• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.703-731
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• 2013

In order to verify the applicability of buckling restrained braces (BRB's) and fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets to the seismic strengthening of a low-rise RC building having the irregularities of a soft/weak story and torsion at the ground story, a series of earthquake simulation tests were conducted on a 1:5 scale RC building model before, and after, the strengthening, and these test results are compared and analyzed, to check the effectiveness of the strengthening. Based on the investigations, the following conclusions are made: (1) The BRB's revealed significant slips at the joint with the existing RC beam, up-lifts of columns from RC foundations and displacements due to the flexibility of foundations, and final failure due to the buckling and fracture of base joint angles. The lateral stiffness appeared to be, thereby, as low as one seventh of the intended value, which led to a large yield displacement and, therefore, the BRB's could not dissipate seismic input energy as desired within the range of anticipated displacements. (2) Although the strengthened model did not behave as desired, great enhancement in earthquake resistance was achieved through an approximate 50% increase in the lateral resistance of the wall, due to the axial constraint by the peripheral BRB frames. Finally, (3) whereas in the original model, base torsion was resisted by both the inner core walls and the peripheral frames, the strengthened model resisted most of the base torsion with the peripheral frames, after yielding of the inner core walls, and represented dual values of torsion stiffness, depending on the yielding of core walls.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.823-833
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• 2012

An experimental method was suggested for obtaining fracture toughness ($K_{Ic}$) and the tensile strength (${\sigma}_t$) of chopped strand glass fiber reinforced polymer concretes (PC). Semi-circular bend (SCB) specimens subjected to three-point bending were used for conducting the experiments on the PC material. While the edge cracked SCB specimen could be used to evaluate fracture toughness, the tensile strength was obtained from the un-cracked SCB specimen. The experiments showed the practical applicability of both cracked and un-cracked SCB specimens for using as suitable techniques for measuring $K_{Ic}$ and ${\sigma}_t$ in polymer concretes. In comparison with the conventional rectangular bend beam specimen, the suggested SCB samples need significantly less material due to its smaller size. Furthermore, the average values of ${\sigma}_t$ and $K_{Ic}$ of tested PC were approximately 3.5 to 4.5 times the corresponding values obtained for conventional concrete showing the improved strength properties of PC relative to the conventional concretes.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.403-418
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• 2020

In recent years, the use of Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) as one of the most common ways to increase the strength of concrete samples, has been introduced. Evaluation of the final strength of these specimens is performed with different experimental methods. In this research, due to the variety of models, the low accuracy and impact of different parameters, the use of new intelligence methods is considered. Therefore, using artificial intelligent-based models, a new solution for evaluating the bond strength of FRP is presented in this paper. 150 experimental samples were collected from previous studies, and then two new hybrid models of Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA)-Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC)-ANN were developed. These models were evaluated using different performance indices and then, a comparison was made between the developed models. The results showed that the ICA-ANN model's ability to predict the bond strength of FRP is higher than the ABC-ANN model. Finally, to demonstrate the capabilities of this new model, a comparison was made between the five experimental models and the results were presented for all data. This comparison showed that the new model could offer better performance. It is concluded that the proposed hybrid models can be utilized in the field of this study as a suitable substitute for empirical models.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 2017

The effects of plaster on the behavior of single-story single-bay masonry-infilled steel frames under in-plane base accelerations have been experimentally investigated by a shake-table. Tested structures were made in a 1/3 scale, with realistic material properties and construction methods. Steel frames with high and low flexural rigidity of beams and columns were considered. Each type of frame was tested with three variants of masonry: (i) non-plastered masonry; (ii) masonry infill with conventional plaster on both sides; and (iii) masonry infill with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) net reinforced plaster on both sides. Masonry bricks were made of lightweight cellular concrete. Each frame was firstly successively exposed to horizontal base accelerations of an artificial accelerogram, and afterwards, to horizontal base accelerations of a real earthquake. Characteristic displacements, strains and cracks in the masonry were established for each applied excitation. It has been concluded that plaster strengthens the infill and prevents damages in it, which results in more favorable behavior and increased bearing capacity of plastered masonry-infilled frames compared to non-plastered masonry-infilled frames. The load-bearing contribution of the adopted PVC net in the plaster was not noticeable for the tested specimens, probably due to relative small cross section area of fibers in the net. Behavior of masonry-infilled steel frames significantly depends on frame stiffness. Strong frames have smaller displacements than weak frames, which reduces deformations and damages of an infill.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.151-166
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• 2019

This paper introduces a new efficient analytical method, based on shear deformations obtained with 2D elasticity theory approach, to perform an explicit closed-form solution for calculation the interfacial shear and normal stresses in plated RC beam. The materials of plate, necessary for the reinforcement of the beam, are in general made with fiber reinforced polymers (Carbon or Glass) or steel. The experimental tests showed that at the ends of the plate, high shear and normal stresses are developed, consequently a debonding phenomenon at this position produce a sudden failure of the soffit plate. The interfacial stresses play a significant role in understanding this premature debonding failure of such repaired structures. In order to efficiently model the calculation of the interfacial stresses we have integrated the effect of shear deformations using the equilibrium equations of the elasticity. The approach of this method includes stress-strain and strain-displacement relationships for the adhesive and adherends. The use of the stresses continuity conditions at interfaces between the adhesive and adherents, results pair of second-order and fourth-order coupled ordinary differential equations. The analytical solution for this coupled differential equations give new explicit closed-form solution including shear deformations effects. This new solution is indented for applications of all plated beam. Finally, numerical results obtained with this method are in agreement of the existing solutions and the experimental results.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.69-84
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• 2023

This paper proposes a novel frame element on Winkler-Pasternak foundation for analysis of a non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) member resting on foundation. These structural members represent flexural-shear critical members, which are commonly found in existing buildings designed and constructed with the old seismic design standards (inadequately detailed transverse reinforcement). As a result, these structures always experience shear failure or flexure-shear failure under seismic loading. To predict the characteristics of these non-ductile structures, efficient numerical models are required. Therefore, the novel frame element on Winkler-Pasternak foundation with inclusion of the shear-flexure interaction effect is developed in this study. The proposed model is derived within the framework of a displacement-based formulation and fiber section model under Timoshenko beam theory. Uniaxial nonlinear material constitutive models are employed to represent the characteristics of non-ductile RC frame and the underlying foundation. The shear-flexure interaction effect is expressed within the shear constitutive model based on the UCSD shear-strength model as demonstrated in this paper. From several features of the presented model, the proposed model is simple but able to capture several salient characteristics of the non-ductile RC frame resting on foundation, such as failure behavior, soil-structure interaction, and shear-flexure interaction. This confirms through two numerical simulations.