• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.335-349
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• 2019

A low-cycle loading experiment of 16 transfer column specimens was conducted to study the influence of parameters, likes the extension length of shape steel, the ratio of shape steel, the axial compression ratio and the volumetric ratio of stirrups, on the shear distribution between steel and concrete, the concrete damage state and the degradation of lateral stiffness. Shear force of shape steel reacted at the core area of concrete section and led to tension effect which accelerated the damage of concrete. At the same time, the damage of concrete diminished its shear capacity and resulted in the shear enlargement of shape steel. The interplay between concrete damage and shear force of shape steel ultimately made for the failures of transfer columns. With the increase of extension length, the lateral stiffness first increases and then decreases, but the stiffness degradation gets faster; With the increase of steel ratio, the lateral stiffness remains the same, but the degradation gets faster; With the increase of the axial compression ratio, the lateral stiffness increases, and the degradation is more significant. Using more stirrups can effectively restrain the development of cracks and increase the lateral stiffness at the yielding point. Also, a formula for calculating the yielding lateral stiffness is obtained by a regression analysis of the test data.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 2022

It is widely known that axially loaded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confined concrete presents significant and enhanced mechanical properties with reference to the unconfined concrete. Therefore, to predict the mechanical behavior of FRP-confined concrete two quantities-peak strength and ultimate strain are required. Despite the significant advances, the determination of the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete is one of the most challenging problems to be resolved. This is often attributed to our persistence in desiring the conventional methods as the sole technique to examine this phenomenon and the complex nature of the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. To bridge the research gap, this study adopted two machine learning (ML) techniques-artificial neural network (ANN) and Gaussian process regression (GPR)-to analyze observations obtained from 627 datasets of FRP-confined concrete circular and non-circular sections under axial loading test. Besides, the techniques are also used to predict the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. Seven parameters namely width/diameter of the specimens, corner radius ratio, the strength of concrete, FRP elastic modulus, FRP thickness, FRP tensile rupture strain, and the axial strain of unconfined concrete-are the input parameters used to predict the ultimate strain of FRP-confined concrete. The results of the current study highlight the merit of using AI techniques in structural engineering applications given their extraordinary ability to comprehend multidimensional phenomena of FRP-confined concrete structures with ease, low computational cost, and high performance over the existing empirical models.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.781-794
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• 2023

In order to directly apply seawater and sea sand in construction without desalination, a type of square concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) encased with prefabricated seawater sea-sand concrete filled Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)/Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) tube column was proposed. Twenty short columns were tested under uniaxial loads, and the test parameters included inner tube types, seawater sea-sand concrete replacement ratios, concrete strength, the wrapping area of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strips and the thickness of GFRP tube. The effects of the parameters on failure modes, loading capacity, ductility and strain responses were discussed. All the tested specimens failed with serious buckling of the steel tubes and fracture of the inner tubes. The specimens had good residual bearing capacity corresponding to 64% to 88.9% of the peak capacity. The inner GFRP tubes and PVC tubes wrapped by CFRP strips provided stronger confinement to the core concrete, and were good choices for the proposed columns. Moreover, an analytical model for the composite column with different inner tube types was proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.451-460
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• 2024

Hollow reinforced concrete columns confined with GFRP tubes (GRCH) are composite members composed of the outer GFRP tube, the PVC or other plastic tube as the inner tube, and the reinforced concrete between two tubes. Because of their high ductility, light weight, corrosion resistance and convenient construction, many researchers pay attention to the composite members. However, there are few studies on GRCH members under eccentric compression compared with those under axial compression. Eight hollow columns were tested under eccentric compression, including one axial compression column and seven eccentric compression columns. The failure modes and force mechanisms of GRCH members were analyzed, considering the varying in hollow ratio, reinforcement ratio and eccentricity. The test results showed that configuring steel bars can greatly increase the bearing capacity and ductility of the members. Each component (GFRP tube, concrete, steel bar) had good deformation coordination and the strength of each material could be fully utilized. But for specimens with larger eccentricity ratio (e_r=0.4) and larger hollow ratio (χ=0.55), the restraining effect of GFRP tube on concrete was significantly decreased.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.433-445
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• 2020

The weakening and softening behavior of soft clay subjected to cyclic loading due to the build-up of excess pore water pressure is well-known. During the design stage of the foundation of highways and coastal high-rise buildings, it is important to study the mechanical behavior of marine soils under cyclic loading as they undergo greater settlement during cyclic loading than under static loading. Therefore, this research evaluates the cyclic stress-strain and shear strength of untreated and treated marine clay under the effects of wind, earthquake, and traffic loadings. A series of laboratory stress-controlled cyclic triaxial tests have been conducted on both untreated and treated marine clay using different effective confining pressures and a frequency of 0.5 and 1.0 Hz. In addition, treated samples were cured for 28 and 90 days and tested under a frequency of 2.0 Hz. The results revealed significant differences in the performance of treated marine clay samples than that of untreated samples under cyclic loading. The treated marine clay samples were able to stand up to 2000 loading cycles before failure, while untreated marine clay samples could not stand few loading cycles. The untreated marine clay displayed a higher permanent axial strain rate under cyclic loading than the treated clay due to the existence of new cementing compounds after the treatment with recycled tiles and low amount (2%) of cement. The effect of the effective confining pressure was found to be significant on untreated marine clay while its effect was not crucial for the treated samples cured for 90 days. Treated samples cured for 90 days performed better under cyclic loading than the ones cured for 28 days and this is due to the higher amount of cementitious compounds formed with time. The highest deformation was found at 0.5 Hz, which cannot be considered as a critical frequency since smaller frequencies were not used. Therefore, it is recommended to consider testing the treated marine clay using smaller frequencies than 0.5 Hz.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.497-509
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• 2010

Five concrete-encased steel columns using high-strength steel($f_{ys}$=801MPa) and high-strength concrete($f_{ck}$=97.7MPa) were tested to investigate the eccentric axial load-displacement relationship. Test parameters included the type, yield strength, and spacing of lateral reinforcement, and also the eccentricity of axial load. To analyze the behavior of the column specimens, the nonlinear sectional analysis using strain-compatibility and confinement effect was performed. To examine the applicability of existing design codes for the composite sections using high-strength materials, the test results were also compared with the predictions by the nonlinear analysis and the design codes. The confinement effect of lateral reinforcement increased the ductility of concrete, and the moment capacity of the column specimens increased with the ductility of concrete. The prediction by the nonlinear analysis gave good agreement with the test results. On the other hand, the ACI 318 neglecting lateral confinement effect underestimated the strength of the column specimens, and the Eurocode 4 using complete plastic capacity of steel section overestimated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.429-446
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• 2006

Experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the seismic ductility of earthquake-experienced concrete columns with an aspect ratio of 2.5. Eight circular concrete columns with a diameter of 600 mm were constructed with three test parameters: confinement ratio, lap-splice of longitudinal bars, and retrofitting with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials. The objective of this research is to examine the seismic performance of RC bridge piers subjected to a Quasi static test (QST), which were preliminary tested under a series of artificial earthquake motions referred to as a Pseudo dynamic test (PDT). The seismic enhancement effect of FRP wrap was also investigated on these RC bridge piers. Six specimens were loaded to induce probable damage by four series of artificial earthquakes, which were developed to be compatible with earthquakes in the Korean peninsula by the Korea Highway Corporation (KHC). Directly after the PDT, six earthquake-experienced columns were subjected to inelastic cyclic loading under a constant axial load of $0.1{f_c}^{\prime}A_g$. Two other reference specimens without the PDT were also subjected to similar quasi-static loads. Test results showed that specimens pre-damaged by moderate artificial earthquakes generally demonstrated good residual seismic performance, which was similar to the corresponding reference specimen. Moreover, RC bridge specimens retrofitted with wrapping fiber composites in the potential plastic hinge region exhibited enhanced flexural ductility.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.1166-1171
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• 2008

Despite of the increasing number of the application of drilled shaft piles in construction site, most studies on pile capacity have been focused on the side shear resistance. But it is common that the drilled shaft is socketed on the rock so as to use its bearing resistance. The prediction of the end movement and characteristics of the bearing capacity of the pile is great important as well. Therefore, a series of scaled model tests were carried out in order to study the characteristics of the bearing capacity on rock mass. The material of the test block was cement mortar which was mixed with sand, cement and water, and the size of a test block size was $240{\times}240{\times}240mm$. The axial load was applied by a miniaturized pile of 45mm in diameter and flat jacks and steel plate were used for confinement to simulate the real underground loading conditions. The relation of load-displacement was measured in various different conditions of rock mass such as strength, discontinuity of the rock mass and in-situ stress, so q-w curves of the end of the pile were presented for each condition.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.17-31
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• 2021

Post-earthquake fire is a common disaster which causes serious safety issues to infrastructures. This study aims to investigate the residual loading capacities of circular concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns under post-earthquake fire experimentally and numerically. The experimental programme contains two loading steps - pre-damage cyclic loading at room temperature and transient state tests with constant compression loads. Three finite element models are developed and validated against the test results. Upon validation, a total of 48 numerical results were generated in the parametric study to investigate the effects of thickness and strengths of steel tube, axial compression ratio and damage degree on the fire resistance of circular CFST columns. Based on the analysis on experimental and numerical results, the loading mechanism of circular CFST columns is discussed. A design method is proposed for the prediction of fire resistance time under different seismic pre-damage and compression loads. The predictions by the new method is compared with the newly generated experimental and numerical results and is found to be accurate and consistent with the mean value close to the unity and a coefficient of variation around 1%.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.77-93
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• 2009

The load distribution and deformation of rock socketed drilled shafts subjected to axial loads were evaluated by a load transfer approach. The emphasis was laid on quantifying the end bearing load transfer characteristics of rock socketed drilled shafts based on 3D Finite Difference (FD) analysis performed under varying rock strength and rock mass conditions. From the results of FD analysis, it was found that the ultimate unit toe resistance ($q_{max}$) was influenced by both rock strength and rock mass conditions, while the initial tangent of end bearing load transfer curve ($G_{ini}$) was only dependent on rock strength. End bearing load transfer function of drilled shafts socketed in rock was proposed based on the FD analysis and the field loading tests which were performed on weathered rock in South Korea. Through the comparison with the results of the field loading tests, it is found that the load transfer curve by the present study is in good agreement with the general trend observed by field loading tests, and thus represents a significant improvement in the prediction of load transfer behavior of drilled shaft.