• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.241-260
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• 2020

This article presented a comprehensive model to study static buckling stability and associated mode-shapes of higher shear deformation theories of sandwich laminated composite beam under the compression of varying axial load function. Four higher order shear deformation beam theories are considered in formulation and analysis. So, the model can consider the influence of both thick and thin beams without needing to shear correction factor. The compression force can be described through axial direction by uniform constant, linear and parabolic distribution functions. The Hamilton's principle is exploited to derive equilibrium governing equations of unified sandwich laminated beams. The governing equilibrium differential equations are transformed to algebraic system of equations by using numerical differential quadrature method (DQM). The system of equations is solved as an eigenvalue problem to get critical buckling loads and their corresponding mode-shapes. The stability of DQM in determining of buckling loads of sandwich structure is performed. The validation studies are achieved and the obtained results are matched with those. Parametric studies are presented to figure out effects of in-plane load type, sandwich thickness, fiber orientation and boundary conditions on buckling loads and mode-shapes. The present model is important in designing process of aircraft, naval structural components, and naval structural when non-uniform in-plane compressive loading is dominated.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.145-154
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• 2019

The present experimental study addresses the structural response of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in shear. Thirteen RC beams were divided into four different sets to investigate the effect of transverse and longitudinal steel reinforcement ratios, concrete compressive strength change and orientation for installing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. Then, we employed a shear strengthening solution through externally bonded reinforcement in grooves (EBRIG) and externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) techniques. In this regard, rectangular beams of $200{\times}300{\times}2000mm$ dimensions were subjected to the 4-point static loading condition and their load-displacement curves, load-carrying capacity and ductility changes were compared. The results revealed that using EBRIG method, the gain percentage augmented with the increase in the longitudinal reinforcement ratio. Also, in the RC beams with stirrups, the gain in shear strength decreased as transverse reinforcement ratio increased. The results also revealed that the shear resistance obtained by the experimental tests were in acceptable agreement with the design equations. Besides, the results of this research indicated that using the EBRIG system through vertical grooves in RC beams with and without stirrups caused the energy absorption to increase about 85% and 97%, respectively, relative to the control.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.347-356
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• 2019

Most of the recent studies have improved the efficiency of FRP jackets for increasing the compressive strength, shear strength, and ductility of reinforced concrete columns; however, the influence of FRP jackets on the flexural capacity is slight. Although new methods such as NSM (near surface mounted) are utilized to solve this problem, yet practical difficulties, behavior dependency on adhesives, and brittle failure necessitate finding better methods. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the application of fiber-reinforced polymer fastened mechanically to the concrete columns to improve the flexural capacity of RC columns. For this purpose, mechanical fasteners were used to achieve the composite behavior of FRP and concrete columns. The experimental program included five reinforced concrete columns retrofitted by different methods using FRP subjected to constant axial compression and lateral cyclic loading. The experimental results showed that the use of the new method proposed in this paper increased the flexural strength and lateral load capacity of the columns significantly, and good composite action of FRP and RC column was achieved. Moreover, the experimental results were compared with the results obtained from the analytical study based on strain compatibility, and good proximity was reached.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.389-402
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• 2019

Reinforced concrete walls and buckling restrained braces are effective structural elements that are used to resist seismic loads. In this paper, the behavior of the reinforced concrete walls coupled with buckling restrained braces is investigated. In such a system, there is not any conventional reinforced concrete coupling beam. The coupling action is provided only by buckling restrained braces that dissipate energy and also cause coupling forces in the wall piers. The studied structures are 10-, 20- and 30-story ones designed according to the ASCE, ACI-318 and AISC codes. Wall nonlinear model is then prepared using the fiber elements in PERFORM-3D software. The responses of the systems subjected to the forward directivity near-fault (NF) and ordinary far-fault (FF) ground motions at maximum considered earthquake (MCE) level are studied. The seismic responses of the structures corresponding to the inter-story drift demand, curvature ductility of wall piers, and coupling ratio of the walls are compared. On average, the results show that the inter-story drift ratio for the examined systems subjected to the far-fault events at MCE level is less than allowable value of 3%. Besides, incremental dynamic analysis is used to examine the considered systems. Results of studied systems show that, the taller the structures, the higher the probability of their collapse. Also, for a certain peak ground acceleration of 1 g, the probability of collapse under NF records is more than twice this probability under FF records.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.92-101
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• 2019

This study investigates how rivet head height affects the corrosion performance of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) to aluminum alloy self-piercing riveted joints. Specimens with two different head heights were prepared. A rivet head protruding out of the top CFRP laminate forms the proud head height while a rivet head penetrating into the top CFRP generates the flush head height. The salt spray test evaluated corrosion performance. The flush head joints suffered from severe corrosion on the rivet head. Thus, the tensile shear load of flush head joints was substantially reduced. Electrochemical corrosion tests investigated the corrosion mechanisms. The deeper indentation of the flush head height damaged the CFRP around the rivet head. The exposure of damaged fibers from the matrix increased the cathodic potential of local CFRP. The increased potential of damaged CFRP accelerated the galvanic corrosion of the rivet head. After the rivet head coating material corroded, a strong galvanic couple was formed between the rivet head base metal (boron steel) and the damaged CFRP, further accelerating the flush rivet head corrosion. The results of this study suggest that rivet head flushness should be avoided to enhance the corrosion performance of CFRP to aluminum alloy self-piercing riveted joints.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2019

The discontinuous Galerkin method (DGM) has become widely used as it possesses several qualities, such as a natural ability to dealing with discontinuities. DGM has its major success related to fluid mechanics. Its major importance is the ability to deal with discontinuities and still provide high order of approximation. That is an important advantage when simulating cracking propagation. No remeshing is necessary during the propagation, since the crack path follows the interface of elements. However, DGM comes with the drawback of an increased number of degrees of freedom when compared to the classical continuous finite element method. Thus, it seems a natural approach to combine them in the same simulation obtaining the advantages of both methods. This paper proposes the application of the combined continuous-discontinuous Galerkin method (CDGM) to crack propagation. An important engineering problem is the simulation of crack propagation in concrete structures. The problem is characterized by discontinuities that evolve throughout the domain. Crack propagation is simulated using CDGM. Discontinuous elements are placed in regions with discontinuities and continuous elements elsewhere. The cohesive zone model describes the fracture process zone where softening effects are expressed by cohesive zones in the interface of elements. Two numerical examples demonstrate the capacities of CDGM. In the first example, a plain concrete beam is submitted to a three-point bending test. Numerical results are compared to experimental data from the literature. The second example deals with a full-scale ground slab, comparing the CDGM results to numerical and experimental data from the literature.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.133-148
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• 2019

This paper reports on the energy absorption characteristics of a lattice-web reinforced composite sandwich cylinder (LRCSC) which is composed of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) face sheets, GFRP lattice webs, polyurethane (PU) foam and ceramsite filler. Quasi-static compression experiments on the LRCSC manufactured by a vacuum assisted resin infusion process (VARIP) were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed cylinders. Compared with the cylinders without lattice webs, a maximum increase in the ultimate elastic load of the lattice-web reinforced cylinders of approximately 928% can be obtained. Moreover, due to the use of ceramsite filler, the energy absorption was increased by 662%. Several numerical simulations using ANSYS/LS-DYNA were conducted to parametrically investigate the effects of the number of longitudinal lattice webs, the number of transverse lattice webs, and the thickness of the transverse lattice web and GFRP face sheet. The effectiveness and feasibility of the numerical model were verified by a series of experimental results. The numerical results demonstrated that a larger number of thicker transverse lattice webs can significantly enhance the ultimate elastic load and initial stiffness. Moreover, the ultimate elastic load and initial stiffness were hardly affected by the number of longitudinal lattice webs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.433-441
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• 2019

The aim of this research is reinforcing of concrete with variety of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) configurations and investigates the load capacity and ductility of these connections using an experimental investigation. Six scaled-down RC exterior joints were tested under moderately monotonic loads. The results show that, the shape of the FRP had a different effect on the joint capacity and the connection ductility coefficient. The greatest effect on increasing the ductility factor was seen in the sample where two reinforcement plates were used on both sides of the beam web (RCS5 sample). For the sample with the presence of FRP plates at the top and bottom of the beam (RCS3 sample), the ductility factor was reduced even the load capacity of this sample increased. Except for the RCS3 sample, the rest of the samples exhibited an increase in the ductility factor due to the FRP reinforcement.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2019

In recent years, multiple experimental studies have been performed on using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars in reinforced concrete (RC) structural members. FRP bars provide a new type of reinforcement that avoids the corrosion of traditional steel reinforcement. In this study, predicting the shear strength of RC beams with FRP longitudinal bars using artificial neural networks (ANNs) is investigated as a different approach from the current specific codes. An ANN model was developed using the experimental data of 104 FRP-RC specimens from an existing database in the literature. Seven different input parameters affecting the shear strength of FRP bar reinforced RC beams were selected to create the ANN structure. The most convenient ANN algorithm was determined as traingdx. The results from current codes (ACI440.1R-15 and JSCE) and existing literature in predicting the shear strength of FRP-RC beams were investigated using the identical test data. The study shows that the ANN model produces acceptable predictions for the ultimate shear strength of FRP-RC beams (maximum $R^2{\approx}0.97$). Additionally, the ANN model provides more accurate predictions for the shear capacity than the other computed methods in the ACI440.1R-15, JSCE codes and existing literature for considering different performance parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

In this research, an efficient mixed mode I/II fracture criterion is developed for fracture investigation of orthotropic materials wherein crack is placed along the fibers. This criterion is developed based on extension of well-known Maximum Tensile Stress (MTS) criterion in conjunction with a novel material model titled as Equivalent Reinforced Isotropic Model (ERIM). In this model, orthotropic material is replaced with an isotropic matrix reinforced with fibers. A comparison between available experimental observations and theoretical estimation implies on capability of developed criterion for predicting both crack propagation direction and fracture instance, wherein the achieved fracture limit curves are also compatible with fracture mechanism of orthotic materials. It is also shown that unlike isotropic materials, fracture toughness of orthotic materials in mode $I(K)_{IC}{\mid})$ cannot be introduced as the maximum load bearing capacity and thus new fracture mechanics property, named here as maximum orthotropic fracture toughness in mode $I(K_{IC}{\mid}^{ortho}_{max})$ is defined. Optimum angle between crack and fiber direction for maximum load bearing in orthotropic materials is also defined.