The strength and consistency of cemented paste backfill (CPB) are of key concerns in the stope stability and cost control for underground mines. It is common practice to use additives, such as superplasticizer, to improve the performance of CPB. This study mainly focuses on the effects of superplasticizer on the hydration, consistency, and strength of CPB. In this study, a polynaphtalene sulfonate was used as the superplasticizer. The binder is a mix of 33.3% ordinary Portland cement and 66.7% fly ash. The CPB specimens with a tailings-binder ratio of 3:1 and a solid concentration of 70% were then tested by a low field nuclear magnetic resonance system after different hydration times. Effects of polynaphtalene sulfonate on the hydration, fluidity, and strength were investigated. Results showed that the polynaphtalene sulfonate has a strong influence on short-duration hydration, which may contribute to the strength increase of CPB. It has been demonstrated that the polynaphtalene sulfonate improved the fluidity of the CPB mixture. With the increased dosage of polynaphtalene sulfonate, the slump increased. It was also found that the polynaphtalene sulfonate dosage has a negligible effect on the 1 day (d) strength while it has a strengthening effect on the 7 d, 14 d, and 28 d strength of CPB specimens.

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Completely non‐contact and fast measurements are still the focus of vision‐based monitoring in real‐bridge applications. Overall, a fast deflection measurement method, that traces the natural features of structures instead of artificial targets, was developed in this study. More specifically, due to the tiny scale change between images and the small deformation level of small and medium bridges, a simplified fast‐Hessian detector and a pre‐purification‐based RANdom Sampling Consistency (RANSAC) were proposed and verified by performing experiments under different illuminations. The non‐target deformation measurement method based on an improved algorithm was applied to field testing of an arch bridge with 100 m main girder and showed better processing speed and sub‐pixel accuracy than their originals. The optical results obtained by an industrial camera were consistent with other contact‐type sensors, such as level gauges and inclinometers.

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In this paper we report the progress of our work so far on extending of the OpenSees framework so that it can be used to model structures subjected to fire. The work has focussed on understanding the C++ based object oriented structure of the OpenSees framework, so that all developments remain consistent with it. New classes have been added to introduce temperature dependent material properties for steel and concrete materials. New element classes have also been added to analyse 2D truss and frame structures subjected to fire. This paper will provide an overview of the developments already implemented and present results from using the implemented code to solve a number of benchmark problems and from modelling real fire tests.

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