Kshitij C. Shrestha

Feasibility of Cu–Al–Mn superelastic alloy bars as reinforcement elements in concrete beams

Experimental and numerical works are reported to assess the cyclic response of concrete beams reinforced with superelastic alloy (SEA) bars. The feasibility of newly developed Cu–Al–Mn SEA bars, characterized by large recovery strain, low material cost and high machinability, is examined as partial replacements for conventional steel bars, in order to reduce residual cracks in structures during and after intense earthquakes. Four-point reverse cyclic bending tests were done on one-third scale concrete beams comprising three different types of specimens—conventional steel reinforced concrete, SEA reinforced concrete and SEA reinforced concrete (RC) with pre-tensioning. The results showed that SEA reinforced concrete beams demonstrated strong recentering capability and significant enhancement in crack recovery capacity, in comparison to steel reinforced beams. Furthermore, corresponding finite element models were generated to simulate the experimental observations. Both the experimental observations and finite element computations illustrated the superiority of SEA bars to conventional steel bars in providing RC beam specimens with recentering and crack recovery capabilities.

Advanced materials for control of post- earthquake damage in bridges

This paper presents analytical modeling to study the seismic response of bridge systems with conventional and advanced details. For validation, a 33 m quarter-scale model of a four-span bridge incorporating innovative materials and details seismically tested on the shake tables at the University of Nevada, Reno was taken. The bridge specimen involved use of advanced materials and details to reduce damage at plastic hinges and minimize residual displacements. A three-dimensional, nonlinear model incorporating the response of the innovative materials was developed to study the bridge response using the finite-element software OpenSees. Existing finite-element formulations were used to capture the response of the advanced materials used in the bridge. The analytical model was found to be able to reproduce comparable bent displacements and bent shear forces within reasonable accuracy. The validated model was further used to study different types of bridges under suite of scaled bi-directional near-fault ground motions. Comparisons were made on behavior of five different bridge types, first conventional reinforced concrete bridge, second post-tensioned column bridge, third bridge with elastomeric rubber elements at the plastic hinge zone, fourth bridge with nickel–titanium superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) reinforcing bar and fifth bridge with CuAlMn superelastic SMA reinforcing bar. Both the SMA used bridges also utilized engineered cementitious composite element at the plastic hinge zone. The results showed effectiveness of the innovative interventions on the bridges in providing excellent recentering capabilities with minimal damage to the columns.

Feasibility of externally activated self-repairing concrete with epoxy injection network and Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy reinforcing bars

This paper studies the effectiveness of an externally activated self-repairing technique for concrete members with epoxy injection network and Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy (SEA) reinforcing bars (rebars). Compared to existing crack self-repairing and self-healing techniques, the epoxy injection network has the following strengths: (1) Different from the self-repairing methods using brittle containers or tubes for adhesives, the proposed self-repair process can be performed repeatedly and is feasible for onsite concrete casting. (2) Different from the autogenic self-healing techniques, full strength recovery can be achieved in a shorter time period without the necessity of water. This paper attempts to enhance the self-repairing capability of the epoxy injection network by reducing residual cracks by using cost-effective Cu-based SEA bars. The effectiveness of the present technique is examined using concrete beam specimens reinforced by 3 types of bars. The first specimen is reinforced by steel deformed bars, the second by steel threaded bars, and finally by SEA threaded rebars. The tests were performed with a 3 point cyclic loading with increasing amplitude. From the test results, effective self-repairing was confirmed for small deformation levels irrespective of the reinforcement types. Effective self-repairing was observed in the SEA reinforced specimen even under much larger deformations. Nonlinear finite element analysis was performed to confirm the experimental findings.

Application of Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy bars as reinforcement elements in concrete beams

Experimental works are done to assess the seismic behavior of concrete beams reinforced with superelastic alloy (SEA) bars. Applicability of newly developed Cu-Al-Mn SEA bars, characterized by large recovery strain, low material cost, and high machinability, have been proposed as partial replacements for conventional steel bars in order to reduce residual deformations in structures during and after intense earthquakes. Four-point reverse-cyclic bending tests were done on 1/3 scale concrete beams comprising three different types of specimens - conventional steel reinforced concrete (ST-RC), SEA reinforced concrete (SEA-RC), and SEA reinforced concrete with pre-tensioning (SEA-PC). The results showed that SEA reinforced concrete beams demonstrated significant enhancement in crack recovery capacity in comparison to steel reinforced beam. Average recovery of cracks for each of the specimens was 21% for ST-RC, 84% for SEA-RC, and 86% for SEA-PC. In addition, SEA-RC and SEA-PC beams demonstrated strong capability of recentering with comparable normalized strength and ductility relative to conventional ST-RC beam specimen. ST-RC beam, on the other hand, showed large residual cracks due to progressive reduction in its re-centering capability with each cycle. Both the SEA-RC and SEA-PC specimens demonstrated superiority of Cu-Al-Mn SEA bars to conventional steel reinforcing bars as reinforcement elements.

Feasibility of Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy bar as a self-sensor material

This article examines the feasibility of Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy bars as possible self-sensor components, taking electrical resistance measurement as a feedback. Superelastic alloy bars change their crystallographic structure with phase transformation, as well as electrical resistance during loading–unloading process at ambient temperature. This work studies the relationship between strain and electrical resistance measurements of superelastic alloys at room temperature. Such relationship can be used in determining the state of a shape memory alloy–based structure effectively, without separate sensors, by appropriately measuring the changes in electrical resistance during and after structure’s loading history. Quasi-static cyclic tensile tests are conducted in this article to investigate the relationship between electrical resistance and strain for a 4-mm-diameter Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy bar. It was demonstrated that linear relationship with little hysteresis can be achieved up to 10% strain. The test observations support the feasibility of newly developed Cu-Al-Mn superelastic alloy bars, characterized by low material cost and high machinability, as a multifunctional material for both structural and sensing elements.