• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.203-220
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• 2010

In the present study, exterior beam-column sub-assemblage from a regular reinforced concrete (RC) building has been considered. Two different types of beam-column sub-assemblages from existing RC building have been considered, i.e., gravity load designed ('GLD'), and seismically designed but without any ductile detailing ('NonDuctile'). Hence, both the cases represent the under-designed structure at different time frame span before the introduction of ductile detailing. For designing 'NonDuctile' structure, Eurocode and Indian Standard were considered. Non-linear finite element (FE) program has been employed for analysing the sub-assemblages under cyclic loading. FE models were developed using quadratic concrete brick elements with embedded truss elements to represent reinforcements. It has been found that the results obtained from the numerical analysis are well corroborated with that of experimental results. Using the validated numerical models, it was proposed to correlate the energy dissipation from numerical analysis to that from experimental analysis. Numerical models would be helpful in practice to evaluate the seismic performance of the critical sub-assemblages prior to design decisions. Further, using the numerical studies, performance of the sub-assemblages with variation of axial load ratios (ratio is defined by applied axial load divided by axial strength) has been studied since many researchers have brought out inconsistent observations on role of axial load in changing strength and energy dissipation under cyclic load.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.133-150
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• 2007

This paper presents the results of a research performed to investigate the finite element modeling approach for GESC (Geogrid-Encased Stone Column) method in soft ground within the framework of stress-pore pressure coupled analysis. GESC reinforcement mechanism and construction method was first examined and model verification of stone column on the results of FE analysis was identified. The results indicate that the 3D FE analysis and membrane elements play the most important role in the soft groung using GESC. Based on the results, a modeling method was suggested for stress-pore pressure coupled finite element modelling of GESC in soft ground.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.141-155
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• 2014

The use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in strengthening reinforced concrete beam-column subassemblies has been scrutinised both experimentally and numerically in recent years. While a multitude of numerical models are available, and many match the experimental results reasonably well, there are not many studies that have looked at the efficiency of different finite elements in a comparative way in order to clearly identify the best practice when it comes to modelling FRP for strengthening. The present study aims at investigating this within the context of FRP retrofitted reinforced concrete beam-column subassemblies. Two programs are used side by side; ANSYS and VecTor2. Results of the finite element modeling using these two programs are compared with a recent experimental study. Different failure and yield criteria along with different element types are implemented and a useful technique, which can reduce the number of elements considerably, is successfully employed for modeling planar structures subjected to in-plane loading in ANSYS. Comparison of the results shows that there is good agreement between ANSYS and VecTor2 results in monotonic loading. However, unlike VecTor2 program, implicit version of ANSYS program is not able to properly model the cyclic behavior of the modeled subassemblies. The paper will be useful to those who wish to study FRP strengthening applications numerically as it provides an insight into the choice of the elements and the methods of modeling to achieve desired accuracy and numerical stability, a matter not so clearly explored in the past in any of the published literature.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.547-557
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• 2018

This paper measures the mechanical response of precast pavement joints under moving axle loads using the finite-element method, and the models were validated with results of field tests. In order to increase the ability to use the non-linear FE analysis for design and assessment of precast pavement subjected to moving axle load, this paper investigated the effects of different load transfer between the slabs using the ABAQUS finite-element package to solve the nonlinear explicit model equations. The assembly of the panels using dowels and groove-tongue keys has been studied to assess the efficiency of keyway joint system. Concrete damage plasticity model was used to calculate the effects of permanent damages related to the failure mechanisms. With aggregate interlock as the only load transferring system, Load transfer efficiency (LTE) is not acceptable when the axle load reaches to slab joints. The Finite-element modelling (FEM) results showed that keyway joints significantly reduced tensile stresses developed at the mid-slab. Increasing the thickness of the tongue the LTE was improved but with increasing the height of the tongue the LTE was decreased. Stresses are transferred to the adjacent slab efficiently when dowels are embedded within the model. When the axle load approaches joints, tensile damage occurs sooner than compressive damage, but the damage rate remains constant, then compressive damage increases significantly and become the major form of distress under the dowels.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.215-231
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• 2011

As a brittle and heterogeneous material, concrete behaves differently under different stress conditions and its bulk strength is loading rate dependent. To a large extent, the varying behavioural properties of concrete can be explained by the mechanical failure processes at a mesoscopic level. The development of a computational mesoscale model in a general finite element environment, as presented in the preceding companion paper (Part 1), makes it possible to investigate into the underlying mechanisms governing the bulk-scale behaviour of concrete under a variety of loading conditions and to characterise the variation in quantitative terms. In this paper, we first present a series of parametric studies on the behaviour of concrete material under quasi-static compression and tension conditions. The loading-face friction effect, the possible influences of the non-homogeneity within the mortar and ITZ phases, and the effect of randomness of coarse aggregates are examined. The mesoscale model is then applied to analyze the dynamic behaviour of concrete under high rate loading conditions. The potential contribution of the mesoscopic heterogeneity towards the generally recognized rate enhancement of the material compressive strength is discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 2003

The motivation of this paper is to introduce the modern technology of large-scale cooling tower design. Thereby the innovative design concept for the world's largest cooling tower with a height of 200 m is briefly presented (Harte & Kr$\ddot{a}$tzig 2002, Bush et al. 2002). The new concept was considered not only for safety, but also for preservation of the durability of the structure, because cracking damage in large cooling towers in general cause extremely high cost of maintenance and repair. The paper demonstrates numerically the damage process in large cooling towers (Kr$\ddot{a}$tzig et al. 2001), and describes some basics of the numerical finite element approach for damage propagation modelling of shell structure. A prototype is analysed to trace the progressive damage process, whereby the changes in the dynamical behaviour of the structure, as mirrored in its natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes, are presented and discussed. Finally, the example shows that such damage processes develop progressively over the life-time of the shell structure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1369-1389
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• 2016

This paper investigates the flexural stiffness of simply supported steel-concrete composite I-beams under positive bending moment through combined experimental, numerical, and different standard methods. 14 composite beams are tested for experimental study and parameters including shear connection degree, transverse and longitudinal reinforcement ratios, loading way are also investigated. ABAQUS is employed to establish finite element (FE) models to simulate the flexural behavior of composite beams. The influences of a few key parameters, such as the shear connection degree, stud arrangement, stud diameter, beam length, loading way, on the flexural stiffness is also studied by parametric study. In addition, three widely used standard methods including GB, AISC, and British standards are used to estimate the flexural stiffness of the composite beams. The results are compared with the experimental and numerical results. The findings have provided comprehensive understanding of the flexural stiffness and the modelling of the composite beams. The results also indicate that GB 50017-2003 could provide better results in comparison to the other standards.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.355-367
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• 2020

This paper proposed a numerical investigation based on finite elements analysis (FEA) in order to study the punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) flat slabs using ABAQUS and SAP2000 programs. Firstly, the concrete and the steel reinforcements were modeled by hexahedral 3D solid and linear elements respectively, and the nonlinearity of the used materials was considered. In order to validate this model, experimental results considered in literature were compared with the proposed FE model. After validation, a parametric study was performed. The parameters include the slab thickness, the flexure reinforcement ratios and the axial membrane loads. Then, to reduce the time of FEA, a simplified modelling using 3D layered shell element and shear hinge concept was also induced. The effect of the footings settlement was studied using the proposed simplified nonlinear model as a case study. Results of numerical models showed that increase of the slab thickness by 185.7% enhanced the ultimate load by 439.1%, accompanied with a brittle punching failure. The punching failure occurred in one of the tested specimens when the tensile reinforcement ratio increased more than 0.65% and the punching capacity improved with increasing the horizontal flexural reinforcement; it decreased by 30% with the settlement of the outer footings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.123-126
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• 2011

The Finite element modelling is carried to predict the equivalent shear modulus of the Egg-Box core. Homogeneous material H130-foam core is employed to verify the prediction method of equivalent shear modulus. It shows a good agreement between the results of FE calculation and the values available in the reference. As a result of the present work, the equivalent shear modulus of Egg-Box core at various temperatures can be obtained.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.209-223
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• 2019

The assessment of wind-induced vibration for tall reinforced concrete (RC) buildings requires the accurate estimation of their dynamic properties, e.g., the fundamental vibration periods and damping ratios. In this study, RC frame-shear wall systems designed under gravity and wind loadings have been evaluated by utilising 3D FE modelling incorporating eigen-analysis to obtain the elastic periods of vibration. The conducted parameters consist of the number of storeys, the plan aspect ratio (AR) of buildings, the core dimensions, the space efficiency (SE), and the leasing depth (LD) between the internal central core and outer frames. This analysis provides a reliable basis for further investigating the effects of these parameters and establishing new formulas for predicting the fundamental vibration periods by using regression analyses on the obtained results. The proposed constrained numerically based formula for vibration periods of tall RC frame-shear wall office buildings in terms of the height of buildings reasonably agrees with some cited formulas for vibration period from design codes and standards. However, the same proposed formula has a high discrepancy with other cited formulas from the rest of design codes and standards. Also, the proposed formula agrees well with some cited experimentally based formulas.