• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• 제24권1호
• /
• pp.127-139
• /
• 2019

Residual drifts after an earthquake can incur huge repair costs and might need to replace the infrastructure because of its non-reparability. Proper functioning of bridges is also essential in the aftermath of an earthquake. In order to mitigate pounding and unseating damage of bridges subjected to earthquakes, a self-adaptive Ni-Ti shape memory alloy (SMA)-cable-based frictional sliding bearing (SMAFSB) is proposed considering self-adaptive centering, high energy dissipation, better fatigue, and corrosion resistance from SMA-cable component. The developed novel bearing is associated with the properties of modularity, replaceability, and earthquake isolation capacity, which could reduce the repair time and increase the resilience of highway bridges. To evaluate the super-elasticity of the SMA-cable, pseudo-static tests and numerical simulation on the SMA-cable specimens with a diameter of 7 mm are conducted and one dimensional (1D) constitutive hysteretic model of the SMAFSB is developed considering the effects of gap, self-centering, and high energy dissipation. Two types of the SMAFSB (i.e., movable and fixed SMAFSBs) are applied to a two-span continuous reinforced concrete (RC) bridge. The seismic vulnerabilities of the RC bridge, utilizing movable SMAFSB with the constant gap size of 60 mm and the fixed SMAFSBs with different gap sizes (e.g., 0, 30, and 60 mm), are assessed at component and system levels, respectively. It can be observed that the fixed SMAFSB with a gap of 30 mm gained the most retrofitting effect among the three cases.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• 제17권3호
• /
• pp.297-306
• /
• 2019

The extension of existing RC buildings is a challenging process, which requires efficient connection between existing and new materials to guarantee load transferring between the lap-spliced longitudinal columns' reinforcement. Therefore, the length of the columns' starter bars is a crucial factor, which decisively affects the seismic response of the new columns. In particular, when the length of the starter bars is short, then the length of the lap splices of reinforcement is inadequate to ensure load transfer between steel bars and concrete, with an indisputable detrimental impact on the seismic behaviour of the columns. Moreover, in most of the existing RC buildings the column starter bars are of particularly short length, while they have probably been bent, cut or corroded. In the present study, the effectiveness of both welded rebar and mechanical splices of reinforcement in ensuring load transferring between the starter bars and the longitudinal reinforcement of the new column was experimentally evaluated. Four cantilever column subassemblages were constructed and subjected to earthquake-type loading. Three of the specimens were used to examine different types of shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), while in the fourth subassemblage mechanical splices were tested. The hysteretic response of the columns was evaluated and compared to the behaviour of a fifth specimen with continuous reinforcement, tested by Kalogeropoulos and Tsonos (2019). Test results clearly demonstrated that the examined types of SMAW were equally satisfactory in ensuring the ductile seismic performance of the columns, while the mechanical splices found to be more susceptible to exhibit slipping of the bars.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제8권1호
• /
• pp.65-76
• /
• 2019

This paper investigates the effect of recycled glass powder (RGP) on flowing properties of self-compacting mortars (SCMs) containing different ratios of fillers and superplasticizer dosages. Fly ash (FA), nano-silica (NS), micro-silica (MS), metakaolin (MK) and rice husk ash (RHA) are used as fillers and their synergistic effect with RFP is studied. The effects of fillers and high-range water reducer (HRWR) on flowing ability of mortars are primarily determined by slump flow and V-funnel flow time tests. The results showed that for composites with a higher RGP content, the mortar flowing ability increased but tended to decrease when the composites containing 10% MK or 5% RHA. However, the flowing ability of samples incorporating 5% RGP and 10% SF or 25% FA showed an opposite result that their slump flow spread decreased and then increased with increasing RGP content. For specimens with 3% NS, the influence of RGP content on flowing properties was not significant. Except RHA and MS, the fillers studied in this paper could reduce the dosage of HRWR required for achieving the same followability. Also, the mixture parameters were determined and indicated that the flowability of mixtures was also affected by the content of sand and specific surface area of cement materials. It is believed that excess fine particles provided ball-bearing effect, which could facilitate the movement of coarse particles and alleviate the interlocking action among particles. Also, it can be concluded that using fillers in conjunction with RGP as cementitious materials can reduce the material costs of SCM significantly.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• 제24권2호
• /
• pp.151-158
• /
• 2019

The sustainable development principle of replacing natural resources with renewable material is an important research topic. In this study, waste LCD (liquid crystal display) glass powder was used to replace cement (0%, 10%, 20% and 30%) through a volumetric method using three water-binder ratios (0.47, 0.59, and 0.71) to make cement mortar. The compressive strength was tested at the ages of 7, 28, 56 and 91 days. The test results show that the compressive strength increases with age but decreases as the water-binder ratio increases. The compressive strength slightly decreases with an increase in the replacement of LCD glass powder at a curing age of 7 days. However, at a curing age of 91 days, the compressive strength is slightly greater than that for the control group (glass powder is 0%). When the water-binder ratios are 0.47, 0.59 and 0.71, the compressive strength of the various replacements increases by 1.38-1.61 times, 1.56-1.80 times and 1.45-2.20 times, respectively, during the aging process from day 7 to day 91. Furthermore, a prediction model of the compressive strength of a cement mortar with waste LCD glass powder was deduced in this study. According to the comparison between the prediction analysis values and test results, the MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) values of the compressive strength are between 2.79% and 5.29%, and less than 10%. Thus, the analytical model established in this study has a good forecasting accuracy. Therefore, the proposed model can be used as a reliable tool for assessing the design strength of cement mortar from early age test results.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제7권3호
• /
• pp.151-166
• /
• 2019

This paper introduces a new efficient analytical method, based on shear deformations obtained with 2D elasticity theory approach, to perform an explicit closed-form solution for calculation the interfacial shear and normal stresses in plated RC beam. The materials of plate, necessary for the reinforcement of the beam, are in general made with fiber reinforced polymers (Carbon or Glass) or steel. The experimental tests showed that at the ends of the plate, high shear and normal stresses are developed, consequently a debonding phenomenon at this position produce a sudden failure of the soffit plate. The interfacial stresses play a significant role in understanding this premature debonding failure of such repaired structures. In order to efficiently model the calculation of the interfacial stresses we have integrated the effect of shear deformations using the equilibrium equations of the elasticity. The approach of this method includes stress-strain and strain-displacement relationships for the adhesive and adherends. The use of the stresses continuity conditions at interfaces between the adhesive and adherents, results pair of second-order and fourth-order coupled ordinary differential equations. The analytical solution for this coupled differential equations give new explicit closed-form solution including shear deformations effects. This new solution is indented for applications of all plated beam. Finally, numerical results obtained with this method are in agreement of the existing solutions and the experimental results.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• 제23권5호
• /
• pp.479-493
• /
• 2019

In this paper, the interaction between notch and micro pore under uniaxial compression has been performed experimentally and numerically. Firstly calibration of PFC2D was performed using Brazilian tensile strength, uniaxial tensile strength and biaxial tensile strength. Secondly uniaxial compression test consisting internal notch and micro pore was performed experimentally and numerically. 9 models consisting notch and micro pore were built, experimentally and numerically. Dimension of these models are 10 cm*1 cm*5 cm. the length of joint is 2 cm. the angularities of joint are $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$ and $60^{\circ}$. For each joint angularity, micro pore was situated 2 cm above the lower tip of the joint, 2 cm above the middle of the joint and 2 cm above the upper of the joint, separately. Dimension of numerical models are 5.4 cm*10.8 cm. The size of the cracks was 2 cm and its orientation was $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$ and $60^{\circ}$. Diameter of pore was 1cm which situated at the upper of the notch i.e., 2 cm above the upper notch tip, 2 cm above the middle of the notch and 2 cm above the lower of the notch tip. The results show that failure pattern was affected by notch orientation and pore position while uniaxial compressive strength is affected by failure pattern.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• 제16권5호
• /
• pp.611-623
• /
• 2019

A set of mid-rise bare and uniformly infilled reinforced-concrete frame buildings are analyzed for two different seismic intensities of ground-motions (i.e., 'Design Basis Earthquake' and 'Maximum Considered Earthquake') to study their floor response. The crucial parameters affecting seismic design force for acceleration-sensitive non-structural components are studied and compared with the guidelines of the European and the United States standards, and also with the recently developed NIST provisions. It is observed that the provisions of both the European and the United States standards do not account for the effects of the period of vibration of the supporting structure and seismic intensity of ground-motions and thereby provides conservative estimates of the in-structure amplification. In case of bare frames, the herein derived component amplification factors for both the design basis earthquake and the maximum considered earthquake exceeds with their recommended values in the European and the United States standards for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the higher modes of vibration, whereas, in case of infilled frames, component amplification factors exceeds with their recommended value in the European standard for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the fundamental mode of vibration, and only for the design basis earthquake. As a consequence of these observations, as well as capping on the design force (in case of United states standard and NIST provisions), in case of the design basis earthquake, the combined amplification factor is underestimated for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the higher modes of vibration of bare frames, and also for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the fundamental mode of vibration of infilled frames. At the maximum considered earthquake demand, excepting non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the higher modes of vibration of bare frames, all provisions generally provide conservative estimates of the design floor accelerations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• 제78권2호
• /
• pp.163-174
• /
• 2021

Track-bridge interaction has become an essential part in the design of bridges and rails in terms of modern railways. As a unique ballastless slab track, the longitudinal continuous slab track (LCST) or referred to as the China railway track system Type-II (CRTS II) slab track, demonstrates a complex force mechanism. Therefore, a comprehensive track-bridge interaction study between multi-span simply supported beam bridges and the LCST is presented in this work. In specific, we have developed an integrated finite element model to investigate the overall interaction effects of the LCST-bridge system subjected to the actions of temperature changes, traffic loads, and braking forces. In that place, the deformation patterns of the track and bridge, and the distributions of longitudinal forces and the interfacial shear stress are studied. Our results show that the additional rail stress has been reduced under various loads and the rail's deformation has become much smoother after the transition of the two continuous structural layers of the LCST. However, the influence of the temperature difference of bridges is significant and cannot be ignored as this action can bend the bridge like the traffic load. The uniform temperature change causes the tensile stress of the concrete track structure and further induce cracks in them. Additionally, the influences of the friction coefficient of the sliding layer and the interfacial bond characteristics on the LCST's performance are discussed. The systematic study presented in this work may have some potential impacts on the understanding of the overall mechanical behavior of the LCST-bridge system.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• 제27권2호
• /
• pp.111-130
• /
• 2021

In the present work, an extensive study for predicting efficiency parameters (��i) of various simulated nanocomposites including Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as matrix and different structures including various sizes of graphene platelets (GPLs), single, double, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs-DWCNTs-MWCNTs), and single and double-walled boron nitride nanotubes (SWBNNTs-DWBNNTs) are investigated. It should be stated that GPLs, carbon and boron nitride nanotubes (CNTs, BNNT) with different chiralities (5, 0), (5, 5), (10, 0), and (10, 10) as reinforcements are considered. In this research, molecular dynamics (MDs) method with Materials studio software is applied to examine the mechanical properties (Young's modulus) of simulated nanocomposite boxes and calculate η1 of each nanocomposite boxes. Then, it is noteworthy that by changing length (6.252, 10.584, and 21.173 nm) and width (7.137, 10.515, and 19.936) of GPLs, ��1, ��2, and ��3 approximately becomes (0.101, 0.114, and 0.124), (1.15, 1.22, and 1.26), (1.04, 1.05, and 1.07) respectively. After that efficiency parameters of SWCNTs, DWCNTs, and MWCNTs are calculated and discussed separately. Finally efficiency parameters of SWBNNTs and DWBNNTs with different chiralities by PMMA as matrix are determined by MD and discussed separately. It is known that the accurate efficiency parameters helps a lot to calculate the properties of nanocomposite analytically. In particular, the obtained results from this research can be used for analytical work based on the extended rule of mixture (ERM) in bending, buckling and vibration analysis of structure in future study.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• 제27권3호
• /
• pp.199-210
• /
• 2021

The aim of this paper was to examine the continuous and discontinuous contact problems between the functionally graded (FG) layer pressed with a uniformly distributed load and homogeneous half plane using an analytical method and FEM. The FG layer is made of non-homogeneous material with an isotropic stress-strain law with exponentially varying properties. It is assumed that the contact at the FG layer-half plane interface is frictionless, and only the normal tractions can be transmitted along the contacted regions. The body force of the FG layer is considered in the study. The FG layer was positioned on the homogeneous half plane without any bonds. Thus, if the external load was smaller than a certain critical value, the contact between the FG layer and half plane would be continuous. However, when the external load exceeded the critical value, there was a separation between the FG layer and half plane on the finite region, as discontinuous contact. Therefore, there have been some steps taken in this study. Firstly, an analytical solution for continuous and discontinuous contact cases of the problem has been realized using the theory of elasticity and Fourier integral transform techniques. Then, the problem modeled and two-dimensional analysis was carried out by using ANSYS package program based on FEM. Numerical results for initial separation distance and contact stress distributions between the FG layer and homogeneous half plane for continuous contact case; the start and end points of separation and contact stress distributions between the FG layer and homogeneous half plane for discontinuous contact case were provided for various dimensionless quantities including material inhomogeneity, distributed load width, the shear module ratio and load factor for both methods. The results obtained using FEM were compared with the results found using analytical formulation. It was found that the results obtained from analytical formulation were in perfect agreement with the FEM study.