International Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Mar 2005

This paper presents the results of analytical studies concerning the flexuralstrengthening of reinforced concrete beams by external bonding of high-strength lightweightcarbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) plates to tension face of the beam. Three groups of beamswere tested analytically and compared with existing experimental results. Results of the numericalanalyses showed that, although addition of CFRP plates to the tension face of the beam increasesthe strength, it decreases the beam ductility. Finite element modeling of fifteen different beams in aparametric study indicates that steel area ratio, CFRP thickness, CFRP ultimate strength andelastic modulus considerably influence the level of strengthening and ductility.

Having observed the costly failures of different cutoff walls, that had been constructedaccording to the mix design specified by reputable consultants in Iran, a research programme wasconducted to study the effects of constituent materials on the properties of plastic concrete. Themain properties, such as compressive strength, biaxial and triaxial strains, permeability, andmodulus of elasticity have been investigated using different mixes, obtained from prototypeproduction line plant, situated on site, because it was realized that the site production line and thesystems employed have major effects on the properties of plastic concrete. Statistical analysis ofthe results, revealed the coefficients of influence of main constituent materials of plastic concretenamely cement, bentonite, aggregate and water on its compressive strength and modulus ofelasticity. Having realized the cancelling effects of bentonite and aggregates on the measuredproperties, some equations relating the quantities of cement and water to the compressive strengthand modulus of elasticity are introduced. Effects of clay and hydrated lime powder, as fillers werealso investigated leading to the proposal of limits for their safe and economic use. Since most ofthe cutoff walls are buried structures, failure strains under both uniaxial and triaxial tests, withvalues of cohesion and internal friction, are also presented in this paper.

Design and construction of efficient and economic Reinforced Concrete (R.C.) Hyperbolic Cooling Towers have driven the engineers toward the design of tall and thin-shell towers which have considerable high slenderness aspect ratio. Consequently, the shell of R.C. Cooling Towers with relative high slenderness aspect ratio is extremely prone to buckling instability due to wind loading. To increase the structural stability or buckling safety factor, one economic approach is to design and construct stiffening rings for the R.C. Hyperbolic Cooling Towers. Despite the research previously performed to determine the effect of stiffening rings on the buckling behavior of the R.C. Hyperbolic Cooling Towers, information resulting in maximum buckling stability is absent considering the optimized utilization of the quantity and dimension as well as the location of this type of stiffeners. In this paper, not only the effect of the stiffening rings on the buckling stability of the R.C. Cooling Tower is studied but also the optimized location,quantity and dimension of the stiffening rings are carried out for a sample RC Cooling Tower. The dimensions of the selected sample cooling tower are in average typical dimensions which are used in the current practice. In this study, finite element (F. E.) analyses has been carried out to define the buckling modes and resistance of this tower due to wind loading for different number of stiffening ring configurations. Based on the conducted buckling analysis, the optimized number, location and dimension of the stiffening rings that maximizes the tower.s buckling stability are defined and the methodology to achieve this information is discussed in this paper.

In this paper, the main factors in the analysis of the railway concrete sleepers areinvestigated and new recommendations are made in order to improve the accuracy of the currentpractices in analysis of the railway track system. First, a comprehensive literature survey isconducted, then, FEM models for a railway track system are developed and used to discuss andevaluate the assumptions commonly used in the analysis of the railway track system. The analysisfactors investigated include stress distribution under a concrete sleeper, rail-seat load, anddynamic coefficient factor. Finally, recommendations and needs for continuation of the researchare presented.

This paper presents a k- turbulence model for simulation of steady current and itsinduced vortex shedding caused by the presence of an offshore pipeline. Performance of the modelaround a circular cylinder above a wall with gap to diameter ratios of 0.1, 0.35 and 0.5 underdifferent flow regimes with Reynolds numbers of 1500, 2500 and 7000 is studied. The flow field iscomputed with solving the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS); the seabed underpipeline is treated as a plane boundary with no-slip boundary condition on pipe surface. Thegoverning equations are solved using Finite Volume Method in a Cartesian coordinate system.Based on the numerical solutions, the flow field, vortex shedding and distribution of shear stressdue to the presence of the pipeline near seabed are studied. In addition the mechanism of vortexshedding with different gap to diameter ratios is examined with focusing on the effect of vortexshedding on bed shear stress. It is found that the k- turbulence model can well predict the flowfield and its induced vortex shedding around a pipeline; hence it can be easily applied forsimulation of scour below an offshore pipeline.

The rectangular broad crested weirs are widely used to measure the water dischargewhich is one of the most popular tools in the irrigation canals particularly, in developingcountries.The present article is trying to demonstrate the results of an experimental work carriedout on rectangular broad crested weir with sloped upstream face to investigate the effect ofupstream slope on discharge efficiency. The upstream slope was varying from 90 to 23 degreeswhile incoming discharge was ranging from 14 to 75 lit/ sec. The experiments were conducted in aflume with a weir of fixed height under the normal downstream water depth. It is revealed that theslope of upstream face in rectangular broad crested weir would smoothen the flow profile havingthe critical depth on the weir crest adjacent and upstream of downstream edge of the weir. Theresults also lead to a novel achievement showing that the weir discharge efficiency is dependenton the slope of upstream face of the weir. As the slope of upstream face of the rectangular broadcrested weir is decreasing from 90 to 23 the weir discharge efficiency is increasing and reachingto its maximum through a parabola function at slope angle of 25 degrees(i.e. 1:2.15). Theinvestigation also showed that the depth of flow over the weir crest, the specific energy head ofthe approaching flow relative to chanel bed and the critical depth would be a pertinent similarityscales to asses the flow behavior over different sloped rectangular broad crested weirs betweenmodel and prototype. However, some broad investigation is recommended to endorse theachievements.