• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.5
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• pp.479-489
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• 2024

The cracking mechanism in ceramsite aerated concrete block (CACB) infill walls were studied in low seismic fortification intensity coastal areas with frequent occurrence of typhoons. The inter-story drifts of an eight-story residential building under wind loads and a seismic fortification intensity of six degrees were analyzed by using the PKPM software. The maximum inter-story drift ratio of the structure in wind load was found to be comparable to that under the seismic fortification intensity of six degrees. However, when accounting for the large gust wind speed of typhoon, the maximum inter-story drift ratio was much larger than that obtained under reference wind load. In addition, the finite element models of RC frames were employed by displacement loading to simulate two scenarios with and without window hole in the CACB infill walls, respectively. The simulation results show no signs of cracking in both the infill walls with window hole and those without window for the inter-story drift caused by seismic loads and the reference wind load. However, both types of infill walls experienced structural creaking when assessing the gust wind pressure recorded from previous typhoon monitoring. It is concluded that an underestimate of wind loads may contribute substantially to the cracking of frame CACB infill walls in low seismic fortification intensity coastal areas. Consequently, it is imperative to adopt wind pressure values derived from gust wind speeds in the design of CACB infill walls within frame structures. Finally, the future research directions of avoiding cracks in CACB filled walls were proposed. They were the material performance improving and building structure optimizing.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.675-688
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• 2024

Cold-formed steel (CFS) is prone to buckling failure under loading. Lightweight concrete (LC) made of lightweight aggregate has light weight and excellent thermal insulation performance. However, concrete is brittle in nature which is why different materials have been used to improve this inherent behavior of concrete. The distortional buckling (DB) performance of cold-formed steel-lightweight concrete (CFS-LC) composite columns was investigated in this paper. Firstly, the compressive strength test of foam concrete (FC) and ceramsite concrete (CC) was carried out. The performance of the CFS-LC members was investigated. The test results indicated that the concrete-filled can effectively control the DB of the members. Secondly, finite element (FE) models of each test specimen were developed and validated with the experimental tests followed by extensive parametric studies using numerical analysis based on the validated FE models. The results show that the thickness of the steel and the strength of the concrete-filled were the main factors on the DB and bearing capacity of the members. Finally, the bearing capacity of the test specimens was calculated by using current codes. The results showed that the design results of the AIJ-1997 specification were closer to the experimental and FE values, while other results of specifications were conservative.