• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.149-171
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• 2012

The problem of a concrete cross section under flexural and axial loading is indeterminate due to the existence of more unknowns than equations. Among the infinite solutions, it is possible to find the optimum, which is that of minimum reinforcement that satisfies certain design constraints (section ductility, minimum reinforcement area, etc.). This article proposes the automation of the optimum reinforcement calculation under any combination of flexural and axial loading. The procedure has been implemented in a program code that is attached in the Appendix. Conventional-strength or high-strength concrete may be chosen, minimum reinforcement area may be considered (it being possible to choose between the standards ACI 318 or Eurocode 2), and the neutral axis depth may be constrained in order to guarantee a certain sectional ductility. Some numerical examples are presented, drawing comparisons between the results obtained by ACI 318, EC 2 and the conventional method.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.643-655
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• 2005

The frontal crash optimization of S-shaped closed-hat section member using the homogenization method, design of experiment (DOE) and response surface method (RSM) was studied. The optimization to effectively absorb more crash energy was studied to introduce the reinforcement design. The main focus of design was to decide the optimum size and thickness of reinforcement. In this study, the location of reinforcement was decided by homogenization method. Also, the effective size and thickness of reinforcements was studied by design of experiments and response surface method. The effects of various impact velocity for reinforcement design were researched. The high impact velocity reinforcement design showed to absorb the more crash energy than low velocities design. The effect of size and thickness of reinforcement was studied and the sensitivity of size and thickness was different according to base thickness of model. The optimum size and thickness of the reinforcement has shown a direct proportion to the thickness of base model. Also, the thicker the base model was, the effect of optimization using reinforcement was the bigger. The trend curve for effective size and thickness of reinforcement using response surface method was obtained. The predicted size and thickness of reinforcement by RSM were compared with results of DOE. The results of a specific dynamic mean crushing loads for the predicted design by RSM were shown the small difference with the predicted results by RSM and DOE. These trend curves can be used as a basic guideline to find the optimum reinforcement design for S-shaped member.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.2156-2172
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• 2022

This paper investigates the optimum fiber reinforcement for prestressed concrete containment vessels (PCCVs) under internal pressure. To achieve this aim, steel fiber, which is the most widely used fiber type in current engineering applications, is adopted to constitute steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) to substitute the conventional concrete in the PCCV. The effects of characteristic parameters, 𝜆_sf, of the steel fiber affecting significantly the mechanical behavior of the concrete are first taken into account. Partial or complete concrete regions of the PCCV are also considered to be replaced by SFRC to balance the economy and safety. By adopting the ABAQUS software, the ultimate bearing capacity and performance for the fiber-reinforced PCCV are scientifically studied and quantified, and the recommendations for the optimum way of fiber reinforcement are presented.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.2866-2874
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• 2000

This paper is concerned with the optimum design for external reinforcement of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel(RPV) in a severe accident. During the severe reactor accident of molten core, the temperature and the pressure in the nuclear reactor rise to a certain level depending on the initial and subsequent condition of a severs accident. The reis of the temperature and the internal pressure cause deterioration of the load carrying capacity and could cause failure of the RPV lower head. The deterioration of failure can be mitigated by the external cooling or the reinforcement of the lower head with additional structures. While the external cooling forces the temperature of an RPV to drop to the desired level, the reinforcement of the lower head can attain both the increase of the load carrying capacity and the temperature drop. The reinforcement of the lower head can be optimized to have the maximum effect on the collapse pressure and the temperature at the inner wall. Optimization results are compared to both the result without the reinforcement and the result with the designated reinforcement.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

A reinforcement is required to ensure the structural safety in case of railway embankment excavation under railway load. A large diameter soil nailing with concrete wall is applied as the reinforcement method instead of the conventional soil nailing system. In this study, a series of 3 dimensional numerical analyses are performed to investigate the optimum reinforcement considering 15 different conditions based on the length, lateral spacing, diameter, and inclination of the reinforcement. The interface between soil nail and perimetric grout is considered by means of cohesion, stiffness and perimeter of the grout. 0.3 m of reinforcement diameter is assessed as the most appropriate based on the economical viewpoint though ground displacement decreases with the increase of diameter, however the difference of displacement is negligible between 0.4 m and 0.3 m of diameter. Surface settlement, lateral displacement of wall, and stress of reinforcement are calculated and economic viewpoint to reinforce embankment considered. Consequently, the optimum reinforcement conditions considering those factors are evaluated as 3 m in length, 0.3 m in diameter, 1.5 m in lateral spacing, and 10 degree of inclination angle in the case of 3 m of excavation depth. Additionally, inclined potential failure surface occurs with approximately 60 degrees from the end of nails and the surface settlement and wall lateral displacement are restrained successfully by the large diameter soil nailing, based on the result of shear strain rate.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.199-211
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• 2009

Development of underground space is actively performed globally for better life in the surface, and the scale of the space is increasing. Extreme care should be taken in the construction of the underground space in urban areas in order to avoid damage of adjacent structures and interference with existing underground space. In case of shallow tunnels, reinforcement of ground and structures is necessary to minimize the damage to structures due to excavation but any standard for optimum range of the reinforcement has not been established yet. In this paper, a series of numerical analyses have been performed for a 20 m diameter tunnel excavated underneath a structure to investigate the degree of damage of the structure according to vertical and horizontal spacing between the tunnel and structure. In addition to that, optimum range of reinforcement is presented for each case where reinforcement is required. It has been observed that the reinforcement is necessary for the ground condition adapted in the analyses as follows: (1) if horizontal spacing ($S_{H}$) approaches to 0D (D: equivalent diameter of tunnel) for vertical spacing (Sv) of 0.5D, and (2) if tunnel exists underneath the structure for vertical spacing (Sv) of 0.75D. The reinforcement is not necessary for Sv of 10 regardless of $S_{H}$. It also has been obtained that the optimum ranges of the reinforcement around structure foundation are 7 m in depth and whole width of the structure and 5 m beyond tunnel sidewall. These reinforcememt ranges have been confirmed to be enough for stability of the structure if types of reinforcement method is appropriately selected.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.96-102
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• 1998

The characteristics of roadbed are very important factors in the design of railways. Laboratory model tests were performed to investigate the effectiveness of geogrid placement in the subbase layers on reinforcement. Design parameters of reinforcement were determined through the laboratory model tests. The results indicated that geogrid reinforcement is increased the bearing capacity and reduced the settlement of railway foundation. The optimum length of geogrid reinforcement is about 4B. The effective depth of geogrid placement from the bottom of ballast is about 0.1B-0.2B depended on magnitude of applied load.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.361-375
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• 2014

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between thickness and height of the axially symmetric cylindrical reinforced concrete (RC) walls by the help of a meta-heuristic optimization procedure. The material cost of the wall which includes concrete, reinforcement and formwork, was chosen as objective function of the optimization problem. The wall thickness, compressive strength of concrete and diameter of reinforcement bars were defined as design variables and tank volume, radius and height of the wall, loading condition and unit cost of material were defined as design constants. Numerical analyses of the wall were conducted by using superposition method (SPM) considering ACI 318-Building code requirements for structural concrete. The optimum wall thickness-height relationship was investigated under three main cases related with compressive strength of concrete and density of the stored liquid. According to the results, the proposed method is effective on finding the optimum design with minimum cost.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.259-269
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• 2005

This paper describes the application of genetic algorithm for the discrete optimum design of reinforced concrete continuous beams. The objective is to minimize the total cost of reinforced concrete beams including the costs of concrete, form work, main reinforcement and stirrup. The flexural and shear strength, deflection, crack, spacing of reinforcement, concrete cover, upper-lower bounds on main reinforcement, beam width-depth ratio and anchorage for main reinforcement are considered as the constraints. The width and effective depth of beam and steel area are taken as design variables, and those are selected among the discrete design space which is composed with dimensions and steel area being used from in practice. Optimum result obtained from GA is compared with other literature to verify the validity of GA. To show the applicability and efficiency of GA, it is applied to three and five span reinforced concrete beams satisfying with the Korean standard specifications.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.5-14
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• 2018

Recently, method of reinforced earth retaining wall have been proposed according to the material of facing, geosynthetic, construction method, and facing slope. However, the regulations such as the design method and detailed review items according to each construction method are not clear, and collapse due to heavy rainfall frequently occurs. In this study, to obtain a more stable technical approach in the design of reinforced earth retaining wall, the combination of the pullout failure of reinforced earth retaining wall and the optimal reinforcement ratio of height using reinforced earth retaining wall using a single strength reinforcement is assumed, optimum design of stiffener, optimal design of superimposed wall and optimum length ratio of reinforcement material of geosynthetics are proposed through safety factor according to reinforcement length ratio (L/H).