• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.555-572
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• 2015

This paper presents an experimental study of three two-dimensional (2D/planar) steel reinforced concrete (SRC) T-shaped column-RC beam hybrid joints and six 3D SRC T-shaped column-steel beam hybrid joints under low cyclic reversed loads. Considering different categories of steel configuration types in column cross section and horizontal loading angles for the specimens were selected, and a reliable structural testing system for the spatial loading was employed in the tests. The load-displacement curves, carrying capacity, energy dissipation capacity, ductility and deformation characteristics of the test subassemblies were analyzed. Especially, the seismic performance discrepancies between planar hybrid joints and 3D hybrid joints were intensively compared. The failure modes for planar loading and spatial loading observed in the tests showed that the shear-diagonal compressive failure was the dominating failure mode for all the specimens. In addition, the 3D hybrid joints illustrated plumper hysteretic loops for the columns configured with solid-web steel, but a little more pinched hysteretic loops for the columns configured with T-shaped steel or channel-shaped steel, better energy dissipation capacity & ductility, and larger interlayer deformation capacity than those of the planar hybrid joints. Furthermore, it was revealed that the hysteretic loops for the specimens under $45^{\circ}$ loading angle are generally plumper than those for the specimens under $30^{\circ}$ loading angle. Finally, the effects of steel configuration type and loading angle on the seismic damage for the specimens were analyzed by means of the Park-Ang model.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.756-765
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• 2015

Background: Fibers have been used in cement mixture to improve its toughness, ductility, and tensile strength, and to enhance the cracking and deformation characteristics of concrete structural members. The addition of fibers into conventional reinforced concrete can enhance the structural and functional performances of safety-related concrete structures in nuclear power plants. Methods: The effects of steel and polyamide fibers on the shear resisting capacity of a prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) were investigated in this study. For a comparative evaluation between the shear performances of structural walls constructed with conventional concrete, steel fiber reinforced concrete, and polyamide fiber reinforced concrete, cyclic tests for wall specimens were conducted and hysteretic models were derived. Results: The shear resisting capacity of a PCCV constructed with fiber reinforced concrete can be improved considerably. When steel fiber reinforced concrete contains hooked steel fibers in a volume fraction of 1.0%, the maximum lateral displacement of a PCCV can be improved by > 50%, in comparison with that of a conventional PCCV. When polyamide fiber reinforced concrete contains polyamide fibers in a volume fraction of 1.5%, the maximum lateral displacement of a PCCV can be enhanced by ~40%. In particular, the energy dissipation capacity in a fiber reinforced PCCV can be enhanced by > 200%. Conclusion: The addition of fibers into conventional concrete increases the ductility and energy dissipation of wall structures significantly. Fibers can be effectively used to improve the structural performance of a PCCV subjected to strong ground motions. Steel fibers are more effective in enhancing the shear performance of a PCCV than polyamide fibers.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2023

A novel type of buckling restrained brace with built-up angle steel was developed. The core segment was formed by welding angle steel, and the middle section was reduced by cutting technology to solve the problem that the end of BRB was easy to buckle. The experimental program has been undertaken to study the performance of BRBs with different unbonded materials (silica gel, kraft paper) and different filler materials (ordinary concrete, full light-weight concrete). Four specimens were designed and fabricated for low cycle reciprocating load tests to simulate horizontal seismic action. The failure mode, hysteretic curves, tension-compression unbalance coefficient and other mechanical parameters were compared and analyzed. The finite element software ABAQUS was used to conduct numerical simulation, and the simulation results were compared with the experimental phenomena. The test results indicated that the hysteretic curve of each specimen was plump. Sustaining cumulative strains of each specimen was greater than the minimum value of 200 required by the code, which indicated the ductility of BRB was relatively good. The energy dissipation coefficient of the specimen with silica gel as unbonded material was about 13% higher than that with kraft paper. The experimental results were in good agreement with the simulation results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.1
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• pp.11-28
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• 2022

This paper considers the combination of cyclic and axial loads to investigate the hysteretic performance of H-section 6061-T6 aluminum alloy members. The hysteretic performance of aluminum alloy members is the basis for the seismic performance of aluminum alloy structures. Despite the prevalence of aluminum alloy reticulated shells structures worldwide, research into the seismic performance of aluminum alloy structures remains inadequate. To address this deficiency, we design and conduct cyclic axial load testing of three H-section members based on a reliable testing system. The influence of slenderness ratios and bending direction on the failure form, bearing capacity, and stiffness degradation of each member are analyzed. The experiment results show that overall buckling dominates the failure mechanism of all test members before local buckling occurs. As the load increases after overall buckling, the plasticity of the member develops, finally leading to local buckling and fracture failure. The results illustrate that the plasticity development of the local buckling position is the main reason for the stiffness degradation and failure of the member. Additionally, with the increase of the slenderness ratio, the energy-dissipation capacity and stiffness of the member decrease significantly. Simultaneously, a finite element model based on the Chaboche hybrid strengthening model is established according to the experiment, and the rationality of the constitutive model and validity of the finite element simulation method are verified. The parameter analysis of twenty-four members with different sections, slenderness ratios, bending directions, and boundary conditions are also carried out. Results show that the section size and boundary condition of the member have a significant influence on stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity. Based on the above, the appropriate material constitutive relationship and analysis method of H-section aluminum alloy members under cyclic loading are determined, providing a reference for the seismic design of aluminum alloy structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.4
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• pp.345-356
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• 2024

This paper aims to investigate the seismic behavior of double steel plate and concrete composite shear wall (DSCW) of shield buildings in nuclear power engineering through experimental study. Hence, a total of 10 specimens were tested to investigate the hysteretic performance of DSCW specimens in detail, in terms of load vs. displacement hysteretic curves, skeleton curves, failure modes, flexural strength, energy dissipation capacity. The experimental results indicated that the thickness of steel plate, vertical load and stiffener have great influence on the shear bearing capacity of shear wall, and the stud space has limited influence on the shear capacity. And finally, a novel simplified formula was proposed to predict the shear bearing capacity of composite shear wall. The predicted results showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.125-139
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• 2016

For seismic retrofitting of masonry walls, the use of fibre reinforced cement-based mortar for bonding the fibre grids can eliminate some of the shortcomings related to the use of resin as bonding material. The results of an experimental testing program on masonry walls retrofitted with fibre reinforced mortar and fibre grids are presented in this paper. Seven squat masonry walls were tested under unidirectional lateral displacement reversals and constant axial load. Steel anchors were used to increase the effectiveness of the bond between the fibre grids and the masonry walls. Application of fibre grids on both lateral faces of the walls effectively improved the hysteretic behaviour and specimens could be loaded until slip occurred in the horizontal joint between the masonry and the bottom concrete stub. Application of the fibre grids on a single face did not effectively improve the hysteretic behaviour. Retrofitting with fibre reinforced mortar only prevented the early damage but did not effectively increase deformation capacity. When the boundaries of the cross sections were not properly confined, midplane splitting of the masonry walls occurred. Steel anchors embedded in the walls in the corners area effectively prevented this type of failure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.345-360
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• 2022

In this paper, the impact on seismic performance of an economical effective technique for retrofitting reinforced concrete (RC) columns using high-strength steel strips under high axial compression ratios was presented. The experimental program included a series of cyclic loading tests on one nonretrofitted control specimen and three retrofitted specimens. The effects of the axial compression ratio and spacing of the steel strips on the cyclic behavior of the specimens were studied. Based on the test results, the failure modes, hysteretic characteristics, strength and stiffness degradation, displacement ductility, and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were analyzed in-depth. The analysis showed that the transverse confinement provided by the high-strength steel strips could effectively delay and restrain diagonal crack development and improve the failure mode, which was flexural-shear failure controlled by flexural failure with better ductility. The specimens retrofitted using high-strength steel strips showed more satisfactory seismic performance than the control specimen. The seismic performance and deformation capacity of the retrofitted RC columns increased with decreasing axial compression ratio and steel strip spacing. Based on the test results, a hysteretic model for RC columns that considers the transverse confinement of high-strength steel strips was then established. The hysteretic model showed good agreement with the experimental results, which verified the effectiveness of the proposed hysteretic model. Therefore, the aforementioned analysis can be used for the design of retrofitted RC columns.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.25-32
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• 1998

Most recent seismic design codes include Response Modification Factor(RMF) for determining equivalent lateral forces. The RMF is used to reduce the linear elastic design spectrum to account for the energy dissipation capacity, overstrength and damping of the structure. In this study the RMF is defined as the ratio of the absolute maximum linear elastic base shear to the absolute maximum nonlinear base shear of a structure subject to the same earthquake accelerogram. This study investigates the effect of hysteretic model, as well as target ductility ratio and natural period on duct based RMF using nonlinear dynamic analyses of the SDOF systems. Special emphasis is given to the effects of the hysteretic characteristics such as strength deterioration and stiffness degradation. Results indicate that RMFs are dependent on ductility, period and hysteretic model.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.217-224
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• 1997

One way in which a comparison can be mode between various reinforced concrete structures is to compare the rate of energy absorption capacity. It is useful to use a well-known standard hysteretic rule as a benchmark for comparisons. The concept of energy absorption efficiency with respect to an elaste-perfectly plastic (EPP) system has been adopted. The normalized cumulative energy, cumulative plastic drift and energy response spectra are used for the method. The previous study using the energy spectra developed by Chang and Mander (1994) indicates the cumulative plastic demand for most earthquakes to be 0.1 rad., but a conservative upper bound of 0.2 rad. could be expected for a maximum credible earthquake. From the present study, the energy absorption efficiency in R.C. structures with respect to the EPP system may range in 30%-45% for most cases.