• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.393-403
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• 2019

Cold-formed steel (CFS) has a great potential to meet the global challenge of fast-track and durable construction. CFS members undergo large buckling instabilities due to their small wall thickness. CFS beams with corrugated webs have shown great resistance towards web buckling under flexure, when compared to the conventional I-sections. However, the magnitude of global imperfections significantly affects the performance of CFS members. This paper presents the first attempt made to experimentally study the effect of global imperfections on the structural efficiency of various strengthening schemes implemented in CFS beams with corrugated webs. Different strengthening schemes were adopted for two types of beams, one with large global imperfections and the other with small imperfections. Strength and stiffness characteristics of the beams were used to evaluate the structural efficiency of the various strengthening schemes adopted. Six tests were performed with simply supported end conditions, under four-point loading conditions. The load vs. mid-span displacement response, failure loads and modes of failure of the test specimens were investigated. The test results would compensate the lack of experimental data in this area of research and would help in developing numerical models for extensive studies for the development of necessary guidelines on the same. Strengthening schemes assisted in enhancing the member performance significantly, both in terms of strength and stiffness. Hence, providing an economic and time saving solution to such practical structural engineering problems.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.479-495
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• 2019

In tied-arch bridges, the way the arch and the deck are connected may become crucial. The deck is usually suspended from hangers made out of steel pinned cables capable of resisting axial forces only. However, a proper structural response may be ensured by fixing and stiffening the hangers in order to resist, additionally, shear forces and bending moments. Thus, this paper studies the effect of different pinned and stiffened hanger arrangements on the structural behavior of the tied-arch bridges, with the intention of providing designers with useful tools at the early steps of design. Longitudinally and transversally stiffened hangers (and the effect of hinges at the hangers and their locations) are studied separately because the in-plane and the out-of-plane behavior of the bridge are uncoupled due to its symmetry. As a major conclusion, regarding the in-plane behavior, hangers composed of cables (either with vertical, $Nielsen-L\ddot{o}hse$ or network arrangements) are recommended due to its low cost and ease of erection. Alternatively, longitudinally stiffened hangers, fixed at both ends, can be used. Regarding the out-of-plane behavior, and in addition to three-dimensional arrangements of cables, of limited effectiveness, transversally stiffened hangers fixed at both ends are the most efficient arrangement. A configuration almost as efficient and, additionally, cheaper and easier to build can be achieved by locating a hinge at the end corresponding to the most flexible structural element (normally the arch). Its efficiency is further improved if the cross-section tapers from the fixed end to the pinned end.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.18-25
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• 2019

Studies on the fabrication of UAV by using 3D printer have been actively carried out. However, research on structural load characteristics in low temperature environment is insufficient. In this study, a composite sandwich structure with ordinary orbs structure was proposed, and the load characteristics for temperature condition changes were analyzed. The ordinary orbs and honeycomb structures were fabricated by using a FDM type 3D printer. The bending load test was carried out at room temperature and low temperature condition. The low temperature condition was classified into four cases. Bending load tests were performed in a low temperature chamber to maintain the required temperature conditions. As a result of the test, it was confirmed that the proposed ordinary orbs structure had better load characteristics at low temperatures than the existing honeycomb structure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.807-819
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• 2019

In recent earthquakes, the failure of ceiling systems has been one of the most widely reported damage and the major cause of functionality interruption in some buildings. In an effort to mitigate this damage, some scholars have studied a series of ceiling systems including plaster ceilings and mineral wool ceilings. But few studies have involved the backdrop metal ceiling used in some important constructions with higher rigidity and frequency such as the main control area of nuclear power plants. Therefore, in order to evaluate its seismic performance, a full-scale backdrop metal ceiling system, including steel runners and metal panels, was designed, fabricated and installed in a steel frame in this study. And the backdrop metal ceiling system with two perimeter attachments variants was tested: (i) the ends of the runners were connected with the angle steel to form an effective lateral constraint around the backdrop metal ceiling, (ii) the perimeter attachments of the main runner were retained, but the perimeter attachments of the cross runner were removed. In the experiments, different damage of the backdrop metal ceiling system was observed in detail under various earthquakes. Results showed that the backdrop metal ceiling had good integrity and excellent seismic performance. And the perimeter attachments of the cross runner had an adverse effect on the seismic performance of the backdrop metal ceiling under earthquakes. Meanwhile, a series of seismic construction measures and several suggestions that need to be paid attention were proposed in the text so that the backdrop metal ceiling can be better applied in the main control area of nuclear power plants and other important engineering projects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.99-112
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• 2019

Semi-rigid joints have been widely studied in literature in recent decades because they affect greatly the structural response of frames. In literature, the behavior of semi-rigid joints is commonly assumed to be identical under positive and negative moments which are obviously incorrect in many cases where joint details such as bolt arrangement or placement of haunch are vertically asymmetrical. This paper evaluates two common types of steel frames with asymmetrical beam-to-column joints by Direct Analysis allowing for plasticity. A refined design method of steel frames using a proposed simple forth order curved-quartic element with an integrated joint model allowing for asymmetrical geometric joint properties is presented. Furthermore, the ultimate behavior of six types of asymmetrical end-plate connections under positive and negative moment is examined by the Finite Element Method (FEM). The FEM results are further applied to the proposed design method with the curved-quartic element for Direct Analysis of two types of steel frames under dominant gravity or wind load. The ultimate frame behavior under the two different scenarios are examined with respect to their failure modes and considerably different structural performances of the frames were observed when compared with the identical frames designed with the traditional method where symmetrical joints characteristics were assumed. The finding of this research contributes to the design of steel frames as their asymmetrical beam-to-column joints lead to different frame behavior when under positive and negative moment and this aspect should be incorporated in the design and analysis of steel frames. This consideration of asymmetrical joint behavior is recommended to be highlighted in future design codes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.443-456
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• 2019

Although numerous researchers demonstrated the significant difference in performance between the various beam-to-column connection types, most of the previous studies in the area of infilled steel frames focused on the behaviour of frames with welded connections. Therefore, there is a need for conducting studies on infilled steel frames with other common connection types (extended endplate with and without rib stiffeners, flush endplate and shear connections). In this paper, firstly, a two-dimensional finite-element model simulating the cyclic response of infilled steel frames was presented. The infill-frame interaction, as well as the interactions between connections' components, were properly modelled. Using the previously-validated model, a parametric study on infilled steel frames with five different beam-to-column connection types, under cyclic loading, was carried out. Several parameters, including infill material, fracture energy of masonry and infill thickness, were investigated. The results showed that the infilled frames with welded connections had the highest initial stiffness and load-carrying capacity. However, the infilled frames with extended endplate connections (without rib stiffeners) showed the greatest energy dissipation capacity and about 96% of the load-carrying capacity of frames with welded connections which indicates that this type of connection could have the best performance among the studied connection types. Finally, a simplified analytical model for estimating the stiffness and strength of infilled steel frames (with different beam-to-column connection types) subjected to lateral cyclic loading, was suggested.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.109-121
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• 2019

This paper presents the second part of the modeling for the strap combined footings, this part shows a mathematical model for design of strap combined footings subject to axial load and moments in two directions to each column considering the soil real pressure acting on the contact surface of the footing for one and/or two property lines of sides opposite restricted, the pressure is presented in terms of an axial load, moment around the axis "X" and moment around the axis "Y" to each column, and the methodology is developed using the principle that the derived of the moment is the shear force. The first part shows the optimal contact surface for the strap combined footings to obtain the most economical dimensioning on the soil (optimal area). The classic model considers an axial load and a moment around the axis "X" (transverse axis) applied to each column, i.e., the resultant force from the applied loads is located on the axis "Y" (longitudinal axis), and its position must match with the geometric center of the footing, and when the axial load and moments in two directions are presented, the maximum pressure and uniform applied throughout the contact surface of the footing is considered the same. A numerical example is presented to obtain the design of strap combined footings subject to an axial load and moments in two directions applied to each column. The mathematical approach suggested in this paper produces results that have a tangible accuracy for all problems and it can also be used for rectangular and T-shaped combined footings.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.417-432
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• 2019

This paper presents the results of axial compression testing and numerical modeling on reinforced concrete columns (RCC) with normal concrete (NC) and high-strength concrete (HSC), RCC confined by glass-fiber reinforced plastic pipes (GRP) casing as well as carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), The major parameters evaluated in the experiments were the effects of concrete type, GRP casing and CFRP wrapping, as well as the number of CFRP layers. 12 cylindrical RCC ($150{\times}600mm$) were prepared and divided into two groups, NC and HSC. Each group was divided into two parts; with and without GRP casing. In each part, one column was without CFRP strengthening layer, a column was wrapped with one CFRP layer and another column with two CFRP layers. All columns were tested under concentrated compression load. Numerical modeling was performed using ABAQUS software and the results of which were compared with experimental findings. A good agreement was found between the results. Results indicated that the utilization of CFRP wrapping and GRP casing improved compression capacity and ductility of RCC. The addition of one and two layer-FRP wrapping increased capacity in the NC group to an average of 18.5% and 26.5% and in the HSC group to an average of 10.2% and 24.8%. Meanwhile, the utilization of GRP casing increased the capacity of the columns by 3 times in the NC group and 2.38 times in the HSC group. The results indicated that although both CFRP wrapping and GRP casing increased confinement, the GRP casing gave more increase capacity and ductility of the RCC due to higher confinement. Furthermore, the confinement effect was higher on NC group.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.483-492
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• 2019

In the current study, the influence of the initial lateral (sweep) shape and the cross-sectional twist imperfection on the lateral torsional buckling (LTB) response of doubly-symmetric steel I-beams was investigated. The material imperfection (residual stress) was not considered. For this objective, standard European IPN 300 beam with different unbraced span was numerically analyzed for three imperfection cases: (i) no sweep and no twist (perfect); (ii) three different shapes of global sweep (half-sine, full-sine and full-parabola between the end supports); and (iii) the combination of three different sweeps with initial sinusoidal twist along the beam. The first comparison was done between the results of numerical analyses (FEM) and both a theoretical solution and the code lateral torsional buckling formulations (EC3 and AISC-LRFD). These results with no imperfection effects were then separately compared with three different shapes of global sweep and the presence of initial twist in these sweep shapes. Besides, the effects of the shapes of initial global sweep and the inclusion of sinusoidal twist on the critical buckling load of the beams were investigated to unveil which parameter was considerably effective on LTB response. The most compatible outcomes for the perfect beams was obtained from the AISC-LRFD formulation; however, the EC-3 formulation estimated the $P_{cr}$ load conservatively. The high difference from the EC-3 formulation was predicted to directly originate from the initial imperfection reduction factor and high safety factor in its formulation. Due to no consideration of geometric imperfection in the AISC-LFRD code solution and the theoretical formulation, the need to develop a practical imperfection reduction factor for AISC-LRFD and theoretical formulation was underlined. Initial imperfections were obtained to be more influential on the buckling load, as the unbraced length of a beam approached to the elastic limit unbraced length ($L_r$). Mode-compatible initial imperfection shapes should be taken into account in the design and analysis stages of the I-beam to properly estimate the geometric imperfection influence on the $P_{cr}$ load. Sweep and sweep-twist imperfections led to 10% and 15% decrease in the $P_{cr}$ load, respectively, thus; well-estimated sweep and twist imperfections should considered in the LTB of doubly-symmetric steel I-beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.717-734
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• 2018

This paper presents the flexural performance of steel beam-to-column joints composed of hollow structural section beams and columns. A finite element (FE) model was developed incorporating geometrical and material nonlinearities to evaluate the behaviour of joints subjected to bending moments. The numerical outcomes were validated with experimental results and compared with EN1993-1-8. The demountability of the structure was discussed based on the tested specimen. A parametric analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of steel yield strength, end-plate thickness, beam thickness, column wall thickness, bolt diameter, number of bolts and location. Consequently, an analytical model was derived based on the component method to predict the moment-rotation relationships for the sub-assemblies with extended end-plates. The accuracy of the proposed model was calibrated by the experimental and numerical results. It is found that the FE model is fairly reliable to predict the initial stiffness and moment capacity of the joints, while EN1993-1-8 overestimates the initial stiffness extensively. The beam-to-column joints are shown to be demountable and reusable with a moment up to 53% of the ultimate moment capacity. The end-plate thickness and column wall thickness have a significant influence on the joint behaviour, and the layout of double bolt-rows in tension is recommended for joints with extended end-plates. The derived analytical model is capable of predicting the moment-rotation relationship of the structure.