• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2728-2745
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to reduce seismic responses of an actual nuclear piping system using a tuned mass damper (TMD) device. A numerical piping model was developed and validated based on shaking table test results with actual nuclear piping. A TMD for nuclear piping was newly devised in this work. A TMD shape design suitable for nuclear piping systems was conducted, and its operating performance was verified after manufacturing. The response reduction performance of the developed TMD under earthquake loading on actual piping was investigated. Results confirmed that, on average, seismic response reduction rates of 34% in the maximum acceleration response, 41% in the root mean square acceleration response, and 57% in the spectral acceleration response were shown through the TMD application. This developed TMD operated successfully within the seismic response reduction rate of existing TMD optimum design values. Therefore, the developed TMD and dynamic interpretation help improve the nuclear piping's seismic performance.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.395-409
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• 2022

The presence of infill generally neglected in design despite the fact that infill contribution significantly increase the lateral stiffness and strength of the reinforced concrete frame structure. Several experimental studies and computational models have been proposed to capture the rational response of infill-frame interaction at global level. However, limited studies are available on explicit finite element modelling to study the local behavior due to high computation and convergence issues in numerical modelling. In the current study, the computational modelling of RC frames is done with various configurations of infill masonry in terms of types of blocks, lateral loading and reinforcement detailing employed with material nonlinearities, interface contact issues and bond-slip phenomenon particularly near the beam-column joints. To this end, extensive computational modelling of five variant characteristics test specimens extracted from the detailed experimental program available in literature and process through nonlinear static analysis in FEM code, ATENA generally used to capture the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. Results are presented in terms of damage patterns and capacity curves by employing the finest possible detail provided in the experimental program. Comparative analysis shows that good correlation amongst the experimental and numerical simulated results both in terms of capacity and crack patterns.

• Composites Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.43-49
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• 2006

In this paper, a long gauge Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor system is described and long gauge FBGs are well-suited for measuring the upper parts of the bridge piers under the extremely severe movement conditions. In the experiments, we used more than 30m long FBG sensors to measure the movement of top part of the bridge piers which are separated from the main bridge by cutting the decks. With the actuator, the deck and girders were pushed and released. We checked the movement of the top of the pier while releasing the pressure of the actuator with the long gauge fiber sensor. In order to measure the movement of the upper part of the pier, the reference point must be outside of the pier. Using the optical fiber sensors, one end of the sensor is attached to the top of the pier and the other end is attached to the bottom of the next pier. The fiber sensors showed good response to the release loading and we could calculate the movement of the top part of the pear.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2022

Beam-column joints (BCJs) are recognized among the most crucial zones in reinforced concrete structures, as they are the critical elements subjected to a complex state of forces during a severe earthquake. Under such conditions, BCJs exhibit behaviors with impacts that extend to the whole structure and significantly influence its ductility and capability of dissipating energy. The focus of this paper is to investigate the effect of undamaged transverse beam (secondary beams) on the ductility of concrete BCJs reinforced with conventional steel and shape memory alloys bars using pushover analysis at tip of beam under different axial load levels at the column using a nonlinear finite element model in ABAQUS environment. A numerical model of a BCJ was constructed and the analysis outcomes were verified by comparing them to those obtained from previous experiments found in the literature. The comparison evidenced the capability of the calibrated model to predict the load capacity response of the joint. Results proved the ability of undamaged secondary beams to provide a noticeable improvement to the ductility of reinforced concrete joints, with a very negligible loss in load capacity. However, the effect of secondary beams can become less significant if the beams are damaged due to seismic effects. In addition, the axial load was found to significantly enhance the performance of BCJs, where the increase in axial load magnified the capacity of the joint. However, higher values of axial load resulted in greater initial stiffness of the BCJ.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.531-543
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• 2023

Base isolation is one of the most widely implemented and well-known technique to reduce structural vibration and damages during an earthquake. However, while the base-isolated structure reduces storey drift significantly, it also increases the base drifts causing many practical problems. This study proposes the use of Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) wires for the reduction in base drift while controlling the overall structure vibrations. A multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) structure along with base isolators and Shape-Memory-Alloys (SMA) wires in diagonal is tested experimentally and analytically. The isolation bearing considered in this study consists of laminates of steel and silicon rubber. The performance of the proposed structure is evaluated and studied under different loadings including harmonic loading and seismic excitation. To assess the seismic performance of the proposed structure, shake table tests are conducted on base-isolated MDOF frame structure incorporating SMA wires, which is subjected to incremental harmonic and historic seismic loadings. Root mean square acceleration, displacement and drift are analyzed and discussed in detail for each story. To better understand the structure response, the percentage reduction of displacement is also determined for each story. The result shows that the reduction in the response of the proposed structure is much better than conventional base-isolated structure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.237-252
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• 2023

The article describes the development of a novel dissipative bracing connection device (identified by the acronym DRBrC) for concentrically braced frames in steel and composite structures. The origins of the device trace back to the seminal work of Kelly, Skinner and Heine (1972), and, more directly related, to the PIN-INERD device, overcoming some of its limitations and greatly improving the replaceability characteristics. The connection device is composed of a rigid housing, connected to both the brace and the beam-column connection (or just the column), in which the axial force transfer is achieved by four-point bending of a dissipative pin. The experimental validation stages, presented in detail, consisted of a preliminary testing campaign, resulting in successive improvements of the original device design, followed by a systematic parametric testing campaign. That final campaign was devised to study the influence of the constituent materials (S235 and Stainless Steel, for the pin, and S355 and High Strength Steel, for the housing), of the geometry (four-point bending intermediate spans) and of the loading history (constant amplitude or increasing cyclic alternate). The main conclusions point to the most promising DRBrC device configurations, also presenting some suggestions in terms of the replaceability requirements.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.5A
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• pp.417-424
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• 2010

The dynamic properties of laminated rubber bearings used as isolators in structures could be significantly deteriorated because of the change of microstructure in rubber caused by thermal aging. As a result, a catastrophic failure of bridges and buildings unexpectedly occurs when they are subjected to earthquake attack. Here, the dynamic properties of laminated rubber bearings before and after different of compression-shear loading and repeated cycles loadings, ultimated failure test with thermal aging were first measured and compared to each other. The experimental results, the effects of thermal aging on the shear stiffness, energy absorption, and equivalent damping coefficient of laminated rubber bearings are investigated. It is found that the deterioration of dynamic properties of laminated rubber bearings caused by thermal aging is significant and should be taken into account in designing rubber bearings.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.257-264
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• 2010

This study proposed the aseismic design concept for underground space based on site response analysis and laboratory tests. The results of this study showed that the location of the control points of input motions such as design response spectra and time history of acceleration and the assumption of bedrock properties such as elasticity or rigidity play an important role in aseismic design of underground space. Therefore, the appropriate ground response model among models applying motions such as free surface motion, bedrock motion, or bedrock outcropping motion must be utilized to provide reasonable boundary conditions of underground space under earthquake loading and practical aseismic design.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2023

The buckling of longitudinal reinforcements under seismic loading accelerates the degradation of the bearing capacity of reinforced concrete columns. The traditional hysteretic constitutive model of reinforcement, which does not consider buckling, usually overestimates the seismic performance of pier columns. Subsequent researchers have also proposed many models including the buckling effects. However, the accuracy of these hysteretic constitutive models proposed for simulating the buckling behavior is inadequate. In this study, based on their works, the influence of historical events on buckling is considered, the path of the re-tensioning phase is corrected by adjusting the boundary lines, and the positions of the onset buckling point and compressive buckling path during each buckling deformation are corrected by introducing correction parameters and a boundary line. A modified hysteretic constitutive model is obtained, that can more accurately reflect the buckling behavior of reinforcements. Finally, a series of hysteresis tests of reinforcements with different slenderness ratios were then conducted. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed modified model. Indicating that the modified model can more accurately simulate the equivalent stress-strain relationship of the buckling reinforcement segment.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.283-297
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• 2023

This research aims to simulate and investigate the efficiency of strengthening damaged concrete columns using concrete jacketing.The numerical program included unjacketed reference column made of ordinary RC concrete had a cross-sectional dimension of (100×100) mm and 560 mm long reinforced concrete. These cores were damaged by loading them with approximately 60% of their actual ultimate load capacities as a service load. Then, column specimens were strengthened by applying two types of self-compacting concrete SCC jacketing, which were 25 and 30 mm thick, on all four sides. Exposed to external loads at different directions vertically and horizontally simulate to the seismic load. The 3D Finite Element (FE) simulation is used to predict of three structural criteria that were selected and evaluated (deflection, stress, cracks). The results show that the failure of the strengthening columns is interesting and corresponds to the characteristics of the cracks formed in the concrete section,which was documented numerically using 3D Finite Element (FE). A significant improvement of deflection has been noted at the values at the top SECTION of columns compared to the reference sample reaching an average of up to 36.6% when using a 25 mm thick SCC-3500 jacket.