• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.205-218
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• 2022

Proper calculation of splitting tensile strength (STS) of concrete has been a crucial task, due to the wide use of concrete in the construction sector. Following many recent studies that have proposed various predictive models for this aim, this study suggests and tests the functionality of three hybrid models in predicting the STS from the characteristics of the mixture components including cement compressive strength, cement tensile strength, curing age, the maximum size of the crushed stone, stone powder content, sand fine modulus, water to binder ratio, and the ratio of sand. A multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network incorporates invasive weed optimization (IWO), cuttlefish optimization algorithm (CFOA), and electrostatic discharge algorithm (ESDA) which are among the newest optimization techniques. A dataset from the earlier literature is used for exploring and extrapolating the STS behavior. The results acquired from several accuracy criteria demonstrated a nice learning capability for all three hybrid models viz. IWO-MLP, CFOA-MLP, and ESDA-MLP. Also in the prediction phase, the prediction products were in a promising agreement (above 88%) with experimental results. However, a comparative look revealed the ESDA-MLP as the most accurate predictor. Considering mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) index, the error of ESDA-MLP was 9.05%, while the corresponding value for IWO-MLP and CFOA-MLP was 9.17 and 13.97%, respectively. Since the combination of MLP and ESDA can be an effective tool for optimizing the concrete mixture toward a desirable STS, the last part of this study is dedicated to extracting a predictive formula from this model.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.113-127
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• 2022

The undrained shear strength of soil is considered one of the engineering parameters of utmost significance in geotechnical design methods. In-situ experiments like cone penetration tests (CPT) have been used in the last several years to estimate the undrained shear strength depending on the characteristics of the soil. Nevertheless, the majority of these techniques rely on correlation presumptions, which may lead to uneven accuracy. This research's general aim is to extend a new united soft computing model, which is a combination of random forest (RF) with grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA) to the pile set-up parameters' better approximation from CPT, based on two different types of data as inputs. Data type 1 contains pile parameters, and data type 2 consists of soil properties. The contribution of this article is that hybrid GOA - RF for the first time, was suggested to forecast the pile set-up parameter from CPT. In order to do this, CPT data and related bore log data were gathered from 70 various locations across Louisiana. With an R² greater than 0.9098, which denotes the permissible relationship between measured and anticipated values, the results demonstrated that both models perform well in forecasting the set-up parameter. It is comprehensible that, in the training and testing step, the model with data type 2 has finer capability than the model using data type 1, with R² and RMSE are 0.9272 and 0.0305 for the training step and 0.9182 and 0.0415 for the testing step. All in all, the models' results depict that the A parameter could be forecasted with adequate precision from the CPT data with the usage of hybrid GOA - RF models. However, the RF model with soil features as input parameters results in a finer commentary of pile set-up parameters.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.129-147
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• 2022

The properties of soil are naturally highly variable and thus, to ensure proper safety and reliability, we need to test a large number of samples across the length and depth. In pile foundations, conducting field tests are highly expensive and the traditional empirical relations too have been proven to be poor in performance. The study proposes a state-of-art Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) hybridized Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS); and comparative analysis of metaheuristic models (ANN-PSO, ELM-PSO, ANFIS-PSO) for prediction of bearing capacity of pile foundation trained and tested on dataset of nearly 300 dynamic pile tests from the literature. A novel ensemble model of three hybrid models is constructed to combine and enhance the predictions of the individual models effectively. The authenticity of the dataset is confirmed using descriptive statistics, correlation matrix and sensitivity analysis. Ram weight and diameter of pile are found to be most influential input parameter. The comparative analysis reveals that ANFIS-PSO is the best performing model in testing phase (R² = 0.85, RMSE = 0.01) while ELM-PSO performs best in training phase (R² = 0.88, RMSE = 0.08); while the ensemble provided overall best performance based on the rank score. The performance of ANN-PSO is least satisfactory compared to the other two models. The findings were confirmed using Taylor diagram, error matrix and uncertainty analysis. Based on the results ELM-PSO and ANFIS-PSO is proposed to be used for the prediction of bearing capacity of piles and ensemble learning method of joining the outputs of individual models should be encouraged. The study possesses the potential to assist geotechnical engineers in the design phase of civil engineering projects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.509-527
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• 2024

Bonding carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates have been extensively employed in the restoration of steel constructions. In addition to the mechanical properties of the CFRP, the bond strength (P_U) between the CFRP and steel is often important in the eventual strengthened performance. Nonetheless, the bond behavior of the CFRP-steel (CS) interface is exceedingly complicated, with multiple failure causes, giving the P_U challenging to forecast, and the CFRP-enhanced steel structure is unsteady. In just this case, appropriate methods were established by hybridized Random Forests (RF) and support vector regression (SVR) approaches on assembled CS single-shear experiment data to foresee the P_U of CS, in which a recently established optimization algorithm named Aquila optimizer (AO) was used to tune the RF and SVR hyperparameters. In summary, the practical novelty of the article lies in its development of a reliable and efficient method for predicting bond strength at the CS interface, which has significant implications for structural rehabilitation, design optimization, risk mitigation, cost savings, and decision support in engineering practice. Moreover, the Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test was performed to depict each parameter's impact on the target. The order of parameter importance was t_c> L_c > E_A > t_A > E_c > b_c > f_c > f_A from largest to smallest by 0.9345 > 0.8562 > 0.79354 > 0.7289 > 0.6531 > 0.5718 > 0.4307 > 0.3657. In three training, testing, and all data phases, the superiority of AO - RF with respect to AO - SVR and MARS was obvious. In the training stage, the values of R² and VAF were slightly similar with a tiny superiority of AO - RF compared to AO - SVR with R² equal to 0.9977 and VAF equal to 99.772, but large differences with results of MARS.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.3
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• pp.313-323
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• 2024

Most of existing buildings in Mexico City are made of reinforced concrete (RC), however, it has been shown that they are very susceptible to narrow-band long duration ground motions. In recent years, the use of dual systems composed by Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB) has increased due to its high energy dissipation capacity under reversible cyclical loads. Therefore, in this work the behavior of RC buildings with BRB is studied in order to know their performance, specifically, the energy distribution through height and response transformation factors between the RC and simplified systems are estimated. For this propose, seven RC buildings with different heights were designed according to the Mexico City Seismic Design Provisions (MCSDP), in addition, equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems were obtained. Incremental dynamic analyses on the buildings under 30 narrow-band ground motions in order to compute the relationship between normalized hysteretic energy, maximum inter-story drift and roof displacement demands were performed. The results shown that the entire structural frames participate in energy dissipation and their distribution is independent of the global ductility. The results let propose energy distribution equations through height. Finally, response transformation factors between the SDOF and multi degree of freedom (MDOF) systems were developed aimed to propose a new energy-based approach of BRB reinforced concrete buildings.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.247-262
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• 2024

Domestic sewage can greatly affect the macro-micro physical-mechanical properties of building foundation soils. In order to investigate the effect of domestic sewage on physical and mechanical properties of soils, the physicochemical properties of three groups of different concentrations of domestic sewage contaminated soil were tested through indoor experiments. Combined with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction experiments, and grey relational analysis, the degree of influence of different concentrations of domestic sewage on the physicochemical properties of soil was compared and analyzed from multiple perspectives such as microstructure and mineral composition, revealing the influencing mechanism of soil pollution by domestic sewage. The results showed that under the immersion of contaminated water, the color of the soaking water turned black first and then yellow, and brownish yellow secretions appeared on the surface of the soil samples. The moisture content, specific gravity, density, and pore ratio index of the soil samples immersed in 50% and 100% domestic sewage decreased with the increase of sewage concentration, while the liquid limit of the soil samples changed in the opposite direction. The immersion time had little effect on the slope of the compression curve of the soil samples soaked in tap water. For the soil samples immersed in domestic sewage, the slope of the compression curve and the compression coefficient increased with the increase of domestic sewage concentration and immersion time, while the compression modulus showed the opposite trend. In the soil samples immersed in tap water, there were a large number of small particles and cementitious substances, and the structure was relatively dense. With the increase of domestic sewage concentration, the microstructure of the soil changed significantly, with the appearance of sigle particle structure, loose and disorderly arrangement of particles, increased and enlarged pores, gradual reduction of small particle substances and cementitious substances, and the soil structure transformed from compact to loose. The research findings can provide theoretical reference for contaminated geotechnical engineering.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.157-178
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• 1996

Current design methods for reinforced earth structures take no account of the magnitude of the strains induced in the tensile members as these are invariably manufactured from high modulus materials, such as steel, where straits are unlikely to be significant. With fabrics, however, large strains may frequently be induced and it is important to determine these to enable the stability of the structure to be assessed. In the present paper internal design method of analysis relating to the use of fabric reinforcements in reinforced earth structures for both stress and strain considerations is presented. For the internal stability analysis against rupture and pullout of the fabric reinforcements, a strain compatibility analysis procedure that considers the effects of reinforcement stiffness, relative movement between the soil and reinforcements, and compaction-induced stresses as studied by Ehrlich 8l Mitchell is used. I Bowever, the soil-reinforcement interaction is modeled by relating nonlinear elastic soil behavior to nonlinear response of the reinforcement. The soil constitutive model used is a modified vertsion of the hyperbolic soil model and compaction stress model proposed by Duncan et at., and iterative step-loading approach is used to take nonlinear soil behavior into consideration. The effects of seepage pressures are also dealt with in the proposed method of analy For purposes of assessing the strain behavior oi the fabric reinforcements, nonlinear model of hyperbolic form describing the load-extension relation of fabrics is employed. A procedure for specifying the strength characteristics of paraweb polyester fibre multicord, needle punched non-woven geotHxtile and knitted polyester geogrid is also described which may provide a more convenient procedure for incorporating the fablic properties into the prediction of fabric deformations. An attempt to define improvement in bond-linkage at the interconnecting nodes of the fabric reinforced earth stracture due to the confining stress is further made. The proposed method of analysis has been applied to estimate the maximum tensions, deformations and strains of the fabric reinforcements. The results are then compared with those of finite element analysis and experimental tests, and show in general good agreements indicating the effectiveness of the proposed method of analysis. Analytical parametric studies are also carried out to investigate the effects of relative soil-fabric reinforcement stiffness, locked-in stresses, compaction load and seepage pressures on the magnitude and variation of the fabric deformations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2005

An understanding of soil-structure interaction is the key to rational and economical design for laterally loaded drilled shafts. It is very difficult to formulate the ultimate lateral capacity into a general equation because of the inherent soil nonlincarity, nonhomogeneity, and complexity enhanced by the three dimensional and asymmetric nature of the problem though extensive research works on the behavior of deep foundations subjected to lateral loads have been conducted for several decades. This study reviews the four most well known methods (i.e., Reese, Broms, Hansen, and Davidson) among many design methods according to the specific site conditions, the drilled shaft geometric characteristics (D/B ratios), and the loading conditions. And the hyperbolic lateral capacities (H$_h$) interpreted by the hyperbolic transformation of the load-displacement curves obtained from model tests carried out as a part of this research have been compared with the ultimate lateral capacities (Hu) predicted by the four methods. The H$_u$ / H$_h$ ratios from Reese's and Hansen's methods are 0.966 and 1.015, respectively, which shows both the two methods yield results very close to the test results. Whereas the H$_u$ predicted by Davidson's method is larger than H$_h$ by about $30\%$, the C.0.V. of the predicted lateral capacities by Davidson is the smallest among the four. Broms' method, the simplest among the few methods, gives H$_u$ / H$_h$ : 0.896, which estimates the ultimate lateral capacity smaller than the others because some other resisting sources against lateral loading are neglected in this method. But it results in one of the most reliable methods with the smallest S.D. in predicting the ultimate lateral capacity. Conclusively, none of the four can be superior to the others in a sense of the accuracy of predicting the ultimate lateral capacity. Also, regardless of how sophisticated or complicated the calculating procedures are, the reliability in the lateral capacity predictions seems to be a different issue.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.315-333
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• 2009

In this study, the hydrochemical and the isotopic characteristics of major streams in the Daejeon area were investigated during rainy and dry seasons. The stream water shows the electrical conductivity of the range of $37{\sim}527{\mu}s$/cm, and pH $6.21{\sim}9.83$. The chemical composition of stream waters can be grouped as three types: the upper streams of Ca(Mg)-$HCO_3$ type, Ca(Mg)-$SO_4(Cl)$ type of middle streams flowing through urban area, and Na(Ca)-$HCO_3$(Cl, $SO_4$) type of the down streams. Based on in-situ investigation, the high pH of stream waters flowing through urban area is likely to be caused by the inflow of a synthetic detergent discharging from the apartment complex. The electrical conductivity of stream waters at a dry season is higher than those of at a rainy season. We suggest that the hydro-chemical composition of stream waters in the Daejeon area was affected by the discharging water from the sewage treatment facilities and anthropogenic contaminants as well as the interaction with soil and rocks. ${\delta}D$ and ${\delta}^{18}O$ values of the stream waters show the relationship of ${\delta}D=6.45{\delta}^{18}O-7.4$, which is plotted at a lower area than global meteoric water line(GMWL) of Craig(1961). It is likely that this isotopic range results from the evaporation effect of stram waters and the change of an air mass. The isotope value shows an increasing trend from upper stream to lower stream, that reflects the isotopic altitude effect. The relationship between ${\delta}^{13}C$ and $EpCO_2$ indicates that the carbon as bicarbonate in stream water is mainly originated from $CO_2$ in the air and organic materials. The increasing trend of ${\delta}^{13}C$ value from upper stream waters to lower stream waters can be attributed to the following reasons: (1) an increasing dissolution of $CO_2$ gas from a contaminated air in downtown area of the Daejeon, and (2) the increment of an inorganic carbon of groundwater inflowed into stream by base flow. Based on the relationship between ${\delta}^{34}S$ and $SO_4$ of stream waters, the stream waters can be divided into four groups. $SO_4$ content increases as a following order: upper and middle Gab stream${\delta}^{34}S$ value decreases as above order. ${\delta}^{34}S$ value indicates that sulfur of stream waters is mainly originated from atmosphere, and is additionally supplied by pyrite source according to the increase of sulfate content. The sulfur isotope analysis of a synthetic detergent and sewage water as a potential source of the sulfur in stream waters is furtherly needed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.117-133
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• 2010

A hybrid system of soil-nailing and compression anchor is proposed in this paper; the system is composed of an anchor bar (installed at the tip) with two PC strands and a steel bar. After drilling a hole, installing proposed hybrid systems, and filling the hole with grouting material, prestress is applied to the anchor bar to restrict the deformation at the head and/or to prevent shallow slope failures. However, since the elongation rate of PC strand is much larger than that of steel bar, yield at the steel bar will occur much earlier than at the PC strand. It means that the yield load of the hybrid system will be overestimated if we simply add yield loads of the two - anchor bar and PC strands. It might be needed to try to match the yielding time of the two materials by applying the prestress to the anchor bar. It means that the main purpose of applying prestress to the anchor bar should be two-fold: to restrict the deformation at the nail head; and more importantly, to maximize the design load of the hybrid system by utilizing load transfer mechanism that transfers the prestress applied at the tip to the head through anchor bar. In order to study the load transfer mechanism in a systematic way, in-situ pullout tests were performed with the following conditions: soil-nailing only; hybrid system with the variation of prestress stresses from 0 kN to 196 kN. It was found that the prestress applied to the anchor system will induce the compressive stress to the steel bar; it will result in decrease in the slope of load-displacement curve of the steel bar. Then, the elongation at which the steel bar will reach yield stress might become similar to that of PC strands. By taking advantage of prestress to match elongations at yield, the pullout design load of the hybrid system can be increased up to twice that of the soil-nailing system.