| 1. |
- Gasch, Tobias
(författare)
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Multiphysical analysis methods to predict the ageing and durability of concrete
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With the societal demand for sustainability and the increasing age of infrastructure, a crucial task for the civil engineering community is to improve the durability of concrete structures. This thesis aims to contribute to such development through theoretical studies using mathematical modelling and numerical simulations. During its service life, a concrete structure is subjected to many different actions, ranging from mechanical loads to chemical and physical processes. Hence, a sound modelling strategy requires multiphysics and the inclusion of coupled chemical and physical fields (e.g. temperature, moisture and cement hydration) in addition to methods that describe mechanical integrity of the material. Conditions and phenomena critical for concrete structures at hydropower facilities have been of particular interest to study.The thesis presents several mathematical models of various complexity to describe the multiphysical behaviour of concrete using a material point description. A significant focus is on models that describe the mechanical behaviour of concrete where aspects such as ageing, cracking, creep and shrinkage are investigated. For the creep behaviour, a state-of-the-art model based on the Microprestress–Solidification (MPS) theory is reviewed and further developed. The appended papers (III to IV) presents a mathematical framework for the modelling of durability aspects of concrete based on multiphase porous media theory. The governing equations are derived with the Thermodynamically Constrained Averaging Theory (TCAT) as a starting point. It is demonstrated how this framework can be applied to a broad variety of phenomena related to durability; from the casting and hardening of concrete to the long-term absorption of water into air-entrained concrete. The Finite Element Methods (FEM) is used to solve the proposed mathematical models, and their capabilities are verified using experimental data from the literature.The main research contribution is the development and evaluation of theoretical models that advance the understanding and improve knowledge of the ageing and durability of concrete and concrete structures. More precisely, it is shown how multiphysical models and the developed multiphase framework can be used to gain insights on the material behaviour of concrete at smaller scales while they are also applicable to structural-scale simulations. During all model development, the efficient solution of structural problems has been fundamental. Through case studies and several examples from the literature, it is exemplified how these models can be used to enhance the performance and thereby increase the durability of concrete structures.
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| 2. |
- Hellgren, Rikard, 1988-
(författare)
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Condition assessment of concrete dams in cold climate
- 2019
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Dams in many countries are approaching their expected service life. Proper assessment of the aging dams structural health increase the knowledge of the current safety, and allow for better planning of renovation and rebuilding investments. The behavior of concrete dams is, to a great extent, governed by the ambient variation in temperature and water level. In cold regions, the ice sheet formed in the reservoir may subject a pressure load on the dams. Theoretically, this load has a significant impact on the structural behavior of dams. Despite this, the maximum magnitude, as well as the seasonal variation of the ice load, constitute the most considerable uncertainty in the safety assessment of dams.This thesis presents research that examines how to model the expected behavior of dams in cold climate. The underlying problem is to predict the response of dams due to variation in the external conditions. Since the ice load is such a vital part of the external conditions in cold climate, the understanding and modeling of ice loads have been given extra attention. Models suitable to predict the long-term behavior of dams can be divided between theoretical, data-based, and hybrid. Prediction accuracy is essential to set alert thresholds, and in that regard, the data-based models are generally superior.The major contribution of this thesis is the design and installation of a prototype ice load panel with direct measurement of the ice pressure acting on a dam. The panel is attached on the upstream face of the dam and is large enough so that the whole thickness of the ice sheet is in contact with the panel. The predicted ice load from the best available model that includes loads from both thermal events and water level changes did not correspond to the measured ice loads. As there are no validated models or measurement methods for ice load on the dam, continued research is necessary, both through further measurements to increase knowledge and development of models.
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| 3. |
- Sjölander, Andreas, 1983-
(författare)
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Analyses of shotcrete stress states due to varying lining thickness and irregular rock surfaces
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Shotcrete is sprayed concrete applied pneumatically under high pressure and was invented in the beginning of the 1900's. This new technique decreased the construction time and since steel fibres were introduced in the shotcrete during the 1970's, shotcrete has been the primary support method for tunnels.Tunnels excavated with the drill and blast method creates a highly irregular rock surface which results in a shotcrete lining with varying thickness. The structural behaviour as well as the loads acting on the shotcrete lining depends on the interaction between the shotcrete, rock and rock bolts. There are several parameters influencing this interaction, e.g. bond strength, the stiffness of the rock and thickness of the shotcrete. All of these parameters are difficult to predict accurately which makes the structural design of the lining to a complex problem.This thesis present the first part of a research project with the long-term goal to improve the understanding of the structural behaviour of the shotcrete lining. To achieve this, numerical modelling have been used to study the build up of stresses and cracking of shotcrete when subjected to restrained loading caused by e.g. temperature differences and drying shrinkage. The response in the lining when subjected to a gravity load from a block has also been studied. The model is capable of describing the non-linear deformation behaviour of both plain and fibre reinforced shotcrete and uses presented in situ variations in thickness to more accurately account for the effects of expected variations in thickness. The thesis discuss and demonstrate the effect of important loads that acts on the shotcrete lining and how the irregular geometry of the rock surface in combination with the varying thickness of the shotcrete affect the development of stresses in the lining. It is also discussed how a full or partial bond failure affect the structural capacity of a shotcrete lining.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Daniel, 1987-
(författare)
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Numerical models for degradation of concrete in hydraulic structures due to long-term contact with water
- 2018
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The durability of concrete is of major concern in all types of concrete structures where the combined effect of exposure conditions and the type and quality of the concrete material usually determines the rate of degradation. Furthermore, there are synergy effects between different deterioration mechanisms, which means that the combined rate of degradation is higher than the sum of the individual rates of each mechanism. Therefore, to accurately predict the residual service life of existing structures or when designing new structures, it is essential to consider all these aspects. This means that various chemical and physical processes, as well as how these interact, must be taken into account in models aiming to be used for service life predictions.This thesis presents the first part of a research project with the aim to investigate common deterioration mechanisms of concrete in hydraulic structures, and to improve the knowledge how these and other related phenomena can be described using mathematical models. The objective is also to study how different mechanisms interact and to find suitable approaches to account for these interactions in the models. To this end, a literature survey on commonly detected damage in hydraulic structures is presented. In addition, it also addresses in what types of and where in hydraulic structures the various damage types are usually observed. The mathematical models presented in this part of the project are focused on long-term water absorption in air-entrained concrete as well as on freezing of partially saturated air-entrained concrete. Both models are based on a multiphase description of concrete and poromechanics to describe the coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical behaviour. The thesis also presents some of the basic concepts of multiphase modelling of porous media, including discretization of the models using the finite element method (FEM). Furthermore, it covers the simplifications that are usually introduced in the general macroscopic balance equations for mass, energy and linear momentum when modelling cement-based materials.To verify the developed models and to show their capabilities, simulation results are compared with experimental data, in situ measurements and other simulations from the literature. The results indicate that both models perform well and can be used to predict long-term moisture conditions in hydraulic structures as well as freezing-induced strains in partially saturated air-entrained concrete, respectively. Even though no interactions with other deterioration mechanisms are included in the models, the development and use of these have given insights to which parameters that are important to consider in such extensions. Furthermore, based on the insights gained, the complexity of describing the full interactions between several mechanisms in mathematical models is also discussed. It is concluded that models aiming to be used for service life predictions of hydraulic structures in day-to-day engineering work need to be simplified. However, the type of advanced models presented in this thesis can serve as a basis to study which aspects and parameters that are essential to consider in simplified prediction models.
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| 5. |
- Magnusson, Johan, 1967-
(författare)
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Shear in Concrete Structural Elements Subjected to Dynamic Loads
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Concrete structural elements subjected to severe dynamic loads such as explosions at close range may cause shear failures. In the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 two concrete columns on the ground level were reported to have failed in shear. Such shear failures have also been reported to occur in several experimental investigations when concrete beams and slabs were subjected to blast or impact loads. The dynamic shear mechanisms are not yet fully understood and it is therefore of research significance to further investigate these mechanisms. The main objective of the research presented in this thesis is to experimentally and theoretically analyse shear failures of reinforced concrete elements subjected to uniformly distributed dynamic loads.The experimental work consisted of concrete beams of varying concrete grades and reinforcement configurations subjected to blast loads. One series involved testing of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams and the other series involved tests with concrete beams reinforced with steel bars. The former investigation showed that SFRC beams can resist certain blast loads. In the latter investigation, certain beams subjected to blast loads were observed to fail in flexural shear while the same beams exhibited flexural failures in the static tests. Such shear failures specifically occurred in beams with relatively high reinforcement contents. With these experiments as reference, numerical simulations with Ansys Autodyn were performed that demonstrated the ability to predict flexural shear failures.A direct shear failure mode has also been observed in experiments involving concrete roofs subjected to intense distributed blast loads. In several cases, the roof slabs were completely severed from their supporting walls along vertical or near-vertical failure planes soon after the load had been applied. Theoretical analyses of the initial structural response of beams subjected to distributed loads were conducted with the use of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and numerical simulations in Abaqus/Explicit. These analyses show that the initial structural response consists of shear stresses and bending moments developing at the supports. The remaining parts of the beam will be subjected to a rigid body motion. Further simulations with Abaqus shows that that dynamic direct shear failure appears to be due to a deep beam response with crushing of the compressive struts at the supports, and therefore differs from a static direct shear mode. The results also showed that parameters such as element depth, amount of reinforcement, load level and load duration played a role in developing a dynamic direct shear failure.
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| 6. |
- Abbasiverki, Roghayeh
(författare)
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Analysis of underground concrete pipelines subjected to seismic high-frequency loads
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Buried pipelines are tubular structures that are used for transportation of important liquid materials and gas in order to provide safety for human life. During an earthquake, imposed loads from soil deformations on concrete pipelines may cause severe damages, possibly causing disturbance in vital systems, such as cooling of nuclear power facilities. The high level of safety has caused a demand for reliable seismic analyses, also for structures built in the regions that have not traditionally been considered as highly seismically active. The focus in this study is on areas with seismic and geological conditions corresponding to those in Sweden and Northern Europe. Earthquakes in Sweden for regions with hard rock dominated by high-frequency ground vibrations, Propagation of such high-frequency waves through the rock mass and soil medium affect underground structures such as pipelines.The aim of this project is investigating parameters that affect response of buried pipelines due to high-frequency seismic excitations. The main focus of the study is on reinforced concrete pipelines. Steel pipelines are also studied for comparison purposes. The effects of water mass, burial depth, soil layer thickness and non-uniform ground thickness caused by inclined bedrock are studied. The results are compared to those obtained for low-frequency earthquakes and the relationship between strong ground motion parameters and pipelines response is investigated. It is shown that, especially for high frequency earthquake excitations, non-uniform ground thickness due to inclined bedrock significantly increase stresses in the pipelines. For the conditions studied, it is clear that high-frequency seismic excitation is less likely to cause damage to buried concrete pipelines. However, the main conclusion is that seismic analysis is motivated also for pipelines in high-frequency earthquake areas since local variation in the ground conditions can have a significant effect on the safety.
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| 7. |
- Ahmed, Lamis
(författare)
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Models for analysis of young cast and sprayed concrete subjected to impact-type loads
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The strive for a time-efficient construction process naturally put focus on the possibility of reducing the time of waiting between stages of construction, thereby minimizing the construction cost. If recently placed concrete, cast or sprayed, is exposed to impact vibrations at an early age while still in the process of hardening, damage that threatens the function of the hard concrete may occur. A waiting time when the concrete remains undisturbed, or a safe distance to the vibration source, is therefore needed. However, there is little, or no, fully proven knowledge of the length of this distance or time and there are no established guidelines for practical use. Therefore, conservative vibration limits are used for young and hardening concrete exposed to vibrations from e.g. blasting.As a first step in the dynamic analysis of a structure, the dynamic loads should always be identified and characterized. Here it is concluded that impact-type loads are the most dangerous of possible dynamic loads on young and hardening concrete. Shotcrete (sprayed concrete) on hard rock exposed to blasting and cast laboratory specimens subjected to direct mechanical impact loads have been investigated using finite element models based on the same analysis principles. Stress wave propagation is described in the same way whether it is through hard rock towards a shotcrete lining or through an element of young concrete. However, the failure modes differ for the two cases where shotcrete usually is damaged through loss of bond, partly or over larger sections that may result in shotcrete downfall. Cracking in shotcrete due to vibrations only is unusual and has not been observed during previous in situ tests. The study of shotcrete is included to demonstrate the need of specialized guidelines for cases other than for mass concrete, i.e. structural elements or concrete volumes with large dimensions in all directions.Within this project, work on evaluating and proposing analytical models are made in several steps, first with a focus on describing the behaviour of shotcrete on hard rock. It is demonstrated that wave propagation through rock towards shotcrete can be described using two-dimensional elastic finite element models in a dynamic analysis. The models must include the material properties of the rock and the accuracy of these parameters will greatly affect the results. It is possible to follow the propagation of stress waves through the rock mass, from the centre of blasting to the reflection at the shotcrete-rock interface. It is acceptable to use elastic material formulations until the strains are outside the elastic range, which thus indicates imminent material failure. The higher complexity of this type of model, compared with mechanical models using mass and spring elements, makes it possible to analyse more sophisticated geometries. Comparisons are made between numerical results and measurements from experiments in mining tunnels with ejected rock mass and shotcrete bond failure, and with measurements made during blasting for tunnel construction where rock and shotcrete remained intact. The calculated results are in good correspondence with the in situ observations and measurements, and with previous numerical modelling results. Examples of preliminary recommendations for practical use are given and it is demonstrated how the developed models and suggested analytical technique can be used for further detailed investigations.The modelling concept has also been used for analysis of impact loaded beams and concrete prisms modelled with 3D solid elements. As a first analysis step, an elastic material model was used to validate laboratory experiments with hammer-loaded concrete beams. The laboratory beam remained un-cracked during the experiments, and thus it was possible to achieve a good agreement using a linear elastic material model for fully hardened concrete. The model was further developed to enable modelling of cracked specimens. For verification of the numerical results, earlier laboratory experiments with hammer impacted smaller prisms of young concrete were chosen. A comparison between results showed that the laboratory tests can be reproduced numerically and those free vibration modes and natural frequencies of the test prisms contributed to the strain concentrations that gave cracking at high loads. Furthermore, it was investigated how a test prism modified with notches at the middle section would behave during laboratory testing. Calculated results showed that all cracking would be concentrated to one crack with a width equal to the sum of the multiple cracks that develop in un-notched prisms. In laboratory testing, the modified prism will provide a more reliable indication of when the critical load level is reached.This project has been interdisciplinary, combining structural dynamics, finite element modelling, concrete material technology, construction technology and rock support technology. It is a continuation from previous investigations of the effect on young shotcrete from blasting vibrations but this perspective has been widened to also include young, cast concrete. The outcome is a recommendation for how dynamic analysis of young concrete, cast and sprayed, can be carried out with an accurate description of the effect from impact-type loads. The type of numerical models presented and evaluated will provide an important tool for the work towards guidelines for practical use in civil engineering and concrete construction work. Some recommendations on safe distances and concrete ages are given, for newly cast concrete elements or mass concrete and for newly sprayed shotcrete on hard rock.
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| 8. |
- Gasch, Tobias
(författare)
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Concrete as a multi-physical material with applications to hydro power facilities
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During its lifetime, a concrete structure is subjected to many different actions, ranging from mechanical loads to environmental actions. To accurately predict its integrity from casting and throughout its service life, a modelling strategy is required that considers mechanical loading but also implicitly accounts for physical effects such as temperature and moisture variations. This is especially true for large concrete structures found in many infrastructure applications such as bridges, nuclear power plants and dams. Modelling concrete as a multi-physical material is becoming an increasingly used approach for which large research efforts are being made, including the development of more refined mathematical and numerical methods as well as considering more physical and chemical variables in the coupled model.The research project, of which this licentiate thesis is the first phase, aims at investigating aging concrete structures at hydro power facilities, with focus on the internal structures of the power plants. This thesis presents a review of advanced mathematical methods and concepts for modelling aging concrete found in the literature which can later be applied to study such structures. The focus is on models that describe the deformational behaviour of concrete where aspects such as aging, cracking, creep and shrinkage are investigated. However, in order to accurately describe such phenomena, a multi-physical approach is adopted where moisture and temperature variations in the concrete are studied. Also, models that describe the chemical behaviour related to hydration and thus in extension aging, are also reviewed and introduced in the multi-physical framework. The use of such models are discussed in the context of the finite element method (FEM), in which coupled models are implemented, verified and applied in the appended papers using two different FE codes.Several verification examples are presented covering different aspects of the implemented models, both in isolation and coupled in a multi-physical setting. By comparing the numerical results with experimental data from the literature it can be shown that it is possible to predict most aspects of aging concrete that have been of interest here. While these examples are all on a laboratory scale, numerical examples and case studies are also provided that exemplify how the models can be applied on a structural scale. By using the developed analysis tools, valuable information and insights can be gained on aging concrete structures and these tools will in the next phase of the research project be applied to large concrete structures at hydro power facilities.
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| 9. |
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