• Computers and Concrete
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.277-292
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• 2023

Much of our experiments are designed to uncover the cause(s) and effect(s) behind a phenomenon (i.e., data generating mechanism) we happen to be interested in. Uncovering such relationships allows us to identify the true workings of a phenomenon and, most importantly, to realize and articulate a model to explore the phenomenon on hand and/or allow us to predict it accurately. Fundamentally, such models are likely to be derived via a causal approach (as opposed to an observational or empirical mean). In this approach, causal discovery is required to create a causal model, which can then be applied to infer the influence of interventions, and answer any hypothetical questions (i.e., in the form of What ifs? Etc.) that commonly used prediction- and statistical-based models may not be able to address. From this lens, this paper builds a case for causal discovery and causal inference and contrasts that against common machine learning approaches - all from a civil and structural engineering perspective. More specifically, this paper outlines the key principles of causality and the most commonly used algorithms and packages for causal discovery and causal inference. Finally, this paper also presents a series of examples and case studies of how causal concepts can be adopted for our domain.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.359-370
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• 2023

Slime is produced by excavation during the installation of embedded piles, and it tends to mix with the cement paste injected into the pile shafts. The objective of this study is to investigate the strength and stiffness characteristics of cement pasteslime mixtures. Mixtures with different slime ratios are prepared and cured for 28 days. Uniaxial compression tests and elastic wave measurements are conducted to obtain the static and dynamic properties, respectively. The uniaxial compressive strengths and static elastic moduli of the mixtures are evaluated according to the curing period, slime ratio, and water-cement ratio. In addition, dynamic properties, e.g., the constrained, shear, and elastic moduli, are estimated from the compressional and shear wave velocities. The experimental results show that the static and dynamic properties increase under an increase in the curing period but decrease under an increase in the slime and water-cement ratios. The cement paste-slime mixtures show several exponential relationships between their static and dynamic properties, depending on the slime ratio. The bearing mechanisms of embedded piles can be better understood by examining the strength and stiffness characteristics of cement paste-slime mixtures.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.171-178
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• 2023

Cytoskeleton components play key role in maintaining cell structure and in giving shape to the cell. These components include microtubules, microfilaments and intermediate filaments. Among these filaments intermediate filaments are the most rigid and bear large compressive force. Actually, these filaments are surrounded by other filaments like microtubules and microfilaments. This network of filaments makes a layer as a surface on intermediate filaments that have great impact on buckling behavior of intermediate filaments. In the present article, buckling behavior of intermediate filaments is studied by taking into account the effects of surface by using Euler Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories. It is found that effects of surface greatly affect the critical buckling force of intermediate filaments. Further, it is observed that the critical buckling force is inversely proportional to the length of filament. Such types of observations are helpful for further analysis of nanofibrous in their actual environments within the cell.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.149-159
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• 2023

Water glass (WG) and sodium sulfate (SS) were used to prepare polymeric aluminum chloride residue cement mortar (PACRM) by single and compound blending with polymeric aluminum chloride waste residue, respectively. The structural strength and textural characteristics examinations showed that PACRM consistency increased by incorporating WG, but decreased by incorporating SS. When WG and SS were compounded, the mortar consistency initially rose before falling. The compressive strength of PACRM increased and then decreased as WG was increased. The mechanical properties of PACRM were better enhanced by SS than WG, showing no strength deterioration. The main reason for the improved mechanical properties of polymeric aluminum chloride waste residue in the presence of activators is the increased precipitation of reactive substances, such as C-S-H gels, calcium silica, and Ca(OH)₂. The density of the specimens with PACRM and the degree of aggregation of hydration products were significantly enhanced by generating more hydration products in the mortar. Further, the cracks and pores were significantly reduced, and the matrix structure was continuous and dense at 5% SS doping and 3% compound doping.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.219-230
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• 2022

Knowing that the variability of soil properties is an important source of uncertainty in geotechnical analyses, we will study in this paper the effect of this variability on the seismic response of a structure within the framework of Soil Structure Interaction (SSI). We use the proposed and developed model (N2-ISS, Mekki et al., 2014). This approach is based on an extension of the N2 method by determining the capacity curve of the fixed base system oscillating mainly in the first mode, then modified to obtain the capacity curve of the system on a flexible basis using the concept of the equivalent nonlinear oscillator. The properties of the soil that we are interested in this paper will be the shear wave velocity and the soil damping. These parameters will be modeled at first, as independent random fields, then, the two parameters will be correlated. The results obtained showed the importance of the use of random field in the study of SSI systems. The variability of soil damping and shear wave velocity introduces significant uncertainty not only in the evaluation of the damping of the soil-structure system but also in the estimation of the displacement of the structure and the base-shear force.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.319-330
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• 2022

Retrofit of soft-story buildings due to seismic loads using Gap-Inclined-Brace (GIB) system is considered a new retrofit technique that aims to maintain both strength and stiffness of structure. In addition, it provides more ductility and less P-delta effect, and subsequently better performance is observed. In this paper, the effect of the eccentricity between GIB and the retrofitted column due to installation on the efficiency of the retrofitting system is studied. In addition, a modification in the determination method of GIB properties is introduced to reduce the eccentricity effect. Also, the effect of GIB system on the seismic response of mid-rise buildings with different heights considering soft-story at various heights has been studied. A numerical model is developed to study the impact of such system on the response of retrofitted soft-story buildings under the action of seismic loads. To achieve that goal, this model is used to perform a numerical investigation, by considering five case study scenarios represent several locations of soft-story of two mid-rise reinforced concrete buildings. At first, Non-linear static pushover analysis was carried out to develop the capacity curves for case studies. Then, Non-linear time history analyses using ten earthquake records with five peak ground accelerations is performed for each case study scenario before and after retrofitting with GIB. The results show that large GIB eccentricity reduce the ultimate lateral resistance and deformation capacity of the retrofitting system. Moreover, the higher the retrofitted building, the more deformation capacity is observed but without significant increase in ultimate lateral resistance.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.263-275
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• 2022

Structural collapses can occur as a result of a dynamic amplification of either, the building's seismic response or the ground shaking by local site effects; one of the reasons is a resonance effect due to the proximity of the structural elastic fundamental period TE and the soil fundamental period TS. We evaluate the vulnerability to resonance effects in Guadalajara, México, in a three-step schema: 1) we define structural systems in the building environment of western Guadalajara, in terms of their construction materials and structural components; 2) we estimate TE with different equations, to obtain a representative value in elastic conditions for each structural system; and, 3) we evaluate the resonance vulnerability by the analysis of the ratio between TE and TS. We observe that the larger the soil fundamental period, the higher the resonance vulnerability for buildings with height between 17 and 39 m. For the sites with a low TS, the most vulnerable buildings will be those with a height between 2 and 9 m. These results can be a helpful tool for disaster prevention, by avoiding the construction of buildings with certain heights and structural characteristics that would result in a dangerous proximity between TE and TS.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제81권1호
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• pp.93-102
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• 2022

The optimum design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls subjected to seismic loads is an extremely important challenge in structural and geotechnical engineering, especially in seismic zones. This study proposes an adaptive sperm swarm optimization algorithm (ASSO) for economic design of retaining structure under static and seismic loading. The proposed ASSO algorithm utilizes a time-varying velocity damping factor to provide a fine balance between the explorative and exploitative behavior of the original method. In addition, the new method considers a reasonable velocity limitation to avoid the divergence of the sperm movement. The proposed algorithm is benchmarked with a set of test functions and the results are compared with the standard sperm swarm optimization (SSO) and some other robust metaheuristic from the literature. For seismic optimization of retaining structures, Mononobe-Okabe method is employed for dynamic loading conditions and total construction cost of the structure is considered as the single objective function. The optimization constraints include both geotechnical and structural restrictions and the design variables are the geometrical dimensions of the wall and the amount of steel reinforcement. Finally, optimization of two benchmark retaining structures under static and seismic loads using the ASSO algorithm is presented. According to the numerical results, the ASSO may provide better optimal solutions, and the designs obtained by ASSO have a lower cost by up to 20% compared with some other methods from the literature.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.215-228
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• 2023

The vibrational behavior of nanoelements is critical in determining how a nanostructure behaves. However, combining vibrational analysis with stability analysis allows for a more comprehensive knowledge of a structure's behavior. As a result, the goal of this research is to characterize the behavior of nonlocal nanocyndrical beams with uniform and nonuniform cross sections. The nonuniformity of the beams is determined by three distinct section functions, namely linear, convex, and exponential functions, with the length and mass of the beams being identical. For completely clamped, fully pinned, and cantilever boundary conditions, Eringen's nonlocal theory is combined with the Timoshenko beam model. The extended differential quadrature technique was used to solve the governing equations in this research. In contrast to the other boundary conditions, the findings of this research reveal that the nonlocal impact has the opposite effect on the frequency of the uniform cantilever nanobeam. Furthermore, since the mass of the materials employed in these nanobeams is designed to remain the same, the findings may be utilized to help improve the frequency and buckling stress of a resonator without requiring additional material, which is a cost-effective benefit.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.443-455
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• 2023

This is a research analyses on the bearing capacity at a pile tip embedded in rock. The aim is to propose a shape coefficient for an analytical solution and to investigate the influence of the plastic flow law on the problem. For this purpose, the finite difference method is used to analyze the bearing capacity of various types and states of rock masses, assuming the Hoek & Brown failure criterion, by considering both plane strain and an axisymmetric model. Different geometrical configurations were adopted for this analysis. First, the axisymmetric numerical results were compared with those obtained from the plane strain analytical solution. Then the pile shape influence on the bearing capacity was studied. A shape factor is now proposed. Furthermore, an evaluation was done on the influence of the plastic flow law on the pile tip bearing capacity. Associative flow and non-associative flow with null dilatancy were considered, resulting in a proposed correlation. A total of 324 cases were simulated, performing a sensitivity analysis on the results and using the graphic output of vertical displacement and maximum principal stress to understand how the failure mechanism occurs in the numerical model.