• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2001

This paper presents the tensile behavior of stud connections installed between reinforced concrete and steel members. Eight specimens are tested to verify the factors influencing the tensile behavior of the connection. Major variables considered in the test are the reinforcement ratios of concrete member and connection details. Test results indicate that the reinforcing bars near stud bolts contribute to the increase of the tensile strength of the member as well as to the reduction of brittle failure. It is shown that C-type or U-type connection has relatively high ductility. From the evaluation on the tensile strength of test results including those of peformed by previous researchers, it was shown CCD (Concrete Capacity Design) method overestimated the strength. In this paper, the reduction factor of 0.75 ø instead of ø is suggested for design purpose of the stud connection.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.238-243
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• 2016

Twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels with the austenite structure containing high manganese exhibit both good strength and excellent formability. Such properties originate from crystallographic slip and mechanical twins produced when the austenite structure is under mechanical stress. There are 12 twin systems, referred to as twin variants, when slip is induced. These twin systems include twin planes and twin directions and play an important role in determining strength and ductility of the material by strongly influencing texture formation of the austenite structure. In the present study, twins produced in a high-Mn TWIP steel as a result of uniaxial tension were observed using a transmission electron microscope; a comparative analysis was performed through interaction energy calculations. Electron diffraction was used to determine the twin system with respect to the uniaxial tension direction in each grain. Both the Schmid factors and interacting energies required for the generation of twins were calculated and subsequently compared with experimental results. This approach demonstrated the possibility of predicting the deformation behavior of the material.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.246-252
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• 2018

A series of simulated reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) tests on irradiated fully recrystallized boiling water reactor Zircaloy-2 cladding has been performed by means of the expansion-due-to-compression (EDC) test method. The EDC method reproduces fuel pellet-clad mechanical interaction (PCMI) conditions for the cladding during RIA transients with respect to temperature and loading rates by out-of-pile mechanical testing. The tested materials had a large variation in burnup and hydrogen content (up to 907 wppm). The results of the EDC tests showed variation in the PCMI resistance of claddings with similar burnup and hydrogen content, making it difficult to clearly identify ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures. The EDC-tested samples of the present and previous work were investigated by light optical and scanning electron microscopy to study the influence of factors such as azimuthal variation of the Zr-hydrides and the presence of hydride rims and radially oriented hydrides. Two main characteristics were identified in samples with low ductility with respect to hydrogen content and test temperature: hydride rims and radial hydrides at the cladding outer surface. Crack propagation and failure modes were also studied, showing two general modes of crack propagation depending on distribution and amount of radially oriented hydrides. It was concluded that the PCMI resistance of irradiated cladding under normal conditions with homogenously distributed circumferential hydrides is high, with good margin to the RIA failure limits. To further improve safety, focus should be on conditions causing nonfavorable hydride distribution, such as hydride reorientation and formation of hydride blisters at the cladding outer surface.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.3
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• pp.395-406
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• 2020

Many prefabricated concrete frame joints have been proposed, and most of them showed good seismic performance. However, there are still some limitations in the proposed fabricated joints. For example, for prefabricated prestressed concrete joints, prefabricated beams and prefabricated columns are assembled as a whole by the pre-stressed steel bar and steel strand in the beams, which brings some troubles to the construction, and the reinforcement in the core area of the joints is complex, and the mechanical mechanism is not clear. Based on the current research results, a new type of fabricated joint of prestressed concrete beams and confined concrete columns is proposed. To study the seismic performance of the joint, the quasi-static test is carried out. The test results show that the nodes exhibit good ductility and energy dissipation. According to the experimental fitting method and the "fixed point pointing" law, the resilience model of this kind of nodes is established, and compared with the experimental results, the two agree well, which can provides a certain reference for elasto-plastic seismic response analysis of this type of structure. Besides, based on the analysis of the factors affecting the shear capacity of the node core area, the formula of shear capacity of the core area of the node is proposed, and the theoretical values of the formula are consistent with the experimental value.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.409-420
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• 2017

This paper theoretically studies the cyclic behavior of hybrid connections between steel coupling beams and concrete shear walls with embedded steel columns. Finite element models of connections with long and short embedded steel columns are built in ABAQUS and validated against the test results in the companion paper. Parametric studies are carried out using the validated FE model to determine the key influencing factors on the load-bearing capacity of connections. A close-form solution of the load-bearing capacity of connections is proposed by considering the contributions from the compressive strength of concrete at the interface between the embedded beam and concrete, shear yielding of column web in the tensile region, and shear capacity of column web and concrete in joint zone. The results show that the bond slip between embedded steel members and concrete should be considered which can be simulated by defining contact boundary conditions. It is found that the loadbearing capacity of connections strongly depends on the section height, flange width and web thickness of the embedded column. The accuracy of the proposed calculation method is validated against test results and also verified against FE results (with differences within 10%). It is recommended that embedded steel columns should be placed along the entire height of shear walls to facilitate construction and enhance the ductility. The thickness and section height of embedded columns should be increased to enhance the load-bearing capacity of connections. The stirrups in the joint zone should be strengthened and embedded columns with very small section height should be avoided.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.475-481
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• 2018

Selective laser melting (SLM), a type of additive manufacturing (AM) technology, leads a global manufacturing trend by enabling the design of geometrically complex products with topology optimization for optimized performance. Using this method, three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) data components can be built up directly in a layer-by-layer fashion using a high-energy laser beam for the selective melting and rapid solidification of thin layers of metallic powders. Although there are considerable expectations that this novel process will overcome many traditional manufacturing process limits, some issues still exist in applying the SLM process to diverse metallic materials, particularly regarding the formation of porosity. This is a major processing-induced phenomenon, and frequently observed in almost all SLM-processed metallic components. In this study, we investigate the mechanical anisotropy of SLM-produced 316L stainless steel based on microstructural factors and highly-oriented porosity. Tensile tests are performed to investigate the microstructure and porosity effects on mechanical anisotropy in terms of both strength and ductility.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2019

For Special Concentrically Braced Frame (SCBF), it is common that the damage concentrates at a certain story instead of spreading over all stories. Once the damage occurs, the soft-story mechanism is likely to take place and possibly to result in the failure of the whole system with more damage accumulation. In this study, we use a strongback column which is an additional structural component extending along the height of the building, to redistribute the excessive deformation of SCBF and activate more structural members to dissipate energy and thus avoid damage concentration and improve the seismic performance of SCBF. We tested one-third-scaled, three-story, double-story X SCBF specimens with static cyclic loading procedure. Three specimens, namely S73, S42 and S0, which represent different combinations of stiffness and strength factors ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ for the strongback columns, were designed based on results of numerical simulations. Specimens S73 and S42 were the specimens with the strongback columns, and S0 is the specimen without the strongback column. Test results show that the deformation distribution of Specimen S73 is more uniform and more brace members in three stories perform nonlinearly. Comparing Drift Concentration Factor (DCF), we can observe 29% and 11% improvement in Specimen S73 and S42, respectively. This improvement increases the nonlinear demand of the third-story braces and reduces that of the first-story braces where the demand used to be excessive, and, therefore, postpones the rupture of the first-story braces and enhances the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the whole SCBF system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.735-757
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• 2022

The behavior of shear deficient under-balanced reinforced concrete beams with rectangular cross-sections, which were externally strengthened with CFRP composite along shear spans, was experimentally investigated under vertical load. One of the specimens represents a reference beam without CFRP strengthening and the other specimens have different width/strip spacing ratios (w_f/s_f). The optimum strip in terms of w_f/s_f, which will bring the beam behavior to the ideal level in terms of strength and ductility, was determined according to the regulations. When the w_f/s_f ratio exceeds 0.55, the behavior of the beam shifted from shear failure to bending failure. However, it has been observed that the w_f/s_f ratio should be increased up to 0.82 in order for the beam to reach sufficient shear reserve value according to the codes. It is also observed that the direction and weight of the CFRP composite are one of the most critical factors and 240 gr/m² CFRP strips experienced sudden ruptures in the shear span after the cracking of the concrete. It is considered as a deficiency that the empirical shear capacity formulas given for the beams reinforced with CFRP in the regulations do not take into account both direction and weight of CFRP composites.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.269-287
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• 2023

The WGJ420 fire-resistant weathering (FRW) steel is developed and manufactured with standard yield strength of 420 MPa at room temperature, which is expected to significantly enhance the performance of steel structures with excellent fire and corrosion resistances, strong seismic capacity, high strength and ductility, good resilience and robustness. In this paper, the mechanical properties of FRW steel plates and buckling behavior of columns are investigated through tests at elevated temperatures. The stress-strain curves, mechanical properties of FRW steel such as modulus of elasticity, proof strength, tensile strength, as well as corresponding reduction factors are obtained and discussed. The recommended constitutive model based on the Ramberg-Osgood relationship, as well as the relevant formulas for mechanical properties are proposed, which provide fundamental mechanical parameters and references. A total of 12 FRW steel welded I-section columns with different slenderness ratios and buckling load ratios are tested under standard fire to understand the global buckling behavior in-depth. The influences of boundary conditions on the buckling failure modes as well as the critical temperatures are also investigated. In addition, the temperature distributions at different sections/locations of the columns are obtained. It is found that the buckling deformation curve can be divided into four stages: initial expansion stage, stable stage, compression stage and failure stage. The fire test results concluded that the residual buckling capacities of FRW steel columns are substantially higher than the conventional steel columns at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the numerical results show good agreement with the fire test results in terms of the critical temperature and maximum axial elongation. Finally, the critical temperatures between the numerical results and various code/standard curves (GB 51249, Eurocode 3, AS 4100, BS 5950 and AISC) are compared and verified both in the buckling resistance domain and in the temperature domain. It is demonstrated that the FRW steel columns have sufficient safety redundancy for fire resistance when they are designed according to current codes or standards.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.2
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• pp.151-164
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• 2023

The latest earthquake's costly repairs and economic disruption were brought on by excessive residual drift. Self-centering systems are one of the most efficient ways in the current generation of seismic resistance system to get rid of and reduce residual drift. The mechanics and behavior of the self-centering system in response to seismic forces were impacted by a number of important factors. The amount of post-tensioning (PT) force, which is often employed for the standing posture after an earthquake, is the first important component. The energy dissipater element is another one that has a significant impact on how the self-centering system behaves. Using the damper as a replaceable and affordable tool and fuse in self-centering frames has been recommended to boost energy absorption and dampening of structural systems during earthquakes. In this research, the self-centering steel moment frame connections are equipped with cushion flexural dampers (CFDs) as an energy dissipator system to increase energy absorption, post-yielding stiffness, and ease replacement after an earthquake. Also, it has been carefully considered how to reduce permanent deformations in the self-centering steel moment frames exposed to seismic loads while maintaining adequate stiffness, strength, and ductility. After confirming the FE model's findings with an earlier experimental PT connection, the behavior of the self-centering connection using CFD has been surveyed in this study. The FE modeling takes into account strands preloading as well as geometric and material nonlinearities. In addition to contact and sliding phenomena, gap opening and closing actions are included in the models. According to the findings, self-centering moment-resisting frames (SF-MRF) combined with CFD enhance post-yielding stiffness and energy absorption with the least amount of permeant deformation in a certain CFD thickness. The obtained findings demonstrate that the effective energy dissipation ratio (β), is increased to 0.25% while also lowering the residual drift to less than 0.5%. Also, this enhancement in the self-centering connection with CFD's seismic performance was attained with a respectable moment capacity to beam plastic moment capacity ratio.