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Pre-tensioned concrete T-beams with draped strands have been gradually promoted and used in bridge construction in recent years due to their advantages such as simple structure, efficient force distribution, and few defects. However, the current design codes exhibit conservative provisions for the calculation of the shear capacity of such beams under a small shear span ratio, which may lead to a large design value of beam web thickness. This is primarily due to insufficient experimental data. This paper details a full-scale experimental investigation on the shear failure mechanisms of two 30 m pre-tensioned concrete T-beams with draped strands, under a shear span ratio of 1, at which the shear capacity of the beams represents their upper limit. The specimens were tested to analyze their mechanical behavior, including load-deflection response, crack distribution, stirrup strain, and strand slip. The ultimate shear capacities of the test beams were 7107 kN and 6742 kN. To evaluate the applicability of current design codes, the experimental results were compared with theoretical predictions from five international design codes. The analysis revealed that the AASHTO code provided the highest upper limit of shear capacity for pre-tensioned concrete T-beams with draped strands, whereas the Chinese code (JTG 3362-2018) exhibited a significantly high safety factor of 4.09. These findings provide a basis for the optimized design of pre-tensioned concrete T-beams with draped strands and the determination of the upper limit of shear capacity.

Nine T-beams, prestressed with external tendons, were tested to failure to investigate the effect of prestressing, shear span-depth ratio, shear reinforcement, and bend angle of external tendons on the shear behavior and ultimate capacity of externally prestressed concrete beams. Test results indicated that the application of straight tendons did not change the load-transfer path and the entire configuration of arch action. A new fan-shaped crack region was found beyond the shear span when draping external tendons, which was defined as the secondary fan-shaped crack region. Considering the effect of draped tendons by supplementing the secondary arch action for shear strength of externally prestressed concrete beams, a new truss arch model was proposed. The accuracy of the proposed model was verified by testing results, and compared with the shear-strength predictions of ACI 318-11, AASHTO LRFD, and MC2010.

To fill the binary image of draped fabric into a comparable grayscale image with detailed shade information, the three-dimensional point cloud of draped fabric was obtained with a self-built three-dimensional scanning device. The three-dimensional point cloud of drape fabric is encapsulated into a triangular mesh, and the binary and grayscale images of draped fabric were rendered in virtual environments separately. A pix2pix convolutional neural network with the binary image of draped fabric as input and the grayscale image of draped fabric as output was constructed and trained. The relationship between the binary image and the grayscale image was established. The results show that the trained pix2pix neural network can fill unknown binary top view images of draped fabric to grayscale images. The average pixel cosine similarity between filling results and ground truth could reach 0.97.

Proenza Schouler has gone from downtown darling to the voice of a generation, says Mark Holgate. It is dressing it, too, from the coolest girls to the likes of Kristen Stewart, one of Hollywood's hottest talents

Marcia DeSanctis thought she couldn't live without another, younger man, until her husband proved her wrong. A tale of marital survival...

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Contexts Paradigms Tomb Relief from Via Po, Rome, Augustan Period Marble Sarcophagus from Rome, Early Second Century CE Marble Sarcophagus from Portonaccio, Rome, Late Second Century CE Conclusion Further Reading

Kristin Scott Thomas, starring in The Seagull, tells Adam Green about playing—and being—a woman of a certain age.

Here, where surf culture is the biggest influence, the look is markedly sporty and free-spirited.

Is brown hair the new blonde? All the best models and social swans think so. Lifelong brunette Marina Rust talks to the pros about the trend sweeping the country.