Comparison of Concrete Creep in Compression, Tension, and Bending under Drying Condition.

Three types of creep experiments of compression, tension, and bending were implemented to identify quantitative relations among the three types of creep under drying atmospheric conditions. In case of the bending creep experiment, two types of unreinforced concrete beams with similar dimensions were cast for use in the beam creep and shrinkage tests. The variations in the shrinkage strain within the beam depth were measured to evaluate the effect of the shrinkage variations on the bending creep strain. The beam creep strain measured within the beam depth was composed of uniform and skewed parts. The skewed parts of the creep strain were found to be dominant whereas the uniform parts were small enough to be neglected in the bending creep evaluation. This indicated that the compressive bending creep at the top surface was close to the tensile bending creep at the bottom surface. The ratios of tensile and bending creep strains to compressive creep strain were approximately 2.9 and 2.3, respectively, and the ratio of bending creep strain to tensile creep strain was approximately 0.8. Particular attention is laid on the close agreement between tensile and compressive bending creep strains even if the creep in tension is 2.9 times larger than the creep strain in compression.

Rate-Type Age-Dependent Constitutive Formulation of Concrete Loaded at an Early Age.

A general formulation framework for an age-dependent constitutive equation of concrete is presented to account for the development of the elastic modulus at an early age. This is achieved by expanding the total stress vs. strain relation with respect to the time-varying elastic modulus. Two types of constitutive formulation frameworks are derived depending on whether (or not) the time-varying effect of the elastic modulus was taken into account in the linearized series expansion. The causes for the age-dependent deformations under sustained loads are defined in the formulation based on the two internal mechanisms of delayed elasticity and the ageing phenomenon. The ageing phenomenon is incorporated in a conventional delayed strain concept in terms of the variable elastic modulus with time. Four cases of age-dependent constitutive equations are formulated within the presented formulation framework by employing different types of creep models. The mechanical characteristics of the terms that comprise the various constitutive equations are examined and compared. Numerical application of the time-dependent test results of cylindrical specimens indicate that the creep formulation that considered the elastic modulus development showed a good agreement with the experimental result while the formulation that did not consider the elastic modulus development underestimated the result by 15%.

CuY zeolite catalysts prepared by ultrasonication-assisted ion-exchange for oxidative carbonylation of methanol to dimethyl carbonate.

The influence of ultrasonication treatment on the catalytic performance of CuY zeolite catalysts was investigated for the liquid-phase oxidative carbonylation of methanol to dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The deammoniation method of NH4Y into HY zeolites was optimized and characterized by elemental analyzer, derivative thermogravimetry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analyzer, and powder X-ray diffractometry, revealing that the HY zeolite deammoniated at 400 °C presented the highest surface area, complete ammonium/proton ion exchange, and no structure collapse, rendering it the best support from all the prepared zeolites. CuY zeolites were prepared via aqueous phase ion exchange with the aid of ultrasonication. Upon ultrasonication, the Cu+ active centers were uniformly dispersed in the Y zeolites, penetrating the core of the zeolite particles in a very short time. In addition to enhancing the Cu dispersity, the ultrasonication treatment influenced the BET surface area, acid amount, Cu+/Cu2+ ratio, and also had a relatively small impact on the Cu loading. Consequently, adequate exposure to ultrasonication was able to increase the conversion rate of methanol into dimethyl carbonate up to 11.4% with a comparable DMC selectivity of 23.7%. This methanol conversion is 2.65 times higher than that obtained without the ultrasonication treatment.

Variation of Shrinkage Strain within the Depth of Concrete Beams.

The variation of shrinkage strain within beam depth was examined through four series of time-dependent laboratory experiments on unreinforced concrete beam specimens. Two types of beam specimens, horizontally cast and vertically cast, were tested; shrinkage variation was observed in the horizontally cast specimens. This indicated that the shrinkage variation within the beam depth was due to water bleeding and tamping during the placement of the fresh concrete. Shrinkage strains were measured within the beam depth by two types of strain gages, surface-attached and embedded. The shrinkage strain distribution within the beam depth showed a consistent tendency for the two types of gages. The test beams were cut into four sections after completion of the test, and the cutting planes were divided into four equal sub-areas to measure the aggregate concentration for each sub-area of the cutting plane. The aggregate concentration increased towards the bottom of the beam. The shrinkage strain distribution was estimated by Hobbs' equation, which accounts for the change of aggregate volume concentration.