| The research introduces the next generation novel concept Titanium Alloy Reinforced Ultra-High Performance Concrete (TARUHPC) which is a combination of Titanium Alloy Bars (TiABs) and Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC). TARUHPC could be an ideal concept instead of conventional concrete and steel rebars “Reinforced Concrete” (RC) for construction of highly durable and sustainable critical infrastructures such as containment facilities. TiABs offer higher strength, superior fatigue performance, high strength-to-weight ratio, lighter weight, lower modulus of elasticity, reduction in rebar congestion, smaller inelastic residual deformation, and excellent corrosion resistance compared to traditional reinforcing bars. At the same time, UHPC offers higher compressive strength, superior mechanical properties, and excellent durability compared to conventional or high-strength concrete. The high shear strength of UHPC can help eliminate the need for transverse reinforcing and results in cost saving in terms of both labor and materials. Most importantly, UHPC utilizes recycled products such as fly ash and silica fume as supplementary cementitious materials to reduce the portion of hydraulic cement in the mix; thereby reducing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by almost 70%.
Important structures (e.g., civil, critical, and coastal infrastructures) requires the use of advanced materials as it is important that these structures are highly durable and structurally sound for the entire service life of a facility without the need for considerable maintenance and repairs. Use of advanced materials for these important infrastructures can reduce the total cost of generating energy in the long term. The civil, critical, and coastal infrastructures constructed with the proposed novel concept, TARUHPC, will not have to be replaced for more than 100 years. This further eliminates all emissions associated with the RC containment facility that would have to be replaced after 50 years. There is the lack of data and/or research to quantify various mechanical properties and visualization of TARUHPC. To ensure that TARUHPC can be structurally efficient to be used in civil, coastal, and critical infrastructures; small-scale experiments on structural element such as beam, and column is be carried out and compared against RC. The study also presents the application of artificial intelligence technique, i.e., machine learning, in predicting ultimate bond strength between UHPC and TiABs in-order-to identify appropriate technique that can save significant amount of time and cost of experimental testing. To validate TARUHPC concept in subassembly testing, approximately 8-inch square castin-place (CIP) bridge piers are tested under quasi-static cyclic loading protocol to investigate seismic performance. A total of four columns are divided into two groups. The first group of column consists of normal concrete CIP pier which is reinforced with normal steel rebars and TiABs respectively. Similarly, the second group of column consists of UHPC cast-in-place pier which is reinforced with normal steel rebars and TiABs respectively. |