An innovative system for the flexural strengthening of RC structures designated continuous reinforcement embedded at ends (CREatE) is presented in this research work. The main characteristics and procedures for the application of this new strengthening technique were described. To evaluate the performance and efficiency of this technique, a set of RC T-beams was subjected to a four-point bending test setup. The reference RC T-beam was not strengthened; all other RC T-beams were strengthened with postinstalled stainless steel bars. Different application arrangements and different amounts of reinforcement were considered, and the CREatE technique was tested under monotonic and cyclic loading histories. The tests were modeled using the nonlinear finite-element method (FEM) to predict the performance of the RC T-beams, which allowed analyzing, in detail and with good agreement with the experiments, the influence of the CREatE technique on the (1) strains developed in the concrete, (2) cracking patterns, and (3) strains developed in the stirrups. Apart from the expected increases in the flexural stiffness and load-bearing capacity of the T-beams, the results showed that the use of the CREatE technique led to higher ductility indexes in the displacement compared with traditional techniques. Moreover, with the CREatE technique, premature debonding of the reinforcement material from the concrete tensioned surface - commonly observed in externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) strengthening systems - was eliminated. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.

{Two new bis(aryl-imino)-acenaphthene, Ar-BIAN (Ar = 2

This paper reports on-chip rail-to-rail timing signals generation thin-film circuits for the first time. These circuits, based on a-IGZO thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a simple staggered bottom gate structure, allow row and column selection of a sensor matrix embedded in a flexible radiation sensing system. They include on-chip clock generator (ring oscillator), column selector (shift register) and row-selector (a frequency divider and a shift register). They are realised with rail-to-rail logic gates with level-shifting ability that can perform inversion and NAND logic operations. These logic gates are capable of providing full output swing between supply rails, $V_{DD}$ and $V_{SS}$ , by introducing a single additional switch for each input in bootstrapping logic gates. These circuits were characterised under normal ambient atmosphere and show an improved performance compared to the conventional logic gates with diode connected load and pseudo CMOS counterparts. By using these high-performance logic gates, a complete rail-to-rail frequency divider is presented from measurements using D-Flip Flop. In order to realize a complete compact system, an on-chip ring oscillator (output clock frequency around 1 kHz) and a shift register are also presented from simulations, where these circuits show a power consumption of 1.5 mW and 0.82 mW at a supply voltage of 8 V, respectively. While the circuit concepts described here were designed for an X-ray sensing system, they can be readily expanded to other domains where flexible on-chip timing signal generation is required, such as, smart packaging, biomedical wearable devices and RFIDs.

An analysis on the effect of the incorporation of coarse recycled concrete aggregates on the bond strength between concrete and embedded steel reinforcement is presented. The model’s uncertainty of the Level I provision of the anchorage length of fib Bulletin 72 on ribbed steel/recycled aggregate concrete bond is quantified. Afterwards, reliability analyses on the bond strength are made and a partial safety factor for the anchorage length of recycled concrete elements is proposed. The model’s uncertainty is evaluated through data from pullout tests, the only type of bond test that has been so far performed extensively on recycled aggregate concrete specimens. The limitations of this test in reproducing the bond of actual structural elements is discussed, and the model’s uncertainty is converted to that of lap splice tests. The bond strength of recycled aggregate concrete design was found to be less reliable than that of natural aggregate concrete, especially in the absence of confining reinforcement. For concrete with full recycled aggregate incorporation, a 25% increase in the anchorage length is proposed. Additional testing on the bond strength of lapped splices or beam-end specimens is recommended.

This paper analyses the studies made so far on the variability and reliability of recycled aggregate concrete. Since recycled aggregate concrete is seen by different agents of the construction industry as a variable material and no structural code has specifically been calibrated to its use, its role as a structural material is limited. Such calibration is hindered since specific research on the statistical and probabilistic data of recycled aggregate concrete properties is lacking.Investigations on the probabilistic knowledge of recycled aggregates and recycled aggregate concrete properties are discussed, and the studies made so far on the reliability of recycled aggregate concrete elements are summarised. Final remarks regarding the future prospects towards the consensual acceptance of recycled aggregate concrete structures are provided.

An investigation on the scatter of code-type constitutive models that relate compressive strength (fc) with tensile strength (fct) and Young’s modulus (Ec) of standard concrete specimens is presented. The influence of the mix design on the accuracy of the fc vs. fct and fc vs. Ecrelationships is discussed, with emphasis on the lithological type and morphology of the coarse aggregates. The uncertainty of the constitutive models is analysed in probabilistic terms and random variables that model the uncertainty of the fc vs. fct and fc vs. Ec relationships are proposed for reliability analyses of serviceability limit states. The suitability of the models proposed is assessed through preliminary conservative estimates of their design values.

ZnSnO3 semiconductor nanostructures have several applications as photocatalysis, gas sensors, and energy harvesting. However, due to its multicomponent nature, the synthesis is far more complex than its binary counter parts. The complexity increases even more when aiming for low-cost and low-temperature processes as in hydrothermal methods. Knowing in detail the influence of all the parameters involved in these processes is imperative, in order to properly control the synthesis to achieve the desired final product. Thus, this paper presents a study of the influence of the physical parameters involved in the hydrothermal synthesis of ZnSnO3 nanowires, namely volume, reaction time, and process temperature. Based on this study a growth mechanism for the complex Zn:Sn:O system is proposed. Two zinc precursors, zinc chloride and zinc acetate, were studied, showing that although the growth mechanism is inherent to the material itself, the chemical reactions for different conditions need to be considered.

Due to the ongoing technical advancements in robotics, new organizational and occupational impacts are expected in different sectors. The contribution of António Moniz and Bettina-Johanna Krings focuses on the social conditions under which technology is embedded into production processes. Thus, social distribution processes, demographic change, sustainability becomes more and more important when reflecting about "technology futures".
In particular they will ask:
How does automation change work & working conditions?
Which expectations on technology are strengthen-ing the concepts of work?
Which regulations and ethics principles must be considered (safety, autonomy, control)?
Which new competences and qualification dimen-sions will be raised for non-routine tasks in auto-mated environments?
Which new types of human-machine interaction can be developed with increased cyber-physical system application at the shopfloor?

Deterioration of adhesively bonded CFRP/steel systems in salt fog environment, i.e., deicing salts and ocean environments, has to be taken into account in the design of steel strengthened structures. In the present work, monotonic and quasi-static cyclic loading were applied to CFRP-to-steel double strap joints for two kinds of CFRP laminates after being aged for a period of 5000 h to evaluate the bond behavior. The bonded joints exposed to salt fog had a different failure mode than that observed in the control specimens (0 h of exposure). The severe reduction of the maximum bond stress resulted from damage initiation that occurred in the corrosion region of the steel substrate, associated with final partial rupture on the corroded steel substrate around the edge of the bonded area: it was also correlated with reduced load carrying capacity. Results of pseudo-cyclic tests showed that the relationship between a local damage parameter (D) and normalized local dissipated energy (Wd/Gf) and the normalized slip increment (ΔS/ΔSult) exhibited almost the same trend in the un-aged and aged bonded joints. The normalized slip increment can be seen as a direct indicator for the local and global damage for the un-aged and aged bonded joints. However, monotonic and quasi-static cyclic tests results revealed that the stress concentration due to local corrosion of steel substrate could lead to brittle rupture or accelerated cumulative damage once the aged bonded interface had become weaker. The bonded joints have exhibited also a smaller relative deformation capacity between CFRP and steel.

This paper evaluates and compares the statistics of compressive strength data from three Portuguese ready-mixed concrete plants. A hierarchical model showed that different groups of concrete strength records are not statistically equivalent, even if they were produced in the same plant and using the same concrete composition. This finding is related to autocorrelation. For the same specified strength class, compositions produced less often result in higher average compressive strength and variability. The statistics of one of the plants were quite different from those of the others, even though the concrete of this plant also complied with the specifications. It was found that the average compressive strength of a mix may be quite dependent on the plant that produced it, even if the compressive strength complies with quality control specifications. Conformity with the target slump and strength class was checked following the conformity criteria of EN 206-1 for continuous production. Nonconformity with slump is more frequent than failure to comply with the strength class. A bias factor for reliability analyses was proposed.

The bias factor of the Eurocode 2 [CEN (European Committee for Standardization) (2008). Eurocode 2: Design of ConcreteStructures–Part 1-1: General Rules and Rules for Buildings] and ACI 318 [ACI (American Concrete Institute) (2014). Building CodeRequirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary] flexural resistance models of reinforced concrete beams are compared withemphasis on the effect of the incorporation of coarse recycled aggregates sourced from concrete waste. The bias factor of the yielding momentcalculations according to both codes is also investigated, and the bias in the cracking moment when Eurocode 2 material clauses are used. Thedatabase was composed of 174 beams, and the criteria that led to its development are discussed. The effect of recycled aggregate incorporationon the statistical descriptors of the bias factor is evaluated and probabilistic modeling using lognormal distributions is argued for. Preliminarypartial safety factors for the bias factor of recycled aggregate concrete beams are proposed. No significant differences in the bias of theultimate moment were found between the two comparison vectors: Eurocode 2 versus ACI 318 specifications and recycled versus naturalcoarse aggregate. The bias of the cracking moment increased when coarse recycled aggregates were incorporated, most probably due to thehigher heterogeneity of recycled aggregates.

Research on the variability of the properties of recycled aggregate concrete is lacking and is necessary for the development of reliability analyses and code calibration procedures. This paper presents an experimental programme on the within-batch variability of the compressive strength, Young’s modulus, and splitting tensile strength of several recycled and natural aggregate concrete mixes. The influence of the recycled concrete aggregates on the mechanical properties and variability of concrete is analysed and discussed and benchmarks with standard predictions for the variability of natural aggregate concrete are made. It was found that full recycled aggregate concrete incorporation did not increase the variability of any of the properties tested, but intermediate ratios of recycled aggregate incorporation did. The properties of high-strength concrete mixes were more variable than that of all other mixes, irrespective of recycled aggregate incorporation. All properties of all compositions were suitably modelled by normal distributions. The coarse recycled aggregates were sourced from concrete waste.

The degradation mechanisms of bonded joints between CFRP laminates and steel substrates under severe environmental conditions require more durability data and studies to increase the database and better understand their causes. Studies on bond properties of double-strap CFRP-to-steel bonded joints with two different composite materials as well as adhesive coupons subjected to freeze-thaw cycles for 10,000 h were conducted to reduce that gap. In addition, the equivalent to the number of thermal cycles and their slips induced in the CFRP laminates was replicated by an equivalent (mechanical) loading-unloading history condition imposed by a static tensile machine. The mechanical properties of the adhesive coupons and the strength capacity of the bonded joints were only slightly changed by the artificial aging. It was confirmed that the interfacial bond strength between CFRP and adhesive is critically related to the maximum shear stress and failure mode. The interfacial bond strength between adhesive and steel degraded with the aging. However, the equivalent thermal cyclic bond stress caused no detectable damage on the bond because only the interfacial elastic regime was actually mobilized, which confirmed that pure thermal cycles aging, per se, at the level imposed, have a low impact on the degradation of CFRP-to-steel bonded joints.

The estimation of the long-term durability of adhesively bonded interfaces between Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) and concrete substrates is crucial because degradation potentiates FRP premature debonding. One of the main reasons for mistrusting the use of FRP composites is the premature debonding phenomenon, which, associated to degradation, has been preventing their widespread use. In this research work, an analytical model is proposed that introduces ageing to estimate the effects of degradation of Glass (G) FRP externally bonded to concrete. Cycles were used to experimentally accelerate ageing of beam specimens, namely, (i) salt fog cycles; (ii) wet-dry cycles with salted water; (iii) temperature cycles between −10 °C and +30 °C; and (iv) temperature cycles between +7.5 °C and +47.5 °C. Based on the experimental results obtained and a corresponding bond-slip curve, the analytical model predicts the complete debonding process between FRP composites and a substrate. Consequently, the temporal evolution of the degradation of the bonded interfaces can be calculated and compared with the initial situation prior to exposure. The effects of the environmental conditions are reported and compared.