• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.379-397
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• 2019

Steel-concrete composite beams are widely employed in constructions and their performance at the serviceability stage is of concern among practitioners and design regulations. In this context, an accurate evaluation of long-term deflections via various rheological concrete models is needed. In this work, the performance and predict capability of some concrete creep and shrinkage models ACI, CEB, B3, FIB and GL2000 are ascertained, and compared by using statistical bias indicators. Ten steel-concrete composite beams with existing experimental and numerical results are then modeled for this purpose. The proposed modeling technique uses the finite element method, where the concrete slab and steel beam are modeled with shell finite elements. Concrete is considered as an aging viscoelastic material and cracking is treated with the common smeared approach. The results show that when the experimental ultimate shrinkage strain is used for calibration, all studied rheological models predict nearly similar deflections, which agree with the experimental data. In contrast, significance differences are encountered for some models, when none calibration is made prior to. A value between twenty and thirty times the cracking strain is recommended for the ultimate tensile strain in the tension stiffening model. Also, increasing the relative humidity and decreasing the ambient temperature can lead to a substantial reduction of slab cracking for beams under negative flexure. Finally, there is not a unique rheological model that clearly excels in all scenarios.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.10
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• pp.1315-1322
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• 2009

The present article is concerned with the application of an electrochemical noise (EN) monitoring technique to analyze the initiation and propagation of Pb-assisted stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of an Alloy 600 material in a simulated environment of a steam generator (SG) sludge pile at high temperatures. A typical increase of electrochemical current noise (ECN) and electrochemical potential noise (EPN) was frequently recorded from the EN measurement in a caustic solution with such impurities as PbO and CuO, indicating that there are localized corrosion events occurring. With the aid of microscopic and spectral analyses, the EN data involving information on such stochastic processes as uniform corrosion and the initiation and propagation of SCC, were analyzed based on a stochastic theory.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.371-377
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• 2020

There are currently three common methods for selecting excavation supports in Polish hard coal mines. While many factors are considered when choosing appropriate support, these do not include layering or cracking in the excavation ceiling. Although global classifications of rock mass are rarely used in hard coal mines, they are utilised much more frequently during the construction of underground structures such as tunnels. Mining classifications of rock mass have been developed (e.g., in Germany) and they rely on a number of factors but are often related to local mining and geological conditions. This paper discusses the selected findings of a study carried out on seven excavation sites with diverse mining and geological characteristics. Based on the collected data, two indicators were developed to describe rock mass quality. The first indicator is referred to as the roof lithology index WL and describes the quality of the excavation roof in terms of its layering and lithology. The second indicator is the crack intensity factor n and represents the amount of cracks in an excavation's roof. The correctness of the developed indicators was supported by reliable data from the excavation in which the designed support did not fulfill its task but was changed at a later stage, after calculating the proposed indicators.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.679-689
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• 2009

Light olefins are very important hydrocarbons widely used as the raw materials of the most petrochemicals including plastics and medicines. In addition, the nation's olefin production capacity is regarded as one of the key indicators to predict the nation's economic scale and growth. Steam cracking of naphtha (or called "NCC (Naphtha Cracking Center) technology"), the traditional process to produce light olefins, is one of the most consuming energy processes among the chemical industries. Therefore, this process causes tremendous $CO_2$ emission. To reduce the energy consumption and $CO_2$ emission from NCC process, the present paper, firstly, investigates and analyses some alternative technologies which can be potentially substituted for traditional process. Secondly, applying the alternative technologies to NCC process, their effects such as energy savings, $CO_2$ emission reduction and CER (Certified Emission Reduction) were estimated. It is found that the advanced NCC process can reduce approximately 35% of SEC (Specific Energy Consumption) of traditional NCC process. This effect can lead to the reduction of 3.3 million tons of $CO_2$ and the acquisition of the 128 billion won of CER per year. Catalytic cracking of naphtha technology, which is other alternative processes, can save up to approximately 40% of SEC of traditional NCC process. This value equates to the 3.8 million tons of $CO_2$ mitigation and 147 billion won of CER per year.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2012

The MEPDG(Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide) developed based on the AASHTO Design Guide helps engineers find optimal alternatives by using traffic volume, climate, material property, and pavement structure as its input parameters. However, because technical problems were found in the MEPDG, efforts to improve the program by settling the problems have been continued. Meanwhile, another mechanistic-empirical design program has been developed by the KPRP(Korea Pavement Research Program) in Korea. To develop and improve the Korean design program reasonably, it is necessary to analyze the MEPDG and then compare programs each other. For concrete pavement, fatigue cracking is predicted by using very complicated logic different from other performance indicators. Therefore, in this paper, transfer functions of the fatigue cracking used in the version of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.1 of the MEPDG were analyzed. Sensitivity of the input parameters to the cumulative fatigue damage was compared to each other by the MEPDG version and KPRP.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.4
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• pp.455-464
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• 2020

Reinforcement corrosion is one of the major problems in the durability of reinforced concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments. Deterioration caused by reinforcement corrosion reduces the durability and the safety margin of concrete structures, causing excessive costs in managing these structures safely. This paper aims to investigate the effects of reinforcement corrosion on the load bearing capacity deterioration of the corroded reinforced concrete structures. A new analytical method is proposed to predict the crack growth of cover concrete and evaluate the residual strength of concrete structures with corroded reinforcement failing in bond. The structural performance indicators, such as concrete crack growth and flexural strength deterioration rate, are assumed to be a stochastic process for lifetime distribution modelling of structural performance deterioration over time during the life cycle. The Weibull life evolution model is employed for analysing lifetime reliability and estimating remaining useful life of the corroded concrete structures. The results for the worked example show that the proposed approach can provide a reliable method for lifetime performance assessment of the corroded reinforced concrete structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.683-701
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• 2015

When approached using nonlinear finite element (FE) techniques, structural analyses generate, for real RC structures, large complex numerical problems. Damage is a major part of concrete behavior, and the discretization technique is critical to limiting the size of the problem. Based on previous work, the ${\mu}$ damage model has been designed to activate the various damage effects correlated with monotonic and cyclic loading, including unilateral effects. Assumptions are formulated to simplify constitutive relationships while still allowing for a correct description of the main nonlinear effects. After presenting classical 2D finite element applications on structural elements, an enhanced simplified FE description including a damage description and based on the use of multi-fiber beam elements is provided. Improvements to this description are introduced both to prevent dependency on mesh size as damage evolves and to take into account specific phenomena (permanent strains and damping, steel-concrete debonding). Applications on RC structures subjected to cyclic loads are discussed, and results lead to justifying the various concepts and assumptions explained.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1996

Pocheon granite specimens were thermally treated with cycles of predetermined temperatures ranging 2$0^{\circ}C$ to $600^{\circ}C$. Characterization of thermally-induced microcracks were carried out using optical microscopy and their effect on the various physical & mechanical properties were studied. Generally. uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, elastic wave velocity and specific gravity were found to decrease with increasing temperature. From 30$0^{\circ}C$ upwards, negative lateral strains were observed, which resulted in negative Poisson's ratio. Dynamic Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio were found to be generally most sensitive indicators to thermal cracking.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.4 no.3 s.13
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• pp.1-13
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• 2002

Design methods for new flexible pavements and overlays are in the transition from empirical to mechanistic approach, and many state highway agencies trend to move toward the adoption and use of mechanistic-empirical (M-E) design in new constructions and rehabilitations of flexible pavements. Hence, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) decided to develop a M-E flexible pavement design procedure, in which major pavement distresses such as fatigue cracking and rutting are employed as indicators of the serviceability of a flexible pavement. The main concept of the developed design procedure is that a designed pavement that is supposed to carry a certain number of traffic must satisfy designated thresholds of rut depths and fatigue lives during a service period. For the M-E design procedure, transfer functions were developed to predict rut-depths and fatigue lives. These functions related the pavement responses to pavement performance. For validation, three current new flexible pavement design cases were obtained from the MDOT. In these cases, asphalt concrete (AC) layer thicknesses determined by the suggested M-E procedure compare favorably with those determined by the current MDOT design practice that is based on AASHTO design guide. This finding implies that the suggested Michigan M-E flexible pavement design procedure can provide a good opportunity to improve the current design practice.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2022

The spiral case concrete (SCC) used in the underground powerhouse of large hydropower stations is complex, difficult to pour, and has high requirements for temperature control and crack prevention. In this study, based on the closed-loop control theory of "multi-source sensing, real analysis, and intelligent control", a new intelligent cooling control system (ICCS) suitable for the SCC is developed and is further applied to the Wudongde large-scale underground powerhouse. By employing the site monitoring data, numerical simulation, and field investigation, the temperature control quality of the SCC is evaluated. The results show that the target temperature control curve can be accurately tracked, and the temperature control indicators such as the maximum temperature can meet the design requirements by adopting the ICCS. Moreover, the numerical results and site investigation indicate that a safety factor of the spiral case structure was sure, and no cracking was found in the concrete blocks, by which the effectiveness of the system for improving the quality of temperature control of the SCC is verified. Finally, an intelligent cooling control procedure suitable for the SCC is proposed, which can provide a reference for improving the design and construction level for similar projects.