• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.493-502
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• 2022

In recent decades, infrastructural development has exploded, particularly in the coastal region of Saudi Arabia. The rising demand of most consumed aggregate in construction can be effectively compensated by the alternative material like scoria which lavishly exists in the western region. Scoria is characterized as lightweight aggregate beneficially used to develop lightweight concrete (LWC) - a potential alternative of normal weight concrete (NWC) ensuring reduction in the structural element's size, increase in building height, comparatively lighter foundation, etc. Hence, the goal of this study is to incorporate scoria-based structural lightweight concrete and evaluate its impact on superstructure and foundation design beside contributing to the economy of construction. Fresh, mechanical, and rheological properties of the novel LWC have been investigated. The structural analyses employ the NWC as well as LWC based structures under seismic and wind loadings. The commercial finite element package - ETABS was employed to find out the change in structural responses and foundations. The cost estimation and SWOT analysis for superstructure and foundation have also been carried out. It was revealed that the developed LWC enabled a more flexible structural design. Notable reduction in the steel and concrete prices of LWC might be possible in the low-rise building. It is postulated that the cost-effective and eco-friendly LWC will promote the usage of scoria as an effective alternative in Saudi Arabia and GCC countries for structurally viable LWC construction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2023

Due to high application of concrete structures in construction industry, however, the quality improvement is essential. One of the new ways for this purpose is adding the nanoparticles to the concrete. In this work, vibration analysis of concrete beams reinforced by graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles based on mathematical model has been investigated. For the accuracy of the presented model, the experimental study is done for comparing the compressive strength. Since the nanoparticles can not be solved in water without any specific process, at the first, GO nanoparticles should be dispersed in water by using shaker, magnetic striker, ultrasonic devices and finally mechanical mixer. For modelling of the strucuture, sinusoidal shear deformation beam theory (SSDBT) is utilized. Mori-Tanak model model is utilized for obtaining the effective properties of the beam including agglomeration influences. Utilizing the energy method and Hamilton's principal, the motion equations are calculated. The frequency of the concrete beam is obtanied by analytical method. Three samples with 0.02% GO nanoparticles are built and its compressive strength is compared which shows a good accuracy with maximum 1.29% difference with mathematical model and other papers. The aim of this work from the theoretical study is investigating the effects of nanoparticles volume percentage and agglomeration, length and thickness of the beam on the frequency of the structure. The results show that the with enhancing the GO nanoparticles, the frequency is increased. For example, with enhancing the volume percent of GO nanoparticles from zero to 0.08%, the compressive strength is increased 48.91%. and 46.83%, respectively for two cases of with and without agglomeration.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.419-434
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• 2024

A flat slab is a structural system where columns directly support it without the presence of beam elements. However, despite its wide advantages, this structural system undergoes a major deficiency where stresses are concentrated around the column perimeter, resulting in the progressive collapse of the entire structure as a result of losing the shear transfer mechanisms at the cracked interface. Predicting the punching shear capacity of RC flat slabs is a challenging problem where the factors contributing to the overall slab strength vary broadly in their significance and effect extent. This study proposed a new expression for predicting the slab's capacity in punching shear using a nonuniform concrete tensile stress distribution assumption to capture, as well as possible, the induced strain effect within a thick RC flat slab. Therefore, the overall punching shear capacity is composed of three parts: concrete, aggregate interlock, and dowel action contributions. The factor of the shear span-to-depth ratio (a_v/d) was introduced in the concrete contribution in addition to the aggregate interlock part using the maximum aggregate size. Other significant factors were considered, including the concrete type, concrete grade, size factor, and the flexural reinforcement dowel action. The efficiency of the proposed model was examined using 86 points of published experimental data from 19 studies and compared with five code standards (ACI318, EC2, MC2010, CSA A23.3, and JSCE). The obtained results revealed the efficiency and accuracy of the model prediction, where a covariance value of 4.95% was found, compared to (13.67, 14.05, 15.83, 19.67, and 20.45) % for the (ACI318, CSA A23.3, MC2010, EC2, and JSCE), respectively.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.313-328
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• 2016

Beam-column joints are recognized as one of the most critical and vulnerable zones of a Reinforced Concrete (RC) moment resisting structure subjected to seismic loads. The performance of the deficient beam-column joints can be improved by retrofitting these joints by jacketing them with varied materials like concrete, steel, FRP and ferrocement. In the present study strength behavior of RCC exterior beam-column joints, initially loaded to a prefixed percentage of the ultimate load, and retrofitted using ferrocement jacketing using two different wrapping schemes has been studied and presented. In retrofitting scheme, RS-I, wire mesh is provided in L shape at top and at bottom of the beam-column joint, whereas, in scheme RS-II along with wire mesh in L shape at top and bottom wire mesh is also provided diagonally to the joint. The results of these retrofitted beam-column joints have been compared with those of the controlled joint specimens. The results show an improvement in the ultimate load carrying capacity and yield load of the retrofitted specimens. However, no improvement in the ductility and energy absorption has been observed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.190-202
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• 2009

With the increasing demand for blasting demolition in urban areas, the simulation of structural collapse prior to the real blasting operation is a key process for ensuring the success and safety of the blasting demolition. The simulation of collapsing behavior of a structure is not only vital for preventing unexpected economic loss and casualties, but also helpful in minimizing public claims by precisely estimating the environmental impact resulting from the operation. This study proposes a new technique for simulation of a blast demolition using FEM based LS-DYNA codes. The technique tries to simplify the complex arrangement of reinforcing bars, and use the actual properties of the concrete and steel reinforcing bars, thereby improving the overall capability of the simulation to match well with the collapsing behavior of real-scale structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.311-325
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• 2011

Nowadays, many engineers believe that hybrid structures with reinforced concrete central core walls and perimeter steel frames offer an economical method to develop the strength and stiffness required for seismic design. As a result, a variety of such structures have recently been applied in actual construction. However, the performance-based seismic design of such structures has not been investigated systematically. In the performance-based seismic design, quantifying the seismic damage of complete structures by damage indices is one of the fundamental issues. Four damage states and the final softening index at each state for high-rise hybrid structures are suggested firstly in this paper. Based on nonlinear dynamic analysis, the relation of the maximum inter-story drift, the main structural characteristics, and the final softening index is obtained. At the same time, the relation between the maximum inter-story drift and the maximum roof displacement over the height is also acquired. A double-variable index accounting for maximum deformation and cumulative energy is put forward based on the pushover analysis. Finally, a case study is conducted on a high-rise hybrid structure model tested on shaking table before to verify the suggested quantities of damage indices.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.339-347
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• 2022

Retrofitting in reinforced concrete structures has been one of the most important research topics in recent years. There are several methods for retrofitting RC moment-resisting frames. the most important of which is the use of steel bracing systems with yielding dampers. With a proper design of yielding dampers, the stiffness of RC frame systems can be increased to the required extent so that the ductility of the structure is not significantly reduced. In the present study, two experimental samples of a one-third scale RC moment-resisting frame were loaded in the laboratory. In these experiments, the retrofitting effect of RC frames was investigated using Non-uniform Slit Dampers (NSDs). Based on the experimental results of the samples, seismic parameters, i.e., stiffness, ductility, ultimate strength, strength reduction coefficient, and energy dissipation capacity, were compared. The results demonstrated that the retrofitted frame had very significant growth in terms of stiffness, ultimate strength, and energy dissipation capacity. Although the strength reduction factor and ductility decreased in the retrofitted sample. In general, the behavior of the frame with NSDs was evaluated better than the bare frame.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.563-577
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• 2022

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of a new seismic enhancement method for existing reinforced concrete (RC) frames by using an external sub-structure, the hybrid seismic retrofit method (HSRM) system. This retrofit system is an H-shaped frame bolt-connected to an existing RC frame with an infilled-concrete layer between their gaps. Two RC frames were built, one with and one without HSRM, and tested under cyclic loading. The experimental findings showed that the retrofitted RC frame was superior to the non-retrofitted specimen in terms of initial stiffness, peak load, and energy dissipation capacity. A numerical simulation using a commercial program was employed for verification with the experiments. The results obtained from the simulations were consistent with those from the experiments, indicating the finite element (FE) models can simulate the seismic behaviors of bare RC frame and retrofitted RC frame using HSRM.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.555-562
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• 2022

Improving the mechanical properties of concrete in the construction industry in order to increase resistance to dynamic and static loads is one of the essential topics for researchers. In this work, vibration analysis of elastic nanocomposite beams reinforced by nanoparticles based on mathematical model is presented. For modelling of the strucuture, sinusoidal shear deformation beam theory (SSDBT) is utilized. Mori-anak model model is utilized for obtaining the effective properties of the strucuture including agglomeration influences. Utilizing the energy method and Hamilton's principal, the motion equations are calculated. The frequency of the elastic nanocomposite beam is obtanied by analytical method. The aim of this work is investigating the effects of nanoparticles volume percent and agglomeration, length and thickness of the beam on the frequency of the structure. The results show that the with enhancing the nanoparticles volume percent, the frequency is increased. In addition, the water absorption of the concrete is presented in this article.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.162-171
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• 2023

In this study, The details for a seismic adapter designed to easily connect concrete structures and reinforcement materials for the in-plane reinforcement of aged structures were proposed. Proposed seismic adapter was tested for performance using a dynamic simulation on a 2-story column-beam structure, scaled to half of the real size. The experimental results showed that the reinforced test specimens using the seismic adapter improved their energy dissipation capacity by 3.5 times compared to the non-reinforced specimens. It was confirmed that the seismic adapter experienced no damage within its general usage range, thus proving its effectiveness. Subsequently, upon loading until the limit of deformation (a deformation angle of 3.3%), it was observed that one of the M10 bolts connecting the adapter and the reinforcement at the lower part of the first floor broke. Considering this finding, when applying seismic retrofitting in real situations, emphasis should be placed on the design of the bolts and anchors connecting the seismic adapter. This aspect warrants further research for validation.