• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.177-197
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• 2018

This paper presents a case study about the damages on the structural elements of a cast in place reinforced concrete (RC) building after a big fire which was able to be controlled after six hours. The fire broke off at the $2^{nd}$ basement floor of the building, which has five basements, one ground, and two normal floors. As a result of intensely stocked ignitable materials, it spread out to the all of the upstairs. In visual inspection, most of the typical fire damages were observed (such as spalling, net-like cracks, crumbled plasters, bared or visible reinforcement). Also, failures of the $2^{nd}$ basement columns were encountered. It has been concluded that the severity failures of the columns at the $2^{nd}$ basement caused utterly deformation of the building, which is responsible for the massive damages on the beam-column connections. All of the observed damages were categorized related to the types and presented separated regarding the floors. Besides to the visual inspection, the numerical analysis was run to verify the observed damaged on the building for columns, beams, and the connection regions. It is concluded from the study that several parameters such as duration of the fire, level of the temperature influence on the damages to the RC building. Also, it is highlighted by the study that if the damaged building is considered on the overall structural system, it is not able to satisfy the minimum service requirements neither gravity loads nor earthquake conditions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.85-104
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• 2014

Damage detection is a challenging, complex, and at the same time very important research topic in civil engineering. Identifying the location and severity of damage in a structure, as well as the global effects of local damage on the performance of the structure are fundamental elements of damage detection algorithms. Local damage detection is essential for structural health monitoring since local damages can propagate and become detrimental to the functionality of the entire structure. Existing studies present several methods which utilize sensor data, and track global changes in the structure. The challenging issue for these methods is to be sensitive enough in identifYing local damage. Autoregressive models with exogenous terms (ARX) are a popular class of modeling approaches which are the basis for a large group of local damage detection algorithms. This study presents an algorithm, called Influence-based Damage Detection Algorithm (IDDA), which is developed for identification of local damage based on regression of the vibration responses. The formulation of the algorithm and the post-processing statistical framework is presented and its performance is validated through implementation on an experimental beam-column connection which is instrumented by dense-clustered wired and wireless sensor networks. While implementing the algorithm, two different sensor networks with different sensing qualities are utilized and the results are compared. Based on the comparison of the results, the effect of sensor noise on the performance of the proposed algorithm is observed and discussed in this paper.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.9-20
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• 1999

A method is proposed to estimate the joint damages of a steel structure from modal data using the neural networks technique. The beam-to-column connection in a steel frame structure is represented by a zero-length rotational spring of the end of the beam element, and the connection fixity factor is defined based on the rotational stiffness so that the factor may be in the range 0~1.0. Then, the severity of joint damage is defined as the reduction ratio of the connection fixity factor. Several advanced techniques are employed to develop the robust damage identification technique using neural networks. The concept of the substructural indentification is used for the localized damage assessment in the large structure. The noise-injection learning algorithm is used to reduce the effects of the noise in the modal data. The data perturbation scheme is also employed to assess the confidence in the estimated damages based on a few sets of actual measurement data. The feasibility of the proposed method is examined through a numerical simulation study on a 2-bay 10-story structure and an experimental study on a 2-story structure. It has been found that the joint damages can be reasonably estimated even for the case where the measured modal vectors are limited to a localized substructure and the data are severely corrupted with noise.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.625-641
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• 2020

The realistic modeling of the beam-column semi-rigid connection in steel frames attracted the attention of many researchers in the past for the seismic analysis of semi-rigid frames. Comparatively less studies have been made to investigate the behavior of steel frames with semi-rigid connections under different types of earthquake. Herein, the seismic behavior of semi-rigid steel frames is investigated under both far and near-field earthquakes. The semi-rigid connection is modeled by the multilinear plastic link element consisting of rotational springs. The kinematic hysteresis model is used to define the dynamic behavior of the rotational spring, describing the nonlinearity of the semi-rigid connection as defined in SAP2000. The nonlinear time history analysis (NTHA) is performed to obtain response time histories of the frame under scaled earthquakes at three PGA levels denoting the low, medium and high-level earthquakes. The other important parameters varied are the stiffness and strength parameters of the connections, defining the degree of semi-rigidity. For studying the behavior of the semi-rigid frame, a large number of seismic demand parameters are considered. The benchmark for comparison is taken as those of the corresponding rigid frame. Two different frames, namely, a five-story frame and a ten-story frame are considered as the numerical examples. It is shown that semi-rigid frames prove to be effective and beneficial in resisting the seismic forces for near-field earthquakes (PGA ≈ 0.2g), especially in reducing the base shear to a considerable extent for the moderate level of earthquake. Further, the semi-rigid frame with a relatively weaker beam and less connection stiffness may withstand a moderately strong earthquake without having much damage in the beams.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.271-287
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• 2005

The seismic behavior of two steel moment-resisting frames, which satisfy all the current seismic design requirements, are evaluated and compared in the presence of pre-Northridge connections denoted as BWWF and an improved post-Northridge connections denoted as BWWF-AD. Pre-Northridge connections are modeled first as fully restrained (FR) type. Then they are considered to be partially restrained (PR) to model their behavior more realistically. The improved post-Northridge connections are modeled as PR type, as proposed by the authors. A sophisticated nonlinear time-domain finite element program developed by the authors is used for the response evaluation of the frames in terms of the overall rotation of the connections and the maximum drift. The frames are excited by ten recorded earthquake time histories. These time histories are then scaled up to produce some relevant response characteristics. The behaviors of the frames are studied comprehensively with the help of 120 analyses. Following important observations are made. The frames produced essentially similar rotation and drift for the connections modeled as FR type and PR type represented by BWWF-AD indicating that the presence of slots in the web of beams in BWWF-AD is not detrimental to the overall response behavior. When the lateral displacements of the frames are significantly large, the responses are improved if BWWF-AD type connections are used in the frames. This study analytically confirms many desirable features of BWWF-AD connections. PR frames have longer periods of vibration in comparison to FR frames and may attract lower inertia forces. However, calculated periods of the frames of this study using FEMA 350 empirical equation is longer than those calculated using dynamic characteristics of the frames. This may result in even lower design forces and may adversely influence the design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.727-745
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• 2018

The design criteria and the corresponding performance levels characterize the response of extended stiffened end-plate beam-to-column joints. In order to guarantee a ductile behavior, hierarchy criteria should be adopted to enforce the plastic deformations in the ductile components of the joint. However, the effectiveness of thesecriteria can be impaired if the actual resistance of the end-plate material largely differs from the design value due to the potential activation of brittle failure modes of the bolt rows (e.g., occurrence of failure mode 3 in the place of mode 1 per bolt row). Also the number and the position of bolt rows directly affect the joint response. The presence of a bolt row in the center of the connection does not improve the strength of the joint under both gravity, wind and seismic loading, but it can modify the damage pattern of ductile connections, reducing the gap opening between the end-plate and the column face. On the other hand, the presence of a central bolt row can influence the capacity of the joint to resist the catenary actions developing under a column loss scenario, thus improving the joint robustness. Aiming at investigating the influence of these features on both the cyclic behavior and the response under column loss, a wide range of finite element analyses (FEAs) were performed and the main results are described and discussed in this paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2019

During the last two decades, much joint research regarding vibration based methods has been done, leading to developing various algorithms and techniques. These algorithms and techniques can be divided into modal methods and signal methods. Although modal methods have been widely used for health monitoring and damage detection, signal methods due to higher efficiency have received considerable attention in various fields, including aerospace, mechanical and civil engineering. Signal-based methods are derived directly from the recorded responses through signal processing algorithms to detect damage. According to different signal processing techniques, signal-based methods can be divided into three categories including time domain methods, frequency domain methods, and time-frequency domain methods. The frequency domain methods are well-known and interest in using them has increased in recent years. To determine dynamic behaviours, to identify systems and to detect damages of bridges, different methods and algorithms have been proposed by researchers. In this study, a new algorithm to detect seismic damage in the bridge's piers is suggested. To evaluate the algorithm, an analytical model of a bridge with simple spans is used. Based on the algorithm, before and after damage, the bridge is excited by a sine force, and the piers' responses are measured. The dynamic specifications of the bridge are extracted by Power Spectral Density function. In addition, the Least Square Method is used to detect damage in the bridge's piers. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm can identify the seismic damage effectively. The algorithm is output-only method and measuring the excitation force is not needed. Moreover, the proposed approach does not need numerical models.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.405-418
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• 2024

To study the influence of different reduced beam section (RBS) on the mechanical performance of modular boltedwelded hybrid connection joints (MHCJs), this article uses ABAQUS to establish and verify the finite element model (FEM) of the test specimens on the basis of quasi-static test research. Based on, 14 joint models featuring different RBS are devised to evaluate their influence on seismic behavior, such as joint failure mode, bending moment (M)-rotation angle (θ) curve, ductility, and energy consumption. The results indicate that when the flange and web are individually weakened, they alleviate to some extent the concentrated stress of the core module (CM) and column end steel skeleton in the joint core area, but both increase the stress on the flange connecting plate (FCP). At the same time, the impact of both on seismic performance such as bearing capacity, stiffness, and energy consumption is relatively small. When simultaneously weakening the flange and web of the steel beam, forming plastic hinges at the weakened position of the beam end, significantly alleviated the stress concentration of the CM and the damage at the FCP, improving the overall deformation and energy consumption capacity of joints. But as the weakening size of the web increases, the overall bearing capacity of the joint shows a decreasing trend.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.663-672
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• 2001

Numerous failures in welded connections in steel moment-resisting building frames (SMRF) were observed when buildings were inspected after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. These observations raised concerns about the effectiveness of such frames for resisting strong earthquake ground motions. The behavior of SMRFs during an earthquake must be assessed using nonlinear dynamic analysis, and such assessments must permit the deterioration in connection strength to capture the behavior of the frame. The uncertainties that underlie both structural and dynamic loading also need to be included in the analysis process. This paper describes the analysis of one of approximately 200 SMRFs that suffered damage to its welded beam-to-column connections from the Northridge Earthquake is evaluated. Nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of this SMRF in the time domain is performed using ground motions representing the Northridge Earthquake. Subsequently, a detailed uncertainty analysis is conducted for the building using an ensemble of earthquake ground motions. Probability distributions for deformation-related limit states, described in terms of maximum roof displacement or interstory drift, are constructed. Building fragilities that are useful for condition assessment of damaged building structures and for performance-based design are developed from these distributions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.385-399
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• 2011

The aim of this research is to model the behaviour of recently developed high force to volume (HF2V) passive energy dissipation devices using a simple finite element (FE) model. Thus, the end result will be suitable for use in a standard FE code to enable computationally fast and efficient analysis and design. Two models are developed. First, a detailed axial model that models an experimental setup is created to validate the approach versus experimental results. Second, a computationally and geometrically simpler equivalent rotational hinge element model is presented. Both models are created in ABAQUS, a standard nonlinear FE code. The elastic, plastic and damping properties of the elements used to model the HF2V devices are based on results from a series of quasi-static force-displacement loops and velocity based tests of these HF2V devices. Comparison of the FE model results with the experimental results from a half scale steel beam-column sub-assembly are within 10% error. The rotational model matches the output of the more complex and computationally expensive axial element model. The simpler model will allow computationally efficient non-linear analysis of large structures with many degrees of freedom, while the more complex and physically accurate axial model will allow detailed analysis of joint connection architecture. Their high correlation to experimental results helps better guarantee the fidelity of the results of such investigations.