compo-
nent failure in the first place. The elimination process is primarily based on the identification of
the locations where initiation of localized structural failures will occur. Once these locations are
pinpointed then these elements should be subjected to structural strengthening to ameliorate their
behavior in response to such severe events. For explosions and similar events, the identification
could be simplified by the fact that such severe events occur in the vicinity of ground floors.

A number of options are available in strengthening ground floor structural components. The
most effective mean would be to directly enhance the capacity of the susceptible structural element
to meet the impact of such severe events. Shear force and bending moments are generated in struc-
tural elements when subjected to impact or remote pressure loading. Higher shear and higher
bending moments are expected for higher event intensity, closer event proximity, larger tributary
configuration and proper selection of critical response location. Additional shear and bending
moment reinforcement could prove to be necessary.

The scope of the current research does not address structural integrity of the evaluated struc-
tural components. However, the level of shaking and deterioration that these elements are sub-
jected to is a reminder to what is experienced during the occurrence of strong seismic events. Sub-
sequently, it seems an advantage to preserve the integrity of these structural elements with
increased confinement and containment to ameliorate disintegration and shattering, improve duc-
tility or compensate for material loss.

The design for severe events can be easily incorporated in the design process particularly for
special structures such as high rise buildings by introducing a strength reduction factor that applies
to the capacity of structural elements in shear, bending and ductility. The reduction factor could be
performance based including the importance of the structural element or structural system, vicinity
of the event to the structural member, the severity of the event to which the structural system is
subjected to and the level of damage expected to structural and non-structural components.
447
6. REFERENCES

1. Astaneh-Asl, A., Progressive Collapse Prevention in New and Existing Buildings, Pro-
ceedings of the 9
th
Arab Structural Engineering Conference, Emerging Technologies in
Structural Engineering, Nov 29 Dec 1, 2003 Abu Dhabi, UAE.

2. Kasti, F., Progressive Collapse in High Rise Buildings, 7
th
International Conference on
Multi-Purpose High-Rise Towers and Tall Buildings, Dubai, U.A.E., December 10-11, 2005.

3. Warn, G., Berman, J., Wittaker, A., and Bruneau, M., Reconnaissance and Preliminary As-
sessment of a Damaged High-Rise Building Near Ground Zero, The Structural Design of
Tall and Special Buildings 12, 371-391, 2003.

4. Kaewhulchai, G., and Williamson, E. B., Dynamic Behavior of Planar Frames During Pro-
gressive Collapse Proceedings of the 16
th
ASCE Engineering Mechanics Conference July
16-18, 2003, University of Washington Seattle, USA.

5. Smith, J. L., Swatzell, S. R., and Hall, B., Prevention of Progressive Collapse DOD Guid-
ance and Application need to add where it was published.

6. Marjanishvili, S. M., Progressive Analysis Procedure for Progressive Collapse, Journal of
Performance of Constructed Facilities, ASCE, Vol. 18, No. 2, 79-85, 2004.

7. Aalami, B. and Kasti, F., "Segmental Analysis and Design Fundamentals, Time Dependent
Effects", American Segmental Bridge Institute Seminar, Albany, NY April 22 - 23, 1996. 34
pages.

8. American Concrete Institute, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete ACI
318-02, ACI Committee 318, P.O. Box 9094, Farmington Hills, MI 48333-9094, USA,
2002.
448

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY AND STRUCTURAL MODELLING OF
POST-TENSIONED FLAT SLABS
A. S. ESSAWY, A. A. ABDELRAHMAN, AND E. A. YEHIA
Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University
1
st
Alsarayat Street, Abbassai, Cairo, Egypt11517

ABSTRACT: Post-tensioned (PT) flat slabs become a preferred alternative construction system
in multi-story buildings worldwide. This is due to time saving caused by early removal of formwork
and overall cost saving compared to traditional reinforced concrete flat slabs. The savings are
expected from the small concrete dimensions of PT slabs and consequently reduced loads on
columns and foundations as well as the reduced cost of overall steel reinforcement. This
construction technique can be utilized in several applications such as parking garages, offices,
residential buildings, and industrial facilities. Design of PT slabs can be accomplished using
approximate methods presented by different codes of practice, which can only be applied for slabs
with regular column arrangements. However, irregular structures need to be analyzed using other
techniques such as the finite element method (FEM). In this paper, literature of commonly used
construction techniques and design guidelines of PT slabs are reviewed. Different code
requirements for the analysis and design of PT slabs like CSA standard A23.3-94, ECCS 203-2001,
BS8110- 1997, and ACI 318-05 are presented and critically compared. An analytical model of PT
slabs using available computer codes is also reported and results of this model, in terms of
deformations under service loading conditions, are compared to the results of other commercially
available codes specifically made for PT slabs. Behaviour of the slabs with different aspect ratios,
different layouts of prestressing tendons and under different applied live load levels is analysed and
studied. Cost comparisons of PT and reinforced concrete (RC) slabs are discussed in each case and,
finally, design recommendations of post-tensioned flat slabs are suggested.
INTRODUCTION
Prestressing structural elements started as early as 1872, however, prestressed slabs started at
1888 using metal wires
1
. Since then, several developments were achieved. Post-tensioned (PT)
slabs are considered an advantageous construction system for large spans. Its popularity is due to
its higher durability, lighter weights, less reinforcing steel amounts, and less construction time.
Different codes of practice set the limitations and recommendations for the analysis and
design of PT slabs. A comparison between different code requirements concerning the analysis
and design of prestressed elements, and especially post-tensioned slabs is performed and reported
hereafter. Analysis of PT slabs with regular geometries can be conducted through analysis
methods set by different codes. However, for slabs with irregular column layout and geometry, a
precise finite element (FE) model is required for the analysis and design of such slabs using
available computer codes in the market.
In this paper, analysis of post-tensioned flat slabs with different aspect ratios and different
loading levels is also introduced. Finally, recommendations for analysis and design of post-
tensioned slabs are proposed.
449

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS OF PT SLABS IN DIFFERENT CODES
Concrete design codes such as the Egyptian code ECCS-2001-203
2
, British code BS8110
3
,
Canadian code CSA standard A23.3-94
4
, and American code, ACI
5
specify different
requirements for analysis and design of PT slabs. Of these requirements are those concerning
minimum concrete strength at transfer and final stages, allowable stresses, span to depth ratio,
shear strength, moment redistribution, and tendon spacing. Major differences are summarized in
Table 1.
From this table several remarks and differences between codes can be noted. For moment
redistribution, CSA A23.3-94, BS 8110, and ACI 318M-05 allow the redistribution of moments
up to 20%. However, the ECCS 203-2001 limited the redistribution of moments to 10%. All codes
required existence of bonded reinforcement to allow for moment redistribution.
ACI code classified the sections according to the allowable tensile stresses in working stage to
U uncracked, T transition, and C cracked sections. However, BS 8110 divided sections into
class 1, 2, and 3 in both working and transfer stages. Neither the ECCS 203-2001 nor the CSA
A23.3-94 provided any classification of sections. The maximum allowable stresses due to axial
loading were limited by the ECCS 203-2001 and BS 8110 code to 0.25 f
cu
; however, no
limitations were mentioned by any of CSA A23.3-94 or ACI code.
BS 8110 code did not also specify a value for the minimum average compressive stress.
However, the CSA standard A23.3-94 required a minimum value of compressive stress of 0.80
MPa. The ECCS 203-2001 code, and ACI 318M-05 code set this value to 0.90 MPa. The CSA
A23.3-94 clearly stated that no bonded reinforcement is required for fully prestressed members;
however, the ECCS 203-2001 required minimum reinforcement only for unbonded slabs. ACI
318M-02 required bonded reinforcement in case that spacing between tendons exceeds 1.40 m.
The minimum required moment resistance was limited to 1.20 M
cr
by CSA A23.3-94, ECCS
203-2001, and ACI 318 M-05. The BS 8110 standard did not require a value for minimum
moment resistance. Prestressed slabs should be designed as uncracked section according to ACI
318 M-05. No requirements were given for design criteria of prestressed slabs in the CSA A23.3-
94 and BS 8110. The ECCS 203-2001 code did not allow for cracks in the design of any
prestressed members. BS 8110 standard did not require a value for the maximum spacing between
tendons. A maximum spacing of 8 t
s
or 1500 mm, whichever smaller as required by the ACI 318
M-05, and CSA A23.3-94. ECCS 203-2001, however, required a maximum spacing of 6 t
s
or
1500 mm, whichever smaller.
MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF POST-TENSIONED FLAT SLABS
Modeling of PT Slabs
Analysis of PT slabs can be performed using different analysis methods specified in the design
codes such as equivalent frame method. Equivalent frame analysis can be used for the analysis of
both reinforced and prestressed concrete slab systems at both service and ultimate load conditions.
Equivalent frame method divides the structure into series of frames in the orthogonal directions
consisting of horizontal slab strip, columns supporting members, and elements that provide
moment transfer between the slab and supporting elements. Equivalent frame method can be
applied only to slabs with regular columns arrangements.

450

Table 1. Comparison between different code requirements related to PT slabs
*
CSA -A23.3-94 ECCS BS 8110- part1
(1997)
ACI 318M-05
Min f
cu

(or f'
c
)
Trans-
fer
22 MPa 25 MPa 28 MPa - Multi
strands
17.5 MPa -Single
strand

Working
30 MPa 35 MPa
Max f
c

axial
N/A 0.25f
cu
0.25f
cu
N/A
Different
Classes
Fully prestressed
if
f
t
0.50f
c
1/2

Partially
prestressed if f
t
>
0.50f
c
1/2

N/A Class (1)
tensile stresses
not allowed
Class (2) for
PT f
t
.36
Class (3)
limited crack
width
Uncracked Class
(U) considered
for slabs. While
transition Class
(T) and cracked
Class (C) only
considered for
other elements
Min-avg. f
c
0.80 MPa 0.9 MPa N/A 0.9 MPa
Min area of
bonded rft.
No bonded rft
required
(for bonded
tendons and full
prestressing)
N/A
For bonded
tendons
N/A If tendons
spacing > 1.40 m
bonded rft are
required
(L/t) N/A N/A N/A L/t 42 floors,
L/t48 - roofs
Min. M
r
M
r
1.2M
cr
M
r
1.2M
cr
M
r
1.2M
cr

Max
spacing
8 t
s
or 1500 mm 6 t
s
or 1500
mm
N/A 8 t
s
or 1500 mm
Two way
slabs
N/A N/A N/A Prestressed 2
way slabs shall
be designed as
class U
Punching
Shear
strength

V
cw
= 0.4
c
N/A 1- for interior
column Veff =
Vt (1+ 1.5)
2- For edge
columns Veff =
Vt (1.25 + 1.5)
Vc = (b
p
+ 0.3
f
pc
) b
o
d +V
p

If c` 35 MPa, 0.9
< f
pc
<3.5 MPa
, b
p
is the smaller
of 0.29 or ; s =
40 for
*
Variables definitions as per respective code notation.

Finite element analysis can be applied for irregular structures with variable geometries. It
depends on dividing the structure into a number of small elements representing different structural
materials such as concrete, prestressing, and non-prestressing steel as well as different geometries
such as slabs, beams and columns. Structural modeling of PT slabs using finite element requires
choice of the element, connection between slab and column, mesh definition, load application,
prestressing application, and definition of design strips
6
. Modeling of PT flat slabs in this study
451

was performed using SAP2000 software package as one of the most familiar and widespread
software packages available in the market.
Three different modeling techniques using a combination of frame and shell elements were
used to model the PT flat slab while frame elements fixed at their extremities were used in all
models for columns. The first model used only shell elements; while the post-tensioning forces
were introduced as an equivalent load applied at the joints at the location of each tendon (see
Fig.1). Its difficulty was in calculation and application of the equivalent loads especially in
continuous spans. The second modeling scheme was grillage modeling using frame elements only.
Post-tensioning forces were modeled as a force and eccentricity as specified in SAP2000
prestressing force modeling technique. Increased deflection values were obtained in this model
due to the lack of torsional stiffness in frame elements. The third modeling technique used a
combination of shell and frame elements
7
. The torsional stiffness of the slab was fully utilized and
SAP2000 prestressing force modeling technique was easily used on the frame elements.
In order to verify the performed analyses and establish the accuracy of the suggested models,
analysis of the same panel was performed using ADAPT which is a software package
specifically developed for the analysis and design of PT slabs. Deflection values due to self-
weight and prestressing force at mid-span of the four models were observed and compared. The
third model was used in the analysis performed in this study since it had similar results to those
obtained by ADAPT.

Y
X
Y
X
RY=0
RX=0
Fixed
Support
Fixed
Support
10.00
1
0
.
0
0
0
.
2
5
6
.
5
0
0
.
2
5
0.25
6.50
0.25
0.50
0
.
5
0
24
1.50 1.50
1
.
5
0
1
.
5
0

Slab Model
e
e P
P Cos
P Sin P Sin
P
P Cos
Pe
10.00
0
.
2
4
0
.
1
2
Pe = 0.072 t/m` (0.72kN/m`)
0.36 ton
10 ton
0.36 ton
10 ton
0
.
0
9

Figure 1. Modeling of PT flat slabs and equivalent load for model number 1

452

Analysis of PT Slabs
The objective of the following analysis was to study the effect of different tendon layouts,
different slab aspect ratios, and different loading levels on the design of PT slabs.
All the analyzed slabs were interior panels and divided into three groups according to their
aspect ratios. The four applied different tendon patterns were as shown in figure 2. The first was
banded tendon pattern in both directions, whereas the second was uniform tendon pattern in the
two directions. The third was banded tendon in one direction and uniform in the orthogonal
direction, and finally in the fourth pattern tendon were distributed 75%: 25% column to field
strips, respectively, in the two directions. The four tendon patterns were applied to all test slabs.
Design of PT slabs under slab self-weight, floor cover of 2.0 kN/m
2
, and live load of 2.0
kN/m
2
was studied. The following aspects were considered in all test panels, 8 tendons were used
in each direction, concrete cube strength of 40 MPa, and 30 MPa at working and transfer stages,
respectively. Post-tensioning tendons used were multi strands of ultimate stress 1860 MPa
according to ASTM-A416M-98.
The objective of the analysis for aspect ratio 1 was to determine the required post-
tensioning forces to satisfy the allowable stresses limits according to the Egyptian code ECCS-
203-2001. It should be mentioned that Collins and Mitchell
6
calculated the upward forces for
square panels with different tendon patterns. However, for PT slabs with aspect ratios 1.33 and 2
the objective was to determine the ratio between the applied post-tensioning force in the long and
short directions at which a uniform stress distribution can be obtained in the X and Y directions
and then apply the optimum ratio with different stress levels to satisfy code requirements. The
analysis of PT slabs with aspect ratios of 1.33 and 2.0 revealed that the optimum ratios that
verified a uniform stress distribution in X and Y directions were 1.75 and 2.0, respectively. It
should be mentioned that the banded tendons in pattern No. 3 were used in the short direction and
the distributed tendons in the long direction.

Normal
reinforcement
Pattern No. "1"
Pattern No. "3" Pattern No. "4"
Pattern No. "2"

Figure 2. Different post-tensioning tendon patterns
453

Table 2 illustrates summary of the required post-tensioning force for each slab and tendon
pattern. RC flat slabs of the same dimensions of PT slabs were also analyzed and economically
compared to PT ones.

Table 2. Analyzed slabs and required post-tensioning force
Slab Dimensions Pattern Px Py Cost/m
2

Lx (m) Ly (m) ts (mm) kN/ tendon kN/tendon EGP
1 12.50 12.50 300 1 1150 1150 270.8
2 12.50 12.50 300 2 1400 1400 272.0
3 12.50 12.50 300 3 1350 1350 265.5
4 12.50 12.50 300 4 1300 1300 258.0
5 10.0 10.0 240 1 600 600 195.0
6 10.0 10.0 240 2 950 950 227.0
7 10.0 10.0 240 3 700 700 183.0
8 10.0 10.0 240 4 700 700 183.0
9 7.50 7.50 180 1 300 300 137.0
10 7.50 7.50 180 2 350 350 127.0
11 7.50 7.50 180 3 350 350 127.0
12 7.50 7.50 180 4 350 350 127.0
13 10.0 7.50 220 1 438 350 161.8
14 10.0 7.50 220 2 625 500 172.0
15 10.0 7.50 220 3 500 400 148.8
16 10.0 7.50 220 4 500 400 148.8
17 10.0 5.0 180 1 368 210 168.0
18 10.0 5.0 180 2 368 210 146.0
19 10.0 5.0 180 3 368 210 146.0
20 10.0 5.0 180 4 368 210 146.0

From this table it can be noted that in all cases, tendon pattern No.1 required the least amount
of post-tensioning force, and the next tendon patterns in order are patterns 3 and 4 in all cases.
This is attributed to the additional non-prestressed steel that should be added to PT slab to
reinforce the area between the banded tendons. For PT slab of dimensions 12.5 x 12.5 m, the
minimum required PT force was for tendon pattern 1 however the least cost/m
2
was 258.0 EGP
for tendon pattern 4. For 10.0 x 10.0 m PT slab, the least overall cost was for patterns, 3 and 4
with overall cost 183 EGP/m
2
. For 7.5 x 7.5 m PT slab, the least overall cost was for patterns 2, 3
and 4 with overall cost 127 EGP/m
2
. For PT slabs of dimensions 10.0 x 7.5 m, the more
economical tendon patterns were patterns 3 and 4 with a total cost of 148.8 EGP/m
2
. Finally, 10.0
x 5.0 m PT slabs required the same PT force in the four tendon patterns; however non-prestressed
reinforcement increased the total cost of pattern 1 over the other three patterns with 146.0
EGP/m
2
.
For comparison between RC and PT slabs, the slabs with tendon pattern of least overall costs
were compared to that of RC slabs with same dimensions. Figure 3 illustrates a comparison
between the total costs of PT slabs versus RC ones. The economic saving was 15.7 %, 16.3%,
10.0%, 18.0%, and 8.0% for slabs with dimensions of 12.50 x 12.50, 10.0 x 10.0, 7.50 x 7.50, 10
x 7.50, and 10.0 x 5.0 m, respectively. It should be noted that this savings are only due to the slab
cost, however additional savings could also be expected through the reduced loads on columns
and foundations and consequently their cost.
454

110
160
210
260
310
56.25 100 156.25 75 50
Slab Dimensions
C
o
s
t

E
G
P

p
e
r

m
2
PT slabs
RC slabs
7.50 x 7.50 10 x 10 12.5 x 12.5 10 x 7.5 10 x5

Figure 3. Cost comparison between RC and PT slabs
ANALYSIS OF PT FLAT SLABS UNDER DIFFERENT LIVE LOADS
To investigate the influence of live load on the design of PT slabs, analysis of PT slabs under
different live load levels is reported in this section. Live loads (LL) of 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 kN/m
2

were applied to PT slabs of dimensions 10.0 x 10.0 m, 10.0 x 7.5 m, and 10.0 x 5.0 m with tendon
pattern number 3. This pattern was specifically selected as it was proved in the previous section to
be the most economical and most practical pattern in construction due to its easy application or
constructability. For PT slabs, increase of the required post-tensioning force to counteract the
applied loads resulted in unsafe stresses at the transfer stage that required increase in slab
thickness.

From the performed analyses, increase in live load values resulted in increase in slab thickness
in 10.0 x 10.0 and 10.0 x 7.5 m PT slabs. For 10.0 x 5.0 m slab, this increase in live load did not
result in increase in plate thickness as the minimum required PT force increased with the increase
in slab thickness. However, this increase in slab thickness and consequently the total cost of PT
slabs did not affect its economy versus RC slabs. Summary of the analysis of PT slabs and the
increase in slab thickness with the increase in live load values and the total cost of each plate is
shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Analyzed slabs and required post-tensioning steel amounts
PT slab t
s
L.L value PT steel amount Concrete Total cost/m
2

Dims. (mm) kN/m
2
Ton kg/m
2
m
3
EGP
240 4.0 0.97 9.7 24.0 215.0
280 6.0 1.0 10.0 27.0 227.5
10.0 x 10.0
320 8.0 1.0 10.0 32.0 240.0
220 4.0 0.465 6.2 18.0 159.2
260 6.0 0.465 6.2 21.0 169.2
10.0 x 7.50
300 8.0 0.465 6.2 24.0 179.2
220 4.0 0.325 6.5 9.0 153.0
220 6.0 0.446 8.92 9.0 158.0
10.0 x 5.00
220 8.0 0.418 8.36 11.0 193.0

Analysis of RC slabs with the same dimensions subjected to the same live load levels was
performed and comparison between the total cost of RC and PT slabs are introduced in Figures 4
and 5.
455

From the results of PT slabs subjected to live load 4 kN / m
2
, a total cost savings of 8.0%,
24.0%, and 19.0% were obtained for 10.0 x 10.0, 10 x 7.50, and 10.0 x 5.0 m slabs, respectively.
For live load of 6 kN / m
2
, a total savings of 11.80%, 28.0%, and 23.0% were obtained for 10.0 x
10.0, 10 x 7.50, and 10.0 x 5.0 m slabs, respectively. Finally, for live load of 8 kN / m
2
, a total
savings of 14.0%, 33.0%, and 9.0% were obtained for 10.0 x 10.0, 10 x 7.50, and 10.0 x 5.0 m
slabs, respectively.

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
C
o
s
t

E
G
P

p
e
r

m
2
LL 4 kN/m2 LL 6 kN/m2 LL 8 kN/m2
10 x 10 10 x 7.5 10 x 5

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
C
o
s
t

E
G
P

p
e
r

m
2
LL 4 kN/m2 LL 6 kN/m2 LL 8 kN/m2
10 x 10 10 x 7.5 10 x 5

Figure 4. Total cost of PT flat slabs subjected to
different live loads
Figure 5. Total cost of RC flat slabs subjected to
different live loads
CONCLUSIONS
The following are the main conclusions that can be drawn from the performed analyses:
(1) The suggested technique for modeling of PT flat slabs using a combination of frame and shell
elements resulted in accurate predictions similar to those obtained by ADAPT software
while yet using commonly available package.
(2) Prestressed concrete design requirements in newly developed codes need thorough
investigations and studies in order to bridge gaps and cover missing items in these codes of
practice.
(3) PT slabs verified economic saving in material cost per m
2
relative to RC ones under different
live load values and with the increase of slab aspect ratio.
REFERENCES
1. Nawy, E. G., Prestressed Concrete: A Fundamental Approach, 4th ed., Prentice Hall, NJ,
2003.
2. Egyptian Code of Practice ECCS 203-2001, 7th ed., 2001.
3. BS 8110- Part 1, 1997, British Standards.
4. CSA Standard A23.3-94 Design of Concrete Structures with Explanatory Notes.
5. ACI 318 M-05, and Commentary, (ACI 318 RM-02) Building Code Requirements for
Structural Concrete.
6. Collins M. and Mitchell D., Prestressed Concrete Structures, Response Publications,
Canada, 1997, 766p.
456

BEHAVIOR OF HIGH-STRENGTH REINFORCED CONCRETE L-BEAMS
SUBJECTED TO COMBINED SHEAR AND TORSION

ALAA ZOHERY, HAMED SALEM, WAEL ELDEGWY, AND AHMED FARAHAT
Structural Engineering. Dept., Cairo University
Giza, Egypt.

HAMDY SHAHEEN
Housing and Building Research Institute
Giza, Egypt.

ABSTRACT: The behavior of high-strength reinforced concrete L-shaped beams subjected to combined
shear and torsion was investigated both experimentally and analytically. An experimental program
consisting of nine half-scale reinforced concrete beams was conducted. The test specimens had different
values of slab thickness and width. For a comprehensive understanding of the beams' behavior, a fully three-
dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis was carried out. The effect of the slab width and thickness on
the beams behavior was investigated. Comparing the experimental results with the estimated torsional
capacities using three different design codes, it was concluded that the design codes are conservative and
could be uneconomic for torsion design. It was also found that the torsional capacity based on the crushing
of the concrete diagonals predicted by the ACI 318-02 design code multiplied by 1.15, could be the most
economic design capacity for high strength L-beams subjected to combined shear and torsion. On the other
hand, the torsional capacity calculated according to the amount of longitudinal or transversal reinforcement
was found to be very conservative.
INTRODUCTION
In spite of the growing use and applications of high-strength concrete, a lack of both experimental data and
practical experience with such concretes is noticeable. Therefore, most of the current design codes put
limitations for the use of the high-strength concrete. For example, the ACI 318-02 code [1] limits the
concrete compressive strength used for shear strength to 70 MPa, while the ECCS 203-2001 [2] limits it to
40 MPa. In fact, most of the design codes are not well-established for the design of high-strength concrete in
general and for shear and torsion design of high-strength concrete in particular.
Although the edge beams of reinforced concrete buildings are built as L-shaped beams, composed of the
beams and the monolithically cast slabs, the effect of the slab on the torsional capacity for the L-beams is
permitted to be neglected in some design codes such as the ECCS 203-2001 [2]. The L-beam could then be
approximated to a rectangular one with the same web width. This means that a part of the integral beam-slab
assembly is completely ignored. Due to the relative simplicity of torsion design of rectangular sections
compared to the flanged ones, most of engineers in Egypt follow this section of the ECCS 203-2001 [2] and
neglect the slab effect. It appears that a more economical and efficient design can be obtained if the slab part
of the beam is completely accounted for when calculating the torsional capacity of the beam. It therefore
becomes a meaningful question that; how uneconomic is the negligence of the slab in the torsion design of
L-sections?
Few experimental works studying the torsional behavior of L-shaped reinforced concrete beams had been
found in the literature [3, 4, 5, 6]. However, most of them focused on normal-strength concrete. On the other
hand, experimental works studying the torsional behavior of high-strength concrete beams concentrated on
rectangular sections [7, 8, 9, 10]. It therefore seems that there is still a need to study the torsional behavior of
high-strength L-beams. Therefore, an experimental program is carried out in the present study to investigate
such behavior. It can be realized that two major parameters can affect the behavior of reinforced concrete L-
beams under torsion, namely the slab thickness and slab width. Therefore, beams with different values of
slab width and thickness are tested in the present study.
457
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The significance of the present study arises from two points. The first point is the need to understand the
torsional behavior of "high-strength" L-beams, which seems to be un-completely covered by the design
codes. The second point is to investigate the "slab contribution" to the high-strength L-beam behavior under
pure torsion and to answer the question; how uneconomic is the negligence of the slab in the torsion design
of L-sections?
An experimental program consisting of nine L-shaped beams was carried out. The specimens' details are
shown in Fig. 1. While keeping the beams' width as 200 mm and the beams' depth as 400 mm, the slab
thickness and width are varied as shown in Table 1. According to the slab thickness, the test specimens can
be classified into three main groups with different ratios of slab thickness (t
s
) to overall beam depth (t),
namely (t
s
/t) = 0.45, 0.35 and 0.25 respectively. For each group, there are three different values of slab width
(B) to beam width (b), namely (B/b) = 2.0, 1.625 and 1.25, respectively. On the other hand, according to the
slab width, the test specimens can be classified into three main groups with different ratios of slab width to
beam width, namely 2.0, 1.625 and 1.25, respectively. For each group, there are three different values of slab
thickness to overall beam depth, namely 0.45, 0.35 and 0.25 respectively.
Material Properties
High strength steel (grade 36/52) with diameters of 10 mm and16 mm was used in specimens. Standard
tension tests were performed on steel specimen according to ASTM using MTS 50 tons universal testing
machine. Three steel specimens were tested for each bar diameter and the average value was considered.
Table 2 shows the test results of each specimen including yield strength, ultimate strength and the elongation
percentage.
Trial mixes were designed and tested for HSC, the mix proportions of concrete were designed to achieve a
compressive cube-strength of 90 MPa after 28 days. The mix proportions for sand: crushed dolomite:
cement: water: silica fume: super plasticizer were 600: 1500: 542: 158: 18.8: 21.5 kg/m
3
.
Preparation of Test Specimen
The test beams were cast in wooden forms. The concrete was mechanically mixed and compacted using light
mechanical vibrators. After 24 hours, the sides of the form were removed. The beams were cured with water
for about 10 days, and tested after 28 days.Three standard cubes were cast using the same mix, in order to
determine the compressive strength of the mix. These cubes were kept at the same environmental conditions
as the tested beams until the day of testing. Tests were carried out to determine the mechanical properties of
the concrete mix according to the ECCS 203-2001 [2]. The average compressive strength of the cubes was
90 MPa at age of 28-days.
Test Set-Up and Instrumentations
The experimental program was carried out at the Housing and Building Research Center (HBRC) at Cairo.
As shown in Fig. 2, two in-plane hydraulic jacks were firstly incrementally loaded, each increment
represented about 25% of the predetermined shear value (15 ton). The two vertical loads were applied
together using one manually controlled hydraulic pump with two valves, assuring equal loads. After the
action of the full shear force, a displacement-control torque was applied through loading the tip of the metal
cantilever shown in Fig. 2. The torque was increased gradually until a formation of clear failure pattern
resulting in either degradation in torque values or excessive deformations.
Figure 2 shows the straining actions in the test region of the specimens. The test region was subjected to a
constant shear force, P, (30 ton), a bending moment varying from -0.575 P to 0.575P (-17.25 to 17.25 m.t) at
its ends, and an incrementally applied torque (T). The point of contra-flexure was obtained at the mid-length
of the test region.
The rotation was measured using a simple device consisted of two Linear Variable Displacement
Transducers (LVDT) spaced at 500 mm. The rotation was calculated by dividing the vector summation of
the vertical displacement measured by the two LVDT by 500-mm. Figure 4 shows the arrangement of the
LVDT used to measure the rotation. In addition, the propagation of cracks at each incremental load was
458
observed. The mode of failure, ultimate torque, torque- rotation relationships, strains in the longitudinal steel
and stirrups and concrete principal strains were determined.

3 18
1 12
3
3
1 12
3 18
3 18
2 10
3 18
1 10
Test zone 1150 mm 400 mm
2
100 mm
6 18
1
637.5 mm 62.5 mm
10 mm @100 mm c/c
2
10 mm @ 104.54 mm c/c
3 18
1
400 mm
10 mm @
60 mm c/c
3 18
3 18
1 12
3
3
1 12
3 18
3 18
2 10
3 18
1 10
Test zone 1150 mm 400 mm
2
100 mm
6 18
1
637.5 mm 62.5 mm
10 mm @100 mm c/c
2
10 mm @ 104.54 mm c/c
3 18
1
400 mm
10 mm @
60 mm c/c
3 18

Fig. 1 Details of test specimens

Table 1 Details of test specimens
Longitudinal bars at
Sec (1-1)
Specimen
b
w

(mm)
B
(mm)
t
s

(mm)
t
(mm)
d
(mm)
Top Bottom
Stirrups
B1S
B2S
B3S
B4S
B5S
B6S
B7S
B8S
B9S
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
400
325
250
400
325
250
400
325
250
180
180
180
140
140
140
100
100
100
400
400
400
400
400
400
400
400
400
360
360
360
360
360
360
360
360
360
3 18
3 18
3 18
3 18
3 18
3 18
3 18
3 18
3 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
6 18
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
10/ 104 mm
Table 2 Properties of reinforcing bars
Nominal
diameter
( mm )
Grade
Actual area
( mm
2
)
Yield stress
( MPa )
Ultimate
strength
( MPa )
Elongation
%
10
12
16
18
36/52
36/52
36/52
36/52
77
108
193
245
380
399
379
386
610
642
605
614
17.72
18.35
17.65
17.74

459

Fig. 2 loading set-up
0.575 P
0.675 P
0.575 P
2P
T
B.M.D
T.M.D
0.575 0.575 0.3375
0.0625
P
0.1
2P
0.40 0.6375
( P + T/ 0.635 )
0.0625
S.F.D
2P T / 0.635
0.6375 P

50
1Y10
Hinge
Hinge
Plate 3mm
5
0
Rod
LVDT(5)
Hinge
500 mm
Rigid Floor
Rod
LVDT(6)
Disp (6) Disp (5)
Hinge
Plate 3mm
5
0
25
100
Angle 50x5
T
1Y10
4
0
0
25 B 25 25 25 mm
50
1Y10
Hinge
Hinge
Plate 3mm
5
0
Rod
LVDT(5)
Hinge
500 mm
Rigid Floor
Rod
LVDT(6)
Disp (6) Disp (5)
Hinge
Plate 3mm
5
0
25
100
Angle 50x5
T
1Y10
4
0
0
25 B 25 25 25 mm
Fig. 3 Straining actions in beams Fig. 4 Rotation measurements
The specimens side where the shear flow due to shear force and torsion has the same direction is called (v+
t), while the other side is called (v- t). The shear forces have resulted in diagonal tension cracks of the same
directions for both sides (v+ t) & (v- t). The diagonal tension cracks started at the middle height and
propagated towards the top and bottom surfaces with the increase in the value of the shear force. Flexural
cracks also developed at the bottom surface of the test zone near to the location of the maximum bending
moment.
The application of the twisting moment resulted in a considerable increase in both the length and the width
of the existing cracks at the side (v+ t) and additional cracks were developed. The inclination of those cracks
to longitudinal axis of the test zone varied from 40 to 45. Diagonal cracks at top and bottom faces of the
test zone also developed and propagated with the increase in the value of the applied torque. The width of
these cracks at side (v- t), however, got smaller with the increase in the applied torque.
It has been noticed that the angle of inclination of the crack developed at side ( v+t ) became flatter and
decreased gradually during the propagation of the cracks towards the specimen corners. By this way, cracks
intercepted more number of stirrups at this side and forces carried by both stirrups and longitudinal
reinforcement had been redistributed.
460

(a) Side (v+t) (b) Side (v-t)
Fig. 5 Typical observed cracking pattern for test specimens
Close to the ultimate torque, cracks perpendicular to the original cracks at side (v- t) began to develop. These
cracks were inclined to the specimen longitudinal axis with angles ranging from 50 to 60. These cracks
propagated with the increase of the rotation. Cracks at side (v- t) were smaller in width and number
compared with those cracks at side (v+ t), while the inclination angle of the cracks to the specimen
longitudinal axis is steeper for cracks at side (v -t). Figure 5 shows the cracking pattern of specimen
B6 as a sample for the typical cracking pattern observed for different specimens.
Ultimate Torques
Table 3 shows the measured ultimate torque for different specimens. The effect of the different slab
thicknesses, represented by the (t
s
/t) ratio, and the different slab widths, represented by the (B/b
w
) ratio, on
the ultimate torsional capacity of the test specimens is shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, respectively. As obviously
captured from those figures, the ultimate torsional capacity is proportional to the slab thickness and/or the
flange width. As the (B/b
w
) ratio increases from 1.25 to 2.0, the torsional capacity showed an increase
reaching 22%. Also, when the (t
s
/t) ratio increases from 0.25 to 0.45, the torsional capacity showed an
increase reaching 33%. It seems thus the slab contribution is relatively high and it would be uneconomic if
not taken into consideration in design.
Table 3 Measured ultimate torques
Specimen B1S B2S B3S B4S B5S B6S B7S B8S B9S
Ultimate Torque (m.t.) 6.1 5.8 4.8 5.6 5.4 4.5 4.7 4.6 4.1

T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
0.25
4
3
2
1
s
t /t
0.45 0.35
10
9
8
7
6
5
B/b = 1.625
B/b = 2.00
w
w
w
B/b = 1.25
w
b
t
s
t
B

1.25 1.5 1.75 2.00
t /t = 0.45
s
t /t = 0.35
t /t = 0.25
w
B/b
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
10
B
t
s
t
b
w
s
s

Fig. 6 Effect of slab thickness, (t
s
/t) ratio, on the
ultimate torsional capacity
Fig. 7 Effect of slab width, (B/b
w
) ratio, on the
ultimate torsional capacity

Torque Rotation Relationships
The relationships between torque and rotation for the test specimens are shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. The
effect of the variation of slab thickness, (t
s
/t) ratio, is shown in Fig. 8, while, the effect of the variation of
slab width, (B/b
w
) ratio, is shown in Fig. 9.
461
Effect of Slab Thickness (t
s
/t ratio)
The effect of the slab thickness, (t
s
/t) ratio, on the torquerotation relationships is shown in Fig. 8, where, it
can be noticed that as the (t
s
/t) ratio decreases, the rotation increases for the same torque level. As can be
seen in Fig. 8, the variation in the rotation becomes very small for all values of (t
s
/t) as long as the torque is
less than cracking torsional moment. However, for torque values higher than cracking torsional moment, the
gap in the rotations values becomes more observable. The effect of slab thickness on the rotation of
specimens may be attributed to the fact that larger slab thickness increases the torsional rigidity of the
beams.
Effect of Slab Width (B/b
w
ratio)
The effect of the slab width, (B/b
w
) ratio, on the torquerotation relationships is shown in Fig. 9, where, it
can be noticed that as the (B/b
w
) ratio decreases, the rotation increases for the same torque level. The effect
of (B/b
w
), however, is minor for (t
s
/t) = 0.25 where minor variations on the rotations were recorded. It is also
observable from Fig. 9 that the variation in the rotation becomes very small for all values of (B/b
w
) as long
as the torque is less than cracking torsional moment. However, for torque values higher than cracking
torsional moment, the gap in the rotation values becomes more observable. Similar to the effect of the slab
thickness, the effect of slab width on the rotation of specimens may be attributed to the fact that larger slab
width increases the torsional rigidity of the beams.
Strains in Longitudinal Steel and Stirrups
The higher values of (t
s
/t) and/or (B/b
w
) resulted in lower values of strain in the longitudinal steel and
stirrups at the same torque level. This reflects the slab contribution to the beam rigidity in torsion.
Concrete Principal Strains
Using LVDT, the average strain on the concrete surface was measured along two perpendicular directions
inclined at 45 with the specimen axis. After the formation of the diagonal tension cracks, the readings of the
LVDT perpendicular to the cracks showed a sudden increase and became inaccurate, while the readings of
those parallel to the cracks remained trustable. Therefore, only the compressive strains parallel to the crack
direction were considered. These compressive strains represent the strains in the softened diagonal
compression strut, which is affected by the associated perpendicular tensile strains. The higher values of
(t
s
/t) and/or (B/b
w
), resulted in lower values of principal compressive strains at the same load level,
demonstrating the slab contribution to the beam rigidity.
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF TEST SPECIMENS
For comparison purposes and for a deep and comprehensive understanding of the specimens' behavior, the
test specimens were analyzed with nonlinear FEM analysis code COM3 developed in the university of
Tokyo [12]. In this FEM code, reinforced concrete is idealized as a two-phase composite material consisting
of concrete and reinforcement. By combining the constitutive laws of average stress-average strain for
concrete and reinforcement [13], respectively, the RC brick element has been constructed as shown in Fig.
10.
In COM3 computation, isoparametric brick elements with 20 nodes are used. In the pre-cracking stage, the
triaxial elasto-plastic and continuum damage/fracturing model [14] for concrete is employed. Mechanical
behavior of concrete is idealized as combined plasticity and continuum fracture which identifies induced
permanent deformations and the loss of elastic energy absorption capacity, respectively. The model, which
was originally developed for full triaxial compression, had been extended to the whole 3D-space, covering
tension domain of pre-cracked concrete

[12].
After cracking, smeared crack modeling in the 3D space based on in-plane constitutive law of cracked
concrete under cyclic loading [15] was used. Since in general 3D case of loading any discretionary crack
inclination is possible in the 3D space, anisotropy of the spatially averaged RC- model is adopted as shown
in Fig. 10. As shown in Fig. 11, an orthogonal Cartesian coordinate system is assumed whose principal axis
(1) is normal to the initially introduced crack plane and the remaining axes (2 and 3) are placed within the
first crack reference plane. Here, two-dimensional sub-spaces designated by axis (1, 2), (2, 3) and (1, 3) are
defined. The initial crack would be contained in (1, 2) and (1, 3) planes, while plane (2, 3) coincides with the
plane of the initial crack. Any further crack would then be completely treated in the fixed two-dimensional
sub-spaces decided based on the initial crack. For computation of 2D component stresses, four-way fixed
462
crack model [16] is utilized. The model fictitiously consider up to nine cracks at each integration point in the
scheme of 3D smeared crack idealization. The in-plane smeared crack model is composed of tension fracture
model across cracks, compression softening model parallel to cracks and shear transfer model along cracks
as described in reference [13]. After closure of cracks under load reversal, the constitutive model is switched
back to the elasto-plastic and continuum fracture model of un-cracked concrete, and tri-axial confinement
effect on concrete in compression is considered again.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
ts/t = 0.45
ts/t = 0.35
ts/t = 0.25

(a) B/b
w
= 1.25
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
ts/t = 0.45
ts/t = 0.35
ts,t = 0.25

(b) B/b
w
= 1.625
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
ts/t= 0.45
ts/t = 0.35
ts/t= 0.25

(c) B/b
w
= 2.0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B/bw=2.0
B/bw=1.625
B/bw=1.25

(a) t
s
/t=0.25
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B/bw=2.0
B/bw=1.625
B/bw=1.25

(b) t
s
/t=0.35
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B/bw=2.0
B/bw=1.625
B/bw=1.25

(c) t
s
/t=0.45
Fig. 8 Effect of slab thickness on torque-rotation
relationship
Fig. 9 Effect of slab width on torque-rotation
relationship

463
f
c
f
t
fy
fy
Un-cracked concrete:
elasto-elastic and
continuum fracture model
Cracked concrete:
anisotropic smeared
crack model
Reinforcing bars:
smeared anisotropic
embedded bar model
Reinforced
concrete
brick element
f
c
f
t
fy
fy
Un-cracked concrete:
elasto-elastic and
continuum fracture model
Cracked concrete:
anisotropic smeared
crack model
Reinforcing bars:
smeared anisotropic
embedded bar model
Reinforced
concrete
brick element
Fig. 10 Composition of reinforced concrete brick
element model [12]
s11
s22
s12 (1,2)
1 (2,3) decomposed plane
s22
s33
s23 (2,3)
3
2
composition of
decomposed plane-base
partial stresses
in-plane
constitutive
modeling
(1,3) decomposed
plane
s11
s33
s13 (1,3)
(1,2) decomposed plane
Fig. 11 Breakdown and re-composition of load
carrying mechanism of 3D cracked solids of concrete
In COM3, reinforcement are smeared and modeled by spatially
averaged constitutive law of steel embedded in concrete with
bond interaction. In the smeared approach, localization of
initial steel plasticity close to cracks and local bond slip effect
are considered in computing the mean stress-strain relation
based on the local bond-slip-strain behavior [13].
Figure 12 shows the mesh descritization, the boundary
conditions and the loading of the test specimens. Figure 13
shows the comparison of the torque-rotation relation of FEM
and experiments. The FEM results are generally good and
agree with the experimental results in terms of capacity and
beams deformations.

Fig. 12 FEM Mesh
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.0
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B1
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B2
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B3
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.0
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B4
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.0
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B5
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B6
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.0
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B7
0
2
4
6
8
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B8
0
2
4
6
0 0.02 0.04 0.0
Rotation (rad)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
m
.
t
)
B9
Experiments
FEM

Fig. 13 Comparison of FEM results with experimental results for test specimens
COMPARISON WITH DESIGN CODES
The torsion design equations in the building codes ACI 318-02[1], ECCS 203-2001[2] and EC2[17],
eliminating the reduction factors for either materials or strength, were applied to the test specimens and the
results were compared to the experimental results. The design codes' predicted torsional moment is the least
of three values according to the possible mode of failure. The first possible failure mode is the crushing of
the concrete diagonals, the second one is the yielding of stirrups, while the third one is the yielding of the
longitudinal reinforcement. Figure 14 shows a comparison between the test results and the design codes'
calculated strength. As can be seen from Fig. 14, the ultimate torque predicted by the ACI 318-02, EC-2 and
ECCS 203- 2001 were very conservative. The mean of the ratio of the measured capacities to the predicted
capacities using the ACI 318-02 had a mean of 1.94 with standard deviation 0.083. The prediction of both
the ECCS 203-2001 and the EC-2 were also conservative with measured capacity to predicted capacity ratios
of 2.15 and 2.20, respectively, and standard deviations 0.117 and 0.097, respectively. Therefore, the design
464
according to these design codes seems very conservative and uneconomic. It should be noted here that, all
the tested beams satisfy the amount of transverse and longitudinal reinforcement required by the codes.
Figure 15 illustrates the experimental results versus the codes' capacities calculated for the three possible
failure modes; concrete diagonals crushing, yielding of longitudinal reinforcement and yielding of stirrups.
Although the ACI 318-02[1] is not oriented to the design of high-strength concrete, it can be noticed that the
torsional capacity calculated by the ACI 318-02[1] related to the compression failure of the concrete
diagonals multiplied by 1.15 gives the closest agreement with the experimental results. On the other hand,
the torsional capacities calculated according to the amount of longitudinal reinforcement or transversal
reinforcement were very conservative. Therefore, the authors propose to use the ACI 318-02 torsional
capacity related to the compression failure of concrete multiplied by 1.15 as a design capacity for high
strength L beams subjected to combined shear and torsion.

0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9
Specimen
M
e
a
s
u
r
e
d

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y
/

C
o
d
e

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y
ACI
EC2
ECCS
Proposed

Fig. 14 Measured capacities versus design codes' capacities for test specimens

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
B1S B2S B3S B4S B5S B6S B7S B8S B9S
Specimen
T
o
r
s
i
o
n
a
l

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

(
m
.
t
)
Tu stirrups
Tu longitudinal
Tu concrete
Tu proposed
Tu experiments

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Specimen
T
o
r
s
i
o
n
a
l

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

(
m
.
t
)
Tu stirrups
Tu longitudinal
Tu concrete
Tu proposed
Tu experiments

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Specimen
T
o
r
s
i
o
n
a
l

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

(
m
.
t
)
Tu stirrups
Tu longitudinal
Tu concrete
Tu proposed
Tu experiments

(a) ACI 318-02[1] (b) ECCS 203-2001[2] (c) EC2[3]
Fig. 15 Proposed torsional capacity versus experimental results and codes' predictions

CONCLUSIONS
The behavior of high-strength reinforced concrete L-shaped beams subjected to combined shear and torsion
was investigated both experimentally and analytically. The main parameters considered were the slab
thickness and width. The experimental results had been compared to the design equations of three design
codes (ACI 318-02, EC2, and ECCS 203-2001). The conclusions of this study could be summarized into the
following;
(1) The contribution of the slab to the torsional resistance of the L-beams is relatively high. It could reach
more than 33% of the beam capacity. Therefore, it would be uneconomic if the slab contribution is not taken
into consideration in design as permitted by the Egyptian design code, ECCS 203-2001.
(2) The torsion design according to three mentioned design codes was found to be very conservative and
uneconomic.
(3) Although the ACI 18-02 code is not oriented to the design of high-strength concrete, it was found that the
torsion strength based on crushing of the concrete diagonals predicted by the ACI 318-02 multiplied by 1.15
could be the most economic design for high-strength L-beams subjected to combined shear and torsion.
465
REFERENCES
1. ACI Committee 318-02, Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-02),
American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 2002.
2. The Egyptian Code of Practice for Design and Construction of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Cairo,
Egypt, ECCS 203-2001.
3. Hsu, T, "Torsion of Structural Concrete- A summary of Pure Torsion," Torsion of Structural Concrete,
SP-18, ACI, Detroit, 1968, pp. 165-178
4. Liao, H., and Ferguson, P, "Combined Shear and Torsion in Reinforced Concrete L-Beams with
Stirrups," ACI Journal, Vol. 66, No. 17, 1969, pp. 986-993
5. Krirk, D., and Lash, S., "T-Beams Subjected to Combined Bending and Torsion," ACI Journal, Vol. 68,
No. 2, 1971, pp. 150-159
6. Erosy, U., and Ferguson, M, "Behavior and Strength of Concrete L-Beams under Combined Torsion
and Shear," ACI Journal, Vol. 64, No. 12., 1967
7. Hsiung, W., and Yuan, M., Torsional Behavior of High Strength Concrete Beams, Proc. Natl. Sci.
Counc. Roc (A), Vol. 19, No. 3, 1995. pp . 235. 244.
8. Rasmussen, L. J., and Baker, G., Torsion in Reinforced Normal and High Strength Concrete Beams
Part 1 ACI Structural Journal, V. 92, No. 1, 1995a.
9. Rasmussen, L. J., and Baker, G., Torsion in Reinforced Normal and High Strength Concrete Beams
Part 2 ACI Structural Journal, V. 92, No. 2, 1995b.
10. Rasmussen, L. J., and Baker, G., Assessment of the Torsional Strength in Reinforced Normal and High
Strength Concrete Beams Australian Civil Engineering Transactions , Vol. CE3b, No.2, June 1994.
11. Hsu, T., "Torsion of Reinforced Concrete", VNR Company, New York, 1984.
12. Hauke,B., and Maekawa, K. "Three-Dimensional Modeling of Reinforced Concrete with Multi-
Directional Cracking", Journal of Materials, Concrete Structures, and Pavements, JSCE, No. 634, Vol.
45, 349-368, November 1999
13. Okamura, H., and Maekawa, K., Nonlinear Analysis and Constitutive Models of Reinforced Concrete,
Gihodo - Shuppan Co., Tokyo, 1991
14. Maekawa, K., Takemura, J., Irawan, P., and Irie, M. Triaxial Elasto-Plastic and Continuum Fracture
Model for Concrete, Concrete Library, JSCE, No. 22, 1993, pp. 131-161, 1993
15. Maekawa, K., Irawan, P., and Okamura, H. (1997) Path-Dependent Three-Dimensional Constitutive
Laws of Reinforced Concrete Formulation and Experimental verifications, Structural Engineering
and Mechanics, Vol. 5., No. 6, pp. 743-743.
16. Fukuura, N. and Maekawa, K.,"Multi-Directional Crack Model for in-Plane Reinforced Concrete under
Reversed Cyclic Actions- 4 Way Fixed Crack; Formulation and Verification", Computational Modelling
of Concrete Structures, Euro-C, Vol.1, pp. 143-152, 1998.
17. Eurocode 2(EC2): Design of Concrete Structures, Final Draft, prEN 1992-1
18. Zohery, A., "Behavior of Reinforced High Strength Concrete L-Beams under Pure Torsion or Combined
Shear and Torsion", Ph.D. Thesis, Cairo University, June 2005.

466

EFFECT OF TENSION REINFORCEMENT RATIO ON CURVATURE
AND DISPLACEMENT DUCTILITY INDICES OF HSC BEAMS
S. F. KANSOUH
1

Mattaria, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT: High strength concrete (HSC) is a more brittle construction material than normal
strength concrete. Reinforced concrete beams manufactured by using high strength concrete
exhibit lower levels of ductility in comparison with those constructed using conventional
materials. The wide use of high strength concrete HSC, particularly in flexure members, requires
understanding of the ductility performance of beams made from these materials. Conventionally,
this has been done by limiting the tension steel ratio or the neutral axis depth to no more than
certain fixed maximum values. It is anticipated herein that instead of limiting the tension steel
ratio and the neutral axis depth, it is better to set fixed limits to the curvature and displacement
ductility. Accordingly, useful limits for ductility indices were calculated in this study in order to
characterize such property.
For this intention an experimental program consisting of eight simply supported beams were tested
and analyzed. Each beam was loaded by two symmetrical positioned concentrated loads applied
approximately at the spans third points. The target concrete compressive strength for all tested
beams was 70 MPa while, the longitudinal tensile reinforcement ratio (/
max
) was varied from 0.6
to 1.0 %. The effect of tension steel reinforcement on ductility is discussed in view of the ductility
indices calculated for all tested beams.
INTRODUCTION
The requirement for high-rise reinforced concrete buildings has accelerated the research on the use
of high strength materials. As a result of that extensive research, High Strength Concretes HSCs
with compressive strengths in the range of 50 to140 MPa characterized by high mechanical
properties is now commercially produced. Consequently, the utilization of HSC became very
common not only in recently designed high-rise buildings but also expanded to normal
construction [1&2]. High-strength concrete is more fragile than normal strength concrete. This
increased fragility of high-strength concrete raised, at first, many worries concerning their use.
The main reservation was weather structural elements made from this type of concrete would be
sufficiently ductile on extreme conditions like the case of cyclic loads, such as those induced by
earthquakes? This problem led to a restriction on high strength concretes application as a
structural material, especially in constructions located in high seismic areas [2&3]. Generally, the
ability of the structure or its components to offer resistance in the inelastic area of response is the
general definition of ductility. This ability minimizes the major damage and ensures the survival
of buildings with moderate resistance to lateral loads. The ductility may be also defined as the
capacity of a material, section, structural element, or structure to undergo an excessive plastic
deformation without a great loss of its resistance. In the flexural design of reinforced concrete
beams, apart from the provision of adequate strength, it is necessary to provide a certain minimum
level of ductility. Traditionally, this has been done by limiting the tension steel ratio or the neutral
axis depth to no more than certain fixed maximum values. However, it is better to define ductility
levels (curvature and displacement ductility levels) for high strength concrete beams. Limiting the
467

tension steel reinforcement ratio or the neutral axis depth to below a fixed maximum values, might
be the appropriate approach for attaining the minimum level of flexural ductility [3, 4, 5, 6 & 7].
There are various ways to quantify ductility such as strain ductility, curvature ductility and
displacement ductility. Strain ductility is the ability of the constituent materials to sustain plastic
strains without significant reduction of stress and is defined as = /y where
is the total
strain imposed and y is the yield strain. The strain imposed should not exceed the dependable
maximum strain capacity m. The most common and desirable source of inelastic structural
deformations are rotations in potential plastic hinges. Therefore it is useful to relate section
rotation per unite length to causative bending moment. This relationship is curvature ductility =
m /y, where, y is the maximum curvature expected to be attained or relied on and y is the
yield curvature. The most convenient quantity to evaluate either the ductility imposed on a
structure by an earthquake or the structures capacity to develop ductility is displacement ductility.
Displacement ductility is defined as the ratio between the displacement at failure f, and the yield
displacement y (=f/y) [8]. Alternatively, the desired ductility may be achieved by limiting
the maximum values if the section c/d ratio, where c is the depth of the compressed zone and d is
the section effective depth. Such methodology is valid only for sections subjected to simple
bending [2], such as the critical sections of the tested beams in this investigation. In this paper, an
experimental program was conducted to determine the effect of tension reinforcement ratio on
curvature and displacement ductility indices of high strength concrete beams. The main
investigated parameter in this research was the longitudinal tensile reinforcement ratio. For this
intention three values of tension steel reinforcement were considered. In support of this research
eight identical high strength concrete beams of 125
300mm cross-section and 3000mm total

length were designed, constructed and tested. The target concrete compressive strength for all
investigated beams was 70 MPa Characterized.
The Primary purpose of the experimental program is to investigate the effect of tension steel
reinforcement ratio on curvature and displacement ductility indices of high strength concrete
beams. All specimens were tested in the reinforced concrete laboratory of the Faculty of
Engineering, Cairo University. Tests were carried out on eight identical high strength concrete
beams. The target concrete compressive strength for the tested specimens was 70 MPa. All
investigated beam specimens were of 3000 mm long with a cross section dimensions 125

300mm. Three steel areas equivalent to a percentage of the maximum reinforcement ratios max
(/max = 1.0, 0.8 and 0.6) were considered for the tensile reinforcement of beams B1, B3 and
B5, respectively. Tensile reinforcement ratio for beam B7 was similar to that of beam B3 /max
= 0.8). In the upper side of all tested beams two mild steel bars of commercial diameter 8
mm

(50.3
2
mm
) bars were placed only for construction purposes. Web reinforcement of minimum
value (
/
/ 8 5 m
) were used for the tested specimens, except for beams B7 and B8, which, for
comparison purposes, had no stirrups in its central zone (between point loads) to avoid
confinement of the concrete. Since this zone was, in theory, in pure bending, the stirrups would
not be necessary as far as the resistance is concerned. For the longitudinal (tensile) reinforcement,
high tensile deformed bars of tensile strength fy = 360 MPa were used while mild steel bars of fy
= 280 MPa were used for stirrup and stirrup hungers. Beams B2, B4, B6 and B8 were the
duplicate beams of beams B1, B3, B5 and B7, respectively. Geometrical and mechanical
properties of the test beam specimens are illustrated in Table 1 and Figure 1.
468

Table 1. Geometrical and mechanical properties of the test beams*
Cross Section
Dimension(mm)
Group Label
B t d
/
c
f

(MPa)
s
A
(mm2)
y
f
(MPa) %
max

max
/
B1 1005 1.0
B3 804 0.8
B5 1005 0.6
G1
B7 804 0.8
B2 1005 1.0
B4 804 0.8
B6 1005 0.6
G2
B8
125 300 273 60
804
360 2.95
0.8

*The compression reinforcement in all specimens was 28. Closed mild steel stirrups with
commercial diameter 8 mm spaced at 200 mm were used as web reinforcement for all tested
beams.
**The central zone had no stirrups to avoid confinement of the concrete.

Figure 1. Load-central deflection relationship of specimens S4 to S8
TEST SETUP AND TEST PROCEDURES
The experimental procedures were nearly identical for all studied specimens. The tested beams
were simply supported and subjected to a symmetric loading composed of two equal concentrated
loads applied at span third (four point bending test). This loading produces, in theory, pure
bending of beam portion between applied forces. The test was designed so that the failure in the
mentioned part between applied forces occurs by simple bending. Applied load, vertical
469

displacement, and concrete strains were monitored through the test. Vertical loads were applied
monotonically to the tested beam by means of a mechanical actuator fixed to a steel frame. The
level of load applied to the beam was continuously measured by means of load cells.
Displacements were measured at mid-span, and at locations of the applied loads by means of
Linear Variable Differential Transducer LVDTs. Two concrete strain gauges were attached to the
concrete surface at 1.5 and 5.5 cm below the top concrete fiber at beam mid-span while one
concrete strain gauge was attached to the concrete surface at 1.5 cm above the bottom concrete
fiber at the same location. Finally, all the data were recorded on the data logger using data
acquisition equipment. Figure 2 illustrates general view of the test setup.
3000 mm
2800 mm
Concrete Strain Gages
LVDT
Load Cell
P
Applied Load
933.33 933.33 933.33

Figure 2. Test Setup
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF TEST RESULTS
Failure Mode
All beam specimens showed tension failure, while beams B7 and B8 having no stirrups in the
central zone exhibited a premature failure when compared to similar beams with same longitudinal
reinforcement ratio. The noticeable premature failure could be attributed to the lower resistance
capacity of the compressed concrete and also due to buckling of compressed top reinforcement
bars in the central zone, which affected the strength capacity of the compressed concrete.
Accordingly, concrete cover was split off as result of stresses induced to it by the upper
compressed steel. Figure 3 presents the failure modes of two of the tested beam specimens.

B1
470

B5
Figure 3. Failure Modes of the Tested Beam Specimens.

Experimental Load Deflection Relationship
The obtained experimental values for the applied loads and midspan deflections are illustrated in
Figures 4a and 4b for beams of groups G1 and G2, respectively. It can be noticed from these
figures, that the general behavior for all tested beams is similar. It is also noted that the
deformation capacity of beam specimens tends to decrease as the area of tension reinforcement
increases. Consequently, the beam ductility decreases as the tension reinforcement ratio increases.
The figures also illustrate that beams B7 and B8 demonstrated greater deformation when
compared with beams B3 and B4, respectively, of similar longitudinal reinforcement ratio. The
decrease in strength for beams B7and B8 may be attributed to the absence of the lateral support
(stirrups) of beam cover to prevent buckling of the upper reinforcement.
Displacement mm
0 10 20 30 40 50
L
o
a
d

k
N
0.5
1.5
2.5
B1
B 3
B 5
B 7
a) B1,B3,B5,B7
0 10 20 30 40 50
0
1
2
3
Displacement mm
L
o
a
d

k
N
B 2
B 4
B 6
B 8
b) B2,B4,B6,B8

Figure 4. Load deflection for all tested beams
Effect of Tension Reinforcement Ratio the Limits of Neutral Axis Depth
Use of the parameter d c (where, c is the distance from the top concrete fiber to the neutral axis
and d is the cross-section effective depth) as an indirect measure of ductility, for reinforced HSC
beams is investigated in this section. Values of the parameter d c were evaluated from the
concrete strains measured along the cross section depth. Also, corresponding moments at the
471

critical section were calculated using the recorded applied loads. Consequently, the relationship
between the parameter d c and the ratio
max
M M at the critical midspan section for the tested
HSC beams were established as shown in Figure 5. Before cracking, the neutral axis is located
near the middle of the beams cross-section ( d c 0.55 to 0.6) as far as moment increases the
neutral axis starts to move upwards indicating a decrease in d c value due to the rapid
development of beam flexure cracks. The gradual change in neutral axis position continued until it
becomes steady owing to the stabilization of flexure cracks. This steady behavior is followed by
another sudden change in the neutral axis position due to the yielding of the longitudinal
reinforcement. The figure also shows that beams of higher tensile reinforcement ratio (B1with
max
/ =1.0) have bigger d c values than beams of less tensile reinforcement ratios (B3 and
B5 with
max
/ = 0.8& 0.6), respectively. Besides, it can be noted that for beam B7 (without
stirrups in the central zone) there is a significant increase in neutral axis position compared to
beam B3, of the same longitudinal reinforcement, (
max
/ = 0.8).
M
u
/M
u, max
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
c
/
d
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
B1
B7
B5
B3

Figure 5. Relationship between neutral axis depth and corresponding moment

Effect of Tension Reinforcement Ratio on Curvature Ductility
Index
In the flexural design of reinforced concrete beams not only adequate strength is required but also
certain minimum level of ductility must be provided. However this can be achieved by limiting the
tension steel ratio or the neutral axis depth ratio to no more than certain fixed maximum values.
This trend is usually followed for conventional concrete beams. Similar tendency is used herein
for HSC beams of the same geometry, concrete strength and steel yield strengths having several
values of tension steel reinforcement to characterize the curvature ductility index
of the tested
beams. This index is obtained by relating the section rotation per unite length to causative bending
moment. Therefore values of the parameter were calculated from the relationship c = ,
472

where concrete strains measured value along the cross section height during testing of the beam
specimens while c is the corresponding neutral axis depth. The relationship between the moments
at the critical section to the corresponding computed curvature values for the tested beams are
demonstrated in Figure 6.
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35

M
o
m
e
n
t

k
N
.
m
0
50
100
150
200
250
B1,B2
B3,B4
B5,B6
B7,B8

Figure 6. Moment curvature Relationship, mean values of groups G1&G2
Consequently curvature ductility indices for the tested beams were calculated by using the
relationship
y m

/ = and are listed in Table 2. It can be seen from Table 2 that variable
levels of curvature ductility indices were obtained. Higher values of tension steel ratio
max
/ =1.0 (beams B1& B2) correspond to the least values of curvature ductility index
=
2.925. It is also noticed that for beams of lower values of
max
/ = 0.6 beams (B5 & B6) higher
values of curvature ductility index were obtained

= 5.954. It can be concluded that, it is
therefore better to define a fixed minimum value for the curvature ductility factor for maximum
values of the tension steel ratio
max
/ .
Table 2. Comparison between experimental and predicted ultimate loads
Beam
Label
max
/
%
m

y

y m

/ =
B1 1.0
B2 1.0
0.2077 0.071 2.925
B3 0.8
B4 0.8
0.2500 0.070 3.571
B5 0.6
B6 0.6
0.3930 0.066 5.954
B7 0.8
B8 0.8
0.3310 0.0803 4.122
* Mean value for two identical beams
** Beams without stirrups in the central zone
473

Effect of Tension Reinforcement Ratio on Displacement Ductility
Index
Experimental values of the displacement ductility index
for the tested beams were computed

and listed in Table 3. It can be noticed that the beams of higher ratio of tension reinforcement is of
lower value of displacement ductility
= 2.201 while this index increase as tension

reinforcement increases. For beams B3, B4 and B5, B6 of tension reinforcement ratios (
max
/ )
0.8 and 0.6, respectively, the ductility index
increases to 3.1755 and 4.488, respectively.

Table 3. Experimental Values of Displacement Ductility Index
Beam
max
/
%
f

y f
=
/

*

B1 1.0 24.100 9.613 2.507
B2 1.0 18.000 9.500 1.895
2.201
B3 0.8 36.630 13.030 2.811
B4 0.8 36.135 10.200 3.540
3.1755
B5 0.6 42.515 9.837 4.322
B6 0.6 37.232 8.000 4.654
4.488
**
B7 0.8 32.967 13.686 2.409
**
B8 0.8 39.130 14.735 2.656
2.5329
* Mean value for two identical beams
** Beams without stirrups in the central zone
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the tests conducted for this study, the following remarks are made:
(1) The behavior of the formation and the opening of the cracks for normal-strength beams
seem to be also valid for high-strength concrete beams.
(2) For HSC beams with similar concrete strength and cross section characteristics,
increasing of reinforcement tensile rate
max
/ make the neutral axes decrease. It also
indicates that as the neutral axis depth in failure raises the beams ductility decreases.
Therefore, the practical rule of limiting the neutral axis depth, on critical sections, to
assure adequate ductility levels, seems to be also valid for high-strength concrete beams.
(3) Higher values of tension steel ratio
max
/ =1.0 corresponds to the least values of
curvature ductility index
= 2.925 while, this index increases to 3.57 and 5.954 as

max
/ decreases to 0.8 and to 0.6 respectively. Therefore it is better to define a fixed
minimum value for the curvature ductility factor for maximum values of the tension steel
ratio
max
/ .
(4) HSC beams of higher ratio of tension reinforcement
max
/ = 1.0 was of lower value of
displacement ductility
= 2.201 while this index was increases to 3.1755 and 4.488, as

tension reinforcement decreased to 0.8 and 0.6 respectively.
474

REFERENCES
1. Otani S. N. and Aoyama H. Load Deformation Relationship of High-Strength
Reinforced Concrete Beams ACI SP-162-2, Mete A. Sozen symposium, 1996, pp35-52.
2. Bernardo L. F. A. and Lopes S. M. R. Neutral Axis Depth versus Flexural Ductility
in High-Strength Concrete Beams ASCE Vol.130 No.3, March 1, 2004, pp.452-
495.
3. Ho J. C. M., Kwan A. K. H. and Pam H. J. Minimum flexural ductility design
of high-strength concrete beams Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 56 Issue 1,
February 2004, pp.13-22.
4. Bernardo L. F. A. and Lopes S. M. R. Flexure ductility of high-strength
concrete beams Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 54 Issue 3, September 2003,
pp.135-154.
5. American Concrete Institute (ACI) "Building Code Requirements for reinforced
concrete ACI 318-89 and "commentary" ACI 318- 89 Detroit.
6. Pam H. J., A. K. H. Kwan and Islam M. S. Flexural strength and ductility of
reinforced normal and high-strength concrete beams Magazine of Concrete
Research, Vol. 146 Issue 4, November 2001, pp.381-389.
7. Mansur M. A., Chin M. S., and Wee T. H. Behavior of high-strength concrete
beams ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 94 Vo.6, Nov.-dec.1997, pp 663-674.
8. T. Pauly and N. Priestlety Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete and Masonry
Buildings John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, 1992.

475
476

SHEAR BEHAVIOR OF SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE BEAMS

S. F. KANSOUH
1

Mattaria, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) has been attracting more and more attention world-
wide, since its introduction in the late 1980's. It has a high potential for wider structural applications
due to its advantages in excess of conventional concrete such as: eliminating the need for vibration,
decreasing the construction time and labor cost, , improving the filling capacity of highly congested
structural members; improving the interfacial transitional zone between cement paste and aggregate or
reinforcement, decreasing the permeability and improving durability of concrete and facilitating
constructability, reducing noise pollution and ensuring good structural performance. Countries
including Japan, China., Sweden and France developed a range of concretes that were self-compacting.
SCC is characterised by their extreme fluidity behaving more like water than the traditional viscous
concrete.
This paper presents the results of an experimental study on shear behavior of SCC beams
including diagonal cracking strength, ultimate strength and shear ductility. Comparison is made with
beams made by normal concrete (NC). For this objective a total of sixteen identical beam specimens
of mm 3000 length and 125300mm cross section were tested. All tested beams were of similar
tensile and compressive reinforcement ( 013 . 0 & 0.0327 = =

). Simply supported beams were
tested by applying two symmetrical concentrated loads so that their shear-span to depth ratio was 3.
The studied beam specimens were of two targeting concrete cylinder strengths 28 and 38MPa. Two
spacing of 8mm bars were used for transverse reinforcement: 166 and 200 mm.
For that objective a total of sixteen identical beam specimens of 3000mm length and 300X123mm
cross section were tested. All tested beam specimens were of similar tensile and compressive
reinforcement (
013 . 0 ' & 0.0327 = =
). Simply supported beams were tested by applying two
symmetrical concentrated loads so that their shear spandepth ratio was 3. The studied beam
specimens were of two targeting concrete cylinder strengths 30and 35 MPa. Two spacing of 8mm bars
were used for transverse reinforcement; 166 and 200 mm. All beams were tested to fall by shear, while
Crack patterns were monitored up to failure, failure mode for the tested specimens were also observed
and recorded diagonal cracking strength as well as ultimate shear strength were predicted. Comparison
was made between the predicted and computed values utilizing both ACI and ECCS equation of
diagonal cracking strength and ultimate shear strength. The results showed that there is no remarkable
difference between the shear behavior of SCC beams and of NC beams. However SCC beams slightly
higher shear strength and ductility than NC beams. Both ACI and ECCS codes are conservatives in
predicting diagonal cracking strength and ultimate shear strength.

477
INTRODUCTION
Most concrete currently used in housing and civil engineering construction has to be compacted in
order to achieve the required strength and durability. Vibration treatment, as soon as the concrete has
been laid, is the most common method for achieving strength, but it is costly, causes delays and
presents a serious health and safety risk. Self-compacting (SCC) is a special concrete that does not
require vibration treatment. SCC is a generic term for mix designs that differ from traditional concretes
at the molecular interface between the cement compounds and the admixture polymers. The fluidity of
SCC ensures a high level of workability and durability whilst the rapid rate of placement. Besides, it
achieves compaction into every part of the mould or formwork simply by means of its own weight
without any segregation of the coarse aggregate. (1, 2 & 3). During the 1980s a number of countries
including Japan, Sweden and France developed a range of concretes that were self-compacting. These
'SCC's are characterized by their extreme fluidity behaving more like water than the traditional viscous
concrete.
New applications for SCC are being increasingly explored because of its advantages over
conventional concrete. Self-compacting concrete (SCC) has found wide applications in civil
engineering structures, because it has the merits of high filling ability and good anti-segregation before
hardening while good mechanical properties after hardening.[4&5]. However, the requirements of high
volume binder and sand-to-aggregate ratio in self-compacting concrete may lead to reductions in its
modulus as well as the anchoring strength between the concrete and steel bars. If the mixture of self-
compacting concrete is not reasonably optimized, the mechanical properties of self-compacting
concrete structure may not be satisfying [6]. Consequently it's very important to investigate the
structural behavior of SCC to assure the validation of using SCC in the manufacturing the structural
elements. In this paper the shearing behavior of self-compacting concrete beam is investigated. For this
intension an experimental program, which consists of eight self-compacting concrete beams and eight
corresponding normal concrete beams is conducted. All investigated beams specimens were
1253003000mm in size. The parameters included in this study were concrete strength and spacing
of shear reinforcement .The target concrete compressive strength for both SCC NC beams were 35 and
MPa.
Sixteen beam specimens were tested in this study. Eight of the specimens were made with normal
concrete (slump less than 200mm), while the rest of the specimens made with self compacting concrete
(slump mm). The specimens were 1 mm 3000 300 125 in size. The cross section of the tested
specimens is shown in Figure1.
478
3
0
0

m
m
2
7
3

m
m

Figure 1. The Cross section of tested specimens
The parameters included in this study were concrete compressive strength and spacing. The
specimen's details are illustrated in Table 1
Table 1. Beam Specimens Details
Beam
Designation
cu
f
*(MPa)
'
c
f
**(MPa)
a/d
yh
f
(Mpa)
V

S
(mm)

N11 35.10 28.10 0.0081 200
N12 35.10 28.10 0.0098 166
N21 40.50 32.40 0.0081 200
N22 40.50 32.40 0.0098 166
SC11 35.30 28.24 0.0081 200
SC12 35.30 28.24 0.0098 166
SC12 39.80 31.48 0.0081 200
SC22 35.10 31.84
3.0 28o
0.0098 166

* All listed experimental values were the mean values for two cubes.
**
'
c
f
is taken equal to 0.8
cu
f
479
Two concrete strengths were targeted: 30.0 and 35.0 MPa. Transverse reinforcement of tensile
strength 280MP, spacing in 200 and 166 mm were used. For all tested beams, five and two16-mm
high strength bars with minimum specified strength 360 MPa were used as longitudinal and
compressive reinforcement respectively ( 013 . 0 & 0.0327
'
= = ) this corresponds to maximum
values of 1.0 and 0.89 for
'
c
f
of 28.1 and 32.4 Mpa respectively. Series N represents normal concrete
beams and series SC represents self compacting concrete beams. The mixture proportions for the
normal concrete and self compacting concrete are shown in Tables 2a and 2b respectively. Properties
for the fresh concrete are shown in Table 3.

Table 2a. Mixture Properties For Normal Concrete
'
c
f

(Mpa)
c w/

ratio
Cement
) / (
3
m kg

Coarse
Aggregate
) / (
3
m kg

Fine
Aggregate
) / (
3
m kg

Additive
EdicreetDM2
28.1 0.500 350 1090 580 3.0
32.4 0.475 400 1180 580 3.0
Table 2b. Mixture Properties For Self Compacting Concrete
Coarse Aggregate
'
c
f

(Mpa)
c w/

ratio
Cement
) / (
3
m kg
Silica
Fume
Siva mint
Coarse
Aggregate
) / (
3
m kg
Fine
Aggregate
) / (
3
m kg

Additive
EdicreetDM2
28.24 0.490 360 40.00 8.56 570 570 615
31.84 0.500 400 44.75 8.56 550 550 615

The experimental work was conducted utilizing the space steel frame of the faculty of engineering,
Cairo University All specimens were tested up to failure under monotonic loads. The loads were
applied in a four point load configuration. The loads were applied with the intention that the shear
span-depth ratio 3 / = d a .0 ( d a / is the ratio of the shear span a to the to beam effective depth d).
Load cell was used to read the applied load while; data logger was used to acquire and record loads
and corresponding displacements. Linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) were placed at
the mid-span to record the vertical displacements. Strain gages were attached to the stirrup leg in the
shear span to measure the strain by connecting them to the data logger. The loads were applied. Crack
patterns were monitored up to failure. Failure mode for the tested specimens were observed and
recorded. The test setup is shown in Figure 2.
480
Load Cell
P
Applied Load
100 100
1186 mm
807
807
2600 mm
Strain Gages
LVDT

Figure 2. Test Set up

Table 3. Properties for Fresh Concrete
Concrete type
cu
f

(Mpa)
'
c
f

(Mpa)
Slump
( mm)
Slump
flow
( mm.)
35.1 28.1 60 - Normal
Concrete
40.5 32.4 62 -
35.3 28.24 225 600 Self Compacting
Concrete
39.8 31.84 228 610

Cracking and Failure Mode
All tested specimens were monitored during performing the test in order to report crack development
and failure modes. In general, fine vertical flexural cracks formed first in the mid-span region. On
further loading, very fine initiating flexural cracks side also formed on the tension in shear span, and
they propagated toward mid-depth of the beam. Inclined cracks were then formed. Beams with SCC
exhibited smaller crack width than NC beams. The first visible web shear crack was found between the
support and the applied load. Beams with SCC exhibited smaller crack widths than normal concrete
beam since the SCC beams had higher workability and better bond with the reinforcement. Afterwards,
481
concrete cover in SCC beams spalled in smaller pieces in comparison by the spalling of NC beams
cover. Subsequently, the principal diagonal crack extended toward the support and load point. The
majority of tested beam specimens failed when the top concrete cover near load point spalled off.
Generally, all tested specimens failed by shear. Figure 3 shows typical failure mode for both NC and
SCC beam specimens.

a) NC beam specimens

b) ) SCC beam specimens

Figure 3. Typical failure modes of tested beam specimens

Load deflection relationship
Typical load-deflection curves are shown in Figure 4 for the investigated beam specimens. The figure
shows that the curves were quite linear, on further loading, stiffness decreased slightly nonlinear
behaviour was noticed until the maximum load (ultimate load) was reached. Comparison between
beams made with NC and beams made with SCC having similar compressive strength and stirrup
spacing as beams N11, SCC11and beams N21& SCC21, shows that both SCC beams as well as NC
beams exhibited similar stiffness and ductility as illustrated in Figures 4a and 4b respectively. Figures
4c and 4d show that increasing transverse reinforcement spacing enhanced the ultimate shear capacity
of beams N12; SCC12 and N22& SCC22 and produced slightly better ductility in comparison with
beams N11, Sc11<N21and SC21 with wider stirrups spacing.

482
0 5 10 15 20
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 5 10 15 20
0
50
100
150
200
250
a) b)
Deflection mm
L
o
a
d

k
N
Deflection mm
L
o
a
d

k
N
N11
SC11
N12
SC12

0 5 10 15 20 25
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
0
50
100
150
200
250
Deflection mm
L
o
a
d

k
N
Deflection mm
L
o
a
d

k
N
N21
SC21
N22
SC22

Figure 4. Load deflection relationship for tested beams
Diagonal Cracking Strength
The diagonal cracking strengths
c
V were experimentally evaluated from the strain data in shear
reinforcement. Accordingly, the sudden increase in strain in shear reinforcement indicates the
formation of inclined cracks. The corresponding applied load represents the diagonal cracking shear
483
strength. Table 4 tabulates the diagonal cracking strength values for SCC and NC beams. It can be
seen that SCC beams SC21 and SC22 of higher concrete strength values;
'
c
f = 32 kN demonstrate
higher diagonal cracking strength 58 &60.5 kN, in comparison with beams SC11 & SC12 made with
lesser compressive strength
'
c
f = 28 Mpa which show diagonal cracking strengths 53.5 and 56.5 kN,
respectively. Similar effect was also notice for beams of higher amount of transverse reinforcement
(shear reinforcement spacing 166mm) SC12 and SC22, which displayed higher diagonal cracking
strength 56.5 and 60.5 kN compared with beams SC11 and SC21of (shear reinforcement spacing
200mm) of diagonal cracking strength. Generally, all SCC beams demonstrate slightly higher values of
diagonal cracking strength than those of NC beams having the same characteristics. The average
NC V SCC V
c c
ratio is approximately 1.11
Table 4. Comparison of Experimental Cracking Strength for NC & SCC Beams
Specimen
No.
cu
f
(Mpa)

'
c
f
(Mpa)
) (mm S

Diagonal
Cracking
Strength
) (kN V
c
Specimen
No.
cu
f
(Mpa)
'
c
f
(Mpa)
) (mm s
Diagonal
Cracking
Strength
) (kN V
c

NC V
SCC V
c
c
N11 35.10 28.0 200 48.0 SC11 35.30 28.5 200 53.5 1.114
N12 35.10 28.0

166 51.0 SC12 35.30 28.5 166 56.5 1.108
N21 40.50 33.0 200 51.5 SC21 39.80 32.0 200 58.0 1.126
N22 40.50 33.0 166 55.0 SC22 39.80 32.0 100 60.5 1.100
1.112
Ultimate Shear Strength
The experimental values of the ultimate shear strengths
n
V of all tested beams are listed in Table 5. It
can be noticed from the table that SCC beams exhibited higher values of ultimate shear strength values
n
V than NC beams. Besides, increasing concrete strength increases the ultimate shear strength for NC
beams by an average of 6% while ultimate shear strength for SCC beams increased by only 2.5%.
Besides, it can be also noted from the table that, the contribution of increasing stirrup spacing
increased the ultimate strength in both SC and NC beams with significant values. The average
NC V SCC V
n n
ratio is approximately 1.034.
Table 5. Comparison of Experimental Ultimate Shear Strength For NC& SCC Beams
Specimen
No.
cu
f
(Mpa)

'
c
f
(Mpa)
) (mm S

Ultimate
Strength
) (kN V
n
Specimen
No.
cu
f
(Mpa)
'
c
f
(Mpa)
) (mm s
Ultimate
Strength
) (kN V
n

NC V
SCC V
n
n
N11 35.10 28.0 200 100.19 SC11 35.30 28.5 200 106.93 1.067
N12 35.10 28.0

166 103.08 SC12 35.30 28.5 166 106.96 1.038
N21 40.50 33.0 200 106.82 SC21 39.80 32.0 200 108.00 1.011
N22 40.50 33.0 166 109.00 SC22 39.80 32.0 100 111.34 1.021
484
Average 1.034

COMPARISON OF TEST RESULTS WITH ACI & ECCS EQUATIONS
Design of shear strength in the ACI [7] code includes nominal shear strength provided by concrete
C
V
and nominal shear strength provided by shear reinforcement
s
V . The ACI code equations for
C
V and
s
V are:

d b f V
w c c
'
17 . 0 =
(1)
Where:
w
b beam width and d is the beam effective depth.

s
d f A
V
yt v
s
= (2)
Where;
v
A is the area of shear reinforcement within spacing
s
and
yt
f is the
Also the design of shear strength in the ECCS [8] code is fowling the same concept; while
computation of nominal strength provided by concrete Vc and reinforcement, Vs follow Equations. (3)
and (2) respectively

cu c
f V 24 . 0 = (3)
Table 6 presents the comparison between the test results, ACI and Egyptian code for design and
construction of concrete structures ECCS equations. It indicates that the ACI equations are quite
conservative, whereas ECCS predictions are less conservative in comparison with test results. The
average ratios of
ACI V
Test V
c
c
and
ECCS V
Test V
c
c
are: 1.78 and 1.155 for SCC beams, which are greater than
those of NC beams (1.63 and 1.036). It can be also noticed that
ACI V
Test V
n
n
and
ECCS V
Test V
n
n
average ratios
for SCC beams are 2.04 and 1.52 greater than those of NC beams 1.97 and 1.47.
Table 6. Comparison of Test Results with ACI Equations and ECC Equations

Specimen
No.
ACI
kN V
c
) (

ACI
kN V
n
) (

ACI V
Test V
c
c
ACI V
Test V
n
n
ECCS
kN V
c
) (
ECCS
kN V
n
) (
ECCS V
Test V
c
c

ECCS V
Test V
n
n

N11 30.25 49.83 1.58 2.01 47.81 67.39 1.001 1.48
N12 30.25 53.84 1.69 1.91 47.81 71.40 1.070 1.44
N21 32.84 52.42 1.57 2.03 51.36 70.94 1.002 1.51
N22 32.84 56.43 1.67 1.93 51.36 74.95 1.071 1.45
485
Average NC 1.63 1.97 Average SC 1.970 1.47
N11 30.52 50.10 1.75 2.13 47.94 67.52 1.115 1.58
N12 30.52 54.11 1.74 1.97 47.94 71.53 1.178 1.49
N21 32.34 51.92 1.79 2.08 50.91 70.76 1.139 1.52
N22 32.34 55.93 1.87 1.99 50.91 74.50 1.188 1.49
Average NC 1.78 2.04 Average SC 1.155 1.52

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the test results presented herein, the following conclusions can be made:
(1) The behavior of the formation and the opening of the cracks for normal-strength beams seem
to be also valid for high-strength concrete beams.
(2) The beams with SCC have a slightly higher shear strength and better ductility than
beams with NC.
(3) The diagonal cracking strength of the SCC tested beams were 1.78 times the
prediction provided by the ACI Code shear strength equations and 1.115 times the
calculation provided by the ECCS code.
(4) The diagonal cracking strength of the NC tested beams were 1.63 times the
prediction provided by the ACI Code shear strength equations and 1.036 times the
calculation provided by the ECCS code
(5) The ultimate shear strength of beams was greater than the ACI predictions with an
average of 1.97 for NC beams and 2.04 for SCC beams in this study. Thus ACI shear
design equations underestimate the concrete contribution to ultimate shear strength
for beams with shear span-depth ratio ratios 3.0.
(6) The ultimate shear strength of beams was greater than the ECCS predictions with an average
of 1.47 for NC beams and 1.52 for SCC beams in this study. The ECC shear design equations
is less conservative than ACI equation but still over-estimating the concrete contribution to
ultimate shear strength for beams with shear span-depth ratio ratios 3.0.
REFERENCES
1. NCC AB TECHNOLOGY Rational production and improved working
environment through using self compacting concrete Cordis Rtd-Projects /
European Communities. The project was nominated for the EC's Descartes Prize for
Research; Start date: 1997-01-01End date: 2000-06-30
2. Applications of Self-Compacting Concrete in Japan, Europe and the United States
Masahiro Ouchi, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan, Sada-aki
Nakamura, PC Bridge Company, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, Thomas Osterberg and Sven-
Erik Hallberg, Swedish National Road Administration, Borlange, Sweden
Myint Lwin, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
486
3. Billberg P. Osterberg T. Self-Compacting Concrete, Technique of Use. CBI
report 2:2002, Stockholm Sweden, 2002.
4. Zhiwu Y., Caijun S., Kamal H. K. and Youjun X. Design and application of self-
compacting lightweight concrete 1st International Symposium on Design,
Performance and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete, China 2005.
5. LungSheng L. and ChaoLung H. Analysis on the Stress-Strain Behavior of Self-
Consolidating Concrete 1st International Symposium on Design, Performance and
Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete, China 2005.
6. Zhiwu Y., Caijun S., Kamal H. K. and Youjun X. Research on the Bending and
Shearing Properties of Self-Compacting Concrete Beams1st International
Symposium on Design, Performance and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete, China
2005.
7. Building Code Requirements for structural concrete and commentary ,ACI 318M-05
8. Egyptian Code for Design and Construction of Concrete Structures ESSC 2003
487
488

SHEAR BEHAVIOR OF HIGH STRENGTH FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE
BEAMS UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF AXIAL COMPRESSION FORCES

IBRAHIM G. SHAABAN
Department of Civil Engineering, Banha University
Faculty of Engineering, 108 Shoubra St. Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT: This study is part of a larger research work aimed to study the effects of fiber
content, fiber type (corrugated shape and hooked-end), amount of web reinforcement and axial
compression stress, on the shear behavior of high strength fiber reinforced concrete (HSFRC)
beams. To the authors knowledge, the effect of applying axial compression forces, to the HSFRC
beams, has not yet been studied. Nineteen simply supported HSFRC beams were subjected to axial
compression forces and tested under two-point vertical loading for three values of shear span to
depth ratio. It was found that the shear strength of beams subjected to axial compression stress
level equals 0.1, is higher than that in the literature for beams tested without applying axial stress
by a range of 22% -98%. Increasing the axial compression stress level to 0.2 led to an increase in
the first crack load, ultimate load by 24% and 10%, a reduction in the deflection by (19-30%),
compared with those subjected to axial compression stress level equals 0.1. In addition, a
combination of web reinforcement and fibers resulted in a significant increase in the cracking and
ultimate loads by 123 and 59%, respectively, over those of the reference beam. A new formula is
proposed for predicting the experimental shear strength of HSFRC beams subjected to axial
compression forces. The results obtained by the proposed formula are in better agreement with the
test results when compared with the predictions based on the empirical equations proposed by
other investigators.
INTRODUCTION
High Strength Concrete (HSC) is considered to be a relatively brittle material because the post-
peak portion of its stress-strain diagram descends deeply as compressive strength increases
1, 2
.
When added to concrete mixes, steel fibers distribute randomly through the mix at much closer
spacings than conventional reinforcing steel and act to arrest cracking by decreasing the stress
intensity factor at the tip of inherent internal cracks
3
. This leads to increasing the shear-friction
strength of concrete and also improves the ultimate tensile strength and ductility because a lot of
energy is absorbed in debonding and pulling out of fibers from the concrete before complete
separation and failure of concrete occurs
3
. Swamy and Bahia
4
showed that fibers act as effective
shear reinforcement, much like the legs of regularly spaced stirrups, and are more effective in
arresting crack propagation and maintaining the integrity of the surrounding concrete. Craig
5

showed that it is possible to replace stirrups partially or completely with fibers in beams of HSC
under transverse loading to resist shear. The ACI Committee 544
6
defined the FRC as a concrete
with increased strain capacity, impact resistance, energy absorption, and tensile strength. It has
been clearly shown that for beams reinforced with a fixed amount of minimum shear
reinforcement, irrespective of the concrete strength, the reserve shear strength diminishes as the
concrete strength gets higher
7, 8
. Therefore, the minimum shear reinforcement for HSC either in
the form of stirrups, fibers or both needs more investigation.
489
Despite that the behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams in flexure and shear was examined
in the literature using an independent test specimen without restraints, RC beams in real concrete
structures are members of a frame structure and they behave differently from such idealized
members because of the axial restraint imposed by adjacent members
9
. Based on experiments and
analyses, researchers
10
have concluded that reinforced concrete members characteristics, such as
capacity and failure pattern in compression, are significantly different under restraint conditions.
Yang et al.
9
showed that the flexural and shear behavior characteristics and the failure pattern of
RC flexural members is governed by the intensity of axial restraints. Abdoun
11
studied the effect
of axial compression forces on the behavior of HSC beams with web reinforcement. To date, an
organized and comprehensive evaluation considering the effect of applying axial compression
forces to the fiber reinforced HSC beams without web reinforcement, has not been attempted.
The aim of this research is to study the effect of varying the fiber type, fiber content and the axial
compression forces on the shear behavior of HSFRC beams. All studied beams were subjected to
axial compression forces and then tested by two-point transverse loading. The resulting first-crack
loads and ultimate shear loads were compared with those of a plain concrete reference beam to
assess the contribution of the fibers. A proposed formula was developed for prediction of shear
strength of studied beams to a high degree of accuracy.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME
Preparation of Beam Specimens and Testing
Mix proportions for HSC used in this study are shown in Table 1. Steel fibers of varying amounts
and types (see Table 2) were added during mixing of the concrete. Two types of fibers were used,
namely, hooked-end and corrugated steel fibers of yield strength of 400 MPa. The aspect ratio of
the two types of fibers was constant (/d
f
= 50 mm /1 mm = 50). Dimensions and details of
specimens used in this research are shown in Table 2 and Figure 1. It should be noted that all
beams were over-reinforced in flexure to ensure shear failure. The tested beam specimens were
subjected to axial compression force prior to testing by two-point transverse loading (shear span-to
depth ratio, a / d = 2, 3 and 4). All beams were statically tested to failure in a single load cycle. A
Linear Variable Differential Transducer (LVDT) was used to measure deflection, strains at bottom
bars and stirrups from the electrical strain gauges through a computer-controlled data acquisition
system.

Table 1 Mix Constituent Proportions for the Studied Beams
PROPORTIONS, kg/m
3

Characteristic
strength
Cement Sand Crushed
Basalt
Silica
Fume
Water Superplasticizer
Liter/ m
3

80 MPa

550 600 1250 55 150 23
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
General Behavior, Crack Pattern and Failure Mode
Figure 2 shows the crack pattern and failure mode for all the tested beams. The first crack load,
ultimate load capacity and modes of failure for the tested beams are listed in Table 3. Generally,
the first crack for all beams occurred in the shear region perpendicular to the direction of the
maximum principal stress induced by pure shear. Despite that the type and amount of steel fibers
490
did not change the mode of failure, they transformed the failure mode into a more ductile one, or
in other words, they raised the value of the first crack and ultimate loads as shown in Table 3. For
example, adding 0.5% fibers by volume resulted in increasing the cracking load and ultimate load
for B1 by 14 and 17%, over those of the reference beam, B13. Increasing the fiber volume to
1.5% led to a further increase to cracking and ultimate loads for B3 by 41 and 48%, compared to
those of the reference beam, B13. It was also observed that beams without web reinforcement had
only a single diagonal crack on one end of the beam extending throughout the shear span (Beams
B1-B13). In addition, Table 3 shows that the hooked-end fibers are slightly better than corrugated
steel fibers in terms of raising the first crack load, increasing the capacity and ductility of studied
beams. For example, Beams B1 and B2 (contains hooked-end fibers and subjected to axial
compression stress level equals 0.1) had a first crack load, failure load and, in turn, ductility higher
than those of Beams B9 and B10 (contains corrugated steel fibers), but the failure mode did not
change. Balaguru and Shah
12
reported the superior properties of hooked-end fibers over the other
steel fibers.
Figure 1 Dimensions, reinforcement details and loading of the studied beams.
P/2 P/2 a
a
1.50 m 0.10 m 0.10 m
A
A
N
N
B1-B13
a = 0.45 m for all beams except for B7, a = 0.30 m and B8, a=0.60 m
All beams contain steel fibers except B13-B16
N =0.2 f
cu
x Ac for Beams B4-B6, B11 and B12.
N = 0.1 f
cu
x Ac for all other beams.
a a
B14, B17
a a
B16, B19
N
B
P/2
P/2
P/2 P/2
P/2 P/2
416
210
6
Sec. B-B
0.175 m
0.10 m
210
Sec. A-A
Fibers
416
a
10 6
N
a
B
B15, B18
7 6
N N
B
B
5 6
N
N
B
B
491
Table 2 Experimental Programme for Studied Specimens
Beam
Specimen
number
f
cu
,

MPa
Axial compression
stress (N / f
cu
A
c
)
Type of steel
fibers
Volume
content of
fibers, v
f
,%
Shear
span/depth
ratio, a/d
Web
reinforcement
ratio,
v
%
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
B10
B11
B12
B13
B14
B15
B16
B17
B18
B19
90
91
90
84
77
76
84
79
85
86
79
80
78
78
79
78
84
80
82
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Corrugated
Corrugated
Corrugated
Corrugated
-
-
-
-
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
Hooked-end
0.5
1.0
1.5
0.5
1.0
1.5
1.0
1.0
0.5
1.0
0.5
1.0
-
-
-
-
0.5
0.5
0.5
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.50
0.75
1.12
0.50
0.75
1.12
It was observed that the number of inclined cracks increased with the presence of web
reinforcement, indicating an enhanced redistribution of internal forces (Beams B14-B19). The
combination of fibers and web reinforcement (B17-B19) resulted in a significant increase in the
cracking loads (81-123%) and ultimate loads (35-59%) over those of the reference specimen B13.
This is in agreement with the findings of Johnson and Ramirez
7
. For Beams B14, the mode of
failure was shear-compression, but adding steel fibers in B17 resulted in raising the first crack load
and ultimate load by 20 and 8%, respectively. Increasing the amount of transverse reinforcement
in B15 resulted in propagation of flexural cracks in the beam but the mode of failure was shear.
Adding fibers to the mix, B18 led to improving the shear behavior and changing of failure mode
and the beam failed in flexure with crushing of concrete and yielding of compression steel in top
of the beam. Further increase to the web reinforcement, B16, led to decreasing the cracks spacing,
increasing the number of cracks and changing the failure mode to compression failure, since the
tension zone was over reinforced. In addition, increasing the applied axial compression stress
from 0.1 to 0.2 led to increasing the first crack load and ultimate load. For example, increasing the
applied axial compression stress from 0.1 for B1, B2 and B3 to 0.2 for B4, B5 and B6 led to
increasing the cracking loads by 24, 17 and 11% and ultimate loads by 10, 6 and 3%, for these
beams, respectively. It is interesting to notice that the effect of increase in axial compression
stress becomes less significant with the increase of percentage volume of fibers from 0.5% to
1.5%.
PREDICTION OF SHEAR STRENGTH
Proposed Equation for Predicting Shear Strength Results
Based on the authors experimental results, the equation developed by Oh et al.
13
for normal
strength FRC was modified to predict the experimental results in this investigation. The details of
the formulation and modifications are stated elsewhere
14
. The proposed equation of shear strength
was written as;
for a
s
/ d 2.5
492
V
u
= [(23 f
c
d / a
s
)
1/3
b d + 0.9 A
v
f
y
d / s + 0.41 F] (1+ 0.07 N / A
c
) (1a)
and for a
s
/ d < 2.5
V
u
= [(660 f
c
)
1/3
(d / a
s
)
4/3
b d + 0.9 A
v
f
y
d / s + 0.41 F] (1+ 0.07 N/A
c
) (1b)
where
a
s
is the shear span, mm; b is the breadth of beam section, mm; d is the depth of beam section,
mm; f
c
is the compressive strength of cylinder specimens, MPa; = percentage of area of tensile
steel to area of concrete; is the average fiber matrix interfacial bond stress, = 4.15 MPa; A
v
is the
area of stirrups, mm
2
; s is the spacing of the stirrups, mm; f
y
is the yield strength of the stirrups,
MPa; F
1
is the ultimate force sustained by the steel fibers per unit area of crack at failure; N = axial
compression force applied to the beam; A
c
= b d (cross sectional area of beam section).

B1 B2

B3 B4

B5 B6

B7 B8

B9 B10

B11 B12

B13 B14

B15 B16

B17 B18

B19
Figure 2 Crack pattern and failure mode for studied beam specimens.
493
Table 3 Cracking, Maximum Shear Load, and Failure Mode of the Test Beams
BEAM f
cu
,
MPa

a/d
FIBER TYPE &
CONTENT, v
f
,%
ACS
v
, % P
cr
, kN P
u
, kN FAILURE MODE
B1 90 3 HE, 0.5 0.1 -- 121 186 Shear
B2 91 3 HE, 1.0 0.1 -- 132 200 Shear
B3 90 3 HE, 1.5 0.1 -- 149 236 Shear
B4 84 3 HE, 0.5 0.2 -- 150 205 Shear
B5 77 3 HE, 1.0 0.2 -- 155 212 Shear
B6 76 3 HE, 1.5 0.2 -- 166 244 Shear
B7 84 2 HE, 1.0 0.1 -- 180 288 Shear
B8 79 4 HE, 1.0 0.1 -- 93 152 Shear
B9 85 3 CR, 0.5 0.1 -- 117 185 Shear
B10 86 3 CR, 1.0 0.1 -- 130 194 Shear
B11 79 3 CR, 0.5 0.2 -- 132 197 Shear-Compression
B12 80 3 CR, 1.0 0.2 -- 157 201 Shear-Compression
B13 78 3 -- 0.1 -- 106 159 Shear
B14* 78 3 -- 0.1 0.5 160 199 Shear-Compression
B15* 79 3 -- 0.1 0.75 174 234 Shear
B16* 78 3 -- 0.1 1.12 210 236 Compression
B17* 84 3 HE, 0.5 0.1 0.5 192 215 Shear
B18* 80 3 HE, 0.5 0.1 0.75 227 249 Compression
B19* 82 3 HE, 0.5 0.1 1.12 236 253 Compression
ACS = axial compression stress, P
u
= ultimate load, P
cr
= cracking load, HE= hooked-end fibers,
CR = corrugated steel fibers.
* Beams with web reinforcement stirrups
Table 4 shows a comparison between the modified equations in the literature, which were
originally proposed by Ashour et al.
2
, Narayanan and Darwish
15
, and Farahat
16
and the proposed
equation in predicting the experimental results in this investigation. The equations in the literature
were modified by multiplying their results by the factor (1 + 0.07 N / A
c
) in order to include the
effect of axial compression forces. This factor was included in the ACI Building Code equation
17

and the ECCS Code equation
18
. It can be seen from Table 4 that the equations developed by
Ashour et al.
2
, Narayanan and Darwish
15
and Farahat
16
improved greatly after including the effect
of axial compression forces. The ratio of the experimental to the predicted shear strength by the
modified equation developed earlier by Farahat
16
has a mean of 1.04 and a standard deviation of
0.14, while that of the Narayanan and Darwish equation
15
has a mean of 1.1 with a standard
deviation of 0.12 and Ashour et al. equation
2
predicted the results with a mean ratio of 1.18 and a
standard deviation of 0.15. The proposed equation predicted the results very accurately with a
mean of the experimental to the predicted results equals 1.0 and the standard deviation was 0.08
only. In order to assess the effect of axial compression forces applied to the studied beams, a
comparison was made in Table 4 between the shear strength results in the current investigation and
those tested by Farahat
16
and not subjected to axial compression forces. It can be seen that shear
strength results for beams subjected to axial compression forces are higher than those tested
without applying axial forces by a range of 22-98%.
CONCLUSIONS
A total of 19 HSFRC beams, containing longitudinal reinforcement and subjected to axial
compression forces, were tested. Based on the experimental results and the analytical model
developed in this research, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. Test results indicated that the addition of steel fibers enhanced initial stiffness, cracking loads,
ultimate loads and, shear strength, and in turn, the ductility of the studied beams. Adding
494
0.5% fibers by volume resulted in increasing the cracking load and ultimate load by 14 and
17% over those of the reference beam. Increasing the fiber volume to 1.5% led to a further
increase to cracking and ultimate loads by 41 and 48%, compared to those of the reference
beam. Regardless of the failure mode, fibrous concrete beams eventually collapsed from the
severely localized deformations at one or two major cracks.
2. It was found that fiber reinforcement can reduce the amount of shear stirrups required, and
that a combination of web reinforcement and fibers resulted in obtaining the benefit of both
high capacity and ductility. This combination resulted in a significant increase in the cracking
and ultimate loads by 123 and 59% over those of the reference beam specimen. The hooked-
end fibers are slightly better than corrugated steel fibers in terms of raising the first crack load,
increasing the capacity and ductility of studied beams.
3. It was found that shear strength results for beams in the current investigation, subjected to
axial compression stress equals 0.1, are 22-98% higher than those tested by Farahat
16
without
applying axial stress. Increasing the applied axial compression stress from 0.1 to 0.2 led to a
maximum increase in the first crack load and ultimate load by 24 and 10%, and a reduction of
the deflection by (19-30%) and it has almost the same effect as increasing the fiber content
from 0.5 to 1% on the ultimate shear capacity of the tested beams. The effect of increase in
axial compression stress level becomes less significant with the increase of percentage volume
of fibers from 0.5% to 1.5%.
4. A proposed equation was developed to predict shear strength of HSFRC beams with and
without stirrups and subjected to axial compression stress. The results obtained using this
equation were in good agreement with the experimental results of the tested beams. In
addition, the results obtained by the proposed equation were in better agreement with the test
results (mean of 1.0 and standard deviation of 0.08) when compared with the predictions
based on the empirical equations proposed by other investigators.
Table 4 Comparison between the Proposed equation and Equations in Literature, modified to
count for axial loading, in Predicting Shear Strength
Experimental / Predicted shear strength, v
uo
/v
p

Beam
Level of axial
comp. stress
fcu,
MPa
Observed shear
strength, v
uo
,
Mpa
Narayanan &
Darwish
15

Ashour
et al.
2

Farahat
16
Proposed
Eq. (2)
B1 0.1 90 6.2 (3.33) 1.21 1.29 1.15 1.05
B2 0.1 91 6.7 (4.13) 1.15 1.15 1.04 1.01
B3 0.1 90 7.9 1.22 1.18 1.07 1.09
B4 0.2 84 6.8
1.02 1.1 0.98
0.90
B5 0.2 77 7.1 0.99 1.01 0.92 0.89
B6 0.2 76 8.1 1.02 1.0 0.92 0.93
B7 0.1 84 9.6 (7.85) 1.23 1.17 0.75 1.01
B8 0.1 79 5.1 (3.77) 1.0 1.28 0.98 0.91
B9 0.1 85 6.2 1.27 1.42 1.26 1.14
B10 0.1 86 6.5 1.17 1.27 1.14 1.08
B11 0.2 79 6.6 1.04 1.17 1.03 0.93
B12 0.2 80 6.7 0.94 1.02 0.91 0.86
B13 0.1 78 5.3 (2.67) 1.36 1.56 1.33 1.14
B14 0.1 78 6.6 1.15 1.26 1.13 1.05
B15 0.1 79 7.8 (4.13) 1.16 1.25 1.14 1.08
B16 0.1 78 7.9 (5.17) 0.97 1.04 0.96 0.94
B17 0.1 84 7.2 1.03 1.11 1.02 0.98
B18 0.1 80 8.3 (5.2) 1.08 1.15 1.07 1.05
B19 0.1 82 8.5 (6.0) 0.93 0.98 0.92 0.92
Mean 1.1 1.18 1.04 1.0
Standard Deviation 0.12 0.15 0.14 0.08
* Values in parentheses are results of beams tested by Farahat
18
, not subjected to axial forces.
495
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The staff members and technicians of the Reinforced Concrete Testing Laboratory at Cairo
University are acknowledged for their great help.
REFERENCES
1. Noghabai, K., Beams of Fibrous Concrete in Shear and Bending: Experiment and Model
Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 126, No. 2, February, 2000, pp. 243-251.
2. Ashour, S.A., Hasanain, G.S., and Wafa, F.F., Shear Behavior of High-Strength Fiber
Reinforced Concrete Beams, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 89, No. 2, 1992, pp. 176-184.
3. El-Niema, E.I., Reinforced Concrete Beams with Steel Fibers under Shear, ACI Structural
Journal, Vol. 88, No. 2, March-April, 1991, pp. 178-183.
4. Swamy, R.N., and Bahia, H.M., Effectiveness of Steel Fibers as Shear Reinforcement,
Concrete International: Design and Construction, Vol. 7, No. 3, Mar. 1985, pp. 35-40.
5. Craig, R. J., Structural Applications of Reinforced Fibrous Concrete, Concrete
International: Design & Construction, Vol. 6, No. 12, Dec. 1984, pp. 28-32.
6. ACI 544.4R-88, Design Considerations for Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete, State of the
Art Report by ACI Committee 544, Reapproved 1999.
7. Johnson, M.K., and Ramirez, J.A., Minimum Shear Reinforcement in Beams with Higher-
Strength Concrete, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 86, No. 4, July-Aug. 1989, pp. 376-382.
8. Ozcebe, G., Ersoy, U., and Tankut, T., Evaluation of Minimum Shear Reinforcement
Requirements for Higher-Strength Concrete, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 96, No. 3, May-
June 1999, pp. 361-368.
9. Yang, E.I., Yi, S.T., and Morita, S., Effect of Axial Restraint on Flexural and Shear Behavior
of High-Strength Concrete Members, Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 56, No. 2,
March, 2004, pp. 63-72.
10. Megget, L. M. and Fenwick, R. C., Seismic Behavior of a Reinforced Concrete Portal Frame
Sustaining Gravity Loads, Bulletin of the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake
Engineering, 1989, 22, No. 1, 3949.
11. Abdoun, S. G. (1998) Effect of Axial Compressive Stresses on Shear Strength of High
Strength Concrete Beams with Web Reinforcement Cairo University, Ph.D.
12. Balaguru, P.N. and Shah, S.P., Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites, McGraw-Hill, Inc.,
1992, p. 196.
13. Oh, B. H., Lim, D. H., Yoo, S. W. and Kim, E. S., Shear Behavior and Shear Analysis of
Reinforced Concrete Beams Containing Steel Fibers, Magazine of Concrete Research, Dec.
1998, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 283-291.
14. Shaaban, I. G., Shear Behavior of High Strength Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams Subjected
to Axial Compression Forces, Scientific Bulletin, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams
University, Vol. 39, No. 4, December, 2004.
15. Narayanan, R., and Darwish, I. Y. S., Use of Steel Fibers as Shear Reinforcement, ACI
Structural Journal, Vol. 84, No. 3, May-June 1987, pp. 216-227.
16. Farahat, A.M., Effectiveness of Steel Fibers on the Shear Resistance of High-Strength
Reinforced Concrete Beams, Engng. Res. Journal, Helwan University, Vol. 91, Feb. 2003,
pp. 35-55.
17. ACI Committee 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-99) and
Commentary (318R-99), American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich., 1999, 391
pp.
18. ECCS 203-2001, Egyptian Code for Design and Construction of Concrete Structures, Cairo,
Egypt, 2001.
496

DESIGN OF STRUCTURES FOR TSUNAMIS
A. GHOBARAH
Department of Civil Engineering, UAEU University, AlAin, UAE

ABSTRACT: A megathrust earthquake with magnitude 9.3 occurred on December 26, 2004
about 150 kilometers off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake is
associated with the subduction of the Indian plate under the Burma microplate, resulting in a
vertical uplift of 7.0 to 10.0 m of the ocean floor. The uplift caused a devastating tsunami with
wave run-up reaching levels of up to 14 m in urban areas. For the first time, the event provided the
opportunity to evaluate the effect of the tsunami on a wide variety of engineered and non-
engineered structures. The objective of the article is to provide information and evaluate the
observed behaviour of structures when subjected to tsunami forces. The effect of the tsunami on
structures and infrastructure produced surprising behaviour with several new lessons to learn. It
was found that well-designed and constructed structures with attention to some details and no
significant additional cost survived the earthquake and the resulting tsunami. It is concluded that it
is necessary to design critical structures and important infrastructure to survive tsunami effects.
INTRODUCTION
On Sunday December 26, 2004, a megathrust earthquake of moment magnitude 9.3 occurred off
the west coast of northern Sumatra. The earthquake is associated with the subduction of the Indian
plate under the Burma microplate. The epicenter of the earthquake was approximately 150 km
from the city of Meulaboh on the west coast of Sumatra and approximately 250 km from the
provincial capital city of Banda Aceh at the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The
fault rupture propagated to the north west of the epicenter. From records of aftershocks, there are
preliminary indications that the length of fault slip is possibly over 1200 km as shown in Figure
1
1
. The earthquake and tsunami affected several countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India,
Thailand, Maldives, Malaysia, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya. Damage from the event is
staggering and caused loss of life in excess of 300,000. The earthquake and tsunami provided a
unique opportunity to evaluate the effect of the tsunami event on a wide variety of engineered and
non-engineered structures.
The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the effects of the December 26 event on
buildings and bridges and to survey and document the resulting damage and failure of structures.
This information is necessary for the research into the design of critical structures and important
infrastructure to survive the extreme events with minimum damage and loss of life. At this stage it
is appropriate to ask the question whether structures can be designed to survive tsunami effects
and whether such effort is worthwhile given the low probability of the event.

497

There is a significant interest in the Arab countries to study the event as some countries are
vulnerable to tsunamis. The eastern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean are vulnerable to
tsunamis generated by major events at the subduction zone of the North African plate under the
Aegean and Turkish plate along the Hellenic and Cyprian arcs near Cyprus. There is historic
evidence that a mega tsunami occurred in the Mediterranean Sea around 1650 BC due to the
eruption of Thera. In addition, there is substantial evidence of destructive earthquakes
accompanied by tsunamis affecting the coast of Lebanon, Palestine and the northern coast of
Egypt. Other Arab countries may also be vulnerable to Tsunami effects.
Reports of damage and satellite images were investigated before and after the earthquake and
tsunami
2
. Damage from the tsunami is widespread and affected 19 countries. However, damage
from the earthquake was limited to areas of Indonesia such as the cities of Meulaboh and Banda
Aceh and the Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar as shown in Figure 1. The areas selected for
the study were those closest to the fault line with a large population of engineered structures. The
result was to focus the effort on the coast of Phuket in Thailand (Figure 1), where there are hotels
and resorts and the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia where there are infrastructure, office buildings,
hotels and shopping malls. Access to Meulaboh with population of 40,000 by road was not
possible. Relief work was still being conducted by helicopters and by amphibian vessels landing
off the coast. Due to difficulty of access, the city of Meulaboh was excluded from the visit.
Near Phuket in Thailand, areas with the heaviest damage in order of severity are Khao Lak,
Phi Phi island and Patong Beach. Damage was also significant to other beaches on the west coast
of Phuket such as Kata and Karon Beaches.
THE TSUNAMI
The uplift of the ocean floor due to the fault slip is estimated at 7 to 10 m. This uplift caused high
tsunami waves to travel to the East and to the west. The affected areas in Thailand and Indonesia
are on the Burma microplate, which was raised due to the fault slip. By all consistent accounts in
the city of Banda Aceh, when the earthquake occurred water receded from the shores then 15 to
20 minutes later the first wave of three tsunami waves arrived. The second and the third waves
arrived 25 minutes apart and were the most damaging.
The impact and damage from the tsunami appears to be a function of topography of the
coastal areas. In flat areas of the coast of Sumatra and Banda Aceh, the tsunami wave reached 4 or
5 km inland which affected a large population. In the flat areas, the maximum wave heights were 4
to 6 m. On the other hand, extensive damage was observed in bays that focus the waves to the
beach areas. The most severe damage was in the Khao Lak area where the beach is surrounded by
hills. When the wave arrived at the elevated ground, the energy of the waves caused the water to
rise to the level of the roof of a three-story building or approximately 12 m. A coastal engineering
team from Japan
3
measured the maximum tsunami run-up height in Rhiting south west of Banda
Aceh at 48.86 m. The evaluated structures in this study were subjected to wave heights of 4 m to a
maximum of 12 m.
Damage to Phi Phi island of Thailand from the tsunami was extensive due to the unique shape
of the island. The island is in the shape of H oriented in the NW-SE direction. The unequal flanges
of the H shape are elevated grounds, hills and cliffs that reflected the waves towards the middle of
the island, which is a low area with beaches and a number of resorts. The tsunami waves arrived at
the island from both the NW and SE directions and met over the beach and resort areas. The water
reached a height of 5 to 6 m and stayed for approximately 5 minutes before receding. Damage to
the low ground and beach areas was extensive.

498

Figure 1 Indian ocean with the earthquake epicenter and aftershocks
Effect on Structures
Many structures in the city of Banda Aceh suffered severe damage and collapse due to the
earthquake. The reasons for the damage and collapse are similar to those observed after earlier
earthquakes such as the 1999 Koceali turkey earthquake
4
. There were no new lessons to learn
from the response of the structures to the earthquake ground motion. On the other hand, there is
much to learn from the effect of the tsunami on structures.
Structures affected by the tsunami were low-rise residential, hotel buildings, government
offices and industrial facilities. The structures may be classified in terms of their observed
performance under three categories:
a) Residential wood houses with corrugated steel sheet roof. This type of construction
shown in Figure 2 is low cost and affordable. These houses survived the earthquake
with minor damage but completely disintegrated when swept by the tsunami. The
construction material was broken down to small pieces of debris. Most of the
observed debris carried by the water was from this type of house construction, in
addition to trees and parts of trees as shown in Figure 3.

499

Figure 2 Typical residential house

Figure 3 Debris left by the water

b) Non-engineered concrete construction. These buildings are lightly reinforced
substandard concrete frames with masonry infill walls as shown in Figure 4. This
type of construction suffered damage due to the earthquake and further damage due
to the tsunami. Many of these buildings were severely damaged or collapsed.

Figure 4 Non-engineered concrete building

c) Engineered concrete construction. The engineered and the well-constructed
reinforced concrete frame structures survived the earthquake and tsunami with minor
damage. Damage to these buildings was limited to failed first floor thin (50 mm)
masonry walls and damage to columns due to the effect of debris and impact of
heavy objects such as cars and boats. An example of a well-constructed building is
shown in Figure 5.

500

Figure 5 well-constructed building that
survived the earthquake and tsunami

Figure 6 Loss of support under shallow
foundations
The tsunami waves both in coming ashore and receding had the effect of scouring the sand
from under shallow foundations of single to three story buildings. This resulted in loss of support
for the footings. An example of a three-story resort near Khao Lak is shown in Figure 6. The sand
under the foundation is built-up fill, which was compacted and contained by a retaining wall that
failed.
Bridges
Damage to bridges in Aceh province was extensive which severely constrained rescue and relief
efforts. The tsunami force caused the collapse of a number of bridges that formed vital links to
population centers in the area of Banda Aceh. Temporary Bailey bridges were constructed at
several locations as shown in Figure 7. Many of the bridges on the coastal road to Meulaboh were
washed away and sections of the road disappeared which isolated many small communities where
survivors can only be reached by helicopters.
A two span steel truss bridge on the west coast of Banda Aceh was displaced approximately
50 m by the tsunami. Since the bridge was important for the road to a cement plant, industrial
facilities and to communities to the west, a temporary Bailey bridge shown in Figure 8 was
constructed using the undamaged pier and abutments of the displaced bridge.
The reinforced concrete two-lane deck of a multi-span bridge on the east side of the city was
swept off its piers. The third and fourth piers from the left abutment also collapsed.

Figure 7 Temporary army Bailey bridge in
Banda Aceh

Figure 8 Steel truss bridge collapsed and moved
50 m. A temporary Bailey bridge was erected

501

NEW OBSERVED BEHAVIOUR
Although the behaviour of structures due to ground motion was similar to observations made
following previous earthquakes, there are new and unexpected important lessons to learn from the
response of structures to the tsunami forces.
a) Failure of masonry infill walls was due to punching shear as the typical failure
shown in Figure 9. The failure occurred because of the pressure from water loaded
with debris as shown in Figure 10. This type of failure of infill masonry walls has
not been simulated in laboratory experiments using out-of-plane loading of the walls.
A possible reason may be the inappropriate representation of the boundary
conditions in the test setup.

Figure 9 Typical shear failure pattern of
masonry walls

Figure 10 Pressure on walls was affected by
debris

b) Unexpected high forces caused concrete column failures such as the two columns
shown in Figure 11. The water level in the area reached a maximum of 6 m, which
by itself does not explain the single column failure. The moment capacity of the
failed 250 mm diameter column is estimated to be 10 kN.m. This high lateral load on
the column may be reached if the effect of debris on the load is taken into account.
One such effect is that debris increases the area subjected to water pressure

Figure 11 Effect of debris on the water pressure that failed two concrete columns

502

c) Many reinforced concrete columns failed due to impact of large and heavy objects in
the debris such as boats and cars as shown in Figure 12. Perhaps this type of failure
cannot be avoided and would be costly to design for. However, inclusion of
redundancies in the design will ensure that the structure would not collapse due to
the failure of one or two columns.

Figure 12 Impact of a small truck damaged
concrete column

Figure 13 Lifting and displacement of dock
concrete slabs

d) In several locations the water lifted precast floor slab units. The slabs are 50 mm
thick 300 mm wide and 2 m long reinforced by four - 6 mm diameter wires. Larger
and heavier reinforced concrete slabs were also lifted and displaced several meters
by the tsunami. Displaced and damaged dock slabs are shown in Figure 13. This type
of failure requires anchoring the floor and dock slabs to the beams and columns and
not just relying on the weight of the slab to hold it down.
e) The force of the tsunami waves displaced the superstructure and concrete decks of
bridges by several metres. Anchoring the bridge superstructure and concrete decks to
the piers and abutments may eliminate some of the observed bridge failures. Fuel
storage tanks are normally not anchored to their foundation. Similarly, anchoring of
the tanks to their foundation is necessary to prevent the tanks from being swept
away.
f) The loss of foundation soil under footings as shown in Figure 6 can be avoided by
designing deeper foundation levels.
CONCLUSIONS
The south-east Asia earthquake event provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the
performance of various structures to the ground motion and the associated tsunami. There are
surprising and important observations made concerning the response of structures to the
tsunami forces, which will inspire research into the behaviour. From the evaluation of the
damage to engineered and non-engineered structures and einfrastructure, the following
conclusions can be made:

503

(1) Damage to columns and structural members due to the tsunami involved impact by objects
such as boats and cars and the effect of debris in increasing the area subjected to water
pressure. It would be a good practice to provide redundancy such that the building would not
collapse as a consequence of the failure of one or two columns.
(2) Roofs, reinforced concrete slabs, bridge decks and storage tanks should be well anchored to
the beams, piers, abutments and foundations. The design tension forces on the anchoring
systems need to be evaluated.
(3) Well-designed and constructed buildings that are conforming to various design codes
5 -8
,
survived up to 12 m tsunami wave with minimum structural damage. Due to the recognized
low probability of a severe tsunami event, it is envisaged that the design recommendations
will focus on few identified important details that add no significant cost to the construction.
In the case of the tsunami, the survival of the structure improves the chances but does not
guarantee the survival of occupants. It is possible to design and detail critical structures and
important infrastructure to successfully resist the tsunami-imposed forces. The survival of
critical structures is essential for quickly restoring services, reducing the suffering and
speeding up the recovery.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The visit to the earthquake and tsunami affected areas in Thailand and Indonesia was conducted
by the author accompanied by Dr. Murat Saatcioglu and Dr. Ioan Nistor of the University of
Ottawa. Their contribution, valuable discussions and friendship are gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
1. US Geological Survey, web site accessed Februay 2005
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/
2. Digital Globe. http://www.digitalglobe.com/tsunami_gallery.html. (Accessed January 2005).
3. Shibayama, T. Yokohama National University,
http://www.cvg.ynu.ac.jp/G2/indonesia_survey_ynu_e.html (Accessed March 2005).
4. Saatcioglu, M., Gardner, N.J., and Ghobarah, A. 1999 Turkey Earthquake, Performance of
RC Structures, Concrete International, (2001) Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 47-56.
5. ACI 318-05. Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete, American Concrete
Institute, Farmington Hill, Michigan (2005). 3. A. Ghobarah, T.S. Aziz and A. Biddah,
Rehabilitation of Reinforced Concrete Frame Connections Using Corrugated Steel
Jacketing, ACI Structural Journal, 94(33), 1997, pp. 283294.
6. Eurocode 8. Design of Structures for Earthquake Resistance, prEN 1998-1:2003 (E)
European Committee for Standardization, Brussels.
7. National Building Code of Canada, NBCC. The National Research Council of Canada,
Ottawa, Canada (2005).
8. CSA Design of Concrete Structures for Buildings. Canadian Standards Association,
Standard CSA A23.3-94, Rexdale, Ontario, Canada (2005).

504

SHEAR-TORSION-BENDING INTERACTION USING AASHTO-LRFD
GENERAL PROCEDURE
KHALDOUN N. RAHAL
Department of Civil Engineering, Kuwait University
P.O. Box 5969, Safat, 13060
ABSTRACT: This paper presents an evaluation of one of the two permissible procedures for design
and analysis of combined shear and torsion in the AASHTO-LRFD Specifications. The calculations of
this procedure, based on the General Method, are checked against the experimental results on
combined shear and torsion, torsion and bending, and shear-torsion-bending tests in reinforced and
prestressed concrete beams. In addition, typical interaction diagrams between torsion, shear and
bending are presented. The comparison shows that the method provides conservative results and
accurate representations of the interaction between torsion and the two other stress resultants.
INTRODUCTION
The AASHTO LRFD Specifications
1
allow two different procedures for the design and analysis of
concrete beams subjected to shear and torsion. The first is the Simplified Procedure (SP) for non-
prestressed members, which is based on the traditional 45
o
truss model, modified with a concrete
contribution to the shear resistance, equal to 0.167
'
c
f MPa shear stress. The second is the
General Procedure (GP) and is based on the General Method (GM).
2,3
The General Method also
allows a concrete and steel contribution to the shear resistance, but only a steel contribution to the
torsional resistance. Unlike the first procedure, however, the GP is based on a variable angle truss
model, and a variable concrete contribution stress depending on numerous factors (such as
prestressing, axial force, bending moment and amount of longitudinal reinforcement). It also
unifies the design approach to non-prestressed, partially prestressed and fully prestressed concrete
beams subjected to torsion and shear in combination with axial forces and bending moments. The
General Method was originally developed for shear, and was extended to be applicable for the
case of torsion. The background to the development of this method was given by Rahal and
Collins.
3

The General Method is a more rational alternative to the conventional 45
o
truss model, which
has been extensively verified. This paper presents an evaluation of the GM for torsion in
combination with bending and shear.
THE GENERAL PROCEDURE
This section briefly discusses the provisions of the GP that are pertinent to the evaluation. The
resistance and material factors are not shown in the equations, and hence the factored terms are
replaced with the applied or nominal terms.

505

Strength Equations

This method assumes that properly detailed transverse reinforcement contributes to both the shear and
torsional resistance, while concrete contributes only to the shear resistance of the section. The shear
resistance V
n
at a section is given by:
p
v yt v
v v c n
V
s
d f A
d b f V + + = cot 083 . 0
'
(1)
Based on the hollow tube analogy, the torsional resistance T
n
of the section is given by:
cot 2
s
f A
A T
yt t
o n
= (2)
Where A
o
can be taken as 0.85A
oh
. The concrete cover is assumed to spall off before the ultimate
torsional capacity is reached, and hence the shear flow path is related to the dimensions of the stirrups.
The values of and used to calculate V
n
, and T
n
are shown Table 1. They depends on the level of
strain in the section
x
[Eq. (5)], and on the level of the applied shear stress v/ f
c
[Eq. (4)].

Table 1. General Procedure values of and for members with adequate transverse
reinforcement
x
x 1000
v/f
c

-0.2 -0.15 -0.1 0 0.125 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.5 2

0.05 27.0
6.78
27.0
6.17
27.0
5.63
27.0
4.88
27.0
3.99
28.5
3.49
29.0
2.51
33.0
2.37
36.0
2.23
41.0
1.95
43.0
1.72
0.075 27.0
6.78
27.0
6.17
27.0
5.63
27.0
4.88
27.0
3.65
27.5
3.01
30.0
2.47
33.5
2.33
36.0
2.16
40.0
1.90
42.0
1.65
0.1 23.5
6.50
23.5
5.87
23.5
5.31
23.5
3.26
24.0
2.61
26.5
2.54
30.5
2.41
34.0
2.28
36.0
2.09
38.0
1.72
39.0
1.45
0.125 20.0
2.71
21.0
2.71
22.0
2.71
23.5
2.60
26.0
2.57
28.0
2.50
31.5
2.37
34.0
2.18
36.0
2.01
37.0
1.60
38.0
1.35
0.15 22.0
2.66
22.5
2.61
23.5
2.61
25.0
2.55
27.0
2.50
29.0
2.45
32.0
2.28
34.0
2.06
36.0
1.93
36.5
1.50
37.0
1.24
0.175 23.5
2.59
24.0
2.58
25.0
2.54
26.5
2.50
28.0
2.41
30.0
2.39
32.5
2.20
34.0
1.95
35.0
1.74
35.5
1.35
36.0
1.11
0.2 25.0
2.55
25.5
2.49
26.5
2.48
27.5
2.45
29.0
2.37
31.0
2.33
33.0
2.10
34.0
1.82
34.5
1.58
35.0
1.21
36.0
1.00
0.225 26.5
2.45
27.0
2.44
27.5
2.43
29.0
2.37
30.5
2.33
32.0
2.27
33.0
1.92
34.0
1.67
34.5
1.43
36.5
1.18
39.0
1.14
0.25 28.0
2.36
28.5
2.36
29.0
2.32
30.0
2.30
31.0
2.28
32.0
2.01
33.0
1.64
34.0
1.52
35.5
1.40
38.5
1.30
41.5
1.25

Shearing Stresses

The shearing stress due to a shear force is nearly uniform over the effective shear area of the cross
section of a beam,
4
and is given in AASHTO by:
506

v v
p
d b
V V
(3-a)
Based on the hollow tube analogy, the torsional shearing stress is given by:
2
oh
h
A
p T
(3-b)
It is to be noted that the ACI code
5
equation for the torsional shearing stress (T p
h
/ 1.7 / A
oh
2
)
calculates 41% smaller torsional shearing stress than that given in Eq. (3-b), while other studies such
that by Rahal
6
uses the results from a more detailed analysis to calculate a 50% larger stress value (but
based on the unspalled dimensions).
To avoid crushing in the concrete before yielding of the transverse reinforcement, AASHTO
limits the shear stress to 0.25 f
c
. In describing the background to the development of the General
Method, Rahal and Collins
3
showed that a larger limit up to 0.30 f
c
could have been allowed for
members with
x
1 x 10
-3
. However, the 0.25 f
c
limit was chosen as a conservative and unified value
for all
x
.
In combined shear and torsion, the total shear stress depends on whether the section is hollow or
solid. For hollow sections, the combined shear stress, v, can be obtained from:
'
2
25 . 0
c
oh
h
v v
p
f
A
p T
d b
V V
v +
= (4-a)
In solid sections, the torsional stresses can redistribute over the section and v is calculated as:
'
2
2
2
25 . 0
c
oh
h
v v
p
f
A
p T
d b
V V
v

= (4-b)

Longitudinal strain indicator

The term
x
, which is an indicator of the level of longitudinal strain in the section, is conservatively and
conveniently taken at the level of the centroid of the flexural tension reinforcement. This term is
calculated as:
ps p s s
po ps v
o
h
x
A E A E
f A d M
A
T p
V N
+
+
+ +
=
/
2
9 . 0
cot 5 . 0 5 . 0
2
2
(5)
If
x
is negative (section in compression), the GM requires that it is multiplied by a factor which
accounts for the area and modulus of elasticity of the concrete in compression.
The term
x
accounts for the effects of M, N and compression on the member due to the
prestressing operation. This term strongly influences the choice of and . See Table 1.

Effect on longitudinal reinforcement

As shown in Eq. (5), the shearing stresses cause tension in the transverse reinforcement as well as in
the longitudinal reinforcement. The adequacy of the longitudinal reinforcement to resist the stresses
that can be developed is checked by ensuring that:
507

( )
2
2
2
45 . 0
5 . 0 cot 5 . 0

+ + + +
o
h
p s
v
ps ps yl s
A
T p
V V V N
d
M
f A f A (6)
The left-hand side of Eq. (6) represents the maximum factored force that the longitudinal
reinforcement can resist. The right hand side represents the maximum factored force that may develop
in this reinforcement due to the combined effects of M, N, T and V.
The transverse reinforcement provided should be the sum of that required to resist the shear force,
A
v
, and twice that required to resist the co-existing torsion, A
t
. The effects of torsion must be
considered in the design only if the factored torque is greater than 25% of the cracking torque given by
AASHTO.
1
The specifications also sets limits on the spacing and minimum amount of transverse
reinforcement when required.

Figure 1. Calculated three-dimensional T-V-M and T-V-N interaction surfaces
-1
0
1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
M / M
n0
1.0
300 x 600 mm section
f'
c
= 35 MPa
s
= '
s
= 1.0 %
v
f
yt
= 0.98 MPa
1.0
1.0
T / T
n0
V / Vn0
long. steel
critical- Eq. (6)
V < V
c
only trans.
steel critical
a) T - V - M
M = 0.8 M
n0
V = 0.8 V
n0
-2
-1
1
2
-2.5 -1.5 -0.5 0.5 1.5
Tension
1.0
1.0
1.0
N / N
n0
V / Vn0
long. steel
critical- Eq. (6)
only trans.
steel critical
b) T - V - N
T / T
n0
Compression
V < V
c
f'
c
= 35 MPa
s
= '
s
= 1.0 %
v
f
yt
= 0.98 MPa
N = -0.6 N
n0
508

INTERACTION DIAGRAMS
One of the main advantages of the GM is its ability to consider the effects of M and N on the shear and
on the torsional strength in a rational manner. In this section, the method is used to obtain the 3-
dimensional T-V-M and T-V-N interaction surfaces to show the effects of different design criteria.
Figure 1(a) shows the interaction surface for a 35 MPa concrete section reinforced with
s
= '
s

1%, and with
v
f
yt
= 0.98 MPa, which is nearly twice the minimum amount of transverse
reinforcement required for the selected concrete strength. The surface is generated by calculating two-
dimensional curves of two stress resultants at 20% increments of the third stress resultant.

Depending on the critical criteria three distinct regions on the surface are identified. The first is
determined by yielding of the longitudinal reinforcement [Eq. (6) is critical]. The second region is
where only the transverse reinforcement yields [Eq. (6) is not critical]. The third region is similar to
that in the second region, except that the shear force is resisted by V
c
without the need for transverse
reinforcement (V V
c
).
In general, the V-M and T-M interaction curves are nearly bi-linear. The effect of the bending
moment on the torsional and shearing strength is significant at large M values only. The reverse is
equally true. At relatively large shearing forces (at V = 0.8 V
n0
for example), the T-M interaction curve
becomes linear. Relatively low levels of shearing force do not have a detrimental effect on the
torsional strength because the shear force can be resisted by the concrete without the need for
transverse reinforcement. With very large flexural moment (at M = 0.8 M
n0
for example), the ability of
the longitudinal reinforcement [Eq. (6)] is critical, and the V-T interaction curve becomes nearly
circular. This is expected because Eq. (6) adopts a square root of the sum of the squares
combination of the effects of shear and torsion on the longitudinal force.
The surfaces shown in Figure 1(a) agree with test observations over the years that the interaction
between the T, V and M depends on numerous factors, and no single shape can accommodate all cases.
Figure 1(b) shows the T-V-N interaction surface for the same section studied in Figure 1(a). The
interaction of tension with shear and torsion is very similar to that of bending because the terms for the
tensile force in the longitudinal reinforcement in the tension zone (M/d
v
and 0.5 N) are interchangeable
in Eq. (6) as well as in Eq. (5). Adding a compressive force reduces
x
, which increases the term
(and consequently increases V
c
and V
n
) and decreases the term (and consequently increases cot , V
n

and T
n
). This explains the increase in torsional and shear strength in the compression side of the
surface.
EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION
To check its validity, the calculations of the General Procedure are compared with the experimental
results from test series on combined torsion and bending,
7,8
combined torsion and shear,
9,10
and the
more general case of combined torsion, shear and bending.
11
The calculations are based on the
experimentally observed material properties and on unit resistance and material safety factors. The
results of the comparison are summarized in Table 2.

Torsion and Bending

509

The strength of beams subjected to combined torsion and bending depends mainly on the ratio T/M and
on the distribution of the longitudinal reinforcement. To test the accuracy of the GP, its calculations
are compared with the experimental interaction curves from two series of beams subjected to combined
T and M, one in symmetrically prestressed beams and another in un-symmetrically reinforced beams.

Table 2. Experimental verification of the General Procedure
Experimental/calculated Ref Number and
cross section
Loading f
c

(MPa)
Size
(mm)
No of
test
results
Mean COV
(%)
max Min
7 5 prestressed
hollow
T, M about
38.5
305 x 432 5 1.13 13.4 1.31 1.01
8 5 unsymmterically
reinforced hollow
T, M 34.8 508 x 410 5 1.21 16.6 1.54 1.05
9 4 solid reinforced T, V
(M0)
about
45
340 x 640 4 1.17 5.4 1.26 1.11
10 10 solid
reinforced
T, V
M0.28 V
21.5 203 x 305 8
*
1.32 5.3 1.48 1.27
11 7 solid reinforced T, V, M 30 152 x 305 7 1.65 14.3 1.91 1.19
All tests 29 1.33 18.8 1.91 1.01
*
Only average values of repeated tests are used

Mardukhi
7
tested five 305 x 432 mm symmetrically prestressed beams with an average concrete
strength of 38.5 MPa. The observed T-M diagram is plotted in Figure 2(a) and shows a slight
reduction in torsional strength at relatively low bending, with more significant reduction where the
longitudinal reinforcement is critical. The GP captured this reduction and the results were generally
conservative, with lower levels of conservatism near the area of pure bending as would be expected.
Onsongo
8
tested five 508 x 410 mm un-symmetrically reinforced hollow specimens with an
average concrete strength of 34.8 MPa. The specimens were designed to fail in an under-reinforced
mode. The experimental results shown in Fig. 2(b) indicate that a relatively small bending increases
the torsional capacity. In the calculations of the GP, the top and bottom walls are separately checked
using Eqs. (5) and (6). In checking the top reinforcement, the sign of the bending moment was taken
as negative. At high T/M loading ratios, the GM shows that the weaker top longitudinal reinforcement
was critical in determining the torsional capacity. The flexural moment introduces a compressive force
in the weak top reinforcement and hence increases the torsional capacity (similar to the effect of an
axial compressive force). The results also show that the torsional capacity decreases significantly
when the bottom longitudinal reinforcement is critical in determining the capacity. Figure 2(b) show
that general method gives conservative results, and properly captures the shape and the trends in the
interaction between T and M.

Torsion and shear

Rahal and Collins
9
tested four 340 x 640 mm reinforced concrete beams under combined shear and
torsion. The 6 m-long specimens had two-3 meter long cross wings and were tested in a rig which was
designed to minimize the effect of bending moment. Figure 3(a) shows the experimentally observed
strength of the specimens and the calculated shear-torsion interaction diagram. The GM slightly over-
estimated the detrimental effects of the torsional moment on the shearing strength, but the results were
510

adequately conservative. Rahal and Collins
9
reported that only the transverse reinforcement yielded at
ultimate conditions, and that the strains in the longitudinal reinforcement remained below yield level.
This is in agreement with the calculations of the method.

Figure 2. Torsion-bending interaction diagrams

Klus
10
tested ten 203 x 305 mm specimens under various combination of torque to shear ratio, and
a relatively low bending moment. The pure torsion and the pure shear tests were repeated. See Fig.
3(b). In accordance with the GM, the average moment across the diagonal crack can be used, or
simply, the moment at d
v
away from the face of the support or the loading plate. For Klus tests, this
moment corresponds to M/V = 0.28 m. The experimental results showed that the interaction between T
and V is significant at all loading ratio, and this was captured by the GM. All the GP calculations were
conservative, and the shape of the interaction curve was well captured in both series of tests.

Torsion, shear and bending

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 50 100 150 200 250
Bending moment (kN.m)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
Transverse
steel critical
observed
Long. steel
critical (Eq. 6)
General
Method
a) Mardukhi's TB series
Symmetrically prestressed
s
=0.34%,
ps
= 0.26%
#3 hoops @ 152 mm
f'
c
= 38.5 MPa
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Bending moment (kN.m)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
bottom
long. steel
Eq. (6)
b) Onsongo TBU series
v/f'
c
= 0.25
Eq. (4)
General Method
top
long. steel
Eq. (6)
Un-symmetrically reinforced
s
=1.87%, '
s
= 0.27%
#4 hoops @ 76 mm
f'
c
= 34.8 MPa
511

Badawy et al.
11
tested seven 152 x 305 mm specimens under different combinations of T, V and M.
Figure 4 shows the observed results and the calculated interaction surface. The amount of
transverse reinforcement was about 3.4 times the minimum amount, and Eq. (4) was critical in a
limited area of the surface near the point of pure torsion. All the results of the GP were
conservative, especially at larger torsional moments. The concrete outside the centerline of the
stirrups constituted 44% of the total area in this series of specimens, as typical in tests on relatively
small size specimen,. Neglecting the contribution of the concrete cover significantly increased the
level of conservatism at high torque loading as shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 3: Torsion-shear interaction diagrams

-1
0
1
2
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
S4
f'
c
= 30 MPa
s
= '
s
= 1.4%
v
f
yt
=1.56 MPa (3.4 vmin
)
S2
S3
S1
S7
S6
S5
Long. steel
critical
only trans.
steel critical
v/f'
c
= 0.25
Eq. (4)
(limited area)
calculated
observed
M / Mn0
T / Tn0
V / Vn0
1
1
1

Figure 4. Normalized T-V-M interaction surface for tests by Badawy et al.
11

Overall performance

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Shear force (kN)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
only trans.
steel
critical
observed
V < V
c
General Method
a) Rahal and Collins tests
reinforced section
s
= '
s
= 1.28%
v
f
yt
=2.2 MPa (3.9 A
vmin
)
f'
c
= 45 MPa
M/V = 0
RC2-3
RC2-4
RC2-1
RC2-2
0
5
10
15
0 40 80 120 160
Shear force (kN)
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
only trans
steel
critical
observed
v/f'
c
= 0.25
Eq. (4)
General Method
b) Klus tests
reinforced section
s
= '
s
= 1.6%
v
f
yt
= 1.27 MPa (3.3A
vmin
)
f'
c
= 21.5 MPa
M/V = 0.28
512

Table 2 shows that for the 29 test results investigated, the average and coefficient of variation of the
ratio of observed to calculated strength were respectively 1.33 and 18.8%. A previous study
2
on 528
specimens subjected to shear, bending and axial load reported respectively 1.39 and 19.7%. There is a
consistency in the results, which increases the confidence in the method, and in the assumptions
adopted to extend the application of the method to cover the case of torsion in particular.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The calculations of the General Method were conservative in the 29 test results investigated.
2. The average and coefficient of variation of the ratio of the observed to the calculated strength
were similar to those by a previous study on 528 specimens subjected to shear, axial load and
flexure. The consistency in the results increases the confidence in the method, especially in the
assumptions adopted to extend the application of the method to cover the case of torsion.
3. The General Method accurately captured the interaction between torsion, shear, and bending. It
also calculated the shape of the interaction diagrams and surfaces with reasonable accuracy.
REFERENCES
1. AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and Commentary," 2nd Edition, American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., 1998.
2. Collins, M.P., Mitchell, D., Adebar, P.E., and Vecchio, F.V., "A General Shear Design
Method," ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 93, No. 1, Jan.-Feb. 1996, pp. 36-45.
3. Rahal, K.N. and Collins, M.P., "Background to the 1994 CSA-A23.3 General Method of
Shear Design," Canadian Journal of Civil Engrg., V. 26, No. 6, Dec. 1999, pp. 827-839.
4. Vecchio, F.J. and Collins, M.P., "Predicting the Response of Reinforced Concrete Beams
Subjected to Shear Using the Modified Compression Field Theory," ACI Structural Journal,
Vol. 85, No. 3, MayJune 1988, pp. 258268.
5. ACI Committee 318, "Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-02)
and Commentary (ACI 318R-02)," American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 2002, 443 pp.
6. Rahal, K.N., "Torsional Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams," Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2000, pp. 445-453
7. Mardukhi, J. "The Behaviour of Uniformly Prestressed Concrete Box Beams in Combined
Torsion and Bending," M.A.Sc. Thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, 1974, 73 pp.
8. Onsongo, W.M., "The Diagonal Compression Field Theory for Reinforced Concrete Beams
Subjected to Combined Torsion, Flexure, and Axial Load," Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Civil
Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, 1978, 246 pp.
9. Rahal, K.N. and Collins, M.P., "Effect of Thickness of Concrete Cover on Shear-Torsion
InteractionAn Experimental Investigation," ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 92, No. 3, May-
June 1995, pp. 334-342.
10 Klus, J.P., "Ultimate Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams in Combined Torsion and
Shear," ACI Journal, Proceedings V. 65, No. 3, 1968, pp. 210-216.
11. Badawy, H.E.I., McMullen, A.E. and Jordaan, I.J., "Experimental Investigation of the
Collapse of Reinforced Concrete Curved Beams," Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 29,
No. 99, June 1977, pp. 59-69.
NOTATIONS
513

A
o
= area enclosed by the shear flow path, taken as 0.85A
oh

A
oh
= area enclosed by centreline of outermost closed transverse torsion
reinforcement
A
ps
= area of prestressed reinforcement in flexural tension zone of section
A
s
= area of non-prestressed reinforcement in flexural tension zone of section
A
t
= area of one leg of closed torsion reinforcement within a spacing s
A
v
= area of the stirrups within a spacing s
A
vmin
= minimum area of transverse reinforcement
b
v
= effective web width
d = distance from extreme compression fibre to centroid of tension reinforcement
d
v
= effective shear depth, taken as 0.9 d
E
p
= modulus of elasticity of prestressed reinforcement
E
s
= modulus of elasticity of non-prestressed reinforcement
f
c
= specified compressive strength of concrete at 28-day (or actual cylinder strength in tests)
f
po
= average stress in prestressing steel when stress in surrounding concrete is
0.0, and can be conservatively taken as the effective prestress
f
ps
= average stress in prestressing steel at time for which resistance is required
f
yl
= yield strength of non-prestressed reinforcement in flexural tension zone
f
yt
= yield strength of the stirrups
M = applied bending moment
M
n0
= nominal capacity in pure bending
N = applied axial load (positive if tensile)
N
n0
= nominal capacity in pure tension
p
c
= outside perimeter of concrete cross-section
p
h
= perimeter of area enclosed by centreline of outermost closed transverse
torsion reinforcement
s = spacing of the stirrups measured along the length of beam
T = applied torsional moment
T
n0
= nominal capacity in pure torsion
V = applied shear force
V
c
= concrete contribution provided by residual tensile stresses in cracked concrete
V
n0
= nominal capacity in pure shear
V
s
= shear contribution provided by stirrups (properly detailed, with ample amounts)
V
p
= component of effective prestressing force in direction of applied shear force
s
= ratio of non-prestressed longitudinal reinforcement in tension zone of section
s
= ratio of longitudinal reinforcement in compression zone of section
v
= ratio of transverse reinforcement
= factor which depends on ability of concrete to transmit tensile stresses
= angle of inclination of diagonal stress and strain

514

MODELING TERRAIN EFFECTS AND APPLICATION TO THE WIND
LOADING OF BUILDINGS
K. WANG
RWDI Inc.
650 Woodlawn W., Guelph, Ontario, N1K 1B8 Canada
T. STATHOPOULOS
Centre for Building Studies, Concordia University
Montral, Qubec, H3G 1M8, Canada

ABSTRACT: Previous studies on the variation of mean wind speed profile with inhomogeneous
terrain usually assumed that wind speed profiles sense the roughness averaged in a large-scale
terrain-grid, so terrain roughness patches of different distance to the site are regarded of equal
importance. Recent studies have pointed out the significance of local, small-scale roughness
changes in terrain grid of the order of 100 meters. The paper investigates the variation of wind
speed profile above inhomogeneous terrain with small-scale upstream roughness changes,
especially those close to the site. Both wind tunnel experiments and numerical simulations were
carried out. The experimental findings became the core to formulate an easy to use wind speed
model, which provides results in good agreement with a limited set of full-scale data. The
comparison of this model with ESDU model is also discussed. The proposed model may better
describe the building exposure in terms of upstream terrain conditions closer to the site of interest,
and help on the establishment of terrain-related code specifications.
INTRODUCTION
There is need for more appropriate modelling of the terrain-wind relationship from the wind
engineering perspective. It is well known that conventional building design wind pressure p can be
expressed as a product of the sites reference wind speed pressure q, the terrain mean speed
modification (exposure) factor Ce, building shape (pressure) coefficient Cp and the aerodynamic
gust factor Cg. Unlike the situation that a number of wind engineering studies have been made on
codification of Cp, Cg or CpCg for low-rise buildings, the Ce codification was primarily based on
the findings of meteorological studies, the primary interest of which was not in building design but
in predicting upper level boundary-layer winds.
Previous studies interested in high level boundary layer wind estimations usually do not
differentiate far upwind roughness from that closer to the site, but assess terrain roughness in a
regional scale since wind at higher elevation senses larger-scale terrain roughness conditions. For
instance, a terrain-grid of 55 km
2
was used for estimating 60 m level boundary layer wind
1
. Such
a large terrain-grid may have several subgrid roughness changes, which have usually been treated
as grid-average roughness.
A number of more recent studies aiming at lower level boundary layer winds, appropriate for
building heights, found that the significance of small-scale roughness changes, especially those
close to the site. Schmid and Bunzli
2
pointed out that the subgrid roughness changes have
significant impact on boundary layer estimation. Zhang and Zhang
3
showed the significance of
515

small-scale roughness changes close to the site, and suggested that terrain roughness can be
assessed in a terrain-grid of 500500 m
2
, i.e., a scale of order of 100 meters, within an upstream
fetch of 2 km. In fact the limited range of patch influence to wind above site has been tackled by a
number of studies that attempted to define the upwind limit of the pertinent length influential to
the site. The full-scale investigations of Tamura et al
4
implied that the pertinent fetch length may
be of the order of 1 km. AS/NZS 1170.2
5
suggests that an upstream fetch of 1 to 4 km be
considered significant, but dependent on the building height of interest; for lower buildings (h <
50 m), a 1 km upstream fetch may be important for exposure classification.
Some of the previous research findings have been codified for design guidance, and a review
has been made upon ASCE 7-02
6
, which perhaps reflects the most recent research findings. The
ASCE 7-02 transitional speed model follows the ESDU (82026) model
7
, which in turn is based on
Deaves
8
lacking sufficient experimental validation, especially for fetch with multiple roughness
changes. The ASCE 7-02 equilibrium speed model is the power law, which is incompatible with
the ESDU model. Furthermore, ASCE 7-02 classifies the roughness still into three grades, namely:
coastal, Open Country (OC), and suburban/urban whereas, on the other hand, an eight-grade
roughness classification has been proposed in Davenport et al
9
.
This study carried out a set of wind tunnel experiments investigating the speed profiles above
upstream fetch with roughness changes. Since previous modelling efforts on inhomogeneous
terrain were mainly made by numerical simulation, this study also attempted a numerical
simulation for comparison purposes. Local, small-scale terrain effects were paid particular
attention. Based on the present wind tunnel data, this study proposes a simple-formed model that
compares well with numerical modelling results against a limited amount of full-scale findings
4,10
.
METHODOLOGY
Wind Tunnel Experimentation
The experiments were carried out in a boundary layer wind tunnel
11
with a working section of
12.2 m long and 1.8 m wide, an adjustable roof height around 1.8 m providing negligible pressure
gradient in the test section. The default floor setting is carpet roughness simulating OC exposure.
The wind tunnel inlet setting includes a screen, a system of 6 horizontal rods (pipes) of different
diameters and an adjacent board of egg boxes. This inlet setting intends to regulate the entrance
flow profile and allows the development of the boundary layer profile. The spectral method is
used for the establishment of correct scaling.
The basic parameters, power law index , roughness length z
o
and the friction velocity u
*
have
been evaluated for the wind tunnel OC, suburban and urban, the symbols of which are shown in
Figure 1. The values of match well with their corresponding values recommended in ASCE
12
.
Inhomogeneous fetches can be regarded as composed of patches of different roughness, where a
patch is a finite piece of homogeneous terrain. The patch module length in this study is about 125
m full-scale equivalent assuming a wind tunnel length scale of 1:400; thus the minimum resolution
is 125 m full-scale in this study. Patches of different roughness and length can be combined
piecewise to form various upstream fetch cases that represent different terrain configurations up to
a maximum fetch length close to 4 km. A total of 61 fetch cases were tested in this study.

(OC) (Suburban) (Urban)

516

Figure 1. Symbols of the basic fetches presently used
Numerical Simulation
Besides the present wind tunnel experimental study, a numerical simulation has been developed
for investigating the speed profile variation. The computer program developed in this study solves
the two-dimensional flow motion equations
2,13
. The equations have the form,
z z
U
W
x
U
U

(1)
0 =
z
W
x
U
(2)
( )
2
/ z U kz = (3)
with the boundary conditions,
0 ) ( ) (
0 ) ( ) (
) ( ) (
= +
= +
= = = =
z
z
W
z
z
z z W z z U
i
o
i
o

in which U, W are the mean velocity on the x (streamwise) and z (vertical) direction, respectively;
is the turbulent shear stress, and
) (i
o
z is the roughness length at a grid point i along the speed
profile marching direction.
Special attention is paid to the surface shear stress variation with patch length for the present
simulation of intensive roughness rises and falls. The surface shear stress varies with the length
of the downwind patch x by
2 . 0
x , i.e.,
1 . 0
*

x u , after a smooth-to-rough (S-R) roughness
change
10
. After an S-R change, the stress initially increases to about twice the final value, and after
an R-S change, the stress initially decreases to about half of its final value
14
. Following these
research findings, the present study used the following relations for the numerical simulation,
*
1 . 0
*
2 ) ( u x x u

= (S-R) (4)
*
1 . 0
*
4 . 0 ) ( u x x u = (R-S) (5)
where u* is the friction velocity at the ideal far-downwind terrain. Using Eqs. (4) and (5), the
present program appears robust.
PROPOSED SPEED MODEL
General Description
This study takes the length of a pertinent fetch as constant (4 km) after considering the previous
findings
3,4,5
. Results of the investigations of the variation of speed profile above fetch with small-
scale roughness changes may be described starting with a single patch. A patch may be described
by three parameters: length, characteristic value of roughness, and distance to the site. A patch
may influence a corresponding segment of a speed profile above the site, but not the site speed
profile in its entirety. A fetch may have isolated patches with negligible effects on the speed
profile at the site. However, a fetch section may also be packed with a number of small separate or
joined together patches, which can have an integrated effect on the speed profile.
517

If the effects of a number of patches are independent from one another, the patches may
stratify the boundary layer regime into an outer sub-layer or a set of corresponding Internal
Boundary Layers (IBLs). The IBL depth growth g(x) may be modelled by a 0.8 power law
14
,
8 . 0 2 . 0
,
) ( x z x g
r o
(6)
where z
o,r
is the upstream patch roughness length or its adjacent downstream patch roughness
length, whichever is greater; and x is the distance from the change of roughness to the site.
Each segment in the speed profile is dictated by the power law index of the corresponding
patch. An illustrative example is shown in Figure 2 in order to outline the general features of the
model. This example has a pertinent fetch of three patches: patch 0 from the 4 km upwind location
to the first roughness change location 1; patch 1 from roughness change location 1 to 2; and patch
2 from roughness change location 2 to the site. The entire boundary layer is correspondingly
stratified into three sub-layers: outer sub-layer (0) in the height range from G down to g
1
(x), IBL
(1) from g
1
(x) down to g
2
(x), and IBL (2) from g
2
(x) down to the ground. Both g
1
(x) and g
2
(x) may
be modelled with the 0.8 power law see Eq. (6). The layer depths g
1
(x) and g
2
(x) break the speed
profile at the site into three segments, each of which can be modelled by power-law equation with
the patch-respective power-law indices
o
,
1
and
2
.

Figure 2. Schematic boundary layer with two IBLs above a fetch with two roughness changes

The Proposed Model
The proposed speed model has the form:
Gradient height:
G x g
n
= ) ( (n = 0) (7)
IBL depth:

8 . 0 2 . 0
) 1 , ( ,
5 . 0 ) (
n n n o n
x z x g

= (n = 1, 2, , N) (8)

z
o0
,
0

U(g
1
)
g2
x
x1
x2

Site
1 2
(0) (1) (2)
G
U(G)
U(g
2
)
g
1
(x)
g
2
(x)
z
z
o1
,
1

z
o2
,
2
3
x0 up to 4 km
g1
518

Speed profile:
( )
n
n
g
n
z
z
x g U z U

= ) ( ) ( (g
n+1
<z g
n
; n = 0, 1,, N; g
N+1
=0) (9)
in which the subscript n denotes the patch number, i.e., patch N is the patch of the site; g
o
(x)
denotes the gradient height; g
n
(x) denotes the depth of the n
th
IBL; x
n
is the distance from the n
th

roughness change to the site; z
o,
n and
n
are roughness characteristic values of patch n; and z
o
,(n,
n-1) = z
o
,n-1 or z
o
,n, whichever is larger. For homogeneous terrain of no roughness change, N =
0, Eq. (8) does not apply and Eq. (9) reduces to the ordinary power law.
In order to use Eqs. (7) (9), the boundary conditions need to be specified for the pertinent
fetch length, the patch information (x
n
, z
o,n
,
n
), the gradient height G, and the gradient wind speed
U(G). In this study, the pertinent fetch length is assumed as constant 4 km. Patch roughness
information (x
n
, z
o,n
,
n
), and the gradient height G for the pertinent fetch can be found in Table 1.

Table 1. Roughness classification
9, 12
.
Roughness Class z
o
(m) G (m)
1. Sea 0.0002 0.09 213
2. Smooth 0.005 0.125 213
3. OC 0.03 0.15 274
4. Roughly open 0.1 0.2 274
5. Suburban (Rough) 0.25 0.25 366
6. Very rough 0.5 0.3 366
7. Urban (Closed) 1 0.33 366
Number in italics is obtained by best fit.
The proposed speed model is compared with the present wind tunnel data, the ESDU (82026)
model, the present numerical model and a limited amount of full-scale data. With the exception of
the model application to the ESDU example, the boundary conditions (G, U(G), z
o,n
and
n
) of all
other cases discussed in this section were the best-fits of the present wind tunnel data.
It would be of interest to demonstrate how the proposed model fits the actual ESDU (82026)
values for a case of inhomogeneous upstream terrain. The example provided in the ESDU
document was deemed the most appropriate case to check. The ESDU example requires to find the
mean speed profile at a site downwind of two changes in surface roughness, given the reference
speed U(10) = 22 m/s, and the fetch containing three patches, as shown in Figure 3. The ESDU
model appears to take a lot more steps than the proposed model in speed profile calculation. It is
worth noting that the probability factor, which is taken into account by the original ESDU data,
has been removed in the comparison of Figure 3, which shows that the agreement between this
model and ESDU is reasonable, particularly below 20 m and above 80 m. For intermediate
heights, ESDU tends to provide higher values than the proposed model, which thus appears less
conservative than the ESDU model. However, the proposed model agrees better with the full-scale
investigations of Letchford et al
15
on a geometrically similar fetch configuration, for ESDU may
tend to overestimate, as much as around 20%, the increase in speed at 10 m height induced by an
519

R-S roughness change. This particular case ensures conditions of neutral atmospheric stability
considering the high wind speeds it refers to.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
15 20 25 30
U (m/s)
Z

(
m
)
Proposed model
ESDU (82026)
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
U/U
240
Z

(
m
)
Experimental
Proposed model
Numerical model
ESDU (82026)

Figure 3. Proposed model and ESDU (82026) Figure 4. Proposed model, present wind tunnel
model for a terrain case specified by the data and ESDU (82026) model for a fetch of
latter model two roughness changes

Figure 4 shows comparison for the case with a fetch of two roughness changes. It is important
to note that the main interest of the present study is in the curve-fitting of the data in the lower
range of the boundary layer, since it is well known that speed profile in higher boundary layer
range is generally (more or less) insensitive to terrain roughness changes. Naturally, the proposed
model matches well with the wind tunnel data, whereas the present numerical model matches well
with the ESDU (82026) model. The difference of the proposed model from the ESDU model is
regarded similar with the characteristic difference of power law from log law for a homogeneous
upstream terrain configuration. The calculation experience for the case in Figure 4 has also
revealed that the application of the proposed model is easier to use than that of the ESDU model.
Figures 5a and 5b show terrain configurations of general suburban form scattered with OC
patches at different distances from the site. Figure 5a shows the case with a fetch of three
roughness changes while Figure 5b refers to the case with eight upstream roughness changes.
Wind tunnel data, the proposed model, and the numerical results have been included in both cases.
However, the ESDU (82026) model has not been applied in the latter case (Figure 5b) because the
actual process is rather cumbersome for this upstream configuration. In contrast, it is found that
the proposed model that divides the boundary layer as a number of sub-layers parallel to each
other (see Figure 2) remains easy to account for multiple small-scale roughness changes.
Clearly, Figure 5a shows the proposed model matches well with the wind tunnel data, whereas
the present numerical model matches well with the ESDU (82026) model. Figure 5b also shows
that the proposed model agrees well with the wind tunnel data for this complex fetch
configuration.

x2
x1
patch: (1) (2) (0)
x0

x2
x1
patch: (1) (2) (0)
x0
Upwind fetch
Patch n zo (m) x (m)
0 0.14 0.024
1 0.32 1.03 625
2 0.14 0.024 250
520

Generally speaking, the results of a number of typical fetch cases examined in this study show
satisfactory performance of the proposed model that demonstrates appropriate curvature response
to roughness changes. This finding compares well with the full-scale data of Tamura et al
4
as well
as Bradley
10
. This model agrees also better with Letchford et al
15
than the ESDU (82026) model
does. As a matter of fact, Cook
16
presented good agreement of the power law, which is the
simplest form of the proposed speed model, with the ESDU equilibrium speed model, at least for
smooth terrain conditions. The proposed model has a simple form compatible for both
homogeneous and inhomogeneous fetch configurations and can easily account for multiple small-
scale roughness changes at various distances from the site.

0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
U/U
240
Z

(
m
)
Experimental
Proposed model
Numerical model
ESDU (82026)
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
U/U
240
Z

(
m
)
Experimental
Proposed model
Numerical model

(a) three roughness changes (b) eight roughness changes

Figure 5. Proposed speed model, present wind tunnel data, present numerical model and ESDU
(82026) model for a fetch of variable roughness changes

ASCE 7-02 classifies terrain in three grades, i.e., coastal, OC, and suburban/urban. On the
other hand, the modified roughness classification in Table 1 appears to have much more support
from experimental evidence. The present study has found that the proposed model is easy to apply
for various terrain classifications without any particular difficulty. Therefore, the introduction of
the terrain roughness classification (Table 1) via the present model efforts is expected to improve
the accuracy in design speed profile estimation.
CONCLUSIONS
A wind speed model has been proposed for the description of upstream terrain exposures for better
design wind loading estimations. The model is based on wind speed data obtained in an extensive
wind tunnel study dealing with a variety of upstream exposure configurations both homogeneous
and inhomogeneous in nature. The model uses N sections corresponding to N different roughness
patches, in the upstream terrain within a range no more than 4 km from the site. Recognition of
patch type and patch roughness information can be referenced to a roughness classification after
125x4 (m) 125x8 (m)
521

Davenport et al
9
. The proposed speed model is simple and easy to apply for fetch with multiple
roughness changes. Its validation is attempted by using the limited available field data with
satisfactory results. The proposed model is expected to be helpful for future code development.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful for the financial support received for this study by the Natural Sciences &
Engineering Research Council of Canada.
REFERENCES
1. Wieringa, J., Roughness-dependent geographical interpolation of surface wind speed
averages, Quart. J. R. Met. Soc., 112, 1986, pp. 867-889.
2. Schmid, H.P. & Bunzli, B., The influence of surface texture on the effective roughness
length, Quart. J. R. Met. Soc., 121, 1995, pp. 1-21.
3. Zhang, X. and Zhang, R.R., Actual ground-exposure determination and its influences in
structural analysis and design, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 89, 2001, pp. 973-985.
4. Tamura, Y., Suda, K., Sasaki, A., Miyashita, K., Iwatani, Y., Maruyama, T., Hibi, K. and
Ishibashi, R., Simultaneous wind measurements over two sites using Doppler sodars, J.
Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn, 89, 2001, pp. 1647-1656.
5. Standards Australia. AS/NZS 1170.2:2002 - Australian/New Zealand Standard, Structural
design actions, Part 2: Wind actions, Standards Australia, 2002.
6. ASCE, Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures, SEI/ASCE 7-02, American
Society of Civil Engineers, 2003.
7. ESDU. Data Item 82026. Strong winds in the atmospheric boundary layer, Part 1: hourly-
mean wind speeds, Engineering Sciences Data Unit, 1993.
8. Deaves, D.M., Computations of wind flow over changes in surface roughness, J. Wind
Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 7, 1981, pp. 65-94.
9. Davenport, A.G., Grimmond, S., Oke T. and Wieringa, J., The revised Davenport roughness
classification for cities and sheltered country, Third Symposium on the Urban Environment,
Davis, California, Aug. 14-18, 2000, pp. 7-8.
10. Bradley, E.F., Micrometeorological study of velocity profiles and surface drag in the region
modified by a change in surface roughness, Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 94, 1968, pp.
361-379.
11. Stathopoulos, T., Design and fabrication of a wind tunnel for building aerodynamics, J.
Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 16, 1984, pp. 361-376.
12. ASCE, Wind tunnel studies of buildings and structures, ASCE Manuals and Reports on
Engineering Practice No. 67, Aerospace Division of the American Society of Civil
Engineers, 1999.
13. Taylor, P.A., On wind and shear stress profiles above a change in surface roughness,
Quart. J. R. Met. Soc., 95, 1969, pp. 71-91.
14. Garratt, J.R., The internal boundary layer a review, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 50,
1990, pp. 171-203.
15. Letchford, C., Gardner, A., Howard, R. and Schroeder, J., A comparison of wind prediction
models for transitional flow regimes using full-scale hurricane data, J. Wind Eng. Ind.
Aerodyn, 89, 2001, pp. 925-945.

522

16. Cook, N.J., The Deaves and Harris ABL model applied to heterogeneous terrain, J. Wind
Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 66, 1997, pp. 197-214.

523
524

A DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR PROPORTIONING REGULAR
EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT RC FRAMES
N. DJEBBAR AND N. CHIKH
Department of Civil Engineering, Constantine University
Route Ain El-Bey, Constantine 25000, Algeria

ABSTRACT: A simple procedure is developed in this paper for proportioning regular, low and
moderate-rise earthquake resistant reinforced concrete building structures. The limit period is
evaluated through approximate analytical methods using drift limit. The corresponding
displacement ductility ratio is derived from some well established
n
T R expressions. The
procedure proposed agrees with a capacity design approach since it allows for adjusting the
required resistance demand level function of a ductility level resulting from codes steel
recommendations. A deformation control routine is also added through steel recommendations in
order to guaranty deformation capacity against established deformation limits. This will enhance
seismic design procedure based on a target-period approach such as in the Algerian seismic design
code RPA99, to fulfil the minimum required two performance levels or to satisfy three of
performance levels if a damage control is considered.
INTRODUCTION
Depending on the lateral load-resisting system, the Algerian seismic design code RPA99
1

recommends a limit on the elastic period as a governing factor in the design process. Being a force
based design code, the specified global behavior factor R for a given earthquake resistant system
is constant regardless of the relevant global ductility level. The force modification factor R
is
intended to be a simple tool to accomplish an inelastic design and its specified code values depend
on the type of construction material and structural system used.
These values seem to be arbitrary and difficult to justify since they have not been established
consistently by experiment or analysis. It may be rational and easier to define a period limit on a
deformation limit basis rather than by empirical expressions based on a general description of the
structural system and its geometry. For this reason, the global ductility level () to be assigned for
the force reduction factor R
=R/Q must be defined by using well established R
--T
n
relations
(Newmark-Hall, Vidic-Fajfar-Fishinger, Krawinkler-Nasser)
2
, and the earthquake response of
inelastic systems can be estimated by approximate analytical methods.
The evaluation of the structural period is conducted in order to be introduced within a
capacity design procedure (Figure1). This proportioning will guaranty a minimum lateral stiffness
(maximum period T
max
), thus a minimum required resistance capacity to control the structural
damage through a permissible deformation level or a defined ductility level. The concentration of
this damage increases with the increase of the structural ductility, in another way with the
incursion degree of the structure in the nonlinear range. Thus, the seismic response modification
coefficient varies proportionally with the desired ductility level which is function of the
structural period.
R
It is also known that the damage and the ultimate rupture of an earthquake resistant structure
are principally dependant on an exceedance of a deformation capacity rather than an exceedance
of a resistance capacity. Simple formulas are recommended to evaluate steel ratios for reinforced

525
525

concrete beams and columns in order to guaranty the required deformation capacity.
Structurel system, H, R,
N
T
Quality level, Q
Force modification factor
R
Cross sections,
NS
T
max NS
T T
M,N,T; Resistance capacity
Deformation capacity
D C
>
Global ductility level
) T , R ( f
N
= ; Eq. Krawinkler-Nasser
4
Proc.1; C
eq eq
, : Eq. Iwan
Proc.2; C : Eq. Miranda
Reduce , and
Re-evaluate

R
4 = , R concordant
) T , ( f R
N
=

,
max
T tolerable
drift
: tolerable
End
Figure 1. Design procedure for two performance levels

526

ESTIMATION OF THE LIMIT PERIOD
The evaluation of the inelastic structural response is performed using methods based on
displacement modification factor:

e drift i
. C = =
C
drift
e

= (1)
where represents the maximum response of the inelastic SDOF system, evaluated as the
product of the maximum deformation
i
e
of a linear system with the same lateral stiffness and the
same damping coefficient as that of the inelastic SDOF system, times a displacement modifying
factor, C. Different expressions have been proposed in the past for this coefficient
2,3
. Since
(
max
T
e
2 = ) is the maximum tolerable period for which the permissible global displacement
criteria is satisfied, the value of the amplification coefficient of the elastic period is then:
n
T

n
max
T
T
= or
C T T T
T
drift
n n
e
n
max

2
2
= = = (2)
Target Displacement
Target displacement may be chosen from drift control to limit non structural damages, since limits
based on drift ratio are easily converted to peak displacement. In the performance methodology,
different performance levels are defined for structures based on drift limits
4
. It has been suggested
by Priestley
5
that under the development of plastic hinge yielding mechanism (beam-sway), the
displacement profile for severe seismic ground motions may be approximated as a linear variation.
A uniform interstorey drift angle () over the height of the building (H) is then achieved:

H h h
roof
s
storey
s
i i

= =
=
+1
H
h
H
s
storey
roof

= = (3)
Referring to the RPA interstorey drift limit (
storey storey
h % 1 = ), the global drift will be:
. For the immediate occupancy performance level, peak roof is limited to 1% of the
building height. It should be noted that other values are recommended
H % 1
roof
=
6
for such as:
for buildings having non-structural elements fixed in such a way that they do not
interfere with structural deformation and
s
h % 5 . 1 1 =
s
h % 75 . 0 7 . 0 = when these elements are of brittle
materials (masonry) attached to the structure.
Design Procedure
The main steps to be followed to determine the elastic period for a given structural system are:
knowing the structural system, the global behaviour factor R is defined;
the factor of quality Q will be fixed according to the quality control level;
as the factor
Q
R
R =
, the assignable ductility displacement ) T , R ( f

n
= is determined
using Newmark-Hall R
--T
n
relationship;

527

the computation of the displacement modification coefficient C=f() allows to obtain
e drift i
. C = = , thus
C
drift
e

= ;
knowing
e max
2 T = , the amplification coefficient ( ) may be evaluated as:

n
max
T
T
= or
C T T T
T
drift
n n
e
n
max

2
2
= = = (4)
A similar work
7
was previously conducted using another procedure where the limit criteria is
evaluated through a technique based on an equivalent linearization method in which the maximum
deformation (global drift) is estimated as the maximum deformation of a linear elastic system with
lower stiffness and with higher damping coefficient than those of inelastic system. The main steps
to be followed to determine the elastic period for a given structural system are:
knowing the structural system, the global behaviour factor R is defined;
the factor of quality Q will be fixed according to the quality control level;
as the factor
Q
R
R =
, the assignable ductility displacement ) T , R ( f

n
= is determined
using R
--T
n
relation from Newmark-Hall, Vidic-Fajfar-Fishinger, Krawinkler-Nasser;
the characteristics of the equivalent system are evaluated as follows:
- ) ( f C
eq
= ; ( )
939 . 0
eq
eq
1 121 . 0 1
T
T
C + = = (5)
- is obtained considering 2 cases of displacement ductility factor ( ) ( f
eq
=

):
- 4
( )
371 . 0
1 0587 . 0 05 . 0
eff
+ = Iwan
8
(6)
- 4 >
+ =
1
1 39372 . 0 05 . 0
eff
Kowalsky
8
(7)
Since the design process is conducted according to a 5% damped spectrum, the peak
displacement must be adjusted to allow for the effective damping ratio
, . To convert spectral displacement from 5% level to effective
damping values, the EC8
eq
) , ( f
eq presumed eq
=
9
recommend the following expression:
eq
2
7
+
= . The
equivalent global displacement will be then
=
presumed
eq
, leading to an equivalent elastic
period
eq eq
2 T = ;
after the determination of the equivalent elastic system characteristics, namely , and
the maximum allowable global displacement, the maximum estimation of the system's period
(T
eq eq
C ,
max
) may be fixed. As the equivalent system has a unique period of vibration,
thus
max eq eq
T . C T =
eq
2 = . T
max
represents the maximum elastic period corresponding to
the imposed global displacement which must be different from the elastic period given by the

528

code equations. The amplification coefficient for the elastic period will be then:
n
T

n eq
eq
n
max
T . C T
T

2
= =
n eq
presumed
T . C

2
= (8)
Numerical Application
A numerical application was conducted on regular earthquake resistant concrete frames with the
following type of structures:
Structure A: frames without rigid infill; R=5.0, C
T
=0.075
Structure B: frames with no participating rigid infill; R=5.0, C
T
=0.050
Structure C: frames with participating rigid infill; R =3.5, C
T
=0.050
Data: constant storey height (h=3m); number of stories: n=47 (i.e.R+3R+6); H=hn=3n.
According to RPA99, the elastic period is
4
3
T n
H C T = ; the factor of quality Q=1.2 (since the
control of the quality is not observed) and the predominant period: s 7 . 0 , s 4 . 0 , s 3 . 0 T
0
= , for rock
(S1), firm (S2) and soft (S3) site respectively.
Since most of the structures addressed by the Algerian code are mainly short or mid-rise
buildings and its recommendations for steel reinforcement
10
are in accordance with the medium
ductility class (M) defined by the EC8. This specifity is taken into account by adapting the
investigation to a level of ductility 4 , in order to adjust, if necessary, the concordant . This
allows to bypass the regulations lack concerning the deformation control routine, giving thereby
the possibility to ensure the required security level by adopting the recommended RPA99 steel
ratios and to adjust the required resistance demand level.
R

Tables 1 and 2 gather the different values obtained for the period amplification coefficient
by the 2 procedures for the 3 considered type of structures, taking into account or not the site
effect.
Table 1. Period amplification coefficient considering site effect
General Adjusted to RPA99 steel ratios Structural
System Proc. 1 Proc.2 Error Mean Proc. 1 Proc.2 Error Mean
A 1.310 1.285 1.98 1.298 1.310 1.285 1.98 1.298
B 1.931 1.782 7.72 1.857 1.830 1.836 0.33 1.833
C 1.980 1.853 6.36 1.918 1.980 1.857 6.36 1.918
Mean variation 5.35 %


Table 2. Period amplification coefficient without considering site effect
General Adjusted to RPA99 steel ratios Structural
System Proc. 1 Proc.2 Error Mean Proc. 1 Proc.2 Error Mean
A 1.356 1.271 6.27 1.313 1.356 1.271 6.27 1.313
B 1.929 1.745 9.53 1.837 1.830 1.836 0.33 1.833
C 2.022 1.873 7.37 1.948 2.022 1.873 7.37 1.948


529

Procedures 1 and 2 refer to the used approximate methods, respectively the equivalent
linearization method and the method based on the displacement modification coefficient, C. The
results produced by both approaches are very close, with those given by procedure 1 slightly in
excess. By examining the mean values obtained for the amplification coefficient by the two
procedures, the following practical expressions to evaluate T
max
may be recommended for
:
s
h % 0 . 1 =
Structure A: frames without rigid infill;
n max
T 30 . 1 T =
Structure B: frames with no participating rigid infill;
n max
T 80 . 1 T =
Structure C: frames with participating rigid infill;
n max
T 90 . 1 T =
However it is more reasonable to reduce the interstorey drift when a structure with participating
rigid infill is considered in order to limit the non structural damage. When the interstorey is
, will be then:
s
h % 7 . 0 =
max
T
n n max
T 60 . 1 7 . 0 T 9 . 1 T = =
RECOMMENDED STEEL RATIOS
Beams
They are the structural elements in which the larger portion of seismic dissipation energy takes
place through stable flexural mechanisms. This target will not be attained unless design and a
detailing is carried out leading to ductile sections. Though the concrete confinement plays a
determinant role in enhancing the capacity of resistance and deformation of sections, it is
conveniently neglected for beams in order to limit structural damage when a severe earthquake
occurred. A research study
11
dealing with monotonic loading established a unified formulation,
simple of use, correlating the tensile steel ratio to the desired ductility level
; while considering
the influence of different parameters: the compressive steel ratio , the transverse steel ratio
sh
,
the concrete compressive strength f
c0
and

the steel yield strength f
y
:
( ) 14 0
400
20
5 0 5 0 6 3 1 1 59 8
77 0
2
.
f
f
. .
'
. . .
) . (
y
co
sh
+
(9)
This expression offers a great flexibility for the selection of the tensile steel.

Columns
The new seismic code generation based on the performance design such as ATC-40
12
recommends
for reinforced concrete columns acceptance criteria based on plastic rotation limits assigned for
three levels of performance: IO (immediate occupancy), LS (life safety) and SS (structural
stability); corresponding in general to damage states namely: light ) 1 . 0 ) ( d ( < , moderate
and heavy . These rotation limits may be converted in terms of
corresponding interstorey drift.
) 5 . 0 ) ( d 1 . 0 ( < < ) 5 . 0 ) ( d ( >
The RPA99 code attributes for the interstorey drift a single value (1%) to be complied with,
which could be related to performance level LS guarantying human life and preserving structural
integrity of the building. This performance level agrees with a moderate damage state
, however it is worth mentioning that for ) 5 . 0 ) ( d 1 . 0 ( < < ) 3 . 0 ) ( d ( > the reparation will be
costly. As the current procedures for the performance assessment of buildings are based on the
acceptance criteria for the structural elements, some expressions have been developed
13
on the

530

basis of Erduran & al. damage curves
14
to verify the acceptability of reinforced concrete columns
in structures frames type.
These expressions introduce an adjustable transverse reinforcement ratio
sh
for different
columns subjected to a constant interstorey drift, leading thereby to coherent global behaviour
coherence. This is because columns of the same level will exhibit a similar deformation capacity
level. In this respect, we can refer to storey deformation capacity like storey deformation demand.
Table 3. Proposed expressions for resultant damage function of column flexibility

Damage
Ductility
Level

Drift
(%)

Expressions

( ) 3 . 0 d

( ) 5 . 0 d 3 . 0 < <

1.00 ( ) 5 . 0 . 17 i L 13 ) N N (
0 sh
=
23 i L > 23 i L 17
H
0.75 ( ) 5 . 0 . 14 i L 13 ) N N (
0 sh
=
18 i L > 18 i L 14

1.00 ( ) 20 i L 10 ) N N (
0 sh
=
26 i L > 26 i L 20
M
0.75 ( ) 5 . 0 . 16 i L 10 ) N N (
0 sh
=
20 i L > 20 i L 16

in which N/N
0
is the column load ratio and L/i is the column slenderness ratio.
CONCLUSIONS
The design procedure for earthquake resistant concrete frames established by some codes based on
a target-period approach, such as RPA99, considers the global behaviour factor R for a determined
earthquake resistant system constant regardless of the concordant global ductility level. The
approach proposed in this work may serve as a mean to control the global behaviour by
guarantying a minimum resistance capacity agreeing with a permissible deformation level related
to structural damage. The possibility to adjust the performance levels is introduced in a flexible
manner allowing the designer to take precaution against an eventual exceeding of deformation
capacity. Detailing tools are recommended in order to guaranty the required deformation capacity.
This alternative will surely contribute to improve the security level while limiting the resulting
damage. It will also enhance the seismic design procedure adopted by the RPA code to fulfil the
minimum required two performance levels or to satisfy three of performance levels if a damage
control is considered.
REFERENCES
1. RPA99 Algerian Seismic Design Code, CGS, Algiers, January 2000
2. Chopra, A.K. and. Goel, R.K., Capacity-Demand Diagram Methods for Estimating
Seismic Deformation of Inelastic Structures: SDF Systems, Report N PEER-1999/02.
3. Miranda, E. and Ruiz-Garcia, J., Evaluation of Approximate Methods to Estimate
Maximum Inelastic Displacement Demands. Earthquake Engineering and Structural
Dynamics, 31, 2002, pp. 539-560.
4. SEAOC, Performance Based Seismic Engineering Buildings, Conceptual framework.
Structural Engineers Association of California, 1995.

531

5. Glaister, S.M., Development of a Simplified Deformation Based Method for Seismic
Vulnerability Assessment, MSc, Rose school, Univ. degli studi di Pavia, Italy, 2002.
6. Penelis, G.G. and Kappos, A.J., Earthquake Resistant Concrete Structures, E&FN Spon,
1997.
7. Djebbar, N. and Chikh, N., A Critical Study of the Elastic Period as Recommended by the
RPA99 Code, Al-Azhar Engineering Eighth International Conference (AEIC0), Egypt,
Dec. 24-27, 2004, Vol. 8, N1, pp.1-7.
8. Xue, Q., Assessing the accuracy of the damping models used in displacement based
seismic demand evaluation and design of inelastic structures, Earthquake Engineering and
Engineering Seismology, Vol.3, N2, pp. 37-45.
9. Eurocode 8, Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures, 1995.
10. Djebbar, N., Bousalem, B. and Chikh, N., Notions of Global-Local Behavior in the
Seismic Performance of Concrete Frames, (in French), Revue Sciences & Technologie,
N20, 2003, pp. 63-69.
11. Djebbar, N., Contribution to the Study of Seismic Performance of Concrete Linear
Elements, (in French), PhD Thesis, University of Mentouri Constantine, Algeria, 2006.
12. Applied Technology Council, ATC-40, Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Concrete
Buildings, California. 1996.
13. Djebbar, N. and Chikh, N., Influence of Column Confinement Steel on damage levels,
(in French), International Congress for Constructions Rehabilitation and Durable
Development, Algeria, May 3-4, Vol. 1, pp. 132-140.
14. Erduran, E. and Yakut, A., Drift Based Damage Functions for Reinforced Concrete
Columns, Computers and Structures, 82, 2004, pp. 121-130.

532

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF QUANTITY AND COST OF A
MULTISTORY BUILDING WITH DIFFERENT R/C FLOOR SYSTEMS

J. A. ABDALLA AND S. EL-SAYEGH
Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah
University City, Sharjah, P.O.Box 26666, United Arab Emirates

K. AL-SUWAIDI AND S. BAJUBAIR

ADNOC, AbuDhabi, United Arab Emirates,
formerly undergraduate students, American University of Sharjah

ABSTRACT: There are several cast-in-situ floor systems used in multistory reinforced concrete
structures. Such floor systems include flat plate, flat slab, beam-supported slab, one-way ribbed
slab, hollow block slab and two-way ribbed or waffle slab. In this study a multistory building was
designed using three different floor systems flat plate, beam-supported slab and one-way ribbed
slab floor systems. Quantity surveying and cost estimation were conducted for the three buildings
based on concrete and steel materials as well as on workmanship. The quantities and costs of these
buildings were then compared for the purpose of finding the most economical floor system for this
family of multistory buildings. Cost of concrete, reinforcing steel, workmanship as well as total
costs were used as criteria for comparison among the three different buildings. It is concluded that
each floor system has its advantage in terms of low cost in one of the criteria used, however, the
beam-supported floor system turned out to be the most economical in terms of the total cost.
INTRODUCTION

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has witnessed a remarkable boom in the construction
industry that can not be overlooked. As the result, the UAE construction industry became the
second largest industry after oil and gas. The construction industry contributed 7% to the UAE
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2002. This construction boom has resulted from the UAE and
Dubais plan to reduce dependency on oil and focus on promoting the commercial, tourism and
the manufacturing sectors. Compared to other GCC countries, the UAE has the largest average
population growth of 5.4% (UAE Ministry of Planning, 2002). The contribution of construction to
the GDP is the highest among the GCC countries.
The dominant types of buildings in UAE are reinforced concrete buildings with typical floor
systems such as flat plate, flat slab and slab with beams, hollow-block, among others. The choice
of a suitable floor system for a particular building may be greatly influenced by the consultants
and/or the contractors preference.
Portland Cement Association (PCA-SP041 and PCA-SP339) developed guidelines for
selecting economical floor systems for reinforced concrete structures for different spans and
loading. They emphasized that selecting the most effective floor system for a given set of
constraints is vital for overall economy for medium and low-rise reinforced concrete buildings
subjected to low lateral force which are the dominant types of buildings in UAE. Material
(concrete and reinforcing steel) and workmanship (formwork) are the main factors in determining
the cost of cast-in-place concrete floor systems. The influence of these factors differs from one
region to another. In regions of expensive labor such as North America, the formwork and placing
533

of concrete may account for up to 60% of the floor cost, concrete material cost may accounts for
up to 30% and the reinforcing steel for the remaining 10% (Fanella and Alsamsam 2006). This
break down of cost may not be applicable to the construction industry in UAE and the GCC
countries where labor is cheaper and therefore formwork has much less influence on the cost of
floor systems. Therefore, this study is initiated to come up with breakdown cost figures for floor
systems as related to the region and compared to that of the Portland Cement Association where
the figures were generated for USA (PCA-SP041, PCA-SP339, Fanella and Alsamsam 2006, PCA
2006). This is to contribute to the body of knowledge needed for selecting the most effective and
economical floor system for concrete buildings in the UAE booming construction industry.
This paper presents a partial result of a larger scope for the planned study. Specifically, this
paper presents the results of a study to compare quantity and costs of concrete, reinforcing steel
and workmanship of different floor systems. The study compares the quantities and cost of a
multistory building designed with three different floor systems, mainly, flat plate, beam-supported
and one-way ribbed floor systems. The structural systems of the building based on the three
different floor systems were modeled while the span lengths and loading were kept the same for
the three different floor systems. The buildings were analyzed, all structural components were
designed and quantity survey and cost estimation were carried out for the three buildings. The cost
estimations were performed for each case to produce the total cost of each building in terms of
materials (concrete and steel) and workmanship (formwork). Conclusions were drawn based on
the results and the most economical floor system was identified for this category of buildings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING
The building used in this study is a residential building with a regular plan. It is a nine story
building with two elevator shafts and two stair cases. Figure 1 shows a typical floor plan which
has an approximate area of 368 m
2
. The total built-up area of the building is 3680 m
2
. It has 32
columns which are kept the same for the three different floor systems. Figure 2 shows the front
elevation and the side elevation of the building. The building has 11 stories with 10 solid slab
floors as shown in Figure 2. The concrete used has strength of 30 MPa and the reinforcing steel
has 420 MPa. The live load used is 2.5 KN/m
2
and the superimpose dead load is 2.5 KN/ m
2
.

Figure 1: Typical Floor plan of the building (Courtesy of Ajyad Engineering Consultants)

534

Figure 2: Front and Side Elevations of the building (Courtesy of Ajyad Engineering Consultants)
OVERVIEW OF FLOOR SYSTEMS
There are several cast-in-situ floor systems used in multistory reinforced concrete structures.
Such floor systems include flat plate slab, flat slab, beam-supported slab, one-way ribbed slab,
hollow block slab and two-way ribbed or waffle slab. Figure 3a, b and c shows the typical floor
plan of the building modeled as beam-supported floor, flat plate floor and one-way hollow block
floor systems, respectively. The typical floor plan has seven by three bays. The selection of the
effective floor system depends, to a large extend, on the spans of the slab panels and the loading.
In this study, the spans and the intensity of loading, for the most part, kept the same for the three
floor systems. The largest panel among the slab panels is the one with 5.50 m by 4.85 m spans.
This panel is used to determine the slab thickness based on deflection control in case of beam-
supported slabs. Punching shear was used as a criterion to determine the slab thickness in case of
flat plate. Edge beams are used for all floor systems. The building core wall (elevator shaft) was
kept the same for the three buildings and its cost was not included in the over cost of the structural
system.
American Concrete Institute Code (ACI 318-2002) procedures were used for analysis and
design of floor systems, beams, columns and other building components.

535

Figure 3a: Beam-supported Floor System

Figure 3b: Flat Plate Floor System

Figure 3c: One-way Hollow Blocks Floor System
536

METHODOLOGY
The building was designed three times in terms of the main structural systems (slabs, beams,
columns and foundation). In each case, the floor system was different, i.e., flat plate floor, beam-
supported floor and one-way ribbed floor system, resulting in different sizes and reinforcement for
the other structural elements. 2-D and 3-D analysis models were adopted using SAP2000 software
(CSiberkeley 2006). The resulting moments and shear forces were extracted and used for
designing structural elements. In summary the following tasks were carried out:
1. Preliminary design, structural system modeling and loading were defined for the
eleven storey buildings with three different floor systems: beam-supported, flat
plate and one-way ribbed floor systems.
2. Linear structural analysis was carried out for each of the buildings using 2-D
frames and 3-D structural systems using SAP2000.
3. Detailed structural design of all structural elements of the three buildings were
carried out using ACI-318 Code (ACI318 -02) with the help of PCA family of
software such as PCAColumn, ADOSS, etc. (PCA 2001).
4. Working drawings were accurately prepared to capture the final detailed design
for each building and its elements using AutoCAD.
5. Quantity survey of material (steel and concrete) for the buildings with three floor
systems were done.
6. Estimation of the workmanship cost for the three buildings with different floor
systems were made based on UAE price list.
7. Estimation of the total cost of material and workmanship of the buildings with
different floor system were generated.
8. Comparison and recommendation of the most economical floor system among
the three studied were made.
As indicated, after the design was completed and the detailed drawings were produced, cost
estimation was performed in terms of concrete, steel and workmanship. The cost of concrete was
calculated by computing the volume of concrete in each structural element in the building starting
from the superstructure (slabs, beams, columns) to the substructure (foundation). Table 1 shows
the concrete material quantity for the three buildings with different floor systems.

Table 1. Concrete material quantity
Item Flat Plate floor

(m
3
)
Beam-Supported
floor
(m
3
)
One-way Ribbed
floor
(m
3
)
Slabs 619.4 542 388
Beams 76
*
213 446
+

Columns 114.6 95 103.5
Foundation 318 318 318
Total 1127.6 1168 1255.5
*
edge beams;
+
ribs, edge beams and wide beams.
537

In terms of material quantity, the building with one-way ribbed floor system used the largest
amount of concrete material, followed by the building with beam-supported floor system (7% less)
while the building with flat plate floor system used the lowest concrete material (10% less).
Table 2 shows the quantity for reinforcing steel material for the three buildings with different
floor systems. In terms of reinforcing steel, the building with flat plate floor system used the
largest amount of reinforcing steel, followed by the building with beam-supported floor system
(22% less) while the building with one-way ribbed floor system used the lowest concrete material
(40% less).

Table 2. Reinforcing steel material quantity
Item Flat Plate floor

(kg)
Beam-Supported
floor
(kg)
One-way Ribbed
floor
(kg)
Slabs 8596.1 40787 5090
Beams 5975
*
15681 32570
Columns 52767 42456 46128
Foundation 23048 23166 23048
Total 176140 137966 106836
*
edge beams.

Table 3 shows the prices of material and workmanship in UAE as of 2003. These prices were
used to estimate the cost of the three buildings with different floor systems.
Table 3. Price of workmanship (2003)
Number Item Unit Price
(AED)
1 Concrete (f
c
=30 MPa) m
3
150
2 Steel (f
y
= 420 MPa) kg 1450
3 Flat Plate slab
(for 160 mm thickness)
m
2
30
4 Beam-supported slab
(for 140 mm thickness)
m
2
25
5 One-way ribbed slab m
2
38
6 Beams m
3
140
7 Columns m
3
155
8 Foundation m
3
120

Table 4 shows the costs of the three building broken down based on concrete, reinforcing steel
and workmanship. In terms of workmanship, the most expensive building is the one with one-way
ribbed floor system, followed by the building with flat plate floor (15% less) and then the beam-
supported floor system (17% less). Figure 4 summaries the total costs of the three buildings and
their cost break down based on concrete, reinforcing steel and workmanship.
538

Figure 5 shows the percentage breakdown of concrete, reinforcing steel and workmanship
costs in the three buildings with different floor systems. It is observed that, the cost of steel in flat
plate floor system constituted the highest percentage among all costs (40%) while the cost of
concrete in flat plate floor system and cost of steel in one-way ribbed floor system constituted the
lowest percentage among all costs (28%).

Table 4. Cost of material and workmanship (2003)
Item Flat Plat Slab

(AED)
Beam-Supported
Slab
(AED)
One-way Ribbed
Hollow block
(AED)
Concrete
Material
169140(28%) 175200(32%) 188325(34%)
Steel
Material
255403(42%) 200051(36%) 154912(28%)
Workmanshi
p
179005(30%) 175333(32%) 211095(38%)
Total 603548 550584 554332

0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
Flat Plate floor Beam-Supported
floor
One-way Ribbed floor
C
o
s
t

(
A
E
D
)
Concrete Material Steel Material Workmanship Total Cost

Figure 4: Comparison of Costs

539

28
32
34
42
36
28
30
32
38
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Flat Plate floor Beam-Supported
floor
One-way Ribbed
floor
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

C
o
s
t
Concrete Material Steel Material Workmanship

Figure 5: Comparison of Percentage Cost among the Buildings
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The result of this study is the first step toward a study of a wide scope for UAE buildings
aimed at producing guidelines for contractors and consultants for choosing the most effective and
economical floor system for the type of building used in the region. This may results in a lot of
saving in the rapidly growing building industry in UAE and GCC. From the result of this study it
can be concluded that for the type of building investigated:
1. Flat plate floor system is the most economical in terms of concrete material.
2. One-way ribbed floor system is the most economical in terms of reinforcing steel
material.
3. Beam-supported floor system is the most economical in terms of workmanship.
4. Over all, the beam-supported floor system is the most economical.
5. There is a lot of variability in the construction industry and there are a lot of factors that
will affect the selection of a floor system among several choices. The variation and the
importance of each factor may lead to different selection of a floor system by the
consultant and/or the construction company.
6. This study can be expanded to include a larger number of buildings and floor systems
common to UAE and GCC in order to come up with justified guidelines to select the most
effective and economical floor system for each category of buildings.
REFERENCES
1. PCA-SP041, Concrete Floor Systems Guide to Estimating and Economizing, 2
nd
Edition,
Portland Cement Association, Skokie, IL, 2000.
2. PCA-SP339, Long-Span Concrete Floor Systems Guide to Estimating and Economizing,
Portland Cement Association, Skokie, IL, 2000.
3. PCA-2006, An Engineers Guide to: Economical Concrete Floor, Portland Cement
Association, Skokie, IL, 2006 www.cement.org, accessed April 28, 2006.
4. Fanella, D. A. and Alsamsam, I. M., Design of reinforced concrete floor systems
www.cement.org/buildings/pdh_se_rc.pdf , accessed April 28, 2006.
5. ACI318-02, Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete, ACI Committee 318,
American Concrete Institute, Detroit, MI, 2002.
540

6. CSiberkeley-2006, SAP2000 and Safe Users manuals, 2006.
7. PCA Software, PCAColumn, ADOSS, PCAbeam.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work is part of a capstone graduation project done by the third and fourth authors as a
partial requirement of the Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering at the American University of
Sharjah and it was supervised by the first and second authors. The support of the civil engineering
department at the American University of Sharjah and Ajyad Engineering Consultants is greatly
acknowledged. The views and conclusions, expressed or implied, in this study are those of the
authors and should not be interpreted as those of the sponsors.

541
542
TOWARDSANEWAFRICANCONCRETECODE(ACC)
A.S.NGAB
DepartmentofCivilEngineering,AlFatahUniversity
Tripoli,Libya
ABSTRACT:ThereisagreatneedtodevelopaunifiedregionalAfricanConcreteCode(ACC)as
aguidetodesigningandconstructingdurable,serviceable,economicalandsafeconcretestructures
inharmonywiththenaturalandsocialenvironment.Thiscodewhenimplementedwouldfacilitate
andaccelerateeconomicalandtechnological exchanges inthefieldofconcreteengineeringamidst
the African region and the international community at large. A regional concrete code would
certainly improve the concrete design and construction practices. This paper poses the important
questionofwhetherthereisarealneedforsuchacode.Sinceconcreteisamaterialthatknowsno
boundaries or continents, then why would an underdeveloped continent such as Africa need a
concrete code? Furthermore, can a continent without much significant research base in concrete
develop a design code of any significance amidst the well known established international codes
suchastheACIorthe Europeancode?This paperattemptsto answerthesequestions.Insodoing
the paper presents a brief review of the basic significant differences and special features of the
continent that would require specialattentionwhenitcomestodesignofconcretestructures.It is
argued that lack of suitable materials for concrete making, workmanship quality control and the
prevailing environmental conditions in the continent of Africa require developing a special
standardthatcouldaccountforthesespecificproblems.
INTRODUCTION
In order to support its economic growth, Africa needs to develop its infrastructure in this twenty
firstcentury. Theconsumption ofcementasanindicatorofconcreteconsumptioninthiscontinent
is close to that of the United States of America. Nowadays, in Africa there are various standards
and codes for the design and practice in concreteandconcretestructures.SomeAfricancountries
such as Egypt and South Africa have developed their own codes based on international and
accumulated local experience.Other countriesadoptedinternationalforeigncodes,whereas,many
countries have neither a local code nor an adopted one. Many countries use several codes
sometimesinthesameproject.
Obviously, foreign codes reflect the source of their making. Codes which are developed in
Europe, America or Asia will reflect the material quality, technological level, climate and
economic conditions of these regions. These codes may be inappropriate for direct application in
this region of the world. Globally, the worldis mergingon the technological levelonthreebasic
codes for concrete construction and design. Namely the American concrete code ACI318, the
European concrete code EC2 and the Asian model concrete code. It is quite logical that the
Africancontinentinitsstrideforunificationonthepoliticalandeconomic levels,tostartdrafting
a unified standard for concrete design and construction. This step will facilitate and accelerate
economic and technological development in the building industry. In 2005, the author founded a
committeewiththeintentionto startthe taskofdraftinganewconcretecodeforthewholeregion
of Africa. The first ever symposium solely devoted to this idea was held in Tripoli, Libya in
November2005. Thesecond Africanconcretecode symposiumisto takeplaceinSouthAfricaby
November 2006. A target date of 2010 for the draft code was also set. To help this African
concrete code committee achieve its goals, an international advisory committee was established.
The Africanconcretecodecommittee willstarttheprocessofdraftinganewcodeoveraperiodof
five years through additional technical subcommittees in Africa. The activities of the committee
543
will include holding workshops, lectures, seminars and symposiums to serve its objectives. The
final out putwouldbeacodeforthedesignandconstructionof concretestructuresofalltypesin
the region of Africa reflecting its special features. This new code when adopted by the local
authorities in each country will serve as a guide for the design of safe, durable and economical
structures inthis region.Thenewcodewouldusethewellestablishedinternationalcodessuchas
ACI318andEC2asreferencecodes.Whencompletedthenewcodewillfacilitateandaccelerate
economicalandtechnologicalexchangeinconcreteengineeringindustryamidsttheAfricanregion
inparticularandintheinternationalcommunity atlarge.
ANAPPRAISALOFTHEVAST ANDVARIEDCONINENTOFAFRICA
The vast continent of Africa with 53 states, 750 million people, with the highest population
growth, with anareaof morethan30millionkm2, withthe longest river, withdiversifiednatural
resources, looks forward at the dawn of this century for real development in all fronts. Africa
needstoapplytechnologywisely,needstocomprehendthelessonsofitspredecessorsexamplesin
Europe, America and more recently in Asia. As per an estimate by 2050 more than 75% of the
African population will live in urban areas. To meet and serve these frequent and far reaching
changes, large quantities of materials are required for construction of shelters and infrastructures.
Concrete due toobviousreasons lends itselfastheonlyfeasible materialcapable ofmeetingthese
needs. The amount of materials needed for decent living is unimaginable. In fact, concrete
consumption isarealindicatorofsocialprogressanddevelopmentinanycountry.Thereisaclear
needforadesigncodethatwouldconsiderthesemateriallimitationsandsustainabilityconstraints.
Therefore, if Africa is to develop its infrastructure to support its future economic growth, an
increase in concrete consumption will follow. With the emergence of the African union in 1999,
bothontheeconomic andpoliticalfrontsthereis arealneedtoestablishanddevelopmechanisms
for making this decision a reality. One small step in this direction is the creation of this new
Africanconcretecodewhichwouldfacilitateandacceleratethiseconomicdevelopment..
Geographically Africa may be divided into several regions: North African SubSahara, East
Africa, West Africa, and South Africa. Most African countries are considered as developing
countries that face increasing poverty, higher costs and demands for conservation of world
resources.
According to Haque
1
, parts of Africa have an environment similar in climate to that of the
Arabian Gulf. Therefore, the challenges of hot weather concreting and durability problems in the
Gulf would likely be reflected in Africa too. Haque
1
in his paper at the first African concrete
symposium2005outlinedsomeoftheprominentclimaticfeaturesinAfrica:
ThedesertsofSaharaconsistentlyhavehighdaytimetemperaturesaround50Cwithlow
humidity while temperatures at night fall considerably during summer. Winter nights are chilly
accompanied with frostbutthedaysarewarm andsunny.Dailysunshineaveragesnearly9to 10
hoursinwinterand12to13insummer.Strongwindsoccasionallyraisedustandsandleadingto
unpleasant and dangerous weather. Rains are scanty to negligible rendering this region an arid
climatealltheyearround.Aswan(Egypt)locatedintheinteriorofSaharaandtheKalahariDesert
insouthernAfricaarerepresentativesofthisaridstate.
It is evident from the above facts that the climate of Africa is broadly, a combination of arid,
tropical,subtropical andtemperateclimates.Fig. 1showsaroughoutlineoftheseclimatezones.
The Arabian Gulf, on the other hand, has a subtropical climate (HotHumid) towards the coast
and an arid (HotDry) desert climate in the interior. Haque
1
asserted that code recommendations
fortheGulfcouldalsobeapplicableforarelativepartofNorthAfrica(i.e.theSaharaandthesub
tropicalcoastalregions).
544
Figure1. ClimateZonesforAfrica(After,Haque
1
)
Most of Africa is a series of plateau surfaces comprising mainly of metamorphic rocks thathas
been overlaid in places by sedimentary rocks. Since the edge of the plateau lies very close tothe
sea, the continent generally has a very narrowcoastalplain.TheSaharaDesert,thelargestinthe
world, covers most of North Africa. The sand and gravel found here are weathered deposits that
have been transported by winds. These deposits are poorly graded and hence not suitable for use
in concrete production. Moreover, the continent, unlike the Arabian Gulf, has a system of lakes
and rivers watering the land. The mountainous areas tend to have heavy snowfall during winter
withpermanentsnowcappedpeaksincertainregions.
ANOVERVIEWOFCONCRETE CONSUMPTIONINAFRICA
Portland cement remains the main indicator of concrete consumption worldwide. From an
economical viewpoint, it seems that there is no real alternative to Portland cement asabinderfor
concrete structures. With the projected growth of the concrete consumption, a corresponding
increaseincementproductionisexpected.InsomeoftheEuropeancountries,Portlandcementhas
been replaced completely by blended neat cement. In the United States, however, only 20percent
ofcement usedisblendedcement. However,Portlandcement, asweknowit willbewithusfora
long time to come especially in our region. Cement being the most important ingredient for
making concrete is now produced in many countries. Table 1. shows the cement production for
industrialized and developing countries alike. Cement production is estimated to reach 2 billion
tons annually by 2010. Production and consumption of cement is an indicator of the concrete
industrial activities. Under developing countries in the subSahara region such as Uganda for
examplesuffersfromshortageofcement.Itsannualconsumptionisonlyabouthalfamillionton..
In these African countries, labor is relatively cheap as against materials which constitute 75
percent of construction cost against only 40 percent in the developed world. Therefore, concrete
codesthatare basedontheconcept ofcheapmaterials andhighlaborcostwillbeinappropriateto
be used in these regions. Also, capital and foreign exchange are limited in many developing
545
countries, thus restricting imported goods such as steel reinforcing. The amount of steel
reinforcement specified in any code would play a predominant role in the economy of these
countries. Table 2, which shows the cement consumption per capita per year in Africa, gives a
good indication of the infrastructure development in the continent. The northernandthe southern
regions being the most developed compared to the rest of Africa. The average per capita cement
consumption in Africa is well bellow world average. This consumption is expected to increase in
theyearstocome.
Table1. Regionalcementconsumption(MillionTones),sourceworldcement
Percentage
2010
Year2010 Percentage
2005
Year2005 Area
61.8% 1197 58.1% 1082 Asia
21.3% 412 24.5% 432 Europe
7.5% 145 7.3% 142 SouthAmerica
4.9% 95 5.7% 92 NorthAmerica
4.5% 86 4.4% 77 Africa
100% 1935 100% 1825 Total
Table2. PercapitacementconsumptioninAfrica
kg/capita Country kg/capita Country
132 Senegal 674 Libya
97 Ghana 449 Tunisia
80 Benin 325 Egypt
57 Sudan 280 Algeria
39 Tanzania 268 SouthAfrica
38 Congo 256 Morocco
37 Kenya 153 Namibia
36 Nigeria 150 Gabon
35 Cameron 144 Swaziland
NATUREOFCONCRETEKNOWLEDGEANDBUILDINGCODES
The practice of engineering as a profession is, by its very nature based on knowledge. This
knowledge comes from research and experience gained in practice. Codes are written based on
knowledge and experience of local origin. Concrete codes are based on experience and
experiments reflecting theeducational,economical, technologicalandsocial welfareconcernsofa
society. Therefore, codes can be a powerful means of collecting and disseminating knowledge.
This knowledge is translated into minimum requirements to provide the public with safety and
enhance public economy. The American code for example, the most widely known, is based on
needs and requirements of the American construction industry at large. The European codes are
local in nature the unification of Europe has madeitpossibletodraftthenew Europeancodefor
Europe. More recentlythe Asians have drafted a new Model concrete code for Asia to reflectthe
Asian experience and to help facilitate their emergence on the regional as well as global
economicallevels.
2,3,4
Codesaredevelopedwithkeyprinciplesinmind,suchasproviding:
Adequatestructuralsafetyandductility
Adequatedurabilityandstructuralintegrity
Acceptableperformanceatserviceloadlevels
546
Acceptableconstructionandmaintenancecost
CONCEPTOFSTRUCTURALSAFETYRELATEDTOSTRENGTH
Themainobjectiveofstructuraldesignistoproduceasafeandserviceablestructure,whichcanbe
constructed conveniently. It is expected to provide high probability of survival under anticipated
loadsandwhichcanbeconstructedatacceptablecost.Thebuildingcodeshouldbeabletoguidea
structuralengineertoproducesuchastructure.Safety,therefore,isthemostimportantobjectiveof
any code. The code should also provide adequate safety not only against collapse but also against
unserviceable structures .Most codes follow a more deterministic approach with a rational
probabilisticbasis.
3
The partial safety factors in the design codes should result inacceptableprobabilitiesoffailure
at a reasonable cost. Also, the structure must have a high probability of remaining serviceable
underanticipatedserviceloads.Thisisnowaccomplishedbyusingthelimitstateapproach.The
structure ischeckedatultimatelimitstateand serviceability limitstate.Inpracticethestructureis
designed for the ultimate limitstateandcheckedfortheservicelimitstate.Variationsinconcrete
strength and quality control change from one place to another. Applying a single factor would be
inappropriate for all situations and locations. Partial safety factors would be moreappropriate,for
good quality concrete or acceptable level concrete if the quality of concrete is questionable. In
addition, in many African countries, steel and cement are imported from abroad. Labor cost in
these countries is much cheaper than developed countries. Therefore, design and construction
practices adapted in developed countries which aim to minimize cost of labor at the expense of
using more materials may not yield economical designs in African poor countries.
5
The
development of the frameworks for the Euro code and the Asian code are good examples to be
followed where multicountry approach can be successful to insure safety, serviceability and
durabilityofconcreteinfrastructure.
CONCEPTOFSTRUCTURALINTEGRITYRELATEDTODURABILITY
Compressive strength of concrete is not a good indicator of concrete durability. This being a test
result, it can not account for construction practice, such as placing, compaction and curing.
Therefore, a major concern of using the existing international codes directly is the wayeach code
deals with the durability problem in concrete to ensure structural integrity. ACI318 forexample
deals with this matter in a general way. EC02 code which is based on CEBfib model code is
more specific. In ACI 31805, only twoclasses ofexposuresareidentifiedasexteriorandinterior
with limitations on crack widths for these conditions. Durability, according to this code, is
achievedby limitingthewatertocementratioandspecifyingconcretecompressivestrength.Also
ACI code gives some limitations on chloride content of concrete. Euro code on the other hand,
elaborates on the issue of durability by specifying different exposureconditionsleading toriskon
structural integrity. Suggesting appropriate concrete strength, water cement ratio, cover, and
curing regimes to be followed, but sets no limiton chemicalsinconcrete.Inbrief, Africanregion
has long relied on foreign codes which were developed for different climatic conditions and
constructionpractices.IntheSahararegion ofAfricacombinationofhightemperature, drywinds,
low precipitation leads to plastic shrinkage, drying shrinkage and thermal cracking. Also an
increase in temperature leads to increase in water demand leading to lower strength and lower
durability. African climate is arid or tropical in general. Temperaturesreach50degrees inSahara
inthe daytimeanddrops tozeroatnight,whereinthetropicalareasitreachesaround40degrees
with wet hot summers and relative humidity of 90% in the middle of Africa. The highest
temperature ever recorded world wide was in AlAzizia near Tripoli, Libya.
6
In addition to these
environmental effects, concrete constituent materials contain poorly graded aggregate and sand
547
that in many cases are not suitable for concrete making. Therefore, workmanship, quality control
andtheprevailingenvironmentalconditionsinthecontinentofAfricarequiredevelopingaspecial
standardthatcouldaccountfortheseproblems.
7,8,9
Haque
1
pointed out while tracing back the roots of durability provisions in codes, the
Australian Concrete Code AS 3600 had served as a precursor when it included a chapter
DesigningforDurabilityin1988.Ithadpresentedasystematicandlogicalidealtodesigningfor
different exposures. First, climatic zones (macroclimates) are identified for the entire continent
namely arid, temperate and tropical zones. This is further broken down into six exposure classes
(microclimates)whichareA1, A2,B1,B2andCinascendingorderofseverityandthelastclass
U represents an exposure environment for which the degree of severity needs to be assessed.
Regarding the extent of severity, A1 represents the most benign situation such as members well
protected from aggressive conditions (soil, sea water, etc.) whereas C represents the most
deteriorationprone situation such as structural members in tidal and splash zones of the marine
environment.
AccordingtoHaque
1
,thepatternfollowedintheexistingcodescouldserveasguidelinesforthe
foundation of an African Concrete Code. Swamy
9
advocates a new approach for the design of
reinforcedconcretestructuresthatisbasedondurabilityratherthanstrength.
ANOVERVIEWOFINTERNATIONALREFERENCECODES
There is a need to base the new code on the existing codes of practice. These codes are well
establishedandhave beenin useforsometime.The choicebetweenthesecodeshowever,isquite
difficult. This is so because these codes are based on different approaches and basically local
experiencesandexperiments.
10
The most important and widely used two internationalcodedocuments currentlyare,European
Committeeforstandardizationfordesignofconcretestructures(EC2)andtheAmericanConcrete
Institute Building Code Requirements for structural Concrete ACI318 and Commentary. These
documents when compared show significant differences in many situations. The ACI code, for
example, which is based on the ultimate strength design method, until recently still considers the
working stress design method as another alternative method. Only in the last edition of the code
ACI31802, the controversial decision to drop this method was taken. On the other hand, the
Europeancode isbasedonthe Limitstatedesignmethod forinterimperiod.Themarginofsafety
as related to imposed loads and reduction capacity material factors are quite different between
thesecodes.Table.3showstheloadfactorsforseveral codeswherethesedifferencesareapparent.
Obviously, the safety factors inherent in these codes are selected on the basis of quality control
relevantto westernstandards.
Inaddition,theACIcodehasbeenchangingatarapidpacelatelyeverythreeyears.Oneofthe
recent significant changes in the ACI31805 codeistheinclusionofanewmethodandapproach
to the design of flexural members. Instead of using the well established concept of balanced
reinforcement ratio and maximum reinforcement ratio, the code uses the new concept of limit
strain approach. But the code on other aspects is still unclear in dealing with durability and
serviceability requirements. The new changes in the code have a sweeping effect on the
educational and construction industry on the international level. Indeed it is difficult for many
countries, especially in this part of the world, where change is slow, to keep up with these
unwarranted fast changes. Table 3. shows the different load factorsandcapacityreduction factors
for severalcodes includingtheACI318and the EC2.Itisapparentthatthesecodesusedifferent
philosophiesfordesignwhicharethenreflectedondesignparametersinconcretestructures.
11
548
Table3. Loadfactorsandresistancefactorsfordifferentcodes
Loadfactor StrengthReductionfactors Material strength
reductionfactors
Code
Dead Live Flexure Flexure
+axialload
Shear
Concrete Steel
ACI31805 1.20 1.60 0.65to0.90 0.65to90 0.75
Euro2 1.35 1.50 1/1.5 1/1.15
CSA 1.25 1.50 0.65. 0.85
NZS 1.20 1.60 0.85 0.65to0.85 0.75
DEVELOPMENTANDOBJECTIVESOFTHE NEWACCCODE
AccordingtoSozen
12
abuildingcodeisdoomedtovacillationsbetweentheFaustianandthe
Magian.Thereisnoprescriptionfordevelopingabuildingcodethatcanbeguaranteedtobe
successful,buttherearesimplerules,derivedfromexperience. Walraven
13
discussedthebasic
requirementsforacode.Heconcludedthatthereisagreementonanumberofprincipleswhich
shouldbeconsideredinallcodesofpractice.
Codes from different countries have similar objectives they have, however, significant
differences in their requirements for the design of concrete structures, which make it difficult to
applythesecodeswithoutconsideringthesedifferences.ThegoaloftheAfricanConcretecodeis
the development of a regional standard that will insure the optimized design objectives for the
concrete structures in the continent. These design objectives include safety, serviceability,
durability, constructability and service life. Ideally, these objectives have to be fulfilled in
accordance with local environment and local practice leading to sustainable concrete practice in
the region. To be desirable, the code should reflect the regional and national particularities on
several levels. Namely educational, technological, social, economical and environmental levels.
The mostimportantobstaclethatwill hinderestablishingareliable concrete codefor Africaisthe
lack of concrete research in this area. There is a real need to remedy this situation amongst
research centers and universities in the region in cooperation with the international expertsinthe
field.
FRAMEWORKOFPROPOSEDCODE
The African concrete code needs to be drafted by an international nonprofit nongovernmental
organization. This organization must be made up of volunteers from all over the world who are
interested intheprogressanddevelopmentofAfrica.ThescientificsocietyofengineersinTripoli,
Libya will act as a focal point for such action. Several symposiums and workshops will be
organized in different African countries in the years ahead to establish a solid base for this work
.Thegeneralframeworkforthecodecanbesummarizedasfollows:
General:basicconceptsandphilosophyofcode.
Materials:concreteandreinforcingsteel.
StructuralAnalysis.
Design:
Design for ultimate strength under static load, wind and earthquake, fire and
explosionleadingtoprogressivecollapse.
Designfor serviceabilitylimitstatetocontrolcracking, deflection,vibrationand
tightness.
Design for durability long service life by avoiding deterioration by limiting
coverandconcretequalityundercertainenvironmentalconditions.
Designforconstructability detailing.
549
Designforeconomy optimumcostdesign.
Eachaspect ofthisoutline willconstitutea codechapterthat willbedraftedbytechnical
committeesfromtheAfricanregionwiththehelpofinternationalexperts.
CONCLUDINGREMARKS
Present state of the art shows that till this day there is no reliable concrete code for the unique
prevailingsituationcoveringspecialareasinAfrica.Thepresentpaperhashighlightedthatcurrent
internationalcodesare basedonexperience andexperimentslargelyoflocalconditionsrelevantto
their original country. The paper demonstrates that there is an urgent need to incorporate special
features of the African continent in a regional code for local concrete practice. The formation of
theAfricanconcretecodecommitteeisthefirststepinthisdirection.
It is concluded that in order to put the concrete industry in this region on the right track, it is
essential to developthis regional code in a similar manner tothe American, EuropeanandAsian
codes. This will not only facilitate engineering construction activities within the continent,butit
will also enhance education, research and concrete practice in the region. The new code would
reflect the regional and national particularities on several levels namely educational,
technological,social,environmentalandeconomicallevels.
REFERENCES
1. Haque, M. N "Provisions in the African Concrete Code for designing Durable Structures"
Proceeding,theFirstAfricanConcreteCodeSymposium.Tripoli,Libya2005pp127144
2. Siess C.P Research, Building codes and Engineering Practice (ACI Journal, Proceedings
V.31 No.11, May 1960, pp11051122. Practice Land Mark Series republished in Concrete
InternationalV.26,No.2,February2004.
3. Ersoy, U. Reinforced concrete Codes and Specifications for developing countries
Proceeding, Second international Conference on Concrete Technology in C Developing
Countries,Tripoli,Libya.October,1986.
4. Building Code Requirement for Structural Concrete (ACI 31805) Tassios T. P The CEB
model Code as a sound Basis for Codes in Developing Countries Proceedings, Second
International Conference on Concrete Technology in Developing Countries. Tripoli, Libya
October,1986.
5. Ngab A. S. "The African Concrete Code" Proceeding, the First African Concrete Code
Symposium.Tripoli,Libya2005pp117.(www.acmcngo.org)
6. FragomeniS,Patnaikunai,IandLoo,YAsianconcreteModelCode(ACMC)overview"
7. Swamy, R. N "Holistic Design of Concrete Technology: The Only Route to Durability and
Sustainability in Construction" Proceedings, International Symposium on Cement and
ConcreteTechnologyin2000'sSeptember2000,Turkey
8. Swamy.R.N.DurabilityDesignHolisticPhilosophyforsustainableconstruction:ANew
ConcreteCodeforthe21
st
Century".Proceeding,"theFirstAfricanConcreteCode
Symposium.Tripoli,Libya2005".
9. Darwish, M.N "The African Concrete Code Required Features and local Experience"
Proceeding,theFirstAfricanConcreteCodeSymposium.Tripoli,Libya2005pp113127
10. P. Paultre and D Mitchell," Code provisions for High Strength Concrete an International
perspective"ConcreteInternational25(5).May2003
11. Sozen M.A"The FaustianandtheMagianintheBuildingofaBuildingCode"Proceeding,
theFirstAfricanConcreteCodeSymposium.Tripoli,Libya2005pp1744.
12. Walraven, J, "Towards a new Model Code for Concrete Structures" Proceeding, the First
AfricanConcreteCodeSymposium.Tripoli,Libya2005pp4459.
550

CFRP STRENGTHENING OF PRESTRESSED-PRECAST HOLLOW
CORE SLABS TO RESIST NEGATIVE MOMENTS
A. HOSNY AND A. A. RAHMAN
Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University
Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt
E.Y. SAYED-AHMED
Civil Engineering Department, Qatar University
PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
N.A. ALHLABY
Trust Group W.L.L.
PO Box 30835, Doha, Qatar

ABSTRACT: Recently hollow core precast-prestressed concrete slabs have been widely used in
different structures. They are typically designed as simply supported panels. Frequently, it may be
architecturally required to have an overhanging part of the floor to act as a cantilever. In doing so,
the slabs would be subjected to negative moments. Here, hollow core slabs and Carbon Fibre
Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) strips are coupled to improve the negative moment resistance of the
slabs. An experimental investigation was carried out by testing nine full scale CFRP strengthened
hollow core slabs to securitize the negative moment resistance enhancement. The adopted
technique significantly increased the negative cracking moment and moment resistance of the
slabs as well as their ductility.
INTRODUCTION
Hollow core precast-prestressed concrete slabs are commonly constructed using low-slump high
strength concrete and prestressed using high strength seven wire prestressing strands. These slabs
are typically designed as simply supported panels and their general behaviour has been extensively
studied when they are subjected to positive bending moments
1-5
. Codes have also been developed
to cover the behaviour, design and construction of simply supported hollow core slabs
6-7
.
Frequently, it may be required to have an overhanging part of the floor to act as a cantilever which
is subjected to negative moments. In such circumstances, the designer has two choices: either to
change the architectural plan or to renounce using the hollow core slabs.
On another frontier, strengthening of reinforced concrete structural elements using advanced
composite materials has become a very important issue. Recently, bonding Fibre Reinforced
Polymer (FRP) strips to a reinforced concrete element to increase its flexural strength proved to be
an effective and economic strengthening technique
8
. Thus, precast-prestressed hollow core slabs
were strengthened with Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) strips to improve the negative
moment resistance of the slabs. The CFRP strips were bonded to the top side of the hollow core
slabs in the negative moment zone. Nine full-scale CFRP-strengthened precast-prestressed hollow
core slabs were tested in flexure to failure. The results of the experimental programme are
presented and the strength enhancement using the proposed technique is reported.
551

THE EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME
All the tested slabs were 150 mm thick, 1.20 m wide and 5.00 m long (Figure 1). They were
prestressed using seven 9.3 mm diameter 1770 MPa low relaxation 7-wire strands placed at 30
mm from the slabs soffit. Two additional 9.3 mm diameter strands were placed at 30 mm from the
top fibres of the slabs to straighten the slabs. The seven lower strands were prestressed to an initial
strain of 0.556% which corresponds to an initial prestressing stress of 1083 MPa (56.3 kN per
strand). The two top strands were prestressed to only 30% of the ultimate strand strength (27 kN
per strand). 100 mm wide by 1.4 mm thick high modulus CFRP were bonded to the slabs using a
two components epoxy adhesive. Material properties and specifications of the slabs, the strips and
the adhesive are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Properties of the concrete, prestressing strands, CFRP strips and epoxy adhesive.
Concrete Prestressing Strands
Mechanical properties Values Mechanical properties Values
7 d., 28d cube comp. strength 74, 89 MPa Diameter 9.3 mm
Max. water cement ratio 0.35 Nominal cross sectional area 52 mm
2

Cement content 370 kg/m
3
Ultimate load 92 kN
Coarse aggregates 1140 kg/m
3
Ultimate tensile strength 1770 MPa
Fine aggregates 285 kg/m
3
Elastic modulus 195 GPa
Sand 500 kg/m
3
Max elongation 3.5 %
Admixture SP2000 3.5 Ltrs/m
3
Initial prestressing strain 0.556%
CFRP strips Epoxy adhesive
Mechanical properties Values Mechanical properties Values
Tensile strength 2400 MPa Tensile strength 32 MPa
Tensile modulus (Long. dir) 200 GPa Tensile modulus 11.7 GPa
Tensile modulus (Trans. dir) 10 GPa Lap shear strength to strips 29.4 MPa
Interlaminar shear strength 77 MPa Compressive strength 60 MPa
Poissons ratio (long, trans) 0.2, 0.02 Bond strength to the concrete 3.5 MPa
Poissons ratio 0.2
The nine tested hollow core slabs were divided into three series each with three slabs as
shown in Figure 2. Series S1 represents the control slabs. Series S2 slabs were strengthened with
1158
1
5
0

110
142 142 142 142 142 142 142 82 82
5
0

3
8

1
9

21
142 142 142
48
142
32 32
1200
284 284
7 no. 9.3 mm strands
3
0

Figure 1. Cross section of the tested precast-prestressed hollow core slabs. (Dimensions in
)
552

three longitudinal CFRP strips bonded along the cantilever part. Series S3 slabs has the same
longitudinally bonded CFRP strips and broken bond between the strands and the concrete along
1.5 m form one edge of the slabs: the bond was broken using duct-tape blanketing on the strands
while casting the slabs. Two slabs of Series S3 have additional CFRP strips bonded in the
transverse direction, perpendicular to the main longitudinal strips as shown in Figure 2.
Series S2 and Series S3 slabs top surface were cleaned before bonding the CFRP strips. The
locations of the strips were marked on the top surface of the slab. For each slab, three CFRP strips
were cut to 2.0 m in length to cover the 1.0 m long overhang and to extend 1.0 m into the interior
span in the negative moment zone. The epoxy-based adhesive was used to bond the CFRP strips to
the slabs. The two components of the epoxy adhesive were mixed using electrical hand mixer.
Before the CFRP strip was applied to the slab, thin layers of the epoxy adhesive were applied to
the top surface of the slab in the strip locations using a trowel. Another layer (~3 mm) of the
epoxy adhesive was applied over the CFRP strips as well. The strip was then placed on the surface
of the slab; contact was established at the centre of the strip with the application moving to both
outer ends simultaneously. Uniform pressure was applied to the strip using a roller to squeeze out
the excess epoxy adhesive, leaving a thin layer between the concrete and the CFRP strip.
Figure 2. The tested hollow core hollow core slabs series - (2 no 9.3 upper strands are not shown).
Lower strands: 7 no. 9.3 mm
5.00 m
4.00 m 1.00 m
S1-01, S1-02, S1-03
2.00 m
3-100 mm wide CFRP Strips
S2-01, S2-02, S2-03
2.00 m
1.50 m
S3-01
1.50 m
2.00 m
0.25
S3-02
1.50 m
2.00 m
0.25
S3-03
553

The test set-up is shown in Figures 3 and 4. It consisted of two loading frames, a loading
system (hydraulic rams connected to load cells and load distribution steel beams), dial gauges, and
supporting steel beams. One of the loading frames was centered at the interior mid-span, with
other placed at the cantilever tip. The load was applied to the slabs as a line load across its full
width via distribution steel beams. Simultaneous loads were applied incrementally at both the
cantilever tip and at the centre of the interior span in a load-controlled fashion. The vertical
displacements at the cantilever tip and at the interior span were recorded using dial gauges for
each load increment. The slabs rested on supporting beams having rectangular cross section.
These beams were transversely placed under the slab across its full width. Greased 4 mm thick
neoprene pads were placed between the supporting beams and the slabs. The supporting beams
were arranged to produce a 1.0 m long overhanging cantilever and a 4.0 m interior span. Thus, the
loading system resulted in a negative moment coupled with a constant shear force acting on the
over-hanged cantilever part (Figure 4).
RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND DISCUSSION
The three hollow core slabs series were subjected to the same flexure monotonic tests to failure
using the test set-up shown in Figure 3. Results of these tests are summarized in Table 2. The
maximum negative moments acting on the cantilever parts of the slabs are plotted versus the
Figure 3. Test set-up and locations of the loading frames and the dial gauges adopted in the tests.
2 HSS 100x145x10
HSS 60x120x10
300x16
700x10
I
Neoprene pad
Supporting beam
HSS 200x300x12
Figure 4. Statical system of slabs during testing and internal forces generated in the slabs.
5.00 m
4.00 m 1.00 m
P
2
P
1
0.89 m
0.178P
1
+ 0.5 P
2

+
BMD
+
SFD
+
P
1

P
1

0.5 P
2
0.178P
1
0.89P
1

Schematic of the loading configuration adopted in testing the hollow core slabs
554

cantilever tip vertical deflections in Figures 5, 6 and 7. For Series S1 control slabs, failure
occurred immediately after the first transverse crack was formed in the negative moment zone
across the slab width. The experimentally obtained load-deflection curves for this series are
presented in Figure 5.
Table 2. Results of the experimental investigation on the hollow core slabs.
Ser. Slab
P
1-

Failure

(kN)
Negative failure
moment (kN.m)
Increase in
M
ult
%
Vl. def. at
1-fail
(mm)
Negative M
cr

(kN.m)
Increase in
M
cr
%
S1-01 15.01 13.36 0.46 13.36
S1-02 15.70 13.97 4.13 13.97 S1
S1-03 19.62 17.46
Average
14.92.2
---
2.40 17.46
Average
14.92.2
---

S2-01 53.76 47.85 17.81 27.76
S2-02 46.11 41.04 15.36 27.94 S2
S2-03 39.24 34.93
Average
41.36.5
277%
11.56 26.20
Average
27.30.9
183%

S3-01 88.29 78.14 --- 524% 24.61 27.50 --- 185%
S3-02 86.43 76.92 25.60 32.92 S3
S3-03 112.82 94.29
85.612.3 574%
24.72 34.14
33.50.9 225%
Relatively similar transverse cracks initiated in the negative moment zone for Series S2 slabs
at a moment ranging between 26.2 kN.m and 27.9 kN.m (Figure 6 - Table 2). For Series S3 slabs,
the transverse cracks started at moments ranging between 27.5 kN.m and 34.1 kN.m (Figure 7 -
Table 2). The cracks started over the support of the cantilever on the top surface of the slab.
Figure 8 shows a typical example for the crack initiation and propagation process for Slab S2-02.
The cracks did not cross the CFRP strips but widened and continued to appear in different
parts of the negative moment zone with increasing the load. A major flexure crack is formed over
the support at the maximum negative moment location. Failure occurred after this crack extended
to reach the CFRP strips then ran longitudinally along the interface between the concrete and the
strips in the epoxy adhesive layer causing strips debonding form the concrete surface. This mode
of failure is known as intermediate flexural crack-induced interfacial debonding (Figure 9). For all
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Vertical deflection (mm)
M

-
v
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
S1-02
S1-03
S1-01
G3
G4
P2 P1
G1
G2
Gauge G2
Gauge G1
M-ve
-
+
Figure 5. Negative moment versus cantilever deflection for Series S1 slabs.
555

the slabs (except slabs S3-02 and S3-03), the debonding began over the support (location of the
major crack) and propagated toward the ends of the CFRP strips. For Slab S3-02 and S3-03, the
transverse strips arrested the propagated debonding crack and delayed this premature failure. For
these two slabs, failure occurred close to the cantilever tip by shear simultaneously with
debonding of the CFRP strips in this zone (Figure 10).
Bonding the CFRP strips to the precast-prestressed hollow core slabs significantly increased
the negative moment resistance of the slabs. The cracking moments were increased by 183% to
225% over that of the control slabs. The ultimate moments were also enhanced by 277% to 574%
over that of the control slabs. A comparison between the tip cantilever deflections of three tested
slabs series shown in Figures 5-7 reveals that bonding the CFRP strips to the hollow core slabs
also increased the ductility of the slabs when they were subjected to negative moments.
Comparisons between the experimental programme outcomes and both the CSA 806-02 and
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0
Vertical deflection (mm)
M

-
v
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
S2-01
S2-02
S2-03
G3
P2 P1
G1
G2
G4
Gauge G2
Gauge G1
Cracks initiation zone
M=26.2 kN.m ~27.9 kN.m
M-ve
-
+
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
Vertical Deflection (mm)
M

-
v
e

(
k
N
.
m
)
G3
P2 P1
G1
G2
G4
S3-01
S3-02
S3-03
Gauge G2
Gauge G1
Cracks initiation zone
M=27.5 kN.m ~34.1 kN.m
M-ve
-
+
556

the ACI 440.2 R-02 provisions are presented elsewhere
9,10
. These investigations reveal that a
missing failure criterion intermediate flexural crack-induced interfacial debonding must be
explicitly included in the code provisions. A newly proposed model accounting for this missing
Figure 8. Crack initiation and propagation in Slab S2-02.
Figure 9. Intermediate crack-induced debonding failure mode of Slab S3-01.
Figure 10. Delayed shear failure of Slab S3-03.
557

failure criterion is also given elsewhere
9,10
.
CONCLUSIONS
A proposed strengthening detail to increase the negative moment resistance of hollow core slabs
using bonded CFRP strips is presented and experimentally verified. CFRP strips were bonded to
the top side of full-scale precast-prestressed hollow core slabs in the negative moment zone. Six
CFRP strengthened slabs together three control specimens were subjected to negative and positive
moments and tested monotonically to failure. The negative moment resistance of the CFRP-
bonded hollow core slabs was enhanced by 2.7 to 5.7 times using the proposed technique.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was performed under the auspices of Qatar University (Qatar) and Ain Shams
University (Egypt). In-kind support was received from S&P Clever Reinforcement Co. (Austria),
MBT Middle East (UAE) and Qatar Precast Co. (Qatar); the authors are grateful for this support.
REFERENCES
1. Euser M. K., Mehlhorn G., and Cornelius V. 1983. Bond between prestressed steel and
concretecomputer analysis using ADINA, Computers & Structures, 17(5-6): 669-676.
2. Lama D., Elliottb K. S., and Nethercot D. A. 1999. Parametric study on composite steel
beams with precast concrete hollow core floor slabs, Journal of Constructional Steel
Research, 54(2): 283-304.
3. Polania, E., Bernardi S., and Lorrain M. 2004. Design of composite floors with precast
prestressed hollow core slabs, fib Symposium 2004, April 2004, Avignon, pp. 308-309.
4. Paassen A.V. 2004. Flooring solutions with a new generation of hollow core floors, fib
Symposium 2004, April 2004, Avignon, pp. 208-209.
5. de Castilho, V. C., Carmo Nicoletti, M. and El Debs, M. K. 2005. An investigation of the
use of three selection-based genetic algorithm families when minimizing the production cost
of hollow core slabs, Computer Methods in Applied Mech. & Eng., 194 (45-47): 4651-4667.
6. Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute PCI 1999. PCI design handbook precast and
prestressed concrete, 5th edition, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
7. fib Bulletin No. 6, 2000. Special design considerations for precast prestressed hollow core
floors.
8. Teng, J.G., Chen, J.F., Smith, S.T., and Lam, L. 2002. FRP strengthened RC structures,
John Willey and Sons, Ltd. West Sussex, England.
9. Hosny, A.A., Sayed-Ahmed, E.Y., Abdelrahamn, A.A., Alhlaby, N.A. Strengthening
Precast-Prestressed Hollow Core Slabs to Resist Negative Moments Using CFRP Strips: an
Experimental Investigation and a Critical Review of CSA 806-02. Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering. Acc. Feb. 2006 (in-print).
10. Hosny, A.A., Sayed-Ahmed, E.Y., Abdelrahamn, A.A., Alhlaby, N.A. CFRP Strengthening
of Prestressed-Precast Hollow Core Slabs to Resist Negative Moments: an Experimental
Investigation and a Critical Review of ACI 440.2 R-02 Provisions. 1st International
Structural Specialty Conference, CSCE Annual General Conference, Calgary, Canada. May
2006, pp. ST055-1 - ST055-10.

558

REPAIR OF CONCRETE BEAMS REINFORCED
WITH DEBONDED BARS
H. A. ABDALLA
Department of Civil Engineering, College of Technological Studies
The Public Authority for Applied Education, Kuwait
H. MOSTAFA AND T. GAMAL EL-DEEN
Structural Engineering Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Debonded bars are usually found in structural elements due to steel corrosion or poor
construction conditions. These include low workability of fresh concrete, insufficient vibration of
concrete during casting, or not following the code conditions for minimum distance between bars.
This paper presents results of an experimental study on the effect of loss of bond of steel bars near
supports on the structural behavior of reinforced concrete beams. Different practical techniques of
repair were used in the experimental program. These include unbonded repair, normal repair, and
bonded repair using chemical bonding agents. In the experimental program, tests were conducted on
ten simply-supported reinforced concrete beams of 2.4 m length and 100x150 mm cross-section.
Three beams were tested under long-term sustained loads for seven months, and the remaining seven
beams were tested under short-term increasing load up to failure. The main parameters considered
were the exposed length of the bars and the repair method of the concrete beams. The influence of
these parameters on the beam behavior is investigated from the stand point of deformations, strains,
cracking, and ultimate capacity.
INTRODUCTION
The loss of bond between reinforcing steel and the surrounding concrete creates a non-composite
action of the beam cross-section. This affects the applicability of the design code equations which
assume perfect bond between steel and concrete.
Many investigations have been carried out on the behavior of concrete beams reinforced with
exposed or debonded steel. Comparatively little attention has been directed toward the behavior of
such beams after repair. Behavior of concrete beams reinforced with exposed reinforcement is
influenced by many factors
1
; namely: (i) length of exposed bars; (ii) position of exposed bars with
respect to the applied loads; (iii) reinforcement ratio in beam section; (iv) strength of concrete, steel,
and bond between them; (v) shape of concrete cross section; (vi) concrete cover to reinforcement; and
(vii) intensity and type of shear stirrups. Cairns
2
found that shear strength was not significantly
reduced by exposure of half of the tension reinforcement in the beam. Raoof and Lin
3
reported
experimental results from testing concrete beams with fully exposed tension reinforcement at the beam
center line. They found that increasing the percentage of the tensile steel, in absence of stirrups, has
the effect of increasing the observed percentage of strength loss. Moreover, the ultimate capacity of
beams with exposed reinforcement increases significantly by using top reinforcement. Zhang and
Raoof
4
presented a theoretical model for the ultimate capacity of concrete beams with exposed
reinforcement.
559
Jeppsson and Thelandersson
5
tested six beams with varied nominal length of longitudinal steel
without bond. The beams were designed to fail in shear. Loss of bond was created with plastic tubes
surrounding the longitudinal reinforcement leaving short bonded length over support and at positions
where stirrups were crossing the longitudinal reinforcement. They found that the reduction in shear
capacity was only 33% for the beam with almost 80% loss of bond length. In their tests the use of
stirrups helped in compensating the loss of bond. Xiong et al.
6
investigated the flexural response of
concrete beams with 50% exposed reinforcement length of the beam span at midspan zone. During
the tests, it was observed that the exposed reinforcement of the un-repaired beams moved continuously
to the upper concrete with the load increase, leading to a decrease of the effective depth of the mid
span section. Only 10% moment capacity loss was reported for the unrepaired beam with
reinforcement exposed over 50% of the span. During testing the unbonded repaired beams, a bond slip
was observed as soon as the beam was loaded. The normally repaired beams exhibited a good bond at
the interface, and the failure occurred in these beams without observed separation at the interface.
In this research, an attempt is made to examine the behavior of reinforced concrete beams with
debonded bars near supports after repair. The effect of method of repair on short-term deflection,
long-term deflection, cracking load, ultimate load carrying capacity is also presented in this paper.
In the experimental program, tests were conducted on ten simply-supported reinforced concrete beams
of 2.1 m span (2.4 m total length) and 100x150 mm cross-section. Three beams were tested under
long-term sustained loads for seven months, and the remaining seven beams were tested under short-
term increasing load up to failure. All beams were designed to fail in flexure avoiding shear failure.
The beams were reinforced with the same area of longitudinal steel and stirrups, Figure1. The main
parameters considered in the experimental study were the exposed length of longitudinal steel, method
of repair, and the loading period whether short-term loading or long-term loading, Table 1. The beams
were tested under two-point loading to investigate their immediate and long-term deflection, concrete
strain, steel strain, cracking load and crack pattern, ultimate capacity and mode of failure.

Table 1. Details of the tested beams
Beam*
Concrete
Strength (MPa)
Beam type
Exposed length
Beam span
Type of
loading
1CS 47.2 Control Beam 0% Short-term
2CL 43.6 Control Beam 0% Long-term
3ES 48.8
Exposed steel without
repair
25% Short-term
4ES 44.8
Exposed steel without
repair
50% Short-term
5US 48.8 Unbonded repair 25% Short-term
6US 47.5 Unbonded repair 50% Short-term
7NS 46.0 Normal repair 50% Short-term
8BS 48.0 Bonded repair 50% Short-term
9NL 42.8 Normal repair 50% Long-term
10BL 42.8 Bonded repair 50% Long-term
*
C = Control beam, E = Exposed steel, U = Unbonded repair, N = Normal repair, B = Bonded
repair, S = Short-term loading, and L = Long-term loading.
560

Figure 1. Details of the tested beams: (a) beam with exposed (debonded) steel 4ES; and (b)
repaired beams 6US, 7NS, 8BS, 9NL, and 10BL (bottom)
Material Characteristics
The experimental cube concrete compressive strength of the tested beams ranged from 42 to 49
MPa at the time of testing, with a maximum aggregate size of 25 mm. The average compressive
strength of the concrete used for repair was 38 MPa. The bonding layer used at the interface
between the old concrete and new repairing concrete was prepared using a bonding agent (Adibond
65) with ratio of 0.1 of the cement weight. The tension steel was of High Grade 40/60 (f
y
=450
MPa), while the compression steel and the stirrups were of Mild Grade 28/45 (f
y
=280 MPa).
Test Specimens and Procedure
The details of ten test specimens are shown in Table 1. The tested beams are identified with three
characters as follows: the first character is a serial number denoting the testing sequence of the beam,
the second character is a letter denoting the method of repair with C, E, U, N and B representing
Control beam, Exposed steel, Unbonded repair, Normal repair, and Bonded repair, respectively; the
third character is a letter S or L representing Short-term loading or Long-term loading, respectively, as
shown in Table 1. The artificial debonding of steel was carried out using special plastic tubes of
diameter 14 mm around the bars to isolate the steel from the surrounding concrete, Figure 2(a). The
plastic tubes were lubricated to prevent the friction with the steel bars. The length of the plastic tubes
was 412 mm or 675 mm on each side of the beam length for beams 3ES and 4ES, respectively.
In all repaired beams, a 60 mm height of the bottom portion of the beam depth was chipped off.
This was done by placing a piece of Styrofoam in the formwork before casting, Figure 2(b). The
length of Styrofoam was 412 mm or 675 mm on each side of the beam length for beams with 25%
repaired length or 50% repaired length, respectively. Before applying any repair process, the loose
concrete and dust were removed and the chipped surface was washed by water, and then it was
allowed to dry.
For the unbonded repaired beams (5US and 6US), the longitudinal tension steel was bonded to the
new repairing concrete only. There was a complete separation between the old concrete and the new
repairing concrete using a layer of plastic membrane on the interface, Figure 2(c). The link between
the tension steel and the old concrete was achieved by the stirrups. This case of unbonded repair
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
14 mm plastic tubes
SEC. (2-2)
26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
SEC. (1-1)
SEC. (3-3)
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6 @ 75 mm
6
0

m
m
New concrete
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm
P/2 P/2
1
1
3
3
(b)
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
P/2 P/2
1
1
2
2
(a)
700 mm 700 mm 700 mm
2100 mm
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
14 mm plastic tubes
SEC. (2-2)
26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
SEC. (1-1)
SEC. (3-3)
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6 @ 75 mm
6
0

m
m
New concrete
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
14 mm plastic tubes
SEC. (2-2)
100 mm 100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm 6@75 mm
14 mm plastic tubes 14 mm plastic tubes
SEC. (2-2)
26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
SEC. (1-1)
26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
26 mm
212 mm
6@75 mm
100 mm 100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
1
5
0

m
m
SEC. (1-1)
SEC. (3-3)
100 mm
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6 @ 75 mm
6
0

m
m
New concrete
SEC. (3-3)
100 mm 100 mm
1
5
0

m
m
1
5
0

m
m 26 mm
212 mm
6 @ 75 mm 6 @ 75 mm
6
0

m
m
6
0

m
m
New concrete New concrete
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm
P/2 P/2
1
1
3
3
(b)
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
P/2 P/2
1
1
2
2
(a)
700 mm 700 mm 700 mm
2100 mm
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm
P/2 P/2
1
1
3
3
(b)
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm
P/2 P/2
1
1
3
3
(b)
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm
P/2 P/2
1
1
3
3
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150 150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150 150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
2400 mm 2400 mm
P/2 P/2 P/2 P/2 P/2 P/2
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
(b)
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
P/2 P/2
1
1
2
2
(a)
700 mm 700 mm 700 mm
2100 mm
150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150 150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150 150 525 mm 1050 mm 525 mm 150
P/2 P/2 P/2 P/2 P/2 P/2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
(a)
700 mm 700 mm 700 mm
2100 mm
700 mm 700 mm 700 mm 700 mm 700 mm 700 mm
2100 mm 2100 mm
561
represents a bad repair method which is sometimes seen in practice. For normally repaired beams
(7NS and 9NL), a layer of 3 mm thickness of neat cement paste was brushed on the surface of the
substrate before casting the new concrete. For the bonded repaired beams 8BS and 10BL, a chemical
bonding agent (Adibond 65) was used to bond the new concrete to the old concrete. Figure 2(d) shows
the final look of all the beams before testing. All repaired beams were subjected to good repair
conditions like: i) proper surface preparation; ii) repair perimeter was right-angled cut; iii) concrete
surrounding the steel was removed by minimum of 19 mm as recommended by Vaysburb et al.
7
.

(a)

Placing plastic tubes for steel
debonding (Beams 3ES and 4ES)

(b)

Styrofoam before and after concrete
casting (Beams 5US, 6US, 7NS,
8BS, 9NL, and 10BL)

(c)

Applying membrane sheet for
unbonded repair (Beams 5US and
6US)

(d)

Beam after repair (all beams)
Figure 2. Preparation of tested beams

The test beams were subjected to two concentrated loads both for immediate and long-term
testing. The total sustained load for long-term testing was 11 kN which represented 30% of the
ultimate load of the control beam 1CS. This ratio represents the working loading conditions used in
the flexural design of reinforced concrete beams. The tested beams were instrumented to measure the
applied load, mid-span deflection, strains in the extreme compression and tension fibres of the
concrete, and crack width. For the long-term tests, the strains and deflections at the mid-span were
recorded daily for seven months. The crack propagation pattern was monitored during that period.
Short-term Behavior
Table 2 shows the results of the short-term tests. The deflection of beams 3ES and 4ES reinforced
with exposed steel is shown in Figure 3. The results show that after cracking, these beams exhibited
much higher deflection than that of the control beam. The deflection of beam 4ES increased more
rapidly than that of beam 3ES up to failure. This may be attributed to the two wide cracks observed at
the edges of the exposed steel of beam 4ES as shown in Figure 4. The deflection at a load of 5kN (just
after cracking) of beam 4ES was 8.4 times and 5.9 times the deflection of beams 1CS and 3ES,
respectively, Table 2.
Figure 4 shows that the cracks were well distributed over the span of the control beam 1CS. For
beam 3ES with 25% loss of bond, two main cracks were noticed at the edges of the debonded steel
562
with some cracks distributed in between. In beam 4ES with 50% loss of bond, only two cracks were
observed at the edges of the debonded steel. The cracks propagated rapidly up to failure. The ratio of
the ultimate load to the cracking load P
u
/P
cr
was greatly reduced in beams 3ES and 4ES when
compared to the control beam 1CS as shown in Table 2. The ultimate load capacities of beams 3ES
and 4ES were only 0.25 and 0.17 of that of the control beam 1CS. This immature failure took place
through the wide cracks observed at the edges of the debonded bars, followed by concrete crushing at
the same sections, Figure 4. The failure mode of the control beam 1CS was due to yield of steel at
mid-span followed by concrete crushing at the top fibers of the beam mid-section.
Table 2. Results of short-term tests
Beam
Deflection at
load=5kN (mm)
Cracking load
Pcr (kN)
Ultimate Load
Pu (kN)
Relative
Capacity*
Pu/ Pcr
1CS 1.2 6.0 37.5 1.00 6.25
3ES 1.7 4.5 9.5 0.25 2.11
4ES 10.1 3.5 6.5 0.17 1.86
5US 1.5 4.0 34.0 0.91 8.50
6US 1.7 5.0 32.0 0.85 6.40
7NS 1.7 6.0 32.5 0.87 5.42
8BS 1.6 5.0 34.5 0.92 6.90
*
Ratio of beam ultimate load to the ultimate load of the control beam.

Figure 3. Deflection of the tested beams 1CS, 3ES, 4ES, and 5US

Figure 4. Cracking of control beam 1CS and beams 3ES and 4ES with exposed steel
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Deflection (mm)
Beam 3ES
25% Exposed
Beam 4ES
50% Exposed
Control
Beam 1CS
Beam 5US
25% Unbonded Repair
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Deflection (mm)
Beam 3ES
25% Exposed
Beam 3ES
25% Exposed
Beam 4ES
50% Exposed
Beam 4ES
50% Exposed
Control
Beam 1CS
Control
Beam 1CS
Beam 5US
25% Unbonded Repair
Beam 5US
25% Unbonded Repair
563
In Figure 3, comparing the results of beam 3ES with 25% debonded steel with those of beam 5US
with 25% unbonded repair, it can be seen that repairing the beam, even with unbonded repair, greatly
enhances the structural behavior. In beam 5US, the bond between steel and the new repairing concrete
and the steel link with the old concrete through the vertical stirrups helped in achieving an ultimate
load of 0.91 of that of the control beam, Table2. The relative capacity ratio increased from 0.25 in
beam 3ES with debonded steel to 0.91 in beam 5US with bonded steel with unbonded repair.
Increasing the unbonded repair length did not significantly affect the behavior of the tested beams. In
Table 2, increasing the unbonded repair length from 25% in beam 5US to 50% in beam 6US decreased
the ultimate load by 6% only. In addition, the deflection just after cracking increased by 13% in beam
6US with respect to beam 5US. The ratio P
u
/P
cr
decreased by 25% by increasing the unbonded length.
The cracks of both beams 5US and 6US were well distributed over the span. The cracking pattern
was similar to that of the control beam 1CS before failure. Close to failure flexural shear cracks were
observed in the repaired zone, Figure 5. These cracks may be attributed to the weakness in the end
sections resisting shear due to the separation between the old concrete and the new repairing concrete.
Figure 6 shows the deflection of beams 6US, 7NS, and 8BS repaired over 50% of the span with
unbonded, normal, and bonded repair, respectively. The results indicate that the deflection of beam
8BS with bonded repair was the closest to that of the control beam especially close to the ultimate
load. At a load of 5 kN close to the cracking load, the deflections of the repaired beams 6US, 7NS,
and 8BS were almost equal as shown in Table 2. The table shows that the ultimate capacities of the
three beams are much higher than that of beam 4ES with 50% debonded steel length. The ultimate
capacity of beam 8BS with bonded repair reached 92% of that of the control beam 1CS. This ratio was
0.85 and 0.87 for beams 6US and 7NS, respectively. The crack patterns of beams 7NS and 8BS were
almost the same as that of the control beam with some hair cracks observed in the new repairing
concrete at the failure stage. Figure 5 shows the typical failure of the repaired beams by concrete
crushing at mid-span.

Figure 5. Cracking of unbonded repaired beams 5US and 6US

Figure 6. Deflection of beams with 50% repaired length
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Deflection (mm)
Control
Beam 1CS
Beam 8BS
bonded Repair
Beam 7NS
Normal Repair
Beam 6US
Unbonded Repair
Beam 4ES
Exposed Steel
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Deflection (mm)
Control
Beam 1CS
Control
Beam 1CS
Beam 8BS
bonded Repair
Beam 8BS
bonded Repair
Beam 7NS
Normal Repair
Beam 7NS
Normal Repair
Beam 6US
Unbonded Repair
Beam 6US
Unbonded Repair
Beam 4ES
Exposed Steel
Beam 4ES
Exposed Steel
564
Long-term Behavior
The Control beam 2CL, beam 9NL with 50% normal repair, and beam 10BL with 50% bonded repair
were subjected to the same sustained two-point load for 7 months. During the loading period, the
following readings were recorded daily: mid-span deflection, concrete compression strain, steel tensile
strain, and crack propagation pattern. When changes in the above readings were negligible, after 7
months, the loads were removed and the final readings after load removal were recorded.
Figure 7 shows the cracking patterns for the long-term tested beams. It can be seen from the
figure that for the control beam 2CL the cracks were distributed over the high moment length between
and in the vicinity of the concentrated loads. No cracks were observed at the beam ends for that beam.
On the other hand, flexural shear cracks were noticed for the other two beams especially for beam
9NL with normal repair. This shows that improving the repair conditions results in almost the same
behavior as the perfectly produced concrete beams.

Figure 7. Cracking of long-term tested beams 2CL, 9NL, and 10BL

Figure 8 shows the long-term deflection of the tested beams. The results show that beam 9NL
exhibited the highest deflection compared to the other two beams. Deflection of beam 10BL with
bonded repair was generally less than that of beam 9NL with normal repair. It can be seen from Figure
8 that the immediate deflection at the first day of loading for beam 9NL was 23% higher than that of
the control beam. This ratio was only 10% for beam 10BL with bonded repair. After 7 months of
loading, the mid-span deflection of beam 9NL was 21% higher than that of the control beam 2CL.
This ratio was 13% for beam 10BL. After removal of loading, the remained deflection in beam 9NL
with normal repair was 24% higher than that of the control beam. This ratio was 15% for the beam
with bonded repair.

Figure 8. Long-term deflection of tested beams 2CL, 9NL, and 10BL
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 50 100 150 200 250
D
e
f
l
e
c
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
Time (days)
Control
Beam 2CL
Beam 10BL
50% Bonded Repair
Beam 9NL
50% Normal Repair
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 50 100 150 200 250
D
e
f
l
e
c
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
Time (days)
Control
Beam 2CL
Control
Beam 2CL
Beam 10BL
50% Bonded Repair
Beam 10BL
50% Bonded Repair
Beam 9NL
50% Normal Repair
Beam 9NL
50% Normal Repair
565
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Debonded reinforcement near supports is one of the major imperfections that affect the ultimate
strength of reinforced concrete beams. The loss of bond between steel and the surrounding concrete
influences the applicability of design codes on concrete beams. In this research, different repair
methods were applied on beams with exposed or debonded steel bars. These methods include
unbonded repair, normal repair, and bonded repair. The effect of long term loading on the structural
behavior of these beams was also investigated. Based on the experimental results of this research, the
following conclusions can be made:
(1) Reinforcement exposure near supports is a fatal imperfection that greatly reduces the load
carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams. For a beam with 12.5% loss of bond at each
support, the ultimate capacity was reduced by 75%. Increasing the exposed length to 25% of the
span at each support reduces the capacity by 83%.
(2) Repairing the faulted beams leads to regaining of the beam ultimate capacity by at least 85% on
condition that good repairing precautions are followed. These include proper surface
preparation, using right-angled cuts at the repair perimeters, and removing concrete surrounding
the steel with a minimum of 19 mm. Applying bonded repair using bonding chemical agents
resulted in regaining 92% of a beam capacity with 50% loss of bond.
(3) At high loading levels, some bond slip was noticed between the old concrete and the new
repairing concrete for beams with unbonded and normal repairing conditions. This bond slip was
not observed in beams with bonded repair.
(4) During the long-term loading, most of beam deflections occurred on the first day of loading. The
structural behavior of the beam with bonded repair was very close to that of the control beam.
Some hair cracks were noticed in the repairing concrete for the normally-repaired beam.
REFERENCES
1. Sharaf, H. and Soudki, K., Strength Assessment of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Debonded
Reinforcement and Confinement with CFRP Wraps, 4th Structural Specialty Conference of the
Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Montreal, Canada, June 2002, ST080, pp. 1-10.
2. Cairns, J., Consequences of Bond Loss on Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams, 5th
International Conference on Structural Faults and Repairs, UK, 1993, No. 3, pp. 149-154.
3. Raoof, M. and Lin, Z., Implications of Structural Damage to Concrete Beams, Bridge
Management: Inspection, Maintenance, Assessment, and Repair, (Ed. J.E. Harding et al.),
Thomas Telford, London, UK, 1993.
4. Zhang, S. and Raoof, M., Prediction of the Behavior of R.C. Beams with Exposed
Reinforcement, Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 47, No. 173, 1995, pp. 335-344.
5. Jeppsson, J. and Thelandersson, S., Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Loss of
Bond at Longitudinal Reinforcement, Journal of Structural Engineering (ASCE), Vol. 129, No.
10, 2003, pp. 1376-1383.
6. Xiong, G., Liu, J. and Xie, H., Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams with
Unbonded Repair Patch, ACI Structural Journal, Vol. 97, No. 5, 2000, pp. 783-786.
7. Vaysburb, A., Sabnis, G., Emmons, P., and McDonald, J., Interfacial Bond and Surface
Preparation in Concrete Repair, Indian Concrete Journal, No. 3, 2001, pp. 42-49.

566

FLEXTURAL REPAIR OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS-
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

N. A. B. Yehia
Structural Engineering Department, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on the experimental testing of 9 notched reinforced concrete
specimens under four point bending. The beams comprise three sizes; 150x150x600mm,
150x300x1200mm, 150x600x2400mm, and three tension reinforcing steel ratios; 0.444%, 0.902%, and
1.872%. All beams have constant span/depth ratio of 4, initial notch/depth ratio of 0.3 and
compression/tension reinforcing steel ratio of 0.33%. The concrete used has cube strength of 58 MPa at
the time of testing while reinforcing steel has a nominal yield strength of 360 MPa. Two strengthening
fiber laminates were used; Glass fiber for the two lower tension reinforcing steel ratios and Carbon fiber
for the higher tension reinforcing steel ratio. The strengthening laminates were designed to enhance
beam moment capacity by 15% to 140% depending on the beam size and reinforcement ratio. To
simulate the real life strengthening situation, beams are first loaded until the notch propagated to 0.5 the
beam depth. The strengthening fiber laminate is then introduced at the tension side of the beam while
the load is kept applied to the other side of the beam. The test measurements were monitored during all
stages of loading through a data acquisition system.
INTRODUCTION
While experimental investigations in fracture of plain concrete are numerous, much less attention
has been given to study the fracture behavior of reinforced concrete. Yannopoulos
1
experimentally
tested tensile concrete specimens 76mm in diameter and 1000mm long with one 16mm deformed steel
bar in the center of the specimen. Azad et al
2
and Azad and Baluch
3
, Ashmawi et al
4
conducted
experimental tests on three-point bend reinforced concrete beams. Baluch et al
5
tested one beam size
with two different reinforcing ratios. Yehia
6
tested 18 specimens with three different beam size and six
different reinforcing ratios. Sorour
7
tested 45 specimens with five different reinforcing ratios and same
specimen size under displacement controlled testing. Sumarac et al
8
investigated the fracture of
reinforced concrete beams subjected to three point bending analytically (using fracture mechanics),
numerically (using finite elements), and experimentally (using load controlled testing).
The main objective of this work is to experimentally investigate the fracture behavior of reinforced
concrete pre-notched beams strengthened in flexure with unidirectional fiber fabrics. The strengthening
is introduced while the beam is loaded so as let the mid span notch propagate from a 0.3 to 0.5 the
depth. All test measurements are monitored through a data acquisition system. This study is the
experimental part of a research program aimed at using fracture mechanics approach to design repair
works of concrete beams, hence shall be complemented with an analytical part.
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
To investigate the use of fracture mechanics approach in designing the repair works of reinforced
concrete beams in flexure, single notch reinforced concrete beams are tested. Since beams similar to
those presented here were tested earlier
6
, it has been decided to use such information as reference to
assess the proposed strengthening works.
567
Specimens and Material
All concrete specimens are single notched at mid span with notch/depth ratio (a/t)=0.3 and have a
clear span/depth ratio (l/t)=4.0. While the 150mm width is kept constant, the depth of beams varies to
be: 150 mm for beam B1, 300 mm for beam B2, and 600 mm for beam B3. Three different reinforcing
steel ratios are used as shown in Table 1. Each group of constant steel ratio consists of one beam of each
of beam sizes; B1, B2, and B3, resulting in a total of nine beams tested in this course of research. All
specimens have a compression steel (As/As0.30).
Table 1. Data of the test specimens.
Tension Reinforcement
Group
Beam
(b x t x l) mm A
s
Steel Ratio % Avr. Steel Ratio %
B1 : 150X150X600 3 6 0.446
B2 : 150X300X1200 2 8 + 1 10 0.434
G1
B3 : 150X600X2400 3 12 +1 8 0.453
0.444
B1 : 150X150X600 6 6 0.913
B2 : 150X300X1200 3 10 + 2 8 + 1 6 0.896
G2
B3 : 150X600X2400 6 12 + 3 6 0.897
0.902
B1 : 150X150X600 3 10 + 2 6 + 1 8 1.975
B2 : 150X300X1200 6 12 + 2 6 1.834
G3
B3 : 150X600X2400 6 18 1.808
1.872
Ready mixed concrete was used to assure uniformity and homogeneity of the concrete used in all
specimens. To eliminate the effect of concrete quality in studying the size effect, the three sizes of
specimens with the same tension steel ratio were cast at the same time from the same batch delivered by
trans-mixer from the batch plant to the lab. The average cube strength of concrete at the time of testing
was 58 N/mm
2
. Shear reinforcement was designed in the shear zone using the ACI provisions which call
for horizontal and vertical stirrups. In addition, shear reinforcement was designed for a load of 150 % of
the calculated ultimate flexural load
9
.
Strengthening of Beams in Flexure
For strengthening in flexure, Glass and Carbon fiber fabrics were used along with the epoxy resin
provided by the same manufacturer. The mechanical properties of both types of fibers are shown in
Table 2. Strengthening the notched beams in flexure was achieved by calculating the laminate thickness
and width necessary to produce the required F
repair
depending on the fiber fabric type and strength as
reported by the manufacturer. The criterion was to approximately increase the tension steel by 25% the
difference between the maximum and the provided tension steel ratios. The maximum steel ratio was
taken according to the Egyptian code
10
; i.e. 2.92%. This criterion can be expressed as:
F
repair
= o.25(
max
bd A
s
) f
*
y

Where: F
repair
= the tension force in the fiber laminate

max
= the maximum steel ratio recommended by the Egyptian Code
10

b,d = the width and the effective depth of the cross-section
A
s
= the area of the tension steel
f
*
y
= the effective yield strength of the tension steel = ( A
s
f
y
) / ( A
s
)
This criterion resulted in levels of repair force ranging between 15% to 150% of the original yield
force in the tension steel as shown in Table 2. From the experimental testing of sample laminate in
uniaxial tension, the effective stress of the laminate was determined and used in calculating the number
of plys and widths. The length of the laminate was constrained by the distance between supports and the
mid span. Therefore, the interfacial average shear (bond) stress between the laminate and concrete (or
steel plate) was calculated by dividing the force F
repair
by the area of the laminate bonded to concrete
568
and steel plate, Table 2. Moreover, to secure laminates against delamination from concrete or steel plate
jacket, cross wraps of fiber fabrics were used as shown in Figure 1. To introduce the repair while beam
is under loading, half the laminate length was bonded to concrete and steel plate at one side of the notch
before loading, while the other half was bonded to concrete on the other side of the notch while the
beam was loaded and the notch has propagated from 0.3 to 0.5 the beam depth. This process necessitates
about 24-48 hours between the two stages of loading in order to assure proper hardening of the bonding
epoxy resin.
1.25mm Thick
Seel plate jacket
l / 3
Stage 1
= 0.4 l
As
l / 3
Steel angle
strain guage
Strain
gauge
Bolts
l / 3
As' Asv
t

=

l

/

4
a
l
Ash
I-Beam
l / 3
Stage 5
l / 3
Load cell
Hydraulic jack
P
l / 3
plate jacket befor test starts
Stage 4
Bonded to concrete and steel
Stage 2
Fiber cross sheets
Bonded to concrete and steel plate
Stage 3

Figure 1, Test setup and steps of applying repair to the beam.
Strengthening of beams in shear
Since the beams were originally designed in shear to assure shear capacity only 50% more than the
flexural capacity, beams were found necessary to be strengthened in shear as well in order to safely
accommodate the increased flexural load capacity due to the use of fiber laminates. Strengthening shear
zones was achieved by using a 1.25mm thick steel plate jacket. The steel plate was wrapped around the
beam section, both ends welded together, and sides bolted against each other with 8mm steel rod with
washers and nuts to prevent lateral buckling of the steel plate. The steel plate jacket extended between
the point of load to the point of support on the same side of the notch. In addition to the steel plate jacket
and to assure that no shear failure will occur before flexural failure, steel angles were provided
diagonally along the line adjoining the point of load and the point of support in order to strengthen this
compression strut. While the steel plate jacket was constant in thickness for all beams, the number of
bolts and steel angles varied from a beam to another depending on the expected increase in load carrying
capacity of the beam, Figure 1.
569
Table 2, Physical and mechanical properties of reinforcing steel and strengthening fiber laminates.

4 6 8 10 12 16 18 58
320.6 304.3 365.3 370.1 324.7 316.6 377 360
0.0435 0.0414
0.0292 0.0310
SB1G1 84.82 304.3 25.811 119.995 36.51447 2.41 867 0.149 42.1159 282.66 150 1.884 0.2808 132.66 o.k.(1+1) 500 0.14 250 0.97
SB1G2 169.64 304.3 51.621 95.02042 28.91471 1.56 867 0.149 33.3503 223.83 150 1.492 0.2223 73.83 o.k.(1+1) 500 0.11 250 0.77
SB1G3 342.4 358.53 122.76 49.85147 17.87325 1.15 1900 0.13 9.40697 72.361 77 0.940 0.1222 72.36 o.k.(1) 500 0.04 250 0.93
SB2G1 179.07 367.41 65.792 261.0034 95.89527 2.46 867 0.149 110.606 742.32 150 4.949 0.7374 142.32 o.k.(4+1) 1000 0.74 500 1.28
SB2G2 364.42 363.67 132.53 209.2786 76.10835 1.57 867 0.149 87.7836 589.15 150 3.928 0.5852 139.15 o.k.(4) 800 0.47 400 1.27
SB2G3 735.13 365.04 268.35 110.2869 40.25914 1.15 1900 0.13 21.189 162.99 150 1.087 0.1413 12.99 o.k.(1+1) 800 0.13 400 0.67
SB3G1 389.3 330 128.47 540.2671 178.2881 2.39 867 0.149 205.638 1380.1 150 9.201 1.3709 30.12 o.k.(8+1) 1800 2.48 900 1.32
SB3G2 762.9 322.4 245.96 437.7506 141.1308 1.57 867 0.149 162.781 1092.5 150 7.283 1.0852 42.49 o.k. (6+1) 1600 1.75 800 1.18
SB3G3 1526.8 377 575.6 237.3804 89.49241 1.16 1900 0.13 47.1013 362.32 150 2.415 0.3140 62.32 o.k.(2+1) 1600 0.58 800 0.75
Steel bar diameter, mm
Yield stress, N/mm
2
E
fib
N/mm
2
width=
A/t mm
A
fib, mm
2
Ply
thickness,
mm
Fiber
Glass
Carbon
f
u fib
N/mm
2
& ACI-
b
=
& ACI-
max
=
ave shear
stress @
interface,
Mpa
thickness t, mm
0.149
0.13
total area
of laminate
,m2
F
repair

(KN)
1700
3500
half the
length of
the ply,
mm
Fy
(KN)
fy, N/mm
2
length of
ply, mm
# of plys
(typ+untyp)
width of
last ply,
mm
tot thick
of plys
mm
width of
typical ply,
mm
As
mm
2
S
p
e
c
e
m
i
n
Level of
repair
f
cu
(Mpa)=
Nominal f
y
(Mpa)=
EC-
b
=
EC-
max
=
f
fe

N/mm
2
70000
230000
# of
typical ply
L. of R.=
0.25(Asmax-
Asprov)

Table 3, Test results of strengthened and un-strengthened beams.
SB1G1 99.01 B1G1 54.64 1.81 2.41 0.75
SB2G1 222.09 B2G1 107.3 2.07 2.46 0.84
SB3G1 449.12 B3G1 178.79 2.51 2.39 1.05
SB1G2 133.47 B1G2 106.59 1.25 1.56 0.80
SB2G2 304.68 B2G2 211.18 1.44 1.57 0.92
SB3G2 563.87 B3G2 414.69 1.36 1.57 0.86
SB1G3 187.27 B1G3 179.21 1.04 1.15 0.91
SB2G3 428.15 B2G3 384 1.11 1.15 0.97
SB3G3 N.A. B3G3 905.26 N.A. 1.16 N.A.
crack, peal of at sheet ends, tear of cross ties, peal of concrete cover
crack, crack at steel plate jacket, peal of fiber sheet from steel plate jacket
crack, crack at steel plate jacket, peal of concrete cover, peal of fiber sheet from steel plate jacket
crack, peal of at sheet ends, tear of fiber at notch.
crack, side cracks at steel plate jacket, peal of at sheet ends.
crack, side cracks at steel plate jacket, peal of from concrete and steel plate, peal of at sheet ends.
crack, tear of fiber at notch.
crack, tear of fiber at notch , compression crushing in concrete at mid span
single crack up to 900Kn (hydraulic jack capacity), followed by slip of specimen from testing frame
Beam
Max. Ld.
KN
Beam
Max. Ld.
KN
Experimental results
Strengthened Unstrengthened Level of strengthening
Glass
Fiber
Carbon
Fiber
Mode of failure exper. assumed effeciency

570

Fig. 2, Strengthening of beams in shear with steel plate jacket and steel angles.
Testing Environment
Constant moment-zero shear in the notch zone had been assured through the use of four point bend
specimens. To allow for flexural repair while the beam is loaded as explained above, it was found that
testing beams up-side-down was inevitable, Fig. 1. This was simply to provide reasonable ease in
applying the matrix resin to the fiber fabric sheets and to concrete and steel plate in order to assure
adequate bond between fiber fabric layers and between laminate and concrete and steel as well. The load
was monitored by a single load cell and was applied from the bottom using a hydraulic jack, with
suitable capacity, to a steel girder which transmits it reactions to the third points of the beam span.
Strains in concrete compression surface (bottom side of the beam) and in tension steel were monitored
using electric strain gauges. Strains in the fiber laminate were monitored by electric strain gauges during
the second stage of loading, i.e. after introducing the fiber laminate as flexure strengthening material.
All measured values of LVDTs, strain gauges, and load cells are continuously monitored by the data-
acquisition system. All test records were saved on an Excel-file format for later editing and plotting
purposes.

TEST RESULT
As mentioned earlier, two stages of loading were recorded; before strengthening and after
strengthening. The first stage extends from the time the loading started, till the crack propagates to 0.5
the beam depth. At this point, the load reached kept acting on the beam while the strengthening fiber
laminate get completely bonded to the concrete and steel plate jacket on both sides of the notch. This
stage lasted between 24-48 hours. The second stage started by attaching the electric strain gauge to the
fiber laminate, and the testing resumed by increasing the load applied until maximum load was reached
Test measurements were continuously recorded over the two stages. Figures 3 to 10 show sample test
results for all strengthened beams as well as those un-strengthened beams of Ref. 6. Table 3 summarizes
test results in terms of maximum load and failure modes.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Mid span deflection, mm
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
.
SB1G1
SB2G1
SB3G1
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 5 10 15
Mid span deflection, mm
L
o
a
d
,

K
N
B2G1
B3G1
B1G1

Figure 3.1, Loaddeflection curves of the
strengthened G1 beams.
Figure 3.2, Loaddeflection curves of the
un-strengthened G1 beams
6
.

a) Beam SB3G1

b) Beam SB2G1
571
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 10 20 30 40
Starin in tension steel, millistrain.
l
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB1G2
SB2G2
SB3G2
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0 10 20 30
Strain in tension steel, millistrain
L
o
a
d
,

K
N
B1G2
B2G2
B3G2

Figure 4.1, Loadstrain in tension steel of
the strengthened G2 beams.
Figure 4.2, Loadstrain in tension steel of the
6
.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
-1.4 -1.2 -1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0
Compression strain in concrete, millistrain.
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB1G3
SB2G3
SB3G3
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
-3.5 -3 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0
Compressionstrain in concrete, millistrain
L
o
a
d
,

K
N
B1G3
B2G3
B3G3

Figure 5.1, Loadstrain in concrete of the
strengthened G3 beams.
Figure 5.2, Loadstrain in concrete of the
6
.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 1 2 3 4
Strain in outer f iber sheet, millistrain.
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
.
SB1G1
SB2G1
SB3G1
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 2 4 6 8 10
Starin in outer fiber sheet, millistrain.
l
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB2G2
SB3G2

Figure 6, Loadstrain in the outer fiber of
the G1 strengthened beams.
Figure 7, Loadstrain in the outer fiber of
the G2 strengthened beams.

Figure 8, crack propagation of
SB1G1
SB2G3
SB3G1.
572
Crack Extension at Mid Span Notch
1. The extension of the mid span crack was recorded at all stages of loading and plotted against the
total applied load as shown in Figures 11 to 16. Although some beams show a little jump in load
between the end of the first loading stage and the second one, all beams exhibited almost the same
trend. The beams get stiffer in crack propagations as crack depth increases until the maximum load is
almost reached.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
Crack extension, a/h.
l
o
a
d
,

k
N
.
SB1G1exper
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
l
o
a
d
,

k
N
.
SB1G3exper

Figure 11, Mid span crack extension of
beam SB1G1
beam SB1G3
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Crack extension, a/h
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB2G2exper

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Crack extension, a/h
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB2G3 expr

beam SB2G2
beam SB2G3
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Crack extension,a/h
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB3G1 exper

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
L
o
a
d
,

k
N
SB3G2 exper

beam SB3G1
beam SB3G2
The following observations on testing are note worthy:
1. The test of beam SB3g3 had been terminated early as the capacity of the hydraulic jack was reached.
573
2. Upon unwrapping the steel jacket after finishing the tests, no crack, whatsoever, had been found in
the shear span of all beams.
3. In B2 and B3 sizes beam with the lower reinforcement ratio G1, i.e. the higher strengthening
laminates, two vertical cracks developed in concrete adjacent to the steel jacket; Figure 10, while
after the second stage of loading started and the central crack propagated for sum distance beyond
0.5 beam depth. As these cracks participated in dissipating the fracture energy, the central crack
slowed down in propagation, sometimes halted while load continued to increase up to the maximum
value. This explains the difference in maximum load shown on mid span deflection curves from
those of the crack extension curves.
Conclusions
From the test results reported, the following points can be concluded:
1- Although the mid span section seems to control the fracture behavior; being the smaller in concrete
dimensions, other vertical cracks develop and participate in the fracture behavior of medium to large
size beams.
2- For all beams sizes, the beams get stiffer in crack extension as the crack length to beam depth ratio
increases. This stiffening increases as beam depth/reinforcing ratio increases.
3- Manual application of fiber fabrics with epoxy resin adhesive to strengthen the beams resulted in an
efficiency range between 75% to 100% of the assumed strengthening level.
4- Peal off fiber laminates was the major mode of failure in beams strengthened with Glass fiber
fabrics. On the contrary, tear off laminate was the dominant mode of failure in beams strengthened
with Carbon fiber fabrics.
REFERENCES
1. Yannopoulos, P. J., Variation of concrete crack widths through the concrete cover to
reinforcement, Magazine of Concrete Research, 147, 1989, pp. 63-68.
2. Azad, A. K., Mirza, M. S., and Chan, P., Fracture energy of weakly reinforced concrete beams,
Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 12(11), 1989, pp. 9-18.
3. Azad, A. K. and Baluch, M. H., Fracture characterization of reinforced concrete, Final Report,
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, 1990.
4. Ashmawi, W. M., Baluch, M. H., Azad, A. K. Crack control design of reinforced concrete beams
in flexure, ed. W. Grestle and Z. P. Bazant, ACI, SP-134, 1991, pp.133-145.
5. Baluch, M. H., Azad, A. K., and Ashmawi, W. Fracture mechanics application to reinforced
concrete beams, in Application of Fracture Mechanics to Reinforced Concrete , ed. Carpinteri, A.,
Elsevier Applied Science, London, 1992, pp. 413-436.
6. Yehia, N. A.B., Size effect on fracture of reinforced concrete beams; experimental investigation,
The Ninth Arab Structural Engineering Conference (9ASEC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,
November 29 - December 1, 2003.
7. Sorour, M. M. Fracture behavior of reinforced concrete beams under four point bending in
displacement controlled environment, M. Sc. thesis, Structural Engineering Department, Cairo
University, Cairo, Egypt, 2004.
8. Sumarac, D., Sekulovic, M., and Krajcinovic, D. Fracture of reinforced concrete beams subjected
to three point bending, Int. J. Damage Mechanics, Vol. 12, Jan. 2003, pp. 31-44.
9. ACI Committee 318, Guide for the design and construction of externally bonded FRP systems for
strengthening concrete structures, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, July 2000.
10. ACI Committee 318, Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete and Commentary
(ACI 318-95), American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1995.
11. Egyptian Code for Design and Construction of Reinforced Concrete Structures; EC-2001, Cairo.
574

BEHAVIOR OF CONCRETE BEAMS REPAIRED WITH
LIGHTWEIGHT EPOXY MORTAR

H. I. ABDEL-FATTAH

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sharjah
P. O. Box 27272 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT: The behavior of Epoxy Repaired Concrete beams is investigated. Experiments are
conducted on standard size concrete beams tested under three-point bending. The beams are
repaired with a lightweight epoxy mortar that is widely used as a repair material in the Gulf region.
All beams tested are made of concrete with an average compressive strength of 40 MPa which is
similar to the compressive strength of the epoxy mortar. Both the flexural and fracture behavior of
the repaired beams are being investigated. For the flexural tests, the beams are tested for different
thicknesses of the epoxy mortar. The mortar was placed either at the tension or the compression
face of the beam. For the fracture tests, the beams were pre-notched with an edge crack at mid-
span and an epoxy layer was added prior to testing. The Modulus of Rupture (MOR) is evaluated
for the repaired beams under flexure together with the Fracture Toughness (K
IC
) for the fracture
tests. The results in general show an increase in both the flexural strength and the fracture
toughness for the repaired beams. More important, a significant increase in the ductility of the
beams is being observed. The beams did not exhibit the usual sudden brittle failure seen in
unreinforced concrete tested in the lab. This improved ductility behavior may save many lives in
case of a structural hazard specially that the debonding of the epoxy layer was not observed in
most of the tested beams.

INTRODUCTION

Polymer concrete (PC) is a composite material in which polymeric materials (resins) are used to
bond the aggregates in a fashion similar to that of portland cement used in the preparation of
portland cement concrete. It was first developed in the 1950s and then became widely known in
the 1970s
1
. Today, PC is used very efficiently in precast components for buildings, bridge
panels, hazardous waste containers, machine bases, and in various utility and transportation
components. Due to its outstanding moisture and corrosion resistance, it is also used as a repair
material for pavements, buildings, bridges, floors and dams
2,3,4,5,6
. Research on Polymer
Concrete
7
has shown that the modulus of rupture fr for polymer concrete can be 3 times higher
than that of ordinary portland cement concrete (OPCC) of the same ultimate compressive
strength. The following equation was recommended for the computation of fr for PC:

'
65 . 1
c r
f f = (1)

The fracture behavior of concrete plays an important role in the overall assessment of the
concrete performance in structures. One important fracture parameter is the fracture toughness K
IC

575

which is defined as the ability of the material to absorb energy in the presence of cracks. Research
on Polymer Portland Cement Concrete (PPCC) has shown that the addition of epoxy to a concrete
mix as a partial replacement to the cement increases, in general, the compressive strength of the
concrete
8
. The same research also showed that fracture toughness of PPCC increases with the
increase of polymer content and decreases with the increase in temperature but at a lower rate than
that of the compressive strength.
John and Shah
9
proposed the following equation (in SI units) for the fracture toughness which
can be used for concrete with a compressive strength up to 110 MPa
10
:

( )
75 . 0
'
90 . 1
c IC
f K = (2)

In Equation (2), f
c
'
is in MPa and K
IC
in N/mm
(3/2)
. Numerical models
11,12
were developed to
determine the fracture toughness due to the presence of cracks in a homogeneous or composite
medium.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the improvements that may occur to the behavior of
Ordinary Portland Cement Concrete (OPCC) beams if part of the damaged concrete is replaced by
a thin layer of epoxy. The epoxy layer is added to either the top or lower surface of the beam. The
main parameters studied are the Modulus of Rupture f
r
and the Fracture Toughness K
IC
of the
beams. The type of epoxy used was a solvent-free epoxy resin system with the following
properties: compressive strength 40 MPa, tensile strength 7 MPa and fresh wet density 1160
kg/m
3
. The beams were tested under three point bending with a clear span of 650 mm. Fracture
tests were also carried out in three point bending on OPCC beams with an epoxy topping of 5 mm
and 20 mm located at the opposite side of the notch.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK

A total of 24 beams of size 150 x 150 x 750 mm were tested in this study. The study included eight
groups of beams, each group made up of three beams. For each beam, two control cubes of length
100 mm were also cast to determine the characteristic compressive strength of the concrete. The
clear span for the beams was 650 mm which gave a span-to-depth ratio of about 4.3 and all the
beams were tested under three-point bending. Beams for fracture tests were pre-notched with a 25
mm edge crack located at midspan. The ratio of crack length a to beam total depth d was taken to
be
12
a/d=1/6. The notch thickness was 2 mm and was made by placing a piece of plexiglass with
the desired crack dimensions into the mold prior to casting. After hardening of concrete and
removal of the mold, the plexiglass piece was removed, thus leaving the desired notch. The beams
were tested up to failure using a portal frame with a vertical actuator of 100 kN capacity. Loading
was applied at a stroke rate of 0.01 mm/sec. The test set-up is shown in Fig. (1).

The modulus of rupture was computed using the flexural formula:

I
y M
= (3)

where I is the moment of inerta of the composite section, y is the distance between the neutral axis
and maximum tension fiber, M is the maximum bending moment at failure and computed from:

576

4
S P
M = (4)

In Equation (4), P is the machine load at failure, S is the beam span = 650 mm. The Mode I
fracture toughness (K
I
) is computed as follows
13
:

=
d
a
F a K
I
(5)

The stress is computed by Equation (1), a is the crack length = 25 mm and d is the total depth
of the beam cross section = 150 mm.

The function F (a/d) is evaluated as follows:

4 3 2
56 . 14 18 . 14 2 . 8 735 . 1 09 . 1
d
a
d
a
d
a
d
a
d
a
F (6)


The summary of the testing program and the results are shown in Tables (1) and (2). Table (1)
shows that adding the epoxy layer in general enhances both the Modulus of Rupture and the
Fracture Toughness of the concrete beams. Results show that adding 5 mm and 20 mm layers of
epoxy at the compression side of the beam increased the Modulus of Rupture by 11% and 55%,
150
325 mm 325 mm
25 mm
Epoxy Layer
Initial Notch
P
Fig. 1 Test set up for the experimental program
150
577

respectively. Adding 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm layers to the tension side of the beam increased the
MoR by 50%, 93% and 152%, respectively. As expected, the epoxy layer was more effective on
the tension side of the beam since it enhances the tensile strength of concrete which is normally
known to be week in tension. It was also noticed that debonding of the epoxy layer occurred in
very few specimens and only to those with 5 mm layers. Most of the other beams remained intact
even after failure occurred. Also, the peak strains at failure increased by almost 28% and 31%
when 10 mm and 20 mm epoxy layers were added to the tension side of the beam.

Table 1. Experimental results for repaired beams

Beam Description
f
c

(MPa)
Failure
Load
(KN)
Max
Deflection
(mm)
Modulus of
Rupture (f
r
)
(MPa)
f
r
/(f
c
)
0.5
20 mm epoxy at top 38.06 14.42 4.15 5.22 0.84
5 mm epoxy at top 43.93 13.02 4.80 3.98 0.60
No epoxy 42.03 12.01 3.93 3.47 0.54
5 mm epoxy at bottom 44.13 16.67 5.34 5.39 0.81

Table (2) shows that adding 5 mm and 20 mm layers of epoxy to the compression side increased
the fracture toughness of the concrete by 13% and 47%, respectively. The case of pre-notched
beams with epoxy placed at the tension side will be later studied and in this case the analysis will
be carried out for a crack perpendicular to the interface rather than a crack in a homogenius media
outlined by equation (5). The dead weight of the beams are shown in Table (3). The table shows
that there is up to a 6% reduction in the beam weight due to using the lightweight epoxy in the
repairs.

Table 2. Experimental results for repaired beams with a 25 mm initial notch at mid span.

Beam Description
f
c

(MPa)
Failure Load
(KN)
Fracture
Toughness K
IC

(MPa)
K
IC
/(f
c
)
0.75
5 mm epoxy at top 40.38 8.14 34.4 2.15
20 mm epoxy at top 40.68 8.71 45.07 2.80

578

Table 3. Dead weight of repaired beams

Beam Description
Dead Weight
(N/m)
Percent
Reduction
No epoxy 484 0
5 mm epoxy 477 1.5 %
10 mm epoxy 470 3 %
20 mm epoxy 454 6 %

CONCLUSIONS

(1) Replacing the defective concrete with lightweight epoxy mortar improves the overall behavior
and reduces the dead weight of the repaired beams.
(2) The Modulus of Rupture (MoR) of the beams increased by 50%, 93% and 152% when
replacing 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm, respectively, of concrete at the tension side with the
leightweight epoxy mortar. The MoR was also increased by 11% and 55% when 5 mm and 20
mm, respectively, at the compression side were replaced with the epoxy mortar.
(3) Fracture Toughness of the beams increased by 13% and 47% when a 5 mm and a 20 mm
epoxy layer were added to the compression side of the beams.
(4) All beams showed a substantial increase in the ductility, and for beams with epoxy layers
greater than 5 mm, the beams did not fully collapse at failure.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research has been supported by University of Sharjah grant 040104. The support by
University of Sharjah is greatly acknowledged.

REFERENCES

1. Polymer Concrete Structural Applications, State-of-the-Art Report, ACI manual of Concrete
Practice, Part 5, 1997.
2. Fontana, J.J.and Bartholomew, J., Use of Concrete Polymer Materials in Transportation
Industry, ST-69-2, Applications of Polymer Concrete, ACI, Detroit, Michigan, 1981, pp. 21-
43.
3. Fowler, D.W., Future Trends in Polymer Concrete, Special Publication 116-118, ACI,
Detroit, Michigan, 1989, pp. 129-143.
4. Fowler, D.W., Current Status of Polymers in Concrete, Proceedings of the 5
th
International
Congress on Polymers in Concrete, 1987, pp. 3-8.
5. Fowler, D.W., Status of Polymers in Concrete, Proceedings of the 43
rd
Annual Conference,
Composites Institute, Ohio, USA, 1988.
6. Guide to the Use of Polymers in Concrete, ACI Journal, 83(5), 1986, pp. 792-829.
579

7. Abdel-Fattah, H. and El Hawary, M., "Flexural Behavior of Polymer Concrete," Journal of
Construction and Building Materials, Volume 13, No. 5, pp. 253-262, 1999.
8. Abdel-Fattah, H., El Hawary, M. and Falah, A., "Effect of Elevated Temperatures on the
Residual Fracture Toughness of Epoxy Modified Concrete," Kuwait Journal of Science &
Engineering, Volume 27, No. 1, 2000.
9. John, P. and Shah, S. P., "Fracture Mechanics Analysis of High Strength Concrete,"
International Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Volume 1, No. 4, pp. 185-189, 1989.
10. Hamoush, S. and Abdel-Fattah, H., Computation of Stress Intensity Factors by the
Compliance Approach," Journal of Computer Assisted Mechanics and Engineering Sciences
(CAMES), Volume 7, No. 1, pp. 81-90, 2000.
11. Abdel-Fattah, H. and Hamoush, S., The Compliance Approach for Analyzing Bi-Material
Interface Cracks," Journal of Computer Assisted Mechanics and Engineering Science
(CAMES), Volume 11, No. 4, 2004.
12. Abdel-Fattah, H., and Hamoush, S., Variation of the Fracture Toughness of Concrete with
Temperature," Journal of Construction and Building Materials, Volume 11, No. 2, pp. 105-
108, 1997.
13. Tada, H., Paris, P. and Irwin, G., The Stress Analysis of Cracks Handbook, Second Ed. Paris
Productions, St. Louis, 1985.

580

STRENGTHENING OF HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE COLUMNS
WITH EXTERNAL GLASS FIBER COMPOSITE
N. CHIKH
1
AND R. BENZAID
2

1
Department of Civil Engineering, Constantine University
Route Ain El-Bey, Constantine 25000, Algeria
B. BOUSALEM
1
AND N. DJEBBAR
1

2
Department of Geology Engineering, Jijel University
Jijel, 18000, Algeria

ABSTRACT: The present paper deals with the analysis of experimental results, in terms of load
carrying capacity and strains, obtained from tests on circular and square high strength concrete
column, strengthened with external E-glass fiber composite (GFC). The parameters considered are
the number of composite layers, the corner radius for square shape, and the relation of GFC
confinement with steel reinforcement. The experimental results clearly demonstrate that composite
wrapping can enhance the structural performance of concrete columns under axial loading, in
terms of both maximum strength and strain.
INTRODUCTION
With the development of technology, the use of high-strength concrete members has proved most
popular in terms of economy, superior strength, stiffness and durability. With the increase of
concrete strength, the ultimate strength of the columns increases, but a relatively more brittle
failure occurs. The lack of ductility of high-strength concrete results in sudden failure without
warning, which is a serious drawback. Previous studies have shown that addition of compressive
reinforcement and confinement will increase the ductility as well as the strength of materials
effectively. Concrete, confined by transverse ties, develops higher strength and to a lesser degree
ductility
1
.
In recent years, the composite materials, by their non-corrodibility, high stiffness and
strength-to-weight ratios, quickly appeared as innovative solutions adapted to the strengthening
and the repair of the civil engineering structures. The composite materials usually used are mainly
unidirectional carbon or glass fiber externally retrofitting concrete by bonding. The resins used are
epoxy. The confinement of concrete columns is thus an application where the external wrapping
by glass or carbon fiber reinforced polymers is particularly effective
2,3
. This innovative technique
is already used for reinforcing old structure in the civil engineering field. Another attractive
advantage of FRP over steel straps as external reinforcement is its easy handling, thus minimal
time and labour are required to implement them
2
. The application of FRP in the construction
industry can eliminate some unwanted properties of high-strength concrete, such as the brittle
behaviour of high-strength concrete. FRP is particularly useful for strengthening columns and
other structural elements of various shapes
4
.
Focusing the attention on the behaviour of compression members, the main parameters
investigated in literature
5,6,7
are the type of FRP material (carbon, aramid, glass, etc.) and its
manufacture (unidirectional or bi-directional wraps), the shape of the transverse cross-section of
581

the members, the dimensions and the shape of specimens, the strength of concrete, the types and
percentages of steel reinforcements.
As already mentioned, the use of FRP materials in ordinary concrete compression members
produces an increase in strength depending on the FRP properties (material type, strength,
thickness, etc.), on the concrete properties, and prevalently on the shape of the transverse cross-
section
8
. The experimental program conducted by Toutanji and Balaguru
9
showed that the
compressive strength improved by approximately 200% due to confinement with carbon fibre and
by approximately 100% due to glass fibre. Also, the shape of cross-section and the spacing of FRP
straps can directly impact the confinement effectiveness of FRP wrapping in the confinement.
The present paper deals with the analysis of experimental results, in terms of load carrying
capacity and strains, obtained from tests on circular and square high strength concrete columns,
reinforced with external E-glass fiber composite (GFC). The parameters considered are the
number of composite layers, the corner radius for square shape and the relation of GFC
confinement with steel reinforcement. A limited comparison is made with results from
experimental tests on confined ordinary concrete columns.
Specimen Preparation
The experimental program was conducted in the laboratory of the Civil Engineering Department at
the University of Constantine. Nine series of experiments were performed to investigate the
behaviour of concrete and reinforced concrete cylinders and square prisms confined by E-glass
fiber composite (GFC). The dimensions of the specimens were 16cmx32cm for cylindrical
columns and 10cmx10cmx30cm for square columns. These latter were divided into 3
representative groups: R1 sharp-edged square section, R2 square section with corner radius equal
to 8mm and R3 square section with corner radius equal to 16mm. The radii of the corners were
guaranteed by the formwork of the concrete. For all reinforced concrete specimens the diameter of
longitudinal and transverse reinforcing steel bars were respectively 6.0mm and 3.5mm. Series
definition and details is given in Table 1.
Table 1. Characteristics of specimens tested
Specimen C00 C02 C04 C10 C12 S0R1 S2R1 S2R2 S2R3
Section (cm) 16 16 16 16 16 10x10 10x10 10x10 10x10
Height (cm) 32 32 32 32 32 30 30 30 30
Corner radius (mm) - - - - - 0 0 8 16
Number of layers - 2 4 - 2 - 2 2 2
Shape

After 28 days of curing, the FRP jackets were applied to the specimens by hand lay-up of E-
glass fiber sheet with an epoxy resin used to impregnate both support and fiber. At the same time,
a special roller was used to remove the entrapped air bubbles and press the resin to penetrate into
the fabric. The roller was continuously used until the resin was reflected on the surface of the
fabric, an indication of fully wetting. A second coating of epoxy was applied to complete the
process of one GFC layer application. This system is a passive type in that tensile stress in the
FRP is gradually developed as the concrete dilates. This expansion is confined by the FRP jacket,
582

which is loaded in tension in the hoop direction. Each layer was wrapped around the column with
an overlap of of the perimeter to avoid sliding or debonding of fibres during tests.
The 28-day mean cylinder compressive strength
'
0 c
f was 56.70MPa. The yield strength of the
longitudinal and transversal reinforcement was 420MPa and 240MPa; respectively. The type of
FRP material used in this program is a plain weave E-glass manufactured with equal numbers of
taws of fibres in the warp and weft directions. Its properties are indicated in Table 2. The wrapped
column specimens were left at room temperature for more than 2 weeks for the epoxy to harden
adequately before testing.
Table 2. Fiber properties supplied by manufacturer
Sheet width
(mm)
Ply thickness
(mm)
Tensile strength
(MPa)
Elastic Modulus
(GPa)
Ultimate elongation
fu

(%)
600 0.44 383 23.8 2.12
Instrumentation and testing
Specimens were loaded under a monotonic uniaxial compression load up to failure. The load was
applied in a quasi-static displacement rate of 0.2mm/min using an electro-hydraulic universal
testing machine which has a vertical load capacity of 2000KN. For cylindrical specimens, axial
and radial strains were measured with an extensometer, whereas for square specimens only axial
strains were recorded as shown in Figure 1. For each series of specimens 3 samples were tested.

a)

b)
Figure 1. Testing set-up: (a) cylindrical specimen - (b) square prismatic specimen
OBSERVED BEHAVIOUR AND TEST RESULTS
The mechanical behaviour of the GFC wrapped specimens was very similar in each series in terms
of stress-strain curves and failure modes of the specimens. Failure of all confined columns was
marked by the rupture of E-glass fibres. It occurred in a sudden and explosive way and was only
preceded by some snapping sounds. In some cases it was also possible to observe the debonding
of small widths of the end zone of the overlapping fibers. For most specimens, Figure 2, the
externally wrapped E-glass was ruptured in the hoop direction mainly, whereas for others
specimens, the fibres were torn in multi-directions besides hoop direction. Approaching failure
load, the appearance of white patches can be found, which indicated the yielding of E-glass and
583

resin. For all square specimens, the rupture of fibres was located at corner sections as shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2. Illustration of specimens failure modes
Cylindrical specimens
The results (mean-values) gathered in Table 3 show that GFC confinement can significantly
enhance the ultimate strengths and strains of the circular columns.
Table 3. Experimental results for cylindrical specimens
Code
'
cc
f (MPa)
'
cc
f /
'
c
f
0

'
cc
(%)
'
cc
/
'
c0

ru
(%)
C00 56.70 1.00 0.24 1.00 -
C02 84.00 1.48 1.28 5.34 1.15
C04 95.50 1.68 1.88 7.86 1.26
C10 71.80 1.26 - - -
C12 97.60 1.72 - - -

The ultimate strengths and strains increase with the number of composite layers. The 2 layers
specimen exhibited over the reference specimen an increase of 48% and 434% in terms of
584

compressive strength and strain, respectively. The 4 layers specimen performed better as it
recorded an increase in strength and strain of 68% and 686%, respectively.
The stress-strain curves of GFC confined concrete were bi-linear with a transition zone, as
shown in Figure 3. Slopes of the first branch are similar for plain and confined concrete, governed
almost entirely by the concrete core properties. The transition zone occurs shortly after the peak
strength of the unconfined concrete (reference specimen) has been reached. The slope in the
plastic zone depends on the confinement level (number of layers).
Besides, cylinder failure occurs before the fibres reached their ultimate strain capacities. So
the failure occurs prematurely, for stress level appreciably lower than the ultimate strength of the
composite. Referring to Table 3, the rupture of specimen C02 corresponded to a maximum
composite extension
ru
of 1.15% which is lower than the composite tensile strain
fu
(2.12%) as
it represents about 54% of it. This reduction is mainly due to the curved shape of the composite
wrap as reported in related literature
10
.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
Axial Strain (%)
A
x
i
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
C00
C02
C04

Figure 3. Stress-strain curves of cylindrical specimens

Regarding the presence of steel bars in specimens, their effects on the wrapped column load
capacity seem to be linear with the advantage provided by composite. The mean strength of C00 is
about 57 MPa. Referring to Table 3, the advantage of reinforcement to C02 and C10 are about 27
MPa (84-57) and 15 MPa (72-57), respectively. Thus the strength of C12 equals the sum of
strengths from C00 and (C10-C00) and (C02-C00):
c
12
57 + 15 + 27 = 99 MPa.
Research studies have been carried out by Pessiki et al.
11
on ordinary concrete cylinders
wrapped with E-glass composite having similar composite properties with the one used in this
experimental work. The following results were obtained:
Table 4. Experimental results for ordinary concrete cylinders
11

Code
'
cc
f (MPa)
'
cc
f /
'
c
f
0

'
cc
(%)
'
cc
/
'
c0

585

Plain 26.20 1.00 0.22 1.00
C
2layers
38.40 1.47 1.30 5.91
C
4layers
52.50 2.01 1.82 8.27

On the light of the results indicated in Tables 3 and 4, it can be concluded that the GFC
confinement on ordinary concrete specimens produced higher results in terms of strength and
strains than for high strength concrete similar specimens.
Square prismatic specimens
Table 5 indicates the results in terms of increase of the ultimate axial compressive strength and
strain with respect to control square prismatic specimens.
Table 5. Experimental results for square prismatic specimens
Code
'
cc
f (MPa)
'
cc
f /
'
c
f
0

'
cc
(%)
'
cc
/
'
c0

S0R1 54.80 1.00 0.25 1.00
S2R1 58.20 1.06 1.58 6.34
S2R2 65.70 1.20 1.46 5.86
S2R3 74.50 1.36 1.53 6.11

The bi-linear stress-strain response of GFC confined concrete prisms is illustrated in Figure 4.
Similar to concrete cylinders, the response in the first region was similar to that of unconfined
concrete with high peak stress
'
0 c
f and strain
'
0 c
. The slope in the plastic region was function of
the geometry of the cross sections (effect of corner radius). Thus the efficiency of the FRP jacket
confinement on square columns increases with decreasing corner sharpness.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Axial Strain (%)
A
x
i
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
S0R1
S2R1
S2R2
S2R3

Figure 4. Stress-strain curves of square prismatic specimens

As expected, the strength of confined columns is higher for circular section than for square
ones (having similar number of layers). This is due to the concentration of stresses at the corner of
586

the square section and consequently to the lower confining pressure and smaller effective concrete
core area. These aspects were already confirmed by others research studies
8
.
CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the experimental work involved in this study was mainly to evaluate the
effectiveness of strengthening circular and square high strength concrete columns with E-glass
fiber composite. Based on the analysis of experimental results, the following conclusions are
made:

(1) The experimental results clearly demonstrate that composite wrapping can enhance the
structural performance of concrete columns under axial loading, in terms of both maximum
strength and strain.
(2) Failure of all confined columns is marked by the rupture of E-glass fibres. It occurs
prematurely, for stress level appreciably lower than the ultimate strength of the composite.
(3) The curves of all composite confined concrete specimens are bi-linear with a transition zone.
The elastic slope is not substantially altered with confinement whereas the plastic rigidity is
function of the cross section geometry and the confinement level.
(4) The ultimate strengths and strains increase significantly with the number of composites
layers.
(5) The corner radius of square sections is of great importance in relation to the level of
confinement.
(6) The effectiveness of FRP reinforcement less in the case of a square section compared to a
circular cross section. This is due to the intensification of stresses at the corners and
consequently to the lower confining pressure and smaller effective concrete core area.
(7) The mechanical efficiency of the confinement decreases with the concrete core strength.

(8) The benefits of reinforcing concrete columns with steel bars and composites sheets seem to
be linear.
(9) In all tests, the ultimate strains of the confined concrete increase, resulting in the increment
of the ductility of high strength concrete elements.
REFERENCES
1. Razvi, S.R. and Saatcioglu, M., Strength and Deformability of Confined High-Strength
Concrete Columns. ACI Structural Journal, 91, 1994, pp. 678-687.
2. Demer, M. and Neale, K.W., Confinement of Reinforced Concrete Columns with Fibre-
Reinforced Composite Sheets - An Experimental Study. Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering, 26, 1999, pp. 226 241.
3. Rochette, P. and Labossire, P., Axial Testing of Rectangular Column Models Confined
with Composites. ASCE Journal of Composites Constructions, 04, 2000, pp. 129-136.
4. Li, JH. and Hadi, M.N.S., Behaviour of Externally Confined High-Strength Concrete
Columns under Eccentric Loading. Composites Structures, 62, 2003, pp. 145-153.
5. Saadatmanesh, H., Ehsani, M.R. and Li, M.W., Strength and Ductility of Concrete
Columns Externally Reinforced with Composites. ACI Structural Journal, 91, 1994, pp.
434-447.
6. Mirmiran, A. and Shahawy, M., Behavior of Concrete Columns Confined by Fiber
Composites. ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, 123, 1997, pp. 583-590.
7. Saafi, M., Toutanji, H.A. and Li, Z., Behavior of Concrete Columns Confined with Fiber
587

Composites Polymer Tubes. ACI Material Journal, 96, 1999, pp. 500-509.
8. Campione, G. and Miraglia, N., Strength and Strain capacities of Concrete Compression
Members Reinforced with FRP. Cement & Concrete Composites, 25, 2003, pp. 31-41.

9. Toutanji, H.A. and Balaguru, P., Effects of Freeze-Thaw Exposure on Performance of
Concrete Columns Strengthened with Advanced Composites. ACI Material Journal, 96,
1999, pp. 605-610.
10. Yang, X., Nanni, A. and Chen, G., Effect of Corner Radius on the Performance of
Externally Bonded Reinforcement. In: Burgoyne, C.J., editor. FibreReinforced Concrete
Structures, London, 2001, pp. 197-204.
11. Pessiki, S., Harries, K.A., Kestner, J.T., Sause, R. and Ricles, J.M., Axial Behavior of
Reinforced Concrete Columns Confined with FRP Jackets. ASCE Journal of Composites
Constructions, 05, 2001, pp. 237-45.

588

RETROFITTING OF RC COLUMNS WITH ACCESSIBLE AND
INACCESSIBLE FACES USING THE MECHANICAL STRENGTHENING
TECHNIQUE
AL-TUHAMI ABUZEID AL-TUHAMI
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt

ABSTRACT: In this research, details and experimental study of a mechanical strengthening
technique for retrofitting of RC columns are presented. The method is based on applying external
active confining pressure along the column length through a set of elongated members and fixing
between them using number of strips. The method is patented in US under the number 6,718,723 and
in Egypt under the number 21647. A total of 6 columns with rectangular cross-section specimens are
tested. These column specimens are; two un-strengthened (reference) columns, two partially accessible
and two fully accessible columns, of normal and low concrete grades, are strengthened and tested. To
simulate the actual loading condition, one fully accessible column is loaded with the working load,
strengthened, and then loaded until failure. Results confirmed the reliability and efficiency of the
suggested column strengthening technique. In addition, the proposed technique overcomes the
difficulties that may arise when retrofitting RC columns with inaccessible faces and columns with
large length to width aspect ratios.
INTRODUCTION
Many techniques have been developed for retrofitting of RC columns. Among the most widely
used techniques is column jacketing, either by reinforced concrete or steel jackets
1-4
. Although these
methods are widely used, they are not preferred due to; the long construction time, the disturbance it
causes in the function of the building during retrofitting, the extra weight added to the retrofitted
elements, and the long setting time for the concrete jacket to harden. Moreover, retrofitting with
jackets also affects column shapes and their surrounding area. Adding steel sections around existing
weak columns is another technique that requires very careful procedure to guarantee the adherence of
the steel sections with the existing concrete columns, in addition to changing the geometry of the
structure. Retrofitting by jackets also change of the structural characteristic of the retrofitted columns,
resulting in changing the behavior of these strengthened columns under both static and dynamic loads.
Research works employing either Carbon or Glass fiber Polymers (C or G FRP)
4,5
are also
presented. In addition to their higher cost, using CFRP together with Epoxy binder depends on the
binder matrix, than on fibers. Due to the resin matrix degradation with time, as exposed to
environmental changes, their long term durability is not certified. In addition, using carbon fiber with
epoxy bond materials leads to low fire resistance of the retrofitted elements
5
. Moreover, it may be
difficult or even impossible to wrap columns, with one or more inaccessible faces, with carbon or glass
fiber sheets, consequently being incapable of achieving full confinement.
Retrofitting through adding an external prestressing confining pressure has the added advantage of

589
providing actively applied lateral pressure along the column sides. The active pressure increases the
lateral confinement and enhances the mechanism of concrete confinement, while also restraining the
original longitudinal column reinforcements against buckling.
In this paper, details of the Mechanical Strengthening Technique
6-10
are investigated. In the
previous research works
6,7,8
, the method was applied in retrofitting interior columns and columns with
one or two inaccessible faces. The method overcomes the drawbacks of other retrofitting techniques
and is based on applying the necessary confining pressure to the column core area to enhance both the
strength and ductility of retrofitted reinforced concrete columns. An experimental study is carried out
to verify the applicability and efficiency of the method through performing axial compression tests on
a number of test specimens. For each of the tested specimens, the ultimate load, failure mode, and the
load-deflection relationship are reported and discussed.

Figure 1. Concrete and steel jackets and retrofitting using FRP rapping technique.
a. Concrete jacket b. Steel jacket
c. Retrofitting using
FRP wrapping
technique

1- Column.
2- Shear
connectors.
3- Concrete
jacket.
4- Column
footing.
5- Non-
shrinkage
mortar.
6- Flat or
corrugated steel
sheets.
7- FRP sheets.

STRENGTHENING TECHNIQUE AND PROCEDURE
Column Strengthened from Four Sides
The procedure of retrofitting reinforced concrete columns with four accessible sides are:
1- Four steel angles with equal lengths are cut and arranged around the column corners, as shown in
Figure 2.a.
2- The pressure casing is assembled around the reinforced concrete element along with the steel angles
indicated in step number 1 (Figure 2.b). The objective of this pressure casing, with threaded bars, is
to add the required pre-determined confining pressure to the reinforced concrete column.
3- The element is then compressed with the four angles using the pressure casing. Adding pressure in
the lower part of the column usually results in clearance between the reinforced concrete element

590
b. A Pressure
Casing is
Assembled
Around the
corner angles
a. 4 angles are
Arranged Around
the Element
1- The column.
2- Four angles.
3- Pressure
casing.
4- Threaded
c. The column
is Compressed
d. Sustaining the
exerted lateral
pressure
e. The pressure
casing is untied
and removed
Figure 2. Strengthening steps of the column free from four
and the confining system especially in the upper part. Therefore, another round of applying torque is
needed until the required confining pressure is achieved. Figure 2.c shows an elevation and section
views of a column during the process of applying the confining pressure.
4- Pieces of steel strips are carefully cut and welded between the underlying four angles, prepared in
step number 1, and placed on the corners of the element under the pressure casing as shown in
Figure 2.d. The strips numbers, thickness, widths, welding areas, and the dimensions of underlying
four angles are chosen according to the required confining pressure, and consequently the required
strength and ductility of the strengthened member.
5- The pressure casing is then untied to be used in strengthening another element. An elevation and
section views of a strengthened column after removing the pressure casing is shown in Figure 2.e.
Column Strengthened from Three Sides
In this case only three sides of the column are available, and the fourth side restricted, like the case
of neighbor column for example. In this specific case, the chosen column has an aspect ratio of 1:2.
The strengthening steps are presented as follows:
1- Holes are drilled vertically in a row along the column height at the nearest available points to the
restricted side, as shown in Figure 3.a. Two extra holes are drilled on the top and bottom of the
column near the column centerline. The last two holes are used for confining the top and bottom
parts of the column to prevent local failure that could take place during loading the tested column.
2- Threaded bars are installed in the previously prepared holes with lengths extruding outside the
column to allow for placing nuts and washers and consequently for tying the nuts to confine the
column.

591

2- Holes.
3- Two angles.
4- Threaded bars.

3- Two angles, with holes coinciding with the previously installed threaded bars, are placed and
affixed, as shown in Figure 3.b. It should be noted that the placed angles have holes on the other leg,
these holes are in staggered position with the h
The two angles are placed
Figure 3. Drilling
holes and the
neighbor angles.
a. The column
and the drilled
holes
oles in the affixed leg.
4- at the two free
5-
6- using the
7- are welded between each two
8- ed. The final

ound
c. The
is

edges of the column, as shown in Figure 4.a.
A pressure casing is assembled around the
column, as shown in Figure 4.b.
The column is then compressed
pressure casing and the edge angles shown
in Figure 2.
Steel splices
angles, as shown in Figure 4.c.
The pressure casing is then unti
shape of the retrofitted column is presented
in Figure 4.d.

b. Two neighbor
angles are
compressed.

Figure 4. Complementary steps for retrofitting neighbor columns.
b. A pressure
casing is
assembled ar
the corner angles
column
compressed
d. The pressure
a. Two angles
.
are placed at
the free edges
casing is untied
and removed.

592
Column Strengthening from Two Parallel Sides
In this case column strengthening is performed from two parallel sides only. This case may arise in
large column aspect ratios like shear walls, in which strengthening the long direction may not be that
effective as in columns with small aspect ratios. Also, the method can be applied in columns embedded
in historic walls or of high architectural value, in which the wall edges should not be removed or even
touched. The strengthening procedure in this case can be performed as follows:
1- Drill holes in two or more rows, as shown in Figure 5-a, and then place a threaded bar with suitable
length in each hole.
2- Place two thin steel plates covering the
column long sides and having holes
coinciding with the column previously
drilled holes (Figure 5.b).
3- Two sets of long and narrow steel strips
having holes prepared to coincide with
those holes previously drilled on the
column are placed over the two thin
plates. Threaded bars still extrude from
the plates and the strips, (two strips in
this specific case), as shown in Figure
5.b.
4- Nuts and washers are placed on the
threaded bars.
5- The column strengthening elements
(containing the thin steel plates and long
steel strips), are affixed by tightening
the nuts inwards, tensioning the
threaded bars, thus applying pressure on
the two column sides.
It should be noted that the value of the
applied confining pressure is chosen
according to the required gain in the
column load carrying capacity.

The Technique Feature
b. Placing
plates and
compressing
them.
a. Drilling holes.
Figure 5. Elevations and sections of a
column with two accessible faces
during retrofitting.

The main feature of the technique is applying a uniform confining pressure from the four sides of
the column which is very effective in square and rectangular columns with small aspect ratio.
However, for rectangular columns with large aspect ratios, the confining pressure could not be
uniformly distributed and the core of the concrete column is not compressed enough to increase its
capacity. On the other hand, increasing the compression on the edges of such column could lead to
higher lateral strains on the column long side, especially when increasing the axial loads. To overcome
this problem, the longer side of the rectangular column is confined through compressing groups of
threaded bars arranged in one or more vertical axes, as shown in Figure 6. This new feature of the

593
technique is a combination of
two applications, combining
the case of confining the
column from four sides and
the case of confining the
column from only two
parallel sides.

TEST SPECIMENS
AND EXPERIMENTAL
PROGRAM

As listed in Table 1,
specimens can be
categorized into two main
groups. The first group (L1-
L3) is low concrete grade
with dimensions 25x35x150
cm (half scale of the
common 45x55x300 cm
columns). Siliceous gravel
and sand are mixed at ratio
2:1, respectively, and
ordinary Portland cement is added with the amount to obtain the required concrete grade. Concrete was
mixed in a mixer, then placed in the forms and compacted using a vibrating table. Steel reinforcement
ratio was taken about one percent of the gross column cross-section as common in concrete design and
matching the code of practice in buildings.
1- The column, 2- Edge angles, 3- Vertical strips,
4- Thin plates, 5- Threaded bars, 6- Horizontal
strips
Figure 6. Retrofitted column with large aspect ratio.
Table 1. Test specimens and retrofitting details
Strengthening Apparatus
No
Cross
Section(cm)
Without
Retrofitting
Retrofitted
No. of Bolts Bolt Torque No. of Strips
Threaded
Rod
Force (kN)
L1 25 35 150 ;

L2 25 35 150 ; 36 200 36
83.42
L3 25 35 150 ; 36 100 36
41.71
S1 20 40 140 ;

S2 20 40 140 ; 38 100 31
41.71
S3 20 40 140 ; 16 100 4
41.71

The reference column detailing is shown in Figure 7. Three 15-cm side length control cubes were
cast for each mix. Specimens were demoulded after 24 hours and cured in room temperature until the
time of testing. The specimens were tested when the strength of their concrete cube strength reaches
11.77 MPa to simulate real cases of an existing building. The first specimen, (No. L1) was tested
without strengthening, while the second, L2, was strengthened then loaded until failure. The third low

594
grade concrete specimen, L3, was first loaded to working load, strengthened then loaded until failure
to simulate the actual case of retrofitted column of an existing building. High-grade deformed steel
bars of diameter 12 mm were used as main reinforcement with a yield and ultimate strengths of 511.6
MPa and 658.5MPa. Mild steel bars of diameter 8mm were used as stirrups of this group, which have
yield and ultimate strengths of 440.5 MPa and 476.9 MPa. Tests on low-grade concrete group were
performed in the Building Research Institute in Cairo. The machine used is displacement control,
equipped with loading cell and data logger connected to a digital computer. This enables recording the
results beyond the ultimate load. Details of the concrete reinforcement, external retrofitting steel
sections, and arrangement of the measurement devices are shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Arrangement of the measurement devices and reinforcement details of concrete section
and retrofitting steel.
Concrete section
reinforcement
details
Retrofitting
steel details
Arrangement of strain gauges and LVDT's along
the tested specimens
Threaded rods are used in applying the external pressure and lacing strips are used to sustain the
attained pressure, tension tests were made to identify the properties of these materials. The stress strain
relationship of the 12 mm nominal diameter threaded bar and the sample lacing plate were obtained
from tests. Both materials behave as mild steel with different values of yield and ultimate strengths.
The threaded bars yielded at 512 MPa and failed at 545 MPa, while lacing plates yielded at 440 MPa
and failed at 654 MPa.
In the second group, specimens S1, S2, and S3 have dimensions of 200x400x1400 mm and the
cube strength after 28 days was 30 N/mm
2
. Ordinary Portland cement and siliceous sand and gravel
were used for manufacturing the concrete. The absolute volume method recommended by the ACI
Committee was used to compute the quantities of the materials required for the test mix, and tap
drinking water was used for mixing. For all the test specimens, high grade deformed steel bars of
diameter 10 mm were used as a main reinforcement having a yield and ultimate strengths of 511.6 MP
and 658.5MP respectively. Mild steel bars of diameter 6mm were used for the top reinforcement and
stirrups which have yield and ultimate strengths of 440.5 MP and 476.9 MP respectively. Specimen S1
was chosen to be the reference column without strengthening, while specimen S2 was retrofitted from

595
three sides by applying lateral active external pressure along the length of three sides. The retrofitting
details are shown in section 2.2 and in Table 1. Specimen S3 is retrofitted by applying external active
pressure along two parallel sides only, and the retrofitting details are shown in section 2.3 and Table1.
Axial compression tests were carried out on all specimens using axial compression testing
mac
ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS
Low Strength Concrete
Tests on low-grade concrete group containing three specimens (L1 through L3) were performed in
the
igure 8, at which the applied load is
hine with different capacities. Load was applied in increments of 10 tons each until failure. Load
deformation relationships were obtained from the curve plotted in the chart recorder of the machine
and using the attached digital dial gauge.
Building Research Institute in Cairo. The machine used is displacement control, equipped with
loading cell and data logger and connected to a digital computer.
The resulting P- curves of the three specimens are shown in F
plotted against the measured axial deformation of the concrete column. The figure shows that
strengthening significantly enhances the overall behavior and capacity of the retrofitted specimens.
While the ultimate load of the reference column specimen (number 7) was 800 kN, the strengthened
specimen (number 8) failed at 1570
kN. The third specimen (number 9)
was loaded by a working load of 540
kN, and sustained for one day until no
displacement was recorded at a load
of 392 kN. The column is then
strengthened and the loading
continued until failure. These
conditions simulate the real
retrofitting situation of existing
buildings, in which the retrofitting is
performed while the columns are
already loaded. The ultimate load of
this sample recorded the uppermost
value (1694 kN), which reached
about 212% of the ultimate load of
the reference sample. Strengthening
also enhances the behavior of the
reinforced concrete columns such that
more ductile response is observed
especially in the third specimen.
Results indicated also that the applied
lateral pressure has no side defect on
specimens in spite of the concrete
weakness. Many existing buildings
have low concrete grades; the
Figure 8. P- Curves for the Reference and
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
0 2 3 5 6 8 9
Vertical displacement (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
specimen L1
specimen L2
specimen L3
Retrofitted Low Grade Concrete Specimens.

596
improvements achieved on the behavior of column with low strength concrete assure the efficiency of
the applied method in enhancing the existing RC columns.
This may be attributed to the fact that the applied active external pressure delays the formation of
diagonal shear cracks, limits the width of such cracks, and improves the aggregate interlocking, then
increasing the concrete contribution to shear resistance which consequently led to higher load capacity.
Measurements of Lateral Confining Pressure
The main function of the retrofitting procedure is the application of lateral confining pressure, for
which measurements of forces in the surrounding apparatus were made during different stages of tests.
Specimens were equipped with eight strain gauges along their height. Strains at the threaded rods were
measured during the torque application to the threaded rods, prior to placing the lacing plates. Strains
in the lacing plates were also measured because the lacing plates were welded and threaded rods.
Summary of such measurements are listed in Table 2. Results indicated an important observation, the
lacing plates kept only a portion of the pressure applied to the threaded rods, about 24% of the applied
forces were sustained in the plates after completing the retrofitting procedure that represented the
actual confining forces in the retrofitted column. This value may be attributed to the absorption of
energy in the form of permanent strains in concrete, friction between corner angles and concrete, and
deformations in corner angles, is taken as a measure for the efficiency of confining pressure in the
procedure.
Table 2. Rods and plates strains and forces
Gauge No Rod Strain Rod Force (kN) Plate Strain Plate Force (kN)
Gauge 1 0.263 10.84 0.058 4.78
Gauge 2 1.023 42.15 0.138 11.37
Gauge 3 0.594 24.47 0.037 3.05
Gauge 4 0.912 37.58 0.109 8.98
Gauge 5 1.447 59.62 0.231 19.04
Gauge 6 0.321 13.23 0.081 6.67
Gauge 7 0.816 33.62 0.023 1.90
Gauge 8 0.605 24.93 0.046 3.79
Sum 5.981 246.43 0.723 59.58

During testing of the strengthened specimens, measurements of strain at the lacing plates were also
made at different load levels. This indicated the functionality of the confining exerted by such plates.
The forces in the lacing strips were measured by different strain gauges and their total is plotted in
Figure 5 against the applied load. As illustrated in the figure, the load in the lacing plates increased
with increasing the applied load, which may be attributed to the generation of more passive pressure to
withstand the lateral strain in the column. This indicated the important role of the confining apparatus
in improving the behavior of the retrofitted columns.

597
Normal Concrete Grade
For the reference specimen S1,
vertical cracks appeared near the top part
of the column at a load of 80 tons. A
complete compression-shear failure
sudden-ly occurred at 145 tons. The
cracks were spread through the four
surfaces of the specimen with a large
piece of concrete spalled near the top
corner of the tested column. In specimen
S2 (strengthened from three sides),
cracks appeared near the top unconfined
part of the column at 190 tons.
As the load increased, cracks
propagated downward and inside the
confined zone until failure took place at
220 tons. However, the complete failure
occurred outside the confined zone of the
specimen while the rest of the specimen
within the confined part was undamaged
as indicated in plates 2.
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0
Vertical Displacement (mm)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
2200
2400
A
x
i
a
l

L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
Reference column (without strengthening)
Strengthened from three sides
Strengthened from two parallel sides
Figure 9. Load deflection relation of the reference
and strengthened specimens S1, S2, S3.
In specimen S3 (strengthened from
two parallel sides only), cracks started at a load of 110 tons. These cracks appeared in one of the
unconfined surfaces. Cracks then increased and became wider and the concrete cover spalled. Concrete
compression failure and buckling of vertical longitudinal reinforcements occurred at 205 tons. In order
to investigate the effect of the confining pressure and external strengthening reinforcements on the

Photo 1: Cracking pattern and
failure mode of the retrofitted
specimen S2.
Photo2: Cracking pattern and
failure mode of the retrofitted
specimen S3.

598
concrete core, the external thin plates were removed. No cracks were noticed in the confined concrete
core under the strengthening plates (Photo 1 and 2).
Figure 5 shows an increase in the ultimate load by about 47% and 37% respectively for specimens
S2 and S3 compared to the reference specimens S1. It is also noticed that the cracks started and
propagated through the unconfined parts of the retrofitted specimens.
Thus, if the concrete strength of the reference column was 30 N/mm
2
, the concrete strength could
be increased by applying the retrofitting technique to 44N/mm
2
and 41 N/mm
2
respectively. In
addition to the strength increase, the ductility also improved which raise the safety factor in the design.
CONCLUSIONS
In the present study, an innovative technique for retrofitting existing weak reinforced concrete
columns with inaccessible faces was introduced. Specimens were tested under axial load before and
after applying lateral confinement from two and three faces. Both the strength and the ductility of the
specimens were increased as a result of applying the confining pressure, which also delayed the
formation of cracks, limited their widths, and increased aggregate interlocking. It has also been found
that, in each of the retrofitted specimens, the cracks always started and propagated through the
unconfined part of the specimens only.
REFERENCES
1. Rodriguez, M., and Park, R. (1994). Seismic load tests on reinforced concrete columns
strengthened by jacketing, ACI Structural J., 91(2), 150-159.
2. Bracci, J.M., Reinhorn, A.M.m and Mander, J.B. (1992). Evaluation of seismic retrofit of
reinforced concrete frame structures: part II- experimental performance and analytical study of a
retrofitted structural model, Technical Report NCEER-92-0031, National Center for
Earthquake Engineering Research, State University of New York at Buffalo.
3. Aboutaha, R.S., Engelhardt, M.D., Jirsa, J.O., and Kreger, M.E. (1999). Rehabilitation of shear
critical concrete columns by use of rectangular steel jackets, ACI Structural J., 96(1), 68-78.
4. Priestley, M.J.N., Seible, F., and Fyfe, E. (1994). Column seismic retrofit using fiber glass /
epoxy jackets, in advanced composite materials in bridges and structures, K.W. Neale and P.
Labossiere, Editors; Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, 287-297.
5. Swamy, R.N., and Mukhopadhyaya, P. (1995). Role and effectiveness of non-metallic plates in
strengthening and upgrading concrete structures, Proceedings of the second International
RILEM Symposium on Non Metallic (FRP) Reinforcement for Concrete Structures. Belgium,
473-482.
6. Al-Tuhami, A.A. (2000). Cost and material effective technique for strengthening the structural
members, Conference of Arabic Building Materials and Economic Challenges, Cairo, 68-75,
(In Arabic).
7. Al-Tuhami, A.A., and Sakr, T.A. (2000). An innovative technique for strengthening reinforced
concrete elements using mechanical external prestressing, Proceeding of the Eighth Arab
Structural Engineering Conference, Cairo, 761-775.

599
8. Al-Tuhami, A. A. and Sakr. T.A. (2003). Retrofit of reinforced concrete columns using global
lateral external pressure,, paper number 186, CCC Composite in construction, an international
conference, University of Calabria, Italy - September 16-19.
9. Al-Tuhami, A.A., Abdel-Rahman A.G., and Khalil, H. (2001). Strengthening of concrete
beams using the mechanical strengthening technique, 8th Int. Conf. of Inspection, Appraisal
and Maintenance of structures, Nottingham Univ., 11-13.
10. Al-Tuhami, A. A., and Khalil, H.S. (2003), Behavior of retrofitted RC beams using active
external pressure, Proc. CCC2003 Int. conf. on Composite in construction, University of
Calabria, Italy, Bruno et al. (Eds.), 471- 476.

600

STRENGTHENING OF MASONRY WALLS SUBJECTED TO IN-PLANE
AND OUT-OF-PLANE LOADS
A. A. AL-TUHAMI AND H. K. SHEHAB
Department of Structural Engineering, Zagazig University
Zagazig 44519, Egypt

ABSTRACT: Masonry buildings constitute a major portion of the building industry around the
world. Deficiencies in these buildings are caused by many reasons such as low wall strength,
foundation settlement, low load carrying capacity, existence in earthquake active zone, etc.
Various techniques have been developed for retrofitting the existing masonry building. These
techniques are mainly using concrete jacket, and most recently using FRP (Fiber reinforced
polymers), in addition to other available strengthening techniques. Several drawbacks have been
noticed in these strengthening techniques such as; debonding which arise during load application
in concrete jacket and FRP retrofitting techniques, in addition to the high costs of FRP as
compared to any other strengthening technique. In the present work, experimental study and
technical details of two innovative strengthening techniques along with the traditional reinforced
concrete jacket are presented. Sewed concrete jacket is designed to improve the performance over
that of the traditional concrete jacket. Confining the wall with external strengthening
reinforcement by applying permanent pressure is the main idea of the second proposed
strengthening technique. The experimental work is carried out to verify the applicability and
efficiency of these methods through performing in-plane and out-of-plane loading tests. Results
indicate that the ultimate loads, failure modes, and load deflection relationships are improved by
using the suggested methods.
Keywords: Masonry buildings, strengthening, concrete jacket, steel jacket, external pre-stressing,
and experiments.
BACKGROUND
Unreinforced masonry walls are usually constructed from masonry units that are either cut
stone, sun-dried clay brick or manufacture bricks from clay, shale, concrete of calcium silicate or
mix of them. The masonry units are bonded together with mortar that composes of binding
materials and filler.
Deficiencies of masonry structures can be attributed to cracks that may caused by exceeding of
load, poor adhesion between mortar and masonry units and/or severe deterioration under high
moisture content due to water penetration and high porosity.
Therefore, the aim of the repairing and strengthening techniques should be to restore homogeneity,
uniformity of strength and continuity of walls as well as to introduce better connections and
increase of load capacities of the masonry structures.
Re-pointing, reinforced injection, reinforced concrete jacketing, using surface-bonded FRP
laminates or rods, external reinforcement and the post tensioning are the most common techniques
that used in retrofit the existing the un-reinforced masonry buildings
1-11
.
Re-pointing repairing technique
1
is the process of removing deteriorated materials from the joints
and replacing it with new mortar. Reinforced injection
2
based on making deep holes and grooves
then reinforcing bars are inserted in every hole and groove prior to the injection of grout. This

601
technique permits the creation of local meshes both locally to ensure local connections between
intersecting walls as and on the whole structural components to either sew cracks or to increase
their strength in both compression and tension, Figure 1. Reinforced concrete jacketing
3,4
is
referred to the application of reinforced mesh and concrete with adequate aggregate sizes and
admixtures, Figure2.

steel meshes
steel ties
concrete cover
300mm-
400mm
centers
wall elevation
wall section
50mm

Stone masonry (E)
Bearing plate (N)
Grout (N)
Steel ties (N)

Figure 2. R.C. Concrete Jacket for both Sides.

Figure 1. Creating Meshes Between
Intersecting Walls through Deep Holes.

Bearing plate Bearing plate
Bearing plate
Bearing plate Bearing plate
Bearing plate
stone masonry
steel ties
steel ties
steel ties
Plate
Plate
angle
bolts
the wall
Figure 3. External Steel Reinforcement
Figure 4. External Pre-stressing steel
The masonry walls can be strengthened using surface bonded FRP laminates
5,6
. The laminates
are bonded to the surface of the masonry using epoxy or polyester adhesives. The laminates are
placed so that the fiber orientation is parallel to the directions of the maximum principal tensile
stresses. These FRP laminates serve the role of tensile reinforcement.
In external reinforcement technique
7
, steel plates and angels are attached to the surface of the
masonry walls to strengthen un-reinforced or inadequately reinforced walls to increase its load
capacities. Diagonal and vertical steel strips on both sides of masonry walls are used as external
reinforcement, Figure 3.
Unreinforced masonry walls that develop tension due to either in plane or out-of-plane loads
can be strengthened using pre-stressing steel to create axial compression in the wall and increase
the bending moment required to produce tension
8,9
. Unless the pre-stressing tendons are guided or
602
bonded solidly in grout, the addition axial compression force from pre-stressing has to be treated
as an axial load for slenderness effects as well as for section capacity, Figure 4.
In the present work, experimental study and technical details of two innovative retrofitting
techniques are presented. A total of 10 wall specimens divided into two groups, having 60 and 120
mm thickness respectively, are tested. Six of these specimens with the two different thicknesses
are subjected to in-plane loads and the remaining 4 specimens are subjected to out-of-plane loads.
One specimen of each group is taken as a reference without any strengthening to be compared with
the specimens strengthened by the suggested techniques and the traditional concrete jacket
technique. Results indicate the reliability and efficiency of the suggested techniques over the
traditional concrete jacket and FRP retrofitting techniques.
SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES
Traditional Concrete Jacket:
The concrete jacket is one of the most famous
traditional techniques for strengthening the
masonry walls. The procedure for retrofitting the
masonry or concrete walls consists of:
D
D
Figure 5. Concrete Jacket.
1- Drilling a number of holes through the wall in
order to insert the ties through them.
2- Preparing two reinforcement meshes of steel
bars 6mm diameter, as shown in Figure 5.
3- Placing the two steel reinforcement meshes on
the two faces of the wall (making the wall inside
the two steel meshes as a sandwich).
4- Attaching the two steel reinforcement meshes together with a pre-determined number of ties, as
shown in Figure 6.
5- Plastering over the steel meshes with suitable concrete cover (mix proportions 1:1:1:.5) having
coarse aggregate size less than 5 mm to give the final shape of the strengthened wall.
Woven Concrete Jacket:
Sewing concrete jacket is a suggested technique and considered as an extension of the
traditional concrete jacket technique. The new development is designed to improve the
performance of the traditional concrete jacket, to overcome the depending problems. Therefore,
the sewed jacket and the masonry wall behave as one unit during the loading phase.
Steps of sample retrofitting consist of:
1- Drilling a number of holes through the wall.
2- Sewing the wall with two horizontal steel bars having 6 mm diameter. One bar start from one
face of the wall whiles the other start from the similar point of the other face. Both the two bars
intersect horizontally at each whole point to form a woven shape with the wall.
3- Repeat the above step (2) at a designed vertical distance as shown in Figure 3.2.
4- Insert a predetermined number of vertical steel bars between the wall and the sewed steel bars.
5- Plastering over the steel meshes with suitable concrete cover (mix proportions 1:1:1:.5) having
coarse aggregate size less than 5 mm to give the final shape of the strengthened wall.

603
Elevation
X X
Sec Plan X-X
hl. sewed
steel bars
Elevation
X X
Sec Plan X-X
hl. sewed
steel bars
vl. bars holes
a- Sewing the wall with horizontal steel b- - Insert vertical steel bars
Figure 6: Sewed Wall by Horizontal Steel Bars and Inserted Vertical Steel Bars

Composite Jacket with External Confining Pressure:
This section presents an innovative technique for retrofitting masonry walls and concrete slabs
in order to increase their load carrying capacity. The method avoids the disadvantages of the
traditional techniques such as de-bonding of the concrete jacket and adding the advantage of
assuring the unity of the external reinforcement with the wall or slab under different loading
conditions. Steps of wall or slab retrofitting consist of:
1- Drilling a number of holes through the wall or slab, the distance between these holes in this
case equals to 14 cm in vertical and 25 cm in horizontal directions respectively.
2- Preparing vertical and horizontal strips having holes coincident with that of the wall so that, the
previously made holes in the wall coincide with that of the horizontal and vertical steel strips at
the assembly stage.
3- Threaded steel bars are installed in the previously prepared wall holes with lengths extruding
outside the wall to allow for placing nuts and washers and consequently for tying the nuts.
4- Placing the vertical and horizontal steel strips such that the threaded bars pass through the holes
in the wall and the steel strips.

a- Holes are drilled through through the wall
X X
Elevation
Sec Plan X-X
The wall to
strengthened
Drilled holes
b- The compressed wall and the steel strips
Elevation
Sec Plan X-X
X X
Hl. strips
Vl. strips
Threaded bars and nuts

be
Figure 7: Composite Steel Jacket With External Pressure

604
5- The wall and the steel strips are then compressed by turning the nuts inwards with torque equal
to 40 NM. for each nut, as shown in Figure 7 and Photo 1.
6- The final step is to cover the steel confining system with concrete cover.
Note that, in the field.

Photo 1: Composite Steel Jacket Specimen With External Pressure

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMES
Material Characteristics
The mechanical properties of the un-reinforced masonry depend on the characteristics of the
constituent elements, namely bricks and mortar. Ordinary hand-made clay bricks had been used in
all walls specimens' construction and had overall dimensions of 223 x 104 x 65 mm. Each brick
had 10 holes of 17 mm diameter average for each hole. The compressive strength of that brick was
found to be 8 MPa. The mortar having 1:3 (cement: coarse sand) proportion by weight was used
throughout the test program. The average compressive strength of 100 mm size mortar cubes, after
28 days was observed to be 7 MPa. For traditional concrete jacket and 120 mm thick wall
strengthened by woven concrete jacket, mild steel bars of diameter 8mm were used as
reinforcement having a yield and ultimate strength 440.5 MPa and 476.9 MPa. The threaded bars
used in prestressing the composite jacket specimens yielded at 512 MPa and failed at 545 MPa,
while the vertical and horizontal strips yielded at 440 MPa and failed at 654 MPa. Plastering over
external strengthening reinforcement with suitable concrete cover, (mix proportions 1:1:1:.5)
proportion by weight, was used throughout the test program having coarse aggregate size less than
5 mm to give the final shape of the strengthened walls.
Test Specimens, Dimensions and Retrofitting Details
In the present work, experimental study and technical details of two innovative retrofitting
techniques are presented. A total of 10 wall specimens divided into two groups, having 60 and 120
mm thickness respectively, were tested. Six of these specimens have the two different thicknesses
were subjected to in-plane loads and the remaining 4 specimens were subjected to out-of-plane

605
loads. One specimen of each group is taken as a reference without any strengthening to be
compared with the specimens strengthened by the suggested techniques and the traditional
concrete jacket. Details of the different techniques used in the present study are given in section 3
while summary of test specimens, dimensions and retrofitting details are given in Table 1.
Schematic view of test setup for the in-plane loaded walls and the out-of-plane loaded walls are
given in Figure 8.

Table 1: Test specimens, dimensions and retrofitting details

Dimensions mm. Retrofitting details
Sewing jacket Composite jacket
Cross-section of
vl. and hl. steel
strips, mm.
Applied
Torque at
each nut
s
p
e
c
i
m
e
n

N
o
.

b
r
e
a
d
t
h

h
e
i
g
h
t

t
h
i
c
k
n
e
s
s

r
e
t
r
o
f
i
t
t
e
d

C
o
n
c
r
e
t
e

J
a
c
k
e
t

No of
sewed
layers
Sewed
bar
diam.
No of
horizontal
layers
Vl. Hl.
W1 1200 700 60
W2 1200 700 60 ; 80x1.5 25x2.5 40 N.m.
W3 600 600 120
W4 1200 600 120 ; ;
W5 1200 600 120 3 6 mm. 5
W6 600 600 120 ; 80x1.5 25x2.5 40 N.m.
S1 1200 700 60 ; ;
S2 1200 700 60 ; 80x1.5 25x2.5 40 N.m.
S3 60 700 120 ; ;
S4 60 700 120 ; 80x1.5 25x2.5 40 N.m.
(a)
(b)
load cell
I- Beam
Specimen
Demecs Point to
measure strain
I- Beam
load cell
6 point load
specimen
Figure 8: Schematic View of Test Setup: (a) In-Plane Loaded Wall, and (b) Out-Of-Plane Loaded Wall

606
RESULTS AND DISCUSION
In-Plane Loaded Walls
Walls 120 mm Thickness:
In the reference unstrengthened specimen
W3 with 120 mm thickness, it was noticed that,
with gradual increase of the load, the vertical
settlement increased. At 360 KN, first crack
appeared near the upper loading surface, and
then cracks spread down and in inclined
directions. Cracks became wider with load
increase until failure, which occurred at a load of
440 kN, Photo 2. For the traditional concrete
jacket specimen W4, it was noticed that the first
crack started at about 410 kN, during the load
increase, separation stared between the concrete
jacket and the wall with a crack as shown in
Photo 3. The separation crack became wider with
increasing the applied load until failure, which occurred at 590 kN. In addition to the separation
crack, some other vertical and inclined cracks occurred at different loads.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 5 10 15 20 25
vertical displacement (mm)
v
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

l
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
concrete jacket w4
sewed jacket w5
composite jacket w6
reference specimen w3
Fig 9: Load displacement curves for in-
plane specimens 120 mm thicknesses.
For the woven concrete jacket W5, it was noticed that while loading, shear cracks started at the
end point of loading surface, at a load of 273 kN. Increasing the loads resulted in more shear
cracks to appear and propagate within the specimen, until failure that occurred at a load of 650
KN.

Photo 2: Failure mode of reference specimen.

Photo 3: Failure mode of
120 mm. concrete jacket.

Photo 4: Failure mode and buckling of steel
strips of 120 mm. composite jacket.

607

The specimen W6 was confined with external strengthening reinforcements by applying
permanent pressure as indicated in section 3-3 and Table 1. It was noticed that while the sample
was subjected to vertical compression loading, with 6% eccentricity, horizontal cracks started at a
load of 571 kN under the loading surface at the inner face and another horizontal crack appeared
in the lower third portion of the specimen. The failure occurred at 720 kN. It is noted that this
specimen behaves much better than the other retrofitted specimens. In addition, buckling in the
vertical strips occurred at higher loads. Moreover, no visual cracks within the structure of the
bricks were noticed, as shown in Photo 4. The load displacement curves for in-plane loaded walls
120 mm thickness are shown in Figure 9.
Walls 60mm Thickness:
While loading the reference specimen W1 60 mm thickness, the first crack occurred at 135 kN
near upper loading surface. Cracks spread from top to bottom and at failure there was one crack
continued down to the bottom surface that occurs at 170 kN.
Wall W2 with thickness 60 mm was strengthened by confining the wall with external
strengthening reinforcement by applying permanent pressure. Details of the technique is given in
section 3 and Table 1. At a load of 240 KN, the first local shear crack appeared. Increasing the
load, more cracks occurred and randomly distributed at the upper and the lower loading surfaces,
and spread through the wall. The failure load occurred at a load of 300 kN. Checking the
specimens the after the loading program was finished and removing the concrete cover, it was
found that the bricks structure was not affected. It should be noted that the main failure reason was
the local premature shear failure that took place at one end of its supports. Therefore, if this
premature shear failure did not take place, the specimen may resist higher loads. The load
displacement curves for in-plane loaded 60 mm thickness walls are shown in Figure 10.
Out-of-Plane Loaded Walls
The thicknesses of walls S1 and S3 were 60 and 120 mm respectively. These walls
strengthened by traditional concrete jacket (reinforcement were two meshes of steel 6 mm
diameter and concrete cover were detailed in section 4). The thicknesses of walls S2 and S4 were
also 60 and 120 mm respectively. These walls were confined with external strengthening
reinforcement by external permanent pressure at the points of intersection of the vertical and the
horizontal steel strips, as shown in section 3 and Table 1. The walls (S1 through S4) were
subjected to out-of-plane loads. In wall S1, the first crack started near the ultimate load and the
specimen failed down quickly at a load of 14.8 kN, and the mode of failure was flexural failure.
Two main flexural cracks occurred at about 300 mm away from the two wall end supports.
In wall S3, cracks started at the top four external loading points. With the increasing of the
applied load the cracks getting wider and gradually speared along the wall width in two main
cracks as shown in Photo 5. The failure load was occurred at 28 kN.
Wall S4 was strengthened using composite steel jacket with external pressure. While the load
increased the specimen, behave consistently. Therefore, cracks started at load 24 KN between two
horizontal strips under the four external loading points and gradually spread and wide until failure,
which occurred at, load 28 kN. It was observed that there were no noticed cracks occurred in
bricks in middle third of the wall. Bricks still cohesion until the end of loading and the specimen
failure. It had been seemed that, if their were more horizontal strips under the loading points, the
specimen may resist higher loads. Because of longitudinal strips that had smaller cross-sectional
area in the direction of flexural stresses compared to the vertical strips that had bigger cross-

608
sectional area therefore, low load
capacity was obtained. Wall S3 had
behavior similar to wall S4. Photo 6
show the failure mode of this specimen.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
deflection (mm)
l
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
concrete jacket technique
steel strips technique
Comparison of loaddeflection
diagrams for concrete and composite
jackets with 120mm thickness are
shown in Figure 11. The main
observation in that figure is the erratic
load deflection curve of the specimen
with concrete jacket, for which true
failure took place in the brick structure
at 18.5 kN, followed by transmitting the
load into the reinforcements. This
behavior is not acceptable, because the
brick structure has completely fallen
with only the reinforcement remaining,
which is not an acceptable behavior.
Comparing this erratic behavior with
the uniform and consistent load
deflection behavior of the specimen
strengthened with steel strips and
external pressure, revealed the large
differences between them.
Figure 11: Comparison of load deflection
diagram for concrete and composite jackets
with 120mm thickness.
Photo 6: Failure mode for out of
planeloads; composite jacket
specimen; 120 mm thickness.

Photo 5: Failure mode for out of plane
loads; concrete jacket specimen; 120 mm
thickness.

609
The consistent and uniform attitude of that specimen closely depicts the behavior of a reinforced
concrete slab.
CONSLUSIONS
Experimental results of 6 walls and 4 slabs were used to evaluate the effectiveness of using the
new techniques for strengthening walls subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane loading. Based on
the results of this investigation the following conclusion can be made:
1- Details of two suggested techniques for retrofitting the masonry walls subjected to in-
plane and out-of-plane loads are presented.
2- An experimental study are conducted out for comparing the specimens retrofitted by the
suggested techniques with the un-strengthened reference specimens and traditional concrete
jacketing method.
3- As results of the experimental program, it has been found that, the suggested techniques
increase the ultimate load capacities of the walls in the two loading conditions.
4- Composite jacket with external confining pressure enhances the behavior and failure mode of
the retrofitted specimens in the two loading conditions.
5- The external confining pressure delays the formation of cracks, improve the performance of the
specimens subject to out of plan loading and make the retrofitted wall with its reinforcement
behave as single composite.
REFE RENCES
1. Report, C., Mack, F., and Speweik, J. P., "Repointing Mortar Joints in historic Masonry
Buildings," Preservation briefs, Technical Preservation Services, Nation Park service,
October1998.
2. Mullett, P. and Rance, J., "Applied Discrete Element Technology: The Assessment and
strengthening of Masonry Arches," NAFEMS The International Associations for the
Engineering Analysis Community, London, January 2003.
3. Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) "Guidelines for the Seismic
Upgrading of Stone-Masonry Structures" Technology Directorate Architectural &
Engineering Services, real Property Services Branch, July 2000, Canada.
4. Patel, D. B., and Pindoria, k., "Repair and Strengthening Guide for Earthquake Damaged Low
Rise Domestic Building" Gujarate Relief Engineering Advice Team (GREAT), June 2001.
5. Tumialan, J. G., Myers, J. J. and Nanni, A., "Field Evaluation of Masonry Walls Strengthened
with FRP Composites at the Malcolm Bliss Hospital," Center for Infrastructure Engineering
Studies, University of Missouri-Rolla, CIES 99-12, December, 1999.
6. Tumialan, J. G., Huang, P. C., Nanni, A. and Silva, P., "Strengthening of Masonry Walls with
Structural Repointing," Non-Metallic Reinforcement for Concrete Structure FRPRCS-5,
Cambridge, July,2001.
7. Taghdi, M., Bruneau, M., and Satcioglu, "seismic retrofitting of Low-rise Masonry and
concrete Walls Using Steel Strips," ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, September
2000, PP. 1017-1025.
8. Laursen, P., and Ingham, J. M., "structural Testing of Single storey Post-Tensioned Concrete
Masonry Walls, The Masonry Society Journal (TMS),September 2001.
9. Rodriguez, R., Hamid, A. A. and larralde, A. A., "Flexural Behavior of Post-tensioned
concrete Masonry Walls Subjected to Out-Of plane Loads," ACI Structural Journal, January-
February1998.

610

INFLUENCE OF LOADING RATE ON AXIAL CAPACITY OF PILE
GROUPS IN CLAY FROM LABORATORY MODEL TESTS
A. I. AL-MHAIDIB
Department of Civil Engineering, King Saud University
P.O.Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT: The influence of loading rate on axial capacity of pile groups in clay was studied
by conducting a total of forty tests on model pile groups in a clayey soil bed prepared in a test
tank. The model pile groups were subjected to axial compressive loads at four loading rates of
0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 1 mm/min. At each loading rate, five different pile group configurations (from
line pile groups to square and rectangular pile groups) were tested. The center-to-center spacing of
piles in a group was three or nine times the pile diameter. Along with the pile groups, a single pile
was also tested. The magnitude of loading rate effect on axial pile capacity is measured in this
study with two quantities. The first quantity is the loading-rate capacity parameter representing
the slope of capacity-log (loading rate) trend line. The parameter describes the increase of
capacity for tenfold increase of loading rate, and it ranged from 0.078 to 0.59 depending on the
pile group configuration and center-to-center spacing of piles in a group. The second quantity is
the capacity-loading rate factor N
, which is a normalized quantity, that is more suitable for the

assessment of the effect of the loading rate on the pile capacity than the parameter . The average
value of N

equals to about 30% for all the test results, which indicated that there was a 30%
increase in axial capacity of the piles when the loading rate increased from 0.01 mm/min to 1
mm/min, i.e. 100-fold increase.
INTRODUCTION
While considerable work has been done on the behavior of cohesive soils under different shearing
rates, comparatively few studies are available in the literature on the effects of rate of loading on
the capacity of single piles and pile groups. The results of the previous studies on the behavior of
cohesive soils under different shearing rates have shown that the effects of shearing rate on the
ultimate shear strength of cohesive are significant
1-7
. Laboratory studies have shown that the
undrained shear strength of clays increases as the rate of loading. Results by Vaid et al.
1
showed
that a 25% increase in undrained shear strength for 100 times increase in strain rate. Graham et al.
2

found from triaxial compression tests that undrained shear strength increased by about 10 to 20%
per each log cycle of strain rate. Nakase and Kamei
3
reported that undrained shear strength of k
0
-
consolidated specimens, sheared in triaxial compression and extension, increased by 90% for a
logarithm cycle of strain rate.
Based on compiled data from 26 different normally and overconsolidated clays, Kulhawy and
Mayne
4
found an increase in undrained shear strength about 10% per a cycle of logarithm of strain
rate. Results by Awoleye et al.
5
showed that the undrained shear strength increased by about 30%
for undisturbed samples and 20% for remolded specimens for a 25-fold increase in strain rate.
Lacasse
6
found that undrained shear strength of normally consolidated clay is increased by 55%
when the time to failure was reduced from 140 minutes to 5 seconds. Matesic and Vucetic
7

611
concluded, from the results of simple shear tests on clays and sands, that when the strain rate
increased tenfold the secant shear modulus in clays at small strains increased by a factor of 1.02 to
1.11, while in sands it increased by a factor of 1.002 to 1.06.
The limited studies on the effect of loading rate on axial capacity of single piles in clay have
shown that the capacity increases as the loading rate increases
8-10
. Results of field tests on piles in
clay showed that the ultimate bearing capacity of piles increased by 40% to 75% when the loading
rate was increased by about three orders of magnitude
8
. Horvath
9
found that the ultimate pile
capacity of model piles in clay increases with increasing loading rate. The axial capacity of model
single piles in compression and tension in clay was found to increase by about 48% and 44%,
respectively, for a 100-fold increase in loading rate
10
.
The behavior of pile groups under the applied loads is generally different from that of a single
pile due to the interaction of neighboring piles. The literature on the effect of loading rate contains
no known published data that correlate capacity of pile groups with the speed of loading in clay. It
is, therefore, of practical importance to investigate the influence of the rate of loading on the axial
capacity of pile groups and examine the behavior of such piles under different loading rates.
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
Test Setup
All model tests were conducted using the setup shown in Figure 1, which consists of a soil tank
(0.8 m length, 0.5 m width, and 0.8 m height), model pile group and loading machine. The vertical
load was applied to the model piles by means of 10 ton compression test machine. It is a
displacement controlled machine with rate capability in the range 0.0001 to 59.99 mm/min. A 10
kN capacity load cell was used to record the applied load. The load cell was placed at the bottom
of the testing machine top reaction beam. Pile head displacement was measured using a linear
variable displacement transducer (LVDT) having a 25 mm range with 0.001 mm sensitivity. Data
acquisition system and laptop computer were used during the test to monitor and store
displacement and load.

612
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup
Model Piles
The model piles used in this study were smooth steel piles having a diameter of 25 mm and a
length of 550 mm. Five different configurations of the pile groups 2 x 1, 3 x 1, 2 x 2, 2 x 3, and 3
x 3 were used. The spacing between the piles is 3d and 9d , where d is the pile diameter.
Soil Characteristics
The soil used in this study was a homogeneous soil with a brown color obtained from a brick
factory in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia. It is sold in a powder form under the trade name "fire
clay". The soil is composed of clay size of 48% and silt size of 30% and sand size of 22%. The soil
has a liquid limit of 36%, a plasticity index of 14% and a specific gravity of 2.80. Based on the
Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), the clay is classified as CL.
Test Parameters
The following parameters have been considered as variables in this study:
1. Loading rate: 0.01 mm/min, 0.05 mm/min, 0.1 mm/min, and 1 mm/min.
2. Pile group configuration: 21, 31, 22, 23, and 33.
3. Pile spacing: 3 times pile diameter and 9 times pile diameter.
Along with the pile groups, a single pile was also tested. The total number of tests performed
in this study is forty tests. Few tests have been repeated to ascertain the variations in test results, if
any. It was observed that there was practically no variation in the results of the replicate tests.
Experimental Procedure
Consolidation of Clay
The clay sample was air-dried and an amount of water equal to 30% of the dry weight of the soil
was added. The moist clay was thoroughly mixed and then stored in air-tight plastic bags, sealed in
plastic wrap to avoid loss in moisture content. It was allowed to cure at room temperature for
about 24 hours to allow uniform distribution of moisture content.
The soil samples were consolidated in the soil tank. Four drainage holes were drilled, two in
each side, at a distance of 25 mm from the bottom of the tank. In each drainage hole, a valve was
installed to control water drain during consolidation and testing stages. Before placing the soil into
the test tank, a 50-mm layer of poorly graded sand was placed on the bottom of the test tank,
which serves as a pervious base for reducing the consolidation time. Above this layer, a geotextile
sheet was placed to separate the clay from the sand layer. Thereafter, the clay was placed by hand
in the test tank in three layers. The weight of clay required for the first layer to obtain a unit weight
of 19 kN/m
3
was packed into the test tank by hand in lifts, with the interface between the lifts
being made uneven, to reduce the bedding effects. A thick rigid steel plate with a thickness of 6
mm, covering the entire length and width of the test tank, was placed on the top of the clay.
Several holes with diameters of about 5 mm were punched into the plate to allow for drainage a
long the upper surface of the clay layer. Sheets of filter paper were placed along the sides of the
test tank and between the clay and the loading plate to speed up the consolidation process.
In order to reach the specified consolidation pressure, a high stack of dead weights was
required. This makes them unstable since they would extend far above the top of the test tank. It
was therefore, decided to construct the consolidation frame (shown in Figure 2) with a lever arm
ratio of 1:10. It is possible to apply a quite large consolidation pressure using this frame. The test
613

tank rests on a 20-mm thick steel plate that is supported by I-beams. The load is transferred to the
soil by a weight hanger with a lever arm. The hanger consists of a lower and upper cross beams
and a cantilevered beam with a pin connection at one end and a cradle for weights at the free end.
The load is applied by placing slotted dead weights on the cradle. After the test tank was mounted
in the consolidation frame, a consolidation pressure of 20 kPa was applied. Soil deformation was
monitored and readings of settlement were taken at certain time intervals until the relationship
between settlement and the logarithm of time became nearly horizontal. The settlement of the clay
was measured by means of two dial gauges, which were connected to the upper plate. The load
was then
doubled
to 40 kPa.
The
settlemen
t was
taken
with time
until the
time
which the
settlemen
t change
was
insignific
ant.

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of consolidation frame
After the completion of the consolidation of the first layer, a 6-mm rigid steel plate was placed
on the top of the first layer to locate the position of the model pile groups in the test tank. This
plate is similar to the plate used in the first layer, but it has several holes with diameters slightly
larger than the pile diameter to prevent the piles from interfering with the plate during the
consolidation process. There are five different perforated plates (one for each pile configuration)
depending on the number of piles in a group and on the center-to-center spacing of piles in a
group. Thereafter, the model piles were placed in their positions and the steel plate was lifted up.
The model piles were smooth steel piles having a diameter of 25 mm and a length of 550 mm. The
clay of the second layer was then packed into the test tank around the model piles according to the
procedure followed for the first layer. Thereafter, the perforated plate was place above the top of
the second layer. A steel pipe was inserted to connect the plate with the loading arm to transfer the
consolidation load to the soil without affecting the model piles. After that, the clay soil was
subjected to the same consolidation loads (20 kPa and 40 kPa) in the same manner as done in the
first layer. Finally, the third clay layer was consolidated according to the procedure followed for
the second layer.
Compression Tests
614
After the consolidation process of the clay had been completed, the consolidation loads were
removed, and the test tank was carefully removed from the consolidation frame and immediately
mounted on the testing machine. Thereafter, the drainage valves were closed and the specified
loading rate was set. The vertical load was applied to the model piles by means of 10 ton
compression test machine. A 10 kN capacity load cell was used to record the applied load. The
load cell was placed at the bottom of the testing machine top reaction beam. Pile head
displacement was measured using a linear variable displacement transducer (LVDT) having a 25
mm range with 0.001 mm sensitivity. Data acquisition system and laptop computer were used
during the test to monitor and store displacement and load.
The model piles were subjected to axial compressive loads until the pile displacement reached
15 mm. For each pile group configuration, four compressive model tests were performed at
constant loading rates of 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 1 mm/min. The total number of tests performed is 40
tests.
TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Load-displacement Response
single pile: The measured load-displacement curves for a single pile are shown in Figure 3. The
figure shows that the load-displacement curves have peak values from which the pile load reduces
with further displacement. The pile head displacement needed to mobilize the ultimate axial
capacity ranges from 2 mm to 3 mm (about 10% of pile diameter) which is in agreement with the
values suggested by Vesic
11
. The pile head displacement at failure is essentially the same for the
slow and the fast tests, while only the ultimate capacity changed. It indicates that the loading rate
has a negligible influence on the magnitude of the pile head displacement at failure. This is in
agreement with the findings of Audibert and Dover
12
and Al-Mhaidib
10
. It is clear from Figure 3,
that the loading rate significantly affected the load-displacement response. The faster was the rate
of loading the higher was the load-displacement curves and, consequently, the larger the ultimate
axial capacity of the pile. A possible explanation of this behavior is that if the rate of loading is
smaller, more time is allowed for the soil to creep and relax, allowing the development of larger
deformations at a given load increment and smaller strength at a given deformation increment. The
final result is load-displacement curve that plots lower.
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
0 3 6 9 12 15
Pile displacement (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
1.0 mm/min
0.1 mm/min
0.05 mm/min
0.01 mm/min
Loading Rate

Figure 3. Load-displacement curves for single pile
615
pile groups: Typical variations in axial pile capacity with the pile head displacement of pile
groups (2x2 -9d) and pile groups (3x3 -3d) are shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5, respectively. All
other test results showed similar behavior. Details about the test results are given elsewhere
13
.
Similar to the results of single pile, the load-displacement responses were significantly affected by
the loading rate. The axial pile capacity increases as the rate of loading increases. The pile head
displacement needed to mobilize the ultimate axial capacity for all tests ranges from 2 mm to 3
mm (about 10% of pile diameter) similar to the results of the single pile. Therefore, the effect of
loading rate on the pile head displacement at failure is insignificant.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
0 3 6 9 12 15
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
1.0 mm/min
0.1 mm/min
0.05 mm/min
0.01 mm/min
Loading Rate

Figure 4. Load-displacement curves for pile groups (2x2-9d)

616

EFFECT OF LOADING RATE ON AXIAL PILE CAPACITY
Figure 6 shows the plot of values of the axial pile capacity versus the loading rate in a
semilogarithmic format for piles with center-to-center spacing between piles of 3d. Similar trend
was found for piles with center-to-center spacing between piles of 9d. It is clear from this figure
that the axial pile capacity approximately assumed a linear relationship with the logarithm of
loading rate. Regardless of the pile group configuration and the spacing between the piles in a
group, in all plots, the trend of increasing axial pile capacity with loading rate is evident. The
relationship between the axial pile capacity and loading rate can be expressed as:
q = Log (r) + c (1)
where q is the axial pile capacity, r is the loading rate, c a is constant, and is the loading-rate
capacity parameter measuring the increase of axial pile capacity (q) with loading rate (r). The
values of the correlation coefficient, r
2
, are high ranging from 0.92 to 0.99.
The parameter represents the slope of the linear relationship between q and Log (r) and is
defined as:

(2)
log
) ( log ) ( log ) ( log

=
low
high
low high
low high
low high
r
r
q q
r r
q q
r
q

where q
high
and q
low
are the axial capacity of pile group (in kN) corresponding to loading rate
r
high
and r
low
(in mm/min), respectively. The parameter describes the increase of axial pile
capacity for a tenfold increase of loading rate.
The obtained values of from all tests are listed in Table 1. These values reveal the following
two trends. First, the values of increase as the number of piles in a group increases. The second
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0.01 0.1 1
Loading Rate (mm/min)
A
x
i
a
l

p
i
l
e

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

(
k
N
)
3X3
2X3
2X2
3X1
2X1
Singl
Figure 5. Load-displacement curves for
pile groups (3x3-3d)
Figure 6. Variations of axial pile capacity
with loading rate for piles with 3d spacing
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
0 3 6 9 12 15
L
o
a
d

(
k
N
)
1.0 mm/min
0.1 mm/min
0.05 mm/min
0.01 mm/min
Loading Rate

617
trend is that the center-to-center spacing between piles in a group has relatively little effect on the
values of . There is a slight increase in the values of when the center-to-center spacing between
piles in a group increases from 3d to 9d.
Table 1. Values of loading-rate capacity parameter
Pile group
configuration
Spacing between piles
3d 9d
2x1 0.144 0.148
3x1 0.213 0.227
2x2 0.285 0.316
2x3 0.409 0.443
3x3 0.591 -
Single 0.078

A normalized factor (N
) is introduced to describe the influence of the loading rate (r) on the

axial pile capacity (q) in a more consistent and practical way than the parameter . The factor N

is obtained by dividing the parameter by the axial pile capacity at a reference loading rate (q
ref
).
In this study, the reference loading rate was taken to be the lowest rate (0.01 mm/min). Factor N

can be expressed as:

(3) 100 x
1

) ( log ) ( log
(%)
ref ref low high
low high
q q r r
q q
N

=
The normalized axial pile capacities (q/q
0.01mm/min
) are plotted versus the normalized loading
rates (r/0.01) in Figure 7 for piles with center-to-center spacing between piles of 3d. Similar trend
was found for piles with center-to-center spacing between piles of 9d. The data show fairly
consistent linear trends and plot in a narrow range close together unlike the lines on Figure 6.
The correlation coefficient, r
2
, values are high ranging from 0.93 to 0.99. The slope of the straight
line in Figure 7 is the factor N
.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
1 10 100
Normalized loading rate (r/ 0.01)
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

A
x
i
a
l

p
i
l
e

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

(
q
/
q
0
.
0
1

m
m
/
m
i
n
)
3X3 2x3 2x2 3x1 2x1 Single

Figure 7. Variation of normalized axial capacity with normalized loading rate for piles with 3d
spacing
618

The obtained values of N
from all tests are presented in Table 2. The average value of N

equals to about 30% for all the test results. This indicates that there is a 30% increase in axial
capacity of the piles when the loading rate increases from 0.01 mm/min to 1 mm/min, i.e. 100-fold
increase.
Table 2 Values of normalized factor N
(%)
Pile group
configuration
Spacing between piles
3d 9d
2x1 28.86 28.72
3x1 29.33 29.39
2x2 30.02 32.86
2x3 30.31 32.09
3x3 30.50 -
Single 27.74
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results of present experimental investigation, the following conclusions are drawn,
which of course apply to the range of loading rates considered in this study:

1. Loading rate has a significant influence on the load-displacement response, where the faster
loading resulted in a stronger soil response. Increasing the loading rate resulted in higher
load-displacement curves. Loading rate has a negligible influence on the magnitude of the
pile head displacement at failure, which was found to be in the range of 2 mm to 3 mm,
about 10% of pile diameter.
2. The axial pile capacity was profoundly influenced by the loading rate. The axial
compressive capacity of pile group in clay increases as the loading rate increases. The
variations in the axial pile capacity with the logarithm of loading rate plot approximately
along a straight line. The slope of this line, the parameter , ranged from 0.078 to 0.59
depending on the pile group configuration and center-to-center spacing of piles in a group.
The value of increased as the number of piles in a group increased. The center-to-center
spacing between piles in a group had relatively little effect on the values of . The average
value of the normalized factor N

equal to about 30% for all the test results, which
indicated that there was a 30% increase in axial capacity of the piles when the loading rate
increased from 0.01 mm/min to 1 mm/min, i.e. 100-fold increase.
3. Further experimental work that covers wide variations in loading rate, pile characteristics,
and soil properties is needed to get conclusive conclusions about the effects of loading rate
on axial capacity of pile groups. The results of this study is hoped to simulate further
research in this direction.
619
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the Deanship of Scientific
Research at King Saud University, through Research Center at College of Engineering, Research
No. 6/425, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
REFERENCES
1. Vaid, Y.P., Robertson, P.K., and Campanella, R. G., "Strain rate behaviour of Saint-Jean-
Vianney clay," Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 16(1), 1979, pp. 34-42.
2. Graham, J., Crooks, J.H., and Bell, A.L., "Time effects on the behaviour of soft natural
clays," Geotechnique, 33(3), 1983, pp. 327-340.
3. Nakase, A. and Kamei, T., "Influence of strain rate on undrained shear characteristics of of
k
0
-consolidated cohesive soils," Soils and Foundations, 26(1), 1986, pp. 85-95.
4. Kulhawy, F.H., and Mayne, P. W.," Manual of estimating soil properties for foundation
design," Geotechnical Engineering Group, Cornell University, Ithaca, 1990.
5. Awoleye, O.A., Bouazza, A., and Rama-Rao, R., "Time effects on the unconfined
compressive strength and sensitivity of a clay," Engineering Geology, 31, 1991, pp. 345-351.
6. Lacasse, S., "Stress-strain behaviour: importance of mode and rate of load application for
engineering problems," 1
st
International Conference on Pre-failure Deformation
Characteristics of Geomaterials, Sapporo, Japan, 1995, Vol. 2, pp. 887-907.
7. Matesic, L. and Vucetic, M., "Strain-rate effect on secant shear modulus at small cyclic
strains," Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenviromental Engineering, ASCE, 129(6), 2003,
pp.536-549.
8. Kraft, L.M., Cox, W. R., and Verner, E. A., "Pile load tests: cyclic loads and varying load
rates" Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, 107, 1981, pp.1-19.
9. Horvath, R. G., "Influence of loading rate on the capacity of a model pile in clay," Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, 32, 1995, pp. 364-368.
10. Al-Mhaidib, A. I., "Loading rate effect on piles in clay from laboratory model tests," Journal
of King Saud University (Engineering Sciences), 13(1), 2001, pp. 39-55.
11. Vesic, A.S., "Design of Pile Foundation. National Cooperative Highwa," Research Program.
Synthesis of Highway Practice No. 42, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.,
1977.
12. Audibert, J.M.E. and Dover, A. R., "Discussion on pile load tests: cyclic loads and varying
load rates," Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, 108, 1982, pp. 501-505.
13. Al-Mhaidib, A. I., "Behavior of Pile Groups in Clay under Different Loading Rates," Final
Report, Research Center, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, 2006.
620
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF STEEL-CONCRETE-STEEL SANDWICH
BEAMS WITH PARTIAL SHEAR CONNECTION
H. M. HUSAIN
Department of Civil Engineering, Tikrit University
Tikrit, Iraq
B. S. AL-NU'MAN AND M. A. ZEBUN
Department of Civil Engineering, Al-Mustansiriya University
Bab-Almua'dhm, Baghdad, P.O. Box 14150, Iraq
ABSTRACT: In this work, steel-concrete-steel sandwich (SCSS) beams are studied through
several experimental tests. Mechanical shear connectors (threaded bars) are used for tying the
elements of the sandwich beams. The threaded bars are connected to the upper and the lower steel
plates by nuts instead of using welding. The main variables in this study are the degree of shear
connection and the thickness of concrete layer. The suggested push-out test gives good results in
predicting the value of the connector ultimate force. The observed mode of failure is fracturing of
the lower steel plate connectors. Cracks begin to appear at connectors' location and move
significantly from the bottom fibre to the top fibre of concrete along the connectors. For future
work, it is recommended to study the use of wire mesh to control cracks propagation within the
concrete.
INTRODUCTION
In civil engineering construction, the objective of using or selecting any material is to make full
use of its properties in order to get the best performance for the constructed structure. The merits
of a material are based on factors such as availability, structural strength, durability and
workability or manufacturability. As it is difficult to find a material which possesses all these
properties to the desired level, therefore, the engineer s problem consists of an optimization
involving different materials and methods of construction
1
.
Steel-concrete-steel sandwich (SCSS) construction or double skin composite (DSC)
construction is a relatively new and innovative form of construction consisting of a layer of plain
concrete sandwiched between two relatively thin steel plates, connected to the concrete by shear
connectors. SCSS construction was originally conceived as an alternative form of construction for
immersed tube tunnels, but has since been considered for a variety of offshore and onshore
applications including oil production and storage vessels, caissons, core shear walls in tall
buildings and impact and blast resistant structures
2, 3, 4, 5, 6
.
The system was originally devised for use in submerged tube tunnels by a team of local
consultants in Cardiff, UK (Messrs Tomlinson and Partners in conjunction with Sir Alexander
Gibb and Partners)
6
. The perceived advantages of the system are that the external steel plates act
as both primary reinforcement and permanent formwork, and also as impermeable, impact and
blast resistant membranes. The full depth shear connectors transfer normal and shearing forces
between the concrete and the steel plates, and also act as transverse shear reinforcement
2
.
The results of early experimental and theoretical studies of SCSS construction have been
reported by Wright et. al.
3, 4, 5, 6
. These studies established the structural integrity of the system and
621
indicated that the behaviour of SCSS elements could be quantified in accordance with
conventional theories for reinforced concrete and composite steel and concrete structures
7
.
In practice and for economic and structural reasons, it is often advantageous to use fewer
connectors than the number required for full shear connection, even though this may lead to
increased deflections and lower ultimate strength
8
. Full (or rigid) connection raises the danger of
crushing of concrete abutting the connectors by high bearing stresses from undeformed
connectors.
The aim of this work is to suggest and use a modified form of push-out test (more closely
representing the behaviour of SCSS beam) and to study experimentally the degree of shear
connection ( ) in SCSS beams for different thicknesses of concrete layer (
c
h ).
DETAILS OF TEST SPECIMENS AND INSTRUMENTATION
Nine steel-concrete-steel sandwich beams were fabricated. These sandwich beams were classified
into three groups depending on the thickness of concrete layer. Concrete layers of thickness (
c
h )
75mm, 100mm and 150mm were used in the fabrication of first, second and third group
respectively. Each group consisted of three beams which had different spacing ( S ) between
connectors. All beams had width ( b ) 100mm, nominal steel plate thickness (
s
h ) 6mm, and overall
length (span (
s
L ) plus 80 mm) equal to 1100mm. fully penetrating bars threaded along the whole
length were distributed in the beam as shear connectors and attached to the steel plates by nuts
instead of welding. The nominal inner diameter of the bars was 6.2mm with effective length equal
to the thickness of concrete layer used in each beam (i.e. the bars penetrated fully through the
concrete and the steel parts). Fabrication details of the test beams are presented in Table 1 and
Figure 1. Pairs of connectors at each location were used. It is worthy to mention that each two
beam names having the same upper script (i.e. the same number of *) mean that these beams were
poured at the same time and made from the same mixture of concrete.
Table 1. Details of test beams and their degrees of shear connection
Beam
name
c
f

(N/mm2)
t
f

(N/mm2)
c
h

(mm)
n

S

(mm)
f
n
n

B1* 42.2 3.68 75 14 75 1.098
B2**** 44.3 3.35 75 10 112.5 0.784
B3** 43.9 4.27 75 8 150 0.627
B4* 42.2 3.68 100 14 75 1.098
B5**** 44.3 3.35 100 10 112.5 0.784
B6*** 42.5 3.69 100 8 150 0.627
B7** 43.9 4.27 150 14 75 1.098
B8 46.2 3.94 150 10 112.5 0.784
B9*** 42.5 3.69 150 8 150 0.627
where
c
f Average cylinder compressive strength
t
f Average cylinder split tensile strength
n

Number of connectors in a shear span
622
Figure 1. Fabrication details of test beam
Based on rigid-plastic analysis, the number of connectors ( n ) in a shear span which is
required to make full shear connection ( f ) between steel plate and concrete layer was determined
from the following expression (the yielding of the lower steel plate is the controlling criterion in
this study):
s s y
F A f (1)
6 100 255
12.75
12000
s
f
u
F
n
Q
(Connectors) (2)
in which,
s
F

is the tensile force of the lower steel plate in N unit,
s
A

is the cross section area of
the lower steel plate in mm
2
unit,
y
f

is the steel yield strength in N/mm
2
unit, n

is the number of
shear connectors in a shear span (in the case of a simply supported beam under a point load at mid-
span, the shear span is half the span), f

is a suffix to represent full shear connection case and
u
Q

is the ultimate shear strength of a single connector which is obtained from a push-out test in N
unit.
As mentioned earlier, it is sometimes advantageous to use fewer shear connectors, than are
required for fully composite strength
8
. In such situations, the (ultimate) tensile force in the lower
steel plate is limited by the equation:
s u
F n Q

(3)
In which
f
n n , the degree of shear connection ( ) for each test beam is shown in Table 1. The
suggested push-out test consists of two steel columns of rectangular hollow section
(100mm*100mm*6mm) and one concrete slab of dimensions (450mm*300mm*100mm). The
connector which is used in this test is a bar threaded along the whole length. This bar is embedded
in the concrete layer and projected out from the steel columns (details of connection as well as
other dimensions and details are shown in Figure 2). The load is applied on the concrete with a
steel plate on top used as a capping to distribute the applied force on the concrete part. Under each
steel column a piece of wood is used also to distribute the transmitted force from the concrete to
the steel columns through the connectors and prevent relative movement at the base of the
columns.
For test beams and test push-out system, the total applied load is measured by a loading
machine and the relative movement (slip) between concrete and steel is measured by using dial
gauges at specified locations as shown in Figures 1 and 2. It is worthy to mention that the test is
stopped when one of the connectors at any location is fractured.
623
Figure 2. Dimensions and details of modified push-out test; (a): Front view; (b): Side view; (c):
Top view; (d): Details of connection (magnified picture).
MATERIAL PROPERTIES
The concrete used to manufacture the test beams is designed to have a cylinder compressive
strength between 30MPa to 40MPa at age of 28 days. The cement which is used in the mixture of
concrete is ordinary Portland cement (Spline) made in Lebanon and the sand is from Al-Akhaidher
area in Iraq with fineness modulus 2.8, while the gravel is a crushed type and having maximum
size equal to 14mm. The proportion of mixture (by weight) is 1 cement: 1.7 sand: 2 gravel with
water cement ratio equal to 0.45. At least three cylinders (150mm*300mm) for compressive
strength test and three smaller cylinders (100mm*200mm) for split tensile strength test were made
from each batch used to manufacture the test push-out concrete and the test beams. These
cylinders were cured under the same conditions (the sample was left in water up to 28 days). The
cylinders and the push-out specimens and the constructed beams were tested at the same time after
approximately 32 days in air beyond the end of curing. A summary of the concrete test results
(average cylinder compressive strength
c
f

and average cylinder split tensile strength
t
f

is
presented in Table 1.
In order to find the steel plate tensile results, tensile test coupons were cut from each steel
plate used in the fabrication of the test beams. The average yield stress of the steel plates (0.2%
proof stress) was 255MPa, and the average ultimate tensile strength of the steel plates was
624
393.34MPa, while the steel plate modulus of elasticity was assumed to be 210000MPa. A
threaded bar is used as a connector with specifications and details as given in Table 2.
Table 2. Specification and test results of threaded bars-average values
Measured
Diameter
(mm)
Bar Type
Inner
*
Outer
u
T From
Tensile Test
(kN)
u
Q From
Push-Out
Test
(kN)
/
u u
Q T

Maximum
Measured Slip
(mm)
Threaded bar
along the whole
length
6.2 7.2 18.33 12 0.655 1.89
* Inner diameter is used in all calculations and relations.
where
u
T

Ultimate tensile force of threaded bar
Before using the threaded bars in the fabrication of the test beams, a number of push-out tests were
carried out in order to predict the connector ultimate force (
u
Q ), maximum slip ( ) and to draw
the load-slip relationship. Three push-out tests for the threaded bars were made, and five dial
gauge readings were taken for each test and the average values of these readings are considered.
The relation given by Yam and Chapman
9
(the exponential equation) still gives a good simulation
for the load-slip relation but the constants a

and b are varying from test to another.
1
b
Q a e (4)
where a and b are carried out from the suggested push-out tests ( 10.88 a and 2.894 b ).
The test sandwich beams were simply supported on steel round bars at 40 mm from ends and
loaded at mid-span through a narrow steel strip. The deflection at mid and quarter-span was
measured up to failure, slip between concrete and upper steel plate and between concrete and
lower steel plate at the ends and at mid-span was also measured, width of cracks, crack pattern,
strain at mid-span at different elevations of cross section were also measured (the results are fully
reported in Ref. 10).
Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the variation of the mid-span deflection with the applied load up to
failure for the test beams, it is worthy to notice that the value of deflection increases significantly
after cracking of concrete. This is the major source of nonlinearity of the load-deflection curve in
addition to the nonlinearity from the behaviour of shear connectors. All these beams failed by
fracturing of connectors at ends of beams.
625
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Maximum

deflection

at

mid-span

(mm)
0
10
20
30
40
50
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

l
o
a
d

a
t

m
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

(
k
N
)
B1
Fitting of B1
B2
Fitting of B2
B3
Fitting of B3

Figure 3. Load-deflection curve for first group
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Maximum

deflection

at

mid-span

(mm)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

l
o
a
d

a
t

m
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

(
k
N
)
B4
Fitting of B4
B5
Fitting of B5
B6
Fitting of B6

Figure 4. Load-deflection curve for second group
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Maximum

deflection

at

mid-span

(mm)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
A
p
p
l
i
e
d

l
o
a
d

a
t

m
i
d
-
s
p
a
n

(
k
N
)
B7
Fitting of B7
B8
Fitting of B8
B9
Fitting of B9

Figure 5. Load-deflection curve for third group
626
The relation between the spacing between connectors ( S ) and the flexural strength of the
sandwich beams ( /
p u
M M ) is shown in Figure 6, herein, this relation is nonlinear. The ultimate
moment capacity of the sandwich section (
u
M ) can be determined depending on the plastic
analysis, assuming that the layers of sandwich beams are fully connected, the steel plates in
tension and in compression have yielded, and the concrete layer is fully cracked and do not
contribute to the flexural strength of the section (upper bound of moment capacity).
Figure 7 shows the variation of flexural strength of the sandwich beams with the degree of
shear connection. This relation can be used in estimating the moment capacity of the sandwich
section with partial shear connection (
p
M ) with respect to the ultimate moment capacity of the
same section but for full shear connection (
u
M ) which can be calculated easily by plastic
analysis.
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Spacing

between

connectors

(mm)
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1.10
M
p

/

M
u
hc=75 mm
hc=75 mm
hc=75 mm

Figure 6. Variation of flexural strength with spacing between connectors ( S )
0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 1.10
Degree

of

shear

connection
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.20
M
p

/

M
u
Data (1), hc=75 mm
Fitting of Data (1)
Data (2), hc=75 mm
Fitting of Data (2)
Data (3), hc=75 mm
Fitting of Data (3)

Figure 7. Variation of flexural strength with degree of shear connection ( )
627
CONCLUSIONS
For SCSS beams with partial shear connection, the main conclusions that can be drawn from the
present study are summarized as follows:
(1) The control mode of failure is the fracturing of connectors.
(2) The major nonlinearity in the load-deflection curves is the concrete cracking and the nonlinear
behaviour of connectors and these effects take place after the load of first crack.
(3) The ultimate moment capacity varying linearly with the degree of shear connection.
(4) The cracks of concrete are distributed along the span of beams at locations of shear
connectors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper is part of Ph. D. thesis to be prepared by the last named researcher under the
supervision of the first two authors in Civil Engineering Department /College of Engineering/ Al-
Mustansiriya University. The authors would like to thank Dr. R. Al-Mahaidi who is head of group
of structures in Monash University, Australia, for his assistance in getting the relating references.
REFERENCES
1. Yam, L. C. P., "Design of Composite Steel-Concrete Structures", Surrey University Press,
London, 1981, 168 pp.
2. Roberts, T. M., Edwards, D. N. and Narayanan, R., "Testing and Analysis of Steel-Concrete-
Steel Sandwich Beams", J. Construct. Steel Research, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1996, pp. 257-279.
3. Wright, H. D., Oduyemi, T. O. S. and Evans, H. R., "The Design of Double Skin Composite
Elements", J. Construct. Steel Research, Vol. 19, 1991, pp. 111-132.
4. Oduyemi, T. O. S., Wright, H. D., "An Experimental Investigation into the Behavior of
Double-Skin Sandwich Beams , J. Construct. Steel Research, Vol. 14, 1989, pp. 197-220.
5. Wright, H. D. and Oduyemi, T. O. S., "Partial Interaction Analysis of Double Skin Composite
Beams", J. Construct. Steel Research, Vol. 19, 1991, pp 253-283.
6. Wright, H. D., Oduyemi, T. O. S. and Evans, H. R., "The Experimental Behaviour of Double
Skin Composite Elements", J. Construct. Steel Research, Vol. 19, 1991, pp 97-110.
7. Liang, Q. Q., Uy, B., Wright, H. D. and Bradford, M. A., "Local Buckling of Steel Plates in
Double Skin Composite Panels under Biaxial Compression and Shear", Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 130, No. 3, March 1, 2004, pp. 434-451.
8. Johnson, R. P. and May, I. M., "Partial Interaction Design of Composite Beams", The
Structural Engineer, Vol. 53, No. 8, Aug. 1975, pp. 305-311.
9. Yam, L. C. P. and Chapman, J. C., "The Inelastic Behaviour of Simply Supported Composite
Beams of Steel and Concrete", Proc. Instn. Civ. Engrs., Vol. 41, 1968, pp. 651-683.
10. Zebun, M. A., "Behaviour and Strength of Steel-Concrete-Steel Sandwich beams with Partial
Shear Connection", Prepared Ph. D. Thesis, Civil Engineering Department / College of
Engineering /Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq (Unpublished).
628
EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE ON LOAD-SLIP RELATIONSHIP
OF SHEAR CONNECTORS IN SANDWICH BEAMS
M. A. ZEBUN
ABSTRACT: In this paper, the effect of previous heating on load-slip relationship in modified
push-out tests of shear connectors in sandwich beams is experimentally studied. The paper reports
the experimental results of 8 specimens. Specimens of concrete slab with shear connectors (threaded
bar embedded in the concrete slab) were put in an oven of high heating for at least one hour after
reaching a specified temperature (300~700)
o
C. Due to these high temperatures, the compressive
strength of concrete is reduced and cracks are seen on the surface of concrete. The slip is increased
and the stiffness of the connector is significantly decreased. It is concluded that the effect of
previous heating on the connector stiffness is greater than its effect on the compressive strength of
concrete due to the presence of cracks in concrete after heating to high temperatures.
INTRODUCTION
Information on the shear connector stiffness is essential for using the equation of partial interaction
theory of composite steel-concrete beams (including steel-concrete-steel sandwich beams, multi-
layer beam system etc). Though the behaviour of shear connectors has been under investigation
for many years, most studies have focused on the shear connector strength. Of the publications
available regarding the behaviour of the shear connectors, only few provide descriptions of the
shear connector load-slip curve to enable the determination of the shear connector stiffness
1
.
The shear connector load-slip curve is generally nonlinear, and there is no unified definition of
the shear connector stiffness. Johnson and May
2
defined the shear connector stiffness as the secant
stiffness at half the shear connector ultimate load.
Yam and Chapman
3
presented a study for the inelastic behaviour of simply supported
composite beams, based on Newmark s model. A nonlinear behaviour is assumed for the shear
connectors, which is presented in the following exponential form.
1
b
Q a e (1)
in which a

and b

are constants of idealized load-slip function of a shear connector, is the slip at
the interface, Q is the shear load on the connector. By choosing two points from the experimental
curve so that the slip in the second point is twice its value at the first point, the constants can be
defined as:

2
1
1 2
2
Q
a
Q Q
(2)

1
1 2 1
1
log
e
Q
b
Q Q
(3)
in which, subscripts 1 and 2 represent the points on the experimental load-slip curve for the
provided shear connector. Figure 1 shows a typical load-slip relationship (exponential formula).
629
1
Q
2 1
2
1
2
Q

Figure 1. Typical load-slip relationship for the standard push-out test
3
.
Al-Amery and Roberts
4
proposed a theoretical model for the analysis of composite beams with
partial interaction. In this model, the load-slip curve for the connectors is a modified form of the
exponential function suggested by Yam and Chapman
3
, as follows:
1 exp( . )
u
Q Q (4)
in which,
u
Q is the ultimate shear strength of a connector and

is a constant, which can be
determined from test results. For example:

1
ln
u
u
Q
Q Q
(5)
in which, is the slip corresponding to a load Q .
Although there are several mathematical expressions describing the shear connector load-slip
curves, the studies indicated that it was rather difficult to find a general regression formula for the
shear connector stiffness because of the extent of scatter in this value when plotted against other
parameters
5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.
RESISTANCE OF CONCRETE TO FIRE
In general, concrete has good properties with respect to fire resistance, since the period of time
under fire after which concrete can continue to perform satisfactorily is relatively high, but fire
introduces high temperature gradients, and as a result the hot surface layers tend to separate and
spall away from the cooler interior of the body. The formation of cracks is encouraged at joints, in
poorly compacted parts of the concrete, or in the planes of reinforcing bars. Once the reinforcement
has become exposed, it conducts heat and accelerates the action of heat
10
.
In this study, and in order to specify the change in the compressive strength of concrete after
heating at specified temperatures (300, 400, 500, 600 and 700)
o
C, three concrete cylinders of
dimensions 100mm*200mm, and specimens of concrete slab used in the manufacture of push-out
test, were put in an oven of high heating. The rating of heating used in this study is shown in Table
1. After heating the specimens to high temperatures for at least one hour, the heating was stopped;
the temperature was reduced gradually and the specimens were tested under normal conditions.
Figure 2 shows variation of concrete compressive strength after heating to high temperatures.
630
Table 1 Heating rate used in this study.
700 600 500 400 300 200 Degree of temperature (
o
C)
4 2.87 2.33 1.58 0.5 0.33 Time required to arrive the specific degree (hours)

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Temperature

(degree

centigrade)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
f
'
c

(
h
e
a
t
e
d
)

/

f
'
c

(
u
n
h
e
a
t
e
d
)
Presnt Study
Previous work (Ref. 10)

Figure 2. Compressive strength of concrete after heating to high temperatures.
MATERIAL PROPERTIES
strength between 30MPa to 40MPa at age of 28 days. The cement which was used in the mixture of
concrete was Ordinary Portland Cement (Spline) made in Lebanon and the sand was from Al-
Akhaidher area in Iraq with fineness modulus 2.8, while the gravel was a crushed with maximum
size equal to 14mm. The proportion of mixture (by weight) was 1 cement: 1.7 sand: 2 gravel with
water cement ratio equal to 0.45. At least three Cylinders 100mm*200mm were made from each
batch using in the manufacturing of the push-out test. These were cured under the same conditions
(the cylinder left in water up to 28 days) as the concrete slab and both the cylinders and the slabs
were heated in an oven, at the same time, after approximately 32 days (in air) beyond the end of
curing. The average cylinder compressive strength is 43MPa. A threaded bar is used as a connector
with specifications and details as given in Table 2.
Table 2 Specification and test results of threaded bar-average values.
Measured
diameter
(mm)
Connector type
Inner
*
Outer
u
T

from
tensile test
(kN)
u
Q from
push-out
test
(kN)
u
Q /
u
T

from test
Maximum
measured
slip
(mm)
Threaded bar along
the whole length
6.2 7.2 18.33 12 0.655 1.89
* Inner diameter is used in all calculations and relations.
631
The suggested push-out test consists of two steel columns of rectangular hollow section
100mm*100mm*6mm and one concrete slab of dimensions 450mm*300mm*100mm. The
connector which was used in this test is a bar threaded along the whole length. This bar is embedded
in the concrete slab and projected through the steel columns (details of connection as well as other
dimensions and details of push-out test are shown in Figure 3).
The load was applied on the concrete slab by steel plate used as a cupping to distribute the
applied force on the concrete part. Under each steel column a piece of wood was used also to
distribute the transmitted force from the concrete to the steel columns through the connector and to
prevent relative movement at the base of the columns. The total applied load was measured by a
loading machine and the relative movement (slip) between the concrete and the steel was measured
at each connector as well as at the base of concrete by using dial gages, so that five dial gage were
used and the average of these readings were taken to construct the load-slip relationship. It is
worthy to mention that the test was stopped when one of the connectors, at any location, is broken
(fractured).

Figure 3. Dimensions and details of modified push-out test. (a) Front view. (b) Side view. (c)
Top view. (d) Details of connection (magnified picture).
Eight push-out tests (of the same properties) were carried out in order to study the load-slip
relationship after heating to high temperatures. Three of which were tested without previous heating
(these were used to construct an average load-slip curve (reference curve)). The others were heated
to varying temperatures (300, 400, 500, 600 and 700)
o
C. One push out test was made for each
632
temperature. The connector was embedded in a concrete slab of push-out test and it was also
subjected to these temperatures. Load-slip relationship is constructed for each test depending on the
average value of five dial-gage measurements (dial gages were used to measure the slip at each
connector and at the base of concrete slab).
It is found that the connector force is not affect after these temperatures as shown in Figure 4,
but the amount of slip increase significantly with elevated heating temperatures. This increased slip
decreases the stiffness of the connector as shown in Figure 5. Figure 6 shows that the effect of
heating on the connector stiffness is greater than its effect on the concrete compressive strength
since the slope of the fitting curve (linear equation) between these two parameters is greater than 1
(i.e. the angle with horizontal line is greater than 45
o
). Figures 7 and 8 show pictures of concrete
slab of push-out after test. Splitting of concrete begins to occur at temperature 600
o
C from the
bottom connector to the top connector in the same side, but it does not cause the primary failure of
the specimen. The same is true for the case of specimen heated at temperature 700
o
C.
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00
Slip(mm)
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
C
o
n
n
e
c
t
o
r

f
o
r
c
e

(
k
N
)
Average Standard Error (S)=0.222
Average Correlation Coef.(R)=0.998
14.981(1-EXP(-1.022*X)), unheated
300 oC
400 oC
500 oC
600 oC
700 oC
Assumed Average Max. Value (Qu)=(12) kN
Max. Design Value=0.8*Qu
0.5*Qu

Figure 4. Load-slip relationship of connector after heating to different temperatures.
633
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Tempreture

(degree

centigrade)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
K
s

(
h
e
a
t
e
d
)

/

K
s

(
u
n
h
e
a
t
e
d
)
Ks=0.5*Qu/[slip at (0.5*Qu)]
This Point without Fire
(Normal Tempratutre of Weather)

Figure 5. Connector stiffness ratio after heating to different temperatures.
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
f'c

(heated)

/

f'c

(unheated)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
K
s

(
h
e
a
t
e
d
)

/

K
s

(
u
n
h
e
a
t
e
d
)
Standard Error=0.0885
Correlation Coef.=0.972
Experimental Data
Linear,Y=1.26*X-0.179

Figure 6. Variation of connector stiffness ratio with the concrete compressive strength ratio.
Y

X

634

(a) (b)
Figure 7. Photograph of push-out concrete slab after test. (a) Without heating. (b): Previously heated
to 700
o
C.

(a) (b)
Figure 8. Photograph of connector region after test. (a) Previously heated to 600
o
C. (b) Previously
heated to 700
o
C.
CONCLUSIONS
From the experiments on modified push-out test, it can be seen the following points:
1. The previous heating to different temperatures does not affect the ultimate force of the
connector which is used in this study (since the diameter is small, and the failure is
predominated by the fracturing of the connector instead of the splitting of concrete slab even
when used in unreinforced concrete).
2. The compressive strength is reduced significantly after heating to temperature equal 300
o
C in
comparison with unheated concrete.
3. Cracks are seen on the surface of concrete at temperature 500
o
C after heating (and before
loading).
4. Due to heating effect at varying temperatures (300~700)
o
C, the decrease in the ratio [ FK =
s
K (heating) /
s
K

(without heating)] of the connector stiffness is greater than the decrease in
the ratio [
c
Ff =
c
f (heating) /
c
f

(without heating)] of concrete compressive strength (i.e.
FK = 1.25 *
c
Ff ).
635
For future work, it is recommended to study the increase in strength with concrete age (1~28)
days and make comparison between the variation in concrete compressive strength due to previous
heating and due to concrete age on the load-slip relationship of the connector.

REFERENCES
1. Wang, Y. C., "Deflection of Steel-Concrete Composite Beams with Partial Shear Interaction",
J. of Structural Engineering, Vol. 129, No. 10, 1998, pp.1159-1165.
2. Johnson, R. P. and May, I. M., "Partial-Interaction Design of Composite Beams", J. of the
Structural Engineer, Vol. 53, No. 8, 1975, pp. 305-311.
Beams of Steel and Concrete", Proc. Instn. Civ. Engrs. , Vol. 41, 1968, pp. 651-683.
4. Al-Amery, R. I. M. and Roberts, T. M., "Nonlinear Finite Difference Analysis of Composite
Beams with Partial Interaction", J. of Computers and Structures, Vol. 35, No. 1, 1990, pp. 81-
87.
5. Khaleel, M. A., "Behaviour and Strength of Stud Connectors Subjected to Combined Shear and
Tension Loading in Composite Structures", M. Sc. Thesis, Al-Mustansiriya University,
Baghdad, Iraq, 1998.
6. Oduyemi, T. O. S. and Wright, H. D., "An Experimental Investigation into the Behaviour of
Double-Skin Sandwich Beams", J. Construct. Steel Res., Vol. 14, 1989, pp. 197-220.
Steel Sandwich Beams", J. Construct. Steel Res., Vol. 38, No. 3, 1996, pp. 257-279.
8. Al-Amery, R. I. and Zebun, M. A., "Nonlinear Behaviour of Shear Connectors in Layered
Beam System with Partial Interaction , Fifth Scientific Conference of College of Engineering,
Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003, pp.
9. BS5400: Part 5, "Steel, Concrete and Composite Bridges", British Standards Institution,
London, 1979.
10. Neville, A. M., "Properties of Concrete", Second Edition, 1977.
636
LOAD-SLIP RELATIONSHIP IN SANDWICH BEAMS USING
MODIFIED PUSH-OUT TEST
M. A. ZEBUN
ABSTRACT: In this work, a modified push-out test is proposed to study the load-slip relationship
in steel-concrete-steel sandwich beams. This relation is one of the most important factors that are
required in the analysis and design of steel-concrete-steel sandwich beams with partial interaction.
The diameter of the connector is assumed to be variable while the other parameters are kept
constants. The modification in this test in comparison with the standard test concentrated on the
use of steel tube-concrete slab-steel tube instead of concrete slab-steel (I-Section)-concrete slab (in
Standard Test) in order to be more compatible than the standard test in modelling the steel-
concrete-steel sandwich or double-skin beams. Threaded bar is used as a shear connector,
connected to the tube by a nut (the separation between the layers is eliminated and only interlayer
slip is assumed to exist) and the connector passes to the other tube through the concrete slab (thus
the connector is subjected to double shear force). These cases maximize the function of the
connector. A statistical analysis was performed and resulted in recommended values of the
constants of an equation that can be used to construct the load-slip relationship of shear connectors
in steel-concrete-steel sandwich beams.
INTRODUCTION
Steel-concrete-steel sandwich (SCSS) construction or double-skin composite (DSC) construction
is a relatively new and innovative form of construction consisting of a layer of plain concrete,
sandwiched between two layers of relatively thin steel plates, connected to the concrete by shear
connectors
1, 2, 3, 4
.
Different types of connectors have been used in composite construction such as rigid, bond,
flexible, composite and friction grip connectors
5
. The connectors are attached to the steel part
either by welding like the headed stud (which is commonly used in practice) or by tightening like
the bar with threaded ends penetrating through the concrete and the steel parts and tightened by
bolts (which is used in this study).
Most of the data on connectors have been obtained from various types of push-out tests. The
standard push-out test (as shown in Figure 1) and the other commonly used types of push-out test
consist usually of two concrete slabs and one in-between steel beam of I-section. These types are
used to simulate the behaviour of connector in composite concrete slab-steel (I-section) beam
6
, but
in SCSS construction the matter is different since the beam or the slab consists of two steel plates
and one concrete layer in-between; however, some researchers used standard push-out test in
modelling SCSS construction
7
. Thus the aim of this study is to suggest a modification on the
standard test by using two steel parts to sandwich a layer of concrete to simulate more properly the
behaviour of shear connector in steel-concrete-steel sandwich construction.
637
Figure 1. Push-out test on shear connectors
6
Yam and Chapman
8
presented a study for the inelastic behaviour of simply supported
composite beams, based on Newmark s model. A nonlinear behaviour is assumed for the shear
connectors, which is presented in the following exponential form:
1
b
Q a e (1)
in which, a

and b

are constants of idealized load-slip function of a shear connector,

is the slip
at interface, Q

is the shear load on a shear connector. By choosing two points from the
experimental curve so that the slip in the second point
2

is twice its value
1

at the first point
then the constants can be defined as:

2
1
1 2
2
Q
a
Q Q
(2)

1
1 2 1
1
log
e
Q
b
Q Q
(3)
in which, subscripts 1 and 2 represent the points on the experimental load-slip curve for the
provided shear connector. Figure 2 shows a typical load-slip relationship (exponential formula).
NOTE: Reinforcement should be of
10 mm diameter mild steel bars
6
.

638
1
Q
2 1
2
1
2
Q

Figure 2. Typical load-slip relationship for the standard push-out test
8
Al-Amery and Roberts
9
proposed a theoretical model for the analysis of composite beams
with partial interaction. In this model, the load-slip curve for the connectors is presented in a
modified form with respect to the exponential function of Yam and Chapman
8
, as follows:
1 exp( . )
u
Q Q (4)
in which,
u
Q

is the ultimate shear strength of a connector and

is a constant, which can be
determined from test results. For example:

1
ln
u
u
Q
Q Q
(5)
in which, is the slip corresponding to a load Q .
Back analysis of numerous test results has indicated that the characteristic shear resistance
(
u
Q ) can be either determined from push shear tests or taken conservatively as the lesser of
2
:

2
0.8 / 4
u u
Q f d

(6)
0.8
u u
Q T (7)

2 0.5
0.29 ( )
u c c
Q d f E

(8)
0.2 ( / 1)
s
h d

for 3 / 4
s
h d (9)
1.0

for / 4
s
h d

(10)
in which d ,
s
h

and
2
500 /
u
f N mm

are the shank diameter, overall height and ultimate
tensile strength of the stud, and
c
f and
c
E

are the characteristic cylinder strength and the secant
modulus of the concrete.
The suggested push-out test consists of two columns of rectangular hollow section
100mm*100mm*6mm and one concrete slab of dimensions 450mm*300mm*100mm, as shown in
Figure 3. The connector which is used in this test is a bar threaded along the whole length. The
connector is embedded in the concrete layer and projected through the steel columns.
639
The load is applied on the concrete with a steel plate as a capping to distribute the applied
force on the concrete part. Under each steel column a piece of wood is used also to distribute the
transmitted force from the concrete to the steel columns through the connectors and prevent
relative movement at the base of the columns. The total applied load is measured by a loading
machine and the relative movement (slip) between concrete and steel is measured at each
connector as well as at the base of the concrete by using dial gages. Five dial gages are used and
the averages of these readings are taken to construct the load-slip relationship. It is worthy to
mention that the test is stopped when one of the connectors at any location is fractured.

Figure 3. Dimensions and details of modified push-out test; (A): Front view; (B): Side view;
(C): Top view; (D): Details of connection (magnified picture).
strength between 30Mpa to 40MPa at age of 28 days. The cement which is used in the mixture of
concrete is ordinary Portland cement (Spline) made in Lebanon and the sand is (Al-Akhaidher)
with fineness modulus 2.8, while the gravel is crushed and having maximum size equal to 14mm.
The proportion of mixture (by weight) is 1cement: 1.7sand: 2gravel with water cement ratio equal
to 0.45. At least three cylinders 150mm*30mm are made from each batch used to manufacture the
test push-out sample. These cylinders and the push-out sample were cured under the same
conditions. The sample and the cylinders were left in water up to 28 day and they were tested at
the same time after approximately 32 day in air beyond the end of curing. The average cylinder
640
compressive strength is 43MPa. A threaded bar is used as a connector with specifications and
details as given in Table 1.
Eq. 7 gives values of
u
Q

greater than that of the push-out test (the factor which is used in
this Eq. (0.8) gives values for
u
Q

greater than the push-out test ) thus it is required to find another
factor by dividing
u u
Q T

and taking the least value to be in the save side. For this study this factor
must be less than or equal to 0.65.
Table 1. Specifications and test results of threaded bar-average values.
Measured
diameter
(mm)
Name of
threaded
bar
Inner Outer
u
T

from
tensile
test
(kN)
u
Q

from
push-out
test
(kN)
u u
Q T

from
test
u
Q

from
Eq. 7
(kN)
u
Q

from
Eq. 8
(kN)
Maximum
Measured
Slip
(mm)
A 10 11.8 48.67 36 0.74 38.94 46.5 2.86
B 6.2 7.2 18.33 11.75 0.64 14.66 17.3 2.07
C 5 5.75 12 8.5 0.71 9.6 11 1.22

The inner diameter is used in all calculations except Eq. 8 which depends on the outer
diameter. Three of push-out tests for each diameter are made, and five dial gauge readings are
taken for each test and the average values of these readings are used to carry out the constants a

and b

which are used to define the load-slip relationship (exponential formula). Instead of using
Eq. 2 and 3 suggested by Yam and Chapman to find the constants a

and b , statistical computer
program (Curve Expert Version 1.34, Copyright 1995-1997 by Daniel Hyams) is used, this
program will make number of trails to find the best constants values ( a

and b ) which gives the
best fit for the experimental data by using chi-square method. Table 2 shows the average value of
constants a

and b

of three push-out tests for each diameter of threaded bar. Figure 4 shows
graphical comparison between load-slip curve carried out from push-out test (each curve represent
the average of three tests) with those from Equation 1 using the statistically obtained (a and b)
constants.
Figures 5 and 6 represent the effect of the parameter under this study (diameter of bar) on the
connector ultimate force and maximum measured slip. Figure 7 shows pictures of the connector
region after failure.
Table 2. Average constants values.
Constants
Name of
threaded bar
a

b

Correlation coefficient (R)
Standard error
(S)
A 31.101 4.155 0.983 1.837
B 10.686 2.168 0.924 1.405
C 7.817 2.832 0.927 0.995

641
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Slip (mm)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
C
o
n
n
e
c
t
o
r

f
o
r
c
e

(
k
N
)
Expermental results of (A)
Y=31.101(1-Exp(-4.155X))
Experimental results of (B)
Y=10.686(1-Exp(-2.168X))
Experimental results of (C)
Y=7.817(1-Exp(-2.832X))
Y
X
Figure 4. Load-slip relationship carried out from modified push-out test and statistical
program
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00
Diameter

(mm)
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
C
o
n
n
e
c
t
o
r

F
o
r
c
e

(
k
N
)

Figure 5. Variation of connector force with the diameter of threaded bar
642
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00
Diameter

(mm)
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
M
a
x
.

S
l
i
p

(
m
m
)

Figure 6. Variation of maximum slip with the diameter of threaded bar

(A) (B)
Figure 7. Types of failure; (A): Local failure (Crushing of concrete surface around the
connector; (B): Control failure (fracturing of the connector by direct shear).
CONCLUSIONS
From the suggested test, described in this study, and depending on the type of failure at these tests
for varying diameter, it can be concluded that shear failure in the connector is the control failure,
643
while at concrete, only local failure is noticed (crushing of concrete surface around the connector
which only affects on the slip value by increasing the value of slip).
The split failure of concrete slab is unlikely to occur in such test. The split failure of concrete
occurs only when the concrete has low compressive strength (it will be described in the next
research) or when the threaded bar has a diameter or strength greater than those covered in this
study.
Pull-out of threaded bar is also unlikely to occur since the bar is threaded along the whole
length and fastened by nuts at each steel column.
Eq. 6 or 7, which estimate the connector ultimate force (controlled Eq. in this study), requires
using a reduction factor equal to 0.65 instead of 0.8 used in the previous studies
2
(to be more in
the safe side).
For future work, it is recommended to study the effect of using a bar without threads and nuts
but welded directly to the steel parts and to make comparison between these two cases. It is also
recommended to study the effect of compressive strength of concrete, effect of impact loading,
fatigue loading or fire on the behaviour of the connectors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper is prepared in Civil Engineering Department /College of Engineering/ Al-Mustansiriya
University. The author would like to thank Dr. R. Al-Mahaidi who is head of group of structures
in Monash University, Australia, for his assistance in getting the relating references.
REFERENCES
1. Wright, H. D., Oduyemi, T. O. S. and Evans, H. R., "The Design of Double Skin Composite
Elements", J. Construct. Steel Res., Vol. 19, 1991, pp. 111-132.
Steel Sandwich Beams", J. Construct. Steel Res., Vol. 38, No. 3, 1996, pp. 257-279.
3. Al-Amery, R. I. and Zebun, M. A., "Nonlinear Behaviour of Shear Connectors in Layered
Beam System with Partial Interaction", Fifth Scientific Conference of College of Engineering,
Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003.
4. Clubley, S. K., Moy, S. S. J and Xiao, R. Y., "Shear Strength of Steel-Concrete-Steel
Composite Panels. Part-I: Testing and Numerical Modelling", J. Construct. Steel Res., Vol.
59, 2003, pp. 781-794.
5. Khaleel, M. A., "Behaviour and Strength of Stud Connectors Subjected to Combined Shear
and Tension Loading in Composite Structures" M. Sc. Thesis, Al-Mustansiriya University,
1998, 145 pp.
6. BS 5400, Part 5, "Steel, Concrete and Composite Bridges", British Standards Institution,
London, 1979.
7. Roberts, T. M. and Dogan, O., "Fatigue of Welded Stud Shear Connectors in Steel-Concrete-
Steel Sandwich Beams", J. Construct. Steel Res., Vol. 45, No. 3, 1998, pp 301-320.
Beams of Steel and Concrete", Proc. Instn. Civ. Engrs. , Vol. 41, 1968, pp. 651-683.
9. Al-Amery, R. I. M. and Roberts, T. M., "Nonlinear Finite Difference Analysis of Composite
Beams with Partial Interaction", Journal of Computers and Structures, Vol. 35, No. 1, 1990,
pp. 81-87.
644

BUCKLING OF STEEL PORTAL FRAMES CONSIDERING MATERIAL
NONLINEARITY: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

G. ABU-FARSAKH
Department of Civil Engineerong, Al-Isra Private University
P.O.Box22, Al-Isra University P. O. 11622, Amman-Jordan

Y. HUNATI AND H. QADAN

Department of Civil Engineerong, Jordan University
Amman, Jordan

ABSTRACT: In this research, an experimental study was performed to investigate the failure
buckling-modes of sixteen steel frames with IPE cross-sections. Each frame has either fixed or
hinged end conditions at the column-base and was subjected to two equal static loads at two
different symmetrical locations on the girder or directly on columns. The loads were obtained
using two hydraulic jacks acting simultaneously through a control valve. The data were
aquisitioned using certain instruments: electronic strain gauges and LVDT-displacement
transducers to measure strains and deflections, respectively, at different locations on the tested
frame. Mechanical tensile properties of steel were obtained using direct uniaxial tensile tests on
steel coupons cut from various steel parts; flanges, webs of the IPE-sections. Tests on stub
columns were, also, carried out to obtain the compressive properties of steel. Averaged properties
were obtained using at least three steel coupons for each part.The nonlinear material properties
were determined using the secant modulus model
6
, which represented the secant modulus in terms
of its corresponding plastic energy density . The model formula was obtained using a special
computer program prepared for this purpose. Furthermore, the nonlinear material model was also
incorporated in the ASD and LRFD design codes. Several modes of failure were detected for the
tested frames such as: minor-axis buckling of column, lateral-torsional buckling of girder and web-
shear buckling of girder. A comparative study was carried out between experimental and
theoritecal results obtained from the analysis of sixteen portal frames using several methods:
finite element quasi-linear analysis with linear elastic material, nonlinear-material analysis, AISC-
ASD and AISC-LRFD methods. The results of analysis were reasonably close to the
corresponding experimental ones.
INTRODUCTION
Many researchers have investigated the nonlinear material behavior of structures. Ziehkiewicz
1

(1971) and Marcal
2
(1971) early adopted material nonlinearity effect on structures, particularly,
the effect of plasticity on the tangential structure stiffness matrix relating the load-increment to the
displacement-increment. In an alternative work, stress and strain increments were incorporated in
the tangential structure stiffness matrix [Pope
3
(1956), Marcal et. al.
4
(1967). Zienkiewicz et. el
5

(1969) firstly proposed a special form of the initial elastic stiffness matrix referred to as the initial-
stress method.
Abu-Farsakh
6
(1989) developed a new model for non-linear material behavior. Although the
model was mainly developed for composite materials but it can be used successfully for isotropic
materials. The model expressed the nonlinear secant mechanical-property as a function of the
645

plastic energy density of an equivalent linear elastic system. In his work, two material models
were developed; the original-model represented a direct application to the mechanical property
equation, whereas the modified-model was an iterative model of the original one. The new models
can treat multiple mechanical property nonlinearities and can predict strains very reasonably at
high stress levels.
Salmon and Johnson
7
(1990) followed the LRFD in tackling the nonlinearity problem of steel
structures. Crisfield
8
(1991) used finite element technique utilizing the Newton-Raphson iteration
technique to account for different nonlinearities encountered in trusses, beams, frames, and space
structures. Toma and Chen
9
(1994) compared the test results of full-size steel portal frames using
second order inelastic analysis. Chen and Shoal
10
(1995) discussed in detail the second-order
analysis accounting for both material and geometric nonlinearities. Applications on steel portal
frames were presented and compared with the corresponding LRFD-solution.
Moy
11
(1996) explained in detail the plastic methods for steel and concrete structures. Ziemian
et. al.
12
(1997) discussed in detail the second-order inelastic analysis. It was concluded that, the
second-order inelastic analysis could not be used to full advantage if designs are required to satisfy
all the current AISC-LRFD member strength equations. In any regard, the effectiveness of an
inelastic design method can be realized only when: (1) used in conjunction with performance-type
strength criteria such as the prevention of system and member instability under factored loads and
(2) coupled with necessary serviceability requirements.
Archer
13
(2001) presented an algorithm based on the requirements of the nonlinear static
procedure specified by the guidelines for seismic rehabilitations of buildings. It was formulated for
two and three-dimensional analysis, with the two dimensional analysis initially applied and tested.
The algorithm implemented a displacement control technique, which used a single displacement
component as an independent variable. This procedure involved the use of a single fictitious spring
attached to a specified control node. Abdel-Jawad et. al.
14
(2002) conducted a comparison
between a four well-known failure criteria using the Abu-Farsakh nonlinear material model.
OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE
The present work is mainly aimed to obtain experimentally the critical buckling loads of columns
in portal-frame structures and to detect the associated failure modes. Such modes will be : minor-
axis buckling of column, lateral-torsional buckling of girder and web-shear buckling of girder. The
effect of material nonlinearity is accounted for through incorporating a nonlinear material model
(developed by the first author) in the ASD and LRFD design formulae. A comparison will be
carried out between experimental and theoretical results obtained from the analysis of sixteen
portal frames using several methods: finite element quasi-linear analysis with linear elastic
material, nonlinear-material analysis, AISC-ASD and AISC-LRFD methods.
STRESS-STRAIN MODEL
For an isotropic material with elasto-plastic behavior as steel, the secant modulus from the stress-
strain curve is expressed as a function of the plastic strain energy density U
p
of an equivalent
linear elastic system (Abu-Farsakh 1989) as follows:

646

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
po
pi
C
po
pi
o s
U
U
D
U
U
B E E 1 (1)
where,
E
s
: Secant modulus
E
o
: Initial modulus
B, C, and D: Constants determined by specifying sampling points by least squares method.
U
pi
: Plastic strain energy density
U
Po
: A quantity to non-dimensionlize the plastic strain energy density
The plastic strain energy density U
p
(see Fig.1), is expressed as:

e s p
U U U = (2)
where,
U
s
: the total strain energy density of the equivalent elastic system
U
e
: the elastic strain energy density due to unloading
In the present case, for an isotropic material the energy terms appear as:

e e
U
s
U
=
=
2
1
2
1
(3)
where,
: total stress
: total strain

e
: elastic strain due to unloading
EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
All the experimental tests were carried out at the Structural Engineering Lab at Jordan University
of Science and Technology. The tests (Fig. 1) were performed on the steel strong floor in the space
frame loading-area (designed and fabricated by DARTEC- Limited). Two loading hydraulic-jacks
each having a 200 kN compression load capacity (400 kN capacity total) with a built-in load cell
positioned at the end of each jack. The loading assembly at the end of each jack is connected to a
steel plate (25mm thick) using long bolts (=20mm). The steel strong floor has threaded-holes of
30mm diameter and spaced at 500mm c/c in both directions in the horizontal plane.
Each frame was placed in the testing-rig after the following preparation steps:
1- Fixing the load assemblies to the required loading positions.
2- Fixing the end supports of each frame using 30 mm bolts to the steel strong floor through
50mm thick plates. A proper end-fixity is achieved in-plane and out-of-plane of the frame as
illustrated in Fig. 2.
3- In order to ensure a proper end-fixity at supports, four auxiliary plates (30mm thick) were used,
two on either side of each support, to connect the frame end-plate to the steel strong floor Six
long-bolts of 30 mm nominal diameter for each plate (three on each side), see Fig 2.
647

4- The hinged support at the frame ends was achieved using the detailing shown in Fig. 3.
5- Two lateral supports are provided at the girder-ends and one intermediate, see Fig. 5.
6- Digital signals from strain gauges, deflection-measurerment devices (LVDTs) and loading
cells are transferred through a data-acquisition system to a PC.

After preparation of the frame sample, an initial load of 2 kN is applied and then released just
prior to testing in order to insure no loss of load due to any movement at the column ends. During
each loading increment, digital signals from strain-guages, displacement-transducers, and load-
cells are monitored and recorded through the data-acquisition system. Failure modes of the
tested frames were detected visually during each test.
The rate-of-loading during the test was adjusted between 0.6 to 0.8 kN/sec until the load
reached a bout 80% of the expected failure load after which the loading-mode was changed to
displacement-control using a displacement rate of 0.01mm/sec. This was done so, in order to
achieve reliable results of the true behavior of the tested frames at all loading-stages. In this study ,
experimental tests were carried out on sixteen portal-frames with IPE cross-sections as shown in
Table 1 . In this Table the girder cross-section is taken constant for all the frames (IPE160), while ,
the columns have different cross-sections.

Fig. 1- Experimental set-up for one of tested frames.
648

Steel strong floor
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of test set-up; showing details of fixed support (Elevation View).
Hydraulic-jack
(200 kN)
830mm
steel rods

LVDT
80x50x25 mm steel plate
50 mm thick
steel plate
Stand
IPE160
30 mm steel
bolt & nut
30 mm steel
plate
5mm steel plate
welded to the beam
400x400x50
steel plate
Steel block
30mm steel plate
Loading Frame
Load cell
649

DERIVATION OF NONLINEAR MATERIAL MODEL
The material property constants B, C, and D (Eq. 1) are determined by specifying three sampling
data points on the stress-strain curve derived from the experimental data. The best-fit curve is
obtained using the method of least squares. The last data point on the uniaxial stress-strain curve
must be considered as one of the three sampling points. By the substitution of the values of the
plastic strain energy density extracted from the experimental curve and the corresponding secant
modulus at each sampling point in equation (1) three equations in B, C, and D are formed.
Solution of the equations results in the determination of the secant-modulus property constants.
In this study, many trials were attempted to derive the secant modulus constants (B, C, and D)
using the tensile uniaxial-test for tensile properties and stub-column tests for compressive
properties. For this purpose, a special program was prepared using Visual Basic programming
language. The calculated constants are listed in Table 2. The predicted (E
s
/E
o
) ratios (using Eq. 1)
are plotted versus (U
P
/U
po
) ratios along with the corresponding experimental data, as shown in Fig.
4. Good agreement between both results has been achieved.

Table 1-Dimensions of the frame specimens.
Frame
no.
Girder
span (m)
Column
height (m)
Distance of load
Application (m)
Beam
section
Column
section
Support
type
FR1 2.7 IPE160 hinged
0.4
0
.
0.4
0
.
.
.
0
0
0
0
FR2
FR3
FR4
FR5
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7 FR6
FR7
FR8
FR9
FR10
FR11
FR12
FR13
FR14
FR15
FR16
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
0
0.8
0.8
0.3
0.6
0
0.3
0.6
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE140
IPE120
IPE100
IPE080
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
IPE160
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
fixed
hinged
hinged
hinged
hinged
hinged
650

MODES OF BUCKLING IN TESTED FRAMES
Sixteen frames were tested in different loading positions in order to obtain various failure
modes. Three main buckling modes were detected; minor-axis buckling in column, lateral-
torsional buckling in girder and web shear buckling modes, as illustrated in Table 3. The buckling
loads of all the tested frames (FR1 to FR16) are also shown in Table 3. Minor-axis
buckling only occurred in one of the columns, when the hydraulic-jacks are positioned at the top
of frame-columns. On the other hand, the lateral-torsional buckling mode was observed when the
both jacks are positioned at one-third and two-thirds of the frame-girder, simultaneously. Web
shear buckling was only observed in the case of frame FR8 due to missing of vertical-web
stiffners.

-
0.00
0

10000 20000 30000 40000 5000 6000
(U
p
/U
po
)
(E
s
/E
o
)
Eq.1
Exp
Fig. 4- Plots of secant-modulus ratios versus plastic strain energy
densities.

0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00

Column of the
frame
Plate 300x300x30
25mm steel rod
Fillet weld of size10
Hollow steel rod
inner dimeter=27
mm,
Plate
Fig. 3- Details of hinged support.
651

Fig.-5 Schematic diagram showing the lateral support.

10 mm thick steel plate
welded to the H-section
30mm bolt and
nut to connect the
steel plate to the
steel strong floor
HEA300 steel section
30mm thick.steel plate (a clamp)

230mm bolts

30mm steel plate

Frame section

Table 2. Material constants of secant-modulus equation.
E
o
(GPa) B C D U
po

2.00E+08 0.450327 0.08204 0.000002 1
652

PROPPED CANTILEVER MODEL
Since the mode of failure in about half of the considered frames is minor-axis buckling in the
frame-column (FR4, FR7, FR10, FR13 to FR16), such frames are analyzed as propped cantilever
models using one column stiffness. This type of modeling is chosen in order to simplify the
analysis and to show how close the propped cantilever model to the real one without the necessity
to analyze the whole frame. That is, the effect of cross-girder stiffness can be neglected in the case
of axial compression load acting directly at top of frame-column. Moreover, it is easier to verify
and use the related AISC-code formulae. The analysis is carried out based on quasi-linear finite
element analysis using linear and nonlinear material behavior and compared to both AISC-ASD
and AISC-LRFD methods. Results of the critical buckling load (P
cr
) are plotted versus the
slenderness-ratio for buckling about minor-axis (i.e. y-axis), as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, and
compared with the corresponding experimental ones. The theoretical buckling loads are reasonably
close to the experimental ones (P
exp
).
Table 3. Failure modes and failure loads of tested frames.
Frame No. Failure mode
Failure load (kN)
Lateral torsional buckling in girder
Minor axis buckling in columns
Web shear buckling in girder
Web shear buckling in girder
FR
FR 1
FR 2
FR 3
FR3R*
FR 4
FR 5
FR 6
FR 7
FR 8
FR 9
FR10
FR11
FR12
FR13
FR14
FR15
16
416
150
89.9
75.6
317
137.6
158
413
142
109
385
184
100
283.6
230
200
100
Minor axis buckling
* : Repeated test.
653

CONCLUSIONS
Regading the experiemtnal outcomes and comparison with the theoritical analysis of the steel
portal-frames, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. Several modes of buckling have been observed and the corresponding buckling loads were
obtained. Three main buckling modes were detected; minor-axis buckling in frame-column,
lateral-torsional buckling and web shear-buckling in frame-girder.
2. The propped-cantilever approach was adequate and suitable for prediction of the buckling load
in case of minor-axis buckling of frame-columns.
Fig. 7- Comparison between theoretical and experimental buckling
loads considering nonlinear material behavior.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
50 55 60 65 70 75 80
85 90 95 100
Slenderness-ratio (KL/r)
y

P (kN)
EXP
ASD
LRFD
Pq
P
L
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
P(kN)
ASD
LRFD
EXP
Pq
P
L
Slenderness-ratio (KL/r)
y

Fig. 6- Comparison between theoretical and experimental
buckling loads considering linear material behavior.
654

3. The quasi-linear finite element method compared well with ASD and LRFD methods when
material nonlinearity is considered, especially, for slenderness ratios greater than 60. The
present method compared reasonably with the experimental results of the tested frames for
slenderness ratios greater than 70 and 65 using linear and nonlinear material-behavior,
respectively.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is part of PhD. thesis of H. Qadan at Civil Engineering Department, Jordan University.
The experimental work was conducted in the Structural Lab. of Civil Engineering Department at
Jordan University of Science and Technology.
REFERENCES
1. Zienckiewicz, O.C., The finite element in engineering science. McGraw-Hill, London, 1971.
2. Marcal, P.V., 1971. Finite element analysis with material nonlinearities-theory and practice.
Recent advances in matrix methods of structural analysis and design, Editor. R.H Callagher
et.al., The University Alabama Press, 1967, pp. 257-282.
3. Pope, G., A discrete element method for analysis of elastic-plastic stress problems, Royal
aircraft estab, TR SM65-10, 1965.
4. Marcal, P.V. and King, I.P., Elastic-Plastic analysis of two-dimensional systems by the finite
element method, Inernationa Journal of Mechanical Science, 9(3), 1967, pp.143-155.
5. Zienckiewicz, O.C. Vallipan, S. and King, I.P., Elastic-plastic solutions of engineering
problems: Initial stress, finite element approach, International of Numerical Methods in
Engineering. 1, 1969, pp. 75-100.
6. Abu-Farsakh, G.A., New material models for nonlinear stress-strain behavior of composite
material, Composites, 20 (4), 1989, pp. 349-360.
7. Salmon,C.G. and Johnson, J., Steel Structures, Harper Collins, USA, 1990.
8. Crisfield, M.A., Non-linear finite element analysis of solids and structures. John Wiley and
Sons ltd, Chi Chester, 1991.
9. Toma, S. and chen, W.F., Calibration Frames for Second-Order Iinelastic Analysis in Japan,
Journal of. Constructional. Steel Research, 28, 1994, pp. 51-77.
10. Chen, W.F. and Sohal, I., Plastic design and second-order analysis of steel frames. Springer-
Verlag New York, 1995.
11. Moy, S.J., Plastic methods for steel and concrete, Macmillan Press. Ltd, London, 1996.
12. Ziemian, R.D. and Miller, A.R., Inelastic analysis and design: frames with members in mirror
axis bending, Journal of structural engineerin , 118(4), 1997, pp. 151-156.
13. Archer, G.C., A constant displacement iteration algorithm for nonlinear static pushover
analysis, Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering, 2, 2001, pp.120-134.
14. Abdel-Jawad, Y.A. Abu-Farsakh, G.A. and Al-Abhari, K.O, Prediction of failure of laminated
fibrous composite materials, Journal of Structural Engineering, 28 (16), 2002, pp. 183-189.
655
656

FULL-SCALE DYNAMIC TESTING OF THE ALFRED ZAMPA
MEMORIAL SUSPENSION BRIDGE
A. M. WAHBEH, J. P. CAFFERY, F. TASBIHGOO
Department of Civil Engineering, California State Polytechnic University
3801 W. Temple Avenue, Pomona, California, USA
S. F. MASRI
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Southern California
3620 Vermont Street, Los Angeles, California, USA
J. CONTE, X. HE, B. MOAVENI, A. ELGAMAL
Department of Structural Engineering, University of California at San Diego
Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California., USA

ABSTRACT: There has been a strong interest in full-scale testing of large dispersed civil
structures. Most full-scale tests were performed on either buildings or small bridges, where wind
was the source of excitation in most cases. In addition, it has been demonstrated in many studies
experimental data from structures could vary significantly from mathematical analysis model
predictions. An experimental study completed by Rainer and Selst
1
on the Lions Gate suspension
bridge in Canada indicated the computed frequencies and mode shapes for the linear stiffness
model varied substantially from the design results. Hence, performing a full-scale dynamic study
on large-scale structures is the most reliable method for determining the dynamical characteristics,
and the most reliable method for calibrating the relevant mathematical model.
The research team, a collaboration between the University of Southern California (USC) and
the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), with the assistance of the California
Department of Transportation (Caltrans), performed a large-scale dynamic experiment on the
newly constructed Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (AZB), prior to its opening for traffic. The
bridge, which spans the Carquinez strait, is located within a few miles of several active faults.
The bridge was opened for traffic on 8 November 2003.
The research team conducted a demonstration study to measure the dynamic properties of the
bridge by instrumenting the bridge deck. Two loaded trucks (BS-12) and speed bumps were used
as the source of excitation for the bridge. These trucks traveled at various speeds and directions
over the speed-bumps in order to induce an impact load, and excite several modes of the bridge,
including torsional ones. The measured dynamic parameters included natural frequencies, mode
shapes, and damping.
INTRODUCTION
Full-scale testing is the most reliable method to determine the true dynamic properties (e.g.,
natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes) of a structure, which can then serve as a
basis for validating and/or updating analytical models of that structure so that these models
represent the actual structural properties and boundary conditions. Furthermore, the dynamic
characteristics extracted from the dynamic response measurements are also essential for structural
safety evaluation and structural health monitoring.
657

Full-scale dynamic tests were conducted on the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge known as the
New Carquinez Bridge (NCB), in November 2003, just before opening of the bridge to traffic.
Forced vibration tests based on controlled traffic loads and vehicle-induced impact loads were
conducted. The vibration response of the bridge was measured through an array of 34 uni-axial
and 10 tri-axial force-balance accelerometers from the UCLA-NEES mobile field laboratory
(http://nees.ucla.edu) deployed along the entire length of the bridge. These accelerometers were
installed at 25 selected stations along both sides of the bridge deck. A total of 64 channels of
acceleration response data were recorded simultaneously, including 25 vertical, 25 horizontal, and
14 longitudinal motion components. Dynamic tests on bridges are usually subdivided into two
groups: (a) forced vibration tests and (b) ambient vibration tests. Forced vibration tests are directly
related to the application of standard techniques of experimental modal analysis, in which the
bridge is usually excited by artificial means such as eccentric or linear inertial shakers (Halling et
al. 2001, Brownjohn et al. 2003)
2, 3
or drop weights (Abdel Wahab & De Roeck, 1998)
4
. In
general, forced vibration tests provide better results than ambient vibration tests, since (a) well-
defined input excitations are used in the modal identification procedure, and (b) the excitations
can be optimized to enhance the response of the vibration modes of interest.
DESCRIPTION OF BRIDGE
The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (AZB) also known as the New Carquinez Bridge (NCB) is
located 20 miles northeast of San Francisco on I-80. The bridge, which spans the Carquinez strait,
is located within a few miles of several active faults. Figure 1 shows the location of this bridge.
The bridge was opened for traffic on 8 November 2003.

Figure 1. Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge.
658

Long-span bridges have not been build in the U.S. for the past 36 years since the Verrazano
Narrows bridge was opened for traffic in 1964. The Alfred Zampa long-span suspension bridge
with a span of 2,390 feet has many firsts recognitions. It is the first orthotropic steel box girder
suspension bridge ever to be build in the U.S. It is the first bridge in the U.S. located in a
potentially high seismic risk area, and the first bridge in high seismic area with concrete towers.
The bridge's main span is 2390 ft, while the side spans are 482 and 593 ft. The overall span on the
bridge is 3465 ft. Figure 2 depicts the overall dimensions of the bridge. The bridge consists of
two reinforced concrete towers that rise about 410 ft above the water level. Each tower leg
consists of a hollow box section with spirally reinforced corner pilasters about 3.3 ft in diameter
connected by 19.7 in thick walls. This hollow cellular section was needed to provide superior
seismic performance as well as agreeable aesthetics. The tower legs were designed to behave
elastically under the most severe earthquake forces with limited inelasticity being permitted at the
tower base. Two reinforced concrete struts were designed to remain elastic.
The use of the orthotropic box girder (OBG) is particularly effective in resisting bending
stresses because of the large flange area. In addition, it provides adequate torsional rigidity
against wind, seismic and other asymmetrical loads. The OBG is 9.8 ft deep and 95.1 ft wide.
The edge plates are shaped to provide an aerodynamically stable cross section. Figure 2 shows the
schematic of the OBG.

Figure 2. Overall view of the steel orthotropic box girder.
BRIDGE INSTRUMENTATIONAND DATA COLLECTION
Equipment from the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation UCLA
field testing site (NEES@UCLA) was used to perform the dynamic tests on the Alfred Zampa
Memorial Bridge. The NEES@UCLA monitoring system deployed for this study consisted of:
1. EpiSensor accelerometers from Kinemetrics, Inc., including both EpiSensor ES-T (tri-axial)
and EpiSensor ES-U (uni-axial). The EpiSensor force-balanced accelerometers have a wide
frequency bandwidth from DC to 200Hz, a large amplitude range (user scalable from +/- 0.25g
to +/- 4.0g, set at +/- 2.0g for these experiments), and a wide dynamic range (140dB+ for ES-U
and 155dB+ for ES-T).
2. Q330 data loggers from Kinemetrics, Inc., to provide signal conditioning, analog to digital
(A/D) conversion, GPS time stamping for synchronization across multiple nodes, local
659

memory buffer and IP-network communication capabilities via hardwire or wireless. The
nominal performance specifications for the Q330 data loggers include 24-bit A/D resolution,
135-dB dynamic range, and a time stamp (time synchronization) accuracy of < 0.1ms.
3. Antelope data acquisition software (Boulder Real Time Technologies 2004) for real-time
monitoring and recording of data. A data concentrator which consists of a field-ruggedized
UNIX workstation running Antelope, networking switches and wireless communication radios,
was used to centrally record the data from each of the Q330 data logger nodes.

The mobile command center was located near the center line of the bridge main span and the
accelerometers were installed at selected locations (stations) along both sides of the bridge deck.
Along the West side of the bridge deck, 10 EpiSensors ES-T and 12 EpiSensors ES-U were
installed at 14 stations, with either a single EpiSensor ES-T (tri-axial) or three EpiSensors ES-U
(uni-axial) at each station to measure the vertical, transversal and longitudinal motion components.
The East side of the bridge deck was instrumented with 22 EpiSensors ES-U at 11 stations with
only two uni-axial instruments per station measuring the vertical and transversal motion
components. Figure 3 shows the sensor locations along the bridge deck. Each Q330 has two 3-
channel ports (A and B) to connect sensors. A hub was used to connect up to three EpiSensors ES-
U to each port. Due to a limited number of hubs available at the time of the experiment and the
narrow time window available to perform the experiment, accelerometers at stations 6SW, 6SE,
7SE, 6NE and 7NE (see Fig. 3) were not recorded.
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
In order to induce forced vibration on the bridge, two loaded trucks (BS-12) and speed bumps
were used as the source of impact load on the bridge. These trucks traveled at various speeds and
directions over the speed-bumps in order to induce the impact loads, and excite several modes of
the bridge, including torsional ones. The measured dynamic parameters included natural
frequencies, mode shapes, and damping. Figure 4 depicts the speed bumps and traveling loaded
trucks utilized in this study. It can be shown from Figure 4 that the wheel of the truck was several
inches above the speed bumps pads. The response of the structure was measured via the deployed
instrumentation on the bridge. The impact loading was performed in several locations
accompanied with trucks traveling in the same direction for the maximum possible excitation in
147 728 181
South span North span
7SW 5SW 4SW 3SW 2SW 1SW 0W 1NW 2NW 3NW 4NW 5NW 7NW
7NE 1NE 0E 2NE 5NE 4NE 3NE 1SE 2SE 3SE 4SE 5SE 7SE
54.86 57.00 54.86 66.14 54.86 76.29 54.86
6 NW
6 NE
6 SW
6 SE
Center line of main span
Figure 3. Locations of accelerometers (EpiSensors ES-T and ES-U) along the bridge deck (unit: m)
660

such direction, and also trucks traveling in opposite direction in order to excite the torsional modes
of the bridge.

Figure 4. Loaded BS-12 truck traveling over speed bumps at various locations on the bridge.

661

Figure 5 and 6 show the preliminary analysis of the collected data utilizing Fast Fourier Transfer
(FFT). It can be seen from this figure that the displacement of the bridge from the induced load
ranged from +/- 3.5 inches. In addition the first natural frequency of the bridge is about 0.195 Hz.
The authors are in process of performing detailed comparison analysis of the collected data
and the predictions of mathematical model of the bridge. However, based on the preliminary
analysis of the data, the displacement and natural frequencies of the bridge seem to have close
correlation with each other. Further details of the analysis can be found in Conte et. al.
5, 6
.

Figure 5. Sample displacement analysis of the acceleration data of the forced vibration collected
data.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
-10
-5
0
5
10
A
c
c
e
l
e
r
a
t
i
o
n
,

i
n
/
s
2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
-0.8
-0.4
0
0.4
0.8
V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y
,

i
n
/
s
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
-3
-1.5
0
1.5
3
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t
,

i
n
Time, s
662

Figure 6. Sample FFT analysis of the forced vibration collected data.
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
Semi-Log plot (Frequency, hz)
P
S
D

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
10
-1
10
0
10
-4
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
P
S
D

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

Log-Log plot (Frequency, hz)
663

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported in part by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The UCSD and
USC research teams who conducted the bridge tests reported and studied herein were assisted by
several individuals and organizations: Brian Boal (Caltrans), Louis Bates (Caltrans Consultant
Engineer), Joe Reyes (Caltrans), and Frank Daams (FCI/Cleveland Bridge). Their help was very
much appreciated.
REFERENCES
1. Rainer, J. H.,and Selst, V.A., 1976, Dynamic Properties of Lions Gate Suspension Bridge,
ASCE / EMD Specialty Conference on Dynamic Response of Structures: Instrumentation,
Testing Methods and System Identification, University of California, (Los Angeles, CA, 30-
31 March).
2. Halling, M.W., Muhammad, I. & Womack, K.C. 2001. Dynamic testing for condition
assessment of bridge bents. Journal of Structural Engineering, 127(2): 161-167.
3. Brownjohn, J.M.W., Moyo, P., Omenzetter, P. & Lu, Y. 2003. Assessment of highway
bridge upgrading by dynamic testing and finite-element model updating. Journal of Bridge
Engineering, 8(3): 162-172.
4. Abdel Wahab, M.M. & De Roeck, G. 1998. Dynamic testing of prestressed concrete bridges
and numerical verification. Journal of Bridge Engineering, 3(4): 159-169.
5. Conte, J.P., He, X., Moaveni, B., Masri, S.F., Caffrey, J.P., Wahbeh, M., Tasbihgoo, F. &
Elgamal, A. 2005. Dynamic testing of the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, under preparation
for submission to the Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE.
6. Conte, J.P., et. al., Proceeding of the International Conference on Experimental Vibration
Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures (EVACES 2005), Bordeaux, France, October 26-
28, 2005.

664

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designates the inelastic to elastic displacement modification

= = = and E is the electric field

is the membership value to the fuzzy set

' cos '

' cos '

is the curvature ductility factor, is the axial load level,

The effect of volumetric ratio of transverse steel

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

Linear Limit State

. Equation (1) is rewritten for plane structures to express

are the modified cross-sectional properties that are expressed as a function

is followed by calculating the additional minimum structural material

0 192 192 576 384 960 288

192 1536 1920 10752 8832 29184 10176

2304 9216 9216 138240 129024 599040 237312

16 192 288 1472 1248 4032 1424

16 128 224 2304 2368 10240 4192

Rotary inertia of the beam element. (22)

, then from the condition: 0

300mm cross-section and 3000mm total

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35

for the tested beams were computed

= 2.201 while this index increase as tension

increases to 3.1755 and 4.488, respectively.

= 2.925 while, this index increases to 3.57 and 5.954 as

= 2.201 while this index was increases to 3.1755 and 4.488, as

=R/Q must be defined by using well established R

, the assignable ductility displacement ) T , R ( f

, the assignable ductility displacement ) T , R ( f

, which is a normalized quantity, that is more suitable for the

) is introduced to describe the influence of the loading rate (r) on the

from all tests are presented in Table 2. The average value of N

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