• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.161-172
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• 1998

Reinforced concrete beams possess variable flexural and torsional stiffnesses due to formation of cracks in the tension area along the beam. In order to check the stability of the beam, it is thus more appropriate to divide the beam into a finite number of segments for which mean stiffnesses and also bending moments are calculated. The stability analysis is further simplified, by using these mean values for each segment. In this paper, an algorithm for calculating the critical lateral buckling slenderness ratio for a definite load level, in a reinforced concrete beam without lateral support at the flanges, is presented. By using this ratio, the lateral buckling safety level of a slender beam may be checked or estimated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.261-275
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• 2003

Truss members built-up with double angles back-to-back have monosymmetric cross-section and twisting always accompanies flexion upon the onset of buckling about the axis of symmetry. Approximate formulae for calculating the buckling capacity are presented in this paper for routine design purpose. For a member susceptible only to flexural buckling, its optimal cross-section should consist of slender plate elements so as to get larger radius of gyration. But, occurrence of twisting changes the situation owing to the weakness of thin plates in resisting torsion. Criteria for limiting the leg slenderness are discussed herein. Truss web members in compression are usually considered as hinged at both ends for out-of-plane buckling. In case one (or both) end of member is not supported laterally by bracing member, its adjoining members have to provide an elastic support of adequate stiffness in order not to underdesign the member. The stiffness provided by either compression or tension chords in different cases is analyzed, and the effect of initial crookedness of compression chord is taken into account. Formulae are presented to compute the required stiffness of chord member and to determine the effective length factor for inadequately constrained compressive diagonals.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.91-112
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• 2016

In this paper, post-buckling behavior of sandwich plates with functionally graded (FG) face sheets under uniform temperature rise loading is examined based on both sinusoidal shear deformation theory and stress function. It is supposed that the sandwich plate is in contact with an elastic foundation during deformation, which acts in both compression and tension. Thermo-elastic non-homogeneous properties of FG layers change smoothly by the variation of power law within the thickness, and temperature dependency of material constituents is considered in the formulation. In the present development, Von Karman nonlinearity and initial geometrical imperfection of sandwich plate are also taken into account. By employing Galerkin method, analytical solutions of thermal buckling and post-buckling equilibrium paths for simply supported plates are determined. Numerical examples presented in the present study discuss the effects of gradient index, sandwich plate geometry, geometrical imperfection, temperature dependency, and the elastic foundation parameters.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.369-386
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• 2006

The influence of reinforcement buckling on the flexural response of reinforced concrete members is studied. The stress-strain response of compression reinforcement is determined computationally using a large-strain finite element model for bars of varied diameter, length, and initial eccentricity, and a mathematical expression is fitted to the simulation results. This relationship is used to represent the response of bars in compression in a moment-curvature analysis of a reinforced concrete cross section. The compression bar may carry more or less force than a tension bar at a corresponding strain, depending on the relative influence of Poisson effects and bar slenderness. Several cross-section analyses indicate that, for the distances between stirrups prescribed in modern concrete codes, the influence of inelastic buckling of the longitudinal reinforcement on the monotonic moment capacity is very small and can be neglected in many circumstances.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.1465-1486
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• 2016

Conventional plate I-girders are sensitive to local buckling of the web when they are subjected mainly to shear action because the slenderness of the web in out-of-plane direction is much bigger. The local buckling of the web can also cause the distorsion of the plate flange under compression as a thin-walled plate has very low torsional stiffness due to its open section. A new I-girder consisted of corrugated web, a concrete-filled rectangular tubular flange under compression and a plate flange under tension is presented to improve its resistance to local buckling of the web and distorsion of the flat plate flange under compression. Experimental tests on a conventional plate I-girder and a new presented I-girder are conducted to study the failure process and the failure mechanisms of the two specimens. Strain developments at some critical positions, load-lateral displacement curves, and load-deflection curves of the two specimens have all be measured and analyzed. Based on these results, the failure mechanisms of the two kinds of I-girders are discussed.

• 국제강구조저널
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1125-1138
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• 2018

During earthquakes, braces behave in complex manners because of the asymmetric response nature of their responses in tension and compression. Hollow structural sections (HSS) have been popularly used for braces due to their sectional efficiency in compression. The purpose of this study is to accurately simulate the cyclic behavior of rectangular HSS braces using a computationally efficient numerical model. A conceptually efficient and simple physical theory model is used as a basis model. To improve the accuracy of the model, cyclic beam growth and buckling load, as well as the incidences of local buckling and brace fracture are estimated using empirical equations obtained from regression analyses using test data on rectangular HSS braces. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified by comparing actual and simulated cyclic curves of brace specimens with various slenderness and width-to-thickness ratios.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제9권5호
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• pp.417-432
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• 2000

A comprehensive analytic study has been conducted to investigate the instability problems of metal-plate-connected (MPC) joints in light frame trusses. The primary objective in this study is to determine the governing factors that constitute the buckling of the metal connectors and their effects on the structural response of joints. Another objective is to recommend design curves for the daily structural design of these joints. The numeric data presented in this paper has emerged from a broad base that was founded on over 350 advanced computer simulations, and was supported by available experimental results obtained by others. This basic-to-applied research includes practical engineering parameters such as size of gaps, shear lengths, gauge (plate thickness) of connectors, size of un-braced areas, failure modes, and progressive disintegration of joints. Square-end members have been emphasized though the results cover the custom-made fitted joints. The results indicate that chord shears cause and dominate the buckling of MPC joints, and the shear length has a more pronounced effect than the size of gaps. Further, large gauges and small un-braced areas improve the buckling response. Several practical recommendations have been suggested throughout the paper such as keeping the ratio of gap/shear length below 3/4 for improving the buckling strength. The study reveals that multi-area joints should not be simplified as single web-to-chord MPC joints such as keeping the ratio of gap/shear length below 3/4 for improving the buckling strength, even where one web is in tension and the other in compression. Finally, the results obtained from this study favorably agree with experimental data by others, and the classic buckling theories for other structural components.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.1417-1443
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• 2016

Cellular and castellated steel beams are used to obtain higher stiffness and bending capacity using the same weight of steel. In addition, the beam openings may be used as a pass for different mechanical fixtures such as ducts and pipes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different parameters on both elastic and inelastic critical buckling stresses of steel web plates with openings. These parameters are plate aspect ratio; opening shape (circular or rectangular); end distance to the first opening; opening spacing; opening size; plate slenderness ratio; steel grade; and initial web imperfection. The web/flange interaction has been simplified by web edge restraints representing simply supported boundary conditions. A numerical parametric study has been performed through linear and nonlinear finite element (FE) models, where the FE results have been verified against both experimental and numerical results in the literature. The web plates are subject to in-plane linearly varying compression with different loading patterns, ranging from uniform compression to pure bending. A buckling stress modification factor (${\beta}$-factor) has been introduced as a ratio of buckling stress of web plate with openings to buckling stress of the corresponding solid web plate. The variation of ${\beta}$-factor against the aforementioned parameters has been reported. Furthermore, the critical plate slenderness ratio separating elastic buckling and yielding has been identified and discussed for two steel grades of DIN-17100, namely: ST-37/2 and ST-52/3. The FE results revealed that the minimum ${\beta}$-factor is 0.9 for web plates under uniform compression and 0.7 for those under both compression and tension.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제54권5호
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• pp.855-875
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• 2015

Many novel materials exhibit a property of different elastic moduli in tension and compression. One such material is graphene, a wonder material, which has the highest strength yet measured. Investigations on buckling problems for structures with different moduli are scarce. To address this new problem, firstly, the nondimensional expression of the relation between offset of neutral axis and deflection curve is derived based on the phased integration method, and then using the energy method, load-deflection relation of the rod is determined; Secondly, based on the improved constitutive model for different moduli, large deformation finite element formulations are developed and combined with the arc-length method, finite element iterative program for rods with different moduli is established to obtain buckling critical loads; Thirdly, material mechanical properties tests of graphite, which is the raw material of graphene, are performed to measure the tensile and compressive elastic moduli, moreover, buckling tests are also conducted to investigate the buckling behavior of this kind of graphite rod. By comparing the calculation results of the energy method and finite element method with those of laboratory tests, the analytical model and finite element numerical model are demonstrated to be accurate and reliable. The results show that it may lead to unsafe results if the classic theory was still adopted to determine the buckling loads of those rods composed of a material having different moduli. The proposed models could provide a novel approach for further investigation of non-linear mechanical behavior for other structures with different moduli.