• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.95-106
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• 1992

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of five different types of steel fibers used as reinforcing material in concrete beams. Two types of plain and RC beams were prepared to compare the relative flexural behavior. The fibers used were dog bone (paddled), both ends hooked. コ-type straight. crimped and wavy type with aspect ratio of 43 to 75. Fiber volume fraction of 1 to 2% were used while shear span to depth ratio (aid) and steel ratio p were fixed. Fiber reinforcement effect index Ef and effective toughness index Te were adopted to evaluate fiber reinforcing effects. The effect of fiber reinforcement on flexural strength is higher in plain beams than in RC beams. Hooked and dog bone type fibers were found to be more effective than the other type ones in enhancing the flexural strength and post-peak energy absorption capacity of concrete beams.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.799-806
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• 2007

One method for improving the torque capacity of the CVT is to use a split-powered CVT(SPCVT) to reduce the power transmitted into a continuously variable unit(CVU). A variable bridge SPCVT with two planetary gear units(PGUs), which are composed of a sun gear, a ring gear, and carrier and planetary gears, can minimize the power to the CVU. However, a SPCVT with a conventional CVT should possess a dual mode, which would allow the conventional CVT to be used at high speeds and an additional gear train to be used at low speeds. The inner-spherical CVU(ISCVU) with an inner and outer spherical contact mechanism developed in this study can cover the range from low to high speeds. The rated power and the overall speed ratios were 100 kW and $0.09{\sim}0.36$, respectively. Power efficiency was numerically calculated to be over 90% over the speed ratio range of $0.1{\sim}0.29$. The maximum shear stress at the two contact areas of the rotor pairs, the minimum life and the overall size were estimated to be 700 MPa, 276 kh and $350{\times}350{\times}400mm^3$, respectively. This study shows that an ISCVU and a variable bridge type PGU can realize the SPCVT with a single mode for a vehicle.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.789-830
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• 2015

The recent re-assessment of the seismic hazard in Europe led for many regions of low to moderate seismicity to an increase in the seismic demand. As a consequence, several modern unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, constructed with reinforced concrete (RC) slabs that provide an efficient rigid diaphragm action, no longer satisfy the seismic design check and have been retrofitted by adding or replacing URM walls with RC walls. Of late, also several new construction projects have been conceived directly as buildings with both RC and URM walls. Despite the widespread use of such construction technique, very little is known about the seismic behaviour of mixed RC-URM wall structures and codes do not provide adequate support to designers. The aim of the paper is therefore to propose a displacement-based design methodology for the design of mixed RC-URM edifices and the retrofit of URM buildings by replacing or adding selected URM walls with RC ones. The article describes also two tools developed for estimating important quantities relevant for the displacement-based design of structures with both RC and URM walls. The tools are (i) a mechanical model based on the shear-flexure interaction between URM and RC walls and (ii) an elastic model for estimating the contribution of the RC slabs to the overturning moment capacity of the system. In the last part of the article the proposed design method is verified through nonlinear dynamic analyses of several case studies. These results show that the proposed design approach has the ability of controlling the displacement profile of the designed structures, avoiding concentration of deformations in one single storey, a typical feature of URM wall structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2018

Multi-storey precast concrete skeletal structures are assembled from individual prefabricated components which are erected on-site using various types of connections. In the current design of these structures, beam-to-column connections are assumed to be pin jointed. Welded plate beam to-column connections have been used in the precast concrete industry for many years. They have many advantages over other jointing methods in component production, quality control, transportation and assembly. However, there is at present limited information concerning their detailed structural behaviour under bending and shear loadings. The experimental work has involved the determination of moment-rotation relationships for semi-rigid precast concrete connections in full scale connection tests. The study reported in this paper was undertaken to clarify the behaviour of such connections under symmetrical vertical loadings. A series of full-scale tests was performed on sample column for which the column geometry and weld arrangements conformed with successful commercial practice. Proprietary hollow core slabs were tied to the beams by tensile reinforcing bars, which also provide the in-plane continuity across the connections. The strength of the connections in the double sided tests was at least 0.84 times the predicted moment of resistance of the composite beam and slab. The secant stiffness of the connections ranged from 0.7 to 3.9 times the flexural stiffness of the attached beam. When the connections were tested without the floor slabs and tie steel, the reduced strength and stiffness were approximately a third and half respectively. This remarkable contribution of the floor strength and stiffness to the flexural capacity of the joint is currently neglected in the design process for precast concrete frames. In general, the double sided connections were found to be more suited to a semi-rigid design approach than the single sided ones. The behaviour of double sided welded plate connection test results are presented in this paper. The behaviour of single sided welded plate connection test results is the subject of another paper.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.205-229
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• 2018

Energy induced by minor earthquake and micro vibration cannot be dissipated by traditional buckling-restrained braces (BRBs). To solve this problem, a new type of hybrid passive control device, named as VE-BRB, which is configured by a BRB with high-damping viscoelastic (VE) layers, is developed and studied. Theoretical analysis, performance tests, numerical simulation and case analysis are conducted to study the seismic behavior of VE-BRBs. The results indicate that the combination of hysteretic and damping devices lead to a multi-phased nature and good performance. VE-BRB's working state can be divided into three phases: before yielding of the steel core, VE layers provide sufficient damping ratio to mitigate minor vibrations; after yielding of the steel core, the steel's hysteretic deformations provide supplemental dissipative capacity for structures; after rupture of the steel core, VE layers are still able to work normally and provide multiple security assurance for structures. The simulation results agreed well with the experimental results, validating the finite element analysis method, constitutive models and the identified parameters. The comparison of the time history analysis on a 6-story frame with VE-BRBs and BRBs verified the advantages of VE-BRB for seismic protection of structures compared with traditional BRB. In general, VE-BRB had the potential to provide better control effect on structural displacement and shear in all stages than BRB as expected.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.215-222
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• 2020

In this paper, slit steel rubber bearing is presented as an innovative seismic isolator device. In this type of isolator, slit steel damper is an energy dissipation device. Its advantages in comparison with that of the lead rubber bearing are its simplicity in manufacturing process and replacement of its yielding parts. Also, slit steel rubber bearing has the same ability to dissipate energy with smaller value of displacement. Using finite element method in ABAQUS software, a parametric study is done on the performance of this bearing. Three different kinds of isolator with three different values of strut width, 9, 12 and 15 mm, three values of thickness, 4, 6 and 8 mm and two steel types with different yield stress are assessed. Effects of these parameters on the performance characteristics of slit steel rubber bearing are studied. It is shown that by decreasing the thickness and strut width and by selecting the material with lower yield stress, values of effective stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and lateral force in the isolator reduce but equivalent viscous damping is not affected significantly. Thus, by choosing appropriate values for thickness, strut width and slit steel damper yield stress, an isolator with the desired behavior can be achieved. Finally, the performance of an 8-storey frame with the proposed isolator is compared with the same frame equipped with LRB. Results show that SSRB is successful in base shear reduction of structure in a different way from LRB.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.12 no.1 s.44
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• pp.65-73
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• 2000

The behavior of double angle connections is analyzed by 3D finite element method using ABAQUS(ver 5.8). Moment-rotation curves for the connections are generated, as well as stress distribution for angle and bolt. Double angle connections have various angle thickness, gage distance and number of bolt. Parameters, such as initial stiffness, plastic tiffness, reference load and curve shape parameter were obtained by regression method using Richard's formula. These parameter lead to predict nonlinear behavior of double angle connection. Design curves giving the parameters of the moment-rotation curves are generated. These parameters are primarily a function of the angle thickness, gage distance and the number of bolts in the connection. Using these parameters, connection moment and its ratio to the full plastic moment capacity Mp of the beam are calculated.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.241-244
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• 2008

The authors proposed a new rapid-screening method for more reasonably evaluating seismic capacities of medium and low-rise RC buildings controlled by both shear and flexure in Ref. [1]. The method proposed in Ref. [1] was based on relationships between required strengths of each failure system for ductility factors and damage degrees of overall system derived from the view-point of ductility factors. The proposed method was also verified using observed real damage data of low-rise RC buildings caused by past earthquakes. Results indicated that the methodology proposed in Ref. [1] compares well with real damages and is a useful strategy for rapidly identifying low-rise RC buildings having high potential seismic risk. In this study, in order to verify the applicability of the new methodology proposed in Ref. [1] to real RC building systems, seismic capacities of existing eleven low-rise RC buildings in Korea are evaluated based on the new method.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2012

A deep-sea manganese nodule miner consists of 4 parts: the pickup device, crusher, disposal device, and tracked vehicle. The tracked vehicle is an essential component to keep the self-propelled miner moving across deep-sea soil. The performances of the tracked vehicle are influenced by noise factors: the shear strength of the seafloor, bottom current, seafloor slope, track speed, reaction forces of flexible hose, etc. It is necessary to adopt a robust design method that improves the performances and minimizes the variation caused by noise factors. Taguchi's method, the most widely known robust design method, searches for the robust optimum using an orthogonal array composed of the product of the inner array and outer array. In this paper, we propose a new screening technique to reduce the number of input factors and apply the MRSN (Multi-Response Signal to Noise) ratio to convert multiple performances into single one in order to overcome the difficulties and limitations of using Taguchi's method in a case with many input factors and multiple performances. A test miner was already designed and tested. It has about 1/10 the capacity of a commercial one and was successfully operated at an in-shore area. Taguchi's robust design was applied to the tracked vehicle of the test miner, and design improvements were implemented for the vehicle.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.23-32
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• 2015

This paper addresses the effects of extreme rainfall on the stability of cut slopes in Yen Bai city, Northern Viet Nam. In this area, natural slopes are excavated to create places for infrastructures and buildings. Cut slopes are usually made without proper site investigations; the design is mostly based on experience. In recent years, many slope failures have occurred along these cuts especially in rainy seasons, resulting in properties damaged and loss of lives. To explain the reason that slope failure often happens during rainy seasons, this research analyzed the influence of extreme rainfalls, initial ground conditions, and soil permeability on the changes of pore water pressure within the typical slope, thereafter determining the impact of these changes on the slope stability factor of safety. The extreme rainfalls were selected based on all of the rainfalls triggering landslide events that have occurred over the period from 1960 to 2009. The factor of safety (FS) was calculated using Bishop's simplified method. The results show that when the maximum infiltration capacity of the slope top soil is less than the rainfall intensity, slope failures may occur 14 hours after the rain starts. And when this happens, the rainfall duration is the deciding factor that affects the slope FS values. In short, cut slopes in Yen Bai may be stable in normal conditions after the excavation, but under the influence of tropical rain storms, their stability is always questionable.