In this article, the surface stress effects on the buckling analysis of the annular sandwich plate is developed. The proposed plate is composed of two face layers made of carbon nanotubes (CNT) reinforced composite with assuming of fully bonded to functionally graded porous core. The generalized rule of the mixture is employed to predict the mechanical properties of the microcomposite sandwich plate. The derived potentials energy based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and modified couple stress theory (MCST) is solved by employing the Ritz method. An exact analytical solution is presented to calculate the critical buckling loads of the annular sandwich plate. The predicted results are validated by carrying out the comparison studies for the buckling analysis of annular plates with those obtained by other analytical and finite element methods. The effects of various parameters such as material length scale parameter, core thickness to total thickness ratio (hc/h), surface elastic constants based on surface stress effect, various boundary condition and porosity distributions, size of the internal pores (e0), Skempton coefficient and elastic foundation on the critical buckling load have been studied. The results can be served as benchmark data for future works and also in the design of materials science, injunction high-pressure micropipe connections, nanotechnology, and smart systems.

Seismologists now suggest that the earth has entered an active seismic period; many earthquake-related events are occurring globally. Consequently, numerous casualties, as well as economic losses due to earthquakes, have been reported in recent years. Primarily, significant and colossal damage occurs in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with masonry infill wall systems, and the construction of these types of structures have increased worldwide. According to a report from the Ministry of Education in the Republic of Korea, many buildings were built with RC frames with masonry infill walls in the Republic of Korea during the 1980s. For years, most structures of this type have been school buildings, and since the Pohang earthquake in 2017, the government of the Republic of Korea has paid close attention to this social event and focused on damage from earthquakes. From a long-term research perspective, damage from structural collapse due to the short column effect has been a major concern, specifically because the RC frame with a masonry infill wall system is the typical form of structure for school buildings. Therefore, the short column effect has recently been a major topic for research. This study compares one RC frame with four different types of RC frames with masonry infill wall systems. Structural damage due to the short column effect is clearly analyzed, as the result of this research is giving in a higher infill wall system produces a greater shear force on the connecting point between the infill wall system and the column. The study is expected to be a useful reference for research on the short column effect in RC frames with masonry infill wall systems.

The point load test (PLT) is a widely-used alternative method in the field to determine the uniaxial compressive strength due to its simple testing machine and procedure. The point load test index can estimate the uniaxial compressive strength through conversion factors based on the rock types. However, the mechanism correlating these two parameters and the influence of the mechanical properties on PLT results are still not well understood. This study proposed a theoretical model to understand the mechanism of PLT serving as an alternative to the UCS test based on laboratory observation and literature survey. This model found that the point load test is a self-confined compression test. There is a compressive ellipsoid near the loading axis, whose dilation forms a tensile ring that provides confinement on this ellipsoid. The peak load of a point load test is linearly positive correlated to the tensile strength and negatively correlated to the Poisson ratio. The model was then verified using numerical and experimental approaches. In numerical verification, the PLT discs were simulated using flat-joint BPM of PFC3D to model the force distribution, crack propagation and BPM properties' effect with calibrated micro-parameters from laboratory UCS test and point load test of Berea sandstones. It further verified the mechanism experimentally by conducting a uniaxial compressive test, Brazilian test, and point load test on four different rocks. The findings from this study can explain the mechanism and improve the understanding of point load in determining uniaxial compressive strength.

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is an important task of civil engineering structure monitoring and inspection, but minor damage such as small cracks in local structure is difficult to observe. If cracks continued expansion may cause partial or even overall damage to the structure. Therefore, monitoring and detecting the structure in the early stage of crack propagation is important. The crack detection technology based on machine vision has been widely studied, but there are still some problems such as bad recognition effect for small cracks. In this paper, we proposed a deep learning method based on sweep signals to evaluate concrete surface crack with a width less than 1 mm. Two convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are used to analyze the one-dimensional (1D) frequency sweep signal and the two-dimensional (2D) time-frequency image, respectively, and the probability value of average damage (ADPV) is proposed to evaluate the minor damage of structural. Finally, we use the standard deviation of energy ratio change (ERVSD) and infrared thermography (IRT) to compare with ADPV to verify the effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper. The experiment results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively predict whether the concrete surface is damaged and the severity of damage.

The present study investigated the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with an ultrahigh performance concrete (UHPC) panel having various thicknesses. Two fabrication methods were introduced in this study; one was the direct casting of UHPC onto the bottom surface of the RC beams (I-series), and the other was the attachment of a prefabricated UHPC panel using an adhesive (E-series). UHPC panels having thicknesses of 10, 30, 50, and 70 mm were applied to RC beams, and these specimens were subjected to four-point loading to assess the effect of the UHPC thickness on the flexural strengthening of RC beams. The test results indicated that the peak strength and initial stiffness were vastly enhanced with an increase in the thickness of the UHPC panel, showing an improved energy dissipation capacity. In particular, the peak strength of the E-series specimens was higher than that of I-series specimens, showing high compatibility between the RC beam and the UHPC panel. The experimental test results were comparatively explored with a discussion of numerical analysis. Numerical analysis results showed that the predictions are in fair agreement with experimental results.

Anchor channels are commonly used for façade, tunnel, and structural connections. These connections encounter various types of loadings during their service life, including high rate or impact loading. For anchor channels that are placed close and parallel to an edge and loaded in shear perpendicular to and towards the edge, the failure is often governed by concrete edge breakout. This study investigates the transverse shear behavior of the anchor channels under quasi-static and high rate loadings using a numerical approach (3D finite element analysis) utilizing a rate-sensitive microplane model for concrete as constitutive law. Following the validation of the numerical model against a test performed under quasi-static loading, the rate-sensitive static, and rate-sensitive dynamic analyses are performed for various displacement loading rates varying from moderately high to impact. The increment in resistance due to the high loading rate is evaluated using the dynamic increase factor (DIF). Furthermore, it is shown that the failure mode of the anchor channel changes from global concrete edge failure to local concrete crushing due to the activation of structural inertia at high displacement loading rates. The research outcomes could be valuable for application in various types of connection systems where a high rate of loading is expected.

Recently, research on predicting the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns using machine learning methods has been actively conducted. However, most studies have focused on predicting the ultimate strength of RC columns using a regression algorithm. Therefore, this study develops a successive machine learning process for predicting multiple nonlinear behaviors of rectangular RC columns. This process consists of three stages: single machine learning, bagging ensemble, and stacking ensemble. In the case of strength prediction, sufficient prediction accuracy is confirmed even in the first stage. In the case of displacement, although sufficient accuracy is not achieved in the first and second stages, the stacking ensemble model in the third stage performs better than the machine learning models in the first and second stages. In addition, the performance of the final prediction models is verified by comparing the backbone curves and hysteresis loops obtained from predicted outputs with actual experimental data.

This paper emphasizes the use of CFT columns in frame structures subjected to strong horizontal forces and shows that the efficiency of using CFT columns is increased when the plastic design approach is adopted. Because the plastic design approach is based on redistribution of the force of the internal member, a double node for the rotational degrees of freedom, where the adjacent two rotational degrees of freedom can be connected by a non-dimensional spring element, is designed and implemented into the formulation. In addition, an accompanying criterion is considered in order to make it possible to describe the continuous moment redistribution in members connected to a nodal point up to a complete plastic state. The efficiency of CFT columns is reviewed in comparison with RC columns in terms of the cost and the resistance capacity, as defined by a P-M interaction diagram. Three representative frame structures are considered and the obtained results show that the most efficient and economical design can be expected when the use of CFT columns is considered on the basis of the plastic design, especially when a frame structure is subjected to significant horizontal forces, as in a high-rise building.