Inelastic behaviors of steel shear tab connections

Inelastic behaviors of shear tab connections commonly used in modern steel buildings are investigated in this work. Full‐scale steel shear tab connections with and without concrete slab physically tested by other researchers are closely simulated by non‐linear finite element (FE) method. Different nonlinear FE features (inelastic materials, surface‐based contacts and large geometric options) are included, and different solution strategies (Newton method and Explicit Dynamic method) are employed to balance computational effort and solution accuracy. The simulations extend our understandings on shear tab connections at micro levels, including stress distribution in the connection zone, movement of the neutral axis along the beam sections and normal stress distributions along steel shear tabs and concrete slabs. It is found that the shear tabs contribute to flexural strength of the beam‐to‐column connection and the elastic–plastic theory explains the observed behavior well only when concrete slab is not present. The composite steel shear tab connections have unsymmetrical behavior under negative and positive bending moments. The compressive concrete slabs significantly increase the flexural stiffness and strength of composite shear tab connections. It is also verified that the shear studs near steel columns play a key role for the composite connections. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative study of special and ordinary braced frames

The collapse probability of ductile and non‐ductile concentrically braced frames was investigated using nonlinear dynamic response analysis. Two buildings with three and nine stories located in Boston and Los Angeles, respectively, were designed and subjected to ground motions from the areas. In Boston area, three‐story and nine‐story buildings were designed as ordinary concentrically braced frame with response modification reduction factor R equal to 3 1/4 to be considered as non‐ductile structural systems; comparatively, in Los Angeles area, three‐story and nine‐story buildings were designed as special concentrically braced frame with response modification reduction factor R equal to 6 to be considered as ductile structural systems. In order to evaluate the performance of ductile and non‐ductile concentrically braced frames in moderate and severe seismic regions, ATC‐63 would be used as reference to assess the seismic behaviors. Evaluation approach recommended by ATC‐63 was adopted, and hundreds of nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed. Through alternating the scale factors of designated ground motions, median of structural collapse intensity was presented for each structure. By observing the results of statistical performance assessment, the seismic performance of the systems was evaluated, and some observations are made based on the study. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microencapsulation of probiotic Lactobacillus brevis ST-69 producing GABA using alginate supplemented with nanocrystalline starch

Food Science and Biotechnology - Microencapsulation technology can be used to improve the probiotic viability under stress condition in the human gastrointestinal tract and during storage. The...     

Spray-drying microencapsulation using whey protein isolate and nano-crystalline starch for enhancing the survivability and stability of Lactobacillus reuteri TF-7

Decrease of survivability and stability is a major problem affecting probiotic functional food. Thus, in this study, Lactobacillus reuteri TF-7 producing bile salt hydrolase was microencapsulated in whey protein isolate (WPI) or whey protein isolate combined with nano-crystalline starch (WPI-NCS) using the spray-drying technique to enhance the survivability and stability of probiotics under various adverse conditions. Spherical microcapsules were generated with this microencapsulation technique. In addition, the survival of L. reuteri TF-7 loaded in WPI-NCS microcapsules was significantly higher than WPI microcapsules and free cells after exposure to heat, pH, and simulated gastrointestinal conditions. During long-term storage at 4, 25, and 35 °C, WPI-NCS microcapsules could retain both survival and biological activity. These findings suggest that microcapsules fabricated from WPI-NCS provide the most robust efficiency for enhancing the survivability and stability of probiotics, in which their great potentials appropriate to develop as the cholesterol-lowering probiotic supplements.