• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.195-215
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• 2016

Rehabilitation of historical unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings is a priority in many parts of the world, since those buildings are a living part of history and a testament of human achievement of the era of their construction. Many of these buildings are still operational; comprising brittle materials with no reinforcements, with spatially distributed mass and stiffness, they are not encompassed by current seismic assessment procedures that have been developed for other structural types. To facilitate the difficult task of selecting a proper rehabilitation strategy - often restricted by international treaties for non-invasiveness and reversibility of the intervention - and given the practical requirements for the buildings' intended reuse, this paper presents a practical procedure for assessment of seismic demands of URM buildings - mainly historical constructions that lack a well-defined diaphragm action. A key ingredient of the method is approximation of the spatial shape of lateral translation, ${\Phi}$, that the building assumes when subjected to a uniform field of lateral acceleration. Using ${\Phi}$ as a 3-D shape function, the dynamic response of the system is evaluated, using the concepts of SDOF approximation of continuous systems. This enables determination of the envelope of the developed deformations and the tendency for deformation and damage localization throughout the examined building for a given design earthquake scenario. Deformation demands are specified in terms of relative drift ratios referring to the in-plane and the out-of-plane seismic response of the building's structural elements. Drift ratio demands are compared with drift capacities associated with predefined performance limits. The accuracy of the introduced procedure is evaluated through (a) comparison of the response profiles with those obtained from detailed time-history dynamic analysis using a suite of ten strong ground motion records, five of which with near-field characteristics, and (b) evaluation of the performance assessment results with observations reported in reconnaissance reports of the field performance of two neoclassical torsionally-sensitive historical buildings, located in Thessaloniki, Greece, which survived a major earthquake in the past.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.251-264
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• 2024

The present study pertains to the effects of variations in the location and size of drilled web openings on the behavior of fixed-fixed reinforced concrete (RC) beams. For this purpose, a reference bending beam with a transverse opening in each half span was tested to failure. Later, the same beam was modeled and analyzed with the help of finite element software using ABAQUS. Upon achieving close agreement between the experimental and numerical results, the location and size of the web opening were altered to uncover the effects of these factors on the shear strength and load-deflection behavior of RC beams. The experimental failure mode of the tested beam and the numerical results were also verified by theoretical calculations. In numerical analysis, when compared to the reference (D0) specimen, if the distance of the opening center from the support is 0 or h or 2h, reduction in load-bearing capacity of 1.5%-22.8% or 2.0%-11.3% or is 4.1%-40.7%. In other words, both the numerical analyses and theoretical calculations indicated that the beam behavior shifted from shear-controlled to flexure-controlled as the openings approached the supports. Furthermore, the deformation capacities, energy absorption values, and the ductilities of the beams with different opening diameters also increased with the decreasing distance of the opening from supports. Web compression failure was shown to be the predominant mode of failure of beams with large diameters due to the lack of sufficient material in the diagonal compression strut of the beam. The present study indicated that transverse openings with diameters, not exceeding about 1/3 of the entire beam depth, do not cause the premature shear failure of RC beams. Finally, shear damage should be prevented by placing special reinforcements in the areas where such gaps are opened.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2020

Precast concrete elements in accelerated bridge construction (ABC) extends from superstructure to substructure, precast pile foundation has proven a benefit for regions with fragile ecological environment and adverse geological condition. There is still a lack of knowledge of the seismic behavior and performance of the precast pile foundation. In this study, a 1/8 scaled model of precast pile foundation with elevated cap is fabricated for quasi-static test. The failure mechanism and responses of the precast pile-soil interaction system are analyzed. It is shown that damage occurs primarily in precast pile-soil interaction system and the bridge pier keeps elastic state because of its relatively large cross-section designed for railways. The vulnerable part of the precast pile with elevated cap is located at the embedded section, but no plastic hinge forms along the pile depth under cyclic loading. Hysteretic curves show no significant strength degradation but obvious stiffness degradation throughout the loading process. The energy dissipation capacity of the precast pile-soil interaction system is discussed by using index of the equivalent viscous damping ratio. It can be found that the energy dissipation capacity decreases with the increase of loading displacement due to the unyielding pile reinforcements and potential pile uplift. It is expected to promote the use of precast pile foundation in accelerated bridge construction (ABC) of railways designed in seismic regions.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.131-139
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• 2012

The lateral reinforcements of concrete such as hoops and spiral bars are known to confine concrete to compensate the strength loss due to fire by reducing explosive spalling and improving the capacity of ductility. In this context, a study was conducted to investigate the residual mechanical properties of confined and unconfined concrete($f_{ck}$=60MPa) after a single thermal cycle at 300, 600, $800^{\circ}C$. The main parameters required to establish the stress-strain relationship are the peak stress, the elastic modulus, and the strain at peak stress. The knowledge of the residual mechanical properties of concrete is necessary whenever the thermally damaged structure is required to bear a significant share of the loads, even after a severe thermal accident. Based on the results obtained in this study, the residual stress of confined concrete under thermal damage is higher according to the level of confinement and the larger strain made it to have better ductility. The decreasing ratio of elastic modulus from the relationship of stress and strain was also smaller than that of unconfined concrete.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.88-97
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• 2012

The objective of this research is to investigate the seismic performance and flexure-shear behavior of square reinforced concrete bridge piers with solid and hollow cross section. Test specimens were nonseismically designed with the aspect ratio 4.5 Two reinforced concrete columns were tested under constant axial load while subjected to lateral load reversals with increasing drift levels. Longitudinal steel ratio was 2.217 percent. The transverse reinforcement ratio As/($s{\cdot}h$), corresponding to 58 percent of the minimum lateral reinforcement required by Korean Bridge Design Specifications for seismic detailing, which represent existing columns not designed by the current seismic design specifications or designed by limited ductility concept. This study are to provide quantitative reference data for the limited ductility design concept and tendency for performance or damage assessment based on the performance levels such as cracking, yielding, collapse, etc. Failure behavior, ultimate displacement/drift ratio, displacement ductility, response modification factor, equivalent viscous damping ratio, residual deformation, effective stiffness, plastic hinge length, strain of reinforcements and nonlinear analysis are investigated and discussed in this paper.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.3 s.55
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• pp.23-31
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• 2007

Fast bridge construction has been increasingly needed according to the changed construction environment. This paper deals with quasi-static tests on precast piers for bridge substructures. One of the most crucial aspect of the design of precast prestressed concrete bridge piers is the seismic performance. Seven precast pier elements were fabricated. The amount of prestressing bars, the prestressing force, and the location and number of the joint between segments were the main test parameters. Test results showed that the introduced axial prestress made the restoration of the deformation under small lateral displacement and minor damage. However, there was no effect of the prestress when the plastic hinge region was damaged severely due to large lateral displacement. Judging from the observed damage, the design of the joints in precast piers should be done for the first joint between the foundation and the pier segment. The amount of the necessary prestressing steel may be designed to satisfy the P-M diagram according to the service loads, not by having the same steel ratio as normal RC bridge piers. In order to satisfy the current required displacement ductility, it is necessary to have the same amount of the transverse reinforcements as RC piers. As the steel ratio increases, the energy absorption capacity increases. The number of joints showed a little influence on the energy absorption capacity.

• Composites Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.74-82
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• 1999

The static and fatigue characteristics of polyurethane foam cored sandwich structures are investigated. Three types of the specimens with the glass fabric faces and the polyurethane foam core are used; non-stitched. stitched, and stiffened sandwich specimen. Especially additional structural reinforcements with the twisted polyester and glass fiber for thickness direction are made to stitched sandwich structure panel to minimize the delamination of structure which is stitched the upper and lower faces through the core and the resin is impregnated Into stitched fiber with the characteristics of low viscosity of resin at resin flow temperature and cured together with during the curing process. Bending strength of stitched specimen which is 50 mm $50{\times}50{\;}mm$ pitched is improved by 50 % as com-pared with non-stitched specimen and stiffened specimen is improved 10 times more than non-stitched structure. After fatigue testing of $10^6$cycles by 20% of ultimate load under monotonic load, the bending fatigue strength of non-stitched specimen is decreased by 27% of monotonic bending strength, 39% for stitched structure and 20% for stiffened specimen. To verify the aging effect of polyurethane form core, Ultrasonic C-scanning equipment is used to detect the damage of skin laminate alone after fatigue test. From results of UT C-scan images, there is no defect that can be damaged occurred during fatigue test. It is concluded that the decrease of bending strength for foam cored sandwich specimen is caused by the decrease of stiffness due to the aging of polyurethane foam core during fatigue cycles.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.313-322
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• 2019

Recently, there have been frequent occurrences of bridge fires. Fires in cable-supported bridges can damage and brake cables due to high temperatures. In this study, fire scenarios that can occur on cable-supported bridges were set up. In addition, based on the results of vehicle fire tests, a fire intensity model was proposed and cable heat transfer analyses were performed on a target bridge. The analyses results demonstrated that temperature rises were identified on cables with a smaller cross-sectional area. Furthermore, vehicles other than tankers did not exceed the fire resistance criteria. When the tanker fire occurred on a bridge shoulder, the minimum diameter cable exceeded the fire resistance criteria; the height of the cable exceeding the fire resistance criteria was approximately 14 m from the surface. Therefore, the necessity of countermeasures and reinforcements of fire resistance was established. The results of this study confirmed that indirect evaluation of the temperature changes of bridge cables under fire is possible, and it was deemed necessary to further study the heat transfer analysis considering wind effects and the serviceability of the bridge when the cable temperature rises due to fire.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.135-142
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• 2022

In this study, lap spliced ultra-high strength reinforced concrete beams were tested and the code criteria for calculating the lap splice length which was affected by the transverse reinforcement and concrete covering performance were reviewed. The main variables for test were set as fiber volume fraction and transverse reinforcing bar arrangement to improve the confining performance of the concrete cover. The change of the confining performance of concrete cover according to the increase in the fiber mixing amount at 1% and 2% volume ratio was examined, and D10 stirrups with a spacing of 100 mm were placed in the lap spliced region. As a result of the test, the specimens confined by the stirrups showed a sudden drop of load bearing capacity with horizontal cracking at the position of tensile longitudinal reinforcement. However, horizontal cracks were not appeared at the location of longitudinal reinforcement for the specimens with steel fiber. And these specimens showed gradual decrease of load bearing capacity after experiencing peak load. In particular, it was found that the strain at the position of the tensile longitudinal reinforcements of the specimens to which the mixing ratio of 2% was applied exceeds the yield strain. As a result of measuring the strain on the concrete surface, it was found that the fiber was more effective in preventing damage to the concrete surface than the stirrups for short lap spliced region.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.447-455
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• 2013

In this study, reinforced concrete slabs with steps were experimentally studied to analyze their structural performance and to suggest reinforcing details in the step. Because the stepped slabs may behave very poorly in terms of bending strength, stiffness, deflection, cracking, etc., the study is aimed to suggest proper reinforcing details such that the same bending strength is obtained as that without steps. The bending strengths of 12 test specimens with a variety of different reinforcing detail types or other parameters were compared with each other. The specimen without any additional reinforcement in the step had a very low bending strength and significant damage, and the specimens with diagonal reinforcements in the step showed substantial early cracks, experienced hinging of the step, and had a substantial loss of the bending strength. In contrast, the specimens with a combination of U-bars, reversed U-bars, L-bars, and reversed L-bars performed very well and almost reached to 100% of the slab bending strength. The U-bars and reversed U-bars were effective in controling the diagonal cracks, while the L-bars and reversed L-bars were effective in preventing from yielding of slab reinforcement near the step.