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The alkali activation of aluminosilicate materials as binder systems derived from industrial byproducts have been extensively studied due to the advantages they offer in terms enhanced material properties, while increasing sustainability by the reuse of industrial waste and byproducts and reducing the adverse impacts of OPC production. Fly ash and

The alkali activation of aluminosilicate materials as binder systems derived from industrial byproducts have been extensively studied due to the advantages they offer in terms enhanced material properties, while increasing sustainability by the reuse of industrial waste and byproducts and reducing the adverse impacts of OPC production. Fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag are commonly used for their content of soluble silica and aluminate species that can undergo dissolution, polymerization with the alkali, condensation on particle surfaces and solidification. The following topics are the focus of this thesis: (i) the use of microwave assisted thermal processing, in addition to heat-curing as a means of alkali activation and (ii) the relative effects of alkali cations (K or Na) in the activator (powder activators) on the mechanical properties and chemical structure of these systems. Unsuitable curing conditions instigate carbonation, which in turn lowers the pH of the system causing significant reductions in the rate of fly ash activation and mechanical strength development. This study explores the effects of sealing the samples during the curing process, which effectively traps the free water in the system, and allows for increased aluminosilicate activation. The use of microwave-curing in lieu of thermal-curing is also studied in order to reduce energy consumption and for its ability to provide fast volumetric heating. Potassium-based powder activators dry blended into the slag binder system is shown to be effective in obtaining very high compressive strengths under moist curing conditions (greater than 70 MPa), whereas sodium-based powder activation is much weaker (around 25 MPa). Compressive strength decreases when fly ash is introduced into the system. Isothermal calorimetry is used to evaluate the early hydration process, and to understand the reaction kinetics of the alkali powder activated systems. A qualitative evidence of the alkali-hydroxide concentration of the paste pore solution through the use of electrical conductivity measurements is also presented, with the results indicating the ion concentration of alkali is more prevalent in the pore solution of potassium-based systems. The use of advanced spectroscopic and thermal analysis techniques to distinguish the influence of studied parameters is also discussed.
ContributorsChowdhury, Ussala (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramanium D. (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Concrete is the most widely used infrastructure material worldwide. Production of portland cement, the main binding component in concrete, has been shown to require significant energy and account for approximately 5-7% of global carbon dioxide production. The expected continued increased use of concrete over the coming decades indicates this is

Concrete is the most widely used infrastructure material worldwide. Production of portland cement, the main binding component in concrete, has been shown to require significant energy and account for approximately 5-7% of global carbon dioxide production. The expected continued increased use of concrete over the coming decades indicates this is an ideal time to implement sustainable binder technologies. The current work aims to explore enhanced sustainability concretes, primarily in the context of limestone and flow. Aspects such as hydration kinetics, hydration product formation and pore structure add to the understanding of the strength development and potential durability characteristics of these binder systems. Two main strategies for enhancing this sustainability are explored in this work: (i) the use of high volume limestone in combination with other alternative cementitious materials to decrease the portland cement quantity in concrete and (ii) the use of geopolymers as the binder phase in concrete. The first phase of the work investigates the use of fine limestone as cement replacement from the perspective of hydration, strength development, and pore structure. The nature of the potential synergistic benefit of limestone and alumina will be explored. The second phase will focus on the rheological characterization of these materials in the fresh state, as well as a more general investigation of the rheological characterization of suspensions. The results of this work indicate several key ideas. (i) There is a potential synergistic benefit for strength, hydration, and pore structure by using alumina and in portland limestone cements, (ii) the limestone in these systems is shown to react to some extent, and fine limestone is shown to accelerate hydration, (iii) rheological characteristics of cementitious suspensions are complex, and strongly dependent on several key parameters including: the solid loading, interparticle forces, surface area of the particles present, particle size distribution of the particles, and rheological nature of the media in which the particles are suspended, and (iv) stress plateau method is proposed for the determination of rheological properties of concentrated suspensions, as it more accurately predicts apparent yield stress and is shown to correlate well with other viscoelastic properties of the suspensions.
ContributorsVance, Kirk (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Chawla, Nikhilesh (Committee member) / Marzke, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
The main objective of this study is to investigate the behaviour and applications of strain hardening cement composites (SHCC). Application of SHCC for use in slabs of common configurations was studied and design procedures are prepared by employing yield line theory and integrating it with simplified tri-linear model developed in

The main objective of this study is to investigate the behaviour and applications of strain hardening cement composites (SHCC). Application of SHCC for use in slabs of common configurations was studied and design procedures are prepared by employing yield line theory and integrating it with simplified tri-linear model developed in Arizona State University by Dr. Barzin Mobasher and Dr. Chote Soranakom. Intrinsic material property of moment-curvature response for SHCC was used to derive the relationship between applied load and deflection in a two-step process involving the limit state analysis and kinematically admissible displacements. For application of SHCC in structures such as shear walls, tensile and shear properties are necessary for design. Lot of research has already been done to study the tensile properties and therefore shear property study was undertaken to prepare a design guide. Shear response of textile reinforced concrete was investigated based on picture frame shear test method. The effects of orientation, volume of cement paste per layer, planar cross-section and volume fraction of textiles were investigated. Pultrusion was used for the production of textile reinforced concrete. It is an automated set-up with low equipment cost which provides uniform production and smooth final surface of the TRC. A 3-D optical non-contacting deformation measurement technique of digital image correlation (DIC) was used to conduct the image analysis on the shear samples by means of tracking the displacement field through comparison between the reference image and deformed images. DIC successfully obtained full-field strain distribution, displacement and strain versus time responses, demonstrated the bonding mechanism from perspective of strain field, and gave a relation between shear angle and shear strain.
ContributorsAswani, Karan (Author) / Mobasher, Barzin (Thesis advisor) / Dharmarajan, Subramaniam (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
With the increasing focus on developing environmentally benign electronic packages, lead-free solder alloys have received a great deal of attention. Mishandling of packages, during manufacture, assembly, or by the user may cause failure of solder joint. A fundamental understanding of the behavior of lead-free solders under mechanical shock conditions is

With the increasing focus on developing environmentally benign electronic packages, lead-free solder alloys have received a great deal of attention. Mishandling of packages, during manufacture, assembly, or by the user may cause failure of solder joint. A fundamental understanding of the behavior of lead-free solders under mechanical shock conditions is lacking. Reliable experimental and numerical analysis of lead-free solder joints in the intermediate strain rate regime need to be investigated. This dissertation mainly focuses on exploring the mechanical shock behavior of lead-free tin-rich solder alloys via multiscale modeling and numerical simulations. First, the macroscopic stress/strain behaviors of three bulk lead-free tin-rich solders were tested over a range of strain rates from 0.001/s to 30/s. Finite element analysis was conducted to determine appropriate specimen geometry that could reach a homogeneous stress/strain field and a relatively high strain rate. A novel self-consistent true stress correction method is developed to compensate the inaccuracy caused by the triaxial stress state at the post-necking stage. Then the material property of micron-scale intermetallic was examined by micro-compression test. The accuracy of this measure is systematically validated by finite element analysis, and empirical adjustments are provided. Moreover, the interfacial property of the solder/intermetallic interface is investigated, and a continuum traction-separation law of this interface is developed from an atomistic-based cohesive element method. The macroscopic stress/strain relation and microstructural properties are combined together to form a multiscale material behavior via a stochastic approach for both solder and intermetallic. As a result, solder is modeled by porous plasticity with random voids, and intermetallic is characterized as brittle material with random vulnerable region. Thereafter, the porous plasticity fracture of the solders and the brittle fracture of the intermetallics are coupled together in one finite element model. Finally, this study yields a multiscale model to understand and predict the mechanical shock behavior of lead-free tin-rich solder joints. Different fracture patterns are observed for various strain rates and/or intermetallic thicknesses. The predictions have a good agreement with the theory and experiments.
ContributorsFei, Huiyang (Author) / Jiang, Hanqing (Thesis advisor) / Chawla, Nikhilesh (Thesis advisor) / Tasooji, Amaneh (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Concrete design has recently seen a shift in focus from prescriptive specifications to performance based specifications with increasing demands for sustainable products. Fiber reinforced composites (FRC) provides unique properties to a material that is very weak under tensile loads. The addition of fibers to a concrete mix provides additional ductility

Concrete design has recently seen a shift in focus from prescriptive specifications to performance based specifications with increasing demands for sustainable products. Fiber reinforced composites (FRC) provides unique properties to a material that is very weak under tensile loads. The addition of fibers to a concrete mix provides additional ductility and reduces the propagation of cracks in the concrete structure. It is the fibers that bridge the crack and dissipate the incurred strain energy in the form of a fiber-pullout mechanism. The addition of fibers plays an important role in tunnel lining systems and in reducing shrinkage cracking in high performance concretes. The interest in most design situations is the load where cracking first takes place. Typically the post crack response will exhibit either a load bearing increase as deflection continues, or a load bearing decrease as deflection continues. These behaviors are referred to as strain hardening and strain softening respectively. A strain softening or hardening response is used to model the behavior of different types of fiber reinforced concrete and simulate the experimental flexural response. Closed form equations for moment-curvature response of rectangular beams under four and three point loading in conjunction with crack localization rules are utilized. As a result, the stress distribution that considers a shifting neutral axis can be simulated which provides a more accurate representation of the residual strength of the fiber cement composites. The use of typical residual strength parameters by standards organizations ASTM, JCI and RILEM are examined to be incorrect in their linear elastic assumption of FRC behavior. Finite element models were implemented to study the effects and simulate the load defection response of fiber reinforced shotcrete round discrete panels (RDP's) tested in accordance with ASTM C-1550. The back-calculated material properties from the flexural tests were used as a basis for the FEM material models. Further development of FEM beams were also used to provide additional comparisons in residual strengths of early age samples. A correlation between the RDP and flexural beam test was generated based a relationship between normalized toughness with respect to the newly generated crack surfaces. A set of design equations are proposed using a residual strength correction factor generated by the model and produce the design moment based on specified concrete slab geometry.
ContributorsBarsby, Christopher (Author) / Mobasher, Barzin (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Ultra-concealable multi-threat body armor used by law-enforcement is a multi-purpose armor that protects against attacks from knife, spikes, and small caliber rounds. The design of this type of armor involves fiber-resin composite materials that are flexible, light, are not unduly affected by environmental conditions, and perform as required. The National

Ultra-concealable multi-threat body armor used by law-enforcement is a multi-purpose armor that protects against attacks from knife, spikes, and small caliber rounds. The design of this type of armor involves fiber-resin composite materials that are flexible, light, are not unduly affected by environmental conditions, and perform as required. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) characterizes this type of armor as low-level protection armor. NIJ also specifies the geometry of the knife and spike as well as the strike energy levels required for this level of protection. The biggest challenges are to design a thin, lightweight and ultra-concealable armor that can be worn under street clothes. In this study, several fundamental tasks involved in the design of such armor are addressed. First, the roles of design of experiments and regression analysis in experimental testing and finite element analysis are presented. Second, off-the-shelf materials available from international material manufacturers are characterized via laboratory experiments. Third, the calibration process required for a constitutive model is explained through the use of experimental data and computer software. Various material models in LS-DYNA for use in the finite element model are discussed. Numerical results are generated via finite element simulations and are compared against experimental data thus establishing the foundation for optimizing the design.
ContributorsVokshi, Erblina (Author) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Thesis advisor) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
This research summarizes the validation testing completed for the material model MAT213, currently implemented in the LS-DYNA finite element program. Testing was carried out using a carbon fiber composite material, T800-F3900. Stacked-ply tension and compression tests were performed for open-hole and full coupons. Comparisons of experimental and simulation results showed

This research summarizes the validation testing completed for the material model MAT213, currently implemented in the LS-DYNA finite element program. Testing was carried out using a carbon fiber composite material, T800-F3900. Stacked-ply tension and compression tests were performed for open-hole and full coupons. Comparisons of experimental and simulation results showed a good agreement between the two for metrics including, stress-strain response and displacements. Strains and displacements in the direction of loading were better predicted by the simulations than for that of the transverse direction.

Double cantilever beam and end notched flexure tests were performed experimentally and through simulations to determine the delamination properties of the material at the interlaminar layers. Experimental results gave the mode I critical energy release rate as having a range of 2.18 – 3.26 psi-in and the mode II critical energy release rate as 10.50 psi-in, both for the pre-cracked condition. Simulations were performed to calibrate other cohesive zone parameters required for modeling.

Samples of tested T800/F3900 coupons were processed and examined with scanning electron microscopy to determine and understand the underlying structure of the material. Tested coupons revealed damage and failure occurring at the micro scale for the composite material.
ContributorsHolt, Nathan T (Author) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Thesis advisor) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Hoover, Christian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Being a remarkably versatile and inexpensive building material, concrete has found tremendous use in development of modern infrastructure and is the most widely used material in the world. Extensive research in the field of concrete has led to the development of a wide array of concretes with applications ranging from

Being a remarkably versatile and inexpensive building material, concrete has found tremendous use in development of modern infrastructure and is the most widely used material in the world. Extensive research in the field of concrete has led to the development of a wide array of concretes with applications ranging from building of skyscrapers to paving of highways. These varied applications require special cementitious composites which can satisfy the demand for enhanced functionalities such as high strength, high durability and improved thermal characteristics among others.

The current study focuses on the fundamental understanding of such functional composites, from their microstructural design to macro-scale application. More specifically, this study investigates three different categories of functional cementitious composites. First, it discusses the differences between cementitious systems containing interground and blended limestone with and without alumina. The interground systems are found to outperform the blended systems due to differential grinding of limestone. A novel approach to deduce the particle size distribution of limestone and cement in the interground systems is proposed. Secondly, the study delves into the realm of ultra-high performance concrete, a novel material which possesses extremely high compressive-, tensile- and flexural-strength and service life as compared to regular concrete. The study presents a novel first principles-based paradigm to design economical ultra-high performance concretes using locally available materials. In the final part, the study addresses the thermal benefits of a novel type of concrete containing phase change materials. A software package was designed to perform numerical simulations to analyze temperature profiles and thermal stresses in concrete structures containing PCMs.

The design of these materials is accompanied by material characterization of cementitious binders. This has been accomplished using techniques that involve measurement of heat evolution (isothermal calorimetry), determination and quantification of reaction products (thermo-gravimetric analysis, x-ray diffraction, micro-indentation, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy) and evaluation of pore-size distribution (mercury intrusion porosimetry). In addition, macro-scale testing has been carried out to determine compression, flexure and durability response. Numerical simulations have been carried out to understand hydration of cementitious composites, determine optimum particle packing and determine the thermal performance of these composites.
ContributorsArora, Aashay (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Chawla, Nikhilesh (Committee member) / Hoover, Christian G (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Phase change materials (PCMs) are combined sensible-and-latent thermal energy storage materials that can be used to store and dissipate energy in the form of heat. PCMs incorporated into wall-element systems have been well-studied with respect to energy efficiency of building envelopes. New applications of PCMs in infrastructural concrete, e.g., for

Phase change materials (PCMs) are combined sensible-and-latent thermal energy storage materials that can be used to store and dissipate energy in the form of heat. PCMs incorporated into wall-element systems have been well-studied with respect to energy efficiency of building envelopes. New applications of PCMs in infrastructural concrete, e.g., for mitigating early-age cracking and freeze-and-thaw induced damage, have also been proposed. Hence, the focus of this dissertation is to develop a detailed understanding of the physic-chemical and thermo-mechanical characteristics of cementitious systems and novel coating systems for wall-elements containing PCM. The initial phase of this work assesses the influence of interface properties and inter-inclusion interactions between microencapsulated PCM, macroencapsulated PCM, and the cementitious matrix. The fact that these inclusions within the composites are by themselves heterogeneous, and contain multiple components necessitate careful application of models to predict the thermal properties. The next phase observes the influence of PCM inclusions on the fracture and fatigue behavior of PCM-cementitious composites. The compliant nature of the inclusion creates less variability in the fatigue life for these composites subjected to cyclic loading. The incorporation of small amounts of PCM is found to slightly improve the fracture properties compared to PCM free cementitious composites. Inelastic deformations at the crack-tip in the direction of crack opening are influenced by the microscale PCM inclusions. After initial laboratory characterization of the microstructure and evaluation of the thermo-mechanical performance of these systems, field scale applicability and performance were evaluated. Wireless temperature and strain sensors for smart monitoring were embedded within a conventional portland cement concrete pavement (PCCP) and a thermal control smart concrete pavement (TCSCP) containing PCM. The TCSCP exhibited enhanced thermal performance over multiple heating and cooling cycles. PCCP showed significant shrinkage behavior as a result of compressive strains in the reinforcement that were twice that of the TCSCP. For building applications, novel PCM-composites coatings were developed to improve and extend the thermal efficiency. These coatings demonstrated a delay in temperature by up to four hours and were found to be more cost-effective than traditional building insulating materials.

The results of this work prove the feasibility of PCMs as a temperature-regulating technology. Not only do PCMs reduce and control the temperature within cementitious systems without affecting the rate of early property development but they can also be used as an auto-adaptive technology capable of improving the thermal performance of building envelopes.
ContributorsAguayo, Matthew Joseph (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Mobasher, Barzin (Committee member) / Underwood, Benjamin (Committee member) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
A comprehensive study was performed on non-proprietary ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) material and several design methods were suggested based on numerous experimental results. Several sets of compression tests, direct tensile tests, and flexural tests were performed on UHPC to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the mechanical behavior

A comprehensive study was performed on non-proprietary ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) material and several design methods were suggested based on numerous experimental results. Several sets of compression tests, direct tensile tests, and flexural tests were performed on UHPC to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the mechanical behavior of the fiber reinforced material. In addition to compressive tests, flexural tests, based on ASTM C1609 and EN 14651, were performed. The effect of the strain rate on the UHPC material was also investigated through the high-speed tensile tests at different strain rates. Alongside the usual measurement tools such as linear variable differential transformers (LVDT) and clip gages, digital image correlation (DIC) method was also used to capture the full-range deformations in the samples and localized crack propagations. Analytical approaches were suggested, based on the experimental results of the current research and other research groups, to provide design solutions for different applications and design approaches for UHPC and hybrid reinforced concrete (HRC) sections. The suggested methods can be used both in the ultimate limit state (ULS) and the serviceability limit state (SLS) design methods. Closed form relationships, based on the non-linear design of reinforced concrete, were used in the calculation of the load-deflection response of UHPC. The procedures were used in obtaining material properties from the flexural data using procedures that are based on back-calculation of material properties from the experimental results. Model simulations were compared with other results available in the literature. Performance of flexural reinforced UHPC concrete beam sections tested under different types of loading was addressed using a combination of fibers and rebars. The same analytical approach was suggested for the fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) sections strengthened (rehabilitated) by fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) and textile reinforced concrete (TRC). The objective is to validate the proper design procedures for flexural members as well as connection elements. The proposed solutions can be used to reduce total reinforcement by means of increasing the ductility of the FRC, HRC, and UHPC members in order to meet the required flexural reinforcement, which in some cases leads to total elimination of rebars.
ContributorsKianmofrad, Farrokh (Author) / Mobasher, Barzin (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam Dharma (Committee member) / Hoover, Christian G. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018