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SummaryAn innovative seismic resisting system consisting of a Precast Wall with End Columns (or PreWEC) has been developed, and its performance has been verified using large‐scale cyclic testing. The wall and end columns in the PreWEC system are anchored individually to a foundation using unbonded post‐tensioning. A newly designed, low‐cost mild steel connector is used to connect the wall and end columns horizontally along the vertical joint. The connectors are easily replaceable and provide additional hysteretic energy dissipation to the system. The PreWEC system can be economically designed to have a lateral load carrying capacity similar to that of a comparable reinforced concrete wall, while minimizing damage and providing self‐centering capability. In addition to confirming these benefits, the large‐scale test demonstrated that the PreWEC system: (i) would provide superior seismic performance compared to other currently available structural wall systems especially for the precast industry; and (ii) meets all the mandatory acceptance criteria established by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for special unbonded post‐tensioned precast structural walls and building frame special reinforced concrete shear wall systems, as defined in the American Concrete Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7‐05. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SUMMARYSome spread footing foundations from real retrofitting practices in Taiwan were extended to be uneconomically large due to the restriction of foundation uplift regulated in the design code. Although rocking mode of spread footings induced from foundation uplift is not favorable in current design code, recent studies have shown that the rocking of a spread footing may have a beneficial effect on the dynamic performance of piers by reducing the earthquake forces that can be transmitted to the pier base. This implies that the plastic deformation that occurs at the pier's plastic zone can be decreased and as a result the ductility demand of piers can possibly be reduced. In order to gain a better understanding of the structural behavior related to rocking and to clarify that if the widening and strengthening of the foundations to limit the rocking mechanism of spread footing is necessary for the retrofitting work, a series of preliminary rocking experiments were performed. A total of three circular reinforced concrete columns with spread footing foundations were tested. Using pseudo-dynamic tests and a cyclic loading test, these columns were subjected to different levels of earthquake accelerations, including a near field ground motion. The results of the tests and the rocking behavior of the footings are discussed in this paper. From the benchmark test, the difference between the response behavior of a rocking base and a fixed base foundation was highlighted. By comparing the experimental responses of the retrofitted column with the responses of the original one, the effect of the rocking mechanism on the ductility demand and strength demand of the columns was also identified.

Summary This study investigated the seismic performance and soil‐structure interaction of a scoured bridge models with pile foundation by shaking table tests using a biaxial laminar shear box. The bridge pier model with pile foundation comprised a lumped mass representing the superstructure, a steel pier, and a footing supported by a single aluminum pile within dry silica sand. End of the pile was fixed at the bottom of the shear box to simulate the scenario that the pile was embedded in a firm stratum of rock. The bridge pier model was subjected to one‐directional shakes, including white noise and earthquake records. The performance of the bridge pier model with pile foundation was discussed for different scoured conditions. It is found that the moment demand of pile increases with the increase of scoured depth whereas the moment demand of the bridge pier decreases, and this transition may induce the bridge failure mechanism transform from pier to pile. The seismic demand on scoured pile foundations may be underestimated and misinterpreted to a certain degree. When evaluating the system damping ratio with SSI, the system response may not be significantly changed even if the soil viscous damping contribution is varied. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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In this paper, a total of 60 concrete cylinders 30 cm in diameter and 60 cm in length confined by steel jackets of different thicknesses and different types of lateral steel reinforcements are tested to obtain the stress–strain curves of the cylinders. A constitutive model is proposed to describe the behavior of concrete confined by steel reinforcement, steel jackets, and both steel reinforcement and steel jackets used to retrofit and strengthen reinforced concrete structures. The confined concrete stress–strain curve of the proposed model is divided into two regions: the curve in the first region is approximated using a second-order polynomial equation, and that in the second region using an nth-order power-law equation, where n is a function of the unconfined concrete strength and the lateral confining stress. The results of the experiments show that different types of lateral steel reinforcement contribute greatly to the compressive strength of concrete cylinders confined by the reinforcement. Comparing the stress–strain curves of the uniaxial test with that from the proposed model, we conclude that the proposed model for concrete confined by a steel jacket and lateral steel reinforcement can predict the experimental results very well.Key words: constitutive model, steel jacket, confined concrete.

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