• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.427-442
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• 2017

This paper presents unprecedented damped oscillation behaviours of a precast steel-concrete composite slab panel for track support. The steel-concrete composite slab track is an innovative slab track, a form of ballastless track which is becoming increasingly attractive to asset owners as they seek to reduce lifecycle costs and deal with increasing rail traffic speeds. The slender nature of the slab panel due to its reduced depth of construction makes it susceptible to vibration problems. The aim of the study is driven by the need to address the limited research available to date on the dynamic behaviour of steel-concrete composite slab panels for track support. Free vibration analysis of the track slab has been carried out using ABAQUS. Both undamped and damped eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes have been extracted using the Lancsoz method. The fundamental natural frequencies of the slab panel have been identified together with corresponding mode shapes. To investigate the sensitivity of the natural frequencies and mode shapes, parametric studies have been established, considering concrete strength and mass and steel's modulus of elasticity. This study is the world first to observe crossover phenomena that result in the inversion of the natural orders without interaction. It also reveals that replacement of the steel with aluminium or carbon fibre sheeting can only marginally reduce the natural frequencies of the slab panel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.475-481
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• 2017

An overhead travelling crane structure of two doubly symmetric welded box beams is designed for minimum cost. The rails are placed over the inner webs of box beams. The following design constraints are considered: local buckling of web and flange plates, fatigue of the butt K weld under rail and fatigue of fillet welds joining the transverse diaphragms to the box beams, fatigue of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) laminate, deflection constraint. For the formulation of constraints the relatively new standard for cranes EN 13001-3-1 (2010) is used. To fulfill the deflection constraint CFRP strengthening should be used. The application of CFRP materials in strengthening of steel and concrete structures are widely used in civil engineering applications due to their unique advantages. In our study, we wanted to show how the mechanical properties of traditional materials can be improved by the application of composite materials and how advanced materials and new production technologies can be applied. In the optimization the following cost parts are considered: material, assembly and welding of the steel structure, material and fabrication cost of CFRP strengthening. The optimization is performed by systematic search using a MathCAD program.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.24-31
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• 1995

The properties of carbon fibers made from PAN are controlled by the heat treatment conditions. The length changes of high strength homo-PAN and co-PAN (acrylonitrile/acrylamide= 98/2wt% ) fibers under constant tensile stress during heat treatment in nitrogen gas were investigated by measuring the shrinkage behavior. In order to elucidate the relation between the length and fine structure change, the measurements of the crystalline orientation and birefringence index etc. were made for the fibers treated under linear heating up to 27$0^{\circ}C$. There are two regions in the length change with heat treatment temperature. The change in the initial period is mainaly due to the relaxation of amorphous molecular chain confined by the fiber-manufacture process. The length change in later period is considered to arise as cyclization reactions. The co-PAN fibers caused a larger shrinkage, while the onset of the shrinkage change in later period is, shifted to lower temperature. Significant morphological changes are shown to precede onset of the cyclization reactions and also during these reactions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.229-235
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• 2018

This study investigated the behaviour of the simply supported hollow steel tube (HST) beams, either concrete filled or unfilled when strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. Eight specimens with varied tubes thickness (sections classification 1 and 3) were all tested experimentally under static flexural loading, four out of eight were filled with normal concrete (CFST beams). Particularly, the partial CFRP strengthening scheme was used, which wrapped the bottom-half of the beams cross-section (U-shaped wrapping), in order to use the efficiency of high tensile strength of CFRP sheets at the tension stress only of simply supported beams. In general, the results showed that the CFRP sheets significantly improved the ultimate strength and energy absorption capacities of the CFST beams with very limited improvement on the related HST beams. For example, the load and energy absorption capacities for the CFST beams (tube section class 1) were increased about 20% and 32.6%, respectively, when partially strengthened with two CFRP layers, and these improvements had increased more (62% and 38%) for the same CFST beams using tube class 3. However, these capacities recorded no much improvement on the related unfilled HST beams when the same CFRP strengthening scheme was adopted.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.173-177
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• 2004

In this study, the effect of laminate thickness on the compressive behaviour of composite materials was investigated through systematic experimental work using the stacking sequences, [04]ns, [45/0/-45/90]ns and [45n/0n/-45n/90n]s (n = 2 to 8). The stacking sequence effects on failure strength of multidirectional laminates were examined. For this purpose, two different scaling techniques were used; (1) ply-level technique [45n/0n/-45n/90n]s and (2) sub laminate level technique [45/0/-45/90]ns. An apparent thickness effect existed in the lay-up with blocked plies, i.e. unidirectional specimens $([0_4]ns)$ and ply-level scaled multidirectional specimens ([45n/0n/-45n/90n]s). From the investigation of the stacking sequence effect, the strength values obtained from the sub laminate level scaled specimens were slightly higher than those obtained from the ply level scaled specimens. The measured failure strengths were compared with the predicted values

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.105-120
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• 2011

The strengthening and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structures with externally bonded carbon fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates has shown excellent performance and, as a result, this technology is rapidly replacing steel plate bonding techniques. This paper addresses this issue, and presents results deals with the influence of external bonded CFRP-reinforcement on the time-dependent behavior of reinforced concrete beams. A total of eight reinforced concrete beams with cracked and un-cracked section, with and without externally bonded CFRP laminates, were investigated for their creep and shrinkage behavior. All the beams considered in this paper were simply supported and subjected to a uniform sustained loading for the period of six months. The main parameters of this study are two types of sustained load and different degrees of strengthening scheme for both cracked and un-cracked sections of beams. Both analytical and experimental work has been carried out on strengthened beams to investigate the cracking and deflection performance. The applied sustained load was 56% and 38% of the ultimate static capacities of the un-strengthened beams for cracked and un-cracked section respectively. The analytical values based on effective modulus method (EMM) are compared to the experimental results and it is found that the analytical values are in general give conservative estimates of the experimental results. It was concluded that the attachment of CFRP composite laminates has a positive influence on the long term performance of strengthened beams.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.319-334
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• 2018

In this study, the failure mode and energy absorption capabilities of a composite shock absorber device, during an emergency landing are evaluated. The prototype has been installed and tested in laboratory simulating an emergency landing test condition. The crash absorber presents an innovative configuration able to reduce the loads transmitted to a helicopter fuselage during an emergency landing. It consists of a composite tailored tube installed on the landing gear strut. During an emergency landing this crash absorber system should be able to absorb energy through a pre-designed deformation. This solution, compared to an oleo-pneumatic shock absorber, avoids sealing checks, very high values of the shock absorber pressure, and results to be lighter, easy in maintenance, inspect and use. The activities reported in this paper have become an attractive research field both from the scientific viewpoint and the prospect of industrial applications, because they offer benefits in terms of energy absorbing, weight savings, increasing the safety levels, and finally reducing the costs in a global sense.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.4
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• pp.409-420
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• 2019

The paper presents the results of an experimental and numerical programme to characterize the behaviour of steel beams reinforcement by composite plates. Important failure mode of such plated beams is the debonding of the composite plates from the steel beam due to high level of stress concentration in the adhesive at the ends of the composite plate. In this new research, an experimental and numerical finite element study is presented to calculate the stresses in the sika carbodur and sika wrap reinforced steel beam under mechanical loading. The main objective of the experimental program was the evaluation of the force transfer mechanism, the increase of the load capacity of the steel beam and the flexural stiffness. It also validated different analytical and numerical models for the analysis of sika carbodur and sika wrap reinforced steel beams. In particular, a finite element model validated with respect to the experimental data and in relation to the analytical approach is presented. Experimental and numerical results from the present analysis are presented in order to show the advantages of the present solution over existing ones and to reconcile debonding stresses with strengthening quality.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.499-505
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• 2021

Geopolymer binders fascinate the attention of researchers as a replacement to cement binder in conventional concrete. One-ton production of cement releases one ton of carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere. In the replacement of cement by geopolymer material, there are two advantages: one is the reduction of CO₂ in the atmosphere, second is the utilization of Fly ash and Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) are by-products from coal and steel industries. This paper focuses on the mechanical properties of steel fiber reinforced geopolymer concrete. The framework considered in this research work is geopolymer source (Fly ash, GGBFS and crimped steel fibre) and alkaline activator which consists of NaOH and Na₂SiO₃ of molarity 8M. Here the Na₂SiO₃ / NaOH ratio was taken as 2.5. The variables considered in this experimental work include Binder content (360,420 and 450 kg/m³), the proportion of Fly ash and GGBS (70-30, 60-40 and 50-50) for three different grades of Geopolymer concrete (GPC) GPC 20, GPC 40 and GPC 60. The percentage of crimped steel fibres was varied as 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%. Generally, the inclusion of steel fibres increases the flexural and split tensile strength of Geopolymer concrete. The optimum dosage of steel fibres was found to be 0.4% (by volume fraction).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.49-61
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• 2022

This paper presents an experimental investigation into the effectiveness of using carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) and steel plates to repair damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beams with circular web openings at shear zones. It highlights the effectiveness of externally bonded CFRP and steel plates in repairing damaged RC beams by analysing the repaired beams'load capacity, deflection, strain, and failure mode. For the experiment, a total of five beams were used, with one solid beam as a control beam and the other four beams having an opening near the shear zone. Two beams with openings were repaired using inclined and vertical configuration CFRP plates, and the other two were repaired using inclined and vertical configuration steel plates. The results confirm the effectiveness of CFRP and steel plates for repairing damaged RC beams with circular openings. The CFRP and steel plates significantly increase ultimate capacity and reduce deflection under the openings. The inclined configuration of both CFRP and steel plates was more effective than the vertical configuration. Using an inclined configuration not only increases the ultimate capacity of the beams but also changes the mode of failure from shear to flexural.