• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.295-313
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• 2005

This paper evaluates the effective width of composite steel beams with precast hollowcore slabs numerically using the finite element method. A parametric study, carried out on 27 beams with different steel cross sections, hollowcore unit depths and spans, is presented. The effective width of the slab is predicted for both the elastic and plastic ranges. 8-node three-dimensional solid elements are used to model the composite beam components. The material non-linearity of all the components is taken into consideration. The non-linear load-slip characteristics of the headed shear stud connectors are included in the analysis. The moment-deflection behaviour of the composite beams, the ultimate moment capacity and the modes of failure are also presented. Finally, the ultimate moment capacity of the beams evaluated using the present FE analysis was compared with the results calculated using the rigid - plastic method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-85
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• 2006

This paper presents the results of a series of tests carried out on cold-formed steel rectangular hollow and concrete infilled beam to column connections and frames. A stub column was chosen such that overall buckling does not influence the connection behaviour. The beam chosen was a short-span cantilever with a concentrated load applied at the free end. The beam was connected to the columns along the strong and weak axes of columns and these connections were tested to failure. Twelve experiments were conducted on cold-formed steel direct welded tubular beam to column connections and twelve experiments on connections with concrete infilled column subjected to monotonic loading. In all the experiments conducted, the stiffness of the connection, the ductility characteristics and the moment rotation behaviour were studied. The dominant mode of failure in hollow section connections was chord face yielding and not weld failure. Provision of concrete infill increases the stiffness and the ultimate moment carrying capacity substantially, irrespective of the axis of loading of the column. Weld failure and bearing failure due to transverse compression occurred in connections with concrete infilled columns. Six single-bay two storied frames both with and without concrete infill, and columns loaded along the major and minor axes were tested to failure. Concentrated load was applied at the midspan of first floor beam. The change in behaviour of the frame due to provision of infill in the column and in the entire frame was compared with hollow frames. Failure of the weld at the junction of the beam occurred for frames with infilled columns. Design expressions are suggested for the yielding of the column face in hollow sections and bearing failure in infilled columns which closely predicted the experimental failure loads.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.175-193
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• 2023

Stainless steel-concrete composite beam has become an attractive structural form for offshore bridges and iconic high-rise buildings, owing to the superior corrosion resistance and excellent ductility of stainless steel material. In a composite beam, stainless steel shear connectors play an important role by establishing the interconnection between stainless steel beam and concrete slab. To enable the best use of high strength stainless steel shear connectors in composite beams, high strength concrete is recommended. To date, the application of stainless steel shear connectors in composite beams is still very limited due to the lack of research and proper design recommendations. In this paper, a total of seven pushout specimens were tested to investigate the load-slip behaviour of stainless steel shear connectors. A thorough discussion has been made on the differences between stainless steel bolted connectors and welded studs, in terms of the failure modes, load-slip behaviour and ultimate shear resistance. In parallel with the experimental programme, a finite element model was developed in ABAQUS to simulate the behaviour of stainless steel shear connectors, with which the effects of shear connector strength, concrete strength and embedded connector height to diameter ratio (h/d) were evaluated. The obtained experimental and numerical results were analysed and compared with existing codes of practice, including AS/NZS 2327, EN 1994-1-1 and ANSI/AISC 360-16. The comparison results indicated that the current codes need to be improved for the design of high strength stainless steel shear connectors. On this basis, modified design approaches were proposed to predict the shear capacity of stainless steel bolted connectors and welded studs in the composite beams.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.38-49
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• 1988

This paper presented as follows results of laboratory model tests with various shaped footings on soil bed reinforced with the strips on the base of behaviour of soil structure according to the loads and triaxial test results reinforced with geotextiles. Their parameters studied were the effects on the bearing capacity of a footing of the first layer of reinforcement, horizontal and vertical spacing of layers, number of layers, tensile strength of reinforcement and iclination load to the vertical 1.Depending on the strip arrangement, ultimate bearing capacity values could be more improved than urreinforced soil and the failure of soil was that the soil structure was transfered from the macrospace to microspase and its arrangement, from edge to edge to face to face. 2.The reinforcement was produced the reinforcing effects due to controlling the value of factor of one and permeable reinforcement was never a barrier of drainage condition. 3.Strength ratio was decreased as a linear shape according to increment of saturation degree of soil used even though at the lower strength ratio, the value of M-factor was rot influenced on the strength ratio but impermeable reinforcement decreased the strength of bearing capacity. 4.Ultimate bearing capacity under the plane-strain condition was appeared a little larger than triaxial or the other theoretical formulars and the circular footing more effective. 5.The maximum reinforcing effects were obtained at U I B=o.5, B / B=3 and N=3, when over that limit only acting as a anchor, and same strength of fabric appeared larger reinforcing effects compared to the thinner one. 6.As the LDR increased, more and more BCR occurred and there was appeared a block action below Z / B=O.5, but over the value, decrement of BCR was shown linear relation, and no effects above one. 7.The coefficient of the inclination was shown of minimum at the three layers of fabrics, but the value of H / B related to the ultimate load was decreased as increment of inclination degree, even though over the value of 4.5 there wasn't expected to the reinforcing effects As a consequence of the effects on load inclination, the degree of inclination of 15 per cent was decreased the bearing capacity of 70 per cent but irnproved the effects of 45 per cent through the insertion of geotextile.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.23-37
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• 2010

Concrete is a heterogeneous material consisting of coarse aggregate, mortar matrix and interfacial zones at the meso level. Though studies have been done to interpret the fracture process in concrete using meso level models, not much work has been done for simulating the macroscopic behaviour of reinforced concrete structures using the meso level models. This paper presents a procedure for the mesoscopic analysis of reinforced concrete beams using a modified micro truss model. The micro truss model is derived based on the framework method and uses the lattice meshes for representing the coarse aggregate (CA), mortar matrix, interfacial zones and reinforcement bars. A simple procedure for generating a random aggregate structure is developed using the constitutive model at meso level. The study reveals the potential of the mesoscopic numerical simulation using a modified micro truss model to predict the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. The modified micro truss model correctly predicts the load-deflection behaviour, crack pattern and ultimate load of reinforced concrete beams failing under different failure modes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.647-656
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• 2017

This paper presents an experimental study on the behaviour of steel beams with different types of web openings. Steel beams with web openings became progressively more accepted as a well-organized structural form in steel construction since their existence. Their complicated design and profiling method provides better flexibility in beam proportioning for strength, depth, size and location of holes. The objective of this study is to carry out the experiments on steel beams with different types of web openings and performed non-linear finite element (FE) analysis of the beams that were considered in the experimental study in order to determine their ultimate load capacity and failure modes for comparison. Ten full scale models of steel beam with web openings have been tested in the experimental investigation. The finite element method has been used to predict their entire response to increasing values of external loading until they lose their load carrying capacity. FE model of each specimen that is utilized in the experimental studies is carried out. These models are used to simulate the experimental work to verify test results and to investigate the nonlinear behaviour of failure modes such as local buckling, lateral torsional buckling, web-post buckling, shear buckling and Vierendeel bending of beams.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.477-493
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• 2014

This study examines the behaviour of single micropiles subjected to axial tension or compression load in collapsible loess under in-situ moisture content and saturated condition. Five tension loading tests and five compression loading tests on single micropiles were carried out at a typical loess site of the Loess Plateau in Northwest China. A series of laboratory tests, including grain size distribution, specific gravity, moisture content, Atterberg limits, density, granular components, shear strength, and collapse index, were carried out during the micropile loading tests to determine the values of soil parameters. The loess at the test site poses a severe collapse risk upon wetting. The tension or compression load-displacement curves of the micropiles in loess, under in-situ moisture content or saturated condition, can generally be simplified into three distinct regions: an initial linear, a curvilinear transition, and a final linear region, and the bearing capacity or failure load can be interpreted by the L1-L2 method as done in other studies. Micropiles in loess should be considered as frictional pile foundations though the tip resistances are about 10%-15% of the applied loads. Both the tension and compression capacities increase linearly with the ratio of the pile length to the shaft diameter, L/d. For micropiles in loess under in-situ moisture content, the interpreted failure loads or capacities under tension are 66%-87% of those under compression. However, the prewetting of the loess can lead to the reductions of 50% in the tensile bearing capacity and 70% in the compressive bearing capacity.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1045-1067
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• 2016

Concrete bridges with corrugated steel webs and prestressed by both internal and external tendons have emerged as one of the promising bridge forms. In view of the different behaviour of components and the large shear deformation of webs with negligible flexural stiffness, the assumption that plane sections remain plane may no longer be valid, and therefore the classical Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam models may not be applicable. In the design of this type of bridges, both the ultimate load and ductility should be examined, which requires the estimation of full-range behaviour. An analytical sandwich beam model and its corresponding beam finite element model for geometric and material nonlinear analysis are developed for this type of bridges considering the diaphragm effects. Different rotations are assigned to the flanges and corrugated steel webs to describe the displacements. The model accounts for the interaction between the axial and flexural deformations of the beam, and uses the actual stress-strain curves of materials considering their stress path-dependence. With a nonlinear kinematical theory, complete description of the nonlinear interaction between the external tendons and the beam is obtained. The numerical model proposed is verified by experiments.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.131-147
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• 2011

The aim of this work is to provide some insights into the elasto-plastic behaviour of plate girder web square and rectangular panels with centred and eccentric holes under both compression and in-plane bending moment. The numerical study was validated comparing the numerical results obtained for one simple steel plate configuration with the corresponding experimental results, obtained at the University of Padova, observing the influence of the initial out-of-plane imperfections on the force vs. displacement relationship and ultimate strength. Once validated the numerical approach, the effect of bending moment on the stability of the plate is studied and some differences with respect to the uniform compression load case are shown. The influence of dimension and position of the hole, the plate aspect ratio and the steel grade on elasto-plastic behaviour is observed. Some indications regarding the critical slenderness (at which transition from elastic to plastic collapse occurs) are given for square and rectangular plates with symmetric and eccentric holes having small, medium and large diameter.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2018

An experimental investigation has been carried out on the use of an environmentally sustainable material, bamboo, in the construction of precast concrete structural wall panels. The strength and behaviour of three prototype bamboo reinforced concrete wall panel specimens under two-way in-plane action was studied. The specimens with varying aspect ratio and thinness ratio were tested to fail under a uniformly distributed in-plane load applied at an eccentricity of t/6. The aspect ratio of the specimens considered includes 1.667, 1.818 and 2 and the thinness ratio includes 12.5, 13.75 and 15. The influence of aspect ratio and thinness ratio of bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels, on its strength and behaviour was discussed. Varnished and sand blasted bamboo splints of 20 mm width and thickness varying from 8 to 15 mm were used as reinforcement in concrete. Based on the study, an empirical equation was developed considering the geometrical parameters of bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels for predicting its ultimate strength under two way in-plane action.