• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.175-183
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• 2022

To study the working mechanism and size effect of an innovative dovetail UHPC joint originated from the 5th Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, a large-scale testing subject to negative bending moment was conducted and compared with the previous scaled specimens. The static responses, i.e., the crack pattern, failure mode, ductility and stiffness degradation were analyzed. It was found that the scaled specimens presented similar working stages and working mechanism with the large-scale ones. However, the post-cracking ductility and relative stiffness degradation all decrease with the enlarged length/scale, apart from the relative stiffness after flexural cracking. The slab stiffness at the flexural cracking stage is 90% of the initial stiffness while only 24% of the initial stiffness reserved in the ultimate stage. Finite element model (FEM) was established and compared with the experiments to verify its effectiveness in exploring the working mechanism of the innovative joint. Based on this effective method, a series of FEMs were established to further study the influence of material strength, pre-stressing level and ratio of reinforcement on its deflection-load relationship. It is found that the ratio of reinforcement can significantly improve its load-carrying capacity among the three major-influenced factors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.873-886
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• 2021

In this paper, an analytical solution for thermodynamic response of functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates resting on variable elastic foundation is performed by using a quasi 3D shear deformation plate theory. The displacement field used in the present study contains undetermined integral terms and involves only four unknown functions with including stretching effect. The FG sandwich plate is considered to be subject to a time harmonic sinusoidal temperature field across its thickness with any combined boundary conditions. Equations of motion are derived from Hamilton's principle. The numerical results are compared with the existing results of quasi-3D shear deformation theories and an excellent agreement is observed. Several numerical examples for fundamental frequency, deflection, stress and variable elastic foundation parameter's analysis of FG sandwich plates are presented and discussed considering different material gradients, layer thickness ratios, thickness-to-length ratios and boundary conditions. The results of the present study reveal that the nature of the elastic foundation, the boundary conditions and the thermodynamic loading affect the response of the FG plate especially in the case of a thick plate.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.505-518
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• 2022

This study introduces soil resistance multipliers at locations encompassed by the zone of influence of the helix plate to consider the added lateral resistance provided to the helical pile. The zone of influence of a helix plate is a function of its diameter and serves as a boundary condition for the modified soil resistance springs. The concept is based on implementing p-multipliers as a reduction factor for piles in group action. The application of modified p-y springs in the analysis of helical piles allows for better characterization and understanding of the lateral behavior of helical piles, which will help further the development of design methods. To execute the proposed method, a finite difference program, HPCap (Helical Pile Capacity), was developed by the authors using Matlab. The program computes the deflection, shear force, bending moment, and soil resistance of the helical pile and allows the user to freely input the value of the zone of influence and Ω (a coefficient that affects the value of the p-multiplier). Results from ten full-scale lateral load tests on helical piles embedded at depths of 3.0 m with varying shaft diameters, shaft thicknesses, and helix configurations were analyzed to determine the zone of influence and the magnitude of the p-multipliers. The analysis determined that the value of the p-multipliers is influenced by the ratio between the pile embedment length and the shaft diameter (D_p), the effective helix diameter (D_h-D_p), and the zone of influence. Furthermore, the zone of influence is recommended to be 1.75 times the helix diameter (D_h). Using the numerical analysis method presented in this study, the predicted deflections of the various helical pile cases showed good agreement with the observed field test results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.451-471
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• 2022

In the present paper, the static bending and buckling responses of functionally graded carbon nanotubes-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) beam under various boundary conditions are investigated within the framework of higher shear deformation theory. The significant feature of the proposed theory is that it provides an accurate parabolic distribution of transverse shear stress through the thickness satisfying the traction-free boundary conditions needless of any shear correction factor. Uniform (UD) and four graded distributions of CNTs which are FG-O, FG-X, FG- and FG-V are selected here for the analysis. The effective material properties of FG-CNTRC beams are estimated according to the rule of mixture. To model the FG-CNTRC beam realistically, an efficient Hermite-Lagrangian finite element formulation is successfully developed. The accuracy and efficiency of the present model are demonstrated by comparison with published benchmark results. Moreover, comprehensive numerical results are presented and discussed in detail to investigate the effects of CNTs volume fraction, distribution patterns of CNTs, boundary conditions, and length-to-thickness ratio on the bending and buckling responses of FG-CNTRC beam. Several new referential results are also reported for the first time which will serve as a benchmark for future studies in a similar direction. It is concluded that the FG-X-CNTRC beam is the strongest beam that carries the lowest central deflection and is followed by the UD, V, Λ, and FG-O-CNTRC beam. Besides, the critical buckling load belonging to the FG-X-CNTRC beam is the highest, followed by UD and FG-O.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-363
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• 2023

Reducing the self-weight of reinforced concrete structures problem is discussed in this paper by using two types of self-weight reduction, the first is by using lightweight coarse aggregate (crushed brick) and the second is by using styropor block. Experimental and Numerical studies are conducted on (LWAC) lightweight aggregate reinforced concrete slabs, having styropor blocks with various sizes of blocks and the ratio of shear span to the effective depth (a/d). The experimental part included testing eleven lightweight concrete one-way simply supported slabs, comprising three as reference slabs (solid slabs) and eight as styropor block slabs (SBS) with a total reduction in cross-sectional area of (43.3% and 49.7%) were considered. The holes were formed by placing styropor at the ineffective concrete zones in resisting the tensile stresses. The length, width, and thickness of specimen dimensions were 1.1 m, 0.6 m, and 0.12 m respectively, except one specimen had a depth of 85 mm (which has a cross-sectional area equal to styropor block slab with a weight reduction of 49.7%). Two shear spans to effective depth ratios (a/d) of (3.125) for load case (A) and (a/d) of (2) for load case (B), (two-line monotonic loads) are considered. The test results showed under loading cases A and B (using minimum shear reinforcement and the reduction in cross-sectional area of styropor block slab by 29.1%) caused an increase in strength capacity by 60.4% and 54.6 % compared to the lightweight reference slab. Also, the best percentage of reduction in cross-sectional area is found to be 49.7%. Numerically, the computer program named (ANSYS) was used to study the behavior of these reinforced concrete slabs by using the finite element method. The results show acceptable agreement with the experimental test results. The average difference between experimental and numerical results is found to be (11.06%) in ultimate strength and (5.33%) in ultimate deflection.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

The objective of this research is to study experimentally and numerically the behavior of steel beam columns with openings. Although the presence of openings in the beam columns is inevitable, finding ways to maintain strength is crucial. The studied parameters are opening shape, the ratio between opening height to specimen height, the percentage of opening location from support to beam column length, and web slenderness. Experimental tests are conducted including twelve specimens to study the effect of these parameters and record failure load, load deflection curve, and stress strain curve. Two failure modes are observed: local and flexural buckling. Interaction curves plotted from finite element model analysis are also used to expand the parametric study. Changing the location of the opening can decrease failure load by up to 7% and 60% in both normal and moment ratios respectively. Increasing the opening dimension can lead to a drop in the axial ratio by up to 29% and in the moment ratio by up to 74%. The weakest beam column behavior is noticed in specimens with rectangular openings which results from uneven and concentrated stresses around the opening. The main results of this research illustrate that the best location for opening is at 40% - 50% from beam column support. Also, it is advisable to use circular openings instead of rectangular openings in specimens having slender webs because moment ratios are raised by 85% accompanied by a rise in normal ratios by 9%.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.3
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• pp.219-232
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• 2024

In current study, for the first time, Nonlinear Bending of a skew microplate made of a laminated composite strengthened with graphene nanosheets is investigated. A mixture of mechanical and thermal stresses is applied to the plate, and the reaction is analyzed using the First Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT). Since different percentages of graphene sheets are included in the multilayer structure of the composite, the characteristics of the composite are functionally graded throughout its thickness. Halpin-Tsai models are used to characterize mechanical qualities, whereas Schapery models are used to characterize thermal properties. The microplate's non-linear strain is first calculated by calculating the plate shear deformation and using the Green-Lagrange tensor and von Karman assumptions. Then the elements of the Couple and Cauchy stress tensors using the Modified Coupled Stress Theory (MCST) are derived. Next, using the Hamilton Principle, the microplate's governing equations and associated boundary conditions are calculated. The nonlinear differential equations are linearized by utilizing auxiliary variables in the nonlinear solution by applying the Frechet approach. The linearized equations are rectified via an iterative loop to precisely solve the problem. For this, the Differential Quadrature Method (DQM) is utilized, and the outcomes are shown for the basic support boundary condition. To ascertain the maximum values of microplate deflection for a range of circumstances-such as skew angles, volume fractions, configurations, temperatures, and length scales-a parametric analysis is carried out. To shed light on how the microplate behaves in these various circumstances, the resulting results are analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.5-16
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• 2002

The pullout behavior of large-diameter steel pipe piles(diameter = 2,500mm, length = 38~40m), which were designed as compression piles but used as reaction piles during a static compression load test on a pile(diameter = 1,000m, length = 40m), was investigated. The steel pipe piles were driven by 20m into a marine deposit and weathered soil layer and then socketed by 10m into underlying weathered and soft rock layers. The sockets and pipe were filled with reinforced concrete. The steel pipe and concrete in the steel pipe zone and concrete and rebars in the socketed zone were fully instrumented to measure strains in each zone. The pullout deformations of the reaction pile heads were measured by LVDTs. Over the course of the study, a maximum uplift deformation of 7mm was measured in the heads of reaction piles when loaded to 10MN, and 1mm of residual uplift deflection was measured. In the reaction piles, about 83% and about 12% of the applied pullout loads were transferred in the weathered rock layer and in the soft rock layer, respectively. Also, at an uplift force of 10MN, shear stresses due to the uplift in the weathered rock layer md soft rock layer were developed as much as 125.3kPa and 61.8kPa, respectively. Thus, the weathered rock layer should be utilized as resisting layer in which frictional farce could be mobilized greatly.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.153-166
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• 1998

This paper shows the results of a series of model tests on the behavior of steel pipe pile which is subjected to lateral and inclined loads in homogeneous and non-homogeneous Nak-dong River sands. Non-homogeneous soil consisted of two layers, upper and lower layer. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the effect of ratio of lower layer height to embedded pile length, ratio of soil modules of upper layer to lower layer and inclined load on the behavior of single pile. These effects can be quantified only by the results of model tests. As a result. in non-homogeneous sand soil, it is shown that the lateral behavior depends upon the ratio of soil modules of upper layer to lower layer more than other factors. And it was found that the relationship between the deflection ratio of non-homogeneous sand to homogeneous sand and the ratio of lower layer height to embedded pile length can be fitted to exponential function of H/L by model tests results. For the inclined load applied, it is shown that the bending moment-depth relationship is not similar to the case of laterally loaded pile and the depth of maximum bending moment at relative density of 90% increases about 70% more than the pile only loaded laterally.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.167-185
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• 1999

A series of model tests was performed to find the characteristics of lateral behavior of single rigid pile. This paper shows the results of model tests on the lateral behavior of single rigid driven pile in non-homogeneous(two layered) Nak-Dong River sands. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the ratio of lower layer thickness to embedded pile length, the coefficient ratio of the subgrade reaction and the pile construction conditions(driven & embedded piles) on the characteristics of lateral behavior of single pile. The results of model tests show that the lateral behavior in non-homogeneous soil depends upon drop energy considerably, that is, in the case of H/L=0.75, as the drop energy increases three times the decrease percentage increases about 2.12 times. In the driven pile with non-homogeneous soil of $E_{h1}/E_{h2}=5.56$, the effect of upper layer with large stiffness on the decrease of lateral deflection is remarkably smaller than embedded pile. In non-homogeneous soil, the maximum bending moment of driven pile is in the range of 100 132% in comparison with embedded pile. The reason is that the stiffness of soil around pile increases with drop vibration and so the pile behavior is similar to the flexible pile behavior by means of the increase of relative stiffness of pile, In this paper, the experimental equations for lateral load and H/L on $y_D/y_E \; & \; MBM_D/MBM_E$ are suggested from model tests.