• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2022

The dynamic responses of a pier-pile-soil system subjected to a barge/flotilla collision are analyzed. A coupled high-speed train and bridge system with a damaged pier after barge/flotilla collision is established by taking the additional unevenness of the track induced by the damaged pier as the self-excitation of the system. The whole process of a CRH2 high-speed train running on the 6×32 m simply-supported PC (prestressed concrete) box-girder bridge with a damaged pier is simulated as a case study. The results show that the lateral displacements and accelerations of the bridge with a damaged pier are much greater than the ones before the collision. The running safety indices of the train increase with the train speed as well as with the number of barges in the flotilla. In flotilla collision, the lateral wheel/rail forces of the train exceed the allowable values at a certain speed, which influences the running safety of the trains.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2013.01a
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• pp.576-582
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• 2013

Typical highway infrastructure systems include roadway pavement, drainage systems, tunneling, and other hardware components such as guardrails, traffic signs, and lighting. Tunnels in a highway system have provided significant advantages to overcoming various natural challenges including crossing underneath bodies of water or through mountainous areas. While only a few tunnel failure cases have been reported, the failure rate is likely to increase as these assets age and because agencies have not emphasized tunneling asset management. A tunnel system undergoes a deterioration life cycle pattern that is similar to other infrastructure systems. There are very few agencies in the United States implementing comprehensive tunnel asset management programs. While current tunnel asset management programs focus on inspection, maintenance, and operation safety, there is an increasing need for the development of a comprehensive life cycle tunnel asset management program. This paper describes a conceptual framework for a comprehensive tunnel asset management program. The framework consists of three basic phases including a strategic plan, a tactical plan, and an operational plan to provide better information to the decision makers. The strategic plan is a basic long term approach of tunnel asset management. The tactical plan determines specific objectives and the operational plan actually applies asset management objectives in practice. The information includes operational condition, structural condition, efficiency of the system, emergency response, and life cycle cost analysis for tunnel capital improvement project planning.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.429-444
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• 2023

The comprehension and structural modeling of masonry constructions is fundamental to safeguard the integrity of built cultural assets and intervene through adequate actions, especially in earthquake-prone regions. Despite the availability of several modeling strategies and modern computing power, modeling masonry remains a great challenge because of still demanding computational efforts, constraints in performing destructive or semi-destructive in-situ tests, and material uncertainties. This paper investigates the shear behavior of masonry walls by applying a plane-stress FE continuum model with the Modified Masonry-like Material (MMLM). Epistemic uncertainty affecting input parameters of the MMLM is considered in a probabilistic framework. After appointing a suitable probability density function to input quantities according to prior engineering knowledge, uncertainties are propagated to outputs relying on gPCE-based surrogate models to considerably speed up the forward problem-solving. The sensitivity of the response to input parameters is evaluated through the computation of Sobol' indices pointing out the parameters more worthy to be further investigated, when dealing with the seismic assessment of masonry buildings. Finally, masonry mechanical properties are calibrated in a probabilistic setting with the Bayesian approach to the inverse problem based on the available measurements obtained from the experimental load-displacement curves provided by shear compression in-situ tests.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2024

Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) have a proven strength enhancement capability when installed into Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams. The brittle failure of traditional FRP strengthening systems has attracted researchers to develop novel materials with improved strength and ductility properties. One such material is that known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This study presents a numerical investigation of the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams externally strengthened with PET-FRP systems. This material is distinguished by its large rupture strain, leading to an improvement in the ductility of the strengthened structural members compared to conventional FRPs. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) model is developed in this study to predict the load-deflection response of a series of experimentally tested beams published in the literature. The numerical model incorporates constitutive material laws and bond-slip behavior between concrete and the strengthening system. Moreover, the validated model was applied in a parametric study to inspect the effect of concrete compressive strength, PET-FRP sheet length, and reinforcing steel bar diameter on the overall performance of concrete beams externally strengthened with PET-FRP.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.1
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• pp.51-70
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• 2024

Poorly designed reinforced concrete (RC) columns of actual moment-resisting frame (MRF) buildings can undergo Axial Compression Ratios (ACR) so high as their demand exceeds their capacity, even for serviceability gravity load combinations, this lack commonly leads to insufficient seismic strength. Nonetheless, many seismic design codes do not specify limits for ACR. The main contribution of this research is to investigate the need to limit the ACR in seismic design. For this purpose, three prototype 6 and 11-story RC MRF buildings are analyzed in this paper, these buildings have columns undergoing excessive ACR, according to the limits prescribed by standards. To better that situation, three types of alterations are performed: retrofitting the abovementioned overloaded columns by steel jacketing, increasing the concrete strength, and reducing the number of stories. Several finite element analyses are conducted using the well-known software SAP2000 and the results are used for further calculations. Code-type and pushover analyses are performed on the original and retrofitted buildings, the suitability of the other modified buildings is checked by code-type analyses only. The obtained results suggest that ACR is a rather reliable indicator of the final building strength, hence, apparently, limiting the ACR in the standards (for early stages of design) might avoid unnecessary verifications.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.165-170
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• 2024

This study investigated the impact of soil-structure interaction on multi-degree-of-freedom structures using the shallow-foundation Winkler model, known as the BNWF model. The model's period was determined through eigenvalue analysis and compared to results obtained from FEMA's formula. Results indicated that considering the soil, the structure's period increased by up to 8.7% compared to the fixed-base model, aligning with FEMA's calculations. Furthermore, with adequate ground acceleration, roof displacement increased by 3.4% to 3.8%, while base shear decreased by 4% to 10%. However, roof displacement and base shear increased in some earthquake scenarios due to spectral shape effects in regions with extended structural periods. Foundation damping effects, determined through the foundation's moment-rotation history, grew with higher ground acceleration. This suggests that accounting for period elongation and foundation damping can enhance the seismic design of multi-degree-of-freedom structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.69-82
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• 2024

In the conventional seismic design approach for a bridge pier, the function of the stopper, and shear key are to serve as mechanisms for unseating prevention devices that retain and transmit the lateral load to the pier under strong earthquakes. This frequently inflicts immense shear forces and bending moments concentrated at the plastic hinge zone. In this study, a shear panel damper plus gap (SPDG) is proposed as a low-cost alternative with high energy dissipation capacity to improve the seismic performance of the pier. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the seismic performance of the pre-stressed concrete I girder (PCI-girder) bridge equipped with SPDG. The bridge structure was analyzed using nonlinear time history analysis with seven-scaled ground motion records using the guidelines of ASCE 7-10 standard. Consequently, the implementation of SPDG technology on the bridge system yielded a notable decrease in maximum displacement by 41.49% and a reduction in earthquake input energy by 51.05% in comparison to the traditional system. This indicates that the presence of SPDG was able to enhance the seismic performance of the existing conventional bridge structure, enabling an improvement from a collapse prevention (CP) level to an immediate occupancy (IO).

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.199-223
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanism and essence of problems by understanding the whole structure of the complicated problems that exist in the social welfare field with DEMATEL method, one of structural models. This paper consists of (1) What kind of social welfare problems exist in the community that is related to welfare? (2) What kind of thoughts do people who work in social welfare field have related to these problems? (3) Are there any differences in structure of thoughts among social welfare civil servants who take charge of planning and dividing budgets for community welfare, social workers who provide services personally and civic activists who criticize and keep watch on behalf of civilians? In order to achieve the purpose of this study, data were collected in Busan Busanjingu and the survey was conducted from the year of 2005 when community welfare plan was first established up to now. The major structural problems of the community welfare of the Pusan Jin-gu, Korea, are: 1) welfare budget allocation procedure is not logical, 2) the outskirts of the Pusan Jin-gu are isolated as poor areas, 3) geographic imbalance is severe among communities, and 4) the social welfare response system to support future population structure needs to be more developed. All of these problems are the fundamental origin to the social resource disparity within communities. The major problems of the community social welfare in Pusan Jin-gu, Korea were recognized by different perspective in terms of professional career such as social welfare civil servants, social workers, and civic activists. Majority of the social welfare civil servants thought "severe geographic imbalance"; majority of the social workers believed "lack of the social welfare response system to support the structure of the population in the future" and "disparity in social resources within the communities"; and majority of the civic activists said "limitation for understanding various social welfare needs because of short term need assessments" as main issues of the community social welfare. It seems that this paper is able to be used as a framework to establish community welfare plans and individual programs in Busan Busanjingu.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.152-161
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• 2023

In general, large-capacity hydrogen storage vessels, typically in the form of vertical cylindrical vessels, are constructed using steel materials. These vessels are anchored to foundation slabs that are specially designed to suit the environmental conditions. This anchoring method involves pre-installed anchors on top of the concrete foundation slab. However, it's important to note that such a design can result in concentrated stresses at the anchoring points when external forces, such as seismic events, are at play. This may lead to potential structural damage due to anchor and concrete damage. For this reason, in this study, it selected an vertical hydrogen storage vessel based on site observations and created a 3D finite element model. Artificial seismic motions made following the procedures specified in ICC-ES AC 156, as well as domestic recorded earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5.0, were applied to analyze the structural behavior and performance of the target structures. Conducting experiments on a structure built to actual scale would be ideal, but due to practical constraints, it proved challenging to execute. Therefore, it opted for an analytical approach to assess the safety of the target structure. Regarding the structural response characteristics, the acceleration induced by seismic motion was observed to amplify by approximately ten times compared to the input seismic motions. Additionally, there was a tendency for a decrease in amplification as the response acceleration was transmitted to the point where the centre of gravity is located. For the vulnerable components, specifically the sub-system (support columns and anchorages), the stress levels were found to satisfy the allowable stress criteria. However, the concrete's tensile strength exhibited only about a 5% margin of safety compared to the allowable stress. This indicates the need for mitigation strategies in addressing these concerns. Based on the research findings presented in this paper, it is anticipated that predictable load information for the design of storage vessels required for future shaking table tests will be provided.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.245-253
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• 2021

RC slab bridges account for the largest portion of deteriorated bridges in Korea. However, most RC slabs are not included in the first and second classes of bridges, which are subject to bridge safety management and maintenance. The highest damaged components in highway bridges are the subsidiary facilities including expansion joints and bearings. In particular, leakage through expansion joints causes deterioration and cracks of concrete and exposure of reinforced bars. Therefore, this study analyzed the effect of adhesion damage at expansion joints on the response of the deck in RC slab bridges. When the spacing between the expansion joints at both ends was closely adhered, cracks occurred in the concrete at both ends of the deck due to the resistance rigidity at the expansion joints. Based on the response results, the correlation analysis between displacements in the longitudinal direction of the expansion joint and concrete stress at both ends of the deck for each damage scenario was performed to investigate the effect of the occurrence of damage on the bridge behavior. When expansion joint devices at both sides were damaged, the correlation between displacement and stress showed a low correlation of 0.18 when the vehicles proceeded along all the lanes. Compared with those in the intact state, the deflections of the deck in the damaged case at both sides showed a low correlation of 0.34 to 0.53 while the vehicle passed and 0.17 to 0.43 after the vehicle passed. This means that the occurrence of cracks in the ends of concrete changed the behavior of the deck. Therefore, data-deriven damage detection could be developed to manage the damage to expansion joints that cause damage and deterioration of the deck.