• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.213-233
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• 2009

In this paper the study of a reinforced concrete wall used as protection against accidental explosions in the petrochemical industry is presented. Many alternatives of accidental scenarios and sizes of the wall are analyzed and discussed. Two main types of events are considered, both related to vessel bursts: Pressure vessel bursts and BLEVE. The liberated energy from the explosion was calculated following procedures firmly established in the practice and the effects over the structures and the reinforced concrete wall were calculated by using a CFD tool. The results obtained show that the designed wall reduces the values of the peak overpressure and impulse and, as a result, the damage levels to be expected. It was also proved that a reinforced concrete wall can withstand the blast load for the considered events and levels of pressure and impulse, with minor damage and protect the buildings.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.69-89
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• 2009

Reinforced and prestressed concrete (RC and PC) thin walls are crucial to the safety and serviceability of structures subjected to shear. The shear strengths of elements in walls depend strongly on the softening of concrete struts in the principal compression direction due to the principal tension in the perpendicular direction. The past three decades have seen a rapid development of knowledge in shear of reinforced concrete structures. Various rational models have been proposed that are based on the smeared-crack concept and can satisfy Navier's three principles of mechanics of materials (i.e., stress equilibrium, strain compatibility and constitutive laws). The Cyclic Softened Membrane Model (CSMM) is one such rational model developed at the University of Houston, which is being efficiently used to predict the behavior of RC/PC structures critical in shear. CSMM for RC has already been implemented into finite element framework of OpenSees (Fenves 2005) to come up with a finite element program called Simulation of Reinforced Concrete Structures (SRCS) (Zhong 2005, Mo et al. 2008). CSMM for PC is being currently implemented into SRCS to make the program applicable to reinforced as well as prestressed concrete. The generalized program is called Simulation of Concrete Structures (SCS). In this paper, the CSMM for RC/PC in material scale is first introduced. Basically, the constitutive relationships of the materials, including uniaxial constitutive relationship of concrete, uniaxial constitutive relationships of reinforcements embedded in concrete and constitutive relationship of concrete in shear, are determined by testing RC/PC full-scale panels in a Universal Panel Tester available at the University of Houston. The formulation in element scale is then derived, including equilibrium and compatibility equations, relationship between biaxial strains and uniaxial strains, material stiffness matrix and RC plane stress element. Finally the formulated results with RC/PC plane stress elements are implemented in structure scale into a finite element program based on the framework of OpenSees to predict the structural behavior of RC/PC thin-walled structures subjected to earthquake-type loading. The accuracy of the multiscale modeling technique is validated by comparing the simulated responses of RC shear walls subjected to reversed cyclic loading and shake table excitations with test data. The response of a post tensioned precast column under reversed cyclic loads has also been simulated to check the accuracy of SCS which is currently under development. This multiscale modeling technique greatly improves the simulation capability of RC thin-walled structures available to researchers and engineers.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.110-118
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• 2008

The use of FRP bar as reinforced concrete beams is considered as one of the most prominent solution that may overcome the corrosion of reinforcing steel bars. However, in the case of FRP reinforced concrete, both the reinforcing and the reinforced materials are brittle. For this reason, ductility of structures with FRP reinforcement is much less than that of structures with steel reinforcements. In this study, a method has been suggested to provide a meaningful quantification of ductility for concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars. This paper shows which the confinement to the compression concrete by the spiral can increase the ductility of FRP over-reinforced concrete beams.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.05b
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• pp.177-180
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• 2006

Reinforced concrete has been widely used as a semi-permanent construction materials. However, sea sand, deicing salt, and marine condition might induce the corrosion of embedded reinforcement due to the penetration of chlorides in concrete structures. This reinforcement corrosion causes serious problems on safety and serviceability of structures during lifetime. Also, reinforcement corrosion may cause the collapse of structures in worst case, so that the corrosion problem is more and more intensely growing. The purpose of this paper is to provide the fundamental data for the mechanical effect of corrosion through evaluation on bond characteristics of reinforced concrete using corroded bars.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.547-562
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• 2015

A two-dimensional multi-layered finite elements modeling of reinforced concrete structures at non-linear behaviour under monotonic and cyclical loading is presented. The non-linearity material is characterized by several phenomena such as: the physical non-linearity of the concrete and steels materials, the behaviour of cracked concrete and the interaction effect between materials represented by the post-cracking filled. These parameters are taken into consideration in this paper to examine the response of the reinforced concrete structures at the non-linear behaviour. Four examples of application are presented. The numerical results obtained, are in a very good agreement with available experimental data and other numerical models of the literature.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.637-647
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• 2018

Numerical approach using finite element method has been used to evaluate the behaviour of reinforced concrete frame structure subjected to fire. The structure is previously designed in accordance with Eurocode standards for the design of structures for earthquake resistance, for the ductility class M. Thermal and structural response are obtained using a commercially available software ANSYS. Temperature-dependent nonlinear thermal and mechanical properties are adopted according to Eurocode standards, with the application of constitutive model for the triaxial behaviour of concrete with a smeared crack approach. Discrete modelling of concrete and reinforcement has enabled monitoring of the behaviour at a global, as well as at a local level, providing information on the level of damage occurring during fire. Critical regions in frame structures are identified and assessed, based on temperatures, displacements, variations of internal forces magnitudes and achieved plastic deformations of main reinforcement bars. Parametric analyses are conducted for different fire scenarios and different types of concrete aggregate to determine their effect on global deformations of frame structures. According to analyses results, the three-dimensional finite element model can be used to evaluate the insulation and mechanical resistance criteria of reinforced concrete frame structures subjected to nominal fire curves.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.545-550
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• 2000

Bond between reinforcing bars and the surrounding concrete is supposed to safely transfer load in the design process of reinforced concrete structures. Bar with high relative rib area will be studied further not only static load but also dynamic loading conditions to sustain better performance of bond for reinforced concrete structures under earthquake. To determine the bond behavior of high ribbed bars in beam and column joints under repeated loads, 31 pullout specimens were tested. Bond strength increases as relative rib area increases. Also the effect of relative rib area on bond is larger in cyclic loading than in monotonic loading.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.23-37
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• 2010

Concrete is a heterogeneous material consisting of coarse aggregate, mortar matrix and interfacial zones at the meso level. Though studies have been done to interpret the fracture process in concrete using meso level models, not much work has been done for simulating the macroscopic behaviour of reinforced concrete structures using the meso level models. This paper presents a procedure for the mesoscopic analysis of reinforced concrete beams using a modified micro truss model. The micro truss model is derived based on the framework method and uses the lattice meshes for representing the coarse aggregate (CA), mortar matrix, interfacial zones and reinforcement bars. A simple procedure for generating a random aggregate structure is developed using the constitutive model at meso level. The study reveals the potential of the mesoscopic numerical simulation using a modified micro truss model to predict the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. The modified micro truss model correctly predicts the load-deflection behaviour, crack pattern and ultimate load of reinforced concrete beams failing under different failure modes.

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.26-28
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• 2012

In this thesis, fracture tests were carried out in order to investigate the flexural strength behavior of FRC(fiber reinforced concrete) structures. FRC beams were used in the tests, the initial crack load and the ultimate load of the beams were observed under the static loading. According to the results, the ultimate loads increase with the fiber content, and these tendency is clear in the specimens with large fiber aspect ratio. From the results of the regression analysis, practical formulae for predicting the flexural strength of FRC were suggested.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.5
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• pp.419-437
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• 2023

The use of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls (SW) as an efficient lateral load-carrying system has gained recent attention. However, creating openings in RC shear walls is unavoidable due to architectural requirements. This reduces the walls' strength and stiffness, resulting in the development of wall piers. In this study, the cyclic behavior of RC shear walls with openings, reinforced with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets in various patterns, was numerically investigated. Finite element analysis (FEA) using ABAQUS software was employed. Additionally, the retrofitting of sub-standard buildings (5, 10, and 15-story structures) designed based on the old and new versions of the Iranian Code of Practice for Seismic-Resistant Structures was evaluated. Nonlinear static analyses, specifically pushover analyses, were conducted on the structures. The best pattern of CFRP wrapping was determined and utilized for retrofitting the sub-standard structures. Various structural parameters, such as load-carrying capacity, ductility, stress contours, and tension damage contours, were compared to assess the efficiency of the retrofit solution. The results indicated that the load-carrying capacity of the sub-standard structures was lower than that of standard ones by 57%, 69%, and 67% for 5, 10, and 15-story buildings, respectively. However, the retrofit solution utilizing CFRP showed promising results, enhancing the capacity by 10-25%. The retrofitted structures demonstrated increased yield strength, ultimate strength, and ductility through CFRP wrapping and effectively prevented wall slipping.