Publications related to Traffic-Based Condition Assessment and Fatigue-Life Predictions for a Highway Bridge

Strain engineering and strain measurement by spring tethers on suspended epitaxial GaN-on-Si photonic crystal devices

Suspended epitaxial gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon (Si) photonic crystal devices suffer from large residual tensile strain, especially for long waveguides, because fine structures tend to crack due to large stress. By introducing spring-like tethers, des ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2024

Influence of model uncertainty and long term deformations in action effects calculation in reinforced concrete structures

Xhemsi Malja

Most codes of practice adopt a semi probabilistic design approach for the dimensioning and assessment of structures. Accordingly, structural safety is ensured by performing limit state verifications using design values determined with adequately calibrated ...

EPFL2024

Experimental and analytical investigation of shear-reinforced concrete and dowel action

Marko Pejatovic

Codes of practice can be overly conservative, particularly for the shear resistance of reinforced concrete beams with shear reinforcement when large loads act close to supports. This thesis addresses the topic by proposing a refined design approach based o ...

EPFL2024

Strain-based analysis on the influence of local undercut geometry on fatigue crack initiation life

Alain Nussbaumer, Heikki Tapani Remes, Abinab Niraula

The local undercut defects at the weld toe provide a potential initiation site for fatigue cracks and significantly impact the structure's fatigue strength. The influence of continuous undercut depth on fatigue performance is widely studied, but the resear ...

2024

Reliability analysis and partial safety format calibration considering the characteristics of the resistance of reinforced concrete structures

Qianhui Yu

Every engineering calculation is an approximation of reality, with inevitable uncertainties involved. This fact implies that a reliability verification accounting for the uncertainties is a necessary step in the design and assessment of structures. Nowaday ...

EPFL2023

Panorama of approaches to reuse concrete pieces: identification and critical comparison

Célia Marine Küpfer, Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet

Practices that reuse concrete pieces in new building or infrastructure projects are currently diversifying as concrete reuse gains more and more relevance for sustainability. The present research provides a yet missing identification of the main approaches ...

IOP Publishing2023

On the slip burst amplitude cutoff in dislocation-rich microcrystals

Andreas Mortensen, Luciano Borasi

The plastic deformation of small-scale face-centered cubic metals exhibits intermittent slip burst events that appear on stress-strain curves as sudden strain jumps and/or load drops. These events are generally attributed to the avalanche-like cooperative ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Does carbon footprint reduction impair mechanical properties and service life of concrete?

Karen Scrivener, Diana Londoño Zuluaga

The aim of this study is to evaluate how much the changes in the concrete mix design, which enable carbon footprint reduction, are impacting mechanical properties and predicted service life of concrete structure. The starting point of this study was concre ...

SPRINGER2023

Considerations on the partial safety factor format for reinforced concrete structures accounting for multiple failure modes

Aurelio Muttoni, Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Qianhui Yu

The increasing usage of nonlinear analyses for the design of reinforced concrete structures and the necessity of codes of practice to provide a consistent safety format for them is one of the challenges that new generations of codes of practice are facing. ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2022

Design of slender and squat reinforced concrete members with shear reinforcement

Aurelio Muttoni, Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Marko Pejatovic

As proposed in several design standards for structural concrete, including Eurocode 2 (EN:1992-1-1:2004) and fib's Model Code 2010, the shear design of slender members with shear reinforcement can be performed by means of consistent models based on suitabl ...

ERNST & SOHN2022

Influence of sustained loading on resistance and deformation capacity of reinforced concrete members in compression

Aurelio Muttoni, Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Xhemsi Malja

As acknowledged explicitly or implicitly in most of current design codes, a high level of sustained loading has a detrimental effect on the concrete compressive strength. However, its beneficial effect in terms of deformation capacity is neglected in most ...

ERNST & SOHN2022

Bending strain in 3D topological semi-metals

Amelia Emily-Kay Estry, Xiangwei Huang, Philip Johannes Walter Moll, Jonas De Jesus Diaz Gomez, Matthias Carsten Putzke

We present an experimental set-up for the controlled application of strain gradients by mechanical piezoactuation on 3D crystalline microcantilevers that were fabricated by focused ion beam machining. A simple sample design tailored for transport character ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2022

Fire performance evaluation of GFRP-balsa sandwich bridge decks

Niloufar Vahedi

Bridges are a critical component of national infrastructures and economies. A significant percentage of bridges built all around the world are made of reinforced concrete which according to building codes have a life span between 80-100 years. However, str ...

EPFL2022

Re:Crete - A Footbridge made of Reused Concrete Blocks

Maléna Bastien Masse, Célia Marine Küpfer, Julie Rachel Devènes, Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Jan Friedrich Georg Brütting

Today, concrete is the most widely used construction material worldwide. Strong, versatile, durable, and vector of economic development, this exceptional material is also the principal cause of greenhouse-gas emissions, material depletion and waste generat ...

Asociación Española de Ingeniería Estructura2022

Influence of amount of shear reinforcement and its post-yield response on the shear resistance of reinforced concrete members

Aurelio Muttoni, Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Frédéric Monney

The minimum amount of shear reinforcement to be provided in reinforced concrete members has been a topic of debate and research for decades without reaching a consensus. Defining such values is however instrumental to build in an economic manner and to saf ...

ERNST & SOHN2022

Experimental investigation of a keying joint cast in UHPFRC between precast UHPFRC bridge elements

Eugen Brühwiler, Enrique García, Ngoc Thanh Trinh, Numa Joy Bertola

Ultra High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite (UHPFRC) is increasingly popular for new structural designs thanks to its high resistance both in tension and compression. When UHPFRC is complemented with steel reinforcing bars or prestressin ...

2022

Experimental investigation of dowel action using advanced measurement techniques

Aurelio Muttoni, Marko Pejatovic

Existing shear-cracked structures need to be reliably verified in order to avoid redundant interventions. Code provisions often raise shear safety and/or fatigue life concerns of the reinforcement subjected to stress concentrations due to cyclic dowel acti ...

2022

Fatigue examination of reinforced-concrete bridge slabs using acoustic emission and strain monitoring data

Imane Bayane

The examination of bridges under service loading is key for understanding their condition and thus for their sustainable and efficient use. The need to extend the service duration of existing bridges is increasing, and therefore, efficient tools for examin ...

EPFL2021

Deformational behavior and damage mechanism of R-UHPFRC beam subjected to fatigue loading

Eugen Brühwiler, Bartlomiej Wojciech Sawicki, Antoine Bassil

The fatigue behavior of a reinforced UHPFRC (Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious composite) T-shaped beam under four-point bending is investigated. The beam was subjected to a fatigue loading range equal to 49% of the static resistance and ...

2021

Investigation of fatigue damage in a RC deck slab due to moving loads through long-term monitoring of a road viaduct

Eugen Brühwiler, Imane Bayane

The behavior of reinforced-concrete structural elements under moving loads involves many complex parameters related to material properties, vehicle loading, environmental changes and structural response. It is difficult to generate the real conditions of l ...

Taylor & Francis2021