• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.565-585
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• 2009

Superelastic Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are gaining acceptance for use as reinforcing bars in concrete structures. The seismic behaviour of concrete frames reinforced with SMAs is being assessed in this study. Two eight-storey concrete frames, one of which is reinforced with regular steel and the other with SMAs at the plastic hinge regions of beams and regular steel elsewhere, are designed and analyzed using 10 different ground motion records. Both frames are located in the highly seismic region of Western Canada and are designed and detailed according to current seismic design standards. The validation of a finite element (FE) program that was conducted previously at the element level is extended to the structure level in this paper using the results of a shake table test of a three-storey moment resisting steel RC frame. The ten accelerograms that are chosen for analyzing the designed RC frames are scaled based on the spectral ordinate at the fundamental periods of the frames. The behaviour of both frames under scaled seismic excitations is compared in terms of maximum inter-storey drift, top-storey drift, inter-storey residual drift, and residual top-storey drift. The results show that SMA-RC frames are able to recover most of its post-yield deformation, even after a strong earthquake.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2024

A seismic structure is an earthquake-resistant design that dissipates seismic energy by equipping the structure with a device called a damper. As research efforts to reduce earthquake damage continue to rise, technology for isolating vibrations in structures has evolved by altering the materials and shapes of dampers. However, due to the inherent nature of the damper, there are an unescapable restrictions on the extent of plastic deformation that occurs in the material to effectively dissipate energy. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a long-life damper that offers semi-permanently usage and enhances structural performance by applying additional tension which is achieved by utilizing super elastic shape memory alloy (SSMA), a material that self-recovers after deformation. To comprehensively understand the behavior of long-life dampers, finite element analysis was performed considering the design variables such as material, wire diameter, and presence of tension, and response behavior was derived to analyze characteristics such as load resistance, energy dissipation, and residual displacement to determine the performance of long-life dampers in seismic structure. Excellence has been proven from finite element analysis results.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.157-171
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• 2019

This study investigated the effects of the geometric parameters of superelastic shape memory alloy (SE SMA) fibers on the pullout displacement recovering and self-healing capacity of reinforced cementitious composites. Three diameters of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 mm and two different crimped lengths of 5.0 and 10.0 mm were considered. To provide best anchoring action and high bond between fiber and cement mortar, the fibers were crimped at the end to create spear-head shape. The single fiber cement-based specimens were manufactured with the cement mortar of a compressive strength of 84 MPa with the square shape at the top and a dog-bone shape at the bottom. The embedded length of each fiber was 15 mm. The pullout test was performed with displacement control to obtain monotonic or hysteretic behaviors. The results showed that pullout displacements were recovered after fibers slipped and stuck in the specimen. The specimens with fiber of larger diameter showed better displacement recovering capacity. The flag-shaped behavior was observed for all specimens, and those with fiber of 1.0 mm diameter showed the clearest one. It was observed that the length of fiber anchorage did not have a significant effect on the displacement recovery, pullout resistance and self-healing capacity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.493-501
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• 2015

Superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) are metallic materials that can automatically recover to their original condition without heat treatment only after the removal of the applied load. These smart materials have been wildly applied instead of steel materials to the place where large deformation is likely to concentrate. In spite of many advantages, superelastic SMA materials have been limited to use in the construction filed because there is lack of effort and research involved with the development of the material model, which is required to reproduce the behavior of superelastic SMA materials. Therefore, constitutive material models as well as algorithm codes are mainly treated in this study for the purpose of simulating their hysteretic behavior through numerical analyses. The simulated curves are compared and calibrated to the experimental test results with an aim to verify the adequacy of material modeling. Furthermore, structural analyses incorporating the material property of the superelastic SMAs are conducted on simple and cantilever beam models. It can be shown that constitutive material models presented herein are adequate to reliably predict the behavior of superelastic SMA materials under cyclic loadings.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.875-888
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• 2013

The researches have recently progressed toward the use of the superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) to develop new smart control systems that reduce permanent deformation occurring due to severe earthquake events and that automatically recover original configuration. The superelastic SMA materials are unique metallic alloys that can return to undeformed shape without additional heat treatments only after the removal of applied loads. Once the superelastic SMA materials are thus installed at the place where large deformations are likely to intensively occur, the structural system can make the best use of recentering capabilities. Therefore, this study is intended to propose new buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBFs) with superelastic SMA bracing systems. In order to verify the performance of such bracing systems, 6-story braced frame buildings were designed in accordance with the current design specifications and then nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed at 2D frame model by using seismic hazard ground motions. Based on the analysis results, BRBFs with innovative SMA bracing systems are compared to those with conventional steel bracing systems in terms of peak and residual inter-story drifts. Finally, the analysis results show that new SMA bracing systems are very effective to reduce the residual inter-story drifts.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.283-297
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• 2013

An innovative cage for spinal fusion surgery is presented within this work. The cage utilizes shape memory alloy for its hinge actuation. Because of the use of SMA, a smaller incision is needed which makes the cage deployment minimally invasive. In the development of the cage, a model for predicting the torsional behavior of SMAs was developed and verified experimentally. The prototype design of the cage was developed and manufactured. The prototype was subjected to static tests per ASTM specifications. The cage survived all of the tests, alluding to its safety within the body.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.109-120
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• 2017

The behavior of moment resistant steel structures depends on both the beam-column connections and columns foundations connections. Obviously, if the connections can meet the adequate ductility and resistance against lateral loads, the seismic capacity of these structures will be linked practically to the performance of these connections. The shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been most recently used as a means of energy dissipation in buildings. The main approach adopted by researchers in the use of such alloys is firstly bracing, and secondly connecting the beams to columns. Additionally, the behavior of these alloys is modeled in software applications rarely involving equivalent torsional springs and column-foundation connections. This paper attempts to introduce the shape memory alloys and their applications in steel structural connections, proposing a new steel column-foundation connection, not merely a theoretical model but practically a realistic and applicable model in structures. Moreover, it entails the same functionality as macro modeling software based on real behavior, which can use different materials to establish a connection between the columns and foundations. In this paper, the suggested steel column-foundation connection was introduced. Moreover, exploring the seismic dynamic behavior under cyclic loading protocols and the famous earthquake records with different materials such as steel and interconnection equipment by superelastic shape memory alloys have been investigated. Then, the results were compared to demonstrate that such connections are ideal against the seismic behavior and energy dissipation.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.413-420
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• 2023

Among the seismic structures for reducing earthquake damage, the seismic control structure is a technology that can efficiently improve seismic performance and secure economic feasibility by simply applying a damper. However, existing dampers have limitations in terms of durability due to required seismic performance and material plasticity. In this study, we proposed a polyurethane damper with enhanced recovery characteristics by applying precompression to polyurethane, which basically shows elastic characteristics, and applying superelastic shape memory alloy (SSMA). To verify the characteristics of the polyurethane damper, the concept was first established, and the design details were completed by selecting SSMA and steel, and selecting the precompression size as design variables. In addition, structural tests were conducted to derive response behavior and analyze force resistance performance, residual displacement, recovery rate, and energy dissipation capacity. As a result of the analysis, the polyurethane damper showed that various performances improved when the SSMA wire was applied and the precompression increased.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.95-105
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• 2017

The use of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) as reinforcements in concrete structures is gradually gaining interest among researchers. Because of different mechanical properties of SMAs compared to the regular steel bars, the use of SMAs as reinforcement in the concrete may change the response of structures under seismic loads. In this study, the effect of SMAs as reinforcement in concrete structures is analytically investigated for 3-, 6- and 8-story reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. For each concrete building, three different reinforcement details are considered: (1) steel reinforcement (Steel) only, (2) SMA bar used in the plastic hinge region of the beams and steel bar in other regions (Steel-SMA), and (3), beams fully reinforced with SMA bar (SMA) and steel bar in other regions. For each case, columns are reinforced with steel bar. Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) are performed using ten different ground motion records to determine the seismic performance of Steel, Steel-SMA and SMA RC buildings. Then fragility curves for each type of RC building by using IDA results for IO, LS and CP performance levels are calculated. Results obtained from the analyses indicate that 3-story frames have approximately the same spectral acceleration corresponding with failure of frames, but in the cases of 6 and 8-story frames, the spectral acceleration is higher in frames equipped with steel reinforcements. Furthermore, the probability of fragility in all frames increases by the building height for all performance levels. Finally, economic evaluation of the three systems are compared.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.343-358
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• 2023

The superelastic viscous damper (SVD) is a hybrid passive control device comprising a viscoelastic damper and shape memory alloy (SMA) cables connected in series. The SVD is an innovative damper through which a large amount of seismic energy can dissipate. The current study assessed the seismic collapse induced by steel moment-resisting frames (SMRFs) equipped with SVDs and compared them with the performance of special MRFs and buckling restrained brace frames (BRBFs). For this purpose, nonlinear dynamic and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) were conducted in OpenSees software. Both 5- and 9-story special MRFs, BRBFs, and MRFs equipped with the SVDs were examined. The results indicated that the annual exceedance rate for maximum residual drifts of 0.2% and 0.5% for the BRBFs and MRFs with SVDs, respectively, were considerably less than for SMRFs with reduced-beam section (RBS) connections and that the seismic performances of these structures were enhanced with the use of the BRB and SVD. The probability of collapse due to residual drift in the SVD, BRB, and RBS frames in the 9-story structure was 1.45, 1.75, and 1.05 times greater than for the 5-story frame.