This study investigates the effects of hooked-end fiber geometry and volume fraction on the flexural behavior of concrete pedestrian decks. To achieve this, three different fiber geometries, i.e., three-dimensional (3D), four-dimensional (4D), and five-dimensional (5D), and volume fractions of 0.37%, 0.6%, and 1.0% were considered. Test results indicate that a higher number of hook ends can more effectively enhance the flexural strength and flexural strength margin at all volume fractions than a lower number, so that the order of effectiveness of hooked-end fibers on the flexural strength parameters was as follows: 5D > 4D > 3D. To satisfy the ductility index of 0.39, the amounts of 3D, 4D, and 5D hooked steel fibers should be in the range of 0.98%‒1.10%. Moreover, at a fiber volume fraction of 1.0%, only multiple cracking behaviors were observed, and the numerical results indicated that the volume fraction should be equal to 1.0% to guarantee a deflection-hardening response of pedestrian decks, regardless of the hooked-end fiber geometry. Consequently, a 1.0% by volume of hooked-end steel fiber is recommended to replace the minimum longitudinal steel rebars and guarantee a ductile flexural behavior with multiple cracks for pedestrian decks made of high-strength concrete.

Concrete structures that employed general and multicomponent blended binders were constructed using a low-carbon, ecofriendly microwave heat curing technology with the aim of accelerating the concrete’s curing process. In this study, a field-cast concrete tunnel lining that employed a general binder (portland cement) and a precast box culvert that employed a multicomponent blended binder were constructed using the microwave heat curing technology. In the precast concrete box culvert, portland cement was partially replaced by ground granulated blast furnace (GGBF) slag and fly ash, and rapid-cooled steelmaking slag was used as an alternative to fine aggregates. Through a series of evaluations, it was found that the proposed curing technology was able to fully complete the curing process with the use of electric power alone, reduce the time required to cure the concrete in the field-cast concrete tunnel lining and permit form removal to 4 h, and potentially lower the cost of curing by about 70% compared with conventional steam curing.

The effect of a magnetic field on the rheology of mortars with steel slags and fibers was evaluated in this study. The rheology of the mortar measured with and without a magnetic field was compared. The effect of steel fiber addition to normal and steel slag mortars, mix ratio and size of steel fibers, and magnetic field formation position on rheology were evaluated. Steel fiber addition increased the yield stress and viscosity of the normal and steel slag mortars. The increased rheology was almost restored because of the magnetic field applied to the normal mortars. However, the increased rheology of the steel slag mortars with steel fibers was restored only upon the application of the magnetic field, whose position was continuously changed by a power relay. It is deduced that the alignment of the steel fibers by the magnetic field contributes to the rheology reduction of the mortars. However, in the case of steel slag mortar, experimental results demonstrated that steel slag, which is a ferromagnetic material, receives constant force by the magnetic field, which increases the rheology. This is evidenced by the decrease in the rheology of steel slag mortars under a continuously changing magnetic field formation position by power relay.

The combined effects of preexposure to high temperature and alkalinity on the tensile performance of structural GFRP reinforcing bars are experimentally investigated. A total of 105 GFRP bar specimens are preexposed to high temperature between 120°C and 200°C and then immersed into pH of 12.6 alkaline solution for 100, 300, and 660 days. From the test results, the elastic modulus obtained at 300 immersion days is almost the same as those of 660 immersion days. For all alkali immersion days considered in the test, the preheated specimens provide slightly lower elastic modulus than the unpreheated specimens, showing only 8% maximum difference. The tensile strength decreases for all testing cases as the increase of the alkaline immersing time, regardless of the prehearing levels. The tensile strength of the preheated specimens is about 90% of the unpreheated specimen for 300 alkali immersion days. However, after 300 alkali immersion days the tensile strengths are almost identical to each other. Such results indicate that the tensile strength and elastic modulus of the structural GFRP reinforcing bars are closely related to alkali immersion days, not much related to the preheating levels. The specimens show a typical tensile failure around the preheated location.

In typical steel fiber-reinforced concrete, the fibers are randomly distributed and oriented throughout the matrix, and a magnetic field can effectively align these randomly oriented fibers. To predict the extent to which the steel fibers contained in mortar can be aligned by a magnetic field, an analytical steel fiber orientation efficiency factor model was proposed as a function of the magnetic induction intensity and exposure time. To verify the applicability of the proposed model, experiments were conducted for various magnetic induction intensities and exposure times with normal mortars and mortars in which some or all the sand was replaced with steel slag. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model allows predicting the degree of alignment of steel fibers under magnetic fields. However, this model can only be applied to a normal mortar. In the case of mortar containing steel slag, it is confirmed that the steel slag, which is a ferrous material, reduces the magnetic induction intensity, reducing the degree of alignment of steel fibers in the mortar.