• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.295-310
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• 2019

This study attempts to develop new simplified approximate formulas to predict the fundamental natural periods of vibration (T) for bearing wall systems engaged with special reinforced concrete shear walls (RCSW) under seismic loads. Commonly, seismic codes suggested empirical formulas established by regression analysis of measured T for buildings during earthquake motions. These formulas depend on structure type, building height, number, height and length of SW, and ratio of SW area to base area of structure. In this study, a parametric investigation is performed for T of 110 selected models of bearing RCSW systems with varying structural height, configuration of horizontal plans including building width, number and width of bays, presence of middle corridors and core SWs. For this purpose, a 3D non-linear response time history (TH) analysis is implemented using ETABS v16.2.1. New formulas to estimate T are anticipated and compared with those obtained from formulas of IBC 2012 and ASCE/SEI 7-10. Moreover, the study examines responses of an arbitrarily two selected test model of 60 m and 80 m in height with presence of SWs having middle corridors. It is observed that the performance of the tested buildings is different through arising of considerable errors when using codes' formulas for estimating T. Accordingly, using the present proposed formulas exhibits more reasonable and safer design compared to codes' formulas. The results showed that equitable enhancement is promising to improve T formulas approaching enhanced and accurate estimation of T with reliable analysis, design, and evaluation of bearing RCSW systems.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.857-873
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• 2014

Structural behaviors of a sustainable hybrid column with the ultra high performance cementitious composites (UHPCC) permanent form under compression and flexure were studied. Critical state and failure stage characters are analyzed for large and small eccentricity cases. A simplified theoretical model is proposed for engineering designs and unified formulas for loading capacity of the hybrid column under compression and flexure loads are derived, including axial force and moment. Non-linear numerical analysis is carried out to verify the theoretical predictions. The theoretical predictions agree well with the numerical results which are verified by the short hybrid column tests recursively. Compared with the traditional reinforced concrete (RC) column, the loading capacity of the sustainable hybrid column is improved significantly due to UHPCC confinements.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2015

Shimizu Corporation Tokyo Headquarters, one of the city's leading office buildings, features many pioneering technologies that contribute to a sustainable society through environmental stewardship and a sophisticated disaster management facility. In terms of structural engineering, a seismic isolation system incorporating reinforced concrete core walls and precast concrete perimeter frames create a robust structure in the event of a large earthquake. In addition to the seismic resistance of the structure, several pioneering construction methods and materials are adopted. This office building can serve as a basis for new design and construction approaches and methodologies to ensure safe and economical structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.729-744
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• 2010

There is world wide concern for safety of nuclear power installations after the terrorist attack on World Trade Center in 2001 and several other civilian structures in the last decade. The nuclear containment structure in many countries is a double shell structure (outer shell a RCC and inner a prestressed concrete). The outer reinforced concrete shell protects the inner shell and is designed for external loading like impact and blast. A comparative study of non-linear response of reinforced concrete nuclear containment cylindrical shell subjected to impact of an aircraft (Phantom) and explosion of different amounts of blast charges have been presented here. A material model which takes into account the strain rate sensitivity in dynamic loading situations, plastic and visco-plastic behavior in three dimensional stress state and cracking in tension has been developed earlier and implemented into a finite element code which has been validated with published literature. The analysis has been made using the developed software. Significant conclusions have been drawn for dissimilarity in response (deflections, stresses, cracks etc.) of the shell for impact and blast loading.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.197-206
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• 2023

The deterioration caused by chloride penetration and carbonation plays a significant role in a concrete structure in a marine environment. The chloride corrosion in some marine concrete structures is invisible but can be dangerous in a sudden collapse. Therefore, as a novelty, this research investigates the ability of a non-destructive damage detection method named the Power Spectral Density (PSD) to diagnose damages caused only by chloride ions in concrete structures. Furthermore, the accuracy of this method in estimating the amount of annual damage caused by chloride in various parts and positions exposed to seawater was investigated. For this purpose, the RC Arosa bridge in Spain, which connects the island to the mainland via seawater, was numerically modeled and analyzed. As the first step, each element's bridge position was calculated, along with the chloride corrosion percentage in the reinforcements. The next step predicted the existence, location, and timing of damage to the entire concrete part of the bridge based on the amount of rebar corrosion each year. The PSD method was used to monitor the annual loss of reinforcement cross-section area, changes in dynamic characteristics such as stiffness and mass, and each year of the bridge structure's life using sensitivity equations and the linear least squares algorithm. This study showed that using different approaches to the PSD method based on rebar chloride corrosion and assuming 10% errors in software analysis can help predict the location and almost exact amount of damage zones over time.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.213-233
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• 2006

Over the past years techniques for non-linear analysis have been enhanced significantly via improved solution procedures, extended finite element techniques and increased robustness of constitutive models. Nevertheless, problems remain, especially for real world structures of softening materials like concrete. The softening gives negative stiffness and risk of bifurcations due to multiple cracks that compete to survive. Incremental-iterative techniques have difficulties in selecting and handling the local peaks and snap-backs. In this contribution, an alternative method is proposed. The softening diagram of negative slope is replaced by a saw-tooth diagram of positive slopes. The incremental-iterative Newton method is replaced by a series of linear analyses using a special scaling technique with subsequent stiffness/strength reduction per critical element. It is shown that this event-by-event strategy is robust and reliable. First, the model is shown to be objective with respect to mesh refinement. Next, the example of a large-scale dog-bone specimen in direct tension is analyzed using an isotropic version of the saw-tooth model. The model is capable of automatically providing the snap-back response. Subsequently, the saw-tooth model is extended to include anisotropy for fixed crack directions to accommodate both tensile cracking and compression strut action for reinforced concrete. Three different reinforced concrete structures are analyzed, a tension-pull specimen, a slender beam and a slab. In all cases, the model naturally provides the local peaks and snap-backs associated with the subsequent development of primary cracks starting from the rebar. The secant saw-tooth stiffness is always positive and the analysis always 'converges'. Bifurcations are prevented due to the scaling technique.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.477-487
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• 2021

This study focuses on the influence of strong ground motion duration on the response and collapse probability of reinforced concrete walls with a predominant response in flexure. Walls with different height and mass were used to account for a broad spectrum of configurations and fundamental periods. The walls were designed following the specifications of the Chilean design code. Non-linear models of the reinforced concrete walls using a distributed plasticity approach were performed in OpenSees and calibrated with experimental data. Special attention was put on modeling strength and stiffness degradation. The effect of duration was isolated using spectrally equivalent ground motions of long and short duration. In order to assess the behavior of the RC shear walls, incremental dynamic analyses (IDA) were performed, and fragility curves were obtained using cumulative and non-cumulative engineering demand parameters. The spectral acceleration at the fundamental period of the wall was used as the intensity measure (IM) for the IDAs. The results show that the long duration ground motion set decreases the average collapse capacity in walls of medium and long periods compared to the results using the short duration set. Also, it was found that a lower median intensity is required to achieve moderate damage states in the same medium and long period wall models. Finally, strength and stiffness degradation are important modelling parameters and if they are not included, the damage in reinforced concrete walls may be greatly underestimated.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.5 s.45
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• pp.11-19
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• 2005

Seismic design of a building is usually performed by using the linear static procedure. However, the actual behavior of the building subjected to earthquake is inelastic and dynamic in nature. Therefore, inelastic dynamic analysis is required to evaluate the safety of the structure designed by the current design codes. For the validation, a RC special moment resisting frame building was chosen and designed by IBC 2003 representing new codes. Maximum plastic rotation and dissipated energy of some selected members were calculated for examining if the inelastic behavior of the building follows the intention of the code, and drift demand were calculated as well for checking if the building well satisfies the design drift limit. In addition, the effect of including internal moment resisting frames (non lateral resisting system) on analyses results was investigated. As a result of this study, the building designed by IBC 2003 showed the inelastic behavior intended in the code and satisfied the design drift limit. Furthermore, the internal moment resisting frames should be included in the analytical model as they affect the results of seismic analyses significantly.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.6
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• pp.789-807
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• 2020

Multiple earthquakes that occur during short seismic intervals affect the inelastic behavior of the structures. Sequential ground motions against the single earthquake event cause the building structure to face loss in stiffness and its strength. Although, numerous research studies had been conducted in this research area but still significant limitations exist such as: 1) use of traditional design procedure which usually considers single seismic excitation; 2) selecting a seismic excitation data based on earthquake events occurred at another place and time. Therefore, it is important to study the effects of successive ground motions on the framed structures. The objective of this study is to overcome the aforementioned limitations through testing a two storey RC building structural model scaled down to 1/10 ratio through a similitude relation. The scaled model is examined using a shaking table. Thereafter, the experimental model results are validated with simulated results using ETABS software. The test framed specimen is subjected to sequential five artificial and four real-time earthquake motions. Dynamic response history analysis has been conducted to investigate the i) observed response and crack pattern; ii) maximum displacement; iii) residual displacement; iv) Interstorey drift ratio and damage limitation. The results of the study conclude that the low-rise building model has ability to resist successive artificial ground motion from its strength. Sequential artificial ground motions cause the framed structure to displace each storey twice in correlation with vary first artificial seismic vibration. The displacement parameters showed that real-time successive ground motions have a limited impact on the low-rise reinforced concrete model. The finding shows that traditional seismic design EC8 requires to reconsider the traditional design procedure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.411-424
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• 2018

This study explores the inelastic behavior of systems with flexible base. The use of a single degree of freedom system (ESDOF) with equivalent ductility to represent the response of flexible base systems is discussed. Two different equations to compute equivalent ductility are proposed, one which includes the contribution of rigid body components, and other based on the overstrength of the structure. In order to asses the accuracy of ESDOF approach with the proposed equations, the behavior of a 10-story regular building with reinforced concrete (RC) moment resisting frames is studied. Local and global ductility capacity and demands are used to study the modifications introduced by base flexibility. Three soil types are considered with shear wave velocities of 70, 100 and 250 m/s. Soil-foundation stiffness is included with a set of springs on the base (impedance functions). Capacity curves of the building are computed with pushover analysis. In addition, non linear time history analysis are used to asses the ductility demands. Results show that ductility capacity of the soil-structure system including rigid body components is reduced. Base flexibility does not modify neither yield and maximum base shear. Equivalent ductility estimated with the proposed equations is fits better the results of the numerical model than the one considering elastoplastic behavior. Modification of beams ductility demand due to base flexibility are not constant within the structure. Some elements experience reduced ductility demands while other elements experience increments when flexible base is considered. Soil structure interaction produces changes in the relation between yield strength reduction factor and structure ductility demand. These changes are dependent on the spectral shape and the period of the system with fixed and flexible base.