Project Description: This project supports a collaborative research between Dr. Sami Rizkalla, Department of Civil Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh and Dr. Tarek Hassan, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. They will conduct an evaluation of a new high corrosion-resistant steel reinforcement for concrete structures in the Mediterranean environment.
Intellectual merit: The prime objective of the proposed research is to investigate the effective use of innovative, highly corrosion-resistant, high strength steel reinforcement for use in highway concrete bridge applications and structures in warm climate. The steel is produced by MMFX Steel Corporation of America and commercially known as "Micro-composite Multistructural Formable Steel" or "MMFX Steel". The MMFX rebars will be donated by their manufacturer. The proposed testing program will be conducted at the Structural Laboratory at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. The analytical component will include numerical simulation using cracked section analysis to determine the influence of several parameters, which are known to affect the design requirements for reinforced concrete structures. The effect of the various limitations on the flexural strength and ductility of concrete members reinforced with MMFX will be considered. Based on the research findings, design recommendations for the use of MMFX as main flexural reinforcement for concrete structures will be provided. The background and experiences of the research teams fit well with the requirements of this research. They have demonstrated expertise in the areas of design, development, code writing, testing of highway structures and strategic planning. With this expertise and with the cooperation between both institutions, the anticipated results of this project will be comprehensive and authoritative documents for flexural design provisions for MMFX rebars will be provided. The researchers are highly respected in their field.
Broader impacts: The results of this research will be beneficial to the civil engineering community. The collaboration between U.S. and Egyptian researchers is likely to provide synergistic benefits. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.
