• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.623-641
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• 2013

The fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite panel, with the benefits of light weight, high strength, good corrosion resistance, and long-term durability, has been considered as one of the prosperous alternatives for structural retrofits and replacements. Although with these advantages, a further application of FRPs in bridge engineering may be restricted, and that is partly due to some unsatisfied thermal performance observed in recent studies. In this regard, Kansas Department of Transportation (DOT) conducted a field monitoring program on a bridge with glass FRP (GFRP) honeycomb hollow section sandwich panels. The temperatures of the panel surfaces and ambient air were measured from December 2002 to July 2004. In this paper, the temperature distributing behaviors of the panels are firstly demonstrated and discussed based on the field measurements. Then, a numerical modeling procedure of temperature fields is developed and verified. This model is capable of predicting the temperature distributions with the local environmental conditions and material's thermal properties. Finally, a parametric study is employed to examine the sensitivities of several temperature influencing factors, including the hollow section configurations, environmental conditions, and material properties.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.117-128
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• 2014

Numerous investigations of RC beams strengthened in shear with externally-bonded (EB) fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets, plates and strips have been successfully conducted in recent years. These valuable studies have highlighted a number of influencing parameters that are not captured by the design guidelines. The objective of this study was: (1) to highlight experimentally and analytically the influential parameters on the shear contribution of FRP to RC beams strengthened in shear using EB FRP sheets and strips; and (2) to develop a set of transparent, coherent, and evolutionary design equations to calculate the shear resistance of RC beams strengthened in shear. In the experimental part of this study, 12 tests were performed on 4,520-mm-long T-beams. The specimens were strengthened in shear using carbon FRP (CFRP) strips and sheets. The test variables were: (1) the presence or absence of internal transverse-steel reinforcement; (2) use of FRP sheets versus FRP strips; and (3) the axial rigidity of the EB FRP reinforcement. In the analytical part of this study, new design equations were proposed to consider the effect of transverse-steel in addition to other influential parameters on the shear contribution of FRP. The accuracy of the proposed equations has been verified in this study by predicting the FRP shear contribution of experimentally tested RC beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제73권3호
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• pp.353-365
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• 2020

In the previous studies, the authors proposed the use of laminated veneer lumber - carbon fiber reinforced polymer (LVL-CFRP) composite beams for structural application. Bond strength of the LVL-to-CFRP interface and flexural strengthening schemes to increase the bending capacity subjected to positive and negative moment were discussed in the previous works. In this article, theoretical models are proposed to predict the moment capacity when the LVL-CFRP beams are subjected to negative moment. Two common failure modes - CFRP fracture and debonding of CFRP are considered. The non-linear model proposed for positive moment is modified for negative moment to determine the section moment capacity. For the debonding based failure, previously developed bond strength model for CFRP-to-LVL interface is implemented. The theoretical models are validated against the experimental results and then use to determine the moment-rotation behaviour and rotational rigidity to compare the efficacy of various strengthening techniques. It is found that combined use of bi- and uni-directional CFRP U-wrap at the joint performs well in terms of both moment capacity and rotational rigidity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제65권5호
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• pp.535-546
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to understand the behaviour of hollow core slabs strengthened with FRP and hybrid techniques through numerical and analytical studies. Different strengthening techniques considered in this study are (i) External Bonding (EB) of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates, (ii) Near Surface Mounting (NSM) of CFRP laminates, (iii) Bonded Overlay (BO) using concrete layer, and (iv) hybrid strengthening which is a combination of bonded overlay and NSM or EB. In the numerical studies, three-dimensional Finite Element (FE) models of hollow core slabs were developed considering material and geometrical nonlinearities, and a phased nonlinear analysis was carried out. The analytical calculations were carried out using Response-2000 program which is based on Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT). Both the numerical and analytical models predicted the behaviour in agreement with experimental results. Parametric studies indicated that increase in the bonded overlay thickness increases the peak load capacity without reducing the displacement ductility. The increase in FRP strengthening ratio increased the capacity but reduced the displacement ductility. The hybrid strengthening technique was found to increase the capacity of the hollow core slabs by more than 100% without compromise in ductility when compared to their individual strengthening schemes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제66권5호
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• pp.631-636
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• 2018

This study aims to investigate the flexural behaviour of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminated hybrid fibre reinforced concrete (HFRC) beams. The flexural and ductility performance of GFRP laminated HFRC beams having different proportions of polyolefin and steel fibres with 1.0% of total volume fraction were investigated. The parameters of this investigation included: load and deflection at first crack, yield, and ultimate stages, ductility and crack width. A total of seven beams of $150{\times}250mm$ in cross-section were tested in the laboratory over an effective span of 2800 mm. One reinforced concrete (RC) beam without any internal or external GFRP was taken as the reference beam. Of the remaining six beams, one beam was strengthened with GFRP, one beam with 100% steel fibres was strengthened with GFRP and four beams, each with different volume proportions of polyolefin and steel fibres (20:80, 30:70, 40:60, 50:50) were strengthened with GFRP. All the above beams were tested until failure. The experimental results show that a fibre volume proportion of 40:60 (polyolefin-steel) has significantly improved the overall performance of the tested beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제48권5호
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• pp.737-755
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• 2013

This paper aims to develop a practical approach to modeling of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) strengthened masonry panels. The main objective is to provide suitable relations for the material characterization of the masonry constituents so that the finite element applications of elasto-plastic theory achieves a close fit to the experimental load-displacement diagrams of the walls subjected to in-plane shear and compression. Two relations proposed for masonry columns confined with FRP are adjusted for the cohesion and the internal friction angle of both units and mortar. Relating the mechanical parameters to the uniaxial compression strength and the hydrostatic pressure acting over the wall surface, the effects of major and intermediate principal stresses ${\sigma}_1$ and ${\sigma}_2$ on the yielding and the shape of the deviatoric section are then reflected into the analyses. Performing nonlinear finite element analyses (NLFEA) for the three walls tested in two different studies, their stress-strain response and failure modes are eventually evaluated through the comparisons with the experimental behavior.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제74권6호
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• pp.809-819
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• 2020

For the first time, the influence of in-plane magnetic field on wave propagation of Graphene Nano-Platelets (GNPs) polymer composite nanoplates is investigated here. The impact of three- parameter Kerr foundation is also considered. There are two different reinforcement distribution patterns (i.e. uniformly and non-uniformly) while the material properties of the nanoplate are estimated through the Halpin-Tsai model and a rule of mixture. To consider the size-dependent behavior of the structure, Eringen Nonlocal Differential Model (ENDM) is utilized. The equations of wave motion derived based on a higher-order shear deformation refined theory through Hamilton's principle and an analytical technique depending on Taylor series utilized to find the wave frequency as well as phase velocity of the GNPs reinforced nanoplates. A parametric investigation is performed to determine the influence of essential phenomena, such as the nonlocality, GNPs conditions, Kerr foundation parameters, and wave number on the both longitudinal and flexural wave characteristics of GNPs reinforced nanoplates.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제53권3호
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• pp.497-517
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• 2015

In this study, nonlocal nonlinear buckling analysis of embedded polymeric temperature-dependent microplates resting on an elastic matrix as orthotropic temperature-dependent elastomeric medium is investigated. The microplate is reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in which the equivalent material properties nanocomposite are estimated based on the rule of mixture. For the carbon-nanotube reinforced composite (CNTRC) plate, both cases of uniform distribution (UD) and functionally graded (FG) distribution patterns of SWCNT reinforcements are considered. The small size effects of microplate are considered based on Eringen's nonlocal theory. Based on orthotropic Mindlin plate theory along with von K$\acute{a}$rm$\acute{a}$n geometric nonlinearity and Hamilton's principle, the governing equations are derived. Generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is applied for obtaining the buckling load of system. The effects of different parameters such as nonlocal parameters, volume fractions of SWCNTs, distribution type of SWCNTs in polymer, elastomeric medium, aspect ratio, boundary condition, orientation of foundation orthtotropy direction and temperature are considered on the nonlinear buckling of the microplate. Results indicate that CNT distribution close to top and bottom are more efficient than those distributed nearby the mid-plane for increasing the buckling load.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

Bonding of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites has become a popular technique for strengthening concrete structures in recent years. The bond stress between concrete and CFRP is the main factor determining the strength, rigidity, failure mode and behavior of a reinforced concrete member strengthened with CFRP. The accurate evaluation of the strain is required for analytical calculations and design processes. In this study, the strain between concrete and bonded CFRP sheets across the notch is tested. In this paper, indirect axial tension is applied to CFRP bonded test specimen by a four point bending tests. The variables studied in this research are CFRP sheet width, bond length and the concrete compression strength. Furthermore, the effect of a crack- modeled as a notch- on the strain distribution is studied. It is observed that the strain in the CFRP to concrete interface reaches its maximum values near the crack tips. It is also observed that extending the CFRP sheet more than to a certain length does not affect the strength and the strain distribution of the bonding. The stress distribution obtained from experiments are compared to Chen and Teng's (2001) analytical model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제64권6권
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• pp.783-792
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• 2017

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates are used widely either for repairing or strengthening of existing structures. When CFRP laminates are used for strengthening of RC continuous T-beams in the Hogging Moment Zone (HMZ); above and around the intermediate supports, it is important to study the expected positions of the laminates across the width of the beam flange. Although, it is traditional to consider CFRP laminates added above the beam web, this is not practical since walls and columns are located in such positions in general. This paper examines the effect of changing the positions of CFRP laminates used for the strengthening of the hogging moment zone across the beam flange of two-span-T-section beams. The Finite Element (FE) Package ANSYS is used to create 3-D theoretical models needed for the study. It can be concluded that changing the position of CFRP strengthening across the beam flange, in the hogging moment zone, is effective upon the overall behavior. The best locations are either above the web or at the flange just beside the web, due to the presence of walls and/or columns.