• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.29-44
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• 2010

Vertical vibration tests were conducted using model footings of different size and mass resting on the surface of finite sand layer with different height to width ratios which was underlain by either rigid concrete base, under both dry and saturated condition. The effect of saturation on the damping ratio of finite sand stratum underlain by a rigid base has been verified and compared with the results obtained for the case of finite dry sand stratum underlain by the rigid base. Comparison of results of the experimental study showed that the damping in both the cases is less than 10%. The damping ratio obtained for finite saturated sand stratum is marginally lower than that obtained on finite dry sand stratum at H/B ratio of 0.5. The difference between the two cases becomes significant when the H/B ratio increases to 3.0, indicating the significant influence of soil moisture on damping ratio of foundation- soil system with increase in the thickness of the finite sand stratum. Comparison of the predicted damping ratio for a homogeneous sand stratum with the experimental damping ratio obtained corresponding to the height to width ratio of 3.0 of the finite sand stratum underlain by the rigid concrete base indicates a significant reduction in damping ratio of the foundation-soil system for both the cases.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The main purpose of this study is to develop a high elastic modulus and low-shrinkage roller-compacted concrete base (RCCB) in order to prevent fatigue cracking and reflective cracking in the asphalt surface layer of composite pavement. Using a rigid base material with low shrinkage can be a solution to this problem. Moreover, a strong rigid base with high elastic modulus is able to shift the location of critical tensile strain from the bottom of the asphalt layer to the bottom of the rigid base layer, which can prevent fatigue cracking in the asphalt layer. METHODS : Sensitivity analysis of composite pavement via numerical methods is implemented to determine an appropriate range of elastic modulus of the rigid base that would eliminate fatigue cracking. Various asphalt thicknesses and elastic moduli of the rigid base are used in the analysis to study their respective influences on fatigue cracking. Low-shrinkage RCC mixture, as determined via laboratory testing with various amounts of a CSA expansion agent (0%, 7%, and 10%), is found to achieve an appropriate low-shrinkage level. Shrinkage of RCC is measured according to KS F 2424. RESULTS : This study shows that composite pavements comprising asphalt thicknesses of (h1) 2 in. with E2 > 19 GPa, 4 in. with E2 > 15 GPa, and 6 in. with E2 > 11 GPa are able to eliminate tensile strain in the asphalt layer, which is the cause of fatigue cracking in this layer. Shrinkage test results demonstrate that a 10% CSA RCC mixture can reduce shrinkage by 84% and 93% as compared to conventional RCC and PCC, respectively. CONCLUSIONS : According to the results of numerical analyses using various design inputs, composite pavements are shown to be able to eliminate fatigue cracking in composite pavement. Additionally, an RCC mixture with 10% CSA admixture is able to reduce or eliminate reflective cracking in asphalt surfaces as a result of the significant shrinkage reduction in the RCC base. Thus, this low-shrinkage base material can be used as an alternative solution to distresses in composite pavement.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.219-239
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• 2009

Vertical vibration tests were conducted using model footings of different size and mass resting on the surface of finite sand layer with different height to width ratios and underlain by either rigid concrete base or natural red-earth base. A comparative study of the ratio of predicted and observed natural frequency ratio of the finite sand stratum was made using the calculated values of equivalent stiffness suggested by Gazetas (1983) and Baidya and Muralikrishna (2001). Comparison of results between model footings resting on finite sand stratum underlain by the rigid concrete base and the natural red-earth base showed that, the presence of a finite base of higher rigidity increases the resonant frequency significantly. With increase in H/B ratio beyond 2.0, the influence of both the rigid concrete and natural red-earth base decreases. Increase in the contact area of the footing increases the resonant frequency of the model footings resting on finite sand stratum underlain by both the types of finite bases. Both the predicted and the observed resonant frequency ratio decreases with increase in force rating and height to width ratio for a given series of model footing.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1035-1053
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• 2015

A genetic algorithm-based minimum weight design method is presented for steel frames containing composite beams, semi-rigid connections and column bases. Genetic Algorithms carry out optimum steel frames by selecting suitable profile sections from a specified list including 128 W sections taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). The displacement and stress constraints obeying AISC Allowable Stress Design (ASD) specification and geometric (size) constraints are incorporated in the optimization process. Optimum designs of three different plane frames with semi-rigid beam-to-column and column-to-base plate connections are carried out first without considering concrete slab effects on floor beams in finite element analyses. The same optimization procedures are then repeated for the case of frames with composite beams. A program is coded in MATLAB for all optimization procedures. Results obtained from the examples show the applicability and robustness of the method. Moreover, it is proved that consideration of the contribution of concrete on the behavior of the floor beams enables a lighter and more economical design for steel frames with semi-rigid connections and column bases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.533-543
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• 2000

To prevent major cracking and failure during earthquakes, it is important to design reinforced concrete liquid storage structures, such as water and fuel storage tanks, properly for the hydrodynamic pressure loads caused by seismic excitations. There is a discussion in recent Codes that most of the base shear applied to liquid containment structures is resisted by inplane membrane shear rather than by transverse flexural shear. The purpose of this paper is to underline the importance of the membrane force system in carrying the base shear produced by hydrodynamic pressures in both rectangular and cylindrical tank structures. Only rigid tanks constrained at the base are considered. Analysis is performed for both tall and broad tanks to compare their behavior under seismic excitation. Efforts are made to quantify the percentage of base shear carried by membrane action and the consequent procedures that must be followed for safe design of liquid containing storage structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.165-176
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• 2017

Multi-Axial Testing System (MATS) is a 6-DOF loading system located at National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taiwan for advanced seismic testing of structural components or sub-assemblages. MATS was designed and constructed for a large variety of structural testing, especially for the specimens that require to be subjected to vertical and longitudinal loading simultaneously, such as reinforced concrete columns and lead rubber bearings. Functionally, MATS consists of a high strength self-reacting frame, a rigid platen, and a large number of servo-hydraulic actuators. The high strength self-reacting frame is composed of two post-tensioned A-shape reinforced concrete frames interconnected by a steel-and-concrete composite cross beam and a reinforced concrete reacting base. The specimen can be anchored between the top cross beam and the bottom rigid platen within a 5-meter high and 3.25-meter wide clear space. In addition to the longitudinal horizontal actuators that can be installed for various configurations, a total number of 13 servo-hydraulic actuators are connected to the rigid platen. Degree-of-freedom control of the rigid platen can be achieved by driving these actuators commanded by a digital controller. The specification and information of MATS in detail are described in this paper, providing the users with a technical point of view on the design, application, and limitation of MATS. Finally, future potential application employing advanced experimental technology is also presented in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.430-440
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• 2009

Top-Base Foundation(TBF) was developed in Japan as a factory made concrete product. It is actively used in 6,000 sites by the end of 1980s in Japan and applied for a domestic patent in 1985. It is a shallow foundation whose effectiveness is proven by many relevant researchers and engineers. TBF was introduced to Korea in 1991 and has been applied mainly to architectural structures to date. Currently, the effectiveness in bearing capacity and settlement of TBF is being underestimated for civil engineering structures. Characteristics of Top-Base Foundation studied in Japan and Korea is known as follows: (1) as concrete part and crushed stone behave together, they perform the function of rigid mat; (2) the conical part and pile part of TBF disperses load by interaction with the crushed stone; (3) by preventing lateral strain and differential settlement on lower ground, it improves bearing capacity and constrains settlement at the same time. In Korea, it is used mostly in clayey soft grounds. The formula of bearing capacity and settlement of TBF suggested in Japan give the values of the underestimated. bearing capacity while its settlement is overestimated in comparison with the values measured from the field loading test. Therefore, in this study, the stress delivery mechanism of Top-Base Foundation developed in Japan and Floating Top Base developed in Korea is investigated through numerical analysis and laboratory model test.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.241-246
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• 1996

A new solution for the dynamic analysis of as asphalt concrete pavements under moving loads has been developed. The asphalt concrete pavement can be modeled in elastic or viscoelastic medium of multi-layered structure. The subgrade can be modeled as either a rigid base or a semi-infinite halfspace. The loads may be constant or arbitrary circular loads into one direction. The method utilizes the Complex Response Method of transient analysis with a continuum solution in the horizontal direction and a finite-element solution in the vertical direction. This proposed method incorporates such important factors as wave propagation, inertia and damping effects of the medium as well as frequency-dependent asphalt concrete properties. The proposed method has been validted with the full-scale field truck test, which was conducted on instrumented asphalt concrete section on a test track at PACCAR Technical Center in Mount Vernon, Washington. Comparison with field strain data from full-scale pavement tests has shown excellent agreement. Theoretical results have shown that the effect of vehicle speed is significant and that it is in part due to the frequency-dependent

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.411-424
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• 2018

This study explores the inelastic behavior of systems with flexible base. The use of a single degree of freedom system (ESDOF) with equivalent ductility to represent the response of flexible base systems is discussed. Two different equations to compute equivalent ductility are proposed, one which includes the contribution of rigid body components, and other based on the overstrength of the structure. In order to asses the accuracy of ESDOF approach with the proposed equations, the behavior of a 10-story regular building with reinforced concrete (RC) moment resisting frames is studied. Local and global ductility capacity and demands are used to study the modifications introduced by base flexibility. Three soil types are considered with shear wave velocities of 70, 100 and 250 m/s. Soil-foundation stiffness is included with a set of springs on the base (impedance functions). Capacity curves of the building are computed with pushover analysis. In addition, non linear time history analysis are used to asses the ductility demands. Results show that ductility capacity of the soil-structure system including rigid body components is reduced. Base flexibility does not modify neither yield and maximum base shear. Equivalent ductility estimated with the proposed equations is fits better the results of the numerical model than the one considering elastoplastic behavior. Modification of beams ductility demand due to base flexibility are not constant within the structure. Some elements experience reduced ductility demands while other elements experience increments when flexible base is considered. Soil structure interaction produces changes in the relation between yield strength reduction factor and structure ductility demand. These changes are dependent on the spectral shape and the period of the system with fixed and flexible base.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.159-172
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• 2015

This paper is concerned with effects of the wall flexibility on the seismic behavior of ground-supported cylindrical silos. It is a well-known fact that almost all analytical approximations in the literature to determine the dynamic pressure stemming from the bulk material assume silo structure as rigid. However, it is expected that the horizontal dynamic material pressures can be modified due to varying horizontal extensional stiffness of the bulk material which depends on the wall stiffness. In this study, finite element analyses were performed for six different slenderness ratios according to both rigid and flexible wall approximations. A three dimensional numerical model, taking into account bulk material-silo wall interaction, constituted by ANSYS commercial program was used. The findings obtained from the numerical analyses were discussed comparatively for rigid and flexible wall approximations in terms of the dynamic material pressure, equivalent base shear and bending moment. The numerical results clearly show that the wall flexibility may significantly affects the characteristics behavior of the reinforced concrete (RC) cylindrical silos and magnitudes of the responses under strong ground motions.