• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.177-191
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• 2017

In the present study, exterior beam column sub-assemblages are designed in accordance with the codal stipulations prevailed at different times prior to the introduction of modern seismic provisions, viz., i) Gravity load designed with straight bar anchorage (SP1), ii) Gravity load designed with compression anchorage (SP1-D), iii) designed for seismic load but not detailed for ductility (SP2), and iv) designed for seismic load and detailed for ductility (SP3). Comparative seismic performance of these exterior beam-column sub-assemblages are evaluated through experimental investigations carried out under repeated reverse cyclic loading. Seismic performance parameters like load-displacement hysteresis behavior, energy dissipation, strength and stiffness degradation, and joint shear deformation of the specimens are evaluated. It is found from the experimental studies that with the evolution of the design methods, from gravity load designed to non-ductile and then to ductile detailed specimens, a marked improvement in damage resilience is observed. The gravity load designed specimens SP1 and SP1-D respectively dissipated only one-tenth and one-sixth of the energy dissipated by SP3. The specimen SP3 showcased tremendous improvement in the energy dissipation capacity of nearly 2.56 times that of SP2. Irrespective of the level of design and detailing, energy dissipation is finally manifested through the damage in the joint region. The present study underlines the seismic deficiency of beam-column sub-assemblages of different design evolutions and highlights the need for their strengthening/retrofit to make them fit for seismic event.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.278-288
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• 2019

In the present investigation, we attempted to design a protocol to develop a hybrid protein with better bioremediation capacity. Using in silico approaches, a Hybrid Open Reading Frame (Hybrid ORF) is developed targeting the genes of microorganisms known for degradation of organophosphates. Out of 21 genes identified through BLAST search, 8 structurally similar genes (opdA, opd, opaA, pte RO, pdeA, parC, mpd and phnE) involved in biodegradation were screened. Gene conservational analysis categorizes these organophosphates degrading 8 genes into 4 super families i.e., Metallo-dependent hydrolases, Lactamase B, MPP and TM_PBP2 superfamily. Hybrid protein structure was modeled using multi-template homology modeling (3S07_A; 99%, 1P9E_A; 98%, 2ZO9_B; 33%, 2DXL_A; 33%) by $Schr{\ddot{o}}dinger$ software suit version 10.4.018. Structural verification of protein models was done using Ramachandran plot, it was showing 96.0% residue in the favored region, which was verified using RAMPAGE. The phosphotriesterase protein was showing the highest structural similarity with hybrid protein having raw score 984. The 5 binding sites of hybrid protein were identified through binding site prediction. The docking study shows that hybrid protein potentially interacts with 10 different organophosphates. The study results indicate that the hybrid protein designed has the capability of degrading a wide range of organophosphate compounds.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.683-697
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• 2019

The reinforced concrete (RC) structures usually suffer large residual displacements under strong motions. The large residual displacements may substantially reduce the anti-seismic capacity of structures during the aftershock and increase the difficulty and cost of structural repair after an earthquake. To reduce the adverse residual displacement, several self-centering energy dissipation braces (SCEBs) have been proposed to be installed to the RC structures. To investigate the seismic responses of the RC structures with SCEBs under the earthquake excitation, an extended Bouc-Wen model with degradation and self-centering effects is developed in this study. The extended model realized by MATLAB/Simulink program is able to capture the hysteretic characteristics of the RC structures with SCEBs, such as the energy dissipation and the degradation, especially the self-centering effect. The predicted hysteretic behavior of the RC structures with SCEBs based on the extended model, which used the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) for parameter identification, is compared with the experimental results. Comparison results show that the predicted hysteretic curves can be in good agreement with the experimental results. The nonlinear dynamic analyses using the extended model are then carried out to explore the seismic performance of the RC structures with SCEBs. The analysis results demonstrate that the SCEB can effectively reduce the residual displacements of the RC structures, but slightly increase the acceleration.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.203-210
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• 2019

Concrete structures in marine environment are susceptible to chloride attack, where chloride diffusion results in the corrosion of steel bar and further lead to the cracking of concrete cover. This process causes structural deterioration and affects the response of concrete structures to different forms of loading. This paper presents the use of ABAQUS Finite Element Software in simulating the processes involved in concrete's structural degradation from chloride diffusion to steel corrosion and concrete cover cracking. Fick's law was used for the chloride diffusion, while the mass loss from steel corrosion was obtained using Faraday's law. Pressure generated by steel corrosion product at the concrete-steel interface was modeled by applying uniform radial displacements, while concrete smeared cracking alongside the Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) was used for concrete cover cracking simulation. Results show that, chloride concentration decreases with penetration depth, but increases with exposure time at the concrete-steel interface. Cracks initiate and propagate in the concrete cover as pressure caused by the steel corrosion product increases. Furthermore, the crack width increases with the exposure time on the surface of the concrete.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.1 s.68
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• pp.43-49
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• 2004

With building structures becoming higher and having longer spans, new structural steel with better strength, thicker plate, and performance may be required rather than conventional structural steel. TMC steel is widely used in building structures largely due to its excellent seismic performance, superior weldability, and design strength that is not affected by plate thickness. To make use of TMC steel in pipe structures with large diameter and heavy wall, however, the this study, the degradation of material properties in submerged are welded SM520TMC steel pipes and tubes was evaluated using variable fabrication process and material change. Degradation test results showed that the yield and ultimate strength increased and elongation decreased regardless of the mode of fabrication, i.e., through roll bending or press forming, or steel used, i.e., domestic SM520TMC steel or SM520TMC steel from Japan.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.179-187
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• 2010

Corrosion of rebar embedded reinforced concrete is the main cause of collapse and degradation of reinforced concrete structure. Degradation occurs in reinforced concrete structures from corrosion caused by the Chloride that the damage other than the severe degradation of the structure in terms of maintenance and construction when the huge expense required and deciding terms is hard. Therefore, early detection of rebar corrosion is important for efficient maintenance and repairing and planning. Meanwhile, how to evaluate the corrosion of the non-destructive measurements have been used a lot. In particular CM-II (corrosion meter) is used to measurement the natural potential, polarization resistance and the resistivity of the concrete, but has some disadvantages. Embedded mini-sensor has been developed in order to overcome these disadvantages. So Measurement corrosion for using the mini-sensor compares with the measured results CM-II (corrosion meter), the developed mini-sensor verify the validity.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2012

In spite of high resistant to corrosion and its strength, over the last two decades, concerns still remain about the durability of FRP materials under severe environmental and thermal exposures. In this paper, authors experimentally examine the combined degradation by thermal and chemical attacks in heterogeneous FRP rebar be made up with various fibers and resins. Five types of Carbon, Glass and Hybrid FRP rebars had manufactured by different process and surface patterns are adopted for the experiments such as weight change, interlaminar shear strength, SEM and FT-IR analysis. FRP specimens were immersed in alkaline or distilled solution up to 150 days and then thermal exposed on 60, 100, 150 and $300^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes. From the test results, the degradation of FRP bars are influnced by the resin type and manufacturing process as well as the fiber, and ILSS of exposed FRP bar in solutions is slightly increased in initial stage and then decresed with the passing of immersed time. But, in this test, it is observed that the discrepancy of ILSS between degraded by alkaline solution and distilled water is negligible value.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.596-600
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• 2011

Thermal degradation behavior of a $WO_3-TiO_2$ monolithic catalyst was investigated in terms of structural, morphological, and physico-chemical analyses. The catalyst with 4 wt.% $WO_3$ contents were prepared by a wet-impregnation method, and a durability test of the catalysts were performed in a temperature range between $400^{\circ}C$ and $800^{\circ}C$ for 3 h. An increase of thermal stress decreased the specific surface area, which was caused by grain growth and agglomeration of the catalyst particles. The phase transition from anatase to rutile occurred at around $800^{\circ}C$ and a decrease in the Brønsted acid sites was confirmed by structural analysis and physico-chemical analysis. A change in Brønsted acidity can affect to the catalytic efficiency; therefore, the thermal degradation behavior of the $WO_3-TiO_2$ catalyst could be explained by the transition to a stable rutile phase of $TiO_2$ and the decrease of specific surface area in the SCR catalyst.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2024

In this study, rare-earth orthoferrites LnFeO₃ were synthesized using a facile hydrothermal reaction and their visible-light-induced photo-Fenton degradation of organics was optimized through Ln variation (Ln = La, Pr, or Gd). The morphological, structural, and chemical characteristics of as-prepared samples were examined in detail by using different methods, including XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, etc. On the other side, under visible light illumination, the photo-Fenton-like catalytic activities of LnFeO₃ were assessed in terms of the removal of selected organic models, i.e., pharmaceuticals (ketoprofen and tetracycline) and dyes (rhodamine B and methyl orange). As compared with PrFeO₃ or GdFeO₃, the sample of LaFeO₃ displayed more structural distortion, larger specific surface area, and narrower band gap, resulting in its higher photo-Fenton-like catalytic activity toward the degradation of organics. In organic-containing solution, in which the initial solution pH = 5, catalyst dosage = 1 g/L and H₂O₂ concentration = 10 mM, 98.2% of rhodamine B, 31.1% of methyl orange, 67.7% of ketoprofen, or 96.4% of tetracycline was removed after 90-min exposure to simulated visible light. Our findings revealed that variation of Ln site on rare-earth orthoferrites was an effective strategy for optimizing their organic removal via visible-light-induced photo-Fenton reaction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.361-373
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• 2022

This paper examines the flexural performance of concrete beams reinforced with glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars under fatigue loading. Experiments were carried out on concrete beams of size 1500×200×100 mm reinforced with 10 mm and 13 mm diameter GFRP bars under fatigue loading. Experimental investigations revealed that fatigue loading affects both strength and serviceability properties of GFRP reinforced concrete. Experimental results indicated that (i) the concrete beams experienced increase in deflection with increase in number of cycles and failed suddenly due to snapping of rebars and (ii) the fatigue life of concrete beams drastically decreased with increase in stress level. Analytical model presented a procedure for predicting the deflection of concrete beams reinforced with GFRP bars under cyclic loading. Deflection of concrete beams was computed by considering the aspects such as stiffness degradation, force equilibrium equations and effective moment of inertia. Nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis was performed on concrete beams reinforced with GFRP bars. Appropriate constitutive relationships for concrete and GFRP bars were considered in the numerical modelling. Concrete non linearity has been accounted through concrete damage plasticity model available in ABAQUS. Deflection versus number of cycles obtained experimentally for various beams was compared with the analytical and numerical predictions. It was observed that the predicted values are comparable (less than 20% difference) with the corresponding experimental observations.