• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.647-664
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• 2006

In this study, an improved finite element formulation with a scheme of solution for the large deflection analysis of inextensible prismatic and nonprismatic slender beams is developed. For this purpose, a three-noded Lagrangian beam-element with two dependent degrees of freedom per node (i.e., the vertical displacement, y, and the actual slope, $dy/ds=sin{\theta}$, where s is the curved coordinate along the deflected beam) is used to derive the element stiffness matrix. The element stiffness matrix in the global xy-coordinate system is achieved by means of coordinate transformation of a highly nonlinear ($6{\times}6$) element matrix in the local sy-coordinate. Because of bending with large curvature, highly nonlinear expressions are developed within the global stiffness matrix. To achieve the solution after specifying the proper loading and boundary conditions, an iterative quasi-linearization technique with successive corrections are employed considering these nonlinear expressions to remain constant during all iterations of the solution. In order to verify the validity and the accuracy of this study, the vertical and the horizontal displacements of prismatic and nonprismatic beams subjected to various cases of loading and boundary conditions are evaluated and compared with analytic solutions and numerical results by available references and the results by ADINA, and excellent agreements were achieved. The main advantage of the present technique is that the solution is directly obtained, i.e., non-incremental approach, using few iterations (3 to 6 iterations) and without the need to split the stiffness matrix into elastic and geometric matrices.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-68
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• 2007

High-strength concrete (HSC) is becoming increasingly attractive for various construction projects since it offers a multitude of benefits over normal-strength concrete (NSC). Unfortunately, current design provisions for shear capacity of RC slender beams are generally based on data developed for NSC members having a compressive strength of up to 50 MPa, with limited recommendations on the use of HSC. The failure of HSC beams is noticeably different than that of NSC beams since the transition zone between the cement paste and aggregates is much denser in HSC. Thus, unlike NSC beams in which micro-cracks propagate around aggregates, providing significant aggregate interlock, micro-cracks in HSC are trans-granular, resulting in relatively smoother fracture surfaces, thereby inhibiting aggregate interlock as a shear transfer mechanism and reducing the influence of compressive strength on the ultimate shear strength of HSC beams. In this study, a new approach based on genetic algorithms (GAs) was used to predict the shear capacity of both NSC and HSC slender beams without shear reinforcement. Shear capacity predictions of the GA model were compared to calculations of four other commonly used methods: the ACI method, CSA method, Eurocode-2, and Zsutty's equation. A parametric study was conducted to evaluate the ability of the GA model to capture the effect of basic shear design parameters on the behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams under shear loading. The parameters investigated include compressivestrength, amount of longitudinal reinforcement, and beam's depth. It was found that the GA model provided more accurate evaluation of shear capacity compared to that of the other common methods and better captured the influence of the significant shear design parameters. Therefore, the GA model offers an attractive user-friendly alternative to conventional shear design methods.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.189-208
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• 2012

Lock-in and drag amplification phenomena are studied for a flexible cantilever using a simplified fluid-structure interaction approach. Instead of solving the 3D domain, a simplified setup is devised, in which 2D flow problems are solved on a number of planes parallel to the wind direction and transversal to the structure. On such planes, the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved to estimate the fluid action at different positions of the line-like structure. The fluid flow on each plane is coupled with the structural deformation at the corresponding position, affecting the dynamic behaviour of the system. An Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach is used to take in account the deformation of the domain, and a fractional-step scheme is used to solve the fluid field. The stabilization of incompressibility and convection is achieved through orthogonal quasi-static subscales, an approach that is believed to provide a first step towards turbulence modelling. In order to model the structural problem, a special one-dimensional element for thin walled cross-section beam is implemented. The standard second-order Bossak method is used for the time integration of the structural problem.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

The objective of this research is to study experimentally and numerically the behavior of steel beam columns with openings. Although the presence of openings in the beam columns is inevitable, finding ways to maintain strength is crucial. The studied parameters are opening shape, the ratio between opening height to specimen height, the percentage of opening location from support to beam column length, and web slenderness. Experimental tests are conducted including twelve specimens to study the effect of these parameters and record failure load, load deflection curve, and stress strain curve. Two failure modes are observed: local and flexural buckling. Interaction curves plotted from finite element model analysis are also used to expand the parametric study. Changing the location of the opening can decrease failure load by up to 7% and 60% in both normal and moment ratios respectively. Increasing the opening dimension can lead to a drop in the axial ratio by up to 29% and in the moment ratio by up to 74%. The weakest beam column behavior is noticed in specimens with rectangular openings which results from uneven and concentrated stresses around the opening. The main results of this research illustrate that the best location for opening is at 40% - 50% from beam column support. Also, it is advisable to use circular openings instead of rectangular openings in specimens having slender webs because moment ratios are raised by 85% accompanied by a rise in normal ratios by 9%.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.131-140
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• 2014

This study focuses on seismic behaviour of tall piers characterized by high slender ratio. Two analysis models were developed based on elastic-plastic hinged beam element and elastic-plastic fiber beam element, respectively. The effect of the division density of elastic-plastic hinged beam element on seismic demand was discussed firstly to seek a rational analysis model for tall piers. Then structural seismic behaviour such as the formation of plastic hinges, the development of plastic zone, and the displacement at the top of the tall piers were investigated through incremental dynamic analysis. It showed that the seismic behaviour of a tall pier was quite different from that of a lower pier due to higher modes contributions. In a tall pier, an additional plastic zone may occur at the middle height of the pier with the increase of seismic excitation. Moreover, the maximum curvature reaction at the bottom section and maximum lateral displacement at the top turned out to be seriously out of phase for a tall pier due to the higher modes effect, and thus pushover analysis can not appropriately predict the local displacement capacity.

• Advances in biomechanics and applications
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.211-225
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• 2014

The usual assumption that the increase of fractures in aging bone is due entirely to lower bone density is taken back with respect to the possibility that aging bone fractures result from a loss of stability, or buckling, in the structure of the bone lattice. Buckling is an instability mode that becomes likely in end-loaded structures when they become too slender and lose lateral support. The relative importance of bone density and architecture in etiology bone fractures are poorly understood and the need for improved mechanistic understanding of bone failure is at the core of important clinical problems such as osteoporosis, as well as basic biological issues such as bone formation and adaptation. These observations motivated the present work in which simplified adaptive-beam buckling model is formulated within the context of the adaptive elasticity (Cowin and Hegedus 1976, Hegedus and Cowin 1976). Our results indicate that bone loss activation process leads systematically to the apparition of new elastic instabilities that can conduct to bone-buckling mechanism of fracture.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.723-738
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• 2014

Prestressing is the most commonly employed technique in bridges and long span beams in commercial buildings as prestressing results in slender section with higher load carrying capacities. This work is an attempt to study the performance of a minimum weight prestressed concrete beam adopting a non-prismatic section so that there will be a reduction in the volume of concrete which in turn reduces the self-weight of the structure. The effect of adopting a non-prismatic section on parameters like prestressing force, area of prestressing steel, bending stresses, shear stresses and percentage loss of prestress are established theoretically. The analysis of non-prismatic prestressed beams is based on the assumption of pure bending theory. Equations are derived for dead load bending moment, eccentricity, and depth at any required section. Based on these equations an algorithm is developed which does the stress checks for the given section for every 500 mm interval of the span. Limit state method is used for the design of beam and finite difference method is used for finding out the deflection of a non-prismatic beam. All the parameters of nonprismatic prestressed concrete beams are compared with that of the rectangular prestressed concrete members and observed that minimum weight design and economical design are not same. Minimum weight design results in the increase in required area of prestressing steel.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.563-572
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• 2017

The safety of structures is closely associated with the structural out-of-plane behavior. In particular, long and slender beam structures have been increasingly used in the design and construction. Therefore, an evaluation of the lateral and torsional behavior of a structure is important for the safety of the structure during construction as well as under service conditions. The current contact measurement method using displacement meters cannot measure independent movements directly and also requires caution when installing the displacement meters. Therefore, in this study, a vision-based system was used to measure the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements of a structure. The image processing algorithm was based on reference objects, including multiple targets in Lab color space. The captured targets were synchronized using a load indicator connected wirelessly to a data logger system in the server. A laboratory beam test was carried out to compare the displacements and rotation obtained from the proposed vision-based measurement system with those from the current measurement method using string potentiometers. The test results showed that the proposed vision-based measurement system could be applied successfully and easily to evaluating both the in-plane and out-of-plane movements of a beam including twisting rotation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.335-354
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• 2016

This contribution presents an extended one-dimensional theory for piezoelectric beam-type structures with non-ideal electrodes. For these types of electrodes the equipotential area condition is not satisfied. The main motivation of our research is originated from passive vibration control: when an elastic structure is covered by several piezoelectric patches that are linked via resistances and inductances, vibrational energy is efficiently dissipated if the electric network is properly designed. Assuming infinitely small piezoelectric patches that are connected by an infinite number of electrical, in particular resistive and inductive elements, one obtains the Telegrapher's equation for the voltage across the piezoelectric transducer. Embedding this outcome into the framework of Bernoulli-Euler, the final equations are coupled to the wave equations for the longitudinal motion of a bar and to the partial differential equations for the lateral motion of the beam. We present results for the wave propagation of a longitudinal bar for several types of electrode properties. The frequency spectra are computed (phase angle, wave number, wave speed), which point out the effect of resistive and inductive electrodes on wave characteristics. Our results show that electrical damping due to the resistivity of the electrodes is different from internal (=strain velocity dependent) or external (=velocity dependent) mechanical damping. Finally, results are presented, when the structure is excited by a harmonic single force, yielding that resistive-inductive electrodes are suitable candidates for passive vibration control that might be of great interest for practical applications in the future.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.769-778
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• 2019

The specially prefabricated steel moment connections with pyramid head is one of the significant innovations in the steel structures forms to improve the installation time and simplify the construction procedure. The beams in this structure form are supported by two top and bottom angles and web double angles. Such a configuration despite its advantages increases the welding operation and filed installation time and costs. In this paper, the effect of using beams with channel and I section in three classes of seismically compact, seismically non-compact, and slender section according to width-to-thickness ratio on the behavior of the connection was investigated under monotonic and cyclic loading. Modeling was performed by ABAQUS and verified by the results of an experimental specimen. The findings indicated that using I and channel section instead of angle section reduces the amount of welding materials as well as easing the installation procedure. However, it has no significant effect on the ultimate strength and ductility of the connection. Furthermore, if the beam section is seismically compact, this form is considered as a special moment frame that has a rotation capacity up to 0.04 radians without any reduction in connection moment resistance.