• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.265-279
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• 2022

The roughness of substrate concrete interfaces before new concrete placement has a major effect on the interface bond behaviour. However, there are challenges associated with the consistency of the final roughness interface prepared using conventional roughness preparation methods which influences the interface bond performance. In this study, five quantitative interface roughness textures with different roughness tooth angles, depths, and tooth distribution were created to ensure consistency of interface roughness and to evaluate the bond behaviour at a precast and new concrete interface using the splitting tensile test, slant shear test, and double-shear test. In addition, smooth interface specimens and two separate the pitting interface roughness were also utilized. Obtained results indicate that the quantitative roughness has a very limited effect on the interface tensile bond strength if no extra micro-roughness or bonding agent is added at the interface. The roughness method however causes enhanced shear bond strength at the interface. Increased tooth depth improved both the tensile and shear bond strength of the interfaces, while the tooth distribution mainly influenced the shear bond strength. Major failure modes of the test specimens include interface failure, splitting cracks, and sliding failure, and are influenced by the tooth depth and tooth distribution. Furthermore, the interface properties were obtained and presented while a comparison between the different testing methods, in terms of bond strength, was performed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.383-407
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• 2012

A numerical approach to simulate the behaviour of timber shear walls under both static and dynamic loading is proposed. Because the behaviour of timber shear walls hinges on the behaviour of the nail connections, the force-displacement behaviour of sheathing-to-framing nail connections are first determined and then used to define the hysteretic properties of finite elements representing these connections. The model nails are subsequently implemented into model walls. The model walls are verified using experimental results for both monotonic and cyclic loading. It is demonstrated that the complex hysteretic behaviour of timber shear walls can be reasonably represented using model shear walls in which nonlinear material failure is concentrated only at the sheathing-to-framing nail connections.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 2006

Beams with web openings are an attractive system for multi-storey buildings where it is always desirable to have long spans. The openings in the web of steel beams enable building services to be integrated within the constructional depth of a floor, thus reducing the total floor depth. At the same time, the increased beam depth can give high bending moment capacity, thus allowing long spans. However, almost all of the research studies on web openings have been concentrated on beam behaviour at ambient temperature. In this paper, a preliminary numerical analysis using ABAQUS is conducted to develop a general understanding of the effect of the presence of web opening on the behaviour of steel beams at elevated temperatures. It is concluded that the presence of web openings will have substantial influence on the failure temperatures of axially unrestrained beams and the opening size at the critical position in the beam is the most important factor. For axially restrained beams, the effect of web openings on the beam's large deflection behaviour and catenary force is smaller and it is the maximum opening size that will affect the beam's response at very high temperatures. However, it is possible that catenary action develops in beams with web openings at temperatures much lower than the failure temperatures of the same beam without axial restraint that are often used as the basis of current design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1323-1343
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• 2016

This paper presents the results of an extensive numerical analysis program devoted to the investigation of the mechanical behaviour of bolted ball-cylinder joints. The analysis program is developed by means of finite element (FE) models implemented in the non-linear code ABAQUS. The FE models have been accurately calibrated on the basis of available experimental results. It is indicated that the FE models could be used effectively to describe the mechanical performance of bolted ball-cylinder joints, including failure modes, stress distributions and load-displacement curves. Therefore, the proposed FE models could be regarded as an efficient and accurate tool to investigate the mechanical behavior of bolted ball-cylinder joints. In addition, to develop a further investigation, parametric studies were performed, varying the dimensions of hollow cylinders, rectangular tubes, convex washers and ribbed stiffener. It is found that the dimensions of hollow cylinders, rectangular tubes and ribbed stiffener influenced the mechanical behaviour of bolted ball-cylinder joints significantly. On the contrary, the effects of the dimensions of convex washers were negligible.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.221-235
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• 2005

In this paper, the shear resistance behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) dapped end beams is investigated by 24 tests until failure load. The main parameters considered are the dapped end height, the type and effective range to provided the stirrups and the bent form of the longitudinal reinforcement. The failure behaviour of dapped end beams is presented and some conclusions are given. Inclined stirrups and longitudinal bent reinforcement have more influence on the shear capacity than vertical stirrups. Additionally, the shear mechanism of dapped end beams is analysed. Relatively simple semi-empirical equations for shear strength have been derived based on the results of 22 dapped end beams. The predicted results are in close agreement with the experimental ones. Finally, some design suggestions for the ultimate shear strength of dapped end beams are presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.495-506
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• 2005

A neural network based model is developed for the structural analysis of masonry infilled steel frames, which can account for the non-linearities in the material properties and structural behaviour. Using the data available from the analytical methods, an ANN model with input parameters consisting of dimension of frame, size of infill, properties of steel and infill was developed. It was found to be acceptable in predicting the failure modes of infilled frames and corresponding failure load subject to limitations in the training data and the predicted results are tested using the available experimental results. The study shows the importance of validating the ANN models in simulating structural behaviour especially when the data are limited. The ANN model was also compared with the available experimental results and was found to perform well.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.247-263
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• 2004

Comparison of behaviour of shear connections by means of shear-connection strips (perfobond and comb-shaped strips) and headed studs under static and repeated loading, possible failure modes of concrete dowels and ways of the quantitative differentiation of some failure modes are described in the paper. The article presents a review of knowledge resulting from the analysis of shear-connection effects based on tests of perfobond and comb-shaped strips carried out in the laboratories of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Technical University of Kosice (TU of Kosice) in Slovakia and their comparison with results obtained by other authors.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.189-197
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• 2018

A discrete element approach is used to investigate the effects of confining stress on the shear behaviour of joint's bridge area. A punch-through shear test is used to model the concrete cracks under different shear and confining stresses. Assuming a plane strain condition, special rectangular models are prepared with dimension of $75mm{\times}100mm$. Within the specimen model and near its four corners, four equally spaced vertical notches of the same depths are provided so that the central portion of the model remains intact. The lengths of notches are 35 mm. and these models are sequentially subjected to different confining pressures ranging from 2.5 to 15 MPa. The axial load is applied to the punch through the central portion of the model. This testing and models show that the failure process is mostly governed by the confining pressure. The shear strengths of the specimens are related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the discontinuities. The shear behaviour of discontinuities is related to the number of induced shear bands which are increased by increasing the confining pressure while the cracks propagation lengths are decreased. The failure stress and the crack initiation stress both are increased due to confining pressure increase. As a whole, the mechanisms of brittle shear failure changes to that of the progressive failure by increasing the confining pressure.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.61-77
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• 2016

Seismic performance of structures depends on the force flow mechanism inside the structure. Discontinuity regions, like beam-column joints, are often affected during earthquake event due to the complex and discontinuous load paths. The evaluation of shear strength and identification of failure mode of the joint region are helpful to (i) define the strength hierarchy of the beam-column sub-assemblage, (ii) quantify the influence of different parameters on the behaviour of beam-column joint and, (iii) develop suitable and adequate strengthening scheme for the joints, if required, to obtain the desired strength hierarchy. In view of this, it is very important to estimate the joint shear strength and identify the failure modes of the joint region as it is the most critical part in any beam-column sub-assemblage. One of the most effective models is softened strut and tie model which was developed by incorporating force equilibrium, strain compatibility and constitutive laws of cracked reinforced concrete. In this study, softened strut and tie model, which incorporates force equilibrium equations, compatibility conditions and material constitutive relation of the cracked concrete, are used to simulate the shear strength behaviour and to identify failure mechanisms of the beam-column joints. The observations of the present study will be helpful to arrive at the design strategy of the joints to ensure the desired failure mechanism and strength hierarchy to achieve sustainability of structural systems under seismic loading.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.349-356
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• 2020

Rock brittleness, which is closely related to the failure modes, plays a significant role in the design and construction of many rock engineering applications. However, the brittle-ductile failure transition is mostly ignored by the current statistical damage constitutive model, which may misestimate the failure strength and failure behaviours of intact rock. In this study, a new statistical damage model considering rock brittleness is proposed for brittle to ductile behaviour of rocks using brittleness index (BI). Firstly, the statistical constitutive damage model is reviewed and a new statistical damage model considering failure mode transition is developed by introducing rock brittleness parameter-BI. Then the corresponding damage distribution parameters, shape parameter m and scale parameter F₀, are expressed in terms of BI. The shape parameter m has a positive relationship with BI while the scale parameter F₀ depends on both BI and ε_e. Finally, the robustness and correctness of the proposed damage model is validated using a set of experimental data with various confining pressure.