• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.11-18
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• 2018

As the height of the modular buildings increases, their stability becomes more and more dependent on the core. All traditional construction methods in structural concrete and steel can be utilized for cores in modular buildings but a core system with dry connection is more desirable to complete a greater degree of factory finish and faster erection of modular buildings. In order to do that, the hybrid PC(precast concrete) panel, which has a pair of C-shaped steel beams combined at the top and bottom of a concrete wall, was developed, In this study the cyclic lateral loading test on the hybrid PC panel is carried out and the panel configurations are examined to enhance the structural performance in comparison with the RC wall. Experimental results show that the strength of hybrid PC panel is about 70% of thar ot RC wall and the anchorage of vertical reinforcing bar welded to C-shaped steel beam needs to be improved.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.543-550
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• 2022

The U.S. Department of Energy conducts the Solar Decathlon competition as a student-based achievement that encourages sustainable design with energy efficiency and solar energy technologies. In the 2020 competition, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) team designed, fabricated, and constructed a net-zero modular house that applies innovative and highly efficient building technologies. This paper focused on the lessons learned during the early phases of this ongoing modular project. The research methodology included obtaining feedback from key project participants using a well-structured questionnaire. The results showed that the major items/challenges in the project's planning phase included selecting the modular size, planning the construction system, planning the materials and procurement, estimating costs and duration, selecting a fabricator, collaboration and communication, safety, and planning module transportation. These findings will help modular practitioners and future Solar Decathlon competition participants better understand how and what factors they should consider most during the early phases through the lessons learned.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.663-672
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• 2014

Recently, modular structural systems have been applicable to building construction since they can significantly reduce building construction time. They consists of several unit modular frames of which each beam-column joint employs an access hole for connecting unit modular frames. Their structural design is usually carried out under the assumption that their load-carrying mechanism is similar to that of a traditional steel moment-resisting system. In order to obtain the validation of this assumption, the cyclic characteristics of beam-column joints in a unit modular frame should be investigate. This study carried out finite element analyses(FEM) of unit modular frames to investigate the cyclic behavior of beam-column joints with the structural influence of access holes. Analysis results show that the unit modular frames present stable cyclic response with large deformation capacities and their joints are classified into partial moment connections. Also, this study develops a simple spring model for earthquake nonlinear analyses and suggests the Ramberg-Osgood hysteretic rule to capture the cyclic response of unit modular frames.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.277-283
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• 2018

This study is conducted to improve the manufacturing process of the modular construction method, which is a pre-fabricated construction method recognized for its advantage on the shortening of construction time. This study first identified the factors that result in shortening of pre-fabrication processes in the current module-processing factory. In addition, those identified factors were further considered for installing the M.E.P. system that is being outsourced on the main module in the production line. A manufacturing process of the construction modules, which considers installation of a M.E.P. system most suitable for shortening the time on the outsourcing of modular construction, is introduced throughout the research. Furthermore, this study suggests the factors in need of improvement during design phase of modular construction and improvement measures to consider the quality of unit modules by focusing on the module parts that are most exposed to defects.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.19-28
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• 2018

Key factors that ensure competitiveness of modular unit include consistent high quality and connection condition that ensures high structural performance while minimizing the overall scale of the on-site process. However, it is difficult to evaluate the structural performance of the connection of modular unit, and its structural analysis and design method can be different depending on the connection to its development, which affects the seismic performance of its final design. In particular, securing the seismic performance is the key to designing modular systems of mid-to-high-rise structure. In this paper, therefore, the seismic performance of the modular system with bracket-typed fully restrained moment connections according to stiffness and the shapes of various connection members was evaluated through experimental and analytical methods. To verify the seismic performance, a cyclic loading test of the connection joint of the proposed modular system was conducted. As a result of this study, theoretical values and experimental results were compared with the initial stiffness, hysteresis behavior and maximum bending moment of the modular system. Also, the connection joint was modeled, using the commercial program ANSYS, which was then followed by finite element analysis of the system. According to the results of the experiment, the maximum resisting force of the proposed connection exceeded the theoretical parameters, which indicated that a rigid joint structural performance could be secured. These results almost satisfied the criteria for connection bending strength of special moment frame listed on KBC2016.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.19-25
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• 2018

At present, there are many companies that can produce modular housing. However, if the housing projects are conducted without design standards and principles, each company will supply housing according to its own design standards, resulting in a loss of opportunity to promote standardization at a national level. Korea's modular construction technology is still in its infancy, and there is a lack of MC design applications due to the limited construction market. In recent years, however, related R&D has been carried out by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in order to activate modular construction. As a result, test-beds for public rental housing are currently being built, and the public rental housing applied with the modular construction method is expected to spread in the near future. In this regard, this study seeks to promote more economical and efficient production and supply of modular housing. To this end, it investigates the current status of modular construction, analyzes the problems and proposes a serious of MC design standards as part of the design standardization and open system for modular housing industry to solve the problems.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Educational Facilities
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.84-89
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• 2004

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.471-481
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• 2015

Modular building is a prefabricated construction system for building where factory-produced pre-engineered modular units are delivered to site and assembled as substantial elements of a building. There are two basic kinds of modular structures. One is a load-bearing wall structure designed to transfer the load through longitudinal walls. The other is a frame structure composed of columns and beams. For frame structure, square hollow section is often used as a column member and channel as a beam member in modular unit. Lower and upper modules are fasten with bolts via a pre-installed access hole in the SHS column. However, the access holes can weaken the panel zone that would affect the behavior of beam to column connection. The 5 specimens of beam to column connections with parameters of access hole, column thickness and diaphragm were made and this paper describes the test results.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1019-1039
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• 2015

Shanghai Tower is a composite structure building with a height of 632 m. In order to verify the structural properties and behaviors in construction and operation, a structural health monitoring project was conducted by Tongji University. The monitoring system includes sensor system, data acquisition system and a monitoring software system. Focusing on the health monitoring in construction, this paper introduced the monitoring parameters in construction, the data acquisition strategy and an integration structural health monitoring (SHM) software. The integration software - Structural Monitoring/ Analysis/ Evaluation System (SMAE) is designed based on integration and modular design idea, which includes on-line data acquisition, finite elements and dynamic property analysis functions. With the integration and modular design idea, this SHM system can realize the data exchange and results comparison from on-site monitoring and FEM effectively. The analysis of the monitoring data collected during the process of construction shows that the system works stably, realize data acquirement and analysis effectively, and also provides measured basis for understanding the structural state of the construction. Meanwhile, references are provided for the future automates construction monitoring and implementation of high-rise building structures.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.435-442
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• 2017

A lateral load resisting system is a necessary structural element for the mid- to high-rise modular buildings and concrete cores are known as the most typical lateral load resisting systems in 10- to 20-story modular buildings. It is difficult to construct a concrete core simultaneously with the installation and finishing work of modular units because concrete placed using wet methods might contaminate or destroy the modular unit. Therefore, we have developed a hybrid PC (precast concrete) panel construction method that can construct a concrete core together with the installation of modular units. The hybrid PC panel is a load-bearing element in which a pair of C-shaped beams are combined at the top and bottom of a concrete wall. Concrete cores can be constructed by dry method to connect the hybrid PC panels with bolts. In this study, the details and connection of hybrid PC panels are improved to have the lateral performance comparable to reinforced concrete structural walls and are verified through FE analysis.