• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권3호
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• pp.289-304
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• 2024

The seismic performance of traditional steel frame-shear wall structures was significantly improved by the application of self-centering steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) wall-panel structures in the steel frames. This novel resilience functionality can rapidly restore the structure after an earthquake. The presented steel frame with steel-reinforced concrete self-centering wall-panel structures (SF-SCW) was validated, indicating its excellent seismic performance. The seismic design method based on bear capacity cannot correctly predict the elastic-plastic performance of the structure, especially certain weak floors that might be caused by a major fracture. A four-level seismic performance index, including intact function, continued utilization, life safety, and near-collapse, was established to achieve the ideal failure mode. The seismic design method, based on structural displacement, was proposed by considering performance objectives of the different seismic action levels. The pushover analysis of a six-floor SF-SCW structure was carried out under the proposed design method and the results showed that this six-floor structure could achieve the predicted failure mode.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제11권6호
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• pp.591-604
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• 2001

In this paper, a finite element with embedded displacement discontinuity which eliminates the need for remeshing of elements in the discrete crack approach is applied for the progressive fracture analysis of concrete structures. A finite element formulation is implemented with the extension of the principle of virtual work to a continuum which contains internal displacement discontinuity. By introducing a discontinuous displacement shape function into the finite element formulation, the displacement discontinuity is obtained within an element. By applying either a nonlinear or an idealized linear softening curve representing the fracture process zone (FPZ) of concrete as a constitutive equation to the displacement discontinuity, progressive fracture analysis of concrete structures is performed. In this analysis, localized progressive fracture simultaneous with crack closure in concrete structures under mixed mode loading is simulated by adopting the unloading path in the softening curve. Several examples demonstrate the capability of the analytical technique for the progressive fracture analysis of concrete structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2014

The main focus of this paper is the analysis of the different components of the variability for strong ground motions recorded from earthquakes produced by the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source. The analysis is performed for two ground motion prediction equations: Youngs et al. (1997) and Zhao et al. (2006), recommended within the SHARE project for the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source and which are proposed in the work of Delavaud et al. (2012) and graded best in Vacareanu et al. (2013c). The first phase of the analysis procedure consists of a grading procedure. In the second phase, the single station sigma procedure is applied for both attenuation models in order to reduce some parts of ground motion models' variability produced by the ergodic assumption. The strong ground motion database which is used throughout the study consists of over 400 accelerograms recorded from 9 Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic events. The results of the single station sigma analysis show significant reduction of the standard deviations, especially in the case of the Youngs et al. (1997) attenuation model, which is also graded better than the other selected GMPE.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.313-323
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• 2018

The presence of water inside concrete structures is an essential condition for the deterioration of the structures. The free water in the concrete pores and micro-cracks is the culprit for the durability related problems, such as alkali-aggregate reaction, carbonation, freeze-thaw damage, and corrosion of steel reinforcement. To ensure the integrity and safe operation of the concrete structures, it is very important to monitor water seepage inside the concrete. This paper presents the experimental investigation of water seepage monitoring in a concrete slab using piezoelectric-based smart aggregates. In the experimental setup, an $800mm{\times}800mm{\times}100mm$ concrete slab was fabricated with 15 SAs distributed inside the slab. The water seepage process was monitored through interrogating the SA pairs. In each SA pair, one SA was used as actuator to emit harmonic sine wave, and the other was used as sensor to receive the transmitted stress wave. The amplitudes of the received signals were able to indicate the water seepage process inside the concrete slab.

• 복합신소재구조학회 논문집
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.46-51
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• 2015

Since it is impossible to predict earthquakes, they involve more casualties and property damage compared to meteorological disasters such as heavy snow and heat waves, which can be predicted through weather forecasts. This has highlighted the need for seismic design and reinforcement. Recently, the use of composite materials as reinforcement has surged because steel plate reinforcement and section enlargement are likely to result in increased weight and physical damage to structures. This study evaluates the seismic performance of panels created from composite materials, and their guide systems. The specimens were miniature versions of actual steel structures, and displacement loads were applied in the transverse direction. Seismic performance was found to improve when structures were reinforced with seismic panels.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.685-702
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• 2010

In this paper, a nonlinear finite element procedure is presented for the dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete shell structures. A computer program, named RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), was used. A 4-node flat shell element with drilling rotational stiffness was used for spatial discretization. The layered approach was used to discretize the behavior of concrete and reinforcement in the thickness direction. Material nonlinearity was taken into account by using tensile, compressive and shear models of cracked concrete and a model of reinforcing steel. The smeared crack approach was incorporated. The low-cycle fatigue of both concrete and reinforcing bars was also considered to predict a reliable dynamic behavior. The solution to the dynamic response of reinforced concrete shell structures was obtained by numerical integration of the nonlinear equations of motion using Hilber-Hughes-Taylor (HHT) algorithm. The proposed numerical method for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete shell structures was verified by comparison of its results with reliable experimental and analytical results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.25-43
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• 2016

This paper presents the results of an experimental study investigating the effects of anchorage systems used in externally bonded steel plates on the strength and ductility of reinforced concrete structures. In the literature, diagonal steel plates bonded to frames were designed to be more flexible than the connections to eliminate the possible effect of the connection flexibility. However, to better evaluate the performance of the strengthened structures, the strength and behavior of connections should also be considered. The purpose of this study was to experimentally investigate the effects of different connection types of steel plates bonded to the frame using anchors on the strengthened RC structures. For this purpose, eleven specimens were designed to simulate the interior and exterior connection behavior. Two of these were used as the control beams and remaining nine for the investigation of the functionality of the end steel plates. Experimental results show that the load carrying capacity of the strengthened beams is directly related to the connection types of the steel plates. For the interior connections, L-shaped end plates that were strengthened using steel anchors must have adequate stiffness to prevent its shape. While, for the exterior connections, the connection with three anchors carried more load than the other exterior connections.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제8권6호
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• pp.1499-1528
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• 2015

The yielding mechanisms of reinforced concrete (RC) structures are the main cause of the collapse of RC buildings during earthquake excitation. Nowadays, the application of earthquake energy dissipation devices, such as viscous dampers (VDs), is being widely considered to protect RC structures which are designed to withstand severe seismic loads. However, the effect of VDs on the formation of plastic hinges and the yielding criteria of RC members has not been investigated extensively, due to the lack of an analytical model and a numerical means to evaluate the seismic response of structures. Therefore, this paper offers a comprehensive investigation of how damper devices influence the yielding mechanisms of RC buildings subjected to seismic excitation. For this purpose, adapting the Newmark method, a finite element algorithm was developed for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete buildings equipped with VDs that are subjected to earthquake. A special finite element computer program was codified based on the developed algorithm. Finally, a parametric study was conducted for a three-story RC building equipped with supplementary VD devices, performing a nonlinear analysis in order to evaluate its effect on seismic damage and on the response of the structure. The results of this study showed that implementing VDs substantially changes the mechanism and formation of plastic hinges in RC buildings.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.637-647
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• 2018

Numerical approach using finite element method has been used to evaluate the behaviour of reinforced concrete frame structure subjected to fire. The structure is previously designed in accordance with Eurocode standards for the design of structures for earthquake resistance, for the ductility class M. Thermal and structural response are obtained using a commercially available software ANSYS. Temperature-dependent nonlinear thermal and mechanical properties are adopted according to Eurocode standards, with the application of constitutive model for the triaxial behaviour of concrete with a smeared crack approach. Discrete modelling of concrete and reinforcement has enabled monitoring of the behaviour at a global, as well as at a local level, providing information on the level of damage occurring during fire. Critical regions in frame structures are identified and assessed, based on temperatures, displacements, variations of internal forces magnitudes and achieved plastic deformations of main reinforcement bars. Parametric analyses are conducted for different fire scenarios and different types of concrete aggregate to determine their effect on global deformations of frame structures. According to analyses results, the three-dimensional finite element model can be used to evaluate the insulation and mechanical resistance criteria of reinforced concrete frame structures subjected to nominal fire curves.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.253-268
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• 2021

The present paper treats the free vibration problem of the masonry wall strengthened with thin composite plate by viscoelastic adhesive layer. For this goal two steps are considered in the analytical solution. In the first one, an efficient homogenisation procedure is given to provide the anisotropic properties of the masonry wall. The second one is dedicated to purpose simplified mathematical models related to both in-plane and out-of-plane vibration problems. In these models, the higher order shear theories (HSDT's) are employed for a more rigours description of the shear deformation trough the masonry wall and the composite sheet. Ritz's method is deployed as solution strategy in order to get the natural frequencies and their corresponding loss factors. The obtained results are validated with the finite element method (FEM) and then, a parametric study is undertaken for different kinds of masonry walls strengthened with composite sheets.