• Computers and Concrete
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2013

There is an abundance of research on the strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structural elements such as beams, columns and slabs with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. Less research by comparison has been conducted on the strengthening of RC beam-column connections and the majority of such research has been predominantly experimental to date. Few existing experimental studies have reported extensive instrumentation of test specimens which in turn makes understanding the behavior of the connections and especially the contributions made by the FRP difficult to ascertain. In addition, there has been even more limited research on the analytical and numerical modelling of FRP-strengthened connections. In this paper, detailed descriptions of key strategies to model FRP-strengthened RC connections with finite elements are provided. An extensively instrumented and comprehensively documented set of experiments on FRP-strengthened connections is firstly presented and finite element models are then constructed using ANSYS. The study shows that the finite element approach is able to capture the overall behavior of the test specimens including the failure mode as well as the behavior of the FRP which will most importantly lead to a detailed understanding of the FRP and the future development of rational analytical models. The finite element models are, however, unable to model the stiffness of the connections with accuracy in the ultimate load range of response.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.623-643
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• 2013

Concrete filled steel tubular members (CFST) become a popular choice for modern building construction due to their numerous structural benefits and at the same time aging of those structures and member deterioration are often reported. Therefore, actions like implement of new materials and strengthening techniques become essential to combat this problem. The application of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) with concrete structures has been widely reported whereas researches related to strengthening of steel structures using fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) have been limited. The main objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the suitability of CFRP to strengthening of CFST members under flexure. There were three wrapping schemes such as Full wrapping at the bottom (fibre bonded throughout entire length of beam), U-wrapping (fibre bonded at the bottom throughout entire length and extended upto neutral axis) and Partial wrapping (fibre bonded in between loading points at the bottom) introduced. Beams strengthened by U-wrapping exhibited more enhancements in moment carrying capacity and stiffness compared to the beams strengthened by other wrapping schemes. The beams of partial wrapping exhibited delamination of fibre and were failed even before attaining the ultimate load of control beam. The test results showed that the presence of CFRP in the outer limits was significantly enhanced the moment carrying capacity and stiffness of the beam. Also, a non linear finite element model was developed using the software ANSYS 12.0 to validate the analytical results such as load-deformation and the corresponding failure modes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.65-76
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• 2017

This research investigated the vibration frequency of sandwich plate made of piezoelectric fiber reinforced composite core (PFRC) and face sheets of piezomagnetic materials. The effective electroelastic constants for PFRC materials are obtained by the micromechanical approach. The resting medium of sandwich plate is modeled by Pasternak foundation including normal and shear modulus. Besides, sandwich plate is subjected to linearly varying normal stresses that change by load factor. The coupled equations of motion are derived using first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and energy method. These equations are solved by differential quadrature method (DQM) for simply supported boundary condition. A detailed numerical study is carried out based on piezoelectricity theory to indicate the significant effect of load factor, volume fraction of fibers, modulus of elastic foundation, core-to-face sheet thickness ratio and composite materials on dimensionless frequency of sandwich plate. These findings can be used to aerospace, building and automotive industries.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 2020

In this paper, the bending behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (CNTRC) laminated plates is studied using various shear deformation plate theories. Several types of reinforcement material distributions, a uniform distribution (UD) and three functionally graded distributions (FG), are inspected. A generalized higher-order deformation plate theory is utilized to derive the field equations of the CNTRC laminated plates where an analytical technique based on Navier's series is utilized to solve the static problem for simply-supported boundary conditions. A detailed numerical analysis is carried out to examine the influence of carbon nanotube volume fraction, laminated composite structure, side-to-thickness, and aspect ratios on stresses and deflection of the CNTRC laminated plates.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.2
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• pp.175-191
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• 2020

In this study, the effect of Nano silica (SiO2) on the buckling strength of the glass fiber reinforced laminates containing the machining process causes holes were investigated. The tests have been applied on two status milled and non-milled. To promote the mechanical behavior of the fiber-reinforced glass epoxy-based composites, Nano sio2 was added to the matrix to improve and gradation. Nano sio2 is chosen because of flexibility and high mechanical features; the effect of Nanoparticles on surface serenity has been studied. Thus the effect of Nanoparticles on crack growth and machining process and delamination caused by machining has been studied. We can also imply that many machining factors are essential: feed rate, thrust force, and spindle speed. Also, feed rate and spindle speed were studied in constant values, that the thrust forces were studied as the main factor caused residual stress. Moreover, entrance forces were measured by local calibrated load cells on machining devices. The results showed that the buckling load of milled laminates had been increased by about 50% with adding 2 wt% of silica in comparison with the neat damaged laminates while adding more contents caused adverse effects. Also, with a comparison of two milling tools, the cylindrical radius-end tool had less destructive effects on specimens.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.15-24
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• 2005

This study is focused on modeling to predict the behavior of two-way RC slabs. A new finite element model will be presented to analyze the nonlinear behavior of RC slabs. The numerical approach is based on the p-version degenerate shell element including theory of anisotropic laminated composites, theory of materially and geometrically nonlinear plates. In the nonlinear formulation of this model, the total Lagrangian formulation is adopted with large deflections and moderate rotations being accounted for in the sense of von Karman hypothesis. The material model is based on the Kuper's yield criterion, hardening rule, and crushing condition. The validity of the proposed p-version nonlinear RC finite element model is demonstrated through the load-deflection curves and the ultimate loads. It is shown that the proposed model is able to adequately predict the deflection and ultimate load of two-way slabs with respect to steel arrangements and steel ratios.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

Bonding of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites has become a popular technique for strengthening concrete structures in recent years. The bond stress between concrete and CFRP is the main factor determining the strength, rigidity, failure mode and behavior of a reinforced concrete member strengthened with CFRP. The accurate evaluation of the strain is required for analytical calculations and design processes. In this study, the strain between concrete and bonded CFRP sheets across the notch is tested. In this paper, indirect axial tension is applied to CFRP bonded test specimen by a four point bending tests. The variables studied in this research are CFRP sheet width, bond length and the concrete compression strength. Furthermore, the effect of a crack- modeled as a notch- on the strain distribution is studied. It is observed that the strain in the CFRP to concrete interface reaches its maximum values near the crack tips. It is also observed that extending the CFRP sheet more than to a certain length does not affect the strength and the strain distribution of the bonding. The stress distribution obtained from experiments are compared to Chen and Teng's (2001) analytical model.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.243-260
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• 2018

Detection of damages in fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) composite structures is important from the safety and serviceability point of view. Usually, damage is realized as a local reduction of stiffness and if dynamic responses of the structure are sensitive enough to such changes in stiffness, then a well posed inverse problem can provide an efficient solution to the damage detection problem. Usually, such inverse problems are solved within the framework of pattern recognition. Support Vector Machine (SVM) Algorithm is one such methodology, which minimizes the weighted differences between the experimentally observed dynamic responses and those computed using the finite element model- by optimizing appropriately chosen parameters, such as stiffness. A damage detection strategy is hereby proposed using SVM which perform stepwise by first locating and then determining the severity of the damage. The SVM algorithm uses simulations of only a limited number of damage scenarios and trains the algorithm in such a way so as to detect damages at unknown locations by recognizing the pattern of changes in dynamic responses. A rectangular fiber reinforced plastic composite plate has been investigated both numerically and experimentally to observe the efficiency of the SVM algorithm for damage detection. Experimentally determined modal responses, such as natural frequencies and mode shapes are used as observable parameters. The results are encouraging since a high percentage of damage cases have been successfully determined using the proposed algorithm.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2481-2485
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• 2007

Spatially resolved, quantitative, non-destructive analysis using synchrotron x-ray reflectivity (XR) with subnano-scale resolution was successfully performed on the nanoporous organosilicate thin films for low dielectric applications. The structural information of porous thin films, which were prepared with polymethylsilsesquioxane and thermally labile 4-armed, star-shaped poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) composites, were characterized in terms of the laterally averaged electron density profile along with a film thickness as well as a total thickness. The thermal process used in this work caused to efficiently undergo sacrificial thermal degradation, generating closed nanopores in the film. The resultant nanoporous films became homogeneous, well-defined structure with a thin skin layer and low surface roughness. The average electron density of the calcined film reduced with increase of the initial porogen loading, and finally leaded to corresponding porosity ranged from 0 to 22.8% over the porogen loading range of 0-30 wt%. In addition to XR analysis, the surface and the inner structures of films are investigated and discussed with atomic force and scanning electron microscopy images.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3671-3676
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• 2013

A series of carbon nanotube, $C_{60}$, and graphene modified $TiO_2$ nanocomposites were prepared by hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction, $N_2$ adsorption, UV-Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and Electrochemical impedance spectra were used to characterize the prepared composite materials The results reveal that incorporating $TiO_2$ with carbon materials can extend the adsorption edge of all the $TiO_2$-carbon nanocomposites to the visible light region. The photocatalytic activities were tested in the degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) under visible light. No obvious difference in essence was observed in structural and optical properties among three series of carbon modified $TiO_2$ nanocomposites. Three series of carbon materials modified $TiO_2$ composites follow the analogous tentative reaction mechanism for TCP degradation. GR modified $TiO_2$ nanocomposite exhibits the strongest interaction and the most effective interfacial charge transfer among three carbon materials, thus shows the highest electron-hole separation rate, leading to the highest photocatalytic activity and stability.