• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제87권4호
• /
• pp.375-389
• /
• 2023

In many fiber concrete beams with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), debonding occurs between the carbon sheets and the concrete due to the low strength of the bonding resin. A total of 42 fiber concrete beams with a cross-section of 10×10 cm with a span length of 50 cm are fabricated and retrofitted with CFRP and subjected to a 4-point bending test. Graphene Oxide (GO) at 1, 2, and 3 wt% of the resin is used to improve the mechanical properties of the bonding resins, and the effect of length, width, and the number of layers of CFRP and resin material are investigated. The crack pattern, failure mode, and stress-strain curve are analyzed and compared in each case. The results showed that adding GO to polyamine resin could improve the bonding between the resin and the fiber concrete beam. Furthermore, the optimum amount of nanomaterials is equal to 2% by the weight of the resin. Using 2% nanomaterials showed that by increasing the length, width, and number of layers, the bearing and stiffness of fiber concrete beams increased significantly.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• 제32권4호
• /
• pp.361-373
• /
• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the engineering properties and mechanical behaviors of polymer-fibers treated sand. Para rubber (PR), natural fiber (NF), and geosynthetic fiber (GF) were used to reinforce poorly graded sand. A series of unconfined compressive and splitting tensile strength tests were performed to analyze the engineering behaviors and strength enhancement mechanism. The experiment results indicated that the PR-fibers mixture could firmly enhance the strength properties of sand. The stress-strain characteristics and failure patterns have been changed due to the increase of PR and fibers content. The presence of PR and fibers strengthened the sand and enhanced the stiffness and ductility behavior of the mixture. The stiffness of reinforced sand reaches an optimum state when both NF and GF are 0.5%, while the optimum PR contents are 20% and 22.5% for the mixture with NF and GF, respectively. An addition of PR and fiber into sand contributed to increasing interlocking zone and bonding of PR-sand interfacial.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• 제23권3호
• /
• pp.297-313
• /
• 2022

Composite steel plate shear wall (CSPSW) is a relatively novel structural system proposed to improve the performance of steel plate shear walls by adding one or two layers of concrete walls to the infill plate. In addition, the buckling of the infill steel plate has a significant negative effect on the shear strength and energy dissipation capacity of the overall systems. Accordingly, in this study, using the finite element (FE) method, the performance and behavior of composite steel shear walls using T-shaped stiffeners to prevent buckling of the infill steel plate and increase the capacity of CSPSW systems have been investigated. In this paper, after modeling composite steel plate shear walls with and without steel plates with finite element methods and calibration the models with experimental results, effects of parameters such as several stiffeners, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and a combination of T-shaped stiffeners located in the composite wall have been investigated on the ultimate capacity, web-plate buckling, von-Mises stress, and failure modes. The results showed that the arrangement of stiffeners has no significant effect on the capacity and performance of the CSPSW so that the use of vertical or horizontal stiffeners did not have a significant effect on the capacity and performance of the CSPSW. On the other hand, the use of diagonal hardeners has potentially affected the performance of CSPSWs, increasing the capacity of steel shear walls by up to 25%.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.283-297
• /
• 2023

This research aims to simulate and investigate the efficiency of strengthening damaged concrete columns using concrete jacketing.The numerical program included unjacketed reference column made of ordinary RC concrete had a cross-sectional dimension of (100×100) mm and 560 mm long reinforced concrete. These cores were damaged by loading them with approximately 60% of their actual ultimate load capacities as a service load. Then, column specimens were strengthened by applying two types of self-compacting concrete SCC jacketing, which were 25 and 30 mm thick, on all four sides. Exposed to external loads at different directions vertically and horizontally simulate to the seismic load. The 3D Finite Element (FE) simulation is used to predict of three structural criteria that were selected and evaluated (deflection, stress, cracks). The results show that the failure of the strengthening columns is interesting and corresponds to the characteristics of the cracks formed in the concrete section,which was documented numerically using 3D Finite Element (FE). A significant improvement of deflection has been noted at the values at the top SECTION of columns compared to the reference sample reaching an average of up to 36.6% when using a 25 mm thick SCC-3500 jacket.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• 제51권5호
• /
• pp.529-543
• /
• 2024

The bonding efficacy of steel I-section embedded in metakaolin-fly ash-based geopolymer concrete (MK-FA-GC) was investigated in this study. Push-out tests were conducted on nine column specimens to evaluate the influence of compressive strength of concrete, embedded length of steel I-section, thickness of concrete cover, and stirrup ratio on the bond performance. Failure patterns, load-slip relationships, bond strength, and distribution of bond stress among the specimens were analyzed. The characteristic bond strength of geopolymer concrete (GC) increased with higher compressive strength, longer embedded steel section length, thicker concrete cover, and larger stirrup ratio. Empirical formulas for bond strength at the loading end were derived based on experimental data and a bond-slip constructive model for steel-reinforced MK-FA-GC was proposed. The calculated bond-slip curves showed good agreement with experimental results. Furthermore, numerical simulations using ABAQUS software were performed on column specimens by incorporating the suggested bond-slip relationship into connector elements to simulate the interface behavior between MK-FA-GC and the steel section. The simulation results showed a good correlation with the experimental findings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제90권3호
• /
• pp.273-285
• /
• 2024

Tapered girders emerged as an economical remedy for the challenges associated with constructing long-span buildings. From an economic standpoint, these systems offer significant advantages, such as wide spans, quick assembly, and convenient access to utilities between the beam's shallow sections and the ceiling below. Elastic-local buckling is among the various failure modes that structural designers must account for during the design process. Despite decades of study, there remains a demand for efficient and comprehensive procedures to streamline product design. One of the most pressing requirements is a better understanding of the tapered web plate girder's local buckling behavior. This paper conducts a comprehensive numerical analysis to estimate the critical buckling coefficient for simply supported tapered steel web plates, considering loading conditions involving compression and bending stresses. An eigenvalue analysis was carried out to determine the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes of tapered web plates with varying geometric parameters. Additionally, the study highlights the relative significance of various parameters affecting the local buckling phenomenon, including the tapering ratio of the panel, normalized plate length, and ratio of minimum to maximum compressive stresses. The regression analysis and optimization techniques were performed using MATLAB software for the results of the finite element models to propose a separate formula for each load case and a unified formula covering different compression and bending cases of the elastic local buckling coefficient. The results indicate that the proposed formulas are applicable for estimating the critical buckling coefficient for simply supported tapered steel web plates.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• 제38권1호
• /
• pp.45-56
• /
• 2024

The weakening effect of water on rocks is one of the main factors inducing deformation and failure in rock engineering. To clarify this weakening effect, immersion tests and post-immersion triaxial compression tests were conducted on sandstone and mudstone. The results showed that the strength of water-immersed sandstone decreases with increasing immersion time, exhibiting an exponential relationship. Similarly, the strength of water-immersed mudstone decreases with increasing environmental humidity, also following an exponential relationship. Subsequently, a statistical damage model for water-weakened rocks was proposed, changes in elastic modulus to describe the weakening effect of water. The model effectively simulated the stress-strain relationships of water-affected sandstone and mudstone under compression. The R² values between the theoretical and experimental peak values ranged from 0.962 to 0.996, and the MAPE values fell between 3.589% and 9.166%, demonstrating the model's effectiveness and reliability. The damage process of water-saturated rocks corresponds to five stages: compaction stage - no damage, elastic stage - minor damage, crack development stage - rapid damage increase, post-peak residual stage - continuous damage increase, and sliding stage - damage completion. This study provides a foundational reference for researching the fracture characteristics of overlying strata during coal mining under complex hydrogeological conditions.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• 제13권4호
• /
• pp.385-399
• /
• 2023

A collision between a ship and an offshore platform may result in structural damage and closure; therefore, damage analysis is required to ensure the platform's integrity. This paper presents a damage assessment of a three-legged jacket platform subjected to ship collisions using the industrial finite element program Bentley SACS. This study considers two ships with displacements of 2,000 and 5,000 tons and forward speeds of 2 and 6.17 meters per second. Ship collision loads are applied as a simplified point load on the center of the platform's legs at inclinations of 1/7 and 1/8; diagonal bracing is also included. The jacket platform is modelled as beam elements, with the exception of the impacted jacket members, which are modelled as nonlinear shell elements with elasto-plastic material and constant isotropic hardening to provide realistic dented behavior due to ship collision load. The structural response is investigated, including kinetic energy transfer, stress distribution, and denting damage. The simulation results revealed that the difference in leg inclination has no effect on the level of localized denting damage. However, it was discovered that a leg with a greater inclination (1/8) resists structural displacement more effectively and absorbs less kinetic energy. In this instance, the three-legged platform collapses due to the absorption of 27.30 MJ of energy. These results provide crucial insights for enhancing offshore platform resilience and safety in high-traffic maritime regions, with implications for design and collision mitigation strategies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제91권3호
• /
• pp.301-313
• /
• 2024

Plastic buckling of tubular columns has been attributed to rotational instability of plastic hinges. The present study aimed to characterize the plastic hinges for two different grades of strain-hardening, examined in mild-steel (MS) and stainless-teel (SS) tubes with un-strengthened and strengthened conditions. At the primary stage, the formerly tested experimental specimens were simulated using full-scale FE models considering nonlinear response of the materials, then to estimate the characteristics of the plastic hinges, a meso model was developed from the critical region of the tubes and the moment-rotation diagrams were depicted under pure bending conditions. By comparison of the relative rotation diagram obtained by the full-scale models with the critical rotation under pure bending, the length and critical rotation of the plastic hinges under eccentric axial load were estimated. The stress and displacement diagrams indicated the mechanism of higher energy absorption in the strengthened tubes, compared to unstrengthened specimens, due to establishment of stable wrinkles along the tubes. The meso model showed that by increasing the critical rotation in the strengthened MS tube equal to 1450%, the energy absorption of the tube has been enhanced to 2100%, prior to collapse.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• 제38권3호
• /
• pp.261-273
• /
• 2024

This study presents a groundbreaking analytical approach to find an exact solution for the bearing capacity of strip footings on reinforced slopes, utilizing the two-phase approach and slip line method. The two-phase approach is considered as a generalized homogenization technique. The slip line method is leveraged to derive the stress field as a lower bound solution and the velocity field as an upper bound solution, thereby facilitating the attainment of an exact solution. The key finding points out the variation of the bearing capacity factor N_γ with influencing factors including the backfill soil friction angle, the footing setback distance from the slope crest edge, slope angle, strength, and volumetric fraction of inclusion layers. The results are evaluated by comparing them with those of relevant studies in the literature considering analytical and experimental studies. Through the application of the two-phase approach, it becomes feasible to determine the tensile loads mobilized along the inclusion layers associated with the failure zone. It is attempted to demonstrate the results by utilizing non-dimensional graphs to clearly illustrate variable impacts on reinforced soil stability. This research contributes significantly to advancing geotechnical engineering practices, specifically in the realm of static design considerations for reinforced soil structures.