• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2021

This paper focuses on the development and assessment of the expected damage for the rocking response of rigid anchored blocks, with irregular geometry and non-uniform mass distribution, considering the site conditions and the seismicity of Mexico City. The non-linear behavior of the restrainers is incorporated to evaluate the pure tension and tension-shear failure mechanisms. A probabilistic framework is performed covering a wide range of block sizes, slenderness ratios and eccentricities using physics-based ground motion simulation. In order to incorporate the uncertainties related to the propagation of far-field earthquakes with a significant contribution to the seismic hazard at study sites, it was simulated a set of scenarios using a stochastic summation methods of small-earthquakes records, considered as Empirical Green's Function (EGFs). As Engineering Demand Parameter (EDP), the absolute value of the maximum block rotation normalized by the body slenderness, as a function of the peak ground acceleration (PGA) is adopted. The results show that anchorages are more efficient for blocks with slenderness ratio between two and three, while slenderness above four provide a better stability when they are not restrained. Besides, there is a range of peak intensities where anchored blocks located in soft soils are less vulnerable with respect to those located in firm soils. The procedure used in here allows to take decisions about risk, reliability and resilience assessment of different types of contents, and it is easily adaptable to other seismic environments.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.12
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• pp.924-929
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• 2011

It is well known that grain boundary cavitation is the main failure mechanism in austenitic stainless steel under tensile hold creep-fatigue interaction conditions. The cavities are nucleated at the grain boundary during cyclic loading and grow to become grain boundary cracks. The attenuation of ultrasound depends on scattering and absorption in polycrystalline materials. Scattering occurs when a propagation wave encounters microstructural discontinuities, such as internal voids or cavities. Since the density of the creep-fatigue cavities increases with the fatigue cycles, the attenuation of ultrasound will also be increased with the fatigue cycles and this attenuation can be detected nondestructively. In this study, it is found that individual grain boundary cavities are formed and grow up to about 100 cycles and then, these cavities coalesce to become cracks. The measured ultrasonic attenuation increased with the cycles up to cycle 100, where it reached a maximum value and then decreased with further cycles. These experimental measurements strongly indicate that the open pores of cavities contribute to the attenuation of ultrasonic waves. However, when the cavities develop, at the grain boundary cracks whose crack surfaces are in contact with each other, there is no longer any open space and the ultrasonic wave may propagate across the cracks. Therefore, the attenuation of ultrasonic waves will be decreased. This phenomenon of maximum attenuation is very important to judge the stage of grain boundary crack development, which is the indication of the dangerous stage of the structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.219-235
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• 2022

Strengthening slender reinforced concrete (RC) columns is a challenge. They are susceptible to overall buckling that induces bending moment and axial compression. This study presents the precise three-dimensional finite element modeling of slender RC columns strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites sheets with various patterns under concentric or eccentric compression. The slenderness ratio λ (height/width ratio) of the studied columns ranged from 15 to 35. First, to determine the optimal modeling procedure, nine alternative nonlinear finite element models were presented to simulate the experimental behavior of seven FRP-strengthened slender RC columns under eccentric compression. The models simulated concrete behavior under compression and tension, FRP laminate sheets with different fiber orientations, crack propagation, FRP-concrete interface, and eccentric compression. Then, the validated modeling procedure was applied to simulate 58 FRP-strengthened slender RC columns under compression with minor eccentricity to represent the inevitable geometric imperfections. The simulated columns showed two cross sections (square and rectangular), variable λ values (15, 22, and 35), and four strengthening patterns for FRP sheet layers (hoop H, longitudinal L, partial longitudinal L_w, and longitudinal coupled with hoop LH). For λ=15-22, pattern L showed the highest strengthening effectiveness, pattern L_w showed brittle failure, steel reinforcement bars exhibited compressive yielding, ties exhibited tensile yielding, and concrete failed under compression. For λ>22, pattern L_w outperformed pattern L in terms of the strengthening effectiveness relative to equivalent weight of FRP layers, steel reinforcement bars exhibited crossover tensile strain, and concrete failed under tension. Patterns H and LH (compared with pattern L) showed minor strengthening effectiveness.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.683-696
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• 2023

The destruction and fracture of rock masses are crucial components in engineering and there is an increasing demand for the study of the influence of rock mass heterogeneity on the safety of engineering projects. The numerical manifold method (NMM) has a unified solution format for continuous and discontinuous problems. In most NMM studies, material homogeneity has been assumed and despite this simplification, fracture mechanics remain complex and simulations are inefficient because of the complicated topology updating operations that are needed after crack propagation. These operations become computationally expensive especially in the cases of heterogeneous materials. In this study, a heterogeneous model algorithm based on stochastic theory was developed and introduced into the NMM. A new fracture algorithm was developed to simulate the rupture zone. The algorithm was validated for the examples of the four-point shear beam and semi-circular bend. Results show that the algorithm can efficiently simulate the rupture zone of heterogeneous rock masses. Heterogeneity has a powerful effect on the macroscopic failure characteristics and uniaxial compressive strength of rock masses. The peak strength of homogeneous material (with heterogeneity or standard deviation of 0) is 2.4 times that of heterogeneous material (with heterogeneity of 11.0). Moreover, the local distribution of parameter values can affect the configuration of rupture zones in rock masses. The local distribution also influences the peak value on the stress-strain curve and the residual strength. The post-peak stress-strain curve envelope from 60 random calculations can be used as an estimate of the strength of engineering rock masses.

• Composites Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.15-22
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• 2006

One of the primary factors limiting the application of composite-metal adhesively bonded joints in structural design is the lack of a good evaluation tool for the interfacial strength to predict the load bearing capacity of boned joints. In this paper composite-steel adhesion strength is evaluated in terms of stress intensity factor and fracture toughness of the interface corner. The load bearing capacity of double lap joints, fabricated by co-cured bonding of composite-steel adherends has been determined using fracture mechanical analysis. Bi-material interface comer stress singularity and its order are presented. Finally stress intensities and fracture toughness of the wedge shape bi-material interface corner are determined. Double lap joint failure locus and its mixed mode crack propagation criterion on $K_1-K_{11}$ plane have been developed by tension tests with different bond lengths.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.3A
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• pp.309-316
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• 2010

This paper proposed a nonlocal anisotropic damage model to simulate the behavior of plain and reinforced concrete structures that are predominantly tensile and compressive load. This model based on continuum damage mechanics, used a symmetric second-order tensor as the damage variable. For quasi-brittle materials, such as concrete, the damage patterns were different in tension and in compression. These two damage states were modeled by damage evolution laws ensuring a damage tensor rate proportional to the total strain tensor in terms of principal components. To investigate the effectiveness of proposed model, the double edge notched specimen experimented by nooru-mohamed and reinforced concrete bending beam were analyzed using the implementation of the proposed model. As the results for the simulation, the nonlocal anisotropic damage model with an adequate control of rupture correctly represented the crack propagation for mixed mode fracture. In the structural failure of reinforced concrete bending beam, the proposed model can be showed up to a very high damage level and yielding of the reinforcements.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.217-229
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• 2024

This paper presents results of visual analysis of cracks formation and propagation of concretes made of quaternary binders (QBC). A composition of the two most commonly used mineral additives, i.e. fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) in combination with nanosilica (nS), has been proposed as a partial replacement of the cement. The principal objective of the present study is to achieve information about the effect of simultaneous incorporation of three pozzolans as partial replacement to the OPC on the fracture processes in concretes made from quaternary binders (QBC). The modern and precise non-contact measurement method (NCMM) via digital image correlation (DIC) technique was used, during the studies. In the course of experiments it was established that the substitution of OPC with three pozzolans including the nanoadditive in FA+SF+nS FA+SF+nS combination causes a clear change of brittleness and behavior during fractures in QBCs. It was found that the shape of cracks in unmodified concrete was quasi-linear. Substitution of the binder by SCMs resulted in a slight heterogeneity of the structure of the QBC, including only SF and nS, and clear heterogeneity for concretes with the FA additive. In addition, as content of FA rises throughout each of QBC series, material becomes more ductile and shows less brittle failure. It means that an increase in the FA content in the concrete mix causes a significant change in fracture process in this composite in comparison to concrete with the addition of silica modifiers only.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.657-665
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• 2011

LB-DECK, a precast concrete panel type, is a permanent concrete deck form used as a formwork for cast-in-place concrete pouring at bridge construction site. LB-DECK consists of 60 mm thick concrete slab and 125 mm height Lattice-girders partly embedded in the concrete slab. These decks have been applied to the bridges, which girder spacings are short enough to resist longitudinal cracking caused by construction loads. This paper presents experimental research work conducted to evaluate the cracking load of LB-DECKs designed for long span bridge decks. Twenty four non-composite beams and four composite beams are fabricated considering three design variables of thickness of concrete slab, height of lattice-girder, and diameter of top-bar. Static loads controlled by displacements are applied to test beams to obtain cracking and ultimate loads. Vertical displacements at the center of beams, strains of top-bar, crack propagation in concrete slab, and final failure modes are carefully monitored. The obtained cracking loads are compared to the analytical results obtained by elastic analyses. Long-term analyses using age-adjusted effective modulus method (AEMM) are also conducted to investigate the effects of concrete shrinkage on the cracking loads. Based on the test results, the tensile strength and the design details of LB-DECKs are discussed to prevent longitudinal cracking of long span bridge decks.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.276-284
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• 2000

The acoustic emission (AE) behavior of reinforced concrete beams tested under flexural loading was investigated to characterize and identify the source of damage. This research was aimed at identifying the characteristic AE response associated with micro-crack development, localized crack propagation, corrosion, and debonding of the reinforcing steel. Concrete beams were prepared to isolate the damage mechanisms by using plain, notched-plain, reinforced, and corroded-reinforced specimens. The beams were tested using four-point cyclic step-loading. The AE response was analyzed to obtain key parameters such as the time history of AE events, the total number and rate of AE events, and the characteristic features of the waveform. Initial analysis of the AE signal has shown that a clear difference in the AE response is observed depending on the source of the damage. The Felicity ratio exhibited a correlation with the overall damage level, while the number of AE events during unloading can be an effective criterion to estimate the level of corrosion distress in reinforced concrete structures. Consequently, AE measurement characterization appears to provide a promising approach for estimating the level of deterioration in reinforced concrete structure.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.303-311
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• 1998

Ten reinforced concrete rigid frames and infilled shear wall frames were tested under both vertical and cyclic loadings. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the structural performance of such test specimens, such as the hysteretic behavior, the maximum horizontal strength, crack propagation, and ductility etc. under load reversals. All the specimens were modeledin one-third scale size. Based on the test results reported in this study, the follwing conclusions can be made. For the rigid frame type and the fully rigid babel type shear wall specimens, the hysteresis diagrams indicate that the degradations of their strength were developed slowly beyond maximum carrying capacity. It was shown that when the hoop reinforcement ratio became higher, the energy dissipation capacity became larger and the failure mode became ductile. The specimens designed by the less hoop reinforcement for the fully rigid babel type shear wall, were mainly failed due to diagonal crack in comparison with the specimens designed by the larger hoop reinforcement ratio. Maximum horizontal resisting moment capacity of speciment designed by the fully rigid babel shear wall were increased by 5.47~7.95 times in comparison with the rigid frame type.