Interaction of magnetic water, silica fume and superplasticizer on fresh and hardened properties of concrete

Mazloom, Moosa,Miri, Sayed Mojtaba Techno-Press 2017 Advances in concrete construction Vol.5 No.2

After passing through a magnetic field, the physical quality of water improves, and magnetic water (MW) is produced. There are many investigations on the effects of magnetic field on water that shows MW properties like saturation and memory effect. This study investigates the fresh and hardened properties of concrete mixed with MW, which contains silica fume (SF) and superplasticizer (SP). The test variables included the magnetic field intensity for producing MW (three kinds of water), SF content replaced cement (0 and 10 percent), water-to-cementitious materials ratio (W/CM=0.25, 0.35 and 0.45) and curing time (7, 28 and 90 days). The results of this study show that MW had a positive impact on the workability and compressive strength of concrete. By rising the intensity of the magnetic field which was used for producing MW, its positive influence on both workability and compressive strength improved. MW had greater positive impacts on samples containing SP that did not have SF. Moreover, the best compressive strength improvements of concrete achieved as W/CM ratio decreased.

Assessing the ductility of moment frames utilizing genetic algorithm and artificial neural networks

Mazloom, Moosa,Afkar, Hossein,Pourhaji, Pardis Techno-Press 2018 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.5 No.4

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effects of the number of spans, height of spans, number of floors, height of floors, column to beam moment of inertia ratio, and plastic joints distance of beams from columns on the ductility of moment frames. For the facility in controlling the ductility of the frames, this paper offers a simple relation instead of complex equations of different codes. For this purpose, 500 analyzed and designed frames were randomly selected, and their ductility was calculated by the use of nonlinear static analysis. The results cleared that the column-to-beam moment of inertia ratio had the highest effect on ductility, and if this relation was more than 2.8, there would be no need for using the complex relations of codes for controlling the ductility of frames. Finally, the ductility of the most frames of this research could be estimated by using the combination of genetic algorithm and artificial neural networks properly.

Thermal effects on the mechanical properties of cement mortars reinforced with aramid, glass, basalt and polypropylene fibers

Mazloom, Moosa,Mirzamohammadi, Sajjad Techno-Press 2019 Advances in materials research Vol.8 No.2

In this study, thermal effects on the mechanical properties of cement mortars with some types of fibers is investigated. The replaced fibers were made of polypropylene (PP), aramid, glass and basalt. In other words, the main goal of this paper is to study the effects of different fibers on the mechanical properties of cement mortars after subjecting to normal and sub-elevated temperatures. The experimental tests used for investigating these effects were compressive, splitting tensile, and four-point bending tests at 20, 100 and $300^{\circ}C$, respectively. Moreover, the microstructures of the specimens in different temperatures were investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on the experimental results, the negative effects of sub-elevated temperatures on four-point bending tests were much more than the others. Moreover, using the fibers with higher melting points could not improve the qualities of the samples in sub-elevated temperatures.

Studying the effects of CFRP and GFRP sheets on the strengthening of self-compacting RC girders

Mazloom, Moosa,Mehrvand, Morteza,Pourhaji, Pardis,Savaripour, Azim Techno-Press 2019 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.6 No.1

One method of retrofitting concrete structures is to use fiber reinforced polymers (FRP). In this research, the shear, torsional and flexural strengthening of self-compacting reinforced concrete (RC) girders are fulfilled with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials. At first, for verification, the experimental results were compared with numerical modeling results obtained from ABAQUS software version 6.10. Then the reinforcing sheets were attached to concrete girders in one and two layers. Studying numerical results obtained from ABAQUS software showed that the girders stiffness decreased with the propagations of cracks in them, and then the extra stresses were tolerated by adhesive layers and GFRP and CFRP sheets, which resulted in increasing the bearing capacity of the studied girders. In fact, shear, torsion and bending strengths of the girders increased by reinforcing girders with adding GFRP and CFRP sheets. The samples including two layers of CFRP had the maximum efficiencies that were 90, 76 and 60 percent of improvement in shear, torsion and bending strengths, respectively. It is worth noting that the bearing capacity of concrete girders with adding one layer of CFRP was slightly higher than the ones having two layers of GFRP in all circumstances; therefore, despite the lower initial cost of GFRP, using CFRP can be more economical in some conditions.

Strengthening of concrete structures with buckling braces and buckling restrained braces

Mazloom, Moosa,Pourhaji, Pardis,Farash, Abbas Moosa,Sanati, Amir Hossein Techno-Press 2018 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.5 No.3

The purpose of this article is to strengthen concrete structures using buckling and non-buckling braces. Connection plates are modeled in three shapes including the effect of 1.5t hinge zone length, 2t one and without the zone (1.5t-CP, 2t-CP and WCP). According to the verification performed with ABAQUS software, the connection plates which are superior in ductility and strengthening are found. The results show adding steel braces in concrete moment frames increase the strength and stiffness of the structures up to about 12 and 3 times, respectively. The frame strength increased about 21 and 25 percent with considering the effect of 2t hinge length in connection plates compared to 1.5t-CPs and WCPs. Also the ductility of retrofitted frames with 2t-CP improved 2.06 times more than WCP ones. Thus, 2t-CP sample is the best choice for connecting steel braces to concrete moment frames for retrofitting them. Afterwards, optimum conditions for elemental coating in braces with no buckling are assessed. The length of concrete coatings could be reduced about 30 percent, and buckling did not occur. Therefore, the weight of restraining coating decreased, and its performance improved. It is worth noting that BRBs could be constructed with only steel materials, which have outer steel tubes too. In fact, only the square cross sections of the tube profiles are appropriate for removing the filler concrete, and the rectangular ones are prone to buckle around their weak axis.

Fracture behavior of monotype and hybrid fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete at different temperatures

Mazloom, Moosa,Karimpanah, Hemin,Karamloo, Mohammad Techno-Press 2020 Advances in concrete construction Vol.9 No.4

In the present study, the effect of basalt, glass, and hybrid glass-basalt fibers on mechanical properties and fracture behavior of self-compacting concrete (SCC) mixes have been assessed at room and elevated temperatures. To do so, twelve mix compositions have been prepared such that the proper workability, flowability, and passing ability have been achieved. Besides, to make comparison possible, water to binder ratio and the amount of solid contents were kept constant. Four fiber dosages of 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% (by concrete volume) were considered for monotype fiber reinforced mixes, while the total amount of fiber were kept 1% for hybrid fiber reinforced mixes. Three different portions of glass and basalt fiber were considered for hybridization of fibers to show the best cocktail for hybrid basalt-glass fiber. Test results indicated that the fracture energy of mix is highly dependent on both fiber dosage and temperature. Moreover, the hybrid fiber reinforced mixes showed the highest fracture energies in comparison with monotype fiber reinforced specimens with 1% fiber volume fraction. In general, hybridization has played a leading role in the improvement of mechanical properties and fracture behavior of mixes, while compared to monotype fiber reinforced specimens, hybridization has led to lower amounts of compressive strength.

Effects of silica fume, superplasticizer dosage and type of superplasticizer on the properties of normal and self-compacting concrete

Mazloom, Moosa,Soltani, Abolfazl,Karamloo, Mohammad,Hassanloo, Ahmad,Ranjbar, Asadollah Techno-Press 2018 Advances in materials research Vol.7 No.1

In the present study, a special attention has been paid to the effects regarding the use of different superplasticizers in different dosages. To do so, 36 mixes of normal and self-compacting concrete with two water/binder ratios of 0.35 and 0.45, four different types of superplasticizer including melamine-formaldehyde, naphthalene-formaldehyde, carboxylic-ether and poly-carboxylate, four different superplasticizer/cement ratios of 0.4%, 0.8%, 1.2% and 1.6% and two silica fume/cement ratios of 0% and 10% have been cast. Moreover, the initial and final setting time of the pastes have been tested. For self-compacting mixes, flow time, slump flow, V-funnel, J-ring and L-box tests have been carried out as well as testing the compressive strength and rupture modulus. For normal concrete mixes,slump test has been conducted to assess the workability of the mix and then for each mix, the compressive strength and rupture modulus have been determined. The results indicate that in addition to the important role of superplasticizer type and dosage on fresh state properties of concrete, these parameters as well as the use of silica fume could affect the hardened state properties of the mixes. For instance, the mixes whose superplasticizer were poly-carboxylic-ether based showed better compressive and tensile strength than other mixes. Besides, the air contents showed robust dependency to the type of the superplasticizer. However, the use of silica fume decreased the air contents of the mixes.

Effect of silica fume and polyepoxide-based polymer on electrical resistivity, mechanical properties, and ultrasonic response of SCLC

Mazloom, Moosa,Allahabadi, Ali,Karamloo, Mohammad Techno-Press 2017 Advances in concrete construction Vol.5 No.6

This study focused on the influences regarding the use of polyepoxide-based polymer and silica fume (SF) on the fresh and hardened state properties of self-compacting lightweight concrete (SCLC) along with their impacts on electrical resistance and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). To do so, two series of compositions each of which consists of twelve mixes, with water to binder (W/B) ratios of 0.35 and 0.4 were cast. Three different silica fume/binder ratios of 0, 5%, and 10% were considered along with four different polymer/binder ratios of 0, 5%, 10%, and 15%. Afterwards, the rupture modulus, tensile strength, 14-day, 28-day, and 90-day compressive strength, the UPV and the electrical resistance of the mixes were tested. The results indicated that although the use of polymer could enhance the passing and filling abilities, it could lead to a decrease of segregation resistance. In addition, the interaction of the SF and the polymeric contents enhanced the workability. However, the impacts regarding the use of polymeric contents on fresh state properties of SCLC were more prevalent than those regarding the use of SF. Besides the fresh state properties, the durability and mechanical properties of the mixes were affected due to the use of polymeric and SF contents. In other words, the use of the SF and the polymer enhanced the durability and mechanical properties of SCLC specimens.

Computing the fracture energy of fiber reinforced cementitious composites using response surface methodology

Mazloom, Moosa,Mirzamohammadi, Sajjad Techno-Press 2021 Advances in computational design Vol.6 No.3

In this study, some models are developed to predict the fracture energy (G_F), flexural strength (f_t), splitting tensile strength (f_spt), and compressive strength (f_c) of fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) based on I-optimal design of response surface methodology (RSM-I-optimal). Indeed, the main aim of this paper is to predict the mentioned parameters of FRCC at different temperatures and the aspect ratios of fibers. For this purpose, the fracture energy and strength properties of FRCC reinforced with aramid, glass, basalt, and polypropylene (PP) fibers were obtained at 20℃, 100℃ and 300℃ temperatures and were used as experimental values by RSM. The analyses of variance (ANOVA), perturbation, three-dimensional, contour and normal of residual plots were studied to assess the impacts of independent parameters on the relationships. Furthermore, the predictive efficiency of the RSM models between observed and predicted values were examined based on the Nash & Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (NSE). In terms of NSE values, the models were exact enough for predicting the flexural, splitting tensile and compressive strengths as well as fracture energy.

Compressive, shear and torsional strength of beams made of self-compacting concrete

Moosa Mazloom,Amirali Saffari,Morteza Mehrvand 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2015 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.15 No.6

The aim of this study is to provide experimental data regarding the compressive, shear and torsional strength of self-compacting concrete (SCC) used in rectangular beams, and then comparing the results with the equations presented by the CSA A23.3-04 and ACI 318-11. In fact, the gathered information in this field is quite useful for calibrating the computer models of other researchers. The other goal of this study was to investigate the effects of silica fume and superplasticizer dosages on the mechanical properties of SCC. In this research, SCC is made based on 16 different type mixing layout. Also two normal concrete (NC) or vibrating concrete are constructed to compare the results of SCC and NC. This work concentrated on concrete mixes having water/binder ratios of 0.45 and 0.35, which contained constant total binder contents of 400 kg/m3 and 500 kg/m3, respectively. The percentages of silica fume that replaced cement were 0% and 10%. The superplasticizer dosages utilized in the mixtures were 0.4%, 0.8%, 1.2% and 1.6% of the weight of cement. Beam dimensions used in this test were 30×30×120 cm3.The results of this research indicated that shear and torsional strength of SCC beams to be used in computer models can be calculated utilizing the equations presented in CSA A23.3-04 and ACI 318-11. Keywords: self-compacting concrete; rectangular beam; shear strength