• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.249-259
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• 2018

This paper presents Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models for evaluating bond strength of deformed, plain and cold formed bars in low strength concrete. The ANN models were implemented using the experimental database developed by conducting experiments in three different universities on total of 138 pullout and 108 splitting specimens under monotonic loading. The key parameters examined in the experiments are low strength concrete, bar development length, concrete cover, rebar type (deformed, cold-formed, plain) and diameter. These deficient parameters are typically found in non-engineered reinforced concrete structures of developing countries. To develop ANN bond model for each bar type, four inputs (the low strength concrete, development length, concrete cover and bar diameter) are used for training the neurons in the network. Multi-Layer-Perceptron was trained according to a back-propagation algorithm. The ANN bond model for deformed bar consists of a single hidden layer and the 9 neurons. For Tor bar and plain bars the ANN models consist of 5 and 6 neurons and a single hidden layer, respectively. The developed ANN models are capable of predicting bond strength for both pull and splitting bond failure modes. The developed ANN models have higher coefficient of determination in training, validation and testing with good prediction and generalization capacity. The comparison of experimental bond strength values with the outcomes of ANN models showed good agreement. Moreover, the ANN model predictions by varying different parameters are also presented for all bar types.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2000

The effect of structure size on the nominal strength of unidirectional fiber-polymer composites, failing by propagation of a kink band with fiber microbuckling, is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Tests of novel geometrically similar carbon-PEEK specimens, with notches slanted so as to lead to a pure kink band (without shear or splitting cracks), are conducted. The specimens are rectangular strips of widths 15.875, 31.75. and 63.5 mm (0.625, 1.25 and 2.5 in and gage lengths 39.7, 79.375 and 158.75 mm (1.563, 3.125 and 6.25 in.). They reveal the existence of a strong (deterministic. non-statistical) size effect. The doubly logarithmic plot of the nominal strength (load divided by size and thickness) versus the characteristic size agrees with the approximate size effect law proposed for quasibrittle failures in 1983 by Bazant This law represents a gradual transition from a horizontal asymptote, representing the case of no size effect (characteristic of plasticity or strength criteria), to an asymptote of slope -1/2 (characteristic of linear elastic fracture mechanics. LEFM) . The size effect law for notched specimens permits easy identification of the fracture energy of the kink bandand the length of the fracture process zone at the front of the band solely from the measurements of maximum loads. Optimum fits of the test results by the size effect law are obtained, and the size effect law parameters are then used to identify the material fracture characteristics, Particularly the fracture energy and the effective length of the fracture process zone. The results suggest that composite size effect must be considered in strengthening existing concrete structural members such as bridge columns and beams using a composite retrofitting technique.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.220-226
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• 2018

Background: This study introduces a surgical technique with good clinical outcome useful in the treatment of osteoporotic displaced 3- or 4-part proximal humeral fractures. Methods: From May 2014 to February 2016, 16 patients with displaced 3- or 4-part proximal humeral fractures were treated by application of a locking plate with an endosteal strut allograft via a deltoid splitting approach with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. The allograft was inserted through a fractured gap of the greater tuberosity to support the humeral head and then fixed by a locking plate with meticulous soft tissue dissection to protect the axillary nerve. Surgical outcomes were evaluated by the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, radiological imaging, and clinical examination. Fixation failure on radiographs was defined as a >$5^{\circ}$ loss of neck shaft angle (NSA) compared to that on an immediate postoperative radiograph. Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the humeral head was also evaluated. Results: In all cases, complete union was achieved. The ASES and VAS scores were improved to $85.4{\pm}2.1$ and $3.2{\pm}1.3$, respectively. Twelve patients (75.0%) had greater than a $5^{\circ}$ change in NSA; the average NSA change was $3.8^{\circ}$. Five patients (31.3%) had unsatisfactory ranges of motion exhibiting a <$100^{\circ}$ active forward flexion. No axillary nerve injuries or AVN were observed at the last follow-up. One patient was converted to reverse total arthroplasty due to severe pain and functional deficit. Conclusions: Minimally invasive fixation via a locking compression plate and an endosteal fibula strut allograft in Neer classification 3-or 4-part fractures with severe osteoporosis in elderly patients can achieve good clinical results.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.645-658
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• 2018

Despite being one of the most abundantly used construction materials because of its exceptional properties, concrete is susceptible to deterioration and damage due to various factors particularly corrosion, improper loading, poor workmanship and design discrepancies, and as a result concrete structures require retrofitting and strengthening. In recent times, Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have substituted the conventional techniques of retrofitting and strengthening of damaged concrete. Most of the research studies related to concrete strengthening using FRP have been performed on undamaged test specimens. This contribution presents the results of an experimental study in which concrete specimens were damaged by mechanical loading and elevated temperature in laboratory prior to application of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheets for strengthening. The test specimens prepared using concrete of target compressive strength of 28 MPa at 28 days were subjected to compressive and splitting tensile testing up to failure and the intact pieces of the failed specimens were collected for the purpose of repair. In order to induce damage as a result of elevated temperature, the concrete cylinders were subjected to $400^{\circ}C$ and $800^{\circ}C$ temperature for two hours duration. Concrete cylinders damaged under compressive and split tensile loads were re-cast using concrete and rich cement-sand mortar, respectively and then strengthened using CFRP wrap. Concrete cylinders damaged due to elevated temperature were also strengthened using CFRP wrap. Re-cast and strengthened concrete cylinders were tested in compression and splitting tension. The obtained results revealed that re-casting of specimens damaged by mechanical loadings using concrete & mortar, and then strengthened by single layer CFRP wrap exhibited strength even higher than their original values. In case of specimens damaged by elevated temperature, the results indicated that concrete strength is significantly dropped and strengthening using CFRP wrap made it possible to not only recover the lost strength but also resulted in concrete strength greater than the original value.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.273-284
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• 2018

A detailed understanding of the mechanical behaviors for crushed coal rocks after grouting is a key for construction in the broken zones of mining engineering. In this research, experiments of grouting into the crushed coal rock using independently developed test equipment for solving the problem of sampling of crushed coal rocks have been carried out. The application of uniaxial compression was used to approximately simulate the ground stress in real engineering. In combination with the analysis of crack evolution and failure modes for the grouted specimens, the influences of different crushed degrees of coal rock (CDCR) and solidified grout strength (SGS) on the mechanical behavior of grouted specimens under uniaxial compression were investigated. The research demonstrated that first, the UCS of grouted specimens decreased with the decrease in the CDCR at constant SGS (except for the SGS of 12.3 MPa). However, the UCS of grouted specimens for constant CDCR increased when the SGS increased; optimum solidification strengths for grouts between 19.3 and 23.0 MPa were obtained. The elastic moduli of the grouted specimens with different CDCR generally increased with increasing SGS, and the peak axial strain showed a slightly nonlinear decrease with increasing SGS. The supporting effect of the skeleton structure produced by the solidified grouts was increasingly obvious with increasing CDCR and SGS. The possible evolution of internal cracks for the grouted specimens was classified into three stages: (1) cracks initiating along the interfaces between the coal blocks and solidified grouts; (2) cracks initiating and propagating in coal blocks; and (3) cracks continually propagating successively in the interfaces, the coal blocks, and the solidified grouts near the coal blocks. Finally, after the propagation and coalescence of internal cracks through the entire specimens, there were two main failure modes for the failed grouted specimens. These modes included the inclined shear failure occurring in the more crushed coal rock and the splitting failure occurring in the less crushed coal rock. Both modes were different from the single failure mode along the fissure for the fractured coal rock after grouting solidification. However, compared to the brittle failure of intact coal rock, grouting into the different crushed degree coal rocks resulted in ductile deformation after the peak strength for the grouted specimens was attained.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.93-101
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• 2008

Bearing strength test was investigated to determine the bearing properties of domestic larix glulam according to the load direction (in parallel to grain and in perpendicular to grain), the fastener (bolt and drift-pin), and the direction of laminae. The specimen was 5 ply glulam. The diameters of fastener are 12, 16 and 20 mm. The results were as follows. 1) In according to the diameter of bolt and drift-pin, the average of maximum bearing strength in parallel to grain loading was similar to that in perpendicular to grain loading. The average of maximum bearing strength was 1.50~2.31 times higher in parallel to grain loading than in perpendicular to grain loading. The average of maximum bearing strength in parallel to grain loading was lowered by 20% with increasing the diameter from 16 mm to 20 mm, but that in perpendicular to grain loading didn't show a clear tendency. 2) The average of bearing stiffness in parallel to grain loading was the highest at 16 mm in diameter. The average of bearing stiffness is similar to the shearing stiffness in drift-pin connection with increasing diameter. 3) In parallel to grain loading, the failure mode of specimens was the splitting along the grain in decreasing diameter. The failure mode in perpendicular to grain loading was the splitting along the grain. In this case, split occured more in specimens using bolt than in those using drift-pin. 4) The 5% offset yield strength in parallel to grain loading was similar to the predicted bearing strength of KBCS, NDS. In perpendicular to grain loading, the NDS's equation can be applied to predict the bearing strength.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.103-113
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• 2015

This paper studies impact performance of wire-mesh and steel fiber-reinforced concrete based on high-velocity impact experiments using hard spherical balls. In this experimental study, panel specimens were tested with various parameters such as steel fiber volume fraction, presence/absence of wire mesh, panel thickness, impact velocity, and aggregate size for the comparison of impact resistance performance for each specimen. While improvement of the impact resistance for reducing the penetration depth is barely affected with steel fiber volume fraction, the impact resistance to scabbing and perforation is improved substantially. This was due to the fact that the steel fiber had bridging effects in concrete matrix. The wire mesh helped minimizing the crater diameter of front and back face and enhanced the impact resistance to scabbing and perforation; however, the wire mesh did not affect the penetration depth. The wire mesh also reduced the bending deformation of the specimen with wire mesh, though some specimens had splitting bond failure on the rear face. Additionally, use of 20 mm aggregates is superior to 8 mm aggregates in terms of penetration depth, but for reducing the crater diameter on front and back faces, the use of 8 mm aggregates would be more efficient.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.109-112
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• 2008

In this study, Assessment of bond property of HSC with the rate of Blust-furnace(0, 12, and 25 percent by weight cement) and Evaluation of the relationship of the compressive strength coefficient (${\beta}$) between compressive strength with 40${\sim}$120MPa were performed. Design and Test of Bond specimens were carried out based on the ASTM C-234. Test results are follows, most specimens showed that the splitting failure in all specimens, except for B-40 series which showed that the pull-out failure. For the B-40 Series, the relation of compressive strength versus bond stress has well converged that of the proposed equation with the variation(${\beta}$=2/3) in UCB/E.E.R.C-83. The crack strength of concrete in splitting was proportioned to the compressive strength of concrete, and was the highest on the contents of blast furnace slag to 12 percent by weight of cement in each series, except for B-60 series. In the relation of admixture replacement rate versus maximum bond stress, The maximum bond stress was the highest in 12 percent by weight of cement according to less than 40MPa, and was the highest in 25 percent by weight of cement according to 80MPa.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.253-263
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• 2015

Ultra-high strength concrete which have 100 MPa compressive strength or higher can be developed applying RPC(Reactive Powder Concrete). Preventing brittle failure under compression and tension, ultra-high strength concrete usually use the steel fibers as reinforcements. For the effective use of steel fiber reinforced ultra-high strength concrete, estimation of tensile strength is very important. However, there are insufficient research results are available with no relation between them. Therefore, in this study, correlation between compressive strength and tensile strength of ultra-high strength concrete was investigated by test and statistical analysis. According to test results, increasing tendency of tensile strength was also shown in the range of ultra-high strength. Evaluation of test results of this study and collected test results were carried out. Using 284 splitting test specimens and 265 flexural test specimens, equations suggested by previous researchers cannot be applied to ultra-high strength concrete. Therefore, using database and test results, regression analysis was carried out and we suggested new equation for splitting and flexural tensile strength of steel fiber reinforced ultra-high strength concrete.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.761-768
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate bond properties of GFRP used in SFRC (Steel fiber reinforced concrete) and normal concrete. The experimental variables were rebar diameter (D13, D16), steel fiber volume fraction (0~2%) and cover thickness ($1.5d_b$, $5.4d_b$). The experimental results showed a different failure mode depending on the cover thickness. Through the tested specimens, splitting failure occurred for the specimens with small cover thickness and pull out failure occurred in the specimens with large cover thickness. Introduction of steel fiber caused the specimens to have more ductile behavior of bond stresss-lip after peak stress, but they did not increase the bond strength significantly. These failure modes were shown in both steel reinforcement and GFRP. However, from the difference of micro structure of bond failure mechanism between steel rebar and GFRP rebar, more ductile behavior was observed in GFRP-specimens after maximum bond strength was reached.