• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2019

One way to provide safe buildings and to protect tenants from the terrorist attacks that have been increasing in the world is to study the behavior of buildings members after being exposed to dynamic loads. Buildings behaviour after being exposed to attacks inspired researchers all around the world to investigate the effect of impact loads on buildings members like slabs and to deeply study the properties of High Performance Concrete. HPC is well-known in its high performance and resistance to dynamic loads when it is compared with normal weight concrete. Therefore, the aim of this paper is finding out the impact of dynamic loads on RPC slabs' flexural capacity, serviceability loads, and failure type. For that purpose and to get answers for these questions, three concrete slabs with 0.5, 1, and 2% steel fiber contents were experimentally tested. The tests results showed that the content of steel fiber plays the key role in specifying the static capacity of concrete slabs after being dynamically loaded, and increasing the content of steel fiber led to improving the static loading capacity, decreased the cracks numbers and widths at the same time, and provided a safer environment for the buildings residents.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.467-478
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• 2019

Composite floor structures formed by continuous slab panels may be susceptible to excessive vibrations, even when properly designed in terms of ultimate limit state criteria. This is due to the inherent vibration characteristics of continuous floor slabs composed by precast orthotropic reinforced concrete panels supported by steel beams. These floor structures display close spaced multimode vibration frequencies and this dynamic characteristic results in a non-trivial vibration problem. Structural stiffening and/or insertion of struts between floors are the usual tentative solution applied to existing vibrating floor structures. Such structural alterations are in general expensive and unsuitable. In this paper, this vibration problem is analyzed on the basis of results obtained from experimental measurements in typical composite floors and their theoretical counterpart obtained with computational modeling simulations. A passive control system composed by multiple synchronized dynamic attenuators (MSDA) was designed and installed in these floor structures and its efficiency was evaluated both experimentally and through numerical simulations. The results obtained from experimental tests of the continuous slab panels under human walking dynamic action proved the effectiveness of this control system in reducing vibrations amplitudes.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.15-29
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• 2020

Purpose: Due to an ever more interconnected global commercial environment, the role of SMEs from emerging markets has attracted considerable attention in business literature of late. Reinforced by strategic management theory, this study builds on aspects such as entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic capabilities to construct and test a framework that focuses on exploring their associations with export performance. Research design, data and methodology: To contribute further towards a deeper understanding of these markets, the current study empirically tests a model using data collected from 225 exporting firms located throughout South Africa. Results: The results from the data analysis show that entrepreneurial orientation contributes significantly towards improving the performance of South African SMEs. Additionally, this study integrates three dynamic capabilities in the strategy-performance relationship to test their interacting effects on the correlation between entrepreneurial orientation and export performance. Further findings advocate support for relationship-based capabilities playing a moderating role between entrepreneurial orientation and the exporting performance of small and medium firms emanating from emerging markets. Conclusions: Findings provide substance to the argument that entrepreneurship, as a strategy-making process, leads to export performance in emerging nations. Especially, this study provides several suggestions as to how small and medium-sized organizations can develop their exporting performance based on the research findings.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.563-571
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• 2008

The influence of annealing treatment on dynamic deformation behavior of ultra-fine grained aluminum alloys was investigated in this study. After equal-channel angular pressing at $200^{\circ}C$, most of the grains were considerably reduced to nearly equiaxed grains of $0.3{\mu}m$ in size. With an increment of various annealing treatments for 1 hour, resultant microstructures were found to be fairly stable at temperatures up to $200^{\circ}C$, suggesting that static recovery would be dominantly operative, whereas grain growth was pronounced above $250^{\circ}C$. The tensile test results showed that yield and ultimate tensile strengths decreased, but elongation-to-failure and strain hardening rate increased with increasing annealing temperature. The dynamic deformation behavior retrieved with a series of torsional tests was explored with respect to annealed microstructures. Such mechanical response was analyzed in relation to resultant microstructure and fracture mode.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2022

The goal of this study is to see if there's a relationship between employees' ambidextrous behaviors and macro facilitators of organizational empowerment (such as control over workplace decisions, dynamic structural framework, and fluidity in information sharing) (exploration and exploitation). To acquire data, this study uses survey methods. A cross-sectional survey was done to collect information from academics at five large public sector universities in Pakistan's Balochistan province. Control over workplace decisions boosts academics' engagement in exploration and exploitation, while a dynamic structural framework merely increases their engagement in exploration, according to the findings based on data from 240 respondents (n = 240). The findings also show that information sharing flexibility has little effect on exploration and exploitation behaviors. In conclusion, the results of this study imply that organizational empowerment is critical for academics' ambidextrous behaviors to thrive. As a result, specific organizational facilitators of empowerment (such as control over workplace decisions and a dynamic structural framework) are advised in higher education institutions. This research is significant because it develops and tests a model that explains hitherto unexplored connections between macro facilitators of organizational empowerment and employees' ambidextrous behaviors. In addition, the research provides important insights for managerial practice and research.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2022

This paper discusses the field testing of two single-span double-tee girder (DTG) bridges in South Dakota to determine live load distribution factors (LLDFs) and the dynamic load allowance (IM). One bridge had seven girders and another had eight girders. The longitudinal girder-to-girder joints of both bridges were deteriorated in a way that water could penetrate and the joint steel members were corroded. A truck traveled across each of the two bridges at five transverse paths. The paths were tested twice with a crawl speed load test and twice with a dynamic load. The LLDFs and IM were determined using strain data measured during the field tests. These results were compared with those determined according to the AASHTO Standard and the AASHTO LRFD specifications. Nearly all the measured LLDFs were below the AASHTO LRFD design LLDFs, with the exception of two instances: 1) An exterior DTG on the seven-girder bridge and 2) An interior DTG on the eight-girder bridge. The LLDFs specified in the AASHTO Standard were conservative compared with the measured LLDFs. It was also found that both AASHTO LRFD and AASHTO Standard specifications were conservative when estimating IM, compared to the field test results for both bridges.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.359-370
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• 2023

Slime is produced by excavation during the installation of embedded piles, and it tends to mix with the cement paste injected into the pile shafts. The objective of this study is to investigate the strength and stiffness characteristics of cement pasteslime mixtures. Mixtures with different slime ratios are prepared and cured for 28 days. Uniaxial compression tests and elastic wave measurements are conducted to obtain the static and dynamic properties, respectively. The uniaxial compressive strengths and static elastic moduli of the mixtures are evaluated according to the curing period, slime ratio, and water-cement ratio. In addition, dynamic properties, e.g., the constrained, shear, and elastic moduli, are estimated from the compressional and shear wave velocities. The experimental results show that the static and dynamic properties increase under an increase in the curing period but decrease under an increase in the slime and water-cement ratios. The cement paste-slime mixtures show several exponential relationships between their static and dynamic properties, depending on the slime ratio. The bearing mechanisms of embedded piles can be better understood by examining the strength and stiffness characteristics of cement paste-slime mixtures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.303-316
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• 2023

With the development and utilization of urban underground space, the artificial ground freezing technology has been widely used in the construction of underground engineering in soft soil areas. The mechanical properties of soft clay changed greatly after freezing and thawing, which affected the seismic performance of underground structures. In this paper, a series of triaxial tests were carried out to study the dynamic response of the freezing-thawing clay under the seismic load considering different dynamic stress amplitudes and different confining pressures. The reduction factor of dynamic shear stress was determined to correct the amplitude of the seismic load. The deformation development mode, the stress-strain relationship and the energy dissipation behavior of the soft clay under the seismic load were analyzed. An empirical model for predicting accumulative plastic strain was proposed and validated considering the loading times, the confining pressures and the dynamic stress amplitudes. The relevant research results can provide a theoretical reference to the seismic design of underground structures in soft clay areas.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.477-492
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• 2024

This study presents a comprehensive investigation of wind load characteristics and wind-induced responses associated with different wind incidence angles and terrains of the 1000kV UHV substation frame. High-frequency force balance (HFFB) force measurement wind tunnel tests are conducted on the overall and segment models to characterize wind loads characteristics such as the aerodynamic force coefficients and the shape factors. The most unfavorable wind incidence angles and terrains for aerodynamic characteristics are obtained. A finite element model of the substation frame is built to determine the wind-induced response characters based on the aerodynamic force coefficients and bottom forces of the segment models. The mean and root mean square (RMS) values of displacement responses at different heights of the frame structure are compared and analyzed. The influence of wind incidence angle and terrains on wind-induced responses is also examined. The displacement responses in terms of the crest factor method are subsequently transformed into dynamic response factors. The recommended values of dynamic response factors at four typical heights have been proposed to provide a reference for the wind resistance design of such structures.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.275-282
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• 2012

In this study, tensile tests were performed using standard and notched-bar specimens under two different displacement rates and various temperatures, in order to investigate the effects of the stress and strain concentration at the notched section on the dynamic strain aging (DSA) behavior of carbon steel piping material. In addition, finite element simulations were conducted to evaluate quantitatively the stress and strain states for both types of specimen under uniaxial tensile loading. The results showed that serration and an increase in tensile strength, which are considered to be evidence of DSA in carbon steels, can be observed from tensile tests for notched-bar specimens. It was also found that the temperature region of DSA observed in the notched-bar specimens was higher than the DSA region observed in the standard tensile specimens tested under the same displacement rate. The results of finite element analysis showed that this behavior is associated with the high strain rate at the notched section, which is caused by the stress and strain concentration.