Internal erosion around pipes can lead to the failure of earth dams through various mechanisms. This study investigates the displacement patterns in earth dam models under three different failure modes due to internal erosion, using digital image correlation (DIC) methods. Three failure modes—erosion along a pipe (FM1), pipe leakage leading to soil erosion (FM2), and erosion in a pipe due to defects (FM3)—are analyzed using two- and three-dimensional image- processing techniques. The internal displacement of the cross-sectional area and the surface displacement of the downstream slope in the dam models are monitored using an image acquisition system. Physical model tests reveal that FM1 exhibits significant displacement on the upper surface of the downstream slope, FM2 shows focused displacement around the pipe defect, and FM3 demonstrates increased displacement on the upstream slope. The variations in internal and surface displacements with time depend on the segmented area and failure mode. Analyzing the relationships between internal and surface displacements using Pearson correlation coefficients reveals various displacement patterns for the segmented areas and failure modes. Therefore, the image-based characterization methods presented in this study may be useful for analyzing the displacement distribution and behavior of earth dams around pipes, and further, for understanding and predicting their failure mechanisms.

In squat reinforced concrete walls, the displacement capacity for lateral deformation is low and the ability to resist the axial load can quickly be lost, generating collapse. This work consists of testing two squat reinforced concrete walls. One of the specimens is built with conventional detailing of reinforced concrete walls, while the second specimen is built applying an alternative design, including stirrups along the diagonal of the wall to improve its ductility. This solution differs from the detailing of beams or coupling elements that suggest building elements equivalent to columns located diagonally in the element. The dimensions of both specimens correspond to a wall with a low aspect ratio (1:1), where the height and length of the specimen are 1.4 m, with a thickness of 120 mm. The alternative wall included stirrups placed diagonally covering approximately 25% of the diagonal strut of the wall with alternative detailing. The walls were tested under a constant axial load of 0.1f'cAg and a cyclic lateral displacement was applied in the upper part of the wall. The results indicate that the lateral strength is almost identical between both specimens. On the other hand, the lateral displacement capacity increased by 25% with the alternative detailing, but it was also able to maintain the 3 complete hysteretic cycles up to a drift of 2.5%, reaching longitudinal reinforcement fracture, while the base specimen only reached the first cycle of 2% with rapid degradation due to failure of the diagonal compression strut. The alternative design also allows 46% more energy dissipation than the conventional design. A model was used to capture the global response, correctly representing the observed behavior. A parametric study with the model, varying the reinforcement amount and aspect ratio, was performed, indicating that the effectiveness of the alternative detailing can double de drift capacity for the case with a low aspect ratio (1.1) and a large longitudinal steel amount (1% in the web, 5% in the boundary), which decreases with lower amounts of longitudinal reinforcement and with the increment of aspect ratio, indicating that the alternative detailing approach is reasonable for walls with an aspect ratio up to 2, especially if the amount of longitudinal reinforcement is high.

In this study, we investigated the effect of shear-key placement on the performance of grouted connections in offshore wind-turbine structures. Considering the challenges of height control during installation, we designed and analyzed three grouted connection configurations. We compared the crack patterns and strain distribution in the shear keys under axial loading. The results indicate that the misalignment of shear keys significantly influences the ultimate load capacity of grouted connections. Notably, when the shear keys were positioned facing each other, the ultimate load decreased by approximately 15%, accompanied by the propagation of irregular cracks in the upper shear keys. Furthermore, the model with 50% misalignment in the shear-key placement exhibited the highest ultimate strength, indicating a more efficient load resistance than the reference model. This indicates that tensile-load-induced cracking and the formation of compressive struts in opposite directions significantly affect the structural integrity of grouted connections. These results demonstrate the importance of considering buckling effects in the design of grouted connections, particularly given the thin and slender nature of the inner sleeves. This study provides valuable insights into the design and analysis of offshore wind-turbine structures, highlighting the need for refined design formulas that account for shifts in shear-key placement and their structural implications.

Many materials including cementitious concrete-type materials undergo material property changes during high-rate loading. There is a wealth of research regarding this phenomenon for concrete in compression and tension. However, there is minimal knowledge about how mortar material used in concrete masonry unit (CMU) construction behaves in high-rate shear loading. A series of experiments was conducted to examine the bond strength of mortar bonded to CMU units under high-rate shear loading. A novel experimental setup using a shock tube and dynamic ram were used to load specially constructed shear triplets in a double lap shear configuration with no pre-compression. The Finite Element Method was leveraged in conjunction with data from the experimental investigation to establish if the shear bond between concrete masonry units and mortar exhibits any rate dependency. An increase in shear bond strength was observed when loaded at a high strain rate. This data indicates that the CMU-mortar bond exhibits a rate dependent strength change and illustrates the need for further study of the CMU-mortar interface characteristics at high strain rates.

In the rapidly advancing landscape of computer vision (CV) technology, there is a burgeoning interest in its integration with the construction industry. Camera calibration is the process of deriving intrinsic and extrinsic parameters that affect when the coordinates of the 3D real world are projected onto the 2D plane, where the intrinsic parameters are internal factors of the camera, and extrinsic parameters are external factors such as the position and rotation of the camera. Camera pose estimation or extrinsic calibration, which estimates extrinsic parameters, is essential information for CV application at construction since it can be used for indoor navigation of construction robots and field monitoring by restoring depth information. Traditionally, camera pose estimation methods for cameras relied on target objects such as markers or patterns. However, these methods, which are marker- or pattern-based, are often time-consuming due to the requirement of installing a target object for estimation. As a solution to this challenge, this study introduces a novel framework that facilitates camera pose estimation using standardized materials found commonly in construction sites, such as concrete forms. The proposed framework obtains 3D real-world coordinates by referring to construction materials with certain specifications, extracts the 2D coordinates of the corresponding image plane through keypoint detection, and derives the camera's coordinate through the perspective-n-point (PnP) method which derives the extrinsic parameters by matching 3D and 2D coordinate pairs. This framework presents a substantial advancement as it streamlines the extrinsic calibration process, thereby potentially enhancing the efficiency of CV technology application and data collection at construction sites. This approach holds promise for expediting and optimizing various construction-related tasks by automating and simplifying the calibration procedure.

A real-case incident occurred where a 9-meter-high segment of a pre-fabricated concrete separation wall unexpectedly collapsed. This collapse was triggered by improperly depositing excavated soil against the wall's back, a condition for which the wall segments were not designed to withstand lateral earth pressure, leading to a flexural failure. The event's analysis, integrating technical data and observational insights, revealed that internal forces at the time of failure significantly exceeded the wall's capacity per standard design. The Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) further replicates the collapse mechanism. Our approach involved defining various parameter sets to replicate the concrete's mechanical response, consistent with the tested compressive strength. Subsequent stages included calibrating these parameters across different scales and conducting full-scale simulations. These simulations carried out with various parameter sets, were thoroughly analyzed to identify the most representative failure mechanism. We developed an equation from this analysis that quickly correlates the parameters to the wall's load-carry capacity, aligned with the simulation. Additionally, our study examined the wall's post-peak behavior, extending up to the point of collapse. This aspect of the analysis was essential for preventing failure, providing crucial time for intervention, and potentially averting a disaster. However, the reinforced concrete residual state is far from being fully understood. While it's impractical for engineers to depend on the residual state of structural elements during the design phase, comprehending this state is essential for effective response and mitigation strategies after initial failure occurs.

Problems of under-sized dams (small dams with large basin area) could get worse under the global warming condition. This study evaluates the possible change of these problems with the Namgang Dam, an under-sized dam in Korea. For this purpose, first, this study simulates the dam inflow data using a rainfall-runoff model, which are then used as input for the reservoir operation. As a result, daily dam storage, dam release, and dam water supply are derived and compared for both past observed period (1973~2022) and future simulated period (2006~2099) based on the global warming scenarios. Summarizing the results are as follows. First, the inflow rate in the future is expected to be increased significantly. The maximum inflow could be twice of that observed in the past. As a result, it is also expected that the frequency of the water level reaching the high level is increasing. Also, the amount and frequency of dam release are to be increased in the future period. More seriously, this increase is expected to be concentrated on rather extreme cases with large dam release volume. Simply, the condition for flood protection in the downstream of the Namgang Dam is becoming worse and worse. Ironically, the severity of water shortage problem is also expected to become much worse. As the most extreme case, the frequency of no water supply was zero in the observed period, but in the future period, it becomes once every five years. Both the maximum consecutive shortage days and the total shortage volume are expected to become more than twice in the future period. To prevent or mitigate this coming problem of an under-sized dam, the only countermeasure at this moment seems to be its redevelopment. Simply a bigger dam with larger dam reservoir can handle this adverse effect more easily.

This article presents a research study, with both laboratory and field tests, of a deep foundation in a markedly anisotropic medium. Particularly it has focused on the evaluation of the behavior of a pile, one meter in diameter, embedded in a rocky environment with difficult conditions, in the Flysch of the Spanish city of San Sebastián. To carry out the research, the site of a bridge over the Urumea River was chosen, which was supported by pre-excavated reinforced concrete piles. 4 borings were carried out, by the rotation and washing method, with continuous sampling and combined with flexible dilatometer tests. In the field, an Osterberg load test (O-cell) was performed, while in the laboratory, determinations of natural moisture, natural unit weight, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), point load strength (PLS), compressive wave propagation velocity (V_c) and also triaxial and direct shear tests were carried out. The research results indicate the following: a) the empirical functions that correlate the UCS with the PLS are not always linear; b) for the studied Flysch it is possible to obtain empirical functions that correlate the UCS with the PLS and with the V_c; c) the bearing capacity of the studied Flysch is much greater than if it is evaluated by different load capacity theories; d) it is possible to propose an empirical function that allows evaluating the mobilized shear strength (τ_m), as a function of the UCS and the displacement relative of the pile (δ_r).

In the construction industry, there has been a surge in the implementation of high-tech equipment in recent years. Various technologies are being considered as potential solutions for future construction projects. Building information modeling (BIM), which utilizes advanced equipment, is a promising solution among these technologies. The need for safety inspection has also increased with the aging structures. Nevertheless, traditional safety inspection technology falls short of meeting this demand as it heavily relies on the subjective opinions of workers. This inadequacy highlights the need for advancements in existing maintenance technology. Research on building safety inspection using 3D laser scanners has notably increased. Laser scanners that use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) can quickly and accurately acquire producing information, which can be realized through reverse engineering by modeling point cloud data. This study introduces an innovative evaluation system for building safety using a 3D laser scanner. The system was used to assess the safety of an existing three-story building by implementing a reverse engineering technique. The 3D digital data are obtained from the scanner to detect defects and deflections in and outside the building and to create an as-built BIM. Subsequently, the as-built structural model of the building was generated using the reverse engineering approach and used for structural analysis. The acquired information, including deformations and dimensions, is compared with the expected values to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.

The increase of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) content in recycled asphalt concrete (RAC) is accompanied by the degradation of low-temperature cracking resistance, which has become an obstacle to the development of RAC. This paper aims to reveal the meso-scale mechanisms of the low-temperature fracture behavior of RAC and provide a theoretical basis for the economical recycling of RAP. For this purpose, micromechanical heterogeneous peridynamic model of RAC was established and validated by comparing three-point bending (TPB) test results against corresponding numerical simulation results of RAC with 50% RAP content. Furthermore, the models with different aggregate shapes (i.e., average aggregates circularity (${\bar{C_r}}=1.00$, 0.75, and 0.50) and RAP content (i.e., 0%, 15%, 30%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were constructed to investigate the effect of aggregate shape and RAP content on the low-temperature cracking resistance. The results show that peridynamic models can accurately simulate the low-temperature fracture behavior of RAC, with only 2.9% and 13.9% differences from the TPB test in flexural strength and failure strain, respectively. On the meso-scale, the damage in the RAC is mainly controlled by horizontal tensile stress and the stress concentration appears in the interface transition zone (ITZ). Aggregate shape has a significant effect on the low-temperature fracture resistance, i.e., higher aggregate circularity leads to better low-temperature performance. The large number of microcracks generated during the damage evolution process for the peridynamic model with circular aggregates contributes to slowing down the fracture, whereas the severe stress concentration at the corners leads to the fracture of the aggregates with low circularity under lower stress levels. The effect of RAP content below 30% or above 50% is not significant, but a substantial reduction (16.9% in flexural strength and 16.4% in failure strain) is observed between the RAP content of 30% and 50%. This reduction is mainly attributed to the fact that the damage in the ITZ region transfers significantly to the aggregates, especially the RAP aggregates, when the RAP content ranges from 30% to 50%.

This study presents novel electromagnetic wave-based methods for evaluating the integrity of cement-based structures using time domain reflectometry (TDR). Two cement-based plates with embedded rebars are prepared under sound and defective conditions. TDR tests are carried out using transmission lines with various numbers of artificial joints, and electromagnetic waves are measured to assess the integrity of the plates. The experimental results show that the travel time of electromagnetic waves is consistently longer in sound plates than in defective ones, and an increase in the reflection coefficients is observed in the defect zone of the defective plates. Electromagnetic wave velocities are higher in the defective plates, especially when connectors are present in the transmission line. A novel approach based on the area of the reflection coefficient provides larger areas in the defective plates, and the attenuation effect of the electromagnetic waves induces a difference in the areas of the reflection coefficient between the two defect conditions. An alternative method using the centroid of the defect zone slightly overestimates the location of the defect zone. The length of the defect zone is estimated using the defect ratio and wave velocities of cement, air, and plate. The length of the defect zone can also be calculated using the travel times within the plate, total measured length of the plate, and wave velocities in the cement and air. Therefore, the electromagnetic wave-based methods proposed in this study may be useful for estimating the location and length of defect zones by considering attenuation effects.