• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.261-280
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• 2014

In many parts of the world, reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, designed and built in accordance with older codes, have suffered severe damage or even collapse as a result of recent near-fault earthquakes. This is particularly due to the deficiencies of most of the older (and even some of the recent) codes in dealing with near fault events. In this study, a tested three-storey frame designed for gravity loads only was selected to represent those deficient buildings. Nonlinear time history analyses were performed, followed by damage assessment procedures. The results were compared with experimental observation of the same frame showing a good match. Damage and fragility analyses of the frame subjected to 204 pulse-type motions were then performed using a selected damage model and inter-storey drifts. The results showed that the frame located in near-fault regions is extremely vulnerable to ground motions. The results also showed that the damage model better captures the damage distribution in the frame than inter-storey drifts. The first storey was identified as the most fragile and the inner columns of the first storey suffered most damage as indicated by the damage index. The findings would be helpful in the decision making process prior to the strengthening of buildings in near-fault regions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.197-212
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• 2006

Modeling of physically non-linear behavior becomes more and more important for the analysis of SFRC structures in practical applications. From this point of view we will present an effective, three-dimensional constitutive model for SFRC, that is also easy to implement in commercial finite element programs. Additionally, the finite element analysis should only require standard material parameters which can be gained easily from conventional experiments or which are specified in appropriate building codes. Another important point is attaining the material parameters from experimental data. The procedures to determine the material parameters proposed in appropriate codes seem to be only approximations and are unsuitable for precise structural analysis. Therefore a finite element analysis of the test itself is used to get the material parameters. This process is also denoted as inverse analysis. The efficiency of the proposed constitutive model is demonstrated on the basis of numerical examples and their comparison to experimental results. In the framework of material parameter identification the idea of a new, indirect tension testing procedure, the "Modified Tension Test", is adopted and extended to an easy-to-carry-out tension test for steel fiber reinforced concrete specimens.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.459-484
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• 2005

In recent years, the use of steel tube confined concrete (STCC) columns has been the interests of many structural engineers. The present study is an attempt to study the monotonic and cyclic behaviours of STCC columns. For the monotonic behaviours, a series of tests on STCC stub columns (twenty one), and beam-columns (twenty) were carried out. The main parameters varied in the tests are: (1) column section types, circular and square; (2) tube diameter (or width) to thickness ratio, from 40 to 162, and (3) load eccentricity ratio (e/r), from 0 to 0.5. For the cyclic behaviours, the test parameters included the sectional types and the axial load level (n). Twelve STCC column specimens, including 6 specimens with circular sections and 6 specimens with square sections were tested under constant axial load and cyclically increasing flexural loading. Comparisons are made with predicted column strengths and flexural stiffness using the existing codes. It was found that STCC columns exhibit very high levels of energy dissipation and ductility, particularly when subjected to high axial loads. Generally, the energy dissipation ability of the columns with circular sections was much higher than those of the specimens with square sections. Comparisons are made with predicted column strengths and flexural stiffness using the existing codes such as AIJ-1997, AISCLRFD- 1994, BS5400-1979 and EC4-1994.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.2_3
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• pp.123-144
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• 2006

Reinforced concrete corbels are structural elements widely used in practical engineering. The complex response of these elements is described in design codes in a simplified manner. These formulations are not sufficient to show the real behavior, which, however, is an essential prerequisite for the manufacturing of numerous elements. Therefore, a deterministic and probabilistic study has been performed, which is described in this contribution. Real complex structures have been modeled by means of the finite element method supported primarily by experimental works. The main objective of this study was the detection of uncertainties effects and safety margins not captured by traditional codes. This aim could be fulfilled by statistical considerations applied to the investigated structures. The probabilistic study is based on advanced Monte Carlo simulation techniques and sophisticated nonlinear finite element formulations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2021

The use of composite beams with partial interaction, with less shear connectors than those required for full interaction, may be advantageous in many situations. However, these beams tend to show higher deflections compared to beams with full interaction, and codified expressions for the calculation of such deflections are not fully developed and validated. Thus, this paper presents a comprehensive numerical study on the deflections of steel-concrete composite beams with partial interaction. Efficient numerical models of full-scale composite beams considering material nonlinearities and contact between their parts have been developed by means of the advanced software ABAQUS, including a damage model to simulate the concrete slab. The FE models were validated against experimental results, and subsequently parametric studies were developed to investigate the influence of the shear connection degree and the coefficient of friction in the deflection of composite beams. The comparison of predicted deflections using reference codes (AISC, Eurocode-4 and AS-2327.1) against numerical results showed that there are still inaccuracies in the estimation of deflections for the verification of the serviceability limit state, according to some of the analyzed codes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.5
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• pp.651-664
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• 2022

A precise prediction of the ultimate bond strength between rebar and surrounding concrete plays a major role in structural design, as it effects the load-carrying capacity and serviceability of a member significantly. In the present study, Gaussian models are employed for modelling bond strength of ribbed steel bars embedded in concrete. Gaussian models offer a non-parametric method based on Bayesian framework which is powerful, versatile, robust and accurate. Five different Gaussian models are explored in this paper-Gaussian Process (GP), Variational Heteroscedastic Gaussian Process (VHGP), Warped Gaussian Process (WGP), Sparse Spectrum Gaussian Process (SSGP), and Twin Gaussian Process (TGP). The effectiveness of the models is also evaluated in comparison to the numerous design formulae provided by the codes. The predictions from the Gaussian models are found to be closer to the experiments than those predicted using the design equations provided in various codes. The sensitivity of the models to various parameters, input feature space and sampling is also presented. It is found that GP, VHGP and SSGP are effective in prediction of the bond strength. For large data set, GP, VHGP, WGP and TGP can be computationally expensive. In such cases, SSGP can be utilized.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.3
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• pp.283-300
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• 2024

Machine learning (ML) models based on artificial neural network (ANN) and decision tree (DT) were developed for estimation of axial capacity of concrete columns reinforced with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars. Between the design codes, the Canadian code provides better formulation compared to the Australian or American code. For empirical models based on elastic modulus of FRP, Hadhood et al. (2017) model performed best. Whereas for empirical models based on tensile strength of FRP, as well as all empirical models, Raza et al. (2021) was adjudged superior. However, compared to the empirical models, all ML models exhibited superior performance according to all five performance metrics considered. The performance of ANN and DT models were comparable in general. Under the present setup, inclusion of the transverse reinforcement information did not improve the accuracy of estimation with either ANN or DT. With selective use of inputs, and a much simpler ANN architecture (4-3-1) compared to that reported in literature (Raza et al. 2020: 6-11-11-1), marginal improvement in correlation could be achieved. The metrics for the best model from the study was a correlation of 0.94, absolute errors between 420 kN to 530 kN, and the range being 0.39 to 0.51 for relative errors. Though much superior performance could be obtained using ANN/DT models over empirical models, further work towards improving accuracy of the estimation is indicated before design of FRP reinforced concrete columns using ML may be considered for design codes.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.04b
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• pp.703-706
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• 1998

Primarily, to evaluate the structural condition assessment of concrete structures, percentile strength of concrete in concrete structures should be found out. This study aims to establish the evaluation techniques for concrete strength in existing concrete structures considering the concrete quality and reliability. The results are as follows ; 1. Percentile strength of concrete in concrete structures can be estimated from following strength equation. $$f_p=f_{mea} - {\lambda}_pS_s$$2. For the calibration of above percentile strength equation with proposed codes or specifications, following sample size based on ASTM E122 can be applied.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.265-283
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• 2013

This research was prompted by the paucity of specific code provisions regarding the design of short columns for shear. The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether the use of the normal shear design procedure of various codes may or may not be applied to reliably calculate the shear strength of short columns. Provisions of the codes American ACI 318M-08, Canadian CSA A23.3-04, Japanese AIJ Guidelines, New Zealand NZS 3101, European EN 1998 (EC8) parts 1 and 3, combined with EN 1992-1-1 (EC2), and draft fib Model Code 2010, as well as a strut-and-tie model are applied on short columns tested under cyclic loading that failed in shear. Actual shear resistances are compared to predictions, and the resulting shortcomings of the codes are identified. EN1998-3 appears to be the only code among those considered that may be reliably applied to estimate the shear resistance of short columns. Further, the proposed strut-and tie model can be a useful tool for the detailed design and assessment of short columns.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2007

Bridge decks are one of the main structural components that are most suitable for utilizing the advantages of FRP materials due to the high strength weight ratio of FRP materials. Design codes for the design of FRP bridge decks should be established to apply FRP materials for bridge decks effectively. At present, design codes are relatively well established for the use of FRP materials as reinforcements in concrete structures. However, design codes have not yet been provided for the structures made of FRP as a main construction material. In this study, for the purpose of preparing design code provisions, reliability analyses were performed to evaluate target level of safety and serviceability on GFRP decks. Based on the results, several guidelines for the development of design codes are suggested.