• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.159-171
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• 2012

Reinforced concrete structures in cold coastal regions are subjected to coupled effects of service load, freeze-thaw cycles and seawater corrosion. This would significantly degrade the performance and therefore shorten the service life of these structures. In the current paper, the mechanical properties of concrete material and the structural behaviour of eccentrically loaded reinforced concrete columns under multiple actions of seawater corrosion, freeze-thaw cycles and persistent load have been studied experimentally. Results show that when exposed to alternating actions of seawater corrosion and freeze-thaw cycles, the compressive strength of concrete decreases with the increased number of freeze-thaw cycles. For reinforced concrete column, if it is only subjected to seawater corrosion and freeze-thaw cycles, the load resistance capacity is found to be reduced by 11.5%. If a more practical service condition of reinforced concrete structures in cold coastal regions is simulated, i.e., the environmental factors are coupled with persistent loading, a rapid drop of 15% - 26.9% in the ultimate capacity of the eccentrically loaded reinforced concrete column is identified. Moreover, it is observed that the increase of eccentric load serves to accelerate the deterioration of column structural behavior.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.807-831
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• 2015

In the previous analytical studies on 2D reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joints, the modified compression field theory (MCFT) and the strut-and-tie method (STM) are usually employed. In this paper, the limitations of these analytical models for RC joint applications are reviewed. Essentially for predictions of RC joint shear behaviour, the MCFT is not applicable, while the STM can only predict the ultimate shear strength. To eliminate these limitations, an improved STM is derived and applied to some commonly encountered 2D joints, viz., interior and exterior joints, subjected to monotonic loading. Compared with the other STMs, the most attracting novelty of the proposed improved STM is that all critical stages of the shear stress-strain relationships for RC joints can be predicted, which cover the stages characterized by concrete cracking, transverse reinforcement yielding and concrete strut crushing. For validation and demonstration of superiority, the shear stress-strain relationships of interior and exterior RC beam-column joints from published experimental studies are employed and compared with the predictions by the proposed improved STM and other widely-used analytical models, such as the MCFT and STM.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.437-448
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• 2020

In high rise buildings that utilize precast large panel system for construction, the shear wall provides strength and stiffness during earthquakes. The performance of a wall panel system depends mainly on the type of connection used to transfer the forces from one wall element to another wall element. This paper presents an experimental investigation on different types of construction detailing of the precast wall to wall vertical connections under reverse cyclic loading. One of the commonly used connections in India to connect wall to wall panel is the loop bar connection. Hence for this study, three types of wet connections and one type of dry connection namely: Staggered loop bar connection, Equally spaced loop bar connection, U-Hook connection, and Channel connection respectively were used to connect the precast walls. One third scale model of the wall was used for this study. The main objective of the experimental work is to evaluate the performance of the wall to wall connections in terms of hysteretic behaviour, ultimate load carrying capacity, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness degradation, ductility, viscous damping ratio, and crack pattern. All the connections exhibited similar load carrying capacity. The U-Hook connection exhibited higher ductility and energy dissipation when compared to the other three connections.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.4 no.1 s.11
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• pp.77-86
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• 2004

It is the buckling of the compression portions of the deckplate that govern its behaviour under wet concrete construction loading. The size and position of intermediate stiffeners in the compression flanges of thin-plate steel decks exert a strong influence on the dominant buckling mode of the flange. Test sections composed of high-strength steel were brake pressed with a variety of Flat-hat intermediate stiffeners in the compression flange forming a progression from small to large stiffeners. The ABAQUS program to determine the effectiveness of intermediate stiffeners in controlling buckling modes is undertaken. A series of specimens are loaded with simple beam. Various buckling wave forms prior to ultimate failure through a plastic collapse mechanism. The experimentally determined buckling stresses are found to be comparable with studies performed using the ABAQUS program analysis and using each country code.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.591-601
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• 2019

This research study investigates experimentally and analytically the axial compressive behaviour of Concrete Filled Fiber Reinforced Polymer Tube (CFFT) columns with and without Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars. The experimental program comprises five circular columns of 204-206 mm outer diameter and 800-812 mm height. All columns were tested under concentric axial compressive loads. It was found that CFFT columns with and without FRP bars achieved higher peak axial compressive loads and corresponding axial deformations than conventional steel reinforced concrete (RC) column. The contribution of FRP bars was about 12.1% of the axial compressive loads carried by CFFT columns reinforced with FRP bars. Axial load-axial deformation ($P-{\delta}$) curves of CFFT columns were analytically constructed, which mapped well with the experimental $P-{\delta}$ curves. Also, an equation was proposed to predict the axial compressive load capacity of CFFT columns with and without FRP bars, which adequately considers the contributions of the circumferential confinement provided by FRP tubes and lower ultimate strength of FRP bars in compression than in tension.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.4
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• pp.431-443
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• 2019

The present paper illustrates a numerical investigation on the failure behaviour of ring-stiffened cylinder subjected to external hydrostatic pressure. The published test data of steel welded ring-stiffened cylinder are surveyed and collected. Eight test models are chosen for the verification of the modelling and FE analyses procedures. The imperfection as the consequences of the fabrication processes, such as initial geometric deformation and residual stresses due to welding and cold forming, which reduced the ultimate strength, are simulated. The results show that the collapse pressure and failure mode predicted by the nonlinear FE analyses agree acceptably with the experimental results. In addition, the failure mode parameter obtained from the characteristic pressure such as interframe buckling pressure known as local buckling pressure, overall buckling pressure, and yield pressure are also examined through the collected data and shows a good correlation. A parametric study is then conducted to confirm the failure progression as the basic parameters such as the shell radius, thickness, overall length of the compartment, and stiffener spacing are varied.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.765-777
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• 2022

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) can be used in the UHPC-steel composite structures especially for bridge structures to achieve high stiffness and high fatigue resistance with low self-weight. The structural performances of UHPC-steel composite slabs subjected to hogging moment have a significant influence on the global stiffness and durability of UHPC-steel composite structures. In order to study the structural behaviors of non-steam-cured UHPC-steel composite slabs subjected to negative moment, five composite slabs combined the thin UHPC layers to steel plates via shear stud connecters with the diameter of 16mm were fabricated and tested under negative moment. The test program aimed to investigate the effect of stud spacing and longitudinal reinforcement ratios on the failure mode, load-deflection behaviors, cracking patterns, bond-slips, and carrying capacities of composite slabs subjected to negative moment. In addition, direct tensile tests for the dog-bone UHPC specimens with longitudinal reinforcement bars were carried out to study the effect of reinforcement bars on the tensile strength of UHPC in the thin structure members. Based on the experimental results, analytical models were also developed to predict the cracking load and ultimate load of UHPC-steel composite slabs subjected to negative moment.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.753-775
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• 2016

This paper aims to investigate the demountability of steel column-baseplate connections subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading. This paper presents the finite element analysis of steel column-baseplate connections under monotonic and cyclic loading. The finite element model takes into account the effects of material and geometric nonlinearities. Bauschinger and pinching effects were also included in the developed model, through which degradation of steel yield strength in cyclic loading can be well simulated. The results obtained from the finite element model are compared with the existing experimental results. It is demonstrated that the finite element model accurately predicts the initial stiffness, ultimate bending moment strength of steel column-baseplate connections. The finite element model is utilised to examine the effects of axial load, baseplate thickness, anchor bolt diameter and position on the behaviour of steel column-baseplate connections. The effects of various parameters on the demountability of steel column-baseplate connections are investigated. To achieve a demountable and reusable structure, various design parameters need to be considered. Initial stiffness and moment capacity of steel columnbaseplate connections are compared with design strengths from Eurocode 3. The comparison between finite element analysis and Eurocode 3 indicates that predictions of initial stiffness for semi-rigid connections should be developed and improved design of the connections needs to be used in engineering practice.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.267-278
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• 2022

Pre-stressed concrete circular spun piles are widely used in various infrastructure projects around the world and offer an economical deep foundation system with consistent and superior quality compared to cast in-situ and other concrete piles. Conventional methods for measuring the lateral response of piles have been limited to conventional instrumentation, such as electrical based gauges and pressure transducers. The problem with existing technology is that the sensors are not able to assist in recording the lateral stiffness changes of the pile which varies along the length depending on the distribution of the flexural moments and appearance of tensile cracks. This paper describes a full-scale bending test of a 1-m diameter spun pile of 30 m long and instrumented using advanced fibre optic distributed sensor, known as Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA). Optical fibre sensors were embedded inside the concrete during the manufacturing stage and attached on the concrete surface in order to measure the pile's full-length flexural behaviour under the prescribed serviceability and ultimate limit state. The relationship between moments-deflections and bending moments-curvatures are examined with respect to the lateral forces. Tensile cracks were measured and compared with the peak strains observed from BOTDA data which corroborated very well. By analysing the moment-curvature response of the pile, the structure can be represented by two bending stiffness parameters, namely the pre-yield (EI) and post-yield (EI_cr), where the cracks reduce the stiffness property by 89%. The pile deflection profile can be attained from optical fibre data through closed-form solutions, which generally matched with the displacements recorded by Linear Voltage Displacement Transducers (LVDTs).

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2010

A series of field pull-out tests were carried out to investigate the behaviour of multi-pressurized soil nails. Ten soil nails were constructed in weathered soil and then, subjected to pull-out loads. The test results showed that the ultimate pull-out resistances of soil nails constructed with high pressure were about 42~142% larger than those obtained from conventional soil nails. The deduced interface shear strength at the ground-grout interface was 71 kPa for conventional soil nails, while higher shear strength of 95~166 kPa was obtained for pressurized nails. The diameter of grouted borehole increased by about 12~27% compared to ordinary soil nails under low pressure. Also, the predicted value by the cavity expansion theory is in good agreement with the measured expanded radius of grout under injection pressure by field pull-out tests.