• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.227-239
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• 2020

The aim of this study is to obtain the nonlinear and post-buckling responses of relatively thick functionally graded plates with oblique elliptical cutouts using a new semi-analytical approach. To model the oblique elliptical hole in a FGM plate, six plate-elements are used and the connection between these elements is provided by the well-known Penalty method. Therefore, the semi-analytical technique used in this paper is known as the plate assembly technique. In order to take into account for functionality of the material in a perforated plate, the volume fraction of the material constituents follows a simple power law distribution. Since the FGM perforated plates are relatively thick in this research, the structural model is assumed to be the first order shear deformation theory and Von-Karman's assumptions are used to incorporate geometric nonlinearity. The equilibrium equations for FGM plates containing elliptical holes are obtained by the principle of minimum of total potential energy. The obtained nonlinear equilibrium equations are solved numerically using the quadratic extrapolation technique. Various sets of boundary conditions for FGM plates and different cutout sizes and orientations are assumed here and their effects on nonlinear response of plates under compressive loads are examined.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.143-162
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• 2019

A number of desirable characteristics concerning excellent durability, aesthetics, recyclability, high ductility and fire resistance have made stainless steel a preferred option in engineering practice. However, the relatively high initial cost has greatly restricted the application of stainless steel as a major structural material in general construction. This drawback can be partially overcome by introducing composite stainless steel-concrete structures, which provides a cost-efficient and sustainable solution for future stainless steel construction. This paper presents a preliminary numerical study on stainless steel-concrete composite beam-to-column joints with bolted flush endplates. In order to ensure a consistent corrosion resistance within the whole structural system, all structural steel components were designed with austenitic stainless steel, including beams, columns, endplates, bolts, reinforcing bars and shear connectors. A finite element model was developed using ABAQUS software for composite beam-to-column joints under monotonic and symmetric hogging moments, while validation was performed based on independent test results. A parametric study was subsequently conducted to investigate the effects of several critical factors on the behaviour of composite stainless steel joints. Finally, comparisons were made between the numerical results and the predictions by current design codes regarding the plastic moment capacity and the rotational stiffness of the joints. It was concluded that the present codes of practice generally overestimate the rotational stiffness and underestimate the plastic moment resistance of stainless steel-concrete composite joints.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2008

Flow fields inside feeder pipes have been simulated numerically using a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) code to calculate the shear stress distribution, which is the most important factor in predicting the local regions of feeder pipes highly susceptible to FAC (flow-accelerated corrosion)-induced wall thinning. The CFD approach, with schemes used in this study, to simulate the flow situations inside the CANDU feeder pipes has been verified as it showed a good agreement between the investigation results for the failed feedwater pipe at Surry unit 2 plant in the U.S. and the CFD calculation. Sensitivity studies of the three geometrical parameters, such as angle of the first and second bends, length of the first span between the grayloc hub and the first bend, and length of the second span between the first and the second bends have been performed. CFD analysis reveals that the local regions of feeder pipes of Wolsung unit 1 in Korea, on which wall thickness measurements have been performed so far, are not coincident with the worst regions predicted by the present CFD analysis located in the connection region of straight and bend pipe near the inlet part of the bend intrados. Finally, based on the results of the present CFD analysis, a guide to the selection of the weakest local positions where the measurement of wall thickness should be performed with higher priority has been provided.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.743-755
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• 2019

In this paper, a new system of seismic isolation for buildings - called suspended columns - is introduced. In this method, the building columns are placed on the hinged cradle seats instead of direct connection to the foundation. In this system, each of the columns is put on a seat hung from its surrounding area by a number of cables, for which cavities are created inside the foundation around the columns. Inside these cavities, the tensile cables are hung. Because of the flexibility of the cables, the suspended seats vibrate during an earthquake and as a result, there is less acceleration in the structure than the foundation. A Matlab code was written to analyze and investigate the response of the system against the earthquake excitations. The findings showed that if this system is used in a building, it results in a significant reduction in the acceleration applied to the structure. A shear key system was used to control the structure for service and lateral weak loads. Moreover, the effect of vertical acceleration on the seismic behavior of the system was also investigated. Effect of the earthquake characteristic period on the system performance was studied and the optimum length of the suspension cables for a variety of the period ranges was suggested. In addition, measures have been taken for long-term functioning of the system and some practical feasibility features were also discussed. Finally, the advantages and limitations of the system were discussed and compared with the other common methods of seismic isolation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.319-332
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• 2021

The wood-concrete composite is an interesting solution in the field of Civil Engineering to create high performance bending elements for bridges, as well as in the building construction for the design of wood concrete floor systems. The authors of this paper has been working for the past few years on the development of the bonding process as applied to wood-concrete composite structures. Contrary to conventional joining connectors, this assembling technique does ensure an almost perfect connection between wood and concrete. This paper presents a careful theoretical investigation into interfacial stresses at the level of the two interfaces in composite wooden beam- reinforced concrete slab strengthened by external bonding of prestressed composite plate under a uniformly distributed load. The model is based on equilibrium and deformations compatibility requirements in all parts of the strengthened composite beam, i.e., the wooden beam, RC slab, the CFRP plate and the adhesive layer. The theoretical predictions are compared with other existing solutions. This research is helpful for the understanding on mechanical behaviour of the interface and design of the CFRP- wooden-concrete hybrid structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.751-767
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• 2022

In the hogging bending moment area, continuous composite beams are subjected to the ultimate limit state of lateral-torsional buckling (LTB), which depends on web stiffness as well as concrete slab and shear connection stiffnesses. The design of the LTB and the determination of the elastic critical moment are produced approximately, using the European Standard EN 1994-1-1:2004, for continuous composite steel beams, but is applicable only for those with a plane web steel profile. Also, and from the previous researches, the elastic critical moment of the continuous composite beams with corrugated sinusoidal web steel profiles was determined. In this paper, a finite element analysis (FEA) model was developed using the ANSYS 16 software, to determine the elastic critical moments of continuous composite steel beams with various corrugated web profiles, such as trapezoidal, zigzag, and rectangular profiles, which were evaluated against numerical data of the sinusoidal one from the literature. Ultimately, the failure load of a composite steel beam with various web profiles was predicted by studying 46 models, based on FEA modeling, and a procedure for predicting the elastic critical moment of composite beams with various web steel profiles was proposed. When compared to sinusoidal web profiles, the trapezoidal, zigzag, and rectangular web profiles required an average increase in load capacity and stiffness of 7%, 17.5%, and 28%, respectively, according to the finite element analysis. Also, the rectangular web steel profile has a greater stiffness and load capacity. In contrast, the sinusoidal web has lower values for these characteristics.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.437-447
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• 2023

Inclined piles are commonly used in civil engineering constructions where significant lateral resistance is required. Many researchers proved their positive performance on the seismic behavior of the supported structure and the piles themselves. However, most of these numerical studies were done within the framework of linear elastic or elastoplastic soil behavior, neglecting therefore the soil non-linearity at low and moderate soil strains which is questionable and could be misleading in dynamic analysis. The main objective of this study is to examine the influence of the pile inclination on the seismic performance of the soil-pile-structure system when both the linear elastic and the nonlinear soil models are employed. Based on the comparative responses, the adequacy of the soil's linear elastic behavior will be therefore evaluated. The analysis is conducted by generating a three-dimensional finite difference model, where a full interaction between the soil, structure, and inclined piles is considered. The numerical survey proved that the pile inclination can have a significant impact on the internal forces generated by seismic activity, specifically on the bending moment and shear forces. The main disadvantages of using inclined piles in this system are the bending forces at the head and pile-to-head connection. It is crucial to account for soil nonlinearity to accurately assess the seismic response of the soil-pile-structure system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.3
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• pp.239-252
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• 2024

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are classified as lateral load-resisting systems. The feasibility of openings in the steel plate is a characteristic of SPSWs. The use of openings in SPSWs can lower the load capacity, stiffness, and energy dissipation. This study proposes a novel form of SPSWs that provides convenient access through openings by combining steel plates and eccentrically braced frames (EBFs). The proposed system also avoids a substantial reduction in the strength and stiffness. Hence, various geometric forms were analyzed through two different structural approaches. Groups 1, 2, and 3 included a steel EBF with a steel plate between the column and EBF in order to improve system performance. In Group 4, the proposed system was evaluated within an SPSW with openings and an EBF on the opening edge. To evaluate the performance of the proposed systems, the nonlinear finite element method (NL-FEM) was employed under cyclic loading. The hysteresis (load-drift) curve, stress contour, stiffness, and damping were evaluated as the structural outputs. The numerical models indicated that local buckling within the middle plate-EBF connection prevented a diagonal tension field. Moreover, in group 4, the EBF and stiffeners on the opening edge enhanced the structural response by approximately 7.5% in comparison with the base SPSW system.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.26-37
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• 2019

This paper aims to investigate the seismic characteristics of strip-type damping devices possessing optimized shapes for the moment-resisting mechanism throughout analytical and experimental studies. Predicting equations for initial stiffness and yielding strength were introduced and compared with analytical results obtained from finite element analyses (FEAs) using commercial FEA program ABAQUS. In order for establishing predicting equations, two idealized processes were considered and both predicting equations showed that they could provide enough approximations for seismic applications in building structures. Throughout experimental studies, it was noted that structural uncertainties on mild steels, connection details and structural types linking damping devices with building structures could interrupt predicting structural behavior of the devices. Also, it was observed that shear stress concentrations should be considered if shear yielding type devices are applied into building structures. Nevertheless, it was shown that structural conservatism can be established using the predicting equations and seismic applications of the damping devices can enhance the seismic performance of building structures efficiently in the viewpoint that they have high resistance to low-cycle fatigue failures.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.503-514
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• 2011

In this research, the seismic connection details for two concrete-filled U-shape steel beam-to-H columns were proposed and cyclically tested under a full-scale cruciform configuration. The key connecting components included the U-shape steel section (450 and 550 mm deep for specimens A and B, respectively), a concrete floor slab with a ribbed deck (165 mm deep for both specimens), welded couplers and rebars for negative moment transfer, and shear studs for full composite action and strengthening plates. Considering the unique constructional nature of the proposed connection, the critical limit states, such as the weld fracture, anchorage failure of the welded coupler, local buckling, concrete crushing, and rebar buckling, were carefully addressed in the specimen design. The test results showed that the connection details and design methods proposed in this study can well control the critical limit states mentioned above. Especially, the proposed connection according to the strengthening strategy successfully pushed the plastic hinge to the tip of the strengthened zone, as intended in the design, and was very effective in protecting the more vulnerable beam-to-column welded joint. The maximum story drift capacities of 6.0 and 6.8% radians were achieved in specimens A and B, respectively, thus far exceeding the minimumlimit of 4% radians required of special moment frames. Low-cycle fatigue fracture across the beam bottom flange at a 6% drift level was the final failure mode of specimen A. Specimen B failed through the fracture of the top splice plate of the bolted splice at a very high drift ratio of 8.0% radian.