Ultra-High Performance Concrete and Lattice Models

Abstract

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is an evolving structural material that has attracted interest in the civil engineering industry recently. Currently, it is being used mainly for highway infrastructure in the US and also being explored for various other applications. The existing design guides on UHPC in countries like Japan, Australia and France are not as detailed as the concrete or steel guides. Most of the sections made of UHPC are slender due to its superior mechanical properties which are expected to simplify construction. Being an expensive material to use, making slender sections also helps to minimize the overall cost of the structure and makes it competitive with that of high strength steel and prestressed concrete. It has also been demonstrated to have very high compressive strength and considerable tensile strength.

To begin with, an introduction on UHPC and its current applications around the world is presented, followed by a review of the existing design guides on UHPC. The importance as well as the methodology to measure fracture energy of concrete with factors to be considered for fiber reinforced concrete is discussed in detail. The main motive of this research is to introduce a creative modeling concept which served as the theoretical basis for the development of a computer program called Lattice 3D. The program is a modeling tool for engineers studying the behavior of UHPC, and in the future will be developed into a finite element protocol for analyzing complex structures made of UHPC. Parametric studies on lattice models of thin simply supported plates in compression and three-point bending of beams have been demonstrated in this research. Experimental tests conducted on briquette specimens under uniaxial tension are also discussed.