• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.257-264
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• 2022

The analysis of the progressive collapse resistance of structures is a well-known issue among structural engineers. Large-span reticulated dome structures are commonly utilized in large public buildings, necessitating research into their progressive collapse resistance to assure user safety. The most significant part of improving the structural resilience of reticulated domes is to evaluate their key elements. Based on a stiffness-based evaluation approach, this work offers a calculating procedure for element importance coefficient. For both original and damaged structures, evaluations are carried out using the global stiffness matrix and the determinant. The Kiewitt, Schwedler, and Sunflower reticulated domes are investigated to explore the distribution characteristic of element importance coefficients in the single-layer dome structures. Moreover, the influences of the load levels, load distributions, geometric parameters and topological features are also discussed. The results can be regarded as the initial concept design reference for single-layer reticulated domes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.4
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• pp.533-545
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• 2020

An optimal design method for a spoke double-layer cable-net structure (SDLC) is proposed in this study. Simplified calculation models of the SDLC are put forward to reveal the static responses under vertical loads and wind loads. Next, based on an energy principle, the relationship among the initial prestress level, cross-sectional areas of the components, rise height, sag height, overall displacement, and relative deformation is proposed. Moreover, a calculation model of the Foshan Center SDLC is built and optimized. Given the limited loading cases, material properties of the components, and variation ranges of the rise height and sag height, the self-weight and initial prestress level of the entire structure can be obtained. Because the self-weight of the cables decreases with increasing of the rise height and sag height, while the self-weight of the inner strut increases, the total weight of the entire structure successively exhibits a sharp reduction, a gradual decrease, a slow increase, and a sharp increase during the optimization process. For the simplified model, the optimal design corresponds to the combination of rise height and sag height that results in an appropriate prestress level of the entire structure with the minimum total weight.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.475-483
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• 2018

Square tubular columns are commonly used in moment resisting frames, while through-diaphragm connection is the most typical configuration detail to connect the H-shaped beam to the column. However, brittle fracture normally occurs at the complete joint penetration weld between the beam flange and the through-diaphragm due to the stress concentration caused by the geometrical discontinuity. Accordingly, three improved types of through-diaphragm are presented in this paper to provide smooth force flow path comparing to that of conventional connections. Tensile tests were conducted on four specimens and the results were analyzed in terms of failure modes, load-displacement response, yield and ultimate capacity, and initial stiffness. Furthermore, strain distributions on the through-diaphragm, the beam flange plate, and the column face were comprehensively evaluated and discussed. It was found that all the proposed three types of improved through-diaphragm connections were able to reduce the stress concentration in the welds between the beam flange and the through-diaphragm. Furthermore, the stress distribution in connection with longer tapered through-diaphragm was more uniform.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.669-680
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• 2018

The rapidly decreasing natural resources and the global variation of the climate push us to find intelligent and efficient structural systems to provide more people with fewer resources. This paper proposed a kinematic cable-strut system to realize sustainable structures in responding to changing environmental conditions. At first, the concept of the kinematic system based on crystal-cell pyramid (CP) cable-strut unit was given. Then the deployment of the structure was studied experimentally. After that, the static behaviors in the fully deployed state under the symmetric and asymmetric load cases were investigated. Moreover, the effects of thermal loading and the initial prestress distribution were also discussed. Comparative studies between the proposed structure and other deployable cable-strut system under three times of design load cases were carried out. Finally, the robustness of the system was studied by removal of one passive cable at one time.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.491-506
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• 2014

Buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) have excellent hysteretic behavior while buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBFs) are susceptible to residual lateral deformations. To address this drawback, a novel self-centering (SC) BRB with Basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) composite tendons is presented in this work. The configuration and mechanics of proposed BFRP-SC-BRBs are first discussed. Then an 1840-mm-long BFRP-SC-BRB specimen is fabricated and tested to verify its hysteric and self-centering performance. The tested specimen has an expected flag-shaped hysteresis character, showing a distinct self-centering tendency. During the test, the residual deformation of the specimen is only about 0.6 mm. The gap between anchorage plates and welding ends of bracing tubes performs as expected with the maximum opening value 6 mm when brace is in compression. The OpenSEES software is employed to conduct numerical analysis. Experiment results are used to validate the modeling methodology. Then the proposed numerical model is used to evaluate the influence of initial prestress, tendon diameter and core plate thickness on the performance of BFRP-SC-BRBs. Results show that both the increase of initial prestress and tendon diameters can obviously improve the self-centering effect of BFRP-SC-BRBs. With the increase of core plate thickness, the energy dissipation is improved while the residual deformation is generated when the core plate strength exceeds initial prestress force.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.633-642
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• 2006

Serviceability design is required to control the cracking at the joint of precast decks with longitudinal prestress in continuous composite bridges. Details of twin-girder bridges are especially complex not only due to their main reinforcements and transverse prestresses for the design of long-span concrete slabs, but also due to the shear pockets for obtaining the composite action. This paper suggests the design guidelines for the magnitude of the effective prestress and for the selection of filling materials and their requirements that would allow for the use of precast decks for twin-girder continuous composite bridges. The necessary initial prestress was also evaluated through long-term behavior analysis. From the analysis, existing design examples were revised and their effectiveness was estimated. When a filling material with a bonding strength higher than the requirement is used in the region of a high negative moment, a uniform configuration of the longitudinal prestressing steels along thewhole span length of continuous composite bridges can be achieved, which would result in the simplification of the details and the reduction of the construction costs.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.53-65
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• 2005

This paper presented a mechanism of the soil structure reinforced by geosynthetics, in which the reinforcing mechanism is treated as the effect arising from the reinforcement process to prevent the dilative deformation of soil under shearing. A full-scale in-situ model test was carried out by introducing the prestress method to enhance the geosynthetic-reinforcement, and the prestress effect through the FEM is also examined. The elasto-plastic model and the initial parameters needed in the FEM are presented. Moreover, the theoretical prediction is compared with the experimental results, which were obtained by a full-scale in-situ model test.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.21-33
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• 2005

This paper presented a mechanism of the soil structure reinforced by geosynthetics, in which the reinforcing mechanism is treated as the effect arising from the reinforcement process to prevent the dilative deformation of soil under shearing. A full-scale in-situ model test was carried out by introducing the prestress method to enhance the geosynthetic-reinforcement, and the prestress effect through the FEM is also examined. The elasto-plastic model and the initial parameters needed in the FEM are presented. Moreover, the theoretical prediction is compared with the experimental results, which were obtained by a full-scale in-situ model test.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2021

The influence of prestress force on the fundamental frequency and static deflection shape of uncracked Prestressed Concrete (PC) beams with a parabolic bonded tendon was examined in this paper. Due to the conflicts among existing theories, the analytical solutions for properly considering the dynamic and static behavior of these members is not straightforward. A series of experiments were conducted for a total period of approximately 2.5 months on a PC beam made with high strength concrete, subsequently and closely to the 28 days of age of concrete. Specifically, the simply supported PC member was short term subjected to free transverse vibration and three-point bending tests during its early-age. Subsequently, the experimental data were compared with a model that describes the dynamic behavior of PC girders as a combination of two substructures interconnected, i.e., a compressed Euler-Bernoulli beam and a tensioned parabolic cable. It was established that the fundamental frequency of uncracked PC beams with a parabolic bonded tendon is sensitive to the variation of the initial elastic modulus of concrete in the early-age curing. Furthermore, the small variation in experimental frequency with time makes doubtful its use in inverse problem identifications. Conversely, the relationship between prestress force and static deflection shape is well described by the magnification factor formula of the "compression-softening" theory by assuming the variation of the chord elastic modulus of concrete with time.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.2
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• pp.109-118
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• 2019

This paper presents the numerical simulation of membrane structure under impact load. Firstly, the numerical simulation model is validated by comparing with the test in Hao's research. Then, the effects of the shape of the projectile, the membrane prestress and the initial impact speed, are investigated for studying the dynamic response and failure mechanism, based on the membrane displacement, projectile acceleration and kinetic energy. Finally, the results show that the initial speed and the punch shape are related with the loss of kinetic energy of projectiles. Meanwhile, the membrane prestress is an important factor that affects the energy dissipation capacity and the impact resistance of membrane structures.