• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.73-90
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• 2014

The traditional destructive tests in damage detection require high cost, long consuming time, repairing of damaged members, etc. In addition to these, powerful equipments with advanced technology have motivated development of global vibration based damage detection methods. These methods base on observation of the changes in the structural dynamic properties and updating finite element models. The existence, location, severity and effect on the structural behavior of the damages can be identified by using these methods. The main idea in these methods is to minimize the differences between analytical and experimental natural frequencies. In this study, an application of damage detection using model updating method was presented on a one storey reinforced concrete (RC) building model. The model was designed to be 1/2 scale of a real building. The measurements on the model were performed by using ten uni-axial seismic accelerometers which were placed to the floor level. The presented damage identification procedure mainly consists of five steps: initial finite element modeling, testing of the undamaged model, finite element model calibration, testing of the damaged model, and damage detection with model updating. The elasticity modulus was selected as variable parameter for model calibration, while the inertia moment of section was selected for model updating. The first three modes were taken into consideration. The possible damaged members were estimated by considering the change ratio in the inertia moment. It was concluded that the finite element model calibration was required for structures to later evaluations such as damage, fatigue, etc. The presented model updating based procedure was very effective and useful for RC structures in the damage identification.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.455-475
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• 2016

Dynamic characteristics, named as natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes, affect the dynamic behavior of buildings and they vary depending on the construction stages. It is aimed to present the effects of construction stages on the dynamic characteristics of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings considering theoretical and experimental investigations. For this purpose, a three-storey RC building model with a 1/2 scale was constructed in the laboratory of Civil Engineering Department at Karadeniz Technical University. The modal testing measurements were performed by using Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) method for the bare frame, brick walled and coated cases of the building model. Randomly generated loads by impact hammer were used to vibrate the building model; the responses were measured by uni-axial seismic accelerometers as acceleration. The building's modal parameters at these construction stages were extracted from the processed signals using the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition (EFDD) technique. Also, the finite element models of each case were developed and modal analyses were performed. It was observed from the experimental and theoretical investigations that the natural frequencies of the building model varied depending on the construction stages considerably.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.669-691
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• 2014

Since low-rise residential buildings are the most common and vulnerable structures in coastal areas, a reliable prediction of their performance under hurricanes is necessary. The present study focuses on developing a refined finite element model that is able to more rigorously represent the load distributions or redistributions when the building behaves as a unit or any portion is overloaded. A typical 5:12 sloped low-rise residential building is chosen as the prototype and analyzed under wind pressures measured in the wind tunnel. The structural connections, including the frame-to-frame connections and sheathing-to-frame connections, are modeled extensively to represent the critical structural details that secure the load paths for the entire building system as well as the boundary conditions provided to the building envelope. The nail withdrawal, the excessive displacement of sheathing, the nail head pull-through, the sheathing in-plane shear, and the nail load-slip are found to be responsible for the building envelope damage. The uses of the nail type with a high withdrawal capacity, a thicker sheathing panel, and an optimized nail edge distance are observed to efficiently enhance the building envelope performance based on the present numerical damage predictions.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.345-354
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• 2013

This paper presents an advanced engineering technique using finite element analysis to improve structural silicone glazing (SSG) design in high-performance curtain wall systems for building facade. High wind pressures often result in bulky SSG aluminum extrusion profile dimensions. Architectural desire for aesthetically slender curtain wall sight-lines and reduction in aluminum usage led to optimization of structural silicone bite geometry for improved stress distribution through use of finite element analysis of the hyperelastic silicone models. This advanced design technique compared to traditional SSG design highlights differences in stress distribution contours in the silicone sealant. Simplified structural engineering per the traditional SSG design method lacks accurate forecasting of material and stress optimization, as shown in the advanced analysis and design. Full scale physical specimens were tested to verify design capacity in addition to correlate physical test results with the theoretical simulation to provide confidence of the model. This design technique will introduce significant engineering advancement to the curtain wall industry and building facade.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.1A
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• pp.163-171
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• 2006

The behaviors and design procedures of building excavation plane in innovative prestressed support (IPS) system are presented in this paper. Determination procedure for initial pretension in IPS wale subjected to design earth pressure is derived. The computer analysis model under uniform and non-uniform earth pressure is constructed using beam element for the IPS wale, tension-only element for cable, and compression-only element for soil. Axial forces and bending moments of IPS wale under initial pretension and design earth pressure are calculated. The combined stresses due to these axial force and bending moment are calculated and safety condition of building excavation plane is investigated.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.555-565
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• 2020

The main objective of seismic codes is to prevent structural collapse and ensure life safety. Collapse probability of a structure is usually assessed by making a series of analytical model assumptions. This paper investigates the effect of finite element modeling (FEM) assumptions on the estimated collapse capacity of a reinforced concrete (RC) frame building and points out the modeling limitations. Widely used element formulations and hysteresis models are considered in the analysis. A full-scale, three-story RC frame building was utilized as the experimental model. Alternative finite element models are established by adopting a range of different modeling strategies. Using each model, the collapse capacity of the structure is evaluated via Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA). Results indicate that the analytically estimated collapse capacities are significantly sensitive to the utilized modeling approaches. Furthermore, results also show that models that represent stiffness degradation lead to a better correlation between the actual and analytical responses. Results of this study are expected to be useful for in developing proper models for assessing the collapse probability of RC frame structures.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2003

The structural system of a hybrid building is composed of upper shear wall which resist lateral force by bending deformation and lower frame which resist lateral force by shear deformation. A deep transfer girder is used to transfer gravity load safely from super structures to structural frame beneath. Because of the vertical discontinuity, a building with transfer girder must be analyzed by dynamic analysis. However, this structural system has many problems in performing dynamic analysis that cannot be solved by general analysis procedure. The slabs In transfer floor are considered as either a Plate element or a rigid diaphragm in finite element analysis without appropriate evaluation of their characteristics. Therefore, a reasonable analysis method is proposed in this study by evaluating the diaphragm effect of a hybrid structure system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.6
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• pp.811-824
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• 2022

Despite its disadvantages, soft story can reduce the damage to the upper floors by concentrating drift in that specific story provided that large drifts are avoided. Gapped-Inclined Brace (GIB) with reduced P-delta effects and the control of soft story stiffness makes it possible to take advantage of the soft story in buildings and increase their capacity for energy dissipation. OpenSees software is used in this study to validate and modify the GIB model's shortcomings. Also, the analysis method for this element is changed for design. The modified element is evaluated in 3D analysis. Finally, to retrofit an existing building, this element is used. Based on the Iranian seismic code, a six-story reinforced concrete building is modelled and studied with 3D analysis. In this building, the construction shortcomings and elimination of infills on the ground floor cause the formation of a soft story. Results of nonlinear static analysis, nonlinear dynamic, and incremental dynamic analysis using both components of seismic acceleration applied to the structure at different angles and the fragility curves indicate the improvement of the retrofitted structure's performance using the modified element to reach the required performance level following the retrofit code.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.99-107
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• 2022

Existing reinforced concrete building structures constructed before 1988 have seismically-deficient reinforcing details, which can lead to the premature failure of the columns and beam-column joints. The premature failure was resulted from the inadequate bonding performance between the reinforcing bars and surrounding concrete on the main structural elements. This paper aims to quantify the bond-slip effect on the dynamic responses of reinforced concrete frame models using finite element analyses. The bond-slip behavior was modeled using an one-dimensional slide line model in LS-DYNA. The bond-slip models were varied with the bonding conditions and failure modes, and implemented to the well-validated finite element models. The dynamic responses of the frame models with the several bonding conditions were compared to the validated models reproducing the actual behavior. It verifies that the bond-slip effects significantly affected the dynamic responses of the reinforced concrete building structures.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.321-336
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• 2011

This paper presents the results of static vertical load tests carried out on a model building frame supported by pile groups embedded in cohesionless soil (sand). The effect of soil interaction on displacements and rotation at the column base and also the shears and bending moments in the columns of the building frame were investigated. The experimental results have been compared with those obtained from the finite element analysis and conventional method of analysis. Soil nonlinearity in the lateral direction is characterized by the p-y curves and in the axial direction by nonlinear vertical springs along the length of the piles (${\tau}-z$ curves) at their tips (Q-z curves). The results reveal that the conventional method gives the shear force in the column by about 40-60%, the bending moment at the column top about 20-30% and at the column base about 75-100% more than those from the experimental results. The response of the frame from the experimental results is in good agreement with that obtained by the nonlinear finite element analysis.