• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.165-183
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• 2022

Most transportation departments have recognized and developed procedures to address the ever-increasing weights of trucks traveling on bridges in a service today. Transportation agencies also recognize the issues with overheight vehicles' collisions with bridges, but few stakeholders have definitive countermeasures. Bridges are becoming more vulnerable to collisions from overheight vehicles. The exact response under lateral impact force is difficult to predict. In this paper, nonlinear impact analysis shows that the degree of deformation recorded through the modeling of the unprotected vehicle-girder model provides realistic results compared to the observation from the US-61 bridge overheight vehicle impact. The predicted displacements are 0.229 m, 0.161 m, and 0.271 m in the girder bottom flange (lateral), bottom flange (vertical), and web (lateral) deformations, respectively, due to a truck traveling at 112.65 km/h. With such large deformations, the integrity of an impacted bridge becomes jeopardized, which in most cases requires closing the bridge for safety reasons and a need for rehabilitation. We proposed different sacrificial cushion systems to dissipate the energy of an overheight vehicle impact. The goal was to design and tune a suitable energy absorbing system that can protect the bridge and possibly reduce stresses in the overheight vehicle, minimizing the consequences of an impact. A material representing a Sorbothane high impact rubber was chosen and modeled in ANSYS. Out of three sacrificial schemes, a sandwich system is the best in protecting both the bridge and the overheight vehicle. The mitigation system reduced the lateral deflection in the bottom flange by 89%. The system decreased the stresses in the bridge girder and the top portion of the vehicle by 82% and 25%, respectively. The results reveal the capability of the proposed sacrificial system as an effective mitigation system.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.43-57
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• 2023

The hypervelocity impact simulations of space objects and structures are performed using LS-DYNA. Space objects with spherical, conical, and hollow cylindrical shapes are modeled using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). The direct and indirect impact zones of a space structure are modeled using the SPH and finite element methods, respectively. The Johnson-Cook material model and Mie-Grüneisen Equation of State are used to represent the nonlinear behavior of metallic materials in hypervelocity impact. In the hypervelocity impact simulations, various impact conditions are considered, such as the shape of the space object, the thickness of the space structure, the impact angle, and the impact velocity. The shapes of debris clouds are quantitatively classified based on the geometric parameters. Conical space objects provide the worst debris clouds for all impact conditions.

• Architectural research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

Structural ageing influences the structural performance in a negative way by reducing the seismic resilience of the structure which makes it a major concern around the world. Retrofitting is considered to be a pragmatic and feasible solution to address this issue. Numerous retrofitting techniques are devised by researchers over the years. The viability of using steel bracings as retrofitting component is evaluated on a G+30 storied building model designed according to ACI318-14 and ASCE 7-16. Four different types of steel bracing arrangements (V, Inverted V/ Chevron, Cross/ X, Diagonal) are assessed in the model developed in commercial nu-merical analysis software while considering both material and geometric nonlinearities. Reducing displacement and cost in the structures indicates that the design is safe and economical. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to find the best bracing system that causes minimum displacement, which indicates maximum lateral stiffness. To evaluate the seismic vulnerability of each system, incremental dynamic analysis was conducted to develop fragility curves, followed by the formation of collapse margin ratio (CMR) as stipulated in FEMA P695 and finally, a cost estimation was made for each system. The outcomes revealed that the effects of ge-ometric nonlinearity tend to evoke hazardous consequences if not considered in the structural design. Probabilistic seismic and economic probes indicated the superior performance of V braced frame system and its competency to be a germane technique for retrofitting.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2022

In cold-formed steel (CFS) structures, such as trusses, transmission towers and portal frames, the use of back-to-back built-up CFS unequal angle sections are becoming increasingly popular. In such an arrangement, intermediate welds or screw fasteners are required at discrete points along the length, preventing the angle sections from buckling independently. Limited research is available in the literature on axial strength of back-to-back built-up CFS unequal angle sections. The issue is addressed herein. This paper presents an experimental investigation reported by the authors on back-to-back built-up CFS unequal angle sections with intermediate stiffeners under axial compression. The load-axial shortening behaviour along with the deformed shapes at failure are reported. A nonlinear finite element (FE) model was then developed, which includes material non-linearity, geometric imperfections and modelling of intermediate fasteners. The FE model was validated against the experimental test results, which showed good agreement, both in terms of failure loads and deformed shapes at failure. The validated finite element model was then used for the purpose of a parametric study comprising 96 models to investigate the effect of longer to shorter leg ratios, stiffener provided in the longer leg, thicknesses and lengths on axial strength of back-to-back built-up CFS unequal angle sections. Four different thicknesses and seven different lengths (stub to slender columns) with three overall widths to the overall depth (B/D) ratios were investigated in the parametric study. Axial strengths obtained from the experimental tests and FE analyses were used to assess the performance of the current design guidelines as per the Direct Strength Method (DSM); obtained comparisons show that the current DSM is conservative by only 7% and 5% on average, while predicting the axial strengths of back-to-back built-up CFS unequal angle sections with and without the stiffener, respectively.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.4A
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• pp.465-474
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• 2008

Generally design of frame structures composed of beam-column member is accomplished by stability evaluation of each member considering the effective buckling length. This study selects a member of the smallest non-dimension slenderness ratio using the buckling eigenvalue calculated by the elastic buckling eigen-value analysis and axial force of the each member, and decides the initial deflection quantity reflected geometric and material nonlinearities from a suggested equation on the base of standard strength curve of Korea Bridge Design Code. Second-order elastic analysis applying the initial deflection is executed and the stability of each member is evaluated and decides ultimate strength. Through examples of eight-stories and four-stories plane frame structures, the evaluation of the stability is compared with the existing method and ultimate strength of the suggested method is compared with ultimate strength by the nonlinear inelastic analysis. Through these procedures, the increasing of effective buckling length by elastic buckling eigenvalue analysis is prevented from a new design method that considers initial imperfections. And the validity of this method is proved.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.4A
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• pp.611-620
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• 2006

The composite two plate-girder bridges are generally defined as a non-redundant load path structure because the bridge can collapse if one of the two girders is seriously damaged by a fatigue crack. In this paper, a numerical study on the evaluation of the after-fracture redundancy of the composite two-girder bridges was accomplished. The evaluation has been performed on the simple and three-span continuous bridges with I-section cross beams which serve as transverse bracing, and with or without the bottom lateral bracing system. The load carrying capacities of the intact and damaged bridges with or without lateral bracing were evaluated from material and geometric nonlinear analysis, respectively and the redundancy was evaluated for each case. It was acknowledged from the analytical results that both simple and continuous intact two-girder bridges have sufficient redundancy even without lateral bracing, but it takes an important role to improve the redundancy of damaged bridges.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.3A
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• pp.447-455
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• 2006

A general purpose of 4-node co-rotational resultant shell element is developed for the solution of nonlinear problems of reinforced concrete, steel and fiber-reinforced composite structures. The formulation of the geometrical stiffness presented here is defined on the mid-surface by using the second order kinematic relations and is efficient for analyzing thick plates and shells by incorporating bending moment and transverse shear resultant forces. The present element is free of shear locking behavior by using the ANS (Assumed Natural Strain) method such that the element performs very well as thin shells. Inelastic behaviour of concrete material is based on the plasticity with strain hardening and elasto-plastic fracture model. The plasticity of steel is based on Von-Mises Yield and Ivanov Yield criteria with strain hardening. The transverse shear stiffness of laminate composite is defined by an equilibrium approach instead of using the shear correction factor. The proposed formulation is computationally efficient and versitile for most civil engineering application and the test results showed good agreement.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.4A
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• pp.727-734
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• 2006

Although a limited number of experimental investigations and finite element analyses revealed that a curved web panel in practical design has a considerable reserve strength after the elastic buckling as a straight girder web panel, the current Guide Specifications for Horizontally Curved Steel Girder Highway Bridges (AASHTO, 2003) do not consider the postbuckling strength in the ultimate shear strength due to lack of a comprehensive study. In this study, the ultimate shear strength behavior of horizontally curved steel web panels was investigated through nonlinear finite element analysis and experimental test. It was found that curved web panels used in practical designs are able to develop the postbuckling strength that is equivalent to that of straight girder web panels having the same dimensional and material properties.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.2
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• pp.151-164
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• 2023

The latest earthquake's costly repairs and economic disruption were brought on by excessive residual drift. Self-centering systems are one of the most efficient ways in the current generation of seismic resistance system to get rid of and reduce residual drift. The mechanics and behavior of the self-centering system in response to seismic forces were impacted by a number of important factors. The amount of post-tensioning (PT) force, which is often employed for the standing posture after an earthquake, is the first important component. The energy dissipater element is another one that has a significant impact on how the self-centering system behaves. Using the damper as a replaceable and affordable tool and fuse in self-centering frames has been recommended to boost energy absorption and dampening of structural systems during earthquakes. In this research, the self-centering steel moment frame connections are equipped with cushion flexural dampers (CFDs) as an energy dissipator system to increase energy absorption, post-yielding stiffness, and ease replacement after an earthquake. Also, it has been carefully considered how to reduce permanent deformations in the self-centering steel moment frames exposed to seismic loads while maintaining adequate stiffness, strength, and ductility. After confirming the FE model's findings with an earlier experimental PT connection, the behavior of the self-centering connection using CFD has been surveyed in this study. The FE modeling takes into account strands preloading as well as geometric and material nonlinearities. In addition to contact and sliding phenomena, gap opening and closing actions are included in the models. According to the findings, self-centering moment-resisting frames (SF-MRF) combined with CFD enhance post-yielding stiffness and energy absorption with the least amount of permeant deformation in a certain CFD thickness. The obtained findings demonstrate that the effective energy dissipation ratio (β), is increased to 0.25% while also lowering the residual drift to less than 0.5%. Also, this enhancement in the self-centering connection with CFD's seismic performance was attained with a respectable moment capacity to beam plastic moment capacity ratio.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.673-682
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• 2023

This study investigates the delay in setting characteristics of mortar influenced by variations in super retarding agent(SRA) content, curing temperature, and strength levels. Utilizing a settimeter, the research introduces an objective approach to accurately determine the setting time of concrete with SRA under diverse environmental and material mixing conditions at construction sites. The findings indicate that the settimeter, in conjunction with a nonlinear regression model, can effectively estimate the setting time of super retarding mortar. Optimal management of the initial setting is recommended at approximately 45ST and the final setting around 80ST. This methodology enables more effective quality control in the setting times of super retarding concrete.