10.1007@978 3 030 55115 5

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Kaustubh Dasgupta · T. K. Sudheesh ·

K. I. Praseeda · G. Unni Kartha ·
P. E. Kavitha · S. Jawahar Saud Editors
Proceedings
of SECON 2020
Structural Engineering and Construction
Management
Volume 97
Series Editors
Marco di Prisco, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Sheng-Hong Chen, School of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering,
Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Ioannis Vayas, Institute of Steel Structures, National Technical University of
Athens, Athens, Greece
Sanjay Kumar Shukla, School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup,
WA, Australia
Anuj Sharma, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
Nagesh Kumar, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Chien Ming Wang, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland,
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering (LNCE) publishes the latest developments in
Civil Engineering - quickly, informally and in top quality. Though original research
reported in proceedings and post-proceedings represents the core of LNCE, edited
volumes of exceptionally high quality and interest may also be considered for
publication. Volumes published in LNCE embrace all aspects and subfields of, as
well as new challenges in, Civil Engineering. Topics in the series include:
• Construction and Structural Mechanics
• Building Materials
• Concrete, Steel and Timber Structures
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Earthquake Engineering
• Coastal Engineering
• Ocean and Offshore Engineering; Ships and Floating Structures
• Hydraulics, Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering
• Environmental Engineering and Sustainability
• Structural Health and Monitoring
• Surveying and Geographical Information Systems
• Indoor Environments
• Transportation and Traffic
• Risk Analysis
• Safety and Security
To submit a proposal or request further information, please contact the appropriate
Springer Editor:
– Mr. Pierpaolo Riva at [email protected] (Europe and Americas);
– Ms. Swati Meherishi at [email protected] (Asia - except China,
and Australia, New Zealand);
– Dr. Mengchu Huang at [email protected] (China).
All books in the series now indexed by Scopus and EI Compendex database!
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15087

Kaustubh Dasgupta T. K. Sudheesh
• •
K. I. Praseeda G. Unni Kartha

• •
P. E. Kavitha S. Jawahar Saud

•
Editors
Proceedings of SECON 2020

Structural Engineering and Construction
Management
123
Editors
Kaustubh Dasgupta T. K. Sudheesh
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad
Guwahati, Assam, India Palakkad, Kerala, India
K. I. Praseeda G. Unni Kartha

Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
NSS College of Engineering Federal Institute of Science and Technology
Akathethara, Kerala, India (FISAT)
Angamaly, Kerala, India
P. E. Kavitha
Department of Civil Engineering S. Jawahar Saud
Federal Institute of Science and Technology Department of Civil Engineering
(FISAT) Federal Institute of Science and Technology
Angamaly, Kerala, India (FISAT)
Angamaly, Kerala, India
ISSN 2366-2557 ISSN 2366-2565 (electronic)

ISBN 978-3-030-55114-8 ISBN 978-3-030-55115-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard
to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
Construction, maintenance, rehabilitation and demolition are the four phases in the
life cycle of a structure. Development and implementation of eco-friendly and
cost-effective practices in every phase of this life cycle is the key to creating a
sustainable future of the planet. The focus of the first International Conference on
Structural Engineering and Construction Management (SECON 2020) was
“Innovative Practices in Construction, Rehabilitation and Demolition of Structures”
as its main theme and intended to become a platform for researchers to discuss the
current directions in research and development in this broad domain.
This proceedings comprises the papers presented at SECON 2020 as book
chapters in lecture notes in civil engineering published by Springer. This is the
fourth edition and the first international edition of SECON series of conferences
organised by Federal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT), Angamaly,
Kerala, India. SECON series of conference has always enjoyed good acceptance
and excellent participation from researchers from all across the country. There was
an overwhelming response to SECON 2020 also but the pandemic forced the
organisers to host the event online, over two days, in the month of May on 14th and
15th. The hard hours put in by the organisers had a grand outcome—SECON 2020
became the first international conference to be hosted completely online in India.
The conference was successful in providing a platform for research scholars, stu-
dents, academicians and practicing engineers for meaningful exchange of ideas and
deliberations at an international level. The papers presented spread across current
and future technologies, experimental investigations and research findings in the
areas related to the conference themes and were presented in 20 parallel sessions
spread over the span of two days. We believe that the deliberations of the
conference helped us achieve the purpose of dissemination and passing on the
innovative methodologies and practices in place globally.
This two-day International Conference on Structural Engineering and
Construction Management (SECON 2020) had extensive support and participation
from across the world, with papers from two international universities, 25 national
institutions and four R&D divisions of industries. More than 300 abstracts were
screened and double blind reviewed to shortlist 85 papers for presentation.
v
vi Preface
The quality of the papers presented, almost 70% rejection rate are indicators of the
standard the conference was able to accomplish.
On behalf of the organising committee, I express sincere thanks to
Ms. Anitha P., Chairman, Governing Body—FISAT, Dr. George Issac, Principal
and Dr. K. S. M. Panicker, Director (Academics), whose constant guidance helped
us to organise the conference. I would like to express my gratitude to each and
every advisory committee members, reviewers, session chairs and the contributors
of research for their constant support and efforts at making the conference a grand
success. I extend my sincere gratitude to Prof. Ir. Serge Vandemeulebroecke and
Prof. Ir. lic. Bart Van Zegboreck for their valuable time and input as the interna-
tional advisory committee and keynote speakers. Their diligence and enthusiasm to
be part of the event helped overcome the challenges of time zones at the peak of the
pandemic. The conference also had support from industry, professional organisa-
tions both at national and international levels. I would like to place on record the
heartfelt thanks to PARADIGM, ASCE Student Chapter, IEI Kochi Local Centre,
ICI Student Chapter and ISTE-FISAT chapter for the unrelenting support for the
conduct of the conference.
I extend my whole hearted thanks to Dr. Unni Kartha G., General Convenor,
SECON 2020 and Head of Department, Department of Civil Engineering,
Mr. Jawahar Saud S., Co-Convenor, SECON 2020 and Ms. Rinu J. Achison,
Treasurer, SECON 2020, for their constant encouragement and reason of keen
interest in the various stages of the planning and execution of the event. I also take
this opportunity to thank all our management committee members and executive
committee of PTA who have shown great belief in us and urged us towards
excellence for the growth of the institute and the students.
Last but not least, I would like to thank the entire team of faculty members,
non-teaching staff and student volunteers for the untiring support for the smooth
conduct of the event. This conference would not have been possible without the
incredible help and support of all our colleagues and scholars of the department.
Wishing you all very best and looking forward to the next edition of the event.
Angamaly, India Dr. P. E. Kavitha

Convenor, SECON 2020
Contents
Performance Evaluation on the Properties of Metakaolin—Fly Ash

Based Self Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
K. Aswani and C. A. Abin Thomas
Studies on Inclusion of Polypropylene (PP) Geo-fabric in Concrete . . . . 11
K. S. Sreekeshava, A. S. Arunkumar, Manish S. Dharek,
and Prashanth Sunagar
Dual-Pipe Damper with Bracing System for Seismic Retrofitting . . . . . . 23
V. Bincy and S. Usha
Experimental Studies on Performance of Geo-synthetic Strengthened
Brick Masonry Infill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
K. S. Sreekeshava and A. S. Arunkumar
Assessment of Governance Gaps in Landslide Risk Reduction—A
Case Study from Kattippara Panchayath, Kozhikode District . . . . . . . . 43
K. Sreerekha and S. Jawahar Saud
Evaluation of Progressive Collapse Resistance of Steel Moment
Resisting Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Anjaly James and Asha Joseph
Structural Performance of GFRP Deck Strengthened with Light
Weight Ultra-High Strength Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
K. Teena John, P. E. Kavitha, and R. Renjith
Effect of Combination of Mineral Admixtures on the Properties
of Self Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Reya Grace Jacob and K. N. Resmi
Evaluation of Sustainable SMA Mix Prepared Using Recycled
Concrete Aggregates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
A. A. Ruksana, P. S. Sethulakshmi, Mariya Thomas, Midhun Joby,
and Sharon Jacob
vii
viii Contents
Investigation on Performance of Fly Ash Based Self Compacting

Concrete with Metakaolin and Quarry Dust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Elizabeth Jose and Anju Paul
Feasibility Study of Plastic Granules and Alccofine in Fly Ash Based
Self-Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Fiona Alias and Tellma John
Effect of Magnetized Water with Coconut Fibre
Reinforced Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
C. Nived, M. Sherin Babu, P. Adithya Das, Noble M. Babu,
and P. E. Kavitha
Seismic Performance of Oblique Columns in High Rise Building . . . . . . 131
Nikha Santhosh and Gayathri Krishna Kumar
Experimental Investigation on the Performance of Self Compacting
Concrete Using Copper Slag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Ajana Prince and M. Preethi
Development of Metakaolin and Flyash Based Geopolymer Concrete
at Ambient Temperature Curing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
S. Anjana Chandran and B. R. Beena
Seismic Evaluation of High Rise Buildings Using Hybrid
Configuration of Grid Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
K. N. Vaisakh and Neeraja Nair
Sustainability Assessment of Terracotta Tile Waste Based
Geopolymer Building Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
S. Usha, Deepa G. Nair, and Subha Vishnudas
Study on Structural Performance of Non-prismatic Girders
with Double Corrugated Stiffened Steel and Composite Webs . . . . . . . . 179
M. Saranya Radhakrishnan and P. Binu
Structural Performance of Multi-sectional CFST Columns
with Double Corrugated Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
P. A. Azna and Ranjan Abraham
Experimental Study of Seismic Response Reduction Effects on Multi
Storey Frames with Particle Damper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
N. Athulya Vijay and K. P. Saji
Control Effectiveness of Wing with Elevon of a Typical Reusable
Launch Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Nyle Nazar, P. Ashok Gandhi, S. Rajendran, and Manju George
Analytical Study on Dynamic Behaviour of Bolted Beam Column Steel
Connections with Reduced Beam Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Deepa P. Antoo and Asha Joseph
Contents ix
Experimental Study of Self-cleaning Concrete by Using Various

Photocatalysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Geethu Benny and Gayathri Krishna Kumar
Thermo Structural Optimisation Study on Slim Floor Beam
with Hollow Core Slabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Athul Deepak Krishna and Neeraja Nair
Study of Geo-polymer Concrete with Replacement of Fine Aggregate
Using Bottom Ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Sweety Viswanath and Nincy Jose
Effect of Waste Carpet Fibres and Palm Oil Fuel Ash on Self
Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Minnu P. Alias and Tellma John
Elemental Approach to Design a Worker Profile as a Selection Tool
in Last Planner System© . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
C. Mrinal Raja, Vinay Mathews, and Grace Mary Abraham
Development of Optimum Mix for Laterite Soil Brick by Adding Clam
Shell Powder and Metakaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Devika Sudhakaran and Emy Poulose
Analytical Assessment on the Behaviour of Conical
Shell Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
T. Lamya and M. K. Sheeja
Experimental Investigation on Packing Density of Concrete Using Wet
Packing Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Mariya Jacob and K. N. Resmi
Influence of Alkali Resistant Glass Fiber on the Reduction of Plastic
Shrinkage Cracking of Self Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Anju George and C. A. Abin Thomas
Development of Bricks Using Plastic Wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Gouri S. Kumar and S. Sreerath
Stabilization of Lateritic Soil Using Natural Fibres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
B Krishnendu and Anjana Bhasi
Clogging Resistant Pervious Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
M. V. Akshara and M. Preethi
Analytical Study of Timber-Concrete Composite (TCC) Beam
Using Different Interlocking Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
K. S. Sandra and P. R. Reshmi
x Contents
Analytical Study of GFRG Laminated Beam with Internally

and Externally Strengthened with Cold Formed Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Meera Haridas and Chippy M. Rajan
Shear Strengthening of Concrete Block Masonry Walls Under
In-Plane Diagonal Loading Using Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
P. Akhil kumar and S. Unnikrishnan
Structural Performance of Innovative Multi Cellular Corrugated Steel
Column (MCCSC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Agnes Davis Thuluvath and Reshma Prasad
Study of Fly Ash Based Light Weight Concrete with Plastic Waste
Aggregate as a Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregate . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Thasni Kaseem and S. Sreerath
Modified Magnetized Water Concrete Using Nanosilica . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Punya Lal and P. E. Kavitha
Optimisation of Multistoried Building Using Outrigger System . . . . . . . 433
Jeslin C. Johnson and Reshma Prasad
Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of City Regions Based
on Building Typology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Dharsana Satish, E. Lalith Prakash, and K. B. Anand
Development of Reinforced Concrete Beam with Plastic Balls
in Neutral Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Milu Reji and V. V. Anu
Progressive Collapse Analysis of RC Buildings Using Linear Static
and Non-linear Static Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
A. Salman and K. I. Praseeda
Effect of Magnetized Water on the Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash
Based Self Compacting Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
P. P. Magida Ruby and R. Vasudev
Effect of Immersion Time on the Mechanical Properties of Glass Fibre
Reinforced Concrete with Glass Powder Immersed in Water . . . . . . . . . 481
K. Sana and Anju Paul
Assessment of Fraction Effects on Flow Characteristic of Cement
Mortar Using Natural and Manufactured Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Chintan Vohra and Parth Thaker
A Comparative Investigation on the Utilization of Marble Dust
and Granite Dust in the Cement Mortar Against the Sulphate
Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
PL. Meyyappan and M. Jemimah Carmichael
Contents xi
An Effective Replacement of Granite and Marble Powder on Cement

Mortar Subjected to Chloride Ion Penetration Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
An Experimental and Analytical Investigation
on the Characteristics of Light Weight Concrete Using Waste
Burnt Ash and Pumice Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
PL. Meyyappan, M. Pallikonda Rajasekaran, and R. Sathya Soroopan
Applications of Functionally Graded Materials in Structural
Engineering—A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
S. L. Akshaya, Amar Prakash, and J. Bharati Raj
Efficient Utilization of Recycled Concrete Aggregates for Structural
Applications—An Experimental Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Jagan Sivamani, T. R. Neelakantan, P. Saravana Kumar,
C. Mugesh Kanna, H. Vignesh Harish, and M. R. Akash
Evaluation of Strength and Diffusion Capability of High Volume Fly
Ash Based Engineered Cementitious Composites Incorporating
Powder Scrap Rubber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Abhishank Kumar, Shashi Kant Sharma, and Davinder Singh
A Probabilistic Approach for Predicting the Fatigue Life
of Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
D. R. Renju and Keerthy M. Simon
Convergence Study of Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Joints
Under Impact Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
Jhuma Debnath and Hrishikesh Sharma
Evaluation of Cementitious Mixes for Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
M. Vishruthi, S. Raghavendra, Y. Ravi Teja, and K. B. Anand
Review of Performance of Existing Vertical Irregularity Indicators
for Steel Framed Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Brij M. Shah, Robin Davis, C. G. Nandakumar, and Pradip Sarkar
Modelling the Rheological Properties of Fly Ash Incorporated
Superplasticized Cement Paste at Different Temperature
Using Multilayer Perceptrons in Tensorflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Rogin C. Robert, Nelvin Mani Kuriakose, K. Gopikrishnan,
Dhanya Sathyan, and C. B. Rajesh
Study on Shear Strength of Corrugated Webs with Artificial
Corrosion Pits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
M. V. Rahul and V. I. Beena
xii Contents
Collapse and Buckling Behavior of Octagonal Concrete Filled Steel

Column Connected to a Beam Under Cyclic Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Silia Mary Silbi and Sajan Jose
Comparative Study on Effect of Different Mineral Admixtures
on Plastic Fiber Reinforced Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
K. S. Somiya and Vidya Jose
Shear Behavior of Joints in Precast Prestressed Concrete
Segments-A Finite Element Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
Sheela J. George, A. K. Farvaze Ahmed, S. Maheswaran,
and Mathews M. Paul
Structural Performance of Innovative Lean Duplex Stainless Steel
Built-Up Columns Under Various Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691
M. S. Hima and Samithamol Salim
Blended Cement Using Calcined Clay and Limestone for Sustainable
Development—A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Ranjan Abraham, T. R. Neelakantan, Ramesh Babu Chokkalingam,
and Elson John
Seismic Performance Improvement Techniques for Infill
Frames—A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
A. Athira Nair and Keerthy M. Simon
Analysis of the Concrete Filled Steel Tubes with Diagonal Ribs . . . . . . 719
K. P. Ansa and S. Keerthi
Seismic Pounding Between Adjacent RC Buildings
with Asymmetric Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
P. Ambili, V. N. Krishnachandran, and Katta Venkataramana
Performance Characteristics of Self-cured Recycled Aggregate
Concrete with SCM’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745
Lakshmi Thotakura, Sankar Kumar Reddy Pullalacheruvu,
Ganesh Babu Kodeboyina, and V. Krishna Rao Mupparisetty
Experimental Investigation on Hydrophobic Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
Ahallya Raveendran and Jiji Antony
Study of the Behavior of Air Entrained Concrete Containing Mineral
Admixtures with the Addition of Coal Bottom Ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
Shashi Kant Sharma, Kanish Kapoor, Sandeep Singh,
and K. P. Marisala Chaitanya
Investigation on the Effect of Steel Fibers in Self Curing Concrete . . . . 779
Annamol Sunny and Elba Helen George
Contents xiii
Effect of Communication Patterns in Safety Performance

of Construction Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
Reshma Geordy, M. B. Sridhar, and J. Sudhakumar
Development of Pavement Quality SCC Having High Early Strength
Under Site Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
Shashi Kant Sharma, Kanish Kapoor, Dadi Rambabu, and Mohit Kumar
Hybrid Model Based on PPP and EPC Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Rahul Rajasekharan and Shibi Varghese
AHP Model for Performance Improvement in LSGD Projects . . . . . . . . 835
Ammu David and Shibi Varghese
Prevention of Flutter Instability in Control Surface of a Test Vehicle
Through Parametric Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
Bilpriya, S. Rajendran, P. Ashok Gandhi, and Manju George
Experimental Investigations on Using Distributed Fiber Sensing
for Monitoring Pipelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865
Shika George, B. Arun Sundaram, and Mathews M. Paul
Performance Assesment of GGBS and Rice Husk Ash Based
Geopolymer Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875
Maria Eldho, V. Srinivasan, and Sarah Anil
Analysis of Strains in Brick Masonry Prism Using ABAQUS . . . . . . . . 883
Agnus A. Mathew, S. Saibabu, Vimal Mohan, and Deepa Varkey
Machine Learning Approach to Failure Mode Prediction
of Reinforced Concrete Infilled Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899
J. Ashish Manoj, A. Asiya, Dasari Navya, G. Ganesh Kumar,
and P. Robin Davis
Punching Shear Strengthening of Flat Slabs with External Bonded
CFRP on Grooves (EBROG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
Jijo P. George and Roshini T. Mohan
Study on Performance of Concrete Made with Copper Slag
and Mineral Admixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917
E. Lalith Prakash, Prakash Chinnayan, K. Siva Kavinesh,
Ambrish Adithiya, G. Sarath Sanjeev, Sriram Gnanaprakasam,
and Gautham Sukumar
Effect of Size and Shape of Concrete Column Elements Exposed
to High Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
Y. K. Guruprasad
xiv Contents
Diagrid Structural System for Tilted Steel Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939

Archana Joy Eluvathingal and G. Unni Kartha
Investigation on the Suitability of Jarofix as a Fine Aggregate
Replacement in Concrete Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949
Robert V. Thomas and Deepa G. Nair
Performance Evaluation
on the Properties of Metakaolin—Fly
Ash Based Self Compacting Concrete
K. Aswani and C. A. Abin Thomas
Abstract Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is concrete which is proportioned in such

a way that it is compacted by its weight assuring complete filling of formwork even
when access is hindered by narrow gaps between reinforcing bars. The rheology prop-
erties were determined by the test as filling ability, passing ability, and segregation
resistance. Strength properties were determined by compressive, split tensile, flexural
strength. The successful utilization of fly ash and metakaolin in SCC mixes not only
lower the cost of SCC but also provide a solution to the disposal and environmental
problems connected with these materials.
Keywords Self-compacting concrete · Flyash · Metakaolin
1 Introduction
Self-compacting concrete can be defined as fresh concrete that flows under its weight
and does not require external vibration to undergo compaction. Self-compacting
concrete has been used in bridges and even on pre-cast sections. SCC is ideal to be
used in the following applications such as drilled shafts, columns, earth retaining
systems, areas with a high concentration of rebar and pipes/conduits.
In the journal of J. M. Khatib studied properties such as workability, compres-
sive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (V), absorption and shrinkage and the results
indicate that high volume FA can be used in SCC to produce high strength and
low shrinkage. Replacing 40% of PC with FA resulted in the strength of more than
65 N/mm2 at 56 days [1, 2]. In the journal of Rahmat Mandanoust, S. Yasin Mousavi
studied the fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete containing
metakaolin (MK) and the result shows that 10% MK can be considered as a suit-
able replacement regarding the economic efficiency, fresh and hardened properties
of MK concrete [3, 4]. In the journal of P Dinakar, S N Manu evaluated the self
K. Aswani (B) · C. A. Abin Thomas

Department of Civil Engineering, Federal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT),
Ernakulam 68377, India
e-mail: [email protected]
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

K. Dasgupta et al. (eds.), Proceedings of SECON 2020,
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 97,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_1
2 K. Aswani and C. A. Abin Thomas
compactability and strength characteristics and the results indicate that high strength
SCC of about 120 MPa is obtained [5, 6]. In this journal V. Kannan, K. Ganesh
studied about the durability properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing
rice husk ash, Metakaolin (MK) and a combination of MK and RHA were studied
and the result showed that SCC blended with RHA and a combination of RHA and
MK showed a considerable improvement in durability than unblended SCC [7]. In
this paper Frank Cassagnabere investigate the compressive strength of cement-based
materials at both early (1 day) and later (28 days) ages under steam curing conditions
and the results showed that metakaolin (MK) is a very promising solution at a clinker
replacement rate of 12.5–25% by mass [8].
This paper studied the replacement of cement using metakaolin and flyash
undergoing various tests in fresh and hardened properties.
2 Experimental Investigations
Cement
OPC of grade 53 conforming IS 4031: part2,3 is used. Physical properties of cement
are given in Table 1.
Fine Aggregate
The fine aggregate used is Msand as per IS specifications IS 2386-Part3. Physical
properties of fine aggregate are tabulated on Table 2 and gradation curve are given
in Fig. 1.
Table 1 Physical properties

S. No. Properties Value Limits
of cement
1 Specific gravity 3.13 3.10–3.25
2 Standard consistency 30% 26–33%
3 Initial setting time 73 min Not less than
30 min
4 Fineness 5.8% Should not exceed
10%

S. No. Properties M-Sand Limits
of fine aggregate
1 Specific gravity 2.74 2.5–2.9
2 Water absorption 1.30% 0.3–2.5%
3 Fineness modulus 2.86 2–3.5
Performance Evaluation on the Properties of Metakaolin … 3
120
100
% passing 80
% passing
60
40 lower limit
20 upper limit
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
sieve opening(mm)
Fig. 1 Gradation curve of FA

S. No. Properties Coarse aggregate Limits
of coarse aggregate
1 Specific gravity 2.69 2.5–3
2 Water absorption 0.93% 0.1–2%
Coarse Aggregate
The maximum coarse aggregate size used was 12.5 mm. Tests on coarse aggregate are
done conforming to IS 2386-1963 (Part 3). Physical properties of coarse aggregate
are given in Table 3.
Flyash and Metakaolin

Class F flyash used based on IS 3812:1981. The chemical properties of flyash and
metakaolin are tabulated in Table 4.
Polycarboxylate Ether Superplasticizer

Remix HP 20 is poly-carboxylate ether-based superplasticizers (PCEs) which allow
a water reduction up to 30%.
Table 4 chemical properties

Parameters FA (%) MK
of FA and MK
SiO2 63.8 52
Al2 O3 21.29 40
Fe2 O3 0.39 3.6
Table 5 Trial mix design of fly ash

Trial no. w/b ratio Binder (C Fine Coarse Superplasticizer Slump
+ FA) aggregate aggregate (mm)
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
1 0.38 448 1250 698 3.58 632
2 0.40 425 1288 610 3.40 655
3 0.42 405 1200 647 3.24 695
4 0.43 395 1212 650 3.16 650
5 0.45 378 1263 662 3.024 644
Table 6 Trial mix design of metakaolin

Trial no. w/b ratio Binder (C Fine Coarse Superplasticizer Slump
+ MK) aggregate aggregate (mm)
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
1 0.40 425 1288 620 3.4 680
2 0.42 405 1200 654 3.24 700
3 0.43 395 1212 659 3.16 685
3 Mix Design
The mix composition is chosen to satisfy all performance criteria for the concrete
in both the fresh and hardened states. Trial mix design of flyash and metakaolin are
given in Tables 5 and 6. water is taken as 170 kg/m3
In the above trials we get good result of slump flow at a w/b ratio of 0.42.
So combined replacement of MK and FA taken at a w/b ratio of 0.42.
4 Test Procedures
4.1 Casting and Curing of Specimen
The following mould was used to cast the concrete specimens for various studied as
per IS: 516-1956
• 150 * 150 * 150 mm moulds were used to cast cubes to determine the compressive
strength of concrete.
• 150 * 300 mm moulds were used to cast cylinders to determine split tensile
strength and modulus of elasticity of concrete.
• 100 * 100 * 500 mm moulds were used to cast beams to determine flexural strength
in concrete.
Table 7 List of tests on SCC

Characteristic property Test method Measured unit
Filling ability Slump flow (mm) Total spread
Cohesiveness T500 Flow time
Viscosity V funnel Flow time
Passing ability L box Flow time
Fig. 2 Slump flow
The specimens in their mould were covered and kept at room temperature for
24hrs. These were then kept submerged in water for curing they remained in the tank
until for testing after 7 and 28 days.
4.2 Fresh Properties of SCC
A wide range of test methods have been developed to measure and asses the fresh
properties of SCC, Table 7 lists the most common tests conducted on SCC. All the
test is conducted based on IS 10262: 2019. Figures 2, 3 and 4 shows the slump test,
L box test, and V funnel test.
4.3 Properties of Hardened Concrete
To determine the mechanical properties, the test specimens were removed from the
water bath and surface water was removed using a dry cloth, immediately before
testing. This was to ensure that the test specimens were tested at a saturated—surface
Fig. 3 L box test
Fig. 4 V Funnel test
dry condition (SSD) conditions. All the tests were conducted based on IS. Various
tests to be carried out on hard concrete are:
• Compressive strength
• Split tensile
• Flexural strength.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 shows the compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural
strength of SCC.
Fig. 5 Compressive strength
Fig. 6 Tensile strength
Fig. 7 Flexural strength

5 Result and Discussion
5.1 Properties of Fresh Concrete
The higher the slump flow value, the greater is its ability to fill formwork under its
weight. A minimum slump value of 660 mm and maximum slump value of mm750 is
recommended by guideline as per IS Code IS 10262: 2019. A tolerance of ±50 mm is
accepted. A minimum T500 flow of 2 s. Table 8 shows slump flow and T500 values.
The test result satisfies the minimum requirement.
Viscosity can be assessed by the V Funnel flow time as per IS 1199(Part 6). The
viscosity is divided into two classes that is V1 and V2. V1 has the good filling ability
even with congested reinforcement. V2 class viscosity is more likely to exhibit a
thixotropic effect, which helps to improve segregation resistance. For V1 class, time
taken to pass the concrete from V Funnel shall be ≤8 s and V2 class between 8 sans
25 s. L box test is performed to check passing ability. The minimum ratio for the test
is taken as 0.8. Test conducted the three optimized samples of MK replacing 10% of
cement, FA replacing 30% of cement and a combination of MK and FA at 15% and
25%. The test result satisfies the IS 10262.2019. The obtained values are tabulated
in Table 9.
Table 8 Slump flow test

Mix Slump flow (mm) T500 slump flow (sec)
MK5 680 4.2
MK10 698 4.3
MK15 705 4.5
MK20 690 4.8
FA10 670 4.5
FA20 684 4.6
FA30 695 4.7
FA40 680 4.8
MK5 FA35 688 4.5
MK10 FA 30 692 4.6
MK15 FA25 708 4.6
MK20 FA20 710 4.7
MK25 FA 20 690 4.8
Table 9 L box and V funnel

Mix L Box V Funnel
test
MK 10 0.95 7.1
FA 30 0.92 7.51
MK15 FA25 0.98 7.94
Table 10 Compressive
Mix Compressive strength Compressive strength
strength
at 7th day (MPa) at 28th day (MPa)
MK 5 28.96 37.59
MK 10 29.43 40.15
MK 15 28.75 37.48
MK 20 27.64 36.27
FA 10 28.39 35.40
FA 20 28.97 36.64
FA 30 29.14 38.08
FA 40 28.15 36.04
MK5 FA35 27.4 35.07
MK10 FA 30 28.5 36.47
MK15 FA25 30.4 42.04
MK20 FA20 29.8 39.4
MK25 FA 20 27.2 35.4
Table 11 Splitting tensile strength and flexural strength

Mix Splitting tensile strength (N/mm2 ) at Flexural strength (N/mm2 )
28 day at 28 day
MK 10 4.51 4.85
FA 30 4.58 4.90
MK15 FA25 4.98 5.2
5.2 Properties on Hardened Concrete
Cube specimen were tested after 7 and 28 days of curing. The failure load was noted
for each mix three cubes were tested and the average value is reported. The obtained
values of compressive strength at the 7th and 28th day are given in Table 10.
Split Tensile Strength and Flexural Strength were conducted on the three opti-
mized samples of MK replacing 10% of cement, FA replacing 30% of cement and a
combination of MK and FA at 15 and 25%. The test result was given in Table 11.
6 Conclusion
• The inclusion of MK and FA can improve the fresh and hardened properties
because both the mineral admixtures contain a high amount of alumina and
silica. This helps to the production of excess C–S–H gel and result in increasing
compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength.
• The successful utilization of fly ash and metakaolin in SCC mixes not only lower
the cost of SCC but also provide a solution to the disposal and environmental
problems connected with these materials.
References
1. Mahalingam B, Nagamanib K, Kannan LS, Haneefaa KM, Bahurudeend A (2016) Assessment of

hardened characteristics of raw fly ash blended self-compacting concrete. Perspect Sci 8:709–711
2. Khatib JM (2008) Performance of self-compacting concrete containing fly ash. Constr Build
Mater 22:1963–1971
3. Abouhussien AA, Assem AA (2015) Hassan optimizing the durability and service life of self-
consolidating concrete containing metakaolin using statistical analysis. Constr Build Mater
76:297–306
4. Madandoust R, Yasin Mousavi S (2012) Fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting
concrete containing metakaolin. Constr Build Mater 35:752–760
5. Vejmelkova E, Koppert M, Grzeszczyk S, Skalin B, Černý R (2011) Properties of self-compacting
concrete mixtures containing metakaolin and blast furnace slag. Constr Build Mater 25:1325–
1331
6. Dinakar P, Manu SN (2014) Concrete mix design for high strength self-compacting concrete
using metakaolin. Constr Build Mater 60:661–668
7. Kannan V, Ganesan K (2014) Chloride and chemical resistance of self compacting concrete
containing rice husk ash and metakaolin. Constr Build Mater 51:225–234
8. Cassagnabère F, Mouret M, Escadeillas G, Broilliard P, Bertrand A (2010) Metakaolin, a solution
for the precast industry to limit the clinker content in concrete: mechanical aspects. Constr Build
Mater 24:1109–1118
Studies on Inclusion of Polypropylene
(PP) Geo-fabric in Concrete
K. S. Sreekeshava , A. S. Arunkumar, Manish S. Dharek,

and Prashanth Sunagar
Abstract The concrete is a composite material made by proper proportions of

fine aggregates, course aggregates along with proper water to cement ratio. This
composite in hard state very strong in compression and having ability to take more
gravity loads. Concrete members are weak in tension hence commonly steel is
adopted as reinforcement in all over the world. Several researchers tried to enhance
the tensile reinforcement by various alternative materials and also successfully
showed the importance of various fibres and alloy materials in concrete. The materials
used for enhancing tensile strength must possess good bond strength, thermal resis-
tance, corrosion resistance and recyclable. In this present paper, an experimental work
has been conducted to know the behaviour of polypropylene (PP) Geo-fabric as partial
replacement for reinforcement in concrete for non-importance small scale struc-
tural members. Different tests like compression, split tensile, flexure tests have been
conducted with the presence of PP Geo-fabric and results shown better performance
compared with normal conventional test specimens.
Keywords Geo-fabrics · Reinforcement · Polypropylene · Construction · Brittle

failure · GI wires
K. S. Sreekeshava (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Jyothy Institute of Technology, Bengaluru,
affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India
A. S. Arunkumar
Department of Civil Engineering, BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru,
M. S. Dharek
Department of Civil Engineering, BMS Institute of Technology and Management, Bengaluru,
P. Sunagar
Department of Civil Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_2
12 K. S. Sreekeshava et al.
1 Introduction
Beams are one dimensional horizontal structural members predominantly subjected

to transverse loads and negligible axial loads. These are mainly designed to resist
shear and flexural loads. The reinforcement plays a major role to resist against
different failures but transverse reinforcements are provided to resist against shear
failure and longitudinal reinforcements are provided to resist flexure failure of beams
[1, 2]. In general, the shear failure is controlled by providing closed transverse stir-
rups and flexure failure are controlled by providing tensile and compression rein-
forcements along longitudinal directions. Production of steel affects the environment
adversely by emitting CO2 to environment and also steel having certain drawbacks
when it is used as a construction material similar to concrete [3]. Proper care should
be taken by providing sufficient cover to protect steel from corrosion.
The hardened concrete exhibits better compressive strength and week tensile
strength. The reinforcement acts like better skeletal support in structural members [4,
5]. But in case of non-structural importance small scale structures steel reinforcement
would be economical, in such cases the alternative for steel reinforcement become
essential. In case of non-structural significance works the only focus is to provide
nominal safe minimum reinforcement to improve the ductility of the members. In
recent past several researchers focusing on this intent to replace steel partially or fully
by proper alternative reinforcing material. The Geo-fabrics are used as alternative to
reinforcement in small scale non-structural importance works because of its better
interlocking behavior with cement concrete and imparts better tensile strength [6, 7].
Geo-fabrics are usually made of synthetic polymers such as polypropylene,
polyesters, polyethylene and polyamides, varying polymers and manufacturing
process results in array of geotextiles suitable for a variety of civil construction appli-
cations. Basically these Geo-fabrics are classified as Uniaxial, Bi-axial and Tri-axial
Geo-fabrics represented in Fig. 1 [8–10].
Recently the importance of Geo-fabrics is explored by several researchers in
the application of concrete works [1, 9]. Geo-fabrics reinforcement provides better
alternative solution for small scale structural works. The prime objective of this study
Fig. 1 a Uniaxial geo-fabric; b biaxial geo-fabric; c tri-axial geo-fabric

Studies on Inclusion of Polypropylene (PP) Geo-fabric in Concrete 13
is to investigate the flexural behavior of polypropylene (PP) Biaxial Geo-fabrics with

and without reinforcement.
2 Experimental Sequences
2.1 Basic Material Characterisation
The tests specimens were casted using different materials. Behavior of individual
material plays a significant role in the strength and durability of structural members. In
this experimental work an ordinary Portland cement of 53 grade and coarse aggregate
pertaining sieve size less than 20 mm were considered. Fine aggregates are locally
available having less than 4.75 mm size was considered as per code of practice. The
3 and 2 mm Galvanized iron (GI) wires were used as reinforcements because, the
alternative reinforcement Polypropylene (PP) Geo-fabrics are 2 mm thick Bi-axial
grids hence for the compatibility of replacement GI wires were considered. Exper-
imental tests were conducted on materials and results were tabulated in Tables 1, 2
and 3.
Table 1 Properties of cement

Experiment name Relevant code of practice Test results Permissible value as per code
Fineness IS 269 7.2% Maximum 10%
Normal consistency IS 4031-part 4 31% 26–33%
Soundness IS 4031-part 3 6.8 mm <10 mm
Specific gravity IS 2720-part 3 3.16 3.12–3.19
Initial setting time IS 4031 38 min Minimum 30 min
Final setting time IS 4031 290 min Maximum 600 min
Table 2 Properties of Coarse aggregate

Experiment name Relevant code of practice Test results Permissible value as per
code
Specific gravity IS 2386 2.7 2.5–0.3.2
Water absorption IS 2386 1.3% <2%
Flakiness index IS 2386 22% <30%
Elongation index IS 2386 20% <30%
Aggregate crushing test IS 2386 19% <30%
Aggregate impact test IS 2386 16% <24%
Los Angeles abrasion test IS 2386 21% <30%
Table 3 Properties of manufacturing sand (M-sand)

Experiment name Relevant code of practice Test results Permissible value as per
code
Specific gravity IS 2730-Part 3 Bulk G = 2.64 2.53–2.69
Apparent G = 2.56
Water absorption IS 2386-Part 3 1.3% <2%
The GI wires and PP Geo-fabrics were tested in digital strain controlled universal
testing machine (UTM). The experimental setups are shown in Fig. 2 and results are
tabulated in Table 4.
Fig. 2 Tensile testing in

universal testing machine
Table 4 Properties of reinforcements

Material Ultimate load Ultimate Breaking load Breaking stress Young’s
(N) tensile (N) (MPa) modulus
strength (MPa)
(MPa)
3 mm Ø GI 2600 352 1560 256 1.8 × 106
wire
2 mm Ø GI 2104 334 1375 228 1.68 × 106
wire
2 mm thick 1926 206 976 193 1.9 × 106
Bi-axial PP
Geo-fabric
2.2 Experimental Investigation
2.2.1 Experimental Investigation on Cement Mortar
Mortar is a composite mixture and used to protect the reinforcements in struc-

tures. The experimental investigations were performed on 1:6 proportion cement
sand mortar with water cement ratio equal to 0.6 which was arrived based on mini
flow table test conducted on mortar. Sometimes mortar used as a binding material for
masonry units as well as for wallets to protect it from environment and also to give
better view from architectural point of view. In this present study PP Geo-fabrics
are used as reinforcements so it is required to check the performance with mortar.
Hence, the flexural strength and Tensile strength of 1:6 mortars with and without
PP Geo-fabrics are evaluated in this section. The flexural strength test is conducted
as per ASTM D7264/D7264M-07 code of practice. As per code the PP Geo-fabrics
are sandwiched between 12 mm thick mortar and minimum 5 numbers of specimens
were considered having each specimen gauge length of 90 mm and tested under 25kN
digital universal testing machine [11]. The test specimens were shown in Fig. 3 and
results of test after 28 days aging were tabulated in Table 5.
The Tension tests are carried with and without PP Geo-fabrics in 1:6 cement sand
mortar. The mortar samples were having dimensions 200 × 600 × 25 mm prepared
and test conducted in accordance with AC434.13 guidelines. Experimental setups
along with specimen are shown in Fig. 4 and results after 28 days of aging have been
Fig. 3 Mortar laminates for

flexure test
Table 5 Flexure test on mortar

Type of specimen Flexural strength (MPa) Flexural modulus (MPa)
Conventional 1:6 mortar 3.96 2185
PP geo-fabrics laminated 1:6 mortar 4.28 2896
Fig. 4 a Tension test on mortar before test; b specimen after test
Table 6 Tension test on mortar

Type of specimen Ultimate load (N) Tensile strength (MPa)
Conventional 1:6 mortar 8100 1.62
PP geo-fabrics laminated 1:6 mortar 12,140 2.43
2.2.2 Experimental Investigation on Concrete
The designed mix proportion of 1:1:2 is used for concrete specimen casting. The mix
proportions were designed in accordance with IS 10262:2019 and ordinary Portland
cement of grade 53 with water cement ratio of 0.5 is used for specimen casting. The
compression, split tensile strength, Flexure tests were conducted by testing cubes,
cylinders and prisms respectively. Specimens were reinforced with PP Geo-fabrics
depends on normal conventional specimens failure and plastic hinge formation zones
[12]. Test specimens were shown in Fig. 5 and the average five specimens results are
represented with the help of graphical representation shown in Fig. 6.
2.2.3 Experimental Investigation on Beam Specimen
Beams are one dimensional structural members having larger length compared to
cross sectional area. In this present study 150 × 150 × 700 mm size beams were
considered with different reinforcement configurations and the test is carried in accor-
dance with IS: 516-1959. The PP Geo-fabrics were reinforced with two types of rein-
forcements. In both two types of reinforcements shear reinforcements were replaced
Fig. 5 Specimens used for testing
Fig. 6 a Compressive
strength; b split tensile
strength; c flexural strength
Table 7 Details of beam specimen

Description of Longitudinal reinforcement Transverse reinforcement
beam Top (mm) Bottom (mm) Size (mm) Spacing (mm)
Plain cement – – – –
concrete
GI reinforced beam 2–3Ø 2–3Ø 2Ø 25
PP Geo-fabric 2–3Ø 2–3Ø 2 mm thick PP Geo-fabrics connected
reinforced Facing to four faces
PP Geo-fabric 2–3Ø 2-3Ø 2 mm thick PP Geo-fabrics wrapped
reinforced Facing to main reinforcement
by PP Geo-fabrics completely by two different methods. In first type shear reinforce-

ment is completely replaced by PP Geo-fabric on face of the beam and in second
type of beam PP Geo-fabrics are completely wrapped all around main reinforcement.
Different configurations were considered in this present study is tabulated in Table 7
and different types of reinforcement materials used to cast the specimens shown in
Fig. 7.
In all combinations each type of three numbers of beams are considered for the
study. After casting all the specimens are cured with water for 28 days before the test.
The test on beams subjected to four-point loading and the load applied at the rate of
67 N/s on all varieties of Beams. Test specimens and experimental setup shown in
Fig. 8 and test results are tabulated in Table 8.
Failure patterns of different types of beams are presented in Fig. 9 and it shows
the importance of reinforcement compared with plain cement concrete beams. The
PP Geo-fabric by wrapping showed the better resistant to failure and to control the
Fig. 7 a GI Wire reinforcement; b PP geo-fabrics face reinforcement; c PP geo-fabrics wrapped

to main reinforcement
Fig. 8 a Beam specimens; b four point bending
Table 8 Comparison of beam results

Type of beam Ultimate stress Ultimate load Mode of failure Cost per beam
(MPa) (kN) specimen (|)
Plain cement 3.9 22.05 Brittle 70
concrete beam
GI reinforced 5.10 30.01 Ductile 185
concrete beam
PP geo-fabric 4.92 27.8 Ductile 140
facing reinforced
concrete beam
PP geo-fabric 4.89 26.8 Ductile 140
reinforced by
wrapping
cracks compared to all other type of specimens. The PP Geo-fabrics helps to control
the shear cracks by better aggregate interlocking mechanism.
Fig. 9 a Failure pattern of plain concrete beam; b GI reinforcement; c PP geo-fabric wrapping;

d PP geo-fabric facing
3 Conclusion
The following conclusions were observed in this experimental investigation.

1. The cement mortar tests showed that significant enhancement in strength of PP
Geo-fabric reinforcement was observed which was due to better interlocking
behaviour and improved bond strength compared with un-reinforced specimens.
2. Basic Concrete element like cubes and cylinders with PP Geo-fabrics showed
1.5–2 times greater strength compare with conventional specimens in both
compression and tension. This clearly indicates the improvement in the mechan-
ical properties due to inclusion of PP Geo-fabrics in concrete.
3. Ultimate load of RCC beam when subjected to flexure test was 30.01 kN. The
ductile mode of failure was observed in the beams. In Geo-wrap reinforced beams
85% of the flexural strength of GI-RCC beams was obtained by replacing the
shear reinforcement of RCC section with Geo-grid in the form of a wrap.
4. In Geo-fabric facing reinforced beams 80% of the actual flexural strength of GI-
RCC beam was achieved and about 90% of the actual flexural strength of PP Geo-
fabric wrapping beam was achieved. This implies that the Geo-facing reinforced
beams are not feasible as the strength obtained is less than the wrapped beam.
The advantage of the Geo-fabric facing reinforced beams is that it prevents the
beam from undergoing brittle mode of failure. The crack width of PP Geo-fabric
reinforced beams is comparatively less than all other types of Beams considered
in this study.
Acknowledgements Authors would like to acknowledge Visvesvaraya Technological Univer-

sity TEQIP CELL, Belagavi, (Ref: VTU/TEQIP 3/2019/321) for providing financial assistance
to conduct this experimental work under Research competitive funding scheme.
References
1. Sreekeshava KS, Arun KAS (2018) Experimental studies on response of biaxial geo-grid
proportioned cement concrete. i-Manager’s J Civ Eng 8(2):15. https://doi.org/10.26634/jce.
8.2.14550
2. Perkins S (1999) Mechanical response of geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavements. Geosynth
Int 6(5):347–382. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.6.0157
3. Dharek MS, Sunagar P, Bhanu Tej KV, Naveen SU (2019) Fresh and hardened properties
of self-consolidating concrete incorporating alumina silicates. In: Das B, Neithalath N (eds)
Sustainable construction and building materials. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 25.
Springer, Singapore
4. Duan L, Wang F-M, Chen W-F (1989) Flexural rigidity of reinforced concrete members. ACI
Struct J 86(4):419–427. https://doi.org/10.14359/9228
5. Tak-Bun DL (2006) Flexural ductility improvement of FRP-reinforced concrete members.
https://doi.org/10.5353/th_b3890775
6. Hughes BP, Watson AJ (1978) Compressive strength and ultimate strain of concrete under
impact loading. Mag Concr Res 30(105):189–199. https://doi.org/10.1680/macr.1978.30.
105.189
7. Meski FE, Chehab GR (2014) Flexural behavior of concrete beams reinforced with different
types of geogrids. J Mater Civ Eng 26(8):04014038. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)mt.1943-
5533.0000920
8. Sobhan K, Tandon V (2008) Mitigating reflection cracking in asphalt overlays using geosyn-
thetic reinforcements. Road Mater Pavement Design 9(3):367–388. https://doi.org/10.3166/
rmpd.9.367-388
9. Sivakamasundari S, Daniel AJ, Kumar A (2017) Study on flexural behavior of steel fiber RC
beams confined with biaxial geo-grid. Procedia Eng 173:1431–1438. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.proeng.2016.12.206
10. Shukla SK (2002) A text book of geosynthetics and their applications. Thomson Thelfold
Publications, London. ISBN: 0727731173
11. Sreekeshava KS, Arunkumar AS, Ravishankar BV (2020) Experimental studies on brick
masonry elements with geo-fabric bed joint reinforcement. Advances in sustainable construc-
tion materials lecture notes in civil engineering, pp 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-
15-3361-7_3
12. Sreekeshava KS, Arunkumar AS, Ravishankar BV (2020) Experimental studies on polyester
geo-fabric strengthened masonry elements. Lecture notes in civil engineering advances in
computer methods and geomechanics, pp 727–736. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0886-
8_58
Dual-Pipe Damper with Bracing System
for Seismic Retrofitting
V. Bincy and S. Usha
Abstract Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD) is a metallic yielding device for the passive
earthquake energy dissipation. It consists of two welded pipes, which is positioned
to take shear. DPD works in flexural form, on the basis of plastic-deformation of
steel materials. According to previous researchers, multistory frames equipped with
DPD exhibit a stable hysteresis loop with excellent energy absorption capacity under
dynamic non-linear time—history analysis. Present study investigates the lateral
resisting capacity of DPD by pushover analysis and to find out the best dimensions
of DPD for buildings conforming to IS 800:2007. From this study, the optimum
frame equipped with DPD is identified which can be utilized for a better seismic
retrofitting.
Keywords Seismic retrofitting techniques · Dual-Pipe Damper · Metallic Yield

Dampers · Parametric study · Pushover analysis
1 Introduction
“Natural disasters are less natural than you think” [1]. Disasters hardly kill human
but structures do it. Nature remains full of hazards, but only some of them wreak
disaster [1]. It is human-built structures, not the shaking ground, that kill when an
earthquake strikes [1]. Major portion of India is prone to earthquake and the rate
of loss of lives is considerably high. Hence the scope of retrofitting techniques is
increasing day by day. Seismic retrofitting techniques are those techniques which
make a structure more resistant to seismic activity during earthquake still they are not
preventive measures. Recent studies are being conducted to improve the effectiveness
of dampers. Dampers are the mechanical devices to dissipate kinetic energy of seismic
V. Bincy (B) · S. Usha

Department of Civil Engineering, Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering,
Ernakulam, Kerala, India
S. Usha

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_3
24 V. Bincy and S. Usha
waves penetrating through a building and metallic dampers are those which dissipate
energy by deforming their original shape. Many researches on metallic dampers are
being conducted to improve the performance and at the same time to evolve a best
model which shows greater energy dissipation [2–5]. Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD) is a
metallic yielding device for the passive control of structures, introduced recently. It
consists of two horizontal pipes welded together which are efficiently connected to
the building frame. It has been proved that DPDs are effective in reducing the seismic
performance of multi-storey structures, specifically up to ten storey buildings [6].
Study on Dual-Pipe Dampers exhibit good seismic retrofitting. In the earlier studies,
the size of the pipes in DPD is pretty small, intended for laboratory experiments.
When it comes to practical cases, these sizes may not enough for effective and
efficient seismic retrofitting. The present study investigates how the variation in
dimensions of pipes in DPD affect the seismic performance of a building frame and
to find out the effective DPD model suitable for the building frame conforming to IS
800:2007; code for general construction in steel.
2 Summary of Literature Survey
Several experimental and analytical investigations were conducted on structures to

explore the limitations and advantages of usage of metallic dampers in structures,
the seismic performance of structures during earthquake with and without seismic
retrofitting techniques, different bracing systems to produce maximum seismic
retrofitting property etc. Hence, review on the previous works will give sufficient
information for the present study.
A well-known passive energy dissipation device, Metallic Yield Damper (MYD)
provides a new way to resist the imposed loads to structural elements. Its effec-
tiveness and low cost are now well recognized and extensively tested in the past [4].
Comparative study was conducted among the available well-known metallic dampers
such as Pipe Damper (PD), Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD), Infilled-Pipe Dampers
(IPD), Triangular-plate Added Damping and Stiffness (TADAS), Slit Damper (SD),
Shear Panel Damper (SPD), Honeycomb Damper (HD), Cast Steel Yielding Brace
(CSYB), Double Function Metallic Damper X-Shaped (DFDMX) and Box-Shaped
Slit Damper using important parameters [4]. Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD) is a recently
proposed metallic yield damper, which shows comparatively high energy dissipa-
tion through yielding [4]. It is a passive energy dissipating device and the energy
dissipation is in the form of plastic deformation. The total energy dissipation value
of DPD (49.2 kJ) is the second largest among all the metallic dampers [7]. Light
in weight, cost effectiveness, easy degree of installation and a medium degree of
replaceability are its advantages [4, 7]. In a steel building frame installed with DPD,
the inelastic energy absorbed by the main frames decreases quickly by increasing
the DPD yield strength. Hence the most important design parameters of DPD are
stiffness, strength and yield displacement [7]. When we consider the case of design
of steel building frames, it is suggested to follow IS 800:2007. In codal method
Dual-Pipe Damper with Bracing System for Seismic Retrofitting 25
of design, the column and beam sections for steel building frames are selected by
choosing the plastic moment capacity ratio for buildings situated on medium soil
of various seismic zones of India, supports are taken as fixed support. The grade of
steel suggested by authors was RSJ 300 and 345 MPa [8]. The authors identified
the main drawback of DPD is that, they are less effective in reducing the seismic
performance of a twenty storey building than a five and ten storey building due to
the higher natural period and overall bending mode of the taller buildings [7].
Extensive studies are being conducted to improve the performance and to evolve
new patterns of metallic dampers for effective seismic performance. In the present
study, Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD) with building frame conforming to IS 800:2007 is
analyzed to check its suitability.
3 Numerical Analysis
In order to verify the accuracy of a numerical model using finite element software,
numerical analysis from a journal is reciprocated using its model dimensions and
other input parameters. The details from Journal [4] were opted for the validation
of mathematical model using the finite element software ANSYS 16.1. The model
named as M1L25 was taken for the validation purpose. The specimen has an outside
pipe diameter of 140 mm and thickness of 5.1 mm. The length of pipes in DPD is 25
mm. Modulus of elasticity from the journal is 203 GPa. After proper modeling and
meshing of M1L25, the model is provided cyclic load, following the loading protocol
in the journal. The maximum displacement and force corresponding to maximum
displacement obtained from the validation are 30.01 mm and 56.63 kN respec-
tively. Also the maximum displacement and the force due to maximum displacement
observed from the journal are 30 mm and 59 kN respectively. The percentage error
obtained is less than 5%.
Parametric study on Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD) using pushover analysis to find
the best model applicable to building frame conforming to IS 800:2007 is aimed in
this study.
3.1 Modeling of Dual-Pipe Damper (DPD) with Building

Frame
Numerical modeling of the DPD base model was performed by the finite element soft-
ware ANSYS 16.1 WORKBENCH. The model’s material property was assigned in
the engineering data section of the ANSYS software. The engineering data section of
the software consists of pre-assigned values for each material. The material properties
given for the model is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Material properties

Material Steel
of base model
Yield strength 345 MPa
Modulus of elasticity 2 × 1011 Pa
Poisson’s ratio 0.3
Density 7850 kg/m3
Table 2 Specifications of building frame

Building frame Plan dimension Storey height (m) Column size Beam size
IS III-8 L = 5@4 m; B = 7@4 m 5 ISWB 450 ISMB 400
The model consists of a building frame equipped with DPD and a V bracing
system. The building is considered as residential building frame. The length of the
plan is varied in X direction and breadth of the plan in Y direction. The storey height
is varied through Z direction [8]. The specifications of building frame chosen for
modeling are given in the Table 2 [8]. The building is having fixed support situated
on medium soil of various seismic zones of India [8]. The nomenclature of building
starting as Indian Standards (IS), plan and number of storey in building [8]. The DPD
consists of two horizontal pipes connected together [4]. A rigid plate is provided
below the pipes for the proper connection and load transfer. The V-bracing system is
provided to support DPD in the model, which has a minimum section of 100 × 100
mm.
Each model in the present study is named according to its dimension of the pipes
in the DPD model. For example, DPD 300-15-25 is a model having diameter of pipe
300 mm, thickness of the pipe 15 mm and length of the pipe 25 mm.
3.2 Support and Loading for DPD Base Model
Displacement is given at the top of the model in the Z direction. Figure 1 shows the
loading protocol that is the variation of displacement given to the model. Figure 2
shows the model created for the analysis with fixed support at the bottom of the base
model.
Fig. 1 Loading protocol

Fig. 2 Model created for the analysis
3.3 Parametric Studies on DPD Model
Parametric study using push over analysis was conducted on the DPD models. Three
parameters were varied accordingly to find out the best model suitable for the building
frame conforming to IS 800:2007. The parameters varied are diameter (500, 400,
300 and 200 mm), thickness (10, 15 and 20 mm) and length (25, 50 and 75 mm) of
the pipes in DPD. The length and thickness of pipes in the DPD models are selected
according to the suggestions made by previous studies. The minimum length of pipes
in DPD provided was 25 mm [4]. Varying three parameters at a time is tiresome.
Hence the study is divided into two different steps. In the first step, the value of one
of the parameters is fixed and the other two parameters are varied. In the second
step, the parameter which stands fixed in the first step is varied for the optimized
models from first step. This approach seems to be effective and efficient. In the
present study, the length of pipes of DPD is set to 25 mm and the study was done
by varying the diameter and thickness of the pipes in DPD. The diameter of the
pipes DPD was varied as 500, 400, 300 and 200 mm. For each diameter of DPD,
the thickness was varied as 10, 15 and 20 mm. The corresponding models created
are DPD 500-10-25, DPD 500-15-25, DPD 500-20-25, DPD 400-10-25, DPD 400-
15-25, DPD 400-20-25, DPD 300-10-25, DPD 300-15-25, DPD 300-20-25, DPD
200-10-25, DPD 200-15-25 and DPD 200-20-25. In the second step, some of the
models which show better performance (specifically, the models show ultimate load
carrying capacity) from the first step were selected and subjected to further variation
of length of pipes in DPD as 50 and 75 mm. Here, the model DPD 500-10-25 is one
of the optimum models obtained from the first step. Hence, the length of pipes in the
model DPD 500-10-25 is changed from 25 to 50 mm and then to 75 mm and these
models (DPD 500-10-50 and DPD 500-10-75) are tested. Similarly, all the optimum
models from the first step were taken to the second step of parametric study. From
the parametric study, the best model applicable for the building frame conforming
to IS 800:2007 are found out. The effect of variation in dimensions of pipes of DPD
in the performance of building frame is also figured out.
4 Results and Discussion
From the parametric study of the model, it is observed that the thickness of the pipes
in DPD model affects the performance. The models with a thickness of 15 mm is
effective than 10 mm but all the models with a thickness of pipes in DPD as 20 mm,
exhibited a quick failure without taking much load as compared to the other models.
Hence such models with a thickness of pipes in DPD were rejected from further
study. When we consider the case of diameter of pipes in DPD, the models with a
diameter of 200 mm showed an unpredictable behavior and it has been concluded
that such models are not suitable for practical purposes. For the models tested, as the
diameter of pipes in DPD increases, it showed an increasing load carrying capacity.
But load carrying capacity itself cannot be taken as a measure of better performance.
The better performance of a model can be defined by considering the ultimate load
and the corresponding deflection, yield load and the corresponding deflection, yield
stiffness and ductility. Ductility is the capacity of a material to deform permanently
in response to stress [9]. Most common steels, for example, are quite ductile and
hence can accommodate local stress concentrations [9]. The ultimate load, ultimate
deflection, yield load and yield deflection of each model can be obtained from the
finite element software itself. The Yield stiffness and Ductility of each model were
found out using the following equations:
Y ield load
Y ield sti f f ness =
Y ield de f lection
Ultimate de f lection
Ductilit y =
Y ield de f lection
Table 3 shows the test results of different models. DPD models with ductility
above 30 were selected to find the best model. Four models which show ductility
above 30 are DPD 200-10-25, DPD 200-15-25, DPD 500-15-75 and DPD 300-15-
75. The highest load carrying capacity (742.5kN) of the model is observed with
DPD 300-15-75, whereas highest ductility model (DPD 200-10-25) exhibit low load
carrying capacity (518.4kN). Model DPD 200-15-25 also show low load carrying
capacity. Considering ultimate load capacity and ductility together, DPD 300-15-75
exhibit the best performance among the other models. Hence DPD 300-15-75 was
selected for the application in building frames conforming to IS 800:2007.
Table 3 Test results of different models

Specimen Ultimate Ultimate Yield load Yield Yield Ductility
load (kN) deflection (kN) deflection stiffness
(mm) (mm) (kN/mm)
Frame only 471.0 246.6 224.8 24.5 9.2 10.1
DPD 507.0 109.2 60.7 6.8 8.9 16.0
500-10-25
DPD 536.1 110.6 48.1 4.5 10.8 24.8
500-15-25
DPD 624.6 140.9 84.2 6.6 12.8 21.4
500-15-50
DPD 705.9 215.8 93.4 6.5 14.4 33.3
500-15-75
DPD 499.9 88.6 43.9 4.5 9.7 19.6
400-10-25
DPD 530.2 89.8 56.3 4.4 12.8 20.5
400-15-25
DPD 612.2 91.3 67.5 4.3 15.78 21.3
400-15-50
DPD 719.9 143.4 1.1E+02 6.3E+00 18.0 22.7
400-15-75
DPD 493.5 102.6 50.0 4.4 11.3 23.1
300-10-25
DPD 535.5 80.9 73.2 4.2 17.4 19.3
300-15-25
DPD 637.9 76.5 87.5 4.2 20.9 18.3
300-15-50
DPD 742.5 131.5 95.1 4.3 22.0 30.4
300-15-75
DPD 518.4 207.0 36.1 2.1 17.2 98.8
200-10-25
DPD 531.8 91.2 48.4 2.5 19.4 36.5
200-15-25
DPD 442.2 30.4 106.4 4.9 21.6 6.2
200-15-50
DPD 583.1 36.0 166.8 4.9 33.8 7.3
200-15-75
5 Conclusion
DPD models with different diameters (500, 400, 300 and 200 mm) were studied by
varying thickness (10, 15 and 20 mm) and length (25, 50 and 75 mm) to select the best
model applicable for the building frame conforming to IS specification. The model
with 300 mm diameter, 75 mm length and 15 mm thickness (DPD 300-15-75) shows
comparatively better results in Push-over analysis. This model can be selected for
implementing in the selected building frame which conforms to IS 800:2007. This
damper model is suitable for further investigations with the selected building frame.
References
1. Sapiens, https://www.sapiens.org/culture/natural-disaster-less-natural-than-you-think/
2. Aghlara R, Tahir MM, Adnan AB (2018) Experimental study of pipe-fuse dampers for passive
energy dissipation in structures. J Constr Steel Res 148
3. Mahyari SL, Riahi HT, Hashemi M (2019) Investigating the analytical and experimental
performance of a pure torsional yielding damper. J Constr Steel Res 161(2019):385–399
4. Maleki S, Mahjoubi S (2013) Dual-pipe damper. J Constr Steel Res 85
5. Shi J-X, Kozono S, Shimoda M, Takino M, Wada D, Liu Y (2019) Non-parametric shape
design optimization of elastic-plastic shear panel dampers under cyclic loading. Eng Struct
189(2019):48–61
6. Mahjoubi S, Maleki S (2016) Seismic performance evaluation and design of steel structures
equipped with dual-pipe dampers. J Constr Steel Res 122
7. Aglara R, Tahir MM (2017) A passive metallic damper with replaceable steel bar components
for earthquake protection of structures. Eng Struct 159
8. Rami Reddy V, Krishna V (2018) Comparative study in performance of steel buildings in various
seismic zones of India. Int J Civ Eng Technol
9. Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/technology/materials-testing/Measures-
of-ductility
Experimental Studies on Performance
of Geo-synthetic Strengthened Brick
Masonry Infill
K. S. Sreekeshava and A. S. Arunkumar
Abstract The behaviors of masonry infill under the action of sudden disasters are
highly unpredictable. Infill is very strong and behaves better under the action of
gravity loads because of its strong nature under compression but it shows versatile
behavior under shear. In any kinds of high rise buildings infill actions are ignored in
design but contribution of infill under lateral loads are highly significant. The infill
contributes to strength and stiffness of frames under lateral forces and also the inter-
faces between frame and infill are fails because of its weak bond. Several researchers
studied the significance of strengthening of masonry infill and stated that significance
of strengthening under flexure and shear. In this present paper an experimental work
has been presented on two different types of Geo-synthetics strengthened to brick
masonry infill and results are compared with unreinforced conventional masonry
infill elements. The results shown the better performance in load carrying capacity
and also in flexure and shear compared with conventional specimens.
Keywords Shear · Flexure · Reinforcement · Stiffness · Masonry infill · Wallets ·

Shear
1 Introduction
The Brick masonry is used as an infill across all over the world. Masonry behaviors
under disasters are highly unpredictable and also cause severe problems to structural
elements. Several researchers have been stated the importance of infill and also
proposed the different techniques to overcome the effects on infill under disasters.
K. S. Sreekeshava (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Jyothy Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, affiliated to
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India
A. S. Arunkumar
Department of Civil Engineering, BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru, affiliated to
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_4
32 K. S. Sreekeshava and A. S. Arunkumar
Major observations stated that the infill is mainly failed due to the insufficient ability
to resist under shear and flexure [1, 2].
Masonry is composite material made of masonry unit and cement: sand mortar.
The south Indian bricks are very soft and having low compressive strength compared
to Northern part of India [3]. In this part of brick masonry possess low modulus of
elasticity and also brick unit are soft compared to cement: sand mortar [4].
The infill is very strong under axial compressive loads and also fails suddenly
under small amount of lateral loads because of its brittle nature. Several researchers
were focused on strengthening the infill by a different reinforcing technique which
includes the fiber reinforced polymer technique. In this technique the polymers are
applied on the surface of infill and subjected to validate with various tests. The tests
result showed the importance of polymer reinforcing in infill and also faced the
drawback to apply on wet surfaces of infill [5].
To encounter this drawback a new technique has been developed by researchers
which can be easily applied on wet surfaces and showed the better performance in
all aspects. The composite system can be developed with the help of cementitious
matrix so called as fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) technique [6].
The Geo-synthetics are polymeric materials widely used in civil engineering appli-
cations includes Geotechnical and highway pavements. These materials possess high
tensile strength, recyclable, corrosive resistant and fire resistant. Because of its high
ductility and tensile strength used as a reinforcing material in many infrastructure
projects. The interlocking behavior of Geo-synthetics helps to enhance the bonding
between materials hence recommended to use as reinforcing material between two
composite units [7].
2 Experimental Sequence
2.1 Basic Materials Characterisation
The materials like Cement, manufactured sand, portable water, table moulded bricks
and Geo-synthetics (Polyester and Polypropylene type) were used in this present
study. The ordinary Portland cement of 53 grade is conform to BIS specification
IS: 12269-2013 [8] and Manufactured sand were conform to IS: 383-2016 used for
specimen fabrication [9]. Locally available table moulded bricks are used as infill
material along with 1:5 cement:sand mortar. The Polyester and Polypropylene types
of Geo-synthetics are used for strengthening masonry infill elements like prisms and
wallets. The basic materials characterizations are listed in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The Polyester and Polypropylene two types of Geo-synthetics were tested under
25 kN digital strain controlled universal testing machine to know the mechanical
properties. The Geo-synthetics used in this study is shown in Fig. 1.
Experimental Studies on Performance of Geo-synthetic … 33

Experiment name Test results Permissible value as per code (IS: 12269-2013)
Fineness (%) 7.1 Maximum 10
Normal consistency (%) 30 26–33
Soundness (mm) 6.6 <10
Specific gravity 3.10 3.12–3.19
Initial setting time (min) 36 Minimum 30
Final setting time (min) 295 Maximum 600
Table 2 Properties of manufacturing sand (M-sand)

Experiment name Test results Permissible value as per code (IS: 383-2016)
Specific gravity Bulk G = 2.65 2.53–2.69
Apparent G = 2.55
Water absorption (%) 1.2 <2
Table 3 Properties of table moulded brick

Dimension (mm) Water absorption Modulus of Compressive Weight density
(%) rupture (Mpa) strength (Mpa) (kN/m3 )
212 × 102 × 75 13.50 1.21 3.9 13.60
Table 4 Properties of geo-synthetics

Geo-fabric Ultimate Ultimate Breaking Breaking Young’s Cost/m2 (Rs.)
load (N) tensile load (N) stress modulus
strength (Mpa) (Mpa)
(Mpa)
Polyester 920 135 880 120 1.16 × 70
106
Polypropylene 1026 153 996 146 1.89 × 75
106
(a) Polypropylene (b) Polyester
Fig. 1 Geo-synthetics used in this present study

2.2 Experimental Studies on Masonry Mortar
The constructions of infill with weak mortar are generally adopted across southern
part of India. In this present context a mortar ratio of 1:5 (Cement:sand) is used for
masonry elements fabrication. To know the bonding behavior of Geo-synthetic along
with mortar can be studied with the help of flexure and tension test. The experimental
investigations were performed on cement:sand mortar with water cement ratio 0.6.
Mortar is a composite mixture and used to protect the reinforcements in structures.
Sometimes mortar used as a binding material for masonry units as well as for wallets
to protect it from environment and also to give better view from architectural point
of view. In this present study PP Geo-fabrics are used as reinforcements so it is
required to check the performance with mortar. Hence, the flexural strength and
Tensile strength of 1:5 mortars with and without Geo-synthetics are evaluated in this
section. The flexural strength test is conducted as per ASTMD7264/D7264M-07
code of practice [10]. As per code the Geo-synthetics are laminated between 12 mm
thick mortar and minimum 5 numbers of specimens were considered having each
specimen gauge length of 90 mm and tested under 25 kN digital universal testing
machine. The test specimens were shown in Fig. 2 and results of test after 28 days
aging were tabulated in Table 5.
The Tension tests are carried with and without Geo-synthetics in 1:5 cement
sand mortar. The mortar coupons were having dimensions 200 × 600 × 25 mm
prepared and test conducted in accordance with AC434.13 guidelines [10]. Experi-
mental setups along with specimen shown in Fig. 3 and results after 28 days of aging
were tabulated in Table 6.
Fig. 2 Mortar laminates for flexure test
Table 5 Flexure test results

Type of specimen along with 1:5 mortar Flexural strength (MPa) Flexural modulus (MPa)
Conventional specimen 3.96 2185
Polyester geo-synthetic 4.28 2896
Polypropylene geo-synthetic 4.86 3025
Fig. 3 a Tension test on mortar before test; b specimen after test
Table 6 Tension test results

Type of specimen along with 1:5 mortar Ultimate load (N) Tensile strength (MPa)
Conventional 8100 1.62
Polyester geo-synthetic 12,140 2.43
Polypropylene geo-synthetic 14,156 2.96
2.3 Experimental Studies on Masonry Prisms
2.3.1 Compressive Strength of Masonry Prisms
The compressive strength is the important factor to decide the strength of masonry
infill. The test is carried out in accordance with ASTM C 1314-03b test method.
Prisms were built using four masonry units with 12 mm thick 1:5 mortars. All
masonry units are laid in stack bond position with aspect ratio of 3.52 and tested
after 21 days of full age curing. The two types of Geo-synthetics are applied on
prisms in two ways. The strengthening using geo-synthetics can be done by placing
on face of the prism and also at each bed joints with the help of mortar. The test
specimens were shown in Fig. 4 and test results are tabulated in Table 7.
2.3.2 Flexural Strength of Masonry Prisms
The masonry prisms in flexure can be checked in accordance with EN 1052-2:1999

standard code of practice. Stack bonded prisms were placed horizontally and equal
concentrated loads are applied at the span third points. The flexural strength for prism
Fig. 4 Masonry prisms
is given in Eq. 1.
3Fimax (l1 − l2 )
fx = Mpa (1)
2btu2
where
fx Flexural strength of masonry Prism (Mpa)
Fimax Maximum breaking load (N)
b height or width of the specimen perpendicular to the direction of the span
(mm)
tu Width of masonry unit (mm)
l1 Center to Center distance between the supports (mm)
l2 Center to Center distance between equal concentrated loads (mm).
The masonry flexural strength helps to estimate the effect of resistance due to
lateral forces on the masonry infill. The testing specimens are similar to compres-
sive strength test were shown in Fig. 5. The results showed the importance of
Geo-synthetic reinforced on face of the masonry infill and experimental results are
2.4 Experimental Studies on Masonry Wallets
2.4.1 Load Bearing Capacity of Masonry Wallets
The actual behavior of masonry infill is obtained by conducting load bearing capacity
test on wallets in accordance with EN 772-1 standards specifications. The specimens
were 600 × 600 × 230 mm in dimension and cured for 28 days in ambient environ-
ment with the help of gunny bags. Two types of geo-synthetics with two differently
strengthened techniques and also unreinforced conventional wallets were consid-
ered for the experimentation. The tests conducted under 2000 kN loading frame and
under axial loads displacement are captured with the help of digital strain gauges.
Table 7 Masonry prisms compressive strength test results
S. No. Specimen type Description Number of specimens Breaking load (N) Compressive strength Correction factor Corrected compressive
(Mpa) strength (Mpa)
01 PC1 Conventional prism 03 55,020 2.62 1.11 2.87
02 PC2 Polypropylene 03 67,226 3.2 1.11 3.52
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of prism
03 PC3 Polyester 03 59,824 2.84 1.11 3.13
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of Prism
Experimental Studies on Performance of Geo-synthetic …
04 PC4 Polypropylene 03 65,276 3.10 1.11 3.41

geo-synthetic
strengthened at bed
joint of prism
05 PC5 Polyester 03 62,482 2.97 1.11 3.27
geo-synthetic
strengthened at bed
joint of Prism
37
Fig. 5 Masonry prisms under flexure
Table 8 Masonry prisms flexure test results

S. No. Specimen type Description Number of Breaking load Flexural
specimens Fimax (N) strength f x
(Mpa)
01 PF1 Conventional 05 4010 0.42
prism
02 PF2 Polypropylene 05 11,600 1.25
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of prism
03 PF3 Polyester 05 7100 0.76
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of prism
04 PF4 Polypropylene 05 4600 0.49
geo-synthetic
strengthened at
bed joint of prism
05 PF5 Polyester 05 4300 0.46
geo-synthetic
strengthened at
bed joint of prism
Fig. 6 Masonry bearing capacity test

Table 9 Masonry bearing capacity test results

S. No. Specimen type Description Number of Breaking load Modulus of
specimens (kN) elasticity (Mpa)
01 CWB1 Conventional 03 210 1560
wallet
02 PWB2 Polypropylene 03 245 2345
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of wallet
03 PWB3 Polyester 03 227 2135
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of wallet
04 PWB4 Polypropylene 03 240 4260
geo-synthetic
strengthened at
bed joint of
Wallet
05 PWB5 Polyester 03 255 5026
geo-synthetic
strengthened at
bed joint of
wallet
The specimens are shown in Fig. 6 and experimental results are represented in Table
9.
2.4.2 Shear Capacity of Masonry Wallets
The shear capacity of wallets under in-plane loads plays a major role in prediction
of failure mechanism of masonry. The specimens were 600 × 600 × 230 mm in
dimension and cured for 28 days in ambient environment with the help of gunny bags.
In-fills are very weak in shear because of its brittleness and composite action between
mortar-masonry units. The shear capacity of wallets estimated with strengthened
and un-strengthened wallets of same category specimens of load bearing test in
accordance with EN 1052-3 codal standard specifications. The specimens with testing
arrangements are shown in Fig. 7 and results are tabulated in Table 10.
The specimen after shear strength test shows the behavior of infill under the
action of in-plane loads. The conventional specimen failed sudden and brittle fracture
occurred while conducting the test. The specimens strengthened by polyester and
polypropylene in both type of strengthening technique bed joint as well as face of
wallets performed better compared to un-strengthened wallets. The specimens after
testing are presented in Fig. 8.
Table 10 Masonry shear strength test results

S. No. Specimen type Description Number of Breaking load Shear stress
specimens (kN) (Mpa)
01 CWS1 Conventional 03 255 0.91
wallet
02 PWS2 Polypropylene 03 295 1.05
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of wallet
03 PWS3 Polyester 03 280 0.98
geo-synthetic
strengthened on
face of wallet
04 PWS4 Polypropylene 03 310 1.14
geo-synthetic
strengthened at
bed joint of
Wallet
05 PWS5 Polyester 03 345 1.48
geo-synthetic
strengthened at
bed joint of
wallet
Fig. 7 Masonry Shear strength test
2.4.3 Cost Comparison Analysis
The cost comparison analysis plays a significant role for the adaptation of work under
practical circumstances. In present study two types of geo-synthetics has been used
as an additional reinforcing materials in conventional specimens. The cost analysis
has been done by considering conventional and Geo-synthetic reinforcing wallets of
one cubic meter. The results are tabulated in Table 11.
Table 11 Cost analysis

Description Approximate cost for one Total cost required to Total cost (Rs.)
cubic meter of concrete geo-synthetic for one
(Rs.) cubic meter (Rs.)
Conventional 6000–6500 Nil 6000–6500
specimen
Polyester 6000–6500 1200 7200–7700
geo-synthetic
Polypropylene 6000–6500 960 6960–7460
geo-synthetic
(A) Un-Strengthened (B) Face strengthened (C) Bed-joint Strengthened
Fig. 8 Masonry wallets after shear strength test
3 Conclusion
From the experimental observations on brick masonry elements strengthened with

two types of Geo-synthetics in two different ways and also on un-strengthened
masonry the following conclusions were made.
1. The materials characteristics showed the importance of Geo-synthetics by its
high tensile property and ductility.
2. The mortar test showed the enhancement of 10–15% in both polyester and
polypropylene Geo-synthetic compared with unstrengthen mortar in both flexure
as well as in tensile strength test.
3. Compressive strength on masonry prisms showed the importance of face strength-
ening technique by both the types of Geo-synthetics. The bed joint strengthening
showed 10–15% of enhancement and faces strengthening by 15–20% compared
with unstrengthen conventional specimens.
4. Flexural strength test on prisms showed the significance of face strengthening
technique by both types of Geo-synthetics. The face strengthened specimens
showed 65–70% of enhancement compared with conventional as well as bed
joint strengthened specimens.
5. Test on wallets shows the realistic behavior of infill under compression and
shear. In both the tests the Geo-synthetics strengthened specimens showed better
performance compared with conventional specimens.
Geo-synthetics are recyclable, thermal resistant, and non-corrosive and possess

good tensile properties with composites like masonry and concrete. Hence Geo-
synthetics are recommended to adopt in larger scale to avoid the brittle fracture of
masonry structure.
Acknowledgements Authors would like to acknowledge Visvesvaraya Technological Univer-

sity TEQIP CELL, Belagavi, (Ref: VTU/TEQIP 3/2019/321) for providing financial assistance
to conduct this experimental work under Research competitive funding scheme.
References
1. Sreekeshava KS, Arunkumar AS, Ravishankar BV (2020) Experimental studies on polyester

geo-fabric strengthened masonry elements. Lecture notes in civil engineering advances in
computer methods and geomechanics, pp 727–736. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0886-
8_58
2. Sreekeshava KS, Arunkumar AS, Ravishankar BV (2020) Experimental studies on brick
masonry elements with geo-fabric bed joint reinforcement. Advances in sustainable construc-
tion materials lecture notes in civil engineering, pp 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-
15-3361-7_3
3. Sarangapani G, Reddy BVV, Jagadish KS (2005) Brick-mortar bond and masonry compressive
strength. J Mater Civ Eng 17(2):229–237. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0899-1561(2005)17:
2(229)
4. Sreekeshava KS, Arunkumar AS (2019) Effect of polypropylene (PP) geo-fabric reinforcement
in brick masonry under axial loads. Int J Recent Technol Eng Regular Issue 8(3):369–373.
https://doi.org/10.35940/ijrte.c4181.098319
5. Sagar SL, Singhal V, Rai DC, Gudur P (2016) Diagonal shear and out of plane flexural
strength of fabric reinforced cementitious matrix-strengthened masonry wallets. J Compos
Const. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CC.1943-5614.0000796
6. Sadak H, Lissel S (2013) Seismic performance of masonry walls with GFRP and geogrid Bed
joint reinforcement. Constr Build Mater 41(2013):977–989
7. Sreekeshava KS, Arunkumar AS (2018) Experimental studies on response of biaxial geo-grid
proportioned cement concrete. i-Manager’s J Civ Eng 8(2):15. https://doi.org/10.26634/jce.8.
2.14550
8. BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) (2013) Indian standard code of practice for structural use of
unreinforced masonry, IS 12269, New Delhi, India
9. BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) (2016) Indian standard code of practice for structural use of
unreinforced masonry, IS 383, New Delhi, India
10. ASTM (2015) Standard test methods for diagonal tension (shear) in masonry assemblages.
ASTM 7264/D7264M-07, West Conshohocken, PA
11. ASTM (2011) Standard test methods for diagonal tension (shear) in masonry assemblages.
AC.434
Assessment of Governance Gaps
in Landslide Risk Reduction—A Case
Study from Kattippara Panchayath,
Kozhikode District
K. Sreerekha and S. Jawahar Saud
Abstract Landslides are hazards which frequently occur and affect the life of
human, animals and damage properties. Kattippara Panchayath is a highly landslide
prone area in which landslides had occurred in different locations and public have
been asked to stay away from this area. Currently there are no effective strategies to
reduce the risks of landslides. A Geographic Information System has proved to be
a useful tool for analysing and managing landslide related data. Landslide suscepti-
bility map of the study area is prepared using Arc GIS software by combining some
of the critical factors like land use pattern, geology, geomorphology etc. It can be
used for assessing the risks of landslides, for developing early warning systems and
mitigation plans. This paper seeks to identify the existing governance gaps in the
study area, to ascertain the status of existing risk reduction measures available, the
constraints associated with such measures, and thereby to suggest suitable measures
to fill the identified gaps. This paper concludes with a synthesis of governance gaps
and opportunities to reduce the risk of such disasters.
Keywords Landslide · Risk · Risk reduction · Landslide susceptibility map
1 Introduction
Landslides are major natural hazards which frequently occur and affect the life
of human and animals, damage properties. Different phenomena cause landslides,
including intense or prolonged rainfall, earthquakes, and a variety of human activ-
ities [1]. Landslides constitute a major natural hazard in India which accounts for
considerable loss of life and damage to communication routes, human settlements,
agricultural fields and forest lands [2]. The Western Ghats of Kerala are highly fragile
K. Sreerekha (B) · S. Jawahar Saud

Department of Civil Engineering, Federal Institute of Science and Technology,
S. Jawahar Saud

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_5
44 K. Sreerekha and S. Jawahar Saud
and are under repeated threats of landslides. Kozhikode is the worst affected district
with respect to the number of landslide incidences, casualties and property loss [3].
Landslide can happen unexpectedly and in most cases it become worse due to lack of
proper governance. Governance is cited as the most recommended landslide disaster
risk reduction component [4]. As governance, in general, refers to the processes
of decision-making and implementation, risk governance applies the principles of
good or sound identification, assessment, management and communication of risks.
Governance is a crucial point for proper planning and implementation; it would
require bringing together engineering, environmental and communities in a joint
effort [5]. The analysis and management of landslide related data can be made easier
with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS). Landslide susceptibility map
of the study area can be prepared using Arc GIS software by combining some of the
critical factors like land use pattern, geology, geomorphology etc. It can be used for
assessing the risks of landslides, for developing early warning systems and mitiga-
tion plans [6]. The main objectives of this works are established (1) to identify the
governance gaps in landslide risk reduction activities in the study area (a) to generate
landslide vulnerability zonation map using remote sensing and GIS techniques (2)
to understand the status of existing risk reduction measures in the study area (3) to
identify the governance gaps related to landslide risk reduction in the study area.
Many areas of Kerala are prone to frequent landslides in the past because of intense
rainfall. These landslides, year after year bring about untold misery to human settle-
ments apart from causing devastating damages to transportation and communication
network [7]. This work gives the detailed analysis of accessible data from the study
area which helps in creating awareness among people about the current visible risks,
and to identify the existing gaps in landslide risk reduction.
2 Selection of Study Area
Kattippara is a panchayth (Latitude 11° 47 08 and Longitude 75° 92 13 ) in
Kozhikode district, Kerala. It is a village with a lot of hilly areas. As the name
indicates, it is famous for hard rocks which we can find everywhere in this village.
Kattippara Panchayath is a highly landslide prone and unstable area. The major
source of income in this village is agriculture. Majority of the population depend on
the agriculture crops such as rubber, coconut, ginger, pepper etc. A very minority only
depend on business and govt. jobs. Kattippara has a generally cool humid climate
with a very hot season extending from March to May. The average annual rainfall
is more than 3500 mm and it is the highest rain fall in this region. According to
2011 Census report, the population in the study area was 30,123 and the population
density was 1400/km2 . On 14 June 2018 a major landslide in the form of debris flow
along with mudslips erupted in 8 different locations of Kattippara Panchayth. 14
persons were killed and many others injured, 14 houses were totally washed out, 20
houses were partially damaged and transportation systems as well as communication
systems were badly affected by the landslide. The triggering factor for this landslide
Assessment of Governance Gaps in Landslide Risk Reduction … 45
Fig. 1 Base map of the study area. Source GSI
was the action of quarrying and intense rainfall. Still people are residing in this area
and currently there are no effective strategies to reduce the risks of landslide. The
base map of the study area is shown in Fig. 1.
2.1 Data Collection
The data collections were carried out in two stages, one through developing the land-
side hazard zonation map and another one was the administration of questionnaire
survey. Based on the past and landslide in the study area different survey tech-
niques were used for data collection directly from the affected victims, local bodies,
respective authorities of disaster prone areas etc.
2.1.1 Questionnaire Preparation
Two types of questionnaires are prepared, one for authorities and other for residents
of Kattippara Panchayth. While preparing the questionnaire both open ended as well
as closed ended questions were used. Three point likert scale questions were used
in the survey. Questions were generated in such a way to collect the maximum data
considering people knowledge, experiences, thoughts, and their role during disaster,
to identify the governance gaps and to generate the hazard zonation map etc. Total 600
responses were collected from the community survey. The responses of questionnaire
survey were then analysed using SPSS software.
2.1.2 Collection of Different Maps for Generating Landslide

Susceptibility Map
Landslide zonation is commonly shown on maps, which display the spatial distribu-
tion of classes (Landslide Zonation). Landslide zonation refers to “The division of
the land in homogeneous areas or domains and their ranking according to degrees
of actual/potential hazard caused by mass movement” [8]. For the preparation of
landslide hazard zonation map different maps are collected they are Slope map, Soil
map, Land use and land cover map, Geomorphology map, Geology map, Drainage
density map, Relief map. After collecting all these maps then it is overlaid in Arc
GIS software to get the final landside hazard zonation map.
3 Results
3.1 Analysis of Questionnaire Survey
The statistical method of analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) [9]. Since for developing an effective Disaster management plan for
an area, a proper study regarding the risk factors, capacity of the exposed community
etc. should be determined. Total 600 responses were collected from the study area.
The following figures show the personal details of the respondents (Figs. 2, 3 and 4).
From these figures it is clear that most of the respondents are male (51%). Most
of the respondents fall in the age category 30–55 (39%) and more than 55 (39%).
Figure 4 compares the educational qualification of the people. From this figure it
is clear that majority of the people have school level education, nearly 12% of the
Fig. 2 Gender of Gender

respondents
49%
51% Male
Female
Fig. 3 Age of respondents Age
Less than
22%
30
39% 30 to 55
39%
More than
55
Fig. 4 Educational Educational qualification

qualifications of respondents
School level
41% 12% Degree/ Diploma
Post Graduation
47%
respondents have post-graduation. So it says that lack of education plays a role in

their poor awareness level about the risks of land slides.
3.2 Analysis of Questionnaire Using Chi Square Test
The chi-square test for independence, also called Pearson’s chi-square test or the chi-
square test of association, is used to discover if there is a relationship between two
categorical variables [10]. In this study different question was taken as parameters
and the relation between these parameters are found. The following figures show the
relation between different parameters.
3.2.1 Age and Preparedness of People
Age and preparedness of people was tested to examine the influence of age on
preparedness [11]. The results of Fig. 5, shows that people with age more than 55
are least prepared to face a disaster comparing with other two groups. This is may
be due to lack of proper awareness programs from the authorities.
The evidences from the graph show that training programs and awareness sessions
should be strengthened. It’s very essential that young people have to be well trained
to face a disaster because they can do a range of roles including response, recovery
effort, and protection of others. So these training programs should be conducted by
the role players for improving the preparedness and overall reliance of the people.
Age vs Prepardeness
160
140 139
120 Prepardeness
100 95 Not at all
85
Count
80 63
52 57 Some how
60 43
40 31 35 Very much
20
0
30 to 55 Less than 30 More than 55
Age
Fig. 5 Age versus preparedness of people
3.2.2 Frequency and Warning System
Both the frequency and the impact of landslide have been increasing for the past
decades in the study area. When the frequency of landslides in the study area was
tested against the status of warning systems it clearly depicts the warning system is
not enough to tackle the slides. Landslides occur in the area 0–5 slides per year, but
the early warning systems are not in place to provide warnings which leads to more
risk to the community. From Fig. 6, a largest portion of respondents address the need
for an early warning system. The successful implementation of early warning system
can save lives to a greater extend [12]. In this study area landslide monitoring and
dissemination of warning information remains a complex process where technical
and communications skill should work closely together to overcome this constrain.
Frequency of landslide vs Status of early

warning system
160 142
140
118 Frequency of
120 107 100 landslide
100 0 - 5 per year
Count
80 More than 5 per

60 51 year
34 27 Once in every year
40 20
20 1
0
High Low Moderate
Status of early warning system
Fig. 6 Frequency versus warning system

Implimentation of DMP vs Role of government

160 149
Role of
140 Government
118
120 112 High
Low
100
Count
Moderate
80 72
60
41
40 32 33
25
18
20
0
Don't know No Yes
Have a Disaster Management Plan
Fig. 7 Implementation of DMP versus role of government
3.2.3 Implementation of Disaster Management Plan and Role

of Government
This test examines the implementation of disaster management plan (DMP) against
role of government. Result of Fig. 7, shows that there is no effective disaster manage-
ment plan in place to tackle the landslide and most of the people don’t even know
about DMP it clearly indicates the lack of awareness among people. This reminds
that there is huge governance gap in generating enough awareness in people.
This shows the need of experts in the field of disaster management for proper
planning and implementation of a DMP. It was found that a considerable portion
of people in this area was neither accustomed nor comfortable with the regular
conduct of mock drill exercises which are a prerequisite for the implementation of
preparedness activities. This is a challenging thing that needs to be overcome to have
a robust preparedness structure in this area.
3.2.4 Role of Government in Landslide Risk Reduction Activities

and Relocation Programs in Risk Zones
When the role of government in landslide risk reduction (LRR) activities and relo-
cation programs in risk zones tested the result of this examined parameters shows
that (Fig. 8) there is no relocation programs in the place to protect the element at
risk. People still resides in the vulnerable zones. They should be relocated to a safer
place before a future landslide. Proper relocation programs should be taken in high
risk zones.
From the survey it was clear that planned relocation programs in this area for the
benefit of people at risk was not undertaken by the authorities. Lack of sufficient fund
was the major reason behind this. Planned relocation programs should be carried out
Role of Government in LRR vs Relocation

programs in risk zones
250 Role of
206 government in
200 LRR
High
141
150 Low
Count
Medium
100
50 47
50 38 43 34
25 16
0
No Planning to Do Yes
Relocation programs in risk zones
Fig. 8 Role of government in (LRR) versus relocation programs in risk zones
at individual, household or community level with in a right based frame work to

ensure the safety of the people at risk.
3.3 Generation of Landslide Hazard Zonation Map
Better understanding of landslide prone areas will help people to live in harmony with
the nature [13]. Since this study area is highly susceptible to landslides, preparation
of landslide hazard zonation map (LHZM) is very important. This map will give
the areas that are prone to landslides and the safe areas, which in-turn will help
the administrators for planning and future development activities [14]. Generation
of the LHZM with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) environment
could give better results and yield actual ground like scenarios for landslide hazard
mapping [15]. The landslide hazard zonation map of the study area created using Arc
GIS software is shown in Fig. 9. This map is generated by overlaying different maps
one over other in Arc GIS software. The different maps used are Slope map, Soil
map, Land use and land cover map, Geomorphology map, Geology map, Drainage
density map, Relief map.
The incident landslides in Kattippara Panchayth are deep-seated landslides, which
can be explained by the higher quantities of monsoon rainfall and illegal action of
quarries in this area. The intensity of landslides is observed to have increased in
the last 10 years. The occurrence of landslide was accelerated by anthropogenic
disturbances such as deforestation, terracing and cultivation of crops lacking capa-
bility to add root cohesion in steep slopes. Invariably, in most of the failed slopes,
natural drainage was blocked or modified without adequate provision for surface
drainage. Unplanned developmental activities like conversion of agricultural land
for the construction of buildings, road cuttings, cut and fill structures and withdrawal
of toe support have also seen to increase the risk to the community from landslides.
Fig. 9 Landslide hazard zonation map of the study area
The mapping of different parameters was done which influence in the occurrence of
landslide. The resulting map shows High risk landslide prone areas of the study area.
The landslide susceptibility map was validated by using landslide incidence points
of the study area, and most of the incident points fall on the very high risk zone in
the landslide susceptibility map.
Area in square Kilo meter and percentage of land involved in each risk zone is
given in Table 1.
Most of the areas in Kattippara Panchayth fall in very high risk zone, high risk
zone, and moderately risk zone shown in red, green and yellow colour respectively.
Table 1 Area and percentage

LHZ class Area (km2 ) Percentage
of land included in risk zones
Low 12.0 16.5
Medium 29.4 40.3
High 22.9 32.0
Very high 7.9 11.0
4 Discussions
Landslide is a natural disaster which causes severe damage to the life and the prop-
erties [16]. From the analysis of the questionnaire survey with the help of statistical
methods and using different maps such as Slope map, Soil map, Land use and land
cover map, Geomorphology map, Geology map, Drainage density map, Relief map
etc. [17], LHZM was generated. Generation of LHZM using GIS techniques helped
to find out the governance gaps in the study area. From the LHZM, it was estimated
that the study area has highly unstable zones and are vulnerable to landslide activi-
ties [18]. The risk zones identified through the interaction with respondents during
the survey correspond to the same risk zones of the landslide risk zone map. From
this study it was observed that Remote Sensing and GIS technique can be effec-
tively used in the preparation of hazardous zonation maps. The results confirm that
the proposed LHZM will help planners and engineers to reduce losses of life and
properties through prevention and mitigation measurements.
The results from the analysis show the existence of governance gaps. Most of the
people were not sufficiently aware of the risks of landslides. The results of the ques-
tionnaire survey show the lack of awareness among the community. Public Aware-
ness and Education Program for Landslide risk management were not periodically
conducted by the local authorities of the study area. Similarly before any community
action can be taken, residents needed some knowledge of the landslide. So this is
the responsibility of the local government, no such activities or initiatives are taken
from the side of local government in the study area. Residents were not taught about
what is a slope, types of landslides, factor of landslides, triggers of landslides and
key concepts on retaining walls and geological aspects and through seminars and
public talks, the public will get a briefing of landslide.
As urban development invades the hilly areas, slope security is important to watch
for signs of landslide [19]. Man-made structures after converting the natural slopes
are becoming more and more prevalent in this area and they are not monitored which
need to be routinely checked. Another major finding was maintenance or regular
control over the physical condition of the house; it is simple to do, yet often neglected.
Proper maintenance can make the difference between safety and disaster [20, 21]. In
some cases the slope land was owned by private parties and the local authority will
contact the landlord. In some cases, they may not respond and may be notified of the
action. Lack of coordination among different authorities was identified as a major
governance gap. The various authorities should coordinate and work hand in hand
with addressing the risk of landslides. It was found that, there are no prerequisites at
the house hold level, such as Family Emergency Plan, to determine what everyone
will do in the event of a home emergency. Through this study it is understood that
people have never participated in a mock drill or community based disaster risk
education programs. There are no mock drills or activities in this area run by the
Authorities. Role of disaster management focal persons and disaster management
committee members to prioritize, plan and implement measures to reduce human and
material losses from potential landslides are trivial in this area. Based on the analysis
of the data it is found that the conditions of drainage systems are very poor in this
area, drainage systems have clogged and damaged. This should be corrected by the
respective authorities along with the active participation of the community. Similarly
there are areas in this Panchayath which have been identified for the provision of
retaining wall but they have not been implemented by the authorities. It is evident
that there is a need for greater fund allocation by the government for implementing
preparedness activities at the grassroots level which is most important and missing
factor in this area.
5 Conclusions
Landslides are one of the major disasters which affect 15% of landmass [22]. It
leads to destruction of life and property [23]. Kattippara Panchayath is the most
affected region in Kozhikode district during the past landslides. The triggering factors
for landslide in this area are the illegal action of quarrying, the improper land use
pattern and intense rainfall. The results of this work can be used to evaluate the
consequences of land use change on landslide vulnerability and risk. The risk of
landslide in this area can be reduced to a great extend with help of proper planning
and the implementation of different landslide mitigation strategies such as provision
of retaining wall, provision of efficient drainage system, implementation of early
warning system, and development of awareness among community through mock
drills, training programs etc. with the help of respective authorities. Lack of proper
governance is identified as one of the major issue in the study area which should be
bridged with possible mitigation strategies. The Landslide hazard zonation map of
the study area was generated with the help of GIS techniques and this map identified
the risk zones in the study area. The landslide hazard zonation map was validated by
using landslide incidence points of the study area which were identified through the
administration of the community survey. The generated LHZM shows that change
in land-use pattern was a major triggering factor in the occurrence of landslide.
The lands which were used for agricultural purposes have turned into construction
work, and road work. From the analysis of data it was very clear that there are
no enough measures or plans to deal with a future landslide. Lack of coordination
among the authorities and that with the community in planning, prioritizing and
implementing the risk reduction plans as well as illegal action off quarries were
found to be a major issue in the study area. Involvement of communities in all the
phases of landslide disaster plays a crucial role in sustainable risk reduction. Lack
of proper disaster management plan and training at different levels of people are one
of the main gaps identified from this study, so all these indicates the need of such
training activities, remedial measures, and the implementation of a proper disaster
management plan. The need for coordination at the local level, inadequate early
warning systems and a slow response time are also very important constraints for
implementing preparedness plan in this area. The goal of the study was to identify
the governance gaps and from the analysis of collected data such gaps are identified
and explained. If sufficient data are available, the methodology used in this work
can be used for evaluating landslide risk reduction activities in another vulnerable
zone. The LHZM of such areas can be generated for developing and implementing
suitable risk reduction strategies.
References
1. Kaya H, Cavu A, Baha S, Calık E, Disaster management and disaster preparedness: examples
of practices in California and Turkey, pp 36–47
2. Government HA, Disaster Management Ministry of Home Affairs
3. Ninu Krishnan MV, Pratheesh P, Rejith PG, Vijith H (2015) Determining the suitability of two
different statistical techniques in shallow landslide initiation susceptibility assessment in the
western ghats. Environ Res Eng Manage 70(4):27–39
4. Trias APL, Lassa J, Surjan A (2019) Connecting the actors, discovering the ties: exploring
disaster risk governance network in Asia and the Pacific. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 33:217–228
5. Pardeshi SD, Autade SE, Pardeshi SS (2013) Landslide hazard assessment: recent trends and
techniques, pp 1–11
6. Sachithanandan J (2015) Identification of potential landslide vulnerable zones of Wayanad
district, Kerala using remote sensing and GIS identification of potential landslide vulnerable
zones of Wayanad district, Kerala using remote sensing and GIS dissertation submitted to in,
Sept 2015
7. Kuriakose SL, Muraleedharan C (2009) History of landslide susceptibility and a chorology of
landslide-prone areas in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, pp 1553–1568. https://doi.org/10.
1007/s00254-008-1431-9
8. Fell R, Corominas J, Bonnard C, Cascini L, Leroi E, Savage WZ (2008) Guidelines for landslide
susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning for land use planning. Eng Geol 102(3–4):85–98
9. Arkkelin D (2014) Using SPSS to understand research and data analysis
10. Rana R, Singhal R (2015) Chi-Square test and its application in hypothesis testing. J Pract
Cardiovasc Sci 1(1):69–71. https://doi.org/10.4103/2395-5414.157577
11. Sulal NL, Archana KG (2019) Note on post disaster studies for landslides occurred in June
2018 at Idukki District, Kerala, June 2018, pp 1–24
12. “Geo-Frontiers 2011 © ASCE 2011 3706,” pp 3706–3715, 2011
13. Sandholz S, Lange W, Nehren U (2018) Governing green change: ecosystem-based measures
for reducing landslide risk in Rio de Janeiro. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 32(June 2017):75–86
14. Raveendran S (2015) Landslide hazard zonation and vulnerability assessment of western
ghats—a case study in Devikulam Taluk of Idukki District, Kerala. 5(6):185–190
15. Anbalagan R, Singh B (1996) Landslide hazard and risk assessment mapping of mountainous
terrains—a case study from Kumaun Himalaya, India. Eng Geol 43(4):237–246. https://doi.
org/10.1016/S0013-7952(96)00033-6
16. Choi KY, Cheung RWM (2013) Journal of rock mechanics and geotechnical landslide disaster
prevention and mitigation through works in Hong Kong. Integr Med Res 5(5):354–365
17. Dai FC, Lee CF, Ngai YY (2002) Landslide risk assessment and management: an overview.
Eng Geol 64(1):65–87
18. Boulanger RW, Khosravifar A (2012) GeoCongress 2012 © ASCE 2012 3199, GeoCongress
2012, no 303, pp 3199–3208
19. Yin Y (2011) Recent catastrophic landslides and mitigation in China. J Rock Mech Geotech
Eng 3(1):10–18. https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1235.2011.00010
20. Anderson MG, Holcombe E, Blake JR, Ghesquire F, Holm-Nielsen N, Fisseha T (2011)
Reducing landslide risk in communities: evidence from the Eastern Caribbean. Appl Geography
31(2):590–599
21. Beckenstein M (1971) System management, pp 354–356. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvbd8
hx9.6
22. Huang R, Li W (2011) Formation, distribution and risk control of landslides in China. J Rock
Mech Geotech Eng 3(2):97–116
23. Pilgrim NK (1999) Landslides, risk and decision-making in Kinnaur district: bridging the
gap between science and public opinion. Disasters 23(1):45–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-
7717.00104
Evaluation of Progressive Collapse
Resistance of Steel Moment Resisting
Frames
Anjaly James and Asha Joseph
Abstract Structural safety has always been an important factor for the design of civil
engineering projects. One of the mechanisms of structural failure that has gathered
increased attention over the past few decades is referred to as progressive collapse.
Progressive collapse is the spread of an initial local damage from element to element,
resulting eventually in the collapse of an entire structure. The potential cause that can
trigger progressive collapse are categorized as: aircraft impact, design/construction
error, fire, gas explosions, accidental overload, hazardous materials, vehicular colli-
sion, bomb explosions, etc. The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of
15 storeyed geometrically regular and irregular buildings with steel frame system to
progressive collapse. Alternate path method based on dynamic analysis is performed
based on Indian standard codes. According to alternate path method, the structure is
designed such that if one component fails, alternate paths are available for the load
and a general collapse does not occur. The response of the building to progressive
collapse was studied in detail using structural software for building analysis and
design, ETABS.
Keywords Progressive collapse · Time history analysis · Steel building · ETABS
1 Introduction
Many buildings are designed today with various geometries for serviceability,
aesthetical or economical reasons. There are buildings which suffered significant and
unexpected damages due to their irregularities and in that way, irregularities could
be an evident parameter regarding progressive collapse resistance. Normal loads are
usually considered directly or indirectly in the design process through existing codes
A. James (B) · A. Joseph

Federal Institute of Science and Technology, Angamaly, Ernakulam, India
A. Joseph

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_6
58 A. James and A. Joseph
and standards, while abnormal loads are rarely considered in design practices which
may have probability to lead to a progressive collapse. A progressive collapse is
defined as a partial or total failure of a structure that mostly occurs when a structure
loses a primary component like column during any hazard event [1]. During such a
hazard, the primary load carrying member of the structure, columns may get over-
loaded when the gravity loads is transmitted to the adjoining columns in the structure.
As these hazards have low probability of occurrence, they are not considered in the
structural design [2]. Progressive collapse is a dynamic process wherein a collapsing
system continually seeks alternate load paths in order to survive. Among many
different approaches to design structures to resist progressive collapse, the guide-
lines generally recommend the alternate path method. In this approach, the structure
is designed such that if one component fails, alternate paths are available for the loads
to transfer and a general collapse does not occur. Alternate path method consists in
designing the structure so that stresses can be redistributed following the loss of
a vertical bearing member. This approach has the benefit of simplicity and direct-
ness. The existence of alternate load paths, ranges from static linear analysis through
static nonlinear analysis, to dynamic linear or nonlinear analyses [3]. This alternate
load path approach was selected as the preferred one by several standards, such
as General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Defence (DoD).
Both organizations have issued guidelines that specify fully detailed computational
procedures.
From the history, there are several events of progressive collapse like Ronan
Point Building, London (1968) the loss of support at the 18th floor caused the floors
above to collapse, the Murrah Federal Office Building (1995) in Oklahoma City was
destroyed by a bomb [4]. Also, in recent years, the 8 storey Rana Plaza commer-
cial office complex in Savar, Bangladesh (2013), suffered a collapse and the Plasco
Building, a high-rise building in Iran (2017), caught fire and collapsed. Clear concep-
tual step-by-step descriptions of various procedures for progressive collapse analysis
by Marjanishvili et al. (2006) using commercially available structural analysis soft-
ware, such as SAP2000, demonstrates that dynamic analysis procedures not only
yield more accurate results, but are also easy to perform for progressive collapse
determination [5]. Gerasimidis et al. (2012) studied on the response of irregular steel
frames in case of initial damage, expressed by the total removal of their columns,
one in turn leading to useful conclusions regarding the influence of such a property
in their resistance to disproportionate collapse [6]. The conclusions arrived from
the study of Stewart (2016) were, the progressive collapse cost premium of 1–4%
of building cost is a reasonable and conservative basis for cost-benefit assessment.
These costs seem reasonable, as design measures are less costly than retrofit measures
[7]. Also, the cost-benefit analysis of UFC and GSA design provisions to mitigate
against progressive collapse showed that these measures only become cost-effective
when the threat likelihood is a very high 1 in 1000 per building per year.
Evaluation of Progressive Collapse Resistance of Steel Moment … 59
2 Analysis Procedure
Alternate path method based on dynamic procedure is used in this study according
to GSA guidelines using ETABS 2017 software. For progressive collapse analysis,
GSA mandates several loss scenarios; however, only one element removal is required
at a time. Analysis is carried out as threat-independent, meaning that the cause of
element failure is not considered. The sole relevant fact is that the element is suddenly
unable to carry load.
The dynamic method of analysis deals with the application of ground motions
to any structure in order to evaluate the response of the building at each increment
of time. The loads acting on a structure at the time of an earthquake is necessarily
dynamic. In order to perform a time history analysis, a real time acceleration time
data of an earthquake has to be considered. Here, time history analysis is performed
considering the earthquake data of El Centro earthquake occurred in 1940 at Mexico.
According to GSA guidelines for a structure under study it is required to remove
the columns at the middle of the short side, at the middle of the long side and at the
corner of the building as shown in Fig. 1.
For progressive collapse analysis, the following load combinations shall be applied
after the removal of load carrying members [3].
For linear and nonlinear dynamic analysis: DL + 0.25 LL, where DL = Dead Load
and LL = Live Load.
2.1 Applied Loads for Analysis
A live load of 4 kN/m2 is applied as per IS: 875 (part 2): 1987 and the dead load is
software assigned. Lateral loads are applied as wind load in X direction and wind
load in Y direction as per IS: 875 (part 3): 1987 [8]. Seismic loads are applied as
Fig. 1 Column removal locations recommended by GSA for a regular and irregular structure
seismic load in X direction and seismic load in Y direction as per IS 1893: 2002
(part 1). Seismic loads are applied as per moderate seismic zone and high seismic
zone [9]. For dynamic analysis procedure, Load = DL + 0.25LL [3] is applied as an
increased gravity load as per GSA guidelines 2013.
2.2 Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance criteria for the structural components shall be determined as Demand

Capacity Ratio. Demand-to-capacity ratios (DCR) for moment is defined as the ratio
of the maximum moment demand Mmax of the beam or column calculated from
dynamic analysis to its expected ultimate moment capacity Mp, which is calculated
as the product of plastic section modulus and yield strength [3]. According to the
acceptance criteria from GSA guidelines the calculated value of DCR for columns
should be less than unity in order to resist progressive collapse.
2.3 Methodology Adopted
In order to study the influence of plan irregularity in progressive collapse resistance,

a buildings having regular and irregular plan are chosen. The 3D models of regular
and irregular structure is prepared using ETABS 2017 and the analysis is carried out
for the load combinations as per the design codes for Steel to be safe against seismic
loading corresponding to Zone V. The axial forces acting on a column element is
computed before eliminating any member. These forces are then applied as upward
point loads at the location of column removal to stimulate the instantaneous column
removal. This corresponds to the initial case where the column is at place and func-
tioning at its full capacity. A ramp function is defined to simulate the abrupt removal
of the column element after a certain time has elapsed so that the upward point loads
is suddenly removed. The time interval for ramping down the column forces shall not
exceed one tenth of the period associated with the structure. Linear dynamic analysis
using time-history analysis is performed. The results based on DCR for columns,
axial force near the removed member and vertical displacement are evaluated for
typical and atypical structure to arrive at conclusions.
3 Model Description
The structures were modelled using beam and column elements of 15 storey steel
frame building, with six bays in the longitudinal direction and four in the transverse
direction for a regular structure. The irregular structure is modelled as a C-shaped
structure with similar dimensions. Here the geometry of irregularity is considered
Fig. 2 Plan of a regular building and b irregular building
in plan. The plan of the basic models for regular and irregular structures are shown
in Fig. 2. The longitudinal direction has a uniform column spacing of 8 m, while
on the four-bay side columns are spaced every 10 m. Main girders are ISMB 550.
Floor-to-floor height for every story is 3.3 m. 550 × 550 × 30 box columns span
throughout the height and ISMB 450 grade secondary beams are used [10]. The floor
diaphragms are constructed of composite metal deck with slab thickness of 90 mm.
The modulus of elasticity and yield strength of the steel material is taken as 2 × 105
MPa and 250 MPa respectively. Analysis and design are done by using the software
product of computers and structures, Inc (CSI), called ETABS 2017 as one of the
powerful finite element computer programs. 3D view of the models are as shown in
Fig. 3.
4 Results and Discussions
Alternate path method based on dynamic procedure is used in this study according
to GSA guidelines. DCR value, axial force near the removed column and vertical
displacement etc. are identified and tabulated.
4.1 Demand-to-Capacity Ratios (DCR)
Demand-to-capacity ratios (DCR) were calculated for each frame member, and the
building response was evaluated by comparing the calculated DCR values based on
the recommendations of GSA guidelines [3].
Fig. 3. 3D view of basic models for a regular building and b irregular building
Mmax
DCR = (1)
Mp
Mp = Fy × Zx (2)
where Fy = 250 MPa and Zx = 2359.80 cm3

= 250 × 2359.80 = 589.95 kN m.
The permissible value for DCR of column is 1. The values of DCR exceeding the
permissible limits are considered as failed. The obtained DCR values for all column
removal scenarios as per GSA guidelines 2013 for typical and atypical structures are
pictorially plotted as above. Figures 4, 5 and 6 shows the DCR values for column
removal scenarios of regular structures and Figs. 7, 8 and 9 shows the DCR values
for column removal scenarios of irregular structures.
It shows that for a regular structure under various column removal conditions, the
structure is able to resist progressive collapse since it has got a DCR less than unity.
But for the irregular structure DCR values when the corner column is removed shows
much greater than unity. This shows that the irregular structure undergoes progressive
collapse when the corner column is removed. Also, the calculated DCR values seems
to be greater for a corner column removal scenario, showing that corner column is
the critical element. While comparing the DCR value calculated for corner column
removal scenario—the most critical case, the DCR of irregular structure is more than
twice of regular structure. From this it can be concluded that, regular structures are
able to withstand the progressive collapse whereas the irregular structures fail to
resist them.
Fig. 4 DCR for long side

middle column removal
scenario—regular structure
Fig. 5 DCR for short side

Fig. 6 DCR for corner

column removal
Fig. 7 DCR for long side

scenario—irregular structure
4.2 Axial Forces
The axial forces developed in the columns can be identified for studying the pattern
of redistribution of loads. Also, this redistribution of loads shows the direction of
Fig. 8 DCR for short side

Fig. 9 DCR for corner

column removal
Regular structure Irregular structure
9292
8426
7381
7307
6228
5956
AXIAL FORCE (kN)
LONG SIDE SHORT SIDE CORNER COLUMN

MIDDLE COLUMN MIDDLE COLUMN REMOVAL
Fig. 10 Axial force near the removed column
progressive collapse. From the axial force diagrams, it can be drawn that axial force
near the removed column is more in case of corner columns. For a regular structure,
the maximum value of 7307 kN is obtained in the case of a column lost in the corner
location which was relatively higher than the axial force near the middle column loss
scenario of long side and short side. But for a irregular structure, the maximum value
of 9292 kN is obtained in the case of a column lost in the corner location which was
relatively higher than the axial force near the middle column loss scenario of long
side and short side.
The values of axial force of irregular structure seems to be 27% more than a
regular structure. For the regular structure where columns are safe, the obtained
axial loads are less than maximum axial load capacity. The magnitude of axial force
is more when the building is an irregular structure than for a regular structure, and
is depicted in Fig. 10. It is also observed that the column adjacent to the removed
column underwent higher force than other columns, which implied the redistribution
of forces from the removed column to the nearest columns.
4.3 Vertical Displacement
The maximum displacement of the structure is shown in Fig. 11. For a regular struc-
ture, the maximum value of 10 mm is obtained in the case of a column lost in the corner
location which was relatively higher than the displacement for a middle column loss
scenario of long side and short side. For the irregular structure, the maximum value
of 15 mm is obtained in the case of a column lost in the corner location, higher than
the displacement for a middle column loss scenario of long side and short side. There
is an increase of 50% in vertical displacements for irregular buildings over a regular
building under the progressive collapse mechanism.
Regular structure Irregular structure
15.388
VERTICAL DISPLACEMENT (mm)
11.96
10.229
8.261
7.563
6.518
LONG SIDE SHORT SIDE CORNER COLUMN

MIDDLE COLUMN MIDDLE COLUMN REMOVAL
REMOVAL REMOVAL
Fig. 11 Maximum vertical displacement of regular and irregular buildings
From the results it can be concluded that a column lost in the corner region
of a building is the most critical than middle column lose scenarios and also the
displacements will be minimum for a regular structure. And based on this study the
best practical advice to reduce the potential of progressive collapse is to consider a
regular geometry to the structures. The typical structures possess inherent ability to
resist progressive collapse than atypical structures.
5 Conclusions
Based on the limited study of progressive collapse in a G + 15 storey regular and

irregular steel structures, following conclusions are drawn:
• By comparing parameters such as DCR values, axial forces and vertical displace-
ments, it can be concluded that corner column removal condition in base is more
critical in a building, both for regular and irregular buildings.
• The DCR values, axial forces and the vertical displacements irregular building
are higher than regular building, for all scenarios considered.
• The regular structure is not severely damaged under progressive collapse. But
the irregular structure undergoes progressive collapse when the corner column is
removed. The DCR of irregular structure is more than twice of regular structure
under critical element removal scenario. Then it will be safe to avoid irregular
geometry for the structures, to resist the progressive collapse.
• By removing a column, a great force is imposed to its adjacent column which
shows progressive collapse direction. Also, the values of axial force of irregular
building seems to be 27% more than a regular building.
• Maximum displacements obtained from the analysis show a higher value for irreg-
ular buildings. There is an increase of 50% in vertical displacements for irregular
buildings under progressive collapse analysis compared to regular buildings.
References
1. Mahmoud YM, Hassam MM, Mourad SA, Sayed HS (2018) Assessment of progressive
collapse of steel structures under seismic loads. Alexandria Eng J 57:3825–3839
2. Kim J, Kim T (2008) Assessment of progressive resisting capacity of steel moment frames. J
Constr Steel Res 65(1):169–179
3. GSA (2013) Progressive collapse analysis and design guidelines for new federal office buildings
and major modernization projects. The US General Services Administration
4. Marchand Walter KA, Farid Alfawakhiri P (2004) Blast and progressive collapse. Facts for
Steel Buildings, American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc.
5. Marjanishvili S, Agnew E (2006) Comparison of various procedures for progressive collapse
analysis. J Perform Constr Facil ASCE
6. Gerasimidis S, Bisbos CD, Baniotopolus CC (2012) Vertical geometric irregularity assessment
of steel frames on robustness and disproportionate collapse. J Constr Steel Res 74:76–89
7. Stewart MG (2016) Risk of progressive collapse of buildings from terrorist attacks: are the
benefits of protection worth the cost? J Perform Constr Facil ASCE 31:04016093
8. IS 1893 (2002) Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures. Bureau of Indian Standards
9. IS 875 (1988) Code of practice for design loads for buildings and structures. Bureau of Indian
Standards
10. IS 800 (2007) General construction on steel: code of practice. Bureau of Indian Standards
Structural Performance of GFRP Deck
Strengthened with Light Weight
Ultra-High Strength Concrete
K. Teena John, P. E. Kavitha, and R. Renjith
Abstract This paper presents the numerical investigations carried out on pultruded
prototype glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite bridge deck panels under
static loading. To carry out the analysis decks with four different core shapes having
almost same cross sectional area and weight were taken. The loading was applied
with a patch of size 580 mm × 230 mm by displacement controlled method until
failure. To understand the behavior of the deck, loading was applied at the center
of the deck. Based on these observations trapezoidal section is to be found more
beneficial in terms of load carrying capacity and secant stiffness. Strengthening of
the GFRP deck with trapezoidal core shape were done by filling alternate cores with
light weight ultra-high strength concrete with steel reinforcement on the top portion
at a spacing of 100 mm and 150 mm respectively. Based on the load carrying capacity
and the deflection limit the optimum configuration is taken and their load carrying
capacity is compared with the same model without strengthening.
Keywords Glass fibre reinforced polymer · Bridge deck panel · Static loading ·
Deflection · Sustainability · Steel reinforced (SR) · Un reinforced (UR)
1 Introduction
The bridge decks needs maximum maintenance because of corrosion and deterio-
ration [1]. Conventional materials and technologies which were suitable for bridge
deck applications shows lack in durability and fatigue for demanding applications
K. Teena John (B) · P. E. Kavitha

Department of Civil Engineering, FISAT, Angamaly, Kerala 683577, India
P. E. Kavitha
R. Renjith
Department of Mechanical Engineering, FISAT, Angamaly, Kerala 683577, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_7
70 K. Teena John et al.
[2, 3]. Life cycle analysis estimates indirect costs to the user due to traffic delays
and lost productivity more than the direct cost of repair. In recent years, high-
performance fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials have been iden-
tified as a good alternative for rehabilitating deteriorated bridges. One of the most
promising applications for this high-performance material is bridge decking. GFRP
decks manufactured with pultrusion having more fiber volume comparing with other
techniques [4, 5]. Important applications of FRP decks include replacement of under-
strength decks in existing bridges, and the provision of temporary running surfaces.
Due to low elastic modulus of GFRP materials, GFRP-reinforced sections exhibit
higher deformation characteristics when compared to equivalent reinforced steel
sections [6].
2 Literature Review
The energy consumption of various materials was studied, and it can be noted
that FRP decks consume very lower energy as they generally contain glass fibers.
This reveals that a substantial saving in energy consumption when the bridge
superstructure is made of glass fiber polymer materials [7].
Kim et al. [8] studied the design, analysis and fabrication of a reusable pultruded
GFRP (Glass fiber reinforced polymer) deck panel that can be used to furnish roadway
surface. E-Glass fibers and polyester resin are taken as fiber and matrix respectively
for the pulrusion process of GFRP deck panel. ABAQUS with a four node shell
element (SR4) was used for the analysis. In this study the deflection limit proposed
by EUROCOMP was assumed to reduce the vibration of the deck panel under live
load. Two patch load cases were taken namely load case 1 and load case 2. Load
case 1 means truck is passing in the girder direction and load case 2 on the other
hand; the truck is passing in the direction that is orthogonal to the girder. From the
results it is clear that Load case 1 is more critical than load case 2. Deflection limit
is the critical design parameter of GFRP deck panel [8]. Kim et al. [9] conducted
the design, analysis of hybridized GFRP deck panel. Hybridization increases the
elastic modulus and stiffness of a GFRP flexural member. For this two decks are
taken named as deck A and deck B. For the Deck-A type, the top and bottom flanges
are reinforced with uniformly spaced steel wires. For the Deck-B type, the webs are
reinforced with a flat steel plate and the width of the steel plate was assumed to be
130 mm. Structural performance of the hybrid deck profiles was compared on the
basis of FE analysis and, the flexural stiffness of the hybrid deck panel (the Deck-A
type) is about 114% greater than that of the non-hybrid deck panel. The deck type
A was found to be more beneficial compared to deck type B in terms of flexural
stiffness [9]. Kim et al. [10] compared the static load performance of the GFRP deck
panel reinforced with steel wires and unreinforced deck panels. At the design load
level, the flexural stiffness of the steel reinforced GFRP panels was approximately
12.3% greater than that of the unreinforced GFRP panels. The ultimate load carrying
capacity of the Series SR specimens was approximately 28% less than that of the
Structural Performance of GFRP Deck Strengthened … 71
Series UR specimens. This may be due to the geometrical deviation of steel wires in
the alignment of fibers and mats which disturbs the orientation of fibers [10].
Wang et al. [11] developed Ultra-lightweight cement composite (ULCC). The
studied cenosphere is a by-product composed by spherical particles with diameter
ranging from 30 to 300 μm, consisted of approximately 9.5% of organic matter. It
contains steel fibres, ordinary Portland cement, water, silica fume, chemical admix-
tures and cenospheres. Application of ULCC reduces self-weight around 36–52%,
densities ranging from 1250 to 1550 kg/m3 and high compressive strength more
than 60 MPa [11].
3 Research Gap
From the viewed literatures it is clear that the hybridization method which used to
increase the flexural stiffness and elastic modulus of the GFRP deck, leads to the
reduction in the load carrying capacity. So this study tries to improve the flexural
stiffness of the deck with increase in the load carrying capacity.
4 Strengthening of GFRP Deck with Optimum

Configuration
The entire numerical study is done with the help of FEA by using ANSYS 16.1.
4.1 Materials
1. GFRP
In fabricating the deck profile E-glass fiber roving (8800 TEX), continuous strand mat
(CSM), biaxial glass fiber fabric (BGF) with ply angles of 0°/90°, quadriaxial glass
fiber fabric (QGF) with ply angles of 0°/+45°/90°/−45°, and unsaturated polyester
resin was employed. The properties taken for modelling the GFRP deck is taken
from [10] is shown in Table 1.
2. Light weight ultra-high strength concrete
The cenospheres are hollow alumino-silicate spheres with particle sizes ranging
from 10 to 300 mm. The density of cenosphere used in this paper was 820 kg/m3 .
Considering the low water-to-binder ratio, the super plasticizer was used to achieve
good workability. Straight steel fiber with a diameter of 0.16 mm and a length of 13
mm with an aspect ratio 81.3 was used to improve the tensile strength of the ULCC
[11]. Figure 1 shows some of the key components of ULCC.
Table 1 Properties of GFRP

S. No. Properties Flange Web
composite [10]
1 Elastic modulus (GPa) (E11 ) 26.9 28.7
(E22 ) 13 13.2
2 Shear modulus (GPa) (G12 ) 3.1 5.3
3 Yield strength (MPa) 405.3 422.3
4 Poisson’s ratio ν12 0.21 0.31
5 Mass density (kg/m3 ) 1900 1900
Fig. 1 Rectangular shape

[9]
Table 2 Properties of ULCC

S. No. Properties
[11]
1 Compressive strength (MPa) 48.03
2 Elastic modulus (GPa) 10.79
3 Tensile strength (MPa) 2.03
4 Density (kg/m3 ) 1250
The property taken for modelling the ULCC is taken from [11] is shown in Table
2.
4.2 Determination of Best Deck Shape
Deck with a rectangular core shape from [9] was taken as the base model. With
reference to this base model three other shapes are modelled which includes rhombus
shape, semi elliptical shape and trapezoidal shape respectively. These three models
having almost same cross sectional area and self-weight as that of the base model.
Area and self-weight of each model was found from ANSYS and moment of inertia
is calculated from AUTOCAD by using the command mass properties. The geometry
details regarding the models are given in Table 3.
These three different core shaped decks are given below. Figure 1 shows the base
model (rectangular shape). These decks are modelled in AUTOCAD 2016. Figures 2,
3, 4 show rhombus, semi elliptical and trapezoidal core shaped decks respectively.
Table 3 Geometric details of models

S. No. Core shape Area (mm2 ) Self-weight (kg) Moment of inertia (mm4 )
1 Rectangular 39812.4 189.1 49 × 107
2 Rhombus 39516.4 187.1 44 × 107
3 Semi elliptical 40564.4 192.68 50 × 107
4 Trapezoid 39686.8 188.51 54.6 × 107
Fig. 2 Rhombus shape
Fig. 3 Semielliptical shape
Fig. 4 Trapezoidal shape
These decks are modelled in ANSYS 16.1 using various sketching tools. Material
properties were assigned to webs and flanges of GFRP members of the deck.
4.2.1 Loading and Boundary Conditions
Test set up of the finite element model is shown in Fig. 5. The left and right side of
the deck are simply supported by means of a steel plate fixed on both sides of the
deck with a spacing of 155 mm. For determining the structural behavior of different
deck configurations in GFRP, static structural analysis is to be performed. Loading
Fig. 5 Test set up
was applied using patch loading (patch of size 580 mm × 230 mm) by displacement
controlled method until failure.
4.2.2 Results and Discussion
Table 4 lists the initial failure load (ultimate load), the center displacement measured
at the initial failure and design load level (122.3 kN), and the estimated secant stiffness
of the specimens when the patch load was placed at the center of the deck. The
standard design truck load specified in [10] was used as a design live load; and the
self-weight of the deck panel was considered to be a dead load. Thus, the design live
load is a rear wheel load of a standard design truck. The deflection limit recommended
by EUROCOMP 1996 ranges from span/150 to span/400. Although a deflection limit
of span/400 was assumed to reduce the vibration of the deck panel under a live load.
Note that the central deflection of the deck panel due to the self-weight of the deck
and the live load was used to check the deflection limit.
Figure 6 shows the load versus centre displacement graph for each deck shapes
when the patch load was placed at the centre of the deck. From the analysis it is clear
that the ultimate load carrying capacity is more in the case of trapezoidal section
compared with the rectangular (base model), rhombus and semi elliptical sections.
The load carrying capacity is least in the case of rectangular section. The load carrying
Table 4 Summary of analysis results

S. No. Core shape Ultimate load Centre displacement (mm) Secant stiffness
(kN) At ultimate At design load at design load
load (kN/mm)
1 Rectangular 553.25 34.378 6.22 19.66

2 Rhombus 573.3 32.217 6.33 19.32
3 Semi elliptical 597.44 24.748 6.06 20.18
4 Trapezoid 599.17 28.048 5.632 21.72
700
600
500
Load (kN)
400
Rectangular
Rhombus
300
Semi elliptical
Trapezoidal
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40
Center displacement (mm)
Fig. 6 Load displacement curve
Fig. 7 Deformed shape
capacity of rhombus, semi elliptical and trapezoidal sections was increased to 3.62,
7.98 and 8.3% comparing with the base model.
Figure 7a, b show the deformed shape of the rectangular, trapezoidal sections
respectively.
4.3 Strengthening of GFRP Deck
The strengthening was done on the trapezoidal section which is the best section
among other three. Two deck specimens were taken for strengthening. One specimen
was reinforced with Fe 500 steel bars of diameter 6 mm at a spacing of 100 mm
(GF100) and other specimen at a spacing of 150 mm (GF150) with a 50 mm thick
ULCC above the GFRP flange. Then ULCC is filled along the alternate cores of the
deck and the top portion of the flange by a thickness of 50 mm thus by making a
composite concrete GFRP deck. Same loading conditions and arrangements were
Fig. 8 Steel reinforcement
Fig. 9 Deck filling with

ULCC and steel
reinforcement
used as in the previous analysis by placing the patch loading at the centre of the
deck by displacement controlled method until failure. Figure 8a, b shows the steel
reinforcement of diameter 6 mm in the form of a mesh with a spacing of 100 mm
and 150 mm respectively. Figure 9 shows the deck after filling the cores with ULCC.
4.3.1 Results and Discussion
Table 5 lists the initial failure load (ultimate load), the center measured at the initial
failure and design load level (122.3 kN) and the estimated secant stiffness of the
Specimens. Specimen name GF 100 and GF 150 shows the deck strengthened with
ULCC with a steel reinforcement spacing of 100 mm and 150 mm respectively.
Figure 10 shows the load displacement curve of various specimens. A comparison is
Table 5 Summary of test results

S. No. Specimen Ultimate load Center displacement (mm) Secant stiffness
ID (kN) At ultimate At design load at design load
load (kN/mm)
1 GF 100 721.42 23.585 4.912 24.89

2 GF 150 699 25.144 5.13 23.84
3 GF w/o 599.17 28.048 5.632 21.72
concrete
800
700
600
Load (kN)
500
GF 100
400
GF 150
300
GF w/o Concrete
200
100
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Center displacement (mm)
Fig. 10 Load displacement curve
also done with trapezoidal section without strengthening. The load carrying capacity
of strengthened section with a steel reinforcement of 100 mm, 150 mm were greater
than of about 20.40, 16.61% comparing with the section without strengthening. The
deflection limit at the design live load level is safe for the sections with strengthening
comparing with the section without strengthening.
5 Conclusions
To determine static load performance of GFRP deck with different core shapes this
a patch loading of size 580 mm × 230 mm is placed at the centre of the deck. The
results of these analysis showed that the deck with trapezoidal core shape performed
better comparing with the others in terms of more load carrying capacity and secant
stiffness at the design live load level (122.3 kN). The ultimate load carrying capacity
of the trapezoidal section at centre of the deck was 8.3% more comparing with
the base model (i.e. rectangular shape). The center displacement of the rectangular,
rhombus, semi elliptical and trapezoidal sections were 13.6, 15.6, 10.68 and 2.86%
greater than the deflection limit. Secant stiffness of the semi elliptical and trapezoidal
sections were 2.64, 10.46% greater comparing with the base model. Secant stiffness
of the rhombus section is considerably getting reduced by 1.82% compared to the
base model. This shape study reveals that moment of inertia and elastic modulus are
the one of the governing factors for predicting the performance of deck with different
core shapes. By understanding the moment of inertia of decks with different core
shapes alone, it is not possible to predict section with more load carrying capacity,
since GFRP exhibits orthotropic elasticity. Although moderately complex shapes of

a deck profile can be efficiently pultruded nowadays, rectangular and trapezoidal
shapes are widely used for the cross sectional shapes. Therefore the trapezoidal
section was found to be more effective comparing with the others.
But the deflection limit of trapezoidal section was 2.86% more than with the
allowable limit. To overcome this, hybridization of the trapezoidal section is to be
carried out with the use of light weight ultra-high strength concrete by filling in
alternate cores and above the top of the flange in 50 mm thick. Steel reinforcement
is provided on the top of the flange with suitable spacing along with this.
The static analysis on the centre of the modified concrete GFRP composite bridge
deck was performed by placing patch loading at the centre of the deck. This proposed
method of strengthening increased the load carrying capacity of the deck specimen
up to 20.4 and 16.61% and secant stiffness also increased up to 14.59 and 9.76% for
specimens GF100, GF150 comparing with the deck without strengthening (GF W/o
concrete). The deflection limit at the design live load level is safe for the sections
with strengthening comparing with the section without strengthening. Although the
performance of the proposed GFRP deck panel was evaluated by means of FE anal-
ysis, the short term and long term performances of the panel must be validated
experimentally.
References
1. Xin H, Mosallam AS, Liu Y, Wang C, He J (2018) Experimental and numerical investigation on
assessing local bearing behavior of a pultruded GFRP bridge deck. Compos Struct 204:712–730
2. Stankiewicz B (2012) Composite GFRP deck for bridge structures. Procedia Eng 40:423–427
3. Li Y-F, Meda H, Chen W (2018) The design and analysis of internally stiffened GFRP tubular
decks—a sustainable solution. Sustainability 10(12):4538
4. Larco C, Pahonie R, Edu I (2015) The effects of fibre volume fraction on a glass-epoxy
composite material. INCAS Bull 7(3):113
5. Chen ZF, Wan LL, Lee S, Ng M, Tang JM, Liu M, Lee L (2008) Evaluation of CFRP, GFRP and
BFRP material systems for the strengthening of RC slabs. J Reinf Plast Compos 27(12):1233–
1243
6. Zhang Y, Mosallam A, Liu Y, Sun Y, Xin H, He J (2019) Assessment of flexural behavior of
pultruded GFRP laminates for bridge deck applications. Adv Mater Sci Eng
7. Muthuraj MP, Nithyapriya K (2017) Experimental studies on multicellular GFRP bridge deck
panels under static and fatigue loading. Sādhanā 42(12):2171–2181
8. Kim H-Y, Lee S-Y (2009) A pultruded GFRP deck panel for temporary structures. Compos
Struct 91:20–30
9. Kim H-Y, Lee S-Y (2012) A steel reinforced hybrid GFRP deck panel for temporary bridges.
Constr Build Mater 34:192–200
10. Kim H-Y, Lee S-Y (2019) Static and fatigue load performance of a pultruded GFRP deck panel
reinforced with steel wires. Compos Struct 207:166–175
11. Wang J-Y, Gao XL, Yan JB (2018) Developments and mechanical behaviors of steel fiber
reinforced ultra-light weight cement composite with different densities. Constr Build Mater
171:643–653
Effect of Combination of Mineral
Admixtures on the Properties of Self
Compacting Concrete
Reya Grace Jacob and K. N. Resmi
Abstract Self-compacting concrete abbreviated as SCC is a recently developed

concept in which the ingredients of the concrete mix are proportioned in such a way
that the concrete is compacted by its own weight without or little vibration, assuring
complete filling of formwork even when access is hindered by narrow gaps between
reinforcing bars. Cement is the most important constituent material, since it binds the
aggregates and resists the atmospheric action. Manufacturing of cement emits about
0.8 ton of CO2 in atmosphere for every ton of cement manufacture. The utilization of
supplementary cementing materials as natural pozzolans like dolomite powder, fly
ash, GGBS etc. in concrete production is one of the solutions to reduce the cement
content. This paper deals with the fresh and hardened properties of self compacting
concretes made with combination of GGBS and dolomite, GGBS and fly ash as
cement replacement in different amounts. The trial mixes are formed based on IS
10262: 2019. The workability properties of the mixes are evaluated by workability
testes such as slump flow test, V-funnel test, L-box test. The hardened properties
of the concrete are evaluated by compressive strength, flexural strength and tensile
strength. The successful utilisation of fly ash, GGBS and dolomite powder in SCC
mixes would not only lower the cost of SCC, but could also provide a solution to the
disposal and environmental problems connected with these materials.
Keywords Self compacting concrete · Ground granulated blast furnace slag ·

Dolomite powder · Fly ash
R. G. Jacob (B) · K. N. Resmi

Department of Civil Engineering, Federal Institute of Science and Technology,
K. N. Resmi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_8
80 R. G. Jacob and K. N. Resmi
1 Introduction
Concrete is the basic civil engineering material used in most of the civil engineering
structures. The recent development in the field of concrete technology represents a
great step toward manufacturing of concrete. Self-compacting concrete abbreviated
as SCC is a recently developed concept in which the ingredients of the concrete mix
are proportioned in such a way that the concrete is compacted by its own weight
without or little vibration, assuring complete filling of formwork even when access
is hindered by narrow gaps between reinforcing bars. The main property that defines
SCC is high workability in attaining compaction and specified hardened properties
[1].
Cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, mineral admixtures, chemical admix-
tures and water are the constituents of concrete. Cement is the most important
constituent material, since it binds the aggregates and resists the atmospheric action.
Manufacturing of cement emits about 0.8 ton of CO2 in atmosphere for every ton
of cement manufacture [2]. The utilization of supplementary cementing materials
as natural pozzolans like dolomite powder, rice husk ash, fly ash, egg shell powder,
silica fume, metakaolin etc. in concrete production is one of the solutions to reduce
the cement content [3].
Dolomite is a carbonate material composed of calcium magnesium carbonate
CaMg(CO3 )2 . Its use improves properties such as weathering action, reduces
shrinkage, fissure development and water absorption. By the proper usage of dolomite
powder, the objective of cost reduction of construction can be obtained. We found
the cost of dolomite is very cheap than cement and it is easily available locally [4].
Fly ash or flue ash, also known as pulverized fuel ash is a coal combustion product
that is composed of the particulates (fine particles of burned fuel) that are driven out
of coal-fired boilers together with the flue gases. Depending upon the source and
composition of the coal being burned, the components of fly ash vary considerably,
but all fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2 ) (both amor-
phous and crystalline), aluminium oxide (Al2 O3 ) and calcium oxide (CaO), the main
mineral compounds in coal-bearing rock strata. Ground Granulated Blast furnace
Slag (GGBS) is a by product from the blast furnaces used to make iron. GGBS
is used to make durable concrete structures in combination with ordinary Portland
cement and/or other pozzolanic materials. Concrete made with GGBS cement sets
more slowly than concrete made with ordinary Portland cement, depending on the
amount of GGBS in the cementitious material, but also continues to gain strength
over a longer period in production conditions [5]. This results in lower heat of hydra-
tion and lower temperature rises, and makes avoiding cold joints easier, but may also
affect construction schedules where quick setting is required.
Effect of Combination of Mineral Admixtures on the Properties … 81
Table 1 Chemical
Characteristics Test result
composition of GGBS
Specific gravity 2.85
Magnesia. Content (%) 7.73
Sulphide sulphur (%) 0.50
Sulphite content (%) 0.38
Manganese content (%) 0.12
Chloride content (%) 0.009
Moisture content (%) 0.10
Table 2 Chemical
Parameters tested Fly ash Dolomite powder (%)
composition of fly ash and
dolomite powder Calcium oxide (CaO) 0.44% 33.27
Magnesium Oxide (MgO) – 7.96
Silicon Dioxide (SiO2 ) 63.8% 40.50
Aluminium Oxide (Al2 O3 ) 1.29% 0.55
Ferric oxides (Fe2 O3 ) 0.39 0.18
2 Experimental Program
2.1 Materials
Ordinary Portland Cement of 53 grade was used in the investigation. Ground gran-
ulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash and dolomite powder are used as supple-
mentary cementitious material and their chemical compositions are given in Tables 1
and 2. Crushed granite angular aggregate from a local source, having a maximum
size of 12.5 mm, was used as coarse aggregate and M-Sand used as fine aggregate.
2.2 Mix Proportions
For the study M25 grade concrete is designed as per IS 10262: 2019. Water binder
ratio of 0.43 and 0.4% of admixture is adopted for all the mixes. The objective of
the project is to study the (a) effect of GGBS and dolomite powder on the properties
of SCC and (b) effect of GGBS and fly ash on the properties of SCC. To obtain the
first objective five mixes with different proportions of GGBS and dolomite powder
were prepared and tested. The designation of specimens with GGBS and dolomite
is presented in Table 3.
To obtain the second objective five mixes with different proportions of GGBS and
fly ash were prepared and tested. The designation of specimens with GGBS and fly
ash is given in Table 4.
Table 3 Designation of
Mix ID Proportion of binder materials
specimen with GGBS and
dolomite powder D0 Cement 60% + GGBS 40% + DP 0%
D5 Cement 60% + GGBS 35% + DP 5%
D10 Cement 60% + GGBS 30% + DP 10%
D15 Cement 60% + GGBS 25% + DP 15%
D20 Cement 60% + GGBS 20% + DP 20%
Table 4 Designation of
Mix ID Proportion of binder materials
specimen with GGBS and fly
ash F0 Cement 60% + GGBS 40% + FA 0%
F10 Cement 60% + GGBS 30% + FA 10%
F20 Cement 60% + GGBS 20% + FA 20%
F30 Cement 60% + GGBS 10% + FA 30%
F40 Cement 60% + GGBS 0% + FA 40%
2.3 Testing of Specimen
The workability properties of the mixes were evaluated by slump flow test and the
hardened properties were evaluated by compressive strength, flexural strength and
tensile strength tests. Concrete cubes of size 150 × 150 × 150 mm, concrete cylinder
of size 150 mm × 300 mm and concrete beams of 100 × 100 × 500 mm were prepared
for compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength test respectively.
3.1 Effect of GGBS and Dolomite Powder on SCC
3.1.1 Fresh Properties
The slump values were recorded as soon the concrete was mixed. The results of
slump flow test for each mix are shown in Table 5. As per IS: 10262—2019 the
acceptance range for slump flow and T50 slump flow of class SF2 is 660–750 mm
and 2–5 s respectively. The slump flow test results obtained here is within this range.
3.1.2 Hardened Properties
Compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength test results at
different ages are given in Tables 6 and 7. It is observed that compressive strength

S. No. Mix ID Flow diameter T50 slump flow (s)
results of SCC with GGBS
(mm)
and dolomite powder
1 Control mix 674 4.5
2 D0 686 3.5
3 D5 684 3.6
4 D10 678 4
5 D15 676 4.1
6 D20 671 4.3
Table 6 Compressive strength of SCC with GGBS and dolomite powder

S. No. Mix ID 7 day compressive strength (MPa) 28 day compressive strength (MPa)
1 Control mix 24.34 32.65
2 D0 26.52 33.78
3 D5 27.43 37.32
4 D10 28.46 38.87
5 D15 26.12 35.56
6 D20 24.85 34.92
Table 7 Tensile and flexural

S. No. Mix ID 28 day tensile 28 day flexural
strength of SCC with GGBS
strength (MPa) strength (MPa)
and dolomite powder
2 D0 3.19 6.29
3 D5 3.21 6.31
4 D10 3.57 6.45
5 D15 3.33 6.39
6 D20 2.9 6.36
increases from 26.52 to 28.46 MPa at 7 days and 33.78 to 38.87 MPa at 28 days
with the increase in dolomite powder content from 0 to 10%. SCC mix with 30% of
GGBS and 10% of dolomite powder obtained maximum tensile strength and flexural
strength of 3.57 MPa and 6.45 MPa respectively.

S. No. Mix ID Flow diameter T50 slump flow
results of SCC with GGBS
(mm) (sec)
and fly ash
1 Control Mix 674 4.5
2 F0 686 3.5
3 F10 680 3.9
4 F20 675 4.2
5 F30 670 4.5
6 F40 667 4.8
Table 9 Compressive strength of SCC with GGBS and fly ash

S. No. Mix ID 7 day compressive strength (MPa) 28 day compressive strength (MPa)
2 F0 26.52 33.78
3 F10 26.98 35.87
4 F20 28.12 38.62
5 F30 25.42 37.24
6 F40 25.04 34.08
3.2 Effect of GGBS and Fly Ash on SCC
3.2.1 Fresh Properties
The results of slump flow test for each mix are shown in Table 8. The slump flow test
results obtained here is within the acceptance range specified in IS: 10262—2019
for SCC.
3.2.2 Hardened Properties
Compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength test results at
different ages are given in Tables 9 and 10. It is observed that compressive strength,
tensile strength, flexural strength increases with the increase in fly ash content upto
20%. SCC mix which incorporates of powder material comprising of 60% ordinary
Portland cement, 20% GGBS and 20% fly ash obtains high strength.
4 Conclusions
On the basis of the results obtained, the following conclusions have been drawn:
Table 10 Tensile and

S. No. Mix ID 28 day tensile 28 day flexural
flexural Strength of SCC with
GGBS and fly ash
2 F0 3.19 6.29
3 F10 3.52 6.33
4 F20 3.68 6.52
5 F30 3.31 6.46
6 F40 3.05 6.36
• Dolomite powder and GGBS can be used partially to enhance the strength
properties of concrete which makes the mix economical than conventional
concrete.
• All the mixes with GGBS and dolomite powder show acceptable fresh properties.
• Mix with 30% of GGBS and 10% of dolomite powder obtained maximum
compressive, tensile and flexural strength.
• It is possible to manufacture self-compacting concrete using GGBS and fly ash
with acceptable fresh and hardened properties.
• All the mixes with GGBS and fly ash show acceptable fresh properties.
• Maximum strength is obtained for mix with 20% of GGBS and 20% of fly ash.
References
1. Barbhuiya S (2011) Effects of fly ash and dolomite powder on the properties of self-compacting
concrete. Constr Build Mater 25(8):3301–3305
2. Preethi G, Prince G (2015) Effect of replacement of cement with dolomite powder on the
mechanical properties of concrete. Int J Innov Sci Eng Technol 2(4):1083–1088
3. Jelčić Rukavina M, Gabrijel I, Bjegović D (2015) Modifications of dolomite-based self-
compacting concrete properties using mineral additives. Tehnički vjesnik 22(1):233–240
4. Deepa Balakrishnan S, Paulose KC (2013) Workability and strength characteristics of self
compacting concrete containing fly ash and dolomite powder. Am J Eng Res 2:43–47
5. Kuruba Anil P, Chowdary L (2017) Study on strength properties of self compacting concrete
using GGBS and lime stone powder as mineral admixtures. Int J Innov Res Sci Eng Technol
6(3)
Evaluation of Sustainable SMA Mix
Prepared Using Recycled Concrete
Aggregates
A. A. Ruksana, P. S. Sethulakshmi, Mariya Thomas, Midhun Joby,

and Sharon Jacob
Abstract The disposal of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste generated

in the cities has become a serious environmental problem nowadays. The use of
Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) obtained from this C&D waste can reduce the
amount of virgin aggregates for pavement construction. In this study, the recycled
concrete aggregates are used in the manufacture of Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) mix.
The fine and coarse aggregates in SMA mixes are partially replaced by RCA. The
Marshall and volumetric properties of the SMA mixes containing RCA are evaluated
and compared with the conventional SMA mix. The use of these SMA mixes prepared
with RCA reduces the volume of natural resources consumed and solves the disposal
problem of the C&D waste. This study thus actually paves a sustainable way for the
asphalt pavement industry.
Keywords Construction and demolition (c&d) waste · Stone matrix asphalt

(SMA) · Sustainability · Recycled concrete aggregates (RCA)
A. A. Ruksana (B) · P. S. Sethulakshmi · M. Thomas · M. Joby · S. Jacob

P. S. Sethulakshmi
M. Thomas
M. Joby
S. Jacob

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_9
88 A. A. Ruksana et al.
1 Introduction
Road networks play a crucial role in the economic and social development of a
country. The spurt in the growth of traffic and overloading of vehicles decreases the
life span of roads laid with conventional bituminous mixes. This also leads to the
reduction in the riding quality due to premature failure of the flexible pavements.
It is observed that Stone Matrix Asphalt mixture (SMA) is an ideal mixture for
long lasting highways. SMA is a gap graded aggregate-asphalt hot mixture with
70–80% coarse aggregate, 8–12% filler, 6.0–7.0% binder and normally 0.3% fibre.
SMA provides excellent resistance to rutting due to slow, heavy and high volume
traffic, and resistance to deformation at high pavement temperatures. Environmental,
economic and technical problems have led to increasing attention being paid to the
subject of recycling solid waste materials in the construction of road infrastructure.
Studies were carried by Giri et al. [1] on the use waste materials such as recycled
concrete aggregates (RCA) and waste polyethylene from milk packaging (WPMP)
in bituminous mixes. RCA was pre-treated with bituminous emulsion (PRCA) to
reduce its water absorption. The performance of the different bituminous mixes was
found out in terms of Marshall test parameters. Bituminous mixes containing PRCA
and WPMP produce good results compared with conventional aggregate mixes. El-
Badawy et al. [2] reviewed the current status of using recycled materials in pavement
construction worldwide and the gained benefits in terms of economic savings, envi-
ronmental impact, and sustainability. A study was conducted by Dalhat et al. [3]
on the effect of using combined form of recycled plastic waste (RPW) as a mineral
aggregate supplement in a dense-graded hot mix asphalt (HMA). The results showed
that combined RPW as an aggregate supplement has advantages over the use of
normal aggregates.
This study aims to partially replace the natural aggregates in SMA mixtures
through laboratory studies, and compares the test results with mixtures containing
natural aggregate. For this purpose, Marshall Stability test were conducted on samples
with and without RCA in SMA mix. Using of the RCA decrease areas required for
disposal by removing the increase of waste concrete. It results in decreasing of the
consumption of energy from aggregate production and transportation.
2 Materials
2.1 Aggregates
Aggregates were collected from a local supplier. Coarse aggregates of 20 mm down

(Aggregate 1) and 10 mm down (Aggregate 2) and quarry dust were used. The
physical properties of the aggregates such as the Aggregate Impact Value, Aggregate
Crushing value, Water Absorption, Flakiness Index, Elongation Index and Specific
Gravity were determined and they satisfied all the physical requirements specified
Evaluation of Sustainable SMA Mix Prepared Using Recycled … 89
Fig. 1 Coir fiber used

during experimentation
process
by IRC: SP: 79-2008. The aggregates were sieved to meet the physical requirements
specified by IRC: SP: 79-2008 [4].
2.2 Bitumen
VG-30 bitumen was collected from a local supplier. Tests such as Softening Point,
Ductility, Penetration and Specific Gravity were conducted and its physical properties
were satisfied as per the requirements specified by IS 73: 2013 [5].
2.3 Stabilizer Used-Coir Fibre
As coconut fibre contains certain amount of cellulose, this will result in better inter-
lock between the aggregates and thereby improving the strength and reducing the
possibility of drain down during transport and paving. Panda et al. [6] has suggested a
0.3% coconut fibre addition in the SMA mixes which brings significant improvement
in the engineering properties of SMA mixes (Fig. 1).
2.4 Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA)
Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste were collected from Maradu flat demoli-
tion site. Steel reinforcement were removed. The RCA used in this investigation for
SMA mixes satisfied all the physical requirements specified by IRC: SP: 79-2008.
Rondon-Quintana et al. [7] studied the use of blast furnace slag aggregate in hot-
mix asphalt. Here, virgin aggregates are partially replaced with RCA. C&D waste
Fig. 2 C&D Waste in

Maradu Site
Fig. 3 RCA
collected from the demolition site is shown in Fig. 2 and the prepared RCA is shown
in Fig. 3.
3 Methodology
3.1 Aggregate Proportioning by Rothfutch Method
Two types of mixtures were prepared in this study. Mix I consisted of virgin aggre-
gates (CSA) and it was used as a control mix. Mix II was prepared with a combination
of RCA and CSA. The sieve analysis of Mix I and Mix II were conducted and the
grain size distribution curves for both the mixes were plotted. The obtained grada-
tions of Mix I and II should be within the desired limits set by IRC: SP: 79-2008.
The mixes were then prepared in the obtained aggregate proportions.
3.2 Marshall Method of Mix Design
The aggregates and quarry dust (total weight equal to 1200 gm) and coir fibre (0.3%
of total weight of aggregates) were proportioned and mixed for Mix I. The cylin-
drical specimens were prepared in the laboratory following the Marshall mix design
procedure. First sieving is done for coarse and fine aggregates. Sampling of coarse
and fine aggregates is carried out for 13 mm SMA composition as specified by IRC:
SP: 79-2008. Total sample weight is 1200 gm including filler and binder. Aggregates
were heated to a temperature of 120–140 °C and bitumen was heated to a tempera-
ture of 130 °C. The bitumen was added in required quantities i.e., 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5 and
7%. It is then mixed with bitumen and is compacted with a hammer with a falling
weight of 4.54 kg falling from a height of 40 cm, by giving 50 blows on each side for
compaction. The sample is allowed to dry for the next 24 h and then it is taken out
of the mould with the help of sample ejector. Its weight in air, water, radii, thickness
and height is calculated. Before conducting the Marshall test, each of the samples
was kept in hot water bath for 30 min at 60 °C. Two samples each of 5.5, 6, 6.5 and
7% bitumen were prepared respectively for bituminous course and Marshall Test
was carried out to calculate their stability.
Similarly, the aggregates, quarry dust and RCA (total weight equal to 1200 gm)
and coir fibre (0.3% of total weight of aggregates) were proportioned and mixed.
Two samples each of 5.5, 6, 6.5 and 7% bitumen were prepared respectively for Mix
II and Marshall Test was carried out (Fig. 4).
3.2.1 Marshall Test
The samples are removed from the hot water bath and supposed to undergo Marshall
Test. It is kept under testing machine and loaded at constant rate of deformation of
5 mm per minute till failure. The test head with the specimen is placed in position
in the loading machine and the base-plate of the loading machine is raised until the
top of the test head is in contact with the bottom of the proving ring or load cell.
The deformation measuring dial gauge or flow meter is now placed in position and
adjusted to read zero. The load is applied through the Marshall test setup maintaining
a constant deformation rate of 51 mm per minute. The load and deformation readings
are closely observed. The maximum load at failure (in kN) and the corresponding
deformation (or flow) readings (in mm) are noted. The Marshall test apparatus is
shown in Fig. 5. The samples are placed in the hot water bath 30 minutes before the
test (Fig. 6).
The Marshall Stability value is computed using the calibrated equation as:
Fig. 4 Sampling, Mixing, Pouring and Compaction of Mix II
Marshall Stability (kN) = (0.0249x-0.5549), where x is the number of divisions

in proving ring.
The corrected Marshall Stability value of each specimen is determined by applying
the appropriate correction factor.
3.2.2 Calculations
Theoretical Specific gravity, Bulk density, Volumetric properties (% of air voids (Vv ),
% volume of bitumen (Vb ), % of voids in mineral aggregate (VMA) and % of voids
filled with bitumen (VFB)) and Optimum Bitumen Content (OBC) were determined.
Based on the Marshall tests performed above, and the values computed, the following
graphs were plotted:
• Corrected Marshall Stability versus Bitumen Content
• Flow versus Bitumen Content
• Unit Weight or Bulk Density (Gm ) versus Bitumen Content
• Percent Air Voids in the total mix (Vv ) versus Bitumen Content
Fig. 5 Marshall test

apparatus
Fig. 6 Placing of the

samples in the water bath
120
Cumulative Percentage
100
Passing (%)
80
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20
Sieve size (mm)
UPPER LIMIT LOWER LIMIT OBTAINED GRADATION
Fig. 7 Conventional SMA gradation curve
The optimum bitumen content (OBC) for the mix design is taken as the bitumen
content corresponding to the median of the design limits of Percent Air Voids in the
total mix (4%).
4.1 Aggregate Mix Proportioning
4.1.1 Conventional SMA Mix
From the sieve analysis performed on Aggregates 1(A), Aggregate 2(B) and quarry
dust(C), the grain size distribution curve was plotted and the mix proportions were
determined by Rothfutch method. The percentage of aggregates A, B and C in total
mix were obtained as given below:
A = 20%, B = 64% and C = 16%.
The gradation curve for Mix I is within the limits specified in IRC: SP: 79-2008
and is shown in Fig. 7.
4.1.2 Modified SMA Mix
From the sieve analysis performed on 20 mm down CA(A), 20 mm down RCA(B),

10 mm down FA(C) and quarry dust(D), the grain size distribution curve was plotted
and the mix proportions were determined by Rothfutch method. The percentage of
aggregates A, B, C and D in total mix were obtained as given below:
A = 8%, B = 13%, C = 61.5% and D = 17.5%.

120
Cumulative percentage
100
passing (%) 80
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20
Sieve size (mm)
upperlimit lower limit obtained gradation
Fig. 8 Modified SMA gradation curve
The gradation curve for Mix II is within the limits specified in IRC: SP: 79-2008
and is shown in Fig. 8.
4.2 Determination of Optimum Bitumen Content (OBC)
4.2.1 Conventional SMA Mix
By plotting Air Voids versus Bitumen content (Fig. 9) graph, the optimum bitumen
content for conventional SMA mix was determined. The bitumen content corre-
sponding to 4% air voids is taken as optimum bitumen content and the OBC is
6%. By plotting Stability versus Bitumen content, Flow versus Bitumen content and
Fig. 9 Air voids versus 8

bitumen content graph for
Mix I 7
6
Air voids (%)
1
5 6 7 8
Bitumen Content (%)
Table 1 Marshall and volumetric properties of conventional mix

Bitumen Marshall Flow (mm) Density (g/cc) Vv (%) VMA (%) Marshall
content (%) stability (kN) quotient
(kN/mm)
5.5 10.166 3.22 2.399 5.683 18.026 3.158
6 12.361 3.45 2.425 4.018 17.565 3.583
6.5 11.956 3.575 2.416 3.745 18.301 3.346
7 10.03 4.35 2.406 3.529 19.067 2.306
Fig. 10 Air voids versus 9

bitumen content graph for
8
Mix II
7
Air voids (%)
6
5
4
3
2
1
4 5 6 7 8
Bitumen Content (%)
Density versus Bitumen content graphs, the Marshall and other volumetric proper-
ties were found for the evaluating the performance of the mix. The data presented in
Table 1 is based on an average value of two specimens.
4.2.2 Modified SMA Mix
By plotting Air Voids versus Bitumen content (Fig. 10) graph, the optimum bitumen
content for modified SMA mix was determined. The obtained OBC is 6.5%. Stability
versus Bitumen content, Flow versus Bitumen content and Density versus Bitumen
content graphs were plotted to find the Marshall and other volumetric properties. The
data presented in Table 2 is based on an average value of two specimens.
4.3 Comparison of Conventional and Modified SMA Mix
The comparison of the prepared Conventional and Modified SMA mixes are shown
in Fig. 11.
Table 2 Marshall and volumetric properties of modified mix

Bitumen Marshall Flow (mm) Density (g/cc) Vv (%) VMA (%) Marshall
content (%) stability (kN) quotient
(kN/mm)
5.5 11.095 3 2.094 8.39 19.095 3.699
6 13.284 3.175 2.14 5.788 17.748 4.184
6.5 13.581 3.35 2.171 4.027 17.018 4.055
7 11.771 4.225 2.168 3.382 17.407 2.786
Fig. 11 Comparison of conventional and modified SMA mix
Following conclusions were obtained after the comparison of the conventional

and modified SMA mixes:
• Marshall Stability
SMA mix with RCA shows better stability value when compared with the reference
mix. Due to the interlock of aggregates, the stability has increased by 9.87%.
• Flow value
Flow value increases with increase in bitumen content. Generally increase is slow,
but later with increase in bitumen content flow value increases. The flow value of
SMA mix with RCA has decreased by 2.9%.
• Air voids
Since recycled aggregates are porous they absorb more asphalt compared to virgin
aggregates leaving less quantity of asphalt binder to fill up the volume of voids. As
a result, air voids increase with the level of RA addition in the mix.
• Voids in mineral aggregate
VMA in mixes made of RCA is higher than the reference mixes which are made
of the natural aggregates. As the recycled aggregates are more porous than natural
aggregates, they require more asphalt binder to fill in the pores.
• Density
The density of the reference mix is higher than the RCA mix as it require more
asphalt to achieve density similar to a mix made with natural aggregates. The density
value has decreased by 10.47%.
• Optimum Binder Content
The presence of the residual cement mortar on the RCA particles results in the
formation of a more porous surface texture of RCA, when compared with virgin
aggregates. This explains the reason of the higher bitumen absorption of RCA.
5 Conclusion
The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the use of recycled concrete aggre-
gates (RCA) in SMA mixes. Thus the incorporation of RCA in SMA mixes resulted
in its increased stability and bitumen content and decreased flow and density.
RCA is a sustainable alternative to natural aggregates. In this study, around 60%
of natural aggregates were replaced by RCA. This reduced the cost of production
by around 17%. Thus the incorporation of RCA in pavement mixes preserves the
natural resources and reduces the C&D waste disposal problems. However, the use
of RCA increased the OBC. This is due to the higher bitumen absorption by the
porous cement mortar present on RCA. Hence further studies should be carried out
on methods to reduce the bitumen consumption and produce sustainable pavement
mixes with improved performance.
References
1. Giri JP, Panda M, Sahoo UC (2018) Performance of bituminous mixes containing treated recycled
concrete aggregates and modified by waste polyethylene. J Mater Civ Eng ASCE 30:899–910
2. El-Badawy SM, Gabr AR, Abd El-Hakim RT (2019) Recycled materials and by-products for
pavement construction. In: Handbook of ecomaterials. Springer
3. Dalhat MA, Al-Abdul Wahhab HI, Al-Adham K (2019) Recycled plastic waste asphalt concrete
via mineral aggregate substitution and binder modification. J Mater Civ Eng ASCE 31:1261–
1271
4. IRC: SP: 79 (2008) Tentative specifications for stone matrix asphalt. Indian Road Congress
5. IS 73 (2013) Paving bitumen specification. Bureau of Indian Standards, India

6. Panda M, Suchismita A, Giri JP (2018) Utilization of ripe coconut fiber in stone matrix asphalt
mixes. Int J Transp Sci Technol 2:289–302
7. Rondón-Quintana HA, Ruge-Cárdenas JC, Farias MM (2018) Behaviour of hot-mix asphalt
containing blast furnace slag as aggregate: evaluation by mass and volume substitution. J Mater
Civ Eng ASCE 31:364–374
Investigation on Performance of Fly Ash
Based Self Compacting Concrete
with Metakaolin and Quarry Dust
Elizabeth Jose and Anju Paul
Abstract Self-compacting concrete is a fresh concrete that flows under its own
weight and does not require external vibration to undergo compaction. It is used
in the construction where, it is hard to use vibrators for consolidation of concrete.
The acute shortage and high price of river sand led to the enormous usage of M
sand in construction. Use of quarry dust as a fine aggregate is a good alternative
to M sand and a better remedy to the disposal of quarry dust. Quarry dust is a by-
product from the crushing process during quarrying activities. Large scale of cement
production causes the discharge of high amount of carbon dioxide resulting in global
warming. This can be reduced by the use of metakaolin, as a partial replacement for
cement contributing to higher workability, long term strength and to make concrete
more economically available. In this study an attempt is made to study on the M40
equivalent fly ash based self-compacting concrete is partially replacing cement with
metakaolin by 10, 15 and 20% of weight of cement and the fine aggregate is partially
replacing with quarry dust by 20, 25, 30 and 35% of weight of fine aggregate and in
order to evaluate the strength parameters, they are compared with M40 equivalent
fly ash based self-compacting concrete.
Keywords Self-compacting concrete · Metakaolin · Quarry dust
1 Introduction
Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a concrete which can be placed and compacted

under its self weight without vibration effort. It has high workability that it can flow
under its own weight [1]. SCC mixes usually contain superplasticizer, high content
of fines and/or viscosity modifying additive (VMA). The use of superplasticizer
maintains the fluidity, the fine content provides stability of the mix resulting in
resistance against bleeding and segregation [2]. Self-compacting concrete is a recent
development in the construction industry. The utilization of SCC started growing
E. Jose (B) · A. Paul

Toc H Institute Science and Technology, Arakkunnam, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_10
102 E. Jose and A. Paul
rapidly, EFNARC, making use of broad practical experience of all members of Europe
federation with SCC, has drawn up specification and guidelines to provide a frame
work for design and use of high quality SCC during 2001 [3].
Various types of pozzolanic materials that improve cement properties have been
used in cement industry for a long time such as Metakaolin (MK). It possesses a high
reactivity with calcium hydroxide having the ability to accelerate cement hydration.
Metakaolin reacts with the calcium hydroxide during the hydration process of OPC
to form the calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel [4, 5]. The scarcity of good quality
natural river sand due to depletion of resources and restriction due to environmental
consideration has made concrete manufactures to look for suitable alternative fine
aggregate. One such alternative is Quarry Dust (QD), it is generally considered
as a waste material after the extraction and processing of rocks can be used as
a replacement for fine aggregate [6–8]. The experimental program is designed to
investigate the strength of fly ash based self-compacting concrete by replacement of
cement with metakaolin at 10, 15 and 20% by weight of cement and replacement of
fine aggregate with quarry dust at 20, 25, 30 and 35% by weight of fine aggregate.
The slump flow test, T50 test and J ring test were conducted for all mixes to know the
fresh property of self-compacting concrete. Compressive strength, Flexural strength
and Split tensile strength test was conducted at 7 and 28 days and the values are
compared with the values of fly ash based self-compacting concrete.
2 Objectives
The main objective of this investigation is:

• To establish M40 equivalent Fly ash based Self-Compacting Concrete based on
strength parameters.
• To evaluate the optimum percentage of Metakaolin in Fly Ash based SCC, the
metakaolin is partially replaced at 10, 15 and 20% of weight of cement.
• To evaluate the optimum percentage of Quarry Dust with optimum percentage of
Metakaolin in Fly Ash based SCC, the quarry dust is partially replaced at 20, 25,
30 and 35% of weight of FA.
• To analyse the fresh and hardened properties of Fly Ash based SCC with optimum
percentage of Metakaolin and Quarry Dust.
3 Materials and Properties
The different material tests used in this investigation and test results of the materials
are illustrated in Table 1.
The sieve analysis was done for the gradation of aggregate. From that study the
fine aggregate and quarry dust are in zone 2, these can be used for the concrete works.
The water absorption is also conducted for coarse aggregate (not greater than 2%)
Investigation on Performance of Fly Ash Based Self Compacting … 103

Materials Tests Test results Reference code
Cement Fineness 5% IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Consistency 32% IS 4031-1988 Part-XI (Reaffirmed 2009)
Initial setting time 45 min IS 4031-1988 Part-V (Reaffirmed 2009)
Specific gravity 3.15 IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Fine aggregate Specific gravity 2.68 IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Water absorption 2.24% IS 2386-1963 Part III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Coarse aggregate Specific gravity 2.72 IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Water absorption 0.354% IS 2386-1963 Part III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Quarry dust Specific gravity 2.57
Fly ash Specific gravity 2.3
Metakaolin Specific gravity 2.6
and fine aggregate (between 0.3 and 2.5%) and the results are in specified limits,
shown in Table 1. Based on these material properties the mix design is carried out.
3.1 Mix Design
The mix designs were carried out for concrete grade 40 MPa based on European
Federation for Specialist Construction Chemicals and Concrete Systems (EFNARC)
guidelines [9] and IS 10262: 2009 [10] (Table 2).
Table 2 Mix design of specimen with varying percentage of fly ash, metakaolin and quarry dust
Notation Cement Fly ash Fine Coarse QD MK SP Water
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) aggregate aggregate (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (l/m3 ) (l/m3 )
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
F30 (CM) 413 177 848 765 0 0 3.54 200
F30MK10 354 177 848 765 0 59 3.54 200
F30MK15 324.5 177 848 765 0 88.5 3.54 200
F30MK20 295 177 848 765 0 118 3.54 200
F30MK15QD20 324.5 177 679 765 169 88.5 3.54 200
F30MK15QD25 324.5 177 636 765 212 88.5 3.54 200
F30MK15QD30 324.5 177 594 765 254 88.5 3.54 200
F30MK15QD35 324.5 177 551 765 297 88.5 3.54 200
Table 3 Workability results

Mixes Slump flow J-ring (mm) Passing ability T50 slump Remarks (as
(mm) (mm) flow (s) per ASTM
1621/C
1621 M)
F30 (CM) 681 672 9 2.5 No visible
F30MK10 670 662 8 3 blocking since
passing ability
F30MK15 690 681 9 2.5 values are
F30MK20 675 667 8 2.8 between
F30MK15QD20 715 706 9 2.5 0–25 mm
F30MK15QD25 705 695 10 2.6

F30MK15QD30 690 682 8 2.9
F30MK15QD35 674 665 9 3.5
4.1 Fresh Properties
The main characteristics of Self-Compacting Concrete are the properties in the

fresh state. Several test methods have been developed in attempts to charac-
terize the properties of Self-Compacting Concrete. In this study three properties
are used to evaluate the fresh properties of Self-Compacting Concrete, shown in
Table 3. F30 represents the SCC containing fly at 30%. F30MK10, F30MK15 and
F30MK20 represents the SCC containing MK at 10%, 15% and 20% respectively.
F30MK15QD20, F30MK15QD25, F30MK15QD30 and F30MK15QD35 represents
the SCC containing QD at 20%, 25%, 30% and 35% respectively. Fresh property
tests are done and the fresh properties of SCC satisfies the requirements of EFNARC
guidelines.
4.2 Hardened Properties
The properties of hardened SCC were measured in terms of Compressive Strength,

Split Tensile Strength test and Flexural Strength Test confirming to IS 516: 1959.
Compressive strength test was conducted on 150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm
concrete cubes as per IS 516: 1959 (reaffirmed 2018) in digital compression testing
machine. Compressive strength test was conducted after 7 days and 28 days of curing.
The compressive strength of fly ash based self-compacting concrete cubes by varying
the percentage of metakaolin and quarry dust is given in Table 4 and Fig. 1. After
28 days of curing the SCC with 15% metakaolin gives the maximum compressive
strength, the value is 57.8 N/mm2 at 28 days. This mix gives 17.4% increase in
Table 4 Compressive
Notation Compressive strength (N/mm2 )
strength of self-compacting
concrete with different mix 7 days 28 days
F30 (CM) 36.45 49.23
F30MK10 44.8 57.1
F30MK15 45.21 57.8
F30MK20 44.01 56.2
F30MK15QD20 35.8 48.2
F30MK15QD25 37.8 50.3
F30MK15QD30 39.2 52.31
F30MK15QD35 35.9 48.5
Fig. 1 Variation of compressive strength with optimum percentage of fly ash, metakaolin and
varying percentage of quarry dust
strength at 28 days when correlated to control mix. The reasons for improve the
compressive strength of SCC is metakaolin reacts with the calcium hydroxide during
the hydration process of OPC to form the calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel and it
enhance strength parameters. The compressive strength for 25% QD is 50.3 N/mm2 .
This mix gives 14.91% decrease in strength when compared to F30MK15 and 2.17%
increase in strength at 28 days when correlated to control mix. The reasons of the
improvement in strength is the higher amount of finer particles in the quarry dust act
like fillers by filling the voids between cement paste and aggregate and thus increases
the strength.
Split tensile strength test was conducted as per IS: 5816: 1999 (reaffirmed 2018)
in digital compression test in machine. Split tensile strength test was conducted after
7 and 28 days of curing. The effects of metakaolin in fly ash based self-compacting
Table 5 Split tensile strength

Notation Split tensile strength (N/mm2 )
of fly ash based
self-compacting concrete 7 days 28 days
with varying percentage of CM 2.8 3.9
metakaolin
F30MK10 3.3 4.2
F30MK15 3.6 4.4
F30MK20 3.1 4.1
F30MK15QD20 2.9 4
F30MK15QD25 3.1 4.1
F30MK15QD30 3.3 4.2
F30MK15QD35 2.8 3.9
concrete on the tensile strength are shown in Table 5. The tensile strength value of
SCC increases with increase in percentage of cement replacement with metakaolin
upto a percentage of 15%. The split tensile strength gain maximum at 15% replace-
ment of cement with metakaolin. The effects of metakaolin and quarry dust in fly
ash based self-compacting concrete on the tensile strength are shown in Table 5 and
Fig. 2. The split tensile strength is obtained as 4.1 N/mm2 for 25% replacement.
This mix gives 7.31% decrease in strength when compared to F30MK15 and
5.12% increase in strength at 28 days when correlated to control mix.
Flexural strength test was conducted as per IS 516: 1959 (Reaffirmed 2018) in
Universal testing machine. Flexural strength test was conducted after 28 days of
curing. The effects of metakaolin in fly ash based self-compacting concrete on the
flexural strength are shown in Table 6. The maximum flexural strength is 6.2 N/mm2
for 15% replacement of metakaolin. The effects of metakaolin and quarry dust in fly
Fig. 2 Split tensile strength of fly ash based self-compacting concrete with optimum percentage
of metakaolin and varying percentage of quarry dust
Table 6 Flexural strength of

Notation Flexural strength (N/mm2 )
fly ash based self-compacting
concrete with varying 28 days
percentage of metakaolin CM 5.4
F30MK10 5.9
F30MK15 6.2
F30MK20 5.5
F30MK15QD20 5.5
F30MK15QD25 5.7
F30MK15QD30 5.9
F30MK15QD35 5.3
Fig. 3 Flexural strength of fly ash based self-compacting concrete with optimum percentage of
metakaolin and varying percentage of quarry dust
ash based self-compacting concrete on the flexural strength are shown in Table 6 and
Fig. 3. The flexural strength is 5.7 N/mm2 for 25% replacement of fine aggregate by
quarry dust. This mix gives 8.77% decrease in strength compared with F30MK15
and 5.5% increase in strength at 28 days when correlated to control mix.
5 Conclusions
Based on the experimental investigation, the following conclusions were drawn.

• Mix proportion of SCC is derived with various test conforming to the requirements
of Self compacting concrete conforming to the acceptance criteria of SCC and
EFNARC guidelines. Fresh property tests of all the mixes are done and the fresh
properties of SCC satisfies the requirements of EFNARC guidelines.
• The control mix can be adopted as F30 based on strength parameters.
• In fly ash based SCC with 15% MK compared with control mix, the compres-
sive strength increased about 17.4% (49.23–57.8 N/mm2 ), split tensile strength
increased about 12.82% (3.9–4.4 N/mm2 ) and the flexural strength is increased
about 14.1% (5.4–6.2 N/mm2 ) at 28 days.
• Also the fresh properties of SCC with 15% MK satisfies the requirements of
EFNARC guidelines.
• The optimum amount of metakaolin was obtained as 15% in terms of compres-
sive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength. Beyond the optimum
replacement level, the strength was reduced, but greater than the control mix.
• The reasons for improve the strength parameters of SCC is metakaolin reacts with
the calcium hydroxide during the hydration process of OPC to form the calcium
silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel and it enhance strength parameters.
• In fly ash based SCC with 15% MK and 25% QD is compared with F30MK15, the
compressive strength decreased about 14.91% (57.8–50.3 N/mm2 ), split tensile
strength decreased about 7.31% (4.4–4.1 N/mm2 ) and the flexural strength is
decreased about 8.77% (6.2–5.7 N/mm2 ) at 28 days.
• In fly ash based SCC with 15% MK and 25% QD is compared with control
mix, the compressive strength increased about 2.17% (49.23–50.3 N/mm2 ), split
tensile strength increased about 5.12% (3.9–4.1 N/mm2 ) and the flexural strength
is increased about 5.5% (5.4–5.7 N/mm2 ) at 28 days.
• The optimum amount of quarry dust was obtained as 25% and these values are
less than the optimum percentage of metakaolin mix, but greater than control mix.
• The main reason of the improvement in strength parameters is the higher amount
of finer particles in the concrete mix, these finer particles of quarry dust act like
fillers by filling the voids between cement paste and aggregate and thus strengthen
the concrete specimen.
• The use of quarry dust as a replacement for fine aggregate is environmentally
helpful and it reduce the construction cost. So the quarry dust is an alternative
material for replacing fine aggregate for manufacturing of concrete.
• So it can be concluded that, the fly ash based self-compacting concrete with 15%
replacement of metakaolin in cement and 25% replacement of quarry dust in
fine aggregate shows greater strength and workability than the control mix. It
can be effectively used where compaction is very difficult due to the presence
of heavy reinforcements like beams, columns and for structural members with
typical architectural requirements.
References
1. Madandoust R, Yasin SM (2015) Fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete

containing Metakaolin. J Constr Build Mater 35:752–760
2. Johnsirani SK, Jagannathan AD, Kumar DR (2013) Experimental investigation on self
compacting concrete using quarry dust. Int J Sci Res Publ 3:1–5
3. Balamurugan GD, Anish V (2013) Self-compacting concrete with quarry dust as partial replace-
ment for fine aggregate and fly ash for cement with fibre reinforcement. Int Res J Eng Technol
04:1167–1174
4. Gill SA, Siddique R (2018) Strength and micro-structural properties of self-compacting
concrete containing metakaolin and rice husk ash. J Constr Build Mater 2:323–332
5. Kannan V (2018) Strength and durability performance of self compacting concrete containing
self-combusted rice husk ash and Metakaolin. J Constr Build Mater 160:169–179
6. Chaudhary S, Gupta T, Kothari S, Siddique S, Ravi K (2017) Influence of stone processing dust
on mechanical, durability and sustainability of concrete. J Constr Build Mater 223:918–927
7. Rai B, Kumar S, Satish K (2016) Effect of quarry waste on self-compacting concrete containing
binary cementitious blends of fly ash and cement. J Adv Mater Sci Eng 1:1–11
8. Rambabu C, Srileela P (2017) Study on partial replacement of fine aggregate by quarry rock
fly ash. Int J Eng Res Technol 6:46–53
9. EFNARC (2002) Specification and guidelines for self-compacting concrete, www.efnarce.org
10. IS 10262 (2009) Indian standard concrete mix proportioning- guidelines (First revision). Bureau
of Indian standards, New Delhi
Feasibility Study of Plastic Granules
and Alccofine in Fly Ash Based
Self-Compacting Concrete
Fiona Alias and Tellma John
Abstract Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a fluidic concrete mix which does not
require tamping or vibration and gains its fluid property from high proportion of fine
aggregate, super plasticizers and viscosity enhancing admixtures. High amount of
cement and chemical admixtures used in SCC reduces its wide scale usage. Alccofine
can be used as a better substitute to cement due to its cementitious properties. The
work aims at the possibility of recycling waste plastic granules (polyethylene tereph-
thalate (PET) used in the plastic bag production) as a fine aggregate instead of sand
in the manufacturing of the self-compacting concrete. Cement is partially replaced
with alccofine at 8, 10 and 12% by weight of cement and the optimum percentage
of alccofine was obtained. To the mix with optimum percentage of alccofine, the
fine aggregate is substituted with the plastic granules at dosages 5, 10, 15 and 20%
proportions by the volume of the fine aggregate. The fresh and hardened proper-
ties of M40 equivalent fly ash based self-compacting concrete were compared and
evaluated.
Keywords Self-compacting concrete · Alccofine · Plastic granules
1 Introduction
Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a highly flowable type of concrete that spreads

into the form without the need for mechanical vibration. Self-compacting concrete
is a non-segregating concrete that is placed by means of its own weight.
Supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) are finely ground solid materials
that are used to replace a portion of the cement in a concrete mixture [1]. Alccofine is
a specially processed product based on slag of high glass content with high reactivity
obtained through the process of controlled granulation [2–6].
F. Alias (B) · T. John

Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Ernakulam, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_11
112 F. Alias and T. John
Now- a-days due to constant sand mining the natural sand is depleting at an
alarming rate. Scarcity of good quality river sand due to depletion of resources and
restriction due to environmental consideration has made concrete manufactures to
look for suitable alternative to fine aggregate. The replacement of fine aggregate in
the mixture with low cost, recycled plastic granules (PG) which reduces the dead
load of the structure, overall cost, in turn reduces the pollution.
The experimental program is designed to investigate the strength of fly ash based
self-compacting concrete by replacing cement with alccofine at ratios of 8, 10 and
12% by weight of cement and replacing fine aggregate with plastic granules at 5,
10, 15 and 20% by volume of fine aggregate. The experimental program is aimed
to study the workability and strength parameters. Slump flow test, T50 slump flow
test and J-ring test were conducted for all mixes to ascertain the fresh property of
self-compacting concrete. Compressive strength, Flexural strength, and Split tensile
strength test was conducted at 7 and 28 days and the values were obtained.
2 Objectives
The main objectives of this investigation are given below:

• To establish M40 equivalent fly ash based Self-compacting concrete based on
strength parameters.
• To establish the optimum percentage of alccofine in the fly ash based SCC, the
alccofine is partially replacing the cement in the ratios 8, 10 and 12% by weight
of cement in the fly ash based SCC based on strength parameters.
• To evaluate the optimum percentage of Plastic Granules (replacing fine aggregate
by volume in the order of 5, 10, 15 and 20%) in the SCC mix with optimum
percentage of alccofine.
• To analyse fresh and hardened properties of fly ash based SCC with optimum
percentage of alccofine and plastic granules.
The different materials used in this investigation and their physical properties are
illustrated in Table 1.
3.1 Mix Design
There is no standard method for SCC mix design and many academic institutions,
admixture, ready-mixed, pre cast and contracting companies have developed their
own mix proportioning methods. Several methods exist for the mix design of SCC.
Feasibility Study of Plastic Granules and Alccofine … 113

Materials Properties Test results Reference code
Cement Specific gravity 3.15 IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Fineness 5% IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Initial setting 45 min IS 4031-1988 Part-V (Reaffirmed in 2009)
time
Fine Specific gravity 2.72 IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
aggregate Water absorption 2.54% IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Coarse Specific gravity 2.67 IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
aggregate Water absorption 0.335% IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Alccofine Specific gravity 2.9
Fineness >12,000
(cm2 /gm)
Plastic Specific gravity 1.31
granules
The mix designs were carried out for concrete grade 40 MPa based on European
Federation for Specialist Construction Chemicals and Concrete Systems (EFNARC)
guidelines [7] and the details are given in Table 2.
Table 2 Mix design of specimen with varying percentage of fly ash, alccofine and plastic granules
Mix Cement Fly ash Alccofine Fine Plastic Coarse SP Water
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) aggregate granules aggregate (l/m3 ) (l/m3 )
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
F30 413 177 0 865 0 753 3.54 200
F30AC8 365.8 177 47.2 865 0 753 3.54 200
F30AC10 354 177 59 865 0 753 3.54 200
F30AC12 342.2 177 70.8 865 0 753 3.54 200
F30AC10PG5 324.5 177 59 839.62 25.38 753 3.54 200
F30AC10PG10 324.5 177 59 814.24 50.76 753 3.54 200
F30AC10PG15 324.5 177 59 788.86 76.14 753 3.54 200
F30AC10PG20 324.5 177 59 763.5 101.52 753 3.54 200
To determine the fresh properties of SCC, various tests were performed like slump
flow, T50 slump flow test time and J-ring test. All these tests were carried out to check
passing ability, viscosity/flowability and filling ability self-compacting concrete. All
the equipment for various tests confirms to dimension as given by EFNARC. The
flow values of different mix proportions are listed in Table 3 in which SCC is the
normal self-compacting concrete, F28, F30 and F32 represents the self-compacting
concrete containing fly ash at 28%, 30% and 32% respectively. F30AC8, F30AC10
and F30AC12 represents the fly ash based self-compacting concrete with alccofine at
8%, 10% and 12% respectively. And F30AC10PG5, F30AC10PG10, F30AC10PG15
and F30AC10PG20 represents the fly ash-alccofine based self-compacting concrete
with plastic granules at 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively.
The slump flow test were conducted for finding the filling ability. For self-
compacting concrete with plastic granules, slump flow diameter values varies
between 707 and 719 mm, which were determined as the average of two measured
diameter of flowed concrete. As per EFNARC [7] test results of self-compacting
concrete with plastic granules as fine aggregate can be categorized as SF2, which is
suitable for many normal applications such as walls and columns.
T50 slump flow test were conducted for finding the viscosity or flowability of
the self-compacting concrete mixes. From Table 3, it can be see that by increasing
the plastic granules content decreases the slump flow time. It was determined that
all self-compacting concrete mixtures were in the boundaries of the VS2 viscosity
specified by EFNARC [7].
J-ring test was conducted for finding the passing ability of SCC mixes. The results
of J-ring test are given in Table 3.

Mixes T50 slump Slump flow J-ring (mm) Passing ability Remarks (as
flow (s) (mm) (mm) per ASTM
1621/C
1621M)
F30 (CM) 2.5 680 671 9 No visible
F30AC8 2.2 703 693 10 blocking since
passing ability
F30AC10 1.9 720 711 9 values are
F30AC12 2.1 716 706 10 between 0 and
F30AC10PG5 2.8 707 698 9 25 mm
F30AC10PG10 2.6 711 701 10

F30AC10PG15 2.3 716 708 8
F30AC10PG20 2.2 719 710 9
The hardened properties of SCC were measured in terms of Compressive Strength,

Split Tensile Strength test and Flexural Strength Test confirming to IS 516:1959
(Reaffirmed 2004), IS: 5816: 1999 (Reaffirmed 2004) and IS 516: 1959 (reaffirmed
2004) respectively.
The 7th and 28th day compressive strength of mixtures is given in Table 4. The
optimum percentage of fly ash is found to be 30% and it is taken as the control mix.
After 28 days of curing the SCC with 10% alccofine gives the maximum compressive
strength. This is due to high pozzolanic nature and unique chemical composition of
alccofine [8–10]. Then the compressive strength of self-compacting concrete cubes
made with optimum percentage of fly ash, alccofine and varying percentage of plastic
granules is tested (Fig. 1) and the range of compressive strength values in this work
were about 48.31–41.8 MPa. Decrease in compressive strength was observed as
plastic granule content is increased in comparison with the control mix and the mix
with fly ash and alccofine without plastic granules. This may be because the plastic
granule has lesser density when compared with natural aggregate [11].
Table 4 Compression test results

S. No. Mix Compressive strength (N/mm2 )
7 days 28 days
1 F30 (CM) 36.56 48.5
2 F30AC8 42.3 51.2
3 F30AC10 45.5 56.6
4 F30AC12 44.6 52.8
5 F30AC10PG5 36.23 48.31
6 F30AC10PG10 34.55 46.21
7 F30AC10PG15 33.36 44.54
8 F30AC10PG20 32.2 41.8
Fig. 1 Variation of compressive strength with optimum percentage of fly ash, alccofine and varying
percentage of plastic granules
Split tensile strength test was conducted after 7 and 28 days of mixtures and
the tensile strength value of SCC increases with increase in percentage of cement
replacement with alccofine upto a percentage of 10%. The tensile strength increases
a maximum of 4.86 N/mm2 for 10% alccofine content and as the alccofine content
exceeds the value of 12%, the split tensile strength decreases to 4.35 N/mm2 . The
range of split tensile strength values in fly ash-alccofine based SCC with varing
percentage of plastic granules were about 3.9–3.4 MPa (Fig. 2). Decrease in split
tensile strength was observed as plastic granule content is increased in comparison
with the control mix and the mix with fly ash and alccofine without plastic granules.
This may due to the poor adhesive strength between the surface of the plastic granules
and the cement paste [12–14] (Table 5).
Flexural strength test was conducted after 28 days and the maximum flexural
strength is 6.34 N/mm2 for 10% replacement of alccofine. The range of flexural
strength values for fly ash-alccofine based SCC with varying percentage of plastic
granules were about 5.32–4.73 MPa (Fig. 3). Decrease in flexural strength was
observed as plastic granule content is increased in comparison with the control mix
and the mix with fly ash and alccofine without plastic granules. This may due to the
low resistance of the plastic granules [12] (Table 6).
Fig. 2 Split tensile strength of fly ash based self-compacting concrete with optimum percentage
of alccofine and varying percentage of plastic granules
Table 5 Split tensile test results

S. No Mix Split tensile strength (N/mm2 )
7 days 28 days
1 CM 2.85 4.1
2 F30AC8 3.3 4.65
3 F30AC10 3.85 4.86
4 F30AC12 3.45 4.35
5 F30AC10PG5 2.88 3.9
6 F30AC10PG10 2.73 3.71
7 F30AC10PG15 2.65 3.56
8 F30AC10PG20 2.56 3.4
Table 6 Flexural strength results

S. No Mix Flexural strength (N/mm2 ) (28 days)
1 CM 5.36
2 F30AC8 5.64
3 F30AC10 6.34
4 F30AC12 5.82
5 F30AC10PG5 5.32
6 F30AC10PG10 5.1
7 F30AC10PG15 4.89
8 F30AC10PG20 4.73
alccofine and varying percentage of plastic granules
5 Conclusions
This work intended to analyse the mechanical properties of fly ash based Self-
compacting concrete prepared with partial replacement of cement with alccofine
and partial replacement of fine aggregate with plastic granules. Based on the results
of presented work, the following main concluding remarks are made:
• The utilization of Fly ash as a partial replacement of cement increases the worka-
bility of concrete and also reduces the construction cost with efficient utilization
of industrial waste.
• The compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength increases
with the replacement of fly ash for cement at 30%, so it was adopted as the
control mix (optimum percentage of fly ash).
• The result of the fresh-state properties of fly ash based and fly ash-alccofine based
SCC fulfilled the workability parameters.
• The optimum amount of alccofine was obtained as 10% in terms of strength
parameters. 10% replacement of cement with alccofine showed an increase of
16.7% in compressive strength, 18.29% in split tensile strength and 18.28% in
flexural strength compared with control mix. It was due to optimized size, ultra-
fine nature (finer than other hydraulic materials), unique chemical composition
and high glass content in alccofine.
• Slump flow test results of self-compacting concrete with plastic granules as fine
aggregate were categorized as SF2, which is suitable for many normal applications
such as walls and columns.
• Test result of T50 slump flow test shows self-compacting concrete with plastic
granules mixtures were in the boundaries of the VS2 viscosity.
• The addition of 5% plastic granules into the alccofine-fly ash based SCC decreased
the compressive strength by 0.39%, split tensile strength by 5.12% and flexural
strength by 0.75% in comparison with control mix.
• Decrease in compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength were
observed as plastic granule content increased in comparison with control mix
and the mix with fly ash-alccofine based SCC without plastic granules. This may
be because the plastic granule has lesser density when compared with natural
aggregate and also due to the poor adhesive strength between the surface of the
plastic granules and the cement paste.
• So, it can be concluded that, the fly ash based SCC with 10% alccofine and
5% plastic granules gives better strength than the target strength. So it can be
effectively replaced with fine aggregate.
References
1. Bernal AS, Juengera GCM, Snellings R (2019) Supplementary cementitious materials: new
sources, characterization, and performance insights. Cem Concr Res 122:257–273
2. Gogal A, Sharma D, Sharma S (2016) Utilization of waste foundry slag and alccofine for
developing high strength concrete. Int J Electrochem Sci 3190–3205
3. Jamnu MA, Upadhyay SP (2014) Effect on compressive strength of high performance concrete
incorporating alccofine and fly ash. Int J Innovative Res Sci Eng Technol 3(2):124–128
4. Jawahar JG, Sashidhar C, Venkata KB (2019) Investigation on ternary blended self compacting
concrete using fly ash and alccofine. Int J Recent Technol Eng 7(5S2):447–451
5. Mathur A, Mathur M (2018) Performance of concrete by partial replacement of alccofine
– 1203. Int J Eng Res Technol 6(11):1–5
6. Mini KM, Mohan A (2018) Strength and durability studies of SCC incorporating silica fume
and ultra-fine GGBS. J Constr Build Mater 171:919–928
7. EFNARC (2002) Specification and guidelines for self-compacting concrete. www.efnarce.org
8. Aggarwal P, Aggarwal Y, Khatana SR (2015) Effect of alccofine on fresh and hardened prop-
erties of self compacting concrete. In: National conference on technological innovations for
sustainable infrastructure, pp 13–14
9. Anto J, Baby B (2017) Study of properties of self compacting concrete with micro steel fibers
and alccofine. Int Res J Adv Eng Sci 2(2):83–87
10. Kala FT, Kavitha S (2016) Evaluation of strength behavior of self-compacting concrete using
alccofine and GGBS as partial replacement of cement. Indian J Sci Technol 9(22)
11. Hama MS, Hilal NN (2016) Fresh properties of self-compacting concrete with plastic waste
as partial replacement of sand. Int J Sustain Built Environ 6:299–308
12. Aboutaleb D, Maallem M, Safi B, Saidi M (2013) The use of plastic waste as fine aggregate
in the self-compacting mortars: effect on physical and mechanical properties. J Constr Build
Mater 43:436–442
13. Daraei A, Faraj RH, Sherwani AFH (2019) Mechanical, fracture and durability properties of
self-compacting high strength concrete containing recycled polypropylene plastic particles. J
Build Eng 25:100808
14. Milehsara DS, Nik SA, Omran LO, Sadrmomtazi1 A (2015) The combined effects of waste
PET particles and pozzolanic materials on the properties of self-compacting concrete. J Cleaner
Prod 1–17
15. Al-Hadithia AI, Moslehb WK, Noamana AT (2019) Mechanical properties and impact behavior
of PET fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SCC). Compos Struct 224:1–12
Effect of Magnetized Water
with Coconut Fibre Reinforced Concrete
C. Nived, M. Sherin Babu, P. Adithya Das, Noble M. Babu, and P. E. Kavitha
Abstract Sustainability is a wide accepted concept in modern construction scenario.

Even though the construction industry is revolutionizing in a significant manner in
terms of both equipment and materials used, the cost of construction has skyrocketed
along with the deteriorative impact on environment. This resulted in the adoption of a
more balanced approach with the environment which lead to the adoption of natural
coconut fibre for the strength enhancement in concrete. Coconut fibre is available
in abundance, which makes it quite viable as a reinforcement material in concrete.
Significant changes in constituents and properties of concrete were initiated and
Engineers started using coconut fibre as supplementary materials in concrete, often
with adequate considerations. Through research and tests the change in properties of
concrete when normal water is replaced by magnetic water is observed. The magne-
tized water helps in increasing the compressive strength in concrete and the problem
of shrinkage crack formation due to the higher heat of hydration is eliminated by the
addition of coconut fibre [1]. Addition of Coconut fibre helps in increasing the flexural
strength of concrete. The magnetized water contributes to higher strength character-
istics of the concrete and fibre being natural in origin is ecologically sustainable and
can bring down the global carbon footprint quite effectively.
C. Nived (B) · M. Sherin Babu · P. Adithya Das · N. M. Babu · P. E. Kavitha

M. Sherin Babu
P. Adithya Das
N. M. Babu
P. E. Kavitha

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_12
122 C. Nived et al.
Keywords Magnetized water · Coconut fibre · Sustainability · Reinforcement

material · Compressive strength · Flexural strength
1 Introduction
Concrete is most widely used man-made construction material in the world. Recent
studies show variation strength of concrete with type of water used. The construc-
tion industry is revolutionizing in two major ways. One way is the development of
construction techniques, such as using automated tools in construction. The other
is the advancement in high-performance construction materials, such as the intro-
duction of high strength concrete. Among these high-performance materials, fibre
reinforced concrete (FRC) is gradually gaining acceptance from civil engineers. In
recent years, research and development of fibers and matrix materials and fabrication
process related to construction industry have grown rapidly. Their advantages over
other construction materials are their high tensile strength to weight ratio, ability to
be molded into various shapes and potential resistance to environmental conditions,
resulting in potentially low maintenance cost. These properties make FRC composite
a good alternative for innovative construction. They are also non-abrasive in nature,
cheap and easily available. Research work is being carried out to find the possibility
of coconut-fibre as a vertical reinforcement in mortar-free interlocking structures.
This is believed to be a cost-effective solution to earthquake-resistant housing. This
study aims to investigate the effect of using magnetized water on concrete reinforced
with processed coconut fibre. The objective is to compare the engineering properties
of magnetized water concrete and concrete with ordinary tap water.
2 Constituent Materials
The constituent materials used are cement, coarse aggregates, fine aggregates,
magnetized water, and coconut fiber.
Cement used was OPC 53 grade Dalmia cement. Tests were conducted to make
sure that the cement was up to the Indian standard of specification. The Specific
gravity of Cement was found out to be 3.19. Fineness modulus was 6% and the
initial setting time of cement mortar was 42 min.
M-sand was used as fine aggregate. Tests were conducted and the results obtained
are mentioned bellow: Specific gravity: 2.5, Fineness modulus: 2.7, Water absorption:
1.10% and conforming to grading zone-II (Fig. 1).
Coarse aggregate of 20 mm nominal size were used and the specific gravity was
found out to be 2.71. The water absorption was 0.6%. The results of tests were
acceptable and the materials were proven to meet the required standards.
The admixture used is Viscosity modifying admixture (VMA). Coconut fibre was
processed and combined before adding.
Effect of Magnetized Water with Coconut Fibre Reinforced Concrete 123
120
100
80
% Passing
60
40
20
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Sieve opening(mm)
% passing lower limit for zone 2

upper limit for zone 2
Fig. 1 Particle distribution curve for fine aggregate
2.1 Magnetized Water
For magnetizing water it is circulated through a magnetic field of 1 T. The effect

of magnetizing is influenced by the time of exposure [2]. Water is magnetized for
24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h. The magnetic field can break down these water clusters
and reduce the bond angle and hence increase solubility [3]. The magnetized water
shows greater value for pH. In other words pH value indicates whether the water is
magnetized or not.
PermagN-406 is for magnetizing water at constant magnetic field. The set up
consist of a motor, pumps for circulating water and a magnetizer (Fig. 2). The
exposure time for magnetizing was 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h [4].
Power supply for under water

pump
Permag-406 (magnetizing
equipment)
Under water pump
Fig. 2 Magnetization setup

124 C. Nived et al.
2.2 Coconut Fibre (Fig. 3)
The advantages of coconut fibre are its low cost, reasonable specific strength, low
density, ease of availability, enhanced energy recovery, biodegradability and its ability
to be recycled in nature in a carbon neutral manner [5].
3 Test on Material Properties
On Magnetized Water:
PH and Hardness test: Increase in pH value will change the nature of water from
acidic to basic which decreases the corrosion rate (Fig. 4) [6]. Hardness decreases
with magnetization which shows induction of magnetic flux in water changes the
property of hardness (Fig. 5) [7].
Fig. 3 Processed and combed coconut fibre
Fig. 4 Variation of pH value with duration of applied magnetic flux

Fig. 5 Variation of hardness with duration of applied magnetic flux
On Coconut Fibre:
Water absorption test: Obtained water absorption is 111.76%.
Workability: Good workability of 18.75% is obtained for magnetized concrete
mix with coconut fibre when comparing to normal water concrete with coconut fibre.
4 Test Procedure
Tests on cement, coarse aggregate and fine aggregate are conducted to ensure that
they meet quality standards. Water is magnetised and tested using the pH meter.
Mix design used as per IS 10262:2019 [8] is of M 20 grade, cement grade: 53,
size of aggregate: 20 mm, W/C: 0.45 (by experience) using viscosity modifying
admixture as chemical admixture. Trial and error method is adopted to arrive at the
suitable normal concrete mix. Hence arrived at different mix proportions, Trial mix
1 = 1:3.7:2.04:0.45, Trial mix 2 = 1:3.23:1.76:0.4, Trial mix 3 = 1:2.95:1.62:0.4
the strength of which is tabulated below (Table 1).
From the obtained values it is evident that trial mix 3 has greater strength and
good workability than the other two mixes hence arrived at trial mix 3.
Compressive strength of cubes (M20 grade)are tested with specimens made with
magnetized water with varying magnetising time (0 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h).
The optimum time for magnetisation is obtained. Concrete mix is made with varying
Table 1 Compressive strength of trial mix done in concrete cubes (Fig. 6)

Mix 7th day strength (MPa) 28th day strength Slump
Trail mix 1 16.07 17.00 Shear slump (65 mm)
Trail mix 2 19.29 21.64 Shear slump (78 mm)
Trail mix 3 20.89 29.71 True slump (98 mm)
126 C. Nived et al.
Fig. 6 Cubes for testing
coconut fibre content (3%, 5%, and 7%) and tests are conducted. Sustainable concrete
mix is obtained.
5 Result and Discussions
5.1 Effect of Magnetized Water on Concrete
The compressive strength of cube specimens is obtained from compression testing

machine. Instead of normal water the water is magnetized for 24 hrs, 48 hrs, 72
hrs and 96 hours for casting cubes to get desirable result (Fig. 7). The compressive
strength of magnetized concrete is tabulated below
Compressive strength of MWC

Compressive strength
60
40
20
0
0 24 48 72 96
7th day 28th day MagneƟzing hours
Fig. 7 Compressive strength versus magnetization hours

Table 2 Increase in strength of 7th and 28th day of MWC (cube test)
Magnetization pH of water 7th day Increase in 28th day Increase in
(h) compressive strength (%) compressive strength (%)
0 6.84 20.89 – 29.71 –
24 7.56 21.12 1.11 30.87 3.90
48 7.93 25.29 21.06 41.60 40.02
72 7.82 24.51 17.33 40.90 37.66
96 7.43 23.31 11.58 31.83 7.14
Table 3 28th day flexural strength on magnetized water concrete

Specimen No. Flexural strength Average
1 3.4 3.53
2 3.8
3 3.8
5.2 Effect of Magnetized Water Without Coconut Fibre
Flexural strength test after 28 days of curing was performed on 3 beams of magnetized
water concrete. The results are tabulated below
5.3 Effect of Magnetized Water Concrete with Coconut Fibre
Trial mix 1 and trial mix 2 gave shear slump of 65 mm and 78 mm respectively (Table
1), which are not within the range. Hence were rejected. In trial mix 3 mix proportion
obtained is1:1.61:2.95:0.4, slump obtained is 98 mm using 3.96 mL admixture, which
is in the required range. The 28th day Strength obtained is 29.71 MPa. Hence it is
accepted. PermagN-406 is used as the magnetizer. Increased strength of 21.06% and
40.02% were obtained in 48 h and after there is a decrease of 3.01% and 2.36% in
7th and 28th day’s compressive strength respectively (Table 2). For 2.5 cm fiber [9]
Optimum flexural strength is obtained for 5% of coconut fibre (Table 4; Fig. 8).
6 Conclusions
The following conclusions are derived based on the present study;

• It is observed that magnetization of water from zero to 96 h increased pH from
6.84 to 7.91. Hence it is inferred that the process of magnetization causes an
128 C. Nived et al.
Table 4 28th day flexural strength of 48 h magnetized water concrete (coconut fibre induced)
Length Percentage of coconut fibre Specimen No. 28th day flexural strength Average
(%)
2.5 cm 3 1 4.20 4.26
2 4.40
3 4.20
5 1 5.80 5.73
2 5.80
3 5.60
7 1 4.40 4.53
2 4.60
3 4.60
Fig. 8 Graph showing variation of flexural strength with % fibre added
increase in pH value of water making the water more basic in nature and is highly
recommended in concreting.
• It is also observed that the slump of concrete mix increased from 98 to 100 mm
when magnetized water is used instead of ordinary water. Hence magnetized water
is recommended in concrete to improve the workability of concrete.
• Coconut fibre, a sustainable addition to improve the flexural strength of concrete
has been selected for the present investigation and its disadvantage of excessive
water absorption of 11.5% is overcome by using saturated surface dry coconut
fibre instead of dry fibre.
• A commonly observed disadvantage of fibre reinforced concrete is its reduced
workability [10]. In the present study the slump value of 80 mm is increase to
85 mm. Thus the disadvantage of fibre reinforced concrete is overcome in the
present study by the incorporation of magnetic water.
• Studies on strength characteristics showed that Increased strength of 21.06% and
40.02% were obtained in 48 h magnetization and after there is a decrease of 3.01%
and 2.36% in 7th and 28th day’s compressive strength respectively (Table 4).
• Based on the studies it is evident that coconut fibre reinforced shows an increased
compressive strength and flexural strength (Fig. 8) compared to ordinary concrete
and its disadvantage of low workability can be overcome by the use of magnetized
water.
References
1. Sher Mohammed, Rima Das (2011) Strength of concrete with added natural substitutes, World
Journal of Engineering (WJE). Department of civil engineering NIT, Agarthala
2. Bharath S, Subraja S, Arun Kumar P (2016) Influence of magnetized water on concrete by
replacing cement partially with copper slag. JCPS 9(4)
3. Holysz L, Szczes A, Chibowski (2007) Effects of a static magnetic field on water and electrolyte
solutions. J Colloid Interface Sci
4. Su N, Wu Y-H, Mar C-Y (2000) Effect of magnetic water on the engineering properties of
concrete containing granulated blast-furnace slag. Cem Concr Res 30
5. Aditya Tom (2015) Coconut Fibre Reinforced Concrete. [Online] 64,1–100. Available: https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/275407239_Coconut_Fibre_Reinforced_Concrete
6. Hamza bem amor, Anish Elaoud1, Mahmoud Hayzn (2018) Does magnetic field effect water
pH, Asian Res J Agric Art 8(1):39196
7. Banejad H, Abdosalehi E (2009) The effect of magnetic field on water hardness reducing. In:
Thirteenth international water technology conference, vol 29
8. IWTC Indian standard recommended guidelines for concrete mix design, IS 10262-2019,
Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi
9. Srinidhi P, Gokulapriya K, Parthiban P (2019) Experimental study on strength enhancement
of concrete by using magnetic water and coconut fiber. Int Res J Eng Technol (IRJET) 06(04).
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
10. Shivkumar GL, Vasudevan AK (2009) Strength and stiffness response of coir fiber-reinforced
tropical soil. J Mater Civ Eng 20(9)
Seismic Performance of Oblique
Columns in High Rise Building
Nikha Santhosh and Gayathri Krishna Kumar
Abstract Nowadays various construction techniques are adopted in order to increase

the seismic performance of the building. The latest technology of “weak beam and
strong column” is given more importance and hence the columns in a seismic resistant
structure play a vital role in assessing the overall strength of the building against the
effect of seismic forces. Oblique Column is the column, which neither parallel nor
at right angles to a specified line, means they are slanted or rotated at an angle.
In this paper, seismic performance of Y shaped oblique column in symmetrical
and asymmetrical high rise building was studied using Etabs 2016 software and
was compared with conventional column building. Space utilisation achieved by
adopting Y shaped column was also studied. Optimum angle of inclination of Y was
investigated. Parameters like maximum displacement, storey drift, time period of
high rise building with Y shaped were studied by performing time history analysis
and compared with conventional column building.
Keywords Oblique column · Y shaped column · Etabs · Time history analysis
1 Introduction
The level of high-rise buildings is an important indicator of technological strength.

With the continued development and progress of economy, technology and material
in recent years, pretty a few countries are conceived to design and built more and
higher buildings [1]. Due to the large population and small per capita area, the
needs of high-rise buildings become much more urgent. By the various architectural
N. Santhosh (B) · G. K. Kumar

G. K. Kumar

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_13
132 N. Santhosh and G. K. Kumar
features and style, more and more complex high rise buildings are appearing. High
rise structures can be one that by virtue of height is affected by lateral forces due to
wind or earthquake or sometimes both [2].
In any type of structure, the basic purpose of all kinds of structural systems is to
transfer gravity loads effectively. Dead loads, live load and snow load are the most
common loads resulting from the effect of gravity. Other than these vertical loads,
buildings are also subjected to lateral loads caused by wind, blasting or earthquake.
Because of lateral loads, high stresses in structure or sway movement or vibration can
occur [3]. Therefore, structure should have sufficient strength against vertical loads
together with adequate stiffness to resist lateral forces. Conventional seismic design
attempts to make buildings that do not collapse under strong earthquake shaking,
but may sustain damage to non-structural elements and to some structural members
in the building. This may render the building non-functional after the earthquake,
which may be problematic in some structures, like hospitals, which need to remain
functional in the aftermath of the earthquake [3, 4]. The latest technology of “weak
beam and strong column” is given more importance and hence the columns in a
seismic resistant structure play a vital role in assessing the overall strength of the
building against the effect of seismic forces [5, 6]. The use of oblique columns instead
of normal columns is an innovative technique to increase the seismic resistance of
high rise building [1, 5, 6].
A vertical structural member subjected to axial compression in the majority with
some or no moment is termed as a column. The Oblique Column is the column,
which neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified line, means they are slanted
or rotated at an angle [2, 7–9]. In recent years, many buildings are constructed in
irregular structure system with inclined columns. Inclined columns are originated
from the category of structural framing members gravity load loaded columns and
can be applied to both rigid as well as braced frames [5]. In this paper, the seismic
performance and space utility that can be achieved by adopting Y shaped oblique
columns was studied.
2 Methodology Adopted
A 3D model is created using Etabs 2016 with conventional column. Design check is
carried out for each model to determine the maximum span length that the column can
carrying safely. All columns are replaced by Y shaped column by providing inclined
members, in the failure models. Space utilisation acquired by using Y columns and
amount of concrete required is estimated. Non-linear dynamic analysis using time
history analysis is performed to study the seismic behaviour of structure with Y
columns. The results based on the parameters, maximum storey displacement, storey
drift and time period are evaluated to arrive at conclusions. The time history function
data entered for analysis process was that of El Centro California.
Seismic Performance of Oblique Columns in High Rise Building 133
3 Modeling of Structure
G + 14 storey building of plan dimension 34 m × 16 m is modelled. Storey height

is taken as 3 m. All beams are of the size 300 mm × 450 mm and column size is mm
300 mm × 800 mm. M30 grade concrete and Fe 500 steel is used for the structural
members. Slab thickness is considered as 125 mm. Models having same building
layout with different column spacing is modelled with conventional to determine
the maximum span length that can be provided between the normal columns safely.
Table 1 shows the various models created to determine the maximum span length
that can be provided between the normal columns and to estimate the reduction in
the number of column when Y column is used.
Columns are modified into Y shape, where the normal columns fail by providing
two symmetrical inclined members on either side of the column. Inclined members
are provided at a slope of 1V: 2H. Figures 1 and 2 shows the plan view of all the
models with rectangular and Y column respectively.
To study the seismic behaviour of building with Y column, models with various
angle of inclination with respect to the vertical axis at two different depth from the
ceiling is created. Table 2 shows the various model created for the analysis.
3.1 Loading
A live load of 4 kN/m2 is applied as per IS: 875 (Part II) 1987 and the dead load
is software assigned. Lateral loads are applied as seismic load in X and Y direction
as per IS 1893 (Part 1 2002). The design earthquake load is computed based on the
zone factor of 0.24, medium soil, importance factor of 1 and the response reduction
factor of 5. The support conditions are assumed as fixed.
Table 1 Models
Model ID Type of column No. of bays in X direction Length of longer span
MR1 Rectangular 7 (Unequal spacing) 6
MR2 Rectangular 6 (Equal spacing) 6
MR3 Rectangular 5 (Unequal spacing) 8
MY1 Y 5 8
MR4 Rectangular 5 10
MY2 Y 5 10
(a) MR1 (b) MR2
(c) MR3 (d) MR4
Fig. 1 Plan view of models with rectangular columns
(a) MY1 (b) MY2
Fig. 2 Plan view of models with Y columns
4 Analysis and Discussion
To estimate the reduction in the number of columns, design check is carried out in
Etabs. Seismic behaviour of models with Y shaped columns is studied by conducting
time history analysis.
Table 2 Y column models

Model Id Angle of inclination (°) Depth of inclination (m)
AY10 10 1
AY20 20
AY30 30
AY40 40
AY45 45
AY50 50
AY55 55
AY60 60
BY10 10
BY20 20
BY30 30 1.5
BY40 40
BY45 45
BY50 50
4.1 Design Check Results
Design check was performed in all the modelled structures. Overstressed beam and
failure of columns were identified using the design check process which will be
indicated in red colour and pink colour indicates that all members passed the design
check. In MR1, MR2 all the rectangular column and beam members pass the design
check. So the members provided are sufficient to carry the loads safely. In MR3 and
MR4 members in the longer span undergo failure. Maximum spacing that can be
provided between the normal columns is found as 6 m.
In models MR3 and MR4 all the columns, except the corner columns are replaced
by Y shaped columns. Figure 3 shows the plan view design check results of model
MY1 and MY2.
Fig. 3 a Design check of model MY1. b Design check of model MY2

Table 3 Comparison of rectangular and Y shaped columns

Normal columns Y shaped columns Percentage change (%)
No. of columns 32 24 25
Column free space area 428.8 m2 472 m2 10.07
Quantity of concrete 1861.25 m3 1937.614 m3 4.06
And it is seen that all the members passed the design check (indicated by pink
colour). So the members provided are sufficient to carry the loads safely. Table 3
shows the comparison between rectangular and Y shaped columns.
Comparing the model MR1 and MY2, in which the beam column layout remains
the same, 32 numbers of rectangular columns, can be replaced by 24 Y columns of
same cross section. The reduction in the number of columns increases the column
free space, thereby increase the floor utility. Quantity of concrete required for the
whole structure was also determined.
4.2 Seismic Analysis Results
Maximum storey displacement, storey drifts and time period are determined by using
time history analysis, at different angle of inclination of Y column and at two different
depths. Figures 4 and 5 shows the maximum storey displacement obtained along
longer direction at a depth of 1 m and 1.5 m respectively.
Maximum displacement obtained for the base model (MR1) is 23.16 mm.
Maximum displacement is found to be minimum at an inclination of 50° and 40°
when depth is 1 m and 1.5 m respectively.
Storey drift of the base model is obtained as 0.000626. Storey drift goes on
decreasing up to 50° and 40° inclination in two cases. Beyond this, there is a slight
increase in the drift values. Figures 6 and 7 shows the storey drift obtained for the
models at two different depths.
15
DISPLACEMENT (mm)
10
0
AY 10 AY20 AY30 AY40 AY45 AY50 AY55 AY60
Series1 12.5 12.4 11.9 10.6 10.3 10.08 12.03 12.8
MODELS
Fig. 4 Maximum storey displacement for models at an inclination depth of 1 m

15
DISPLACEMENT
10
(mm)
5
0
BY10 BY20 BY30 BY40 BY45 BY50
Series1 12.653 11.331 10.723 9.2 9.412 9.8
MODELS
Fig. 5 . Maximum storey displacement for models at an inclination depth of 1.5 m
0.0005
STOREY DRIFT
0.0004
0.0003
0.0002
0.0001
0
AY10 AY20 AY30 AY40 AY45 AY50 AY55 AY60
MODELS
Fig. 6 Storey drift for models at an inclination depth of 1 m
0.0005
STOREY DRIFT
0.0004
0.0003
0.0002
0.0001
0
BY10 BY20 BY30 BY40 BY45 BY50
MODELS
Fig. 7 Storey drift for models at an inclination depth of 1.5 m
Time period of the base model is obtained as 2.18 s. At 50° inclination time period
is obtained as 1.635 s and on further increase in the angle of inclination time period
goes on increasing for the models having depth 1 m. When the depth of inclination
is 1.5 m, time period obtained as 1.419 s for 40° inclination.
While comparing the three parameters, optimum angle of inclination is obtained
as 50° and 40° for a depth of 1 m and 1.5 m respectively. Among the two models,
Table 4 Comparison of the seismic performance of optimum Y models and normal column
Normal column Y columns
A B
Max. storey displacement (mm) 23.16 10.08 9.2
Storey drift 0.000626 0.000379 0.000337
Time period (sec) 2.18 1.635 1.419
Y column provided at a depth of 1.5 m with an angle of inclination 40° gives better
seismic performance. Table 4 shows the seismic performance comparison of optimum
models.
5 Conclusions
Based on the limited study of the seismic performance of oblique column in G + 14

storey building, following conclusions can be drawn:
• By adopting Y shaped column the number of normal columns can be reduced by
25%. Hence, floor area can be increased by 10%, but there is a 4% increase in the
quantity of concrete.
• Seismic resistance of the structure can be increased by replacing normal columns
with Y shaped columns.
• Y columns provided at a depth of 1 m shows better performance when the angle of
inclination is 50° and for columns provided at a depth of 1.5 m better performance
is shown at an angle of 40°.
• Among the two optimum models, y column provide at 1.5 m depth and at an
inclination of 40° show better seismic performance. There is decrease of 60.27%
in maximum displacement, 46.16% in storey drift and time period get reduced by
31%.
References
1. Hua K, Yang Y (2012) Study on high-rise structure with oblique columns by ETABS, SAP2000,
MIDAS/GEN and SATWE. Procedia Eng 31:474–480
2. Jaiswal M, Prusty SD (2017) A Comparative analysis on zigzag structure with varia tion in
inclination angle of column subject to lateral load. In: The international conference on composite
materials and structures. Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad
3. Bagheri B, Firoozabad ES (2012) Comparative study of the static and dynamic analysis of
multi-storey irregular building. Int J Civ Environ Eng 6(11)
4. Todorovska MI (1999) Base isolation by a soft first story with inclined columns. J Eng Mech
125(4):448–457
5. Rouzmehr F, Saleh Jalali R (2014) Response of buildings with inclined first-story columns to
near-fault ground motion. J Rehabil Civ Eng 2–1:19–34
6. Reddy KN (2017) A study on multi-storeyed building with oblique columns by using ETABS.
Int J Innovative Res Sci Eng Technol 6
7. Radha BP, Vijaya GS (2018) Seismic analysis of RCC structure with inclined additional columns
at corner columns. Int J Civ Eng Technol (IJCIET) 9(6)
8. Abhilash AS, Keerthi Gowda BS (2016) A comparative study of multi-storey RC structures
with Y-shaped columns. In: International conference on trends and recent advances in civil
engineering, TRACE 2016
9. Narayanan V, Aiswarya S (2017) Effect of oblique column and viscous damper on podium
structure using Etabs. Int Res J Eng Technol (IRJET) 04(05)
Experimental Investigation
on the Performance of Self Compacting
Concrete Using Copper Slag
Ajana Prince and M. Preethi
Abstract Copper manufacturing industry produces bulk quantity of copper slag as

an industrial by-product. Its management and disposal is a major challenge for the
environment, thus an urgent need for its potential alternative is recommended. The
intent of the current work was to design self-compacting concrete mixes incorporating
copper slag as fine aggregate replacement. Self-compacting concrete is a highly
flowable type of concrete that spreads into the form and compact without the need
for external vibration. Self-compacting concrete was developed as per IS 10262:2019
using copper slag as fine aggregates with partial and full replacement of sand. Five
different SCC mixes with 0% as control mix, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of
copper slag substituting sand were cast and tested for both fresh and mechanical
properties. The results obtained indicates that the flowability and passing ability of
SCC mixes enhanced as the content of copper slag increased. Compressive strength
and split tensile strength were also increased as the content of copper slag enhanced.
A substitution of up to 40% copper slag as a sand replacement yielded compressive
strength of about 41.23 MPa.
Keywords SCC · Copper slag · Flyash · Fine aggregate
1 Introduction
Self-compacting is the newest innovating category of high performance concrete

characterized for its unique quality to flow and compact by itself under its own
weight in highly dense reinforcement without any application of external or internal
vibration. The use of relatively high content of binder as well as high dosages of
chemicals admixtures as compared to conventional concrete will enhances fluidity
A. Prince (B) · M. Preethi

M. Preethi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_14
142 A. Prince and M. Preethi
and maintains its stability without segregation and bleeding [1]. Aggregates perform
significant character in enhancing the strength and workability of concrete, as it
occupies about 60–70% volume in the concrete matrix. Incorporating huge volume
of aggregates in construction possibly will lead to scarcity of aggregates and also
cause an interruption for a sustainable environment. To eliminate such environmental
obstacles and to overcome the inadequacy of aggregates, either supplementary mate-
rials or waste by-products generated from industries can be utilised as aggregates.
Copper slag is one such industrial by-product obtained in bulk quantity during matte
smelting and refining process of copper metal. In India, nearly 2.4 million tons of
copper slag was produced in every year, which shared about 3.5% of world’s copper
slag [2]. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using copper
slag as a partial replacement for sand in self-compacting concrete. The study includes
the following tasks:
• Evaluate the effect of copper slag replacement on the fresh properties of concrete
• Investigate the effect of copper slag replacement as a fine aggregate on the
compressive, tensile and flexural strength of concrete mixes.
2 Materials Used
Ordinary Portland cement of grade 53 conforming IS 8112-1989 and class F flyash

con-forming to IS 3812: 1981 is used as cementitious materials. The flyash used is
in dry dense form. It is gray to brown in colour. Physical properties and chemical
composition and of flyash are given in Table 1. The fine aggregate used are M-Sand
having a specific gravity of 2.75 and copper slag with a specific gravity of 3.5 and
both of them have comparable gradations, which satisfy grading limit, zone 2 as
per IS 383:1970. Copper slag is a by-product material produced from the process
of manufacturing copper and its chemical compositions are given in Table 2. The
water absorption of copper slag is 0.38% which is very much less when compared
to that of M-sand with 1.31%. Figure 1 shows the particle size distribution curve
of M-Sand and copper slag. Coarse aggregates of maximum 12.5 mm size were
used in SCC mixes. Poly-carboxylate ether-based superplasticizers in liquid form
having a specific gravity of about 1.10 is used at a dosage of 0.3–0.8% by weight of
cementitious materials to improve workability.
Table 1 Physical properties and chemical composition of flyash

Physical properties Chemical composition % of chemical component
Specific gravity 2.2 SiO2 63.8
Specific surface area 649.9 m2 /kg Al2 O3 21.29
Average particle size 22.2 µm CaO 2.9
Form Powder Fe2 O3 0.39
Experimental Investigation on the Performance … 143
Table 2 Chemical
Chemical composition % of chemical component
composition of copper slag
FeO 45
SiO2 28
Al2 O3 2
CaO 1.5
MgO 1
Fig. 1 Particle size 120

distribution curve for fine 100
aggregate
% Passing
80 % Passing
of CS
60
40 % Passing
of M-sand
20
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Sieve Opening (mm) (log scale)
3 Mixture Proportions
M30 control mix was developed according to IS 10262:2019 by trial and error
method. Percentage of flyash is fixed same for all mix which is 25%. Class F fly ash is
known to control the destructive alkali aggregate reaction when used to replace 15–
30% of portland cement and also due to the increased pozzolanic action it mainly
helps in the development of strength [3]. Then six concrete mixes were prepared
including control mix by partially replacing M-Sand with different proportion of
copper slag ranging from 0 to 50% at an increment of 10%. Mix with 10% copper
slag was designated as CS10 where CS stands for copper slag. In the same way, other
mixes were designated with change in the percentage of CS. The mix proportions of
all concrete mixes are shown in Table 3. The quantities of CS and sand were varied
by equivalent volume method.
The fresh properties were performed in order to assess the flowability, passing ability,
and the viscosity of SCC; which are the key principals of designing SCC. From
the results, it was inferred that there was improvement in workability values on
Table 3 Mix proportions of different SCC mixes

Mix CS0 CS10 CS20 CS30 CS40 CS50
Free water-binder ratio 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42
Cement (kg/m3 ) 320 320 320 320 320 320
Flyash (kg/m3 ) 110 110 110 110 110 110
Water (kg/m3 ) 180 180 180 180 180 180
M-sand (kg/m3 ) 1000 900 800 700 600 500
Copper slag (%) 0 10 20 30 40 50
Copper slag (kg/m3 ) 0 127 254.5 382 509 636.5
Coarse aggregate (kg/m3 ) 765 765 765 765 765 765
Superplasticizer (kg/m3 ) 3.44 3.44 3.44 3.44 3.44 3.44
addition of copper slag. All the mixes were in good accordance with the classifications
prescribed in the IS code.
4.1.1 Slump Flow and T50
Slump flow diameters in the range of 668–688 mm were observed for all SCC mixes
and were categorized under the slump flow class SF2. The slump flow obtained for
40% copper slag is shown in Fig. 2 and the variations are shown in Fig. 3. From
Table 4, the slump flow value augmented as content of copper slag increased; and
reached 688 mm for the mix incorporating 50% copper slag. The increment in slump
flow diameter was owed to the smooth, glassy texture and low water absorption
characteristic of copper slag that increased the flow ability of SCC mixes [2]. The
time taken by SCC mixes to reach 500 mm diameter is marked as T50 and the results
indicates that T50 time varied from 3.5 to 2.4 s and all mixes were in the class VS2
Fig. 2 Slump flow of SCC

mix
Fig. 3 Slump flow for 690

688
Flow Diameter (mm)

different mixes
680 683
680
676
670 673
668
660
650
CS0 CS10 CS20 CS30 CS40 CS50
Mix Designation
Table 4 Test results of different mixes

Mixes Slump flow T50 (s) Strength (MPa)
(mm) (fcu )a (fcu )b (ft )b (fcr )b
CS0 668 3.5 25.12 36.79 3.12 5.27
CS10 673 3.3 26.31 37.54 3.47 5.63
CS20 676 3.2 28.16 39.69 3.79 5.94
CS30 680 2.9 29.8 40.99 4.18 6.31
CS40 683 2.7 30.52 41.23 4.13 6.34
CS50 688 2.4 29.27 39.42 3.86 6.17
fcu = cube compressive strength, ft = tensile strength, fcr = flexural strength
a Cured at 7 days
b Cured at 28 days
on the basis of viscosity. The T50 time decreased as there was increase in copper slag
content which is shown in Table 4. This could be due to the low water absorption
characteristic of copper slag grains [4].
4.1.2 V-Funnel
It was inferred from the Table 5 that, the time taken to empty the funnel was maximum
for the concrete mix having 0% copper slag. It decreased with the increasing content
of copper slag. All the mixes were under the viscosity class V1. As shown in Fig. 4,
the V-funnel time decreased from 7.5 to 5.8 s as the amount of copper slag increased
Table 5 V-funnel test and L-box test of SCC mixes

S. No. Mix L box ratio V funnel time (s)
1 CS0 0.84 7.5
2 CS40 0.91 5.8
Fig. 4 V funnel time 7.5

8
7
5.8
V Funnel time (s)

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
CS0 CS40
Mix Designation
Fig. 5 L box ratio 0.92 0.91

0.9
L Box ratio
0.88
0.86
0.84
0.84
0.82
0.8
CS0 CS40
Mix Designation
from 0% to optimum content of 40% [5]. The set up for the V-funnel test was shown
in Fig. 6.
4.1.3 L-Box
The L-box test determined the passing ability of SCC mix which enables the flow
through tight openings and congested reinforcements [6]. It can be noticed from
Fig. 5 that blocking ratio ranged from 0.84 to 0.91 for SCC mixes containing 0% to
optimum content of 40% copper slag. The results are shown in Table 5. The apparatus
for the L-box test was shown in Fig. 7.
4.2 Strength Properties
4.2.1 Compressive Strength
Compressive strength tests were carried out on cubic specimens of size 150 mm ×
150 mm × 150 mm after 7 and 28 days of curing. Table 4 shows that the compres-
sive strength of control concrete was found to be 36.79 MPa at 28-day curing period.
Fig. 6 V funnel apparatus

for SCC mix
Fig. 7 L box test for SCC

mix
Maximum enhancement in strength of about 12% was observed for SCC incorpo-
rating 40% copper slag compared to control concrete at 28 days curing. This strength
gain was mainly due to the sharp edges of slag particles, it helps in improving cohe-
sion of the concrete matrix [7]. However, an insignificant reduction in strength of
about 4.6% was observed beyond 40% copper slag replacement. The excessive free
water content in the concrete mixes with high copper slag content causes the parti-
cles of the constituents to separate and leaves pores in the hardened concrete which
41.23
40.99
39.69
39.42
50
37.54
36.79
Compressive Strength
40
30.52
29.27
28.16
29.8
Characteristic
26.31
25.12
(MPa)
30
7 day
20
28 day
10
0
Mix Designation
Fig. 8 Characteristic compressive strength of concrete mixes
5
4.18 4.13
3.79 3.86
Tensile strngth (MPa)
4 3.47
3.12
3
0
Mix designation
Fig. 9 Tensile strength of concrete mix
consequently causes reduction in the concrete strength [8]. Figure 8 represents the
variation in compressive strength for different mixes.
4.2.2 Splitting Tensile Strength
Test were carried out on cylinder specimens of size 150 mm × 300 mm. Utilization
of copper slag in SCC mixes increased split tensile strength up to 30% replacement
at 28 day curing as presented in Table 6 [8]. The strength augmented from 3.12
to 4.18 MPa for SCC mix from 0 to 30% copper slag. After 30% replacement the
strength decreased to 4.13 MPa and is shown in Fig. 9.
4.2.3 Flexural Strength
The 28 day flexural strength values for concrete are presented in Table 6. The tests
were done in beam specimen of size 100 mm × 100 mm × 500 mm. Utilization of
Fig. 10 Flexural strength of 7 6.31 6.34

5.94 6.17
Flexural strength (MPa)

concrete mix 5.63
6 5.27
5
4
3
2
1
0
Mix designation
copper slag in SCC mixes increased flexural strength to 6.34 MPa at 40% replacement
and then decreased to 6.17 MPa after 40% replacement and is shown in Fig. 10.
5 Conclusion
Copper slag is a non-hazardous material. For the same water cement ratio and
fixed quantity of superplasticizer, SCC mixes could be designed resulting increased
strength results. The incorporation of copper slag in SCC mixes as fine aggregate
replacement escalated the fresh properties. Slump flow values, V funnel times and
L-box ratio of all mixes were in the class of SF2 and VF1 respectively. Following
conclusion can be drawn based on the research conducted.
1. The glassy texture and the low water absorption characteristic of copper slag
grains led to improved fresh properties of SCC mixes.
2. The compressive strength and flexural strength of concrete was highest for 40%
copper slag and a decline in strength was noticed beyond 40%. The decrease in
strength was due to the increase in free water content on higher replacement
3. Split tensile strength augmented in SCC mixes incorporating copper slag up to
30% substitution. The strength enhancement owed to the angular edges of copper
slag grains that led to the improvement in the cohesion of concrete matrix.
4. Therefore, it is recommended that up to 40% of copper slag can be used as a
replacement for fine aggregates in order to obtain a concrete with good strength
requirements based on compressive strength results.
References
1. Khatib JM (2008) Performance of self-compacting concrete containing fly ash. Constr Build
Mater 22:1963–1971
2. Al-Jabri KS, Al-Saidy AH, Taha R (2011) Effect of copper slag as a fine aggregate on the
properties of cement mortars and concrete. Constr Build Mater 25:933–938
3. Mohamad OA, Najm OF (2016) Compressive strength and stability of sustainable self-
consolidating concrete containing fly ash, silica fume, and GGBS. Int J Environ Res 1–16
4. Al-Jabri KS, Hisada M, Al-Oraimi SK, Al-Saidy AH (2009) Copper slag as sand replacement
for high performance concrete. Cem Concr Compos 31:483–488
5. Zhao H, Sun W, Wu X, Gao B (2015) The properties of the self-compacting concrete with fly
ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag mineral admixtures. J Clean Prod 95:66–74
6. Uysal M, Sumer M (2011) Performance of self-compacting concrete containing different mineral
admixtures. Constr Build Mater 25:4112–4120
7. Wu W, Zhang W, Ma G (2010) Optimum content of copper slag as a fine aggregate in high
strength concrete. Mater Des 31:2878–2883
8. Vijayaraghavan J, Belin Jude A, Thivya J (2017) Effect of copper slag, iron slag and recycled
concrete aggregate on the mechanical properties of concrete. Resour Policy 53:219–225
Development of Metakaolin and Flyash
Based Geopolymer Concrete at Ambient
Temperature Curing
S. Anjana Chandran and B. R. Beena
Abstract Concrete is the one of the most widely used construction material. Portland
cement is the main ingredient for making concrete. The cement industry is responsible
for about 5% of total CO2 emission worldwide, which is the main cause of global
warming. In order to reduce CO2 emission, an ecofriendly construction material
called geopolymer concrete was developed as a substitute for cement. Geopolymer
concrete is a type of concrete which is produced by the chemical reaction of inor-
ganic molecules. The aim of the study is to develop a geopolymer concrete using
metakaolin and fly ash as binder material. Different proportion of metakaolin and
fly ash were prepared by varying the proportion of activator to binder ratio from 0.6
to 1.0. The performance of different mixes were compared using mechanical prop-
erties like compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength. Sodium
hydroxide solution with 12 M concentration and sodium silicate solution were used
as activator in a proportion of 2:5. The coarse aggregate consisted of graded gravel
with a maximum size of 12.5 mm and fine aggregates was M sand. From the present
study geopolymer concrete of compressive strength 32.21 N/mm2 was developed.
The optimized mix was obtained with the activator to binder ratio 0.9 as well as
60:40 proportion of metakaolin and fly ash.
Keywords Geopolymer · Metakaolin · Fly ash · Activator to binder ratio ·

NaOH · Na2 SiO3
S. Anjana Chandran (B) · B. R. Beena

Ernakulum 683577, India
B. R. Beena

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_15
152 S. Anjana Chandran and B. R. Beena
1 Introduction
Nowadays, the necessity of using environmental friendly construction materials

which supports the concepts of sustainable development is one of the main envi-
ronmental concerns in the construction industry. The production of Ordinary Port-
land Cement (OPC) is one of the main cause of global warming. For producing one
tonne of cement requires about two tonnes of raw materials (shale and limestone)
and it releases about 0.87 tonne of CO2 , about 3 kg of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx ), an air
contaminant that contributes to ground level smog and 0.4 kg of PM10 (Particulate
matter of size 10 µm), an air borne particulate matter that is harmful to the respira-
tory tract when inhaled. The global release of CO2 from all sources is estimated at
23 billion tonnes a year and the portland cement production accounts for about 7%
of total CO2 emissions. But, the use of concrete and cement-based composites, as the
most widely used construction materials, are still inevitable in the future. Thus, the
use of supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, metakaolin, rice husk
ash and slag or finding alternative cement-less binders to OPC are essential. Devel-
opment of geopolymer as an alternative cement-less binder to OPC was one of the
significant breakthrough in the field of concrete technology in the twentieth century.
The term geopolymer concrete was initially introduced by Davidovits. Geopolymer
is synthesised from materials of geological origin such as metakaolin or industrial
by-products such as fly ash and slag etc. They are rich in silica and alumina with high
alkaline activators. Manufacture of fly ash based geopolymer have at least 80% less
CO2 emission and approximately 60% less embodied energy compared to production
of OPC.
Over the last few decades, extensive researches and developments on geopolymer
technology have been undertaken worldwide with hopes to promote the geopolymer
concrete as an ultimate sustainable construction material for the future. From the
studies it is pointed out that the rate of polymer formation is influenced by many
parameters like, curing temperature, water content, fly ash/metakaolin ratio, alkali
concentration, initial solids content, silicate and aluminate ratio, pH and the type
of activators used [1–3] and mechanical properties of the geopolymers are greatly
dependent on the concentration of NaOH solution. The strength of the geopolymer
increase along with the increase of NaOH concentration within 4–12 mol/l [1] also
pozzolanic reactions are accelerated by increase in curing temperature and time up
to a limit [4, 5]. Geopolymer with Si/Al ≥ 3 showed worse chemical stability in
air than those with Si/Al ≤ 2.5 [6]. In the present study, metakaolin and fly ash
based geopolymer with activator to binder ratio between 0.6 and 1.0 was developed
and optimized, to make geopolymer concrete with a view towards application as
a construction material. Fly ash is a solid waste while kaolin is a non-renewable
(although abundant) natural clay resource. Metakaolin is highly reactive due to its
fine size and amorphous nature [2].
Development of Metakaolin and Flyash Based Geopolymer … 153
Table 1 Chemical composition of fly ash

Constituents SiO2 Al2 O3 CaO Fe2 O3
Mass % 63.8 21.29 0.44 0.39
Table 2 Chemical composition of metakaolin

Constituents SiO2 Al2 O3 Fe2 O3 TiO2 CaO MgO Na2 O K2 O Loss on ignition
Mass % 52.0 40.0 3.60 2.65 1.09 0.03 0.10 0.03 1.00
2.1 Materials
The primary aluminosilicate source material used in preparing geopolymer speci-

mens were metakaolin and fly ash blend. Commercially produced metakaolin with
an average particle size of 1.86 µm and low calcium fly ash with an average particle
size of 22.2 µm were collected from a local supplier. The specific gravity of fly ash
and metakaolin was found to be 2.3 and 2.6 respectively. Chemical compositions of
fly ash and metakaolin are employed were shown in Tables 1 and 2.
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate solution (Na2 SiO3 ) were used
as alkali activators. NaOH pellets as well as Na2 SiO3 gel used were procured from
the local supplier. Sodium hydroxide pellets having 98% purity and sodium silicate
solution with composition of 15.9% Na2 O, 31.4% SiO2 and 52.7% H2 O were used for
alkali activation, with specific gravity 1.6. Here M sand with specific gravity 2.75,
fineness modulus 2.785 and water absorption 1.27% was used as fine aggregate
at saturated surface dry condition. Crushed angular coarse aggregate from a local
source, having a maximum size of 12.5 mm, was used for the present study having
specific gravity 2.79 and water absorption 0.60%. The test for aggregates conducted
as per IS 2386-1963 (part 3).
2.2 Mixture Proportions
Initially the ratio between Na2 SiO3 and NaOH was kept constant as 2.5 for all the
mixes. Then mix design was by varying the activator- binder ratios ranging from 0.6 to
1.0, by keeping NaOH molarity constant at 12 M (480 g of NaOH pellets dissolved in
1 L distilled water) and metakaolin to fly ash proportion as 60 and 40%. The material
quantity of various mixes were shown in Table 3. Once the optimum proportion of
activator to binder was obtained, effect of binder proportion was studied by varying
the proportion of metakaolin to fly ash by 20–80, 40–60, 60–40 and 80–20. There
by the proportion of Si/Al got modified as shown in Table 4.
Table 3 Mix proportion

Material Quantity (kg/m3 )
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5
Activator to Binder ratio (A/B) 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Fly ash 138 129.8 122.66 116.21 110.4
Metakaolin 207 194.8 183.99 174.31 165.6
Coarse aggregate 1304 1304 1304 1304 1304
Fine aggregate 554 554 554 554 554
NaOH 59.14 64.94 70.09 74.7 78.85
Na2 SiO3 147.86 162.36 175.24 186.77 197.15
Table 4 Variation of Si/Al ratio of mixes

Mix name GP1 GP2 GP3 GP4
% Metakaolin 20 40 60 80
Si/Al 2.45 2.10 1.80 1.5
The polymerization process is a relatively quick chemical reaction involving alka-

line liquids and Si-Al minerals. The end product is a three-dimensional polymeric
ring structure comprising of Si–O–Al-bonds [7]. So the Si/Al ratio is an essential
parameter to check the properties of geopolymer.
2.3 Specimen Preparation
The geopolymeric precursor and alkaline silicate solution were mixed by hand for
10 min before being cast into cubic moulds. The dimensions of the geopolymer cubic
specimens prepared were 150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm. The samples were then
vibrated to release any residual air bubbles. Subsequently, the moulded samples were
sealed with a film and transferred to an air-tight container to prevent moisture loss.
Geopolymers used in this study were produced under ambient conditions (room
temperature and atmospheric pressure) to ensure cost effectiveness and ease of
production in practical applications. Three samples of each batch were prepared
and average strength values were recorded. Similarly for split tensile test concrete
cylinders of size 150 mm diameter and 300 mm height and flexural test specimens
of size 100 × 100 × 500 mm were cast. M25 grade OPC concrete specimens with
water cement ratio 0.4 were also cast in the same mould and vibrated on a shake
table. It used for comparison purposes. Water curing had done for cement concrete
mixes.
35 32.21
Compressive strength (N/mm2)

29.11
30 26.84 27.51
25 22.05
20
15 7 day
10 28 day
0
Mixes
Fig. 1 Variation of compressive strength with different A/B ratio
3.1 Effect of Activator Binder Ratio on Geopolymer Concrete
Figure 1 showed the compressive strength of synthetic geopolymer concrete by

changing activator to binder (A/B) ratio. With the increase of A/B ratio up to 0.9
compressive strength increases then decreases. To study the effect of activator to
binder ratio on the compressive strength, 5 mixes were prepared by varying activator
to binder ratio from 0.6 to 1.0 and maximum compressive strength of 32.21 N/mm2
observed for Mix 4 with activator to binder ratio 0.9.
Geopolymeric material is readily workable even at a very low liquid/solid ratio
(below 0.4) but for metakaolin based geopolymer more liquid is required than fly ash
based one, due to its large surface area and very fine particle size. Also high activator
content enhances the dissolution of raw materials and increases the solubility of
silicates and aluminates which resulted in high strength. So up to a limit strength
properties increases with increase in A/B ratio. Then (After A/B ratio 0.9) strength
decreases due to decrease in binder content in geopolymer concrete.
3.2 Development of Geopolymer Concrete with Optimum

Metakaolin-Fly Ash Proportion
Clay and metakaolin are the most widely used raw materials for the production
of geopolymers. However, fly ash is also used in the production of geopolymers.
During the geopolymerisation process, fly ash reacted with the alkaline solution and
causes the formation of cementitious material. In many cases, fly ash cannot complete
dissolution before the final hardening due to the low reactivity and slow setting of the
fly ash [8]. During the geopolymerisation process, metakaolin powder partially or
completely dissolved in the alkaline solution and forms tetrahedral aluminosilicate
units. Which accelerates the polymerization process [9].
The effect of metakaolin and fly ash content on compressive strength of geopoly-
mers at ambient temperature curing is as shown in Fig. 2. The effect of variation in
the proportion of binder, metakaolin and fly ash was studied. In this case all other
parameter is fixed and only the two binder proportion are varied (20%, 40%, 60%, and
80%). With the increase of metakaolin content the strength of concrete increases. It is
because fly ash particles in geopolymers are poorly dissolved during reaction process
achieved by alkaline activation at ambient temperature, leading to high porosity and
in turn low strength in high fly ash contained geopolymers. However, in the case of
metakaolin and fly ash based geopolymer concrete with high metakaolin substitu-
tion, the microstructure appears denser, which enhances the mechanical strength of
the mixtures. Metakaolin has high reactivity, amorphous nature and very fine particle
size when compared with fly ash. Here maximum strength is obtained in a specimen
with 60% metakaolin and 40% fly ash content as binder material.
Normal OPC M25 concrete mix was cast for comparative purpose. Because the
optimum compressive strength of geopolymer is in the range of characteristic strength
of M25 mix. The flexure test and split tensile strength of the optimum geopolymer
mix and normal concrete were varied as shown in Fig. 3.
The flexural and tensile strength of geopolymer concrete is less than that of normal
M25. It may improve by incorporating fibers in geopolymer concrete.
35 32.21
28.42 27.36
30 26.34
25
19.3
(N/mm2)
20
15 7 day
10 28 day
5
0
GP20 GP40 GP60 GP80 M25
GPC with varying metakaolin percentage
Fig. 2 Variation of compressive strength with different MK percentage

(a) (b)
4 6
Flextural strength(N/mm2
Split tensile strength
5
3
4
(N/mm2)
2 3
2
1
1
0 0
GPC M25 GPC M25
Fig. 3 Test result of a split tensile strength and b flexural strength
4 Conclusion
In the present study, attempts were made to investigate the effect of activator to
binder (A/B) ratio and metakaolin fly ash ratio on the synthesis of geopolymer
concrete. From the study, it had been observed that compressive strength increased
with the increase in the A/B ratio till 0.9 and then decrease. Geopolymer with 60%
metakaolin and 40% fly ash showed high compressive strength. With increase of
metakaolin content Si/Al ratio decreases, geopolymer with Si/Al ratio 1.80 showed
high strength properties. The compressive strength of GPC increases with increase in
metakaolin percentage up to 60% it is due to its chemical composition, particle size
and large surface area. So, this study showed that 60% metakaolin substitution with
0.9 activator to binder ratio having 12 M concentration of NaOH provided a better
geopolymerization and significantly improved the compressive strength. But the flex-
ural and tensile strength of geopolymer concrete was less than normal conventional
concrete.
References
1. Li W, Yan F (2005) Synthesis and mechanical properties of metakaolinite-based geopolymer.

Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Aspects 268(1–3):1–6
2. Kong D, Sanjayan JG, Sagoe-Crentsil K (2007) Comparative performance of geopolymers
made with metakaolin and fly ash after exposure to elevated temperatures. Cem Concr Res
37(12):1583–1589
3. Zhang HY, Kodur V, Qi SL, Cao L, Wua B (2014) Development of metakaolin–fly ash based
geopolymers for fire resistance applications. Constr Build Mater 55:38–45
4. Görhan G, Aslaner R, Şinik O (2016) The effect of curing on the properties of metakaolin and
fly ash-based geopolymer paste. Compos B Eng 97:329–335
5. Al-Shathr BS, Al-Attar TS (2016) Effect of curing system on metakaolin based geopolymer
concrete. J Babylon Univ Eng Sci 24(3)
6. He P, Wang M, Fu S, Jia D, Yan S (2016) Effects of Si/Al ratio on the structure and properties
of metakaolin based geopolymer. Ceram Int 42(13):14416–14422
7. Chen L, Wang Z, Wang Y, Feng J (2016) Preparation and properties of alkali activated
metakaolin-based geopolymer. Materials 9(9):767
8. Zhang Z, HaoWanga YZ, Reid A, Provis JL, Bullena F (2014) Using fly ash to partially substitute
metakaolin in geopolymer synthesis. Appl Clay Sci 88–89(2014):194–201
9. Pavithra P, Srinivasula Reddy M, Dinakar P, Hanumantha Rao B, Satpathy BK, Mohanty AN
(2016) Effect of the Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio and NaOH molarity on the synthesis of fly ash-based
geopolymer mortar. In: Geo-Chicago. ASCE, pp 336–341
Seismic Evaluation of High Rise
Buildings Using Hybrid Configuration
of Grid Systems
K. N. Vaisakh and Neeraja Nair
Abstract The developments in construction techniques, materials, structural

systems and analytical methods for analysis opened the door for the growth of high
rise buildings. The lateral resistance of such a structure is offered by interior struc-
tural systems or exterior structural systems. Recently, grid systems are adopted in tall
buildings due to its structural efficiency, superiority in aesthetic appeal and flexibility
in architectural planning. Diagrids and hexagrids contain diamond shaped modules
and hexagons respectively, throughout exterior of structure and they don’t have any
external vertical columns. The behaviour of high rise buildings using combination of
grid systems has not been explored. This study focuses on the structural performance
of high rise steel buildings for various combinations of grid systems. In this study
ETABS V16 software was used for modelling and analysis of a 36 storey building
with regular floor plan. Models were created using combinations of diagrid and
hexagrid systems with optimum diagonal angle and module density. Time history
analysis of these models were carried out to examine their seismic performance. The
combinations with better performance were determined Combined grid system is a
viable option when governed by overall weight and cost.
Keywords Diagrid · Hexagrid · Octagrid · Time history analysis · ETABS
K. N. Vaisakh (B) · N. Nair

N. Nair

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_16
160 K. N. Vaisakh and N. Nair
1 Introduction
1.1 General
Construction of multi-storey building is rapidly increasing throughout the world due

to the rapid growth of urban population and limitation of available land. Lateral
loading due to wind or earthquake are the governing factors in the design of high rise
buildings along with the action of gravitational loading. In order to resist the lateral
loads, either interior or exterior structural systems are employed.
In the diagrid structures, the vertical columns from the periphery of the structure
are eliminated and it consists of diamond shaped modules. A triangulated configu-
ration is formed in the diagrid structural systems because of the modules and due to
this, diagrids are able to carry gravity and lateral loads and distribute them in a very
uniform and regular pattern [1].
The hexagrid consists of multiple hexagonal grids at the exterior perimeter
surfaces of building. The hexagrid system is a particular form of belt trusses mixed
tubular system and resists lateral loads acting in tension or compression. Similarly,
octagrid contain several octagons arranged at the exterior of the structure. Module
density of a hexagrid or octagrid denotes the number of hexagon or octagon modules
around the periphery [2].
1.2 Research Significance
Construction of multi-storey building is rapidly increasing throughout the world due

to efficient structural systems, advances in construction technology and shortage
of urban land available for construction. As the height of structure increases, the
influence of lateral loads increases and requires lateral load resisting structures to
resist them. The grid system is widely used for recent tall buildings due to the
structural efficiency and aesthetic potential. The employment of Diagrid, Hexagrid
or Octagrid structural systems in a building give rise to various advantages like
reduction of interior columns giving large column free spaces.
This paper focuses on the performance of hybrid combination of the grid systems
and to find the structural system that exhibits least top storey displacement and drift. It
also aims to introduce a new aspect in architectural way and improving the structural
stability of high rise buildings. A 36 storey building with a regular floor plan is used
to compare the structural weight and material cost of all building models to determine
the most economical option among the models.
Seismic Evaluation of High Rise Buildings … 161
2 Modelling and Analysis
2.1 Analysis Technique
In this paper the focus is given to seismic analysis. Seismic analysis of all models is
done using ETABS 2016 software. Time history analysis is a step by step process of
analysing the dynamic response of a structure to a specified loading that may vary
with time. The time history function data entered for analysis process was that of El
Centro Earthquake (Imperial Valley earthquake) which occurred in 1940 at southern
California. It had a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum perceived intensity
of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Comparison of results for all models
is done in terms of maximum top storey displacement, storey drift, base shear and
structural steel weight. The better model is determined by comparing the results.
2.2 Building Configuration
The 36 storey building is having 36 m × 36 in plan dimension and each storey

height is 3.6 m. The design dead load and live load on floor slab are 3.75 kN/m2 and
2.5 kN/m2 respectively. Member sizes were taken as given in the journal Jani and
Patel [3]. The design earthquake load is computed based on the zone factor of 0.16,
medium soil, importance factor of 1 and response reduction factor of 5 (IS: 1893
(Part-I), 2016). The grade of steel and concrete used is Fe250 and M25 respectively.
The thickness of slab is taken as 120 mm. The support conditions are assumed as
hinged [3] (Figs. 1, 2 and Table 1).
Fig. 1 Typical floor plan

(a) (b)
Fig. 2 a Interior column [1], b ISWB600 with top and bottom plate of 220 mm × 50 mm
Table 1 Typical member sizes [1]

Exterior columns Interior columns Beams
375 mm pipe sections with 12 mm 1500 mm × 1500 mm ISMB550
thick ( from 19 to 36th storey)
450 mm pipe sections with 25 mm ISWB600 with top and bottom
thickness ( from 1st to 18th storey) plate of 220 mm × 50 mm
2.3 Models Analysed
The various models analysed are (i) Diagrid with 6 storey modules [DIA] [1], (ii)
Hexagrid with 4 storey modules [HEX] [4], (iii) Octagrid with 3 storey modules
[OCT] [5], (iv) Diagrid from 1st to 18th storey and Hexagrid from 19 to 36th storey
[DIA-HEX], (v) Hexagrid from 1st to 18th storey and Diagrid from 19 to 36th
storey [HEX-DIA], (vi) Diagrid and Hexagrid on perpendicular sides [PS-DH], (vii)
Diagrid and Octagrid on perpendicular sides [PS-DO], (viii) Hexagrid and Octagrid
on perpendicular sides [PS-HO] (Figs. 3 and 4).
3.1 Storey Displacement
As per IS 1893 (Part 1): 2016, permissible maximum storey displacement = 0.004H
= 0.0004 * 129.6 = 0.5184 m, where H is the height of the building. The values of
storey displacement of all the models for load cases of Earthquake in x and y-direction
are found to be within the limit (Figs. 5 and 6).
Fig. 3 Elevation of a diagrid model with 6 storey modules, b hexagrid model with 4 storey modules,
c octagrid model with 3 storey modules
3.2 Storey Drift
The permissible inter-storey drift as per IS 13 (Part 1): 2016, is 0.004 h = 0.004 ×
3.6 = 0.0144 where h is the storey height of the structure. All models satisfy the
storey drift condition (Figs. 7 and 8).
3.3 Base Shear
The base shear is highest for diagrid structure and lowest for octagrid structure. The
base shear of the combination models lies between these two values (Figs. 9 and 10).
Fig. 4 Elevation of a DIA-HEX, b HEX-DIA
3.4 Structural Weight
Structural steel weight is comparatively less for octagrids and more for diagrids
(Fig. 11).
STOREY VS DISPLACEMENT ( X ) DIA

40
HEX
35
STOREY 30 OCT
25
DIA
20 HEX
15 PS HO
10 HEX
5 DIA
0 PS DH
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
PS DO
DISPLACEMENT (mm)
Fig. 5 Maximum storey displacement of various models in x-direction
DIA
STOREY VS DISPLACEMENT ( Y )
40 HEX
35
OCT
30
DIA
STOREY
25
HEX
20 HEX
15 DIA
PS DH
10
5 PS DO
0
PS HO
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
DISPLACEMENT (mm)
Fig. 6 Maximum storey displacement of various models in y-direction
STOREY VS DRIFT ( X ) DIA

40
HEX
35
30 OCT
STOREY
25 DIA
20 HEX
HEX
15 DIA
10 PS DH
5 PS DO
0 PS HO
0 0.0002 0.0004 0.0006 0.0008 0.001 0.0012
STOREY DRIFT
Fig. 7 Maximum storey drift of various models in x-direction

DIA
STOREY VS DRIFT ( Y )
40 HEX
35
OCT
30
STOREY
25 DIA
HEX
20 HEX
15 DIA
PS DH
10
5 PS DO
0
PS HO
0 0.0002 0.0004 0.0006 0.0008 0.001 0.0012
STOREY DRIFT
Fig. 8 Maximum storey drift of various models in y-direction
PS - DO
BASE SHEAR ( X )
PS - DH
2500 2062 2100 PS - HO
BASE SHEAR (kN)
2000 1689 1813 1682 1712 1706 1678

HEX
1500 DIA
DIA
1000 HEX
DIA
500
0 HEX
PS - PS - PS - HEX DIA DIA HEX OCT OCT
DO DH HO DIA HEX
Fig. 9 Base shear of various models in x-direction
BASE SHEAR (Y) PS - DO
2500 PS - DH
2076 2103
1986
2000 1821 1738 PS - HO
1682 1736 1678
BASE SHEAR (kN)
HEX
1500
DIA
DIA
1000 HEX
DIA
500
HEX
0 OCT
PS - DOPS - DHPS - HOHEX DIADIA HEX DIA HEX OCT
Fig. 10 Base shear of various models in y-direction

PS DO
STRUCTURAL WEIGHT PS DH
57000 56393.78 PS HO
STRUCTURAL WEIGHT (kN)

HEXDIA
56000 55507.18
55025.57 DIAHEX
54588.45 DIA
55000 54231.04
HEX
54000 53220.24 53344.37 OCT
53000 52470.11
52000
51000
50000
PS DO PS DH PS HO HEXDIA DIAHEX DIA HEX OCT
Fig. 11 Structural weight for various models
Table 2 Comparison of various parameters considered

Model Linear static analysis
Maximum displacement (mm) Max drift Base shear (kN)
X Y X Y X Y
DIA 42.35 42.32 0.000484 0.00048 2100 2103
HEX 53.43 52.94 0.000612 0.000601 1706 1736
OCT 103.78 102.98 0.001112 0.001103 1678 1678
DIA HEX 46.03 45.67 0.000633 0.00061 2062 2076
HEX DIA 50.72 50.44 0.000653 0.000625 1712 1738
PS DH 47.03 45.99 0.000552 0.000541 1813 1986
PS DO 84.15 51.04 0.000876 0.000622 1689 1821
PS HO 60.77 88.47 0.000745 0.00092 1682 1682
3.5 Comparison of Results
See Table 2.
4 Conclusions
Among the three grid systems, diagrid system have higher seismic resistance and
octagrid have the least. For octagrid structures the displacement reduces by about
40–50% by combining it with hexagrid and diagrid respectively. Hexagrid struc-
tures also shows reduction in displacement when used in combination with diagrid.
Considering the different combinations of the grid system, combination involving
diagrid and hexagrid have better seismic performance. The DIAHEX, HEXDIA and
PS DH combinations have better seismic resistance compared to other models. The

performance of octagrid can be improved by combining it with hexagrid or diagrid.
There is considerable reduction in the quantity of steel used for the various combina-
tions when compared to diagrid structures and hence there is reduction in the material
cost.
References
1. Jani KD, Patel PV (2013) Design of diagrid structural system for high rise steel buildings as per
indian standards. In: ASCE structures congress, 2013
2. Raghu Prasad BK, Kavya AJ (2014) Comparative performance of octagrid and hexagrid lateral
load resisting systems for tall building structure. Int J Eng Res Appl 4(11):74–80. ISSN : 2248-
9622
3. Jani KD, Patel PV (2013) Analysis and design of diagrid structural system for high rise steel
buildings. Procedia Eng 51:92–100
4. Montuori GM, Mele E, Brandonisio G, De Luca A (2014) Geometrical patterns for diagrid
buildings: exploring alternative design strategies from the structural point of view. Eng Struct
71:112–127
5. Isaac PL, Ipe BA (2017) Comparative study of performance of high rise buildings with diagrid,
hexagrid and octagrid systems under dynamic loading. Int Res J Eng Technol 04(05)
Sustainability Assessment of Terracotta
Tile Waste Based Geopolymer Building
Block
S. Usha, Deepa G. Nair, and Subha Vishnudas
Abstract Cement concrete blocks are one of the popular masonry units used in
construction. The conventional binder, cement cause heavy impact on environment
due to its high utilization of natural resources and emission of CO2 during produc-
tion. To overcome this issue an attempt has been made to develop geopolymer
binder from terracotta tile waste as alternative to cement and its application in
concrete blocks. In this paper sustainability evaluation of terracotta tile waste based
geopolymer concrete block (GCB) over cement concrete block (CCB) has been eval-
uated through a modified frame work by considering four aspects of sustainability.
Socio-cultural factor with three sub criteria (acceptance, awareness and decentral-
ized production), economic factor with four sub criteria (infrastructure, unskilled
labour, accessibility to material and material efficiency), technological factor with
two sub criteria (strength and durability), environmental factor with three sub criteria
(energy efficiency, waste management, and feasibility for reuse or renewability) of
GCB and CCB were evaluated. Quantitative evaluation of four sub criteria under
technological and environmental sustainability were discussed in detail using results
of experimental research conducted as per the standards and calculated amount of
embodied energy and CO2 emission of both the blocks, which reveals that GCB is
more sustainable than CCB. However GCB being in the infancy stage, remaining
eight sub criteria under socio-cultural, economic and environmental factors were
qualitatively analyzed using available information. The overall result indicates that
GCB is more sustainable than CCB.
Keywords Sustainability · Geopolymer · Tile waste
S. Usha (B)
Kochi, India
D. G. Nair · S. Vishnudas
Division of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, CUSAT, Kochi, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_17
170 S. Usha et al.
1 Introduction
Fundamental objective of sustainable approach is environmental protection. A

product is defined as a sustainable one, if minimum environmental impact is devel-
oped during its life cycle. To assess the sustainability of a product, step by step
evaluation from cradle to grave has to be done. Important areas are selection of
materials and design processes for sustainable products [1].
According to Brundtland sustainable development is defined as “development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs” [2]. For the civil engineering community, the concept of
sustainable development involves the use of high performance materials produced at
a reasonable cost and with the lowest possible environmental impact [3]. Practically
full sustainability achievement is not possible [1], that means for any material, it is
impossible to be perfectly sustainable [4].
Geopolymer technology points towards the sustainable and environmental
friendly approaches which minimizes energy requirements and CO2 emissions by
using industrial wastes and by products. Geopolymers are alkali activated alumino-
silicate materials with alkaline silicate solution at ambient or slightly elevated
temperatures.
Sustainable construction was conceptualized as combination of four aspects
of sustainability such as socio-cultural, economic, technological and environ-
mental sustainability. The above conceptual frame work for sustainable affordable
construction was framed by, giving equal importance to all sustainable factors [5].
Manufacture of materials and products, its handling and usage in construction and
site related activities cause environment pollution [6]. Higher the embodied energy,
higher will be the embodied carbon and higher will be the impact on global warming
[7]. CO2 emissions during the production of cement and concrete are the major
pollution inducers in construction industry. Carbon dioxide equivalent emissions
generated by geopolymer concrete were found less than that of OPC based concrete
[8, 9]. Enhancement in the utilization of local materials for energy reduction, promo-
tion in recycling of energy-intensive materials, encouragement in energy-efficient
designs and technologies, sustainable utilization of natural resources and reduction
in pollution creating materials for achieving sustainable construction [10, 11].
Present study aims to analyse the sustainability of terracotta tile waste based
geopolymer concrete blocks with respect to cement concrete blocks. Terracotta tile
wastes generated during manufacture of roof tiles and demolition of old tiled roof
houses in Kerala, India are used for the study. The feasibility study on geopolymer
binder from tile waste has been done [12] and using that geopolymer binder, GCB
was produced as an alternative to CCB.
Sustainability Assessment of Terracotta Tile Waste … 171
2 Frame Work for Sustainability Assessment
A modified conceptual framework (Fig. 1), is used to evaluate the suitability of

GCB by comparing it with conventional CCB of same mix proportion. Through this
framework, sustainable material can be achieved by fulfilling the various criteria
mentioned under the four factors of sustainability (socio-cultural factors, economic
factors, technological factors and environmental factors) with equal significance.
As per the frame work, acceptance, awareness and decentralized production under
socio-cultural factor, economic factor with infrastructure, unskilled labour, acces-
sibility to material and material efficiency, technological factor (strength and dura-
bility), energy efficiency, waste management, and feasibility for reuse or renewability
under environmental factor of GCB and CCB were evaluated.
2.1 Limitations Adopted in Evaluation
Main difference involved in the production of GCB and CCB are in manufacturing
processes of binder used in both the blocks. Since transportation effect of materials
to lab is approximately similar for both the blocks, it is not taken into account.
Sustainable construction material
Socio - cultural Factors Economic Factors Technological factors Environmental Factors

(SCF) (ECF) (TCF) (ENVF)
Acceptance Infrastructure Strength Energy efficiency
Awareness Unskilled labour Durability Waste management
Decentralized Accessibility to Reuse /

production material/ labour renewability
Material
efficiency
Fig. 1 Modified conceptual framework for sustainability analysis of a construction material

172 S. Usha et al.
2.2 Data Used for the Assessment of CO2 Emission

and Embodied Energy
Energy utilization and CO2 emission contribution in each step of the block production
process are considered for calculation. According to Jagadish et al., embodied energy
and CO2 emission of a product can be arrived by multiplying the conversion factor
with the corresponding ingredient quantity [13]. Conversion factors for embodied
energy of each material consumed are taken from referred journals [13, 14] for the
impact assessment. CO2 emission factor is adopted from journal publication of Turner
and Collins [8]. As per Davidovits, corrections for the concentration of NaOH and
sodium silicate are applied in Tables 3 and 4. Percentage concentration is multiplied
with quantity to arrive the correct quantity [15].
3 Sustainability Assessment of Geopolymer Concrete Block
Geopolymer concrete blocks and cement concrete blocks of size 300 mm × 200 mm
× 150 mm with binder (geopolymer/cement), fine aggregate and coarse aggregate
in 1:3:6 mix proportions were cast as per standards. GCBs were cured at room
temperature, whereas CCBs were water cured. Geopolymer binder for the present
study was prepared from terracotta tile waste powder and alkali activator, with alkali
activator to binder ratio as 0.6, sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide solution ratio as
1 and sodium hydroxide molarity as 8 M.
Sustainability analysis of GCB was carried out by considering the four factors
of sustainability in detail as per the frame work (Fig. 1). For each factors GCB
and CCB are compared. Quantitative analysis of technological factor with two sub
criteria (strength and durability) and environmental factor with two sub criteria
(energy efficiency and waste management) were done in detail using results of
experimental research conducted as per IS: 2185 Part1 (2005) [16] and calculated
amount of embodied energy and CO2 emission of both the blocks. Since the produc-
tion of geopolymer blocks are in research stage, remaining eight sub criteria under
socio-cultural, economic and environmental factors were qualitatively analyzed by
comparing both the blocks.
3.1 Technological Factors (TCF)
Strength and durability are the basic criteria for technological sustainability.
Strength: Compressive strength and block density are considered as basic require-
ment for strength characteristics. Compressive strength and density tests were
conducted for GCB and CCB as per IS: 2185 Part1 (2005). The results obtained are
tabulated in Table 1. The compressive strength and bulk density of the geopolymer
Table 1 Comparison of the properties between geopolymer and cement concrete blocks
Strength Cement block Geopolymer block Value as per IS: Remarks
criteria 2185 Part1 (2005)
Compressive 9.5 N/mm2 5.6 N/mm2 ≥5 N/mm2 Attained the
strength strength as per IS
Block density 2055.3 kg/m3 2047.0 kg/m3 ≥1800 kg/m3 [16]
blocks are strong enough to meet the requirements as per the code provision and par
with cement concrete block. As per the code, both the blocks could be used as load
bearing unit [16].
Durability: Durability refers to the property of a material that can resist any
unacceptable deterioration over a certain period. Water absorption and resistance
to aggressive environments are measures of durability.
Test for water absorption as per IS: 2185 Part1 (2005) was conducted for both
the blocks. Acid resistance and sulphate resistance of the blocks were tested by
immersing in 3% concentration solutions of H2 SO4 and sodium sulphate for 168 days.
The residual strength after immersion in the aggressive environments is found as %
of initial strength. The results are compared and shown in Table 2.
The percentage of water absorption for both the blocks satisfies the required spec-
ification of IS: 2185 (Part)-2005. Superior performance of GCB over CCB against
acid and sulphate resistance can be confirmed from the results presented in Table 2.
Hence better durability performance can be evaluated with GCB.
Above discussion shows that the technological sustainability of proposed
geopolymer concrete block is over cement concrete block.
3.2 Environmental Factors (ENVF)
Discussion on environmental sustainability of geopolymer concrete block and cement

concrete block are based on the three criteria such as energy efficiency, waste
management, and the feasibility for reuse or renewability.
Energy efficiency: Energy efficiency is evaluated based on embodied energy.
Embodied energy of each ingredient used for the manufacture of block is calculated
by multiplying quantity and energy factor of the corresponding ingredient. Embodied
energy of one block is arrived by adding the embodied energy of each ingredient.
The detailed calculation of embodied energy of one block is given in Table 3. Since
geopolymer concrete block production is in research stage, the embodied energy of
one block is calculated without considering the energy for transportation of materials
to the laboratory.
Embodied energy of cement block is high due to the presence of energy intensive
cement. From the above table embodied energy of GCB is 5.15 MJ/block and that of
CCB is 15.17 MJ/block. Embodied energy of GCB is 66% lower than that of CCB
and hence verifying the better efficiency of GCB over CCB.
174
Table 2 Comparison of durability criteria between CCB and GCB

Durability criteria Cement block Geopolymer block Remarks
%Water absorption 4.61% 5.98% ≤10% (IS: 2185)
Long term resistance to H2 SO4 24.87% of initial compressive strength 71.29% of initial compressive strength Geopolymer block is better than
acid (168 days) as residual cement block
strength
Long term resistance to sodium 69.37% of initial compressive strength 73.31% of initial compressive strength Geopolymer block is better than
sulphate (168 days) as residual cement block
strength
S. Usha et al.
Table 3 Embodied energy calculation for one building block

Material Quantity Correction Embodied References Total energy for one block
(kg) coefficient energy at Cement Geopolymer
as per [15] source block block
(MJ/kg)
Coarse 13.97 – 0.10 [14] 1.40 1.40
aggregate
Fine 6.98 – 0.02 [14] 0.14 0.14
aggregate
Cement 2.33 – 5.85 [13] 13.63 –
Tile 2.33 – 0.31 – 0.72
powder
NaOH 0.17 0.97 4.98 [14] – 0.82
Na2 SiO3 0.7 0.55 5.37 [14] – 2.07
Total energy for one block 15.17 MJ 5.15 MJ
Waste management: This criteria refers to the pollution of environment due to

the application of the proposed technology/production of material from cradle to
grave. Air pollution can be taken as a measure to assess this criteria. It is measured
in terms of CO2 emission during the manufacture of blocks. CO2 emission of each
ingredient used for the manufacture of block is calculated by multiplying quantity
and emission factor of the corresponding ingredient. CO2 emission of one block is
arrived by adding the CO2 emission of each ingredient. Calculations were done based
on the production of one block in the laboratory and presented in Table 4.
Table 4 CO2 emission calculation for one building block

Material Quantity (kg) Correction CO2 emission/kg Total CO2 emission for one
coefficient production (kg) block (kg)
as per [15] [8] Cement block Geopolymer
block
Coarse 13.97 – 0.04 0.56 0.56
aggregate
Fine 6.98 – 0.01 0.07 0.07
aggregate
Cement 2.33 – 0.82 1.91 –
Tile 2.33 – 0.02 – 0.05
powder
NaOH 0.17 0.97 1.91 – 0.31
Na2 SiO3 0.7 0.55 1.22 – 0.47
Total CO2 emission for one block (kg) 2.54 1.46
176 S. Usha et al.
The CO2 emission during the production of cement block is 2.54 kg/block and
that of GCB is 1.46 kg/block, i.e. 42.5% lower than that of CCB. Hence air pollution
caused by GCB is less compared to CCB during production.
Reusability or Renewability of the material/technology: Reusability of
geopolymer block is as comparable to that of the cement block.
Above discussion verifies the environment sustainability of proposed geopolymer
concrete block over cement concrete block with respect to all the criteria.
3.3 Socio-cultural Factors (SCF)
Criteria’s adopted for socio-cultural sustainability are acceptance, awareness and

decentralized production by the above frame work. A comparative study of both the
building blocks with respect to each of these criteria is presented.
Acceptance: Colour, texture, surface finish and dimensional stability are the basic
features other than strength, durability and affordability that decide the acceptability
of a building block among different stake holders. The uniform brick red colour,
good texture, smooth surface finish and good dimensional stability of the geopolymer
blocks (Fig. 2b) over the conventional concrete blocks (Fig. 2a) can be expected as
the positive features for superior acceptance.
Awareness: Awareness on any innovative material/product is a basic criterion for
socio-cultural sustainability. As these building blocks are not yet in practice, this
criterion can be met by ensuring proper measures for publicity.
Decentralized production: GCB can be manufactured in the similar manner as
that of CCBs. This ensures the easy availability of these proposed blocks similar to
that of CCBs.
With respect to the above discussion, the socio-cultural sustainability of GCB can
be said as comparable to that of CCB.
Fig. 2 a Cement concrete blocks, b geopolymer concrete blocks

3.4 Economic Factors (ECF)
Economic Factors are assessed by different criteria such as infrastructure, unskilled

labour, accessibility to material and material efficiency. A comparative discussion of
both the building blocks with respect to each of these criteria is presented here.
Infrastructure: The infrastructure facilities required for the manufacture of both
the blocks are same as that of cement concrete block.
Accessibility to material and unskilled labour: Accessibility of raw materials and
labour required for the production of both the blocks are comparable. Cement in
the cement concrete block is replaced by terracotta tile waste and alkaline activator
in the proposed geopolymer concrete block. The damaged/faulty tiles remain as the
waste material from tile factories and used tiles from dismantled traditional houses
in Kerala justifies the accessibility of the raw materials for the production of the new
binder and hence ensuring the affordability of geopolymer block.
Material efficiency: Comparison of geopolymer block and cement concrete block
with respect to this criterion justify the superiority of GCB over CCB as it utilizes
waste materials.
Even though geopolymer concrete block is comparable with respect to cement
concrete block under various criteria of economic sustainability discussed above,
affordability of these blocks can be verified only after commercial production.
4 Conclusion
The sustainability assessment of GCB was evaluated with four factors (socio-cultural,
economic, technological and environmental factors) of modified frame work. Quan-
titative analysis was done with two sub criteria each of technological and environ-
mental sustainability by comparing the experimental results of GCB with that of
CCB. The following conclusions are summarized based on the quantitative analysis
of technological and environmental sustainability.
• The performance of GCB is better than CCB under technological sustainability.
• In environmental sustainability analysis, embodied energy of GCB is 66% lower
than that of CCB, which is a measure of energy efficiency. CO2 emission, during
the production of GCB is 42.5% lower than that of CCB. The reduction of air
pollution in terms of CO2 and energy saving during production can be achieved
by GCB compared to CCB.
With respect to socio cultural and economic sustainability, terracotta tile waste
based geopolymer blocks show a comparable expected result with conventional
building blocks, as it is only in the research stage.
The overall analysis reveals that geopolymer concrete blocks are more sustainable
than cement concrete blocks.
178 S. Usha et al.
References
1. Lennart L, Ljungberg (2007) Materials selection and design for development of sustainable
products. Mater Des 28(2):466–479
2. WCED (1987) Our common future, world commission on environment and development.
Oxford University Press, New York
3. Bilodeau A, Malhotra VM (2000) High-volume fly ash system: concrete solution for sustainable
development. ACI Mater J 97(1):41–48
4. Pimsiri T (2007) Green buildings: defining sustainable construction materials in Thailand.
Master of Architecture thesis. Iowa State University, Ames
5. Nair DG (2006). Sustainable-affordable housing for the poor in Kerala. PhD thesis, Delft
University Technology
6. Sabnis A, Mysore P, Anant S (2015) Construction materials-embodied energy footprint-
global warming; interaction. Structural Engineers World Congress, Conference Paper, October,
Singapore
7. Rehan and Ahmed (2012) Construction and the environment, report of environmental control
directorate. Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment &
Wildlife, Kingdom of Bahrain
8. Turner LK, Collins FG (2013) Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions: a comparison
between geopolymer and OPC cement concrete. Constr Build Mater 43:125–130
9. Petrillo A, Cioffi R, Ferone C, Colangelo F, Borrelli C (2016) Eco-sustainable geopolymer
concrete blocks production process. Agric Agr Sci Proc 8:408–418
10. Shams S, Sadrul Islam AKM, Arafat A (2010) Bhuiyan, sustainable construction: a step towards
reducing CO2 emission. In: The 1st built environment development symposium: real estate and
housing sustainability, Dammam, 25–27 Oct
11. Shams S, Sadrul Islam AKM (2010) Sustainable construction and approaches for greener
homes. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDRET.2009.5454230. Source: IEEE Xplore, Conference
paper
12. Usha S, Nair DG, Vishnudas S (2016) Feasibility study of geopolymer binder from terracotta
roof tile waste. Procedia Technol 25:186–193
13. Jagadish KS, Venkatarama Reddy BV, Nanjunda Rao KS (2014) Alternative building materials
and technologies. New Age International (P) Limited Publishers, New Delhi
14. Ostwal T, Manojkumar V, Chitawadagi (2014) Experimental investigations on strength, dura-
bility, sustainability and economic characteristics of geopolymer concrete blocks. Int J Res
Eng Technol 3(6):115–122
15. Davidovits, J. (2015) False values on CO2 emission for geopolymer cement/concrete published
in scientific papers. Technical paper #24. Geopolymer Institute Library. www.geopolymer.org
16. IS: 2185 (Part1)-2005. Concrete masonry units—specification, part 1 hollow and solid concrete
blocks. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India
Study on Structural Performance
of Non-prismatic Girders with Double
Corrugated Stiffened Steel
and Composite Webs
M. Saranya Radhakrishnan and P. Binu
Abstract There are some impediments to the effective use of conventional flat web
steel girders such as poor web stability and low buckling strength. To overcome these
kinds of problems, the idea of using steel corrugated webs to bridge girders has been
introduced to get enhanced web stability and buckling strength. The existing studies
on bridge girders with steel corrugated webs are focused on single corrugated web
girders. According to previous researches, large forces generated on the girders result
in buckling of single corrugated web. This paper focuses on Double corrugated web
girders. The Double corrugated web girders can be strengthen either by providing
stiffeners along with the corrugated web or by making the web as a composite
one. This paper consists of buckling investigations on Double Corrugated Stiffened
Steel Web Non-prismatic girders (DCSSWG) consist of two stiffened corrugated
steel webs with steel flat flanges and also on Double Corrugated Composite Web
Non-prismatic girders (DCCWG) having Ultra-Lightweight Cement Composite fill
(ULCC) in the space between two corrugated steel webs. Buckling performance of
Non-prismatic girders with Double Corrugated Stiffened Steel Webs and Double
Corrugated Composite Webs having different tapered ratios are investigated using
ANSYS 16.1 software. The results obtained from the study have shown that Non
prismatic girders with Double Corrugated Composite Webs show more buckling
strength as compared to Double Corrugated Stiffened Steel Webs for the same tapered
ratio.
Keywords Tapered ratio · Non-prismatic girder · Corrugated web
M. Saranya Radhakrishnan (B) · P. Binu

Ernakulam, Kerala, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_18
180 M. Saranya Radhakrishnan and P. Binu
1 Introduction
The corrugated steel web plates have a lot of favorable properties and recently
it is used for many structural engineering applications, especially in the field of
bridges. Bridge girders with corrugated webs have a number of advantages such as
more out-of plane stiffness, higher buckling resistance and shear capacity, excellent
strength and web stability than that of conventional flat web girders. Some exam-
ples of bridges provided with corrugated steel web girders are the Maupré Bridge
constructed in France and the Hondani Bridge constructed in Japan. According to
previous researches, large forces generated on the girders result in buckling of single
corrugated steel webs. For improving its strength and web stability, Double corru-
gated webs can be provided. The present study focuses on Double corrugated web
girders. The purpose of this paper is to obtain numerical modelling results on Single
and Dual linearly tapered girders (Non-prismatic girders) with Double corrugated
webs. A tapered girder is wider at one end than the other, giving a tapered appearance
to the member and the term Tapered ratio is the ratio between maximum web height
to minimum web height of tapered girders (Non-prismatic girders). The objectives of
this paper are to investigate buckling performance of Single Non-prismatic girders
with Double Corrugated Stiffened Steel Webs and Double Corrugated Composite
Webs for different tapered ratios and also to investigate buckling performance on Dual
Non-prismatic girders with Double Corrugated Stiffened Steel Webs and Double
Corrugated Composite Webs for different tapered ratios of corrugated web.
2 Literature Review
Kovesdi and Dunai [1] conducted investigations on prismatic single corrugated web
girders and patch load resistance was determined. It was showed that loading length,
flat flange thickness and also girder span have a significant effect on patch loading
resistance and buckling strength of girders. Kovesdi et al. [2] investigated Interacting
stability behavior of steel I-girders with single corrugated steel webs. The results
showed that interacting stability depended more on ratio of flange to corrugated
web patch loading resistance of prismatic steel I-girders. Hassanein and Kharoob
[3] conducted study on the single corrugated steel webs of tapered bridge girders.
From the study, the increase in shear strength was found to be linear with the web
thickness increment of the linearly tapered corrugated steel webs. Zevallos et al.
[4] presented a study on shear performance of tapered web panels of the linearly
tapered bridge girders with single corrugated steel webs. It was observed that web
thickness of girders has a greater influence on their shear behaviour. Wang et al. [5]
conducted study on prismatic steel I-girders with single corrugated webs for various
stiffener arrangements. From the study it can be observed that strength and stability
of corrugated web with vertical stiffeners was more than that of horizontal stiffeners.
Study on Structural Performance of Non-prismatic Girders … 181
Other studies [6–11] show that, a lot of parameters related to geometry (such as
thickness of web and flanges, fold height-to-width aspect ratio of corrugated web, the
fold width-to-thickness ratio of web, span, web corrugation angle, flange inclination
angle etc.) and loading conditions (including position of the applied load [parallel,
inclined fold or corner area], loading length etc.) affect behaviour of trapezoidal
corrugated web girders. According to previous researches and studies large forces
on the girders result in buckling failure of single corrugated webs. To strengthen it,
Double corrugated web girders can be provided.
3 Numerical Study on Non-prismatic Girders
The geometric details of the corrugated web for all models considered for this study
are shown in Fig. 1. For numerical study both Single (Fig. 2) and Dual (Fig. 3) Non-
prismatic girders are considered. For Single Non-prismatic girders, three kinds of
models were made using shell 181 elements. First one is Single Non-prismatic girder
with Double Corrugated Web (DCWG), where additional stiffeners or members were
not provided. Second one is Single Non-prismatic girder with Double Corrugated
Stiffened Steel Web (DCSSW) and third one is Single Non-prismatic girder with
Double Corrugated Composite Webs (DCCWG). Each model consists of steel flat
flanges and steel corrugated webs, connected by normal welding. In case of DCSSW,
additional stiffeners having same thickness of corrugated webs were provided in
between the two corrugated webs as shown in Fig. 4. In case of DCCW, an extra
material Ultra-Lightweight Cement Composite (ULCC) fill was provided in space
between two corrugated steel webs instead of stiffeners. For Dual Non-prismatic
girders, two kinds of models were made using shell 181 elements, one is with DCSSW
and another one is with DCCW. Both Single and Dual girders are simply supported
and 4 points loading was applied. The Properties of steel corrugated web for all
models are shown in Table 1. ULCC is characterized by low density <1500 kg/m3
and high compressive strength >60 MPa. The properties of ULCC for composite
webs are given in Table 2 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4).
The length of Single and Dual Non-prismatic girders was adopted as 4500 mm
and 9000 mm respectively, Thickness of flat flange is 20 mm and for corrugated
web is 6 mm, Width of flange is 300 mm and height of corrugated web for each
Fig. 1 The geometric details of corrugated steel web [1]

Fig. 2 Single non-prismatic girder
Fig. 3 Dual non-prismatic girder

Fig. 4 Double corrugated stiffened steel web
Table 1 Material properties of corrugated web

Properties Values
Modulus of elasticity 2 × 105 N/mm2
Poisson’s ratio 0.3
Density 7850 kg/m3
Yield strength 379 MPa
Table 2 Material properties of ULCC for composite web

Properties Values
Modulus of elasticity of ULCC 10.62 GPa
Poisson’s ratio of ULCC 0.15
Density of ULCC 1250 kg/m3
model is adopted as in Table 3 for different tapered ratios of web. The performance
of Non-Prismatic girders was investigated under different tapered ratios of web. The
average height of corrugated web for each model is about 500 mm. Tapered ratios of
1.5, 2, 3, and 4 was adopted for this numerical study of Single Non-prismatic girders
and for Dual Non-prismatic girders tapered ratios of 2, 3 and 4 was adopted.
Table 3 Tapered ratios for girders

Tapered ratio of web (h1 /h2 ) Height of web h1 (mm) Height of web h2 (mm)
1.5 600 400
2 670 335
3 750 250
4 800 200
4.1 Load-Deflection Curve for Single Non-prismatic Girders
The Ultimate load and total deformation of each specimens was obtained from
ANSYS 16.1. WORKBENCH. Each specimen was failed by local buckling of corru-
gated web. Figures 5, 6 and 7 show combined Load-Deflection curve for single
Non-prismatic girders with Double Corrugated Web (DCWG), Single Non-prismatic
girders with Double Corrugated Stiffened Steel Web (DCSSWG) and Single Non-
prismatic girders with Double Corrugated Composite Web (DCCWG) respectively
obtained for different tapered ratios of corrugated web.
From the obtained results, it can be observed that Single Non-prismatic girders
with Double Corrugated Composite Web (DCCWG) show high load carrying
capacity and better strength as compared to Single Non prismatic girders with Double
Corrugated Stiffened Steel Web (DCSSWG) for the same tapered ratio. Figure 8
shows the final results for Single Non-prismatic girders.
Fig. 5 Load-deflection curve for single non prismatic girders with double corrugated web (DCWG)
for different tapered ratios
Fig. 6 Load–deflection curve for single non prismatic girders with double corrugated stiffened
steel web (DCSSWG) for different tapered ratios
Fig. 7 Load–deflection curve for single non prismatic girders with double corrugated composite
web (DCCWG) for different tapered ratios
4.2 Load-Deflection Curve for Dual Non-prismatic Girders
The Ultimate load and total deformation of each specimens was obtained from
ANSYS 16.1. WORKBENCH. Each specimen was failed by local buckling of corru-
gated web. Figures 9 and 10 show combined Load-Deflection curve for Dual Non pris-
matic girders with DCSSW and Dual Non prismatic girders with DCCW respectively,
obtained for different tapered ratios of corrugated web.
Fig. 8 Load carrying capacity obtained for single non-prismatic girders
Fig. 9 Load-deflection curve for dual non prismatic girders with double corrugated stiffened steel
web [DCSSWG] for different tapered ratios
From the obtained results, it can be observed that Dual Non-prismatic girders with
Double Corrugated Composite Web (DCCWG) show high load carrying capacity and
better strength as compared to Dual Non prismatic girders with Double Corrugated
Stiffened Steel Web (DCSSWG) for the same tapered ratio. Figure 11 shows the final
results for Dual Non-prismatic girders.
5 Conclusions
The Single and Dual Non prismatic girders with Double corrugated web can be
strengthen in two ways. One way is to provide Double corrugated steel web with
Fig. 10 Load-deflection curve for dual non prismatic girders with double corrugated composite
web [DCCWG] for different tapered ratios
Fig. 11 Load carrying capacity obtained for dual non prismatic girders
stiffeners. Another way is to provide Ultra Lightweight Cement Composite fill along
with Double corrugated steel webs. From the results obtained from this paper, it can
be concluded as follows;
• The load carrying capacity and buckling strength of Non-prismatic girders with
Double corrugated web is affected by tapered ratio of web, in case of both Single
and Dual girders. In all cases load-carrying capacity is gradually improved as per
the increase in tapered ratio of corrugated web.
• The strength and load carrying capacity of Single and Dual Non-prismatic girders
with Double corrugated web can be improved by means of providing stiffeners
or by making the web as composite one by providing ULCC fill.
• Both Single and Dual Non prismatic girders with Double corrugated composite
web exhibit more buckling strength and the rate of improvement of strength is
excellent for composite web than that of stiffened steel web.
References
1. Kovesdi B, Dunai L (2011) Determination of the patch loading resistance of girders with
corrugated webs using nonlinear finite element analysis. Comput Struct 89
2. Kovesdi B, Dunai L, Kuhlmann U (2012) Interacting stability behaviour of steel I-girders with
corrugated webs. Thin-Walled Struct 61:132–144
3. Hassanein MF, Kharoob OF (2014) Shear buckling behavior of tapered bridge girders with
steel corrugated webs. Eng Struct 74:157–169
4. Zevallos E, Hassanein MF, Real E, Mirambell E (2016) Shear evaluation of tapered bridge
girder panels with steel corrugated webs near the supports of continuous bridges. Eng Struct
113:149–159
5. Wang S, He J, Liu Y (2019) Shear behavior of steel I—girder with stiffened corrugated web.
Part I: experimental study. Thin-Walled Struct 140:248–262
6. Nie J-G, Zhu Li, Tao M-X, Tang L (2013) Shear strength of trapezoidal corrugated steel webs.
J Constr Steel Res 85:105–115
7. Guo T, Sause R (2014) Analysis of local elastic shear buckling of trapezoidal corrugated steel
webs. J Constr Steel Res 102:59–71
8. Jáger B, Dunai L, Kövesdi B (2017) Flange buckling behavior of girders with corrugated web.
Part I: experimental study. Thin-Walled Struct 118:181–195
9. Leblouba M, Barakat S, Altoubat S, Junaid TM, Maalej M (2017) Normalized shear strength
of trapezoidal corrugated steel webs. J Constr Steel Res 136:75–90
10. Leblouba M, Barakat S, Al-Saadon Z (2018) Shear behavior of corrugated web panels and
sensitivity analysis. J Constr Steel Res 151:94–107
11. Wang Z-Y, Li X et al (2018) Shear response of trapezoidal profiled webs in girders with
concrete-filled RHS flanges. Eng Struct 174:212–228
Structural Performance
of Multi-sectional CFST Columns
with Double Corrugated Plate
P. A. Azna and Ranjan Abraham
Abstract Single concrete filled steel tube (CFST) members are widely used in
building structures and bridges due to their high strength, ductility, toughness, fire
resistance[1], energy absorption capacity, fast track construction and low cost, which
is due to the composite action between steel tube and core concrete. This study
examines structural performance of composite columns comprising of concrete filled
steel tubes connected with double corrugated plate. T-shape, C-shape and Z-shaped
sections are selected for this study. Non-linear finite element (FE) model was devel-
oped using ANSYS 16.1 to study structural performance of these special shaped
CFST columns (SCFST). SCFST columns were analysed under axial compression,
eccentric and lateral loads. Failure pattern, buckling capacity, strength and stiffness
of specimens were investigated.
Keywords SCFST columns · Finite element analysis (FEA) · Double corrugated

plate · Eccentricity · Buckling analysis
1 Introduction
Single concrete filled steel tube (CFST) members are widely used in building struc-
tures and bridges due to their high strength, ductility, toughness, fast track construc-
tion and low-cost, which is due to the composite action between steel tube and its
core concrete [2]. Moreover, shuttering is not required during construction, which
reduces construction cost and time. These advantages have been widely exploited
and led to the extensive use of concrete filled tubular structures [3, 4]. To further
P. A. Azna (B) · R. Abraham

Department of Civil Engineering, Ilahia College of Engineering and Technology, Mulavoor P.O.,
Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam, Kerala 686673, India
R. Abraham

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_19
190 P. A. Azna and R. Abraham
the development of CFST columns and to promote application of CFST columns

in building structures, many scholars have proposed special shaped CFST columns,
such as multiple cell special shaped CFST columns [5], special shaped columns fabri-
cated using concrete filled steel tubes [6] and special shaped concrete-filled steel tube
columns [7].
Studies have shown that constraining effect of special shaped CFST columns
is largely concentrated at their corners and this effect decreases rapidly outside the
corner. Material strengths of the steel and concrete are not used to their full advantage
in column, since constraining effect of steel plate in middle section of column on
core concrete is negligible [3]. To address this issue, many scholars have attempted
to optimize various special-shaped CFST columns. Zhang et al. [3] proposed L-
shaped column comprising concrete filled steel tube connected by double vertical
steel plate filled with concrete (LCFST-D). Xu [8] proposed multi-cell shaped CFST
column connected by steel linking plates. It has been shown that special-shaped
columns comprising CFST connected by single vertical steel plates cannot meet the
requirements of high-rise steel housing construction in terms of bearing capacity
and welding transverse stiffeners, complicating their application in rapid industrial
construction processes.
In this study, structural performance of T-shape, C-shape and Z-shaped columns
comprising concrete filled steel tubes connected with double corrugated plate is
assessed. A finite element (FE) model was developed using ANSYS 16.1 to under-
stand structural performance of these special shaped CFST columns (SCFST).
Columns were analyzed under axial compression, eccentric and lateral loads. Column
limbs were provided with concrete filled steel tubes primarily for withstanding
compressive forces. Built-up section offered greater stiffness and were proved to be
more advantageous in situations of large load eccentricity and/or high slenderness
ratio, as it consisted of multiple column limbs. CFST columns with plate connections
have been widely used in large-span structures and bridges. Plate connected CFST
members could be used as such, as they could be embedded in walls of buildings.
2 Finite Element Modelling
2.1 General
Finite element model was developed using SOLID186 element of ANSYS 16.1 to
investigate structural behaviour of SCFST columns. SOLID186 is a higher order 3D
20-node solid element exhibiting quadratic displacement behavior, defined by 20
nodes having three degrees of freedom per node (translations in the nodal x, y and
z-directions) ie, UX, UY, UZ.
Structural Performance of Multi-sectional CFST Columns … 191
2.2 Geometry
SCFST column connected with double corrugated plate were adopted for Finite
Element Analysis. Sectional dimensions of mono-steel tubes were 100 × 100 ×
5.75 mm. Length of column was 3000 mm. Vertical steel plates were provided with
a width of 140 mm and thickness of 6 mm. Geometry of T-shape, C-shape and
Z-shaped CFST column connected with double corrugated plate in finite Element
modelling are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Mechanical properties of mono-steel tube and
vertical steel plate are shown in Table 1. Multilinear isotropic hardening was used to
reproduce plastic behavior of materials. Weight of finite element models were kept
constant in all cases. Stress–strain curve for steel and concrete are shown in Figs. 3
and 4 respectively.
Figure 5 Boundary conditions of SCFST column with double corrugated plate
connection. To stimulate real conditions, SCFST column was analyzed with both
ends constrained in X, Y, and Z displacement directions. In addition, rotation about
Fig. 1 Geometry of T-shape, C-shape and Z-shaped CFST columns connected with corrugated
plate
Fig. 2 Top view of T-shape, C-shape and Z-shaped CFST columns connected with corrugated plate
Table 1 Mechanical properties (as in journal [3])

Material Size or thickness (mm) f y (MPa) E s (MPa) Poisson’s ratio (µ)
Steel tube 100 × 100 × 5.75 380 2.01 × 105 0.3
Corrugated plate 140 × 6 368 1.76 × 105 0.3
Concrete f c = 32.4 N/mm2 0.15
f y = yield strength of steel, E s = modulus of elasticity of steel, f c = compressive strength of
concrete
stress-strain curve for steel

500
450
400
350
Stress(MPa)
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
-0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025
Strain(MPa)
Fig. 3 Stress–strain curve for steel
Y-axis was also constrained and load was applied in one direction. FE contains 3 DOF
per node for the model, but support condition is given as remote displacement and
it represented in UX, UY, UZ and ROT X, ROT Y, ROT Z. As the support condition
is pinned, rotation about y axis was constrained.
stress-strain curve for concrete

35
30
Stress(MPa) 25
20
15
10
5
0
-0.0005 0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025
Strain(MPa)
Fig. 4 Stress–strain curve for concrete
a) T-shape b) C-shape c) Z-shape
Fig. 5 Boundary conditions of SCFST columns
2.3 Analytical Results
2.3.1 Axial Compression
Columns were axially loaded. Displacement controlled force was given in the anal-
ysis. Figure 6 shows comparison of load–displacement curve obtained from finite
element model. From load–displacement curve it was observed that, Z-shaped
T-shape C-shape Z-SHAPE

6000
5000
LOAD(KN) 4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 20 40 60 80
LONGITUDINAL DISPLACEMENT(MM)
Fig. 6 Comparison of load–displacement curves of specimens
column showed better performance than C-shape and T-shaped column in axial
compression. Figure 7 represents stress distribution along entire specimen under axial
loading. T-shape and C-shaped column showed complete global buckling towards
outside. Global buckling was the major failure mode. Damage occurred mainly in
middle part of columns. For Z-shaped column, corner CFST tubes underwent local
limb buckling indicating that it resisted lateral deformation and offered better loading
performance compared to others.
a) T-shape b) C-shape c) Z=shape

Fig. 7 Von-mises stress diagram of typical failures of specimen
2.3.2 Eccentric Loading
Specimens were analysed for different eccentric loading in both directions. Centroid
of composite areas was determined and eccentric loading is given at points of 25% and
50% eccentricity from the CG point. Figures 8 and 9 represents load–displacement
comparison of specimens at 25% eccentricity in x and z direction respectively. Table
2 shows the values of eccentricities taken for analysis.
Figure 10 represents variation of ultimate load due to 25% and 50% eccentricity
in both X and Z direction. As eccentricity increased, ultimate load reduced. T-shaped
column showed better performance under eccentric loading in both directions. Due
to asymmetrical shapes, eccentric loading performance in Z-direction was more
for C-shape and Z-shaped columns than in X-direction. T-shaped column showed
better eccentric performance in X-direction than Z-direction. Figure 11 shows stress
variation of specimens and it reveals that each of the specimen largely exhibited
global buckling of steel tube towards outside.
T-SHAPE C-SHAPE Z-SHAPE

5000
4000
LOAD(KN)
3000
2000
1000
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
LONGITUDINAL DISPLACEMENTS(MM)
Fig. 8 Comparison of load–displacement curves at an eccentricity of 25% in X-direction

5000
4000
LOAD(KN)
3000
2000
1000
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
LONGITUDINAL DISPLACEMENT(MM)
Fig. 9 Comparison of load–displacement curves at an eccentricity of 25% in Z-direction

Table 2 Values of eccentricities taken in both directions

Column type X-axis Z-axis
25% 50% 25% 50%
T-shape 27.204 54.407 72.5 145
C-shape 42.5 85 42.5 85
Z-shape 72.5 145 42.2 85
a) X-direction b) Z-direction
Fig. 10 Comparison of ultimate load at different eccentricity
a) C-shape b) T-shape d) Z=shape
Fig. 11 Von-mises stress diagram of typical failures of specimen

2.3.3 Lateral Loading
Lateral loading is very important in zones of high seismic risk. Lateral loading is
achieved by making bottom support fixed and top support free. Based on analysis
results, Z-shaped column showed better performance under lateral loading due to
stability of its shape rather than ordinary shaped columns. C-shaped column showed
more deflection in both x and z direction which means that it has more ductility
compared to other ones. Figure 12 represents comparison of lateral load–displace-
ment curves in both x and z direction for each specimen. Deflection was observed to
be more for C-shaped column reveals that it is more ductile compared to others.
Z-shaped column showed better performance in both axial and lateral loading
conditions and mono columns functioned well together under loading. Table 3 shows
results for varying slenderness ratio. Slenderness ratio is checked to show the vari-
ation in ultimate strength. As slenderness ratio increased, strength, stiffness and
ultimate load decreased and the specimen experienced large deflection. Figure 13
shows variation of ultimate strength due to increase in slenderness ratio under axial
loading condition.
a) Lateral load in x-direction b) lateral load in z-direction
Fig. 12 Comparison of lateral load–displacement curves in x and z-direction
Table 3 Finite element analysis results for varying slenderness ratio

Column type Size of column (mm) Length (mm) Slenderness ratio Ultimate load (kN)
Z1 100 × 100 × 5.75 2000 16.37 6140
Z2 100 × 100 × 5.75 2500 20.46 6074
Z3 100 × 100 × 5.75 3000 24.55 5678
Fig. 13 Variation of strength due to increase in slenderness ratio
2.3.4 Comparison with Hollow Steel Tube Column Under Axial

Loading
T-shape, C-shape and Z-shaped hollow steel tubes connected with double corru-
gated plate were analysed under axial loading for comparing their structural perfor-
mance with SCFST columns. Figure 14 shows the geometry of hollow steel columns.
Figure 16 shows comparison in ultimate strength for SCFST and hollow steel tube
columns. Special shaped CFST columns offered better performance than hollow
steel tube columns, due to composite action between steel tube and its core concrete.
Internal filling with concrete increased load carrying capacity of column and effec-
tively delayed buckling of column due to greater stiffness. Table 4 shows comparison
Fig. 14 Geometry of T-shape, C-shape, Z-shape hollow steel tube columns

Table 4 Comparison of load–deflection values

Column type SCFST Hollow steel tube
Deflection (mm) Max load (kN) Deflection (mm) Max load (kN)
T-shape 12.533 4762.1 16.344 3767.7
C-shape 23.38 5519.5 48.638 5027.6
Z-shape 31.631 5678 46.017 5019.3

6000
5000
LOAD (KN)
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
DEFLECTION(MM)
Fig. 15 Comparison of load–displacement curves of specimens
6000 5519.5 5678

5027.6 5019.3
AXIAL LOAD(KN)
4762.1
3767.7
4000
2000
0
T-SHAPE C-SHAPE Z-…
CFST HOLLOW TUBE
Fig. 16 Comparison of strength for SCFST and hollow steel tubes
of load–deflection values. And Fig. 15 shows the comparison of load–displacement

curves.
3 Validation of an LCFST-D Column
The performance of L-shaped columns under axial compression were evaluated

by Zhang et al. [3] in the paper—“Performance of L-shaped columns comprising
concrete-filled steel tubes Under axial compression”. L-shaped CFST column
connected by double-vertical steel plate (LCFST-D column) is validated with the data
available in this paper. Finite-element results are compared to the experimental results
available from the paper. Table5 describes the mechanical properties of specimen
validated. Figure 17 shows the geometry of LCFST-D column.
The boundary conditions of specimens were set to be same as in the test specified
in journal. Coupling points were specified at the centroid of top of the column to
form rigid surfaces. Top of the column was constrained in the X and Z displacement
directions. Rotation about the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis was constrained. Bottom of
the column was constrained in the three (X, Y, and Z) displacement directions; in
addition, rotation about Y-axis was constrained [3].
Table 5 Mechanical properties of LCFST-D column

Material Size or thickness Length (mm) f y (MPa) E s (MPa) Poisson’s ratio (µ)
(mm)
Steel tube 100 × 100 × 5.75 2000 380 2.01 × 105 0.3
Steel plate 100 × 5.75 2000 368 1.76 × 105 0.3
Concrete f c = 32.4 N/mm2 0.15
Fig. 17 Geometry of LCFST-D column

Fig. 18 von-mises stress diagram of failure column
The failure model of finite element simulation was similar to the actual failure
model, as shown in Fig. 18. It shows a global buckling behavior. This similarity
indicates that finite element model can be used to simulate actual failure. Maximum
deformation value from the experimental result obtained is 22.01 mm and total defor-
mation obtained from the finite Element Analysis is 22.25 mm. Figure 19 shows
the load–deflection curve of column analyzed. Ultimate load of LCFST-D column
analyzed through validation is 4921 kN. The ultimate load of the specimen is about
4603.57 kN from the experimental results and 4958 kN from the finite element
results that explained in the journal [3]. Table 6 shows the comparison of results. The
percentage of difference in the ultimate load is 6.89% which is within limits.
LOAD DEFLECTION CURVE

6000
5000
4000
LOAD(KN)
3000
2000
1000
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
DEFLECTION(MM)
Fig. 19 Load–deflection curve of LCFST-D column
Table 6 Comparison of results

Ultimate load (kN) % of error
Experimental 4603.57 6.895138
FEA (validated) 4921
Journal FEA 4958
4 Conclusions
Structural performance of SCFST columns under various loading conditions was

investigated. Based on results, following conclusions are drawn:
• Global buckling was the major failure mode and damage occurred mainly in
middle part of columns and stress was concentrated on outer mono tubes.
• T-shape and C-shaped columns exhibited global buckling of steel tube and vertical
corrugated plate towards outside.
• Local limb buckling occurred for Z-shaped column under axial loading and it had
less lateral deformation. Local buckling occurred only for end CFST tubes and
clear local buckling occurred at top and bottom of corner CFST tube.
• Z-shaped CFST column showed better performance under axial and lateral loads
and T-shaped column showed better performance under eccentric load.
• C-shaped column showed more deflection in both x and z direction under lateral
loading which means that it has more ductility compared to other ones.
• Slenderness ratio significantly influenced bearing capacity. Ultimate bearing
capacity and stiffness of column reduced as slenderness ratio increased.
• SCFST columns showed greater load carrying capacity and stiffness compared to
hollow steel tube column.
References
1. Han L-H, Song T-Y, Zhou K, Cui Z-Q (2018) Fire performance of CFST triple-limb laced
columns. J Struct Eng
2. Yang Y-F, Liu M, Fu F (2018) Experimental and numerical investigation on the performance of
three-legged CFST latticed columns under lateral cyclic loadings. J Thin-Walled Struct 132:176–
194
3. Zhang W, Chen Z, Xiong Q (2018) Performance of L-shaped columns comprising concrete filled
steel tubes under axial compression. J Constr Steel Res 145:573–590
4. Huang Z, Jiang L-Z, Frank Chen Y, Luo Y, Zhou W-B (2018) Experimental study on the seismic
performance of concrete filled steel tubular laced columns. J Steel Compos Struct 26(6):719–731
5. Yang Y, Yang H, Zhang S (2010) Compressive behaviour of T-shaped concrete filled steel tubular
columns. Int J Steel Struct 10(4):419–430
6. Chen Z, Bin R, Fafitis AS (2009) Axial compression stability of a crisscross section column
composed of concrete-filled square steel tubes. J Mech Mater Struct 4(10)
7. Tao Z, Wang ZB, Yu Q (2013) Finite element modelling of concrete filled steel-stub columns
under axial compression. J Constr Steel Res 89(5):121–131
8. Xu M, Zhoua T, Chena Z, Li Y, Bisby L (2016) Experimental study of slender LCFST columns
connected by steel linking plates. J Constr Steel Res 127:231–241
Experimental Study of Seismic Response
Reduction Effects on Multi Storey
Frames with Particle Damper
N. Athulya Vijay and K. P. Saji
Abstract Particle damper (PD), an innovative type of passive vibration control

system, is a developing concept in the current period. This type of damper consists
of small particles that are placed in the cavity of the primary structure which is likely
subjected to vibration. The energy dissipation mechanism occurs due to the inelastic
collision of particles present in the damping cavity and friction between particles.
Compared to other passive vibration control methods, particle damper can be effec-
tively introduced into structure without significant modification of primary structure.
This study is mainly intended to the experimental investigations on the behaviour
of particle damper under varying parameters. Parametric study investigates the effi-
ciency of particle dampers in mitigating dynamic responses of MDOF structures.
This study focuses on the performance of particle damper by using different types
of particles and their combinations. Types of particles used in this study are metallic
(steel balls) and viscoelastic polymer (silicone rubber balls).
Keywords Particle damper · Passive vibration control · Shake table
1 Introduction
The construction of high-rise buildings has increasing demand all over the world,
especially in the developing countries. The main challenge faced by these high-rise
building is the control of structural vibration during a seismic event. To ensure the
safety and comfort of occupants it is necessary to control this structural vibration.
Particle damper is an innovative type of passive vibration control system, which
is developing in the present stage. Particle damping technology is a form of an
auxiliary-mass type vibration damper. This type of damper consists of small particles
N. Athulya Vijay (B) · K. P. Saji

Civil Engineering Department, Government College of Engineering, Kannur, India
K. P. Saji

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_20
206 N. Athulya Vijay and K. P. Saji
placed in the cavity of the primary structure which is likely to be subjected to vibra-
tion. Compared to other passive vibration control methods, particle damper can be
effectively introduced without significant modification of primary structure. Due to
simplicity, moderate cost, good durability, and temperature insensitivity, importance
of particle damper is drastically increasing in present stage.
The idea of particle damping is originated from the concept of impact damper. The
impact damper consists of a mass which moves between the walls of the container.
This impact process results in high noise and considerable amount of impact forces.
The concept of impact damper is popular since 1937. Instead of using single mass,
Masri and Ibrahim [1] conducted an analytical investigation of the steady-state
motion of a two-particle, single-container impact damper which was attached to
a sinusoidally excited primary system. His results showed that vibration reduction
is about twice for particle damper than single impact damper of equivalent mass.
From 1985 onwards researchers are more focused on particle damper. Arki et al. [2]
studied the vibration reduction effect of impact damper consisting of a bed of gran-
ular materials moving in container fixed to primary vibrating system. The response
of the system depends on mass ratio, clearance, exciting force and frequency ratio.
Even for a small mass ratio, better performance of the system could be achieved by
suitably fixing the clearance of the container.
In the case of multi-unit particle damper, as the cavity size increases the number of
collision between particles reduces, so the effectiveness of damping reduces. Hence
it is found that by increasing the unit member with decreasing the radius of cavity
better damping performance can be achieved [3–7].
In 2010, Lu et al. [8] numerically studied the damping performance of vertical and
horizontal particle dampers attached to single degree of freedom system (SDOF) and
multi degree of freedom systems (MDOF) under free vibration, stationary random
excitation as well as non-stationary random excitation, with single component or
multi-component. They studied the behaviour of particle damper by using the concept
of Effective Momentum Exchange and the amount of internal energy dissipation due
to impact and friction.
Multi-unit multi particle damper is known as Multi-unit particle damper. Properly
designed multi-unit particle dampers can achieve good vibration attenuation with
small addition of mass [9].
The damping characteristics of particle damper under horizontal-vertical excita-
tion are comparable to that of particle damper under vertical excitation only. Even
though in horizontal-vertical excitation, due to the incorporation of horizontal motion
in addition to vertical motion, specific damping capacity is significantly improved.
Improvement in specific damping capacity is due to the oblique impact between
particles [10].
The damping performance of particle damper is stable and efficient. Comparative
study of damping performance of particle damper with other types of dampers such as
tuned mass damper and tuned liquid damper were carried out [11–13]. Their result
shows that particle damper reduces the seismic response better than tuned mass
Experimental Study of Seismic Response Reduction Effects … 207
damper and tuned liquid damper. Because, in the case of particle damper, friction
between the particles and impact between particles and between particles and its
container cause energy dissipation, in addition to the energy dissipation by tuning
frequency.
Particle damper is a new passive control method applied to civil engineering,
structures and the technology is in a developing stage. Most of the studies with
particle dampers are mainly focused on SDOF systems or other structures such
as cantilevers and stiffened plates, whereas investigations on MDOF structure with
particle dampers are very rare. The present study is on a MDOF structure with particle
dampers and the experiment is carried out on a horizontal shake table apparatus.
2 Experimental Study
2.1 Shake Table Test on Three Storied Frame
The present study is mainly focused on the behavior of three storied frame with
particle damper. The frame is made of four Aluminum columns of total height of
1200 mm with each floor having a height of 400 mm. The aluminum column used
is of thickness 3 mm. The horizontal excitation given to the base of a three storied
aluminium base frame was studied on the shake table. The experimental set up is as
shown in Fig. 1. Frequency-displacement graph of base frame are as shown in Fig. 2.
From graph it is clear that max displacement occurred at the third floor and minimum
occurred at first floor. The max displacement was 110.931 mm for a frequency of
2.41172 Hz. Hence the natural frequency of the base frame is taken as 2.41172 Hz.
Displacements at each floor level are measured. The input frequency is varied from
zero to the first and second natural frequencies.
2.2 Base Frame with Particle Damper
Particles used in this study are metallic (steel balls) and viscoelastic polymer (silicone
rubber balls) and with 8 mm diameter. The ratio of weight of damper to weight of
structure is known as mass ratio. The mass ratio used in this study is 5 and 3%. The
experimental setup with damper is shown Fig. 3.
2.2.1 With Steel Ball
Shake table test was conducted on a three storied aluminium base frame with steel
particle damper. Damper was placed in each storey level and the responses were
taken. Figure 4 represents the frequency displacement graph of top floor with particle
Fig. 1 Experimental setup
Fig. 2 Frequency displacement graph of frame without damper

Fig. 3 Experimental setup with damper at third floor
Fig. 4 Frequency displacement graph of top floor with steel ball (mass ratio 5%)
Fig. 5 Frequency displacement graph of top floor with steel ball
damper at each storey level with mass ratio 5%. When the particle damper at top
storey level, the maximum top storey displacement of base frame with particle
damper is reduced by 63.4% (in first mode of vibration) compared to base frame
without damper. The maximum top storey displacement of base frame with particle
damper is reduced by 55.94% compared to base frame without damper, when the
particle damper at second storey level. And for particle damper at first storey level
the maximum top storey displacement of base frame with particle damper is reduced
by 5.97% compared to base frame without damper.
Figure 5 represents the frequency displacement graph of particle damper at top
storey level with mass ratio 5% and 3%. From the results the maximum top storey
displacement of particle damper with 5% mass ratio is reduced by 41.57% compared
to particle damper with 3% mass ratio.
2.2.2 With Silicone Rubber Ball
Shake table test was conducted on a three storied aluminium base frame with silicone
rubber particle damper. Damper was placed in each storey level and the responses
were taken. Figure 6 represents the frequency displacement graph of top floor with
particle damper at each storey level with mass ratio 3%. When the particle damper
at top storey level, the maximum top storey displacement of base frame with particle
damper is reduced by 41.1% compared to base frame without damper. The maximum
top storey displacement of base frame with particle damper is reduced by 29.1%
compared to base frame without damper, when the particle damper at second storey
level. And for particle damper at first storey level the maximum top storey displace-
ment of base frame with particle damper is reduced by 17.34% compared to base
frame without damper.
Figure 7 represents the frequency displacement graph of particle damper (steel
ball, silicone rubber ball) at top storey level with mass ratio 3%. The reduction in
maximum top storey displacement of steel ball particle damper and silicone rubber
ball particle damper are comparable.
Fig. 6 Frequency displacement graph of top floor with silicone rubber ball (mass ratio 3%)
Fig. 7 Frequency displacement graph of top floor (mass ratio 3%)
3 Conclusions
This study is mainly intended to the experimental investigations on the behaviour

of particle damper under varying parameters. Parametric study investigates the effi-
ciency of particle dampers in mitigating dynamic responses of MDOF structures,
and the following conclusions can be drawn from this investigation.
• From the results obtained, it has been found that particle damper can effectively
control the vibration of MDOF structures.
• Metallic particles can effectively reduce vibration of the MDOF structure. In the
first mode of vibration, the top storey displacement is reduced by 63.4% for base
frame with 5% steel particles on the top floor of the frame.
• As mass ratio increases the damping performance increases. From the results
the maximum top storey displacement of particle damper with 5% mass ratio is
reduced by 41.57% compared to particle damper with 3% mass ratio.
• Viscoelastic polymers also can effectively reduce vibration of the MDOF struc-
ture. Silicone rubber ball can effectively reduce the top storey displacement about
41.1%, with mass ratio 3%
• At mass ratio 3%, the reduction in maximum top storey displacement of steel ball
particle damper and silicone rubber ball particle damper are comparable.
• The given experimental set up allows only the measurement horizontal displace-
ment of each floor with varying support displacement frequency. More insight
could have been developed had there been a time history data.
References
1. Masri SF, Ibrahim AM (1967) Response of the impact damper to stationary random excitation.
J Acoust Soc Am 53:200–211
2. Arki Y, Yokomichi I, Inoue J (1985) Impact damper with granular materials. Jpn Soc Mech
Eng 28(241):1466–1471
3. Popplewell N, Semerc Gil SE (1989) Performance of the bean bag impact damper for a
sinusoidal external force. J Sound Vib 133(2):193–223
4. Cempel C, Lotz G (1993) Efficiency of vibrational energy dissipations by moving shots. J
Struct Eng 119(9):2642–2652
5. Saeki M (2005) Analytical study of multi-particle damping. J Sound Vib 281:1133–1144
6. Trigui M, Foltete E, Abbes MS, Fakhfakh T, Bouhaddi N, Haddar M (2009) An experimental
study of a multi-particle impact damper. Mech Eng Sci 223(9):2029
7. M. Gharib, S. Ghani (2013) Free vibration analysis of linear particle chain impact damper. J
Sound Vib 332:6254–6264
8. Lu Z, Lu X, Masri SF (2010) Studies of the performance of particle dampers under dynamic
loads. J Sound Vib 329:5415–5433
9. Lu Z, Lu X, Lu W, Masri SF (2012) Shaking table test of the effects of multi-unit particle
dampers attached to an MDOF system under earthquake excitation. Earthq Eng Struct Dyn
41:987–1000
10. Wang YR, Liu B, Tian AM, Tang W (2016) Experimental and numerical investigations on the
performance of particle dampers attached to a primary structure undergoing free vibration in
the horizontal and vertical directions. J Sound Vib 371:35–55
11. Lu Z, Chen X, Zhou Y (2017) An equivalent method for optimization of particle tuned mass
damper based on experimental parametric study. J Sound Vib 419:571–584
12. Lu Z, Huang B, Wang Z, Zhou Y (2018) Experimental comparison of dynamic behavior of
structures with a particle damper and a tuned mass damper. J Struct Eng 144(12):04018211
13. Fu B, Jiang H, Wu T (2019) Comparative studies of vibration control effects between structures
with particle dampers and tuned liquid dampers using substructure shake table testing methods.
Soil Dyn Earthq Eng 121:421–435
Control Effectiveness of Wing
with Elevon of a Typical Reusable
Launch Vehicle
Nyle Nazar, P. Ashok Gandhi, S. Rajendran, and Manju George
Abstract Modern aircraft structures uses more lightweight materials such as

composites for their design. This makes the aeroelastic study an extremely important
aspect of aircraft design. By having more light weight control surfaces, the control
effectiveness study becomes vital in today’s scenario. Control effectiveness is the
ability of a control surface such as an aileron or a rudder to produce aerodynamic
forces and moments to change the airplane orientation and manoeuvre it along the
intended flight path. This paper presents the static aeroelastic analysis of a typical
reusable launch vehicle focusing on control effectiveness of elevon. A Reusable
Launch Vehicle (RLV) is the space analogy of an aircraft. Ideally it takes off verti-
cally on the back of a dispensable rocket and then glides back down like an aircraft.
MSC PATRAN and MSC NASTRAN were the software’s used for Finite Element
Modeling and Analysis. The main aim of the analysis is to compute the control effec-
tiveness of launch vehicle along its trajectory to determine whether it is efficient to
control the vehicle. The objectives of this work are, to study the control surface
effectiveness of elevon by carrying out static aeroelastic analysis using NASTRAN
inbuilt aerodynamics, for a typical Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).
Keywords Static aeroelasticity · Control effectiveness · Typical reusable launch

vehicle · Finite element modeling
Nomenclature
Xcp Center of Pressure (m)

Xcg Center of Mass (m)
N. Nazar (B) · M. George

Department of Civil Engineering, Mar Baselios Institute of Technology and Science,
Nellimattom, India
P. A. Gandhi · S. Rajendran
STR, VSSC, ISRO, Thiruvananthapuram, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_21
214 N. Nazar et al.
Q Dynamic pressure (Pa)

Qdiv Divergence dynamic pressure (Pa)
E Young’s Modulus (N/m2 )
I Area moment of inertia (m4 )
1 Introduction
Aeroelasticity is the interaction between aerodynamics, inertia and elastic forces.

The flexibility of modern airplane structures is fundamentally responsible for various
types of aeroelastic problems. These problems would not exist if the airplane struc-
tures were perfectly rigid. Structural stability itself may not be objectionable; however
aeroelastic phenomena arise when structural deformations induce additional aerody-
namic forces. Static aeroelasticity is the analysis which deals with the static or steady-
state response of an elastic body to fluid flow. In an airplane, two significant static
aeroelastic effects may occur Divergence and Control reversal. The phenomenon in
which, elastic twist of a wing suddenly becomes infinite and causing the wing to fail
is called Divergence. Control reversal is a phenomenon occurring in control surfaces
and wing, in which these surfaces reverse their usual functionality, that is the rolling
direction associated with a given aileron moment is reversed. Divergence occurs
when a lifting surface deflects under aerodynamic load to increase the applied load,
or move the load so that the twisting effect on the structure is increased. The increased
load deflects the structure further, which eventually brings the structure to the point of
divergence. Control surface reversal is the loss or reversal of the expected response of
a control surface, due to the deformation of the main lifting surface (wing). Aircraft
are designed to avoid aeroelastic failures such as divergence and control reversal
and critical dynamic instabilities such as flutter which is the uncontained vibration
that can lead to the destruction of an aircraft. Control effectiveness is the ability of
a control surface such as an aileron or a rudder to produce aerodynamic forces and
moments to control airplane orientation and maneuver along a flight path. This paper
focuses on computing the control effectiveness of a typical reusable launch vehicle
and how the control effectiveness is sensitive to off-nominal conditions. In rockets,
aerodynamic stability is often provided by fins, by keeping the centre of pressure
(Xcp) at aft of the centre of gravity (Xcg).
Aerodynamic and Inertia forces bend the rocket due to its Elasticity, which
changes the angle of attack along the length. Due to deflection, the aerodynamic
force increases in the forward region and decreases in the aft ward region, thus
moving Xcp forward. The inertia forces also change accordingly due to accelera-
tion. Fin divergence is also a static aero elastic failure caused due to instability. The
changed load distribution along the length bends the rocket, which causes further
change in loads. The changed load distribution moves the centre of pressure forward
towards centre of gravity. If the centre of pressure coincides with centre of gravity, the
rocket will become unstable which is called the divergence. The operational speed
Control Effectiveness of Wing with Elevon of a Typical … 215
(or dynamic pressure) of the rocket must be below the divergence speed (or dynamic
pressure) by a factor of 2. Observance of the criterion QQdiv ≤ 21 provides a twofold
advantage. In addition to maintaining a margin for providing for the uncertainties
in the aeroelastic parameters, it also limits the aeroelastic magnification of external
loading.
2 Literature Review
As QQdiv becomes large and instability is approached, the effects of externally applied
loads are magnified in a sense similar to the resonant or near resonant response
of vibrating system [1–3]. Aeroelastic phenomena in modern high-speed aircraft
have profound effect upon the design of structural members and also upon mass
distribution, lifting surface plan forms and control system design [4]. The reduction
of weight ratio in the wing structure improves the efficiency and performance of an
aircraft wing [5]. Amongst all the aircraft parts, reduction in the weight of the wing
has got higher importance [6]. Generally, an aircraft wing structures are designed
using pure aluminum material. Divergence is a disastrous phenomenon where the
aerodynamic moments due to elastic deformations overpower the restoring moments
of the structure [7]. At the critical divergence speed, no statically stable equilibrium
condition exists [8]. Many previous studies have been conducted on the aeroelastic
analysis of wings [9–11]. In the present work, control effectiveness of wing with
elevon of a typical reusable launch vehicle is estimated, thereby to assess the structural
and stability problems.
3 Modelling
Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) is a winged vehicle that will take off like a rocket
and glide back to land like a plane. A reusable launch vehicle is a space launch
system intended to allow for recovery of all or part of the system for later reuse. The
configuration of RLV is similar to that of an aircraft with the complexity of both
launch vehicle and aircraft. During its landing phase, RLV is intended to land on
a runway similar to aircraft. Small wings provide manoeuvrability support during
landing. Out of all parts of an aircraft, the wing plays a major role in getting high
performance. Reusable Launch Vehicle technologies are developed to achieve low-
cost access to space. RLV consists of a fuselage (body), a nose cap, double delta
wings and twin vertical tails. It also consists of symmetrically placed active control
surfaces called Elevons and Rudders. The structure was modeled in MSC PATRAN
and was analyzed in MSC NASTRAN. MSC PATRAN and MSC NASTRAN were
the finite element tools used for the dynamic and aeroelastic analysis of RLV. Once the
geometry of the structure was created, finite element discretization was done followed
by meshing. CQUAD4, CTRIA3 and CBEAM elements were used to represent the
216 N. Nazar et al.
Fig. 1 CADD model of a

typical reusable launch
vehicle
Fig. 2 Finite Element model

of a typical reusable launch
vehicle
individual components. Figure 1 shows the CADD model of RLV for descent phase
and Fig. 2 shows a finite element model of a typical reusable launch vehicle.
4 Analysis
The analysis which deals with the static or steady state response of an elastic body to
a fluid flow (typically stability) is termed as static aeroelasticity. In a typical reusable
launch vehicle, wing is the lifting surface and the elevon is used as the control surface.
If the deflection of the wing and elevon is so much, sometimes the intended purpose
of control surface may be completely nullified. A condition occurring during the
flight, at a speed called control reversal speed, the function of control system will be
totally reversed. Then the control structure effectiveness will be lost. This has to be
theoretically analyzed. Figure 3 shows the descent trajectory details of RLV.
For carrying out static aeroelastic analysis, it is important to generate the aerody-
namic force acting on the vehicle accurately. MSC/NASTRAN has inbuilt aerody-
namics which generates this aerodynamic force. MSC/NASTRAN uses plate theories
such as Doublet Lattice Method for subsonic Mach number, ZONA51 for transonic &
low supersonic Mach numbers and Piston theory for high supersonic Mach numbers
to generate the aerodynamic force within NASTRAN. To utilize the NASTRAN
Fig. 3 Descent trajectory of RLV
inbuilt aerodynamics, aero mesh is generated for wing and elevon alone as our focus
is to find the elevon effectiveness including interference from wing. Two-way biased
aerodynamic mesh is generated to capture the leading edge and trailing edge aerody-
namics as shown in Fig. 4. Infinite plate splining theory is used to couple the structure
mesh and aerodynamic mesh for transfer of forces.
Control effectiveness of reusable launch vehicle as such designed (here in referred
as Original case) is carried out for various Mach numbers. The control effectiveness
Fig. 4 Aerodynamic mesh for Wing and elevon of typical RLV

218 N. Nazar et al.
100
Control Effectiveness (%)

95
90
Original
85
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 5 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for original configuration
of a control surface is calculated in terms of percentage (%) as follows
Flexible f or ce
Contr ol e f f ectiveness(%) = ∗ 100
Rigidy body Force
Figure 5 shows the control effectiveness curve at various Mach numbers of original
configuration.
Static aeroelastic analysis was carried out on the RLV with aerodynamics applied
on wing and elevon. Steady level flight conditions were considered. The vehicle is
supported at C.G for PITCH and PLUNGE and rest of the DOF are arrested. Several
off-nominal studies were carried out to ascertain the effect of various parameters such
as dynamic pressure, flexural rigidity (EI) and material change on control effective-
ness. The reason for choosing the above parameters is that they are the most probable
and influential parameters in affecting the control effectiveness, when a scaled up
version of RLV configuration is designed. Since the mission requirement may vary
for the scaled up version, the trajectory may be slightly difference and hence the
dynamic pressure. While scaling up it is also estimated that the flexural rigidity (EI)
may reduce upto 16% and a different material option may be chosen to avoid dynamic
aeroelastic phenomena like flutter.
Control effectiveness is generally calculated as the ratio of flexible force to rigid
force as percentage. From NASTRAN output the control effectiveness is calculated
as the ratio of Elastic unrestrained aerodynamic coefficient to Rigid splined trim
variable aerodynamic coefficient, as given in Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 Results obtained from f06 file for Original configuration
5.1 Effect of Dynamic Pressure
Unlike aircraft, RLV has a particular descent trajectory through which it glides back
to runway. But during it descent, off nominal trajectory cases can occur depending
on various parameters such as variation in thrust, mass, aero data and also due to
deviation in the flight path. So to study the effect of dynamic pressure on control
effectiveness, the dynamic pressure is increased to 1.5 times and 2.0 times. 1.5Q
stands for 1.5 times the dynamic pressure (Q) and so on. Comparison curve is shown in
Fig. 7. From the figure it is observed the control effectiveness dips down to 84% when
the dynamic pressure is doubled. It is seen that as the dynamic pressure increases the
control effectiveness come down. The values of divergence dynamic pressures are
arrived by carrying out a separate static aeroelastic analysis of RLV. The operational
speed of the rocket must be below the divergence speed by a factor of 2and hence half
the value of divergence dynamic pressure is taken as the maximum allowable dynamic
pressure. The results along with nominal values are shown in Fig. 8. Divergence
analysis of the RLV revealed that the maximum off-nominal dynamic pressure can
be allowed twice the value of operating dynamic pressure in subsonic regime, so up
to 2Q is considered for the control effectiveness studies.
100
95
90
85 Original
1.5Q
2Q
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 7 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for original, 1.5Q and 2Q
220 N. Nazar et al.
Fig. 8 Divergence dynamic 1000

pressure curve
Dynamic pressure (kPa)

100
10
Flight dynamic pr.
Divergence dynamic pr.
half of divergence dynamic pr.
1
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Mach number
5.2 Effect of Flexural Rigidity
Usually before RLV is successfully configured, a scaled down version will be initially
flown and by analyzing the flight parameters, scaled up version of the same RLV will
be subsequently flown. If we assume that the same design is used and the structure
is just scaled up, then the effect of scaling up can be studied by reducing the flexural
rigidity (EI) of the structure. Further EI reduction is possible by optimization of the
structure using advanced thermal protection system. RLV configuration has a thermal
protection to reduce the thermal effects while re-entering. The thermal protection
generally used is silica tiles. Because of silica tiles, the structure has a stringent
requirement for keeping the displacement minimum. Higher displacement will lead
to crack in the silica tile, leading to the failure of the mission. So the structure is
designed to meet this displacement. So the thickness of the structures is generally in
the higher side, when compared to stress in the structure to meet the displacement
requirement. In future the thermal protection may be replaced with an advanced
protection system then the structure can be really optimized to get a weight reduction.
But this optimization may lead to thickness reduction and hence EI reduction.
Herein two cases are studied by reducing the flexural rigidity by 20 and 40%.
The comparison of control effectiveness of scaled up configuration with ORIGINAL
configuration is shown in Fig. 9. As seen from the figure, the effect of EI is not worse
than the effect of dynamic pressure. So scaling up the RLV with the same design
thickness will not be detrimental.
5.3 Effect of Material Change
A typical Reusable Launch Vehicle is originally composed of various materials such

as leading edge is made up of steel, wing is aluminum and elevon is titanium. For the
easiness of manufacturing, sometimes it is required to use same material for main
lifting surfaces namely wing leading edge, wing and elevon. A study is carried out by
100

95
90
85 Original
EI-20%
EI-40%
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 9 The comparison of flexural rigidity curves with Original
100
95
90
Original
85 Steel
Titanium
Aluminium
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 10 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for various materials
changing wing Leading edge, wing and elevon to a single material. Here the assump-
tion made is that all these structures will have the same Original mass irrespective of
material change. This assumption is made just to see the effect of EI due to material
change. Figure 10 shows the effect of material change on control effectiveness and
it is seen that the material change does not affect control effectiveness to a greater
extent as dynamic pressure.
5.4 Different Combinations of Off-Nominal Cases
The static aeroelastic analysis of RLV is carried out for the combination of off-
nominal cases described in the previous section to ascertain the effect on control effec-
tiveness. Various combinations of material, dynamic pressure and flexural rigidity
are studied as given below:
222 N. Nazar et al.
• TITANIUM + 1.5Q
• STEEL + 1.5 Q
• ALUMINIUM + 1.5Q
• TITANIUM + 2Q
• STEEL + 2Q
• ALUMINIUM + 2Q
• EI-20% + 1.5Q
• EI-20% + 2Q
• EI-40% + 1.5Q
• EI-40% + 2Q
For the first case, the material of control surfaces is changed into Titanium and
the dynamic pressure is increased by 1.5 times. EI-20% means, flexural rigidity is
reduced by 20%. Similarly it is done for other cases also. Figures 11 and 12 shown
is the comparison curve for various combinations. As seen from these figures, Effect
of material change with the combination of dynamic pressure, (with the assumption
that overall mass does not change with material change), steel material seems to
give a better control effectiveness when compared to other materials. Figures 13
100
95
90
Original + 1.5Q
85 Titanium + 1.5Q
Steel + 1.5Q
Aluminium + 1.5Q
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 11 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for original and various combinations
100
95
90
Original + 2Q
85 Titanium + 2Q
Aluminium + 2Q
Steel + 2Q
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 12 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for various combinations of 2Q
100

95
90
85
original +1.5Q
EI-20% + 1.5Q
EI-40% + 1.5Q
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 13 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for various combinations of EI & 1.5Q
100
95
90
85 Original +2Q
EI-20% + 2Q
EI-40% + 2Q
80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mach Number
Fig. 14 Control effectiveness versus mach number curve for various combinations of EI & 2Q
and 14 show the effect of scaling up the size (flexural rigidity reduction) with the
combination of dynamic pressure. The control effectiveness is very much reduced to
82%, for higher dynamic pressure and EI reduced to 40%. As observed in Sects. 5.1,
5.2 and 5.3, the increase in the dynamic pressure has the maximum effect on the
control effectiveness.
6 Conclusion
Static aeroelastic analysis of Reusable Launch vehicle (RLV) was carried out at
steady level flight condition for various Mach numbers to ascertain the control effec-
tiveness of the elevon. Divergence analysis of the RLV revealed that the maximum
off-nominal dynamic pressure can be allowed twice the value of operating dynamic
pressure in subsonic regime. Analyses were carried out with 1.5 times and 2.0 times
the nominal dynamic pressure, along with the Flexural rigidity (EI) reduction to
take care of scaling up, and Material change for manufacturing easiness. From the
224 N. Nazar et al.
results of various analyses, it is found that the increase in dynamic pressure has more
significant effect in reducing the control effectiveness, compared to Material change
or reduction in flexural rigidity. The increase in dynamic pressure brings down the
control effectiveness by 7%, whereas EI reduction up to 40% brings down the control
effectiveness by 1.5% and material change brings down the control effectiveness by
less than 1%. For different combination of off nominal cases, increase in dynamic
pressure by 2 times and reduction in EI by 40% together brings down the control
effectiveness by 10%.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge, the scientists from VSSC, ISRO
and ADA who have initially guided us in successfully carrying out the static aeroelastic analysis
and divergence analysis for RLV. We would also like to acknowledge MSC NASTRAN technical
support people for guiding us in the software side. We would like to express our sincere gratitude
to the above without their initial support this paper wouldn’t have seen the light.
References
1. Alley Jr VL, Harper Gerringer A (1967) An analysis of aeroelastic divergence in unguided

launch vehicles. NASA Technical Note, NASA TN D–3281
2. Thompson WT, Dahleh MD (2011) Theory of vibrations with applications. University of
California, vol 5
3. Petyt M (2003) Introduction to finite element vibration analysis. Institute of Sound and
Vibration Research, vol 7
4. Bisplinghoff RL, Ashley H, Halfman RL (1996) Aeroelasticity. Dover Publications
5. Praveen R, Surendar E, Shyam Kumar K (2018) Design, static structural and modal analysis of
aircraft wing NACA 4412 using ANSYS workbench 14.5. Int J Eng Sci Invent (IJESI), 61–71
6. Katon M, Rahman NA, Manap N (2017) Theoretical and finite element method of static
structural analysis at wing segment. ARPN J Eng Appl Sci, 4491–4493
7. Fung YC (2003) An introduction to the theory of aeroelasticity. University of California, vol.
3
8. Sruthi K, Lakshmana Kishore T, Komaleswara Rao M (2017) Design and structural analysis of
an aircraft wing by using aluminium silicon carbide composite materials. IJEDR 5, 949–959
9. Lee I, Miura H, Chargin MK (1992) Static aeroelastic analysis for generic configuration. J
Aircraft
10. Xie C, Wang L, Yang C, Li Y (2013) Static aeroelastic analysis of very flexible wings based
on non-planar vortex lattice method. Chin J Aeronaut
11. Lina Q, Zhou Z, Chi Z (2019) Static aeroelastic characteristics of grid structure wing. IEEE
Aerosp Conf
Analytical Study on Dynamic Behaviour
of Bolted Beam Column Steel
Connections with Reduced Beam Sections
Deepa P. Antoo and Asha Joseph
Abstract Recent earthquakes highlighted that, conventional steel moment frame

(SMF) shows brittle failure due to the seismic actions. Greater damages are due to the
stress concentration at the interface of beam and column. A number of improved beam
to column connection design strategies have been proposed. Reduced beam section
(RBS) connection was introduced as a safety approach to reduce stress concentration
at the panel zone. RBS promote the formation of plastic hinges within the reduced
beam section of the beam at a specific distance from column face. The finite element
analysis of steel beam-column connection arrangement was carried out for studying
the strength behavior of beam column joint. In this paper cyclic analysis of bolted
steel beam-column connections with RBS were using finite element analysis software
ANSYS 16.1. The cyclic behavior of bolted beam column joints with and without
RBS techniques are investigated. Cyclic behavior of variable configuration of reduced
beam sections was also examined. From the analysis, it is observed that the spec-
imen with RBS dissipates more energy than the conventional moment connection.
Connection region remained in the elastic area due to plastic hinge formation in the
RBS zone. The applied RBS geometry protects the connection and its components
(endplate, column flange, bolts, welds) from failure. To investigate the effectiveness
of RBS in inclined beams, 3D finite analysis is performed on the frame with a slope
of 10°, 20°, 30° from the orthogonal.
Keywords Bolted beam column connection · Reduced beam section · Finite

element model · Cyclic loading · Dynamic behavior
D. P. Antoo (B) · A. Joseph

A. Joseph

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_22
226 D. P. Antoo and A. Joseph
1 Introduction
Steel moment resisting frames are widely used as seismic load resisting systems of
buildings in high seismic regions. The connections of moment resisting frames have
superior ductility and energy dissipation capacity due to the inelastic behavior of the
beams and panel zone. Some moment connections have poor seismic performance.
New moment connections were developed after the 1994 Northridge earthquake and
1995 Kobe earthquake. Reduced beam section with Bolted web (RBS-B) moment
connections was one of the newly developed connections [1]. RBS-B connections
limit the amount of moment demand transferred to the face of the column, and
promote the formation of internal plastic hinges within the reduced beam section of
the beam by trimming the beam flange width at a specific distance from the column
face [2]. Extended end plate moment connections can be designed to be suitable for
use in seismic force resisting moment frames [3]. During earthquake, the reduced
section plays an important role as a structural fuse and dissipate the seismic energy
by forming a plastic hinge through yielding and buckling of the beam. Since the steel
behaves in a stable and ductile manner and the plastic hinge is also limited to the
intended location, the brittle failure in connection can be avoided [4].
Various shape cutouts are possible (constant, tapered or radius cut) to reduce the
cross-sectional area. RBS moment-resisting connection improves the ductility of
steel member [5, 6]. Improved ductility characteristics and cost effectiveness makes
RBS preferable in seismic region [7]. Typical geometry for the design of radius cut
RBS are shown in Fig. 1.
AISC 358 provides a number of prequalified connections for seismic applications
in special and intermediate steel moment frames. The design standard was developed
assuming that beams frame orthogonally into a column in both the elevation and plan
of the frame. In real-life construction, however the beam can be skewed in plan or
sloped in elevation (Fig. 2). While these prequalified connections may be applicable
when the slope angle does not deviate too much from orthogonal, it is not clear if
these connections can be applied to cases when the angle is large [9]. The objective
of this study was to investigate the cyclic behavior of bolted beam column joints with
and without RBS techniques and also to analyze the dynamic behavior of variable
configuration of reduced beam sections with slope angles (10°, 20°, 30°).
2 Finite Element Modeling
2.1 Formulation of the Model
Two specimens were studied, designated as, connection without RBS as ‘WRBS’
and with RBS as ‘RBS with circular cut’. RBS connection was designed based on
specifications given as per AISC and FEMA guidelines.
Analytical Study on Dynamic Behaviour of Bolted Beam … 227
Fig. 1 Typical geometry of the radius cut RBS [8]
Fig. 2 Sloped RBS moment connection [10]

A beam to column bolted connection is modeled with an extended endplate, where

the cross-sections were HE 300B and HE 160A for the column and the beam respec-
tively. The total height of the column is 1797 mm and the beam span is 1000 mm.
Double web plates of 12 mm thickness and continuity stiffeners equal to the beam
flange thickness were assembled to the column, strengthening the panel zone. Web
plates of 400 × 208 × 12 mm, continuity plates 262 × 100 × 10 mm, extended end
plates 250 × 310 × 20 mm and 8 mm end plate welds were provided. Also M20,
10.9 grade bolts were used in the connections.
2.2 Loading Protocol and Boundary Conditions
The finite element modeling and analysis of present study is carried out using ANSYS
16.1 Workbench. Boundary conditions of the finite element model is shown in Fig. 3.
The top and bottom of the column are provided with fixed boundary conditions
thereby restricting the translations and rotations in x, y and z directions. For deter-
mining the cyclic behavior of different configurations in RBS, cyclic loading was
applied at the beam tip. This loading protocol was developed to obtain the behavior
of beam column moment connections. The details of loading sequence for AISC
loading protocol is presented in Table 1.
Fig. 3 Boundary conditions

Table 1 AISC 2002 loading schedule

Load step Peak deformation, δy Number of cycles
1 ±0.375 6
2 ±0.50 2
3 ±0.75 2
4 ±1.00 4
5 ±1.50 2
6 ±2.00 2
7 ±3.00 2
8 ±4.00 2
2.3 Geometric Modelling of Specimen
The study aims to analyze the cyclic behavior of bolted beam column joints with
and without RBS techniques (Figs. 4 and 5). RBS with circular cut outs are made
near the column face in the flanges of the beam. The modeling include the modeling
of beam, column, extended endplate, double web plates, continuity stiffeners and
Fig. 4 FE model without

RBS
Fig. 5 RBS with circular cut
Table 2 Dimensions of RBS with circular cut

Distance of the Area of RBS Length of the Depth of the Radius of the cuts in
beginning of the (mm2 ) RBS, b (mm) flange cut, c both top and bottom
RBS from column (mm) flanges at the RBS, r
face, a (mm) (mm)
96 3321.7 114 40 60.61
reduced sections of beam. The geometry is defined for the configurations as shown
in Table 2.
Element SOLID 186 was used for the 3-D finite element modelling. Bilinear
isotropic hardening was used for modelling the materials. The mechanical properties
of steel sections of beam and column are: modulus of elasticity −2x105 MPa, poisons
ratio −0.3 and yield strength for beam −430 MPa.
Frictionless contact is provided between column to extended end plate connec-
tions. Frictional contact is provided between extended end plate to bolt, column to
bolt connections and also in the column to nut connections. Bonded contacts are
provided between column to web plates, column to continuity plates, bolt to nut,
web plate to continuity plate, and also in extended end plate to beam.
2.4 Geometric Modelling of Inclined Beams
To investigate the effectiveness of RBS in inclined beams, 3D finite element models

are developed with a slope angle in the elevation of the frame with a slope of 10, 20,
30 degrees from the orthogonal (Figs. 6, 7 and 8). Cyclic responses of these inclined
beams with RBS were examined.
3 Effect of RBS on Cyclic Response
The parameters such as stress distribution, load carrying capacity, deformation and
energy absorption are studied. The location of plastic hinge is identified in each
configuration. According to the capacity design concept, the formation of plastic
hinge should be away from the column face [11]. The cyclic behavior of bolted beam
column joint with and without RBS techniques are studied by applying a cyclic
loading at the tip end of the beam. AISC loading protocol given in Table 1 was
used for this purpose. Load versus deformation curve is plotted to obtain the energy
dissipation. The response parameters to cyclic loading such as deformation, stress,
Fig. 6 10° Beam inclination

load carrying capacity and energy dissipation are tabulated in Table 3 for beams with
and without RBS.
3.1 Stress Distribution
The structure is analyzed after the application of the cyclic loading at the free end of
the beam. The stress distribution for each configuration is noted and is given in Table
3. The maximum stress in column and beam for both configurations is compared.
By providing circular cut, the stress in column is reduced by 7.9% and plastic hinge
location is shifted to reduced beam section. Hence it is recommended that RBS with
circular cut gives better performance.
3.1.1 Beam Column Joint Without RBS
By performing the cyclic analysis, it is found that the major stress is concentrated at
the column face, which is not recommended for the seismic performance. The stress
distribution for beam column joint without RBS is shown in Fig. 9.
Table 3 Analysis response for beams with and without RBS

Cross Yield Ultimate Max Maxbeam Yield Ultimate Energy
section load load (kN) column stress deformation deformation dissipation
(kN) stress (MPa) (mm) (mm) (kJ)
(MPa)
Without 30.657 99.864 521.71 460.93 7.5 60 13.975
RBS
Circular 28.102 72.667 480.46 555.36 7.5 60 18.901
3.1.2 RBS with Circular Cut
Under the cyclic loading, maximum stress of 555.36 MPa is occurred at the reduced
beam section and 480.46 MPa at the column. Stress of 881.07 MPa is found to occur
in the bolt. For this configuration, the plastic hinge position is changed from the
column face to the RBS region. The stress distribution for the reduced beam section
with circular cut is shown in Fig. 10.
Fig. 9 Stress distribution of beam column joint without RBS
Fig. 10 Stress distribution of RBS with circular cut
3.2 Hysteretic Energy Dissipation
Load v/s deformation curve is plotted for the selected configuration. Area under
the hysteresis curve gives the energy dissipation values [12]. The energy dissipation
of RBS with circular cut, is 18.901 kJ, which is 35.24% higher than conventional
connection. The curves obtained for different configurations are shown in Figs. 11
and 12. The energy dissipation corresponding to each model is given in Table 3.
Fig. 11 Hysteresis curve for

beam column joint without
RBS
Fig.12 Hysteresis curve for

RBS with circular cut
4 Effect of Inclination of Beams on Cyclic Behavior
Study is conducted to evaluate the effect of beam slope angle along with different
design factors on the cyclic response of Reduced Beam Section (RBS) moment
connections. Based on AISC-358, in sloped RBS connections, a small deviation
from orthogonal does not change the performance of RBS connection significantly.
However, for greater slope angles, e.g. 28° [8], adjustments should be made to avoid
the adverse impact of slope angle, such as fracture at beam flange welds and increased
strain demands at the heel location. RBS connections with smaller beam slope angle
experience lower strain demands and less potential for fracture [8]. The response
parameters to cyclic loading such as deformation, stress, load carrying capacity and
energy dissipation are tabulated in Table 4 for variable alignment of beams.
After the application of cyclic loading at free end of the beam, it is found that in
all cases (beam inclinations 10°, 20°, 30°), the plastic hinge zone have shifted to a
Table 4 Analysis response for variable alignment of beams

Inclination Yield Ultimate Max Max Yield Ultimate Energy
angles load load (kN) column beam deformation deformation dissipation
(kN) stress stress (mm) (mm) (kJ)
(MPa) (MPa)
10° 27.902 74.653 508.79 554.81 7.5 60 18.722
20° 27.597 75.615 464.1 537.45 7.5 60 18.535
30° 27.128 76.244 517.4 508.22 7.07 56.415 17.202
Fig. 13 RBS with slope angle 10°
distance away from the beam to column interface. i.e. to the RBS. Model with 20°
slope angle shows, a maximum stress of 537.45 MPa at the RBS and 464.1 MPa at
the column. Stress of 884.94 MPa is found to occur in the bolt which is less than that
of RBS with 30° slope angle. The stress distribution for each configuration is noted
in Table 4. The stress distribution of RBS with variable slope angles (10°, 20°, 30°)
are shown in Figs. 13, 14 and 15.
4.2 Energy Dissipation Capacity
The energy dissipation capacity through yielding and buckling of the beam can be
defined by the area within the hysteresis loop. The curves obtained for RBS with
slope angles (10°, 20°, 30°) are shown in Figs. 16, 17 and 18. The energy dissipation
corresponding to each angle is given in Table 4.
The ultimate load carrying capacity for 20° inclination is higher than 10°.
Hysteresis energy dissipation capacity decreases as slope angle increases. The models
with slope angles 10° and 20° shows hysteresis energy dissipation capacity higher
than 30° inclination (17.202 kJ). Increase in hysteresis energy dissipation capacity

RBS with slope angle 10°

by 7.749% was observed in 20° slope angle when compared to RBS having 30° slope
angle.

5 Conclusions
Connections should be designed to be stronger, mobilizing the stresses to a desired

location along the length of the beam away from the connection assembly, creating
the “weak beam-strong column” mechanism.
The concluding remarks obtained from the comparison of cyclic behavior of bolted
beam column joints with and without RBS techniques are highlighted here:
• By adopting reduced beam section the plastic hinge location is shifted from the
column face to the RBS region.
• The column stress in circular configuration was reduced by 7.9% on comparing
with the conventional moment connection and it has a load carrying capacity of
72.667 kN.
• Increase in energy dissipation by 35.24% was observed in circular cut when
compared with conventional connection.
The effect of RBS in inclined beams under cyclic loading is also studied in this
paper. Sloped beam column connection with three different angles (10°, 20°, 30°)
were analyzed and the major findings are summarized as follows:
• From the study considering the stress concentration on column, deformation and
energy dissipation, the beams with inclination of 20° gives better results.
• Models with a slope angle of 10° and 20° showed ultimate deformation upto
60 mm where as the model with a beam slope angle of 30° can withstand only
upto 56.415 mm.
• For RBS having 20° slope angle, the column stress is reduced by 10.3% when
compared to 30° beam inclination.
• Increase in hysteresis energy dissipation capacity by 7.749% was observed in 20°

slope angle when compared to RBS having 30° slope angle.
• The ultimate load carrying capacity for 20° inclination is higher than 10°.
• RBS connections with larger slope angles have greater potential for fracture and
high strain demands.
• Ultimate deformation, hysteresis energy dissipation capacity decreases as slope
angle increases.
References
1. Han SW, Moon K-H, Hwang S-H, Stojadinovic B (2012) Rotation capacities of reduced beam
section with bolted web (RBS-B) connections. J Constr Steel Res 70:256–263
2. Swati AK, Gaurang V (2014) Study of steel moment connection with and without reduced
beam section. Case Stud Struct Eng 1:26–31
3. Sumner EA, Murray TM (2002) Behavior of extended end-plate moment connections subject
to cyclic loading. J Struct Eng 128(4):501–508
4. Hong J-K (2019) Sloped RBS moment connections at roof floor subjected to cyclic loading:
Analytical investigation. Int J Steel Struct 19(1):329–339
5. Christos, Dimitra T (2018) Reduced beam section (RBS) moment connections-analytical
investigation using finite element method. Civ Eng J 4(6):1240–1253
6. Rahnavard R, Hassanipour A, Siahpolo N (2015) Analytical study on new types of reduced
beam section moment connections affecting cyclic behavior. Case Stud Struct Eng 3:33–51
7. Kulkarni RB, Vaghe VM (2014) Experimental study of bolted connections using light gauge
channel sections and packing plates at the joints. Int J Adv Struct Eng (IJASE) 6(4):105–119
8. Lee C-H, Jeon S-W, Kim J-H, Uang C-M (2005) Effects of panel zone strength and beam web
connection method on seismic performance of reduced beam section steel moment connections.
J Struct Eng 131(12):1854–1865
9. Mohammadi NM, Moradi S (2020) Effects of design factors on the cyclic response of sloped
RBS moment connections. Eng Struct 207(2020):110228
10. Kim D-W, Ball SC, Sim H-B, Uang C-M (2016) Evaluation of sloped RBS moment connections.
J Struct Eng 142(6):04016013
11. Sophianopoulos DS, Deri AE (2019) Steel beam-to-column RBS connections: FEM analysis
under cyclic loading. World J Mech 9:17–28
12. Sofias CE, Kalfas CN, Pachoumis DT (2014) Experimental and FEM analysis of reduced beam
section moment endplate connections under cyclic loading. Eng Struct 59:320–329
Experimental Study of Self-cleaning
Concrete by Using Various Photocatalysts
Geethu Benny and Gayathri Krishna Kumar
Abstract A construction material that removes pollutants from the air as it keeps
its surface clean. This new astonishing concrete that not only keeps itself clean but
also removes pollutants from the air is called Self-Cleaning Concrete. Self-cleaning
concrete is a technique to reduce the air contaminants such as NOx , SO2 , CO2 and
VOC’S from vehicular traffic on streets, any industrial activity and the urban envi-
ronment. In this paper a study has been carried out on the compressive strength
of self-cleaning concrete by introducing the photocatalytic materials such as titania
(TiO2 ), zinc oxide (ZnO), aluminium oxide (Al2 O3 ). Self-cleaning property of the
photocatalytic concrete is studied by using RhB (Rhodamine dye) discolouration
under UV light, a standard test for self-cleaning cementitious materials. The prop-
erties of self-cleaning concrete is then compared with the that of M25 grade normal
concrete and the results are studied.
Keywords Self-cleaning concrete · TiO2 · ZnO · Al2 O3 · Rhodamine dye ·

1 Introduction
Buildings are exposed to many organic contaminants. From bird residue to diesel
fumes, all urban buildings are constantly exposed to organic material that makes
their surfaces appear dirty. Yet there’s another kind of organic material constantly
bombarding buildings that is harder to see: NOx (nitrogen oxides). NOx is the primary
component of smog which not only makes buildings dirty, but also threatens the
quality of the air we breathe. To overcome this, Photocatalytic materials such as
G. Benny (B) · G. K. Kumar

G. K. Kumar

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_23
242 G. Benny and G. K. Kumar
titania (TiO2 ), zinc oxide (ZnO), Alumina (Al2 O3 ) is added to the concrete thus self-
cleaning properties can be determined. A construction material removes pollutants
from the air as it keeps its surface clean. This new astonishing concrete that not only
keeps itself clean but also removes pollutants from the air is called Self Cleaning
Concrete. The key to such properties are photocatalytic components that use the
energy from ultraviolet rays to oxidize most organic and some inorganic compounds
[1]. This accelerates the process of natural oxidation and faster pollutant decompo-
sition. Air pollutants that would normally result in discoloration of exposed surfaces
are removed from the atmosphere by the components, and their residues are washed
off by rain [1, 2].
2 Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the experimental research work include;

• To access the cleaning capacity of concrete using TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3.
• To study compressive strength, decolourization using RhB dye.
• To compare the compressive strength and decolourization of concrete cubes made
from TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 .
• To compare the properties of self-cleaning concrete with that of normal M25 grade
concrete.
3 Scope
• Concrete faces the problem of tending to become dirty when exposed to polluted
area. This can be reduced by using self-cleaning capability of concrete by using
TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 .
4 Experimental Work
4.1 Materials Used
4.1.1 Cement
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-53 grades confirming to IS: 12269–1987 was used.
The properties are given in Table 1.
Experimental Study of Self-cleaning Concrete … 243

Fineness modulus Specific gravity Initial setting time
6% 3.17 42 min
Table 2 Properties of fine

Specific gravity Grade
aggregate
2.75 Zone II
Table 3 Properties of coarse

Specific gravity Grade
aggregate
2.83 Well graded

Average particle size Purity Specific gravity
of titanium dioxide
35 nm 99% 1.4
4.1.2 Fine Aggregate
Fine aggregate used for the experimental study was manufactured sand. The physical
properties of fine aggregate are given in Table 2.
4.1.3 Coarse Aggregate
Coarse aggregate used in this experiment are of 20 mm nominal size. The physical
properties of coarse aggregate are given in Table 3.
4.1.4 Titanium Dioxide
Titanium dioxide is a chemical compound, also known as titania, is the naturally

occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO2 . Table 4 shows the physical
properties of titanium dioxide.
4.1.5 Zinc Oxide
Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula ZnO. ZnO is a white powder
that is insoluble in water. Table 5 shows the properties of zinc oxide.
Table 5 Physical properties of zinc oxide

55 nm 99% 5.6
Table 6 Physical properties of aluminium oxide

55 nm 99% 3.9
4.1.6 Aluminium Oxide
Aluminium oxide is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chem-
ical formula Al2 O3 . It is commonly called alumina. Table 6 shows the properties of
aluminium oxide.
4.1.7 Rhodamine B
It is a chemical compound and a dye. It is often used as a tracer dye within water
to determine the rate and direction of flow and transport. Rhoda mine dyes are used
extensively in biotechnology applications.
4.2 Mix Proportion
M25 grade mix design was carried out with reference to IS code-10262: 2009 [1]. A
ploy-carboxylate ether based superplasticiser is used at a dosage of 0.3% by weight
of cement to improve the workability. Trial and error method is adopted to arrive
at the suitable normal concrete mix. Hence arrived at a mix proportion which is
tabulated in Table 7
Hence the mix proportion adopted is 1:1.77:3.24.

Cement (kg) Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate Chemical admixture Water (kg/m3 )
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
390 693.2 1264 1.17 169.5
4.3 Methodology
• The properties of the raw materials such as cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggre-
gate which are used for the investigation is studied. All the experiments that are
done to determine the characteristics of the materials are carried out as per Indian
Standards.
• All the materials for casting concrete were taken and were mixed using hand
mixing under desirable conditions and they are allowed for casting in the pre-
fabricated moulds [3].
• In the mix TiO2, ZnO, Al2 O3 were added in varying percentages such as 0.5%,
1%, 1.5% of weight of cement and self-cleaning concrete is made.
• Specimens were demoulded 24 h after casting and are cured in water until the
testing age [4].
• The compressive strength of concrete cubes of size 150 × 150 × 150 mm were
tested at 7 days and 28 days to obtain optimum of TiO2, ZnO, Al2 O3.
• Self-cleaning action of concrete is studied on cubes with the help of RhB solution.
After one day of curing, the concrete cubes are dipped into RhB solution. Then
the cubes are taken out and exposed to direct sunlight to observe the self-cleaning
action. Photographs are taken at different intervals and the self-cleaning action is
observed.
4.4 Results and Discussions
4.4.1 Estimation of Optimum Percentage of Photocatalysts
Concrete cubes were casted with varying percentages of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3. 3 cubes
were prepared for each mix and compressive strength test was conducted after 7 days
and 28 days appropriate curing. Based on the results optimum percentage of different
photocatalysts were determined.
The results indicated that the compressive strength of concrete produced by adding
photocatalytic (TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 ) nano-particles show higher value at 1% which is
greater than the value for control mix. This may be due to the fact that 1% of these
nano-particles will fill all the pores of concrete thus imparts a dense micro structure
to concrete [5, 6]. After 1% of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 the compressive strength decreases
this may be due to excess amount of these photocatalysts covers the cement particles
which disrupt the water cement reaction and hence the strength decreases on further
increment. Therefore the optimum percentage is found to be 1–1.5%. Figures 1, 2
and 3 depicts the variation of average compressive strength for varying percentages
of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 respectively.
Figure 4 depicts the graph between average compressive strength v/s optimum
dosage of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 .
40 37.32
Avg.compressive strength
33.55 34.19
35 31.04
29.67 29.42
30 27.18
24.15
(N/mm2)
25
20
7th day
15
28th day
10
5
0
0% 0.50% 1% 1.50%
% of TiO2
Fig. 1 Average compressive strength versus % of TiO2
40 36.01
33.55 33.83
35
30.25
28.89 28.85
30 27.18
25 23.31
(N/mm2)
20
7th day
15
28th day
10
5
0
0% 0.50% 1% 1.50%
% of ZnO
Fig. 2 Average compressive strength versus % of ZnO
40 36.68
34.48
33.55
35 30.78
29.97 29.21
30 27.18
25.75
(N/mm2)
25
20
7th day
15
28th day
10
5
0
0% 0.50% 1% 1.50%
% of Al2O3
Fig. 3 Average compressive strength versus % of Al2 O3

40 37.32 36.01
34.48
33.55
35 31.04 30.78
30.25
30 27.18
25
(N/mm2)
20 7th day
15 28th day
10
5
0
Control mix Titanium Zinc oxide Aluminium
dioxide oxide
Fig. 4 Average compressive strength versus optimum dosage of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3
4.4.2 Decolourization Test
Concrete cubes were casted with 1% of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 . In this test the concrete
containing photocatalysts have been evaluated based on decolourization under sun
light, (a standard test for self-cleaning cementitious materials). After one day of
curing, on the surface of the casted concrete cubes 1 ml of Rhodamine dye is dropped
on each cube sample and placed under direct sunlight and the photographs are taken
at different intervals and the self-cleaning action is observed [7]. Figure 5, 6, 7 shows
the results recorded at different intervals.
The results indicated from the Rhodamine decolourization test is that the cube
sample made with 1% TiO2 shows a better cleaning action compared to that of
Al2 O3 , ZnO and control mix (CM). Therefore self-cleaning action of the concrete
cubes made with photocatalysts can be compared as; TiO2 > Al2 O3 > ZnO ≥ CM.
Fig. 5 Sample cubes placed under sunlight

Fig. 6 After 2 h under sunlight
Fig. 7 After 5 h under sunlight
5 Conclusions
• Adding 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% of TiO2 , ZnO, Al2 O3 , it is observed that 1% of addition
gives higher compressive strength than the control mix.
• The increase in strength is may be due to nanoparticles act as a protective mate-
rial to improve the density of concrete that decreases the porosity of concrete
significantly.
• The results indicated from the Rhodamine decolourization test is that the cube
sample made with 1% TiO2 shows a better cleaning action compared to that of
Al2 O3 , ZnO and control mix (CM).
References
1. Antony J, Kannan SU (2018) Study on the properties of self cleaning concrete using titanium
dioxide. J Trend Sci Res Dev 2:248–253
2. Dhanabal M, Sakthivel R, Arun T (2018) Experimental study of photocatalytic concrete using
titanium dioxide. J Innov Res Sci Technol 4(11)
3. Feng D, Xie N, Gong C, Leng Z, Xiao H, Lui H, Shi X (2013) Study on the properties of
self-cleaning concrete using titanium dioxide. Indus Eng Chem Res 52:11575–11582
4. Abdul Hafiz SB, Prakash KB (2017) An experimental investigation on the effect of nano-TiO2
particles on the properties of concrete. J Eng Technol 4:2621–2626
5. Raj A (2019) Behaviour of self-cleaning concrete by using various photocatalysts. Int Res J Eng
Technol 06(05)
6. Pathak A, Tiwari A (2017) Effect of zinc oxide nanoparticle on compressive strength and
durability of concrete. J Res Appl Sci Eng Technol 5:445–500
7. Vignesh T, Sumathi A, Saravana Raja Mohan K (2018) Study on self-cleaning concrete using
nano-liquid TiO2 . Int J Eng Technol 7(3.12):860–863
Thermo Structural Optimisation Study
on Slim Floor Beam with Hollow Core
Slabs
Athul Deepak Krishna and Neeraja Nair
Abstract Slim-floor beams are a novel typology of steel beams where the steel
profile is fully embedded within the concrete floor depth. Slim-floor beams are a well-
known and cost-effective solution that permits a significant reduction of floor thick-
ness, and are increasingly used in industrial and commercial buildings. While the use
of this system is increasing in the construction practice, the available investigations
on its thermal performance are still scarce. Therefore, this paper focuses on analyzing
the fire behaviour of slim-floor beams with hollow-core slabs as a flooring system and
improving its fire-resistance. A finite element model was developed through ANSYS
16.1 and the thermal performance of different type of composite beam configuration
and steel plate thickness was studied by conducting transient thermal analysis. Also,
structural analysis of the following models using these material sections for SFB were
conducted and its structural behaviour was studied. The conclusions suggest that the
thermal performance of SFB configuration can be improved by using innovative
solutions, advanced materials or external protection.
Keywords Slim floor beam · Hollow core slab · Thermal performance · ANSYS
1 Introduction
One of the most common typologies of steel–concrete composite beam used in

practice is the so-called slim-floor beam [1]. The main characteristic of this typology
is that the whole height of the beam remains embedded within the floor depth.
Taking advantage of this reduced height, slim-floor beams offer several improved
performances such as the total floor thickness reduction and the provision of clear
under-floor space for the easy installation of technical equipment.
A. D. Krishna (B) · N. Nair

N. Nair

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_24
252 A. D. Krishna et al.
Fig. 1 Slim floor beam with hollow core slab
Slim-floor beams can be used combined with different floor elements, such as
profiled steel deck or precast concrete slabs. One of the most interesting typology is
obtained from combining the slim-floor beam with precast hollow core slabs, which
provides additional benefits as the fast erection and the structural efficiency for longer
spans shown in Fig. 1.
Due to the fact that the steel beam is totally embedded within the concrete floor, the
fire behaviour of slim floor beams is remarkable [2]. Being exposed to fire only from
their lower flange, in contrast with other types of composite beams not fully embedded
within the concrete floor, slim-floor beams can achieve higher fire resistance times.
2 FEM of Slim Floor Beam with Hollow Core Slab
2.1 Geometry
This research is focused on the development of an advanced Finite Element Model

for the evaluation of slim-floor composite beams, mainly of SFB typology, combined
with precast hollow core slab floors supported by the bottom steel plate and welded to
the lower flange of the beam.A finite element thermal model for simulating nonlinear
heat transfer analysis was developed through ANSYS 16.1 and the thermal perfor-
mance of different type of composite beam configuration, types of thermal resistant
concrete, and steel plate thickness was studied by conducting transient thermal anal-
ysis. Also, structural analysis of the following models using these material sections
for SFB were conducted and its structural behaviour was studied.
Particularly, for the analysis of the slim-floor in fire, two finite element models
were needed: a thermal model and a mechanical model. Thermal model was for
conducting the transient thermal analysis to find their thermal performance and
mechanical model was for conducting the static structural analysis for finding their
structural performance. All model parts were meshed using three dimensional eight-
noded heat transfer solid elements. A maximum finite element size of 20 mm was
employed for meshing all concrete parts and size of 5 mm was used for steel elements
(Fig. 2; Table 1).
Thermo Structural Optimisation Study … 253
a b
Fig. 2 a Mesh view of numerical model, b CAD drawing, c 3D View of SFB with HCS model
Table 1 The sizes of

Parameters Size
validated slim floor beam
with hollow core slab [1] Length 3200 mm
I Section HEB 200
Base plate 360 × 15 mm
Rebars 2Ø20 mm bar
Concrete topping 50 mm
Hollow core slab 200 mm
Width of web 42 mm
Width of hole 115 mm
Height of hole 130 mm
2.2 Material Specification and Engineering Properties
The objective of the parametric study is to assess the influence of the below mentioned
parameters over the fire behaviour of slim-floor beams. The list of parameters
Table 2 Parametric study

Parameter Different material cases
I Beam material type GFRP [3]
Base plate Stainless Steel [4]
Bottom plate thickness 5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm
Table 3 Thermal properties

Material Density Thermal Specific heat
of various materials used
(kg/m3 ) conductivity (J/kgK)
(W/mK)
Structural 7850 60.5 434
steel [1]
GFRP [3] 1870 0.35 640
Stainless 7750 15.1 480
steel [4]
studied is shown in Table 2 and the thermal properties of various materials used
is shown in Table 3.
2.3 Analysis
A sequentially coupled thermal-stress analysis was used to conduct the numer-

ical simulation, thus two different models were needed: a heat transfer model
and a mechanical model. The analysis was performed by first conducting a
pure heat transfer analysis for computing the temperature field and afterwards a
stress/deformation analysis for calculating the structural response. The slim-floor
cross-section was only exposed to fire from its lower surface, matching with the
electrical furnace setup and real fire exposure conditions of slim-floor beams in
practical situations. The values recommended in EN 1991-1-2 were adopted for the
governing parameters of the heat transfer problem. The thermal analysis is done by
using transient thermal analysis.
3 Comparison of the Thermal Performance
During transient thermal analysis, the SFB configuration was exposed to standard
fire ISO-834 model [1]. In order to evaluate the thermal behaviour of each specimen,
based on journals [5], six thermocouples positions are located in the cross section of
finite element model. They are TC1, TC2, TC3, TC4, TC5 and TC6. But out of these
six locations; three locations are taken for thermal performance comparison. They
Fig. 3 Six Thermocouple location in SFB with HCS
are TC1 placed at the middle part of the base plate, TC3 was placed at the middle of
the I beam and TC6 was placed at the top of the slim floor beam shown in Fig. 3.
After conducting the thermal analysis then the static structural analysis was carried
out. The SFB model was roller supported at the both ends. Loading plates were
provided at L/3 distance of the total span length shown in Fig. 2c. The structural anal-
ysis was carried out by displacement control method. And maximum load carrying
capacity was found by plotting load displacement graph.
3.1 Effect of Structural Steel
After transient thermal analysis the maximum temperature recorded in various ther-
mocouple locations were recorded. The maximum temperature recorded in SFB
using structural steel in embedded I beam and base plate was 769 °C at TC1, 560 °C
at TC4 and 167.7 °C at top surface. This shows the temperature distribution of struc-
tural steel material. The temperature curve for slim floor beam with hollow core slab
using structural steel material section in the embedded I beam section and base plate
is shown in Fig. 4.
The structural response for slim floor is presented in terms of the total load carrying
capacity obtained from the FE modeling. For comparison purposes the load values
are taken, after the static analysis the maximum load it can carry is 341.432 kN for
structural steel.
3.2 Effect of GFRP
In this thermal analysis the SFB with HCS is analysed by changing the structural steel
section by GFRP section was carried out. After the thermal analysis the temperature
curve for slim floor beam with hollow core slab using GFRP material section is
shown in Fig. 5.
Time - Temperature Curve

800 767.72
700 738.42
Temperature in °C
600
561.41
500
400
336.76
300 284.41
200
167.17
100
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time in minutes
TC1 TC2 TC3 TC4 TC5 TC6
Fig. 4 The temperature curve of SFB with HCS using structural steel material section
a Time - Temperature Curve b Time - Temperature Curve

600 600
500 500
474.87
Temperature in °C
Temperature in °C
471.5
400 400
300 300
200 200
147.03 165.36
129.6
100 89.346 100 83.885
29.415 73.385
28.215 52.381
0 25.159 0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Time in minutes Time in minutes
Fig. 5 The temperature curve of SFB with HCS using GFRP material section a in the embedded I
beam section and base plate b in base plate only
The maximum temperature recorded in SFB using GFRP in embedded I beam and
base plate was 471.5 °C at TC1, 89.35 °C at TC3 and 25.16 °C at top surface TC6.
And in case of GFRP in base plate only, the maximum temperature recorded was
474.87 °C at TC1, 129.6 °C at TC3 and 52.38 °C at TC6. This decrease in temperature
in SFB with HCS is due to the change in the thermal properties of GFRP. This shows
that GFRP material section has good thermal performance compared to structural
steel material. After the static analysis the maximum load the GFRP that can carry in
two cases are 272.4 kN and 320.84 kN. Thus the maximum load the GFRP material
section that can carry in both cases are low when compared to structural steel material
section. But it has good thermal properties than structural steel material section.
3.3 Effect of Stainless Steel
In this thermal analysis, the SFB with HCS is analysed by changing the structural
steel section by stainless steel section was carried out. After the thermal analysis
the temperature curve for slim floor beam with hollow core slab using stainless steel
section is shown in Fig. 6.
The maximum temperature was recorded in various thermocouple locations. The
maximum temperature recorded in SFB using stainless steel in embedded I beam
and base plate was 741.28 °C at TC1, 425.32 °C at TC3 and 77.635 °C at top surface
TC6. And in case of stainless steel in base plate only, the maximum temperature
recorded was 739.23 °C at TC1, 517.8 °C at TC3 and 156.24 °C at TC6. This
decrease in temperature in SFB with HCS is due to the change in the thermal prop-
erties of stainless steel. This shows that stainless steel material section has good
thermal performance compared to structural steel material. After the static analysis
the maximum load the stainless steel that can carry in two cases are 242.724 kN
and 341.1 kN. Thus the maximum load the stainless steel material sections that can
carry in both cases are low when compared to steel material section. But it has good
thermal properties than steel material section.
a Time - Temperature Curve b Time - Temperature Curve

800 800
741.28
700 700 739.23
676.96
681.09
600 600
Temperature in °C
Temperature in °C
500 517.8
500
425.32
400 400
310.47
300 300
262.52
200 200
148.87
123.75 156.24
100 100
77.635
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Time in minutes Time in minutes
Fig. 6 The temperature curve of SFB with HCS using stainless steel material section a in the
embedded I beam section and base plate, b in base plate only
Table 4 Maximum temperature at thermocouple location

S. No. Material Thickness (mm) TC1 (°C) TC3 (°C) TC6 (°C)
1 Structural steel 15 769 560 167.7
2 Stainless steel 15 739 517.8 156.75
3 Structural steel 5 775.2 569.35 170.53
4 Stainless steel 5 764.5 552.35 166.28
3.4 Effect of Bottom Plate Thickness
In this thermal analysis, the SFB with HCS is analysed by changing the depth of
bottom plate. And also the property of the structural steel and stainless steel was
applied to the varying bottom plate thickness simultaneously.
Table 4 shows the maximum temperature recorded in various thermocouple loca-
tions. From the result it can be observed that reducing the bottom plate thickness of
SFB using stainless steel leads to a decrease in temperature between 1.4 and 3.9%.
As far as stainless steel material is concerned its material cost is high compared to
structural steel. By comparing the above tabulated result and cost of each material it
can concluded that the base plate of thickness 15 mm can be replaced by base plate
of 5 mm thickness having material property of stainless steel. Here we can reduce
material required for base plate and also use of stainless steel material will have
better strength retention at elevated temperatures.
4 Conclusion
Based on parametric studies conducted, the influence of the different parameters over
slim-floor configuration, the following conclusion can be drawn:
• Hence by use of thermal resistant material like GFRP the temperature can be
reduced by a percentage of 38–77% in different locations of SFB model when
compared to structural steel model. This shows good thermal performance than
structural steel.
• By use of stainless steel, the temperature can be reduced by a percentage of 3–8%
in different locations of SFB model when compared to structural steel model.
Hence a better fire performance.
• But in case of their structural performance, the maximum load carrying capacities
obtained are 320.84 and 341.1 for GFRP and stainless steel respectively. Hence
they have considerably low loading carrying capacity than structural steel.
• The effect of the bottom steel plate thickness was studied. It may also be regarded
as good alternatives to applying external protection by means of using stainless
steel base plate of small thickness, with the related cost and material savings.
Apart from a better fire performance, it also provides improved durability and an
aesthetic finishing to the ceiling.
References
1. Kim HJ, Kim HY, Park SY (2011) An experimental study on fire resistance of slim floor beam.
Appl Mech Mater, 752–757
2. Aguado JV, Albero V, Espinos A, Hospitaler A, Romero ML (2016) A 3D finite element model
for predicting the fire behavior of hollow-core slabs. Eng Struct 108:12–27
3. Berardi U, Dembsey N (2015) Thermal and fire characteristics of FRP composites for
architectural applications. Polymers 7(11):2276–2289
4. Leroy G, Insausti A, Ng KT, Ashraf M (2010) Elevated temperature material properties of
stainless steel alloys. J Constr Steel Res 66(5):634–647
5. Albero V, Espinós A, Serra E, Romero ML, Hospitaler A (2018) Numerical study on the flex-
ural behaviour of slim-floor beams with hollow core slabs at elevated temperature. Eng Struct
180:561–573
Study of Geo-polymer Concrete
with Replacement of Fine Aggregate
Using Bottom Ash
Sweety Viswanath and Nincy Jose
Abstract Current cement production across the globe is 4.0 billion tonnes per annum
and growing at 4% annually and it have a huge effect on the global warming. This
calls for the development and use of alternative binder materials which will have less
carbon footprint on environment. The sustainable alternatives to conventional cement
can be developed by utilizing the cementitious properties of industrial byproducts
like flyash, bottomash and GGBS. Flyash and GGBS are used as binder material
50% each. Bottomash is used for the replacement of fine aggregate. NaOH, Na2 SiO3
were used as alkaline activators. Casting and curing of geopolymer concrete (GPC)
is done under ambient temperature. This paper was aimed at examining the fly ash-
ggbs based GPC along with replacing the fine aggregate using bottomash. Study
deals with investigating the influence of varying molarity of NaOH viz., (8 M, 10 M,
12 M, 14 M, 16 M) and to examine the influence of varying bottom ash content
(25–100%) on the mechanical properties of geopolymer concrete. Also to establish
relative performance of GPCs with respect to OPCs.
Keywords Flyash · GGBS · Bottomash · Geopolymer concrete · Alkaline

activator · Ambient temperature
1 Introduction
Cement production across the globe is 4.0 billion tonnes per annum and growing at
4% annually and extreme energy is required to produce it. This is having huge effect
on the global warming. Barely an option left out with except mitigating the emission
of green houses to a great extent. This calls for major attention of researchers for
development and use of alternative binder materials, which will have less carbon
S. Viswanath (B) · N. Jose

N. Jose

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_25
262 S. Viswanath and N. Jose
footprint on environment. Efforts have, therefore, been made to reduce the use of
portland cement by introducing other supplementary cementitious materials (SCM).
In view of this, there is a need to develop sustainable alternatives to conventional
cement utilizing the cementitious properties of industrial byproducts such as fly ash,
ground granulated blast furnace slag. These materials are byproducts from indus-
trial processes and thus require less energy to produce compared to PC production.
The production of geopolymers takes place through the geopolymerization process.
Geopolymer cement, high-alkali–poly (siliate-siloxo) cement, results from an inor-
ganic polycondensation reaction, and so called geopolymerisation yielding three
dimensional zeolitic frameworks.
Better compressive strength noticed in increase in NaOH molarity [1]. GPC’s
cured at the ambient temperature do not undergo exothermic processes to the extent
that are experienced by conventional OPC’s [2]. Compressive strength of coal ash
based GPC’s increases with decrease in liquid to binder ratio [2]. Curing temperature
and method of curing influences the compressive strength of the specimen [3]. No
mix design code is available, so it is needed to review on the results which had come
out upto till date work done [3]. Super plasticizer retards the early setting property
and improved the workability of flyash- GGBS based GPC’s [4]. Strength of GPC
improves with the addition of SP. However, SP dosage higher than 0.5% of total
binder content lead to significant reduction in strength of the mixes. Low (8 M) and
high (14 M) concentration of alkali solution result in similar pattern of strength in
GPC mixes [4]. Slag as a part of flyash binder is effective to accelerate setting time
of GPC in ambient condition [5]. Compressive strength of ambient cured concrete
increases as the age of concrete increases [5].
The present study aims to develop GPC cured under ambient temperature by
using sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate as alkaline activators. Flyash and GGBS
are used as binder material. Coal bottom ashes (BAs) is replaced as filler material.
Compressive strength of fly ash-slag based geopolymer concrete was determined
after 7 days and 28 days of curing with an alkaline liquid to binder ratios of 0.6.
First objective is to optimize the concentration of NaOH and then bottomash used as
replacement at interval of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. Then the study is further extended
to 40 and 60% of replacement. The experimental program was aimed to study the
effect on mechanical properties like compressive strength, flexural strength and split
tensile strength.
Study of Geo-polymer Concrete with Replacement of Fine … 263
Table 1 Characteristics of
Components Results
flyash
Ferric oxide 0.39%
Aluminium oxide 21.29%
Silicon dioxide 63.8%
Calcium oxide 0.44%
Magnesium oxide 0.41%
Loss of ignition < 1%
Particle size 22.2 µm
Table 2 Characteristics of
Characteristics Test results
GGBS
CaO + MgO + SiO2 76.03
Magnesia content 7.73
Chloride content 0.009
Sulphite content 0.38
Fineness (m/kg) 390
Particle size (cumulative %) 97.10 µm
2 Preparation of GPC Cubes
2.1 Materials
2.1.1 Flyash
For geopolymer concrete siliceous pulverized low calcium fly ash is obtained from
Thrippunithara, Ernakulam, India, having a specific gravity of 2.3 (Table 1).
2.1.2 Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS)
GGBS of specific gravity 2.85 obtained from the Asstra Chemicals, Chennai, India;
were used as the source material (Table 2).
2.1.3 Bottomash and Aggregates
Bottom ash is obtained from Essar and Co, Bangalore of specific gravity 2.34 and
water absorption 2.4%. Coarse aggregate used were locally available crushed angular
granite metal of 12 mm size having the specific gravity of 2.88 and for fine aggregate

distribution of bottomash
% Passing
100
50
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
SIEVE OPENING (mm)
% passing lower limit upper limit

distribution of Msand 100
% Passing
80
60
40
20
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
SIEVE OPENING(mm)
% passing lower limit upper limit
Table 3 Characteristics of bottomash and aggregates

Property Bottomash Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate
Specific gravity 2.34 2.747 2.88
Water absorption (%) 2.4 1.4 0.3
Fineness modulus 2.6% 2.83
manufactured sand which is also locally available having the specific gravity of 2.75
were used. Aggregates falls into zone II as per IS383: 1970 (Figs. 1 and 2; Table 3).
2.1.4 Alkaline Activators
97% purity sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pellets and sodium silicate (Na2 SiO3 ) with
28.13% Na2 O, 28.13% SiO2 , and 40.74% H2 O were used. For the NaOH solution,
NaOH pellets were mixed with distilled water and stirred until all the pellets were
completely dissolved. The solution was then left for a minimum of 10 h before use.
2.2 Mix Design
Once the dry mix of aggregates and the binder materials is prepared, alkaline activator
is poured to it and thoroughly mixed to ensure complete reaction. Alkaline activator
was prepared one day prior to the casting of the specimen. The mixture was placed
in the mould 150 mm cube and vibrated for two minutes for proper compaction. The
specimens along with mould were covered with polythene sheet to avoid moisture
evaporation during ambient temperature.
Curing was done at room temperature. Experiments were done by varying param-
eter NaOH concentration 8 M, 10 M, 12 M, 14 M and 16 M and studying the effect
of replacement of bottomash as fine aggregate. Sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide
ratio fixed as 2.5. Alkaline to binder ratio is fixed as 0.6. Flyash and GGBS are taken
in the ratio 50:50. Assume that normal density aggregates in SSD condition are to
be used and the unit weight of concrete is 2400 kg/m3 .
Take the mass of combined aggregates as 77% of the mass of concrete.
For all mixes the mix ratio obtained is 1:1.875:3.482.
Thus; Coarrse Aggregate = 1201.2 kg/m3

Fine aggregate = 646.8 kg/m3
Mass of Alkaline liquid = 207 kg/m3
Alkaline liquid to Binder ratio = 0.6
Mass of Binder material = 345 kg/m3
Ratio of sodium silicate solution to sodium hydroxide solution = 2.5.
2.3 Casting of Cubes
The conventional method used in the making of normal concrete is adopted to prepare
geo-polymer concrete. First, the fly ash, GGBS, coarse aggregate and fine aggregate
mixed in dry condition for 3–4 min and then the alkaline solution which is a combi-
nation of sodium hydroxide solution and sodium silicate solution added to the dry
mix. The mixing is done about 6–8 min for proper bonding of all the materials. After
the mixing, the cubes are casted by giving proper compaction.
The sizes of the cubes used are of size 150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm. Compres-
sive strength of fly ash based geopolymer concrete was determined after 7 days
and 28 days of curing under ambient temperature with an alkaline liquid to binder
ratios of 0.6. The experiment was conducted to investigate the strength properties
of geopolymer concrete. Bottomash used as replacement at interval of 0, 25, 50, 75,
100%. Then the study was further extended to 40 and 60% of replacement. The exper-
imental program was aimed to study the effect of bottomash content on mechanical
properties like compressive strength (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Casting of cubes
3.1 Compressive Strength
Initially the concentration of NaOH is varied from 8 to 16 M and compressive strength

is tested for 7th and 28th day to optimise the NaOH concentration. The compressive
strength of geopolymer mixes at 7th and 28th day is shown in Table 4 (Fig. 4).
Compressive strength increases with the increase in concentration of NaOH in
alkaline activator. Alkaline activator with high molarity (8–14 M) increases the
formation of alumino silicates and geo-polymeric gel, thereby increasing the strength
However, the higher alkaline content (16 M) in the geopolymers promoted greater
Table 4 Compressive strength for varying NaOH concentration

NaOH concentration (M) 7th day compressive strength 28th day compressive strength
(MPa) (MPa)
8 21.33 24.08
10 22.8 25.44
12 25.96 29.27
14 28.24 33.36
16 24.32 26.62
Fig. 4 Compressive strength 40

of 7 and 28 days
30
20
10
0
7 days 28 days
8M 10 M 12 M 14 M 16M
Table 5 Compressive strength for varying percentage of bottomash replacement

% of Bottomash replacement 7th day compressive strength 28th day compressive strength
(MPa) (MPa)
25 23.11 25.39
40 24.03 26.77
50 27.05 29.94
60 30.46 34.53
75 24.20 26.58
100 21.39 22.96
solid dissolution but excess hydroxide ion concentration caused aluminosilicate gel
precipitation in the early stages, hindering further geopolymerization and decreasing
strength. Thus NaOH concentration for further study is taken as 14 M.
After the optimisation of NaOH concentration, the replacement of fine aggregate
using Bottom ash is carried out. Viz., 25, 50, 75, 100% and then 40 and 60% is also
done to assure the exact range of value in which the strength tis the maximum. The
compressive strength of those GPC mixes are as in Table 5 (Fig. 5).
It is found that 60% of replacement results in higher compressive strength. Slight
increase in the strength is due to the pozzolanic reaction of bottomash. Water absorp-
tion for bottomash is slightly more than that of fine aggregate MSand thus strength
decreases with the increase in percentage of bottomash.
Compressive Strength (MPa)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
7th day 28th day
Percentage of replacement of bottomash
25 40 50 60 75 100
Fig. 5 Graphical representation of compressive strength for varying bottom ash replacement
Figure 6 Graphical 8 7.1

representation of split tensile 7
Strength (N/mm2)
strength and flexural strength 6 5.2
5
4
3
2
1
0
Split tensile strength Flexural Strength
3.2 Split Tensile Strength
Splitting tensile strength test was conducted on cylindrical specimens of 150 mm

diameter and 300 mm height at 28 days in accordance with IS specifications and
procedures.
3.3 Flexural Strength
Flexural tests were conducted on beam of size 100 × 100 × 500 mm subjected to
two point loading at 28 days in accordance with IS specifications and procedures.
For geopolymer concrete specimens with 14 M NaOH concentration and 60%
replacement of fine aggregate by bottomash has following results (Fig. 6).
4 Conclusion
Compressive strength increases with the increase in concentration of NaOH in alka-

line activator. Alkaline activator with high molarity (8–14 M) increases the formation
of alumino silicates and geo-polymeric gel, thereby increasing the strength However,
the higher alkaline content (16 M) in the geopolymers promoted greater solid dissolu-
tion but excess hydroxide ion concentration caused aluminosilicate gel precipitation
in the early stages, hindering further geopolymerization and decreasing strength [6].
Thus NaOH concentration for further study is taken as 14 M. Compressive strength
increases with the bottomash replacement as fine aggregate upto 60% afterwards it
decreases. It is found that 60% of replacement results in higher compressive strength.
Slight increase in the strength is due to the pozzolanic reaction of bottomash. Water
absorption for bottomash is slightly more than that of fine aggregate MSand thus
strength decreases with the increase in percentage of bottomash [7]. Even though the
strength development is less for bottom ash concrete, it can be equated to lower grade
of normal concrete and making utilization of waste material justifies the concrete
mix-development. Bottom ash used as fine aggregates replacement enables the large
utilization of waste product.
References
1. Pavithra P, Srinivasa Reddy M et al (2016) Effect of the Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio and NaOH
molarity on the synthesis of flyash- based geopolymer mortar. Geo Chicago, ASCE
2. Xie T, Ozbakkaloglu T (2015) Behavior of low calcium fly and bottom ash-based geopolymer
concrete cured at ambient temperature. Ceram Int J 41:5945–5958
3. Dibyendu Adak and Saroj Mandal, “Strength and Durability Performance of Flyash Based
Process modified Geopolymer concrete”, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol.31,
Issue 9- September 2019, ASCE
4. Manjunath GS, Radhakrishna, Giridhar C, Jadhav M (2011) Compressive strength deelopment
in ambient cured geopolymer mortar. Int J Earth Sci Eng 04(06) ISSN 0974-5904
5. Tran Viet Hung; Dao Van Dong; Nguyen Ngoc Long and Ta Duy Hien. “Study on the Mechnaical
Properties of the Flyash Geopolymer Concrete”, International Journal of Civil Engineering and
Technology, Vol. 8, Issue 3, March 2017, IAEME
6. Topark-Ngarm P, Chindaprasirt P, Sata V (2015) Setting time, strength, and bond of high-calcium
flyash geopolymer concrete. J Mater Civ Eng ASCE 27(7)
7. Chotetanorm C, Chindaprasirt P, Sata V, Rukzon S, Sathonsaowaphak A (2013) High-calcium
bottom ash geopolymer: sorptivity, pore size, and resistance to sodium sulfate attack. J Mater
Civ Eng ASCE 25(1)
Effect of Waste Carpet Fibres and Palm
Oil Fuel Ash on Self Compacting
Concrete
Minnu P. Alias and Tellma John
Abstract Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a flowing concrete that does not require
vibration and should not be vibrated. Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is a by-product
obtained during the burning of waste materials such as palm kernel shell, palm oil
fiber, and palm oil husk. It can be utilized to partially replace cement in a concrete mix
considering its good pozzolanic properties and high performance in the development
of strength of concrete. This work highlights the scope of finding the properties of
M40 equivalent (considering structural applications) fly ash based self compacting
fiber reinforced concrete in cooperating waste carpet polypropylene fibers and palm
oil fuel ash. Cement is replaced with palm oil Fuel Ash at 10, 20, and 30% by
weight of cement and optimum percentage of palm oil fuel Ash is found. In the
self compacting Concrete mix having optimum percentage of palm oil fuel Ash,
Polypropylene carpet fiber fractions at 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1% by volume of concrete are
incorporated and the optimum percentage of addition of waste carpet fibers is found
by testing the mechanical properties. The fresh and hardened properties of the M40
equivalent fly ash based self compacting fiber reinforced mix with optimum palm oil
fuel ash and optimum waste carpet fibers were compared and evaluated.
Keywords Self-compacting concrete · Palm oil fuel ash · Waste carpet fibers
1 Introduction
Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is characterized by its ability to consolidate under

its own weight without any means of compaction or vibration. SCC has the ability to
spread smoothly in congested reinforced elements due to its flowability and use of
small size aggregates. Sustainability considerations in concrete industry have led to
the development of new green concrete by utilization of waste fibrous materials. The
advantages of recycling include reducing environment pollution, reducing land filling
and disposal of wastes and preserving natural resources. Introducing fibers into the
M. P. Alias (B) · T. John


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_26
272 M. P. Alias and T. John
concrete matrix can improve its properties, and enable the utilization of high strength
concrete, while maintaining a ductile behaviour. Self-compaction encourages the
application of macro-fiber reinforcement in concrete, mitigating concerns regarding
reduced workability [1].
The experimental program is intended to investigate the strength of fly ash based
self-compacting concrete by replacement of cement with palm oil fuel ash at 10,
20, 30, and 40% by weight of cement and addition of Organic waste carpet fibers at
0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1% by weight of concrete. The experimental program is aimed to
study the workability and strength parameters. The slump flow test, T50 test and J
ring test were conducted for all mixes to know the fresh property of self-compacting
concrete. Compressive strength, Flexural strength and Split tensile strength test was
conducted at 7 and 28 days and the values are compared with the values of fly ash
based self-compacting concrete.
1.1 Objectives
The main objectives of this investigation are

• To establish Fly Ash based Self Compacting concrete Equivalent to M40 grade.
• To evaluate the optimum percentage of palm oil Fuel Ash by partial replacement
of cement in the ratios of 10, 20, 30 and 40% by weight of the cement in the mix
with optimum percentage of fly ash based on strength parameters.
• To evaluate the optimum percentage of waste carpet fibers partially replaced (0.25,
0.5, 0.75 and 1%) by volume of concrete with optimum percentage of Palm Oil
Fuel Ash based on strength parameters.
• To analyse the durability properties of Fly Ash based SCC with optimum
percentage of Palm Oil Fuel Ash and Waste Carpet Fibers.
• To analyse and compare the results obtained with Fly Ash based Self-Compacting
Concrete.
The properties of various materials used in this investigation and their physical
properties are given in Table 1 [2].
3 Mix Design
There is no standard method for SCC mix design and many academic institutions,
admixture, ready-mixed, pre cast and contracting companies have developed their
own mix proportioning methods. Several methods exist for the mix design of SCC.
Effect of Waste Carpet Fibres and Palm Oil Fuel Ash … 273

Cement Fineness 5% IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Specific gravity 3.15 IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Palm oil fuel ash Specific gravity 2.23
Waste carpet fibers Density 964 kg/m3
Aspect ratio 44
Table 2 Mix design of specimen with varying percentage of fly ash

Notation Cement Fly ash Fine Coarse SP (l/m3 ) Water (l/m3 )
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) aggregate aggregate
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
F28 425 165 848 765 3.54 200
F30 (CM) 413 177 848 765 3.54 200
F32 401 189 848 765 3.54 200
The mix designs were carried out for concrete grade 40 MPa based on Euro-
pean Federation for Specialist Construction Chemicals and Concrete Systems [3]
guidelines and the details of the mix design [4] are given in Table 2.
The main characteristics of Self-Compacting Concrete are the properties in the fresh
state. To determine the fresh properties of SCC, various tests were performed like
slump flow, T50 slump flow test time and J-ring test. All the equipment for various
tests confirms to dimension as given by EFNARC. In this study three properties are
used to evaluate the fresh properties of Self - Compacting Concrete, shown in Table 3.
F28, F30 & F32 represents the SCC containing fly at 28%, 30% and 32% respectively.
F30POA10, F30POA20 & F30POA30, F30POA40 represents the SCC containing
Palm Oil Fuel Ash at 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% respectively [5]. F30POA20CP.25,
F30POA20CP.5, F30POA20CP.75, F30POA20CP1 represents the SCC containing

Mixes Slump flow (mm) T50 slump flow (sec) J–Ring (mm) Passability (mm)
F30(CM) 681 3.3 672 9
F30POA10 678 3.5 668 10
F30POA20 700 3.4 680 20
F30POA30 690 4 670 20
F30POA40 670 4.6 640 30
F30POA20CP.25 660 3.3 657 3
F30POA20CP.5 640 4.5 634 6
F30POA20CP.75 628 5.2 519 9
F30POA20CP1 619 7.3 604 15
Carpet waste fibers at 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% & 1% respectively [5]. Fresh property
tests results satisfies the requirements of EFNARC guidelines.
The slump flow test were conducted for finding the filling ability. The Spread
diameter decreases as the percentage content of Carpet Fiber increases. For self-
compacting concrete with Fibers, slump flow diameter values varies between 600
and 750 mm [1].
T50 slump flow test were conducted for finding the viscosity or flowability of the
self-compacting concrete mixes. From Table 3, it can be see that by increasing the
Carpet fiber content the flowing ability gets reduced.
J-ring test was conducted for finding the passing ability of SCC mixes [6]. Passing
ability gets decreased as the Carpet fiber volume increases The results of shows that
fiber volume fractions at 0.25% gives maximum workability [7].
The compressive strength of self-compacting concrete cubes made with varying

percentage of Fly Ash is tested after 7 and 28 days and the results are shown in Table
4 and Fig. 1. After 28 days of curing the SCC with 30% fly ash gives the maximum
compressive strength. The compressive strength of self-compacting concrete cubes
made with optimum percentage of fly ash and varying percentage of Palm Oil Fuel
Ash is tested after 7 and 28 days. After 28 days of curing the SCC with 20% palm oil
fuel ash gives the maximum compressive strength due to the pozzolanic activity
of POFA [8]. The compressive strength of self-compacting concrete cubes with
optimum percentage of fly ash, palm oil fuel ash and varying percentage of waste
carpet fibers are tested after 7 and 28 days. After 28 days of curing the maximum
compressive strength is 51.7 N/mm2 , for 0.25% replacement of Carpet fibers. At
higher percentages of carpet fibers compressive strength was decreased compared to
Table 4 Compression test results

Notation Compressive strength (N/mm2 )
7 days 28 days
F30 (CM) 37.35 50.23
F30POA10 35.9 50.48
F30POA20 36.3 51.73
F30POA30 30.7 49.34
F30POA40 30 47.96
F30POA20CP.25 38.217 51.7
F30POA20CP.5 35.91 51.3
F30POA20CP.75 34.65 49.35
F30POA20CP1 34.1 48.2
Fig. 1 Testing of compressive strength

Fig. 2 Variation of compressive strength with optimum percentage of fly ash, palm oil fuel ash and
varying percentage of carpet fibers
Table 5 Split tensile strength results

Notation Split tensile strength (N/mm2 )
7 days 28 days
CM 2.98 4.01
F30POA10 3.11 4.03
F30POA20 3.12 4.13
F30POA30 2.86 3.84
F30POA40 2.77 3.72
F30POA20CP0.25 3.03 4.32
F30POA20CP0.50 3.1 4.42
F30POA20CP0.75 3.15 4.45
F30POA20CP1 3.04 4.34
control mix, due to its high absorbance characteristic of carpet fibers which reduced
the amount of water in SCC mixture (Fig. 2; Tables 5 and 6).
Split tensile strength test was conducted in digital compression test in machine.
The effects of Palm Oil Fuel Ash in fly ash based self-compacting concrete on the
tensile strength are studied. The tensile strength value of SCC increases with increase
Table 6 Flexural strength test results

Notation 28 days
CM 5.5
F30POA10 5.32
F30POA20 5.4
F30POA30 5.26
F30POA40 5.1
F30POA20CP0.25 5.31
F30POA20CP0.50 5.51
F30POA20CP0.75 5.78
F30POA20CP1 5.68
in percentage of cement replacement with palm oil fuel Ash upto 20%. The tensile
strength increases to a maximum of 4.13 N/mm2 for 20% palm oil fuel ash content.
The effects of Carpet fibers in fly ash based self-compacting concrete with optimum
percentage of palm oil fuel ash on the tensile strength are studied. An increase in
tensile strength by 4% was observed when Carpet fiber content was 0.75% for curing
period of 28 days. The tensile strength increases to a maximum of 4.45 N/mm2 for
0.75% carpet fiber reinforced self compacting concrete mix (Figs. 3 and 4).
Fig. 3 Testing of split tensile strength
Fig. 4 Split tensile strength of fly ash based self–compacting concrete with optimum percentage
of Palm Oil Fuel Ash and varying percentage of carpet fibres
Flexural strength test was conducted as per IS 516:1959 (Reaffirmed 2018) in

Universal testing machine. Flexural strength test was conducted after 7 and 28 days
of curing. The effects of Palm Oil Fuel Ash in fly ash based self–compacting concrete
on the flexural strength are studied. The maximum flexural strength is 4.13 N/mm2
for 20% replacement of Palm Oil Fuel Ash. The effects of Waste Carpet fibers in fly
ash based self-compacting concrete with optimum percentage of palm oil fuel ash
on the flexural strength are studied. The maximum flexural strength is 4.45 N/mm2
for 0.75% replacement of waste carpet fibers (Figs. 5 and 6).
Fig. 5 Testing of flexural strength
palm oil fuel ash and varying percentage of carpet waste fibers
5 Conclusions
• Fresh properties of SCC are tested and it satisfies the requirements of EFNARC
guidelines.
• The maximum compressive strength of fly ash based SCC with 20% POFA mix
is 51.73 N/mm2 , split tensile strength is 4.13 N/mm2 and the flexural strength is
5.4 N/mm2 , which are greater than the control mix. The optimum amount of palm
oil fuel ash was obtained as 20% in terms of compressive strength, split tensile
strength and flexural strength.
• The Addition of Waste Carpet Fibers into the concrete mix containg optimum
percentage of fly ash and palm oil fuel ash increased the compressive strength
upto an optimum of 0.25%. Polypropylene Carpet fibers did not influence the
compressive strength of SCC.
• Presence of Carpet fibers at varying percentage volume, increased the tensile
strength by 4% and flexural strength by 10%.
• The use of Palm Oil fuel ash as a replacement for fine aggregate is environmentally
helpful and it helps in reducing the construction cost. So Palm Oil Fuel Ash is an
alternative material for replacing Cement for manufacturing of concrete.
• So it can be concluded that, the fly ash based self-compacting concrete with 20%
replacement of palm oil fuel ash and 0.25% replacement of waste carpet fibers
shows better strength and workability than the control mix.
References
1. Abdullahi O, Douba A, Farrag S, Yehia S (2016) Mechanical and durability evaluation of

fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete. J Constr and Build Mater 121:120–133
2. IS 2386:1963 Methods of tests for aggregate of concrete. Bureau of Indian Standards, New
Delhi
3. EFNARC (2002) Specification and guidelines for self-compacting concrete. www.efnarce.org
4. IS 10262:2009 Indian standard concrete mix proportioning- guidelines (First revision). Bureau
of Indian Standards, New Delhi
5. Awal ASMA, Mohammad Hosseini H (2016) Green concrete production incorporating waste
carpet fiber and palm oil fuel ash. J Clean Product 137:157–166
6. ASTM C1621 C1621M:2017 standard method for passing ability of self consolidating concrete
by jring
7. Ghanbarpour S, Hosseinpour I, Mazaheripour H, Mirmoradi HS (2011) The effect of
polypropylene fibers on the properties of fresh and hardened lightweight self-compacting
concrete. J Constr Build Mater 25:351–358
8. Alnahhal FM, Alsubari B, Ibrahim Z, Jumaat ZM, Shafigh P (2018) Properties of eco-friendly
self-compacting concrete containing modified treated palm oil fuel ash. J Constr Build Mater
158:742–754
9. Johari MAM, Tayeh AB, Yusuf MO, Zeyad AM (2017) Pozzolanic reactivity of ultrafine palm
oil fuel ash waste on strength and durability performances of high strength concrete. J Clean
Product 144:511–522
10. Kumar TS, Sahan AH, Skariah B (2017) Sustainable concrete containing palm oil fuel ash as
a supplementary cementitious material—a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 80:550–561
Elemental Approach to Design a Worker
Profile as a Selection Tool in Last Planner
System©
C. Mrinal Raja, Vinay Mathews, and Grace Mary Abraham
Abstract Pull planning is an approach where the schedule is worked in reverse

order. In pull planning, the final decisions are taken by the Project Manager. This
decision making involves a chain of correspondence from Construction Manager to
Project Engineer to Site Engineer and finally to the Foreman. Transfer of workers
from one site to another is also one among the decisions that are taken by a Project
Manager. To select a worker, a manager shall desire certain attributes depending on
the requirement for the transfer. However, the cascading chain of correspondence
results in a biased decision. Thus, selection of a suitable worker to transfer is an
issue. In this paper, a set of construction labour selection attributes are identified
based on expert interviews. The attributes identified are Skill, Regular attendance,
Responsibility, Health, Safety at work, Discipline, Technical Soundness, Daily wage
rate, Language and Previous accident history. These identified attributes are then
quantitatively analysed using questionnaire survey and literature reviews. They are
then given weightage based on the study. Selection attributes can be collectively
called a Worker Profile. This worker profile can be introduced to reduce the gap
between the Manager and a foreman. However, the benefits of this worker profile in
the pull planning process need to be evaluated in real-life cases.
Keywords Pull planning · Selection attribute · Worker profile · Worker assessment
1 Introduction
In the Last Planner System (LPS), projects are considered as production systems.
Thus for productivity, LPS ensures that for an activity to occur, all the prerequisites
are available. To manage, this production system has two controls: Production Unit
C. M. Raja (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, M.Tech SECM, Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kerala,
India
V. Mathews · G. M. Abraham
Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kerala, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_27
282 C. Raja et al.
control and Workflow control [1]. In LPS, the Planning engineer thinks and plans
as the last planner and finds the requirements at the stage of execution. During the
planning process, seven workflows occur such as people, information, equipment,
materials, prior work, safe external conditions and safe space. Recent trends show that
contracting companies have started implementing lean techniques for work execu-
tion. Of several lean techniques, Last Planner System (LPS) developed by Ballard
has gained more desirability due to its collaborative pull planning approach and
Percent Plan Complete metrics those allow to measure the deviations. Not only in
LPS but also other planning systems, to properly allocate and select a worker there
is no proper worker selection tool in this stage of planning. The supervisor has to
decide based on past experiences.
2 Literature Review
Labour productivity is a concept spread over all industries. With regard to Construc-
tion labour productivity (CLP), the information about the performance of people is
scarce in the construction industry.
• Many companies do not have a formal process for tracking and collecting actual
progress. The contractors prefer a method which requires less time, dedication
and involvement [2].
• The data available are not collected in a uniform manner. Also increase in cost
due to collecting data in paper-based systems [3].
• The level of skills of hired craftsmen being supplied needs to be taken into
consideration, which affects project’s cost performance [4].
• Commercial availability of any stochastic system which can estimate activity
productivity [5].
Thus a stochastic system, which can bring in reliable data is needed for the
industry. Such a system that will instil less human effort, cost and time-saving features
in real-time. Designing a procedure adoptable by the contracting company is the
demand of the industry.
3 Objective
This is not a concept that replaces labour productivity but is a systematic method-
ology to enhance data collection, analysis and manifest. Thus a worker profile has
its prospects into the industry where productivity is often estimated based on the
requirement or unprincipled techniques. Although this sounds to be like a catchy
commercial phrase, it never explains better than this, “Therefore the right people at
the right jobs at the right time get the work done efficiently”.
Elemental Approach to Design a Worker Profile … 283
The concept put forth in this paper shall be specific to the construction industry.
The industry requires a procedure or methodologies that will consume less cost and
time which can provide easy, reliable data. This paper is idealising a reputation or
worker profile incorporating desirable attributes which will reflect the efficiency and
competence of the particular worker at hand.
4 Methodology
The research problem is to develop a tool that shall be reliable, universal, trackable,
cost-effective and less time-consuming. This research suggests a worker profile (WP)
that will resolve the research problem. So, to design a WP, it should have elements
that will help create the characteristics of a worker. These attributes which will help
establish a reputation of that worker are to be defined. The attributes are adopted
from factors that affect CLP because the improvement in these factors shall improve
CLP. Questionnaire surveys and expert interviews were used to find the relevance
of CLP and the desirable attributes of a worker. The survey specifications design
has undergone five general stages in the development and completion of a survey
as documented by Blair et al. [6]. The survey was conducted on an online survey
platform, surveymonkey.com. The platform was selected since the survey could be
sent via social networks (such as WhatsApp, Telegram, E-mail, etc.). Once attributes
are identified, they are weighed on a survey consensus. Based on the weights, the
attributes are aligned in the profile. To make the evaluation measurable and control-
lable, control parameters are defined with the help of literature. Few controls are
assisted with further sub-controls. Every control and sub-control shall be measured
on a scale from 0 to 5. This results as the Worker Profile, where all the attributes are
given scores.
To assess a worker, the Worker Profile sheet was used realtime and was also the
same time-period was recorded using a mobile camera (iPhone 7+ ) and tripod. Using
the recorded video, the worker was again assessed by different evaluators, later on
during improvements in the WP.
4.1 Factors Affecting Construction Labour Productivity

(CLP)
Extensive study has already been conducted by Rojas and Aramvareekul [7]. A
critical review conducted by Yi and Chan [8] gives deeper insights into the factors
affecting and challenges at different levels of work front (industry, project and task).
A more specific study on the factors affecting masonry CLP in the Indian construction
industry has been done by Karthik [9]. All these factors affect labour and eventu-
ally affects the CLP. Increasing productivity is a collective effort thus the variables
284 C. Raja et al.
(factors) when optimised helps improve productivity. A universal concern [3] to

incorporate those factors at the site and help create reliable data can be tracked
and collected [4] as required. For WP, the basic attributes are shaped by the factors
affecting CLP. WP tries to understand the implications of all the factor towards a
worker perspective. Thus desirable attributes were identified from these factors. Thus
a system which is stochastic [5], which can bring in reliable data is needed for the
industry. Such a system that will instil less human effort, cost and time saving [4]
features in real-time. Designing a procedure adoptable by the contracting company
is the current demand of the industry.
To understand the awareness within construction professionals, a questionnaire
survey was conducted. This survey marks the relevance of a CLP and the insights from
the survey portrays that CLP is a necessity which is to be collected regularly. CLP
is profoundly known from work (68%) than academics (28%), thus CLP estimation
is implemented at the site. 49% uses own/personalised methods which proves that
there is no universal method used to estimate CLP in our construction industry. 70%
of participants have reported back that the method is either complicated or difficult
to perform and agrees to CLP has to be used to evaluate a worker.
4.2 Desirable Attributes of a Worker
In a computer game, there exists a gamer/avatar profile, contentious data is exhibited.

Such data can be used to compare between like-trades or like-skilled tradesmen. The
profile idealization was required since worker allocation/reallocation happens every
now and then. In order to result in a worker profile, desirable attributes were to
be found. With the help of factors that affect CLP, attributes were identified which
nominally resonate to the construction sites. They were Skill, Regular attendance,
Health, Safety at work, Responsibility, Discipline, Technical soundness, Daily wage
rate, Language and Previous accident (Table 1).
To find the Relative Importance Index (RII), an online survey among construction
industry professionals, such as engineers, managers, timekeepers, safety officers,
consultants, helped in moulding a few numbers of qualities. The most weighted
quality was Skill and the least was previous accident history. With these characteris-
tics, the worker profile shall be idealised from the RII in Table 2. This survey received
a 47% response rate.
4.3 Metaphysical Trade Classification
Based on abstract reasoning, activities have been divided into trades that label workers
as mason, helper, steel fitter, carpenter, welder, electrician, etc. therefore for each
trade, a worker profile integration has to be done to effectively monitor the perfor-
mance of a worker at the site. The WP provides data in similarity with a curriculum
Table 1 Factors affecting masonry labour productivity in building construction in India Karthik
[4]
Categories Description of factors
Work Force Lack of skill and experience of workers, Lack of
empowerment, high workforce absenteeism/turnover,
physical performance and fatigue, low labour
morale/commitment, poor relation among workers, low
amount of pay, little or no financial rewards, lack of labour
recognition program, payment delay
Management team Bad leadership skill, poor relation between workers and
superintendent, lack of labour surveillance, lack of periodic
meeting with labour, poor or no supervision method,
incompetent supervisors, incomplete/revise drawings,
inspection delay, variations/change orders during execution,
method of construction
Working condition Working 7 days per week, frequency of working overtime,
poor work planning, unrealistic scheduling, labour interface
and congestion, design complexity, accidents, unsafe
working conditions, inadequate safety plan, working at
heights
Material and equipment Material shortages, unsuitable material locations, equipment
and tool shortages, poor condition of tools and equipment
Unforeseen and unfamiliar factors Rework, use of information and communication
technologies, weather conditions, stringent inspection
Table 2 Qualities of a worker—results from online questionnaire survey (source Online survey)
Attribute RII
1 Responsibility 0.944
2 Regular attendance 0.944
3 Skill 0.933
4 Health 0.922
5 Safety at work 0.900
6 Discipline 0.889
7 Technical soundness 0.844
8 Daily wage rate 0.767
9 Language 0.767
10 Previous Accident 0.633
vitae, or most similarly like a gamer profile. Change in trade or promotion in designa-
tion is possible with the help of WP. From site observations, there are mason related
works such as blockwork, plastering, tilework, concreting and repair works. As an
inception stage, the blockwork mason is chosen and WP is designed accordingly.
Henceforth, the worker mentioned will be a blockwork mason.
286 C. Raja et al.
4.4 Identifying Activities
So what are the tasks and related activities that a mason does at the site? The need to
identify activities is a necessity before proceeding to any more procedure of ideal-
izing the worker profile. For more in-depth analysis requires Work sampling, which
considers cycle time instead of accumulating the number of productive work carried
out by the worker. An ergonomic nature is provided with the help of adopting features
such as the task is divided into activities that represent each motion of the worker
and the time is recorded to each activity [10]. Thus the total time taken by the worker
to complete a work within a period is his/her productivity.
4.5 Categorizing Productive Works
In work sampling, activities are identified as (1) Productive work (2) Semi-productive
work and (3) Non-productive work. Not only productive but also other two categories
add up to the overall productivity. These semi and non-productive activities support
productive activities to complete a task. WP adopt the productive classification of
activity. The worker does activities such as Mixing mortar, Placing mortar, Lifting
brick, Positioning brick, Levelling, Verticality, Pointing to complete a task by the
end of the day.
4.6 Worker Profile for a Blockwork Mason
Microsoft Excel is simply selected as a platform for the profile because of its wide
acceptance among analysts and timekeepers. Creation of a mobile application and
enabling its cloud computing capabilities are the future scope of this research.
5 Controls
The desirable attributes have been identified in the previous chapter. The WP has
been designed according to the weights received for the attributes from the survey.
While in practice, it was found out that, the attributes were not evaluated to its true
essence. Judging must be based on factors or criteria that bring in the final picture
of that attribute. Henceforth, we call these criteria which help define the attribute as
‘Controls’.
5.1 Skill
Skill is an attribute that has more importance. This attribute relates more to the
productivity of the worker. The state of the insights and techniques of Taylor’s in
modern management proves to be still valid. Hence on an ergonomic methodology
of activity sampling, each activity in a task is recorded. The total time is taken for
the worker to out the quantity of final. The mason performs those identified activities
mentioned earlier. Each of these acts consumes time and all of them are repetitive
acts and are not done as a continuous cycle of activities.
In the evaluation using a worker profile, the total time is recorded and the average
time for each activity is calculated. This includes idle time as well. Thus the observer
shall evaluate the quality control showcased by the mason on a scale of 5, along with
the time taken to complete the recorded amount of work. For the study, 8 h were
noted to be the daily hours of work in construction sites.
CLP = Q/Ts m3 /manhours/day
where,
Q is the Quantity of work done during the time of evaluation.
Ts is the total time taken for observation.
Depending upon the type of block/brick used the productivity of a mason varies
from 0.33 to 0.72 m3 /manhours/day according to Delhi Analysis of Rates. A worker
spends up to 8 manhours/day. Hence the CLP estimated in Skill, rates the worker
between a score between 0 and 5. This evaluation must be done multiple times on
various days in a week to get more reliable data.
5.2 Regular Attendance
Regular attendance is an attribute that is the second most valued attribute of a worker
as identified from the survey. The reason why this is most desirable is that the less
turnover of workers to site reduces the overall productivity of the project. Hence
this attribute directly addresses one among many factors that affect CLP, Absen-
teeism. Absenteeism is classified into the workforce-related factors and has an RII
of 0.79 among other factors affecting CLP of a mason. This data is to be fed by the
timekeeping team of the construction site into the WP.
5.3 Responsibility
Responsibility is an attribute that defines a person of his/her leadership, motiva-

tion and work management skills. Leadership in construction can be classified into
288 C. Raja et al.
Transformational, Transactional, Full Range and other four types of leadership styles.
Accordingly, sub-controls are provided such that a characteristic description of these
styles are measurable in real-life. Motivation has a direct impact on worker perfor-
mance because of its effects or influences are managed by external factors. This
evaluation has its basic understanding from the work of Siriwardana and Ruwanpura
[11], whose conceptual model was the evaluation of a workgroup. In motivation,
Vroom’s expectancy theory is adopted. Based on which, the three variables, thus
sub-controls are Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence. Work management is the
responsibility of the worker as well as management. This control can be evalu-
ated using sub-controls such as site management, material management and work
planning. These sub-controls shall be evaluated on a scale of 1–5.
5.4 Health
Health attribute considers controls such as Sick leave intensity, repetition of sickness
and medical condition if any. Physical performance and fatigue are important when a
worker is studied for CLP. So it is one among several factors that affect CLP. Although
evaluation of one’s physical strength without any interruption of the ongoing work is
not possible. Thus a direct observational parameter is not collected for this attribute.
The available data from timekeepers, safety and administration are used.
5.5 Safety at Work
Most of the studies, discuss on unsafe acts and unsafe behaviours. 98% of all accidents
caused in construction-site are due to unsafe behaviours than unsafe acts whose
contribution is 85% [12]. Behaviour is more evident than an attitude. Anyone can have
a safe attitude towards work, but while practising them, workers tend to compromise
due to simple distractions or unavailability of resources. Thus behaviour is far more
effective than attitude. Incentives to nurture safe behaviour could be expensive or
applicable to short periods of time. Hence, in WP, Health is controlled by two controls,
one being Safe Behaviours and the other Safe Acts, all having equal weightage.
These sub-controls rated on a scale of 0–5 shall impart a mentality of cooperation.
The workers get a notice period or a track record of their unsafe acts and at the same
time encouragement for the safe procedures.
5.6 Discipline
Fair but firm discipline attribute a good work environment. Discipline is often added
to the responsibilities of a supervisor. It depends on the supervisor how disciplined
his/her team is. It is important to note that often workers are entrusted with the task
and are updated by the end of the day. Enforcement of the supervisor increases the
discipline but this can result in demotivation. Thus ample amount of appreciation
must be given to workers also which maintain the discipline of a site. Punitive action
will only instigate rebellion from the worker. Thus inclusion of Discipline in WP
gives the labour a buffer period for the worker to improve himself in regard to his code
of conduct and etiquettes within the workplace. Hence, the Discipline is controlled by
Misbehaviour, Inappropriate dressing, Duty cuts, Disciplinary actions and Attitude.
Attitude is again sub-classified into Work, Safety, Co-worker and Management. Each
of the control and sub-control shall be rated upon a scale of 0–5.
5.7 Technical Soundness
Technical soundness is an attribute which is looked upon once the above attributes are
well and profoundly good. A workers’ technical soundness can be evaluated based
on controls such as Experience, Training, Inspection assistance and Certification. In
Karthik and Rao [9] study suggests that lack of skill and experience of a worker has
the highest importance in CLP with an RII of 0.83. Experience of a masonry worker
is categorised into 0 years (apprentice), 1 year (novice), 3 years or above (novice) and
more than 5 years (journeymen). With years of experience, the mason finds balance
with proficiency, productivity, and ergonomic safety. An apprentice works in safety
to achieve proficiency and productivity but does not achieve the productivity and
safety levels of journeymen [13]. The score shall be in between 1 and 5. Certification
is another way how workers can qualitatively be assessed. In a construction site, a
mason may be desired of having certifications related to specific equipment, IRATA,
aerial lift training, cradle operator, crane rigger, etc.
Each certification shall provide scores for a worker in WP. Inspection assistance
is the control that determines the performance of a worker while facing an inspection
at the site. Inspections are very important in projects to confirm the authority of
approval and coherence of work with the technical drawing.
5.8 Daily Wage Rate
In India, SOR is taken as the reference for materials and wages. In Delhi Analysis
of Rates (DAR Vol. 1), the daily wage of a brick mason ranges between |481 and
|500, for expected productivity of 0.44–0.47 m3 of work. Figure 3 shows the various
quantity of work done by a mason per day. Actual rates in site for a brick mason ranges
between |800 and |1100 for a quantity of 1.5–2.0 m3 . For a worker to understand
his stance amongst other workers, this can be evident from the wage he draws. This
attribute in a WP helps in selecting a mason for a specific cost code in a project also
(Figs. 1 and 2).
290 C. Raja et al.
Fig. 1 Worker profile from “WorPro” of worker 1—evaluator 1 (left)—evaluator 2 (right)
5.9 Language
According to the International Migrant Stock 2019 report (released by the Population
Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), India
is the top source of international migrants with 17.5 million international migrants,
constituting 6.4% of world’s total migrant population. Empirical support was found
that foreign language skill positively and significantly associates with individual
task performance. Knowing multiple languages helps the mason to communicate
with people of various native origin and effective in his performance. Speaking the
same language helps in building trust and to understand better.
Language attribute evaluates the capacity of the worker to Write, Read, Listen,
and Speak. Although a worker primarily needs to listen (understand) and speak a
language, which is important than other sub-controls, all are given equal importance.
The ability of a worker to read and write, and let him get promoted or better incentives.
The scoring pattern will be on a scale between 0 and 5.
Fig. 2 Sample worker

profile from “WorPro”
5.10 Previous Accident
Similar to Health, this attribute gathers information from the timekeeping, safety
and administration departments. This attribute gains a position in WP since we know
how an accident interrupts the workflow in a construction site. Workers with previous
accident history must be noted and supervised. The risk of occupational accidents,
human injuries is reportedly high in the construction industry which have not only
influenced safety and health but also on economics as well. Compensation and rate
of cure expenses follow them. The accidents shall be marked as Death, Maim, Burn,
Fracture, Hernia, Strains, Crush or Cuts and Perforation [14]. This attribute provides
a score as well as orients the worker to the safety department for further counselling
or training processes.
292 C. Raja et al.
Fig. 3 WP from “WorPro”

of worker 2
This study examined the role of CLP in the construction industry. The results
show that CLP is a known fact and can be used to evaluate a worker regularly.
The complication of estimating CLP was rated above 60% in the survey. It also
suggested the lack of reliable, universal, systematic, trackable, less complex and
less time-consuming methods to assess CLP. Responses up to 49% justified the
use of own/personalised method for assessment. Nowadays, CLP has paramount
importance in the construction sector and is a deciding factor in workflow study.
Managers have always shown a selective practice among skilled workers. Thus,
certain attributes are desired from workers for the manager to select. Such attributes
were identified from technical interviews and literature review which were weighed
using a survey. A WP resulted from these attributes. Put into practice, the WP
displayed flaws. The rating system was not able to establish controllability and
measurability of attributes. Hence, the WP was then categorised as attributes, controls
ID no. Date Method WrkSamp/FieldRatg/5minRatg

MASON
Time Skill Block/Tile/Plaster/Concreting/Repair
Name
Age Location
Sex Contractor
Last evaluated on
ATTRIBUTE * * * * * Quality control Quantity of work Remarks
mixing mortar placing mortar lifting brick positioning brick idle time Levelling Verticality pointing cu.m / length
1 Skill
total total total total total total total total Total time
2 Regular attendance
Leadership Self-motivation Work management
Transformational Commitment Expectancy in-group relationships site management
Role Model equality material arrangement
Clarity in vision group affiliation work planning
Communication
3 Responsibility Transactional Training & coaching others Instrumentality better performance Score between 0 and 5
Delegation
problem-solving strategies
Improvisation Valence Self appreciation
Goal achievement/work completion
Full Range All of the above
Sick leave (50%) Repetition of sickness (25%) Medical condition (25%)
4 Health Score between 0 and 5
Safe Behaviours(eq) Safe Acts(eq)
PPE Co-worker safety
Safety Helmet Safe working
Safety shoes Improper use of plant /equipment
Safety gloves Careless storage of tool
Safety Jackets (reflectors) working at heghts
5 Safety at work Score between 0 and 5
ear defenders careless use of electronic gadgets
eye protectors
respirators
Housekeeping
Misbehaviour Inappropriate dressing Duty cuts Disciplinary actions Attitude

work
safety
6 Discipline Score between 0 and 5
co-worker
management
experience training certification inspection assistance

more than 5yrs Equipment training drawing to site
7 Technical soundness 3yrs or above Safety training Score between 0 and 5
1 year or above Skill updating
less than 1 year No training
8 Daily wage rate /hr or /day No. of hours / day Score between 0 and 5
9 Language L1 L2 L3 L4 Score between 0 and 5
10 Previous accident Score between 0 and 5
Fig. 4 Worker profile sheet for a worker
and sub-controls. Attribute and control assure controllability of the parameter that
helps in projecting the characteristics of the worker. Whereas the latter ensure measur-
ability. The sub-controls are reliable parlance used in the construction personnel
community. Thus controls and sub-controls were defined. Most of the controls are
rated on a scale of 0–5, whereas some attributes are given a score based on merit.
Hence, the Worker Profile sheet is designed shown in Fig. 4.
The Worker Profile helped to compare workers based on the attributes as shown in
Figs. 1 and 3. This helps a manager or a planning engineer whilst workflow allocation
to select workers based on their specific requirement.
A worker was evaluated by multiple evaluators, and this showed that the attributes
resulted in different rating. To get a standard evaluation technique, the evaluators
need to perform Inter-Observer Reliability tests (IOR). Such an IOR test is also
being developed as part of the study.
The evaluation process can be a tedious task in a WP sheet since work sampling
techniques are used. WP must be updated multiple times to get better information
and also evaluated by more than one evaluator to ensure a standard assessment.
Generating the data is now known but the method of using pen and paper is excruci-
ating. Thus, an application was also developed in an android platform that helps the
evaluator to register scores and comments with the tap of his/her finger. The mobile
application named “WorPro” is not made available in the Google Play Store but is in
its Beta version with testing ongoing. A sample WP is shown in Fig. 2. This mobile
app offers a future scope of inducing mobile camera-based diagnosing tools that can
294 C. Raja et al.
partially automate the evaluation. WP is also envisaged as a benchmark evaluator

for workers in a company which has specific benchmark scores for attributes in an
apprentice worker.
Break of chain of command, is one important scenario which has to be effec-
tively resolved. The WP is an assessment tool and also helps in a direct comparison
between workers. WP helps a PM to overcome the biased decision from the cascading
chain of correspondence down the line. WP helps a planning engineer to allocate the
workers, specific to the project requirement. However, the mobilisation decision of
resources rests with the PM. Instead of overriding the interests of the subordinating
line of command, the accomplished and competent PM possess the ability to make
informed, timely and effective project decisions. Hence, the PM shall device a deci-
sion making technique which can combine both objective fact based analysis and
subjective human-centric input [15]. This enables the PM to compose outcomes that
potentially satisfy the practical and emotional project related needs of stakeholders.
7 Conclusion
The most used planning tool and a lean construction technique practised in most of
the structured construction firms is the Last Planner System (LPS). The amount of
workflow occurring during the planning process is immense and one among those
workflows is people. Finding the right people with the right skill sets is an exigency.
Such a task is still relied upon the last planners, instead of a Planning Engineer or a
responsible Project Manager. Thus WP in this planning process helps to recommend
the right people for the required task. Then the PM may raise requisition for the
release of a particular worker if in case he/she is engaged in another project or within
the PM’s project but need to expedite the work or replace, if necessary. The question
of breaking the chain of command rests upon the PM unless he/she wishes to do so.
On the other hand, WP is an amalgamation of information regarding a worker
that is available to the management and planning personnel to be used for the best of
projects’ performance. Pull planning, a forefront concept is used in LPS for planning,
with the aid of WP gets to plan the worker required for a project in advance and submit
requests for induction or transfer. In this modern era, major computing possibilities
are brought in for various productivity related and other studies as well. WP is
now developed into an Android app (Beta version) “WorPro”. This expands the
possibilities of reliable, universal, simple, less time consuming, an adoptable and
real-time trackable tool for data coding, collection, data file construction, analysis
and a final report in the form of a Worker Profile.
References
1. Ballard HG (2000) The last planner system of production control. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge
2. Motwani J, Kumar A, Novakoski M (1995) Measuring construction productivity: a practical
approach. Work Study 44(8):18–20
3. Song L, Abourizk SM (2008) Measuring and modeling labor productivity using historical data.
J Constr Eng Manage 134:786–794
4. Karimi H, Taylor TRB, Dadi GB, Goodrum PM, Srinivasan C (2018) Impact of skilled labor
availability on construction project cost performance. J Constr Eng Manage 144(7):04018057
5. Gelisen G, Griffis FHB (2014) Automated productivity-based schedule animation: simulation-
based approach to time-cost trade-off analysis. J Constr Eng Manage 140(4):1–10
6. Blair J, Czaja RF, Blair EA (2013) Designing surveys. SAGE Publications
7. Rojas EM, Aramvareekul P (2003) Is construction labor productivity really declining? J Const
Eng Manage 129(1):41–46
8. Yi W, Chan PCA (2014) Critical review of labor productivity research in construction journals.
J Manage Eng 30(2):214–225
9. Karthik D, Kameswara Rao CB (2019) Identifying the significant factors affecting the masonry
labour productivity in building construction projects in India. Int J Constr Manage, 1–9 (Taylor
& Francis)
10. Kart L, Sylvie N, Tiphaine L (2018) Development of the ergonomic activity sampling (EAS)
method to analyse video-documented work processes with activity sampling. Ergon Int J 2(7)
11. Siriwardana CSA, Ruwanpura JY (2012) A conceptual model to develop a worker performance
measurement tool to improve construction productivity. In: Construction research congress
2012, proceedings of the 2012 construction research congress 179–188
12. Choudhry RM (2014) Behavior-based safety on construction sites: a case study. Accident Anal
Prevent Elsevier Ltd 70:14–23
13. Alwasel A, Abdel-Rahman EM, Haas CT, Lee S (2017) Experience, productivity, and
musculoskeletal injury among masonry workers. J Constr Eng Manage 143(6):05017003
14. Soltanzadeh A, Mohammadfam I, Moghimbeigi A, Akbarzadeh M (2016) Analysis of occu-
pational accidents induced human injuries: a case study in construction industries and sites. J
Civ Eng Constr Technol 7(1):1–7
15. Cohen CB (2005) Project management decision making: blending analysis and intuition. Paper
presented at PMI® Global Congress 2005—Latin America, Panama City, Panama. Newtown
Square, PA: Project Management Institute
Development of Optimum Mix
for Laterite Soil Brick by Adding Clam
Shell Powder and Metakaolin
Devika Sudhakaran and Emy Poulose
Abstract Brick is a widely accepted building material used from ancient civilization
to this era. The fields of brick manufacture have been undergone tremendous changes
through several decades. Use of cement and lime in the soil for production of brick
may stabilize the soil and thereby improve the strength and durability properties of
bricks. On the other hand the use of such materials results in high energy consumption
and production of CO2 . Therefore making the brick environmental friendly and cost
effective, the addition of metakaolin and clam shell powder, instead of cement can
be done. This research shows the development of an optimum mix for laterite soil
brick by adding metakaolin-clamshell powder (MK-CSP), an artificial pozzolana and
waste material respectively. The hydration process of metakaolin, which containing
high silica and alumina content react with the calcite present in clam shell powder
that containing calcium carbonate result in the formation of calcium aluminate and
calcium silicate hydrate at the time of hydration [1]. These cementicious compounds
densify the loose clam shell powder paste. The effect of addition of various quanties
(2.5% and 2.5%, 5% and 5%, 5% and 10%, 10% and 5%, 5% and 15%.10% and 10%,
15% and 5%) of metakaolin and clam shell powder respectively by weight of laterite
soil on mechanical, physical and durability properties of brick were established.
Keywords Metakaolin · Clamshell powder · Laterite soil · Physical properties ·

Mechanical properties · Durability
1 Introduction
Brick is an essential building material used in all over the world from the very
beginning. India is the second largest producer of bricks in the world. From ancient
period human beings started the construction of various structures with locally avail-
able materials and with the growing experiences of them, there were changes in
the material used in all the field of constructions. Changes also occurred in brick
D. Sudhakaran (B) · E. Poulose


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_28
298 D. Sudhakaran and E. Poulose
production, the method of production and the combination of material used were
changing continuously. Clay bricks were a common scenario in the construction.
Along with the various circumstances, modifications of ordinary clay bricks also
came into existence. The use of fertile agricultural land for making clay bricks also
created problems in the field of cultivation; it could in turn affect the brick industry.
Therefore researchers focused to replace the clay bricks partially or fully with other
types of soil [2] and also with the addition of different waste materials from indus-
tries, some supplementary cementitions materials [2–5] like fly ash/GGBS/used brick
powder; even fibers were incorporated for the production of bricks.
Clamshell powder is a waste material obtained from the processing of clam meat.
Use of this powder in the production of brick could help to reduce the accumulation
of clam shell powder waste in the environment. This shell powder has the potential
to be used as a cementitions material in concrete, as its chemical composition is
almost similar to Portland cement and the main component in the clam shell powder
is calcium carbonate. The pozzolanic material used for the production of brick in
this study is metakaoline, which is formed when the mineral kaolin is heated to a
temperature between 600–800 ºC.
This work is carried out for developing an optimum mix of clam shell power and
metakaolin to produce laterite soil brick. The present study focused on the suitability
of using this waste product in laterite soil brick to improve the strength parameters.
Laterite soil is used to produce bricks in this study instead of clay. This soil is naturally
available from the earth.
2 Experimental Methodology
The experimental program is designed for developing an optimum mix for laterite
soil brick by adding clam shell powder and metakaolin in 2.5 and 2.5%, 5 and 5%,
5 and 10%, 10 and 5%, 5 and 15%, 10 and 10%, 15 and 5%, by weight of soil.
The experimental program is aims to study the flow parameters, optimum moisture
content and maximum dry density, unconfined compressive strength of soil mixed
with the above percentages of CSP and MK. Bricks were prepared with the same
combinations of additives on the soil and the compressive strength, water absorption,
linear shrinkage, apparent porosity, efflorescence, bulk density and initial rate of
absorption values of bricks were also evaluated. From the test results optimum mix
combination of additives with soil was identified.
2.1 Materials and Properties
The different materials used in this investigation and their physical properties are
illustrated in Table 1.
Development of Optimum Mix for Laterite Soil Brick … 299

Laterite soil Specific gravity 2.7 IS 2720 (Part III):
2006 [6]
Optimum moisture content (%) 21.20 IS 2720 (Part
Dry density (kg/m3 ) 1.64 VII):2006
Atterberg’s limits Liquid limit 41 IS 2720 (Part V):
(%) Plastic limit 18.48 2006
Plasticity index 23
Particle size Silt size articles 60 IS 220 (Part IV):
distribution (%) 2006 [7]
Clay size particles 40
(%)
Clam shell powder Specific gravity 2.1
2.2 Combined Effects of CSP and MK on Laterite Soil
In this experimental investigation, effects of addition of seven different combinations

in 2.5 and 2.5%, 5 and 5%, 5 and 10%, 10 and 5%, 5 and 15%0.10% and 10%, 15 and
5% of CSP and MK on laterite soil and without additive was found out. The Atterberg
limits, Optimum moisture content, dry density and unconfined compressive strength
were found out for all of the above combinations. The Atterberg limits of mixture
is important in determining whether the combination has enough plasticity index to
be used for the preparation of bricks as per IS 2117:1991 (range of plasticity index
shall be 15–25). The optimum moisture content was determined to find the quantity
of water required to produce a mixture of maximum dry density.
2.2.1 Atterberg Limits
Atterberg limits are the water content at which soil changes from one state to another,
Atterberg limits for each mix were conducted [8]. Determination of atterberg limits
is important in preparation of bricks, it helps in determining whether the soil has
enough plasticity to be used as bricks. Atterberg limits in 2.5 and 2.5%, 5 and 5%, 5
and 10%, 10 and 5%, 5 and 15%, 10 and 10%, 15 and 5% of CSP and MK mixed with
soil is shown in Table 2. Due to the plastic and cohesive nature of Metakaolin and
clam shell powder, that binds each other and with soil when mixed with water, the
liquid limit and plasticity index was increased as expected. The plastic limit might
be decreased due to the increased amount of clay content contributed by MK, which
requires less water for the mix to reach plastic limit.
Table 2 Effect of CSP and MK on Atterberg limits of laterite soil

MK (%) CSP (%) Laterite soil (%) Liquid limit (%) Plastic limit (%) Plasticity index
(%)
0 0 100 41 18.48 23
2.5 2.5 95 46.2 30 16.2
5 5 90 48 28.8 19.2
5 10 85 49.44 28.1 21.34
10 5 85 52 26.5 25.5
5 15 80 53 25.2 27.8
10 10 80 54.5 24.48 30.02
15 5 80 55.2 23.8 31.4
Table 3 Effect of CSP and MK on OMC and maximum dry density of soil
MK (%) CSP (%) Laterite soil (%) OMC (%) Dry density (g/cc)
0 0 100 21.20 1.64
2.5 2.5 95 22.15 1.58
5 5 90 25.12 1.55
5 10 85 26.45 1.51
10 5 85 28.64 1.43
5 15 80 31.45 1.35
10 10 80 32.12 1.38
15 5 80 34.25 1.34
2.2.2 Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and Dry Density
The optimum moisture content of soil is the water content at which a maximum
dry unit weight can be achieved after a given compaction effort. In this study, the
optimum moisture content for varying proportions is determined to find the quantity
of water to be added for the production of bricks. The test was carried out to determine
the maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of 2.5 and 2.5%, 5 and 5%,
5 and 10%, 10 and 5%, 5 and 15%, 10 and 10%, 15 and 5% of CSP and MK mixed
with soil is shown in Table 3. It was found that maximum dry density decreased with
increase in CSP and MK addition. Maximum dry density with minimum moisture
content means minimum shrinkage, minimum voids, and increase in strength of soil.
The pozzolanic reaction of MK and CSP with soil increases the OMC.
2.2.3 Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS)
The unconfined compressive strength is defined as the compressive stress at which

an unconfined cylindrical specimen of soil will fail in a simple compression test. The
Table 4 Effect of CSP and MK on unconfined compressive strength of soil

MK (%) CSP (%) Laterite soil (%) UCS (kg/cm2 )
0 0 100 0.16
2.5 2.5 95 0.18
5 5 90 0.20
5 10 85 0.21
10 5 85 0.23
10 10 80 0.25
5 15 80 0.28
15 5 80 0.33
unconfined compressive strength of soil mixed with in 2.5 and 2.5%, 5 and 5%, 5 and
10%, 10 and 5%, 5 and 15%, 10 and 10%, 15 and 5% of CSP and MK was found. The
mixture was prepared at optimum moisture content. The UCS of various mixtures
is shown in Table 4. It was observed that the UCS value of mixtures increases with
the increase in amount of additives in soil indicates that the cohesion of lateritic soil
increases due to addition of MK and CSP.
2.2.4 Preparation and Testing of Bricks
Bricks were hand moulded and are burnt in the electric oven. Raw materials are
mixed manually by varying the proportion of metakaolin and clam shell powder and
laterite soil. The mix proportion used for the preparation of bricks is shown in Table 5.
The mixture was prepared with the predetermined optimum moisture content. Water
content is an important factor affecting the quality of the bricks. Mould size was
selected as 190 × 90 × 90 mm which is the size of burnt bricks as per IS 2691:1988.
The bricks are air dried until it is left with less moisture after which the bricks are
dries in oven at 110 °C for 24 h. Bricks are then taken out and cooled. Various tests
Table 5 Mix design for the preparation of bricks

Mix designation MK (%) CSP (%) Laterite soil (%)
B0 0 0 100
B1 2.5 2.5 95
B2 5 5 90
B3 5 10 85
B4 10 5 85
B5 5 15 80
B6 10 10 80
B7 15 5 80
Table 6 Compressive
Mix code (%) Compressive strength (Mpa)
strength values for bricks
B0 3.2
B1 3.54
B2 3.76
B3 3.86
B4 3.82
B5 4.11
B6 4.32
B7 4.68
were conducted to check the quality of bricks. The manufactured bricks were tested
for its physical and durability properties. According to Indian standard code the tests
for bricks include compressive strength, efflorescence and water absorption, it was
conducted as per IS 3495 (Part I-III) and hence ASTM standards were used to find
out initial rate of absorption, bulk density. Initial rate of absorption was conducted
as per ASTM C67 and bulk density was conducted as per ASTM C20 (2010).
The compressive strength test was conducted according to IS 3495 (Part I): 1992 [9].
The compressive strength values of all the bricks prepared with the different mixes
were depicted in Table 6. The values show that the compressive strength increased
with increase in percentage of additives on soil. It was found that all the bricks
satisfied the minimum compressive strength requirement as per IS 1077:1992, as per
IS 1077:1992 the minimum value of compressive strength required is 3.5 Mpa.
The compressive strength value of these bricks mainly depends on the pozzolanic
reaction between MK and CSP with the soil particles. Compressive strength of brick
increases with the addition of MK and CSP was due to the improvement in the soil
properties by the action of these stabilizers (Fig. 1).
3.2 Water Absorption of Bricks
The water absorption was determined according to IS 3495 (Part II): 1992. The result
of water absorption with increase in percentage of additives on soil is shown in Table
7. The variation of water absorption with increase in percentage of additives is shown
in Fig. 2. Water absorption of the bricks mainly depends on the porosity. Increase
Fig. 1 Variation of compressive strength with different percentage of MK and CSP
Table 7 Water absorption test results

Mix code (%) Water absorption (%)
B0 9.0
B1 9.8
B2 10.2
B3 11.6
B4 12.0
B5 15.4
B6 16.3
B7 18.6
in porosity due to the escape of heat during the hydration process of the stabilizers
during mixing increases the value of water absorption.
3.3 Efflorescence of Bricks
To know the presence of soluble salts in a brick, the efflorescence test was conducted
according to IS 3495 (Part II): 1992. It was found that all the bricks were showing
“slight” efflorescence because the additives involved in the preparation of brick
Fig. 2 Variation of water absorption with different percentage of MK and CSP
includes some amount of alkaline salts. Therefore the bricks are in range that does
not affect the aesthetics of the building.
3.4 Initial Rate of Absorption (IRA)
Initial rate of absorption was conducted as per ASTM C67, it is important to find the
initial rate of absorption to assist in mortar section. The observed values are given in
the Table 8.
Table 8 IRA test results

Mix code (%) IRA (g/cm2 /min)
B0 0.15
B1 0.18
B2 0.3
B3 0.42
B4 0.45
B5 0.56
B6 0.59
B7 0.68
Table 9 Bulk density test results

Mix code (%) Bulk density (g/cc)
B0 1.92
B1 1.83
B2 1.65
B3 1.52
B4 1.45
B5 1.42
B6 1.39
B7 1.31
3.5 Bulk Density
Bulk density of brick is defined as the dry weight of brick per unit volume of brick.
High bulk density is an indication of less pore size. Table 9 shows the values of bulk
density of bricks.
The bulk density of bricks mainly depends on the method of manufacturing and
the method of burning of bricks. It is observed that with the increase in the amount
of additives, light weight bricks can be made.
4 Conclusions
In this work, the effect of adding various percentages of MK and CSP on properties
of laterite soil was investigated for developing an optimum mix of MK and CSP
with laterite soil brick. The following main concluding remarks are made based on
various experiments:
• The variation of compressive strength, water absorption, efflorescence, bulk
density and initial rate of absorption of bricks made by adding laterite soil with
0%, 2.5% and 2.5%, 5% and 5%, 5% and 10%, 10% and 5%, 5% and 15%, 10%
and 10%, 15% and 5% of MK and CSP by weight of laterite soil and without the
additives was found out.
• It was found that the compressive strength values of all the bricks made with the
above combinations were above 3.5 N/mm2 , which is the minimum compressive
strength requirement as per IS 3620:1979.
• Compressive strength of brick increases with the addition of MK and CSP was
due to the improvement in the soil properties by the pozzolanic action of these
stabilizers.
• It was found that the water absorption of bricks till 10% MK and 5% CSP with soil
was within the permissible limit as per IS 3620:1979 [10]. Rest of the combinations
has values more than 12%.
• All the bricks showed slight efflorescence. The bulk density decreased with
increase in addition of MK and CSP; hence light weight bricks were produced.
From the results, it was found that bricks produced by adding 10% MK and 5%
CSP with laterite soil can be used for construction.
References
1. Aguilar S, Francisco AS, Olivares H (2010) Assessment of phase formation in lime-based

mortars with added metakaolin, Portland cement and sepiolite, for grouting of historic masonry.
J Cem Concr Res 40:66–76
2. Eva N, Rovnanikova P (2016) Effect of slag and calcium carbonate addition on the development
of geopolymer from indurated laterite. Constr Build Mater 120:530–539
3. Arjun D, Malhotra SK (1990) Lime-stabilized red mud. J Mater Struct Constr 23:252–255
4. Daniel M, Heath A, Walker P (2019) Use of metakaolin with stabilised extruded earth masonry
units. Construct Build Mater 78:172
5. Bal H, Jannot Y, Quenette N, Chenu A, Gaye S (2012) Water content dependence of the porosity,
density and thermal capacity of laterite based bricks with millet waste additive. Construct Build
Mater, 144–150
6. IS 2720 (Part–3): 1980 (Reaffirmed 2002); Method of test for soils, Determination of specific
gravity. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
7. IS 2720 (Part–5): 1985 (Reaffirmed 2006); Method of test for soils, Grain size analysis. Bureau
of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 28
8. IS 2720 (Part–4): 1985 (Reaffirmed 2006); Method of test for soils, Determination of liquid
and plastic limit. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
9. IS 3495 (Part I–III): 1992 (Reaffirmed 2002); Indian standard methods of tests of burnt clay
building bricks. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
10. IS 3620:1979: Specification for laterite stone block for masonry. Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi
Analytical Assessment on the Behaviour
of Conical Shell Foundation
T. Lamya and M. K. Sheeja
Abstract Shell foundations have been used as an economic alternative to the conven-
tional flat shallow foundations, in situations where heavy loads are to be transferred
to weaker soil. Among the shells which have come into wider use in foundation, is the
conical shell. The frustum of cone is probably the simplest form in which a shell can
be used as foundations. This paper aims to study about a different foundation shape
that reduces the foundation cost by reducing the required amount of concrete and
reinforcing steel bars. Also, to achieve lower soil stresses by changing the foundation
shape which will result in reduced settlements and foundation stresses. Analytical
studies are performed on circular flat foundation and conical shell foundation using
finite element software ANSYS 19.0 and their performances such as ultimate load
carrying capacity and soil settlement characteristics have been compared.
Keywords Shell foundations · Shallow foundations · Conical shell foundation ·

Finite element software · Ultimate load carrying capacity · Soil settlement
characteristics
1 Introduction
The essential requirement of a foundation is its ability to transfer the load from the
superstructure to the subsoil in such a way that the induced stresses doesn’t exceed
the allowable bearing capacity of the soil nor cause excessive settlement. Shell foun-
dation has been considered the best shallow foundation for transferring heavy load
to weak soils in situations where conventional shallow foundations undergoes exces-
sive settlement. In cases where heavy load is to be transferred to weaker soils with
lower bearing capacity, if flexural members like slab and beam are used, the bending
moment and shear in them will be large, which will result in an increased section
size. Shells, which act mostly in tension or compression will be more efficient and
T. Lamya (B) · M. K. Sheeja

AISAT, Kochi, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_29
308 T. Lamya and M. K. Sheeja
economical in such situations. The amount of material required for a shell founda-
tion to carry a load will be much less than that required for the flexural members.
Even though the material cost is lesser, the labour cost involved in the formation
of shell foundation will be larger than that is required for the flat foundations. So,
in situations where material to labour cost ratio is high, shell foundation can be
considered as the best option. Different types of shells used in civil engineering
practice are domes, hyperbolic shells, cylindrical shells, paraboloidal shells, and
conoids. Although, due to the constructional easiness and various other factors, cone
and hyperbolic paraboloids are the two shape of shells that is commonly adopted for
practical purposes. The bureau of Indian standards has also published IS 9456 (1980)
Code of practice for design and construction of conical and hyperbolic paraboloid
type of shell foundations.
1.1 Scope of Using Shells in Foundations
The plain structural elements like beam and slab, which resists their transverse loads,
along with self-weight, in flexure, while the non-planar structural elements like shells
resist their transverse load in the form of membrane compression, membrane tension,
or membrane shear.
Concrete is highly efficient in compression and slightly efficient in tension, with
a moderate efficiency in bending. So, if the flexural element like slab or beam is
replaced with shell element, then the applied load creates a membrane compres-
sion. And the effect of this membrane compression will be of low magnitude when
compared to the effect of the same applied load on plain structural element. This
ultimately results in a section with reduced thickness, which makes the construction
cost effective.
1.2 Objectives
The objective of this study is to determine the ultimate load carrying capacity of
conical shell foundation and circular flat foundation of same thickness and to compare
their results.
Analytical Assessment on the Behaviour of Conical Shell … 309
Fig. 1 a Finite element model of reinforced conical shell foundation. b Finite element model of
reinforced circular flat foundation
2 Details of Shell and Soil
2.1 Geometry of Foundation and Soil
The dimensions of the conical shell foundation used for this study is obtained by
designing using membrane theory according to IS 9456:1980. Conical shell founda-
tion of diameter 700 mm, thickness 60 mm and ratio of rise to radius 0.5 is chosen.
The dimensions for flat circular foundation such as the diameter and thickness are
taken similar to the conical shell so that their performances can be compared (Fig. 1).
The dimension of soil block is fixed as per load distribution pattern. The dimension
of soil thus considered is 1.75 m × 1.75 m, which is greater than twice the dimension
of the foundation and the depth of the soil block considered is 1.45 m from the bottom
of the shell, which is also greater than the minimum depth required for a foundation.
2.2 Properties of Concrete, Soil, and Reinforcement
Concrete is defined with linear isotropic property in which Von-mises failure criterion
is considered. The material properties of footing are indicated in Table 1. The sand
soil mass is modelled as an elastoplastic material using the Mohr–Coulomb plasticity
model. The properties of the medium dense sand considered are enlisted in Table 2.
Table 1 Properties of foundation materials

S. No. Properties Concrete Reinforcement bars
1 Modulus of elasticity, Ec (kN/m2 ) 2.236 × 107 2 × 108
2 Poisson’s ratio, υ 0.15 0.3
3 Density (kN/m3 ) 22 7850
4 Tensile yield strength (Mpa) 2 250
5 Compressive yield strength (Mpa) 20 250
6 Tensile ultimate strength (Mpa) 5 460
7 Compressive ultimate strength (Mpa) 41 0
Table 2 Properties of soil

Sl. No: Soil properties Values
1 Modulus of elasticity, Ec (kN/m2 ) 25 × 103
2 Poisson’s ratio, υ 0.3
3 Density ( kg/m3 ) 1673
4 Cohesion (kN/m2 ) 5
5 Angle of internal friction 33o
6 Dilatancy angle 3o
3 Finite Element Modelling
This work studies the performance of conical shell foundation and circular flat foun-
dation under static loading using Finite Element Methods (FEM). The conical shell
foundation is designed based to the Membrane theory (IS 9456:1980). The inves-
tigation is conducted using the FEM Software ANSYS WORKBENCH version
19.
3.1 Concrete Element Type
In ANSYS WORKBENCH the concrete element model used for analysis is SOLID
186 which is higher order element having 20 nodes.
3.2 Contacts Provided
Contact between two elements is provided in order to act as a single unit. The area
between the inverted conical shell foundation and soil is made as bonded contact.
The contact between the reinforcement bars and concrete is also made as bonded
contact with target as concrete and contact as rebars.
3.3 Meshing
A suitable mesh size with maximum element quality and minimum skewness is
selected. Tetrahedral meshing method is used for flat circular foundation and hexa-
dominant meshing method is used for conical shell foundation. Figures of the meshed
model is shown (Fig. 2).
4 Static Structural Analysis
In this study, static structural analysis was conducted. A static analysis calculates the
effects of steady state loading condition of the structure. Various incremental loads
were considered as vertical column loading in order to determine the ultimate load
carrying capacity. Since the shape of foundation is the governing factor, ultimate
load carrying capacity is determined on the basis of the strain value of concrete.
As the load is increased, the equivalent elastic strain value also increases, and the
load corresponding to the maximum equivalent elastic strain (as 0.002 for footing)
is considered as the ultimate load carrying capacity.
In the soil model, the boundary conditions are provided in such a way as to
produce a similar condition in the actual case. The four sides are provided with
remote displacement by fixing the axis perpendicular to the corresponding face,
Fig. 2 a FEM mesh of circular flat foundation. b FEM mesh of conical shell foundation
which indicates that each face restricts the lateral movement. Although, the move-
ment of the bottom face is fixed in both directions. Figure 3 shows the boundary
condition of both the numerical models.
Fig. 3 a BCs for circular flat foundation. b BCs for conical shell foundation
The structural behaviours such ultimate load carrying capacity and soil settle-
ment characteristics of conical shell foundation and flat circular foundation were
compared. The conical shell showed much better behaviour when compared to flat
ones.
5.1 Ultimate Load Carrying Capacity
In this study, as the effect of shape of the foundation on various characteristics is the
main focus, the ultimate load carrying capacity is analysed based on the equivalent
elastic strain value of concrete, unlike the soil shear failure in general case. The
load applied at which the equivalent elastic strain value of concrete exceeds 0.002 is
considered as the ultimate load carrying capacity (Fig. 4).
The conical shell foundation showed a maximum equivalent elastic strain value at
a vertical column load of 780 kN and the circular flat foundation showed a maximum
equivalent elastic strain value at a vertical column load of 250 kN. This indicates
that the conical shell foundation has the capacity to carry a load more than 3 times
that of its flat counter part.
5.2 Settlement Results
The conical shell foundation at its ultimate load of 780 kN settles 33.872 mm whereas
the flat circular foundation at its ultimate load of 250 kN settles 33.465 mm. This
indicates that the flat circular foundation settles at more faster rate than conical shell
foundation. Figures shows settlement details obtained from the analysis (Fig. 5).
6 Conclusion
The static performances of the conical shell foundation is compared with the flat
circular foundation by static analysis using ANSYS software. However, the results
obtained from this study cannot be generalized since they are relevant only for the
specific data provided in the analysis. The results of the present study show that the
load carrying capacity of conical shell foundation is 3 times more than that of its flat
counterpart. Settlement of conical shell foundation is at a lower rate when compared
to its flat counterpart. Therefore, conical shell foundation can be considered as better
alternative to flat foundation where heavy load is to be transferred to weaker soil.
Fig. 4 Elastic strain shading contours corresponding to the ultimate loads

Fig. 5 Settlement shading contours corresponding to the ultimate loads

References
1. Abdel-Rahman MM, Hanna AM (1988) Ultimate bearing capacity of triangular shell strip
footing on sand. J Geotech Eng ASCE 116(2):1851–1863
2. Al-azzawi AA (2013) A study of the behaviour of shell footings using finite element analysis.
Eng Technol J Part (A) 31(19):90–102
3. Azzam WR, Nazr AM (2014) Bearing capacity of shell strip footing on reinforced sand. J Adv
Res, 1–11
4. Chehol ET (2009) A study on the design and advantage of conical type shell foundation using
analytical and FEM. Addis Ababa University
5. Esmaili D, Hataf N (2008) Experimental and numerical investigation of ultimate load capacity
of shell foundation on reinforced and unreinforced sand. Iran J Sci Technol 32(B5):491–500
6. Esmaili D, Hataf N (2013) Determination of ultimate load capacity of conical and pyramidal
shell foundations using dimensional analysis. Int J Adv Eng Technol 37(C+):423–435
7. Fattah et al. (2015) Experimental and theoretical study on bearing capacity of conical shell
foundations composed of reactive powder concrete. Acta, 312
8. Huat BBK, Mohammed TA (2006) Finite element study using FE code (PLAXIS) on the
geotechnical behaviour of shell footings. J Comput Sci 2(1):104–108 (USA, NY)
9. Huat BBK, Mohammed TA, Abdullah AA (2007) Numerical and field study on triangular shell
footing for low rise building. Int J Eng Technol 1(4):194–204
10. IS: 9456 (1980) Indian standard code of practice for design and construction of conical and
hyperbolic paraboloidal types of shell foundation. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
11. Kurian NP (2006) Shell foundations: geometry, analysis, design and construction. Alpha
Science International Limited
Experimental Investigation on Packing
Density of Concrete Using Wet Packing
Method
Mariya Jacob and K. N. Resmi
Abstract Packing of the particles has great impact on the performance of concrete.
When only the ordinary Portland cement was used in concrete, the voids content
tends to be large. To overcome this problem, supplementary cementitious materials
finer than OPC is added to fill into the voids so as to improve the packing density.
In this study wet packing method is used to evaluate the packing density of concrete
containing supplementary cementitious material as Metakaolin. This paper deals
with the packing density and the strength characteristics of concrete developed by
varying the metakaolin content from 0 to 20% by volume. There is an optimum
percentage for the replacement of cement with Metakaolin. The results show better
positive results while comparing with the normal concrete.
Keywords Packing density · Wet packing method · Metakaolin · Compressive

strength
1 Introduction
Concrete is a multiphase material consisting of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate,

binding material, and water [7]. To improve the strength and durability of concrete
it is essential to lower the w/c ratio. But it is necessary to provide the concrete mix
with certain workability. If only OPC is used as cementitious material it becomes
difficult to lower the w/c ratio because the water added must be sufficient to fill
up the voids of the cementitious materials to avoid entrapped air. When OPC was
only used as cementitious material in concrete the void content becomes quite large.
Also, the incorporation of high binder content can result in higher w/c demand
and creates greater risk of thermal and shrinkage cracking. To overcome this issue,
M. Jacob (B) · K. N. Resmi

K. N. Resmi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_30
318 M. Jacob and K. N. Resmi
supplementary cementitious materials finer than OPC, such fly ash, silica fume,
metakaolin etc. can be added to fill into the voids. Thus, it will improve the packing
density of cementitious materials. Packing density is the ratio of solid volume to bulk
volume [5, 6]. By optimising the entire particle system, it is seen that the medium
size particles are just enough to fill up the voids between larger size particles and the
smaller size particles are just enough to fill up the voids between medium size particles
and so on. Thus, packing density of the entire particle system gets maximized and
thus it will increase the strength, durability and dimensional stability of the concrete.
Theoretical packing models such as Aim model, the Toufar model and the Modi-
fied Toufar model etc. and computer Simulations were developed for the study
of packing of particles [3]. Packing density of concrete have rarely been directly
measured. Dry packing methods has several problems as (a) it is quite sensitive
to the compaction applied (b) it does not include the possible effects of water and
admixtures (c) the agglomeration and loose packing of the finer particles seriously
affects the measured packing density[6, 8]. To resolve the above stated problems,
researchers developed wet packing method and measures the packing density of
concrete under wet condition.
2 Materials
The materials used for the study were ordinary portland cement, Fine aggregate
(M-sand), coarse aggregate, metakaolin and super plasticiser.
2.1 Cement
Ordinary portland cement of Grade 53 with commercial name “Sharjah cement” was
collected and its physical properties was tested according to IS 4031:1991-Part 2.
The results are shown in Table 1.

Physical properties Values
Fineness of cement (%) 8
Standard consistency (%) 32
Initial setting time 85 min
Experimental Investigation on Packing Density of Concrete … 319

Properties of fine aggregate Values
aggregate
Sand type M-sand
Grade Zone II
Water absorption (%) 1.4
Fineness modulus 2.8

Properties of coarse aggregate Values
aggregate
2.2 Fine Aggregate
M-sand was collected and its material properties was found according to IS
2386:2016-Part 3. The results are shown in Table 2.
2.3 Coarse Aggregate
The 20 mm nominal size well graded aggregate was used in the study. They were
collected and tested according to IS 2386:2016-part 3 and the results are shown in
Table 3.
2.4 Mineral Admixture
Metakaolin was the mineral admixture used for the study. The chemical composition
and physical properties of metakaolin is shown in Tables 4 and 5 respectively.
Table 4 Chemical
Chemical Mass (%)
composition of Metakaolin
SiO2 52
Al2 O3 40
Fe2 O3 3.6
TiO2 2.65
CaO 1.09

Physical properties of Metakaolin Values
of Metakaolin
Appearance Off-white
Specific surface area (m2 /g) 19.5
Average particle size (µm) 1.86
2.5 Superplasticiser
A poly carboxylate ether based superplasticiser with specific gravity 1.1 is used at a
dosage of 0.3% by weight of cement so as to improve the workability.
3 Experimental Programme
The experimental program consists of packing density and compressive strength

properties.
3.1 Packing Density Test
Test method employed in the work was the same as the wet packing method suggested
by the Author Kwan [6]. It involves the following steps as first the concrete mix was
mixed thoroughly at desired w/c ratio. Then the mix was filled into the container in
3 layers and after filling each layer vibration was applied at constant rate. Finally,
the bulk density of the mix was found and from that solid concentration was found.
In order to determine the wet packing density, it is necessary to find out the solid
concentrations at different w/c ratios to cover the optimum w/c ratio. The initial W/C
ratio opted was 0.3. The Super plasticiser was added at a constant dosage of 0.3%.
Vibration was provided at a constant rate of 10 s for each layer. The content of the
metakaolin was varied from 0 to 20% by volume and the packing density test was
conducted.
The solid concentration ‘∅’ and voids ratio ‘u’ can be thus determined as:
Vs
Solid concentration, ∅ =
V
where,
V s Solid volume of the particles (Determined from the W/C ratio and the weight
of the mixture).
V Bulk volume of mixture (i.e. Volume of container).
1−∅
V oidratio, u =
∅
Plotting the solid concentration and voids ratio against the w/c ratio, the maximum
solid concentration (i.e. wet packing denisity) and minimum voids ratio can be
determined.
3.2 Compressive Strength Test
Compressive strength test was conducted according to IS 516-2000. Metakaolin was

varied from 0 to 20% by volume and the compressive strength test results was found
for 7 day and 28 day. The samples were designated as MK0, MK5, MK10, MK15,
MK20.
4.1 Packing Density
The wet packing density test was conducted. A typical example of variations of the
solid concentration with the w/c ratio obtained during the wet packing density test of
a typical concrete mix sample with 0% metakaolin content is given in Fig. 1. From
fig it was observed that the solid concentration increases, reaches a maximum and
then decreases. The increase in the solid concentration is due to that as the w/c ratio
increased, water films get merged, and additional water will be filled into the voids
to reduce air interlock. As a result, the solid concentration will be increased. The
Fig. 1 Solid concentration of concrete mix (0% metakaolin) versus W/C ratio
decrease in the solid concentration is due to that the water added became more than
enough to fill up the voids and the solid particles will be dispersed in the water in
the form of a suspension, causing the solid concentration to decrease [6].
At w/c ratio lower than the saturation state, the water added is not enough to fill up
the voids. So, the air will be entrapped and thus it forms water bridges between the
particles. This causes the solid concentration to decrease as the w/c ratio decreases.
When the w/c ratio becomes higher than saturation state, a suspension is formed,
and the particles will be dispersed in the water. This causes the solid concentration to
decrease as the w/c ratio increases. Hence, there is an optimum w/c ratio at which the
particles are most closely packed, the voids will be minimum and the solid concen-
tration reaches its maximum value. Therefore, this maximum solid concentration so
achieved will be taken as the wet packing density [6].
Packing density results of each mixes are given in Table 6. Results shows that 10%
replacement of metakaolin shows the maximum packing density. But even at 15 and
20% replacement the packing density was higher than the 0% replacement mix. The
results show that inclusion of the supplementary cementitious materials finer than
OPC can be added to fill into the voids to improve the packing density of concrete.
From Fig. 2 it was observed that there is an optimum level of replacement for the
improving the packing density. The incorporation of high content of fine particles
can lead to an increase in the inter particle distance due to the loosening effect of the
Table 6 Packing density results of the various mixes

Replacement % with cement Solid concentration Void ratio
0% (M25) 0.843 0.186
5% 0.844 0.185
10% 0.856 0.168
15% 0.852 0.174
20% 0.848 0.179
Fig. 2 Solid concentration results of various mixes

Fig. 3 Compressive strength results of the concrete samples
fine particles. The use of excessive fine particles can push the coarse particles apart
and results in lower packing density [4]. At the optimum level thus, the void ratio
was reduced 10%.
Compressive strength test results are shown in Fig. 3. Based on the results, the
optimum content was determined as 10% and beyond that it decreases. The improve-
ment in the strength is due to the reaction of metakaolin with CH crystals so to create
the secondary C-S-H. It contains high amounts of alumina and silica. Metakaolin is
finer than OPC and is capable of getting into the smaller voids to increase overall
packing [2]. The reduction in strength after 10% of replacement is explained as the
result of a clinker dilution effect and due to the high surface area of metakaolin [1].
5 Conclusions
The following conclusions are observed from the experimental study.

• Blending of OPC with supplementary cementitious materials finer than OPC, can
be added to fill into the voids so as to improve the packing density.
• Metakaolin increases the packing density of the concrete mixes.
• The packing density of concrete mixes increases with increase in the percentage
of metakaolin up to 10% replacement of cement. Beyond the optimum content
the packing density of the concrete tends to be decreased.
• At the optimum percentage it was observed that 10% of the void ratio was reduced.
• Metakaolin concrete increases the compressive strength. The strength of the
concrete mixes increases with the increase in the metakaolin content up to 10%
replacement of the cement. Beyond the optimum content the compressive strength
tends to be decreased.
• So, it is clear that the packing density is directly related to the compressive strength.
References
1. Dinakar P, Sahoo PK, Sriram G (2013) Effect of metakaolin content on the properties of high
strength concrete. Int J Concr Struct Mater 7(3):215–223
2. Johari MM, Brooks JJ, Kabir S, Rivard P (2011) Influence of supplementary cementitious
materials on engineering properties of high strength concrete. Constr Build Mater 25(5):2639–
2648
3. Jones MR, Zheng L, Newlands MD (2002) Comparison of particle packing models for
proportioning concrete constituents for minimum voids ratio. Mater Struct 35(5):301–309
4. Kwan AKH, Wong HHC (2008) Packing density of cementitious materials: part 2—packing
and flow of OPC + PFA + CSF. Mater Struct 41(4):773
5. Kwan AKH, Li LG, Fung WWS (2012) Wet packing of blended fine and coarse aggregate. Mater
Struct 45(6):817–828
6. Li LG, Kwan AKH (2014) Packing density of concrete mix under dry and wet conditions.
Powder Technol 253:514–521
7. Wong HHC, Albert KHK (2005) Packing density: a key concept for mix design of high-
performance concrete. In: Proceedings of the materials science and technology in engineering
conference, HKIE materials division, Hong Kong, pp 1–15
8. Wong HHC, Albert KHK (2008) Packing density of cementitious materials: part 1—measure-
ment using a wet packing method. Mater Struct 41(4):689–701
Influence of Alkali Resistant Glass Fiber
on the Reduction of Plastic Shrinkage
Cracking of Self Compacting Concrete
Anju George and C. A. Abin Thomas
Abstract Plastic shrinkage cracking has become one of the serious problems in
concrete elements especially in structures with large surface area/volume ratios and
affect the durability of the structure. This paper quantifies the effectiveness of fly ash
and alkali resistant (AR) glass fibre on cracking of plastic self compacting concrete.
The aim of this experimental work was to study the plastic shrinkage evolution in fly
ash based self compacting concrete (SCC) and to examine the effectiveness of alkali
glass fibre in SCC to reduce shrinkage cracks. The test was carried out in the mould
based on ASTM C1579. At early ages compressive strength of the SCC mixes was
similar to that of the reference mix and the maximum strength was observed for 25%
replacement by fly ash and is considered as the reference mix. Alkali resistant glass
fibres of 12 mm length were added to reference mix of SCC at different dosages of
volume fractions of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% and the shrinkage test were conducted. The
plastic shrinkage test results of Ordinary concrete, reference SCC and SCC mix with
various dosages of glass fibre were compared. The SCC mix with AR glass fibre of
Volume fraction of 0.2% was found out to be most effective.
Keywords Plastic concrete · Self compacting concrete · Shrinkage crack ·

Shrinkage · Fly ash · AR glass fibre
1 Introduction
Cracks accelerate the ingress of harmful fluids, impairing the durability of reinforced
concrete structures. The earliest crack formation can occur right after concrete place-
ment and compaction, i.e., before initial setting when concrete has lost its fluidity but
has not yet achieved any appreciable cohesion [1]. Shrinkage is primarily responsible
A. George (B) · C. A. Abin Thomas

C. A. Abin Thomas

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_31
326 A. George and C. A. Abin Thomas
for such failures. Hence a main focus of maintaining a durable structure is based on
its shrinkage properties.
Plastic shrinkage may cause early age cracking on the young concrete surface
before the setting. This mechanical phenomenon occurs due to rapid and excessive
moisture loss, mainly in form of water evaporation. If the evaporation rate is higher
than the bleeding rate, the thin water layer that commonly covers the surface of the
fresh concrete disappears. The developed shrinkage leads to tensile strain accumula-
tion at the concrete surface. If the tensile strain exceeds the very low early age tensile
strain capacity, the young concrete may start to crack [2]. Plastic shrinkage is greater
for higher rate of evaporation of water which in turn depends on the air temperature,
the concrete temperature, the relative humidity of the air, and wind speed [3]. Since
the proportion of aggregate and cement in SCC are relatively low and high, respec-
tively, these factors tend to promote a higher shrinkage of SCC compared to normal
concrete [4].
In an experimental investigation carried out by Philippe Turcry et al. [2] examine
the plastic shrinkage cracking of self-consolidating concrete (SCC). Five SCC
mixtures with compressive strengths were compared to five ordinary concrete (OC)
mixtures. For restrained plastic tests, the authors used a mould very similar to ASTM
C 1579 mould. Restrained shrinkage tests reveal that SCC tend to have less wider
cracks than OC. It shows that SCC could be more vulnerable to shrinkage cracking,
especially during setting.
Mirza and Soroushian [5] studied the effect of AR glass fibre on crack and temper-
ature resistance of light weight concrete; they found that inclusion of glass fibre (GF)
reduces the crack width and negative effect caused due to temperature. They stated
that GF improves the serviceability and durability characteristics of concrete.
The effect of Alkali-resistant (AR) glass fibre (0, 0.03, 0.06 and 0.1%) reinforce-
ment on durability of concrete as explained by Rao et al. [6] found that maximum
improvement in durability of concrete was achieved with different percentages of
glass fibres at 0.1% for all the grades of concrete. This study focuses on investigating
and quantifying the effectiveness of using fly ash on reducing early shrinkage in self
compacting concrete and the effect of alkali resistant glass fibre on plastic shrinkage
of concrete.
2 Experimental Investigation
2.1 Materials
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) of 53-grade (IS: 12269, 1987) and commercially
available flyash were used as a powder material. The specific gravity of cement is
3.17 with an initial setting time of 92 min and final setting time of 412 min [7]. A
polycarboxylate ether based superplasticiser with a specific gravity of 1.1 is used
at a dosage of 0.3–0.8% by weight of cement to improve workability.
Influence of Alkali Resistant Glass Fiber on the Reduction … 327
Table 1 Physical and chemical properties of fly ash

Physical properties Chemical compositions
Specific gravity 2.2 SiO2 63.8%
Specific surface area 649.9 m2 /kg Al2 O3 21.29%
Average particle size 22.2 µm CaO 2.9%
Form Powder Fe2 O3 0.39%
The fly ash is used as a mineral admixture in this study. It is in dry dense form
conforming to IS 3812: 1981. It is gray to brown in colour. Physical and chemical
properties of fly ash are presented in Table 1. Cem-FIL Alkali resistant glass fibre
with modulus of elasticity 72 GPa, filament diameter 14 µm, length 12 mm, tensile
strength 1700 MPa and specific gravity as 2.68 g/cm3 was used in this work. As per
IS 383:1970 the grading for fine aggregate and different zones are provided and the
fine aggregate used is manufacture sand belongs to zone 2. Course aggregate used is
of 12 mm nominal size.
2.2 Mix Proportion of Normal and SCC Mix
Initially normal M30 mix and control SCC mix was prepared. The fibre reinforced
SCC mix was prepared by adding 0.1–0.3% volume fractions (VF) of glass fibre to
the optimised SCC. Control mix of characteristic compressive strength 30 N/mm2
is developed. The mix proportion was done in accordance with IS 10262: 2019
guidelines. Mix proportions with varying fly ash percentage and VF of glass fibre is
2.3 Assessment of Rheological Properties of the Mix
To ensure the rheological properties of SCC flow ability, passing ability and segrega-
tion resistance tests were performed on control SCC and Glass fibre SCC (GFSCC)
mixes according to IS 10262:2019 guidelines. Slump flow and T500 slump flow time
tests for filling ability, V-funnel test for the viscosity and segregation resistance, L-
box test to assess the flow of concrete and passing ability where performed to study
the workability of the mix. In case of the normal M30 mix, slump test is performed
to determine the workability of the mix.
328
Table 2 Mix proportions of various mixes

Mix designation W/P Fly ash (kg/m3 ) Cement (kg/m3 ) FA (kg/m3 ) CA (kg/m3 ) Water (kg/m3 ) S.P (kg/m3 ) GF (%) g/m3
Mn 0.4 – 396 840 1046 178.8 1.584 – –
MF20 0.43 81.397 325 1200 631 175 3.256 – –
MF25 0.43 101.741 305.238 1200 631 175 3.256 – –
MF30 0.43 122.1 284.9 1200 631 175 3.256 – –
MF35 0.43 98.851 264.54 1200 631 175 3.256 – –
Mop0.1 0.43 101.741 305.238 1200 631 175 3.256 0.1 373.1
Mop0.2 0.43 101.741 305.238 1200 631 175 3.256 0.2 746.3
Mop0.3 0.43 101.741 305.238 1200 631 175 3.256 0.3 1119.9
A. George and C. A. Abin Thomas
Fig. 1 Plastic shrinkage mould
2.4 Plastic Shrinkage Tests
The concrete mixes were poured into the plastic shrinkage mold without any external
vibration or compaction. Figure 1 shows the mould for plastic shrinkage measurement
is designed and fabricated based on ASTM C1579. Plastic shrinkage is measured
using a steel mould of 600 × 200 × 100 mm size with three stress risers [8]. The
central riser is with a height of 63.5 mm which is used to provide maximum stress
concentration on the central area and promote cracking. The other two risers of height
32 mm each are use to provide restrain in concrete. 10 bolts of 5 mm diameter are
provided at both ends to increase the restrain as shown in Fig. 1. The mould was made
of cast iron and transparent acrylic sheet is provided on one side to make the crack
visible along the depth of mould [1, 9, 10]. During the test the time of occurrence of
the initial centre line crack, propagation time of the crack on the concrete surface and
the crack width was recorded. The test was conducted in wind condition at 4.5 m/s
air flow condition. The temperature and humidity was, respectively, in the range of
26–35 °C and 50–70%.
To determine compressive strength three cubes of size 150 × 150 × 150 mm

were casted and tested for each mix. The compressive strength test was performed
according to IS: 516, 1959.
Table 3 Rheological properties of the SCC mix

Mix designation Slump flow (mm) T500 t (s) V funnel t (s) L box (H2/H1)
MF25 678 3.7 6.5 0.9
Mop0.1 675 3.95 6.9 0.9
Mop0.2 670 4.12 7.8 0.86
Mop0.3 662 4.5 10 0.82
3 Experimental Results and Discussions
3.1 Rheological Properties of the Mix
For the ordinary concrete sump test is performed and a slump of 100 mm was
obtained. The mix falls to a medium workable category (75–100 mm) as per
IS 456:2000. The SCC mixes developed satisfied the SF2 category. Addition of
glass fibres did not improve the workability and higher dosages tend to reduce the
workability of the mix. Table 3 shows the rheological properties of the mix.
The optimum replacement percentage of fly ash to be used is found to be 25% the
weight of cement is observed from Fig. 2. As the percentage of fly ash increased, the
7 day strength reduced for the concrete mixes. The 28 day strength of SCC mixes was
nearly the same of the same normal mix (Mn) [11, 12]. Since the pozzolonic reac-
tions of supplementary cementitious materials are slow and depend on the calcium
hydroxide availability, the strength gain takes longer time for fly ash incorporated
concrete mixes [13].
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE MIXES

40 37.02
37.33 34.97 36.2 35.64
7th day
30 24.93
(N/mm2)
20.86 28th day

19.81 19.53
20 15.99
10
Mn MF20 MF25 MF30 MF35
Fig. 2 Compressive strength of concrete mixes with various percentage of fly ash
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE MIXES

40
37.02 37.04 37.11 37.17
in(N/mm2) 35
7th day
30
28th day
25
20.86 20.68 20.98 21.03
20
MF25 Mop0.1 Mop0.2 Mop0.3
Fig. 3 Compressive strength of concrete mixes with various VF of glass fibre
The low amount of glass fibre incorporated as shown in Fig. 3 cannot be considered
as reinforcement and the mechanical behaviour was similar for mixtures with and
without fibres. Since all the mixes with fibre show similar strength, the fibre added
only act as a local reinforcement [14].
3.3 Plastic Shrinkage
The time of occurrence of the initial centre line crack and the time of propagation of
crack indicates the plastic shrinkage behaviour of the concrete.
The time of propagation of crack is taken as the time difference between the time
of occurrence of center line full length crack and centre line initial crack. The full
length crack of the specimen of concrete formed in mould during testing is shown in
Fig. 4. The crack development is observed with the naked eyes. Time of occurrence
of centre line initial crack and time for crack propagation of SCC mix with fly ash
alone, SCC with glass fibre and that of normal M30 mix is tabulated in Table 5.
Fig. 4 a Top view and b side view of full length crack evolution in specimen
Table 5 Plastic shrinkage behaviour of various concrete mixes

Specimen Volume Time for initial Time for full Time for crack Crack width
fraction of crack (min) length crack propagation (mm)
AR-GF (%) (min) (min)
Mn 0.0 94 127 33 0.4
Mop 0.0 154 188 34 0.5
Mop0.1 0.1 195 240 45 0.1
Mop0.2 0.2 210 – – 0.08
Mop0.3 0.3 213 – – 0.08
‘–’ indicates that the full length crack has not been developed till the final setting time. The
observation for cracks is terminated on reaching the final setting time
Table 5 shows that the mix of normal M30 concrete without fly ash showed a
faster initial centerline crack where as the mix of SCC with fly ash alone showed
delayed initial centre line crack but the crack propagation was fast [3, 15]. The plastic
shrinkage test performed in the windy condition revealed that SCC tends to have less
cracking than OC. Because of its fluid consistency, SCC is thought to have a greater
strain capacity than OC in fresh state. It also indicates the lower bleeding rate of SCC
than OC.
Based on the compressive strength of various mixes with varying percentage of
fly ash content, the mix with 25% replacement is considered as the optimum mix
for SCC and this mix is opted as reference mix for testing shrinkage with various
volume fractions of Alkali Resistant glass fibre.
With this mix as the reference mix, various volume fractions of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%
of AR glass fibre were conducted as shown in Fig. 5. It can be observed that compared
to the reference mix the time taken by glass fibre incorporated SCC to develop initial
crack is more. It can also be observed that the propagation of crack also took more
TIME FOR INITIAL AND FINAL PROPAGATION OF CRACK

(412 min) final setting time
400 Time for
initial crack in
Duration in minutes
350
300 minutes
240
250 195 210 213
188 Time for full
200 154 length crack
150
127
94 propagation in
100 minutes
50
0
Mn MF25 Mop0.1 Mop0.2 Mop0.3
concrete mix
Fig. 5 Time for initial and final propagation of crack

CRACK WIDTH
0.6
0.5
Crack width in mm 0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
crack width in
0.2
0.1 0.08 0.08 mm
0.1
0
Mn MF25 Mop0.1 Mop0.2 Mop0.3
concrete mix
Fig. 6 Crack width of different mixes
time. The width of the crack considerably reduces compared to the reference mix.
At higher dosages the duration for crack development also increases.
The time taken for 0.2 and 0.3% GF are at the same range. It was also observed
that a full length crack was not developed at 0.2 and 0.3% GF. Independently to
the type or amount of glass fibre, the inclusion of glass fibre produced a similar
reduction of maximum crack length. In all the mixtures studied; the inclusion of AR-
glass fibres reduced the cracked area and the maximum crack length. Larger amounts
of fibre did not show an increase of cracking control efficiency [16]. The delayed
crack occurrence can be inferred as a positive effect of supplementary cementitious
materials and AR glass fibre on the plastic shrinkage of concrete.
The crack width is measured with the help of a hand held microscope. It can be
observed that the crack width considerably reduces when AR glass fibre is incorpo-
rated. Figure 6 shows the crack width of different mixes. When considering Mop 0.2
and Mop 0.3 they both show the same crack width. Therefore, there is not a linear
relationship between fibre amount and cracking control efficiency. Hence percentage
around 0.2% can be considered as optimum for the crack control. The orientation
of crack fibre can also play an important role in crack reduction. The fibres that
align perpendicular to the crack can arrest the crack from further propagation. The
results of maximum cracking time pointed out that low amount of the AR-glass fibres
studied can control cracking due to plastic shrinkage at early ages, acting as a local
reinforcement when concrete cracks [14].
4 Conclusions
In this paper, the effect of using fly ash and alkali resistant glass fibre on controlling the
plastic shrinkage cracks in SCC are studied. Plastic shrinkage tests were conducted
on normal M30 mix (Mn), SCC mixes with 25 % fly ash alone (Mop) and SCC
mix with varying VF of Glass fibres (0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3%). From the experimental
investigation it can be concluded that, the delay on the beginning of plastic shrinkage
registered in SCC samples, with regard to standard concrete, pointed to a delay of
SCC bleeding. SCC with fly ash alone showed delayed initial centre line crack but the
crack propagation was fast. Fibre added acted as a local reinforcement and reduced the
plastic shrinkage, i.e.; the maximum crack length and crack width was considerably
reduced. There is not a linear relationship between fibre amount and cracking control
efficiency and a volume fraction of 0.2% is considered as the optimum dosage.
Adding more volume of GF in concrete reduces the workability of SCC and had no
significant effect on the compressive strength.
References
1. Sayahi F, Emborg M, Hedlund H (2017) Plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete—influence

of test methods. In: 2nd international RILEM/COST conference on early age cracking and
serviceability in cement-based materials and structures—EAC2 12–14 September 2017, ULB-
VUB, Brussels, Belgium
2. Turcry P, Loukili A (2006) Evaluation of plastic shrinkage cracking of self-consolidating
concrete. ACI Mater J 103-M30:272–279
3. Brooks J (2015) “Shrinkage of concrete”. Concrete and masonry movements 22(6):137–185.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-801525-4.00006-6
4. Kristiawan SA, Taib M, Aditya M (2015) Effect of high volume fly ash on shrinkage of
self-compacting concrete. Procedia Eng 125(2015):705–712
5. Mirza FA, Soroushian P (2002) Effects of alkali-resistant glass fibre inforcement on crack and
temperature resistance of lightweight concrete. Cem Concr Compos 24:223–227
6. Rao PS, Mouli KC, Sekhar TS (2012) Durability studies on glass fibre reinforced concrete. J
Civ Eng Sci 1:37–42
7. IS: 4031-(1996) Method of physical tests for hydraulic cement—specification. Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi (March)
8. Arya EK, James JS, John E (2020) Study on the effectiveness of shrinkage reducing admixtures
on plastic shrinkage of concrete. In: Proceedings of SECON’19. SECON 2019. Lecture Notes
in Civil Engineering, vol 46. Springer, Cham
9. Combrinch R, Ateyl L, Boshoff WP (2018) Interaction between settlement and shrinkage
cracking in plastic concrete. Constr Build Mater 185:1–11
10. Combrinck R, Boshoff WP (2013) Typical plastic shrinkage cracking behaviour of concrete.
Magaz. Concr. Res. 65(8):486–493
11. Haque MN, Kayali O (1998) Properties of high strength concrete using fine fly ash. Cem Concr
Res 28:1445–1452
12. McCarthy MJ, Dhir RK (1999) Towards maximising the use of fly ash as a binder. Fuel 78:121–
132
13. Zhao Y, Gong J, Zhao S (2017) Experimental study on shrinkage of HPC containing fly ash
and ground granulated blast-furnace slag. Constr Build Mater 155(2017):145–153
14. Barluenga G, Hernandez-Olivares F (2007) Cracking control of concretes modified with short
AR-glass fibres at early age. Experimental results on standard concrete and SCC. Cem Concr
Res 37:1624–1638
15. Altoubat S, Junaid MT, Leblouba M, Badran D (2017) Effectiveness of fly ash on the restrained
shrinkage cracking resistance of self-compacting concrete. Cement and Concr Compos 79:9e20
16. Sivakumar VR, Kavitha OR, Prince Arulraj G, Srisanthi VG (2017) An experimental study on
combined effects of glass fibre and Metakaolin on the rheological, mechanical, and durability
properties of self-compacting concrete. Appl Clay Sci 0169–1317
Development of Bricks Using Plastic
Wastes
Gouri S. Kumar and S. Sreerath
Abstract Modern world is facing a serious situation of waste management, espe-

cially plastic waste. There has been a considerable imbalance between the availability
of conventional building materials and their demand in the recent past. On the other
hand various type of sands such as foundry sand are abundantly available and the
disposal of waste plastics (Poly Ethylene Terephthalate, Poly Propylene etc.) is a
biggest challenge, as repeated recycling of PET bottles pose a potential danger of
being transformed to a carcinogenic material and only a small proportion of PET
bottles are being recycled. In the present study, the effectiveness of PET bottles on
manufacturing of bricks is analyzed and properties of plastic-soil bricks are assessed.
PET bottles are melted and into this molten plastic mix, sand is added in various
proportions. Plastic-soil bricks using M sand and as well as foundry sand are manu-
factured. Various standard tests on bricks are conducted as per IS 3495 (Parts 1–4)
such as compressive strength test, water absorption test, efflorescence test, hardness
test, soundness test, impact test, thermal resistance test, prism Test. Through the
results obtained from the standard tests, the optimum percentage of plastic is esti-
mated. It is studied that plastic-soil bricks show excellent behavior when compared
to conventional burnt clay bricks.
Keywords Waste management · PET · Foundry sand
1 Introduction
Plastic is one of the recent engineering materials which have many good characteris-
tics which include versatility, lightness, hardness, resistance to chemicals, water and
impact. It consists of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds
G. S. Kumar (B) · S. Sreerath

S. Sreerath

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_32
336 G. S. Kumar and S. Sreerath
that are malleable and can be molded into different solid objects. Plastic can be made
to different shapes when they are heated. Solid waste management, especially the
huge quantity of waste plastics has become one of the major environmental concerns
nowadays. Plastic is one of the daily increasing useful as well as a hazardous material.
At the time of need, plastic is found to be very useful but after its use, it is simply
thrown away and thus creating all kinds of hazards. They are non-biodegradable
and can remain on earth for 4500 years without degradation. In India approximately
40 million tons of the municipal solid waste is generated annually, with evaluated
increasing at a rate of 1.5–2% every year [1]. Accumulation of such wastes can result
into hazardous effects to both human and plant life. Hence these plastics are to be
effectively utilized. Today it is impossible for any vital sector to work efficiently
without usage of plastic starting from agriculture to industries [2]. Thus we cannot
prohibit the use of plastic. So reusability of plastic should be the better option [3].
Waste foundry sand is a byproduct from the production of both ferrous and nonfer-
rous metal castings. It is high quality silica sand. Disposal of this is a big problem
thus reusing it for construction is better option [4]. The idea of plastic-soil brick
is observed to be feasible through various studies. Compressive strength of plastic-
soil bricks of specific proportions are shown to be higher than conventional bricks
and water absorption of these bricks are observed to be negligible [2, 5]. It is also
studied that plastic-soil bricks are far more economical than conventional bricks [4].
The present research is performed to study the properties of bricks manufactured by
mixing sand and Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles. This study is mainly
focused on obtaining information regarding the suitability of such plastic-soil bricks
for use in construction industry.
2.1 Methodology
Materials used are PET bottles, sand and bitumen. A mould of size 20 × 10 ×
10 cm is prepared. The plastic bottles are turned into molten form by using stones
and firewood. The drum is placed over the above setup and then the plastic bottles
are added to the drum one by one and the sand is added to it when it turns into hot
liquid according to various proportions as shown in Table 1. The sand added is mixed
thoroughly using rod and trowel before it hardens. At the final stage bitumen is added
in the range of 2% by weight of sand in molten form to the plastic-soil mix. These
mixtures are then poured into the brick mould and they are compacted using steel
rod and surface is finished using trowel. The brick can be easily demoulded by just
lifting the wooden mould after 30 min (Fig. 1) [6, 7].
Development of Bricks Using Plastic Wastes 337
Table 1 Proportion of plastic, sand and bitumen

Plastic-soil ratio Plastic (g) Sand (g) Bitumen (2% by weight of soil in g)
1:2 1620 3240 64.8
1:3 1080 3240 64.8
1:4 810 3240 64.8
1:5 648 3240 64.8
1:6 540 3240 64.8
Fig. 1 a Cleaning and shredding of PET bottles. b Melting of plastic. c Addition and mixing of
sand and bitumen. d Compaction of brick using steel rod. e Prepared brick
2.2 Mix Proportion
Various proportions of plastic, soil and bitumen used are shown.

After the preparation of brick specimens 24 h of air cooling was adopted. Various
tests adopted for this study are Compressive strength test, Water absorption test,
Prism test, Efflorescence test, Hardness test, Soundness test, Impact test and Thermal
resistance test. For each tests 3 samples were used and the average was taken as the
final result.
Table 2 Average compressive strength of plastic-M sand bricks of ratio 1:4

Days of water curing Average compressive strength (N/mm2 )
3 days 11.20
7 days 11.65
28 days 11.83
24 h of air cooling 11.74
3.1 Effect of Water Curing on Strength of Plastic-Soil Bricks
To study the effect of water curing on the compressive strength of plastic-soil bricks,
compressive strength test was conducted for plastic-M sand brick of ratio 1:4 after
3, 7 and 28 days of water curing and also after 24 h of air cooling.
Table 2 shows that there is not much effect of water cooling on compressive
strength of plastic-soil bricks. So 24 h of air cooling is adopted.
The average compressive strength of various proportions of plastic-soil bricks is

shown in Table 3. Based on the results obtained it is clear that plastic-soil bricks
of ratio 1:4 with 2% bitumen have higher compressive strength compared to burnt
clay bricks. It shows that as the plastic content increases, the compressive strength
increases up to a certain limit and then decreases. This may be due to the decrease
in adhesive strength between plastic and sand. It seems that bonding between plastic
particles and sand is weak after certain limit as the increase in plastic content might
Table 3 Compressive strength of Plastic-M-sand bricks and Plastic-Foundry sand bricks

Sample Bitumen (% by weight Average compressive Average compressive
of M-sand) strength (Plastic-M strength
sand) (N/mm2 ) (Plastic-foundry sand)
(N/mm2 )
1:2 2 7.83 6.88
1:3 2 8.5 7.9
1:4 2 11.74 9.99
1:5 2 10.06 8.11
1:6 2 8.08 7.10
Normal burnt clay 8.85 8.85
bricks
Table 4 Water absorption of plastic-M sand bricks and Plastic-Foundry sand bricks
Sample Bitumen (% by weight Water absorption Water absorption
of foundry sand) (%)–Plastic-M sand (%)–Plastic-foundry
bricks sand bricks
1:2 2 2.5 1.42
1:3 2 2.09 1.26
1:4 2 1.16 0.71
1:5 2 1.53 1.02
1:6 2 2.63 1.54
Normal burnt clay 13.01 13.01
bricks
have caused the brick to be much flexible, which in turn reduces its compressive
strength. The compressive strength of plastic-soil bricks using M sand is higher than
the compressive strength of plastic-soil bricks using foundry sand. However foundry
sand bricks are having compressive strength greater than that of normal burnt clay
bricks so they are a cheaper alternative to plastic-M sand bricks since foundry sand
is abundantly available waste sand.
3.3 Water Absorption
Water absorption for different ratios of plastic-soil bricks were determined and are
shown in Table 4. From table it is clear that water absorption value is least for
plastic-soil brick of ratio 1:4 with 2% of bitumen in both M sand bricks and foundry
sand bricks compared to normal burnt clay bricks. The percentage reduction of
water absorption compared to burnt clay bricks in plastic-M sand brick is 92.4% and
in plastic-foundry sand brick is 95.3%. So water absorption test showed excellent
performance of plastic-soil bricks.
3.4 Prism Test
Prism test was done for mortar ratio 1:3 for Plastic-M-sand bricks and Plastic-
Foundry sand bricks of ratios 1:4 with 2% bitumen and it was compared with that
of the burnt clay bricks. The Compressive strength test results of Plastic-soil bricks
and normal burnt clay bricks masonry prisms are tabulated in Table 5. The masonry
prisms shown in Fig. 2 consists of 3 bricks stacked with a mortar thickness of 12 mm.
Therefore the total height of prism will be above 30 cm. The h/t ratio of the prism is
3.1 which indicate the requirement of correction factor as per IS: 1905-1987.
Table 5 Compressive strength of masonry prisms

Mix designation Compressive strength (N/mm2 )
PM3 masonry prism 11.5
PF3 masonry prism 9.7
Normal burnt clay brick masonry prism 7.2
Fig. 2 Masonry prism of plastic-M-sand bricks, Plastic-Foundry sand bricks and normal burnt clay
bricks
It is observed that the compressive strength of plastic-M-sand masonry prism and

Plastic-foundry sand masonry prism is greater than that of burnt clay brick masonry
prism. Hence, plastic-soil bricks can be used as a substitute for burnt clay bricks for
the construction of walls [8].
3.5 Efflorescence Test
The efflorescence test showed an excellent performance on the plastic-soil bricks.

There was no formation of grey or white layer on the brick surface. From this test
we can conclude that no traces of alkalis were presented in this plastic-soil brick
whereas the burnt clay bricks showed a slight deposit of alkali on the brick surface
[2].
3.6 Hardness Test
In this test, a scratch was made on brick surfaces. This test was carried out for all
proportion of bricks. While the scratch was made with the help of a finger nail on
the bricks, no impression was left on the sand brick surface whereas the burnt clay
bricks showed a light impression on the brick surface [9].
3.7 Soundness Test
In this test, two bricks from same proportion were taken and they were struck with
each other. The bricks were not broken and a clear ringing sound was produced same
as that of burnt clay bricks. So the bricks are good [2].
3.8 Impact Test
In this test, the bricks were made to drop from a height of 1 m on one of its corner. If the
bricks are broken, it indicates low impact value and not acceptable for construction
work. The plastic-soil bricks were not broken or shattered and it indicates the brick
are of good quality [2].
3.9 Thermal Resistance Test
The Plastic-M sand bricks and Plastic-Foundry sand bricks of ratio 1:4 with 2%
bitumen were kept in the oven at 100 °C for 24 h and then the compressive strength
for the bricks were determined [2]. The compressive strength of the plastic-M sand
brick was found to be 10.5 N/mm2 . The compressive strength of the plastic-foundry
sand brick was found to be 8.9 N/mm2 . The compressive strength of burnt clay bricks
after thermal resistance test was found to be 8.11 N/mm2 . Hence both the bricks show
the same reduction in compressive strength which is about 10% [10].
4 Cost Analysis
4.1 Labour Cost
Labours required
(1) Head mason 1/10
(2) Mazdoor 1/3
(3) Bristi 1/2
(continued)
(continued)
Labours required
Head mason rate |471/day
Labour rate |377/day
One labour can manufacture 300 bricks [4]
So, labour cost per unit bricks 1367/900 = |1.5/brick
4.2 Transportation Cost
M-Sand
Density of M-Sand 1788.07 kg/m3

Volume of truck 14.5 m3
Rate for 1 trip of truck |4000
Cost of transport of M-sand 4000/25927.02 = |0.15/kg
M-sand required for 1 brick 3.240 kg
Cost of transport of M-sand 0.15 × 3.240
|0.486/brick
Foundry sand
Density of foundry sand 2590 kg/m3

Volume of truck 14.5 m3
Rate for 1 trip of truck |4000
Cost of transport of foundry sand 4000/37555 = |0.1/kg = 0.1 × 1.68 = |0.16/brick
Foundry-sand required for 1 brick 3.240 kg
Cost of transport of foundry-sand 0.1 × 3.240
|0.324/brick
Bitumen
Rate of Bitumen |20/kg

Bitumen Required for 1 Brick 0.064 kg
Cost of Bitumen 20 × 0.064 = |1.28/brick
PET bottles
Quantity of PET bottles filled in a truck 3000 kg

Cost of transport of PET bottles 4000/3000 = |1.3/kg
PET bottles required for 1 brick 1.620 kg
Cost of transport of PET bottles 1.3 × 1.620 = |2.1/brick
Firewood Cost
Rate of firewood |5000/tones

Firewood required 0.2 tones per 1000 bricks
Cost of firewood for 1000 bricks 5000 × 0.2 = |1000
Cost of firewood 1000/1000 = |1/brick
4.3 Total Cost of Bricks
Cost of M sand brick 1.5 + 0.486 +1.28 + 2.1 + 1 = |6.36/brick

Cost of foundry sand brick 1.5 + 0.324 +1.28 + 2.1 + 1 = |6.2/brick
Cost of burnt clay brick of same size |8/brick
5 Conclusions
Plastic-soil bricks possess more advantages than burnt clay bricks and it is cost
effective. The efficient usage of waste plastic has resulted in effective usage of plastic
waste and thereby can solve the problem of safe disposal of plastics.
• Brick made with 1:4 ratio of Plastic to M-sand gives a compressive strength of
11.74 N/mm2 and that of plastic-foundry sand is 9.99 N/mm2 , which is greater
than normal burnt clay bricks. It can be used as a permanent structure in the
construction of walls.
• The water absorption for the brick is almost negligible. There was less amount of
water absorption for all the ratios of plastic-soil bricks and is least for ratio 1:4.
Water absorption of plastic-soil brick is 98.2% less than burnt clay bricks.
• The compressive strength of masonry prism made of plastic-M-sand bricks and
masonry prism made of plastic-foundry sand bricks were found to be more than
compressive strength of conventional brick masonry prism. Hence, plastic-soil
bricks can be used as a substitute for burnt clay bricks for the construction of
walls.
• We know that the cost of burnt clay brick is |8/brick. Cost of plastic-soil brick is
around |6/brick. So it is economical than burnt clay bricks [4].
• The efflorescence test showed an excellent performance on the plastic-soil bricks
as there were no traces of alkalis present. Thermal Resistance test was satisfactory
as both the bricks showed the same reduction in compressive strength.
References
1. Thirugnanasambantham N, Tharun Kumar P, Sujithra R, Selvaraman R, Bharathi P (2017)

Manufacturing and testing of plastic sand bricks. Int J Sci Eng Res (IJ0SER) 5(4)
2. Aiswaria K, Abdulla K (2018) Manufacturing and experimental investigation of bricks with
plastic and M-Sand. Int J Innovat Res Sci Eng Technol 7(6)
3. Singh L, Boss Singh P, Thokchom S (2017) Manufacturing bricks from sand and waste plastics.
In: National conference on innovations in science and technology (NCIST-17), 5(3)
4. Manjarekar AS, Ravi D. Gulpatil, Patil VP, Nikam RS, Jeur CM (2017) Utilization of plastic
waste in foundry sand bricks. Int J Res Appl Sci Eng Technol (IJRASET) 5(3)
5. Keerti MN, Patel J, Soragavi N, Biradar S, Yashwanta R (2016) Plastic-soil bricks. IJSRD—Int
J Sci Res Dev 4(8)
6. Sahu MK, Singh L (2017) Critical review on types of bricks type 14: plastic sand bricks. Int J
Mech Product Eng 5(11)
7. Mahajan P, Girase D, Lokhande AR (2018) Plastic-soil bricks substituting traditional bricks.
Int J Res Appl Sci Eng Technol (IJRASET) 6(1)
8. Thaickavil NN, Thomas J (2018) Behaviour and strength assessment of masonry prisms. Case
Stud Construct Mater pp 23–38
9. Dinesh S, Dinesh A, Kirubakaran K (2016) Utilization of waste plastic in manufacturing of
bricks and paver blocks. Int J Appl Eng Res 11(3)
10. Miruthula G, Kokila L, BalaMurugan G (2016) Experimental investigation on plastic-soil
bricks. Int J Eng Sci Comput 6(4)
Stabilization of Lateritic Soil Using
Natural Fibres
B Krishnendu and Anjana Bhasi
Abstract Numerous ground improvement techniques have been used to stabilize

marginal soils to make it more feasible for construction purposes. Soil reinforce-
ment using natural fibres is increasingly preferred as they are sustainable, readily
available and inexpensive. This study aims at improving the engineering properties
of lateritic soil using the natural coir fibres as reinforcement material. Laboratory
tests such as UCS test and direct shear test have been carried out to evaluate the effect
of various fibre parameters such as fibre content and fibre length on the engineering
properties of soil. Results showed significant improvement in the strength character-
istics of lateritic soil after the addition of coir fibres. Optimum fibre parameters that
contributed to the enhanced performance of soil were also identified.
Keywords Lateritic soil · Coir fibres · UCS test
1 Introduction
Lands used for construction purpose should be such that the structure constructed over
it should not undergo excessive settlement or any kind of damages. Various techniques
have been used to improve the properties of weak soils to enable them to withstand
the different loading conditions. Reinforcement using fibres, geosynthetics, different
ground improvement techniques, soil nailing etc. are some of the techniques.
Vidal [1] first introduced the concept of using reinforcements for improving the
properties of soil. Reinforcing soil using natural fibres is carried out from ancient
times. Compared to geosynthetics, soil—fibre mix is easy to prepare, and chances
of development of potential weak planes are less. Coir, jute, palm etc. are some of
the widely used natural fibres.
B. Krishnendu (B) · A. Bhasi

Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala
673601, India
A. Bhasi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_33
346 B. Krishnendu and A. Bhasi
Prabakar and Sridhar [2] studied the effect of randomly distributed sisal fibre on the
strength behaviour of c-φ soils by conducting various laboratory tests. It was observed
that cohesion increased with an increase in fibre content up to a certain value, beyond
which cohesion reduced, and angle of internal friction showed non-linear variation.
Sivakumar et al. [3] conducted triaxial tests on coir fibre reinforced expansive soil and
concluded that deviator stress increased with increase in fibre content and diameter.
The increase in fibre content also increased cohesion and angle of internal friction
of the composite soil. Jamellodin et al. [4] studied the effect of oil palm fibre on the
strength behaviour of soil by conducting compaction and triaxial compression tests at
varying fibre contents. The study concluded that increase in fibre content increased
the cohesion up to a particular value of fibre content, beyond which it decreased.
Angle of internal friction showed little variations at different fibre contents. Wang
et al. [5] conducted laboratory tests to assess the strength improvement of expansive
soil treated with jute fibres and concluded that jute fibres are effective in improving
the strength parameters of expansive soil. It was observed that certain fibre parameters
significantly influenced the strength improvement. These parameters were found to
be fibre content, fibre length and fibre orientation.
This study focuses on improving the engineering properties of lateritic soil using
natural coir fibres. The current work also assesses the strength improvement and the
optimum fibre parameters that contribute to it.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Soil
Lateritic soil was collected from Vallithode, near Iritty in Kannur district of Kerala.
This area is frequently prone to landslides. Index and engineering properties of soil
were tested based on SP 36 (Part 1)—1987 of the Indian Standard (IS) specifications.
Properties of the soil are listed in Table 1.
2.2 Fibres
Coir fibres were supplied by Go Green products. Figure 1 shows the coir fibres used
as reinforcement. Properties of the coir fibres are listed in Table 2. Fibres were cut
into three different lengths, namely 10, 20 and 30 mm (Fig. 1a–c).
Stabilization of Lateritic Soil Using Natural Fibres 347
Table 1 Properties of lateritic soil

Properties Value
Liquid limit (%) 46.45
Plastic limit (%) 27.05
Shrinkage limit (%) 15.7
Plasticity index 19.4
Optimum moisture content (%) 20.7
Maximum dry density (g/cm3 ) 1.615
Unconfined compressive strength (kPa) 152.55
Cohesion (kPa) 76.27
Fig. 1 Coir fibres: a 10 mm; b 20 mm; c 30 mm
Table 2 Physical properties of coir fibres

Property Value
Diameter (mm) 0.25
Density (g/cm3 ) 0.71
2.3 Tests on Soil Mixed with Fibres
2.3.1 Determination of OMC and MDD
Soil-fibre mixes were prepared at three different fibre contents (0.3, 0.6 and 0.9%)
and three different fibre lengths (10, 20 and 30 mm). Light compaction tests were
carried out on all nine soil fibre mixes as per IS 2720: Part 7, to find out the optimum
moisture content and maximum dry density in each case. Fibres were randomly
mixed with dry soil thoroughly, and then the required amount of water was added.
Soil was again mixed properly. Soil fibre mix was filled into the mould in three layers,
and each layer was tamped 25 times using a hammer of 2.6 kg weight and 310 mm
height of fall.
2.3.2 Unconfined Compression Test
Specimens for unconfined compression test were prepared using the optimum mois-
ture content and maximum dry density values obtained from the compaction test.
Cylindrical samples of 3.8 cm diameter and 7.6 cm height were prepared. The rate
of applied strain was 1.5 mm/min.
2.3.3 Direct Shear Test
Direct shear tests were conducted on all different soil fibre mixes to find out the effect
of fibre content and fibre length on angle of internal friction of soil. Samples were
prepared at optimum moisture content and maximum dry density.
3.1 Variation of OMC and MDD
As shown in Table 3, optimum moisture content and maximum dry density showed
considerable variation with different fibre content and length.
Table 3 OMC and MDD for different soil samples

Soil OMC (%) MDD (g/cm3 )
Plain soil 20.7 1.615
Soil + 0.3% 10 mm fibre 21.5 1.605
Soil + 0.6% 10 mm fibre 21.9 1.59
Soil + 0.9% 10 mm fibre 22.2 1.585
Soil + 0.3% 20 mm fibre 21.8 1.595
Soil + 0.6% 20 mm fibre 22 1.58
Soil + 0.9% 20 mm fibre 22.3 1.57
Soil + 0.3% 30 mm fibre 22.1 1.57
Soil + 0.6% 30 mm fibre 22.2 1.565
Soil + 0.9% 30 mm fibre 23.6 1.555
OpƟmum Moisture Content( %)
OpƟmum Moisture Content (%)

25 25
24 24
23 10 mm 23 0.30%
22 20 mm 22 0.60%
30 mm 0.90%
21 21
20 20
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 0 10 20 30 40
Fibre Content ( %) Length of fibre (mm)
(a) (b)
Fig. 2 Variation of OMC with a fibre content and b fibre length
10 mm Maximum Dry Density

0.30%
Maximum Dry Density
1.65 1.65 0.60%

20 mm
0.90%
30 mm
(g/cm^3)
1.6
(g/cm^3)
1.6
1.55 1.55
1.5 1.5
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 0 10 20 30 40
Fibre Content (%) Length of fibre (mm)
(a) (b)
Fig. 3 Variation of MDD with a fibre content and b fibre length
It was observed that the addition of coir fibres increased the optimum moisture
content. This increase in moisture content is due to the absorption of water by the
fibres. Figure 2 shows the variation of OMC with different fibre content and length.
Maximum dry density decreased with increase in fibre content and length. This
decrease can be attributed to the replacement of soil particles by lightweight fibres.
Figure 3 shows the variation of maximum dry density with different fibre contents
and lengths.
3.2 Effect of Fibre Content and Fibre Length on UCS Value
Soil mixed with 10 mm long fibres showed higher unconfined compressive strength
(UCS) and cohesion compared to plain soil for a fibre content of 0.3 and 0.6%
whereas the values did not show much variation for 0.9%. For soil samples mixed
with 20 mm long fibres, UCS value increased only for 0.6% fibre content. For 0.3%
fibre content, strength values did not show much variation, and for 0.9%, it was lower
than that of plain soil. For soil samples mixed with 30 mm long fibres, UCS value
increased for only 0.6%. For 0.3 and 0.9%, the values were lower as compared to
plain soil. For all three fibre lengths, maximum UCS values were obtained for 0.6%.
Among the three different lengths, the maximum strength value was obtained for soil
mixed with 10 mm long fibres. Higher fibre content results in higher replacement
of soil particles by fibres. Kinking of fibres is also likely to occur at higher length
and content. This lead to fibres forming lumps or bundles inside the soil matrix and
not getting properly and uniformly mixed. These can be reasons for the reduction
in strength of soil samples mixed with longer fibres at higher contents. Figures 4
and 5 shows variation of unconfined compressive strength and cohesion for various
soil—fibre mixes.
250
197
Unconfined Compressive
200 182
153 163 153
150 151
Strength (kPa)
150 130 130 120
100
50
0
PLAIN 10mm 10mm 10mm 20mm 20mm 20mm 30mm 30mm 30mm
0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9%
Soil Samples
Fig. 4 Variation of unconfined compressive strength
120
98.5
100 91
81.5
Cohesion (kPa)
76.5 75 75.5 76.5

80 65 65 60
60
40
20
0
0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9%
Soil Samples
Fig. 5 Variation of cohesion

33 32.4
32
Angle of Internal Friction
31.8
32 31.5 31.3 31.3
31.2
30.7 30.6
(degrees)
31
30
30
29
28
0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.6% 0.9%
Soil Samples
Fig. 6 Variation of angle of internal friction
3.3 Effect of Fibre Content and Fibre Length on Angle

of Internal Friction
Angle of internal friction did not show much variation with increase in fibre content
or fibre length. The maximum friction angle value obtained was 32.4° for soil mixed
with 10 mm long fibres at 0.6% by weight of soil. The values obtained for all soil-
fibre mixes were between 30° and 32.4°. For a particular fibre length (say 10 mm),
angle of internal friction increased till 0.6% beyond which the value reduced. This
same trend was observed for 20 and 30 mm long fibres also. The variation of the
angle of internal friction is shown in Fig. 6.
4 Conclusions
The major conclusions that can be drawn from the current study are as follows:
• Lateritic soil reinforced with coir fibres showed good improvement in engineering
properties.
• Fibre parameters such as length and content had a significant influence in
improving the properties of lateritic soil. Maximum improvement was observed
for soil sample reinforced with 10 mm long coir fibres at 0.6% by weight of soil.
• Addition of coir fibres resulted in an increase in the unconfined compressive
strength and cohesion of soil, whereas the angle of internal friction showed near-
zero variation.
References
1. Vidal H (1969) The principle of reinforced earth. Highway Res Rec 282:1–16
2. Prabakar J, Sridhar RS (2002) Effect of random inclusion of sisal fibre on strength behaviour of
soil. Constr Build Mater 16(2):123–131
3. Sivakumar Babu GL, Vasudevan AK (2008) Strength and stiffness response of coir fibre
reinforced tropical soil. J Mater Civ Eng 20(9):571–577
4. Jamellodin Z, Talib ZA, Kolop R, Md Noor N (2010) The effect of oil palm fibre on strength
behaviour of soil. In: Proceedings of the 3rd SANREM conference
5. Wang Y-X, Guo P-P, Ren W-X, Yuan B-X (2017) Laboratory investigation on strength charac-
teristics of expansive soil treated with jute fiber reinforcement. Int J Geomech 17(11):52–63
Clogging Resistant Pervious Block
M. V. Akshara and M. Preethi
Abstract In recent years, Pervious Concrete (PC) has been increasingly promoted as
an effective sustainable drainage system to mitigate surface flooding in urban areas.
However, the pore structure of PC can become clogged by sediment particles and
its ability to drain storm-water runoff gradually decreases. Therefore an alternative
to PC, which is resistant to clogging, should be developed. This Clogging Resistant
Pervious pavement block (CRP) was prepared by introducing straight pore channels
of varying numbers into mortar for obtaining different porosity. Flexible pipes were
introduced to 1:2 mortar mixes for developing straight pore channels in the mortar
cubes. Mortar cubes of porosity starting from 1 to 6% were casted. Optimum porosity
was determined by permeability test using falling head permeability apparatus and
compression test. Optimum porosity was obtained at 4% porosity for CRP. This
innovative system will help alleviate urban flooding and contribute towards a more
sustainable urbanization.
Keywords Clogging · PC · Porosity · Permeability
1 Introduction
The impervious nature of the conventional pavement systems has resulted in flash
floods. In recent years, PC has been increasingly promoted to mitigate surface
flooding. PC is a popular type of permeable pavement as it has the ability to trans-
port large volumes of water through the porous structure of the material. However,
the pore structure of PC can become clogged. Therefore, it is important to develop
Clogging Resistant Pervious pavement block. One approach is to engineer a pore
structure that is uniform and has low tortuosity. The overall aim of this study was
M. V. Akshara (B) · M. Preethi

M. Preethi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_34
354 M. V. Akshara and M. Preethi
the development of a new permeable pavement system as an alternative to PC which

is more durable, less prone to clogging and does not require frequent maintenance
[1–5].
2 Objectives of the Study
1. Developing permeable pavement as an alternative to PC with low tortuosity pore

structure that is not only resistant to clogging, but also has high permeability and
strength.
2. Determine the permeability and strength characteristics of Clogging Resistant
Pervious pavement block and compare it with PC and pavement block (PB).
3 Literature Review
Alalea Kia, Hong S. Wong, Christopher R. Cheeseman studied clogging potential

for permeable concrete.
This paper reports on different clogging test methods used to determine the perfor-
mance of permeable concrete. It involves applying flowing water containing sand
and/or clay in cycles through the sample and measuring the change in flow rate.
When simultaneously exposed to sand and clay all samples were showing reduction
in permeability. This was due to the adhering of flocculated clay to surface of sand
particles and this caused increased clogging.
Alalea Kia, Hong S. Wong, Christopher R. Cheeseman studied clogging in
permeable concrete.
This paper reviews the clogging mechanism in permeable concrete. Permeable
concrete requires regular maintenance by vacuum sweeping and pressure washing,
but the effectiveness and viability of these methods was questionable. In this paper it
is concluded that the greater potential for clogging in permeable concrete was related
to the tortuosity of the connected porosity.
Alalea Kia, Hong S. Wong, Christopher R. Cheeseman defined clogging
potential for permeable concrete.
This paper compares a set of laboratory prepared permeable concretes with close
packed glass spheres and aggregate particles of varying size and commercial perme-
able concretes. They are exposed to different clogging methods to understand this
clogging phenomenon. It involves applying flowing water containing sand and/or
clay in cycles through the sample and measuring the change in permeability. All
samples showed greater permeability reductions when exposed to sand and clay
simultaneously. Based on measuring the initial permeability decay, half-life cycle
and number of cycles to full clogging these were the three methods used to define
clogging potential.
Clogging Resistant Pervious Block 355
Alalea Kia, Hong S. Wong, Christopher R. Cheeseman prepared a paper on

control of clogging in conventional permeable concrete and development a new high
strength clogging resistant permeable concrete pavement.
In this study, a new type of permeable concrete that can be poured on-site to form
a low tortuosity microstructure that is not only resistant to clogging, but also has high
permeability and strength is developed. This newly developed permeable concrete
was prepared by introducing straight pore channels of varying size and number into
self-compacting mortar. Samples with porosity ranging from 11 to 32% were tested.
In all cases, permeability and compressive strength were substantially higher than
conventional permeable concrete.
4 Experimental
4.1 Sample Preparation
CRP are made by using 1:2 mortar mix of Zone II fine aggregates at a w/c ratio of
0.4 with porosity (P) ranging from 1 to 6%. For developing pores in CRP, plastic
tubes of dia 6 mm were introduced into mortar in varying number according to the
porosity. Plastic tubes were held in place by using specially prepared mould in which
steel rods are welded at the base plate. Cylindrical specimens and cubes with target
porosity ranging from 1 to 6% P were made. Optimum porosity was decided by
testing permeability and compressive strength [2–5] (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Mould prepared by welding steel rods on base plate

(a) 1% P (b) 2% P (c) 3% P
(d) 4% P (e) 5% P (f) 6%
Fig. 2 CRP samples containing straight pore channels (plastic tubes) of varying number in self-
compacting mortar to achieve porosity ranging from 1 to 6%
4.2 Porosity
Porosity (∅) of CRP was calculated from by the equation:

Vp × n
∅= × 100
Vc
where Vp is the volume of each pore (plastic tube), n is the number of pores and Vc
is the volume of the cylindrical sample (m3 ) [1] (Fig. 2; Table 1).
4.3 Permeability
A falling head permeability setup was used to measure permeability. The test was
conducted as per ACI 522R 10 (Fig. 3).
For each sample, permeability (k, cm/s) was determined as per Darcy’s law:
Table 1 Mix compositions of CRP

Mix Porosity (%) No of tubes
CRP 1 1 6
CRP 2 2 12
CRP 3 3 18
CRP 4 4 25
CRP 5 5 30
CRP 6 6 38
Fig. 3 Falling head permeability cell
h1
2.303 × a × L × log
k= h2
A×t
K is the permeability coefficient, (cm/s), t is the time, (s), a is the cross-sectional

area of the specimen, (cm2 ), A is the cross-sectional area of the calibrated cylinder,
(cm2 ), h1 and h2 are the initial water head and final water head, (cm), L is the length
of the specimen, (cm) [1, 6].
Table 2 Permeability values obtained for CRP with varying percentage of porosity
PC mix Specimen Time, t (s) Permeability, k (cm/s) Average permeability(cm/s)
CRP 1 1 1093.57 0.039 0.045
2 947.76 0.045
3 820.17 0.052
CRP 2 1 656.14 0.065 0.074
2 520.11 0.082
3 561.17 0.076
CRP 3 1 380.79 0.112 0.112
2 325.56 0.131
3 448.93 0.095
CRP 4 1 191.25 0.223 0.226
2 194.74 0.219
3 180.71 0.236
CRP 5 1 94.56 0.451 0.457
2 92.11 0.463
3 93.12 0.458
CRP 6 1 61.90 0.689 0.688
2 65.21 0.654
3 59.15 0.721
5.1 Permeability
As per ACI 522R-10 permeability of PC varies from 0.14 to 1.22 cm/s this is taken as
required permeability for CRP since it is developed as an alternative to PC (Table 2).
Here the permeability value of both 4, 5 and 6% comes in the range.
As expected the compressive strength was inversely proportional to porosity (Fig. 4).
As per ACI 522R-10 the compressive strength of PC is between 2.8 and 28 MPa
and compressive strength of all CRP samples comes in this range [6, 7].
CRP with 4, 5 and 6% P satisfies the permeability range and all CRP satisfies the
compressive strength range also considering that compressive strength is inversely
proportional to the porosity CRP samples with maximum compressive strength and
COMPRESSIVE STREGTH OF CRP

30
Compressive strength (N/mm2 )

26.43
7th day
25
20.84 28th day
20 18.173 18.54
16.07 16.88
14.24
15 12.08 12.85
9.46 10.15
10 6.93
0
CRP 1 CRP 2 CRP 3 CRP 4 CRP 5 CRP 6
Fig. 4 Compressive strength of CRP after 7th and 28th day of curing
that comes in the permeability range should be taken as optimum percentage porosity.
Therefore 4% P CRP was taken as optimum.
6 Preparing PC for Comparison
Since CRP is developed as an alternative to PC they should be compared in order

to make sure that CRP is more favorable than PC. For comparing, the percentage
porosity of both should be equal but according to ACI 522R 10 the range of porosity
for PC was 15–30%. Therefore a PC mix was developed by assuming the porosity as
16% which satisfies the permeability range of PC and then the porosity of mix were
reduced by replacing coarse aggregate with fine aggregate till the porosity becomes
4%. Percentage of voids where determined by standard proctor hammer [8] (Tables 3,
4).
At 25% replacement of coarse aggregate with fine aggregate the porosity of PC
was obtained as 4%. Therefore it was taken for comparison.
Table 3 PC mix proportion

Sl. No Mix % of fines Cement (kg) Coarse aggregates Fine aggregates Water (kg)
(kg) (kg)
1 PC1 0 411.51 1478.7 0 141
2 PC2 5 411.51 1404.77 73.93 141
3 PC3 10 411.51 1330.83 147.87 141
4 PC4 15 411.51 1256.9 221.80 141
5 PC5 20 411.51 1182.96 295.74 141
6 PC6 25 411.51 1109.025 369.67 141
Table 4 Percentage of voids in PC mixes with varying percentage of fine aggregates

Sl. No. PC mix Theoretical density, T Experimental density, D Percentage of voids (%)
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
1 PC1 2504.23 2109.77 15.75
2 PC2 2502.11 2161.23 13.62
3 PC3 2500 2202.40 11.904
4 PC4 2497.25 2284.73 8.51
5 PC5 2498.73 2332.76 6.64
6 PC6 2490.29 2380.76 4.39
Table 5 Permeability values obtained for PC with 4% of porosity

PC mix Specimen Time, t (s Permeability, k (cm/s) Average permeability (cm/s)
PC 1 2030.91 0.021 0.017
2 2665.57 0.016
3 2843.28 0.015
6.1 Permeability
See Table 5.
See Table 6.
7 Comparison of Parameters
In this investigation CRP was compared with PC of same porosity and with pavement
blocks (PB). Pavement blocks were purchased from manufacturing shops (Figs. 5
and 6).
Table 6 Compressive strength of PC with 4% porosity after 7th and 28th day of curing
PC 7th day compressive Strength (MPa) 28th day compressive Strength (MPa)
8.90 10.36
PERMEABILITY
0.25
0.226
0.2
Permeability (cm/s)
0.15
0.1
0.05
0.017
0
0
CRP PC PB
Fig. 5 Permeability of CRP,PC, PB
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
45 42.57
40
Compressive strength (N/mm2)
35
30
25
20 16.88
15
10.36
10
0
CRP PC PB
Fig. 6 Compressive strength of CRP, PC, PB

7.1 Permeability and Compressive Strength
The permeability of CRP was about 1229.41% greater than that of PC at equal
porosity. Therefore it can be concluded that for similar porosities, the permeability’s
of CRP are about an order of magnitude larger than that of PC samples. The compres-
sive strength of CRP was about 62.93% greater than that of PC at equal porosity.
Therefore it can be concluded that for similar porosities, compressive strength of
CRP are much larger than that of PC samples. Compressive strength of PB was
152.19% greater than that of CRP but it was zero permeable.
8 Field Test for CRP and PC
Field test was conducted by embedding one cylinder from both CRP and PC in the
parking lot of my college. The specimens were embedded in the ground such that at
least one wheel load passes over the specimens. After 30 days, the specimens were
taken out and permeability was calculated.
Sample Permeability before field test (cm/s) Permeability after field test (cm/s)
CRP 0.226 0.0226
PC 0.017 0.009
From field test it was observed that there was no change in the permeability for
CRP, but there is a significant reduction in permeability of PC. This shows that
at equal porosity the CRP specimen remained without clogging and PC specimen
clogged after 30 days field test.
9 Conclusion
• At equivalent porosity, the permeability of CRP was 1229.41% greater than

conventional PC. This was due to the difference in pore structure of PC. The
pores in PC have a complex structure with variable cross-sections and random
interconnectivity. Due to its high permeability CRP will greatly enhance the ability
of engineers and urban planners to mitigate against urban flooding and in the long
term will allow the design and deployment of a new generation of flood resistant
infrastructure.
• At equivalent porosity, the compressive strength of CRP was 62.93% greater
than that of conventional PC. This was due to the higher cement paste content,
the porosity distribution and the lack of coarse aggregate in CRP. Whereas the
compressive strength of pavement block was 152.19% greater than that of CRP
but it was zero permeable.
• Since CRP has greater compressive strength than PC it can be laid in the pavements
with lesser thickness than the thickness required for PC to achieve the same
strength. This will result in a reduction of the overall consumption of materials
and time.
• After 30 days field test it was observed that the CRP specimen remained without
clogging and PC specimen was clogged. This shows that CRP specimens doesn’t
undergo clogging as rapidly as PC specimens therefore it doesn’t require frequent
maintenance as that of PC. Since the maintenance of such pavements is quiet
costly CRP becomes more economical.
• CRP can be engineered with low porosity (4%) to achieve high compressive
strength (16.88 MPa) and high permeability (0.226 cm/s), but does not clog after
field test. The development of a high-strength Clogging Resistant Pervious pave-
ment will reduce the need for time consuming and expensive maintenance, a
significant advantage over conventional permeable pavements, which will reduce
the long-term operational cost of the system. CRP can be cast on-site to achieve
uniform pore structure. It retains high porosity and permeability for storm-water
to infiltrate throughout, while having high compressive strength suitable for use
in lightly loaded pavements.
• From the above points it can be concluded that CRP is a better and more
economical alternative to PC.
References
1. Kia A, Wong HS, Cheeseman CR (2019) High-strength clogging resistant permeable pavement.
Int J Pavement Eng
2. Kia A, Wong HS, Cheeseman CR (2017) Clogging in permeable concrete: a review. J Env
Manage
3. Kia A, Wong HS, Cheeseman CR (2018) Defining clogging potential for permeable concrete.
J. Environ Manage
4. Kia A, Wong HS, Cheeseman CR (2018) Control of clogging in conventional permeable concrete
and development of a new high strength clogging resistant permeable concrete pavement. J.
Environ Manage
5. Kia A, Wong HS, Cheeseman CR (2017) Clogging potential of permeable concrete. J Environ
Manage
6. ACI 522R 10 (2010) Report on PC. American Concrete Institute
7. ASTM C39 Standard test method for compressive strength of cylindrical concrete specimen
8. ASTM C1688 Standard test method for density and void content of freshly mixed PC. American
Society for Testing and Materials
Analytical Study of Timber-Concrete
Composite (TCC) Beam Using Different
Interlocking Joints
K. S. Sandra and P. R. Reshmi
Abstract Timber Concrete Composite (TCC) beam is a structural technique widely

used for strength and stiffness upgrading of new and existing timber floors, bridges,
buildings etc. The main reason for this development is the advantages it offers in
terms of higher stiffness, lighter weight, and cost effective compared to RC beams.
A TCC beam comprises a concrete slab connected to a timber beam by means of shear
connectors. The shear connectors resist the shear and plays a critical role in TCC
beam by connecting and introducing a composite action between the upper concrete
slab and lower timber beam. Hence to ensure and improve this composite action, a
better connection of timber and concrete along with shear connectors is necessary.
In this study, a new connection system is introduced in the form of interlockings
between timber and concrete. The behavior of TCC beam with interlockings of
types rectangular and dovetail joints is analysed using ANSYS 16.1 and the best
connection system is selected based upon the load deflection behavior, the relative
slip between concrete and timber as well as direct stress on shear connectors of TCC
beam. Further TCC beam under longitudinal non-prismatic condition is also studied
with the best connection system. From the results obtained it was concluded that
TCC beam with dovetail joint of tenon angle 60° is the best joint. Also TCC beam
under non prismatic condition with central rise 50 mm showed better performance
in terms of load carrying capacity and deflection.
Keywords Shear connectors · Composite action · Slip
K. S. Sandra (B) · P. R. Reshmi

Department of Civil Engineering, Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering, Ernakulam,
Kerala, India
P. R. Reshmi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_35
366 K. S. Sandra and P. R. Reshmi
1 Introduction
Composite construction technology are becoming more popular in construction

industries nowadays with the introduction of newer construction materials and tech-
nical know-how of integrating different materials for achieving desired engineering
properties. Timber Concrete Composite (TCC) beam is one such composite construc-
tion technology which utilises the complimentary properties of both concrete and
timber. The concrete slab, which has high compressive strength, resists the compres-
sive force and the timber web which has good tensile resistance, resists the tensile
force [1]. The concrete slab and the timber beam are connected by shear connectors
that transfer the shear force between the two materials. The shear connectors play
the most important role in a TCC beam by connecting and inducing slab to beam
composite action. Hence a proper connection of shear connectors with timber and
concrete is necessary to enhance this composite action.
Different types of connection system has been introduced. Zhang et al. [1], studied
the use of a new connection system in the form of a hardwood layer in a prefabricated
timber–concrete composite (TCC) beam. The hardwood layer was glued to the top of
a timber web to reinforce a dowel type connection. From the study it was found that
using this hardwood layer between timber and concrete can enhance the composite
action and can increase the slip modulus of shear connectors. Yeoh et al. [2] conducted
an experimental tests of notched and plate connectors for LVL-Concrete composite
beams. From this study, a 300 mm long rectangular reinforced notch connection was
selected as the best connection due to the high strength and slip modulus, while a 2 ×
333 mm toothed metal plate connection appeared to be the most practical and labor
cost effective since it does not involve any notching. Also it was found that none of the
notched connections exhibited a brittle failure due to the use of a lag screw, whereas
a brittle failure was observed in the toothed metal plate connection characterized by
tearing of the plate. Khorsandnia et al. [3] studied performance of TCC beam with
fasteners such as normal wood screws (NS), SFS Intec screws (SFS) and bird-mouth
notch coach screw (BM). It was found that NS had a quite brittle behavior and SFS
showed low ductility after the peak load. A fairly ductile response was seen in BM
before the failure point and hence BM was suggested when more ductile behavior
is needed. From Auclair et al. [4] study, a new elongated composite connector was
developed for timber concrete composite structure. The stiffness and strength of the
connection depends on the external and internal diameters of the connector and it was
found that the elongated connector diameters control the deflection and the structural
ductility.
In this study TCC beam with new connection system in the form of interlocking
of types dovetail joints (with tenon angle 45° and 60°) and rectangular joints (with
tenon angle 90°) between timber and concrete of TCC beam have been modelled
using ANSYS 16.1 software and are compared with each other. Further TCC beam
under longitudinal non prismatic condition is also modelled with the best connection
system and the performance is studied.
Analytical Study of Timber-Concrete Composite … 367
2 Numerical Study of TCC Beam with Interlocking Joints
The analytical study includes the development of finite element models to evaluate
the performance of a TCC beam with interlocking joints of types dovetail joint and
rectangular joint. The model includes a 6000 mm long TCC beam with concrete slab
of 800 mm width and 60 mm depth. The timber used for the study was LVL (Lami-
nated Veneer Lumber) of 400 mm depth and 126 mm width. The shear connectors
used were M20 × 240 mm arranged in a single row. The spacing of shear connectors
were selected as per Zhang et al. [1]. The beam is simply supported by two roller
supports. Steel mesh of 8 mm diameter is incorporated in concrete slab to prevent
cracking. The material properties assigned to the model are presented in Table 1. TCC
beam is developed with dovetail joint of tenon angle (45° and 60°) and rectangular
joints with tenon angle 90°. A schematic view of the model is shown in Fig. 1. The
dimensions of dovetail and rectangular joint are shown in Table 2. Figure 2 presents
the cross sectional view of TCC beam with interlocking joints.
Further the TCC beam is modelled under non prismatic condition with the best
joint selected. Non prismatic TCC beam is developed by choosing the central rise
(V1) of timber beam as 50, 100 and 150 mm and dimension of concrete slab taken
as same as that of prismatic TCC beam. A longitudinal view of non prismatic TCC
beam is shown in Fig. 3. Performance of prismatic and non prismatic TCC beam is
evaluated in terms of load carrying capacity, relative slip between timber and concrete
and direct stress on shear connectors.

Materials Modulus of elasticity (MPa) Yield strength (MPa) Poisons ratio
Concrete 2.7 × 104 4.17 0.15
Timber 1.35 × 104 49 0.2
Shear connectors 2 × 105 250 0.3
Fig. 1 Schematic view of the model drawn in AutoCAD a) Dovetail joint b) Rectangular joint
Table 2 Dimensions of joints

Types of Neck width W1 Head width W2 Neck length H Tenon angle 8
interlocking (mm) (mm) (mm)
Dovetail joint 75 85 10 45°and 60°
Rectangular 75 75 10 90°
joint
a)
b)
Fig. 2 TCC beam with interlocking joints a) Dovetail joint b) Rectangular joint
Fig. 3 Longitudinal view of non prismatic TCC beam (where V1 = central rise)
The results of numerical analysis such as load carrying capacity, deflection, relative
slip between timber and concrete as well as the direct stress on shear connectors
are shown in Table 3. The load versus deflection graph is shown in Fig. 4. It can
be concluded that TCC beam with interlocking joints showed better performance
compared to TCC beam without joints in terms of load carrying capacity and direct
stress on shear connectors. Presence of interlocking joints induced a better composite
action thus reducing the direct stress on shear connectors. Load carrying capacity
of TCC beam with dovetail joint of tenon angle 60° was found to be 337.34 kN
with a maximum deflection value of 84.62 mm shown in Fig. 5. TCC beam with
dovetail joint with tenon angle 60° showed a 18.4% increase in load carrying capacity
compared to beam without joints. A minor difference in values was obtained between
dovetail joint as well as rectangular joint. However load carrying capacity for tenon
angle 60° was found higher compared to the other. Hence dovetail joint with tenon
angle 60° was selected as the best joint. An increase in relative slip as well as
direct stress value was observed for dovetail joint with tenon angle 60°. This can
be attributed to the fact that as the load carrying capacity increased, the relative slip
Table 3 Comparison of results Of TCC beam with joints

Types of Tenon angle 8 Ultimate load Maximum Maximum Direct stress on
interlocking (kN) deflection slip (mm) connectors
(mm) (MPa)
No joint – 284.93 81.11 7.70 187.18
Dovetail joint 45° 333.65 84.29 7.02 97.96
Dovetail joint 60° 337.34 84.62 8.06 100.89
Rectangular 90° 328.62 84.50 8.03 98.82
joint
Load -Deflection Graph

400
350
300 no joint
250
Load (kN)
200 dovetail joint : 45

150 degree
100 dovetail joint : 60
50 degree
0 rectangular joint : 90
0 50 100 degree
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 4 Load-deflection graph of TCC beam

Fig. 5 Total deformation of TCC beam with dovetail joint of tenon angle 60° (Max = 84.62 mm)
between timber and concrete as well as the direct stress on shear connectors also
increased.
Further the results obtained from the numerical analysis of TCC beam under
non prismatic condition using dovetail joint with tenon angle 60°showed that non
prismatic TCC beam with central rise 50 mm showed better performance compared
to non prismatic TCC beam with central rise 100 and 150 mm. The results obtained
are presented in Table 4. From the graph shown in Fig. 6 beam with central rise
50 mm have a higher load carrying capacity of 265.52 kN with a lower deflection
value of 86.87 mm shown in Fig. 7. As the central rise was increased, depth of cross
Table 4 Comparison of results of non prismatic TCC beam

Central rise Tenon angle Ultimate load Maximum Maximum Direct Stress on
V1 (mm) of joint θ (kN) deflection slip (mm) connectors
(mm) (MPa)
50 60° 265.52 86.87 7.50 97.17
100 60° 202.46 88.57 6.24 95.65
150 60° 147.39 89.761 5.64 84.74
Load – Deflection Graph

300
250
200 central rise 50mm

Load (kN)
150
central rise
100
100mm
50
central rise
0 150mm
0 50 100
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 6 Load-deflection graph of non prismatic TCC beam
Fig. 7 Total deformation of non prismatic TCC beam with central rise 50 mm (Max = 86.87 mm)
section of beam decreased thus resulting in large deflection in beams with central
rise 100 mm and 150 mm.
4 Conclusions
In the present study, new connection system were introduced in the form of inter-
lockings between timber and concrete. TCC beam with interlocking of types dovetail
joint with 2 tenon angles 45° and 60° and rectangular joint with tenon angle 90° were
studied. Further TCC beam under non prismatic condition were also studied with the
best interlocking joint selected. The results are summarized as follows;
• TCC beam with interlocking joints showed better performance compared to beam
without joints. Presence of interlocking joints induced a better composite action,
thus increasing the load carrying capacity and reducing the direct stress on shear
connectors.
• A minor difference in values were obtained for both the joints. Since TCC beam
with dovetail joint of tenon angle 60° showed higher load carrying capacity with
a value of 337.34 kN. Hence it was selected as the best joint.
• TCC beam under non prismatic condition was modelled with the best joint
selected. Non prismatic TCC beam with central rise 50 mm showed better perfor-
mance with a higher load carrying capacity of 265.52 kN and lower deflection
86.87 mm but with higher slip value 7.50 mm and direct stress value of 97.17 MPa.
References
1. Zhang Y, Raftery GM, Quenneville P (2019) Experimental and analytical investigations

of a timber–concrete composite beam using a hardwood interface layer. J Struct Eng
145(7):04019052
2. Yeoh D, Fragiacomo M, De Franceschiand M, Buchanan AH (2011) Experimental tests of
notched and plate connectors for LVL-concrete composite beams. J Struct Eng 137(2):261–269
3. Khorsandnia N, Valipourand HR, Crews K (2012) Experimental and analytical investigation of
short-term behaviour of LVL–concrete composite connections and beams. Elsevier 37:229–238
4. Auclair SC, Sorelli L, Salenivich A (2016) A new composite connector for timber-concrete
composite structures. Elsevier 112:84–92
Analytical Study of GFRG Laminated
Beam with Internally and Externally
Strengthened with Cold Formed Steel
Meera Haridas and Chippy M. Rajan
Abstract An alternative structure for RC beam is a challenging factor in the field

of structural engineering. Various studies had been conducted to introduce a cost-
effective light weight structure which can replace RC structure. Studies on Glass
Fiber Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panel sandwitched with Cold Formed Steel (CFS)
is one such recent alternative technique to RC structure. In this paper, a GFRG
laminated beam developed and strengthened by encasing Cold Formed Steel (CFS)
internally and externally is analyzing using ANSYS 16.1 Software for evaluating
flexural behaviour of developed beam. It is expected that this combined arrangement
of GFRG panel and CFS will provide a cost-effective, light weight and load bearing
structure with substantial strength to replace RC.
Keywords GFRG laminates · GFRG · Cold formed steel · Alternate for RC beam
1 Introduction
An alternative for concrete is a challenging factor in this engineering field. Various

studies had conducted to introduce light weight concrete structures which will have
the strength equal to normal RC structures. But in future the production cost and
material cost will get increased and inversely affect the total construction of the
structural field. So an introduction of sandwich beams had evolved with various
material sandwiched and forms a composite beam. Composite beam is constructed
to increase stiffness or strength or to reduce cost. Sandwich structures offer significant
weight savings in many structural applications due to their high stiffness and bending
strength to weight ratios. This led to the development of cold-formed steel structures
(CFS) which is then sandwiched with concrete and light weight concrete for reduction
of weight.
M. Haridas (B) · C. M. Rajan

Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering, Kadayiruppu, Kolenchery, Ernakulam, Kerala,
India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_36
374 M. Haridas C. M. Rajan
Cold-formed steel (CFS) is the type of steel fabricated by the cold forming process.
Cold-formed steel structural members have been used for housing for many years
[1]. In recent years CFS elements are used more and more as primary load bearing
structures in pallet racks, industrial buildings and residential houses. Several studies
have conducted using CFS for the construction of beam by encasing partially or fully
in the RC beam.
In thinking of reduced weight, different materials are used with this CFS [2].
As an alternative material for concrete, Glass fiber reinforced gypsum can be used.
Panels are a composite of materials consisting of gypsum plaster and glass fibers [3].
These glass fibers provide strength to the panels. This material is used in residential,
commercial, and industrial building due to its ease with construction and sufficient
strength characteristics. In recent years there are building that constructed with this
gypsum panel [4]. A new method of using GFRG laminates for making the beam is
to be introduced and effects are to be investigated.
The purpose of this paper is to obtain a numerical result on the flexural behaviour
of GFRG Laminated encased with CFS externally and internally using the software
ANSYS 16.1. The objective of this study include: (1) To study flexural behaviour of
GFRG laminates with various laminate thickness and aspect ratio, (2) To study the
effect on strengthening of laminated beam with externally and internally Encased
cold formed steel (CFS).
2 Numerical Study
The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is the simulation of any given physical
phenomenon using the numerical technique called Finite Element Method (FEM).
GFRG Laminated beam were modelled using 20 nodded beam 186 elements. Beam
186 is suitable for analyzing slender to moderately stubby/thick BEAM struc-
tures. The element supports plasticity, hyperelasticity, creep, stress stiffening, large
deflection, and large strain capabilities.
The structural performance of GFRG Laminated beams were done under varying
aspect ratio and thickness by keeping the weight of all beam as the same. Two point
loading was provided for the analysis. Three models of GFRG laminated beam with
laminate thickness 10, 13, and 15 mm and with 2.5, 1.4, and 1.1 aspect ratio. The
depth of each beam are 150, 110, and 100 mm (Table 1). Epoxy and screws of circular
cross section are used for the tightening process. The analysis requires input data for
Table 1 Laminated beams used for the modelling

Laminate thickness (mm) Total thickness (mm) Depth (mm) Aspect ratio
10 60 150 2.5
13 78 115 1.4
15 90 100 1.1
Analytical Study of GFRG Laminated Beam … 375

Element type Material property
of model
Solid 186 Young’s modulus = 1.3 × 107 PSI
Poisson ratio = 0.2
Density = 1680 kg/m3
material properties are as show in Table 2. Figures 1, 2 and 3 shows the front view of
GFRG Laminated beam with various thickness and aspect ratio. The specimen with
laminate thickness 10 mm and aspect ratio 2.5 is used for further analysis as it shows
better property than compared to others. Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 shows the laminated
beam with different CFS encasement.
Fig. 1 Modeled view of GFRG laminated beam with thickness 10 mm and aspect ratio 2.5
Fig. 4 Modeled view of GFRG laminated beam with aspect ratio 2.5 strengthened externally with
CFS (C section)
3.1 Flexural Study of Laminated Beam Without CFS

Encasement
From Table 3 it is observed that beam with laminate thickness 10 mm and aspect ratio
2.5 have good load carrying capacity compared to other beams. Beam with laminate
thickness 15 mm and aspect ratio 1.1 shows minimum load carrying capacity with
ultimate load of 33.062 kN. The variation in deformation between beams of aspect
ratio 1.1 and 1.4 are very small. Deformation refers to the change in size or shape of
an object. Comparing the three beams the large deformation is shown by the beam
with laminate thickness 13 mm of about 22.387. From the graph it is clearer that beam
Fig. 5 Modeled view of GFRG laminated beam with aspect ratio 2.5 strengthened externally with
CFS (U section)
Fig. 6 Modeled view of GFRG laminated beam with aspect ratio 2.5 strengthened internally with
CFS (I section)
with aspect ratio 2.5 can carry a max load of 50.698 kN with a minimum deflection
of 12.331 mm, which can be taken as the beam for the further study. Figures 8, 9, 10
and 11 shows the deformed beams with different aspect ratio.
Fig. 7 Modeled view of GFRG laminated beam with aspect ratio 2.5 strengthened internally with
CFS (HAT section)
Table 3 Ultimate load and deflection of beams

Aspect ratio 1.1 Aspect ratio 1.4 Aspect ratio 2.5
Load Deflection Load Deflection Load Deflection
0 0 0 0 0 0
28.559 5.7995 33.636 5.8411 47.673 5.8201
31.83 12.07 38.442 12.11 50.698 12.331
33.062 22.032 38.443 22.387 50.668 12.968
32.808 32.342 37.855 32.946 50.666 13.003
3.2 Flexural Study on GFRG Laminated Beams with CFS

Encased Externally with C and U Section
The flexural study is conducted on all laminate thickness only with c section. Out of
the best is used for the further strengthening process. C section is encased externally.
Figures 4 and 5 shows the front view of base model and two point loading is provided.
Figures 12 and 13 shows the total deformation of each beam for the externally encased
beams with CFS. Both C and U shows better performance (Tables 4 and 5; Fig. 14).
From the above graph shown the ultimate load of the beam is obtained as
121.031 kN and with a deflection of 11.377 mm. This value is slightly less than
strengthened with C section with an ultimate load of 123.928 kN &deflection
11.083 mm. In externally strengthening process both can be used. But strengthening
process using C section is better than the other one by 2%.
Fig. 8 Total deformation of GFRG laminated beam with thickness 15 mm and aspect ratio 1.1
3.3 Flexural Study on GFRG Laminated Beams with CFS

Encased Internally with I and Hat Section
From the above internally strengthened beam with I section and Hat section, I section
shows the better result than the Hat section. But while checking the deflection of both
Hat section shows better result. I section shows the ultimate load of 142.526 kN and
deflection of 12.046 mm and Hat section shows the ultimate load of 107.038 kN and
deflection of 8.5654 mm. From the result we could conclude that I section is effective
(Tables 6 and 7; Figs. 15, 16, 17 and 18).
From the load deflection it is clearly shown that the internally strengthened I
section shows the better result with ultimate load 142.526 kN and deflection of
12.046. In comparing externally encased bean using C section and U section, both
are effective in load carrying. They have only a minute difference in their deflection
corresponding to their ultimate load. In comparing the internally strengthened beam
using I and Hat section, I section is more effective.
3.4 Comparison of Ultimate Load and Deflection of D/B =

2.5 Without CFS and Internally Strengthened with CFS
See Table 8.
3.5 Comparison of Ultimate Load and Deflection of D/B =

2.5 Without CFS and Externally Strengthened with CFS
See Table 9.
4 Conclusion
In the present study analysis of all beam with and without CFS were studied. From
the analysis it is clear that GFRG laminated beam with CFS encasement shows
Fig. 11 Load deflection graph of GFRG laminated beam with all D/B ratios
improved strength characteristics. The strength enhancement study was done using
C, U, I, &HAT sections of Cold Formed Steel.
• In comparing externally encased beam using C section and U section, both are
effective in load carrying with a difference of 2% in load carrying capacity.
strengthened externally with CFS (C Section)
• In comparing the internally strengthened beam using I and Hat section, I section
is more effective in load carrying with an increase of 25%.
• In comparing all sections I section shows improved load carrying capacity with
25% than HAT section, 15% than U section, and 13% than C section.
• In the comparison with laminated beam and with strengthened beam with different
sections of CFS, a greater increase (approximately 2 to 3 times) in strength was
recognized.
strengthened externally with CFS (U Section)
Table 4 Ultimate load and deflection of strengthened beams with CFS with C section
Laminate Total thickness Depth Aspect ratio Ultimate load Deflection (Mm)
thickness (Kn)
10 mm 60 150 2.5 123.928 11.083
13 mm 78 115 1.4 90.156 11.556
15 mm 90 100 1.1 81.285 17.167
Table 5 Ultimate load and deflection of strengthened beams with CFS with C and U section
U section C section
Load Deflection Load Deflection
0 0 0 0
117.738 6.968 120.58 7.0475
118.489 7.135 122.378 7.9186
119.072 7.2851 123.57 9.3661
119.794 7.99 123.916 10.165
120.701 9.3209 123.928 11.083
121.031 11.377 123.828 12.014
120.705 13.466 123.717 12.724
Fig. 14 Load deflection graph of C and U section
Table 6 Ultimate load and deflection of strengthened beams with CFS with I & HAT section
I section Hat section
Load Deflection Load Deflection
0 0 0 0
115.157 2.9787 62.751 1.982
133.483 4.3356 97.868 4.0589
139.487 5.8651 101.16 4.6234
141.833 8.2921 104.158 5.1893
142.526 12.046 105.692 6.0758
141.425 15.872 106.517 7.0079
141.311 16.224 107.038 8.5654
141.289 16.347 106.265 10.463
Table 7 Ultimate load and deflection of strengthened beams

Strengthening Section Ultimateload (kn) Deflection (mm)
Externally encased C 123.928 11.083
U 121.031 11.377
Internally encased I 142.526 12.046
HAT 107.038 8.5654
strengthened externally with CFS (HAT Section)
strengthened externally with CFS (I section)
Fig. 17 Load deflection LOAD DEFLECTION GRAPH

graph of I and HAT section 142.526
150
100
LOAD
107.038
50 I SECTION
0 HAT SECTION
0 10 20
DEFLECTION
150
I SECTION
100 HAT SECTION
LOAD 50 C SECTION
0
U SECTION
0 5 10 15 20
DEFLECTION
Fig. 18 Load deflection graph of all section
Table 8 Ultimate load and deflection of without and internally strengthened beams
Section Ultimate load (kN) Deflection (mm)
Without CFS 50.698 12.331
I section 142.526 12.046
Hat section 107.038 8.5654
Table 9 Ultimate load and deflection of without and internally strengthened beams
Section Ultimate load (kN) Deflection (mm)
Without CFS 50.698 12.331
C section 123.928 11.083
U section 121.031 11.377
References
1. Youssef Kamal A, Khalil1a NN (2017) Cold-formed steel U-section encased in simple support
reinforced concrete beam. J. Mech Civil Eng ISSN: 2456-1479
2. Hegyi P., Dunai L (2016) Experimental investigations on ultra-lightweight-concrete encased
cold-formed steel structures part II: stability behaviour of elements subjected to compression.
Thin-Walled Struct 101(2016):100–108
3. Fenga R (2019) Seismic performance of cold-formed steel framed shearwalls with steel sheathing
and gypsum board. Thin-Walled Struct 143(2019):10
4. Selvaraj S (2018) Studies on cold-formed steel stud panels with gypsum sheathing subjected to
out-of-plane bending. J Struct. Eng ©ASCE, ISSN: 0733-9445
Shear Strengthening of Concrete Block
Masonry Walls Under In-Plane Diagonal
Loading Using Fibers
P. Akhil kumar and S. Unnikrishnan
Abstract Unreinforced masonry wall (URM) is a traditional method and are widely
used all around India. URM can be commonly found in reinforced concrete struc-
tures in many earthquake prone countries. Masonry walls are more vulnerable during
earthquakes. URM structures are not naturally stable and can generally increase the
lateral strength and stiffness of the structural system and thus improve the struc-
tural performance up to a certain range of seismic load. Hence, it is essential to find
solutions to strengthen URM walls. The present study aims at investigating the in-
plane shear behavior of solid concrete block masonry wall and masonry strengthened
with GFRP mesh and polypropylene fiber (PP) externally bounded as a reinforcing
material. The tests are conducted to determine the optimum percentage of polypropy-
lene fiber. An experimental study is carried out involving a series of masonry walls
made of concrete blocks are prepared and are reinforced with GFRP and PP fiber.
The wallettes are subjected to diagonal axial compression test according to ASTM
E 519-02. The main focus of the study is to investigate the strength characteris-
tics of masonry wall and to know the practical applications of this technique. The
strengthening effect caused by the concrete block masonry on in-plane shear behavior
including failure modes, shear strength, modulus of rigidity and ductility are inves-
tigated. The walls are subjected to in-plane diagonal tensile (shear) test. The shear
strength parameters are studied and the application of fibers for strengthening of
masonry walls is observed.
Keywords In-plane diagonal · Masonry · Ductility
P. Akhil kumar (B) · S. Unnikrishnan

Sree Buddha College of Engineering, Pattoor, Alappuzha, India
S. Unnikrishnan

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_37
390 P. Akhil Kumar and S. Unnikrishnan
1 Introduction
Masonry walls are the most commonly used type of constructions throughout the
world and it is the part of any building where more durable and reliable. The word
masonry refers to anything constructed by masons using materials such as stones,
tiles, bricks, concrete blocks etc. Brick is the commonly used type of masonry.
Nowadays, concrete block masonry is rapidly gaining in popularity as a comparable
material. However, the durability and strength of masonry wall constructions depends
on the type and quality of material used and the workmanship [1].
Masonry buildings may be defined as the construction of individual building units
bonded together with mortar. The individual units may be stones, bricks, precast
blocks or solid concrete blocks. Masonry buildings are constructed as massive struc-
tures and hence large enough to attract horizontal forces during earthquakes. A
number of the world’s greatest earthquakes occurred in India in the last century.
The occurrence of recent earthquakes in India and in different parts of the world
results in losses, especially human lives that have highlighted the structural inad-
equacy of buildings to carry seismic loads. Severity of ground shaking, at a given
location during seismic may be minor, moderate or strong.
Unreinforced masonry walls (URM) are the most common and widely used as
a building technique all over the world. It is the traditional type of construction
technique available in the existing world. The term unreinforced refers to the absence
of tensile resisting elements, such as the steel reinforcing bars found in modern
reinforced concrete structures. Tensile resisting elements are crucial inorder to resist
lateral forces such as forces that develop during earthquakes. Unreinforced masonry
wall is more vulnerable to earthquake. In many developed and developing countries
masonry construction is the common practice due to its cost effectiveness and easy
construction method. The design philosophies of these masonry buildings are focused
on gravity loading and many URM structures are potentially earthquake vulnerable.
Due to the existence of a large number of buildings constructed by unreinforced
masonry brick walls, reconstruction is not the most appropriate and practical solution
[2].
When the ground shakes due to earthquake or seismic acceleration, an unrein-
forced masonry wall can fail in two ways i.e. either in-plane or out-of-plane in the
direction depending on the direction of seismic loads. To improve the seismic resis-
tance of a structure, the main objective is to strengthen the in-plane response of
structural walls. There are several techniques to strengthen the masonry walls such
as textile reinforced mortar (TRM) used to strengthen brick masonry, fiber reinforced
polymers (FRP), shotcreting, application of steel elements, bed- joint reinforcement,
post tensioning techniques, using ferrocement etc. [3, 4]. Another suitable technique
is to overlay the walls with fibers which is light weight and can be easily applied. By
using fibers, there will be no additional wastage of time for construction and low cost.
In this method, different fibers and fabrics are placed on the surface of the masonry
wall incorporated with plaster coating. Strengthening of unreinforced masonry wall
using steel rods, ferrocement etc. are widely used. In this study, an experimental
Shear Strengthening of Concrete Block Masonry … 391
investigation has been carried out to strengthen the unreinforced masonry walls using
GFRP mesh and polypropylene fiber (PP). These fibers are locally available fibers
and have advantages such as high tensile strength and resistance to deformation and
superior for micro cracking behavior. Here the investigation is carried out in masonry
wall using GFRP fabric/mesh and PP fiber with 1:4 and 1:1 mortar mixes. GFRP
fabric is a strengthening material which is coated with alkali resistant latex. This
reinforcement grids are highly protective against temperature and have an excellent
strength and resistant to alkali [5]. These fabrics can prevent the frequently occurring
tensions in ceilings and walls. Similarly, PP fiber can reduce the damage of occurring
micro-cracks. Few studies are available for strengthening of URM walls with fibers
but a considerable number of researches have been conducted in reinforced concrete
structures with fibers. The present study aims to evaluate and analyze the strength
characteristics of URM solid concrete block walls strengthened by fibers.
Although from the previous studies collected the valuable information regarding
the importance of using alkali resistant glass reinforced fiber polymer (AR-GFRP)
and polypropylene fiber. Some parameters such as its effects on failure modes, effi-
ciency in strengthening masonry walls are need to be more investigated. The main
objective of this paper presents an experimental program where URM walls are
externally reinforced with AR- GFRP and PP subjected to in-plane diagonal loading
according to ASTM E519-02 and also to determine the optimum percentage of fibers.
The in-plane shear behavior of URM walls including ductility, failure modes, and
effect of fibers, shear strength and modulus of rigidity are investigated.
2 Materials
Various laboratory test were carried out to find out the physical properties of cement,
fine aggregate and solid concrete blocks as per IS recommendation. Here the cement
used is ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 53 grade conforming to IS: 12269-1987 and
M sand is taken as fine aggregate passing through 4.75 mm sieve is taken for the
study. Here, M sand conforming to Zone II was used. Solid concrete blocks of size
300 mm × 200 mm × 150 mm which is locally available is chosen for the casting
masonry panels. Solid concrete blocks of grade C was chosen for the study and
conforms to IS: 2185(part 1)–2005. GFRP mesh is a strengthening material which
is coated with alkali resistant (AR) latex is used for strengthening of URM walls.
Polypropylene fiber is also used in this study to determine the optimum percentage
and for strengthening of masonry walls.
Table 1 Details of masonry wall testing configurations

Specimen Size (m) No. of samples Condition of walls
CB-N 0.66 × 0.66 × 0.23 3 Unreinforced wall
CB-F 0.66 × 0.66 × 0.23 3 Reinforced wall with GFRP
CB-P 0.66 × 0.66 × 0.23 3 Reinforced wall with PP
3.1 Test Specimens
The experimental works were carried out on hardened concrete to find out the
optimum percentage of fibers required and to take the normal mix ratio for the study
and to study the in-plane shear behavior of masonry panels under in-plane diagonal
tensile loading. For that mortar cube test was done. Mortar cubes of size 75 mm ×
75 mm × 75 mm were prepared and cast. Common mix ratio of normal mortar used
in masonry works is 1:3, 1:4 and 1:6 of cement to sand ratio and 1:1 ratio is taken
for mortar mix having fibers. For each series 6 cubes were cast and the optimum
percentage is evaluated by compressive strength tests.
The experimental investigations were performed on three set of URM walls of
size 660 mm × 660 mm × 230 mm. The masonry panels were built using solid
concrete block units and normal mortar that were tested under in-plane diagonal
tensile (shear) test method as per specification conforms to ASTM E519-02. All the
specimens are designed as laboratory specimens that represent a section of masonry
wall that are nominally similar to that of adopted in actual building construction.
One plain specimen was taken as reference wall. Second set of masonry panels were
constructed and externally strengthened with AR- Glass Fiber mesh on two faces.
Next set of masonry panels were constructed and externally strengthened with PP
fiber. Table 1 indicates the details of masonry wall testing configurations and Fig. 1
shows the schematic diagram of masonry wall.
3.2 Construction Process
Before the construction of URM walls, firstly the surface of the solid concrete blocks
is to be wet to prevent the absorption of water from the mortar mix. To cast the concrete
block masonry panel, the first layer of blocks was laid over 10 mm thick horizontal
layer of mortar mix. Masonry panels were built using solid concrete blocks having
nominal dimensions of 300 mm × 200 mm × 150 mm. The blocks are placed over
the mortar composed of Ordinary Portland cement and sand in the proportion 1:4
with a w/c ratio of 0.5. Different layers are placed and the joints are filled with mortar
with thickness of bed and head joints of 10 mm as shown in Fig. 2. For strengthening
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of masonry wall
of URM walls using GFRP mesh/fabrics, firstly the masonry surface should be dirt
free of dust and other loose materials. The first layer of mortar mix was overlaid after
wetting the wall surface. The GFRP mesh was placed on the face of the walls and
embedded into the mortar. The second layer of mortar is applied over the wall. For
strengthening of URM walls using PP fiber, as mentioned above firstly the masonry
faces should be cleaned. Then, the layer of mortar mix with 1:1 ratio and optimum
percentage of PP fiber is mixed and plastered over the masonry wall with thickness
of 15 mm. Once the total thickness of plaster was applied, the plaster surface was
hand trowelled so that excess mortar can be strike off to achieve a uniform thickness.
After the construction and plastering of masonry wall panels with and without fibers,
curing is carried for 14 days using sand bags placed over it.
3.3 Test Setup and Testing Procedure
The test setup is adopted as per ASTM E519-02 standards for determining the in-
plane diagonal tensile (shear) strength of masonry panels. It consists of a loading
frame, two loading shoes which are made up of steel, a hydraulic jack and three
Fig. 2 Casting of concrete block masonry panel
LVDT’s. Masonry wall is scaled down and is placed diagonally supported by two
loading shoes one placed at the top corner and other at the bottom corner of the
masonry wall. The force was transferred to the walls by means of these loading
shoes. A constant and uniform compression load is placed over the in-plane bed
joint of the masonry wall. By loading the masonry assemblage, causes compression
along one diagonal in loading frame thus causing a diagonal tension failure with the
specimen splitting apart parallel to the direction of load. This modified test method
was adopted to measure the in-site in-plane responses of concrete block sections
more accurately than other available methods. The applied loads were recorded
using a load cell which is placed on top corner of the wall above the loading shoe.
Two LVDT”s are fixed on the face of the walls, one oriented along the compression
side (vertical) and other placed in the tension side (horizontal) of the walls, inorder
to measure the shortening and elongation of the walls in two different directions.
Another LVDT was fixed on the top of the wall to measure the applied displacement.
These LVDT”s was connected to a data acquisition system inorder to read the loads
and displacements. The test setup of in-plane diagonal loading is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 Setup of in-plane diagonal loading
4.1 Mortar Cubes
Two different types of mortar mix were prepared. One with normal mortar mix and
the other with mortar mix based on the percentage of fibers added in the mix which
includes cement, fine aggregate, and fiber. The fibers include polypropylene fiber
and GFRP mesh was used. These fibers except GFRP were taken to determine its
optimum percentage to be taken. GFRP mesh and PP fiber were used for strengthening
of masonry walls. Mortar cubes of 1:4 and 1:1 ratios were prepared in 75 mm ×
75 mm × 75 mm and tested for compressive strength of mortar cubes by testing in
compression testing machine.
Different percentage of fibers such as 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2% have been used to find out the
optimum value. From the test results, it can be concluded that the 28 day compressive
strength of mortar cubes with polypropylene fiber was obtained as 31.64 N/mm2 .
With these different percentages of fiber higher percent of improvement is noticed
with 1.5% of PP fiber, further experiments are carried out with this percentage of
fiber. The presence of particular amount of fibers in the matrix was the reason for
increase in compressive strength.
4.2 Test on Masonry Panels
The experimental investigations were conducted on 3 samples of specimens of solid

concrete block panels. The first set of specimen consists of unreinforced concrete
block masonry panel (CB-N), the next set of sample consists of reinforce concrete
block masonry panel strengthened with GFRP mesh (CB-F), and the other set of
sample strengthened using PP fiber (CB-P). The behavior of masonry walls is highly
non-linear. Inorder to find out the behavior of masonry walls, the actual behavior is
idealized with the hysteresis curve [3, 6]. Bilinear idealization is recommended by
all the codal provisions to assess the performance of the existing structures. In this
study, the ultimate shear strength and ductility is evaluated for masonry wallettes
applied with GFRP fabric and PP fiber. It is obtained by ensuring that areas below
actual and bilinear hysteresis curve were equal. An equivalent bilinear hysteresis
curve was defined for all reinforced walls with reference to Fig. 4.
The calculations of shear stress and shear strain are formulated using the equations:
0.707P
Shear Stress S =
A
where
S Shear stress on net area, MPa
P Applied load, N
A Net area of the specimen, mm2 , calculated as follows:
Fig. 4 Bilinear idealization

curve
(W + h)tn
A =
2
where
w Width of specimen, mm,
h Height of specimen, mm
t Total thickness of specimen, mm
n Percent of the gross area of the unit that is solid, expressed as a decimal
V+H
1. Shear Strain, γ = g
where
γ Shearing strain, or mm/mm

V Vertical shortening, mm
H Horizontal extension, mm
g Vertical gage length, mm
2. Modulus of Rigidity G = S
γ
where
G Modulus of rigidity, MPa
In masonry panels without fiber, cracks were firstly developed along the diagonal
followed by sliding shear failure at a load of 122 kN for the specimen. For masonry
panel strengthened using GFRP and polypropylene fibers behaves like a composite
material during the application of load and failure occurs along the diagonal. Sliding
shear failure is not predominant in strengthened walls. The solid concrete block panel
strengthened using fibers prevents the panels from direct sliding failure by holding
the blocks together. The failure pattern of strengthened specimen is shown in Fig. 5.
The shear stress-strain values are obtained by load and deflection along horizontal
and vertical direction and plotted on a graph showing shear strain along X-axis and
shear stress along Y-axis.
Using bilinear idealization can be find out the values of ductility corresponding
to 0.7 Tmax and 0.8 Tmax and corresponding values of modulus of rigidity as per
ASTM E519-02. Figures 6, 7 and 8 indicates the shear stress-strain curve based on
the experimental test data. Table 2 shows the experimental results of ductility for
concrete block specimen under in-plane diagonal test.
Based on the values obtained from shear stress and strain, various parameters such
as modulus of rigidity and ductility were evaluated with the help of bilinear idealiza-
tion curve. The details from the experimental investigation, values are calculated as
per specification of ASTM E519-02. The solid concrete block panels with and without
fibers are studied based on the parameter and conclusion is arrived. During testing the
advantage is that it behaves like a composite material and shows the importance of
using fiber in strengthening masonry walls. From the figure mentioned above, it can
be seen that the masonry wall strengthened using fibers behaves initially a linearly
elastic manner and then reduced as the failure begins.
Fig. 5 Failure pattern of

strengthened specimen
Fig. 6 Unreinforced block CB-N

specimen curve 0.6
Shear Stress (MPa)
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
Shear Strain (%)
5 Conclusions
The masonry structures are very brittle and weak in lateral resistances. It is required to
control failure and collapse during earthquakes. Hence, there comes the importance
of strengthening the existing masonry structures against lateral loads. The main
Fig. 7 Concrete block CB-F

specimen curve with GFRP 1
Shear Stress (N/mm2)

fiber 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2 4
Shear Strain (%)
Fig. 8 Concrete block CB-P

specimen curve with PP with 0.8
Shear Stress (N/mm2)
fiber
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Shear Strain (%)
Table 2 Experimental results of specimens under in-plane diagonal test

Panel Pmax (kN) τmax (N/mm2 ) τ/τo dy (%) du (%) μ du
dy G (MPa)
CB-N 121 0.55 – – – – 13.75
CB-G 199 0.926 1.68 0.41 2.35 5.73 61.73
CB-P 148 0.69 1.25 0.45 1.67 3.71 69
Pmax —maximum load applied, τmax —maximum shear stress, dy —yield drift, du —ultimate drift
corresponding to 0.8 τmax , μ—ductility of specimen; G—Modulus of rigidity
focus of the study is on the adaptability of fiber on lateral strengthening of masonry

panels. Two different fibers were used which include GFRP mesh and PP fiber. The
conclusions that are obtained from the experimental study are presented below:
• The study is conducted to find out the solution to strengthen the existing load
bearing masonry structures made of solid concrete blocks locally available in the
locality. For unreinforced concrete block specimen (CB-N), since it is very brittle
the failure was sudden and did not have the efficiency to carry sliding-shear failure
and diagonal failure. Also the failure has been occurred through debonding of bed
joints. For reinforced concrete block specimens, it confines the best efficiency
having the possibility of carrying shear behaviour. The failure initiated along the
bottom crushing followed by diagonal cracking in a ductile manner. Reinforced

masonry panels carry higher stress and provide ductility thereby carrying more
energy than that of unreinforced concrete block masonry panels.
• GFRP mesh and PP fibers were used for strengthening the concrete block masonry
walls and the proposed method of strengthening confines the masonry behaves
like a composite material with increased properties. The fibers hold the concrete
block masonry structures thereby increases the resistance to failure.
• Shear strength of specimen is increased up to 20% by the application of fiber on
concrete block masonry panels.
• After strengthening of URM specimen, the ductility ratio 3–5 times than that of
unstrengthened concrete block masonry panel.
• It shows a significant increase in shear strength and ductility. This technique is
more effective and shown more diagonal load carrying capacity.
• The technique is more effective by the application of GFRP mesh in masonry
panel and shows more diagonal load carrying capacity of almost 2 times that of
normal concrete block masonry panel.
Acknowledgements The authors gratefully would like to thank and acknowledge the Kerala State
Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) for granding the funding for the
work and also acknowledge the teachers, management and the principal of Sree Buddha College of
Engineering, Pattoor for their kind support.
References
1. Yardim Y, Lalaj O (2016) Shear strengthening of unreinforced masonry wall with different fiber
reinforced mortar jacketing. J Construct Build Mater 102:149–154 (Elsevier)
2. Lin Y, Wotherspoon L, Ingham JM (2014) In-plane strengthening of unreinforced masonry
wallettes using ECC shotcrete. J Struct Eng 13:33–42 (Elsevier)
3. Shabdin M, Zargaran M, Attari NKA (2018) Experimental diagonal tension (shear) test of
Un-Reinforced Masonry (URM) walls strengthened with textile reinforced mortar (TRM) J
Construct Build Mater 164:704–715 (Elsevier)
4. Ashraf M et al (2012) Seismic behavior of unreinforced and confined brick masonry walls before
and after ferrocement overlay retrofitting. Int J Architectural Heritage 6:665–688
5. El-Diasity M, Okail H et al (2015) Structural performance of confined masonry walls retrofitted
using ferrocement and GFRP under in-plane cyclic loading. J Struct 94:54–69 (Elsevier)
6. Marcari G et al (2007) In-plane shear performance of masonry panels strengthened with FRP.
Composites: part B engineering 38:887–901 (Elsevier)
Structural Performance of Innovative
Multi Cellular Corrugated Steel Column
(MCCSC)
Agnes Davis Thuluvath and Reshma Prasad
Abstract The extensive use of thin-walled steel structural systems in the building
and construction industry is mostly indebted for their high strength to weight ratio
attributes and remarkable fabrication versatility. Corrugated plates which falls in
this category, also have a wide range of application in various engineering fields.
They are lightweight, economical, and have much higher load carrying capacities
than flat plates. The corrugation shape provides continuous stiffening which permits
the use of thinner plates. Fabrication costs for elements with corrugated panels are
normally lower. A corrugated column is a hollow column constructed by welding
together four corrugated panels. Multi Cellular Corrugated Steel Column (MCCSC)
is a kind of hollow column where Multi Cellular stiffeners are provided inside
hollow column. Three different types of Single Skin Corrugated (SSC) columns
with different stiffener configurations (diamond, plus and cross shapes) were chosen.
Stiffeners increases the load carrying capacity as well as the buckling capacity of the
column. Double Skin Corrugated (DSC) columns with square and circular core at
the center to which stiffeners are welded is also developed. In this paper the behavior
of MCCSC subjected to axial and eccentric loading is studied using ANSYS Work-
bench 16.1 software and it was found that column with diamond shaped stiffener
showed best performance in both SSC and DSC columns.
Keywords Single skin corrugated steel column · Double skin corrugated steel
column · Multi Cellular corrugated steel column (MCCSC) · Axial loading ·
Eccentric loading
A. D. Thuluvath (B) · R. Prasad

R. Prasad

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_38
402 A. D. Thuluvath R. Prasad
1 Introduction
Nowadays almost all industries are redirecting their strategic plans to developing
environmentally friendly products and building and construction industry is not an
exemption. Structural elements made from steel alloys are yet the most common
ones. They give greater flexibility and higher strength-to-weight ratio than conven-
tional sections. This enhances efficiency and reduces cost [1]. Among these sections,
Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) are most reliable one. Hollow sections as steel
profiles are not only in competition with concrete, but also, may substitute for
other steel profiles due to their superiority with regard to strength and stability
[2]. Corrugated hollow sections create lightweight and visually attractive struc-
tures that benefit communities and environments. The corrugation shape provides
continuous stiffening which permits the use of thinner plates [3].
The use of fabricated hollow sections from corrugated plates was introduced by
Nassirnia et al. [1] for the first time. The idea was further developed by implementing
concrete-filled double skin columns and combining with ultra-high strength steel
tubes [4–7]. Studies were conducted by researchers on the performance of corru-
gated steel columns under uniaxial loading. Thus, optimum profile geometry for
corrugations was concluded with trapezoidal as best ones [8]. Investigating different
corrugation parameters demonstrates that higher angle of inclination and corrugation
height enhance column strength. So critical local buckling of corrugated columns
can be effectively enhanced [9, 10].
Usually corrugated hollow square column is fabricated by welding four corrugated
plates [1]. The use of stiffeners of different shapes (diamond, plus and cross) inside
SSC column is expected to enhance column strength. Remodeling SSC as DSC
column with two types (square and circular) of cores and incorporating stiffeners
is further expected to enhance column strength. Thus, in this study, a theoretical
analysis was performed to predict the structural behavior (load carrying capacity and
deformation) of corrugated column subjected to axial and eccentric loads by using
ANSYS Workbench 16.1.
2 Test Programme
In order to converge at the required objective finite element analysis was done on
various SSC steel column and DSC steel column using ANSYS Workbench 16.1
software to check the maximum axial and eccentric load carrying capacity.
Structural Performance of Innovative Multi Cellular … 403
Table 1 Material properties used for validation

Material Density (kg/m3 ) Elastic modulus (MPa) Poison’s ratio Fy (MPa)
Steel plates 7850 210,000 0.3 250
Fig. 1 Trapezoidal corrugated plate cross-section and dimension notation (Source Mohammad
Nassirnia et al. [1])
2.1 Material Properties
The specimens used are homogeneous in nature as it has only steel. Fe250 steel was
chosen for the analysis. Engineering properties of the specimens were chosen purely
on the basis of experimental results from journal ‘Innovative hollow corrugated
column’ by Nassirnia et al. [1]. Table 1 shows summary of material properties used
for modeling in ANSYS Workbench 16.1.
2.2 Specimen Description
The paper presents an analytical study on the effects of stiffeners on a corrugated

steel column under axial and eccentric loading. A total number of 10 corrugated steel
columns were analyzed. All the corrugated steel column specimens are of 1000 mm
long and different configurations of stiffener plates are provided. Figure 1 shows
cross section of corrugated plate and details of model is shown in Table 2.
2.3 Methodology
Three types of single skin corrugated steel columns are developed with diamond,
plus and cross shaped stiffener configurations. Six types of double skin corrugated
steel columns of square and circular core are developed with diamond, plus and cross
shaped stiffener configurations. Cross section is modeled in x-y plane. For all models,
the boundary conditions adopted are the same. Both axial loading and eccentric
loading is done. Bottom support is fixed, while loads are applied at the top face
of the column. Axial loads are applied as displacements. Maximum displacements
Table 2 Specimen
Parameters Dimensions
identification
Inclination angle (α) 45°
Width of corrugation (a) 20 mm
Height of corrugation (h) 15 mm
Thickness of corrugation (t) 3 mm
Length of corrugation (l) 70 mm
Depth of corrugation (d) 15 mm
Total length of column (L) 1000 mm
Width-Breadth dimensions of SSC 210 mm × 210 mm
Width-Breadth dimensions of Square core 117 mm × 117 mm
in DSC
Diameter of circular core in DSC 167 mm
provided for the proposed model is 20 mm along z-direction. The boundary condition
at bottom of columns are assumed to be clamped. In eccentric loading, eccentricity
is provided at half distance from center of column in x-direction and load is applied
along z-direction. End results will give the maximum axial load it can carry. The major
parameter set was the shape of stiffeners on which the strength mainly depends on
and secondary parameter being shape of inner cores in DSC. Results were compared
with SSC and DSC models and best configuration in terms of maximum load carrying
capacity was obtained.
3 Modeling and Analysis
SSC and DSC models are modeled separately. Initially all the engineering data of
steel were fed as input values and geometry was created. SOLID 186 element is used
for modeling. All models are of 1000 mm length. Mesh size of 10 mm was chosen
such that a better convergence was obtained with the experimental results. Under
static structural, load and support were created and assigned in terms of displacement.
Force reaction and total deformation were chosen as output variables based on which
performance of specimens are compared in terms of maximum load carrying capacity.
Loading is varied, based on which analysis was performed. Variations were made on
corrugated hollow steel columns by providing stiffeners of different shapes. 3 mm
thickness is adopted for connecting stiffeners and outer corrugated panels. Figure 2
shows various single skin model with different stiffeners.
Double skin corrugated steel column consists of a hollow square and circular flat
steel core inside the single hollow steel column. Both square and circular cores are
modeled so that it has equal volume. The core is connected to outer skin by different
types of stiffeners. Various DSC models with square and circular cores is shown in
(a) Base model (b) Diamond (c) Plus (d) Cross

Fig. 2 SSC models with different stiffener patterns
(a) Sq-diamond (b) Sq-plus (c) Sq-cross (d) Cr-diamond (e) Cr-plus (f) Cr-cross
Fig. 3 Models of square and circular cores with different stiffeners
Fig. 3. Models are subjected to axial and eccentric loading. Developing such DSC
models increases load carrying and buckling capacity compared to SSC models.
Strength to weight ratios of all the columns with stiffeners are evaluated. Failure
patterns obtained for all types of corrugated steel columns in case of both axial and
eccentric loading are analyzed. Comparison of force reaction with corresponding
deformations are done. Load—deformation curves are plotted for SSC and DSC
models under both cases of loading. Figures 4 and 5 indicates deformation patterns
of diamond, plus and cross models under axial and eccentric loading of SSC models.
Force reaction and deformation obtained from the analysis are compared. Graphs are
Fig. 4 Deformation under axial loading
plotted between loads and deformations for SSC models under both axial (AL) and
eccentric (EL) loading separately and are shown in Fig. 6 and 7 respectively.
DSC models with square core and circular core with diamond, plus and cross
stiffeners subjected to axial and eccentric loading is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 respec-
tively. Under axial loads all models under goes global buckling while under eccentric
loads local buckling is appeared to be happen due to localized compression of steel
member.
Graphs showing load-deformation curve are indicated in Figs. 10 and 11.
By comparing analytical results plotted in graphs the maximum loading carrying
capacities and corresponding deformations for each model along with strength to
weight ratios of models with stiffeners are tabulated. It is observed that both SSC
and DSC models with same types of stiffener for same behavior. Tables 3 and 4
shows considerable increase in load carrying capacity of SSC and DSC columns
when different types of stiffeners are used. Variations are noted under axial and
eccentric loading.
Fig. 5 Deformation under eccentric loading
LOAD- DEFORMATION,AL
1400
BASE
1200 MODEL
1000 DIAMOND
Load (kN)
800 MODEL
600 PLUS
MODEL
400
CROSS
200 MODEL
0
0 5 10 15 20
Deformation (mm)
Fig. 6 Load deformation axial loading
5 Conclusions
In this paper, an analytical study on hollow corrugated steel columns under axial
and eccentric loading is performed by using ANSYS Workbench 16.1. Based on the
results obtained by various corrugated models, it is found out that strength to weight
ratio for SSC models for all columns with different stiffener pattern is obtained
around 6.67 under axial loading and around 4.67 under eccentric loading. Strength
to weight ratio for DSC models under axial loading for both square and circular core
LOAD-DEFORMATION,EL
1000
DIAMOND
Load (kN) 800 MODEL
600
PLUS
400 MODEL
200 CROSS
0 MODEL
0 5 10 15 20 25
Deformation (mm)
Fig. 7 Load deformation eccentric loading
Fig. 8 Deformation under AL
is found around 5.6 and similarly, under eccentric loading it is found around 4. Since
models with stiffener under same types of loading have almost similar strength to
weight ratio values, the difference is negligible.
SSC with diamond shaped stiffener have 65% increase in load carrying capacity
than the column without stiffeners under axial loading. It is also observed that
compared to other stiffeners, there is 11% increase in load carrying capacity. Under
eccentric loading, load carrying capacity is increased by 68% than the column without
stiffeners and 9% increase for columns with other stiffeners.
Similarly, DSC of square core with diamond stiffener have 28% increase in load
carrying capacity than the SSC with diamond stiffener under axial loading and 23%
Fig. 9 Deformation under EL
LOAD DEFORMATION,AL
2000
SQUARE
1800 DIAMOND
1600 SQUARE
PLUS
1400
SQUARE
Load (kN)
1200 CROSS
1000 CIRCULAR
DIAMOND
800
600 CIRCULAR
PLUS
400
CIRCULAR
200 CROSS
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deformation (mm)
Fig. 10 Load-deformations under axial loading

LOAD-DEFORMATION,EL
1400
SQUARE
1200 DIAMOND
1000 SQUARE
PLUS
Load (kN)
800 SQUARE
CROSS
600 CIRCULAR
DIAMOND
400
CIRCULAR
CROSS
200
CIRCULAR
0 PLUS
0 10 20 30 40 50
Deformation (mm)
Fig. 11 Load-deformation under eccentric loading
Table 3 Maximum loads and deformations under axial and eccentric loading (SSC)
SSC Axial loading Eccentric loading
models Load (kN) Deformation Strength to Load (kN) Deformation Strength to
(mm) wt ratio (mm) wt ratio
Base 758.36 1.5 – 523.7 3.17 –
model
Diamond 1252 1.6 6.5 879.96 2.19 4.5
model
Plus 1118 14 6.8 803.96 3.75 4.8
model
Cross 1192 1.4 6.7 817.78 1.84 4.6
model
increase under eccentric loading. DSC of circular with diamond stiffener have 28%
increase in load carrying capacity than SSC with same stiffener pattern under axial
loading and 34.8% increase under eccentric loading. Thus, it is concluded that the
corrugated column with diamond shaped stiffener shows the best structural perfor-
mance under both axial and eccentric loading. It is mainly due to peculiarity of
diamond shape and column with diamond shape stiffener is chosen as the best model.
Table 4 Maximum loads and deformations under axial and eccentric loading (DSC)
DSC Axial loading Eccentric loading
models Load (kN) Deformation Strength to Load (kN) Deformation Strength to
(mm) wt ratio (mm) wt ratio
Square 1608.7 2.5048 5.4 1086.9 5.3179 3.8
diamond
Square 1292.9 1.5153 5.6 897.91 3.0576 4.1
cross
Square 1287.3 8.05 5.8 931.15 8.1614 4.2
plus
Circular 1612.1 4.0006 5.4 1186.8 6.5155 3.8
diamond
Circular 1265.7 1.5853 5.6 919.35 8.1101 4.1
cross
Circular 1186.8 1.5814 5.8 877.23 11.958 4.2
plus
References
1. Nassirnia M, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L, Minkkinen J (2015) Innovative hollow corrugated

columns: a fundamental study. Eng Struct 94:43–53
2. Javidan F, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L, Minkkinen J (2015) Performance of innovative fabricated
long hollow columns under axial compression. J Construct Steel Res 106:99–109
3. Farahi M, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L, Al-Mahaidi R (2016) Compressive behaviour of concrete-
filled double-skin sections consisting of corrugated plates. Eng Struct 111:467–477
4. Farhana S, Johnson J (2019) Combined effect of with and without corrugated concrete filled
double skin tubular sections subjected to axial, Biaxial, and Lateral Loading
5. Farahi M, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L, Al-Mahaidi R (2016) Parametric study on the static
compressive behaviour of concrete-filled double-skin sections consisting of corrugated plates.
Thin-walled Struct 107:526–542
6. Javidan F, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L, Minkkinen J (2016) Application of high strength and ultra-
high strength steel tubes in long hybrid compressive members: experimental and numerical
investigation. Thin-Walled Struct 102:273–285
7. Zhou F, Young B (2019) Experimental investigation of concrete-filled single-skin and double-
skin steel oval hollow section stub columns. Thin-Walled Struct 140:157–167
8. Nassirnia M, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L (2017) Experimental behaviour corrugated columns
under lateral impact loading. Procedia Eng 173:383–390
9. Nassirnia M, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L, Minkkinen J (2016) Innovative hollow columns
comprising corrugated plates and ultra high-strength steel tubes. Thin-Walled Struct 101:14–25
10. Nassirnia M, Heidarpour A, Zhao X-L (2017) A benchmark analytical approach for evaluating
ultimate compressive strength of hollow corrugated stub columns. Thin-Walled Struct 117:127–
139
Study of Fly Ash Based Light Weight
Concrete with Plastic Waste Aggregate
as a Partial Replacement of Coarse
Aggregate
Thasni Kaseem and S. Sreerath
Abstract In concrete industry there has been increasing trend towards use of recy-
cled aggregate to save lot of natural resources and to provide lightweight concrete
(LWC). Compared with conventional concrete, LWC can considerably cut back the
dead load of structural elements. The low biodegradability of plastic and the presence
in massive quantities of waste plastic negatively impact the environment. This study
focuses on the development of light weight concrete using waste materials as a part
of waste management. This study presents the mechanical properties of concrete by
using waste plastic as a partial replacement of coarse aggregate in various propor-
tions of 5, 10, 15, 20% and by replacing cement with 10, 20, 30% of fly ash. The
low densified composite material was much lighter than that of the conventional light
weight concrete. To offset the reduction of strength due to the less densified structure,
the addition of mineral admixture was proposed. The investigation using fly ash has
showed an improvement in the compressive strength.
Keywords Compressive strength · light weight concrete · Fly ash · Plastic

aggregate · Density
1 Introduction
Lightweight concrete has extreme importance to the construction industry. The

specialties of lightweight concrete are its less density and thermal conductivity. So its
benefits are that there is a reduction of dead load, quicker building rates in construc-
tion and lesser transport and handling costs. Lightweight material suitable for a wide
range of purposes such as panels, block production, floor and roof screeds, wall
T. Kaseem (B) · S. Sreerath

S. Sreerath

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_39
414 T. Kaseem and S. Sreerath
casting, complete house casting, sound barrier walls, floating homes, void infill,
slope protection, outdoor furniture and many more applications [1].
Normal weight concrete a density in the range of 2240–2400 kg/m3 . Lightweight
concrete (LWC) has a density of less than 2000 kg/m3 is referred as structural LWC.
Introducing various types of lighter aggregates into the matrix is a suitable way to
lower a concrete density. The crushed stone and sand are the components that are
commonly replaced with lightweight aggregate (LWA) to develop LWC. When light
weight concrete is used for the structure to replace normal concrete, the weight of
the structure is reduced by 20–40%. This is an efficient way to deduce dead load of
the structure [2].
Disposal of waste plastic around the world is a major challenge which society
is facing today. Worldwide plastic production in 1950 was 1.7 Mt. By 2012, this
had increased by approximately 170 times to 288 Mt. For solving the spoilage of
large amount of plastic materials and to meet the increasing need for aggregates,
reuse of plastic in concrete is considered as the feasible application for light weight
concrete [3].
Fly ash is a by-product of the combustion of pulverised coal and is a pozzolanic
material. When it is combined with Portland cement and water, it produces a product
similar to that formed by cement hydration and having a denser microstructure make
it less permeable. The fly ash replacement level as 15 - 25% is recommended for
high strength concrete, while it can be used as more than 50% of total binder for
concrete [4].
This study focuses on the utilization of plastic aggregate to develop the light
weight concrete and fly ash is used to improve strength of the concrete.
2 Materials used
2.1 Cement
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-53 grades confirming to IS: 4031-1991 part 2 was
used (sharjah cement). Physical properties of cement shown in Table 1.

Fineness Specific gravity Initial setting time Consistency
of cement
5.8% 3.16 42 min 32%
Study of Fly Ash Based Light Weight Concrete … 415

Fineness modulus Specific gravity Water absorption
aggregate
2.83 2.75 1.31%
Table 3 Properties of Coarse

Specific gravity Water absorption
aggregates
2.78 0.93%
2.2 Fine Aggregate
M sand is used as fine aggregate conforming to grading zone-II. IS 2386-2016(part

3) (Table 2)
120
100
% passing
80
60 %
40 passing
20
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
sieve opening(mm)
From the gradation curve, fine aggregate is confirming to grading zone II.
The coarse aggregate used in this work was of 10 mm nominal size (Table 3).
2.4 Plastic Waste Aggregate
Waste plastic materials such as broken plastic bottle, bucket, basket and thin container
made by Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) had been collected, shredded and washed
(Fig. 1; Table 4).
Fig. 1 Plastic aggregates
Table 4 Properties of plastic

Specific gravity Water absorption
aggregates
0.9 0.02%
2.5 Fly Ash
See Table 5.
3 Mix proportion
M25 grade mix design was carried out with reference to IS code - 10262:2009 [5].
The mix proportion was given in Table 6.
M25 mix was casted in cubes and cured for 28 days. The results of compressive
strength and slump were shown in Table 7.
Table 5 Properties of fly ash

Specific gravity Particle size Surface area
2.2 22.2 µm 649.9 m2 /kg
Table 6 Mix proportion of control mix

Mix Cement (kg) Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate Chemical Water (L)
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) admixture
(kg/m3 )
Control mix 386 720.96 1223.98 3.06 154.8
Table 7 Compressive strength of control mix

Mix 7th day strength (MPa) 28th day strength (MPa) Slump (mm)
Control mix 21.81 28.26 True slump (100)
The result obtained from Compressive tests conducted on concrete on various

percentage of plastics and fly ash are discussed below.
4.1 Optimisation of Plastic
The concrete cubes of size 150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm were casted in a mould
by replacing coarse aggregate with 5, 10, 15 and 20% plastic aggregate and kept
for 28 days [6]. The compressive strength is shown in Fig 2. The optimum value of
compressive strength was obtained in 20% replacement of plastic aggregate (Table 8).
Compressive strength (MPa)
40.00
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
7th day 28th day
Fig. 2 Graph showing compressive strength of specimens
Table 8 Mix proportions

% of plastic Cement Fine Coarse Chemical Water (L)
(kg/m3 ) aggregate aggregate admixture
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
Mix 0 0 386 720.96 1223.98 3.06 154.8
Mix 1 5 386 720.96 1162.78 3.06 154.8
Mix 2 10 386 720.96 1101.58 3.06 154.8
Mix 3 15 386 720.96 1040.3 3.06 154.8
Mix 4 20 386 720.96 979.184 3.06 154.8
Density(kg/m3)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Density
Fig. 3 Graph showing the density of mixes
The value of compressive strength for mixture decreased at increasing the content
of waste plastic aggregate. It can be concluded that the ratio 20% of plastic gives the
lowest density of 1866.66 kg/m3 which confirmed to light weight concrete. These
behaviours give us an idea about the percentage of replacement for added plastic must
be controlled within the allowable compressive strength. Decrement in the strength
is due to the lower specific gravity of the plastic and it has lack of bonding with
matrix [3] (Fig. 3).
The density of concrete varies from 1866.66 to 2548.14 kg/m3 , indicating a saving
in the self-weight. An increase in plastic weight percentage added to the mix led to
a decrease in the values of densities for the prepared concrete due the low specific
gravity of plastic [7].
4.2 Optimisation of Fly Ash
To offset the reduction of strength due to the less densified structure, the addition
of fly ash was proposed. The cubes of size 150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm were
casted by replacing cement with 10, 20, 30 and 40% fly ash and cured for 28 days
[8]. Compressive strength was recorded in Fig 4. The test was conducted to find the
optimum mix of fly ash (Table 9).
The value of compressive strength for mixture increased at increasing the content
of Fly ash and decreased at a specific point. It can be concluded that the 30% of
fly ash gives the highest compressive strength of which confirmed to light weight
concrete. These behaviours give us an idea about the percentage of replacement for
added fly ash must be controlled to develop high strength. The increment in strength
is due to the good pozzolanic action of fly ash [9] (Fig. 5).
Fig. 4 Graph showing 25
Compressive strength (MPa)

compressive strength of
specimen 20
15
10
0
Mix F0 Mix F1 Mix F2 Mix F3 Mix F4
7th day 28th day

% of Fly ash Cement Fine Coarse Chemical Water (L)
(kg/m3 ) aggregate aggregate admixture
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
Mix 0 10 347.4 720.96 979.184 3.06 154.8
Mix F1 20 308.8 720.96 979.184 3.06 154.8
Mix F2 30 270.2 720.96 979.184 3.06 154.8
Mix F3 40 231.6 720.96 979.184 3.06 154.8
Fig. 5 Graph showing the Density (kg/m3)

density of mixes 1868
Density (kg/m3)
1866
1864
1862
1860
1858
Mix F1 Mix F2 Mix F3 Mix F4
Density
5 Conclusions
• Lightweight concrete generally has a density of less than 2000 kg/m3 and 20% of
plastic gives the lowest density of 1866.66 kg/m3 which confirmed to light weight
concrete. The value of compressive is decreasing from 28.26 to 18.96 MPa.
• 20% plastic aggregate replacement decreases split tensile strength from 3.22 MPa
to 2.21 MPa and flexural strength from 3.45 MPa to 2.57 MPa and it shows there
is a decrement in the strength. As the results shows decrement in the strength
properties, cement is partially replaced with fly ash.
• By the addition of fly ash up to 30% the compressive strength is increased to

21.28 MPa and increases split tensile strength from 2.21 to 2.53 MPa and flexural
strength from 2.57 to 2.78 MPa.
• Replacement of cement with fly ash in a controlled dosage helps to enhance the
strength parameters of the concrete. As the spoilage of waste plastic is one of
the main hazard to our society, plastics can be utilised to develop low densified
concrete structure.
References
1. Manindra Kumar S, Kirti C, Anil Kumar S (2013) Experimental study of light weight concrete
using plastics. Arora 2(5)
2. Hameed AM, Abdul-Fatah Ahmed B (2018) Employment of plastic waste in the light weight
concrete. Technologies and materials for renewable energy, Environ Sustain 2(4) (Elsevier)
3. Choi Y-W, Moon D-J, Chung J-S, Cho S-K (2004) Effects of waste PET bottles aggregate on
the properties of concrete cement and concrete. Research 4(3) (Elsavier)
4. Mehmannavaz T, Sumadi SR, Bhutta MAR, Samadi M, Sajjadi SM (2013) Effect of waste
materials in lightweight concrete. Australian J Basic Appl Sci 7(11):513–519
5. Panyakapo P, Panyakapo M (2008) Reuse of thermosetting plastic waste for lightweight concrete.
Waste Manage 3(2):1581–1588
6. Alqahtani F, Ghataora, G, Khan MI, Dirar I, Kioul A, Al-Otaibi M (2015) Lightweight concrete
containing recycled plastic aggregates. In: International conference on electromechanical control
technology and transportation (ICECTT) 2(6)
7. Habib Md Z, Alom Md M, Hoque MdM (2017) Concrete production using recycled waste plastic
as aggregate. J Civil Eng (IEB) 3(1)
8. Nadesan MS, Dinakar P (2010) Mix design and properties of fly ash waste lightweight aggregates
in structural lightweight concrete. J Hazardous Mater 2(4) (Elsavier)
9. Kayali O, Zhu B (2005) Chloride induced reinforcement corrosion in lightweight aggregate
high-strength fly ash. Concrete Construct Build Mater 19(4):327–336
Modified Magnetized Water Concrete
Using Nanosilica
Punya Lal and P. E. Kavitha
Abstract It is expected that in the near future, the civil engineering community
will have to produce structures in harmony with the concept of sustainable develop-
ment through the use of high-performance materials with low environmental impact
that are produced at a reasonable cost. Magnetic water concrete provides one route
towards this objective. When water passes through a magnetic flux it is known as
magnetized water. The magnetic effects changes the physical & chemical parame-
ters of natural water, resulting in improvement of filtration properties and increase
dissolving properties of water Su et al.(Cem Concr Res 30, 2000 [1]). One of the
basic characteristics of magnetically treated water, which has major importance in
concrete making, is its pertaining to colloidal particles allowing a more complete
hydration process to occur and enhancing the mechanical strength of concrete. The
magnet used to make the water magnetic is permag-N406 Bharath et al. (JCPS 9(4)
2016, [2]). The changes in properties of magnetized water such as pH value, hard-
ness and evaporation rate were studied. The optimal value of magnetization is also
carried to find out the maximum exposure time of water with the magnetic field. Study
on compressive strength, split tensile strength, workability and plastic shrinkage of
concrete were carried. Cement is also partial replaced with Nano silica by 5, 10, 15
and 20% for obtaining good characteristic strength.
Keywords Magnetization · Permag N-406 · Nanosilica · Workability · Shrinkage
P. Lal (B) · P. E. Kavitha

P. E. Kavitha

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_40
422 P. Lal and P. E. Kavitha
1 Introduction
Water is a vital ingredient of concrete as it participates actively in the chemical reac-

tion with cement. It oversees the hydration of cement, workability, microstructure,
strength and overall durability of concrete. Magnetized water while mixing concrete
will increase mechanical property and also higher workability for the same water
cement ratio [3]. Magnetization increases negative ionic hydration, thus intensifying
the damaging effect on the water crystal structure [4]. One of the basic characteris-
tics of magnetically treated water, which has major importance in concrete making,
is its pertaining to colloidal particles and solutions. In the mixing of water and
cement, hydration reaction will first take place on the surface of the cement parti-
cles. A thin layer of hydration products is thus formed on the cement particles,
which hinders further hydration of the cement particles, thus preventing the devel-
opment of mechanical strength of the concrete. However, if magnetic water is used
instead, water molecules can easily penetrate into the cement particles, allowing a
more complete hydration process [5]. The objectives involved in this experimental
research work are to study the variation of properties of water when it is subjected
to a magnetic field at different hours of magnetization. To study the effect of magne-
tization hours on strength properties and to investigate on the mechanical properties
of modified magnetized concrete using Nano silica (5, 10, 15 and 20%). To study
the effect on workability of modified magnetized concrete using Nano silica and the
plastic shrinkage behaviour of concrete.
2 Literature Review
Youkai Wang et al. investigated on the properties of water such as Boiling point,
Specific heat, Evaporation amount. Concrete cube sample are prepared using water
magnetized with 100, 200, 300, 400 mT Magnetic field. With the use of magnetized
water there found a decreases in boiling point and specific heat, increases evaporation
amount.
Nan su et al. water is treated water with different magnetic field intensity 0.2, 0.4 …
1.35 T. Optimum magnetization is obtained in the field range of 0.8–0.2 T. Studied
effect of partial replacement of cement with ggbs together with magnetized water.
Adding gbbs is found to increase the compressive strength of mortars increases up
to 21%.
S. Bharath et al. Mix 1 consists of 100% Cement. Mix 2, Mix 3, Mix 4 and Mix
5 were replaced with 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% of copper slag respectively day
compressive strength of MWC with 85% Cement + 15% Copper slag (85C + 15CS)
as 27.53 MPa which was higher than 23.33 MPa that of control mix (TWC1).
Modified Magnetized Water Concrete Using Nanosilica 423
Fig. 1 Magnetizing set up
H. Wei et al. Water is treated at different magnetic field intensity. Early-age shrinkage
cracking resistance of concrete mixed with magnetic water is improved than those
mixed with tap water. Number of cracks and the maximum width of cracks decrease
in comparison with that of normal concrete mixed with tap water.
3 Magnetization
In this process the water is circulated in the magnetic field of 9000 Gauss using the
magnet, PERMAG N-406 to induce magnetic flux in the water. This Recirculated
water is used for the casting of concrete specimens. The setup includes an autotrans-
former, 0.5 HP general purpose motor, PERMAG and pump connecting the tank
and magnet. This controls the flow of water in the setup. The setup adopted for the
magnetic treatment of water is shown in Fig. 1 ‘PERMAG’ changes the physical
state of the minerals, while maintaining their chemical state [2].
4 Materials Used
4.1 Materials
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-53 grades confirming to IS: 12269-1987 was used.
Fineness modulus 6%, specific gravity 3.19 and with initial setting time 96 min. In
the present investigations, M sand is used as fine aggregate and has a specific gravity
of 2.5 and conforming to grading zone-II. Water absorption and fineness modulus
2.71 and 1.10% respectively. The coarse aggregate used in this work was of 20 mm
nominal size. It has a specific gravity of 2.71 and water absorption 0.6%.
Fig. 2 a pH meter.
b Hardness test
Table 1 Variation in properties of magnetized water

Magnetizing hours (h) 0 24 48 72 96
pH 6.84 7.56 7.93 7.86 7.91
Hardness 32 30 20 16 11
4.2 Magnetic Water
In the present study water is magnetized for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h [6] and studied
on variation of pH using pH meter, and hardness (Fig. 2) of magnetized water by
titration method. From Table 1 it is clear that the nature of water changes from acidic
(6.84) to basic (7.91) since the pH value increase with magnetization this is due to
the effect of magnetization on carbon dioxide hydration [7] and hard to soft water
by separating Ca and Mg from water [8, 9] (Fig. 2).
4.3 Nano Silica
Silica fume can replace cement in quantities of 5–20%. The specific gravity of
nanosilica was obtained as 2.17 (Table 2; Fig. 3).
Table 2 Composition of silica

CaO (%) MgO (%) SiO2 (%) Al2 O3 (%) Fe2 O3 (%)
0.27 0.09 98.38 0.01 0.006
Fig. 3 Particle distribution curve of nanosilica
5 Mix Proportion
Trial mix 1 = 1: 3.7: 2.04: 0.45, Trial mx 2 = 1:1.76:3.23:0.4, Trial mix 3 =

1:2.95:1.62:0.4. M20 grade mix design was carried out with reference to IS code-
10262:2019. Super plastizer used is auramix 200. Trial and error method is adopted to
arrive at the suitable normal concrete mix. Hence arrived at different mix proportion
the strength of which is tabulated below (Tables 3 and 4).
The strength of the three cubes where determined which is tabulated above. From
the obtained values it is evident that the M3 have greater strength and good workability
than the other two mixes hence arrived at M3 .
Table 3 Mix proportion of trial mix

Mix (1 cube) Cement(kg) Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate Chemical Water (L)
(kg) (kg) admixture (mL)
M1 330 673.49 1221.20 3.06 148.5
M2 371 655.09 1199.61 3.3 148.5
M3 396 638.17 1169.90 3.67 158.4
Table 4 Strength of trial mix

Mix 7th day strength (MPa) 28th day strength (MPa) Slump
M1 16.07 17.00 Shear slump (65)
M2 19.29 21.64 Shear slump (70)
M3 20.89 29.71 True slump (98)
6.1 Effect of Magnetization Hour on Compressive Strength
The compressive strength of cube specimens is obtained from compression testing

machine. Instead of normal water the water is magnetized for 24, 48, 72 and
96 h for casting cubes to get desirable result. The compressive strength of magne-
tized concrete is tabulated below. This improvement is mainly due to the complete
hydration achieved due to magnetization [10] (Table 5; Fig. 4).
It was concluded that subjecting the water to 48 h of magnetization has got desir-
able results. For further study mix with 48 h magnetized water is used and mineral
admixture, nano silica were partially replaced in different percentages with cement
5, 10, 15 and 20%.
Table 5 Optimum magnetization

Magnetizing hours (h) Compressive strength (MPa)
7th day 28th day
0 20.89 29.71
24 21.21 30.87
48 25.29 41.60
72 24.51 40.90
96 23.31 31.83
Fig. 4 a compressive test b Cube specimen

Table 6 Strength properties of magnetized concrete partially replaced with nanosilica

Magnetized mix with Nano silica (%) Compressive strength Split tensile strength
(MPa) (MPa)
7th day 28th day 7th day 28th day
0 25.29 41.06 2.21 3.01
5 29.04 43.21 3.11 3.81
10 34.76 46.67 4.34 4.42
15 28.88 46.61 3.21 3.65
20 30.50 45.73 3.33 3.78
Fig. 5 Comparison of 7th 50 46.67

day and 28th day 41.6
compressive strength 40 34.76
29.71
30 25.29
20.89
20
10
0
Normal mix Magneized mix Magnetized mix
with Nanosilica
7th day 28th day
6.2 Effect of 48 h Magnetization on Mechanical Properties

of Concrete Replaced with Nano Silica
Strength properties of 48 h Magnetized concrete replaced with the admixture

nanosilica are shown in Table 6. It is observed that mix with 48 h magnetized water
with 10% nanosilica obtained maximum strength properties among all mixes. From
this study it was also observed that, mix with magnetized water gives better strength
properties than the mix with ordinary water. Nano-silica mixed cement can generate
nano-crystals of C-S-H gel after hydration. Nano-crystals accommodate in the micro
pores of the cement concrete, hence improving the permeability and strength of
concrete [11] (Fig. 5).
6.3 Effect of Magnetization on Workability of Concrete Re

Placed with Nano Silica
In the present study the cement is partially replaced with 10% nanosilica. One of
the demerit of nanosilica is it make the concrete mix less workable [6]. So in the
Table 7 Workability of different mix

With nano silica Without nano silica
Normal mix (NWC NS) Magnetized mix Normal mix (NWC) Magnetized mix
(MWC NS) (MWC)
82 mm 121 mm 98 mm 100 mm
Fig. 6 Comparison of Workability

workability 140
121
120
98 100
100
workability
82
80
60
40
20
0
NWC MWC NWC NS MWC NS
present work the influence of nanosilica along with magnetized water is studied. And
it is observed that. Nanosilica has a demerit of making concrete less workable when
comparing with normal concrete without nanosilica. so more water need to be added
into the mix. Using magnetized water in such mix can improve the workability of
concrete even without adding more water into the mix due to the increase in solubility
and viscosity [12] (Table 7; Figs. 6 and 7).
6.4 Effect of Magnetization on Plastic Shirnkage of Concrete

Replaced with Nanosilica
Plastic shrinkages are by both water evaporation and cement hydration [13]. Normaly
when nanosilica is used in a concrete mix it result in the shrinkage of mix due to
its desire for higher water content for making the mix workable. The study shows
that when magnetized water is used instead of normal water the rate of shrinkage
is reduced this may be due to the influence of magnetization on surface tension and
specific heat of water [14, 15] (Table 8; Figs. 8 and 9).
Fig. 7 Slump
Table 8 Plastic shrinkage behaviour of normal and magnetized concrete with nanosilica
Mix Central line Central line final Time for crack Crack width
initial crack crack (Min) propagation (mm)
(Min) (Min)
Normal mix with 56 75 19 4
nano silica
Magnetized mix 144 91 53 2
with nano silica
Fig. 8 Normal mix with

4 mm crack
Fig. 9 Magnetized mix with

2 mm crack
7 Conclusion
• Arrived at three trial mixes. Among which 3rd mix (M3 ) with mix proportion
1:2.95:1.62:0.4, has good strength and workability. hence it is accepted.
• The nature to water magnetized changes from acidic (6.84) to basic (7.93) and
hard (30) to soft water (11).
• Increase strength of 19.74% and 55.74% is obtained for 48 h magnetization and
after there is a decrease of 3.01% and 1.68% at 7th day and 28th day strength
respectively. Hence the optimum magnetization is 48 h.
• The optimum nanosilica content is 10% of cement with an increase of 19.69%
and 8% in compressive strength and 66.35% and 35.41% in split tensile strength
for 7th and 28th day respectively.
• Increased workability of 47.56% is obtained for magnetized concrete mix with
nanosilica when comparing to normal water concrete with nanosilica.
• Nanosilica has a demerit of making concrete less workable of about 16.46%. so
more water need to be added into the mix using magnetized water in such mix can
improve the workability of concrete by 23.46% even without adding more water
into the mix.
• Plastic shrinkage can be reduced to a greater extent in magnetized water concrete
with nano silica.
• Time for appearing initial crack is 144 min for magnetized mix and 56 min for
normal mix with nanosilica and the width of crack obtained for normal and magne-
tized concrete mix with nanosilica is 4 mm and 2 mm respectively this may be
due to the specific heat and lower surface tension of magnetized water.
References
1. Su N, Wu Y-H, Mar C-Y (2000) Effect of magnetic water on the engineering properties of
concrete containing granulated blast-furnace slag. Cem Concr Res 30
2. Bharath S, Subraja S, Arun Kumar P (2016) Influence of magnetized water on concrete by
replacing cement partially with copper slag. JCPS 9(4)
3. Soto-Bernal JJ, Gonzalez-Mota R, Rosales-Candelas I, Ortiz-Lozano JA (2011) Effects of static
magnetic fields on the physical, mechanical, and microstructural properties of cement pastes.
Adv Mater Sci Eng 4
4. Siva Konda Reddy B, Ghorpade VG, Sudarsana Rao H (2014) Influence of magnetic water on
strength properties of concrete. Ind J Sci Technol 7(1)
5. Ramachandran H, Sruthi DK (2018) An experimental study on the use of magnetized water in
concrete with M sand as fine aggregate. IOSR J Eng
6. Vinod kumar, Gopala Krishna Sastry KV (2017) Effect of magnetized water on the properties
of concrete with different pozzloanic material. J Adv Res Dyn Control Syst 9
7. Bem Amor H, Elaoud A, Hayzn M (2018) Does magnetic field effect water pH. Asian Res. J.
Agric. Article 8(1):39196
8. Holysz L, Szczes A, Chibowski E (2007) Effects of a static magnetic field on water and
electrolyte solutions. J Colloid Interface Sci
9. Banejad H, Abdosalehi E (2009) The effect of magnetic field on water hardness reducing.
Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC
10. Afshin H, Gholizadeh M, Khorshidi N (2010) Improving mechanical properties of high strength
concrete by magnetic water technology. Scientia Iranica, Trans A: Civil Eng 17
11. Nilli M, Ehsani A, Shabani K (2009) Influence of nano SiO2 and micro silica on concrete
performance. Bu-Ali Sina University Iran
12. Abdel-Magida TIM, Hamdanb RM, Abdelgade AAB (2017) Effect of magnetized water on
workability and compressive strength of concrete. In: International conference on analytical
models and new concepts in concrete and masonry structures AMCM
13. Wei H, Wanga Y, Luo J (2017) Influence of magnetic water on early-age shrinkage cracking
of concrete. Constr Build Mater 147
14. Wang Y, Wei H, Li Z (2017) Effect of magnetic field on the physical properties of water. Results
in Phys 8:262–267
15. Manjupriya T, Malathy R (2016) Experimental investigation on strength and shrinkage
properties of concrete mixed with magnetically treated water. Int J Eng Adv Res Technol
2(3)
Optimisation of Multistoried Building
Using Outrigger System
Jeslin C. Johnson and Reshma Prasad
Abstract The rapid developments of materials, construction technologies and struc-

tural systems have given rise to a significant increase of skyscrapers over the past
decades. The reduction of the top drifts and base core overturning moments under
lateral loads, such as earthquakes and wind loads, has drawn increasing attention
in the structural design of super-tall buildings. Outrigger system is considered one
of the most effective structural systems to improve the structural lateral stiffness
and overall stability, which has been widely used in high-rise buildings. Optimum
locations for Installations of outrigger systems can be found. Overall displacements
and lateral drift can be reduced. Outrigger systems enhance the stiffness of high rise
buildings by the introduction of stiff outriggers at different locations. The effect of
outrigger in a setback building is studied. The loads considered are as per IS codes.
An Etabs model of 45 storey building is considered for this study. Linear time history
analysis has been adopted and data of El-Centro earthquake is used as an input. The
different parameters considered are the storey displacement and storey drifts. Effect
of adding outriggers to an asymmetrical building is considered.
Keywords Outrigger · Etabs · Time history analysis
1 Introduction
Increasing number of global human population leads to construction of tall buildings

which have different types in terms of lateral resisting systems. Tall building has
always been a vision of dreams and technical advancement leading to the progress of
the world [1]. There has been a demonstrated competitiveness that exists in mankind
to proclaim to have the tallest building in the world [2]. As buildings have gotten
J. C. Johnson (B) · R. Prasad

R. Prasad

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_41
434 J. C. Johnson and R. Prasad
taller and narrower, the structural engineer has been increasingly challenged to meet
the imposed drift requirements while minimizing the architectural impact of the
structure [3]. From the early moment frames to today’s ultra-efficient mega-braced
structures, the structural engineering profession has come a long way [4]. The major
factor that affects the design of tall structures is its sensitivity to the horizontal load.
The design of tall and slender structures is controlled by two governing factors,
strength (material capacity), and stiffness (drift) produced by the action of lateral
loading, such as wind and earthquake [5]. The overall geometry of a building often
dictates which factor governs the overall design. As a building becomes taller and
more slender, drift considerations become more significant. When an earthquake
waves travel through the building, it is subjected to massive forces, acceleration and
displacement that makes the building highly unstable and eventually it collapses [6].
Undoubtedly, the factor that governs the design for a tall and slender structure most
of the times is not the fully stressed state but the drift of the building.
In this paper, best location of outrigger in an asymmetric building is investigated.
Hence to make high rise asymmetrical buildings safe against lateral loads, outrigger
structural system is used. Investigations were done on building with asymmetrical
setback in one direction, to find the optimum outrigger location, to study the effect
of dual outrigger and to evaluate the seismic performance of setback building with
various outrigger configurations.
1.1 Outrigger in Buildings
Outriggers are rigid horizontal structures designed to improve building overturning

stiffness and strength by connecting the building core or spine to distant columns
[7]. This is a horizontal load resisting system [8]. Outriggers are horizontal members
which connects the interior core of the structure to the outer most columns. Outrigger
in a structure can vary from single to multiple according to the height and construction
of the building [9]. For high rise buildings, particularly in seismic active zone or wind
load dominant, this system can be chosen as an appropriate structure with this exterior
columns are used effectively and overall deflection of the structure is reduced. This
system helps in reducing the movement of the core when compared to the system
with freely standing core without outriggers [10]. The restrain caused by the outrigger
reduces the lateral drift at top. The stiffness of the structural system increases by 20–
30% by introducing the outrigger structural system [4]. When horizontal loading
acts on the building, the column restrained outriggers resist the rotation of the core,
causing the lateral deflections and moments in the core to be smaller than if the free
standing core alone resisted the loading.
Optimisation of Multistoried Building Using Outrigger System 435
2 Research Methodology
A 45 storey building with regular configuration and setback in one direction was
modelled as bay frame with and without the outrigger structural system at various
locations to evaluate the seismic performance of the structure. Plan dimension was
35 m × 35 m. Storey height is taken as 3.1 m. It has 7 bays in both longitudinal
direction and transverse direction with an equal spacing of 5 m. Figure 1a and b
depicts the 3D view of the base model of the 45 storey building and setback building
respectively. Setback building has 12 stories with 7 bays, 11 stories with 5 bays and
22 stories with 3 bays respectively in both directions. Setback building is modelled
by removing 110 frames from the regular building model. All beams are of the size
300 mm × 600 mm and M50 grade is used. Column size is 700 mm × 700 mm
for stories 24 to 45. Column size of 900 mm × 1000 mm is used for storey 1–23.
All columns are of M 60 grade concrete and Fe 415 steel is used. Slab thickness is
considered as 150 mm. The size of shear wall is taken as 400 mm. A live load of
4 kN/m2 is applied as per IS: 875 (Part II) 1987 and the dead load is self-weight
and Floor finish of 1 kN/m2 . Lateral loads are applied as seismic load in X and
Y direction as per IS 1893 (Part 1 2002). The design earthquake load is computed
based on the zone factor of 0.36, hard soil, importance factor of 1 and the response
reduction factor of 5 (IS: 1893 (Part-I), 2002). The support conditions are assumed as
fixed. The columns were checked for load combinations of 1.5 (DL + LL) and was
found safe. The property moment of inertia was modified for columns as 0.3. Time
history analysis using El-Centro Earthquake data is carried out for all the models to
determine the seismic performance.
Modelling was done using the Etabs 2016. Parameters like maximum storey
displacement and maximum storey drift values were considered to compare the
results. The regular building and asymmetrical building was analysed for the optimum
Fig. 1 Three dimensional view of a Regular building b Setback building

outrigger location. Then the efficiency of dual location is studied in asymmetrical

building and then the performances of various outrigger configurations were studied.
3 Seismic Analysis Results
Seismic parameters like maximum displacement and storey drift was considered for
analysis of building. Evaluation was done by comparing the seismic performance of
building with and without outrigger system. Time history analysis using El-Centro
Earthquake data is carried to determine the seismic performance of the models.
3.1 Regular Building
The regular building was analyzed for the optimum location of outrigger by placing
X shaped outriggers at 0.2 H, 0.4 H, 0.6 H and 0.8 H height of the building. H
indicates the height of the building. Hence the outriggers were placed at 9th, 18th,
27th and 36th storey of the building and are named as RB-0.2, RB-0.4, RB-0.6 and
RB-0.8 respectively.
The variation of lateral displacement and drift is shown in Fig. 2. From Fig. 2a
It was observed that when the outrigger was provided at 0.6 H location i.e., 27th
floor, maximum top storey displacement control was by 34.75% and from Fig. 2b, it
was observed that maximum top storey drift control was by 15.38%. Other studies
conducted on the efficiency of regular building also obtained similar results [1]. Thus
by providing outrigger at 0.6 H drift and displacement of the regular building has
maximum control.
DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM DRIFT DIAGRAM

160
160
140 140
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
120 120
100 RB 100 RB
80 RB-0.2 80 RB-0.2
60 RB-0.4 60 RB-0.4
40 RB-0.6 40 RB-0.6
RB-0.8 RB-0.8
20 20
0
0
0 50 100 150 0 0.001 0.002
DISPLACEMENT (mm) DRIFT
(a) (b)
Fig. 2 Storey displacement and drift for regular building at various outrigger locations
3.2 Setback Building
The asymmetrical building was analyzed with the same outrigger locations as in the
case of regular building to find the optimum location.
3.2.1 Optimal Location of Outrigger
SB denotes setback building. Following models as per Table 1 were investigated for
the optimal location study.
Seismic analysis results on building with setback in one direction are detailed
in this section. Figures 3 and 4 depict the lateral drift and displacement of setback
building without outrigger and with outrigger at various locations. By providing
outrigger drift and displacement was reduced as seen in figure. It was observed that
by providing outrigger at 0.6 H i.e. at 27th floor, top storey drift was controlled to a
maximum of 40.00 and 38.46% (Fig. 4) and top storey displacement was controlled
by maximum of 43.53 and 43.99% (Fig. 3) in X and Y direction respectively.
Table 1 Models for optimum location study of SB

Model ID Remarks
Models for optimal location study SB No outrigger
SB-0.2 Outrigger at 0.2 H
DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM FOR DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM

TIME HISTORY IN X FOR TIME HISTORY IN Y
DIRECTION DIRECTION
160 160
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
140 140
120 120
100 100
SB SB
80 80
SB-0.2 SB-0.2
60 SB-0.4 60 SB-0.4
40 SB-0.6 40 SB-0.6
SB-0.8 SB-0.8
20 20
0 0
0 50 100 150 0 100 200
DISPLACEMENT (mm) DISPLACEMENT (mm)
(a) (b)
Fig. 3 Displacement for setback building with various outrigger locations in x and y direction
DRIFT DIAGRAM FOR TIME DRIFT DIAGRAM FOR TIME

HISTORY IN X DIRECTION HISTORY IN Y DIRECTION
160 160
140 140
STOREY HEIGHT (m)

STOREY HEIGHT (m)
120 120
100 100
80 SB
SB 80
SB-0.2
60 SB-0.2 60
SB-0.4 SB-0.4
40 40 SB-0.6
SB-0.6
20 SB-0.8 20 SB-0.8
0 0
0 0.001 0.002 0 0.001 0.002
DRIFT DRIFT
(a) (b)
Fig. 4 Drift for setback building with various outrigger locations in x and y directions
It was also observed from the displacement graph that till 20 m, there is little
variation between various models. There are no much variations in displacement
until 80 m height for models with and without outrigger systems. The effects of
outrigger in displacement control are clearly evident above 80 m, which is around
26th storey. There is stiffness change at 23rd and 24th storey and above that the
storey layout remains the same. This above phenomenon observed may be due to
this fact. From Fig. 4, It is clear that effective drift control is observed at locations
were outriggers are provided. While checking the top storey displacement and drift
the model with outrigger at 0.6 H location was found to be more effective.
3.2.2 Performance of Dual Outrigger
From the optimal location study in the previous section, the first location of the
outrigger was found to be at 0.6 H and effect of dual outrigger was studied by varying
the location of second outrigger. Models for dual location study are illustrated in
Table 2.
The results from the time history analysis in X and Y directions are depicted
in graphical form in Figs. 5 and 6. Figure 5 denotes the displacements and Fig. 6
denotes drift. All the models behave similarly till 20 m height as it is evident in Fig. 5.
It was also observed that even though the model SB-2, exhibits good displacement
control between 20 and 100 m height in x direction and between 20 and 80 m in y
direction, the model SB-3 showed greater displacement control over rest height of
building. While considering the top storey displacements in both directions model
SB-3, showed maximum control. Hence SB-3 can be considered as the optimum
model. On the other hand when the dual outrigger was provided in 0.8 H (SB-6),
Table 2 Models for dual location study

Model id Remarks
Models for dual location study SB-1 Outrigger at 0.6 H
SB-2 Outrigger at 0.6 H and 0.2 H
SB-4 Outrigger at 0.6 H and 26th floor
SB-5 Outrigger at 0.6 H and 28th floor
DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM

FOR TIME HISTORY IN X FOR TIME HISTORY IN Y
DIRECTION DIRECTION
160 160
STOREY HEIGHT (m)

STOREY HEIGHT (m)
140 140
120 120
100 SB-1 100 SB-1
80 SB-2 80 SB-2
60
SB-3 SB-3
60
SB-4 SB-4
40 40
SB-5 SB-5
20 SB-6 20 SB-6
0 0
0 50 100 0 50 100
(a) (b)
Fig. 5 Displacement for setback building with dual outrigger locations in x and y directions
DRIFT DIAGARAM FOR TIME DRIFT DIAGRAM FOR TIME

HISTORY IN X DIRECTION HISTORY IN Y DIRECION
160 160
140
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
140
STOREY DRIFT (m)
120 120
SB-1 SB-1
100 100
SB-2 SB-2
80 80
SB-3 SB-3
60 60
SB-4 SB-4
40 SB-5
40 SB-5
20 SB-6
20 SB-6
0
0 0 0.002
0 0.001
DRIFT
DRIFT
(b)
(a)
Fig. 6 Drift for setback building with dual outrigger locations in x and y directions
the top storey displacement was increased by 1.67% in x direction. In Y direction

maximum increase was shown by SB-5 i.e., dual location of outrigger at 28th floor.
From Fig. 6, it can be summarized that maximum storey drift control is observed
at locations were outriggers are provided. It was observed that by placing outrigger at
0.4 H location in addition to outrigger at 0.6 H (SB-3), top storey drift was controlled
by a maximum value of 10.86 and 4.54% (Fig. 5) and top storey displacement was
controlled by a maximum value of 10.16 and 9.99% (Fig. 6) in X and Y directions
respectively. Hence it was concluded that the optimal dual outrigger locations in the
asymmetrical building was 0.6 H and 0.4 H.
3.2.3 Configuration Study
Performances of asymmetric models with various configurations of outriggers were

studied. All the models has their outrigger located at 0.6 H and 0.4 H. The various
outrigger configurations considered were X shaped, X + X belt truss, X + V belt
truss, V shape, V + V belt truss and V + X belt truss. Table 3 shows the model IDs
and description.
The base model with no outrigger was also depicted in the displacement and
drift diagrams for comparison. Figures 7a and 8a depicts the time history analysis
of displacement and drift in x direction and Figs. 7b and 8b depicts the time history
analysis of displacement and drift in y direction.
In building models with outriggers, displacement control is clearly visible from
50 m height, which is not visible in case of building without outriggers. Variation in
storey drift has two inward curves indicating maximum control of drift at locations
where outriggers are placed. It was observed from configuration study that the drift
control and displacement is almost similar in all configurations in dual position. So
it can be concluded that all the configurations have the same effect on the building.
Table 3 Models for configuration study

Model id Remarks
Models for configuration study SB-A X shape
SB-B X + X Belt truss
SB-C V shape
SB-D V + V Belt truss
SB-E X shape +V belt
SB-F V shape +X belt
DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM
DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM FOR FOR TIME HISTORY IN Y
TIME HISTORY IN X DIRECTION DIRECTION
160 160
STOREY HEIGHT (m)

140 140
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
120 120
SB
100 100 SB
SBSA
80 SBSB 80 SBSA
SBSC SBSB
60 60 SBSC
SBSD
40 40 SBSD
SBSE
20 SBSE
20 SBSF
SBSF
0 0
0 100 200 0 100 200
(a) (b)
Fig. 7 Displacement for setback building with different outrigger shapes in x and y directions
DRIFT DIAGRAM FOR TIME DRIFT DIAGRAM FOR TIME

HISTORY IN X DIRECTION HISTORY IN Y DIRECTION
160
160
140 140
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
STOREY HEIGHT (m)
120 120
100 100
SB
80 SBSA 80 SB
SBSB SBSA
60 SBSC 60 SBSB
SBSD SBSC
40 40 SBSD
SBSE
SBSF SBSE
20 20 SBSF
0 0
0 0.001 0.002 0 0.001 0.002
DRIFT DRIFT
(a) (b)
Fig. 8 Drift for setback building with different outrigger shapes in x and y directions
4 Conclusions
Based on the study of the seismic performance of multi-storied G + 44 storey

building, following conclusions can be drawn:
• In regular symmetrical building, by providing outrigger at 0.6 H location, top
storey drift was controlled by 15.38% and displacement by 34.75% in x and y
direction. Hence optimum location for outrigger in regular symmetric building

was found as 0.6 H.
• In building with setback, by providing outrigger at 27th floor i.e., 0.6 H was found
as optimum position. It was observed that top storey displacement was reduced
to 43.53 and 43.99% in x and y direction. Top storey drift values were observed
to be reduced by 10.86 and 4.54% in x and y directions respectively.
• From the analysis study of dual outrigger system it was concluded that by effective
use of outrigger in 0.6 H and 0.4 H, the top storey drift was controlled by 10.16
and 9.99% and top storey displacement was controlled by 10.86 and 4.54% in x
and y directions while comparing with building with single outrigger.
• Different configurations showed almost same behaviour in controlling the drift as
well as displacement of the building. So all the outrigger configuration seemed to
have same effect on the building model.
References
1. Kamath, K, Divya N, Rao AU (2012) A study on static and dynamic behavior of outrigger
structural system for tall buildings. Bonfring Int J Ind Eng Manage Sci 2(4):15–20
2. Nanduri PMB, Kiran R, Suresh B, Ihtesham Hussain MD (2013) Optimum position of outrigger
system for high-rise reinforced concrete buildings under wind and earthquake loadings. Am J
Eng Res 2(8):76–89
3. Dsouza E, Dileep Kumar U (2017) A study of outrigger system in seismic response of tall
structures by non-linear analysis. Int J Innovative Res Sci Eng Technol 6(8)
4. Balling RJ, Lee JS (2014) Simplified model for analysis and optimization of skyscrapers with
outrigger and belt trusses. J Struct Eng 141(9):04014231
5. Shivacharan K, Chandrakala S, Karthik NM (2015) Optimum position of outrigger system for
tall vertical irregularity structures. IOSR J Mech Civil Eng (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN 2278-1684
6. Masuda S, Rajhing G (2018) Comparative analysis of high rise building with outriggers and
water tank in different zones. Int J Res Eng Technol 7(7). ISSN 2278-0882
7. Kim H-S, Lee H-L, Lim Y-J (2019) Multi-objective optimization of dual-purpose outriggers
in tall buildings to reduce lateral displacement and differential axial shortening. Eng Struct
189:296–308
8. Kala A, Mangulkar M, Jain I (2017) The use of outrigger and belt truss system for high-rise
RCC building. Int J Civil Eng Technol (IJCIET) 8:1125–1129
9. Samadi M, Jahan N (2019) Determining the effective level of outrigger in preventing collapse
of tall buildings by IDA with an alternative damage measure. Eng Struct 191:104–116
10. Subramni T, Murali K (2018) Analytical Study of Tall Building with outtrigger system with
respect to seismic and wind analysis using ETABS. Int J Eng Technol 7(3.10):77–82
Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of City
Regions Based on Building Typology
Dharsana Satish, E. Lalith Prakash, and K. B. Anand
Abstract Over half of India’s territory zone is prone to seismic tremors, and the
Indian subcontinent has encountered many earthquakes in the past. This study focuses
on the vulnerability assessment of buildings by Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) in
selected regions of Tier II city of south India—Coimbatore. The building typologies
present in various city regions (normally designated as Corporation wards) and poten-
tial seismic vulnerability of buildings in each city region (ward) is determined by
RVS methodology. The RVS vulnerability scores obtained for all the wards included
in this study are low, indicating that these city regions are potentially vulnerable with
substantial to very heavy damages in the event of an earthquake. The outcome of the
study is useful in preparing efficient earthquake policies at the local level. Further
assessment and strengthening are recommended for the buildings in these selected
wards with high seismic hazard.
Keywords Building typology · Rapid visual screening · Damage grades · Seismic

vulnerability
1 Introduction
In the preceding 70 years, the country experienced 29 seismic events with a death toll
of 51,915 and an economic loss of nearly 5297 million US Dollars according to the
International disaster database. Over 75% of seismic tremor-related human setbacks
are brought about by the failure of structures [1]. The general construction practices
in India are greatly influenced by locally available materials, traditional construction
practices, topography, etc. The application of Indian standard codes is not widely
implemented in the construction of residential buildings [2]. This trend in residential
building construction is a matter of concern in terms of seismic resistance.
D. Satish · E. Lalith Prakash (B) · K. B. Anand

Department of Civil Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Coimbatore, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_42
444 D. Satish et al.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed the Rapid

Visual Screening (RVS) method [3] to determine the buildings that may be poten-
tially hazardous under Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) at the site of the
building. The procedure for Rapid Visual Screening was refined and used by Srikanth
[4], Jain et al. [5], Pathak [6], Sarmah et al. [7], Chanu [8]. The RVS scheme can be
implemented relatively quickly and inexpensively to determine potentially seismi-
cally hazardous buildings. The building score reflects the probability of collapse or
partial collapse of the building during an earthquake. Hence this method is adopted
for the study.
2 Details of Study Region
As per the 2014 annual Indian city survey, Coimbatore is the second largest city
(details in Table 1) and urban agglomeration in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Coimbatore lies in the peninsular shield region and significant research was done
on the seismic hazard and risk estimation. Future probable earthquake zones were
located considering subsurface rupture phenomena and hazard values are estimated
at rock level in the City of Coimbatore [9]. The seismic risk was assessed for the
Coimbatore city by overlaying the land-use and deterministic seismic hazard map
[10]. An Earthquake readiness index tool was developed for the Indian subcontinent
and its reliability was tested and evaluated by conducting a field survey at the City of
Coimbatore [11]. Therefore hazard and preparedness study is carried out in previous
studies and there is a research gap where vulnerability of building types is not assessed
for the study region.
As per Municipal city corporation delimitation 2011, following the Coimbatore
City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981, the government of Tamil Nadu divides the
City of Coimbatore into seventy-two territorial divisions (Fig. 1). The boundary data
of each ward in the city were collected from Coimbatore City Corporation [12] and
the study area was validated with GPS (global positioning system) coordinates.
As per Census 2011, around 85% of total buildings in Coimbatore City Corpo-
ration are residential buildings. Therefore the scope of the study is limited to the
vulnerability assessment of typical corporation wards based on residential buildings.
Coimbatore city is placed in Seismic Zone III (pga 0.16 g) as per the latest release
of IS 1983 [13]. The collision process of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate is
still underway at a rate of 45 mm/year inducing an anticlockwise rotation of the plate
throughout southwest Peninsular India [14].
Table 1 Details of the study region

Latitude Longitude Area Elevation Population
10°10 –11°30 76°50 –77°30 105.5 km2 432 from MSL 1.6 million
Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of City Regions … 445
Fig. 1 Delimitation map of 72 territorial divisions with selected wards
3 Methodology
This study aims to determine the seismic vulnerability of residential buildings in

the high seismic hazard zone at the city of Coimbatore through the rapid visual
screening method and also to represent it as a ward-wise RVS vulnerability score.
The methodology indicated in Fig. 2 is elaborated in subsequent sections.
Sampling
Selection Rapid
of Damage
of wards in visual Computation of
residential potential
high screening ward wise RVS
buildings of different
seismic in the vulnerability
in the building
hazard selected scores
selected typologies
zone wards
wards
Fig. 2 Methodology of the Work

3.1 Selection of Wards
A hazard map for Coimbatore City Corporation by considering various factors,

predominantly Peak Ground Acceleration, Amplification factor, Soil thickness, Shear
wave velocity has been generated in an earlier study by Gopalakrishnan [15]. For the
present study, five wards belonging to very high hazard zone alone were selected as
a representative sample, for determining the seismic vulnerability of buildings on a
much conservative side.
The above Deterministic seismic hazard map [15] has been developed using the
formula:
DS M =(P G Aw D P G Ar + D AFw D AFr + DST w DST r

+ DSSw DSSr + D P Fw D P Fr + D P Pw D P Pr + DL Lw DL Lr

+ D E Lw D E Lr + D D Rw D D Rr + DGGw DGGr ) w (1)
PGA, AF, ST, SS, PF, PP, LL, EL, DR and GG represent Peak Ground Accel-
eration, Amplification factor, Soil thickness, Shear wave velocity, Predominant
frequency, Population, Land use/Land cover, Elevation, Drainage & Geology and
Geomorphology respectively. w and r represent assigned ranks and normalized
weights for each factor.
3.2 Sampling
The number of residential buildings in each ward is obtained from the delimitation
proposal of Coimbatore Corporation. Yamane [16] provided a simplified formula for
determining the sample size.
For a confidence level of 95%, with 10% error:

n = N / 1 + N e2 (2)
where n, N and e represent the number of samples, total population and level of
precision respectively.
The number of samples from each ward is computed from the above expression
(Table 2). The rapid visual screening was carried out for the sample size of ninety
nine in each of the selected wards.
Table 2 Sample size in the different selected wards

Ward number Corporation zone Number of residential Sample size (95% CL, 10%
buildings in the proposed Error)
ward
30 North 4425 97
38 West 5015 98
46 Central 3960 98
71 West 3360 97
84 Central 3994 98
3.3 Rapid Visual Screening
For visual surveys, the buildings are categorised based on construction material,
performance during the past earthquake, horizontal and vertical framing system,
etc. The present study area predominantly consists of six model building types (as
adapted from Prasad et al. 2009) and presented in Table 3.
Sinha [17] suggest a procedure for rapid visual screening of buildings to determine
potential seismic vulnerability for all the four zones in India. Since Coimbatore fall
under Seismic zone III, a refined RVS matrix was framed including adobe building
type (Table 4) as per IS 1893(2016). Three vulnerability parameters are considered for
determining the potential vulnerability of building, viz., soil type, vertical irregularity
and plan irregularity.
Table 3 Predominant model building types in the study region

SL No Label Wall/framing type Stories
1 Adobe Rammed mud/stone masonry with lime or cement mortar 1–2
2 C1 L Concrete moment-resisting frame 1–3
3 C1 M Concrete moment-resisting frame 4–7
4 C2 M Concrete shear wall 4–7
5 C3 L RC frame with URM infills 1–3
6 URML Burnt clay/concrete blocks with lime or cement mortar 1–2
Table 4 Matrix for calculation of RVS score

Scores Building types
Adobe C1 L C1 M C2 M C3 L URML
Base score (BS) 2.4 3 3.2 4 3.2 3
Vertical irregularity (VI) −1.5 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1.5
Plan irregularity (PI) −0.5 −0.5 −0.5 −0.5 −0.5 −0.5
Medium soil (S) −0.4 −0.6 −0.6 −0.8 −0.6 −0.4
Table 5 Expected damage level as a function of the RVS score

RVS scores Damage potential
S < 0.3 High probability of Grade 5 damage; Very high probability of Grade 4 damage
0.3 < S < 0.7 High probability of Grade 4 damage; Very high probability of Grade 3 damage
S > 3.0 Probability of Grade 1 damage
Source: Sinha et al. [17]
Base Score has been computed for each Building type based on available damage
and loss estimation functions that reflects the estimated likelihood that building will
collapse if the building is subjected to the maximum considered earthquake (MCE)
ground motion similar to the work done by Sinha et al. [17]. The final scores are
computed by deducing performance score, based on soil type, plan irregularities and
vertical irregularities from the base score.
The vertical and plan irregularities in framed buildings are assessed as per
1893(Part 1) 2016 and that of Unreinforced Masonry structures (URML) is assessed
as per methodology adopted by Dogangun [18]. The soil type of entire city belongs
to stiff soil Type D as per NEHRP [15] and the same has been considered for the
final score calculation.
Since the seismic vulnerability of the adobe is extreme, the vertical irregularity
and plan irregularity is assumed to be present in all adobe buildings in Coimbatore
city.
Final RVS Score of a building:
S = (B S + V I + P I + S) (3)
The damage potential of buildings is determined based on the final RVS score (S).
Table 5 represents the damage potential level of building as a function of the final
score.
The visual survey, as well as the data accumulation of selected five wards shown in
Fig. 3, viz., ward numbers 30, 38, 46, 71 and 84, was carried out. Final RVS scores
for each of the 99 samples are computed based on building typology, presence of
irregularities and soil type. The presence of both vertical and plan irregularity will
contribute to the seismic vulnerability of the building. The results of RVS shows
that both plan and vertical irregularities are present in more than 50% of buildings
in almost all the wards (Table 6). The percentage of buildings without irregularity
is almost less than 5% in all the wards. Buildings with plan irregularity alone in all
Fig. 3 Selected wards in the highest seismic hazard zones
Table 6 The percentage of buildings with irregularity across the samples in selected wards
Wards Plan and vertical Plan irregularity Vertical irregularity Without irregularity
irregularity (%) (%) (%) (%)
Ward 30 62.62 4.04 27.27 6.06
Ward 38 57.57 5.05 31.31 5.05
Ward 46 68.68 1.01 27.27 3.03
Ward 71 31.31 4.04 58.58 6.06
Ward 84 53.53 1.01 41.41 4.04
the wards are lesser than 5% which indicates that construction practices in the city
generally avoid irregularities in the plan. Vertical irregularity in buildings is greater
than 30% in almost all the wards. In all the selected wards only a minor percentage
of buildings are planned without any type of irregularity.
The RVS vulnerability score is estimated as the weighted average of RVS scores
in each ward and is computed (Table 7) by accounting the number of buildings in
each building typology as per the following equation.
RVS Vulnerability score of a ward

N o : o f model building t ype × Average scor es o f model building t ype
=
N umber o f samples in war d
(4)
Table 7 Computation matrix for RVS vulnerability score of each ward

Building type Average RVS score Number of buildings in each building typology
corresponding to
Ward 30 Ward 38 Ward 46 Ward 71 Ward 84
Adobe 0 10 11 10 6 10
C1 L 0.876 10 4 8 11 15
C1 M 0.316 4 7 12 16 6
C2 M 0.921 8 7 4 16 6
C3 L 0.551 40 53 55 40 51
URML 0.761 16 17 10 16 5
Fig. 4 RVS Vulnerability scores of the selected wards
The RVS vulnerability score for each of the selected wards is shown in Fig. 4. The
wards with greater scores are least vulnerable and that of lesser scores are highly
vulnerable to a seismic event. The RVS vulnerability scores of ward 71 are high
due to the greater distribution of C2 M and C1 L buildings. The RVS vulnerability
scores obtained for all the selected wards is less than 0.7, hence the selected wards
are highly vulnerable to earthquake.
5 Conclusion
The rapid visual screening was performed in the city of Coimbatore to identify
the seismic vulnerability of selected wards. Five representative wards belonging to
very high hazard zone were selected with the help of available literature. Around
a hundred residential buildings were surveyed in each of the selected wards. Six
building typologies were predominantly distributed across the selected wards. More
than 90% of the residential buildings are observed to have some form of irregularity
making them vulnerable to seismic damage. The RVS vulnerability scores of all wards
range between 0.5 and 0.6, hence buildings in the selected wards are susceptible to
heavy damage. Since the RVS vulnerability scores obtained for the selected wards is
less than 0.7, the regions are potentially vulnerable to earthquake damages. A quick
vulnerability assessment procedure for populated settlements has been illustrated
through this case study for the city of Coimbatore.
References
1. Spence R, Coburn A (1992) Strengthening buildings of stone masonry to resist earthquakes.

Meccanica 27(3):213–221
2. Prasad JSR, Singh Y, Kaynia AM, Lindholm C (2009) Socioeconomic clustering in seismic
risk assessment of urban housing stock. Earthq Spectra 25(3):619–641
3. FEMA 154 (2002) Rapid visual screening of buildings for potential seismic hazards. Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C.
4. Srikanth T et al (2010) Earthquake vulnerability assessment of existing buildings in Gand-
hidham and Adipur Cities Kachchh, Gujarat (India). Eur J Scient Res 41(3):336–353. ISSN
1450-216X
5. Jain SK et al (2010) A proposed rapid visual screening procedure for seismic evaluation of
RC-Frame buildings in India. Earthquake Spectra 26(3):709–729
6. Pathak J (2008) Earthquake vulnerability assessment of Guwahati urban centre. In: The 14th
world conference on earthquake engineering October 12–17, 2008, Beijing, China
7. Sarmah T (2018) Earthquake vulnerability assessment for RCC buildings of Guwahati City
using rapid visual screening. Procedia Eng 212
8. Chanu NM et al (2018) A proposed rapid visual screening procedure for developing countries.
Int J Geotechn Earthquake Eng 9(2)
9. Anbazhagan et al (2012) Seismic hazard map of Coimbatore using subsurface fault rupture.
Natural Hazards February
10. Prakash EL, Kolathayar S, Ramkrishnan R (2018) Seismic risk assessment for Coimbatore
integrating Seismic Hazard and Land Use. In: Geo shanghai international conference. Springer,
Singapore, pp 117–124
11. Kolathyar S et al (2017) Development of earthquake readiness index tool to assess individual
earthquake preparedness level. In: Urbanization challenges in emerging economies, ASCE
India conference, New Delhi
12. Coimbatore corporation data on draft ward delimitation proposal, Government of Tamil Nadu
(2017)
13. Bureau of Indian Standards (2016) IS: 1893–2016, Criteria for earthquake resistant design of
structure. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
14. Biham R (2004) Earthquakes in India and the Himalaya: tectonics, geodesy and history. Ann
Geophys 47(2/3)
15. Gopalakrishnan S (2012) Seismic hazard analysis for Coimbatore corporation using GIS. Ph.D
thesis, Anna University
16. Yamane et al (1968) Elementary sampling theory. J Am Statistical Assoc 63(322). https://www.
unfpa.org/publications/state-world-population-2007
17. Sinha R et al (2004) A national policy for seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings and
procedure for rapid visual screening of buildings for potential seismic vulnerability
18. Dogangun (2008) Seismic performance of masonry buildings during recent Earthquakes in
Turkey. In: The 14th world conference on earthquake engineering October 12–17, 2008,
Beijing, China
Development of Reinforced Concrete
Beam with Plastic Balls in Neutral Axis
Milu Reji and V. V. Anu
Abstract Concrete is one of the most widely used construction material. Its usage
is twice that of steel, wood, plastics and aluminium combined. It provides superior
fire resistance compared with wooden construction and gains strength over time.
Structures made of concrete can have a long service life. The major drawback in
concrete works is that the structures will be heavier. In case of RC beams the strength
of concrete lying in and near the neutral axis is not fully utilized. So this unutilized
concrete is replaced by light weight plastic balls. This is an alternative to reduce
the use of concrete. Plastics offer great resistance against chemicals and solvents.
The concrete just above the neutral axis is less stressed where as the concrete below
neutral axis serves as a shear transmitting media. Plastic material offers a good bond
between concrete layers. The stresses in beams are maximum at top and bottom
where as, it is zero at the neutral axis. The cement content can also be decreased
by saving the concrete which reduces the greenhouse gaseous emissions. So it is
considered as eco-friendly. Specimens of solid RC beam, hollow RC beam and RC
beam with plastic balls are casted, tested and made a comparison.
Keywords Reinforced concrete beams · Neutral axis · Plastic balls
1 Introduction
In this paper an attempt is being made to reduce weight and the cost of reinforced
concrete structural member by replacing the concrete in and near the neutral axis.
However, in RC beams strength of concrete lying in and near the neutral axis is not
fully utilized. So this unutilized concrete is replaced by plastic balls.
Findings from previous studies are as follows. The flexural strength of RC hollow
beams is almost the same when compared with the RC control beam. The deflection
at the ultimate stage and yield stage of hollow beams with double openings are
greater compared to hollow beams with single openings. Up to 17.5% removal of
M. Reji (B) · V. V. Anu

Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakkunnam, Ernakulum, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_43
454 M. Reji and V. V. Anu
concrete at tension zone will not affect the flexural behaviour of the beams. Hollow
beams are having greater ductility when compared to the control beam. Both beams
failed by flexure failure. When comparing the moment of inertia of both beams,
hollow beam has lower value. So hollow beam has more deflection [1]. In reinforced
concrete beams, less stressed concrete near neutral axis can be replaced by bricks.
With the help of stress block diagram in filled zone is obtained. Method of initial
functions is used for the analysis of in filled reinforced concrete composite beams.
The method of initial function (MIF) is an analytical method of elasticity theory.
The results obtained by MIF are compared with those predicting by Finite Element
Method (FEM) based software ANSYS, and it is observed that they are comparable
[2]. Presence of voids in low stressed zone does not cause any significant strength
reduction. For this work no extra time or labour is required. Economy and reduction
of weight in beams depends on the percentage replacement of concrete. As the size
of structure increase material usage get reduced These members can be used for
sustainable and environment friendly construction work as it saves concrete which
reduces the emission of carbon dioxide during the production of cement [3].
From the literature reviews, it is understood that in RC beams, less stressed
concrete in and near neutral axis can be replaced by some light weight material.
Several types of in filled materials like Brick, Expanded polystyrene sheet (EPS),
LSRC (Lightweight Sandwich Reinforced Concrete) sections, Terracotta hollow
blocks etc. had already done. Also an experiment was done with hollow beams.
But it was observed that when the beams are kept hollow more moisture content will
comes in contact and may results in chemical attack. And also they are not able to
withstand the impact loads. Plastic wastes are among these wastes; their disposal
has harmful effects on the environment due to their long biodegradation period, and
therefore one of the logical methods for reduction of their negative effects is the
application of these materials in other industries. To overcome this drawback an
attempt has been made to investigate the effects of RC beam with plastic balls are
kept in the place of concrete in neutral axis.
2 Materials
Cement is conventionally used as the primary binder for the production of concrete.
There are alternative materials which can be used to reduce the environmental issues
associated with cement production. In this paper Class F fly ash is used by 20% of
binder content. M-sand was used as the fine aggregate confirming to Zone II by IS
383:1970. Coarse aggregate of nominal size 20 mm was used as per IS 383:1970
specifications. Various tests were conducted for cement fly ash and aggregates and
recorded in Table 1. Super plasticizers, also known as high range water reducers,
which are chemical admixtures used when a well-dispersed particle suspension is
required. Here Master Glenium is used which is composed of synthetic polymers
specially designed to allow considerable reduction of water while maintaining control
on extend of set retardation. Properties of master glenium are recorded in Table 2.
Development of Reinforced Concrete Beam with Plastic Balls … 455
Table 1 Test results

S. No. Characteristics Values obtained
1 Specific gravity of cement 3.15
2 Standard consistency of cement 32%
3 Initial setting time of cement 70 min
4 Fineness of cement 5%
5 Specific gravity of fly ash 2.6
6 Specific gravity of fine aggregates 2.7
7 Specific gravity of coarse aggregates 2.69
Table 2 Physical properties of Master Glenium

Aspect Dark brown free flowing liquid
Relative density 1.24 ± 0.02 at 25 °C
pH >6
Chloride ion content <0.2%
Reinforced beams are kept as hollow with help of PVC pipes of diameters 30 mm,
40 mm and 50 mm. It has a specific gravity of 1400 ± 20 kg/m3 . Plastic balls of
diameter 30 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm are also used for the replacement of concrete
in neutral axis.
3 Mix Design
The process of selecting suitable ingredients of concrete and determining their rela-
tive amounts with the objective of producing a concrete of the required, strength,
durability, and workability as economically as possible, is termed the concrete mix
design. It was done as per IS 10262:2019 is in line with ACI 211. Cement, Fly ash,
fine aggregate and coarse aggregate subjected to dry mixing for about 2 min and
then required quantity of water is added. After mixing, determine the slump of fresh
concrete. The concrete was then placed in mould with proper compaction. After 24 h
demoulded the cubes and subjected to curing. The specimens were tested at 7 and
28 days from the day of casting. The mix proportion for control mix fly cement: fine
aggregate: coarse aggregate was 1:2.03:3.59 and water cement ratio is 0.42.
4 Experimental Details
Reinforced concrete beam of size 150 × 250 × 900 mm was casted as control
beam in a wooden mould. The reinforcement for the beam specimens was 2 nos.
of 10 mm diameter at tension zone and 2 hanger bars of 10 mm diameter with a
cross-sectional area of 314 mm2 . Shear reinforcement provided for the specimens
are of 6 mm diameter stirrups at 125 mm spacing. Reinforced concrete beams with
concrete replacement in neutral axis as hollow (30 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm diameter)
and with plastic balls (30 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm diameter) has the same control
beam specifications are casted and tested.
The depth of neutral axis is calculated by considering M40 grade concrete and
Fe415 steel with an effective cover of 20 mm. For under-reinforced beams,

(xu /d) = 0.87fy Ast ( 0.36fck bd)

xu = ( 0.87 × 415 × 157 ) (0.36 × 40 × 150 )
= 26.24 mm
5.1 Load Carrying Capacity
It is defined as the maximum load that the beam can carry without reducing its level
of performance. When comparing the load carrying capacity of two replaced beams
with control beam, the hollow beam as lower load carrying capacity. That means that
the deflection is more for hollow beams. Figure 1: shows the load carrying capacity
and of control beam (CB), hollow beams (HB30, HB40, HB50) and beam with plastic
balls (PB30, PB40, PB50).
Fig. 1 Load carying

capacity
Fig. 2 Load versus deflection graph
Fig. 3 Load versus

deflection graph
5.2 Load Versus Deflection Graph
As load increases deflection also increases which means that the relationship between
load and deflection is linear. At a point the relation between the load and deflection
became non linear and the structure became plastic. Figures 2 and 3 shows the load
values and corresponding deflection.
5.3 Crack Pattern
From Figs. 1 and 2, it is clear that the deflection is less and the load carrying capacity
of control beam s higher as compared to the beams with hollow neutral axis and the
beams with plastic balls. It also found that the variation is comparable.
5.4 Concrete Saving
In case of construction concrete is one of the most essential components. While

estimating quantity of concrete for particular structural work, normally 3–5% is
considered as wastage. But wastage of concrete more than that. It can increase the
cost of project and may affect project progress. So, it is necessary to control the
concrete wastage. In RC beams strength of concrete lying in and near the neutral axis
is not fully utilized. So this unutilized concrete can be removed. Volume reduction
can be found by
In case of pipes,
Percentage reduction = [V2/V1] × 100 = [1130.4/33750] × 100 = 3.34%
In case of balls,
Percentage reduction = [V3/V1] × 100 = [770.27/33750] × 100 = 2.28%
For 0.9 m length about 3.34% concrete can be saved when it is kept as hollow
and 2.28% concrete can be saved when the concrete in neutral axis is replaced by
the plastic balls. If the size of structure increased the amount of concrete can also
reduced. So in large scale construction works concrete can be saved more effectively.
5.5 Cost Reduction
For a project about 75% of cost will be consumed by the materials. When the amount
of concrete has saved, the quantity of cement, fine aggregates, coarse aggregates and
water get saved. When the use of materials get reduced it will linearly related to
the cost of project. Thus the cost will get reduced. The material reduction will not
much affect the load bearing capacity. Economy can be attained without causing any
considerable strength variation for beam.
5.6 Self Weight Reduction
In RC beams strength of concrete lying in and near the neutral axis is not fully
utilized. So this unutilized concrete can be removed. The unit weight of concrete is
25 kN/mm2 . By removing that unutilized concrete the self weight of the beam get
reduced.
Weight of beam, W1 = 1.21 × 68.15 = 82.46 kg

Volume of pipe V2 = πr2 l = 3.14 × .82 × 35.43 = 71.22 cu.inches
V2 = 71.22/1728 = 0.041 cu.ft.
Weight of concrete saved W2 = 0.041 × 68.15 = 2.80 kg
Weight of hollow beam = 82.46–2.80 = 79.66 kg
Volume of ball V3 = 4/3[πr3 ] = 4/3[3.14 × .83] = 2.133 cu.inches
For 90 cm beam 23 balls of 2 cm radius is required to replace the concrete in the
place of neutral axis.
V3 = 23 × 2.133 = 49.066 cu.inches
V3 = 49.066/1728 = 0.028 kg
Weight of concrete saved W3 = 0.028 × 68.15 = 1.9082 kg ~ 2 kg
Weight of beam with plastic balls = = 82.46 − 2.80 = 80.46 kg
This reduction is for a beam of 0.9 m as the structure became larger the weight of
reduction get increased.
6 Conclusions
In RC beams the concrete lying in and near the neutral axis is not fully utilized.
So this unutilized concrete is replaced with PVC pipe and plastic balls. While
comparing reinforced concrete beam, hollow beam and the beam with plastic ball
their strength properties are comparable. Based on the experimental work, the
following conclusions are obtained.
• Load carrying capacity of control beam, hollow beam and the beam with plastic
balls are comparable. Load carrying capacity of control beam is 332 kN, hollow
beam is 324 kN and beam with balls is 328 kN.
• In case of deflection, it is more for hollow beam as compared with control beam
and beam with plastic ball. Crack will be first formed on hollow beam.
• One of the main advantages comes on decrease in the use of concrete. About
3.34% of concrete get reduced in case of hollow beam and 2.28% of concrete get
reduced in the case of beam with plastic balls when compared to control beam.
• When the amount of concrete gets saved it will reduce the material cost which
will cause cost reduction in overall project.
• Self weight reduction is another goal from this work. About 2.8 kg weight gets
reduced for hollow beam and 2 kg weight get reduced for beam with plastic balls.
References
1. Ahmedb AFB, Hameeda MA (2019) Employment the plastic waste to produce the light weight
concrete. Proceeding of Energy Engineering 157:30–38
2. Manalo A, Fam A, Thiru A, Fahid F (2018) Flexural and shear behaviour of layered sandwich
beams. Const Build Mater 173:429–442
3. AlAjarmeh OS, Benmokrane B, Karunasena W, Manalo AC, Mendis P, Nguyen KTQ (2019)
Compressive behavior of axially loaded circular hollow concrete columns reinforced with GFRP
bars and spirals. Constr Build Mater 194:12–23
Progressive Collapse Analysis of RC
Buildings Using Linear Static
and Non-linear Static Method
A. Salman and K. I. Praseeda
Abstract Progressive collapse is one of the most devastating types of building fail-
ures, most often leading to costly damages and possible loss of life. To study the
effect of failure of columns on the entire structure, 15 storey RC building is consid-
ered. The progressive collapse analysis and modelling of the building is done using
SAP2000. Linear static and Non-linear static analysis is performed to understand
progressive collapse. Comparing the results of linear static and non-linear static it is
found that non-linear static procedure for progressive collapse analysis is the more
effective method than linear static in which a primary load-bearing structural element
is removed and the structural material is allowed to undergo non-linear behaviour.
Keywords Progressive collapse · Linear static · Non-linear dynamic · SAP2000
1 Introduction
Progressive collapse can be defined as a total collapse of a structure due to the spread
of a local failure from element to element throughout the structure. It is also called
disproportionate failure because the collapse does not follow the path of the original
cause. Progressive collapse can be triggered by manmade or natural hazards. Fire,
blast, earthquake and extreme loading conditions can lead to progressive collapse.
Progressive collapse is a complicated process where the collapsing system should be
able to redistribute the loads in order to prevent the loss of critical structural members
and total collapse. The inability of the structural system to redistribute the collapse
load is the major problem. After the local failure the structural members seeks an
alternative load path for the redistribution and the absence of an alternative path leads
to the entire collapse. Techniques which helps to provide an alternate path can resist
progressive collapse also ductility, redundancy and continuity must be considered in
design of beams, columns and frame connections to allow for potential redistribution
of large loads and to prevent collapse.
A. Salman (B) · K. I. Praseeda

Department of Civil Engineering, NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, Kerala 678008, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_44
462 A. Salman and K. I. Praseeda
For the first time structural engineers faced this phenomenon in 1968 when the
Ronan Point Tower was destroyed. It was due to a human error gas explosion that leads
to precast concrete panels near the 18th floor causing the floors above to collapse and
this event was like a thrust for further study of progressive collapse. Also extensive
research was going on during the past years because of the increasing rate of victims
resulting from terrorist attacks and natural disasters, some of the examples include
the collapse of the World Trade Center (2001) due to terrorist attack and the bombing
of the Murrah Federal Building (1995) in Oklahoma City. Traditionally the structural
engineers focused on optimizing the most economic sections while meeting the code
requirements. Thus most of the structures are designed to resist gravity loads and
lateral loads which are resulting from wind and earthquakes. So the conventionally
designed structures get collapse when an unexpected extreme load act on the struc-
ture. There are complex computer programs and simulation tools that can be used to
model progressive collapse response of buildings. Any FEMA based software can
be used to find the potential for progressive collapse in buildings. The guidelines for
progressive collapse evaluation is issued by General Services Administration (GSA).
Generally, the analysis can be done in four ways Linear static, linear dynamic,
non-linear static and non-linear dynamic.
2 Building Configuration
To study the effect of progressive collapse on the structure after removing column a
G+ 15 storey RC building is considered. The structure designed for an importance
factor of 1 as per IS 1893:2002. Bay size is taken as 6 m in X-direction and 4 m in
Y-direction. Building size in plan is 36 × 24 m. base to plinth height is taken as 2 m,
plinth to ground floor as 4 m, which is a hollow plinth, typical floor height as 3.5 m
and 230 mm thick walls. The column and beam sizes are 800 × 800 mm and 300 ×
600 mm respectively (Fig. 1).
3 Progressive Collapse Analysis
Linear static and Non-linear static analysis is used to analyse the potential of progres-
sive collapse by considering certain loading criteria’s and guidelines provided by
GSA. The progressive collapse analysis is done using the structural analysis and
design software SAP2000. Progressive collapse analysis is basically removing a
critical column and analysing the capacity of the structure to withstand the above
condition.
Progressive Collapse Analysis of RC Buildings Using Linear … 463
Fig. 1 3D model and typical floor plan of the considered RC building
3.1 Structure Loads and Design Data
Indian Standard codes are used for the designing and loading criteria with the
guidelines of GSA. (IS-456, IS-875, IS-893-2002)
L.L at typical floor: 2 kN/m2
L.L at roof: 1.5 kN/m2
Floor finish: 1.0 kN/m2
Wall load at typical floor: 13.685 kN/m2
Parapet wall load at terrace: 4.6 kN/m2
Concrete grade: M25
Steel grade: Fe 415
Seismic zone: 3
Zone factor: 0.16
Soil type: Type 2
Response reduction factor: 5
Along with above cases, load combinations are considered for design of structural
elements as per IS 1893:2002.
4 Linear Static Analysis
Linear static method is the simplest analysis method of progressive collapse analysis
which gives a vague idea about structure resistance against progressive collapse. As
this method doesn’t include dynamic behaviour, Dynamic Increase Factor (DIF) is
used to represent the dynamic effect, the factor 2 in the loading criteria is the dynamic
increase factor. For the linear static progressive collapse analysis, the gravity load
applied as per GSA guidelines is,
Load = 2DL + 0.5LL
where,
DL dead load.
LL live load.
Here, the column is removed from the location which is either corner column or
central column one at a time (as per GSA) and perform the linear static analysis with
the gravity load imposed and determine the demand for the specific column removal
case and from the originally designed building section capacity of the members has
to be determined. Then checkout the DCR (Demand to Capacity Ratio). If the DCR
value exceeds the acceptance criteria the member considered as failed. Thus the DCR
value helps to determine the potential for progressive collapse of building.
4.1 DCR Value Calculation
Demand to capacity ratio which is the ratio between the demand coming to the
member after the column loss to the capacity of the member in the normal case
Qud
DC R =
Qce
where,
Qud Acting force (Demand) determined in the component or moment.
Qce Expected ultimate capacity of the component (moment or forces).
The accepted criteria as per GSA for DCR value is.
DCR < 2 for typical structural configurations
DCR < 1.5 for irregular configurations.
4.2 Analysis
DCR value of beams for flexure are calculated from top to bottom stories at 2 locations
i.e. at left and right side of the removed column.
From the DCR values obtained for flexure it is observed that the loss of central
column makes the structure a bit vulnerable. The value of DCR ratio is high at the
bottom and top storey. In top beams DCR greater than 2 subjected to progressive
Fig. 2 BMD before and after central column removal case
collapse failure. This is because the beams at the top most level are having least
amount of reinforcement. Therefore, the capacity of beams at top level are less. And
in the bottom most level also the values are greater than 2 which shows the members
adjacent to the removed column are experiencing higher stresses which makes the
beams vulnerable (Fig. 2 and Table 1).
5 Non-linear Static Analysis
The Non-linear static analysis is either force controlled or deformation controlled. In

force controlled analysis, load is applied step by step until maximum load is attained
or structure collapse.
GSA guideline has provided following stepwise procedure for analysis.
Step1: Prepare the model, perform concrete design and determine the reinforce-
ment
Step2: Define hinge properties for beams and columns. For default hinges
SAP2000 uses Tables 5–6 of FEMA-356.
Step3: Define Non-linear case with GSA load combination, set required number
of steps. Apply local distribution.
Table 1 DCR of beams for flexure in central column removal case

STOREY DCR (RIGHT) DCR (LEFT)
15 3.235 3.235
14 2.035 2.035
13 2.03 2.03
12 2.07 2.07
11 2.07 2.07
10 1.99 1.99
9 1.94 1.94
8 1.93 1.93
7 1.95 1.95
6 1.99 1.99
5 2.06 2.06
4 2.15 2.15
3 2.28 2.28
2 2.4 2.4
1 2.6 2.6
G 3.05 3.05
Step4: Create column loss scenario perform non-linear static analysis

Step5: Observe the hinge formation pattern.
For each degree of freedom there is a force displacement curve with values at
five points A-B-C-D-E, and there are additional deformation measures at points
IO (immediate occupancy), LS (life safety) and CP (collapse prevention) these are
informational measures which gives yield value and plastic deformation (Figs. 3, 4
and 5).
Fig. 3 Force–displacement
curve. B—Yielding,
C—Ultimate capacity for
push over analysis,
D—Residual strength.
E—Total failure,
IO—immediate occupancy,
LS—life safety,
CP—collapse prevention
Fig. 4 Definition for non-linear case
Fig. 5 Deformed shape and hinge formation of frame after central column removal case
The hinge started forming at the bottom stories from where the column is removed.
And thereon, the hinges started propagating in the upward direction. The hinges reach
Life safety level and are formed at the bottom storeys. The life safety level indicates
there will not be any casualty due to progressive collapse, but cannot be used for
further living.
In this paper linear static and non-linear static analysis is carried out for a G+ 15
storey RC building as per GSA guidelines. From the linear static progressive collapse
analysis, it is found that bottom and top storeys are vulnerable to progressive collapse
since its DCR ratio exceeds the value 2. The cases in which the linear static analysis
showed that the structure is susceptible to progressive collapse, are found to be safe
to resist progressive collapse in non-linear analysis method. But structure cannot
be used for further living. Linear static analysis can only give a vague idea about
the potential of progressive collapse, whereas non-linear static analysis helps to
understand the hinge formations at yield and also helps to understand the moment
redistribution.
7 Conclusion
Linear static is the simplest and least time taking method whereas non-linear static
analysis will take more time and little bit complicated. But after the analysis it can
been seen that the results of linear static analysis are not accurate because it does
not consider the material and geometrical non-linearity, whereas non-linear static
analysis includes the non-linearity which helps it to get a more accurate results. So
even though the linear static analysis is less complicated and less time taking it is
highly recommending to consider non-linear static analysis over linear static analysis
for progressive collapse analysis.
References
1. Qian K, Weng YH, Li B (2019) Improving behavior of reinforced concrete frames to resist
progressive collapse through steel bracings. J Struct Eng (United States) 145(2):1–17
2. Abdelwahed B (2019) A review on building progressive collapse, survey and discussion. Case
Stud Constr Mater 11
3. Rahnavard R, Fard FFZ, Hosseini A, Suleiman M (2018) Nonlinear analysis on progressive
collapse of tall steel composite buildings. Case Stud Constr Mater 8(March):359–379
4. Li L-L et al (2018) Analysis of robustness of steel frames against progressive collapse. J Constr
Steel Res 143:264–278
5. Lim NS, Tan KH, Lee CK (2018) A simplified model for alternate load path assessment in RC
structures. Eng Struct 171(October 2017):696–711
6. Delfian J (2018) Numerical assessment of the effect of progressive collapse phenomenon on
the behavior of high-rise concrete structures. Soil Struct Interact J 3(1):1–11
7. Li Y, Lu X, Guan H, Ren P (2017) Numerical investigation of progressive collapse resistance
of reinforced concrete frames subject to column removals from different stories. Adv Struct
Eng 19(2):314–326
8. Patel Kevins J, Patel Thushar N (2017) Effects of irregularity on progressive collapse of RCC
nuilding. Department of Civil Engineering, Sardar Vallabhai Patel Institute of Technology
9. Qian K, Li B, Ma JX (2017) Load-carrying mechanism to resist progressive collapse of RC
buildings. J Struct Eng (United States) 141(2):1–14
10. Umesh Jamakhandi SB (2015) Design and analysis of blast load on structures
11. Yu J, Tan KH (2014) Special detailing techniques to improve structural resistance against
progressive collapse. J Struct Eng (United States) 140(3):1–15
12. Byfield M, Mudalige W, Morison C, Stoddart E (2014) A review of Progressive Collapse
research and regulations. Proc Inst Civ Eng Struct Build 167(8):447–456
13. Yu J, Tan KH (2013) Structural behavior of RC beam-column subassemblages under a middle
column removal scenario. J Struct Eng (United States) 139(2):233–250
14. Qian K, Li B (2013) Strengthening and retrofitting of RC flat slabs to mitigate progressive
collapse by externally bonded CFRP laminates. J Compos Constr 17(4):554–565
15. Cai JG, Xu YX, Zhuang LP, Feng J, Zhang J (2012) Comparison of various procedures for
progressive collapse analysis of cable-stayed bridges. J Zhejiang Univ Sci A 13(5):323–334
16. Baciu C, Lupoae M (2012) Nonlinear analysis for a reinforced concrete frame structure under
extreme loads. Constructii 13(1):51
17. Hadi MNS, Alrudaini TMS (2011) Preventing the progressive collapse of reinforced concrete
buildings
18. Khandelwal K, El-Tawil S (2011) Pushdown resistance as a measure of robustness in
progressive collapse analysis. Eng Struct 33(9):2653–2661
19. Kokot S, Anthoine A, Negro P, Solomos G (2010) Static and dynamic analysis of a reinforced
concrete flat slab frame building for progressive collapse. JRC Scientific and Technical Reports
JRC 62663; European Commission, Joint Research Centre
20. Kim J, Kim T (2009) Assessment of progressive collapse-resisting capacity of steel moment
frames. J Constr Steel Res 65(1):169–179
Effect of Magnetized Water
on the Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash
Based Self Compacting Concrete
P. P. Magida Ruby and R. Vasudev
Abstract The water used in concrete plays a vital role in cement hydration,
managing workability and durability of structure. The limited availability of drinking
water raise the importance of optimizing use of drinking water in concrete construc-
tion. Magnetized water is prepared by passing normal water through a magnetic field
of 0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.2 T. The magnetized water can be considered as an
innovative technology to optimize the over usage of drinking water in construction.
Magnetized water has a unique ability to break down the water clusters and thereby
it enhance properties of concrete mix. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect
of magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.2 T) on fly ash by weight of cement
(fresh and hardened properties).
Keywords Fly ash · Hydration · Innovative technology · Magnetized water ·

Mechanical properties
1 Introduction
Self compacting concrete (SCC) was first developed in Japan, in the early nineties,
under the stimulating leadership of Prof. Okamura. The main idea to develop self
compacting concrete was to improve the labor conditions at the building site and in
the factory (noise, dust, vibrations).The main reasons behind the popularity of self
compacting concrete are the following, faster construction, reduction in site man
power, better surface finish, easy placing, improved durability, greater freedom in
design, thinner concrete sections, absence of vibration, reduced noise levels, safer
working environment are the unique properties of self-compacting concrete, the
remaining fresh and hardened properties are same as traditional concrete. It has been
observed that performance wise SCC is more capable than conventional concrete
P. P. M. Ruby (B) · R. Vasudev

Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Eranakulm, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_45
472 P. P. M. Ruby and R. Vasudev
because of its fluidity. This can reach all possible corners of formwork, without
giving any compaction efforts whereas in conventional concrete needs additional
effort for its compaction.
Water consumption is rising as the population and human needs grow. Industrial
sector comes in the second place with 20% water consumption. In concrete produc-
tion practice there is more than one billion tonnes of water consumed each year.
Water used in concrete production plays a vital role in the concrete mix, starting
from governing the hydration process of cement, along with proper curing in order
to reach the desired strength. This constraint along with the limited availability of
drinking water across the planet raised the important issue of optimizing the use of
water in concrete constructions. When water passes through a magnetic flux it is
known as magnetized water. The level of magnetization is controlled by the method
used and water purity. Using magnetized water has promising potentials in increasing
the strength. Magnetized water shows better properties compared to normal water.
The fly ash is a fine powder that is a by product of burning pulverized coal in electric
generation power plants. Fly ash is a pozzolanic substance containing aluminous and
siliceous material. Fly ash is a waste material, ad there by an effective waste disposal
method can be proposed.
2 Objectives of the Work
• To establish M40 equivalent Fly ash based Self compacting concrete with trial
mix (from 25%, 30% and 35% cement replacement by fly ash by weight of binder
content along with Normal water).
• To develop magnetized water passing through a magnetic field of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and
1.2 T.
• To the measure the properties of magnetized water (different field magnetized
water).
• To develop M 40 equivalent self compacting concrete with different field magne-
tized water (0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 T) and cement replacement by the addition of
fly ash (40% and 60% by weight of cement).
• To evaluate the optimum of magnetized water and fly ash in SCC based on strength
properties.
3 Experimental Methodology
The experimental methodology is designed to investigate the effect of magnetized

water on fly ash based self compacting concrete. In this proposed work the normal tap
water is replaced by magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.2 T) and the cement
is replaced by fly ash (30%, 40% and 60% to the weight of binder content).The exper-
imental methodology aimed to study the fresh and hardened properties of concrete
Effect of Magnetized Water on the Mechanical … 473
mixes. Fresh properties are slump flow test and J ring test, the hardened properties
are Compressive strength test and split tensile strength test.
3.1 Materials and Properties
The different materials used in the investigation are listed below and there physical
properties are stated in Table 1.
1. Cement: 53 grade ordinary Portland cement confirming IS: 12269:1987 was
used.
2. Fine aggregate: M sand with specific gravity 2.68,the fine aggregate conforming
to zone II according to IS: 383-1970 was used.
3. Coarse aggregate: The coarse aggregate of size 12 mm and down, having specific
gravity of 2.73.
4. Superplasticizer: To improve the workability of concrete Superplasticizer is
used. It is an admixture of a new generation based on modified polycarboxylic
ether.
5. Fly Ash: Class F fly ash is used for the experimental study. The chemical
composition of fly ash is illustrated in Table 2.
6. Normal water: The pH Value of Normal tap water is 7.07.
7. Magnetized water: The pH Value of magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and
1.2 T) are as follows 7.12, 7.29, 7.37, 7.48.
8. Magnets: Permanent Neyodinum earth magnets have been used (each magnet of
0.2 T), Shape of the magnets are round, Dimension of the magnet is 15 * 2 mm.
The unit of magnetic felid is TESLA (T).
9. Steel wires.
10. Iron rod: Iron rod of length 48 cm and diameter 1 cm is opted.
11. PVC Pipe: Transparent color pvc pipe of dimension, diameter 0.5 cm and length
180 cm is opted.

Cement Specific Gravity 3.14 IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Fineness 5% IS 4031-1988 Part-IV (Reaffirmed 2009)
Water absorption 2.60% IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2009)
Water absorption 0.358% IS 2386-1963 Part-III (Reaffirmed 2016)
Table 2 Chemical composition of fly ash

No. Parameters Results (%)
1 SiO2 46.80
2 Al2 O3 23.70
3 Fe2 O3 10.20
4 CaO 7.9
5 MgO 1.00
6 K2 O 0.77
7 SO3 1.20
8 Loss on ignition 6.9
3.2 Preparation of Magnetized Water
Iron rod of dimension (length 48 cm and diameter 1.5 cm), In oder to prevent rusting
of rod, the rod is painted. The rod is winded by wires and the permanent Neyodinum
magnets are being placed over the iron rod (0.2 T single unit).Both the ends of iron
rod is connected by pvc pipe, the ends of the pipes are connected to another set of
beakers.
The beakers are kept in two heights (say H1 and H2 ), the water will flow from
higher level to lower level. The beaker 1 is assigned to take up the normal water
and beaker 2 is assigned to take up magnetized water. The water is assigned to pass
through the experimental set up for about 24 h in oder to change the normal water to
magnetized water. To ensure or check the water being magnetized check the pH value
of the water. {Here water flows under the gravitational force (No external pumping
system is used)} (Fig. 1).
3.3 Mix Design
The mix design were carried out for concrete grade 40 MPa based on European
Federation for Specialist Construction chemicals and Concrete Systems (EFNARC)
guidelines [6]. The details of mixes are given in Table 3. All the ingredients are
first mixed in dry condition [6]. The water (normal water and magnetized water)
and super plastizeres are added to the mix and thoroughly mixed together and hence
the obtained mixed is subjected to check out the workability test [6]. SCC-O means
control mix obtained from 25%, 30% and 35% cement replaced fly ash. 30% cement
replacement by fly ash is opted as control mix, that is denoted as SCC-O.
Fig. 1 Experimental set up used for preparation of magnetized water. Specifications are given
below NW: Normal water, MW: Magnetized water, H1 : Height from B1 to magnetizing unit, H2 :
Height from B2 to magnetizing unit, B1 : Beaker no 1, B2 : Beaker no 2
Table 3 Mix design

Material Cement Fly ash Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate Water
Quantity (kg/m3 ) 413 177 868.14 753 200
Ratio 1 0.428 2.102 1.82 0.40
The self compacting or self consolidating concrete shows certain properties during
their fresh state. The mix design of SCC depends on the passing ability and flowing
ability without any segregation [1, 4] (Table 4).
The Hardened properties of Fly ash (30%, 40% and 60%) based self compacting
concrete with magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.2 T), were measured in
terms of compressive strength test and split tensile strength test confirming to IS
516:1959 (Reaffirmed 2004) and IS:5816:1999 (Reaffirmed 2004) respectively. The
compression test was conducted on 54 cubes of size 150 mm * 150 mm * 150 mm.
2000 kN Compression Testing Machine is used. The value at the failure point is
Table 4 Fresh properties of different SCC mixes

No. Mix designation T 50 slump flow Slump flow (mm) J Ring (mm) Passing ability
(s) (mm)
1 SCC-O 2.4 704 695 9
2 0.6 T FA 30 SCC 2.5 688 680 8
3 0.6 T FA 40 SCC 2.1 692 683 9
4 0.6 T FA 60 SCC 2.2 699 690 9
5 0.8 T FA 30 SCC 2.6 691 682 9
6 0.8 T FA 40 SCC 2.0 694 684 10
7 0.8 T FA 60 SCC 2.3 698 690 8
8 1.0 T FA 30 SCC 2.3 699 691 8
9 1.0 T FA 40 SCC 2.5 704 695 9
10 1.0 T FA 60 SCC 2.2 709 699 10
11 1.2 T FA 30 SCC 2.4 708 698 8
12 1.2 T FA 40 SCC 2.3 713 703 10
13 1.2 T FA 60 SCC 2.5 715 707 8
noted and strength is obtained by the relation between load and area. (Compressive
strength = load/Area).
Control mix is obtained by replacement of cement by 30% Fly ash and along with
normal water. Further the cement is replaced by various percentage of fly ash (30%,
40% and 60%) along with various type of magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T
and 1.2 T). According to 7 day compressive strength test, when 60% of cement is
replaced by fly ash along with various types of water the compressive strength is less
compared to control mix [12, 14].
During 28 day compressive strength test, similar trend is shown when 60% cement
is replaced by fly ash, i.e. compressive strength is decreasing. Optimum mix preferred
here on the basis of compressive strength is 0.8 T at 40% FA replacement (category
III). The increase in compressive strength can be due to fact that when the magnetic
field is applied to water, the single water molecules will be get partly separated from
the water molecule [5, 7, 9]. The number of this strong activity of this single water
molecule will be increased which can greatly enhance the activity of magnetic water
[8, 10, 11]. Therefore magnetic water molecules can easily enter the cement and
fly ash grains and can make the hydration more completely. But in case of 60%
cement replacement by FA, the strength is increasing but it doesn’t shows a similar
trend in increase in strength compared to 30% and 40% FA with different field water.
Reason can be, the fly ash requires more time to form sodium alumino silicate hydrate
(secondary compounds) gel to build up the mechanical property (Figs. 2 and 3) [13,
15].
Split tensile strength test is conducted on 39 cylinders of 150 m * 300 mm size,
2000 kN capacity. Compression Testing Machine is used to conduct test. The value
at the failure point is noted. The formula used for calculation of split tensile strength
Fig. 2 7 day compressive strength test of control mix and various type of magnetized water along
with fly ash based SCC
Fig. 3 28 day compressive strength test of control mix and various type of magnetized water along
is 2P/(3.14 D * L) The 7 day and 28 day split tensile strength test results are shown
in Figs. 4 and 5 [2, 3].
Optimum mix chosen out on the basis of split tensile strength is 0.8 T at 40% FA
replacement (category III).The reason is similar as commented above in compressive
strength [2, 3].
Fig. 4 7 day split tensile strength test of control mix and various type of magnetized water along
Fig. 5 28 day split tensile strength test of control mix and various type of magnetized water along
5 Conclusions
The research finding over the investigation on the effect of magnetized water on the
mechanical properties of fly ash based self compacting concrete is given as follows.
• Magnetized water improves the improves the workability properties of the spec-
imen (Table 3, Remarks ‘as per ASTM1621/C1621M): No visible blocking since
passing ability values are between 0 and 25 mm’).
• Magnetized water improves the cement hydration process. When the magnetic
field is applied to water, the single water molecules will be get partly separated
from the water molecule. The number of this strong activity of this single water
molecule will be increased which can greatly enhance the activity of magnetic
water. Therefore magnetic water molecules can easily enter the cement and fly
ash grains and can make the hydration more completely.
• Increasing in compressive strength for 30% and 40% FA is noted out along with
different categories of magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.2 T).
• When the cement is replaced by fly ash at 60% (To weight of cement) along
with various categories of magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.2 T) the
compressive strength is less than compared to control mix.
• Increasing in split tensile strength for 30% and 40% FA is noted out along with
different categories of magnetized water (0.6 T, 0.8 T.1.0 T and 1.2 T).
• Similar result is shown in split tensile strength, when the cement is replaced by
fly ash at 60% (To weight of cement) along with various categories of magnetized
water (0.6 T, 0.8 T, 1.0 T and 1.0 T) the split strength is less than compared to
control mix.
• Percentage of increase in compressive strength is about 6–14% (for 30% and 40%
FA with various field MW).
• Percentage of increase in split tensile strength is about 4–12.8% (for 30% and
40% FA with various field MW).
• Percentage of increase in compressive strength and split tensile strength is about
2.4–8% and 2–6% (for 60% FA with different field water).
References
1. Abdalhmid MJ, Ashour AF, Sheehan T (2019) Long-term drying shrinkage of self-compacting
concrete: experimental and analytical investigation. J Constr Build Mater 202:825–837
2. Abdelgader AAB, Hamdan RM, Magid TIMA, Omer MEA (2017) Effect of magnetized water
on workability and compressive strength of concrete. In: Proceedings of international confer-
ence on analytical models and new concepts in concrete and masonry structures AMCM, vol
193, pp 494–500
3. Akinpelu AM, Muhammed ZF, Odeyemi OS, Olafusi SO (2019) Evaluation of splitting tensile
and compressive strength relationship of self compacting concrete. J King Saud Univ Eng Sci
31:19–25
4. Brouwers HJH, Radix HJ (2005) Self Compacting concrete theoretical and experimental study.
J Cement Concr Res 35:2116–2136
5. Chun XZ, Feng XP (2013) The magnetization of water arising from a magnetic-field and its
applications in concrete industry. Int J Eng Res Appl 03(5):1541–1552
6. EFNARC (2002) Specification and guidelines for Self Compacting Concrete. www.efnarc.org
7. Esmaeilnezhad E, Choi HJ, Schaffie M, Gholizadeh M, Ranjbar M (2017) Characteristics and
applications of magnetized water as a green technology. J Clean Prod 161:908–921
8. Gao K, Gong Z, Wang Y, Ou Y, Zhan J, Zhang B (2013) The effect of a static magnetic field
on the hydrogen bonding in water using frictional experiments. J Mol Struct 1052:102–104
9. Gao H, Wang X, Wang Y, Yang Z, Yao X (2015) Analysis on properties of magnetised water
and its application in sprayed concrete. J Mater Innov 19:215–218
10. Gao H, Wang Y, Yao X (2014) Analysis on microstructure of impermeability of magnetized
water concrete. J Chem Pharm Res 06(7):189–199
11. Jose J, Roy N, Shine T (2018) Comparative experimental investigation on strength char-
acteristics of concrete mixed with magnetized water. Int J Innov Res Sci Eng Technol
07(2):1566–1571
12. Luo J, Wang Y, Wei H (2017) Influence of magnetic water on early age shrinkage cracking of
concrete. J Constr Build Mater 14:91–100
13. Magriotis MZ, Ramalho CT, Toledo EJL (2008) Influence of magnetic field on physical chem-
ical properties of the liquid water: insights from experimental and theoretical models. J Mol
Struct 888:409–415
14. Malathy R, Manjupriya T (2016) Experimental investigation on strength and shrinkage
properties of concrete mixed with magnetically treated water. Int J Eng Adv Res Technol
02(3):46–50
15. Mar CY, Su N, Wu HY (2000) Effect of magnetic water on the engineering properties of
concrete containing granulated blast furnace slag. J Cement Concr Res 30:599–605
Effect of Immersion Time
on the Mechanical Properties of Glass
Fibre Reinforced Concrete with Glass
Powder Immersed in Water
K. Sana and Anju Paul
Abstract Production of cement causes environmental problems like global warming

due to the release of carbon dioxide. Usage of cement can be reduced by partially
replacing cement in concrete with a suitable material. This paper studies the effect
of water immersed glass powder and glass fibre mechanical properties of concrete.
Cement is partially replaced with 10, 15 and 20% of glass powder by weight of cement
immersed in water at 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6 h. Glass powder is added to the water required
for the mix before adding it to the cement and aggregates. Then 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and
1% glass fibre by weight of cement is incorporated in to the concrete containing
optimum percentage of glass powder with optimum immersion time. Glass fibre
having length of 6 mm and diameter 14 µm is used. Calcium and sodium ions are
dissolved in presence of water from glass powder (Abo-Hasseira et al. in Constr
Build Mater 206:674–682, 2019 [1]; Elaqra et al. in Constr Build Mater 203:75–82,
2019 [5]). Concentration of sodium ions decreases with immersion time as it bonds
with silicon dioxide on the surface of glass powder particles (Abo-Hasseira et al.
in Constr Build Mater 206:674–682, 2019 [1]). This paper discusses compressive
strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength of concrete. Higher strength is
obtained due to the packing filling effect of glass powder and pozzolanic reaction
due to the free ions in water before mixing with the concrete.
Keywords Glass powder · Glass fibre · Mechanical properties · Immersion time ·

Pozzolanic property
K. Sana (B) · A. Paul

Department of Civil Engineering, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology,
Arakkunnam, Ernakulam, India
A. Paul

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_46
482 K. Sana and A. Paul
1 Introduction
Sustainable construction is a method of creating structures with renewable and recy-

clable resources, reducing energy consumption, using waste materials etc. Sustain-
able concrete can be developed by replacing fine aggregate and coarse aggregate,
using supplementary cementitious materials etc. Waste management is a big chal-
lenge in the present time. Indian glass industry produces huge amount of glass waste.
Glass waste is difficult to dispose. Generally glass wastes are disposed on land which
is not an economical solution. So the utilization of glass waste in concrete is done
in many ways as cement replacement, fine aggregate replacement etc. As concrete
is the most used construction material, huge quantity of cement is produced every
year. Cement production causes emission of carbon dioxide which may cause envi-
ronmental problems [2]. So even if a small quantity of cement production can be
reduced, it will be very beneficial to the environment. Glass is mainly composed of
silica. Use of milled waste glass in concrete as partial replacement of cement [6,
7] will be an important step towards the development of sustainable infrastructure
systems. Glass in its powdered forms is expected to undergo pozzolanic reactions
with cement hydrates, forming secondary Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C–S–H) [9, 10,
12]. Water immersed glass powder helps to form more C–S–H in concrete, due to
the hydrolysis of glass powder in to free ions of SiO2 , CaO and Na2 O in the water
[1, 5]. When glass powder is added to water more sodium ions are formed due to
the higher mobility of sodium ions compared to calcium ions. But the concentration
of sodium ions will decrease as a function of immersion time as it bonds with the
silicon dioxide on the surface of glass powder particles [1, 5]. The double effect of
the development of pozzolanic reaction due to the increase of the free ions in the
water before mixing with the concrete and the packing filling effect of glass powder
will cause early development of compressive strength [1, 5]. Usage of glass fibre in
concrete improves compressive strength, tensile strength, ductility etc of concrete
[3, 4, 11]. Glass fibre reinforced concrete has many advantages such as lightweight,
fire resistant property etc. Incorporation of glass fibre and water immersed glass
powder in concrete may enhance the properties of concrete in terms of strength and
durability.
2.1 Materials
The materials used in this study are cement, glass powder (GP), fine aggregate,
coarse aggregate, water, Super plasticizer and glass fibre (GF). Ordinary Portland
cement of 53 grade conforming to IS 12269:1987 (reaffirmed 2013) is used. Fine
aggregate used in this work is M-sand (manufactured sand) confirming to zone II
of IS 383:1970 (reaffirmed 2016). Coarse aggregate used in this work is crushed
Effect of Immersion Time on the Mechanical Properties … 483
Table 1 Chemical composition of glass powder

Silica (SiO2 ) 72.5
Alumina (Al2 O3 ) 0.4
Iron oxide (Fe2 O3 ) 0.2
Calcium oxide (CaO) 9.7
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 3.3
Sodium oxide (Na2 O) 13.7
Potassium oxide (K2 O) 0.1
Loss of ignition 0.36
Fineness percentage passing (sieve size) 80 (45 µm)
Unit weight (kg/m3 ) 2579
Table 2 Properties of glass fibre

Property Value
Fibre length (mm) 6
Filament diameter (microns) 14
Loss on ignition (%) 1
Moisture (%) 0.9
Softening point (°C) 845
stone with a maximum nominal aggregate size of 20 mm confirming to IS 383:1970

(reaffirmed 2016). Glass powder is made by crushing and milling process of glass
containers, bottles, pieces of window glass etc. in to grounded form. Glass powder
used in this work is collected from cloudtail India Private Limited, its chemical
composition is given in Table 1. Glass fibre is a material consisting of numerous
extremely fine fibres of glass. Glass fibre used in this study is collected from Buddha
Building Technology, its properties are given in Table 2. Figures 1 and 2 show glass
powder and glass fibre respectively. Super plasticizer used was Master glenium and
potable water was used for both mixing and curing.
2.2 Mix Design
The mix design was done as per IS 10262:2019 [8]. The mix proportion with a water
cement ratio of 0.41 is shown in Table 3.
Fig. 1 Glass powder
Fig. 2 Glass fibre

Mix designation Cement (kg/m3 ) Fine aggregate (kg/m3 ) Coarse aggregate (kg/m3 )
M30 385 703 1192
1 1.82 3.09
2.3 Preparation of Water Immersed Glass Powder Concrete

(WGP) and Glass Fibre Reinforced Water Immersed
Glass Powder Concrete (GFWGP)
Cement was partially replaced with 10, 15 and 20% glass powder by weight of
cement. Glass powder was first immersed in water required for the mix for different
immersion times of 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6 h. Then the glass powder along with the mixing
water was added to the concrete mix. Glass fibre was added to the water immersed
glass powder concrete containing optimum glass powder content with optimum
immersion time. Glass fibre was added in different percentages of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75
and 1% by weight of cement.
The results of compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength
of concrete specimens for water immersed glass powder concrete and glass fibre
reinforced water immersed glass powder concrete are as follows.
Compressive strength test was conducted on 150 mm×150 mm×150 mm concrete

cubes as per IS 516:1959 (reaffirmed 2018) in digital compression testing machine.
Compressive strength test was conducted after 7 days and 28 days of curing.
Compressive strengths of water immersed glass powder concrete mixes and glass
fibre reinforced water immersed glass powder concrete mixes are shown in Figs. 3,
4 and 5 respectively.
Maximum 28 day compressive strength of 43.92 N/mm2 was obtained for 10%
glass powder content with an immersion time of 1.5 h but the optimum percentage
of glass powder content was 15% with an immersion time of 4.5 h, having a 28 day
compressive strength of 41.59 N/mm2 . WGP concrete mix containing 15% glass
powder with an immersion time of 4.5 h is taken as the optimum WGP concrete as it
replaces more cement comparing with 10% glass powder replacement and it showed
an increase in compressive strength of 7.57% comparing with the control mix.
Compressive strength of GFWGP concrete increased up to 0.75% glass fibre
addition. Maximum compressive strength of 43.85 N/mm2 is obtained for 0.75%
GF with a percentage increase of 13.4% and 5.43% compared to control mix and
optimum mix of WGP concrete.
Fig. 3 7 day compressive strength of concrete mixes with different percentages of glass powder
content at different immersion times
Fig. 4 28 day compressive strength of concrete mixes with different percentages of glass powder
Fig. 5 Compressive strength of water immersed glass powder concrete with different percentage
fibre reinforcement
When glass powder immersed in water SiO2 , CaO, Na2 O ions are dissolved in
water. These ions will help to form more calcium silicate hydrate than portlandite
in cement hydration. Progress of the pozzolanic reaction due to silica present in the
undissolved glass powder and packing filling effect of glass powder that is densi-
fication of interfacial transition zone by smaller glass powder particles contributed
strength to water immersed glass powder concrete mixes. The increase in strength
parameters of glass fibre reinforced water immersed glass powder concrete mixes
are due to bridging effect of glass fibre at the surface of cracks.
2.4.2 Split Tensile Strength
Split tensile strength test was conducted as per IS 5816:1999 (reaffirmed 2018)
in digital compression testing machine. Split tensile strength test was conducted
after 28 days of curing. Split tensile strengths of WGP concrete mixes and GFWGP
concrete mixes are shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 respectively. A percentage decrease
of 8.57% is observed for split tensile strength of optimum WGP mix compared to
Fig. 6 28 day split tensile strength of concrete mixes with different percentages of glass powder
Fig. 7 Split tensile strength of water immersed glass powder concrete with different percentage
fibre reinforcement
Fig. 8 28 day flexural strength of concrete mixes with different percentages of glass powder content
at different immersion times
control mix. An increase in split tensile strength of 14.6% is obtained for GFWGP
concrete containing 0.75% glass fibre content compared to control Mix.
Flexural strength test was conducted as per IS 516:1959 (Reaffirmed 2018) in

Universal testing machine. Flexural strength test was conducted after 28 days of
curing. Flexural strengths of water immersed glass powder concrete mixes and glass
fibre reinforced water immersed glass powder concrete mixes are shown in Figs. 8
and 9 respectively. An increase in flexural strength of 18.88% is obtained for the
optimum WGP mix compared to the control mix. An increase in flexural strength
of 21.76% is obtained for GFWGP concrete containing 0.75% glass fibre content
compared to control Mix.
Fig. 9 Flexural strength of water immersed glass powder concrete with different percentages fibre
reinforcement
3 Conclusion
In this study, an experimental investigation on the strength properties of water

immersed glass powder concrete and glass fibre reinforced water immersed glass
powder concrete was conducted. The following conclusions were made,
• An increase in compressive strength of 7.57% is obtained for the optimum mix
of WGP Concrete containing 15% glass powder by weight of cement with an
immersion time of 4.5 h.
• Optimum mix of WGP concrete showed a percentage decrease of 8.57 for split
tensile strength compared to control mix.
• Maximum compressive strength of 43.85 N/mm2 is obtained for 0.75% GF with a
percentage increase of 13.4% and 5.43% compared to control mix (38.66 N/mm2 )
and optimum mix (41.59 N/mm2 ) of WGP concrete.
• An increase of 14.6% is obtained for split tensile strength of GFWGP concrete
containing 0.75% GF (4.15 N/mm2 ) compared to control Mix (3.62 N/mm2 ).
• Flexural strength of GFWGP concrete 0.75% GF increased by 21.76% compared
to control mix.
• Significant improvement in flexural strength is obtained for all GFWGP concrete
mixes, but flexural strength decreased with increase in glass fibre content
• The increase in strength properties are due to the packing filling effect and
pozzolanic reaction of glass powder and bridging effect of glass fibre.
References
1. Abo-Hasseira AB, Al-Afghany MA, Alwan MD, Elaqra HA, Elmasry IH, Tabasi AM (2019)
Effect of immersion time of glass powder on mechanical properties of concrete contained glass
powder as cement replacement. Constr Build Mater 206:674–682
2. Aboshama AY, Aliabdo AA (2016) Utilization of waste glass powder in the production of
cement and concrete. Constr Build Mater 124:866–877
3. Akca AH, Akyuncu V, Chowdhury S, Kabay N, Kizilkanat AB (2015) Mechanical properties
and fracture behaviour of basalt and glass fibre reinforced concrete: an experimental study.
4. Ali B, Qureshi LA (2019) Influence of glass fibres on mechanical and durability performance
of concrete with recycled aggregates. Constr Build Mater 228:1–15
5. Elaqra HA, Haloub MAA, Rustom RN (2019) Effect of new mixing method of glass powder
as cement replacement on mechanical behavior of concrete. Constr Build Mater 203:75–82
6. Elaqra H, Rustom R (2018) Effect of using glass powder as cement replacement on rheological
and mechanical properties of cement paste. Constr Build Mater 179:326–335
7. Ghahremaninezhad A, Kamali M (2015) Effect of glass powders on the mechanical and
durability properties of cementitious materials. Constr Build Mater 98:407–416
8. IS 10262:2019 Indian standard Concrete mix proportioning—guidelines (Second revision),
Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi
9. Islam GMS, Kazi N, Rahman MH (2017) Waste glass powder as partial replacement of cement
for sustainable concrete practice. Int J Sustain Built Environ 6:37–44
10. Ismail SI, Naber NE, Rahma A (2017) Effect of glass powder on the compression strength and
the workability of concrete. Cogent Eng 4:1–12
11. Kasagani H, Rao CBK (2018) Effect of graded fibers on stress strain behaviour of glass fiber
reinforced concrete in tension. Constr Build Mater 183:592–604
12. Zheng K (2016) Pozzolanic reaction of glass powder and its role in controlling alkali-silica
reaction. Cement Concr Compos 67:30–38
Assessment of Fraction Effects on Flow
Characteristic of Cement Mortar Using
Natural and Manufactured Sand
Chintan Vohra and Parth Thaker
Abstract The concrete’s workability is divided into three phases namely coarse
aggregate phase, mortar phase and cement paste phase. The coarse aggregate phase
comprises of coarse aggregate and mortar phase. The mortar phase of concrete
primarily comprises of binder, fine aggregate and water. The function of mortar phase
is to impart workability to the concrete. Holistically, factors like water content, shape
of aggregates and gradation of aggregates plays an important role in regulating the
workability of mortar. However, there is no such methodology established from which
one can predict the workability of concrete based on the texture and shape parameters
of aggregates. To study the relation of above-mentioned factors on the workability,
tests were carried out using uniformly graded and well graded Natural sand and
Manufactured sand for assessment of shape parameters and workability. The shape
parameters of fine aggregates were obtained through Digital Image Processing (DIP)
method which was conducted on at least 600 individual particles from each grade
of both samples. The workability of cement mortar for both the samples are tested
at water-cement ratios (0.3, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45, 0.5) and cement-sand ratios (1:1, 1:2,
1:3, 1:4). Mini flow table test was used to check workability in terms of its average
flow. From the experimental results a relationship is developed, which states that the
average flow of zone sand is proportional to the weighted average of the product of
the average flow of the mortar for a particular sieve class, at its corresponding W/C
and C/S ratio, and proportion in the given sand sample. The proposed equation to
predict the workability of cement mortar is validated using test results.
Keywords Workability · Digital image processing · Mini flow table test · Average
flow diameter · Shape and size characteristics
C. Vohra (B)
Contech Chemicals, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
P. Thaker
Fuji Silvertech Concrete Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_47
492 C. Vohra and P. Thaker
Abbreviations
Ap Area of particle outline

Da Diameter of a circle with an area equal to that of the particle outline
Dc Diameter of smallest circumscribed circle
Pp Perimeter of particle outline
Pa Perimeter of a circle of the same area as particle outline
Ac Area of the smallest circumscribing circle
Dins Diameter of the largest inscribed circle Perimeter,
Pconv Perimeter of convex hull
Sn Sieve class
NS Natural sand
MS Manufactured sand
W/C Water-Cement ratio
C/S Cement-Sand ratio
DIP Digital Image Processing
DSLR Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera
IS Indian Standard
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
Workability of concrete is a physical parameter which affects the strength and dura-
bility of concrete [1–3]. The placement method, space constraints and the size of
aggregate are governing parameters for establishing a bracket in which workability of
the mix is defined [4, 5]. The concrete is a three-phase system that primarily consists
of a coarse aggregate phase, mortar phase, and cement phase. The workability of the
concrete’s field of influence lies in the mortar phase. The factors governing worka-
bility of mortar phase is shape and size of fine aggregates, cement to sand ratio and
water cement ratio [6, 7]. The effect of cement and sand and water binder ratio on
cement mortar can quantified by various fresh properties tests with suitable indica-
tors for degree of workability in the mix, and in addition with assessing quantifiable
rheological parameters [8–10]. However, only some research has been done on how
the contribution of shape parameters of aggregate on the workability of mortar is
affected [11, 12]. On visual inspection one can predict that the aggregates which
are angular or has rough texture can reduce the workability of mortar as compared
to the aggregates which are round and has smooth texture. However, at this time
no research has been done regarding at what degree, various shape factors affect
workability. Shape parameters not limited to angularity but other parameters like
sphericity, roundness, texture, surface area, flakiness, elongation, and aspect ratio
Assessment of Fraction Effects on Flow Characteristic … 493
are parameters contributes to define a shape of aggregate [13–18]. For this study
tests are carried out with respect to shape parameters like angularity, roundness,
sphericity, and aspect ratio considering them the primary shape factors. These are
primary factors which not only impacts the workability of cement mortar but also
affects the hardening properties of concrete [10, 18–22]. Research shows that crushed
aggregates having a higher angular number increases tensile properties of concrete in
the concrete compared to the ones with rounded aggregates [2, 24–27]. Similarly, the
shape of the crushed stone aggregates significantly impacted the rutting resistance
in asphalt mix concrete [28, 29].
Digital Image Processing (DIP) has its application in various disciplines such
as medicine, meteorology, geology, material science, and manufacturing. In civil
engineering DIP is used for studying the shape and size of aggregate particles, to
identify fracture cracks on the cross section of hardened concrete, to map the cracks
on asphalt surface [23, 30, 31]. There are various methods to carry out DIP depending
upon the complexity of the element and the order of assessment of that element [4,
17, 32–34]. One of the techniques involves extracting 3-D quantitative parameters
assessment using 2-D image information [34, 35]. Another method uses CT scan
imaging techniques to identify the surface texture and shape factors of aggregate
particles using vector projection method and aggregate shape parameters are drawn
out from the scan [36–38]. The image processing measures the shape parameters of
an element by converting the image into a binary image where each pixel is assigned
1 and 0 based on black and white in their respective block. The software processes
the binary image, to output shape data from the aggregate projected pixels [40].
1.2 Need of Study
To study the shape parameters, influence on the workability of cement mortar one
must have a clear understanding of the particle size distribution over the entire spec-
trum of the given sample of aggregates. The method of sieve analysis can be deemed
inaccurate method for calculating the mean average size of aggregate as the rela-
tively elongated aggregates tend to pass from the sieve, therefore, reporting error in
the results. DIP on the other hand can simultaneously report all the shape parameters
on a single run [34, 39, 41]. Particle size distribution can be carried out efficiently and
quickly by processing the image of aggregate. In addition, gross surface area of the
aggregate particles can be determined from the results obtained from DIP to under-
stand the correlation between cement paste film thickness, water film thickness, and
workability of cement mortar [41, 42]. This study can contribute in developing an
empirical equation which can be used to predict the workability of the concrete mix
which can help engineers to conduct relatively less trials compared to traditional
methods of trial and error while designing a concrete mix [9, 43, 44]. This study
can also help researchers with the role of shape factors in rheological properties of
concrete. In addition to optimize workability of mortar, research has been carried out
for optimizing water film thickness and paste film thickness. These parameters will
enable researchers to correlate the film thickness, shape effects to the workability of
mortar [41, 44, 45]. The effect in mortar phase can be extended further from mortar
phase to concrete phase. This will also help to understand rheological properties of
concrete and Non-Newtonian characteristics, cement mortar exhibits at low water
cement ratios. Study shows that the thickness of cement film and water film in the
mortar phase has a significant effect on fluidity of concrete [46].
1.3 Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this study is to compare the shape characteristics of the river sand and
manufactured sand as given in Table 1 by using the method of DIP; and to measure the
workability of cement mortar using individual fraction of sand and artificially zone
sand at a range of different water-cement ratios and cement-sand ratios. The results
of the shape characteristics and the workability will then be checked for degree of
correlation. A probable methodology will be proposed which can help researchers
to predict the workability of mortar or concrete from the results obtained from DIP.
Table 1 Shape characteristics definitions and schematic diagram [47]

Parameter Definition Figure Significance
Sphericity Da/Dc Sphericity is concerned
only with the form of the
grain i.e. how close its
shape resembles to a
sphere but not how round
the boundaries of the
particle are
Roundness (Pp)2 /4 Ap Roundness is concerned
with the degree of
roundness of edges of
any given surface of
aggregates
Roughness/angularity (pconv/Pp)2 The angularity is the
measure of the degree of
sharpness on the surface
of particle. Higher
angularity number more
will be the sharp edges
Aspect ratio Major axis/minor axis Aspect ratio is the ratio
of dimension of major
axis to minor axis
Fig. 1 Visual inspection of degree of roundness and sphericity in aggregates [2]
Fig. 2 Visual inspection for shape of aggregates [2]
The shape of aggregates can also be assessed visually and can be classified as
angular or rounded. Figures 1 and 2 explains to assess the aggregates shape based
on visual inspection and value of shape parameters.
2 Expermental Materials and Methodology
2.1 Materials
For the experiment, Ordinary Portland Cement of 53 grade was used as a binder.
OPC-53 confirms the specifications provided in IS:269:2015 [48]. The tests of the
physical properties were carried out as per IS:4031 and chemical analysis as per
Table 2 Size class of manufactured sand and river sand [52]

Size class Sieve size range
Lower sieve size (Upper size sieve)
(Material retained on) (Material passing from)
S1 2.36 mm 4.75 mm
S2 1.18 mm 2.36 mm
S3 600 µm 1.18 mm
S4 300 µm 600 µm
S5 150 µm 300 µm
IS:4032 [49, 50]. Two tests were conducted to determine the void content within
the aggregate and in loosely packed sand. The test is carried out in accordance with
IS:2386 Part-3: 1963 (Reaffirmed 2016): specific gravity, density, voids, absorption,
and bulking [51]. The fine aggregates were procured in different size classes. For
testing, the workability of mortar using fine aggregates with blend of each sieve class,
sand samples of different zones for natural sand and quarry sand, were prepared by
artificially proportioning each sieve class to form sand samples of Zone-1, Zone-2
and Zone-3 each confirming to IS: 383: specifications for coarse and fine aggregate
of concrete [52]. The proportion of sand from each sieve class is taken as the average
of upper and lower limit the percentage passing from the sieve as given in Tables 2,
3 and 4 shows the proportion of each sieve class for different zones of sand given in
Fig. 3.
The research was divided in two parts, the first part was to conduct Digital Image
Processing of at least 600 aggregate particles from each sieve class were conducted,
and after obtaining the shape parameters such as sphericity, roundness, angularity,
and aspect ratio correlation analysis was carried out.
In second part of the test to check the workability of cement mortar; samples
were prepared with different water cement ratios (W/C = 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5),
cement to sand ratios for individual class size, and artificially blended sand in ratios
(C:A = 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4). The samples were tested on a modified mini flow table
and average flow in millimeters was measured. The detail experimental program is
shown in Table 5.
Table 3 Artificially zoned sand sample proportioning
Zone-1 Zone-2 Zone-3
Sieve size Average of Cumulative |B(n) − B(n − Average of Cumulative |B(n) - B(n-1)| Average of Cumulative |B(n) - B(n-1)|
percentage percentage 1) (%)| percentage percentage Percentage Percentage
passing from particles passing from particles Passing from particles
IS:383: 2016 retained (B) IS:383: 2016 retained (B) IS:383: 2016 retained (B)
(A) (%) (%) (A) (A)
10 mm 100.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00
4.75 mm 95.00 5.00 5.00 95.00 5.00 5.00 95.00 5.00 5.00
Assessment of Fraction Effects on Flow Characteristic …
2.36 mm 76.50 23.50 18.50 86.50 13.50 8.50 91.50 8.50 3.50
1.18 mm 48.00 52.00 28.50 70.50 29.50 16.00 76.41 23.59 15.09
600 µm 21.50 78.50 26.50 44.00 56.00 26.50 40.05 59.95 36.36
300 µm 5.00 95.00 16.50 8.00 92.00 36.00 9.00 91.00 31.05
150 µm 0.00 100.00 5.00 0.00 100.00 8.00 0.00 100.00 9.00
497
Table 4 Proportion of each sieve class for different zones of sand

Sieve class Sieve size Zone-1 (%) Zone-2 (%) Zone-3 (%)
S1 4.75–2.36 mm 5.00 5.00 5.00
S2 2.36–1.18 mm 18.50 8.50 3.50
S3 1.18–600 µm 28.50 16.00 15.09
S4 600–300 µm 26.50 26.50 36.36
S5 300–150 µm 21.50 44.00 40.05
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Fig. 3 Different sieve class of natural sand sample
3 Experimental Programme and Results
3.1 Pilot Study
Pilot study is carried out to check the working range of DIP setup which can result
with minimum error and measure the behavior of mortar for low and high workability.
Various methods are available to check the workability of fresh cement mortar based
on which different workability indicators are developed. It was observed that the DIP
setup worked accurately for sieve class ranging from S1 to S4. The workability test
is carried out using a modified mini flow table which has a base plate of diameter of
450 mm in order to measure the flow of high workable mix efficiently. An attempt
was made to measure workability of mixes which had zero flow by using stress
and strain indicators using geotechnical vane shear test in accordance with IS: 2720
(Part-30) laboratory vane shear test [52, 53], however, due to its low angular velocity,
the sample started showing a stiffening effect before failure hence the readings were
not accurate.
3.1.1 Digital Image Processing of Aggregates
To determine the operating range of the setup, particles of different sieve classes
were placed on the tray and DIP was conducted and particles were analyzed. It
was discovered that the accuracy was reduced for particles of a size range 300–
150 µm. For example, if the particle size was smaller than 300 µm, a test was
carried out by using a stereo zoom microscope. However, all the images acquired
were difficult to analyze as it was difficult to differentiate between foreign particles,
Table 5 Experimental program

Test Testing of Sample type Cement sand Water cement
sample ratio ratio
Mini flow table test Testing of graded 4.75–2.36 mm (S1) C:S = 1:1 W/C = 0.30
for natural sand and aggregates C:S = 1:2 W/C = 0.35
manufactured sand W/C = 0.40
C:S = 1:3 W/C = 0.45
C:S = 1:4 W/C = 0.50
2.36–1.18 mm (S2) C:S = 1:1
C:S = 1:2
C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
1.18 mm–600 µm C:S = 1:1
(S3) C:S = 1:2
C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
600–300 µm (S4) C:S = 1:1
C:S = 1:2
C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
300–150 µm (S5) C:S = 1:1
C:S = 1:2
C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
Testing of fine Zone-1 C:S = 1:1
aggregates C:S = 1:2
constituting of
each sieve class C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
Zone-2 C:S = 1:1
C:S = 1:2
C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
Zone-3 C:S = 1:1
C:S = 1:2
C:S = 1:3
C:S = 1:4
Fig. 4 a Microscope camera. b Setup of stereo microscope
Fig. 5 a Image of Natural Sand acquired from microscope. b DIP image of the acquired image
cracks, and the actual aggregate particles. Moreover, manual separation of particles
was difficult which resulted into clustered output which would output inaccurate
reading. Therefore, the method was not adopted further. Figure 4 shows the setup
of microscope, connected with Procam microscopic camera of 20 MP mounted over
stereo microscope of Radical make (Fig. 5).
3.1.2 Workability of Mortar
The modified flow table test is performed to check the operating range, that is from
harsh mix to flowable mix as shown in Fig. 6. Harsh mix is classified as the concrete
mix in a fresh state which deforms or cracks on application of static or dynamic stress
[55]; the mix resisted to flow on testing it on modified flow table test and generated
cracks through the matrix on testing. To cover the spectrum of quantifying workability
of harsh mix, geotechnical vane shear apparatus in accordance with IS:2720 (Part-
30) laboratory vane shear test was used as illustrated in Fig. 7. Workability of harsh
mixes can be defined as a two-point function of shear stress and strain. Higher the
Fig. 6 Pilot-study—Flowability check. a Harsh mix. b Flowable mix
Fig. 7 Pilot study—Vane

shear test for harsh mix
torque exerted to rotate the vane blades in the mix, harsher is the mix [54, 56]. It
was observed that because of slow rotational speed of the vane shear apparatus the
results obtained was inaccurate because of the stiffening effect in the cement mortar.
Therefore, a single point mini flow table test was used to check the workability of
cement mortar.
Fig. 8 Calibration of DIP setup using a uniform object
3.2 Experimental Program
3.2.1 Digital Image Processing Calibration
The DIP setup consists of a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, model no
D5500, Nikon make equipped with a 35 mm lens was mounted over a tripod. The
surface on which the aggregates samples were placed, were approximately 70 mm
away from the camera lens, so that the device can focus on the samples clearly. For
calibration, a uniform object like a coin is used for DIP as shown in Fig. 8. The
error was ±0.02% and was obtained by comparing dimensions obtained digitally
and manually with the help of Vernier calipers.
The river sand samples had lighter shades and less dark particles, they were kept
above black paper which was painted with two coats of generic black spray paint,
while the quarry sand samples were kept over the white background like A4 size
75 GSM printing paper. This enables the software to differentiate the sample from
background efficiently and incurring less error.
3.2.2 Digital Image Processing
Every fine aggregate specimen of a different sieve class was clustered in a group of
100 and was placed in a grid pattern on the tray right below the camera’s viewfinder
near a metric scale for scaling of image. The captured image was then subjected
to image correction; image was first converted to an 8-bit color toned image type
thereafter; image threshold was calibrated in a way to minimize the background noise.
The background noise was then removed by removing outliers. The edges of the
image were corrected by eroding and dilating the edges of the particles. Afterwards,
the conversion shape parameters were extracted out from the image. Figure 10 shows
the actual image conversion to a 2 bit image over which the software run particle
analysis (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9 Particle arrangement and image capturing process
Fig. 10 a Captured image. b Final image for shape analysis
3.3 Workability of Mortar
The cement and aggregate samples were pre-packed in calculated proportion in a zip
lock bags, then labeled with the mix proportion details, water cement ratio, aggregate
type/zone of sand, and type of aggregates as shown in Fig. 11. The samples were
then dry mixed in the digital Hobart mixing machine for 30 s. The required quantity
of water was then added and mixed at low speed for 30 s and high speed for 2.5 min.
The sample was then placed in mini flow table mould in two layers each compacted
by providing 25 strokes using rubber tamping rod. The mold was then removed, and
the table was allowed to drop 15 times from 25 mm height in a 2 s interval. The flow
spread in millimeters was recorded using a digital Vernier caliper on pre-marked
chord lines (Fig. 12 and Table 6).
Fig. 11 Nomenclature for pre-packed bags
Fig. 12 a Flow Measurement mark. b Measurement of flow using Vernier calipers
Table 6 Batching details

Total sample weight = 600 g per batch
Mix ratio Cement (g) Sand (g)
1:1 300 300
1:2 200 400
1:3 150 450
1:4 120 480
Table 7 Natural sand flow trend for different sieve class
Natural Sand Flow Trend (mm)
W/C 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
C:S 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
S1 100.61 0.00 0.00 115.48 0.00 0.00 145.73 101.22 0.00 199.15 106.85 0.00 230.49 115.21 0.00
S2 121.43 0.00 0.00 169.96 100.77 0.00 213.52 125.69 101.74 255.20 160.73 103.81 263.43 197.24 110.98
S3 110.39 0.00 0.00 166.78 100.35 0.00 207.97 107.00 0.00 245.99 118.75 0.00 254.54 184.69 0.00
S4 109.16 0.00 0.00 122.43 0.00 0.00 199.93 105.18 0.00 250.06 106.42 0.00 261.89 139.39 0.00
S5 100.43 0.00 0.00 100.55 0.00 0.00 115.74 0.00 0.00 142.96 100.62 0.00 155.88 103.44 0.00
505
3.4 Data Collection and Analysis
3.4.1 Shape Parameters of Aggregates Obtained from Digital Image

Processing
There were 4–5% of aggregates particles whose mean dimension in X and Y direction
was larger than the sieve size through which the particle passes. Hence, sieve analysis
is not an accurate method for determining the mean particle size. Particles of S3,
shows relatively higher voids as compared to other fractions in loose and compacted
state as shown in Fig. 13.
Considering the given data, from Figs. 2 and 3, manufactured sand has a sub-
angular and sub-rounded shape for the particles whose size lies between 4.75 mm
and 600 µm. The aggregates whose size was smaller than 600 µm fall under the
category of rounded aggregates. While Natural Sand is rounded or well rounded,
Quarry sand possesses higher angularity as compared to Quarry sand, and natural
aggregates are highly circular as compared to manufactured sand (Figs. 16 and 17).
A linear regression analysis is carried out and R2 value is obtained to find best fit.
To find out correlation between the shape parameters and void ratio, the regression
analysis is performed. In case of natural sand, stronger relationship of various shape
parameters and void ratio is observed, compared to manufactured sand as depicted
in Figs. 18, 19, 20 and 21.
Sieve class having high angularity and aspect ratio, low packing efficiency is
observed. Here natural sand shows better packing efficiency, resulting to relatively
less voids as compared to manufactured sand. Aggregates which has high aspect
Void Ratio Vs Sieve Class

49.00
47.58
46.78 47.05
47.00 45.84
46.73 46.34 45.03
45.00 44.26
Void Ratio (%)
42.83 44.39
42.44
43.00 41.92
42.31 40.49
41.00
41.15
39.00 40.07 39.94 38.28
39.81
37.00
36.86
35.00
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Sand Size (mm)
Void Ratio (%) Void Ratio (%)
Compacted Void Ratio (%) Compacted Void Ratio (%)
Fig. 13 Void ratio versus sieve class

Angualrity Comparision
0.33
0.32
0.32
0.31 0.30
0.29
0.3
Angularity
0.29
0.30
0.28 0.27
0.28
0.27
0.26 0.27
0.27
0.25
0.24
S1 S2 S3 S4
Sieve Class
Natural Sand Manufactured Sand
Fig. 14 Angularity versus sieve class
Fig. 15 Circularity versus sieve class
ratio i.e. major axis is relatively larger than minor axis and high angularity, such
samples when stacked upon other similar aggregates particles forms pocket in
between resulting it to have high void ratio. From Figs. 18 and 21 depicts void
ratio decreases as the angularity number and aspect ratio decreases. However, from
Fig. 13 it is observed that on compaction, the packing efficiency increases in case
of manufactured sand as compared to natural sand. Figures 14 and 15 depicts that
as the circularity number and roundness of the aggregate particles increase the void
ratio increases.
Fig. 16 Roundness versus sieve class
Fig. 17 Aspect ratio versus sieve class

Natural Sand Void (%) Vs Angularity

47.00
46.50
46.00
45.50
45.00
Void (%)
44.50
y = -141.59x + 84.363
44.00
R² = 0.9931
43.50
43.00
42.50
42.00
0.265 0.270 0.275 0.280 0.285 0.290 0.295 0.300
Angularity
Manufactured Sand Void (%) Vs Angularity

48.00
47.50
47.00
Void (%)
46.50
y = -13.491x + 50.805
R² = 0.1347
46.00
45.50
45.00
44.50
0.260 0.270 0.280 0.290 0.300 0.310 0.320
Angularity
Fig. 18 Regression analysis of angularity for MS and RS
3.4.2 Workability of Cement Mortar
A total of 168 out of 380 samples were tested with the modified flow table test, and
the remaining samples resulted to be harsh mixes. Following observations were made
from the obtained results:
Natural Sand Void (%) Vs Circularity

47.50
47.00 y = 40.948x + 9.568
46.50 R² = 0.9909
46.00
45.50
Void (%)
45.00
44.50
44.00
43.50
43.00
42.50
42.00
0.800 0.850 0.900 0.950 1.000
Circularity
Manufactured Sand Void (%) Vs Circularity

48.00
47.50
47.00
y = 3.7393x + 43.897
Void (%)
46.50
R² = 0.1646
46.00
45.50
45.00
44.50
0.650 0.700 0.750 0.800 0.850 0.900 0.950 1.000
Circularity
Fig. 19 Regression Analysis of Circularity for MS and RS
1. For the sieve class, natural sand shows lower workability compared to manufac-
tured sand despite having relatively higher degree of roundness, low angularity
index, and high spherical shape.
2. Visually it has been observed that, the cement mortar exhibits low workability,
if the voids are not filled with adequate amount of cement paste.
3. The flowability of all in aggregates is higher than the flowability of mortar made
from sieve class having similar water cement ratio and similar proportion.
Natural Sand Void (%) Vs Roundness

48.00
y = 40.707x + 17.286
R² = 0.6023
47.00
46.00
Void (%)
45.00
44.00
43.00
42.00
0.640 0.660 0.680 0.700 0.720 0.740
Roundness
Manufactured Sand Void (%)Vs Roundness

48.00
47.50
47.00 y = 29.795x + 24.202

R² = 0.4684
Void (%)
46.50
46.00
45.50
45.00
44.50
0.740 0.745 0.750 0.755 0.760 0.765 0.770 0.775 0.780 0.785
Roundness
Fig. 20 Regression analysis of roundness for MS and RS
3.4.3 Results for Modified Flow Table Test
Figure 22 shows average flow diameter versus different sieve class for Natural and
Manufactured sand. Tables 7 and 8 represent test results for different sieve class of
natural and manufactured sand.
Natural Sand Void (%) Vs Aspect Ratio

48.00
47.00
46.00
Void (%)
45.00
44.00
43.00 y = -40.072x + 99.488

R² = 0.8699
42.00
1.280 1.300 1.320 1.340 1.360 1.380 1.400 1.420 1.440
Aspect Ratio
Manufactured Sand Void (%) Vs Aspect Ratio

48.00
47.50
47.00
Void (%)
46.50
y = -3.9899x + 53.014
R² = 0.272
46.00
45.50
45.00
44.50
1.400 1.450 1.500 1.550 1.600 1.650
Aspect Ratio
Fig. 21 Regression analysis of aspect ratio for MS and RS
3.4.4 Natural Sand and Manufactured Sand Flow Trend for Different
Sieve Class
See Fig. 22 and Tables 7 and 8.

Natural Sand Flow Trend (mm)

a 280.00
260.00
240.00
220.00
Flow (mm)
200.00
180.00
160.00
140.00
120.00
100.00
1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Cement: Sand Proporon
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Water Cement Rao
Manufactured Sand Flow Trend (mm)

b 280.00
260.00
240.00
220.00
200.00
180.00
160.00
140.00
120.00
100.00
1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Cement: Sand Proporon
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Water-Cement Rao
Fig. 22 a Natural Sand Flow trend for different sieve class. b Manufactured sand flow trend for
different sieve class
3.4.5 Natural Sand and Manufactured Sand Flow Trend for Different
Zones of Sand
Figure 23 shows average flow diameter versus different zones for Natural and Manu-
factured sand. Tables 9 and 10 represent test results for different zones of natural and
manufactured sand.
514
Table 8 Manufactured Sand Flow trend for different sieve class

Manufactured Sand Flow Trend (mm)
W/C 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
C:S 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
S1 114.79 100.57 0.00 138.03 101.49 0.00 193.42 108.02 0.00 239.00 133.44 106.94 264.55 158.95 132.20
S2 116.29 100.29 0.00 167.32 101.12 0.00 220.89 102.71 0.00 241.87 123.76 102.54 276.62 147.49
S3 104.87 0.00 0.00 108.62 0.00 0.00 193.95 100.87 0.00 218.42 106.43 0.00 265.77 127.32
S4 100.77 0.00 0.00 121.04 100.56 0.00 162.24 100.63 0.00 200.66 101.55 0.00 246.44 104.98 0.00
S5 100.57 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 115.46 0.00 0.00 131.77 100.39 0.00 168.26 0.00 0.00
C. Vohra and P. Thaker
Natural sand flow trend (mm)

300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Cement:Sand proportion
Zone-1 Zone-2 Zone-3 Water Cement Ratio
Manufactured sand flow trend (mm)

300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Cement:Sand proportion
Zone-1 Zone-2 Zone-3
Water-cement ratio
Fig. 23 a Natural Sand Flow trend for different zones of sand. b Manufactured sand flow trend for
different zones of sand
Each sieve class when combined in certain proportions makes certain zone of fine
aggregate. The workability of cement mortar, in terms of average flow is directly
proportional to the proportion of sieve class in sand sample and weighted average of
flow of cement mortar of each sieve class. To obtain the average flow in particular
sieve class, the water cement ratio and cement sand ratio should be the same with
the cement mortar utilizing the zone sand.
A relation is developed that is used to predict the flow of cement mortar using
certain zone. The relation is stated as Eq. 1.
Average flow of cement mortar using zone sand

516
Table 9 Natural sand flow trend for different zones of sand

Natural sand flow trend for different zones of sand (mm)
W/C 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
C:S 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
Zone-1 110.91 0.00 0.00 146.41 105.82 0.00 200.68 119.35 0.00 249.47 149.00 101.62 285.21 197.39 108.38
Zone-2 107.74 0.00 0.00 123.92 100.59 0.00 195.42 100.68 0.00 233.74 136.78 100.56 253.33 211.15 105.71
Zone-3 116.86 0.00 0.00 139.07 100.36 0.00 189.81 100.68 0.00 239.67 125.30 100.80 271.62 153.31 100.63
C. Vohra and P. Thaker
Table 10 Manufactured sand flow trend for different zones of sand
Manufactured sand flow trend for different zones of sand (mm)
W/C 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
C:S 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:1 1:2 1:3
Zone-1 100.65 0.00 0.00 110.99 0.00 0.00 180.63 101.90 0.00 127.24 100.53 0.00 259.97 138.45 106.65
Zone-2 100.42 0.00 0.00 117.43 0.00 0.00 147.34 100.55 0.00 235.98 114.56 100.58 239.76 118.74 0.00
Zone-3 100.68 0.00 0.00 104.05 0.00 0.00 127.24 100.55 0.00 181.07 100.59 0.00 204.12 101.81 0.00
517
Table 11 Validation of net average flow using developed equation

Sieve Sieve size Average Percentage (%) Average Net average
class flow (mm) flow * percentage flow (mm)
S1 4.75–2.36 mm 115.48 5.00 5.77 123.59
S2 2.36–1.18 mm 169.96 8.5.00 14.45
S3 1.18 mm–600 µm 166.78 16.00 26.68
S4 600–300 µm 122.43 26.50 32.44
S5 300–150 µm 100.55 44.00 44.24
Table 12 Variation in predicted and actual flow for Zone-2 natural sand
Zone of sand W/C ratio Ratio Actual average flow Predicted average Variation in %
(mm) flow (mm)
Zone -2 0.35 1:1 123.92 123.59 0.27
n
W,C
i=1 (Pr opor tion o f sieve class in sand (%) ∗ Average f low in mm o f sieve class C S
=
Pr opor tion o f sieve class in sand
(1)
where i = sieve class number.

The validation of developed equation is carried out using natural sand of Zone-2,
W/C = 0.35 and C/S = 1:1.
Table 11 shows the sieve class, sieve size, average flow in mm which is taken from
Table 7. It also has percentage weight taken from Table 3. The weighted average is
calculated as per Table 11, to find the net average flow for artificially zone-2 natural
sand.
Variation in predicted and actual flow of artificial zone-2 natural sand is summa-
rized in Table 12. It has been observed that the variation in predicted and actual
average flow is 0.27%. Therefore, developed relationship is validated.
Figure 24 Contribution to flow by each sieve class illustrates the contribution to
the flow by each sieve class. Relationship has been checked for other results; the
variation between actual and predicted average flow lies between 0 and 20%.
4 Conclusion
Some major findings which were observed during the testing and observation which
came from results can be summarized as under.
1. Shape factors like angularity, roundness and circularity of aggregates, started to
show similar characteristics as the particles get finer.
2. The natural sand gives higher roundness value than the Crushed aggregate.
Sieve class contribution to flow

140.00
120.00
Average flow (mm)
100.00 44.24
80.00
60.00 32.44 123.92
40.00
26.68
20.00
14.45
0.00 5.77
Fraction Contribution of each sieve Actual Flow
classs
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Fig. 24 Contribution to flow by each sieve class
3. Angularity is not the prime factor which can be used to determine the void ratio
of the sand. Parameters like angularity, circularity, roundness and aspect ratio are
also the variables for the function for determining void ratio in the sand sample.
4. A relationship is developed whose validation with the obtained data is shown
with a variation margin of ±20% hence this relationship holds true.
The
n
net flow of sand of certain zone can be determined with Eq. 1.
class in sand (%)∗Average f low in mm o f sieve class ( W
i=1 Pr opor tion o f sieve C ,S)
C
Pr opor tion o f sieve class in sand

Though the individual performance of each sieve class in natural sand mortar
exhibited low workability than that of manufactured sand, natural sand exhibited
higher degree of workability when the aggregates from each sieve class were
combined.
5. DIP method is fast and accurate to determine the not only the size of aggregate
but also various shape characteristic of the same.
Acknowledgements The material used in the tests were provided by Contech Chemicals Pvt.
Ltd. The present work was carried out at CEPT Material Testing lab. The authors would like to
thank Mr. Jagdish, Mr. Bikas Das and Ms. Rinkal Prajapati for providing support during testing and
material handling in the lab. The authors are also grateful to Ms. Siddhee Kasudia for her generous
help in editing and proof checking.
References
1. Pandya MD, Arora NK, Thaker P (2012) State of art paper: investigation of workability of
cement paste, cement Mortar and concrete. Int J Adv Eng Res Stud II(I):16–23. E-ISSN 2249-
8974
2. Ahn N, Fowler DW (2000) An experimental study on the guidelines for using higher contents
of aggregate microfines in Portland cement concrete. Int Cent Aggregates Res, 435
3. Kotak S, Thaker P (2016) Assessment of water film thickness, Paste film thickness and the
fresh properties of cement mortar. Int J Sci Technol Eng 2(12):407–412
4. Vohra C, Thaker P (2019) Optimization of cement mortar mix using digital image analysis:
state of Art. GRD J (February), 198–203
5. Harini M, Shaalini G, Dhinakaran G (2011) Effect of size and type of fine aggregates on
flowability of mortar. KSCE J Civ Eng 16(1):163–168
6. Nilsen UA, Monterio PJ (1993) Concrete: a three phase material, pp 147–151
7. Kar A, Ray I, Unnikrishnan A, Davalos JF (2013) Composite modeling to predict shrinkage of
concretes containing supplementary cementitious materials from paste volumes. Constr Build
Mater 43(April):139–155
8. Sathyan D, Balakrishnan AK, Mohandas SM (2018) Temperature influence on rheology of
superplasticized pozzolana cement and modeling using RKS algorithm. J Mater Civ Eng
30(9):04018221
9. Popovics S (1980) Calculation of the water requirement of mortar and concrete. Matériaux
Constr 13(5):343–352
10. Fabro F, Gava GP, Grigoli HB, Meneghetti LC (2011) Influence of fine aggregates particle
shape in the concrete properties, vol 4, no 2, pp 191–201
11. Polat R, Yadollahi MM, Sagsoz AE, Arasan S (2013) The correlation between aggregate shape
and compressive Strength of concrete: digital image processing approach. Int J Struct Civ Eng
Res.ijscer.com 2(3):2319–6009
12. Jamkar SS, Rao CBK (2004) Index of aggregate particle shape and texture of coarse aggregate
as a parameter for concrete mix proportioning. Cem Concr Res 34(11):2021–2027
13. Das A (2005) A revisit to aggregate shape parameters. Most, pp 1–5
14. Cavarretta I, Coop M, O’Sullivan C (2010) The influence of particle characteristics on the
engineering behaviour of granular materials. Geotechnique 60(6):413–423
15. Aïssoun BM, Hwang SD, Khayat KH (2016) Influence of aggregate characteristics on
workability of superworkable concrete. Mater Struct Constr 49(1–2):597–609
16. Quiroga PW, Fowler DW (2004) The effects of aggregates characteristics on the performance
of Portland cement concrete the effects of aggregates characteristics on the performance of
Portland cement concrete 6. Performing Organization Code
17. Al-rousan T, Masad E, Tutumluer E (2007) Evaluation of image analysis techniques for quan-
tifying aggregate shape characteristics. Constr Build Mater 21:978–990. www.elsevier.com/
locate/conbuildmat
18. Thaker P, Arora N (2019) Measurement of aggregate size and shape using image analysis. Lect
Notes Civ Eng 46:739–747
19. Kwan AKH, Wong HHC (2008) Packing density of cementitious materials: Part 2-packing and
flow of OPC + PFA + CSF. Mater Struct Constr 41(4):773–784
20. McCave IN, Syvitski JPM (1991) Principles and methods of geological particle size analysis.
Princ Methods Appl Part Size Anal, 3–21
21. Polat R, Mohabbi Yadollahi M, Emre Sagsoz A, Arasan S (2013) The correlation between
aggregate shape and compressive strength of concrete: digital image processing approach
22. Vangla P, Roy N, Mendu K, Latha GM (2015) Digital image analysis for the determination of
size and shape parameters of sand grains. In: Golden Jubilee conference of the IGS Bangalore,
Geo Innovations, 2014, no August 2015, pp 30–31
23. Rivas JA (2005) Three-dimensional digital image processing and reconstruction of granular
particles
24. Li J, Zhang J, Qian G, Zheng J, Zhang Y (2019) Three-dimensional simulation of aggregate and
asphalt mixture using parameterized shape and size gradation. J Mater Civ Eng 31(3):04019004
25. Lucas Júnior JLO, Babadopulos LFAL, Soares JB (2010) Aggregate–binder adhesiveness
assessment and investigation of the influence of morphological and physico-chemical properties
of mineral aggregates. Road Mater Pavement Des 0629:1–16
26. Faulkner GD (1911) Adhesive Strength of cement mortar. University of Illinois
27. Fang M, Park D, Singuranayo JL, Chen H, Li Y (2019) Aggregate gradation theory, design and
its impact on asphalt pavement performance: a review. Int J Pavement Eng 20(12):1408–1424
28. Wu J, Wang L, Hou Y, Xiong H, Lu Y, Zhang L (2018) A digital image analysis of gravel
aggregate using CT scanning technique. Int J Pavement Res Technol 11(2):160–167
29. Anochie-boateng JK, Africa S, Maina J (2015) Determination of aggregate morphological
properties using laser and their effects on rutting of asphalt mixes, September
30. Balter S (1999) Digital image processing an algorithmic approach using MATLAB, vol 46, no
4
31. Kwan AKH, Mora CF, Chan HC (1999) Particle shape analysis of coarse aggregate using
digital image processing. Cem Concr Res
32. Kumara GHAJJ, Hayano K, Ogiwara K (2012) Image analysis techniques on evaluation of
particle size distribution of gravel. Int J GEOMATE 3:290–297
33. Thaker P, Arora NK (2015) Critical review of aggregate shape characteristic assessment tech-
niques. In: UKIERI concrete congress—concrete research driving profit and sustainability, pp
1041–1054
34. Allen T (2003) Particle size analysis by image analysis. Powder Sampl Part Size Determ, no
November, pp 142–207
35. Zhou B, Wang J, Wang H (2017) Three-dimensional sphericity, roundness and fractal dimension
of sand particles. Géotechnique, 1–13
36. Kumara JJ, Hayano K, Kikuchi Y (2017) Evaluation of area- and volume-based gradations of
sand-crushed stone mixture by 2D images. KSCE J Civ Eng 21(3):774–781
37. Erdoğan S (2016) Determination of aggregate shape properties using X-ray tomographic
methods and the effect of shape on concrete rheology, no. October
38. Barksdale RD, Kemp MA, Sheffield WJ, Hubbard JL (1991) Measurement of aggregate shape,
surface area, and roughness. Transp Res Rec 1301:107–116
39. Kwan AKH, Mora CF, Chan HC (1999) Particle shape analysis of coarse aggregate using
digital image processing. Cem Concr Res 29(9):1403–1410
40. Thaker PK (2018) Estimation of superplasticizer dosage to achieve desired workability of
cement mortar. Ph.D. Thesis, no September
41. ASTM D3398 (2006) Standard test method for index of aggregate particle shape and texture,
vol 00, no. Reapproved 2006, pp 1–4
42. Li LG, Kwan AKH (2011) Mortar design based on water film thickness. Constr Build Mater
25(5):2381–2390
43. Panda RP, Das SS, Sahoo PK (2016) An empirical method for estimating surface area of
aggregates in hot mix asphalt. J Traffic Transp Eng (English Ed) 3(2):127–136
44. Bouvet A, Ghorbel E, Bennacer R (2010) The mini-conical slump flow test: analysis and
numerical study. Cem Concr Res 40(10):1517–1523
45. Kwan AKH, Fung WWS (2009) Packing density measurement and modelling of fine aggregate
and mortar. Cem Concr Compos 31(6):349–357
46. Kwan AKH, Li LG (2012) Combined effects of water film thickness and paste film thickness
on rheology of mortar. Mater Struct Constr 45(9):1359–1374
47. Rodriguez T, Johansson JM, Edeskär JMA (2008) Particle shape determination by two-
dimensional image analysis in geotechnical engineering. In: Site investigation and laboratory
testing, no. Eurocode 7, pp 1–12
48. I. Standard (2015) Ordinary Portland cement, 53—specification. BIS, no 2015
49. IS 4031-Part6 (1988) Methods of physical tests for hydraulic cement. Bur Indian Stand 4031
50. For S, Cabinets RD (2004) Indian Standard, vol 1979, no Reaffirmed 2001
51. Bureau of Indian Standards (2016) IS 2386 (Part III) Methods of test for aggregates for concrete
specific gravity, density, voids, absorption and bulking. Indian Stand 2386(Part, no October
1963):1–19
52. IS:383 (1970) Specification for coarse and fine aggregates from natural sources for concrete.
Bur Indian Stand Delhi, pp 1–24
53. Abd Elaty MA, Ghazy MF (2012) Flow properties of fresh concrete by using modified
geotechnical Vane shear test. HBRC J 8(3):159–169
54. Bauer E, de Sousa JG, Guimarães EA, Silva FG (2007) Study of the laboratory Vane test on
mortars. Build Environ 42(1), 86–92
55. Neville AM, Properties of concrete by A M Neville.pdf, Third Edition
56. For S, Cabinets RD (2004) Methods of test for soils- Part 30 Laboratory Vane Shear Test. BIS
1979(Reaffirmed 2001)
A Comparative Investigation
on the Utilization of Marble Dust
and Granite Dust in the Cement Mortar
Against the Sulphate Resistance
Abstract In our country, the marble and granite stone processing is one of the most
flourishing industries, in which around 25% of the original stone mass is left out in
the form of dust during the cutting and polishing process. Both of these dusts are
settled down by sedimentation and then directly disposed as waste materials which
will create a serious threat to an environment. This paper highlights the effective
utilization of these waste materials in the concrete production, since their composition
is most favourable for the replacement of cementitious materials. In this paper, the
both waste materials are utilized individually as a replacement for cement in the
varying proportions ranging from 0 to 30% to study the sulphate resistance property.
For this study, the mortar cube specimens of 70 mm × 70 mm × 70 mm are prepared
and immersed in MgSO4 and Na2 SO4 solution for a period of 28 days. With the
detrimental factor of the compressive strength, the optimum replacement of these
waste materials on the cement content is arrived individually and the results are
compared among each other.
Keywords Cement mortar · Granite dust · Marble dust · Compressive strength
1 Introduction
Marble and granite has been widely used as a building material in the construction
industry [1, 2]. During the process of mining, sawing and polishing marble dust and
granite dust is observed as a waste material and this is not properly disposed to a
safe zone. These waste residual deposits results in serious environmental degradation
which poses treat to the human and animal beings. This will also affects the fertility
of the agricultural land, if it is dumped in a improper manner [2, 3]. The reuse or
PL. Meyyappan (B)

Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil, India
M. J. Carmichael
Vignan’s LARA Institute of Technology & Science, Guntur, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_48
524 PL. Meyyappan and M. J. Carmichael
utilization of these materials can be effectively used as useful alterative materials

in construction sector as investigated by many researchers in the past [4–8]. This
utilization concept will bring down the cost of cement based products and there by
the cost of the entire building components becomes much economical in a financial
point of view. Also in environmental side, it is yielding some handsome reliefs in
terms of disposing directly into the field [10, 11, 14]. In the various past researches
indicating that these utilization improves the mechanical and physical properties in
the cement mortar. But in durability point of view needs more valid judgements
in accepting these waste materials can be effective replacement materials. Here, an
attempt is made to investigate the replacement of cement by marble and granite
dust in various proportions such as 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% against
the sulphate resistance attack. In order to study the sulphate resistance property for
these replacement materials, the cube specimens are casted and allowed to cure under
sulphate solutions. This comparative study of replacement of marble dust and granite
dust is made against sulphate resistance.
2 Materials Used
(i) Cement
43 Grade Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) confirms to Indian Standard specification,

IS. 8112 code is used in this experimental work. For the entire work, it is assured
that the cement is used only from the single point of source.
(ii) Marble dust
The waste marble dust is collected near by the Madurai source during the cutting
and dressing process of marble stone. The specific gravity of this marble powder is
found to be 2.658.
(iii) Granite dust
The waste granite dust is collected near by the Madurai source during the cutting
and dressing process of granite stone. The specific gravity of this granite powder is
found to be 2.573.
(iv) Fine aggregate
Locally available natural river sand with 2.36 mm size is used in this experimental
work. This source of sand confirms to the Zone 2 of IS 382-2016 having a specific
gravity of 2.619.
(v) Water
Potable drinking water is used for mixing the mortar. It ensured that it is free from
alkalis and organic matters.
A Comparative Investigation on the Utilization … 525
3 Mix Proportions and Investigations
For preparing cement mortar specimens, the mixing ratio adopted is 1 (cement): 3
(sand). Initially, these mortar preparing materials are accurately weighed and mixed
thoroughly in the dry state to attain a homogenous mixing. Then the required amount
of water is determined on account of the combined weight of cement and sand is to
be added to the dry mortar mix. Ensure proper uniform mixing is done before casting
the specimens. The replacement of cement by marble dust and granite dust is in the
proportions of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%. A total number of cube
specimens of dimensions 70 mm × 70 mm × 70 mm casted for this experimental
study are 117 numbers which is to be tested against compressive strength in various
curing methods as per Table 1 w.r.t to marble dust and granite replacements. All the
specimens are allowed for the various curing of 28 days as mentioned in Table 1. The
specimen to be cured by magnesium sulphate solutions are prepared by dissolving
magnesium sulphate hydrate content of 5% weight is dissolved in the water.
The same way sodium sulphate solutions are prepared by using sodium sulphate
hydrate content of 5% weight in the water. Both the sulphate solutions were replaced
every 15 days in each cycle to get efficient sulphate resistance results. Experimental
results against sulphate resistance include reduction in compressive strength loss
(i.e.) deteriorated factor have to be found out. The compressive strength of the cube
specimen under various curing methods is tested from compression testing machine
and the loads were applied until the specimens fail. Deterioration factor is nothing but
the reduction of strength loss due to the presence of sulphate to the original strength.
It is calculated by formula, Where, CS—Compressive Strength

(C S)W ater Curing − (C S) Sulphate Curing
Deterioration f actor = × 100
(C S)W ate Curing
Table 1 Specimen details

Description Water curing Curing under Sulphate solutions
Magnesium sulphate Sodium sulphate
Control specimen 3 3 3
Marble dust replacement 18 18 18
Granite dust replacement 18 18 18
Total 39 39 39
117 specimens
(i) Mable dust replacement
Figure 1a–c shows the specimen under sulphate curing, water curing and the specimen
under sulphate attack. Table 2 shows the experimental test results of compressive
strength of the specimens having the replacement percentage of marble dust viz.
0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% for cement in the volume fraction under
various curing such as water, magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate. It is observed
that, for the control specimen (0% replacement) the compressive strength is found
as 19.73 N/mm2 , 16.15 N/mm2 and 15.42 N/mm2 respectively for the specimens
kept under water curing, magnesium sulphate curing and sodium sulphate curing. In
comparing magnesium sulphate curing with water curing, the deterioration rate is
(a) (b)
Fig. 1 a Specimens under sulphate curing. b Specimen under sulphate attack
Table 2 Experimental test results for marble dust replacement

Percentage of Compressive strength of specimens Deterioration factor
cement under
replaced by Water curing Magnesium Sodium Magnesium Sodium
Marble dust (N/mm2 ) sulphate sulphate sulphate sulphate
(%) (N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 )
0 19.73 16.15 15.42 0.1814 0.2184
5% 20.18 16.93 16.17 0.1611 0.1987
10 23.36 20.05 19.57 0.1417 0.1622
15 21.12 17.61 16.95 0.1662 0.1977
2 16.96 13.38 12.68 0.2111 0.2523
25 11.96 8.92 8.19 0.2542 0.3152
30 7.56 5.38 4.91 0.2884 0.3505
18.14% whereas for sodium sulphate curing, it is found as 21.84%. The compressive
strength is getting reduced by around 1.27 times due to the effect of sulphate attack
which deteriorating the cement content.
Due to the reduction rate of binding materials, the compressive strength is getting
continuously affected when the replacement levels goes beyond 15%. The same
trend is followed for the specimens kept on sulphate solution curing. It is observed
that deterioration rate is more for sodium sulphate solution than the magnesium
sulphate solution. Based on the experimental result it is noticed that, deterioration
rate on the compressive strength is 18.14% and 21.84% for the control specimens
(without marble dust) cured under magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate solution
respectively. When the replacement of marble dust introduced on the specimen upto
5%, it is found that there is decrease in the deterioration factor in the range of
10–12%. When the replacement levels increased to 10%, the deterioration factor is
further reduced to 21% to 25%. It is an evident that marble dust of 10% content
is effectively enhancing the sulphate resistivity action. If the replacement levels are
increased beyond 10%, the deterioration rate seems to be getting increased. For
a replacement level of 30% of marble dust the deterioration rate of compressive
strength is around 35% (Figs. 2 and 3).
(ii) Granite dust replacement
Table 3 shows the experimental test results of compressive strength of the speci-
mens having the replacement percentage of granite dust viz. 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%,
20%, 25% and 30% for cement in the volume fraction under various curing such
as water, magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate. From the graphical representa-
tion as in Fig. 4 shows that there is a gradual increase in the compressive strength
from 0 to 10% replacement of granite dust. If the replacement percentage level is
going beyond 10%, the compressive strength of the specimens is getting continuous
decreasing trend. This phenomenon is seen same against irrespective of different
curing. For the initial replacement level (5%) of granite dust, it is observed that there
25 Water Curing
Compressive Strength, N/mm2
Mg2SO4 Soluon
20 Na2SO4 Soluon
15
10
0
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Percentage of replacement of cement by marble dust
Fig. 2 Graphical representation of marble dust replacement for various curing

0.35
0.30
Deterioraon factor 0.25

0.20
0.15
0.10
Mg2SO4 Soluon
0.05
Na2SO4 Soluon
0.00
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Percentage of cement replacement by marble dust
Fig. 3 Graphical representation of deterioration factor under sulphate curing
Table 3 Experimental test results for granite dust replacement

Percentage of Compressive strength of Deterioration factor
cement specimens under
replaced by Water curing Magnesium Sodium Magnesium Sodium
Marble dust (N/mm2 ) sulphae sulphate sulphate sulphate
(N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 )
0% 19.73 16.15 15.42 0.1814 0.2184
5% 20.98 17.7 17.21 0.1563 0.1797
10% 24.6 21.34 20.86 0.1325 0.1520
15% 22.52 19.16 18.64 0.1492 0.1723
20% 18.2 14.63 13.95 0.1962 0.2335
25% 13.45 10.48 9.89 0.2208 0.2647
30% 8.83 6.58 6.03 0.2548 0.3171
30
Water Curing
25 Mg2SO4 Soluon
Na2SO4 Soluon
20
15
10
0
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Percentage of replacement of cement by granite dust
Fig. 4 Graphical representation of granite dust replacement for various curing

is a insignificant increase of around 6% in the compressive strength. But if the replace-

ment is increased from 5 to 10%, the compressive strength is found to be increased
by 19.8%, 24.32% and 26.07% for the specimens cured by water, magnesium and
sodium sulphate solutions respectively. The compressive strength is found to be a
maximum of 24.6 N/mm2 for the replacement of 10% granite dust due to the arresting
of micro pores by the filler elements of fine granite dust. Even though the compres-
sive strength is decreasing from 10 to 15% replacement levels, but it is also identified
that, the compressive strength of 15% replacement levels (22.52 N/mm2 ) is slightly
higher than 0% replacement level (19.73 N/mm2 ) of granite dust. If the replacement
of granite dust is increased to further of 20%, 25% and 30%, the compressive strength
seems to be decreasing continuously due to the reduction rate of cement content and
increased content of filler materials. The same trend is seems to applicable for water
curing and sulphate solution curing.
In replacement of granite dust also it is observed that deterioration rate is more
for sodium sulphate solution than the magnesium sulphate solution. Based on the
experimental result it is noticed that, deterioration rate on the compressive strength is
15.63% and 17.97% for the specimens having 5% replacement of granite dust cured
under magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate solutions respectively. When the
replacement of granite dust is increased to 10%, the deterioration rate of compressive
strength is found to be reduced of 26.95% and 30.40% than the control specimens. It
seems that, the deterioration rate of compressive strength can be effectively controlled
by the presence of 10% of granite dust replacement. When the replacement level of
granite dust is increasing beyond 10%, the deterioration rate of compressive strength
is also increasing for the sulphate solution curing conditions. It is observed that, the
compressive strength is deteriorated to a maximum level of 25.48% and 31.71% for
the replacement of granite dust at 30% (Fig. 5).
(iii) Comparison of marble dust and granite dust
It is observed that, the compressive strength is increasing upto 10% for both marble
dust and granite dust replacements but if the replacement level goes beyond 10%,
0.35
0.30
Deterioraon factor
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
Mg2SO4 Soluon
0.05 Na2SO4 Soluon
0.00
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Percentage of cement replacement by granite dust
Fig. 5 Graphical representation of deterioration factor under sulphate curing

the compressive strength seems to be decreased as seen in Fig. 6. The decreasing

trend is drastic for the replacement levels 15–30%. By comparing with each other,
the granite dust seems to be lightly better than the marble dust for all replacement
levels. For 5–10% replacement level granite dust is around 6% higher than marble
dust. For other replacement levels, the increasing rate will be around 12–15% for
granite dust. From that experimental results, it is noticed that, the granite dust is
significantly advantageous than the marble dust in terms of strength characteristics
because the filler material is well bonded agreement with the binder materials and also
with reduction of pores. In Figs. 7 and 8, it is observed that, the deterioration rate of
compressive strength is lower for granite dust and marble dust for the specimens under
magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate solution curing conditions. The optimum
replacement percentage for both granite dust and marble dust is found as 10–15%.
The maximum compressive strength found to be 24.6 N/mm2 and 23.36 N/mm2 for
granite dust and marble dust respectively.
30
Granite dust
25 Marble dust
20
15
10
5
0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Percentage of replacement of cement
Fig. 6 Graphical representation of compressive strength for granite dust versus marble dust
0.35
0.3 Granite dust Mg2SO4
curing
Deterioaon rate
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Cement replacement levels
Fig. 7 Graphical representation of deterioration rate for magnesium sulphate solution curing
0.40
Granite dust Na2SO4
0.35
curing
Deterioaon rate
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Cement replacement levels
Fig. 8 Graphical representation of deterioration rate for sodium sulphate solution curing
Further replacement levels will affect the performance of strength characteristics.

The deterioration rate is found to be lower of 13.25% and 14.17% for a granite dust
and marble dust replacement specimens respectively kept under magnesium sulphate
solution. For the specimens under sodium sulphate solution, the deterioration rate
of compressive strength is 15.20% and 16.22% for a granite dust and marble dust
replacements respectively.
5 Conclusions
Based on this experimental study, the following conclusions are derived. They are
listed below:
(i) The compressive strength of the control specimen is getting reduced in the range
of 18.14% to 21.84% due to the effect of sulphate attack of the magnesium and
sodium sulphate solutions.
(ii) For granite dust replacement of 10%, the compressive strength is getting
increased by 19.78% whereas the marble dust is getting increased only by
15.53%. In this aspect, the granite dust replacement is seems better than marble
dust replacement. Beyond 10% of replacement, the compressive strength is in
the declining trend for both granite and marble dusts. This may be due to the
reduction of binding cement materials and the improper bonding between the
hydrated paste and filler materials.
(iii) Upto 10% replacement of both marble dust and granite dust, the deterioration
rate due to the presence of sulphate is found to be less due to arresting of micro
pores by these filler elements into the hydrated paste.
(iv) The optimum usage of these waste materials in to the cement manufacturing
products is limited to 10% replacement. For 15% replacement is also advan-
tageous than compared to the control specimens. Beyond that replacement
proportions, these waste materials affect the compressive strength property.
Reference
1. Udoeyo FF, Inyang H, Young TD, Oparadu EE (2006) Potential of wood waste ash as an
additive in Concrete. ASCE-J Mater Civil Eng 18(4)
2. Krishna V, Sabnis GM (2013) Utilization of waste products and By-products in concrete: the key
to a sustainable construction. In: International conference on civil and architecture engineering
(ICCAE’2013), Malaysia.
3. Aggarwal P, Aggarwal Y, Gupta SM (2007) Effect of bottom ash as replacement of fine
aggregates in concrete. Asian J Civil Eng (Build Hous) 8(1)
4. Kesharwani KC, Biswas AK (2017) Experimental study on use of flyash in concrete. Int Res
J Eng Technol 4(9)
5. Mageswari M, Vidivelli B (2010) The use of sheet glass powder as fine aggregate replacement
in concrete. Open Civil Eng J 4
6. Veera Reddy M (2010) Investigations onstone dust and ceramic scrap as aggregate replacement
in concrete. Int J Civil Struct Eng 1(3)
7. Joel M (2010) Use of crushed granite fine as replacement to river sand in concrete production.
Leonardo Electron J Pract Technol 9(17)
8. Ahmad SFU (2012) Properties of concrete containing construction and demolition wastes and
fly ash. ASCE-J Mater Civil Eng 1
10. Ahirwar SK, Chandraul K, Singh MK (2017) Experimental study on concrete using flyash and
coconut coir fibre. Int Res J Eng Technol 4(6)
11. Barbuta M, Serbanoiu AA (2017) Combined effect of flyash and fibers on properties of cement
concrete. Procedia 181
14. Hidayawanti R, Legino S, Harjanto D (2018) Optimizing the utilization cement slag and flyash
of concrete quality. Int J Adv Mech Civil Eng 5(2)
An Effective Replacement of Granite
and Marble Powder on Cement Mortar
Subjected to Chloride Ion Penetration
Test
Abstract Many researches has been carried out regarding the possible reuse of the
waste materials like marble and granite powder in a economical and eco-friendly
manner. The use of marble and granite products waste is identified as a substitute to
cement in mortar mix to an option that come up with concrete products in a cheaper
cost in the construction industry. In the sustainable point of view, an experimental
study is conducted on the cement mortar with the replacement ratio of 0%, 5%,
10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% of marble powder and granite powder in the cement
content to examine the durability properties. For this durability study, the mortar
disc specimens of dimensions 80 mm × 50 mm are prepared, cured for a period of
28 days and tested for rapid chloride permeability test. The experimental results are
showing that the granite powder replaced mortar is moderately better than marble
powder replaced mortar. The optimum replacement is found as 5% for marble dust
and 10% for granite powder, since the penetration is low based on the experimental
results.
Keywords Cement mortar · Granite powder · Marble powder · Chloride

penetration test
1 Introduction
In this century, the concrete is a leading construction material. On its massive demand
the global production reaches around 4.4 billion. In the recent years consumption of
cement has grasped the attention of construction industry to produce green concrete
by consuming alternate and reusable materials [1–3]. The major benefits of utilizing
these waste materials into the production of building materials is to limit the usage of
PL. Meyyappan (B)

M. J. Carmichael
Vignan’s LARA Institute of Technology & Science, Guntur, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_49
natural resources, to save energy and to minimize the environmental pollution [4–6].
Among the various industrial wastes generated [7, 8], the marble and granite wastes
have potentiality for the utilisation in the replacement of concrete making materials.
It is noticed that Granite Stone and Marble stone Industry in India is producing
several million tonnes and there by a huge amount of its solid granite waste and
marble waste at the time of processing, sawing and polishing processes [9, 10]. If the
waste materials are directly leaving will cause a major concern to the environmental
problem [11, 12]. These wastes can be used as a filler (substituting sand) to reduce
the total voids content in concrete and/or pozzolanic material (substituting cement)
in the concrete mix without compromising its physical, mechanical properties and
durability properties [12–14]. Hence in this experimental study, an attempt is made to
study the durability effect on the cement mortar replaced by both marble and granite
dust in various replacement percentages such as 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and
30%.
2 Materials Used
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) of 43 grade confirms to Indian Standard specifi-

cation, IS. 8112 code is used in this experimental work. Consistency of the cement
used is 32.25%, Initial setting time and final setting time of the cement is 35 min
and 10.25 h. For the entire work, it is assured that the cement is used only from the
single point of source. The marble powder and granite powder is collected near by the
Madurai source during the cutting and dressing process of marble stone and granite
stone respectively. The specific gravity of this marble powder and granite powders is
found to be 2.658 and 2.573 respectively. For granite powder, the fineness modulus
is 2.432 and the particle size is less than 75 microns sieve. Similarly the marble
powder, the fineness modulus is 2.047 and the particle size is less than 75 microns
sieve. Locally available natural river sand with less than 2.36 mm size is used in this
experimental work as a fine aggregate. This source of this sand confirms to the Zone
2 of IS 382-2016 having a specific gravity of 2.613. Potable drinking water is used
for mixing the mortar. The pH and hardness of the water which is used in this study
is 7.2 and 152 mg/l respectively. It ensured that it is free from alkalis and organic
matters.
3 Mortar Mix Ratio
For preparing cement mortar specimens, the mixing ratio adopted is 1 (cement): 3
(sand). Initially, these mortar preparing materials are accurately weighed and mixed
thoroughly in the dry state to attain a homogenous mixing. Then the required amount
of water is determined on account of the combined weight of cement and sand is to
be added to the dry mortar mix. Ensure proper uniform mixing is done before casting
An Effective Replacement of Granite and Marble Powder … 535
the specimens. The replacement of cement by marble powder and granite powder
is in the fractions of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%. A total number of
specimens (80 mm × 50 mm) casted for this RCPT is 39 out of which 3 numbers is
for control specimens, 18 numbers is for marble powder replacement and 18 numbers
is for granite powder replacement. These specimens are allowed under water curing
for 28 days.
4 Experimental Set up of RCPT
The rapid chloride permeability of cement mortar specimens was determined

according to ASTM 1202 standards. This method determines the electrical conduc-
tance of cement mortar. The disc size of 80 mm diameter and 50 mm thickness were
cast and cured it for 28 days. The experimental setup of rapid chloride penetration
test should be done with the help of 4 inch pipe. Then take the two halves of pipe
and sealed the pipe ends of two halves with the help of couplers or pipe cap by using
araldite mix in proper manner, so that the solution cannot leak in ends. A hole in the
two halves of pipe is made and insert with mesh wire to act as cathode and anode.
After 28 days curing, the specimen is set to dry and clamped between the pipes
with the help of M-seal tightly. In this test, the disc specimen was clamped between
two cells and a potential difference of 60 V DC was maintained across them. The
upstream cell was filled with 3% sodium chloride (30 g of Nacl per liter) solution
and the downstream cell was filled with 0.1 M sodium hydroxide (4 g of NaOH per
liter) Solution. The current is recorded at periodic intervals by connecting the power
source. The total charge passed, in coulombs is recorded over a six hour period at
an interval of 30 min. The whole test has to be performed at room temperature of
20–250 °C. Since 80 mm nominal diameter specimen was used the test results were
adjusted according to the standard as mentioned above, i.e. a correction factor was
applied the following relationship:
Qs = Qx ∗ (95/X)2
where
Qs is the charge passed through the 95 mm diameter specimen,
Qx is the charge passed through the specimen of X mm diameter.
In which Qx is calculated by the empirical formula,
Qx = 900 (0 + 2I30 + 2I60 + 2I90 + 2I120 + 2I150 + 2I180

I + 2I210 + 2I240 + 2I270 + 2I300 + 2I330 + I360 )
The category of chloride ion permeability is identified based on the Qx , the charge
passed in coulombs as per indication of the ASTM 1202 standards as given Table 1.
Table 1 Category of chloride

Charge passed in coulombs Chloride ion penetration
ion penetration
>4000 High
2000–4000 Moderate
1000–2000 Low
100–1000 Very low
<100 Negligible
Figure 1 shows the experimental setup of rapid chloride penetration test. In which
time interval is noted in the light hand side indication and the amount of charge
passing in that particular time interval is noted in the right hand side indication. A
pale yellow colour stain is deposited over the specimen, once the amount of chloride
passed into it after the time duration of 360 min is as shown in Fig. 2. Tables 2 and
3 shows experimental test results of rapid chloride penetration, in which charges
(in coulombs) passing are found out in various time intervals in ranging from 0 to
360 min for various replacements in the range of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 25% and
Fig. 1 Experimental Setup of RCPT
Fig. 2 Specimen after

RCPT
Table 2 Charge passing in various time intervals for marble powder replacements
Percentage of Marble powder (%) Charge passing in various time intervals (in coulombs)
0s 30 s 60 s 90 s 120 s 150 s 180 s 210 s 240 s 270 s 300 s 330 s 360 s
0 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10
5 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.12
10 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13
15 0.05 0.06 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.17
20 0.06 0.07 0.09 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.18 0.19 0.19 0.2
An Effective Replacement of Granite and Marble Powder …
25 0.07 0.08 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.15 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.21 0.23 0.25 0.26
30 0.07 0.09 0.11 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.22 0.23 0.26 0.28 0.3 0.32
537
538
Table 3 Charge passing in various time intervals for granite powder replacements
Percentage of Granite powder (%) Charge passing in various time intervals (in coulombs)
0s 30 s 60 s 90 s 120 s 150 s 180 s 210 s 240 s 270 s 300 s 330 s 360 s
0 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10
5 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.11
10 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.13
15 0.03 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.1 0.11 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.15
20 0.05 0.07 0.09 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.13 0.15 0.15 0.16 0.17
25 0.07 0.09 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 0.17 0.18 0.19 0.2 0.21 0.23
30 0.08 0.09 0.11 0.13 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.21 0.23 0.25 0.27 0.29
PL. Meyyappan and M. J. Carmichael
Table 4 Class of penetration of chloride ion permeability for marble and granite powder
replacement
Percentage Marble powder Granite powder
of Charge passed through Penetration Charge passed through Penetration
replacement the specimen of of Chloride the specimen of of Chloride
(%) ion as per ion as per
80 mm 95 mm 80 mm 95 mm
diameter diameter ASTM diameter diameter ASTM
(Qx) in (Qs) in C1202-12.11 (Qx) in (Qs) in C1202-12.11
coulombs coulombs coulombs coulombs
0 1170 1461.88 Low 1170 1461.88 Low
5 1422 1776.27 Low 1404 1753.79 Low
10 1791 2237.20 Moderate 1584 1978.63 Low
15 2286 2855.52 Moderate 2160 2368.36 Moderate
20 3042 3799.87 Moderate 2592 3237.76 Moderate
25 3573 4463.16 High 3312 4137.14 High
30 4113 5137.69 High 3879 4845.39 High
30% of marble powder and granite powder respectively. Table 3 shows about, the
calculated values of the charge passed through the 80 mm diameter specimen Qx
and charge passed through the 95 mm diameter specimen Qs in terms of coulombs
for various replacements of marble and granite powder. Category of penetration
of Chloride ion as per ASTM C1202-12.11 is also mentioned on this Table 1. For
control specimen (without replacement of cement), the Qs value is arrived as 1461.88
coulombs which is categorized as low penetration of chloride ions in to the specimen.
Table 4 shows about, the calculated values of the charge passed through the 80 mm
diameter specimen Qx and charge passed through the 95 mm diameter specimen Qs
in terms of coulombs for various replacements of marble and granite powder.
Category of penetration of Chloride ion as per ASTM C1202-12.11 is also
mentioned on this Table 1. For control specimen (without replacement of cement),
the Qs value is arrived as 1461.88 coulombs which is categorized as low penetra-
tion of chloride ions in to the specimen. This is happened due to the presence of
cement content in 100% and thereby the hydrated paste can able to resist the chlo-
ride ion penetration. From Fig. 3, it is understood that the penetration of chloride
ions is getting increased by the increasing the replacement of granite powder and
marble powder. It is a clear evident that, the penetration of chloride ions is directly
proportional to the replacement of cement. For 5% replacement, the chloride ion
penetration for both marble and granite powder is almost same and the chloride ion
penetration is still under low category. In compare with the control specimen, the 5%
replacement of both marble and granite powder has around 16.61% of enhancement
in the chloride ion penetration. If the replacement is at 10% replacement, granite
powder has 11.5% reduction than the marble powder.
In comparing with the control specimen, the chloride ion penetration is 34.68%
and 26.13% increment for marble and granite powder replacement respectively. Since
Fig. 3 Charge passed, Qs 6000
Charge passed (Qs) in coulombs

for replacement of marble
5000
powder and granite powder
4000
3000
2000
Marble powder
1000 Granite powder
0
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Percentage of replacement of cement
the Qs is 2237.20 coulombs for marble powder replacement, the category of chlo-
ride ion penetration is moderate but for granite powder replacement, Qs is 1978.63
coulombs and thereby its falls within the category of low penetration.
If the replacement is increased to 15%, Qs is 2368.36 coulombs for granite powder
but for marble powder Qs is 2855.52 coulombs. So for granite powder, the chloride
ion penetration is 17.06% less than the marble powder. Further the replacement is
increased to 20%, the Qs of granite powder is 14.79% less than the marble powder.
The Qs is 3237.76 coulombs and 3799.87 coulombs for the granite and marble
powder replacement respectively. Still if we increase the replacement of cement to
25% and 30%, the Qs is 4137.14 coulombs and 4845.39 coulombs for granite powder
respectively. But for marble powder, the chloride ion penetration is increased by
7.31% and 5.68% for replacement of cement by 25% and 30% respectively. For 15%
and 20% replacement, both granite and marble powder has the moderate category of
chloride ion penetration whereas for 25% and 30%, the category is high. In overall
it is found that, the replacement of 10% of granite powder is most optimum than
the marble powder and other replacement options. The granite powder seems to be
more advantageous than marble powder due to well bonding and performance of the
hydrated paste in resistance to the chloride ions penetration.
6 Conclusions
The following conclusions are made based on this experimental study.

(i) The chloride ion penetration is directly proportional to the percentage of
replacement of granite and marble powder.
(ii) For control specimen, the chloride ion penetration is in the category of low.
(iii) For the replacement of cement by granite powder is seems to be advanta-
geous than marble powder because for the replacement percentage upto 10%
it has fallen under category of low penetration of chloride ions whereas for the
same replacement proportion marble powder lying in the medium penetration
category. The optimum percentage of granite powder in to the replacement of
cement is found to be 10%.
(iv) For replacement percentage more than 10–20%, both granite and marble are
under moderate category of chloride ion penetration and if the replacement
goes beyond 20%, both materials are under high penetration category.
Reference
1. Aggarwal P, Aggarwal Y, Gupta SM (2007) Effect of bottom ash as replacement of fine

aggregates in concrete. Asian J Civil Eng (Build Hous) 8(1)
2. Shahul Hameed M, Sekar ASS (2009) Properties of green concrete containing quarry rock dust
and marble sludge powder as fine aggregate. ARPN J Eng Appl Sci 4(4)
3. Krishna V, Sabnis GM (2013) Utilization of waste products and by-products in concrete: the key
to a sustainable Construction. In: International conference on civil and architecture engineering
(ICCAE’2013), Malaysia
4. Udoeyo FF, Inyang H, Young TD, Oparadu EE (2006) Potential of wood waste ash as an
additive in concrete. ASCE-J Mater Civil Eng 18(4)
5. Shi C (2009) Corrosion of glasses and waste mechanism of concrete containing waste glasses
as aggregates. ASCE-J Mater Civil Eng 21(10)
6. Mageswari M, Vidivelli B (2010) The use of sheet glass powder as fine aggregate replacement
in concrete. Open Civil Eng J 4
7. Ahmad SFU (2012) Properties of concrete containing construction and demolition wastes and
fly ash. ASCE-J Mater Civil Eng 1
8. Hidayawanti R, Legino S, Harjanto D (2018) Optimizing the utilization cement slag and flyash
of concrete quality. Int J Adv Mech Civil Eng 5(2)
9. Veera Reddy M (2010) Investigations onstone dust and ceramic scrap as aggregate replacement
in concrete. Int J Civil Struct Eng 1(3)
10. Joel M (2010) Use of crushed granite fine as replacement to river sand in concrete production.
Leonardo Electron J Pract Technol 9(17)
11. Barbuta M, Serbanoiu AA (2017) Combined effect of flyash and fibers on properties of cement
concrete. Procedia 181
12. Meyyappan PL, Kumaran K, Gopalakrishnan M, Harikrishnan E (2018) Effect of glass fibers,
flyash and quarry dust on strength and durability aspects of concrete—an experimental study.
IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng (RAEREST’18), India
13. Ahirwar SK, Chandraul K, Singh MK (2017) Experimental study on concrete using flyash and
coconut coir fibre. Int Res J Eng Technol 4(6)
14. Kesharwani KC, Biswas AK (2017) Experimental study on use of flyash in concrete. Int Res
J Eng Technol 4(9)
An Experimental and Analytical
Investigation on the Characteristics
of Light Weight Concrete Using Waste
Burnt Ash and Pumice Stones
PL. Meyyappan, M. Pallikonda Rajasekaran, and R. Sathya Soroopan
Abstract Light weight concrete (LWC) has been successfully used since the ancient
roman times and it has gained its popularity due to its lower density and superior
insulation properties. Compared to the conventional concrete, LWC can significantly
reduce the dead load of structural elements, which makes it especially attractive in
the construction of multi-storey buildings. The materials used for preparing the light
weight concrete is pumice stones, burnt waste material ash and GGBS. The coarse
aggregates are partially replaced with pumice stones in the varying fractions of
10%, 20% and 30%. The cement are partially replaced with waste burnt ash in the
proportions of 5%, 10% and 15%. Additionally 5% GGBS is introduced into that mix
proportions. It is observed that by the optimum presence of light weight aggregates
such as 15% of burnt ash and 30% of pumice stone, density of the concrete is reduced
upto 2140 kg/m3 . In the same time the compressive strength is achieved around 75%
to 81% of the strength of the conventional concrete. Analytical equations models are
arrived from LabVIEW software and it has been well correlated the experimental
test results with the deviation of ±20%.
Keywords Light weight concrete · Waste burnt ash · GGBS · LabVIEW
1 Introduction
As compared to normal conventional concrete, light weight concrete can significantly

reduce the density of structural concrete and low thermal conductivity in indicated
in the previous researches [1–3]. Based on the main advantage of reduction of dead
load, building constructions can be done in the faster manners as like precast, prefab-
rication elements etc. and there by cost of the construction will come down drastically
as the cross section of the elements is less as compared with the conventional [4–6].
There are many possible ways to reduce the density of the concrete, they are by
cellular construction, by entraining large quantities of air, by using no-fines concrete
PL. Meyyappan (B) · M. P. Rajasekaran · R. S. Soroopan


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_50
544 PL. Meyyappan et al.
and light weight aggregates. Most economical and feasible method of attaining light
weight concrete is by using light weight aggregates. The light weight aggregates
are of natural and man-made. The natural light weight aggregates includes pumice
stones, volcanic cinders, saw dust, burnt ash and rice husk etc., whereas the artificial
light weight aggregate includes artificial cinders, coke breeze, foamed slag, bloated
clay, expanded shale and slate, sintered flyash etc. [7, 8]. In most of the educational
institutions, paper based waste materials are the major solid wastes which is accu-
mulated and dumped in to a waste land in a daily basis. Then it will be simply burnt
until ashes and left out there itself. Generally these left out waste ashes will create
a serious environmental threats to the society. In many of the past literatures, it is
indicating that, the waste materials of any form can be utilized as filler materials
in minimum to maximum extent [8]. So an attempt is made to effectively utilize
these waste ashes in a limited proportion in to the concrete. Apart from the specific
gravity, the strength is also taken in to the consideration while utilizing these ashes.
To maintain the strength aspects in a desired manner, 5% of GGBS content is intro-
duced along with the other constituents. In this manner, in order to achieve the light
weight concrete and without comprising much of the strength, an attempt is made
to produce that concrete by using pumice stones, GGBS and burnt ashes. In this
experimental work, the strength and water absorption property of the produced light
weight concrete will be evaluated.
2 Materials Used
(i) Cement
43 Grade Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) confirms to Indian Standard speci-
fication, IS. 8112 code is used in this experimental work with a specific gravity
of 3.21 and fineness modulus of 2.35%. For plain cement concrete works, the
preferred cement is 43 grade and also it is most suitable to make concrete mix
M30 in the economical aspects whereas the higher grades of cement are most
suitable for RCC type of works.
(ii) Fine aggregate
The naturally available river sand which having glossy texture and round in
shape is used as fine aggregate for this study conforming to requirements of
zone II as per IS:383-1970. The specific gravity of this fine aggregate is 2.685.
(iii) Coarse aggregate
The natural rock aggregates which are having angular and irregular texture
passing to 20 mm sieve and retained on 4.75 mm sieve is used in this study.
The specific gravity of this coarse aggregate is around 2.741.
(iv) Pumice stones
The light weight aggregate pumice stone of sizes 12.5 mm having specific
gravity 1.15 is taken for this study.
An Experimental and Analytical Investigation … 545
(v) Burnt ash

The waste paper and paper cups are burnt into ashes and these ashes are taken
in this study. The specific gravity is found to be 2.593.
(vi) Water
Potable drinking water is used for mixing the mortar. It ensured that it is free from
alkalis and organic matters.
The concrete mix was adopted for this experimental investigation is 1:1.54:2.09:0.45
for M30 grade of concrete by using IS 10262. The coarse aggregate has both regular
of 20 mm size and pumice stone of 12.5 mm. First the different varieties of coarse
aggregates (regular and light aggregate) are to be mixed, then fine aggregate is to be
spread out uniformly and finally the cement is dispersed on that aggregate mixture.
Care should be taken for the uniform and homogenous mixing on the dry state. Once
the dry state of concrete constituents is ready, the calculated quantity of water as per
mix design is to be introduced slowly and wet mix required a careful preparation
any defects like any slumps, bleeding problems etc. The prepared fresh concrete
is filled in to the respective moulds with proper hand compaction in three layers.
For both compression and porosity tests, cube specimens of 150 mm × 150 mm ×
150 mm were casted for this designed concrete M30 mix. As in total, 120 cube spec-
imens were casted for both the tests in the 28 days of age of curing with 5% GGBS,
replacement proportion of 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% of pumices stones and replace-
ment proportion of 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% burnt ash. The compression experimental
tests were conducted in the compression testing machine of 200 tonnes capacity. The
tests were performed out at a standardized stress rate of 14 N/mm2 /min, once the
specimen is kept centered in the machine. Water absorption test were conducted on
the cube specimens to arrive its volume of pores. The specimens were kept in the
hot air oven on the standard temperature of 120 °C temperature. Before and after
placing oven, the dry weights should be noted as W1 and W2 . The differences in
weight of those specimens against the initial dry weight are taken for the calculation
of volume of pores. The porosity (volume of pores in percentage) can be calculated
by the formula (1) mentioned below:
W1 − W2
× 100 (1)
W1
where,
W1 Initial weight of the specimen before placing in oven
W2 Final weight of the specimen after placing in oven.
The representation of loss of water is an indirect measure of porosity where it has

been frequently used in many of the literatures. Actually the porosity of concrete is
nothing but the estimation of volume of pores to the total volume of the concrete.
Generally the volume of pores is almost equal to the volume of water present in that
saturated sample. In that aspect, the volume of water present is calculated from the
weight difference of the saturated samples and dry samples. So, this is one of the
way the porosity can be calculated.
(i) Experimental studies
Table 1 shows the experimental test results of compressive strength and water absorp-
tion for the specimens with and without light weight aggregates (pumice stones),
Table 1 Experimental test results for marble dust replacement

Mix No. Replacement % Average Average Average water
Pumice stones Burnt ash GGBS density compressive absorption test
(kg/m3 ) strength (%)
(N/mm2 )
1 0 0 0 2600 37.83 8.23
2 10 0 0 2550 35.82 8.18
3 20 0 0 2380 33.29 8.06
4 30 0 0 2140 30.64 8.01
5 0 0 5 2600 43.91 7.91
6 10 0 5 2560 41.02 7.62
7 20 0 5 2400 38.12 7.25
8 30 0 5 2150 33.04 6.89
9 0 5 5 2590 43.15 7.59
10 10 5 5 2550 39.78 7.31
11 20 5 5 2390 35.31 6.67
12 30 5 5 2130 29.95 6.06
13 0 10 5 2590 42.04 7.43
14 10 10 5 2530 37.08 7.09
15 20 10 5 2370 30.53 6.4
16 30 10 5 2130 25.76 5.94
17 0 15 5 2560 39.23 7.8
18 10 15 5 2520 34.92 7.39
19 20 15 5 2350 26.86 6.78
20 30 15 5 2100 21.63 6.23

of specimens with and 44 Without GGBS
without GGBS With GGBS 5 %
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
0 10 20 30 40
Percentage of pumice Stones replacement
burnt ash and GGBS. It is observed that the control specimen (conventional concrete)
is having the density of 2600 kg/m3 with a compressive strength of 37.83 N/mm2 and
8.23% of pores. If the GGBS is introduced into the concrete as 5%, the compressive
strength increased by 13.84% and the volume of pores is reduced by 8.7%. This is
happened due to the of high cementitious nature and fineness of GGBS. The hydration
process is well performed by the cement and GGBS materials. The graph (as shown in
Fig. 1) is plotted between the compressive strength and percentage of pumice stones
replacement in the range of 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% for the specimens with and
without GGBS content of 5%. It is found that, the compressive strength is decreased
from 37.83 N/mm2 to 30.64 N/mm2 for the specimens having the replacement of
pumice stones by 0% to 30%. If GGBS materials introduced the compressive strength
is increased more than the non GGBS mixture but the falling trend of compressive
strength exists if the pumice stone content is increasing. The same pattern is seen
for the water absorption test as shown in Fig. 2. For the specimens having GGBS
content the compressive strength is 43.91 N/mm2 , 41.02 N/mm2 , 38.12 N/mm2 and
34.04 N/mm2 for the replacement of pumice stones 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% respec-
tively. Due to the presence of GGBS, the compressive strength increased by 12.67%,
11.34% and 9.89% for the replacement of pumice stones 10%, 20% and 30% respec-
tively. From Fig. 2, it is understood that, the reduction of pore volume seems to
be increasing, if pumice stone replacement increased. If GGBS is not present, the
increasing trend will be very slight; almost graph is looking straight line since the
Fig. 2 Water absorption of 10

Without GGBS
specimens with and without 9
Water Absorpon, %
With GGBS 5 %
GGBS 8
7
6
5
4
3
2
0 10 20 30 40
Percentage of pumice Stones replacement
Fig. 3 Density of the Without GGBS

2700
specimens with and without With GGBS
GGBS 2600
Density, Kg/m3
2500
2400
2300
2200
2100
2000
0 10 20 30 40
Percentage of pumice stones replacement
water absorption is in the range of 8.23% to 8.01%. There is no much difference seen.
But if the GGBS is present, the water absorption is found in the range of 7.51% to
6.89%. Some significant amount of volume of pores is reduced (16.29%) due to the
presence of finer particles of GGBS and size of coarse aggregate by pumice stones.
From Fig. 3, it is found the density of the concrete is reduced by the increasing the
replacement of light weight aggregate (pumice stones). The density of the conven-
tional concrete is found to be 2600 kg/m3 . If the coarse aggregate is replaced by 10%
pumice stones, the density of the concrete is reduced to 1.92% (2550 kg/m3 ).
Further if the pumice stone is increased to 20%, the density of the concrete
further reduced to 8.46% (2380 kg/m3 ). Then density of the concrete is achieved as
2140 kg/m3 and there, reduction of 17.69% is seen, if the pumice stone is increased
to 30%. If the 5% GGBS is added in to the concrete, the graphical pattern is almost
same as previous. There is no much difference is seen in terms of reduction in the
density. So it is an evident, that the density reduction is achieved only by the presence
of light weight aggregates.
Figure 4, shows that there is a comparison of compressive strength and percentage
of pumice stones replacement in the presence of different proportions of burnt ash
with 5% GGBS content. In general, the graph showing that the presence of burnt ash
and pumice stones bringing down the compressive strength because of the different
surface texture among coarse aggregates and pumice stones, bonding effect between
the two different coarse particles. Thereby the it is an evident that, the compressive

of the specimens with and 0 % burnt ash

45 5 % burnt ash
with burnt ash
40 10% burnt ash
15% burnt ash
35
30
25
20
0 10 20 30 40
Fig. 5 Water absorption of 9

the specimens with and with 0 % burnt ash
Water absorpon, %
burnt ash 8
5 % burnt ash
5
0 10 20 30 40
strength factor is indirectly proportional to the presence of pumice stones and burnt
ash. If the presence of pumice stone and burnt ash is less in content, the compres-
sive strength is affected in low ratio. For 5% addition of burnt ash will affecting
the strength by 3.02%, 7.37% and 9.35% for 10%, 20% and 30% of pumice stone
replacement respectively. Further if the burnt ash is increased to 10%, the strength is
affected from 9.69 to 22.03% for the pumice stone replacement from 10 to 30%. Still
if the burnt ash content is increased to a maximum of 15%, the strength is maximally
affected from 14.8 to 34.53%. This shows that, the presence of burnt ash of 5 and
10% burnt ash is advantageous and optimum in getting around 90 and 88% of the
compressive strength with a density of achieving light weight concrete of around
2130 kg/m3 in the presence of 30% pumice stones along with the coarse aggregate.
Figure 5 shows that water absorption for various percentages of pumice stones
and burnt ash of the specimens with 5% GGBS content. The volume of pores is
getting reduced by the presence of pumice stones and burnt ash. For 0% burnt ash,
the pores are reduced from 7.91% to 6.89% in the presence of 0% to 30% of pumice
stones replacements. For 5% burnt ash content, the water absorption is in the range
of 7.59% to 6.06% and for 10% there is an slight reduction in the water absorption
in the range of 7.43% to 5.94% but if the burnt ash content is increased to 15%, there
is an increase in the water absorption rate as compared to 5% and 10% of burnt ash
content. This is may be due to the increase of filler materials, improper hydration
and bonding between the aggregate and binder interface.
1. Analytical Studies
In order to verify and validate the experimental test results, analytical studies is
carried out to model the studies by using LabVIEW. In LabVIEW, Curve fitting
analysis technique is applied for extracting a set of curve parameters or coefficients
from the experimental data set to attain a functional account of the data set. The
algorithm that works based on the concept of least square method and that fits a
curve to a particular data set. The analysis library in the LabVIEW has both linear
and non-linear curve fitting algorithms. There will be different types curve fitting
formats such as linear fit, exponential fit, polynomial fit and log arithmetic fit. Out
of that, the linear fit is chosen in our study since it fits with the experimental data to
a straight line in the general format as mentioned in the Eq. (2).
y = mx + c (2)
In the LabVIEW programming, under the section of library regression.llb controls

the noisy data levels on the parameters of the curve that best fits those data points.
Then select the type as linear fit in the algorithms selector control. In the last, run
the LabVIEW and notice the spread of data points where the curve is fitted. Finally
the coefficients of the linear model will be taken for arriving the model Eqs. (3) and
(4). Based on the known values of percentage of GGBS, pumice stones and burnt
ash, the unknown values such as compressive strength and water absorption of the
concern concrete mix can be computed from the Eqs. (3) and (4).
CS = 0.1PG −0.247PPS + 0.05PBA + 38.01 (3)
WA = 0.1PG −0.034PPS + 0.012 + PBA + 7.932 (4)
where
CS Compressive strength in N/mm2
PG Percentage of GGBS
PPS Percentage of pumice stones
PBA Percentage of burnt ash
WA Water absorption in %.
It has been observed that the, arrived model equations are well correlated with
the experimental results since, the difference among them are estimated at around
±20% deviation.
5 Conclusions
The following conclusions are arrived based on this experimental study. They are as
follows:
(i) It is found that the control specimen (conventional concrete) is having the
compressive strength of 37.83 N/mm2 and 8.23% volume of pores without
GGBS, pumice stone and burnt ash content. If GGBS alone is introduced into
the concrete as 5%, the compressive strength increased by 43.91 N/mm2 and
the volume of pores is reduced by 7.91%.
(ii) It is found that the density of the concrete is getting reduced by the increasing
the replacement of light weight aggregate (pumice stones) with the normal
coarse aggregate. For 30% replacement of pumice stone, the density is reduced
from 2600 to 2140 kg/m3 . The reduction in density is upto 17.69%.
(iii) It is observed that by the presence of burnt ash and a pumice stone, around
75–81% of the compressive strength is achieved with the reduction of density
around 20%.
(iv) For the 5% replacement of cement by burnt ash will yield around 80% of the
compressive strength value of the control specimen and if the replacement
percentage is increased to 10%, the achieved compressive strength is only
around 70%.
(v) The optimum usage of burnt ash into the concrete is found to be 10% along
with GGBS content 5% to achieve 80% of the compressive strength of M30
grade. Also there is reduction in the volume of pores upto 10% of burnt ash
content.
(vi) Analytical models are arrived from LabVIEW software to correlate the
experimental test results with ±20%.
References
1. Jones MR, McCarthy A (2005) Preliminary views on the potential of foamed concrete as a
structural material. Mag Concr Res 57(1):21–31
2. Zulkarnain F, Ramli M (2011) Performance and characteristic foamed concrete mix design with
silica fume for housing development. Int J Acad Res 3(2), Part IV
3. Kearsley EEP, Wainwright PJ (2014) Ash content for optimum strength of foamed concrete.
Cem Concr Res 32(2):241–246
4. Mydin MAO, Wang YC (2012) Mechanical properties of foamed concrete exposed to high
temperatures. Constr Build Mater 26(1):638–654
5. Tan XJ, Chen WZ, Tian HM, Yuan JP (2013) Degradation characteristics of foamed concrete
with lightweight aggregate and polypropylene fibre under freeze-thaw cycles. Mag Concr Res
65(12):720–730
6. Alengaram UJ, Al Muhit BA, bin Jumaat MZ, Jing MLY (2013) A comparison of the thermal
conductivity of oil palm shell foamed concrete with conventional materials. Mater Des 51:522–
529
7. Hunaiti YM (1997) Strength of composite sections with foamed and lightweight aggregate
concrete. J Mater Civ Eng 9(2):58–61
8. Meyyappan PL, Kumaran K, Gopalakrishnan M, Harikrishnan E (2018) Effect of glass fibers,
flyash and quarry ash on strength and durability aspects of concrete—an experimental study.
IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng
Applications of Functionally Graded
Materials in Structural
Engineering—A Review
S. L. Akshaya, Amar Prakash, and J. Bharati Raj
Abstract Functionally graded materials are an advanced class of composite mate-

rials characterized by spatially varying properties and are designed to optimize the
performance through the distribution of the desired property. A functionally graded
material eliminates the sharp interface between dissimilar materials and possesses
a gradual variation from one material to other. The research in this area is still in
nascent stage. It has many promising applications in different fields like biomedical,
defence, structural engineering etc. As compared to the conventional homogeneous,
isotropic materials these are complex in the analysis and design procedures. This
paper presents a critical review on the mechanics and behaviour of the functionally
graded materials towards their applications in structural engineering, specifically in
the design of protective structures. Besides this, a brief description is also provided
with suitable formulations regarding the gradation of the properties in a particular
direction to achieve the desired functionality.
Keywords Functionally graded materials · Layered composites · Protective

structures · Grading laws
1 Introduction
Latest advancements in the field of engineering and processing of materials have

led to a new class of composite materials called Functionally Graded Materials
(FGMs). These represent a second generation of composite materials and have been
S. L. Akshaya (B) · J. Bharati Raj

NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, Kerala 678008, India
J. Bharati Raj
A. Prakash
CSIR-SERC, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600113, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_51
554 S. L. Akshaya et al.
designed to achieve superior levels of performance [1]. A FGM typically consists of

a composite material with a spatially varying property and is designed to optimize
performance through the distribution of that property. These materials are charac-
terised by an engineered gradient of composition, structure and/or any specific prop-
erties in the preferred direction/orientation and are superior to homogeneous mate-
rials composed of similar constituents. In FGMs the mechanical properties such
as Young’s modulus of elasticity, poisson’s ratio, shear modulus of elasticity, and
material density, vary smoothly and continuously in preferred directions [2]. Such
properties of the materials can be described by material function f(x). The variation of
this material function in a homogenous material (constant), in a composite material
and in an FGM are depicted in Fig. 1 [3].
FGMs have a graded interface rather than a sharp interface between the two
dissimilar materials, thus, an ideal FGM has no sharp interfaces (Fig. 2).These mate-
rials exhibit superior mechanical properties when compared to basic (monolithic)
and composite materials.
Initially, functionally graded materials were designed as thermal barrier materials
for aerospace structures and fusion reactors and, later they were also considered
as potential structural materials for future high-speed spacecraft and various other
applications [1, 4]. In the mid 1980s, researchers in Japan confronted with a chal-
lenge in a hypersonic space plane project requiring a thermal barrier, with outside
Fig. 1 Schematic representation of material function in different structure; a Homogeneous

material b Composite c FGM [3]
Material – 1 decreases
(Amount and proper-
Material – 2 decreases
(Amount and proper-
MATERIAL - 1
GRADED ZONE
ties)
ties)
MATERIAL - 2
Fig. 2 Concept of FGM

Applications of Functionally Graded Materials … 555
temperature of 2000 K and inside temperature of 1000 K across less than 10 mm

thickness [3, 5, 6].Therefore, as a solution to this problem the novel material called
Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) were developed.
Functionally graded materials were developed as advancement to composite mate-
rials. They provide excellent heat and corrosion resistance capability, and are able
to withstand ultra-high temperature gradients. FGM can also act as an interface
layer that connects two incompatible materials so as to enhance the bond strength,
remove stress concentration, provide multi-functionality namely, ability to control
deformation, wear, corrosion, dynamic response etc. [7]. It has been demonstrated
by many researchers that FGMs helps to decrease the magnitude of peak thermal
stresses, eliminates the stress concentrations at the interface layers and free edges
in laminated composites [8, 9].The most commonly available FGMs are ceramic–
metal composites, where the ceramic part has good thermal and corrosion resistance
capability and the metallic part provides superior fracture toughness and weldability
[7]. FGM also improves the fracture toughness of brittle ceramics by introducing a
metallic phase that deforms plastically.
2 Homogenization Schemes
Homogenization schemes are used to determine the effective material properties.

Most of the FGMs are manufactured by two phases of materials with different prop-
erties. The volume fraction of each phase gradually varies in the gradation direction
and the effective properties of FGMs viz. elastic moduli, shear moduli, density, etc.
change along this direction [10]. Several homogenization schemes or models like
rules of mixture (Voigt Scheme) [11–13], Hashin–Shtrikman type bounds, Mori–
Tanaka type models [12, 13], self-consistent schemes etc. are available in litera-
ture for determination of the bounds of the effective properties. However the most
commonly used schemes are the Mori–Tanaka scheme and the Voigt scheme.
3 Gradation Laws
The variation of the desired property of an FGM across any direction (usually thick-
ness direction) can be designed according to the requirement by considering various
gradation laws.
3.1 Exponential Law
The exponential law is generally used to deal with problems related to fracture
mechanism of FGM. [7, 13] As per this law, for a structure made of FGM with
uniform thickness ‘h’, the effective material properties P(z) at any point located at a
distance ‘z’ from the reference surface is given by Eq. 1 [2, 7].

P(z) = Pt e( h )
ln Pbt (z+ h2 )
1 P
(1)
where Pb and Pt represent the material properties at the bottom-most (z = − h/2) and
top-most (z = + h/2) surfaces respectively.
3.2 Power Law
The power law is a simple law and is commonly used in the stress analysis of FGM
[2]. According to this law, a material property P(z) in a specific direction (along z)
of an FGM plate of uniform thickness ‘h’ can be determined by Eq. 2.
P(z) = (Pt − Pb )Vm + Pb (2)
It can be seen that the material properties are dependent on the volume fraction Vm
of FGM. The volume fraction can be represented by a function of the thickness
coordinate Z as given by Eq. 3.
n
2Z + h
Vm = (3)
2h
where, h is the thickness of the structure, and n (0 ≤ n ≤ ∞) is a volume fraction

exponent.
It is observed that the young’s modulus changes rapidly near the lowest surface
for n > 1, and increases quickly near the top surface for n < 1 [14].
3.3 Sigmoid Law
When using power law function and exponential function the stress concentrations
appear in one of the interfaces in which the material is continuous but rapidly
changing. To overcome this problem Chi and Chung [14] introduced the sigmoid
law in which two symmetric FGM layers with power-law distribution is considered.
According to this law, the two power law functions are defined by Eqs. (4) and (5),
[7].
p
h
−z h
f 1 (z) = 1 − (0.5) 2
h
0≤z≤ (4)
2
2
p
h
+z h
f 2 (z) = 1 − (0.5) 2
h
− ≤z≤0 (5)
2
2
where f 1 (z) and f 2 (z) represent the material property for the particular condition
mentioned.
4 Applications
FGMs were initially used in aerospace but with more research and advancements
in the field it has expanded its application to various other fields, like industrial
materials, optoelectronics, biomaterials, energy materials etc.… They offer great
promise in severe operating and loading conditions such as for wear-resistant linings
for handling large heavy abrasive ore particles in the mining industry, rocket heat
shields, heat engine components, heat exchanger tubes, plasma facings for fusion
reactors in nuclear reactor plant, thermo-electric generators, and in the electrical
insulating applications [5]. The current areas of applications include aerospace, auto-
mobile, defence, electrical/electronic, marine, thermo-electronics etc. [6, 7, 15, 16].
Few FGMs with their properties and applications are provided in Table 1.
4.1 Civil Engineering Field
Application of FGM into civil engineering field is an emerging area of interest.

Many researchers have worked on several aspects of FGM related to its structural
applications. A lot of research work has been undertaken since the inception of the
FGM concept and some of the works include the design of FGM [17], modelling
of FGM [18], fabrication and characterization of FGMs and many more. In the
last decade analysis of composite structures has become a promising research field
since accurate structural and dynamic analyses are required to design various struc-
tural components of aerospace, mechanical, naval as well as civil constructions to
understand the behavior of the structural response in real time. Numerous studies
on stress, deformation, stability, and vibration problems of FGM beams, plates, and
shells accounting for various effects, such as geometric and physical nonlinearity
and transverse shear deformability are available. Different plate theories have been
developed by researchers to analyse composite plates (including FGM plates) and
shells which include the classical plate theory [14, 19] and shear deformation theo-
ries [20–23]. A brief study of the vibration characteristics and impact response of
FGM done by researchers are addressed in the following sections.
Table 1 Few FGMs with their applications Khan et al. [13]

FGM Property Application
Al2 O3 E-glass/Epoxy Thermal barrier and anti-wear Rocket nozzle, wings and
mechanics parts, hardness and engine casting, brake rotors,
damping resistance solar domes, composite piping
system, combustion chambers
BaTiO3 /Si Hardness and Toughness Dielectric motors, Helicopter
Carbon/Epoxy Lightweight and good damping components i.e. landing gear
properties doors, heat exchanger panels
and engine parts
Al alloy Light weight and high stiffness Artificial ligaments, MRI
scanner spares, eye glass,
frames dentistry parts
TiAl/SiC, SiC/C Temperature and shock resistance Heat exchanger panels, rocket
Coatings nozzle, spacecraft, truss
structure, solar panels
Graphite/Epoxy High strength to stiffness ratio Cylindrical pressure hulls,
Reduces thermal distortions space telescope, cryogenic
tanks, satellite antennas
Al/AAl2 O3 , WC/Co, Heat, wear and tear resistance, Machine and forming tools,
SiCW/Al-Alloy thermal resistance, Chemical artificial bones, Storage
inertness, and toughness cylinders, diesel engine pistons,
racing bicycle and vehicle
frames
4.1.1 Vibration and Dynamic Response of FGM
Ample number of studies have been done on free and forced vibration for FGM
plates both with and without initial thermal and/or mechanical in-plane loads. Few
journals in this area has been addressed in this section. The study done by some of
the authors and their findings have been tabulated in Table 2.
4.1.2 Impact Resistance of FGM
Impact resistance of FGM is a comparatively less addressed area. However, recently

many researchers are active in this field. But, it can be observed that many papers
mention materials designed according to their function as functionally graded mate-
rials. These may be designed according to the function they have to satisfy and hence
are graded according to their function, but in these materials the exact definition of
FGM where the material property varies continuously may not be absolutely satis-
fied. Nevertheless even in such material when the difference between the material
property is small they may seem to obey the FGM concept. Few journals dealing
with impact on FGMs are given in Table 3. The work done by few researchers in
Table 2 Review of vibration and dynamic response of FGM
Author Study Main Findings
Cheng and Batra [24] • Used Reddy’s third order plate theory to study the buckling and • They established an exact correspondence between the
steady state vibrations of a simply supported FG polygonal buckling and vibration eigen values of the third order plate
plate resting on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation and theory, FSDT and CLPT for FG polygonal plates with simply
subjected to uniform in-plane hydrostatic loads supported rectilinear edges and the vibration eigen value of the
• Comparative study of different theories like; Classical plate corresponding membrane
theory (CLPT), First order shear deformation theories (FSDT)
and Higher order shear deformation theories (HSDT)
Yang and Shen [25] • A semi-analytical approach was used to investigate the free • When thermal effects were included, FG plates with material
vibration and the dynamic response of functionally graded properties intermediate to those of isotropic ones do not
rectangular plates subjected to impulsive lateral loads combined necessarily have intermediate dynamic response
with initial in-plane actions and under thermal environments • Material composition, temperature rise, in plane and
out-of-plane boundary conditions, initial membrane stresses
and dynamic load shape has a significant influence on the
vibration characteristics and dynamic responses
Applications of Functionally Graded Materials …
Vel and Batra [26] • An analytical solution was presented for the free and forced • For FG thick plates, there was a significant differences between
vibrations of simply supported FG rectangular plates the exact solution and results obtained from the CLPT
• Exact solutions for an aluminum/zirconia FG plate were • FSDT performed better than the TSDT for the FG plates
compared with those obtained by the CPLT, FSDT and Third • Results from the FSDT and TSDT compare well with the exact
order shear deformation theory (TSDT) solution
• A metal–ceramic FG rectangular plates with a power-law
variation of the volume fractions of the constituents across the
thickness were considered
Liu et al. [27] • Free vibration analysis of a FG isotropic elastic rectangular • The effect of in-plane material inhomogeneity on the
plate with in-plane material inhomogeneity fundamental frequencies were well shown with numerical
examples
(continued)
559
Table 2 (continued)
560

Lee and Lee [28] • A unified model to analyze the free vibration and buckling of • Buckling load increased with the modular ratio while the
axially FG Euler-Bernoulli columns subjected to an axial fundamental frequencies exhibited different trends for different
compressive force end conditions
• Linear variation of material property along the longitudinal • When the applied compressive load was close to the buckling
direction and linearly tapering column with circular and square load, the fundamental frequency dramatically decreased to zero
cross sections were studied • AFG columns with square cross section had higher
fundamental frequency and buckling load than those with
circular cross section or a fixed volume of the column
S. L. Akshaya et al.
Table 3 Review of impact characteristics of FGM
Apetre et al. [29] • Study of sandwich panels with a functionally graded core • The contact stiffness of the beam with graded core
with density, and hence its stiffness, varying through the increased, causing the contact stresses and other stress
thickness, subjected to low-speed impact of a components in the vicinity of contact to increase
one-dimensional sandwich panel by a rigid cylindrical • Maximum strain corresponding to the maximum impact
projectile load reduced considerably due to grading of the core
• Poisson’s ratio was kept constant while the Young’s properties
modulus was varied and was represented by a polynomial • FG cores can be effectively used to mitigate impact damage
in the thickness coordinate in sandwich composites
Quek et al. [30] • Developed a functionally graded (FG) cementitious panel • FG-panels displayed superior impact resistance compared
which consisted of PE-fibrous ferrocement, calcined to plain mortar targets
bauxite aggregates and conventional mortar to resist • Thickening the calcined bauxite aggregate layer was most
high-velocity small projectile penetration effective in reducing the penetration depth for all impact
velocities
• Increasing thickness of the impact and distal face
PE-fibrous ferrocement had little influence over the overall

impact resistance
• It was concluded that FG-panel design can be improved by
incorporating thicker high energy absorption materials at
the impact face or by adding a layer of PE fibrous
ferrocement
(continued)
561
Table 3 (continued)
562

Yalamanchili and Sankar [31] • Studied the problem of contact between a rigid cylindrical • The variation of Young’s modulus in FG beams has a
indenter and a functionally graded (FG) beam with the significant effect on the contact length
elastic modulus of the material varying exponentially • For a particular contact force the contact length in soft
across the thickness of the beam contact was found to be about three times that in hard
• Two types of gradations (soft to hard and hard to soft) and a contact and, it reduces the peak contact stress which in turn
homogeneous material were studied seems to reduce the stresses in the contact region
• The maximum normal and shear strains were in general
less in soft impact (when the impact/contact occurred on
the softer side) for a given impact energy or maximum
contact force
Shariyat and Jafari [32] • Study of nonlinear low-velocity impact analysis of a two • Stated that the distribution of the material properties can
directionally graded circular plate under radial preloads significantly affect the impact responses of the
• They considered the property to vary in both radial and two-directionally-graded plates
transverse direction
Gunes et al. [33] • Experimental and numerical investigation on the responses • The compositional gradient exponent considerably affected
of FG clamped circular plates composed of ceramic (SiC) the impact response of the FG circular plates
and metal (Al) phases varying through the plate thickness • Hence, the peak contact force increased and the
subjected to impact by using a drop weight impact test after-impact impressions got narrower with increase in the
system compositional gradient exponent
(continued)
S. L. Akshaya et al.
Table 3 (continued)
Singh et al. [34] • Studied the low velocity impact response behaviour of • Peak value of contact force intensified as the twist angle
aluminium-zirconia FG plates, such as plate displacement, increased for a particular material property graded index
contact force, impactor displacement, and velocity of whereas the peak value of contact force reduced gradually
impactor with respect to time using modified Hertzian as the angle of oblique impact increased
contact law and power law
• Effects of oblique impact angle and twist angle were
studied
Lai et al. [35] • Resistance of a Functionally graded cementitious • The penetration depth, crater area and penetration damage
composite (FGCC),with an anti-penetration layer and crack decreased greatly due to the synergistic effects of high
resistance layer made of ultra high performance coarse strength fibers and coarse aggregates
aggregate concrete and ultra-high performance steel fiber
reinforced concrete respectively, against repeated
penetration were done
• The FGCC was prepared by varying the distribution of high
strength fibers and aggregates

Lai et al. [36] • Three-layer FGCC consisting of crack resistance layer, • Cracking, penetration and spalling of concrete targets were
spalling resistance layer and anti-penetration layer controlled by the synergistic effects of the three different
composed of ultra-high performance hybrid fiber layers
reinforced concrete, ultra high performance steel fiber • FGCC target with three layers of different concretes had
reinforced concrete and ultra-high performance coarse the advantages of both smaller crater area and lower
aggregate concrete respectively, with different content of penetration depth
high strength fibers and coarse aggregates were studied
563
the field of impact on FGM and their findings are tabulated. It would provide a brief
summary of the work done in this area.
There is a need for more research into the impact and blast characteristics of
FGMs. From the researches considered in this focused review paper, it can be seen
that FGMs tend to show better performance than their homogeneous counterparts.
FGM specimens have been found to show lower penetration depth, crater area and
penetration damage in general. Hence these can be seen as a potential material for
impact and blast resistant structures, but more study on this aspect and their potential
needs to be exploited.
5 Summary
A brief but focused review of literature on application of FGMs and FG structures for
specific purposes has been presented in this paper. In functionally graded materials
the mechanical properties such as Young’s modulus, poisson’s ratio, mass density
etc. varies continuously across a preferred direction. Various gradation laws such as
power law, exponential law and sigmoid law can be used to define this variation. The
diverse fields of application of FGMs were addressed in this paper. FGMs have been
beneficially utilized in high temperature application, automobiles, nuclear reactors,
biomedical etc. Its application into structural engineering field are scrutinized. Few
works on the study of vibration characteristics of FGM were examined. Impact
characteristics of FGM is an area which is still not explored much. Research works
on the impact characteristics of FGM were reviewed. From the literatures it can be
seen that FGMs have better performance than their homogeneous and composite
counterparts when subjected to impacts. Studies show that FG-panel design can be
improved by the incorporation of thicker high energy absorption materials at the
impact face or a layer of PE fibrous ferrocement. Also, FG cores can be effectively
used to mitigate impact damage in sandwich composites. Synergetic effects of high
strength fibers and coarse aggregates have been reported to provide better impact
resistance. But more in-depth and rigorous study of the impact and blast resistant
characteristics of FGM are needed to enhance their potential to be used in protective
structures.
Acknowledgements This paper is being published with the kind permission of the Director, CSIR-
Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai.
References
1. Ebrahimi F (2016) Advances in functionally graded materials and structures

2. Jha DK, Kant T, Singh RK (2013) A critical review of recent research on functionally graded
plates. Compos Struct 96:833–849
3. Sharma NK, Bhandari M, Ashirvad. Applications of Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs).

IJERT 334–339
4. Shen HS (2009) Functionally graded materials-nonlinear analysis of plates and shells. CRC
Press
5. Mahamood RM, Akinlabi ET, Shukla M, Pityana S (2012) Functionally graded material : an
overview, vol III, pp 1–5
6. EL-Wazery MS, EL-Desouky AR (2015) A review on functionally graded ceramic-metal
materials. Mater Environ Sci 6(5):1369–1376
7. Gupta, Talha M (2015) Recent development in modeling and analysis of functionally graded
materials and structures. Prog Aerosp Sci 1–14
8. Tanaka K, Tanaka Y, Watanabe H, Poterasu VF, Sugano Y (1993) An improved solution to
thermoelastic material design in functionally gradient materials: scheme to reduce thermal
stresses. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 109:377–389
9. Tanaka K, Tanaka Y, Enomoto K, Poterasu VF, Sugano Y (1993) Design of thermoelastic
materials using direct sensitivity and optimization methods. Reduction of thermal stresses in
functionally gradient materials. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 106:271–284
10. Yin HM, Sun LZ, Paulino GH (2004) Micromechanics-based elastic model for functionally
graded materials with particle interactions. Acta Mater 52:3535–3543
11. Shen HS, Wang ZX (2012) Assessment of Voigt and Mori—Tanaka models for vibration
analysis of functionally graded plates. Compos Struct 94(7):2197–2208
12. Nguyen TK (2014) Analysis of the effect of the homogenization methods on the shear correction
factor of functionally graded beams. IJERT 3(9):1458–1461
13. Khan T, Zhang N, Akram A (2019) State of the art review of functionally graded materials. In:
International conference on computing, mathematics and engineering technologies
14. Chi SH, Chung YL (2006) Mechanical behavior of functionally graded material plates under
transverse load-Part I: analysis. Int J Solids Struct 43:3657–3674
15. Mahamood RM, Akinlabi ET (2017) Functionally graded materials. Springer, Heidelberg
16. Miyamoto Y, Shiota I (1996) Functionally graded materials. In: Proceedings of the 4th
international symposium on functionally graded materials, Japan
17. Zhang Y, Sun M, Zhang D (2012) Designing functionally graded materials with superior
load-bearing properties. Acta Biomater 8(3):1101–1108
18. Birman V, Byrd LW (2007) Modeling and analysis of functionally graded materials. ASME
60:195–216
19. Reddy JN (2007) Theory and analysis of elastic plates and shells. CRC Press
20. Reddy JN (2000) Analysis of functionally graded plates. Int J Numerical Methods Eng 47:663–
684
21. Reissner E (1942) On the theory of bending of elastic plates. Bull Am Math Soc 48:184–191
22. Zenkour AM (2006) Generalized shear deformation theory for bending analysis of functionally
graded plates. Appl Math Model 30:67–84
23. Taj MNAG, Chakrabarti A, Sheikh AH (2013) Analysis of functionally graded plates using
higher order shear deformation theory. Appl Math Model 37:8484–8494
24. Cheng ZQ, Batra RC (2000) Exact correspondence between eigenvalues of members and
functionally graded simply supported polygonal plates. J Sound Vib 229(4):879–895
25. Yang J, Shen H-S (2002) Vibration characteristics and transient response of shear-deformable
functionally graded plates in thermal environments. J Sound Vib 255(3):579–602
26. Vel SS, Batra RC (2004) Three-dimensional exact solution for the vibration of functionally
graded rectangular plates. J Sound Vib 272:703–730
27. Liu DY, Wang CY, Chen WQ (2010) Free vibration of FGM plates with in-plane material
inhomogeneity. Compos Struct 92: 1047–1051
28. Lee JK, Lee BK (2019) Free vibration and buckling of tapered columns made of axially
functionally graded materials. Appl Math Modell 75:73–87
29. Apetre NA, Sankar BV, Ambur DR (2006) Low-velocity impact response of sandwich beams
with functionally graded core. Int J Solids Struct 43:2479–2496
30. Quek ST, Lin VWJ, Maalej M (2010) Development of functionally-graded cementitious panel
against high-velocity small projectile impact. Int J Impact Eng 37(8):928–941
31. Yalamanchili VK, Sankar BV (2012) Indentation of functionally graded beams and its
application to low-velocity impact response. Compos Sci Technol 72(16):1989–1994
32. Shariyat M, Jafari R (2013) Nonlinear low-velocity impact response analysis of a radi-
ally preloaded two-directional-functionally graded circular plate: a refined contact stiffness
approach. Compos Part B 45:981–994
33. Gunes R, Aydin M, Apalak MK, Reddy JN (2014) Experimental and numerical investigations
of low velocity impact on functionally graded circular plates. Compos Part B 59:21–32
34. Singh H, Hazarika B, Dey S (2017) Low velocity impact responses of functionally graded
plates. Proc Eng 173:264–270
35. Lai J, Wang H, Yang H, Zheng X, Wang Q (2017) Dynamic properties and SPH simulation
of functionally graded cementitious composite subjected to repeated penetration. Constr Build
Mater 146:54–65
36. Lai J, Yang H, Wang H, Zheng X, Wang Q (2019) Penetration experiments and simulation
of three-layer functionally graded cementitious composite subjected to multiple projectile
impacts. Constr Build Mater 196:499–511
Efficient Utilization of Recycled Concrete
Aggregates for Structural
Applications—An Experimental Study
Jagan Sivamani, T. R. Neelakantan, P. Saravana Kumar, C. Mugesh Kanna,

H. Vignesh Harish, and M. R. Akash
Abstract Utilization of recycled concrete aggregates as an alternative material for

natural aggregates in concrete have been of greater importance due to its disposal
problems followed by the problem on scarcity in construction materials namely
aggregates. This paper presents a study on the mechanical properties of concrete
manufactured with recycled aggregates collected from a 10 year old demolished
building at the institute. Recycled aggregates were immersed in water for 24 h before
its utilization in concrete to achieve surface saturated dry density. A total of 8 batches
of Recycled Aggregate Concrete and 2 batches of Normal Aggregate Concrete under
different replacement levels of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% and at two w/c ratios
of 0.45 and 0.5 were manufactured. Various parametric tests such as compressive
strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength and elastic modulus were performed
to study its mechanical properties at the age of 7 days and 28 days. Results indicate
that the mechanical properties of RAC was greatly influenced by the w/c ratio as the
pre-saturation of recycled aggregates for 24 h prior to manufacturing yielded better
strength even at 0.45w/c ratio and at 30% replacement.
Keywords Recycled aggregate concrete · Recycled aggregates · W/c ratio ·

Mechanical properties · Surface saturated dry · Density
J. Sivamani (B) · T. R. Neelakantan · C. Mugesh Kanna · H. Vignesh Harish · M. R. Akash

School of Environmental and Construction Technology, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and
Education, Anand Nagar, Krishnankoil, Tamilnadu 626126, India
P. Saravana Kumar
Department of Civil Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology,
Krishnankoil, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu 641008, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_52
568 J. Sivamani et al.
1 Introduction
Concrete is the most widely used material by the construction industry, which is
the mixture of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water. Among them,
aggregates consume nearly 60–70% of total volume of concrete [1]. Aggregates are
inert, granular materials used as a binding medium in the concrete. Current estimates
on the global demand for the aggregates in construction industries rose up to 20
billion tons per annum [2, 3]. Construction industries acquire natural resources as
their source of raw materials mostly aggregates which leads to depletion of natural
resource. Parallely, construction industries generate wastes as a result of retrofitting,
rehabilitation and demolition of constructed structures known as Construction &
Demolition (C&D) wastes. C&D wastes are being dumped locally nearby the sites
of generation or being utilized as materials to fill up the pits near by the roadside. In
recent years, owing to increased demand on aggregates, C&D wastes generated as a
result of demolition of buildings have been used as alternative material for aggregates
in structural applications reducing its environmental impact. Such C&D wastes used
as aggregates in concrete either partial/full substitution to Natural Aggregates (NA)
ended up in the manufacture of new era of concrete as “Recycled Aggregate Concrete
(RAC)”. Though RAC has positive environmental benefits, poor quality of Recycled
Concrete Aggregates (RCA) imposed limitation on its percentage of utilization in
concrete.
Various factors contribute to the poor quality of RCA are adhered mortar content,
density, method of recycling, water absorption, gradation, crushing and abrasion
resistance and specific gravity [4–12]. From the above mentioned factors, presence
of adhered mortar is the important factor responsible for the poor quality of RCA
[13–15]. Adhered mortars present on the surface of RA are highly porous with
micro-cracks resulting in higher water absorption and weaker Interfacial Transition
Zone (ITZ). This in turn reduces the mechanical and durability properties of concrete
limiting its structural applications. Also, percentage on replacement of NA with RCA
depends on quality and strength of parent concrete as RCA collected from a high
strength building results in better quality than those collected from a low strength
building [13, 16, 17]. Some studies limit the utilization of RCA to 25% [18], while
other limits it till 40% [19]. Apart from the quality of parent concrete, reduction in
w/c ratio of concrete can improve the strength of RAC even at higher percentages of
replacement [16, 19, 20]. Upon reduction in w/c ratio, highest compressive strength
of 83 MPa was achieved at 28 days upon 100% utilization of RCA as NA in concrete
[16]. Various studies on RAC summarizes that no predictive equation can be arrived
through any correlative analysis for RAC as the strength depends on various factors
such as age of concrete, quality of parent concrete, quantity of adhered mortar,
recycling techniques etc. But one parameter strengthens the poor quality of RCA
for its utilization in concrete is the w/c ratio. Optimal w/c ratio in the manufacture
of RAC can result in better mechanical properties even at higher percentages of
replacement. The present study involves the behaviour of RAC with variation in w/c
ratio under different percentage of replacements of RA. The first phase of the study
Efficient Utilization of Recycled Concrete … 569
involves the mechanical behaviour of RAC at 0.5w/c ratios with 0%, 10%, 20%,
30% and 40% of RA. The second phase involves the mechanical behaviour of RAC
at 0.45w/c ratios with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of RA.
2 Experimental Work
Ordinary Portland cement of 43 grade [21], river sand of size 2.36 mm and crushed
gravel passing through 20 mm sieve [22, 23] were used to manufacture the concrete.
Recycled Aggregates (RA) were collected from a 10 year old demolished building
at the institute, crushed to varying size from 10 to 20 mm by series of crushers,
and were used by replacing different contents (0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) of
Natural Aggregate (NA). Potable water confirming to IS 456:2000 [24] was also used.
Physical properties of crushed RA were tested in accordance with IS 2386:1989 [22]
and presented in Table 1. A total of 10 concrete mixtures confirming to IS 10262:2009
[25] were manufactured at 0.45w/c and 0.5w/c ratio and the mechanical properties of
concrete like compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength and Elastic
modulus were studied at the age of 7 days and 28 days in accordance with IS 516:
1959 [26]. RA were immersed in water for 24 h and dried before its utilization in
concrete to achieve Surface Saturated Dry Density (SSD) condition. Mix proportions
adopted for the casting of specimens was presented in the Table 2. All the 10 concrete
mixes under different levels of replacement and at different w/c ratio were subjected
to Normal mixing wherein cement, fine aggregate, NA, RA and water were mixed for
120 s. Process of concrete casting and testing of the casted specimens was presented
in the Fig. 1. Prepared concrete mixture were moulded in cubical moulds of size
150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm, cylindrical moulds of size 150 mm × 300 mm and
Table 1 Physical property on Ingredients of concrete

No Description of the test Values BIS limits
1 Specific Gravity of cement 3.15 3.1–3.16
2 Specific Gravity of fine aggregate 2.64 2.5–3
3 Fineness modulus of fine aggregate 2.31 2–3.5
4 Specific Gravity of NA 2.70 2–3
5 Fineness modulus of NA 6.74 <15
6 Specific Gravity of RA 2.65 2–3
7 Impact value of RA (%) 18.43 <45%
8 Crushing value of RA (%) 14.61 <45%
9 Fineness modulus of RA 7.47 <15
10 Water Absorption of RA (%) 5.32 <3%
11 Abrasion value of NA (%) 26.31 <45%
12 Abrasion value of RA (%) 38.42 <45%

No Mix ID Mix Details Cement F.A (kg/m3 ) C.A (kg/m3 ) Water (kg/m3 )
(kg/m3 )
1 0.5 N NAC at 0.5w/c 372 829 1015 186
2 0.45 N NAC at 0.45w/c 372 829 1015 186
3 0.5 R1 RAC at 0.5w/c 372 829 1015 186
(10% RA)
4 0.5 R2 RAC at 0.5w/c 372 829 1015 186
(20% RA)
5 0.5 R3 RAC at 0.5w/c 372 829 1015 186
(30% RA)
6 0.5 R4 RAC at 0.5w/c 372 829 1015 186
(40% RA)
7 0.45 R1 RAC at 0.45w/c 413 799 1029 186
(10% RA)
8 0.45 R2 RAC at 0.45w/c 413 799 1029 186
(20% RA)
9 0.45 R3 RAC at 0.45w/c 413 799 1029 186
(30% RA)
10 0.45 R4 RAC at 0.45w/c 413 799 1029 186
(40% RA)
prism moulds of size 500 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm, allowed drying for 24 h, and
cured in water at room temperature for 7 days and 28 days to study its mechanical
properties. Results of the mechanical properties of hardened concrete at the age of
7 days and 28 days were presented in the Table 3.
3.1 Properties of RA
Property test on RA performed in accordance with IS 2386: 1989 satisfied the BIS
limits for its utilization in concrete, except the property of water absorption. Other
properties of RA falls within the BIS limits but was lesser compared to those of NA.
Specific gravity of RA was 1.85% lesser compared to NA and water absorption is
40% more compared to NA. This attribute is due to the adhered mortar on the surface
of the RA with micro-cracks which absorbs more water (1–25). Also the property
of parent concrete plays a vital in the strength of RAC [4, 16]. Other characteristics
like impact strength and crushing strength was found to be 59% and 67% lesser
compared to NA but falls within the BIS for its utilization in concrete. This is due to
the separation and alluring of adhered mortar on the surface of RA [27]. Conversely,
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 1 Casting and testing of concrete specimens

No Mix ID Compressive Split tensile Flexural strength Elastic modulus
strength (N/mm2 ) strength (N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 )28 days
7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days
1 0.5 N 22.61 33.52 2.42 4.04 2.71 4.05 28948.2
2 0.45 N 26.45 39.26 2.74 4.56 2.94 4.39 31328.9
3 0.5 R1 23.31 34.79 2.48 4.36 2.75 4.22 29491.6
4 0.5 R2 23.69 35.59 2.52 4.45 2.79 4.3 29874.3
5 0.5 R3 24.43 37.26 2.56 4.54 2.84 4.41 30517.5
6 0.5 R4 23.57 35.18 2.49 4.41 2.77 4.28 29654.4
7 0.45 R1 27.78 41.34 2.85 4.77 3.06 4.51 32148.5
8 0.45 R2 28.71 42.13 2.93 4.89 3.08 4.54 32453.1
9 0.45 R3 30.32 45.93 3.06 5.11 3.11 4.69 33885.8
10 0.45 R4 28.15 42.01 2.89 4.82 3.03 4.53 32407.1
Fig. 2 Slump of concrete 140

mixtures
120
SLUMP VALUE (mm)

100
80
60
40
20
0
RAC (0.5) RAC (0.45) NAC (0.5) NAC (0.45)
MIX ID
the property of water absorption was overcome by immersing the RA in water for
24 h and drying it to maintain SSD before its mixing in concrete.
3.2 Fresh Property of Concrete
The workability of fresh concrete mixes for both NAC and RAC under both w/c
ratios was performed using slump cone tests and results are presented in Fig. 2. The
slump of 125 mm was achieved by the NA approach at 0.5w/c ratio, whereas the
slump value by the RAC was found to be 70 mm at 0.5w/c ratio. Similarly, at 0.45w/c
ratio, slump value by NAC and RAC was found to be 105 and 65 mm. This attribute
is due to the rough texture of RA and its higher water demand compared to NA [28,
29]. Adhered mortar present on the surface of RA is highly porous, increasing the
water demand required for achieving the optimal concrete mix.
3.3 Mechanical Properties of RAC
3.3.1 Effect of W/C Ratio on the Mechanical Properties of RAC
Variations in the strength of RAC under both the w/c ratios were presented in Fig. 3.
The maximum compressive strength of 45.93 MPa was achieved which is ample for
structural applications. Compressive strength of 0.45 N is 14.62% more compared
to the strength of 0.5 N. At 10% replacement level, compressive strength of 0.45R1
was 15.84% more compared to RAC at 0.5R1 ; at 20% replacement level, compres-
sive strength of RAC at 0.45R2 was 15.52% more compared to RAC at 0.5R2 ; at
30% replacement level, compressive strength of RAC at 0.45R3 was 18.87% more
compared to 0.5R3 ; at 40% replacement level, compressive strength of 0.45R4 was
16.25% more compared to 0.5R4 . Maximum improvement in the strength of RAC
was achieved at 0.45R3 beyond which it causes the decrease in the strength. This
Fig. 3 Variation in 50
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (MPa)

mechanical properties upon 45
effect of w/c ratios 40
35
30
25
20 7 days
15 28 days
10
5
0
MIX ID
(a)
SPLITTING TENSILE STRENGTH
4
(MPa)
3
7 days
2
28 days
1
MIX ID
(b)
may be due to fact that the amount of free water required for cement hydration was
absorbed by the adhered mortar on the surface of RA causing decrease in the worka-
bility thereby reducing the strength beyond 30% of replacement [19]. Strength of ITZ
mainly depends on the effective w/c ratio which decides the strength of RAC. As we
know, NAC has only one ITZ, whereas RAC has two ITZ i.e., one between the NA
and adhered mortar and other between the adhered mortar and new ITZ. At 0.5w/c,
new ITZ which governs the strength of RAC becomes weaker and cracks impound
near the surface of new ITZ. At 0.45w/c, new ITZ which governs the strength of
RAC becomes stronger compared to old ITZ thereby increasing the strength of RAC
compared to 0.5w/c at 30% replacement level [30, 31]. This was also evident through
the experimental findings of [32] wherein the strength of mortar as a deciding factor
for concrete strength can be achieved through concrete manufactured at lower w/c
ratio.
Fig. 3 (continued) 5
FLEXURAL STRENGTH (MPa)

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2 7 days
1.5
28 days
1
0.5
0
MIX ID
(c)
35000
34000
ELASTIC MODULUS (MPa)
33000
32000
31000
30000
29000 28 days
28000
27000
26000
MIX ID
(d)
With respect to the study on the elastic modulus, 0.45M3 achieved the higher
elastic modulus of 33885.8 MPa at the age of 28 days which is 7.54% more compared
to 0.45 N and 14.57% more compared to 0.5 N. Elastic modulus of the concrete
depends mainly on the volumetric proportions of cement paste and aggregates. As we
know the elastic modulus of aggregates is higher compared to cement paste, reduced
level of replacement will tend to increase the volumes of aggregates in concrete.
Furthermore, porous nature of such increased RA in concrete tends to reduce its
elastic modulus; as a result of which elastic modulus of NA and hardened cement
paste will be more compared to the elastic modulus of RA and hardened cement
paste [33, 34].
3.3.2 Effect of Replacement on the Mechanical Properties of RAC
Variations in the strength of RAC upon different levels of replacement were presented
in Fig. 4. At 0.5w/c, compressive strength of R3 was 10.37% more compared to 0.5 N,
6.62% more compared to R2 , 4.42% more compared to R1 and 5.58% more compared
to R4 . At 0.45w/c, compressive strength of R3 was 14.52% more compared to 0.45 N,
10% more compared to R2 , 8.27% more compared to R1 and 8.53% more compared
to R4 . On comparison among w/c ratios, the compressive strength of 0.45 N is 14.62%
more compared to 0.5 N. In this study, scenario of reduction in w/c ratio yielding
higher strength was intensified by the increase in the level of replacement of RA.
Increase in the level of replacement of RA beyond 30% resulted in reduction in the
strength of RAC at both 7 days and 28 days for both w/c ratios. This is due to the
porous nature of adhered mortar, effectiveness of w/c ratio and weakness of the new
50
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (MPa)
45
40
35
30
CS_7d_0.5w/c
25
CS_28d_0.5w/c
20
CS_7d_0.45w/c
15
CS_28d_0.45w/c
10
5
0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
% REPLACEMENT OF RA
(a)
6
SPLIT TENSILE STRENGTH (MPa)
4
TS_7d_0.5w/c
3
TS_28d_0.5w/c
2 TS_7d_0.45w/c
TS_28d_0.45w/c
1
0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
% REPLACEMENT OF RA
(b)
Fig. 4 Variation in mechanical properties of RAC upon effect of replacement levels

5
4.5
FLEXURAL STRENGTH (MPa)

4
3.5
3
FS_7d_0.5w/c
2.5
FS_28d_0.5w/c
2
FS_7d_0.45w/c
1.5
FS_28d_0.45w/c
1
0.5
0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
% REPLACEMENT OF RA
(c)
35000
34000
ELASTIC MODULUS (MPa)
33000
32000
31000
30000
29000
28000
27000
26000
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
% REPLACEMENT OF RA
EM_28d_0.5w/c EM_28d_0.45w/c
(d)
Fig. 4 (continued)
ITZ formed in RAC [19, 30, 31, 34]. All these factors contribute to the reduction in
the strength of RAC upon increase in the level of replacement confining it to 30%.
With respect to elastic modulus, upon higher percentage of replacement beyond 30%,
percentage of porosity in the volume of aggregates gets increased and thereby the
resistivity of the adhered mortar to cracking gets reduced resulting in reduction in
the modulus of elasticity of RAC [33, 34].
4 Conclusions
This study involves a realistic approach on the levels of replacement of RA with NA

in concrete and the impacts of RA on the mechanical properties of concrete under
different w/c ratios. Inspite of its several drawbacks such as source, quality of parent
concrete, adhered mortar, porosity, RA served its intended purpose in achieving the
utilization in concrete upon nominal percentages of replacement. Major drawback
of higher adsorptive nature of RA, it is immersed in water for 24 h to achieve SSD
before its utilization in concrete mix. Mechanical properties were investigated under
0.45w/c and 0.5w/c at 7 days and 28 days to study its level of utilization in structural
applications. RA can be replaced up to 30% by weight of NA in concrete under
0.45w/c to achieve the maximum strength of 45.93 MPa at the age of 28 days which
is ample for structural applications. Also the elastic modulus of RAC under 30%
replacements at 0.45w/c tends to be 14.57% more compared to NAC. Replacement
of RA beyond 30% and w/c ratio greater than 0.45 reduces its mechanical proper-
ties due to the higher porosity of adhered mortar, weakness of ITZ and the lesser
resistivity of adhered mortar to cracking. Also other crucial factors such as quality
of parent concrete, stages of recycling, mixing approaches may tend to vary the
levels of replacement of RA in concrete [16, 21, 29, 35, 36]. On set of scales as a
result of study and previous findings, it could be inferred RA material is a better
option of utilization as replacement to NA in concrete overwhelming the problems
on scarcity of aggregates and disposal problems of C&D wastes. Further research
may be prolonged on treatments to RA to remove the adhered mortar on its surface
and by varying the mixing approaches to improve the performance of RAC and to
extent its utilization in various structural members.
References
1. Kosmatka SH, Kerkhoff B, Panarese WC (2002) Design and control of concrete mixtures.
Portland cement Associations, Washington DC
2. Radonjanin V, Malesev M, Marinkovic SB, Saed Al Malty AE (2013) Green recycled aggregate
concrete. Constr Build Mater 47
3. Cakir O (2014) Experimental analysis of properties of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA)
concrete with mineral additives. Constr Build Mater 68
4. Hansen TC, Narud H (1983) Strength of recycled concrete made from crushed concrete coarse
aggregate. Concr Int 5
5. Xu YZ, Shi JQ (2006) Analyses and evaluation of the behavior of recycled aggregate and
recycled concrete. Concrete 7
6. Hansen TC, Boegh E (1985) Elasticity and drying shrinkage concrete of recycled-aggregate.
In: Journal Proceedings, vol 82
7. Katz A (2005) Properties of concrete made with recycled aggregate from partially hydrated
old concrete. Cement Concr Res 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(02)01033-5
8. Shayan A, Xu A (2003) Performance and properties of structural concrete made with recycled
concrete aggregate. ACI Mater J 100
9. Tavakoli M, Soroushian P (1996) Strengths of aggregate concrete made using field-demolished
concrete as aggregate. ACI Mater J 93
10. Prasad MLV, Rathish Kumar P (2007) Strength studies on glass fiber reinforced recycled
aggregate concrete. Asian J Civil Eng (Build Housing) 8
11. Juan MS, Gutiérrez PA (2009) Study on the influence of attached mortar content on the prop-
erties of recycled concrete aggregate. Constr Build Mater 23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbui
ldmat.2008.04.012
12. Exteberria M, Vasquez F, Mari AR (2007) Influence of amount of recycled coarse aggregates
and production process on properties of recycled aggregate concrete. Cement Concr Res 37.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2007.02.002
13. Abdulla NA (2014) Effect of recycled coarse aggregate type on concrete. J Mater Civil Eng
27. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001247
14. Larrard F (1999) Concrete mixture proportioning: a scientific approach. CRC Press, London,
UK
15. Wong VK, Chan W, Kwan AKH (2013) Applying theories of particle packing and rheology to
concrete for sustainable development. Organ Technol Manage Constr Int J 5. https://doi.org/
10.5592/otmcj.2013.2.3
16. Abrahams M, Rakesh R (2018) Manufacturing concrete with high compressive strength using
recycled aggregates. J Mater Civil Eng 30. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.000
2398
17. Huda SB, Alam MS (2014) Mechanical behavior of three generations of 100% repeated recycled
coarse aggregate concrete. Constr Build Mater 65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.
2014.05.010
18. Ozbakkaloglu T, Gholampour A, Xie T (2018) Mechanical and durability properties of recycled
aggregate concrete: effect of recycled aggregate properties and content. J Mater Civil Eng 30.
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0002142
19. Ho NY, Yang PKL, Wee FL, Tarek Z, Keat CC, Giau LL, Seng KT (2013) Efficient utilization
of recycled concrete aggregate in structural concrete. J Mater Civil Eng 25. https://doi.org/10.
1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000587
20. Akcaoglu T, Tokyay M, Celik T (2004) Effect of coarse aggregate size and matrix quality on
ITZ and failure behavior of concrete under uniaxial compression. Cement Concr Compos 26.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0958-9465(03)00092-1
21. IS 269 (1989) Specifications for ordinary Portland cement
22. IS 2386 (1989) Methods for test for aggregates for concrete
23. IS 383 (2016) Specifications for coarse and fine Aggregates for concrete
24. IS. 456 (2000) (Reaffirmed 2005)—Plain and reinforced concrete (Fourth Revision) Tenth
Reprint Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi
25. IS 10262 (2009) Guidelines for concrete mix design
26. IS 516 (1959) Methods of test for strength of concrete (Reprint 2006) Bureau of Indian
standards, New Delhi
27. Saravanakumar P, Dhinakaran G (2014) Mechanical and durability properties of slag based
recycled aggregate concrete. IJST Trans Civil Eng 39. http://dx.doi.org/10.22099/ijstc.2015.
3134
28. Revathi P, Amirthavalli RR, Lavanya K (2014) Influence of treatment methods on the strength
and performance characteristics of recycled aggregate concrete. J Mater Civil Eng 27. https://
doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001128
29. Liang YC, Ye ZM, Vernerey F, Xi Y (2013) Development of processing methods to improve
strength of concrete with 100% recycled coarse aggregate. J Mater Civil Eng 27. https://doi.
org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000909
30. Ryu JS (2002) Improvement on strength and impermeability of recycled concrete made from
crushed concrete coarse aggregate. J Mater Sci Lett 21
31. Otsuki N, Miyazato SI, Yodsudjai W (2003) Influence of recycled aggregate on interfacial
transition zone, strength, chloride penetration and carbonation of concrete. J Mater Civil Eng
15. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0899-1561(2003)15:5(443)
32. Neville AM (2003) Properties of concrete, 5th edition. Pearson Education Limited, England
33. Young JF, Mindess S, Gray RJ, Bentur A (1998) The science and technology of civil engineering
materials. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
34. Neville AM (1995) Properties of concrete. Prentice Hall, Harlow, UK
35. Zhen-Hua D, Chi-Sun P (2014) Properties of recycled aggregate concrete made with recycled
aggregates with different amounts of old adhered mortars. Mater Des 58. https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.matdes.2014.01.044
36. Saravanakumar P, Abhiram K, Manoj B (2016) Properties of treated recycled aggregates and
its influence on concrete strength characteristics. Constr Build Mater 111. https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.02.064
Evaluation of Strength and Diffusion
Capability of High Volume Fly Ash Based
Engineered Cementitious Composites
Incorporating Powder Scrap Rubber
Abhishank Kumar, Shashi Kant Sharma, and Davinder Singh
Abstract Rigid pavements need overlays for their rehabilitation, which are consti-
tuted of fine materials and fibres. The present study is focused on yielding overlays
made of engineered cementitious composite containing polypropylene (PP) fibres
and high volume fly ash. Scrap rubber has been used as a replacement of fine aggre-
gates @ 10, 20, 30 per cent for improving the straining tendency and bending ability
of concrete. The strength of 40 MPa has been targeted. Since the composite is made
up of fine materials, therefore the durability has been evaluated in terms of rapid chlo-
ride ion penetration and not permeability. This test measures the diffusion capacity of
rainwater containing chlorides into the concrete which indicates the corrosion poten-
tial of continuous reinforcement. It was found that a composite having fly ash/cement
ratio 1.2/1, along with 1.5% polypropylene fibre reinforcement (vol./vol. of concrete)
shows a minimal reduction in compressive strength i.e. up to 25 per cent on 30 per
cent w/w replacement of fine aggregates with powder scrap rubber but the main
aspect is that the diffusion rate shows appreciable decrement with an increase in fine
rubber content when compared with the 4 m MPa normal mix which ensures lesser
chance of corrosion in reinforcement at joints.
Keywords Engineered cementitious composite · Polypropylene fibres · Rapid

chloride ion penetration · Scrap rubber
A. Kumar (B) · S. K. Sharma · D. Singh

Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Jalandhar, Jalandhar 144001, India
S. K. Sharma
D. Singh

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_53
582 A. Kumar et al.
1 Introduction
One of the major developments that took place in the concrete industry in early
2000s is composites. One of them is termed as Engineered Cementitious Compos-
ites or abbreviated as ECC [1] that has a distinct bending character. An ECC being
a fibre reinforced composite shows ductile behaviour when its micromechanics of
the fibre-matrix bond are attained by virtue of its mix proportion [2]. Now being
a composite, it should have some mechanical properties and durability characteris-
tics that can withstand loading behaviour and environmental actions [3]. The strain
capacity of ECC is far more better than the conventional concrete and its crack width
generally grows less than 60 µm when the composites are nourished well to counter
the tough mechanical and durable conditions [4]. Due to these unique properties of
this composite, it has found its application in earthquake resistant frames and in road
construction as overlays mainly. One of such features is the diffusion capability of a
composite material which should be discussed along with the standard compressive
strength test against the normal concrete of strength 40 MPa. Diffusion capability is
the ability of the material to sustain penetration of harmful material such as chlo-
ride and sulphate etc. into the structures manifold area such as steel bars and other
reinforced type structures [5]. The use of high volume fly ash as a secondary cemen-
titious material (SCM) not only shows the reduction in carbon dioxide emission and
slowing greenhouse gas emission rate but also helping in increasing the service life
of the structures came into existence with ECC under unfavourable conditions [6, 7].
Powder scrap rubber from the rubber industry is found very difficult to be dumped
keeping environmental violations in mind. However, the enormous pollution caused
by amount of smoke during incineration makes this process so unacceptable that it is
prohibited by law in many countries [8]. After the addition of scrap rubber powder,
the overall research results indicated a remarkable variation in strength and stiffness
behaviour of the concrete. Despite the significant decline in the strength properties,
ECC still satisfy the basic requirements of building materials [9].With such tiny voids
in ECC, the chloride diffusion properties were found to be nearly the same as that of
sound concrete [4, 10]. Further, ECC used in overlays in rigid pavement makes it to
bear climatic conditions like rainfall which contains chlorides, sulphates and other
chemicals with it. Also in some places where groundwater has chlorine deposits in
that region the chance of chlorides to percolate is maximum. In this present study the
ECC with high volume pozzolanic cementitious material is being tested in compar-
ison with the Standard normal concrete mix on the basis of strength and chloride
penetration rate. Moreover comparison on the basis of strength after the chloride
ion penetration of different rubberised ECC (Zhang et al. 2015) is performed in this
present study.
Evaluation of Strength and Diffusion Capability … 583
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Materials and Composition
In this study, we have gone with OPC (ordinary Portland cement) grade 43 which
follows IS:8112-1989 [11]. The next main component used for substitution of cement
on large scale is material with enormous pozzolanic characteristics Fly ash. It has
been successfully used on a large scale to limit the use of the cement and also to
provide definite flow characteristics to the cementitious composite material. Tables 1
and 2 depicts the necessary compositions of the cementitious powder ingredients used
in this study.
Fine river silica sand from river Beas as its source has been taken into use as fine
aggregate conforming to zone 3 grading essential as per IS:383-1970 [12]. Scrap
tyre rubber of fine size is being as a replacement of fine silica sand in different
mixes subsequently. Polypropylene (PP) fibres of micro type have been preferred.
The following list of tables gives the idea of chemical and physical composition of
different components used in the study (Tables 3 and 4).
Table 1 Chemical compositions of cementitious material

Ingredients Chemical Compositions %
CaO SiO2 Al2 O3 MgO Fe2 O3 SO3
Cement 63.2 21.8 6.8 2.5 3 1.7
Fly ash 5 52.2 22.8 – 11 –
Table 2 Physical Properties of Cementitious material

Constituents Physical properties
Specific Particle Specific Density(kg/m3 ) Texture LOI
surface size (µm) gravity
area(m2 /kg)
Cement 372 12 3.15 3200 Light 1.48
greyish
Fly ash 389 10 2.17 – Light 1.05
greyish
Table 3 Physical composition of filler materials

Ingredients Specific gravity Density (kg/m3 ) Mean particle size (µm)
River sand 2.72 2770 118
Scrap rubber 0.71 722 221
584 A. Kumar et al.
Table 4 Physical properties of PP-fibre

Fibre Type Length (mm) Diameter (µm) Specific gravity
Polypropylene fibre Micro 12 150 0.91
Table 5 Mix proportion of ECC

Mix Cement Fly ash Fine Sand/P Water/P Rubber % HRWRA/P (%) Fibre %
C-40 420 – 2.4 0.3 – 1 –
P-ECC 500 600 0.36 0.3 – 0.6 1.5
R1P-ECC 500 600 0.327 0.3 10 0.55 1.5
R2P-ECC 500 600 0.291 0.3 20 0.5 1.5
R3P-ECC 500 600 0.255 0.3 30 0.5 1.5
P Powder materials (Cement and Fly ash); Units = Kg/m3
2.2 Mix Proportion
The design mix proportion have been followed eliminating the position of coarse
aggregate in the composite and going with fine aggregate alone as suggested by
many authors as no code and standard provision is available for this study. In the
present study, fine aggregate has been replaced by scrap tyre rubber by following
ASTM C 109/C109M standard as shown in Table 5.
2.3 Workability
The workability test of ECC generally gives the idea of its uniqueness, homogeneity
and viscosity of the mix. The workability of the ECC gives the idea of not more
than one characteristics of the flow that is related to plastic viscosity and yield stress
[13]. In the present study we have taken care of yield stress by slump test and plastic
viscosity with V-funnel test (Fig. 1). V-funnel test dimension is measured to be
490*65*75 in which all the mixes are filled to its top level and allowed to free flow.
Time taken by all the mixes are noted and then compared.
3.1 Chloride Ion Penetration
Chloride ion penetration test is the test conducted to ensure the permeation of chlo-
ride ion into the cementitious-mortar interface in the composite sample. The test
Fig. 1 V-Funnel test

(495 mm * 65 mm * 75 mm)
Table 6 Total charge passed

Total charge passed (coulombs) Permeability type
(coulombs) against
permeability class >4000 High
relationship 2000–4000 Moderate
1000–2000 Low
100–1000 Very low
<100 Negligible
equipment is known as RCPT (Rapid chloride ion penetration test). It is conducted

on a specimen with 100 mm diameter and 50 mm height in a solution of 0.3 NaOH
and 3% NaCl at 60 V charge source in compliance with ASTM C 1202 [14]. The
results are collected after 6 h of penetration time in accordance with data acquisi-
tion system. The mean of two sample results is obtained as the total charge passed
for that mix [15]. Table 6 shows relation between total charges passed against the
permeability class.
3.2 Compressive Strength Test
Compressive strength is important for any mix proportion to showcase its strength to
other alternatives like conventional type of concrete. Compressive testing machine
have been used to calculate strength of the different specimen for each mix in accor-
dance with [16]. Figure 2 shows the CTM (compressive testing machine) used in this
study.
586 A. Kumar et al.
Fig. 2 Compressive
Strength Testing Machine
(CTM)
4 Result
Through all the observation and calculations performed in the study we have derived
different results for each mix proportion. Different test results for workability test,
compressive strength t-est and chloride ion penetration test have been successfully
depicted below one by one.
4.1 Workability Test
Workability test are necessary for a concrete mix or composites like ECC to know
its flow characteristics and viscous property [17]. The time taken by the each mix is
shown in the Table 7. As we can see the time taken to escape out from the funnel
decreases with increase in powder rubber percentage because powder rubber has nil
water absorption property in Fig. 3 and hence with same w/p ratio flow characteristics
improves. R1P:R1P-ECC and so the other two.
Table 7 V-Funnel test results

Mix proportion Time taken (s)
C 40 44
P-ECC 23
R1P-ECC 21.5
R2P-ECC 20
R3P-ECC 18.5
Fig. 3 Flow test Workability

50
40
30
20
10 Time taken
0 (sec)
Compressive strength of the ECC has been calculated to compare the different mix
on the basis of mechanical ability of the each sample to take load up to its limit. The
compressive strength of high volume fly ash based ECC depend on no. of factors like
(a) Conversion of more C-H-S from C2 S or C3 S in the internal micromechanics.
(b) Orientation of fibres (PP) helps in taking the load in definite direction and hence
improves strength.
(c) Secondary hydration in case of fly ash based ECC is important as it helps to
hydrate in addition with cement very late up to 120 days of curing time.
(d) Curing regimes should be in compliance with IS: 456-2000.
(e) Homogeneous mix with scrap rubber mixed uniformly.
Compressive strength test has been done on the listed mixes and result are studied
at 7 days and 28 days of curing condition at controlled temperature at 23 ± 2°C and
result observed are P-ECC > R1P-ECC > C 40 > R2P-ECC > R3PECC for both 7
and 28 days shown in Figs. 4 and 5 respectively.
Fig. 4 Compressive strength Compressive strength (N/mm2) at 7

at 7 days days
35
30
25
20
15 Compressive
10 strength
5 (N/mm2)
0
588 A. Kumar et al.
Fig. 5 Compressive strength Compressive strength (N/mm2) at 28

at 28 days days
60
50
40
30 Compressive
20 strength
(N/mm2)
10
0
4.3 Chloride Ion Penetration
Chloride ion penetration is done by rapid chloride ion penetration set up named
PROOVEit by germen instrument which gives result in just 6 h than other equipment.
Two cylindrical disc of same dimension from two other cylinder where cut by a
diamond saw cutter. Both of them were kept in water bath desiccator after being
covered with epoxy paint for 18–24 h as per ASTM C 1202. The results are then
obtained after 6 h in a report sheet. The RCP test has been performed for each mix
after 28 days of curing time and final result is recorded after taking the mean of two
results from the same mix. The chloride ion permeability result are shown in terms of
total charge (coulombs) passed through a sample mix which is shown in this Table 8.
Chloride ion permeability effect on the ECC mixes with and without rubber shows
little increase in chlorine emission with increase in powder scrap rubber volume in
Fig. 6. The C 40 normal mix shows high permeability than the ECC mixes which
very low chloride ion penetration. The normal PP-ECC shows about 740% less
permeability than C 40 concrete samples. Also R1PP-ECC, R2PP-ECC &R3PP-
ECC shows 635%, 495% and 400% less chloride ion penetration effects. Among
rubberised ECC’s for 10%, 20%, 30% replacement of fine silica sand with scrap
rubber, the chloride ion permeability increase by 28% and 24% subsequently from
R1PP-ECC MIX. However when compared with Normal PP-ECC with 0% rubber
content, R1PP-ECC with 10% rubber content in replacement with fine silica sand
Table 8 Chloride ion

Mix proportion Total charge passed (in coulombs)
permeability for ECC mix
C 40 3560
PP-ECC 480
R1P-ECC 560
R2P-ECC 720
R3P-ECC 890
Fig. 6 Chloride ion Total Charge Passed

permeability (in coulombs)
4000
3000
2000 Total Charge

Passed (in
coulombs)
1000
shows 16% increment, 50% increase with R2PP-ECC mix with 20% powder scrap
rubber content as a replacement for sand and about 86% increment than R3PP-ECC
which contains 30% rubber content as replacement of fine sand. The following pattern
generated from this result that is C 40 > R3PP-ECC > R2PP-ECC > R1PP-ECC.
One more observation that is observed through this study is that the compressive
strength of the composite mixes decreases with increment in rubber content this is
because rubber is a material made up of 90% carbon and do not possess any load
bearing capacity. Thus, with increase in rubber the compressive strength tends to
decrease which can be shown with comparison in the present research as PP-ECC
> R1PP-ECC > C40 > R2PP-ECC > R3PP-ECC at 28 curing days. The main result
in Fig. 7 shows that the compressive strength after RCPT gets reduced more in case
of conventional C 40 concrete by 15% before penetration took place and in case of
ECC it is very minimal decrement as compared to compressive strength before the
chloride ion penetration test been performed.
Fig. 7 Effect on 60
compressive strength after
RCPT 50
40
compressive
strength before
30 emission
Compressive
20 strength after
emmision
10
0
590 A. Kumar et al.
5 Conclusion
This present study ensures that high volume pozzolanic binder is not only necessary
for the development of high strength composites but homogenous mix, uniform
particle size and mainly good powder-aggregates interface bond is also very essential.
The following conclusion can be drawn going through this present work into this
study:
1. The workability of the engineered cementitious composite (ECC) increases with
increase in powder scrap tyre rubber content because rubber is a non-absorbent
of water but on the other hand coarse aggregate with large surface area has the
tendency to absorb water during mixing of ingredients takes place which leads
to poor flow character of C 40 concrete mix.
2. The compressive strength of the composite is comparable to the normal C 40
mix due to its fine particles, high packing density, and good compactness. C 40
due to presence of high amount of voids shows less strength in most cases.
3. The compressive strength of ECC decreases with increase in powder rubber
content, this is because rubber has non load bearing character due to its chemical
composition which has high percentages of carbon amount (about > 90%), it is
also a heterogeneous material to concrete ingredients and does not chemically
reacts or hydrates during primary and secondary hydration as well to form a
substance which can bear load.
4. The chloride emission shows a appreciable decrement for powder scrap rubber
content mix from 10 to 30% in this present work, this is because rubber is a
material which can allow very little penetration of chlorine inside it due to its
small permeable voids present in its micromechanics and thus decreases the depth
of penetration to increase permeability but on the other hand C40 mix with coarse
aggregate and high percentage of void show penetration on the higher side.
5. The material used in this study is financially viable like scrap rubber and fly
ash which is easily available in abundance in rubber industry and thermal power
plants.
6. Addition of fly ash and scrap rubber can be done directly into the composite
likewise as in other concrete case and can be mixed easily due to absence of
coarse aggregate.
References
1. Li VC (2002) Advances in ECC research. ACI Spec Publ Concr 206:373–400

2. Li VC (2003) Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC)—a review of the material and its
applications. J Adv Concr Technol 1(3):215–230
3. Li VC (2007) Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC)—Material, structural, and dura-
bility performance. In: Nawy E (ed) Concrete construction engineering handbook. CRC Press
(Chapter 24)
4. Lepech MD, Li VC (2009) Water permeability of engineered cementitious composite. Cement

Concr Compos 31:744–753
5. Liu H, Zhang Q, Li V, Su H, Gu C (2017) Durability study on engineered cementitious compos-
ites (ECC) under sulfate and chloride environment. Constr Build Mater 133:171–181. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.12.074
6. Xu G, Shi X (2018) Characteristics and application of fly ash as a sustainable construction
material: a state-of-the-art review. Resour Conserv Recycl 136:95–109
7. Tang SW et al (2015) Recent durability studies on concrete structure. Cem Concr Res 78:143–
154
8. Siddique R, Naik TR (2004) Properties of concrete containing scrap-tire rubber—an overview.
Waste Manage 24(6):563–569
9. Ho AC, Turatsinze A, Vu DC (2008) On the potential of rubber aggregates obtained by grinding
v end-of-life tyres to improve the strain capacity of concrete. In: Alexander MG, Beushausen
HD, Dehn F, Moyo P (eds) Taylor & Francis Group, London, pp 123–129
10. Sahmaran M, Li M, Li VC (2007) Transport properties of engineered cementitious composites
under chloride exposure. ACI Mater J 104(6):604–611
11. IS:8112-1989. Specification for 43 grade ordinary Portland cement. Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi, pp 1–17
12. IS:383-1970. Specification for coarse and fine aggregate from natural sources for concrete.
Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, pp 1–24
13. Bilici Z, Ozbay E, Erdem TK, Yucel HE, Lachemi M (2013) Composites : Part B improving the
workability and rheological properties of engineered cementitious composites using factorial
experimental design 45: 356–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.08.015
14. Drilled T, Cocrete C, Statements B, Speci-CCT, ores TD, Test CC. Standard test method for
electrical indication of concrete’s ability to resist chloride. 1986; i(95 mm): 1-C6
15. Adesina A, Das S (2020) Influence of glass powder on the durability properties of engineered
cementitious composites _ Elsevier Enhanced Reader.pdf. pp. 1–11. Windsor. Construction
and Building Materials, Ontario, Canada
16. ASTM C109/C109M-11b (2010) Standard test method for compressive strength of hydraulic
cement mortars (using 2-in. or [50-mm] cube specimens)1. Chem Anal 1–9
17. Ferraris CF, Obla K, Hill R (2001) The influence of mineral admixtures on the rheology of
cement paste and concrete. Cem Concr Res 31(2):245–255
A Probabilistic Approach for Predicting
the Fatigue Life of Concrete
D. R. Renju and Keerthy M. Simon
Abstract The fatigue failure of structural elements subjected to repeated cyclic

loading may reduce the life of infrastructures. Heterogeneous nature of concrete and
random factors in fatigue testing lead to great variability in fatigue life of concrete.
As deterministic approach depends on certain parameters and initial conditions, it is
not reliable for the prediction of fatigue life of concrete. In this study, a probabilistic
approach using artificial neural network is utilised to predict the fatigue life of plain
concrete. An artificial neural network predictive model was developed utilising the
data from fatigue tests conducted on plain concrete beams of three different sizes
mainly small, medium and large. The model is trained using the available experi-
mental data of small and medium specimen and is validated using available exper-
imental data reported on large specimens. The developed model is able to predict
the number of cycles of failure of concrete by considering material and fracture
mechanics properties responsible for the softening behavior of concrete as input.
This approach is advantageous over other methods as it includes the randomness in
the fatigue of concrete and will be able to predict the fatigue life of concrete with
reasonable accuracy.
Keywords Artificial neural network (ANN) · Fatigue life · Probabilistic approach
1 Introduction
The phenomenon by which repeated loading cause internal changes in material and
triggers crack growth is called fatigue fracture. In ductile materials such as metals and
brittle materials like ceramics, extensive fatigue studies were made through different
approaches and its fatigue fracture prediction is more reliable due to its homogeneous
D. R. Renju (B) · K. M. Simon

Department of Civil Engineering, NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, India
K. M. Simon

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_54
594 D. R. Renju and K. M. Simon
nature. Despite of this, the heterogeneous nature of concrete and random factors in
testing make it more complex for the prediction of fatigue of concrete. Various deter-
ministic approaches were used to predict the fatigue failure of concrete. It includes
S-N curve method, fracture mechanics method and continuum damage mechanics
method. In this, S-N curve method is more applicable to brittle and ductile mate-
rial, whereas in quasi-brittle material like concrete it suffers from its discreteness
property [1]. The fracture mechanics method is also extended from metals and is
proved better in the prediction of crack growth rate and fatigue failure of concrete
[2]. But the varying parameters makes it more complex and is not dependable [3].
In fatigue damage mechanics method, the damage in material or energy dissipation
due to the damage is made use of to predict the fatigue failure of concrete, but is only
applicable for viscoelastic concrete [4, 5] .
In this context, the relevance of probabilistic (stochastic) approach for the predic-
tion of fatigue life of concrete came into importance. This model uses distribu-
tion instead of fixed values which includes variation and uncertainty. Some of the
generally used stochastic methods were Weibull distribution, Baye’s rule, regression
analysis etc. But the reliability of these methods remains uncertain. Artificial neural
network (ANN) is an effective computational tool which is developed inspired by the
biological nervous system. Based on the given input and output data ANN analyse
and find the pattern of data and can model complex relationship. ANN is gaining
wide acceptance in many engineering problems, especially those which are more
complicated [6, 7].
In this paper, the capability of ANN to solve complex problems are utilised to
predict the fatigue life of concrete. A novel prediction model of the fatigue life of
plain concrete using artificial neural network is developed. The experimental data of
plain concrete on three different sizes: small, medium and large are collected and used
for training and validation of ANN model. The input data were selected according to
the material, geometrical and fracture properties accountable for the fatigue failure
of concrete. The model will give the number of cycles of failure of plain concrete
in simple and fast approach. This in turn, can help the inclusion of fatigue failure in
the design of structures subjected to cyclic loading and thus to ensure its prolonged
service life.
2 Artificial Neural Network
Artificial neural network consist of three stages: input, hidden and output layer. The
input layer receives the information. Then the hidden layer perceive and analyse the
information and finally the output layer gives the output. The number of input nodes
and output nodes will be the number of input data and output data respectively. The
number of hidden layers and number of neurons will depends on the diversity of
input data and is critical for the efficiency of model [8]. There are many rules for the
critical selection of number of neurons. However the structure and complexity of the
model will decide the number of hidden layers and the neurons in it. The learning
A Probabilistic Approach for Predicting … 595
process will be denied if number of neurons is inadequate and excessive number

prevents the model from learning the data [9, 10].
2.1 Neural Network Modelling
The neural network model is developed and trained using MATLAB 2017a soft-
ware. The steps involved for designing neural networks is given in Fig. 1. The data
was collected based on the experimental and numerical investigation done earlier
by Keerthy et al. [11, 12]. The neural network architecture developed is based on
multilayer feed-forward back propagation network or multilayer perceptron network
(MLPN). The training algorithm used is Levenberg-Marqaurdt backpropagation
algorithm which provide more accuracy with lesser time and is more reliable in
complex modelling problems. As stated earlier the three layers (input, output and
hidden), their respective neurons and activation function must be selected. As there
are 6 inputs and 1 output, the number of neurons in input and output layer had set to
be 6 and 1 respectively. In the 6 input neurons, each neuron represents each indepen-
dent variable and they are: (1) Crack length (2) Fracture energy (3) Energy release
rate (4) Brittleness number (5) Tensile stress (6) Stress ratio and the output neuron
is number of cycles of failure.
The model is created and trained to predict the number of cycles of failure as a
function of the 6 input parameters mentioned above. The details of input parameters
is given in Table 1. The ANN model comprises of two stages: training and validation,
for this the data are divided into three subsets such as for (i) Training (70% of data
set) (ii) validation (15% of data set) (iii) testing (15% of data set). Another set of
fresh data set is used for testing and independent validation of the developed model.
A two layer feed-forward backpropagation neural network with tan-sigmoid func-
tion in hidden layer and linear function in output layer is used to train the network
as this combination of activation function gives the best result for this problem. The
selection of number of neurons in hidden layer is crucial for the optimum performance
Fig. 1 Steps for designing

neural network architecture
Table 1 Details of input parameter

Input neuron no: Input parameter Description
1 Crack length (a) Length of crack with increasing number of
cycles
2 Fracture energy (Gf ) Toughness of the material
3 Energy release rate (G) Energy required by crack to propagate a unit
distance
4 Brittleness number (β) Structural size (D)/transitional size (d0)
5 Tensile stress (σt ) Crack occurs only when major principal stress
exceed this value
6 Stress ratio (R) Minimum load/maximum load
Fig. 2 Neural network architecture model
of the network. The number of hidden neurons were fixed after considering different
number of neurons in the hidden layer and calculating the respective prediction error.
Also the regression value obtained is taken into consideration for each neuron in the
hidden layer. The utilized network architecture with backpropagation neural network
model employed is shown in Fig. 2.
2.2 Evaluation of Network Model
The performance of neural network is evaluated by Mean Square Error (MSE) and
Regression value (R) to obtain optimum solution. The model with least MSE and
R value closer to 1 turn out as the best model. It is necessary to decide the number
Table 2 Training
Model Number of hidden nodes Performance criteria
performance of different
ANN model MSE R
N 6-9-1 9 2.689 0.985
N 6-10-1 10 1.864 0.991
N 6-11-1 11 1.187 0.999
N 6-12-1 12 2.561 0.987
N 6-13-1 13 3.112 0.979
of neurons in the hidden layer to bring out the optimum network architecture. The
number of neurons was varied from 9 to 13 in the hidden layer. The number of
neurons below and above this range do not gives satisfactory MSE and R. This may
be due to inadequate training and overfitting of data respectively. Table 2 represents
the training performance of 5 ANN model and their corresponding MSE and R. It
can be noted from Table 2 that increase in number of neurons is not directly related
to training process. The neural network model with 11 neurons in the hidden layer
showed the best performance. Beyond this value the performance is not acceptable.
N 6-11-1 model exhibited the least error in predicting number of cycles of failure
and is in good agreement with the experiment values. N 6-11-1 model is the model
with 6 neuron, 11 neuron and 1 neuron in input, hidden and output layer respectively.
The MSE and R of the derived model were 1.187 and 0.999 respectively. The least
performed model was N 6-13-1. Figure 3 illustrates the potential of the model in the
prediction of the number of cycles of failure of concrete for all data sets with R value
of 0.99, indicating a high reliability in the model.
To ensure the reliability of the constructed neural network model Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) in excel is utlised. Analysis of variance for predicted and real values of
number of cycles of failure of concrete is shown in Table 3. Thus by making a
comparison with the neural network model performance evaluated by MATLAB as
shown in Fig. 3 internally and by ANOVA as in Table 3, it can be inferred that the
model is valid. R value obtained from ANOVA is same as that of the value from
MATLAB. Also the significance F value 0 indicates the statistical validity of model.
4 Conclusions
An artificial neural network model is effectively developed to predict the fatigue life
of concrete. The prediction of number of cycles of failure of concrete was carried
out by using ANN of back-propagation model with Levenberg-Marquardt training
Fig. 3 Regression plot for

testing, validation and testing
from MATLAB
algorithm. The number of neuron in each layer can be determined by the complexity
of the problem and data sets. The R2 and MSE was the selected criterion to evaluate
the network with optimum solution. In this study, the main conclusions are:
• The network with 11 neurons in the hidden layer gives good performance result
and is in fine agreement with the experimental data.
Table 3 Analysis of variance for predicted versus real output

Summary output
Regression statistics
Multiple R 0.999710377
R Square 0.999420837
Adjusted R Square 0.999414023
Standard Error 10.73476536
Observations 90
ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1 16902526.59 16902527 146678.5187 0
Residual 85 9794.990932 115.2352
Total 86 16912321.58
• The distribution of data points for neural network model is almost similar and
close to the actual experimental data with regression value in range of 0.9–1.0.
This indicate that the developed neural network model is capable of making the
prediction with reasonable accuracy.
• The comparison of predicted output values using ANOVA also agrees with the
reliability of the model.
• The neural network model developed are able to predict the fatigue life of concrete
with reasonable accuracy. This shows that artificial neural network is an effective
tool to use in complex problems.
References
1. Miner MA (1945) Cumulative damage in fatigue. J Appl Mech 12(3):159–164

2. Slowik V, Plizzari GA, Saouma VE (1996) Fracture of concrete under variable amplitude
fatigue loading. ACI Mater J 93(3):272–283
3. Paris P, Erdogan F (1963) A critical analysis of crack propagation laws. J Fluids Eng 85(4):528–
533
4. Baluch MH (2003) CDM model for residual strength of concrete under cyclic compression.
Cement Concr Compos 25:503–512
5. Lei D (2008) On the energy dissipation in fatigue process and fatigue life prediction. J Exp
Mech 5:008
6. Hajela P, Berke L (1991) Neurobiological computational modes in structural analysis and
design. Comput Struct 41:657–667
7. Haykin S (1999) Neural networks: a comprehensive foundation, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, NJ
8. Hagan MT, Demuth HB, Beale M (1996) Neural network design. PWS Publishing Company,
Boston, MA
9. Heaton J (2007) Introduction to neural networks with Java [online]. Available from: http://
www.heatonresearch.com/articles/5/page2.html
10. Haykin S (1994) Neural networks: a comprehensive foundation. Macmillan Publishing

Company, New York, NY
11. Simon KM, Chandra Kishen JM (2107) A multiscale model to describe fatigue behaviour of
concrete. Eng Fract Mech 98:1–13
12. Simon KM, Chandra Kishen JM (2016) Influence of aggregate bridging on fatigue behaviour
of concrete. Int J Fatigue 90:200–209
Convergence Study of Reinforced
Concrete Beam-Column Joints Under
Impact Loads
Jhuma Debnath and Hrishikesh Sharma
Abstract Convergence of mesh size is vital in Finite Element Analysis (FEA). It

helps the user procure better results and hence enables the user to rely on the FEA
model results. FEA models are beneficial in reducing the cost of studies that are
otherwise not feasible with experimental models. It allows a faster design of the
models in the required studies. However, only after the mesh convergence study,
results of the FEA models are considered as fit, accompanied by adequate material
models, boundary conditions, loading provided to the model. For validation, exper-
imental literature chosen as such that a steel impactor hits a Reinforced-Concrete
(RC) beam-column joint with an absolute velocity at the beam free end. This present
model, validated on various parameters like the displacement of the beam and residual
velocity of the structure after the impactor has hit the structure. This paper has
attempted to converge the mesh size of RC beam-column joint experimental models
from the literature, and hence set a mesh size fit to simulate other such models.
Keywords Reinforced concrete · Impact loads · Material model · Finite element

software (Ls-DYNA) · Beam-column joints
Introduction
Several terrorist attacks have forced the scientific community to investigate the safety
of the existing buildings—most buildings constructed of Reinforced Concrete (RC)
materials. In RC building, the joints are the most crucial part in matters of transferring
the load of the upper floors to the adjacent bottom floors and hence transferring the
loads to the ground. Not making adequate measures for the RC joints makes way
for the progressive collapses in the building. The experimental program of such
studies makes the study economically more burdensome, and also such programs
are generating many wastes. To mitigate these developmental problems, a Finite
Element (FE) Software is handy. With a few expert tricks in the software, the studies
J. Debnath (B) · H. Sharma

Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039,
India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_55
602 J. Debnath and H. Sharma
could be made with much economic convenience and also creating very marginal to
no environmental problems.
For Finite element Analysis (FEA) to yield results, a mesh convergence study is
required. Designing of structures predicts deflections, displacements, and stresses.
Usually, hand calculation using equations is involved in obtaining solutions. They
oversimplify the problem. FEM discretizes the body, keeping the continuity of
displacements along the element boundaries and thus becomes more complicated
to be solved by hand. The entire mesh model does not need to be refined equally. The
local stresses do not affect the entire stresses. Thus, the model is refined in specific
regions. Therefore, a transition zone from a coarse to a fine mesh is observed.
There are two types of refinements: H-refinement shows a reduction in the size
of the element, P-refinement shows increasing order of the element. To measure
mesh convergence, analytical and experimental results are to be compared. Errors in
displacement, errors in strains, errors in stresses can be defined. These errors could
be used for comparison, and they would need to reduce with mesh refinement.
Coarser and finer meshes are analyzed to yield stresses with varying mesh sizes.
The coarse meshes result in inaccurateness. However, the fine or very fine meshes
converge results of the displacements according to the demand in its accuracy. The
converged finer meshes tend to a unique value. However, an increase in the fineness
of the meshes increases the cost of computer resources. Curtailing of meshing at
some size is to mitigate this resource problem by reducing the computation cost and
also render desirable results at the same time. Further refining the mesh sizes results
converge with a negligible difference. Mesh size is finally chosen considering the
computer resources and also the reliability of the results.
A various experimental study conducted by researchers validates the experimental
results with the FEA results. Excellent experimental work was conducted on beam-
column joint over impact load [1]. Various other researchers have validated experi-
mental work on columns, joints, and beams using FEA models using Ls-Dyna soft-
ware, which has obtained a consistent result from the FEA [2–4]. Researches showed
that many FEA software gives approximate results [5]. The differences in using size
mesh mode and deviation mesh mode was studied on the energy absorption and peak
load [6]. The energy absorption value was analyzed using various parameters such
as the hourglass control, many through shell thickness integration point, and element
formulation in converged mesh mode.
In the current work, mesh convergence is studied. It has also discussed how the
material model is generated on the FEA software called Ls-DYNA. The convergence
study of an experimental program [1] for further analysis of the RC Beam-Column
joint was created by modeling the RC joint in the software, as mentioned earlier. The
joint considered in this study is a non-seismically designed joint (with no honeycombs
called as the NS-A in the literature). The displacements discussed according to their
mesh sizes.
An overall mesh sensitivity analysis has been performed, by modeling for both the
concrete and also the reinforcement used in the experimental program, to understand
the adequate mesh size suitable for the validation of the experimental program.
Convergence Study of Reinforced Concrete … 603
1 Finite Element Modeling
1.1 Reinforced Concrete Joint Configuration and Design

in Software
The various types of joints that identified in a Special Moment Resisting Frame
(SMRF) building consists of the knee joint, exterior joint, and the interior joint. These
joints govern the behavior of the structure and failure mechanism under extreme
loading. These joints, namely the knee joints, form the top of the edge of a building
joint. The exterior and the interior joints of the building form the intermediate stories.
The RC beam-column joint chosen here for validation of the present work is an
experimental work [1]. The joint in the experimental work designed according to
the Indian standard codes for the Concrete buildings, i.e., the IS 456:2000 and not
designed for seismic responses. Fixed end conditions of the columns are considered as
the boundary conditions, and the beam has a free end where the impact load is applied.
The dimension for the beam-column joint used for the validation work is mentioned
as follows. The column is 0.115 × 0.115 m with clear cover 20 mm, and the beam has
dimensions of 0.150 × 0.115 m with clear cover 15 mm. The reinforcement taken for
the design consists of various dimensions for the main longitudinal, transverse, and
also a different set of reinforcements bars that have been mentioned in Table 1 below.
Configuration of the joint for simulation is taken the same as the experimental model,
described in Table 1. Reinforcements are also kept same as the experiment. The
study is numerically conducted using Ls-DYNA. The FEA analysis has adequately
validated results using the software.
Table 1 Dimensions of beam and column reinforcements used

Reinforcements used Column Beam
Longitudinal reinforcements 4 # 16 mm 4 # 12 mm
Transverse reinforcements 6 mm @100 mm c/c 6 mm @110 mm c/c
1.2 Automatic Meshing and User-Generated Meshing
A user has two options for the meshing. The auto-meshing and the selected meshing
option. The auto meshing option creates shell meshes on surfaces. The models here
are generated as solid elements in a pre-processing software, and hence mesh sizes
are selected and not auto-meshed.
1.3 Effect of Element Type Mesh on Mesh Convergence
For 3-Dimensional elements like this RC joint, only tetrahedral or brick elements are
used. Finer meshes, along with converging into more approximate results burdens
the computer cost and coarser meshes give unacceptable results. A balanced mesh
size has to be struck for a desirable result. The various types of formulation used
incudes lagrangian, Eulerian formulations mainly. These methods define the node
movement analysis. These methods define the node movement and material points.
Here, in the Lagrangian analysis, nodes and related materials points get displaced in
the deformation domain. The nature of the lagrangian analysis makes it best suited for
a process with low deformation. A Eulerian analysis is different from the Lagrangian
analysis in terms that the mesh nodes are fixed in space, and the material points are
flown through it [7, 8].
2 Preparation of the Reinforced-Concrete Beam-Column

Joint Model
The material model for the convergence study, with the help of the FE analysis under-
taken with the help of the FE software, Ls-DYNA [9]. The material model prepared
for both concrete and reinforcement is used in the RC joint of the experimental
program in the FEA model.
MAT WINFRITH CONCRETE (084/085) material model is found suitable for
the development of the concrete model for the RC joint. The WINFRITH model is
suitable for concrete with high impact. The material model used for the development
of the reinforcement is the MAT-PLASTIC KINEMATIC (003). A detailed version
of the models given in Sect. 3 below.
2.1 Boundary Conditions
The boundary conditions set for the software model are kept the same as the exper-
imental program. The column ends of the joints are kept fixed. The load is kept
the same as that of the experiment. An impact load is applied with the help of a
steel impactor of its mass 1.07 kg. The material for the impactor is developed in the
program using the material MAT-PLASTIC KINEMATIC (003) material model. A
velocity of 33.39 m/s set for the impactor supposed to hit the beam at a distance of
0.115 m from the free end. The beam end is left free.
Par17
2.2 Mesh Size for the Elements
The mesh sizes utilized in the models for the sensitivity analysis is tabled below in
Table 2. The individual results discussed in the result section in Sect. 4.
Figure 1 is the mesh model developed using the FE software (Ls DYNA). This
mesh model is selected after the convergence study.
Table 2 Mesh size taken for convergence

Impactor mesh size Concrete mesh size Reinforcement mesh size
0.015 0.015 0.010
0.020 0.020 0.015
0.025 0.025 0.020
Fig. 1 Mesh modeling RC Beam-column joint

3 Material Model of the Study in FE Software (Ls DYNA)
The materials used in the FE software carefully put together to simulate the
displacement response of the RC beam-column joint experimental program. Various
materials meticulously used to procure the material behavior of the materials
related to the experiment in the software. The Ls DYNA manual is used for the
use of the simulation of the material in the software [10]. Here, the concrete
model simulated with the help of the MAT_WINFRITH_CONCRETE (085/084)
material model card and the reinforcement model is being taken care of with
the help of the MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC (003) model card. A contact
card is used to stick the beam part of the joint to the column part of the
joint, TIED_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE(THERMAL). AUTOMATIC_SURFACE-
_TO_SURFACE (THERMAL) card used to make contacts with the concrete beam
to the impactor. Fixed-fixed boundary conditions are being used at the column end to
simulate similar experimental conditions. The impactor velocity provided with the
help of the VELOCITY_GENERATION card. A brief description of all the material
models given below.
3.1 Material Model of the Concrete
As stated above, the material model used for the concrete is MAT_WINFRITH
(085/084). Input for the material properties is from the experiment conducted or
default material properties called from the library for regular strength concrete.
Among the two material, 84 and 85, only the former works for rate effects. The
Winfrith concrete implemented in the 8-node single integration point continuum
element.
3.2 Material Model of Reinforcing Steel
For the material model of the steel, the MAT_PASTIC_KNINEMATIC (003) mate-
rial is used. This model allows rate effects and is suited to model kinematic and
isotropic hardening plasticity. This cost-effective model is working for Hughes-Liu
beams, shells, and solid elements. Stress versus strain curve can be defined using
this material.
3.3 Contact Card for Sticking Concrete Beam to the Column
The concrete column and the concrete beam were developed separately
without continuity of the meshes and then stuck together with the help
of the following card. It requires the sticking of the concrete and the
reinforcement material of the column and the beam, respectively. The
CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE(THERMAL) card used to
establish the sticking of the concrete elements of both columns and beam together.
3.4 Contact Card to Simulate Bond Between the Steel

and the Concrete
Lagrangian coupling method defines the concrete, transverse reinforcement, and

the longitudinal reinforcement bond. This method is effective and efficient because
matching the concrete and reinforcement nodes is not necessary. The concrete acts
as the master element and the reinforcement as the save element. CONSTRAINED
_LAGRANE_IN_SOID material card used.
3.5 Velocity of the Impactor
The velocity of the shooting impactor initiated is with the help of the
VELOCITY_GENERATION card. The velocity input is to be provided to the card
to initiate the velocity of the impactor. This card also defines the contact between the
concrete beam and the impactor.
The mesh convergence displacements results are being discussed in this section. The
load applied to the beam joint is an impact load that is applied to the end of the beam
end, as mentioned above. The mesh of 0.025 m selected for the validation of the
model. This model is found to replicate the experimental joint in the Finite Element
software adequately. The mesh size that has appropriately yielded the experimental
program is 0.020 m for the reinforcements used in the experiment. The displacement
graph of the meshes used, given in Fig. 2. The finer meshes converged with barely
much difference in the displacement response
The mesh size is converged, keeping the computer resource as a limitation. The
mesh size of the concrete varied from 0.015 to 0.025 m, and the reinforced steel
0.006
0.004
0.002
Displacement (m) 0
-0.002
-0.004
-0.006 0.015
-0.008
0.02
-0.01
-0.012 0.025
-0.014
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Time(sec)
Fig. 2 Displacement response of mesh sizes considered
varies in mesh size from 0.010 to 0.020. The combinations of the meshes for the
concrete and the reinforcement of the experimental model is given in Table 2.
The mesh size for the impactor was considered similar to the mesh size of the
concrete. A perfect size is not selected for the impactor. It is because the meshing of
the impactor is complicated for the meshing of solid cylinders used for creating the
impactor.
The displacement for the simulation is 0.01159 m, compared to the experimental
displacement result of 0.0126 m. The residual velocity of the model was as vali-
dated with the FE simulated model, which matched appropriately at 18.5 m/s for the
experimental model and 17.4 m/s for the simulated model.
Conclusion
The mesh size for the models where the loading type is impact loading with lower
impact loads has showed similar mesh convergence trends. Therefore, it is to be
concluded that the mesh convergence will have similar trend for such impact loads.
This FEM model can be used to simulate Reinforced Concrete joints with similar
loading types. The mesh size can be either scaled up or scaled down, calibrated to
approximate to the desired results.
Another thing that is inferred from the graph in Fig. 3 is that the same phase
of displacement response of the simulated and the experimental model denoted the
synchrony in the material model developed. Hence, the material model developed
here simulates the experimental material behavior adequately.
0.01
Displacement (m) 0.005
-0.005
Simulation
-0.01 Experiment
-0.015
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
Time (sec)
Fig. 3 Displacement graph of the experimental results and the converged mesh simulation
References
1. Rajeev A, Mohotti D, Shelke A (2020) Implications of impact experiments on honeycomb

shielded exterior beam-column joint. Eng Struct
2. Kyei C, Braimah A (2010) Effects of transverse reinforcement spacing n the response of
reinforced concrete columns subjected to blast loadings. Int J Impact Eng
3. Rajeev A, Parsi SS, Raman SN, Ngo T, Shelke A (2020) Experimental and numerical investi-
gation of an exterior reinforced concrete beam-column joint subjected to shock loading. Int J
Impact Eng
4. Yan B, Liu F, Song D, Jiang Z (2015) Numerical study n damage mechanism of RC beams
under close-in-blast loading. Eng Failure Anal
5. Fyllingen O, Hopperstad S, Hanssen AG, Langseth M (2010) Modelling tubes subjected to
axial crushing. Thin Walled Struct
6. Ahmad M, Ismail KA, Mat F (2013) Convergence of finite element model for crushing of a
conical thinwalled tube
7. Priyadarshini A, Pal SK, Samantaray AK (2012) Finite element modelling of chip formation
in orthogonal machining. Stat Comput Tech Manuf
8. Jain R, Pal SK, Singh SB (2017) Numerical modelling methodologies for friction stir welding
process
9. Ls-DYNA_971 Software. Livermore Software Technology Corporation 7374 as Positas Road,
Livermore, CA94551, 01/02/2013
10. Ls-DYNA R Keyword user’s manual volume I, 2016
Evaluation of Cementitious Mixes
for Printing
M. Vishruthi, S. Raghavendra, Y. Ravi Teja, and K. B. Anand
Abstract To meet the current expeditious work pace, innovative modus like 3D
concrete printing will be useful in bridging sustainability in material usage with cost
and time efficiency along with overcoming labor constraints. This preliminary study
was aimed at partial replacement of 53 grade Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with
Flyash (FA), Silica Fume (SF) and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS)
in the preparation of mixes. The replacement percentages were decided based on
literature review and preliminary trials. The fine aggregate of particle size in the
range 1.18–2.36 mm was used as fillers. The required workability for printing (based
on trials) was achieved by using minimal dosages of a PCE based superplasticizer.
The extrudability of mixes was tested with a simple mortar grouting applicator.
The addition of 0.1% percentage of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) fibre resulted in a
better finish of the printed layer. The study is focused on the fresh and hardened
state properties of printable cementitious mixes. The test results indicate that the
mix containing GGBS, FA and fibre had better printability, good interlayer bonding,
reduced gap time, and increased flexural and compressive strengths.
Keywords Printability · Extrudability · Cementitious mix
1 Introduction
The 3D concrete printing gives a new ambit to cement-based construction. The basic
technique is building an object by a layer-over-layer process which is facilitated
by contour crafting. In comparison with the conventional method of construction
process, the flexibility of design, rapid prototyping, savings in materials and labor
are few of its advantages. Building without using formwork paves the way to new
architectural liberties apart from being cost-effective. Despite the various design
constraints and technical issues in production, the walls and columns for buildings
are printed on-site. This technology has so far been used to produce single storey
M. Vishruthi · S. Raghavendra · Y. Ravi Teja · K. B. Anand (B)

Department of Civil Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore 641112, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_56
612 M. Vishruthi et al.
compact homes, seashore walls, aesthetic structures and some traditional geometrical
designs. 3D printing normally reduces the materials utilized and as a result, may have
a lesser impact on the environment in comparison with conventionally produced
concrete structures.
1.1 Background Literature
In the study conducted by Buswell et al. [1] printability is explained in terms of extrud-
ability, open time and shape stability. Extrudability is the ability for the transportation
of fresh printing concrete through pipe and nozzle conforming to the required dimen-
sion with good print quality. Workability is the vital material property that influences
the extrudability. Open time is the time during which the fresh spray concrete can
maintain sufficient workability or it is the time during which a material can be used
in 3D printing. In the study conducted by Sanjayan et al. [2], it was observed that as
the delay time increased, the adhesion decreased and hence resulted in low interlayer
strength.
The primary binding material as observed from the literature survey is Ordinary
Portland cement (OPC) conforming to ASTM C-150 [3], the quantity of which
adopted in different studies varied from 490 to 670 kg/m3 [4–6]. Class F fly ash
and silica fume (SF) were used as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM). Fly
ash is a pozzolan which is added to OPC to reduce the cement content, improve
mix cohesiveness without compromising on the strength. Fly ash ranging from 24 to
30% of the mass of cement have been used in the study conducted by Gilson et al.
[7]. Silica fume is used to increase the yield stress, reduce the delay in setting and
reduce the segregation. 8–15% silica fume relative to the mass of the cement has
been adopted in a study by Rahul et al. [8]. River sand of size 1.18 to 2.36 mm was
used as filler material to improve the mechanical strength of the cementitious matrix.
In the studies [4, 8], the cement sand ratios varied from 0.43 to 0.52. In the reported
studies, Superplasticizer is used as an admixture to improve the workability of mixes
so that they are extrudable. The usage of Polycarboxylatebased superplasticizer has
been reported by Lu et al. [9] from 0.2% to 0.3% by mass of cement, for water-
cement ratios of 0.4 to 0.5. In the study conducted by Rubio et al. [6], incorporation
of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibres and Polypropylene (PP) fibres reduced the surface
cracks and improved the flexural strength of the mixes. The volume fraction of the
Polypropylene fibres varied from 0.2 to 2%.
The fresh state tests to characterize the mix included flow table test and extrud-
ability test [5, 10]. It has been shown [8] that yield stress is a vital property to
extrude stable layers without collapsing. Zhang et al. [11] showed that the compres-
sive strength, flexural strength and shrinkage are essential parameters to be evaluated.
The hardened state parameters are important for the durability aspects of 3 D printed
elements.
Evaluation of Cementitious Mixes for Printing 613
1.2 Objectives of the Present Study
This study is aimed at investigating the influence of different materials on the prop-
erties of cementitious mixes that can be used for extrusion molding. The objectives
of the study are to identify the factors that are needed to be addressed in 3D printing
of concrete, arrive at mix proportions suitable for extrusion and to characterize the
mixes through fresh and hardened state tests.
2 Experimental Details
Based on the broad understanding of the 3D concrete printing process from the
literature review and the procurement convenience, the materials for the present
study were identified. The mix proportions for the first few trials were based on
reported studies. Later it was modified based on factors such as extrudability with
the available equipment, better shape stability of the printed specimen, resource
optimization, etc. A mortar grouting gun was used to extrude the cementitious mixes
in the study.
2.1 Materials and Methodology
OPC 53 grade (specific gravity 3.15) was used as the binder in the printing mixtures.
In the preliminary trials, the binder content was varied from 40 to 50%. But for
economy, the OPC content was kept as 40% of the dry materials in the final mixes.
Class F flyash (specific gravity 2.5) was taken as 15% in the mixes. River sand
(specific gravity 2.65) passing through 2.36 mm sieve and retained on 1.18 mm sieve
was taken in the mixes. The sand content was taken as 35% to obtain a suitable mix
that could ensure extrusion.
To improve the cohesion and the mechanical properties, Silica fume (specific
gravity 2.25) and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (specific Gravity 2.85)
were used as a replacement for cement in different mixes. Glenium, a polycarboxylate
based SP was used in the mixes. Since a higher water-cement ratio of 0.5 was adopted,
the SP dosage was kept between 0.1 to 0.2%. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibre was varied
between 0.1 and 0.2% of the total volume in the trial mixes. However, trials indicated
that the fibre content of 0.1% improved the cohesion of the mixes for the above SP
dosage. The mix details are given in Table 1.
Table 1 Mix details

Mix Designation w/c OPC% Sand % FA % SF % GGBS % SP % FIBER %
M0 0.5 50 35 15 – – – –
M1 0.5 40 35 15 10 – 0.10 –
M2 0.5 40 35 15 – 10 0.05 –
M3 0.5 40 35 15 10 – 0.20 0.1
M4 0.5 40 35 15 – 10 0.17 0.1
2.2 Fresh State Properties
The solid materials which include OPC, Fly ash, silica fume or GGBS, sand and fibre
were dry mixed for five minutes at a slow rate. The mixing is stopped after 5 min
and any lumps of solids were crushed. Then, water and superplasticizer were added
to the mix and the materials were wet mixed for 15 to 20 min at a faster rate. This is
to ensure the reactivity of SP with the mix.
2.2.1 Slump Flow Test
After the preparation of the mix, the slump flow test [12] was performed. The cone-
shaped mould of dimensions 100 mm base diameter, 70 mm top diameter, 60 mm
height is placed in the center of the flow table. The cementitious mix is filled into
the cone in two layers and the table is jolted 25 times in 15 s and the diameter of
the spread mortar is measured in four directions. The average of the four readings
is taken for the calculation of flow percentage. The typical slump flow is given in
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Typical slump flow

Fig. 2 Vane shear apparatus
2.2.2 Vane Shear Test
The yield stress of the mix is important for the shape stability of the layers. The
vane shear test is performed to find the stress at failure (yield stress) of the mixes.
Using the vane shear apparatus (Fig. 2), the initial angle is noted and the final angle
at failure is also noted. Torque is given by T = (Initial reading-final reading) x spring
constant/180.Torque is converted into yield strength (S) using the equation proposed
by Dzuy and Boger [13].
S = T/((πD2 ) ∗ (H/2) + (D/6))
where the diameter of the vane D = 12 mm and height of the vane H = 24 mm.
2.2.3 Extrusion
A mortar grouting gun (Fig. 3) of nozzle dimensions 55 mm × 15 mm was adopted

for extrusion of the different mixtures (Fig. 4).
Through the preliminary tests, it was found out that the adhesion was maximum
for a gap time of 15 min for mixes without fibre and 10 min for mixes with fibre.
Fig. 3 Mortar gun

Fig. 4 Extruding mix
Hence the layers were built up after the specified gap time. The extrudability was
evaluated based on the ease of extrusion and layer uniformity. The layers with more
cracks failed the extrudability test. Shape stability is the ability of the layers to retain
shape and withstand settlement under own weight. The shape stability of layers is
related to the deviation of layer dimension with the actual nozzle dimension and also
with the layer width getting increased with the addition of upper layers. If the layer
settlement was too much or the bottom layer width deviated more, with improper
shape retention, the layers would fail in shape stability criteria.
2.3 Hardened State Properties
2.3.1 Compression Test
As the width of the nozzle is 15 mm, the height of one extruded layer will be 15 mm.
A long specimen consisting of 4 layers, each of 15 mm height was printed for a
length 300 mm. Then cube specimens of size 60 mm each were cut from the long
specimen and the edges were trimmed. To obtain the material strength of the mix, the
cementitious mix was cast into cubes of dimensions 50 × 50 mm and tested according
to BS EN 12390-3 [14]. The compressive strength (7 day and 28 day) was found
for both the cast and printed specimen to find the differences between material and
layer strength. For the printed specimen the compressive strength values were taken
in two directions, viz., in axial as well as transverse directions as shown in Fig. 5a,
b. The Compressive strength values in the transverse direction give the maximum
load-bearing capacity of the specimen and this value is compared with the material
strength [10]. The compressive strength in the axial direction is indicative of the
bonding strength between the layers of the specimen.
2.3.2 Flexure Test
The beam specimens of length 120 mm with 3 layers were extruded. The 7 day and
28 day flexure strength of the printed beam specimens was tested using a universal
(a) (b)
Fig. 5 Compression test a Axial b Transverse
Fig. 6 Flexure test

arrangement
testing machine. The 120 mm long specimen was supported on two metal blocks at
a distance of 25 mm from both the ends and a central point load was applied on the
specimen (Fig. 6).
2.3.3 Drying Shrinkage Test
The shrinkage test is significant in understanding the dimensional stability of the

specimen and to understand how modifications are effected by the incorporation of
fibres. Drying shrinkage of the different mixes adopted for extrusion was done based
on ASTM C157 [15]. The drying shrinkage specimens of size 160 mm × 40 mm ×
40 mm were cast. The shrinkage values were measured using length comparator as
shown in Fig. 7. The drying shrinkage values for 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days of the mixes
were calculated.
Fig. 7 Shrinkage test
3.1 Fresh State Properties
3.1.1 Slump Flow
The average diameter of the spread in four directions after jolting was taken to
calculate the percentage flow of various mixes. The flow values corresponding to the
different mixes are shown in Fig. 8.
As shown the obtained flow values varied from 70 to 110%. The Mixes with GGBS
showed lesser flow values when compared to the mix with SF. The reduction in flow
values of mixes M1 through M4 when compared to control mix M0 is primarily due
to the addition of fine mineral admixtures. The mixes with fibres showed a stiffening
tendency and resulted in a marginally reduced flow. Mix M0 (control mix) showed
Fig. 8 Percentage flow of various mixes

Fig. 9 Yield stresses of various mixes
a higher flow value due to bleeding. The addition of silica fume reduced segregation
and bleeding tendencies of the mix as seen from the relatively lower flow value of
M1 mix compared to M0. The mixes M2, M3 and M4 showed even lower flow values
due to the addition of GGBS and PVA fibres, because of their stiffening tendency.
3.1.2 Yield Stress
The yield stress values of the mixes are presented in Fig. 9. It can be noted that there
is an increase in yield stress in ascending order from mix M0 to mix M4. It can be
inferred that the Yield stress of the mix containing GGBS was more than the mix
with SF. The mixes containing fibre showed higher yield stress when compared to
mixes without fibre. The mix M4 has the highest yield stress compared to the other 4
mixes. It can be inferred that the addition of both fibre and GGBS contributes to the
increase in yield stress. The yield stress has a direct bearing on the shape stability of
mixes during the extrusion process.
3.1.3 Extrudability
The ease of extrusion is related to the workability of the particular mix. The mixes
were extruded through a rectangular nozzle of dimensions 55 mm × 15 mm. The
extrusion properties are related to the workability (percentage flow) and yield stress
of the mix.
The control mix M0 had the maximum flow value so it was very easy to extrude
when compared to other mixes. The extrusion pressure required to be applied manu-
ally was minimum. The mix M4 (with GGBS and fibre) which had the least flow
value was difficult to extrude than the other mixes. Therefore as flow decreased, the
ease of extrusion also decreased. Mixes with fibre contributed to a more even and
smooth surface finish than the other mixes. Considering the aspects of printability
and shape stability, the stability of the control mix (M0) was not satisfactory. For
M0 the deviation (increase) of layer width after extrusion was 12.7% in relation to
the width of the nozzle. But for GGBS with fibre mix (M4), the deviation in width
was only 4.5%. This indicates that the layer settlement was more for M0 mix. The
extruded layers of control mix and GGBS mix are shown in Fig. 10a, b.
The shape stability of the extruded layers can be interpreted from the yield stress
of the mixes. The yield stress of M4 (GGBS mix) was found to be greater than M0
(control mix). Hence the shape stability of mix M4 layers was found to be better than
mix M0 layers as seen in Fig. 11a, b.
(a) (b)
Fig. 10 a Extruded control mix b Extruded GGBS mix
(a) (b)
Fig. 11 a M0 cube layers b M4 cube layers
3.2 Hardened State Properties
Compressive strength is one of the most important hardened state properties of any
concrete specimen. The hardened state image of the extruded specimens is given in
Fig. 12. The 7 and 28 day compressive strength values of the specimens of different
mixes are given in Table 2.
The compressive strengths of the cast cubes are more than that of printed cubes by
20% to 63%. The lower strengths of extruded samples are primarily due to the lower
density of samples. The compressive strength value of cast specimens of mixes M0,
M1, M2, M3 and M4 are 63%, 37%, 20%, 36% and 29% more than that of their
extruded specimens. The compressive strength of the GGBS mix (M2) accounts for
the highest value in comparison to other mixes.
The compressive test in axial direction yielded values that were 35–67% lower than
that of the compressive strength values in the transverse direction. The compressive
strength values tested in axial direction improved with the incorporation of GGBS
and deteriorated with the addition of fibres.
Fig. 12 Hardened specimen
Table 2 Compressive and Flexural Strengths

Mix Compressive strength (MPa) Flexural load
designation Cast cube Printed Printed (kN)
cube-Transverse cube-axial
7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days
M0 12.1 18.4 3.7 5.5 2.4 3.6 3.2 4.1
M1 21.0 23.1 8.1 12.3 7.3 11.1 3.2 4.6
M2 16.0 24.8 11.1 16.1 9.7 15.0 6.3 8.9
M3 14.0 27.2 5.7 14.4 2.5 6.4 4.7 6.0
M4 15.3 23.4 8.9 13.6 3.4 5.2 10.0 14.2
3.2.2 Flexure Test
The flexure strength values of the printed beam specimens of different mixes are
given in the Table 2. It can be observed that there is an increase in flexural strength
from mix M0 to mix M4 in ascending order. The mix M0 and M1 are found to have
the same flexural load capacity. It is also observed that the mix with GGBS has more
flexure strength compared to the mix with silica fume.
The usage of fibres in GGBS mix (M4) has proven to be effective in increasing
the flexural strength almost twice compared to mix containing only GGBS (M2).
Comparing M1 and M3, it is found that the use of fibre has sufficiently increased the
flexural strength of silica fume mix.
3.2.3 Drying Shrinkage
ASTM C157 [15] is the method used to measure the drying shrinkage of the mixes.
The drying shrinkage values for 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 days of the mixes were calculated
based on the shrinkage readings obtained from the length compactor and the results
are given in Fig. 13.
The mix with silica fume (M1) showed the highest shrinkage. The addition of
fibres resulted in the reduction of shrinkage by 67% for silica fume mix (M3) and
42% for the GGBS mix (M4). In the study conducted by Zhang et al. [16], the
shrinkage of 3D printable concrete varied between 807 and 840 micro-strain. This
low value of shrinkage might be due to the high sand/cement ratio of 1.5 in that
study. Since a lower sand/cement ratio of 0.8 was adopted (for ease in the manual
extrusion of mixes) in the current experiments, the shrinkage was found to be in the
higher range.
Fig. 13 Drying shrinkage-time relationship

4 Conclusion
Compared to the mix with silica fume, the mix with GGBS had lower workability
(flow) and hence could have a negative influence on ease of extrusion. The yield stress
and hence shape stability of the mixes incorporating GGBS and fibre enhanced the
yield stress and hence the shape stability which is a vital property to extrude layers
without collapsing. The compressive strength values tested in the axial direction and
flexural strength improved with the incorporation of GGBS. Besides enhancement
in flexural strength, fibre incorporation resulted in the smoother surface finish of
extruded layers. As there is no formwork covering the surface of the freshly printed
element, lower shrinkage is preferred. The addition of fibre resulted in the reduction
of shrinkage by 67% for silica fume mix and 42% for the GGBS mix
References
1. Buswell RA, Leal de Silva WR, Jones SZ, Dirrenberger J (2018) 3D printing using concrete
extrusion: a roadmap for research. Cement Concr Res 112:37–49
2. Sanjayan JG, Nematollahi B, Xia M, Marchment T (2018) Effect of surface moisture on inter-
layer strength of 3D printed concrete. Constr Build Mater 172:468–475
3. ASTM C-150. Standard specification for Portland cement
4. Kazemian A, Yuan X, Cochran E, Khoshnevis B (2017) Cementitious materials for
construction-scale 3D printing: laboratory testing of fresh printing mixture. Constr Build Mater
145:639–647
5. Papachristoforou, Mitsopoulos V, Stefanidou M (2018) Evaluation of workability parameters
in 3D printing concrete. In: 1st international conference of the Greek society of experimental
mechanics, Thessaloniki, Greece, May 2018
6. Rubio M, Sonebi M, Amziane S (2017) 3D Printing of fibre cement-based material fresh
and rheological performances. HALId:hal-01576184 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-015
76184
7. Lomboy GR, Wang X, Wang K (2014) Rheological behavior and formwork pressure of SCC,
SFSCC, and NC mixtures. Cement Concr Compos 54:110–116
8. Rahul, MS, Meena H, Ghani Z (2019) 3D printable concrete: mixture design and test methods.
Cement Concr Compos 97:13–23
9. Lu B, Yiweiweng, Li M, Qian Y, Leong KF, Tan MJ (2019) A systematic review of 3D printable
cementitious materials. Constr Build Mater 207:477–490
10. Le TT, Austin SA, Lim S, Buswell RA, Law R, Gibb AGF, Thrope T (2012) Hardened properties
of high-performance printing concrete. Cement Concr Res 42:558–566
11. Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Liu G, Yang Y, Meng W, Pang B (2018) Fresh properties of a novel 3D
printing concrete ink. Constr Build Mater 174:263–271
12. ASTM C1437-15-Standard test methods for the flow of hydraulic cement mortar
13. Dzuy NQ, Boger DV (1983) Yield stress measurement for concentrated suspensions. J
Rheology 27:321–349
14. BS EN 12390-3:2009-Testing hardened concrete-compressive strength of test specimen
15. ASTM C157-Standard test method for length change of hardened hydraulic-cement mortar
and concrete
16. Zhang Y, Zhang Y, She W, Yang L, Liu G, Yang Y (2019) Rheological and harden properties
of the high-thixotropy 3D printing concrete. Constr Build Mater 201:278–285
Review of Performance of Existing
Vertical Irregularity Indicators for Steel
Framed Buildings
Brij M. Shah, Robin Davis, C. G. Nandakumar, and Pradip Sarkar
Abstract Due to architectural compulsions, buildings invite various types of irreg-

ularities due to which seismic performance of them is highly affected. With increase
in such type of buildings, it is important to know the extent to which an irregularity
could be introduced without causing any major damage to the structure. Different
kinds of Irregularity indices are used by many previous studies for quantifying the
vertical irregularities in buildings. This study discusses about the previous irregu-
larity indicators and an attempt is made to evaluate their effectiveness to predict the
seismic risk of irregular buildings. Steel buildings having various kinds of vertical
irregularities such as mass, stiffness and/or strength are considered in this study and
their seismic risks is evaluated. Pearson r correlation methodology is considered for
correlating the irregularity indicators and the associated seismic risks and conclusions
are drawn from them.
Keywords Irregularity index · Seismic risk · Correlation coefficient
1 Introduction
Multi-storey buildings are being generally constructed with unequal distribution of

mass, stiffness, and strength due to functional and architectural reasons. The buildings
having unequal distribution of irregularity of mass/stiffness/strength individually or
B. M. Shah (B) · R. Davis · C. G. Nandakumar

National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, India
R. Davis
C. G. Nandakumar
P. Sarkar
National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_57
626 B. M. Shah et al.
in combination across the height are called vertically irregular buildings. It has been
reported by many previous studies [1–5] that the performance of these types of
buildings is poor as compared to that of regular buildings.
Seismic design criteria have been provided for vertically irregular buildings in
various inter-national codes. However, many studies report the parameters mentioned
in the codes for the quantification of irregularity exists in a building needs improve-
ment. Previous studies [4–7] have proposed the regularity indices for quantifying
the vertical irregularity based on the modal parameters or geometric parameters. It
is to be noted that all the previous studies on the parameters used for quantifica-
tion of irregularity in buildings were focused on the seismic performance of vertical
irregular RC buildings.
The purpose of this paper is to check whether the existing irregularity indices
can capture the vertical irregularities in the steel framed buildings. This research
focusses on the performance of existing vertical irregularity indices by checking the
correlation of them with the seismic risk of the selected vertically irregular buildings.
The seismic risk is evaluated by following the procedure proposed by Allin Cornell
et al. [8].
2 Detailing of the Building Considered
A seven storey steel framed building having uniform distribution of mass and stiffness
considered as a regular building is taken for reference. The steel framed building is
assumed to be situated in a location of seismic zone with PGA = 0.16 g (Zone-III).
Plan and elevation of the selected buildings are shown in Fig. 1. The sections of
beams and columns are design according to [9, 10] and details of those sections
are mentioned in Table 1. Thickness of the floor slab is assumed to be concrete of
120 mm [11] which is resting on the steel beams.
4.5 m ISMB 350 (Typical)
4.5 m
ISHB 350 (Typical)
13.5 m 23.1 m
3.3 m
3.3 m
18 m
(a) Plan (b) Elevation
Fig. 1 a Plan of building considered b Elevation of building considered

Review of Performance of Existing … 627
Table 1 Different type of

Frame Column section Beam section
sections
M-R ISHB 350 ISMB 350
M7-7 ISHB 400 ISMB 300
M4-7 ISHB 400 ISMB 300
SI-R ISHB 350 ISMB 350
SI-I-O ISHB 250 ISMB 300
SI-7-O ISHB 350 ISMB 350
Typical buildings with mass and a stiffness/strength irregularity are considered

in this study. Mass irregular buildings are modelled by considering a swimming
pool or a storage place at the top and intermediate storeys. The seismic weight of
the additional mass at a selected floor in a building is taken to be in the range of
500%–700% of the seismic weight of a typical floor. A mass irregular building with
a mass of 5 times of mass of typical floor level, at 4th floor level is denoted as M5-4.
Similarly, M7-4 frame indicates a mass irregular frame having 7 times of the typical
mass at 4th (intermediate) floor level. The performance of mass irregular buildings
is evaluated with reference to a regular building (M-R) having uniform masses in all
storeys.
For studying the behavior of stiffness/strength irregular buildings, a regular refer-
ence building (SI-R) is taken in which the lateral stiffness/strength at each storey
(cross bracings are provided on each storey) is equal (uniform in all storeys).
Stiffness/strength irregularity or discontinuity in vertical direction is introduced by
considering a bays without any bracings in a particular storey. SI-1-O represents a
stiffness/strength irregular building frame having ground storey (index ‘1’ stands for
first storey) as an open ground storey (index ‘O’ for open storey). SI-M-O depicts the
frame with no bracings at 3rd and 4th storeys, SI-4-O depicts frame with no bracings
at 4th storey and SI-7-O depicts the frame with no bracings at 7th storey. Figure 2
shows detailing of all the vertical irregular buildings.
3 Regularity Index
Various regularity indices have been proposed by many previous studies to quantify
the irregularity of a building as shown in Table 2. Out of selected approaches, [4]
proposed the index which was focused on steel setback framed buildings. Indices
proposed by Pradip et al. [5, 6] was based on modal participation factor and the
frequency of the building, respectively. Bhosale et al. [7] proposed the regularity
index based on the ratio of maximum inter-storey drift of an irregular and regular
building from elastic analysis. The regularity index proposed by Karavasilis et al. [4]
SI-R SI-M-O SI-1-O SI-4-O SI-7-O
M-R M7-7 M7-4 M5-7 M5-4
Fig. 2 Selected stiffness and mass irregular steel framed buildings
Table 2 Proposed irregularity indicators from previous studies

References Building type Proposed regularity indices
Γ1
[5] RC stepped frame η= Γr e f

N
ωk,ir
[6] RC setback frame λr = ωk,r
k=1
Max(I S D I R )
[7] RC framed building SVI = Max(I S D R )
Note , 1 is the first mode participation factor for an irregular and regular building, respectively.
ω, , ω, = k-th mode frequency of irregular and regular building. ISDIR, ISDR = inter-storey drift
of irregular and regular building
is not included in this study as it deals with only geometric irregular buildings. It can
be noted that regularity index of a regular frame will be unity and as the irregularity
increases the regularity index decreases.
4 Probabilistic Seismic Risk Assessment Methodology

and Modelling for Non-linear Dynamic Analysis
The current study evaluates the vulnerability of the selected vertically irregular frames
by following an accepted methodology proposed by Allin Cornell et al.[8]. It uses a
Probabilistic seismic demand model (PSDM), which is a relationship between PGA
and median of the maximum inter-storey drifts (ISD) recorded from the nonlinear
dynamic time history analysis. The slope of PSDM curve infers about the inter
storey drift of the frames. The building having highest slope could be taken as most
vulnerable compared to other buildings.
Table 3 Random variables

Material Mean COV (%) Source
considered
Yield strength of 250 MPa 10 Ranganathan
steel (1999)
Global damping 5% 40 Davenport and
ratio Carroll (1986)
The beams and columns of all the selected frames were modelled in OPENSEES
laboratory tool [12] using the fiber element modelling approach for performing
nonlinear time history analysis. An ensemble of 44 ground motions whose PGA
ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 g was used for the time history analysis. The parameters, yield
strength of steel and global damping ratio, were taken as random variables. Values
of mean and coefficient of variation of the random variables are shown in Table 3.
Latin hypercube sampling method (LHS) was used to generate 44 samples of random
variables and accordingly computational models are developed using these realiza-
tions of the random samples representing the building frames. Nonlinear dynamic
time history analyses of the computational models are done to record the maximum
inter-storey drift from each of the building models. A graph between the parameters,
PGA and ISD is plotted to obtain the PSDM model as shown in Fig. 3. It can be
seen that SI-1-O shows the highest inter-storey drift whereas the SI-R is having the
lowest one. The PSDM obtained from all the models is shown in Table 4.
Fig. 3 PSDMs for all models

Table 4 PSDM model and

Frame PSDM R2 βD|PGA
measure of dispersion
SI-R 0.0248(PGA)0.7336 0.7854 0.1996
SI-M-O 0.0715(PGA)1.1148 0.7788 0.2894
SI-1-O 0.1857(PGA)1.2386 0.7882 0.2833
SI-4-O 0.0508(PGA)0.8959 0.7597 0.2357
SI-7-O 0.025(PGA)0.7519 0.7471 0.2014
5 Correlation of Proposed Regularity Indicators

and Probability of Unacceptable Performance
As the vertical irregularity in a frame increases the irregular frame is more likely to
perform poorly. In other words, probability of unacceptable performance (failure) of
irregular frames also increases with amount of irregularity. This section refers to the
correlation between the proposed regularity indices with the probability of failure.
Previous studies [5–7] have proposed indices which could be used in measuring irreg-
ularity which states how much a frame is irregular. In order to study the performance
of the existing irregularity indicators, correlation of the existing indicators with the
probability of unacceptable seismic performance (PPL at various performance levels,
IO, LS and CP) of the vertically irregular buildings has been calculated as shown in
Tables 5 and 6. It can be noted that the order the frames in the increasing value of
PPL respectively for stiffness irregular and mass irregular frames are SI-7-O < SI-R
< SI-M-O < SI-4-O < SI-1-O and M-R < M7-4 < M5-4 < M5-7 < M7-7.
In case of stiffness irregular frames, the vertical irregularity increases in the order
SI-1-O < SI-R < SI- 7-O < SI-4-O < SI-M-O for [5], SI-R-O < SI-7-O < SI-4-O <
SI-M-O < SI-1-O for [6] and SI-R < SI-7-O < SI-4-O < SI-M-O < SI-1-O for [7].
In case of mass irregularity, the vertical irregularity increases in the order M-R =
M5-4 < M7-7 < M7- 4 < M5-7 for [5], M-R = M5-7 < M7-7 < M5-4 < M7-4 for [6]
and M7-4 < M5-4 < M7-7 < M5-7 < M-R for [7].
Figures 4 and 5 show the correlation between the probability of failure and irreg-
ularity index for stiffness and mass irregular frames, respectively. In case of stiffness
Table 5 Comparison of existing irregularity indices with annual Probability of unacceptable

performance, PPL for stiffness irregular buildings
Existing Irregularity Index Annual Probability of
as per collapse PPL (× 10−3 )
Frame [5] [6] [7] IO LS CP
SI-R 1 1 1 6.16 1.52 0.97
SI-M-O 1.10 1.47 2.6 12.41 4.94 3.67
SI-1-O 0.925 1.85 6.6 29.14 12.72 9.74
SI-4-O 1.041 1.204 1.92 13.79 4.38 3.03
SI-7-O 1.01 1.030 1.04 5.93 1.51 0.97
Table 6 Comparison of existing irregularity index with annual Probability of collapse PPL for mass
irregular buildings
Existing Irregularity Index as Annual Probability of
per collapse PPL (× 10−3 )
Frame [5] [6] [7] IO LS CP
M-R 1 1 1 2.3 1.13 0.9
M7-4 1.063 1.069 0.935 2.36 1.12 0.88
M7-7 1.010 1.02 0.979 6.94 2.53 1.83
M5-4 1 1.03 0.963 2.42 1.15 0.9
M5-7 1.123 1 0.98 3.14 1.4 1.08
Fig. 4 Correlation between Irregularity Index and PPL for: a [5]; b [6]; and c [7] at IO level
irregular frames, it can be observed that correlation coefficient is positive for the
indices proposed by Varadharajan [6, 7] whereas it is negative for the index proposed
by [5]. In case of mass irregular frames, correlation coefficient is negative for both
[5, 6] but positive for [7].
6 Conclusions
Various indicators are used in existing literature to quantify the vertical irregularities
in buildings. Focus of the present study is to evaluate the adequacy of the existing
Fig. 5 Correlation between Irregularity Index and PPL for: a [5]; b [6]; and c [7] at IO level
irregularity indicators to quantify the irregularity in selected vertically irregular steel

framed buildings. Correlation between the existing indicators with the seismic risk
of the selected buildings are considered and the following conclusions are made.
• Regarding seismic risk, the frames SI-1-O and M7-7 are found to be the most
vulnerable when compared to respective regular buildings.
• In case of stiffness irregular framed buildings, it has been observed that the
behavior of SI-7-O is very much similar to that of a regular building and hence
irregularity caused by reducing the stiffness of a top storey is not much harmful
during earthquake. In case of mass irregular building frame, it has been observed
that the seismic risk is reduced to a far extent when swimming pool is provided
at an intermediate storey rather than at top storey. The behavior of this frame is
similar to that of a regular building.
• It is found that existing irregularity indicators proposed by Varadharajan [6, 7]
perfectly correlates with the seismic risk.
• In case of mass irregular framed buildings, the indicators proposed by Bhosale
et al. [7] is correlating well with the seismic risk.
References
1. Kien L, Kihak L, Jaehong L, Do HL (2012) Evaluation of seismic behaviour of steel special

moment frame buildings with vertical irregularities. Struct Design Tall Spec Build 21:215–232
2. Zohreh B, Mehdi P (2016) Seismic evaluation of geometrically irregular steel moment resisting
frames with setbacks considering their dynamic characteristics. Bull Earthquake Eng 14:2757–
2777
3. Bhosale AS, Robin D, Pradip S (2017) Vertical irregularity of buildings: regularity index versus
seismic risk. J Risk Uncertainty Eng Syst Part A: Civ Eng. https://doi.org/10.1061/arjua6.000
0900
4. Karavasilis TL, Bazeaos N, Beskos DE (2008) Seismic response of plane steel MRF with
setbacks: estimation of inelastic deformation demands. J Constr Steel Res 64(2008):644–654
5. Pradip S, Meher AP, Devdas M (2010) Vertical geometric irregularity in stepped building
frames. Eng Struct 32:2175–2182
6. Varadharajan S, Seghal VK, Babita S (2013) Determination of inelastic seismic demands of
RC moment resisting frames. Arch Civil Mech Eng I3:370–393
7. Bhosale AS, Robin D, Pradip S (2018)New seismic vulnerability index for vertically irregular
buildings. J Risk Uncertainty Eng Syst Part A: Civ Eng 4(3):04018022
8. Allin Cornell C, Fatemeh J, Ronald OH, Douglas AF (2002) Probabilistic basis for 2000
SAC federal emergency management agency steel moment frame guidelines. J Struct Eng
128(4):526–533
9. IS 800: 2007. General construction in steel-code of practice
10. IS 1893 (Part-1). 2016 Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures
11. IS 456: 2000. Plain and Reinforced Concrete- code of practice
12. McKenna F, McGann C, Arduino P, Harmon JA (2014) Opensees laboratory. Accessed 15 Jan
2016. https://nees.org/resources/openseeslab
Modelling the Rheological Properties
of Fly Ash Incorporated Superplasticized
Cement Paste at Different Temperature
Using Multilayer Perceptrons
in Tensorflow
Rogin C. Robert, Nelvin Mani Kuriakose, K. Gopikrishnan,

Dhanya Sathyan, and C. B. Rajesh
Abstract The rheology deals with flow of matter. It changes with respect to the mate-
rial composition and test condition. This work investigate the influence of dosage and
family of superplasticizer and dosage of mineral admixture and effect of temperature
on the rheological properties of cement paste. For this purpose cement pastes were
prepared at a water cement ratio of 0.37 using OPC cement, different percentage of
fly ash(15, 25, 35) and different dosages of superplasticizer (one from each family).
Rheological tests were carried out using co axial cylinder viscometer at three different
temperature (15, 27, 35 °C). Rheological parameters like yield stress and plastic
viscosities were calculated using Bingham and Herschel bulkley model. Rheolog-
ical performance were modeled using Multilayer Perceptrons in Tensorflow. Out of
252 data generated, 204 data is used for training the model. The input parameters
consists of variables like dosage of cement, fly ash, water, four families of super
plasticizers and three different temperatures. The output consists of the measured
value of yield stress and plastic viscosity of cement paste. Accuracy of the model is
tested using 48 data set. From the predicted data it is clear that the python can be used
effectively to predict the rheological properties (yield stress and plastic viscosity) of
cement paste.
Keywords Rheology · Fly ash · Modeling · Superplasticizer · Temperature
R. C. Robert · N. M. Kuriakose · D. Sathyan (B)

Department of Civil Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham,
Coimbatore, India
K. Gopikrishnan · C. B. Rajesh
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering,
Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_58
636 R. C. Robert et al.
1 Introduction
Chemical and mineral admixtures are added to concrete to improve its fresh and
hardened stage properties. Mainly mineral admixtures like fly ash is added to the
concrete to improve workability, reduce heat of hydration, and reduce porosity by
microfiller effect. Chemical admixtures like superplasticizers are added to improve
the workability of concrete. Fresh stage property of concrete is mainly governed by
paste phase.
The study carried out by Sathyan et al. [1] dealt with the rheological properties
of Portland pozzolana cement paste (PPC) at different temperatures with different
dosages of superplasticizers (SPs). In this study, cement pastes were prepared using
four brands of PPC and SPs. The rheological parameters were obtained using
temperature-controlled coaxial cylinder viscometer (Brookfield DV-II) with the
mixes subjected to stepwise loading pattern with the shear rate ranging from 30-
65 S−1 at three different temperatures (15, 27 and 35 °C). From the study, it is
observed that the yield stress and the plastic viscosity decreased with an increase in
superplasticizer dosage and increased with an increase in temperature. Rheological
performance of the cement paste was also studied by other researchers [2, 3].
Authors has already studied the effectiveness of soft computing techniques like
RKS and ANN in Modeling the flow behavior of cement paste [1, 4] and flow and
hardened stage properties of SCC [5, 6].
The paper written by Yijin et al. [7] discussed the effect of fly ash on various phases
of cement in terms of its setting time, workability and flowing property. The study
showed that the spherical and smooth surface of the fly ash revealed an increased
water reduction effect with increasing fineness. The setting time of the cement paste
and slump increased with the addition of Ultra fine fly ash and the water demand
reduced with an increase in fineness.
The research done by Sathyan and Anand [8] dealt with the durability of concrete
by the combined effect of superplasticizer and pozzolanic materials. Sulphate attack,
chloride penetration, acid attack were considered as the major durability problems.
The reduction of permeability of concrete increased the durability of concrete which
was achieved through proper compaction. The addition of superplasticizer reduced
the porosity and the workability was found to be increasing.
Dispersing effectiveness of commercial plasticizers were studied by Ng and
Justnes [9]. In this study Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) was replaced by fly ash
and plasticizers from different groups (LS, NSF, PCEs) were also added in this study.
Fly ash replacement was done up to 60%. At lower concentration, fly ash acts as a
filler and does not affect the plasticizer significantly. When 40% fly ash was used, it
was found that PCEs showed reduced performance when compared with NSF and
LS in the OPC system because of the greater affinity of the polymer.
Wallevik and Wallevik [10] examined how rheology can influence the optimization
of concrete with the help of rheograph and workability boxes. The change in the
rheological behavior of the cement-based mixture was revealed by the rheograph
in a symmetrical way. Using this method, the behavioral change in different types
Modelling the Rheological Properties of Fly Ash … 637
of concrete with the change in the quantities of its constituents and the effects of
different admixtures was studied.
The research work carried out by Sonebi et al. [11] investigated the effects of
metakaolin, viscosity-modifying agent and superplasticizer (SP) on optimizing the
rheological parameters, hardening properties(3, 7, 28 days) and setting times of
added cement grouts. The results from the study showed that the increase in SP led
to an increase in flow property, setting times and decrease in cohesion, flow time,
rheological study parameters.
In the research work carried out by Wu et al. [12], the development of a mathe-
matical model to predict and analyse the rheological parameters of CPB (a mixture
of binders, water, and tailings) under the effects of both temperature and hydration
was studied with the help of COMSOL Multiphysics software. The predicted values
obtained from the software on CPB were compared with the data obtained from
various rheological or flowability tests (rheometer, slump test, and vane shear) to
check the prediction ability of the software. The result showed a positive relationship
between the predicted and measured rheological properties.
Python is a high-level and general-purpose programming language that comes
under the category of Free and Open Source Softwares (FOSS). It finds applications
in many domains such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain,
Competitive Coding, Web Development, Software development and Software
testing. Multiple regression is an extension of simple linear regression, which is
one of the classes that comes under Machine Learning. Multiple regression is used
when the value of a variable is to be predicted based on two or more external features
that are provided as inputs. The variable that is predicted is called the dependent vari-
able, also known as the target or the criterion, and the variables that are fed as inputs
are called the independent variables or the features. Multiple regression also helps
in determining the model’s overall fit and the relative contribution of each predictor
to the total variance obtained.
2 Significance and Objectives of This Study
The effectiveness of chemical admixtures mainly depends up on the various physical

and chemical factors. Compatibility checks need to be performed before selecting
any binders and chemical admixtures [13, 14]. So in order to reduce the time and
money required to conduct the experiments to find the compatible combinations and
its required property, it is better to have a mathematical model which can predict
the required property if material quantity and, test parameters are given as the input
parameters
So the objectives of this work is to study the effect of test temperature on the
rheology of cement paste and model the rheological property using python.
Table 1 Properties of
Ordinary Portland Cement (53 Grade)
Cement
Fineness (%) 0.5
Specific Gravity 2.86
Standard Consistency (%) 33
Initial setting time (minutes) 85
Final setting time (minutes) 305
Table 2 Properties of Fly

Fly ash-Class F
Ash
Fineness % 1.2
Superplasticizer Solid content (%) Density (g/cc)
Superplasticizers
LS 1 40 1.158
LS 2 17.07 1.072
PCE 1 38.095 1.225
PCE 2 37 1.079
SMF 31.665 1.227
SNF 1 37.5 1.217
SNF 2 39.13 1.225
3 Details of Materials and Sample Preparation
One brand of ordinary portland cement, superplasticizer from four different families
and class F fly ash at different ratios (15, 25 and 35%) were used to prepare the cement
paste. Properties of materials tested according to the codal provisions of IS4031 [15,
16, 17, 18] and IS 9103 [19] are given in the Tables 1, 2 and 3.
4 Determination of Saturation Dosage
Marsh cone [20] and mini slump tests [21] were carried out to find the satura-
tion dosages of superplasticizer. For rheological study, the mix with superplasticizer
dosage above, equal and below saturation dosage were used.
Fig. 1 a Viscometer; b Flow curve
5 Rheological Studies with Viscometer
5.1 Experimental Setup
Coaxial cylinder viscometer was used in this study (Fig. 1a). Tests were done at 15,
27, and 35 °C temperature. Loading was done in two cycles. Step wise shear rate
increment (starting from 30 s−1 ending with 65 s−1 ) were applied to the mix. Yield
stress and plastic viscosity was determined by fitting second cycle downward curve
(Fig. 1b). Bingham model and Herschel–Bulkley flow model were used to fit the
data.
5.2 Effect of Temperature on Rheological Properties
Variation of rheological properties with temperature for some representative samples

are shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
From the experimental result it is observed that the yield stress and plastic viscosity
of cement paste decreases with superplasticizer dosage up to saturation dosage and
increases with increase in temperature.
Fig. 2 Variation of yield stress with temperature for control mix having no fly ash a LS1
(Lignosulphate 1), b LS2 (Lignosulphate 2)
Fig. 3 Variation of Plastic Viscosity with temperature for mix having 25% fly ash and superplas-
ticizer a SMF (sulfonated melamine formaldehyde condensates), b SNF1 (sulfonated naphthalene
formaldehyde condensates)
6 Modeling of Rheological Properties
6.1 Python
To create the model, the Keras library, which is built on Tensor flow is used. To
preprocess the data, the scikit-learn library in Python has been used.
A Fully Connected Dense Layer model has been implemented here. The proposed
model consists of a Fully Connected Dense layer consisting of 128 nodes that takes
in the input parameters, which is passed on to a dropout layer of 20% to prevent
overfitting. This finally culminates in a single node that predicts the value of the
output parameter.
6.2 Normalisation of Data
Normalization of data can be done in many ways. The most commonly used methods
are the norm method and the standard deviation method. The method used for this
modelling is the norm method. The actual values of input parameters of the test data
(Selected Samples) are given in Table 4. The normalized values of out put parameters
of test data are given in Table 5 (Selected values).
Table 4 Input values of test data (Selected sample)

Sample C FA W LS1 LS2 PCE 1 PCE 2 SMF SNF 1 SNF 2 T
No. (g) (g) (ml) (ml) (ml) (ml) (ml) (ml) (ml) (ml) (O C)
1. 2000 0 724.4 25.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
2. 2000 0 729.3 0 0 17.1 0 0 0 0 15
5. 1700 300 694.6 0 54.6 0 0 0 0 0 15
6. 1700 300 724.2 0 0 0 25.0 0 0 0 15
9. 1500 500 721.8 30.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
10. 1500 500 726.7 0 0 21.4 0 0 0 0 15
13. 1300 700 694.6 0 54.6 0 0 0 0 0 15
14. 1300 700 724.2 0 0 0 25.0 0 0 0 15
19. 2000 0 718.7 0 0 0 0 31.0 0 0 27
20. 2000 0 720.0 0 0 0 0 0 31.9 0 27
23. 1700 300 728.6 0 0 0 0 0 18.2 0 27
24. 1700 300 729.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 16.6 27
27. 1500 500 722.3 0 0 0 0 25.8 0 0 27
28. 1500 500 725.7 0 0 0 0 0 22.7 0 27
29. 1300 700 694.6 0 54.6 0 0 0 0 0 27
30. 1300 700 724.2 0 0 0 25.0 0 0 0 27
31. 1300 700 722.3 0 0 0 0 25.8 0 0 27
39. 1700 300 728.6 0 0 0 0 0 18.2 0 35
40. 1700 300 729.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 16.6 35
41. 1500 500 721.8 30.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 35
42. 1500 500 726.7 0 0 21.4 0 0 0 0 35
43. 1500 500 722.3 0 0 0 0 25.8 0 0 35
44. 1500 500 725.7 0 0 0 0 0 22.7 0 35
45. 1300 700 694.6 0 54.6 0 0 0 0 0 35
46. 1300 700 724.2 0 0 0 25.0 0 0 0 35
47. 1300 700 722.3 0 0 0 0 25.8 0 0 35
48. 1300 700 729.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 16.6 35
Table 5 Normalized values of test data output (Selected values)

Sample No: Plastic Viscosity Yield stress
1. 0.017321 0.020176
2. 0.002473 0.004177
5. 0.078385 0.040118
6. 0.001372 0.014128
9. 0.13062 0.053887
10. 0.004414 0.03758
13. 0.057008 0.03174
14. 0.002671 0.014905
19. 0.032454 0.054612
20. 0.022576 0.042307
23. 0.162234 0.058152
24. 0.125143 0.0261
27. 0.011473 0.061176
28. 0.006763 0.020805
29. 0.103124 0.050614
30. 0.005638 0.015959
31. 0.039724 0.06425
39. 0.013489 0.073752
40. 0.010954 0.032332
41. 0.124636 0.054154
42. 0.006788 0.016937
43. 0.060643 0.076049
44. 0.041245 0.05062
45. 0.204801 0.070302
46. 0.044323 0.064538
47. 0.234202 0.081949
48. 0.197111 0.041267
6.3 Prediction Using the Model
The accuracy of prediction of rhelogical parameters of cement paste mixtures largely

depend on accuracy of the training data. If data point is more accuracy will be also
more. The trials were performed by changing the quantity of ingredients and test
conditions. The model was trained using 204 training data sets. The input param-
eters are quantities of cement, fly ash, water, superplasticizers and three different
temperatures.
The output is yield stress and plastic viscosity of cement paste. To check the
accuracy of the model 48 set of testing data was used for predictions. Normalised
test data set are given in Tables 4 and 5. The measured and predicted values of yield
stress and plastic viscosity of test data are shown in the Table 6. Root Mean Square
Error (RMSE) which is the standard deviation of the residuals is used to measure the
accuracy of prediction.
Table 6 Measured and predicted value of plastic viscosity and yield stress for test data
No Plastic viscosity Yield stress
Measured Predicted Measured Predicted
1 0.01732 0.01698 0.02018 0.02005
2 0.00247 0.00242 0.00418 0.00415
3 0.13165 0.12903 0.04011 0.03986
4 0.00466 0.00457 0.01484 0.01475
5 0.07839 0.07683 0.04012 0.03986
6 0.00137 0.00134 0.01413 0.01404
7 0.01543 0.01512 0.04474 0.04445
8 0.00982 0.00962 0.03443 0.03421
9 0.13062 0.12802 0.05389 0.05354
10 0.00441 0.00433 0.03758 0.03734
11 0.11391 0.11164 0.0471 0.0468
12 0.06445 0.06317 0.02288 0.02273
13 0.05701 0.05587 0.03174 0.03154
14 0.00267 0.00262 0.01491 0.01481
15 0.01074 0.01053 0.04589 0.0456
16 0.00547 0.00536 0.02048 0.02035
17 0.08805 0.0863 0.04964 0.04932
18 0.00387 0.00379 0.01417 0.01408
19 0.03245 0.03181 0.05461 0.05426
20 0.02258 0.02213 0.04231 0.04204
21 0.16211 0.15888 0.05911 0.05873
22 0.01674 0.01641 0.03844 0.0382
23 0.16223 0.15901 0.05815 0.05778
24 0.12514 0.12265 0.0261 0.02593
25 0.10317 0.10112 0.03508 0.03486
(continued)
Table 6 (continued)
No Plastic viscosity Yield stress
Measured Predicted Measured Predicted
26 0.00443 0.00434 0.06454 0.06413
27 0.01147 0.01124 0.06118 0.06078
28 0.00676 0.00663 0.02081 0.02067
29 0.10312 0.10107 0.05061 0.05029
30 0.00564 0.00553 0.01596 0.01586
31 0.03972 0.03893 0.06425 0.06384
32 0.02697 0.02643 0.04283 0.04255
33 0.17402 0.17055 0.06695 0.06652
34 0.03043 0.02982 0.04019 0.03993
35 0.21304 0.2088 0.07015 0.0697
36 0.1522 0.14917 0.03424 0.03402
37 0.13391 0.13124 0.03651 0.03627
38 0.00696 0.00682 0.02964 0.02945
39 0.01349 0.01322 0.07375 0.07328
40 0.01095 0.01074 0.03233 0.03213
41 0.12464 0.12216 0.05415 0.05381
42 0.00679 0.00665 0.01694 0.01683
43 0.06064 0.05944 0.07605 0.07556
44 0.04125 0.04042 0.05062 0.0503
45 0.2048 0.20073 0.0703 0.06985
46 0.04432 0.04344 0.06454 0.06413
47 0.2342 0.22954 0.08195 0.08143
48 0.19711 0.19319 0.04127 0.041
From the results of analysis, it can be observed that the model could predict the
yield stress and plastic viscosity of testing data with a RMSE value of 0.04% and
0.19% respectively.
7 Conclusions
• For all the mixes, increase in yield stress and plastic viscosity is observed with
increase in temperature.
• PCE (Polycarboxylate Ether) based mixes has displayed effective dispersing
ability in all three test temperature range investigated.
• The model predicted the training and testing data values of yield stress and plastic
viscosity. Their root mean square error is 0.029 and 0.04% for training and testing
data of yield stress values and 0.134 and 0.19% for training and testing values of
plastic viscosity.
• The proposed model has some limitation in prediction due to limited amount of
training data. If more datas are available the accuracy can be improved.
References
1. Sathyan D, Balakrishnan AK, Mohandas SM (2018) Temperature influence on rheology of

superplasticized pozzolana cement and modeling using RKS algorithm. J Mater Civil Eng
30(9):04018221
2. Sindhu Menon M, Dhanya Sathyan, Anand KB (2017) Studies on rheological properties of
superplasticised PPC paste. Int J Civil Eng Technol 8(10):939–947
3. Robert RC, Dhanya Sathyan, Anand KB (2018) Effect of superplasticizers on the rheological
properties of fly ash incorporated cement paste. In: Material today proceeding, pp 23955–23963
4. Sathyan D, Anand KB, Jose C, Aravind NR (2018) Modelling the mini slump spread of super-
plasticized PPC paste using RLS with the application of random kitchen sink. IOP conference
series, vol 310. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/310/1/012035
5. Sathyan D, Anand KB, Prakash AJ, Premjith B (2018) Modeling the fresh and hardened stage
properties of self-compacting concrete using random kitchen sink algorithm. Int J Concr Struct
Mater 12(1):24
6. Prakash AJ, Dhanya Sathyan, Anand KB, Aravind NR (2018) Comparison of ANN and RKS
approaches to model SCC strength. In: IOP conference series, vol 310. https://doi.org/10.1088/
1757-899x/310/1/012037
7. Yijin L, Shiqiong Z, Jian Y, Yingli G (2004) The effect of fly ash on the fluidity of cement paste,
mortar, and concrete. In: Proceedings of the international workshop on sustainable development
and concrete technology, Beijing, pp 339–345
8. Sathyan D, Anand KB (2019) Influence of superplasticizer family on the durability character-
istics of fly ash incorporated cement concrete. Constr Build Mater 204:864–874
9. Ng S, Justnes H (2016) Influence of plasticizers on the rheology and early heat of hydration of
blended cements with high content of fly ash. Cement Concr Compos 65:41–54
10. Wallevik OH, Wallevik JE (2011) Rheology as a tool in concrete science: the use of rheographs
and workability boxes. Cement Concr Res 41(12):1279–1288
11. Sonebi M, Lachemi M, Hossain KMA (2013) Optimisation of rheological parameters and
mechanical properties of superplasticised cement grouts containing metakaolin and viscosity
modifying admixture. Constr Build Mater 38:126–138
12. Wu D, Fall M, Cai SJ (2013) Coupling temperature, cement hydration and rheological behaviour
of fresh cemented paste backfill. Minerals Eng 42:76–87
13. Sathyan D, Anand KB, Mini KM (2016) Experimental study on Portland pozzolana cement-
superplasticiser compatibility in mortar. Int J Earth Sci Eng 9(2):539–544
14. Jayasree C, Gettu R (2008) Experimental study of the flow behaviour of superplasticized cement
paste. Mater Struct 41(9):1581–1593
15. IS 4031, Part 5 (2005) Method for determination of initial and final setting time of cement.
Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi, India
16. IS: 4031, Part 1 (2005) Indian standard specification for method of physical tests for hydraulic
cement, determination of fineness by dry sieving. Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi
cement, determination of density. Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi
cement, determination of consistency of standard cement paste. Bureau of Indian standards,
New Delhi
19. IS 9103 (2004) Concrete admixture-specification. Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi, India
20. EN B (2007) 445, Grout for Prestressing tendons-test methods. British Standards Institution
21. Kantro DL (1980) Influence of water reducing admixture on properties of cement paste—a
miniature slump test. Cement Concr Aggregates 2(2):95–102
22. IS 1727 (2013) Methods of test for pozzolanic materials. Bureau of Indian standards, New
Delhi, India
Study on Shear Strength of Corrugated
Webs with Artificial Corrosion Pits
M. V. Rahul and V. I. Beena
Abstract Steel bridge girders are very common in marine or offshore structures. In
such salty conditions chance of formation of pitting corrosion is high and the failure
due to pitting is observed to be catastrophic. Steel girders with corrugated web can
be widely used as bridge girders due to its out of plane buckling strength and also the
number of stiffeners can be minimised compared to plane web. Since the failure due
to pitting corrosion mainly occurs at supports, assessment of shear buckling strength
is very much important. In this study shear strength of corrugated web with artificial
corrosion pits numerically computed by varying corrosion volume and position.
Failure patterns and the behaviour was investigated. The critical buckling load was
found to be decreased while increasing the volume ratio. In the case of specimens
with same volume ratio corrosion position has a significant role in assessment of
shear strength of the specimen.
Keywords Corrugated web · Pitting corrosion · Shear strength etc
1 Introduction
Corrugated web I girders is one of the advancements in steel structures especially in

thin steel structures. The corrugated web boosts the buckling stability of I girders and
provides adequate stiffness. The corrugated steel plates are widely used in plenty of
structures as structural elements. Corrugated web girders have been substantially used
in many steel structures like bridges, beams, roofs etc. Many researchers have pointed
out that trapezoidal corrugated webs are most efficient and economical sections in
many aspects. Corrugations produces numerous corners in the web configuration.
Due to such corners corrugated webs force to catch moisture, sediment and other
M. V. Rahul (B) · V. I. Beena

Government College of Engineering, Kannur, India
V. I. Beena

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_59
648 M. V. Rahul and V. I. Beena
impurities. Thus, corrugated steel plates are more prone to corrosion and disintegra-
tion than flat plates. Exposure of a steel girders, especially in the case of bridges,
to the marine conditions and scarce maintenance will cause corrosion and leads to
deterioration of its operation. Corrosion becomes one of the major causes of deteri-
oration of steel girder bridges which reduce their load carrying capacities, structural
performances and ultimately leads to catastrophic collapses.
Pitting corrosion is the localised corrosion of a metal surface, concentrated to
a point or small area that results in the form of cavities or holes. Distinct areas
of a material undergo accelerated attack while most of the other surface remains
practically unaffected.
The attack leads to characteristic forms of cavity, such as pits or crevices in the
metal surface which also run in depth of plate. In this study artificial pitting corrosion
was considered in which environmental effects on corrosion or chemical products of
corrosion neglected.
The aim of this study is to do further research on the shear behaviour of corrugated
web beams with artificially created corrosion pits. Influence of corrosion volume and
position effects the shear buckling load is investigated.
2 Literature Review
In order to increase the out-of-plane stiffness and buckling strength without the use of
vertical stiffeners, corrugated webs has been used many years before, first in aircraft
design and later for civil engineering applications in buildings and bridges. Several
researches were conducted by researchers on corrugated web structures. Extensive
and wide research has been done on the behaviour of beams with corrugated webs.
It is almost accepted that the strength of the web is less affected by flexure. Thus the
primary aim of a web is to prevent shear forces in a corrugated web beam.
Tests were done on beams with corrugated webs to failure under shear and
observed that the cause of the failure was buckling of web. The test specimens could
be using finite element programs to perform nonlinear analysis [1]. Corrugated web
fails under different buckling modes. Slenderness of individual folds found to be
controlling the local buckling and slenderness of the unified web was noticed to
be controlling the global buckling [2]. By analyzing the post-buckling behaviour as
well as the shear buckling behaviour, the shear buckling failure modes of web panels
with corrosion can be evaluated. Modifying the geometrical conditions and corro-
sion conditions of the web panels their shear buckling values were evaluated from
non-linear analysis. In the uncertainty of the corrosion problem of web the reduction
factor can be used to evaluate the residual strength. [3].
A non-linear FE analysis method is the right way to obtain the shear stress distri-
bution in a flat and corrugated web, since there was limitations to find out stress
distribution through experimental investigations. There are three types of shear buck-
ling: local, global, and interactive in models [4]. Local shear buckling behaviour can
be done by eigen value buckling analysis. In the local shear buckling behaviour of
Study on Shear Strength of Corrugated Webs … 649
beams with trapezoidal corrugated webs web thickness, width of panel and height
of web on the local shear buckling coefficient had significant influence [5].
The effective thickness of corroded girder determines the remaining strength of
girder depending up on the different corrosion conditions [6]. In the case of pitting
corrosion stress concentration would occur near the corrosion pits. In order to assess
stress concentrating effects of pitting corrosions like fatigue life reduction caused by
the state of a corroded specimen. And it was done particularly by the study of stress
concentrations considering the geometrical inconsistency introduced to a surface [7].
Different corrosion height, depth and pit diameter are the parameters that influence
the ultimate shear strength of corroded corrugated girders. The bearing capacity
decreased by nearly half compared with no corrosion through 8% corrosion volume
decrease. The curve of vertical displacements and load was linear before reaching
the ultimate strength and corrosion affects the slope of the curve. Yielding, local
buckling, global buckling or interactive buckling are the major failure modes under
shear load [8].
3 Structural Model and Material Properties
The specimen I-girder had a height of 624 mm with web height (h) 600 mm. and of
length 2.66 m. The corrosion length is limited to half of the girder length and was
kept same for all specimens. The corrosion height was set to one-quarter of the web
height. Corrosion depth is made 100% (complete perforation). The corrosion depth,
volume and classification of specimen are shown in Table 1. Ratio of the uncorroded
volume to the total volume of the corrugated web is represented as volume ratio.
High quality cold-rolled steel plates (Q235) which is chinese standard of steel
used in bridges which is equivalent to E250 BR of Indian standard steel. Stress-
strain data of colled rolled Q235 steel was used [9]. The values of poisson’s ratio
and Young’s modulus were taken as 0.3 and 200 GPa respectively. Dimensions and
support condition of specimen are as shown in Fig. 1. Load is provided statically on
top of the specimen at its mid-span.
Table 1 Specimen dimensions and details

Name Artificial pit diameter Depth Extend Volume ratio (%) Position
(mm)
CW0P0D Uncorroded 100
CW5P2DT 5 Perforation ¼h 95 Top
CW5P2DM 5 Perforation ¼h 95 Middle
CW5P2DB 5 Perforation ¼h 95 Bottom
CW10P2DT 10 perforation ¼h 92 Top
CW10P2DM 10 Perforation ¼h 92 Middle
CW10P2DB 10 Perforation ¼h 92 Bottom
TOP FLANGE
12
STIFFENER
600
CORRODED AREA
STIFFENER
2
12
BOTTOM FLANGE 150
1280 1280
ELEVATION
172
88
74 148 All dimensions are in mm
172 PLAN OF WEB
Fig. 1 Dimensions of specimen with corroded web panel (Zongyi Wen et al.)
Fig. 2 Total deformation of CW0P0D specimen
4 Finite Element Analysis and Modelling
Evaluation of shear buckling behaviour of corrugated webs with corrosion pits exper-
imentally was very difficult. Assessment of shear stress was much difficult in experi-
ment since shear failures are catastrophic. So finite element analysis was done using
ANSYS 19.1 on various corrugated webs with artificial corrosion pits. Also analysis
was done by changing the position and volume of corrosion.
The steel girder with corrugations were modelled using SHELL181 elements.
SHELL181 is suitable for analysing thin to moderately-thick shell structures. It is
a four-noded element.At each node it has six degrees of freedom which includes
translations in the x, y, and z directions, and rotations about the x, y, and z-axes.
Corrosions were created by removing material from corrugated web forming holes
of 5 and 10 mm diameter.
5 Validation
The purpose of the validation of models was to check the veracity of nonlinear FE
analysis results with experimental results. Validation was done on the specimen used
in the experiment conducted by Wen et al. [8]. Displacements were applied to the ends
to simulate boundary conditions. In the I-girder test is done under constant shear stress
by applying a one point load at its mid-span of the specimens. In non-linear analysis
of corrugated webs in order to track the exact behaviour it was necessary to perform
eigen value buckling and post buckling analysis. The post buckling behaviour is a
non-linear behaviour which takes place in a very short time. The specimens were
loaded using force control. An initial imperfection of 1 kN in eigen value buckling
and Post buckling was done by providing 10 kN in each step. After eigen value
buckling a multiplier value is obtained, which on multiplying with initial imper-
fection load results in buckling load of specimen in that mode shape. In practical
cases. imperfections were present in corrugated webs like material and geometrical
imperfections which affects the buckling behaviour of specimen.
Figure 3 depicts the relation between load and lateral deformation of corrugated
web. The specimen CW0P0D with no corrosion had critical load of 200 kN from
experiment while FEM analysis gave 191.30 kN as critical buckling load. It may be
due to variation of properties or error experimental setup. The specimen failed by
local shear buckling. exhibited local shear buckling failure. Figure 2 shows the total
deformation of uncorroded corrugated web specimen. It exhibited that diagonal out
of plane displacements were confined to within the panel boundary (Fig. 4).
Figure 4 shows the failure mode and strip formation in the specimen with 5 mm
pit corrosion at bottom of the web both in experiment and in FEM analysis. It was
found to be multiple failure strips extend at a constant angle, in the range 40°–50°
and the angle increases when it continue beyond the perforated or corroded area.
Fig. 3 Load versus lateral Load Vs Lateral Deformation

deformation graph of 250
specimen CW0P0D
200
specimen
150
EXPT
LOAD (kN)
FEM
100
50
0
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-50
LATERAL DEFORMATION (mm)
Fig. 4 Failure mode with 5 mm corrosion pits a Specimen by Wen et al. (2019), b CW5P2DB
The specimens were loaded using force control, with the force applied at the top centre
of the beam. The boundary conditions were taken as simply supported condition.
The specimens CW5P2DT, CW5P2DM, CW5P2DB had 5 mm diameter corrosion
pits extended up to one-fourth of the height at different positions top, middle, bottom
respectively of the web. And the specimens CW10P2DT, CW10P2DM, CW10P2DB
had 10 mm diameter corrosion pits extended up to one-fourth of the height at different
positions top, middle, bottom respectively of the web.
The critical load and ultimate shear strength were analysed from the displacement
diagrams and stress-strain plots. The first bifurcation point in the stress-strain curve
is found to be critical buckling load. And the maximum load was represented as the
ultimate strength. The ultimate shear strength sometimes equivalent to their critical
buckling load. Also by drawing the load-principal strain relationships and load-
shear stress relationships the critical buckling load and shear strength can be clearly
identified. Shear stress distribution in various specimen with 5 mm pit corrosion at
different position showed in Fig. 5.
Figure 5a, b exhibited global buckling and 5c showed local or interactive buck-
ling. From the shear stress distribution of each model, it could be inferred that the
maximum shear stress concentrated along the diagonal line of the web plate subjected
to the shear load.
In order to obtain the critical buckling load and shear strength the relation between
load and shear stress, load and principal strain were drawn and depicted in Fig. 6a,
b. Critical buckling load and ultimate shear strength, maximum load in the curve,
were equal and it was around 120 kN. There was no noticeable change according to
the position of corrosion. But in the case of specimens with 10 mm diameter pits at
middle portion had a critical load less than the other two. The relation between load,
shear stress and principal strain of specimens with 10 mm diameter pits shown in
Fig. 7a, b to find out the critical buckling load and shear strength.
The critical buckling load of CW10P2DB is slightly higher than the other two
specimens with 10 mm diameter and it is about 115 kN. Maximum principal strain
of three specimen showed similar trends and maximum value was around 1100.
Fig. 5 Shear stress distribution of specimen a CW5P2DT, b CW5P2DM, c CW5P2DB
Fig. 6 Load–shear stress/principal stain relationships of specimen with pits of 5 mm diameter
7 Conclusion
The behaviour of corrugated webs with artificial corrosion pits were studied
numerically by changing volume ratio and corrosion position.
• Specimens with volume ratio 95% showed larger critical buckling load than
specimen with 92% volume ratio.
Fig. 7 Load–shear stress/principal stain relationships of specimen with pits of 10 mm diameter
• Specimens with volume ratio 92% or with 10 mm diameter pits, the specimen
with corrosion positioned at bottom failed in minimum shear stress compared to
other specimens.
• Corrosion volume is a crucial factor that affects the behaviour of corrugated web.
As the corrosion volume increased, buckling load decreased.
• In case of specimens with volume ratio 95%, specimen corrosion at middle buckles
with minimum shear stress.
• Specimens with corrosion at middle had taken shear stress even after buckling to
certain extent, may be due to some fold formation at middle.
• Corrosion position has a significance in the case of specimens with larger corrosion
volume. Corrosion position affect the failure modes and formation of failure strips.
More study is needed to predict its influence in shear strength.
Appropriate design guide lines have to be added in design of corrugated web
girders in order to reduce the risk due to corrosion by doing further research.
References
1. Elgaaly M, Hamilton RW, Seshadri A (1996) Shear strength of beams with corrugated webs. J
Struct Eng 122(4):390–398
2. Sause R, Braxtan TN (2011) Shear strength of trapezoidal corrugated steel webs. J Constr Steel
Res 67(2):223–236
3. Ahn JH, Kim IT, Kainuma S, Lee MJ (2013) Residual shear strength of steel plate girder due to
web local corrosion. J Constr Steel Res 89:198–212
4. Riahi F, Behravesh A, Fard MY, Armaghani A (2018) Shear buckling analysis of steel flat and
corrugated web I-girders. KSCE J Civil Eng 22(12):5058–5073
5. Aggarwal K, Wu S, Papangelis J (2018) Finite element analysis of local shear buckling in
corrugated web beams. Eng Struct 162:37–50
6. Appuhamy JRS, Ohga M, Chun PJ, Dissanayake PR (2013) Enhanced effective thickness for
remaining strength estimation of corroded steel bridge members
7. Kolios A, Srikanth S, Salonitis K (2014) Numerical simulation of material strength deterioration
due to pitting corrosion. Proc CIRP 13:230–236
8. Wen Z, Wei X, Xiao L, He K (2019) Experimental evaluation of the shear buckling behaviors
of corrugated webs with artificial corrosion pits. Thin-Walled Struct 141:251–259
9. Xu G, Liu Y, Xu N (2015) Constitutive relation research of Q235 Steel based on support vector
machine. In: International conference on architectural, civil and hydraulics engineering. Atlantis
Press
Collapse and Buckling Behavior
of Octagonal Concrete Filled Steel
Column Connected to a Beam Under
Cyclic Loading
Silia Mary Silbi and Sajan Jose
Abstract The Octagonal concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) sections offer greater
efficiency than square and rectangular tubular sections because of their better
local-buckling resistance and flat surfaces that allow easier connection construc-
tion compared with circular tubular sections. This paper presents analytical studies
on the seismic behavior of steel I-beam to octagonal CFST column assemblies with
external diaphragms. Different stiffeners, slenderness ratios and moment capacities
were introduced in the external and corner octagonal column-beam model and studied
analytically using the software ANSYS 16.1. In the analytical study finite element
models are developed to predict the hysteretic behavior and the stress distribution.
Steel to concrete interfaces are modelled by hard contact with friction. The loading
condition is displacement controlled and the axial load is applied on the top of the
column and lateral load is applied on the column by cyclic vertical load on the beam
ends. The stress distribution of model components, including steel beams, steel tubes,
stiffeners and concrete cores are illustrated. The results indicate that failure modes
have significant effects on the characteristic of stress distribution.
Keywords Concrete filled steel tube (CFST) · Finite element analysis · Hysteretic
behavior · Stress distribution
1 Introduction
A column or a pillar in architecture and structural engineering is the structural element

that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other struc-
tural elements below. In other words, the column is a compression member. For the
purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, the columns may be designed to resist
lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed columns because of
similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support the beams or the
arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In the architecture, column
S. M. Silbi (B) · S. Jose

Department of Civil Engineering, Universal Engineering College, Thrissur, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_60
658 S. M. Silbi and S. Jose
refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative
features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for the structural
purposes. Column is a vertical member in building whose primary function is to
support structural load and transfer it through the beams. Upper columns transfers
the load to the lower columns and finally to the ground through the footings.
Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns are among the most economical and
structurally efficient among reinforced and composite members in terms of resistance
to high compressive loads. In addition to the steel tube being used as a load-carrying
component. It also provides the confinement to concrete core, thereby increases
the compressive strength and improves ductility of the concrete. Further, the steel
sections can be used as temporary works for fresh concrete so the cost of fabri-
cating formworks can be saved. The load capacities and stress-strain relationships
of octagonal steel tube confined concrete (STCC) stub columns are very close to
those of circular STCC, and the reduction of confinement effectiveness due to the
change in the cross section shapes from circular to octagonal shape is small in terms
of the load capacity. The confinement effectiveness in square STCC is much lower
than that in circular and octagonal STCC [1]. In stub column tests, it was observed
that the compact octagonal cross-section showed a similar cross-sectional behaviour
in compression comparing with that for circular cross section and showed a better
performance compared to the square cross-section with the same equivalent width
[2].
The objectives of the topics are to improve the buckling strength and axial load
performance of octagonal CFST column, to study the effective octagonal column
under seismic performance by applying cyclic load and using stiffeners to improve
the buckling capacity by different shapes, positions and arrangement.
2 Proposed Methodology
Literature survey is to be done by referring and going through articles and journals
published in the related area of the studies to get detail subject knowledge. Model
selection and related data collection that will aid in completing the work has to be
done, such as validation model detail collection, earth quake data collection etc.
Software study is an important step in this project; one should do a software study to
get used to the software tools. This helps to eliminate all possible errors that could
creep up during modeling and analysis. Then the modeling of validation model.
Octagonal column with axial load is modeled for validating. Validation process is
an important process which ensures correctness of the end product, this process
helps to check product quality obtained from the software. Validation should be
done using same software in which project study is being planned. Analysis of the
octagonal columns beam connection with varying parameters (type of stiffeners,
arrangement of stiffeners, various slenderness ratios, and moment capacities) helps
to understand the cyclic performance. Result and discussion is a key step in the
project. After conducting analysis, results obtained are carefully studied and reasons
Collapse and Buckling Behavior of Octagonal … 659
for such outputs have to be discussed in detail to understand the obtained output.
Conclusions have to be drawn from the obtained result. This should consist of a brief
account of the entire project including procedure adopted and result.
3 Validation
The column selected for validating the software is 1500 mm height 197 mm edge
length of octagon section 5.88 mm thickness of the steel tube [3]. The corner to corner
length of the section is 475 mm. Pushover analysis was performed. Modelling and
Analysis were done using ANSYS 16.1.
The column exhibit local buckling. Pushover analysis of the octagonal column
modeled in ANSYS 16.1 gives a load carrying capacity of 13,491 kN against the one
obtained in the validating journal as 12,992 kN (as shown in Fig. 1).
The result obtained from ANSYS is close to the result in the validating journal.
There is only 3.69% error in the result. By validating the results through Finite
Fig. 1 Isometric view

Fig. 2 Total deformation
element analysis it can be concluded that structure modeling is correct and results
obtained are closer to original value. Further analysis can done (as shown in Fig. 2).
4 Modelling and Analysis
The column size is selected as 1500 mm height 197 mm edge length of octagon
section and 5.88 mm thickness of the steel tube. The corner to corner length of
the section is 475 mm. The column is analysed on the basis of different stiffeners,
different slenderness ratios and different moment capacities in interior and corner
columns. The column subjected to axial and cyclic loading. First the axial load is only
applied and then the lateral load is applied on the beam in the column. By applying
the axial load the stiffness of the column can calculated and then the column is under
the lateral load. The material properties of concrete and steel are given in Table 1
[4, 5]. The FE modeling uses the element type 20 noded solid 186. It is a nonlinear
analysis. The concrete has multilinear property. Steel have bilinear property.

Properties Concrete Steel
Young’s modulus (MPa) 37,881 2 × 105
Yield strength(MPa) – 345
Poisson’s ratio 0.15 0.256
4.1 Axial Strengthening of Column by Stiffeners
From the old papers it is seen that the column under axial load will deformed as
local buckling as bulging of the member. The column is under axial loading only. To
reduce these effect different type of stiffeners are provided. The adopted stiffeners
based on shapes are
• Rectangular stiffeners—continuous
• U-shaped stiffeners—continuous
• L-shaped stiffeners—continuous.
From the above three models the more load carrying capacity is for rectangular
stiffeners. Hence this model is taken for further analysis. The arrangement of the
stiffeners in the column was changed as below
• Rectangle single row 4 sides
• Rectangle single row 8 sides
• Rectangle double row 4 sides.
The result as shown in Table 2. The arrangement of rectangular stiffeners does not
give any significance in the load carrying capacity of the column. The most effective
model is concluded as rectangular- continuous stiffeners and it is taken for the further
analysis (as shown in Fig. 3).
Table 2 Result of different stiffeners in column

Load (kN) Deformation (mm)
Shape of stiffeners Rectangle 13,602 8.69
U-shape 13,409 11.09
L-shape 13,413 9.875
Arrangement of stiffeners Rectangle single row 4 sides 13,215 16.74
Rectangle single row 8 sides 13,130 14.19
Rectangle double row 4 sides 13,161 14.75
Fig. 3 Arrangement of stiffeners
4.2 Columns Under Cyclic Loading
To study the cyclic behaviour of column an ISLB 300@ 0.377 kN/m beam were
connected on the octagonal column. Lateral load is applied as displacement controlled
method up to 4% of drift. From FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
drift percentage values are 0.3750, 0.5000, 0.7500, 1.000, 1.500, 2.000…etc.
According to AISC seismic provisions for the special moment frames, the beam
column connection shall be capable of sustaining an inter story drift angle of at least
0.04 radians (AISC-2005). From the values 4.000 is taken as drift percentage for the
project (given in Table 3) [3, 5, 6].
4
For 4.000% radian = radian
100
= 0.04 radian
180
Drift angle, θ = 0.04 × = 2.2918◦
π
Table 3 Geometrical and material properties of specimens

Model Section (mm) Yield strength (MPa)
I- beam Flange 150 × 9.4 257
Web 281.2 × 6.7 285
Diaphragm 300 × 6 332
Table 4 Load deformations (slenderness ratios)

Slenderness ratios Ultimate load (kN) Displacement (mm)
7.82 165.85 40.456
9.116 172.03 41.662
Drift displacement, x = beam length × tan(2.2918)

= 1.3022 × tan(2.2918)
= 0.052115 m
=52.115 mm
4.2.1 Slenderness Ratios in Exterior Column
The effect of slenderness ratios in column beam joint were illustrated in Table 4. The
length of the column is taken as 3.3 m and the width of the octagonal column were
changed.
4.3 Failure Modes
For the exterior joints, the failure mode of severe beam flange buckling and moderate
web buckling, shown in Fig. 4 in the finite element analysis (as shown in Fig. 5).
Fig. 4 Stress distribution

Fig. 5 Failure behavior of column
4.4 Hysteretic Behavior
Figure 6 show the predicted load–displacement hysteretic curves. For the exterior
joints the initial stiffness, yield load, hardening stiffness, peak load, and unloading
slope of the predicted curves are in good agreement.
Fig. 6 Load deflection curve

The stress distributions of the exterior joint models are shown in Fig. 4
Steel beam
Figure 4 shows the stresses of the steel beam in the x direction. It can be seen that
the upper flange is under tension and the lower flange is under compression. As the
development of local buckling stresses are redistributed from the flange to the web.
Steel tube.
Figure 4 shows the stresses of the steel tube in the longitudinal direction. The effect
of beam buckling on is demonstrated by its great non-uniform distribution.
Concrete core.
Figure 4 shows the distribution of minimum principal stresses of concrete core. It
can be seen that the stress distributions along the column are very similar. Due to
the confinement of the steel tube, the largest concrete’s minimum principal stress
reaches −78.5 MPa, which is higher than the concrete’s cube compressive strength.
5 Conclusions
• The octagonal CFST column with rectangular continuous stiffener gives the better
efficiency compare to L-shape and U-shape stiffeners
• The load carrying capacity of rectangular continuous stiffener is 13,602 kN and
deformation is 8.69 mm while the load carrying capacity of L-shape and U-shape
stiffeners gives 13,409 kN and 13,413 kN respectively and deformations are 11.09
and 9.875 mm
• The arrangement of rectangular stiffeners does not give any significance in the
load carrying capacity of the column.
• For the exterior joints, the failure mode of severe beam flange buckling and
moderate web buckling
• The diaphragm is fail under the lateral loading.
References
1. Zhu J-Y, Chan T-M (2019) Experimental investigation on steel-tube-confined-concrete stub

column with different cross-section shapes under uniaxial-compression. J Struct Eng © Elsevier
Science Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0263-8231(03)00046-6
2. Zhua J-Y, Chana T-M, Youngb B (2019) Cross-sectional capacity of octagonal tubular steel stub
columns under uniaxial compression. J Struct Eng © Elsevier Science Ltd. https://doi.org/10.
1016/s0263-8231(03)00046-6
3. IS SP:6 Code for steel sections

4. IS 456:2000 code for RCC structures
5. IS 800:2007 Code for steel sections
6. IS 1730:1989 steel plates strip and flats for general purpose sizes
7. Ding F, Li Z, Cheng S, Yu Z (2016) Composite action of octagonal concrete-filled steel tubular
stub columns under axial loading. J Struct Eng © Elsevier Science Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/
s0263-8231(03)00046-6
Comparative Study on Effect of Different
Mineral Admixtures on Plastic Fiber
Reinforced Concrete
K. S. Somiya and Vidya Jose
Abstract Fiber reinforce concrete (FRC) has been in use for more than 50 years
now. The conventional concrete is generally weak in tension, has low tensile strain
capacity, and is brittle in nature, whereas, fiber reinforced concrete containing fibrous
materials enrich the tensile and bending performance of concrete. Here concrete is
prepared by adding PET bottle strips as fiber which may help to reuse the plastics and
to reduce environmental pollution. Incorporating plastic fiber in concrete increases
both the tensile strength as well as durability. The strength requirement of plastic fiber
reinforced concrete (at 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% by weight of binder content) can be improved
by adding supplementary cementitious materials at 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by
weight of cement. A comparative study of fiber reinforced concrete with different
mineral admixtures such as Rice Husk Ash (RHA), Ground Granulated Blast-furnace
slag (GGBS)and Metakaolin (MK) in optimum percentage was considered. In this
work the physical and mechanical behaviour of PET fiber reinforced concrete with
various mineral admixture were studied.
Keywords Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) · Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) ·

Mineral admixtures · Physical and mechanical behaviour
1 Introduction
Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) is a concrete that contains fibrous material which
increases the integrity of its structures. It comprises small discrete fibers, which are
distributed uniformly and oriented randomly. Fiber is a small piece of reinforcement
material that has other properties such as rigidity, torsional strength, ductility etc. A
parameter called “aspect ratio” also defines the fibre. The varying fiber aspect ratio
is the ratio of its length to its diameter. Typical aspect ratios vary from 30 to 150 for
different fibres. Plastic waste is a non-biodegradable substance so it does not degen-
erate or degrade in water or soil. Plastic waste disposal contributes to environmental
K. S. Somiya (B) · V. Jose

Civil Engineering Department, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Kerala, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_61
668 K. S. Somiya and V. Jose
emissions. The possibility of using fibers from polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

bottles helps to increase concrete ductility and cost can be dramatically regulated if
we can reduce the amount of cement needed.
In other words, a portion of cement could be substituted with some material
other than cement which could be used with cement to produce similar cementitious
properties. These are called minerals admixtures. Examples of mineral admixtures
include Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS), Metakaolin (MK), Rice
Husk Ash (RHA) etc. MK is a calcined anhydrous type of the mineral clay kaolinite.
Kaolinite-rich minerals are known as china clay, or kaolin, commonly used in porce-
lain manufacturing. MK is smaller in particle size than cement particles. Highly
reactive MK was available in concrete as a reactive pozzolanic material. Ground
granulated blast furnace slag is obtained by quenching the molten iron slag in water
or steam from blast furnace. It is primarily glassy and granulated material that is in
fine powder later on the sheet. Its chemical composition varies according to the raw
materials used to produce iron. It is pozzolanic in nature, and can be used as a partial
replacement for concrete cement. RHA is collected from commercial rice milling.
Since these industries produce a lot of rice husk during rice processing, this is used
as a fuel in the boilers and when burnt, it transforms into pozzolanic ash which can
be used in concrete as other mineral admixtures.
2 Materials Used
To carry out this study, normal Portland cement of 53 grade was hand-picked. Testing
of cement was done as per IS: 12269–1987. varied tests results conducted on the
cement is reportable in Table 1. Coarse aggregates having a maximum size of 20 mm
were employed. Testing on coarse aggregates was done as per IS: 383–1970. the
particular gravity of coarse and fine combination was 2.68 and 2.72. The sand used
for the experimental program was conformed to grading zone II as per IS: 383–
1970. Super plasticizers(SP) used is Master Glenium B233. The superplasticizer
indefinite quantity is adjusted to provide concrete with an equivalent slump of 120 ±
10 mm and don’t show visual signs of segregation throughout the traditional casting
of concrete within the moulds. Physical properties of Master Glenium B233 is given
in Table 2. The plastic fibers employed in this study is obtained from synthetic
Table 1 Physical properties of cement

Sl. No. Characteristics Values obtained Standard values
1 Specific gravity of cement 3.15 3.1–3.25
2 Standard consistency of cement 32% 22–32%
3 Initial setting time of cement 55 min Varies for different grade of
cement
4 Fineness of cement 5% Not exceeding 10%
Comparative Study on Effect of Different … 669
Table 2 Physical properties of Master Glenium B233

Sl.no Physical properties Values obtained
1 Aspect Dark brown free flowing liquid
2 Relative Density 1.24 ± 0.02 at 25 °C
3 pH >6
4 Chloride ion content <0.2%
Table 3 Physical properties of PET fibers

SI. No Characteristics Values obtained
1 Type of fiber PET fiber
2 Length 20–30 mm
3 Diameter 0.5 mm
4 Aspect ratio 50
5 Tensile strength 55–75 MPa
6 Density 1380 kg/m3
7 Young’s modulus 2800–3100 MPa

Table Characteristics Values Obtained
1 Specific Gravity of Cement 3.15
2 Standard Consistency of Cement 32%
3 Initial Setting Time of Cement 70 min
4 Fineness of Cement 5%
5 Specific Gravity of GGBS 2.91
6 Specific Gravity of MK 2.6
7 Specific Gravity of RHA 2.11
resin terephthalate (PET) bottles that are take terribly tiny strips is taken. Physical
properties of PET fibre are shown in Table 3. Also, normal Portland cement is partly
replaced by mineral admixtures like MK, Ground granulated blast furnace slag, and
RHA is given in Table 4.
3 Mix Design of Concrete and Procedure
Mix design can be defined as the process of selecting suitable ingredients of concrete
such as cement, aggregates, water and determining their relative proportions with
the object of producing concrete of required minimum strength, workability and
Table 5 Mix proportion of M40 grade concrete for 1 cubic meter

Material Cement (kg/m3 ) Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate Water (kg/m3 )
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
Quantity of 376 695 1227 158
concrete
Mix ratio 1 1.84 2.36 0.48
durability as economically as possible. The mix proportions were carried out using
IS: 10262–2019. The proportions of concrete batches were tabulated in Table 5.
Mixing of concrete components was done on a concrete mixer machine. All the
dry constituents were mixed for 2 min to ensure uniformity of the mix. During mixing
of concrete, initially only half of the water was used for mixing and then remaining
water was used with SP during mixing. Mixing of all ingredients was continued for a
period of 2 min. The amount of SP was adjusted for each mix to achieve the required
workability without segregation. And for FRC, fiber was added during dry mixing
for 2 min then the SP and water was added accordingly. After the moulds had been
filled with concrete it is then compacted and the surface of concrete were levelled,
and were kept in laboratory conditions for 24 h and the surfaces of moulds were
covered by plastic sheets. After demoulding, the samples were kept for water curing.
An M40 grade of fiber reinforced concrete was used. Varying percentage of
mineral mineral admixtures like MK (MK), GGBS and RHA at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%
were added to the optimum percentage of PET FRC and test results were obtained.
Then a comparative study of these mineral mineral admixtures on PET FRC were
conducted.
The discussion on results of the material testing done in the laboratory is given below:
4.1 Workability of Concrete
Slump test was used to determine the workability of fresh concrete. Slump test as
per IS: 1919–1959 was followed. The slump value of FRC was 75 mm. Workability
decreases with the increase in addition of PET fiber. The concrete slump depends
on fibre concentration in the concrete mix. It is clear that the slump of the concrete
mix significantly decreases with growing content of PET fibers. The results indicate
that the workability of the mix decreases with addition of PET fibres. With increase
of PET fibre in concrete the slump value starts decreasing, this may be due smooth
surface of PET fiber causing a weak bond between cement matrix and aggregates
The fibers content above 1% causes serious problems concerning homogeneity and
workability of the concrete mix. The workability decreased to 65 mm, 58 mm and

49 mm with 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% of PET fibre content.
4.2 Effect of Fiber and Mineral Admixtures on Mechanical

Properties
The results of strength parameter of specimen with fibres added are shown in Figs. 4,
5 and 6. Fibres are mainly used to improve the toughness, impact resistance and
flexural properties, they can improve compressive strength by preventing the prop-
agation of cracks [3]. The crushing of concrete particles helps in achieving better
strength. A substantial amount of fibers incorporated into concrete can achieve the
absolute maximum load (fiber yielding) [2]. The most important constituents for
any mineral admixture are silica and alumina oxides. In comparison with OPC, the
mineral admixtures have higher quantity of silica oxide in their constituent [4]. The
concrete mixtures having higher MK replacement levels gained high strengths. FRC
with 30% MK showed higher strength at all ages [1]. Based on test conducted, the
reactivity of mineral admixtures is of the order: MK > GGBS > RHA. Smaller particle
size and higher specific surface area of mineral admixtures are favourable to produce
highly dense and impermeable concrete and they cause low workability and more
water demand which may be offset by adding effective superplasticizer.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 shows specimen of prism, cube and cylinder being tested.
Fig. 1 A specimen of a prism being tested

Fig. 2 A specimen of cube being tested
The compressive strength of concrete was done on Compression testing machine

according to IS 516:1959 (Reaffirmed 2004). Cubes of 150 mm size were used
for the testing. Figure 4 shows the change in compressive strength with different
ratios of PET fibers. The compressive strength of FRC with 0.5% PET fiber was
45.56 N/mm2 at 28 days. On addition of 1% PET fiber, the compressive strength
increases to 46.11 N/mm2 . Again with addition of PET fiber at 1.5% the strength
got decreases 44.12 N/mm2 28 days. Thus it indicates that the PET fiber at 1%
provides the optimum value. Table 6 gives the FRC with different percentage of MK
in 7 days and 28 days’ compressive strength results. Addition of 10% of MK to the
optimum content of FRC the compressive strength is 46.9 N/mm2 in 28 days. With
the addition of 20% of MK, compressive strength increased to 48.95 N/mm2 . With
30% MK the strength increased to 51.12 N/mm2 in 28 days respectively. It then
decreases 48.13 N/mm2 with 40% MK. It indicates that 30% MK gives the optimum
value of compressive strength in FRC. The increase of compressive strength with the
use of MK is attributed to extremely high surface area of MK Similarly, for, 30% of
GGBS (Table 6) gives the optimum value for compressive strength, i.e. 48.89 N/mm2
at 28 days. The increase in strength and slump value is due to small particle size of
GGBS causing better cohesive and adhesive bonding And addition of 20% of RHA
gives the optimum value for compressive strength i.e. 46.67 N/mm2 in 28 days.
Fig. 3 A specimen of a cylinder being tested

Compressive Strength (Mpa)
60
48.73
50 45.56 46.11 44.12
40
31.67 29.61 29.97 28.67
30
20
10
0
CM PET 0.5% PET 1% PET 1.5%
Mix Designaon
7 day 28 day
Fig. 4 Effect of PET fiber on compressive strength of concrete

674
Table 6 Compressive, Split tensile and Flexural strength of mineral mineral admixtures with 1% PET
Sl.no Mineral admixtures PET fiber (%) Mineral admixture sadded (%) Compressive strength Split tensile strength Flexural strength
(N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 )
7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days
1 MK 1 10 30.48 46.9 3 4.25 4 5.07
20 31.81 48.95 3.3 4.65 4.18 5.21
30 33.22 51.12 3.85 4.86 4.81 5.78
40 31.27 48.12 3.45 4.35 4.43 5.3
2 GGBS 1 10 28.92 44.5 3.5 4.11 4.01 5.09
20 30.29 46.61 3.11 4.29 4.07 5.23
30 31.7 48.89 3.58 4.65 4.65 5.66
40 29.96 46.12 3.23 4.01 4.23 5.10
3 RHA 1 10 26.65 41 2.9 4.04 4.03 5.1
20 30.3 46.67 3.23 4.25 4.23 5.21
30 27.3 42.67 3.12 4.07 4.17 5.10
40 26 40.78 2.78 3.95 3.86 4.95
K. S. Somiya and V. Jose
With addition of RHA the slump value shows a steady decrease, this is because
the specific surface of RHA is significantly larger than the cement. Therefore, the
concrete performance is drastically reduced and more water is needed to fix it.
4.2.2 Split Tensile Strength
Splitting tensile strength test on the concrete cylinder is a method to determine the
tensile strength of concrete as per IS 5816: 1999 (Reaffirmed 2004). Cylindrical
specimens of diameter 150 mm and height 300 mm were used for this test. Figure 5
shows the change in split tensile strength with different ratios of PET fibers The
tensile strength of fiber reinforced concrete with PET fiber at 0.5% was 4.19 N/mm2
at 28 days. With addition 1% of PET fiber, the strength increases 4.30 N/mm2 . Then
again on addition of PET fiber at 1.5% the value decreases to 4.19. With addition of
PET fiber at 1.5% it was concluded that the split tensile strength got decreased from
4.30 N/mm2 to 4.19 N/mm2 at 28 days. Which indicates that addition of 1% of PET
fiber in concrete gives the optimum value for split tensile strength.
Table 6, gives the FRC with different percentage of MK in 7 days and 28 days’
split tensile strength results. Addition of 10% of MK to the optimum content of FRC
the split tensile strength is 4.25 in 28 days. With the addition of 20% of MK, split
tensile strength increased to 4.62 N/mm2 in 28 days. With 30% MK the strength
increased to 4.86 N/mm2 in 28 days respectively. On addition of 40% of MK the
value decreases to 4.35 N/mm2 . It indicates that 30% MK gives the optimum value for
split tensile strength in FRC. Similarly, (Table 6) 30% of GGBS gives the optimum
value for split tensile strength, i.e. 4.65 N/mm2 in 28 days. And addition of 20% of
RHA gives the optimum value for split tensile strength i.e. 4.25 N/mm2 in 28 days
respectively.
5
Split Tensile Strength (Mpa)
4.26 4.19 4.3 4.19

4.5
4 3.53 3.56
3.28 3.3
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Mix Designaon
7 day 28 day
Fig. 5 Effect of PET fiber on split tensile strength of concrete

Chart Title
6 5.34
Flexural Strength (Mpa)
5.11 5.23 5.07
5 4.56 4.38 4.49 4.23
4
3
2
1
0
Mix Designaon
7 day 28 day
Fig. 6 Effect of PET fiber in flexural strength of concrete
The flexural test was carried out in accordance with IS 516:1959 (reaffirmed on
2004) on reinforced beams 700 mm long and 150 × 150 mm in cross section. The
testing was conducted on Universal Testing Machine (UTM) with two-point loading
setup. Figure 6 shows change in flexural strength with different percentage of PET
fiber. The flexural strength of FRC at 0.5% of PET fiber was 5.11 N/mm2 at 28 days.
PET fiber at 1% the strength increases to 5.23 N/mm2 in 28 days. Again when the
pet fiber was added at 1.5% the flexural strength value decreased to 5.07 N/mm2 . It
was noted that with the addition of PET fiber 1.5% the flexural strength value got
decreasing from 5.23 to 5.07 N/mm2 at 28 days, which indicates that the 1% PET
gives the optimum value for flexural strength.
Table 6 gives the FRC with different percentage of MK in 7 days and 28 days’
flexural strength results. On addition of MK at 20% to the optimum value of PET
FRC the value is 5.21 N/mm2 . Again on further addition of MK at 30% the value got
increased to 5.78 N/mm2 . Again on addition of MK at 40% the value got decreased
from 5.3 N/mm2 at 28 days. Which indicates that on addition of MK 30% to the FRC
gives the optimum value for flexural strength. Similarly, (Table 6) 30% of GGBS
gives the optimum value for flexural strength, i.e. 5.66 N/mm2 in 28 days. And
for addition of 20% of RHA gives the optimum value for split tensile strength. i.e.
5.21 N/mm2 in 28 days respectively.
5 Conclusion
Based on the experimental investigation conducted in this work, the following

conclusions were found out.
• Use of PET bottle strips as fiber in Fiber reinforced concrete has a slump in
the range of 75–104 mm. Addition of PET fiber at 0.5%,1%, and 1.5% shows a
steady decrease from 65 mm to 49 mm. Workability decreases with the increase

in addition of PET fiber.
• The test result shows that FRC with 1% PET fiber has the optimum value among
the various values examined (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%).
• M40 Grade of concrete has strength value of 48.73 N/mm2 , 4.26 N/mm2 ,
5.34 N/mm2 at 28 compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength.
• For 1% of PET FRC an optimum value of 46.11 N/mm2 , 4.26 N/mm2 and
5.34 N/mm2 at 28 days compressive, split tensile and flexural strength were
obtained respectively.
• When comparing the control mix values with that of PET FRC the strength param-
eters are higher for control mix values this may be due to the smooth surface of
PET fiber causing a weak bond between cement matrix and aggregates which
results in reduction in strength.
• The use of different mineral admixtures such as GGBS, MK and RHA in concrete
mixes improved the mechanical properties of concrete.
• All the strength parameters i.e. compressive, split tensile and flexural strength
have been increased by replacement of cement with these admixtures.
• Replacement of cement with MK gave the higher strength values as compared to
other two mineral admixtures.
• FRC with MK at 30% gave the highest compressive strength from 33.22 N/mm2
at 7 days to 51.12 N/mm2 at 28 days followed by GGBS and RHA.
• The strength values of GGBS in FRC is slightly less as compared to MK with
PET fiber, similarly the RHA with FRC has the lowest strength as compared to
the other two admixtures. o Use of fiber in concrete increases tensile strength.
Here PET fiber in concrete proves to have a better tensile strength especially with
MK, 3.85 N/mm2 at 7 days to 4.86 N/mm2 in 28 days as compared to the other
two admixtures.
• The FRC with MK as admixture has percentage increase of 6.25%, 4.51% and
10.94% for compressive, split tensile and flexural strength respectively.
References
1. Wei C, Chi LF, Junjie W, Jianhe X (2019) Coupling effects of recycled aggregate and GGBS/MK
on physicochemical properties of geopolymer concrete. J Constr Build Mater 226:345–359
2. Filip G, Mychal M, Tomasz T (2019) Mechanical properties of fibre reinforced concrete with
recycled fibres. J Constr Build Mater 198:323–331
3. Karthikeya B, Dhinakaran G (2018) Influence of ultrafine TiO2 and silica fume on performance
of unreinforced and fiber reinforced concrete. J Constr Build Mater 161:570–576
4. Pradeep KM, Mini KM, Murali R (2018) Ultrafine GGBS and calcium nitrate as concrete mineral
admixtures for improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. J Constr Build Mater
182:249–257
Shear Behavior of Joints in Precast
Prestressed Concrete Segments-A Finite
Element Study
Sheela J. George, A. K. Farvaze Ahmed, S. Maheswaran,

and Mathews M. Paul
Abstract The behavior of segmental structures depends mainly on the behavior

of the joints between the segments. Even though joints forms a discontinuity; they
should have the capacity to transmit compressive and shear stresses. Shear behavior
of the joints is greatly influenced by the confining pressure and the surface properties.
According to shear friction approach, shear capacity of joints can be improved by
varying the surface properties of joints. It is observed that limited studies were done
on the factors affecting the friction at joints and only few Finite Element studies
on joints were done. In this study, a three-dimensional Finite Element study using
ABAQUS has being carried out on joints with various surface properties. The Finite
Element Analysis model consisted of two parts in surface to surface contact. The
C3D8R element and B31 element with a refined mesh size of 10 mm is used for
modelling concrete and reinforcement respectively. The material properties consid-
ered were modulus of elasticity of 27.38 GPa and Poisson’s ratio of 0.2 for concrete
and for reinforcement steel were Young’s Modulus 210 GPa and poisson’s ratio 0.3.
Material nonlinearity is introduced by Concrete Damage Plasticity model. Param-
eters studied are prestressing force and coefficient of friction at joints. The shear
resistance of joints under different surface properties were evaluated using FE study
and compared with experimental results available from a reported literature (Jiang
et al in Mech Comput 19(1):1–16 2015, [1]).
Keywords Segmental joints · Prestress · Shear strength · ABAQUS
S. J. George (B) · M. M. Paul

Department of Civil Engineering, Mar Athanasius College of Engineering, Kothamangalam,
Kerala, India
M. M. Paul
A. K. Farvaze Ahmed · S. Maheswaran
CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
S. Maheswaran

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_62
680 S. J. George et al.
1 Introduction
Now a days, precast concrete segmental construction is becoming more popular due
to better quality control, increased speed in erection, and its applicability to variety
of span lengths. The behavior of joints between segments are the prominent factors
affecting the overall behavior of segmental structures. The shear resistance at the
joint section is always lesser when compared with section without joints within the
member. The joints can be provided as flat or keyed joints, dry (no fill) or epoxy type.
Even though precast concrete segmental structures with dry joints are popular for
their rapid-construction advantages, the problems such as deficient shear capacity
compared with epoxy joints and corrosion of prestressed tendons exists. Significant
variation in the shear capacity of flat dry joints was observed due to the variation in
coefficient of friction at joints which can be explained by the differences in concrete
surface properties [2]. Epoxied joint have strength more that of dry joints, but its
failure is brittle and sudden without much warnings, which is undesirable.
The push-off test is used to determine interface shear transfer in concrete. For
a push-off specimen with flat dry joint, when a normal load is applied on it, shear
stresses are transferred from one part of the specimen to another through the small
undulation in the surfaces of the shear plane. These unevenness made of cement
paste starts to deform when loaded and shows a linear behavior. When its strength is
reached, the load-deformation behavior becomes nonlinear and the two surfaces starts
sliding past each other when most of the undulations gets sheared off [2]. When the
segments are loaded in shear, slip will occur along the shear plane. The faces of shear
plane even if carefully polished are actually rough, therefore when the slip occurs, the
faces are forced to separate or get dilated. But when a prestressing force is provided
connecting the segments, a compressive force is induced which produces a frictional
resistance to sliding between segments, thus providing the shear resistance to the
applied load and improves shear carrying capacity of joints [3].The shear strength
of keyed joint is due to a combination of supporting effect of the shear keys and the
frictional resistance between the flat contact surfaces. The shear keys behave like
small plain concrete corbels when they are in contact [4]. When the tensile strength
of concrete is reached, crack starts forming at the bottom corner of the shear key and
propagates away from the shear plane at 45° with respect to horizontal. Then several
short diagonal cracks initiates at root of the key and gets interconnected when the load
is increased. The formation of crack is accompanied with dilation in the specimen.
At maximum load, key shear off from rest of the specimen and a sudden slip occurs.
The load was then carried mainly through frictional forces by aggregate interlock
[5]. The shear strength of multiple keyed joints are less than that of single keyed dry
joints due to imperfection in the fitting of keys. As the number of keys increased,
average shear strength transferred across joint seems to decrease, but this can be
solved by increasing the prestressing force.
Several shear design formulas were proposed to estimate the shear capacity of
key joints which are aimed to prevent shear failures initiated by diagonal cracking.
The design formulas suggested in AASHTO 2003 and that proposed by Rombach
Shear Behavior of Joints in Precast … 681
and Specker tend to underestimate the shear capacity of single keyed joints but
overestimates the shear capacity of multiple-keyed dry joints. Hence it could be
unsafe for multiple keyed joints. Hence a shear strength reduction factor has to be
introduced to those formulas inorder to estimate shear capacity of multiple-keyed
joints [6].
Previous studies shows that the main parameters affecting shear resistance of joints
are pre-compression, geometry of the key, characteristic compressive strength of
concrete and surface characteristics of concrete. In this study, the influence of these
parameters are investigated by numerical analysis. From the previous experimental
studies it can be seen that the coefficient of friction depends on the pre-compression
and surface characteristics of concrete. A wide variation is observed in coefficient of
friction for flat dry joints which needs to be investigated. The strength and stiffness
of flat dry joints increases with increase in prestress. When an externally applied
normal compressive stress acts on the specimen, the shear resistance due to friction
increases. The crack in the shear plane locks up and behavior and ultimate strength
becomes same as that of uncracked specimen. In such cases, the shear strength
depends upon the concrete strength [3]. Also in this study, the shear resistance of
joints under different surface properties were evaluated using finite element analysis
and compared with experimental results available from previous studies.
1.2 Numerical Model Validation Using Experimental Data
The experimental test results obtained from reported literature [1] has been used
for numerical validation. Push-off specimens were used to study shear transfer and
aggregate interlock behavior of flat, monolithic and single keyed dry joints in concrete
segments. The dimensions of the test specimens are depicted in Fig. 1.
All the specimens had shear plane area of 200 mm × 100 mm,where 100 mm
is the thickness of the specimen. Inorder to avoid premature failure of concrete by
bending or crushing due to loading, prior to the failure in shear plane, the specimens
were reinforced with 16 mm diameter bars and 12 mm stirrups. This reinforcement
is known as skin reinforcement. The concrete mix was designed for a grade of C40
according to Chinese code and specimens with flat and keyed joints were match cast.
Fig. 1 Specimen dimensions for a Monolithic, b Flat Dry and c Single Keyed Joints
1.2.1 Numerical Model
The numerical modelling of the specimens to study the shear capacity of joints and
validation of the experimental results from the literature was done using the finite–
element analysis package ABAQUS as shown in Fig. 2. The Finite Element Analysis
model consisted of two parts in surface to surface contact. The C3D8R element with
a refined mesh size of 20 mm was used for modelling. The skin reinforcement with
16 mm diameter bars was modeled using beam element B31. The bond between
reinforcing steel and concrete is simulated using embedded interaction. The mate-
rial properties considered for concrete were modulus of elasticity of 31.6 GPa and
Poisson’s coefficient of 0.2. The elastic-plastic behavior of concrete was simulated
by Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) Model as shown in Fig. 3 [7].
Fig. 2 Meshed three-dimensional finite element model of a Flat joint b Single Keyed Dry Joint
and c Monolithic Joint
Fig. 3 Concrete damage parameters a Compressive and b Tensile
The CDP model defines the inelastic behavior of concrete including its damage
characteristics in both compression and tension. It is based on compressive crushing
and tensile cracking of concrete and requires concrete compressive and tensile consti-
tutive relationship, cracking and crushing damage parameters, special parameters
such as dilation angle, eccentricity, biaxial to uniaxial compressive stress ratio ffb0c0 ,
second stress invariant ratio(K) and viscosity parameter [8] as given in Table 1.
The prestress and normal load was applied as pressure loads on both sides across
the shear plane and on top surface respectively. The bottom surface of model was
hinged. The load was applied in two steps, in which the prestress of a given magnitude
was applied in the first step and normal load in next step. Hard Contact model was
used to model surface to surface interaction in normal direction and the tangential
behavior was provided by a frictional coefficient of 0.6. The analysis results is shown
in Table 2.
The analysis results are in close agreement with the experimental data and hence
validated. The maximum deviation of 3.13%, 4.29% and 5.35% was found in flat,
single keyed and monolithic joint.
Normalized shear stress-Vertical Displacement graph is plotted for flat joint
subjected to a prestress of 1 MPa as shown in Fig. 4. Normalized shear stress

(τc ) includes the effect of the variation of cylinder concrete strength in same type
of specimens and can be found out as shown in Eq. (1).
τc
τc = (1)
fc
Table 1 Material Properties of M 40 Concrete with CDP Model

Material parameters
Grade M40 Concrete plasticity parameters
Concrete Elasticity Parameters Dilation angle 31
Young’s Modulus E (GPa) 31.6 Eccentricity 0.1
fb0/fc0 1.16
Poisson’s Ratio µ 0.2 K 0.67
Viscosity parameter 0
Concrete compressive behavior Concrete compression damage
Yield stress (MPa) Inelastic strain Damage parameter C Inelastic strain
20.4 0 0 0
25.6 2.66667E-05 0 2.66667E-05
30 0.00008 0 0.00008
33.6 0.00016 0 0.00016
36.4 0.000266667 0 0.000266667
38.4 0.0004 0 0.0004
39.6 0.00056 0 0.00056
40 0.000746667 0 0.000746667
39.6 0.00096 0.01 0.00096
38.4 0.0012 0.04 0.0012
36.4 0.001466667 0.09 0.001466667
33.6 0.00176 0.16 0.00176
30 0.00208 0.25 0.00208
25.6 0.002426667 0.36 0.002426667
20.4 0.0028 0.49 0.0028
14.4 0.0032 0.64 0.0032
7.6 0.003626667 0.81 0.003626667
Concrete tensile behavior Concrete tension damage
Yield stress (MPa) Cracking strain Damage parameter T Cracking strain
4 0 0 0
0.04 0.001333333 0.99 0.001333333

where,τc and f c indicate shear stress of joint and characteristic compressive strength
of concrete respectively, obtained from Table 2.
Table 2 Validation Results of Experimental and Numerical Values

Type Prestress Experimental values Jiang et al. Numerical Values %
(MPa) [1] variation
Concrete Load Shear Load Shear in load
Cylinder (kN) Stress τc (kN) Stress
Strength (MPa) (MPa)

f c (MPa)
Flat Joint 1 40.49 12.38 0.619 11.99 0.599 3.13
2 40.49 23.4 1.17 23.99 1.19 2.52
Single 1 41.51 89.69 4.485 93.54 4.677 4.29
Keyed Joint 2 41.51 113.87 5.694 117.83 5.89 3.477
Monolithic 1 40.72 137.59 6.88 130.22 6.511 5.35
2 40.72 163.55 8.178 156.09 7.804 4.55
Fig. 4 Comparison of
Normalized Shear Stress
0.12
experimental and analytical 0.1
results of flat joint
0.08
0.06
Analycal
0.04
0.02 Experimental
0
0 0.105 0.106
Displacement (mm)
2 Shear Capacity of Joints
The frictional shear resistance of flat dry joints along the shear plane is equal to
prestress force multiplied by the coefficient of friction for concrete. The frictional
coefficient recommended by ACI Code and AASHTO is 0.6. Shear capacity of keyed
joints is taken as algebraic sum of shear contributions of keys and the contacting flat
portion between segments. The design formula for estimating the shear capacity of
joints are shown in table below. Also the experimental results were checked with
those formulas as shown in Table 3.
2.1 Parametric Study
The effect of confining pressure or prestress and characteristic compressive strength

of concrete ( f ck ) on shear capacity of joints was studied as shown in Fig. 6. The
material properties of concrete were modulus of elasticity of 27.38 GPa and Poisson’s
coefficient of 0.2 with a refined mesh size of 10 mm. The reinforcing steel has Young’s
Table 3 Design formulas for shear capacity of joints

Type of Author Formula Prestress Load Shear %load
Joint (MPa) (kN) stress variation
(MPa)
Flat Mohr Vdr y joint = μA joint σn 1 12 0.6 3.06
Joint Columb 2 24 1.2 2.56
Equation
Keyed AASHTO Vj = 1 83.371 4.16 7.04
Joint [9]
Ak f c [0.9961 + 0.2048σn ] + 2 102.56 5.128 9.93
0.6Asm σn
Rombach V j = 0.14 f c Ak +0.65 1 71.114 3.555 20.71
and σn A joint 2 84.114 4.205 26.13
Specker
[10]
Turmo Vj = 1 74.9 3.745 16.49
[11]
Ak f c [0.9064 + 0.1863σn ] + 2 91.403 4.57 19.73
0.45Asm σn
Where , A joint = total area of the shear plane (mm2 ), Ak = base areas of all keys in the shear
plane (mm2 ),Asm = area of smooth surface without keys in the shear plane (mm2 ), σn = applied
prestress (MPa),μ = coefficient of friction, f c = characteristic compressive strength of concrete
(MPa).
modulus 210 GPa and Poisson’s ratio 0.3. The shear capacity of joints increases with
an increase in confining pressure irrespective of the type of joint. The shear capacity
of monolithic and keyed joint was found to depend on f ck and shows a positive
correlation, whereas not much effect was seen in case of flat joints.
Inorder to study the effect of surface properties on the ultimate shear strength of
joints, different type of undulations were made on shear plane as shown in Fig. 5. The
material used for modeling undulations was cement mortar with Young’s Modulus
3600 MPa and Poisson’s ratio 0.17. The size of the undulation used was 10 mm ×
5 mm. The size of the undulation was assumed to be less than the size of aggregate
in concrete, therefore cement mortar was used for modeling. From Table 4, it can
be noted that, the shear carrying capacity of joints increases with variation in the
surface properties of joints, when compared with that of flat joints.
2.2 Finite Element Analysis Results
The results obtained from the analysis are shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
Fig. 5 Specimen model of joint with a Rectangular, b Curved and c V shaped undulations
Table 4 Ultimate shear stress for various surface properties

Type of Undulation Prestress(MPa) Ultimate Load (kN) Ultimate Shear stress (MPa)
Rectangular 1 57.900 2.895
Curved 1 30.082 1.504
V shaped 1 26.834 1.341
a 160 b
140
UlƟmate Shear Strength (kN)
120
100
80 Flat Joint
60 Single Keyed
40 Monolithic Joint
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Confining Pressure (MPa)
Fig. 6 Ultimate shear strength of flat, single keyed and monolithic joint a Under different values
of confining pressure b For M30, M40 and M50 Concrete for 1 MPa confining pressure
Fig. 7 Vertical displacement diagram of a Rectangular, b Curved and c V shaped undulations
3 Conclusions
This study was aimed to understand the effect of parameters such as confining pres-
sure or pre-compression, characteristic compressive strength of concrete and surface
characteristics of joint on the shear strength of joint. From the validation results, it
was found that the finite element model can be used to simulate the shear capacity
of joints. Based on the simulation results, the following conclusions can be made:
1. The Mohr-Columb equation for flat joints and AASHTO 2003 design formula for
shear capacity of keyed joints are in close agreement with experimental results.
2. The AASHTO formula tends to underestimate the shear capacity of single keyed
joints.
3. As the confining pressure increases, the shear carrying capacity also increases.
4. The influence of characteristic compressive strength of concrete on ultimate shear

strength of joint was seen predominantly in keyed and monolithic joints whereas
in flat joints, the effect is negligible.
5. The ultimate shear strength of joint can be improved by varying the surface
properties of joint, which means that the coefficient of friction has to be changed
accordingly.
6. The rectangular undulations gives higher shear capacity compared to curved and
V shaped undulations due to its better interlocking property.
Acknowledgements This research has been done at CSIR-Structural Engineering Research

Centre(CSIR-SERC), Chennai, India.The support provided by the organisation and scientists for
carrying out the research is greatly appreciated. This paper is being published with the kind
permission of the Director of CSIR-SERC.
References
1. Jiang H, Li C, Ma ZJ, Feng W (2015) Shear behavior of dry joints with castellated keys in
precast concrete segmental bridges. Mech Comput 19(1):1–16
2. Buyukozturk O, Bakhoum MM, Michael Beattie S (1990) Shear behavior of joints in precast
concrete segmental bridges. J Struct Eng 30(1):656–667
3. Mattock AH, Hawkins NM (1972) Shear transfer in reinforced concrete-recent research. PCI
J 19(1):55–75
4. Jiang H, Feng J, Liu A, Liang W, Tan Y, Liang H (2019) Effect of specimen thickness and
coarse aggregate size on shear strength of single-keyed dry joints in precast concrete segmental
bridges. Struct Concr 32(2):634–693
5. Jiang H, Fang Z, Ma Z, Fang X, Jiang Z (2016) Shear strength of steel fiber-reinforced concrete
dry joints in precast segmental bridges. Autom Constr 32(2):430–456
6. Zhou X, Mickleborough N, Li Z (2005) Shear strength of joints in precast concrete segmental
bridges. Int Conf High Performance Mater Bridges 21(2):150–161
7. Shamass R, Zhou X, Alfano G (2015) Finite-element analysis of shear-off failure of keyed dry
joints in precast concrete segmental bridges. J Bridge Eng 20(6):1–12
8. Chen G, Fang Z, Wang S, Jiang H, Liang H (2019) Numerical analysis on shear behavior of
joints under low confining and eccentric loads. In: Advances in civil engineering, pp 1–16
9. AASHTO (2003) Guide specifications for design and construction of segmental concrete
bridges, 2003 interim revision, 2nd edn. AASHTO, Washington, DC
10. Rombach GA, Specker A (2004) Segmentalbrucken, vol. 1 of Betonkalender. Verlag Ernst &
Sohn, Berlin, pp 177–212
11. Turmo J, Ramos G, Aparicio AC (2006) Shear strength of dry joints of concrete panels with
and without steel fibres: application to precast segmental bridges. Eng Struct 28(1):23–33
Structural Performance of Innovative
Lean Duplex Stainless Steel Built-Up
Columns Under Various Loading
M. S. Hima and Samithamol Salim
Abstract The use of cold-formed steel structures has increased in recent years, and
some built-up section members are also widely used for their excellent structural
behaviors. The stainless steel is not a single material but it is a family of corro-
sion resistant steel. The Lean Duplex Stainless Steel (LDSS), which is a category of
stainless steel is becoming popular as a structural member because of its increased
corrosion resistance and durability compared with that of steel. When compared to
other construction materials, the LDSS has many unique properties that are advanta-
geous not only from a corrosion view point, but from a strength and safety viewpoint
as well. These LDSS may be used as primary structures for compression members
of trusses or built-up columns due to varieties of advantages such as high strength
to weight ratio, ease of fabrication, no need of protective coatings and they can be
fully recycled after a useful life. This study presents an investigation on the LDSS
built-up columns of rectangular, I, T and Z shaped sections under the axial loading
and eccentric loading for various eccentricities. The finite element models of LDSS
built-up columns are developed using ANSYS 16.1 WORKBENCH in order to inves-
tigate the behavior of various built-up columns at axial loading and eccentric loading.
This study considers the eccentric loadings at 25, 50 and 75% eccentricities of the
rectangular, I, T and Z shaped LDSS built-up columns.
Keyword Built-up columns · Axial loading · Eccentric loading
1 Introduction
Cold formed steel (CFS) built-up members have a traditional application in civil
engineering for compressed structural elements, mostly as columns and members
of lattice structures to carry heavier loads and over longer spans when a single
individual section is insufficient. Built-up of normal CFS into new member with
M. S. Hima (B) · S. Salim

Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering, Kadayiruppu, Kolenchery, Ernakulam,
Kerala, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_63
692 M. S. Hima and S. Salim
higher strength can be produced efficiently by attaching the steel. The section is
connected by using bolt, screw, or weld. By using cold-formed Lean Duplex Stainless
Steel (LDSS) structures in the building construction industry it can provide more
potential benefits including high strength to weight ratio, rapid constructability and
ease of transportability and more over resistance to corrosion. So there is a scope for
using the LDSS as built-up columns to improve the structural stability of buildings.
Huang and Young [3] conducted an experimental study on pin-ended cold-formed
LDSS columns compressed between pinned ends to determine the axial load carrying
capacity of different column specimens. Rossi [4] presented a discussion on the use
of stainless steel in constructions in view of sustainability. In this paper, attention
is first paid to the advantages associated with the use of stainless steel in recent
construction projects in view of sustainability. Dabaon et al. [1] presents an exper-
imental investigation on behavior and design of built-up cold-formed steel section
battened columns. Two modes of failure were observed in the tests which are flexural
buckling (F) and local buckling (L). Dobric et al. [2] conducted an experimental study
on the Resistance of cold-formed built-up stainless steel columns and addresses their
flexural buckling capacity about the minor principal axis.
In this study built-up models of LDSS such as rectangular, I, T and Z sections
have been modeled using ANSYS 16.1 WORKBENCH to compare its load carrying
capacity. The objectives of this study include: (1) To investigate the axial loading
performance of various LDSS built-up sections such as rectangular, I, T and Z
section; (2) To analyze the eccentric loading for various eccentricities in various
LDSS built-up sections such as rectangular, I, T and Z section in X and Z directions
at eccentricities such as 25, 50 and 75%.
2 Numerical Study on Various LDSS Built-Up Sections
A column of length 900 mm, width 50 mm and depth 70 mm with thickness 2.5 mm
is used to construct the various LDSS built-up columns. Three numbers of columns
with same dimensions are used to model the various LDSS built-up columns. Built-up
columns of four different shapes such as are rectangular section, I section, T section
and Z sections are proposed in this study. The bolted interconnections were designed
with steel bolts M5, class 5.8. The spacing between the bolt centres is 95 mm. LDSS
built-up columns of various shapes were analyzed using finite element analysis in
ANSYS 16.1 WORKBENCH. S4R shell element which allow each node to have
three degrees freedom both along translational and rotational directions were used
to model the various LDSS built-up column. Across the length and width of the
column, a mesh size of 5 mm x 5 mm was used. The LDSS built-up columns were
compressed between the pinned ends. Pinned boundary condition was modeled by
applying rotations and displacements to both the ends of columns through a reference
point. Geometrical details and material properties of the column specimen used in
the study are given in Table 1. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 shows the model of the various
LDSS built-up specimens used in the study.
Structural Performance of Innovative Lean Duplex Stainless … 693
Table 1 Measured specimen dimensions for CL900

Specimen Depth Width Thickness Outer-radius Inner-radius σ 0.2 σu Eo
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (MPa) (MPa) (GPa)
CL900 70 50 2.5 4.2 1 635 756 198
Fig. 1 Rectangular shaped LDSS column
Fig. 2 I shaped LDSS built-up column

Fig. 3 T shaped LDSS built-up column
Fig. 4 Z shaped LDSS column

3.1 Axial Loading and Eccentric Loading Performance

of Various Built-Up Sections
The axial and eccentric loading capacity of LDSS built-up columns was determined
from FE analysis. The eccentricities are provided at 25, 50 and 75% in both Z
and X directions. Table 2 shows the maximum load and deflection of axially and
eccentrically loaded various LDSS built-up columns. Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
shows the comparison of axial and eccentric loading performed in various built-up
columns.
From Fig. 5, the axial load carrying capacity of the LDSS T section increased
up to 26.7% with LDSS rectangular section, 30.6% with LDSS I section and 19.6%
with that of LDSS Z section.
From Fig. 6, the load carrying capacity at an eccentricity of 25% in Z direction of
the LDSS T-section increased up to 26.7% with LDSS rectangular section, 30.77%
with LDSS I-section and 19.6% with that of LDSS Z-section.
From Fig. 7, the load carrying capacity at an eccentricity of 25% in X direction
of the LDSS T-section increased up to 3.4% with LDSS rectangular section, 18.7%
From Fig. 8, the load carrying capacity at an eccentricity of 50% in Z direction of
the LDSS T-section increased up to 28% with LDSS rectangular section, 30% with
LDSS I-section and 20% with that of LDSS Z-section.
From Fig. 9, the load carrying capacity at an eccentricity of 50% in X direction
of the LDSS T-section increased up to 1% with the LDSS rectangular section, 11%
with LDSS I-section and 10% with that of LDSS Z-section.
From Fig. 10, The load carrying capacity at an eccentricity of 75% in Z direction
of the LDSS T section increased up to 26.4% with LDSS rectangular section, 31.5%
From Fig. 11, The load carrying capacity at an eccentricity of 75% in X direction
of the LDSS T-section increased up to 4% with LDSS rectangular section, 16.6%
The maximum load on which a single LDSS column can carry was 270 kN. When
it is used as LDSS built-up column in this present study, the load carrying capacity
of various shaped LDSS built-up sections is found to be increased.
4 Conclusions
The finite element analysis of Lean Duplex Stainless Steel in various built-up section
was carried out for studying the structural performance of various LDSS built up
sections. Based on the objectives of the project following conclusions were obtained:
696
Table 2 Maximum load and deflection of axially loaded rectangular, I, T and Z section
Built-up columns Results Axially loaded In Z direction In X direction
obtained Eccentric load Eccentric load Eccentric load Eccentric load Eccentric load Eccentric load
at 25% at 50% at 75% at 25% at 50% at 75%
Rectangular Deflection 3.94 3.9407 2.94 3.19 3.28 6.03 8.76
built-up column (mm)
Load (kN) 889 889.08 888.13 889.29 866.65 739.5 677.72
I built-up column Deflection 3.43 3.2677 3.67 4.97 5.87 6.46 9.33
(mm)
Load (kN) 862 861.45 862.28 855.23 754.78 671.31 603.88
T built-up Deflection 2.891 2.8913 2.95 2.96 4.98 5.49 5.61
column (mm)
Load (kN) 1126 1126.6 1128.1 1124.8 896.29 745.3 704.34
Z built-up Deflection 2.86 2.8694 2.95 2.86 4.20 12.76 7.19
column (mm)
Load (kN) 941 941.87 943.41 941.87 813.89 672.45 645.07
M. S. Hima and S. Salim
load-deflection graph of
various LDSS built-up
columns loaded axially
loaded eccentrically at 25%
in Z direction
column loaded eccentrically
ath 25% in X direction
ath 50% in Z direction
ath 75% in Z direction
• All the LDSS built-up sections considered in the study perform the load carrying
capacity in both axial and eccentric loading conditions quite well.
• The behavior of all LDSS built-up sections are similar to each other and there
is only a slight variation in the load carrying capacity when compared with each
other and failure is represented by local buckling.
• Among them, the T shaped LDSS built-up section has the maximum axial and
eccentric loading compared to other various built-up columns proposed in this
study even though it has an unsymmetrical shape with respect to X axis.
• Therefore the use of various shaped LDSS built-up sections is recommended as
it is able to carry the load for which it is designed.
References
1. Dabaon M et al (2015) Experimental investigation of built-up cold-formed steel section battened

columns. Thin-Walled Struct 92:137–145
2. Dobrić J et al (2018) Resistance of cold-formed built-up stainless steel columns–part I:
experiment. J Constr Steel Res 145:552–572
3. Huang Y, Young B (2013) Tests of pin-ended cold-formed lean duplex stainless steel columns.
J Constr Steel Res 82:203–215
4. Rossi B (2014) Discussion on the use of stainless steel in constructions in view of sustainability.
Thin-Walled Struct 83:182–189
Blended Cement Using Calcined Clay
and Limestone for Sustainable
Development—A Review
Ranjan Abraham, T. R. Neelakantan, Ramesh Babu Chokkalingam,

and Elson John
Abstract In the cement industry, the use of pozzolanic materials is attaining

paramount interest due to their beneficial effect on various properties of cement.
Many type of cement have been developed in the last two decades to meet specific
requirements. Ternary cement is one such type of modern cement, which consists
of two pozzolanic materials with ordinary clinker. Blending reduces overall clinker
content in cement. Ternary cement saves cost, resources and energy. Further, they
reduce emissions & wastage of raw materials. Partially replacing clinker by calcined
clay combined with limestone can be adopted to achieve blended cement with good
performance. Higher levels of clinker substitution up to 50% are possible with 30%
calcined clay, 15% lime stone and 5% gypsum, which contribute to reduction of CO2
emission associated with cement production. Previous studies on such replacements
and how they were beneficial for sustainable development are summarized in this
review paper.
Keywords Blended cement · Supplementary cementitious materials ·

Sustainability · Calcined clay · Limestone · CO2 emission
R. Abraham (B) · T. R. Neelakantan · R. B. Chokkalingam

Department of Civil Engineering, School of Environmental and Construction Technology,
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil, Srivilliputhur, Tamil Nadu
626126, India
T. R. Neelakantan
R. B. Chokkalingam
E. John
Ernakulam, Kerala 686666, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_64
702 R. Abraham et al.
1 Introduction
The use of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) has a large potential to

reduce the emission of carbon and saving the consumption of raw materials used
for cement production. This is highly beneficial, especially for developing countries
like India. But the wider use of SCMs is not supported due to a limited supply of
them in many countries. More than 80% of SCMs used to reduce clinker fraction in
cement are limestone, fly ash or slag. Calcined clay in combination with limestone
has immense potential to be used as supplementary cementitious material, in partial
replacement of clinker [1].
This paper concentrates mainly on the studies on Limestone Calcined Clay
Cement (LC3), which focuses on reactive kaolinitic clays. Amount of slag avail-
able worldwide is around 5–10% of the amount of cement produced, which is not
likely to change, as demand for steel is increasing less rapidly than demand for
cement and more steel is being recycled, due to environmental aspects. Amount of
fly ash available is somewhat high, but quality is very much variable, with less than
one third suitable for blending in cement [2]. Long term availability of fly ash cannot
be ascertained, as burning of coal to produce electricity is not entertained in most
countries, to reduce environmental emissions.
Even though limestone is available in abundance, addition of more than 10%
of limestone alone to cement results in increased porosity and poorer properties
[3]. To extend the strategy of reducing clinker content, identification of new types
and sources of SCMs have become essential. Even though Rice husk ash, sugar
cane bagasse ash and ashes of other agricultural wastes are pozzolanic, scattered
distribution leads to economic viability of their use.
Clays are abundantly available worldwide. Clays having significant portion of
kaolinite and calcined between 700 and 850 °C are highly pozzolanic [4]. Metakaolin,
a very reactive mineral addition, has been produced by calcining high purity kaolinitic
clays. Metakaolin is around 3 times costlier than cement, which makes it not feasible
for production of general purpose cement.
Studies conducted at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) [5, 6]
proved that a kaolinite content of about 40% in a mixture of LC3-50 (50% ground
clinker, 30% calcined clay, 15% limestone, 5% gypsum) could produce mechan-
ical properties similar to reference plain Portland cement sample in 7 days. Clays
are widely available in most developing countries where cement demand going to
increase in future. The requirement of calcination makes clay costlier than slag or
fly ash. But unavailability of slag and fly ash in many places makes it viable and
high level of clinker substitution is possible by combination of calcined clay and
limestone and exhibit similar mechanical properties of pure Portland cement [7].
Low cost of limestone balance the cost of calcination of clay. Industrial production
of cement having 50% clinker, combined with a blend of calcined clay and lime-
stone has proven successful through industrial trials carried out in Cuba and India.
Cements produced had mechanical performance similar to Portland cement, with
clinker content above 90% [8–10].
Blended Cement Using Calcined Clay and Limestone … 703
2 Technology
Clay is calcined by heating to around 700–850 °C. No sophisticated equipment is

necessary to produce calcined clays, since calcination temperature is low, compared
to clinker production. Coupled addition of calcined clay and limestone is used to
substitute part of clinker in blended cement and are designated LC3—X, where
X refers to the clinker content of blend in percent. Calcination of clay containing
kaolinite leads to formation of metakaolin, which is an amorphous alumino silicate
(Al2 Si2 O7 ). It can react with calcium hydroxide as a conventional pozzolan to give
C–(A)–S–H and aluminate hydrates. In addition, alumina can react with limestone
to produce carbo-aluminate hydrates [7]. All these products fill space and contribute
to development of strength and durability properties. Clays containing 40% or above
kaolin give strengths comparable to plain Portland cement when used in LC3-50 (50%
clinker, 30% calcined clay, 15% limestone and 5% gypsum). The coupled substitution
of two materials leads to good mechanical performance than other pozzolan at early
ages even under higher levels of substitution. Clay, which is a finely divided product,
reacts faster and to a higher degree.
Trial production runs of LC3 have been made in Cuba and India [8–10] where
cement could be substituted one for one in standard applications by untrained
workers, with similar water cement ratios and super plasticizers. In India it was
used for preparation of roof tiles, which showed higher breaking strengths than tiles
made with the usual Portland fly ash cement. In Cuba, the cement was used in blocks
and pre-cast concrete culverts. The technology proved to be robust under situations
like usage in poor and remote regions, by unskilled workers, lack of control of aggre-
gate quality, poor control of water content, use without admixtures, usage under hot
climate and precast constructions where high early strength is required. Studies are
yet to be done in areas of stability of workability at high temperature and sensitivity
to common contamination.
Calcined clay has high fineness, which is worsened if it is inter ground with
clinker, which may cause higher water demand, or require higher levels of super
plasticizer. Ideally the clinker should be ground first and then blended with calcined
clay and limestone. As calcined clay contains reactive alumina, it is also important
that blends are properly sulfated by checking level of sulfate addition needed using
isothermal calorimetry [7].
3 Strength of LC3 Blends Prepared from Low Grade Clays
Potential of blends based on limestone, calcined clay, and clinker (LC3), incorpo-
rating calcined clay from several countries (India, Brazil, Thailand and Cuba) were
analyzed [1] and strengths obtained are shown in Fig. 1. Plotting these results against
the kaolinite content of clays, it was seen that kaolinite content is the main param-
eter determining strength development and is shown in Fig. 2. In these experiments
Fig. 1 Strength
development for a range of
blends all containing 50%
clinker, 5% gypsum, 15%
limestone and 30% calcined
clay. (Clays originated from
India, Brazil, Thailand and
Cuba) [1]
Fig. 2 Relationship between

kaolinite content of calcined
clay and strength [1]
cements were prepared by intermixing based on the same ground clinker. It could
be seen that one day strengths are still rather low, but, for a kaolinite content of 50%
or more, higher strengths than the reference were achieved by 7 days after testing
Mortar cubes. One day strength could be improved by inter-grinding as is currently
done for fly ash blended cements.
Fig. 3 Mercury intrusion

porosity of results for LC3
blend and reference Portland
cement [1]
4 Durability of LC3 Blends Prepared from Low Grade

Clays
While considering a new cement formulation, question of durability is of prime

importance. A wide-ranging and detailed study of durability of LC3 was done in
Switzerland, India and Cuba. Mercury intrusion porosimetry and Chloride penetra-
tion tests were done to assess durability. Those studies looked at underlying scientific
mechanisms as well as full scale exposure conditions. The material is expected to
have good durability due to following reasons.
Firstly, the phase composition of materials was very similar to existing Port-
land and blended cements. The principal hydrate was calcium silicate hydrate, C–
S–H, whose long-term behaviour is well known and understood. Other aluminate
containing phases, mono and hemi carbonate and ettringite were also formed in
limestone cements, widely used in Europe for many years.
Secondly, analysis of pore structure shown in Fig. 3 revealed that, pores were
smaller, even though overall porosity was be slightly higher [1].
Thirdly, preliminary results on resistance to penetration of chloride ions are
extremely good. Figure 4 shows chloride profiles after two years ponding in 0.5 M
NaCl solution [1].
5 Environmental and Economic Potential
Developing countries demand increased need of infrastructures and production of

more quantity of cement. Use of SCM is a promising solution to increase cement
production without increasing negative environmental impact.
Fig. 4 Chloride profiles

after 2 years ponding in
0.5 M NaCl solution [1]
A method was developed to assess details of economic and environmental poten-

tial of LC3 technology in Cuban context, in which a comparison of OPC and PPC
was done. Study included a sensitivity analysis where different types of technology
as well as alternative fuel types have been tested. Sensitivity of green house gas emis-
sions savings for LC3 production was evaluated depending on level of technology,
fuel and transport type [11]. Results, shown in percentages saved and tabulated in
Table 1, provided data for development of LC3 technology in the Cuban market,
which can be further extended to markets in other developing countries.
Technology changes induce variations from 6 to 10% depending on type of fuel
used. Changes in fuel types do not provide great changes in Global Warming Potential
(GWP) except when a flash calciner was used for LC3 and a preheater + pecalciner
kiln was used for clinker production. Similar results were found when comparison
of LC3 was made over OPC or PPC. Savings compared to OPC were around 35%
while savings compared to PPC were around 25%.
Availability of suitable clay source was also a key aspect in LC3 production
process. When clays were transported by truck over 350 km, economic benefits of
LC3 against OPC were less. Figure 5 shows results of sensitivity of raw materials
transport of LC3 compared to current OPC production costs in Cuba. If raw material
transport was done by train, contribution to overall negative environmental impact
of LC3 was negligible.
Comparison of environmental impact for OPC, blended cement PPC and LC3
for three different technical levels: Pilot, Industrial and Best Available Technology
(BAT) are shown in Fig. 6. LC3 cement always produced 30% savings approximately.
Worst LC3 cement made in pilot industrial trial was better than best OPC produced
with BAT. Major emission reductions were related to energy savings and clinker
substitution, although there reported a significant decrease in electricity consumption
during grinding process, due to softness of LC3 in comparison with OPC.
Table 1 Economic impact sensitivity to fuels & technology [11]
GWP savings comparing PPC-LC3 (%) GWP savings comparing OPC-LC3 (%)
Fuels/techno Wet (%) Dry (%) BAT (%) BBAT (%) Fuels/techno Wet (%) Dry (%) BAT (%) BBAT (%)
Crude 26 24 24 34 Crude 36 35 35 42
Petcoke 24 25 23 33 Petcoke 36 36 32 40
Blended Cement Using Calcined Clay and Limestone …
Gas+ 26 26 25 20 Gas+ 37 36 33 27
Waste Waste
707
Fig. 5 GWP Comparison per transported tonne of cement [11]
Fig. 6 Relative GWP impact of cement production in Cuba—all scenarios [11]
Concerning economic feasibility of LC3 production, an analysis was carried out

and cost savings referred to OPC and PPC are presented in Fig. 7.
Sensitivity to fuel and technology showed a different pattern than environmental
sensitivity. Variation in term of production costs was higher than for GWP when
differences in technology were considered. It varied from 10 to 30% depending on
technology and type of fuel used. Using BAT technology for clinker production as
well as clay calcination (BBAT Technology) could induce higher production cost for
LC3 when secondary fuels were used in the clinkerization process.
Fig. 7 Comparison depending on transport distance and cost of alternate materials [11]
6 Conclusions
• Blends with 50% clinker, 30% calcined clay, 15% unburned limestone and 5%
gypsum is a promising option to achieve energy efficiency, cost efficiency and
lower CO2 emission
• Kaolinite content in clay is the main parameter determining strength development.
• The phase composition of materials was very similar to OPC and PPC.
• The size of pores was smaller compared to PPC, when LC3 was used.
• LC3 offered extremely good resistance to penetration of chloride ions.
• LC3 technology leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and lower global
warming potential compared to OPC and PPC.
References
1. Scrivener KL (2014) Options for the future of cement. Indian Concr J 88(7):11–19
2. Snellings R (2016) Assessing understanding and unlocking supplementary cementitious
materials. RILEM Tech Lett [S.l.] 1:50–55
3. Matschei T, Lothenbach B, Glasser FP (2007) The role of calcium carbonate in cement
hydration. Cem Concr Res 37(4):551–558
4. Fernandez R, Martirena F, Scrivener KL (2011) The origin of pozzolanic activity of calcined
clay minerals: a comparison between kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite. Cem Concr Res
41(1):113–122
5. Alujas A, Fernández R, Quintana R, Scrivener KL, Martirena F (2015) Pozzolanic reactivity
of low grade kaolinitic clays: influence of calcination temperature and impact of calcination
products on OPC hydration. Appl Clay Sci 108:94–101
6. Avet F, Snellings R, Alujas Diaz A, Ben Haha M, Scrivener K (2016) Development of a new
rapid, relevant and reliable (R3) test method to evaluate the pozzolanic reactivity of calcined
kaolinitic clays. Cem Concr Res 85:1–11
7. Antoni M, Rossen J, Martirena F, Scrivener K (2012) Cement substitution by a combination
of metakaolin and limestone. Cem Concr Res 42:1579–1589
8. Vizcaíno-Andrés L, Sánchez-Berriel S, Damas-Carrera S, Pérez-Hernández A, Scrivener K,

Martirena Hernandez JF (2015) Industrial trial to produce a low clinker, low carbon cement.
Mater Constr 65:(317)
9. Bishnoi S, Maity S, Mallik A, Joseph S, Krisnnan S (2014) Pilot scale manufacture of limestone
calcined clay cement: the Indian experience. Indian Concr J 88(7):22–28
10. Emmanuel A, Halder P, Maity S, Bishnoi S (2016) Second pilot production of limestone
calcined clay cement in India: the experience. Indian Concr J 90:57–64
11. Sanchez Berriel S, Favier A, Rosa Domínguez E, Sanchez Machado IR, Heierli U, Scrivener K,
Martirena Hernandez F, Habert G (2016) Assessing the environmental and economic potential
of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement in Cuba. J Clean Prod 124:361–369
Seismic Performance Improvement
Techniques for Infill Frames—A Review
A. Athira Nair and Keerthy M. Simon
Abstract Masonry infill walls are commonly used as external walls and partition
walls in RC frame buildings. RC frames in earthquake regions are usually designed
with higher ductility and hence undergo large displacements under horizontal loading
which lead to a rapid activation of the significantly stiffer infills. This activation
generates an undesired interaction between the frame and the infill resulting in the
participation of the masonry infills for load transfer. The seismic performance of
masonry infill walls under earthquake loading have been studied experimentally and
analytically. Damages under in-plane loading are found to escalate the out-of plane
response. Over the years the studies have been extended from steel frames to RC
frames and the infill materials have been varied from masonry infill to concrete
panels. However, the studies are particularly focused on masonry infill units. With
the rising concern for environmental pollution control, alternative green materials
are also being recommended as infills. This paper presents a review on the techniques
that have been developed to improve the seismic performance of infilled frames. It
can be achieved by providing a rigid connection between the infill and the frame
or by completely isolating the infill walls from the surrounding frame and by using
seismic isolation elements.
Keywords Masonry infill · RC frame · Seismic isolation
1 Introduction
Masonry infill panels can be found as interior and exterior walls in reinforced concrete
(RC) and steel frame structures. The term infilled frame is used to denote a composite
structure formed by the combination of moment resisting plane frames and filler
A. Athira Nair (B) · K. M. Simon

K. M. Simon

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_65
712 A. Athira Nair and K. M. Simon
walls. Infills are generally built integral with the RC frame, but it is considered as
non-structural elements and their presence is often ignored by structural engineers.
The entire lateral force on the building is carried by the bare frame alone. However,
unless they are separated from the frames by adequate movement joints along the
ends and top, they will interact with the surrounding frame when the structure is
subjected to wind or earthquake loads.
Infills interfere with the lateral deformations of the RC frame and improve the
stiffness of the building. Under seismic loading the non-structural components such
as partition walls helps in load transfer and it takes place along the diagonal of the
infill. Compression strut forms along one diagonal and the separation of frame and
infill takes place along the other. The structural load transfer is converted into truss
action rather than the frame action which is usually observed.
Energy dissipation is observed to be better in the case of infill frames than bare
frames as the inelastic effects in infills is also considered in addition to the inelastic
effects in the frame members and joints. Hence, the masonry infill wall increases
strength, stiffness, overall ductility and energy dissipation of the building. More
importantly, they help in drastically reducing the deformation and ductility demand
on RC frame members [1, 2].
2 Seismic Safety of Masonry Infills
Infill walls can have a beneficial effect on the structural response provided that they
are placed regularly throughout the structure. Damage to infill walls is a seismic
hazard hence it is essential to preserve its integrity. The damages caused can hamper
the safe movement of occupants evacuating buildings or of rescue workers entering
buildings. It affects the performance level of the building even if the structural compo-
nents are safe to offer an immediate occupancy level. Major facilities crucial in a
seismic event such as rescue operations and medical facilities would be adversely
affected. Hence various solution strategies were developed to increase the seismic
safety of masonry infilled RC frames and to reduce the detrimental effect of the
masonry infill [3].
Multiple failure mechanisms have been observed in Unreinforced Masonry walls
(URM) under earthquake action, including both in-plane mechanisms and out-of-
plane collapse. By increasing the lateral stiffness of the structure, the infills shift the
natural period of the structure on the earthquake response spectrum in the direction
of a higher seismic shear and story shears and direct earthquake forces to non-
structural elements. During an earthquake, these infill walls increases the earthquake
lateral load significantly and are often damaged prematurely due to diagonal tension
and compression or out-of-plane failure. Various solution strategies were devel-
oped to increase the seismic safety of masonry infilled RC frames and to reduce
the detrimental effect of the masonry infill [3].
Seismic Performance Improvement Techniques for Infill … 713
2.1 Rigid Connection and Strengthening
The seismic safety of the infill wall can be improved either by improving the load
bearing capacity of a masonry infill-wall by providing a rigid connection to the
frame or by completely isolating the infill walls from the surrounding frame by
intentionally creating a construction gap. This however had to compromise with the
original function of the partition walls such as acoustic insulation and protection from
environmental phenomena. Another shortcoming of the isolation option is that the
beneficial effects of the masonry infill in stiffening and strengthening the structural
frame system will not be employed. Deformation capacity of the masonry infill wall
can be increased by means of special construction measures like sliding surfaces
in the wall. Strengthening of the walls, though a retrofitting technique can also be
employed during the construction phase especially for buildings in the seismic prone
areas.
Column-isolated infill condition effectively preserves the integrity of infill panel.
It avoids out-of-plane failure of masonry wall by keeping infill panel tightly fitted with
bounding beam by utilizing the steel connectors between columns and infill panel.
It exhibits the improved seismic performance than the completely infilled frame
in terms of ductility, degradation of stiffness and strength, and energy dissipation
capability [4].
The techniques to prevent soft storey mechanisms like base insulations, shear
walls, bracings, or strengthening the columns are expensive. A viable option available
is to soften the upper stories by adding slit separated features at the edges of infill
walls. RC infill wall is separated from the moment frame by two vertical silts at
the edges of the wall and one horizontal gap on the top of the wall. The slits can
be designed with different widths to absorb the inter-story drift in each story. Slit-
separated wall can be isolated to be free from damage under small lateral story drifts.
It eliminates the soft-story problem caused by vertically irregular configuration of
RC infill and improves the drift capacity. It increases the lateral resistance without
inhibiting the ductility of the steel moment frame under large earthquake attack
[5]. Analytical studies have shown that by a combined use of proper sliding joints
inserted in the masonry and deformable joints at the wall-frame interface out-of-
plane stability can be ensured. It helps in limiting the level of damage at different
seismic intensities, providing a prominent reduction of the cost of reparability after
seismic events and a wide margin towards the life safety requirements [6].
RC frames infilled with weak masonry panels can be provided with light reinforce-
ment, in the mortar layers or in the external plaster. The external meshes improve the
response enormously, in terms of strength, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity.
The economic benefit of such simple measures of protection is extraordinarily impor-
tant, particularly when compared with the relatively low additional construction cost
[7].
Strengthening of the masonry infills to achieve a better performance during
seismic loading is a rational solution. The conventional strengthening technique
of masonry infills comprises of application of external steel-mesh reinforcement in
combination with shotcrete or plaster on the face of the infill, application of sprayable
ductile-fiber reinforced cementitious composites, steel fiber reinforced mortar and
Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) sheets [8].
The external application of special plasters or Textile Reinforced Mortars (TRM)
strengthening systems reduces the infill damage, change the crack pattern and can
influence the out-of-plane response of the infill wall which is of the utmost impor-
tance during earthquakes. Reinforcing meshes are still very effective when applied
to gypsum based plasters with low mechanical characteristics. TRM embedded with
anchorages reduces the displacements at maximum load, allowing a highly controlled
failure mode to develop after the peak load [9].
Brick infill wall can be strengthened by using expanded metal which can be well
bonded with mortar plastering. The effects of ferrocement enhances the compressive
strength, stiffness, and ductility of masonry panels. The expanded metal with fine
mesh type is recommended for overlaying on the infill panel for better bond strength.
It helps in a significant increase of strength for the infill panel. Strengthened infilled
frame develops greater strength than the brick infilled frame due to the effect of
ferrocement which enhances the diagonal compressive strength and sliding shear
strength of the infill panel. When the infill panel is sufficiently strong in these diagonal
and sliding modes, the corner compression will result in crushing and consequently
lead to shear failure of the column. It prevents the sliding failure mode and changes
it to the corner crushing mode [10].
Fiber reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) layers can be
employed to strengthen the URM infills. ECC overlays are attached onto the surface
of masonry infill only by their cohesion and mechanical anchorage is not provided
between the strengthening layers and the RC frame. ECC-strengthening technique
can effectively increase the lateral strength and energy absorption capacity of the
infilled frame and prevent brittle failure modes in the infill wall [11].
Strengthening of infill walls by Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) is
effective on increasing lateral load carrying capacity and initial stiffness of infilled
RC frame specimens. CFRP which is pasted on the infill wall by epoxy take part in
carrying compressive stresses by keeping the masonry in place under compression
and by spreading the compressive stress over a larger area. Providing diagonal CFRP
on the infill wall helps in transferring the diagonal tensile stress to the frame elements
until failure [12]. CFRP sheets attached to the masonry wall faces and anchored to
the concrete frame carries the diagonal tension. The CFRP laminate maintain the
structural integrity of the fully infilled frame and prevents collapse and debris fallout.
It further contains and localizes the damage of the URM walls even after ultimate
failure. This reduces the possibility of the external walls or partitions spalling, which,
in itself is a major source of hazard during earthquakes even if the whole structure
remains safe and functioning. Energy dissipation capacity is better when CFRP is
wrapped around the column to prevent the shear failure [13].
Strengthening and reinforcement measures significantly improve the load-bearing
and deformation capacities of the masonry infills but can no longer be regarded
as a non-load-bearing wall and must be designed for seismic forces. In addition,
the acceptance of these measures in practice is rather low as they quickly become
unattractive and uneconomical in comparison to a reinforced concrete solution due

to the amount of required manual construction work.
2.2 Seismic Isolation
The isolation option had to be replaced with a better solution which not only improves
the seismic response but also prevents the failure of non-structural components. In
general, since the masonry infill walls are heavy it greatly increases the effective
seismic weight of the building, and hence it would be logical to engage them also
in lateral load resistance. Hence, a rigid connection between the frame and infill
is essential. The concept of fuse systems similar to the electrical fuses which get
damaged when the loads are high and thereby prevent the structure is an intermediate
option. The fuse material helps to maintain the rigidity of the frame and decouples
when the structure is weak to support the load and thus can prevent the damages to
an extent.
Seismic behaviour of masonry infilled RC frames could be enhanced by decou-
pling the frame and the masonry infill so that deformations of the frame do not
generate any stresses in the masonry infill. This idea developed from the desirability
of employing beneficial effects of strength and stiffness of infill walls to reduce story
drifts during seismic events up to certain controlled levels and to isolate the infill
wall from the frame in order to avoid damage to the wall or the frame under strong
shaking [14, 15].
Pilot studies included the concept of Seismic Infill Wall Isolator Subframe
(SIWIS) system. It consists of two vertical and one horizontal sandwiched light-gauge
steel studs with rigid-brittle elements in the vertical members. It acts as a sacrificial
element just like a fuse to save the infill wall and frame from failure by disengaging
under damaging events by allowing brittle failure. Concrete disks of 69 mm diameter
and varying thickness 22.2, 25 and 28.6 mm and a compressive strength of 24 MPa
was used for the study. The system was found effective in considerably increasing
the initial stiffness of the frame analytically [16]. Alternative materials such as steel
and lumber disks were later implemented in the SIWIS system and the experimental
results showed that the flexible frames benefitted more compared to stiffer frames
[17]. Providing vertical tie-down elements helps in maximizing the in-plane strength
and stiffness of the masonry wall.
To prevent the soft storey mechanism appropriate capacity arrangements of the
fuses in elevation and in bays facilitates a sequential crushing of the fuses and
hence provide adequate structural performance. For frames with higher ultimate
load capacity fuse elements of larger capacity should be used. At lower positions of
the fuse, the initial stiffness of the entire system will be reduced and the fuse breaks at
larger deflection whereas at higher positions the fuse element improves performance
efficiency. The stiffness of the frame members affects the design of the fuse capacity
and for a given frame stiffness, the overall behavior is sensitive to the fuse capacity.
Existing finite element modelling software is effective to model the complex use of
masonry walls [14, 18].
Thin layers of foamed polyethylene characterized by extremely high deformation
capacity, was used to isolate infill panels from the surrounding RC frame for low and
moderate storey drifts. The isolated system preserves the integrity of infill panels
at moderate storey drifts and increases shear strength and lateral stiffness of the
infilled frames at higher deformations. Partially infilled frames confirmed that cellular
material joints at the sides of infills decreases the adverse effects of the infill-frame
interaction [19, 20].
Under the European research project INSYSME a special decoupling element;
Innovative Decoupled Infill System (INODIS) was developed. It consisted of an
elastomeric cellular material with hyper elastic behaviour provided along the columns
and the top beam which are glued to the outer bricks and move onto plastic profiles
that are connected to the RC frames by nailing or screwing. The system delays the in-
plane activation of the infill. It allowed interstory drifts of more than 3% and prevented
the stress concentrations in the contact areas to the frame. The viscoelastic behaviour
of the elastomeric cellular materials resulted in the higher energy dissipation and is
compatible with different types of bricks [15].
3 Conclusions
This paper presents a review on the methods to improve the seismic behaviour of
unreinforced masonry infills. RC frame are often not even formally designed for
seismic loading even in severe seismic zones. Such buildings are commonly used as
residential or office buildings which typically have a fairly large number of infills
placed more or less uniformly and in such situations, the infills could be relied upon
to ensure good seismic performance. Masonry infill wall panels increase strength,
stiffness, overall ductility and energy dissipation of the building. The techniques are
mainly aimed at reducing the damages caused to the masonry infill walls but at the
same time to draw maximum advantage of these non-structural components under
seismic loading.
Implementation of retrofitting measures such as reinforcement meshes and
strengthening techniques can be easily employed to ensure better energy dissipation.
Isolating the infills from the frame ensures seismic safety of infills but it affects the
purpose of infills, such as insulation and protection. However the seismic isolation
technique using cellular materials overcomes the problem by ensuring the infill-
frame system to act as a unit and thus ensures seismic safety. Studies concerning the
SIWIS system reveal that with capacity arrangement of the fuses it is possible to deal
with major issues like soft storey mechanism. The techniques discussed in this paper
have proved to be efficient as per the analytical and experimental studies. Further
optimization of the models and full scale studies are required to make it suitable for
implementing in normal construction.
References
1. El-dakhakhni WW, Drysdale RG (2004) 3-D finite element modelling of masonry-infilled

frames with and without openings, pp 1–10
2. Murty CVR, Jain SK (2000) Beneficial influence of masonry infill walls on seismic performance
of Rc frame buildings. In: Twelfth world conference on earthquake engineering, pp 1–6
3. Filiatrault A, Sullivan T (2014) Performance-based seismic design of nonstructural building
components: the next frontier of earthquake engineering 13:17–46
4. Kuang JS Cyclic load tests of RC frame with column-isolated masonry infills
5. Ju RS, Lee HJ, Chen CC, Tao CC (2012) Experimental study on separating reinforced concrete
infill walls from steel moment frames. J Constr Steel Res 71:119–128
6. Morandi P, Milanesi R, Magenes G (2018) Innovative solution for seismic-resistant masonry
infills with sliding joints: in-plane experimental performance
7. Taylor P, Calvi GM, Bolognini D, Strutturale M, Pavia U, Ferrate V (2008) Seismic response
of reinforced concrete frames infilled with weakly reinforced masonry panels. pp. 37–41
8. Koutas L, Pitytzogia A, Triantafillou TC, Asce M, Bousias SN, Asce M (2014) Strengthening
of infilled reinforced concrete frames with TRM : study on the development and testing of
textile-based anchors 18(3):1–12
9. Porto F, Modena C (2015) Effectiveness of plasters and textile reinforced mortars for strength-
ening clay masonry infill walls subjected to combined in-plane/out-of-plane actions Wirk-
samkeit von Putz und textilbewehrtem Mörtel bei der Verstärkung von Ausfachungswänden
aus Ziege 19:334–354
10. Leeanansaksiri A, Panyakapo P, Ruangrassamee A (2018) Seismic capacity of masonry in filled
RC frame strengthening with expanded metal ferrocement. Eng Struct 159:110–127
11. Dehghani A, Nateghi-Alahi F, Fischer G (2015) Engineered cementitious composites for
strengthening masonry infilled reinforced concrete frames. Eng Struct 105:197–208
12. Erol G, Karadogan HF, Cili F (2008) Seismic strengthening of infilled Rc frames by CFRP
1981
13. Dehghani A (2008) Experimental behavior of brick-infilled concrete frames strenthed by CFRP
with improved attachig technique
14. Drahansky M et al (2016) We are IntechOpen, the world’ s leading publisher of open access
books built by scientists, for scientists TOP 1%. Intech i:13
15. Marinković M, Butenweg C (2019) Innovative decoupling system for the seismic protection
of masonry infill walls in reinforced concrete frames. Eng Struct 197:109435
16. Aliaari M, Memari AM (2005) Analysis of masonry infilled steel frames with seismic isolator
subframes 27:487–500
17. Aliaari M, Ph D, Memari AM, Ph D, Asce M (2007) Experimental evaluation of a sacrificial
seismic fuse device for masonry infill walls, pp 111–125
18. Aliaari M, Memari AM (2012) Development of a seismic design approach for infill walls
equipped with structural fuse, pp 249–263
19. Tsantilis AV, Trianta TC (2018) Innovative seismic isolation of masonry in fills using cellular
materials at the interface with the surrounding RC frames 155:279–297
20. Tsantilis AV, Triantafillou TC (2018) Innovative seismic isolation of masonry infills in steel
frames using cellular materials at the frame- infill interface innovative seismic isolation of
masonry in fills in steel frames using cellular materials at the frame-in fill interface. J Earthq
Eng 00(00):1–18
Analysis of the Concrete Filled Steel
Tubes with Diagonal Ribs
K. P. Ansa and S. Keerthi
Abstract Nowadays high-rise buildings and multi-storey buildings are more

common and popular, they require highly strong and efficient structural system.
Concrete Filled Steel Tube [CFST] are capable of providing the same. Many inno-
vative ideas are being put forward in the improvement of the CFST section, which
resulted in better improvisation of their column behaviors. Diagonal rib stiffened
square concrete filled steel tube can increase the confinement, load-carrying capacity
and ductility compared with the CFST specimens without stiffeners. By introducing
the diagonal rib fitting, the composite effect of the square concrete filled steel can
be improved, which is proved from the previously conducted experiments by several
researchers on CFST sections. By analyzing the test results from experiments, a cost
effective, robust and safe designed cross section is developed. The development of
an analytical model for the CFST with diagonal ribs for predicting their axial load
carrying capacities was done by finite element analysis method. It helps in predicting
the results of combinations made by using various parameters.
Keywords Diagonal ribs · Axial load capacity · Concrete filled steel tube
1 Introduction
Concrete filled steel tubes (CFST) are the mainly used in the modern constructions
for more efficient and strong system. They are mainly used in high rise buildings
and multi storey buildings as columns and beams in low rise industrial buildings
due to their superior structural performance. Concrete filled steel tubes combines the
advantages of both steel and concrete. Steel offers high tensile capacity and ductility
which can confine the concrete and delay its buckling. Whereas the concrete is
K. P. Ansa (B)
Master of Technology NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, India
S. Keerthi

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_66
720 K. P. Ansa and S. Keerthi
Fig. 1 Composite section

with studs [2]
strong in compression and stiffness. CFST altogether has improved strength, high
seismic performance and cost effective nature. Many innovative ideas are being
introduced in the CFST for the improved composite effect of steel and concrete. They
include the infills like timber, Carbon fibre reinforced polymer layers, stiffeners like
studs, longitudinal stiffeners, and diagonal ribs etc. These items further increase the
composite effect of CFST. They can be used as mega columns which can take up
large vertical loads, in spite of complex fabrication. Among various improvisation
methods the diagonal rib stiffened CFST has more efficiency. Experimental as well
as analytical studies are in progress in this area.
2 Methods of Improvisation
There are various methods that can improve the composite effect of CFST. Like point
confinement, line confinement and lateral closed confinement [1].
2.1 Usage of Studs
The usage of studs that provide confinement for the concrete at the point of the
each stud and enhance the interface shear capacity. Studs are also called as shear
connectors which are used to ensure reliable stiffness of the composite cross-section
even in the region of elastic behaviour as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
2.2 Usage of Longitudinal Stiffeners
Longitudinal stiffeners provides line confinement throughout the column axially.

It confines the steel tube along the portion where it’s welded. It provides more
confinement than point confinement provided by the studs. Another benefits are
Analysis of the Concrete Filled Steel Tubes with Diagonal Ribs 721
Fig. 2 Buckling mode of

CFST with Studs [2]
increased local buckling strength and interface shear capacity [3] as shown in Figs. 3
and 4.
Fig. 3 Longitudinal
stiffened CFST [4]
Fig. 4 Buckling mode [3]

2.3 Usage of Binding Bars
Binding bars provide lateral closed confinement. It increases the confinement from
the steel tube to the infilled concrete more than the longitudinal stiffeners and studs,
because it yielded quickly after the specimen reached the ultimate strength. Local
buckling of the steel tube is delayed much more resulting in the yielding of the
binding bar before reaching the ultimate strength. The confinement was increased
at the corner region and centre region. As well as the ductility was improved [5] as
shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 5 Square cross-section of CFST columns with binding bars [5]
Fig. 6 Effectively confined concrete core for rectangular CFT with binding bars [5]
3 Diagonal Rib Stiffened CFST
Combining the merits of the point, line and lateral closed confinement the idea of
introducing a diagonal ribs stiffener was evolved. They have furthermore advantages
like
• Continuous strong confinement
• Can relax width to thickness ratio
• Enhanced fire resistance
• Openings in ribs act as shear connectors
• Increased ultimate strength and ductility
• Cost effective
• Take up large vertical loads, therefore its used as mega columns.
3.1 Construction and Details of Specimens
By fillet welding the diagonal rib to the U shaped cold formed steel plates and then
butt welding two such U shaped cold formed steel plates we can form the specimen
as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.
After completing the steel portion the concrete is filled in the column, through the
openings in the ribs concrete will easily fill the triangular portions (Fig. 8).
The width of 300 mm and length of 900 mm was used. The width to thickness
ratio was 150, 100, 50 for steel thickness of 2 mm, 3 mm, 6 mm respectively as
shown in Fig. 9.
The other conventional specimens which were used for comparing the result were
• CFST without stiffeners in Fig. 10
• CFST with longitudinal stiffeners shown in Fig. 11
• Octagonal CFST shown in Fig. 12.
Fig. 7 Fabrication process of diagonal rib–stiffened square steel tube [1]

Fig. 8 Diagonal rib–stiffened square CFST column [1]
Fig. 9 Dimensions of specimen [1]
3.2 Test Results
3.2.1 Details of the Previously Conducted Experiments
Different specimen groups were constructed of breadth 300 mm and length 900 mm.
The specimens were square CFST specimen without stiffeners (Fig. 10), CFST with
longitudinal stiffeners (Fig. 11), Octagonal CFST (Fig. 12), CFST with diagonal ribs
(Fig. 9) [1].
Fig. 10 CFST without stiffeners [1]
Fig. 11 CFST with longitudinal stiffeners [1]
3.2.2 Analysis of Results
Under compression load with LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) Load
given at a rate of 200 kN/min. Different test results were observed as follows
• Tube buckling
For the specimens without stiffeners the buckling occurred in prepeak stage and
buckling was delayed when width to thickness ratio was decreased meaning when
thickness was increased.
For the stiffened specimens both with the diagonal rib ones and longitudinal ones
the buckling at or after reaching the ultimate load, therefore we can understand
that the buckling was delayed to a post peak stage.
Fig. 12 Octagonal CFST [1]
For the octagonal specimens the buckling was near the ultimate load, which
concludes that octagonal CFST is better than square CFST.
• Failure modes
For unstiffened specimen they were failed under shear failure.

For stiffened ones the failure mode was when concrete crushed where the tube
buckled.
For octagonal specimens failure mode changed shear failure to squashed failure
when the thickness was increased from 2 to 3 mm.
• Indices
Strength Index, Is
Is = Nu /Nn
Nu Experimental Ultimate Strength

Nn Superposed strength
Nn = fc Ac + fyt At + fys As
Ac , At , As are the area corresponding to concrete, steel tube and diagonal rib
respectively.
The superposed strength corresponds to the weakest cross-section, i.e. the areas
of opening in the rib is subtracted from the As .
Ductility Coefficient, μ
μ = ε85% /εy
Fig. 13 Load versus strain

graph [1]
ε85% = Axial strain when the load falls to 85% of the ultimate load and εy , yield
strain as shown in Fig. 13.
From Load verses Strain graph of various combinations certain results were
analysed.
For instance comparing a 3 mm thick steel tube specimens as shown in Fig. 14.
• Comparing the results of unstiffened specimen and stiffened specimen with a
2 mm thick diagonal bar (both specimen of 3 mm thick steel tube) the ductility
coefficient increased by 73.4%, ultimate load increased by 9.2%, strength index
increased by 8.7%.
Concluding various results.
Thickness of diagonal rib improves the ductility in a higher rate but not much
influence in the ultimate strength.
• When the details of the openings of rib was taken into account like opening shape,
dimension of opening, spacing; load verses strain graph was plotted by varying
the above parameters.

graph of 3 mm thick steel
tube (rib thickness) [1]

tube (opening spacing) [1]
For instance comparing the graph Fig. 15, Specimens both stiffened with 2 mm
thick rib, 2 mm steel tube and of an opening diameter 60 mm but with varying
spacing of 150 and 225 mm.
When the spacing was increased ductility increased by 26% whereas the strength
was decreased but in a small rate of 6% in average.
Concluding various results.
The ultimate strengths and ductility capacities differ little when the opening diam-
eter is about 0.4–0.6 times the diagonal rib width or the opening spacing is about
2.5–3.8 times the opening diameter.
• When the opening shape is taken under consideration shown in Fig. 16.
Comparing results square openings has more strength but less ductility compared
to circular openings. The strength was more because net cross sectional area of
steel is more for square than for circle. The ductility was reduced due to stress
concentration. The ductility had a greater change of 37.5% while strength only

tube (opening shape) [1]
a slight difference of 6% was found. Hence by giving more credit to ductility

circular openings were finalised.
• Comparing the section efficiency
The octagonal CFST can be seen as diagonal rib stiffened without four triangular
corners. Due to presence of four triangular corner, the increase in ultimate strength
was about 35%. Therefore it’s noted that four corner triangular prisms provide
more axial performance.
Confinement of diagonal ribbed specimens is more than that of octagonal ones.
Octagonal specimens has more confinement than square CFST. The buckling
mode various specimens is shown in Figs. 17 and 18.
• Strain Development
Before the ultimate load the strain development of steel tube and diagonal ribs were
the same, linear and the experimental results were consistent. While approaching
ultimate load the steel tube buckled before the diagonal rib, but both yielded before
the ultimate load.
The εh /εv of the diagonal ribs and steel tube was 0.25 which is equal to poisons
ratio. The strain development shows that the diagonal ribs and the steel tube
carried load together, and the diagonal ribs played a similar role as the steel tube,
Fig. 17 Load versus strain graph of 2 mm thick steel tube (cross-section) [1]
Fig. 18 Buckling mode of various specimens [1]

i.e., the diagonal ribs improved the axial performance by co-carrying the axial
compressive force with the steel tube and confining the steel tube and concrete.
When the strain data was analysed, strains before ultimate load was similar which
shows that the section was under uniform compression and thereby concrete was
under uniform confinement.
From all these results it is concluded that the diagonal rib stiffened CFST has the
more structural performance compared to all the other sections [1].
• Welding positions
The confinement effectiveness coefficient was calculated

Ke = B2 − 0.75b2 − 0.66(B − 2b)2 / B2
To get its maximum it is differentiated with respect to rib width, b.

We get
b = B/3
B = steel tube width [6].
3.3 Analytical Studies
3.3.1 Results from ANSYS Software
A finite element model was developed using ANSYS software. One end fixed and
at the other end displacement in z direction was allowed. Load is given at the latter
end. As shown in Fig. 19.
After modelling the model was validated with the experimental results until similar
values were obtained. The failure model as well as axial load strain curves were same
as the experimental results.
• Opening diameter
By varying the diameter from 0 to 50% of steel tube width (B). The ultimate
strength was reduced by 5%. Therefore increase in the diameter leads to strength
decrease. But provision of openings helps in concreting, increased anchorage and
avoid disengagement with concrete and steel.
Providing an average diameter opening will give an optimum strength. Therefore
circular diameter in a range of 20–25% of steel tube width is suitable. Smaller
diameter for wider ribs and larger for narrower can be provided in order to facilitate
the concreting.
• Opening spacing
By varying the spacing from 1 to 7 times the opening diameter, there was a total
increase of strength by 2%. If the spacing is reduced, it will result in highly stressed
region making it weak in strength. By observation, providing a spacing of 1–2
times the opening diameter had an abrupt increase in the ultimate strength.
Fig. 19 Finite element

model
Hence opening spacing should be at least 2 times opening diameter.

• Concrete and Steel strength
By using high strength concrete from 50 to 70 MPa the ultimate strength was
increased by 35%.
By using high strength steel for steel tube the increase in ultimate strength was
12% but for diagonal rib it was about 2%. Therefore provide high strength steel
for the tube for more axial capacity.
• Slenderness
Increasing the slenderness ratio by means of increased length, the ultimate strength
firstly decreased and reached a constant state.
Increasing the slenderness ratio by means of decreased lateral dimension, the
ultimate strength decreased abruptly. When lateral dimension was changed from
500 to 300 mm the ultimate strength dropped by 60%.
3.3.2 Results from MATLAB
A program function was developed using MATLAB. It was validated with the exper-
imental results. By varying the parameters the ultimate strength and Euler’s critical
buckling load of diagonal rib stiffened CFST can be obtained. The function developed
predicted the ultimate strength with minimum standard deviation from experimental
results.
The parameters that can be varied for predicting the ultimate strength are
• Breadth of the square steel tube
• Thickness of steel tube

• Length of steel tube
• Thickness of diagonal rib
• Diameter of the openings in diagonal rib
• Spacing of the openings in diagonal rib
• Yield stress of steel tube and diagonal rib
• Compressive strength of concrete used.
The program for ultimate strength and critical buckling load was developed based
on the following concept. The strength capacity of a section can be analysed from the
basic equation of stress multiplied by the force acting normal cross-sectional area.
Thereby applying the same method over here, the ultimate strength will be the sum
of strength from steel tube, concrete core and diagonal rib.
Np = Ac σcc + At σtv + As σsv
Np is the predicted ultimate strength; Ac , At , As are the effective cross-sectional

areas of concrete, steel tube, and diagonal ribs, respectively. σcc, σtv , σsv are the
compressive strength of confined concrete, vertical stresses of steel tube and diagonal
ribs, respectively. According to Mander et al. [7]
√
σcc = fc −1.254 + 2.254 1 + 7.94fr /fc − 2fr /fc
fr = ke fr
fr , fr is the effective confining stress and confining stress respectively. ke is the

confinement effectiveness coefficient.
ke = Ace /Ac
Ace cross-sectional area of effectively confined concrete.

Critical buckling load,
Pcr = 9.86 ∗ (EI)eff /L2eff
(EI)eff Effective flexural stiffness.
4 Conclusions
The diagonal rib stiffened CFST is more improved version in the evolution of
CFST, it’s used as mega columns, high rise buildings and multi-storey buildings.
The observations and results of this specimen is as follows
• It combines the advantages of point, line and lateral closed confinement.

As well as it has got continuous strong confinement and can relax width to
thickness ratio.
• Enhanced fire resistance, Cost effective and increased ultimate strength and
ductility.
• The tube buckling was delayed even after the ultimate load, which makes it more
structurally good in the case of columns.
• The failure mode of this specimen was when concrete crushed where the tube
buckled.
• Thickness of diagonal rib improves the ductility in a higher rate but not much
influence in the ultimate strength.
• Ultimate strengths and ductility capacities differ little when the opening diameter
is about 0.4–0.6 times the diagonal rib width or the opening spacing is about
2.5–3.8 times the opening diameter. The shape optimised was circular shape than
square.
• Comparing the sectional efficiency the diagonal rib stiffened specimen performed
greater than the octagonal specimen due to the presence of four extra corner
triangular prisms. And the octagonal CFST is better than square CFST.
• By strain analysis it was found that the strain development of steel tube and
diagonal ribs were the same, which implies both co carries the axial load. And
the compression was uniform thereby the confinement was uniform.
• Theoretical ultimate strength could evaluate the strength in an approximate way.
From analytical studies, opening diameter in a range of range of 20–25% of
steel tube width is suitable. Opening spacing should be at least 2 times opening
diameter.
• The best welding position is when the rib thickness equals 1/3 of tube width and
use of high strength steel and concrete enhances the properties.
• High strength concrete can increase the axial capacity by 35%. If high strength
steel is used as steel tube it provides better result.
• Increased slenderness ratio can decrease the ultimate strength by 60%.
• MATLAB function program is developed which can well predict the ultimate
strength of diagonal rib stiffened CFST and critical buckling load.
References
1. Zhou Z, Gan D, Zhou X (2019) Improved composite effect of square concrete-filled steel tubes
with diagonal binding ribs. J Struct Eng 145(10):04019112
2. Kitada T (1998) Ultimate strength and ductility of state-of-the-art concrete-filled steel bridge
piers in Japan. Eng Struct 20(4–6):347–354
3. Yang Y, Wang Y, Fu F (2014) Effect of reinforcement stiffeners on square concrete-filled steel
tubular columns subjected to axial compressive load. Thin-Walled Struct 82:132–144
4. Zhang JG, Liu YJ, Yang J, Xu KL (2011) Experimental research and finite element analysis of
concrete-filled steel box columns with longitudinal stiffeners. Adv Mater Res 287:1037–1042
5. Tao Z, Han LH, Wang ZB (2005) Experimental behaviour of stiffened concrete-filled thin-walled
hollow steel structural (HSS) stub columns. J Constr Steel Res 61(7):962–983
6. Zhou X, Zhou Z, Gan D (2019) Analysis and design of axially loaded square CFST columns
with diagonal ribs. J Constr Steel Res, p 105848
7. Mander JB, Priestley MJN, Park R (1988) Theoretical stress strain model for confined concrete.
J Struct Eng 114(8)
Seismic Pounding Between Adjacent RC
Buildings with Asymmetric Alignment
P. Ambili, V. N. Krishnachandran, and Katta Venkataramana
Abstract During earthquakes, adjacent structures may collide with each other due to
different dynamic characteristics. When buildings vibrate out-of-phase and the sepa-
ration gap provided between buildings is not sufficient to accommodate their relative
motions, collisions can cause severe damage or even complete collapse of structures,
and is known as seismic pounding. In metropolitan cities, due to increased population
and land values, buildings have been constructed with inadequate separation distance
between them. The seismic oscillations induced in a structure in a block of buildings
will be partly restrained in lateral displacements and hence torsional movements are
introduced (asymmetric pounding). Two different types of impacts may occur during
pounding including floor-to-floor and floor-to-column (inter-storey) collisions. In
this paper, the effects of asymmetric (contact asymmetry) pounding on the seismic
response of adjacent buildings with symmetric plan and unequal building heights are
studied. Time history analysis of adjacent buildings with different pounding cases
involving 1, 2 and 3 column pounding is carried out using the software ETABS and
the corresponding torsional response is evaluated. The influence of separation gap
and floor heights between the adjacent structures on the torsion effect is investigated
and the results are compared with no pounding case.
Keywords Separation gap · Inter-storey pounding · Contact asymmetry · Time

history analysis · Torsion
P. Ambili (B) · V. N. Krishnachandran

Department of Civil Engineering, NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, Kerala, India
V. N. Krishnachandran
K. Venkataramana
Department of Civil Engineering, NITK, Surathkal, Mangalore, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_67
736 P. Ambili et al.
1 Introduction
Damage assessment of buildings from past earthquakes has revealed that exces-
sive torsional response is one of the most important factors, which produces severe
damage or even complete collapse of structures. Such torsional effects occurs due to
different reasons such as the non-uniform distribution of mass, stiffness and strength,
the presence of rotational components in ground motions, etc. Generally torsion is
caused by the distance (eccentricity) between Centre of mass and Centre of rigidity
of the structure. In addition, the pounding of adjacent structures may also produce
torsion in buildings due to the restriction in lateral displacements between them.
The rise of population and limited availability of land in urban areas have led to
the construction of elevated structures with less or no separation distance between
them. In such areas, pounding can happen between the closely spaced buildings
during large earthquakes [1]. Seismic pounding refers to the hammering or collision
of adjacent structures or buildings resulting in the generation of high impact force
and short duration acceleration pulses, developing both local and global damages.
These collisions are enhanced when the adjacent structures vibrate out of phase due
to difference in their natural periods, as most of the buildings are of different dynamic
properties [2].
The two types of interactions that may occur during pounding include floor-to-
floor collisions and floor-to-column collisions as shown in Fig. 1. The first type
occurs when the adjacent structures have same floor heights, while the second type
takes place when they have different floor heights [3]. Apart from these, pounding
of heavier building with adjacent lighter building, pounding of taller building with
adjacent shorter building, torsional pounding and end building pounding are also
observed during seismic ground motions.
Majority of the studies so far have focused on the symmetric (i.e., translational)
pounding while the asymmetric (i.e., torsional) pounding is ignored. The asymmetric
pounding occurs as any of the following two cases:
Fig. 1 Types of pounding [3]

Seismic Pounding Between Adjacent RC Buildings … 737
Fig. 2 Two cases of asymmetric pounding [4]
1. Structure asymmetry: In this case, one of the two colliding structures is asym-
metric, that is there will be eccentricity (ex or ey ) between the Centre of Mass
(C.M) and the Centre of Rigidity (C.G). This type of asymmetric pounding is
also termed as eccentric pounding (Fig. 2a).
2. Contact asymmetry: In this case, the contact area is asymmetric, that is the
colliding buildings may not be on the same row (Fig. 2b).
The asymmetric pounding may induce torque in colliding buildings. The torsional
effects due to this type of pounding has not been studied effectively yet. In
metropolitan cities, the seismic oscillations induced in a structure in a block of build-
ings will be partly restrained in lateral displacements and hence torsional movements
are introduced [4].
This paper aims to study the torsional effects induced due to asymmetric (contact
asymmetry) floor-to-floor pounding between adjacent reinforced concrete buildings
of different heights by considering different separation distances between them.
2 Pounding Cases
In order to evaluate the torsional effects due to pounding between adjacent buildings
that are partly in contact to each other in an asymmetric way, the following pounding
cases are considered (Fig. 3):
Case 1: 3-column pounding

Case 2: 2-column pounding
Case 3: 1-column pounding.
It is assumed that the seismic induced oscillations of the tall building is laterally
partly restrained by the other structure and therefore torsional behavior is introduced
during earthquake excitation. Therefore in the examined cases, pounding between
adjacent structures introduces significant plan symmetry in the building in terms of
Fig. 3 Various pounding cases
lateral stiffness distribution. All the above said cases include asymmetric pounding
between a 6 storey and an adjacent building having ns storey levels, where ns = 1, 2,
3, 4, 5 and 6. Each one of the pounding cases is examined, considering the structures
having an initial separation gap of 80 mm between them; further each pounding case
is examined considering that there is no gap (dg = 0) and the results are compared
with no pounding case.
3 Gap Element
To model the collision between buildings, gap element is used. It is an element that
connects two adjacent nodes to model the contact. In ETABS 2016, gap has been
defined as a link element. It is a compression-only element required to assess the
pounding force and simulate the effect of pounding. This becomes activated when
the corresponding nodes come into contact and gets deactivated when they go far
away [5]. The stiffness of gap element is taken as 477600 kN/m [6].
The response of the contact element is shown in Fig. 4. The negative direction of
the X-axis represents the condition that the buildings move away from each other.
In the positive direction of X-axis, there are two parts in order to simulate the actual
behavior of structures in case there is an initial small gap distance (dg ) between
them. The first part represents that the structures move one towards the other but the
displacements are small and the existing gap is not covered. In this case, the contact
element remains non-active and the buildings continue to vibrate independently. The
second inclined part represents that the structures move towards each other and the
sum of displacements of adjacent buildings bridge the existing gap or the structures
are in contact from beginning (dg = 0). In this case, the contact element responds as
a spring with large stiffness [7].
Fig. 4 Response of the

contact elements [8]
4 Structural Modeling
In this paper, two adjacent buildings having different floor heights with gap elements
are considered to represent pounding. These consists of two typical moment resisting
RC framed buildings A and B of three bays in each direction, located in high seis-
micity region of India. Building A is a 6-storey structure and the number of floors
(ns ) of building B is varied from 1 to 6. These buildings are designed according to
IS 456:2000 considering both gravity and seismic loads.
Plan dimension of both buildings A and B are 9 m × 9 m and floor height is
3.0 m. An accidental eccentricity equals to ±5% of the relevant plan dimension of
the building as per IS 1893:2016 (Part1) [9] is considered. Material properties are
assumed to be M25 grade for beams and M30 grade for columns and Fe415 grade
steel for reinforcement. The slab thickness is taken as 120 mm and all beams are
300 mm × 400 mm. The column size is taken as 300 mm × 600 mm for Ground and
first floors and 300 mm × 400 mm for remaining floors. The live load considered is
3 kN/m2 on the floors and 1.5 kN/m2 on the roof. Floor finish on the floors is taken
as 1 kN/m2 .
5 Non-linear Analysis of Pounding
The structural modeling and analysis of different pounding cases are carried out using
ETABS software. The beam and column elements of the buildings are modeled as
non-linear frame elements connected at nodes with lumped mass at the center of each
floor. Each structure responds dynamically and vibrates independently. Collision
occurs when the lateral displacements of the structure at floor levels exceed the
pre-defined gap distance (dg ) between the two structures.
In this study, time history analysis is carried out to evaluate the dynamic response
of the structure. Both the buildings are subjected to El-Centro ground motion
(Imperial Valley, 1940) in the longitudinal direction.
6.1 Torsional Behavior
The time history of torsional moment at the base floor of the 6-storey building, due
asymmetric pounding that occur between it and an adjacent 3 storey building, for
the 3 pounding cases are presented in Fig. 5. It is observed that case 3 (1-column
pounding) induced more peak torsional moments at the base floor than the other
cases due to high asymmetry.
The influence of number of stories (total height) of the adjacent structure on the
torsional response developed at the base of building A due to asymmetric pounding
cases 2 and 3 is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The results of pounding between the 6 storey
building A (6RC) and a single storey (1RC), a three storey (3RC), a five storey (5RC)
and a 6 storey (6RC) buildings are shown.
From the analysis, it is clear that the torsion developed in 6 storey building depends
on the height of the adjacent building. In general, it is observed that the developing
torsion increases as the height (number of storeys) of the adjacent building increases.
Figure 8 presents the torsional response due to asymmetric pounding cases 2
and 3 for separation distance 80 mm and no gap between the 6 storey and 2 storey
buildings. It is found that as the separation distance is increased, the developing
torsional moments in the building are reduced. From the figures, it can be found that
asymmetric type of pounding results in significant torsional response and high value
Fig. 5 Time history of torsional moment at base floor due to asymmetric pounding between 6
storey and 3 storey buildings for various pounding cases
Fig. 6 Torsional moment at the base of building A (6RC) due to case 2 (2-column) pounding
1000 Time history of torsional moment at base floor

(Case 3)
Torsional moment
500
(kNm)
0
0 4 8 12 16 20
-500 6RC-1RC
6RC-3RC
6RC-5RC
-1000 Time (sec)
6RC-6RC
Fig. 7 Torsional moment at the base floor of building A (6RC) due to case 3 (1-column) pounding
Fig. 8 Time history of torsional moment due to asymmetric floor-to-floor pounding between 6-
storey and 2-storey buildings for various cases
Fig. 9 Shear time history for column C1 of second floor due to torsional movement induced by
asymmetric pounding cases between 6-storey and 2-storey buildings
torsional moments in the building although the plan view is symmetric. In the case
of building without pounding, it is found that no torsional moments are developed
and consequently no torsional movement (Fig. 8).
6.2 Column Shear Forces
As expected, the developed torsional moments in the considered building signifi-

cantly influences the distribution of shear forces in the columns. It is seen that the
shear forces developed in column C1 of building A decrease in the direction of
earthquake excitation (x-direction) due to movement restraint provided by adjacent
2-storey building, whereas significant shear forces are developed in the normal direc-
tion (Y-direction). Figure 9 presents the time history of developed shear forces in the
peripheral column C1 of the second floor of building A, for asymmetric pounding
cases 2 and 3 between 6-storey and 2-storey buildings. Results indicate that peak
shear forces are induced in case 3 pounding as compared to case 2 pounding.
7 Conclusions
• Seismic induced oscillations between adjacent buildings that are asymmetric in

contact introduces significant torsional movements.
• The developed torsional moment at the base increases as the number of storeys
(or total height) of the adjacent building increases.
• The cases with buildings that were in contact developed more torsional response
than buildings with a separation distance of 80 mm. In the case of buildings without
pounding, it is found that no torsional moments are developed and consequently

no torsional movement.
• The torsional moments developed due to asymmetric pounding significantly
affects the shear force developed in the peripheral column of the floor undergoing
pounding.
• High shear forces are developed in the columns, in the direction normal to the
direction of earthquake excitation, although the plan view is symmetric in both
directions.
• Results indicate that the peak torsional moments and shear forces are developed
in case of 1-column pounding than 2-column pounding, due to high asymmetry.
References
1. Anagnostopoulos SA (1988) Pounding of buildings in series during earthquakes. Earthq Eng

Struct Dyn, 16:443–456
2. Anagnostopoulos SA, Spiliopoulost V (1992) An investigation of earthquake induced pounding
between adjacent structures. Earthq Eng Struct Dyn 21:289–302
3. Papadrakakis M, Apostolopoulou C, Zacharopoulos A, Bitzarakis S (1996) Three-dimensional
simulation of structural pounding during earthquakes. J Eng Mech 122:423–431
4. Miari M, Choong KK, Jankowski R (2018) Seismic pounding between adjacent buildings:
identification of parameters, soil interaction issues and mitigation measures. Soil Dyn Earthq
Eng 121:135–150
5. Favvata MJ, Mochla SE, Naoum MC, Karayannis CG (2015) Assessment of multistorey
RC buildings suffering inter-storey pounding. In: 5th ECCOMAS thematic conference on
computational methods in structural dynamics and earthquake engineering, May, 2015
6. Rajaram C, Ramancharla PK (2014) Three dimensional analysis of pounding between adjacent
buildings. J Struct Eng 41(2):1–11
7. Karayannis CG, Naoum MC (2018) Torsional behavior of multistorey RC frame structures due
to asymmetric interaction. Earthq Eng Struct 163:93–111
8. Favatta MJ (2017) Minimum required separation gap for adjacent RC frames with potential
inter-story seismic pounding. Eng Struct 152:643–659
9. IS 1893 (Part 1) (2016) Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures
Performance Characteristics
of Self-cured Recycled Aggregate
Concrete with SCM’s
Lakshmi Thotakura, Sankar Kumar Reddy Pullalacheruvu,

Ganesh Babu Kodeboyina, and V. Krishna Rao Mupparisetty
Abstract Self-cured recycled aggregate concrete with shrinkage reducing admix-

tures is one of the pioneering researches in the construction industry. There is a
possibility of depletion of natural resources due to prolonged consumption over a
period of time in our modern civilization. In this research, characteristics of recycled
aggregate concrete with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) like powdered
limestone and fly ash with self-curing agent PEG6000 were investigated along with
the conventional concrete. Hydration plays a predominant role in the properties of
hardened concrete. Particularly in high strength concretes, micro cracking occurs due
to the absence of pore water and lack of relative humidity thus causes self-desiccation.
The experimental studies exhibit the performance of concrete mixes with 35% lime-
stone powder in LP60 and 35% fly ash in SC60 and RA60. The mechanical and
durability properties of M60 concretes with SCM’s and PEG6000 were investigated.
The results indicated that concretes with 1% self-curing compound shows improved
results than the mixes with 0%. All the concretes mixes achieve the properties at the
range of self-compacting concrete in the green state.
Keywords Concrete · Curing-internal curing · Self-curing · Supplementary

cementitious materials-limestone powder · Fly ash · Recycled aggregate ·
PEG6000
L. Thotakura (B) · S. K. R. Pullalacheruvu

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology, Gandipet, Hyderabad, India
G. B. Kodeboyina
Mahindra Ecole Centrale, Jeedimetla, Hyderabad, India
V. K. R. Mupparisetty
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Gandipet, Hyderabad, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_68
746 L. Thotakura et al.
1 Introduction
Concrete is the most consumed material in the construction industry because of

its versatility. Curing of concrete plays an essential role in the process of cement
hydration in the early stages to maintain optimal conditions in the concrete after
casting. The better hydration of cement results the requisite fresh and hardened
properties of concrete as well as increases the performance of the structure [1].
Concrete mixes with low water-cement ratios (w/c) having inadequate amount of
water to promote the hydration thus results the cracks and shrinkage in concrete. To
conquer these complications by incorporating supplementary cementitious materials
(SCM) for effective hydration of cement. Due to low w/c approximately 0.4, the water
might not be obtainable for the SCMs to react with calcium hydroxide.
The self-curing or internal curing technique (IC) was proposed to enhance
the properties of external curing to overcome the issues regarding hydration and
shrinkage properties. Internal curing (IC) is described from the American Concrete
Institute (ACI), as: “supplying water throughout a freshly placed cementitious
mixture using reservoirs, via pre-wetted lightweight aggregates, that readily release
water as needed for hydration or to replace moisture lost through evaporation or self–
desiccation” (ACI 2010). This practice includes the supply of water internally with in
the concrete during casting which promotes better hydration as well as maintaining
of relative humidity [2].
Internal curing creates a revolution in the construction industry and enhance the
properties of pore and micro structure. However, the consequences of internal curing
were examined on the mixes contains SCMs like natural pozzolans (NP) of fly ash,
GGBS, ferrosilicon etc. The substitution of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with
natural pozzolan might enlarge the autogenous and drying shrinkage of concrete.
Self-curing (IC) might be of great advantage by the addition of NP because it can
promote the pozzolanic reactions and reduce shrinkage properties of concrete [3].
The main function poly ethylene glycol (PEG) is to reduce the surface tension of
water and reduce water evaporation from concrete and also it is easily soluble in
water with because of its high molecular weight than water [4]. PEG is a hydroxyl
compound and helps to retain water in the concrete.
On the other hand, utilization of recycled aggregate as a replacement of coarse
aggregate in concrete for the sustainable development of the society and minimize the
depletion of natural resources in the construction industry and manage the demoli-
tion waste. Recycled aggregate (RA) is a new alternative to natural aggregate which
preserves the environment [5]. The efficacy of self-curing of high-strength self-
consolidating concrete (SCC) using saturated recycled-concrete aggregates shows
superior results on shear strength of concrete [6]. 100% utilization of Recycle aggre-
gates meet the higher strength and durability properties when compared with the
control concrete. Addition of crushed returned concrete aggregate (CCA) with light
weight fine aggregate (LWFA) significantly reduces the autogenous shrinkage [7].
Incorporation of Lime powder in concrete as a replacement of cement enhance the
properties of microstructure properties [8]. The carbonation behavior of hydraulic
Performance Characteristics of Self-cured Recycled Aggregate … 747
and nonhydraulic calcium silicate phases was subjected to carbonation reaction at

different concentration of CO2 and temperatures. The hydraulic and non-hydraulic
calcium silicates demonstrated increased reaction rate in case of carbonation reaction
rather than the hydration [9].
2 Experimental Approach
2.1 Materials
The main aim of this research were investigated to quantify the behavior of materials
for better sustainability. The following materials were used in this investigation to
examine the performance characteristics of self-curing concrete. Ordinary Portland
cement of 53 grade conforming to S12269:1987, with a fineness of cement less than
90 µ and specific gravity of cement is 3.15. Initial and final Setting time of cement
were found to be 40 and 550 min respectively. The limestone powder (LP) were used
as replacement of cement having particle sizes are very much finer than the cement
ranging in diameter less than 1 microns to not more than 90 µm. Class F fly ash were
used in this investigation with a specific gravity of 2.2.
Locally available fine aggregate were used in this research with a Specific gravity
of 2.62 and Fineness Modulus of 3.02 respectively. The Sand were conforming to
zone II as per IS 383:1970. Saturated surface dry recycled concrete aggregate were
used as a replacement of coarse aggregate and they were brought from the crushed
concrete blocks used in the laboratory and crushed in a mini crusher with a maximum
size of 20 mm shown in Fig. 1. The shrinkage reducing admixture, Polyethylene
12mm 20mm 6mm sand

CUMMULATIVE PERCENTAGE
120
100
PASSING(%)
80
60
40
20
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
SIEVE SIZE
(MM)
Fig. 1 Gradation curves of recycled aggregates and fine aggregates

glycol (PEG) was used as a self-curing agent having hydrophilic polymer in nature
and available in the form of white flakes. The specific gravity of PEG 6000 is 1.08
and PH values lies between 5 and 7. Polycarboxylate based super plasticizer with
little amount of VMA were used in this investigation to accelerates and increase the
strength at initial stages and eventually reduces the demand of water. The water used
for mixing and curing of concrete is fresh portable water available in the laboratory.
2.2 Mix Details
To investigate the effect of Polyethylene glycol 6000 with limestone powder and
fly ash on the properties of self-cured recycle aggregate concrete, M60 grade of
concrete mixes were designed as per ACI and IS standard specifications and modified
according to EFNARC specifications and GNS Rao [10] et al. based on efficiency
of fly ash in SCC. In this research, four types of mixes were designed with different
material proportions. The first mix is of replacing cement with 35% limestone powder
(LP), the second mix contains replacement of cement with 35% fly ash and the third
mix contains replacement of cement with 35% fly ash by the addition of 1% PEG6000
as self-curing (SC) agent in concrete with 100% recycled aggregate (RA). NA60 is
control mix of concrete. From Table 1, There are 4 mixes of LP60, RA60, SC60 and
NA60 concretes and 3 types of curing regimes: Fully Cured (FC), Partially Cured
(PC), Internal-cured or self-cured (IC), were carried out. To examine the performance
parameters of concrete with 26 cube specimens of size 15 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm and
27 cylinders of size 15 cm dia. and 30 cm height were prepared.
As said earlier, there are 3 types of curing regimes in which the specimens were
placed in water just after demolding the specimens and continued for 28 days for
fully cured. Whereas in Partially cured, the specimens were placed in water for 3 h
on 3rd day after casting and no further curing were done. For internal-cured, the
specimens were uncured and left over in a room at nominal room temperature.
Table 1 Mix design of M60 concrete for supplementary cementitious materials along with control
concrete in different proportions
Mix Cementitious materials (kg) Recycled aggregates (kg) Water PEG SP
Cement LP FA 20 mm 12 mm Sand (kg) (%) (%)
LP60 325 175 0 497 497 663 160 0 1.5

RA60 325 0 175 497 497 663 160 0 1.5
SC60 325 0 175 497 497 663 160 1 1.5
NA60 325 0 0 497 497 663 160 0 1.5
Table 2 Workability of M60

Mix Slump flow (mm) J-ring (mm)
concrete mixes with slump
flow and J-ring LP60 240 650
RA60 200 580
SC60 230 680
NA60 210 600
2.3 Testing Methodology
The following testing methods were conducted in this research to determine the
properties of concrete. Fresh properties of workability were examined by slump flow
and J-ring parameters as per EFNARC, ACI and IS code guidelines. The hardened
properties such as compressive strength was carried out at 3, 7 and 28 days according
to IS 516 (BIS, 1956). Similarly, the Rebound hammer test was conducted as per the
IS: 13311(2)-1992. The split tensile strength was carried out for 7 and 28 days as per
IS 5816 (1999). The sorpitivity test were conducted according to ASTM C1585-13.
3 Results and Analysis
3.1 Green State Characteristics of M60 Concrete Mixes
From the above observations the workability properties of J-ring, for LP60 mix,
the slump flow was found to be around 240 mm and the J-ring flow is in the range
of 650 mm which also resembles the highly fluidic nature of concrete compared
with RA60 and NA60 provided in Table 2. For SC60 mix contains PEG6000, the
slump flow was found to be around 230 mm and J-ring flow is 680 mm with high
fluidic nature. These concretes attain the workability in the range of self-compacting
concrete with EFNARC specifications.
3.2 Hardened State Characteristics of M60 Concrete Mixes
3.2.1 Variation of Weights Loss in M60 Concrete Mixes with Age
From Table 3 it is clearly shown that the results of variation of weights with time. In
the above mixes the % weight loss for LP60 Fully cured specimens were increased
from 0.81% to 4.49 for 1 day and 7 days and suddenly reduced 3.05% at 7 days and
2.55% at 28 days. Similarly, for RA60, SC60 mixes also shows similar variation of
weight loss results whereas in NA60 Specimens weights increased at 28 days.
Table 3 % Variation of weight loss with age in M60 concrete mixes

% Variation of weight loss with age
Mix Day 1 Day 3 Day 7 Day 28
LP60FC 0.81 4.49 3.05 2.55
LP60PC 0.93 3.56 4.63 5.05
LP60IC 1.32 3.77 4.51 4.85
RA60FC 3.72 4.42 2.29 1.91
RA60PC 2.11 2.96 3.07 3.33
RA60IC 1.99 2.91 3.43 3.64
SC60FC 2.47 3.69 1.78 1.30
SC60PC 2.04 2.96 3.46 4.25
SC60IC 1.87 3.81 4.11 4.80
NA60FC 1.75 2.79 0.19 −0.75
NA60PC 1.77 2.77 2.77 2.95
NA60IC 1.53 2.58 3.16 3.20
For Partially cured (PC) specimens, the variation of weights for all mixes were
shows similar effect and the loss will be goes on increasing along with the age. For
Internal cured (IC) specimens also shows the similar effect along with the age.
3.2.2 Compressive Strength and Rebound Number of M60 Concrete

Mixes
The compressive strength and rebound number of 4 mixes were given in Table 4.
LP60 mixes gain early strength due to higher hydration where as in RA60, SC60
and NA60 shows better results. From Fig. 2 it can be clearly observed that, in fully
cured specimens, control concrete attains 62.6 MPa strength slightly higher values
than the remaining mixes for 28 days.
For partially cured (PC) specimens, less strength was attained for LP60 is 54.7
MPa for 28 days when compared with remaining mixes. For Internally cured (IC)
specimens, SC60 gain good amount of high strength of 56.2 MPa for 28 days when
compared with other mixes. Coming to Rebounder Number, the results shows higher
values for RA60 and NA60 when compared with LP60 and SC60.
3.2.3 Split Tensile Strength of M60 Concrete Mixes with Age
The split tensile strength for 4 mixes were given in Table 5 and shown in Fig. 3.
It is clearly observed that the fully cured specimens of LP60 and NA60 got 6.9
MPa and as 7.1 MPa strengths slightly higher than the RA60 and SC60 for 28 days.
For partially cured (PC) specimens, attained strength was shows similar results for
Table 4 Compressive strength (MPa) and rebound number of M60 concrete along with age
Mix Compressive strength Rebound number
Day 3 Day 7 Day 28 Day 3 Day 7 Day 28
LP60FC 27.2 40.1 60.6 1 45 64
LP60PC 23.8 34.4 54.7 34 38 60
LP60IC 21.2 32.3 51.4 33 35 54
RA60FC 24.3 39.2 60.8 34 42 66
RA60PC 23.5 38.5 57.1 33 40 63
RA60IC 20.3 36.3 54.8 32 39 58
SC60FC 25.6 38.4 60.9 34 43 67
SC60PC 24.3 36.2 58.1 33 39 61
SC60IC 24.1 34.6 56.2 32 38 57
NA60FC 29.2 42.7 62.6 35 45 68
NA60PC 25.4 35.9 57.8 33 39 62
NA60IC 22.1 34.8 54.3 32 39 55
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
80
Compressive Strength (Mpa)
60
Day 3
40
Day 7
Day 28
20
0
R C
N C
SC C
IC
LP C
SC C
C
R C
N C
C
C
I
I
I
F
P
F
P
60
60
60
60
P
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
LP
SC
A
A
LP
A
R
N
A
Age
Fig. 2 Compressive strength of M60 concrete with different mix proportions
all mixes. Even for Internally cured (IC) specimens also achieves the good amount
strength both for 7 and 28 days.
3.2.4 Sorpitivity Studies of M60 Concrete Mixes with Absorption

and Desorption
Figure 4 shows the results of sorpitivity studies after conducting absorption and
desorption. First, the absorption was done in hot air oven at 110 °C and observed
initial and final weights of specimens and calculated evaporable pore water after that
desorption was conducted to measure permeable pore space in the concrete. The
Table 5 Split Tensile

Mix Split tensile strength
Strength of M60 concrete for
7 and 28 days Day 7 Day 28
LP60FC 4.50 6.90
LP60PC 3.80 5.70
LP60IC 3.10 5.10
RA60FC 4.01 6.23
RA60PC 3.93 5.90
RA60IC 3.54 5.32
SC60FC 4.31 6.41
SC60PC 3.95 5.92
SC60IC 3.76 5.63
NA60FC 4.72 7.10
NA60PC 3.80 5.82
NA60IC 3.50 5.27
Fig. 3 Split tensile strength

8 SPLIT TENSILE STRENGTH
of M60 concrete mixes with Day 7
Split Tensile Strength (Mpa)
different curing regimes

Day 28
6
0
RA 60IC
NA 60IC
SC 60IC
IC
LP F C
SC 0F C
LP P C
SC P C
60 C
NA 0F C
NA P C
RA P C
RA 60F
60
60
60
60
60
6
6
LP
Age
Fig. 4 Sorpitivity results of

M60 concrete mixes
observed pore water for fully cured specimens as 3.44% for LP60, 3.15% for RA60
and 2.15 and 3.36% for SC60 and NA60.similarly the pore space was observed as
2.95% for LP60, 2.12% for RA60, 1.32 and 3.01% for SC60 and NA60. For partially
cured specimens pore water is found as 1.47, 2.72, 1.41 and 2.68% where as in pore
space was it was found to be 5.14, 4.04, 4.14 and 5.16%. Even for Internally cured
specimens also pore water is observed as 1.63, 2.98, 1.71 and 2.12% whereas pore
space was observed as 4.31, 5.32, 3.97 and 4.57%.
4 Conclusions
This research clearly shows the performance characteristics of supplementary cemen-

titious materials such as limestone powder, fly ash and shrinkage reducing admix-
ture PEG6000 as self-curing agent in recycled aggregate concrete. The following
observation were concluded and those are listed below:
1. The workability, slump flow ang J-ring values of the four mixes achieved the
properties up to the mark of EFNARC specifications.
2. The concretes containing self-curing agent PEG 6000 and fly ash increases the
workability and also fly ash in concrete enhances later strengths.
3. The variation of weights for the mixes with and without self-curing agent indi-
cates the slight variation due to the aging and it is more in partially cured speci-
mens. The weights were increased by replacing normal aggregates with recycled
concrete aggregates (SSD).
4. For different curing regimes like fully cured, partially cured and internally
cured specimens, the compressive strength and rebound number of LP60 mixes
achieved early strength due to higher hydration where as in RA60, SC60 mixes
were having fly ash, it will give later strengths and also the split tensile strength
was observed as slightly higher for fully cured specimens whereas similar results
were found to be in partial and internal cured specimens for all mixes.
5. Evaporable pore water is more in fully cured specimens rather than the partial
and internal curing. Permeable pore spaces are less in fully cured concretes when
compared with partial and internal curing.
6. Utilization of constructional demolition waste products like Recycled concrete
aggregate and fly ash from Thermal power stations etc., helps in minimizing the
waste and also provides a clean and green environment.
References
1. Mehta PK, Monteiro PJM (2006) Concrete: microstructure, properties, and materials, 3rd edn.
McGraw-Hill, New York
2. Philleo RE (1991) Concrete science and reality. In: Skalny J, Mindess S (eds) Materials science
of concrete II. American Ceramic Society, Westerville, OH, pp 1–8
3. Espinoza-Hijazin G, Paul Á, Lopez M (2012) Concrete containing natural pozzolans: new

challenges for internal curing. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000421
4. Mousa MI, Manhdy MG, Abdel-Reheem AH, Yehia AZ (2014) Mechanical properties of
self-curing concrete (SCUC). Housing and Building National Research Center
5. Yehia S, Helal K, Abusharkh A, Zaher A, Istaitiyeh H (2015) Strength and durability evaluation
of recycled aggregate concrete. Int J Concr Struct Mater 219–239
6. Fakitsas CG, Papakonstantinou PEA, Kiousis PD, ASCE AM, Savva A (2012) Effects of
recycled concrete aggregates on the compressive and shear strength of high-strength self-
consolidating concrete 356–361
7. Kim H, Bentz D (2008) Internal curing with crushed returned concrete aggregates for
high performance concrete. In: NRMCA concrete technology forum: focus on sustainable
development
8. Jung S-H, Saraswathy V, Karthick S, Kathirvel P, Kwon S-J (2018) Microstructure charac-
teristics of fly ash concrete with rice husk ash and lime stone powder. Int J Concr Struct
Mater
9. Ashraf W, Olek J (2016) Carbonation behavior of hydraulic and non-hydraulic calcium sili-
cates: potential of utilizing low-lime calcium silicates in cement-based materials. J Mater Sci
51:6173–6191
10. Ganesh Babu K, Siva Nageswara Rao K (1996) Efficiency of fly ash in concrete with age. Cem
Concr Res 26(3):465–474
Experimental Investigation
on Hydrophobic Concrete
Ahallya Raveendran and Jiji Antony
Abstract The people of Kerala state experienced extreme hardship and unmitigated
misery in the year 2018 and 2019 during the month of August. The fury nature of
rainfall caused floods and various negative impacts on structures, thereby truncating
durability of structures. Some of them were completely destroyed and some required
proper maintenance. This paper depicts the strength and hydrophobic characteristics
of concrete, developed by partial replacement of cement with stearic acid treated
metakaolin. The results showed better properties than normal concrete.
Keywords Stearic acid · Metakaolin · Strength · Hydrophobic concrete · Normal

concrete
1 Introduction
Concrete is one of the most commonly used building material in construction. The
materials deployed in its fabrication constantly interacts with the environment around
it, as a result temperature and humidity affect the moisture levels within it. 2018
and 2019 Kerala flood created huge damages in case of concrete structures, due
to corrosion of reinforcing steel and leakages in the structures. Similar situations
are accelerated by water penetration through tiny capillary pores formed during
hydration process. Aforesaid scenario due to hydrophilic nature (due to capillary
pores) of normal concrete, reflects the need to develop concrete structures that can
tolerate adverse climatic conditions with minimal maintenance. Hydrophilic nature
of concrete affect concrete’s strength and durability characteristics.
Hydrophobic concrete repels water and is developed using hydrophobic crys-
tals, integral waterproofing additives, surface coatings, chemical admixtures and
A. Raveendran (B) · J. Antony

J. Antony

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_69
756 A. Raveendran and J. Antony
mineral admixtures. According to the studies conducted by Mazen et al. [1], aqueous
hydrophobic materials showed higher compressive strength than cementitious admix-
ture. Surface coatings highly reduces water penetration according to the findings of
Vanessa et al. [2]. Studies by Marcelo et al. (2008) proved that, surface hydrophobic
agents (alkilalkoxisiloxanes) effectively reduces penetration by capillary suction [3].
Low cost mineral admixture treated with fatty acid, stearic acid, animal oil etc. can
produce hydrophobic materials. Waste marble powder, can be made hydrophobic
using a modification agent Perflurooctlyethoxysilane. By increasing the amount of
modifying agent, resistance against water penetration can be increased according to
the studies of Wong et al. (2016) [4]. Also waste paper sludge ash and ground gran-
ulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) treated with stearic acid shows improved perfor-
mance [5, 6]. The hydrophobic nature of nanomaterials based superhydrophobic coat-
ings, stearic acid treated GGBS and Ultra high performance concrete were determined
using water contact angle test [7–10]. Contact angle smaller than 90° is considered
to be hydrophilic, larger than 90° is hydrophobic and one which is equal to or higher
than 150° is superhydrophobic.
Various studies have verified the improved performance of GGBS [6, 9]. This
paper focuses on comparative study between GGBS and metakaolin. Metakaolin
was chosen due to its higher specific surface area than GGBS and contains higher
percentage of silica. Silica has great physical properties that can enhance the strength
characteristics. The optimized sample will be extended to concrete for further studies.
2 Basic Mechanism
A material can be made hydrophobic in nature by reducing polarity of interparticle

molecules. Water molecules being polar, simply attract to partial positive or negative
charges. Whereas on neutral surface, they bunch up to form a spherical water droplet.
Chemical admixtures (stearic acid) are active chemicals comprising of long-
chain organic molecules, having a polar hydrophilic cluster (–COO–) connected
to a non-polar hydrophobic organic chain with some polar groups (–OH). The polar
groups within the chain get adsorbate on the surface of cement grains, and there-
fore the hydrophobic side chain with polar hydrophilic groups at the tip, purpose
outwards keeps cement particles apart by electrostatic repulsion. With the progress
of hydration, electric charge diminishes and natural action of hydrating product
occurs.
3 Materials
The materials used for the study were ordinary portland cement, M-sand, coarse
aggregate, metakaolin, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) and stearic
acid (CH3 (CH2 )16 COOH).
Experimental Investigation On Hydrophobic Concrete 757

Physical properties Results
Fineness 5.89%
Standard consistency 31%
Final setting time 264 min
M-sand
Fineness modulus 2.79
3.1 Cement
Ordinary portland cement of grade 53 with commercial name “Sharjah cement” were
collected and its physical properties was tested according to IS 4031:1991—part 2.
The results were tabulated as shown in Table 1.
3.2 M-Sand
M-Sand were collected and its material characterization were done according to IS
2386:2016—part 3. As per IS 383:1970 the tested sample belongs to zone 2. The
results of test conducted on the collected sample are shown in Table 2.
3.3 Mineral Admixtures
GGBS and metakaolin are the mineral admixtures used for the study and their material
characterization are depicted in Table 3.
Mineral admixture Physical properties Results
mineral admixture
GGBS Specific gravity 2.85
Specific surface area (m2 /kg) 420
Specific surface area (m2 /kg) 41,940

Constituents Values
aggregate
Assay 99%
Melting range 54–56 °C
Iodine number 0.5%
Sulphated ash 0.05%
Heavy metals (Pb) 0.001%
Table 5 Properties of stearic

acid
Spdsdsecific gravity 2.8
Water absorption 0.60%
The 10 mm coarse aggregate used in the study were collected and tested according
to IS 2386:2016—part 3 and the results are shown in Table 4.
3.5 Stearic Acid (CH3 (CH2 )16 COOH)
Stearic acid is a long chain of saturated fatty acid that comes from animal and
vegetable fats and oils and are most commonly used material to produce hydrophobic
materials [11, 12]. The characterization of stearic acid are shown in Table 5.
Strength properties and water absorption of normal and modified mortar samples
are tested. Optimized samples were extended to concrete specimen. Thereafter,
hydrophobic properties of the optimized sample are examined.
4.1 Mix Design for Optimization
Mortar cube (1:5 ratio by weight) of size 70.5 × 70.5 × 70.5 mm were casted with 5,
10, 15 and 20% of replacement of cement with 1% stearic acid treated metakaolin and
GGBS. The samples were designated as MK5, MK10, MK15, MK20, GG5, GG10,
GG15 and GG20 respectively. Stearic acid amount is fixed since researches have
proven 1% shows better performance [9]. Mineral admixtures such as metakaolin

Trial mix Cement Fine Coarse Water Super Slump Mix
(kg/m3 ) aggregate aggregate (l) plasticizer value proportion
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (%) (mm)
W/C—0.38 408 1005 957 170 1 140 1:2.46:2.34
W/C—0.40 386 1179 1105 174 1 106 1:3.05:2.86
W/C—0.45 324 1169 867 146 1 0 1:3.61:2.68
and GGBS are thoroughly blended with stearic acid to make them hydrophobic,
before the actual mixing of mortar is done. Mortar specimens are cured for 24 h
at 100% RH and were air dried at room temperature for rest of the curing period
(28 days of curing). The mortar specimen with better performance is extended to
concrete blocks, with cube dimension 150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm under same
curing condition. M20 grade concrete as per IS 10262:2009 [8], using trial and error
method was adopted. Table 6 shows the concrete mix proportion and W/C ratio 0.40
was selected and target strength of 26.6 N/mm2 was attained.
4.2 Tests on Mortar and Concrete
The compressive strength and water absorption tests were conducted for mortar and
concrete cube specimens. Hydrophobicity test were carried out for optimized sample
using mortar cubes.
4.3 Compressive Strength and Water Absorption Test
Compressive strength test was carried out according to IS 516-2016 (concrete spec-
imen) and IS 4031 part 6 (mortar specimen). Water absorption test was conducted
according to IS: 2185 (PART4).
4.4 Hydrophobicity Test
Water contact angle test was used to determine hydrophobicity of the optimized
sample. Contact angle are determined using Canon EOS 6D camera and ImageJ soft-
ware [13]. For conducting the test, water droplet were allowed to fall on the surface
of optimized mortar and normal mortar specimen using a syringe. The photographs
of droplet after 10 s (stabilization time) was captured and analyzed.
28th day compressive strength of mortar were determined as per IS 4031 part 6.
The results obtained for modified and normal mortar cube specimen (average of 3
samples) are shown in Fig. 1a. The compressive strength value of 1:5 mortar mix
with 53 grade cement is found to be less than 53 N/mm2 due to reduced cement
content in it. Also various parameters such as w/c ratio, specific gravity etc. affects
the compressive strength value of mortar specimen. Test results showed an increase
in compressive strength for MK5 and GG5 sample, thereafter decreasing. Modified
mortar showed higher value compared to normal mortar which is due to the dense
packing introduced by metakaolin and GGBS. Comparing MK5 and GG5, MK5
showed higher value. This is due to higher surface area of metakaolin than GGBS.
The decrease in strength at higher replacement level is due to decrease in workability
thereby lowering the performance. 28th day compressive strength (average of 3
samples) obtained for normal and optimized concrete sample (MK5) are shown in
Fig. 1b. In case of concrete specimen the estimated target strength was achieved in
the 28th day.
a b
31
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH N/mm2
30
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH N/mm2
29.84
25 30
29
20
28
15
27 26.37
10
26
5
25
0
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 24
REPLACEMENT
Control Modified
GGBS METAKAOLIN SAMPLES
Fig. 1 a 28th day compressive strength, b compressive strength of control and optimized sample
at 28th day
WATER ABSORTION 10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20%
REPLACEMENT
GGBS METAKAOLIN
Fig. 2 Water absorption after replacing with GGBS and metakaolin
Table 7 Water absorption of

Sample Results (%)
optimized concrete specimen
Normal 1.77
Hydrophobic 0.59
5.2 Water Absorption Test
Results of water absorption test (average of 3 samples) conducted on modified and

normal samples are graphically represented in Fig. 2. The percentage of water absorp-
tion increases with increase in percentage replacement. GG5 and MK5 samples
showed least water absorption than normal specimen. This is because optimum
blending occurs at 5% replacement leading to the formation of crystalline prod-
ucts in the pore created during the hydration period [1]. Comparing GG5 and MK5,
MK5 showed better results due to higher surface area of metakaolin. The increase in
water absorption at higher replacement is due to reduced crystalline formation as a
result of reduced workability. Results of the optimized concrete specimen are shown
in Table 7.
5.3 Hydrophobicity Test
The test has been conducted on 4 MK5 samples and 4 normal samples. Figure 3a–
d shows water droplets on modified specimen and Fig. 3e shows water droplet on
normal mortar specimen. From Fig. 3 we can see that in case of modified specimen
the droplet attains a spherical shape. This shape is lost as the water gets penetrated
through any of the pore lacking crystalline formation or as it slips off the surface. But
in case of normal specimen due to the presence of number of tiny pores, the water
a) Sample 1 b) Sample 2 c) Sample 3
d) Sample 4 e) Normal specimen
Fig. 3 a Sample 1, b Sample 2, c Sample 3, d Sample 4, e normal specimen
Table 8 Results of contact

Samples Contact angle (°)
angle test
1 176.987
2 179.409
3 174.427
4 176.286
droplet gets easily penetrated into it as shown in Fig. 3e. Analyzing the water droplet
using contact angle jar plugin of ImageJ software, average contact angle obtained was
177.52° indicating that the sample belongs to superhydrophobic category. Table 8
shows results of contact angle test.
6 Conclusion
The present study focuses on hydrophobic nature of concrete using metakaolin,

GGBS and stearic acid.
1. Compressive strength of hydrophobic sample (MK5) increased by 13.16% due
to dense matrix formation resulting from its higher specific surface area
2. Water absorption decreased by 66.67% in case of MK5 sample than normal
sample due to dense crystalline formation in capillary pores
3. Modified sample has an average contact angle of 177.52˚ indicating the

superhydrophobic nature of tested sample.
References
1. Al-Kheetan MJ, Rahman MM, Chamberlain DA (2018) Development of hydrophobic concrete

by adding dual-crystalline admixture at mixing stage. Struct Concr 19(2018):1504–1511
2. Cappellesso VG, dos Santos Petry N, Dal Molin DCC, Masuero AB (2016) Use of crystalline
waterproofing to reduce capillary porosity in concrete. Build Rehabil 9:3–12
3. de Medeiros MHF, Helene P (2008) Efficacy of surface hydrophobic agents in reducing water
and chloride ion penetration in concrete. Mater Struct 41:59–71
4. Wong Y, Tong L, Hu Y, Wu P (2016) A self-assembly and high-robustness super-hydrophobic
coating based on waste marble powder. Mater Trans 57(12):2127–2131
5. Wong HS, Barakat R, Alhilali A, Saleh M, Cheeseman CR (2015) Hydrophobic concrete using
waste paper sludge ash. Cem Concr Res 70:9–20
6. She W, Wang X, Miao C, Zhang Q, Zhang Y, Yang J, Hong J (2018) Biomimetic superhy-
drophobic surface of concrete: Topographic and chemical modification assembly by direct
spray. Constr Build Mater 181:347–357
7. Weisheit S, Unterberger SH, Bader T, Lackner R (2016) Assessment of test methods for char-
acterizing the hydrophobic nature of surface-treated high performance concrete. Constr Build
Mater 110:145–153
8. Arabzadeh A, Ceylan H, Kim S, Gopalakrishnan K, Sassani A, Sundararajan S, Taylor PC
(2017) Superhydrophobic coatings on Portland cement concrete surfaces. Constr Build Mater
141:393–401
9. Qu ZY, Yu QL (2018) Synthesizing super-hydrophobic ground granulated blast furnace slag to
enhance the transport property of lightweight aggregate concrete. Constr Build Mater 191:176–
186
10. Horgines M, Chen JJ (2014) Superhydrophobic concrete surfaces with integrated microtexture.
Cem Concr Compos 52:81–90
11. Dashairya L, Sahu A, Saha P (2019) Stearic acid treated polypyrrole-encapsulated melamine
formaldehyde superhydrophobic sponge for oil recovery. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 2:70–82
12. Zhu SG, Wu CX, Luo YL (2010) Effect of stearic acid on synthesis of nanocomposite WC-MgO
powders by mechanical alloying. J Mater Sci 45:1817–1822
13. Williams DL, Kuhn AT, Amann MA, Hausinger MB (2010) Computerized measurement of
contact angles. Galvanotechnik 101:2502–2512
Study of the Behavior of Air Entrained
Concrete Containing Mineral
Admixtures with the Addition of Coal
Bottom Ash
Shashi Kant Sharma, Kanish Kapoor, Sandeep Singh,

and K. P. Marisala Chaitanya
Abstract With the addition of different pozzolanic cementitious materials, an air

entrained concrete shows different behavior in terms of durability and compressive
strength. The amount of entrapped air is reduced when fly Ash is used in air entrained
concrete. The resulting volume of air decreased appreciably with increasing silica-
fume content in air entrained concrete. This paper has focused on the effect of replace-
ment of coal bottom ash (CBA) as a fine aggregate in the air entrained concrete in the
presence of different pozzolanic cementitious materials and it compares the different
properties with the normal concrete. Experimental work shows that CBA causes a
reduction in 7 days compressive strength appreciably @ 50% natural fine aggregate
(NFA) replacement in comparison to that at 25%. Beyond 7 days curing CBA starts
acting as a Pozzolan and there is not much strength decrement in mixes with 50%
NFA replacement. Also, this replacement level mitigate the effect of reduction in air
entrainment caused by fine mineral admixtures in wet state thereby increasing the
air entrainment capacity of concrete. Hence it was concluded that if we increase the
content of Coal Bottom Ash up to 50% then it will be beneficial for air entrained
concrete production.
Keywords Air entrained concrete · Natural fine aggregates · Coal bottom ash ·
Pozzolans · Silica fume · Compressive strength · Superplasticizers, air entraining
agent
S. K. Sharma · K. Kapoor · S. Singh (B) · K. P. Marisala Chaitanya

Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Jalandhar, Jalandhar, Punjab 144001, India
S. K. Sharma
K. Kapoor
K. P. Marisala Chaitanya

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_70
766 S. K. Sharma et al.
1 Introduction
Air Entrained Concrete is made either by using air entraining cement or by mixing
a small quantity of AEA. These airs entraining agent produce millions of micro
air bubbles inside the concrete mix acting as flexible ball bearings. The micro air
bubbles of size ranging from 5 to 80 µm distribute in the entire mass of concrete
resulting in modification of the properties of it regarding workability, segregation,
bleeding and finishing quality [1]. Entrained air has major impact on water-cement
ratio. AEC can have lower water cement ratios than non-air-entrained concrete; this
minimizes the reductions in strength that generally accompany and related to air
entrainment [2]. Two of the revolutionary developments in concrete technology in
the last century have been produced by AEAs and superplasticizers (SP) [3]. SPs or
high range water reducing admixtures (HRWRAs) are concrete admixtures which
can be mainly used either to increase the workability of fresh concrete at a given mix
composition or to reduce the amount of mixing water and water/cement (w/c) ratio
for a given workability in order to increase strength and durability [4, 5]. For instance
to compensate for the loss of workability in mixes like those containing pozzolanic
materials such as condensed Silica Fume (SF) and Metakaolin or even increase the
water reduction effect of pulverized fuel ash and ground granulated blast furnace
slag we normally use SPs [6]. Due to addition of SPs the slump increase at a given
mix composition can be 150–200 mm and the reduction of mixing water at a given
slump can be up to 30%, both depending on the method of addition, dosage and
type of admixture used. Presently the most important HRWRAs available are based
on condensed Melamine Sulfonated Formaldehyde (MSF) or Naphtalene Sulfonated
Formaldehyde (NSF) in the form of 40% aqueous solution to facilitate an accurate,
reliable and automatic dispensing at the batching plant. The optimum dosage of
commercial SPs is in general in the range 1–2% by mass of cement. The main action
of the molecules of such SPs is to wrap themselves around the cement particles and
give them a highly negative charge so that they repel each other [7, 8] . This results
in deflocculation and dispersion of cement particles with the resulting improvement
in workability. Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) is formed in coal furnaces. It is made from
agglomerated ash particles that are too large to be carried in the flue gases and fall
through open grates to an ash hopper at the bottom of the furnace [9–11]. CBA is
mainly comprised of fused coarser ash particles. These particles are quite porous and
look like volcanic lava. CBA forms up to 25% of the total ash while the FA forms
the remaining 75%. Literature has shown that there is a strongly possibility of CBA
being used as substitute/replacement of NFA (NFA). Its use in concrete becomes
more significant and important in view of the fact that sources of NFAs are getting
depleted gradually, and it is of prime importance that substitute of NFA be explored .
The present study is totally based on the behavior of air entrained concrete when we
replace natural fine aggregates with the coal bottom ash in the presence of different
pozzolans. Then final results have been compared with the normal concrete on the
basis of compressive strength and flexural strength of the concrete.
Study of the Behavior of Air Entrained Concrete Containing … 767
2 Materials and Methodology
2.1 Materials and Theory of Mixing
Cement is a fine, grey powder. It is mixed with water and materials such as NFA,
gravel, and crushed stone to make concrete. The cement and water form a paste that
binds the other materials together. The ordinary cement contains two basic ingredients
namely argillaceous and calcareous. In argillaceous materials clay predominates and
in calcareous materials, calcium carbonate predominates. Portland pozzolana cement
was used for casting of cubes and cylinders for all concrete mixes. The cement was
of uniform color. The physical properties of the cement as determined from various
test conforming to IS: 1489-1991. The NFA used for the experimental programme
was locally procured and conformed to Indian Standard Specifications IS: 383-1970.
The NFA was first sieved through 4.75 mm sieve to remove any particles greater than
4.75 mm and then was washed to remove the dust. The NFAs belonged to grading
zone II. Coal Bottom Ash used in this study was collected from coal fired thermal
power plant at Bathinda, Punjab (India). Specific gravity and water absorption of
CBA was determined as per Indian standard BIS: 2389-1963 (Part III) an equivalent
to ASTM C 128-93. The material which is retained on IS sieve no. 4.75 is termed
as a coarse aggregate. The nature of work decides the maximum size of the coarse
aggregate. Locally available coarse aggregate having the maximum size of 10 mm
and 20 mm was used in a ratio of 50 and 50%. The aggregates were washed to remove
dust and dirt and were dried to surface dry condition. The aggregates were tested
as per IS: 383-1970. Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) used in the
investigation included FA (Class F) and SF. Amongst these, FA was procured from
Ambuja Cement Plant, Ropar, India and it was ensured that the material complies
with the requirements as per IS: 1727-1967. SF was purchased from Elkem Materials.
Hydrogen peroxide was used in different dosages by weight of binder to achieve
desirable properties of AEC. H2 O2 was used having the relative density of 1.1. H2 O2
was preferred over all air entrained agents because it is giving the good compressive
strength test results over olive oil (widely used) and vinsol resin.
2.2 Mix Proportions
Twenty seven mixture proportions were made. First was control mix (without CBA
and cement replacement), Second and third are cement replaced by FA 20% and 40%
respectively, Fourth and Fifth are cement replaced by SF 5% and 10% respectively.
Sixth and seventh both are having 20% FA, 5% and 10% SF replacement of cement
respectively. Eighth and ninth both are having 40% FA, 5 and 10% SF replacement
of cement respectively. Mixes from ten to eighteen follow same trend as one to nine
but here NFA was replaced with CBA by 25% weight. Mixes from nineteen to twenty
seven follow same trend as one to nine but here NFA (NFA) was replaced with CBA
by 50% weight. Mix notations and details of mixes are given in Table 1. Mix propor-
tions are given in Table 2. The controls mix without CBA was proportioned as per
Indian standard Specifications IS: 10262-1982, to obtain a 28-days cube compressive
strength of 48.25 MPa. Hand mixing was done for the concrete mixes. In all mixes
0.4 w/c ratio is maintained.
The casting of the specimens was done under laboratory conditions using standard
equipment. Each batch consists 6 standard cubes of 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm
Table 1 Mix notations and details of mixes

Mix id Mix designation Mix description
M1 C 100%C + 0%SF + 0%FA + 100%NFA + 0%CBA + 100%NCA
M2 CF1 80%C + 0%SF + 20%FA + 100%NFA + 0%CBA + 100%NCA
M3 CF2 60%C + 0%SF + 40%FA + 100%NFA + 0%CBA + 100%NCA
M4 CS1 95%C + 5%SF + 0%FA + 100%NFA + 0%CBA + 100%NCA
M5 CS2 90%C + 10%SF + 0%FA + 100%NFA + 0%CBA + 100%NCA
M6 CF1S1 75%C + 5%SF + 20%FA + 100%NFA + 0%CBA + 100%NCA
M10 Ca 100%C + 0%SF + 0%FA + 75%NFA + 25%CBA + 100%NCA
M11 CF1a 80%C + 0%SF + 20%FA + 75%NFA + 25%CBA + 100%NCA
M12 CF2a 60%C + 0%SF + 40%FA + 75%NFA + 25%CBA + 100%NCA
M13 CS1a 95%C + 5%SF + 0%FA + 75%NFA + 25%CBA + 100%NCA
M14 CS2a 90%C + 10%SF + 0%FA + 75%NFA + 25%CBA + 100%NCA
M15 CF1S1a 75%C + 5%SF + 20%FA + 75%NFA + 25%CBA + 100%NCA
M19 Cb 100%C + 0%SF + 0%FA + 50%NFA + 50%CBA + 100%NCA
M20 CF1b 80%C + 0%SF + 20%FA + 50%NFA + 50%CBA + 100%NCA
M21 CF2b 60%C + 0%SF + 40%FA + 50%NFA + 50%CBA + 100%NCA
M22 CS1b 95%C + 5%SF + 0%FA + 50%NFA + 50%CBA + 100%NCA
M23 CS2b 90%C + 10%SF + 0%FA + 50%NFA + 50%CBA + 100%NCA
M24 CF1S1b 75%C + 5%SF + 20%FA + 50%NFA + 50%CBA + 100%NCA
C—cement, FA—FA, SF—SF, NFA—natural NFAs, CBA—CBA, CA—coarse aggregates, SP—
SP, AEA—air entrained agent
a 25% CBA, b 50% CBA as natural NFA replacement
Mix id Mix Cement SF % SF [kg/m3 ] FA % FA [kg/m3 ] NFA [kg/m3 ] CBA % CBA [kg/m3 ] NCA [kg/m3 ] SP % AEA %
designation [kg/m3 ]
M1 C 491.9 0 0 0 0 546.3 0 0 971.9 0.5 1
M2 CF1 393.7 0 0 20 98.24 533.6 0 0 949.25 0.5 1
M3 CF2 295.1 0 0 40 196.8 519.5 0 0 924.25 0.5 1
M4 CS1 467.3 5 24.6 0 0 543.5 0 0 966.88 0.5 1
M5 CS2 442.7 10 49.19 0 0 540.3 0 0 961.77 0.5 1
M6 CF1S1 368.9 5 24.6 20 98.38 529.7 0 0 942.55 0.5 1
M7 CF1S2 343.3 10 49.2 20 98.38 526.8 0 0 936.84 0.5 1
M8 CF2S1 276 5 24.56 40 196.8 516.2 0 0 918.38 0.5 1
M9 CF2S2 246 10 49.19 40 196.8 513.1 0 0 912.84 0.5 1
M10 Ca 491.9 0 0 0 0 409.7 25 110.6 971.9 1 1.5
M11 CF1a 393.7 0 0 20 98.24 400.2 25 108 949.25 1 1.5
M12 CF2a 295.1 0 0 40 196.8 389.6 25 105.2 924.25 1 1.5
M13 CS1a 467.3 5 24.6 0 0 407.6 25 110 966.88 1 1.5
Study of the Behavior of Air Entrained Concrete Containing …
M14 CS2a 442.7 10 49.19 0 0 405.2 25 109.4 961.77 1 1.5

M15 CF1S1a 368.9 5 24.6 20 98.38 397.3 25 107.2 942.55 1 1.5
M16 CF1S2a 343.3 10 49.2 20 98.38 395 25 106.6 936.84 1 1.5
M17 CF2S1a 27.6 5 24.56 40 196.8 387.2 25 104.5 918.38 1 1.5
M18 CF2S2a 246 10 49.19 40 196.8 384.8 25 103.9 912.84 1 1.5
M19 Cb 491.9 0 0 0 0 273.2 50 221.2 971.9 1.5 2
M20 CF1b 393.7 0 0 20 98.24 266.8 50 216 949.25 1.5 2
M21 CF2b 295.1 0 0 40 196.8 259.7 50 210.3 924.25 1.5 2
(continued)
769
Table 2 (continued)
770
Mix id Mix Cement SF % SF [kg/m3 ] FA % FA [kg/m3 ] NFA [kg/m3 ] CBA % CBA [kg/m3 ] NCA [kg/m3 ] SP % AEA %
designation [kg/m3 ]
M22 CS1b 467.3 5 24.6 0 0 271.7 50 220.2 966.88 1.5 2
M23 CS2b 442.7 10 49.19 0 0 270.2 50 218.7 961.77 1.5 2
M24 CF1S1b 368.9 5 24.6 20 98.38 264.9 50 214.5 942.55 1.5 2
M25 CF1S2b 343.3 10 49.2 20 98.38 263.3 50 213.2 936.84 1.5 2
M26 CF2S1b 27.6 5 24.56 40 196.8 258.1 50 209 918.38 1.5 2
M27 CF2S2b 246 10 49.19 40 196.8 256.6 50 207.7 912.84 1.5 2
S. K. Sharma et al.
(Fig. 1) for determination of 7 and 28 days compressive strength. For every mix, the
quantity of various ingredients cementations content, NFAs, CBA, coarse aggregates,
water were kept ready in the required amount. The required amount of the NFA and
cement were initially mixed thoroughly in dry condition and no concentration of
either material was visible. After that, coarse aggregate was added to the previous
mix of NFA and cement in dry condition and was mixed thoroughly by turning twice
or thrice in the same dry state in a tilting type rotary drum for one minute. Then
SF and FA are mixed in required quantity into the mix. After that amount of water
mixed with SP and AEA was added into the mix to get a uniform mix of a required
slump and mixing process in the drum was continue for about one minute to get a
better mix. For casting the specimens moulds were cleaned, brushed and oiled and
placed on the ground. After filling the concrete in the moulds, the surface was leveled
and finished clearly by trowel. After three hours of setting, specimens were marked
accordingly and were left for setting in the mould for 24 h. After 24 h specimens
were demoulded and immersed in water for curing in curing tank. Potable water was
filled in the curing tank and after regular intervals water of curing tank was changed.
Fig. 1 Casted cubes

Fig. 2 Compressive strength test
2.3 Parameters Studied
2.3.1 Compressive Strength Test
This test is based on IS 516-1959. The test was conducted on cubes of size 100 mm
× 100 mm × 100 mm. Specimens were cured for 7, 28 and 90 days in the curing
tank. After the curing, specimens were taken out from the curing tank and left in the
air to drip down the surface water. Specimens were then tested on 200 tones capacity
Compression Testing Machine (CTM) (Fig. 2). The specimen was kept at side other
than the casting side while testing for the compressive strength. Centre of the thrust
of the spherically seated plates of CTM and the axis of specimens was carefully
aligned. The application of load on specimen was gradual without any shock and
it was increased at a constant rate of 2.5 N/mm2 /min until failure of specimen take
place. The representative value of compressive strength for each batch of concrete
was taken as the average of two cubes. The calculation of compressive strength was
done by dividing the maximum compressive load by the cross-sectional area of the
cube specimens. Hence through this process, the compressive strength of different
specimens was obtained (Table 3).
3 Results
In order to study the effect on compressive strength, AEC obtained after cement
replacement and natural NFA replacement with different proportions of SF & FA,
Table 3 Compressive
Mix id Mix designation Compressive strength
strength
(MPa)
7 Day 28 Day
M1 C 33.36 41.8
M2 CF1 28.51 42.38
M3 CF2 18.7 26.4
M4 CS1 37.53 46.17
M5 CS2 29.19 37
M6 CF1S1 23.3 36.6
M7 CF1S2 24.7 37.64
M8 CF2S1 19.6 24.34
M9 CF2S2 20.5 28.6
M10 Ca 21.95 28.8
M11 CF1a 19.22 29.2
M12 CF2a 12.3 18.19
M13 CS1a 24.69 31.81
M14 CS2a 19.2 25.49
M15 CF1S1a 15.33 25.21
M16 CF1S2a 16.25 25.93
M17 CF2S1a 12.89 16.77
M18 CF2S2a 13.49 20.89
M19 Cb 19.35 25.31
M20 CF1b 16.54 25.66
M21 CF2b 10.84 15.98
M22 CS1b 21.76 27.94
M23 CS2b 16.93 22.39
M24 CF1S1b 12.12 19.15
M25 CF1S2b 11.54 20.77
M26 CF2S1b 9.15 14.72
M27 CF2S2b 9.57 17.3
and CBA respectively, were prepared and kept for curing for a duration of 7 and
28 days. The intention was apparent, i.e. to study the initial foundation effect of air
entrainment combined with pore size refinement of pozzolans in bringing a change
in the compressive strength of concrete. During the process of air entrainment air is
also entrapped to create other voids like capillary voids (smaller) and air entrapped
voids (bigger). Air entrainment in the initial stage of hydration is effective in reducing
plastic and drying shrinkage as it insulates the concrete against temperature gradient.
The bigger size voids reduce the strength of concrete which should be mitigated. As
a compensating material the pozzolans are supposed to hydrate at later stages to
Fig. 3 Compressive strength of air entrained concrete mixes at 7 days curing
reduce the pore size so that the air entrapped voids are converted into air entrained
voids and capillary voids [12–15].
Figure 3 shows the 7 day variation of compressive strength values of different
concrete mixes wherein red bars, blue bars and green bars represent the strength
values of corresponding mixes having 0, 25 and 50% NFA replacement with CBA.
The strength variation depicts coherently that in comparison to normal AEC (33 MPa)
all mixes but CS1 show lower strength. It was observed that with FA introduction
there is a decrease in strength value abruptly. The rate of decrease was quite steep
for FA variation from 20 to 40%. CS1 containing 5% SF show higher compressive
strength (36.5 MPa) than normal AEC. As the content of SF increase further a
decrease in compressive strength value has been observed, whose rate of decrease
is comparatively lower than that of FA. The strength value of CF1S1 is surprisingly
lesser than that of either CF1 or CS1. With an increment in SF content from 5% in
CF1S1 to 10% in CF1S2 the strength increases minutely. The strength of mix CF2S1
is apparently higher than that of mix CF2 but lower than CS2 which justifies the effect
of strength enhancement by SF in comparison to FA. Also with an increment in SF
from 5% in mix CF2S1 to 10% in mix CF2S2 a very small increment in strength has
been observed. The mix CF2 has shown least compressive strength (18.7 MPa).
SF also releases air from voids [16, 17] but it adsorbs all air which leads to higher
value of air entrainment (5.17%) in this mix leading to lesser strength. Strength
increased on addition of further 5% SF in mix CF1S2 and CF2S2 in comparison to
CF1S1 and CF2S1 because SF consumes more CH when present in higher amounts
to produce CSH, rather than the decrease in strength caused by its air consumption.
Very small increment in compressive
strength value from mix CF1S1 to CF1S2 and from mix CF2S1 to CF2S2 has
been observed which could have been larger had the mixes were normal (because
Fig. 4 Compressive strength of air entrained concrete mixes at 28 days curing
of higher reactivity of SF) and not air entrained. In mix CF1S1, 20% FA competes
with 5% SF for reaction with CH, whereas in case of CF2S2, 40% FA is competing
with 10% SF. Since SF is more reactive it consumes more CH liberated by primary
hydration [18–20], leaving excess FA in mix CF2S2 as non-reacted which tries to
decrease the strength. CBA causes a reduction in 7 day compressive strength. This
could be seen for mixes containing 25% CBA and 50% CBA. There is a significant
decrease in strength when 50%
NFA is replaced with CBA with respect to 25% CBA. This shows that like FA,
CBA is also a weak pozzolan and increasing its content jeopardize the strength of
concrete in initial stage.
The strength behavior of mixes after 28 days was quite satisfactory with respect
to normal AEC if NFA is not replaced with CBA. The strength variation trend of
the mixes remains same in this case also (Fig. 4), but the strength values of some
mixes are noteworthy; i.e. mix CF1 (42.38 MPa) having higher value than normal
AEC (41.8 MPa). It was also observed that mix CF2S2 shows higher increment
in compressive strength than mix CF2S1, and mix CF1S2 shows relatively lower
increment in strength than mix CF1S1 at 28 days with respect to 7 days. This converse
behavior could be explained on basis of pozzolanic reactivity of FA and SF and their
competition for CH. When FA is mere 20%, it starts reacting with the consumption
of SF after 7 days. Hence a significant increment in strength has been observed for
mix CF1S1 at 28 days. The strength value of mix CF1S2 does not show any variation
from strength increment rate with respect to 7 days since SF has been mostly utilized
during the said period. As a result the strength increment rate remains constant.
4 Conclusions
The study was aimed to determine the effect of using high volume mineral admixtures
like FA and SF (cement substitutes) and CBA (NFA substitute) on the compressive
strength of AEC.
The strength of the mixes has been found directly from compressive strength
test. Compressive strength test mainly depends upon strength of mortar. Strength of
interface depends upon the composition of paste around the aggregates. Paste having
the higher binding tendency to aggregate results in higher compressive strength.
• The behaviour of both FA and SF in smaller volumes i.e. 20% FA and 5% SF
improves after 7 days of curing in imparting strength of concrete. At this stage
initial air entrainment levels start increasing or decreasing depending upon the
combination of FA & SF. Higher volumes of FA greatly reduces the strength,
whereas higher volumes of SF brought very minute improvement in strength of
concrete.
• CBA starts showing pozzolonic effect after 7 days and it is beneficial to use 50%
CBA in comparison to 25% CBA curing is allowed for this duration.
References
1. Lausten S (2011) Engineered air-entrainment for concrete, Doctoral thesis., Technical

University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
2. Cordon WA (1946) Entrained Air-A factor in the design of concrete mixes. Materials Labo-
ratories Report No C-310, Research and Geology Division, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver,
March 15, 1946
3. Collepardi M (1994) SPs and AEAs: state of the art and future needs. In: Concrete technology
past present and future, proceedings of V. Mohan Malhotra symposium, ACI SP-144, pp 399–
416
4. Dodson V (1990) Concrete admixtures. Ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold
5. Powers TC (1968) The properties of fresh concrete. Wiley, New York
6. Virtanen J Freeze-Thaw resistance of concrete containing blast furnace slag, FA or condensed
SF. ACI Special Publication SP-79, vol II, Aug
7. Shang Y, Miao C, Lui J, Ran Q (2010) Influencing factors of air void characteristics in hardened
concrete. In: 2nd international symposium of service life design for infrastructure, pp 817–824
8. Dodson VH (1990) Concrete admixture. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York
9. “Pozzolanic and Cementitious materials” (1996) In: Malhotra VM, Mehta,PK (eds) Gordon
and Preach Publishers
10. Bouzoubaâ G, Zhang A, Bilodeau MH, Malhotra VM (1997) The effect of grinding on the
physical properties of FAes and a Portland cement clinker, pp 1861–1874
11. Sturrup VR, Hooton RD, Clendenning TG (1983) Durability of FA concrete. ACI SP-79, vol
I, pp 47–69
12. Larson TD (1964) Air entrainment and durability aspects of FA concrete. Proc ASTM 64:866–
886
13. Samarin A, Munn RL, Ashby JB (1983) The use of FA in concrete-Australian experience. ACI
SP-79, vol I, pp 143–172
14. Gebler S, Klieger P () Effect of FA on the air void stability of concrete. In: Malhotra VM
(ed) Proceedings, first international conference on the use of FA, SF, slag and other mineral
by-products in concrete, Montebello, Canada, July 31–August 5, 1983, ACI SP-79, pp 103–142
15. Carette G.G. and Malhotra VM (1984) Characterization of Canadian Flyashes and their perfor-
mance in concrete. Division Report, MRP/MSL 84-137 (OP&J),CANMET, Energy, Mines and
Resources Canada
16. Dhir RK, McCarthy MJ, Limbachiya MC, El Sayad HI, Zhang DS (1999) Pulverized fuel ash
concrete: air entrainment and freeze/thaw durability. Mag Concr Res 51(1):53–64
17. Carette GG, Malhotra VM (1983) SF concrete-properties, applications and limitations. Concr
Int: Des Constr, 5(5):40–46
18. Carette GG, Malhotra VM (1983) “Mechanical properties, durability and drying shrinkage of
Portland cement concrete incorporating SF. ASTM J Cem, Concr Aggreg 5(1):3–13
19. Toutanji HA (1998) The influence of air entrainment on the properties of SFconcrete. Adv Cem
Res 10(4):135–139
20. Sabir BB, Kouyiali K (1991) Freeze-Thaw durability of air-entrained SF concrete. Cem Concr
Compos 13:203–208
Investigation on the Effect of Steel Fibers
in Self Curing Concrete
Annamol Sunny and Elba Helen George
Abstract Concrete curing is one of the most critical process to obtain the desired
concrete properties. The traditional method of curing is achieved by wetting the
exposed surface and preventing concrete from losing moisture. However when the
mineral admixtures are applied to concrete, the demand for curing water will be much
greater than that in a ordinary Portland cement concrete. If this water is not readily
available, it can result in significant autogenous deformation and cracking. In order
to overcome these draw back the attention is focused on advanced technology in
curing i.e., self-cuing concrete. Self-curing or internal curing is a technique in which
no additional water is required to enhance the rate of hydration. These self-curing
concretes are also weak in resisting tensile forces, but by incorporating fibers on self-
curing concrete both the tensile strength as well as the durability can be increased.
In this study, self-curing concrete is achieved by incorporating Polyethylene Glycol
(PEG-400) at different dosage (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2%) by weight of binder content of
M40 grade of concrete. To its optimum dosage the hooked end steel fibres are added
to this self-curing concrete at different percentage (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2%) by volume of
concrete. The optimum steel fibre content is then determined with respect to strength
parameters. The strength properties of self-curing concrete with steel fibers is then
compared to that of conventional concrete and self curing concrete.
Keywords Self curing concrete · Polyethylene glycol · Steel fibers
A. Sunny (B) · E. H. George

Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakkunnam, India
E. H. George

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_71
780 A. Sunny and E. H. George
1 Introduction
Efficient curing improves strength and durability of concrete. Curing of concrete is a

major challenge in the construction industry, especially in areas, which suffer from
shortages of water. Even when meticulously performed only water evaporation can
be minimized, but the water supply on the surface of vertical structural elements is
still a technical problem. The time allocated for curing is a stagnation of building
time increasing costs and efforts [1]. Thus the idea of self curing of concrete has
gained popularity and is steadily progressing from laboratory to field of practice.
Internal curing or self curing refers to mechanism whereby cement hydrates due to
the availability of additional internal water that is not part of the mixing water [2,
3]. The internal curing for concrete can be performed using several materials but the
use of shrinkage-reducing admixture like propylene glycol type and polyethylene
glycol products in the concrete mixtures, has been recently advised to reduce the
cracks in concrete construction caused by drying shrinkage [4]. The mechanism of
this admixture based on the reduction of the surface tension of the mixing water
as a physical change rather than on a reduction of water evaporation. When using
polyethylene type of curing agent, the polyethylene glycol with average molecular
weight 400 is more preferred rather than any other molecular weight [5].
Some manufacturing properties of concrete can also be extend by the use of fibers
as an additional material within the concrete mixture. The foremost beneficial char-
acteristics of fiber-reinforced systems are those of inflated flexural capability, tough-
ness, post-failure ductility and crack management. The type of fiber and its volume
fraction contains a marked impact on the properties of fiber reinforced concrete [6].
Hooked-end fibers had the highest compressive and flexural strengths, compared with
straight fibers and corrugated fibres. This is because hooked-end steel fibers provide
better mechanical interlock compared with other shaped fibers [7]. Workability of
reinforced concrete mixture is dramatically decreased for fibers with aspect ratio
of 80 and volume of fiber of 1.0 and 1.5%. Usage of steel fiber in concrete signifi-
cantly increases the split tensile and flexural strength of concrete and ultrasonic pulse
velocity of SRFCs decreased with fiber content [8].
An effort has been made in this research to investigate the effect of different
percentage of self curing agent on mechanical properties of fly ash based M40
concrete where cement is replaced by 20% of fly ash. M40 concrete was chosen
since it has been recently advised for creating external walls and slabs as well as for
structural pilings etc. The self-curing agent used is polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG),
varied by 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% by weight of binder content and the effect of hooked
end steel fibres with different ratios on mechanical properties are determined. The
different percentages of steel fiber taken are 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% by volume of concrete.
Investigation on the Effect of Steel Fibers in Self Curing … 781

Sl. No. Characteristics Values obtained
of cement
1 Specific gravity of cement 3.15
2 Standard consistency of cement 32%
3 Initial setting time of cement 55 min
4 Fineness of cement 5%

Aspect Dark brown free flowing liquid
of Master Glenium B233
Relative density 1.24 ± 0.02 at 25 °C
PH >6
Chloride ion content <0.2%
2 Materials
To carry out this study, ordinary Portland cement of 53 grade and fly ah of class F
were selected. Tests on cement was conducted as per IS: 12269-1987 and the results
are reported in Table 1. The 20% of cement is replaced by fly ash of specific gravity
2.3. Coarse aggregates with a maximum size of 20 mm were used. Coarse aggregates
was tested as per IS: 383-1970. The specific gravity of coarse and fine aggregate were
2.68 and 2.72. The sand used for the experimental program was conformed to grading
zone II according to IS: 383-1970. The self curing agent taken for the study was of
chemical type PEG 400.
Super plasticizer used is Master Glenium. The superplasticizer dosage is adjusted
to produce concretes with the same slump of 120 ± 10 mm and do not show visual
signs of segregation during the normal casting of concrete in the moulds. Physical
properties of Master Glenium B233 is given in Table 2. Water content can be a reduced
by 20% by using superplasticizer. As the water cement ratio decreases strength of
concrete increases. Hooked end steel fibres of length 25 mm, 0.5 mm dia (aspect
ratio −50), tensile strength of 500 MPa, density of 7900 kg/m3 and youngs modulus
of 2 × 105 N/m2 was taken for the study.
3 Mix Design and Procedure
Mix design can be defined as the method of selecting suitable concrete materials
and deciding their relative proportions as economically as possible with the object of
producing concrete of required minimum strength, workability and durability. The
mix proportions were carried out using IS: 10262-2019. The proportions of concrete
batches were tabulated in Table 3.
All of the dry constituents were blended for 2 min to ensure the blend was consis-
tent. During mixing, half of the mixing water was gradually added and then the
Table 3 Mix proportion of M40 grade concrete for 1 cubic meter

Cement (kg) Fine aggregate (kg) Coarse aggregate (kg) Water (kg) Fly ash (kg)
331 672 1187 158 82.8
remaining water with SP was added. However in the case of self curing concrete,
polyethylene-glycol was added gradually during mixing. Mixing of all constituents
continued for a period of 2 min. For each mix the SP content was balanced to achieve
the necessary workability without segregation. For steel fiber reinforced self-curing
concrete steel fibres are added during dry mixing for 2 min then the self-curing agent,
SP and water were added accordingly. After the moulds were filled with concrete
and compacted, the concrete surface was levelled and kept for 24 h in laboratory
conditions while plastic sheets covered the surfaces of the moulds. Then demoulded
normal concrete was water cured while the self-curing concrete and the steel fiber
reinforced self-curing concrete were kept in dry air (25 °C) during the experiment in
a laboratory.
SCUC 0, SCUC 0.5, SCUC 1, SCUC 1.5 and SCUC 2 represents the fly ash
based M40 concrete with 0%, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% of PEG respectively and SCUC SF
0.5, SCUC SF 1, SCUC SF 1.5 and SCUC SF 2 represents the fly ash based fiber
reinforced self curing concrete.
4.1 Workability of Concrete
The workability of fresh concrete was determined using slump test as per IS: 1919-
1959. The slump value of reference concrete was 78 mm. The slump values of SCUC
0.5, SCUC 1, SCUC 1.5 and SCUC 2 were 83 mm, 91 mm, 98 mm and 108 mm
respectively, Workability increases with the increase in addition of PEG, this may be
due to the availability of sufficient moisture content. It can be seen that hooked-end
steel fiber incorporated into the concrete affects the flowability compared with the
self curing concrete. The workability decreased to 77, 69, 58 and 46 mm for 0.5,
1, 1.5 and 2% of steel fibre content. This might be due to that the dispersion of the
steel fiber in fresh concrete will form a fiber-cement matrix network in which the
cement mortar wraps around the fiber to form a fiber–matrix interfacial bonding. The
network restricts the flowability of fresh concrete.
4.2 Compressive Strength of Concrete
The compressive strength of concrete was assessed by crushing to the destruction of

the test cubes by means of compression testing machine according to IS 516:1959
(Reaffirmed 2004). Figures 1 and 2 shows the change in compressive strength with
different ratios of PEG and steel fibres in 7 day and 28 day from the results obtained
from the test.
The compressive strength of reference concrete was 32.57 and 48.4 in 7 day and
28 day respectively. And it is seen that with addition of PEG at 0.5% the compressive
strength decreases to 31.67 in 7 days and 47.49 in 28 day respectively. With 1% of
PEG the strength increases to 33.97 in 7 day and 49.02 in 28 day respectively. It then
decreases to 32.73 and 31.86 in 7 day and 48.35 and 47.23 in 28 day with 1.5% and
2% addition of PEG respectively. Thus it indicate that the 1% PEG is the optimum
ratio. Again with the addition of steel fiber it is noted than the compressive strength
Fig. 1 Effect of PEG in compressive strength of concrete
Fig. 2 Effect of steel fibres in compressive strength of self curing concrete

increases to 34.12 and 34.86 in 7 day and 49.47 and 50.68 in 28 days with the addition
of 0.5%, 1% steel fibres and then decreases to 33.64 and 32.45 in 7 day and 49.43
and 48.35 in 28 day with 1.5% and 2% of steel fibres respectively. This that indicates
that 1% steel fiber is the optimum percentage with respect to compressive strength.
Splitting tensile strength test on the concrete cylinder is a method to determine the
tensile strength of concrete as per IS 5816: 1999 (Reaffirmed 2004). Figures 3 and
4 shows the changes in split tensile strength with different ratios of PEG and steel
fibres in 7 day and 28 day from the results obtained from the test. The tensile strength
of conventional concrete was 3.16 at 7 day and 4.37 at 28 day. When PEG was added
at 0.5% the strength decreased to 3.02 at 7 day and 4.25 in 28 day. It then increases
to 3.42 at 7 day and 4.68 at 28 day. But with increase in percentage of PEG i.e., for
1.5% and 2% the strength decreases to 3.31 and 3.12 in 7 day and 4.52 and 4.39 in
Fig. 3 Effect of PEG in split tensile strength of concrete
Fig. 4 Effect of steel fibres in split tensile strength of self curing concrete
28 day respectively. Again with the addition of steel fiber it is noted than the tensile
strength increases to 3.89 and 4.21 in 7 day and 4.96 and 5.23 in 28 days with the
addition of 0.5%, 1% steel fibres and then decreases to 3.65 and 3.12 in 7 day and
4.83 and 4.16 in 28 day with 1.5% and 2% of steel fibres respectively. Indicates that
the 1% steel fiber is the optimum percentage with respect to split tensile strength.
4.4 Flexural Strength
The flexural test was conducted as per IS 516:1959 (reaffirmed on 2004). Figures 5
and 6 shows that, concrete with self curing agent and steel fibres exhibited a higher
flexural strength at early ages compared with concretes without PEG and steel fibres.
The flexural strength of reference concrete was 4.43 at 7 day and 5.56 at 28 day. As
Fig. 5 Effect of PEG in flexural strength of concrete
Fig. 6 Effect of steel fibres in flexural strength of self curing concrete

self curing agent PEG was added at 0.5% the strength decreased to 4.08 at 7 day
and 5.23 in 28 day. It then increases to 4.83 at 7 day and 6.01 at 28 day. But with
increase in percentage of PEG i.e., for 1.5% and 2% the strength decreases to 4.54
and 4.17 in 7 day and 5.73 and 5.28 in 28 day respectively. Again with the addition
of steel fiber it is noted than the strength increases to 5.16 and 6.27 in 7 day and 6.27
and 6.68 in 28 days with the addition of 0.5%, 1% steel fibres and then decreases to
5.31 and 4.86 in 7 day and 6.49 and 5.98 in 28 day with 1.5% and 2% of steel fibres
respectively. Indicates that the 1% steel fiber is the optimum percentage.
5 Conclusions
Based on the experimental investigation conducted in this work, the following

conclusions were drawn.
• Self curing concrete with PEG as self-curing agent and fly ash as partial replace-
ment of cement has a slump in the range of 83-08 mm. Workability increases
with the increase in addition of PEG, due to the availability of sufficient moisture
content. But the workability of fiber reinforced self curing concrete decreases
with increase in fiber content. Fiber content of 1, 1.5 and 2% shows dramatically
decreased by 77–46 mm.
• The use of self curing agent in concrete mixes improved the mechanical properties
of concrete under air regime. The test result shows that the PEG with 1% has the
optimum content among the values examined (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2%).
• The self curing agent with 1% PEG has higher compressive, flexural and tensile
strength about 1.2%, 6.7% and 7.5% than the reference concrete respectively.
• The use of steel fibres in self curing concrete mixes also improved the mechanical
properties of concrete under air regime. The test result shows that the steel fibres
with 1% has the optimum content among the values examined (0.5, 1, 1.5 and
2%).
• The steel fiber with 1% by volume of concrete has higher compressive, flexural
and tensile strength about 4.4%, 16.4% and 16.8% respectively.
References
1. Chaitanya CVK, Prasad P, Neeraja D, Ravitheja A (2015) Effect of LECA on mechanical

properties of self-curing concrete. Proc Mater Today
2. Mousa MI, Mahdy MG, Abdel-Reheem AH, Yehia AZ (2015) Mechanical properties of self-
curing concrete. Hous Build Natl Res Cent J 11:311–320
3. Mousa MI, Mahdy MG, Abdel-Reheem AH, Yehia AZ (2015) Physical properties of self-curing
concrete. Hous Build Natl Res Cent J 11:167–175
4. Mousa MI, Mahdy MG, Abdel-Reheem AH, Yehia AZ (2015) Self curing concrete types; Water
retention and durability. Alex Eng J 54:565–575
5. Kamal MM, Safan MA, Bashandy AA, Khalil AM (2018) Experimental investigation on the
behaviour of normal strength and high strength self-curing self-comparing concrete. J Build Eng
16:79–93
6. Kalpana M, Tayu A (2019) Light weight steel fibres reinforced concrete: a review. Proc Mater
Today
7. Wu Z, Shi C, He W, Wu L (2016) Effects of steel fiber content and shape on mechanical properties
of ultra high performance concrete. Constr Build Mater 103:8–14
8. Yazici S, Inan G, Tabak V (2007) Effect of aspect ratio and volume fraction of steel fiber on the
mechanical properties of SFRC. Constr Build Mater 21:1250–1253
Effect of Communication Patterns
in Safety Performance of Construction
Workers
Reshma Geordy, M. B. Sridhar, and J. Sudhakumar
Abstract Safety in construction is crucial to avoid fatal accidents. To enhance safety

in construction sites it is necessary to recognize the causes of accidents and take
proper measures. It is necessary to make workers aware of such hazards which is
possible through trainings, meetings, toolbox talks, communication among workers
etc. Indian construction sites which have a diverse language speaking work force
will have difficulty in communicating efficiently. This paper tries to identify the
major causes of accidents in construction sites and to analyse the communication
patterns of the workforce using Social Network Analysis (SNA) in the construction
sites of Chennai. The study also measures the safety performance of the workforce
and compare it with the network characteristics identified through SNA. The study
would thus help to recognize all the safety issues and to measure the current safety
condition of the Indian construction Industry
Keywords Safety performance · Construction · Hazard recognition · Safety

communication
1 Introduction
Indian construction industry is the second largest employment sector with an employ-
ment rate of 51.5% in the year 2016 [1]. The reports show that construction industry
contributes to an increased GDP rate of 2379 INR billion in the year 2018 from 2198
INR billion in 2017 [2]. Even though there is a tremendous growth in the construction
R. Geordy (B) · J. Sudhakumar

Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Calicut, Kozhikode, India
J. Sudhakumar
M. B. Sridhar
Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_72
790 R. Geordy et al.
industry, work space safety is given least importance. Reports show that in the year
2016, 2302 fatal and non-fatal accidents had occurred in Indian construction sites.
This statistical report shows only the number of accidents which are recorded, as
in a country like India construction companies maintain little or no official records
of accident statistics on occupational health and illness []. In this context attempts
were made by [3] to collect data regarding occupational accidents from state and
government agencies but found that some of the data were underestimated. Whereas
Statistics show that other developed countries like USA and UK which follows stan-
dards like OSHA have very high accident rates with a fatality of 4693 for private
industry in the year 2016 [4]. Therefore, Safety in the construction sites of India
must be looked at different perspective. Considering the importance of safety on
construction sites Government, Clients, Consultants have spent a great deal of time
and effort attempting to evolve legislation, rules and regulations to help to reduce
the loss of life and high number of lost work days which include Building and other
construction workers act 1996, Building and other construction workers central rules
1998, Building and other construction workers welfare cess act 1996 and many more.
The recent researches show that construction industry has very high accident rates
across the world; as a result, every construction industry needs to employ stringent
measures to minimize the number of incidents [5].
The legislation alone cannot reduce the accidents rate unless operational and
management team take some positive actions to integrate these rules into their
everyday activities by implementing safety management programme. To avoid such
accidents safety professionals recommend conducting safety meetings, toolbox meet-
ings, training to identify safety hazards prior to starting of an activity and incentives
for best safety performance [6, 7]. The studies showed that safety performance was
affected by the actual safety programs [8]. Improper safety measures can affect the
construction workers as well as the management because it can lead to injuries and
cause financial loss to management. Moreover, proper safety and health management
can improve employee retention [9]. Safety management plays a major role in the
success of the projects in order to minimize additional costs and delays [5]. In order
to reduce workplace accidents, safety professionals have identified various factors
affecting safety in construction sites, among them Hazard recognition was identified
as the most effective method [10]. Studies reveal that construction site accidents
occur due to lack of hazard recognition performance by management, workers, and
supervisors [6, 7, 11]. Moreover, studies revealed that workers who identify hazards
and communicate effectively have high safety performance [12]. However, site safety
meetings and communication can be difficult in a country like India where language
and cultural differences exist among workers.
1.1 Safety Communication
The identification of factors affecting safety along with communication of hazards

are effective in improving the safety management [13]. Even though the workers
Effect of Communication Patterns in Safety Performance … 791
identify the factors affecting safety, they do not communicate the hazards effectively.
Therefore, Effective communication among workers is essential to prevent accidents
in construction sites [14, 15]. As per US Department of Labour, safety communication
gap due to language barriers, and cultural differences among workers lead to high
rate of accidents in construction sites.
In India, construction site workers are mostly illiterates and unskilled who migrate
from different part of the country in search of job. The workers employed in a project
are from different culture and speak different languages. Therefore, it is necessary
to identify the views of these diverse workers as well as management in Indian
construction industry towards safety and its effect on safety performance. This helps
to identify and analyse the critical factors and causes that affect the occurrence of
accidents in the construction industry of India. Along with this, SNA is used to
study the safety communication patterns among members in construction sites of
Chennai. It also aims to study and visualize the network pattern and measure safety
communication and safety performance.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Social Network Analysis (SNA)
Social Network Analysis (SNA) is the most effective method adopted by profes-
sionals to measure the safety communication within crew members of a site [7, 14].
Social Network Analysis was first developed by Jacob Moreno in 1934 to study
the social interactions of groups. Moreno (1960) defined SNA as, “A quantitative
analytic tool used to study the exchange of resources among different groups.” It is
also defined by Haythornthwaite (1996) as “An approach and set of techniques used
to study the exchange of resources among actors.” The main advantage of SNA is to
identify social network patterns among members [16]. In addition, SNA analyses the
structure of these patterns and identifies their effects on individual behaviour. SNA
is being used as a research method in many fields of sciences to develop the relation-
ships among different members within organizations. The relationships can be an
information exchange, safety knowledge or work-related communication, strength
or weakness of members [17]. In addition, SNA is a useful technique for researchers
to visualize the network patterns among members.
Social network data consists of actors, relationships among members, and char-
acteristics of each member in the network. In order to analyse a social network, it is
essential to draw a network diagram with relationships between each member. The
social network data can be visualized by sociograms, which illustrate the connec-
tions among participants of interest [16]. Social network model contains nodes repre-
senting members and the links between members represent the relationship between
them.
3 Research Methodology
3.1 Factors Affecting Safety in Construction Sites
The research is started with a proper review of relevant papers based on safety in
construction sites. The study identified the factors affecting construction site acci-
dents. The questionnaire consisted of 37 questions related to causes of accidents
in construction sites which were grouped into 8 main factors. The factors consid-
ered were (1) demographic factors, (2) workers behavioral factors, (3) site-related
factors, (4) protective gear and equipment factors, (5) communication factors, (6)
organizational factors, (7) awareness factors and (8) environmental factors. The
survey is conducted among engineers, safety professionals, contractors and workers
in construction sites of Chennai. The respondents were approached personally and
the details were collected and they took 20 min to fill each form. The collection of
survey started by enquiring the demographic details of each respondent including
name, age, experience, and position in the company. Among 200 questionnaires
circulated, 65% (N = 130) responses were returned which were used for analysis. A
total of 54.61% responses were obtained from management and 45.3% were received
from workers. Different category of responses was collected to check the difference
in opinion regarding each statement.
The responses are collected on a Likert scale with 5 = “Strongly agree”, 4 =
“Agree”, 3 = “Moderate, 2 = “Disagree” and 1 = “Strongly Disagree”. A Likert
scale response was collected to check how strongly each respondent agree or disagree
a statement. The respondents were asked to indicate the types of safety measures taken
in each construction sites where they work. The data were then coded and analyzed
using the software package SPSS. The data collected from the questionnaire are
analyzed using the tools like descriptive statistics, independent sample t test, and
relative importance index.
The social network analysis is done using UCINET 6 is the software package used
for the analysis. It helps to analyze as well as visualize the networks with the help
of NetDraw [18, 19]. Once the data for analysis is obtained it can be entered into the
software either by importing the excel file containing data or through spreadsheets
available within the software. Usually square matrix is used the data in the matrix
is coded as binary numbers (0s and 1s ). The NetDraw feature in UCINET helps to
visualize the network.
3.2 Frequency Rate
One of the aim of the project is to measure the Frequency rate of accidents of the
workers and compare it with network characteristics. It helps to differentiate between
low performing and high performing groups. The Frequency Rate can be obtained
from the recordable injury rate and total man hours worked by each crew of the
company.
T otal N umber o f r ecor dable accidents

Frequency Rate = × 106 (1)
T otal Man hour s wor ked
The factors affecting safety in construction sites were evaluated and ranked using
Relative Importance Index (RII). The relative importance index is a most popular
measure to identify the importance of factors among the group of factors. RII finds
the extent of the contribution of the various factors identified as factors affecting
safety on construction sites. RII can be measured by calculating the ratio weighted
sum each response to the maximum possible score i.e., (5 in this case) The formula
for calculating RII was given by Fagbenle et al. (2004), which is shown below:

Wi Ui
RI I = (2)
N (n)
where,
RII relative importance index;
Wi Rating of the respondent’s;
Ui number of respondents placing identical weighting;
N sample size; and n = the maximum possible score.
In the analysis, the relative importance index was calculated for all the factors
affecting safety in construction sites. Workers behavioral factor (0.87) have the
highest RII value. The maximum value of RII was 0.93 obtained for “Workers under
influence of drugs and alcohol” are more prone to accidents. The Negligence to safety
rules with RII 0.92, Irresponsible attitude of the workers while handling machines
and Carelessness of workers while working at height have very high with RII value
0.91. Risk of injuries increase with age was the lowest rated factor with RII of 0.67.
Hence, the results reveal that construction sites should monitor the workers behavior
towards safety, provide safety training before every activity so that workers do no
neglect the rules and helps to generate a positive attitude towards safety practices.
Top three factors and its implications are described below. The RII results are shown
in Fig. 1.
Workers behavioral factor and Safety
The study revealed that worker under the influence of drugs and alcohol have high
risk of injuries in construction sites. At the same time, negligence to safety rules,
carelessness and irresponsible attitude also have high risk rates. Health and safety
authority say that “causes of accidents depends on how we do it and not on what we
did”. Hence the study highlights that’s that workers perception towards safety is to be
improved to reduce risk rates. Workers behavior can be improved by behavior-based
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE INDEX OF SAFETY

FACTORS
demographic factor
Workers behavioural factor
Site Related factor
ProtecƟve gear and equipment factor
communicaƟon factor
Awareness factor
OrganisaƟonal factor
Environmental factor
0.78 0.87 0.86 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.83 0.81
RII
Fig. 1 RII of factors affecting safety
safety and an approach based on culture. Studies are conducted based on behavior-
based safety and ergonomics of workers to identify actions or behaviors which lead
to accidents.
Site Related factors and safety
Site related factors have considerable effect on causing accidents in construction sites.
The study concede that construction practices have considerable effect on safety, as
well as improper use of tools and machines. 91% of respondents indicated that
Improper use of tools and machines can lead to accidents. The interaction with
workers indicated that many construction sites do not provide enough training prior
to use of tools and machines. Use of ladders and safety nets are not available in most
of the sites. The study suggests to provide proper training and establishment of health
and safety associations for every work site.
Communication factor and Safety
Indian construction sites consist of diverse work forces. Most of the construction
sites in study area employee workers from northern part of India. The supervisors and
other local workers find it difficult to communicate properly and convey appropriate
messages. 76% of responses indicate that language barriers among workers can lead
to accidents and 82% responded that they do not receive proper communication on
safety practices from safety managers. Researches recommends that frequent and
open communication about safety shall be conveyed to workers to improve work site
safety (CPWR 2014).
From the test results we can infer that at 5% level of significance, the p value
is greater than 0.05 in all cases, thus the null hypothesis is accepted (Table 1).
There is no significant difference between category of employees and demographic
Table 1 t test for significant difference between category of employees and factors affecting safety
in construction
Management Workers T value p
Mean Mean
Demographic factors 3.94 3.78 1.967 0.051
Workers behavioural factors 4.35 4.32 0.292 0.770
Site related factors 4.36 4.36 −0.020 0.984
Protective gear and equipment factors 4.23 4.21 0.233 0.816
Communication factors 4.28 4.22 0.653 0.515
Organisational factors 4.19 4.06 1.323 0.188
Awareness factors 4.32 4.19 1.270 0.206
Environmental factors 4.08 3.95 1.520 0.131
factors, workers behavioural factors, site related factors, protective gear and equip-
ment factors, communication factors, organisational factors, awareness factors and
environmental factors. Hence it can be concluded that there is no difference in opinion
regarding factors affecting safety in construction sites by employees at management
level and workers level. The test result reveals that the factors considered in this study
is relevant and both categories of employees equally suggest that these factors can
lead to accidents in sites.
Investigating the factors affecting safety in construction sites helps to identify all
the major causes of accidents and help in improving safety performance. The result
reveals that Communication factor have high impact on safety performance with a
RII value of 0.85.
4.1 Social Network Analysis
The study was focused on calculating the network characteristics and to calculate
safety performance of each the crews. Previous studies revealed that Crew with high
network density outperforms other crews with lower network density [7]. The results
of this study show that the top performing crews have higher network density. The
work type and No. of workers in each crew are shown in Table 2.
4.2 Network Density
The network density of each crew represents the relationship and how well each
member are connected [18]. The network densities for each of the crew members
were analysed. The network density values can range from 0 to 1. The crew in which
all the members have two-way communication are said to be well connected and
Table 2 Crew demographics

Crew No. Work type No. of workers
1 Concrete work 12
2 Carpenter 12
3 Concrete work 10
4 Helper 10
5 Equipment operators 7
6 Fitter 8
7 Steel work 14
8 Shuttering work 11
9 Electrical work 10
10 Plumbing 9
the network density will be 1. On the other hand, crew members with no communi-
cation have network density of 0 representing no ties or relationship. In the study,
Fig. 2 represents crew 7 with highest network density value of 0.841, whereas Fig. 3
represents crew 8 with lowest network density of 0.091. Crew 7 have the highest
density because the crew have a greater number of site supervisors who are the main
communicators. Previous studies have revealed that supervisors play more central
role in communicating safety related information’s [14]. The network density and
the accident frequency rate of the crews is shown in Table 3.
Using the network density and the accident frequency rate a linear regression
analysis was done to test the hypothesis that network density and accident frequency
rate have a significant relationship. The results of the hypothesis testing are shown
in Table 4. It reveals that the network density and accident frequency rate are statis-
tically significant indicating that the crews with highest density have least accident
frequency.
Fig. 2 Network diagram of crew 7

Fig. 3 Network diagram of crew 8
Table 3 Network density

Crew No. Network density Frequency rate
and accident frequency rate
1 0.667 22.26
2 0.212 44.52
3 0.211 53.42
4 0.778 26.71
5 0.262 38.15
6 0.482 33.39
7 0.841 19.08
8 0.091 48.56
9 0.289 26.71
10 0.431 29.68
Table 4 Linear regression analysis of network density and accident frequency rate
Model Regression Coefficient Standard Error T value P value r2
Constant 50.1 4.20 11.846 <0.01 0.66
Network density −37.3 8.60 −4.336 <0.05
4.3 Degree Centrality of Crews
Centrality represents the total number of relationships an actor has with other actors
in the network. The actors who have higher relationships with other actors play
more central role in the crew [20]. The Outdegree centrality represents the flow of
information from an actor and In-centrality represents the information received by
an actor. The degree centrality values and Accident frequency rate of each actor is
depicted in Table 5. A crew with high percentage of centralization show that there
Table 5 Centrality and

Crew No. Indegree Outdegree Frequency rate
accident frequency rate
centralization centralization
1 0.3636 0.3636 22.26
2 0.7603 0.4628 44.52
3 0.7531 0.1358 53.42
4 0.2469 0.1235 26.71
5 0.2778 0.0833 38.15
6 0.2653 0.4286 33.39
7 0.1716 0.0888 19.08
8 0.6700 0.1200 48.56
9 0.4198 0.4198 26.71
10 0.2188 0.3594 29.68
Table 6 Linear regression analysis of centrality and accident frequency rate

Constant 16.8 4.7 3.59 <0.01 0.65
In centrality 42.1 10 4.21 <0.05
Constant 37.0 7.6 4.87 <0.01 −0.10
Out centrality −10.5 25.3 −41.5 0.68
is less percentage of actors with high number of relationships with other actors. On
the other hand, crew with less percentage of centralization have equally distributed
percentage of actors with high percentage of relationship with others [14, 19].
The relationship between degree centrality and accident frequency rate is tested
using Linear Regression analysis with the hypothesis that a significant relation-
ship exists between Degree Centrality and Accident Frequency Rate. The centrality
values reveal that the amount of information provided by the crew members are
less compared to the information received by each crew member as most of the
crew members are unilingual. The results also reveal that In-centrality and Acci-
dent frequency rate have statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05), whereas
out-centrality and Accident frequency rate have no significant relationship (Table 6).
4.4 Betweenness
Betweenness is the measure of data that must flow from a particular actor who lies
between two other actors. In another word, this metric shows the aggregate number of
events when a particular actor is required to associate two unique actors in a system
[19]. Actors having high betweenness centrality when they connect with other actors
in shortest path [20]. The betweenness centrality and accident frequency rate of each
Table 7 Betweenness and

Crew No. Betweenness Frequency rate
accident frequency rate
1 12.15 22.26
2 12.23 44.52
3 40.59 53.42
4 1.82 26.71
5 14.44 38.15
6 12.93 33.39
7 0.62 19.08
8 14.78 48.56
9 1.70 26.71
10 38.17 29.68
Table 8 Linear regression analysis of betweenness and accident frequency rate

Constant 27.5 4.9 5.64 <0.01 0.22
Betweenness 45.5 24.3 1.87 0.09
crew is represented in Table 7. The significant relationship between betweenness

and accident frequency rate is tested using linear regression analysis. The results
are represented in Table 8 which reveals that betweenness and accident frequency
rate does not have significant statistical relationship and is not an indicator of safety
performance.
Relevant studies reveal that bilingual work crews play more central role in commu-
nicating and removes barrier in communication. A statistical test was conducted to
test whether bilingual workers play more central role in a crew. To test the hypothesis,
all the actors in the crews were divided into bilingual and unilingual workers. As all
the site supervisors are bilingual workers, they are not considered for the study. The
sample considered for the study are unequal (74 unilingual workers and 20 bilingual
workers) therefore, Mann Whitney 2 sample t test is used to test the hypothesis.
The results are represented in Table 9. The test reveals that average out centrality is
1.88 times greater than unilingual and average in centrality is 1.78 times greater than
unilingual workers. This show that bilingual workers provide more amount of safety
information than they receive such information.
Table 9 Mann Whitney 2 sample test

SNA metric Unilingual Bilingual Difference P value
Avg. out centrality 0.422 0.797 0.375 0.000
Avg. in centrality 0.445 0.795 0.320 0.000
Betweenness 0.029 0.045 0.016 0.243
5 Conclusion
The aim of the study was to identify all the factors affecting safety in construction
sites, most commonly used safety measures and to measure the communication
patterns among workers and their effect on safety performance. The findings suggest
that the employee’s perception towards factors affecting safety do not change based
on their position in work environment. Both the categories believe that the factors
considered in the study are of significant importance.
The relative importance index analysis results revealed that workers under the
influence of drugs and those who neglect safety rules are prone to accidents. There-
fore, concluded that workers behavioural factors have more importance in affecting
safety in construction industry. So more detailed study is required in monitoring
workers attitude towards safety practices. The SNA results reveal that the crews
with highest network density (0.841) have least accident frequency rate. This shows
that crews with good tie strength can identify hazards and thereby reduce accident
frequency. Whereas, crews with least network density have high accident frequency.
In-centrality of crews show that the amount of information provided by the crew
members are less compared to the information received by each crew member as most
of the crew members are unilingual. Mann Whitney t test result reveals that bilingual
workers provide more amount of safety information than they receive such informa-
tion. Betweenness and accident frequency rate does not have significant statistical
relationship and is not an indicator of safety performance.
This study was an effective effort to identify the opinion of management towards
factors affecting safety in construction sites, the frequency of safety practices
followed in firms and analyse and visualize the safety communication patterns of
crews. The study also measured the accident frequency rate of the crews and tested
its significance with network characteristics. This study reveals SNA can be an effec-
tive tool to be implemented in construction industries of India to evaluate the safety
knowledge transfer among workers and how effectively they implement safety in
working environment. Further this tool can be used significantly to measure the
safety communication patterns among unilingual and bilingual workers and it can
be also used at the earlier stages of a project to make preconstruction decisions.
References
1. Ima-india.com (2019) IMA India—IMA India’s Published reports. [online] Available at: http://
ima-india.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=650&Itemid=365
2. Ibpsguide.com (2019) India GDP growth rate projection by different financial organizations.
[online] Available at: https://www.ibpsguide.com/india-gdp-growth-rate-projection-different-
financial-organizations
3. Patel DA, Jha KN Neural network model for the prediction of safe work behavior in construction
projects, pp 1–13
4. Anon (2019) [online] Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/file/p53nc44/United-States-
Department-of-Labor-2016-maintains-that-the-annual-rate-of/
5. Gunduz M, Laitinen H (2018) Construction safety risk assessment with introduced control
levels. J Civ Eng Manag 24(1):11–18
6. Albert A, Hallowell MR, Kleiner BM (2014) Experimental field testing of a real-time construc-
tion hazard identification and transmission technique. Constr Manag Econ 32(10):1000–1016
7. Albert A, Hallowell MR (2017) Modeling the role of social networks on hazard recognition
and communication. Pract Period Struct Des Constr 22(4):04017016
8. Aksorn T, Hadikusumo BHW (2008) Measuring effectiveness of safety programmes in the
Thai construction industry. Constr Manag Econ 26(4):409–421
9. Wilkins JR (2011) Construction workers’ perceptions of health and safety training programmes.
Constr Manag Econ 29(10):1017–1026
10. Carter G, Smith SD (2006) Safety hazard identification on construction projects. J Constr Eng
Manag 132(2):197–205
11. Perlman A, Sacks R, Barak R (2014) Hazard recognition and risk perception in construction.
Saf Sci 64:13–21
12. Jaselskis EJ, Asce AM (2016) Improving hazard-recognition performance and safety training
outcomes: integrating strategies for training transfer 142(10):1–11
13. Hale A, Borys D, Adams M (2015) Safety regulation: the lessons of workplace safety rule
management for managing the regulatory burden. Saf Sci 71(PB):112–122
14. Alsamadani R et al (2013) Relationships among language proficiency, communication patterns,
and safety performance in small work crews in the United States 139:1125–1134
15. Törner M, Pousette A (2009) Safety in construction—a comprehensive description of the char-
acteristics of high safety standards in construction work, from the combined perspective of
supervisors and experienced workers. J Saf Res 40(6):399–409
16. Eteifa SO, El-adaway IH (2018) Using social network analysis to model the interaction between
root causes of fatalities in the construction industry. J Manag Eng 34(1):04017045
17. Comu S, Unsal HI (2011) Dual impact of cultural and linguistic diversity on project network
performance. J Manag Eng, pp 179–187
18. Borgatti SP, Everett MG (2006) A graph-theoretic perspective on centrality. Soc Netw
28(4):466–484
19. Borgatti SP, Everett M, Freeman LC (2002) UCINET 6.0 for windows: software for social
network analysis, user’s guide. Anal Technol Inc., p 47
20. “From G. Scott & R. Garner (2013),” pp 111–124
21. Indiastat.com (2019) growth statistics details figures. [online] Available at: https://www.indias
tat.com/faqs/faqs.aspx
22. Moreno JL, Jennings HH (1960) The sociometry reader. Free Press, Glencoe, IL
23. Haythornthwaite C (1996) Social network analysis: An approach and technique for the study
of information exchange. Libr Inf Sci Res 18(4):323–342
24. CPWR (2013) The construction chart book: the US construction industry and its workers
25. Fagbenle O, Adeyemi A, Adesanya D (2004) The impact of non-financial incentives on
bricklayers’ productivity in Nigeria. Constr Build Mater 22:899–911
Development of Pavement Quality SCC
Having High Early Strength Under Site
Conditions
Shashi Kant Sharma, Kanish Kapoor, Dadi Rambabu, and Mohit Kumar
Abstract Pavement quality self-compacting concrete (PQSCC) incorporating

ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), flyash and silica fume has been investi-
gated for early strength development, for various curing conditions. After being tested
for workability befitting that of a SCC, the concrete mixes were tested for strength.
Three different curing regimes considered are: normal water curing (23 °C), hot
water curing at 40 °C, and steam curing at 60 °C. For making the curing procedure
possible at site, least possible curing duration was chosen i.e. 8 h per day (2 h after
each 4-hour cycle). CaCl2 was also added in permissible limits (1.5% by weight of
binding material) to compare the strength gain. Test results indicate that amongst
the three curing regimes, steam curing performs well even without CaCl2 incorpo-
ration whereas hot water curing must be complemented with CaCl2 to achieve high
strength. Both GGBS and flyash based composites perform better with special curing
measures but flyash based composites performed much better in presence of CaCl2
accelerator whereas flyash composites need steam curing. These improvements are
attributed to two main factors: mix design of pavement quality SCC on basis of
combination of high packing density theory and Okamura and Ozawa method, and
application of special curing procedure which is subjective to different pozzolans.
Keywords Curing regime · Pavement quality concrete · Self-compacting

concrete · Pozzolans · CaCl2
S. K. Sharma (B) · K. Kapoor · D. Rambabu · M. Kumar

Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Jalandhar, Jalandhar 144001, India
K. Kapoor
D. Rambabu
M. Kumar

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_73
1 Introduction
There has always been a demand of having a pavement quality concrete which satisfy
three major requirements; tensile strength of 4.5 MPa or Compressive Strength of
40 MPa [1], abrasion resistance and smooth surface, and high shrinkage resistance.
Use of heavy dose of accelerators promise required strength but it compromises
the chloride ion resistance and shrinkage resistance of concrete [2]. The durability
properties of the concrete mainly depend on its curing age among the other factors.
Porosity and chloride ion penetration of concrete decreases with increase in the
curing age [3]. Therefore the literature suggests the use of curing methods which
could influence the hydration rate of concrete in such a manner that a high early
strength could be obtained with minimal loss of durability [4]. Autoclave curing, hot
air curing and electrical curing are a few examples which have been found to increase
the early strength of concrete though it was also found that these methods of curing
led to the reduction in the fatigue strength and residual strength, and an increase in the
porosity of concrete [5]. Steam curing and hot water bath curing have been suggested
in the literature to produce a concrete having early strength, high fatigue strength
and less porosity [6]. These studies mostly dealt with nano silica or silica fume
and minimal amount of flyash or GGBS as their purpose was to achieve high early
strength. Low performance mineral admixtures could not be relied for getting high
early strength, hence micro/nano silica were used. Also, these studies were focused
on drying shrinkage of concrete, which has special significance in rigid pavements.
Present study aims to obtain a high early strength SCC made by substituting cement
in high amount with mineral admixtures by utilizing the steam/hot water curing
at laboratory, and by relying more upon the chemical composition of the mixes
(containing high volumes of low performing mineral admixtures) for their reactivity
and simultaneously using medium amounts of silica fume to ensure an increase in
strength [7]. The SCC in present study has been designed partially after ensuring high
bulk density of the aggregate mix and the remaining on the basis of Okamura and
Ozawa method [8], which suggests paste volumes for different aggregate mixes to
obtain high flow. Properties of mixes passing self-compaction criteria were compared
with those of normal pavement quality concrete’s, designed as per IRC. The early
strength gain has been relied upon the mix design procedure and special curing of
different chemical compositions of the trial concrete mixes.
2 Materials and Methodology
2.1 Materials and Theory of Mixing
In the present study Ordinary Portland Cement (43 Grade) has been taken which
complies with IS: 8112-1989. Flyash and GGBS are the next important pozzolanic
materials used for substituting cement on large scale. Flyash has been chosen to
Development of Pavement Quality SCC Having High Early Strength … 805
Table 1 Chemical composition of concrete mixes

Constituents Chemical Compositions %
CaO SiO2 Al2 O3 MgO Fe2 O3 SO3
Cement 63.2 21.8 6.8 2.5 3 1.7
Flyash 5 52.5 22.5 – 11 –
GGBS 39.7 35 12.3 – 1 –
Silica fume <1 91 <0.5 – – –
Table 2 Physical properties of concrete mixes’ ingredients

Constituents Physical properties
Specific Particle size Specific Density Colour LOI
surface area (µm) gravity (kg/m3 )
(m2 /kg)
Cement 373 12 3.15 3200 Light grey 1.48
Flyash 390 10 2.17 – Light grey 1.06
GGBS 455 21 2.90 – Dark grey 0.98
Silica fume 19380 0.09 2.24 310 Dark grey 1.14
enhance the flow ability of concrete whereas GGBS has been chosen because of
its sticky nature which serves the purpose of viscosity modifying admixture [6].
Undensified silica fume has been used in the present study which complies with
ASTM C 1240-95a and IS: 15388-2003. It has been chosen as it is known to provide
high early strength to concrete [9]. The chemical and physical compositions of these
materials are present in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
River bed sand has been used as fine aggregate, conforming to zone IV grading
requirement as per IS: 383-1970. For normal pavement quality concrete mix, coarse
aggregates of sizes 20 and 12.5 mm have been taken in the ratio 70:30 as per IS:
383:1970 to yield a nominal maximum size of 16 mm and fineness modulus of 7.5.
For pavement quality SCC, coarse aggregates of sizes 20, 12.5, 10 and 4.75 mm have
been combined with the fine aggregates to obtain a maximum packing density.
2.2 Mix Design
Firstly, maximum bulk density has been obtained for set of coarse aggregates and
fine aggregates separately [10]. Afterwards fractions of coarse aggregates and fine
aggregates have been combined to obtain a maximum resultant bulk density [11]. In
the present study, after conducting trials, it was found that coarse aggregate to fine
aggregate ratio of 44:56 yields maximum flowing ability& appropriate bulk density
of 1.93 g/cm3 . As aggregates are good in reducing the shrinkage strains in concrete
and since their coefficient of thermal expansion is much lower than hydrated cement
pastes, therefore it was decided to enhance the packing density of aggregate mix [12].
This measure reduces the paste demand to induce flow on basis of reduction in voids’
volume, in comparison to the mixes containing only open graded aggregate mix. The
mix design by present approach does not rely upon using single sized aggregates
and therefore distributes the paste equally in between the voids of aggregates which
should reduce the shrinkage cracking in concrete [13]. This approach differs from
Ozawa and Okamura approach on the basis that it fixes the aggregate content first
to obtain benefits related to pavement quality concrete whereas latter’s approach
improves flow of any kind of aggregate mix by proposing paste volumes to improve
packing factor of concrete [14]. The mix design parameters in Table 3 prove that
the total aggregate to paste ratio (w/w) does not demand appreciable reduction for
yielding PQSCC through this approach. The resulting concrete is tight, cohesive and
homogeneous which induces flow.
(i) This approach follows packing density method which has been specified [15]
for yielding a low cement normal concrete [16].
(ii) Constant paste volume: After fixing the packing density of combined aggregates,
the volume of paste is obtained as unity minus packing density of aggregates.
Minimum paste content is calculated as the sum of the void content in combined
aggregates and the excess paste over and above the voids to coat the aggregate
particle. The water to cement ratio in the paste is chosen on basis of strength,
and it decides the amount of cement in the mix. Any possible increment in water
demand to meet the workability standards of SCC should be satisfied via use of
super plasticizer [17].
2.2.1 Mix Proportions
Normal concrete mix of high strength (M70) has been attempted in the present
study to achieve a flexural strength of at least 4.5 MPa after 7 days of curing. A
very high cement content of 642.19 kg/m3 is required in such mix which is much
higher than the cement content (450 kg/m3 ) required in producing a concrete with
flexural strength of 4.5 MPa after 28 days curing as per IRC 44 [18]. If the upper
limit of cement content (based on shrinkage resistance criteria) in rigid pavements
is neglected then about 575 kg/m3 of cement would be required to impart 4.5 MPa
strength at 7 days as per IRC 44. Therefore it was decided to bring down the cement
content much below 575 kg/m3 , even lower than 450 kg/m3 so that the purpose of
obtaining a cheap high strength self compacting concrete could be realized. After
finding out the cement content per cum of normal concrete, workability trails were
performed on mixes substituting cement primarily with flyash and GGBS @ 10%(up
to 20% each) and secondarily with silica fume @ 5% (up to 15%). Hence cement
substitution has been done on large scale (maximum up to 55%). GGBS has been
coded as G1, G2 and G3 for 10, 20 and 30% substitution levels. Similarly, flyash has
been coded as F1, F2 and F3. Silica fume has been coded as S1, S2 and S3 for 5, 10
and 15% substitution levels. Though 10% silica fume levels have been suggested in
the literature for medium strength concretes, but the trials have been performed with
Table 3 Mix volumes of NPQC (M70) and trial PQSCC mixes

Mix Wpm (kg/m3 ) W/C Cement GGBS FA SF W SP
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
C(100) 642.19 0.26 642.19 0.00 0.00 0.00 164.19 12.84
CG3S1 621.42 0.26 403.92 186.43 0.00 31.07 159.08 12.43
(65, 30, 5)
CG3S2 612.28 0.26 367.37 183.68 0.00 61.23 157.97 12.25
(60, 30,
10)
CG3S3 603.45 0.26 331.90 181.04 0.00 90.52 156.90 12.07
(55, 30,
15)
CG2F1S1 600.95 0.26 390.62 120.19 60.10 30.05 159.37 12.02
(65, 20,
10,5)
CG2F1S2 592.45 0.26 355.47 118.49 59.25 59.25 158.30 11.85
(60, 20,
10, 10)
CG2F1S3 584.19 0.26 321.30 116.84 58.42 87.63 156.56 11.68
(55, 20,
10, 15)
CG1F2S1 581.85 0.26 378.20 58.18 116.37 29.09 158.96 11.64
(65, 10,
20, 5)
CG1F2S2 573.87 0.26 344.32 57.39 114.77 57.39 157.93 11.48
(60, 10,
20, 10)
CG1F2S3 566.12 0.26 311.36 56.61 113.22 84.92 156.93 11.32
(55, 10,
20, 15)
CG2F2S1 578.67 0.26 318.27 115.73 115.73 28.93 158.67 11.57
(55, 20,
20, 5)
CG2F2S2 570.78 0.26 285.39 114.16 114.16 57.08 157.65 11.42
(50, 20,
20, 10)
CG2F2S3 563.11 0.26 253.40 112.62 112.62 84.47 156.66 11.26
(45, 20,
20, 15)
CF3S1 563.92 0.26 366.55 0.00 169.17 28.20 156.88 11.28
(65, 30, 5)
CF3S2 556.42 0.26 333.85 0.00 166.93 55.64 155.91 11.13
(60, 30,
10)
CF3S3 549.13 0.26 302.02 0.00 164.74 82.37 154.96 10.98
(55, 30,
15)
15% because GGBS introduces extra lime in the mixture which could be utilized
by additional contents of silica fume. The mix volumes of normal pavement quality
concrete (NPQC) and trial concretes have been presented in Table 3. The volume of
fine & coarse aggregates and binder volume has been kept at 710 and 1060 kg/m3, and
0.21 m3 in NPQC. In trial mixes, the volume of fine &coarse aggregates has been kept
at 965.82 and 758.86 kg/m3 , whereas the binder volume has been decided on basis of
void theory and binder requirement for coating of aggregates. Cement substitution
with mineral admixtures gives high volume per unit weight thus facilitating higher
cement substitution as could be seen in Table 3 for trial mix CF3S3; with a binder
weight of 549.13 kg/m3 and a cement substitution of 340 kg/m3 .
2.2.2 Parameters Studied
Workability
These tests were conducted on fresh concrete mixes as per the guidelines suggested
by EFNARC [19]. Flowing ability, passing ability and segregation resistance of
trial mixes were checked through Abrams cone flow diameter test, and L Box test
respectively. Slump cone test has been performed as per ASTM C 143(2002) in
which the “spread” or “flow” of the concrete sample is measured once the cone is
lifted. Results have been recorded as T50 time in seconds which is the amount of time
the concrete takes to flow to a diameter of 50 cm. Typically, slump flow values of
approximately 24–30 in. (600–750 mm) are within the acceptable range; acceptable
T50 times range from 2 to 5 s. The L-box value is the ratio of levels of concrete
at each end of the box after the test is complete. The L-box consists of a “chimney
“section and a “trough “section. After the test is complete, the level of concrete in
the chimney has been recorded as H1 ; the level of concrete in the trough has been
recorded as H2 . The L-box value is simply H2 /H1 . Typical acceptable values for the
L-box value are in the range of 0.8–1.0.
Destructive Testing
Since the early strength development of a pavement quality SCC incorporating large
volumes of mineral admixtures has not been extensively researched. therefore present
study focuses on early strength development of PQSCC under normal (23 °C), hot
water bath curing (40 °C) and steam curing (60 °C) with and without the use of
accelerator CaCl2 for selected durations of 7 days. It was decided to compare the
best curing method out of steam and hot water bath curing (based on 7 days curing
results) Normal curing was provided by covering the samples with water (23 °C)
soaked jute bags only. Steam curing was performed on otherwise normally cured
samples for 8 h in a day i.e. steam curing for two hours after every four hours of
normal bur lapped curing. Though, many studies have been performed in the literature
with a high frequency of curing intervals, for e.g. 4 h performed curing alternatively
for total 12 h in a day, but in the present study the frequency has been reduced to
make the curing conditions possible even at the site.
3 Result
In order to avoid exhaustive exercise of writing various mixes in a given category it

has been decided to name the mix categories as C, CG3SX, CG2F1SX, CG1F2SX,
CG2F2SX and CF3SX for mixes C, (CG3S1, CG3S2, CG3S3), (CG2F1S1,
CG2F1S2, CG2F1S3), (CG1F2S1, CG1F2S2, CG1F2S3), (CG2F2S1, CG2F2S2,
CG2F2S3), (CF3S1, CF3S2 and CF3S3), respectively in the results.
3.1 Effect of Mineral Admixture Proportions on Workability

of Concrete
3.1.1 Flow Ability
The results of flowing ability tests have been shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It has been
observed that almost all types of mix combinations except mixes CG3SX show
flowing ability of a SCC. It is quite apparent from the results that GGBS reduces
the flowing ability of concrete and it needs flyash or silica fume to increase the
flow. Addition of flyash liberates water in the mix due to negative charge carried by
its particles which cause repulsion between cement particles when it gets adsorbed
over their surfaces. Also flyash has ball bearing effect because of its smooth round
shape. Similarly silica fume also has ball bearing effect in the concrete, but it also
adsorbs large amount of water over its surface due to its higher surface area and also
makes the concrete sticky [20]. Therefore silica fume decreases the flowing ability of
Fig. 1 Result of Slump flow S lump flow diameter

diameter 8 00
7 00
6 00
Diamter (mm)
5 00
4 00
3 00
2 00
1 00
0
CF3S1
CF3S2
CF3S3
C
CG3S1
CG3S2
CG3S3
CG2F1S1
CG2F1S2
CG2F1S3
CG1F2S1
CG1F2S2
CG1F2S3
CG2F2S1
CG2F2S2
CG2F2S3
Fig. 2 Result of Slump flow S lump flow for 50 cm diameter T50 (s)
for 50 cm diameter T50 (s) 8
7
Flow time (sec)

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
CF3S1
C
CF3S2
CF3S3
CG3S1
CG3S2
CG3S3
CG2F1S1
CG2F1S2
CG2F1S3
CG1F2S1
CG1F2S2
CG1F2S3
CG2F2S1
CG2F2S2
CG2F2S3
concrete. The flowing ability of mixes as per flow diameter test varies in the following
sequence:
CG3SX < CG2F1SX < CG1F2SX < CGF2SX < CF3SX
This variation clearly shows that flowing ability of mixes increases with flyash
content. Mixes CG2F2SX have higher flowing ability than CG1F2SX which indicates
that 20% of GGBS and 20% of flyash make tight and homogeneous concrete mixes
which increase the flow irrespective of the sticky nature of GGBS [21]. The flowing
ability test based on time taken to achieve flow diameter of 500 mm gives quite
similar results as normal flow diameter test. In this test also, silica fume was found
increasing the flow time of mixes which shows its tendency to reduce the flowing
ability of mixes. The flowing ability of mixes as per this test varies in the following
sequence:
CG3SX < CG1F2SX < CF3SX < CG2F1SX < CG2F2SX. The unsimilarity
in these results from the flow diameter test is based on the reason that the spread
rate of concrete is different from the final spread diameter. It was observed that
tight/homogeneous mixes with lesser viscosity gave higher flow rate. Mixes CG3SX
are not homogeneous as there is a huge particle size gap between GGBS and silica
fume. Apart from this GGBS introduce high viscosity in the concrete. Hence mixes
CG3SX have least flow rate. Flyash reduce the viscosity of concrete mix which
explains the higher flow rate of mixes CG1F2X and CF3SX than mixes CG3SX.
Mixes CG2F1SX and mixes CG2F2SX have still higher flow rates as these mixes are
very homogeneous. It was observed during the test that these mixes spread uniformly
in all directions with equal rates smoothly. Mixes CG2F2SX have highest flow rate
owing to higher homogeneity and lesser viscosity than mixes CG2F1SX.
3.1.2 Passing Ability
All of the trial combinations were able to pass the passing ability test which indicates
that fine light weight mineral admixtures significantly improve the passing ability
of concrete mixes [22]. Amongst these mineral admixtures GGBS is heaviest. Both
silica fume and flyash have nearly two third specific gravity values of GGBS. It is
very difficult to comment on the variation of passing ability of mixes containing
both GGBS and flyash, but since the passing ability of mixes containing 30% GGBS
(CG3SX) is lesser than those containing 30% flyash (CF3SX), it would be candid to
say that flyash promotes passing ability in comparison to GGBS. L box height ratio
H2/H1 value close to 1 indicates better passing ability as concrete has same elevation
before and after the obstruction. Looking over this way it could be said that mixes
CG2F2SX have the best passing ability followed by CG1F2SX and CG2F1SX. It is
conspicuous that mixes CG1F2SX being rich in flyash than mixes CG2F1SX, show
correspondingly better passing ability, but CG2F2SX has highest passing ability.
This seriously indicates that apart from light weight characteristics of concrete the
cohesiveness of concrete is also a major factor which allows the concrete to pass the
obstruction altogether. Equal proportions of GGBS and flyash make the concrete just
that much light weight and cohesive which promotes best flowing ability, whereas
either if GGBS content is increased or flyash content is increased, that would only
result in the loss of one or the other property. Silica fume has been found to reduce the
height ratio because of its viscous nature which reduces the flow of concrete when it
confronts the obstruction. Since mixes have shown just passing value of height ratio
upto15% silica fume contents, therefore it is not recommended to use silica fume
above 15% (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Result of L box L box height ratio H2/H1

height ratio 1
0.8
Height ratio
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
CF3S1
CF3S2
CF3S3
C
CG3S1
CG3S2
CG3S3
CG2F1S1
CG2F1S2
CG2F1S3
CG1F2S1
CG1F2S2
CG1F2S3
CG2F2S1
CG2F2S2
CG2F2S3
3.2 Effect of Mineral Admixture Proportions on Compressive

Strength of Concrete
3.2.1 Compressive Strength at 7 Days for Normal and Hot Water

Curing
The compressive strength variation of different mixes after 7 days of curing (normal
and hot water) has been shown in Fig. 3.6. Normal curing with and without CaCl2
led to the following strength variation trends amongst mixes:
CG2F1SX > CG1F2SX > CG3SX > CF3SX > CG2F2SX

and CG3SX > CG2F1SX > CF3SX > CG1F2SX > CG2F2SX
In case of hot water curing, the strength variation follows this pattern:
CF3SX > CG1F2SX > CG2F1SX > CG2F2SX > CG3SX
Hence GGBS is best for normal curing whereas flyash is best for steam curing.
These patterns are irrespective of CaCl2 which seems to complement the strength
equally in both types of curing. All of the mixes except CG3SX mixes showed an
early strength of 40 MPa with hot water curing without CaCl2 . With CaCl2 and hot
water curing all mixes exhibited 40 MPa strength.
These results could be analyzed further in four ways: firstly comparison on basis
of difference in normal and hot water curing without CaCl2 , secondly comparison on
basis of difference in normal and hot water curing with CaCl2 , thirdly comparison on
basis of difference in normal curing with and without CaCl2 , and lastly comparison
on basis of difference in hot water curing with and without CaCl2 . Following results
were obtained from compressive strength analysis at 7 days of curing:
(i) Hot water curing gives high early strength with respect to normal curing in
all mixes. Generally, there is a steep rise in early strength values between
normal curing without CaCl2 and hot water curing without CaCl2 , except in
mixes containing higher proportions of GGBS. Flyash and silica fume have
complemented each other in giving high early strengths to the mixes when
cured with hot water.
(ii) Like the latter case, there is also a steep rise between normal curing with CaCl2
and hot water curing with CaCl2 except in mixes containing higher proportions
of GGBS.
(iii) The presence of CaCl2 does not bring much rise in early strength values in case
of normal curing. It was observed that in all mixes there was an almost equal
improvement in strength values (shown by the blue and green stripes in Fig. 4).
(iv) The presence of CaCl2 brings significant changes in the early strength values
in case of hot water curing. In some mixes it increases it a lot, whereas in
other mixes it keeps the values equal (shown by the red and purple stripes in
Fig. 4 Compressive strength Compressive strength at 7 days

at 7 days for normal and hot 70
Strength (MPa)
water curing 60
50
40
30
20
CG3S2
CG3S3
CF3S1
CF3S2
CF3S3
C
CG3S1
CG2F1S1
CG2F1S2
CG2F1S3
CG1F2S1
CG1F2S2
CG1F2S3
CG2F2S1
CG2F2S2
CG2F2S3
Normal w/o CaCl2 Hot water w/o CaCl2
Normal with CaCl2 Hot water with CaCl2
Fig. 4). Except from few cases, it could be pointed out that the mixes containing
higher content of GGBS showed lower early strength with respect to mixes
containing higher contents of flyash. Silica fume does not seem to complement
GGBS significantly in the early strength gain. Hot water curing with CaCl2
is favorable for obtaining high early strength in generally all mixes. Mixes
CF3SX give similar strengths with and without CaCl2 .
3.2.2 Compressive Strength at 7 Days for Normal and Steam Curing
All mixes gave a minimum strength of 40 MPa with steam curing and without CaCl2 .
If CaCl2 is added then the minimum strength further scales upwards to a value of
50 MPa for all mixes after 7 days of curing. Normal PQC with normal curing gave
a strength value of 45.5 and 40.6 MPa at this stage with and without CaCl2 . Steam
curing further improved its strength to 57.5 and 54.8 MPa with and without CaCl2.
Most of the mixes except CG3SX gave steam cured strength greater than that of
normal concrete with addition of CaCl2 accelerator, whereas most of the mixes
except CG3SX and CG2F2SX gave without CaCl2 .
Following results were obtained from the comparative compressive strength
analysis at 7 days of curing:
(i) Steam curing is more advantageous than normal curing for flyash dominant
mixes without CaCl2 i.e. mixes CG3SX are poor towards this curing.
(ii) Like the latter case, CG3SX mixes are poor performer in case of steam curing
with CaCl2 .
(iii) Steam curing with and without CaCl2 led to the following strength variation
trends amongst mixes (Fig. 5):
CG2F1SX > CG1F2SX > CF3SX > CG2F2SX > CG3SX

and CF3SX > CG1F2SX > CG2F1SX > CG2F2SX > CG3SX
Fig. 5 Compressive strength Compressive strength at 7 days

at 7 days for normal and 70
Strength (MPa)
steam curing 60
50
40
30
20
CF3S1
CF3S2
CF3S3
CG3S1
CG3S2
CG3S3
C
CG2F1S1
CG2F1S2
CG2F1S3
CG1F2S1
CG1F2S2
CG1F2S3
CG2F2S1
CG2F2S2
CG2F2S3
Normal w/o CaCl2 Normal with CaCl2
Steam w/o CaCl2 Steam with CaCl2
4 Conclusion
The study makes it apparent that high volume of mineral admixtures could also be
beneficially used under steam curing for obtaining a high early strength pavement
quality self compacting concrete with or without the use of accelerators, provided
a high packing density is achieved and proper combinations of mineral admixtures
are used. Following main conclusions could be drawn out from this study:
1. High volume of binder is not necessary for attaining high strength SCC. Infect
requisite binder could be introduced to fill the voids formed after ensuring high
density of combined aggregate mix. This brings the mortar: aggregate ratio as well
as fine aggregate: coarse aggregate ratio in the range which promotes workability
for attaining self compaction also.
2. SCC mixes containing flyash (20%) and GGBS (10%) along with 10% silica fume
have higher strength than other concrete samples but mixes containing flyash at
30% and silica fume at 15% also perform better. This signifies the possibility of
using high volume of flyash for getting high strength SCC.
3. Higher volumes of silica fume are a must when the amount of weak pozzolans
like flyash or GGBS is high. Though under normal curing they may not increase
the strength sufficiently but under steam curing they could bring miracles.
Appendix
Mix design calculations

The mix design is based on assuring workability and strength simultaneously [15].
In the present study a packing density of 0.703 gm/cm3 was found for the combined
aggregates. Voids content = 1 − 0.7033 = 0.2967.
Assuming paste content as 25% in excess of void content, which has also been
adopted in [23]; detailed calculations to obtain all the ingredients of concrete is given
below.
Paste content 25% in excess of void content
(i) Paste content = 0.2967 + 0.25 × 0.2967 = 0.3709 cm3 .
(ii) Volume of aggregates = 1 − 0.3709 = 0.6291 cm3 . From this value, the weight
of aggregates of different sizes has been calculated.
For M70 grade concrete keeping in mind the target mean strength suitable
water-cement ratio is fixed as per trial mixes.
(iii) W/C ratio = 0.26; then W = 0.26C
(iv) Total Paste = C+W = C/3.15 + 0.26C/1 = 0.5775C
Cement content = 0.3709/0.5775 × 1000 = 642.3 kg/m3
Water content = 0.26 × 642.3 = 166.998 kg/cum.
(v) Determination of flyash (FA), GGBS and silica fume (SF) contents.
According to the flow table tests (ASTM C230) with standard sand and the
same dosage of SP, the W/S ratio of GGBS mortar is 0.27, and the W/SF ratio
of SF mortar is 0.30; W/F ratio of FA mortar is 0.35 for obtaining the same
consistency of cement mortar with W/C ratio = 0.26. Since FA: GGBS: SF:C
(by weight) = A:B:C:D, the total volume of FA, GGBS, SF and Cement paste
can be obtained using the following equation:
VPF + VPGB + VPSF + VC + VW = 0.3709

(A × Wpm) (0.32 × A) (B × Wpm) (0.27 × B)
= + + +
2150 1000 2920 1000
(C × Wpm) (0.3 × C) (D × Wpm) (0.26 × D)
+ + + +
2200 1000 3150 1000
i.e. A, B, C, D, are 10%, 20%, 5%, 65%, then Wpm = 600.95 kg.
Where, A, B, C, D are % of each mineral admixture and cement in paste by
weight. Amount of FA, GGBS and SF (Wpm) needed when A, B, C and D are
10%, 20%, 5%, 65%,
I. FA content WF = A × Wpm = 60.10 kg/m3

II. GGBS content W = B × Wpm = 120.19 kg/m3
III. SF content WSF = C × Wpm = 30.05 kg/m3
IV. Cement content Wc = D × Wpm = 390.62 kg/m3 .
(vi) Determination of mixing water content required for FA, GGBS SF, & C.
I. Water content for FA Wwf = 0.35 × 60.10 = 21.04 kg/m3

II. Water content for GGBS WwS = 0.27 × 120.19 = 32.45 kg/m3
III. Water content for SF WwSF = 0.30 × 30.05 = 9.02 kg/m3
IV. Water content for Cement Wwc = 0.26 × 390.62 = 101.56 kg/m3
(vii) Determination of the SP dosage.

The solid content of SP is 40%. According to previous engineering experi-

ence, the dosage of SP is 2% of the content of binders for meeting the SCC
requirements Dosage of SP (Master Glenium @51, a second generation based
modified polycarboxylic ether):
WSP = 0.02 × (WF + WGB + WSF + WC ) = 12.02 kg/m3
Adjustment of mixing water content needed in SCC Amount of water in SP;

WwSP = (1-0.40) × WSP = 7.21 kg/m3 .
Amount of mixing water needed for SCC
W = Wwf + WwB + WwSF + Wwc − WwSP = 156.85 kg/m3
It was also decided to add CaCl2 accelerator in the mixes to understand the
behavior of early strength development of a PQSCC with and without steam
curing.
References
1. Panchal S, Pradesh H, Pradesh H, Pradesh H, Sharma A, Pradesh H, Pradesh H (2017) Effect

of glass reinforcement and glass powder on the characteristics 8(3):648–653
2. Sharma SK, Ransinchung GD, Praveen K (2016) Rigid pavements constructed with WMF rein-
forced SCC in rural roads. In: A National conference on fifteen years of PMGSY(FYPMGSY),
Roorkee, India
3. Ramezanianpour AA, Malhotra VM (1995) Effect of curing on the compressive strength,
resistance to chloride-ion penetration and porosity of concretes incorporating slag, fly ash or
silica fume. Cem Concr Compos 17:125–133
4. Zhao Q, Liu X, Jiang J (2015) “Effect of curing temperature on creep behavior of fly ash
concrete. Constr Build Mater 96:326–333
5. Pai BHV, Bhat K, Prashanth S (2016) Influence of properties of coarse aggregates on self
compacting concrete mixes. Int J Adv Struct Geotech Eng ISSN
6. Zhang Z, Li M, Wang Q (2017) Influence of high-volume mineral mixtures and the steam-
curing temperatures on the properties of precast concrete. Indian J Eng Mater Sci, Natl Inst Sci
Commun Inf Resour (NISCAIR) 24(5):397–405
7. Güneyisi E, Gesoǧlu M, Algin Z (2013). Performance of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with
high-volume supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). Eco-Efficient Concrete, Elsevier
Ltd., pp 198–217
8. Kwan AKHK, Wong HHC (2008) Packing density of cementitious materials: part 2—packing
and flow of OPC + PFA + CSF. 773–784
9. Yu XW, Gao YH, Hao D, Li SZ, Wang LY (2009) The research and application of self-
compacting concrete. Key Eng Mater
10. Ahmadi M, Alidoust O, Sadrinejad I, Nayeri M (2007) Development of mechanical properties
of self compacting concrete contain rice husk ash. Int J Comput, Inf, Syst Sci, Eng 1(4):259–262
11. Sohail MG, Wang B, Jain A, Kahraman R, Ozerkan NG, Gencturk B, Dawood M, Belarbi A
(2017) Advancements in concrete mix designs: high-performance and ultrahigh-performance
concretes from 1970 to 2016. J Mater Civ Eng 30(3):04017310
12. Ju Y, Wang L, Liu H (2015) An experimental investigation of the thermal spalling of

polypropylene-fibered reactive powder concrete exposed to elevated temperatures, vol 60.
Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press, pp 2022–2040
13. Liu F, Wang J, Qian X, Hollingsworth J (2017) Cement and Concrete Research Internal curing
of high performance concrete using cenospheres. Ceme Concre Res 95:39–46
14. Concrete G (2007) Chapter 3: Materials and Methods, pp 59–95
15. Raj N, Patil SG, Bhattacharjee B (2014). Concrete mix design by packing density method
11(2):34–46
16. Sharobim KG, Mohammedin H, Mohamed A, Fattouh MS, Sharobim KG (2017) Predicting
the compressive strength and the optimum water to binder ratios by packing density theory for
high strength self-compacting concrete. IOSR J Mech Civ Eng 14(5):2278–1684
17. Nanak PJ, Darshana BR (2013) Comparision between Mechanical Properties of M30 grade
self compacting concrete for conventional water immersion and few non-waterbased curing
techniques. Int J Eng Adv Technol
18. IRC (Indian Roads Congress) (1996) Tentative Guidelines for Cement Concrete Mix Design for
pavements “IRC-44;1996, NewDelhi.“IRC(IndianRoadsCongress). (2017).”TentativGuide-
lines for Cement Concrete Mix Design for pavements” IRC-44;2017, New Delhi
19. Yugandhar B, Lakshmi MS (2017) Experimental study of self compacting concrete with fly
ash, GGBS and broken tiles as partial replacement to cement, Fine 17157–17163
20. Juenger MCG, Siddique R (2015) Cement and concrete research recent advances in under-
standing the role of supplementary cementitious materials in concrete. Cement and Concrete
Research, Elsevier Ltd
21. Jung MS, Shin MC, Ann KY (2012) Fingerprinting of a concrete mix proportion using the acid
neutralisation capacity of concrete matrices. Constr Build Mater 26(1):65–71
22. Mengxiao S, Qiang W, Zhikai Z (2015) Comparison of the properties between high-volume fly
ash concrete and high-volume steel slag concrete under temperature matching curing condition.
23. Su N, Hsu KC, Chai HW (2001) A simple mix design method for self-compacting concrete.
Cem Concr Res 31(12):1799–1807
Hybrid Model Based on PPP and EPC
Contracts
Rahul Rajasekharan and Shibi Varghese
Abstract Public Private Partnership (PPP) was introduced in India as a viable project
implementation mechanism to meet the growing demand for new and better infras-
tructure services. Rise of non-performing assets accompanied by high risk at various
stages of PPP made government adopt Engineering, procurement, and construction
(EPC) contracts. Based on poor performance and failing to meet the deliverables
of EPC projects, a Hybrid model based on PPP and EPC is necessary. In this study
failure factors in PPP and EPC projects is identified, analyzed and ranked using multi-
variate factor analysis and Delphi technique. To develop a Hybrid model, a system-
atic research approach (literature review and interviews with experts and experienced
practitioners) has been taken to understand infrastructure projects. The findings can
be used to create a Hybrid model obtained by eliminating highly occurring failure
factors in EPC and PPP projects in India.
Keywords Public private partnership · Engineering procurement construction ·

Delphi · Infrastructure · Hybrid model
1 Introduction
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has been accepted as an important policy instrument

for central and state governments in the implementation of commercially viable
projects. The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, with
support from the erstwhile Planning Commission of India, has been overseeing the
development of public infrastructure through the PPP model across the country.
The portfolio of project under PPPs in India for infrastructure surpasses all other
countries today. According to the Economic Survey of India 2014–15, in the private
sector, the number of stalled projects was rising at an alarming rate. Report also
R. Rajasekharan (B) · S. Varghese

MACE, Kothamangalam, India
Kerala Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_74
820 R. Rajasekharan and S. Varghese
pointed out that for every 100 rupees of projects under implementation, 10.3 rupees’
worth of projects were stalled, while for the private sector the number stood at 16.
Thus it the significant role played by PPPs in infrastructure was limited as either it
did not elicit any bids from private parties as their cost was too high or a few that
were terminated by the government due to lack of interest shown by the developers.
And it is here that the failure of PPP is becoming apparent almost all the projects
in under the “private” category are public-private partnerships, which affects the
public sector directly. After understanding this, for projects estimate totalling above
5 crores, the government shifted from conventional PPPs to the alternate project
delivery mechanism of Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC).
In Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) project the contractor is
responsible for engineering and design of the project, procurement of all resources
such as labour, material and equipment, and construction of the project. Complex
long-lasting processes and varying organisational structures incorporate various risk
in EPC projects. Recently the famous failure of Palarivattom flyover in Kerala was
EPC mode. The administrative sanction was granted by the government to construct a
four-lane bridge at Palarivattom under the BOT (build, operate and transfer) scheme.
It included the acquisition of land with an estimated amount of 72.6 crores. It was not
envisaged as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project. However,
while tenders were invited at some level, it was decided to invite tenders by EPC
without informing the government. Based on the EPC, the contractor was given
the freedom to design the flyover and was one of the part that led to failure. This
highlights that, it is imperative to study the failure factors both of EPC and PPP
projects in Kerala and to develop a Hybrid model which can overcome the current
adversities in these infrastructure projects.
2 Literature Review
Analysis of project success varies according to different contextual factors of a

project, for example, the type of sector, type of project, type of contract, different
funding and finance arrangements, project characteristics and stakeholder involve-
ment. According to the Champika et al. success of public private partnership(PPP)
project can be done by assessing critical success factors (CSFs), use of Key Perfor-
mance Indicators (KPIs) and assessing value for money aspect [1]. This paper follows
the analysis of critical success factors with multivariate factors. Ajith et al. studied
dispute mechanism in PPP projects and argued that projects have suffered cost and
time delays due to disputes over land acquisition, grants for environmental and forest
clearance, and other approvals [2].
Ramakrishna et al. used a questionnaire survey were to identify the critical
success/failure factors during all four major project stages. According to the results,
it can be clearly understood that the most responsible factor for project failure of
road PPP projects in project preparation stage is Public protest & opposition, in
Hybrid Model Based on PPP and EPC Contracts 821
procurement stage is the Influence of higher authorities & political parties, in devel-
opment stage is Force majeure, and in construction, operation and maintenance stage
is Maintenance cost overruns [3]. With cases of examples, Lakshya et al. investigated
financial risk associated with highway infrastructure projects by creating a model of
risk by analysing real-world PPP infrastructure projects in India [4].
Ashwin Mahalingam studies five key barriers that PPP projects face in the urban
Indian context using a combination of archival sources, case studies, and insights
from discussions on PPPs. According to him the included distrust between the public
and private sector, a lack of political will to develop PPPs, the absence of an enabling
institutional environment for PPPs, a lack of project preparation capacity on the
part of the public sector, and poorly designed and structured PPP project [5]. Mohsin
et al. Analyzed the project delivery mechanism with respect to many problems where
both the public and private sectors suffered huge losses and ultimately led to project
failures, By evaluating 35 failed transportation PPPs around the world, they inves-
tigated the actions and decisions of private-sector partners [6]. Also identified and
discussed the casual relationship between a set of drivers responsible for the failures
of transportation PPPs, and finally evaluates a set of failure mechanisms initiated by
the private-sector partners.
With a lack of papers on addressing issues of EPC project delivery system in
Indian perspective, a major review of the literature was done on international projects.
Wenxin et al. studies the causes of contractors’ claims in international EPC projects
and are empirically modelled and tested with Delphi technique, structural equation
modelling and case studies were taken from the perspective of Chinese contractors.
The created model was used to measure the causes of contractors’ claims (socio-
political risks, economic risks, and natural hazards), clients’ organizational behaviour
(untimely payment, change orders, and inefficient processing), and project defini-
tion in the contract (unclear scope of works, and unclear technical specification)
as an external risk [7]. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted by
Benyamin et al. to identify the risks in EPC projects. 26 identified risks were cate-
gorized into eight groups. It was found that among the above recurring risks; “infla-
tion or sudden fluctuation of prices and foreign currency”, “inadequate conceptual
design”, “financial deficiency and delayed progress payments “, and “easing quality
of work” are found to be the most prominent [8]. Sadi et al. identified and assessed
the main causes of contractors’ failure in industrial projects in Saudi Arabia. 24
causes were identified from the literature for assessment by owners, contractors and
subcontractors. The report concluded that lack of experience in the business field,
inadequate project management, bad cost estimation, unavailability of the project
leader stationed at the site, neglect and type of the contract are the most severe
causes behind failure in construction projects under private partnerships [9].
The hybrid model was based on extensive literature review. Venkateswararao
et al. suggested that capital intensive innovative projects can be done under Swiss
challenge method [10]. Love et al. studied the cost overrun in road construction
projects. He analysed the traditional lump contract and a contingency plan is devel-
oped using probability distribution function [11]. Ajit Kumar and Kumar Neeraj
studied judicial overreach on construction projects and suggested some application
of future purposes [12]. This can be coupled with quasi-judicial body. According to
Xianhai [13] establishing owner’s payment guarantee system has the same impor-
tance as the contractor’s performance. Ferzon et al. discusses an organisational level
frame work to measure performance in construction based on information manage-
ment. Digitalizing of construction methodology based on information management
shows 92% agreement is validated by key performance indicators [14]. Osei-Kyei
et al. recommended seven key strategies for managing unsolicited PPP proposals.
Existence of well-structured and clear policy guidelines for unsolicited proposals;
thorough assessment of value for money, innovation, cost, and risks of proposals;
employment of highly skilled and competent staff during evaluations of proposals;
competitive, fair, and transparent tendering process; extensive public consultation
and stakeholder engagement; comprehensive evaluation of the impact of unsolicited
proposals on sector/national policy; and adequate protection of intellectual property
rights of the original proponent [15].
Application of Delphi technique is in construction management research is illus-
trated by Matthew R. Hallowell and John A. Gambatese. Bias in judgment is impor-
tant to consider in Delphi technique and five methods were introduced to avoid
bias was given in this literature. Bias counter measures include (1) controlled feed-
back, (2) Randomised order of questions, (3) independent risk recording, (4) ensure
anonymity. (5) ratings as median [16].
3 Methodology
The methodology for this research consist of a five-stage process:

1. Identify the factors affecting PPP and EPC projects on the basis of an extensive
literature survey.
Based on literature review an extensive set of factors which affect the construction
process is determined. This factors are exclusively selected such that it conces-
sion agreements have direct impact on such factors. So that studies involving
concession agreement were only selected.
2. Categorize the factors stage-wise through solicitation of expert opinions.
From expert opinion obtained factors were divided according to the stages of
construction. Each factor was studied for best suitable stage which has high
impact on the project and classified accordingly.
3. Design questionnaire and collect data based on a Likert-type scale.
Questionnaire were designed such a way as to collect data based on Likert scale.
For that each factor were listed and respondents were asked to rate according to
importance scale given in questionnaire.
4. Analysis the data on SPSS for mean and Relative Important Index (RII) and
From responses the data were checked for mean values based on ranking score
and then a relative important index for each factor were created. From RII critical
failure factor for each stage was calculated.
5. Develop a hybrid model eliminating the critical failure factors.

An extensive literature review and based on expert opinions, various techniques
were selected to remove critical failure factors. These techniques were analysed
systematically and incorporated together to form a hybrid model.
3.1 Delphi Technique
The Delphi method was created by Olaf Helmer and Norman Dalkey of the Rand
Corporation in 1950s. In Delphi method a circulating series of questionnaires being
sent experts to comment based on their personal opinion, experience, or previous
research. In this study, experts are carefully chosen by such a way that they have
at least 3-year direct experience in handing a project on PPP or EPC projects or
currently working on an elite project in the category. Delphi technique is a qualitative
approach based on perceptions of experts. It’s the best approach when dealing with
factors for establishing a model which cannot be done by qualitatively. Factors and
their frequency can be obtained quantitatively by case studies and other similar
techniques but model cannot be prepared systematically. By taking the perceptions
of experts increases the coherence of the model as the data is obtained collectively,
and increases the adeptness of model as the experts have right experiences.
In order to remove bias a controlled feedback mechanism and ensured anonymity
of expert were taken care. Controlled feedback involved asking for specific feedback
from respondents for their responses in a random manner. Anonymity of respondents
ensured the absence of dominance bias. As each of the factors given independent
importance neglect of probability bias is eliminated [16].
3.2 Details of the Questionnaire
Set 1 It comprised questions on the profile of the respondent. Four basic questions
included were—the name of the respondent, his/her organization, the designa-
tion of the respondent and email id. These questions framed to understand the
level of experience and capability of the respondent to answer these questions
in his/her relevant field.
Set 2 It consisted of the various factors which affect a EPC and PPP projects. The
factors were categorized in three stages project preparation stage, procurement
stage and operation and maintenance stage.
3.3 Questionnaire Survey and Interview
Most of the respondents were interviewed and asked to them to give response to
the questionnaire and some of the respondents were answered through email. The
Table 1 Likert scale and

Order shown in Description Metrics used in
details of questionnaire
questionnaire analysis
1 Not important 1
2 Slightly 2
important
3 Moderately 3
important
4 Important 5
5 Highly important 5
respondents were asked to rank the failure factors on a Likert Scale. A 5-point scale
was chosen. Table 1 shows the description, metrics and scale used in the questionnaire
given to respondents.
Likert assumed there are infinite number of points between two attitudes in a
person to consider responses [17]. To attribute a central normalizing tendency an
odd scale should be prepared, between which two extremities can be established.
Usually a 7 point or 5 point scale is chosen. When dispersion is responses increases
7 point and compactness of responses is measure 5 point scale is selected. Here
undertakes a ranking of factors and respondents should select a well-defined point a
5-point scale is optimal [18].
4 Failure Factors in PPP and EPC Projects
Through the literature survey various factors associated with project failure were
identified. Shortlisted the factors that affect PPP and EPC project failure over project
life cycle after consultation with assistant executive engineers who had several years’
experience in the field.
The question categorized into different project cycle stages. The different project
life cycle stages that are considered in our research study are:
1. Planning stage; This includes determining needs, goals and objectives, taking
feasibility studies, design development and contract documents development,
2. Procurement stage; This includes securing and purchasing of labor, materials and
equipment, determining everything from construction site setup and beginning
of work and
3. Construction, operation and maintenance stage; This includes measuring project
progression and performance ensuring everything happening aligns with the plan
(Tables 2, 3 and 4).
Table 2 Factors affecting

Factors Description
planning stage
Amendments in laws and Rules and regulations pertaining to
policy the project
Bid process/criteria Fairness, transparency and
duration of subbing contract
Financial attraction of Perceived benefits for the
project stakeholders
Incompleteness of Missing clauses in the contract like
concession/contract termination clause etc.
Influence of political Influence by political parties which
groups have direct impact on project
Market analysis Potential available for project in
the market
Public protest and Support or reaction from people
opposition for the project
Table 3 Factors affecting procurement stage

Factors Description
Approval and clearances Environmental, Forest clearances etc.
Delayed decision making Delay in making decisions due to various reasons
Force majeure Unforeseen conditions
Infusion of capital into the project The amount of money that can be inputted into
the project
Interest and inflation rates Prevailing market conditions or changes in
government rules pertaining to interest exchange
rates
Land acquisition Difficulties in obtaining the land for the project
Material/drawing/approval unavailability Support or reaction from people for the project
Organization and coordination among Communication and relationship among each
stakeholders stake holder
Procurement of equipment, material and Availability of resources
labour
Safety violations The violation of a particular safety standard,
regulation, policy, or rule
5 Data Analysis
Based on the responses received in the questionnaire survey, the mean scores of the
responses to various factors calculated. The means scores are used to rank the factors
so as to assess failure factors EPC and PPP projects. Two methods are used for data
analysis, which include: (1) Ranking of Factors based on Mean Scores (Average
Ranking) (2) Ranking based on Relative Importance Index (RII).
Table 4 Factors affecting construction stage

Factors Description
Cost overruns Cost overruns in construction due to problems like
sanctions accidents etc.
Delay in payment Time lost in getting the money for the work by the
contractor
Financial Closure Completing all project related financial transactions and
accounts of the project
Lack of public support Protest by public and local authority which have direct
impact on project
Maintenance related issues Lack of maintenance and problems due to inadequate
maintenance
Operating environment Difficulties encountered due to weather, noise, dust,
temperature etc.
Problems with dispute resolution Disputes leading to arbitration, time and cost overruns
Technical closure Completing all project related specification and the
requirements of the project
Time delays A delay in construction due to various reasons

iSi × N i
Relative Importance Index(RII) = (1)
(A × N)
where Si is the scores on the Likert scale used (here, it ranges from (0 to 5), Ni is the
number of responses to the Likert scale score, A is the highest score (here 5) and N
is the total number of respondents (here, 21). Essentially, the RII uses the weightage
of responses to each score and normalizes it using the highest possible score that can
be assigned by all the respondents (Tables 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10).
Table 5 EPC ranking of factors planning stage

Factors 1 2 3 4 5 Mean RII Rank
Amendments in laws and policy 0 0 4 14 3 3.952 0.790 2
Bid process/criteria 0 0 1 15 5 4.190 0.838 1
Financial attraction of project 0 4 7 10 0 3.285 0.657 5
Incompleteness of concession/contract 0 0 9 12 0 3.571 0.714 4
Influence of political groups 0 2 15 3 1 3.142 0.628 6
Market analysis 0 1 18 2 3.047 0.609 7
Public protest and opposition 0 0 8 10 3 3.761 0.752 3
Table 6 EPC ranking of factors for procurement stage

Approval and clearances 0 0 3 18 0 3.85 0.77 3
Delayed decision making 0 0 0 18 3 4.14 0.82 1
Force majeure 0 1 15 5 0 3.19 0.63 7
Infusion of capital to project 0 0 8 13 0 3.61 0.72 6
Interest and inflation rates 0 2 15 4 0 3.09 0.61 9
Land acquisition 0 0 5 15 1 3.80 0.76 4
Material/unavailability 1 5 15 0 0 2.66 0.53 10
Organization and coordination among stakeholders 0 0 6 15 0 3.71 0.74 5
Procurement of equipment, material and labour 0 4 15 2 3.90 0.78 2
Safety violations 0 2 15 3 1 3.14 0.62 8
Table 7 EPC ranking of factors for construction stage

Cost overruns 0 0 14 4 2 3.23 0.64 6
capabilities of contractor 0 1 13 2 3 3.04 0.60 8
Financial closure 0 3 10 4 4 3.42 0.68 5
lack of public support 0 0 14 4 3 3.47 0.69 4
Operating environment 0 0 16 4 1 3.28 0.65 7
problems with dispute resolution 0 0 11 6 4 3.66 0.73 2
Time delays 0 0 12 7 2 3.52 0.70 3
Technical closure 0 0 9 9 3 3.71 0.74 1
Cost overruns 0 0 14 4 2 3.23 0.64 6
Table 8 PPP ranking of factors for planning stage

Amendments in laws 0 0 4 14 3 3.952 0.790 2
Bid process/criteria 0 0 5 13 3 3.904 0.780 3
Financial attraction of project 0 0 0 18 3 4.142 0.828 1
Incompleteness of concession/ 0 0 9 12 3.571 0.714 7
Influence of political groups 0 1 3 16 1 3.809 0.761 4
Market analysis 0 1 5 15 3.666 0.733 5
Public protest and opposition 0 3 5 10 3 3.619 0.723 6
Table 9 PPP ranking of factors for procurement stage

Approval and clearances 0 0 1 13 7 4.285 0.857 2
Land acquisition 0 0 3 8 10 4.333 0.866 1
Force majeure 0 0 14 5 2 3.428 0.685 9
Infusion of capital into the project 0 0 4 9 8 4.190 0.838 4
Interest and inflation rates 0 2 15 4 0 3.095 0.619 10
Delayed decision making 0 0 4 15 2 3.904 0.780 6
Material/drawing/approval unavailability 0 0 2 15 4 4.095 0.819 5
Organization and coordination among stakeholders 0 0 5 16 0 3.761 0.752 7
Procurement of equipment, material and labour 0 4 8 9 4.238 0.847 3
Safety violations 0 0 10 8 3 3.666 0.733 8
Table 10 PPP ranking of factors for construction stage

Cost overruns 0 1 15 3 2 3.285 0.657 6
Delay in payment 0 1 15 2 3 3.334 0.667 5
Financial closure 0 4 12 3 2 3.142 0.628 9
Maintenance related issues 0 0 11 6 4 3.667 0.734 2
Lack of public support 0 2 14 4 1 3.190 0.638 8
Operating environment 0 1 15 4 1 3.238 0.647 7
Problems with dispute resolution 0 0 11 5 5 3.714 0.742 1
Technical closure 0 0 9 9 2 3.476 0.695 4
Time delays 0 0 10 9 2 3.619 0.723 3
6 Hybrid Model
Hybrid model was needed in the planning stage to overcome bidding criteria discrep-
ancies and to attract investors to come and take up the project. A lump sum contract
mixed with a unit price contract, adding contingency items and special incentives
for project acceleration can be effective to tackle these issues [11]. Since unit price
of every item is specified which gives overall goal of the project and clear cut objec-
tives. Thus this establishment can reduce bid discrepancy while special incentives
and contingency allowance can attract more investors. But the provisions regarding
failure to comply with any requirements which will result in the contractor incur-
ring monetary liabilities should also be stressed. In order to attract investors another
method is to create a Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) clause in planning stage such as
the government will contribute to 40% of the project cost in the first five years through
annual payments (annuity) [19]. The remaining payment will be made on the basis of
the assets created and the performance of the developer. This has been tested success-
fully in India power projects. In procurement stage delay in decision makings should
be reduced and effective land acquisition be made. In EPC mode, handing over 90
percent required before commencing of work. Such EPC provisions ensures that no
hindrance will occur to work once it commences. This is one very effective method
to tackle land acquisition problem and it can also be used at an earlier stage for effec-
tively checking feasibility regarding land availability. Currently the work progress
and submission of reports which uses online platform centered around government
departments. Since in EPC mode decision are made upon request from contactor,
there end also should be made to be digital and be accountable for daily works. Digi-
talizing can bring more coordination and transparency among stakeholders which can
reduce delay in decision making [14]. For better coordination among stake holders
the consultancy services should also be periodically reviewed. Subcontracting of
work should also be effectively monitored and selection of such contractors also be
made with same scrutiny as main contractors. Swiss challenge model can be effec-
tively used for subcontractor selection [15]. Swiss Challenge Method is a project
delivery mechanism an unsolicited bid for a government project is proposed and
original proposal is challenged through an open bidding by third party, and then lets
the original proponent counter match most competitive offer [10] (Fig. 1).
EPC contracts include a guaranteed completion date that is either a fixed date or
a fixed period after the commencement of the EPC contract [13]. If this date is not
met the contractor is liable for delay liquidated damages. Bringing clarity to these
liquidated damages can ensure low turnout of disputes [12]. Like liquidated damages
clauses and performance guarantee clauses, adding technical testing and its procedure
and requirements after completion should ensure technical closure to the project.
Similar to the estimate is done at the beginning of the project a similar approach
is should be done after completion to ensure technical closure to the project. An
institutionalized mechanism can ensure time bound and periodic review of technical
testing, like quality cell, during implementation of projects. The need for a quick,
efficient and enforceable dispute resolution mechanism for PPP projects is undeniable
[12].
7 Results
Analysis based on mean score and RII score reveal the following:
• Bidding process or criteria was the main reason for failure of EPC contracts at
planning stage. Amendments in laws and policy and Public protest and opposition
also causes major problems.
• Undervaluation of profits for stakeholders was the main reason for failure of PPP
contracts at planning stage. Amendments in laws and policy, transparency and
duration of subbing contract were causes project failures at planning stage.
HYBRID MODEL
PPP
EPC failure
failure factors
factors Planning
Unit price Contingency

Bid + allowance Finan
crite Lump sum + cial
ria HAM attrac
tion
Procurement
Swiss EPC
Delay Challenge clauses Land
decisi + acqui
on digitalizing sition
maki
ng
Construction
Technical Quasi- Disput

testing cell judicial es
Techn
+ process Resolu
ical
Performance tion
closur
guarantee
Fig. 1 Hybrid model

• During construction stage, delayed decision making was most responsible factor
leading to failure of EPC while land acquisition was for PPP contracts leading
to failure. Notably, ‘Approval and clearances’ and ‘Procurement of equipment,
material and labour’ were also crucial factors.
• Ability to obtain technical closure was the prominent factor for project failure for
EPC projects at construction stage. ‘Problems with dispute resolution’ and “Time
delays’ were also causes EPC project to fail.
• Problems associated with dispute resolution was the main reason for PPP contract
failure at construction stage. ‘Maintenance related issues’ and ‘Time delays’ were
another major factor causes PPP failure.
On upon closer analysis and interpretation with the help of expert interview, certain
conclusion can be obtained for the failure of EPC model.
Planning stage: Bidding process is a single stage two-part system for selection of
the bidder for award of the Project. Eligibility and qualification of the bidder will
be first examined based on the details submitted under technical bid with respect to
eligibility and qualifications criteria prescribed. The financial bid under the second
part shall be opened of only those bidders whose technical bids are responsive to
eligibility and qualifications. Since the bidding is done online there is adequate
transparency, fairness and minimum delay in the process but the criteria for the bids
are often ambiguous. Number or per meter length is most accepted method of quoting
the bids which diminishes the importance of specification. For example: 30 km of
road construction or 1 flyover etc. are often expressed.
Procurement stage: Weak coordination between parties, long time spent on
contract reviews, lack of control on subcontractors, contractor’s lack of motivation
and delay in material delivery by suppliers where leads to delayed decision making.
Construction Stage: Ideally technical specification for competition of project is
stated under concession agreement, but after construction the performance evaluation
techniques are not given importance. The technical testing procedures are not set out
in the EPC contract, which leads to opportunist behaviour from contractor to omit
minute but necessary items.
On upon closer analysis and interpretation with the help of expert interview certain
conclusion can be obtained for the failure of PPP model.
Planning stage: The low amount of profit of about 10 percent based on scheduled
rates that revises very abnormally, are not attracting huge investment. From the
experience investors are reluctant to enter into concession agreement which involves
complex infrastructure projects.
Procurement Stage: Normally in PPP contracts the land acquisition starts from
planning stage and continue even after starting of the work. Acquiring right land
at right time is the most difficult task in procurement stage. Hefty fees, delay in
acquiring land or even not acquiring the land leads to partial or total abandonment
of the project.
Construction stage: Available dispute resolution mechanism of PPP contracts
include mediation or conciliation are not binding on stakeholders. Escalation of
disputes to decision of domain experts also in large numbers creates less difference.
After attempting various dispute resolution mechanism, the PPP model calls for
litigation. Thus moving to judiciary system becomes necessary. Indian judiciary
system of dispute resolution is very length and time consuming which leads to delay
or even abandonment of project.
The provisions and clauses in a contract agreement need to be flexible in terms
of the sharing of risks by the public and private authorities, and this concession
agreement needs to be ensured specific, simply worded, and unambiguous, leaving
no space for alternative interpretations. A mechanism required to reach quick settle-
ment of claims through a quasi-judicial process is essential with binding powers on
stakeholders. In case the dispute relates to both project proponent and the claims
must be settled proportionally.
8 Conclusion
Infrastructure development in India is coupled with effective utilization of private

resources and its capability. PPP and EPC are used as most important project delivery
instruments to bring together private parties to undertake huge projects. Both of this
project delivery mechanism failed to provide its high quality results that expected
and obtained internationally. The projects in India require a Hybrid model that can
reap the advantages of both system or eliminate the factors causing failures. Through
this study at various stages the failure factors are identified for both EPC and PPP.
A Hybrid model involves incorporating lump sum and unit price at planning
stage is recommended to eliminate bid criteria and incentive scheme together with
hybrid annuity mix model which can attract more investors. Ensuring land acquisi-
tion clauses as such as in EPC mixed with digitalizing entire platform of work and
more systematic selection of contractors such as Swiss challenge is recommended
in procurement stage [15]. Current dispute resolution mechanisms are slow and not
very well developed, often shifting the project timelines and freezing investments.
By providing simplified concession agreements, appointment of a quasi-judicial
and bringing clarity to testing and measurement can enhance more coordination
among stakeholders, thereby reduce delay in dispute resolution and enforce technical
closure.
Perceptions play an important part in Delphi technique and expert interview, as a
result, learnings from this study can only be utilized for similar geopolitical zones.
But with necessary customisation this study can be extended to more sectors and can
have wider applications.
References
1. Liyanage C, Villalba-Romero F (2015) Measuring success of PPP transport projects: a cross-

case analysis of toll roads. Transp Rev: A Trans Transdiscipl J 35(2):140–161
2. Ajit Kumar Sinha and Kumar Neeraj Jha (2020) Dispute resolution and litigation in PPP road
projects: evidence from select cases. J Leg Aff Disput Resolut Eng Constr 12
3. Nallathiga R, Shaikh HD, Shaikh TF, Sheik FA (2017) Factors affecting the success/failure of
road infrastructure projects under PPP in India. KICEM J Constr Eng Proj Manag 7
4. Kumar L, Jindala A, Velaga NR (2018) Financial risk assessment and modelling of PPP based
Indian highway infrastructure projects. Transp Policy 62:2–11
5. Mahalingam Ashwin (2010) PPP experiences in Indian cities: barriers, enablers, and the way
forward. J Constr Eng Manag 136:419–429
6. Soomro MA, Zhang X (2013) Roles of private-sector partners in transportation public-private
partnership failures. J Manag Eng 34
7. Shen W, Tang W, Yu W, Duffield CF, Hui FKP, Wei Y, Fang Jun (2017) Causes of contrac-
tors’ claims in international engineering-procurement-construction projects. J Civ Eng Manag
23:727–729
8. Sadeghi B, Mortaheb MM, Kashani, H (2016) Identification of recurring EPC contract risks
and mitigation Strategies’. In: 52nd ASC annual international conference proceedings, Tehran,
2016
9. Assaf S, Hassanain MA, Al-Zahrani S (2015) Causes of contractors’ failure in industrial projects
in Saudi Arabia. Res J Appl Sci, Eng Technol 9:158–164
10. Podile V, Janardana Rao N (2017) Swiss challenge method—an innovative public private
partnership model in India. Asian J Res Bus Econ Manag 7(7):384–390
11. Love PED, Sing C-P, Carey B, Kim JT (2015) Estimating construction contingency: accom-
modating the potential for cost overruns in road construction projects. J Infrastructure Syst 21,
2
12. Sinha AK, Jha KN (2020) Impact of judicial overreach on PPP construction projects. J Leg Aff
Disput Resolut Eng Constr 12
13. Menga X (2002) Guarantees for contractor’s performance and owner’s payment in China. J
Constr Eng Manag 128:3
14. Aziz F, Rankin JH, Waugh LM (2016) Construction organizational level information manage-
ment framework. J Manag Eng 32:2
15. Osei-Kyei R, Chan APC, Dansoh A, Joseph K (2018) Strategies for effective management of
unsolicited public–private partnership proposals. J Manag Eng 34:3
16. Hallowell MR, Gambatese JA (2010) Qualitative research: application of the Delphi method
to CEM research. J Constr Eng Manag 136:1
17. Likert R (1932) A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Arch Psychol 22:140
18. Joshi A, Kale S, Chandel S, Pal DK (2015) Likert scale: explored and explained. Bri J Appl
Sci Technol 7(4):396–403
19. Garg S, Mahapatra D (2019) Hybrid annuity model: hamming risk allocations in Indian highway
public–private partnership. J Public Aff
AHP Model for Performance
Improvement in LSGD Projects
Ammu David and Shibi Varghese
Abstract With an increased demand for public works projects, there is a need to
focus attention on the efficient delivery of construction project services in the public
sector and in particular municipal project delivery. This includes a broad category
of infrastructure projects financed and constructed by the local self-government for
uses in the greater community. These type of projects have special challenges that
may differ from other construction projects. A decision—making process known as
AHP (analytical hierarchy process) was used to identify and prioritize the various
parameters affecting performance in LSGD projects. A comparison—based survey
is conducted to quantify relative priorities for a given set of alternatives on a ratio
scale based on the judgment of the construction professional’s experience. Through
the AHP model, various parameters, as well as improved techniques, are identified
to reach the optimum goal of performance improvement.
Keywords Performance improvement · AHP · LSGD
1 Introduction
The construction industry plays an indispensable role in the Indian economy, and is
a significant contributor to economic growth. Planning, designing, construction of
buildings and other works, their demolition and maintenance are the main responsi-
bility of construction industry. It is essentially a service industry, obtaining its inputs
and outputs from various sectors of the economy with which it is interrelated and
interlinked, often in quite complex ways. Construction projects are always complex,
risky and time-consuming. Due to the unique features of construction activities it
is the industry which has more risks. Major risks include long period, complicated
A. David (B)
MACE, Kothamangalam, India
S. Varghese
Kerala Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_75
836 A. David and S. Varghese
processes, obnoxious environment, financial instability and complex organization

structures.
Poor information and communication systems in the construction industry lead to
rework, ineffective constructability, cost overruns, changes in the order and delays,
it can be considered as the biggest causes of waste, especially in the public sector.
The LSGD projects are one of the sectors where improvement is very much needed
due to the frequent incompatibility and discrepancy between the design information
provided and the actual site conditions. Diversity in projects is the main peculiarity
of local self-government works. LSGD projects include public buildings such as
schools, hospitals, convention centers etc., transport infrastructures such as roads,
culverts, bridges, irrigation pipelines, canals, bunds, public spaces such as public
squares, parks, public services like water supply, sewage lines, river training works
and other, usually short and long-term, physical assets and facilities.
This study uses a research methodology technique known as Analytic Hierarchy
Process (AHP) is adopted. AHP is a method for the mathematical treatment of
decision problems, and it is recommended for stakeholder’s decision-makers. This
research approach is utilized to prioritize improvement techniques look for contin-
uous construction improvement. One of the greatest advantage of AHP is the ability
to use it for group decisions where participants evaluate the alternatives and thus
arriving at an optimum solution [1]. Here each and every criteria and alternatives
are checked with one another in order to making rational decisions regarding the
problem.
2 Literature Review
According to the Odeh et al. productivity level on a construction site cannot be viewed
in isolation and it depends upon a number of factors that comes throughout the project
life cycle. Improving site conditions, management and supervision, proper payment
procedures on completed works, avoiding labour density and improved scheduling
are some of the important factors when attempting to limit productivity losses on
site [2]. According to Bullinger et al. the short-lived construction project life cycle
and project-based management hinder progressive improvements in work conditions
and management. The practice quickly gets lost if the contractors move to another
site where the same conditions and requirements are not strictly enforced [3].
Allmon et al. revealed four primary ways of increasing productivity through
management, namely planning, resource supply and control, supply of information
and feedback and selection of the right people to control certain factors. An essential
requirement towards improvement is a clear understanding and knowledge of the
severity of each factor on site. Productivity improvement is a function of manage-
ment as changes for improvement can only be implemented at management level
[4].
According to Aziz et al. the controllable waste that mainly affects the productivity
can be divided into three different activities as follows:
AHP Model for Performance Improvement in LSGD Projects 837
1. Controllable causes associated with flows which includes resources (materials,

equipment, labor) Information
2. Controllable causes associated with conversions which include method, planning,
quality
3. Controllable causes associated with management activities such as decision-
making, ineffective supervision/control [5].
According to Doloi poor productivity of construction workers is one of the major
causes of cost overruns and schedule slippages in construction projects [1]. Use
of statistical analysis in identifying critical attributes in construction engineering
practice is quite widespread Statistical analysis mainly relies on the documented
evidence of past practices, which requires significant population data from reliable
and valid sources. However, one of the major limitations of the statistical analysis is
that it cannot be used decisively for resolving conflicting objectives.
According to Enshassi et al. multi-objective decision-making approaches provide
a convenient set of mathematical tools to identify an optimal alternative given a set of
competing objectives [6]. Saaty introduced one such multi-objective decision making
technique known as AHP (Analytical hierarchy process) The Analytical Hierarchy
Process (AHP) is a decision aiding method aimed at quantifying relative priorities
for a given set of alternatives on a ratio scale, based on the judgment of the decision-
maker, and stresses the importance of the intuitive judgments of a decision-maker
as well as the consistency of the comparison of alternatives in the decision-making
process. AHP is effective even if without a significant sample size. Here in order
to assess the relative importance of each criteria number of pairwise comparisons
between quantitative or qualitative criteria are done. These criteria can be arranged
in a hierarchical manner known as a ‘value tree’ for sets of attributes, and qualities
(levels) within these attributes. The AHP method can be done even with a single
respondent in case of an extreme case and can be used efficiently instead of complex
surveys. The core of AHP is the comparison of pairs instead of sorting (ranking),
voting (assigning points), or the free assignment of priorities [7].
According to Schot et al. as the input data in AHP analysis are based on an expert’s
perceived judgment, a single input usually represents a group of representatives
in the sample data. Other similar techniques such as choice experiments do not
realize statistically reliable results even if there are a large number of consistent
survey responses. Most conjoint analyses place quite a high ‘cognitive burden’ on
respondents in that they are asked to make comparisons across options that have
a large bundle of attributes and levels of these attributes. In contrast, under AHP,
respondents are not asked to make choices between all criteria and thus respondents
are less likely to adopt mental short cuts by concentrating disproportionately on one
attribute or level [8].
Waris et al. used AHP for sustainable procurement of construction equipment
[9]. One of the applications of AHP was included by Subramanian et al. who have
classified the AHP into five broad areas of operation research which include operation
strategy, process, product design, planning and scheduling resources, and project
management and managing the supply chain process as prominent decision areas
[10]. Another application of AHP in Qureshi et al. is to obtain preference weights

of environmental, social and economic objectives which have been used in ranking
riparian revegetation policy in Australia [11].
3 Methodology
The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach of the research methodology was
applied. AHP is a method for the mathematical treatment of decision problems,
and it is recommended for stakeholder’s decision-makers. This research approach is
utilized to prioritize improvement techniques and to look for continuous construction
improvement. The methodology of the paper is given through the following steps:
1. Identify the factors that affect the performance in LSGD projects
2. Conduct initial survey to identify the top factors
3. Structure the decision factors and improvement techniques in a hierarchy
4. Conduct survey of industry professionals
5. Analyze the data and discuss the results.
The AHP solution is as follows
1. A complex problem is made simple by decomposing it in to hierarchy by
including all elements to reflect the aim of the decision maker
2. Elements are compared pairwise using a scale to measure their relative impor-
tance
3. Using the same scale, the relative importance of each alternative is evaluated
with respect to each criterion element in the hierarchy
4. Aggregate to overall score of each alternative is arrived [12].
A general flowchart of AHP model is shown in Fig. 1.
An optimal method to understand people’s behaviour with integrating all factors
such as social, economic, political, environmental and cultural does not exist. This is
the main reason why AHP treats people separately from conditions in which they find
themselves. The AHP is an instrument used to construct a complete order through
which optimum choice is derived [13]. Contrary to other conjoint analysis, AHP asks
the respondents to compare the criteria pairwise instead of making decisions between
all criteria at once. Here different attributes are not directly compared. Thus respon-
dents are less likely to adopt mental short cuts by concentrating disproportionately
on one attribute or level thus controlling the human element [1]. AHP enables people
to make more effective decisions by assisting them in organizing their thoughts and
judgments. Its structures are based on observations of how influences are transmitted
and its arithmetic is derived from psychologists’ observations of how people function
in attempting to understand their behaviour [13].
Focus Problem
Criteria Attribute 1 Attribute 3 Attribute
Alternatives Alternative 1 Alternative
Choice Decision
Fig. 1 The AHP model
4 Decision Making Process for Performance Improvement
4.1 Selection of Attributes and Alternatives
The factors that affects performance in LSGD were identified from literature and are
categorized through simple questionnaire survey among engineers and contractors in
LSGD sector in and around Ernakulam. Commonly 5-point or 7-point Likert scale
are used. When the number of points increases random tendency to answer also
increase. So instead of simple yes or no 2 points for positive 2 points for negative
and a point for neutral is given and thus adopting a 5 point Likert scale. The response
rating of experts on a Likert 5 point scale are statistically analyzed to identify the
relevance. After collecting opinion from 40 experts the summary of the analysis is
shown in Table 1.
These factors are shortlisted and categorized into 8 criteria
1. Resources
2. Method
3. Design
4. Planning
5. Quality
6. Safety
7. Cost
8. Public support.
Table 1 Analysis of criteria

Criteria Mean
Availability of equipment and its failure 3.5
Quality and shortage of materials 3.91
Shortage of labor and technical personnel 3.75
Improper communication 3.33
Poor information quality 2.91
Improper designing 3.58
Construction methods 3.58
Complexity of project 3.14
Improper planning 4.16
Unforeseen site conditions 3.66
Weather condition 3.58
Quality assurance 3.83
Construction mistakes and defectives works 3.16
Decision making 3.66
Ineffective supervision 3.75
Site management 3.83
Safety 3.58
Finance and payment 4.25
Lack of public support 3.66
Though many alternatives that is improvement techniques are reported in the

literature, many of them are not suitable/common to Indian construction industry.
The alternatives considered for the analysis are
1. Proper project planning and scheduling
2. Effective communication
3. Adoption of modern construction methods and technologies
4. Proper resource management
5. Adherence to standards and specifications.
4.2 Measurement Scale
The analytical hierarchy process requires the comparison of criteria based on a

measurement scale. The expert is asked to give his/her preference of importance
among the attributes depending on the project data on a 9-point scale. The scale item
and the corresponding values are shown in Table 2.
The second scale was used to compare the alternatives on the basis of the extent to
which a category possess a particular attribute in comparison with another alternative
and is shown in Table 3.
Table 2 9-point scale for

Scale items Measures
comparing attributes
Same importance 1
Slightly more importance 3
Considerably more important 5
Significantly more important 7
Absolutely more important 9
Table 3 9-point scale for

Scale items Measures
comparing alternatives
Equally preferred 1
Moderately preferred 3
Strongly preferred 5
Very strongly preferred 7
Extremely preferred 9
4.3 Pairwise Comparison
The comparison are made pairwise. A square matrix is setup by listing the criterion
to be compared on the left and on top. Then one begins with a criteria on the left and
asks how much more important it is than a criteria listed on top. When compared with
itself, the ratio is 1. When compared with another element, either it is more important
than that element, then an integer value from the scale is used or it’s reciprocal in
the opposite case. Similarly pairwise comparison can be done for alternatives with
respect to each criterion using the scale.
5 Analysis and Results
According to Saaty [12] an important aspect of the AHP is the idea of consistency.
If one has a scale for a property and the property of an object is measured with that
scale then, there is no judgmental inconsistency. Although if one has a physical scale
and applies it to objects in pairs and then derives the relative standing of the objects
on the scale from the pairwise comparison matrix, it is likely that inaccuracies will
have occurred in the act of applying the physical scale and again there would be
inconsistency.
The priority of consistency to obtain a coherent explanation of a set of facts must
differ by an order of magnitude from the priority of inconsistency which is an error
in the measurement of consistency. Thus, on a scale from O-1, inconsistency should
not exceed 0.10 by very much. Note that the requirement of 10% should not be
made much smaller such as 1 or 0.1%. The reason is that inconsistency itself is
important, for without it new knowledge which changes preference order cannot be
admitted. When experiences continued adjustment in understanding it contradicts
the assumption that all knowledge to be consistent. Thus the objective of developing
a wide-ranging consistent framework depends on admitting some inconsistency.
This also accounts for why the number of elements compared should be small.
Distortion of priorities can occur considerably when a number of elements are large
as a large number of elements attribute to small relative priorities. On the other hand if
the number of items is small then the priorities are comparable. The relative priorities
would be about the same as a small error does not affect the order of magnitude of the
answers. For example, when the number of items is less than 10 so that their values
would be greater than 10% each and therefore they remain relatively unaffected by
1% error [12].
Following steps are involved in the application of analytical hierarchy process
(AHP)
A comparison matrix for attributes is constructed.
Comparison matrices for each attribute based on different alternatives are
constructed and these are evaluated by experts.
Normalized vector is found out by adding each column elements.
Priority vector/Eigen vector is found out by dividing the respective row elements
corresponding to its normalized vectors to find the average of row elements.
Largest Eigen Value (LEV) is calculated by adding the product of each column
normalized vector with the priority vector of the corresponding criteria.
LEV − n
Consistency index (CI), CI = , (1)
n−1
where n is the size of matrix. The value of random consistency is shown in Table 4
for the size of the matrix. The values of RI for different sizes of judgement matrices
are found in Saaty [7].
CI
Consistency ratio (CR), CR = , (2)
RI
where RI is the random consistency given in Table 4.
The consistency is checked by taking the consistency ratio of the CI with appro-
priate one of the following set of numbers to see if it is about 10% or less, otherwise
study the problem and revise the judgements.
Table 4 Random consistency values

N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
RI 0 0 0.58 0.9 1.12 1.24 1.32 1.41
Composite priority is obtained by multiplying each column vector with the priority
of the corresponding criterion and added across each row.
Final decision is taken by finding the geometric mean of individual responses for
each alternatives.
The analytical hierarchy was programmed into an Excel spreadsheet for imple-
mentation of the AHP process.
5.1 A Sample Analysis
To facilitate this a matrix is provided with various criteria as the rows and columns.
For comparing the criteria in the rows with those in the columns, the following scale
can be used.
Scale:
Same importance = 1;
Slightly more important = 3;
Considerably more important = 5;
Significantly more important = 7;
Absolutely more important = 9 (Table 5).
For comparing the alternative in the rows with those in the columns, the following
scale can be used.
Scale:
Equally preferred = 1;
Moderately preferred = 3;
Strongly preferred = 5;
Very strongly preferred = 7;
Extremely preferred = 9 (Table 6).
Here 1 represent project planning and scheduling.
2 represent effective communication.
3 represent adoption of modern construction methods and technologies.
4 represent proper resource management.
5 represent adherence to standards and specifications (Tables 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
and 13).
The survey technique involves obtaining essential data from a representative
sample selected from target population selected. The targeted participants were
from management levels of LSGD as they are usually responsible for facilitating
change within the system. A total of 25 experts including assistant executive engi-
neers, assistant engineers, and other technical assistants from different LSGDs such
as block panchayat municipality and corporation in Ernakulam region were inter-
viewed. The research questionnaires asked respondents to reflect on the way they
believe the different issues impinge upon performance and to rate in differing degrees
844
Table 5 Comparison of attributes

Matrix Planning Resources Quality Design Method Safety Cost Public support Normalized principal Eigen
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 vector (%)
Planning 1 1 3 3 3 5 9 9 9 36.12
Resources 2 1/3 1 1 3 3 7 7 7 20.42
Quality 3 1/3 1 1 3 1 3 5 3 13.67
Design 4 1/3 1/3 1/3 1 1 3 3 3 8.51
Method 5 1/5 1/3 1 1 1 5 5 5 11.33
Safety 6 1/9 1/7 1/3 1/3 1/5 1 3 3 4.39
Cost 7 1/9 1/7 1/5 1/3 1/5 1/3 1 1/3 2.28
Public support 8 1/9 1/7 1/3 1/3 1/5 1/3 3 1 3.28
LEV = 8.588 CI = 0.22 CR = 6%
A. David and S. Varghese
Table 6 Comparison of alternatives based on planning as criterion

1 2 3 4 5 Normalized principal Eigen vector (%)
1 1 3 7 7 7 51.38
2 1/3 1 5 5 5 27.42
3 1/7 1/5 1 3 1 8.78
4 1/7 1/5 1/3 1 3 7.08
5 1/7 1/5 1 1/3 1 5.34
LEV = 5.488 CI = 0.39 CR = 6%
Table 7 Comparison of alternatives based on resource as criterion

1 1 1 1/3 1/5 3 11.93
2 1 1 1/5 1/9 1/3 5.68
3 3 5 1 1/3 3 24.56
4 5 9 3 1 3 47.79
5 1/3 3 1/3 1/3 1 10.05
LEV = 5.49 CI = 0.39 CR = 7%
Table 8 Comparison of alternatives based on quality as criterion

1 1 1/3 1 1 1/5 8.44
2 3 1 3 3 1/5 21.33
3 1 1/3 1 1 1/3 9.76
4 1 1/3 1 1 1/5 8.44
5 5 5 3 5 1 52.04
LEV = 5.234 CI = 0.19 CR = 8%
Table 9 Comparison of alternatives based on design as criterion

1 1 5 5 5 1 38.95
2 1/5 1 1 3 1/5 10.29
3 1/5 1 1 1 1/3 8.71
4 1/5 1/3 1 1 1/5 6.47
5 1 5 3 5 1 35.59
LEV = 5.182 CI = 0.15 CR = 4%
Table 10 Comparison of alternatives based on method as criterion

1 1 1 1/5 1/3 1/3 6.98
2 1 1 1/5 1/3 1/3 6.98
3 5 5 1 5 3 50.71
4 3 3 1/5 1 1 17.00
5 3 3 1/3 1 1 18.32
LEV = 5.138 CI = 0.11 CR = 4%
Table 11 Comparison of alternatives based on safety as criterion

1 1 1/5 1/3 1 1/5 6.24
2 5 1 3 3 1/3 26.59
3 3 1/3 1 3 1/3 15.04
4 1 1/3 1/3 1 1/5 6.92
5 5 3 3 5 1 45.22
LEV = 5.216 CI = 0.18 CR = 6%
Table 12 Comparison of alternatives based on cost as criterion

1 1 1/5 1 1/3 1/3 8.18
2 5 1 3 3 3 44.32
3 1 1/3 1 1 1 13.71
4 3 1/3 1 1 1 16.90
5 3 1/3 1 1 1 16.90
LEV = 5.138 CI = 0.11 CR = 3.1%
Table 13 Comparison of alternatives based on public support as criterion

1 1 5 1 1 3 29.82
2 1/5 1 1/3 1/3 1 8.08
3 1 3 1 1 3 26.61
4 1 3 1 1 3 26.61
5 1/3 1 1/3 1/3 1 8.87
LEV = 5.032 CI = 0.03 CR = 1%
Table 14 Summary of AHP analysis for performance improvement in LSGD
Planning Resources Quality Design Method Safety Cost Public support 3.77%
34.5% 21% 13.4% 8.23% 12.5% 4.6% 2%
Proper project planning and scheduling 51.7% 12% 8.33% 39% 6.8% 6.5% 8.3% 28.9%
Effective communication 26.9% 5.5% 22% 10.4% 6.4% 25.9% 43.8% 8.56%
Adoption of modern construction methods 8.8% 24.6% 9.34% 8.7% 51.5% 15% 12.9% 26.54%
and technologies
Proper resource management 7% 47.5% 8.33% 6% 16.9% 7.02% 17.09% 26.86%
AHP Model for Performance Improvement in LSGD Projects
Adherence to standards and specification 5.6% 10.4% 52% 35.9% 18.4% 45.58% 17.91% 9.14%
847
of importance, the major implicating factors that limit the level of ongoing attainable
performance.
As per Saaty [7] a consistency ratio of 0.1 or less is considered acceptable. Only 20
responses out of 25 falls under this. Even with one respondent AHP can be applied.
AHP is applied to each response individually and analysis is done independently.
Following the reasoning, the Chebyshev’s theorem statistical test was suggested by
Saaty [7] based on which at least 75% of the dataset must lie within the range of
average 2 standard deviations to accept the dataset. From the dataset, over 80%
of the obtained data were found to be within the above range. Furthermore, the
resulting inconsistency ratio of the pairwise comparison matrix are less than 0.1
represents an additional indication of reliability of the obtained responses in the
analysis. According to Doloi [1] the small sample size is not an issue from the AHP
methodology point of view. Salman et al. [14] used only 12 respondents’ input in
validating a BOT viability model for large-scale infrastructure projects. In Dias and
Ioannou [15], only 12 and 8 respondents had respectively accepted the invitation
and completed the questionnaires. A single input represents a group of sample [16].
Therefore, the reliability of the sample size taken is acceptable.
Pairs of criteria are compared in order to systematically determine the relative
influence of the criteria on the attributes positioned one level higher in the hierarchy.
Reference to the response to a leading question was used to compare the performance
separately for each set in the hierarchy. The responses from each of the survey
participants were used to develop the judgment matrices to calculate the relative
importance of the criteria. Based on the relative importance given by individual
participants, the mean values of relative importance for the criteria were computed
and are shown in Table 14.
6 Conclusions
This study was aimed to determine the optimum solution to achieving improved
performance in LSGD projects focusing on a number of selected LSGDs in
Ernakulam. The findings of the research have provided substantial evidence on
the current understanding and perception of performance in the industry and have
provided clear pathways for LSGDs to address the current productivity problems.
The responses drawn in this research from the professionals of LSGD sectors in
Ernakulam have given an insight into the current issues surrounding LSGD projects.
The results provide a solid basis for increased focus and participation of the
construction management sector in achieving higher productivity in the industry.
The research suggests planning and resource as the most critical factors to
improving performance in LSGD projects with priorities 34.5 and 21% respectively.
It can be inferred that most of the issues that LSGD projects facing are related to
inadequate planning and lack of resource management. So it is clear that over all
planning and resource management for a project through all phases such as the work
scheduling, activity programming, site coordination and construction must be given
primary focus by LSGD organization, if they are to improve upon current levels of
performance. This result demonstrates the necessity for giving priority to activities
associated with planning and resource management. Application of improvement
techniques should have more consideration and importance in these activities in
order to improve performance and productivity.
The result shown in Table 14 provides a set of priorities demonstrating the impor-
tance of alternatives for reaching the superior goal of performance and productivity
improvement in LSGD projects. Proper project planning and scheduling is the most
important technique in reducing problems related to planning designing and lack
of public support with priorities of 51.7%, 31% and 28.9% respectively. Proper
resource management is the most important technique while dealing with problems
related to resources with priority of 47.5%. Adherence to standards and specifica-
tions has significant effect in improving productivity and performance considering
quality design and safety aspects with priorities of 52%, 35.9%, 45.58% respectively.
Adoption of modern construction methods and technologies is the most important
technique in reducing problems related to method with priority of 51.5%. While
adopting proper project planning and scheduling problems related to planning can
be rectified. Even though proper resource management has a low priority of 7%
in dealing with problems related to planning but considering issues with resources,
proper resource management is the best method. As the study already pointed out
that improvement techniques for planning and resource management should be given
prime importance, it can be concluded that adopting proper project planning and
scheduling and proper resource management can improve the performance in LSGD
projects significantly.
References
1. Doloi H (2008) Application of AHP in improving construction productivity from a management

perspective. Constr Manage Econ 26(8):841–854
2. Odeh AM, Battaineh HT (2002) Causes of construction delay: traditional contracts. Int J Project
Manage 20(1):67–73
3. Bullinger H-J, Menrad W (2002) Changes in remuneration practice in production: success
factors of sustainable remuneration systems for innovative concepts of work organization. Int
J Prod Res 40(15):3955–3971
4. Allmon E, Hass C, Borcherding JD (2000) US construction labour productivity trends 1970–
1998. J Constr Eng Manage 126(2):97–104
5. Aziz RF, Hafez SM (2003) Applying lean thinking in construction and performance improve-
ment. Alexandria Eng J 52(4):679–695
6. Enshassi A, Mohamed S, Mustafa ZA, Mayer PE (2007) Factors affecting labour productivity
in building projects in Gaza Strip. J Civ Eng Manage 13(4):245–254
7. Saaty TL (1980) The analytical hierarchy process. McGraw Hill, New York
8. Schot J, Fischer K (1993) Introduction: the greening of the industrial firm. In: Environmental
strategies for industry. Island Press, Washington, pp 3–33
9. Waris M, Panigrahi S, Mengal A, Soomro MI, Mirjat NH, Ullah M, Azlan ZS, Khan A (2019) An
application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for sustainable procurement of construction
equipment: multicriteria-based decision framework for Malaysia. Hindawi Math Probl Eng
2019:20, Article ID 6391431
10. Subramanian N, Ramanathan R (2012) A review of applications of analytic hierarchy process

in operations management. Int J Prod Econ 138(2):215–241
11. Qureshi ME, Harrison SR (2003) Application of the analytic hierarchy process to riparian
revegetation policy options. Small-Scale For Econ Manage Policy 2(3):441–458
12. Saaty RW (1987) The analytical hierarchy process—what it is and how it is used. Math Model
9(3–5):161–176
13. Saaty TL, Vargas LG (2012) Models, methods, concepts & applications of the analytic hierarchy
process. International series in operations research and management science (2 edn). Springer,
Berlin, 978-1-4614-3597-6
14. Salman AFM, Skibniewski MJ, Basha I (2007) BOT viability model for large scale
infrastructure projects. J Constr Eng Manage 133(1):5–63
15. Dias A Jr, Ioannou PG (1996) Company and project evaluation model for privately promoted
infrastructure projects. J Constr Eng Manage 122(1):71–82
16. Golden Bruce L, Wasil Edward A, Harker Patrick T (1989) The analytical hierarchy process:
applications and studies. Springer, New York
Prevention of Flutter Instability
in Control Surface of a Test Vehicle
Through Parametric Studies
Bilpriya, S. Rajendran, P. Ashok Gandhi, and Manju George
Abstract This paper mainly deals with the prevention of flutter instability in fin
with shroud of a typical Rocket body through parametric studies. Flutter is an aeroe-
lastic instability which occurs when aerodynamic loads cause deformation of the
body which in turn initiates an oscillation in the body and further interacts with aero-
dynamics. The crew escape system is an emergency escape structure designed to
swiftly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a secure distance from the
launch vehicle during launch abort. For the control of crew escape system during the
ascent phase of trajectory, sweep back fins are used at the bottom of the vehicle. Finite
element modelling of the fin was done using MSC/PATRAN software. Flutter analysis
is carried out in MSC/NASTRAN using in-built aerodynamics. MSC/NASTRAN
uses plate theories such as Doublet Lattice Method for subsonic Mach number,
ZONA51 for transonic and low supersonic Mach numbers and Piston theory for high
supersonic Mach numbers to generate the aerodynamic force within NASTRAN.
MSC/PATRAN is a software developed to provide a systematic approach towards
making finite element modeling fast and accurate; MSC/NASTRAN is a general
purpose finite element analysis computer program that addresses a wide range of
engineering problem and is also capable to focus on particular types of analysis. In
this work, initially normal mode analysis was carried out for the modeled fin and
flutter analysis was performed. It was observed that flutter instability occurred in
most of the Mach numbers. In order to prevent flutter, the method of mass redistribu-
tion is adopted. Mass addition is carried out on leading edge and trailing edge to see
the effect of movement of C.G with respect to the shaft axis. By carrying out various
mass redistribution studies, the flutter instability in the fin is alleviated. This effort
will be helpful for flutter prevention in control surfaces of upcoming vehicles also.
Bilpriya (B) · M. George

Department of Civil Engineering, Mar Baselios Institute of Technology and Science,
Nellimattom, India
S. Rajendran · P. A. Gandhi
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_76
852 Bilpriya et al.
Keywords Aeroelasticity · Flutter · Control surface · Finite element model ·

Parametric · MSC/PATRAN · MSC/NASTRAN
1 Introduction
The branch of physics and engineering that deals with the interaction between inertial,
elastic and aerodynamic forces is called aeroelasticity. Flutter testing and Prevention
of flutter instability has become an integral part in the design of aerospace vehicles in
order to ensure survivability. Flutter and divergence are two important dynamic and
static aeroelastic phenomena which must be considered in the preliminary design
phase of the air vehicle structural design. Flutter is a self excited dynamic insta-
bility of an elastic structure in a fluid flow, caused by positive feedback between
the body’s deflection and the force exerted by the fluid flow. It happens when an
aerodynamic force is applied to an object causing it to oscillate and as the force
increases the oscillations also increase, until the object fails by means of fracture.
This catastrophic event must be avoided at any cost. Real flight testing and wind
tunnel testing are two ways to clear a vehicle for flutter, but both are expensive
and occur at the later stage of the design process. Therefore engineers rely on the
computational methods to assess the aeroelastic characteristics of flight vehicles. The
unsteady aerodynamic loads are calculated and the flutter equation is solved using
P-K method embedded in MSC/NASTRAN Flutter analysis by means of simple
harmonic motion. Accordingly, frequency and damping curves of the typical fin are
estimated. MSC/NASTRAN has the ability to execute aeroelastic analyses since the
early 1970s. This paper mostly deals with the prevention of flutter instability in fin
with shroud of a typical rocket body through parametric studies.
2 Literature Review
For theoretical analysis of active flutter suppression Paek and Lee [1] discussed
about the root locus and iterative V-g method to analyze the flutter for a control
surface of a launch vehicle with control actuators. Karadal and Librescu [2] presented
the control of the flutter instability and the conversion of the dangerous character
of the flutter instability boundary into not dangerous one for a cross-sectional
wing in a supersonic/hypersonic flow field. In order to study the flutter suppres-
sion in fins Karadal and Şahin [3] conducted the theoretical analysis of an active
flutter suppression methodology applied on a smart fin where the fin consisted of
a cantilever aluminum plate-like structure with surface bonded piezoelectric (PZT,
Lead-Zirconate-Titanate) patches. Njuguna [4] addressed the flutter phenomenon and
effectual means of flutter prevention and reviews some of the most recent theoretical
and experimental developments in flutter analyses. The theoretical, computational
Prevention of Flutter Instability in Control Surface of a Test … 853
and experimental flutter for composite structures is pursued. Zhao et al. [5] did dedi-
cated study on the flutter characteristics of control rudder of high speed flight vehicle
They proposed a novel parameter-tuning method for the flutter characteristics para-
metric of control rudder at the beginning design stage of flight vehicle by combining
parameterized dynamic modeling technology, aerodynamic and aeroelastic flutter
analysis methodology. Vikhorev and Goman [6] found that flutter of the nonlinear
aeroelastic wing section system with actuator constraints can be effectively stabilized
under action of large external disturbances using only the trailing-edge flap.
3 Modeling
The finite element model of the fin is created and meshed in MSC/PATRAN.
The skeletal structure is completed with assembly of one, two, three-dimensional
elements such as bar elements, beam elements, and plate elements providing a
cantilever boundary condition at the nodes where the fin will be attached to the
shroud. For modeling beam, CBEAM elements are used. In order to define membrane,
bending, transverse, shear and coupling parameters of thin shell, PSHELL elements
are used. For this purpose, quadrilateral plate element connection CQUAD4 and
triangular plate element connection CTRIA3 are used. The finite element model is
shown in Fig. 1. The fin is modeled in two parts mainly fixed part and movable part.
The fixed part of the fin is attached to the L-bracket using multi point constraints
and it is also provided with fixed support at points where the fin is attached to the
shroud. The typical rocket body in which the fins are used is shown in Fig. 2 and
typical trajectory profile is shown in Fig. 3.
4 Analysis
The method adopted for the flutter analysis is explained as follows. It involves four
steps viz., the first one is the creation of the Finite Element model, then the second
is structural dynamic analysis to identify the flexible mode shapes and its frequen-
cies, and the third is generation of aerodynamic mesh and coupling of aerodynamic
and structural mesh, and then finally the fourth is solving the flutter problem using
P-K method. The finite element model of the fin is made using MSC/PATRAN
software and the analysis is carried out for flutter using MSC/NASTRAN. The aero-
dynamic mesh and structural mesh are different and hence splining function in-built
in NASTRAN is used, which takes care of the transfer of forces from aero mesh to
structure mesh. The aerodynamic mesh of the fin modeled is as shown in Fig. 4.
854 Bilpriya et al.
Fig. 1 Fin modelled in MSC/PATRAN
4.1 Modal Analysis
A modal analysis calculates the frequency modes or natural frequencies of a given

system. The natural frequency (ω) of a system is dependent only on the stiffness of
the structure and the mass which participates with the structure. It is useful to know
the modal frequencies of a structure as it allows you to ensure that the frequency
of the applied periodic loading will not coincide with a modal frequency and hence
cause resonance, which leads to large oscillations. Table 1 shows the frequencies at
different modes of the fin. Generally, here bending, torsion and in-plane modes are
taken and mode shapes are also plotted in Fig. 5.
4.2 Flutter Analysis
Flutter speed is an essential performance index in aircraft design. The flutter speed of
the fin is obtained from the flutter analysis performed in NASTRAN. To NASTRAN,
we provide an input file which contains the structural model, aerodynamic model,
splining definition and the flight conditions such as Mach number, dynamic pressure
and air density for which flutter analysis has to be carried out. The flight trajectory
parameters are shown in Fig. 3. From the output of NASTRAN, we find the flutter
Fig. 2 Typical Rocket body
Fig. 3 Trajectory of typical

Rocket body
856 Bilpriya et al.
Fig. 4 Aero mesh of fin
Table 1 Frequencies of the

Modes 1 2 3
original fin design
Frequency (Hz) 22.1 28.1 28.6
Fig. 5 Mode shape of original fin design
velocity. The lowest velocity value where the system damping changes the sign
(negative to positive in NASTRAN output) for the modes we consider is termed as
the flutter velocity of the respective system. Two very important numbers that appear
repeatedly in flutter analysis are the Mach no. and reduced frequency (k). Mach no.
is the ratio of free stream air speed over the speed of sound. From the flutter analysis
it was revealed that the original fin was susceptible to flutter, since it had a negative
flutter margin. To prevent the fin from flutter instability, various parametric studies
are done. One technique of reducing flutter is by setting a maximum air speed using
a ratio of energies such as energy input to energy output. But this won’t work in the
current case as the flutter margin are negative, meaning the flight would experience
flutter before it reaches the desired vehicle velocity itself, so setting up the maximum
air speed is ruled out for this case. Another method is to adjust the distribution of the
mass load by bringing the centre of gravity closer to the centre of twist. This causes
natural damping thus reducing the oscillations within the structure and cancelling
out the flutter. Alternative way is to use a ratio between the stiffness and mass. By
increasing this ratio we can get better stability in the wing and a more rigid outcome.
This is the hardest to achieve, because when the mass of material is reduced, it leads
to a reduction in rigidity. So to get past this, a new material has to be used. Hence
in the present work, the technique of mass distribution is used to alleviate the flutter
situation.
4.3 Parametric Studies Carried Out
The method of parametric is done by redistributing the mass in leading edge and
trailing edge of the movable fin. The leading edge had an initial mass of 5 kg and
an addition of mass of 3, 5 and 11 kg are done sequentially. At 11 kg mass addition
on leading edge it is found that positive margin is obtained and addition of this mass
is effective in preventing flutter. In the alternate approach, while the initial mass of
trailing edge was about 3 kg, an addition of 3, 5 and 11 kg is done sequentially. In
all these cases it is found to be effective and no flutter is observed at higher Mach
numbers. But adding 11 kg in the leading edge had more effect of increasing the
Flutter margin above 3.0 when compared to trailing edge mass addition giving a
value of 1.0.
4.4 Methodology
The flutter analysis is carried out for all the lifting structures of the rocket body are
done to ensure the safety of the rocket body while flying through the atmosphere. The
unsteady aerodynamics for the flutter analysis is generated from NASTRAN inbuilt
aerodynamic theory namely Doublet lattice method for subsonic regime of Mach
numbers (0.5–0.8) and ZONA51 method for transonic and supersonic regime of Mach
numbers (0.8–2.0). In transonic regime, ZONA51 gives fairly decent results up to M
= 0.9 and above M = 1.1. Out of the three types of flutter solutions i.e., p-method,
k-method and p-k method, the p-k method is found to be more appropriate for the
present analysis. The flutter can be observed from the frequency-damping-velocity
plot called as flutter plots or ν-g-ω plot.
858 Bilpriya et al.
Table 2 Frequencies for leading edge and trailing edge mass addition case
Frequencies for different mass addition case (Hz)
Modes Original On leading edge mass addition On trailing edge mass addition
3 kg 5 kg 11 kg 3 kg 5 kg 11 kg
1 22.1 21.8 21.6 20.5 19.8 18.6 16.0
2 28.1 26.5 25.3 23.1 26.7 25.8 23.6
3 28.6 27.1 26.5 24.7 28.4 28.2 27.8
5.1 Modal Analysis of Fin
Table 2 and Fig. 6 show the comparison of modal analysis of fin after addition of the
mass in leading edge of the fin. From the figure it can be seen that the mass addition
of 11 kg makes the fin modes decoupled (bending and torsion modes are pure, visible
from the fringe pattern). Table 3 and Fig. 7 show the comparison of mode shapes of
original case and trailing edge mass addition case. It can be seen from Fig. 7 that the
modes are still coupled. The grid independence study was carried out and the mesh
giving converged results are used.
5.2 Flutter Analysis of Fin
5.2.1 Leading Edge Mass Redistribution Case
From the studies conducted, it is observed that flutter instability can be prevented
by adding sufficient mass at leading edge or trailing edge. But mass redistribution in
leading edge is effective for the reason that, by adding 11 kg in leading edge gives
flutter margin above 1.0 for all Mach numbers than adding the same mass in trailing
edge. The graphs and table given below show the flutter margin for different cases.
Table 3 shows the original case of fin which had a negative flutter margin. Figure 8
also shows the actual flutter margin versus Mach no. Minimum flutter margin is found
to be −0.04. As per NASA criteria, minimum flutter margin required is above 0.15,
meaning flutter velocity should be minimum 15% more than the vehicle velocity.
f lutter velocit y
Flutter Margin = − 1.0
vehicle velocit y
In leading edge, the mass additions are 3, 5 and 11 kg. The flutter margin for
all the cases are given in Table 4. The comparison of flutter margin for all these
options along with original design case is depicted in Fig. 9. As seen from the figure
Fig. 6 Mode shapes of original and leading edge mass distribution case
and table, adding 3 and 5 kg at the leading edge gives lower flutter margin than the
original case, the reason being, when we try to move the C.G towards leading edge,
initial cases of 3 and 5 kg, the modes become more coupled hence reduces the flutter
margin further. But for the last case of 11 kg addition, the modes become decoupled,
flutter is avoided, and hence gives higher margin.
The intention of mass addition is to move the C.G so that the coupled modes
which existed in the original fin become uncoupled. There are two ways to do that;
either move the C.G above the shaft axis by adding more mass in the leading edge,
or by adding the mass on the trailing edge. Mass redistribution can also be attempted
on the middle portion of the fin, but that does not give a drastic movement in the
C.G. Initially the case of adding mass in leading edge is studied. By adding 11 kg to
the leading edge the C.G has moved about 24 mm towards the leading edge. From
Fig. 9, it is seen that 11 kg mass addition has the positive margin throughout for
860 Bilpriya et al.
Table 3 Flutter margin for original case

Mach no. (M) Air density Vehicle Flutter Flutter ratio Flutter margin
(kg/m3 ) velocity, Vv velocity, Vf (Vf /Vv ) (Vf /Vv − 1.0)
(m/s) (m/s)
0.5 0.9638 170.63 184.8 1.08 0.08
0.6 0.8883 203.33 206.1 1.01 0.01
0.7 0.811 235.03 234.3 1.00 0.00
0.8 0.7338 265.78 255.6 0.96 -0.04
0.9 0.6569 295.82 290.9 0.98 -0.02
1.1 0.493 350.57 389.9 1.11 0.11
1.2 0.4258 374.46 453.5 1.21 0.21
1.5 0.2905 441.15 559.6 1.27 0.27
1.8 0.2045 506.38 708.1 1.40 0.40
2.0 0.1383 569.12 No flutter velocity upto 800 m/s
Fig. 7 Mode shapes of original and trailing edge mass distribution case
Fig. 8 Flutter margin of 0.50

original case
0.40
Flutter Margin
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
-0.10
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Mach no
Table 4 Flutter margin for different mass addition in leading edge

Mach no. Density Vehicle Flutter velocity, Vf (m/s) Flutter margin (Vf /Vv − 1.0)
(kg/m3 ) velocity, 3 kg 5 kg 11 kg 3 kg 5 kg 11 kg
Vv (m/s)
0.5 0.9638 170.6 170.7 191.9 715.2 0.00 0.12 3.19
0.6 0.8883 203.3 184.8 199.0 729.3 −0.09 −0.02 2.59
0.7 0.811 235.0 206.1 213.1 743.4 −0.12 −0.09 2.16
0.8 0.7338 265.8 220.2 220.2 750.5 −0.17 −0.17 1.82
0.9 0.6569 295.8 248.5 234.3 754.5 −0.16 −0.21 1.55
1.1 0.493 350.6 326.3 290.9 827.3 −0.07 −0.17 1.36
1.2 0.4258 374.5 404.0 375.8 No flutter 0.08 0.00 Flutter
1.5 0.2905 441.2 503.0 488.9 velocity 0.14 0.11 margin
upto >1.0
1.8 0.2045 506.4 630.3 602.0 1100 m/s 0.24 0.19
2.0 0.1383 569.1 792.9 757.6 0.39 0.33
Fig. 9 Comparison of flutter 4.00

margin for leading edge mass 3.50 original
addition with original design 3kg
3.00 5kg
Flutter margin
2.50 11kg
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-0.50
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2
Mach no
all the Mach numbers, i.e., well above 1.0, which is a better margin considering the
scenario of the original fin. Though 0.15 margin is sufficient as per NASA criteria,
still enough margins are built in to take care of uncertainties in the theory in transonic
regime and actual damping values. Also during transonic Mach number, between M
= 0.9–1.1, there is a chance for transonic bucket or dip type behavior to occur in the
862 Bilpriya et al.
Fig. 10 Comparison of 1.20

flutter margin for trailing
1.00
edge mass addition with
original design 0.80
Flutter margin
0.60
0.40
0.20 original
3 kg
0.00 5kg
11kg
-0.20
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
Mach no
flutter margin curve. So considering all these, addition of 11 kg mass is the preferred
solution, with minimum penalty in weight.
5.2.2 Trailing Edge Mass Redistribution Case
Mass at the trailing edge is added in the similar way as the leading edge, and the
flutter analysis is repeated for all the cases of 3, 5 and 11 kg. The flutter margin for
all the cases are given in Tables 8, 9 and 10 respectively. The comparison of flutter
margin for all these options along with original design case is depicted in Fig. 10. It
is seen that the flutter margin improves when the mass is added at the trailing edge
too. With mass addition of 11 kg at the trailing edge the flutter margin is above 0.5
for all the Mach numbers. A gradual increase from negative flutter margin to positive
flutter margin is seen for each mass addition case. Still these are not as advantageous
as the leading edge case, which gives much better flutter margin. By adding 11 kg of
trailing edge mass, the C.G is moved about 89 mm below the original C.G position
(Table 5).
Though the flutter margins are positive, the advantage what we get by adding
11 kg mass in leading edge is not seen in the trailing edge mass addition option.
The answer to this lies in the decoupling of bending and torsion mode. When we
add 11 kg to the leading edge the coupled mode of bending and torsion becomes
decoupled and pure which is evident from Fig. 6, but adding 11 kg in trailing edge
doesn’t make the modes decoupled as seen from Fig. 7.
6 Conclusions
Flutter analysis and testing has become an integral part of the design process to ensure
survivability. Flutter can cause vehicle structures to fail, and is an important element
of the flight envelope to investigate. In this paper, aeroelasticity with regard to flutter
analysis is covered. Through analysis, it was found that the original fin design was
Table 5 Flutter margin for different mass addition in trailing edge

Mach Density Veh. Flutter velocity, Vf (m/s) Flutter margin (Vf /Vv − 1.0)
no. (kg/m3 ) velocity, 3 kg 5 kg 11 kg 3 kg 5 kg 11 kg
Vv (m/s)
0.5 0.9638 170.6 241.4 269.7 340.4 0.41 0.58 0.99
0.6 0.8883 203.3 262.6 290.9 361.6 0.29 0.43 0.78
0.7 0.811 235.0 290.9 312.1 390.9 0.24 0.33 0.66
0.8 0.7338 265.8 312.1 340.4 418.2 0.17 0.28 0.57
0.9 0.6569 295.8 347.5 375.8 445.5 0.17 0.27 0.51
1.1 0.493 350.6 463.6 509.1 609.1 0.32 0.45 0.74
1.2 0.4258 374.5 545.5 590.9 700 0.46 0.58 0.87
1.5 0.2905 441.2 672.7 727.3 836.4 0.52 0.65 0.90
1.8 0.2045 506.4 845.5 909.1 >1100 0.67 0.80 >1.0
2.0 0.1383 569.1 No Vf obtained up to Flutter margin >1.0
1100 m/s
susceptible to flutter, so parametric studies were carried out in order to avoid flutter.
Through various parametric studies, it is concluded that mass addition in leading
edge of the fin could successfully produce a positive margin to greater extent when
compared to adding same mass to the trailing edge. The reason is understood to be
the extent of decoupling the bending-torsion coupled modes is more effectively done
by adding higher mass to the leading edge than to the trailing edge; but for lesser
mass addition, it works out to be other way. The addition of 5 kg in trailing edge
would give the flutter margin above 0.15, but in order to build sufficient margin to
take care of uncertainties in the theoretical computation, damping values and to take
care of the transonic dip in the flutter curves, 11 kg mass addition in leading edge is
considered to be the preferred solution.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge, the scientists from VSSC, ISRO
who have initially guided us in successfully carrying out the dynamic and aeroelastic analysis of
sounding rockets and reusable launch vehicle type rockets. We would also like to acknowledge
MSC/NASTRAN technical support people for guiding us in the software side.
References
1. Paek S-K, Lee I (1996) Flutter analysis for control surface of launch vehicle with dynamic
stiffness. Comput Struct 60:593–599
2. Marzocca P, Librescu L (2010) About the effect of control on flutter and post-flutter of a
supersonic/hypersonic cross-sectional wing 3:1–25
3. Karadal FM, Şahin M (2008) Active flutter control of a smart fin. In: International conference
on adaptive structures and technologies, vol 19, pp 1–12, Department of Aerospace Engineering
864 Bilpriya et al.
4. Njuguna J (2007) Flutter prediction, suppression and control in aircraft composite wings as a
design prerequisite. Struct Control Health Monit 14:715–758
5. Zhao X, Cao C, Guo P (2018) Simulation analysis study on the flutter characteristics of control
rudder in high speed flight vehicle. J Phys Conf Ser 1:1–8
6. Vikhorev KS, Goman M (2010) Effect of control constraints on active stabilization of flutter,
vol 3. The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, pp 1–9
7. Petyt M (2003) Introduction to finite element vibration analysis, vol 7. Institute of Sound and
Vibration Research, pp 1–27
8. Fung YC (2003) An introduction to the theory of aero elasticity, vol 3. University of California,
pp 160–186
Experimental Investigations on Using
Distributed Fiber Sensing for Monitoring
Pipelines
Shika George, B. Arun Sundaram, and Mathews M. Paul
Abstract Pipeline networks are responsible for transporting vital materials such
as water, oil and gas. Complicated loads, material aging, environmental corrosion,
and vibration fatigue are the factors which may cause structural deteriorations of
pipelines during the life cycle service because of which leaks may arises. Any leakage
in the pipeline system can cause major financial losses and possible environmental
damages. Currently, buried pipelines are only monitored at key points, which can be
spaced several kilometers apart. The use of these discrete sensors for large pipelines
is simply impracticable and not cost effective. Distributed fiber optic sensing offers
the ability to measure temperatures and strains at thousands of points along a single
fiber. DSTS-BOTDA (Distributed Strain and Temperature Sensor-Brillouin Optical
Time Domain Analysis) utilizes “stimulated” Brillouin scattering while a DSTS-
BOTDR (Distributed Strain and Temperature Sensor-Brillouin Optical Time Domain
Reflectometer) utilizes “spontaneous” Brillouin scattering. In this paper, experi-
mental investigations carried out using distributed fiber optic sensing for leakage
identification in pipelines is presented. Two different kinds of sensors were used
for monitoring strain and temperature variations during leakage. The methodology
adopted for instrumentation and the results obtained are presented in detail in this
paper.
Keywords Distributed fiber optic sensor · PVC pipelines · Brillouin optical time
domain analysis
S. George (B) · M. M. Paul

Kerala, India
B. A. Sundaram
CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_77
866 S. George et al.
1 Introduction
Pipeline network constitute one of the most important ways to transport large amounts
of oil and gas through long distances. Leakages in pipelines are very dangerous since
they may induce severe environmental problem and economic losses [1]. Factors
such as corrosion, vibration, and external impacts may cause pipeline leakages [2].
A major issue of monitoring existing pipelines is that normally the pipelines are very
long and is often buried underground or underwater, so it is not easy to get access to
retrofit monitoring sensors.
In many structural applications, it is often desirable that strain and temperature
are monitored at multiple locations at the same time [3]. Moreover, the use of these
multi-point localized sensors for large civil structures is simply impracticable and not
cost effective. Distributed fiber optic sensors allows the monitoring of local strain,
temperature, and corrosion rate, etc. at thousands of locations distributed along a
single mono-mode optical fiber. These sensors can be distributed along the length
of pipe network via the guiding of lightwaves along the fiber optic lines. Leakage in
pipeline may cause a temperature rise around the leakage point.
Feng et al. studied the feasibility of leakage monitoring of oil pipeline by using
BOTDR. Four kinds of sensing cables with different structures are evaluated in the
experiments by comparing their effectiveness in the leakage monitoring and three
kinds of laying styles such as straight line, tri-fold, and spiral styles are used. Sensing
cable provided with loose tube structure is better for the temperature monitoring.
Straight line and spiral are suitable for the leakage monitoring, which can detect the
leakage of 1.1 m3 /h [4]. Wong et al. studied experimentally the ability of distributed
optical fibre strain sensor to monitor the fatigue crack growth along the cast iron
pipeline having a diameter of 660 mm and 18 mm remaining wall thickness which
was used for the fatigue testing. Distributed optical fibre sensor was instrumented
on the pipe in order to monitor the condition of the pipe. Fatigue test is carried out
using a newly developed large scale cyclic pressure loading facility which vicinity
to typical water pressure loading experienced in the field. Distributed optical fibre
sensor can only detect the change due to the presence of the crack when the distance
between the sensor and the damage was less than 40 mm [5].
Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA) uses the optical fiber to sense
the change of environment and can measure the temperature at every position of fiber.
In this paper the experimental investigations were carried out using distributed fiber
optic sensors for identification of leakage in pipeline and is presented in detail. The
studies were carried out using a PVC pipeline model in the laboratory and controlled
leakages were made and the leakage was identified using BOTDA.
Experimental Investigations on Using Distributed Fiber … 867
2 Brillouin Scattering Principle
Brillouin scattering occurs due to the interaction between optical and probe light-
wave and the acoustic wave in fiber. The Brillouin wavelength shift is proportional
to the acoustic velocity in the fiber which in turn is related to its density. However,
density depends on the strain and the temperature of the optical fibre [6]. Brillouin
shift can be used to measure those parameters. DSTS-BOTDA (Distributed Strain
and Temperature Sensor-Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis) utilizes “stimu-
lated” Brillouin scattering while a DSTS-BOTDR (Distributed Strain and Temper-
ature Sensor-Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometer) utilizes “spontaneous”
Brillouin scattering. These are two types of distributed sensor systems which are
explained in the following sections.
2.1 DSTS-BOTDA
Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA) utilizes “stimulated” Brillouin

scattering to measure strain and temperature. In a BOTDA system, two laser beams
are injected into opposite ends of the fiber. A continuous wave (CW) beam is injected
into one end of the fiber, while a pulse is injected into the other. Energy transfer
occurs from one beam to the other, and it is actually the loss in the CW beam that is
monitored.
Although a BOTDA requires access to both ends of the fiber, it is popular because
of its sensitivity, which is significantly better than that of a BOTDR. The improved
sensitivity allows spatial resolution as fine as 10 cm, and shorter measurement times
compared to a BOTDR.
2.2 DSTS-BOTDR
In a BOTDR, a single laser beam is pulsed into one end of the fiber. A very small
percentage of the light is scattered back to the source by means of spontaneous
Brillouin scattering, which takes place along the entire length of the fiber. Spectral
analysis of the light from the Brillouin scattering reveals the change in strain and/or
temperature, while the time of arrival of the scattered pulse determines the position
of the measurement along the length of the fiber.
Fig. 1 Calibration test set-up
3 Calibration Test
The calibration studies were carried out to understand the response of the distributed
fiber sensor to known temperature variations. The calibration test setup is as shown in
Fig. 1. A vessel was filled with hot water having a temperature of around 70 °C. The
optical fiber was connected to the interrogator in BOTDA mode (both the ends were
connected to interrogator). Baseline frequency of the optical fiber was measured at
room temperature prior to the experimental program. A small portion of the optical
fiber was placed in the vessel with hot water. The temperature of the hot water
was also monitored using a thermometer for validation with the distributed sensor.
The Brillouin frequency was measured at frequent intervals during the experimental
program. The measured frequency shift is converted into temperature using the fiber
temperature coefficient 0.9765 MHz/°C.
4 Experimental Investigations in Pipeline by Simulating

Leakage
Experimental investigations were carried out using a PVC pipeline model of length
3000 mm and diameter 50 mm. The PVC pipeline model was made with elbow joints
at both ends to facilitate filling of water during the experimental investigations.
The schematic of the experimental setup is as shown in Fig. 2. A wooden box of
dimensions 2.5 × 0.65 × 0.63 m was made and partially filled with sand upto a
depth of around 200 mm. The model pipeline with the elbows was placed inside box
with two supports at the ends. Small holes were drilled in the pipeline at intervals
Fig. 2 Schematic representation of instrumentation on the pipe specimen
of 450 mm to simulate leakage. Two optical fibers one for strain and another for
temperature measurement was placed at a depth of around 10 mm below the pipeline
in the soil. Another fiber optic sensor was bonded to the bottom of the pipeline
for measuring the strain response as shown in Fig. 3. The instrumented fiber optic
sensors were connected to the interrogator in BOTDA mode (Fig. 4). Both ends of
each optical fiber was connected to the interrogator. The baseline Brillouin frequency
for both the fibers was measured prior to the start of the experimental program.
Additionally a small portion of the optical fiber was kept in a beaker to be used for
Fig. 3 Instrumentation of strain and temperature sensor

Fig. 4 DSTS connected to interrogator
measuring the shift in the wavelength of the optical fiber when immersed in hot water.
Fiber strain coefficient and fiber temperature coefficient is about 18.9150 MHz/με
and 0.9765 MHz/°C respectively. These coefficients will be used for converting the
measured frequency shifts to temperature and strain. The experimental setup along
with the data acquisition system is as shown in Fig. 5. The pipeline was filled with
hot boiling water. The beaker was also filled with hot water to see the response of
the optical fiber. Due to the holes present in the pipeline, the hot water was leaking
from the pipeline. The shift in frequency in the optical fiber was measured in regular
intervals.
Fig. 5 Experimental set-up for pipeline monitoring

Temperature (˚C) 50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
-0.25 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3 3.25 3.5 3.75 4 4.25
Location (m)
Temp 1 (1:06 pm) Temp 2 (1:08 pm) Temp 3 (1:10 pm)
Fig. 6 Calibration curve obtained by dipping temperature fiber in hot water
5.1 Calibration Study
The Brillouin frequency was measured at regular intervals after pouring the hot water
in the vessel. The absolute temperature of the water was also measured using a ther-
mometer which was around 70 °C. The difference between the baseline frequency
and the measured frequency is plotted in Fig. 6. From the plot it can be seen that
the measured temperature was around 38 °C. The room temperature during the
measurement of baseline frequency was around 30 °C. Hence the absolute temper-
ature measured was 68 °C. Thus the optical fiber sensor is sensitive to temperature
variations and also gives variation of temperature profile along the length of the fiber.
5.2 Leakage Study
The baseline frequency measured prior to the experimental program is plotted along
with the frequency measured after filling the pipeline with hot water is shown in Fig. 7.
The baseline frequency was obtained as 10798.60 MHz. The Brillouin frequency shift
is obtained as 10840 MHz at 1.71 m of fibre length. Fiber temperature coefficient
is about 0.9765 MHz/°C. Therefore the temperature rise is obtained as 42.39 °C.
Therefore the total temperature of hot water in beaker is obtained as 69.39 °C as
the ambient temperature was around 27 °C. The baseline frequency for 3rd leakage
point was obtained as 10,806.565 MHz at 4.73 m. The Brillouin frequency shift is
obtained as 10,833.1081 MHz at 4.73 m of fibre length. Therefore the temperature
rise is obtained as 27 °C. Therefore the total temperature gradient at the 3rd leakage
point is obtained as 54 °C. It can be seen from the plot that, the Brillouin frequency
shift has been seen only at those three points where leakage has been simulated and
also in the portion of the fiber in the beaker. Due to leakage in the pipelines, there
Fig. 7 Response measured during leakage testing
will be change in the temperature of the surrounding soil. Hence by using these
distributed optical fiber sensors, the leakage can be identified along with the location
of leakage.
6 Conclusions
Experimental investigations have been carried out by simulating leakage in a PVC

pipeline model and monitoring the change in temperature of the surrounding soil
through distributed fiber sensing. Two sensors were laid in the soil near to the pipeline
for measuring strain and temperature. Hot water was filled in the pipeline. Leakage
has been simulated at three different locations and from the responses measured,
the leakage locations were identified. The temperature measured during calibration
studies was around 68 °C as against the actual temperature of 70 °C. The baseline
frequency for 3rd leakage point was obtained as 10,806.565 MHz at 4.73 m. The
Brillouin frequency shift is obtained as 10,833.1081 MHz at 4.73 m of fibre length.
Therefore the temperature rise is obtained as 27 °C. Therefore the total temperature
gradient at the 3rd leakage point is obtained as 54 °C. Due to leakage in the pipelines,
there will be change in the temperature of the surrounding soil. Hence by using these
distributed optical fiber sensors, the leakage can be identified along with the location
of leakage. There was no variation in strain and hence it is not presented.
Acknowledgements Authors would like to thank Structural Health Monitoring Laboratory, CSIR-
Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai for the facilities provided for carrying out the
experimental investigations.
References
1. Ren L, Jiang T, Jia Z-G, Li D-S, Yuan C-L, Li H-N (2018) Pipeline corrosion and leakage
monitoring based on the distributed optical fiber sensing technology. Measurement 115(5):57–58
2. Fidanboylu E (2009) Fiber optic sensors and their applications. In: 5th International advanced
technologies symposium (IATS’09), May 13–15, Karabuk, Turkey
3. Rajeev P, Kodikara J, Chiu WK, Kuen T (2013) Distributed optical fibre sensors and their
applications in pipeline monitoring. Key Eng Mater 558:424–434
4. Wang F, Sun Z, Zhu F, Zhu C, Pan Y, Dong J, Zhang X, Gao L (2016) Research on the leakage
monitoring of oil pipeline using BOTDR. In: Progress in electromagnetic research symposium,
Aug 2016, pp 8–11
5. Wong L, Rathnayaka S, Chiu WK, Kodikara J (2017) Fatigue damage monitoring of a cast iron
pipeline using distributed optical fibre sensors. Procedia Eng 188:293–300
6. Glisic B, Inaudi D (2007) Fibre optic methods for structural health monitoring. Wiley, Hoboken
Performance Assesment of GGBS
and Rice Husk Ash Based Geopolymer
Concrete
Maria Eldho, V. Srinivasan, and Sarah Anil
Abstract Geopolymer concrete technology is a promising technology for the

construction industry. Replacing the conventional resource consuming Portland
cement with supplementary cementitious material can reduce the carbondioxide
emission as well as energy consumption. It serves as an effective way of disposing
industrial wastes that found difficult to be handled in past. Rice husk ash, an agricul-
tural biomass which is rich in silica can be used as an effective source material. In
the present study M30 grade GGBS and rice husk ash based geopolymer concrete
is developed. Rice husk ash of varying percentage of 5 and 15% is considered to
study its effect on mechanical and durability properties. 6 M sodium hydroxide is
used. Ratio of sodium hydroxide to sodium silicate used is 1:2. Ambient curing of
28 days is done. The result is compared with OPC concrete specimen to evaluate the
performance of geopolymer concrete.
Keywords Geopolymer concrete · Supplementary cementitious materials ·

GGBS · Rice husk ash · Durability · Ambient curing
1 Introduction
Concrete is the major construction material used all over the world, and its use is
second to water [1]. Construction industry has now become the largest consumer
of the global natural resources. The production of cement consumes large amount
of natural resources [2, 3]. And it can be said that production of cement means
production of pollution due to production of carbondioxide. The cement industry
contributes to about 5–7% of the global carbondioxide emission [4]. Moreover there
is an ever-increasing need for cement in the world so that about three tons of concrete
M. Eldho (B) · S. Anil

Kerala, India
V. Srinivasan

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_78
876 M. Eldho et al.
would be consumed annually per one human living on the earth [5]. Therefore, to
produce environmentally friendly concrete, it is inevitable to use alternative materials
to replace traditional Portland cement that consumes resources. The use of indus-
trial byproducts as source material can reduce the CO2 emmission and problem of
disposing the waste to atmosphere.
In this respect geopolymer concrete is a promising technique. The term
geopolymer concrete was first introduced by Joseph Davidovits in 1978. Geopoly-
mers are chains of mineral molecules linked with covalent bonds. Geopolymers are
produced by the alkaline activation of source materials such as fly ash, GGBS, rice
husk ash, metakaolin.
Fly ash is popular due to amorphous alumina silica content inside and it is abun-
dantly available. The total amount of fly ash produced in the world has now reached
480 million tons annually, while the total OPC production is reaching 3.3 billion.
There is a gap between fly ash and OPC production. Therefore additional source
material is imperative, which will reduce these gap to lower value.
Rice husk ash is generated from the combustion of rice husk. Rice husk is an
issue for environment due to its abundance and capability to resist natural degra-
dation. The annual world production of rice husk ash is about 130 million tons.
The current available disposal method of rice husk ash by burning and dumping
create environmental pollutions. Rice husk when subjected to control burning of
500–700 °C produces Micronized Biomass Silica (MBS) which contains very high
amount of silica content and is amorphous in nature. The amorphous silica contained
in RHA can react with cementitious binders to perform pozzolanic activity. Thus it
can be effectively used as a source material [6].
2 Experimental Program
2.1 Materials
GGBS and rice husk ash has been used as the source material. Natural sand as fine
aggregate and crushed stone aggregate with size 20 and 12 mm in the ratio 40:60 were
used. The aggregates confirms to IS 383–1970 [7]. The alkaline activators used were
NaOH and Na2 SiO3 in the ratio 1:2. The molarity of NaOH used is 6 M. Ordinary
potable water is used. The oxide composition of GGBS and rice husk ash by XRF
analysis is listed in Table 1. The physical properties of the materials are given in
Table 2.
Performance Assesment of GGBS and Rice Husk Ash Based Geopolymer Concrete 877
Table 1 Oxide composition

Oxide GGBS (%) RHA (%)
of GGBS and rice husk ash
SiO2 43.40 88.18
Al2 O3 12.50 1.61
Fe2 O3 – 0.56
CaO 40.30 1.59
MgO 1.50 1.63
Na2 O 0.90 –
K2 O 0.60 1.67
TiO2 – –
Mn2 O3 – –
SO3 – –
Carbon – 2.67
Others – 2.09
Moisture – 0.79

Physical properties GGBS RHA Sand Aggregate
Specific gravity 2.87 2.19 2.63 2.7
Water absorption – – 0.4 0.5
Bulk density – – 1520 1630
2.2 Mix Proportion
As no standard mix design is available for geopolymer concrete, the mixes were
designed by trials. The concrete was designed for a grade of M30. 5 and 15% replace-
ment of GGBS with rice husk ash is made. Ordinary Portland cement concrete was
used for control specimen with w/c of 0.45. The mix proportions are given in Table
3.
2.3 Specimen Preparation
For casting, source materials and aggregates were dry mixed in the mixer for about 2–
3 min. Then it is mixed with alkaline solution for another 3–4 min to form a uniform
mix. The fresh concrete was cast into cubes of 100 mm, cylinders of 100 mm diameter
and 200 mm height and prism of 100 mm × 100 mm × 500 mm. After casting the
specimens were left for 24 h before removing mould. Then samples were cured under
ambient condition for 28 days.
878 M. Eldho et al.
Table 3 Mix details in m3

Materials Quantity
5% 15% OPC
Cement – – 430 kg
w/c – – 0.45
GGBS 409 kg 366 kg –
Rice husk ash 21 kg 65 kg –
Fine aggregate 683 kg 683 kg 683 kg
12 mm coarse aggregate 650 kg 650 kg 650 kg
20 mm coarse aggregate 434 kg 434 kg 434 kg
Molarity of NaOH 6M 6M –
AAS 360 kg 360 kg –
2.4 Experimental Set Up
2.4.1 Mechanical Property Testing
The hardened geopolymer concrete specimen were tested for destructive tests.
Compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength were conducted for
3 samples after 28 days of curing and the average of three was taken.
2.4.2 Water Absorption Test
ASTM C642 [8] determines the rate of water absorption by two saturation methods.
In the present study, oven dry mass of the specimen is obtained by placing concrete
discs of diameter 100 mm and thickness 50 mm in an oven at a temperature of 100
± 5 °C for 24 h. The specimens are the cooled down to room temperature. Later, the
saturated mass of samples is determined by immersing them in water for 24 h. The
water absorption is calculated by Eq. 1.
W2 − W1
Water absorption = × 100 (1)
W1
W1 Oven dry mass in kg

W2 Saturated mass in kg.
2.4.3 Rapid Chloride Penetration Test
Rapid Chloride Penetration Test (RCPT) is commonly used to evaluate the resistance
of concrete to chloride ion ingress through electrical conductivity measurements. The
RCPT test was conducted as per the guidelines of ASTM C1202 [9]. The test consists
Fig. 1 RCPT set up
of cutting a 50 mm thick disc from cylinder of 100 mm diameter and 200 mm height.
The slices were immersed in water for 24 h. It is then placed in the RCPT cell. The
−ve side of test cell is filled with 3% NaCl solution and +ve side with 0.3 M NaOH
solution. The system is then connected and a 60 V potential is applied for a period of
6 h. Readings are taken at every 30 min. At the end of the test the amount of current
passed through the specimen in coulombs is calculated. Figure 1 shows the RCPT
set up.
3 Results
3.1 Mechanical Properties
The 28 days compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength
properties are listed in Tables 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
The 28 days compressive strength of geopolymer concrete is well above the target
mean strength. The increase in strength is due to high silica to alumina ratio (silica
content >80%) and higher fineness of RHA compared to GGBS which increases
the specific surface and thereby reactivity. The split tensile and flexural strength of
880 M. Eldho et al.
Table 4 Compressive
Mix Compressive strength (N/mm2 )
strength results
GPC-5 58.03
GPC-15 64.10
OPC 47.08
Table 5 Split tensile strength

Specimen Split tensile strength (N/mm2 )
results
GPC-5 3.4
GPC-15 3.64
OPC 4.55
Table 6 Flexural strength

Specimen Flexural strength (N/mm2 )
results
GPC-5 3.953
GPC-15 4.393
OPC 5.268
Table 7 Water absorption

Specimen Water absorption (%)
results
GPC-5 4.322
GPC-15 4.8
OPC 5.016
geopolymer concrete is slightly lower √than that of OPC concrete. As per IS 456—
2000, flexural strength is given by 0.7 f ck = 3.8 N/mm2 . The experimental results
is well within the limit.
The water absorption results is listed in Table 7.

The geopolymer concrete specimens performs better in water absorption when
compared to that of OPC concrete specimen. This may be due to the improved
microstructure of geopolymer concrete.
3.3 Rapid Chloride Penetration Test
The RCPT results is listed in Table 8.

Table 8 RCPT results

Specimen Current (coulombs)
GPC-5 3680
GPC-15 3223
OPC 3980
Based on ASTM C1202, the chloride penetrability of all three specimen is classi-
fied as moderate. The chloride ion penetrability of geopolymer concrete is lower than
that of control specimen. The decrease in chloride ion permeability is due to the fine
particle size of RHA which produce micro filler effect. The micro filler effect results
in dense and compact microstructure thereby reducing the penetration of chloride
ions.
4 Conclusions
In the present study, ambient cured geopolymer concrete with GGBS as the source
material and partial replacement of it by rice husk ash was developed. GGBS was
partially replaced by RHA by 5 and 15%. The performance of geopolymer concrete
in mechanical and durability properties was studied. On the basis of the experimental
results obtained, it is evident that geopolymer concrete performs better than OPC
concrete. Following are the conclusions made from the study:
• The compressive strength of geopolymer concrete is higher than OPC concrete.
• The indirect tensile strength of geopolymer concrete is marginally lower than
OPC.
• The mechanical properties improves by increasing the percentage of replacement
of RHA from 5 to 15%.
• The durability properties such as water absorption and rapid chloride penetration
test results shows better performance of geopolymer concrete over OPC concrete.
• The chloride ion penetrability of the specimens falls under moderate class as per
ASTM C1202.
• This improvement may be attributed to the improved dense and compact
microstructure of geopolymer concrete due to the inclusion of RHA [2].
• Utilization of GGBS and RHA for concrete production proved as a solution for
the disposal of these industrial and agricultural byproducts.
• The geopolymer concrete reduces the emission of carbondioxide that are released
during the manufacture of cement.
Acknowledgements Authors acknowledge the assistance rendered by the staffs of Advanced Mate-
rial Laboratory, CSIR–SERC. This paper is published with the kind permission of the Director,
CSIR–SERC, Chennai, India.
882 M. Eldho et al.
References
1. Zabihi SM et al (2018) Engineering and microstructural properties of fiber-reinforced rice

husk–ash based geopolymer concrete. J Mater Civ Eng 30
2. Mohseni E et al (2019) Evaluation of mechanical and durability properties of fiber-reinforced
lightweight geopolymer composites based on rice husk ash and nanoalumina. Constr Build
Mater 240:532–540
3. Sturm P et al (2016) Synthesizing one-part geopolymers from rice husk ash. Constr Build
Mater 146:961–966
4. Sangoju B et al (2011) Studies on chloride-induced corrosion of steel in cracked concretes:
experimental study. J Mater Civ Eng 23:1057–1066
5. Sangoju B et al (2011) Chloride-induced corrosion of steel in cracked OPC and PPC concretes:
experimental study. J Mater Civ Eng 23(7):231–251
6. Kusbiantoro A et al (2012) The effect of microwave incinerated rice husk ash on the compressive
and bond strength of fly ash based geopolymer concrete. Constr Build Mater 36:695–703
7. IS 383 (1970) Specification for coarse and fine aggregates from natural source for concrete.
Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India
8. ASTM C642-06, Standard test for density, absorption and voids in hardened concrete
9. ASTM C1202, Standard test method for electrical indication of concrete’s ability to resist
chloride ion penetration
10. IS 456 (2000) Plain and reinforced concrete—code for practice. Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi, India
Analysis of Strains in Brick Masonry
Prism Using ABAQUS
Agnus A. Mathew, S. Saibabu, Vimal Mohan, and Deepa Varkey
Abstract In this study, the response of brick masonry specimen subjected to vertical
load is analytically calculated using existing formulas and numerically investigated
using a popular software ABAQUS. The brick masonry specimen is a small part of the
old building which was constructed with brick masonry was taken for analytical and
numerical investigation purpose. It consists of three layers of brick and two layers
of mortar. The height, width and thickness of the specimen is 245 mm, 220 mm,
and 100 mm respectively. Macro and micro model of the specimen was developed
using ABAQUS software. The material model used is elastic plastic model C3D8R.
Vertical load from 0 to 30.0 kN at interval of 3.0 kN was applied on the specimen. It
is very difficult to study the behaviour of brick and mortar together and separately of
brick masonry considering the effect of continuity of materials at the joints between
brick and mortar. To study the behaviour, macro and micro models are developed and
tested upto design load. From the macro and micro models, deflections and strains
of brick and mortar upto design load were predicted and these values were compared
with analytical calculations. It was found from the investigation, that the increase in
strains and deflections are almost proportional to the applied loads.
Keywords Brick masonry · Macro and micro model · ABAQUS
1 Introduction
The masonry is one of the oldest and most widespread structural materials and is
still used for various construction purposes. The major constituents of masonry are
units and mortar and therefore classified as a heterogeneous anisotropic material
whose analysis, understanding and capture of the structural behaviour is complex.
A. A. Mathew (B) · D. Varkey

Kerala, India
S. Saibabu · V. Mohan

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_79
884 A. A. Mathew et al.
The development of computer and the computer software made simpler to predict
the behavior of the structures. In numerical analysis selection of a mathematical
model is important. The FEM involves dividing a structure into a discrete number
of elements from which the approximate numerical solution is obtained. Several
researchers have reported valuable results on simulating masonry wall behaviour
using a simplified micro-model approach, finite element modelling of structural clay
brick masonry subjected to axial compression, stress-strain characteristics of clay
brick masonry under uniaxial compression [1–3]. Some scientists have invested using
equivalent elastic moduli for analysis of brick masonry structures and also using
bond strength and compressive stress-strain characteristics of brick masonry [4, 5].
Similarly using finite element analysis many researchers also studied on behaviour
and strength assessment of masonry prisms, numerical simulation of masonry prism
test using ANSYS and ABAQUS, numerical simulation of masonry structures based
on ANSYS contact analysis, a stress-strain model for brick prism under uniaxial
compression [6–9].
The numerical study is conducted using ABAQUS 6.14 which includes micro
and macro modeling approach. Finite Element Method (FEM) for masonry is mainly
depended on two modeling approaches namely micro and macro modeling. In macro
model the units and mortar are modelled as a single element in which the combined
or expanded properties of brick and mortar units are provided. In the micro model
approach the units and mortar are modelled as continuum elements and unit mortar
interfaces are modelled as discontinuum elements. The numerical simulation is being
used due to the difficulties in experimental study of existing masonry structures.
Numerical simulation of the masonry structures will help in determining the weaker
sections and to understand the stress strain distributions. The masonry unit and the
mortar will be under multi-axial state of stress when masonry is under compression.
Hence, the present investigation is an attempt to develop a finite element model using
ABAQUS to predict the masonry prism compressive strain and deflection subjected
to concentric compressive loading. Distribution of strain and deflection when the
Young’s modulus of brick units greater than that of mortar joints and when the
Young’s modulus of brick units lesser than that of mortar joints are also studied. The
numerical values obtained from the finite element model is validated by comparing
with those obtained from the analytical results. The present research included a
numerical study on the behaviour of brick masonry triplex prism under compressive
loading which is small piece of building as shown in Fig. 1.
2 Description of Triplex
The three brick stack bonded clay brick masonry prism is considered to determine
the masonry strength. The clay brick masonry prism of size 220 mm × 245 mm
× 100 mm is considered. The size of each masonry unit is 220 × 100 × 75 mm.
The size of each mortar joint is 220 × 100 × 75 mm and it is shown in Fig. 2. The
finite element model was used to understand the results of the compression tests
Analysis of Strains in Brick Masonry Prism Using ABAQUS 885
Fig. 1 Small section of old building taken for analysis
Fig. 2 Three stack brick

masonry prism
on masonry wall panel. Micro and macro modelling are done and the results are
validated.
2.1 Material Properties
ABAQUS has a set of material library in the engineering data section. Either we can
select a material from the library or we can manually enter the properties of mate-
rial in ABAQUS/CAE. The C3D8R element is used which requires linear isotropic
and multi-linear isotropic material properties to properly model brick masonry. The
elastic properties for micro modelling are shown in the Tables 1 and 2.

Modulus of elasticity (E b ) of brick in MPa 3070
for type-1 micro modelling
when Eb < Em Poisson’s ratio (μ) of brick 0.20
Modulus of elasticity (E m ) of mortar in MPa 5385
Poisson’s ratio (μ) of mortar 0.15

Modulus of elasticity (E b ) of brick in MPa 5385
for type-2 micro modelling
when Eb > Em Poisson’s ratio (μ) of brick 0.15
Modulus of elasticity (E m ) of mortar in MPa 3070
Poisson’s ratio (μ) of mortar 0.20
3 Theoretical Predictions
Strain in the macro and micro model of triplex is found using the following equations
for validation of results obtained from the ABAQUS models.
3.1 Macro Model
Macro-modelling is probably the most popular and common approach due to its
reduced calculation demands. On large structural members or full structures, a
detailed description of the interaction between units and mortar may not be neces-
sary. In these cases, macro-modeling is used which does not make any distinction
between units and joints. The macro-modeling strategy regards the material as a
fictitious homogeneous orthotropic continuum.
In macro modelling the equation for the elastic properties of the equivalent mate-
rial is derived in terms of elastic properties of the brick and mortar, together with
the relative thickness. Uniform Building Code (UBC) recommends that the modulus
of elasticity of masonry (E m ) in compression can be calculated using the following
equation:

1 + γt
Em = Eb (1)
1 + γγmt
where
tj
γt = tb
E
γm = Ebj
t j = thicknessof mortar = 10 mmm
tb = thickness of masonry = 75 mm
E j = modulus of elasticity of mortar joints = 5385 MPa
E b = modulus of elasticity of bricks = 3070 MPa
E m = Equivalent modulus of elasticity of masonry = 5113 MPa.
The stress in the brick masonry of macro model triplex (fma ) subjected to vertical
load is given by Eq. (2).
P
fma = (2)
Ap
where
P = loading in N
A p = area of cross section of brick prism = 22,000 mm2 .
In macro modeling the deflection is calculated theoretically using the Eq. (3).
Pd p
δ= (3)
A×E
where
d p = depth of triplex prism.
3.2 Micro Model
The so-called detailed micro-models describe the units and the mortar at joints
using continuum finite elements whereas the unit-mortar interface is represented
by discontinuous elements accounting for potential crack or slip planes. Detailed
micro-modeling is probably the more accurate tool available to simulate the real
behavior of masonry. It is particularly adequate to describe the local response of the
material. Elastic and inelastic properties of both unit and mortar can be realistically
taken into account. The micro-modeling approaches are suitable for small structural
elements with particular interest in strongly heterogeneous states of stress and strain.
For Type-1 and Type-2 micro models, the analytical strain in brick (b ) and strain
in the mortar (m ) of the triplex was calculated separately and it is explained from
Eqs. (4) to (10).
β×p
= (4)
Em
Eb
β1 = = 0.57 (5)
Em
m
β2 = = 1.75 (6)
Eb
Eb = Modulus of elasticity of brick

Em = Modulus of elasticity of mortar.
Type-1 When E b < E m
E b = 3070 MPa
E m = 5385 MPa
β2 × P
b = (7)
Em
β1 × P
m = (8)
Em
Type-2 When E b > m
E b = 5385 MPa
E m = 3070 MPa
P
b = (9)
Em
β2 × P
m = (10)
Em
3.3 ABAQUS Modeling
ABAQUS 6.14 was selected for the simulation of brick masonry prism since its
interface is very easy to use and supports parametric modelling.
3.4 Element Types
Element type used for brick units and mortar in this study is continuum element in
three dimension with eight nodes and reduced integration (C3D8R) which is an 8
node linear brick element with hour glass control which gives more stable results. In
order to develop brick units and mortar units, 8-node continuum solid element was
utilized. The element is having has eight nodes with three degrees of freedom at each
node. For uniform distribution of load on top of the prism a steel plate is provided.
3.5 Loading and Boundary Conditions
Vertical load varied from 0 to 30.0 kN at interval of 3.0 kN was applied on the
specimen to predict linear elastic stresses. Uniform pressure loading is provided on
the top. For that a steel plate is provided on the top. The boundary condition is such
that the bottom of the prism is fixed is depicted in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 Loading and

boundary conditions
3.6 Interface Between Brick Units and Mortar Units
The cohesive interaction is provided between the brick and mortar layers and defined
as a function of displacement separation between the edges of potential cracks.
Furthermore, Coulomb frictional contact behaviour was applied to the current models
by introducing a coefficient of friction which prevents component’s penetration after
forming the contact especially for the normal behaviour of contacts. For this study,
surface-to-surface contact was chosen and the contacting properties for the tangen-
tial and normal behaviour were specified. This type of contact is generally used
to describe the behaviour of two deformable surfaces connecting together. In the
interaction properties the coefficient of friction is given as 0.7.
4 Contour Plots
The contour plots gives the variation in stress, strains and deflections with respect
to the loading and material properties. The stress concentrated areas, regions with
more compressive strength, regions with more tensile strength etc. can be identified
with the help of contour plots.
4.1 Stress, Strains and Deflection Contours of Macro Model
The variation of stress, strains and deflection in the macro model of the masonry
prism under vertical compressive loading is shown from Figs. 4, 5 and 6.
Fig. 4 Stress contour of macro model
Fig. 5 Strain contour of macro model

Fig. 6 Deflection contour of macro model
4.1.1 Stress, Strain and Deflection Contours of Type-1 Micro Model
The modulus of elasticity values affects the distribution of stress and strains in the
brick units and mortar layer. The change in the stress, strain and deflection values
due to the effect of Young’s modulus when E b < E m in micro model is shown from
Figs. 7, 8 and 9.
Fig. 7 Stress contours of type-1 micro model

Fig. 8 Strain contours of type-1 micro model
Fig. 9 Deflection contours of type-1 micro model
4.1.2 Stress, Strain and Deflection Contours of Type-2 Micro Model
The change in the stress, strain and deflection values due to the effect of Young’s
modulus when E b > E m in micro model is shown from Figs. 10, 11 and 12.
Fig. 10 Stress contours of type-2 micro model
Fig. 11 Strain contours of type-2 micro model
5 Comparison of Results
The graph showing the plot between calculated values and numerical results for strain
and deflection from the macro model of specimen is given in Figs. 13 and 14.
The strain values of mortar and brick against applied stress for type-1 micro model,
which are obtained from the analytical and numerical analysis are presented from
Figs. 15, 16, 17 and 18.
Fig. 12 Deflection contours of type-2 micro model
Fig. 13 Comparison of Comparision of strains in Macro Model

strains-macro model 1.6
Applied stress (MPa)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6 Numerical Strain
0.4
Analytical Strain
0.2
0
0.00E+00 2.00E-04 4.00E-04 6.00E-04
Strain in brick masonary
Fig. 14 Comparison of Load vs Deflection in macro model

deflection-macro model 35
30
25
Load (kN)
20
Load vs deflection
15 (numerical)
10 Load vs deflection
5 (analytical)
0
0 0.025 0.05 0.075 0.1 0.125
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 15 Comparison of Analytical analysis (Eb<Em)

analytical strain data of 1.6

type-1 micro model 1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
Applied stress vs strain in brick
0.4
0.2 Applied stress vs strain in mortar
0
0.00E+00 2.00E-04 4.00E-04 6.00E-04
Strain in brick & mortar
Fig. 16 Comparison of Numerical analysis (Eb<Em)

numerical strain data of 1.6

1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4 Applied stress vs strain in brick
0
0.00E+00 2.00E-04 4.00E-04 6.00E-04
Fig. 17 Comparison of Analytical analysis (Eb>Em)

analytical strain data of 1.6
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4 Applied stress vs strain in brick
0
0.00E+00 2.00E-04 4.00E-04 6.00E-04
Comparison of strain in mortar and brick when Eb < Em and Eb > Em was made
and it is shown in the bar charts of Figs. 19 and 20 respectively.
Fig. 18 Comparison of Numerical analysis (Eb>Em)

numerical strain data of 1.6

1.2
1
0.8
0.6
Applied stress vs strain in brick
0.4
0
0.00E+00 2.00E-04 4.00E-04 6.00E-04
Fig. 19 Comparison of Strain in mortar

strain in mortar when Eb < 5.00E-04
Em and Eb > Em
4.00E-04
3.00E-04
2.00E-04
1.00E-04
0.00E+00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Eb < Em Eb > Em
Fig. 20 Comparison of Strain in brick

strain in brick when Eb < Em 5.00E-04
and Eb > Em
4.00E-04
3.00E-04
2.00E-04
1.00E-04
0.00E+00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Eb < Em Eb > Em
6 Conclusions
Linear FE analyses of the brick masonry triplex under simple vertical load was carried
out and compared the results obtained from the macro and micro models with the
theoretical predictions for validation. The results show that the FE analysis are in very
good agreement with those of the theoretical predictions. The FE analyses of micro
model predicted strains correctly compared with macro model. The strain value varies
linearly with increase in stress. From this investigation it is found that the strain values
of brick and mortar are depended on strength of modulus of elasticity of the material.
Cracks in brick masonry structures occurs due to either strain in brick or strain in
mortar exceed their corresponding permissible strain of the materials and also it is
depended on the values of material modulus of elasticity. To validate this statement,
macro and micro numerical simulation using abacus model was developed for brick
masonry prims. The strains and deflection values obtained from the models are
compared with the analytically computed values and it was shown good agreement.
It is found that the strain and deflections of prism are proportional to the applied
load.
Acknowledgements This paper is published with the permission of the Director, CSIR-Structural
Engineering Research Centre, Chennai, India
References
1. Abdulla KF, Cunningham LS, Gillie M (2017) Simulating masonry wall behaviour using a
simplified micro-model approach. Eng Struct 151:349–365
2. Bakhteri J, Makhtar AM, Sambasivam S (2004) Finite element modelling of structural clay brick
masonry subjected to axial compression. J Teknol 41(1):57–68
3. Kaushik HB, Rai DC, Jain SK (2007) Stress-strain characteristics of clay brick masonry under
uniaxial compression. J Mater Civ Eng 19(9):728–739
4. Pande GN, Liang JX, Middleton J (1989) Equivalent elastic moduli for brick masonry. Comput
Geotech 8(3):243–265
5. Singh SB, Munjal P (2017) Bond strength and compressive stress-strain characteristics of brick
masonry. J Build Eng 9:10–16
6. Thaickavil NN, Thomas J (2018) Behaviour and strength assessment of masonry prisms. Case
Stud Constr Mater 8:23–38
7. Vindhyashree HS, Rahamath A, Kumar WP, Kumar MT (2015) Numerical simulation of masonry
prism test using ANSYS and ABAQUS. Int J Eng Res Technol 4(7):1019–1027
8. Wang J (2014) Numerical simulation of masonry structures based on ANSYS contact analysis.
Ind Technol Innov 1:19
9. Yang KH, Lee Y, Hwang YH (2019) A stress-strain model for brick prism under uniaxial
compression. Adv Civ Eng
Machine Learning Approach to Failure
Mode Prediction of Reinforced Concrete
Infilled Frames
J. Ashish Manoj, A. Asiya, Dasari Navya, G. Ganesh Kumar,
and P. Robin Davis
Abstract Earthquake damage assessment studies conducted throughout the world

have already established the importance of considering the contribution of reinforced
concrete infilled frames in the response of structures subjected to sudden lateral
loads. Still, much clarity needs to be made on the behaviour, and failure mecha-
nisms of RC infilled frames when subjected to such large and sudden earthquake
loads. A data-driven machine learning approach to the prediction of failure modes of
RC infilled frames is suggested in this paper. An exhaustive database consisting of
experimental results done throughout the world was gathered. A failure mode classi-
fication system consisting of three predominant failure modes is proposed. Suitable
parameters are identified for the purpose of machine learning modelling. Machine
learning algorithms like AdaBoost, CatBoost, KNN, Decision Trees were used to
predict the failure modes. An open-source dynamic model is created, which could be
updated once new data is available from experiments. Google provides a free Tensor-
Flow enabled Jupyter notebook for machine learning (Google Colabs). The same was
used in this study as it supports remote access from different locations, and the model
would always remain in the cloud, making it instantly accessible. Three performance
measures were used in this study to evaluate the performance of the various machine
learning models: accuracy, precision, and recall. The results obtained indicate that for
complex structural interaction problems having (a number of dependent parameters)
machine learning modelling techniques, in which the dataset is allowed to speak for
itself, can be successfully employed.
Keywords Machine learning · RC infilled frame · Earthquake · Lateral loads ·

Data-driven modelling
J. Ashish Manoj (B) · A. Asiya · D. Navya · G. Ganesh Kumar · P. Robin Davis

Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kozhikode, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_80
900 J. Anisha Manoj et al.
1 Introduction
As per the National Disaster Management Authority of India (NDMA) official vulner-
ability profile [1], India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of
disasters. Some of the major disasters which are likely to affect Indian subcontinent
are—earthquakes, floods, droughts and tsunamis. About 59% of the total landmass of
India is prone to moderate to very high-intensity earthquakes (NDMA). Earthquakes
are widely regarded as being the most severe and deadly among naturally occurring
disasters. This may be chiefly due to the fact that only the probability of a significant
earthquake happening within a specified time period at a specific location can be
ascertained. Even with all the advents in geological sciences and remote sensing, it
is still not possible to accurately predict the occurrence of an earthquake.
The high mortality rate of past major earthquakes in India can be attributed to the
poor construction and maintenance practices rather than the earthquake itself. Many
studies were conducted after the Jabalpur and Bhuj earthquakes, which shed light on
this fact. One of the critical components which could play a significant role in better
seismic preparedness was identified as the presence of masonry infilled frames.
In reinforced concrete framed structures, exterior walls and many interior partition
walls are made up of masonry. These members are usually considered as non-load
bearing, and their interaction not taken into account in the calculation of final limit
state stresses in design. The general consensus was that not accounting for them
would lead to more conservative strength values, and thus the design ending up
on the safe side. However, further studies found out that this was not particularly
true when subjected to sudden huge lateral loads as in the case of earthquakes.
Despite the extensive experimental efforts over the last few decades using a variety
of analytical and experimental tools, the behaviour of RC infilled frame, and its
subsequent failure modes remain an unsolved mystery. In this paper, data-driven
machine learning models are suggested for the proper evaluation and identification
of RC infilled frame failure modes.
Numerous researchers in the field of structural as well as earthquake response engi-

neering have established the fact that the presence of RC infilled frame will affect
the seismic load-carrying capacity of the structure. Thus, sufficient research should
be carried out to negate the undesirable effects as well as to benefit from the positive
side effects of having an infilled member in structures subjected to sudden earthquake
loads. In the limit state of design, the corresponding failure modes of the structure has
to be known, and the failure loads for different modes of failure have to be computed
in order to determine the ultimate capacity of the structure. Thus, it is essential to
predict the type of failure mode of a given infilled structure. After the prediction of
failure mode, suitable retrofitting or maintenance techniques could be employed for
Machine Learning Approach to Failure Mode Prediction … 901
existing structures and sufficient factor of safety can be given in the design of new
structures. Previously finite element and analytical models were created, but none
of them could predict the complex phenomenon of failure of an infilled frame to a
desired level of accuracy.
Many of the finite element models could only be used for specific cases involving
a large number of fixed parameters. Machine learning is ideally suitable for such
complex interaction problems; it can efficiently find the underlying hidden relation-
ships between input data. In machine learning modelling, the dataset is allowed to
speak for itself, with no inherent bias to any particular outcome.
Mangalathu and Jeon [2, 3] suggested a few machine learning models to identify
the failure mode of beam-column joints and circular bridge columns. They have
successfully shown that the machine learning model is about 10% more accurate
than the contemporary finite element based models. Aguilar et al. [4] have proposed
a neural network-based model for prediction of shear strength of reinforced masonry
walls. Huang and Burton [5] have attempted to classify the failure mode of RC
infilled frames using machine learning modelling. In the current study, the same
is being attempted by using more advanced machine learning algorithms and also a
broader database with some considerable view on including experimental data on RC
infilled frame from India also. The results so obtained could aid structural engineers
working in this field make more informed decisions regarding the seismic response
of buildings.
2 Failure Modes of RC Infilled Frame
Wood [6] was one of the first to propose a relative lateral strength parameter, based
on the relative strength relationship between the infill and frame. This dimensionless
parameter could explain the relative occurrence of the various failure modes.
8M P
m= (1)
f w l w tw
where Mp is the plastic moment capacity of the corners of the frame, fw is the
compressive strength of the infill, tw is the thickness of the infill and lw the length of
the infill panel. The infill shows a variety of failure modes depending on geometric
and material properties [7]. Failure of the infill can also be classified as
• Corner Compression: Due to the high-stress concentrations at each corner of the
compression diagonal. Similar to the corner crushing failure mode proposed by
Asteris et al. [8]. For concrete frames, involves very extensive damage which
usually extends to the frame itself.
• Diagonal Cracking: Usually occurs when the tensile strain due the applied loads
exceed the limiting cracking strain of the infill panel material. Begins typically
from the centre of the infill and extends from one corner to another in a direction
parallel to the compression diagonal.
• Shear Cracking: This type of failure is mainly dependent on the shear strength
of mortar joints, which in turn depends on the coefficient of friction and bond
strength. This failure mode involves cracking in the masonry panel due to shear
stresses. Shear cracks can be seen as either stepped cracks or horizontal sliding
cracks along the mortar joints.
The current study would be focusing on the three modes of failure, as proposed
by Irshad Abdul Azeez [7]. For ease of representation, they are shown as (Y):
• Corner Compression (CC)—Class 0
• Diagonal Cracking (DC)—Class 1
• Shear Cracking (SC)—Class 2.
3 Input Parameters
In any data-driven modelling studies, the selected parameters play a massive role
in accurately predicting the response (in our case, the failure mode of RC infilled
frames). For this study, we have identified a total of 10 parameters, which is assumed
to affect the performance leading to failure of a reinforced concrete infilled frame
subjected to lateral loads. They have been selected to include all relevant material,
geometric and other physical properties of the frame under consideration.
Many previous experimental, analytical and modelling studies [7, 9, 10, 6] have
established that both the properties of the infill as well as the frame material would
have an impact on the potential mode of failure of the frame. For including the
strength properties of infill material, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity
obtained from tests conducted on masonry prisms were selected. As per ASCI code
41-17 [11], stiffness of infill is given by:
3E prism I in f ill
kin f ill = (2)
h3
The effective moment of inertia on infill panel, Iin f ill , is further given by [11]:
lt 3
I in f ill = (3)
12
Therefore, to account for all these factors, height of the infill panel (h), length of
the infill panel (l) and thickness of masonry in the panel (t) were selected. The load
at which the frame underwent failure (P) was also considered.
The final input parameters were:
1. Compressive strength of masonry prisms, fcprism (MPa)—X1
2. Modulus of elasticity of masonry prisms, Eprism (MPa)—X2
3. Compressive strength of the material of the frame, fcframe (MPa)—X3

4. Tensile strength of the material of the frame, ftframe (MPa)—X4
5. Modulus of elasticity of the material of the frame, Eframe (MPa)—X5
6. Tensile strength of main reinforcement of the frame, fy (MPa)—X6
7. Failure load, P (kN)—X7
8. Height of the infill panel, h (m)—X8
9. Length of the infill panel, l (m)—X9
10. Thickness of masonry in the panel, t (m)—X10 .
4 Machine Learning Modelling and Results
A correlation analysis was conducted on the input parameters to identify potentially

strongly correlated features. Since some of the chosen parameters exhibited high
correlation within themselves, it was realised that in a statistical sense they were
not linearly separable and that highly complex, non-linear classification techniques
would be needed to predict the failure mode correctly. Such a complex, non-linear
problem in which several features are seen to be correlated with each other can be effi-
ciently handled with machine learning modelling. The collected database consisted
of 132 data points with corner crushing accounting for 50 failures, diagonal cracks
accounting for 49 failures and shear cracks for the failure of 33 infill frames. Initial
modelling with few datapoints was done using the classification learner application
available in MATLAB using two different ML techniques, and sufficient confidence
was gained to proceed to more rigorous modelling using Python.
Google provides a free TensorFlow enabled Jupyter notebook for machine
learning (Google Colabs). The same was used in this study as it supports remote
access from different locations, and the model would always remain in the cloud,
making it instantly accessible. Modelling was done in Google Colabs using ten
machine learning techniques. To get an estimate of the accuracy of the prediction
made by each model the collected database was divided into two the training dataset
(which is feed into the system during the training phase and the model parameters are
estimated) and the test dataset (which is hidden from the model during the training
phase). Once training is done using the train dataset, the test set is feed into the
system, and various performance measures relating to the accuracy of predictions is
estimated. Since the model is made to predict on previously unseen data, the accuracy
would be a best estimate, and the model can be expected to have a satisfactory level
of generalisation capabilities.
Three performance measures are being introduced in the current paper to assess the
relative suitability of each machine learning algorithm to the classification problem
at hand: accuracy, precision, and recall. The accuracy represents the fraction of
predictions the model predicted correctly, i.e., the accuracy is the ratio of the number
of correct failure mode predictions to the total failure mode predictions. At the same
time, recall expresses the ability of our model to find all relevant instances in a dataset;
precision expresses the proportion of the data points our model says was relevant
Fig. 1 a–i Confusion matrices obtained for various ML algorithms—AdaBoost, Decision

Trees, Random Forest, LightGBM, CatBoost, XGBoost, Naïve Bayes, KNN, SVM
actually were relevant. Now accuracy can be considered to be a global measure of the
performance of the machine learning method. At the same time, precision and recall
are particular to each failure mode (local in nature) [12]. High values for accuracy,
precision, and recall for a model indicates that it can correctly predict the failure
mode. A train-test split of 70–30% was used for the current study. The purpose of
our modelling is to establish a non-linear relationship between the input parameters
and the occurrence of failure modes of RC infilled frame.

Failur e Mode, (Y ) = f [X 1 , X 2 , X 3 , X 4 , X 5 , X 6 , X 7 , X 8 , X 9 , X 10 ,]T (4)
Confusion matrices are obtained for each model shown in Fig. 1, which shows the
performance measures. It can be seen from Fig. 1 that the highest accuracy obtained
for any model is about 63%. The best performing model was KNN, followed by
Random Forest and CatBoost. The schematic representation of the neural network
used for modelling is shown in Fig. 2. It has ten input layers for the ten selected input
features. Figure 3 shows the plot of accuracy shown by the model with an increasing
number of trials (epochs). As is expected, the final accuracy is very high when the
model is evaluated on the train dataset compared to the unseen test dataset. This
can be attributed to the fact that the train dataset was previously encountered during
training, and when the model is made to evaluate on it again, the accuracy obtained
is very high.
Fig. 2 Neural network architecture used for modelling
Fig. 3 Plot of accuracy versus number of epochs for neural network

5 Conclusions
Infill frames form an integral part of any framed load-carrying structures. Even
though in the past the contribution of infilled frames was usually neglected in the
design phase, recent studies conducted in the field of Earthquake engineering shows
that infilled frames play a very vital role in the response of a structure to lateral loads.
An exhaustive open-source experimental database consisting of about 130 RC infilled
frames is collected as part of the study, which can be used by other researchers also
for future failure modes classification. Around 30 research papers from a number of
leading journals were reviewed, and data collected from.
The entire collected dataset was divided into two—training set used to estab-
lish the predictive models and testing set used for end evaluation of the models
so obtained. Ten machine learning algorithms were used for modelling—Naïve
Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbors, Decision Tree, Random Forest, AdaBoost, XGBoost,
LightGBM, CatBoost, Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machines.
The performance of the model was evaluated using three metrics: global accuracy,
precision, and recall. The results of the study showed that K-Nearest Neighbours,
Random Forest and CatBoost have the highest accuracy.
The results obtained also highlighted the need for a train-test split as almost all
the algorithms had accuracy above 90% for the train data. The proposed open-source
model could be used by structural engineers throughout the world and would help
immensely in the design of earthquake-resistant structures. The model obtained is
dynamic in the sense that, if and when new experimental data becomes available, it
can be conveniently added to the existing database to get more reliable and accurate
results.
More research has to be done on such interdisciplinary fields to have efficient
ways of formulating and solving complex problems encountered by civil engi-
neers. Any new advancement techniques have seldom failed to make the life of
an analyst/designer easier.
References
1. National Disaster Management Authority (2020) Vulnerability profile of India. Accessed online
from https://ndma.gov.in/en/vulnerability-profile.html. Last accessed 2020/03/10
2. Mangalathu S, Jeon J-S (2018) Classification of failure mode and prediction of shear strength
for reinforced concrete beam-column joints using machine learning techniques. Eng Struct
160:85–94
3. Mangalathu S, Jeon J-S (2019) Machine learning-based failure mode recognition of circular
reinforced concrete bridge columns: a comparative study. J Struct Eng 145:04019104
4. Aguilar V, Sandoval C, Adam JM, Garzón-Roca J, Valdebenito G (2016) Prediction of the
shear strength of reinforced masonry walls using a large experimental database and artificial
neural networks. Struct Infrastruct Eng 12:1663–1676
5. Huang H, Burton HV (2019) Classification of in-plane failure modes for reinforced concrete
frames with infills using machine learning. J Build Eng 25:100767
6. Wood RH (1978) Plasticity, composite action and collapse design of unreinforced shear wall
panels in frames. Proc Inst Civ Eng 65:381–411
7. Irshad Abdul Azeez P (2019) Studies on infilled RCC frames with and without openings. PhD
thesis, NIT Calicut
8. Asteris PG, Kakaletsis DJ, Chrysostomou CZ, Smyrou EE (2011) Failure modes of in-filled
frames. Electron J Struct Eng 11:11–20
9. Ghosh AK, Amde AM (2002) Finite element analysis of infilled frames. J Struct Eng 128:881–
889
10. Mehrabi AB, Benson SP, Schuller MP, Noland JL (1996) Experimental evaluation of masonry-
infilled RC frames. J Struct Eng 122:228–237
11. American Society of Civil Engineers (2017) ASCE standard ASCE/SEI 41-17: seismic
evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings
12. Mangalathu S, Jang Hansol H, Jeon J-S (2020) Data-driven machine-learning-based seismic
failure mode identification of reinforced concrete shear walls. Eng Struct 208:110331
Punching Shear Strengthening of Flat
Slabs with External Bonded CFRP
on Grooves (EBROG)
Jijo P. George and Roshini T. Mohan
Abstract The main objective of this study is the strengthening of flat slabs against
punching shear with an experimental model. The flat slab strengthens by a newly
introduced method, named as grooving method (GM), was utilized in the present
study. The groove provided in two orthogonal directions (x and y axes) of slab
plan and then mounting the external FRP bar in one direction and FRP strip on
another direction in EBROG (externally bonded reinforcement on groove) method.
For this purpose, 700 × 700 × 100 mm dimensions slab was tested under concen-
trated loading. The slabs were tested for ultimate load and deformation after curing
for 28 days. The experimental results showed that the EBROG method with FRP
enhanced the strength of flat slab against punching shear with great efficiency, and
punching shear capacity of strengthened samples increased between 28 and 58%
compared to control one. Hence this is a highly innovative practice that can be
implemented in the construction industry as the method is high efficiency and the
environment-friendly
Keywords Punching shear · CFRP · EBROG
1 Introduction
Flat slab is one of the most widely used structural forms of a roof and floor system.
And they have many advantages like reduced building height, shorter construction
time, easier formwork, large clear ceiling height, easier reinforcement placement,
Creating relatively large spans, and the ease of implementation of this type of roof in
different work conditions. In Flat slabs, the loads are directly transferred to columns
without beams. Due to the absence of a strong member such as the beam, the most
of failure occurs in the flat slab under punching shear. The punching shear failure
mechanism in a structural member under the action of concentrated load on a smaller
J. P. George (B) · R. T. Mohan

Department of Civil Engineering, Sreepathy Institute of Management and Technology, Vavanoor,
Palakkad 679533, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_81
910 J. P. George and R. T. Mohan
area. To ensure that there is no punching failure is an important option that should
be considered in the course of design.
There are several methods to strengthen the punching shear slab studied by
researchers including installing the beam at the tensile side of the slab near the
column, putting the stud in the direction perpendicular to the slab plane to deal with
shear, the use of metal sheets at the sides of the slab and the use of various FRP
composites strengthening. Externally bonded reinforcement is the most common
method to mount FRP sheets onto a concrete [1]. FRP debonding is the main problem
that affects the efficiency of this technique. To avoid the debonding of FRP material
to introduce a new grooving method is called “externally bonded reinforcement on
grooves” (EBROG) [2–6]. In the EBROG technique, the concrete on which FRP
sheet to be installed is prepared by cutting a groove on the concrete surface, and
epoxy is filled in the groove and surface before the FRP is installed.
In this study use external bonded CFRP on the groove at the tension side of the slab.
The CFRPs are commonly used as a high strength-to-weight ratio that is required,
such as aerospace, automotive, civil engineering, sports, and other technical appli-
cations. CFRPs are composite materials of two parts: a matrix and reinforcement.
In CFRP the reinforcement material is carbon fiber, which provides the strength of
the material, and the matrix is usually a polymer resin, to bind the reinforcements
(carbon fiber) together. The CFRP consists of two different elements, the material
properties depend on these two elements.
The present study aims to investigate the possibility of flat slab strengthening
against punching shear by horizontal FRP bars inside the grooves and CFRP strip in
the EBROG technique in the orthogonal direction.
2 Materials Used
2.1 Cement
Ordinary Portland cement of 53 grades was used in this work. The physical properties
of the cement are given in Table 1.

Fineness 1.61
Standard consistency 34%
Soundness 1 mm
Compressive strength of cement for 7 days 40.67 Mpa
Punching Shear Strengthening of Flat Slabs with External Bonded … 911
aggregates
Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate
Bulk density 1.69 1.78
Specific gravity 2.78 2.65
Void ratio 0.71 0.49
Fineness modulus 7.279 3.42
Uniformity coefficient 1.761 3.55
Coefficient of curvature 0.87 0.76
2.2 Aggregates
The coarse aggregates used are crushed stone those retaining in 4.75 mm sieve. The
maximum size of the coarse aggregate used is 20 mm.fine sand used as M sand or
manufactured sand. The fine aggregates used are those passing through 4.75 mm
sieve. The tests are conducted according to IS 2386; 1963. From the gradation curve,
it was found that the fine aggregate is of zone 2. The obtained values are given in
Table 2.
2.3 CFRP
The CFRP IS used as “Cera CFR W 100 laminate” with size 700 × 50 × 1 mm (Fig. 1),
and FRP rod of size 8 mm diameter.
Fig. 1 CFRP strips

2.4 Epoxy Resin
The “Cera bond EP CFR” is used as adhesive material for bonding FRP and concrete.
2.5 Water
In the concrete mix portable water that is free from oils and other impurities is used.
The water used has no acidic or alkaline content in it.
The slab samples were of size 0.7 × 0.7 × 0.1 m. 8 mm diameter Fe 500 steel
reinforcement bars was used. The reinforcement bars were provided at 150 mm
spacing. The mix design for M25 grade concrete is done according to IS 10262: 2009.
The slabs are denoted by S1, S2, S3, S4 (Table 3) and one slab used as control slab the
remains slabs are strengthened by FRP. The concrete specimens were removed from
the mould just one day after casting and cured in a water bath at a fixed temperature
for 28 days. After the curing, the slab is externally bounded by FRP in two orthogonal
directions. One direction FRP rod is used and another direction CFRP strip is used.
The rod & strip is implemented in the tension side of the slab. And in one direction
the bar inside the grooves (EBRIG) and in the other orthogonal direction FRP using
EBROG was used for strengthening. The FRP rods have 8 mm diameter and CFRP
strip in 50 mm width, 700 mm length, and 1 mm thickness. Epoxy resin was used
as adhesive material to bond FRP’s into the slab. Specimens strengthened with 1 or
2 or 3 stacked bars at each face of the loading point in one direction and 1 or 2 or 3
EBROG-FRP strip(s) at each side of the loading point in another orthogonal direction
(Fig. 2). All the strengthened slabs were cured for at least five days before testing. The
tests were carried out under a loading frame (Fig. 3). The load is applied by handily
operated hydraulic jack with the capacity of 100 T and two linear variable differential
transducers (LVDTs), mounted at the mid-span, were installed and connected to a
data logger to obtain an accurate force and deflection reading. Crack initiation and
propagation were also monitored by visual inspection during the tests.
Table 3 Specimen
S1 Control slab
denominations
S2 Slab with 1 bar and 1 strip at each side of the loading
S3 Slab with 2 bars and 2 strips at each side of the loading
S4 Slab with 3 bars and 3 strips at each side of the loading
Fig. 2 Specimens—S2, S3, S4
Fig. 3 Experimental setup
The four samples are tested, and to find out the maximum load and deflection of
the samples. The failure pattern of the S2 slab is given below (Fig. 4). The graph
between failure load and deflection is plotted (Fig. 5). The ultimate loads of samples
are given in the graph (Fig. 6) and also the percentage of increasing loads from the
control specimen is plotted (Fig. 7).
The punching shear load-carrying capacity of the slab without CFRP S1 and
slab with CFRP S2 are observed and there is a 28.4% increase in the load-carrying
capacity of S2 in comparison with S1. S3 and S4 have 46.6% and 58% increased in
comparison with the ultimate load of S1. The percentage of increase in load 28.4% in
comparison with S1 and S2, 18.2% compared with S2 and S3, and 11.4% compared
with S3 and S4. It was observed that punching shear load carrying capacity is an
increase from 1 bar and 1 strip at each side of loading to 3 bars and 3 strips at each
side of loading, but the percentage of increasing load is reduced.
Fig. 4 Failure pattern of S2

slab
Fig. 5 Load deflection LOAD DEFLECTION GRAPH

graph 150
120
LOAD IN KN
90 S1
S2
60 S3
S4
30
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
DEFLECTION IN MM
Fig. 6 Ultimate loads ULTIMATE LOADS

160
136.4
140 126.6
120 111
LOAD IN KN
100 86.4
80
60
40
20
0
S1 S2 S3 S4
SPECIMENS
Fig. 7 % of increasing loads 70
% OF INCREASING ULTIMATE
58%
60
50 46.6%
40
LOAD
28.4%
30
20
10
0
S2 S3 S4
SPECIMENS
5 Conclusions
In this study to strengthen flat slabs against the punching shear, the EBRIG method is
used for the bar and the EBROG methods are applied for the FRP sheets without any
shear reinforcement against punching shear. According to research slabs reinforced
with the bar inside the groove in one direction and CFRP sheet in the other direction
by EBROG, an increase in shear capacity 28.4–58% was observed. The cracking
pattern of the tested slab to understand the crack is first initiated at the bottom side
of the centre of the slab, and crack propagated in the sides of the slab. The failure
pattern to conclude the slab is failed in punching shear. The FRP is placed most as
possible at the shear zone if away from loading the percentage of increasing load
reduced. The EBROG shearing method is a more efficient method to strengthen the
flat slab against punching shear.
References
1. Banijamali SM (2015) Reviewing the FRP strengthening systems. Am J Civ Eng

2. Moghaddas A, Mostofinejad D (2018) Empirical FRP-concrete bond strength model for
externally bonded reinforcement on grooves (ASCE) CC.1943-5614.0000924. © 2018
3. Hosseinia A, Mostofinejada D, Shamelia SM (2014) EBROG and EBRIG methods for
strengthening of RC beams by FRP sheets. Eur J Environ Civ Eng
4. Mostofinejad D, Shameli SM (2012) Externally bonded reinforcement in grooves (EBRIG)
technique to postponed bonding of FRP sheets in strengthened concrete beams. Science Direct,
2012 Elsevier Ltd.
5. Moshiri N (2014) Compressive strength of CFRP composites used for strengthening of RC
columns: comparative evaluation of EBR and grooving methods. ASCECC.1943-5614.0000545.
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers
6. Azizi R, Talaeitaba SB (2019) Punching shear strengthening of flat slabs with CFRP on grooves
(EBROG) and external rebars sticking in grooves. Int J Adv Struct Eng
Study on Performance of Concrete Made
with Copper Slag and Mineral
Admixtures
E. Lalith Prakash, Prakash Chinnayan, K. Siva Kavinesh,

Ambrish Adithiya, G. Sarath Sanjeev, Sriram Gnanaprakasam,
and Gautham Sukumar
Abstract Copper slag is one of the discarded material that is found to be having a
better scope in concrete technology as an alternate for the river sand. Studies show
that substituting copper slag partially for the sand leads to the bleeding which further
affects the performance of the concrete. In this paper the mineral admixtures such
as fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) were added to the
concrete containing fine aggregates which is partially substituted with copper slag.
An attempt is made to bring down the concrete bleeding and enhance the performance
of the Copper slag incorporated concrete. Fly ash and GGBS were chosen mainly
based on their global environmental sustainability, cost and durability qualities. Test
experiments were designed using Response Surface Method (RSM) to obtain the
various trial proportions. Three factors such as Copper Slag, GGBS, and Fly Ash
are considered. Three levels of partial replacement are considered for each factor.
The levels were 20, 30, and 40% for copper slag; 20, 35, and 50% for GGBS;
and 15, 25, and 35% for Fly ash. Test were performed on each trial proportion
to study the compressive strength, split tensile strength, chloride penetration and
sorptivity properties. The results show that there is considerable improvement in the
performance of the copper slag concrete at the optimum dosage of GGBS and fly
ash.
Keywords Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) · Copper slag · Fly
ash · Response Surface Methodology (RSM) · Concret bleeding
1 Introduction
Copper slag is a refuse of copper refining and matte smelting processes. For each
tonne of copper production around 1.8–2.2 tonnes of slag comprising calcium
E. Lalith Prakash (B) · P. Chinnayan · K. Siva Kavinesh · A. Adithiya · G. Sarath Sanjeev ·

S. Gnanaprakasam · G. Sukumar
Department of Civil Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Coimbatore 641112, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_82
918 E. Lalith Prakash et al.
oxide, alumina, silica, and iron is generated [1]. Annually, around 4 billion tonnes
of solid wastes is produced by Asia alone, and metal solid waste accounts to
790 million tonnes in which six percentage (48 million tonnes) of it is generated
in India [2]. Approximately 6.5 million tonnes of slag is produced in Indian copper
industry every year [3]. Currently copper slag is used as a sand replacement in
concrete. It is widely recognized and used in the government road projects and ready
mix concrete production [4]. Even though the copper slag concrete performs equally
as standard concrete, the settling time of the copper slag concrete mainly depends on
the particle size of the copper slag. The bleeding rate in the concrete is increased due
copper slag as the fine aggregate, which is directly dependent on the water cement
ratio, volume fraction of air content and slag [5]. This aspect provides scope in further
research on the copper slag concrete.
Over 22 million tonnes of fly ash per year, is used in a varied range of engi-
neering applications. The fly ash comprises silica, aluminium, calcium, and iron in
oxide forms [6]. Fly ash is a fine refuse which is acquired from the pulverized coal
combustion; it is captured by mechanical separators, electrostatic precipitators or bag
fillers [7]. The inclusion of the fly ash in the concrete improves its durability. It also
improves the workability and provides chemical resistance to the concrete. Usage
of Fly ash in concrete reduces the degree and rate of bleeding primarily due to the
reduced water demand which counters the disadvantage of copper slag. The settling
time of concrete is not only dependent on the quantity and composition of the fly ash
used but also on the type of cement, quantity of cement, quantity of water, temper-
ature, and the quantity of chemical admixtures [8]. The permeability of concrete is
reduces by percentage replacement of the binding material with fly-ash.
GGBS is obtained when the molten ash from the furnace is cooled at a faster
rate [9]. In this process, the GGBS slag changes into pozzolanic powder and meets
the requirement of IS 12089:1987. The disposal of GGBS requires higher energy.
On the other hand, partially replaced GGBS concrete showed better resistance to
sulphate attack and corrosion [10]. The specific gravity of GGBS is found to be 2.85.
GGBS can be incorporated in the concrete as a replacement for Portland cement up
to 80% by its mass [11]. When hydration takes place in Portland cement, alkalis and
sulphates are released, which serve as activators for the GGBS [11]. The compressive
strength of the concrete improves as the quantity of the GGBS in the concrete as a
replacement for cement upto 55% replacement [12].
The key focus of the study is to determine whether the addition of the admix-
tures such as GGBS and fly ash to the partially replaced copper slag concrete can
positively influence its performance. Also, the study focuses on determining the
optimum percentage replacements of the fine aggregates with copper slag (CS) and
the binding material with Fly ash (FA) and Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag
(GGBS) showing better performance.
Study on Performance of Concrete Made with Copper Slag … 919
2 Materials and Design
2.1 Materials
2.1.1 Cement
Grade 53 Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was used. IS 2720-Part 3 was followed
for testing the cement properties. The specific gravity of the cement used is 2.98.
2.1.2 Aggregates
The natural fine aggregate used was with a maximum nominal size of 4.75 mm. IS
383 was followed in order to determine various properties of both fine and coarse
aggregates. The obtained results are shown in Table 1. Crushed coarse aggregates
available locally having a maximum nominal size of 20 mm was used.
2.1.3 Preliminary Tests for Mix Design
2.1.4 Copper Slag and Mineral Admixtures
Copper slag (Table 2) was used to partially replace the fine aggregates in the concrete
by weight. The mineral admixture used as partial replacement for cement were
Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) and Class F Fly Ash (Table 2).
2.2 Mix Design
Using the preliminary test results (Table 1), a control design mix was designed as
per IS 456-2000 and IS 10262-2009. The control mix ratio is 1:1.47:2.77.
2.3 Design of Experiments
Past researches show that the sand replacement with copper slag up to 50% enhances
the compressive strength of concrete [13], and the concrete shows upward trend
in compressive strength values only up to 50% GGBS replacement [14]. Concrete
performed better with the addition of Fly ash up to 50% cement replacement when the
early-age strength requirement is met in other suitable ways, while the optimum Fly
Ash content in concrete is considered to be ranging between 15 and 25% historically.
The design of experiments is an effective tool to reduce the number of trial mixes when
920
Table 1 Preliminary test results considered for mix design

Cement Sand Coarse aggregates Partial replacement of FA by copper slag GGBS Fly ash
100% 20% 30% 40%
Specific gravity 2.98 2.61 2.77 3.61 2.73 2.75 2.94 2.81 2.10
Fineness modulus – 2.57 6.96 3.29 – – – – –
Water absorption (%) – 1 0.75 0.4 0.68 0.52 0.45 – –
E. Lalith Prakash et al.
Table 2 Chemical properties

Chemical compounds Copper slag GGBS Fly ash
of copper slag, fly ash and
GGBS CaO (%) 2.64 35.67 2.91
SiO2 (%) 37.8 33.02 61.21
Al2 O3 (%) 4.34 19.61 28.24
Fe2 O3 (%) 47.92 0.95 3.89
MgO (%) – 8.56 0.92
SO3 (%) 2.90 0.18 0.74
Na2 O (%) 0.94 0.16 0.01
K2 O (%) 2.96 0.91 1.35
TiO2 (%) 0.48 0.94 –
Loss on ignition (%) – – 0.73
two or more factors are involved in addition to the primary concrete components.
Three factors such as Copper Slag, Fly-ash, and GGBS were considered for the design
of experiments using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Based on literature
study, three levels were considered for each of the factors, such as Copper Slag
(20, 30, and 40%), GGBS (20, 35, and 50%), and Fly-ash (15, 25, and 35%). Face
centred central composite design was adopted using Minitab software for generating
the number of trails and the mix proportions (Table 3).
Test result show that the compressive strength of the control mix is 35 MPa at 7 days
and 44.5 MPa at 56 days (Fig. 1). The control mix has reached higher compressive
strength at the early stage whereas the other trials had an increase in strength progres-
sively. At 56 days, run order R1 and R4 are 50.5 MPa and 47 Mpa respectively which
are greater than the strength of the control mix at 56 days (Fig. 1). The run orders
R2, R5, R7, R10, R12, R14, R16, R17, R19 achieved 56 days compressive strength
values similar and nearer to the control mix strength value (Fig. 1 and Table 4).
The split tensile strength of the control mix was observed to be higher than all the
trials at 28 days curing. The change of strength between 28 and 56 days of the control
mix was determined to be 4.2% increment which is very low compared to the run
orders (Fig. 2). The split tensile strength of almost all the run orders is greater than
Table 3 Response surface

Run order Copper slag (%) GGBS (%) Fly ash (%)
methodology—run order
R1 20 50 15
R2 30 35 25
R3 30 50 25
R4 40 20 15
R5 20 35 25
R6 20 50 35
R7 30 35 25
R8 40 50 35
R9 20 20 35
R10 30 35 25
R11 40 20 35
R12 30 20 25
R13 40 50 15
R14 30 35 25
R15 30 35 15
R16 30 35 25
R17 30 35 25
R18 40 35 25
R19 20 20 15
R20 30 35 35
Fig. 1 Compressive strength comparison based on duration

Table 4 Test result—compressive strength (7, 28, and 56 days)

Run order Compressive strength Compressive strength Compressive strength
(7 days) (N/mm2 ) (28 days) (N/mm2 ) (56 days) (N/mm2 )
R1 27.5 34.5 50.5
R2 15.5 26.5 43
R3 14 26 35
R4 32.5 34.5 47
R5 17.2 32.75 41.75
R6 22.5 26 38
R7 15.5 26.5 43
R8 16 18 25.75
R9 18.2 26.75 39.75
R10 15.5 26.5 43
R11 19.5 25 35
R12 25.2 35.25 43.25
R13 15.5 24 33
R14 15.5 26.5 43
R15 17.5 26.5 37
R16 15.5 26.5 43
R17 15.5 26.5 43
R18 20.5 32.5 41.25
R19 23.5 31.25 42.5
R20 16.5 27.25 33.75
CM 35 42.5 44.5
Fig. 2 Split tensile strength comparison based on duration

Table 5 Test result—split

Run order Split tensile strength Split tensile strength
tensile strength (28 and
(N/mm2 ) 28 days (N/mm2 ) 56 days
56 days)
R1 2.64 3.75
R2 1.28 3.34
R3 1.41 2.7
R4 2.45 3.98
R5 2.73 3.63
R6 2.32 3.4
R7 1.28 3.34
R8 1.47 2.92
R9 2.64 3.75
R10 1.28 3.34
R11 2.14 3.66
R12 2.92 3.88
R13 2.2 3.18
R14 1.28 3.34
R15 2.12 3.05
R16 1.28 3.34
R17 1.28 3.34
R18 2.3 3.82
R19 2.83 3.78
R20 1.32 2.92
CM 3.14 3.28
the control mix at 56 days, among which R4 had the highest split tensile strength
value (Fig. 2 and Table 5).
3.3 Sorptivity
The sorptivity value at 2 hours’ time period was found to be 1.86 × 10−7 for the
mix (Fig. 3). The rate of absorption for R1, R2, R5, R7, R11, R14, R16, and R17
was observed to be less compared to mix demonstrating more durable characteristics
among which R1 had the lowest absorption rate (Fig. 3 and Table 6).
√
Fig. 3 Sorptivity (×10−7 (m/ min)) test result—comparison
3.4 Rapid Chlorine Penetration Test (RCPT)
The charge passed through the test specimen for the test period of 6 h for the mix was
observed to be 1854 C which is greater than all the run orders. Among the run orders,
R3, R20 and R1 have passed charge of 243, 297 and 306 C respectively which was
found to be the lowest inferring better durability characteristics (Fig. 4 and Table 7).
4 Conclusion
The key focus of this study is on the performance of the concrete with partial replace-
ment of copper slag and mineral admixtures. The following inferences have been
obtained from the test outcomes. The mineral admixture concrete showed lesser
compressive strength at 28 days curing period when compared to the control mix,
but there was an improvement at 56 days curing period. Run orders R1 (20% CS,
50% GGBS and 15% FA) and R4 (40% CS, 20% GGBS and 15% FA) show greater
compressive strength value than the control mix at 56 days of curing. This may be
attributed due to the mineral admixtures which is known for its improved pozzolanic
reaction over a longer period in concrete. But the run orders with Fly Ash content more
than 25% showed lesser compressive strength. Split tensile strength of all the mineral
admixture concrete was less compared to that of the control mix at 28 days curing
period. A total of fifteen among the twenty run orders showed higher split tensile
strength when compared to the control mix split tensile strength value at after 56 days
of curing. Among the fifteen run orders, R4 recorded the highest 56 days split tensile
Table 6 Sorptivity test result

Run Initial Weight Weight Weight Weight after Sorptivity
√ ×10−7
order weight after after after 120 min (m/ min)
(kg) 30 min 60 min 90 min
R1 0.942 0.948 0.948 0.95 0.954 1.39
R2 1.008 1.014 1.016 1.018 1.022 1.63
R3 0.994 1.002 1.004 1.006 1.01 1.86
R4 0.994 1.004 1.006 1.008 1.012 2.09
R5 0.95 0.958 0.958 0.96 0.964 1.63
R6 0.908 0.918 0.92 0.922 0.924 1.86
R7 1.008 1.014 1.016 1.018 1.022 1.63
R8 0.992 1.008 1.012 1.014 1.02 3.25
R9 0.95 0.956 0.96 0.964 0.966 1.86
R10 1.008 1.014 1.016 1.018 1.022 1.63
R11 1.038 1.044 1.046 1.048 1.052 1.63
R12 0.96 0.97 0.974 0.976 0.978 2.09
R13 1.028 1.04 1.044 1.046 1.05 2.56
R14 1.008 1.014 1.016 1.018 1.022 1.63
R15 1.016 1.026 1.03 1.032 1.034 2.09
R16 1.008 1.014 1.016 1.018 1.022 1.63
R17 1.008 1.014 1.016 1.018 1.022 1.63
R18 1.032 1.04 1.042 1.044 1.048 1.86
R19 0.956 0.966 0.97 0.972 0.978 2.55
R20 0.972 0.98 0.984 0.986 0.992 2.32
CM 0.992 1 1.002 1.004 1.008 1.86
strength value (3.98 N/mm2 ) and R1 recorded almost closer value (3.75 N/mm2 ).
Sorptivity test revealed that nine among twenty run orders possess less water absorp-
tion than the control mix. Among the nine-run orders, R1 recorded the least value.
All run orders having copper slag content lesser than 30% performed well in terms
of sorptivity. Based on a rapid chlorine penetration test, all the run orders obtained
lower value than the control mix. This may be attributed due to the presence of the
mineral admixtures even though copper slag accounting to higher permeability is
present. R3 (30% CS, 50% GGBS and 25% FA), R1 (20% CS, 50% GGBS and 15%
FA), and R20 (30% CS, 35% GGBS and 35% FA) recorded the least RCPT values.
This may be due to the presence of copper slag below 30% partial replacement, as
higher copper slag content affects the permeability of the concrete. The run orders
R5, R6, R8, R9, R12, R13, and R19 showed higher RCPT values closer to that of
the control mix. These mixes either had higher copper slag content (40%) or higher
Fly ash content (25% and above). Summarizing the above inferences, the concrete
with either higher copper slag content (40%) or higher Fly ash content (more than
Fig. 4 Rapid chlorine penetration test result—comparison
Table 7 RCPT result

Run order Charge passed ‘Q’ (C) Chloride ion penetrability
R1 306 Very low
R2 738 Very low
R3 243 Very low
R4 639 Very low
R5 1386 Low
R6 1638 Low
R7 738 Very low
R8 1611 Low
R9 1485 Low
R10 738 Very low
R11 522 Very low
R12 1377 Low
R13 1746 Low
R14 738 Very low
R15 1665 Low
R16 738 Very low
R17 738 Very low
R18 657 Very low
R19 1350 Low
R20 297 Very low
CM 1854 Low
15%) showed lower performance at least in one of the tested characteristics. It was
found that the concrete mix in which the river sand is replaced with 20% of copper
slag and cement replaced with GGBS and Fly Ash by 50% and 15% respectively,
perform better in the strength, permeability, and porosity characteristics. Thus, the
results prove that the controlled partial substitution of copper slag for fine aggre-
gate along with the controlled partial substitution of GGBS and Fly Ash for cement,
has significantly improved the performance in terms of permeability, porosity and
strength of concrete than that of control mix.
References
1. Gorai B, Jana RK (2003) Characteristics and utilization of copper slag—a review. Resour
Conserv Recycl 39(4):299–313
2. Murari K, Siddique R, Jain KK (2015) Use of waste copper slag, a sustainable material. J Mater
Cycles Waste Manage 17(1):13–26
3. Dash MK, Patro SK, Rath AK (2016) Sustainable use of industrial-waste as partial replacement
of fine aggregate for preparation of concrete—a review. Int J Sust Built Environ 5(2):484–516
4. BIS, IS 383-2016 (2016) Coarse aggregate and fine aggregate for concrete—specification.
Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi
5. Shoya M, Nagataki S, Tomosawa F, Sugita S, Tsukinaga Y (1997) Freezing and thawing resis-
tance of concrete with excessive bleeding and its improvement, vol 170. Special Publication,
pp 879–898
6. Joshi RC, Lohita RP (1997) Fly ash in concrete: production, properties and uses, vol 2. CRC
Press
7. ASTM C618, Annual bool of ASTM standard volume 4.02. ASTM International
8. Thomas MDA (2007) Optimizing the use of fly ash in concrete, vol 5420. Portland Cement
Association, Skokie, IL, pp 1–10
9. Arivalagan S (2014) Sustainable studies on concrete with GGBS as a replacement material in
cement. Jordan J Civ Eng 159(3147):1–8
10. Statistic Data Report (2005) Environmental Protection Administration. Executive Yuan, Taipei,
Taiwan
11. Pavía SARA, Condren E (2008) Study of the durability of OPC versus GGBS concrete on
exposure to silage effluent. J Mater Civ Eng 20(4):313–320
12. Oner A, Akyuz S (2007) An experimental study on optimum usage of GGBS for the compressive
strength of concrete. Cement Concr Compos 29(6):505–514
13. Al-Jabri KS, Hisada M, Al-Oraimi SK, Al-Saidy AH (2009) Copper slag as sand replacement
for high performance concrete. Cement Concr Compos 31(7):483–488
14. Hawileh RA, Abdalla JA, Fardmanesh F, Shahsana P, Khalili A (2017) Performance of rein-
forced concrete beams cast with different percentages of GGBS replacement to cement. Arch
Civ Mech Eng 17(3):511–519
Effect of Size and Shape of Concrete
Column Elements Exposed to High
Temperature
Y. K. Guruprasad
Abstract Reinforced concrete (RC) structures and the structural elements (beams,
columns, slabs) undergo degradation in strength and stiffness, when exposed to high
temperature in the event of a fire breaking out in such structures. The concrete column
elements tend to support the compressive loads transferred onto it from the floors and
maintain the stability of the structure. The degradation in the compressive strength
of concrete and degradation of yield strength of reinforcing steel present in the RC
columns that get exposed to high temperature, in the event of a fire causes instability
or collapse of the entire structure. In this work the variation of temperature across the
cross section of reinforced concrete (RC) columns having various sizes and shapes
(square and rectangular) exposed to different high temperatures (475 and 625 °C)
and time of exposure (1 and 3 h) has been studied by carrying out a heat transfer
analysis in Abaqus. The heat transfer analysis is carried out using heat transfer
elements that possess the thermal properties of the materials (concrete and steel)
that are temperature dependent. The depth of variation of a particular temperature
for a particular time of exposure from the outer surface of the RC column upto the
core having a particular size and shape is assessed. It is inferred from the analysis
results, the time taken for a particular temperature to reach upto the core of the RC
column is related to the size and shape of the concrete column. It is also learnt from
the results, apart from increasing the concrete cover, a particular optimum size of a
concrete column in cross section is necessarily to be provided while designing the
column from thermal resistance point of view. As this optimum size of the column
would delay the temperature reaching the core for a particular time of temperature
exposure and would maintain a certain portion of concrete around the core portion
to retain its original strength without causing failure of the column before the fire is
put off.
Keywords Concrete column · High temperature · Exposure time · Size · Shape
Y. K. Guruprasad (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru 560054, India

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_83
930 Y. K. Guruprasad
1 Introduction
Most of the present day reinforced concrete (RC) structures are vulnerable to undergo
damage when they are subjected earthquakes [1], exposure to high temperature in
the event of a fire [2], due to ageing and erroneous design or over loading. For the
stability of a reinforced concrete structure, the strength and stiffness of reinforced
concrete (RC) columns to be retained is of outmost importance. Damage is assessed
in the distressed RC structural elements adopting non destructive testing techniques
[3]. The repair or retrofit of such damaged structural elements is possible when the
damage is within a certain repairable limit. In the case of an event of a fire in a
structure, heat generated from the fire causes a rise in the temperature. Due to high
temperature exposure there is strength and stiffness reduction in concrete due to the
physiochemical changes that is taking place in concrete, at different temperatures of
exposure. The reduction in strength and stiffness due to high temperature exposure,
causes a reduction in the load carrying capacity of the structural members in the
RC structure. Especially, when there is degradation of the strength and stiffness of
RC columns in a RC structure that is exposed to high temperature in the event of a
fire, the whole structure would collapse due to instability. The strength and stiffness
degradation of the concrete in the RC column, especially in the core portion when
exposed to high temperature [4], causes the column to collapse causing instability
in the structure partially or completely. Li et al. [5] carried out compressive tests on
concrete cylinder and cube test specimens to study the compressive strength variation
due to different shapes and sizes of the test specimens. Li et al. developed empirical
relations that co related the static and dynamic compressive strengths of concrete
obtained from the test specimens that were having different shapes and sizes. Fládr
and Bílý [6] studied the effect of specimen size on the compressive and flexural
strength of high strength fibre reinforced concrete having coarse aggregates. It was
learnt from the test results of Fládr and Bílý’s work that, there was an influence of the
size of the test samples on the compressive and flexural strength of concrete. Their
results showed that, the size dependence of compressive strength reduces when the
strength of the concrete increases and conversion factors were put forth with respect
to compressive and flexural strengths of members. Baalbaki et al. [7] have determined
the elastic modulus of concrete based on strains measured from concrete cylinders
having two sizes subjected to uniaxial compression. The two cylinder sizes adopted
for the study had the same mix proportion and their test results showed that the larger
test specimens had a lower compressive strength and a higher elastic modulus. Kodur
et al. [8] developed a numerical model for assessing resistance to fire of columns made
up of high performance concrete. The numerical model developed by Kodur et al.
was able to assess the high performance concrete column’s fire resistance for various
parameters, such as applied load, cross sectional dimensions, strength of concrete,
column height, fiber content, and type of aggregates used. Emberley [9] developed
numerical calculations in excel to determine the performance of concrete columns
with varying loading, various types of aggregates and different dimensions of column
for different time temperature curves. The model thus developed helped engineers
Effect of Size and Shape of Concrete Column Elements Exposed … 931
and students to assess and design of RC columns exposed to fire. Lie et al. [10] worked
on reinforced concrete columns and assessed the residual strength of these columns
that were exposed to high temperature and different exposure time corresponding to
standard fire cases. Lie et al. adopted a mathematical model, utilized non destructive
test namely, ultrasonic pulse technique and adopted load testing as modalities for their
assessment. Lie et al. determined the residual strength of columns and compared it
with the values determined through the mathematic model, non destructive test and
determined by the load test. Their results indicated there was a good agreement with
the results obtained through the modalities and the experimental values.
It is understood from the study of the literature that has been carried out that,
there is a necessity of a better understanding of the influence of size and shape of
the concrete structural element on the strength and the load carrying capacity when
exposed to a particular temperature. Objective of the present work: The present
work has been taken up to study the effect of the size and shape of RC columns
cross sections adopted in structural designs, that get exposed to different higher
temperatures (475 and 625 °C for exposure durations of 1 and 3 h [11]) in the event
of a fire. In this work, an optimum size of the column cross section from fire resistance
perspective is arrived at, based on the temperatures developed across the cross section
of the column exposed to fire, that has an influence on the load carrying capacity and
stability of the RC column. The optimum size of the column cross section arrived at,
helps in delaying the temperature developed around the core of the column which in
turn, delays the failure of the column before the fire is put off. Temperatures higher
than 625 °C has not been considered in the present work as concrete looses upto
50–80% of its compressive strength when exposed to temperatures ranging from
550 to 700 °C respectively. Therefore, a value of temperature less than 550 °C and
a value less than 700 °C has been adopted in this work.
2 Assessing the Influence of Shape and Size of RC Columns

Exposed to Higher Temperatures on Its Load Carrying
Capacity
In this section the details of the finite element analysis that was carried out on RC
column cross sections that were having square and rectangular shapes and having
different sizes exposed to different temperatures has been explained.
2.1 Finite Element Analysis of Various RC Column Cross

Sections that Were Exposed to Different Temperatures
Square and rectangular column cross sectional shapes having different sizes have
been adopted for the analysis. The sizes of the cross sections selected are having
Fig. 1 Sizes of RC columns

having different shapes of
cross sections a square cross
section; b rectangular cross
section
standard sizes that are usually adopted in actual construction and design practice as
per IS 456 [12]. The sizes of the square cross sections adopted in the present work are:
300 mm × 300 mm and 450 mm × 450 mm. The sizes of the rectangular cross sections
adopted are 230 mm × 450 mm and 300 mm × 450 mm. Each cross section of the
RC column in the analysis is provided with 4 numbers of 12 mm diameter rebars and
8 mm diameter lateral ties spaced at 300 mm centre to centre. The reinforcing steel
adopted is having a yield strength of 500 MPa and the concrete adopted is having
a compressive strength of 25 MPa. The RC column cross sections were modeled
in two dimensions in the finite element model adopting quadrilateral heat transfer
elements. A structured mesh was considered for meshing the cross section. The
density of concrete and reinforcing steel considered in the finite element analysis are
2400 and 7850 kg/m3 . Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and specific
heat values of concrete and reinforcing steel, that vary with different temperatures
of exposure has been adopted from EN 1994-1-2:2005 [13] as an input into the finite
element analysis. The details of the locations where the temperatures are recorded in
different locations in the cross section of RC columns that are obtained when the finite
element analysis is carried out for, square and rectangular RC column cross sections
are shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, L = 300 mm/450 mm and B = 230 mm/300 mm/450 mm
corresponding to the square and rectangular cross sections. In Fig. 1, T1 refers to the
temperature measured close to the lateral tie (close to the centre of one side dimension
(L) of the cross section). T2 refers to the temperature measured on the lateral tie.
T3 refers to the temperature measured on the longitudinal rebar. T4 refers to the
temperature measured at the central core or the centre point of the cross section. T5
refers to the temperature measured at a point in concrete that is located at (L/8, B/8).
T6 refers to the temperature measured on the surface of the cross section where the
external temperature (475 and 625 °C) is applied. Heat transfer analysis is carried
out for different temperatures (475 and 625 °C), that are applied on all the outer
external surfaces (T6) of the RC column cross section for exposure time of 1 and
3 h respectively. The time considered in this study upto 3 h is based on an average
realistic fire condition [14]. The magnitude of the external temperature (475 and
625 °C) applied is kept constant over a particular exposure time (1 or 3 h) in the
finite element analysis.
In this section the results and discussion of the finite element analysis carried out on
RC columns, exposed to different temperature and exposure time has been presented.
3.1 Results of Finite Element Analysis of RC Column Cross

Sections Exposed to Different Temperatures
The temperature distribution across square and rectangular cross sectional shapes of
RC columns having various sizes (300 mm × 300 mm, 450 mm × 450 mm, 230 mm ×
450 mm and 300 mm × 450 mm) exposed to different temperatures and exposure
time, namely, 475 and 625 °C for exposure durations of 1 and 3 h, have been shown in
Fig. 3a–p. Table 1 shows the temperatures measured at different locations in the RC
columns having square and rectangular cross sections in reference to Fig. 1. It can
be observed from Fig. 3a–p and the results in Table 1 that, larger the size of the RC
column exposed to a particular temperature and time of exposure, the temperature
developed around the core portion of the RC column was lower when compared to the
temperature developed around the core portion of the RC column that was having a
smaller cross sectional size. The reason being, the amount of heat required to raise the
temperature in a RC column cross section having a larger size was larger, as this is due
to a larger volume of concrete present in the cross section. Whereas, in the case of RC
column having smaller cross sectional dimensions and exposed to high temperature,
there is lesser volume of concrete present that causes the temperature to rise faster
for the same amount of heat supplied. It is learnt from the results (in Table 1), for RC
columns having the least cross sectional dimension less than 300 mm, a higher value
of temperature develops around the core portion (at points T4 and T5 indicated in
Fig. 2 and Table 1), which in turn causes a larger amount of degradation of strength
and stiffness of concrete in that portion due to physiochemical changes taking place
for a particular exposure temperature. The effect of shape is not predominantly seen
in all the cases. Degradation of concrete around the core portion leads to a reduced
volume of concrete to exist in intact condition to carry the axial load, thereby causing
instability of the column further leading to its failure. It can be observed from Table
1 that, the cross section 450 mm × 450 mm has lower temperatures developed in its
cross section for different external exposure temperatures when compared to other
cross sections. It is learnt from the analysis results (Table 1) of the present work
that, the optimum least cross sectional dimension in RC columns from fire resistance
point of view is identified as 300 mm. This value of 300 mm is arrived based on
the observation of lower temperatures developed around the core portion (T4 and
T5) and across the cross section, in various cross sections of columns considered
in this study that has 300 mm as the least dimension in the cross section(seen in
Table 1). This optimum least cross sectional dimension of 300 mm that is arrived
at may be considered in design of the cross section so that, there is an optimum
volume of concrete existing in the cross section. In such an optimum cross section,
the temperature developed around the core portion (T4 and T5) for a particular
time of exposure is lower, as this causes a delay in the rise of temperature. Such
an optimum sectional dimension that is used to design an optimum cross section,
helps in restoring the stability of the column by the time the fire is put off, from fire
resistance point of view. It is also observed from Table 1, the cross section having a
least dimension of 230 mm has higher values of temperature developed in the cross
section (T1–T6 seen in Table 1). It is observed from Table 1, based on the values of the
temperatures developed (T1–T6) across the cross sections having various sizes and
shapes, a rectangular column having a size of 300 mm × 450 mm has comparatively
lower temperatures developed across its cross section for different external exposure
temperatures and time durations. Therefore, this rectangular RC column having a size
300 mm × 450 mm is considered as an optimum cross section dimension from fire
resistance point of view. It has to be noted that, providing very large cross sectional
areas of RC columns from fire resistance point of view in design after taking into
consideration the design due to all types of loads, will make the design uneconomical
and non-aesthetical (Fig. 3).
It can be observed from Table 1, the experimental (Ex) results of Lin et al. [15]
(*Ex For section C1B: 400 mm × 400 mm, in the paper) is in close correlation with
the FE analysis results, (**FEM) of the same RC column that was analysed for an
external exposure temperature of 670 °C for 1 h exposure duration. The FE analysis
of Lin et al.’s RC column was carried out to validate the FE model used in this study.
4 Conclusion
1. It is inferred from the results of this work, an RC column cross section having
a particular shape and comparatively having a larger cross sectional dimension
tends to possess a larger volume of concrete. A larger volume of concrete requires
a higher quantity of heat to be supplied to raise its temperature to a particular
value in a certain time of exposure. An RC column comparatively having smaller
cross sectional dimensions tends to have lesser volume of concrete in it. Such an
RC cross section with lesser volume of concrete would have a higher value of
temperature rise for a particular time of exposure for the same quantity of heat
supplied.
2. It is understood from the analysis results, RC columns that have one of its least
cross sectional dimension less than 300 mm, tend to develop a higher value of
temperature around the core portion (points T4 and T5). Higher temperature
developed around the core causes a larger amount of degradation of strength and
stiffness of concrete, leading to a lesser volume of concrete remaining in intact
condition around the core portion to participate in carrying the loads. Such an
RC column has a very high probability of failure. It is understood from this study
the effect of shape is not much predominant.
Table 1 Temperatures measured at different locations in RC columns having square and rectangular
cross sections as per Fig. 1 exposed to different temperatures and time of exposure
Section External Exposure T1 (°C) T2 (°C) T3 (°C) T4 (°C) T5 (°C) T6 (°C)
mm × mm exposure time (h)
temp (°C)
300 × 300 475 3h 323 325 311 117 247 475
300 × 300 475 1h 200 132 127 24 92 475
450 × 450 475 3h 302 416 410 36 219 475
450 × 450 475 1h 186 430 421 20 79 475
300 × 450 475 3h 385 389 376 81 244 475
300 × 450 475 1h 187 130 119 21 84 475
230 × 450 475 3h 334 366 342 145 263 475
230 × 450 475 1h 207 310 298 30 102 475
300 × 300 625 3h 392 485 471 124 290 625
300 × 300 625 1h 201 132 127 24 105 625
450 × 450 625 3h 369 520 510 37 280 625
450 × 450 625 1h 200 430 420 21 89 625
300 × 450 625 3h 385 470 456 86 288 625
300 × 450 625 1h 224 163 130 22 89 625
230 × 450 625 3h 424 585 570 157 360 625
230 × 450 625 1h 331 362 402 31 124 625
400 × 400 670 1h 281 493 493 30 96 670
[15]
*Ex
400 × 400 670 1h 236 450 453 21 93 670
**FEM
*Experimental (Ex) result: 400 mm × 400 mm, section C1B in reference [15]; Material properties:
fy = 354.60 N/mm2 (3616 kg/cm2 ); fc = 20.59 N/mm2 (210 kg/cm2 )
**FEM validation of Ex result
Fig. 2 Finite element model

of RC columns having
different shapes and sizes
exposed to different
temperature exposed to
different temperatures and
time of exposure
a 230 mm × 450 mm,
b 300 mm × 450 mm,
c 300 mm × 300 mm and
d 450 mm × 450 mm
Fig. 3 a–p Temperature distribution across RC columns having square and rectangular cross
sections exposed to different temperatures and exposure time
3. A value of 300 mm is identified to be the least optimum dimension in the column

cross section. This value of 300 mm is arrived at after examining the analysis
results (Table 1) and with respect to different time of exposure [14], based on the
observation of lower temperatures developed around the core portion (T4 and
T5) and across the cross section, in various cross sections of columns considered
in this study that has 300 mm as the least dimension.
4. It is observed from the results (Table 1), the cross section 450 mm × 450 mm
has lower temperatures developed in its cross section for different external expo-
sure temperatures when compared to other cross sections adopted in this work.
Therefore, an optimum minimum cross section dimensions should be arrived at
from load carrying capacity and fire resistance points of view. It means, from
design calculations, if the cross section dimension of the RC column from load
carrying capacity point of view is smaller than the optimum minimum cross
section dimensions required for fire resistance, then, an optimum minimum cross
section is provided for the RC column which will satisfy both the load carrying
capacity and fire resistance criterions. At the same time it has to be kept in mind
that, providing very large cross section dimensions of RC columns larger than the
cross section dimensions required for load carrying capacity from fire resistance
point of view, will make the design uneconomical.
5. It is learnt from the results of this study (Table 1), based on the values of
the temperatures developed across the cross section (T1–T6), a rectangular RC
column having a size of 300 mm × 450 mm is seen to be an optimum minimum
cross section from fire resistance and design point of view.
References
1. Ates S, Kahya V, Yurdakul M, Adanura S (2013) Damages on reinforced concrete buildings

due to consecutive earthquakes in Van. Soil Dyn Earthq Eng 53:109–118
2. Ada M, Sevim B, Yüzer N, Ayvaz Y (2018) Assessment of damages on a RC building after a
big fire. Adv Concr Constr 6(2):177–197
3. Helal J, Sofi M, Mendis P (2015) Non-destructive testing of concrete: a review of methods.
Electron J Struct Eng 14(1):97–105
4. Bikhiet M, El-Shafey NF, El-Hashimy HM (2014) Behavior of reinforced concrete short
columns exposed to fire. Alexandria Eng J 53:643–653
5. Li M, Hao H, Shi Y, Hao Y (2018) Specimen shape and size effects on the concrete compressive
strength under static and dynamic tests. Constr Build Mater 161(10):84–93
6. Fládr J, Bílý P (2018) Specimen size effect on compressive and flexural strength of high-strength
fibre-reinforced concrete containing coarse aggregate. Compos B Eng 138:77–86
7. Baalbaki W, Baalbaki M, Benmokrane B, Aitcin PC (1992) Influence of specimen size
on compressive strength and elastic modulus of high-performance concrete. Cem Concr
14(2):113–117
8. Kodur VKR, Wang TC, Cheng FP, Sultan MA (2003) A model for evaluating the fire resistance
of high performance concrete columns. In: Fire safety science—Proceedings of the seventh
international symposium, pp 1013–1024
9. Emberley RL (2013) A study into the behavior of reinforced-concrete columns under fire
exposures using a spreadsheet-based numerical model. Masters thesis, Department of Civil
Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
10. Lie TT, Rowe TJ, Lin TD (1986) Residual strength of fire-exposed reinforced concrete columns.
In: ACI symposium, vol 92, pp 153–174
11. IS: 3809-1979, Indian Standard fire resistance test of structures (1st rev), Reaff
12. IS 456 (2000) Indian Standard plain and reinforced concrete—code of practice (4th rev), Reaff
13. EN 1994-1-2: 2005 (E), Eurocode 4—Design of composite steel and concrete structures. Part
1–2: General rules—structural fire design
14. IS: 1642-1989, Code of practice for fire safety of buildings (general): details of construction,
Reaff
15. Lin C-H, Chen S-T, Hwang T-L (1989) Residual strength of reinforced concrete columns
exposed to fire. J Chin Inst Eng 12(5):557–565
Diagrid Structural System for Tilted
Steel Buildings
Archana Joy Eluvathingal and G. Unni Kartha
Abstract The rapid growth of urban population and the limitation of available land,
taller structures are preferred for sustainability. When the height of the structure
increases, the consideration of lateral load becomes critical and the lateral load
resisting system becomes more important than the structural system that resists the
gravitational loads. Diagrid structural system is widely used for tall buildings due
to its structural efficiency and aesthetic potential provided by the unique geometric
configuration of the system. In this paper, the impacts of variation of the angle of
tilting on steel diagrid structures are presented. Modal and time history analysis
of three, six and nine-storey buildings with a base dimension of 36 m × 36 m is
performed using ETABS 2016. The results in terms of the time period, undamped
natural frequency, maximum storey displacement, maximum storey drift, storey shear
and overturning moment are compared. Tilted 3 storey diagrid building was found
to have lateral stiffness very much similar to that of a prismatic diagrid. While the
lateral stiffness of 6 storeys and 9 storey tilted buildings up to 2° was found to be
similar to that of prismatic diagrid building.
Keywords Diagrid structures · Tilted building · Modal analysis · Time history

analysis
1 Introduction
The rapid growth of urban population and consequent pressure on limited space have
considerably influenced the residential development of the city. The high cost of land,
the desire to avoid a continuous urban sprawl, and the need to preserve important
agricultural production have all contributed to driving residential buildings upward.
A. J. Eluvathingal (B) · G. Unni Kartha

G. Unni Kartha

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_84
940 A. J. Eluvathingal and G. Unni Kartha
As the height of the building increases, the lateral load resisting system becomes
more important than the structural system that resists the gravitational loads. The
lateral load resisting systems that are widely used are the rigid frame, shear wall,
wall-frame, braced tube system, outrigger system, and tubular system [1].
Recently, the diagrid—Diagonal Grid—the structural system is becoming popular
due to its structural efficiency and aesthetic potential provided by the unique
geometric configuration of the system [2]. Compared to conventional exterior-braced
frame structures, in diagrid structures, almost all the conventional vertical columns
are eliminated. This is possible since the diagonal members in diagrid structural
systems can carry gravity loads as well as lateral forces owing to their triangulated
configuration [1].
Diagrid is formed by intersecting the diagonal and horizontal components [3].
The famous examples of diagrid structures all around the world are the Swiss Re
in London, Hearst Tower in New York, and Cyclone Tower in Asan (Korea) [4].
The configuration and efficiency of a diagrid system reduce the number of structural
elements required on the facade of the building and there will be less obstruction
to the outside view. The structural efficiency of the diagrid system also helps in
avoiding interior and corner columns allowing significant flexibility with the floor
plan. Perimeter “diagrid” systems save approximately 20% of the structural steel
weight when compared to a conventional moment-frame structure [4].
2 Previous Studies
Studies about diagrid systems have been conducted by researchers worldwide and
is proven to be a better solution for lateral load resisting systems [1, 2, 5]. These
studies have indicated that structures with diagrid systems can give better efficiency,
expressiveness and sustainability. Diagrid structures have comparatively less deflec-
tion to that of conventional buildings and up to 28% less weight [6]. Due to inclined
columns, lateral loads are resisted by axial action of the diagonal compared to bending
of vertical columns in a framed tube structure and diagonal structures generally do not
require a core because lateral shear can be carried by diagonals on the periphery of the
building. Diagrid structural systems are more effective in resisting the lateral load due
to wind or earthquake due increase in the lever arm of peripheral diagonal columns
[1]. The major parameters that researchers study for comparison are time period,
maximum top storey lateral displacement, maximum base shear, maximum storey
displacement, and maximum storey drift [5]. Changes in the geometrical pattern of
diagrid have a great influence on its performance. The detailed study by Montuori
et al. [7] have brought out the behaviour of diagrid structures with the angle of diag-
onals (variable-angle i.e. VA) and the number of diagonals (variable-density i.e. VD)
along with the height of the building. Studies using hexagrid systems [5], Isotruss
grid [8] have indicated that diagrid buildings perform better than normal buildings.
These studies are mainly conducted on buildings with simple plans using software
like SAP and ETABS. Architects who try intriguing designs like tilted buildings pose
Diagrid Structural System for Tilted Steel Buildings 941
big challenges in its analysis and design. Due to its inherent advantages, diagrid struc-
tures can be a good choice for such systems. Buildings with a tilt like the Capital
Gate Tower in Abu Dhabi and the Gate of Europe Towers in Madrid have been
constructed using diagrid systems. These designs have employed diagrid systems
and have better performance compared to conventional designs. More studies into
using diagrids for tilted structures are required for a better understanding of the
behaviour and limitations.
3 Analysis of Diagrid Buildings with Tilt
To study the effect of tilted on diagrid buildings, 3, 6 and 9 storied structures were
modelled using etabs software. The analysis structure had plan dimensions 36 m ×
36 m and storey height 3. 6 m. The inclined columns were provided at six-meter
spacing along the perimeter. All structural members were designed using Indian
standard code IS 800:2007. The design dead load and lived load on the floor slab were
3.75 kN/m2 and 2.5 kN/m2 respectively. The design earthquake load was computed
based on the zone factor of 0, 16, medium soil, importance factor of 1 and the
response reduction factor of 5 [9]. The support conditions of columns were assumed
as hinged. The yield strength of steel was considered as 250 N/mm2 . The diagrid
provided for all the buildings was 450 mm pipe sections with 25 mm thickness. They
were provided at a 6 m interval all around the periphery of the buildings. The angle
of inclination of the diagrid was kept uniform throughout the height. The diagrid
building without any tilting had an angle of inclination 64°.
The effect of four different angles, 1°, 2°, 3°, and 4° tilted were investigated in this
study. Figure 1 shows the elevation of the 3 storeys tilted diagrid building with the
angle of tilted 1°, 2°, 3°, and 4° respectively. Similar modes were used for 6 storey
and 9 buildings. The buildings were tilted only in the x-direction.
3.1 Modal Analysis
Tables 1, 2 and 3 show the undamped natural frequency of the first six modes of
vibration obtained from the modal analysis.
It was observed that as the angle of tilt increases from 1° to 4°, the value of
undamped natural frequency decreases, but the change is less than 1%. A decrease
in natural frequency indicates that the stiffness of the building has decreased. This
points to the fact that tilted diagrid buildings will be more susceptible to deformation
than the diagrid building without tilt.
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e)
Fig. 1 Three storey tilted diagrid building a without tilt b with 1° tilt c 2° tilt d 3° tilt and e 4° tilt
Table 1 Natural frequency of diagrid and tilted 3 storey diagrid buildings

Mode of vibration Frequency of diagrid Frequency of tilted diagrid building in Hz
building in Hz 1° 2° 3° 4°
1 5.51 5.469 5.453 5.448 5.451
2 5.524 5.496 5.483 5.477 5.471
3 11.633 11.576 11.921 11.908 11.57
4 12.315 12.071 12.342 12.301 12.046
5 19.047 18.939 18.954 18.761 18.548
6 19.613 19.019 19.514 19.477 18.95
3.2 Time History Analysis
The time-history analysis provides for a linear or nonlinear evaluation of dynamic

structural response under loading which may vary according to the specified time
function. The time history of the El Centro Earthquake (Imperial Valley earthquake)
which occurred in 1940 in southern California is used for studying the performance

1 3.095 3.061 3.058 3.056 3.06
2 3.098 3.079 3.071 3.075 3.076
3 7.568 5.558 5.559 5.554 5.559
4 7.733 7.542 7.534 7.516 7.515
5 10.895 7.608 7.619 7.592 7.597
6 11.506 10.829 10.811 10.797 10.795

1 2.069 2.043 2.043 2.041 2.044
2 2.07 2.056 2.057 2.055 2.056
3 3.921 3.878 3.873 3.87 3.874
4 5.566 5.547 5.53 5.525 5.527
5 5.617 5.555 5.531 5.527 5.531
6 8.441 8.512 8.385 8.379 8.378
of diagrid buildings with tilt. This earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a
maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale.
3.2.1 Storey Displacement
Figure 2a–c shows the maximum storey displacements in the x-direction versus storey
for diagrid building without any tilt and with 1°, 2°, 3° and 4° tilts respectively for
3 storey, 6 storey and 9 storey building. It is observed that the overall displacement
values of tilted diagrid buildings decrease by 5% when compared to the diagrid
building without any tilt in the case of three storey buildings. In the case of six storey
buildings, the value first increases by 32% then a drop of 8% occurs after which the
value again increases by 8% then finally reduces to almost the same values of 1°
tilted building. In the nine storey building, there is an increase in values by 30% upto
3° tilted building after which the values drop back to almost the same as that of non
tilted diagrid building. This variation in the values maybe be the result of change in
optimum angle of 64° in diagrid building without any tilt.
Fig. 2 a Maximum storey displacement of 3 storey building, b maximum storey displacement of

6 storey building, c maximum storey displacement of 9 storey building
3.2.2 Storey Drift
Figure 3a–c shows the maximum storey drift observed in the analyses conducted. It
is observed that the overall drift values of tilted diagrid buildings decreases by 1%
when compared to the diagrid building without any tilt in the case of three storey
buildings. In the case of six storey buildings, the value first increases by 33% then a
drop of 2% occurs after which the value again increases by 2% then finally reduces
to almost the same values of 1° tilted building. In the nine storey building, there is
an increase in values by 32% upto 3° tilted building after which the values drop back
to almost the same as that of non tilted diagrid building. This pattern is similar to the
observed values of maximum displacements.
3.2.3 Storey Shear
Figure 4a–c shows the maximum storey shear observed in the analyses conducted. It
is observed that the overall shear values of tilted diagrid buildings decreases by 3%
when compared to the diagrid building without any tilt in the case of three storey
buildings. In the case of six storey buildings, the value first increases by 34% then a
drop of 12% occurs after which the value again increases by 12% then finally reduces
to almost the same values of 1° tilted building. In the nine storey building, there is
Fig. 3 a Maximum storey drift of 3 storey building, b maximum storey drift of 6 storey building,
c maximum storey drift of 9 storey building
Fig. 4 a Maximum story shear of 3 storey building, b maximum storey shear of 6 storey building,
c maximum storey shear of 9 storey building
Fig. 5 a Maximum overturning moment of 3 storey building, b maximum overturning moment of

6 storey building, c maximum overturning moment of 9 storey building
an increase in values by 30% upto 3° tilted building after which the values drop back
to almost the same as that of non tilted diagrid building.
3.2.4 Overturning Moment
Figure 5a–c shows the maximum storey overturning moment observed in the analyses
conducted. It can be observed that the storey overturning moment of non tilted diagrid
building, 1°, 2° and 3° overlap each other while 4° tilted building has much higher
values in the case of three storey buildings. In the case of six storey buildings, the
storey overturning moment of non tilted diagrid building, 1°, 3° and 4° overlap each
other while 2° tilted building has much higher values. In the nine storey building,
there is an overlap of curves from 1° to 4° while the values of non tilted diagrid
building is much higher.
The effect of tilt in three buildings, with 3, 6 and 9 storey buildings studied in this
study. The buildings were tilted in the x-direction at an angle of 1°, 2°, 3° and 4°
Table 4 Results of modal analysis and time history analysis

3 storey building 6 storey building 9 storey building
Undamped natural Decrease by 0.07% Decrease by 1% Decrease by 1%
frequency
Maximum storey Decrease by less than First increases when First increases when
displacement 10% titled up to 3° then titled up to 3° then
decreases decreases
Storey drift Decrease by less than First increases when First increases when
10% titled up to 3° then titled up to 3° then
decreases decreases
Storey shear Decrease by less than First increases when First increases when
10% titled up to 3° then titled up to 3° then
decreases decreases
Storey overturning Decrease by less than First increases when First increases when
moment 10% titled by 1° then it goes titled by 1° then it goes
on decreasing on decreasing
respectively. Modal analysis and time history analysis were conducted and the results
are summarised in Table 4. The views on the various results obtained are discussed
in the conclusions.
5 Conclusions
The unique compositional characteristics of diagrid structure provide lateral stiffness

very efficiently and at the same time produce distinguished architecture as aesthetics
in any existing cityscapes. Diagrid systems can be adopted for better designs of
buildings with tilt. The following conclusions may be arrived at based on the results
of the study conducted. Lateral stiffness of the tilted diagrids is very much similar to
that of a prismatic diagrid for 3 storey building, and up to 2° in the case of 6 storeys
and 9 storey building. Hence it is possible to tilt a 3 storey diagrid building up to
4° without compromising the performance of the building. In the case of 6 and 9
storey tilted diagrid buildings, diagrid buildings can be tilted up to 2° safely without
compromising the performance of the building.
Today’s complex-shaped tall buildings require more detailed system design, anal-
ysis and construction. Not only architectural but also structural and other related
performance issues should be considered holistically to produce better performing
and the higher quality built environment.
References
1. Jani K, Patel PV (2013) Design of diagrid structural system for high rise buildings as per Indian
Standards. Structures congress 2013, ASCE
2. Kim J, Jun Y, Lee YH (2010) Seismic performance evaluation of diagrid system buildings. In:
2nd Specialty conference on disaster mitigation
3. Joshi RS, Dhyani DJ (2017) A review on novel structural development in tall building: diagrid
structure. Int J Adv Eng Res Dev
4. Jani K, Patel PV (2013) Analysis and design of diagrid structural system for high rise steel
buildings. Procedia Eng 51:92–100
5. Lee H-U, Kim Y-C (2017) Preliminary design of tall building structures with a hexagrid system.
Procedia Eng 171:1085–1091
6. Shah MI, Mevada SV, Patel VB (2016) Comparative study of diagrid structures with conventional
frame structures. Int J Eng Res Appl 6(5), (Par-2). ISSN: 2248-9622
7. Montuori GM et al (2014) Geometrical patterns for diagrid buildings: exploring alternative
design strategies from the structural point of view. Eng Struct 71(2014):112–127
8. Kim T-H, Lee H-U, Kim Y-C (2017) Development of a building structural system using an
IsoTruss® grid. Procedia Eng 171:1077–1084
9. IS:1893 (Part-I)-2002 (2002) Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures. Bureau of
Indian Standard, New Delhi
Investigation on the Suitability of Jarofix
as a Fine Aggregate Replacement
in Concrete Building Blocks
Robert V. Thomas and Deepa G. Nair
Abstract Excessive utilization of natural resources and dumping of waste mate-

rials aggravates environmental degradation. Utilization of a locally available indus-
trial waste facing disposal issues—Jarofix as fine aggregate replacement in concrete
building blocks is investigated through this research. Test results justify the potential
of jarofix for replacement of fine aggregate up to 30% in concrete building blocks with
improved strength characteristics. Test on structural masonry verify the suitability
of these blocks over conventional concrete blocks.
Keywords Jarofix · Fine aggregate · Construction building blocks · Structural

masonry
1 Introduction
Concrete building blocks are most popular these days due to its easy availability and
economic viability compared with other conventional alternatives. But usually the
strength and durability of these blocks are found far below building standards due
to competition among the local manufacturers in reducing the cost compromising to
quality. Utilization of alternative materials replacing cement and natural aggregates
needs attention at this juncture. Environmental issues arising due to excessive sand
mining urges the need for alternative materials to replace conventionally used fine
aggregate (river sand).
Jarosite produced during the extraction of Zinc ore concentrate is a locally
available industrial waste in Cochin facing disposal issues. Jarosite is disposed
by combining it with cement and lime to form a composite namely jarofix. Chen
et al. [1] and Seyer et al. [2] carried out mineralogical study of Jarofix and reported
R. V. Thomas (B) · D. G. Nair

School of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, Kerala 682022,
India
D. G. Nair

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55115-5_85
950 R. V. Thomas and D. G. Nair
better mechanical strength and durability characteristics over jarosite. Pappu et al.
[3, 4] studied the utilization potential of jarosite in soil stabilization for reducing the
shrinkage of clay. He also observed that the compressive strength and durability char-
acteristics of jarofix are compactable to that of any construction material confirming
standards. Havanagi et al. [5] and Vsevolod et al. [6] also suggested different appli-
cations of jarofix in general civil engineering applications. Sharma [7] reported that
the physico-chemical characterization of jarosite has applications in building blocks,
tiles, cement and other composites. According to Arora et al. [8] jarofix has positive
effects on compressive and flexural strength of hardened concrete. This paper inves-
tigates the feasibility of using jarofix as an alternative source of fine aggregate to
partially replace river sand in solid concrete blocks suitable for structural masonry.
Experimental programme includes the characterization of the materials, mix opti-

mization for building blocks, block making and tests on structural masonry. Details
of experiments and results are presented.
2.1 Material Characterization
Cement, river sand (fine aggregate), 6 mm broken stone (coarse aggregate) and jarofix
are the materials used for this study.
• Cement: Cement used was ordinary portland cement satisfying the requirements
of IS 4031–1988 [9] and IS 8112–1989 [10] under the commercial name Malabar
cement.
• Fine aggregates: River sand passing through 4.75 mm IS sieve and retained at
150 micron sieve satisfying the requirements of IS: 383–1970 [11] are used in
this study. Figure 1 shows the particle size distribution of river sand. It indicate a
uniform distribution of particles lying under Zone II.
• Jarofix: Jarofix samples collected from Binani Zinc Ltd., Kochi, Kerala were
subjected to different tests as per IS 383-1970. Jarofix include Sodium
Jarosite (NaFe3 (SO4 )2 (OH)6 )—80%, Hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2 )—5% and Port-
land Cement—15%. Table 1 shows the physical properties and chemical compo-
sition of jarofix. Figure 2 shows the particle size distribution of jarofix. It indicates
the presence of very fine particles lying between 0.0016 and 0.352 mm.
• X-ray diffraction analysis of jarofix was conducted using Bruker AXS D8 Advance
X-ray diffraction system operating with a 50 kV, 50 mA Cu radiation source.
The diffraction pattern of the sample shows the presence of gypsum, bassanite,
anhydrite, natrojarosite, quartz and magnetite (Fig. 3).
Investigation on the Suitability of Jarofix as a Fine … 951
100
80
Percentage finer
60
40
20
0
0.1 1 10
ParƟcle size in mm
Fig. 1 Particle size distribution of fine aggregate (river sand)
Table 1 Properties of jarofix

Physical properties
Moisture content 35%
Bulk density 1.26
Chemical composition
Component %
Fe 15.0–20.0
Ca 7.5–9.0
SiO2 10–12
Zn 2.0–3.0
Pb 3.0–5.0
pH 8.0–9.0
• Coarse aggregate: 6 mm nominal size broken stone satisfying the requirements

of IS 383-1970 was used as the coarse aggregate for this study. Figure 4 indicates
the particle size distribution.
2.2 Mix Optimization and Casting of Blocks
Concrete mixes (1:4:8) were prepared with river sand and jarofix as fine aggregates.
Mixes are designated as JC0, JC1, JC2, JC3 and JC4 based on the replacement
levels of fine aggregate with jarofix varying from 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%
respectively. Cube specimens of size 150 mm × 150 mm × 150mm were cast and
compressive strength test was conducted after 28 days as per IS: 2185 part I-2005
[12]. Trial mixes are done for different mixes with water cement ratios 0.40, 0.42,
100
80
Percentage finer
60
40
20
0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1
ParƟcle size in mm
Fig. 2 Particle size distribution of jarofix
Fig. 3 X-ray diffraction pattern of jarofix
0.45 and 0.50. Mixes with low water binder ratios (0.40 to 0.45) were found less
workable owing to the higher water requirement of jarofix. Hence further studies
were done with water binder ratio 0.50 for all mixes. Tests on density (ASTM C
140–03 [13]) and water absorption (IS 1237 [14]) were also conducted. Results are
shown in Table 2.
100
80
Percentage finer
60
40
20
0
0.1 1 10
ParƟcle size in mm
Fig. 4 Particle size distribution of coarse aggregates
Table 2 Test results—mix optimization—1:4:8 mix

S. No. Mix w/c Fine aggregate Average Average Water
designation ratio replacement COMPRESSIVE density absorption
with jarofix strength (N/mm2 ) (kg/m3 ) (%)
% Jarofix 28 days 28 days
1 JC0 0.50 0 5.48 2089 7.58
2 JC1 0.50 10 9.00 2113 9.12
3 JC2 0.50 20 10.05 2128 9.35
4 JC3 0.50 30 11.00 2153 9.70
5 JC4 0.50 40 10.18 2105 9.98
All the mix proportions were found satisfying the strength characteristics and
hence blocks were cast by using all proportions. Solid concrete blocks (40 cm ×
20 cm x 15 cm) were cast using hydraulic block making machine (H800 from Nova
engineering company) and kept as such for 24 h in the production yard. Blocks were
then kept immersed in a water tank for 28 days. After curing, blocks were taken out,
wiped off and subjected to different tests. Blocks were designated as JB0, JB1, JB2,
JB3 and JB4 similar to the mix designations for optimization.
2.3 Tests on Building Blocks
Determination of compressive strength, density and water absorption were conducted

as per standards. Building blocks after curing were subjected to compressive strength
test according to IS:2185 Part 3 (1984) [15] using a compressive strength testing
Table 3 Test results on concrete building blocks

S. No. Mix w/c ratio Fine 28th day Average Average
designation aggregate average density water
replacement compressive (Kg/m3 ) absorption
with Jarofix strength (%)
(%) (N/mm2 )
1 JB0 0.50 0 5.18 2168 7.81
2 JB1 0.50 10 5.66 2177 8.57
3 JB2 0.50 20 6.41 2189 8.81
4 JB3 0.50 30 7.19 2243 9.23
5 JB4 0.50 40 5.63 2099 9.65
machine of maximum capacity 2000 kN. Density of the blocks were determined
as per ASTM C 140-03 and water absorption test was conducted as per IS: 1237.
Results of the above tests are presented in Table 3.
2.4 Test on Structural Masonry
Prisms were constructed with control block (JB0) and JB3 blocks having maximum
strength using cement mortar 1:6 (16 N/mm2 ). Capping was also done with the same
mortar according to IS: 1905-1983 [16]. A height to thickness (h/t) ratio of 3.25 was
maintained for prism. Mortar thickness was limited to 1 cm. Figure 5a, b shows the
dimensions of prism and test setup.
40 cm
65 cm
(a) (b)
Fig. 5 a Dimensions of prism. b Test set up of prism

Table 4 Strength characteristics of structural masonry

Block Size (mm) Masonry Correction Normalized Block Masonry
masonry L B D strength factor strength strength efficiency
(N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 ) (N/mm2 ) (%)
Control 400 200 650 3.88 1.09 4.23 5.18 81.62
block
masonry
Jarofix 400 200 650 5.38 1.09 5.86 7.19 81.45
block
masonry
These samples were cured for 28 days and subjected to compressive strength test
in universal testing machine as per ASTM C 1314-12 [17]. Gradually increasing
axial compressive load at a rate of 5 kN was applied to the specimens till failure and
ultimate load was noted. The strain was measured using Demec-guage of 200 mm
guage length. Stress and Strain were noted for regular intervals of 25 kN and graph
is plotted as shown in Fig. 10. Normalized compressive strength of masonry with
correction factor 1.09 (ASTM C 1314-12) and masonry efficiency (ratio between
masonry strength and block strength) were also found out. Results are presented in
Table 4.
Discussion on the variations in compressive strength, water absorption, density with

respect to different levels of replacements and characteristics of structural masonry
are presented below.
In concurrence with the test results for mix optimization, similar variations were
observed in the compressive strength of concrete building blocks (Fig. 6).
Strength was found increasing on increasing the replacement of fine aggregate
up to 30% and decreasing thereafter. Finer jarofix particles get packed up between
the interface of fine aggregates and coarse aggregates, reducing the entrapped air,
densifying the mix and resulting in improved compressive strength. Presence of
gypsum, cement and lime in the jarofix also imparts additional strength. Homogeneity
of the mix was found reducing on further increasing the replacements due to the
formation of boulders and resulted in the reduction in strength.
10
(N/mm 2) 5
0
0 10 20 30 40
Replacement (%)
Fig. 6 Variation in the 28th day compressive strength
Water absorption of jarofix concrete blocks were found increasing on increasing the
percentage of jarofix as shown in Fig. 7. Fineness nature of jarofix and presence of
gypsum in jarofix can be considered for the increased rates of water absorption. Even
though the water absorption was higher, the results were found within the specified
limits.
10
Water absorpƟon %
5
0 10 20 30 40 50 100
Replacement (%)
Fig. 7 Comparison of water absorption

2250
2200
Density (kg/m³)
2150
2100
2050
2000
0 10 20 30 40
Replacement of fine aggregate (%)
Fig. 8 Variation in density with respect to % of replacement
3.3 Density
Density of concrete blocks showed a similar variation as that of compressive strength

(Fig. 8). This can be due to the presence of denser matrix resulted from the filler
effect of finer jarofix particles. Above 30%, reduction in the density occurs due to
the non-homogeneity of the mix resulted from the boulder formation.
3.4 Tests on Structural Masonry
Masonry efficiency of the prisms showed similar variations with respect to corre-
sponding block strength and masonry strength. Figure 9a, b shows the pictures of
the failure patterns of prisms made with control block masonry (JB0) and proposed
jarofix masonry (JB3). Compression failures in both the units were found similar as
seen in the figure. Since both the masonry units were made by blocks having strength
lower than that of mortar, failures were visible through the surface of the blocks. On
applying the load, cracks were found gradually progressing towards the top from the
bottom. Scattered cracks were observed in both the specimens on increasing the load
showing the ductile nature of failure. Prisms were able to withstand higher loads
even after initial cracks, confirming this nature. Figure 10 shows the comparison of
the stress–strain characteristics of prisms. Relatively higher E values were observed
for JB3 specimens compared to control specimens. Thus verifying the ductile nature
of cracks for JB3 masonry over control block masonry.
(a) (b)
Fig. 9 a JB0 Prism failure pattern. b JB3 Prism failure pattern
6.00
5.00
Stress (N/mm2)
4.00
Jarofix
3.00
2.00 River Sand
1.00
0.00
0.00000
0.00010
0.00020
0.00030
0.00040
0.00050
0.00060
0.00070
0.00080
Strain
Fig. 10 Stress–strain relationship—JB0 and JB3 prism
4 Conclusions
This research recommends a fine aggregate replacement of 30% with jarofix in the
production of concrete building blocks suitable for load bearing structural masonry.
Improvements in the surface texture of proposed blocks, reduction in cost and compa-
rable durability characteristics are positive features of these blocks. Utilization of a
waste material to replacing river sand, a depleting natural resource also add to the
sustainability of these blocks.
References
1. Chen TT, Dutrizac JE (2000) A mineralogical study of jarofix products for the stabilisation of
jarosite disposal. The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS), pp 917–933
2. Seyer S, Chen TT, Dutrizec JE (2001) Jarofix: addressing iron disposal in the zinc industry. J
Mineral 53(12):32–35
3. Pappu A (2004) Application of coal combustion residues for hazardous waste management.
Ph.D. thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India
4. Pappu A, Saxena M, Asolekar SR (2005) Coal combustion residues—environmental implica-
tions and recycling potentials. Resour Conserv Recycl 43(4):239–252
5. Havanagi VG, Sinha AK, Arora VK, Mathur S (2012) Waste materials for construction of road
embankment and pavement layers. Int J Environ Eng Res 1:51–59
6. Vsevolod AM, Haroldo AP, Patricio RI (2005) Potential application of acid Jarosite wastes as
the main component of construction materials. J Constr Build Mater 19:141–146
7. Sharma P (2016) Feasibility study of industrial jarosite waste as vital material for construction:
positive and negative aspects. Malays J Civil Eng 28(1):139–154
8. Arora V, Sachdeva SN, Aggarwal P (2015) Effect of use of Jarosite on workability and early
age strength of concrete. Int J Comput Math Sci IJCMS 4(Special Issue). ISSN 2347-8527
9. IS 4031-1988, Methods of physical tests for hydraulic cement, Bureau of Indian standards,
New Delhi, India
10. IS 8112-1989, Specification for 43 grade ordinary Portland cement
11. IS:383-1970, Specification for coarse and fine aggregate. Bureau of Indian standards, New
Delhi, India
12. IS 2185-2005: Concrete masonry units, part 1: Hollow and solid concrete blocks, Bureau of
Indian standards, New Delhi, India
13. ASTM C 140-03, Standard test methods for sampling and testing concrete masonry units and
related units. ASTM International
14. IS: 1237 Standard test method for rate of water absorption
15. IS:2185 Part 3 (1984)
16. IS: 1905-1983, Indian standard code of practice for structural use of unreinforced masonry.
Bureau of Indian standards, New Delhi, India
17. ASTM C 1314-12, Standard test method for compressive strength of masonry prisms, ASTM
International

10.1007@978 3 030 55115 5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

10.1007@978 3 030 55115 5

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

10.1007@978 3 030 55115 5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

Kaustubh Dasgupta · T. K. Sudheesh ·

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15087

K. I. Praseeda G. Unni Kartha

P. E. Kavitha S. Jawahar Saud

Proceedings of SECON 2020

K. I. Praseeda G. Unni Kartha

ISSN 2366-2557 ISSN 2366-2565 (electronic)

Angamaly, India Dr. P. E. Kavitha

Performance Evaluation on the Properties of Metakaolin—Fly Ash

Investigation on Performance of Fly Ash Based Self Compacting

Experimental Study of Self-cleaning Concrete by Using Various

Analytical Study of GFRG Laminated Beam with Internally

An Effective Replacement of Granite and Marble Powder on Cement

Collapse and Buckling Behavior of Octagonal Concrete Filled Steel

Effect of Communication Patterns in Safety Performance

Diagrid Structural System for Tilted Steel Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939

K. Aswani and C. A. Abin Thomas

Abstract Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is concrete which is proportioned in such

Keywords Self-compacting concrete · Flyash · Metakaolin

K. Aswani (B) · C. A. Abin Thomas

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

Table 1 Physical properties

Table 2 Physical properties

Fig. 1 Gradation curve of FA

Table 3 Physical properties

Flyash and Metakaolin

Polycarboxylate Ether Superplasticizer

Table 4 chemical properties

Table 5 Trial mix design of fly ash

Table 6 Trial mix design of metakaolin

4.1 Casting and Curing of Specimen

Table 7 List of tests on SCC

Fig. 2 Slump flow

4.2 Fresh Properties of SCC

4.3 Properties of Hardened Concrete

Fig. 3 L box test

Fig. 4 V Funnel test

Fig. 5 Compressive strength

Fig. 6 Tensile strength

Fig. 7 Flexural strength

5 Result and Discussion

5.1 Properties of Fresh Concrete

Table 8 Slump flow test

Table 9 L box and V funnel

Table 11 Splitting tensile strength and flexural strength

5.2 Properties on Hardened Concrete

1. Mahalingam B, Nagamanib K, Kannan LS, Haneefaa KM, Bahurudeend A (2016) Assessment of

K. S. Sreekeshava , A. S. Arunkumar, Manish S. Dharek,

Abstract The concrete is a composite material made by proper proportions of

Keywords Geo-fabrics · Reinforcement · Polypropylene · Construction · Brittle

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 11

Beams are one dimensional horizontal structural members predominantly subjected

Fig. 1 a Uniaxial geo-fabric; b biaxial geo-fabric; c tri-axial geo-fabric

is to investigate the flexural behavior of polypropylene (PP) Biaxial Geo-fabrics with

2.1 Basic Material Characterisation

Table 1 Properties of cement

Table 2 Properties of Coarse aggregate

Table 3 Properties of manufacturing sand (M-sand)