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Article A Factory in a Time of Turmoil: The Establishment and Engineering of the Büyükdere Match Factory in 1930s Istanbul(MDPI, 2025) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer EminThe Republic of Turkey established its first match factory in Sinop in 1929 but had to relocate it even before it was in operation due to severe structural damage caused by ground settlement. In July 1930, through his US-based firm the American-Turkish Investment Corporation (ATIC), the Swedish "Match King" Ivar Kreuger signed a contract with the Republic of Turkey to build and operate a factory in B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere, Istanbul. By 1930, Kreuger had already established a match production monopoly in nearly every country in Europe and that year created a similar financial system for Turkey, gaining control of match production for 25 years. This article explains the events surrounding the establishment of his modern production facility in Turkey, with a particular focus on its engineering aspects. It details the strategically chosen location, the engineering solutions for the factory's construction, its production lines, and what the country gained and lost from it. In order to determine the establishment and production processes of the facility, the authors examined domestic and foreign archival documents, firsthand news reports from the period, articles and theses, and all other available documents. After the contract was terminated by both parties, the Turkish government and ATIC, in May 1943, the factory continued its production and storage activities until May 1989. At that point, the factory and all its equipment were integrated into another existing facility in the & Idot;neg & ouml;l district of Bursa province. Almost all the buildings of the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory were demolished, and the land was repurposed for a 450-bed regional hospital in 2012. In short, this article deploys the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory as a case study to examine what Turkey gained and lost from the establishment and production processes of a modern industrial factory, enabled by US-Turkish collaboration, and equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies of the time.Article Structural behavior of shear connectors embedded in different types of concrete(2020) Wardi, Adil Hadi; Tunc, Gokhan; Ibraheem, KhalilPush-out tests are used to determine shear connectors’ properties where two smallreinforced concrete walls are attached to the top and bottom flanges of an I-sectionthrough four shear studs located on both its flanges. In this study, the structural behavior of shear connectors was examined by testing a total of 36 push-out specimens.In these specimens, various test parameters were used. The types of shear connectors and their strengths, their connection types, and the strength of the concrete inwhich they were embedded were all investigated. Headed, L-shaped, and C-shapedstuds were selected in this experimental study to represent different types of shearconnectors. These shear connectors were assumed to be either ordinary or highstrength steel-embedded in three different types of concrete: ordinary, high strength,and reactive powder concretes. In these tests, the shear connectors were connectedthrough welding or epoxy bonding. The objective of this study was to investigate thestructural behaviors of these different types of shear connectors by focusing on theirshear force capacities and slip values. The test results indicate that the reactive powder concrete increased the mechanical properties of concrete as the concrete age increased. The specimens with C-shaped studs made of high-strength steel with weldedstuds embedded in normal weight, high strength and reactive powder concretes, generated the maximum shear resistance values.Article Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 1A Close Examination of Ankara's Reinforced Concrete Buildings Designed and Constructed Between 1923 and 1938(Mdpi, 2023) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer EminThe Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire. Between 1923 and 1938, the Turkish republic underwent fifteen years of rapid expansion and growth, with Ankara as its new capital and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) as its first president. During this period, reinforced concrete (RC) played a significant role in the construction of Ankara's public-use buildings. This study focuses on 57 of these structures, built either partially, or entirely, out of RC. The buildings are classified with respect to their duration, soil properties, foundation types, structural design details, construction types, materials and overall costs. In order to provide a better picture of the time period in which these buildings were designed and constructed, the technical, financial and political aspects of the projects, and the difficulties and challenges involved in their design and construction, are also discussed. Furthermore, this study outlines the impact of foreign engineers, construction workers, firms and the educational system on the development of civil engineering and use of RC in Turkey.Article Citation - WoS: 10Citation - Scopus: 10Evaluation of Masonry Buildings and Mosques After Sivrice Earthquake(Croatian Soc Civil Engineers-hsgi, 2021) Mertol, Halit Cenan; Tunc, Gokhan; Akis, TolgaThe evaluation of masonry and mosque type structures after the Sivrice Earthquake is presented in this study. Stone masonry buildings exhibited damage such as vertical cracks and splitting at corners, wedge shaped corner failures, diagonal cracking on walls, out-of-plane splitting of walls, and separation of walls from flooring/roofing systems. On the other hand, the separation of flags and caps of minarets was a common example of damage in mosques. Future earthquake damage can be prevented by following design codes and providing adequate supervision for new structures, while strengthening measures are recommended for the existing buildings.Article Citation - WoS: 4Citation - Scopus: 4A Site Survey of Damaged Rc Buildings in Izmir After the Aegean Sea Earthquake on October 30, 2020(Croatian Soc Civil Engineers-hsgi, 2023) Mertol, Halit Cenan; Tunc, Gokhan; Akis, TolgaAn earthquake with a magnitude of Mw = 6.6 and a depth of approximately 16.5 km occurred on 30 October 2020 off the cost of Samos, a Greek island 35 km southwest of Seferihisar, a town in Izmir. The earthquake caused several collapses and severe structural damage in approximately 6,000 buildings, specifically in the Bayrakli District in Izmir Bay. This paper presents the observations and findings of a technical team that visited the earthquake -affected areas immediately after the earthquake. Eleven partially or fully collapsed and several severely damaged reinforced concrete buildings were investigated. Based on the site investigations, we observed that almost all of the collapsed or severely damaged reinforced concrete buildings in the region were built between 1975 and 2000. Site observations also confirmed that the construction of these collapsed or damaged buildings did not conform to the requirements outlined in the Turkish Earthquake Codes used at the time. The failures and severe damage to buildings in earthquake-affected areas are primarily related to inadequate reinforcement configuration, poor material quality, the absence of geotechnical studies, and framing problems related to their lateral load-carrying systems. Therefore, it is recommended that all the buildings located in and around Izmir Bay, particularly those built between 1975 and 2000, be structurally evaluated to prevent any further loss of life and property during future earthquakes.Article Citation - WoS: 6Citation - Scopus: 7Finite Element Analysis of Frames With Reinforced Concrete Encased Steel Composite Columns(Mdpi, 2022) Tunc, Gokhan; Othman, Mohammed Moatasem; Mertol, Halit CenanStructural frame systems that consists of concrete-encased-steel-embedded composite columns and reinforced concrete beams are typically used in mid-rise to tall buildings. In order to understand their overall structural behavior, a total of 12 frame models with high and low ductility features were constructed and analyzed using LS-DYNA software. Two of these models were validated using the results of previously tested frames. The remaining 10 models were studied to predict the behavior of frames with varying concrete strengths, reinforcement configurations, and structural steel sections under vertical and lateral loads. The results were investigated in terms of cracks and failure patterns, load-deflection relationships, energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation. The analytical results indicated that the high ductile frame models showed slightly better lateral load carrying performances compared to low ductility frame models. Moreover, the analytical studies demonstrated that the existence of structural steel in a column, regardless of its cross-sectional shape, was the most important parameter in improving the lateral load carrying capacity of a frame.Article Citation - WoS: 53Citation - Scopus: 58Investigation of Rc Buildings After 6 February 2023, Kahramanmaras, Turkiye Earthquakes(Mdpi, 2023) Mertol, Halit Cenan; Tunc, Gokhan; Akis, Tolga; Kantekin, Yunus; Aydin, Ishak CanTwo major earthquakes struck Pazarcik and Elbistan, towns in Kahramanmaras, Turkiye, on 6 February 2023, approximately 9 h apart. The first earthquake, recorded at 04:17 local time, had a M-w = 7.7, with a focal depth of 8.6 km. At 13:24 local time, a second earthquake occurred with M-w = 7.6 at a focal depth of 7 km, approximately 90 km north of the first one. A total of 11 provinces were severely affected by these earthquakes. As of 15 April 2023, they caused close to 51,000 deaths and almost 215,000 completely destroyed/severely damaged buildings. At some locations, the largest horizontal peak ground acceleration (PGA) values of the first and second earthquakes exceeded the code-generated PGAs by almost 3 and 1.75 times, respectively. A technical team visited these areas within 15 h of the first earthquake. The purpose of this article is to present their observations, findings, and the characteristics of the two earthquakes, with comprehensive site survey results supported by photographs. This study concludes that most of the collapsed and severely/moderately damaged buildings in the region were built between 1975 and 2000, when site inspections were rare or non-existent. In addition to the high PGAs recorded in these earthquakes, it was verified that the design and construction of these buildings did not fully comply with the earthquake codes valid at the time. The collapsed buildings and their damage patterns confirm inadequate development length, violation of bending stirrup ends at 135 & DEG;, deficiencies in construction materials and reinforcement configuration, noncompliance with confinement zones, violation of the strong beam-stronger column analogy, and issues related to building inspection. Based on the extent of the damage, it is strongly recommended that the structural performance inspection of all other buildings located near major fault lines, specifically those constructed between 1975 and 2000, should be completed. Since these earthquakes generated much higher PGAs, which is believed to be one of the main reasons for the extensive damage, a re-evaluation of all other PGAs along major fault lines is also recommended.
