• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제87권3호
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• pp.221-229
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• 2023

Urbanization and industrialization have significantly increased the amount of solid waste produced in recent decades, posing considerable disposal problems and environmental burdens. The practice of waste utilization in concrete has gained popularity among construction practitioners and researchers for the efficient use of resources and the transition to the circular economy in construction. This study employed Lytag aggregate, an environmentally friendly pulverized fuel ash-based lightweight aggregate, as a substitute for natural coarse aggregate. At the same time, fly ash, an industrial by-product, was used as a partial substitute for cement. Concrete mix M20 was experimented with using fly ash and Lytag lightweight aggregate. The percentages of fly ash that make up the replacements were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The Compressive Strength (CS), Split Tensile Strength (STS), and deflection were discovered at these percentages after 56 days of testing. The concrete cube, cylinder, and beam specimens were examined in the explorations, as mentioned earlier. The results indicate that a 10% substitution of cement with fly ash and a replacement of coarse aggregate with Lytag lightweight aggregate produced concrete that performed well in terms of mechanical properties and deflection. The cementitious composites have varying characteristics as the environment changes. Therefore, understanding their mechanical properties are crucial for safety reasons. CS, STS, and deflection are the essential property of concrete. Machine learning (ML) approaches have been necessary to predict the CS of concrete. The Artificial Fish Swarm Optimization (AFSO), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Harmony Search (HS) algorithms were investigated for the prediction of outcomes. This work deftly explains the tremendous AFSO technique, which achieves the precise ideal values of the weights in the model to crown the mathematical modeling technique. This has been proved by the minimum, maximum, and sample median, and the first and third quartiles were used as the basis for a boxplot through the standardized method of showing the dataset. It graphically displays the quantitative value distribution of a field. The correlation matrix and confidence interval were represented graphically using the corrupt method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.927-935
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• 2018

The mechanical behavior of the brittle material samples containing the internal and edge cracks are studied under direct shear tests. It is tried to investigate the effects of stress interactions and stress intensity factors at the tips of the pre-existing cracks on the failure mechanism of the bridge areas within these cracks. The direct shear tests are carried out on more than 30 various modeled samples each containing the internal cracks (S models) and edge cracks (E models). The visual inspection and a low power microscope are used to monitor the failure mechanisms of the tested samples. The cracks initiation, propagation and coalescences are being visualized in each test and the detected failure surfaces are used to study and measure the characteristics of each surface. These investigations show that as the ratio of the crack area to the total shear surface increases the shear failure mode changes to that of the tensile. When the bridge areas are fixed, the bridge areas in between the edge cracks have less strength than those of internal cracks. However, the results of this study show that for the case of internal cracks as the bridge area is increased, the strength of the material within the bridge area is decreased. It has been shown that the failure mechanism and fracture pattern of the samples depend on the bridge areas because as the bridge area decreases the interactions between the crack tip stress fields increases.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.431-441
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• 2021

Rock-socketed drilled shafts are widely used to transfer the heavy loads from the superstructure especially in mountainous area. Extensive research has been done on the behavior of rock-socketed drilled shafts under compressive load. However, little attention has been paid to uplift behavior of drilled shaft in rock, which govern the overall behavior of the foundation system. In this paper, a series of centrifuge tests have been performed to investigate the uplift response of rock-socketed drilled shafts. The pull-out tests of drilled shafts installed in layered rocks having various strengths were conducted. The load-displacement response, axial load distributions in the shaft and the unit skin friction distribution under pull-out loads were investigated. The effects of the strength of rock socket on the initial stiffness, ultimate capacity and mobilization of friction of the foundation, were also examined. The results indicated that characteristics of rock-socket has a significant influence on the uplift behavior of drilled shaft. Most of the applied uplift load were carried by socketed rock when the drilled shaft was installed in the sand over rock layer, whereas substantial load was carried by both upper and lower rock layers when the drilled shaft was completely socketed into layered rock. The pattern of mobilized shaft friction and point where the maximum unit shaft friction occurred were also found to be affected by the socket condition surrounding the drilled shaft.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.27-33
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• 2018

Korea's automobile industry, which has grown rapidly to become the world's fifth-largest automobile producer, To cope with environmental pollution and energy problems in order to prevail competitive edge in global market We are investing a lot of research personnel and costs. Among them, for realizing alternative light weight It is a part of the automobile module system that has achieved the technological development before the breakthrough in the injection molding process in the press process. Door module PNL was the subject of research. The door module PNL is expected to cause warpage before the mold production due to the thin and flat product characteristics and fiber orientation characteristic of the material. In this paper, CAE analysis and reverse correction tool Design. CAE analysis to obtain the results of weld line position, bending position and deformation value Through the correction tool, think3, the original product was modified before the mold production to improve the completeness of the parts. In fiber orientation, the position and size of the cooling channel in the mold, the position and size of the gate, Temperature, pressure, time, and work environment. Compared with the result of CAE analysis, the product that was reverse-corrected by Think3 was manufactured, and injection molding was performed. Injection molding products were tested 24 hours later. 3.5 mm to 7.0 mm, and under the fixed condition, the deviation was from 1.1 mm to 1.5 mm. Unlike the CAE analysis, the deviation of the actual injection pressure and the cooling temperature, the fiber orientation of the material, In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to compare the injection conditions with the database, I knew I had to catch the standard.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.373-385
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• 2019

This paper presents a useful in-plane structural analysis of low-rise blind-bolted composite frames with semi-rigid joints. Analytical models were used to predict the moment-rotation relationship of the composite beam-to-column flush endplate joints that produced accurate and reliable results. The comparisons of the analytical model with test results in terms of the moment-rotation response verified the robustness and reliability of the model. Abaqus software was adopted to conduct frame analysis considering the material and geometrical non-linearities. The flexural behaviour of the composite frames was studied by applying the lateral loads incorporating wind and earthquake actions according to the Australian standards. A wide variety of frames with a varied number of bays and storeys was analysed to determine the bending moment envelopes under different load combinations. The design models were finalized that met the strength and serviceability limit state criteria. The results from the frame analysis suggest that among lateral loads, wind loads are more critical in Australia as compared to the earthquake loads. However, gravity loads alone govern the design as maximum sagging and hogging moments in the frames are produced as a result of the load combination with dead and live loads alone. This study provides a preliminary analysis and general understanding of the behaviour of low rise, semi-continuous frames subjected to lateral load characteristics of wind and earthquake conditions in Australia that can be applied in engineering practice.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제72권4호
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• pp.421-432
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• 2019

In high-speed railway (HSR) system, the structure-borne noise inside viaduct at low frequency has been extensively investigated for its mitigation as a research hotspot owing to its harm to the nearby residents. This study proposed a novel acoustic optimization method for declining the structure-borne noise in viaduct-like structures by separating the acoustic contribution of each structural component in the measured acoustic field. The structural vibration and related acoustic sourcing, propagation, and radiation characteristics for the viaduct box girder under passing vehicle loading are studied by incorporating Finite Element Method (FEM) with Modal Acoustic Vector (MAV) analysis. Based on the Modal Acoustic Transfer Vector (MATV), the structural vibration mode that contributes maximum to the structure-borne noise shall be hereinafter filtered for the acoustic radiation. With vibration mode shapes, the locations of maximum amplitudes for being ribbed to mitigate the structure-borne noise are then obtained, and the structure-borne noise mitigation performance shall be eventually analyzed regarding to the ribbing conduction. The results demonstrate that the structural vibration and structure-borne noise of the viaduct box girder mainly occupy both in the range within 100 Hz, and the dominant frequency bands both are [31.5, 80] Hz. The peak frequency for the structure-borne noise of the viaduct box girder is mainly caused by $16^{th}$ and $62^{th}$ vibration modes; these two mode shapes mainly reflect the local vibration of the wing plate and top plate. By introducing web plate at the maximum amplitude of main mode shapes that contribute most to the acoustic modal contribution factors, the acoustic pressure peaks at the field-testing points are hereinafter obviously declined, this implies that the structure-borne noise mitigation performance is relatively promising for the viaduct.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.613-625
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• 2021

Non-seismically designed eccentric reinforced concrete beam-column joints were extensively used in existing reinforced concrete frame buildings, which were found to be vulnerable to seismic action in many incidences. To provide a fundamental understanding of the seismic performance and failure mechanism of the joints, three 2/3-scale exterior beam-column joints with non-seismically designed details were cast and tested under reversed cyclic loads simulating earthquake excitation. In this investigation, particular emphasis was given on the effects of the eccentricity between the centerlines of the beam and the column. It is shown that the eccentricity had significant effects on the damage characteristics, shear strength, and displacement ductility of the specimens. In addition, shear deformation and the strain of joint hoops were found to concentrate on the eccentric face of the joint. The results demonstrated that the specimen with an eccentricity of 1/4 column width failed in a brittle manner with premature joint shear failure, while the other specimens with less or no eccentricity failed in a ductile manner with joint shear failure after beam flexural yielding. Test results are compared with those predicted by three seismic design codes and two non-seismic design codes. In general, the codes do not accurately predict the shear strength of the eccentric joints with non-seismic details.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제84권2호
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• pp.143-154
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• 2022

Corrosion of steel reinforcement is considered as the main cause of concrete structures deterioration, especially those under humid environmental conditions. Hence, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars are being increasingly used as a replacement for conventional steel owing to their non-corrodible characteristics. However, predicting the shear strength of beams reinforced with FRP bars still challenging due to the lack of robust shear theory. Thus, this paper aims to develop an explicit data driven based model to predict the shear strength of FRP reinforced beams using multi-objective evolutionary polynomial regression analysis (MOGA-EPR) as data driven models learn the behavior from the input data without the need to employee a theory that aid the derivation, and thus they have an enhanced accuracy. This study also evaluates the accuracy of predictive models of shear strength of FRP reinforced concrete beams employed by different design codes by calculating and comparing the values of the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean (𝜇), standard deviation of the mean (𝜎), coefficient of determination (R²), and percentage of prediction within error range of ±20% (a20-index). Experimental database has been developed and employed in the model learning, validation, and accuracy examination. The statistical analysis illustrated the robustness of the developed model with MAE, RMSE, 𝜇, 𝜎, R², and a20-index of 14.6, 20.8, 1.05, 0.27, 0.85, and 0.61, respectively for training data and 10.4, 14.1, 0.98, 0.25, 0.94, and 0.60, respectively for validation data. Furthermore, the developed model achieved much better predictions than the standard predictive models as it scored lower MAE, RMSE, and 𝜎, and higher R² and a20-index. The new model can be used in future with confidence in optimized designs as its accuracy is higher than standard predictive models.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제6권4호
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• pp.205-212
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• 2001

One of the important characteristics of biological systems os their ability to change im-portant properties in response to small environmental signals. The molecular mechanisms that biological molecules utilize to sense and respond provide interesting models for the development of "smart" polymeric biomaterials with biomimetic properties. An important example of this is the protein coat of viruses, which contains peptide units that facilitate the trafficking of the virus into the cell via endocytosis, then out of the endosome into the cytoplasm, and from there into the nucleus, We have designed a family of synthetic polymers whose compositions have been de-signed to mimic specific peptides on viral coats that facilitate endosomal escape. Our biomimetic polymers are responsive to the lowered pH whinin endosomes, leading to distruption of the en-dosomal membrane and release of important biomolecular druges such as DNA, RNA, peptides and proteins to the cytoplasm before they are trafficked to lysosomes and degraded by lysosomal en-zymes. In this article, we review our work on the design, synthesis and action of such smart, pH-sensitive polymers.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.1143-1179
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• 2016

Offshore wind turbines are considered as a fundamental part to develop substantial, alternative energy sources. In this highly flexible structures, monopiles are usually used as support foundations. Since the monopiles are large diameter (3.5 to 7 m) deep foundations, they result in extremely stiff short monopiles where the slenderness (length to diameter) may range between 5 and 10. Consequently, their elastic deformation patterns under lateral loading differ from those of small diameter monopiles usually employed for supporting structures in offshore oil and gas industry. For this reason, design recommendations (API and DNV) are not appropriate for designing foundations for offshore wind turbine structures as they have been established on the basis of full-scale load tests on long, slender and flexible piles. Furthermore, as these facilities are very sensitive to rotations and dynamic changes in the soil-pile system, the accurate prediction of monopile head displacement and rotation constitutes a design criterion of paramount importance. In this paper, the Fourier Series Aided Finite Element Method (FSAFEM) is employed for the determination of static impedance functions of monopiles for OWT subjected to horizontal force and/or to an overturning moment, where a non-homogeneous soil profile has been considered. On the basis of an extensive parametric study, and in order to address the problem of head stiffness of short monopiles, approximate analytical formulae are obtained for lateral stiffness $K_L$, rotational stiffness $K_R$ and cross coupling stiffness $K_{LR}$ for both rough and smooth interfaces. Theses expressions which depend only on the values of the monopile slenderness $L/D_p$ rather than the relative soil/monopile rigidity $E_p/E_s$ usually found in the offshore platforms designing codes (DNV code for example) have been incorporated in the expressions of the OWT natural frequency of four wind farm sites. Excellent agreement has been found between the computed and the measured natural frequencies.