• Computers and Concrete
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• v.2 no.6
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• pp.439-454
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• 2005

When deterioration of concrete is observed in a structure, it is highly desirable to determine the cause of such deterioration. Only by understanding the cause can an appropriate repair strategy be implemented to address both the cause and the symptom. In colder climates, bridge deck deterioration is often caused by chlorides from de-icing salts, which penetrate the concrete and depassivate the embedded reinforcement, causing corrosion. Bridge decks can also suffer from other deterioration mechanisms, such as alkali-silica reaction, freeze-thaw, and shrinkage. There is a need for a comprehensive and integrative system to help with the inspection and evaluation of concrete bridge deck deterioration before decisions are made on the best way to repair it. The purpose of this research was to develop a model to help with the diagnosis of concrete bridge deck deterioration that integrates the symptoms observed during an inspection, various deterioration mechanisms, and the probability of their occurrence given the available data. The model displays the diagnosis result as the probability that one of four deterioration mechanisms, namely shrinkage, corrosion of reinforcement, freeze-thaw and alkali-silica reaction, is at fault. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine which probabilities in the model require refinement. Two case studies are included in this investigation.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.212-218
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• 2011

The effect of composite reinforcing bars on surface electrical resistivity of concrete was investigated through experimental program. The resistivity was measured by Wenner method using an equipment with 4 probe. Ordinary steel, GFRP, and CFRP reinforcing bars produced domestically were used and a specimen with no reinforcement was tested for the comparison. This investigation is motivated from the fact that measured value of resistivity of concrete is significantly affected by details of steel reinforcements, such as location, depth and direction of the internal steel reinforcement. These results could be valuable data for evaluation of corrosion degree of concrete structures reinforced or strengthened by the composite reinforcing bars.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.379-393
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• 2012

Of the various methods of splicing reinforcing bar in reinforced concrete structure, mortar-filled sleeve reinforcement splice offers diverse benefits, not only in terms of structural performance but also for the construction process. Consequently, after the mortar-filled sleeve splices have been developed in recent years, research and development on these splices has been actively carried out, in order to evaluate its macro structural performance, such as its strength and stiffness, with the aim of enabling this system to be applied to construction in the field as early as possible. However, to make a proper evaluation on the overall structural performance of the mortar-filled sleeve reinforcing bar splice, it is of critical importance to understand the lateral confining action of the sleeve, which is known to affect the bond strength between the embedded bar and mortar in the sleeve. Accordingly, in this study, an experiment of monotonic loading and cyclic loading was conducted with a full-sized mortar-filled sleeve splice attaching strain gauges on the sleeve surface with experimental variables such as development length of bar, etc. Based on the test results, the effect of the lateral confining action of the sleeve was analyzed and considered in terms of the bond strength between the bar and mortar in this splice.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.201-213
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• 2013

While recognizing the problem of reinforcement corrosion and premature structural deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC) structures as a combined effect of mechanical and environmental actions (carbonation, ingress of chlorides), emphasis is given on the effect of the latter, as most severe and unpredictable action. In this study, a simulation tool, based on proven predictive models utilizing principles of chemical and material engineering, for the estimation of concrete service life is applied on an existing reinforced concrete bridge (${\O}$resund Link) located in a chloride environment. After a brief introduction to the structure of the models used, emphasis is given on the physicochemical processes in concrete leading to chloride induced corrosion of the embedded reinforcement. By taking under consideration the concrete, structural and environmental properties of the bridge investigated, an accurate prediction of its service life is taking place. It was observed that the proposed, and already used, relationship of service lifetime- cover is almost identical with a mean line between the lines derived from the minimum and maximum critical values considered for corrosion initiation. Thus, an excellent agreement with the project specifications is observed despite the different ways used to approach the problem. Furthermore, different scenarios of concrete cover failure, in the case when a coating is utilized, and extreme deicing salts attack are also investigated.

• Journal of Semiconductor Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.130-135
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• 2021

Recently, deep neural networks (DNNs) are actively used for action control so that an autonomous system, such as the robot, can perform human-like behaviors and operations. Unlike recognition tasks, the real-time operation is essential in action control, and it is too slow to use remote learning on a server communicating through a network. New learning techniques, such as reinforcement learning (RL), are needed to determine and select the correct robot behavior locally. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient DNN processor with a LUT-based processing engine and near-zero skipper. A CNN-based facial emotion recognition and an RNN-based emotional dialogue generation model is integrated for natural HRI system and tested with the proposed processor. It supports 1b to 16b variable weight bit precision with and 57.6% and 28.5% lower energy consumption than conventional MAC arithmetic units for 1b and 16b weight precision. Also, the near-zero skipper reduces 36% of MAC operation and consumes 28% lower energy consumption for facial emotion recognition tasks. Implemented in 65nm CMOS process, the proposed processor occupies 1784×1784 um2 areas and dissipates 0.28 mW and 34.4 mW at 1fps and 30fps facial emotion recognition tasks.

• Architectural research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 2005

No specific guidelines are available for computing the bearing strength of connection between steel coupling beam and reinforced concrete shear wall in a hybrid wall system. There were carried out analytical and experimental studies on connection between steel coupling beam and concrete shear wall in a hybrid wall system. The bearing stress at failure in the concrete below the embedded steel coupling beam section is related to the concrete compressive strength and the ratio of the width of the embedded steel coupling beam section to the thickness of the shear walls. Experiments were carried out to determine the factors influencing the bearing strength of the connection between steel coupling beam and reinforced concrete shear wall. The test variables included the reinforcement details that confer a ductile behavior in connection between steel coupling beam and shear wall, i.e., the auxiliary stud bolts attached to the steel beam flanges and the transverse ties at the top and the bottom steel beam flanges. In addition, additional test were conducted to verify the strength equations of the connection between steel coupling beam and reinforced concrete shear wall. The proposed equations in this study were in good agreement with both our test results and other test data from the literature.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.889-913
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• 2016

Vibration analysis of embedded functionally graded (FG)-carbon nanotubes (CNT)-reinforced piezoelectric cylindrical shell subjected to uniform and non-uniform temperature distributions are presented. The structure is subjected to an applied voltage in thickness direction which operates in control of vibration behavior of system. The CNT reinforcement is either uniformly distributed or functionally graded (FG) along the thickness direction indicated with FGV, FGO and FGX. Effective properties of nano-composite structure are estimated through Mixture low. The surrounding elastic foundation is simulated with spring and shear constants. The material properties of shell and elastic medium constants are assumed temperature-dependent. The motion equations are derived using Hamilton's principle applying first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). Based on differential cubature (DC) method, the frequency of nano-composite structure is obtained for different boundary conditions. A detailed parametric study is conducted to elucidate the influences of external applied voltage, elastic medium type, temperature distribution type, boundary conditions, volume percent and distribution type of CNT are shown on the frequency of system. In addition, the mode shapes of shell for the first and second modes are presented for different boundary conditions. Numerical results indicate that applying negative voltage yields to higher frequency. In addition, FGX distribution of CNT is better than other considered cases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.3
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• pp.269-277
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• 2019

Using the non-local elasticity theory, Timoshenko beam model is developed to study the non- local buckling of Triple-walled carbon nanotubes (TWCNTs) embedded in an elastic medium under axial compression. The chirality and small scale effects are considered. The effects of the surrounding elastic medium based on a Winkler model and van der Waals' (vdW) forces between the inner and middle, also between the middle and outer nanotubes are taken into account. Considering the small-scale effects, the governing equilibrium equations are derived and the critical buckling loads under axial compression are obtained. The results show that the critical buckling load can be overestimated by the local beam model if the small-scale effect is overlooked for long nanotubes. In addition, significant dependence of the critical buckling loads on the chirality of zigzag carbon nanotube is confirmed. Furthermore, in order to estimate the impact of elastic medium on the non-local critical buckling load of TWCNTs under axial compression, the use of these findings are important in mechanical design considerations, improve and reinforcement of devices that use carbon nanotubes.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.197-211
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• 2024

This work investigates the thermo-mechanical vibration frequencies of an embedded composite nano-beam restrained with elastic springs at both ends. Composite nanobeam consists of a matrix and short fibers as reinforcement elements placed inside the matrix. An approach based on Fourier sine series and Stokes' transform is adopted to present a general solution that can examine the elastic boundary conditions of the short-fiber-reinforced nanobeam considered with the Halpin-Tsai model. In addition to the elastic medium effect considered by the Winkler model, the size effect is also considered on the basis of nonlocal strain gradient theory. After creating an eigenvalue problem that includes all the mentioned parameters, this problem is solved to examine the effects of fiber and matrix properties, size parameters, Winkler stiffness and temperature change. The numerical results obtained at the end of the study show that increasing the rigidity of the Winkler foundation, the ratio of fiber length to diameter and the ratio of fiber Young's modulus to matrix Young's modulus increase the frequencies. However, thermal loads acting in the positive direction and an increase in the ratio of fiber mass density to matrix mass density lead to a decrease in frequencies. In this study, it is clear from the eigenvalue solution calculating the frequencies of thermally loaded embbeded short-fiber-reinforced nanobeams that changing the stiffness of the deformable springs provides frequency control while keeping the other properties of the nanobeam constant.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.179-199
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• 2014

The steel tube-reinforced concrete (ST-RC) composite column is a novel type of composite column, consisting of a steel tube embedded in reinforced concrete. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of cumulative damage on the seismic behavior of ST-RC columns through experimental testing. Six large-scale ST-RC column specimens were subjected to high axial forces and cyclic lateral loading. The specimens included two groups, where Group I had a higher amount of transverse reinforcement than Group II. The test results indicate that all specimens failed in a flexural mode, characterized by buckling and yielding of longitudinal rebars, failure of transverse rebars, compressive crushing of concrete, and steel tube buckling at the base of the columns. The number of loading cycles was found to have minimal effect on the strength capacity of the specimens. The number of loading cycles had limited effect on the deformation capacity for the Group I specimens, while an obvious effect on the deformation capacity for the Group II specimens was observed. The Group I specimen showed significantly larger deformation and energy dissipation capacities than the corresponding Group II specimen, for the case where the lateral cyclic loads were repeated ten cycles at each drift level. The ultimate displacement of the Group I specimen was 25% larger than that of the Group II counterpart, and the cumulative energy dissipated by the former was 2.8 times that of the latter. Based on the test results, recommendations are made for the amount of transverse reinforcement required in seismic design of ST-RC columns for ensuring adequate deformation capacity.