• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.223-242
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• 2015

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have emerged as a novel solution to many of the challenges of structural health monitoring (SHM) in civil engineering structures. While research projects using WSNs are ongoing worldwide, implementations of WSNs on full-scale structures are limited. In this study, a WSN is deployed on a full-scale 17.3m-long, 11-bay highway sign support structure to investigate the ability to use vibration response data to detect damage induced in the structure. A multi-level damage detection strategy is employed for this structure: the Angle-between-String-and-Horizon (ASH) flexibility-based algorithm as the Level I and the Axial Strain (AS) flexibility-based algorithm as the Level II. For the proposed multi-level damage detection strategy, a coarse resolution Level I damage detection will be conducted first to detect the damaged region(s). Subsequently, a fine resolution Level II damage detection will be conducted in the damaged region(s) to locate the damaged element(s). Several damage cases are created on the full-scale highway sign support structure to validate the multi-level detection strategy. The multi-level damage detection strategy is shown to be successful in detecting damage in the structure in these cases.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.369-384
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• 2015

This work presents a free vibration analysis of functionally graded metal-ceramic (FG) beams with considering porosities that may possibly occur inside the functionally graded materials (FGMs) during their fabrication. For this purpose, a simple displacement field based on higher order shear deformation theory is implemented. The proposed theory is based on the assumption that the transverse displacements consist of bending and shear components in which the bending components do not contribute toward shear forces and, likewise, the shear components do not contribute toward bending moments. The most interesting feature of this theory is that it accounts for a quadratic variation of the transverse shear strains across the thickness, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the beam without using shear correction factors. In addition, it has strong similarities with Euler-Bernoulli beam theory in some aspects such as equations of motion, boundary conditions, and stress resultant expressions. The rule of mixture is modified to describe and approximate material properties of the FG beams with porosity phases. By employing the Hamilton's principle, governing equations of motion for coupled axial-shear-flexural response are determined. The validity of the present theory is investigated by comparing some of the present results with those of the first-order and the other higher-order theories reported in the literature. Illustrative examples are given also to show the effects of varying gradients, porosity volume fraction, aspect ratios, and thickness to length ratios on the free vibration of the FG beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.473-481
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• 2017

Steel plate shear wall (SPSW) system has been increasingly used for lateral loads resisting system since 1980s when the utilization of post-buckling strength of SPSW was realized. The structural response of SPSWs largely depends on the behavior of the surrounded beams. The beams are normally required to behave in the elastic region when the SPSW fully buckled and formed the tension field action. However, most modern design codes do not specify how this requirement can be achieved. This paper presents theoretical investigation and design procedures of manually calculating the plastic flexural capacity of the beams of SPSWs and can be considered as an extension to the previous work by Qu and Bruneau (2011). The reduction in the plastic flexural capacity of beam was considered to account for the presence of shear stress that was altered towards flanges at the boundary region, which can be explained by Saint-Venant's principle. The reduction in beam web was introduced and modified based on the research by Qu and Bruneau (2011), while the shear stress in the web in this research is excluded due to the boundary effect. The plastic flexural capacity of the beams is given by the superposition of the contributions from the flanges and the web. The developed equations are capable of predicting the plastic moment of the beams subjected to combined shear force, axial force, bending moment, and tension fields induced by yielded infill panels. Good agreement was found between the theoretical results and the data from previous research for flexural capacity of beams.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2019

In this study 24 power transmission towers were selected by considering various variables such as power transmission capacity, height and structural type to evaluate their seismic performance using the standard design response spectrum recently announced by the government. In addition, the stresses and sectional forces generated by the current design wind loads and revised seismic ones were compared to review the effects on the design of power transmission towers when the government-required seismic standards were raised. The results of seismic performance evaluation for the target power transmission towers showed that they had seismic capacity of 0.31~0.91g, and that they met the level of the earthquake-resistant special grade, which is the 2,400-year earthquake return periods and secured seismic safety. Further, the sectional forces caused by earthquakes in the towers were 33~82.5% of the ones due to wind loads, and it was also confirmed that the design wind loads were more dominant than design earthquake ones under the elevated seismic standards.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.595-603
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• 2018

Shake table testing has been regarded as one of the most effective experimental approaches to evaluate seismic response of structural systems subjected to earthquakes. However, reproducing a prescribed acceleration time history precisely over the frequency of interest is challenging because shake table test systems are eventually nonlinear by nature. In addition, interaction between the table and specimen could affect the control accuracy of shake table testing significantly. Various novel control algorithms have been proposed to improve the control accuracy of shake table testing; however, reference values for control performance assessment remain rare. In this study, reference values for control performance assessment of shake table testing are specified based on the statistical analyses of 1,209 experimental data provided by the Seismic Simulator Laboratory of National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan. Three individual reference values are considered for the assessment including the root-mean-square error of the achieved acceleration time history; the percentage of the spectral acceleration that exceeds the determined tolerance range over the frequency of interest; and the error-ratio of the achieved peak ground acceleration. Quartiles of the real experimental data in terms of the three objective variables are obtained, providing users with solid and simple references to evaluate the control performance of shake table testing. Finally, a set of experimental data of a newly developed control framework implementation for uni-axial shake tables are used as an application example to demonstrate the significant improvement of control accuracy according to the reference values provided in this study.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.479-495
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• 2019

In tied-arch bridges, the way the arch and the deck are connected may become crucial. The deck is usually suspended from hangers made out of steel pinned cables capable of resisting axial forces only. However, a proper structural response may be ensured by fixing and stiffening the hangers in order to resist, additionally, shear forces and bending moments. Thus, this paper studies the effect of different pinned and stiffened hanger arrangements on the structural behavior of the tied-arch bridges, with the intention of providing designers with useful tools at the early steps of design. Longitudinally and transversally stiffened hangers (and the effect of hinges at the hangers and their locations) are studied separately because the in-plane and the out-of-plane behavior of the bridge are uncoupled due to its symmetry. As a major conclusion, regarding the in-plane behavior, hangers composed of cables (either with vertical, $Nielsen-L\ddot{o}hse$ or network arrangements) are recommended due to its low cost and ease of erection. Alternatively, longitudinally stiffened hangers, fixed at both ends, can be used. Regarding the out-of-plane behavior, and in addition to three-dimensional arrangements of cables, of limited effectiveness, transversally stiffened hangers fixed at both ends are the most efficient arrangement. A configuration almost as efficient and, additionally, cheaper and easier to build can be achieved by locating a hinge at the end corresponding to the most flexible structural element (normally the arch). Its efficiency is further improved if the cross-section tapers from the fixed end to the pinned end.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.89-100
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• 2007

In the companion paper, we provided the novel elastic-plastic constitutive model based on the micromechanics theory. Herein, the elastic and elastic-plastic deformation of granular soils is meticulously analyzed. To guarantee high accuracy of the microscopic parameter, the systematic procedure to evaluate the parameters is provided. The analysis of the elastic response during the isotropic and triaxial compression shows that the stress-level dependency of cross-anisotropic elastic moduli is induced by the power relationship of the contact force in the normal contact stiffness, while the evolution of fabric anisotropy is more pronounced during triaxial compression. The micromechanical analysis indicates that the plastic strains are likely to occur at very small strains. The plastic deformation of tangential contacts has an important role in the reduction of soil stiffness during axial loading.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2023

In this present article, the mechanical behavior of single-walled black phosphorene nanotubes (SW-αPNTs) is simulated using molecular dynamics (MD). The proposed model is subjected to the axial loading and the effects of morphological parameters, such as the mono-vacancy defect and strain rate on the tensile behavior of the zigzag and armchair SW-αPNTs are studied as a pioneering work. In order to assess the accuracy of the MD simulations, the stress-strain response of the current MD model is successfully verified with the efficient quantum mechanical approach of the density functional theory (DFT). Along with reproducing the DFT results, the accurate MD simulations successfully anticipate a significant variation in the stress-strain curve of the zigzag SW-αPNTs, namely the knick point. Predicting such mechanical behavior of SW-αPNTs may be an important design factor for lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and energy storage devices. The simulations show that the ultimate stress is increased by increasing the diameter of the pristine SW-αPNTs. The trend is identical for the ultimate strain and stress-strain slope as the diameter of the pristine zigzag SW-αPNTs enlarges. The obtained results denote that by increasing the strain rate, the ultimate stress/ultimate strain are respectively increased/declined. The stress-strain slope keeps increasing as the strain rate grows. It is worth noting that the existence of mono-atomic vacancy defects in the (12,0) zigzag and (0,10) armchair SW-αPNT structures leads to a drop in the tensile strength by amounts of 11.1% and 12.5%, respectively. Also, the ultimate strain is considerably altered by mono-atomic vacancy defects.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.661-678
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• 2024

The utilization of geopolymer recycled aggregate concrete (GRAC) as the infilled core of the concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns provides superior economic and environmental benefits. However, limited research exists within the field of geopolymer recycled aggregate concrete considered a green and sustainable material, in addition to the limitation of the design guidelines to predict the behavior of such an innovative new material combination. Moreover, the behavior of high-strength concrete is different from the normal-strength one, especially when there is another material of high-strength properties, such as the steel tube. This paper aims to investigate the behavior of the axially loaded square high-strength GRACFST columns through the nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA). A total of thirty-two specimens were simulated using ABAQUS/Standard software with three main variables: recycled aggregate replacement ratio (0, 30, and 50) %, width-to-thickness ratios (52.0, 32.0, 23.4, and 18.7), and length-to-width ratio (3, 5, 9, and 12). During the analysis, the response in terms of the axial load versus the longitudinal strain was recorded and plotted. In addition, various mechanical properties were calculated and analyzed. In view of the results, it has been demonstrated that the mechanical properties of high-strength GRACFST columns such as ultimate load-bearing capacity, compressive stiffness, energy absorption capacity, and ductility increase with the increase of the steel tube thickness owing to the improvement of the confinement effect of the steel tube. In contrast, the incorporation of the recycled aggregate adversely affected the mentioned properties except the ductility, while the increase of the recycled aggregate replacement ratio improved the column's ductility. Moreover, it has been found that the increase in the length-to-width ratio significantly reduced both the failure strain and the energy absorption capacity. Finally, the obtained NLFEA results of the ultimate load-bearing capacity were compared with the corresponding predicted capacities by numerous codes. It has been concluded that AISC, ACI, and EC give conservative predictions for the ultimate load-bearing capacity since the confinement effect was not considered by these codes.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.279-299
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• 2019

Recently occurred earthquake Gyeongju and Pohang served as a momentum to remind that Korean peninsular is not a safety zone from earthquake anymore. The importance of seismic design, therefore, have been realized and researches regarding design response spectrum have been actively carried out by many researchers and engineers. Current tunnel seismic design method is conducted to check safety of tunnel structure by dynamic numerical analysis with condition of completed lining installation, so, it is impossible to consider safety of tunnel behavior under construction. In this study, therefore, dynamic numerical analysis considering seismic wave propagations has been performed after back analysis using results from field monitoring of tunnel under construction in fractured zone and 1st reinforcement (shotcrete, rockbolt) behaviour are analyzed. Waves are classified by period characteristic (short and long). As a result, the difference depending on period characteristic is minor, and increasements of displacement are obtained at crown displacement due to seismic wave is 28~31%, 14~16% at left side of tunnel in the fractured zone, 13~27% at right side of tunnel in the bed rock, respectively. In case of shotcrete axial force is increased 113~115% at tunnel crown, 102% at left side, 106~110% at right side, respectively. Displacement and axial force of rockbolts which are selected by type of anchored grounds (only fractured zone, fractured zone and bed rock, only bedrock) are analyzed, as a result, rockbolt which is anchored to fractured zone and bed rock at the same time are weaker than any other case.