• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.479-486
• /
• 2003

This paper presents an elastoplastic analysis for spent nuclear fuel disposal container and its 50 cm thick bentonite buffer to predict the collapse of the container while the horizontal asymmetric sudden rock movement of 10 cm is applied on the composite structure. This sudden rock movement is anticipated by the earthquake etc. at a deep underground. Elastoplastic material model is adopted. Drucker-Prager yield criterion is used for the material yield prediction of the bentonite buffer and von-Mises yield criterion is used for the material yield prediction of the container. Analysis results show that even though very large deformations occur beyond the yield point in the bentonite buffer, the container structure still endures elastic small strains and stresses below the yield strength. Hence, the asymmetric 50 cm thick bentonite buffer can protect the container safely against the 10 cm sudden rock movement by earthquake etc.. Analysis results also show that bending deformations occur in the container structure due to the shear deformation of the bentonite buffer. The finite element analysis code, NISA, is used for the analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.68 no.1
• /
• pp.67-80
• /
• 2018

Recently, U-section decks have been more and more used in metro and light rail bridges as an innovative concept in bridge deck design and a successful alternative to conventional box girders because of their potential advantages. U-section may be viewed as a single vent box girder eliminating the top slab connecting the webs, with the moving vehicles travelling on the lower deck. U-section bridges thus solve many problems like limited vertical clearance underneath the bridge lowest point, besides providing built-in noise barriers. Beam theory in mechanics assumes that plane section remains plane after bending, but it was found that shearing forces produce shear deformations and the plane section does not remain plane. This phenomenon leads to distortion of the cross section. For a box or a U section, this distortion makes the central part of the slab lagging behind those parts closer to the webs and this is known as shear lag effect. A sample real-world double-track U-section metro bridge is modelled in this paper using a commercial finite element analysis program and is analysed under various loading conditions and for different geometric variations. The three-dimensional finite element analysis is used to demonstrate variations in the transverse bending moments in the deck as well as variations in the longitudinal normal stresses induced in the cross section along the U-girder's span thus capturing warping and shear lag effects which are then compared to the stresses calculated using conventional beam theory. This comparison is performed not only to locate the distortion, warping and shear lag effects typically induced in U-section bridges but also to assess the main parameters influencing them the most.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.68 no.3
• /
• pp.345-358
• /
• 2018

Heterogeneous structure and, particularly, low resistance to tension stresses leads to different mechanical properties of the concrete in different loading situations. To solve this problem, the tension zone of concrete elements is reinforced. Development of the cracks, however, becomes even more complicated in the presence of bar reinforcement. Direct tension test is the common layout for analyzing mechanical properties of reinforced concrete. This study investigates scatter of the test results related with arrangement of bar reinforcement. It employs results of six elements with square $60{\times}60mm$ cross-section reinforced with one or four 5 mm bars. Differently to the common research practice (limited to the average deformation response), this study presents recordings of numerous strain gauges, which allows to monitor/assess evolution of the deformations during the test. A simple procedure for variation assessment of elasticity modulus of the concrete is proposed. The variation analysis reveals different deformation behavior of the concrete in the prisms with different distribution of the reinforcement bars. Application of finite element approach to carefully collected experimental data has revealed the effects, which were neglected during the test results interpretation stage.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.511-521
• /
• 2002

A simple numerical modelling technique is proposed for estimating the shear stress distribution in beams of framed tube structures with multiple internal tubes. The structures arc analysed using a continuum approach in which each tube is individually modelled by a tube beam that accounts for the flexural and shear deformations, as well as the shear lag effects. The numerical analysis of shear stress is based on the mathematical analogy in conjunction with the elastic theory By simplifying assumptions regarding the form of strain distributions in external and internal tubes, the shear stress distributions are expressed in terms of a series of lineal functions of the second moments of area of the structures and the corresponding geometric and material properties, as well as the applied loads. Previous studies for axial stresses and shear lag phenomenon are further developed lot the numerical analysis of shear stresses in the tubes. The simplicity and accuracy of the proposed method are demonstrated through the solutions of throe numerical examples.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.78 no.3
• /
• pp.319-332
• /
• 2021

The wood-concrete composite is an interesting solution in the field of Civil Engineering to create high performance bending elements for bridges, as well as in the building construction for the design of wood concrete floor systems. The authors of this paper has been working for the past few years on the development of the bonding process as applied to wood-concrete composite structures. Contrary to conventional joining connectors, this assembling technique does ensure an almost perfect connection between wood and concrete. This paper presents a careful theoretical investigation into interfacial stresses at the level of the two interfaces in composite wooden beam- reinforced concrete slab strengthened by external bonding of prestressed composite plate under a uniformly distributed load. The model is based on equilibrium and deformations compatibility requirements in all parts of the strengthened composite beam, i.e., the wooden beam, RC slab, the CFRP plate and the adhesive layer. The theoretical predictions are compared with other existing solutions. This research is helpful for the understanding on mechanical behaviour of the interface and design of the CFRP- wooden-concrete hybrid structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.435-454
• /
• 2011

Bonding composite materials to structural members for strengthening purpose has received a considerable attention in recent years. The major problem when using bonded FRP or steel plates to strengthen existing structures is the high interfacial stresses that may be built up near the plate ends which lead to premature failure of the structure. As a result, many researchers have developed several analytical methods to predict the interface performance of bonded repairs. In this paper, a numerical solution using finite - difference method is used to calculate the interfacial stress distribution in beams strengthened with FRP plate having a tapered ends with different thinning profiles. These latter, can significantly reduce the stress concentration. In the present theoretical analysis, the adherend shear deformations are taken into account by assuming a parabolic shear stress through the thickness of both beam and bonded plate. Numerical results from the present analysis are presented to demonstrate the advantages of use the tapers in design of strengthened beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.50 no.6
• /
• pp.835-852
• /
• 2014

Despite the availability of other transport methods such as land and air transportations, marine transportation is the most preferred and widely used transportation method in the world because of its economical advantages. In service, ships experience cyclic loading. Hence, it can be said that fatigue fracture, which occurs due to cyclic loading, is one of the most critical failure modes for vessels. Accordingly, this makes fatigue failure prevention an important design requirement in naval architecture. In general, a ship structure contains many structural components. Because of this, structural modeling typically relies on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) techniques. It is possible to increase fatigue performance of the ship structures by using FEA in computer aided engineering environment. Even if literature papers as well as rules of classification societies are available to assess effect of fatigue cracks onto the whole ship structure, analytical studies are relatively scarce because of the difficulties of modeling the whole structure and obtaining reliable fatigue life predictions. As a consequence, the objective of this study is to improve fatigue strength of a mercantile vessel against fatigue loads via analytical method. For this purpose, the fatigue life of the mercantile vessel has been investigated. Two different type of fatigue assessment models, namely Coffin-Manson and Morrow Mean stress approaches, were used and the results were compared. In order to accurately determine the fatigue life of the ship, a nonlinear finite element analysis was conducted considering plastic deformations and residual stresses. The results of this study will provide the designer with some guidelines in designing mercantile vessels.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.639-650
• /
• 2007

Applying the method calculating creep of Concrete Filled steel Tube (CFT) members based on the Elastic Continuation and Plastic Flow theory for concrete creep with the finite element method, the paper develops a new numerical method for the creep of CFT arch bridges considering effects of bending moment. It is shown that the method is feasible and reasonable through comparing the predicted stresses and deflection caused by the creep with the results obtained by the method of Gu et al. (2001) based on ACI209R model and experimental data of an actual CFT arch bridge. Furthermore, nine CFT arch bridges with different types are calculated and analyzed with and without the effects of bending moment. As a result, the bending moment has considerable influences on long-term deformations and internal forces of CFT arch bridges, especially when the section of arch rib is subjected to a large bending moment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.66 no.5
• /
• pp.665-676
• /
• 2018

In this study, a four-node quadrilateral partial mixed plate element with low degrees of freedom (dofs) is developed for static and free vibration analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) plates rested on Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundations. The formulation of the presented finite element model is based on a parametrized mixed variational principle which is developed recently by the first author. The presented finite element model considers the effects of shear deformations and normal flexibility of the FGM plates without using any shear correction factor. It also fulfills the boundary conditions of the transverse shear and normal stresses on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate. Beside these capabilities, the number of unknown field variables of the plate is only six. The presented partial mixed finite element model has been validated through comparison with the results of the three-dimensional (3D) theory of elasticity and the results obtained from the classical and high-order plate theories available in the open literature.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.351-360
• /
• 2000

A simple numerical modelling technique is proposed for estimating the shear lag effects of framed-tube system with multiple internal tubes. The tube(s)-in-tube structure is analysed by using an analogy approach in which each tube is individually modelled by a beam that can accounts for the flexural and shear deformations, as well as the shear lag effects. The numerical analysis is based on the minimum potential energy principle in conjunction with the variational approach. The shear lag phenomenon of such structures is studied with additional bending stresses. Structural parameters governing the shear lag behaviour in tube(s)-in-tube structures are also investigated through thirty-three numerical examples.