• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.5
• /
• pp.843-859
• /
• 2014

In the present study, the seismic performance of structural walls with boundary elements confined by conventional tie hoops and steel fiber concrete (SFC) was investigated. Cyclic lateral loading tests on four wall specimens under constant axial load were performed. The primary test parameters considered were the spacing of boundary element transverse reinforcement and the use of steel fiber concrete. Test results showed that the wall specimen with boundary elements complying with ACI 318-11 21.9.6 failed at a high drift ratio of 4.5% due to concrete crushing and re-bar buckling. For the specimens where SFC was selectively used in the plastic hinge region, the spalling and crushing of concrete were substantially alleviated. However, sliding shear failure occurred at the interface of SFC and plain concrete at a moderate drift ratio of 3.0% as tensile plastic strains of longitudinal bars were accumulated during cyclic loading. The behaviors of wall specimens were examined through nonlinear section analysis adopting the stress-strain relationships of confined concrete and SFC.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.523-545
• /
• 2013

Piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors of a piezoceramic patch adhesively centered on a carbon composite plate are identified using a robust multi-objective optimization procedure. For this purpose, the patch piezoelectric stress coupling and blocked dielectric constants are automatically evaluated for a wide frequency range and for the different identifiable behaviors. Latters' symmetry conditions are coded in the design plans serving for response surface methodology-based sensitivity analysis and meta-modeling. The identified constants result from the measured and computed open-circuit frequencies deviations minimization by a genetic algorithm that uses meta-model estimated frequencies. Present investigations show that the bonded piezoceramic patch has effective three-dimensional (3D) orthotropic piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors. Besides, the sensitivity analysis indicates that four constants, from eight, dominate the 3D orthotropic behavior, and that the analyses can be reduced to the electromechanically coupled modes only; therefore, in this case, and if only the dominated parameters are optimized while the others keep their nominal values, the resulting piezoelectric and dielectric behaviors are found to be transverse-isotropic. These results can help designing piezoceramics smart composites for various applications like noise, vibration, shape, and health control.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.4 no.5
• /
• pp.403-424
• /
• 2007

The investigation of corrosion effects on the tensile behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) members is very important in region prone to high corrosion conditions. In this article, an experimental study concerning corrosion effects on tensile behavior of RC members is presented. For this purpose, a comprehensive experimental program including 58 cylindrical reinforced concrete specimens under various levels of corrosion is conducted. Some of the specimens (44) are located in large tub containing water and salt (5% salt solution); an electrical supplier has been utilized for the accelerated corrosion program. Afterwards, the tensile behavior of the specimens was studied by means of the direct tension tests. For each specimen, the tension stiffening curve is plotted, and their behavior at various load levels is investigated. Average crack spacing, loss of cross-section area due to corrosion, the concrete contribution to the tensile response for different strain levels, and maximum bond stress developed at each corrosion level are studied, and their appropriate relationships are proposed. The main parameters considered in this investigation are: degree of corrosion ($C_w$), reinforcement diameter (d), reinforcement ratio (${\rho}$), clear concrete cover (c), ratio of clear concrete cover to rebar diameter (c/d), and ratio of rebar diameter to reinforcement percentage ($d/{\rho}$).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.263-276
• /
• 2007

Steel frame structures have been widely used in multi-storey and high-rise buildings and the connections in these structures are critical. In the Northridge and Kobe Earthquake, beam-column connections suffered damage due to brittle fracture. According to seismic design codes, ductility of the beam to column connection is also necessary. A study on the behavior of a beam to column connection with the aim of improving ductility as well as preventing brittle failure was carried out. In order to control the position of a plastic hinge on the beam, a connection with a hole in the beam web was developed. Five specimens with different parameters under cyclic load were assessed. The results are presented in terms of the stress distribution of the beam, hysteretic behavior, and ultimate capacity. Furthermore, the finite element method was also used to analyze the model, and the results were compared with those obtained from the experiment. It is shown from the analysis and experimental results that this type of connection is effective in terms of improving ductility for a beam to column connection in low-rise buildings.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.525-536
• /
• 2018

This paper focuses on the application of the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to thermo-elastic static problems of functionally graded carbon nanotubes reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) cylindrical pressure vessels. A symmetric displacement field is considered as unknown function along the longitudinal direction, whereas a linear distribution is assumed along the thickness direction. The cylindrical pressure vessels are subjected to an inner and outer pressure under a temperature increase. Different patterns of reinforcement are applied as distribution of CNTs. The effective material properties of FG-CNTRC cylindrical pressure vessels are measured based on the rule of mixture, whereas the governing equations of the problem are here derived through the principle of virtual works. A large parametric investigation studies the effect of some significant parameters, such as the pattern and volume fraction of CNTs, on the longitudinal distribution of deformation, strain and stress components, as useful tool for practical engineering applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.62 no.2
• /
• pp.225-236
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this work is to predict ductile fracture of structural steel under extremely low cyclic loading experienced in earthquake. A cumulative damage model is proposed on the basis of an existing damage model originally aiming to predict fracture under monotonic loading. The cumulative damage model assumes that damage does not grow when stress triaxiality is below a threshold and fracture occurs when accumulated damage reach unit. The model was implemented in ABAQUS software. The cumulative damage model parameters for steel base metal, weld metal and heat affected zone were calibrated, respectively, through testing and finite element analyses of notched coupon specimens. The damage evolution law in the notched coupon specimens under different loads was compared. Finally, in order to examine the engineering applicability of the proposed model, the fracture performance of beam-column welded joints reported by previous researches was analyzed based on the cumulative damage model. The analysis results show that the cumulative damage model is able to successfully predict the cracking location, fracture process, the crack initiation life, and the total fatigue life of the joints.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.455-465
• /
• 2017

This paper presents a series of ultimate and fatigue experimental investigation on concrete-filled rectangular hollow section (CRHS) X joints with Perfobond Leister rib (PBR) under tension. A total of 15 specimens were fabricated, in which 12 specimens were tested under ultimate tension and 3 specimens were investigated in fatigue test. Different parameters including PBR stiffening, brace-to-chord ratio (${\beta}$) and inclined angle (${\theta}$) were considered in the test. Each joint was tested to failure under tension load. Obtained from test result, PBR was found to improve the tension strength and fatigue durability of CRHS joint substantially. Concrete dowel consisted by PBR and concrete inside the chord stiffened the joint, which leaded to a combination failure mode of punching shear and chord plastification of CRHS joint under tension. Finite element analysis validated the compound failure mode. Stress concentration on typical spot of CRHS joint was mitigated by PBR which was observed from fatigue test. Initial fatigue crack presented in CRHS joint with PBR also differentiated with the counterpart without PBR.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.111-121
• /
• 2018

It has been argued that fracture energy of composite laminates depends on their thickness and number of layers. In this paper a modified direct energy balance approach (DEBA) has been developed to evaluate the mode-II shear fracture energy for E-glass/Epoxy laminates from finite element model at an arbitrary thickness. This approach considers friction and damage/plasticity deformations using cohesive zone modeling (CZM) and nonlinear finite element modeling. The presence of compressive stress and resulting friction was argued to be a possible cause for the thickness dependency of fracture energy. In the finite element modeling, CZM formulation has been developed with bilinear cohesive constitutive law combined with friction consideration. Also ply element have been developed with shear plastic damage model. Modified direct energy balance approach has been proposed for estimation of mode-II shear fracture energy. Experiments were performed on laminates of glass epoxy specimens for characterization of material parameters and determination of mode-II fracture energies for different thicknesses. Effect of laminate thickness on fracture energy of transverse crack tension (TCT) and end notched flexure (ENF) specimens has been numerically studied and comparison with experimental results has been made. It is shown that the developed numerical approach is capable of estimating increase in fracture energy due to size effect.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.115-134
• /
• 2020

In this paper, the free vibrations analysis of the nanoplates made of three-directional functionally graded material (TDFGM) with small scale effects is presented. To study the small-scale effects on natural frequency, modified strain gradient theory (MSGT) has been used. Material properties of the nanoplate follow an arbitrary function that changes in three directions along the length, width and thickness of the plate. The equilibrium equations and boundary conditions of nanoplate are obtained using the Hamilton's principle. The generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is used to solve the governing equations and different boundary conditions for obtaining the natural frequency of nanoplate made of three-directional functionally graded material. The present model can be transformed into a couple stress plate model or a classic plate model if two or all parameters of the length scales set to zero. Finally, numerical results are presented to study the small-scale effect and heterogeneity constants and the aspect ratio with different boundary conditions on the free vibrations of nanoplates. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, in the literature, there is no study carried out into MSGT for free vibration analysis of FGM nanoplate with arbitrary functions.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.460-469
• /
• 2000

A study on the corrosion behavior of RE36 steel for marine structure was investigated with parameters such as micro-Vickers hardness, corrosion potential and corrosion current density measurement of weld metal(WM), base metal (BM) and heat affected zone(HAZ), Al anode generating current and Al anode weight loss quantity in case of cathodic protection. And we carried out slow strain rate test(SSRT) in order to research mechanical properties such as stress at maximum load, percent strain, time to fracture and strain to failure ratio etc and to find out limiting cathodic polarization potential for hydrogen embrittlement with applied cathodic polarization potential. Hardness of HAZ part was the highest among those three parts and also galvanic corrosion susceptibility was the highest in HAZ part among those three parts due to the lowest corrosion potential than other parts. However corrosion current density was the highest in WM part among those three parts. And the optimum cathodic polarization potential showing the best mechanical properties obtained by SSRT method with applied constant cathodic potential was from - 770mV to - 875mV(SCE). However it is suggested that limiting cathodic polarization potential indicating hydrogen embrittlement on the mechanical properties was under - 900mV(SCE).