• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.739-749
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• 2021

This paper introduces an improved design equation to evaluate the resisting capacity of circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns partially strengthened with outer steel tube. When RC column members are required to be strengthened according to the change in the loadings considered and/or the deterioration progress in columns, wrapping up RC column with steel circular tube, which takes the form of concrete filled steel tube (CFST), has been popularly considered because of its structural advantage induced from the confinement effect. However, the relatively high construction cost of steel tube is restricting its use to the required region, while deriving the shape of a partial CFST column. To evaluate the resisting capacity of a partial CFST column, numerical analyses need to be performed, and a numerical model proposed in the previous study for the numerical analysis of full CFST columns is used to conduct parametric studies for the introduction of a design equation. The bond-slip effect developed along the interface between the in-filled concrete and the exterior steel tube is taken into consideration and the validity of the numerical model has been established through correlation studies between experimental data and numerical results for partial CFST circular columns. Moreover, parametric studies make it possible to introduce a design equation for determining the optimum length of outer steel tube which produces partial CFST circular columns.

• Journal of East Asia Management
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.63-92
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• 2021

Human activities have been putting a great burden on the earth, leading to many serious problems, such as lack of resources, ecological degradation and air degradation. Although many countries have recognised this circumstance and have developed some sustainable development strategies, the earth still needs research on sustainability in different views and various industries. The nursing industry has grown with the ageing of the global population in recent years, and professional nursing institutions could relieve structural deterioration caused by the ageing population in family, social, economic and cultural. Hence, exploring the key criteria of organisational sustainability in the nursing industry is of the utmost priority. This paper puts forward an evaluation framework to identify the key criteria of organisational sustainability. After connections with nursing homes A and B in China, the author adopts literature research to confirm the criteria system which is based on triple bottom line, utilises analytical network process method to design the network hierarchy analysis model and importance comparison questionnaires to collect experts' first-hand data, and uses technical software - Super Decisions to integrate data and obtain final results. The results recommend three top-ranked criteria in the entire system, eco-recruitment, eco-procurement and corporate social responsibility are discussed with some professional suggestions in the end. The limitations are also extended in the last chapter to provide future research perspectives.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.571-582
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• 2022

Optimal life-cycle management is a challenging issue for deteriorating regional bridges. Due to the complexity of regional bridge structural conditions and a large number of inspection and maintenance actions, decision-makers generally choose traditional passive management strategies. They are less efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This paper suggests a deep reinforcement learning framework employing double-deep Q-networks (DDQNs) to improve the life-cycle management of deteriorating regional bridges to tackle these problems. It could produce optimal maintenance plans considering restrictions to maximize maintenance cost-effectiveness to the greatest extent possible. DDQNs method could handle the problem of the overestimation of Q-values in the Nature DQNs. This study also identifies regional bridge deterioration characteristics and the consequence of scheduled maintenance from years of inspection data. To validate the proposed method, a case study containing hundreds of bridges is used to develop optimal life-cycle management strategies. The optimization solutions recommend fewer replacement actions and prefer preventative repair actions when bridges are damaged or are expected to be damaged. By employing the optimal life-cycle regional maintenance strategies, the conditions of bridges can be controlled to a good level. Compared to the nature DQNs, DDQNs offer an optimized scheme containing fewer low-condition bridges and a more costeffective life-cycle management plan.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.70-77
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• 2022

Wet-spun regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) fibers have been extensively studied owing to their 1) useful properties as biomaterials, including good blood compatibility and cyto-compatibility; 2) the various methods available to control the structural characteristics and morphology of the fiber, and 3) the possibility of fabricating blended fibers and new material-embedded fibers. In this study, silk nanofibrils prepared using a new method were embedded in RSF to fabricate wet-spun silk nanofibril/RSF composite fibers. Up to 2% addition of silk nanofibril, the silk nanofibril/RSF dope solution showed slight shear thinning, and the G' and G" of the dope solution were similar. However, above 3% silk nanofibril content, the viscosity of the dope solution significantly increased. In addition, shear thinning was remarkably evident, and the G' of the dope solution was much higher than the G", indicating a very elastic state. As the silk nanofibril content was increased, the wet-spun silk nanofibril/RSF composite fiber became uneven, with a rough surface, and more beaded fibers were produced. Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed that the beaded fibers were attributed to the inhomogeneous dispersion and presence of agglomerates of the silk nanofibrils. As the silk nanofibril content and RSF concentration increased, the maximum draw ratio decreased, indicating the deterioration of the wet spinnability and post-drawing performance of silk nanofibril/RSF.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.87-94
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• 2023

Chloride is one of the most common threats to reinforced concrete (RC) durability. Alkaline environment of concrete makes a passive layer on the surface of reinforcement bars that prevents the bar from corrosion. However, when the chloride concentration amount at the reinforcement bar reaches a certain level, deterioration of the passive protection layer occurs, causing corrosion and ultimately reducing the structure's safety and durability. Therefore, understanding the chloride diffusion and its prediction are important to evaluate the safety and durability of RC structure. In this study, the chloride diffusion coefficient is predicted by machine learning techniques. Various machine learning techniques such as multiple linear regression, decision tree, random forest, support vector machine, artificial neural networks, extreme gradient boosting annd k-nearest neighbor were used and accuracy of there models were compared. In order to evaluate the accuracy, root mean square error (RMSE), mean square error (MSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and coefficient of determination (R2) were used as prediction performance indices. The k-fold cross-validation procedure was used to estimate the performance of machine learning models when making predictions on data not used during training. Grid search was applied to hyperparameter optimization. It has been shown from numerical simulation that ensemble learning methods such as random forest and extreme gradient boosting successfully predicted the chloride diffusion coefficient and artificial neural networks also provided accurate result.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.149-159
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• 2023

Water glass (WG) and sodium sulfate (SS) were used to prepare polymeric aluminum chloride residue cement mortar (PACRM) by single and compound blending with polymeric aluminum chloride waste residue, respectively. The structural strength and textural characteristics examinations showed that PACRM consistency increased by incorporating WG, but decreased by incorporating SS. When WG and SS were compounded, the mortar consistency initially rose before falling. The compressive strength of PACRM increased and then decreased as WG was increased. The mechanical properties of PACRM were better enhanced by SS than WG, showing no strength deterioration. The main reason for the improved mechanical properties of polymeric aluminum chloride waste residue in the presence of activators is the increased precipitation of reactive substances, such as C-S-H gels, calcium silica, and Ca(OH)₂. The density of the specimens with PACRM and the degree of aggregation of hydration products were significantly enhanced by generating more hydration products in the mortar. Further, the cracks and pores were significantly reduced, and the matrix structure was continuous and dense at 5% SS doping and 3% compound doping.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.187-188
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• 2021

In the case of the Busan North Port, where the Busan Opera House is located, it is an environment exposed to various external deterioration factors such as frequent strong winds, seawater and salty winds, and an exterior material using UHPC (Ultra High Performance Concrete), a highly durable exterior material as a solution to this. Has been adopted. in this study, an economical production and construction direction was reviewed by applying UHPC to the exterior panels of atypical buildings that cannot cope with GFRC, metal, and glass, which are the main exterior finishing materials applied so far. When steel fibers are used, structural performance may be better than organic fibers, but due to environmental factors in Busan, corrosion due to exposure to steel fibers or problems with safety management after construction and completion may occur. Therefore, the site used the newly developed SACF fiber. Facade design of atypical buildings, which will increase in the future, is an important part, and the scope of use of UHPC panels is expected to increase in the future as design trends and demand for high durability increase.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.11a
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• pp.242-243
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• 2021

The concrete inside the steel tube of CFT columns enables them to have great strength and ductility. CFT columns are also excellent in fire-resistance because explosive heat upon a fire can be contained in the tube by the concrete debris. However, the studies to evaluate the residual strength of CFT columns after a fire have not been conducted enough. The studies to evaluate the residual strength of CFT columns after a fire are indispensable because it is the barometer of the damage of composite columns caused by a fire and the degree of repair and reinforcement work for the columns after a fire. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the deterioration of load capacity and structural behavior of square CFT columns with the same shapes and boundary conditions before and after a fire. The study also evaluates the influential factors of the CFT columns reinforced to secure the residual strength after a fire.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.569-586
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• 2022

This study introduces a novel friction damper as a component of a recentering frame connection, to solve the problem of structural repair costs, caused by stiffness deterioration and brittle fracture of the central brace frame (CBF). The proposed damper consists of shape memory alloy (SMA) bars with pretension applied to them to improve the stability. SMAs reduce the residual displacement by virtue of the properties of the materials themselves; in addition, a pretension can be applied to partially improve their energy dissipation capacity. The damper also consists of a friction device equipped with friction bolts for increased energy dissipation. Therefore, a study was conducted on the effects of the friction device as well as the pretension forces on the friction damper. For performance verification, 12 cases were studied and analyzed using ABAQUS program. In addition, the friction and pretension forces were used as variables in each case, and the results were compared. As a result, when the pretension and friction force are increased, the energy dissipation capacity gradually increases by up to about 94% and the recentering capacity decreases by up to about 55%. Therefore, it has been shown that SMA bars with adequate pretension in combination with bolts with adequate frictional force effectively reduce residual deformation and increase damper capacity. Thus, this study has successfully proposed a novel friction damper with excellent performance in terms of recentering and energy dissipation capacity.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2013.01a
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• pp.576-582
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• 2013

Typical highway infrastructure systems include roadway pavement, drainage systems, tunneling, and other hardware components such as guardrails, traffic signs, and lighting. Tunnels in a highway system have provided significant advantages to overcoming various natural challenges including crossing underneath bodies of water or through mountainous areas. While only a few tunnel failure cases have been reported, the failure rate is likely to increase as these assets age and because agencies have not emphasized tunneling asset management. A tunnel system undergoes a deterioration life cycle pattern that is similar to other infrastructure systems. There are very few agencies in the United States implementing comprehensive tunnel asset management programs. While current tunnel asset management programs focus on inspection, maintenance, and operation safety, there is an increasing need for the development of a comprehensive life cycle tunnel asset management program. This paper describes a conceptual framework for a comprehensive tunnel asset management program. The framework consists of three basic phases including a strategic plan, a tactical plan, and an operational plan to provide better information to the decision makers. The strategic plan is a basic long term approach of tunnel asset management. The tactical plan determines specific objectives and the operational plan actually applies asset management objectives in practice. The information includes operational condition, structural condition, efficiency of the system, emergency response, and life cycle cost analysis for tunnel capital improvement project planning.