• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.277-293
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• 2024

Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth (SMSE) walls are types of soil retaining structures that increase soil stability under static and dynamic loads. The damage caused by an earthquake can be determined by evaluating the probabilistic seismic response of SMSE walls. This study aimed to assess the seismic performance of SMSE walls and provide fragility curves for evaluating failure levels. The generated fragility curves can help to improve the seismic performance of these walls through assessing and controlling variables like backfill surface settlement, lateral deformation of facing, and permanent relocation of the wall. A parametric study was performed based on a non-linear elastoplastic constitutive model known as the hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness, HSsmall. The analyses were conducted using PLAXIS 2D, a Finite Element Method (FEM) program, under plane-strain conditions to study the effect of the number of geogrid layers and the axial stiffness of geogrids on the performance of SMSE walls. In this study, three areas of damage (minor, moderate, and severe) were observed and, in all cases, the wall has not completely entered the stage of destruction. For the base model (Model A), at the highest ground acceleration coefficient (1 g), in the moderate damage state, the fragility probability was 76%. These values were 62%, and 54%, respectively, by increasing the number of geogrids (Model B) and increasing the geogrid stiffness (Model C). Meanwhile, the fragility values were 99%, 98%, and 97%, respectively in the case of minor damage. Notably, the probability of complete destruction was zero percent in all models.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.449-461
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• 2024

The vertical reinforcement connection between the precast reinforced concrete shear wall and the cast-in-place reinforced concrete member is vital to the performance of shear walls under seismic loading. This paper investigated the structural behavior of three precast reinforced concrete shear walls, with different levels of connection (i.e., full connection, partial connection, and no connection), subjected to quasi-static lateral loading. The specimens were subjected to a constant vertical load, resulting in an axial load ratio of 0.4. The crack pattern, failure modes, load-displacement relationships, ductility, and energy dissipation characteristics are presented and discussed. The resultant seismic performances of the three tested specimens were compared in terms of skeleton curve, load-bearing capacity, stiffness, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and viscous damping. The seismic performance of the partially connected shear wall was found to be comparable to that of the fully connected shear wall, exhibiting 1.7% and 3.5% higher yield and peak load capacities, 9.2% higher deformability, and similar variation in stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and viscous damping at increasing load levels. In comparison, the seismic performance of the non-connected shear wall was inferior, exhibiting 12.8% and 16.4% lower loads at the yield and peak load stages, 3.6% lower deformability, and significantly lower energy dissipation capacity at lower displacement and lower viscous damping.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.57-76
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• 2024

The management of waste tire rubber has become a pressing environmental and health issue, requiring sustainable solutions to mitigate fire hazards and conserve natural resources. The performance of waste materials in structural components needs to be investigated to fabricate sustainable structures. This study aims to investigate the behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforced rubberized concrete (GRRC) compressive components under compressive loads. Nine GRRC circular compressive components, varying in longitudinal and transverse reinforcement ratios, were constructed. A 3D nonlinear finite element model (FEM) was proposed by means of the ABAQUS software to simulate the behavior of the GRRC compressive components. A comprehensive parametric analysis was conducted to assess the impact of different parameters on the performance of GRRC compressive components. The experimental findings demonstrated that reducing the spacing of GFRP stirrups enhanced the ductility of GRRC compressive components, while the addition of rubberized concrete further improved their ductility. Failure in GRRC compressive components occurred in a compressive columnar manner, characterized by vertical cracks and increased deformability. The finite element simulations closely matched the experimental results. The proposed empirical model, based on 600 test samples and considering the lateral confinement effect of FRP stirrups, demonstrated higher accuracy (R² = 0.835, MSE = 171.296, MAE = 203.549, RMSE = 195.438) than previous models.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.47-69
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• 2024

Pounding of structures may result in considerable damages, to the extent of total failure during severe lateral loading events (e.g., earthquakes and wind). With the new generation of tall buildings in densely occupied locations, wind-induced pounding becomes of higher risk due to such structures' large deflections. This paper aims to develop mathematical formulations to determine the maximum pounding force when two adjacent structures come into contact. The study will first investigate wind-induced pounding forces of two equal-height structures with similar dynamic properties. The wind loads will be extracted from the Large Eddy Simulation models and applied to a Finite Element Method model to determine deflections and pounding forces. A Genetic Algorithm is lastly utilized to optimize fitting parameters used to correlate the maximum pounding force to the governing structural parameters. The results of the wind-induced pounding show that structures with a higher natural frequency will produce lower maximum pounding forces than those of the same structure with a lower natural frequency. In addition, taller structures are more susceptible to stronger pounding forces at closer separation distances. It was also found that the complexity of the mathematical formula from optimization depends on achieving a more accurate mapping for the trained database.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.480-490
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• 2016

As wind turbines become larger and lighter, they are likely to respond sensitively by dynamic loads applied on them. Since the responses at resonances are particularly interested, it is required to be able to predict natural frequencies of wind turbines reliably at early design stage. To achieve this, the foundation-soil analysis is needed to be carried out and a finite element approach is adopted in general. However, the finite element approach would not be appropriate in early design stage because it demands heavy efforts in pile-soil modelling and computing facilities. On the contrary, theoretical approaches adopting linear approximations for soils are relatively simple and easy to handle. Therefore, they would be a useful tool in predicting a pile-soil interaction, particularly in early design stage. In this study an analysis for a pile inserted in soil is performed. The pile and soil are modelled as a beam and continuum medium, respectively, within an elastic range. In this analysis, influence factors at the pile head for lateral loads are predicted by means of this continuum approach for various length-diameter ratios of the pile. The influence factors predicted are validated with those reported in literature, proposed from a finite element analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.549-562
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• 2017

The US railroad network carries 40% of the nation's total freight. Railroad bridges are the most critical part of the network infrastructure and, therefore, must be properly maintained for the operational safety. Railroad managers inspect bridges by measuring displacements under train crossing events to assess their structural condition and prioritize bridge management and safety decisions accordingly. The displacement of a railroad bridge under train crossings is one parameter of interest to railroad bridge owners, as it quantifies a bridge's ability to perform safely and addresses its serviceability. Railroad bridges with poor track conditions will have amplified displacements under heavy loads due to impacts between the wheels and rail joints. Under these circumstances, vehicle-track-bridge interactions could cause excessive bridge displacements, and hence, unsafe train crossings. If displacements during train crossings could be measured objectively, owners could repair or replace less safe bridges first. However, data on bridge displacements is difficult to collect in the field as a fixed point of reference is required for measurement. Accelerations can be used to estimate dynamic displacements, but to date, the pseudo-static displacements cannot be measured using reference-free sensors. This study proposes a method to estimate total transverse displacements of a railroad bridge under live train loads using acceleration and tilt data at the top of the exterior pile bent of a standard timber trestle, where train derailment due to excessive lateral movement is the main concern. Researchers used real bridge transverse displacement data under train traffic from varying bridge serviceability levels. This study explores the design of a new bridge deck-pier experimental model that simulates the vibrations of railroad bridges under traffic using a shake table for the input of train crossing data collected from the field into a laboratory model of a standard timber railroad pile bent. Reference-free sensors measured both the inclination angle and accelerations of the pile cap. Various readings are used to estimate the total displacements of the bridge using data filtering. The estimated displacements are then compared to the true responses of the model measured with displacement sensors. An average peak error of 10% and a root mean square error average of 5% resulted, concluding that this method can cost-effectively measure the total displacement of railroad bridges without a fixed reference.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Information Technology
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.51-59
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• 2018

The Multi-Mission Unmanned Surface Vehicle(MMUSV), which is manufactured using glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic(FRP) material, is designed to perform a surveillance and reconnaissance on the sea. Various navigation sensors, such as RADAR, RIDAR, camera, are mounted on a mast to perform an autonomous navigation. And a dummy gun is mounted on the deck of the MMUSV for a target tracking and disposal. It is necessary to analyze a strength for structures mounted on the deck because the MMUSV performs missions under a severe sea state. In this paper, a strength analysis of the mast structure is performed on static loads and lateral external loads to verify an adequacy of the designed mast through a series of simulations. Based on the results of captive model tests, a strength analysis for a heave motion of the mast structure is conducted using a simulation tool. Also a simulation and fatigue test for a mounting part between the MMUSV and the dummy gun are performed using a specimen. The simulation and test results are represented that a structure of the mast and mounting part of the dummy gun are appropriately designed.he impact amount are performed through simulation and experiments.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.116-122
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• 2021

This study quantitatively evaluated the performance improvement of a circular reinforced concrete pier under dynamic load with strengthening using a steel plate. Various three-dimensional elements were applied using the finite element program ABAQUS. The analytical parameters included the ratios of the steel cover length to the pier's total height and the ratios of the steel cover thickness to the pier diameter for inelastic-nonlinear analysis. The lower part of the pier had fixed boundary conditions, and lateral repetitive loads were applied at the top of the pier. The pier was investigated to evaluate the dynamic performance based on the load-displacement curve, stress-strain curve, ductility, energy absorption capability, and energy ratio. The yield and ultimate loads of piers with steel covers increased by 3.76 times, and the energy absorption capability increased by 4 times due to the confinement effects caused by the steel plate. A plastic hinge part of the column with a steel plate improved the ductility, and the thicker the steel plate was, the greater the energy absorption capacity. This study shows that the reinforced pier should be improved in terms of the seismic performance.

• Bulletin of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.81-93
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• 1989

The present study attempts to develop the theoretical model for the damage estimation of offshore tubular members which are subjected to the accidental impact loads due to collision, falling objects and so on. For the reasons of the simplicity of the problem being considered, however, this paper postulates that the accidental load can be approximated to be the quasi-static one, in which dynamic effects are negelcted. Based upon the theoretical and experimental results which are obtained from the present study as well as the existing literature, the load-displacement relations taking the interaction effect between the local denting and the global bending deformation into account are presented in the explicit form when the concentrated lateral load acts on the tubular member whose end condition is supposed to be rotation ally free and axially restrained, in which membrane forces develop. Thus, the practical estimation of damage deformation for the local denting and the global bending damage of tubular members against the accidental loads is possible and also the collision absorption capability of the member can be calculated by performing the integration of the area below the given load-displacement curves, provided that all the energy is dissipated to the deforming the member itself.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 2012

Beam-column joints are generally recognized as the critical regions in the moment resisting reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to both lateral and vertical loads. As a result of severe lateral load such as seismic loading, the joint region is subjected to horizontal and vertical shear forces whose magnitudes are many times higher than in column and adjacent beam. Consequently, much larger bond and shear stresses are required to sustain these magnified forces. The critical deterioration of potential shear strength in the joint area should not occur until ductile capacity of adjacent beams reach the design demand. In this study, a method was provided to predict the deformability of reinforced concrete beam-column joints failing in shear after the plastic hinges developed at both ends of the adjacent beams. In order to verify the deformability estimated by the proposed method, an experimental study consisting of three joint specimens with varying tensile reinforcement ratios was carried out. The result between the observed and predicted behavior of the joints showed reasonably good agreement.