• Computers and Concrete
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.79-96
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• 2005

The use of high-strength concrete (HSC) has significantly increased over the last decade, especially in offshore structures, long-span bridges, and tall buildings. The behavior of such concrete is noticeably different from that of normal-strength concrete (NSC) due to its different microstructure and mode of failure. In particular, the shear capacity of structural members made of HSC is a concern and must be carefully evaluated. The shear fracture surface in HSC members is usually trans-granular (propagates across coarse aggregates) and is therefore smoother than that in NSC members, which reduces the effect of shear transfer mechanisms through aggregate interlock across cracks, thus reducing the ultimate shear strength. Current code provisions for shear design are mainly based on experimental results obtained on NSC members having compressive strength of up to 50MPa. The validity of such methods to calculate the shear strength of HSC members is still questionable. In this study, a new approach based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) was used to predict the shear capacity of NSC and HSC beams without shear reinforcement. Shear capacities predicted by the ANN model were compared to those of five other methods commonly used in shear investigations: the ACI method, the CSA simplified method, Response 2000, Eurocode-2, and Zsutty's method. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the ability of ANNs to capture the effect of main shear design parameters (concrete compressive strength, amount of longitudinal reinforcement, beam size, and shear span to depth ratio) on the shear capacity of reinforced NSC and HSC beams. It was found that the ANN model outperformed all other considered methods, providing more accurate results of shear capacity, and better capturing the effect of basic shear design parameters. Therefore, it offers an efficient alternative to evaluate the shear capacity of NSC and HSC members without stirrups.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.59-73
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• 2013

The Xiaolan channel super large bridge is unique in style and with greatest span in the world with a total length of 7686.57 m. The main bridge with spans arranged as 100m+220m+100m is a combined structure composed of prestressed concrete V-shape rigid frame and concrete-filled steel tubular flexible arch. First of all, the author compiles APDL command flow program by using the unit birth-death technique and establishes simulation calculation model in the whole construction process. The creep characteristics of concrete are also taken into account. The force ratio of the suspender, arch and beam is discussed. The authors conduct studies on the three-plate webs's rule of shear stress distribution, the box girder's longitudinal bending normal stress on every construction stage, meanwhile the distribution law of longitudinal bending normal stress and transverse bending normal stress of completed bridge's box girder. Results show that, as a new combined bridge, it is featured by: Girder and arch resist forces together; Moment effects of the structure are mainly presented as compressed arch and tensioned girder; The bridge type brings the girder and arch on resisting forces into full play; Great in vertical stiffness and slender in appearance.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.37-44
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• 2017

Due to structural characteristics, construction costs and duration of a modular system would be saved by minimizing the schedule on the job site. As such, it is crucial to develop a connection that can guarantee stiffness while allowing for simple assembling. Particularly, the mid- to high-rise construction of the modular system necessitates the securing of the structural stability and seismic performance of multi-unit frames and connections, and thus, the stiffness of unit-assembled structures needs to be re-evaluated and designed. However, evaluating a frame consisting of slender members and reinforcing materials is a complicated process. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the structural characteristics of a modular unit connection based a method for reinforcing connection brackets and hinges while minimizing the loss of the cross section. Toward this end, the study modeled the beam-to-column connection of a modular system with the proposed connection, and produced a specimen which was used to perform a cycling loading test. The study compared the initial stiffness, the attributes of the hysteretic behavior, and the maximum flexural moment, and observed whether the model acquired the seismic performance, compared to the flexural strength of the steel moment frame connection that is required by the Korean Building Code. The test results showed that the proposed connection produced a similar initial stiffness value to that of the theoretical equation, and its maximum strength exceeded the theoretical strength. Furthermore, the model with a larger ceiling bracket showed higher seismic performance, which was further increased by the reinforcement of the plate.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.717-726
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• 2007

If conventional reinforcements are used for high-strength concrete (HSC) structures, a large amount of the reinforcement must be required to compensate for the brittleness of HSC and make the best use of HSC. This raises some structural problems such as steel congestion and an increase in self-weight. Therefore, alternative reinforcing materials and methods for HSC structures are needed. In this study, four full-scale beam specimens constructed with HSC (100 MPa) were tested to investigate the effect of the different shear reinforcements on the shear behavior. These four specimens were reinforced for shear stirrups with normal and high strength steels, headed bars, and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars, respectively. In addition, steel fibers were added to the HSC in the two of the specimens to observe their beneficial effects. The use of high strength steels resulted in the improvement of the shear capacity since the shear resistance provided by the shear reinforcements and the bond strength were increased. The specimen reinforced with headed bars also showed a superior performance to the conventional steel reinforced specimen due to the considerably high anchorage strength of headed bar. CFRP bars used in this research, however, seemed to be inadequate for shear reinforcement because of the inferior bond capacity. The presence of the steel fibers in concrete led to remarkable improvement in the ductility of the specimens as well as in the overall cracks control capability.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.381-388
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• 2010

In this study, characteristics of the seismic response of the non-earthquake resistant reinforced concrete (RC) frame were identified. The test building is designed to withstand only gravity loads and not in compliance with modern seismic codes. Smooth bars were utilized for the reinforcement. Members are provided with minimal amount of stirrups to withstand low levels of shear forces and the core concrete is virtually not confined. Columns are slender and more flexible than beams, and beam-column connections were built without stirrups. Through the modeling of an example RC frame, the feasibility of the fiber elementbased 3D nonlinear analysis method was investigated. Since the torsion is governed by the fundamental mode shape of the structure under dynamic loading, pushover analysis cannot predict torsional response accurately. Hence, dynamic response history analysis is a more appropriate analysis method to estimate the response of an asymmetric building. The latter method was shown to be accurate in representing global responses by the comparison of the analytical and experimental results. Analytical models without rigid links provided a good estimation of reduced stiffness and strength of the test structure due to bond-slip, by forming plastic hinges closer to the column ends. However, the absence of a proper model to represent the bond-slip poased the limitations on the current inelastic analysis schemes for the seismic analysis of buildings especially for those with round steel reinforcements. Thus, development of the appropriate bond-slip model is in need to achieve more accurate analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2010

The cases of collapse of greenhouses in rural areas have been increasing due to the unexpected heavy snow load. Studies on how to prevent the collapse of greenhouses are rare, however, and the damages are repeated annually. This studysuggests two reinforcing methods: the use of ahigh-strength tapered module, and the addition of a pre-tension tie. The high-strength tapered section is installed where the bending moment is maximum. The design of a plastic greenhouse is controlled by its strength rather than its deflection. The shape of a greenhouse resembles that of an arch system, but its actual structural behavior is the frame behavior, because it is non-continually composed of a curved element (a beam) and vertical elements (columns). This system is too weak and slender to resist a vertical load, because an external load is resisted by the moment rather than by axial force. In this study, a new method, the installation of a temporary tie at the junction of the arch and the column only during snow accumulation, is proposed. The tie changes the action of the greenhouse frame to an arch action. The arch action is more effective when the pre-tension force is applied in the tie, which results in a very strong temporary structural system during snowfall. As a result of using this high-strength tapered section, the combined strength ratio of what? decreased from 10% to 30%. In the case of the additional reinforcement with a tie, it was reduced by half.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.874-882
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• 2002

Currently, deep beams are designed according to ACT 318-99 equations derived from experimental data for slender beams with normal-strength concrete. In addition, there is relatively limited information on high-strength concrete deep beams with shear reinforcement. The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the shear behavior of high-strength concrete deep beams and to grasp the conservatism of ACI shear design provisions. Experimental results on the shear behavior of 22 deep beams under two equal symmetrically placed point loads are reported. compressive strength of concrete cylinder was 800kgf/$\textrm{cm}^2$, and main variables were vertical and horizontal shear reinforcement and shear span-to-overall depth ratio (а/h). Test results showed that for high-strength concrete deep beams with shear span-to-overall depth ratio exceeding 0.75, the vertical shear reinforcement more effectively resisted the shear load than horizontal shear reinforcement. In high-strength concrete deep beams, ACI shear design provisions tended to underestimate the effect of strut-tie action and vertical shear reinforcement and overestimate the ones of horizontal shear reinforcement. Based on the experimental results of high-strength concrete deep beams and shear friction theory, this study modified the equations on the shear capacity specified by the ACI provisions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.417-428
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• 2011

Depending on the plastic deformation capacity required, structural steel design under the current codes can be classified into three categories: elastic, plastic, and seismic design. Most of the current steel codes explicitly forbid the use of a steel material with a yield strength higher than 450 MPa in the plastic design because of the concerns about its low plastic deformation capacity as well as the lack of test data on local and lateral torsional buckling behavior. In this study, flexural tests on full-scale H-shape members built with SM490A (ordinary steel or benchmark material) and HSB800 (high-strength steel) were carried out. The primary objective was to investigate the appropriateness of extrapolating the local buckling criterion of the current codes, which was originally developed for normal-strength steel, to the case of high-strength steel. All the SM490A specimens performed consistently with the current code criteria and exhibited sufficient strength and ductility. The performance of the HSB800 specimens was also very satisfactory from the strength perspective; even the specimens with a noncompact and slender flange developed the plastic moment capacity. The HSB800 specimens, however, showed an inferior plastic rotation capacity due to the premature tensile fracture of the beam bottom flange beneath the vertical stiffener at the loading point. The plastic rotation capacity that was achieved was less than 3 (or the minimum level required for a plastic design). Although the test results in this study indicate that the extrapolation of the current flange local-buckling criterion to the case of high-strength steel is conservative from the elastic design perspective, further testing together with an associated analytical study is required to identify the causes of the tensile fracture and to establish a flange slenderness criterion that is more appropriate for high-strength steel.