• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.623-633
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• 2018

A robust element is essential for successful design of steel frames with Direct analysis (DA) method. To this end, an innovative and efficient curved-quartic-function (CQF) beam-column element using the fourth-order polynomial shape function with end-springs in series is proposed for practical applications of DA. The member initial imperfection is explicitly integrated into the element formulation, and, therefore, the P-${\delta}$ effect can be directly captured in the analysis. The series of zero-length springs are placed at the element ends to model the effects of semi-rigid joints and material yielding. One-element-per-member model is adopted for design bringing considerable savings in computer expense. The incremental secant stiffness method allowing for large deflections is used to describe the kinematic motion. Finally, several problems are studied in this paper for examining and validating the accuracy of the present formulations. The proposed element is believed to make DA simpler to use than existing elements, which is essential for its successful and widespread adoption by engineers.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.409-426
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• 2019

The aim of the present work is to study the nonlinear behavior of the laminated composite plates under transverse sinusoidal loading using a new inverse trigonometric shear deformation theory, where geometric nonlinearity in the Von-Karman sense is taken into account. In the present theory, in-plane displacements use an inverse trigonometric shape function to account the effect of transverse shear deformation. The theory satisfies the traction free boundary conditions and violates the need of shear correction factor. The governing equations of equilibrium and boundary conditions associated with present theory are obtained by using the principle of minimum potential energy. These governing equations are solved by eight nodded serendipity element having five degree of freedom per node. A square laminated composite plate is considered for the geometrically linear and nonlinear formulation. The numerical results are obtained for central deflections, in-plane stresses and transverse shear stresses. Finite element Codes are developed using MATLAB. The present results are compared with previously published results. It is concluded that the geometrically linear and nonlinear response of laminated composite plates predicted by using the present inverse trigonometric shape function is in excellent agreement with previously published results.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.649-657
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• 2019

Recently, an advanced video deflectometer based on the principle of off-axis digital image correlation was presented and advocated for remote and real-time deflection monitoring of large engineering structures. In engineering practice, measurement accuracy is one of the most important technical indicators of the video deflectometer. However, it has been observed in many outdoor experiments that data drift often presents in the measured deflection-time curves, which is caused by the instability of imaging system and the unavoidable influences of ambient interferences (e.g., ambient light changes, ambient temperature variations as well as ambient vibrations) in non-laboratory conditions. The non-ideal unstable imaging conditions seriously deteriorate the measurement accuracy of the video deflectometer. In this work, to perform high-accuracy deflection monitoring, potential sources for the drift error are analyzed, and a drift error model is established by considering these error sources. Based on this model, a simple, easy-to-implement yet effective reference point compensation method is proposed for real-time removal of the drift error in measured deflections. The practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method are demonstrated by in-situ deflection monitoring of railway and highway bridges.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.19-26
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• 2018

This paper presents the shear strengthening effect of externally post-tensioning (EPT) method using high-strength steel rod in pre-cracked reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Three- and four-point bending tests were performed on a total of 8 specimens by adjusting the strengthening depths in the deviator position of EPT. The effective strengthening depths were 435, 535, and 610 mm. The pre-loading up to about 2/3 of ultimate load capacity measured in unstrengthened RC beam were applied in the beam to be post-tensioned. The EPT method was then applied to the pre-damaged RC beams and re-loading was added until the end of the test. EPT restored deflections of 3 mm or more, which account for about 40% of deflection when the pre-loading was applied. The shear strengthening increases more than 3 times and 36~107% in terms of the stiffness and load-carrying capacity compared to unstrengthening RC beams. The increased load-carrying capacities of the post-tensioned beam with strengthening depths of 435 and 535 mm are almost the same as 36~61%, and those of 610 mm are 84~107%, which shows the greatest shear strengthening effect.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1541-1559
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• 2018

This paper addresses the dynamic loading characteristics of the shock tube onto sandwich steel beams as an efficient and accurate alternative to time consuming and complicated fluid structure interaction using finite element modeling. The corrugated sandwich steel beam consists of top and bottom flat substrates of steel 1018 and corrugated cores of steel 1008. The corrugated core layers are arranged with non-uniform thicknesses thus making sandwich beam graded. This sandwich beam is analogous to a steel beam with web and flanges. Substrates correspond to flanges and cores to web. The stress-strain relations of steel 1018 at high strain rates are measured using the split-Hopkinson pressure. Both carbon steels are assumed to follow bilinear strain hardening and strain rate-dependence. The present finite element modeling procedure with an improved dynamic impulse loading assumption is validated with a set of shock tube experiments, and it provides excellent correlation based on Russell error estimation with the test results. Four corrugated graded steel core arrangements are taken into account for core design parameters in order to maximize mitigation of blast load effects onto the structure. In addition, numerical study of four corrugated steel core placed in a reverse order is done using the validated finite element model. The dynamic behavior of the reversed steel core arrangement is compared with the normal core arrangement for deflections, contact force between support and specimen and plastic energy absorption.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.637-650
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• 2021

The paper presents an investigation of the widely varying mechanical performance and behaviour of steel and Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforced concrete beams using non-destructive techniques of Acoustic Emission (AE) and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) under four-point bending. Laboratory experiments are performed on both differently reinforced concrete beams with 0.33%, 0.52% and 1.11% of tension reinforcement against balanced section. The results show that the ultimate load-carrying capacity increases with an increase in tensile reinforcement in both cases. In addition to that, AE waveform parameters of amplitude and number of AE hits successfully correlates and picks up the divergent mechanism of cracking initiation and progression of failure in steel reinforced and GFRP reinforced concrete beams. AE activity is about 20-30% more in GFRP-RC beams as compared to steel-RC beams. It was primarily due to the lower modulus of elasticity of GFRP bars leading to much larger ductility and deflections as compared to steel-RC beams. Furthermore, AE XY event plots and longitudinal strain profiles using DIC gives an online and real-time visual display of progressive AE activity and strains respectively to efficaciously depict the crack evolution and their advancement in steel-RC and GFRP-RC beams which show a close matching with the micro-and macro-cracks visually observed in the actual beams at various stages of loading.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.306-320
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• 2021

To ensure safe port operations around the world, it is important to solve mooring problems. In particular, the many ports that face open seas have difficulties with long-period waves. As a countermeasure, the installation of a breakwater is proposed for mooring safety. However, this often cannot be put into practice because of financial issues. Instead, port terminals control berthing schedules with weather forecasting. However, mooring problems remain unsolved, because of inaccurate wave forecasting. To quantify the current situation, numerical simulations are presented with ship motions, fender deflections, and rope tensions. In addition, novel simulations for mooring ropes are proposed considering tension, friction, bending fatigue, and temperature. With this novel simulation, the optimal mooring method in terms of safety and economic efficiency was confirmed. In terms of safety, the optimal mooring method is verified to minimize dangerous mooring situations. Moreover, the optimal mooring method shows economic benefits and efficiency. It can help to reinforce the safety of port terminals and improve the efficiency of port operations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

Offshore platforms in seismically active areas must be designed to survive in the face of intense earthquakes without a global structural collapse. This paper scrutinizes the seismic performance of a newly designed and established jacket type offshore platform situated in the entrance of the Gulf of Suez region based on the API-RP2A normalized response spectra during seismic events. A nonlinear finite element model of a typical jacket type offshore platform is constructed taking into consideration the effect of structure-soil-interaction. Soil properties at the site were manipulated to generate the pile lateral soil properties in the form of load deflection curves, based on API-RP2A recommendations. Dynamic characteristics of the offshore platform, the response function, output power spectral density and transfer functions for different elements of the platform are discussed. The joints deflection and acceleration responses demands are presented. It is generally concluded that consideration of the interaction between structure, piles and soil leads to higher deflections and less stresses in platform elements due to soil elasticity, nonlinearity, and damping and leads to a more realistic platform design. The earthquake-based analysis for offshore platform structure is essential for the safe design and operation of offshore platforms.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.5
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• pp.585-594
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• 2021

Ductility is very important parameter in seismic design of RC members such as beams where it allows RC beams to dissipate the seismic energy. In this field, the curvature ductility has taken a large part of interest compared to the deflection ductility. For this reason, the present paper aims to propose a general formula for predicting the deflection ductility factor of RC beams under mid-span load. Firstly, the moment area theorem is used to develop a model in order to calculate the yield and the ultimate deflections; then this model is validated by using some results extracted from previous researches. Secondly, a general formula of deflection ductility factor is written based on the developed deflection expressions. The new formula is depended on curvature ductility factor, beam length, and plastic hinge length. To facilitate the use of this formula, a parametric study on the curvature ductility factor is conducted in order to write it in simple manner without the need for curvature calculations. Therefore, the deflection ductility factor can be directly calculated based on beam length, plastic hinge length, concrete strength, reinforcement ratios, and yield strength of steel reinforcement. Finally, the new formula of deflection ductility factor is compared with the model previously developed based on the moment area theorem. The results show the good performance of the new formula.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.887-898
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• 2021

This paper presents a simplified model to capture the nonlinear behavior of steel frames depending on the spread of plasticity method. New interaction formulae were derived to evaluate the plastic strength for I-shaped steel sections under uniaxial bending moment and axial compression load. Also, new empirical formulae were derived to evaluate the tangent stiffness modulus of steel I-shaped cross-sections considering the effect of the residual stresses suggested by the specifications in European Convention for Construction Steelworks (ECCS). The secant stiffness which depends on the tangent modulus is used to evaluate the internal forces. Based on stiffness matrix method, a finite element analysis program was developed for the nonlinear analysis of space steel frames using the derived formulae. Comparison between the proposed model results with those given by the fiber model shows very good agreement. Numerical examples were introduced to verify, check the accuracy, and evaluate the efficiency of the proposed model. The analysis results show that the new proposed model is accurate and able to minimize the solution time.