• Computers and Concrete
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.299-310
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• 2018

When reinforced concrete structures are subjected to strong seismic forces, their beam-column connections are very susceptible to be damaged during the earthquake event. Consequently, structural designers try to fit an important quantity of steel reinforcement inside the connection, complicating its construction without a clear justification for this. The aim of this work is to evaluate -and demonstrate- numerically how the quantity and the array of the internal steel reinforcement influences on the nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection. For this, two specimens (extracted from an experimental test of 12 RC beam-column connections reported in literature) were modeled in the Finite Element code FEAP considering different stirrup's arrays. The nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection is evaluated taking into account the nonlinear thermodynamic behavior of each component: a damage model is used for concrete; a classical plasticity model is adopted for steel reinforcement; the steel-concrete bonding is considered perfect without degradation. At the end, the experimental responses obtained in the tests are compared to the numerical results, as well as the distribution of shear stresses and damage inside the concrete core of the beam-column connection, which are analyzed for a low and high state of confinement.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.99-115
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• 2020

This article deals with the dynamic analysis in pad concrete foundation containing Silica nanoparticles (SiO₂) subject to seismic load. In order to control the foundation smartly, a piezoelectric layer covered the foundation. The weight of the building by a column on the foundation is assumed with an external force in the middle of the structure. The foundation is located in soil medium which is modeled by spring elements. The Mori-Tanaka law is utilized for calculating the equivalent mechanical characteristics of the concrete foundation. The Kevin-Voigt model is adopted to take into account the structural damping. The concrete structure is modeled by a thick plate and the governing equations are deduced using Hamilton's principle under the assumption of higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The differential quadrature method (DQM) and the Newmark method are applied to obtain the seismic response. The effects of the applied voltage to the smart layer, agglomeration and volume percent of SiO₂ nanoparticles, damping of the structure, geometrical parameters and soil medium of the structure are assessed on the dynamic response. It has been demonstrated by the numerical results that by applying a negative voltage, the dynamic deflection is reduced significantly. Moreover, silica nanoparticles reduce the dynamic deflection of the concrete foundation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.441-449
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• 2018

FE models for complex or large-scaled structures that need detailed modeling of structural components are usually constructed using commercial analysis softwares. Updating of such FE model by conventional sensitivity-based methods is difficult since repeated computation for perturbed parameters and manual calculations are needed to obtain sensitivity matrix in each iteration. In this study, an FE model updating procedure avoiding such difficulties by using response surface (RS) method and a Pareto-based multiobjective optimization (MOO) was formulated and applied to FE models constructed with a commercial analysis package. The test building is a low-rise reinforced concrete building that has been seismically retrofitted. Dynamic properties of the building were extracted from vibration tests performed before and after the seismic retrofits, respectively. The elastic modulus of concrete and masonry, and spring constants for the expansion joint were updated. Two RS functions representing the errors in the natural frequencies and mode shape, respectively, were obtained and used as the objective functions for MOO. Among the Pareto solutions, the best compromise solution was determined using the TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) procedure. A similar task was performed for retrofitted building by taking the updating parameters as the stiffness of modified or added members. Obtained parameters of the existing building were reasonably comparable with the current code provisions. However, the stiffness of added concrete shear walls and steel section jacketed members were considerably lower than expectation. Such low values are seemingly because the bond between new and existing concrete was not as good as the monolithically casted members, even though they were connected by the anchoring bars.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.17-29
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• 2017

The seismic performance of steel beam to concrete-encased composite column with unsymmetrical steel section joints is investigated and reported within this paper. Experimental and analytical evaluation were conducted on a total of 8 specimens with T-shaped and L-shaped steel section under lateral cyclic loading and axial compression. The test parameters included concrete strength, stirrup ratio and axial compression ratio. The response of the specimens was presented in terms of their hysterisis loop behavior, stress distribution, joint shear strength, and performance degradation. The experiment indicated good structural behavior and good seismic performance. In addition, a three-dimensional nonlinear finite-element analysis simulating was conducted to simulate their seismic behaviors. The finite-element analysis incorporated both bond-slip relationship and crack interface interaction between steel and concrete. The results were also compared with the test data, and the analytical prediction of joint shear strength was satisfactory for both joints with T-shaped and L-shaped steel section columns. The steel beam to concrete-encased composite column with unsymmetrical steel section joints can develop stable hysteretic response and large energy absorption capacity by providing enough stirrups and decreased spacing of transverse ties in column.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.195-211
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• 2014

When strong seismic forces act on reinforced concrete structures, their beam-column connections are very susceptible to damage during the earthquake event. The aim of this numerical work is to evaluate the influence of the internal steel reinforcement array on the nonlinear response of a RC beam-column connection when it is subjected to strong cyclic loading -as a seismic load. For this, two specimens (extracted from an experimental test of 12 RC beam-column connections reported in literature) were modeled in the Finite Element code FEAP considering different stirrup's arrays. In order to evaluate the nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection, the 2D model takes into account the nonlinear thermodynamic behavior of each component: for concrete, a damage model is used; for steel reinforcement, it is adopted a classical plasticity model; in the case of the steel-concrete bonding, this one is considered perfect without degradation. At the end, we show a comparison between the experimental test's responses and the numerical results, which includes the distribution of shear stresses and damage inside the concrete core of the beam-column connection; in the other hand, the effects on the connection of a low and high state of confinement are analyzed for all cases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.311-330
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• 2006

Standard compression tests of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) cylinders are conducted to formulate compressive stress versus compressive strain relationship of SFRC. Axial pullout tests of SFRC specimens are also conducted to explore its tensile stress strain relationship. Cover concrete spalling and reinforcement buckling models developed originally for normal reinforced concrete are modified to extend their application to SFRC. Thus obtained monotonic material models of concrete and reinforcing bars in SFRC members are combined with unloading/reloading loops used in the cyclic models of concrete and reinforcing bars in normal reinforced concrete. The resulting path-dependent cyclic material models are then incorporated in a finite-element based fiber analysis program. The applicability of these models at member level is verified by simulating cyclic lateral loading tests of SFRC columns under constant axial compression. The analysis using the proposed SFRC models yield results that are much closer to the experimental results than the analytical results obtained using the normal reinforced concrete models are.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.11-25
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• 2018

A numerical approach for the evaluation of the flexural response of Steel Fibrous Concrete (SFC) cross-sections with arbitrary geometry, with or without conventional steel longitudinal reinforcing bars is proposed. Resisting bending moment versus curvature curves are calculated using verified non-linear constitutive stress-strain relationships for the SFC under compression and tension which include post-peak and post-cracking softening parts. A new compressive stress-strain model for SFC is employed that has been derived from test data of 125 stress-strain curves and 257 strength values providing the overall compressive behaviour of various SFC mixtures. The proposed sectional analysis is verified using existing experimental data of 42 SFC beams, and it predicts the flexural capacity and the curvature ductility of SFC members reasonably well. The developed approach also provides rational and more accurate compressive and tensile stress-strain curves along with bending moment versus curvature curves with regards to the predictions of relevant existing models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.37-51
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• 2013

The responses of reinforced concrete slabs subject to an impact loading near the ultimate load range are explored. The analysis is carried out on a simply supported rectangular reinforced concrete slab using a nonlinear explicit dynamic procedure and considering three material models: Drucker-Prager, modified Drucker-Prager, and concrete damaged plasticity, available in the commercial finite element software, ABAQUS/Explicit. For comparison purposes, the impact force-time response, steel reinforcement failure, and concrete perforation pattern are verified against the existing experimental results. Also, the effectiveness of mesh density and damage wave propagation are studied independently. It is shown that the presently adopted finite element procedure is able to simulate and predict fairly accurate the behavior of reinforced concrete slab under impact load. More detailed investigations are however demanded for the justification of effects coming from an imperfect projectile orientation as well as the load and structural surface conditions, including the impulsive contacted state, which are inevitable in an actual impact environment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제52권6호
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• pp.1273-1287
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• 2014

Plates are most widely used in the hulls of floating concrete structures, bridge decks, walls of off-shore structures and liquid storage tanks. A method of analysis is presented for the determination of load-deflection response and ultimate strength of high-strength steel fiber reinforced concrete (HSSFRC) plates simply supported on all four edges and subjected to combined action of external compressive in-plane and transverse loads. The behavior of HSSFRC plate specimens subjected to combined uniaxial in-plane and transverse loads was investigated. The proposed analytical method is compared to the physical test results, and shows good agreement. To predict the constitutive behavior of HSSFRC in compression, a non-dimensional characteristic equation was proposed and found to give reasonable accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.181-197
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• 2014

Stress determination is a very important step in the assessment of the safety of existing reinforced concrete structures. In rock mechanic this goal is achieved with the over-coring technique. The main idea behind such a technique is to isolate a material sample from the stress field in the surrounding mass and monitor its re-equilibrium deformation response. If the materials remains elastic, and elastic properties are known, stresses may be obtained from the corresponding measured strains. The goal of this paper is to evaluate if the over-coring technique is applicable to reinforced concrete members. The results of an experimental investigation on the behaviour of compressed concrete columns subjected to the over-coring technique are presented. Considerations about the range of applicability of the technique are made by comparing the measured and the theoretical stresses. After that, results of failure tests on drilled specimens are presented and discussed. Furthermore, the response is compared with that of columns core-bored before the compressive test. Finally, comparisons with numerical analysis are shown.