• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.305-319
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• 2015

On mesoscopic level, concrete can be treated as a three-phase composite material consisting of mortar, aggregates and interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between mortar and aggregate. A lot of research has confirmed that ITZ plays a crucial role in the mechanical fracture process of concrete. The aim of the present study is to propose a numerical method on mesoscale to analyze the failure mechanism of reinforced concrete (RC) structures under mechanical loading, and then it will help precisely predict the damage or the cracking initiation and propagation of concrete. Concrete is meshed by means of the Rigid Body Spring Model (RBSM) concept, while the reinforcing steel bars are modeled as beam-type elements. Two kinds of RC members, i.e. subjected to uniaxial tension and beams under bending, the fracture process of concrete and the distribution of cracks, as well as the load-deflection relationships are investigated and compared with the available test results. It is found that the numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental observations, indicating that the model can successfully simulate the failure process of the RC members.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.485-501
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• 2015

Cooling by the flow of water through an embedded cooling pipe has become a common and effective artificial thermal control measure for massive concrete structures. However, an extreme thermal gradient induces significant thermal stress, resulting in thermal cracking. Using a mesoscopic finite-element (FE) mesh, three-phase composites of concrete namely aggregate, mortar matrix and interfacial transition zone (ITZ) are modeled. An equivalent probabilistic model is presented for failure study of concrete by assuming that the material properties conform to the Weibull distribution law. Meanwhile, the correlation coefficient introduced by the statistical method is incorporated into the Weibull distribution formula. Subsequently, a series of numerical analyses are used for investigating the influence of the correlation coefficient on tensile strength and the failure process of concrete based on the equivalent probabilistic model. Finally, as an engineering application, damage and failure behavior of concrete cracks induced by a water-cooling pipe are analyzed in-depth by the presented model. Results show that the random distribution of concrete mechanical parameters and the temperature gradient near water-cooling pipe have a significant influence on the pattern and failure progress of temperature-induced micro-cracking in concrete.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.58-64
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• 2013

Several joining methods involving resistance welding, laser welding, ultrasonic welding and mechanical joining are currently applied in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries. Cu and Al alloys are used for tab and bus bar materials, and laser welding characteristics for these alloys were investigated with similar and dissimilar material combinations in this study. The base materials used were Al 1050 and oxygen-free Cu 1020P alloys, and a disk laser was used with a continuous wave mode. In bead-on-plate welding of both alloys, the joint strength was higher than the strength of O tempered base material. In overlap welding, the effect of welding parameters on the tensile shear strength and bead shape was evaluated. Tensile shear strength of overlap welded joint was affected by interfacial bead width and weld defect formation. The tensile-shear specimen was fractured at the heat affected zone by selecting proper laser welding parameters.

• International Journal of Railway
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.85-89
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• 2014

The use of pozzolanic materials in concrete mixtures can enhance the mechanical properties and durability of concrete. By reactions with pozzolanic materials and calcium hydroxide in cement matrix, calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) increases and calcium hydroxide decreases in cement matrix of concrete. Consequently, the volume of solid materials increases. The pozzolanic particles also fill spaces between clinker grains, thereby resulting in a denser cement matrix and interfacial transition zone between cement matrix and aggregates; this lowers the permeability and increases the compressive strength of concrete. Moreover, the total contents of alkali in concrete are reduced by replacing cements with pozzolanic materials; this prevents cracks due to alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR). In this study, nanosilica is incorporated in cement pastes. The differences of microstructural compositions between the hydrated cements with and without nanosilica are examined using nanoindentation, XRDA and $^{29}Si$ MAS NMR. The results can be used for a basic research to enhance durability of concrete slab tracks and concrete railway sleepers.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.319-326
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• 2019

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a highly innovative method for joining dissimilar materials for industrial applications. In the present work, AM of STS630 and Ti-6Al-4V powder alloys on medium entropy alloys (MEAs) NiCrCo and NiCrCoMn is studied. The STS630 and Ti64 powders are deposited on the MEAs. Joint delamination and cracks are observed after the deposition of Ti64 on the MEAs, whereas the deposition of STS630 on the MEAs is successful, without any cracks and joint delamination. The microstructure around the fusion zone interface is characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Intermetallic compounds are formed at the interfacial regions of MEA-Ti64 samples. In addition, Vicker's hardness value increased dramatically at the joint interface between MEAs and Ti-6Al-4V compared to that between MEAs and STS630. This result is attributed to the brittle nature of the joint, which can lead to a decrease in the joint strength.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.69-80
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• 2019

Modeling approach for mesoscopic model of concrete depicting mass transportation and physicochemical reaction is important since there is growing demand for accuracy and computational efficiency of numerical simulation. Mesoscopic numerical simulation considering binder, aggregate and Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) generally produces huge number of DOFs, which is inapplicable for full structure. In this paper, a three-dimensional multiscale approach describing three-phase structure of concrete was discussed numerically. An effective approach generating random aggregate in polygon based on checking centroid distance was introduced. Moreover, ITZ elements were built by parallel expanding the surface of aggregates on inner side. By combining mesoscopic model including full-graded aggregate and macroscopic model, cases related to diffusivity and thickness of ITZ, volume fraction and grade of aggregate were studied regarding the consideration of multiscale compensation. Results clearly showed that larger analysis model in multiscale model expanded the diffusion space of chloride ion and decreased chloride content in front of rebar. Finally, this paper addressed some worth-noting conclusions about the chloride distribution and rebar corrosion regarding the configuration of, rebar diameter, concrete cover and exposure period.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.451-459
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• 2021

The mechanical behaviors and chloride resistance performance of fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) with hybrid polyethylene (PE) and steel fiber (in total 2% by volume) were investigated. Based on micro-mechanics and fracture mechanics, the reason why the tensile strain capacity of FRCC changed obviously was obtained. Besides, the effects of the total surface area of fiber in FRCC on compressive strength and chloride content were clarified. It is found that the improvement of the tensile strain capacity of FRCC with hybrid fiber is attributed to the growth of strain-hardening performance index (the ratio of complementary energy to crack tip toughness). As the total surface area of fiber related with the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between fiber and matrix increases, compressive strength decreases obviously. Since the total surface area of fiber is small, the chloride resistance performance of FRCC with hybrid PE and steel fiber is better than that of FRCC containing only PE fiber.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.361-373
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the engineering properties and mechanical behaviors of polymer-fibers treated sand. Para rubber (PR), natural fiber (NF), and geosynthetic fiber (GF) were used to reinforce poorly graded sand. A series of unconfined compressive and splitting tensile strength tests were performed to analyze the engineering behaviors and strength enhancement mechanism. The experiment results indicated that the PR-fibers mixture could firmly enhance the strength properties of sand. The stress-strain characteristics and failure patterns have been changed due to the increase of PR and fibers content. The presence of PR and fibers strengthened the sand and enhanced the stiffness and ductility behavior of the mixture. The stiffness of reinforced sand reaches an optimum state when both NF and GF are 0.5%, while the optimum PR contents are 20% and 22.5% for the mixture with NF and GF, respectively. An addition of PR and fiber into sand contributed to increasing interlocking zone and bonding of PR-sand interfacial.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.52-60
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• 2018

In the automobile industry, in order to increase the fuel efficiency and conform to the safety regulations, it is necessary to make the vehicles as light as possible. Therefore, it is crucial to manufacture dual phase steels, complex phases steels, MS steels, TRIP steels, and TWIP from high strength steels with a tensile strength of 700Mpa or more. In order to apply ultra-high tensile strength steel to the body, the welding process is essential. Resistance spot welding, which is advantageous in terms of its cost, is used in more than 80% of cases in body welding. It is generally accepted that ultra-high tensile strength steel has poor weldability, because its alloy element content is increased to improve its strength. In the case of the resistance spot welding of ultra-high tensile steel, it has been reported that the proper welding condition area is reduced and interfacial fracture and partial interfacial fracture occur in the weld zone. Therefore, research into the welding quality judgment that can predict the defect and quality in real time is being actively conducted. In this study, the dynamic resistance of the weld was monitored using the secondary circuit process variables detected during resistance spot welding, and the factors necessary for the determination of the welding quality were extracted from the dynamic resistance pattern. The correlations between the extracted factors and the weld quality were analyzed and a regression analysis was carried out using highly correlated pendulums. Based on this research, a regression model that can be applied to the field was proposed.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

The use of materials for modern lightweight auto-bodies is becoming more complex than hitherto assemblies. The high strength materials nowadays frequently used for more specific fields such as the front and rear sub frames, seat belts and seats are mounted to the assembled body structure using bolt joints. It is desirable to use nuts attached to the assembled sheets by projection welding to decrease the number of loose parts which improves the quality. In this study, nut projection welding was carried out between a nut of both boron steel and carbon steel and ultra-high strength hot-stamped steel sheets. Then, the joints were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscope. The mechanical properties of the joints were evaluated by microhardness measurements and pullout tests. An indigenously designed sample fixture set-up was used for the pull-out tests to induce a tensile load in the weld. The fractography analysis revealed the dominant interfacial fracture between boron steel nut weld which is related to the shrinkage cavity and small size fusion zone. A non-interfacial fracture was observed in carbon steel nut weld, the lower hardness of HAZ caused the initiation of failure and allowed the pull-out failure which have higher in tensile strengths and superior weldability. Hence, the fracture load and failure mode characteristics can be considered as an indication of the weldability of materials in nut projection welding.