• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2020

Retrofitting is an alteration of existing member or component of the structure. In civil engineering point of view, it is called strengthening of the old structure. Deterioration of structures may be due to aging, corrosion, failure of joints, earthquake forces, increase in service loads, etc. Such structures need urgent repair, retrofitting and strengthening to avoid collapse, cracking and loss in strength or deflection. Advanced techniques are required to be developed for the repair of structural components to replace conventional techniques. This paper focuses exclusively on torsional behaviour of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams and retrofitted RC beams wrapped with aramid fiber. Beams were retrofitted with aramid fiber by full wrapping and in the form of 150 mm wide strips at a spacing of 100 mm, 150 mm, 200 mm respectively using epoxy resin and hardener. A total 15 numbers of RC beams of 150 mm×300 mm×1300 mm in size were cast, 3 beams are tested as control specimens, and 12 beams are tested for torsion up to the failure and then retrofitted with aramid fiber. Experimental results are validated with the help of data obtained by finite element analysis using ANSYS. The full wrapping configuration of aramid fiber regains 105% strength after retrofitting. With the increase in spacing of fabric material, torsional strength reduces to 82% with about 45% saving in material.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.181-199
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• 2014

The infill walls, whose contribution to the earthquake resistance of a structure is generally ignored due to their limited lateral rigidities, constitute a part of the lateral load bearing system of an RC frame structure. A common method for improving the earthquake behavior of RC frame structures is increasing the contribution of the infill walls to the overall lateral rigidity by strengthening them through different techniques. The present study investigates the influence of externally bonded perforated steel plates on the load capacities, rigidities, and ductilities of hollow brick infill walls. For this purpose, a reference (unstrengthened) and twelve strengthened specimens were subjected to monotonic diagonal compression. The experiments indicated that the spacing of the bolts, connecting the plates to the wall, have a more profound effect on the behavior of a brick wall compared to the thickness of the strengthening plates. Furthermore, an increase in the plate thickness was shown to result in a considerable improvement in the behavior of the wall only if the plates are connected to the wall with closely-spaced bolts. This strengthening technique was found to increase the energy absorption capacities of the walls between 4 and 14 times the capacity of the reference wall. The strengthened walls reached ultimate loads 30-160% greater than the reference wall and all strengthened walls remained intact till the end of the test.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.487-502
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• 2022

China is prone to earthquake disasters, and the higher seismic performance is required by many existing civil buildings. And seismic evaluation and retrofit are effective measures to mitigate seismic hazards. With the development of performance-based seismic design and diverse retrofit technology for buildings, advanced evaluation methods and retrofit strategies are in need. In this paper, we introduced the evolution of seismic performance objectives in China combined with performance-based seismic design. Accordingly, multi-phase evaluation methods and comprehensive seismic capacity assessment are introduced. For buildings with seismic deficiency or higher performance requirements, the retrofit technologies are categorized into three types: component strengthening, system optimization, and passive control. Both engineering property and social property for the retrofit methods are discussed. The traditional seismic retrofit methods usually are costly and disturbing, and for example in Beijing, seismic strengthening costs approx. 1000 RMB/m² (for 160 USD/m²), for hospital building even more expensive as 5000 RMB/m²(for 790 USD/m²). So cost-efficient and little disturbance methods are promising techniques. In the end, some opinions about the retrofit strategy and schemes category are shared and wish to discuss the situation and future of seismic retrofit in China.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1455-1457
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• 2008

Cell adhesion is a coordinated process involving initial binding of integrin receptors to extracellular matrix (ECM), recruitment of adhesion proteins, and focal adhesion assembly. The formation of mechanically stable focal adhesion assembly of cells within surrounding ECM is a key parameter to direct numerous cellular functions including cell migration, differentiation, and apotosis. With current cell adhesion assays, it is difficult to understand contributions of each coordinated event on evolution of cell adhesion strengthening since cells spontaneously spread upon their adhesion to the substrate, thus remodeling their cytoskeletal structure. In this presentation, novel approaches for analysis of cell adhesion strengthening process based on the combination of mechanical device, micro-patterned substrates, and molecular biological techniques will be discussed.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2021

Fiber-reinforced polymer reinforcement or polyurea reinforcement techniques are applied to strengthen unreinforced masonry walls (UMWs). The out-of-plane reinforcing effect of sprayed glass fiber-reinforced polyurea (GFRPU), which is a composite elastomer made of polyurea and milled glass fibers on UMW, is experimentally verified. The out-of-plane strengths and ductile behaviors based on various coating shapes are compared in this study. An empirical formula to describe the degree of reinforcement on the out-of-plane strength of the UMW is derived based on the experimental results. It is reported that the peak load-carrying capacity, ductility, and energy absorption capacity gradually improve with an increase in the strengthening degree or area. Compared with the existing masonry wall reinforcement method, the GFRPU technique is a construction method that can help improve the safety performance along with ease of construction and economic efficiency.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.645-658
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• 2018

Despite being one of the most abundantly used construction materials because of its exceptional properties, concrete is susceptible to deterioration and damage due to various factors particularly corrosion, improper loading, poor workmanship and design discrepancies, and as a result concrete structures require retrofitting and strengthening. In recent times, Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have substituted the conventional techniques of retrofitting and strengthening of damaged concrete. Most of the research studies related to concrete strengthening using FRP have been performed on undamaged test specimens. This contribution presents the results of an experimental study in which concrete specimens were damaged by mechanical loading and elevated temperature in laboratory prior to application of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheets for strengthening. The test specimens prepared using concrete of target compressive strength of 28 MPa at 28 days were subjected to compressive and splitting tensile testing up to failure and the intact pieces of the failed specimens were collected for the purpose of repair. In order to induce damage as a result of elevated temperature, the concrete cylinders were subjected to $400^{\circ}C$ and $800^{\circ}C$ temperature for two hours duration. Concrete cylinders damaged under compressive and split tensile loads were re-cast using concrete and rich cement-sand mortar, respectively and then strengthened using CFRP wrap. Concrete cylinders damaged due to elevated temperature were also strengthened using CFRP wrap. Re-cast and strengthened concrete cylinders were tested in compression and splitting tension. The obtained results revealed that re-casting of specimens damaged by mechanical loadings using concrete & mortar, and then strengthened by single layer CFRP wrap exhibited strength even higher than their original values. In case of specimens damaged by elevated temperature, the results indicated that concrete strength is significantly dropped and strengthening using CFRP wrap made it possible to not only recover the lost strength but also resulted in concrete strength greater than the original value.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.623-643
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• 2013

Concrete filled steel tubular members (CFST) become a popular choice for modern building construction due to their numerous structural benefits and at the same time aging of those structures and member deterioration are often reported. Therefore, actions like implement of new materials and strengthening techniques become essential to combat this problem. The application of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) with concrete structures has been widely reported whereas researches related to strengthening of steel structures using fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) have been limited. The main objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the suitability of CFRP to strengthening of CFST members under flexure. There were three wrapping schemes such as Full wrapping at the bottom (fibre bonded throughout entire length of beam), U-wrapping (fibre bonded at the bottom throughout entire length and extended upto neutral axis) and Partial wrapping (fibre bonded in between loading points at the bottom) introduced. Beams strengthened by U-wrapping exhibited more enhancements in moment carrying capacity and stiffness compared to the beams strengthened by other wrapping schemes. The beams of partial wrapping exhibited delamination of fibre and were failed even before attaining the ultimate load of control beam. The test results showed that the presence of CFRP in the outer limits was significantly enhanced the moment carrying capacity and stiffness of the beam. Also, a non linear finite element model was developed using the software ANSYS 12.0 to validate the analytical results such as load-deformation and the corresponding failure modes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2018

Several techniques have been developed for shear strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) members by using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. However, debonding of FRP retrofits from concrete substrate still deemed as a challenging concern in their application which needs to be scrutinized in details. As a result, this paper reports on the results of an experimental investigation on shear strengthening of RC beams using near surface mounted (NSM) FRP reinforcing bars. The main objective of the experimentation was increasing the efficiency of shear retrofits by precluding/postponing the premature debonding failure. The experimental program was comprised of six shear deficient RC beams. The test parameters include the FRP rebar spacing, inclination angle, and groove shape. Also, an innovative modification was introduced to the conventional NSM technique and its efficiency was evaluated by experimental observation and measurement. The results testified the efficiency of glass FRP (GFRP) rebars in increasing the shear strength of the test specimens retrofitted using conventional NSM technique. However, debonding of FRP bars impeded exploiting all retrofitting advantages and induced a premature shear failure. On the contrary, application of the proposed modified NSM (MNSM) technique was not only capable of preventing the premature debonding of FRP bars, but also could replace the failure mode of specimen from the brittle shear to a ductile flexural failure which is more desirable.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.409-418
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• 2017

Turkey owns a very important cultural and historical heritage that bears the traces of thousands of years of culture and civilization. It is an inevitable duty to carry these treasuries to the future generations. In this paper, structural safety assessment and strengthening stages of one of these important historical heritages namely Amasya Taşhan was investigated in details as a case study. For this purpose, the detailed architectural projects of the structure with the information of all load carrying and structural elements were prepared. Then, the structural dynamic analyses were performed by using SAP2000. The internal forces obtained from the dynamic analyses determined the weak regions. By obtaining the information from dynamic analyses, the method of state of the art technique of application of the structure that needs structural strengthening was selected. The last step is the application of these precautions to the whole structure. At the end of this study, this study not also contains several strengthening techniques that is used in one masonry structure together but also provides a useful reference to the practicing engineers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.691-710
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• 2012

One of the most popular and commonly used strengthening techniques to protect against earthquakes is to infill the holes in reinforced concrete (RC) frames with fully reinforced concrete infills. In some cases, windows and door openings are left inside infill walls for architectural or functional reasons during the strengthening of reinforced concrete-framed buildings. However, the seismic performance of multistory, multibay, reinforced concrete frames that are strengthened by reinforced concrete wing walls is not well known. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the experimental behavior of vulnerable multistory, multibay, reinforced concrete frames that were strengthened by introducing wing walls under a lateral load. For this purpose, three 2-story, 2-bay, 1/3-scale test specimens were constructed and tested under reversed cyclic lateral loading. The total shear wall (including the column and wing walls) length and the location of the bent beam bars were the main parameters of the experimental study. According to the test results, the addition of wing walls to reinforced concrete frames provided significantly higher ultimate lateral load strength and higher initial stiffness than the bare frames did. While the total shear wall length was increased, the lateral load carrying capacity and stiffness increased significantly.