• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.305-317
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• 2018

Steel reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) components have been proposed for seismic structural applications, for example in coupling beams, infill panels, joints, columns, and flexural members. The development of strain in the steel reinforcement of cementitious components has been shown to vary based on both the steel reinforcement ratio and the applied deformation history. Strain in the steel reinforcement of reinforced ECC components is an important structural response metric because ultimate failure is often by fracture of the steel reinforcement. A recently proposed bond-slip model has been successfully calibrated to cyclically tested reinforced ECC beams wherein the deformation history contained monotonically increasing cycles. This paper reports simulations of two-dimensional finite element models of reinforced ECC beams to determine the appropriateness and significance of altering a phenomenological bond-slip model based on the applied deformation history. The numerical simulations with various values of post-peak bond-slip softening stiffness are compared to experimental results. Varying the post-peak bond-slip softening stiffness had little effect on the cracking patterns and hysteretic response of the reinforced ECC flexural models tested, which consisted of two different steel reinforcement ratios subjected to two different deformation histories. Varying the post-peak bond-slip softening stiffness did, however, affect the magnitude of strain and the length of reinforcing bar that strain-hardened. Overall, a numerical model with a constant bond-slip model represented well various responses in reinforced ECC beams with multiple steel reinforcement ratios subjected to different deformation histories.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.329-342
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• 2008

The strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) columns by steel angles and strips (steel cage) is one of various techniques available to increase ultimate column load. Different authors have shown the influence of the beam-column joint on the behaviour of columns strengthened by steel cages. This paper presents an experimental study carried out at the Universidad Polit$\acute{e}$cnica de Valencia with the aim of analysing two different techniques to solve the strengthening close to the joint and the influence on the behaviour of RC columns strengthened steel cages. The ultimate loads obtained in the laboratory tests for these two techniques are compared to that specified by Eurocode 4.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.553-558
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• 2010

The behavior of composite piles composed of steel pipe pile in the upper part and concrete pile in the lower part by a mechanical splicing joint was examined by field lateral load tests and bending tests. A total of 7 piles including two instrumented piles for bending test were installed. The soil profile consists of soft clay with weak silt with shallow groundwater level. Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the basic soil characteristics and the strength parameters. This paper presents the composite pile behavior with various portions of the upper steel pile: 0, 20, 30, and 45% of the pile embedded pile length. Three-point bending tests were performed to investigate the stress-strain relation at the mechanical joint. Based on these test results, the behavior of composite piles with various upper steel pile length are evaluated and the stability of mechanical joints are examined. Through comparisons with results of field load tests, it was found that lateral load carrying capacity of the composite piles increased and deflections of the composite piles decreased with increasing the upper steel piles. The mechanical joint was proved to retain its structural stability against the tested load conditions. Economical benefits of composite pile of this kind can be gained by setting adequately the length of the upper steel pipe piles.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-74
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• 2018

Generally, beam-column joints are taken into account as rigid in assessment of seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Experimental and numerical studies have proved that ignoring nonlinearities in the joint core might crucially affect seismic performance of RC structures. On the other hand, to improve seismic behaviour of such structures, several strengthening techniques of beam-column joints have been studied and adopted in practical applications. Among these strengthening techniques, the application of FRP materials has extensively increased, especially in case of exterior RC beam-column joints. In current paper, to simulate the inelastic response in the core of RC beam-column joints strengthened by FRP sheets, a practical joint model has been proposed so that the effect of FRP sheets on characteristics of an RC joint were considered in principal tensile stress-joint rotation relations. To determine these relations, a combination of experimental results and a mechanically-based model has been developed. To verify the proposed model, it was applied to experimental specimens available in the literature. Results revealed that the model could predict inelastic response of as-built and FRP strengthened joints with reasonable precision. The simple analytic procedure and the use of experimentally computed parameters would make the model sufficiently suitable for practical applications.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.19-36
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• 2023

An experimental study of eleven PVC-FRP Confined Concrete (PFCC) column-Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam joints reinforced with Core Steel Tube (CST) under axial compression is carried out. All specimens are designed in accordance with the principle of "weak column and strong joint". The influences of FRP strips spacing, length and steel ratio of CST, height and stirrup ratio of joint on mechanical behavior are investigated. As the design anticipated, all specimens are destroyed by column failure. The failure mode of PFCC column-RC beam joint reinforced with CST is the yielding of longitudinal steel bars, CST and stirrups of column as well as the fracture of FRP strips and PVC tube. The ultimate bearing capacity decreases as FRP strips spacing or joint height increases. The effects of other three studied parameters on ultimate bearing capacity are not obvious. The strain development rules of longitudinal steel bars, PVC tube, FRP strips, column stirrups and CST are revealed. The effects of various studied parameters on stiffness are also examined. Additionally, an influence coefficient of joint height is introduced based on the regression analysis of test data, a theoretical formula for predicting bearing capacity is proposed and it agrees well with test data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.179-200
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• 2008

This paper reports the results of a recent experimental study into the behavior of welded fin-plate connections to both hollow and concrete filled tubular (CFT) columns under shear. Experiments have been performed at both ambient and elevated temperatures with the aid of an electric kiln. The observed failure modes include fracture of the fin plate and tearing out of the tube around the welds. By considering the results of previously published research, the current design method for similar connections under purely tensile load, in CIDECT Guide 9, based on a deformation limit of 3% of the tube width is shown to be inadequate when evaluating the ultimate strength of such connections. By comparing the results from the current test program which failed in the fin-plate with Eurocode guidance for failure of a fin-plate alone under shear and bending load it is shown that the column face influences the overall connection strength regardless of failure mode. Concrete in-fill is observed to significantly increase the strength of connections over empty specimens, and circular column specimens were observed to exhibit greater strength than similarly proportioned square columns. A finite element (F.E.) model, developed using ABAQUS, is presented and validated against the experimental results in order that extensive parametric tests may be subsequently performed. When validating the model against elevated temperature tests it was found that using reduction factors suggested in published research for the specific steel grades improved results over applying the generic Eurocode elevated temperature steel strength reduction factors.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2021

A new type of composite insulated concrete sandwich wall (ICS-wall), which is composed of a triangle truss steel wire network, an insulating layer, and internal and external concrete layers, is proposed. To study the mechanical properties of this new ICS-wall, tensile, compression, and shearing tests were performed on 22 specimens and tensile strength and corrosion resistance tests on 6 triangle truss joints. The variables in these tests mainly include the insulating plate material, the thickness of the insulating plate, the vertical distance of the triangle truss framework, the triangle truss layout, and the connecting mode between the triangle truss and wall and the material of the triangle truss. Moreover, the failure mode, mechanical properties, and bearing capacity of the wall under tensile, shearing, and compression conditions were analyzed. Research results demonstrate that the concrete and insulating layer of the ICS-wall are pulling out, which is the main failure mode under tensile conditions. The ICS-wall, which uses a graphite polystyrene plate as the insulating layer, shows better tensile properties than the wall with an ordinary polystyrene plate. The tensile strength and bearing capacity of the wall can be improved effectively by strengthening the triangle truss connection and shortening the vertical distances of the triangle truss. The compression capacity of the wall is mainly determined by the compression capacity of concrete, and the bonding strength between the wall and the insulating plate is the main influencing factor of the shearing capacity of the wall. According to the tensile strength and corrosion resistance tests of Austenitic stainless steel, the bearing capacity of the triangle truss does not decrease after corrosion, indicating good corrosion resistance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.411-422
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• 2017

In this study, to investigate the seismic performance of beam-column joints using concrete-encased and -filled circular steel tube(CEFT) columns, two types of tests were performed: (1) column - flange tension test and (2) beam - column joint cyclic load test. In column - flange tension test, test parameters were concrete encasement and connection details: flange width and strengthening rebar. Five specimens were tested to investigate the load-carrying capacity and the failure mode. Test results showed that increase of flange width from 200mm to 350mm result in increase of connection strength and stiffness by 61% and 56%, respectively. Structural performances were further improved with addition of tensile rebars by 35% and 92%, respectively. In cyclic loading test, three exterior beam-column joints were prepared. Test parameters were strengthening details including additional tensile rebars, thickened steel tube, and vertical plate connection. In all joint specimens, flexural yielding of beam was occurred with limited damages in the connection regions. In particular, flexural capacity of beam-column joint was increased due to additional load transfer through tube - beam web connection. Also, connection details such as increase of tube thickness and using vertical plate connection were effective in improving the resistance of panel zone.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1193-1203
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• 2016

This paper focuses on the analytical behavior of modular circular concrete-filled tubular (CFT) column with enhanced bracing details. To design a full-scale bridge pier of multiple circular concrete-filled tubes, numerical analysis was used to evaluate structural performance according to load directivity. In previous research (Ma et al. 2012, Shim et al. 2014), low cycle fatigue failure at bracing joints was observed, so enhanced bracing details to prevent premature failure are proposed in this analysis. The main purpose of this research is to investigate seismic performance for the diagonal direction load without premature failure at the joints when the structure reaches the ultimate load. The ABAQUS finite-element software is used to evaluate experimental performance. A quasi-static loading condition on a modular bridge pier is introduced to investigate structural performance. The results obtained from the analysis are evaluated by comparing with load-displacement responses from experiments. The concrete-filled tubes with enhanced bracing details showed higher energy dissipation capacity and proper performance without connection failure for a diagonal load.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.407-421
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• 2022

Prefabricated hybrid wind turbine towers (WTTs) are promising due to height increase. This study proposes the use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) to develop a new type of WTT without the need to use reinforcement. It is demonstrated that the UHPC WTT structure without reinforcing bars could achieve performance similar to that of reinforced concrete WTTs. To simplify the design of WTT, a design approach for the calculation of stresses at the horizontal joints of a WTT is proposed. The stress distribution near the region of the horizontal joint of the WTT structure under normal operating conditions and different load actions is studied using the proposed approach, which is validated by the finite element method. A further parametric study shows that the degree of prestressing and the bending moment both significantly affect the principal stress. The shear-to-torsion ratio also shows a significant influence on the principal tensile stress.