• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.319-336
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• 2024

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) has attracted increasing attention in prefabricated steel-concrete composite beams as achieving the onsite construction time savings and structural performance improvement. The inferior replacement and removal efficiency of conventional prefabricated steel-UHPC composite beams (PSUCBs) has thwarted its sustainable applications because of the widely used welded-connectors. Single embedded nut bolted shear connectors (SENBs) have recently introduced as an attempt to enhance demountability of PSUCBs. An in-depth exploration of the mechanical behavior of SENBs in UHPC is necessary to evidence feasibilities of corresponding PSUCBs. However, existing research has been limited to SENB arrangement impacts and lacked considerations on SENB geometric configuration counterparts. To this end, this paper performed twenty push-out tests and theoretical analyses on the shear performance and design recommendation of SENBs. Key test parameters comprised the diameter and grade of SENBs, degree and sequence of pretension, concrete casting method and connector type. Test results indicated that both diameters and grades of bolts exerted remarkable impacts on the SENB shear performance with respect to the shear and frictional responses. Also, there was limited influence of the bolt preload degrees on the shear capacity and ductility of SENBs, but non-negligible contributions to their corresponding frictional resistance and initial shear stiffness. Moreover, inverse pretension sequences or monolithic cast slabs presented slight improvements in the ultimate shear and slip capacity. Finally, design-oriented models with higher accuracy were introduced for predictions of the ultimate shear resistance and load-slip relationship of SENBs in PSUCBs.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.291-298
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• 2018

Existing reinforced concrete building structures have seismic vulnerabilities under successive earthquakes (or mainshock-aftershock sequences) due to their inadequate column detailing, which leads to shear failure in the columns. To improve the shear capacity and ductility of the shear-critical columns, a fiber-reinforced polymer jacketing system has been widely used for seismic retrofit and repair. This study proposed a numerical modeling technique for damaged reinforced concrete columns repaired using the fiber-reinforced polymer jacketing system and validated the numerical responses with past experimental results. The column model well captured the experimental results in terms of lateral forces, stiffness, energy dissipation and failure modes. The proposed column modeling method enables to predict post-repair effects on structures initially damaged by mainshock.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.987-995
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• 2018

In this study, a relationship between small-strain shear modulus ($G_{max}$) and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) based on shear wave velocity ($V_S$) measurement was established to identify the stress history of centrifuge model ground. A centrifuge test was conducted in various centrifugal acceleration levels including loading and unloading sequences to cause various stress histories on centrifuge model ground. The $V_S$ and vertical effective stress were measured at each level of acceleration. Then, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using testing data to ensure the suitability of OCR function for the tested cohesionless soils and found that OCR can be estimated based on $V_S$ measurements irrespective of normally-consolidated or overconsolidated loading conditions. Finally, the developed $G_{max}$-OCR relationship was applied to centrifuge models constructed and tested under various induced stress-history conditions. Through a series of tests, it was concluded that the induced stress history on centrifuge model by compaction, g-level variation, and past overburden load can be analysed quantitatively, and it is convinced that the OCR evaluation technique will contribute to better interpret the centrifuge test results.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.345-367
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• 2015

Past earthquakes have signaled the increased collapse vulnerability of mainshock-damaged bridge piers and urgent need of repair interventions prior to subsequent cascading hazard events, such as aftershocks, triggered by the mainshock (MS). The overarching goal of this study is to quantify the collapse vulnerability of mainshock-damaged substandard RC bridge piers rehabilitated with different repair jackets (FRP, conventional thick steel and hybrid jacket) under aftershock (AS) attacks of various intensities. The efficacy of repair jackets on post-MS resilience of repaired bridges is quantified for a prototype two-span single-column bridge bent with lap-splice deficiency at column-footing interface. Extensive number of incremental dynamic time history analyses on numerical finite element bridge models with deteriorating properties under back-to-back MS-AS sequences were utilized to evaluate the efficacy of different repair jackets on the post-repair behavior of RC bridges subjected to AS attacks. Results indicate the dramatic impact of repair jacket application on post-MS resilience of damaged bridge piers-up to 45.5 % increase of structural collapse capacity-subjected to aftershocks of multiple intensities. Besides, the efficacy of repair jackets is found to be proportionate to the intensity of AS attacks. Moreover, the steel jacket exhibited to be the most vulnerable repair intervention compared to CFRP, irrespective of the seismic sequence (severe MS-severe or moderate AS) or earthquake type (near-fault or far-fault).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.360-372
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• 2017

Many advanced reactor designs rely on passive systems to fulfill safety functions during accident sequences. These systems depend heavily on boundary conditions to induce a motive force, meaning the system can fail to operate as intended because of deviations in boundary conditions, rather than as the result of physical failures. Furthermore, passive systems may operate in intermediate or degraded modes. These factors make passive system operation difficult to characterize within a traditional probabilistic framework that only recognizes discrete operating modes and does not allow for the explicit consideration of time-dependent boundary conditions. Argonne National Laboratory has been examining various methodologies for assessing passive system reliability within a probabilistic risk assessment for a station blackout event at an advanced small modular reactor. This paper provides an overview of a passive system reliability demonstration analysis for an external event. Considering an earthquake with the possibility of site flooding, the analysis focuses on the behavior of the passive Reactor Cavity Cooling System following potential physical damage and system flooding. The assessment approach seeks to combine mechanistic and simulation-based methods to leverage the benefits of the simulation-based approach without the need to substantially deviate from conventional probabilistic risk assessment techniques. Although this study is presented as only an example analysis, the results appear to demonstrate a high level of reliability of the Reactor Cavity Cooling System (and the reactor system in general) for the postulated transient event.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.491-501
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• 2014

Recently, the need for disaster-preventing broadcast has increased gradually to cope with natural disaster like earthquake and tsunami causing enormous losses of both life and property. In disaster-preventing broadcast system, the wake-up signal is used to alert user terminal and switch the current state of channel to the emergency channel, which is for the fast and efficient delivery of emergency information. In this paper, we propose the detection method of wake-up signal for disaster-preventing broadcast systems. The wake-up signals for disaster-preventing broadcast should have a good auto-correlation property in low power and narrow-band conditions that does not affect the existing digital television (DTV) system. The suitability of the m-sequence and complementary code (CC) is analyzed for wake-up signals according to signal to noise ratio. A wake-up signal is proposed by combining the direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technique and pseudo noise (PN) sequences such as Barker and Walsh-Hadamard codes. By using the proposed method, a higher detecting performance can be achieved by the spreading gain compared to the single long m-sequence and the Golay code.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.97-108
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• 2021

In bridge abutment structures, lateral squeeze due to lateral stress of embankment placement and thermal movement of the bridge structure leads to failure of approach slabs, girders, and bridge bearings. Recently, GRS (Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil) integral bridge has been proposed as a new countermeasure. The GRS integral bridge is a combining structure of a GRS retaining wall and an integral abutment bridge. In this study, numerical analyses which considered construction sequences and earthquake loading conditions are performed to compare the behaviors of conventional PSC (Pre-Stressed Concrete) girder bridge, traditional GRS integral bridge structure and GRS integral bridge with bracket structures (newly developed LH-type GRS integral bridge). The analysis results show that the GRS integral bridge with bracket structures is most stable compared with the others in an aspect of stress concentration and deformation on foundation ground including differential settlements between abutment and backfill. Furthermore, the GRS integral bridge with/without bracket structures was found to show the best performance in terms of seismic stability.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.153-166
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• 2022

Structural pounding due to strong seismic excitations can result in severe damage or even collapse of colliding structures. Many researchers focused on studying the mutual pounding between two adjacent structures while very few researches were concerned with the pounding of a series of structures. This paper aims to study the pounding effect on a series of four buildings having different natural frequencies. The paper also investigates the effect of different arrangements of the four buildings on their pounding response. For this, a mathematical model was constructed using Matlab code where, pounding was modeled using a contact force-based approach. A Non-Linear viscoelastic (Hertzdamp) contact element was used and activated only during the approach period of collision. The mathematical model was validated by comparing its prediction versus experimental results on three adjacent buildings. Then the model was used to study the pounding between four adjacent structures arranged in different sequences according to their natural frequencies. The results revealed that increasing the gap distance generally led to decrease the peak responses of the towers. Such response is somehow different from that predicted earlier by the authors for the case of three adjacent buildings. Moreover, the arrangement of towers has a significant effect on their pounding response. Significant difference between the natural frequencies of adjacent structures increases the pounding forces especially when the more flexible buildings are located at the outer edge of the series. The study points out the need for further researches on buildings in series to gain a better understanding of such complex phenomena.