One of the primary concerns about the design aspects is that how to deal with the shear reinforcement in the ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beam. This study aims to investigate the shear behavior of UHPFRC rectangular cross sectional beams with fiber volume fraction of 1.5 % considering a spacing of shear reinforcement. Shear tests for simply supported UHPFRC beams were performed. Test results showed that the steel fibers substantially improved of the shear resistance of the UHPFRC beams. Also, shear reinforcement had a synergetic effect on enhancement of ductility. Even though the spacing of shear reinforcement exceeds the spacing limit recommended by current design codes , shear strength of UHPFRC beam was noticeably greater than current design codes. Therefore, the spacing limit of 0.75d can be allowed for UHPFRC beams.

An innovative precast concrete (PC) T-wall panel system was developed to enhance constructibility and lateral load resistance of fasttrack, low-rise buildings. The system consists of bolt-type connections between PC wall panels and emulated cast-in-place joints between the flange-wall and web-wall components. To confirm its lateral-load-resisting and seismic performance, reversed cyclic tests of two two-thirds-scale PC T-walls with and without diagonal reinforcing bars were conducted under displacement control. Test results showed that the T-wall specimen without diagonal reinforcement performed reasonably well in terms of lateral stiffness, strength, and ductility, except for slip behavior. On the other hand, the use of supplementary diagonal reinforcement in each panel adversely affected the lateral ductility and energy dissipating capacity. All the details of the bolt-type connections between the lower and upper panels proved to be robust and practical. Finally, simplified prediction methods for strength and displacement are presented that can be used to develop design guidelines.

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The incorporation of sustainability is becoming increasingly important in manufacturing practices worldwide. This includes the development of natural fibre composites with mechanical and flammability characteristics suitable for structural interiors. Composites manufactured from kenaf fibres and polypropylene (PP) were investigated as to their suitability as materials for the interiors of buildings, aircraft and such-like. Natural fibres like kenaf act as fuel sources during combustion, and hence, flame retardants are added to the mix. In the present study, the ammonium polyphosphate (APP)-based flame retardant Budit® 3167 was used to address this issue. Limited studies exist on how the inclusion of APP influences the composites' mechanical properties. Hence the main objective of this research project was to evaluate the effect of adding Budit 3167 on both mechanical and flammability properties of kenaf-PP composites. Kenaf-PP composites were manufactured with various fibre weight percentages, with and without Budit 3167. The composites were subjected to different experiments to assess their mechanical and flammability behaviour. It was found that Budit 3167 not only improved the flammability properties of the composites, but also the tensile and flexural moduli due to the flame retardant behaving like a particle reinforcement. However, weak interfacial bonds arising from the addition of Budit 3167 led to a decrease in mechanical strength, providing a basis for further investigation. It was concluded that kenaf-PP composites with Budit 3167 show good potential as a sustainable alternative for structural interiors.

Uniaxial compression tests for ultra-high performance hybrid steel fiber reinforced concrete (UHPC) were performed to evaluate the compressive behavior of UHPC. The UHPC for testing contains hybrid steel fibers with a predetermined ratio using a length of 19 mm and 16 mm straight typed steel fibers. Test parameter was determined as a fiber volume ratio to investigate the effect of fiber volume ratio on the strength and secant modulus of elasticity. Test results showed that the compressive strength and elastic modulus of UHPC increased with increasing the fiber volume ratio. Based on the test results, the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity equations were proposed as function of the compressive strength of unreinforced and fiber reinforced UHPC, respectively. The simplified equations for predicting the mechanical properties of the UHPC were a good agreement with the test data. The proposed equations are expected to be applied to the SFRC and UHPC with steel fibers.