• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.385-402
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• 2004

Nearly 400 composite railway bridge decks of a new kind belonging to the trough type with U-shaped cross section have been constructed in Belgium over the last fifteen years. The construction of these bridge decks is rather complex with the preflexion of precambered steel girders, the prestressing of a concrete slab and the addition of a 2nd phase concrete. Until now, they have been designed with a classical computation method using a pseudo-elastic analysis with modular ratios. Globally, they perform according to the expectations but variability has been observed between the measured and the computed camber of these bridge decks just after the transfer of prestressing and also at long-term. A statistical analysis of the variability of the relative difference between the measured camber and the computed camber is made for a sample of 36 bridge decks using no less than 10 variables. The most significant variables to explain this variability at prestressing are the ratio between the maximum tensile stress reached in the steel girders during the preflexion and the yield strength and the type of steel girder. For the same sample, the long-term camber under permanent loading is computed by two methods and compared with measurements taken one or two years after the construction. The camber computed by the step-by-step method shows a better agreement with the measured camber than the camber computed by the classical method. The purpose of the paper is to report on the statistical analysis which was used to determine the most significant parameters to consider in the modeling in order to improve the prediction of the behaviour of these composite railway bridge decks.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2016

The strength and stiffness of the steel beams to concrete-filled tubular columns connections are significantly reduced if the thick-walled components are used. However, the thick-walled tubes used for columns can largely reduce the demand for space and increase the strength-to-weight ratio. This paper describes the cyclic performance of extended through-diaphragm connections between steel beams and thick-walled concrete-filled tubular columns improved with fillets around the diaphragm corners. Test on one full-scale connection was conducted to assess the seismic behavior of the connection in terms of strength, stiffness, ductility, deformation, energy dissipation, and strain distribution. It is shown that the fillets and extended through-diaphragm can alleviate the stress concentration in the connection and thus improve the seismic performance. The test results demonstrate that the through-diaphragm connections with thick-walled concrete-filled tubular columns can offer sufficient energy dissipation capacity and ductility appropriate for its potential application in seismic design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.613-625
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• 2016

The joints of the new prefabricated concrete assemble beam-column joints are put together by the hybrid joints of inserting steel under post-tensioned and non-prestressed force and both beams and columns adopt prefabricated components. The low cyclic loading test has been performed on seven test specimens of beam-column joints. Based on the experimental result, the rotation capacity of the joints is studied and the $M-{\theta}$ relation curve is obtained. According to Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures and based on the initial rotational stiffness, the joints are divided into three types; by equivalent bending-resistant stiffness to the precast beam, the equivalent modulus of elasticity $E_e$ is elicited with the superposition method; the beam length is figured out that satisfies the rigid joints and after meeting the requirements of application and safety, the new prefabricated concrete assemble beam-column joints can be regarded as the rigid joints; the design formula adopted by the standard of concrete joint classification is theoretically derived, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the new prefabricated concrete structure.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2018

Hollow prestressed concrete filled steel tube (HCFT) piles, which compose hollow PHC piles inside thin wall steel tubes, are developed. In order to investigate the strength characteristics of HCFT piles, flexural and shear tests were conducted on HCFT piles as well as PHC and steel pipe piles with the same diameter. Results of the test program showed that the flexural strength of HCFT piles was 2.88 and 1.19 times those of ICP and steel pipe piles with thickness of 12 mm, respectively, and its shear strength was 2.40 times that of steel pipe piles. The shear key attached to the inside of thin wall steel tube did not affect the flexural behavior of HCFT piles. It was also observed that the flexural strengths of HCFT piles with diameters of 450 and 500 mm were 35 to 63% higher than the sum of the flexural strengths of its components, respectively, because the strength of concrete in compressive zone increased by confining effect of thin wall steel tube on concrete. HCFT piles used as upper piles in hybrid composite piles might decrease the lateral displacement and increase the structural safety of structures subjected to lateral loads.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1391-1404
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• 2015

A radially retractable roof structure based on the concept of the hybrid grid shell is proposed in this paper. The single-layer steel trusses of the radially foldable bar structure are diagonally stiffened by cables, which leads to a single-layer lattice shell with triangular mesh. Then comparison between the static behavior between the retractable hybrid grid shell and the corresponding foldable bar shell with quadrangular mesh is discussed. Moreover, the effects of different structural parameters, such as the rise-to-span ratio, the bar cross section area and the pre-stress of the cables, on the structural behaviors are investigated. The results show that prestressed cables can strengthen the foldable bar shell with quadrangular mesh. Higher structural stiffness is anticipated by introducing cables into the hybrid system. When the rise-span ratio is equal to 0.2, where the joint displacement reaches the minimal value, the structure shape of the hyrbid grid shell approaches the reasonable arch axis. The increase of the section of steel bars contributes a lot to the integrity stiffness of the structure. Increasing cable sections would enhance the structure stiffness, but it contributes little to axial forces in structural members. And the level of cable prestress has slight influence on the joint displacements and member forces.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.429-438
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• 2013

An object oriented numerical analysis program of axial-flexural elements and the step-by-step method (SSM) has been developed to analyze concrete long-term behaviors of structures constrained internally and externally. The results of the numerical analysis for simple and continuous prestressed (PS) concrete box and composite girders, pre-cast slab of continuous steel composite girder, and simple preflex composite girder show that the adjusting coefficient decreases by increasing constraint. The loss rates of pre-tension force were not sensitive but those of pre-compression force were increased rapidly by decreasing adjusting coefficient. This indicates that the design based on the loss rate of pre-tension can over-estimate the pre-compression force in a concrete section constrained internally and externally. The adjusting coefficients which satisfy results of the numerical analysis are 0.35~0.95, and it can be used as an index of constraint of concrete long-term deformation. The adjusting coefficient 0.5 of Bridge Design Specifications can under-estimate residual stress of PS concrete slab, and the coefficient 0.7 or 0.8 of LRFD Bridge Designing Specifications can under-estimate the loss rates of continuous PS concrete girders. The adjusting coefficient of hybrid structures should be less then 0.4.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.557-570
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• 2017

In this study, the seismic performance levels of four bridges are determined using finite element modeling based on ambient vibration testing. The study includes finite element modeling, analytical modal analyses, ambient vibration testing and earthquake analyses of the bridges. For the purpose, four prestressed precast I beam bridges that were constructed for the Ankara-Sivas high speed railway line are selected for analytical and experimental studies. In the study, firstly a literature review related to the dynamic behavior of bridges especially precast beam bridges is given and then the formulation part related to ambient vibration testing and structural performance according to Turkish Seismic Code (2007) is presented. Next, 3D finite element models of the bridge are described and modeled using LARSA 4D software, and analytical dynamic characteristics are obtained. Then ambient vibration testing conducted on the bridges under natural excitations and experimental natural frequencies are estimated. Lastly, time history analyses of the bridges under the 1999 Kocaeli, 1992 Erzincan, and 1999 Duzce Earthquakes are performed and seismic performance levels according to TSC2007 are determined. The results show that the damage on the bridges is all under the minimum damage limit which is in the minimum damage region under all three earthquakes.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.45-54
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• 2000

Precast R.C. slabs are being used widely for the construction of bridge structures due to their simplicity in construction processes. However, one of the disadvantages in precast R.C. slabs is the existence of transverse joints between two precast slabs. The transverse joints are structurally fragile and the task of strengthening the joints is difficult one due to their structural discontinuity. The aim of this study was to improve the behavior of transverse joints between precast R.C. slabs by introducing prestress with external cables. Three steel-concrete composite bridge specimens, which were prestressed with the external cables anchored on steel girders, were fabricated in the laboratory. Both pretension and post-tension methods were applied to introduce prestressing on the concrete slab with a straight tendon arrangement. Static tests were conducted at service load and ultimate load test was performed to evaluate punching shear capacity of the transverse joint. In this paper, two prestressing methods were tested and their effects were evaluated with respect to the elastic behavior and ultimate loading capacity of the transverse joints.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.217-232
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• 2019

Modular steel buildings consist of prefabricated room-sized structural units that are manufactured offsite and installed onsite. The inter-module connections must fulfill the assembly construction requirements and soundly transfer the external loads. This work proposes an innovative assembled connection suitable for modular buildings with concrete-filled steel tube columns. The connection uses pretensioned strands and plugin bars to vertically connect the adjacent modular columns. The moment-transferring performance of this inter-module connection was studied through monotonic and cyclic loading tests. The results showed that because of the assembly construction, the connected sections were separated under lateral bending, and the prestressed inter-module connection performed as a weak semirigid connection. The moment strength at the early loading stage originated primarily from the contact bonding mechanism with the infilled concrete, and the postyield strength depended mainly on the tensioned strands. The connection displayed a self-centering-like behavior that the induced deformation was reversed during unloading. The energy dissipation originated primarily from frictional slipping of the plugin bars and steel strands. The moment transferring ability was closely related to the section dimension and the arrangements of the plugin bars and steel strands. A simplified strength calculation and evaluation method was also proposed, and the effectiveness was validated with the test data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.343-356
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• 2016

As the common cast-in-place construction works fails to meet the enormous construction demand under rapid economic growth, the development of prefabricated structure instead becomes increasingly promising in China. For the prefabricated structure, its load carrying connection joint play a key role in maintaining the structural integrity. Therefore, a novel end plate bolt connecting joint between fully prefabricated pre-stressed concrete beam and high-strength reinforcement-confined concrete column was proposed. Under action of low cycle repeated horizontal loadings, comparative tests are conducted on 6 prefabricated pre-stressed intermediate joint specimens and 1 cast-in-place joint specimen to obtain the specimen failure modes, hysteresis curves, skeleton curves, ductility factor, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity and other seismic indicators, and the seismic characteristics of the new-type prefabricated beam-column connecting joint are determined. The test results show that all the specimens for end plate bolt connecting joint between fully prefabricated pre-stressed concrete beam and high-strength reinforcement-confined concrete column have realized the design objectives of strong column weak beam. The hysteretic curves for specimens are good, indicating desirable ductility and energy dissipation capacity and seismic performances, and the research results provide theoretical basis and technical support for the promotion and application of prefabricated assembly frames in the earthquake zone.