• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.61-81
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• 2006

It is necessary to systematically explore the reform plans of the Software Industrial Promotion Law to systematically a representative high-added value future knowledge-based industry, software industry. The current Software Industrial Promotion Law provides only one provision on software business contract procedures, and the Civil Code, the National Contract law or Subcontract Fairness Law regulate other things, so the features of software industry are not properly reflected. To the contrary, the Information Communication Construction Law or the Construction Basic Law effectively prevent disputes by providing material and detailed provisions. Therefore the current software industry needs to be shifted from promotion to fundamental one. That is, as the software industry takes up a large portion at present, so the law should have basic procedural provisions. Also the National Contract Law governs only the contract procedures of public sector, so there should be business performance procedural provisions to regulate the software business formalities of civil sector. And the National Contract Law controls the sale, construction and service of articles at separate contract procedures, but software business contains construction and service characters simultaneously, so there should be business performance procedures fit for software business. Thus this study presented the legislative need and bill on the performance procedures of software business.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.405-426
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• 2000

Two approximate methods based on mechanism analysis suitable for seismic assessment/design of structural concrete are reviewed. The methods involve use of equal energy concept or equal displacement concept along with appropriate patterns of inelastic deformations to relate structure's maximum lateral displacement to member and plastic deformations. One of these methods (Clough's method), defined here as a ductility-based approach, is examined in detail and a modification for its improvement is suggested. The modification is based on estimation of maximum inelastic displacement using inelastic design response spectra (IDRS) as an alternative to using equal energy concept. The IDRS for demand displacement ductilities are developed for a single degree of freedom model subjected to several accelerograms as functions of response modification factor (R), damping ratios, and strain hardening. The suggested revised methodology involves estimation of R as the ratio of elastic strength demand to code level demand, and determination of design base shear using $R_{design}{\leq}R$ and maximum displacement, determination of plastic displacement using IDRS and subsequent local plastic deformations. The methodology is demonstrated for the case of a 10-story precast wall panel building.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.115-132
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• 2015

This paper presents a new method for seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings with reference to their operational limit state. The importance of this kind of evaluation arises from the civil protection necessity that some buildings, considered strategic for seismic emergency management, should retain their functionality also after a destructive earthquake. The method is based on the identification of experimental modal parameters from ambient vibrations measurements. The knowledge of the experimental modes allows to perform a linear spectral analysis computing the maximum structural drifts of the building caused by an assigned earthquake. Operational condition is then evaluated by comparing the maximum building drifts with the reference value assigned by the Italian Technical Code for the operational limit state. The uncertainty about the actual building seismic frequencies, typically significantly lower than the ambient ones, is explicitly taken into account through a probabilistic approach that allows to define for the building the Operational Index together with the Operational Probability Curve. The method is validated with experimental seismic data from a permanently monitored public building: by comparing the probabilistic prediction and the building experimental drifts, resulting from three weak earthquakes, the reliability of the method is confirmed. Finally an application of the method to a strategic building in Italy is presented: all the procedure, from ambient vibrations measurement, to seismic input definition, up to the computation of the Operational Probability Curve is illustrated.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.223-243
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• 2015

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be placed and compacted under its own weight with little or no compaction. It is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation or bleeding. Modifications in the mix design of SCC may significantly influence the material's mechanical properties. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about conventional concrete (CC) are also valid for SCC structures. The aim in this paper is to develop analytical models for flexural cracking that describe in appropriate detail the observed cracking behaviour of the reinforced concrete flexural one way slabs tested. The crack width and crack spacing calculation procedures outlined in five international codes, namely Eurocode 2 (1991), CEB-FIP (1990), ACI318-99 (1999), Eurocode 2 (2004), and fib-Model Code (2010), are presented and crack widths and crack spacing are accordingly calculated. Then, the results are compared with the proposed analytical models and the measured experimental values, and discussed in detail.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.277-292
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• 2007

Based on the composite finite element simulation and a series of hydrostatic pressure and burst tests, autofrettage effects on strength and deformation of fiber reinforced pressure vessel with metallic liners have been studied in the paper (autofrettage: during the course of one pressure taking effect, the increasing internal stress in metallic liner can surpass the yielding point and the plastic deformation will happen, which result in that when there is no internal pressure, there are press stress in liner while tensile stress in fiber lamination). By making use of a composite finite element Ansys code and a series of experiments, the autofrettage pressure is determined in order to make the aluminium liner be totally in elastic state, under given hydrostatic test pressure. The stress intensity factors of the longitudinal crack in aluminum liner end under internal pressure and thermal loads have been computed and analyzed before and after the autofrettage processing. Through numerical calculation and experiment investigations, it is found that a correct choice for autofrettage pressure can improve the gas-tightness and fatigue strength of FRP vessel.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.389-403
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• 2021

Skewed bridges, being irregular structures with complicated dynamic behavior, are more susceptible to earthquake damage. Reliable seismic-resistant design of skewed bridges can be achieved by accurate determination of nonlinear seismic demands. However, the effect of geometric characteristics on the response modification factor (R-factor) is not accounted for in bridge design practices. This study attempts to investigate the effects of changes in the number of spans, skew angle and bearing stiffness on R-factor values and to assess the seismic fragility of skewed bridges. Results indicated that changes in the skew angle had no significant effect on R-factor values which were in consonance with code-prescribed R values. Also, unlike the increase in the number of spans that resulted in a decrease in the R-factor, the increase in bearing stiffness led to higher R-factor values. Findings of the fragility analysis implied that although the increase in the number of spans, as well as the increase in the skew angle, led to a higher failure probability, greater values of bearing stiffness reduced the collapse probability. For practicing design engineers, it is recommended that maximum demands on substructure elements to be calculated when the excitation angle is applied along the principal axes of skewed bridges.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.173-185
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• 2019

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of aluminum tubular members subjected to combined bending and web crippling. A series of tests was performed on square hollow sections (SHS) fabricated by extrusion using 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminum alloy. Different specimen lengths were tested to obtain the interaction relationship between moment and concentrated load. The non-linear finite element models were developed and verified against the experimental results obtained in this study and test data from existing literature for aluminum tubular sections subjected to pure bending, pure web crippling, and combined bending and web crippling. Geometric and material non-linearities were included in the finite element models. The finite element models closely predicted the strengths and failure modes of the tested specimens. Hence, the models were used for an extensive parametric study of cross-section geometries, and the web slenderness values ranged from 6.0 to 86.2. The combined bending and web crippling test results and strengths predicted from the finite element analysis were compared with the design strengths obtained using the current American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European Code for aluminum structures. The findings suggest that the current specifications are either quite conservative or unconservative for aluminum square hollow sections subjected to combined bending and web crippling. Hence, a bending and web crippling interaction equation for aluminum square hollow section specimens is proposed in this paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2019

In the construction of flat plate slabs, which are widely used for tall buildings but have relatively low flexural stiffness, serviceability problems such as excessive deflections and cracks are of great concern. To prevent excessive deflections at service load levels, current design codes require the minimum slab thickness, but the requirement could be unconservative because it is independent on loading and elastic modulus of concrete, both of which have significant effects on slab deflections. In the present study, to investigate the effects of the construction load of shored slabs, reduced flexural stiffness and moment distribution of early-age slabs, and creep and shrinkage of concrete on immediate and time-dependent deflections, numerical analysis was performed using the previously developed numerical models. A parametric study was performed for various design and construction conditions of practical ranges, and a new minimum permissible thickness of flat plate slabs was proposed satisfying the serviceability requirement for deflection. The proposed minimum slab thickness was compared with current design code provisions and numerical analysis results, and it agreed well with the numerical analysis results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 2019

In this paper, the anisotropy of tensile behaviours of layered rocks consisting internal notch has been investigated using particle flow code. For this purpose, firstly calibration of PFC2D was performed using Brazilian tensile strength. Secondly Brazilian test models consisting bedding layer was simulated numerically. Thickness of layers was 10 mm and layered angularity was $90^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$. The strength of bedding interface was too high. Each model was consisted of one internal notch. Notch length is 1 cm, 2 cm and 4 cm and notch angularities are $60^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$. Totally, 90 model were tested. The results show that failure pattern was affected by notch orientation and notch length. It's to be noted that layer angle has not any effect on the failure pattern. Also, Brazilian tensile strength is affected by notch orientation and notch length.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.199-212
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• 2019

This paper presents an investigation on seismic behavior of out-of-code Q690 circular high-strength concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubular (HCFTST) columns made up of high-strength (HS) steel tubes (yield strength $f_y{\geq}690MPa$). Eight Q690 circular HCFTST columns with various diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratios, concrete cylinder compressive strengths ($f_c$) and axial compression ratios (n) were tested under the constant axial loading and reversed cyclic lateral loading. The obtained lateral load-displacement hysteretic curves, energy dissipation, skeleton curves and ductility, and stiffness degradation were analyzed in detail to reflect the influences of tested parameters. Subsequently, a simplified shear strength model was derived and validated by the test results. Finally, a finite element analysis (FEA) model incorporating a stress triaxiality dependent fracture criterion was established to simulate the seismic behavior. The systematic investigation indicates the following: compared to the D/t ratio and axial compression ratio, improving the concrete compressive strength (e.g., the HS thin-walled steel tube filled with HS concrete) had a slight influence on the ductility but an obvious enhancement of energy dissipation and peak load; the simplified shear strength model based on truss mechanism accurately predicted the shear-resisting capacity; and the established FEA model incorporating steel fracture criterion simulated well the seismic behavior (e.g., hysteretic curve, local buckling and fracture), which can be applied to the seismic analysis and design of Q690 circular HCFTST columns.