• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.1095-1120
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• 2016

This paper investigates the change of structural characteristics of steel cable-stayed bridges after cable failure. Cables, considered as the intermediate supports of cable-stayed bridges, can break or fail for several reasons, such as fire, direct vehicle clash accident, extreme weather conditions, and fatigue of cable or anchorage. Also, the replacement of cables can cause temporary disconnection. Because of the structural characteristics with various geometric nonlinearities of cable-stayed bridges, cable failure may cause significant change to the structural state and ultimate behavior. Until now, the characteristics of structural behavior after cable failure have rarely been studied. In this study, rational cable failure analysis is suggested to trace the new equilibrium with structural configuration after the cable failure. Also, the sequence of ultimate analysis for the structure that suffers cable failure is suggested, to study the change of ultimate behavior and load carrying capacity under specific live load conditions. Using these analysis methods, the statical behavior after individual cable failure is studied based on the change of structural configuration, and distribution of internal forces. Also, the change of the ultimate behavior and load carrying capacity under specific live load conditions is investigated, using the proposed analysis method. According to the study, significant change of the statical behavior and ultimate capacity occurs although just one cable fails.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.477-483
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• 2007

In this study, the numerical fire analysis for temperature distribution and spalling behavior of underground concrete box structures that contained lifelines, such as power cables and communication cables. The temperature field of inner space was assumed based on the fire curve with the thermal gradient obtained from CFD analysis. It was assumed that the spalling behaviors of concrete are occurred when the concrete temperature reached the threshold, as dehydration degree. In this case, the elements correspond to spalling parts were removed and the analysis model were updated. Three fire scenarios were analyzed and the results were showed adequate spalling behavior. The bearing capacities of the box structures would be estimated in the companion paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.701-709
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• 2021

The paper aims at improving the understanding and mitigating the effects of tunnel fires that may breakout due to the burning fuel and/or explosion within the tunnel. This study particularly focuses on the behavior of the commonly used horse shoe geometry of tunnel systems. The problem has been obtained using an adequate well-established program incorporating the Lagrangian approach. A transient-thermo-coupled static structural analysis is carried out. The effects of radiation and convection to the outer walls of the tunnel is studied. The paper also presents the impact of the hazard on the structural integrity of the tunnel. A methodology is proposed to study the tunnel fire using a model which uses equivalent steel sheet to represent the presence of reinforcements to improve the computational efficiency with adequate validation. A parametric study has been carried out and the effect of suitable lining property for mitigating the fire hazard is arrived at. Detailed analysis is done for the threshold limits of the properties of the lining material to check if it is acceptable in all aspects for the integrity of the tunnel. The study may prove useful for developing insights for ensuring tunnel fire safety. To conduct such studies experimentally are tremendously costly but are required to gain confidence. But, scaled models, as well as loading and testing conditions, cannot be studied by many trials experimentally as the cost will shoot up sharply. In this context, the results obtained from such computational studies with a feasible variation of various combinations of parameters may act as a set of guidelines to freeze the adequate combination of various parameters to conduct one or two costly experiments for confidence building.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.815-829
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• 2012

This paper proposes a nonlinear computational modeling approach for the behaviors of structural systems subjected to fire. The proposed modeling approach consists of fire dynamics analysis, nonlinear transient-heat transfer analysis for predicting thermal distributions, and thermomechanical analysis for structural behaviors. For concretes, transient heat formulations are written considering temperature dependent heat conduction and specific heat capacity and included within the thermomechanical analyses. Also, temperature dependent stress-strain behaviors including compression hardening and tension softening effects are implemented within the analyses. The proposed modeling technique for transient heat and thermomechanical analyses is first validated with experimental data of reinforced concrete (RC) beams subjected to high temperatures, and then applied to a bridge model. The bridge model is generated to simulate the fire incident occurred by a gas truck on April 29, 2007 in Oakland California, USA. From the simulation, not only temperature distributions and deformations of the bridge can be found, but critical locations and time frame where collapse occurs can be predicted. The analytical results from the simulation are qualitatively compared with the real incident and show good agreements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.317-338
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• 2011

Three-dimensional thermal and mechanical coupled finite element models are proposed to study the structural behaviours of shear connectors under fire. Concrete slabs, steel beams and shear connectors are modelled with eight-noded solid elements, and profiled steel deckings are modelled with eight-noded shell elements. Thermal, mechanical and geometrical nonlinearities are incorporated into the models. With the proper incorporation of thermal and mechanical contacts among steel beams, shear connectors, steel deckings and concrete slabs, both of the models are verified to be accurate after the validation against a series of push-out tests in the room temperature or under the standard fire. Various thermal and mechanical responses are also extracted and observed in details from the results of the numerical analyses, which gives a better understanding of the structural behavior of shear connectors under elevated temperatures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.101-112
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• 2022

Expanding urbanization practices result in high numbers of buildings being developed in city centers. This high building concentration leads to an increased fire risk, resulting in higher casualty rates and increased economic damages compared to fires in the past. The purpose of this study was to analyze the structural behavior of fire-damaged reinforced concrete buildings using analytical methods and to suggest methods of improving fire resistance in the event of a fire. Damage levels were measured using commercial software to apply the finite element method, ABAQUS, and MIDAS GEN to the dataset. Load-deflection curves were calculated using the effective area and moment of inertia of the fire-damaged columns provided by ABAQUS. The results of this analysis indicate that fire-damaged beams with experience greater deflection from indoor fires than they will from outdoor fires. Fires that occurred on the middle floors were more dangerous than those occurring on higher floors, and eccentrically loaded columns experienced more damage than axially loaded columns. The results indicate that these methods accurately predict structural behaviors of fire damaged concrete columns by considering fire exposure area and eccentric loading.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2022

In offshore installations, fires cause the structure to lose its rigidity and it leads to structural integrity and stability problems. The Passive Fire Protection (PFP) system slows the transfer rate of fire heat and helps prevent the collapse of structures and fatality. Especially, intumescent epoxy coating is widely used in the offshore industry, and not only is the material cost expensive, but it also takes a lot of time and cost for construction. Several studies have been conducted on the efficient application and optimal design of the PFP system. However, the mechanical properties and the strength of the PFP material have not been considered. In addition, researches on the correlation between the thickness of PFP and the structural behavior were insufficient. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the thermal and mechanical effects of the PFP on the structure when it is applied to the structural member. In particular, it is intended to resolve the change in strength characteristics of the structural members as the thickness of the PFP increases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.643-660
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• 2013

Reinforced concrete structures are vulnerable to high temperature conditions such as those during a fire. At elevated temperatures, the mechanical properties of concrete and reinforcing steel as well as the bond between steel rebar and concrete may significantly deteriorate. The changes in the bonding behavior may influence the flexibility or the moment capacity of the reinforced concrete structures. The bond strength degradation is required for structural design of fire safety and structural repair after fire. However, the investigation of bonding between rebar and concrete at elevated temperatures is quite difficult in practice. In this study, bond constitutive relationships are developed for normal and high-strength concrete (NSC and HSC) subjected to fire, with the intention of providing efficient modeling and to specify the fire-performance criteria for concrete structures exposed to fire. They are developed for the following purposes at high temperatures: normal and high compressive strength with different type of aggregates, bond strength with different types of embedment length and cooling regimes, bond strength versus to compressive strength with different types of embedment length, and bond stress-slip curve. The proposed relationships at elevated temperature are compared with experimental results.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.110-119
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• 2020

Explosions and fires on offshore drilling units and process plants, which cause loss of life and environmental damage, have been studied extensively. However, research on drilling units increased only after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. A major reason for explosions and fires on a drilling unit is blowout, which is caused by a failure to control the high temperatures and pressures upstream of the offshore underwater well. The area susceptible to explosion and fire due to blowout is the drill floor, which supports the main drilling system. Structural instability and collapse of the drill floor can threaten the structural integrity of the entire unit. This study simulates the behavior of fire subsequent to blowout and assesses the thermal load. A heat transfer structure analysis of the drill floor was carried out using the assessed thermal load, and the risk was noted. In order to maintain the structural integrity of the drill floor, passive fire protection of certain areas was recommended.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2023

A two-hour fire-resistance PC hollow slab for residential use was developed to secure structural and fire-resistance performance and to be applied to the general building and apartment housing markets. Compared to the existing hollow slab, in order to secure the same or better structural performance and economic feasibility by reducing the quantity, it was attempted to secure the fire resistance performance by reducing the concrete filling rate in the cross section and adjusting the thickness of the upper and lower flanges by optimizing the hollow shape in the cross section of the slab. For structural performance evaluation, experiments were performed on PC hollow slabs by varying the member thickness and the presence or absence of overlaid concrete, and all of the experimental results showed that the design strength was sufficiently exhibited and that stability during construction was possible. The developed synthetic PC hollow slab has secured fire resistance and residential performance so that it can be applied to all buildings, and it is intended to be immediately applied to the field.