• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.81-89
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• 2018

Stone column installation is a convenient method for improvement of soft ground. In very soft clays, in order to increase the lateral confinement of the stone columns, encasing the columns with high stiffness and creep resistant geosynthetics has proved to be a successful solution. This paper presents the results of three dimensional finite element analyses for evaluating improvement in behaviour of ordinary stone columns (OSCs) installed in soft clay by geotextile encasement under monotonic and cyclic loading by a comprehensive parametric study. The parameters include length and stiffness of encasement, types of stone columns (floating and end bearing), frictional angle and elastic modulus of stone column's material and diameter of stone columns. The results indicate that increasing the stiffness of encasement clearly enhances cyclic behaviour of geotextile encased stone columns (GESCs) in terms of reduction in residual settlement. Performance of GESCs is less sensitive to internal friction angle and elasticity modulus of column's materials in comparison with OSCs. Also, encasing at the top portion of stone column up to triple the diameter of column is found to be adequate in improving its residual settlement and at all loading cycles, end bearing columns provide much higher resistance than floating columns.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.33-56
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• 2001

It is well known fact that all rocks exhibit brittle properties and time depends strain properties (creep). An understanding of the time dependent deformation behaviour of rocks is believed to be essential in the field of civil and tunnelling. The rock and concrete creep in various forms of loading conditions and physical environment are reviewed. A comparison of creep behaviour between rocks and concrete is provided, in order to bring two existing relatively independent methods of predicting creep strain closer together. It was felt that the physical process in the creep of rocks would be similar to the process in creep of concrete. Since experiments and observations have shown that non-elastic (creep) mechanical behaviour of all crystalline solids (i.e., concrete, rocks, ceramics and refractories) and single materials have a common base. Also a comparison of the results for the accepted methods of estimating creep in rocks and concrete under - multiaxial loading was attempted to extend the knowledge of deformational characteristics of these two materials.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.117-134
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• 2008

An experimental and numerical research was conducted to gain a deeper insight on the structural behaviour of deep-beams with indirect supports and to assess the size effects in the ultimate state behaviour. The experimental campaign focused on the influence of the reinforcement tie distribution height on the compression check of the support region and on the benefits of using unbonded prestressing steel. Three reduced scale specimens were tested and used to validate the results obtained with a nonlinear finite element model. As a good agreement could be found between the numerical and the experimental results, the numerical model was then further used to perform simulations in large scale deep-beams, with dimensions similar to the ones to be adopted in a practical case. Two sources of size effects were identified from the simulation results. Both sources are related to the concrete quasi-brittle behaviour and are responsible for increasing failure brittleness with increasing structural size. While in the laboratory models failure occurred both in the experimental tests as well as in the numerical simulations after reinforcement yielding, the numerically analysed large scale models exhibited shear failures with reinforcement still operating in the elastic range.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.369-382
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• 2020

This paper presents a discussion of the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) when applied for the analysis of concrete elements reinforced with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. The purpose of such nonlinear FEA model development is to create a tool that can be used for numerical parametric studies which can be used to extend the existing (and limited) experiment database. The presented research focuses on the numerical analyses of concrete beams reinforced with GFRP longitudinal and shear reinforcements. FEA of concrete members reinforced with linear elastic brittle reinforcements (like GFRP) presents unique challenges when compared to the analysis of members reinforced with plastic (steel) reinforcements, which are discussed in the paper. Specifically, the behaviour and failure of GFRP reinforced members are strongly influenced by the compressive response of concrete and thus modelling of concrete behaviour is essential for proper analysis. FEA was performed using the commercial software ABAQUS. A damaged-plasticity model was utilized to simulate the concrete behaviour. The influence of tension, compression, dilatancy, mesh, and reinforcement modelling was studied to replicate experimental test data of beams previously tested at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Recommendations for the finite element modelling of beams reinforced with GFRP longitudinal and shear reinforcements are offered. The knowledge gained from this research allows for the development of a rational methodology for modelling GFRP reinforced concrete beams, which subsequently can be used for extensive parametric studies and the formation of informed recommendations to design standards.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.237-255
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• 2006

This paper presents a novel analytical formulation for the analysis of composite beams with partial shear interaction stiffened by a bolted longitudinal plate accounting for time effects, such as creep and shrinkage. The model is derived by means of the principle of virtual work using a displacement-based formulation. The particularity of this approach is that the partial interaction behaviour is assumed to exist between the top slab and the joist as well as between the joist and the bolted longitudinal stiffening plate, therefore leading to a three-layered structural representation. For this purpose, a novel finite element is derived and presented. Its accuracy is validated based on short-and long-term analyses for the particular cases of full shear interaction and partial shear interaction of two layers for which solutions in closed form are available in the literature. A parametric study is carried out considering different stiffening arrangements to investigate the influence on the short-and long-term behaviour of the composite beam of the shear connection stiffness between the concrete slab and the steel joist, the stiffness of the plate-to-beam connection, the properties of the longitudinal plate and the concrete properties. The values of the deflection obtained from the finite element simulations are compared against those calculated using the effective flexural rigidity in accordance with EC5 guidelines for the behaviour of elastic multi-layered beams with flexible connection and it is shown how the latter well predicts the structural response. The proposed numerical examples highlight the ease of use of the proposed approach in determining the effectiveness of different retrofitting solutions at service conditions.

• Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.312-321
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• 2016

Dynamic behaviour of a slider-crank mechanism associated with a smart flexible connecting rod is investigated. Effect of various mechanisms' parameters including crank length, flexibility of the connecting rod and the slider's mass on the dynamic behaviour is studied. Two control schemes are proposed for elastodynamic vibration suppression of the flexible connecting rod and also obtaining a constant angular velocity for the crank. The first scheme is based on feedback linearization approach and the second one is based on a sliding mode controller. The input signals are applied by an electric motor located at the crank ground joint, and two layers of piezoelectric film bonded to the top and bottom surfaces of the connecting rod. Both of the controllers successfully suppress the vibrations of the elastic linkage.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.97-111
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• 2018

Buildings featuring a transfer structure can be commonly found in metropolitan cities situated in regions of lower seismicity. A transfer structure can be in the form of a rigid plate or an array of deep girders positioned at the podium level of the building to support the tower structure of the building. The anomalous increase in the shear force demand on the tower walls above the podium is a major cause for concern. Design guidance on how to quantify these adverse effects is not available. In this paper a simplified method for quantifying the increase in the shear force demand on the tower walls is presented. In view of the very limited ductile nature of this type of construction the analysis presented herein is based on linear elastic behaviour.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.31-37
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• 2000

When a crack is produced in a concrete structure, a micro crack zone of fracture process zone (FPZ) appears at the crack tip. To investigate the behaviour of this the micro crack zone, nonlinear fracture mechanics (NLFM) must be applied. However, when a massive concrete structure such as a concrete gravity dam is considered, the micro crack zone can be neglected and the structure can be assumed to have linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) behaviour. This study is divided into two main topics : (1) Calculating stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack tip by surface integral method and (2) Investigating the propagation of the initial crack. If the initial crack propagates, the angle of the propagation is calculated by using maximum circumferential tensile strength theory. This study, also, contains the effects of body forces and water pressures on the crack face.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1703-1711
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• 2003

An elastic-plastic finite element analysis is performed to investigate detailed closure behaviour of fatigue cracks in residual stress fields and the numerical results are compared with experimental results. The finite element analysis performed under plane stress using contact elements can predict fatigue crack closure behaviour. The mesh of constant element size along crack surface can not predict the opening level of fatigue crack. Specially, the mesh of element sizes depending upon the reversed plastic zone size included the effect of crack opening point can precisely predict the opening level. By using the concept of the mesh of element sizes depending upon the reversed plastic zone size included the effect of crack opening point, the opening level of fatigue crack can be determined very well.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.111-130
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• 2001

This paper presents an effective, reliable and accurate method for prediction of structural behaviour of steel frames at elevated temperature. The refined plastic hinge method, which has been used successfully in the second-order elasto-plastic analysis of steel frames at ambient conditions, is adopted here to allow for time-independent fire effects. In contrast to the existing rigorous finite element programs, the present method uses the advanced analysis technique that provides a simple and reliable means for practical study of the behaviour of steel frames at elevated temperature by a limiting stress model. The present method is validated against other test and numerical results.