• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.787-799
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• 2016

Climate anomalies in recent years, numerous natural disasters caused by landslides and a large amount of entrained sands and stones in Taiwan have created significant disasters and greater difficulties in subsequent reconstruction. How to respond to these problems efficaciously is an important issue. In this study, the sands and stones were doped with recycled materials (waste LCD glass sand, slag powder), and material was mixed for recycled ready-mixed soil. The study is based on security and economic principles, using flowability test to determine the water-binder ratio (W/B=2.4, 2.6, and 2.8), a fixed soil: sand ratio of 6:4 and a soil: sand: glass ratio of 6:2:2 as fine aggregate. Slag (at concentrations of 0%, 20%, and 40%) replaced the cement. The following tests were conducted: flowability, initial setting time, unit weight, drop-weight and compressive strength. The results show that the slump values are 220 -290 mm, the slump flow values are 460 -1030 mm, and the tube flow values are 240-590 mm, all conforming to the objectives of the design. The initial setting times are 945-1695 min. The unit weight deviations are 0.1-0.6%. The three groups of mixtures conform to the specification, being below 7.6 cm in the drop-weight test. In the compressive strength test, the water-binder ratios for 2.4 are optimal ($13.78-17.84kgf/cm^2$). The results show that Recycled ready-mixed soil materials (RRMSM) possesses excellent flowability. The other properties, applied to backfill engineering, can effectively save costs and are conducive to environmental protection.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.503-529
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• 2015

Traditionally, multi-story buildings are designed to provide stiffer structural support to withstand lateral earthquake loading. Introducing flexible elements at the base of a structure and providing sufficient damping is an alternative way to mitigate seismic hazards. These features can be achieved with a device known as an isolator. This paper covers the design of base isolators for multi-story buildings in medium-risk seismicity regions and evaluates the structural responses of such isolators. The well-known tower building for police personnel built in Dhaka, Bangladesh by the Public Works Department (PWD) has been used as a case study to justify the viability of incorporating base isolators. The objective of this research was to establish a simplified model of the building that can be effectively used for dynamic analysis, to evaluate the structural status, and to suggest an alternative option to handle the lateral seismic load. A finite element model was incorporated to understand the structural responses. Rubber-steel bearing (RSB) isolators such as Lead rubber bearing (LRB) and high damping rubber bearing (HDRB) were used in the model to insert an isolator link element in the structural base. The nonlinearities of rubber-steel bearings were considered in detail. Linear static, linear dynamic, and nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed for both fixed-based (FB) and base isolated (BI) buildings considering the earthquake accelerograms, histories, and response spectra of the geological sites. Both the time-domain and frequency-domain approaches were used for dynamic solutions. The results indicated that for existing multi-story buildings, RSB diminishes the muscular amount of structural response compared to conventional non-isolated structures. The device also allows for higher horizontal displacement and greater structural flexibility. The suggested isolation technique is able to mitigate the structural hazard under even strong earthquake vulnerability.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2016

In Algeria, wastes are often stored in such conditions that do not meet standards. Today and more than ever, we really must implement an environmentally management of wastes. Recovery of waste in Algeria has a considerable delay due to the absence of a policy favorable to the development of waste management. But many researchers have shown the possibility to reuse dredged sediments in road construction. Through Europe, recent research works have been already performed on dam sediments. Present study fits into the context of the valorization of dredged sediments from Fergoug dam. They are found in considerable quantities and mainly composed of mineral phases, organic matters and water. The reservoir sedimentation poses problems for the environment and water storage, dredging becomes necessary. Civil engineering is a common way of recycling for such materials. Dredged sediments have not the required mechanical characteristics recommended by the standards as GTR guide (LCPC-SETRA 1992). So as to obtain mechanical performance, dredged sediment can be treated with cement, lime, or replaced materials like quarry sand. An experimental study has been conducted to determine physical and mechanical characteristics of sediments dredged from dam. Then different mixtures of sediment and/or quarry sand with hydraulic binders are proposed for improving the grain size distribution of the mixes. Finally, according these mixtures, different formulations have been tested as alternative materials with dredged sediments.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.277-294
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• 2012

The aim of the study is to determine the modal parameters of a prototype damaged arch dam by operational modal analysis (OMA) method for some damage scenarios. For this purpose, a prototype arch dam-reservoir-foundation model is constructed under laboratory conditions. Ambient vibration tests on the arch dam model are performed to identify the modal parameters such as natural frequency, mode shape and damping ratio. The tests are conducted for four test-case scenarios: an undamaged dam with empty reservoir, two different damaged dams with empty reservoirs, and a damaged dam with full reservoir. Loading simulating random impact effects is applied on the dam to crack. Cracks and fractures occurred at the middle of the upper part of the dams and distributed through the abutments. Sensitivity accelerometers are placed on the dams' crests to collect signals for measurements. Operational modal analysis software processes the signals collected from the ambient vibration tests, and enhanced frequency domain decomposition and stochastic subspace identification techniques are used to estimate modal parameters of the dams. The modal parameters are obtained to establish a basis for comparison of the results of two techniques for each damage case. Results show that approximately 35-40% difference exists between the natural frequencies obtained from Case 1 and Case 4. The natural frequencies of the dam considerably decrease with increasing cracks. However, observation shows that the filled reservoir slightly affected modal parameters of the dam after severe cracking. The mode shapes obtained are symmetrical and anti-symmetrical. Apparently, mode shapes in Case 1 represent the probable responses of arch dams more accurately. Also, damping ratio show an increase when cracking increases.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.239-252
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• 2013

Mortar microstructure is considered as a three-phase composite material, which is cement paste, fine aggregate and interfacial transition zone. Interfacial transition zone is the weakest link between the cement paste and fine aggregate, so it has a significant role to determine the properties of cementitious composites. In this study, specimens (w/c = 0.35, 0.45, 0.55) with various volume fractions of fine aggregate ($V_f$ = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) were cast and tested. To predict the equivalent migration coefficient ($M_e$) and migration coefficient of interfacial transition zone ($M_{itz}$), double-inclusion method and Mori-Tanaka theory were used to estimate. There are two stages to estimate and calculate the thickness of interfacial transition zone (h) and migration coefficient of interfacial transition zone ($M_{itz}$). The first stage, the data of experimental chloride ion migration coefficient ($M_s$) was used to calculate the equivalent migration coefficient of fine aggregate with interfacial transition zone ($M_e$) by Mori-Tanaka theory. The second stage, the thickness of interfacial transition zone (h) and migration coefficient of interfacial transition zone ($M_{itz}$) was calculated by Hori and Nemat-Nasser's double inclusion model. Between the theoretical and experimental data a comparison was conducted to investigate the behavior of interfacial transition zone in mortar and the effect of interfacial transition zone on the chloride migration coefficient, the results indicated that the numerical simulations is derived to the $M_{itz}/M_m$ ratio is 2.11~8.28. Additionally, thickness of interfacial transition zone is predicted from $10{\mu}m$, 60 to $80{\mu}m$, 70 to $100{\mu}m$ and 90 to $130{\mu}m$ for SM30, M35, M45 and M55, respectively.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.639-658
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• 2017

Very limited studies have been accomplished concerning the historical structures around Harran area. Collected mortar samples from the historic structures in the area were tested to explore their mechanical, chemical and mineralogical properties. Mortar samples from three different points of each historical structure were taken and specified in accordance with the related standards taking into consideration their mechanical, chemical and mineralogical properties. By means of SEM-EDX the presence of organic fibres and calcite, quartz, plagioclase and muscovite minerals has been examined. Additionally, by means of XRF analysis, oxide ($SiO_2$, $Al_2O_3$, and $Fe_2O_3$) percentages of mortar ingredients have been specified, also. According to the test results obtained, it was confirmed that the mortars had densities ranging between $1.51-2.10g/cm^3$, porosity values ranging between 8.89-35.38% and compressive strengths ranging between 5.02-5.90 MPa. Specimen HU, which has the highest durability and lowest water absorption and porosity, was the mortar taken from the most intact building in the mosque complex. This result is most likely due to the very little fine aggregate content of HU. In contrast, HUC mortars with a small amount of fine particles and brick contents yielded slightly lower compressive strengths. The interesting point of this study is the mineralogical analysis results and especially the presence of ettringite in these historic mortars linked to the use of pozzolanic materials. Survival of these historic structures in Harran Area through centuries of use and, also, having been subjected to many earthquakes can probably be explained by these properties of the mortars.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2017

Finite element model updating is very effective procedure to determine the uncertainty parameters in structural model and minimize the differences between experimentally and numerically identified dynamic characteristics. This procedure can be practiced with manual and automatic model updating procedures. The manual model updating involves manual changes of geometry and analyses parameters by trial and error, guided by engineering judgement. Besides, the automated updating is performed by constructing a series of loops based on optimization procedures. This paper addresses the ambient vibration based finite element model updating of long span reinforced concrete highway bridges using manual model updating procedure. Birecik Highway Bridge located on the $81^{st}km$ of Şanliurfa-Gaziantep state highway over Firat River in Turkey is selected as a case study. The structural carrier system of the bridge consists of two main parts: Arch and Beam Compartments. In this part of the paper, the arch compartment is investigated. Three dimensional finite element model of the arch compartment of the bridge is constructed using SAP2000 software to determine the dynamic characteristics, numerically. Operational Modal Analysis method is used to extract dynamic characteristics using Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition method. Numerically and experimentally identified dynamic characteristics are compared with each other and finite element model of the arch compartment of the bridge is updated manually by changing some uncertain parameters such as section properties, damages, boundary conditions and material properties to reduce the difference between the results. It is demonstrated that the ambient vibration measurements are enough to identify the most significant modes of long span highway bridges. Maximum differences between the natural frequencies are reduced averagely from %49.1 to %0.6 by model updating. Also, a good harmony is found between mode shapes after finite element model updating.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.197-208
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• 2019

The objective of this study is to propose new seismic intensity parameters based on the Hilbert spectrum and to associate them with the seismic damage potential. In recent years the assessment of even more seismic features derived from the seismic acceleration time-histories was associated with the structural damage. For a better insight into the complex seismic acceleration time-history, Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) analysis is utilized for its processing, and the Hilbert spectrum is obtained. New proposed seismic intensity parameters based on the Hilbert spectrum are derived. The aim is to achieve a significant estimation of the seismic damage potential on structures from the proposed new intensity parameters confirmed by statistical methods. Park-Ang overall structural damage index is used to describe the postseismic damage status of structures. Thus, a set of recorded seismic accelerograms from all over the word is applied on a reinforced concrete frame structure, and the Park-Ang indices through nonlinear dynamic analysis are provided and considered subsequently as reference numerical values. Conventional seismic parameters, with well-known seismic structural damage interrelation, are evaluated for the same set of excitations. Statistical procedures, namely correlation study and multilinear regression analysis, are applied on the set of the conventional parameters and the set of proposed new parameters separately, to confirm their interrelation with the seismic structural damage. The regression models are used for the evaluation of the structural damage indices for every set of parameters, respectively. The predicted numerical values of the structural damage indices evaluated from the two sets of seismic intensity parameters are inter-compared with the reference values. The numerical results confirm the ability of the proposed Hilbert spectrum based new seismic intensity parameters to approximate the postseismic structural damage with a smaller Standard Error of Estimation than this accomplished of the conventional ones.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.5
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• pp.575-589
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• 2018

It is well known that the incidence angle of seismic excitation has an influence on the structural response of buildings, and this effect can be more significant in the case of near-fault signals. However, current seismic codes do not include detailed requirements regarding the direction of application of the seismic action and they have only recently introduced specific provisions about near-fault earthquakes. Thus, engineers have the task of evaluating all the relevant directions or the most critical conditions case by case, in order to avoid underestimating structural demand. To facilitate the identification of the most critical incidence angle, this paper presents a procedure which makes use of a two-degree of freedom model for representing a building. The proposed procedure makes it possible to avoid the extensive computational effort of multiple dynamic analyses with varying angles of incidence of ground motion excitation, which is required if a spatial multi-degree of freedom model is used for representing a building. The procedure is validated through the analysis of two case studies consisting of an eight- and a six-storey reinforced concrete frame building, selected as representative of existing structures located in Italy. A set of 124 near-fault ground motion records oriented along 8 incidence angles, varying from 0 to 180 degrees, with increments of 22.5 degrees, is used to excite the structures. Comparisons between the results obtained with detailed models of the two structures and the proposed procedure are used to show the accuracy of the latter in the prediction of the most critical angle of seismic incidence.

• 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.