• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.189-197
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• 2018

A discrete element approach is used to investigate the effects of confining stress on the shear behaviour of joint's bridge area. A punch-through shear test is used to model the concrete cracks under different shear and confining stresses. Assuming a plane strain condition, special rectangular models are prepared with dimension of $75mm{\times}100mm$. Within the specimen model and near its four corners, four equally spaced vertical notches of the same depths are provided so that the central portion of the model remains intact. The lengths of notches are 35 mm. and these models are sequentially subjected to different confining pressures ranging from 2.5 to 15 MPa. The axial load is applied to the punch through the central portion of the model. This testing and models show that the failure process is mostly governed by the confining pressure. The shear strengths of the specimens are related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the discontinuities. The shear behaviour of discontinuities is related to the number of induced shear bands which are increased by increasing the confining pressure while the cracks propagation lengths are decreased. The failure stress and the crack initiation stress both are increased due to confining pressure increase. As a whole, the mechanisms of brittle shear failure changes to that of the progressive failure by increasing the confining pressure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.5
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• pp.493-504
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• 2018

In this paper, the tensile failure behaviour of transversally bedding layers was numerically simulated by using particle flow code in two dimensions. Firstly, numerical model was calibrated by uniaxial, Brazilian and triaxial experimental results to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical model's response. Secondly, 21 circular models with diameter of 54 mm were built. Each model contains two transversely bedding layers. The first bedding layer has low mechanical properties, less than mechanical properties of intact material, and second bedding layer has high mechanical properties, more than mechanical properties of intact material. The angle of first bedding layer, with weak mechanical properties, related to loading direction was $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$ while the angle of second layer, with high mechanical properties, related to loading direction was $90^{\circ}$, $105^{\circ}$, $120^{\circ}$, $135^{\circ}$, $150^{\circ}$, $160^{\circ}$ and $180^{\circ}$. Is to be note that the angle between bedding layer was $90^{\circ}$ in all bedding configurations. Also, three different pairs of the thickness was chosen in models; i.e., 5 mm/10 mm, 10 mm/10 mm and 20 mm/10 mm. The result shows that In all configurations, shear cracks develop between the weaker bedding layers. Shear cracks angel related to normal load change from $0^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$ with increment of $15^{\circ}$. Numbers of shear cracks are constant by increasing the bedding thickness. It's to be note that in some configuration, tensile cracks develop through the intact area of material model. There is not any failure in direction of bedding plane interface with higher strength.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.405-415
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• 2019

The cracks induced by hydraulic rock splitting technique are formed in the direction parallel to the free plane, which is perpendicular to the minimum principal stress of the ground, or is affected by the pre-existing microcracks. In this study, the hydraulic rock splitting experiments were conducted in which the guide slot was engraved in the direction parallel to the borehole axis on the biotite granite slope, and the hydraulic pressure was injected through the double packer pressure and interval section. The test results show that the cracks along with the guide slots were induced either by the double packer pressurization or the injection of hydraulic pressure into interval section, some cracks extended across the boreholes. Therefore, the hydraulic rock splitting test is expected to control efficiently the induced cracks if the guide slots are engraved in the direction of splitting and a big flow rate is applied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.1409-1416
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• 2010

It is essential to predict a blasting-induced excavation damage zone (EDZ) beyond the proposed excavation line of a tunnel because the unwanted damage area requires extra support system for tunnel safety. Complicated blasting process which may hinder a proper characterization of the damage zone can be effectively represented by two loading mechanisms. The one is a dynamic impulsive load generating stress waves outwards immediately after detonation. The other is a gas pressure that remains for a relatively long time. Since the gas pressure reopens up the arrested cracks and continues to extend some cracks, it contributes to the final formation of EDZ induced by blasting. This paper presents the simple method to evaluate EDZ induced by gas pressure during blasting in rock. The EDZ is characterized by analyzing crack propagation from the blasthole. To do this, a model of the blasthole with a number of radial cracks of equal length in an infinite elastic plane is considered. In this model, the crack propagation is simulated by using three conditions, the crack propagation criterion, the mass conservation of the gas, and the adiabatic condition. As a result, the stress intensity factor of the crack generally decreases as crack propagates from the blasthole so that the length of the crack is determined. In addition, the effect of rock properties, initial number of cracks, and the adiabatic exponent are investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2019

The biaxial failure mechanism of transversally bedding concrete layers was numerically simulated using a sophisticated two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) implemented in the particle flow code (PFC2D). This numerical modelling code was first calibrated by uniaxial compression and Brazilian testing results to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical model's response. Secondly, 21 rectangular models with dimension of $54mm{\times}108mm$ were built. Each model contains two transversely bedding layers. The first bedding layer has low mechanical properties, less than mechanical properties of intact material, and second bedding layer has high mechanical properties, more than mechanical properties of intact material. The angle of first bedding layer, with weak mechanical properties, related to loading direction was $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$ while the angle of second layer, with high mechanical properties, related to loading direction was $90^{\circ}$, $105^{\circ}$, $120^{\circ}$, $135^{\circ}$, $150^{\circ}$, $160^{\circ}$ and $180^{\circ}$. Is to be note that the angle between bedding layer was $90^{\circ}$ in all bedding configurations. Also, three different pairs of the thickness were chosen in models, i.e., 5 mm/10 mm, 10 mm/10 mm and 20 mm/10 mm. The result shows that in all configurations, shear cracks develop between the weaker bedding layers. Shear cracks angel related to normal load change from $0^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$ with increment of $15^{\circ}$. Numbers of shear cracks are constant by increasing the bedding thickness. It's to be noted that in some configuration, tensile cracks develop through the intact area of material model. There is not any failure in direction of bedding plane interface with higher strength.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.77-83
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• 2003

The finite element analysis was performed for the cracks existing in residual stress fields in order to investigate the effects of configuration of residual stress distribution to the fatigue crack opening behaviour. And the variation of stress distributions adjacent to the crack caused by uploading was examined. The finite element model with contact elements for the crack plane and plane stress elements for the base material and the analytical method based on the superposition principle to estimate crack opening behaviour and the stress distribution adjacent to the crack subjected to uploading were used. The results of the analysis showed that crack opening behaviors and variations of stress distribution caused by uploading were changed depending on the configuration of residual stress distribution. When the crack existed in the region of compressive residual stress and the configuration of compressive residual stress distribution were inclined, a partial crack opening just behind of a crack tip occurred during uploading. Based on the above results, it was clarified that the crack opening behaviour in the residual stress field could be predicted accurately by the finite element analysis using these analytical method and model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.181-196
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• 2023

Marine structures including offshore wind turbines (OWTs) always work under cyclic loads, which arouses much attention on the fatigue design. The tripod substructure is one of the typical foundation forms for fixed OWTs. The three-planar tubular Y-joint (3Y joint) is one of the important components in fatigue design as it is most likely to have cracks. With the existence of the multiplanar interaction effect, calculating the hot spot stress (HSS) of 3Y joints is complicated. To assist with fatigue design, the distributions of stress concentration factor (SCF) and multiplanar interaction factor (MIF) along weld toe curves induced by the out-of-plane bending moment are explored in this study. An FE analysis method was first developed and verified against experimental results. This method was applied to build a numerical database including 1920 FE models covering common ranges of geometric parameters. A parametric study has been carried out to reveal the distribution patterns of SCF and MIF. After multidimensional nonlinear fittings, SCF and MIF distribution formulas have been proposed. Accuracy and reliability checking prove that the proposed formulas are suitable for calculating the HSS of 3Y joints.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.215-226
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• 2021

To study the evolution mechanism of cracks in rocks with multiple defects, rock-like samples with multiple defects, such as strip-shaped through-going cracks and cavity groups, are used, and the crack propagation law and changes in AE (acoustic emission) and strain of cavity groups under different inclination angles are studied. According to the test results, an increase in the cavity group inclination angle can facilitate the initial damage degree of the rock and weaken the crack initiation stress; the initial crack initiation direction is approximately 90°, and the extension angle is approximately 75~90° from the strip-shaped through-going cracks; thus, the relationship between crack development and cavity group initiation strengthens. The specific performance is as follows: when the initiation angle is 30°, the cracks between the cavities in the cavity group develop relatively independently along the parallel direction of the external load; when the angle is 75°, the cracks between the cavities in the cavity group can interpenetrate, and slip can occur along the inclination of the cavity group under the action of the shear mechanism rupture. With the increase in the inclination angle of the cavity group, the AE energy fluctuation frequency at the peak stress increases, and the stress drop is obvious. The larger the cavity group inclination angle is, the more obvious the energy accumulation and the more severe the rock damage; when the cavity group angle is 30° or 75°, the peak strain of the local area below the strip-shaped through-going fracture plane is approximately three times that when the cavity group angle is 45° and 60°, indicating that cracks are easily generated in the local area monitored by the strain gauge at this angle, and the further development of the cracks weakens the strength of the rock, thereby increasing the probability of major engineering quality damage. The research results will have important reference value for hazard prevention in underground engineering projects through rock with natural and artificial defects, including tunnels and air-raid shelters.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.12 no.3 s.46
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• pp.239-250
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• 2000

This study investigates the mechanical behavior on trough rib to crossbeam joint in orthotropic steel plate decks, specially emphasizing on the effect of diaphragm inside trough rib on the fatigue behavior of slit by static and fatigue tests. In particular, the effects of diaphragm on in-plane stress and out-of-plane stress, stress concentration, propagation of fatigue cracks at the silt are studied. With the result of experiment and numerical analysis, we have estimated the fatigue strength using the nominal stress and hot-sport stress. The details with diaphragm have occurred about 50% stress reduction at trough rib part of trough rib to crossbeam joint than the detail without diaphragm, however, the lower parts of crossbeam have occurred much more stress. Initial crack size or slit have an considerable influence on the propagation of fatigue cracks due to V-notch. The fatigue strength category of the details without diaphragm has higher value than fatigue limit, whereas that of the details with diaphragm is estimated lower than fatigue limit.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.663-678
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• 2020

This paper proposes a novel topology optimization method generating multiple materials for external linear plane crack structures based on the combination of IsoGeometric Analysis (IGA) and eXtended Finite Element Method (X-FEM). A so-called eXtended IsoGeometric Analysis (X-IGA) is derived for a mechanical description of a strong discontinuity state's continuous boundaries through the inherited special properties of X-FEM. In X-IGA, control points and patches play the same role with nodes and sub-domains in the finite element method. While being similar to X-FEM, enrichment functions are added to finite element approximation without any mesh generation. The geometry of structures based on basic functions of Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) provides accurate and reliable results. Moreover, the basis function to define the geometry becomes a systematic p-refinement to control the field approximation order without altering the geometry or its parameterization. The accuracy of analytical solutions of X-IGA for the crack problem, which is superior to a conventional X-FEM, guarantees the reliability of the optimal multi-material retrofitting against external cracks through using topology optimization. Topology optimization is applied to the minimal compliance design of two-dimensional plane linear cracked structures retrofitted by multiple distinct materials to prevent the propagation of the present crack pattern. The alternating active-phase algorithm with optimality criteria-based algorithms is employed to update design variables of element densities. Numerical results under different lengths, positions, and angles of given cracks verify the proposed method's efficiency and feasibility in using X-IGA compared to a conventional X-FEM.