• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.499-509
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the degradation law of stiffness of steel-concrete composite beams after certain fatigue loads. First, six test beams with stud connectors were designed and fabricated for static and fatigue tests. The resultant failure modes under different fatigue loading cycles were compared. And an analysis was performed for the variations in the load-deflection curves, residual deflections and relative slips of the composite beams during fatigue loading. Then, the correlations among the stiffness degradation of each test beam, the residual deflection and relative slip growth during the fatigue test were investigated, in order to clarify the primary reasons for the stiffness degradation of the composite beams. Finally, based on the stiffness degradation function under fatigue loading, a calculation model for the residual stiffness of composite beams in response to fatigue loading cycles was established by parameter fitting. The results show that the stiffness of composite beams undergoes irreversible degradation under fatigue loading. And stiffness degradation is associated with the macrobehavior of material fatigue damage and shear connection degradation. In addition, the stiffness degradation of the composite beams exhibit S-shaped monotonic decreasing trends with fatigue cycles. The general agreement between the calculation model and experiment shows good applicability of the proposed model for specific beam size and fatigue load parameters. Moreover, the research results provide a method for establishing a stiffness degradation model for composite beams after fatigue loading.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.239-251
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• 2023

The stiffness evaluation of cracked base metal is of great guidance to fatigue crack reinforcement. By carrying out fatigue tests and numerical simulation of typical cracking details in steel box girder, the strain-degradation law of cracked base metal was analyzed and the relationship between base metal stress and its displacement (stiffness) was explored. The feasibility of evaluating the stress of cracked base metal based on the stress field at the crack tip was verified. The results demonstrate that the stiffness of cracked base metal shows the fast-to-slow degradation trend with fatigue cracking and the base metal at 50mm or more behind the crack tip basically lose its bearing capacity. Drilling will further accelerate stiffness degradation with the increase of hole diameters. The base metal stress has a negative linear relation with its displacement (stiffness), The stress of cracked base metal is also related to stress intensity factor and its relative position (distance, included angle) to the crack tip, through which the local stiffness can be effectively evaluated. Since the stiffness is not uniformly distributed along the cracked base metal, the reinforcement patch is suggested to be designed according to the stiffness to avoid excessive reinforcement for the areas incompletely unloaded.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.335-349
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• 2019

A low-cycle loading experiment of 16 transfer column specimens was conducted to study the influence of parameters, likes the extension length of shape steel, the ratio of shape steel, the axial compression ratio and the volumetric ratio of stirrups, on the shear distribution between steel and concrete, the concrete damage state and the degradation of lateral stiffness. Shear force of shape steel reacted at the core area of concrete section and led to tension effect which accelerated the damage of concrete. At the same time, the damage of concrete diminished its shear capacity and resulted in the shear enlargement of shape steel. The interplay between concrete damage and shear force of shape steel ultimately made for the failures of transfer columns. With the increase of extension length, the lateral stiffness first increases and then decreases, but the stiffness degradation gets faster; With the increase of steel ratio, the lateral stiffness remains the same, but the degradation gets faster; With the increase of the axial compression ratio, the lateral stiffness increases, and the degradation is more significant. Using more stirrups can effectively restrain the development of cracks and increase the lateral stiffness at the yielding point. Also, a formula for calculating the yielding lateral stiffness is obtained by a regression analysis of the test data.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.89-110
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• 2014

Nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out to investigate the influence of the pinching hysteretic response of the exterior RC beam-column joints on the seismic behavior of multistory RC frame structures. The effect of the pinching on the local and global mechanisms of an 8-storey bare frame and an 8-storey pilotis type frame structure is evaluated. Further, an experimental data bank extracted from literature is used to acquire experimental experience of the range of the real levels that have to be considered for the pinching effect on the hysteretic response of the joints. Thus, three different cases for the hysteretic response of the joints are considered: (a) joints with strength and stiffness degradation characteristics but without pinching effect, (b) joints with strength degradation, stiffness degradation and low pinching effect and (c) joints with strength degradation, stiffness degradation and high pinching effect. For the simulation of the beam-column joints a special-purpose rotational spring element that incorporates the examined hysteretic options developed by the authors and implemented in a well-known nonlinear dynamic analysis program is employed for the analysis of the structural systems. The results of this study indicate that the effect of pinching on the local and global responses of the examined cases is not really significant at early stages of the seismic loading and especially in the cases when strength degradation in the core of exterior joint has occurred. Nevertheless in the cases when strength degradation does not occur in the joints the pinching may increase the demands for ductility and become critical for the columns at the base floor of the frame structures. Finally, as it was expected the ability for energy absorption was reduced due to pinching effect.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.327-335
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• 2011

This study has two objectives: (1) to evaluate the degradation characteristics of symmetric unbraced steel frames by using analytical approach, and (2) to suggest equation which can approximately estimate the effect of degradation during the schematic design stage. For the analytical approach, the refined plastic hinge method with an arc length algorithm was adopted. The subject of analysis was one story one-bay, multistory one-bay, and multistory three-bay unbraced steel frames. The main parameters of the analytical approach include the stiffness ratio of column to beam and the axial force ratio. The study led to the following conclusions. The normalized stiffness of degradations is affected by both stiffness ratio of column to beam and the axial load ratio; however, the major influence on degradations is the axial force ratio. The equation, which can approximately estimate the effect of degradation, was suggested together with the research results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.655-676
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• 2013

In this study, strength reduction factors and inelastic displacement ratios are investigated for SDOF systems with period range of 0.1-3.0 s considering soil structure interaction for earthquake motions recorded on soft soil. The effect of stiffness degradation on strength reduction factors and inelastic displacement ratios is investigated. The modified-Clough model is used to represent structures that exhibit significant stiffness degradation when subjected to reverse cyclic loading and the elastoplastic model is used to represent non-degrading structures. The effect of negative strain - hardening on the inelastic displacement and strength of structures is also investigated. Soil structure interacting systems are modeled and analyzed with effective period, effective damping and effective ductility values differing from fixed-base case. For inelastic time history analyses, Newmark method for step by step time integration was adapted in an in-house computer program. New equations are proposed for strength reduction factor and inelastic displacement ratio of interacting system as a function of structural period($\tilde{T}$, T) ductility (${\mu}$) and period lengthening ratio ($\tilde{T}$/T).

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1531-1548
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• 2015

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between Barcol hardness (H) and flexural modulus (E) degradation of composite sheets subjected to flexural fatigue. The resin transfer molding (RTM) method was used to produce 3-mm-thick composite sheets with fiber volume fraction of 44%. The composite sheets were subjected to flexural fatigue tests and Barcol scale hardness measurements. After these tests, the stiffness and hardness degradations were investigated in the composite sheets that failed after around one million cycles (stage III). Flexural modulus degradation values were in the range of 0.41-0.42 with the corresponding measured hardness degradation values in the range of 0.25-0.32 for the all fatigued composite sheets. Thus, a 25% reduction in the initial hardness and a 41% reduction in the initial flexural modulus can be taken as the failure criteria. The results showed that a reasonably well-defined relationship between Barcol hardness and flexural modulus degradation in the distance range.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.347-354
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• 2000

The seismic behaviors of a bridge system with several simple spans are examined to see the effects of the longitudinal stiffness degradation due to abutment-soil interaction. The abutment-backfill system is modeled as one degree-of-freedom-system with nonlinear spring and linear damper. various soil-conditions surrounding the abutment such as loose sand, medium dense sand, and dense sand are considered in the bridge seismic analysis. The idealized mechanical model for the whole bridge system is modeled by adopting the multiple-degree-of-freedom system, which can consider components such as pounding phenomena, friction at the movable supports, rotational and translational motions of foundations, and the nonlinear pier motions. The stiffness of the abutment is found to be rapidly reduced at the beginning of the earthquakes, and to be converged to constant values shortly after the displacement approaches to the Predefined critical values. It is observed that the maximum relative distanced an maximum relative displacements are generally Increased as the relative density of a soil decreases As the peak ground acceleration increases, the response ratio of the case considering stiffness degradation to the case considering constant stiffness decreases.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.23-29
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• 2007

The performance of the improved soil against liquefaction depends upon the chemical density, and it has been decided on the basis of the unconfined compressive strength of the improved soil up to date. On the other hand, several authors have proposed that the stiffness degradation could be treated as the clue for the judgment of the possibility of liquefaction. In this study, therefore, the stiffness degradation of the improved soil was estimated as the resistance against liquefaction by using the strain controlled cyclic triaxial test equipment. Based on the test results, it is concluded that the chemically treated sand can resist against the liquefaction in aspect of the reduction in effective stress and in the stiffness. Furthermore, even in the case of low chemical density, such as 2% in this study, has enough liquefaction resistance when compared with the 5~6% which often used in practical design. Considering this fact, the design of chemical density based on the unconfined strength can lead the overestimation in chemical density, and chemical density can be reduced when considering the stiffness reduction shown in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.466-472
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• 2013

The use of a concrete track is gradually growing in urban and high-speed railways in many part of the world. The resilient pad, which is essentially when concrete tracks are used, plays the important role of relieving the impact caused by train loads. The simple fatigue test[1] to estimate the variable stiffness of resilient pads is usually performed, but it differs depending on the practical conditions of different railways. In this study, the static stiffness levels of used resilient pads according to passing tonnages levels were measured in laboratory tests. Also, the simple fatigue test and the multi-stress accelerated degradation test for new resilient pads were performed in a laboratory. The static stiffness of the used pad was compared with the results of tests of usage times and cycles. The results of the comparison showed that the variable static stiffness levels of the used pad were similar to results of the multi-stress accelerated degradation test considering the fatigue and heat load. With a T-NT equation related to the degree of the multi-stress accelerated degradation, a model of multi-stress accelerated degradation for a resilient pad was devised. It was found through this effort that the total acceleration factor was approximately 2.62. Finally, this study proposes an equation for a multi-stress accelerated degradation model for polyurethane resilient pads.