• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.52-61
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• 2021

This study using experimental design and linear regression technique was implemented in order to predict the pitting potential of stainless steel in marine environments, with the target materials being AL-6XN and STS 316L. The various variables (inputs) which affect stainless steel's pitting potential included the pitting resistance equivalent number (PRNE), temperature, pH, Cl^- concentration, sulfate levels, and nitrate levels. Among them, significant factors affecting pitting potential were chosen through an experimental design method (screening design, full factor design, analysis of variance). The potentiodynamic polarization test was performed based on the experimental design, including significant factor levels. From these testing methods, a total 32 polarization curves were obtained, which were used as training data for the linear regression model. As a result of the model's validation, it showed an acceptable prediction performance, which was statistically significant within the 95% confidence level. The linear regression model based on the full factorial design and ANOVA also showed a high confidence level in the prediction of pitting potential. This study confirmed the possibility to predict the pitting potential of stainless steel according to various variables used with experimental linear regression design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.403-417
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• 2022

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for buildings that allow rapid assembly of construction elements, have ample open space areas and are flexible in their final intended use. Accordingly, researchers have developed new competitive structures in terms of cost and efficiency, such as cold-formed steel and timber composite floors, to satisfy these requirements. Cold-formed steel and timber composite floors are light floors with relatively high stiffness, which allow for longer spans. As a result, they inherently have lower fundamental natural frequency and lower damping. Therefore, they are likely to undergo unwanted vibrations under the action of human activities such as walking. It is also quite expensive and complex to implement vibration control measures on problematic floors. In this study, a finite element model of a composite floor reported in the literature was developed and validated against four-point bending test results. The validated FE model was then utilised to examine the vibration behaviour of the investigated composite floor. Predictions obtained from the numerical model were compared against predictions from analytical formulas reported in the literature. Finally, the influence of various parameters on the vibration behaviour of the composite floor was studied and discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.153-173
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• 2023

Rectangular concrete-filled steel tubular (RCFST) column, a type of concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST), is widely used in compression members of structures because of its advantages. This paper proposes a robust machine learning-based framework for predicting the ultimate compressive strength of RCFST columns under both concentric and eccentric loading. The gradient boosting neural network (GBNN), an efficient and up-to-date ML algorithm, is utilized for developing a predictive model in the proposed framework. A total of 890 experimental data of RCFST columns, which is categorized into two datasets of concentric and eccentric compression, is carefully collected to serve as training and testing purposes. The accuracy of the proposed model is demonstrated by comparing its performance with seven state-of-the-art machine learning methods including decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), support vector machines (SVM), deep learning (DL), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and categorical gradient boosting (CatBoost). Four available design codes, including the European (EC4), American concrete institute (ACI), American institute of steel construction (AISC), and Australian/New Zealand (AS/NZS) are refereed in another comparison. The results demonstrate that the proposed GBNN method is a robust and powerful approach to obtain the ultimate strength of RCFST columns.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

In this study, the influence of thermal aging on structural integrity is investigated for Gr. 91 steel. A commercial grade Gr. 91 steel is used for the virgin material, and service-exposed Gr. 91 steel is sampled from a steam pipe of a super critical plant. Time versus creep strain curves are obtained through creep tests with various stress levels at 600 ℃ for the virgin and service-exposed Gr. 91 steels, respectively. Based on the creep test results, the improved Omega model is characterized for describing the total creep strain curve for both Gr. 91 steels. The proposed parameters for creep deformation model are used for predicting the steady-state creep strain rate, creep rupture curve, and stress relaxation. Creep-fatigue damage is evaluated for the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) in a large-scale sodium test facility of STELLA-2 by using creep deformation model with proposed creep parameters and creep rupture curve for both Gr. 91 steels. Based on the comparison results of creep fatigue damage for the virgin and service-exposed Gr. 91 steels, the thermal aging effect has been shown to be significant.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.10 no.3 s.36
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• pp.339-353
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• 1998

In this paper, the previous damage models for structures and their components under seismic repeated loading were reviewed systematically. A failure criterion for steel members under severe cyclic excitations as in strong earthquakes was described. A new approach to seismic damage assessment for steel members was proposed. This method was based on a series of the experimental and numerical investigations for steel members under very low cyclic loading. In this study, very low cyclic loading means repetitive loading, 5 to 20 loading cycles, within the large plastic range. The proposed damage assessment method was focused on the local strain history at the cross-section of the most severe concentration of deformation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.377-391
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• 2020

A concrete filled steel tube (CFT) column with stiffeners has preferable behavior subjected to axial loading condition due to delay local buckling of the steel wall than traditional CFT columns without stiffeners. Welding lines in welded built-up steel box columns is expected to behave as longitudinal stiffeners. This study has presented a numerical investigation into the behavior of built-up concrete filled steel tube columns under axial pressure. At first stage, a finite element model (FE) has been built to simulate the behavior of built-up CFT columns. Comparing the results of FE and test has shown that numerical model passes the desired conditions and could accurately predict the axial performance of CFT column. Also, by the raise of steel tube thickness, the load bearing capacity of columns has been increased due to higher confinement effect. Also, the raise of concrete strength with greater cross section is led to a higher load bearing capacity compared to the steel tube thickness increment. In CFT columns with greater cross section, concrete strength has a higher influence on load bearing capacity which is noticeable in columns with more welding lines.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.91-108
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• 2014

This paper presents a nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) in order to investigate the flexural performance of one-way slabs strengthened by epoxy-bonded steel plates. Four point loading scheme is selectively chosen. A model is developed to implement the material constitutive relationships and non-linearity. Five Slabs were modeled in FEM software using ABAQUS. One slab was unstrengthened control slab and the others were strengthened with steel plates with varying the plate thickness and configuration. In order to verify the accuracy of the numerical model, a comparison was done between the experimental results available in the literature and the proposed equations by ACI 318-11 for the calculation of ultimate load capacities of strengthened slabs, the agreement has proven to be good and FEA attained accurate results compared with ACI code. A parametric study was also carried out to investigate the influence of thickness of steel plate, strength of epoxy layer and type of strengthening plate on the performance of plated slabs. Also, the practical and technical feasibility of splitting the steel plate in strengthening process has been taken into account. For practical use, the author recommended to use bonded steel plate as one unit rather than splitting it to parts, because this saves more effort and reduces the risk of execution errors as in the case of multiple bonded parts. Both techniques have nearly the same effect upon the performance of strengthened slabs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.109-120
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• 2017

The behavior of moment resistant steel structures depends on both the beam-column connections and columns foundations connections. Obviously, if the connections can meet the adequate ductility and resistance against lateral loads, the seismic capacity of these structures will be linked practically to the performance of these connections. The shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been most recently used as a means of energy dissipation in buildings. The main approach adopted by researchers in the use of such alloys is firstly bracing, and secondly connecting the beams to columns. Additionally, the behavior of these alloys is modeled in software applications rarely involving equivalent torsional springs and column-foundation connections. This paper attempts to introduce the shape memory alloys and their applications in steel structural connections, proposing a new steel column-foundation connection, not merely a theoretical model but practically a realistic and applicable model in structures. Moreover, it entails the same functionality as macro modeling software based on real behavior, which can use different materials to establish a connection between the columns and foundations. In this paper, the suggested steel column-foundation connection was introduced. Moreover, exploring the seismic dynamic behavior under cyclic loading protocols and the famous earthquake records with different materials such as steel and interconnection equipment by superelastic shape memory alloys have been investigated. Then, the results were compared to demonstrate that such connections are ideal against the seismic behavior and energy dissipation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.517-536
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• 2016

Thick steel plate is commonly found with mega steel structures but its properties have not been fully explored. Grade Q345GJ-C steel plate with thickness ranging from 60 mm to 120 mm are studied in this paper. Both the static and cyclic performance of material in different directions (horizontal and through-thickness directions) and locations (outer surface, 1/4 thickness and mid-depth) are experimentally obtained. The accumulative damage during cyclic loading is also calculated by using bilinear mixed hardening (BMH) constitutive relationship together with the Lemaitre's damage model. Results show that the static properties are better at the outer surface of thick steel plates than those at mid-depth. Properties in through-thickness direction are similar to those at mid-depth in the horizontal direction. The cyclic performance at different locations of a given plate is similar within the range of strain amplitude studied. However, when damage parameters identified from monotonic tensile tests are included in the numerical simulation of cyclic loading tests, damage is found accumulating faster at mid-depth than close to outer surface.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.527-552
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• 2014

The development of modern concrete technology makes it much easier to produce high-strength concrete (HSC) or ultra-high-strength concrete (UHSC) with high workability. However, the application of this concrete is limited in practical construction of traditional reinforced concrete (RC) structures due to low-ductility performance. To further push up the limit of the design concrete strength, concrete-filled-steel-tube (CFST) columns have been recommended considering its superior strength and ductility performance. However, the beneficial composite action cannot be fully developed at early elastic stage as steel dilates more than concrete and thereby reducing the elastic strength and stiffness of the CFST columns. To resolve this problem, external confinement in the form of steel rings is proposed in this study to restrict the lateral dilation of concrete and steel. In this paper, a total of 29 high-strength CFST (HSCFST) columns of various dimensions cast with concrete strength of 75 to 120 MPa concrete and installed with external steel rings were tested under uni-axial compression. From the results, it can be concluded that the proposed ring installation can further improve both strength and ductility of HSCFST columns by restricting the column dilation. Lastly, an analytical model calculating the uni-axial strength of ring-confined HSCFST columns is proposed and verified based on the Von-Mises and Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria for steel tube and in-filled concrete, respectively.