• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.335-343
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• 2017

The Newman-Raju formula and contour integral-based finite element analyses(FEAs) have been widely used to assess crack growth rates and residual lives at crack locations in ships or offshore structures, but the Newman-Raju formula is known to be less accurate for the complicated weld details and the conventional FEA-based contour integral approach needs concentrated efforts to construct FEA models. Recently, an extended finite element method(XFEM) has been proposed to reduce those modeling efforts with reliable accuracy. Stress intensity factors(SIFs) from the approaches such as the Newman-Raju formula, conventional FEA-based J-integral, and XFEM-based J-integral were compared for an infinitely long plate with a propagating elliptic crack. It was concluded that the XFEM approach was far reliable in terms of prediction ability of SIFs. Assuming a 25 year-aged coast guard patrol ship had the prescribed cracks at the bracket toes attached to longitudinal stiffeners in way of deck and bottom, SIFs were derived based on the three approaches. To obtain axial tension loads acting on the longitudinal stiffeners, long term hull girder bending moments were assumed to obey Weibull distribution of which two parameters were decided from a reference (DNV, 2014). For the complicated weld details, it was concluded that the XFEM approach could cost-effectively and accurately estimate the crack growth rates and residual lives of ship structures.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.463-488
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• 2018

In the last decades, research efforts have been spent to investigate the effect of prestressing on the dynamic behaviour of prestressed concrete (PSC) beams. Whereas no agreement has been reached among the achievements obtained by different Researchers and among the theoretical and the experimental results for simply supported beams, very few researches have addressed this problem in continuous PSC beams. This topic is, indeed, worthy of consideration bearing in mind that many relevant bridges and viaducts in the road and railway networks have been designed and constructed with this structural scheme. In this paper the attention is, thus, focused on the dynamic features of continuous PSC bridges taking into account the effect of prestressing. This latter, in fact, contributes to the modification of the distribution of the bending stress along the beam, also by means of the secondary moments, and influences the flexural stiffness of the beam itself. The dynamic properties of a continuous, two spans bridge connected by a nonlinear spring have been extracted by solving an eigenvalue problem in different linearized configurations corresponding to different values of the prestress force. The stiffness of the nonlinear spring has been calculated considering the mechanical behaviour of the PSC beam in the uncracked and in the cracked stage. The application of the proposed methodology to several case studies indicates that the shift from the uncracked to the cracked stage due to an excessive prestress loss is clearly detectable looking at the variation of the dynamic properties of the beam. In service conditions, this shift happens for low values of the prestress losses (up to 20%) for structure with a high value of the ratio between the permanent load and the total load, as happens for instance in long span, continuous box bridges. In such conditions, the detection of the dynamic properties can provide meaningful information regarding the structural state of the PSC beam.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.479-495
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• 2019

In tied-arch bridges, the way the arch and the deck are connected may become crucial. The deck is usually suspended from hangers made out of steel pinned cables capable of resisting axial forces only. However, a proper structural response may be ensured by fixing and stiffening the hangers in order to resist, additionally, shear forces and bending moments. Thus, this paper studies the effect of different pinned and stiffened hanger arrangements on the structural behavior of the tied-arch bridges, with the intention of providing designers with useful tools at the early steps of design. Longitudinally and transversally stiffened hangers (and the effect of hinges at the hangers and their locations) are studied separately because the in-plane and the out-of-plane behavior of the bridge are uncoupled due to its symmetry. As a major conclusion, regarding the in-plane behavior, hangers composed of cables (either with vertical, $Nielsen-L\ddot{o}hse$ or network arrangements) are recommended due to its low cost and ease of erection. Alternatively, longitudinally stiffened hangers, fixed at both ends, can be used. Regarding the out-of-plane behavior, and in addition to three-dimensional arrangements of cables, of limited effectiveness, transversally stiffened hangers fixed at both ends are the most efficient arrangement. A configuration almost as efficient and, additionally, cheaper and easier to build can be achieved by locating a hinge at the end corresponding to the most flexible structural element (normally the arch). Its efficiency is further improved if the cross-section tapers from the fixed end to the pinned end.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.717-734
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• 2018

This paper presents the flexural performance of steel beam-to-column joints composed of hollow structural section beams and columns. A finite element (FE) model was developed incorporating geometrical and material nonlinearities to evaluate the behaviour of joints subjected to bending moments. The numerical outcomes were validated with experimental results and compared with EN1993-1-8. The demountability of the structure was discussed based on the tested specimen. A parametric analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of steel yield strength, end-plate thickness, beam thickness, column wall thickness, bolt diameter, number of bolts and location. Consequently, an analytical model was derived based on the component method to predict the moment-rotation relationships for the sub-assemblies with extended end-plates. The accuracy of the proposed model was calibrated by the experimental and numerical results. It is found that the FE model is fairly reliable to predict the initial stiffness and moment capacity of the joints, while EN1993-1-8 overestimates the initial stiffness extensively. The beam-to-column joints are shown to be demountable and reusable with a moment up to 53% of the ultimate moment capacity. The end-plate thickness and column wall thickness have a significant influence on the joint behaviour, and the layout of double bolt-rows in tension is recommended for joints with extended end-plates. The derived analytical model is capable of predicting the moment-rotation relationship of the structure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.373-385
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• 2019

This paper presents a useful in-plane structural analysis of low-rise blind-bolted composite frames with semi-rigid joints. Analytical models were used to predict the moment-rotation relationship of the composite beam-to-column flush endplate joints that produced accurate and reliable results. The comparisons of the analytical model with test results in terms of the moment-rotation response verified the robustness and reliability of the model. Abaqus software was adopted to conduct frame analysis considering the material and geometrical non-linearities. The flexural behaviour of the composite frames was studied by applying the lateral loads incorporating wind and earthquake actions according to the Australian standards. A wide variety of frames with a varied number of bays and storeys was analysed to determine the bending moment envelopes under different load combinations. The design models were finalized that met the strength and serviceability limit state criteria. The results from the frame analysis suggest that among lateral loads, wind loads are more critical in Australia as compared to the earthquake loads. However, gravity loads alone govern the design as maximum sagging and hogging moments in the frames are produced as a result of the load combination with dead and live loads alone. This study provides a preliminary analysis and general understanding of the behaviour of low rise, semi-continuous frames subjected to lateral load characteristics of wind and earthquake conditions in Australia that can be applied in engineering practice.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2019

Recent changes in the construction method of piles to minimize noise, along with the development of high-strength reinforcement, have provided an economical high performance RC pile development to compensate for the disadvantages of existing PHC piles. In this study, a methodology for the development of cross - section details of high performance RC piles of various performances is presented by freely applying high strength steel and concrete. This study suggested a technique for calculating bending moments for a given axial force corresponding to the allowable crack widths and this can be used for serviceablity check. In calculating the design shear force, the existing design equation applicable to the rectangular or the I section was modified to be applicable to the hollow circular section. In particular, in the limit state design method, the shear force is calculated in proportion to the axial force, and the procedure for calculating PV diagram is established. Last, the section details are determined through PM diagrams that they have the similar flexural and axial-flexural performances of the PHC pile A, B and C types with a diameter of 500 mm. To facilitate the application of the selected standard sections to the practical tasks, the design PM diagram and design shear forces are proposed in accordance with the strength design method and limit state design method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2022

Piled raft foundations are widely used and effective in supporting high-rise buildings around the world. In this study, a piled raft system was numerically simulated using PLAXIS 3D. The settlement comparison results between the actual building measurements and the three-dimensional (3D) numerical analysis, were in good agreement, indicating the usefulness of this approach for the evaluation of the feasibility of using a piled raft foundation in Ho Chi Minh City subsoil. The effects were investigated of the number of piles based on pile spacing, pile length, raft embedment on the settlement, load sharing, bending moments, and the shear force of the piled raft foundation in Ho Chi Minh City subsoil. The results indicated that with an increased number of piles, increased pile length, and embedding raft depth, the total and differential settlement decreased. The optimal design consisted of pile numbers of 60-70, corresponding to pile spacings is 5.5-6 times the pile diameter (D_p), in conjunction with a pile length-to-pile diameter ratio of 30. Furthermore, load sharing by the raft, by locating it in the second layer of stiff clay, could achieve 66% of the building load. The proposed model of piled raft foundations could reduce the total foundation cost by 49.61% compared to the conventional design. This research can assist practicing engineers in selecting pile and raft parameters in the design of piled raft foundations to produce an economical design for high-rise buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, and around the world.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.437-454
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• 2022

Elliptic-braced simple resisting frame as a new lateral bracing system installed in the middle bay of frame in building facades has been recently introduced. This system not only creates a problem for opening space from the architectural viewpoint but also improves the structural behavior. Despite the researches on the seismic performance of lateral bracing systems, there are few studies performed on the effect of the stiffness parameters on the elastic story drift and calculation of period in simple braced steel frames. To overcome this shortcoming, in this paper, for the first time, an analytical solution is presented for calculating elastic lateral stiffness in a simple steel frame equipped with elliptic brace subjected to lateral load. In addition, for the first time, in this study, a precise formulation has been developed to evaluate the elastic stiffness variation in a steel frame equipped with a two-dimensional single-story single-span elliptic brace using strain energy and Castigliano's theorem. Thus, all the effective factors, including axial and shear loads as well as bending moments of elliptic brace could be considered. At the end of the analysis, the lateral stiffness can be calculated by an improved and innovative relation through the energy method based on the geometrical properties of the employed sections and specification of the used material. Also, an equivalent element of an elliptic brace was presented for the ease of modeling and use in linear designs. Application of the proposed relation have been verified through a variety of examples in OpenSees software. Based on the results, the error percentage between the elastic stiffness derived from the developed equations and the numerical analyses of finite element models was very low and negligible.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.39-47
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• 2010

In recent days, the foundations of huge structures in general and mega foundations of grand bridges and high-rise buildings in particular are required in geotechnical engineering. This study described 3 dimensional behavior of mat foundation on soft rock based on a numerical study using 3D finite element method. A series of numerical analyses were performed for various soil conditions and mat rigidities under vertical loading. Based on the results of the parametric study, it is shown that the prediction of the settlement, cross sectional tensile stress and bending moments in the mat is overestimated in the analysis without considering interface behavior in comparison with the analysis considering interface between mat and rock mass.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.51-69
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• 2023

In tied-arch bridges, a properly designed connection between the arch and the deck may become crucial, since the forces in the structure may be significantly reduced. This implies substantial material savings and, consequently, cheaper constructions. The introduction of the Nielsen cable arrangement (composed of V-shaped inclined hangers) in the last century was a milestone because it was able to reduce deflections and bending moments both in the arch and in the deck. So far, the Nielsen cable arrangement has proven to be successful in traditional vertical arch bridges. However, despite its advantages, it has not been widely applied to spatial arch bridges. Thus, this article analyses the difference between the structural behavior of spatial arch bridges with Nielsen-type cable arrangements with respect to those with classical vertical hanger configurations. The main goal is to verify whether the known effectiveness of the Nielsen cable arrangement for classical arch bridges is still preserved when applied to spatial arch bridges. In order to achieve this objective, and as the first part of our study, a set of different all-steel bridges composed of vertical and inclined arches with straight decks have been compared for both cable arrangements. As a major conclusion, for planar vertical arch bridges, the Nielsen-type cable arrangement is always the most effective. In addition, it also seems that, for spatial arch bridges composed of a straight deck and an inclined arch, it still keeps most of its effectiveness as long as the arch is moderately inclined.