El concreto es uno de los materiales más utilizados en el mundo de la construcción, de las cuales cada material en la mezcla depende de la resistencia que se requiera de acuerdo al análisis estructural. Dentro del proceso de producción de concreto debemos garantizar que el cemento reaccione químicamente y desarrolle la resistencia para la cual fue diseñada, para esto es importante mantenerlo hidratado en ese tiempo mediante el proceso de curado. Una técnica aún no tan conocida es el auto-curado del concreto, por lo cual es una necesidad saber cuál es su influencia en el desarrollo de la resistencia y en la disminución del porcentaje de agrietamiento del concreto en estado plástico. El objetivo de esta tesis es determinar la influencia que tiene el reemplazar un cierto porcentaje de ladrillo triturado como reemplazo del agregado grueso; evaluando la resistencia a la compresión, resistencia a la flexión, y el agrietamiento por contracción plástica del concreto. Se desarrolló con 3 diferentes porcentajes de reemplazo de ladrillo triturado que son: 15%, 21%, 27% del peso del agregado grueso para la resistencia a la compresión (f’c) de 280 kg/cm2. Se concluyó que reemplazo del agregado grueso por ladrillo triturado es efectivo cuando es usado hasta un máximo de 21%. Los resultados obtenidos son óptimos y viables en el tiempo, mostrándonos un aumento en la resistencia a la compresión, resistencia a la flexión y la disminución del porcentaje de fisuras en estado plástico. / Concrete is one of the most used materials in the world of construction, of which each material in the mixture depends on the strength required according to the structural analysis. Within the concrete production process, we must ensure that the cement reacts chemically and develops the resistance for which it was designed, for this it is important to keep it hydrated at that time through the curing process. A technique not yet so well known is the self-curing of concrete, so it is a necessity to know what its influence is in the development of resistance and in the reduction of the percentage of cracking of concrete in the plastic state. The objective of this thesis is to determine the influence of replacing a certain percentage of crushed brick as a replacement for coarse aggregate; evaluating the compressive strength, flexural strength, and cracking by plastic shrinkage of concrete. It was developed with 3 different percentages of crushed brick replacement that are: 15%, 21%, 27% of the weight of the coarse aggregate for the compressive strength (f’c) of 280 kg / cm2. It was concluded that replacement of coarse aggregate with crushed brick is effective when used up to a maximum of 21%. The results obtained are optimal and viable over time, showing an increase in compressive strength, flexural strength and a decrease in the percentage of cracks in the plastic state. / Tesis

The influence of tricalcium silicate content of cement on concrete durability has long been a topic of discussion in the literature. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether increasing tricalcium silicate content of cement has a negative effect on concrete sulfate durability. Several mill certificates were reviewed to select cements with similar tricalcium aluminate content and variable tricalcium silicate contents. Cements selected for this study were randomly labeled as cements C, D, D2, E, and P. The following properties were assessed for the as-received cements: Blaine fineness, particle size distribution, chemical oxide content, and mineralogical content. Three different methods were employed to determine the mineralogical composition of the as-received cements: Bogue calculation, internal standard method, and Rietveld refinement analysis. Despite the attempt to select cements with similar composition, it was determined that the as-received cements had compositional differences other than their C3S content. These cements had a variable tricalcium aluminate and alkali content, as well as differences in the amount and form of calcium sulfates. In order to eliminate these variances, doped cements were prepared by increasing the C3S content of the as received cements to 69 % by Bogue calculation. Durability of as-received cements and doped cements was assessed through several measurements including length change, compressive strength, and phase transformation in sodium sulfate solution. For as-received cements, compressive strength of mortar cubes stored in saturated lime solution was evaluated as well. Semiquantitative x-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy observations were performed on mortar bars to evaluate the relative amounts and morphology of the hydrated phases. It was concluded at the end of this study that cements with high tricalcium silicate content generally have poor durability in sodium sulfate environment. All the cements experienced higher expansion with increased C3S content. High C3S content combinedwith high C3A content was particularly detrimental to mortar resistance to sodium sulfate attack.

This diploma thesis focuses on diagnostics of bridge structures. First part of this diploma thesis will focus on theoretical knowledge about bridge structures and common diagnostic techniques suited for examining material priperties of samples taken from structure. Second part of this thesis will focus on practical use of experiments used in diagnostic branch. I will be doing visual observation of concrete structure followed by experiments on core samples. End of thesis will be evaluating structure from global perspective and will deliver specific sugestions for renovation.

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The Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada in conjunction with Brigham Young University devised a masonry prism testing scheme to aid in the determination of whether prisms constructed with grouts possessing high levels of supplemental cementitious materials could meet minimum masonry compressive strength requirements. ASTM standards, identical to that of concrete, place restrictions on quantities, by weight, of supplemental materials that can replace ordinary Portland cement. For an all fly ash replacement, up to 40% of Portland cement can be replaced while up to 70% can be replaced by a fly ash-slag combination. Research is focused on class F fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag replacing Portland cement in larger quantities. Manufacturing grouts with increasing incremental amounts help to establish higher use limitations associated specifically with masonry grout. Masonry prisms, concrete masonry units, type M mortar, and variations of grout were tested for their respective compressive strengths at age intervals of 14, 28, 42, 56, and 90 days. Grouts were designed to support the discussion of whether non-traditional grouts can achieve acceptable masonry compressive strength in prisms while not possessing adequate grout compressive strength. The control grout consisted of one mix design containing a cementitious materials content of 100% Portland cement. Three grouts replaced Portland cement with fly ash and three grouts replaced Portland cement with a fly ash-slag combination without modifying the cementitious material weight contribution. Class F fly ash replaced Portland cement at rates of 45%, 55%, and 65%. Class F fly ash-ground granulated blast furnace slag combinations replaced Portland cement at rates of 65%, 75%, and 85% where the combinations consisted of 25% fly ash and 40%, 50%, and 60% slag. Results indicate that all prisms exceeded the 10.3 MPa (1500 psi) minimum compressive strength requirements before the mandated 28-day age period. Neither 55% and 65% fly ash replacements nor the 85% fly ash-slag combination achieved grout strength minimums at the typical specified age. The grout mixtures manufactured with exceeding addition rates which attained greater than the minimum strength at the 28-day age were the 45% fly ash and 65% and 75% fly ash-slag combination. All grouts did, eventually, extend their strength gain beyond 13.8 MPa (2000 psi) through the course of testing and all but 65% fly ash achieved this strength within 42 days.

Light-weight aggregate has been used successfully for structural and non-structural applications, and its most common use has been in light-weight concrete. Limited research has been done on light-weight grout though and there are no standards in place. The research performed in this study is intended to increase the knowledge of light-weight grout specifically made with expanded shale aggregate. The research presented herein is a pilot study and consists of preliminary aggregate and grout testing that resulted in the mix design of six grout types: three fine grout designs and three coarse grout designs. Conventional normal-weight aggregate was employed in the first grout mix. A light-weight aggregate batch was made with the same material proportions, as well as the same target water-cement (w/c) ratio and cement content. The weight of the cement was increased by 30 percent in the third grout type of each set to determine the effect on strength. The slump, component temperature, unit weight, air content, segregation, cement content, w/c ratio, and compressive strength for each grout type was gathered throughout testing. Correlations between grout testing results are examined and discussed. In addition, the effectiveness of expanded shale grout, other light-weight grouts, and normal-weight grout with respect to compressive strength to cement content ratio are determined. Results of the testing show that all six grout types studied in this research reached the minimum 28-day strength of 13.8 MPa (2000 psi) ASTM standard. In addition, the results indicate that the cement content in expanded shale light-weight grout would need to be increased to reach comparable compressive strengths to that of the normal-weight grout. The comparison between the compressive strength to cement content ratio of the different grouts indicate that normal-weight grout is more efficient. In addition, light-weight grout made with blast furnace slag grout is slightly more efficient than that made with expanded shale; however, this observation was only possible after several crucial assumptions were made about an existing blast furnace slag study. These strength-cement ratios do not account, however, for the benefits of reduced dead loads, improved thermal insulation, and improved sound insulation that could potentially influence the choice of the material used in and the life-cycle cost of the construction. Additional research should be done to verify the results of the ratios and the assumptions made herein. Furthermore, a life-cycle analysis needs to be conducted before a definite conclusion is made about which type grout is more efficient.

The objective of this research was to measure and analyze the long-term modulus values of cement-treated base (CTB) layers constructed in Utah using microcracking. Because modulus values of pavement layers are among the most influential inputs affecting mechanistic-empirical pavement design, obtaining reasonable estimates of modulus values is critical. Testing was performed with a portable falling-weight deflectometer, also called a lightweight deflectometer, and modulus values were backcalculated with the computer program BAKFAA. Testing occurred at five asphalt pavement sites in northern Utah, where reconstruction with full-depth reclamation and cement stabilization, in the form of cement slurry, was performed approximately 2 to 14 years previously. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) data collected for the CTB materials during earlier projects were compiled for all five sites. The correlation between backcalculated CTB modulus values, which ranged from 42 to 433 ksi, and 7-day UCS values, which ranged from 366 to 559 psi, was analyzed, and uniformity and sensitivity analyses were performed. Based on the results of this research, a new correlation is proposed for estimating the long-term modulus values of microcracked CTB layers constructed in a seasonally cold climate, such as northern Utah. For an average 7-day UCS of 450 psi, a CTB modulus value of 114 ksi would be estimated using this correlation, whereas a much higher modulus value of 630 ksi would be estimated from an existing correlation chart that was published in 1972 before microcracking was developed as a CTB construction practice. The results of the uniformity analyses indicate that statistically significant spatial variability in the CTB modulus values exists at each site. In comparison to a proposed maximum threshold coefficient of variation of 40 percent presented in the literature for aspects of CTB construction, the CTB modulus at all of the sites would be characterized as having low uniformity, with values ranging from 42.9 to 90.3 percent. The results of the sensitivity analyses indicate that backcalculated CTB modulus values are sensitive to typical deviations from design values that may occur in pavement layer thicknesses and suggest that CTB modulus estimation errors may range from -22,561 to 62,097 psi, or -3.73 to 10.81 percent, for pavements similar to those studied in this research when the actual asphalt and CTB layer thicknesses are different than the assumed values by up to 0.25 or 0.50 in., respectively.

The pervious concrete system and its corresponding strength are as important as its permeability characteristics. The strength of the system not only relies on the compressive strength of the pervious concrete but also on the strength of the soil beneath it for support. Previous studies indicate that pervious concrete has lower compressive strength capabilities than conventional concrete and will only support light traffic loadings. This thesis investigated prior studies on the compressive strength on pervious concrete as it relates to water-cement ratio, aggregate-cement ratio, aggregate size, and compaction and compare those results with results obtained in laboratory experiments conducted on samples of pervious concrete cylinders created for this purpose. The loadings and types of vehicles these systems can withstand will also be examined as well as the design of appropriate thickness levels for the pavement. Since voids are supposed to reduce the strength of concrete 1% for every 5% voids(Klieger, 2003), the goal is to find a balance between water, aggregate, and cement in order to increase strength and permeability, two characteristics which tend to counteract one another. In this study, also determined are appropriate traffic loads and volumes so that the pervious concrete is able to maintain its structural integrity. The end result of this research will be a recommendation as to the water-cement ratio, the aggregate-cement ratio, aggregate size, and compaction necessary to maximize compressive strength without having detrimental effects on the permeability of the pervious concrete system. This research confirms that pervious concrete does in fact provide a lower compressive strength than that of conventional concrete; compressive strengths in acceptable mixtures only reached 1700 psi. Extremely high permeability rates were achieved in most all mixtures regardless of the compressive strength. Analysis of traffic loadings reinforce the fact that pervious concrete cannot be subjected to large numbers of heavy vehicle loadings over time although pervious concrete would be able to sustain low volumes of heavy loads if designed properly. Calculations of pavement thickness levels indicate these levels are dependent on the compressive strength of the concrete, the quality of the subgrade beneath the pavement, as well as vehicle volumes and loadings.

The present research is conducted to investigate the behaviour of elliptical tube columns filled with self-compacting concrete (SCC). In total, ten specimens, including two empty columns, were tested to failure. The main parameters investigated were the length and the sections of the columns, and the concrete compressive strength. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed to predict the compressive strength of SCC using a comprehensive database collected from different previous studies. The database was used to train and test the developed ANN. Moreover, parallel to the experimental works, a three dimensional nonlinear finite element (FE) model using ABAQUS software was developed to predict the behaviour of SCC elliptical tube columns. The proposed ABAQUS model was verified against the current experimental results. The experimental results indicated that the failure modes of the SCC filled elliptical steel tube columns having large slenderness ratios were dominated by global buckling. Moreover, the composite columns possessed higher critical axial compressive capacities compared with their hollow section companions due to the composite interaction. However, due to the large slenderness ratio of the test specimens, the change of compressive strength of concrete core did not show significant effect on the critical axial compressive capacity of concrete filled columns although the axial compressive capacity increased with the concrete grade increase. The comparisons between the axial compressive load capacities obtained from experimental study and those predicted using simple methods provided in Eurocode 4 for concrete-filled steel rectangular tube columns showed a reasonable agreement. The proposed three dimensional FE model accurately predicted the failure modes, the load capacity and the load-deflection response of the columns tested. The experimental results, analysis and comparisons presented in this thesis clearly support the application of self-compacting concrete filled elliptical steel tube columns in construction engineering practice.

No / This paper presents a series of test results of elliptical concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) beams and columns to explore their performance under bending and compression. A total of twenty-six specimens were tested, including eight beams under pure bending and eighteen columns under the combination of bending and compression. The main parameters were the shear span to depth ratio for beams, the slenderness ratio and the load eccentricity for columns. The test results showed that the CFST beams and columns with elliptical sections behaved in ductile manners and were similar to the CFST members with circular sections. Finally, simplified models for predicting the bending strength, the initial and serviceability-level section bending stiffness of the elliptical CFST beams, as well as the axial and eccentric compressive strength of the composite columns were discussed.