• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.361-377
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• 2012

Four Reinforced Concrete (RC) single span structural walls having various opening sizes and locations were constructed and tested under lateral reversed cyclic loading at the structural laboratory of Kyoto University. These specimens were scaled to 40% and represented the lower three stories of a six-storied RC building. The main purposes of the experimental tests were to evaluate the shear behavior and to identify the influence of opening ratios on the cracks distribution and shear strength of RC structural walls. The shear strength of the specimens was estimated by combining the shear strength of structural wall without openings and the reduction factor that takes into account the openings. Experimental and analytical results showed that the shear strength was different depending on the loading direction due to opening locations. A two-dimensional finite element analysis was carried out to simulate the performance of the tested specimens. The constructed finite elements model simulated the lateral load-drift angle relations quite well.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.538-543
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• 2006

A packed bed reactor (PBR) was fed with nitrate containing synthetic wastewater or effluent from a sequencing batch reactor used for nitrification. The C source introduced into the PBR consisted of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced from anaerobic acidogenesis of food wastes. When nitrate loading rates ranged from $0.50\;to\;1.01\;kg\;N/m^{3}{\cdot}d$, the PBR exhibited $100{\sim}98.8%\;NO_{3}^{-}-N$ removal efficiencies and nitrite concentrations in the effluent ranged from $0\;to\;0.6\;NO_{2}^{-}-N\;mg/L$. When the PBR was further investigated to determine nitrate removal activity along the bed height using a nitrate loading rate less than $1.01\;kg\;N/m^{3}{\cdot}d$, 100% nitrate removal efficiency was observed. Approximately 83.2% nitrate removal efficiency was observed in the lower 50% of the packed-bed height. When reactor performance at a C/N ratio of 4 and a C/N ratio of 5 was compared, the PBR showed better removal efficiency (96.5%) of nitrate and less nitrite concentration in the effluent at the C/N ratio of 5. VFAs were found to be a good alternative to methanol as a carbon source for denitrification of a municipal wastewater containing 40 mg-N/L.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.215-235
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• 2020

Cracks and defects may occur anywhere in a plate under tension. Cracks can affect the buckling stability performance and even the failure mode of the plate. A search of the literature reveals that the reported research has mostly focused on the study of plates with central and small cracks. Considering the effectiveness of cracks on the buckling behavior of plates, this study intends to investigate the effects of some key parameters, i.e., crack size and location as well as the plate aspect ratio and support conditions, on the buckling behavior, stress intensity factor (SIF), and the failure mode (buckling or fracture) in cracked plates under tension. To this end, a sophisticated mathematical code was developed using MATLAB in the frame-work of extended finite element method (XFEM) in order to analyze the buckling stability and collapse of numerous plate models. The results and findings of this research endeavor show that, in addition to the plate aspect ratio and support conditions, careful consideration of the crack location and size can be quite effective in buckling behavior assessment and failure mode prediction as well as SIF evaluation of the cracked plates subjected to tensile loading.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.495-513
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• 2013

Thin, high-strength steel roof cladding is widely used in residential and industrial low-rise buildings and is susceptible to failure during severe wind storms such as cyclones. Current cladding design is heavily reliant on experimental testing for the determination of roof cladding performance. Further study is necessary to evolve current design standards, and numerical modelling of roof cladding can provide an efficient and cost effective means of studying the response of cladding in great detail. This paper details the development of a numerical model that can simulate the static response of corrugated roof cladding. Finite element analysis (FEA) was utilised to determine the response of corrugated cladding subject to a static wind pressure, which included the anisotropic material properties and strain-hardening characteristics of the thin steel roof cladding. The model was then validated by comparing the numerical data with corresponding experimental test results. Based on this comparison, the model was found to successfully predict the fastener reaction, deflection and the characteristics in deformed shape of the cladding. The validated numerical model was then used to predict the response of the cladding subject to a design cyclone pressure trace, excluding fatigue effects, to demonstrate the potential of the model to investigate more complicated loading circumstances.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.171-188
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• 2021

Plastic deformation of link beams in eccentrically braced frames is the primary dissipating source of seismic energy. Despite the excellent compatibility with the architectural designs, previous researches indicate the deficiency of flexural yielding links compared to the shear yielding ones because of their localized plastic deformation. Previous investigations have shown that implementing web openings in beams could be an efficient method to improve the seismic performance of moment-resisting connections. Accordingly, this research investigates the use of flexural links with stiffened and un-stiffened web openings to eliminate localized plasticity at the ends of the link. For this purpose, the numerical models are generated in finite element software "Abaqus" and verified against experimental data gathered from other studies. Models are subjected to cyclic displacement history to evaluate their behavior. Failure of the numerical models under cyclic loading is simulated using a micromechanical based damage model known as Cyclic Void Growth Model (CVGM). The elastic stiffness and the strength-based and CVGM-based inelastic rotation capacity of the links are compared to evaluate the studied models' seismic response. The results of this investigation indicate that some of the flexural links with edge stiffened web openings show increased inelastic rotation capacity compared to an un-perforated link.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.6
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• pp.781-791
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• 2019

Earthquakes most often induce damage to structures, resulting in the degradation or deterioration of integrity. In this paper, based on the experimental study on 5 RC frames with different span length and different layout of buckling-restrained braces, the seismic damage evaluation law of RC frame with buckling-restrained braces was analyzed, and then the seismic damage for different specimens was calculated using different damage models to study the damage evolution. By analyzing and comparing the observation in test and the calculated results, it could be found that, damage evolution models including Gosain model, Hwang model as well as Ou model could better simulate the development of damage during cyclic loading. Therefore, these 3 models were utilized to analyze the development of damage to better demonstrate the evolution law for structures with different layout of braces and under different axial compression ratios. The results showed that from all layouts of braces studied, the eccentrically braced frame behaved better under larger deformation with the damage growing slowly. It could be deduced that the link beam benefited the seismic performance of structure and alleviated the damage by absorbing high values of energy.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.131-140
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• 2019

Diagonally reinforced concrete coupling beams (DRCBs) have been widely adopted in reinforced concrete (RC) bearing wall systems. DRCBs are known to act as a fuse element dissipating most of seismic energies imparted to the bearing wall systems during earthquakes. Despite such importance of DRCBs, the damage estimation of such components and the corresponding consequences within the knowledge of performance based seismic design framework is not well understood. In this paper, drift-based fragility functions are developed for in-plane loaded DRCBs. Fragility functions are developed to predict the damage and to decide the repair method required for DRCBs subjected to earthquake loading. Thirty-seven experimental results are collected from seventeen published literatures for this effort. Drift-based fragility functions are developed for four damage states of DRCBs subjected to cyclic and monotonic loading associated with minor cracking, severe cracking, onset of strength loss, and significant strength loss. Damage states are defined in a consistent manner. Cumulative distribution functions are fit to the empirical data and evaluated using standard statistical methods.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.97-107
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• 2019

The frame structures investigated in this paper is composed of Concrete encased columns with L-shaped steel section and steel beams. The seismic behavior of this structural system is studied through experimental and numerical studies. A 2-bay, 3-story and 1/3 scaled frame specimen is tested under constant axial loading and cyclic lateral loading applied on the column top. The load-displacement hysteretic loops, ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness and strength degradation are investigated. A typical failure mode is observed in the test, and the experimental results show that this type of framed structure exhibit a high strength with good ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Furthermore, finite element analysis software Perform-3D was conducted to simulate the behavior of the frame. The calculating results agreed with the test ones well. Further analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of parameters including concrete strength, column axial compressive force and steel ratio on the seismic performance indexes, such as the elastic stiffness, the maximum strength, the ductility coefficient, the strength and stiffness degradation, and the equivalent viscous damping ratio. It can be concluded that with the axial compression ratio increasing, the load carrying capacity and ductility decreased. The load carrying capacity and ductility increased when increasing the steel ratio. Increasing the concrete grade can improve the ultimate bearing capacity of the structure, but the ductility of structure decreases slightly.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.209-219
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• 2019

Methanol is a liquid fuel which could also be produced from renewable energy sources and has appreciably high energy density. In this work, we investigated the application of $Ce_{0.9}Gd_{0.1}O_{2-x}$ supported Cu and Ni catalysts for hydrogen production via methanol steam reforming. Catalysts were synthesized by solution combustion synthesis. The prepared catalysts with various active materials and Cu loading amounts were tested in a reactor at $200-300^{\circ}C$, 0-5 barg range and steam to methanol molar ratio was 1.5. The catalytic properties of Cu and Ni were compared, and the catalytic performance was shown to depend on the amounts of metal loading and operating conditions such as reaction temperature and pressure.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.11-18
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• 2018

As the height of the modular buildings increases, their stability becomes more and more dependent on the core. All traditional construction methods in structural concrete and steel can be utilized for cores in modular buildings but a core system with dry connection is more desirable to complete a greater degree of factory finish and faster erection of modular buildings. In order to do that, the hybrid PC(precast concrete) panel, which has a pair of C-shaped steel beams combined at the top and bottom of a concrete wall, was developed, In this study the cyclic lateral loading test on the hybrid PC panel is carried out and the panel configurations are examined to enhance the structural performance in comparison with the RC wall. Experimental results show that the strength of hybrid PC panel is about 70% of thar ot RC wall and the anchorage of vertical reinforcing bar welded to C-shaped steel beam needs to be improved.