• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.773-784
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• 2022

This paper aims to investigate the axial compressive behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened with self-compacting and micro-expanding (SM) concrete-filled steel tubes (SM-CFSTs). Nine specimens were tested in total under the local axial compression. The test parameters included steel tube thickness, filling concrete strength, filling concrete type and initial axial preloading. The test results demonstrated that the initial stiffness, ultimate bearing capacity and ductility of original RC columns were improved after being strengthened by SM-CFSTs. The ultimate bearing capacity of the SM-CFST strengthened RC columns was significantly enhanced with the increase of steel tube thickness. The initial stiffness and ultimate bearing capacity of the SM-CFST strengthened RC columns were slightly enhanced with the increase of filling concrete strength. However, the effect of filling concrete type and initial axial preloading of the SM-CFST strengthened RC columns were negligible. Three equations for predicting the ultimate bearing capacity of the SM-CFST strengthened RC columns were compared, and the modified equation based on Chinese code (GB 50936-2014) was more precise.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.339-351
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• 2022

A mortar-filled rectangular hollow structural section (RHS) can increase a structural section property as well as a compressive buckling capacity of a RHS member. In this study, the tensile performance of newly developed mortar-filled RHS members was experimentally evaluated with various connection details. The major test parameters were the type of end connections, the thickness of cap plates and shear plates, the use of stud bolts, and penetrating bars. The test results showed that the welded T-end connection experienced a brittle weld fracture at the welded connection, whereas the tensile performance of the T-end connection was improved by additional stud bolts inserted into the mortar within the RHS tube. For the end connection using shear plates and penetrating stud bolts, ductile behavior of the RHS tube was achieved after yielding. The penetrating bars increased load carrying capacity of the RHS. Based on the analysis of the load transfer mechanism, the current design code and test results were compared to evaluate the tensile capacity of the RHS tube according to the connection details. Design considerations for the connections of the mortar-filled RHS tubes were also recommended.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.423-436
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• 2022

This paper proposes an innovative thin-walled square concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) column with an octagonal/circular lining steel tube, in which the outer steel tube and the inner liner are fabricated independently of each other and connected by slot-weld or self-tapping screw connections. Twelve thin-walled square CFST columns were tested under quasi-static loading, considering the parameters of liner type, connection type between the square tube and liner, yield strength of steel tube, and the axial load ratio. The seismic performance of the thin-walled square CFST columns is effectively improved by the octagonal and circular liners, and all the liner-stiffened specimens showed an excellent ductile behavior with the ultimate draft ratios being much larger than 1/50 and the ductility coefficients being generally higher than 4.0. The energy dissipation abilities of the specimens with circular liners and self-tapping screw connections were superior to those with octagonal liner and slot-weld connections. Based on the test results, both the finite element (FE) and simplified theoretical models were established, considering the post-buckling strength of the thin-walled square steel tube and the confinement effect of the liners, and the proposed models well predicted the hysteretic behavior of the liner-stiffened specimens.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.341-351
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• 2022

This paper presents an inelastic buckling behavior analysis of rectangular hollow steel tubes with geometrical imperfections under elevated temperatures. The main variables are the temperature loads, slenderness ratios, and exposure conditions at high temperatures. The material and structural properties of steels at different temperatures are based on Eurocode (EN 1993-1-2, 2005). In the elastic buckling analysis, the buckling strength decreases linearly with the exposure conditions, whereas the inelastic buckling analysis shows that the buckling strength decreases in clusters based on the exposure conditions of strong and weak axes. The buckling shape of the rectangular steel column in the elastic buckling mode, which depicts geometrical imperfection, shows a shift in the position at which bending buckling occurs when the lower section of the member is exposed to high temperatures. Furthermore, lateral torsional buckling occurs owing to cross-section deformation when the strong axial plane of the model is exposed to high temperatures. The elastic buckling analysis indicates a conservative value when the model is exposed to a relatively low temperature, whereas the inelastic buckling analysis indicates a conservative value at a certain temperature or higher. The comparative results between the inelastic buckling analysis and Eurocode 3 show that a range exists in which the buckling strength in the design equation result is overestimated at elevated temperatures, and the shapes of the buckling curves are different.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.289-296
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• 2023

The failure of a thin-walled tube was studied in this paper based on three failure models. Both proportional and non-proportional loading paths were applied. Proportional loading consisted of combined tension-torsion. Cyclic non-proportional loading was also applied. It was a circular out-of-phase axial-shear stress loading path. The third loading path was a combination of a constant internal pressure and a bending moment. The failure models under study were equivalent plastic strain, modified Mohr-Coulomb (Bai-Wierzbicki) and Tearing parameter models. The elasto-plastic analysis was conducted using J2 criterion and nonlinear kinematic hardening. The return mapping algorithm was employed to numerically solve the plastic flow relations. The effects of the hydrostatic stress on the plastic flow and the stress triaxiality parameter on the failure were discussed. Each failure model under study was utilized to predict failure. The failure loads obtained from each model were compared with each other. The equivalent plastic strain model was independent from the stress triaxiality parameter, and it predicted the highest failure load in the bending problem. The modified Mohr-Coulomb failure model predicted the lowest failure load for the range of the stress triaxiality parameter and Lode's angle.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.461-474
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• 2023

Concrete-filled steel tubes are among the most efficient compressive structural members because the strength of the concrete is enhanced given that the surrounding steel tube confines the concrete laterally and the steel tube is restrained with regard to inward deformation due to the concrete existing inside. Accurate estimations of the ultimate compressive strength of CFT are important for efficient designs of CFT members. In this study, an analytical procedure that directly formulates the interaction between the concrete and steel tube by considering the nonlinear Poisson effect and stress-strain curve of the concrete including the confinement effect is proposed. The failure stress of concrete and von-Mises failure yield criterion of steel were used to consider multi-dimensional stresses. To verify the prediction capabilities of the proposed analytical procedure, 99 circular CFT experimental data instances from other studies were used for a comparison with AISC, Eurocode 4, and other researchers' predictions. From the comparison, it was revealed that the proposed procedure more accurately predicted the ultimate compressive strength of a circular CFT regardless of the range of the design variables, in this case the concrete compressive strength, yield strength of the steel tube and diameter relative to the thickness ratio of the tube.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.24-27
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• 2008

For the development of superconducting fault current limiters(SFCLs) having large current capacity, we fabricated an SFCL element that consists of Bi-2212 superconductor and Cu-Ni alloy tubes. First, Ag was plated on the surface of the Bi-2212 for the enhancement of soldering process. On the Ag-plated Bi-2212 tube, a Cu-Ni alloy tube was soldered using optimized solders and soldering conditions. The BSCCO/Cu-Ni composite was processed mechanically to have a helical shape for the improvement of the SFCL characteristics. The total current path of the SFCL element was 1330 mm long with 12 turns, and had critical current of 340 A at 77 K. Finally, we carried out the fault test using the fabricated SFCL element. It showed successful current limiting performance under the fault condition of 50 $V_{rms}$ and 5.5 kA. From the results, the rated voltage of the SFCL element was decided to be 0.4 V/cm, and the power capacity was 12 kVA at 77 K. The fabrication process of the SFCL and the fault test results will be presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.195-196
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• 2021

The pore distribution of the cement mortar mixed with carbon nanotubes was found to have a large number of pores at (370~80)㎛, and the distribution ratio was larger as the carbon nanotubes were mixed. However, the pores with a fine particle diameter of (10-0.5) ㎛ were found to be larger as the carbon nanotubes were incorporated. However, the distribution of pores of the test specimens of conductive cement mortar with deterioration damage was found to be distributed in a number of particle diameters of (500 to 100) ㎛ and (10 to 0.5) ㎛. It is judged that the particle diameter of the internal pores increased due to the damage. However, as the mixing ratio of the test specimen with carbon nanotubes increased, the distribution of voids was relatively lower than that of plain, and it was judged to have excellent resistance to deterioration damage.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.759-779
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• 2023

The paper proposes two hybrid metaheuristic optimization and artificial neural network (ANN) methods for the close prediction of the ultimate axial compressive capacity of concentrically loaded concrete filled double skin steel tube (CFDST) columns. Two metaheuristic optimization, namely genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO), approaches enable the dynamic training architecture underlying an ANN model by optimizing the number and sizes of hidden layers as well as the weights and biases of the neurons, simultaneously. The former is termed as GA-ANN, and the latter as PSO-ANN. These techniques utilize the gradient-based optimization with Bayesian regularization that enhances the optimization process. The proposed GA-ANN and PSO-ANN methods construct the predictive ANNs from 125 available experimental datasets and present the superior performance over standard ANNs. Both the hybrid GA-ANN and PSO-ANN methods are encoded within a user-friendly graphical interface that can reliably map out the accurate ultimate axial compressive capacity of CFDST columns with various geometry and material parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.293-306
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• 2023

This article focuses on the study of the buckling behavior of two-dimensional functionally graded (2D-FG) nanosize tubes, including porosity, based on the first shear deformation and higher-order theory of the tube. The nano-scale tube is simulated using the nonlocal gradient strain theory, and the general equations and boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton's principle for the Zhang-Fu's tube model (as a higher-order theory) and Timoshenko beam theory. Finally, the derived equations are solved using a numerical method for both simply-supported and clamped boundary conditions. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of different parameters, such as axial and radial FG power indices, porosity parameter, and nonlocal gradient strain parameters, on the buckling behavior of the bi-dimensional functionally graded porous tube. Keywords: Nonlocal strain gradient theory; buckling; Zhang-Fu's tube model; Timoshenko theory; Two-dimensional functionally graded materials; Nanotubes; Higher-order theory.