• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2019

Unbonded Post-Tensioned (UPT) precast concrete systems have been shown to provide excellent seismic resistance. In order to improve understanding of the dynamic response of UPT systems, a series of snap back tests on four UPT systems was undertaken consisting of one Single Rocking Wall (SRW) and three Precast Wall with End Columns (PreWEC) systems. The snap back tests provided both a static pushover and a nonlinear free vibration response of a system. As expected the SRW exhibited an approximate bi-linear inertia force-drift response during the free vibration decay and the PreWEC walls showed an inertia force-drift response with increased strength and energy dissipation due to the addition of steel O-connectors. All walls exhibited negligible residual drifts regardless of the number of O-connectors or the post-tensioning force. When PreWEC systems of the same strength were compared the inclusion of further energy dissipating O-connectors was found to decrease the measured peak wall acceleration. Both the local and global wall parameters measured at pseudo-static and dynamic loading rates showed similar behaviour, which demonstrates that the dynamic behaviour of UPT walls is well represented by pseudo-static tests. The SRW was found to have Equivalent Viscous Damping (EVD) between 0.9-3.8% and the three PreWEC walls were found to have maximum EVD of between 14.7-25.8%.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.459-469
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• 2020

An external prestressed steel-bar truss unit was developed as a new strengthening technology to enhance the seismic performance of an in-plane masonry wall structure while taking advantage of the benefits of a prestressed system. The presented method consists of six steel bars: two prestressed vertical bars to introduce a prestressing force on the masonry wall, two diagonal bars to resist shear deformation, and two horizontal bars to maintain the configuration. To evaluate the effects of this new technique, four full-scale specimens, including a control specimen, were tested under combined loadings that included constant-gravity axial loads and cyclic lateral loads. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of the shear strength, initial stiffness, dissipated energy, and strain history. The efficiency of the external prestressed steel-bar truss unit was validated. In particular, a retrofitted specimen with an axial load level of 0.024 exhibited a more stable post behavior and higher energy dissipation than a control specimen with an observed complete sliding failure. The four vertical bars of the adjacent retrofitting units created a virtual column, and their strain values did not change until they reached the peak shear strength. The shear capacity of the masonry wall structure with external prestressed steel-bar truss units could be predicted using the model suggested by Yang et al.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.428-433
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• 2018

In this study, using the pilot plant activation system, the activated cement has been manufactured and then applied to the manufacturing process of mineral hydrate insulating material. The fineness of the activated cement is controlled at $5,000cm^2/g$ and $7,500cm^2/g$ and the features of mineral hydrate insulating material, using OPC and the activated cement for each degree of fineness, has been analyzed. As the result of analyzing the crystal habit of the manufactured mineral hydrate insulting material, it is analyzed that the main crystal phase of specimen is tobermorite and some quartz peak has been detected. As the degree of fineness of the activated cement increases, the height of bubble of slurry increases as well, whereas the tendency for the density character to decrease has been detected. Along with it, as the density character decreases, the compression strength has decreases, whereas the tendency for the thermal characteristic to increases has been detected. The main features of mineral hydrate insulating material, using the activated cement with the fineness of $7,500cm^2/g$, the compression strength of 0.36 MPa, and the thermal conductivity of $0.044W/m{\cdot}K$, presents the excellent features as insulation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.705-716
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• 2021

An innovative partially precast partially encased composite beam (PPECB) is put forward based on the existing research. In order to study the flexural performance of the new composite beam which has precast part and cast-in-place part, six prefabricated specimens and one cast-in-place specimen are designed with considering the influence of the production method, the steel flange thickness, the concrete strength grade and the stirrup process on the behavior of the composite beam. Through four points loading and test data collection and analysis, the behavior of partially prefabricated specimen is similar to that of cast-in-place specimen, and the casting method, the thickness of the steel flange, the concrete strength grade and the stirrup process have different influence on the crack, yield and peak load bearing capacity of the component. Finally, the calculation theory of plastic bending of partially precast partially encased concrete composite beams is given. The calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental results, which can be used for practical engineering theory guidance. This paper can provide reference value for further research and engineering application.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 2022

It is widely known that axially loaded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confined concrete presents significant and enhanced mechanical properties with reference to the unconfined concrete. Therefore, to predict the mechanical behavior of FRP-confined concrete two quantities-peak strength and ultimate strain are required. Despite the significant advances, the determination of the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete is one of the most challenging problems to be resolved. This is often attributed to our persistence in desiring the conventional methods as the sole technique to examine this phenomenon and the complex nature of the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. To bridge the research gap, this study adopted two machine learning (ML) techniques-artificial neural network (ANN) and Gaussian process regression (GPR)-to analyze observations obtained from 627 datasets of FRP-confined concrete circular and non-circular sections under axial loading test. Besides, the techniques are also used to predict the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. Seven parameters namely width/diameter of the specimens, corner radius ratio, the strength of concrete, FRP elastic modulus, FRP thickness, FRP tensile rupture strain, and the axial strain of unconfined concrete-are the input parameters used to predict the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. The results of the current study highlight the merit of using AI techniques in structural engineering applications given their extraordinary ability to comprehend multidimensional phenomena of FRP-confined concrete structures with ease, low computational cost, and high performance over the existing empirical models.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.405-417
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• 2023

While ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is commonly reinforced with micro straight steel fibers in existing applications, studies have indicated that the use of deformed steel macro-fibers leads to enhanced ductility and post-peak responses for UHPC structural elements, which is of particular importance for earthquake-resistant structures. However, there are potential concerns regarding the use of UHPC reinforced with macro-fibers due to the issues of workability and fiber distribution. The objective of this study was to address these issues by extensively investigating the restricted and non-restricted deformability, filling ability, horizontal and vertical velocities, and passing ability of UHPC containing macro hooked-end steel fibers. A new approach is suggested to examine the homogeneity of fiber distribution in UHPC. The influences of ultra-fine fillers and steel macro-fibers on the workability of fresh UHPC and the mechanics of hardened UHPC were examined. It was found that although increasing the ratio of quartz powder to cement led to an improvement in the workability and tensile strain hardening behavior of UHPC, it reduced the fiber distribution homogeneity. The addition of 1% volume fraction of macro-fibers in UHPC improved workability, but reduced its compressive strength, which is contrary to the effect of micro-fiber inclusion in UHPC.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.323-334
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• 2022

In order to study the axial compression performance of basalt-fiber reinforced recycled concrete (BFRRC) filled circular steel tubular short columns, the axial compression performance tests of seven short column specimens were conducted to observe the mechanical whole-process and failure mode of the specimens, the load-displacement curves and the load-strain curves of the specimens were obtained, the influence of design parameters on the axial compression performance of BFRRC filled circular steel tubular short columns was analyzed, and a practical mathematical model of stiffness degradation and a feasible stress-strain curve equation for the whole process were suggested. The results show that under the axial compression, the steel tube buckled and the core BFRRC was crushed. The load-axial deformation curves of all specimens show a longer deformation flow amplitude. Compared with the recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement ratio and the basalt fiber dosage, the BFRRC strength has a great influence on the peak bearing capacity of the specimen. The RCA replacement ratio and the BFRRC strength are detrimental to ductility, whereas the basalt fiber dosage is beneficial to ductility.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.489-499
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• 2024

Infill masonry walls are vulnerable to lateral loads, including seismic, wind, and concentrated push loads. Various strengthening metal fittings have been proposed to improve lateral load resistance, particularly against seismic loads. This study introduces the use of post-compressed wedges as a novel reinforcement method for infill masonry walls to enhance lateral load resistance. The resistance of the infill masonry wall against lateral-concentrated push loads was assessed using an out-of-plane push-over test on specimens sized 2,300×2,410×190 mm³. The presence or absence of wedges and wedge spacing were set as variables. The push-over test results showed that both the unreinforced specimen and the specimen reinforced with 300 mm spaced wedges toppled, while the specimen reinforced with 100 mm spaced wedges remained upright. Peak loads were measured to be 0.74, 29.77, and 5.88 kN for unreinforced specimens and specimens reinforced with 100 mm and 300 mm spaced wedges, respectively. Notably, a tighter reinforcement spacing yielded a similar strength, as expected, which was attributed to the increased friction force between the masonry wall and steel frame. The W-series specimens exhibited a trend comparable to that of the displacement ductility ratio. Overall, the findings validate that post-compressed wedges improve the out-of-plane strength of infill masonry walls.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.29-37
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• 2017

As the behavior of the debris flow due to the torrential rains in mountain is affected by shear strength and rheological properties of the fine fraction in the ground, the evaluation of both properties is necessary to estimate the behavior of the debris flow. The objective of this study is to evaluate the shear strength and rheological properties using the direct shear apparatus. The direct shear tests are conducted for two kinds of fine-grained soil specimens, which are in dry state and liquid limit state. From the direct shear tests, shear strengths are measured according to the normal stresses applied on the specimens to evaluate the cohesion and internal friction angle. In addition, reversal shear tests are performed for the fine-grained soil specimens in liquid limit state according to the shear rate to evaluate the residual shear strength. The results of direct shear tests show that the specimen at the liquid limit state has lower internal friction angle and higher cohesion compared to the dry stated, and the residual friction angle and cohesion at the residual state are lower than those at the peak state. In the result of reversal shear test, the residual shear strength is directly proportional to the shear rate and viscosity is calculated as $73.60Pa{\cdot}s$. This study demonstrates that the direct shear apparatus can be effectively used for the evaluation of the shear strength and rheological properties of the fine-grained soils related with the debris flow.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.476-484
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• 2017

The purpose of this paper is to verify the structural integrity of a region with numerous penetration-holes in offshore structures such as semi-submersible rig and FPSO. In order to effectively check the yielding and buckling strength of plate members with penetration-holes, a screening analysis program was developed with the FE analysis tool to generate fine meshed model using the theoretical and analysis methods. When a hole is appeared in the plate structure members, the flow of stress is altered such that concentrations of stress form near the hole. Stress concentrations are of concern during both preliminary and detail design and need to be addressed from the perspectives of strength. To configure the geometrical shape, very fine meshed FE analysis is needed as the most accurate method. However, this method is practically impossible to apply for the strength verifications for all perforated plates. In this paper, screening analysis method was introduced to reduce analysis tasks prior to detailed FE analysis. This method is applied to not only the peak stress calculation combined stress concentration factor with nominal stress but also nominal equivalent stress calculation considering cutout effects. The areas investigated by very fine meshed analysis were to be chosen through screening analysis without any reinforcements for penetration-holes. If screening analysis results did not satisfy the acceptance criteria, direct FE analysis method as the 2nd step approach were applied with one of the coarse meshed model considering hole or with the very fine meshed model considering the hole shape and size. In order to effectively perform the local fine meshed analysis, automatic model generating program was developed based on the MSC/PATRAN which is pre-post FE analysis program. Buckling strength was also evaluated by Common Structure Rule (CSR) adopted by IACS as the stress obtained from very fine meshed FE analysis. Due to development of the screening analysis program and automatic FE modeling program, it was able to reduce the design periods and structural analysis costs.