• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.385-393
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• 2021

Reinforcement corrosion is the main cause of the durability failure of reinforced concrete (RC) structure. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical model of macro-cell corrosion is established to reveal the corrosion mechanisms of steel reinforcement in RC structure. Modified Direct Iteration Method (MDIM) is employed to solve the system of partial differential equations for reinforcement corrosion. Through the sensitivity analysis of electrochemical parameters, it is found that the average corrosion current density is more sensitive to the change of cathodic Tafel slope and anodic equilibrium potential, compared with the other electrochemical parameters. Furthermore, both the anode-to-cathode (A/C) ratio and the anodic length have significant influences on the average corrosion current density, especially when A/C ratio is less than 0.5 and anodic length is less than 35 mm. More importantly, it is demonstrated that the corrosion rate of semi-circumferential corrosion is much larger than that of circumferential corrosion for the same A/C ratio value. The simulation results can give a unique insight into understanding the detailed electrochemical corrosion processes of steel reinforcement in RC structure for application in service life prediction of RC structures in actual civil engineer.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.447-462
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• 2020

The paper aims to investigate the mechanical mechanism and seismic effect of stiffeners in blind bolt endplate connection to CFST column. A precise 3D finite element model with considering the cyclic properties of concrete and steel materials was established, and the efficiency was validated through monotonic and cyclic test data. The deforming pattern and the seismic performance of the unstiffened and stiffened blind bolt endplate connections were investigated. Then a parametric analysis was conducted to analyze the contribution of stiffeners and the joint working behaviors with endplate under cyclic load. The joint stiffness classifications were compared and a supplement stiffness classification method was proposed, and the energy dissipation ability of different class connections were compared and discussed. Results indicated that the main deformation pattern of unstiffened blind bolt endplate connections was the local bending of end plate. The vertical stiffeners can effectively alleviate the local bending deformation of end plate. And influence of stiffeners in thin endplate and thick endplate was different. Based on the stiffness of external diaphragm welded connection, a more detailed rigidity classification was proposed which included the pin, semi-rigid, quasi-rigid and rigid connection. Beam was the main energy dissipation source for rigid connection. For the semi-rigid and quasi-rigid connection, the extended endplate, stiffeners and steel beam would all participate in the energy dissipation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.823-833
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• 2012

An experimental method was suggested for obtaining fracture toughness ($K_{Ic}$) and the tensile strength (${\sigma}_t$) of chopped strand glass fiber reinforced polymer concretes (PC). Semi-circular bend (SCB) specimens subjected to three-point bending were used for conducting the experiments on the PC material. While the edge cracked SCB specimen could be used to evaluate fracture toughness, the tensile strength was obtained from the un-cracked SCB specimen. The experiments showed the practical applicability of both cracked and un-cracked SCB specimens for using as suitable techniques for measuring $K_{Ic}$ and ${\sigma}_t$ in polymer concretes. In comparison with the conventional rectangular bend beam specimen, the suggested SCB samples need significantly less material due to its smaller size. Furthermore, the average values of ${\sigma}_t$ and $K_{Ic}$ of tested PC were approximately 3.5 to 4.5 times the corresponding values obtained for conventional concrete showing the improved strength properties of PC relative to the conventional concretes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2002

To reduce the story height for high-rise buildings, the TEC Beam is developed as a new composite beam composed of structural tee, precast concrete, stirrup, and site-in-cast reinforced concrete slab. The preliminary test of the proposed system was performed for simple beams and it showed a good behavior. However, for the field application of the system, it is required to develope a steel moment resisting connection using steel brackets on which upper rebars of the TEC BEAM are anchored. In this paper, three types of the proposed system are experimentally investigated. The parameters of the test are as follows: (1) the spacing of transverse bars, (2) the ratio of width of rebar's layer to bracket length. Specimens were classified as semi-rigid full strength by the Eurocode 4. It could be concluded that the proposed moment resisting system shows a good structural behavior and may be applicable in the filed.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.5B
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• pp.313-320
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• 2012

A hybrid floating structure system combined with pontoon and semi-submersible type modules is proposed. This new system can reduce tensile forces of bottom slabs which could cause fatal damage of concrete floating structures. We performed a parametric study on the dimensions of this new system and investigate the sensitivity of the parameters to the behavior. In order to investigate various cases efficiently, we developed a simple two-step static analysis method for the fluid-structure interaction. An optimum system is derived from the investigation of the analysis results, weights and drafts of the hybrid structure. This study shows that introducing this new system to concrete floating structures is an effective way to reduce the tensile force of the bottm slab of such a floating structure. Also, it was found that when the length of the semi-submersible module is about 15%, the behavior would be optimal in the considered case.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.562-569
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• 2017

Reinforced concrete is used for bridges and large structures that are constructed with social overhead capital because they are economically and semi-permanently integrated with reinforcing bar and concrete. However, when the chloride ion in the concrete destroys the passive film of the reinforcing bar by the marine exposure environment and the snow remover used in the winter season, and the reinforcing bar is corroded by various chemical and physical actions, the durability is deteriorated in a short period, and the life span is shortened. In this study, a repair method to recover the durability of the initial structure by effectively removing chloride ion from the damage caused by salting of the above mentioned reinforced concrete was conducted.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.433-442
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• 2023

This study presents the visually observed behavior of fibers embedded in concrete samples that were subjected to a flexural bending test. Three types of fibers such as macro polypropylene, macro polyethylene, and the hybrid of steel and polyvinyl alcohol were mixed with cement by a designated mix ratio to prepare a total of nine specimens of each. The bending test was conducted by following ASTM C1609 with a net deflection of 2, 4, and 7 mm. The X-ray computed tomography (XCT) was carried out for 7 mm-deflection specimens. The original XCT images were post-processed to denoise the beam-hardening effect. Then, fiber, crack, and void were semi-manually segmented. The hybrid specimen showed the highest toughness compared to the other two types. Debonding based on 2D XCT sliced images was commonly observed for all three groups. The cement matrix near the crack surface often involved partially localized breakage in conjunction with debonding. The pullout was predominant for steel fibers that were partially slipped toward the crack. Crack bridging and rupture were not found presumably due to the image resolution and the level of energy dissipation for poly-fibers, while the XCT imaging was advantageous in evaluating the distribution and behavior of various fibers upon bending for fiber-reinforced concrete beam elements.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.321-329
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• 2017

Concrete is a semi-brittle material, so its compressive strength is high but its tensile strength is low. The use of fiber-reinforced concrete to improve the disadvantages of such concrete can be an effective way to toughen effective toughness, and the performance is improved by using steel fiber reinforced concrete for structures that are vulnerable to bending forces. However, alternative materials are required due to corrosion of steel fiber and lowering of workability. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the availability of replacing steel fiber reinforced concrete by evaluating physical properties, mechanical properties and drying shrinkage properties of concrete using macro forta fiber with excellent diffusibility. Experimental results show that the macro forta fiber has better fluidity and mechanical performance than the steel fiber reinforced concrete. It was also confirmed that the crack resistance of concrete using Macro Forta fiber is effective in improving structural cracking and drying shrinkage resistance compared to steel fiber reinforced concrete.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.691-708
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• 2016

Recently, number of smart material are investigated and widely used in civil construction and other industries. Present study investigates the application of smart semi-active piezoelectric friction damper (PFD) made with piezoelectric material for the seismic control of the horizontally curved bridge isolated with lead rubber bearing (LRB). The main aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of hybrid system and to find out the optimum parameters of PFD for seismic control of the curved bridge. The selected curved bridge is a continuous three-span concrete box girder supported on pier and rigid abutment. The PFD is located between the deck and abutments or piers in chord and radial directions. The bridge is excited with four different earthquake ground motions with all three components (i.e. two horizontal and a vertical) having different characteristics. It is observed that the use of semi-active PFD with LRB is quite effective in controlling the response of the curved bridge as compared with passive system. The incorporation of the smart damper requiring small amount of energy in addition with an isolation system can be used for effective control the curved bridge against the dynamic loading.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.483-496
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• 2017

Earthquake excitations may induce important amount of seismic energy into structures. Current design philosophy mainly deals with the plastic deformations of replaceable energy dissipating devices rather than damages accumulated on structural members. Since earthquake damage is substantially concentrated on these devices they could be replaced after severe earthquakes. In this study, the efficiency of steel cushion (SC) on seismic improvement of a vulnerable reinforced concrete (RC) frame is determined by means of several numerical simulations. The cyclic shear behaviors of SCs were determined by performing quasi-static tests. The test results were the main basis of the theoretical model of SCs which were used in the numerical analysis. These analyses were performed on three types of RC frames namely bare frame (BF), full-braced frame (F-BF) and semi-braced frame (S-BF). According to analysis results; implementation of SCs has considerable effects in reducing the storey shear forces and storey drifts. Moreover plastic energy demands of structural elements were reduced which indicates a significant improvement in seismic behavior of the RC frame preventing damage accumulation on structural elements. Full-braced frame having SCs with the thickness of 25 mm has better performance than semi-braced frame interms of energy dissipation. However, global energy dissipation demand of S-BF and F-BF having SCs with the thickness of 18 mm are almost similar.