• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.637-647
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• 2018

Numerical approach using finite element method has been used to evaluate the behaviour of reinforced concrete frame structure subjected to fire. The structure is previously designed in accordance with Eurocode standards for the design of structures for earthquake resistance, for the ductility class M. Thermal and structural response are obtained using a commercially available software ANSYS. Temperature-dependent nonlinear thermal and mechanical properties are adopted according to Eurocode standards, with the application of constitutive model for the triaxial behaviour of concrete with a smeared crack approach. Discrete modelling of concrete and reinforcement has enabled monitoring of the behaviour at a global, as well as at a local level, providing information on the level of damage occurring during fire. Critical regions in frame structures are identified and assessed, based on temperatures, displacements, variations of internal forces magnitudes and achieved plastic deformations of main reinforcement bars. Parametric analyses are conducted for different fire scenarios and different types of concrete aggregate to determine their effect on global deformations of frame structures. According to analyses results, the three-dimensional finite element model can be used to evaluate the insulation and mechanical resistance criteria of reinforced concrete frame structures subjected to nominal fire curves.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.179-193
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• 2022

The shear behaviour of reinforced concrete members has been studied over the past decades by various researchers, and it can be simulated by analysing shear panel elements which has been regarded as a basic element of reinforced concrete members subjected to in-plane biaxial stresses. Despite various experimental studies on shear panel element which have been conducted so far, there are still a lot of uncertainties related to what influencing factors govern the shear behaviour and affect failure mechanism in reinforced concrete members. To identify the uncertainties, a finite element analysis can be used, which enables to investigate the impact of specific variables such as the reinforcement ratio, the shear retention factor, and the material characteristics including aggregate interlock, tension stiffening, compressive softening, and shear behaviour at the crack surface. In this study, a non-linear probabilistic analysis was conducted on reinforced concrete panels using a finite element method optimized for reinforced concrete members and advanced sampling techniques so that probabilistic analysis can be performed effectively. Consequently, this study figures out what analysis methodology and input parameters have the most influence on shear behaviour of reinforced concrete panels.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.179-193
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• 2017

Dynamic response analysis of offshore triceratops with stiffened buoyant legs under impact and non-impact waves is presented. Triceratops is relatively new-generation complaint platform being explored in the recent past for its suitability in ultra-deep waters. Buoyant legs support the deck through ball joints, which partially isolate the deck by not transferring rotation from legs to the deck. Buoyant legs are interconnected using equally spaced stiffeners, inducing more integral action in dispersing the encountered wave loads. Two typical nonlinear waves under very high sea state are used to simulate impact and non-impact waves. Parameters of JONSWAP spectrum are chosen to produce waves with high vertical and horizontal asymmetries. Impact waves are simulated by steep, front asymmetric waves while non-impact waves are simulated using Stokes nonlinear irregular waves. Based on the numerical analyses presented, it is seen that the platform experiences both steady state (springing) and transient response (ringing) of high amplitudes. Response of the deck shows significant reduction in rotational degrees-of-freedom due to isolation offered by ball joints. Weak-asymmetric waves, resulting in non-impact waves cause steady state response. Beat phenomenon is noticed in almost all degrees-of-freedom but values in sway, roll and yaw are considerably low as angle of incidence is zero degrees. Impact waves cause response in higher frequencies; bursting nature of pitch response is a clear manifestation of the effect of impact waves on buoyant legs. Non-impact waves cause response similar to that of a beating phenomenon in all active degrees-of-freedom, which otherwise would not be present under normal loading. Power spectral density plots show energy content of response for a wide bandwidth of frequencies, indicating an alarming behaviour apart from being highly nonlinear. Heave, being one of the stiff degrees-of-freedom is triggered under non-impact waves, which resulted in tether tension variation under non-impact waves as well. Reduced deck response aids functional requirements of triceratops even under impact and non-impact waves. Stiffened group of buoyant legs enable a monolithic behaviour, enhancing stiffness in vertical plane.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.267-277
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• 2017

Base-isolation is now being adopted as a retrofitting strategy to improve seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (r.c.) framed structures subjected to far-fault earthquakes. However, the increase in deformability of a base-isolated framed building may lead to amplification in the structural response under the long-duration horizontal pulses of high-magnitude near-fault earthquakes, which can become critical once the strength level of a fire-weakened r.c. superstructure is reduced. The aim of the present work is to investigate the nonlinear seismic response of fire-damaged r.c. framed structures retrofitted by base-isolation. For this purpose, a five-storey r.c. framed building primarily designed (as fixed-base) in compliance with a former Italian seismic code for a medium-risk zone, is to be retrofitted by the insertion of elastomeric bearings to meet the requirements of the current Italian code in a high-risk seismic zone. The nonlinear seismic response of the original (fixed-base) and retrofitted (base-isolated) test structures in a no fire situation are compared with those in the event of fire in the superstructure, where parametric temperature-time curves are defined at the first level, the first two and the upper levels. A lumped plasticity model describes the inelastic behaviour of the fire-damaged r.c. frame members, while a nonlinear force-displacement law is adopted for the elastomeric bearings. The average root-mean-square deviation of the observed spectrum from the target design spectrum together with a suitable intensity measure are chosen to select and scale near- and far-fault earthquakes on the basis of the design hypotheses adopted.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.717-725
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• 2018

One of the most important design criteria in military tunnels and armoured doors is to resist the blast loads with minimum structural weight. This can be achieved by using steel sandwich panels. In this paper, the nonlinear behaviour of steel sandwich panels, with different core materials: (1) Hollow (no core material); (2) Rigid Polyurethane Foam (RPF); and (3) Vulcanized Rubber (VR) under free air blast loads, was investigated using detailed 3D nonlinear finite element models in Ansys Autodyn. The accuracy of the finite element model proposed was verified using available experimental test data of a similar steel sandwich panel tested. The results show the developed finite element model can be reliably used to simulate the nonlinear behaviour of the steel sandwich panels under free air blast loads. The verified finite element model was used to examine the different parameters of the steel sandwich panel with different core materials. The result shows that the sandwich panel with RPF core material is more efficient than the VR sandwich panel followed by the Hollow sandwich panels. The average maximum displacement of RPF sandwich panel under different ranges of TNT charge (1 kg to 10 kg at a standoff distance of 1 m) is 49% and 53% less than the VR and Hollow sandwich panels, respectively. Detailed empirical design equations were provided to quantify the maximum deformation of the steel sandwich panels with different core materials and core thickness under a different range of blast loads. The developed equations can be used as a guide for engineer to design steel sandwich panels with RPF and VR core material under a different range of free air blast loads.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.267-289
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• 2014

A proper physical modeling of infilled building frame-foundation beam-soil mass interaction system is needed to predict more realistic and accurate structural behavior under static vertical loading. This is achieved via finite element method considering the superstructure, foundation and soil mass as a single integral compatible structural unit. The physical modelling is achieved via use of finite element method, which requires the use of variety of isoparametric elements with different degrees of freedom. The unbounded domain of the soil mass has been discretized with coupled finite-infinite elements to achieve computational economy. The nonlinearity of soil mass plays an important role in the redistribution of forces in the superstructure. The nonlinear behaviour of the soil mass is modeled using hyperbolic model. The incremental-iterative nonlinear solution algorithm has been adopted for carrying out the nonlinear elastic interaction analysis of a two-bay two-storey infilled building frame. The frame and the infill have been considered to behave in linear elastic manner, whereas the subsoil in nonlinear elastic manner. In this paper, the computational methodology adopted for nonlinear soil-structure interaction analysis of infilled frame-foundation-soil system has been presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.695-711
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• 2013

It is reasonable to assume that reinforced concrete (RC) structures enter the nonlinear range of response during a severe ground motion. Numerical analysis to predict the behaviour therefore must allow for the presence of nonlinear deformations if an accurate estimate of seismic response is aimed. Among the factors contributing to inelastic deformations, the influence of the degradation of the bond slip phenomenon is important. Any rebar slip generates an additional rotation at the end regions of structural members which are not accounted for in a conventional analysis. Although these deformations could affect the seismic response of RC structures considerably, they are often neglected due to the unavailability of suitable models. In this paper, the seismic response of two types of RC structures, designed according to the Iranian concrete code (ABA) and the Iranian seismic code (2800), are evaluated using nonlinear dynamic and static analyses. The investigation is performed using nonlinear dynamic and static pushover analysis considering the deformations due to anchorage slip. The nonlinear analysis results confirm that bond slip significantly influences the seismic behavior of RC structure leading to an increase of lateral deformations by up to 30% depending on the height of building. The outcomes also identify important parameters affecting the extent of this influence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.111-112
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• 2010

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

The analysis of structure response and design of buried structures subjected to dynamic destructive loads have been receiving increasing interest due to recent severe damage caused by strong earthquakes and terrorist attacks. For a comprehensive design of buried structures subjected to blast loads to be conducted, the whole system behaviour including simulation of the explosion, propagation of shock waves through the soil medium, the interaction of the soil with the buried structure and the structure response needs to be simulated in a single model. Such a model will enable more realistic simulation of the fundamental physical behaviour. This paper presents a complete model simulating the whole system using the finite element package ABAQUS/Explicit. The Arbitrary Lagrange Euler Coupling formulation is used to model the explosive charge and the soil region near the explosion to eliminate the distortion of the mesh under high deformation, while the conventional finite element method is used to model the rest of the system. The elasto-plastic Drucker-Prager Cap model is used to model the soil behaviour. The explosion process is simulated using the Jones-Wilkens-Lee equation of state. The Concrete Damage Plasticity model is used to simulate the behaviour of concrete with the reinforcement considered as an elasto-plastic material. The contact interface between soil and structure is simulated using the general Mohr-Coulomb friction concept, which allows for sliding, separation and rebound between the buried structure surface and the surrounding soil. The behaviour of the whole system is evaluated using a numerical example which shows that the proposed model is capable of producing a realistic simulation of the physical system behaviour in a smooth numerical process.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.535-546
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to understand the behaviour of hollow core slabs strengthened with FRP and hybrid techniques through numerical and analytical studies. Different strengthening techniques considered in this study are (i) External Bonding (EB) of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates, (ii) Near Surface Mounting (NSM) of CFRP laminates, (iii) Bonded Overlay (BO) using concrete layer, and (iv) hybrid strengthening which is a combination of bonded overlay and NSM or EB. In the numerical studies, three-dimensional Finite Element (FE) models of hollow core slabs were developed considering material and geometrical nonlinearities, and a phased nonlinear analysis was carried out. The analytical calculations were carried out using Response-2000 program which is based on Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT). Both the numerical and analytical models predicted the behaviour in agreement with experimental results. Parametric studies indicated that increase in the bonded overlay thickness increases the peak load capacity without reducing the displacement ductility. The increase in FRP strengthening ratio increased the capacity but reduced the displacement ductility. The hybrid strengthening technique was found to increase the capacity of the hollow core slabs by more than 100% without compromise in ductility when compared to their individual strengthening schemes.