• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.756-765
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• 2015

Background: Fibers have been used in cement mixture to improve its toughness, ductility, and tensile strength, and to enhance the cracking and deformation characteristics of concrete structural members. The addition of fibers into conventional reinforced concrete can enhance the structural and functional performances of safety-related concrete structures in nuclear power plants. Methods: The effects of steel and polyamide fibers on the shear resisting capacity of a prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) were investigated in this study. For a comparative evaluation between the shear performances of structural walls constructed with conventional concrete, steel fiber reinforced concrete, and polyamide fiber reinforced concrete, cyclic tests for wall specimens were conducted and hysteretic models were derived. Results: The shear resisting capacity of a PCCV constructed with fiber reinforced concrete can be improved considerably. When steel fiber reinforced concrete contains hooked steel fibers in a volume fraction of 1.0%, the maximum lateral displacement of a PCCV can be improved by > 50%, in comparison with that of a conventional PCCV. When polyamide fiber reinforced concrete contains polyamide fibers in a volume fraction of 1.5%, the maximum lateral displacement of a PCCV can be enhanced by ~40%. In particular, the energy dissipation capacity in a fiber reinforced PCCV can be enhanced by > 200%. Conclusion: The addition of fibers into conventional concrete increases the ductility and energy dissipation of wall structures significantly. Fibers can be effectively used to improve the structural performance of a PCCV subjected to strong ground motions. Steel fibers are more effective in enhancing the shear performance of a PCCV than polyamide fibers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.291-295
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• 2017

The behaviour of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with near surface mounted (NSM) CFRP prestressed prisms was experimentally investigated. Five RC beams were tested under four point bending. All beams were made with dimensions of 300 mm in width, 2000 mm in length and 150 in depth. The effects of presstress level of CFRP prestressed prisms and prism material type were studied. The failure mode, load capacity, deflection, CFRP strain, steel strain and ductility of the tested beams were all analyzed. The results showed that the behavior of the reinforced concrete beams strengthened with NSM CFRP prestressed prisms showed a significant increase in the load-carrying capacity and the deformation capacity. The NSM CFRP prestressed prisms strengthening technique could be considered as an effective method for repairing RC structures.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.292-299
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate the inelastic behavior of precast segmental prestressed concrete bridge columns. A computer program, named RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), for the analysis of reinforced concrete structures was used. Material nonlinearity is taken into account by comprising tensile, compressive and shear models of cracked concrete and a model of reinforcing steel. An unbonded tendon element based on the finite element method, that can represent the interaction between tendon and concrete of prestressed concrete member, is used. A joint element is newly developed to predict the inelastic behaviors of segmental joints. The proposed numerical method for the inelastic behavior of precast segmental prestressed concrete bridge columns is verified by comparison with reliable experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2019

This study investigates the flexural behavior of steel-concrete composite beams strengthened with prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. An innovative mechanical anchorage system was developed. The components of the system can be easily assembled on site before applying a prestressing force, and removed from the structures after strengthening is completed. A total of seven steel-concrete composite specimens including four simply supported beams strengthened at the positive moment region and three continuous beams strengthened at the negative moment region were tested statically until failure. Experimental results showed that the use of prestressed CFRP plates enhanced the flexural capacity and reduced the mid-span deflection of the beams. Furthermore, by prestressing the CFRP laminates, the material was used more efficiently, and the crack resistance of the continuous composite specimens at the central support was significantly improved after strengthening. Overall, the anchorage system proved to be practical and feasible for the strengthening of steel-concrete composite beams. The theoretical analysis of ultimate bearing capacity is reported, and good agreement between analytical values and experimental results is achieved.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.3
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• pp.257-267
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• 2019

Expressions for the calculation of ductility index for concrete girders with different ratios of prestressed and classical reinforcement were proposed using load-displacement, load-strain and load-curvature relation. The results of previous experimental static tests of several large-scale concrete girders with different ratio of prestressed and classical reinforcement are briefly presented. Using the proposed expressions, various ductility index of tested girders were calculated and discussed. It was concluded that the ductility of girders decreases approximately linearly by increasing the degree of prestressing. The study presents an expression for the calculation of the average ductility index of classical and prestressed reinforced concrete girders, which are similar to the analysed experimental test girders.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.219-229
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• 2019

This paper presents an experimental study on the structural performance of an innovative ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) deck with coarse aggregate of composite bridge under shear force. Test parameters included curing method and shear span-to-height ratio. Test results indicated that more short fine cracks developed beside the existing cracks due to the randomly dispersed fibers, resulting in re-distributing and homogenizing of the concrete stress beside cracks and allowing for the occurrence of more cracks with small spacing compared to normal strength concrete beams. Curing methods, incorporating steam curing and natural curing, did not have obvious effect on the nominal bending cracking strength and the ultimate strength of the test specimens. Shear reinforcement need not be provided for UHPFRC decks with a fiber volume fraction of 2%. UHPFRC decks showed superior load resistance ability after the appearance of cracks and excellent post-cracking deformability. Lastly, the current shear provisions were evaluated by the test results.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2012

The main objectives of this research were to experimentally evaluate the impact of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) amount and strip spacing on the shear behavior of prestressed concrete (PC) beams and to evaluate the applicability of existing analytical models of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) shear capacity to PC beams shear-strengthened with CFRP. The Ushaped CFRP strips with different spacing were applied externally to the test specimens in order to observe the overall behavior of the prestressed concrete I-beams and the mode of failure of the applied CFRP strips. Results obtained from the experimental program showed that the application of CFRP strips to prestressed concrete I-beams did in fact enhance the overall behavior of the specimens. The strengthened specimens responded with an increase in ductility and in shear capacity. However, it should be noted that the CFRP strips were not effective at all at spacing greater than half the effective depth of the specimen and that fracture of the strips was the dominant failure mechanism of CFRP. Further research is needed to confirm the conclusion derived from the experimental program.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.72-75
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• 2004

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer(CFRP) composites are widely applied to strengthen deteriorated concrete structures. This paper presents the experimental results of the performance of reinforced concrete(RC) beams strengthened with externally prestressed CFRP plates. Simple beams with 3 m span length were tested to investigate the effect of prestressing force of CFRP plates on the flexural behavior of externally strengthened RC beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.315-325
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• 2019

Double skin composite walls offer structural and economic merits over conventional reinforced concrete counterparts in terms of higher capacity, greater stiffness, and better ductility. This paper investigated the axial behavior of double skin composite walls with steel truss connectors. Full-scaled tests were conducted on three specimens with different height-to-thickness ratios. Test results were evaluated in terms of failure mode, load-axial displacement response, buckling loading, axial stiffness, ductility, strength index, load-lateral deflection, and strain distribution. The test data were compared with AISC 360 and Eurocode 4 and it was found that both codes provided conservative predictions on the safe side.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2017

The compression or tension-controlled failure mode of concrete beams prestressed with unbonded FRP tendons is governed by the relative amount of prestressing tendon to the balanced one. Explicit assessment to determine the balanced reinforcement ratio of a beam with unbonded tendons (${\rho}^U_{pfb}$) is difficult because it requires a priori knowledge of the deformed beam geometry in order to evaluate the unbonded tendon strain. In this study, a theoretical evaluation of ${\rho}^U_{pfb}$ is presented based on a concept of three equivalent rectangular curvature blocks for simply supported concrete beams internally prestressed with unbonded carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) tendons. The equivalent curvature blocks were iteratively refined to closely simulate beam rotations at the supports, mid-span beam deflection, and member-dependent strain of the unbonded tendon at the ultimate state. The model was verified by comparing its predictions with the test results. Parametric studies were performed to examine the effects of various parameters on ${\rho}^U_{pfb}$.