• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.971-983
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• 2015

To promote greater acceptance and use of composite RCS systems, a two-bay two-story frame specimen with improved composite RCS joint details was tested in the laboratory under reversed cyclic loading. The test revealed superior seismic performance with stable load versus story drift response and excellent deformation capacity for an inter-story drift ratio up to 1/25. It was found that the failure process of the frame meets the strong-column weak-beam criterion. Furthermore, cracking inter-story drift ratio and ultimate inter-story drift ratio both satisfy the limitation prescribed by the design code. Additionally, inter-story drift ratios at yielding and peak load stage provide reference data for Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) approaches for composite RCS frames. An advantage over conventional reinforced concrete and steel moment frame systems is that the displacement ductility coefficient of the RCS frame system is much larger. To conclude, the test results prove that composite RCS frame systems perform satisfactorily under simulated earthquake action, which further validates the reliability of this innovative system. Based on the test result, some suggestions are presented for the design of composite RCS frame systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.241-251
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• 2015

Compared with ballasted track (BT), ballasted asphalt track (BAT) has been increasingly adopted in many countries due to its more greatly reduced reinforced roadbed thickness and smaller cumulative plastic deformation, and its advantages in terms of maintenance. In this respect, the authors' previous research includes analysis of BAT sections that show performance similar to that of BT sections of the present specifications; reliability verification of the analysis results through real-sized static and dynamic train-load tests were performed. Based on previous research, this paper estimates the track lifetime using the strain of the lower roadbed according to reinforced roadbed thickness; using probabilistic LCC analysis, this paper presents a BAT section that satisfies the design lifetime and that has performance similar to or higher than that of BT.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.37-43
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• 2011

Reliability of piping systems is essential to the safety of any important industrial facilities. During an earthquake, damage to the piping system can occur. It can also cause considerable economic losses and the loss of life following earthquakes. Traditionally, the study of the secondary system was less important than primary structure system, however it has recently been emerging as a key issue for the effective maintenance of the structural system and to help reduce nonstructural earthquake damage. The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate seismic design requirements and the seismic performance of gas and fire protection piping systems installed in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. In order to characterize the seismic behavior of the existing piping system in an official building, 10 simulated earthquakes and 9 recorded real earthquakes were applied to ground level and the building system by the newmark average acceleration time history method. The results developed by this research can be used for the improvement of new seismic code/regulatory guidelines of secondary systems as well as the improvement of seismic retrofitting or the strengthening of the current piping system.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.593-610
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• 2016

In this study, an innovative and smart glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) hybrid bar was developed for stronger durability of concrete structures. As comparing with the conventional GFRP bar, the smart GFRP Hybrid bar can promise to enhance the modulus of elasticity so that it makes the cracking reduced than the case when the conventional GFRP bar is used. Besides, the GFRP Hybrid bar can effectively resist the corrosion of conventional steel bar by the GFRP outer surface on the steel bar. In order to verify the bond performance of the GFRP hybrid bar for structural reinforcement, uniaxial pull-out test was conducted. The variables were the bar diameter and the number of strands and pitch of the fiber ribs. Tensile tests showed a excellent increase in the modulus of elasticity, 152.1 GPa, as compared to that of the pure GFRP bar (50 GPa). The stress-strain curve was bi-linear, so that the ductile performance could be obtained. For the bond test, the entire GFRP hybrid bar test specimens failed in concrete splitting due to higher shear strength resulting in concrete crushing as a function of bar deformation. Investigation revealed that an increase in the number of strands of fiber ribs enhanced the bond strength, and the pitch guaranteed the bond strength of 19.1 mm diameter hybrid bar with 15.9 mm diameter of core section of deformed steel the ACI 440 1R-15 equation is regarded as more suitable for predicting the bond strength of GFRP hybrid bars, whereas the CSA S806-12 prediction is considered too conservative and is largely influenced by the bar diameter. For further study, various geometrical and material properties such as concrete cover, cross-sectional ratio, and surface treatment should be considered.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.305-320
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• 2018

The second half of the 20th century was marked with a significant raise in amount of railway bridges in Austria made of reinforced concrete. Today, many of these bridges are slowly approaching the end of their envisaged service life. Current methodology of assessment and evaluation of structural condition is based on visual inspections, which, due to its subjectivity, can lead to delayed interventions, irreparable damages and additional costs. Thus, to support engineers in the process of structural evaluation and prediction of the remaining service life, the Austrian Federal Railways (${\ddot{O}}$ BB) commissioned the formation of a concept for an anticipatory life cycle management of engineering structures. The part concerning concrete bridges consisted of forming a bridge management system (BMS) in a form of a web-based analysis tool, known as the LeCIE_tool. Contrary to most BMSs, where prediction of a condition is based on Markovian models, in the LeCIE_tool, the time-dependent deterioration mechanisms of chloride- and carbonation-induced corrosion are used as the most common deterioration processes in transportation infrastructure. Hence, the main aim of this article is to describe the background of the introduced tool, with a discussion on exposure classes and crucial parameters of chloride ingress and carbonation models. Moreover, the article presents a verification of the generated analysis tool through service life prediction on a dozen of bridges of the Austrian railway network, as well as a case study with a more detailed description and implementation of the concept applied.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.337-350
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• 2022

This paper focuses on predicting the post-heating mechanical properties of cementitious composites reinforced with multi-scale additives using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach. A total of four different feed-forward ANN models are developed using 261 data sets collected from 18 published sources. The models are optimized using 12 input parameters selected based on a comprehensive literature review to predict the residual compressive strength, the residual flexural strengths, elastic modulus, and fracture energy of heat-damaged cementitious specimens. Furthermore, the ANN is employed to predict the impact of several variables including; the content of polypropylene (PP) microfibers and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used in the concrete, mortar, or paste mix design, length of PP fibers, the average diameter of CNTs, and the average length of CNTs. The influence of the studied parameters is investigated at different heating levels ranged from 25℃ to 800℃. The results demonstrate that the developed ANN models have a strong potential for predicting the mechanical properties of the heated cementitious composites based on the mixing ingredients in addition to the heating conditions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.439-454
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• 2023

In this article, the surface stress effects on the buckling analysis of the annular sandwich plate is developed. The proposed plate is composed of two face layers made of carbon nanotubes (CNT) reinforced composite with assuming of fully bonded to functionally graded porous core. The generalized rule of the mixture is employed to predict the mechanical properties of the microcomposite sandwich plate. The derived potentials energy based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and modified couple stress theory (MCST) is solved by employing the Ritz method. An exact analytical solution is presented to calculate the critical buckling loads of the annular sandwich plate. The predicted results are validated by carrying out the comparison studies for the buckling analysis of annular plates with those obtained by other analytical and finite element methods. The effects of various parameters such as material length scale parameter, core thickness to total thickness ratio (hc/h), surface elastic constants based on surface stress effect, various boundary condition and porosity distributions, size of the internal pores (e0), Skempton coefficient and elastic foundation on the critical buckling load have been studied. The results can be served as benchmark data for future works and also in the design of materials science, injunction high-pressure micropipe connections, nanotechnology, and smart systems.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.59-68
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• 2009

For safe and economical design to provide strong earthquake resistance, the moment redistribution and plastic rotation of structures and their members needs to be evaluated. To achieve this, an earthquake design method was developed using secant stiffness analysis. To address the variation of member stiffness due to plastic rotation and moment redistribution, a structure was modeled with a beam-column element with non-rigid end connections (NREC element). Secant stiffness for the NREC element was determined based on the ductility demands of the structure and members. By performing a conventional linear analysis for the secant stiffness model, redistributed moments and plastic rotations of the members were computed. The proposed method was applied to a moment frame and two dual systems. The design results were verified using detailed nonlinear analyses.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.615-626
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• 2018

The seismic vulnerability of Turkey is relatively high due to its active fault systems with potential to create destructive earthquakes. Thus, reducing the loss of life and property, the number of the earthquake-prone buildings and their retrofit requirements are considerably significant key issues under the scenario earthquakes. The street survey based rapid assessment (SSRA) method can be considered as a powerful tool to determine the seismic vulnerability of building stock of an earthquake-prone city/state. In this study, the seismic vulnerability of the building stock of the Kirikkale province in Turkey is aimed to be estimated adopting the street survey based rapid assessment method (SSRA). For this purpose, central 2074 existing reinforced concrete (R/C) buildings were structurally surveyed with rapid visual site screening and disadvantages such as, the existence of short-column, soft-story, heavy overhangs, pounding effect and local soil conditions were determined for obtaining the structural performance score of each. The results obtained from the study demonstrate that 11-25% of the surveyed buildings in the study region needs to be investigated through more advanced assessment methods. Besides, higher correlation between increasing story number and unsafe/safe building ratio is obtained for the buildings with soft-story parameter than that for those with heavy overhangs and short-column parameters. The conformity of the results of the current study with the previous documented cases of rapid assessment efforts in the recent earthquakes in Turkey shows that the SSRA method for the Kirikkale province performed well, and thus this methodology can be reliably used for similar settlement areas.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.455-464
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• 2023

Seismologists now suggest that the earth has entered an active seismic period; many earthquake-related events are occurring globally. Consequently, numerous casualties, as well as economic losses due to earthquakes, have been reported in recent years. Primarily, significant and colossal damage occurs in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with masonry infill wall systems, and the construction of these types of structures have increased worldwide. According to a report from the Ministry of Education in the Republic of Korea, many buildings were built with RC frames with masonry infill walls in the Republic of Korea during the 1980s. For years, most structures of this type have been school buildings, and since the Pohang earthquake in 2017, the government of the Republic of Korea has paid close attention to this social event and focused on damage from earthquakes. From a long-term research perspective, damage from structural collapse due to the short column effect has been a major concern, specifically because the RC frame with a masonry infill wall system is the typical form of structure for school buildings. Therefore, the short column effect has recently been a major topic for research. This study compares one RC frame with four different types of RC frames with masonry infill wall systems. Structural damage due to the short column effect is clearly analyzed, as the result of this research is giving in a higher infill wall system produces a greater shear force on the connecting point between the infill wall system and the column. The study is expected to be a useful reference for research on the short column effect in RC frames with masonry infill wall systems.