High performance fiber-reinforced concrete (HPFRC) has been frequently investigated in recent years. Plenty of studies have focused on different materials and types of fibers in combination with the concrete matrix. Experimental tests show that fiber dosage improves the energy absorption capacity of concrete and enhances the robustness of concrete elements. Fiber reinforced concrete has also been illustrated to be a material for developing infrastructure sustainability in RC elements like façade plates, columns, beams, or walls. Due to increasing costs of the produced fiber reinforced concrete and to ensure the serviceability limit state of construction elements, there is a demand to analyze the necessary fiber dosage in the concrete composition. It is expected that the surface and length of used fiber in combination with their dosage influence the structure of fresh and hardened concrete. This work presents an investigation of the mechanical parameters of HPFRC with different polymer fiber dosage. Tests were carried out on a mixture with polypropylene and polyvinyl alcohol fiber with dosages of 15, 25, and 35 kg/m³ as well as with control concrete without fiber. Differences were observed in the compressive strength and in the modulus of elasticity as well as in the flexural and splitting tensile strength. The flexural tensile strength test was conducted on two different element shapes: square panel and beam samples. These mechanical properties could lead to recommendations for designers of façade elements made of HPFRC.

This paper provides experimental results on investigations for the validation of photogrammetric strain measurements of ultra‐high‐performance concrete (UHPC)‐prisms subjected to static and cyclic bending‐tensile stress. For this purpose, 4 static and 5 cyclic test series were performed. Damage progresses during loading are monitored by means of a digital image correlation (DIC) system and a clip gauge. The control of the DIC by trigger lists and the measurement noise as a function of the measurement rate are examined. All static tests were performed force controlled with the same testing speed and the same measuring rate of DIC and clip gauge. All cyclic tests were performed with the same upper and lower stress levels but with different loading rates.During the static tests, the DIC can be used to make accurate strain measurements before UHPC failure. In the cyclic tests, the measurement noise of the DIC decreases with an increasing measuring rate. The tests performed confirm the control of the DIC by trigger lists for cyclic tests on UHPC‐prisms and show that the measurement noise is negligible in static and cyclic tests.

The large-scale CT system GULLIVER was recently put into operation at the Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität (RPTU) in Kaiserslautern (Germany). The project, which was launched in 2019 as a result of a competition between various German universities and research institutions, aims to use Computed Tomography (CT) to examine real-scale building components under the most realistic load conditions possible, as is customary in materials testing. The CT measurement is intended to provide new insights into the fatigue dynamics inside these concrete structures, which are up to 6 m long and 1 m wide, by detecting minimal cracks of up to 100 microns in size at the point of load application. The special design of the system and the components installed, open up completely new fields of application for high-energy CT that were previously not available. Particularly noteworthy is the system's gantry-type manipulation unit, whose use has so far been limited primarily to medical diagnostics, as well as the X-ray components used, which open up completely new fields of application for CT in terms of energy and resolution. But also, the processing of the resulting huge data of approx. 10,000 × 10,000 × 2,000 voxels generated in the system represents a particular challenge for the image processing and evaluation to be carried out following the measurement. In this publication, we present the project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and its development containing the measurement results achieved during the current completion of the system as well as the status of the processing procedures developed. In addition, the future measurement campaigns planned with the system are presented and the possibilities to access the innovative testing system for own research activities are explained.

Precast concrete sandwich panels (PCSPs) are known for their good thermal, acoustic and structural properties. Severe environmental demands can be met by PCSPs due to their use of highly thermally insulating materials and non-metallic connectors. One of the main issues limiting the wider use of sandwich walls in construction is their unknown fire resistance. Furthermore, the actual behaviour of connectors and insulation in fire in terms of their mechanical performance and their impact on fire spread and the fire resistance of walls is not fully understood. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the structural and thermal behaviour of PCSPs with mineral-wool insulation and glass-fiber-reinforced polymeric bar connectors coupling two concrete wythes. Three full-size walls were tested following the REI certification test procedure for fire walls under fire and vertical eccentric and post-fire mechanical impact load. The three test configurations were adopted for the assessment of the connectors’ fire behaviour and its impact on the general fire resistance of the walls. All the specimens met the REI 120-M criteria. The connectors did not contribute to the fire’s spread and the integrity of the walls was maintained throughout the testing time. This was also confirmed in the most unfavourable test configuration, in which some of the connectors in the inner area of the wall were significantly damaged, and yet the structural connection of the concrete wythes was maintained. The walls experienced heavy heat-induced thermal bowing. The significant contribution of connectors to the stiffness of the wall during fire was observed and discussed.

The level of energy consumption in renovation activities of buildings has huge advantages over the demolition of old buildings and the construction of new structures. Such renovation activities are usually associated with the simultaneous strengthening of their elements, such as externally bonded carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) lamellas or sheets on vertical and horizontal surfaces as structural reinforcements. This means the process of refurbishing a building, as well as the raw materials themselves have a significant impact on CO₂ emissions and energy consumption. This research paper demonstrates possibilities of replacing state of the art, highly energy-intensive CFRP lamellas with basalt fibre reinforced plastics as energy-efficient structural reinforcements for building constructions. The mechanical and thermal properties of basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) composites with variable matrix formulations are investigated. The article considers macro- and microstructures of innovative BFRP. The investigations focus on fibre–matrix interactions with different sizing formulations and their effect on the tensile strength, strain as well as modulus of elasticity.

Carbon-reinforced concrete (CRC) is increasingly utilized in construction, due to its unique properties, such as corrosion resistance, high-tensile strength, and durability. Understanding its behavior under different loads is crucial to ensuring its safe and effective use in various construction applications. In this study, three-point bending tests were performed in combination with large-scale in situ computed tomography (CT). This paper presents the related three- and four-dimensional evaluation methods, with emphasis on crack width and quality control. The focus was on large CRC beams, with cross-sectional sizes of up to 80 mm by 160 mm. Such dimensions require extremely high energy during a CT scan. Therefore, a new experimental setup with energies of up to 8 MeV was used in this study. However, such high energies posed new challenges to the analysis methods. Therefore, two methods (digital volume correlation and grayscale profile analysis) for accurate crack width estimation were adapted and applied to the 3D reconstructions. In addition, a photogrammetric stereo image sequence was acquired and analyzed, using digital image correlation to cross-validate the results derived from the 3D crack width estimates. The 3D CT images also played a key role in the quality control measures, including the localization of the carbon-reinforcement and the assessment of porosity within the concrete structure.