• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.313-323
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• 2022

Steel laminated elastomeric bearings are commonly used in bridge structures to control displacements and rotations and transfer forces from the superstructure to the substructure. Proper knowledge of design, fabrication and erection procedures is important to ensure stability and adequate structural performance during the lifetime of the bridge. Difference in elevations sometimes leads to large size gaps between the bearing and the girder which makes the grout thickness that is commonly used for leveling deviate beyond standards. This paper investigates the structural response of High Strength Fiber Reinforced Cementitious (HSFRC) thin plinths that are used to close gaps between bearing pads and precast girders. An experimental program was developed for this purpose where HSFRC plinths of different size were cast and tested under vertical loads that simulate bridge loading in service. The structural performance of the plinths was closely monitored during testing, mainly crack propagation, vertical reaction and displacement. Analytically, the HSFRC plinth was analyzed using the beam on elastic foundation theory as the supporting elastomeric bearing pads are highly compressible. Closed form solutions were derived for induced displacement and forces and comparisons were made between analytical and experimental results. Finally, recommendations were made to facilitate the practical use of HSFRC plinths in bridge construction based on its enhanced load carrying capacity in shear and flexure.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.126-135
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• 2022

Background: Pollinators are important ecological elements due to their role in the maintenance of ecosystem health, wild plant reproduction, crop production and food security. The pollinator-plant interaction supports the preservation of plant and animal populations and it also improves the yield in pollination dependent crops. Having knowledge about the plant-pollinator interaction is necessary for development of pesticide risk assessment of pollinators and conservation of endangering species. Results: Traditional methods to discover the relatedness of insects and plants are based on tracing the visiting pollinators by field observations as well as palynology. These methods are time-consuming and needs expert taxonomists to identify different groups of pollinators such as insects or identify flowering plants through palynology. With pace of technology, using molecular methods become popular in identification and classification of organisms. DNA metabarcoding, which is the combination of DNA barcoding and high throughput sequencing, can be applied as an alternative method in identification of mixed origin environmental samples such as pollen loads attached to the body of insects and has been used in DNA-based discovery of plant-pollinator relationship. Conclusions: DNA metabarcoding is practical for plant-pollinator studies, however, lack of reference sequence in online databases, taxonomic resolution, universality of primers are the most crucial limitations. Using multiple molecular markers is preferable due to the limitations of developed universal primers, which improves taxa richness and taxonomic resolution of the studied community.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.21-36
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• 2023

Structural vibrations generated by earthquakes and wind loads can be controlled by varying the structural parameters such as mass, stiffness, damping ratio, and geometry and providing a certain amount of passive or active reaction forces. A Double-Tuned Mass Dampers (DTMDs) system, which is simple and more effective than the conventional single tuned mass damper (TMD) system for vibration mitigation is presented. Two TMDs tuned to the first two natural frequencies were used to control vibrations. Experimental investigations were carried out on a three degrees-of-freedom frame model to investigate the effectiveness of DTMDs systems in controlling displacements, accelerations, and base shear. Numerical models were developed and validated against the experimental results. The validation showed a good match between the experimental and numerical results. The validated model was employed to investigate the behavior of a five degrees-of-freedom shear building structure, wherein mass dampers with different mass ratios were considered. The effectiveness of the DTMDs system was investigated for harmonic, seismic, and white noise base excitations. The proposed system was capable of significantly reducing the story displacements, accelerations, and base shears at the first and second natural frequencies, as compared to conventional single TMD.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.105-115
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• 2023

Structural design includes calculation of the wind speed as one of the major steps in the design process for wind loading. Accurate determination of design wind speed is vital in achieving safety that is consistent with the economy of construction. It is noticeable that many countries and regions such as Hong Kong, Japan and Australia regularly make amendments to improve the accuracy of wind load estimations for their wind codes and standards. This study compares the latest Hong Kong wind code published in 2019, which is generally known as the Code of Practice on Wind Effects in Hong Kong - 2019, with the latest revision of the AIJ Recommendations for Loads on Buildings - 2015 (Japan), and the Australian/New Zealand Standard, AS/NZS 1170.2:2021. The comparisons include the variations between the design wind speed and the vertical profiles of wind speed multipliers. The primary purpose of this study was to show any differences in the basic design wind speed and exposure factor estimations among the three economies located in the Western Pacific Ocean. Subsequently, the reasons for such underlying variations between the three documents, are discussed, together with future development trends.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.5-11
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• 2006

Two large diameter steel cased piles (TS-1 and TS-2) were installed and load-tested with the maximum load of 2000 ton at Kwang-An grand bridge. One of the test piles (TS-1) was socketed into the fresh rock and the other test pile (TS-2) was socketed into the weathered rock. Most loads were carried by the weathered rock layer at the maximum applied load for the test piles. In addition, numerical studies were performed using PENTAGON 3D and ROCKET. Based on this study, the weathered rock layer provided sufficient side resistances and possibility of an alternative embedded layer if weathered rocks are deeply layered over fresh rock, which caused difficulties and cost in construction.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.113-120
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• 2023

Coastal and offshore structures such as ports and offshore wind farms will often need to be built on fine-grained sediments. Geotechnical properties associated with sediment compressibility are key parameters for marine construction designs especially on soft grounds, which involve clay-mineral dominated fines that can consolidate and settle significantly in response to engineered and environmental loads. We conduct liquid limit tests and 1D consolidation tests with fine-grained soils (silica silt, mica, kaolin and bentonite) and biogenic soils (diatom). The pore fluids for the liquid limit tests include deionized water and a series of brines with NaCl salt concentrations of 0.001 m, 0.01 m, 0.1 m, 0.6 m and 2.0 m, and the pore fluids for the consolidation tests deionized water, 0.01 m, 0.6 m, 2 m. The salt concentrations help the liquid limits of kaolin and bentonite decrease, but those of diatom slightly increase. The silica silt and mica show minimal changes in liquid limit due to salt concentrations. Accordingly, compression indices of soils follow the trend of the liquid limit as the liquid limit determined the initial void ratio of the consolidation test. Diatoms are more likely to be broken than clastic sediments during to loading, and diatom-rich sediment is therefore generally more compressible than clastic-rich sediment.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.423-436
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• 2023

In this research, we tested 10 simply supported concrete-encased composite columns under monotonic eccentric loads and investigated their shear behaviour. The specimens tested were two reinforced concrete specimens, three steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) specimens with an H-shaped steel section (also called a beam section), and five SRC specimens with a cruciform-shaped steel section (also called a column section). The experimental variables included the transverse steel shape's depth and the longitudinal steel flange's width. Experimental observations indicated the following. (1) The ultimate load-carrying capacity was controlled by web compression failure, defined as a situation where the concrete within the diagonal strut's upper end was crushed. (2) The composite effect was strong before the crushing of the concrete outside the steel shape. (3) We adjusted the softened strut-and-tie SRC (SST-SRC) model to yield more accurate strength predictions than those obtained using the strength superposition method. (4) The MSST-SRC model can more reasonably predict shear strength at an initial concrete softening load point. The rationality of the MSST-SRC model was inferred by experimentally observing shear behaviour, including concrete crushing and the point of sharp variation in the shear strain.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.69-86
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• 2023

To overcome the dilemma of the [BQ] method's inability to predict mountain tunnel support loads, this study is based on the Hoek-Brown criterion and previous results to obtain the connection equations from GSI scores to each parameter of the Hoek-Brown criterion and the link between the [BQ] scores and the GSI system. The equations were embedded in the Hoek-Brown criterion of FLAC6.0 software to obtain tunnel construction forecasts without destroying the in-situ stratigraphy. The feasibility of the secondary development of the Hoek-Brown criterion was verified through comparative analysis with field engineering measurements. If GSI > 45 with a confining pressure of less than 10 MPa, GSI has little effect on the critical softening factor while we should pay attention to the parameter of confining pressure when GSI < 45. The design values for each parameter are closer to the FLAC3D simulation results and the secondary development of the Hoek-Brown criterion meets the design objectives. If the Class V surrounding rock is thinned with shotcrete or the secondary lining is installed earlier, the secondary lining may act as the main load-bearing structure. The study may provide ideas for rapid prediction of mountainous tunnels in China.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.781-794
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• 2023

In order to directly apply seawater and sea sand in construction without desalination, a type of square concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) encased with prefabricated seawater sea-sand concrete filled Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)/Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) tube column was proposed. Twenty short columns were tested under uniaxial loads, and the test parameters included inner tube types, seawater sea-sand concrete replacement ratios, concrete strength, the wrapping area of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strips and the thickness of GFRP tube. The effects of the parameters on failure modes, loading capacity, ductility and strain responses were discussed. All the tested specimens failed with serious buckling of the steel tubes and fracture of the inner tubes. The specimens had good residual bearing capacity corresponding to 64% to 88.9% of the peak capacity. The inner GFRP tubes and PVC tubes wrapped by CFRP strips provided stronger confinement to the core concrete, and were good choices for the proposed columns. Moreover, an analytical model for the composite column with different inner tube types was proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.555-562
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• 2022

Improving the mechanical properties of concrete in the construction industry in order to increase resistance to dynamic and static loads is one of the essential topics for researchers. In this work, vibration analysis of elastic nanocomposite beams reinforced by nanoparticles based on mathematical model is presented. For modelling of the strucuture, sinusoidal shear deformation beam theory (SSDBT) is utilized. Mori-anak model model is utilized for obtaining the effective properties of the strucuture including agglomeration influences. Utilizing the energy method and Hamilton's principal, the motion equations are calculated. The frequency of the elastic nanocomposite beam is obtanied by analytical method. The aim of this work is investigating the effects of nanoparticles volume percent and agglomeration, length and thickness of the beam on the frequency of the structure. The results show that the with enhancing the nanoparticles volume percent, the frequency is increased. In addition, the water absorption of the concrete is presented in this article.