• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.167-194
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• 2004

In this paper axial loading tests on low strength concrete members, which were confined with various thickness of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite sheets are described. Totally 46 specimens with circular, square and rectangular cross-sections with unconfined concrete compressive strengths between 6 and 10 MPa were included in the test program. During the tests, a photogrammetrical deformation measurement technique was also used, as well as conventional measurement techniques. The contribution of external confinement with CFRP composite sheets to the compressive behavior of the specimens with low strength concrete is evaluated quantitatively, in terms of strength, longitudinal and lateral deformability and energy dissipation. The effects of width/depth ratios and the corner radius of the specimens with rectangular cross-section on the axial behavior were also examined. It was seen that the effectiveness of the external confinement with CFRP composite sheets is much more pronounced, when the unconfined concrete compressive strength is relatively lower. It was also found that the available analytical expressions proposed for normal or high strength concrete confined by CFRP sheets could not predict the strength and deformability of CFRP confined low strength concrete accurately. New expressions are proposed for the compressive strength and the ultimate axial strain of CFRP confined low strength concrete.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.147-162
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• 2010

The ground acceleration measured at a point on the earth's surface is composed of several waves that have different phase velocities, arrival times, amplitudes, and frequency contents. For instance, body waves contain primary and secondary waves that have high frequency content and reach the site first. Surface waves are composed of Rayleigh and Love waves that have lower phase velocity, lower frequency content and reach the site next. Some of these waves could be of more damage to the structure depending on their frequency content and associated amplitude. This paper models critical earthquake loads for single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) inelastic structures considering evolution of the seismic waves in time and frequency. The ground acceleration is represented as combination of seismic waves with different characteristics. Each seismic wave represents the energy of the ground motion in certain frequency band and time interval. The amplitudes and phase angles of these waves are optimized to produce the highest damage in the structure subject to explicit constraints on the energy and the peak ground acceleration and implicit constraints on the frequency content and the arrival time of the seismic waves. The material nonlinearity is modeled using bilinear inelastic law. The study explores also the influence of the properties of the seismic waves on the energy demand and damage state of the structure. Numerical illustrations on modeling critical earthquake excitations for one-storey inelastic frame structures are provided.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제32권5호
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• pp.583-594
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• 2019

In recent years, composite concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) members have been widely utilized in framed building structures like beams, columns, and beam-columns since they have significant advantages such as reducing construction time, improving the seismic performance, and possessing high ductility, strength, and energy absorbing capacity. This paper presents a new composite joint - the composite CFST beam-column joint in which the CFST member is used as the beam. The main components of the proposed composite joint are steel H-beams, CFST beams welded with the steel H-column, and a reinforced concrete slab. The steel H-beams and CFST beams are connected with the concrete slab using shear connectors to ensure composite action between them. The structural performance of the proposed composite joint was evaluated through an experimental investigation. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model was developed to simulate this composite joint using the ABAQUS/Explicit software, and the accuracy of the FE model was verified with the relevant experimental results. In addition, a number of parametric studies were made to examine the effects of the steel box beam thickness, concrete compressive strength, steel yield strength, and reinforcement ratio in the concrete slab on the proposed joint performance.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제83권3호
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• pp.387-400
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• 2022

The practice of using encased steel-concrete columns in medium to high-rise structures has expanded dramatically in recent years. The study evaluates existing methodologies and codal guidelines for estimating the ultimate load-carrying characteristics of concrete-encased short columns experimentally. The present condition of composite column design methods was analyzed using the Egyptian code ECP203-2007, the American Institute of Steel Construction's AISC-LRFD-2010, Eurocode EC-4, the American Concrete Institute's ACI-318-2014, and the British Standard BS-5400-5. According to the codes, the axial load carrying characteristics of both the encased steel and concrete sections was examined. The effect of load-carrying capacities in different forms of encased steel sections on encased steel-concrete columns was studied experimentally. The axial load carrying capacity of twelve concrete-encased columns and four conventional reinforced columns were examined. The conclusion is that the confinement was not taken into account when forecasting the strength and ductility of the encased concrete, resulting in considerable disparities between codal provisions and experimental results. The configuration of the steel section influenced the confining effect. Better confinement is achieved with the laced and battened section than with the infilled steel tube reinforced and conventionally reinforced section. The ECP203-2007 code reported the most conservative results of all the codes used.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권9호
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• pp.3205-3214
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• 2022

The aim of this study is to provide a clear and accessible method to obtain accurate true-stress strain data, and to extend the limited material data beyond the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) for AISI 304L. AISI 304L is used for the outer construction for some types of nuclear transport packages, due to its post-yield ductility and high failure strain. Material data for AISI 304L beyond UTS is limited throughout literature. 3D digital image correlation (DIC) was used during a series of uniaxial tensile experiments. Direct method extracted data such as true strain and instantaneous cross-sectional area throughout testing such that the true stress-strain response of the material up to failure could be created. Post processing of the DIC data has a considerable effect on the accuracy of the true stress-strain data produced. Influence of subset size and smoothing of data was investigated by using finite element analysis to inverse model the force displacement response in order to determine the true stress strain curve. The FE force displacement response was iteratively adapted, using subset size and smoothing of the DIC data. Results were validated by matching the force displacement response for the FE model and the experimental force displacement curve.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.553-568
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• 2022

This paper explored the viability of utilising titanium alloy bolts in the construction industry through an experimental programme, where a total of sixty-six titanium alloy (Ti/6Al/4V) bolts were tested under axial tension, pure shear and combined tension and shear. In addition, a series of Charpy V-notch specimens machined from titanium alloy bolts, conventional high-strength steel bolts, austenitic and duplex stainless steel bolts were tested for impact toughness comparisons. The obtained experimental results demonstrated that the axial tensile and pure shear capacities of titanium alloy bolts can be reasonably estimated by the current design standards for steel structures (Eurocode 3, AS 4100 and AISC 360). However, under the combined tension and shear loading conditions, significant underestimation by Eurocode 3 and unsafe predictions through AS 4100 and AISC 360 indicate that proper modifications are necessary to facilitate the safe and economic use of titanium alloy bolts. In addition, numerical models were developed to calibrate the fracture parameters of the tested titanium alloy bolts. Furthermore, a design-based selection process of titanium alloy bolts in the structural applications was proposed, in which the ultimate strength, ductility performance and corrosion resistance (including galvanic corrosion) of titanium alloy bolts was mainly considered.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.59-73
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• 2022

In this study, the seismic behavior of an all-steel buckling-restrained (AB) steel plate shear wall (SPSW) with incline slits under fire and cyclic loading was investigated. ABSPSW was composed of two thin steel infill plates with a narrow distance from each other, which were embedded with incline slits on each plate. These slits were in opposite directions to each other. The finite element (FE) numerical model was validated with three test specimens and after ensuring the modeling strategy, the parametric study was performed by considering variables such as wall plate thickness, slit width, strip width between two slits, and degree of temperature. A total of 256 FE numerical models were subjected to coupled temperature-displacement analysis. The results of the analysis showed that the high temperature reduced the seismic performance of the ABSPSW so that at 917℃, the load-bearing capacity was reduced by 92%. In addition, with the increase in the temperature, the yield point of the infill plate and frame occurred in a small displacement. The average decrease in shear strength at 458℃, 642℃, and 917℃ was 18%, 46%, and 92%, respectively, compared to the shear strength at 20℃. Also, with increasing the temperature to 917℃, ductility increased by an average of 75%

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.23-32
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• 2023

Reinforced concrete flat slab (RCFS) with columns is a standard gravity floor system for tall buildings in North America. Typically, RCFS-column connections are designed to resist gravity loads, and their contribution to resisting seismic forces is ignored. However, past experimental research has shown that RCFS-column connections have some strength and ductility, which may not be ignored. Advanced numerical models have been developed in the past to determine the nonlinear cyclic behavior of RCFS-column connections. However, these models are either too complicated for nonlinear dynamic analysis of an entire building or not developed to model the behavior of modern RCFS-column connections. This paper proposes a new nonlinear model suitable for modern RCFS-column connections. The numerical model is verified using experimental data of specimens with various material and reinforcement properties. A 40-story RC shear wall building was designed and analyzed to investigate the influence of RCFS on the global response of tall concrete buildings. The seismic responses of the building with and without the RCFS were modelled and compared. The results show that the modelling of RCFS has a significant impact on the inter-story drifts and force demands on both the seismic force-resisting and gravity elements.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.405-417
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• 2023

While ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is commonly reinforced with micro straight steel fibers in existing applications, studies have indicated that the use of deformed steel macro-fibers leads to enhanced ductility and post-peak responses for UHPC structural elements, which is of particular importance for earthquake-resistant structures. However, there are potential concerns regarding the use of UHPC reinforced with macro-fibers due to the issues of workability and fiber distribution. The objective of this study was to address these issues by extensively investigating the restricted and non-restricted deformability, filling ability, horizontal and vertical velocities, and passing ability of UHPC containing macro hooked-end steel fibers. A new approach is suggested to examine the homogeneity of fiber distribution in UHPC. The influences of ultra-fine fillers and steel macro-fibers on the workability of fresh UHPC and the mechanics of hardened UHPC were examined. It was found that although increasing the ratio of quartz powder to cement led to an improvement in the workability and tensile strain hardening behavior of UHPC, it reduced the fiber distribution homogeneity. The addition of 1% volume fraction of macro-fibers in UHPC improved workability, but reduced its compressive strength, which is contrary to the effect of micro-fiber inclusion in UHPC.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.205-215
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• 2023

Currently, many studies are underway at home and abroad on the seismic performance evaluation and dry construction method of the masonry structure. In this study, a dry stack masonry wall system without mortar using concrete blocks is proposed, and investigate the seismic performance of dry filling wall frames through experimental studies. First, two types of standard blocks and key blocks were designed to assemble dry walls of concrete blocks. And then, three types of experiments were manufactured, including pure frame, 1/2 height filling wall frame, and full height filling wall frame, and cyclic load experiments in horizontal direction were performed to analyze crack patterns, load displacement history, rebar deformation yield, effective stiffness change, displacement ductility, and energy dissipation capacity. According to the experimental results, the full height filling wall frame had the largest horizontal resistance against the earthquake load and showed a high energy dissipation capacity. However, the 1/2 height filling wall frame requires attention because the filling wall constrains the effective span of the column, limiting the horizontal displacement of the frame. In addition, the concrete block was firmly assembled in the vertical direction of the wall as the horizontal movement between the concrete blocks was allowed within installation margin, and there was no dropping of the assembled concrete block.