• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.195-209
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• 2020

This study investigates the behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with hybrid macro-micro steel and macro steel-polypropylene (PP) fibers. Compression, direct and indirect tension tests were carried out on cubic and cylindrical, dogbone and prismatic specimens, respectively. Three types of macro steel fibers, i.e., round crimped (RC), crimped (C), and hooked (H) were combined with micro steel (MS) and PP fibers in overall ratios of 2% by volume. Additionally, numerical analyses were performed to validate the test results. Parameters studied included, fracture energy, tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength, and residual strength. Tests showed that replacing PP fibers with MS significantly improves all parameters particularly flexural strength (17.38 MPa compared to 37.71 MPa). Additionally, the adopted numerical approach successfully captured the flexural load-deflection response of experimental beams. Lastly, the proposed regression model for the flexural load-deflection curve compared very well with experimental results, as evidenced by its coefficient of correlation (R²) of over 0.90.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.585-599
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• 2016

Steel cables serve as the key structural components in long-span bridges, and the force state of the steel cable is deemed to be one of the most important determinant factors representing the safety condition of bridge structures. The disadvantages of traditional cable force measurement methods have been envisaged and development of an effective alternative is still desired. In the last decade, the vision-based sensing technology has been rapidly developed and broadly applied in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM). With the aid of vision-based multi-point structural displacement measurement method, monitoring of the tensile force of the steel cable can be realized. In this paper, a novel cable force monitoring system integrated with a multi-point pattern matching algorithm is developed. The feasibility and accuracy of the developed vision-based force monitoring system has been validated by conducting the uniaxial tensile tests of steel bars, steel wire ropes, and parallel strand cables on a universal testing machine (UTM) as well as a series of moving loading experiments on a scale arch bridge model. The comparative study of the experimental outcomes indicates that the results obtained by the vision-based system are consistent with those measured by the traditional method for cable force measurement.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.357-374
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• 2015

Orthotropic decks composed of deck plate, ribs, cross beams and wearing surface are frequently used in industry to span long distances due to their light structures and load carrying capacities. As a result they are broadly preferred in industry and there are a lot of bridges of this type exist in the world. Nevertheless, some of them cannot sustain the anticipated service life and damages in form of cracks develop in steel components and wearing surface. Main reason to these damages is seen as the repetitive wheel loads, namely the fatigue loading. Solutions to this problem could be divided into two categories: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative solutions may be new design methodologies or innovative materials, whereas quantitative solution should be arranging dimensions of deck structure in order to resist wheel loads till the end of service life. Wearing surface on deck plate plays a very important role to avoid or mitigate these damages, since it disperses the load coming on deck structure and increases the bending stiffness of deck plate by forming a composite structure together with it. In this study the effect of Elastic moduli, Poisson ratio and thickness of wearing surface on the stresses emerged in steel deck and wearing surface itself is investigated using a FE-model developed to analyze orthotropic steel bridges.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.337-352
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• 2021

The study presented experimental and numerical investigation on the seismic performance of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) L-shaped column- reinforced concrete (RC) beam joints. Various parameters described as steel configuration form, axial compressive ratio, loading angle, and the existence of slab were examined through 4 planar joints and 7 spatial joints. The characteristics of the load-displacement response included the bearing capacity, ductility, story drift ratio, energy-dissipating capacity, and stiffness degradation were analyzed. The results showed that shear failure and flexural failure in the beam tip were observed for planar joints and spatial joint, respectively. And RC joint with slab failed with the plastic hinge in the slab and bottom of the beam. The results indicated that hysteretic curves of spatial joints with solid-web steel were plumper than those with hollow-web specimens. The capacity of planar joints was higher than that of space joints, while the opposite was true for energy-dissipation capacity and ductility. The high compression ratio contributed to the increase in capacity and initial stiffness of the joint. The elastic and elastic-plastic story deformation capacity of L-shaped column frame joints satisfied the code requirement. A design formula of joint shear resistance based on the superposition theory and equilibrium plasticity truss model was proposed for engineering application.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.141-156
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• 2019

This paper presents the flexural behaviour of stainless steel beam-to-tubular column joints with extended endplates subjected to static loading. Moment-rotation relationships were investigated numerically by using Abaqus software with geometric and material nonlinearity considered. The prediction of damages among components was achieved through ductile damage models, and the influence of initial geometric imperfections and residual stresses was evaluated in large fabricated stainless steel joints involving hollow columns and concrete-filled columns. Parametric analysis was subsequently conducted to assess critical factors that could affect the flexural performance significantly in terms of the initial stiffness and moment resistance. A comparison between codes of practice and numerical results was thereafter made, and design recommendations were proposed for further applications. Results suggest that the finite element model can predict the structural behaviour reasonably well with the component damage consistent with test outcomes. Initial geometric imperfections and residual stresses are shown to have little effect on the moment-rotation responses. A series of parameters that can influence the joint behaviour remarkably include the strain-hardening exponents, stainless steel strength, diameter of bolts, thickness of endplates, position of bolts, section of beams and columns. AS/NZS 2327 is more reliable to predict the joint performance regarding the initial stiffness and moment capacity compared to EN 1993-1-8.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.527-538
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• 2018

Buckling of longitudinal bars is a brittle failure mechanism, often recorded in reinforced concrete (RC) structures after an earthquake. Studies in the literature highlights that it often occurs when steel is in the post elastic range, by inducing a modification of the engineered stress-strain law of steel in compression. A proper evaluation of this effect is of fundamental importance for correctly evaluating capacity and ductility of structures. Significant errors can be obtained in terms of ultimate bending moment and curvature ductility of an RC section if these effects are not accounted, as well as incorrect evaluations are achieved by non-linear static analyses. This paper presents a numerical investigation aiming to evaluate the engineered stress-strain law of reinforcing steel in compression, including second order effects. Non-linear FE analyses are performed under the assumption of local buckling. A role of key parameters is evaluated, making difference between steel with strain hardening or with perfectly plastic behaviour. Comparisons with experimental data available in the literature confirm the accuracy of the achieved results and make it possible to formulate recommendations for design purposes. Finally, comparisons are made with analytical formulations available in the literature and based on obtained results, a modification of the stress-strain law model of Dhakal and Maekawa (2002) is proposed for fitting the numerical predictions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.189-198
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• 2019

This paper aims to study the mechanical performance of three-tower four-span suspension bridges with steel truss girders, including the static and dynamic characteristics of the bridge system, and more importantly, the influence of structural parameters including the side-main span ratio, sag-to-span ratio and the girder stiffness on key mechanical indices. For this purpose, the Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge which is a three-tower four-span suspension bridge with two main spans of 800m under construction in China is taken as an example in this study. This will be the first three-tower suspension bridge with steel truss girders in the world. The mechanical performance study and parametric analysis are conducted based on a validated three-dimensional spatial truss finite element model established for the Oujiang River North Estuary Bridge using MIDAS Civil. It is found that a relatively small side-main span ratio seems to be quite appropriate from the perspective of mechanical performance. And decreasing the sag-to-span ratio is an effective way to reduce the horizontal force subjected to the midtower and improve the antiskid safety of the main cable, while the vertical stiffness of the bridge will be reduced. However, the girder stiffness is shown to be of minimal significance on the mechanical performance. The findings from this paper can be used for design of three-tower suspension bridges with steel truss girders.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.521-536
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• 2019

The mechanical response of concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns subjected to pure compression or uniaxial bending was studied in depth over the last decades. However, the available research results on CFST columns under biaxial bending are still scarce and the lack of experimental tests for this loading situation is evident. At the same time, the design provisions in Eurocode 4 Part 1.1 for verifying the stability of CFST columns under biaxial bending make use of a simplistic interaction curve, which needs to be revised. This paper presents the outcome of a numerical investigation on slender CFST columns subjected to biaxial bending. Eccentricities differing in minor and major axis, as well as varying end moment ratios are considered in the numerical model. A parametric study is conducted for assessing the current design guidelines of EN1994-1-1. Different aspect ratios, member slenderness, reinforcement ratios and load eccentricities are studied, covering both constant and variable bending moment distribution. The numerical results are subsequently compared to the design provisions of EN1994-1- 1, showing that the current interaction equation results overly conservative. An alternative interaction equation is developed by the authors, leading to a more accurate yet conservative proposal.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1139-1152
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• 2018

Many studies on the application of stainless steels as structural materials in buildings and infra-structures have been performed thanks to superior characteristics of corrosion resistance, fire resistance and aesthetic appeal. Experimental investigation to estimate the ultimate strength and fracture mode of the fillet-welded connections of cold-formed austenitic stainless steel (STS304L) with better intergranular corrosion resistance than that of austenitic stainless steel, STS304 commonly used has carried out by authors. Specimens were fabricated to fail by base metal fracture not weld metal fracture with main variables of weld lengths according to loading direction. All specimens showed a block shear fracture mode. In this paper, finite element analysis model was developed to predict the ultimate behaviors of welded connection and its validity was verified through the comparison with test results. Since the block shear behavior of welded connection due to stress triaxiality and shear-lag effects is different from that of bolted connection, stress and strain distributions in the critical path of tensile and shear fracture section were investigated. Test and analysis strengths were compared with those by current design specifications such as AISC, EC3 and existing researcher's proposed equations. In addition, through parametric analysis with extended variables, the conditions of end distance and longitudinal weld length for block shear fracture and tensile fracture were suggested.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1431-1439
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• 2018

For floating buildings may fl oat on the water for a long time, they are constantly affected by various environmental loads such as wind and wave loads. In this study to find the wave effect on the floating building, five models are designed using steel moment resisting frame. It is assumed that the lower part of the floating building is a reinforced concrete pontoon, while the upper part is a three-story steel frame. To analyze floating buildings affected by wind and wave loads, hydro-dynamic and substructure analysis are performed. As input loads, this study set limits that the mean wind velocity is 35 m/s and the significant wave height is 0.5 m for the residential building. From the hydrodynamic analysis, the time-history acceleration of building is obtained and transformed into a base ground input for a substructure analysis of the superstructure of the building. Finally the mean of the maximum from 30 dynamic analysis of the floating buildings are used to be compared with the results of the same model on the ground. It was shown that the dynamic results with wind and wave loads are not always lesser than the static results which are calculated with static equivalent wind load for a building that is located on the ground.