• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.763-783
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• 2016

A methodology based on Teaching Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO) algorithm is proposed for optimum design of reinforced concrete retaining walls. The objective function is to minimize total material cost including concrete and steel per unit length of the retaining walls. The requirements of the American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-05-Building code requirements for structural concrete) are considered for reinforced concrete (RC) design. During the optimization process, totally twenty-nine design constraints composed from stability, flexural moment capacity, shear strength capacity and RC design requirements such as minimum and maximum reinforcement ratio, development length of reinforcement are checked. Comparing to other nature-inspired algorithm, TLBO is a simple algorithm without parameters entered by users and self-adjusting ranges without intervention of users. In numerical examples, a retaining wall taken from the documented researches is optimized and the several effects (backfill slope angle, internal friction angle of retaining soil and surcharge load) on the optimum results are also investigated in the study. As a conclusion, TLBO based methods are feasible.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.549-563
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• 2012

Theoretical analysis is performed on a multi-mode energy harvester design with focus on the first two vibration modes. Based on the analysis, a modification is proposed for designing a novel adaptive multi-mode energy harvester. The device comprises a simply supported beam with distributed mass and piezoelectric elements, and an adaptive damper that provides a 180 degree phase shift for the motions of two supports only at the second vibration mode. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that the new design can efficiently scavenge energy at the first two vibration modes. The energy harvesting capability of the multi-mode energy harvester is also compared with that of a cantilever-based energy harvester for single-mode vibration. The results show that the energy harvesting capacity is affected by the damping ratios of different designs. For fixed damping ratio and design dimensions, the multi-mode design has higher energy harvesting capacity than the cantilever-based design.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.112-121
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• 2013

The calibration of resistance factor in reliability theory for limit state design of gravel compaction piles (GCP) requires a reliable estimate of ultimate bearing capacity. The static load test is commonly used in geotechnical engineering practice to predict the ultimate bearing capacity. Many graphical methods are specified in the design standard to define the ultimate bearing capacity based on the load-settlement curve. However, it has some disadvantages to ensure reliability to obtain an uniform ultimate load depend on engineering judgement. In this study, a well-fitting nonlinear regression model is proposed to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity, for which a nonlinear regression analysis is applied to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of GCP and the results are compared with those calculated using previous graphical method. Affect the resistance factor of the estimate method were analyzed. To provide a database in the development of limit state design, the load test conditions for predicting the ultimate bearing capacity from static load test are examined.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.594-605
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• 2003

Pinching is an important property of reinforced concrete member which characterizes its cyclic behavior. In the present study, numerical studies were performed to investigate the characteristics of pinching behavior and the energy dissipation capacity of flexure-dominated reinforced concrete members. By investigating existing experiments and numerical results, it was found that flexural pinching which has no relation with shear action appears in RC members subject to axial compression force. However, members with specific arrangement and amount of re-bars, have the same energy dissipation capacity regardless of the magnitude of the axial force applied even though the shape of the cyclic curve varies due to the effect of the axial force. This indicates that concrete as a brittle material does not significantly contribute to the energy dissipation capacity though its effect on the behavior increases as the axial force increases, and that energy dissipation occurs primarily by re-bars. Therefore, the energy dissipation capacity of flexure-dominated member can be calculated by the analysis on the cross-section subject to pure bending, regardless of the actual compressive force applied. Based on the findings, a practical method and the related design equations for estimating energy dissipation capacity and damping modification factor was developed, and their validity was verified by the comparisons with existing experiments. The proposed method can be conveniently used in design practice because it accurately estimates energy dissipation capacity with general design parameters.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.267-274
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• 2000

Current seismic design codes for building structures are based on the method which can provide enough capacity to satisfy objected performance level and exactly evaluate the seismic performance of buildings. The capacity spectrum method using the nonlinear static(pushover) analysis is becoming a popular tool for evaluating the seismic performance of existing and new building structures. By means of a graphical procedure capacity spectrum method esimates the performance level of structure by comparing the capacity of structure with the demand of earthquake ground motion on the structure. In the method the relation between base shear estimated by a nonlinear static analysis and horizontal displacement is used. Capacity spectrum is usually expressed as what represent the responses of the equivalent single degree of freedom (ESDOF) system for the building structures. However there are some problems in converting procedures into ESDOF system which include not considering the effect of higher modes of structures. The objective of this paper is to compare and verify existing methods and suggest the modified capacity spectrum for seismic performance evaluation of building structures.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.205-210
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• 2007

The existing capacity spectrum method (CSM) is based on the displacement based approach for seismic performance and evaluation. Currently, in the domestic and overseas standard concerning seismic design, the CSM to obtain capacity spectrum from capacity curve and demand spectrum from elastic response spectrum is presented. In the multistory building, collapse is affected more by drift than by displacement, but the existing CSM does not work for story drift. Therefore, this paper proposes an improved CSM to estimate story drift of structures through seismic performance and evaluation. It uses the ductility factor in the A-T domain to obtain constant-ductility response spectrum from earthquake response of inelastic system using the drift and capacity curve from capacity analysis of structure.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.117-122
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• 2012

A central composite design and response surface methodology were applied to investigate the optimum conditions for maximum adsorption capacity in activated alumina as an adsorbent. The optimized conditions were determined for adsorption capacity using variables of flow rate and temperature. It was found that flow rate and temperature greatly influenced the adsorption capacity, as determined by analysis of variance analysis of these variables. Statistical checks indicated that second order polynomial equations were adequate for representing the experimental values. The optimum conditions for adsorption capacity were $0^{\circ}C$ and 2,718 mL/min, with the estimated maximum adsorption capacity of 17.82%. The experimental adsorption capacity was 17.75% under these optimum conditions, which was in agreement with the predicted value of 17.82%.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.187-201
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• 2014

A new through-beam connection system for a concrete filled steel tube column to RC beam is proposed. In this connection, there are openings on the steel tube while the reinforced concrete beams are continuous in the joint zone. The moment and shear force at the beam ends can be transferred to column by continuous rebar and concrete. The weakening of the axial load and shear bearing capacity due to the opening of the steel tube can be compensated by strengthening steel tube at joint zone. Using this connection, construction of the joint can be made more convenient since welding and hole drilling in situ can be avoided. Axial compression and reversed cyclic loading tests on specimens were carried out to evaluate performance of the new beam-column connection. Load-deflection performance, typical failure modes, stress and strain distributions, and the energy dissipation capacity were obtained. The experimental results showed that the new connection have good bearing capacity, superior ductility and energy dissipation capacity by effectively strengthen the steel tube at joint zone. According to the test and analysis results, some suggestions were proposed to design method of this new connection.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.353-362
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• 2015

Cyclic loading tests for the PC moment frame with plastic shear hinges were performed to evaluate the seismic performance. The plastic shear hinges consisted of two steel plates were installed at the mid-length of the beam to connect the PC frames. Three shear links are existed in each steel plate. The three shear links were designed using shear force corresponding to the shear capacity of 50%, 75%, and 100% of the beam shear capacity. The proposed connections showed an efficient energy dissipation capacity and good structural performance. As a result, it is reasonable to design the plastic shear hinges using design shear capacity less than 100% of the beam shear capacity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.3-25
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• 2010

The paper deals with two bearing capacity problems of shallow footing under combined loading. The first is a FEM study of shallow strip footing on two-layer clay deposits subjected to a vertical, horizontal and moment combined loading, while the second is a centrifuge study of shallow rectangular footing on dry sand under double eccentricity. The FEM results revealed that the existence of top soft layer sensitively affects more on horizontal and moment capacity than vertical capacity for cases of footing on soft clay overlying stiff clay. Practical design charts are presented to evaluate bearing capacities of footing for various combinations of the ratio of the depth of the upper layer to the footing width and the ratio of undrained strength of the upper layer to that of the lower. The centrifuge tests indicated that current design practice of calculating failure load of rectangular surface footing under double eccentricity underestimates the centrifuge loading test data. This trend is more marked when the eccentricity becomes larger. The decreasing trend in failure load with an increase of double eccentricity is rather uniquely expressed by a single curve, using a newly defined resultant eccentricity and the diagonal length of the footing base.