• Computers and Concrete
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.419-434
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• 2012

This paper presents a finite element (FE) model for predicting the nonlinear response and behavior of a reinforced concrete T-beam deficient in shear under cyclic loading. Cracking loads, failure loads, response hysteresis envelopes and crack patterns were used as bench mark for comparison between experimental and FE results. A parametric study was carried out to predict the optimum combination of the open and close crack shear transfer coefficients (${\beta}_t$ and ${\beta}_c$) of the constitutive material model for concrete. It is concluded that when both shear transfer coefficients are equal to 0.2 the FE results gave the best correlation with the experimental results. The results were also verified on a rectangular shear deficient beam (R-beam) tested under cyclic loading and it is concluded that the variation of section geometry has no effect on the optimum choice of the values of shear transfer coefficients of 0.2. In addition, a parametric study based on the variation of concrete compressive strength, was carried out on the T-beam and it is observed that the variation of concrete compressive strength has little effect on the deflection. Further conclusions and observations were also drawn.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제13권5호
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• pp.809-823
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• 2017

This paper describes lab test results of artificial rock-like material samples having a plane joint. Cyclic shear tests were performed under different normal loads and different shear displacement amplitudes. For this purpose, multi-stage normal loading tests (30 kN, 60 kN, 90 kN, 180 kN, 360 kN and 480 kN) with cyclic excitation at frequency of 1.0 Hz and different shear displacement amplitudes (0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm, 4.0 mm, 5.0 mm, and 8.0 mm) were conducted using the big shear box device GS-1000. Experimental results show, that shear forces increase with the increase of normal forces and quasi-static friction coefficient is larger than dynamic one. With the increase of normal loads, approaching the peak value of shear forces needs larger shear displacements. During each cycle the normal displacements increase and decrease (rotational behavior in every cycle). Peak angle of inclination increases with the increase of normal load. A phase shift between maximum shear displacement and maximum shear force is observed. The corresponding time shift decreases with increasing normal load and increases with increasing shear displacement amplitudes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.735-748
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• 2018

In this paper, the cyclic behavior of steel beam-concrete encased steel (CES) column joints was investigated experimentally and numerically. Three frame middle joint samples with varying concrete slab widths were constructed. Anti-symmetrical low-frequency cyclic load was applied at two beam ends to simulate the earthquake action. The failure modes, hysteretic behavior, ultimate load, stiffness degradation, load carrying capacity degradation, displacement ductility and strain response were investigated in details. The three composite joints exhibited excellent seismic performance in experimental tests, showing high load-carrying capacity, good ductility and superior energy dissipation ability. All three joint samples reached their ultimate loads due to shear failure. Numerical results from ABAQUS modelling agreed well with the test results. Finally, the effect of the concrete slab on ultimate load was analyzed through a parametric study on concrete strength, slab thickness, as well as slab width. Numerical simulation showed that slab width and thickness played an important role in the load-carrying capacity of such joints. As a comparison, the influence of concrete grade was not significant.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.21-34
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• 2023

In order to analyze the effect of the cyclic lateral loading on the response of a pile-soil system, a full-scale single steel pile was subjected to one-way cyclic loading. The test pile was driven into a bi-layered soil consisting of a normally consolidated saturated clay overlying a silty sandy layer, the site being submerged by water up to one meter above the mudline in order to reproduce the conditions of an offshore pile foundation. The aim of this paper is to present the main results of interpretation of the cyclic lateral tests in terms of pile deflections, bending moment, and cyclic P-Y curves. From these latter an absolute secant reaction modulus E_AS,N was derived and a simple calculation model of the test single pile is proposed based on this modulus. Two applications of the proposed model are carried out, one with a 2D finite element modelling, and the second with a load transfer curves-based method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.99-117
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• 2010

Beam-column joints are the key structural elements, which dictate the behavior of structures subjected to earthquake loading. Though large experimental work has been conducted in the past, still various issues regarding the post-yield behavior, ductility and failure modes of the joints make it a highly important research topic. This paper presents experimental results obtained for eight beam-column joints of different sizes and configuration under cyclic loads along with the analytical evaluation of their response using a simple and effective analytical procedure based on nonlinear static pushover analysis. It is shown that even the simplified analysis can predict, to a good extent, the behavior of the joints by giving the important information on both strength and ductility of the joints and can even be used for prediction of failure modes. The results for four interior and four exterior joints are presented. One confined and one unconfined joint for each configuration were tested and analyzed. The experimental and analytical results are presented in the form of load-deflection. Analytical plots are compared with envelope of experimentally obtained hysteretic loops for the joints. The behavior of various joints under cyclic loads is carefully examined and presented. It is also shown that the procedure described can be effectively utilized to analytically gather the information on behavior of joints.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.9-20
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• 2018

Due to integrated stochastic wind and wave loads, the supporting platform of a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) has to bear six Degrees of Freedom (DOF) motion, which makes the random cyclic loads acting on the structural components, for instance the tower base, more complicated than those on bottom-fixed or land-based wind turbines. These cyclic loads may cause unexpected fatigue damages on a FOWT. This paper presents a study on short-term fatigue damage at the tower base of a 5 MW FOWT with a spar-type platform. Fully coupled time-domain simulations code FAST is used and realistic environment conditions are considered to obtain the loads and structural stresses at the tower base. Then the cumulative fatigue damage is calculated based on rainflow counting method and Miner's rule. Moreover, the effects of the simulation length, the wind-wave misalignment, the wind-only condition and the wave-only condition on the fatigue damage are investigated. It is found that the wind and wave induced loads affect the tower base's axial stress separately and in a decoupled way, and the wave-induced fatigue damage is greater than that induced by the wind loads. Under the environment conditions with rated wind speed, the tower base experiences the highest fatigue damage when the joint probability of the wind and wave is included in the calculation. Moreover, it is also found that 1 h simulation length is sufficient to give an appropriate fatigue damage estimated life for FOWT.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.325-343
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• 2016

A total stress-based bounding surface model is developed to predict the undrained behaviour of saturated soft clays under cyclic loads based on the anisotropic hardening modulus field and bounding-surface theories. A new hardening rule is developed based on a new interpolation function of the hardening modulus that has simple mathematic expression and fewer model parameters. The evolution of hardening modulus field is described in the deviatoric stress space. It is assumed that the stress reverse points are the mapping centre points and the mapping centre moves with the variation of loading and unloading paths to describe the cyclic stress-strain hysteresis curve. In addition, by introducing a model parameter that reflects the accumulation rate and level of shear strain to the interpolation function, the cyclic shakedown and failure behaviour of soil elements with different combinations of initial and cyclic stresses can be captured. The methods to determine the model parameters using cyclic triaxial compression tests are also studied. Finally, the cyclic triaxial extension and torsional shear tests are performed. By comparing the predictions with the test results, the model can be used to describe undrained cyclic stress-strain responses of elements with different stress states for the tested clays.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제4권3호
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• pp.191-208
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• 2012

Due to rapid industrialisation, large scale infrastructure development is taking place worldwide. This includes railways, high speed highways, elevated roads etc. To meet the demands of society and industry, many innovative techniques and materials are being developed. In developed nations like USA, Japan etc. for railways applications, new material like geocells, geogrids are being used successfully to enable fast movement of vehicles. The present research work was aimed to develop design methodologies for improvement of grounds subjected to cyclic loads caused by moving vehicles on roads, rail tracks etc. Deformation behavior of ballast under static and cyclic load tests was studied based on square footing test. The paper presents a study of the effect of geo-synthetic reinforcement on the (cumulative) plastic settlement, of point loaded square footing on a thick layer of granular base overlying different compressible bases. The research findings showed that inclusion of geo-synthetics significantly improves the performance of ballasted tracks and reduces the foundation area. If the area is kept same, higher speed trains can be allowed to pass through the same track with insertion of geosynthetics. Similarly, area of machine foundation may also be reduced where geosynthetics is provided in foundation. The model tests results have been validated by numerical modeling, using $FLAC^{3D}$.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• 제17권8호
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• pp.1164-1170
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• 2003

The objectives of this work here focus on the differences in responses to multiple cyclic tests of different sections along the length of the same tendon. Tendon specimens were obtained from the hindlimbs of canines and frozen to -70$^{\circ}C$. After thawing, specimens were mounted in the immersion bath at room temperature (22$^{\circ}C$) , preloaded to 0.13 N and then subjected to 3% or 4% of the initial length at a strain rate of 5%/sec. It was found that different sections of the same long tendons had different resistances to deformation. In general, the bone end sections were stiffer and carried greater loads for a given strain than the muscle end sections, and the mid-portions were the least stiff and carried the smallest loads for a given strain. The results of this study offer new information about the mechanical responses of collagenous tissues. We know more about their responses to multiple cyclic extensions and how their responses are different from the positions along the length of the tendon specimen. The nature and causes of these differences in the stiffness are not fully known. However, it is clear that differences in the mechanical response of tendons and other connective tissues are significant to musculoskeletal performance.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.163-178
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• 2016

Composite Lightweight (CL) insulated walls have gained wide adoption recently because the exterior claddings of steel building frames have their cost effectiveness, good thermal and structural efficiency. To investigate the seismic behavior, lateral stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation of steel frames with the CL infill walls, five one-story one-bay steel frames were fabricated and tested under cyclic loads. Test results showed that the bolted connections allow relative movement between CL infill walls and steel frames, enabling the system to exhibit satisfactory performance under lateral loads. Additionally, it is found that the addition of diagonal steel straps to the CL infill wall significantly increases the initial lateral stiffness, load-carrying capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the system. Furthermore, the test results indicate that the lateral stiffness values of the frames with the CL infill wall are similar to those of the bare steel frames in large lateral displacement.