Graduation Semester and Year

2013

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering

Department

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Ali Abolmaali

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive investigation of performance and behavior of steel-fiber reinforced concrete pipes (SFRCP). The main goal of this study is to develop the material constitutive model for steel fiber reinforced concrete used in dry-cast application. To accomplish this goal a range of pipe sizes varying from 15 in. (400 mm) to 48 in. (1200 mm) in diameter and fiber content of 0.17%, 0.25%, 0.33%, 0.5%, 0.67% and 83% by volume were produced. The pipes were tested in three-edge bearing condition to obtain the load-deformation response and overall performance of the pipe. The pipes were also subjected to hydrostatic joint and joint shear tests to evaluate the performance of the fiber-pipe joints for water tightness and under differential displacements, respectively. In addition, testing on hardened concrete was performed to obtain the basic mechanical material properties. High variation in the test results for material testing was identified as a part of experimental investigation.A three-dimensional non-linear finite element model of the pipe under the three edge bearing condition was developed to identify the constitutive material relations of fiber-concrete composite. A constitutive model of concrete implementing the concrete plasticity and continuum fracture mechanics was considered for defining the complex non-linear behavior of fiber-concrete. Three main concrete damage algorithms were examined: concrete brittle cracking, concrete damaged plasticity with adaptive meshing technique and concrete damaged plasticity with visco-plastic regularization. The latter was identified as the most robust and efficient to model the post-cracking behavior of fiber reinforced concrete and was used in the subsequent studies.The tension stiffening material constitutive law for composite concrete was determined by converging the FEM solution of load-deformation response with the results of experimental testing. This was achieved by iteratively modifying the non-linear material model of concrete properties in tension until the load-deformation response matched the one of experimental testing. Based on the results of finite element simulations the mathematical expressions for the material constitutive law for concrete composite were obtained using the least squares approach. Internal moments, shear and thrust forced developed in the pipe under the three-edge bearing were determined. In addition, finite element model of pipe-soil interaction was developed to determine the deflections of the pipe under a range of backfill heights. A part of this research was a qualitative evaluation of fiber distribution in concrete pipe using statistical approach. The study revealed that the variation of fiber distribution varies with the fiber content in concrete.This study has resulted in the development of a stand-alone performance based specification (ASTM C1765-13) for steel fiber reinforced concrete pipes, which has been approved in 2013.

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering | Civil Engineering | Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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