Challenges in ML/AI for the Concrete Industry (ACI Spring 2024, New Orleans, LA) Cement manufacturing is widely recognized for its harmful impacts on the natural environment. In recent years, efforts have been made to improve the sustainability of cement manufacturing through the use of renewable energy, the capture of CO2 emissions, and the partial replacement of cement with supplementary cementitious materials. To further enhance sustainability, optimizing the cement manufacturing process is essential. This can be achieved through the prediction and optimization of clinker phases in relation to chemical compositions of raw materials and manufacturing conditions. Cement clinkers are produced by heating raw materials in kilns, where raw materials and processing conditions all play roles in determining chemical phases of final clinkers. This study uses thermodynamic simulations to analyze phase assemblages of clinkers based on chemical compositions of raw materials and create a database. The thermodynamic simulations can accurately reproduce clinker phases in comparison with experimental results. Subsequently, the simulated database is employed to train a data-informed model, and the predictions are used to determine the optimal composition domains that produce high quality clinker (C3S>50%) at different calcination temperatures. Additionally, optimal lime saturation factor and alumina modulus are investigated to achieve target clinker phases. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of using the data-informed approach to achieve smart manufacturing process and improve its sustainability.

Emerging FRP Systems and Successful Project Applications (ACI Spring 2024, New Orleans, LA) The externally bonded reinforcement on grooves (EBROG) technique has been recently shown to outperform its rival techniques of surface preparation (such as externally bonded reinforcement, EBR) employed to delay the undesirably premature debonding of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) from the concrete substrate in retrofitted structure. However, the behavior of EBROG method under fatigue loading has not been assessed yet, and the present study is the first attempt to achieve the above aim. For this purpose, an experimental program is conducted in which 16 CFRP-to-concrete bonded joints on the concrete slab prepared through the EBROG and EBR techniques are subjected to the single lap-shear test and fatigue cyclic loading. Furthermore, the bond behavior of CFRP strips-to-concrete substrate is investigated in this research in terms of the load capacity, slip, debonding mechanism, and fatigue life. The results showed that the grooving method improved the bond properties of CFRP-to-concrete joints under fatigue loading. By using this alternative technique, the number of cycles until failure (fatigue life) increases incredibly under the same fatigue cycle loading and the service life of strengthened members could be improved under fatigue loading. Furthermore, the effects of different loading levels on the behavior of CFRP-concrete joints installed by EBROG method are evaluated. The results showed that fatigue life of strengthened specimens decreases by increasing fatigue upper load limit. Finally, a new predictive equation was developed based on plotting the maximum applied fatigue load versus fatigue life curves for CFRP-to-concrete bonded joints for the EBROG method.