• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.53-69
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• 2022

In densely built areas, the development of underground transportation systems often involves twin excavations, which are sometimes unavoidably constructed adjacent to existing piled foundations. Because soil stiffness degrades with induced stress release and shear strain during excavation, it is vital to investigate the piled raft responses to subsequent excavation after the first tunnel in a twin-excavation system. The effects of deep excavations on existing piled foundations have been extensively investigated, but the influence of twin excavations on a piled raft is seldom reported in the literature. In this study, three-dimensional numerical analyses were carried out to investigate the influence of sand density on an existing piled raft (with a working load on top of the raft) due to twin excavations. A wide range of relative density (D_r) from loosest (30%), loose to medium (50% and 70%), and densest (90%) were selected to investigate the effects on settlement and load transfer mechanism of the piled raft during twin excavations. An advanced hypoplastic sand model (which can capture small-strain stiffness and stress-state dependent dilatancy of sand) was adopted. The model parameters are calibrated against centrifuge test results in sand reported in the literature. From the computed results, it is found that twin excavations in loose sand (D_r=30%) caused the most significant settlement. This is because of the higher stiffness of denser sand (D_r=90%) than that of loose sand. In contrast, a much larger tilting (maximum magnitude=0.18%) was computed in dense sand than in loose sand after the completion of the first excavation. As far as the load transfer mechanism along the piles is concerned, an upward load transfer to mobilize shaft resistance is observed in loose sand. On the contrary, a downward load transfer is observed in dense sand.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.479-500
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• 2022

In this study, a new type of isolation bearing is proposed by combining S-shaped steel plate dampers (SSDs) with a spherical steel bearing, and the seismic control effect of a five-span standard high-speed railway bridge is investigated. The advantages of the proposed S-shaped steel damping friction bearing (SSDFB) are that it cannot only lengthen the structural periods, dissipate the seismic energy, but also prevent bridge unseating due to the restraint effectiveness of SSDs in the large relative displacements between the girders and piers. This study first presents a detailed description and working principle of the SSDFB. Then, mechanical modeling of the SSDFB was derived to fundamentally define its cyclic behavior and obtain key mechanical parameters. The numerical model of the SSDFB's critical component SSD was verified by comparing it with the experimental results. After that, parameter studies of the dimensions and number of SSDs, the friction coefficient, and the gap length of the SSDFBs were conducted. Finally, the longitudinal seismic responses of the bridge with SSDFBs were compared with the bridge with spherical bearing and spherical bearing with strengthened shear keys. The results showed that the SSDFB can not only significantly mitigate the shear force responses and residual displacement in bridge substructures but also can effectively reduce girder displacement and prevent bridge unseating, at a cost of inelastic deformation of the SSDs, which is easy to replace. In conclusion, the SSDFB is expected to be a cost-effective option with both multi-stage energy dissipation and restraint capacity, making it particularly suitable for seismic isolation application to high-speed railway bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.135-151
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• 2023

Using 3D asphalt pavement surface data, a deep and multiscale network named CrackNet-M is proposed in this paper for pixel-level crack detection for improvements in both accuracy and robustness. The CrackNet-M consists of four function-specific architectural modules: a central branch net (CBN), a crack map enhancement (CME) module, three pooling feature pyramids (PFP), and an output layer. The CBN maintains crack boundaries using no pooling reductions throughout all convolutional layers. The CME applies a pooling layer to enhance potential thin cracks for better continuity, consuming no data loss and attenuation when working jointly with CBN. The PFP modules implement direct down-sampling and pyramidal up-sampling with multiscale contexts specifically for the detection of thick cracks and exclusion of non-crack patterns. Finally, the output layer is optimized with a skip layer supervision technique proposed to further improve the network performance. Compared with traditional supervisions, the skip layer supervision brings about not only significant performance gains with respect to both accuracy and robustness but a faster convergence rate. CrackNet-M was trained on a total of 2,500 pixel-wise annotated 3D pavement images and finely scaled with another 200 images with full considerations on accuracy and efficiency. CrackNet-M can potentially achieve crack detection in real-time with a processing speed of 40 ms/image. The experimental results on 500 testing images demonstrate that CrackNet-M can effectively detect both thick and thin cracks from various pavement surfaces with a high level of Precision (94.28%), Recall (93.89%), and F-measure (94.04%). In addition, the proposed CrackNet-M compares favorably to other well-developed networks with respect to the detection of thin cracks as well as the removal of shoulder drop-offs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.533-546
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• 2023

Cost-effective solutions provided by composite construction are gaining popularity which, in turn, promotes the appearance on the market of new types of composite sections that allow not only to take advantage of the synergy of steel and concrete working together at room temperature, but also to improve their behaviour at high temperatures. When combined with high performance materials, significant load-bearing capacities can be achieved even with reduced cross-sectional dimensions. Steel-reinforced concrete-filled steel tubular (SR-CFST) columns are one of these innovative composite sections, where an open steel profile is embedded into a CFST section. Besides the renowned benefits of these typologies at room temperature, the fire protection offered by the surrounding concrete to the inner steel profile, gives them an enhanced fire performance which delays its loss of mechanical capacity in a fire scenario. The experimental evidence on the fire behaviour of SR-CFST columns is still scarce, particularly when combined with high performance materials. However, it is being much needed for the development of specific design provisions that consider the use of the inner steel profile in CFST columns. In this work, a new experimental program on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of SR-CFST columns is presented to extend the available experimental database. Ten SR-CFST stub columns, with circular and square geometries, combining high strength steel and concrete were tested. It was seen that the circular specimens reached higher failure times than the square columns, with the failure time increasing both when high strength steel was used at the embedded steel profile and high strength concrete was used as infill. Finally, different proposals for the reduction coefficients of high performance materials were assessed in the prediction of the cross-sectional fire resistance of the SR-CFST columns.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

The investigation on vehicle-bridge coupling system (VBCS) is crucial in bridge design, bridge condition evaluation, and vehicle overload control. A real-time hybrid testing (RTHT) method for VBCS (RTHT-VBCS) is proposed in this paper for accurately and economically disclosing the dynamic performance of VBCSs. In the proposed method, one of the carriages is chosen as the experimental substructure loaded by servo-hydraulic actuator loading system in the laboratory, and the remaining carriages as well as the bridge structure are chosen as the numerical substructure numerically simulated in one computer. The numerical substructure and the experimental substructure are synchronized at their coupling points in terms of force equilibrium and deformation compatibility. Compared to the traditional iteration experimental method and the numerical simulation method, the proposed RTHT-VBCS method could not only obtain the dynamic response of VBCS, but also economically analyze various working conditions. Firstly, the theory of RTHT-VBCS is proposed. Secondly, numerical models of VBCS for RTHT method are presented. Finally, the feasibility and accuracy of the RTHT-VBCS are preliminarily validated by real-time hybrid simulations (RTHSs). It is shown that, the proposed RTHT-VBCS is feasible and shows great advantages over the traditional methods, and the proposed models can effectively represent the VBCS for RTHT method in terms of the force equilibrium and deformation compatibility at the coupling point. It is shown that the results of the single-degree-of-freedom model and the train vehicle model are match well with the referenced results. The RTHS results preliminarily prove the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed RTHT-VBCS.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.107-122
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• 2024

Following an internal column failure, adjacent double-span beams above the failed column will play a critical role in the load transfer and internal force redistribution within the remaining structure, and the span-to-depth ratios of double-span beams significantly influence the structural resistance capacity against progressive collapse. Most existing studies have focused on the collapse-resistant performances of single-story symmetric structures, whereas limited published works are available on the collapse resistances of multi-story steel frames with unequal spans. To this end, in this study, numerical models based on shell elements were employed to investigate the structural behavior of multi-story steel frames with unequal spans. The simulation models were validated using the previous experimental results obtained for single- and two-story steel frames, and the load-displacement responses and internal force development of unequal-span three-story steel frames under three cases were comprehensively analyzed. In addition, the specific contributions of the different mechanism resistances of unequal-span, double-span beams of each story were separated quantitatively using the energy equilibrium theory, with an aim to gain a deeper level of understanding of the load-resistance mechanisms in the unequal-span steel frames. The results showed that the axial and flexural mechanism resistances were determined by the span ratio and linear stiffness ratio of double-span beams, respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.1
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• pp.33-46
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• 2024

The present research delves into the analysis of nonlinear free and forced vibrations of porous functionally graded (FG) shallow shells reinforced with oblique stiffeners, which are embedded in a nonlinear elastic foundation (NEF) subjected to external excitation. Two distinct types of PFG shallow shells, characterized by even and uneven porosity distribution along the thickness direction, are considered in the research. In order to model the stiffeners, Lekhnitskii's smeared stiffeners technique is implemented. With the stress function and first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), the nonlinear model of the oblique stiffened shallow shells is established. The strain-displacement relationships for the system are derived via the FSDT and utilization of the von-Kármán's geometric assumptions. To discretize the nonlinear governing equations, the Galerkin method is employed. The model such developed allows analysis of the effects of the stiffeners with various angles as desired, in addition to the quantitative investigation on the influence of the surrounding nonlinear elastic foundations. To numerically solve the problem of vibrations, the 4th-order P-T method is used, as this method, known for its enhanced accuracy and reliability, proves to be an effective choice. The validation of the present research findings includes a comprehensive comparison with outcomes documented in existing literature. Additionally, a comparative analysis of the numerical results against those obtained using the 4th Runge-Kutta method is performed. The impact of stiffeners with varying angles and material parameters on the vibration characteristics of the present system is also explored. The researchers and engineers working in this field may use the results of this study as benchmarks in their design and research for the considered shell systems.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.5-15
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• 2024

Purpose: The study aim was to examine the home healthcare system and relevant education, as well as the special certification examination, and propose a plan to increase the supply of home health nurses. Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using data from research articles, Korean and U.S. educational institutes and organizations, Korean national statistical data, government press releases, and related medical legislation. Results: Between 2005 and 2006, 763 home health nurses were certified through the special qualification examination; however, in the 16 years from 2007 to 2023 (after the graduate-level program was established), a total of 555 home health nurses were certified, with an average of approximately 35 per year. Currently, 790 home health nurses are working at 194 medical institutions nationwide. Relatively few institutions exist in rural areas, and the supply of home health nurses is low. Only seven educational institutions offer home health nurse certification programs, with a total of 77 designated students. In contrast to Korea, post-master's certification courses are offered in the U.S.. Conclusion: To expand the supply of home health nurses, we recommend revising the rules for the special qualification examination and introducing a post-master's certification program for home health nurses. Future studies should provide additional education for applicants from other specialties in post-master's certification programs.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.431-441
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• 2024

A newly developed line-style sand pluviator has been calibrated to prepare repeatable sand specimens of specific statuses of compactness and homogeneity for laboratory tests. Sand is falling via a bottom slot of a fixed hopper, and by moving the sample container under the slot, the container is evenly filled with sand. The pluviator is designed with high flexibility: The falling height of sand, the hopper's opening width and the relative moving speed between the hopper and the sample box can be easily adjusted. By changing these control factors, sand specimens of a wide range of densities can be prepared. A series of specimen preparation was performed using the coarse Merwede River sand. Performance of the pluviator was systematically evaluated by exploring the alteration of achievable density, as well as checking the homogeneity and fabric of the prepared samples by CT scanning. It was found that the density of prepared coarse sand samples has monotonic correlations with none of the three control factors. Furthermore, CT scanning results suggested that the prepared samples exhibited excellent homogeneity in the horizontal direction but periodical alteration of density in the vertical direction. Based on these calibration test results, a preliminary hypothesis is proposed to describe the general working principles of this type of pluviators a priori, illustrating the mechanisms dominating the non-monotonic correlations between control factors and the relative density as well as the vertically prevalent heterogeneity of specimens. Accordingly, practical recommendations are made in a unified framework in order to lessen the load of similar calibration work.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

The construction adit plays a pivotal role in enhancing the working face during the excavation of long-distance and deep hydraulic tunnels. However, the intersection zone between the main tunnel and the construction adit exhibits more intricate deformation patterns in surrounding rock, posing a significant threat to stability during excavation. Taking the Xianglushan tunnel in Yunnan Province, China, as a case study, the FLAC3D software is employed to simulate the excavation process at the intersection. The simulation results are verified combined with the field deformation monitoring results, and the spatial distribution of tunnel rock deformation in the intersection area are analyzed. Five excavation conditions with different intersection angles are simulated, and the surrounding rock deformation of the tunnel intersection area with different intersection angles is analyzed, and its influence range is discussed. The results show that: (1) The surrounding rock deformation in the intersection area increases rapidly during the tunnel excavation. With the increase of construction distance, the deformation of intersection area is gradually stable. (2) The deformation distribution of the tunnel rock is uneven, and the deformation of main tunnel near the intersection area is larger than that far away from the intersection area. (3) With the increase of the intersection angle, the surrounding rock deformation of the tunnel intersection and its influence range decreases gradually. The research results have certain guiding significance for the construction safety of the tunnel intersection area.