• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.2
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• pp.191-201
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• 2019

Finite element analysis is one of the most used tools for studying femoral neck fracture. Nerveless, consensus concerning either the choice of material characteristics, damage law and /or geometric models (linear on nonlinear) remains unreached. In this work, we propose a numerical quasi-brittle damage model to describe the behavior of the proximal femur associated with two methods to evaluate the Young modulus. Eight proximal femur finite elements models were constructed from CT scan data (4 donors: 3 women; 1 man). The numerical computations showed a good agreement between the numerical curves (load - displacement) and the experimental ones. A very encouraging result is obtained when a comparison is made between the computed fracture loads and the experimental ones ($R^2=0.825$, Relative error =6.49%). All specific numerical computation provided very fair qualitative matches with the fracture patterns for the sideway fall simulation. Finally, the comparative study based on 32 simulations adopting linear and nonlinear meshing led to the conclusion that the quantitatively results are improved when a nonlinear mesh is used.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.459-475
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• 2009

This paper presents analytical methodologies for remaining life prediction of plain concrete structural components considering tension softening and size effects. Non-linear fracture mechanics principles (NLFM) have been used for crack growth analysis and remaining life prediction. Various tension softening models such as linear, bi-linear, tri-linear, exponential and power curve have been presented with appropriate expressions. Size effect has been accounted for by modifying the Paris law, leading to a size adjusted Paris law, which gives crack length increment per cycle as a power function of the amplitude of a size adjusted stress intensity factor (SIF). Details of tension softening effects and size effect in the computation of SIF and remaining life prediction have been presented. Numerical studies have been conducted on three point bending concrete beams under constant amplitude loading. The predicted remaining life values with the combination of tension softening & size effects are in close agreement with the corresponding experimental values available in the literature for all the tension softening models.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 1993

This paper describes the use of the J-integral, a one parameter of the non-linear fracture mechanics(NLFM), as a means to measure toughness of steel fiber reinforced concrete. This parameter can be conveniently evaluated from experimentally determined load-deflection curves from flexural tests when a maximum-load failure criterion is employed. And, for high strength concrete which was reinforced steel fiber, with two different fiber length in the form of notched beams, were tested under 3-point bending, and $J_{IC}$, as well as the linear elastic fracture mechanics(LEFM) parameters $K_{IC}$ and $G_{IC}$ were evaluated. The results suggest that $J_{IC}$ is a promising fracture criterion for all of these. while $K_{IC}$(or $G_{IC}$) almost certainly are not. Also it was found that a fiber addition of less than 0.5% did not improve the fracture toughness of the high strength concrete. However, at more than 1.0% in fiber contents, $J_{IC}$ showed significant increases. reflecting the changed character of the concrete; $K_{IC}$ and $G_{IC}$ did not.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2018

The possibilities of non-linear analysis of reinforced-concrete structures are under development. In particular, current research areas include structural analysis with the application of advanced computational and material models. The submitted article aims to evaluate the possibilities of the determination of material properties, involving the tensile strength of concrete, fracture energy and the modulus of elasticity. To evaluate the recommendations for concrete, volume computational models are employed on a comprehensive series of tests. The article particularly deals with the issue of the specific properties of fracture-plastic material models. This information is often unavailable. The determination of material properties is based on the recommendations of Model Code 1990, Model Code 2010 and specialized literature. For numerical modelling, the experiments with the so called "classic" concrete beams executed by Bresler and Scordelis were selected. It is also based on the series of experiments executed by Vecchio. The experiments involve a large number of reinforcement, cross-section and span variants, which subsequently enabled a wider verification and discussion of the usability of the non-linear analysis and constitutive concrete model selected.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.143-148
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• 2003

This paper provides two types of engineering J estimation equations for cylinders with finite internal axial surface cracks under internal pressure. The first type is the so-called GE/EPRI type J estimation equation based on Ramberg-Osgood materials. Based on detailed 3-D FE results the GE/EPRI-type J estimation equation along the crack front is proposed and validated for Ramberg-Osgood materials. For more general application, the developed GE/EPRI-type solutions are then re-formulated based on the reference stress concept. The proposed reference stress based J estimation equation has good agreement between the FE results and the proposed reference stress based J estimation provides confidence in the use of the proposed method for elastic-plastic fracture mechanics of pressurised piping

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.543-560
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• 2009

The rotating Rayleigh-Timoshenko beam element based on B-spline wavelet on the interval (BSWI) is constructed to discrete short shaft and stiffness disc. The crack is represented by non-dimensional linear spring using linear fracture mechanics theory. The wavelet-based finite element model of rotor system is constructed to solve the first three natural frequencies functions of normalized crack location and depth. The normalized crack location, normalized crack depth and the first three natural frequencies are then employed as the training samples to achieve the neural networks for crack diagnosis. Measured natural frequencies are served as inputs of the trained neural networks and the normalized crack location and depth can be identified. The experimental results of fatigue crack in short shaft is also given.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.487-495
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• 2005

Mechanical properties of in-service facilities are required to evaluate the integrity of power plants and chemical plants. Non-destructive technique can be used to evaluate the mechanical properties. To investigate the mechanical properties using ultrasonic technique, the four classes of thermally aged specimens were prepared using an artificially accelerated aging method. Ultrasonic tests, tensile tests, fracture toughness tests, and hardness tests were performed for the specimens. Then the mechanical properties were compared with ultrasonic parameters such as attenuation and non-linear parameter. From the investigation, we confirm that the ultrasonic parameter can be used to evaluate the mechanical properties.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2021

Ultra high strength concrete (UHSC) originally proposed by Richards and Cheyrezy (1995) composed of cement, silica fume, quartz sand, quartz powder, steel fibers, superplasticizer etc. Later, other ingredients such as fly ash, GGBS, metakaoline, copper slag, fine aggregate of different sizes have been added to original UHSC. In the present investigation, the combined effect of coarse aggregate (6mm - 10mm) and steel fibers (0.50%, 1.0% and 1.5%) has been studied on UHSC mixes to evaluate mechanical and fracture properties. Compressive strength, split tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were determined for the three UHSC mixes. Size dependent fracture energy was evaluated by using RILEM work of fracture and size independent fracture energy was evaluated by using (i) RILEM work of fracture with tail correction to load - deflection plot (ii) boundary effect method. The constitutive relationship between the residual stress carrying capacity (σ) and the corresponding crack opening (w) has been constructed in an inverse manner based on the concept of a non-linear hinge from the load-crack mouth opening plots of notched three-point bend beams. It was found that (i) the size independent fracture energy obtained by using above two approaches yielded similar value and (ii) tensile stress increases with the increase of % of fibers. These two fracture properties will be very much useful for the analysis of cracked concrete structural components.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.261-277
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• 2008

This paper presents methodologies for remaining life prediction of plain concrete structural components considering tension softening effect. Non-linear fracture mechanics principles (NLFM) have been used for crack growth analysis and remaining life prediction. Various tension softening models such as linear, bi-linear, tri-linear, exponential and power curve have been presented with appropriate expressions. A methodology to account for tension softening effects in the computation of SIF and remaining life prediction of concrete structural components has been presented. The tension softening effects has been represented by using any one of the models mentioned above. Numerical studies have been conducted on three point bending concrete structural component under constant amplitude loading. Remaining life has been predicted for different loading cases and for various tension softening models. The predicted values have been compared with the corresponding experimental observations. It is observed that the predicted life using bi-linear model and power curve model is in close agreement with the experimental values. Parametric studies on remaining life prediction have also been conducted by using modified bilinear model. A suitable value for constant of modified bilinear model is suggested based on parametric studies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.799-823
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• 2016

A finite element model for the non-linear dynamic analysis of a reinforced concrete (RC) containment shell of a nuclear power plant subjected to extreme loads such as impact and earthquake is presented in this work. The impact is modeled by using an uncoupled approach in which a load function is applied at the impact zone. The earthquake load is modeled by prescribing ground accelerations at the base of the structure. The nuclear containment is discretized spatially by using 20-node brick finite elements. The concrete in compression is modeled by using a modified $Dr{\ddot{u}}cker$-Prager elasto-plastic constitutive law where strain rate effects are considered. Cracking of concrete is modeled by using a smeared cracking approach where the tension-stiffening effect is included via a strain-softening rule. A model based on fracture mechanics, using the concept of constant fracture energy release, is used to relate the strain softening effect to the element size in order to guaranty mesh independency in the numerical prediction. The reinforcing bars are represented by incorporated membrane elements with a von Mises elasto-plastic law. Two benchmarks are used to verify the numerical implementation of the present model. Results are presented graphically in terms of displacement histories and cracking patterns. Finally, the influence of the shear transfer model used for cracked concrete as well as the effect due to a base slab incorporation in the numerical modeling are analyzed.