A final report submitted to the Infrastructure Technology Institute DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the information presented herein. This Document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Synopsis: There have been numerous studies that have aimed at improving the low tensile strength, stiffness, and...

Suppose an agent builds a policy that satisfactorily solves a decision problem; suppose further that some aspects of this policy are abstracted and used as starting point in a new, different decision problem. How can the agent accrue the benefits of the abstract policy in the new concrete problem? In this paper we propose a framework for simultaneous reinforcement learning, where the abstract p...

Modeling of reinforced concrete structures through the use of 3D detailed models derives significant numerical issues especially when dealing with large-scale meshes that incorporate large numbers of reinforcement bars embedded in the hexahedral mesh. In 3D detailed reinforced concrete simulations, mapping the reinforcement grid inside the concrete hexahedral finite elements is performed using ...

Civil infrastructure can suffer from concrete cracks due to the creep, shrinkage, diverse natural loading, aging, and corrosion of reinforcement. Concrete cracks are one of the important features when analyzing the current condition of concrete structures. The shape, length, and width information on concrete cracks are possible to conduct an initial maintenance for the structure safety. General...

Ever since its description, anterolateral ligament (ALL) of the knee joint remains as the hotspot of controversies.Though it has been described under various descriptions, the structure gained its limelight when it was christenedas anterolateral ligament by Claes in 2013. The main reason for the controversies around it is the lack of concreteevidences regarding its attachments...

Self Compacting Concrete offers many advantages over conventional concrete. It is mainly used when a great fluidity is required (For example sections with high percentage of reinforcement). Self Compacting Concrete has excellent applicability for elements with complicated shapes and congested reinforcement. An experimental study was made on cylinders and specimens with square sections confined ...

Reinforced concrete beams are normally designed as under-reinforced to provide ductile behaviour at failure i.e. the tensile moment of resistance, Mt(0), is less than the moment of resistance of the compressive zone, Mc. Since it is well established that the steel in reinforced concrete beams is prone to corrosion, the residual flexural strength is normally the main concern of asset managers. H...

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the mechanical properties of FRP reinforcement bars, used as internal reinforcement in concrete structures, at elevated temperatures. Two types of FRP bars namely: carbon fibre reinforced polyester bars of 9.5mm diameter and glass fibre reinforced polyester bars of 9.5mm and 12.7 mm diameter were used in the study. For comparison, conv...