• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.233-256
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• 2015

This paper presents an experimental study to assess the effectiveness of using ferrocement to strengthen deficient beam-column joints. Ferrocement is proposed to protect the joint region through replacing concrete cover. Six exterior beam-column joints, including two control specimens and four strengthened specimens, are prepared and tested under constant axial load and quasi-static cyclic loading. Two levels of axial load on column (0.2fc'Ag and 0.4fc'Ag) and two types of skeletal reinforcements in ferrocement (grid reinforcements and diagonal reinforcements) are considered as test variables. Experimental results have indicated that ferrocement as a composite material can enhance the seismic performance of deficient beam-column joints in terms of peak horizontal load, energy dissipation, stiffness and joint shear strength. Shear distortions within the joints are significantly reduced for the strengthened specimens. High axial load (0.4fc'Ag) has a detrimental effect on peak horizontal load for both control and ferrocement-strengthened specimens. Specimens strengthened by ferrocement with two types of skeletal reinforcements perform similarly. Finally, a method is proposed to predict shear strength of beam-column joints strengthened by ferrocement.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.699-718
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• 2015

The effect of reinforcing concrete members with high strength steel bars with yield strength up to 600 MPa on the overall seismic behavior of concrete moment frames was studied experimentally and numerically. Three geometrically identical plane frame models with two bays and two stories, where one frame model was reinforced with hot rolled bars (HRB) with a nominal yield strength of 335 MPa and the other two by high strength steel bars with a nominal yield strength of 600 MPa, were tested under simulated earthquake action considering different axial load ratios to investigate the hysteretic behavior, ductility, strength and stiffness degradation, energy dissipation and plastic deformation characteristics. Test results indicate that utilizing high strength reinforcement can improve the structural resilience, reduce residual deformation and achieve favorable distribution pattern of plastic hinges on beams and columns. The frame models reinforced with normal and high strength steel bars have comparable overall deformation capacity. Compared with the frame model subjected to a low axial load ratio, the ones under a higher axial load ratio exhibit more plump hysteretic loops. The proved reliable finite element analysis software DIANA was used for the numerical simulation of the tests. The analytical results agree well with the experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.463-471
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• 2018

The bolted end-plate beam-column connections have been widely used in steel structure and composite structure because of its excellent seismic performance. In this paper, the end-plate bolted connection is applied in the concrete structure, A new-type of fabricated beam-column connections with end-plates is presented, and steel plate hoop is used to replace stirrups in the node core area. To study the seismic behavior of the joint, seven specimens are tested by pseudo-static test. The experimental results show that the new type of assembly node has good ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Besides, under the restraint effect of the high-strength stirrup, the width of the web crack is effectively controlled. In addition, based on the analysis of the factors affecting the shear capacity of the node core area, the formula of shear capacity of the core area of the node is proposed, and the theoretical values of the formula are consistent with the experimental value.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.685-696
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• 2008

This paper deals with the numerical model of a bracing-friction damper system and its deployment using the optimal slip load distribution for the seismic retrofitting of a damaged building. The Slotted Bolted Connection (SBC) type friction damper system was tested to investigate its energy dissipation characteristic. Test results coincided with the numerical ones using the conventional model of a bracing-friction damper system. The placement of this device was numerically explored to apply it to the assumed damaged-building and to evaluate its efficiency. It was found by distributing the slip load that minimizes the given performance indicies based on structural response. Numerical results for the damaged building retrofitted with this slip load distribution showed that the seismic design of the bracing-friction damper system under consideration is effective for the structural response reduction.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.515-527
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• 2017

Recently, Friction dampers become popular due to the desirable performance in the energy dissipation of lateral loads. A lot of research which has been conducted on these dampers results in developing friction dampers with low sensitivity to the number of cycles and temperature increases. Friction dampers impose high residual drifts to the buildings because of low post-yield stiffness of the damper which results from increasing lateral displacement and period of buildings. This issue can be more critical under strong aftershocks which results in increasing of structural damages. In this paper, in addition to the assessment of aftershock on steel buildings equipped with friction dampers, methods for controlling residual drifts and decreasing the costs of retrofitting are investigated. Utilizing rigid connections as a lateral dual system and activating lateral stiffness of gravity columns by adding elastic braces are as an example of effective methods investigated in this research. The results of nonlinear time history analyses on the low to medium rise steel frames equipped with friction dampers illustrate a rise in residual drifts as the result of aftershocks. In addition, the results show that different slip loads of friction damper can affect the residual drifts. Furthermore, elastic stories in comparison to rigid connections can reduce residual drifts of buildings in an effective fashion, when most slip loads of friction dampers are considered.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.471-482
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• 2018

The composite reinforced concrete and steel (RCS) structural systems have larger structural lateral stiffness, higher inherent structural damping, and faster construction speed than either traditional reinforcement concrete or steel structures. In this paper, four RCS subassemblies with or without the RC slab designed following a strong column-weak beam philosophy were constructed and tested under reversed-cyclic loading. Parameters including the width of slab and composite effect of the RC slab and beam were explored. The test results showed that all specimens performed in a ductile manner with plastic hinges formed in the beam ends near the column faces. The seismic responses of composite connections are influenced significantly by different width of slabs. Compared with that of the steel beam without the RC slab, it was found that the load carrying capacity of composite connections with the RC slab increased by 30% on average, and strength degradation, energy dissipation also had better performance, while the ductility of that were almost the same. Furthermore, the contribution of connection deformation to the overall specimen displacement was analyzed and compared. It decreased approximately 10% due to the coupling effect in the columns and beams with the RC slab. Based on the test result, some suggestions are presented for the design of composite RCS joints.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.275-283
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• 2018

Seismic strengthening is essential for existing bridge piers which are deficient to resist the earthquake. The concrete and CFRP jackets with a bottom-anchoring method are used to strengthen railway bridge piers with low reinforcement ratio. Quasi-static tests of scaled down model piers are performed to evaluate the seismic performance of the original and strengthened bridge pier. The fracture characteristics indicate that the vulnerable position of the railway bridge pier with low reinforcement ratio during earthquake is the pier-footing region and shows flexural failure mode. The force-displacement relationships show that the two strengthening techniques using CFRP and concrete jackets can both provide a significant improvement in load-carrying capacity for railway bridge piers with low reinforcement ratio. It is clear that the bottom-anchoring method by using planted steel bars can guarantee the CFRP and concrete jackets to work jointly with original concrete piers Furthermore, it can be found that the use of CFRP jacket offers advantages over concrete jacket in improving the energy dissipation capacity under lateral cyclic loading. Therefore, the seismic strengthening techniques by the use of CFRP and concrete jackets provide alternative choices for the large numbers of existing railway bridge piers with low reinforcement ratio in China.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2014

This study describes the development of innovative connections between steel beams and concrete-filled tube columns that utilize a combination of low-carbon steel and super-elastic shape memory alloy components. The intent is to combine the recentering behavior provided by the shape memory alloys to reduce building damage and residual drift after a major earthquake with the excellent energy dissipation of the low-carbon steel. The analysis and design of structures requires that simple yet accurate models for the connection behavior be developed. The development of a simplified 2D spring connection model for cyclic loads from advanced 3D FE monotonic studies is described. The implementation of those models into non-linear frame analyses indicates hat the recentering systems will provide substantial benefits for smaller earthquakes and superior performance to all-welded moment frames for large earthquakes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.469-477
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• 2013

In order to investigate the influence of feed water inequity on the settling performance for parallel arranged upflow sedimentation basin in domestic G_WTP(Water Treatment Plant), CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation were employed and ADV(Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter) measurements were carried out. From the results of both CFD simulations and ADV measurements, the differences among inlet flow rates to each inlet structure make turbulent energy dissipation uneven overall sedimentation basin. Especially local velocities in the near of both side wall were observed over the design overflow rate(74.4 mm/min). Also, it was confirmed that this inequity of inlet flow would exert an serious influence on the turbidity of settled water which is out from 8 troughs. Even though experimental velocities in full scale basin about 20% higher than the simulated, the results of ADV measurement were in good accordance with those of CFD simulations.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2012

An efficient cooling system is an essential part of the electronic packaging such as a high-luminance LED lighting. A special technology, Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP), can be applied to improve cooling of a sealed, explosion-proof LED light fixture. In this paper, the characteristics of the pulsating heat pipes in the imposed thermal boundary conditions of LED lightings were experimentally investigated and a PHP device that works free of alignment angle was investigated for cooling of explosion-proof LED lights. Five working fluids of ethanol, FC-72, R-123, water, and acetone were chosen for comparison. The experimental pulsating heat pipe was made of copper tubes of internal diameter of 2.1 mm, 26 turns. A variable heat source of electric heater and an array of cooling fins were attached to the pulsating heat pipe. For the alignment of the heating part at bottom, an optimum charging ratio (liquid fluid volume to total volume) was about 50% for most of the fluids and water showed the highest heat transfer performance. For the alignment of the heating part on top, however, only R-123 worked in an un-looped construction. This unique advantage of R-123 is attributed to its high vapor pressure gradient. Applying these findings, a cooling device for an explosion-proof type of LED light rated 30 W was constructed and tested successfully.