• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.295-307
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• 2023

This paper presents an optimization of the reinforced concrete ribbed slab in terms of minimum CO₂ emissions and an economic justification of the final optimal design. The design variables are six geometry variables including the slab thickness, the ribs spacing, the rib width at the lower and toper end, the depth of the rib and the bar diameter of the reinforcement, and the seventh variable defines the concrete strength. The objective function is considered to be the minimum amount of carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) emission and at the same time, the optimal design is economical. Seven significant design constraints of American Concrete Institute's Standard were considered. A robust metaheuristic optimization method called improved dolphin echolocation and ant colony optimization (IDEACO) has been used to obtain the best possible answer. At optimal design, the three most important sources of CO₂ emissions include concrete, steel reinforcement, and formwork that the contribution of them are 63.72, 32.17, and 4.11 percent respectively. Formwork, concrete, steel reinforcement, and CO₂ are the four most important sources of cost with contributions of 67.56, 19.49, 12.44, and 0.51 percent respectively. Results obtained by IDEACO show that cost and CO₂ emissions are closely related, so the presented method is a practical solution that was able to reduce the cost and CO₂ emissions simultaneously.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.831-850
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• 2013

The high strength materials have been more widely used in reinforced concrete structures because of the benefits of the mechanical and durable properties. Generally, it is known that the ductility decreases with an increase in the strength of the materials. In the design of a reinforced concrete beam, both the flexural strength and ductility need to be considered. Especially, when a reinforced concrete structure may be subjected an earthquake, the members need to have a sufficient ductility. So, each design code has specified to provide a consistent level of minimum flexural ductility in seismic design of concrete structures. Therefore, it is necessary to assess accurately the ductility of the beam sections with high strength materials in order to ensure the ductility requirement in design. In this study, the effects of concrete strength, yield strength of reinforcement steel and amount of reinforcement including compression reinforcement on the complete moment-curvature behavior and the curvature ductility factor of doubly reinforcement concrete beam sections have been evaluated and a newly prediction formula for curvature ductility factor of doubly RC beam sections has been developed considering the stress of compression reinforcement at ultimate state. Based on the numerical analysis results, the proposed predictions for the curvature ductility factor are verified by comparisons with other prediction formulas. The proposed formula offers fairly accurate and consistent predictions for curvature ductility factor of doubly reinforced concrete beam sections.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.115-130
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• 2004

The flexural ductility of solid rectangular reinforced concrete beams has been studied quite extensively. However, many reinforced concrete beams are neither solid nor rectangular; examples include T-, ${\Gamma}$-, ${\Pi}$- and box-shaped beams. There have been few studies on the flexural ductility of non-rectangular reinforced concrete beams and as a result little is known about the possible effect of sectional shape on flexural ductility. Herein, the effect of sectional shape on the post-peak flexural behaviour of reinforced normal and high-strength concrete beams has been studied using a newly developed analysis method that employs the actual stress-strain curves of the constitutive materials and takes into account the stress-path dependence of the stress-strain curve of the steel reinforcement. It was revealed that the sectional shape could have significant effect on the flexural ductility of a concrete beam and that the flexural ductility of a T-, ${\Gamma}$-, ${\Pi}$- or box-shaped beam is generally lower than that of a solid rectangular beam with the same overall dimensions and the same amount of reinforcement provided. Based on the numerical results obtained, a simple method of ensuring the provision of a certain minimum level of flexural ductility to non-rectangular concrete beams has been developed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.73-88
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• 2015

Following previous studies, the current paper describes the results of an experimental program concerning the repair of reinforced concrete columns by thixotropic pseudo plastic mortar, preformed to analyze and quantify the influence of initial construction damage to the behavior of the repaired element. Five columns (section scale 1:2) were designed according to the minimum requirements of reinforcement of ductility orientated codes' design with variables the percentages of initial construction damages. All were tested in axial compression with repeated cycles up to failure. For comparison reasons, another one of the same characteristics, yet healthy, was constructed and tested as a reference specimen. A numerical study (Finite Element Analysis) was conducted for further investigation of the behavior of the thixotropic mortar as repair material. The results indicate that: a) surpassing a specific amount of damage, columns even suitably repaired present lower strain capacity, b) finite element analysis present the same way of deboning of the repaired material taking into consideration the buckling of the reinforcement bars.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.705-714
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• 2012

Precast reinforced concrete bridge columns with hollow rectangular section were tested under cyclic lateral load with constant axial force to investigate its seismic performance. After all the precast column segments were erected, longitudinal reinforcement was inserted in the sheath prefabricated in the segments, which were then mortar grouted. Main variables of the test series were column aspect ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, amount of lateral reinforcement, and location of segment joints. The aspect ratios were 4.5 and 2.5, and the longitudinal steel ratios were 1.15% and 3.07%. The amount of lateral reinforcement were 95%, 55%, 50%, and 27% of the minimum amount for full ductility design requirements in the Korean Bridge Design Code. The locations of segment joints in plastic hinge region were 0.5 and 1.0 times of the section depth from the bottom column end. The test results of cracking and failure mode, axial-flexural strength, lateral load-displacement relationship, and displacement ductility are presented. Then, safety of the ductility demand based seismic design in the Korean Bridge Design Code is discussed. The column specimens showed larger ductility than expected, because buckling of longitudinal reinforcing bar was prevented due to confinement developed not only by transverse steel but also by sheath and infilling mortar.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.12 no.1 s.44
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• pp.17-28
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• 2000

The current specifications for bridge decks requires the same amount of upper and lower reinforcement mats. There have been many empirical activities that the partial elimination of upper reinforcing bars was not caused the structural integrity of a deck. A simplified method is derived based on thin plate theory for three and four-girder-span bridge decks. A simplified method for bridge deck considering the effect of girder deflection is proposed based on a closed-form solution that shows good agreement with the results of finite element models. In this research, a new design approach for deck slabs is proposed based on the simplified method. The negative bending moments in a deck can be evaluated with the simplified method based on the position of a wheel load, the aspect ratio and relative stiffness and the span length. This new approach can lead to a significant reduction of the quantity of the top reinforcing steel bars in a deck. Reducing the quantify of the top reinforcement not only reduces the construction costs for bridge decks, but also reduces the corrosion of reinforcement to a minimum.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.71-82
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• 2017

It is necessary to conduct a detailed geotechnical investigation on the tunnel section in order to secure the tunnel design and construction stability. It is necessary for the importance of geotechnical investigation that needed for the analysis of distribution and size of fractured fault zone and distribution of groundwater in tunnel. However, if it is difficult to perform the ground survey in the tunnel design due to ground condition of the tunnel section and the limited conditions such as civil complaint, the tunnel design is performed using the result of the minimum survey. Therefore, if weathered fault zone exists in the face the reinforcement method is determined in the design process to secure the stability of the tunnel. The most important factor in reinforcing the tunnel excavation surface is to secure the stability of the tunnel by performing quick reinforcement. In particular, if groundwater leaching occurs on the excavation surface, more rapid reinforcement is needed. In this study, fractured fault zone exists on the tunnel excavation surface and displacement occurs due to weathered fracture zone. When the amount of groundwater leaching rapidly increased under the condition of displacement, the behavior of tunnel displacement was analyzed based on tunnel collapse. In the study, reinforcement measures were taken because the first stage displacement did not converge continuously. After the first reinforcement, the displacement was not converged due to increased groundwater leaching and the second stage displacement occurred and chimney collapse occurred.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.617-626
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• 2011

Seven post-tensioned lightweight concrete (LWC) beam specimens were tested under a symmetrical two-point top loading system. The parameters investigated were the amounts of mild longitudinal reinforcement and effective prestressing. The design compressive strength and dry density of the LWC tested were 30 MPa and 1,770 $kg/m^3$, respectively. Similar to post-tensioned normal weight concrete (NWC) beams, the crack propagation and stress increase of the unbonded tendons were significantly affected by the amounts of mild longitudinal reinforcement and effective prestressing. With the increase in the amounts of mild longitudinal reinforcement and effective prestressing, the serviceability and flexural capacity of the beams were enhanced whereas the stress increase in the unbonded tendons decreased. To control the crack width in post-tensioned LWC beams, a minimum amount of mild longitudinal reinforcement specified in ACI 318-08 provision is required. The flexural behavior of post-tensioned LWC beams and stress increase of the unbonded tendons could be rationally predicted by the proposed non-linear two-dimensional analysis. On the other hand, ACI 318-08 flexure provision was too conservative about the post-tensioned LWC beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.1
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• pp.93-102
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• 2022

The optimum design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls subjected to seismic loads is an extremely important challenge in structural and geotechnical engineering, especially in seismic zones. This study proposes an adaptive sperm swarm optimization algorithm (ASSO) for economic design of retaining structure under static and seismic loading. The proposed ASSO algorithm utilizes a time-varying velocity damping factor to provide a fine balance between the explorative and exploitative behavior of the original method. In addition, the new method considers a reasonable velocity limitation to avoid the divergence of the sperm movement. The proposed algorithm is benchmarked with a set of test functions and the results are compared with the standard sperm swarm optimization (SSO) and some other robust metaheuristic from the literature. For seismic optimization of retaining structures, Mononobe-Okabe method is employed for dynamic loading conditions and total construction cost of the structure is considered as the single objective function. The optimization constraints include both geotechnical and structural restrictions and the design variables are the geometrical dimensions of the wall and the amount of steel reinforcement. Finally, optimization of two benchmark retaining structures under static and seismic loads using the ASSO algorithm is presented. According to the numerical results, the ASSO may provide better optimal solutions, and the designs obtained by ASSO have a lower cost by up to 20% compared with some other methods from the literature.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.773-783
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• 2007

A simple unbonded-type shear strengthening technique for reinforced concrete beams using wire rope units is developed. Six two-span continuous T-beams externally strengthened with wire rope units and an unstrengthened control beam were tested. The main variables investigated were the amount and prestressing force of wire rope units. All specimens had the same geometrical dimension and arrangement of internal reinforcement. Influence of the distribution of vertical stresses in beam web owing to the prestressing force of wire rope units on the diagonal shear cracking load and the ultimate shear capacity of beams tested is presented. Based on the current study, it can be concluded that the amount and initial prestress of wire rope should be limited to be above 2.5 times the minimum shear reinforcement ratio specified in ACI 318-05 and below 0.6 times its own tensile strength, respectively, to ensure the enhancement of shear capacity and ductile failure mode of the strengthened beams. A numerical analysis based on the upper-bound theorem is developed to assess the shear capacity of continuous T-beams strengthened with wire rope units. From the comparisons of measured and predicted shear capacities, a better agreement is achieved in the proposed numerical analysis than in empirical equations recommended by ACI 318-05.