• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.313-326
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• 2020

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars have been introduced as an effective alternative for the conventional steel reinforcement in concrete structures to mitigate the costly consequences of steel corrosion. However, despite the superior performance of these composite materials in terms of corrosion, the effect of replacing steel reinforcement with GFRP on the seismic performance of concrete structures is not fully covered yet. To address some of the key parameters in the seismic behavior of GFRP-reinforced concrete (RC) structures, two full-scale beam-column joints reinforced with GFRP bars and stirrups were constructed and tested under two phases of loading, each simulating a severe ground motion. The objective was to investigate the effect of damage due to earthquakes on the service and ultimate behavior of GFRP-RC moment-resisting frames. The main parameters under investigation were geometrical configuration (interior or exterior beam-column joint) and joint shear stress. The performance of the specimens was measured in terms of lateral load-drift response, energy dissipation, mode of failure and stress distribution. Moreover, the effect of concrete damage due to earthquake loading on the performance of beam-column joints under service loading was investigated and a modified damage index was proposed to quantify the magnitude of damage in GFRP-RC beam-column joints under dynamic loading. Test results indicated that the geometrical configuration significantly affects the level of concrete damage and energy dissipation. Moreover, the level of residual damage in GFRP-RC beam-column joints after undergoing lateral displacements was related to reinforcement ratio of the main beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.227-237
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• 2017

This paper presents optimization of a long-span portal steel frame under dynamic wind loads using a surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithm. Long-span portal steel frames are often used in low-rise industrial and commercial buildings. The structure needs be able to resist the wind loads, and at the same time it should be as light as possible in order to be cost-effective. In this work, numerical model of a portal steel frame is constructed using structural analysis program (SAP2000), with the web-heights at five locations of I-sections of the columns and rafters as the decision variables. In order to evaluate the performance of a given design under dynamic wind loading, the equivalent static wind load (ESWL) is obtained from a database of wind pressures measured in wind tunnel tests. A modified formulation of the problem compared to the one available in the literature is also presented, considering additional design constraints for practicality. Evolutionary algorithms (EA) are often used to solve such non-linear, black-box problems, but when each design evaluation is computationally expensive (e.g., in this case a SAP2000 simulation), the time taken for optimization using EAs becomes untenable. To overcome this challenge, we employ a surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithm (SAEA) to expedite the convergence towards the optimum design. The presented SAEA uses multiple spatially distributed surrogate models to approximate the simulations more accurately in lieu of commonly used single global surrogate models. Through rigorous numerical experiments, improvements in results and time savings obtained using SAEA over EA are demonstrated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.75-87
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• 2018

This paper presents a new method to compute the shear strength of composited structural B-C-W members. These B-C-W members, defined as concrete-filled steel box beams, columns and shear walls, consist of a slender rectangular steel plate box filled with concrete and inserted steel plates connecting the two long-side steel plates. These structural elements are intended to be used in structural members of super-tall buildings and nuclear safety-related structures. The concrete confined by the steel plate acts to be in a multi-axial stressed state: therefore, its shear strength was calculated on the basis of a concrete's failure criterion model. The shear strength of the steel plates on the long sides of the structural element was computed using the von Mises plastic strength theory without taking into account the buckling of the steel plate. The spacing and strength of the inserted plates to induce plate yielding before buckling was determined using elastic plate theory. Therefore, a predictive method to compute the shear strength of composited structural B-C-W members without considering the shear span ratio was obtained. A coefficient considering the influence of the shear span ratio was introduced into the formula to compute the anti-lateral bearing capacity of composited structural B-C-W members. Comparisons were made between the numerical results and the test results along with this method to predict the anti-lateral bearing capacity of concrete-filled steel box walls. Nonlinear static analysis of concrete-filled steel box walls was also conducted by using ABAQUS and the results agreed well with the experimental data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.383-398
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• 2020

This paper investigates the progressive collapse behavior of 3D steel-framed gravity buildings under fires with a cooling phase. The effect of fire protections and bracing systems on whether, how, and when a gravity building collapses is studied. It is found that whether a building collapses or not depends on the duration of the heating phase, and it may withstand a "short-hot" fire, but collapses under a mild fire or a "long-cool" fire. The collapse time can be conservatively determined by the time when the temperature of steel columns reaches a critical temperature of 550 ℃. It is also found that the application of a higher level of fire protection may prevent the collapse of a building, but may also lead to its collapse in the cooling phase due to the delayed temperature increment in the heated members. The tensile membrane action in a heated slab can be resisted by a tensile ring around its perimeter or by tensile yielding lines extended to the edge of the frame. It is recommended for practical design that hat bracing systems should be arranged on the whole top floor, and a combination of perimeter and internal vertical bracing systems be used to mitigate the fire-induced collapse of gravity buildings. It is also suggested that beam-to-column connections should be designed to resist high tensile forces (up to yielding force) during the cooling phase of a fire.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.447-462
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• 2020

The paper aims to investigate the mechanical mechanism and seismic effect of stiffeners in blind bolt endplate connection to CFST column. A precise 3D finite element model with considering the cyclic properties of concrete and steel materials was established, and the efficiency was validated through monotonic and cyclic test data. The deforming pattern and the seismic performance of the unstiffened and stiffened blind bolt endplate connections were investigated. Then a parametric analysis was conducted to analyze the contribution of stiffeners and the joint working behaviors with endplate under cyclic load. The joint stiffness classifications were compared and a supplement stiffness classification method was proposed, and the energy dissipation ability of different class connections were compared and discussed. Results indicated that the main deformation pattern of unstiffened blind bolt endplate connections was the local bending of end plate. The vertical stiffeners can effectively alleviate the local bending deformation of end plate. And influence of stiffeners in thin endplate and thick endplate was different. Based on the stiffness of external diaphragm welded connection, a more detailed rigidity classification was proposed which included the pin, semi-rigid, quasi-rigid and rigid connection. Beam was the main energy dissipation source for rigid connection. For the semi-rigid and quasi-rigid connection, the extended endplate, stiffeners and steel beam would all participate in the energy dissipation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.127-134
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• 2004

Rammed Aggregate Pier (RAP) has extensive applicability as for a foundation of structures. In this study, bearing capacity of the reinforced ground by RAP and the failure behavior of RAP are investigated through experiments. RAPs with diameters of 45, 60, 70 mm were installed in sand, of which relative densities are 60, 70, 90%. Then, two columns of pressure gauges, near the RAPs and one diameter off from the center of piers, are installed 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 cm from the surface of the ground. The test results show that maximum lateral earth pressure is observed near 5∼10 cm (1.0∼2.0D) from the surface, which indicates the occurrence of bulging failure type. In addition, deformation of RAP in radial direction increases with lower relative density of the ground. Furthermore, lateral stress distribution decreases with depth.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.711-723
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• 2012

Structural tests were performed to investigate the structural performance of concrete-filled steel tube column using different strength steels in their flange and web with high-strength steel HSA800 and mild steel SM490, respectively. The test parameters included the strength of column flange and infill concrete, and effect of concrete infill. Connection between different grade steels were welded using the electrode appropriate for mild steel and verified its performance. To evaluate the behavior of test specimens, eccentric loading tests were performed and the results were compared with the prediction by current design codes. Axial load and moment carrying capacity of test specimens increased with the yield strength of compression flange and weld fracture occurred after the specimen shows full strength. The prediction result for axial load-bending moment relationship and effective flexural stiffness gave good agreement with the test result.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.533-541
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• 2010

H-shaped beams, which are constructed between columns, are used widely as slaves in steel structures. The bending moments that occur on both ends of an H-shaped beam, however, are about twice the bending moment that occurs at the center of the H-shaped beam. Because such beam is designed with maximum bending moment, it is deeper and has smaller spaces. To improve these features, if both ends of an H-shaped beam that have maximum bending moments are merely reinforced, the beams could be designed by the bending moment at the center of the H-shaped beam. To analyze the structural performance of the proposed end-reinforced beams (eco-girders). Four specimens were prepared with the following parameters: end-reinforced steel plate, reinforced bars, and reinforced studs and experimental tests of the specimens were performed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.103-130
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• 2013

Fire performance and fire safety of high-rise buildings have become major concerns after the disasters of World Trade Center in the U.S. in 2001 and Windsor tower in Spain in 2005. Performance based design (PBD) approaches have been considered as a better method for fire resistance design of structures because it is capable of incorporating test results of most recent fire resistance technologies. However, there is a difficulty to evaluate fireproof performance of large structures, which have multiple structural members such as columns, slabs, and walls. The difficulty is mainly due to the limitation in the testing equipment, such as size of furnace that can be used to carry out fire tests with existing criteria like ISO 834, BS 476, and KS F 2257. In the present research, a large scale calorie meter (10 MW) was used to conduct three full scale fire tests on medical modular blocks. Average fire load of 13.99 $kg/m^2$ was used in the first test. In the second test, the weighting coefficient of 3.5 (the fire load of 50 $kg/m^2$) was used to simulate the worst fire scenario. The flashover of the medical modular block occurred at 62 minutes in the first test and 12 minutes in the second test. The heat resistance capacity of the external wall, the temperatures and deformations of the structural members satisfied the requirements of fire resistance performance of 90 minutes burning period. The total heat loads and the heat values for each test are calculated by theoretical equations. The duration of burning was predicted. The predicted results were compared with the test results, and they agree quite well.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.617-628
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• 2018

Steel shear wall possesses priority over many of the current lateral load-bearing systems due to reasons like higher elastic stiffness, desirable ductility and energy absorption, convenience in construction and implementation technology, and economic criteria. Besides these advantages, this system causes increase in the dimensions of other structural elements due to its high stiffness as one of its intrinsic characteristics. One of the methods for stiffness reduction is perforating the wall panel and creating openings in the wall that can also be used as windows or ducts in buildings service period. The aim of the present study is probing the appropriate geometric shape and location of opening to fulfil economic criterion plus technical and seismic design criteria. In the present research, a number of possible while reasonable opening shapes and locations are defined in various sizes for some steel shear wall specimens. The specimens are modelled in ABAQUS finite elements software and analyzed using nonlinear pushover analysis. Finally, the analyses' results are reported as force-displacement diagrams and the strength, the initial stiffness and the energy absorption are calculated for all specimens and compared together. The obtained results show that both shape and location of the openings affect the seismic parameters of the shear wall. The specimens in which the openings are further from the center and closer to the columns possess higher stiffness and strength while the specimens in which the openings are closer to the center show more considerable changes in their seismic parameters in response to increase in opening area.