An Experimental Study on the Behavior of Shear Keys According to the Curing Time of UHPC

Precast segmental construction has been recently developed to reduce the construction cost and shorten the construction term as compared to the cast-in-place method in a will to establish the design and erection system of structures using Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC). However, this method requires the presence of segmental joints to transfer the loads between neighboring segments, which stresses the importance of securing structural safety and serviceability. Therefore, need is for research on the behavior of the segmental joint for the structures erected by the precast segmental construction method. To that goal, this paper presents an experimental study on the behavior of shear keys with respect to the curing time of UHPC in the segmental joint. Analysis is done on the load-displacement relation according to the curing time of the shear keys and on the failure modes of the shear keys according to the cracking pattern at failure.

Three-dimensional modelling of shear keys in concrete gravity dams using an advanced grillage method

Contraction joint shear keys are resilient features of gravity dams that can be considered to increase the sliding safety factors or minimise seismic residual sliding displacements,allowing costly remedial actions to be avoided.This paper presents a novel,robust,and computationally efficient three-dimensional(3D)modelling and simulation strategy of gravity dams,using a series of adjacent cantilever beam elements to represent individual monoliths.These monoliths are interconnected in the longitudinal direction by 3D no-tension link elements representing the lumped shear key stiffness contributions at a particular elevation.The objective is to assess the shear key internal force demands,including the axial force,shear,and moment demands.Shear key demand-capacity ratios can then be assessed with related multi-axial failure envelopes.The 3D link element stiffness coefficients were derived from a series of 3D finite element(FE)solid models with a detailed representation of geometrical features of multiple shear keys.The results from the proposed method based on advanced grillage analysis show strong agreement with reference solutions from 3D FE solid models,demonstrating high accuracy and performance of the proposed method.The application of the proposed advanced grillage method to a dam model with two monoliths clearly shows the advantage of the proposed method,in comparison to the classical approach used in practise.

Effect of mechanical degradation of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys upon seismic behaviors of small-to-medium-span highway bridges in transverse direction

Laminated elastomeric bearings have been widely used for small-to-medium-span highway bridges in China, in which concrete shear keys are set transversely to prohibit large girder displacement. To evaluate bridge seismic responses more accurately, proper analytical models of bearings and shear keys should be developed. Based on a series of cyclic loading experiments and analyses, rational analytical models of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys, which can consider mechanical degradation, were developed. The effect of the mechanical degradation was investigated by examining the seismic response of a small-to-medium-span bridge in the transverse direction under a wide range of peak ground accelerations（PGA）. The damage mechanism for small-to-medium-span highway bridges was determined, which can explain the seismic damage investigation during earthquakes in recent years. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of laminated elastomeric bearings will degrade due to friction sliding, but the degree of decrease is dependent upon the influencing parameters. It can be concluded that the mechanical degradation of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys play an important role in the seismic response of bridges. The degradation of mechanical properties of laminated elastomeric bearings and shear keys should be included to evaluate more precise bridge seismic performance.

Application Effect of Key Technology for Fine WoolProduction

By analyzing the gap between China and foreign countries in fine wool production, combined with the practical experience of fine woolproduction, the application effects of sheep clothing full coverage technology, mechanical shearing technology, wool grading and collection technology, scale packaging technology and standardized shearing environment control technique were evaluated, in order to provide reference for popularization and application of fine wool production.

Effect of abutment modeling on the seismic response ofbridge structures

Abutment behavior significantly influences the seismic response of certain bridge structures. Specifically in the case of short bridges with relatively stiff superstructures typical of highway overpasses, embankment mobilization and inelastic behavior of the soil material under high shear deformation levels dominate the response of the bridge and its column bents. This paper investigates the sensitivity of bridge seismic response with respect to three different abutment modeling approaches. The abutment modeling approaches are based on three increasing levels of complexity that attempt to capture the critical components and modes of abutment response without the need to generate continuum models of the embankment, approach, and abutment foundations. Six existing reinforced concrete bridge structures, typical of Ordinary Bridges in California, are selected for the analysis. Nonlinear models of the bridges are developed in OpenSees. Three abutment model types of increasing complexity are developed for each bridge, denoted as roller, simplified, and spring abutments. The roller model contains only single-point constraints. The spring model contains discrete representations of backfill, bearing pad, shear key, and back wall behavior. The simplified model is a compromise between the efficient roller model and the comprehensive spring model. Modal, pushover, and nonlinear dynamic time history analyses are conducted for the six bridges using the three abutment models for each bridge. Comparisons of the analysis results show major differences in mode shapes and periods, ultimate base shear strength, as well as peak displacements of the column top obtained due to dynamic excitation. The adequacy of the three abutment models used in the study to realistically represent all major resistance mechanisms and components of the abutments, including an accurate estimation of their mass, stiffness, and nonlinear hysteretic behavior, is evaluated. Recommendations for abutment modeling are made.

Effects of shear keys on nonlinear seismic responses of an arch-gravity dam

In the paper,the added tangential nonlinear springs are introduced to represent the effects of one-way and two-way shear keys. The added tangential stiffness coefficient is relative to the joint opening and the relative tangential movement and determined numerically by using a refined model of shear keys.The user subroutine of nonlinear spring elements has been implemented into ABAQUS program.The seismic responses of an arch-gravity dam are mainly examined.It is shown by the results that a significant increase of about 17%-30%in joint opening can be observed for the dam with one-way shear keys;the two-way shear keys are beneficial to restrain the sliding displacement along both the radial and vertical directions,whereas the one-way shear keys mainly restrain the displacement along the radial direction;for the dam with shear keys,the maximum arch stress is increased,the cantilever stress is reduced,and the location of the maximum cantilever stress is also moved from the dam heel to the midheight of the cantilever.

Parametric study on performance of bridge retrofitted by unseating prevention devices

Over the past decade, seismically induced damage to bridges has been widely reported following major earthquakes such as the 1994 Northridge, 1995 Kobe and 1999 Chi-Chi events. Since these earthquakes, restrainers and stoppers have been installed on bridges to prevent unseating and excessive displacements, respectively. Alternatively, column jacketing has also been proven to be effective. However, the enhanced shear strength may result in extra retrofitting works on the footing. For bridges damaged in the Chi-Chi earthquake, investigations revealed that most bridge columns experienced none-to-minor damage in the longitudinal direction. The reason for this unexpected performance was the construction practice of using a rubber bearing, which is an unbolted design that may slide under large lateral forces. In this paper, parametric studies on simply-supported bridges retrofitted by a restrainer or concrete shear key along the longitudinal and transverse axes were carried out. The research focuses on finding suitable combinations of the design force and gap spacing so the restrainer and concrete shear key can be used as an unseating prevention device, with respect to the allowable column damage in terms of displacement ductility under near-fault type earthquakes. A two-lane PCI-girder bridge was selected as the benchmark model. In the longitudinal direction, a total of nine combinations considering yielding strength and gap spacing for the restrainer were analyzed; while parameters for the concrete shear key were divided into three shear force levels and three gap spacings. In the transverse direction, a similar approach was adapted, except smaller gap spacing was used. For each of the above mentioned earthquakes, seven input ground motions were selected and their PGAs were adjusted to 0.36g and 0.45g as the Design earthquake and Maximum Considerable Earthquake, respectively. Based on the results of nonlinear time history analyses, proper parameters to design the restrainers and concrete shear keys are obtained. Responses obtained from numerical simulations under the Chi-Chi earthquake leaded to new implications to design those devices. Restrainer should not exceed its breaking strain and sufficient unseating length will be needed always. Concrete Shear key was determined by considering both displacement demand of the superstructure and displacement ductility of the column at the same time. Further study is needed to provide optimal design parameters for use in performance based bridge design.

Comparison of blood rheological models in patient specific cardiovascular system simulations

Newtonian, Quemada and Casson blood viscosity models are implemented in order to simulate the rheological behavior of blood under pulsating flow conditions in a patient specific iliac bifurcation. The influence of the applied blood constitutive equations is monitored via the wall shear stress （WSS） distribution, magnitude and oscillations, non-Newtonian importance factors, and viscosity values according to the shear rate. The distribution of WSS on the vascular wall follows a pattern which is independent of the theological model chosen. On the other hand, the WSS magnitude and oscillations are directly related to the blood constitutive equations applied and the shear rate. It is concluded that the Newtonian approximation is satisfactory only in high shear and flow rates. Moreover, the Newtonian model seems to overestimate the possibility for the formation of atherosclerotic lesions or aneurysms at sites of the vascular wall where the WSS are oscillating.