Sao-Jeng Chao

The Effects of Different Fine Recycled Concrete Aggregates on the Properties of Mortar

The practical use of recycled concrete aggregate produced by crushing concrete waste reduces the consumption of natural aggregate and the amount of concrete waste that ends up in landfills. This study investigated two methods used in the production of fine recycled concrete aggregate: (1) a method that produces fine as well as coarse aggregate, and (2) a method that produces only fine aggregate. Mortar specimens were tested using a variety of mix proportions to determine how the characteristics of fine recycled concrete aggregate affect the physical and mechanical properties of the resulting mortars. Our results demonstrate the superiority of mortar produced using aggregate produced using the second of the two methods. Nonetheless, far more energy is required to render concrete into fine aggregate than is required to produce coarse as well as fine aggregate simultaneously. Thus, the performance benefits of using only fine recycled concrete aggregate must be balanced against the increased impact on the environment.

Effects of Leaching Behavior of Calcium Ions on Compression and Durability of Cement-Based Materials with Mineral Admixtures

Leaching of calcium ions increases the porosity of cement-based materials, consequently resulting in a negative effect on durability since it provides an entry for aggressive harmful ions, causing reinforcing steel corrosion. This study investigates the effects of leaching behavior of calcium ions on the compression and durability of cement-based materials. Since the parameters influencing the leaching behavior of cement-based materials are unclear and diverse, this paper focuses on the influence of added mineral admixtures (fly ash, slag and silica fume) on the leaching behavior of calcium ions regarding compression and durability of cemented-based materials. Ammonium nitrate solution was used to accelerate the leaching process in this study. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to analyze and compare the cement-based material compositions prior to and after calcium ion leaching. The experimental results show that the mineral admixtures reduce calcium hydroxide quantity and refine pore structure through pozzolanic reaction, thus enhancing the compressive strength and durability of cement-based materials.

Engineering Properties and Correlation Analysis of Fiber Cementitious Materials

This study focuses on the effect of the amount of silica fume addition and volume fraction of steel fiber on the engineering properties of cementitious materials. Test variables include dosage of silica fume (5% and 10%), water/cement ratio (0.35 and 0.55) and steel fiber dosage (0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0%). The experimental results included: compressive strength, direct tensile strength, splitting tensile strength, surface abrasion and drop-weight test, which were collected to carry out the analysis of variance to realize the relevancy and significance between material parameters and those mechanical properties. Test results illustrate that the splitting tensile strength, direct tensile strength, strain capacity and ability of crack-arresting increase with increasing steel fiber and silica fume dosages, as well as the optimum mixture of the fiber cementitious materials is 5% replacement silica fume and 2% fiber dosage. In addition, the Pearson correlation coefficient was conducted to evaluate the influence of the material variables and corresponds to the experiment result.

Development of a Road Monitoring and Reporting System Based on Location-Based Services and Augmented-Reality Technologies

To provide a certain level of serviceability, road authorities need to perform appropriate and timely maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) activities. However, the vast expanse and different deterioration properties of road systems greatly increase the complexity of M&R activities. Because of lack of funding and resources, it is almost impossible for road engineers to monitor every road and to promptly maintain and rehabilitate any defects that have been identified. Therefore, the monitoring and reporting of defects by the public are becoming indispensable. For several years, location-based services (LBSs) have been applied to mobile devices with mobile positioning functions to provide users with location-specific services. Augmented reality (AR) can support users in manipulating virtual objects in real environments. In this study, a road monitoring and reporting system (RMRS) is developed including a mobile RMRS (an Android application) on smartphones and a web-based RMRS by integrating LBS and AR technologies. By using LBS and AR technologies, the time and costs of M&R activities can be significantly decreased, because routes of M&R activities can be planned in advance and the neighboring defects can be instantly identified and processed, which conforms exactly to the current policies of the Public Oversight of Public Works Projects and Smooth Roads Project in Taiwan. By using field data from Ilan County in Taiwan and considering the indefinite delivery contract, different strategies for M&R operations derived from the mobile and web-based RMRSs are analyzed. The results are presented to demonstrate the system’s benefits, costs, and feasibility.

Effects of silica fume and steel fiber on chloride ion penetration and corrosion behavior of cement-based composites

This project was aimed to evaluate the chloride permeability and corrosion behavior of cement-based composites which comprised fibers and silica fume in the mixes. Resistivity, polarization resistance, ponding and rapid chloride penetration results of specimens were obtained through tests. Test results indicate that resistivity, open circuit potentials and direct current polarization of specimens with w/b ratio of 0.35 are higher than those of specimens with w/b ratio of 0.55. For length-diameter ratio of 65, resistivity and direct current polarization of specimens with fiber length of 35 mm were similar to those of 60 mm. In addition, the open circuit potentials of specimens with fiber length of 60 mm were slightly higher that those of 35 mm. The resistivity decreased with increasing steel fiber content, and the open circuit potential and direct current polarization increased with increasing steel fiber content. The specimens containing silica fume were found to provide higher resistivity, open circuit potentials and direct current polarization than the control specimens. The incorporation of steel fiber and silica fume in composites achieved more significantly decreases in resistivity and increases in direct current polarization than steel fiber composites or silica fume composites. The penetration depth and six-hour total charge passed of specimens for w/b ratio of 0.35 were lower than those for w/b ratio of 0.55. For length-diameter ratio of 65, the penetration depth of specimens for fiber length of 35 mm was similar to that of 60 mm. The penetration depth decreased with increased steel fiber content in the composites. By regression analysis, a good correlation between open circuit potential and direct current polarization, and chloride penetration depth and direct current polarization.

Prediction of the Deterioration Depth of Concrete by Accelerating Calcium Leaching Test

The concrete is a solid and porous composite materials, when the concrete exposure to moisture environment for a long-term, the pore water will penetrate into concrete cause hydration products leaching. Leaching of calcium ions increase in porosity and resulting in harmful ions ingress into concrete to reduce strength and durability of concrete. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of water-binder ratio on calcium ion leaching behavior of cement-based material. The ammonium nitrate solution was used to accelerate leaching process. Leaching duration was 56 days, 91 days and 140 days, respectively. The leaching depth and compressive strength were measured. The results showed that leaching resistance increased with a decrease in water/binder ratio. The leaching depth showed that leaching behavior of the specimens without minerals admixtures can be divided into two stages, the first stage was leaching of calcium hydroxide and than the C-S-H gel were leaching.

Properties of Cement-Based Materials Containing Melting Incinerator Bottom Ash

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the effect of incinerator bottom ash (IBA) fineness and the cooled process of molten IBA on fresh mortar properties and compressive strength of hardened mortars. IBA with two finenesses, an original IBA, and a pulverizing incinerator bottom ash (PIBA) powder, with maximum particle size of 4.75 and 0.074 mm respectively were used to partially replace sand and Portland cement at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by weight. The pozzolanic activity characteristics of powder were obtained from melting the above PIBA in an electric-furnace at 1450 °C for 1 h. and chilled by quenching in water (WIBA) and air (AIBA). Results indicate that incinerator bottom ash caused a reduction in compressive strength, unit weight, and flowability values when used as a replacement for sand and cement. However, IBA can be processed by melting to regain reactive pozzolanic activity, which may be used to partially replace cement.

Variation in Fineness of Cement-Based Composites Containing Sugarcane Bagasse Ashes

This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of sugarcane bagasse ash fineness on the properties of cement-based composites. Three sugarcane bagasse ash contents (10, 20 and 30% by weight of cement) and three particle sizes of bagasse ash (particles less than 45, 75 and 150 μm) were used as a partial replacement for cement in mortar specimens with a constant water/cementitious ratio of 0.55. The pozzolanic strength activity test, compressive strength test and scanning electron microscope observations were conducted and compared. Test results indicated that the compressive strength decreased with the addition of sugarcane bagasse ash content increased. Addition of sugarcane bagasse ash to replace cement in cementitious composites could provide hydration and pozzolanic reaction, but it would still keep more rugged and some larger pores observed from the paste surface and resulted in the weaker microstructures and poorer properties in cementitious composites. In conclusion, the critical usage of sugarcane bagasse ash is 10 % with 45μm particles.

Effect of Calcination Temperature on Pozzolanic Reaction of Calcined Shale Mortar

This study investigated the influence of calcination temperature on the pozzolanic activity of shale. Calcination temperatures of 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C were used. The calcined shale powder was then passed through a No.200 sieve before being used to replace 20% of the cement in standard mortar samples. X-ray fluorescence spectrometery (XRF) was used to analyze the chemical composition of the calcined shale. In addition, the effects of replacing mortar with calcined shale were also examined with regard to setting time, pozzolanic activity, compressive strength, ultrasonic wave velocity, and the water absorption of the mortar. The test results demonstrate that the chemical composition of SiO2+Al2O3+Fe2O3 exceeded the 70% required by ASTM C618 specifications. The strength activity index (SAI) of calcined shale at 7, 28, 56 days exceeded 75%. At 28 days, the SAI values of samples produced with shale calcined at 700 °C and 800 °C exceeded 99%. After 28 days, the SAI, water absorption, and ultrasonic wave velocity values were nearly identical to those of control samples produced using only cement. Among all shale samples, those calcined at temperatures between 700 and 800 °C demonstrated the highest pozzolanic activity.

Performance Study of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Retaining Structures

Geosynthetic reinforced soil retaining structures (GRSRS) have the benefits of low construction cost, hard to decay, and construction convenience. However, GRSRS are composed of backfill materials and reinforcements, which are relatively complex in considering of the soil-structure interaction. The complicated soil-reinforcement interaction and its effects on the behavior of GRSRS need to be investigated comprehensively. This paper follows the processes of cases description and numerical analysis to study the performance of the four major GRSRS built in Ilan County, Taiwan. The purpose of this paper is to validate a relatively reliable and economical technique to be adopted greatly at present in civil engineering practice.