• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.5
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• pp.567-577
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• 2019

Guyed steel lattice towers (or guyed masts) are widely used for supporting antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting. This paper presents a numerical study on the static and dynamic response of guyed towers. Three-dimensional nonlinear finite-element models are used to simulate the response. Through performing static pushover analyses and free-vibration (modal) analyses, the effect of different bracing configurations is investigated. In addition, seismic analyses are performed on towers of different heights to study the influence of earthquake excitation time-lag (or the earthquake travel distance between tower anchors) and antenna weight on the seismic response of guyed towers. The results show that the inclusion of time lag in the seismic analysis of guyed towers can influence shear and moment distribution along the height of the mast. Moreover, it is found that the lateral response is insensitive to bracing configurations. The results also show that, depending on the mast height, an increased antenna weight can reduce the tower maximum base shear while other response quantities, such as cables tension force are found to be insensitive to variation in the antenna weight.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.259-267
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• 2004

Most steel frame structures are constructed to one side without considering the arrangement of major-minor axis of column and bracing. This research presents more safety and economic efficiency can be obtained by just rearrangement of major-minor axis. Because most of steel-frame structures are excessively designed with Allowable Stress Design, and it needs to be changed to other specifications. The arrangement of major-minor axis of column is partly referred in AISC-LRFD, but still insufficient. This study compared with the each result from rearrangement of major-minor axis of column, arrangement of bracing, the connecting method of bracing, and consequence with different specifications. Moreover it demonstrated the direction of more economically optimized design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.163-177
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• 2020

Concentrically Braced Frames (CBFs) are commonly used in the construction of steel structures because of their ease of implementation, rigidity, low lateral displacement, and cost-effectiveness. However, the principal disadvantage of this kind of braced frame is the inability to provide deformation capacity (ductility) and buckling of bracing elements before yielding. This paper aims to present a novel Composite Buckling Restrained Fuse (CBRF) to be utilized as a bracing segment in concentrically braced frames that allows higher ductility and removes premature buckling. The proposed CBRF with relatively small dimensions is an enhancement on the Reduced Length Buckling Restrained Braces (RL-BRBs), consists of steel core and additional tensile elements embedded in a concrete encasement. Employing tensile elements in this composite fuse with a new configuration enhances the energy dissipation efficiency and removes the tensile strength limitations that exist in bracing elements that contain RL-BRBs. Here, the optimal length of the CBRF is computed by considering the anticipated strain demand and the low-cyclic fatigue life of the core under standard loading protocol. An experimental program is conducted to explore the seismic behavior of the suggested CBRF compare with an RL-BRB specimen under gradually increased cyclic loading. Moreover, Hysteretic responses of the specimens are evaluated to calculate the design parameters such as energy dissipation potential, strength adjustment factors, and equivalent viscous damping. The findings show that the suggested fuse possess a ductile behavior with high energy absorption and sufficient resistance and a reasonably stable hysteresis response under compression and tension.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.253-272
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• 2013

The use of steel bracing systems is a popular method for the strengthening of existing reinforced concrete (RC) frames and may lead to a substantial increase of both strength and stiffness. However, in most retrofitting cases, the main target is the increase of the energy dissipation capacity. This paper studies numerically the efficiency of a specific strengthening methodology which utilizes a steel link element having a cross-section of various shapes, connected to the RC frame through bracing elements. The energy is dissipated through the yielding of the steel link element. The case studied is a typical one bay, single-storey RC frame, constructed according to older code provisions, which is strengthened through two different types of link elements. The presented numerical models are based on tests which are simulated in order to gain a better insight of the behaviour of the strengthened structures, but also in order to study the effects of different configurations for the link element. The behaviour of the strengthened frames is studied with respect to the one of the original bare frame. Moreover, the numerically obtained results are compared to the experimentally obtained ones, in order to verify the effectiveness of the applied simulation methodology.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2022

In this research, an earthquake-resistant structural system consisting of a pin-connected steel frame and a bracing with metallic fuses is proposed. Contrary to the conventional braced frames, the main structural elements are deemed to remain elastic under earthquakes and the seismic energy is efficiently dissipated by the damper-braces with an amplification mechanism. The superiority of the proposed damping system lies in easy manufacture, high yield capacity and energy dissipation, and an effortless replacement of damaged fuses after earthquake events. Furthermore, the stiffness and the yield capacity are almost decoupled in the proposed damper-brace which makes it highly versatile for performance-based seismic design compared to most other dampers. A special attention is paid to derive the theoretical formulation for nonlinear behavior of the proposed damper-brace, which is verified using analytical results. Next, a direct displacement-based design procedure is provided for the proposed system and an example structure is designed and analyzed thoroughly to check its seismic performance. The results show that the proposed system designed with the provided procedure satisfies the given performance objective and can be used for developing highly efficient low-damage structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.345-352
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• 2023

This paper studied the effect of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the seismic response and retrofit of a reinforced concrete structure with a soft-first story for different soil types. A 5-story structure built on a 30m deep homogeneous soil mass was considered as a case study structure, and steel column jacketing and steel bracing were chosen as seismic retrofit methods. Seismic responses of a fixed-base and a flexible base structure subjected to seven scaled earthquake records were obtained using the software OpenSees to investigate the effect of soil on seismic response and retrofit. The nonlinearBeamColumn elements with the fiber sections were used to simulate the nonlinear behavior of the beams and columns. Soil properties were defined based on shear wave velocity according to categorized site classes defined in ASCE-7. The finite element model of the soil was made using isoparametric four-noded quadrilateral elements and the nonlinear dynamic responses of the combined system of soil and structure were calculated in the OpenSees. The analysis results indicate that the soil-structure interaction plays an important role in the seismic performance and retrofit of a structure with a soft-first story. It was observed that column steel jacketing was effective in the retrofit of the model structure on a fixed base, whereas stronger retrofit measures such as steel bracing were needed when soil-structure interaction was considered.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.613-625
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• 2003

This paper presents the lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) of beams or girders with continuous lateral support at top flange. Traditional moment gradient factors ($C_b$) given by AISC in LRFD Specification for Structural Steel Buildings and by AASHTO in LRFD Bridge Design Specifications were reviewed. Finite-element method buckling analyses of doubly symmetric I-shaped beams with continuous top bracing were conducted to develop new moment gradient factors. A uniformly distributed load was applied at midheight and either or both end moments were applied at the ends of beams. The proposed solutions are simple and accurate for use by engineers to determine the LTB resistance of beams.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.281-288
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• 1999

This paper studied the efficiency of retrofitting of reinforced concrete structure which was not designed to endure an earthquake. The earthquake in Kobe Japan showed that there was a great possibility of having an earthquake even in big city and the damages were concentrated on mid or low story buildings which were not considered to be protected from an earthquake, . This experiment used reinforced concrete structure which restrained side-by-side displacement to test durability against an earthquake. This study deals with the structural performance of reinforced concrete frame structures strengthened with steel materials.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.5
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• pp.609-623
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• 2021

Buckling restrained bracing (BRB) was firstly introduced in Japan construction industry in year 1989. With time, BRB performance has been advanced to self-centering BRB (SC-BRB) which has exceptional energy dissipation, addressing the improvement in the structure performance in post-seismic affect. Although the BRB performance specifications are defined in design codes of several countries, specific design provisions are not generally provided since BRBs are usually considered a manufactured device. Furthermore, most of review papers focused on BRB rather than SC-BRB. Thus, this paper explores the background of both BRB and SC-BRB. The importance of self-centering components in BRB and literature related to it have been studied. This review study also highlights the significance of corrosion-resistance materials in the configuring BRB and SC-BRB since most of such members are made of carbon steel that is susceptible to corrosion.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.175-188
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• 2012

A parametric study for varying the radii of curvature is performed with a curved tub girder bridge having three continuous spans. The bracing forces of top lateral bracings from the results of numerical equations are compared to those of 3-dimensional finite element analyses. New modifying factors applicable in computing the nominal member forces of top lateral bracings were suggested. The numerical equations were derived based on one girder system, and it is shown that the numerical equations exhibit some errors compared with 3D FEA results. The main reason for this phenomenon lies on the number of girders. The twin girder system has an external cross-beam between inner and outer girder. It also has larger lateral stiffness than the single girder system. Finally, the distributions by the torsion, bending, distortion, and lateral loading of the top lateral bracing forces were presented in this paper.