SCMASS research group is composed of accomplished faculty members with research interests in the area of sustainable and novel construction materials and structural systems. With the recent focus of the community towards sustainability, researchers have sought new alternatives to move toward a low carbon future. Developing and testing an innovative buckling restrained brace for cyclic qualification based on the AISC 341 provision test protocol.
Conducting analytical analyses to capture the experimental behavior and set a benchmark for further analytical parametric studies. Six BRB samples of three different cross-sections of core units were fabricated and then subjected to uniaxial cyclic loading following the AISC 341 qualification testing protocol. A 3D NLFEA model of the best performing BRB specimen was created using the commercial software package ABAQUS.
The experimental results showed that the new BRB system successfully passed the qualification acceptance testing criteria of AISC 341-10 by attaining cumulative displacements of 218 Δby and 267 Δby, using all through threaded and smooth shaved middle section stainless steel core bars, respectively. The NLFEA results had a notable agreement with the experimental results in terms of overall hysteretic behavior.
Research Project II
Seismic Retrofitting of Deficient Reinforced Concrete Buildings using Buckling Restrained Braces and Innovative Materials. Competitive Research Grant) PI : Dr. The experimental research results showed that the stiffness of the control frame increased by 70% as a result of strengthening by BRB. The lateral story drift of the BRB strengthened frame was 46% less compared to the control frame at this stage of testing.
The dissipation of hysteretic energy for the control frame reached to maximum at 0.435g whereas the BRB strengthened frame exhibited high strength capacity without any marked change in its stiffness at 0.679g. Investigate the effect of different concrete types on the flexural behavior and deflection of beams reinforced with GFRP bars. Evaluate the adaptability of ACI 440-R1-06 for predicting the strength and deformations of beams made with different concrete types.
Research Project III
Competitive Research Grant)PI : Dr. All beams failed due to concrete crushing at the compression zone. Experimental Study on The Effect of Matrix on the Flexural Behavior of Beams Reinforced with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Bars. Seismicity is evaluated in terms of spectral acceleration (SA) and Peak ground acceleration (PGA) for return periods of and 475 years.
Research Project IV
The largest PGA is estimated to be 0.22 g in the Ras Al-Khaimah coastal region for a return period of 2,475 years and 0.12 g in-land Dibba region for a return period of 475 years. Targeted Research Grant)PI : Prof. Investigate the effect of macro synthetic fibers on punching shear resistance, punching shear area, and cracking behaviour of reinforced concrete slabs.
Research Project V
Investigate the effect of macro synthetic fibers on punching shear resistance, punching shear area, and cracking behaviour of reinforced concrete slabs. Competitive Research Grant)PI : Prof. The results have shown that the addition of 0.5% and 1% of macro synthetic fiber to the slab increased punching shear strength by 30% and 70% and increased energy absorbance by 40% and 80%, respectively. The inclusion of macro synthetic fibers changed the failure pattern in terms of punching shear area and cracking density.
While the control slabs behaved in a brittle manner with large punching area and low crack intensity, the FRC slabs failed in a more ductile manner with more defined, smaller punching area, and higher crack intensity. Study the flexural response, before and after strengthening, of Geopolymer concrete beams reinforced with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars as main and only reinforcement. Investigate the applicability of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) as a strengthening regime for such systems.
Research Project VI
The beams were substantially damaged up to 50% of their capacities, then repaired and strengthened using CFRP sheets in different regimes. CFRP sheets were able to restore the original moment capacities of the damaged beams only in cases where significant development length for such strengthening was provided. In cases where significant development length was not provided, short flat and short U, the failure happened at much lower loads than the reference beams at the interface of the CFRP sheet and concrete.
Flexural Response of Geopolymer and Fiber Reinforced Geopolymer Concrete Beams Reinforced with GFRP Bars and Strengthened Using CFRP Sheets. 18 beams were designed to be deficient in shear and reinforced with 3#22 GFRP bars as main reinforcement, 8 mm GFRP stirrups were spaced at 200 mm center to center. Evaluate the effectiveness of shear strengthening of such beams using externally-bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (EB-CFRP) sheets.
Two beams : the location of the EB-CFRP sheet coincides with the location of internal stirrups (On). Two strengthened beams : the EB-CFRP sheets were in between the corresponding location of internal shear stirrups (Off).
Research Project VII
The application of EB-CFRP sheets did contribute in increasing the shear capacity of strengthened beams. -CFRP sheets attached with the location of internal stirrups resulted in lower shear capacity gains but underwent larger deflections. Specimens made GPC and GFRP reinforcement resulted in similar behavioral trend to the control specimens made of OPCC and GFRP reinforcement.
Experimental Study on Shear Response of GFRP Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened with Externally Bonded CFRP Sheets. To present a flexural characterization and ductility assessment of small beams where the reinforcement was 3D-printed using a FDM printer. The reinforcement was rebar-like, and lugs were introduced to the surface to enhance the bond with the matrix.
Research Project VIII
In terms of peak load, CF-PETG material was the strongest, while in terms of energy absorption, PETG was the best. In general, the 2-mm lugs rebars showed the best behavior due the better bond with the mortar. Competitive Research Grant)PI : Dr. Flexural Characterization and Ductility Assessment of Small-scale Mortar Beams Reinforced with 3D-printed Polymers.
Research Project IX
The crack opening rate in beams reinforced with HES fibers reduced with increasing the fiber dosages; the lowest crack opening rate value of 0.31 ÎĽm/day was obtained for the set reinforced with 20 kg/m3 (0.5% by volume) where the crack evolution started to stabilize. Higher crack opening rate of 0.6 ÎĽm/day was observed for beams reinforced with 4.6 kg/m3 (0.5% by volume) of MS fibers compared with beams reinforced with lower fiber dosages. However, the crack evolution rate reduction with time was higher in the specimens reinforced with 4.6 kg/m3 and experienced higher crack evolution, indicating that the crack evolution may stabilize before the sets reinforced with lower dosages.
Objectives Methodology Results PI : Prof. Utilize the 3D-printed thermoplastics as both reinforcement and formwork at the same time. Study the possibility of having an external formwork-like reinforcement and investigating the capabilities of.
Ongoing Research Project I
Competitive Research Grant)PI :Dr. The PETG reinforced beam failure was very brittle as the PETG was the least ductile material. The PLA reinforced beam exhibited the highest ductility among all tested beams, with energy absorption almost equal to the steel reinforced beams.
Ongoing Research Project II
Objectives Methodology Results Objectives Methodology Results (Competitive Research Grant)PI : Prof. Assess the residual flexural-tensile parameter for FRC. Correlate the residual strength parameters obtained using different testing standard protocols to establish a unified performance-based material characteristic parameters to be used in design guidelines for steel and synthetic FRC. The total number of beams to be casted and tested is 324 small beams varying fiber type, dosage, aspect ratio, and compressive strength.
Ongoing Research Project III
Ongoing Research Project IV
The energy dissipation of the frame equipped with stainless steel damper was almost double of the same of the control frame.
