Shaking Table Study on the Seismic Performance of Geogrid Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls

This study presents experimental results from shaking table tests on a reduced-scale geogrid reinforced soil retaining wall (RSRW) to investigate the seismic response of the fundamental frequency, acceleration amplification, face displacement, backfill surface settlement, and reinforcement strain under different peak accelerations and durations. The fundamental frequency is in good agreement with the predicted values. The root mean square (RMS) acceleration amplification factors increase nonlinearly with the wall height and decrease with increasing seismic load, which is not regarded as a constant value. The distributions of the peak displacement are consistent with those of the residual displacement. The combination of the sliding and rotation is observed as the predominant mode of displacement, and the rotation mode is dominant. The positions near the face (35 cm) and the ends of the reinforcement (140 cm) demonstrated larger settlement than that of the central position (70 cm and 105 cm). The reinforcement strain increased with increasing peak acceleration and maximum values measured at the central layers. The trends of the potential failure surface are similar to those of the 0.3H bilinear failure surface. The friction coefficient is nonlinearly distributed along with the reinforcements, and the maximum friction coefficient appears at the top layer (F11).

Reinforcement Strains in Reinforced Concrete Tensile Members Recorded by Strain Gauges and FBG Sensors: Experimental and Numerical Analysis

Experimental and numerical studies have been carried out on reinforced concrete (RC) short tensile specimens. Double pull-out tests employed rectangular RC elements of a length determined not to yield any additional primary cracks. Tests were carried out with tensor strain gauges installed within a specially modified reinforcement bar and, alternatively, with fibre Bragg grating based optical sensors. The aim of this paper is to analyse the different experimental setups regarding obtaining more accurate and reliable reinforcement strain distribution data. Furthermore, reinforcement strain profiles obtained numerically using the stress transfer approach and the Model Code 2010 provided bond-slip model were compared against the experimental results. Accurate knowledge of the relation between the concrete and the embedded reinforcement is necessary and lacking to this day for less scattered and reliable prediction of cracking behaviour of RC elements. The presented experimental strain values enable future research on bond interaction. In addition, few double pull-out test results are published when compared to ordinary bond tests of single pull-out tests with embedded reinforcement. The authors summarize the comparison with observations on experimental setups and discuss the findings.

Nonlinear FE simulations of structural behavior parameters of reinforced concrete beam with epoxy-bonded FRP

In the present study, investigations on fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) plated-reinforced concrete (RC) beam are carried out. Numerical investigations are performed by using a nonlinear finite element analysis by incorporating cracking and crushing of concrete. The numerical models developed in the present study are validated with the results obtained from the experiment under monotonic load using the servo-hydraulic actuator in displacement control mode. Further, the validated numerical models are used to evaluate the influence of different parameters. It is found from the investigations that increase in the elastic modulus of adhesive layer and CFRP laminate increases the interfacial stresses whereas increase in laminate modulus decreases the displacement and reinforcement strain of the beam. It is also observed that increase in the adhesive layer can largely reduce the interfacial stresses, whereas increase in laminate thickness increases it. However, increase in laminate thickness decreases the displacement and reinforcement strain of the beam significantly. It is mention worthy that increase in laminate length reduces the interfacial stresses, whereas CFRP width change does not affect the interfacial stresses. The study will be useful for the design and practicing engineers for arriving at the FRP-based strengthening schemes for RC structures judiciously.

Procedures for Long Term Testing of Reinforced Concrete Tension Specimens

Long term tension stiffening effects in beams and slabs were investigated by a comprehensive series of laboratory tests on tension specimens together with a small number of slabs. Some tension specimens contained strain gauged rebars to obtain very detailed data concerning reinforcement strain distributions. The results indicated that tension stiffening decayed much more rapidly than was previously thought and the important implications of this finding on the current design rules for deflection control are indicated.