Review

Advances in Structural Engineering

1–16
A review on seismic behavior of Ó The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1369433220968451

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Rui Hu1, Zhi Fang1 , Caijun Shi1, Brahim Benmokrane2

and Jie Su1

Abstract
Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a type of cementitious composite, and demonstrates very high compressive strength and
good ductility. The favorable ductility and energy dissipation capacity of UHPC material make it possible to achieve excellent seismic
performance in all kinds of structural members. The paper reviewed the recent progress on the seismic behavior of UHPC members,
including flexural members (beams and plates), compressive members (columns and shear walls), joints (beam-column joints and
plate-column joints), strengthening (strengthening for columns, shear walls and joints) and connections (bar lap splice and grout). A
series of potential future researches on the seismic behavior of UHPC members were finally suggested for promotion of the applica-
tion of UHPC in civil engineering.

Keywords
ductility, energy dissipation, seismic performance, ultra-high performance concrete

Introduction Moreover, due to the integrity of the concrete matrix

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is one of the
most innovative cement based structural engineering
material developed in the last 30 years (Zhou et al.,
2018). UHPC could show compressive strength from
150 to 810 MPa, approximately 3 to 16 times as that of
conventional concrete. With the addition of steel fiber,
the ductility and energy dissipation of UHPC can be
300 times greater than that of high-performance con-
crete (Krahl et al., 2018; Shi et al., 2015; Wang et al.,
2015).
Because of the contained steel fibers, UHPC has the
characteristics of high tensile strength and large ulti-
mate strain. These characteristics of UHPC can trans-
late into high bearing capacity, good ductility and
excellent energy dissipation capacity at the structural
level. On one hand, in the tensile zone of the UHPC
flexural members, the bridging effect of the fibers can
constrain the crack development (Mahmud et al.,
2013). Narrow and closely distributed cracks will
occur, which is expected in the engineering (Yang
et al., 2010). On the other hand, in the compressive
zone of the UHPC flexural members, the confinement
effect provided by the fibers will enhance the compres-
sive ductility and residual strength of UHPC, and
therefore restrain the concrete spalling and crushing.
around the reinforcing rebars, the bond-slip toughness
and energy dissipation capacity of the UHPC flexural
members can be increased (Hung and Chueh, 2016).
Applying UHPC in the compressive members can
exert its best advantages (Tong and Fang, 2016; Zhao
and Yan, 2004). Due to the bridging effect of steel
fibers between cracks, the integrity of UHPC could be
sustained and concrete spalling or crushing could be
eliminated in UHPC compressive members. This
allows the longitudinal reinforcement to be utilized to
its yield stress without buckling (Huang, 2011; Xu,
2007). Moreover, the specific compressive strength
(ratio of compressive strength to density) of UHPC is
four times that of normal concrete and two times that
of normal steel (Wang et al., 2003). Therefore, the
cross section of the UHPC compressive members can
be effectively reduced, and the seismic inertia force of
1
College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China
2
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sherbrooke,
Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
Corresponding author:
Zhi Fang, College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, No.2 Lushan
South Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.
Email: fangzhi@hnu.edu.cn
2 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
the structure will be decreased, as a result of the light
weight. Meanwhile, due to the high ductility and
toughness of UHPC, the flexibility of the compressive
members can be enhanced and lead to a high energy
dissipation capacity (Ju et al., 2013).
Joints are the critical area connecting columns and
beams or plates, and assembling them into a frame-
work. As a force transferring hub, joints are prone to
fail by shear under seismic load, resulting in low ducti-
lity and energy dissipation capacity (Nurjannah et al.,
2016a). Moreover, the failure of the joints may lead to
the overall collapse of the whole structure. Therefore,
it is suggested that the bearing capacity of the joints
should be higher than that of the components con-
nected to them. Dense reinforcements are usually
arranged in the normal concrete joints, and specific
construction measures are needed to guarantee the
strength and compactness of the concrete. Applying
UHPC with high ductility, dense matrix and without
coarse aggregates can improve the seismic behavior of
the joints and solve the problem of excessive reinforce-
ment (Ju et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2014).
UHPC can not only be used to constitute the main
bearing members, it can also be applied to strengthen
the normal concrete structural members or retrofit the
seismic-damaged structures (Massicotte et al., 2013).
Moreover, connections between bars and concrete or
between concrete members are usually subject to
severe and complicated stress conditions, and will exhi-
bit complex dynamic responses under seismic load
(Lampropoulos et al., 2016). UHPC with high com-
pressive and tensile strength is also suitable to be used
in the connections (Xu et al., 2018).
Therefore, this review focuses on the seismic beha-
vior of UHPC members, including flexural members,
compressive members, joints, strengthening and con-
nections. It is the purpose to summarize the recent
progress, to provide some insights and suggestions for
further researches, and to facilitate the applications of
UHPC.
Flexural members
Beams
In order to take advantages of the high strength and
ductility of UHPC, high-strength steel rebars can be
used in UHPC flexural members. The application of
high-strength steel rebars in normal concrete is gener-
ally limited. Due to the high yield strain of high-
strength steel rebars, the normal concrete in the com-
pressive zone reaches its ultimate compressive strain
before compressive steel rebar yield, causing the brittle
failure of the flexural members. Meanwhile, because of
the limitation of crack width in the engineering and
the relatively low ultimate tensile strain of normal con-
crete, high-strength steel rebars are not yield in the ten-
sion zone of the flexural members before large crack
width occurs. Thus, the strength of high-strength steel
rebars in normal concrete members cannot be fully
developed. However, the combination of UHPC and
high-strength steel rebars takes full advantages of both
their strength properties. Because of the large ultimate
compressive and tensile strain, the crack width can be
effectively reduced, and high-strength steel rebars can
yield before UHPC crushed, providing enough ducti-
lity for UHPC beams. Moreover, the characteristics of
the low w/b ratio and the dense matrix of UHPC
enable an adequate bond strength between the matrix
and the high-strength steel rebars in the flexural mem-
bers under large displacement reversals (Deng and
Wang, 2016).
Seismic behavior of UHPC beams longitudinally
reinforced with high-strength steel rebars was studied by
Hung and Chueh (2016). Six cantilever beams were
tested under displacement reversals, with the variables
of different tensile reinforcement ratio (2.0% or 1.4%),
volume fraction of steel fiber (2%, 1%, or 0%), steel
fiber length (30 mm-long or 60 mm-long hooked steel
fibers), and location of steel fiber (in full depth or selec-
tively in the top and bottom sections). All the steel fibers
were only used in the plastic hinge region of the beam.
It was observed in the experiment that the failure of
UHPC beams under seismic load was dominated by
the fracture of high-strength longitudinal steel rebars,
as a result of concentrating strains at the localized con-
crete crack. The addition of steel fibers in UHPC was
beneficial in enhancing the damage tolerance, strength
capacity, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness
retention of the beam. The UHPC beam with the selec-
tive use of fibers in the top and bottom section was
found to have almost the same energy dissipation
capacity with the beam where steel fibers were distrib-
uted in full depth. Although the longer steel fibers can
enhance the strength capacity and flexural ductility of
the beam, the UHPC beams with shorter steel fibers
performed better in facilitating the multiple narrow
cracks and increasing the energy dissipation capacity.
It can be explained that under the same steel fiber con-
tent, UHPC beams with shorter fibers had a larger
number of fibers to control the crack width.
In the long-span bridges, super high-rise building or
engineering where crack development is strictly lim-
ited, the prestressed UHPC beams can be applied. The
partial prestress ratio (PPR) and transformed reinfor-
cement ratio of UHPC beams prestressed high-
strength rebars are defined by equations (1) and (2),
respectively.
Hu et al.
 
l = fpy Ap = fpy Ap + fy As ð1Þ
 
r = fpy Ap + fy As =fy bhs ð2Þ
where l and r are the prestress degree and trasformed
reinforcement ratio, respectively; fpy and Ap are the
yield strength and cross-sectional area of prestressed
rebar, respectively; fy and As are the yield strength and
cross sectional area of non-prestressed rebar, respec-
tively; b is the width of the beam; hs is distance between
the gravity center of non-prestressed rebars and the
top of the beam.
Deng and Wang (2016) tested the seismic behavior
of prestressed UHPC beams. The tested UHPC beams
were simultaneously reinforced by prestressed low
relaxation steel strands and non-prestressed steel bars.
The experimental variables included PPR (0, 0.6, or
0.9) and transformed reinforcement ratio (1.22%,
1.42%, or 2.17%). Reversed cyclic load was applied
on the mid-span of the prestressed UHPC beam.
It was found that the existence of prestress could
increase the initial flexural stiffness, slow down the
stiffness degradation and improve earthquake resili-
ence. The increase of PPR could also decrease the duc-
tility and energy dissipation capacity of UHPC beams.
Meanwhile, high transformed reinforcement ratio
resulted in large depth of compressive zone and led to
low ductility of UHPC beams. The high-strength
rebars in UHPC beams with high transformed reinfor-
cement ratio were still in the elastic state when failure
of the beam occurs. The energy dissipation capacity
decreased with the increase of reinforcement ratio.
Therefore, the PPR of UHPC beams prestressed with
high-strength steel strands was suggested to be taken
as 0.6~0.7, and the transformed reinforcement ratio
was suggested to be taken as 1.42%~2.16%. Such
Figure 1. Dimensions and test setup of the special designed UHPC plate (Chen et al., 2007): (a) dimensions of the UHPC plate and
(b) test setup.
3
UHPC beams can take fully advantages of the excel-
lent crack resistance of prestressed concrete beams,
and maintain favorable deformability and energy dissi-
pation capacity at the same time.
Plates
Plate is a kind of two-dimensional flexural members.
In order to develop a structural member with less dead
load and better seismic performance, one kind of
UHPC plate reinforced with steel welded wire meshes
was specially designed by Chen et al. (2007). The
dimensions of the special designed UHPC plate is pre-
sented in Figure 1. The steel fibers in UHPC had the
diameter of 0.2 mm and the length of 13 mm. The
UHPC plate was reinforced with four layers of steel
welded wire meshes with a diameter of 0.8 mm and a
square mesh size of 12.7 mm. The fabrication process
for such UHPC plats was carefully concerned. Firstly,
the UHPC matrix was poured for the first layer.
Secondly, a piece of steel welded wire mesh was put on
the surface of the UHPC matrix. Then the second
layer of the UHPC matrix was poured and the previ-
ous steps were repeated to the end.
Due to this special fabrication process of the speci-
men, steel fibers could be distributed along the thick-
ness of layer uniformly. Moreover, with the special
design, the length of steel fiber (13 mm) was greater
than the thickness of mesh layers (5 mm to 10 mm)
and the mesh size of steel welded wire mesh (12.7 mm).
This helped to convert the orientation of fiber distribu-
tion from three-dimensional distribution to two-
dimensional distribution due to the boundary effect of
wire mesh layers. Two-dimensional distribution
increased the reinforcing effect of steel fibers about
4 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
14% over three-dimensional distribution (Chen et al.,
2007).
Eleven UHPC plates with different fiber volume
fractions (0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, or 4%) and different
mesh layers (0 or 4) were tested under different loading
modes (monotonic static load or reversed cyclic load
with low or high amplitude). It was observed that the
longitudinal steel wires could provide an important
effect in uniform stress distribution in the UHPC plates
and led to multiple cracking. The transverse steel wires,
on the other hand, could help to restrain the develop-
ment of multiple cracks speedily and eliminated the
phenomenon of cracking localization. Steel fibers were
pulled out during the loading process, and provided a
frictional mechanism to dissipate the seismic energy.
The energy dissipated by the frictional process during
the pulling out of fibers was raised with the increase of
the number of cracks.
Compressive members
Columns
Solid columns. Similar to the UHPC flexural members,
the advantages of high-strength steel rebars can also
be fully developed in the UHPC compressive members.
Seismic behavior of three 1/4-scaled column specimens
with different bar grades (SD685 or SD980) and axial
loadings (vary or constant) were investigated by
Ousalem et al. (2009). It is proved that using SD980
steel in the UHPC columns could induce lower
strength degradation, smaller residual deformation
and slightly higher ductility. The axial loading type
affected the crack development and damage concentra-
tion of the UHPC columns.
For normal concrete, the brittleness of the concrete
is raised with the increase of compressive strength.
Thus, significant amounts of shear reinforcement are
usually needed for high-strength concrete columns in
the practical engineering, to confine concrete and pre-
vent premature brittle failure. However, UHPC has
much higher ductility and energy dissipation capacity
than normal concrete. In such case, whether shear
reinforcement is still needed in the UHPC columns
becomes controversial.
Palacios et al. (2015) argued that the amount of
transverse reinforcement could be considerably
reduced in the UHPC columns due to the enhanced
ductility caused by the addition of steel fibers. Two
full-scale columns were tested under reversed lateral
load. One of them is made of normal concrete, and the
other had UHPC in the bottom part of the column
(1.01 m high). The failure of normal concrete column
initiated with concrete crushing, but the failure of
UHPC column was caused by the fracture of
longitudinal bars. No visible concrete damage was
observed in the plastic hinge region of UHPC column,
which allowed the longitudinal reinforcement to be uti-
lized to its ultimate yielding capacity without buckling.
It was found that the strains in shear reinforcement
were in the elastic range. Similar conclusions were
drawn by Zhao and Yan (2004). Four UHPC columns
were tested, and the influences of shear reinforcement
ratio (0, 0.11%, 0.22%, or 0.44%) were investigated.
No obvious relationship was found between the shear
reinforcement ratio and the ductility of the UHPC col-
umns. It was suggested that the shear reinforcement in
UHPC columns can be reduced.
Different observations were found by Marchand
et al. (2019). Nine UHPC columns and one normal
concrete column were tested in the experiment. The
variables included constitution of UHPC (with or
without polypropylene fibers), shear reinforcement
(with or without shear reinforcement), axial compres-
sion ratio (sc/fc = 0.16 or sc/fc = 0.09) and loading
protocol (repeated or alternate). Compared to the nor-
mal concrete column, concrete cover in the UHPC col-
umn was relatively less damaged because of the fibers
in UHPC, and steel rebars were better protected from
buckling. It was found that the dissipation capacities
of UHPC columns were quite the same under different
loading protocol (repeated or alternate). Although
shear reinforcement had little influences on the dissipa-
tion capacity of UHPC columns, it seemed to have a
positive effect on the ductility of UHPC columns under
the low axial compression ratio of 0.09. When the axial
compression ratio increased from 0.09 to 0.16, influ-
ences of shear reinforcement on the ductility of UHPC
columns became less obvious.
However, Ju et al. (2013) found that shear reinfor-
cement could improve the ductility of UHPC columns
even under the high axial compression ratio. A series
of quasi-static tests of eighteen UHPC columns were
conducted in the experiment. Influences of volume
fraction of steel fibers (1.0% or 1.3%), design axial
compression ratio (0.29, 0.43, 0.58, 0.65, or 0.71), long-
itudinal reinforcement ratio (1.09%, 2.44%, or 3.32%)
and stirrup ratio (0.55%, 0.62%, or 0.65%) on the
seismic behavior of UHPC columns were analyzed.
The increase of steel fibers was proved to reduce the
crack width and increase the number of cracks, result-
ing in higher ductility and dissipation capacity of
UHPC columns. Both ductility and dissipation capac-
ity of UHPC columns were enhanced with the increase
of stirrup ratio.
Sugano et al. (2007) also found that UHPC columns
with high shear reinforcement ratio could achieve sta-
ble seismic behavior under high axial compression
ratio. Six UHPC columns with different axial compres-
sion ratios (0.3 or 0.6) and shear reinforcement ratios
Hu et al.
(0.53%, 1.60%, or 2.29%) were tested under cyclic lat-
eral load. The ultimate displacement of the columns
significantly increased with the increase of shear
reinforcement.
From the above researches, it can be seen that the
influence of shear reinforcement ratio on the ductility
of UHPC columns may be less obvious compared to
that of normal concrete columns. However, although
excessive shear reinforcement is not needed in the
UHPC columns, shear reinforcement still should not
be totally omitted from UHPC structures. When cyclic
load was applied, most of the steel fibers at cracks
were under the combination of cyclic tension, shear or
bending due to their disordered distributions. Steel
fibers under these stress conditions were prone to fail
(Fang et al., 2013). Even for the steel fibers perpendi-
cular to cracks, they were subjected alternatively to
tension and compression under cyclic load. This could
generate possible buckling of the steel fibers at wide
cracks and accelerated the failure or the pullout of the
steel fibers (Palacios et al., 2015). Therefore, a certain
amount of shear reinforcement is still needed in the
UHPC columns to provide enough shear resistance
and guarantee the ductility of the structure.
It also can be known from the aforementioned
experiment that the seismic damage of the columns
was usually limited to the plastic hinge region. Since
UHPC is currently too expensive to be used in the con-
struction of a full bridge column, it could be strategi-
cally used in critical regions to improve the seismic
performance of the columns with lower costs. It was
proved in the experiment conducted by Mohebbi et al.
(2018a) that UHPC could effectively reduce the plastic
hinge damage. The tested column had moment con-
nections at the top and two-way hinge connections at
the bottom. The column was precast and then inserted
into the footing pocket, after which the cap beam was
placed on the column. It was suggested that the
embedment length of the column in the cap beam
should be larger than the development length of the
longitudinal bars and 1.0 times the columns cross sec-
tional dimension.
Hollow columns. Although frame columns in building
structures are usually solid rectangular or square, hol-
low rectangular columns are normally adopted in the
pier and tower of bridge engineering. The differences
between UHPC hollow column and solid column with
UHPC jacket and reinforced normal concrete core
were studied by Ichikawa et al. (2016). It was found
that the dissipated energy and equivalent viscous
damping for the solid column with UHPC jacket were
generally higher than the UHPC hollow column
because the former column experienced greater
5
damage. The solid column also had less torsion than
the UHPC hollow column.
To explore the seismic behavior of UHPC hollow
columns, five 1.7 m tall UHPC hollow columns with
the cross-sectional dimension of 400 mm 3 400 mm
and the thickness of 60 mm were tested by Hao et al.
(2011). The experimental variables included longitudi-
nal reinforcement ratio (2.96%, 3.94%, or 4.93%) and
shear reinforcement ratio (0, 0.73%, or 1.46%). The
ductility factor of the UHPC hollow columns increased
from 4.0 to 4.8 when the shear reinforcement ratio
increased from 0.73% to 1.46%. A restoring force
model of UHPC hollow columns was then proposed
based on the experimental data. Moreover, the plastic
hinge length of UHPC hollow column was studied by
Ren et al. (2017). The plastic hinge length of UHPC
bridge column was increased with the decrease of axial
compression ratio. The plastic hinge length was
increased firstly and then decreased with the increase
of longitudinal reinforcement ratio.
Furthermore, the direction of horizontal load also
had important influences on the seismic performance
of rectangular UHPC hollow columns. Three UHPC
hollow columns were tested under different load direc-
tions by Wang et al. (2012). Best ductility of the col-
umn was performed when lateral load was applied on
the minor axis of the cross section. When inclined load
was applied on the column, the stresses in different
reinforcement were distributed unevenly due to their
different distances from the central axis. The bond
between UHPC and the outermost reinforcement
reduced rapidly, and the damage of the column accu-
mulated seriously. The load was reduced fast after
reaching the bearing capacity, which led to lower
ductility.
Self-centering columns. In recent years, earthquake resili-
ent structure, which is defined as a type of structure
that can restore structural function rapidly after a
severe earthquake without significant repair, has
become a hot topic in the earthquake engineering. It is
found that precast segmental bridge columns, not only
allow rapid bridge construction, but also present a
self-centering capacity when precast segments are inte-
grated with post-tensioning strands. However, con-
crete at the bottom of the precast segmental bridge
columns will be crushed easily under earthquake
action, and leads to poor energy dissipation capacity.
Therefore, due to the excellent ductility of UHPC,
post-tensioned segmental UHPC bridge columns are
expected to obtain self-centering capacity and energy
dissipation capacity at the same time.
Three segmental hollow columns posttensioned with
15.2-mm diameter unbonded strands were tested by
6 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Yang and Okumus (2017). Normal concrete was used

in all segments of the first tested column. The second
and third column had an UHPC bottom segment with
and without the mild steel bars, respectively. It was
found that the stiffness and strength of the columns
with UHPC bottom segment were higher than those of
normal concrete columns due to the elimination of
damage in UHPC. The difference in damage to the
UHPC segments with and without mild steel bars was
negligible, suggesting that steel bars can be eliminated
in the UHPC segments.
However, in the experiment conducted by Wang
et al. (2018b, 2019b), mild steel bars passing through
the bottom two segments were configured as energy
dissipation (ED) devices. Seismic performance of three
posttensioned UHPC hollow columns with different
axial load ratio (0.018 or 0.036) and diameter of the
ED bars (16 mm or 22 mm) was studied. Unbonded
posttensioning (PT) strands were used to provide self-
centering prestressing force (Bu et al., 2015). The addi-
tion of ED bars can improve lateral strength and
energy dissipation capacity but increase residual drift
ratio. It was suggested that the contribution of ED
bars to lateral strength of precast segmental UHPC
bridge column should not exceed 25%, in order to
maintain excellent self-centering capacity and good Figure 2. Design details of the posttensioned segmental
energy dissipation capacity. UHPC bridge columns (units: mm) (Wang et al., 2018c).
Although self-centering capacity is obtained in the
previous precast segmental UHPC bridge columns,
concrete crushing is still inevitable when the columns higher residual drift. After the seismic load applied
are subjected to large earthquakes. Therefore, based until its failure, rapid repairs were conducted for the
on the previous column, a special designed earthquake damaged UHPC bridge column. The rapid repairs
resilient UHPC bridge column was proposed to realize included the relaxation of PT strands, the replacement
rapid repairs for damaged bridge columns after an of dissipaters and UHPC cover plates, and re-tension
earthquake, as shown in Figure 2. The bottom seg- of PT strands. The identical seismic load was applied
ment S1 was considered as the potential plastic hinge after the rapid repairs. It was found that the repaired
region and divided into two parts: the core zone and specimens had similar lateral load and displacement
four surrounding cover plates. The core zone was capacities compared with the original column. Such
designed to possess enough resistance to axial loading UHPC bridge column was proved to maintain excel-
including gravity and prestressing force. Four sur- lent self-centering capacity and good energy dissipa-
rounding cover plates were allowed to be damaged tion capacity, and rapid repairs can be realized for
and provide earthquake resistance during earthquake such columns.
shock. Replaceable dissipaters, made by mild steel bars
with threaded sleeves at two ends were located between
the core zone and cover plates, and expected to Innovative columns. Although PT steel strands and
improve energy dissipation. The core zone and cover replaceable dissipaters are proved to effectively re-
plates were connected using horizontal prestressed center the bridge columns and realize rapid repairs for
bars. the damaged columns after earthquake, corrosion
Three special designed UHPC bridge columns with problem is still one of their biggest concerns (Wang
different axial load ratio (0.018 or 0.036) and diameter et al., 2018c). Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) with the
of the replaceable dissipater (22 mm or 32 mm) were advantages of anti-corrosion and high tensile strength
tested. It was observed that major damage was focused capacity provide an attractive alternative.
on the dissipaters and cover plates as expected. The One properly designed bridge column with UHPC
increase of PT force would aggravate dissipater buck- at plastic hinge region and posttensioned with CFRP
ling for the proposed bridge columns, which led to (carbon fiber-reinforced polymer) tendons was studied
Hu et al.
by Mohebbi et al. (2018b). The tested column finally
failed in rebar rupture under seismic load, and the
posttensioned CFRP tendons were proved to eliminate
residual drifts of UHPC bridge columns effectively.
Moreover, it was observed that debonding the longitu-
dinal bars for 4db (where db is the diameter of longitu-
dinal bars) above and below the footing interface was
effective in spreading the plastic deformation of the
longitudinal bars and eliminated the strain concentra-
tion at the column-footing interface.
The anti-corrosive property of FRP can also help to
improve another kind of structure: concrete-filled steel
tubular column. Replacing steel with FRP composites
can not only has the same advantages as concrete-filled
steel tubular columns, including significant enhance-
ment in strength, ductility and energy absorption, but
also resolve their disadvantages, such as the premature
buckling of steel tube, the initial separation of the two
materials, and the corrosion of steel. On the other
hand, applying UHPC inside the FRP tube can exert
the ultra-high compressive strength of UHPC and may
reduce the longitudinal reinforcement in the column.
Therefore, seismic performance of glass fiber-
reinforced polymer (GFRP) tubes filled with UHPC
(UHPCFFT) was explored by Zohrevand and
Mirmiran (2011). Two normal concrete circular col-
umns (with or without GFRP tube) and two circular
columns with the UHPC within twice the plastic hinge
length (with or without GFRP tube) were tested. The
proposed UHPCFFT system demonstrated a reason-
able ductility without any internal steel. Thus, seismic
behavior of the UHPCFFT with different cross section
(column diameter of 219 mm, 323 mm, or 337 mm),
thickness of GFRP tube (5 mm, 9 mm, or 16 mm),
type of GFRP tube (Red Thread II Pipe or Alphatic
Amine Pipe), and amount of longitudinal steel reinfor-
cement (0, 0.5%, or 0.9%) was studied by Zohrevand
et al. (2013a). All the tested five UHPCFFTs showed
significantly higher flexural strength, initial stiffness,
and damping ratio, as compared to reinforced normal
concrete columns. The seismic performance of
UHPCFFT was further studied by using OpenSees
through the simulation analysis of the columns under
1978 Tabas earthquake (Zohrevand et al., 2013b). The
simulation results showed that the UHPCFFT had
40% higher peak ground acceleration capacity com-
pared to reinforced normal column.
Shear walls
Shear wall is the most important axial and lateral force
resisting component in the high-rise building. The seis-
mic performance of UHPC shear walls with different
aspect ratios (1.0, 1.5, or 2.0) were studied by Tong
7
et al. (2016). It was found that the cracks on UHPC
shear walls were distributed widely and intensively
under seismic load. The UHPC shear wall with high
aspect ratio of 2.0 showed good ductility with the duc-
tility factor higher than 3.
The shear wall with low aspect ratio would exhibit
shear-dominant behavior, and can be classified as
squat shear wall. The shear-critical behavior of squat
shear walls caused limited ductility, stiffness and
strength retention. Therefore, four UHPC squat shear
walls with the aspect ratio of 0.73 were tested by Hung
et al. (2017). The top and bottom ends of the precast
wall element were finished with jagged edges as shear
keys to increase the connection strength between the
wall element and concrete block. The study focused on
the effects of steel fiber content (0 or 2%), strength of
steel bars in the web region of the wall (nominal yield-
ing strength of 420 MPa or 785 MPa), dowel p bars
ffiffiffiffiffiffi
(presence or
pffiffiffiffiffiffi absence) and target shear stress (0.5 f 0c
0
or 0.83 f c ) on the seismic behavior of UHPC squat
shear walls.
It was found that the addition of steel fibers
enhanced the strength, confinement, and crack-width
control ability of UHPC squat shear walls, allowing
the walls to exhibit ductile flexural-dominant behavior,
even when the shear stress in the UHPC was 20%
higher than the code-specified maximum allowable
value (ACI 318, 2014). However, steel fibers in UHPC
could not prevent the sliding failure mode when the
drift ratio increased to more than 2%. The addition of
dowel bars, though, could effectively restrain the slid-
ing mechanism. Moreover, it was also observed in the
experiment that the strength capacity of high-strength
longitudinal and transverse steel reinforcements
installed in the UHPC squat shear walls could be fully
exploited under displacement reversals.
Joints
Beam-columns joints
Five exterior and four interior UHPC beam-column
joints were tested under reverse cyclic load by Wang
et al. (2018a). The experimental variables included
joint types (exterior or interior), axial compression
load ratio of the column (0.3 or 0.5), nominal yielding
strength of longitudinal bars in beam and column
(400 MPa or 600 MPa), and volume stirrup ratio in
the joint area (0 or 0.25%). It was observed that the
integrity of UHPC joints was superior to normal con-
crete joints at failure. The use of high-strength steel
bars could improve the ductility and strength retention
capacity of UHPC joints. The shear capacity of the
exterior joints was approximately 80%~90% of those
of interior joints.
8 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
Seismic behavior of four interior UHPC beam-
column joints with different steel fiber content (0% or
2% by volume) and development length of longitudi-
nal bars of the beam in the joint (14d or 17d; d is the
bar diameter) were investigated by Sugano et al.
(2007). All the tested specimens had similar failure
process. Longitudinal bars of the beam and lateral
reinforcements in the joint yielded, and then the joint
failed in shear compression. It was found that steel
fibers enhanced the shear strength of the beam-column
joints.
To improve the seismic performance of beam-
column joints, the addition of longitudinal (mild steel
bars and pre-stress strands) and transverse reinforce-
ments can be introduced. Four partially prestress
UHPC beam-column joints were tested by Nurjannah
et al. (2016b). The polypropylene fibers were used in
the UHPC. The experimental variables included joint
types (exterior or interior) and partial prestress ratio
(PPR) (22.8% or 33.8%). When the PPR increased
from 22.8% to 33.8%, the ductility and energy dissipa-
tion of the interior UHPC beam-column joint
increased by 21% and 26%, respectively. The interior
joint with two plastic hinges was proved to obtain
much higher bearing capacity and energy dissipation
capacity than the exterior joint with one plastic hinge.
Plate-columns joints
A flat plate structural system consists of a plate with
uniform thickness supported directly on columns with-
out any beams. It is more economical compared to the
normal structures with beams and slabs, which will
reduce the height of inter-story floors. However, dur-
ing an earthquake, the unbalanced moments trans-
ferred between slabs and columns can produce
significant shear stresses that increase the likelihood of
brittle punching failure. Several methods were pro-
posed to solve this problem, such as increasing the
thickness of the slab or developing a drop panel. The
drop panel can improve the strength and stiffness of
the flat plate, but the ductility and energy dissipation
capacity are relatively low. Another option is to use
shear reinforcement or shear stud surrounding the col-
umn. Although it can enhance the hysteretic behavior
of flat plate, the use of shear reinforcement and shear
stud is uneconomical and causes difficulties in con-
struction. High strength concrete can be used in the
flat plate system. Applying the high strength concrete
can increase its resistance to punching, but cannot pre-
vent the brittle punching failure in a severe earthquake
(Megally and Ghali, 2000). Therefore, UHPC with
high strength and ductility can be applied in the plate-
column joint, expected to improve its shear strength
and ultimate displacement, and lead to more ductile
flat plate structures.
Four UHPC plate-column joints with different flex-
ural reinforcement ratio in slab (0.65% or 1.8%) and
slab span (2 m or 3 m) were tested by Budiono et al.
(2016). The loading of the joint consisted of a combi-
nation of gravity and lateral cyclic load. The lateral
cyclic load was applied on the top of the column. All
the tested UHPC plate-column joints withstood a 5%
inelastic drift ratio under stable conditions without any
punching shear failures. The energy dissipation of the
joint increased with the increase of slab span and flex-
ural reinforcement in slab. It is worth mentioning that
ACI 374 (2005) requires the energy dissipation ratio of
the third cycle at 2.5% drift ratio to be at least 1/8. All
the tested joints satisfied the required energy dissipa-
tion ratio.
Strengthening and connections
Strengthening
Strengthen for columns. UHPC with high strength can be
applied to strengthen the compressive concrete mem-
bers after seismic damage. One circular column with
the diameter of 420 mm and the height of 1170 mm
was tested by Lavorato et al. (2017). The circular col-
umn was initially wrapped by two layers of CFRP
laminate with each thickness of 0.167 mm. The con-
stant axial vertical load and cyclic lateral load were
applied, and the column was strongly damaged at plas-
tic hinge zone.
After the column failure, rapid interventions were
conducted to repair the damaged column. The CFRP
laminate, damaged concrete and rebars were removed.
Fourteen 15-mm-diamter rebars were connected to the
undamaged part of the original rebars by steel coupler
and welding joints. UHPC was then used to build the
concrete jacket. The geometries of the column after
repair were identical to that before seismic damage.
The same vertical and cyclic lateral load were applied
on the repaired column.
It was observed that the repair measures can be per-
formed rapidly on the column. The seismic behavior of
the damaged column repaired by UHPC was similar to
the undamaged one with CFRP laminate. The bearing
capacity of the repaired column was even 1.5% higher
than the undamaged column due to the high strength
of UHPC. No connection rupture of the rebars was
observed in the experiment, which also proved the ade-
quate seismic performance of the rebar connection
system.
UHPC can also be used to strengthen the column
before seismic damage. Four identical square columns
with different strengthening methods were tested by
Hu et al.
Koo and Hong (2016). After the casting and curing of
the four columns, three of them were strengthened
with different methods: 30 mm UHPC jacket, 50 mm
UHPC jacket and 50 mm UHPC jacket with stirrups.
It was found in the experiment that the application of
UHPC jacket could change the shear failure mode into
flexural shear failure, and consequently improve the
ductility of the column. The additional stirrups could
prevent large diagonal tension cracks and increase the
shear strength and ductility.
Tong et al. (2019, 2020) strengthened ‘‘as-built’’
bridge piers by using UHPC jackets. Five 1:2 scaled
columns were tested, and the influences of the strength-
ening method (enlarging the cross-section or remaining
consistency in dimension) and the height of the UHPC
jacket (400 mm or 850 mm) were considered. It was
found that enlarging the cross-section by using UHPC
jackets could increase the flexural strength, and
strengthening method of remaining consistency in
dimension could mitigate the concrete cracking, spal-
ling and crushing. The 400 mm-height jacket could
improve the ductility of the column, and the 850 mm-
height jacket could increase the bearing capacity of the
column significantly.
Moreover, UHPC can be precast and used to
improve the seismic performance of normal concrete
columns. Yamanobe et al. (2013) used precast UHPC
formwork for the concrete cover at the base of the col-
umns. Two 1:4.25 scaled specimens with different hori-
zontal joints (mortat-jointed UHPC formwork or
wire-net-jointed UHPC formwork) were tested. It was
found that flexural strength of the specimens could
remain stable even under large drift ratio. Column
with mortar-jointed UHPC formwork exhibited better
ductility and excellent flexural crack distribution
performance.
Liu (2016) tested five concrete-filled UHPC tubes
(CFRTs) and one normal concrete column. The dia-
meter of the normal concrete column (300 mm) was
the same with the external diameter of the UHPC
tubes. The thickness of the UHPC tube was 25 mm.
The experimental variables included spacing of spiral
stirrups in the UHPC tube (20 mm, 40 mm, or 60 mm)
and spacing of spiral stirrups in the core column
(60 mm, 100 mm, or 150 mm). It was observed that
the application of UHPC tube could slow down the
stiffness degradation and increase the energy dissipa-
tion of the column, due to the confinement effect of
UHPC tube. The strain in stirrups in UHPC tube was
significantly higher than that in the core column, indi-
cating better confinement effect of the stirrups in
UHPC tube.
The seismic performance of the CFRT in the frame
structure was studied by Wang et al. (2014). The
UHPC tube finally failed in vertical penetrating cracks,
9
due to the transverse expansion force from the core
column. The UHPC tube exhibited similar function to
the stirrups. The failure characteristic of ‘‘strong col-
umn and weak beam’’ was observed, which means that
the plastic hinge on the column comes after that on the
beam.
Strengthen for other members. UHPC was used to
strengthen the shear wall by Yi et al. (2015). It was
found that the UHPC panel increased the initial stiff-
ness and ultimate strength of shear wall by 60% and
50%, respectively. The dissipated energy of the
strengthened shear wall was always larger than that of
the un-strengthened shear wall, indicating the energy
dissipation contribution of the UHPC panel.
Method of strengthening beam-column joint with
UHPC was proposed by Khan et al. (2018). Four
beam-column joints with different strengthening
method were tested. Two different strengthening meth-
ods were used: (1) sandblasting the normal concrete
substrate surface of the joint and in-situ casting of a
30 mm thick UHPC jacket, as shown in Figure 3(a);
(2) bonding 30 mm thick precast UHPC plates to seis-
mically deficient joint using epoxy resins and special
fillers, as shown in Figure 3(b).
It should be noted that the major damage of the
joint strengthened with precast UHPC jacket occurred
due to detachment of UHPC with the concrete cover.
The bond between the concrete substrate surface and
UHPC jacket played a key role in improving the seis-
mic performance of the joint. Thus, the strengthening
method with in-situ casting UHPC jacket was recom-
mend for rehabilitation of the frame structures, which
not only provide the considerable increment in the
strength, but also increase the displacement capacity,
ductility and energy dissipation capacity significantly.
Connection
Bar lap splice. Bar lap splice is a common design which
can be found at several locations in the beams, col-
umns or shear walls. However, structures with such
details may be vulnerable in the event of a severe earth-
quake. Surrounding lapped bars with the high-strength
material UHPC can be considered equivalent to bar
welding. The maximum tensile stress in the bars of the
UHPC connection should be analyzed thoroughly. In
a well-designed lap splice, the bars were able to reach
their yield strength or even be stressed up to their ulti-
mate strength and break outside the UHPC connection
as if the bars were welded (Lagier et al., 2015). The per-
formance of lap splice strengthened with UHPC under
seismic load should be studied.
10 Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)

Figure 3. Strengthening process of beam-column joint proposed by Khan et al. (2018): (a) strengthening with in-situ casting UHPC
and (b) strengthening with precast UHPC.

Figure 4. Beams with lap splice strengthened with UHPC (units: mm) (Dagenais and Massicotte, 2016) (a) side view, (b) top view,
(c) cross section at midspan, and (d) stirrups and cover details.

The seismic behavior of six full-scale reinforced
concrete beams with a deficient lap splice strengthened
with UHPC was investigated by Dagenais and
Massicotte (2016). Details of the tested beams are
shown in Figure 4. The normal concrete beams were
cast first, except for lap-splice zones on both sides.
Special attentions were given when placing UHPC for
carefully orienting the concrete flow perpendicular to
the lapped bars to reproduce the desired fiber orienta-
tion in the repair zone. Influences of the diameter of
the bar (25 mm or 35 mm), splice length (12db for 25-
mm-diameter bar and 18 db for 25-mm-diameter bar)
(db is the diameter of the bar), splice arrangement (lat-
eral or radial) and steel fiber content (1%, 2%, or 3%
by volume) were considered.
The failure of all the tested beams occurred just
after longitudinal-splitting cracks formed adjacent to
the splice bars. For 25-mm bar lapped over 12 db, the
yielding strength of the bar was just reached with 1%-
fiber-content UHPC, whereas moderate ductility and
slightly higher tensile stress were obtained with 2%-
fiber-content UHPC, indicating that a minimum fiber
content must be used for structural applications. The
tensile stress in the bar, however, was less than the
Hu et al.
Figure 5. The base of the columns tested by Tazarv and Saiidi (2015, 2016): (a) HCS base connection details (units: mm(in.)) and
(b) PNC base connection details (units: in.(mm)).
600 MPa obtained in monotonic loading test
(Dagenais and Massicotte 2014). Therefore, it was sug-
gested that a longer lapped length, better UHPC or
additional conventional reinforcement (transversely to
the lapped bars) would be needed to eliminate the
splitting mode of failure in applications where high
ductility under cyclic loading is required.
Bar lap splice can also be used in the compressive
members. Wang et al. (2019a) tested one precast bridge
column specimen with pocket connections using lap-
spliced bars and UHPC grout. Based on the experi-
ment, the lapped length was suggested to be taken as 5
times diameter of the longitudinal bars in UHPC
grout. The proposed pocket connection with lap-
spliced bars and UHPC grout was proved to achieve
comparable seismic behavior compared with the mono-
lithic columns. Shafieifar et al. (2017) constructed and
tested a connection between precast column and cap
beam. UHPC was used in the splice region of the col-
umn and was used to connect the column and the cap
beam. It was found that no spalling of UHPC was
observed, and the cracking in the UHPC section was
limited. Bond failure between normal concrete and
UHPC was also not observed, indicating adequate
adhesive bond between the materials.
The effectiveness of the strengthening method with
UHPC jacket in the bridge columns was also investi-
gated by Dagenais et al. (2017). Four columns with dif-
ferent longitudinal reinforcement (diameter of 25 mm,
30 mm, 35 mm, or 45 mm) and corresponding splice
length (600 mm, 720 mm, 840 mm, or 1080 mm) were
tested. The specimens were fabricated firstly and the
11
normal concrete around the spliced bars was removed
using conventional demolition equipment. The UHPC
with the steel fiber content of 3% was then poured
form above the splice region to maximize a preferential
fiber orientation, perpendicular to the bar orientation
and parallel to the ring tensile force.
It was observed in the experiment that all the speci-
men behavior was ductile, and the progressive failure
was caused by the tensile rupture of the dowel bar.
Bond failure was successfully eliminated on 24db lap
splices on four different bar sizes of 25 mm, 30 mm,
35 mm, and 45 mm in diameter. However, the enhance-
ment of the confinement provided by the UHPC cover
and existing transverse reinforcement, and their effects
on the shear strength, still remains to be studied.
Grout. UHPC can also be used as a grout in the con-
nections between bars and concrete. Two precast col-
umns with UHPC-filled duct connections were tested
by Tazarv and Saiidi (2015, 2016). One of the columns
was referred to as HCS, a headed reinforcement cou-
pler column with SMA (shape memory alloy), as
shown in Figure 5(a). Another was referred to as
PNC, a precast column without coupler, as shown in
Figure 5(b). The test results were also used to compare
with a reference reinforced cast-in-place normal con-
crete column tested by Haber et al. (2014).
The UHPC-filled duct connections were emulative
of the conventional cast-in-place column-to-footing
connection because the ultimate capacities of the col-
umns were developed and high drift ratios were
12
achieved. No UHPC-filled duct connection damage,
such as bar pullout, duct pullout or conical failure of
the footing concrete, was observed in the HCS and
PNC columns. It was concluded that UHPC-filled
duct connections are viable precast column connec-
tions that are suitable for accelerated bridge construc-
tion in high seismic regions.
Conclusion and future needs
Based on the above literature and discussions, the fol-
lowing conclusions can be drawn:
(1) All kinds of UHPC members, including flex-
ural members, compressive members, joints,
strengthening and connections, exhibited excel-
lent seismic performance. The characteristics
of ultra-high compressive strength, high tensile
strength, and large ultimate strain at the mate-
rial level of UHPC translated into smaller size,
high bearing capacity, good ductility and
excellent energy dissipation capacity at the
structural level. Narrow and closely distributed
cracks occurred in the UHPC members, as a
result of the bridging effect of the fibers.
Concrete spalling or crushing was eliminated
in the UHPC members due to the confinement
effect provided by the fibers.
(2) The ductility of the UHPC beams can be
enhanced with the decrease of the tensile rein-
forcement ratio and the increase of steel fiber
content. UHPC beams with short steel fibers
exhibited higher flexural stiffness and energy
dissipation than that with long steel fibers. In
order to obtain excellent crack resistance and
maintain favorable energy dissipation capac-
ity, the PPR (partial prestress ratio) of UHPC
beams prestressed with high-strength rebars
was suggested to be taken as 0.6~0.7, and the
transformed reinforcement ratio was suggested
to be taken as 1.42%~2.16%.
(3) One kind of UHPC plate, with the length of steel
fiber greater than the mesh size of steel welded
wire mesh, was specially designed and was
poured by layers. The steel fibers were proved to
enhance the energy dissipation ability of UHPC
plates, and the steel welded wire meshes were
used to convert the orientation of fiber distribu-
tion from three-dimensional distribution to two-
dimensional distribution, which can help to
achieve a better seismic performance.
(4) The application of UHPC can transformed the
seismic failure of the columns from concrete
crushing to bar fracture. Due to the high ducti-
lity of UHPC, excessive shear reinforcement
Advances in Structural Engineering 00(0)
can be avoided in the UHPC columns.
However, shear reinforcement still should not
be totally omitted from UHPC structures,
because of the weak confinement of steel fibers
on shear cracks, especially under seismic load.
(5) In the self-centering columns, such as segmen-
tal columns integrated with post-tensioning
tendons, UHPC can be applied to delay pre-
mature concrete crushing at rocking interfaces.
Furthermore, one kind of UHPC segmental
column with replaceable UHPC cover plates
and dissipaters was proposed, where rapid
repairs can be achieved to restore structural
function after a severe earthquake. Corrosion
problems were induced by these self-centering
and rapid repair measures, but were hopeful to
be solved by using FRP tendons or FRP tubes.
(6) The UHPC shear walls, even with the low
aspect ratio of 0.73, exhibited high ductility
and favorable energy dissipation capacity.
Based on the experimental results, the design
axial load ratio of the UHPC shear walls was
not suggested to exceed 0.6. Note that the slid-
ing failure mode of the squat shear walls could
not be prevented by steel fibers, but can be
avoided by the addition of dowel bars.
(7) The interior UHPC joint with two plastic
hinges was proved to obtain much higher bear-
ing capacity and energy dissipation capacity
than the exterior UHPC joint with one plastic
hinges. It was found that PPR (partial pres-
tress ratio) values above the maximum limit of
25%, which is specified in ACI 318 for normal
concrete, could still increase the ductility and
energy dissipation capacity of the UHPC
beam-column joint. The energy dissipation of
the UHPC plate-column joint can be enhanced
with the increase of reinforcement ratio and
span length of the plate, but the influence of
the reinforcement ratio was more significant
compared to the span length.
(8) UHPC can be used to strengthen the damaged
columns or the existing structures before seis-
mic damage, or used as a precast tube to
strengthen normal concrete columns in the
newly-built structures. UHPC was proved
effective to strengthen the bar lap splice and
achieve a seismic performance equivalent to
bar welding. UHPC can also be used as a
grout material to connect bar and concrete or
connect two precast members, and exhibit
favorable seismic behavior.
Although application of UHPC in many kinds of
structural members has been studied as described in
Hu et al.
the article, some further researches still need to con-
duct, as follows:
(1) The scope of UHPC needs a rigorous and clear
definition. Different nomenclatures, such as
ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC),
reactive powder concrete (RPC) or ultra-high
performance fibre-reinforced concrete
(UHPFRC), are used by different researches,
while referring to the same kind of concrete.
The concept of such concrete should be clari-
fied, and the nomenclature should be uni-
formed to conduct further researches.
(2) The fabrication process of the UHPC members
can be optimized to achieve a better seismic
performance. It was known that fiber content
and fiber orientation had a significant influ-
ence on the seismic performance of the UHPC
members. The influence of fiber type, mix pro-
portion and curing condition can be studied,
and different casting methods can be investi-
gated to achieve preferential fiber orientation
in different kinds of UHPC members. The
optimized fabrication process should be suit-
able for UHPC and aim at excellent seismic
performance.
(3) The hysteretic constitutive model of UHPC
material can be further investigated. The con-
stitutive model of UHPC under repeated com-
pressive load or repeated tensile load has
become a research hotspot. However, obtain-
ing a complete tension-compression hysteretic
constitutive model of UHPC is an essential
step to reveal the seismic mechanism of UHPC
material, and an important foundation to ana-
lyze the seismic behavior of UHPC structures.
(4) The bond performance between normal con-
crete and UHPC or precast concrete and cast-
in-place UHPC under seismic load needs fur-
ther studies. It is well known that UHPC is
currently too expensive to be used in the con-
struction of a whole structure. The application
of UHPC in the next few years will still focus
on the reinforcement engineering or connec-
tion between precast members. The interfacial
bonds between UHPC and old concrete under
seismic load become significant.
(5) The seismic performance of UHPC plates,
shear walls and joints need to be further inves-
tigated. Existing researches on these members
are insufficient to guide practical seismic
design or provide references for the establish-
ment of the technical specification for UHPC
members. Influences of a wider scope of para-
meters can be studied, and specific seismic
13
design suggestions, such as axial compression
ratio limitation, drift ratio limitation and seis-
mic structural measures, can be proposed.
(6) The structural measures to achieve self-
centering capacity of UHPC compressive
members can be further explored. Although
FRP bars with excellent linear elastic property
can reduce the residual deformation of the
compressive members, the energy dissipation
capacity of such structures is also reduced.
Due to the elastic-plastic property of the steel
bars and favorable energy dissipation capacity
of UHPC material, UHPC compressive mem-
bers with hybrid reinforcement of FRP bars
and steel bars are hopefully to achieve self-
centering capacity and maintain energy dissi-
pation capacity at the same time.
(7) The potential of UHPC structures reinforced
with high-strength material, such as high-
strength steel bars, FRP tendons or laminate,
can be further researched. In most of the
above experiments, concrete spalling or
crushing was eliminated in the UHPC mem-
bers, and the seismic failure of the members
was dominated by the fracture of the reinfor-
cement, indicating that the excellent perfor-
mance of the UHPC was not fully exploited
in these structures. New type of structure can
be explored to make full use of both UHPC
and reinforcement.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial sup-
port for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article: Financial supports from National Natural Science
Foundation of China (grant number: 51878262), and
Ministry of Science and Technology (project No.
2018YFC0705400) are greatly appreciated.
ORCID iD
Zhi Fang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6279-135X
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