• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.255-268
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• 2017

Fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) are widely used to strengthen steel structures and retrofitting of existing structures due to its excellent properties. This paper reviews the use of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) in strengthening steel and concrete structures. The paper discusses the use of FRP in strengthening of steel bridges, uses of FRP in repairing of corroded structures and the behaviour of different adhesives. The paper then deals with the FRP strengthened hollow sections and the different failure experienced. The paper then reviewed the current state of art used in strengthening tubular structures and focusing on FRP in strengthening of joints.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.107-111
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• 2008

This paper presented a literature review and investigation analysis results of total 19 present guide book and provisions of maintenance and management system in existing railway bridges to development of urban maglev track structures inspection manual. This research carried out a cooperated research subject 3-1, development a design code and maintenance and management inspection manual for urban maglev track structures, of the Center for Urban Maglev Program. Three types of track structures were includes as a major analytical parameter together with railroad, high speed railroad, subway and light rail transit. Bridges were analyzed a general rules, investigation, evaluation, repair and strengthen method as a key aspect. And rail were analyzed examination and maintenance also. This analysis results show that the track structures evaluation are based on the test and examination results, and repaired or strengthened consideration of deterioration, track irregularity and materials according to provision requirements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.163-182
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• 2014

Safety factors proposed in codes CEB, B.A.E.L 91 and EUROCODE 1 cover a great number of uncertainties; making them inadequate for the assessment of existing structures. Suitable safety factors are established using a probabilistic assessment, once real dimensions, materials strength and existing structures deterioration mechanisms are taken into account. This paper presents a calibration method for safety factors using a typical set of RC bridges in France. It considers the principal stages of corrosion provoked by $CO_2$ and $Cl^-$ penetration and threshold indexes (${\beta}_0$) for existing structures. Reliability indexes are determined by the FORM method in the calibration method.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.87-98
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• 2017

In recent year, the coat layer drops and the rebar rust of bridge parapets, which caused the structural performance degradation. In order to achieve the comprehensive rehabilitation, ultra high performance cementitious composites is proposed to existing RC parapet rehabilitation. The influence factors of UHPCC rehabilitation includes two parts, i.e., internal factors related with material, such as UHPCC layer thickness, corrosion ratio of rebars, fiber volume fraction, and external factors related with the load, such as impact speeds, impact angles, vehicle mass. The influence of the factors was analyzed in this paper based on the nonlinear finite element. The analysis results of the maximum dynamic deformation and the peak impact load of parapets revealed the influence of the internal factors and the external factors on anti-collision performance and degree degradation. This research may provide a reference for the comprehensive multifunctional rehabilitation of existing bridge parapets.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2020

Weirs are to secure amount water of streams and drop structures are to enhance stabilization of stream bed and bridges are to connect isolated region, which are called stream crossing structures. In the stream design criteria, directions for minimum size of structures are suggested to secure stability of stream crossing structures. However the sizes of almost all existing weirs and drop structures are not satisfied with the stream design criteria and only 22 percent of the peirs of bridges are satisfied. To enhance hydraulic stability of existing weirs and drop structures, it is required that the ratio of bed protection to apron should be above 3.3. According to factual survey of structures in the sample streams, it has been shown that the longitudinal slope of rapid works with 1:20 is the most reasonable to design velocity if existing weirs and drop structures are rehabilitated into rapid works. It has been known that violating freeboard and span length of piers should make existing bridges reconstructed or removed. However, comprehensive review including deterioration level of bridges, special regulation for span length, etc. should be considered to determine rehabilitation plan of bridges. In this study, a procedure has been suggested to improve hydraulic stability of weirs, drop structures and piers of bridges. Sound environment of stream and reduction of natural disaster could be achieved by improving stability of cross structures, which could be obtained by governmental budget and active stream management including observance of design criteria.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.627-639
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• 2021

Fragility curves are being more significant as a useful tool for evaluating the relationship between the earthquake intensity measure and the effects of the engineering demand parameter on the buildings. In this paper, the effect of different site conditions on the vulnerability of the structures was examined through the fragility curves taking into account different strength capacities of the precast columns. Thus, typical existing single-story precast RC industrial buildings which were built in Turkey after the year 2000 were examined. The fragility curves for the three typical existing industrial structures were derived from an analytical approach by performing non-linear dynamic analyses considering three different soil conditions. The Park and Ang damage index was used in order to determine the damage level of the members. The spectral acceleration (Sa) was used as the ground motion parameter in the fragility curves. The results indicate that the fragility curves were derived for the structures vary depending on the site conditions. The damage probability of exceedance values increased from stiff site to soft site for any Sa value. This difference increases in long period in examined buildings. In addition, earthquake demand values were calculated by considering the buildings and site conditions, and the effect of the site class on the building damage was evaluated by considering the Mean Damage Ratio parameter (MDR). Achieving fragility curves and MDR curves as a function of spectral acceleration enables a quick and practical risk assessment in existing buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.379-399
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• 2015

Existing building structures can easily present material mechanical properties which can largely vary even within a single structure. The current European Technical Code, Eurocode 8, does not provide specific instructions to account for high variability in mechanical properties. As a consequence of the high strength variability, at the occurrence of seismic events, the structure may evidence unexpected phenomena, like torsional effects, with larger experienced deformations and, in turn, with reduced seismic performance. This work is focused on the torsional effects related to the irregular stiffness and strength distribution due to the concrete strength variability. The analysis has been performed on a case-study, i.e., a 3D RC framed 4 storey building. A Normal distribution, compatible to a large available database, has been taken to represent the concrete strength domain. Different plan layouts, representative of realistic stiffness distributions, have been considered, and a statistical analysis has been performed on the induced torsional effects. The obtained results have been compared to the standard analysis as provided by Eurocode 8 for existing buildings, showing that the Eurocode 8 provisions, despite not allowing explicitly for material strength variability, are conservative as regards the estimation of structural demand.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.241-252
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• 2013

Because of financial and safety concerns, there are needs for more accurate prediction of bridge behavior. Underestimation of the bridge load carrying capacity can have serious economic consequences, as deficient bridges must be repaired or rehabilitated. Therefore, the knowledge of the actual bridge behavior under live load may lead to a more realistic calculation of the load carrying capacity and eventually this may allow for more bridges to remain in service with or without minor repairs. The presented research is focused on the reliability evaluation of the actual load carrying capacity of existing bridges based on the field testing. Seventeen existing bridges were tested under truck load to confirm their adequacy of reliability. The actual response of existing bridge structures under live load is measured. Reliability analysis is performed on the selected representative bridges designed in accordance with AASHTO codes for bridge component (girder). Bridges are first evaluated based on the code specified values and design resistance. However, after the field testing program, it is possible to apply the experimental results into the bridge reliability evaluation procedures. Therefore, the actual response of bridge structures, including unintentional composite action, partial fixity of supports, and contribution of nonstructural members are considered in the bridge reliability evaluation. The girder distribution factors obtained from the tests are also applied in the reliability calculation. The results indicate that the reliability indices of selected bridges can be significantly increased by reducing uncertainties without sacrificing the safety of structures, by including the result of field measurement data into calculation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.321-337
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• 2015

Existing building structures can easily present material mechanical properties which can largely vary even within a single structure. The current European Technical Code, Eurocode 8, does not provide specific instructions to account for high variability in mechanical properties. As a consequence of the high strength variability, at the occurrence of seismic events, the structure may evidence unexpected phenomena, like torsional effects, with larger experienced deformations and, in turn, with reduced seismic performance. This work is focused on the reduction in seismic performance due to the concrete strength variability. The analysis has been performed on a case-study, i.e., a 3D RC framed 4 storey building. A Normal distribution, compatible to a large available database, has been taken to represent the concrete strength domain. Different plan layouts, representative of realistic strength distributions, have been considered, and a statistical analysis has been performed on the induced reduction in seismic performance. The obtained results have been compared to the standard analysis as provided by Eurocode 8 for existing buildings. The comparison has shown that the Eurocode 8 provisions are not conservative for existing buildings having a large variability in concrete strength.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.301-306
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• 2008

The present seismic analysis of Road-Bridge Design Standard is on a basis of load-vased analysis which lets structures have the strength over load. In this study, the capacity spectrum method, a kind of displacement based method, which is evaluated by displacement of structure, is presented as an alternative to the analysis method based on load. Seismic capacity is performed about the existing reinforced concrete pier which has already secured seismic design by capacity spectrum method. As a result, capacity spectrum method could realistically evaluate the non-elastic behavior of structures easilly and quickly and the displacement of structures for variable ground motion level. And it could efficiently apply to an evaluation of seismic capacity about the existing structures and a verification of design for capacity target of the structure. We propose the seisemic performance method by using the Finite Element Analysis Program.