In this study, the cyclic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beam with openings strengthened using carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) was experimentally investigated. Seven rectangular RC beams were cast and strengthened through external bonding of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets around the beam web opening with different orientations to evaluate the maximum resistance, secant stiffness, strength degradation, ductility, energy dissipation capacity and behavior of the specimens’ failure mode under cyclic load. One solid beam without an opening (i.e., control specimen) and six beams constructed with circular web openings typically located in the middle of the beam and adjacent to the supports were used in the experiments. Among the six specimens with opening configuration, two beams were unstrengthened, and the remaining four specimens were strengthened with two layers of FRP sheets with vertical and inclined scheme orientation. Numerical studies were performed on ABAQUS software, and finite element modelling analysis results were verified through experiments. Results demonstrated that the use of FRP sheets has a significant effect on the cyclic behavior of RC beams, thereby improving the maximum strength and ultimate displacement to approximately 66.67% and 77.14%, respectively. The validated finite element models serve as a numerical platform to apply beneficial parametric studies, where the effects of opening size and bond length are investigated.

The double concave friction pendulum system has been recognized as an efficient device for decreasing the seismic response of a structure during an earthquake excitation. Previous studies have focused mainly on the properties of the double concave friction pendulum system under constant vertical loading, and the width of the hysteretic loop changed by the vertical ground motion is less considered. In view of this, a theoretical study of the double concave friction pendulum system under variable vertical loading is conducted in this article. Meanwhile, the properties of the hysteretic loops of the double concave friction pendulum system with different friction coefficients between the articulated slider with the upper and lower sliding surfaces are investigated. The results show that the hysteretic loops of the double concave friction pendulum system will be affected by the variation of the vertical loading and the difference of the friction coefficients between the articulated slider with the upper and lower sliding surfaces.

The interior temperature of the massive concrete should be controlled to avoid cracks caused by the trapped hydration heat. In this paper, an enhanced heat transfer pipe array with spiral fins (PSF) is proposed to reduce the interior temperature of concrete blocks. Numerical simulations of massive concrete blocks embedded with traditional cooling water pipe (TCWP) and newly proposed PSF were conducted to investigate the interior temperature distribution of massive concrete. Meanwhile, validity of the finite element model was verified by both theoretical results and available experimental data. Based on the calculated temperature distribution of the points located in the interior area of the massive concrete, it is shown that when the TCWP was replaced by the PSF, the interior temperature can be significantly reduced. Therefore, compared to the TCWP, the proposed PSF has excellent heat transfer performance for cooling the interior temperature of massive concrete.