This paper reports an evaluation of the properties of medium-quality concrete incorporating recycled coarse aggregate (RCA). Concrete specimens were prepared with various percentages of the RCA (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%). The workability, mechanical properties, and durability in terms of abrasion of cured concrete were examined at different ages. The results reveal insignificant differences between the recycled concrete (RC) and reference concrete in terms of the mechanical and durability-related measurements. Meanwhile, the workability of the RC reduced vastly since the replacement of the RCA reached 75% and 100%. The ultrasound pulse velocity (UPV) results greatly depend on the porosity of concrete and the RC exhibited higher porosity than that of the reference concrete, particularly at the transition zone between the RCA and the new paste. Therefore, the sound transmission in the RC required longer times than that in the reference concrete. Moreover, a predictive equation relating the compressive strength to the UPV was developed.

To accommodate utilities in buildings, different sizes of openings are provided in the web of reinforced concrete deep beams, which cause reductions in the beam strength and stiffness. This paper aims to investigate experimentally and numerically the effectiveness of using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips, as a strengthening technique, to externally strengthen reinforced concrete continuous deep beams (RCCDBs) with large openings. The experimental work included testing three RCCDBs under five-point bending. A reference specimen was prepared without openings to explore the reductions in strength and stiffness after providing large openings. Openings were created symmetrically at the center of spans of the other specimens to represent 40% of the overall beam depth. Moreover, finite elements (FE) analysis was validated using the experimental results to conduct a parametric study on RCCDBs strengthened with CFRP strips. The results confirmed reductions in the ultimate load by 21% and 7% for the un-strengthened and strengthened specimens, respectively, due to the large openings. Although the large openings caused reductions in capacities, the CFRP strips limited the deterioration by enhancing the specimen capacity by 17% relative to the un-strengthened one.

In this research, experimental and numerical studies were carried out to investigate the performance of encased glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) beams under fire. The test specimens were divided into two peer groups to be tested under the effect of ambient and elevated temperatures. The first group was statically tested to investigate the monotonic behavior of the specimens. The second group was exposed to fire loading first and then statically tested to explore the residual behavior of the burned specimens. Adding shear connectors and web stiffeners to the GFRP beam was the main parameter in this investigation. Moreover, service loads were applied to the tested beams during the fire. Utilizing shear connectors, web stiffeners, and both enhanced the load-carrying capacities of the encased beams by 100.6%, 97.3%, and 130.8%, respectively. Comparisons between the burned and unburned peer beams were presented with losses in the load-carrying capacity of the burned beams. These losses were the highest in the cases of shear connectors and web stiffeners due to the obtained severe damage, which led to more reductions in the residual behavior of the burned beams. Numerical analyses were performed using the general-purpose finite element (FE) ABAQUS package to conduct a parametric study. The investigated parameters included the effect of the exposure duration and the temperature level. The results of the FE analysis showed good agreement with the experimental results. Additional reductions in the residual capacities of the fire-damaged beams were observed due to exposure to longer fire durations. The improvements in the beam capacities due to using shear connectors and web stiffeners relative to the reference beams under the same exposure time decreased as the exposure duration increased. Furthermore, increasing the temperature to 700 °C, 800 °C, 900 °C, and 950 °C caused reductions in the residual capacities by about 25%, 45%, 70%, and 80%, respectively, for the encased beams in comparison to their peers at ambient temperature.

In this paper, fire resistance and residual capacity tests were carried out on encased pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) I-beams with high-strength concrete beams. The specimens were loaded concurrently under 25% of the ultimate load and fire exposure (an increase in temperature of 700 °C) for 70 min. Subsequently, the fire-damaged specimens were allowed to cool and then were loaded statically until failure to explore the residual behaviors. The effects of using shear connectors and web stiffeners on the residual behavior were investigated. Finite Element (FE) analysis was developed to simulate the encased pultruded GFRP I-beams under the effect of fire loading. The thermal analyses were performed using the general-purpose FE ABAQUS package. This simulation considered the material and geometric nonlinearities and the effect of temperature on the constitutive models of materials. The FE results showed good agreement with the experimental data. The residual peak load and the corresponding mid-span deflection obtained were 5% and 4% higher than those of the experimental results. The validated FE model was utilized to explore the influence of the tensile strength of GFRP and concrete compressive strength on the post-fire flexural behavior of the encased GFRP I-beams. The encased GFRP beams kept higher residual peak loads. Moreover, the encased GFRP beam with shear connectors (EGS-F), encased GFRP beam with web stiffeners (EGW-F), and encased GFRP beam with shear connectors and web stiffeners (EGSW-F) exhibited higher residual peak loads due to the presence of shear connectors and web stiffeners. However, the web stiffeners showed a minor enhancement in the peak load.

Strengthening of bridge superstructures composite beams with external post-tensioned tendons is a good technique for strengthening the existing structures. In this study, a numerical model is illustrated to study the nonlinear simulation of composite beams stiffened with externally post-tensioned tendons. The accuracy of the developed numerical model is validated using comparisons between the numerical and existing test data. The influence of various strengthening parameters is investigated, which include draped versus straight tendons, tendon length, the effect of post-tensioning on reinstating the flexural behavior of an overloaded beam, tendon eccentricity, and the degree of shear connection. A good agreement between the proposed model and the test data is obtained. The results demonstrate that at the same tendon eccentricity, the trapezoidal profile shows better behavior for the strengthened beams. However, more ductility is obtained when using the straight tendon profile. Applying post-tensioning through the beam of full length helps to reduce the creation of fatigue cracks, which always start at stress raisers, and subsequently increases the fatigue life of the composite beam. Also, the external post-tensioning effectively maintains the flexural behavior of the overloaded strengthened beam after unloading in comparison to the un-strengthened beam. It is observed that 80% degree of shear connection or higher is recommended to obtain the desired performance of the external post-tensioning force for strengthening composite beams.