Abdelouahed Kriker

Potential utilization of date palm wood as composite reinforcement

This research reports the results of an experimental study on the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties as well as the thermal behavior of eight varieties of date palm residues coming from the same environment. The aim is to evaluate each variety of this natural material to be used thereafter, individually or as a mixture, in the manufacturing of composite materials. The results show that Rachis variety exhibits relatively high values of tensile strength and Young’s modulus; they attained 213 MPa and 8.5 GPa, respectively. In contrast, Petiole variety exhibits relatively high values of specific mechanical properties. This is due to its low value of bulk density, which is 0.160 g/cm3. Besides that, Petiole variety is also characterized by relatively high porosity and high rate of water absorption; they reached 81.52 and 140%, respectively. Results of thermal analysis show that Leaflets variety provides the highest resistance to thermal degradation; its main degradation occurred at 360℃.

Durability of visitable concrete sewer gallery under the effect of domestic wastewater

The durability of concrete structures for the disposal of wastewater depends on their behavior when faced to different aggressions such as mechanics, chemical and biological, causing a deterioration often cementing matrix. The deterioration of recent evacuations wastewater infrastructure, made of reinforced concrete less than 15 years ago, has become an important concern. The aim of this study was to investigate the degradation and the factors responsible for the deterioration of the concrete visitable gallery of sewage from the town of Touggourt (south-east of Algeria). Thus, samples from different parts of the gallery were extracted and unaltered samples were selected as a reference. A degraded sample exposed to H2S gas and another sample of the gallery submerged into wastewater were analyzed to characterize the internal and external damage to the gallery as well as the chemical and mineralogical changes. These tests were complemented by a physical and mechanical characterization of the samples. The exp...

Effect of hot-dry environment on fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete

Drying shrinkage can be a major reason for the deterioration of concrete structures. Variation in ambient temperature and relative humidity cause changes in the properties of hardened concrete which can affect their mechanical and drying shrinkage characteristics. The present study investigated mechanical strength and particularly drying shrinkage properties of self-compacting concretes (SCC) reinforced with date palm fiber exposed to hot and dry environment. In this study a total of nine different fibers reinforced self compacting concrete (FRSCC) mixtures and one mixture without fiber were prepared. The volume fraction and the length of fibers reinforcement were 0.1-0.2-0.3% and 10-20-30 mm. It was observed that drying shrinkage lessened with adding low volumetric fraction and short length of fibers in curing condition (T = 20 °C and RH = 50 ± 5 %), but increased in hot and dry environment.