February  2006  

Effect of biological contaminated water on cement mortar properties

I.V. Ramana Reddy, N.R.S. Prasad Reddy, G.Reddy Babu, B. Kotaiah and P. Chiranjeevi

Algae is present abundantly in tropical water bodies (especially in summer season) as well as in the industrial effluent water. The effect of algae-mixed water on the initial and final setting times of cement and compressive strength development of cement mortars was investigated under laboratory conditions. It was observed that the presence of algae accelerates the initial and final setting times at all concentrations, the maximum acceleration occurring at 1460 cells/ml concentration. The presence of algae increased the compressive strength of mortar at early ages, mainly at 3-day and 7-days. However, at higher ages, the trend reversed. The compressive strength decreased continuously for all concentrations in all samples from 14th day onwards. The percentage of decrease in strength continued with age at all concentrations. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies indicated the formation of hydroxides of calcium and aluminum compounds during hydration. Extreme caution is needed in using algae contaminated water in concrete construction.



















Prediction of structural behaviour of SIMCON plates

H.K. Sharma

Slurry infiltrated mat concrete (SIMCON) is a new kind of high performance fibre reinforced composite (HPFRC). The paper reports a study of the behaviour of SIMCON plates with different support conditions, loading conditions and fibre mat corresponding to various fibre content using layered approach. Detailed analysis is conducted to study effect of fibre mat in single and double layers. The typical results are analysed to investigate structural performance of SIMCON plates in the form of load deformation response, ductility, toughness, second fibre efficiency and predicted stress distribution mapping. The proposed procedure predicts well the load deformation response through different failure stages. SIMCON plates are shown to possess advantageous properties and the failure pattern is predicted by multiple cracking and high ductility patterns. Fibre mats are found to be more effective when laid in multiple layers. Finally, an optimum fibre content for SIMCON plates is proposed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation of seismic resistance of exterior beam-column joints with detailing as per IS 13920 : 1993

P. Asha and R. Sundararajan

An experimental investigation of the behaviour of exterior beam-column joints with detailing as per IS 13920 : 1993 under seismic conditions is presented. Five quarter scale reinforced concrete exterior beam-column sub assemblies were tested. The primary variable was the type of confinement in the joint region extended from the column. Four types of special confining reinforcement according to IS 13920 : 1993 were provided in joint region, namely, square hoop (SH), square spiral (SS), circular hoop (CH) and circular spiral (CS). A control specimen without any hoop in joint named as substandard detail (SD) was also tested. The test specimens were evaluated in terms of load-displacement relation, ductility, stiffness, load ratio and cracking pattern. Test results showed that exterior beam-column joint with square spiral (SS) in joint region is the most effective of all specimens tested and had excellent seismic resistance than others.

 

 

 

 










Pseudo-ductile behaviour of steel fibre reinforced high-strength concretes

Raúl L. Zerbino, Graciela Giaccio and Ravindra Gettu

The benefits produced by the use of high strength (HSC) concrete in structures include the increase in the load carrying capacity, durability and, consequently, longer service life Nevertheless, concrete with higher strength exhibits more brittle behaviour. This phenomenon can be compensated by the incorporation of distributed steel fibre reinforcement. This paper analyses the behaviour of steel fibre reinforced high-strength concrete, with emphasis on toughness parameters determined through the ASTM C 1018 procedure. The effects of matrix strength level, fibre type and dosage have been studied. The geometry of the specimens and loading configuration have also been varied. In addition, the failure mechanism under compressive loading has been analysed using the critical stress concept.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 


A comparison of effects of ultra fine fly ash and silica fume in concrete

J.K. Dattatreya, M. Neelamegam and N.P. Rajamane

Mineral admixtures such as fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) are being extensively used in concrete for reasons of strength, durability, and economy. While SF is a very fine material with submicron particles, FA can be processed to obtain the desired level of fineness to improve its performance. The performance of ultra-fine fraction of FA and SF was compared in an investigation on HPC mixtures reported in this paper. The test results indicate that ultra fine fly ash (UFFA) had only a marginal effect on compressive strength when compared to that with concrete containing SF. The use of both SF and UFFA resulted in drastic reduction in chloride permeability at all the ages.