• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제7권5호
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• pp.667-689
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• 2014

Structural walls (also known as shear walls) are one of the common lateral load resisting elements in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in seismic regions. The performance of RC structural walls in recent earthquakes has exposed some problems with the existing design of RC structural walls. The main issues lie around the buckling of bars, out-of plane deformation of the wall (especially the zone deteriorated in compression), reinforcement getting snapped beneath a solitary thin crack etc. This study compares performance of a typical wall designed by different standards. For this purpose, a case study RC shear wall is taken from the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Christchurch which was designed according to the 1982 version of the New Zealand concrete structures standard (NZS3101:1982). The wall is redesigned in this study to comply with the detailing requirements of three standards; ACI-318-11, NZS3101:2006 and Eurocode 8 in such a way that they provide the same flexural and shear capacity. Based on section analysis and pushover analysis, nonlinear responses of the walls are compared in terms of their lateral load capacity and curvature as well as displacement ductilities, and the effect of the code limitations on nonlinear responses of the different walls are evaluated. A parametric study is also carried out to further investigate the effect of confinement length and axial load ratio on the lateral response of shear walls.

• 국제초고층학회논문집
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.107-120
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• 2014

A Reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall system with coupling beams has been known as one of the most promising structural systems for high-rise buildings. However, significantly large flexural and/or shear stress demands induced in the coupling beams require special reinforcement details to avoid their undesirable brittle failure. In order to solve this problem, one of promising candidates is frictional hysteretic energy dissipating devices (HEDDs) as an alternative to the coupling beams. The introduction of frictional HEDDs into a RC shear wall system increases energy dissipation capacity and maintains the frame action after their yielding. This paper investigates the strength demands (specifically yield strength levels) with a maximum allowable ductility of frictional HEDDs based on comparative non-linear time-history analyses of a prototype RC shear wall system with traditional RC coupling beams and frictional HEDDs. Analysis results show that the RC shear wall systems coupled by frictional HEDDs with more than 50% yield strength of the RC coupling beams present better seismic performance compared to the RC shear wall systems with traditional RC coupling beams. This is due to the increased seismic energy dissipation capacity of the frictional HEDD. Also, it is found from the analysis results that the maximum allowable ductility demand of a frictional HEDD should increase as its yield strength decreases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.1097-1109
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• 2015

A novel optimization approach for reinforced concrete (RC) biaxially loaded columns is proposed. Since there are several design constraints and influences, a new computation methodology using iterative analyses for several stages is proposed. In the proposed methodology random iterations are combined with music inspired metaheuristic algorithm called harmony search by modifying the classical rules of the employed algorithm for the problem. Differently from previous approaches, a detailed and practical optimum reinforcement design is done in addition to optimization of dimensions. The main objective of the optimization is the total material cost and the optimization is important for RC members since steel and concrete are very different materials in cost and properties. The methodology was applied for 12 cases of flexural moment combinations. Also, the optimum results are found by using 3 different axial forces for all cases. According to the results, the proposed method is effective to find a detailed optimum result with different number of bars and various sizes which can be only found by 2000 trial of an engineer. Thus, the cost economy is provided by using optimum bars with different sizes.

• Carbon letters
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.127-132
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• 2002

Unidirectional polymer composites were prepared using high-strength carbon fibers as reinforcement and phenolic resin as matrix precursor with keeping fiber volume fraction at 30, 40, 50 and 60% respectively. These composites were carbonized at $1000^{\circ}C$ and graphitised at $2600^{\circ}C$ in the inert atmosphere. The carbonized and graphitised composites were characterized for mechanical properties as well as microstructure. Microscopic studies were carried out of the polished surface of carbonized and graphitised composites after etching by chromic acid, to understand the effect of fiber volume fraction on oxidation at fiber-matrix interface. It is found that the flexural strength in polymer composites increases with fiber volume fraction and so does for the carbonised composites. However, the trend was found to be reversed in graphitised composites. In all the carbonized composites anisotropic region has been observed at fiber-matrix interface which transforms into columnar type microstructure upon graphitisation. The extension of strong and weak columnar type microstructure is function of fiber volume fraction. SEM microscopy of the etched surface of the sample reveal that composites containing 40% fiber volume has minimum oxidation at the interface, revealing a strong interfacial bonding.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제76권4호
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• pp.491-503
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• 2020

This study extends previous experimental research on the shear behaviour of macrosynthetic fibre-reinforced concrete beams and compares them to steel fibre-reinforced concrete beams with similar mechanical and geometrical properties. This work employed two fibre types: 60/0.9 (long/diameter) double hooked-end steel fibre and 60/85 monofilament polypropylene fibre. Beams were tested by shear loading covering parameters, such as two different cross-section widths, two shear-span-to-effective-depth ratios, two fibre types and using repetitions with and without transverse reinforcement. For quantitative comparison purposes, crack pattern evolution was studied along increasing loads levels. Effects were studied by photogrammetry, including influence of fibres on crack propagation in uncracked and dowel zones, influence of fibres on stirrup behaviour, and shear deformation or kinematics of critical shear cracks. The results evidenced similar effectiveness for both fibre types in controlling shear crack propagation and horizontal dowel cracking. Both fibres provided similar shear ductility and shear deflections. Consequently, the authors confirm that residual flexural tensile strengths are a convenient parameter for characterising the shear behaviour of fibre-reinforced concrete beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.181-198
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• 2003

Six large scale models of conventionally reinforced concrete coupling beams with span/depth ratios ranging from 1.17 to 2.00 were tested under monotonically applied shear loads to study their nonlinear behavior using a newly developed test method that maintained equal rotations at the two ends of the coupling beam specimen and allowed for local deformations at the beam-wall joints. By conducting the tests under displacement control, the post-peak behavior and complete load-deflection curves of the coupling beams were obtained for investigation. It was found that after the appearance of flexural and shear cracks, a deep coupling beam would gradually transform itself from an ordinary beam to a truss composed of diagonal concrete struts and longitudinal and transverse steel reinforcement bars. Moreover, in a deep coupling beam, the local deformations at the beam-wall joints could contribute significantly (up to the order of 50%) to the total deflection of the coupling beam, especially at the post-peak stage. Finally, although a coupling beam failing in shear would have a relatively low ductility ratio of only 5 or even lower, a coupling beam failing in flexure could have a relatively high ductility ratio of 10 or higher.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제59권5호
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• pp.853-866
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• 2016

This paper examines a methodology for computing the probability of structural failure of reinforced concrete beams subjected to fire. The significant load variables considered are dead load, sustained live load and fire temperature. Resistance is expressed in terms of moment capacity with random variables taken as yield strength of steel, concrete class (or grade of concrete), beam width and depth. The flexural capacity is determined based on the design equations recommended in Indian standard IS456:2000. Simplified method named $500^{\circ}C$ isotherm method detailed in Eurocode 2 is incorporated for fire design. A transient thermal analysis is conducted using finite element software ANSYS$^{(R)}$ Release15. Reliability is evaluated from the initial state to 4h of fire exposure based on the first order reliability method (FORM). A procedure is coded in MATLAB for finding the reliability index. This procedure is validated with available literature. The effect of various parameters like effective cover, yield strength of steel, grade of concrete, distribution of reinforcement bars and aggregate type on reliability indices are studied. Parameters like effective cover of concrete, yield strength of steel has a significant effect on reliability of beams. Different failure modes like limit state of flexure and limit state of shear are checked.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.739-760
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• 2016

This paper reports on punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete panels, investigated experimentally and through finite element simulation. The aim of the study was to examine the punching shear of high strength concrete panels incorporating different types of aggregate and silica fume, in order to assess the validity of the existing code models with respect to the role of compressive and tensile strength of high strength concrete. The variables in concrete mix design include three types of coarse aggregates and three water-cementitious ratios, and ten-percent replacement of silica fume. The experimental results were compared with the results produced by empirical prediction equations of a number of widely used codes of practice. The prediction of the punching shear capacity of high strength concrete using the equations listed in this study, pointed to a potential unsafe design in some of them. This may be a reflection of the overestimation of the contribution of compressive strength and the negligence of the role of flexural reinforcement. The overall findings clearly indicated that the extrapolation of the relationships that were developed for normal strength concrete are not valid for high strength concrete within the scope of this study and that finite element simulation can provide a better alternative to empirical code Equations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.293-304
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• 2019

The optimum cost of a reinforced concrete plane and space frames have been found by using the Genetic Algorithm (GA) method. The design procedure is subjected to many constraints controlling the designed sections (beams and columns) based on the standard specifications of the American Concrete Institute ACI Code 2011. The design variables have contained the dimensions of designed sections, reinforced steel and topology through the section. It is obtained from a predetermined database containing all the single reinforced design sections for beam and columns subjected to axial load, uniaxial or biaxial moments. The designed optimum beam sections by using GAs have been unified through MATLAB to satisfy axial, flexural, shear and torsion requirements based on the designed code. The frames' functional cost has contained the cost of concrete and reinforcement of steel in addition to the cost of the frames' formwork. The results have found that limiting the dimensions of the frame's beams with the frame's columns have increased the optimum cost of the structure by 2%, declining the re-analysis of the optimum designed structures through GA.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.163-171
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• 2021

This paper studies the effect of using multi-scale reinforcement additives on mechanical strengths, damage performance, microstructure, and water absorption of cementitious composites. Small dosages of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or polypropylene (PP) microfibers; 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% by weight of cement; were added either separately or simultaneously into cement mortar. The experimental results show the ability of these additives to enhance the mechanical behavior of the mortar. The best improvement in compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar reaches 28% in the case of adding a combination of 0.1% CNTs and 0.2% PP fibers for compression, and a combination of 0.2% CNTs and 0.2% PP fibers for flexure. Adding CNTs does not change the brittle mode of failure of plain mortar whereas the presence of PP fibers changes it into ductile failure and clearly enhances the fracture energy of the specimens. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the fracture surfaces highlights the role of CNTs in improving the adhesion between the PP fibers and the hydration products and thus enhance the ability of the fibers to mitigate cracks propagation and to enhance the mechanical performance of the mortar.