• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.53-71
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• 2014

Accurate prognoses of the durability of concrete structures require a detailed description of the continuously running aging processes and a consideration of the complete load history. Therefore, in the framework of continuous porous media mechanics a model is developed, which allows a detailed analysis of the most important aging processes of concrete as well as a flexible coupling of different processes. An overview of the prediction model and the balance equations is given. The material dependent model equations, the consequences of coupling different processes and the solution scheme are discussed. In two case studies the aging of concrete due to hydration and chloride penetration are presented, which illustrate the capabilities and the characteristics of the developed model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제66권4호
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• pp.423-438
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• 2018

This pioneer study focuses on finite element modeling and numerical modeling of three types of Reinforced Concrete Haunched Beams (RCHBs). Firstly, twenty RCHBs, consisting of three types, and four prismatic beams which had been tested experimentally were modeled via a nonlinear finite element method (NFEM) based software named as, ATENA. The modeling results were compared with experimental results including load capacity, deflection, crack pattern and mode of failure. The comparison showed a good agreement between the results and thus the model used can be effectively used for further studies of RCHB with high accuracy. Afterwards, new mechanism modes and design code equations were proposed to improve the shear design equation of ACI-318 and to predict the critical effective depth. These equations are the first comprehensive formulas in the literature involving all types of RCHBs. The statistical analysis showed the superiority of the proposed equation to their predecessors where the correlation coefficient, $R^2$ was found to be 0.89 for the proposed equation. Moreover, the new equation was validated using parametric and reliability analyses. The parametric analysis of both experimental and predicted results shows that the inclination angle and the compressive strength were the most influential parameters on the shear strength. The reliability analysis indicates that the accuracy of the new formulation is significantly higher as compared to available design equations and its reliability index is within acceptable limits.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제85권3호
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• pp.315-335
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• 2023

Limited studies are available on the mathematical estimates of the compressive strength (CS) of glass fiber-embedded polymer (glass-FRP) compressive elements. The present study has endeavored to estimate the CS of glass-FRP normal strength concrete (NSTC) compression elements (glass-FRP-NSTC) employing two various methodologies; mathematical modeling and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The dataset of 288 glass-FRP-NSTC compression elements was constructed from the various testing investigations available in the literature. Diverse equations for CS of glass-FRP-NSTC compression elements suggested in the previous research studies were evaluated employing the constructed dataset to examine their correctness. A new mathematical equation for the CS of glass-FRP-NSTC compression elements was put forwarded employing the procedures of curve-fitting and general regression in MATLAB. The newly suggested ANN equation was calibrated for various hidden layers and neurons to secure the optimized estimates. The suggested equations reported a good correlation among themselves and presented precise estimates compared with the estimates of the equations available in the literature with R²= 0.769, and R² =0.9702 for the mathematical and ANN equations, respectively. The statistical comparison of diverse factors for the estimates of the projected equations also authenticated their high correctness for apprehending the CS of glass-FRP-NSTC compression elements. A broad parametric examination employing the projected ANN equation was also performed to examine the effect of diverse factors of the glass-FRP-NSTC compression elements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.247-278
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• 2010

The study of the seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings requires structural properties of walls such as stiffness, ultimate load capacity, etc. In this article, a method is suggested for modeling the masonry walls under in-plane loading. At the outset, a set of analytical equations was established for determining the elastic properties of an equivalent homogeneous material of masonry. The results for homogenized unreinforced brick walls through detailed modeling were compared in different manners such as solid and perforated walls, in-plane and out-of-plane loading, etc, and it was found that this method provides suitable accuracy in estimation of the wall linear properties. Furthermore, comparison of the results of proposed modeling with experimental out coming indicated that this model considers the non linear properties of the wall such as failure pattern, performance curve and ultimate strength, and would be appropriate to establish a parametric study on those prone factors. The proposed model is complicated; therefore, efforts need to be made in order to overcome the convergency problems which will be included in this study. The nonlinear model is basically semi-macro but through a series of actions, it can be simplified to a macro model.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.1-23
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• 2006

There is general consensus in the research literature that market orientation is related to organizational performance. The study examines this relationship in the Korean hospital industry. One feature of this study is to examine the differences between large and small hospitals in terms of their market orientation, performance and the relationship between these constructs. The other feature is that both market orientation and performance are conceptualized as being multi-dimensional constructs. Hence a structural equations modeling (SEM) technique is used to examine the dimensionality of market orientation and performance and to examine the nature of this relationship. Data for this study are collected using a questionnaire that is mailed to the top marketing-related managers of 1,048 hospitals. Usable responses are obtained from 230 hospitals for a response rate of 21.9%. The SEM results confirm the multi-dimensional nature of both market orientation and performance, and the strong relationships between the constructs. Interestingly, this relationship is found to be much stronger for smaller hospitals than for larger hospitals. For smaller hospitals, this study shows that market orientation has a tremendous influence on performance, with almost 73.9% of the variance in performance being attributed to market orientation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권5호
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• pp.657-669
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• 2022

Structural materials can experience large plastic deformation under extreme cyclic loading that is caused by events like earthquakes. To evaluate the seismic safety of a structure, accurate numerical material models should be used. For a steel structure, the cyclic strain hardening behavior of structural steel should be correctly modeled. In this study, a combined hardening model, consisting of one isotropic hardening model and three nonlinear kinematic hardening models, was used. To determine the values of the combined hardening model parameters efficiently and accurately, the improved opposition-based particle swarm optimization (iOPSO) model was adopted. Low-cycle fatigue tests were conducted for three steel grades commonly used in Korea and their modeling parameters were determined using iOPSO, which was first developed in Korea. To avoid expensive and complex low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests for determining the combined hardening model parameter values for structural steel, empirical equations were proposed for each of the combined hardening model parameters based on the LCF test data of 21 steel grades collected from this study. In these equations, only the properties obtained from the monotonic tensile tests are required as input variables.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제85권3호
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• pp.393-406
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• 2023

Smart structures are those structure that could adopt some behavior to prevent instability in their responses. The recognition of stability deterioration has been performed through rigid mathematical formulations in control theory and unpredicted results could not be addressed in control systems since they are able to only work under their predefined condition. On the other hand, incorporating all affecting parameters could result in high computational cost and delay time in the response of the systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) method has shown to be a promising methodology not only in the computer science by at everyday life and in engineering problems. In the present study, we exploit the capabilities of artificial intelligence method to obtain frequency response of a smart structure. In this regard, a comprehensive development of equations is presented using Hamilton' principle and first order shear deformation theory. The equations were solved by numerical methods and the results are used to train an artificial neural network (ANN). It is demonstrated that ANN modeling could provide accurate results in comparison to the numerical solutions and it take less time than numerical solution.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.361-382
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• 2011

This paper presents the results of an investigation on shear strengthening of RC beams externally reinforced with CFRP composite. A total of six full-scale beams of four CFRP strengthened and two unstrengthened were tested in the absence of internal stirrups in the shear span. The strengthening configurations contained two styles: discrete uniformly spaced strips and customized wide strips over B-regions. The composite systems provided an increase in ultimate strength as compared to the unstrengthened beams. Among the three layouts that had the same area of CFRP, the highest contribution was provided by the customized layout that targeted the B-regions. A comparative study of the experimental results with published empirical equations was conducted in order to evaluate the assumed effective strains. The empirical equations were found to be unconservative. Nonlinear finite element (NLFE) models were developed for the beams. The models agreed with test results that targeting the B-region was more effective than distributing the same CFRP area in a discrete strip style over shear spans. Moreover, the numerical models predicted the contribution of different configurations better than the empirical equations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.755-778
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• 2010

Near-fault ground motion with directivity or fling effects is significantly influenced by the rupture mechanism and substantially different from ordinary records. This class of ground motion has large amplitude and long period, exhibits unusual response spectra shapes, possesses high PGV/PGA and PGD/PGA ratios and is best characterized in the velocity and the displacement time-histories. Such ground motion is also characterized by its energy being contained in a single or very few pulses, thus capable of causing severe damage to the structures. This paper investigates the characteristics of near-fault pulse-like ground motions and their implications on the structural responses using new proposed measures, such as, the effective frequency range, the energy rate (in time and frequency domains) and the damage indices. The paper develops also simple mathematical expressions for modeling this class of ground motion and the associated structural responses, thus eliminating numerical integration of the equations of motion. An optimization technique is also developed by using energy concepts and damage indices for modeling this class of ground motion for inelastic structures at sites having limited earthquake data.

• 한국전산구조공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전산구조공학회 2008년도 정기 학술대회
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• pp.2-7
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• 2008

A highly efficient moving least squares finite difference method (MLS FDM) for heat transfer analysis of composite material with interface. In the MLS FDM, governing differential equations are directly discretized at each node. No grid structure is required in the solution procedure. The discretization of governing equations are done by Taylor expansion based on moving least squares method. A wedge function is designed for the modeling of the derivative jump across the interface. Numerical examples showed that the numerical scheme shows very good computational efficiency together with high aocuracy so that the scheme for heat transfer problem with different heat conductivities was successfully verified.