• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.187-201
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• 2014

A new through-beam connection system for a concrete filled steel tube column to RC beam is proposed. In this connection, there are openings on the steel tube while the reinforced concrete beams are continuous in the joint zone. The moment and shear force at the beam ends can be transferred to column by continuous rebar and concrete. The weakening of the axial load and shear bearing capacity due to the opening of the steel tube can be compensated by strengthening steel tube at joint zone. Using this connection, construction of the joint can be made more convenient since welding and hole drilling in situ can be avoided. Axial compression and reversed cyclic loading tests on specimens were carried out to evaluate performance of the new beam-column connection. Load-deflection performance, typical failure modes, stress and strain distributions, and the energy dissipation capacity were obtained. The experimental results showed that the new connection have good bearing capacity, superior ductility and energy dissipation capacity by effectively strengthen the steel tube at joint zone. According to the test and analysis results, some suggestions were proposed to design method of this new connection.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.453-465
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• 2020

Influences of different variables that affect the effective flexural rigidity of reinforced concrete (RC) members are not considered in the most seismic codes. Furthermore, in the last decades, the application of steel fibers in concrete matrix designs has been increased, requiring development of an accurate analytical procedure to calculate the effective flexural rigidity of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) members. In this paper, first, a nonlinear analytical procedure is proposed to calculate the SFRC members' effective flexural rigidity. The proposed model's accuracy is confirmed by comparing the results obtained from nonlinear analysis with those recorded from the experimental testing. Then a parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of different parameters such as varying axial load and steel fiber are then investigated through moment-curvature analysis of various SFRC (normal-strength concrete) sections. The obtained results show that increasing the steel fiber volume percentage increases the effective flexural rigidity. Also it's been indicated that the varying axial load affects the effective flexural rigidity. Lastly, proper equations are developed to estimate the effective flexural rigidity of SFRC members.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.333-345
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• 2020

In the past, many efficient profiles have been developed for cold-formed steel (CFS) members by judicious intermediate stiffening of the cross-sections, and they have shown improved structural performance over conventional CFS sections. Most of this research work was based on numerical modelling, thus lacking any experimental evidence of the efficiency of these sections. To fulfill this requirement, experimental studies were conducted in this study, on efficient intermediately stiffened CFS sections in flexure, which will result in easy and simple fabrication. Two series of built-up sections, open sections (OS) and box sections (BS), were fabricated and tested under four-point loading with same cross-sectional area. Test strengths, modes of failure, deformed shapes, load vs. mid-span displacements and geometric imperfections were measured and reported. The design strengths were quantified using North American Standards and Indian Standards for cold-formed steel structures. This study confirmed that efficient profiling of CFS sections can improve both the strength and stiffness performance by up to 90%. Closed sections showed better strength performance whereas open sections showed better stiffness performance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.635-640
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• 2020

The buckling analysis of the embedded sinusoidal piezoelectric beam is evaluated using numerical method. The smart beam is subjected to external voltage in the thickness direction. Elastic medium is simulated with two parameters of spring and shear. The structure is modelled by sinusoidal shear deformation theory (SSDT) and utilizing energy method, the final governing equations are derived on the basis of piezo-elasticity theory. In order to obtaining the buckling load, the differential quadrature method (DQM) is used. The obtained results are validated with other published works. The effects of beam length and thickness, elastic medium, boundary condition and external voltage are shown on the buckling load of the structure. Numerical results show that with enhancing the beam length, the buckling load is decreased. In addition, applying negative voltage, improves the buckling load of the smart beam.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.597-610
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• 2017

This paper presents a mathematical model for fixed-end moments of I-sections with straight haunches for the general case (symmetrical and/or non-symmetrical) subjected to a concentrated load localized anywhere on beam taking into account the bending deformations and shear, which is the novelty of this research. The properties of the cross section of the beam vary along its axis "x", i.e., the flange width "b", the flange thickness "t", the web thickness "e" are constant and the height "d" varies along of the beam, this variation is linear type. The compatibility equations and equilibrium are used to solve such problems, and the deformations anywhere of beam are found by the virtual work principle through exact integrations using the software "Derive" to obtain some results. The traditional model takes into account only bending deformations, and others authors present tables considering the bending deformations and shear, but are restricted. A comparison between the traditional model and the proposed model is made to observe differences, and an example of structural analysis of a continuous highway bridge under live load is resolved. Besides the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed models, a significant advantage is that fixed-end moments are calculated for any cross section of the beam "I" using the mathematical formulas.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.173-190
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• 2015

This study presents an analytical investigation on the seismic response of a medium-rise buckling-restrained braced frame (BRBF) under the near-fault ground motions. A seven-story BRBF is designed as per the current code provisions for five different combinations of brace configurations and beam-column connections. Two types of brace configurations (i.e., Chevron and Double-X) are considered along with a combination of the moment-resisting and the non-moment-resisting beam-to-column connections for the study frame. Nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out for all study frames for an ensemble of forty SAC near-fault ground motions. The main parameters evaluated are the interstory and residual drift response, brace displacement ductility, and plastic hinge mechanisms. Fragility curves are developed using log-normal probability density functions for all study frames considering the interstory drift ratio and residual drift ratio as the damage parameters. The average interstory drift response of BRBFs with Double-X brace configurations significantly exceeded the allowable drift limit of 2%. The maximum displacement ductility characteristics of BRBs is efficiently utilized under the seismic loading if these braces are arranged in the Double-X configurations instead of Chevron configurations in BRBFs located in the near-fault regions. However, BRBFs with the Double-X brace configurations exhibit the higher interstory drift and residual drift response under near-fault ground motions due to the formation of plastic hinges in the columns and beams at the intermediate story levels.

• Composites Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.33-41
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• 1999

In this paper, a simple but accurate method of vibration analysis of structural elements with or without attached mass/masses is presented. The method used has been developed by D.H., Kim since 1974. This method is very effective for the plates with arbitrary conditions and irregular sections. This method is applied to the special orthotropic plate with two opposite edges simply supported and the other two opposite edges free. Such plate represents the most of the simply supported bridges/decks, including concrete and girders-cross beam systems. Detailed illustration is given for beams and plates for easy understanding. Some laminate orientation for which the special orthotropic equations can be applied are identified.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.459-469
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• 2014

One of the most important structural components of steel structures is the column-base connections which are obliged to transfer horizontal and vertical loads safely to the reinforced concrete (RC) or concrete base. The column-base connections of steel or composite steel structures can be organized both moment resistant and non-moment resistant leading to different connection styles. Some of these connection styles are ordinary bolded systems, socket systems and embedded systems. The structures are frequently exposed to cycling lateral loading effects causing fatal damages on connections like columns-to-beams or columns-to-base. In this paper, connection of steel column with RC base was investigated analytically and experimentally. In the experiments, bolded connections, socket and embedded connection systems are taken into consideration by applying cyclic lateral loads. Performance curves for each connection were obtained according to experimental and analytical studies conducted and inelastic behavior of connections was evaluated accordingly. The cyclic lateral performance of the connection style of embedding the steel column into the reinforced concrete base and strengthening of steel column in upper level of base connection was found to be higher and effective than other connection systems. Also, all relevant test results were discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.605-621
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• 2013

CFRP strips are widely used nowadays for repair/strengthening or capacity increase purposes. Sharp bending at the ends of the CFRP strips is frequently encountered at these applications. In this study, Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam specimens that were produced with 10 MPa compression strength concrete were strengthened by using bonded CFRP strips with end anchorages to tension region. The parameters that were investigated in this study are the width of the strip, the number of applied fan anchorages and whether additional layer of CFRP patch is used or not at the strip ends. Specimens were strengthened with 100 mm wide CFRP strips with one or two anchorages at the ends. In addition CFRP patch with two and three anchorages at the ends were tested for investigating the effect of the patches. Specimens that were strengthened with three anchorages at the ends with patches were repeated with 60 and 80 mm wide CFRP strips. The most successful result was obtained from the specimen that was strengthened with 80 mm wide CFRP strips with 3 end anchorages and patches among the others at the experimental program. The numbers of anchorages that were applied to ends of CFRP strips were more effective than the width of the CFRP strips onto strength and stiffness of the specimens. Due to limited space at the ends of the strips at most three anchorages could be applied.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.439-452
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• 2018

This paper presents experimental and numerical study on buckling behaviors and hysteretic performance of Class 1 H-shaped steel beam subjected to cyclic pure bending within the scope of ultra-low cycle fatigue (ULCF). A loading device was designed to achieve the pure bending loading condition and 4 H-shaped specimens with a small width-to-thickness ratio were tested under 4 different loading histories. The emphasis of this work is on the impacts induced by local buckling and subsequent ductile fracture. The experimental and numerical results indicate that the specimen failure is mainly induced by elasto-plastic local buckling, and is closely correlated with the plastic straining history. Compared with monotonic loading, the elasto-plastic local buckling can occur at a much smaller displacement amplitude due to a number of preceding plastic reversals with relative small strain amplitudes, which is mainly correlated with decreasing tangent modulus of the material under cyclic straining. Ductile fracture is found to be a secondary factor leading to deterioration of the load-carrying capacity. In addition, a new ULCF life evaluation method is proposed for the specimens using the concept of energy decomposition, where the cumulative plastic energy is classified into two categories as isotropic hardening and kinematic hardening correlated. A linear correlation between the two energies is found and formulated, which compares well with the experimental results.