• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.391-404
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• 2023

In this study, the modeling of the transverse connection of fully precast steel-UHPC (Ultra-High-Performance Concrete) lightweight composite bridges were conducted. The transverse connection between precast components plays a critical role in the overall performance and safety of the bridge. To achieve an accurate and reliable simulation of the interface behavior, the cohesive model in ABAQUS was employed, considering both bending-tension and compression-shear behaviors. The parameters of the cohesive model are obtained through interface bending and oblique shear tests on UHPC samples with different surface roughness. By validating the numerical simulation against actual joint tests, the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed model in capturing the interface behavior of the fully precast steel-UHPC lightweight composite bridge were demonstrated.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.153-158
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• 2009

Using non-invasive surface measurement method, the corrosion state of steel embedded inside concrete can be measured by placing four electrodes on the surface of concrete. Modeling of such measurements can provide valuable information as how interfacial impedance between corroded steel and surrounding concrete results in measured impedance on the concrete surface. In this paper, the modeling of surface measurement technique is used for the determination of the sensitivity of the measurements with respect to steel bar size embedded inside concrete and cover thickness. Modeling results indicated that steel bar sizes varied from D10 to D35 could be identified. Concrete cover thickness changes from 0.02 m to 0.1 m was also distinguished using the modeling scheme. The results confirm this modeling technique is capable of determining steel bar sizes and cover thickness, as well as simulating corrosion responses.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2017

In this study, the mechanical behavior and interface properties of boron nitride nanotube-poly(methyl methacrylate) nanocomposites are predicted using the molecular dynamics simulations and the double inclusion model. After modeling nanocomposite unit cell embedding single-walled nanotube and polymer, the stiffness matrix is determined from uniaxial tension and shear tests. Through the orientation average of the transversely isotropic stiffness matrix, the effective isotropic elastic constants of randomly dispersed microstructure of nanocomposites. Compared with the double inclusion model solution with a perfect interfacial condition, it is found that the interface between boron nitride nanotube and polymer matrix is weak in nature. To characterize the interphase surrounding the nanotube, the two step domain decomposition method incorporating a linear spring model at the interface is adopted. As a result, various combinations of the interfacial compliance and the interphase elastic constants are successfully determined from an inverse analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.172-183
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• 2009

For the effects of the nonlinear temperature profiles and reduced-gravity conditions we conduct a two-dimensional numerical modeling and simulations on the physical vapor transport processes of $Hg_2Cl_2-Xe$ system in the horizontal orientation position. Our results reveal that: (1) A decrease in aspect ratio from 5 to 2 leads to an increasingly nonuniform interfacial distribution and enhances the growth rate by one-order magnitude for normal gravity and linear wall temperature conditions. (2) Increasing the molecular weight of component B, Xenon results in a reduction in the effect of solutal convection. (3) The effect of aspect ratio affects the interfacial growth rates significantly under normal gravity condition rather than under reduced gravitational environments. (4) The transition from the convection-dominated regime to the diffusion-dominated regime ranges arises near at 0.1g$_0$ for operation conditions under consideration in this study.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.649-659
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• 2002

For a variety of elastic-plastic stress fields of plane strain specimens, many research works verified the validity of J-T approach. To generalize the validity of J-T method, however, further investigations are needed for more practical 3D structures than the idealized geometries as plane strain specimens. In this work, selecting two main types of structures such as plate and straight pipe, we perform 3D finite element(FE) modeling, and accompanying elastic, elastic-plastic FE analyses. We then study the validity of J-T application to 3D structures, and present some useful informations for the design or assessment of pipe welds by comparing the stress fields from the detailed 3D FE analyses to those predicted with J-T two parameters.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.125-142
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• 2017

Extensive research work has been performed on shear strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams retrofitted with externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) in form of strips. However, most of this research work is experimental and very scarce studies are available on numerical modelling of such beams due to truly challenging nature of modelling concrete shear cracking and interfacial interaction between components of such beams. This paper presents an appropriate model for RC beam and to simulate its cracking without numerical computational difficulties, convergence and solution degradation problems. Modelling of steel and CFRP and their interfacial interaction with concrete are discussed. Finally, commercially available non-linear finite element software ABAQUS is used to validate the developed finite element model with key tests performed on full scale T-beams with and without CFRP retrofitting, taken from previous extensive research work. The modelling parameters for bonding behavior of CFRP with special anchors are also proposed. The results presented in this research work illustrate that appropriate modelling of bond behavior of all the three types of interfaces is important in order to correctly simulate the shear behavior of RC beams strengthened with CFRP.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.469-481
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• 2017

This paper aims to analytically investigate the effect of shear stress at the concrete-steel interface on the mechanical behavior of the circular steel tube-confined concrete (STCC) stub columns with active and passive confinement subjected to axial compression. Nonlinear 3D finite element models divided into the four groups, i.e. circumferential-grooved, talc-coated, lubricated, and normal groups, with active and passive confinement were developed. An innovative method was used to simulate the actively-confined specimens, and then, the results of the finite element models were compared with those of the experiments previously conducted by the authors. It was revealed that both the predicted peak compressive strength and stress-strain curves have good agreement with the corresponding values measured for the confined columns. Then, the mechanical properties of the active and passive specimens such as the concrete-steel interaction, longitudinal and hoop stresses of the steel tube, confining pressure applied to the concrete core, and compressive stress-strain curves were analyzed. Furthermore, a parametric study was performed to explore the effects of the concrete compressive strength, steel tube diameter-to-wall thickness ratio, and prestressing level on the compressive behavior of the STCC columns. The results indicate that reducing or removing the interfacial shear stress in the active and passive specimens leads to an increase in the hoop stress and confining pressure, while the longitudinal stress along the steel tube height experiences a decrease. Moreover, prestressing via the presented method is capable of improving the compressive behavior of STCC columns.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 2017

Nanocomposites reinforced with carbon nanotube fibers exhibit greater stiffness, strength and damping properties in comparison to conventional composites reinforced with carbon/glass fibers. Consequently, most of the nanocomposite research is focused in understanding the dynamic characteristics, which are highly useful in applications such as vibration control and energy harvesting. It has been observed that those nanocomposites show better stiffness when the geometry of nanotubes is straight as compared to curvilinear although nanotube agglomeration may exist. In this work the damping behavior of the nanocomposite is characterized in terms of loss factor under the presence of nanotube agglomerations. A micro stick-slip damping model is used to compute the damping properties of the nanocomposites with multiwall carbon nanotubes. The present formulation considers the slippage between the interface of the matrix and the nanotubes as well as the slippage between the interlayers in the nanotubes. The nanotube agglomerations model is also presented. Results are computed based on the loss factor expressed in terms of strain amplitude and nanotube agglomerations. The results show that although-among the various factors such as the material properties (moduli of nanotubes and polymer matrix) and the geometric properties (number of nanotubes, volume fraction of nanotubes, and critical interfacial shear stresses), the agglomeration of nanotubes significantly influences the damping properties of the nanocomposites. Therefore the full potential of nanocomposites to be used for damping applications needs to be analyzed under the influence of nanotube agglomerations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.319-332
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• 2021

The wood-concrete composite is an interesting solution in the field of Civil Engineering to create high performance bending elements for bridges, as well as in the building construction for the design of wood concrete floor systems. The authors of this paper has been working for the past few years on the development of the bonding process as applied to wood-concrete composite structures. Contrary to conventional joining connectors, this assembling technique does ensure an almost perfect connection between wood and concrete. This paper presents a careful theoretical investigation into interfacial stresses at the level of the two interfaces in composite wooden beam- reinforced concrete slab strengthened by external bonding of prestressed composite plate under a uniformly distributed load. The model is based on equilibrium and deformations compatibility requirements in all parts of the strengthened composite beam, i.e., the wooden beam, RC slab, the CFRP plate and the adhesive layer. The theoretical predictions are compared with other existing solutions. This research is helpful for the understanding on mechanical behaviour of the interface and design of the CFRP- wooden-concrete hybrid structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.641-649
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• 2017

The discovery of the Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) by Farran in 1956 initiated a new era in the study of the behaviour of concrete. Acknowledged as the weak link, this ITZ was studied extensively, numerically as well as experimentally. While the complementary experimental tests illustrated the visual behaviour of this specimen under increasing monotonic compression loading, a perfect bond within the ITZ has also been studied by using finite element analysis for comparison purposes. Finite element analysis was used to evaluate the degree of correctness and precision of the proposed ITZ model. This paper discusses the use of the cutoff bar in finite element modeling, representing the ITZ of a single aggregate (inclusion) in a mortar matrix. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of the ITZ model on the single inclusion specimen's strength. The model was tested for some inclusions that varied in dimension and shape. The effect of inclusion shape on the stress concentrations of the specimens was examined. The aim of this research work is to propose a simple yet accurate ITZ model to be used in the commercially available finite element software packages.