• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.313-328
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• 2002

Based on the orthotropic hypoelasticity formulation, a triaxial constitutive model of concrete is proposed. To account for increasing ductility in high confinement of concrete, the ductility enhancement is considered using so called the strain enhancement factor. It is also developed a three-dimensional finite element model for reinforced concrete structural members based on the proposed constitutive law of concrete with the smeared crack approach. The concrete confinement effects due to the beam-column joint are investigated through numerical examples for simple beam and structural beam member. Concrete at compression fibers in the vicinity of beam-column joint behaves dominant not only by the uniaxial compressive state but also by the biaxial and triaxial compressive states. For the reason of the severe confinement of concrete in the beam-column joint, the flexural critical cross-section is observed at a small distance away from the beam-column joint. These observations should be utilized for the economic design when the concrete structural members are subjected to high confinement due to the influence of beam-column joint.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.369-391
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• 2016

Electricity is transmitted by transmission lines from the source of production to the distribution system and then to the end users. Failure of a transmission line can lead to devastating economic losses and to negative social consequences resulting from the interruption of electricity. A comprehensive in-house numerical model that combines the data of computational fluid dynamic simulations of tornado wind fields with three dimensional nonlinear structural analysis modelling of the transmission lines (conductors and ground-wire) is used in the current study. Many codes of practice recommend neglecting the tornado forces acting on the conductors and ground-wires because of the complexity in predicting the conductors' response to such loads. As such, real transmission line systems are numerically simulated and then analyzed with and without the inclusion of the lines to assess the effect of tornado loads acting on conductors on the overall response of transmission towers. In addition, the behaviour of the conductors under the most critical tornado configuration is described. The sensitivity of the lines' behaviour to the magnitude of tornado loading, the level of initial sag, the insulator's length, and lines self-weight is investigated. Based on the current study results, a recommendation is made to consider conductors and ground-wires in the analysis and design of transmission towers under the effect of tornado wind loads.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.261-272
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• 2020

Recent severe earthquakes in and around the vital public places worldwide indicate the severe vulnerability of ground excitation to be assailed. Reducing the effect of seismic lateral load in structural design is an important conception. Essentially, seismic isolation is required to shield the superstructure in such a way that the building superstructure would not move when the ground is shaking. This study explores the effectiveness, design, and practical feasibility of base isolation systems to reduce seismic demands on buildings of varying elevations. Thus, static and dynamic analyses were conducted based on site-specific bi-directional earthquakes for base-isolated as well as fixed-based buildings. Remarkably, it was discovered that isolators used in low-rise to high-rise structures tend to significantly decrease the structural responses of seismic prone buildings. The higher allowable horizontal displacement induces structural flexibility and ensure good structural health of the building stories. Reinforcement from vertical and horizontal members can be reduced in significant amounts for BI buildings. Thus, although incorporating base isolators increases the initial outlay, it considerably diminishes the total structural cost.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.703-722
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• 2015

This study investigates the performance of advanced hollow reinforced concrete (RC) bridge column sections with triangular reinforcement details. Hollow column sections are based on economic considerations of cost savings associated with reduced material and design moments, as against increased construction complexity, and hence increased labor costs. The proposed innovative reinforcement details are economically feasible and rational, and facilitate shorter construction periods. We tested a model of advanced hollow column sections under quasi-static monotonic loading. The results showed that the proposed triangular reinforcement details were equal to the existing reinforcement details, in terms of the required performance. We used a computer program, Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology (RCAHEST), for analysis of the RC structures; and adopted a modified lateral confining effect model for the advanced hollow bridge column sections. Our study documents the testing of hollow RC bridge column sections with innovative reinforcement details, and presents conclusions based on the experimental and analytical findings. Additional full-scale experimental research is needed to refine and confirm the design details, especially for the actual detailing employed in the field.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.107-125
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• 2016

Steel shear wall system has been used in recent years in tall buildings due to its appropriate behavior advantages such as stiffness, high strength, economic feasibility and high energy absorption capability. Coupled steel plate shear walls consist of two steel shear walls that are connected to each other by steel link beam at each floor level. In this article the frames of 3, 10, and 15 of (C-SPSW) floor with rigid connection were considered in three different lengths of 1.25, 2.5 and 3.75 meters and link beams with plastic section modulus of 100% to the panel beam at each floor level and analyzed using three pairs of accelerograms based on nonlinear dynamic analysis through ABAQUS software and then the performance of walls and link beams at base shear, drift, the period of structure, degree of coupling (DC) and dissipated energy evaluated. The results show that the (C-SPSW) system base shear increases with a decrease in the link beam length, and the drift, main period and dissipated energy of structure decreases. Also the link beam length has different effects on parameters of coupling degrees.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제71권3호
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• pp.305-315
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• 2019

Extremely long-span transmission tower-line system is an indispensable portion of an electricity transmission system, and its failures or collapse can impact on the entire electricity grid, affect the modern life, and cause great economic losses. It is therefore imperative to investigate the failure and safety of the transmission tower subjected to ground motions. In the present study, a detailed finite element (FE) model of a representative extremely long-span transmission tower-line system is established. A segmental damage indicator (SDI) is proposed to quantitatively assess the damage level of each segment of the transmission tower under earthquakes. Additionally, parametric studies are conducted to investigate the influence of different ground motions and incident angles on the ultimate capacity and weakest segment of the transmission tower. Finally, the collapse fragility curve in terms of the maximum SDI value and PGA is plotted for the exampled transmission tower. The results show that the proposed SDI can quantitatively assess the damage level of the segments, and thus determine the ultimate capacity and weakest segment of the transmission tower. Moreover, the different ground motions and incident angles have a significant influence on the SDI values of the transmission tower, and the collapse fragility curve is utilized to evaluate the collapse resistant capacity of the transmission tower subjected to ground motions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.29-39
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• 2019

In this paper, it was presented an investigation on the load-settlement and vertical stress analysis of the ring footings on the loose sand bed by conducting both laboratory model tests and numerical analyses. A total of twenty tests were conducted in geotechnical laboratory and numerical analyses of the test models were carried out using the finite element package Plaxis 3D to find the ultimate capacities of the ring footings. Moreover, the results obtained from both foregoing methods were compared with theoretical results given in the literature. The effects of the ring width on bearing capacity of the footings and vertical stresses along the depth were investigated. Consequently, the experimental observations are in a very good agreement with the numerical and theoretical results. The variation in the bearing capacity is little when $r_i/R_o$ <0.3. That means, when the ring width ratio, $r_i/R_o$, is equal to 0.3, this option can provide more economic solutions in the applications of the ring footings. Since, this corresponds to less concrete consumption in the ring footing design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제83권3호
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• pp.363-375
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• 2022

Flexural capacity prediction is a challenging problem for externally prestressed concrete beams (EPCBs) due to the unbonded phenomenon between the concrete beam and external tendons. Many prediction equations have been provided in previous research but typically ignored the differences in deformation mode between internal and external unbonded tendons. The availability of these equations for EPCBs is controversial due to the inconsistent deformation modes and ignored second-order effects. In this study, the deformation characteristics and collapse mechanism of EPCB are carefully considered, and the ultimate deflected shape curves are derived based on the simplified curvature distribution. With the compatible relation between external tendons and the concrete beam, the equations of tendon elongation and eccentricity loss at ultimate states are derived, and the geometric interpretation is clearly presented. Combined with the sectional equilibrium equations, a rational and simplified flexural capacity prediction method for EPCBs is proposed. The key parameter, plastic hinge length, is emphatically discussed and determined by the sensitivity analysis of 324 FE analysis results. With 94 collected laboratory-tested results, the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed, and comparisons with the previous formulas are made. The results show the better prediction accuracy of the proposed method for both stress increments and flexural capacity of EPCBs and the main reasons are discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제46권6호
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• pp.731-744
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• 2023

Vehicle load information is an important role in operating and ensuring the structural health of cable-stayed bridges. In this regard, an efficient and economic method is proposed for vehicle load detection based on the observed cable tension and vehicle position using a graph neural network (GNN). Datasets are first generated using the practical advanced analysis program (PAAP), a robust program for modeling and considering both geometric and material nonlinearities of bridge structures subjected to vehicle load with low computational costs. With the superiority of GNN, the proposed model is demonstrated to precisely capture complex nonlinear correlations between the input features and vehicle load in the output. Four popular machine learning methods including artificial neural network (ANN), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), and support vector machines (SVM) are refereed in a comparison. A case study of a cable-stayed bridge with the typical truck is considered to evaluate the model's performance. The results demonstrate that the GNN-based model provides high accuracy and efficiency in prediction with satisfactory correlation coefficients, efficient determination values, and very small errors; and is a novel approach for vehicle load detection with the input data of the existing monitoring system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.339-352
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• 2022

Due to the large volume and generally as a public building, the damage of large-span space structures under various non-conventional loads will cause greater economic losses, casualties, and social impacts, etc. Therefore, it is particularly important to evaluate the seismic performance of large-span space structures. This paper taked a multipurpose sports center as an example and considered its synergistic deformation based on the method of equivalent damping ratio. Furthermore, The ABAQUS software was used to analyze the time-history and energy response of the multipurpose sports center under the action of rare earthquakes, and proposed a quantitative damage index to assess the overall damage of the structure. Finally, the research results indicated that the maximum inter-story drift ratio of the multipurpose sports center under the action of rare earthquakes was less than its limit value. The frame beams presented different degrees of damage, but the key members were basically in an elastic state. The bearing capacity did not reach the limit value, which satisfied the intended seismic performance target. This study taked an actual case as an example and proposed a relevant damage evaluation system, which provided some reference for the analysis of the seismic performance of large-span space structures.