• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2023

Hurricane Katrina swept New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, in 2005, causing more than 1,000 fatalities and severe damage to the flood protection system. Recovery activities are complete, however, clarifying failure mechanisms and devising resilient and cost-effective retrofitting techniques for the flood protection system are still of utmost importance to enhance the general structural integrity of water retaining structures. This study presents extensive centrifuge test results to find various failure mechanisms and effective retrofitting techniques for a levee system. The result confirmed the rotational failure and translational failure mechanisms for the London Ave. Canal levee and 17^th St. Canal levee, respectively. In addition, it found that the floodwalls with fresh waterstop in their joints perform better than those with old/weathered waterstop by decreasing pore water pressure build-up in the levee. Structural caps placed on the top of the joints between I-walls could also prevent local failure by spreading the load to surrounding walls. At the same time, the self-sealing bentonite-sand mixture installed along the riverside of floodwalls could mitigate the failure of floodwalls by blocking the infiltration of seepage water into the gap formed between levee soils and floodwalls.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.5
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• pp.419-437
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• 2023

The use of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls (SW) as an efficient lateral load-carrying system has gained recent attention. However, creating openings in RC shear walls is unavoidable due to architectural requirements. This reduces the walls' strength and stiffness, resulting in the development of wall piers. In this study, the cyclic behavior of RC shear walls with openings, reinforced with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets in various patterns, was numerically investigated. Finite element analysis (FEA) using ABAQUS software was employed. Additionally, the retrofitting of sub-standard buildings (5, 10, and 15-story structures) designed based on the old and new versions of the Iranian Code of Practice for Seismic-Resistant Structures was evaluated. Nonlinear static analyses, specifically pushover analyses, were conducted on the structures. The best pattern of CFRP wrapping was determined and utilized for retrofitting the sub-standard structures. Various structural parameters, such as load-carrying capacity, ductility, stress contours, and tension damage contours, were compared to assess the efficiency of the retrofit solution. The results indicated that the load-carrying capacity of the sub-standard structures was lower than that of standard ones by 57%, 69%, and 67% for 5, 10, and 15-story buildings, respectively. However, the retrofit solution utilizing CFRP showed promising results, enhancing the capacity by 10-25%. The retrofitted structures demonstrated increased yield strength, ultimate strength, and ductility through CFRP wrapping and effectively prevented wall slipping.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.160-169
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• 2015

In this study, experimental research was carried out to improve the seismic performance of reinforced concrete exterior beam-column joint regions using replacing recycled coarse aggregate with hybrid fiber (steel fiber+PVA fiber) in existing reinforced concrete building. Therefore it was constructed and tested seven specimens retrofitting the beam-column joint regions using such retrofitting materials. Specimens, designed by retrofitting the beam-column joint regions of reinforced concrete building, were showed the stable failure mode and increase of load-carrying capacity due to the effect of crack control at the times of initial loading and bridge of retrofitting hybrid fiber during testing. Specimens BCJGPSR series, designed by the retrofitting of replacing recycled coarse aggregate with hybrid fiber in reinforecd beam-column joint regions were increased its maximum load carrying capacity by 1.01~1.04 times and its energy dissipation capacity by 1.06~1.29 times in comparison with standard specimen BCJS. Also, specimen $BCJGPSR_1$ were increased its energy dissipation capacity by 1.33~1.65 times in comparison with specimens BCJS, BCJP and BCJGPR series for a displacement ductility of 9.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.289-301
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• 2017

As earthquakes have frequently happened all over the world, huge losses of human life and property have occurred. Therefore, retrofitting and strengthen technologies of non-seismically designed structures in Korea are urgent. Also, there has been a growing interest about seismic retrofitting, where researches on the topic have been actively pursued in Korea. The study results showed that ductility inducing retrofitting method is more superior stiffness inducing method. In Japan, Super Reinforcement with Flexibility (SRF) was introduced. Therefore, in this study, seismic performance evaluation was performed through pseudo dynamic test and uniaxial compression test for RC column retrofitted by PolyUrea for ductility inducing retrofitting material. Uniaxial compression test results showed that strength of all specimens retrofitted by PolyUrea was higher than that of RC specimens. Also, all specimens retrofitted by PolyUrea also showed ductile fracture behavior. In pseudo dynamic test, by appling real earthquake record, the seismic behavior of RC column reinforced by PolyUrea was evaluated through relative displacement, reinforcement strain, displacement ductility, and dissipation energy. The results showed that PolyUrea helped to enhance seismic performance of RC columns.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 2024

This research addresses the types and causes of defects in seismic retrofitting projects of school facilities, which, following the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes in September 2016 and November 2017 respectively, have been identified as having comparatively lower seismic resilience among public buildings. The incidence of seismic retrofitting has notably increased in the subsequent years, raising concerns about the potential for defects arising from these efforts. The government has committed to enhancing the seismic resilience of all public facilities by 2035, with a specific focus on completing upgrades for educational establishments by 2029. Although prior investigations have explored construction defects in school facilities, there exists a gap in research specifically targeting defects within seismic retrofitting processes. Thus, this study aims to catalog the defects associated with seismic retrofitting efforts and analyze their underlying causes to identify crucial management strategies for defect mitigation. Furthermore, by examining the interplay between defect types and their causative factors, the study seeks to pinpoint essential management practices that could preempt defects during the construction phase, ultimately aiding in the reduction of future maintenance expenditures.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.95-98
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• 2010

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.569-585
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• 2013

The use of the rigid polyurethane foam (RPF) to strengthen sandwich structures against blast terror has great interests from engineering experts in structural retrofitting. The aim of this study is to use the RPF to strengthen sandwich steel structure under blast load. The sandwich steel structure is assembled to study the RPF as structural retrofitting. The filed blast test is conducted. The finite element analysis (FEA) is also used to model the sandwich steel structure under shock wave. The sandwich steel structure performance is studied based on detonating different TNT explosive charges. There is a good agreement between the results obtained by both the field blast test and the numerical model. The RPF improves the sandwich steel structure performance under the blast wave propagation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.767-783
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• 2014

The use of composite materials to strengthen reinforced concrete (RC) structures against blast terror has great interests from engineering experts in structural retrofitting. The composite materials used in this study are rigid polyurethane foam (RPF) and aluminum foam (ALF). The aim of this study is to use the RPF and the ALF to strengthen the RC panels under blast load. The RC panel is considered to study the RPF and the ALF as structural retrofitting. Field blast test is conducted. The finite element analysis (FEA) is also used to model the RC panel under shock wave. The RC panel performance is studied based on detonating different TNT explosive charges. There is a good agreement between the results obtained by both the field blast test and the proposed numerical model. The composite materials improve the RC panel performance under the blast wave propagation.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.811-816
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• 2002

An experimental work is performed to evaluate the retrofit method of damaged flexural walls. For two flexural walls damaged up to almost failure, reinforcements yielded and concrete below height of 1d are replaced with new reinforcements and steel fiber concrete, respectively. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of Aramid sheet for retrofitting walls, Aramid sheet is also, attached to longitudinal direction and rolled horizontal direction of one wall specimen. Horizontal cyclic loads are applied to the top of the specimen with constant axial load. Test result showed that retrofitting with steel fiber concrete after replacing reinforcements can not afford to recover 100% of the wall capacity before damage. However, the capacity of walls could be sufficiently strengthened by using Aramid sheet.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.147-165
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• 2009

This study proposes a certain measure or investment strategy for decision making associated with seismic retrofitting. This strategy reduces the risk of a large-scale malfunction such as water supply loss under seismic risks. The authors developed a stochastic value index that will be used in the overall evaluation of social benefit, income gain, life cycle costs and failure compensation associated with existing lifeline systems damaged by an earthquake during the remaining service period. Optimal seismic disaster prevention investment of deteriorated lifeline systems is discussed. Finally, the present study provides a performance-based design method for seismic retrofitting strategies of existing lifelines which are carried out using the target probabilities of value loss and structural failure.