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Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 69874

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ray Kai Leung Su

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong 999077, China
Interests: concrete buildings; structural inspection; low carbon; earthquake resistance; corrosion resistance; resilience and durability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Hing-Ho Tsang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
Interests: resilient and sustainable infrastructure; disaster risk reduction strategies; protective technologies; structural failure risk and casualties; science-informed safety policy and decision making; building structural design guidelines, standards and codes of practice

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reinforced concrete is the most commonly-used construction material worldwide. However, the life span of typical concrete infrastructures is normally less than 100 years. Concrete structures may be damaged during their service life due to various attacks from wind, earthquake, waves, or fire, as well as different aggressive agents, such as chlorides and carbon dioxides. It will create very serious environmental problems if most of the deteriorated infrastructures need to be demolished.

The aim of this Special Issue is to review the available structural upgrading systems for improving the resilience and prolonging the service life of infrastructure. Topics of interests for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following: New approaches and technologies for enhancing the strength, stiffness, ductility and durability of concrete infrastructure, new theories and applications of seismic retrofitting systems, new systems for upgrading corroded reinforced concrete structures and repairing fire-damaged concrete buildings.

We invite you to submit your research or review article(s) related to structural upgrading systems, to jointly build an exciting and very interesting Special Issue that will raise awareness about the importance of improving the sustainability and resilience of existing infrastructure.

Dr. Ray KL Su
Dr. Hing-Ho Tsang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Structural strengthening systems
Seismic retrofitting systems
Corrosion protection and rehabilitation systems
Fire repair and upgrading systems

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 3483 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of Masonry Walls Strengthened by Reinforced Mortar Cross Strips

by Kun Dong, Zheng-ang Sui, Jitong Jiang and Xianxiang Zhou

Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4866; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184866 - 05 Sep 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4767

Abstract

Due to the poor seismic performance, strengthening of masonry structures is always a significant problem worthy to study. It has been proven that the bearing capacity of existing masonry buildings can be enhanced greatly with efficient strengthening measures. An experimental program was conducted to investigate seismic performance of un-reinforced masonry (URM) walls strengthened by reinforced mortar (RM) cross strips. Eleven walls were tested under horizontal low-cyclic load, simultaneously with a vertical constant load on the top face. Three URM walls were tested as reference. The other eight walls were externally strengthened with 40 and 60 mm thick of RM cross strips on one or both faces. Test results showed that externally strengthening with RM cross strips was an efficient way to enhance the seismic performance of URM walls. The failure modes were divided into shear failure and shear-compression failure. All the tested walls did not collapse until the test ended, while many diagonal cracks and few vertical cracks appeared on mortar strips. After strengthening, the shear capacity of the strengthened walls increased by at least 38.2%, and the reinforcement ratio was noted to be the key factor to influence the shear capacity with positive correlation. Besides, RM cross strips did improve deformation capacity greatly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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13 pages, 6702 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strengthening of Fibre Reinforced Concrete Elements: Synergy of the Fibres and External Sheet

by Viktor Gribniak, Pui-Lam Ng, Vytautas Tamulenas, Ieva Misiūnaitė, Arnoldas Norkus and Antanas Šapalas

Sustainability 2019, 11(16), 4456; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164456 - 17 Aug 2019

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3006

Abstract

In structural rehabilitation and strengthening, the structural members are often required to cope with larger design loading due to the upgrading of building services and design standard, while maintaining the member size to preserve the architectural dimensions and headroom. Moreover, durability enhancement by mitigating or eliminating the reinforcement corrosion problem is often desired. Concrete cracking is a major initiating and accelerating factor of the corrosion of steel reinforcement. The application of fibres is a prominent solution to the cracking problem. Furthermore, the fibres can increase the mechanical resistance of the strengthening systems. This study reveals the synergy effect of the combined application of steel fibres and external carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. The investigation encompasses the use of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcing bars, discrete steel fibres, externally bonded and mechanically fastened FRP sheets in different combinations. It is discovered that the steel fibres can help to control concrete cracking and eventually alter the failure mode and enhance the flexural resistance. The FRP reinforcement system, together with the steel fibres, radically resolves the structural safety problem caused by corrosion of the steel bar reinforcement. Finally, the impact of the external sheet on the fire limit state performance needs to be resolved, such as by adopting fire protection rendering for the finishes layer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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18 pages, 4132 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Surface Treatment of Recycled Aggregates on Mechanical Properties and Bond Strength of Self-Compacting Concrete

by Waiching Tang, Mehrnoush Khavarian, Ali Yousefi, Ricky W. K. Chan and Hongzhi Cui

Sustainability 2019, 11(15), 4182; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154182 - 02 Aug 2019

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3059

Abstract

In the last decade there has been a massive growth for development of concrete infrastructures all around the world. Take into account environmental concerns, concrete technology should direct efforts toward assuring development and fabrication of sustainable and resilient concrete. For this purpose, incorporation of recycled concrete aggregate in concrete products particularly self-compacting concrete (SCC) for structural and non-structural application would be significant achievement. In this study the fresh and hardened properties of SCC prepared by substituting natural aggregates (NA) with recycled coarse aggregates (RCA). In addition, bonding behaviour of reinforced RCA-SCC for structural application was investigated. Moreover, surface treatment of RCA using lithium silicate solution was proposed to investigate its feasibility to improve the fresh and hardened properties of SCC as well as its bonding strength. The mechanical properties including compressive strength, tensile strength and elastic modulus of SCC mixes using untreated RCA and treated RCA (TRCA) were investigated. The results showed an improvement in performance of SCC mixes made with TRCA in compare with the untreated samples. The bond behaviour between SCC made with RCA and steel reinforcement was studied and the relationship between the brittleness and bonding of SCC mixes using untreated RCA and TRCA determined. The effect of surface treatment on the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between adhered mortar and RCA studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was determined that the treatment of RCA improved the bond at the ITZ through densification. The results gave experimental evidence of the suitability of RCA-SCC for structural use and application in reinforced concrete. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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14 pages, 4336 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on Static Mechanical Properties and Moisture Contents of Concrete Under Water Environment

by Guohui Zhang, Xiaohang Li and Zongli Li

Sustainability 2019, 11(10), 2962; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102962 - 24 May 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2665

Abstract

This paper presents an experiment to investigate the influence of moisture on the static mechanical properties of concrete, and prediction equations for strength and fracture toughness of concrete at different strength grades, relative to water saturation, were established respectively. The research results show that all of the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and fracture toughness of concrete exhibit an approximately linearly decreasing trend with the increase in water saturation. For saturated concrete specimens with w/c 0.65, 0.55, 0.42 compared with dry ones, compressive strength decreases by 40.08%, 36.08%, and 33.73%, respectively, splitting tensile strength decreases by 45.39%, 42.61%, and 35.18%, respectively, and fracture toughness decreases by 57.31%, 49.92%, and 46.76%, respectively. The higher the water saturation of concrete, the larger the slope of the ascending part of the uniaxial compressive stress-strain curve, and the smaller the peak strain corresponding to the peak compressive stress, then in this case, both crack mouth opening displacement and loading point deflection corresponding to the critical load on three-point bending beam, decrease. Ingress of water causes the deformation capacity to decrease, and the toughness to weaken, which are unfavorable to the mechanical properties of concrete. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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17 pages, 4568 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovative Upscaling of Architectural Elements for Strengthening Building Structures

by Hing-Ho Tsang

Sustainability 2019, 11(9), 2636; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092636 - 08 May 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3863

Abstract

For conservation of heritages or life prolongation of aged buildings that contributes to environmental sustainability, there is a global need of structural strengthening or upgrading so as to restore their original functions or fulfil more stringent performance requirements stipulated in modern design codes of practice. However, the actual implementation is usually met with resistance from the property owner; hence, it is desirable to adopt an effective, economical and less invasive technique. In order to provide a further incentive, this article explores an innovative idea of upscaling decorative architectural elements, such as brackets, knee braces and corbels, in order that they also possess adequate strength capacity to resist extreme loadings such as earthquake actions. The required dimensions of architectural brackets for seismic retrofitting of concrete beam-column joints are calculated for different levels of seismicity through a parametric study. It is demonstrated that the proposed design can enhance both the aesthetics and structural performance of a building. This exemplifies how art can be integrated into engineering design for solving real-world problems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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22 pages, 5312 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on the Shear Performance of Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened with Bolted Side-Plating

by Xin Liu, Yu Chen, Ling-Zhi Li, Mei-Ni Su, Zhou-Dao Lu and Ke-Quan Yu

Sustainability 2019, 11(9), 2465; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11092465 - 26 Apr 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2974

Abstract

To investigate the residual shear capacity of post-fire bolted side-plated (BSP) reinforced concrete (RC) beams with different depths of steel plate and types of anchor adhesive, i.e., magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC) and HIT-RE500, a control beam and five BSP beams were fabricated, of which two were exposed to fire in accordance with ISO834 temperature curve. Four-point bending shear tests were conducted to investigate the influence of elevated temperature on the failure mode, cracking load, shear capacity, stiffness, ductility and strain development, etc. The shear capacities of RC beams were found to be improved significantly by using the BSP technique. However, the stiffness of BSP beams was seriously degraded after exposed to fire, but the reduction in shear capacity was negligible, whereas the ductility and the strain of longitudinal reinforcement were obviously increased. Thus, the failure-mode was changed from shear failure to flexural failure. Regarding the adhesive mortar used for bolt anchorage, magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC) achieved higher shear capacity and better ductility but lower stiffness for BSP beams compared with HIT-RE500. Additionally, increasing the depth of bolted steel plates effectively improved the shear performance of BSP beams. In the tests, uneven relative slips were observed on the plate-RC interface due to the shear deformation of bolt shafts and the plates’ tensile principal stress perpendicular to the main diagonal crack, which proved the deformation lag of the bolted steel plates with respect to the RC beam. The outcomes of this study provide a better understanding on the shear performance of BSP beams at room temperatures and at fire conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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Review

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14 pages, 2501 KiB

Open AccessReview

Repair of Fire-Damaged Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members: A Review

by Wenxian Ma, Chunxiang Yin, Jun Zhou and Lu Wang

Sustainability 2019, 11(19), 5199; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195199 - 23 Sep 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3980

Abstract

The mechanical properties of both concrete and steel reinforcement, and the load-bearing capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) structures are well known to be temperature-sensitive, as demonstrated by the severe damage that major fires cause in buildings, followed—in extreme cases—by their collapse. Since in most cases RC structures survive a fire, retrofitting fire-damaged RC members is a hot subject today. In this paper, after a recall on the performance of RC beams and slabs in fire, different repair techniques are considered, among them externally bonded reinforcement, near surface-mounted fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP), bolted side plating, jacketing with high- and ultra-high performance concretes or mortars, and damaged-concrete replacement. Last but not least, the design equations aimed at evaluating the residual load-bearing capacity after repairing are also presented and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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30 pages, 2021 KiB

Open AccessReview

Green Concrete: By-Products Utilization and Advanced Approaches

by Ahmed Al-Mansour, Cheuk Lun Chow, Luciano Feo, Rosa Penna and Denvid Lau

Sustainability 2019, 11(19), 5145; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195145 - 20 Sep 2019

Cited by 87 | Viewed by 10383

Abstract

The popularity of concrete has been accompanied with dreadful consumptions that have led to huge carbon footprint in our environment. The exhaustion of natural resources is not yet the problem, but also the energy that is needed for the fabrication of the natural materials, in which this process releases significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions into the air. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and natural aggregates, which are the key constituents of concrete, are suggested to be recycled or substituted in order to address the sustainability concern. Here, by-products have been targeted to reduce the carbon footprint, including, but not limited to, fly ash, rice husk ash, silica fume, recycled coarse aggregates, ground granular blast-furnace slag, waste glass, and plastic. Moreover, advanced approaches with an emphasis on sustainability are highlighted, which include the enhancement of the hydration process in cement (calcium-silicate hydrate) and the development of new materials that can be used in concrete (e.g., carbon nanotube). This review paper provides a comprehensive discussion upon the utilization of the reviewed materials, as well as the challenges and the knowledge gaps in producing green and sustainable concrete. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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18 pages, 4508 KiB

Open AccessReview

Strengthening of RC Structures by Using Engineered Cementitious Composites: A Review

by Xing-yan Shang, Jiang-tao Yu, Ling-zhi Li and Zhou-dao Lu

Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3384; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123384 - 19 Jun 2019

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 5732

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the recent work assessing the performance of building structures strengthened with engineered cementitious composite (ECC). ECC characterizes tensile strain hardening and multiple cracking properties, as well as strong interfacial bonding performance with substrate concrete, which makes it a promising retrofitting material. A lot of researches have been conducted on reinforced concrete (RC) structures, including beams, columns, beam–column joints, and fire-damaged slabs, strengthened with ECC material, and an extensive collection of valuable conclusions were obtained. These strengthening systems usually combine ECC with FRP textiles or steel bars to form a composite strengthening layer. The review demonstrates that ECC strengthening can greatly improve the performance of RC structures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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31 pages, 4015 KiB

Open AccessReview

Strengthening and Repair of Reinforced Concrete Columns by Jacketing: State-of-the-Art Review

by Saim Raza, Muhammad K. I. Khan, Scott J. Menegon, Hing-Ho Tsang and John L. Wilson

Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3208; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113208 - 09 Jun 2019

Cited by 118 | Viewed by 17882

Abstract

Sustainability necessitates the protection of infrastructure from any kind of deterioration over the life cycle of the asset. Deterioration in the capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings, etc.) may result from localised damage sustained during extreme loading scenarios, such as earthquakes, hurricanes or tsunamis. In addition, factors such as the corrosion of rebars or ageing may also deteriorate or degrade the capacity of an RC column, thereby necessitating immediate strengthening to either extend or ensure its design life is not limited. The aim of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review of various strengthening and repair methods for RC columns proposed by different researchers in the last two decades. The scope of this review paper is limited to jacketing techniques for strengthening and/or repairing both normal- and high-strength RC columns. The paper also identifies potential research gaps and outlines the future direction of research into the strengthening and repair of RC columns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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16 pages, 3415 KiB

Open AccessReview

Repair of Fire-Damaged Reinforced Concrete Members with Axial Load: A Review

by Jun Zhou and Lu Wang

Sustainability 2019, 11(4), 963; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11040963 - 13 Feb 2019

Cited by 47 | Viewed by 5951

Abstract

It is common knowledge that structural fires have led to a great loss of buildings and damage to property in the past two decades. Therefore, there is a growing need to provide approaches for post-fire repair of structural members to enhance their structural safety. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review on the repair of fire-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) members with axial load. The investigations into the effects of loading method, physical dimension and bonding behavior on the residual strength of members are presented. In the meantime, the available experimental investigations on the performance of fire-damaged RC members with axial load repaired with concrete jacketing, steel jacketing and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jacketing are summarized. Moreover, models for predicting the residual strength of fire- damaged columns are reviewed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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15 pages, 5876 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Use of Bolted Side Plates for Shear Strengthening of RC Beams: A Review

by Xin Liu, Zhou-Dao Lu and Ling-Zhi Li

Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4658; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124658 - 07 Dec 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4706

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) beams may need to be strengthened because of material deterioration, structure aging, change of building function, defective design, and the decrease of structural reliability caused by accidental disasters such as earthquake and fire. Thus, the retrofitting of RC beams has become a crucial problem, especially for the old buildings constructed before 1980 in mainland China. A variety of studies have proven that the bolted side-plating (BSP) method is feasible and effective for rehabilitating RC beams in existing buildings and infrastructures. The aim of this paper is mainly to review the previous studies conducted by the authors on the shear performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams retrofitted using the BSP technique, including experimental, theoretical, and numerical studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural Upgrading Systems for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Infrastructure)

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