• Composites Research
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.173-179
• /
• 2023

The sandwich structure, consisting of a core and a face sheet, is used for lightweight structural application. Generally, cellular structures like honeycomb, foam, and lattice structures are utilized for the core. Among these, lattice structures have several advantages over other types of structures. In other studies, curved lattice structures were reported to have higher mechanical properties than straight structures by converting shear stresses acting on the structure into compressive stresses. Moreover, the addition of vertical struts can have a positive effect on the mechanical properties of the lattice structure. For the purpose, two lattice structures with Circle Arch (CC) and Circular Arch with a vertical column (CC_C) were studied, which were fabricated by using selective laser sintering was conducted. The result showed that CC_C has dramatic performance improvements in specific strength, modulus, and strain energy density compared to CC, confirming that vertical struts played a significant role in the lattice core. Finite element analysis was employed to determine the cause of the stress behavior of CC and CC_C. This study is expected to help design structurally superior lattice cores and sandwich structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.417-433
• /
• 2023

The maximum ductility and cumulative ductility of connection joints of Buckling-Restrained Braced Frames (BRBF) are critical to the structural overall performance, which should be matched with the BRB ductility. The two-story and one-span BRBF with a one-third scale was tested under cyclic quasi-static loading, and the top-flange beam splice (TFBS) rotational connections were proposed and adopted in BRBF. The deformation capacity of TFBS connections was observed during the test, and the relationship between structural global ductility and local connection ductility was studied. The rotational capacity of the beam-column connections and the stability performance of the BRBs are highly relevant to the structural overall performance. The hysteretic curves of BRBF are stable and full under large displacement demand imposed up to 2% story drift, and energy is dissipated as the large plastic deformation developed in the structural components. The BRBs acted as fuses and yielded first, and the cumulative plastic ductility (CPD) of BRBs is 972.6 of the second floor and 439.7 of the first floor, indicating the excellent energy dissipation capacity of BRBs. Structural members with good local ductility ensure the large global ductility of BRBF. The ductile capacity and hysteretic behavior of BRBF with TFBS connections were compared with those of BRBF with Reduced Beam Section (RBS) connections in terms of the experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.281-291
• /
• 2022

Surmounting complexities in analyzing the mechanical parameters of concrete entails selecting an appropriate methodology. This study integrates a novel metaheuristic technique, namely satin bowerbird optimizer (SBO) with artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of concrete. For this purpose, the created hybrid is trained and tested using a relatively large dataset collected from the published literature. Three other new algorithms, namely Henry gas solubility optimization (HGSO), sunflower optimization (SFO), and vortex search algorithm (VSA) are also used as benchmarks. After attaining a proper population size for all algorithms, the Utilizing various accuracy indicators, it was shown that the proposed ANN-SBO not only can excellently analyze the UCS behavior, but also outperforms all three benchmark hybrids (i.e., ANN-HGSO, ANN-SFO, and ANN-VSA). In the prediction phase, the correlation indices of 0.87394, 0.87936, 0.95329, and 0.95663, as well as mean absolute percentage errors of 15.9719, 15.3845, 9.4970, and 8.0629%, calculated for the ANN-HGSO, ANN-SFO, ANN-VSA, and ANN-SBO, respectively, manifested the best prediction performance for the proposed model. Also, the ANN-VSA achieved reliable results as well. In short, the ANN-SBO can be used by engineers as an efficient non-destructive method for predicting the UCS of concrete.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.789-801
• /
• 2022

In order to study the influence of loading angles on seismic performance of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) special-shaped columns, cyclic loading tests and finite element analysis (FEA) were both carried out. Seven SRC special-shaped columns, including two L-shaped columns, three T-shaped columns and two cross-shaped columns, were tested, and the failure patterns of the columns with different loading angles were obtained. Based on the tests, the FEA models of SRC special-shaped columns with different loading angles were established. According to the simulation results, hysteretic curves and seismic performance indexes, including bearing capacity, ductility, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity, were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the failure patterns were different for the columns with the same section and different loading angles. With the increasing of loading angles, the hysteretic curves became fuller and the bearing capacity and initial stiffness appeared increasing tendency, but the energy dissipation capacity changed insignificantly. When the loading angle changed, the ductility got better with the larger area of steel at the failure side for the unsymmetrical section and near the neutral axis for the symmetrical section, respectively.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.23-38
• /
• 2022

This paper presents experimental and analytical studies of eccentrically loaded concrete-filled double steel (CFDST) and concrete-filled double skin tube (DCFST) columns having outer stainless steel tube. Eighteen CFDST and DCFST column specimens were manufactured and tested to examine the strength and load-deflection responses. In the study, the main parameters were concrete strength, load eccentricity, cross section and slenderness. The strengths, load-deflection diagrams and failure patterns of the columns were observed. In addition, the tested CFDST and DCFST columns were analyzed to attain the capacity and load versus lateral deflection responses. The obtained theoretical results were compared with the test results. A parametric study was also performed to research the effects of the ratio of eccentricity (e/H_o) slenderness ratio (L/r), H_o/t_o ratio, H_i/t_i ratio and the concrete compressive strength on the behavior of columns. In this work, the obtained results indicated that the ductility and capacity of columns were affected by cross section, concrete strength, steel strength, loading eccentricity and slenderness.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.257-270
• /
• 2023

In this study, the feasibility and applicability of a friction damper with a vertical installation scheme are investigated. This device is composed of a steel section and two friction hinges at both ends which dissipate seismic energy. Due to its small width and vertical installation scheme, the proposed damper can minimize the interference with architectural functions. To evaluate the performance of the proposed damper, its mechanical behavior is theoretically evaluated and the required formulas for the yield strength and elastic stiffness are derived. The theoretical formulas are verified by establishing the analytical model of the damper in the SAP2000 software and comparing their results. To further investigate the performance of the developed damper, the provided analytical model is applied to a 4-story reinforced concrete (RC) structure and its performance is evaluated before and after retrofit under the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) hazard level. The seismic performance is thoroughly evaluated in terms of maximum interstory drift ratio, displacement time history, residual displacement, and energy dissipation. The results show that the proposed damper can be efficiently used to protect the structure against seismic loads.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.85-95
• /
• 2024

A composite member made of concrete-filled steel tubes (CFT columns) has been recognized for its fire resistance due to the thermal mass effect of concrete inside the steel tube, as shown in various studies. In this study, the fire resistance performance of reinforced CFT columns under constant axial load was evaluated using finite element analysis with ABAQUS. For this purpose, the variables including cross-section size, steel tube thickness, and concrete cover thickness were set, and the temperature distribution in the column cross-section exposed to a standard fire was investigated using heat transfer analysis. Ultimately, a P-M interaction curve was obtained by evaluating the overall residual strength of columns, and the fire resistance time was determined by evaluating axial displacement-time responses due to the reduction in load capacity during fire through stress analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.11
• /
• pp.781-790
• /
• 2014

Contaminants such as organic matters, nutrients and toxic chemicals in rivers and lakes with a weak flow rate are first removed from the water and accumulated in the sediments. Subsequently, they are released into the water column again, posing direct/indirect adverse effects on the water quality and aquatic ecosystems. In particular, phosphorus is known to accelerate the eutrophication phenomenon when it is released into the water column via physical disturbance and biological/chemical actions as one of important materials that determine the primary production of aquatic ecosystems and an element that is stored mainly in the sediments in the process of material circulation in the body of water. In this study, the effect on reducing phosphorus release in sediments was analyzed by applying different capping materials to lake water, where the effect of aquatic microorganisms is taken into account, and to distilled water, where the effect of microorganisms is excluded. The experimental results showed that capping with chemical materials such as Fe-gypsum and $SiO_2$-gypsum further reduced the phosphorus release by at least 40% compared to the control case. Composite materials like granule gypsum+Sand showed over 50% phosphorus release reduction effect. Therefore, it is determined that capping with chemical materials such as granule-gypsum and eco-friendly materials such as sand is effective in reducing phosphorus release. The changes in phosphorus properties in the sediments before and after capping treatment showed that gypsum input helped to change the phosphorus that is present in lake sediments into apatite-P, a stable form that makes phosphorus release difficult. Based on the above results, it is expected that the application of capping technology will contribute to improving the efficiency of reducing phosphorus release that occurs in river and lake sediments.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.37 no.5_3
• /
• pp.1405-1423
• /
• 2021

Precipitation is one of the main factors that affect water and energy cycles, and its estimation plays a very important role in securing water resources and timely responding to water disasters. Satellite-based quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) has the advantage of covering large areas at high spatiotemporal resolution. In this study, machine learning-based rainfall intensity models were developed using Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) water vapor channel (6.7 ㎛), infrared channel (10.8 ㎛), and weather radar Column Max (CMAX) composite data based on random forest (RF). The target variables were weather radar reflectivity (dBZ) and rainfall intensity (mm/hr) converted by the Z-R relationship. The results showed that the model which learned CMAX reflectivity produced the Critical Success Index (CSI) of 0.34 and the Mean-Absolute-Error (MAE) of 4.82 mm/hr. When compared to the GeoKompsat-2 and Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN)-Cloud Classification System (CCS) rainfall intensity products, the accuracies improved by 21.73% and 10.81% for CSI, and 31.33% and 23.49% for MAE, respectively. The spatial distribution of the estimated rainfall intensity was much more similar to the radar data than the existing products.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.10 no.6 s.52
• /
• pp.137-145
• /
• 2006

Recently, the interests in structural monitoring of civil infrastructures are increased. Especially, as the civil infrastructures such as bridges, tunnels and buildings become large-scale, it is necessary to monitor and maintain the safety state of the structures, which requires smart systems that can supply long-term monitoring during the service time of the structures. In this paper, we investigated the possibilities of fiber optic sensor application to the various structures. We investigate the possibility of using fiber optic Bragg grating sensors to joint structure. The sensors show good response to the structural behavior of the joint while electric gauges lack of sensitivity, durability and long term stability for continuous monitoring. We also apply fiber optic structural monitoring to the composite repaired concrete beam structure. Peel-out effects is detected with optical fiber Bragg grating sensors and the strain difference between main structure and repaired carbon sheets is observed when they separate each other. The real field test was performed to verify the behaviors of fiber Bragg grating sensors attached to the containment structure in Uljin nuclear power plant in Korea as a part of structural integrity test which demonstrates that the structural response of the non-prototype primary containment structures. The optical fiber Bragg grating sensor smart system which is the probable means for long term assessments can be applicable to monitoring of structural members in various civil infrastructures.