• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.621-630
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• 2024

This study presents novel electromagnetic wave-based methods for evaluating the integrity of cement-based structures using time domain reflectometry (TDR). Two cement-based plates with embedded rebars are prepared under sound and defective conditions. TDR tests are carried out using transmission lines with various numbers of artificial joints, and electromagnetic waves are measured to assess the integrity of the plates. The experimental results show that the travel time of electromagnetic waves is consistently longer in sound plates than in defective ones, and an increase in the reflection coefficients is observed in the defect zone of the defective plates. Electromagnetic wave velocities are higher in the defective plates, especially when connectors are present in the transmission line. A novel approach based on the area of the reflection coefficient provides larger areas in the defective plates, and the attenuation effect of the electromagnetic waves induces a difference in the areas of the reflection coefficient between the two defect conditions. An alternative method using the centroid of the defect zone slightly overestimates the location of the defect zone. The length of the defect zone is estimated using the defect ratio and wave velocities of cement, air, and plate. The length of the defect zone can also be calculated using the travel times within the plate, total measured length of the plate, and wave velocities in the cement and air. Therefore, the electromagnetic wave-based methods proposed in this study may be useful for estimating the location and length of defect zones by considering attenuation effects.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.401-416
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• 2024

Long-span structures, such as bridges, can experience different seismic excitations at the supports due to spatially variability of ground motion. Regarding current bridge designing codes, it is just EC 2008 that suggested some regulations to consider it and in the other codes almost ignored while based on some previous studies it is found that the effect of mentioned issue could not be neglected. The current study aimed to perform a comprehensive study about the effect of spatially varying ground motions on the dynamic response of a reinforced concrete bridge under asynchronous input motions considering soil-structure interactions. The correlated ground motions were generated by an introduced method that contains all spatially varying components, and imposed on the supports of the finite element model under different load scenarios. Then the obtained results from uniform and non-uniform excitations were compared to each other. In addition, the effect of soil-structure interactions involved and the corresponding results compared to the previous results. Also, to better understand the seismic response of the bridge, the responses caused by pseudo-static components decompose from the total response. Finally, an incremental dynamic analysis was performed to survey the non-linear behavior of the bridge under assumed load scenarios. The outcomes revealed that the local site condition plays an important role and strongly amplifies the responses. Furthermore, it was found that a combination of wave-passage and strong incoherency severely affected the responses of the structure. Moreover, it has been found that the pseudo-static component's contribution increase with increasing incoherent parameters. In addition, regarding the soil condition was considered for the studied bridge, it was found that a combination of spatially varying ground motions and soil-structure interactions effects could make a very destructive scenarios like, pounding and unseating.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.27-39
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• 2024

In this study, the authors investigate the free vibration behavior of three-phases functionally graded sandwich plates using a novel nth-order shear deformation theory. These plates are composed of a homogeneous core and two face-sheet layers made of different functionally graded materials. This is the novel type of the sandwich structures that can be applied in many fields of mechanical engineering and industrial. The proposed theory only requires four unknown displacement functions, and the transverse displacement does not need to be separated into bending and shear parts, simplifying the theory. One noteworthy feature of the proposed theory is its ability to capture the parabolic distribution of transverse shear strains and stresses throughout the plate's thickness while ensuring zero values on the two free surfaces. By eliminating the need for shear correction factors, the theory further enhances computational efficiency. Equations of motion are established using Hamilton's principle and solved via Navier's solution. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed theory are verified by comparing results with available solutions. The authors then use the proposed theory to investigate the free vibration characteristics of three-phases functionally graded sandwich plates, considering the effects of parameters such as aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio, skin-core-skin thicknesses, and power-law indexes. Through careful analysis of the free vibration behavior of three-phases functionally graded sandwich plates, the work highlighted the significant roles played by individual material ingredients in influencing their frequencies.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.31-48
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• 2024

In order to get a better understanding of seismic performance of exterior beam-column joint, reciprocating loading tests with variable loading speeds or axial forces were carried out. The main findings indicate that only few cracks exist on the surface of the joint core area, while the plastic hinge region at the beam end is seriously damaged. The damage of the specimen is more serious with the increase of the upper limit of variable axial force. The deflection ductility coefficient of specimen decreases to various degrees after the upper limit of variable axial force increases. In addition, the higher the loading speed is, the lower the deflection ductility coefficient of the specimen is. The stiffness of the specimen decreases as the upper limit of variable axial force or the loading speed increase. Compared to the influence of variable axial force, the influence of the loading speed on the stiffness degradation of the specimen is more obvious. The cumulative energy dissipation and the equivalent viscous damping coefficient of specimen decrease with the increase of loading speed. The influence of variable axial force on the energy dissipation of specimen varies under different loading speeds. Based on the truss model, the biaxial stress criterion, the Rankine criterion, the Kent-Scott-Park model, the equivalent theorem of shearing stress, the softened strut-and-tie model, the controlled slip theory and the proposed equations, a calculation method for the shear capacity is proposed with satisfactory prediction results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.425-443
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• 2024

Floods are among the most common natural hazards in urban areas. To mitigate the problems caused by flooding, unstructured data such as images and videos collected from closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been examined for flood management (FM). Many computer vision (CV) techniques have been widely adopted to analyze imagery data. Although some papers have reviewed recent CV approaches that utilize UAV images or remote sensing data, less effort has been devoted to studies that have focused on CCTV data. In addition, few studies have distinguished between the main research objectives of CV techniques (e.g., flood depth and flooded area) for a comprehensive understanding of the current status and trends of CV applications for each FM research topic. Thus, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature that proposes CV techniques for aspects of FM using ground camera (e.g., CCTV) data. Research topics are classified into four categories: flood depth, flood detection, flooded area, and surface water velocity. These application areas are subdivided into three types: urban, river and stream, and experimental. The adopted CV techniques are summarized for each research topic and application area. The primary goal of this review is to provide guidance for researchers who plan to design a CV model for specific purposes such as flood-depth estimation. Researchers should be able to draw on this review to construct an appropriate CV model for any FM purpose.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.167-181
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• 2024

The soil-structure relative stiffness is a key factor affecting the seismic response of underground structures. It is of great significance to study the soil-structure relative stiffness for the soil-structure interaction and the seismic disaster reduction of subway stations. In this paper, the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio of an inhomogeneous soft soil site under different buried depths which were obtained by a one-dimensional equivalent linearization site response analysis were used as the input parameters in a 2D finite element model. A visco-elasto-plastic constitutive model based on the Mohr-Coulomb shear failure criterion combined with stiffness degradation was used to describe the plastic behavior of soil. The damage plasticity model was used to simulate the plastic behavior of concrete. The horizontal and vertical relative stiffness ratios of soil and structure were defined to study the influence of relative stiffness on the seismic response of subway stations in inhomogeneous soft soil. It is found that the compression damage to the middle columns of a subway station with a higher relative stiffness ratio is more serious while the tensile damage is slighter under the same earthquake motion. The relative stiffness has a significant influence on ground surface deformation, ground acceleration, and station structure deformation. However, the effect of the relative stiffness on the deformation of the bottom slab of the subway station is small. The research results can provide a reference for seismic fortification of subway stations in the soft soil area.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.563-573
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• 2024

In this study, various countermeasures used to mitigate tunnel deformations due to nearby multi-propped basement excavation in soft clay are explored by three-dimensional numerical analyses. Field measurements are used to calibrate the numerical model and model parameters. Since concrete slabs can constrain soil and retaining wall movements, tunnel movements reach the maximum value when soils are excavated to the formation level of basement. Deformation shapes of an existing tunnel due to adjacent basement excavation are greatly affected by relative position between tunnel and basement. When the tunnel is located above or far below the formation level of basement, it elongates downward-toward or upward-toward the basement, respectively. It is found that tunnel movements concentrate in a triangular zone with a width of 2 H_e (i.e., final excavation depth) and a depth of 1 D (i.e., tunnel diameter) above or 1 D below the formation level of basement. By increasing retaining wall thickness from 0.4 m to 0.9 m, tunnel movements decrease by up to 56.7%. Moreover, tunnel movements are reduced by up to 80.7% and 61.3%, respectively, when the entire depth and width of soil within basement are reinforced. Installation of isolation wall can greatly reduce tunnel movements due to adjacent basement excavation, especially for tunnel with a shallow burial depth. The effectiveness of isolation wall to reduce tunnel movement is negligible unless the wall reaches the level of tunnel invert.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.659-674
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• 2024

Casting Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) on an orthotropic steel deck and forming a composite action by connectors could improve the steel deck fatigue performance. This study presents the mechanical performance of a proposed post-combination connection between UHPC and steel, which had a low constraint effect on UHPC shrinkage. A total of 10 push-out tests were conducted for static and fatigue performance investigations. And the test results were compared with evaluation methods in codes to verify the latter's applicability. Meanwhile, nonlinear simulation and parametric works with material damage plasticity models were also conducted for the static and fatigue failure mechanism understanding. The static and fatigue test results both showed that fractures at stud roots and surrounding local UHPC crushes were the main failure appearances. Compared with normally arranged studs, group arrangement could result in reductions of static stud shear stiffness, strength, and fatigue lives, which were about 18%, 12%, and 27%, respectively. Compared with the test results, stud shear capacity and fatigue lives evaluations based on the codes of AASHTO, Eurocode 4, JSCE and JTG D64 could be applicable in general while the safety redundancies tended to be smaller or even insufficient for group studs. The analysis results showed that arranging studs in groups caused obviously uneven strain distributions. The severer stress concentration and larger strain ranges caused the static and fatigue performance degradations of group studs. The research outcome provides a very important basis for establishing a design method of connections in the novel post-combination steel-UHPC composite deck.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.65-76
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• 2018

Purpose - This paper investigates how the market value of the firms are impacted by distribution information technology investment in Korea over time and across markets, industries and project characteristics. This is the first empirical study on the market payoffs from the RFID investment in Korea. The purpose of this study is to provide a appropriate guideline for investors and practitioners with respect to the announcement representing RFID adoption in Korea. This reaction guideline will stimulate the practitioners to monitor and evaluate the benefits and costs of the innovative RFID technology. Research design, data, and methodology - This paper employs event study methodology to analyze the payoffs from distribution information technology investment announcements over a fifteen-year period from 2003 to 2017. Event study method is based on the assumptions such as market efficiency, unanticipated RFID invest announcements and no confounding effects in the data. This study collected the information on RFID investment announcements by using a full text search engine Bigkinds provided by Korea Press Foundation over a fifteen-year period from January 2003 through December 2017. This paper selected 88 announcements representing RFID adoption by 46 firms. This paper estimated the payoffs from RFID investment announcement through events windows by using the market model of Mcwilliams and Siegel (1997) and calculated the Z-values. Using this test statistics we could infer if RFID adoption make large differences in abnormal returns across various classifications of the firms. Results - There is significant positive market returns from the announcement representing distribution information technology investment in the pre-2009 time period, the significances of payoffs disappear in the post-2009 time period. For this reason investors or practitioners can understand the importance of market entry time and the fact that the greater rewards may belong to early innovators while late imitators cannot reap such a rewards. This paper also find that there is a large differences in the payoffs from the announcement across markets, industries and project characteristics. Conclusions - Analysing the selected sample of 88 announcements representing RFID Adoption over fifteen-year period from 2003 to 2017, this study find that there is not only significant abnormal excess returns from RFID investment announcements but also there is great differences in the abnormal returns over time and across firm sizes or affiliated markets, industries, and project characteristics. This means that there are considerable values for the investors across various firm classifications. The findings of this paper provide useful implications for the practitioners to make judicious decisions whether to adopt the innovative technologies in general or not considering the various concrete circumstances in Korea.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.221-232
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• 2008

This paper represents the final results of a research program sponsored by the European Commission through project WIND-CHIME ($\underline{W}$ide Range Non-$\underline{IN}$trusive $\underline{D}$evices toward $\underline{C}$onservation of $\underline{HI}$storical Monuments in the $\underline{ME}$diterranean Area), in which the possibility of using advanced seismic protection technologies to preserve historical monuments in the Mediterranean area is investigated. In the current research, the dynamic characteristics of two outstanding Mamluk-Style minarets, which similar minarets were reported to experience extensive damage during Dahshur 1992 earthquake, are investigated. The first minaret is the Qusun minaret (1337 A.D, 736 Hijri Date (H.D)) located in El-Suyuti cemetery on the southern side of the Salah El-Din citadel. The minaret is currently separated from the surrounding building and is directly resting on the ground (no vaults underneath). The total height of the minaret is 40.28 meters with a base rectangular shaft of about 5.42 ${\times}$ 5.20 m. The second minaret is the southern minaret of Al-Sultaniya (1340 A.D, 739 H.D). It is located about 30.0 meters from Qusun minaret, and it is now standing alone but it seems that it used to be attached to a huge unidentified structure. The style of the minaret and its size attribute it to the first half of the fourteenth century. The minaret total height is 36.69 meters and has a 4.48 ${\times}$ 4.48 m rectangular base. Field investigations were conducted to obtain: (a) geometrical description of the minarets, (b) material properties of the minarets' stones, and (c) soil conditions at the minarets' location. Ambient vibration tests were performed to determine the modal parameters of the minarets such as natural frequencies and mode shapes. A $1/16^{th}$ scale model of Qusun minaret was constructed at Cairo University Concrete Research Laboratory and tested under free vibration with and without SMA wire dampers. The contribution of SMA wire dampers to the structural damping coefficient was evaluated under different vertical loads and vibration amplitudes. Experimental results were used along with the field investigation data to develop a realistic 3-D finite element model that can be used for seismic risk evaluation of the minarets. Examining the updated finite element models under different seismic excitations indicated the vulnerability of such structures to earthquakes with medium to high a/v ratio. The use of SMA wire dampers was found feasible for reducing the seismic risk for this type of structures.