• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.569-575
• /
• 2018

The stability of shallow cavities with an arbitrary profile is a difficult issue in geotechnical engineering. This paper investigates this problem on the basis of the upper bound theorem of limit analysis and the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. The influence of pore pressure is taken into consideration by regarding it as an external force acting on rock skeleton. An objective function is constructed by equating the internal energy dissipation to the external force work. Then the Lagrange variation approach is used to solve this function. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing the analytical solutions with the published research. The relations between shallow and deep cavity are revealed as well. The detaching curve of cavity roof with elliptical profile is obtained. In order to facilitate the application of engineering practice, the numerical results are tabulated, which play an important role in tunnel design and stability analysis of roof. The influential factors on potential collapse are taken into consideration. From the results, the impact of various factors on the extent of detaching is seen intuitively.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.419-423
• /
• 2018

A newly conceived geopolymer composite was fabricated by a combination of the geopolymer and polyurethane sponge. The density and porosity of hardened geopolymer composite, corresponded to different pore sizes of polyurethane sponge, exhibited no significant differences from each other. However, the mechanical behavior, the compressive strength and flexural strength, showed slight differences accordingly. Fracture of the geopolymer composite exposed to high compressive load was not observed from all specimens containing polyurethane sponge. The toughness enhancement of the geopolymer composite, due to spontaneous elasticity of polyurethane sponge, crack spread, and crack diffraction, was identified through the stress-strain curve and microstructure of fracture surface. The newly designed geopolymer composite having a 3-dimensional sponge skeleton showed relatively higher flexural strength of 8.0 MPa than other conventional geopolymer composites.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.10 no.4 s.50
• /
• pp.55-66
• /
• 2006

This paper considers the nonlinear direct spectrum method to estimate seismic performance of mixed building structures without iterative computations, given dynamic property $T_1$ from stiffness skeleton curve and nonlinear pseudo acceleration $A_{1y}/g$ and/or ductility ratio p from response spectrum. Nonlinear response history analysis has been performed and analysed with various earthquakes for evaluation of correctness and confidence of nonlinear direct spectrum method. The conclusions of this study are as follows; (1) Nonlinear direct spectrum method is considered as a practical method which is applicable to compute the structural initial elastic period and the yielding strength from stiffness skeleton owe and calculate the nonlinear maximum response of structure directly from nonlinear response spectrum. (2) The comparison of the analysis results from NDSM and NRHA showed that the average errors were less than 20% in about 3/4 of the analysis cases, and that the results obtained from NDSM turned out to be generally larger than those from NRHA.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.439-453
• /
• 2023

Older brick masonry structures generally suffer from low strength defects. Using a cement mortar layer (CML) or steel-meshed cement mortar layer (S-CML) to reinforce existing low-strength brick masonry structures (LBMs) is still an effective means of increasing seismic performance. However, performance indices such as lateral displacement ratios and skeleton curves for LBMs reinforced with CML or S-CML need to be clarified in performance-based seismic design and evaluation. Therefore, research into the failure mechanisms and seismic performance of LBMs reinforced with CML or S-CML is imperative. In this study, thirty low-strength brick walls (LBWs) with different cross-sectional areas, bonding mortar types, vertical loads, and CML/S-CML thicknesses were constructed. The failure modes, load-carrying capacities, energy dissipation capacity and lateral drift ratio limits in different limits states were acquired via quasi-static tests. The results show that 1) the primary failure modes of UBWs and RBWs are "diagonal shear failure" and "sliding failure through joints." 2) The acceptable drift ratios of Immediate Occupancy (IO), Life Safety (LS), and Collapse Prevention (CP) for UBWs can be 0.04%, 0.08%, and 0.3%, respectively. For 20-RBWs, the acceptable drift ratios of IO, LS, and CP for 20-RBWs can be 0.037%, 0.09%, and 0.41%, respectively. Moreover, the acceptable drift ratios of IO, LS, and CP for 40-RBWs can be 0.048%, 0.09%, and 0.53%, respectively. 3) Reinforcing low-strength brick walls with CML/S-CML can improve brick walls' bearing capacity, deformation, and energy dissipation capacity. Using CML/S-CML reinforcement to improve the seismic performance of old masonry houses is a feasible and practical choice.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.461-473
• /
• 2022

Energy-saving block and invisible multiribbed frame composite wall (EBIMFCW) is an important shear wall, which is composed of energy-saving blocks, steel bars and concrete. This paper conducted seismic performance tests on six 1/2-scale EBIMFCW specimens, analyzed their failure process under horizontal reciprocating load, and studied the effect of axial compression ratio on the wall's hysteresis curve and skeleton curve, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness degradation, bearing capacity degradation. A formula for calculating the peak bearing capacity of such walls was proposed. Results showed that the EBIMFCW had experienced a long time deformation from cracking to failure and exhibited signs of failure. The three seismic fortification lines of the energy-saving block, internal multiribbed frame, and outer multiribbed frame sequentially played important roles. With the increase in axial compression ratio, the peak bearing capacity and ductility of the wall increased, whereas the initial stiffness decreased. The change in axial compression ratio had a small effect on the energy dissipation capacity of the wall. In the early stage of loading, the influence of axial compression ratio on wall stiffness and strength degradation was unremarkable. In the later stage of loading, the stiffness and strength degradation of walls with high axial compression ratio were low. The displacement ductility coefficients of the wall under vertical pressure were more than 3.0 indicating that this wall type has good deformation ability. The limit values of elastic displacement angle under weak earthquake and elastic-plastic displacement angle under strong earthquake of the EBIMFCW were1/800 and 1/80, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.7
• /
• pp.937-942
• /
• 2009

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects on growth and muscle development during the growing period of the sex-linked dwarf gene in the background of a Taiwan Country chicken strain, L2, selected for egg production. Eight crossbred males, heterozygous for the DW*DW mutation, were each backcrossed to six females of the L2 strain to produce two genotypes of BC females, either normal (DW*N+/-) or dwarf (DW*DW/-). The experiment included 251 normal and 207 dwarf pullets. The effect of the dwarf gene on body weight and shank length was highly significant from 2 weeks of age. The reduction of body weight by the dwarf gene reached 34.8% and 37.4% as compared to normal sibs at 16 and 20 weeks of age, respectively. Parameters of the growth curve were estimated: the age at inflection (TI) was higher in normal pullets (66.9 days) than in dwarf pullets (61.2 days). A significant effect of the dwarf gene on single muscle fiber cross-section area was found from 12 weeks of age onwards, whereas the dwarf gene had no effect on the total number of muscle fibers. Comparing the effect of the dwarf gene on shank length at different ages revealed an earlier effect on skeleton growth, observed from 2 weeks of age, than on muscle development, which was affected from 8 to 12 weeks of age.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.451-464
• /
• 2018

This paper presents some quasi-static tests for 4 mixed columns composed of CFST column and RC column. The seismic performance and failure mode were studied under low-cyclic revised loading. The failure mode was observed under different axial compression ratios. The hysteretic curve and skeleton curve were obtained. The effects of axial compression ratio on yield mechanism, displacement ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness and strength attenuation were analyzed. The results indicate that the failure behavior of CFST-RC mixed column with archaized style is mainly caused by bending failure and accompanied by some shear failure. The axial compression ratio performs a control function on the yielding order of the upper and lower columns. The yielding mechanism has a great influence on the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of specimens. Based on the experiment, finite element analysis was made to further research the seismic performance by ABAQUS software. The variable parameters were stiffness ratio of upper and lower columns, axial compression ratio, yielding strength of steel tube, concrete strength and rebar ratio. The simulation results show that with the increase of stiffness ratio of the upper and lower columns, the bearing capacity and ductility of specimens can correspondingly increase. As the axial compression ratio increases, the ductility of the specimen decreases gradually. The other three parameters both have positive effect on the bearing capacity but have negative effect on the ductility. The results can provide reference for the design and engineering application of mixed column consisted of CFST-RC in Chinese archaized buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.89-97
• /
• 2023

In order to obtain the impact of socket connection interface forms and socket gap sizes on the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) socket prefabricated bridge piers, quasi-static tests for three socket prefabricated piers with different column-foundation connection interface forms and reserved socket gap sizes, as well as to the corresponding cast-in-situ reinforced concrete piers, were carried out. The influence of socket connection structure on various seismic performance indexes of socket prefabricated piers was studied by comparing and analyzing the hysteresis curve and skeleton curve obtained through the experiment. Results showed that the ultimate failure mode of the socket prefabricated pier with circumferential corrugated treatment at the connection interface was the closest to that of the monolithic pier, the maximum bearing capacity was slightly less than that of the cast-in-situ pier but larger than that of the socket pier with roughened connection interface, and the displacement ductility and accumulated energy consumption capacity were smaller than those of socket piers with roughened connection interface. The connection interface treatment form had less influence on the residual deformation of socket prefabricated bridge piers. With the increase in the reserved socket gap size between the precast pier column and the precast foundation, the bearing capacity of the prefabricated socket bridge pier component, as well as the ductility and residual displacement of the component, would be reduced and had unfavorable effect on the energy dissipation property of the bridge pier component.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.295-306
• /
• 2018

Reinforced concrete containment (RCC) building has long been considered as the last barrier for keeping the radiation from leaking into the environment. It is important to quantify the performance of these structures and facilities considering extreme conditions. However, the preceding research on evaluating nuclear power plant (NPP) structures, particularly considering mainshock-aftershock seismic sequences, is deficient. Therefore, this manuscript serves to investigate the seismic fragility of a typical RCC building subjected to mainshock-aftershock seismic sequences. The implementation of the fragility assessment has been performed based on the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method. A lumped mass RCC model considering the tri-linear skeleton curve and the maximum point-oriented hysteretic rule is employed for IDA analyses. The results indicate that the seismic capacity of the RCC building would be overestimated without taking into account the mainshock-aftershock effects. It is also found that the seismic capacity of the RCC building decreases with the increase of the relative intensity of aftershock ground motions to mainshock ground motions. In addition, the effects of artificial mainshock-aftershock ground motions generated from the repeated and randomized approaches and the polarity of the aftershock with respect to the mainshock on the evaluation of the RCC are also researched, respectively.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.155-164
• /
• 2020

Here we report our preliminary results about nickel phosphide (Ni-P) electroless coating on the surface of cellulose paper (CP) and its feasibility as the anode for lithium (Li) batteries. In particular, CP can act as a flexible skeleton to maintain the mechanical structure, and the Ni-P film can play the roles of both the anode substrate and the active material in Li batteries. Ni-P films with different P contents were plated uniformly and compactly on the microfiber strands of CP. When they were tested as the anode for Li battery, their theoretical capacity per physical area was comparable to or higher than hypothetical pure graphite and P film electrodes having the same thickness. After the large irreversible capacity loss in the first charge/discharge process, the samples showed relatively reversible charge/discharge characteristics. All samples showed no separation of the plating layer and no detectable micro-cracks after cycling. When the charge cut-off voltage was adjusted, their capacity retention could be improved significantly. The electrochemical result was just about the same before and after mechanical bending with respect to the overall shape of voltage curve and capacity.