• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.459-469
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• 2020

An external prestressed steel-bar truss unit was developed as a new strengthening technology to enhance the seismic performance of an in-plane masonry wall structure while taking advantage of the benefits of a prestressed system. The presented method consists of six steel bars: two prestressed vertical bars to introduce a prestressing force on the masonry wall, two diagonal bars to resist shear deformation, and two horizontal bars to maintain the configuration. To evaluate the effects of this new technique, four full-scale specimens, including a control specimen, were tested under combined loadings that included constant-gravity axial loads and cyclic lateral loads. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of the shear strength, initial stiffness, dissipated energy, and strain history. The efficiency of the external prestressed steel-bar truss unit was validated. In particular, a retrofitted specimen with an axial load level of 0.024 exhibited a more stable post behavior and higher energy dissipation than a control specimen with an observed complete sliding failure. The four vertical bars of the adjacent retrofitting units created a virtual column, and their strain values did not change until they reached the peak shear strength. The shear capacity of the masonry wall structure with external prestressed steel-bar truss units could be predicted using the model suggested by Yang et al.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.205-215
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• 2023

Currently, many studies are underway at home and abroad on the seismic performance evaluation and dry construction method of the masonry structure. In this study, a dry stack masonry wall system without mortar using concrete blocks is proposed, and investigate the seismic performance of dry filling wall frames through experimental studies. First, two types of standard blocks and key blocks were designed to assemble dry walls of concrete blocks. And then, three types of experiments were manufactured, including pure frame, 1/2 height filling wall frame, and full height filling wall frame, and cyclic load experiments in horizontal direction were performed to analyze crack patterns, load displacement history, rebar deformation yield, effective stiffness change, displacement ductility, and energy dissipation capacity. According to the experimental results, the full height filling wall frame had the largest horizontal resistance against the earthquake load and showed a high energy dissipation capacity. However, the 1/2 height filling wall frame requires attention because the filling wall constrains the effective span of the column, limiting the horizontal displacement of the frame. In addition, the concrete block was firmly assembled in the vertical direction of the wall as the horizontal movement between the concrete blocks was allowed within installation margin, and there was no dropping of the assembled concrete block.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.467-488
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• 2023

Seismic retrofit of an existing steel-reinforced concrete hospital building that features innovative use of a continuous energy-dissipative steel column (CEDC) system is presented in this paper. The special system has been adopted to provide an efficient solution taking into account the difficulties of applying traditional intervention techniques to minimize the impact on architectural functionality and avoid the loss of building function and evacuation during the retrofit implementation. The lateral stiffness and strength of the CEDC system were defined based on the geometric and mechanical properties of the steel strip dampers. The hysteretic behavior under cyclic loadings was defined using a simplified numerical model. Its effectiveness was validated by comparing the results of full-scale experimental data available from the literature. All the main design considerations of the retrofitting plan are described in detail. The effectiveness of the proposed retrofitting system was demonstrated by nonlinear time-history analyses under different sets of earthquake-strong ground motions. The analysis results show that the CEDC system is effective in controlling the deformation pattern and significantly reducing damage to the existing structure during major earthquakes.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.59-76
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• 2024

Soil undergoes numerous repetitive loads, making it crucial to estimate changes in effective horizontal stress for structural stability. This study investigates the variations in the coefficient of earth pressure at rest (K_o), void ratio, and shear wave velocity of granular materials during repetitive loading. Semi-cyclic compaction tests were performed under different initial stress-to-amplitude ratios throughout the loading history. The results indicate that the void ratio of all specimens decreases during cyclic compaction subjected to varying stress amplitude ratios, eventually stabilizing at a terminal void ratio-representing a stable deformation state. Variations in K_o under repetitive loading depend on the stress amplitude ratio and relative density, influenced by soil fabric and particle-scale mechanisms. K_o can be predicted through changes in shear wave velocity over the entire stress history as the number of cycles approaches infinity. This study presents new solutions for determining the resilient modulus in road pavement design and offers methods to estimate terminal settlement of foundation structures subjected to repetitive loading.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.55-66
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• 1993

Upon freezing a soil swells due to phase change and its compression stress increase a lot. As the soil undergo thawing, however, it becomes a soft soil layer because the 'soil changes from a solid state to a plastic state. These changes are largely dependent on freezing temperature and repeated freezing-thawing cycle as well as the density of the soil and applied loading condition. This study was initiated to describe the effect of the freezing temperature and repeated freezing-thawing cycle on the unconfined compressive strength. Soil samples were collected at about 20 sites where soil structures were installed in Kangwon provincial area and necessary laboratory tests were conducted. The results could be used to help manage effectively the field structures and can be used as a basic data for designing and constructing new projects in the future. The results were as follows ; 1. Unconfined compressive strength decreased as the number of freezing and thawing cycle went up. But the strength increased as compression speed, water content and temperature decreased. The largest effect on the strength was observed at the first freezing and thawing cycle. 2. Compression strain went up with the increase of deformation speed, and was largely influenced by the number of the freezing-thawing cycle. 3. Secant modulus was responded sensitivefy to the material of the loading plates, increased with decrease of temperature down to - -10$^{\circ}$C, but was nearly constant below the temperature. Thixotropic ratio characteristic became large as compression strain got smaller and was significantly larger in the controlled soil than in the soil treated with freezing and thawing processes 4. Vertical compression strength of ice crystal(development direction) was 3 to 4 times larger than that of perpendicular to the crystal. The vertical compression strength was agreed well with Clausius-Clapeyrons equation when temperature were between 0 to 5C$^{\circ}$, but the strength below - 5$^{\circ}$C were different from the equation and showed a strong dependency on temperature and deformation speed. When the skew was less then 20 degrees, the vertical compression strength was gradually decreased but when the skew was higher than that, the strength became nearly constant. Almost all samples showed ductile failure. As considered above, strength reduction of the soil due to cyclic freezing-thawing prosses must be considered when trenching and cutting the soil to construct soil structures if the soil is likely subject to the processes. Especially, if a soil no freezing-thawing history, cares for the strength reduction must be given before any design or construction works begin. It is suggested that special design and construction techniques for the strength reduction be developed.