• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.889-900
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• 2013

In a large scale of excavation for the foundation of large-sized structures and underground structures, a considerable amount of earth pressure can occur. Steel beams that have been used to form a temporary structure to support earth pressure may be less economical and less efficient in resisting the high earth pressure. To cope with this problem, PCT(Precast Concrete Truss) system has been devised and investigated both experimentally and analytically. A proper connection method between the concrete truss members was proposed to accommodate fast assembly and disassembly. Full-scale test of PCT system was performed to verify the load-carrying capacity of the PCT system including the connections. The test results were compared with those of structural analysis. The test specimen which corresponds to PCT strut attained the ultimate load without buckling, but the detail of connector members needs to be improved. It is expected that precast concrete truss members can be efficiently incorporated into a temporary structure for deep and large excavation by replacing conventional steel beams.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.345-350
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• 2008

Polymer Impregnated Concrete (PIC) prepared from Ordinary Portland Cement Concrete (OPC) has excellent mechanical properties as well as physico-chemical properties. For the manufacturing of PIC, drying process of basis concrete (precast concrete), impregnation process with evacuation system and ultrasonic vibration system, polymerization process of monomers are essential. Modified microwave reactor using magnetron was used for polymerization of styrene/MMA (1 : 1) impregnated in pore volume of basis concrete. From the experimental results, the degree of polymerization increased up to 30% and more homogeneous PIC was prepared as compared to the conventional thermal method. Also the mechanical strengths increased more than 400% ($800{\sim}1200kg_f/cm^2$) and the resistance for corrosion to acids was improved up to 25%. AIBN and BPO as initiators for polymerization were used at the concentration less than 1%. Optimum conditions for polymerization were obtained at the frequency of microwave of 400 W and 2450 MHz, and optimum reaction temperature was $120^{\circ}C$ at an atmospheric pressure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.559-573
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• 2019

Spiral spacing effect on axial compressive behavior of reinforced concrete filled steel tube (RCFST) stub column is experimentally investigated in this paper. A total of twenty specimens including sixteen square RCFST columns and four benchmarked conventional square concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns are fabricated and tested. Test variables include spiral spacing (spiral ratio) and concrete strength. The failure modes, load versus displacement curves, compressive rigidity, axial compressive strength, and ductility of the specimens are obtained and analyzed. Especially, the effect of spiral spacing on axial compressive strength and ductility is investigated and discussed in detail. Test results show that heavily arranged spirals considerably increase the ultimate compressive strength but lightly arranged spirals have no obvious effect on the ultimate strength. In practical design, the effect of spirals on RCFST column strength should be considered only when spirals are heavily arranged. Spiral spacing has a considerable effect on increasing the post-peak ductility of RCFST columns. Decreasing of the spiral spacing considerably increases the post-peak ductility of the RCFSTs. When the concrete strength increases, ultimate strength increases but the ductility decreases, due to the brittleness of the higher strength concrete. Arranging spirals, even with a rather small amount of spirals, is an economical and easy solution for improving the ductility of RCFST columns with high-strength concrete. Ultimate compressive strengths of the columns are calculated according to the codes EC4 (2004), GB 50936 (2014), AIJ (2008), and ACI 318 (2014). The ultimate strength of RCFST stub columns can be most precisely evaluated using standard GB 50936 (2014) considering the effect of spiral confinement on core concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.357-365
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• 2021

High deformable concrete (HDC) elements have compressive strength rates equal to conventional concrete and have got a high compressive strain at about 20% to 50%. These types of concrete elements as prefabricated parts have an abundance of applications in the construction industry which is the most used in the construction of tunnels in squeezing grounds, tunnel passwords from fault zones or swelling soils as soft supports. HDC elements after reaching to compressive yield stress, in nonlinear behavior have hardening combined with increasing strain and compressive strength. The main aim of this laboratory and numerical research is to construct concrete elements with the above properties so the compressive stress-strain behavior of different concrete elements with four categories of mix designs have been discussed and finally one of them has been defined as HDC element mix design. Furthermore, two columns with and without implementing of HDC elements have been made and stress-strain curves of them have been investigated experimentally. An analysis model is presented for columns using finite element method adopted by ABAQUS. The results obtained from the ABAQUS finite element method are compared with experimental data. The main comparison is made for stress-strain curve. The stress-strain curves from the finite element method agree well with experimental results. The results show that the dimension of the HDC samples is significant in the stress-strain behavior. The use of the element greatly increases energy absorption and ductility.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.311-320
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• 2022

TBM concrete segment requires a higher level of material properties compared to general concrete structures due to difficulties in maintenance and uncertainty in ground conditions. In this regard, recently, as one of the methods to achieve enhancement effect on concrete strength, many researchers have been focusing on adding CNTs to concrete mixture. However, even CNTs do not compensate the weakness that concrete exhibits brittle behavior after cracking. Separately, over the past few decades, a number of studies have been conducted on fiber reinforced concrete which exhibits ductile behavior due to fibers bridging cracks. However, only limited studies have been conducted to employ the advantages of the both materials together. In this study, an experimental program has been conducted to investigate the effect of CNTs on the workability and the compressive behavior of PVA-ECC which exhibits ductile tensile behavior with well-distributed cracks even without a conventional rebar. In addition to the compression test, SEM analysis has been also conducted for detailed investigation in the microstructure. The variable was the CNTs mix ratio, which were set to 0.00, 0.25, and 0.50 wt.% to the binding materials. It was observed though the test results that as the CNTs mix ratio increased, the workability considerably decreased with the reduced slump and slump flow. From the compression test results, it was also investigated that the compressive behavior was improved since the compressive strength, the strain corresponding to the compressive strength, and the modulus of elasticity increased with an increase of CNTs mix ratio. The contents of this paper will be useful for relevant research areas such as fiber reinforced concrete with CNTs which might be applied for high performance TMB concrete segments.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.299-330
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• 2022

This review article highlights the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of coconut shells, and the fresh and hardened properties of the coconut shell concrete are summarized and were compared with other types of aggregates. Furthermore, the structural behavior in terms of flexural, shear, and torsion was also highlighted, with other properties including shrinkage, elastic modulus, and permeability of the coconut shell concrete. Based on the reviewed literature, concrete containing coconut shell as coarse aggregate with normal sand as fine showed the 28-day compressive strength between 2 and 36 MPa with the dried density range of 1865 to 2300 kg/m³. Coconut shell concretes showed a 28-day modulus of rupture and splitting tensile strength values in the ranges of 2.59 to 8.45 MPa and 0.8 to 3.70 MPa, respectively, and these values were in the range of 5-20% of the compressive strength. The flexural behavior of CSC was found similar to other types of lightweight concrete. There were no horizontal cracks on beams which indicate no bond failure. Whereas, the diagonal shear failure was prominent in beams with no shear reinforcements while flexural failure mode was seen in beams having shear reinforcement. Under torsion, CSC beams behave like conventional concrete. Finally, future recommendations are also suggested in this study to investigate the innovative lightweight aggregate concrete based on the environmental and financial design factors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4146-4158
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• 2022

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has been widely utilized in military and civil protective structures to resist intensive loadings attributed to its excellent properties, e.g., high tensile/compressive strength, high dynamic toughness and impact resistance. At present, aiming to improve the defects of the traditional vertical concrete cask (VCC), i.e., the external storage facility of spent fuel, with normal strength concrete (NSC) shield, e.g., heavy weight and difficult to fabricate/transform, the feasibility of UHPC applied in the shield of VCC is numerically examined considering its high radiation and corrosion resistance. Firstly, the finite element (FE) analyses approach and material model parameters of NSC and UHPC are verified based on the 1/3 scaled VCC tip-over test and drop hammer test on UHPC members, respectively. Then, the refined FE model of prototypical VCC is established and utilized to examine its dynamic behaviors and damage distribution in accidental tip-over and end-drop events, in which the various influential factors, e.g., UHPC shield thickness, concrete ground thickness, and sealing methods of steel container are considered. In conclusion, by quantitatively evaluating the safety of VCC in terms of the shield damage and vibrations, it is found that adopting the 300 mm-thick UHPC shield instead of the conventional 650 mm-thick NSC shield can reduce about 1/3 of the total weight of VCC, i.e., about 50 t, and 37% floor space, as well as guarantee the structural integrity of VCC during the accidental drop simultaneously. Besides, based on the parametric analyses, the thickness of concrete ground in the VCC storage site is recommended as less than 500 mm, and the welded connection is recommended for the sealing method of steel containers.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.387-394
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• 2009

The objective of this study is to evaluate the durability and deterioration of concrete lining in the seven conventional tunnels. These tunnels were constructed about 40~70 years ago, and closed about 10~40 years ago. The field investigation and various laboratory testings were performed for this study. It was observed from the visual, examinations that the concrete linings of 7 tunnels were severely deteriorated, such as, cracks, leakages, desquamation, and exploitations. The compressive strengths obtained from rebound hardness method and uniaxial compressive strength test on core specimens largely differed depending on the locations in the tunnel. The maximum compressive strength of concrete lining was greater about 2 times than the minimum compressive strength of concrete lining in the same tunnel. The results of micro-structural analysis showed that the substances deteriorating the concrete lining, such as ettringite and thaumasite, were detected in the concrete lining of tunnel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.255-272
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• 2023

Spatial cable systems can provide more transverse stiffness and torsional stiffness without sacrificing the vertical bearing capacity compared with conventional vertical cable systems, which is quite lucrative for long-span earth-anchored suspension bridges' development. Higher economy highlights the importance of refined form-finding analysis. Meanwhile, the internal connection between the lateral and vertical sags has not yet been specified. Given this, an analytic algorithm of form-finding for the earth-anchored suspension bridge with spatial cables is proposed in this paper. Through the geometric compatibility condition and mechanical equilibrium condition, the expressions for cable segment, the recurrence relationship between catenary parameters and control equations of spatial cable are established. Additionally, the nonlinear general reduced gradient method is introduced into fast and high-precision numerical analysis. Furthermore, the analytic expression of the lateral and vertical sags is deduced and discussed. This is very significant for the space design above the bridge deck and the optimization of the sag-to-span ratio in the preliminary design stage of the bridge. Finally, the proposed method is verified with the aid of two examples, one being an operational self-anchored suspension bridge (with spatial cables and a 260 m main span), and the other being an earth-anchored suspension bridge under design (with spatial cables and a 500 m main span). The necessity of an iterative calculation for hanger tensions on earth-anchored suspension bridges is confirmed. It is further concluded that the main cable and their connected hangers are in very close inclined planes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.4
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• pp.325-343
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• 2024

Triple-tower double-cable suspension bridges have increased confinement stiffness imposed by the main cable on the middle tower, which has bright application prospects. However, vertical bending and torsional vibrations of the double-cable and the girder are coupled in such bridges due to the hangers. In particular, the bending vibration of the towers in the longitudinal direction and torsional vibrations about the vertical axis influence the vertical bending and torsional vibrations of the stiffening girders, respectively. The conventional analytical algorithm for assessing the dynamic features of the suspension bridge is not directly applicable to this type of bridge. This study attempts to mitigate this problem by introducing an analytical algorithm for solving the triple-tower double-cable suspension bridge's natural frequencies and mode shapes. D'Alembert's principle is employed to construct the differential equations of the vertical bending and torsional vibrations of the stiffening girder continuum in each span. Vibrations of stiffening girders in each span are interrelated via the vibrations of the main cables and the bridge towers. On this basis, the natural frequencies and mode shapes are derived by separating variables. The proposed algorithm is then applied to an engineering example. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of vertical bending and torsional vibrations derived by the analytical algorithm agreed well with calculations via the finite element method. The fundamental frequency of vertical bending and first- and second-order torsion frequencies of double-cable suspension bridges are much higher than those of single-cable suspension bridges. The analytical algorithm has high computational efficiency and calculation accuracy, which can provide a reference for selecting appropriate structural parameters to meet the requirements of dynamics during the preliminary design.