• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.451-464
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• 2018

This paper presents some quasi-static tests for 4 mixed columns composed of CFST column and RC column. The seismic performance and failure mode were studied under low-cyclic revised loading. The failure mode was observed under different axial compression ratios. The hysteretic curve and skeleton curve were obtained. The effects of axial compression ratio on yield mechanism, displacement ductility, energy dissipation, stiffness and strength attenuation were analyzed. The results indicate that the failure behavior of CFST-RC mixed column with archaized style is mainly caused by bending failure and accompanied by some shear failure. The axial compression ratio performs a control function on the yielding order of the upper and lower columns. The yielding mechanism has a great influence on the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of specimens. Based on the experiment, finite element analysis was made to further research the seismic performance by ABAQUS software. The variable parameters were stiffness ratio of upper and lower columns, axial compression ratio, yielding strength of steel tube, concrete strength and rebar ratio. The simulation results show that with the increase of stiffness ratio of the upper and lower columns, the bearing capacity and ductility of specimens can correspondingly increase. As the axial compression ratio increases, the ductility of the specimen decreases gradually. The other three parameters both have positive effect on the bearing capacity but have negative effect on the ductility. The results can provide reference for the design and engineering application of mixed column consisted of CFST-RC in Chinese archaized buildings.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.311-325
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• 2020

In this research work, the hygrothermal and mechanical buckling responses of simply supported FG sandwich plate seated on Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation are investigated using a novel shear deformation theory. The current model take into consideration the shear deformation effects and ensures the zero shear stresses on the free surfaces of the FG-sandwich plate without requiring the correction factors "Ks". The material properties of the faces sheets of the FG-sandwich plate are assumed varies as power law function "P-FGM" and the core is isotropic (purely ceramic). From the virtual work principle, the stability equations are deduced and resolved via Navier model. The hygrothermal effects are considered varies as a nonlinear, linear and uniform distribution across the thickness of the FG-sandwich plate. To check and confirm the accuracy of the current model, a several comparison has been made with other models found in the literature. The effects the temperature, moisture concentration, parameters of elastic foundation, side-to-thickness ratio, aspect ratio and the inhomogeneity parameter on the critical buckling of FG sandwich plates are also investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.631-639
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• 2019

Finite element analysis is one of the important methods to study the structural performance. Due to the simplification, discretization and error of structural parameters, numerical model errors always exist. Besides, structural characteristics may also change because of material aging, structural damage, etc., making the initial finite element model cannot simulate the operational response of the structure accurately. Based on Bayesian methods, the initial model can be updated to obtain a more accurate numerical model. This paper presents the work on the field test, modal identification and model updating of a Chinese reinforced concrete pagoda. Based on the ambient vibration test, the acceleration response of the structure under operational environment was collected. The first six translational modes of the structure were identified by the enhanced frequency domain decomposition method. The initial finite element model of the pagoda was established, and the elastic modulus of columns, beams and slabs were selected as model parameters to be updated. Assuming the error between the measured mode and the calculated one follows a Gaussian distribution, the posterior probability density function (PDF) of the parameter to be updated is obtained and the uncertainty is quantitatively evaluated based on the Bayesian statistical theory and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, and then the optimal values of model parameters can be obtained. The results show that the difference between the calculated frequency of the finite element model and the measured one is reduced, and the modal correlation of the mode shape is improved. The updated numerical model can be used to evaluate the safety of the structure as a benchmark model for structural health monitoring (SHM).

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2019

Application of nanotechnology can be used to tailor made cementitious composites owing to small dimension and physical behaviour of resulting hydration products. Because of high aspect ratio and extremely high strength, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are perfect reinforcing materials. Hence, there is a great prospect to use CNTs in developing new generation cementitious materials. In the present paper, a parametric study has been conducted on cementitious composites reinforced by two types of multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) designated as Type I CNT (10-20 nm outer dia.) and Type II CNT (30-50 nm outer dia.) with various concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 0.5% by weight of cement. To evaluate important properties such as flexural strength, strain to failure, elastic modulus and modulus of toughness of the CNT admixed specimens at different curing periods, flexural bending tests were performed. Results show that composites with Type II CNTs gave more strength as compared to Type I CNTs. The highest increase in strength (flexural and compressive) is of the order of 22% and 33%, respectively, compared to control samples. Modulus of toughness at 28 days showed highest improvement of 265% for Type II 0.3% CNT composites. It is obvious that an optimum percentage of CNT could exists for composites to achieve suitable reinforcement behaviour and desired strength properties. Based on the parametric study, a tentative optimum CNT concentration (0.3% by weight of cement) has been proposed. Scanning electron microscope image shows perfect crack bridging mechanism; several of the CNTs were shown to act as crack arrestors across fine cracks along with some CNTs breakage.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.315-327
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• 2019

Deep excavations for development of subway systems in metropolitan regions surrounded by adjacent buildings is an important geotechnical problem, especialy in Tabriz city, where is mostly composed of young alluvial soils and weak marly layers. This study analyzes the wall displacement and ground surface settlement due to deep excavation in the Tabriz marls using two dimensional finite element method. The excavation of the station L2-S17 was selected as a case study for the modelling. The excavation is supported by the concrete diaphragm wall and one row of steel struts. The analyses investigate the effects of wall stiffness and excavation width on the excavation-induced deformations. The geotechnical parameters were selected based on the results of field and laboratory tests. The results indicate that the wall deflection and ground surface settlement increase with increasing excavation depth and width. The change in maximum wall deflection and ground settlement with considerable increase in wall stiffness is marginal, however the lower wall stiffness produces the larger wall and ground displacements. The maximum wall deflections induced by the excavation with a width of 8.2 m are 102.3, 69.4 and 44.3 mm, respectively for flexible, medium and stiff walls. The ratio of maximum ground settlement to maximum lateral wall deflection approaches to 1 with increasing wall stiffness. It was found that the wall stiffness affects the settlement influence zone. An increase in the wall stiffness results in a decrease in the settlements, an extension in the settlement influence zones and occurrence of the maximum settlements at a larger distance from the wall. The maximum of settlement for the excavation with a width of 14.7 m occurred at 6.1, 9.1 and 24.2 m away from the wall, respectively, for flexible, medium and stiff walls.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.373-385
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• 2019

In this article, different frequently adopted modeling aspects of linear and nonlinear dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) are studied on a pile-supported integral abutment bridge structure using the open-source platform OpenSees (McKenna et al. 2000, Mazzoni et al. 2007, McKenna and Fenves 2008) for a 2D domain. Analyzed approaches are as follows: (i) free field input at the base of fixed base bridge; (ii) SSI input at the base of fixed base bridge; (iii) SSI model with two dimensional quadrilateral soil elements interacting with bridge and incident input motion propagating upwards at model bottom boundary (with and without considering the effect of abutment backfill response); (iv) simplified SSI model by idealizing the interaction between structural and soil elements through nonlinear springs (with and without considering the effect of abutment backfill response). Salient conclusions of this paper include: (i) free-field motions may differ significantly from those computed at the base of the bridge foundations, thus put a significant bias on the inertial component of SSI; (ii) conventional modeling of SSI through series of soil springs and dashpot system seems to stay on the safer side under dynamic conditions when one considers the seismic actions on the structure by considering a fully coupled SSI model; (iii) consideration of abutment-backfill in the SSI model positively affects the general response of the bridge, as a result of large passive resistance that may develop behind the abutments.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.319-332
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• 2019

This study is aimed to predict the behaviour of channel shear connectors in composite floor systems at different temperatures. For this purpose, a soft computing approach is adopted. Two novel intelligence methods, including an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and a Genetic Programming (GP), are developed. In order to generate the required data for the intelligence methods, several push-out tests were conducted on various channel connectors at different temperatures. The dimension of the channel connectors, temperature, and slip are considered as the inputs of the models, and the strength of the connector is predicted as the output. Next, the performance of the ELM and GP is evaluated by developing an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Finally, the performance of the ELM, GP, and ANN is compared with each other. Results show that ELM is capable of achieving superior performance indices in comparison with GP and ANN in the case of load prediction. Also, it is found that ELM is not only a very fast algorithm but also a more reliable model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.19-36
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• 2019

Cyclic behaviour of composite (steel-concrete) plate shear walls (CPSW) with variable column flexural stiffness is experimentally and numerically investigated. The investigation included design, fabrication and testing of three pairs of one-bay one-storey CPSW specimens. The reference specimen pair was designed in way that its column flexural stiffness corresponds to the value required by the design codes, while within the other two specimen pairs column flexural stiffness was reduced by 18% and 36%, respectively. Specimens were subjected to quasi-static cyclic tests. Obtained results indicate that column flexural stiffness reduction in CPSW does not have negative impact on the overall behaviour allowing for satisfactory performance for up to 4% storey drift ratio while also enabling inelastic buckling of the infill steel plate. Additionally, in comparison to similar steel plate shear wall (SPSW) specimens, column "pull-in" deformations are less pronounced within CPSW specimens. Therefore, the results indicate that prescribed minimal column flexural stiffness value used for CPSW might be conservative, and can additionally be reduced when compared to the prescribed value for SPSWs. Furthermore, finite element (FE) pushover simulations were conducted using shell and solid elements. Such FE models can adequately simulate cyclic behaviour of CPSW and as such could be further used for numerical parametric analyses. It is necessary to mention that the implemented pushover FE models were not able to adequately reproduce column "pull-in" deformation and that further development of FE simulations is required where cyclic loading of the shear walls needs to be simulated.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.269-282
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• 2015

Civil structures should be designed with the lowest cost and longest lifetime possible and without service failure. The efficient and sustainable use of materials in building design and construction has always been at the forefront for civil engineers and environmentalists. Timber is one of the best contenders for these purposes particularly in terms of aesthetics; fire protection; strength-to-weight ratio; acoustic properties and seismic resistance. In recent years, timber has been used in commercial and taller buildings due to these significant advantages. It should be noted that, since the launch of the modern building standards and codes, a number of different structural systems have been developed to stabilise steel or concrete multistorey buildings, however, structural analysis of high-rise and multi-storey timber frame buildings subjected to lateral loads has not yet been fully understood. Additionally, timber degradation can occur as a result of biological decay of the elements and overloading that can result in structural damage. In such structures, the deficient members and joints require strengthening in order to satisfy new code requirements; determine acceptable level of safety; and avoid brittle failure following earthquake actions. This paper investigates performance assessment and damage assessment of older multi-storey timber buildings. One approach is to retrofit the beams in order to increase the ductility of the frame. Experimental studies indicate that Sprayed Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SFRP) repairing/retrofitting not only updates the integrity of the joint, but also increases its strength; stiffness; and ductility in such a way that the joint remains elastic. Non-linear finite element analysis ('pushover') is carried out to study the behaviour of the structure subjected to simulated gravity and lateral loads. A new global index is re-assessed for damage assessment of the plain and SFRP-retrofitted frames using capacity curves obtained from pushover analysis. This study shows that the proposed method is suitable for structural damage assessment of aged timber buildings. Also SFRP retrofitting can potentially improve the performance and load carrying capacity of the structure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.99-117
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• 2015

The Stonecutters Bridge (SCB) in Hong Kong is the third-longest cable-stayed bridge in the world with a main span stretching 1,018 m between two 298 m high single-leg tapering composite towers. A Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) is being implemented on SCB by the Highways Department of The Hong Kong SAR Government, and the SCB-WASHMS is composed of more than 1,300 sensors in 15 types. In order to establish a linkage between structural health monitoring and maintenance management, a Structural Health Rating System (SHRS) with relevant rating tools and indices is devised. On the basis of a 3D space frame finite element model (FEM) of SCB and model updating, this paper presents the development of an SHR-oriented 3D multi-scale FEM for the purpose of load-resistance analysis and damage evaluation in structural element level, including modeling, refinement and validation of the multi-scale FEM. The refined 3D structural segments at deck and towers are established in critical segment positions corresponding to maximum cable forces. The components in the critical segment region are modeled as a full 3D FEM and fitted into the 3D space frame FEM. The boundary conditions between beam and shell elements are performed conforming to equivalent stiffness, effective mass and compatibility of deformation. The 3D multi-scale FEM is verified by the in-situ measured dynamic characteristics and static response. A good agreement between the FEM and measurement results indicates that the 3D multi-scale FEM is precise and efficient for WASHMS and SHRS of SCB. In addition, stress distribution and concentration of the critical segments in the 3D multi-scale FEM under temperature loads, static wind loads and equivalent seismic loads are investigated. Stress concentration elements under equivalent seismic loads exist in the anchor zone in steel/concrete beam and the anchor plate edge in steel anchor box of the towers.