• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.255-265
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• 2019

The potential of using genetic programming to predict engineering data has caught the attention of researchers in recent years. The present paper utilized weighted genetic programming (WGP), a derivative model of genetic programming (GP), to model the compressive strength of concrete. The calculation results of Abrams' laws, which are used as the design codes for calculating the compressive strength of concrete, were treated as the inputs for the genetic programming model. Therefore, knowledge of the Abrams' laws, which is not a factor of influence on common data-based learning approaches, was considered to be a potential factor affecting genetic programming models. Significant outcomes of this work include: 1) the employed design codes positively affected the prediction accuracy of modeling the compressive strength of concrete; 2) a new equation was suggested to replace the design code for predicting concrete strength; and 3) common data-based learning approaches were evolved into knowledge-based learning approaches using historical data and design codes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.467-477
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• 2013

Municipalities in the United Arab Emirates approve reinforced concrete design of building structures to follow either the ACI 318 or the BS 8110 code. Since the requirements of these codes are different from each, there is a need to compare the structural demand in the two codes. The main objective of this study is to compare the design requirements of the ACI 318 code with the BS 8110 code for the flexural, shear and axial compression limit states. The load factors and load combinations in the two codes are also compared. To do so, a large number of cross-sections with different geometries, material properties, and reinforcement ratios are analyzed following the procedures in the two codes. The relevant factored load combinations in the two codes are also investigated for a wide range of live-to-dead load ratios and for various wind-to-dead load ratios. The study showed that the differences between the design capacities in the ACI 318 and BS 8110 codes are minor for flexure, moderate for axial compression, and major for shear. Furthermore, the factored load combinations for dead load, live load and wind in the two codes yield minor-to-moderate differences, depending on the live-to-dead load ratio and intensity of wind.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.387-400
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• 2022

The practice of using encased steel-concrete columns in medium to high-rise structures has expanded dramatically in recent years. The study evaluates existing methodologies and codal guidelines for estimating the ultimate load-carrying characteristics of concrete-encased short columns experimentally. The present condition of composite column design methods was analyzed using the Egyptian code ECP203-2007, the American Institute of Steel Construction's AISC-LRFD-2010, Eurocode EC-4, the American Concrete Institute's ACI-318-2014, and the British Standard BS-5400-5. According to the codes, the axial load carrying characteristics of both the encased steel and concrete sections was examined. The effect of load-carrying capacities in different forms of encased steel sections on encased steel-concrete columns was studied experimentally. The axial load carrying capacity of twelve concrete-encased columns and four conventional reinforced columns were examined. The conclusion is that the confinement was not taken into account when forecasting the strength and ductility of the encased concrete, resulting in considerable disparities between codal provisions and experimental results. The configuration of the steel section influenced the confining effect. Better confinement is achieved with the laced and battened section than with the infilled steel tube reinforced and conventionally reinforced section. The ECP203-2007 code reported the most conservative results of all the codes used.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.265-282
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• 2010

The shear contribution of transverse steel in reinforced concrete beams is generally assumed as independent of the concrete strength by most of the building codes. The shear strength of RC beams with web reinforcement is worked out by adding the individual contributions of concrete and stirrups. In this research 70 beams of medium strength concrete in the range of 52-54 MPa, compressive strength were tested in two sets of 35 beams each. In one set of 35 beams no web reinforcement was used, whereas in second set of 35 beams web reinforcement was used to check the contribution of stirrups. The values have also been compared with the provisions of ACI, Eurocode and Japanese Code building codes. The results of two sets of beams, when compared mutually and provisions of the building codes, showed that the shear strength of beams has been increased with the addition of stirrups for all the beams, but the increase is non uniform and irregular. The comparison of observed values with the provisions of selected codes has shown that EC-02 is relatively less conservative for low values of longitudinal steel, whereas ACI-318 overestimates the shear strength of RC beams at higher values of longitudinal steel. The Japanese code of JSCE has given relatively good results for the beams studied.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.99-113
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• 2004

The article reports data on, and numerical modelling of, beams exhibiting points of inflection and subjected to sequential loading. Both tests and analysis point to inadequacies in current codes of practice. An alternative design methodology, which is strongly associated with the notion that contraflexure points should be designed as "internal supports", is shown to produce superior performance even though it requires significantly less secondary reinforcement than that advocated by codes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.225-235
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• 2009

The present paper reviews the shear design (of reinforced concrete beam) provisions of four different national codes and proposes a new but simplified shear strength empirical expression, incorporating variables such as compressive strength of concrete, percentage of longitudinal and vertical steel/s, depth of beam in terms of shear span-to-depth ratio, for reinforced concrete (RC) beams without shear reinforcement. The expression is based on the experimental investigation on RC beams without shear reinforcement. Further, the comparisons of shear design provisions of four National codes viz.: (i) IS 456-2000, (iii) BS 8110-1997, (iv) ACI 318-2002 (v) EuroCode-2-2002 and the proposed expression for the prediction of shear capacity of normal beam/s, have been made by solving a numerical example. The results of the numerical example worked out suggest that there is need for revision in the shear design procedure of different codes. Also, the proposed expression is less conservative among the IS, BS & Eurocode.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1993.04a
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• pp.169-175
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• 1993

Possibility of fatigue failure in punching shear of reinforced concrete decks of highway bridges is analytically investigated by applying Matsui et al.'s experimental finding to models of 2-meter span decks designed in compliance with previous and current codes. Decks made of concrete of compressive strength of 240㎏/㎠ showed longer fatigue life than decks made of 210㎏/㎠ concrete at the same Md/U rations ; higher Md/U ratio resulted in linger fatigue life but its effect is insignificant in decks having effective depths of 14 and 15cm. Decks designed to higher load factors as specified by current codes showed longer fatigue life than decks designed to lower load factors specified by previous codes ; yet fatigue failure appeared to occur in both decks within their normal life span, thus indicating need for redefining the minimum deck thickness.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.501-506
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• 2002

The unbonded prestressed concrete(PSC) members exhibit very different structural behavior from that of bonded PSC members because of having different tendon stress increment. Recently, AASHTO changed the provision of ultimate tendon stress with unbonded tendons, because some researches tried to improve the provision of ultimate tendon stress with unbonded tendons. The purpose of the present study is to compare various Codes with the ultimate failure stresses of prestressing(PS) steels for the unbonded PSC members. To this end, Some national Codes have been collected and analyzed. A series of major influencing variables have been included in the analysis. It was found that the span-depth ratio, neutral axis depth-effective depth ratio, concrete compressive strength, effective prestress, and prestressing steel ratio have great influence on the ultimate failure stress of PS steel in unbonded PSC members. The Comparison indicates that existing formulas including ACI and domestic Code's equations shows some unwarranties. The present study allows more realistic analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures with internal unbonded tendons.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.327-345
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• 2014

This paper presents the application of multi-gene genetic programming (MGP) technique for modeling the bond strength of ribbed steel bars in concrete. In this regard, the experimental data of 264 splice beam tests from different technical papers were used for training, validating and testing the model. Seven basic parameters affecting on the bond strength of steel bars were selected as input parameters. These parameters are diameter, relative rib area and yield strength of steel bar, minimum concrete cover to bar diameter ratio, splice length to bar diameter ratio, concrete compressive strength and transverse reinforcement index. The results show that the proposed MGP model can be alternative approach for predicting the bond strength of ribbed steel bars in concrete. Moreover, the performance of the developed model was compared with the building codes' empirical equations for a complete comparison. The study concludes that the proposed MGP model predicts the bond strength of ribbed steel bars better than the existing building codes' equations. Using the proposed MGP model and building codes' equations, a parametric study was also conducted to investigate the trend of the input variables on the bond strength of ribbed steel bars in concrete.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.413-429
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• 2013

The primary aim of this study is to develop a three dimensional finite element (FE) model to predict the axial stress-strain relationship and ultimate strength of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns by comparing experimental results. The reliability of four selected confinement models and three design codes such as ACI-440, CSA-S806-02, and ISIS CANADA is also evaluated in terms of agreement with the experimental results. Totally 6 unconfined and 36 different types of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns are tested under monotonic axial compression. The values of ultimate strengths of FRP-wrapped UHPC columns obtained from the experimental results are compared and verified with finite element (FE) analysis results and the design codes mentioned above. The concrete damage plasticity model (CDPM) in Abaqus is utilized to represent the confined behavior of the UHPC. The results indicate that agreement between the test results and the non-linear FE analysis results is highly satisfactory. The CSA-S806-02 design code is considered more reliable than the ACI-440 and the ISIS CANADA design codes to calculate the ultimate strength of the FRP-wrapped UHPC columns. None of the selected confinement models that are developed for FRP-wrapped low and normal strength concrete columns can safely predict the ultimate strength of FRP-wrapped UHPC columns.