• Computers and Concrete
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.361-377
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• 2012

Four Reinforced Concrete (RC) single span structural walls having various opening sizes and locations were constructed and tested under lateral reversed cyclic loading at the structural laboratory of Kyoto University. These specimens were scaled to 40% and represented the lower three stories of a six-storied RC building. The main purposes of the experimental tests were to evaluate the shear behavior and to identify the influence of opening ratios on the cracks distribution and shear strength of RC structural walls. The shear strength of the specimens was estimated by combining the shear strength of structural wall without openings and the reduction factor that takes into account the openings. Experimental and analytical results showed that the shear strength was different depending on the loading direction due to opening locations. A two-dimensional finite element analysis was carried out to simulate the performance of the tested specimens. The constructed finite elements model simulated the lateral load-drift angle relations quite well.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.37-55
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• 2013

An important issue in the design of soil-nailing systems, as long-term retaining walls, is to assess their stability during seismic events. As such, this study is aimed at simulating the dynamic behavior and failure pattern of nailed structures using two series of numerical analyses, namely dynamic time history and pseudo-static. These numerical simulations are performed using the Finite Difference Method (FDM). In order to consider the actual response of a soil-nailed structure, nonlinear soil behaviour, soil-structure interaction effects, bending resistance of structural elements and construction sequences have been considered in the analyses. The obtained results revealed the efficiency of both analysis methods in simulating the seismic failure mechanism. The predicted failure pattern consists of two sliding blocks enclosed by three slip surfaces, whereby the bottom nails act as anchors and the other nails hold a semi-rigid soil mass. Moreover, it was realized that an increase in the length of the lowest nails is the most effective method to improve seismic stability of soil-nailed structures. Therefore, it is recommended to first estimate the nails pattern for static condition with the minimum required static safety factor. Then, the required seismic stability can be obtained through an increase in the length of the lowest nails. Moreover, placement of additional long nails among lowest nails in existing nailed structures can be considered as a simple retrofitting technique in seismic prone areas.

• 한국지진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지진공학회 2006년도 학술발표회 논문집
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• pp.269-275
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• 2006

In the design of bridge piers in seismic area, the ductility requirement is one of the most important design criteria. In order to enhance the seismic performance of RC columns, it is necessary to make the ductility of columns larger by covering RC columns with steel tubes or confining RC columns by arranging transverse reinforcement such as hoop ties closely. Concrete encased composite columns can be utilized for bridge piers especially in seismic area. In this paper, finite element analyses are performed to study the nonlinear behavior of concrete encased composite columns with single core steel or multiple steel elements under static and quasi-static loads. The cross-sections of these specimens ate composed of concrete-encased H-shaped structural steel columns and a concrete-encased circular tube with partial in-filled concrete. Test parameters were the amount of the transverse reinforcement, encased steel member, and loading axis. Through the comparison between FE analyses and test results, adequate material models for confined concrete and unconfined concrete ate investigated. After getting the proper analysis models for composite columns, several parameters are considered to suggest design considerations on the details of composite piers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제76권3호
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• pp.337-354
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• 2020

Reinforced concrete beam-column (RCBC) joints of laterally loaded unbraced frames are sometimes controlled by their shear behavior. This behavior relies on multiple and interdependent complex mechanisms. There are already several studies on the influence of some parameters on the shear strength of reinforced concrete joints. However, there are no studies methodically tackling all the most relevant parameters and quantifying their influence on the overall joint behavior, not just on its shear strength. Hence, considering the prohibitive cost of a comprehensive parametric experimental investigation, a nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was undertaken to identify the key factors affecting the shear behavior of such joints and quantify their influence. The paper presents and discusses the models employed in this NLFEA and the procedure used to deduce the joint behavior from the NLFEA results. Three alternative, or complementary, quantities related to shear are considered when comparing results, namely, the maximum shear stress supported by the joint, the secant shear stiffness at maximum shear stress and the secant shear stiffness in service conditions. Depending on which of these is considered, the lower or higher the relevance of each of the six parameters investigated: transverse reinforcement in the joint, intermediate longitudinal bars and diagonal bars in the column, concrete strength, column axial load and confining elements in transverse direction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.1307-1325
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• 2016

Nonlinear behavior of two-span, continuous composite steel-concrete girders strengthened with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) bonded to the top of concrete slab over the negative moment region was evaluated using a non-linear Finite Element (FE) model in this paper. A three-dimensional FE model of continuous composite girder using commercial software ABAQUS simulated and validated with experimental results. The interfacial regions of the composite girder components were modeled using suitable interface elements. Validation of the proposed numerical model with experimental data confirmed the applicability of this model to predict the loading history, strain level for the different components and concrete-steel relative slip. The FE model captured the different modes of failure for the continuous composite girder either in the concrete slab or at the interfacial region between CFRP sheet and concrete slab. Through a parametric study, the thickness of CFRP sheet and shear connection required to develop full capacity of the continuous composite girder at negative moment zone have been investigated. The FE results showed that the proper thickness of CFRP sheet at negative moment region is a function of the adhesive strength and the positive moment capacity of the composite section. The shear connection required at the negative moment zone depends on CFRP sheet's tensile stress level at ultimate load.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.231-243
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• 2022

Beam-column joints (BCJs) are recognized among the most crucial zones in reinforced concrete structures, as they are the critical elements subjected to a complex state of forces during a severe earthquake. Under such conditions, BCJs exhibit behaviors with impacts that extend to the whole structure and significantly influence its ductility and capability of dissipating energy. The focus of this paper is to investigate the effect of undamaged transverse beam (secondary beams) on the ductility of concrete BCJs reinforced with conventional steel and shape memory alloys bars using pushover analysis at tip of beam under different axial load levels at the column using a nonlinear finite element model in ABAQUS environment. A numerical model of a BCJ was constructed and the analysis outcomes were verified by comparing them to those obtained from previous experiments found in the literature. The comparison evidenced the capability of the calibrated model to predict the load capacity response of the joint. Results proved the ability of undamaged secondary beams to provide a noticeable improvement to the ductility of reinforced concrete joints, with a very negligible loss in load capacity. However, the effect of secondary beams can become less significant if the beams are damaged due to seismic effects. In addition, the axial load was found to significantly enhance the performance of BCJs, where the increase in axial load magnified the capacity of the joint. However, higher values of axial load resulted in greater initial stiffness of the BCJ.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.595-606
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• 2023

Dune sand (DS) has been widely used as a partial replacement for regular sand in concrete construction. Therefore, investigating its mechanical properties is critical for the analysis and design of structural elements using DS as a construction material. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation of the mechanical properties of DS concrete, considering different replacement ratios and strength grades. Regression analysis is utilized to develop strength prediction models for different mechanical properties of DS concrete. The proposed models exhibit high calculation accuracy, with R² values of 0.996, 0.991, 0.982, and 0.989 for cube compressive strength, axial compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and elastic modulus, respectively, and an error within ±20%. Furthermore, a stress-strain relationship specific to DS concrete is established, showing good agreement with experimental results. Additionally, nonlinear finite element analysis is performed on concrete-filled steel tube columns incorporating DS concrete, utilizing the established stress-strain relationship. The analytical and experimental results exhibit good agreement, confirming the validity of the proposed stress-strain relationship for DS concrete. Therefore, the findings presented in this paper provide valuable references for the design and analysis of structures utilizing DS concrete as a construction material.

• 풍력에너지저널
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2023

This study focuses on the analysis of slewing ball bearings in wind turbines. Slewing bearings have an outer diameter of several meters, and hundreds of balls are in contact with the raceway. Due to the large number of balls and raceway contact conditions, it is difficult to accurately analyze contact stresses using general analysis techniques. To analyze the contact stress of a slewing ball bearing, the sub-modeling method is applied, which is a technique that first analyzes the displacement of the entire model and then analyzes the local stress at the point of maximum displacement. In order to reduce the displacement analysis time of the entire ball bearing, the technique of replacing the ball with a nonlinear spring is adopted. The analytical agreement of the simplified model was evaluated by comparing it with a solid mesh model of the ball for three models with different spring attachment methods. It was found that for the condition where a large turnover moment is applied to the bearing, increasing the number of spring elements gives the closest results to modeling the ball with a solid mesh.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.211-219
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• 2001

This paper presents the tangent stiffness method for 3-D geometrically nonlinear folding analysis of a reversal arch. Experimental tests are conducted to verify the numerical analysis. The tangent stiffness method can accurately evaluate the geometrical nonlinearity due to the element translating as a rigid body, and the method can exactly handle the large rotation of the element in space. The arch in the experiment is made from a thin flat bar, and it is found that the folding process of the arch may be captured exactly by the numerical analysis with a model consisting of only 18 elements with the same properties.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.247-266
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• 2013

This paper presents a comparison of results obtained by a newly developed numerical model for predicting the behaviour of structures under fire with experimental study carried out on heated and simply supported steel beam elements. A newly developed numerical model consists of three submodels: 3D beam model designed for calculating the inner forces in the structure, 2D model designed for calculation of stress and strain distribution over the cross section, including the section stiffness, and 3D transient nonlinear heat transfer model that is capable of calculating the temperature distribution along the structure, and the distribution over the cross section as well. Predictions of the calculated temperatures and vertical deflections obtained by the numerical model are compared with the results of the inhouse experiment in which steel beam element under load was heated for 90 minutes.