• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.78-91
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• 2024

Double steel plate concrete composite shear wall (SCSW) has been widely utilized in nuclear power plants and high-rise structures, and its shear connectors have a substantial impact on the seismic performance of SCSW. Therefore, in this study, the mechanical properties of SCSW with angle stiffening ribs as shear connections were parametrically examined for the reactor containment structure of nuclear power plants. The axial compression ratio of the SCSW, the spacing of the angle stiffening rib arrangement and the thickness of the angle stiffening rib steel plate were selected as the study parameters. Four finite element models were constructed by using the finite element program named ABAQUS to verify the experimental results of our team, and 13 finite element models were established to investigate the selected three parameters. Thus, the shear capacity, deformation capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of SCSW were determined. The research results show that: compared with studs, using stiffened ribs as shear connectors can significantly enhance the mechanical properties of SCSW; When the axial compression ratio is 0.3-0.4, the seismic performance of SCSW can be maximized; with the lowering of stiffener gap, the shear bearing capacity is greatly enhanced, and when the gap is lowered to a specific distance, the shear bearing capacity has no major affect; in addition, increasing the thickness of stiffeners can significantly increase the shear capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of SCSW. With the rise in the thickness of angle stiffening ribs, the improvement rate of each mechanical property index slows down. Finally, the shear bearing capacity calculation formula of SCSW with angle stiffening ribs as shear connectors is derived. The average error between the theoretical calculation formula and the finite element calculation results is 8% demonstrating that the theoretical formula is reliable. This study can provide reference for the design of SCSW.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.395-414
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• 2013

The present study fundamentally investigated the mechanical performance of the rib-stiffened super-wide bridge deck with twin box girders in concrete, which is a very popular application to efficiently widen the bridges with normal span. The shear lag effects of the specific cross-sections were firstly studied. The spatial stress distribution and local stiffness of the bridge deck with twin box girders were then investigated under several typical wheel load conditions. Meanwhile, a comparative study for the bridge deck with and without stiffening ribs was also carried out during the investigation; thereby, a design optimization for the stiffening ribs was further suggested. Finally, aiming at the preliminary design, an approximate methodology to manually calculate the bending moments of the rib-stiffened bridge deck was analytically proposed for engineers to quickly assess its performance. This rib-stiffened bridge deck with twin box girders can be widely applied for concrete (especially concrete cable-stayed) bridges with normal span, however, requiring a super-wide bridge width due to the traffic flow.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.715-728
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• 2022

A new type of buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) with a longitudinally profiled steel plate working as the core (LPBRB) is proposed and experimentally investigated. Different from conventional BRBs with a constant thickness core, both stiffness and strength of the longitudinally profiled steel core along its longitudinal direction can change through itself variable thickness, thus the construction of LPBRB saves material and reduces the processing cost. Four full-scale component tests were conducted under quasi-static cyclic loading to evaluate the seismic performance of LPBRB. Three stiffening methods were used to improve the fatigue performance of LPBRBs, which were bolt-assembled T-shaped stiffening ribs, partly-welded stiffening ribs and stiffening segment without rib. The experimental results showed LPBRB specimens displayed stable hysteretic behavior and satisfactory seismic property. There was no instability or rupture until the axial ductility ratio achieved 11.0. Failure modes included the out-of-plane buckling of the stiffening part outside the restraining member and core plate fatigue fracture around the longitudinally profiled segment. The effect of the stiffening methods on the fatigue performance is discussed. The critical buckling load of longitudinally profiled segment is derived using Euler theory. The local bulging behavior of the outer steel tube is analyzed with an equivalent beam model. The design recommendations for LPBRB are presented finally.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.883-899
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• 1998

The strength, deformation and buckling of a large engineering structure consisting of four ellipsoidal shells, two cylindrical shells with stiffening ribs and large holes, one conical shell and three pairs of large flanges under external pressure, self weight and heat sinks have been analysed by using two kinds of five different finite elements - four assumed displacement finite elements (shell element with curved surfaces, axisymmetric conical shell element with variable thickness, three dimensional eccentric beam element, axisymmetric solid revolutionary element) and an assumed stress hybrid element (a 3-dimensional special element developed by authors). The compatibility between different elements is enforced. The strength analyses of the top cover and the main vessel are described in the paper.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.605-615
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to propose an economic new type rib by applying plate stiffening methods of the corrugated plate and the honey-comb sandwich panel to the steel deck plate and comparing the new type rib with existing open and closed ribs. The trapezoidal corrugated type, ㄹ type, honey-comb type and ㅁ type ribs are considered as new type ribs and the moment and the steel volume are compared with that of open ribs and closed ribs. The results shows that the honey-comb type and ㅁ type ribs are good in aspects of economic feasibility and the ㅁ type is better than the honey-comb type. To make the ㅁ type rib applicable to the steel deck plate, the sensitivity analysis and parametric study are performed and the system to select the proper section under the particular stress condition is established. The closed rib of real bridges is compared with the ㅁ type rib of the proposed system and it is known that the new type rib is more economic. Therefore, more economic steel deck plates can be achieved by using the system proposed in this study for the plate stiffened with the new ㅁ type rib.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.119-131
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• 2022

Due to the complexity of the structure and the limits of classical SEA, a combined SEA approach is employed, with angle-dependent SEA in the low- and mid-frequency ranges and advanced SEA (ASEA) considering indirect coupling in the high-frequency range. As an important component of the steel box girder, the dynamic response of an L-junction periodic ribbed plate is calculated first by the combined SEA and validated by the impact hammer test and finite element method (FEM). Results show that the indirect coupling due to the periodicity of stiffened plate is significant at high frequencies and may cause the error to reach 38.4 dB. Hence, the incident bending wave angle cannot be ignored in comparison to classical SEA. The combined SEA is then extended to investigate the vibration properties of the steel box girder. The bending wave transmission study is likewise carried out to gain further physical insight into indirect coupling. By comparison with FEM and classical SEA, this approach yields good accuracy for calculating the dynamic responses of the steel box girder made of periodic ribbed plates in a wide frequency range. Furthermore, the influences of some important parameters are discussed, and suggestions for vibration and noise control are provided.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.453-464
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• 2017

The square tubed-reinforced concrete (TRC) column is a kind of special concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns, in which the outer thin-walled steel tube does not pass through the beam-column joint, so that the longitudinal steel reinforcing bars in the RC beam are continuous through the connection zone. However, there is a possible decrease of the axial bearing capacity at the TRC column to RC beam connection due to the discontinuity of the column tube, which is a concern to engineers. 24 connections and 7 square TRC columns were tested under axial compression. The primary parameters considered in the tests are: (1) connection location (corner, exterior and interior); (2) dimensions of RC beam cross section; (3) RC beam type (with or without horizontal haunches); (4) tube type (with or without stiffening ribs). The test results show that all specimens have relatively high load-carrying capacity and satisfactory ductility. With a proper design, the connections exhibit higher axial resistance and better ductility performance than the TRC column. The feasibility of this type of connections is verified.