• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.269-282
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• 2015

Civil structures should be designed with the lowest cost and longest lifetime possible and without service failure. The efficient and sustainable use of materials in building design and construction has always been at the forefront for civil engineers and environmentalists. Timber is one of the best contenders for these purposes particularly in terms of aesthetics; fire protection; strength-to-weight ratio; acoustic properties and seismic resistance. In recent years, timber has been used in commercial and taller buildings due to these significant advantages. It should be noted that, since the launch of the modern building standards and codes, a number of different structural systems have been developed to stabilise steel or concrete multistorey buildings, however, structural analysis of high-rise and multi-storey timber frame buildings subjected to lateral loads has not yet been fully understood. Additionally, timber degradation can occur as a result of biological decay of the elements and overloading that can result in structural damage. In such structures, the deficient members and joints require strengthening in order to satisfy new code requirements; determine acceptable level of safety; and avoid brittle failure following earthquake actions. This paper investigates performance assessment and damage assessment of older multi-storey timber buildings. One approach is to retrofit the beams in order to increase the ductility of the frame. Experimental studies indicate that Sprayed Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SFRP) repairing/retrofitting not only updates the integrity of the joint, but also increases its strength; stiffness; and ductility in such a way that the joint remains elastic. Non-linear finite element analysis ('pushover') is carried out to study the behaviour of the structure subjected to simulated gravity and lateral loads. A new global index is re-assessed for damage assessment of the plain and SFRP-retrofitted frames using capacity curves obtained from pushover analysis. This study shows that the proposed method is suitable for structural damage assessment of aged timber buildings. Also SFRP retrofitting can potentially improve the performance and load carrying capacity of the structure.

• 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.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.399-409
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• 2021

The existing method to improve the coordination performance of the inner and outer parts of concrete-encased concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) composite columns by increasing the volume-stirrup ratio causes difficulties in construction due to over-dense stirrups. Thus, this paper proposes an open polygonal composite stirrup with high strength and high ductility CRB600H reinforced rebar, and seventeen specimens were constructed, and their axial compressive performance was tested. The main parameters considered were the volume-stirrup ratio, the steel tube size, the stirrup type and the stirrup strength. The test results indicated: For the specimens restrained by open octagonal composite stirrups, compared with the specimen of 0.5% volume-stirrup ratio, the compressive bearing capacity increased by 14.6%, 15.7% and 21.5% for volume-stirrup ratio of 0.73%, 1.07% and 1.61%, respectively. For the specimens restrained by open composite rectangle stirrups, compared with the specimen of 0.79% volume-stirrup ratio, the compressive bearing capacity increased by 7.5%, 6.1%, and -1.4% for volume-stirrup ratio of 1.12%, 1.58% and 2.24%, respectively. The restraint ability and the bearing capacity of the octagonal composite stirrup are better than other stirrup types. The specimens equipped with open polygonal composite stirrup not only had a higher ductility than those with the traditional closed-loop stirrup, but they also had a higher axial bearing capacity than those with an HPB300 strength grades stirrup. Therefore, the open composite stirrup can be used in practical engineering. A new calculation method was proposed based on the stress-strain models for confined concrete under different restrain conditions, and the predicted value was close to the experimental value.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.497-512
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• 2023

Using light weight concrete as infill material in conventional cold-formed steel (CFS) shear wall systems can considerably increase their load bearing capacity, ductility, integrity and fire resistance. The compressive strength of the filler concrete is a key factor affecting the structural behaviour of the composite wall systems, and therefore, achieving maximum compressive strength in lightweight concrete while maintaining its lightweight properties is of significant importance. In this study a new type of optimum polystyrene lightweight concrete (OPLC) with high compressive strength is developed for infill material in composite CFS shear wall systems. To study the seismic behaviour of the OPLC-filled CFS shear wall systems, two full scale wall specimens are tested under cyclic loading condition. The effects of OPLC on load-bearing capacity, failure mode, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness degradation of the walls are investigated. It is shown that the use of OPLC as infill in CFS shear walls can considerably improve their seismic performance by: (i) preventing the premature buckling of the stud members, and (ii) changing the dominant failure mode from brittle to ductile thanks to the bond-slip behaviour between OPLC and CFS studs. It is also shown that the design equations proposed by EC8 and ACI 318-14 standards overestimate the shear force capacity of OPLC-filled CFS shear wall systems by up to 80%. This shows it is necessary to propose methods with higher efficiency to predict the capacity of these systems for practical applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.2
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• pp.137-149
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• 2023

In this study, to explore the working performance of the CFST split spherical node wind power tower, two groups of CFST split spherical joint plane towers with different web wall thicknesses and a set of space systems were analyzed. The tower was subjected to a low-cycle repeated load test, and the hysteresis and skeleton curves were analyzed. ABAQUS finite element simulation was used for verification and comparison, and on this basis parameter expansion analysis was carried out. The results show that the failure mode of the wind power tower was divided into weld tear damage between belly bar, high strength bolt thread damage and belly rod flexion damage. In addition, increasing the wall thickness of the web member could render the hysteresis curve fuller. Finally, the bearing capacity of the separated spherical node wind power tower was high, but its plastic deformation ability was poor. The ultimate bearing capacity and ductility coefficient of the simulated specimens are positively correlated with web diameter ratio and web column stiffness ratio. When the diameter ratio of the web member was greater than 0.13, or the stiffness ratio γ of the web member to the column was greater than 0.022, the increase of the ultimate bearing capacity and ductility coefficient decreased significantly. In order to maximize the overall mechanical performance of the tower and improve its economy, it was suggested that the diameter ratio of the ventral rod be 0.11-0.13, while the stiffness ratio γ should be 0.02-0.022.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.345-360
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• 2022

In this paper, the impact on seismic performance of an economical effective technique for retrofitting reinforced concrete (RC) columns using high-strength steel strips under high axial compression ratios was presented. The experimental program included a series of cyclic loading tests on one nonretrofitted control specimen and three retrofitted specimens. The effects of the axial compression ratio and spacing of the steel strips on the cyclic behavior of the specimens were studied. Based on the test results, the failure modes, hysteretic characteristics, strength and stiffness degradation, displacement ductility, and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were analyzed in-depth. The analysis showed that the transverse confinement provided by the high-strength steel strips could effectively delay and restrain diagonal crack development and improve the failure mode, which was flexural-shear failure controlled by flexural failure with better ductility. The specimens retrofitted using high-strength steel strips showed more satisfactory seismic performance than the control specimen. The seismic performance and deformation capacity of the retrofitted RC columns increased with decreasing axial compression ratio and steel strip spacing. Based on the test results, a hysteretic model for RC columns that considers the transverse confinement of high-strength steel strips was then established. The hysteretic model showed good agreement with the experimental results, which verified the effectiveness of the proposed hysteretic model. Therefore, the aforementioned analysis can be used for the design of retrofitted RC columns.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.319-326
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to evaluate seismic performance of reinforced concrete pier columns in Seohae Ground Bridge. Since the bridge was designed before preparing the seismic design specification the bridge columns of hollow hexagonal section were designed and constructed with insufficient seismic reinforcement details such as longitudinal and transverse reinforcement lap-splices. In order to take the necessary measures to improve its seismic performance experimental study was performed by small-scale test for the bridge columns, From the quasi-static test for small-scale column specimens the lap-splices were not critical for overall behavior of the column if sufficient lap-splice-length was provided. The test results of failure mode effective stiffness ductility and equivalent viscous damping ratio are presented.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.283-292
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• 2015

In the moment frame subjected to earthquake loads, beam-column joint is structurally important for ductile behavior of a system. ACI Committee 352 proposed guidelines for designing beam-column joint details. The guidelines, however, need to be updated because of the lack of data regarding several factors that may improve the performance of joints. The purpose of this study is to investigate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete exterior joints with high-strength materials and unbonded tendons. Three specimens with different joint shear demand-to-strength ratios were constructed and tested, where headed bars were used to anchor the beam bars into the joint. All specimens showed satisfactory seismic behavior including moment strength of 1.3 times the nominal moment, ductile performance (ductility factor = at least 2.4), and sufficiently large dissipated energy.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 1995

A new method for preparation of thin nickel foam for Ni-MH battery was investigated. In this method, fine graphite powders of $1\mu\textrm{m}$～$2\mu\textrm{m}$ diameter were pasted into pores of thin polyurethane foam film in order to supply electric conducting seeds for nickel deposition by electroless plating reaction. After electroless plating, remaining polyurethane foam was removed chemically by organic solvent treatment and graphite particles also removed by ultrasonic cleaning. Porosity of formed nickel foam was about 85% During electroplating, porosity of the nickel foam decreased less than 5% up to $30\mu\textrm{m}$ coating thickness. And then it was electroplated and heat-treated to improve mechanical strength and ductility. Finally, thin nickel foam for Ni electrode of Ni-MH battery with 80% porosity and $350\mu\textrm{m}$～X$400\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness was obtained.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.553-558
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• 2001

Recent destructive seismic events demonstrated the importance of mitigating human casualties and serious property damages in design and construction of structures. The Korean Bridge Design Specifications (1992) adopted seismic design requirements based on the AASHTO specification, and minor modification was made in 2000. The longitudinal steel connection of reinforced concrete bridge column is sometimes practically unavoidable. The longitudinal reinforcement details affect seismic performance such as flexural failure and shear failure. This research aims to develop longitudinal steel connection details with confinement steel by experimental study for seismic performance of reinforced concrete bridge columns. Quasi-static test under three different axial load levels was conducted for 12 spiral column specimens. All the column specimens had the same aspect ratio of 3.5. The column specimens were transversely reinforced with spiral and with five different longitudinal steel connection. The final objective of this study is to suggest appropriate longitudinal reinforcement connection details for the limited ductility design concept and improve construction quality.