• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.60-71
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• 2014

Cable-stayed bridge, which is one of the representative long-spanned bridge, needs prompt maintenances when a stay cable is damaged because it may cause structural failure of the entire bridge. Many researches are being conducted to develop abnormal behavior detection algorithms for the purpose of shortening the reaction time after the occurrence of structural damage. To improve the accuracy of the damage detection algorithm, ample observation data from various kinds of damage responses is needed. However, it is difficult to measure an abnormal response by damaging an existing bridge, numerical simulation can be an effective alternative. In most previous studies, which simulate the damage responses of a cable-stayed bridge, the damages has been considered as a load variation without regard to its stiffness variation. The analyses of using these simplification could not calculate exact responses of damaged structure, though it may reserve a sufficient accuracy for the purpose of bridge design. This study suggests Gradual Bilinear Method (GBM) which simulate the damage responses of cable-stayed bridge considering the stiffness and mass variation, and develops an analysis program. The developed program is verified from the responses of a simple model. The responses of a existing cable-stayed bridge model are analyzed with respect to the fracture delay time and damage ratio. The results of this study can be used to develop and verify the highly accurate abnormal behavior detection algorithm for safety management of architecture/large structures.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.15 no.2 s.55
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• pp.119-128
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• 2005

Although the evaluation of the mechanical properties and behavior of jointed rock masses is very important for the design of tunnel and underground openings, it has always been considered the most difficult problem. One of the difficulties in describing the rock mass behavior is the selection of the appropriate constitutive model. This limitation may be overcome with the progress in discrete element software such as PFC, which does not need the user to prescribe a constitutive model for rock mass. In this paper, a 30\;m\;\times\;30\;m\;\times\;30\;m m jointed rock mass of road tunnel site was analyzed. h discrete fracture network was developed from the joint geometry obtained from core logging and surface survey. Using the discontinuities geometry from the DFN model, PFC simulations were carried out, starting with the intact rock and systematically adding the joints and the stress-strain response was recorded for each case. With the stress-strain response curves, the mechanical properties of jointed rock masses were determined. As expected, the presence of joints had a pronounced effect on mechanical properties of the rock mass. More importantly, getting the mechanical response of the PFC model doesn't require a user specified constitutive model.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.17-30
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• 2009

Underground construction such as tunneling can induce damages on the surrounding rock mass, due to the stress concentration of in situ stresses and excessive energy input during construction sequence, such as blasting. The developed damage on the rock mass can have substantial influence on the mechanical and hydraulic behaviors of the rock masses around a tunnel. In this study, investigation on the generation of damage around an opening in a jointed rock model under biaxial compression condition was conducted. The joint dip angles employed are 30, 45, and 60 degrees to the horizontal, and the synthetic rock mass was made using early strength cement and water. From the biaxial compression test, initiation and propagation of tensile cracks at norm to the joint angle were found. The propagated tensile cracks eventually developed rock blocks, which were dislodged from the rock mass. Furthermore, the propagation process of the tensile cracks varies with joint angle: lower joint angle model shows more stable and progressive tensile crack propagation. The development of the tensile crack can be explained under the hypothesis that the rock segment encompassed by the joint set is subjected to the developing moment, which can be induced by the geometric irregularity around the opening in the rock model. The experiment results were simulated by using discrete element method PFC 2D. From the simulation, as has been observed from the test, a rock mass with lower joint angle produces wider damage region and rock block by tensile cracks. In addition, a rock model with lower joint angle shows progressive tensile cracks generation around the opening from the investigation of the interacted tensile cracks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.5
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• pp.607-619
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• 2023

This study, it was tried to evaluate the asphalt behavior under tensile loading conditions through indirect Brazilian and direct tensile tests, experimentally and numerically. This paper is important from two points of view. The first one, a new test method was developed for the determination of the direct tensile strength of asphalt and its difference was obtained from the indirect test method. The second one, the effects of particle size and loading rate have been cleared on the tensile fracture mechanism. The experimental direct tensile strength of the asphalt specimens was measured in the laboratory using the compression-to-tensile load converting (CTLC) device. Some special types of asphalt specimens were prepared in the form of slabs with a central hole. The CTLC device is then equipped with this specimen and placed in the universal testing machine. Then, the direct tensile strength of asphalt specimens with different sizes of ingredients can be measured at different loading rates in the laboratory. The particle flow code (PFC) was used to numerically simulate the direct tensile strength test of asphalt samples. This numerical modeling technique is based on the versatile discrete element method (DEM). Three different particle diameters were chosen and were tested under three different loading rates. The results show that when the loading rate was 0.016 mm/sec, two tensile cracks were initiated from the left and right of the hole and propagated perpendicular to the loading axis till coalescence to the model boundary. When the loading rate was 0.032 mm/sec, two tensile cracks were initiated from the left and right of the hole and propagated perpendicular to the loading axis. The branching occurs in these cracks. This shows that the crack propagation is under quasi-static conditions. When the loading rate was 0.064 mm/sec, mixed tensile and shear cracks were initiated below the loading walls and branching occurred in these cracks. This shows that the crack propagation is under dynamic conditions. The loading rate increases and the tensile strength increases. Because all defects mobilized under a low loading rate and this led to decreasing the tensile strength. The experimental results for the direct tensile strengths of asphalt specimens of different ingredients were in good accordance with their corresponding results approximated by DEM software.