scholarly journals Discussion on the Reinforcement of Reinforced Concrete Slab Structures

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Ling Hsu ◽  
Chen-Chung Liu ◽  
Yan-Chyuan Shiau ◽  
Wen-Chin Lin

Because of global environmental changes and the continued warming of the planet, the increase in carbon dioxide emissions has had a major impact on the environment. The development of zero-carbon buildings, the promotion of energy conservation and carbon reduction, and the concept of green environmental protection are regarded as important issues for humanity to achieve sustainable development. In Taiwan, the combination of moisture and high salt content in the environment, corrosion caused by chloride ions, and earthquakes often lead to the formation of crevices in buildings. These crevices can cause rebar oxidation and corrosion and even concrete structure damage or spalling. Conventional structural damages can be repaired with epoxy resin grout. However, such practices are incapable of removing the rusted components of the rebars inside the structures and thus subject the internal rebars to continuous oxidation in the original rust-covered environment. Components located deep within the structures would still swell as a result of continuous rebar oxidation and cause concrete breaking and spalling, making previous repair efforts ineffective. This study proposes an improved repair and retrofit technique that includes the removal of rust from oxidated rebar parts, by applying low viscosity epoxy resin to the slab base and allowing it to fully penetrate the concrete cracks and surface of the rebars inside, thus producing a protective layer and repairing the bond. Additionally, carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) patches were adopted as repair materials and attached to the beams and slab (ceiling) surfaces. Angle steels were used at the edges and installed to connect the beams to the slab with chemical anchors. The gaps between the angle steels and the slab were filled with epoxy resin grouts. On the short side of the slab, small steel H-beams were installed 1 m apart as a means of retrofit. Because the epoxy resin expands by 8% after undergoing chemical reactions, it bonds perfectly with concrete, CFRP patches, and steel materials. Approximately 10 years have elapsed since the case-study was repaired using the proposed technique, and the retrofit effect has yielded excellent results to the present day, with no occurrence of internal swelling or spalling from rebar oxidation. The proposed retrofit technique can reduce construction costs, while ensuring effective repair and maintenance of structural safety, and extend the service life of structures.

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inkwan Paik ◽  
Seunguk Na ◽  
Seongho Yoon

The purpose of this study is to verify the environmental performance of the novel Void Deck Slab (VDS) system developed by the authors. The proposed VDS is a void slab system with enhanced design features that improve the constructability of the system through the elimination of additional works required to connect the void formers with the anchoring devices. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique was adopted to assess the carbon dioxide emissions of the void slab system with reference to the ordinary reinforced concrete slab. The system boundary of this study ranged from raw materials to pre-operation phase, in accordance with ISO 14044. The total CO2 emissions of the ordinary reinforced concrete slab and the void slab system were 204,433.06 and 151,754.75 kg CO2-eq, respectively, which equated to about 34% less emissions for the void slab system. In the case of the ordinary reinforced concrete slab, moulds accounted for approximately 62% of CO2 emission, followed by concrete (~34%). The main source of CO2 emissions for the void slab system was concrete that accounted for ~50%, followed by moulds and deck plates that accounted for roughly 27% and 19%, respectively. In the case of the void slab system, void formers would enable a lower amount of concrete, as well as the self-weight of the slab. Besides, although the void formers filled a significant volume of the slab, the contribution to CO2 emissions was less than 1%.


Electro-chemical Chloride Extraction (ECE) is considered one of the most effective technique used to extract chloride ions from reinforced concrete structures. Effectiveness of using ECE depends on some important factors such as anode type, current intensity, extraction duration, type of rebar and chemical properties of concrete. On the other hand, ECE may cause some detrimental effects on some mechanical properties of concrete and steel such as a reduction in bond and compressive strengths of concrete, and embrittlement (i.e. reduction in ductility) ductility of reinforcing steel. The major aim of this research work was to investigate the effectiveness of ECE using locally available un-galvanized steel mesh with conductive cement paste anode as a new type of anode on a reinforced concrete slab as a structural element. The slab behavior before and after ECE was studied by determining compressive strength, water absorption rate, concrete chloride content and steel corrosion potential. The slab behavior was studied taken into consideration the established steel arrangement with spacing 20 cm between re-bars. Another aim of this research work was to investigate the effect of initial chloride content on chloride extraction efficiency by applying optimum current intensity and duration (3 A/m2 and 6 weeks) on cylinders with pure chloride content 0.4% and 0.8% (by weight of cement). Effectiveness of ECE with small initial chloride content 0.4% and 0.8% was compared with that of high initial chloride content (2.5%) in order to know if the initial chloride content is an important factor on ECE effectiveness or not.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (20) ◽  
pp. 4333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inkwan Paik ◽  
Seunguk Na

Global warming is now considered to be one of the greatest challenges worldwide. International environmental agreements have been developed in response to climate change since the 1970s. The construction industry is considered one of the main contributors to global warming. In order to mitigate global warming effects, the construction industry has been exploring various approaches to mitigate the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions over the entire life cycle of buildings. The application of different structural systems is considered a means of reducing the carbon dioxide emissions from building construction. The purpose of this research is to assess the environmental performance of three different slab systems during the construction phase. In this study, a process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) method was applied in order to evaluate the level of performance of the three slab systems. The results showed total CO2 emissions of 3,275,712, 3,157,260, and 2,943,695 kg CO2 eq. for the ordinary reinforced concrete slab, flat plate slab, and voided slab systems, respectively. The manufacturing of building materials is by far the main contributor to CO2 emissions, which indicate 3,230,945, 3,117,203, and 2,905,564 kg CO2 eq., respectively. Comparing the building materials in the three slab systems, reinforcing bars and forms were significant building materials to reduce the CO2 emissions in the flat plate slab and voided slab systems. In this study, reinforcing bars were the main contributor to lowering the carbon dioxide emissions in the flat plate slab and voided slab systems. The results of this study show that amongst all the three different slab systems, the voided slab system shows the greatest reduction potential. Moreover, replacing the ordinary reinforced concrete slab system by alternative methods would make it possible to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions in building projects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inkwan Paik ◽  
Seunguk Na

The construction industry not only consumes a lot of energy but also emits large volumes of carbon dioxide. Most countries have established target reduction values of the carbon dioxide emissions to alleviate environmental burdens and promote sustainable development. The reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the construction industry has been taking place in various ways as buildings produce large quantities of the carbon dioxide over their construction life cycle. The aim of this study is to assess and compare the carbon dioxide emissions of an ordinary reinforced concrete slab and the voided slab system applied to a case study involving a commercial-residential complex building in South Korea. Process-based life-cycle assessment (LCA) is adopted to compute the carbon dioxide emissions during the construction phase, which includes all processes from material production to the end of construction. The results indicate that the total CO2 emissions are 257,230 and 218,800 kg CO2 for the ordinary reinforced concrete slab and the voided slab system, respectively. The highest contributor to CO2 reduction is the embodied carbon dioxide emissions of the building materials, which accounts for 34,966 kg CO2. The second highest contributor is the transportation of the building materials, accounting for 3417 kg CO2.


Author(s):  
Ralph Alan Dusseau

The results of a study funded by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program are presented. The first objective of this study was the development of a database for all 211 highway bridges along I-55 in the New Madrid region of southeastern Missouri. Profiles for five key dimension parameters (which are stored in the database) were developed, and the results for concrete highway bridges are presented. The second objective was to perform field ambient vibration analyses on 25 typical highway bridge spans along the I-55 corridor to determine the fundamental vertical and lateral frequencies of the bridge spans measured. These 25 spans included six reinforced concrete slab spans and two reinforced concrete box-girder spans. The third objective was to use these bridge frequency results in conjunction with the dimension parameters stored in the database to develop empirical formulas for estimating bridge fundamental natural frequencies. These formulas were applied to all 211 Interstate highway bridges in southeastern Missouri. Profiles for both fundamental vertical and lateral frequencies were then developed, and the results for concrete highway bridges are presented.


Author(s):  
Marco Miglietta ◽  
Nicolò Damiani ◽  
Gabriele Guerrini ◽  
Francesco Graziotti

AbstractTwo full-scale building specimens were tested on the shake-table at the EUCENTRE Foundation laboratories in Pavia (Italy), to assess the effectiveness of an innovative timber retrofit solution, within a comprehensive research campaign on the seismic vulnerability of existing Dutch unreinforced masonry structures. The buildings represented the end-unit of a two-storey terraced house typical of the North-Eastern Netherlands, a region affected by induced seismicity over the last few decades. This building typology is particularly vulnerable to earthquake excitation due to lack of seismic details and irregular distribution of large openings in masonry walls. Both specimens were built with the same geometry. Their structural system consisted of cavity walls, with interior load-bearing calcium-silicate leaf and exterior clay veneer, and included a first-floor reinforced concrete slab, a second-floor timber framing, and a roof timber structure supported by masonry gables. A timber retrofit was designed and installed inside the second specimen, providing an innovative sustainable, light-weight, reversible, and cost-effective technique, which could be extensively applied to actual buildings. Timber frames were connected to the interior surface of the masonry walls and completed by oriented strands boards nailed to them. The second-floor timber diaphragm was stiffened and strengthened by a layer of oriented-strand boards, nailed to the existing joists and to additional blocking elements through the existing planks. These interventions resulted also in improved wall-to-diaphragm connections with the inner leaf at both floors, while steel ties were added between the cavity-wall leaves. The application of the retrofit system favored a global response of the building with increased lateral capacities of the masonry walls. This paper describes in detail the bare and retrofitted specimens, compares the experimental results obtained through similar incremental dynamic shake-table test protocols up to near-collapse conditions, and identifies damage states and damage limits associated with displacements and deformations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document