• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.269-287
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• 2023

The WGJ420 fire-resistant weathering (FRW) steel is developed and manufactured with standard yield strength of 420 MPa at room temperature, which is expected to significantly enhance the performance of steel structures with excellent fire and corrosion resistances, strong seismic capacity, high strength and ductility, good resilience and robustness. In this paper, the mechanical properties of FRW steel plates and buckling behavior of columns are investigated through tests at elevated temperatures. The stress-strain curves, mechanical properties of FRW steel such as modulus of elasticity, proof strength, tensile strength, as well as corresponding reduction factors are obtained and discussed. The recommended constitutive model based on the Ramberg-Osgood relationship, as well as the relevant formulas for mechanical properties are proposed, which provide fundamental mechanical parameters and references. A total of 12 FRW steel welded I-section columns with different slenderness ratios and buckling load ratios are tested under standard fire to understand the global buckling behavior in-depth. The influences of boundary conditions on the buckling failure modes as well as the critical temperatures are also investigated. In addition, the temperature distributions at different sections/locations of the columns are obtained. It is found that the buckling deformation curve can be divided into four stages: initial expansion stage, stable stage, compression stage and failure stage. The fire test results concluded that the residual buckling capacities of FRW steel columns are substantially higher than the conventional steel columns at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the numerical results show good agreement with the fire test results in terms of the critical temperature and maximum axial elongation. Finally, the critical temperatures between the numerical results and various code/standard curves (GB 51249, Eurocode 3, AS 4100, BS 5950 and AISC) are compared and verified both in the buckling resistance domain and in the temperature domain. It is demonstrated that the FRW steel columns have sufficient safety redundancy for fire resistance when they are designed according to current codes or standards.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.275-291
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• 2023

This paper has focused on presenting vibration analysis of trapezoidal sandwich plates with 3D-graphene foam reinforced polymer matrix composites (GrF-PMC) core and FG wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. The porous graphene foam possessing 3D scaffold structures has been introduced into polymers for enhancing the overall stiffness of the composite structure. Also, 3D graphene foams can distribute uniformly or non-uniformly in the plate thickness direction. The effective Young's modulus, mass density and Poisson's ratio are predicted by the rule of mixture. In this study, the classical theory concerning the mechanical efficiency of a matrix embedding finite length fibers has been modified by introducing the tube-to-tube random contact, which explicitly accounts for the progressive reduction of the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The First-order shear deformation theory of plate is utilized to establish governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions for trapezoidal plate. The governing equations together with related boundary conditions are discretized using a mapping-generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method in spatial domain. Then natural frequencies of the trapezoidal sandwich plates are obtained using GDQ method. Validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature. It is explicated that 3D-GrF skeleton type and weight fraction, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) waviness and CNT aspect ratio can significantly affect the vibrational behavior of the sandwich structure. The plate's normalized natural frequency decreased and the straight carbon nanotube (w=0) reached the highest frequency by increasing the values of the waviness index (w).

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2023

The demand for lightweight and high-strength materials is increasing. However, studies on the bond of concrete and reinforcing bars for high-strength lightweight concrete with a compressive strength of 120 MPa and a unit weight of 20 kN/m³ to structural members are lacking. Therefore, in this paper, 108 specimens of high-strength lightweight concrete with a compressive strength of 120 MPa and a unit weight of about 20 kN/m³ were fabricated, a direct pull-out test was performed, and the bond characteristics were evaluated by comparing the test results with design code. Compared to the decrease in unit weight, the solid bubble shows relatively little reduction in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. It was f ound to have larger slip and parameter values than concrete with low compressive strength and unit weight.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.583-596
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• 2023

The interlayers, either softer or stiffer than the surrounding layers, are usually overlooked during field investigation due to the small thickness. They may be neglected through the analysis process for simplicity. However, they may significantly affect the dynamic behavior of the soil-foundation system. In this study, a series of 3D finite-element Direct-solution steady-state harmonic analyses were carried out using ABAQUS/CAE software to investigate the impacts of interlayers on the dynamic response of a cast in place pile group subjected to horizontal harmonic load. The experimental data of a 3×2 pile group testing was used to verify the numerical modeling. The effects of thickness, depth, and shear modulus of the interlayers on the dynamic response of the pile group are investigated. The simulations were conducted on both stiff and soft soils. It was found that the soft interlayers affect the frequency-amplitude curve of the system only in frequencies higher than 70% of the resonant frequency of the base soil. While, the effect of stiff interlayer in soft base soil started at frequency of 35% of the resonant frequency of the base soil. Also, it was observed that a shallow stiff interlayer increased the resonant amplitude by 11%, while a deep one only increased the resonant frequency by 7%. Moreover, a shallow soft interlayer increased the resonant frequency by 20% in soft base soils, whereas, it had an effect as low as 6% on resonant amplitude. Also, the results showed that deep soft interlayers increased the resonant amplitude by 17 to 20% in both soft and stiff base soils due to a reduction in lateral support of the piles. In the cases of deep thick, soft interlayers, the resonant frequency reduced significantly, i.e., 16 to 20%. It was found that the stiff interlayers were most effective on the amplitude and frequency of the pile group.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.237-248
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• 2022

Nowadays, more and more subway tunnels were planed and constructed underneath the ground of urban cities to relieve the congested traffic. Potential damage may occur in existing tunnel if the new tunnel is constructed too close. So far, previous studies mainly focused on the tunnel-tunnel interactions with circular shape. The difference between circular and horseshoe shaped tunnel in terms of deformation mechanism is not fully investigated. In this study, three-dimensional numerical parametric studies were carried out to explore the effect of different tunnel shapes on the complicated tunnel-tunnel interaction problem. Parameters considered include volume loss, tunnel stiffness and relative density. It is found that the value of volume loss play the most important role in the multi-tunnel interactions. For a typical condition in this study, the maximum invert settlement and gradient along longitudinal direction of horseshoe shaped tunnel was 50% and 96% larger than those in circular case, respectively. This is because of the larger vertical soil displacement underneath existing tunnel. Due to the discontinuous hoop axial stress in horseshoe shaped tunnel, significant shear stress was mobilized around the axillary angles. This resulted in substantial bending moment at the bottom plate and side walls of horseshoe shaped tunnel. Consequently, vertical elongation and horizontal compression in circular existing tunnel were 45% and 33% smaller than those in horseshoe case (at monitored section X/D = 0), which in latter case was mainly attributed to the bending induced deflection. The radial deformation stiffness of circular tunnel is more sensitive to the Young's modulus compared with horseshoe shaped tunnel. This is because of that circular tunnel resisted the radial deformation mainly by its hoop axial stress while horseshoe shaped tunnel do so mainly by its flexural rigidity. In addition, the reduction of soil stiffness beneath the circular tunnel was larger than that in horseshoe shaped tunnel at each level of relative density, indicating that large portion of tunneling effect were undertaken by the ground itself in circular tunnel case.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.167-181
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• 2024

The soil-structure relative stiffness is a key factor affecting the seismic response of underground structures. It is of great significance to study the soil-structure relative stiffness for the soil-structure interaction and the seismic disaster reduction of subway stations. In this paper, the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio of an inhomogeneous soft soil site under different buried depths which were obtained by a one-dimensional equivalent linearization site response analysis were used as the input parameters in a 2D finite element model. A visco-elasto-plastic constitutive model based on the Mohr-Coulomb shear failure criterion combined with stiffness degradation was used to describe the plastic behavior of soil. The damage plasticity model was used to simulate the plastic behavior of concrete. The horizontal and vertical relative stiffness ratios of soil and structure were defined to study the influence of relative stiffness on the seismic response of subway stations in inhomogeneous soft soil. It is found that the compression damage to the middle columns of a subway station with a higher relative stiffness ratio is more serious while the tensile damage is slighter under the same earthquake motion. The relative stiffness has a significant influence on ground surface deformation, ground acceleration, and station structure deformation. However, the effect of the relative stiffness on the deformation of the bottom slab of the subway station is small. The research results can provide a reference for seismic fortification of subway stations in the soft soil area.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2024

This study nondestructively examined the evolution of crack density in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) upon cyclic loading. Uniaxial compression was repeatedly applied to the cylindrical specimens at levels corresponding to 32% and 53% of the maximum load-bearing capacity, each at a steady strain rate. At each stage, both P-wave and S-wave velocities were measured in the absence of the applied load. In particular, the continuous monitoring of P-wave velocity from the first loading prior to the second loading allowed real-time observation of the strengthening effect during loading and the recovery effect afterwards. Increasing the number of cycles resulted in the reduction of both elastic wave velocities and Young's modulus, along with a slight rise in Poisson's ratio in both tested cases. The computed crack density showed a monotonically increasing trend with repeated loading, more significant at 53% than at 32% loading. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the crack density along the height was achieved, validating the directional dependency of microcracking development. This study demonstrated the capability of the crack density to capture the evolution of microcracks in UHPC under cyclic loading condition, as an early-stage damage indicator.

• 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.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.4645-4687
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• 1978

This study was attempted to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete and crack control effects of reinforced concrete with steel and glass fiber. The experimental program includes tests on the properties of fresh concrete containing fibers, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, Young's modulus, Shrinkage and deformation of steel or glass fiber reinforced concrete. Also this study was carried out to investigate the effect of steel or glass fiber to retard the development in reinforced concrete subject to uniaxial tension and thus facilitate the use of steels of higher strength. The major conclusions that can be drawn from the studies are as follows: 1. The effect of the fibers in various mixes on fresh concrete confirmed that fibers do have a significant effect on the properties of fresh concrete, bringing much more stable and exhibiting a signiflcant reduction in surface bleeding, and that the cohesion is greatly improved and the internal resistance increases with fiber concentration. But the addition of an excess contents and length of fibers brings about the reduction of workability. 2. With the addition of steel fibers(1.5% Vol.) to concrete, the compressive strength as compared with plain concrete showed a very slight increase, but excess addition, over 1.5% Vol. of steel and glass fiber reduced its strength. 3. Splitting tensile strength of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant increase tendency, as compared with plain concrete. In case of containing steel fiber (2.5%, 30mm), it showed that the maximum increase rate of 1.48 times as much rate, and in case of containing glass fiber (2.5%, 30mm), the increase rate of strength was 1.25 times as much rate. 4. Flexural strength of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant tendency, as compared with plain concrete. Containing steel fiber (2.5%, 30mm) showed the maximum increase rate of 1.64 times as much rate and containing glass fiber (2.5%, 30mm) showed the increase rate of strength of 1.32 times as much rate, and in general, the 30mm length brougth the best results. 5. The strength ratio ($\sigma$b/$\sigma$c and $\sigma$t/$\sigma$c) increased, when steel fiber's average spacing was up to 3.05mm, but decreased when beyond 3.05mm, and it was confirmed that tensile or flexural strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete are apparently governed by fiber's average spacing. 6. The compressive strain of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant increasing tendency as the fiber was added, but Young's modulus. with the addition of steel and glass fibers, showed a slight decrease tendency. And according to the increase of flexural strength, a considerable increase was seen in toughness. 7. With the addition of fiber's the shrinkage of concrete was significantly decreased, in both case of adding steel fibers 12.5%, 30mm, and showed a significant decrease ratio, in average 30.4% and 36.7%, as compared with plain concrete. 8. With the increase of fiber volume fraction and length, the gained stress in reinforcing bar in concrete specimens increased in all crack widths, but at different rates, with the decrease of fiber diameter, the stress showed a considerable increasing tendency. And the duoform steel fibers showed the greatest improvement, as compared with the other types tested. 9. The influence of fiber dimensions in order of significanse on the machanical properties of concrete and the crack control of reinforced concrete was explained as follows: content, length, aspect ratio and dimeter.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 1999

The effect of fire-retardant treatment and redrying on the mechanical properties of radiata pine sapwood were evaluated. Small, clear specimens were treated with three different fire-retardant(FR) chemicals, borax-boric acid(BRX), minalith(MIN), and pyresote(PYR), with target retentions of 30 and 60kg/$m^3$, and then redried at maximum dry-bulb temperature of $25^{\circ}C$, $60^{\circ}C$, $80^{\circ}C$ or $110^{\circ}C$. Each specimen, including untreated and water-treated controls, was tested in static bending and in compression parallel to grain. The extent of strength reduction was dependent on the type of FR chemicals, retention, and redrying temperature, and a highly significant interaction existed between FR treatment and redrying temperature. Modulus of rupture(MOR) and work to maximum load(WML) were significantly decreased by FR treatment and redrying. None of three FR chemicals adversely affect modulus of elasticity (MOE) and maximum crushing strength(MCS). MOE of BRX treatment and MCS of both BRX and PYR treatment increased significantly compared to untreated controls. No significant differences existed between retention levels except for MOE and MCS of some combinations of FR chemicals and redrying temperatures. Although MOE and MCS was not significantly affected by any of the redrying temperatures, these properties were generally decreased with the increase in redrying temperature. The significant reduction in MOR and WML was observed in BRX treatment when dried at temperatures of $60^{\circ}C$ and above, and in MIN and PYR treatment when dried at temperatures of $80^{\circ}C$ and above. Consequently, BRX-treated radiata pine should not be redried at temperatures >$60^{\circ}C$, and MIN- and PYR-treated radiata pine should not be redried at temperatures > $80^{\circ}C$ where bending strength and energy-related properties are important design considerations.