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CONTENTS
Volume 26, Number 4, October 2020
 

Abstract
The application of multi-variable adaptive regression spline (MARS) in predicting he long-term compressive strength of a concrete with various admixtures has been investigated in this study. The compressive strength of concrete specimens, which were made based on 24 different mix designs using various mineral and chemical admixtures in different curing ages have been obtained. First, The values of fly ash (FA), micro-silica (MS), water-reducing admixture (WRA), coarse and fine aggregates, cement, water, age of samples and compressive strength were defined as inputs to the model, and MARS analysis was used to model the compressive strength of concrete and to evaluate the most important parameters affecting the estimation of compressive strength of the concrete. Next, the proposed equation by the MARS method using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm has been optimized to have more efficient equation from the economical point of view. The proposed model in this study predicted the compressive strength of the concrete with various admixtures with a correlation coefficient of R=0.958 rather than the measured compressive strengths within the laboratory. The final model reduced the production cost and provided compressive strength by reducing the WRA and increasing the FA and curing days, simultaneously. It was also found that due to the use of the liquid membrane-forming compounds (LMFC) for its lower cost than water spraying method (SWM) and also for the longer operating time of the LMFC having positive mechanical effects on the final concrete, the final product had lower cost and better mechanical properties.

Key Words
high strength concrete, compressive strength prediction, fly ash, micro-silica, MARS, PSO, cost optimization

Address
Reza Sarkhani Benemaran: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Postal code: 5613814931, Iran
Mahzad Esmaeili-Falak: Department of Civil Engineering, Tehran North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Postal code: 1651153311, Iran

Abstract
A precise estimation of the natural time period of buildings improves design quality, causes a significant reduction of the buildings' weight, and eventually leads to a cost-effective design. In this study, in order to optimise the reinforced concrete frames design, some symmetrical and unsymmetrical buildings composed of solid and hollow members have been simulated using finite element software SAP 2000. In numerical models, different parameters such as overturning moment, story drift, deflection, base reactions, and stiffness of the buildings were investigated and the results have been compared with strength and serviceability limit criteria proposed by Australian Standard (AS 3600 2018). Comparing the results of the numerical modelling with existing standards and performing a cost analysis proved the merits of hollow box sections compared to solid sections. Finally, based on numerical simulation results, two equations for natural time period of moment resisting reinforced concrete buildings have been presented. Both derived equations reflected higher degree of correlation and reliability with different complexities of building when compared with existing standards and relationships provided by other scholars. Therefore, these equations will assist practicing engineers to predict elastic behaivour of structures more precisely.

Key Words
natural time period; moment resisting reinforced concrete frames; solid sections; box sections; design optimisation; structural analyses and design; cost analysis

Address
Satya Sundar Prajapati, Harry Far and Mehdi Aghayarzadeh: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia

Abstract
The objective of this study is to manufacture environmentally-friendly synthetic lightweight aggregates that may be used in the structural lightweight concrete production. The cold-bonding pelletization process has been used in the agglomeration of the pozzolanic materials to achieve these synthetic lightweight aggregates. In this context, it was aimed to recycle the waste fly ash by employing it in the manufacturing process as the major cementitious component. According to the well-known facts reported in the literature, it is stated that the main disadvantage of the synthetic lightweight aggregate produced by applying the cold-bonding pelletization technique to the pozzolanic materials is that it has a lower strength in comparison with the natural aggregate. Therefore, in this study, the metakaolin made of high purity kaolin and calcined kaolin obtained from impure kaolin have been employed at particular contents in the synthetic lightweight aggregate manufacturing as a cementitious material to enhance the particle crushing strength. Additionally, to propose a curing condition for practical attempts, different curing conditions were designated and their influences on the characteristics of the synthetic lightweight aggregates were investigated. Three substantial features of the aggregates, specific gravity, water absorption capacity, and particle crushing strength, were measured at the end of 28-day adopted curing conditions. Observed that the incorporation of thermally treated kaolin significantly influenced the crushing strength and water absorption of the aggregates. The statistical evaluation indicated that the investigated properties of the synthetic lightweight aggregate were affected by the thermally treated kaolin content more than the kaoline type and curing regime. Utilizing the thermally treated kaolin in the synthetic aggregate manufacturing lead to a more than 40% increase in the crushing strength of the pellets in all curing regimes. Moreover, two numerical formulations having high estimation capacity have been developed to predict the crushing strength of such types of aggregates by using softcomputing techniques: gene expression programming and artificial neural networks. The R-squared values, indicating the estimation performance of the models, of approximately 0.97 and 0.98 were achieved for the numerical formulations generated by using gene expression programming and artificial neural networks techniques, respectively.

Key Words
synthetic lightweight aggregate; calcined kaolin; metakaolin; fly ash; recycling; cold-bonding pelletization; gene expression programming; artificial neural networks

Address
Suleyman İpek: Department of Architecture, Bingöl University, Bingol, Turkey
Kasim Mermerdas: Department of Civil Engineering, Harran University, Sanl

Abstract
Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) members have been widely used in engineering, and their tube diameters have become larger and larger. But there is no research on the thermal field of large-diameter CFST structure. These studies focused on the thermal field of the large-diameter CFST structure under solar radiation. The environmental factors and the actual placement position were considered, and the finite element model (FEM) of the thermal field of CFST members under solar radiation (SR) was established. Then the FEM was verified by practical experiments. The most unfavorable temperature gradient model in the cross-section was proposed. The testing results showed that the temperature field of the large-diameter CFST member section was non-linearly distributed due to the influence of SR. The temperature field results of CFST members with different pipe diameters indicated that the larger the core concrete diameter was, the slower the central temperature changed, and there was a significant temperature difference between the center and the boundary. Based on the numerical model, the most unfavorable temperature gradient model in the section was proposed. The model showed that the temperature difference around the center of the circle is small, and the boundary temperature difference is significant. The maximum temperature difference is 15.22oC, which appeared in the southern boundary area of the specimen. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the influence of SR on the thermal field of the member for large-diameter CFST members in actual engineering, which causes a large temperature gradient in the member.

Key Words
solar radiation; concrete-filled steel tubular; thermal field; temperature gradient; FEM

Address
Daigeng Yang, Guorong Chen, Xiaofei Ding: College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Juncai Xu: Department of Civil Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA

Abstract
This work presents numerical and experimental analyses of the behavior of reinforced-concrete deep beams with unconventional geometries. The main goal here is to experimentally and numerically study these geometries to find possible new behaviors due to the material nonlinearity of reinforced concrete with complex geometries. Usually, unconventional geometries result from innovative designs; in general, studies of reinforced concrete structures are performed only on conventional members such as beams, columns, and labs. To achieve the goal, four reinforced-concrete deep beams with geometries not addressed in the literature were tested. The models were numerically analyzed with the Adaptive Micro Truss Model (AMTM), which is the proposed method, to address new geometries. This work also studied the main parameters of the constitutive model of concrete based on a statistical analysis of the finite element (FE) results. To estimate the ultimate loads, FE simulations were performed using the Monte Carlo method. Based on the obtained ultimate loads, a probabilistic distribution was created, and the final ultimate loads were computed.

Key Words
deep beam; unconventional geometries; reinforced concrete; micro truss model

Address
Agno Alves Vieira: Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Goias (IFG), Formosa Campus, GO, 73813-816, Brazil; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Brasília, SG-12 Building, Darcy Ribeiro Campus, DF, 70.910-900, Brazil
Guilherme Sales S.A. Melo: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Brasília, SG-12 Building, Darcy Ribeiro Campus, DF, 70.910-900, Brazil
Antonio C.O. Miranda: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Brasília, SG-12 Building, Darcy Ribeiro Campus, DF, 70.910-900, Brazil

Abstract
Today, the use of special technologies in the admixture of concrete has made tremendous progress, but the problem that has always existed in the construction of concrete members is the brittleness and lack of loading bearing after cracking, which leads to reduced strength and energy absorption. One of the best ways to fix this is to reinforce the concrete with steel fibers. Steel fibers also control cracks due to dry shrinkage, reduce structural crack width, and improve impact resistance. In this study, recycled steel fibers from worn tires have been used in the manufacture of concrete samples, the secondary benefits of which are the reduction of environmental pollution. One of the disadvantages of steel fiber reinforced concrete is the corrosion of steel fibers and their deterioration in harsh environments such as coastal areas. Corrosion caused by chlorine ions in metal fibers causes deterioration and early decommissioning of structures in corrosive environments. In this study, the effect of the dosage of steel fibers (dosages of 15, 30, and 45 kg of fibers per cubic meter of concrete) and aspect ratio of fibers (aspect ratio of 25 and 50) on compressive and flexural strength of concrete samples are investigated. In the following, the effect of fiber corrosion on the results of the mechanical properties of concrete samples is examined. The results show that the increase in fiber causes a relative increase in compressive strength, and a significant increase in flexural strength, and corrosion of steel fibers without reducing workability reduces compressive strength and flexural strength by up to 6 to 11%, respectively.

Key Words
corrosion; recycled steel fiber; flexural strength; compressive strength; energy absorption

Address
Mokhtar Ansari: Department of Civil Engineering, Bozorgmehr University of Qaenat, Qaen, Iran
Amir Safiey: Glenn Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

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