• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.229-251
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• 2022

In 2017, an intraplate earthquake of Mw 7.1 occurred 120 km from Mexico City (CDMX). Most collapsed structural buildings stroked by the earthquake were flat slab systems joined to reinforced concrete (RC) columns, unreinforced masonry, confined masonry, and dual systems. This article presents the simulated response of an actual six-story RC frame building with masonry infill walls that did not collapse during the 2017 earthquake. It has a structural system similar to that of many of the collapsed buildings and is located in a high seismic amplification zone. Five 3D numerical models were used in the study to model the seismic response of the building. The building dynamic properties were identified using an ambient vibration test (AVT), enabling validation of the building's finite element models. Several assumptions were made to calibrate the numerical model to the properties identified from the AVT, such as the presence of adjacent buildings, variations in masonry properties, soil-foundation-structure interaction, and the contribution of non-structural elements. The results showed that the infill masonry wall would act as a compression strut and crack along the transverse direction because the shear stresses in the original model (0.85 MPa) exceeded the shear strength (0.38 MPa). In compression, the strut presents lower stresses (3.42 MPa) well below its capacity (6.8 MPa). Although the non-structural elements were not considered to be part of the lateral resistant system, the results showed that these elements could contribute by resisting part of the base shear force, reaching a force of 82 kN.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.221-238
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• 2014

A four-noded curved shell finite element for the geometrically non-linear analysis of beams curved in plan is introduced. The structure is conceived as a sequence of macro-elements (ME) having the form of transversal segments of identical topology where each slice is formed using a number of the curved shell elements which have 7 degrees of freedom (DOF) per node. A curved box-girder beam example is modelled using various meshes and linear analysis results are compared to the solutions of a well-known computer program SAP2000. Linear and non-linear analyses of the beam under increasing uniformly distributed loads are also carried out. In addition to box-girder beams, the proposed element can also be used in modelling open-section beams with curved or straight axes and circular plates under radial compression. Buckling loads of a circular plate example are obtained for coarse and successively refined meshes and results are compared with each other. The advantage of this element is that curved systems can be realistically modelled and satisfactory results can be obtained even by using coarse meshes.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.1033-1039
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• 2006

To overcome the drawback of currently available curved beam theories having non-symmetric thin-walled cross sections, a curved beam theory based on centroid-shear center formulation is presented for the spatially coupled free vibration and elastic analyses. For this, the elastic strain and kinetic energies considering the thickness-curvature effect and the rotary inertia of curved beam are derived by degenerating the energies of the elastic continuum to those of curved beam. And then the equilibrium equations and the boundary conditions are consistently derived for curved beams having non-symmetric thin-walled cross section. It is emphasized that for curved beams with L- or T-shaped sections, this thin-walled curved beam theory can be easily reduced to tl1e solid beam theory by simply putting the sectional properties associated with warping to zero. In order to illustrate the validity and the accuracy of this study, FE solutions using the Hermitian curved beam elements are presented and compared with the results by previous research and ABAQUS's shell elements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.5
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• pp.591-601
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• 2018

Non-moment beam-to-column connections, which are usually referred to as simple or shear connections, are typically designed to carry only gravity loads in the form of vertical shears. Although in the analysis of structures these connections are usually assumed to be pinned, they may provide a small amount of rotational stiffness due to the typical connection details. This paper investigates the effects of this small rotational restraint of simple beam-to-column connections on the behavior and seismic response of steel braced non-moment resisting frames. Two types of commonly used simple connections with bolted angles, i.e., the Double Web angle Connection (DWC) and Unstiffened Seat angle Connection (USC) are considered for this purpose. In addition to the pinned condition - as a simplified representation of these connections - more accurate semi-rigid models are established and then applied to some frame models subjected to nonlinear pushover and nonlinear time history analyses. Although the use of bracing elements generally reduces the sensitivity of the global structural response to the behavior of connections, the obtained results indicate considerable effects on the local responses. Namely, our results show that consideration of the real behavior of connections is essential in designing the column elements where the pin-connection assumption significantly underestimates design of outer columns of upper stories.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.26-39
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• 2010

This is a leading study to replace the structural analysis methodology on the specific traditional joint by a numerical analysis. Tests were carried out to test the compressive methodologies with the numerical results. The Japanese larch was used as a sample. The Orthotropic property of wood was specifically considered for the finite element numerical analysis. Linear numerical analysis and non-linear numerical analysis for the BEAM element and the two SOLID elements of ANSYS were used to analyze the compressive performance. In addition, more finely divided elements were used to raise the accuracy of the numerical result. Finally, the statistically significant differences were tested between that of the analytical and numerical results. It could be concluded that the SOLID 64 element shows the most optimum result when the non-linear analysis with the more finely divided element was used. However, finely dividing of the element is a considerable time consuming process, and it is quite difficult to raise the accuracy of the non-linear numerical analysis. Therefore, if considering the vertical displacement to be of the only interest, the BEAM element is more efficient than the SOLID element because the BEAM element is reflected as a simple line, which is less time consuming and difficult in dividing the elements. But, the BEAM element cannot accurately model the knot as a strength defect factor which is an important property in the orthotropic property of wood. Therefore, the SOLID element should be used to model the strength defect factor, knot, as it can be efficiently applied on the structural size flexure member which could be more strongly effected by the knot. In addition, it is useful at times when the failure types of members are to be more closely investigated, as the SOLID element is able to examine the local stress distribution of the member. The conclusion drawn by this study is of the good concordance between analytical results and numerical results of compressive wood members, but how orthotropic properties should only be considered. The numerical analysis on the specific Korean traditional joints will be based on the current study results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.643-658
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• 2008

In this paper, we present a quadratic element model based on non-conforming displacement modes and modified shape functions. This new and refined 8-node hybrid stress plane element consists of two additional non-conforming modes that are added to the translational degree of freedom to improve the behavior of a membrane component. Further, the modification of the shape functions through quadratic polynomials in x-y coordinates enables retaining reasonable accuracy even when the element becomes considerably distorted. To establish its accuracy and efficiency, the element is compared with existing elements and - over a wide range of mesh distortions - it is demonstrated to be exceptionally accurate in predicting displacements and stresses.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.134-141
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• 1997

A geometrically non-linear finite element formulation of spatial cable networks is presented using three cable elements. Firstly, derivation procedures of tangent stiffness and mass matrices for the space truss element and the elastic catenary cable element, and the isoparametric cable element are summarized. The load incremental method based on Newton-Raphson iteration method and the dynamic relaxation method are presented in order to determine the initial static state of cable nets subjected to self-weights and support motions. Furthermore, static non-linear analysis of cable structures under additional live loads are performed based on the initial configuration. Challenging example problems are presented and discussed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the present finite element method and investigate static non-linear behaviors of cable nets.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.17-38
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• 2014

As the desire for high performance buildings increases, it is increasingly evident that engineers require reliable methods for the estimation of seismic demands on both structural and non-structural components. To this extent, improved tools for the prediction of floor spectra would assist in the assessment of acceleration sensitive non-structural and secondary components. Recently, a new procedure was successfully developed and tested for the simplified construction of floor spectra, at various levels of elastic damping, atop single-degree-of-freedom structures. This paper extends the methodology to multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) supporting systems responding in the elastic range, proposing a simplified modal combination approach for floor spectra over upper storeys and accounting for the limited filtering of the ground motion input that occurs over lower storeys. The procedure is tested numerically by comparing predictions with floor spectra obtained from time-history analyses of RC wall structures of 2- to 20-storeys in height. Results demonstrate that the method performs well for MDOF systems responding in the elastic range. Future research should further develop the approach to permit the prediction of floor spectra in MDOF systems that respond in the inelastic range.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2018

The focus of this paper is on the elements with stable open cracks. To analyze plane problems, two triangular elements with three and six nodes are formulated using force method. Flexibility matrices of the elements are derived by combining the non-cracked flexibility and the additional one due to crack, which is computed by utilizing the local flexibility method. In order to compute the flexibility matrix of the intact element, a basic coordinate system without rigid body motions is required. In this paper, the basic system origin is located at the crack center and one of its axis coincides with the crack surfaces. This selection makes it possible to formulate elements with inclined cracks. It is obvious that the ability of the suggested elements in calculating accurate natural frequencies for cracked structures, make them applicable for vibration-based crack detection.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.205-224
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• 2022

This paper presents a refined finite element formulation for nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of sliding cable structures, overcoming the limitation of the existing approaches that neglect or approximate the friction, pulley dimension, temperature and geometric nonlinearity. A new family of elements with the same framework is proposed, consisting of the cable-pulley (CP) elements considering sliding friction, and the non-sliding cable-pulley (NSCP) elements considering static friction. Thereafter, the complete procedure of static and dynamic analysis using the proposed elements is developed, with the capability of accurately dealing with the friction at each pulley. Several examples are utilized to verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed elements and analysis strategy, and investigate the frictional, thermal and pulley-dimension effects as well. The numerical examples show that the results obtained in this work are in good accordance with the existing works when using the same approximations of friction, pulley dimension and temperature. By avoiding the approximations, the proposed formulation can be effectively adopted in predicting the more precise nonlinear responses of sliding cable structures.