• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.291-312
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• 2016

Seismic performance evaluation of shear wall is essential as it is the major lateral load resisting member of a structure. The ultimate load and ultimate drift of the shear wall are the two most important parameters which need to be assessed experimentally and verified analytically. This paper comprises the results of monotonic tests, quasi-static cyclic tests and shake-table tests carried out on a midrise shear wall. The shear wall considered for the study is 1:5 scaled model of the shear wall of the internal structure of a reactor building. The analytical simulation of these tests is carried out using micro and macro modeling of the shear wall. This paper mainly consists of modification in the hysteretic macro model, developed for RC structural walls by Lestuzzi and Badoux in 2003. This modification is made by considering the stiffness degradation effect observed from the tests carried out and this modified model is then used for nonlinear dynamic analysis of the shear wall. The outcome of the paper gives the variation of the capacity, the failure patterns and the performance levels of the shear walls in all three types of tests. The change in the stiffness and the damping of the wall due to increased damage and cracking when subjected to seismic excitation is also highlighted in the paper.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.218-227
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• 2016

Background: Steam explosions may occur in nuclear power plants by molten fuel-coolant interactions when the external reactor vessel cooling strategy fails. Since this phenomenon can threaten structural barriers as well as major components, extensive integrity assessment research is necessary to ensure their safety. Method: In this study, the influence of yield criteria was investigated to predict the failure of a reactor cavity under a typical postulated condition through detailed parametric finite element analyses. Further analyses using a geometrically simplified equivalent model with homogeneous concrete properties were also performed to examine its effectiveness as an alternative to the detailed reinforcement concrete model. Results: By comparing finite element analysis results such as cracking, crushing, stresses, and displacements, the Willam-Warnke model was derived for practical use, and failure criteria applicable to the reactor cavity under the severe accident condition were discussed. Conclusion: It was proved that the reactor cavity sustained its intended function as a barrier to avoid release of radioactive materials, irrespective of the different yield criteria that were adopted. In addition, from a conservative viewpoint, it seems possible to employ the simplified equivalent model to determine the damage extent and weakest points during the preliminary evaluation stage.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.293-302
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• 2020

Connections play a significant role in strength of structures against earthquake-induced loads. According to the post-seismic reports, connection failure is a cause of overall failure in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Connection failure results in a sudden increase in inter-story drift, followed by early and progressive failure across the entire structure. This article investigated the cyclic performance and behavioral improvement of shape-memory alloy-based connections (SMA-based connections). The novelty of the present work is focused on the effect of shape memory alloy bars is damage reduction, strain recoverability, and cracking distribution of the stated material in RC moment frames under seismic loads using 3D nonlinear static analyses. The present numerical study was verified using two experimental connections. Then, the performance of connections was studied using 14 models with different reinforcement details on a scale of 3:4. The response parameters under study included moment-rotation, secant stiffness, energy dissipation, strain of bar, and moment-curvature of the connection. The connections were simulated using LS-DYNA environment. The models with longitudinal SMA-based bars, as the main bars, could eliminate residual plastic rotations and thus reduce the demand for post-earthquake structural repairs. The flag-shaped stress-strain curve of SMA-based materials resulted in a very slight residual drift in such connections.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.4
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• pp.363-375
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• 2019

A renewable energy storage pile foundation system is being developed through a multi-disciplinary research project. This system intends to use reinforced concrete pile foundations configured with hollowed sections to store renewable energy generated from solar panels attached to building structures in the form of compressed air. However previous research indicates that the compressed air will generate considerable high circumferential tensile stresses in the concrete pile, which requires unrealistic high hoop reinforcement ratio to avoid leakage of the compressed air. One possible solution is to utilize fiber reinforced concrete instead of placing the hoop reinforcement to resist the tensile stress. This paper investigates nonlinear structural responses and post-cracking behavior of the fiber reinforced concrete pile subjected to high air pressure through nonlinear finite element simulations. Concrete damage plasticity models were used in the simulation. Several parameters were considered in the study including concrete grade, fiber content, and thickness of the pile section. The air pressures which the pile can resist at different crack depths along the pile section were identified. Design recommendations were provided for the energy storage pile foundation using the fiber reinforced concrete.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2021

Overloaded vehicles increase the maintenance cost of road structures, and they are a major factor in causing damage to the roads and bridges. In addition, overloaded vehicles compromise the braking capability of the vehicle; thus, threatening the safety of the driver. In order to prevent overloading of vehicles, the government is cracking down on the roads by using a device that measures the weight of vehicles. But this process is inconvenient because the place where the equipment is installed is far away from where the cargo is loaded. Due to the limitations of these fixed weighing devices, there is a growing need for technology that can monitor vehicle weight distribution and overload conditions in real time. In this work, we develop an onboard scale that can measure the load (weight) of trucks in real time. The onboard scale consists of high sensors, a signal processing unit, and a display, and it measures the load using height-displacement of the vehicle's leaf spring suspension.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.97-107
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• 2021

A comprehensive study on seismic performance of wood frame building in hilly regions is presented. Specifically, seismic fragility assessment of a typical wood frame building at various locations of the northeast region of India are demonstrated. A three-dimensional simplified model of the wood frame building is developed with due consideration to nonlinear behaviour of shear walls under lateral loads. In doing so, a trilinear model having improved capability to capture the force-deformation behaviour of shear walls including the strength degradation at higher deformations is proposed. The improved capability of the proposed model to capture the force-deformation behaviour of shear wall is validated by comparing with the existing experimental results. The structural demand values are obtained from nonlinear time history analysis (NLTHA) of the three-dimensional wood frame model considering the effect of uncertainty due to record to record variation of ground motions and structural parameters as well. The ground motion bins necessary for NLTHA are prepared based on the identified hazard level from probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of the considered locations. The maximum likelihood estimates of the lognormal fragility parameters are obtained from the observed failure cases and the seismic fragilities corresponding to different locations are estimated accordingly. The results of the numerical study show that the wood frame constructions commonly found in the region are likely to suffer minor cracking or damage in the shear walls under the earthquake occurrence corresponding to the estimated seismic hazard level; however, poses negligible risk against complete collapse of such structures.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.111-126
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• 2021

Concrete cracking due to brittle tension strength significantly prevents fully utilization of the materials for "flexural-shear failure" type shear walls. Theoretical and experimental studies applying fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) have achieved fruitful results in improving the seismic performance of "flexural-shear failure" reinforced concrete shear walls. To come to an understanding of an optimal design strategy and find common performance prediction method for design methodology in terms to FRC shear walls, seismic performance on shear walls with PVA and steel FRC at edge columns and plastic region are compared in this study. The seismic behavior including damage mode, lateral bearing capacity, deformation capacity, and energy dissipation capacity are analyzed on different fiber reinforcing strategies. The experimental comparison realized that the lateral strength and deformation capacity are significantly improved for the shear walls with PVA and steel FRC in the plastic region and PVA FRC in the edge columns; PVA FRC improves both in tensile crack prevention and shear tolerance while steel FRC shows enhancement mainly in shear resistance. Moreover, the tensile strength of the FRC are suggested to be considered, and the steel bars in the tension edge reaches the ultimate strength for the confinement of the FRC in the yield and maximum lateral bearing capacity prediction comparing with the model specified in provisions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.535-547
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• 2022

Failure patterns of rock specimens represent valuable information about the mechanical properties and crack evolution mechanism of rock. Several kinds of research have been conducted regarding the failure mechanism of brittle material, however; the influence of brittleness on the failure mechanism of rock specimens has not been precisely considered. In the present study, experimental and numerical examinations have been made to evaluate the physical and mechanical phenomena associated with rock failure mechanisms through the uniaxial compression test. In the experimental part, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests equipped with Acoustic Emission (AE) have been conducted on rock samples with three different brittleness. Then, the numerical models have been calibrated based on experimental test results for further investigation and comparing the micro-cracking process in experimental and numerical models. It can be perceived that the failure mode of specimens with high brittleness is tensile axial splitting, based on the experimental evidence of rock specimens with different brittleness. Also, the crack growth mechanism of the rock specimens with various brittleness using discrete element modeling in the numerical part suggested that the specimens with more brittleness contain more tensile fracture during the loading sequences.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2021

Facilities with high risk of a disaster or requiring continuous safety management are designated as class-III facility. In order to designate a class-III facility, it is evaluated based on the safety status of the facility, the risk to the building users, and the number of years elapsed of the facility, etc. and this shall be referred to the actual condition survey for the designation of a class-III facility. In the actual condition survey conducted to designate the safety status is calculated by the checklist based on the evaluation scores consisting of five stages each item, and is evaluated in three stages by 'good', 'careful observation', and 'designated review' through the average of the combined scores. Currently, the actual condition survey being conducted applies only structural stability, and the risk factors such as damage to the finish, the risk of cracking, and the type and weight of major structures are not included in the checklist for the actual condition survey, so even if experts think it is dangerous, scores cannot be reflected. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the problems of checklist of the actual condition survey for the designation of class-III facility and to propose an improvement plan for the checklist for the actual condition survey.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.697-703
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• 2017

This paper examines the flexure behavior of FRP-concrete composite structure that can replace conventional reinforced concrete structure types. In order to investigate the structural performance and behavioral characteristics in numerical analysis means, ABAQUS, a general purpose finite element analysis program, was utilized for nonlinear finite element analysis, and the various variables and their influences were analyzed and compared with experimental results to suggest values optimized to this composite structure. The concrete damage plasticity model and Euro code for concrete were used. In the implicit finite element analysis, the convergence was ambiguous when geometrical and material nonlinearity were large, so the explicit finite element analysis used in this study was deemed to be appropriate. From the comparison with the experiment about concrete damaged plasticity model, 20mm for the mesh size, $30^{\circ}$ for the dilation angle, $100Nmm/mm^2$ for the value of fracture energy, 0.667 for Kc value, and the consideration of damage parameter were suggested believed to be appropriate. The numerical model suggested in this study was able to imitate the ultimate load and cracking pattern very well; therefore, it is expected to be utilized in research of various new material composite structures.