• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.593-604
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• 2007

Although composite construction has more mechanical advantages compared to noncomposite construction, the design of noncomposite construction for skew bridges with large skew angels has been often checked because composite construction may cause large stresses in the bridge deck. In this study, the analytical model considered dynamic behaviors for noncomposite skew bridges was proposed. Using the proposed analytical model, the validity of the application of noncomposite construction to skew bridges was checked. Also, the effects of interactions between the concrete deck and steel girders such as composite construction, partial composite construction, and noncomposite construction on the dynamic characteristics and dynamic behaviors of simply supported skew bridges were investigated. A series of parametric studies for the total 27 skew bridges was conducted with respect to parameters such as girder spacing, skew angle, and deck aspect ratio. Although the slip at the interfaces between the concrete deck and steel girders results in the reduction of seismic total base shear in the transverse direction due to period elongation, it causes an undesirable behavior of skew bridges by the modification in mode shapes and distributions of stiffness. Shear connectors placed by minimum requirements for partial composite action have an effect on reducing the girder stresses and deck stresses; except case of some skew bridges, the magnitude of the girder stresses and deck stresses obtained from partial composite skew bridges is similar to or slightly more than those acquired from composite skew bridges.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.511-523
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• 2023

Canal-side roads frequently collapse due to an unexpectedly greater soft-clay thickness with a rapid drawdown situation. This causes annually increased repair and reconstruction costs. This paper aims to explore the effect of soft-clay thickness on the failure in the canal-side road in the case study of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya rural road no. 1043 (AY. 1043). Before the actual construction, a field vane shear test was performed to determine the undrained shear strength and identify the thickness of the soft clay at the AY. 1043 area. After establishing the usability of AY. 1043, the resistivity survey method was used to evaluate the thickness of the soft clay layer at the failure zone. The screw driving sounding test was used to evaluate the undrained shear strength for the road structure with a medium-stiff clay layer at the failure zone for applying to the numerical model. This model was simulated to confirm the effect of soft-clay thickness on the failure of the canal-side road. The monitoring and testing results showed the tendency of rapid drawdown failure when the canal-side road was located on > 9 m thick of soft clay with a sensitivity > 4.5. The result indicates that the combination of resistivity survey and field vane shear test can be successfully used to inspect the soft-clay thickness and sensitivity before construction. The preliminary design for preventing failure or improving the stability of the canal-side road should be considered before construction under the critical thickness and sensitivity values of the soft clay.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.399-409
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• 2015

Recently, the use of composite construction method using precast (PC) and cast-in-place (CIP) concrete is increased in modular construction. For PC members, pre-tensioning is used to improve efficiency of the structural performance. However, current design codes do not clearly define shear strength of prestressed PC-CIP composite members. In this study, 22 specimens were tested to evaluate shear strength of prestressed composite members with vertical shear reinforcement. The test variables were the area ratio of high-strength (60 MPa) to low-strength concrete (24 MPa), prestressing force of strands, shear span-to-depth ratio(a/d), and vertical shear reinforcement ratio. The test results showed the prestressing force did not completely restrain diagonal cracking of non-prestressed concrete in the web. Thus, the effect of prestress force was not insignificant in the effect for monolithic beams. The vertical shear strength and horizontal shear strength of the composite beams were compared with the strength predictions of KCI design method.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.261-266
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• 2017

In this study, to determine the shear properties, experiments on the shear behavior of plain concrete with the high volume fly ash cement by double shear test were performed. Test parameters are fly ash content and concrete compressive strength. Experimental results show the tendency that the shear strength similarly increases with an increase in the compressive strength as is generally known. The concrete shear strength formula proposed in the concrete structural design code of KCI shows a similar tendency to the experimental results, and It is expected that the shear strength of the high volume fly ash cement concrete can be applied with the formula given in the concrete structural design code of KCI. When considering the fly ash content ratio, the shear strength of high volume fly ash cement concrete according to fly ash conctent ratio shows as having a far greater correlation than if it is not considered to fly ash content ratio. So, even though existing code can be appliable for non consideration of the fly ash content ratio, we proposed a formula that is much more relevant than that of concrete structural design code of KCI.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2013

Soils around a pile are highly constrained when the vertical load is applied to the pile. However, the conventional direct shear test cannot evaluate the shear strength of the soils under the normal confinement condition. The goal of this study is to evaluate the shear behaviors according to the normal displacement confinement condition including free normal displacement (FND) and constrained normal displacement (CND) during direct shearing. Jumunjin sands were prepared at the different relative densities and loaded at the different normal stresses. The specimens were sheared according to the normal confinement conditions. Experimental results show that shear strengths obtained by the CND tests are higher than those obtained by the FND tests. In addition, for the constrained normal displacement condition, the increment of shear strength increases with the increase of relative density, while the increment of shear strength decreases with the initial normal stress. This study suggests that the effect of confinement condition on the shear strength should be considered when the stability of constrained soils is analyzed.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.270-283
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• 2024

Purpose: Considering the rising frequency of earthquakes in Korea, it is crucial to revise the rainfall thresholds for landslide triggering following earthquake events. This study was conducted to provide scientific justification and preliminary data for adjusting rainfall thresholds for landslide early warnings after earthquakes through soil physical experiments. Method: The study analyzed the change in soil shear strength by direct shear tests on disturbed and undisturbed samples collected from cut slopes. Also, The study analyzed the soil strength parameters of remolded soil samples subjected to drying and wetting conditions, focusing on the relationship between the degree of saturation after submergence and the strength parameters. Result: Compaction water content variation in direct shear tests showed that higher water content and saturation in disturbed samples led to a significant decrease in cohesion (over 50%) and a reduction in shear resistance angle (1~2°). Additionally, during the ring shear tests, the shear strength was observed to gradually decrease once water was supplied to the shear plane. The maximum shear strength decreased by approximately 65-75%, while the residual shear strength decreased by approximately 53-60%. Conclusion: Seismic activity amplifies landslide risk during subsequent rainfall, necessitating proactive mitigation strategies in earthquake-prone areas. This research is anticipated to provide scientific justification and preliminary data for reducing the rainfall threshold for landslide initiation in earthquake-susceptible regions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.161-173
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• 2020

Shear keys in precast concrete segmental bridges (PCSBs) are usually match-casting which is very labour intensive. In this research, an innovative match-casting-free construction was proposed by leaving small gap between the convex and the concave castellated shear keys in the joints of PCSBs. Specimen experiment, shear strength analysis and numerical simulation were conducted, investigating the loading performance of this new type of dry joints, the gap dry joints. Compared with match-casting joint specimens, it has been found from experiment that shear capacity of gap joint specimens significantly decreased ranging from 17.75% to 42.43% due to only partially constrained and contacted in case of gap dry joints. Through numerical simulation, the effects of bottom contacting location, the heights of the gap and the shear key base were analyzed to investigate strength reduction and methods to enhance shear capacity of gap joint specimens. Numerical results proved that shear capacity of gap dry joints under full contact condition was higher than that under partial contact. In addition, left contact destroyed the integrity of shear keys, resulting in significant strength reduction. Larger shear key base remarkably increased shear capacity of the gap joint. Experimental tests indicated that AASHTO provision underestimated shear capacity of the match-casting dry joint specimens, while the numerical results for the gap dry joint showed that AASHTO provision underestimated shear capacity of full contact specimens, but overestimated that of left contact specimens.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-68
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• 2007

High-strength concrete (HSC) is becoming increasingly attractive for various construction projects since it offers a multitude of benefits over normal-strength concrete (NSC). Unfortunately, current design provisions for shear capacity of RC slender beams are generally based on data developed for NSC members having a compressive strength of up to 50 MPa, with limited recommendations on the use of HSC. The failure of HSC beams is noticeably different than that of NSC beams since the transition zone between the cement paste and aggregates is much denser in HSC. Thus, unlike NSC beams in which micro-cracks propagate around aggregates, providing significant aggregate interlock, micro-cracks in HSC are trans-granular, resulting in relatively smoother fracture surfaces, thereby inhibiting aggregate interlock as a shear transfer mechanism and reducing the influence of compressive strength on the ultimate shear strength of HSC beams. In this study, a new approach based on genetic algorithms (GAs) was used to predict the shear capacity of both NSC and HSC slender beams without shear reinforcement. Shear capacity predictions of the GA model were compared to calculations of four other commonly used methods: the ACI method, CSA method, Eurocode-2, and Zsutty's equation. A parametric study was conducted to evaluate the ability of the GA model to capture the effect of basic shear design parameters on the behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams under shear loading. The parameters investigated include compressivestrength, amount of longitudinal reinforcement, and beam's depth. It was found that the GA model provided more accurate evaluation of shear capacity compared to that of the other common methods and better captured the influence of the significant shear design parameters. Therefore, the GA model offers an attractive user-friendly alternative to conventional shear design methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.671-684
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• 2017

Elastic-plastic shear buckling behaviors of the web-post in a Castellated Steel Beam (CSB) with hexagonal web openings under vertical shear force were investigated further using Finite Element Model (FEM) based on a sub-model, which took the upper part of the web-post under horizontal shear force to represent the whole web-post under vertical shear force. A simplified design method for the web-post elastic-plastic shear buckling strength was proposed based on simulation results of the sub-model. Proper boundary conditions were applied to the sub-model to assure that its behaviors were identical to those of the whole web-post. The equation to calculate the thin plate elastic shear buckling strength was adopted as the basic form to build the design equation for elastic-plastic buckling strength of the sub-model. Parameters that might affect the elastic-plastic shear buckling strength of the whole web-post were studied. After obtaining the vertical shear buckling strength of a sub-model through FEM, the shear buckling coefficient k can be obtained through the back analysis. A practical calculation method for k was proposed through curving fitting the parameter study results. The elastic-plastic shear buckling strength of the web-post calculated using the proposed shear buckling coefficient k agreed well with that obtained from the FEM and test results. And it was more precise than those obtained from EC3 based on the strut model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.679-700
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• 2013

Two new predictive design methods are presented in this study. The first is a hybrid method, called neuro-fuzzy, based on neural networks with fuzzy learning. A total of 280 experimental datasets obtained from the literature concerning concentric punching shear tests of reinforced concrete slab-column connections without shear reinforcement were used to test the model (194 for experimentation and 86 for validation) and were endorsed by statistical validation criteria. The punching shear strength predicted by the neuro-fuzzy model was compared with those predicted by current models of punching shear, widely used in the design practice, such as ACI 318-08, SIA262 and CBA93. The neuro-fuzzy model showed high predictive accuracy of resistance to punching according to all of the relevant codes. A second, more user-friendly design method is presented based on a predictive linear regression model that supports all the geometric and material parameters involved in predicting punching shear. Despite its simplicity, this formulation showed accuracy equivalent to that of the neuro-fuzzy model.