• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.717-729
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• 2019

A horizontal cyclic test was carried out to study the seismic performance of lightweight aggregate concrete filled steel tube (LACFST). The constitutive and hysteretic model of core lightweight aggregate concrete (LAC) was proposed for finite element simulation. The stress and strain changes of the steel tube and concrete filled inside were measured in the experiment, and the failure mode, hysteresis curve, skeleton curve, and strain curve of the test specimens were obtained. The influence of axial compression ratio, diameter-thickness ratio and material strength were analysed based on finite element model. The results show that the hysteresis curve of LACFST indicated favourable ductility, energy dissipation, and seismic performance. The LACFST failed when the concrete in the bottom first crushed and the steel tube then bulged, thus axial force imposed by prestressing was proved to be feasible. The proposed constitutive model and hysteretic model of LAC under the constraint of its steel tube was reliable. The bearing capacity and ductility of the specimen increase significantly with increasing thickness of the steel tube. The bearing capacity of the member improves while the ductility and energy dissipation performance slightly decreased with the increasing strength of the steel and concrete.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.353-366
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• 2021

Cored moment resisting stub column (CMSC) was previously developed by the features of adopting a core segment which remains mostly elastic and reduced column section (RCS) details around the ends to from a stable hysteretic behavior with large post-yield stiffness and considerable ductility. Several full-scale CMSC components with various length proportions of the RCSs with respect to overall lengths have been experimentally investigated through both far-field and near-fault cyclic loadings followed by fatigue tests. Test results verified that the proposed CMSC provided very ductile hysteretic responses with no strength degradation even beyond the occurrence of the local buckling at the side-segments. The effect of RCS lengths on the seismic performance of the CMSC was verified to relate with the levels of the deformation concentration at the member ends, the local buckling behavior and overall ductility. Estimation equations were established to notionally calculate the first-yield and ultimate strengths of the CMSC and validated by the measured responses. A numerical model of the CMSC was developed to accurately capture the hysteretic performance of the specimens, and was adopted to clarify the effect of the surrounding frame and to perform a parametric study to develop the estimation of the elastic stiffness.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.599-614
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• 2021

This study deals with the Lateral-Torsional Buckling (LTB) of a mono-symmetric tapered I-beam, in which the cross-section is varying longitudinally. To obtain the buckling moment, two concentrated bending moments should be applied at the two ends of the structure. This structure is made of Functionally Graded Material (FGM). The Young's and shear modules change linearly along the longitudinal direction of the beam. It is considered that this tapered beam is laterally restrained continuously, by using torsional springs. Furthermore, two rotational bending springs are employed at the two structural ends. To achieve the buckling moment, Ritz solution method is utilized. The response of critical buckling moment of the beam is obtained by minimizing the total potential energy relation. The lateral and torsional displacement fields of the beam are interpolated by harmonic functions. These functions satisfy the boundary conditions. Two different support conditions are considered in this study. The obtained formulation is validated by solving benchmark problems. Moreover, some numerical studies are implemented to show the accuracy, efficiency and high performance of the proposed formulation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.339-351
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• 2022

A mortar-filled rectangular hollow structural section (RHS) can increase a structural section property as well as a compressive buckling capacity of a RHS member. In this study, the tensile performance of newly developed mortar-filled RHS members was experimentally evaluated with various connection details. The major test parameters were the type of end connections, the thickness of cap plates and shear plates, the use of stud bolts, and penetrating bars. The test results showed that the welded T-end connection experienced a brittle weld fracture at the welded connection, whereas the tensile performance of the T-end connection was improved by additional stud bolts inserted into the mortar within the RHS tube. For the end connection using shear plates and penetrating stud bolts, ductile behavior of the RHS tube was achieved after yielding. The penetrating bars increased load carrying capacity of the RHS. Based on the analysis of the load transfer mechanism, the current design code and test results were compared to evaluate the tensile capacity of the RHS tube according to the connection details. Design considerations for the connections of the mortar-filled RHS tubes were also recommended.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.107-116
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• 2022

This paper presents results of numerical studies completed on unreinforced and doubler plate reinforced Elliptical Hollow Section (EHS) T-joints subjected to axial compressive loading on the brace member. Non-linear finite element (FE) models were developed using the finite element code, ABAQUS. Available test data in literature was used to validate the FE models. Subsequently, a parametric study was carried out to investigate the effects of various geometrical parameters of main members and reinforcement plates on the ultimate capacity of reinforced EHS T-joints. The parametric study found that the reinforcing plate significantly increases the ultimate capacity of EHS T-joints up to twice the capacity of the corresponding unreinforced joint. The thickness and length of the reinforcing plate have a positive effect on the ultimate capacity of Type 1 joints. This study, however, found that the capacity of Type 1 orientation is not dependent on the brace-to-chord diameter ratio. As for type 2 orientations, the thickness and length of the reinforcement have a minimal effect on the ultimate capacity. A new design method is introduced to predict the capacity of the reinforced EHS T-joints Type 1 and 2 based on the multiple linear regression analyses.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.341-351
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• 2022

This paper presents an inelastic buckling behavior analysis of rectangular hollow steel tubes with geometrical imperfections under elevated temperatures. The main variables are the temperature loads, slenderness ratios, and exposure conditions at high temperatures. The material and structural properties of steels at different temperatures are based on Eurocode (EN 1993-1-2, 2005). In the elastic buckling analysis, the buckling strength decreases linearly with the exposure conditions, whereas the inelastic buckling analysis shows that the buckling strength decreases in clusters based on the exposure conditions of strong and weak axes. The buckling shape of the rectangular steel column in the elastic buckling mode, which depicts geometrical imperfection, shows a shift in the position at which bending buckling occurs when the lower section of the member is exposed to high temperatures. Furthermore, lateral torsional buckling occurs owing to cross-section deformation when the strong axial plane of the model is exposed to high temperatures. The elastic buckling analysis indicates a conservative value when the model is exposed to a relatively low temperature, whereas the inelastic buckling analysis indicates a conservative value at a certain temperature or higher. The comparative results between the inelastic buckling analysis and Eurocode 3 show that a range exists in which the buckling strength in the design equation result is overestimated at elevated temperatures, and the shapes of the buckling curves are different.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.683-695
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• 2022

Conventional braces are often used to provide stiffness to structures; however due to buckling they cannot be used as seismic energy dissipating elements. In this study, a seismic energy dissipation device is proposed which is comprised of a bracing member and a steel hysteretic damper made of steel hexagonal plates. The hexagonal shaped designated fuse causes formation of plastic hinges under axial deformation of the brace. The main advantages of this damper compared to conventional metallic dampers and buckling-restrained braces are the stable and controlled energy dissipation capability with ease of manufacture. The mechanical behavior of the damper is formulated first and a design procedure is provided. Next, the theoretical formulation and the efficiency of the damper are verified using finite element (FE) analyses. An analytical model of the damper is established and its efficiency is further investigated by applying it to seismic retrofit of a case study structure. The seismic performance of the structure is evaluated before and after retrofit in terms of maximum interstory drift ratio, top story displacement, residual displacement, and energy dissipation of dampers. Overall, the median of maximum interstory drift ratios is reduced from 3.8% to 1.6% and the residual displacement decreased in the x-direction which corresponds to the predominant mode shape of the structure. The analysis results show that the developed damper can provide cost-effective seismic protection of structures.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.820-824
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• 2022

Ecologically sustainable means of development is the point to support environmental homeostasis. One of our roles is to find bio-degradable resources that can be substituted for petroleum-based products to effectively abide by the natural viability. To counter the issues of deforestation and preserve biodiversity, it is necessary to produce a non-wood crop that can fulfill the requirement for raw material from which several products can be produced. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), a member of the family Malvaceae, is showing sufficient potentiality along this road-map. Due to its rich fiber content, it has been used extensively in various fields for long, probably as early as 4,000 BC. At present, kenaf has been used as provider of paper, plastics, fiber glass, biofuel, activated carbon and epoxy composite. This obviously catch one's attention towards its capability to replace petroleum-based products as a whole. Moreover, the plant shows considerable relevance in decreasing pollutants by virtue of its enormous absorption capacity. These multiple applications of kenaf justify its credibility to be the best resource for the better world. The paper presents an overview on its numerous uses reported in the literature that we have investigated and its great potential as a valuable multipurpose crop.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.599-610
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• 2023

To avoid debonding failure, a novel type of hybrid anchorage (HA) is proposed in this study that uses a slotted plate to lock the ends of the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheet in addition to the usual bonding over the substrate of the strengthened member. An experimental investigation was performed on three groups of RC beams, which differed from one another in either concrete strength or steel reinforcement ratio. The test results indicate that the end self-locking of the CFRP sheet can improve the failure ductility, ultimate capacity of the beams and its utilization ratio. Although intermediate debonding occurred in all the strengthened beams, it was not a fatal mode of failure for the three specimens with end anchorage. Among them, FRP rupture occurred in the beam with higher concrete strength and lower steel reinforcement ratio, whereas the other two failed by concrete crushing. The beam strengthened by HA obtained a relatively high percentage of increase in ultimate capacity when the rebar ratio or concrete strength decreased. The expressions in the literature were inspected to calculate the critical loads at intermediate debonding, FRP rupturing and concrete crushing after debonding for the strengthened beam. Then, the necessity of further research is addressed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.455-466
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• 2022

Despite the considerable lateral stiffness and strength of the Concentrically Braced Frame (CBF), it suffers from low ductility and low seismic dissipating energy capacity. The buckling of the diagonal members of the CBF systems under cyclic loading ended up to the shortcoming against seismic loading. Comprehensive researches have been performing to achieve helpful approaches to prevent the buckling of the diagonal member. Among the recommended ideas, metallic damper revealed a better success than other ideas to enhance the behavior of CBFs. While metallic dampers improve the behavior of the CBF system, they increase constructional costs. Therefore, in this paper, a new steel damper with flexural mechanism is proposed, which is investigated experimentally and numerically. Also, a parametrical revision was carried out to evaluate the effect of thickness, slenderness ratio, angle of the main plate, and height of the main plates on the proposed damper. For the parametrical study, 45 finite element models were analyzed and considered. Experimental results, as well as the numerical results, indicated that the proposed damper enjoys a stable hysteresis loop without any degradation up to a high rotation equal to around 31% that is significantly considerable. Moreover, it showed a suitable performance in case of ductility and energy dissipating. Besides, the necessary formulas to design the damper, the required relations were proposed to design the elements outside the damper to ensure the damper acts as a ductile fuse.