• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.627-643
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• 2022

Water-rock interactions have a significant influence on the mechanical behavior of rocks. In this study, uniaxial compression and tension tests on different water-treated sandstone samples were conducted. Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring and micro-pore structure detection were carried out. Water-rock interactions and their effects on rock mechanical behavior were discussed. The results indicate that water content significantly weakens rock mechanical strength. The sensitivity of the mechanical parameters to water treatment, from high to low, are Poisson ratio (𝜇), uniaxial tensile strength (UTS), uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (E), and peak strain (𝜀). After water treatment, AE activities and the shear crack percentage are reduced, the angles between macro fractures and loading direction are minimized, the dynamic phenomenon during loading is weakened, and the failure mode changes from a mixed tensile-shear type to a tensile one. Due to the softening, lubrication, and water wedge effects in water-rock interactions, water content increases pore size, promotes crack development, and weakens micro-pore structures. Further damage of rocks in fractured and caved zones due to the water-rock interactions leads to an extra load on the adjoining coal and rock masses, which will increase the risk of dynamic disasters.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.4
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• pp.375-389
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• 2023

In many fiber concrete beams with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), debonding occurs between the carbon sheets and the concrete due to the low strength of the bonding resin. A total of 42 fiber concrete beams with a cross-section of 10×10 cm with a span length of 50 cm are fabricated and retrofitted with CFRP and subjected to a 4-point bending test. Graphene Oxide (GO) at 1, 2, and 3 wt% of the resin is used to improve the mechanical properties of the bonding resins, and the effect of length, width, and the number of layers of CFRP and resin material are investigated. The crack pattern, failure mode, and stress-strain curve are analyzed and compared in each case. The results showed that adding GO to polyamine resin could improve the bonding between the resin and the fiber concrete beam. Furthermore, the optimum amount of nanomaterials is equal to 2% by the weight of the resin. Using 2% nanomaterials showed that by increasing the length, width, and number of layers, the bearing and stiffness of fiber concrete beams increased significantly.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.137-158
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• 2009

This paper investigates the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) circular columns under combined loading including torsion. The main variables considered in this study are the ratio of torsional moment to bending moment (T/M) and the level of detailing for moderate and high seismicity (low and high transverse reinforcement/spiral ratio). This paper presents the results of tests on seven columns subjected to cyclic bending and shear, cyclic torsion, and various levels of combined cyclic bending, shear, and torsion. Columns under combined loading were tested at T/M ratios of 0.2 and 0.4. These columns were reinforced with two spiral reinforcement ratios of 0.73% and 1.32%. Similarly, the columns subjected to pure torsion were tested with two spiral reinforcement ratios of 0.73% and 1.32%. This study examined the significance of proper detailing, and spiral reinforcement ratio and its effect on the torsional resistance under combined loading. The test results demonstrate that both the flexural and torsional capacities are decreased due to the effect of combined loading. Furthermore, they show a significant change in the failure mode and deformation characteristics depending on the spiral reinforcement ratio. The increase in spiral reinforcement ratio also led to significant improvement in strength and ductility.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.23-40
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• 2014

In this article, using finite element method of analysis (FEM), behavior of the endplate moment connection subjected to axial force and bending moment is investigated. In the FEM model, all the nonlinear characteristics such as material, geometry, as well as contact have been included. First, in order to verify the numerical model of the connection, an analysis of the endplate moment connection conducted without the application of the axial force. Results obtained from FEM indicating a close and good correlation with the experimental results. Then to investigate the influence of the axial forces, the connections subjected to axial forces as well as the bending moment are analyzed. To observe the overall effect of these actions, the momentaxial force interaction diagrams are drawn. It is observed that the presence of axial force even in a small value can change the behavior of the connection significantly. It is also shown that the axial forces can alter the failure mode of the connection; and therefore it could result in a different than the predicted moment capacity of the connection.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1305-1322
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• 2016

This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical model analyses on partially encased composite columns under concentric loads. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of replacing the conventional longitudinal and transverse steel bars by welded wire mesh on the structural behavior of these members under concentric loads. To achieve these goals experimental tests on four specimens of partially encased composite columns submitted to axial loading were performed and the results were promising in terms of replacing the traditional reinforcement by steel meshes. In addition, a numerical FE model was developed using the software DIANA$^{(R)}$ with FX+. The experimental results were used to validate the numerical model. Satisfactory agreement between experimental and numerical results was observed in both capacity and deformability of the composite columns. Despite of the simplifying assumptions of perfect bond between steel and concrete, the numerical model adequately represented the columns behavior. A finite element parametric study was performed and parameters including thickness of the steel profile and the concrete and steel strengths were evaluated. The parametrical study results found no significant changes in the partially encased columns behavior due to variations of the steel profile thickness or yield strength. However, significant changes in the post peak behavior were observed when using high strength concrete and these results suggest a change in the failure mode.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.195-207
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• 2018

First-order reliability method (FORM) is enhanced based on the search direction using relaxed conjugate reliability (RCR) approach for the embedded nanocomposite beam under buckling failure mode. The RCR method is formulated using discrete conjugate map with a limited scalar factor. A dynamical relaxed factor is proposed to control instability of proposed RCR, which is adjusted using sufficient descent condition. The characteristic of equivalent materials for nanocomposite beam are obtained by micro-electro-mechanical model. The probabilistic model of nanocomposite beam is simulated using the sinusoidal shear deformation theory (SSDT). The beam is subjected to external applied voltage in thickness direction and the surrounding elastic medium is modeled by Pasternak foundation. The governing equations are derived in terms of energy method and Hamilton's principal. Using exact solution, the implicit buckling limit state function of nanocomposite beam is proposed, which is involved various random variables including thickness of beam, length of beam, spring constant of foundation, shear constant of foundation, applied voltage, and volume fraction of ZnO nanoparticles in polymer. The robustness, accuracy and efficiency of proposed RCR method are evaluated for this engineering structural reliability problem. The results demonstrate that proposed RCR method is more accurate and robust than the excising reliability methods-based FORM. The volume fraction of ZnO nanoparticles and the applied voltage are the sensitive variables on the reliable levels of the nanocomposite beams.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.386-403
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• 2016

The safety of nuclear power plants is analyzed by a probabilistic risk assessment, and the fault tree analysis is the most widely used method for a risk assessment with the event tree analysis. One of the well-known disadvantages of the fault tree is that drawing a fault tree for a complex system is a very cumbersome task. Thus, several graphical modeling methods have been proposed for the convenient and intuitive modeling of complex systems. In this paper, the reliability graph with general gates (RGGG) method, one of the intuitive graphical modeling methods based on Bayesian networks, is improved for the reliability analyses of dynamic systems that have various operation modes with time. A reliability matrix is proposed and it is explained how to utilize the reliability matrix in the RGGG for various cases of operation mode changes. The proposed RGGG with a reliability matrix provides a convenient and intuitive modeling of various operation modes of complex systems, and can also be utilized with dynamic nodes that analyze the failure sequences of subcomponents. The combinatorial use of a reliability matrix with dynamic nodes is illustrated through an application to a shutdown cooling system in a nuclear power plant.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.559-571
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• 2020

This study aimed to inspect the axial compression mechanical performance of basalt-fiber-reinforced recycled - concrete (BFRRC)-filled square steel tubular stub column. The replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) and the basalt fiber (BF) dosage were used as variation parameters, and the axial compression performance tests of 15 BFRRC-filled square steel tubular stub column specimens were conducted. The failure mode and the load-displacement/strain curve of the specimen were measured. The working process of the BFRRC-filled square steel tubular stub column was divided into three stages, namely, elastic-elastoplasticity, sudden drawdown, and plasticity. The influence of the design parameters on the peak bearing capacity, energy dissipation performance, and other axial compression performance indexes was discussed. A mathematical model of segmental stiffness degradation was proposed on the basis of the degradation law of combined secant-stiffness under axial compression. The full-process curve equation of axial compressive stress-strain was proposed by introducing the influencing factors, including the RCA replacement ratio and the BF dosage, and the calculated curve agreed well with the test-measured curve.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.321-333
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• 2023

This paper proposes a comprehensive investigation on lateral stiffness of corner-supported steel modular frame using splice connection. A full-scale modular frame with two stacked steel modules under lateral load is tested. Ductile pattern in the transfer of lateral load is found in the final failure mode. Two types of lateral stiffness, including tangent stiffness and secant stiffness, are defined from the load-displacement due to the observed nonlinearity. The difference between these two types of stiffness is found around 20%. The comparisons between the experimental lateral stiffness and the predictions of classical methods are also conducted. The D-value method using hypothesis of independent case is a conservative option for predicting lateral stiffness, which is more recommended than method of contraflexural bending moment. Analyses on two classical short-rod models, including fix-rod model and pin-rod model, are further conducted. Results indicate that fix-rod model is more recommended than pin-rod model to simplify splice connection for simulation on lateral stiffness of modular frame in elastic design stage.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.306-316
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• 2016

In this paper, an NMOS-diode eFuse OTP (One-Time Programmable) memory cell is proposed using a parasitic junction diode formed between a PW (P-Well), a body of an isolated NMOS (N-channel MOSFET) transistor with the small channel width, and an n+ diffusion, a source node, in a DNW (Deep N-Well) instead of an NMOS transistor with the big channel width as a program select device. Blowing of the proposed cell is done through the parasitic junction formed in the NMOS transistor in the program mode. Sensing failures of '0' data are removed because of removed contact voltage drop of a diode since a NMOS transistor is used instead of the junction diode in the read mode. In addition, a problem of being blown for a non-blown eFuse from a read current through the corresponding eFuse OTP cell is solved by limiting the read current to less than $100{\mu}A$ since a voltage is transferred to BL by using an NMOS transistor with the small channel width in the read mode.