• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제44권5호
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• pp.707-720
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• 2022

In the present work, bending and free vibration analyses of multilayered functionally graded (FG) graphene platelet (GPL) and fiber-reinforced hybrid composite beams are carried out using the parabolic function based shear deformation theory. Parabolic variation of transverse shear stress across the thickness of beam and transverse shear stress-free conditions at top and bottom surfaces of the beam are considered, and the proposed formulation incorporates a transverse displacement field. The present theory works only with four unknowns and is computationally efficient. Hamilton's principle has been employed for deriving the governing equations. Analytical solutions are obtained for both the bending and free vibration problems in the present work considering different variations of GPLs and fibers distribution, namely, FG-X, FG-U, FG-Λ, and FG-O for beams having simply-supported boundary condition. First, the matrix is assumed to be strengthened using GPLs, and then the fibers are embedded. Multiscale modeling for material properties of functionally graded graphene platelet/fiber hybrid composites (FG-GPL/FHRC) is performed using Halpin-Tsai micromechanical model. The study reveals that the distributions of GPLs and fibers have significant impacts on the stresses, deflections, and natural frequencies of the beam. The number of layers and shape factors widely affect the behavior of FG-GPL-FHRC beams. The multilayered FG-GPL-FHRC beams turn out to be a good approximation to the FG beams without exhibiting the stress-channeling effects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제44권5호
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• pp.721-740
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• 2022

In this paper, an accurate kinematic model has been developed to study the mechanical response of functionally graded (FG) sandwich beams, mainly covering the bending, buckling and free vibration problems. The studied structure with homogeneous hardcore and softcore is considered to be simply supported in the edges. The present model uses a new refined shear deformation beam theory (RSDBT) in which the displacement field is improved over the other existing high-order shear deformation beam theories (HSDBTs). The present model provides good accuracy and considers a nonlinear transverse shear deformation shape function, since it is constructed with only two unknown variables as the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory but complies with the shear stress-free boundary conditions on the upper and lower surfaces of the beam without employing shear correction factors. The sandwich beams are composed of two FG skins and a homogeneous core wherein the material properties of the skins are assumed to vary gradually and continuously in the thickness direction according to the power-law distribution of volume fraction of the constituents. The governing equations are drawn by implementing Hamilton's principle and solved by means of the Navier's technique. Numerical computations in the non-dimensional terms of transverse displacement, stresses, critical buckling load and natural frequencies obtained by using the proposed model are compared with those predicted by other beam theories to confirm the performance of the proposed theory and to verify the accuracy of the kinematic model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.361-380
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• 2023

A size dependent bending behavior of piezoelectrical flexoelectric layered perforated functionally graded (FG) composite nanobeam rested on an elastic foundation is investigated analytically. The composite beam is composed of regularly cutout FG core and two piezoelectric face sheets. The material characteristics is graded through the core thickness by power law function. Regular squared cutout perforation pattern is considered and closed forms of the equivalent stiffness parameters are derived. The modified nonlocal strain gradient elasticity theory is employed to incorporate the microstructure as well as nonlocality effects into governing equations. The Winkler as well as the Pasternak elastic foundation models are employed to simulate the substrate medium. The Hamiltonian approach is adopted to derive the governing equilibrium equation including piezoelectric and flexoelectric effects. Analytical solution methodology is developed to derive closed forms for the size dependent electromechanical as well as mechanical bending profiles. The model is verified by comparing the obtained results with the available corresponding results in the literature. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed procedure, parametric studies are performed to explore influences of gradation index, elastic medium parameters, flexoelectric and piezoelectric parameters, geometrical and peroration parameters, and material parameters on the size dependent bending behavior of piezoelectrically layered PFG nanobeams. Results obtained revealed the significant effects both the flexoelectric and piezoelectric parameters on the bending behavior of the piezoelectric composite nanobeams. These parameters could be controlled to improve the size dependent electromechanical as well as mechanical behaviors. The obtained results and the developed procedure are helpful for design and manufacturing of MEMS and NEMS.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제48권1호
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• pp.103-111
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• 2023

The caving property of top coal is a key factor to the success of top coal caving mining. The influence law of cyclic loading and unloading of hydraulic support on top coal caving is of great significance to improve the recovery rate of top coal. The similar simulation methods were used to study the dynamic evolution of the top coal cracks under the multi-cycle action of the support, and the parameters of top coal cracks were analyzed quantitatively in this paper. The results show that the top coal cracks can be divided into horizontal cracks and vertical cracks under the cyclic loading and unloading of the support. With the increase of the times of the support cycles loading and unloading, the load on the support decreases, the fractal dimension of the cracks increases, the number and total length of the top coal cracks increases, and the top coal caving is getting better. With the increase of the times of multi-cycle loading and unloading, the fractal dimension, total crack length and crack rate of top coal show a trend of rapid increase first and then increase slowly. Both the total length of the top coal cracks and the crack rate basically show linear growth with the change of the fractal dimension. The top coal caving can be well improved and the coal resource recovery rate increased through the multi-cycle loading and unloading.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제49권3호
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• pp.307-323
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• 2023

In this research, the study of the thermoelastic flexural analysis of silicon carbide/Aluminum graded (FG) sandwich 2D uniform structure (plate) under harmonic sinusoidal temperature load over time is presented. The plate is modeled using a simple two dimensional integral shear deformation plate theory. The current formulation contains an integral terms whose aim is to reduce a number of variables compared to others similar solutions and therefore minimize the computation time. The transverse shear stresses vary according to parabolic distribution and vanish at the free surfaces of the structure without any use of correction factors. The external load is applied on the upper face and varying in the thickness of the plates. The structure is supposed to be composed of "three layers" and resting on nonlinear visco-Pasternak's-foundations. The governing equations of the system are deduced and solved via Hamilton's principle and general solution. The computed results are compared with those existing in the literature to validate the current formulation. The impacts of the parameters (material index, temperature exponent, geometry ratio, time, top/bottom temperature ratio, elastic foundation type, and damping coefficient) on the dynamic flexural response are studied.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.595-603
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• 2024

In the construction industry, there has been a surge in the implementation of high-tech equipment in recent years. Various technologies are being considered as potential solutions for future construction projects. Building information modeling (BIM), which utilizes advanced equipment, is a promising solution among these technologies. The need for safety inspection has also increased with the aging structures. Nevertheless, traditional safety inspection technology falls short of meeting this demand as it heavily relies on the subjective opinions of workers. This inadequacy highlights the need for advancements in existing maintenance technology. Research on building safety inspection using 3D laser scanners has notably increased. Laser scanners that use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) can quickly and accurately acquire producing information, which can be realized through reverse engineering by modeling point cloud data. This study introduces an innovative evaluation system for building safety using a 3D laser scanner. The system was used to assess the safety of an existing three-story building by implementing a reverse engineering technique. The 3D digital data are obtained from the scanner to detect defects and deflections in and outside the building and to create an as-built BIM. Subsequently, the as-built structural model of the building was generated using the reverse engineering approach and used for structural analysis. The acquired information, including deformations and dimensions, is compared with the expected values to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.49-58
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to develop a system capable of restoring the seismic performance of a precast concrete (PC) connection damaged by an earthquake. The developed PC connection consists of a top-and-seat angle, post-tensioning (PT) tendons, and U-shaped steel. The PC beam can be replaced by cutting the PT tendons in the event of damage. In addition, the seismic performance of the developed PC beam-column connection was evaluated experimentally. A PC beam-column connection specimen was fabricated, and a quasistatic cyclic loading test was conducted to a maximum drift ratio of 2.3%. Subsequently, the PC beam was replaced by a new PC beam, and the repaired PC connection was loaded to a maximum drift ratio of 5.1%. The structural performance of the repaired PC connection was then compared with that of the original PC connection. The difference in the load at the drift ratio of 2.3% between the original and the repaired PC specimens was only 0.2%. The residual drift ratio in the repaired PC specimen did not exceed 1.0% at the 2.0 % drift ratio cycles, which satisfies the life safety performance level specified in ACI 374.2R-13. When the developed PC connection system is used, structural performance can be restored by rapidly replacing the damaged elements.

• 한국농공학회논문집
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• 제66권1호
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• pp.39-48
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• 2024

Plastic greenhouses are simple structures consisting of lightweight materials such as steel pipes and polyvinyl chloride. However, serious damage occurs due to heavy winds and typhoon every year. To prevent a collapse of structural members, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has distributed plans and specifications for disaster-resistant standards. Despite these efforts, more than 50% of greenhouses still do not satisfy the disaster-resistant standards. Among the greenhouses that do not meet these standards, 85% are single-span greenhouses proposed 20 years ago. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate the safety of wind loads for the single-span greenhouse. Unfortunately, there are no design specifications for the greenhouses under wind loads. Therefore, a Korean design standard (KDS) has been utilized. KDS is defined with reference to wind speeds occurring once every 500 years, raising concerns about potential overdesign when considering the durability of plastic greenhouses. To address this, the modified wind load, considering the durability of the plastic greenhouse, was calculated, and a safety evaluation was conducted for sigle G-type plastic greenhouse. It was observed that the moment acting on the windward surface was substantial, and there was a risk of the foundation being pulled out if the basic wind speed exceeded 32 m/s. In terms of the combination strength ratio, it was less than 1.0 only on the leeward side when the basic wind speed was 24 m/s and 26 m/s. However, in all other cases, it exceeded 1.0, indicating an unsafe condition and highlighting the necessity for reinforcement.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.25-41
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• 2024

The measurement of pile bearing capacity is crucial for the design of pile foundations, where in-situ tests could be costly and time needed. The primary objective of this research was to investigate the potential use of fuzzy-based techniques to anticipate the maximum weight that concrete driven piles might bear. Despite the existence of several suggested designs, there is a scarcity of specialized studies on the exploration of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) for the estimation of pile bearing capacity. This paper presents the introduction and validation of a novel technique that integrates the fire hawk optimizer (FHO) and equilibrium optimizer (EO) with the ANFIS, referred to as ANFIS_FHO and ANFIS_EO, respectively. A comprehensive compilation of 472 static load test results for driven piles was located within the database. The recommended framework was built, validated, and tested using the training set (70%), validation set (15%), and testing set (15%) of the dataset, accordingly. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis is performed in order to determine the impact of each input on the output. The results show that ANFIS_FHO and ANFIS_EO both have amazing potential for precisely calculating pile bearing capacity. The R² values obtained for ANFIS_FHO were 0.9817, 0.9753, and 0.9823 for the training, validating, and testing phases. The findings of the examination of uncertainty showed that the ANFIS_FHO system had less uncertainty than the ANFIS_EO model. The research found that the ANFIS_FHO model provides a more satisfactory estimation of the bearing capacity of concrete driven piles when considering various performance evaluations and comparing it with existing literature.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.73-91
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• 2024

This paper has focused on presenting vibration analysis of trapezoidal sandwich plates with a damaged core and FG wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. A damage model is introduced to provide an analytical description of an irreversible rheological process that causes the decay of the mechanical properties, in terms of engineering constants. An isotropic damage is considered for the core of the sandwich structure. The classical theory concerning the mechanical efficiency of a matrix embedding finite length fibers has been modified by introducing the tube-to-tube random contact, which explicitly accounts for the progressive reduction of the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The First-order shear deformation theory of plate is utilized to establish governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions for the trapezoidal plate. The governing equations together with related boundary conditions are discretized using a mapping-generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method in spatial domain. Then natural frequencies of the trapezoidal sandwich plates are obtained using GDQ method. Validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature. After demonstrating the convergence and accuracy of the method, different parametric studies for laminated trapezoidal structure including carbon nanotubes waviness (0≤w≤1), CNT aspect ratio (0≤AR≤4000), face sheet to core thickness ratio (0.1 ≤ ${\frac{h_f}{h_c}}$ ≤ 0.5), trapezoidal side angles (30° ≤ α, β ≤ 90°) and damaged parameter (0 ≤ D < 1) are carried out. It is explicated that the damaged core and weight fraction, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) waviness and CNT aspect ratio can significantly affect the vibrational behavior of the sandwich structure. Results show that by increasing the values of waviness index (w), normalized natural frequency of the structure decreases, and the straight CNT (w=0) gives the highest frequency. For an overall comprehension on vibration of laminated trapezoidal plates, some selected vibration mode shapes were graphically represented in this study.