Ali Gholampour

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Senior Lecturer at Flinders University

This paper presents the nonlinear dynamic analysis of a structural system with shape memory alloy members. A new time integration scheme is proposed for solving the differential equation of motion obtained for this system. In the new implicit method, it is assumed that the acceleration varies quadratically within each time step. More terms of Taylo...

A new time integration scheme is presented for solving the differential equation of motion with nonlinear stiffness. In this new implicit method, it is assumed that the acceleration varies quadratically within each time step. By increasing the order of acceleration, more terms of the Taylor series are used, which are expected to have responses with...

Circular base plates are commonly used for cylindrical columns; such as pylons in cabled-stayed bridges, lighting poles, electric power line posts, and even buildings. In some structures and conditions, a little gap is considered between base plate and foundation. In this case, the whole forces are transmitted to the foundation via bolts. There are...

A new time integration method is proposed for solving differential equation of motion of structural dynamics problems with nonlinear stiffness. In this method, it is assumed that order of variation of acceleration is quadratic in each time step and therefore variation of displacement in each time step is a fourth order polynomial which has five coe...

Replacing cement with glass powder (GP) and natural sand with glass sand (GS) in concrete could provide a compelling pathway to a sustainable construction to reduce environmental impacts of both concrete and waste glass. An experimental investigation on concrete, where cement is substituted by GP, fly ash (FA), and ground granulated blast furnace s...

The lightweight geopolymers (LWGPs) were prepared using fly ash (FA) and pumice aggregates, and their sustainability was enhanced by recycling waste tire aggregates (WTAs). The results show that substituting pumice aggregate with WTA reduces the density of LWGP and improves its fluidity. However, this substitution is detrimental to the development...

This paper aims to study probabilistic seismic demand models (PSDMs) of intake tower structures under the forward-directivity effects of near-fault earthquakes numerically using finite element method. The relationship between earthquake parameters and structural response was depicted to investigate the onset of damage to the structure. Furthermore,...

A correct understanding of the fracture mechanism of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC) plays an important role in the design of RAC structure and also in gaining a better understanding of the behavior of structures made from it. On the other hand, one of the most important parameters that affects cracking behavior and the fracture parameters of con...

In this study, metakaolin was utilized as a substitution of 20% cement to produce wastepaper fiber-reinforced concrete. The wastepaper was derived from discarded plasterboard as a construction and demolition waste. Various concentrations of wastepaper fibers (0–2.5% by weight of the binder) were used to develop a more sustainable concrete with prop...

The aim of this investigation is to assess the impact of using nano‐silica (Na) at varying weight percentages of 0%, 1.5%, 3%, 4.5%, and 6% as partial cement substitute on fracture parameters of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A servo‐controlled testing system was employed to carry out three‐point flexure tests on 90 notched beams. Boundary effe...

Precisely forecasting how concrete reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) responds under compression is essential for fine-tuning structural designs, ensuring constructions fulfill safety criteria, avoiding overdesigning, and consequently minimizing material expenses and environmental impact. Therefore, this study explores the viability of...

This study evaluates the potential use of discarded plasterboard paper as fibers from buildings to reinforce concrete. Various concentrations of wastepaper fibers (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5% by weight of the binder) were investigated in this research. To mitigate the water absorption effect of the paper fibers, metakaolin was employed as a partia...

The current application of epoxy resin in the installation of fiber sheets for concrete beam restoration presents practical challenges, limited fire resistance, and lacks environmental sustainability. Additionally, epoxy resin cannot be used on wet surfaces as it compromises adhesion and reduces durability. In this study, we propose an effective mo...

This study examined the cyclic performance of innovative connection details for precast cap beam-to-column connections reinforced with glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP). It aims to address the shortcomings identified in the performance of the previously examined pocket connections, where premature failure around the pocket was the governing fai...

Using recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) in concrete is a promising approach to minimise the environmental impacts associated with construction and demolition waste while simultaneously enhancing the sustainability of concrete. Improving the quality of RCAs is crucial for promoting confidence among materials suppliers and systematic utilisation of...

The utilization of recycled concrete and glass aggregates in concrete production has emerged as a highly promising method to significantly increase the recycling rate of waste materials. However, the interaction between alkaline environment and silica present in concrete detrimentally impacts mechanical properties and durability of the concrete due...

Over the last few decades there has been a growing interest in the use of blended or hybrid rapid hardening cements with optimized performance for use in a variety of applications. Blended cements can help decarbonize the construction industry and address the growing need for retrofitting the aging infrastructure. Among the most used cements, ordin...

Plasterboard, a commonly utilized construction material, comprises a gypsum core nestled between two paper layers. Gypsum after demolition of plasterboards is a recyclable waste that has been reused into new plasterboard or other purposes such as agricultural products. However, there is a lack of understanding on the potential for recycling the pap...

One of the major known challenges of improving durability of concrete structures is reducing the permeability of concrete to retard the transport of chloride ions. In this regard, the utilization of self-compacting concrete (SCC) incorporating supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash and silica fume can aid to improve the resistance aga...

The environmental impact of concrete 3D printing (C3DP) has become a concern due to its large cement consumption and over-exploitation of natural resources. This study investigates the viability of using geopolymer mixtures in C3DP prepared with fly ash (FA)/ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and underutilised aggregate as substitutes for...

Upcycling recycled coarse aggregates (RCAs) in concrete is a promising way to decrease the environmental effect of construction and demolition waste and improve concrete sustainability. Pretreatment of RCAs helps to enhance the quality of the resulting concrete and results in an increased level of confidence for material suppliers to systematically...

Recent growth in materials science and engineering technologies has pushed the construction industry to engage in new applications, such as the manufacturing of smart and electrically conductive products. Such novel uses of conductive construction materials would potentially allow their use in conjunction with various fields, such as those referred...

In this research, the gene expression programming (GEP) technique was employed to provide a new model for predicting the maximum loading capacity of concrete-encased steel (CES) columns. This model was developed based on 96 CES column specimens available in the literature. The six main parameters used in the model were the compressive strength of c...

The accurate prediction of reference points on the axial stress–axial strain relationship of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined concrete is vital to pre-design structures made with this system. This study uses an artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting hoop rupture strain (εh,rup) and transition zone, namely transition strain (εc1) and...

In an attempt to find a non-corrosive stirrup as an alternative to steel stirrup in concrete structures under harsh environments, manual fabrication of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strip stirrups is becoming increasingly popular to address premature failure in pultruded FRP stirrups in concrete beams. This study is the first to address the shear...

Replacing natural aggregate with recycled plastic has been a strategy to reduce pollution associated with conventional concrete production and disposal of plastic materials. Due to the possibility of structures subject to acid attacks, it is of value to check the resistance of concrete against these attacks. The present study evaluates the behavior...

3D printing of concrete is commonly viewed as a promising way to manufacture novel structural sections with numerous benefits. This process, however, relies upon a specific set of timely parameters that can have significant impact on the long-term performance and durability of the printed sections, especially since they are potentially expected to...

Accurately predicting key reference points on the axial stress-strain curve of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined concrete is of great importance for the pre-design and modeling of structures manufactured with this composite system. This paper presents a detailed study on the development of accurate and practical expressions for predicting the...

Owing to the low tensile properties of concrete, the use of internal fibers received significant attention in concrete production. In recent years, using renewable and eco-friendly natural fibers has become a viable alternative to synthetic fibers. Toward this direction, the behavior of natural fiber-reinforced geopolymers containing industrial by-...

To follow resource conservation, the production of optimized and sustainable structures through the use of insulating materials such as foam concrete has become a trend in construction industry. Although foam concrete has numerous benefits, the larger use of Portland cement in its mixture and its relatively low thermo-durability properties because...

This study evaluates the luminescence performance of fired clay bricks coated with SrAl2O4:Eu/Dy phosphor. To do so, SrAl2O4:Eu/Dy phosphor was first produced using the traditional solid-state reaction synthesis technique. The prepared phosphor was then used for coating fired clay bricks to analyze the luminescence performance, decay characteristic...

This study presents the outcomes of the first experimental study on the strain localization of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber-reinforced concrete-filled fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tubes (CFFTs). 24 CFFT specimens were prepared and tested with various instrumentations such as linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) and strain gauges (SGs)...

The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of improving the mechanical properties of mortars produced with waste-based binder and sand by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) nanomaterial. Twenty-seven unique mortars were manufactured by replacing cement with glass powder (GP) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), and river san...

Foam concrete refers to a type of low-density concrete that is commonly known to have favorable insulation and thermal performance due to its intentionally increased porosity. However, foam concrete is known to generally have a very low physico-mechanical and durability performance mainly due to its high porosity and the connectivity of the pores t...

3D printing is a novel technology that has been introduced to construction industry and has been found to have numerous potentials including high speed fabrication of customized building elements without formworks and low material waste. Despite such superiority, to ensure the extrudability of materials and their coherent adhesion , most commonly,...

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) refer to a group of alternative materials to ordinary Portland cement concrete with reduced environmental footprint. Despite several benefits of AAMs, due to certain shortcomings such as the variation in mechano-durability properties through the adaptation of different curing regimes, their use in large scale const...

Foam concrete refers to a type of concrete with high porosity that can be produced with or without aggregate. Foam concrete has generally superior thermal insulation properties compared to conventional concrete. Despite its major thermal benefits, the high content of Portland cement, as well as its very high porosity, makes foam concrete prone to d...

Cracking is one of the major deteriorating causes of concrete, which allows the entrance of chemicals and leads to the loss of physico-mechanical and durability properties of concrete structures. To protect, repair, and rehabilitate concrete structures, the application of different surface coating agents and sealants, binding agents, as well as adh...

The production of cement, as a core binder material in conventional concrete, is responsible for the release of a significant amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In recent years, alkali-activated concrete (AAC), which uses aluminosilicate materials as an alternative to cement, has attracted significant attention to improve the environment...

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on a full-scale precast concrete frame reinforced with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars that was tested to failure under lateral cyclic loading. Within the frame four different pocket connections are tested that will lead to accelerated construction. Traditionally, a pocket connecti...

Recently, with the aim of decreasing the environmental impact of concrete, developing an environmentally friendly construction material using industrial by-products has received great attention. This study aims for developing an eco-friendly construction material using industrial by-products as alternatives to cement, namely fly ash (FA) and ground...

Extrusion-based concrete 3D printing is at its infancy and many aspects of this new technology need to be thoroughly investigated to pave the way for its widespread use in construction. Since the inherent drying shrinkage of the hardened cement paste is the source of the drying shrinkage of 3D printed concrete, the shrinkage behavior of cementitiou...

Retrofitting concrete with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wrap has been considered as an effective method to compensate for the loss of the compressive strength of the concrete at an elevated temperature. This paper presents a study on the axial compressive behavior of heat-damaged steel fiber-reinforced concrete strengthened with carbon FRP (CFRP)...

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) is an effective alternative reinforcing solution to tackle problems associated with steel corrosion in reinforced concrete structures located in harsh environments. However, there are multiple construction challenges when cast-in-place GFRP reinforced concrete is used. Cast-in-place concrete is both labor and t...

Development of sustainable concrete as an alternative to conventional concrete helps in reducing carbon dioxide footprint associated with the use of cement and disposal of waste materials in landfill. One way to achieve that is the use of fly ash (FA) as an alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) because FA is a pozzolanic material and has a...

The use of steel-concrete composites (SCCs) is growing rapidly in the construction industry because of their improved constructability, decreased labor cost, improved bond to reinforcing steel, improved structural integrity and accelerated project schedules compared to conventional composites. Fire is a constant danger to these structural composite...

The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of using coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) as an alternative material to natural coarse aggregate on the fresh, mechanical and durability behavior of concrete reinforced with steel fiber. Eighteen unique concrete mixes with RCA content of 0%, 50%, and 100% and steel fiber content of 0%,...

The growing production of industrial by-products, such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), and lead smelter slag (LSS), has resulted in significant negative impacts on the environment. Meanwhile, the high demand for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and the over-exploitation of natural sand (NS) has also negatively impacted t...

Increasing the thermal insulation of building components to reduce the thermal energy loss of buildings has received significant attention. Owing to its porous structure, using expanded vermiculite as an alternative to natural river sand in the development of building materials would result in improvement of the thermal performance of buildings. Th...

The newly developed waste-based concrete (WBC) is a viable eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to conventional concrete, which has the potential of decreasing the negative impact of concrete production on the eco-system. Therefore, understanding the behavior of WBCs in structural applications is important. To this effect, this paper presents t...

This paper presents the first investigation on foam concretes with fly ash and fine recycled concrete aggregate (RFA). Foam concretes were produced considering 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% RFA ratio instead of virgin sand. Tests were conducted to assess their porosity, density, compressive strength, dynamic elastic modulus, absorption, ultrasound and the...

The accurate design‐oriented model for concrete confined with fiber‐reinforced polymer (FRP) is important to provide safe design of this composite system. In this paper, the response surface model (RSM) is coupled with support vector regression (SVR) for developing a novel hybrid model, namely RSM‐SVR, with the aim of predicting the ultimate condit...

In recent years, the use of fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as cement replacement materials as well as foundry sand (FS) and recycled fine aggregate (RFA) as sand replacement materials has provided an attractive avenue toward a green construction material for decreasing the effect of concrete and construction and demoli...

Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns are increasingly used in different structures owing to their excellent load carrying capacity provided by the interaction between the concrete core and steel tube. However, there is lack of information on the design and prediction of the behavior of CFST columns with rubberized concrete core when they are e...

The use of waste-based materials as cement alternative in concrete has recently received significant attention for the development of an eco-friendly construction material. The aim of the study reported in this paper is to develop a sustainable composite using waste products and natural fibers to reduce the environmental impact associated with ceme...

The use of graphene derivatives to improve the performance of cement mortar composites has receivedsignificant attention in recent years. However, because of diversity of graphene derivatives and theirproperties, which depend on their preparation, it is critical to consider their size, surface chemistry, crys-tallinity, surface area, and impurity....

It is now well-understood that incorporation of nanoparticles can enhance the physico-mechanical properties of cement mortar composites. However, there is still little information on the influence of the dosage and chemistry of nanoparticles on the physico-chemical properties. In this paper, nano-modified cement mortar composites containing 0, 2, 2...

In recent years, industrial by-products have been considered as a promising waste-based material in the production of concrete for development of an eco-friendly construction material. An experimental study on the properties of foam concretes, made with a protein-based foam agent, containing fly ash (FA) as binder and granulated blast furnace slag...

In this paper compressive strength and ultimate strain results in the current database of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined concrete are used to determine the reliability of their design space. The Lognormal, Normal, Frechet, Gumbel, and Weibull distributions are selected to evaluate the probabilistic characteristics of six FRP material categ...

The aim of this study is to develop a new eco‐friendly structural mortar for reducing the CO2 emissions inherent in the use of cement in concrete together with the extraction of the nonrenewable natural sand (NS). This clean production is achieved by fully replacing cement with glass powder (GP), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and fly...

Use of industrial by-products as waste-based materials in the building industry has recently received significant attention to develop eco-friendly building materials. This paper presents an experimental study on properties of bricks containing clay, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and fly ash (FA) at 850, 950 and 1050 °C. Physical, mec...

There has been much effort to provide eco-friendly and biodegradable materials for the next generation of composite products owing to global environmental concerns and increased awareness of renewable green resources. An increase in the use of natural materials in composites has led to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint of...

The axial compressive behavior of actively confined geopolymer concretes (GPCs) is investigated in this study. Two different batches of GPCs were manufactured using either 80% fly ash (FA)/20% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) (80/20 series) or 50% FA/50% GGBS (50/50 series). Two different curing conditions of ambient (at 23 °C) and oven...

The aim of this study was to develop sustainable concrete using waste products to reduce both the carbon dioxide emissions associated with concrete production and the extraction of non-renewable natural resources. The development of the new sustainable concrete involved the replacement of cement with industrial by-products (fly ash, glass powder an...

The use of waste-based materials in the construction industry has received significant attention in recent years to develop environmentally-friendly construction materials. This paper presents an experimental study on the properties of bricks containing clay, fly ash (FA), and bottom ash (BA). A total of 12 batches of bricks were manufactured and e...

The results of the first experimental study on the behavior of axial cyclically loaded rubberized concrete under active confinement are presented. Four different mixes of concrete with rubber replacement ratios of 0 to 18% were considered to investigate the influence of the rubber content on the cyclic compressive behavior of concrete under differe...

Accurate modeling of the complete stress-strain relationship of confined concrete is of vital importance in predicting the structural behavior of confined concrete columns under combined axial compression and bending. Although the axial stress-strain behavior of confined concrete under concentric loading is well established, the behavior under ecce...

In recent years, the use of industrial by-products and waste-based materials in the construction industry has received significant attention to develop eco-friendly and greener construction materials with the aim of reducing the impact of construction industry on the environment. The development of new concretes where cement is replaced with indust...

This study presents the results of an experimental study on the cyclic compressive behavior of rubberized concrete under active confinement. Two different mixes of concretes with rubber replacement ratios of 0%, as a control mix, and 18% were prepared. The effects of the incorporation of rubber and the confining pressure on the cyclic compressive b...

This study presents the results of an experimental study on the mechanical properties of graphene oxide (GO)-cement mortar composites. Four different mixes of cement mortars with GO contents of 0%, as a control mix, 0.03%, 0.1%, and 0.5% by the weight of cement were prepared. The effect of the GO content on the axial tension and compression strengt...

Owing to the significant increase in the global production of plastics during the past five decades, the generation of plastic-related waste has become an important environmental issue. Recycling of plastics is an eco-friendly alternative to the disposal of a large volume of waste plastic in landfill. Recently, the use of recycled plastic materials...

This paper presents an experimental study on the compressive behavior of steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) under active confining pressure. Four different SFRC mixes containing ultra high-strength micro steel fibers at two volume fractions of 1% and 2% were prepared to produce concretes with two different target compressive strengths of 50 and...

This paper investigates the application of three artificial intelligence methods, including multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), M5 model tree (M5Tree), and least squares support vector regression (LSSVR) for the prediction of the mechanical behavior of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A large and reliable experimental test database c...

In recent years, the increased rate of urbanization has led to the generation and release of large amounts of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. From the viewpoint of environmental preservation and effective utilization of resources, it is beneficial and necessary to reuse C&D waste. Recycled concrete aggregate, which is obtained from C&D was...

This paper presents the first experimental study on the axial compressive behavior of high-strength concrete (HSC) confined by shape memory alloy (SMA) wire. Concrete cylinders that were prepared using two different grades of concrete, namely normal-strength concrete (NSC) and HSC, were confined with Nitinol (Ni-Ti) SMA spirals having a pitch spaci...

This paper presents the results of an experimental study together with the first finite element (FE) model for the compressive behavior of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC). 73 existing experimental test results of FRP-confined and actively confined SFRC specimens tested under axial compression were init...

It is now accepted that replacement of natural aggregates in concrete with recycled concrete aggregates obtained from construction and demolition waste is a promising technology to conserve natural resources and reduce the environmental impact of concrete. This paper presents a study on long-term properties of concretes manufactured with recycled a...

This paper investigates the ability of four artificial intelligence techniques, including artificial neural network (ANN), radial basis neural network (RBNN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with grid partitioning, and ANFIS with fuzzy c-means clustering, to predict the peak and residual conditions of actively confined concrete. A lar...

Accurate determination of the axial strains of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined concrete is highly important for determining the axial compressive behavior of the material. This is challenging, however, because of the fact that axial strains are often influenced by the methods used in their measurement. Two measurement methods, involving the...

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the axial compressive behaviour of normal- and high-strength concrete (NSC and HSC) confined by shape memory alloy (SMA) spirals. A spiral pitch space of 36 and 20 mm was used for SMA confinement of NSC and HSC columns, respectively. The confining pressure was applied on the concrete cylin...

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the effect of load eccentricity on the axial compressive behaviour of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP)- confined high-strength concrete (HSC) columns with a square cross-section. The axial loading was applied to the specimens at six different load eccentricities ranging from zero to...

This paper presents a comprehensive study to evaluate the influence of graphene oxide (GO) concentration on the physiochemical and mechanical properties of cement mortar composites. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrar...

The use of recycled concrete aggregates as an alternative aggregate material in concrete has been studied over the past two decades. It is now recognized that the recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), where natural aggregates are replaced with recycled concrete aggregates, is a promising technology for conserving natural resources and reducing the env...

Graphene materials have been extensively explored and successfully used to improve performances of cement composites. These formulations were mainly optimized based on different dosages of graphene additives, but with lack of understanding how other parameters such as surface chemistry, size, charge, and defects of graphene structures could impact...

Recently, the use of a new class of smart materials known as shape memory alloy (SMA) is being considered to confine concrete. Although a small number of studies have been conducted to understand the mechanical performance of concrete confined by SMAs, they have only considered normal-strength concrete (NSC). The popularity of high-strength concret...

Cementitious materials are the most widely used construction materials throughout the world. Recently, a number of studies have investigated the significant potential of graphene oxide (GO) for enhancing mechanical properties of cementitious materials and designing new composites. However, there is considerable inconsistency in the results of these...