• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.27-42
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• 2018

Behavior of soil is usually described with continuum type of failure models such as Mohr-Coulomb or Drucker-Prager model. The main advantage of these models is in a relatively simple and efficient way of predicting the main tendencies and overall behavior of soil in failure analysis of interest for engineering practice. However, the main shortcoming of these models is that they are not able to capture post-peak behavior of soil nor the corresponding failure modes under extreme loading. In this paper we will significantly improve on this state-of-the-art. In particular, we propose the use of a discrete beam lattice model to provide a sharp prediction of inelastic response and failure mechanisms in coupled soil-foundation systems. In the discrete beam lattice model used in this paper, soil is meshed with one-dimensional Timoshenko beam finite elements with embedded strong discontinuities in axial and transverse direction capable of representing crack propagation in mode I and mode II. Mode I relates to crack opening, and mode II relates to crack sliding. To take into account material heterogeneities, we determine fracture limits for each Timoshenko beam with Gaussian random distribution. We compare the results obtained using the discrete beam lattice model against those obtained using the modified three-surface elasto-plastic cap model.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.43-59
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• 2018

The presence of the pore fluid strongly influences the reponse of the soil subjected to external loading and in many cases increases the risk of final failure. In this paper, we propose the use of a discrete beam lattice model with the aim to investigate the coupling effects of the solid and fluid phase on the response and failure mechanisms in the saturated soil. The discrete cohesive link lattice model used in this paper, is based on inelastic Timoshenko beam finite elements with enhanced kinematics in axial and transverse direction. The coupling equations for the soil-pore fluid interaction are derived from Terzaghi's principle of effective stresses, Biot's porous media theory and Darcy's law for fluid flow through porous media. The application of the model in soil mechanics is illustrated through several numerical simulations.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.294-302
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• 2018

To analyze the behavior of a soil beam under pore water pressure, the results of analytical solutions and finite element analysis (FEM) were compared quantitatively. In contrast to the results of the analytical solution, the horizontal stress obtained from the FEM did not show a symmetrical distribution. On the other hand, the horizontal stress became closer to symmetrical distribution as the number of elements of the soil beam were increased. A comparison of the horizontal stresses from the analytic solution with those obtained from Gaussian points of FEM showed that the magnitude of the tensile stress from the FEM using 3 elements was 6% of the maximum value of the analytical solution and the compressive stress from the FEM using the same elements was 37% of the maximum value of the analytical solution. The magnitude of the tensile stress from the FEM using 6 elements was 61% of the maximum value of the analytical solution and the magnitude of the compressive stress from the FEM using the elements was 83% of the maximum value of the analytical solution. Vertical stresses, which were obtained from the analytical solution, showed a continuous distribution with the depth of the soil beam, whereas the vertical stresses from the FEM showed a discrete distribution corresponding to each element. The results also showed that the average value of the vertical stresses of each element was close to that of the pore water pressure. A comparison of the vertical displacements computed at the near vertical center line of the soil beam from the FEM with those of the analytical solution showed that the magnitude of the vertical displacement from FEM using 3 elements was 35% of the value of the analytical solution and the magnitude of the vertical displacement from FEM using 6 elements was 57% of the value of the analytical solution.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.367-384
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• 2014

The study deals with the physical modeling of a typical single storeyed building frame resting on pile foundation and embedded in cohesive soil mass using the finite element based software SAP-IV. Two groups of piles comprising two and three piles, with series and parallel arrangement thereof, are considered. The slab provided at top and bottom of the frame along with the pile cap is idealized as four noded and two dimensional thin shell elements. The beams and columns of the frame, and piles are modeled using two noded one dimensional beam-column element. The soil is modeled using closely spaced discrete linear springs. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of various parameters of the pile foundation, such as spacing in a group and number of piles in a group, on the response of superstructure. The response considered includes the displacement at the top of the frame and bending moment in columns. The soil-structure interaction effect is found to increase the displacement in the range of 38 -133% and to increase the absolute maximum positive and negative moments in the column in the range of 2-12% and 2-11%. The effect of the soil- structure interaction is observed to be significant for the type of foundation and soil considered in this study. The results obtained are compared further with those of Chore et al. (2010), wherein different idealizations were used for modeling the superstructure frame and sub-structure elements (foundation). While fair agreement is observed in the results in either study, the trend of the results obtained in both studies is also same.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.15-42
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• 2024

A flexible-base coupled-two-beam (CTB) discrete model with equivalent tuned mass dampers is used to assess the effect of soil-structure interaction (SSI) and different types of lateral resisting systems on the design of passive dynamic absorbers (PDAs) under the action of along-wind and across-wind loads due to vortex shedding. A total of five different PDAs are considered in this study: (1) tuned mass damper (TMD), (2) circular tuned sloshing damper (C-TSD), (3) rectangular tuned sloshing damper (R-TSD), (4) two-way liquid damper (TWLD) and (5) pendulum tuned mass damper (PTMD). By modifying the non-dimensional lateral stiffness ratio, the CTB model can consider lateral deformations varying from those of a flexural cantilever beam to those of a shear cantilever beam. The Monte Carlo simulation method was used to generate along-wind and across-wind loads correlated along the height of a real shear wall-frame building, which has similar fundamental periods of vibration and different modes of lateral deformation in the xz and yz planes, respectively. Ambient vibration tests were conducted on the building to identify its real lateral behavior and thus choose the most suitable parameters for the CTB model. Both alongwind and across-wind responses of the 144-meter-tall building were computed considering four soil types (hard rock, dense soil, stiff soil and soft soil) and a single PDA on its top, that is, 96 time-history analyses were carried out to assess the effect of SSI and lateral resisting system on the PDAs design. Based on the parametric analyses, the response significantly increases as the soil flexibility increases for both type of lateral wind loads, particularly for flexural-type deformations. The results show a great effectiveness of PDAs in controlling across-wind peak displacements and both along-wind and across-wind RMS accelerations, on the contrary, PDAs were ineffective in controlling along-wind peak displacements on all soil types and different kind of lateral deformation. Generally speaking, the maximum possible value of the PDA mass efficiency index increases as the soil flexibility increases, on the contrary, it decreases as the non-dimensional lateral stiffness ratio of the building increases; therefore, there is a significant increase of the vibration control effectiveness of PDAs for lateral flexural-type deformations on soft soils.