Martins, Caique

This study tests the long-term durability that can be developed in concrete batches made with recycled aggregate concrete. Durability is a broad term used to define the resistance of a material to weathering effects, but in this scenario, durability will be defined as a drop in the compressive strength of the concrete. To test this, thermal sensing was used to determine the maturity of the concrete, or in other words how far along the curing process the concrete is. This was then plotted against the corresponding concrete compressive strength to create a relationship that can be exploited to project the later age strength of the concrete. This data is paramount in determining the viability of recycled concrete aggregate because it is a sustainable alternative to other coarse aggregate material, an essential part to making concrete, but its’ properties are largely unknown since they can be highly variable.

The coupled effect of using geosynthetic reinforcement and randomly distributed fibers on the stability of slopes was evaluated using finite element modeling and limit equilibrium methods by analyzing a case study in Oslo, Norway. The main objective was to simulate the failure condition of the original slope and quantify the improved stability of a hypothetical reinforced slope constructed with geosynthetic layers and distributed discrete fibers. The stability of the slope was evaluated in both the short-term condition with its' undrained shear strength parameters, and the long-term drained condition. Results indicate that the combination of the techniques was found to have a possible increase of about 40% in the short-term condition and about 60% in the long-term condition of the factor safety associated with the slope.