This paper studies the effect of high-strength steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) on the axial compression behavior of rectangular-sectional SFRC-filled steel tube columns. The purpose is to improve the integrated bearing capacity of these composite columns. Nine rectangular-sectional SFRC-filled steel tube columns and one normal concrete-filled steel tube column were designed and tested under axial loading to failure. The compressive strength of concrete, the volume fraction of steel fiber, the type of internal longitudinal stiffener and the spacing of circular holes in perfobond rib were considered as the main parameters. The failure modes, axial load-deformation curves, energy dissipation capacity, axial bearing capacity, and ductility index are presented. The results identified that steel fiber delayed the local buckling of steel tube and increased the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the columns when the volume fraction of steel fiber was not less than 0.8%. The longitudinal internal stiffening ribs and their type changed the failure modes of the local buckling of steel tube, and perfobond ribs increased the ductility and energy dissipation capacity to some degree. The compressive strength of SFRC failed to change the failure modes, but had a significant impact on the energy dissipation capacity, bearing capacity, and ductility. The predictive formulas for the bearing capacity and ductility index of rectangular-sectional SFRC-filled steel tube columns are proposed to be used in engineering practice.

In this paper, for a wide application of high-performance steel fiber reinforced expanded-shale lightweight concrete (SFRELC) in structures, the shear behavior of reinforced SFRELC beams without web reinforcements was experimentally investigated under a four-point bending test. Twenty-six beams were fabricated considering the influencing parameters of SFRELC strength, shear-span to depth ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the volume fraction of the steel fiber. The statistical analyses based on the foundational design principles and the experimental results are made based on the shear cracking resistance, the shear crack distribution and width, the mid-span deflection, the patterns of shear failure, and the shear capacity of the specimens. This confirms the effective strengthening of steel fibers on the shear performance of reinforced SFRELC beams without web reinforcements. Based on the modifications to the formulas of reinforced conventional concrete, lightweight-aggregate concrete or steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams, and the validation against the experimental findings, formulas are proposed for the prediction of shear cracking resistance and shear capacity of reinforced SFRELC beams without web reinforcements. Finally, formulas are discussed for the reliable design of the shear capacity of reinforced SFRELC beams without web reinforcements.

To determine the validity of steel fiber reinforced expanded-shale lightweight concrete (SFRELC) applied in structures, the shear behavior of SFRELC structural components needs to be understood. In this paper, four-point bending tests were carried out on reinforced SFRELC beams with stirrups and a varying volume fraction of steel fiber from 0.4% to 1.6%. The shear cracking force, shear crack width and distribution pattern, mid-span deflection, and failure modes of test beams were recorded. Results indicate that the shear failure modes of reinforced SFRELC beams with stirrups were modified from brittle to ductile and could be transferred to the flexure mode with the increasing volume fraction of steel fiber. The coupling of steel fibers with stirrups contributed to the shear cracking force and the shear capacity provided by the SFRELC, and it improved the distribution of shear cracks. At the limit loading level of beams in building structures at serviceability, the maximum width of shear cracks could be controlled within 0.3 mm and 0.2 mm with the volume fraction of steel fiber increased from 0.4% to 0.8%. Finally, the formulas are proposed for the prediction of shear-cracking force, shear crack width, and shear capacity of reinforced SFRELC beams with stirrups.

To promote the engineering application of recycled aggregate for concrete production with good adaptability and economic efficiency, this paper performed a campaign to investigate the flexural performance of steel fiber reinforced composite-recycled aggregate concrete (SFR-CRAC) beams matched with 500 MPa longitudinal rebars. The composite-recycled aggregate has features of the full use recycled fine aggregate and small particle recycled coarse aggregate, and the continuous grading of coarse aggregate ensured by admixing the large particle natural aggregate about 35% to 45% in mass of total coarse aggregate. The properties of SFR-CRAC have been comprehensively improved by using steel fibers. With a varying volume fraction of steel fiber from 0% to 2.0%, 10 beam specimens were produced. The flexural behaviors of the beams during the complete loading procedure were experimentally studied under a four-point bending test. Of which the concrete strain at mid-span section, the appearance of cracks, the crack distribution and crack width, the mid-span deflection, the tensile strain of longitudinal rebars, and the failure patterns of the beams were measured in detail. Results indicated that the assumption of plane cross-section held true approximately, the 500 MPa longitudinal rebars worked at a high stress level within the limit width of cracks on reinforced SFR-CRAC beams at the normal serviceability, and the typical failure occurred with the yield of 500 MPa longitudinal rebars followed by the crushed SFR-CRAC in compression. The cracking resistance, the flexural capacity, and the flexural ductility of the beams increased with the volume fraction of steel fiber, while the crack width and mid-span deflection obviously decreased. Finally, by linking to those for conventional reinforced concrete beams, formulas are suggested for predicting the cracking moment, crack width, and flexural stiffness at normal serviceability, and the ultimate moment at bearing capacity of reinforced SFR-CRAC beams.

This paper is the outcome of experiments on the shear performance of reinforced concrete beams with approved composite-recycled aggregates. The strength grade of composite-recycled aggregate concrete (CRAC) was between 30 MPa and 60 MPa. The shear span-to-depth ratio varied from 1 to 3. The adaptability of HRB400 rebar, with critical yield strength of 400 MPa, used as stirrups was also verified. As the composite technology overcame the shortcomings of recycled coarse aggregate, CRAC had similar mechanical properties with those of conventional concrete. Details on the shear behaviors of test beams under a four-point loading test are presented. The results indicated that the changes of CRAC strain, stirrup strain, and shear-crack width depended on the failure patterns, which are controlled by the shear-span to depth ratio. The stirrups yield at the failure of reinforced CRAC beams. The shear cracking resistance and the shear capacity of reinforced CRAC beams can be predicted by the statistical equations. Based on the design codes GB50010, ACI318-19, Model Code 2010 and DIN-1045-1-2008 for conventional reinforced concrete beams, the shear strengths provided by CRAC and stirrups are statistical analyzed. The rationality of the design equations is examined by the utilization level of shear strength provided by CRAC. The maximum shear-crack widths are extracted from the test data of reinforced CRAC beams at normal service state. Comparatively, by specifying the lower limit of shear strength provided by the CRAC with various shear-span to depth ratios, China code GB50010 gives a rational method for utilizing CRAC. Under the premise that the design of shear capacity would give considerations to meet the normal serviceability, the factored strength of HRB400 rebar should be 360 MPa for the calculation of shear strength provided by stirrups. The design methods in codes of GB50010, ACI318-19 and Model Code 2010 are conservative for the shear capacity of reinforced CRAC beams.

Damage detection of structures based on swarm intelligence optimization algorithms is an effective method for structural damage detection and key parts of the field of structural health monitoring. Based on the chimp optimization algorithm (ChOA) and the whale optimization algorithm, this paper proposes a novel hybrid whale-chimp optimization algorithm (W-ChOA) for structural damage detection. To improve the identification accuracy of the ChOA, the Sobol sequence is adopted in the population initialization stage to make the population evenly fill the entire solution space. In addition, to improve the local search ability of the traditional ChOA, the bubble-net hunting mechanism and the random search mechanism of the whale optimization algorithm are introduced into the position update process of the ChOA. In this paper, the validity and applicability of the proposed method are illustrated by a two-story rigid frame model and a simply supported beam model. Simulations show that the presented method has much better performance than the ChOA, especially in dealing with multiple damage detection cases. The W-ChOA has good performance in both overcoming misjudgment and improving computational efficiency, which should be a preferred choice in adoption for structural damage detection.