• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.360-368
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• 2022

PURPOSE. This study assessed the physical and mechanical properties of interim crown materials fabricated using various digital techniques after accelerated aging. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Three groups of interim dental restorative materials (N = 20) were tested. The first group (CO) was fabricated using a conventional manual method. The second group (ML) was prepared from prefabricated resin blocks for the milling method and cut into specimen sizes using a cutting disc. The third group (3D) was additively manufactured using a digital light-processing (DLP) 3D printer. Aging acceleration treatments using toothbrushing and thermocycling simulators were applied to half of the specimens corresponding to three years of usage in the oral environment (N = 10). Surface roughness (Ra), Vickers microhardness, 3-point bending, sorption, and solubility tests were performed. A 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher's multiple comparison test were used to compare the results among the groups. RESULTS. The mean surface roughness (Ra) of the resin after accelerated aging was significantly higher in the CO and ML groups than that before aging, but not in the 3D group. All groups showed reduced hardness after accelerated aging. The flexural strength values were highest in the 3D group, followed by the ML and CO groups after accelerated aging. Accelerated aging significantly reduced water sorption in the ML group. CONCLUSION. According to the tested material and 3D printer type, both 3D-printed and milled interim restoration resins showed higher flexural strength and modulus, and lower surface roughness than those prepared by the conventional method after accelerated aging.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.697-726
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• 2023

Brittleness as an important property of rock plays a crucial role both in the failure process of intact rock and rock mass response to excavation in engineering geological and geotechnical projects. Generally, rock brittleness indices are calculated from the mechanical properties of rocks such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. These properties are generally determined from complicated, expensive and time-consuming tests in laboratory. For this reason, in the present research, an attempt has been made to predict the rock brittleness indices from simple, inexpensive, and quick laboratory test results namely dry unit weight, porosity, slake-durability index, P-wave velocity, Schmidt rebound hardness, and point load strength index using multiple linear regression, exponential regression, support vector machine (SVM) with various kernels, generating fuzzy inference system, and regression tree ensemble (RTE) with boosting framework. So, this could be considered as an innovation for the present research. For this purpose, the number of 39 rock samples including five igneous, twenty-six sedimentary, and eight metamorphic were collected from different regions of Iran. Mineralogical, physical and mechanical properties as well as five well known rock brittleness indices (i.e., B₁, B₂, B₃, B₄, and B₅) were measured for the selected rock samples before application of the above-mentioned machine learning techniques. The performance of the developed models was evaluated based on several statistical metrics such as mean square error, relative absolute error, root relative absolute error, determination coefficients, variance account for, mean absolute percentage error and standard deviation of the error. The comparison of the obtained results revealed that among the studied methods, SVM is the most suitable one for predicting B₁, B₂ and B₅, while RTE predicts B₃ and B₄ better than other methods.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.237-248
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• 2022

Nowadays, more and more subway tunnels were planed and constructed underneath the ground of urban cities to relieve the congested traffic. Potential damage may occur in existing tunnel if the new tunnel is constructed too close. So far, previous studies mainly focused on the tunnel-tunnel interactions with circular shape. The difference between circular and horseshoe shaped tunnel in terms of deformation mechanism is not fully investigated. In this study, three-dimensional numerical parametric studies were carried out to explore the effect of different tunnel shapes on the complicated tunnel-tunnel interaction problem. Parameters considered include volume loss, tunnel stiffness and relative density. It is found that the value of volume loss play the most important role in the multi-tunnel interactions. For a typical condition in this study, the maximum invert settlement and gradient along longitudinal direction of horseshoe shaped tunnel was 50% and 96% larger than those in circular case, respectively. This is because of the larger vertical soil displacement underneath existing tunnel. Due to the discontinuous hoop axial stress in horseshoe shaped tunnel, significant shear stress was mobilized around the axillary angles. This resulted in substantial bending moment at the bottom plate and side walls of horseshoe shaped tunnel. Consequently, vertical elongation and horizontal compression in circular existing tunnel were 45% and 33% smaller than those in horseshoe case (at monitored section X/D = 0), which in latter case was mainly attributed to the bending induced deflection. The radial deformation stiffness of circular tunnel is more sensitive to the Young's modulus compared with horseshoe shaped tunnel. This is because of that circular tunnel resisted the radial deformation mainly by its hoop axial stress while horseshoe shaped tunnel do so mainly by its flexural rigidity. In addition, the reduction of soil stiffness beneath the circular tunnel was larger than that in horseshoe shaped tunnel at each level of relative density, indicating that large portion of tunneling effect were undertaken by the ground itself in circular tunnel case.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.311-326
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• 2024

Transmission tower structures are particularly susceptible to damage and even collapse under strong seismic ground motions. Conventional seismic analyses of transmission towers are usually performed by considering only ground motion uncertainty while ignoring structural uncertainty; consequently, the performance evaluation and failure prediction may be inaccurate. In this context, the present study numerically investigates the seismic responses and failure mechanism of transmission towers by considering multiple sources of uncertainty. To this end, an existing transmission tower is chosen, and the corresponding three-dimensional finite element model is created in ABAQUS software. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the relative importance of the uncertain parameters in the seismic responses of transmission towers. The numerical results indicate that the impacts of the structural damping ratio, elastic modulus and yield strength on the seismic responses of the transmission tower are relatively large. Subsequently, a set of 20 uncertainty models are established based on random samples of various parameter combinations generated by the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) method. An uncertainty analysis is performed for these uncertainty models to clarify the impacts of uncertain structural factors on the seismic responses and failure mechanism (ultimate bearing capacity and failure path). The numerical results show that structural uncertainty has a significant influence on the seismic responses and failure mechanism of transmission towers; different possible failure paths exist for the uncertainty models, whereas only one exists for the deterministic model, and the ultimate bearing capacity of transmission towers is more sensitive to the variation in material parameters than that in geometrical parameters. This research is expected to provide an in-depth understanding of the influence of structural uncertainty on the seismic demand assessment of transmission towers.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2024

This study nondestructively examined the evolution of crack density in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) upon cyclic loading. Uniaxial compression was repeatedly applied to the cylindrical specimens at levels corresponding to 32% and 53% of the maximum load-bearing capacity, each at a steady strain rate. At each stage, both P-wave and S-wave velocities were measured in the absence of the applied load. In particular, the continuous monitoring of P-wave velocity from the first loading prior to the second loading allowed real-time observation of the strengthening effect during loading and the recovery effect afterwards. Increasing the number of cycles resulted in the reduction of both elastic wave velocities and Young's modulus, along with a slight rise in Poisson's ratio in both tested cases. The computed crack density showed a monotonically increasing trend with repeated loading, more significant at 53% than at 32% loading. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the crack density along the height was achieved, validating the directional dependency of microcracking development. This study demonstrated the capability of the crack density to capture the evolution of microcracks in UHPC under cyclic loading condition, as an early-stage damage indicator.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.213-230
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• 2024

The use of waste tires and industrial wastes such as fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in concrete is an important issue in terms of sustainability. In this study, the effect of parameters affecting the physical, mechanical and microstructural properties of FA/GGBS-based geopolymer concretes with waste rubber fiber was investigated. For this purpose, the effects of rubber fiber percentage (0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2%), binder (75FA25GGBS, 50FA50GGBS, 25FA75GGBS) and curing temperature (75 ℃, 90 ℃ and 105 ℃) were investigated. The Taguchi-Grey Relational Analysis (TGRA) method was used to obtain optimum parameter levels of rubber fiber geopolymer concrete (RFGC). The slump, fresh and hardened density, compressive strength, flexural strength, static and dynamic modulus of elasticity, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were performed on the produced concretes. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was used to statistically determine the effects of the parameters on the experimental results. A confirmation test was performed to test the accuracy of the optimum values found by the TGRA method. With the increase of GGBS percentage, the compressive strength of RFGC increased up to 196%. The increase in rubber fiber percentage and curing temperature adversely affected the mechanical properties of RFGC. As a result of TGRA, the optimum value was found to be A1B3C1. ANOVA results showed that the most effective parameter on the experimental results was the binder with 99% contribution percentage. It is understood from the SEM images that the optimum concrete had a denser microstructure and less capillary cracks and voids. For this study, the use of the TGRA method in multiple optimization has proven to provide very useful and reliable results. In cases where many factors are effective on its strength and durability, such as geopolymer concrete, using the TGRA method allows for finding the optimum value of the parameters by saving both time and cost.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of film thickness of various resin cements on bonding efficiency in indirect composite restoration by measurement of microtensile bond strength, polymerization shrinkage, flexural strength and modulus, fractographic FE-SEM analysis. Experimental groups were divided according to film thickness (< $50\;{\mu}m$-control, $50\;{\mu}m$-T50, $100\;{\mu}m$-T100, $150\;{\mu}m$-T150) using composite- based resin cements (Variolink II, Duo-Link) and adhesive-based resin cements (Panavia F, Rely X Unicem). The data was analyzed using ANOVA and Duncan's multiple comparison test (p < 0.05). The results were as follows ; 1. Variolink II showed higher microtensile bond strength than that of adhesive-based resin cements in all film thickness (p < 0.05) but Duo-Link did not show significant difference except control group (p > 0.05). 2. Microtensile bond strength of composite-based resin cements were decreased significantly according to increasing film thickness (p < 0.05) but adhesive-based resin cements did not show significant difference among film thickness (p > 0.05). 3. Panavia F showed significantly lower polymerization shrinkage than other resin cements (p < 0.05). 4. Composite-based resin cements showed significantly higher flexural strength and modulus than adhesive-based resin cements (p < 0.05). 5. FE-SEM examination showed uniform adhesive layer and well developed resin tags in composite-based resin cements but unclear adhesive layer and poorly developed resin tags in adhesive-based resin cements. In debonded surface examination, composite-based resin cements showed mixed failures but adhesive-based resin cements showed adhesive failures.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2007

This paper investigates the lap splice performance of structural steel bars embedded in high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composite(HPFRCC) with various matrix ductilities. Matrix ductility is governed fiber type and fiber volume fraction. Fiber types were polypropylene(PP), polyethylene(PE) and hybrid fiber[polyethylene fiber+steel cord(PE+SC)]. The lap splice length$(l_d)$ was calculated according to the relevant ACI code requirements for reinforcing bars in normal concrete. As the result of tests, lap splice strength of HPFRCC using PE1.5 and hybrid fiber increased by up to $82{\sim}91$ percent more than that of concrete. Splice strength and energy absorption capacity of PE0.75+SC0.75 or PE1.5(fiber volume fraction 1.5%) specimen increased more than that of PP2.0(fiber volume fraction 2.0%) specimen. Therefore lap splice performance depends on fiber tensile strength and Young's modulus more than fiber volume fraction. Also, HPFRCC appear multiple crack and ductile postpeak behavior due to bridging of fiber in cementitious composite.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.15.2-22
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• 1995

Evaluating stiffness of near-surface materials has been one of the critically important tasks in many civil engineering works. It is the main goal of geotechnical characterization. The so-called deflection-response method evaluates the stiffness by measuring stress-strain behavior of the materials caused by static or dynamic load. This method, however, evaluates the overall stiffness and the stiffness variation with depth cannot be obtained. Furthermore, evaluation of a large-area geotechnical site by this method can be time-consuming, expensive, and damaging to many surface points of the site. Wave-propagation method, on the other hand, measures seismic velocities at different depths and stiffness profile (stiffness change with depth) can be obtained from the measured velocity data. The stiffness profile is often expressed by shear-wave (S-wave) velocity change with depth because S-wave velocity is proportional to the shear modulus. that is a direct indicator of stiffiiess. The crosshole and downhole method measures the seismic velocity by placing sources and receivers (geophones) at different depths in a borehole. Requirement of borehole installation makes this method also time-consuming, expensive, and damaging to the sites. Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Waves (SASW) method places both source and receivers at the surface, and records horizontally-propagating surface waves. Based upon the theory of surfacewave dispersion, the seismic velocities at different depths are calculated by analyzing the recorded surface-wave data. This method can be nondestructive to the sites. However, because only two receivers are used, the method requires multiple measurements with different field setups and, therefore, the method often becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive. Furthermore. the inclusion of noise wavefields cannot be handled properly, and this may cause the results by this method inaccurate. When multi-channel recording method is employed during the measurement of surface-waves, there are several benefits. First, usually single measurement is enough because multiple number (twelve or more) of receivers are used. Second, noise inclusion can be detected by coherency checking on the multi-channel data and handled properly so that it does not decrease the accuracy of the result. Third, various kinds of multi-channel processing techniques can be applied to f1lter unwanted noise wavefields and also to analyze the surface-wavefields more accurately and efficiently. In this way, the accuracy of the result by the method can be significantly improved. Fourth, the entire system of source, receivers, and recording-processing device can be tied into one unit, and the unit can be pulled by a small vehicle, making the survey speed very fast. In all these senses, multi-channel recording of surface waves is best suited for a routine method for geotechnical characterization in most of civil engineering works.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.17 no.6 s.90
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• pp.923-930
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• 2005

This paper was to evaluate the high strength lightweight self-compacting concrete(HLSCC) manufactured by Nan-Su, which main factor, Packing Factor(PF) for mixing design, has been modified and improved. We have examined HLSCC performance at its fresh condition as well as its mechanical properties at the hardened condition. The evaluation of HLSCC fluidity has been conducted per the standard of second class rating of JSCE, by three categories of flowability(slump-flow), segregation resistance ability(time required to reach 500mm of slump-flow and time required to flow through V-funnel) and filling ability(U-box test) of fresh concrete. The compressive strength of HLSSC at 28 days has come out to more than 30MPa in all mixes. The relationship between the compressive strength-splitting tensile strength and compressive strength-modulus of elasticity of HLSSC were similar those of typical lightweight concrete. Compressive strength and dry density of HLSCC at 28 days from the multiple regression analysis resulted as $f_c=-0.16LC-0.008LS+50.05(R=0.83)\;and\;f_d=-3.598LC-2.244LS+2,310(R=0.99)$, respectively.