• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2001

For the design of shear connection for the composite precast concrete slabs. it is necessary to investigate its strength, stiffness, slip capacity and fatigue endurance. For theme purposes, push-out tests were performed with variations of the stud shank diameter and the compressive strength of the mortar. From the experimental studies, it could be observed that the deformation of the shear studs in a full-depth precast concrete slabs were greater than those in a cast-in-place slabs. The static strength of the shear connections obtained agree approximately with those evaluated from the tensile strength of the stud shear connectors owing to the effect of the bedding layer between the slabs and the beams. An empirical equation for the initial shear stiffness of a shear connection was also proposed. On the basis of the push-out tests, a full-scale composite beams with 8.0m span was designed and fatigue tests were carried out to study the behaviour of the stud shear connection and its effects on the flexural behaviour of the beam. The bonding arid friction between the concrete slab and the steel beam considerably increased the fatigue endurance of the shear connection.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.667-686
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• 2014

Tapered concrete filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) columns have been used in China for structures such as electricity transmission towers. In practice, the bearing capacity related to the connection details on the top of the column is not fully understood. In this paper, the experimental behaviour of tapered CFDST stub columns subjected to axial partial compression is reported, sixteen specimens with top endplate and ten specimens without top endplate were tested. The test parameters included: (1) tapered angle, (2) top endplate thickness, and (3) partial compression area ratio. Test results show that the tapered CFDST stub columns under axial partial compression behaved in a ductile manner. The axial partial compressive behaviour and the failure modes of the tapered CFDST stub columns were significantly influenced by the parameters investigated. Finally, a simple formula for predicting the cross-sectional capacity of the tapered CFDST sections under axial partial compression is proposed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2022

The effect of basalt and polypropylene fibers on the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams is investigated in this paper. The compressive and tensile behaviors of the basalt concrete and polypropylene concrete cylinders are also investigated. Eight beams and 28 cylinders were made with different percentages of basalt and polypropylene fibers. The dosages of fiber were selected as 0.6%, 1.3%, and 2.5% of the total cement weight. Each type of fiber was mixed solely with the concrete mix. Basalt and polypropylene fibers are modern and cheap materials that can be used to improve the structural behavior of RC members. This research is designed to find the optimum percentage of basalt and polypropylene fibers for enhancing the flexural behavior of RC beams. Test results showed that the addition of basalt and polypropylene fibers in any dosage (0.6%, 1.3%, and 2.5%) can increase the flexural strength and displacement ductility index of the beams where the maximum enhancement was measured with 1.3% fibers. The maximum increments in the flexural strength and the displacement ductility index were 30.39% and 260% for the basalt fiber case, while the maximum improvement for the polypropylene fibers case was 55.5% and 230% compared to the control specimen. Finite element (FE) models were then developed in ABAQUS to predict the numerical behaviour of the tested beams. The FE models were able to predict the experimental behaviour with reasonable accuracy. This research confirms the efficiency of basalt and polypropylene fibers in enhancing the flexural behavior of RC beams, and it also suggests the optimum dosage of fibers.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.355-372
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• 2022

The study is part of an experimental program on full-scale Un-Reinforced Masonry (URM) wall panels strengthened with Textile reinforced mortars (TRM). Eight brick walls (two with and five without central opening), were tested under the diagonal tension (shear) test method in order to investigate the strengthening system effectiveness on the in-plane behaviour of the walls. All the URM panels consist of the innovative components, named "Orthoblock K300 bricks" with vertical holes and a thin layer mortar. Both of them have great capacity and easy application and can be constructed much more rapidly than the traditional bricks and mortars, increasing productivity, as well as the compressive strength of the masonry walls. Several parameters pertaining to the in-plane shear behaviour of the retrofitted panels were investigated, including shear capacity, failure modes, the number of layers of the external TRM jacket, and the existence of the central opening of the wall. For both the control and retrofitted panels, the experimental shear capacity and failure mode were compared with the predictions of existing prediction models (ACI 2013, TA 2000, Triantafillou 1998, Triantafillou 2016, CNR 2018, CNR 2013, Eurocode 6, Eurocode 8, Thomoglou et al. 2020). The experimental work allowed an evaluation of the shear performance in the case of the bidirectional textile (TRM) system applied on the URM walls. The results have shown that some analytical models present a better accuracy in predicting the shear resistance of all the strengthened masonry walls with TRM systems which can be used in design guidelines for reliable predictions.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.171-183
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• 2020

The main objective of this study is the assessment of the ability of limestone mortars to resist to different chemical attacks. The ability of polypropylene (PP) fibres waste used as reinforcement of these concrete materials to enhance their durability is also studied. Crushed sand 0/2 mm which is a fine limestone residue obtained by the crushing of natural rocks in aggregates industry is used for the fabrication of the mortar. The fibres used, which are obtained from the waste of domestic plastic sweeps' fabrication, have a length of 20 mm and a diameter ranging between 0.38 and 0.51 mm. Two weight fibres contents are used, 0.5 and 1%. The durability tests carried out in this investigation included the water absorption by capillarity, the mass variation, the flexural and the compressive strengths of the mortar specimens immersed for 366 days in 5% sodium chloride, 5% magnesium sulphate and 5% sulphuric acid solutions. A mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a visual inspection are used for a better examination of the quality of tested mortars and for better interpretation of their behaviour in different solutions. The results indicate that the reinforcement of limestone mortar by PP fibres waste is an excellent solution to improve its chemical resistance and durability. Moreover, the presence of PP fibres waste does not affect significantly the water absorption by capillarity of mortar nether its mass variation, when exposed to chloride and sulphate solutions. While in sulphuric acid, the mass loss is higher with the presence of PP fibres waste, especially after an exposure of 180 days. The results reveal that these fibres have a considerable effect of the flexural and the compressive behaviour of mortar especially in acid solution, where a reduction of strength loss is observed. The mineralogical analysis confirms the good behaviour of mortar immersed in sulphate and chloride solutions; and shows that more gypsum is formed in mortar exposed to acid environment causing its rapid degradation. The visual observation reveals that only samples exposed to acid attack during 366 days have showed a surface damage extending over a depth of approximately 300 ㎛.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2011

Three-dimensional(3D) numerical analyses have been conducted to study the behaviour of a single pile to adjacent tunnelling conducted in the lateral direction of the pile. In the numerical analyses, the interaction between the tunnel, the pile and the soil next to the pile has been analysed. The study includes the pile settlement, the relative shear displacement between the pile and the soil, the shear stresses at the soil next to the pile and the axial force on the pile. In particular, the shear stress transfer mechanism along the pile related to the tunnel advancement has been rigorously analysed. Due to changes in the relative shear displacement between the pile and the soil next to the pile during the tunnel advancement, the shear stress and the axial force distributions along the pile have been changed. Downward shear stress developed above the tunnel springline (Z/L=0.0-0.7~0.8), while upward shear stress is mobilised below the tunnel springline (Z/L=0.7~0.8-1.0) resulting in compressive force on the pile, where Z is the pile location and L is the pile length. Maximum compressive force of about $0.475P_a$ was developed on the pile after completion of tunnel advancement, where $P_a$ is the allowable pile capacity. Some insights into the pile behaviour to tunnelling obtained from the numerical analyses will be reported and discussed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2019

The main objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the efficiency of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in enhancing the unconfined compressive strength of soft soil alone and soft soil mixed with recycled tiles. The recycled tiles have been used to treat soft soil in a previous research by Al-Bared et al. (2019) and the results showed significant improvement, but the improved strength value was for samples treated with low cement content (2%). Hence, OPC is added alone in this research in various proportions and together with the optimum value of recycled tiles in order to investigate the improvement in the strength. The results of the compaction tests of the soft soil treated with recycled tiles and 2, 4, and 6% OPC revealed an increment in the maximum dry density and a decrement in the optimum moisture content. The optimum value of OPC was found to be 6%, at which the strength was the highest for both samples treated with OPC alone and samples treated with OPC and 20% recycled tiles. Under similar curing time, the strength of samples treated with recycled tiles and OPC was higher than the treated soil with the same percentage of OPC alone. The stress-strain curves showed ductile plastic behaviour for the untreated soft clay and brittle behaviour for almost all treated samples with OPC alone and OPC with recycled tiles. The microstructural tests indicated the formation of new cementitious products that were responsible for the improvement of the strength, such as calcium aluminium silicate hydrate. This research promotes recycled tiles as a green stabiliser for soil stabilisation capable of reducing the amount of OPC required for ground improvement. The replacement of OPC with recycled tiles resulted in higher strength compared to the control mix and this achievement may results in reducing both OPC in soil stabilisation and the disposal of recycled tiles into landfills.

• Composites Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.66-73
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• 2003

The importance of understanding the response of structural composites to impact and CAI cannot be overstated to develop analytical models for impact damage and CAI strength predictions. This paper presents experimental findings observed from quasi-static lateral load tests, low velocity impact tests. CAI strength and open hole compressive strength tests using 3 mm thick composite plates($[45/-45/0/90]_{3s}$- IM7/8552). The conclusion is drawn that damage areas for both quasi-static lateral load and impact tests are similar and the curves of several drop weight impacts with varying energy levels(between 5.4 J and 18.7 J) follow the static curve well. In addition, at a given energy the peak force is in good agreement between the static and impact cases. It is identified that the failure behaviour of the specimens from the CAI strength tests was very similar to that observed in laminated plates with open holes under compression loading. The residual strengths art: in good agreement with the measured open hole compressive strengths. considering the impact damage site area, an equivalent hole. The experimental findings suggest that simple analytical models for the prediction of impact damage area and CAI strength can be developed on the basis of the failure mechanism observed from the experimental tests.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2020

Unstiffened and stiffened cylindrically curved plates are often used in ship structures. For example, they can be found on a deck with a camber, a side shell at the fore and aft parts, and the circular bilge part of a ship structure. It is believed that such cylindrically curved plates can be fundamentally modelled using a portion of a circular cylinder. From estimations using cylindrically curved plate models, it is known that the curvature generally increases the buckling strength compared to a flat plate under axial compression. The existence of curvature is also expected to increase both the ultimate and buckling strengths. In the present study, a series of finite element analyses were conducted on stiffened curved plates with several varying parameters such as the curvature, panel slenderness ratio, and web height and type of stiffener applied. The results of numerical calculations on stiffened and unstiffened curved plates were examined to clarify the influences of such parameters on the characteristics of their buckling/plastic collapse behavior and strength under an axial compression.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.921-947
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• 2016

Concrete Filled Fibre Reinforced Polymer Tube (CFFT) for new columns construction has attracted significant research attention in recent years. The CFFT acts as a formwork for new columns and a barrier to corrosion accelerating agents. It significantly increases both the strength capacity (Strength enhancement ratio) and the ductility (Strain enhancement ratio) of reinforced concrete columns. In this study, based on predefined selection criteria, experimental investigation results of 134 circular CFFT columns under axial compression have been compiled and analysed from 599 CFFT specimens available in the literature. It has been observed that actual confinement ratio (expressed as a function of material properties of fibres, diameter of CFFT and compressive strength of concrete) has significant influence on the strength and ductility of circular CFFT columns. Design oriented models have been proposed to compute the strength and strain enhancement ratios of circular CFFT columns. The proposed strength and strain enhancement ratio models have significantly reduced Average Absolute Error (AAE), Mean Square Error (MSE), Relative Standard Error of Estimate (RSEE) and Standard Deviation (SD) as compared to other available strength and strain enhancement ratios of circular CFFT column models. The predictions of the proposed strength and strain enhancement ratio models match well with the experimental strength and strain enhancement ratios investigation results in the compiled database.