A minimum ductility design method for non-rectangular high-strength concrete beams

F. T. K. Au,A. K. H. Kwan 한국계산역학회 2004 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.1 No.2

The flexural ductility of solid rectangular reinforced concrete beams has been studied quite extensively. However, many reinforced concrete beams are neither solid nor rectangular; examples include T-, Γ-, Π- and box-shaped beams. There have been few studies on the flexural ductility of nonrectangular reinforced concrete beams and as a result little is known about the possible effect of sectional shape on flexural ductility. Herein, the effect of sectional shape on the post-peak flexural behaviour of reinforced normal and high-strength concrete beams has been studied using a newly developed analysis method that employs the actual stress-strain curves of the constitutive materials and takes into account the stress-path dependence of the stress-strain curve of the steel reinforcement. It was revealed that the sectional shape could have significant effect on the flexural ductility of a concrete beam and that the flexural ductility of a T-, Γ-, Π- or box-shaped beam is generally lower than that of a solid rectangular beam with the same overall dimensions and the same amount of reinforcement provided. Based on the numerical results obtained, a simple method of ensuring the provision of a certain minimum level of flexural ductility to non-rectangular concrete beams has been developed.

Simulation of vibrations of Ting Kau Bridge due to vehicular loading from measurements

Au, F.T.K.,Lou, P.,Li, J.,Jiang, R.J.,Zhang, J.,Leung, C.C.Y.,Lee, P.K.K.,Lee, J.H.,Wong, K.Y.,Chan, H.Y. Techno-Press 2011 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.40 No.4

The Ting Kau Bridge in Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge comprising two main spans and two side spans. The bridge deck is supported by three towers, an end pier and an abutment. Each of the three towers consists of a single reinforced concrete mast strengthened by transverse cables and struts. The bridge deck is supported by four inclined planes of cables emanating from anchorages at the tower tops. In view of the heavy traffic on the bridge, and threats from typhoons and earthquakes originated in areas nearby, the dynamic behaviour of long-span cable-supported bridges in the region is always an important consideration in their design. Baseline finite element models of various levels of sophistication have been built not only to match the bridge geometry and cable forces specified on the as-constructed drawings but also to be calibrated using the vibration measurement data captured by the Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System. This paper further describes the analysis of axle loading data, as well as the generation of random axle loads and simulation of vibrations of the bridge using the finite element models. Various factors affecting the vehicular loading on the bridge will also be examined.

Ambient Vibration measurements and finite element modelling for the Hong Kong Ting Kau Bridge

Au, F.T.K.,Tham, L.G.,Lee, P.K.K.,Su, C.,Han, D.J.,Yan, Q.S.,Wong, K.Y. Techno-Press 2003 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.15 No.1

The Ting Kau Bridge in Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge comprising two main spans and two side spans. The bridge deck is supported by three towers, an end pier and an abutment. Each of the three towers consists of a single reinforced concrete mast which reduces its section in steps, and it is strengthened by transverse cables and struts in the transverse vertical plane. The bridge deck is supported by four inclined planes of cables emanating from anchorages at the tower tops. In view of the threat from typhoons, the dynamic behaviour of long-span cable-supported bridges in the region is always an important consideration in their design. This paper is devoted to the ambient vibration measurements of the bridge for evaluation of dynamic characteristics including the natural frequencies and mode shapes. It also describes the modelling of the bridge. A few finite element models are developed and calibrated to match with the field data and the results of subsequent structural health monitoring of the bridge.

Association Between Leisure Time Physical Activity, Cardiopulmonary Fitness, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Cardiovascular Workload at Work in Firefighters

Yu, Clare C.W.,Au, Chun T.,Lee, Frank Y.F.,So, Raymond C.H.,Wong, John P.S.,Mak, Gary Y.K.,Chien, Eric P.,McManus, Alison M. Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2015 Safety and health at work Vol.6 No.3

Background: Overweight, obesity, and cardiovascular disease risk factors are prevalent among firefighters in some developed countries. It is unclear whether physical activity and cardiopulmonary fitness reduce cardiovascular disease risk and the cardiovascular workload at work in firefighters. The present study investigated the relationship between leisure-time physical activity, cardiopulmonary fitness, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and cardiovascular workload at work in firefighters in Hong Kong. Methods: Male firefighters (n = 387) were randomly selected from serving firefighters in Hong Kong (n = 5,370) for the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk factors (obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, known cardiovascular diseases). One-third (Target Group) were randomly selected for the assessment of off-duty leisure-time physical activity using the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Maximal oxygen uptake was assessed, as well as cardiovascular workload using heart rate monitoring for each firefighter for four "normal" 24-hour working shifts and during real-situation simulated scenarios. Results: Overall, 33.9% of the firefighters had at least two cardiovascular disease risk factors. In the Target Group, firefighters who had higher leisure-time physical activity had a lower resting heart rate and a lower average working heart rate, and spent a smaller proportion of time working at a moderate-intensity cardiovascular workload. Firefighters who had moderate aerobic fitness and high leisure-time physical activity had a lower peak working heart rate during the mountain rescue scenario compared with firefighters who had low leisure-time physical activities. Conclusion: Leisure-time physical activity conferred significant benefits during job tasks of moderate cardiovascular workload in firefighters in Hong Kong.

Effects of strain hardening of steel reinforcement on flexural strength and ductility of concrete beams

Ho, J.C.M.,Au, F.T.K.,Kwan, A.K.H. Techno-Press 2005 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.19 No.2

In the design of reinforced concrete beams, it is a standard practice to use the yield stress of the steel reinforcement for the evaluation of the flexural strength. However, because of strain hardening, the tensile strength of the steel reinforcement is often substantially higher than the yield stress. Thus, it is a common belief that the actual flexural strength should be higher than the theoretical flexural strength evaluated with strain hardening ignored. The possible increase in flexural strength due to strain hardening is a two-edge sword. In some cases, it may be treated as strength reserve contributing to extra safety. In other cases, it could lead to greater shear demand causing brittle shear failure of the beam or unexpected greater capacity of the beam causing violation of the strong column-weak beam design philosophy. Strain hardening may also have certain effect on the flexural ductility. In this paper, the effects of strain hardening on the post-peak flexural behaviour, particularly the flexural strength and ductility, of reinforced normal- and high-strength concrete beams are studied. The results reveal that the effects of strain hardening could be quite significant when the tension steel ratio is relatively small.

Semi-active control of ship mast vibrations using magneto-rheological dampers

Cheng, Y.S.,Au, F.T.K.,Zhong, J.P. Techno-Press 2008 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.30 No.6

On marine vessels, delicate instruments such as navigation radars are normally mounted on ship masts. However the vibrations at the top of mast where the radar is mounted often cause serious deterioration in radar-tracking resolution. The most serious problem is caused by the rotational vibrations at the top of mast that may be due to wind loading, inertial loading from ship rolling and base excitations induced by the running propeller. This paper presents a method of semi-active vibration control using magneto-rheological (MR) dampers to reduce the rotational vibration of the mast. In the study, the classical optimal control algorithm, the independent modal space control algorithm and the double input - single output fuzzy control algorithm are employed for the vibration control. As the phenomenological model of an MR damper is highly nonlinear, which is difficult to analyse, a back- propagation neural network is trained to emulate the inverse dynamic characteristics of the MR damper in the analysis. The trained neural network gives the required voltage for each MR damper based on the displacement, velocity and control force of the MR damper quickly. Numerical simulations show that the proposed control methods can effectively suppress the rotational vibrations at the top of mast.

Immune competence assessment in marine medaka (Orzyias melastigma)—a holistic approach for immunotoxicology

Ye, R. R.,Peterson, D. R.,Seemann, F.,Kitamura, S. I.,Lee, J. S.,Lau, T. C.,Tsui, S. K.,Au, D. W. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 Environmental Science and Pollution Research Vol.24 No.36

<P>Many anthropogenic pollutants in coastal marine environments can induce immune impairments in wild fish and reduce their survival fitness. There is a pressing need to establish sensitive and high throughput in vivo tools to systematically evaluate the immunosuppressive effects of contaminants in marine teleosts. This study reviewed a battery of in vivo immune function detection technologies established for different biological hierarchies at molecular (immune function pathways and genes by next generation sequencing (NGS)), cellular (leukocytes profiles by flow cytometry), tissues/organ system (whole adult histo-array), and organism (host resistance assays (HRAs)) levels, to assess the immune competence of marine medaka Oryzias melastigma. This approach enables a holistic assessment of fish immune competence under different chemical exposure or environmental scenarios. The data obtained will also be useful to unravel the underlying immunotoxic mechanisms. Intriguingly, NGS analysis of hepatic immune gene expression profiles (male > female) are in support of the bacterial HRA findings, in which infection-induced mortality was consistently higher in females than in males. As such, reproductive stages and gender-specific responses must be taken into consideration when assessing the risk of immunotoxicants in the aquatic environment. The distinct phenotypic sexual dimorphism and short generation time (3 months) of marine medaka offer additional advantages for sex-related immunotoxicological investigation.</P>

Flexural ductility of prestressed concrete beams with unbonded tendons

F.T.K. Au,K.H.E. Chan,A.K.H. Kwan,J.S. Du 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2009 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.6 No.6

Based on a numerical method to analyse the full-range behaviour of prestressed concrete beams with unbonded tendons, parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influence of 11 parameters on the curvature ductility of unbonded prestressed concrete (UPC) beams. It is found that, among various parameters studied, the depth to prestressing tendons, depth to non-prestressed tension steel, partial prestressing ratio, yield strength of non-prestressed tension steel and concrete compressive strength have substantial effects on the curvature ductility. Although the curvature ductility of UPC beams is affected by a large number of factors, rather simple equations can be formulated for reasonably accurate estimation of curvature ductility. Conversion factors are introduced to cope with the difference in partial safety factors, shapes of equivalent stress blocks and the equations to predict the ultimate tendon stress in BS8110, EC2 and ACI318. The same equations can also be used to provide conservative estimates of ductility of UPC beams with compression steel.

Simulation of vibrations of Ting Kau Bridge due to vehicular loading from measurements

F.T.K. Au,P. Lou,J. Li,R.J. Jiang,J. Zhang,C.C.Y. Leung,P.K.K. Lee,이진휴,K.Y. Wong,H.Y. Chan 국제구조공학회 2011 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.40 No.4

The Ting Kau Bridge in Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge comprising two main spans and two side spans. The bridge deck is supported by three towers, an end pier and an abutment. Each of the three towers consists of a single reinforced concrete mast strengthened by transverse cables and struts. The bridge deck is supported by four inclined planes of cables emanating from anchorages at the tower tops. In view of the heavy traffic on the bridge, and threats from typhoons and earthquakes originated in areas nearby, the dynamic behaviour of long-span cable-supported bridges in the region is always an important consideration in their design. Baseline finite element models of various levels of sophistication have been built not only to match the bridge geometry and cable forces specified on the as-constructed drawings but also to be calibrated using the vibration measurement data captured by the Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System. This paper further describes the analysis of axle loading data, as well as the generation of random axle loads and simulation of vibrations of the bridge using the finite element models. Various factors affecting the vehicular loading on the bridge will also be examined.

Complete moment-curvature relationship of reinforced normal- and high-strength concrete beams\r\nexperiencing complex load history

F. T. K. Au,B. Z. Z. Bai,A. K. H. Kwan 한국계산역학회 2005 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.2 No.4

The moment-curvature relationship of reinforced concrete beams made of normal- and high-strength concrete experiencing complex load history is studied using a numerical method that employs the actual stress-strain curves of the constitutive materials and takes into account the stress-path dependence of the concrete and steel reinforcement. The load history considered includes loading, unloading and reloading. From the results obtained, it is found that the complete moment-curvature relationship, which is also path-dependent, is similar to the material stress-strain relationship with stress-path dependence. However, the unloading part of the moment-curvature relationship of the beam section is elastic but not perfectly linear, although the unloading of both concrete and steel is assumed to be linearly elastic. It is also observed that when unloading happens, the variation of neutral axis depth has different trends for under- and over-reinforced sections. Moreover, even when the section is fully unloaded, there are still residual curvature and stress in the section in some circumstances. Various issues related to the post-peak behavior of reinforced concrete beams are also discussed.