• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.423-435
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• 2018

There are presently two general ways of accounting for hazardous metal creep in structural fire analyses: either we incorporate creep strains implicitly in hardening model ('implicit-creep' plasticity) or we account for creep explicitly ('explicit-creep' plasticity). The first approach is simpler and usually used for fast engineering applications, e.g., following proposals of EN 1993-1-2. Prioritizing this approach without consideration of its limitations, however, may lead to significant error. So far the possible levels of such error have been demonstrated by few researchers for individual structural elements (i.e., beams and columns). This paper, however, presents analyses also for selected beam-girder assemblies. Special numerical models are developed correspondingly and they are validated and verified. Their important novelty is that they do not only account for creep in individual members but also for creep in between-member connections. The paper finally shows that outside the declared applicability limits of the implicit-creep plasticity models, the failure times predicted by the applied alternative explicit-creep models can be as much as 40% shorter. Within the limits, however, the discrepancies might be negligible for majority of cases with the exception of about 20% discrepancies found in one analysed example.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.231-251
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• 2019

In the present study, a numerical and experimental investigation has been carried out on the seismic behavior of RC columns of a bridge which damaged under corrosive environments and retrofitted by various techniques including combined application of CFRP sheets and steel profiles. A novel hybrid retrofitting procedure, including the application of inner steel profiles and outer peripheral CFRP sheets, has been proposed for strengthening purpose. Seven large-scale RC columns of a Girder Bridge have been tested in the laboratory under the influence of simultaneous application of constant axial load and the lateral cyclic displacements. Having verified the finite element modeling, using ABAQUS software, the effects of important parameters such as the corrosion percentage of steel rebars and the number of CFRP layers have been evaluated. Based on the results, retrofitting of RC columns of the bridge with the proposed technique was effective in improving some measures of structural performance such as lateral strength degradation and higher energy absorption capability. However, the displacement ductility was not considerably improved whereas the elastic stiffness of the specimens has been increased.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.467-478
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• 2019

Running safety and ride comfort of high speed railway largely depend on the track geometry that is dependent on the bridge deformation. This study presents a theoretical study on mapping the bridge vertical deformations to the change of track geometry. Analytical formulae are derived through the theoretical analysis to quantify the track geometry change, and validated against the finite element analysis and experimental data. Based on the theoretical formulae, parametric studies are conducted to evaluate the effects of key parameters on the track geometry of a high speed railway. The results show that the derived formulae provide reasonable prediction of the track geometry change under various bridge vertical deformations. The rail deflection increases with the magnitude of bridge pier settlement and vertical girder fault. Increasing the stiffness of the fasteners or mortar layer tends to cause a steep rail deformation curve, which is undesired for the running safety and ride comfort of high-speed railway.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.239-251
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• 2023

The stiffness evaluation of cracked base metal is of great guidance to fatigue crack reinforcement. By carrying out fatigue tests and numerical simulation of typical cracking details in steel box girder, the strain-degradation law of cracked base metal was analyzed and the relationship between base metal stress and its displacement (stiffness) was explored. The feasibility of evaluating the stress of cracked base metal based on the stress field at the crack tip was verified. The results demonstrate that the stiffness of cracked base metal shows the fast-to-slow degradation trend with fatigue cracking and the base metal at 50mm or more behind the crack tip basically lose its bearing capacity. Drilling will further accelerate stiffness degradation with the increase of hole diameters. The base metal stress has a negative linear relation with its displacement (stiffness), The stress of cracked base metal is also related to stress intensity factor and its relative position (distance, included angle) to the crack tip, through which the local stiffness can be effectively evaluated. Since the stiffness is not uniformly distributed along the cracked base metal, the reinforcement patch is suggested to be designed according to the stiffness to avoid excessive reinforcement for the areas incompletely unloaded.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.405-417
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• 2023

In order to strengthen the reinforced concrete T-beams having insufficient shear strength, several strengthening techniques are available in the literature. In this study, three different strengthening strategies were numerically studied. First one is affixing steel plates to the beam surfaces. Second one includes tightening external steel bars vertically similar to beam stirrups. The last one is simultaneous application of these two strengthening procedures which is particularly proposed in this work. Available experimental test series in the literature were handled in the study. Finite element (FE) models of reinforced concrete beam specimens having sufficient (Beam-1) and low shear capacity (Beam-2) were created within ABAQUS environment. Strengthened beams with different techniques were also modelled to reflect improved shear capacity. FE simulations made it possible to investigate parameters that were not examined during the previous experimental studies. The results of the analyses were then compared and found consistent with the experimentally obtained data. Experimental and FEM analysis results are in agreement between 1% (closest) and 6%. (maximum). Beam-2 was stregthened with 5 new porposed methods. The rate of increase in shear strength varies between 33% and 64%. It was found that, the strengthening techniques were fairly useful in improving the shear capacity of the considered girder. The model with the proposed strengthening alternative has accomplished a higher load carrying capacity, ductility and stiffness than all of the other models.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.5A
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• pp.817-822
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• 2006

Post-tensioning the full-depth precast slab longitudinally is to eliminate the tensile stresses in the transverse joints and to prevent any leakage through the joints. When the prestressing is applied to full-depth precast slab which does not composite steel girder, stress concentration occurs at the corners of shear pocket, and compressive stress is not uniformly distributed in the section of precast slab. In this paper, full-depth precast slabs using four different shapes of shear pockets are analyzed by commercial finite element program. Round type of shear pockets is superior to reduction in stress concentration.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.753-768
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• 2022

In this study, a graphical automatic system is developed in order to investigate the stress redistribution of structural members in a steel cable-stayed bridge. The generalized Maxwell model is selected for stress relaxation estimation, and it is carefully verified and applied to all the cable members of a steel cable-stayed bridge to investigate its stress relaxation. A set of stress relaxation parameters in all cables is determined using the fmincon optimization function. The stress redistribution of the steel cable-stayed bridge is then analyzed using ABAQUS. To shorten the investigation time, all the aforementioned phases are built up to be an automatic system. The automatic system is then employed to investigate the effect of cable cross-section areas and girder spans on stress redistribution. The findings from these studies show that the initial tension in the cables of a steel cable-stayed bridge should be kept to less than 55% of the cable's ultimate strength to reduce the effect of cable stress relaxation. The cable space in a steel cable-stayed bridge should be limited to 15,000 mm to minimize the effect of cable stress relaxation. In comparison to other structural members of a steel cable-stayed bridge, the girders experience a significant stress redistribution.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2024

Analytical methods for assessment of the out-of-plane buckling of unbraced top chords of truss bridges may look obsolete while comparing them to finite element analysis. However they are, usually, superior when rapid assessment is necessary. Analytical methods consider the top chord as a bar on elastic supports provided by bracing (Holt, Timoshenko). Correct assessment of the support elasticity (stiffness) is crucial. In the case of truss bridge spans of traditional structural layout (cross-beams at the truss chord nodes only), the elasticity may be set based on the analysis of the, so called, U-frame stiffness. Here the analyses consider the U-frame itself (a pair of verticals and a cross-beam) or the U-frame with adjacent diagonals or the pair of diagonals (in the absence of verticals) and the members of the bottom chord in the adjacent panels. For all the cases, the stability analysis of the chord as a bar in compression is necessary. Unfortunately, the method cannot be applied to contemporary truss bridges without verticals, that usually have independent cross-beam decks (the cross-beams attached to truss chords at their nodes and between them). This is the motivation for the analysis resulting in the method of setting the stiffness of the equivalent U-frame for the aforementioned truss bridges. Truss girders of both, gussetless and gusseted, joints are taken into account.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 2008

The kind of concrete generally used in steel concrete composite bridges is normal-weight concrete whose unit weight is ${2,300kg/m^{3}}$. However, using lightweight concrete in composite bridges diminishes the sectional forces due to the self-weight of concrete decks. As a result, this will make the bridge design more economical. The type of concrete deck that could be adopted in composite bridges using lightweight con crete may be classified into Cast-In-Place (C.I.P.) concrete deck and precast concrete deck. These two types of decks have some differences with respect to structural behavior and constructional method, and hence,structural behavior of stud shear connectors that connect a concrete deck to a steel girder is changed with the type of deck used. In this study, push-out tests were conducted to evaluate the characteristics of static behavior of the stud shear connectors with a precast deck using lightweight concrete. Also, additional precast deck specimens with bedding layer that had shear keys and devices for transverse confinement of the bedding layer for the prevention of cracks occurring in the bedding layer were tested. These cracks The efficiency of these devices was then evaluated.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.169-177
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• 2016

Sliding slab track system, which consists of low friction sliding layer between track slab and bridge deck, is recently devised to reduce track-bridge interaction effect of continuously welded rail(CWR) without applying special devices such as rail expansion joint(REJ). In this study, a series of track-bridge interaction analyses of a long-span bridge with sliding slab track and REJ are performed respectively and the results are compared. The bridge model includes PSC box girder bridge with 9 continuous spans, and steel-concrete composite girder bridge with 2 continuous spans. The total length of the bridge model is 1,205m, and the maximum spacing between the two fixed supports is 825m. Analyses results showed that the sliding slab track system is highly effective on interaction reduction since lower rail additional axial stress is resulted than REJ application. Additionally, horizontal reaction forces in fixed supports were also reduced compared to the results of REJ application. However, higher slab axial forces were developed in the sliding slab track due to the temperature load. Therefore, track slab section of the sliding slab track system should be carefully designed against slab axial forces.