• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.35-40
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• 2016

OBJECTIVES : The objective of this study is to analyze the nonlinear behavior of block pavements using multi-load level falling weight deflectometer (FWD) deflections. METHODS : Recently, block pavements are employed not only in sidewalks, but also in roadways. For the application of block pavements in roadways, the structural capacities of subbase and subgrade are important factors that support the carry traffic load. Multi-load level FWD testing was conducted on block pavements to analyze their nonlinear behavior. The deflection ratio due to the increase in load was analyzed to estimate the nonlinearity of block pavements. Finite element method with nonlinear soil model was applied to simulate the actual nonlinear behavior of the block pavement under different levels of load. RESULTS : The results of the FWD testing show that the center deflections in block pavements are approximately ten times greater than that in asphalt pavements. The deflection ratios of the block pavement due to the increase in the load range from 1.2 to 1.5, indicating that the deflection increased by 20~50%. The material coefficients of the nonlinear soil model were determined by comparing the measured deflections with the predicted deflections using the finite element method. CONCLUSIONS : In this study, the nonlinear behavior of block pavements was reviewed using multi-load level FWD testing. The deflection ratio proposed in this study can estimate the nonlinearity of block pavements. The use of nonlinear soil model in subbase and subgrade increases the accuracy of predicting deflections in finite element method.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.319-342
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• 2008

Identification of the nonlinear hysteretic behavior of a reinforced concrete (RC) bridge pier subjected to earthquake loads is carried out based on acceleration measurements of the earthquake motion and bridge responses. The modified Takeda model is used to describe the hysteretic behavior of the RC pier with a small number of parameters, in which the nonlinear behavior is described in logical forms rather than analytical expressions. Hence, the modified extended Kalman filter is employed to construct the state transition matrix using a finite difference scheme. The sequential modified extended Kalman filter algorithm is proposed to identify the unknown parameters and the state vector separately in two steps, so that the size of the problem for each identification procedure may be reduced and possible numerical problems may be avoided. Mode superposition with a modal sorting technique is also proposed to reduce the size of the identification problem for the nonlinear dynamic system with multi-degrees of freedom. Example analysis is carried out for a continuous bridge with a RC pier subjected to earthquake loads in the longitudinal and transverse directions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.73-93
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• 2012

With an active structural involvement in spiral case structure (SCS) that is always the design and research focus of hydroelectric power plant (HPP), the compressible membrane sandwiched between steel spiral case and surrounding reinforced concrete was often assumed to be linear elastic material in conventional design analysis of SCS. Unfortunately considerable previous studies have proved that the foam material serving as membrane exhibits essentially nonlinear mechanical behavior. In order to clarify the effect of membrane (foam) material's nonlinear stress-strain behavior on SCS, this work performed a case study on SCS with a compressible membrane using the ABAQUS code after a sound calibration of the employed constitutive model describing foam material. In view of the successful capture of fitted stress-strain curve of test by the FEM program, we recommend an application and dissemination of the simulation technique employed in this work for membrane material description to structural designers of SCS. Even more important, the case study argues that taking into account the nonlinear stress-strain response of membrane material in loading process is definitely essential. However, we hold it unnecessary to consider the membrane material's hysteresis and additionally, employment of nonlinear elastic model for membrane material description is adequate to the structural design of SCS. Understanding and accepting these concepts will help to analyze and predict the structural performance of SCS more accurately in design effort.

• Composites Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.29-36
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• 2006

Since composite materials have anisotropic properties that depend on their stacking angle and sequence, the analysis of joints with isotropic adherends is limited in describing the behavior of the adhesive Joint with composite adherends. In this study, the nonlinear solution for adhesive joints with composite adherends was derived by incorporating the nonlinear behavior of the adhesive into the analysis. The behavior of the laminated composite tube was first analyzed, and the stress distributions of the composite tubular adhesive joint were calculated by including the nonlinear properties of the adhesive. The effect of the stacking sequence of composite adherends and bonding length on torque capacities of joints was examined, and results of the nonlinear analysis were also compared with those of the linear analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.17 no.4 s.77
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• pp.469-479
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• 2005

The nonlinear behavior of a connection has an influence on the behavior (the $P-\Delta$ effect) and the stability of a steel unbraced frame when a semi-rigid connection is applied as a beam-to-column connection. Therefore, the effects of a connection's non-linear behavior on the behavior and stability of a steel unbraced frame were investigated using second-order inelastic analysis, after which the main influence factors and their behavioral tendencies were studied. The study results showed that the nonlinear behavior of a connection directly affects the stability of a steel unbraced frame, and that the main influence factors are the rotational stiffness of the connection and the location of a semi-rigid connection.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.55-64
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• 2002

For nonlinear analysis of sloshing of fluid in rectangular tanks, a new method using the perturbation approach is presented. The results by presented method show good agreement with results in previous study. The importance of nonlinear sloshing analysis is demonstrated by comparing nonlinear behaviors of sloshing in broad and tall tanks with different site conditions. In general, the results by nonlinear analysis are greater than those by linear analysis. Specially, the nonlinear behavior is significant in softer soil site and broad tank. Therefore, nonlinear behavior analysis has to be considered in the design of large liquid storage tanks.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.531-544
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• 2014

Studies of earthquakes over the last 50 years and the examination of dynamic soil behavior reveal that soil behavior is highly nonlinear and hysteretic even at small strains. Nonlinear behavior of soils during a seismic event has a predominant role in current site response analysis approaches. Common approaches to ground response analysis include linear, equivalent linear and nonlinear methods. These methods of ground response analysis may also be categorized into time domain and frequency domain concepts. Simplicity in developing analytical relations and accuracy in considering soils' dynamic properties dependency to loading frequency are benefits of frequency domain analysis. On the other hand, nonlinear methods are complicated and time consuming mainly because of their step by step integrations in time intervals. In part Ι of this paper, governing equations for seismic response analysis of surcharged and layered soils were developed using fundamental of wave propagation theory based on transfer function and boundary conditions. In this part, nonlinear seismic ground response is analyzed using extended HFTD method. The extended HFTD method benefits Newton-Raphson procedure which applies regular iterations and follows soils' fundamental stress-strain curve until convergence is achieved. The nonlinear HFTD approach developed here are applied to some examples presented in this part of the paper. Case studies are carried in which effects of some influencing parameters on the response are investigated. Results show that the current approach is sufficiently accurate, efficient, and fast converging. Discussions on the results obtained are presented throughout this part of the paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.6
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• pp.767-782
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• 2022

In this paper, the nonlinear vibration behavior of the spiral stiffened multilayer functionally graded (SSMFG) cylindrical shells exposed to the thermal environment and a uniformly distributed harmonic loading using a semi-analytical method is investigated. The cylindrical shell is surrounded by a nonlinear viscoelastic foundation consisting of a two-parameter Winkler-Pasternak foundation augmented by a Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic model with a nonlinear cubic stiffness. The distribution of temperature and material constitutive of the stiffeners are continuously changed through the thickness direction. The cylindrical shell has three layers consisting of metal, FGM, and ceramic. The interior layer of the cylindrical shell is rich in metal, while the exterior layer is rich in ceramic, and the FG material is located between two layers. The nonlinear vibration problem utilizing the smeared stiffeners technique, the von Kármán equations, and the Galerkin method has been solved. The multiple scales method is utilized to examine the nonlinear vibration behavior of SSMFG cylindrical shells. The considered resonant case is 1:3:9 internal resonance and subharmonic resonance of order 1/3. The influences of different material and geometrical parameters on the vibration behavior of SSMFG cylindrical shells are examined. The results show that the angles of stiffeners, temperature, and elastic foundation parameters have a strong effect on the vibration behaviors of the SSMFG cylindrical shells.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.303-318
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to present different composed material models for reinforced concrete structures (RC). For this aim a nonlinear finite element analysis program is coded in MATLAB. This program contains several yield criteria and stress-strain relationships for compression and tension behavior of concrete. In this study, the well-known criteria, Drucker-Prager, von Mises, Mohr Coulomb, Tresca, and two new criteria, Hsieh-Ting-Chen and Bresler-Pister, are taken into account. It is concluded that the coded program, the new yield criteria, and the models considered can be effectively used in the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.1109-1126
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• 2016

The present paper focuses on size optimization of double layer barrel vaults considering nonlinear behavior. In order to tackle the optimization problem an improved colliding bodies optimization (ICBO) algorithm is proposed. The important task that should be achieved before optimization of structural systems is to determine the best form having the least cost. In this study, an attempt is done to find the best form then it is optimized considering linear and non-linear behaviors. In the optimization process based on nonlinear behavior, the geometrical and material nonlinearity effects are included. A large-scale double layer barrel vault is presented as the numerical example of this study and the obtained results indicate that the proposed ICBO has better computational performance compared with other algorithms.