• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.581-602
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• 2005

In this paper the accumulation of local damage during the cyclic loading in reinforced high-strength concrete columns is experimentally investigated. Two identical column specimens with annular cross-section and spiral reinforcement were designed and two tests, up to failure, under the action of a constant vertical concentrated force and a time-dependent concentrated horizontal force, were carried out at the LNEC shaking tables facility. Sine type signals, controlled in amplitude, frequency and time duration were used for these experiments. The concept of local damage based on local stiffness degradation is considered in detail and illustrated by experimental results. The specimens were designed and reinforced in such a way that the accumulation of damage was predicted by dominating deformations (cracking and crushing of the concrete) while the increasing of the loading values was a dominating factor of damage. It was observed that the local damage of HSC columns has exposed their anisotropic local behaviour. The damage accumulation was slightly different from the expected in accordance with the continuum damage concept, and a partial random character was observed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.655-663
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• 2011

Asbestos-cement is a material with valuable strength and durability. It was extensively used for water distribution pipes across the world from the 1950s until the early 1980s. The network of pipes in this case study dates from the 1970s, and after more than 30 to 40 years of service, some pipes have been found to break under common service pressure with no apparent reason. A set of mechanical tests was performed including bending, compression, pressure and crushing tests. Microscopy analysis was also used to understand the material behaviour. Tests showed that there was a clear loss of strength in the pipes and that the safety factor was under the established threshold in most of the specimens. Microscopy results showed morphological damage to the pipes. The loss of strength was attributed to a leaching effect. Leaching damages the cement matrix and reduces the frictional interfacial shear stress.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.321-337
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• 2007

The investigation on the behaviour of cold-formed stainless steel non-slender circular hollow section columns is presented in this paper. The normal strength austenitic stainless steel type 304 and the high strength duplex materials (austenitic-ferritic approximately equivalent to EN 1.4462 and UNS S31803) were considered in this study. The finite element method has been used to carry out the investigation. The columns were compressed between fixed ends at different column lengths. The geometric and material nonlinearities have been included in the finite element analysis. The column strengths and failure modes were predicted. An extensive parametric study was carried out to study the effects of normal and high strength materials on cold-formed stainless steel non-slender circular hollow section columns. The column strengths predicted from the finite element analysis were compared with the design strengths calculated using the American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European Code for cold-formed stainless steel structures. The numerical results showed that the design rules specified in the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications are generally unconservative for the cold-formed stainless steel non-slender circular hollow section columns of normal and high strength materials, except for the short columns and some of the high strength stainless steel columns. Therefore, different values of the imperfection factor and limiting slenderness in the European Code design rules were proposed for cold-formed stainless steel non-slender circular hollow section columns.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.609-620
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• 2002

It is well known that during tensile testing, a part of the mechanical work done on the specimen is transformed into heat energy. However, the ultimate temperature rise and the rate of temperature rise is related to the nature of the material, conditions of the test and also to the deformation behaviour of the material during loading. The recent advances in infrared sensors and image/data processing techniques enable observation and quantitative analysis of the heat energy dissipated during such tensile tests. In this study, infrared imaging technique has been used to characterise the tensile deformation in AISI type 316 nuclear grade stainless steel. Apart from identifying the different stages during tensile deformation, the technique provided an accurate full-field temperature image by which the point and time of strain localization could be identified. The technique makes it possible to visualise the region of deformation and failure and also predict the exact region of fracture in advance. The effect of thermal gradients on plastic flow in the case of interrupted straining revealed that the interruption of strain and restraining at a lower strain rate not only delays the growth of the temperature gradient, but the temperature rise per unit strain decreases. The technique is a potential NDE tool that can be used for on-line detection of thermal gradients developed during extrusion and metal forming process which can be used for ensuring uniform distribution of plastic strain.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.423-435
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• 2018

There are presently two general ways of accounting for hazardous metal creep in structural fire analyses: either we incorporate creep strains implicitly in hardening model ('implicit-creep' plasticity) or we account for creep explicitly ('explicit-creep' plasticity). The first approach is simpler and usually used for fast engineering applications, e.g., following proposals of EN 1993-1-2. Prioritizing this approach without consideration of its limitations, however, may lead to significant error. So far the possible levels of such error have been demonstrated by few researchers for individual structural elements (i.e., beams and columns). This paper, however, presents analyses also for selected beam-girder assemblies. Special numerical models are developed correspondingly and they are validated and verified. Their important novelty is that they do not only account for creep in individual members but also for creep in between-member connections. The paper finally shows that outside the declared applicability limits of the implicit-creep plasticity models, the failure times predicted by the applied alternative explicit-creep models can be as much as 40% shorter. Within the limits, however, the discrepancies might be negligible for majority of cases with the exception of about 20% discrepancies found in one analysed example.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.185-198
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• 2005

In the design of reinforced concrete beams, it is a standard practice to use the yield stress of the steel reinforcement for the evaluation of the flexural strength. However, because of strain hardening, the tensile strength of the steel reinforcement is often substantially higher than the yield stress. Thus, it is a common belief that the actual flexural strength should be higher than the theoretical flexural strength evaluated with strain hardening ignored. The possible increase in flexural strength due to strain hardening is a two-edge sword. In some cases, it may be treated as strength reserve contributing to extra safety. In other cases, it could lead to greater shear demand causing brittle shear failure of the beam or unexpected greater capacity of the beam causing violation of the strong column-weak beam design philosophy. Strain hardening may also have certain effect on the flexural ductility. In this paper, the effects of strain hardening on the post-peak flexural behaviour, particularly the flexural strength and ductility, of reinforced normal- and high-strength concrete beams are studied. The results reveal that the effects of strain hardening could be quite significant when the tension steel ratio is relatively small.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.293-308
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• 2015

Interaction between the external thin-walled steel tube and the internal concrete core significantly increases the bending resistance of composite beams and beam-columns in comparison with the steel or concrete members. There is presented a developed method for design of hollow and solid concrete-filled steel tubular beams based on test data, which gives better agreement with test results than EC4 because its limitation to take an increase in strength of concrete caused by confinement contradicts the recommendation of 6.7.2(4) that full composite action up to failure may be assumed between steel and concrete components of the member. Good agreement between the results of carried out experimental, numerical and theoretical investigations allows recommending the proposed method to use in design practice.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.432-436
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• 1995

The hydrogen decrepitation behaviour of the $Sm_{2}Fe_{17} alloy containing 4at%Nb was examined by means of DTA and SEM metallography, and the magnetic properties of the alloy were studied by means of VSM or TMA. It has been found that a simple hydrogenation and degassing treatment for the alloy caused a poor hydrogen decrepitation. The cycle treatment consisting of repeated hydrogenation and degassing, however, caused a severe hydrogen decrepitation with a combination of intergranular and transgranular failure. The disproportionation temperature of the hydrogenated $Sm_{2}Fe_{17}-type alloy was enhanced significantly by small addition of Nb. It has also been found that the Curie temperature of $Sm_{2}Fe_{17} matrix phase in the Nb-containing alloy has been enhanced by the hydrogenation, and this was attributed to the increase in interatomic distance between the neighbouring iron atoms caused by the interstitial occupancy of the hydrogen atom into the $Sm_{2}Fe_{17}-type lattice. The magnetisation of the $Sm_{2}Fe_{17} alloy containing Nbwas found to be lower than that of the Nb-free alloy, and this was explained by the dilution effect due to the presence of the paramagnetic $Sm_{2}Fe_{17} phase.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.527-538
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• 2018

Buckling of longitudinal bars is a brittle failure mechanism, often recorded in reinforced concrete (RC) structures after an earthquake. Studies in the literature highlights that it often occurs when steel is in the post elastic range, by inducing a modification of the engineered stress-strain law of steel in compression. A proper evaluation of this effect is of fundamental importance for correctly evaluating capacity and ductility of structures. Significant errors can be obtained in terms of ultimate bending moment and curvature ductility of an RC section if these effects are not accounted, as well as incorrect evaluations are achieved by non-linear static analyses. This paper presents a numerical investigation aiming to evaluate the engineered stress-strain law of reinforcing steel in compression, including second order effects. Non-linear FE analyses are performed under the assumption of local buckling. A role of key parameters is evaluated, making difference between steel with strain hardening or with perfectly plastic behaviour. Comparisons with experimental data available in the literature confirm the accuracy of the achieved results and make it possible to formulate recommendations for design purposes. Finally, comparisons are made with analytical formulations available in the literature and based on obtained results, a modification of the stress-strain law model of Dhakal and Maekawa (2002) is proposed for fitting the numerical predictions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.195-207
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• 2019

This paper presents an overview of wind turbine research techniques including the recent application of hybrid testing. Wind turbines are complex structures as they are large, slender, and dynamic with many different operational states, which limits applicable research techniques. Traditionally, numerical simulation is widely used to study turbines while experimental tests are rarer and often face cost and equipment restrictions. Hybrid testing is a relatively new simulation method that combines numerical and experimental techniques to accurately capture unknown or complex behaviour by modelling portions of the structure experimentally while numerically simulating the remainder. This can allow for increased detail, scope, and feasibility in wind turbine tests. Hybrid testing appears to be an effective tool for future wind turbine research, and the few studies that have applied it have shown promising results. This paper presents a literature review of experimental and numerical wind turbine testing, hybrid testing in structural engineering, and hybrid testing of wind turbines. Finally, several applications of hybrid testing for future wind turbine studies are proposed including multi-hazard loading, damped turbines, and turbine failure.