• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.125-142
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• 2011

In the present paper, a numerical simulation method based on mesoscopic composite structure of concrete, the truss network model, is developed to evaluate the diffusivity of concrete in order to account for the microstructure of concrete, the binding effect of chloride ions and the chloride concentration dependence. In the model, concrete is described as a three-phase composite, consisting of mortar, coarse aggregates and the interfacial transition zones (ITZs) between them. The advantage of the current model is that it can easily represent the movement of mass (e.g. water or chloride ions) through ITZs or the potential cracks within concrete. An analytical method to estimate the chloride diffusivity of mortar and ITZ, which are both treated as homogenious materials in the model, is introduced in terms of water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and sand volume fraction. Using the newly developed approaches, the effect of cracking of concrete on chloride diffusion is reflected by means of the similar process as that in the test. The results of calculation give close match with experimental observations. Furthermore, with consideration of the binding capacity of chloride ions to cement paste and the concentration dependence for diffusivity, the one-dimensional nonlinear diffusion equation is established, as well as its finite difference form in terms of the truss network model. A series of numerical analysises performed on the model find that the chloride diffusion is substantially influenced by the binding capacity and concentration dependence, which is same as that revealed in some experimental investigations. This indicates the necessity to take into account the binding capacity and chloride concentration dependence in the durability analysis and service life prediction of concrete structures.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2020

In this study, we propose a new truss deckplate system, which does not require temporary floor supports during construction, with ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) infilled top bars. The increased stiffness and strength of the proposed system were well retained as compared to those of the existing truss deckplate systems, thereby resulting in the reduction of maximum deflection at the span center. Four-point bending tests were performed on five specimens with a net span of 4.6 m to evaluate the structural performance of proposed system in the construction stage. In addition, the load-deflection curve was plotted for each specimen, and the effects of test parameters were analyzed. Further, a rigorous nonlinear three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed, and its results were compared with the test results. From the results, it was observed that the test specimens of the proposed system exhibited superior performance as compared to those of the existing one and also satisfied the serviceability requirement during construction provided by the Korea Building Code 2016.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.603-621
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• 2014

Past high speed wind events have exposed the vulnerability of the roof systems of existing light-framed wood structures to uplift loading, contributing greatly to economic and human loss. This paper further investigates the behaviour of light-framed wood structures under the uplift loading of a realistic pressure distribution. A three-dimensional finite-element model is first developed to capture the behaviour of a recently completed full-scale experiment. After describing the components used to develop the numerical model, a comparison between the numerical prediction and experimental results in terms of the deflected shape at the roof-to-wall connections is presented to gain confidence in the numerical model. The model is then used to analyze the behaviour of the truss system under realistic and equivalent uniform pressure distributions and to perform an assessment of the use of the tributary area method to calculate the withdrawal force acting on the roof-to-wall connections.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2015

In this study, we propose an innovative lateral force distribution building system between tall buildings by utilizing the difference of moment of inertia, as the alternative design for highly integrated city area. Considering a tri-axial symmetric conditions and boundary conditions for the three-dimensional building structure system, a two-dimensional model is composed. In the proposed indeterminate structural model, important design variables are determined for obtaining minimum horizontal deflections, reactions and bending moments at the ground level of the buildings. Regarding a case of the provided two spatial structures connected to 4 buildings, the optimum location of middle located spatial structure is 45% from the top of the building, which minimize the end moments at the bottom of the buildings. In the considered verification examples, reduced drifts at the top location of the building systems are validated against static wind pressure loads and static earthquake loads. The suggested hybrid building system will improve the safety and reliability of the system due to the added internal truss-dome structures in terms of more than 30% reduced drift and vibration through the development of convergence of tall buildings and spatial structures.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.255-270
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• 2019

Aerodynamic configurations of bridge decks have significant effects on the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter forsuper long-span bridges, which are onset for selection of suitable bridge decksfor those bridges. Based on a cable-stayed bridge with double main spans of 1500 m, considering typical twin-box, stiffening truss and closed-box section, which are the most commonly used form of bridge decks and assumed that the rigidity of those section is completely equivalent, are utilized to investigate the effects of aerodynamic configurations of bridge decks on aerodynamic instability performance comprised of the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter, by means of wind tunnel tests and numerical calculations, including three-dimensional (3D) multimode flutter analysis and nonlinear aerostatic analysis. Regarding the aerostatic torsional divergence, the results obtained in this study show twin-box section is the best, closed-box section the second-best, and the stiffening truss section the worst. Regarding the flutter, the flutter stability of the twin-box section is far better than that of the stiffening truss and closed-box section. Furthermore, wind-resistance design depends on the torsional divergence for the twin-box and stiffening truss section. However, there are obvious competitive relationships between the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter for the closed-box section. Flutter occur before aerostatic instability at initial attack angle of $+3^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$, while the aerostatic torsional divergence occur before flutter at initial attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. The twin-box section is the best in terms of both aerostatic and flutter stability among those bridge decks. Then mechanisms of aerostatic torsional divergence are revealed by tracking the cable forces synchronous with deformation of the bridge decksin the instability process. It was also found that the onset wind velocities of these bridge decks are very similar at attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. This indicatesthat a stable triangular structure made up of the cable planes, the tower, and the bridge deck greatly improves the aerostatic stability of the structure, while the aerodynamic effects associated with the aerodynamic configurations of the bridge decks have little effects on the aerostatic stability at initial attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. In addition, instability patterns of the bridge depend on both the initial attack angles and aerodynamic configurations of the bridge decks. This study is helpful in determining bridge decksfor super long-span bridges in future.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.192-211
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• 2010

In most framed structures the nonlinearities and the damages are localized, extending over a limited length of the structural member. In order to capture the details of the local damage, the segments of a member that have entered the nonlinear range may need to be analyzed using the three-dimensional element (3D) model whereas the rest of the member can be analyzed using the simpler one-dimensional (1D) element model with fewer degrees of freedom. An Element-Coupling model was proposed to couple the small scale solid 3D elements with the large scale 1D beam elements. The mixed dimensional coupling is performed imposing the kinematic coupling hypothesis of the 1D model on the interfaces of the 3D model. The analysis results are compared with test results of a reinforced concrete pipe column and a structure consisting of reinforced concrete columns and a steel space truss subjected to static and dynamic loading. This structure is a reduced scale model of a direct air-cooled condenser support platform built in a thermal power plant. The reduction scale for the column as well as for the structure was 1:8. The same structures are also analyzed using 3D solid elements for the entire structure to demonstrate the validity of the Element-Coupling model. A comparison of the accuracy and the computational effort indicates that by the proposed Element-Coupling method the accuracy is almost the same but the computational effort is significantly reduced.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2696-2707
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of various structural modeling schemes for evaluating seismic performances and fragility of the reactor containment building (RCB) structure in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) nuclear power plant (NPP). Four structural modeling schemes, i.e. lumped-mass stick model (LMSM), solid-based finite element model (Solid FEM), multi-layer shell model (MLSM), and beam-truss model (BTM), are developed to simulate the seismic behaviors of the containment structure. A full three-dimensional finite element model (full 3D FEM) is additionally constructed to verify the previous numerical models. A set of input ground motions with response spectra matching to the US NRC 1.60 design spectrum is generated to perform linear and nonlinear time-history analyses. Floor response spectra (FRS) and floor displacements are obtained at the different elevations of the structure since they are critical outputs for evaluating the seismic vulnerability of RCB and secondary components. The results show that the difference in seismic responses between linear and nonlinear analyses gets larger as an earthquake intensity increases. It is observed that the linear analysis underestimates floor displacements while it overestimates floor accelerations. Moreover, a systematic assessment of the capability and efficiency of each structural model is presented thoroughly. MLSM can be an alternative approach to a full 3D FEM, which is complicated in modeling and extremely time-consuming in dynamic analyses. Specifically, BTM is recommended as the optimal model for evaluating the nonlinear seismic performance of NPP structures. Thereafter, linear and nonlinear BTM are employed in a series of time-history analyses to develop fragility curves of RCB for different damage states. It is shown that the linear analysis underestimates the probability of damage of RCB at a given earthquake intensity when compared to the nonlinear analysis. The nonlinear analysis approach is highly suggested for assessing the vulnerability of NPP structures.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analyze factors influencing insulation performance of inorganic Autoclaved Lightweight Concrete(ALC) sandwich wall panels with the application of shear connectors. To analyze the effect of shear connectors on the thermal performance of sandwich wall panels, heat transfer analysis was conducted by using the three-dimensional heat transfer simulation software. Four types of shear connector such as Pin, Clip, Grid, and Truss were selected for insulation performance analysis. Thermal bridge coefficient was calculated by varying typical panel thickness and shear connector thickness and materials such as steel, aluminum, and stainless steel. The results showed that Grid and Truss type widely distributed along the section of sandwich wall panel had a great influence on the thermal bridge coefficient by changing the influence factors. Based on the results of thermal and structural performance analysis, effective heat transmission coefficient of the sandwich wall panel satisfying the passive house insulation criteria was calculated. As a result, it was found that heat transmission coefficient was increased from $0.132W/m^2{\cdot}K$ to $0.141{\sim}0.306W/m^2{\cdot}K$ depending on the shear connector types and materials. In the majority of cases, the passive house insulation criteria was not satisfied after using shear connectors. The results of this study were likely to vary according to how influence factors were set, but it is important to apply the methods that reduce the thermal bridge when there would be a possibility of greatly affecting the insulation performance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.289-303
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• 2015

This study presents a strategy so-called Subspace Search Mechanism (SSM) for reducing the computational time for convergence of population based metaheusristic algorithms. The selected metaheuristic for this study is the Cuckoo Search algorithm (CS) dealing with size optimization of trusses. The complexity of structural optimization problems can be partially due to the presence of high-dimensional design variables. SSM approach aims to reduce dimension of the problem. Design variables are categorized to predefined groups (subspaces). SSM focuses on the multiple use of the metaheuristic at hand for each subspace. Optimizer updates the design variables for each subspace independently. Updating rules require candidate designs evaluation. Each candidate design is the assemblage of responsible set of design variables that define the subspace of interest. SSM is incorporated to the Cuckoo Search algorithm for size optimizing of three small, moderate and large space trusses. Optimization results indicate that SSM enables the CS to work with less number of population (42%), as a result reducing the time of convergence, in exchange for some accuracy (1.5%). It is shown that the loss of accuracy can be lessened with increasing the order of complexity. This suggests its applicability to other algorithms and other complex finite element-based engineering design problems.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.533-539
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• 2009

In this study, the femur, the tibia, the articular cartilage and the menisci are three dimensionally reconstructed using MR images of healthy knee joint in full extension of 26-year-old male. Three dimensional finite element model of the knee joint is fabricated on the reconstructed model. Also, the FE models of ligaments and tendons are attached on the biologically suitable position of the FE model. Bones, articular cartilages and menisci are considered as homogeneous, isotropic and linear elastic materials, and ligaments and tendons are modeled as truss element and nonlinear elastic springs. The numerical results show the contact pressure and the von Mises stress distribution in the soft tissues such as articular cartilages and menisci which can be regarded as important parameters to estimate the failure of the tissues and the pain of the patients.