• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.289-301
• /
• 2018

The rigid steel connections were suffered severe damage because of low rotational capacity during earthquakes. Hence, many investigations have been conducted on the connections of steel structures. As a solution, steel slit dampers were employed at the connections to prevent brittle failure of connections and damage of main structural members. Slit damper is a plate or a standard section with a number of slits in the web. The objective of this paper is to improve the seismic performance of steel slit dampers in the beam-to-column connection using finite element modeling. With reviewing the previous investigations, it is observed that slit dampers were commonly fractured in the end parts of the struts. This may be due to the low participation of struts middle parts in the energy dissipation. Thus, in the present study slit damper with elliptic slits is proposed in such a way that end parts of struts have more energy absorption area than struts middle parts. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of geometric parameters of elliptic slit damper such as strut width, strut height and plate thickness on the seismic performance of the beam-to-column connection. The stress distribution is improved along the struts in the proposed slit damper with elliptic slits and the stress concentration is decreased in the end parts of struts. The average contributions of elliptic slit dampers, beam and other sections to the energy dissipation are about 97.19%, 2.12% and 0.69%, respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.803-823
• /
• 2011

In this paper, the three dimensional Parallel Realistic Failure Process Analysis ($RFPA^{3D}$-Parallel) code based on micromechanical model is employed to investigate the bonding behavior in FRP sheet bonded to concrete in single shear test. In the model, the heterogeneity of brittle disordered material at a meso-scale was taken into consideration in order to realistically demonstrate the mechanical characteristics of FRP-to-concrete. Modified Mohr-coulomb strength criterion with tension cut-off, where a stressed element can damage in shear or in tension, was adopted and a stiffness degradation approach was used to simulate the initiation, propagation and growth of microcracks in the model. In addition, a Master-Slave parallel operation control technique was adopted to implement the parallel computation of a large numerical model. Parallel computational results of debonding of FRP-concrete visually reproduce the spatial and temporal debonding failure progression of microcracks in FRP sheet bonded to concrete, which agrees well with the existing testing results in laboratory. The numerical approach in this study provides a useful tool for enhancing our understanding of cracking and debonding failure process and mechanism of FRP-concrete and our ability to predict mechanical performance and reliability of these FRP sheet bonded to concrete structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.61 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2017

The effectiveness of the repair scheme for the damaged captive-columns with CFRPs (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) was investigated in terms of response quantities such as strength, ductility, dissipated energy and stiffness degradation. Two 1/3 scale, one-story one-bay RC (Reinforced Concrete) frames were designed to represent the substandard RC buildings in Turkish building stock. The first one, which is the reference specimen, is the bare frame without infill wall. Partial infill wall with opening was constructed between the columns of the second frame and this caused captive column defect. Severe damage was observed with the concentration of shear cracks in the second specimen columns. Then, the damaged members were repaired by CFRP wrapping and retested. For the three test series, similar reversed cyclic lateral displacement under combined effect of axial load was applied to the top of the columns. Overall response of the bare frame was dominated by flexural cracks. Brittle type of shear failure in the column top ends was observed in the specimen with partial infill wall. It was observed that former capacity of damaged members of the second frame was recovered by the applied repair scheme. Moreover, ultimate displacement capacity of the damaged frame was improved considerably by CFRP wrapping.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.339-352
• /
• 2015

Ancient masonry towers constitute a relevant part of the cultural heritage of humanity. Their earthquake protection is a topic of great concern among researchers due to the strong damage suffered by these brittle and massive structures through the history. The identification of the seismic behavior and failure of towers under seismic loading is complex. This strongly depends on many factors such as soil characteristics, geometry, mechanical properties of masonry and heavy mass, as well as the earthquake frequency content. A deep understanding of these aspects is the key for the correct seismic vulnerability evaluation of towers and to design the most suitable retrofitting measure. Recent tendencies on the seismic retrofitting of historical structures by means of prestressing are related to the use of smart materials. The most famous cases of application of prestressing in towers were discussed. Compared to horizontal prestressing, vertical post-tensioning is aimed at improving the seismic behavior of towers by reducing damage with the application of an overall distribution of compressive stresses at key locations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.144-153
• /
• 2003

The object of this paper is the probabilistic failure analysis on the cladding performance of WPF(Whole Pin Furnace) test fuel pins under transient conditions, and analysis of the KALIMER fuel pin using the preceding analysis. The cumulative damage estimation and Weibull probability estimation of WPF test are performed. The probabilistic method was adapted for these analyses to determine the effective thickness thinning due to eutectic penetration depth. In the results, it is difficult to assume that a brittle layer depth made by eutectic reaction is all of the thickness reduction due to cladding thinning. About 93% cladding thinning of the eutectic penetration depth is favorable as an effective thickness of cladding. And the unreliability of the KALIMER driver fuel pin under the same WPF test condition is lower than that of the WPF pin because of the higher plenum-fuel volume ratio and lower cladding inner radius vs. thickness ratio. KALIMER fuel pin developed from conceptual design has a more stable transient performance for a failure mechanism due to fission gas buildup than the WPF pin.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.123-130
• /
• 2020

Generally the non-bearing walls in apartment buildings in Korea are not considered as a lateral force resisting members for the design consideration. This engineering practice caused large crack damages and brittle fractures of the non-bearing walls when subjected to Pohang earthquakes in 2017 since those have not been designed for seismic loading. In this study, finite element analysis was conducted for slot type non-bearing wall connection system to reduce damages and concentrate damages to the designated damping device through separation from the structural wall members. Steel plate and dowel bar systems designed for the dissipation of seismic energies were modeled and analyzed to investigate the damage reductions. Finally, the test result and the analysis result were compared and verified.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.163-171
• /
• 2021

This paper studies the effect of using multi-scale reinforcement additives on mechanical strengths, damage performance, microstructure, and water absorption of cementitious composites. Small dosages of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or polypropylene (PP) microfibers; 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% by weight of cement; were added either separately or simultaneously into cement mortar. The experimental results show the ability of these additives to enhance the mechanical behavior of the mortar. The best improvement in compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar reaches 28% in the case of adding a combination of 0.1% CNTs and 0.2% PP fibers for compression, and a combination of 0.2% CNTs and 0.2% PP fibers for flexure. Adding CNTs does not change the brittle mode of failure of plain mortar whereas the presence of PP fibers changes it into ductile failure and clearly enhances the fracture energy of the specimens. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the fracture surfaces highlights the role of CNTs in improving the adhesion between the PP fibers and the hydration products and thus enhance the ability of the fibers to mitigate cracks propagation and to enhance the mechanical performance of the mortar.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.149-163
• /
• 2021

Damage characteristics of granite, marble and sandstone whose properties were different were investigated by uniaxial compression test and cyclic loading-unloading test. Strength, elastic constants and damage threshold stresses were measured by uniaxial compression test and were compared with those measured by cyclic loading-unloading test. Average rock strengths measured by cyclic loading-unloading test were either lower than or similar with those measured by uniaxial compression test. Rocks with high strength and low porosity were more sensitive to fatigue than that with low strength and high porosity. Although permanent strains caused by cyclic loading-unloading were different according to rock types, they could be good indicators representing damage characteristics of rock. Damage threshold stress of granite and marble might be measured from stress-permanent strain curves. Acoustic emissions were measured during both tests and felicity ratios which represented damage characteristics of rocks were calculated. Felicity ratio of sandstone which was weak in strength and highly porous could not be calculated because of very few measurements of acoustic emissions. On the other hand, damage threshold could be predicted from felicity ratios of granite and marble which were brittle and low in porosity. The deformation behaviors and damage characteristics of rock mass could be investigated if additional tests for various rock types were performed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
• /
• 2002.10b
• /
• pp.185-186
• /
• 2002

Fretting of fuel rod cladding material, Zircaloy-4 tube, in PWR nuclear power plants must be reduced and avoided. Nowadays the introduction of surface treatments or coatings is expected to be an ideal solution to fretting damage since fretting is closely related to wear. corrosion and fatigue. Therefore. in this study the fretting wear experiment was performed using TiAlN coated Zircaloy-4 tube as the fuel rod cladding and uncoated Zircaloy-4 as on of grids, especially concentrating on the sliding component. Fretting wear resistance of TiAlN coated Zircaloy-4 tubes was improved compared with that of TiN coated tubes and uncoated tubes and fretting wear mechanisms were brittle fracture and plastic flow at lower slip amplitude but severe oxidation and spallation of oxidative layer at higher ship amplitude.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.287-294
• /
• 2012

Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) represent a class of non-brittle refractory materials for harsh and extreme environments in aerospace and other applications. The quasi-ductility of these structural materials depends on the quality of the interface between the matrix and the fiber surface. In this study, a manufacture route is described where in contrast to most other processes no additional fiber coating is used to adjust the fiber/matrix interfaces in order to obtain damage tolerance and fracture toughness. Adapted microstructures of uncoated carbon fiber preforms were developed to permit the rapid infiltration of molten alloys and the subsequent reaction with the carbon matrix. Furthermore, any direct reaction between the melt and fibers was minimized. Using pure silicon as the reactive melt, C/SiC composites were manufactured with an aim of employing the resulting composite for friction applications. This paper describes the formation of the microstructure inside the C/C preform and resulting C/C-SiC composite, in addition to the MAX phases.