• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.691-704
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• 2014

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are commonly used for building structures to resist seismic loading. While the RC shear walls can have a high load-carrying capacity, they tend to fail in a brittle mode under shear, accompanied by forming large diagonal cracks and bond splitting between concrete and steel reinforcement. Improving seismic performance of shear walls has remained a challenge for researchers all over the world. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), featuring incredible ductility under tension, can be a promising material to replace concrete in shear walls with improved performance. Currently, the application of ECC to large structures is limited due to the lack of the proper constitutive models especially under shear. In this paper, a new Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced ECC is proposed. The model was built upon the Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced concrete by (Hsu and Mo 2010). The model was then implemented in the OpenSees program to perform analysis on several cases of shear walls under seismic loading. The seismic response of reinforced ECC compared with RC shear walls under monotonic and cyclic loading, their difference in pinching effect and energy dissipation capacity were studied. The modeling results revealed that reinforced ECC shear walls can have superior seismic performance to traditional RC shear walls.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.661-674
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• 2018

Seismic excitations may impart a significant amount of energy into structures. Modern structural design attitudes tend to absorb some part of this energy through special dissipaters instead of heavy plastic deformations on the structural members. Different types of dissipater have been generated and utilized in various types of structures in last few decades. The expected earthquake damage is mainly concentrated on these devices and they may be replaced after earthquakes. In this study, a low-cost device called energy dissipative steel cushion (EDSC) made of flat mild steel was developed and tested in the Structural and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory (STEELab) of Istanbul Technical University (ITU). The monotonic and cyclic tests of EDSC were performed in transversal and longitudinal directions discretely. Very large deformation capability and stable hysteretic behavior are some response properties observed from the tests. Load vs. displacement relations, hysteretic energy dissipation properties as well as the closed form equations to predict the behavior parameters are presented in this paper.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2018

This paper deepens the finite element modeling (FEM) method to reproduce the compressive behavior of partially steel-jacketed (PSJ) RC columns by means of the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) Model available in ABAQUS software. Although the efficiency of the CDP model is widely proven for reinforced concrete columns at low confining pressure, when the confinement level becomes high the standard plasticity parameters may not be suitable to obtain reliable results. This paper deals with these limitations and presents an analytically based strategy to fix the parameters of the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) model. Focusing on a realistic prediction of load-bearing capacity of PSJ RC columns subjected to monotonic compressive loads, a new strain hardening/softening function is developed for confined concrete coupled with the evaluation of the dilation angle including effects of confinement. Moreover, a simplified efficient modeling approach is proposed to take into account also the response of the steel angle in compression. The prediction accuracy from the current model is compared with that of existing experimental data obtained from a wide range of mechanical confinement ratio.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2018

This paper experimentally and analytically elucidates the shear behavior and shear bearing capacity of partially prefabricated steel reinforced concrete (PPSRC) columns and hollow partially prefabricated steel reinforced concrete (HPSRC) columns. Seven specimens including five PPSRC column specimens and two HPSRC column specimens were tested under static monotonic loading. In the test, the influences of shear span aspect ratio and difference of cast-in-place concrete strength on the shear behavior of PPSRC and HPSRC columns were investigated. Based on the test results, the failure pattern, the load-displacement behavior and the shear capacity were focused and analyzed. The test results demonstrated that all the column specimens failed in shear failure mode with high bearing capacity and good deformability. Smaller shear span aspect ratio and higher strength of inner concrete resulted in higher shear bearing capacity, with more ductile and better deformability. Furthermore, calculation formula for predicting the ultimate shear capacity of the PPSRC and HPSRC columns were proposed on the basis of the experimental results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.561-570
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• 2019

Understanding the realistic behavior of concrete up to failure under different loading conditions within the framework of damage mechanics and plasticity would lead to an enhanced design of concrete structures. In the present investigation, QR (Quick Response) code based random speckle pattern is used as a non-contact sensor, which is an innovative approach in the field of digital image correlation (DIC). A four-point bending test was performed on RC beams of size 1800 mm × 150 mm × 200 mm. Image processing was done using an open source Ncorr algorithm for the results obtained using random speckle pattern and QR code based random speckle pattern. Load-deflection curves of RC beams were plotted for the results obtained using both contact and non-contact (DIC) sensors, and further, Moment (M)-Curvature (κ) relationship of RC beams was developed. The loading curves obtained were used as input data for material model parameters in finite element analysis. In finite element method (FEM) based software, concrete damage plasticity (CDP) constitutive model is used to predict the realistic nonlinear quasi-static flexural behavior of RC beams for monotonic loading condition. The results obtained using QR code based DIC are observed to be on par with conventional results and FEM results.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.15 no.6 s.67
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• pp.639-648
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• 2003

The objective of this study is to evaluate in-plane and out-of-plane moment transmission capacity of H-shaped beams about design load by stud connector. Four specimens were tested under monotonic moment loading condition in each case to evaluate those. The parameter of tests is the size of the H-shaped beams. The results show that moment transmission capacity of H-shape beams in the serviceability limit state by stud connectors is excellent observing to the design code of steel structures of Architectural Institute of Korea.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2019

Reinforced Concrete (RC) shear walls are widely used in Nuclear power plants as effective lateral force resisting elements of the structure and these may experience nonlinear behavior for higher earthquake demand. Short shear walls of aspect ratio less than 1.5 generally experience combined shear flexure interaction. This paper presents the results of the displacement-controlled experiments performed on six RC short shear walls with varying aspect ratios (1, 1.25 and 1.5) for monotonic and reversed quasi-static cyclic loading. Simulation of the shear walls is then carried out by Finite element modeling and also by macro modeling considering the coupled shear and flexure behaviour. The shear response is estimated by softened truss theory using the concrete model given by Vecchio and Collins (1994) with a modification in softening part of the model and flexure response is estimated using moment curvature relationship. The accuracy of modeling is validated by comparing the simulated response with experimental one. Moreover, based on the experimental work a multi-linear hysteretic model is proposed for short shear walls. Finally ultimate load, drift, ductility, stiffness reduction and failure pattern of the shear walls are studied in details and hysteretic energy dissipation along with damage index are evaluated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.357-373
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• 2022

The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor pebble-bed module project is the first commercial Generation-IV NPP(Nuclear Power Plant) in China. A new joint is used for the vertical support of RPV(Reactor Pressure Vessel). The steel corbel is integrally embedded into the reactor-cabin wall through eight asymmetrically arranged pre-stressed high-strength bolts, achieving the different path transmission of shear force and moment. The vertical monotonic loading test of two specimens is conducted. The results show that the failure mode of the joint is bolt fracture. There is no prominent yield stage in the whole loading process. The stress of bolts is linearly distributed along the height of corbel at initial loading. As the load increases, the height of neutral axis of bolts gradually decreases. The upper and lower edges of the wall opening contact the corbel plate to restrict the rotation of the corbel. During the loading, the pre-stress of some bolts decreases. The increase of the pre-stress strength ratio of bolts has no noticeable effect on the structure stiffness, but it reduces the ultimate bearing capacity of the joint. A simplified calculation model for the elastic stage of the joint is established, and the estimation results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.565-582
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• 2023

The present research reports the application of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) as an alternative to conventional concrete to improve the seismic behavior of short columns. Experimental and finite element investigation was conducted by testing five reinforced engineered cementitious composite (RECC) concrete columns (half-scale specimens) and one control reinforced concrete (RC) specimen for different shear-span and transverse reinforcement ratios under cyclic lateral loads. RECC specimens with higher shear-span and transverse reinforcement ratios demonstrated a significant effect on the column lateral load behavior by improving ductility (>5), energy dissipation capacity (1.2 to 4.1 times RC specimen), gradual strength degradation (ultimate drift >3.4%), and altering the failure mode. The self-confinement effect of ECC fibers maintained the integrity in the post-peak region and reserved the transmission of stress through fibers without noticeable degradation in strength. Finite element modeling of RECC specimens under monotonic incremental loads was carried out by adopting simplified constitutive material models. It was apprehended that the model simulated the global response (strength and stiffness) and damage crack patterns reasonably well.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.251-262
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• 2023

There are many examples of steel structures subjected to severe environmental conditions with bolted connections directly exposed to extreme climatic agents such as freeze-thaw cycles or low temperatures. Some examples are: steel bridges, mining transfer towers, wind towers... These service conditions neither are included in Eurocode 3 or EN1090-2, nor there are references in other international standards. In this experimental research, 46 specimens of non-slip joints with HV M20 bolts and four different types of contact surfaces have been studied. Half of the specimens were subjected to fourteen twelve-hours freeze-thaw cycles, with periodic immersion in water and temperature oscillation. Subsequently, half of the connections were subjected to a slip test under monotonic load at temperature of -20 ± 0.5 ℃ and the other half at room temperature. The results were compared with others equal joints not subjected to freeze-thaw cycles and kept at room temperature for the same time. This finally resulted in 4 sets of joints by combining the freeze-thaw degradation or not with the low-temperature conditions or not in the slip testing. Therefore, a total of 16 different conditions were studied by also considering 4 different contact surfaces between the joined plates in each set. The results obtained show influence of environmental conditions on the slip resistant capacity of these joints.