• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제58권2호
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• pp.277-300
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• 2016

Cold-formed steel (CFS) sections are becoming an increasingly popular solution for constructing floors in residential, healthcare and education buildings. Their reduced weight, however, makes them prone to excessive vibrations, increasing the need for accurate prediction of CFS floor modal properties. By combining experimental modal analysis of a full-scale CFS framed building and its floors and their numerical finite element (FE) modelling this paper demonstrates that the existing methods (based on the best engineering judgement) for predicting CFS floor modal properties are unreliable. They can yield over 40% difference between the predicted and measured natural frequencies for important modes of vibration. This is because the methods were adopted from other floor types (e.g., timber or standard steel-concrete composite floors) and do not take into account specific features of CFS floors. Using the adjusted and then updated FE model, featuring semi-rigid connections led to markedly improved results. The first four measured and calculated CFS floor natural frequencies matched exactly and all relevant modal assurance criterion (MAC) values were above 90%. The introduction of flexible supports and more realistic modelling of the floor boundary conditions, as well as non-structural $fa{\c{c}}ade$ walls, proved to be crucial in the development of the new more successful modelling strategy. The process used to develop 10 identified and experimentally verified FE modelling parameters is based on published information and parameter adjustment resulting from FE model updating. This can be utilised for future design of similar lightweight steel floors in prefabricated buildings when checking their vibration serviceability, likely to be their governing design criterion.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.53-64
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• 2018

Nondestructive testing methods are required to assess the condition of civil structures and formulate their maintenance programs. Axial force identification is required for several structural members of truss bridges, pipe racks, and space roof trusses. An accurate evaluation of in situ axial forces supports the safety assessment of the entire truss. A considerable redistribution of internal forces may indicate structural damage. In this paper, a novel compressive force identification method for prismatic members implemented using static deflections is applied to steel beams. The procedure uses the Euler-Bernoulli beam model and estimates the compressive load by using the measured displacement along the beam's length. Knowledge of flexural rigidity of the member under investigation is required. In this study, the deflected shape of a compressed steel beam is subjected to an additional vertical load that was short-term measured in several laboratory tests by using fiber Bragg grating-differential settlement measurement (FBG-DSM) sensors at specific cross sections along the beam's length. The accuracy of midspan deflections offered by the FBG-DSM sensors provided excellent force estimations. Compressive load detection accuracy can be improved if substantial second-order effects are induced in the tests. In conclusion, the proposed method can be successfully applied to steel beams with low slenderness under real conditions.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.74-83
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• 2020

A number of so-called 'Type IV' cracking was reported to occur at the welded joints of the P91 steel or P92 steel reheat steam piping systems in Korean supercritical thermal power plants. The reheat steam piping systems are subjected to severe thermal and pressure loading conditions of coolant higher than 570℃ and 4MPa, respectively. In this study, piping analyses and design evaluations were conducted for the piping system of a specific thermal plant in Korea and suggestions were made how structural integrity could be improved so that type IV cracks at the welded joints could be prevented. Integrity evaluations were conducted as per ASME B31.1 code with implicit consideration of creep effects which was used in original design of the piping system and as per nuclear-grade RCC-MRx code with explicit consideration of creep effects. Comparisons were made between the evaluation results from the two design rules. Another approach with modification or reduction of the redundant supports in the piping systems was investigated as a tool to mitigate thermal stresses which should essentially contribute to prevention of Type IV cracking without major modification of the existing piping systems. In addition, a post weld heat treatment method and repair weld method which could improve integrity of the welded joint of P91 steel were investigated.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.49-69
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• 2018

This paper shows an optimal design for reinforced concrete rectangular combined footings based on a criterion of minimum cost. The classical design method for reinforced concrete rectangular combined footings is: First, a dimension is proposed that should comply with the allowable stresses (Minimum stress should be equal or greater than zero, and maximum stress must be equal or less than the allowable capacity withstand by the soil); subsequently, the effective depth is obtained due to the maximum moment and this effective depth is checked against the bending shear and the punching shear until, it complies with these conditions, and then the steel reinforcement is obtained, but this is not guaranteed that obtained cost is a minimum cost. A numerical experimentation shows the model capability to estimate the minimum cost design of the materials used for a rectangular combined footing that supports two columns under an axial load and moments in two directions at each column in accordance to the building code requirements for structural concrete and commentary (ACI 318S-14). Numerical experimentation is developed by modifying the values of the rectangular combined footing to from "d" (Effective depth), "b" (Short dimension), "a" (Greater dimension), "${\rho}_{P1}$" (Ratio of reinforcement steel under column 1), "${\rho}_{P2}$" (Ratio of reinforcement steel under column 2), "${\rho}_{yLB}$" (Ratio of longitudinal reinforcement steel in the bottom), "${\rho}_{yLT}$" (Ratio of longitudinal reinforcement steel at the top). Results show that the optimal design is more economical and more precise with respect to the classical design. Therefore, the optimal design presented in this paper should be used to obtain the minimum cost design for reinforced concrete rectangular combined footings.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.483-492
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• 2019

In the current study, the influence of the initial lateral (sweep) shape and the cross-sectional twist imperfection on the lateral torsional buckling (LTB) response of doubly-symmetric steel I-beams was investigated. The material imperfection (residual stress) was not considered. For this objective, standard European IPN 300 beam with different unbraced span was numerically analyzed for three imperfection cases: (i) no sweep and no twist (perfect); (ii) three different shapes of global sweep (half-sine, full-sine and full-parabola between the end supports); and (iii) the combination of three different sweeps with initial sinusoidal twist along the beam. The first comparison was done between the results of numerical analyses (FEM) and both a theoretical solution and the code lateral torsional buckling formulations (EC3 and AISC-LRFD). These results with no imperfection effects were then separately compared with three different shapes of global sweep and the presence of initial twist in these sweep shapes. Besides, the effects of the shapes of initial global sweep and the inclusion of sinusoidal twist on the critical buckling load of the beams were investigated to unveil which parameter was considerably effective on LTB response. The most compatible outcomes for the perfect beams was obtained from the AISC-LRFD formulation; however, the EC-3 formulation estimated the $P_{cr}$ load conservatively. The high difference from the EC-3 formulation was predicted to directly originate from the initial imperfection reduction factor and high safety factor in its formulation. Due to no consideration of geometric imperfection in the AISC-LFRD code solution and the theoretical formulation, the need to develop a practical imperfection reduction factor for AISC-LRFD and theoretical formulation was underlined. Initial imperfections were obtained to be more influential on the buckling load, as the unbraced length of a beam approached to the elastic limit unbraced length ($L_r$). Mode-compatible initial imperfection shapes should be taken into account in the design and analysis stages of the I-beam to properly estimate the geometric imperfection influence on the $P_{cr}$ load. Sweep and sweep-twist imperfections led to 10% and 15% decrease in the $P_{cr}$ load, respectively, thus; well-estimated sweep and twist imperfections should considered in the LTB of doubly-symmetric steel I-beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.389-410
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• 2004

In this study, theoretical and experimental results are presented which were obtained during an investigation of the influence of the $P-{\Delta}$ effect that was caused by the simultaneous changing of the axial load P of the column and the lateral displacement ${\Delta}$ in the external beam-column joints. The increase or decrease of ${\Delta}$ was simultaneous with the increase or decrease of the axial compression load P and caused an additional influence on the aseismic mechanical properties of the joint. A total of 12 reinforced concrete exterior beam-column subassemblies were examined. A new model, which predicts the beam-column joint ultimate shear strength, was used in order to predict the seismic behaviour of beam-column joints subjected to earthquake-type loading plus variable axial load and $P-{\Delta}$ effect. Test data and analytical research demonstrated that axial load changes and $P-{\Delta}$ effect during an earthquake cause significant deterioration in the earthquake-resistance of these structural elements. It was demonstrated that inclined bars in the joint region were effective for reducing the unfavourable impact of the $P-{\Delta}$ effect and axial load changes in these structural elements.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.33-49
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• 2016

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has been attracting numerous research efforts around the world because it targets at monitoring structural conditions and performance to prevent catastrophic failure, and to provide quantitative data for engineers and infrastructure owners to design a reliable and economical asset management strategy. In the past decade, with supports from Australian Research Council (ARC), Cooperative Research Center for Infrastructure and Engineering Asset Management (CIEAM), CSIRO and industry partners, intensive research works have been conducted in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Western Australia and Centre for Infrastructural Monitoring and Protection, Curtin University on various techniques of SHM. The researches include the development of hardware, software and various algorithms, such as various signal processing techniques for operational modal analysis, modal analysis toolbox, non-model based methods for assessing the shear connection in composite bridges and identifying the free spanning and supports conditions of pipelines, vibration based structural damage identification and model updating approaches considering uncertainty and noise effects, structural identification under moving loads, guided wave propagation technique for detecting debonding damage, and relative displacement sensors for SHM in composite and steel truss bridges. This paper aims at summarizing and reviewing the recent research advances on SHM of civil infrastructure in Western Australia.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제37권5호
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• pp.551-569
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• 2020

Vibration of vertically aligned-monolayered-nonuniform nanorods consist of functionally graded materials with elastic supports has not been investigated yet. To fill this gap, the problem is examined using the elasticity theories of Eringen and Gurtin-Murdoch. The geometrical and mechanical properties of the surface layer and the bulk are allowed to vary arbitrarily across the length. The nonlocal-surface energy-based governing equations are established using differential-type and integro-type formulations, and solved by employing the Galerkin method by exploiting admissible modes approach and element-free Galerkin (EFG). Through various comparison studies, the effectiveness of the EFG in capturing both nonlocal-differential/integro-based frequencies is proved. A constructive parametric study is also conducted, and the roles of nanorods' diameter, length, stiffness of both inter-rod's elastic layer and elastic supports, power-law index of both constituent materials and geometry, nonlocal and surface effects on the dominant frequencies are revealed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.117-134
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• 2008

An experimental and numerical research was conducted to gain a deeper insight on the structural behaviour of deep-beams with indirect supports and to assess the size effects in the ultimate state behaviour. The experimental campaign focused on the influence of the reinforcement tie distribution height on the compression check of the support region and on the benefits of using unbonded prestressing steel. Three reduced scale specimens were tested and used to validate the results obtained with a nonlinear finite element model. As a good agreement could be found between the numerical and the experimental results, the numerical model was then further used to perform simulations in large scale deep-beams, with dimensions similar to the ones to be adopted in a practical case. Two sources of size effects were identified from the simulation results. Both sources are related to the concrete quasi-brittle behaviour and are responsible for increasing failure brittleness with increasing structural size. While in the laboratory models failure occurred both in the experimental tests as well as in the numerical simulations after reinforcement yielding, the numerically analysed large scale models exhibited shear failures with reinforcement still operating in the elastic range.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제85권6호
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• pp.825-835
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• 2023

The effective buckling length factor is an important parameter in the elastic buckling analysis of steel structures. The present article aims at developing a new method that allows the determination of the buckling factor values for frames. The novelty of the method is that it considers the interaction between the bracing and the elastic supports for asymmetrical frames in particular. The approach consists in isolating a critical column within the frame and evaluating the rotational and translational stiffness of its restraints to obtain the critical buckling load. This can be achieved by introducing, through a dimensionless parameter 𝜙_i, the effects of coupling between the axial loading and bending stiffness of the columns, on the classical stability functions. Subsequently, comparative, and parametric studies conducted on several frames are presented for assessing the influence of geometry, loading, bracing, and support conditions of the frame columns on the value of the effective buckling length factor K. The results show that the formulas recommended by different approaches can give rather inaccurate values of K, especially in the case of asymmetric frames. The expressions used refer solely to local stiffness distributions, and not to the overall behavior of the structure.