• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.607-624
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• 2013

In this study the seismic risk assessments of six- and twelve-story staggered wall system structures with three different structural variations were performed. The performances of staggered wall structures with added columns along the central corridor and the structures with their first story walls replaced by beams and columns were compared with those of the regular staggered wall structures. To this end incremental dynamic analyses were carried out using twenty two pairs of earthquake records to obtain the failure probabilities for various intensity of seismic load. The seismic risk for each damage state was computed based on the fragility analysis results and the probability of occurrence of earthquake ground motions. According to the analysis results, it was observed that the structures with added columns along the central corridor showed lowest probability of failure and seismic risk. The structures with their first story walls replaced by beams and columns showed lowest margin for safety.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.327-334
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• 2002

The global behavior of tube structures (including tube and tube(s)-in-tube constructions) is investigated for the behavioral characteristics of the structures and their performance in relation to the various structural parameters. The stiffness factor in terms of the axial stiffness of the columns and the bending stiffness of both columns and beams is chosen as a parameter to explain the global behavior of the structures. The shear-lag phenomenon is also discussed to explain the general behavior of the structures. Three types of tube structures, with various structural parameters, are analysed for the comparative study, and the results are compared to investigate the structural response and performance of such structures. As a result of the comparison it is obtained that the axial stiffness of the columns is the most important factor governing the response of the tube structures under lateral loading

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.141-161
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• 2014

This article presents a new generation of empirical ground motion models for the prediction of response spectral accelerations in soil conditions, specifically developed for the Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic source. The strong ground motion database from which the ground motion prediction model is derived consists of over 800 horizontal components of acceleration recorded from nine Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic events as well as from other seventeen intermediate-depth earthquakes produced in other seismically active regions in the world. Among the main features of the new ground motion model are the prediction of spectral ordinates values (besides the prediction of the peak ground acceleration), the extension of the magnitudes range applicability, the use of consistent metrics (epicentral distance) for this type of seismic source, the extension of the distance range applicability to 300 km, the partition of total standard deviation in intra- and inter-event standard deviations and the use of a national strong ground motion database more than two times larger than in the previous studies. The results suggest that this model is an improvement of the previous generation of ground motion prediction models and can be properly employed in the analysis of the seismic hazard of Romania.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.983-1004
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• 2016

Nowadays, there are two classes of methods for damage detection in structures consisting of static and dynamic. The dynamic methods are based on studying the changes in structure's dynamic characteristics. The theoretical basis of this method is that damage causes changes in dynamic characteristics of structures. The dynamic methods are divided into two categories: signal based and modal based. The modal based methods utilize the modal properties consisting of natural frequencies, modal damping and mode shapes. As the modal properties are sensitive to changes in the structure, these can be used for detecting the damages. In this study, using dynamic method and modal based approach (natural frequencies and mode shapes), the objective function is formulated. Then, detection of damages of truss structures is addressed by using Simplified Dolphin Echolocation algorithm and solving inverse optimization problem. Many scenarios are used to simulate the damages. To demonstrate the ability of the algorithm, different truss structures with several multiple elements scenarios are tested using a few runs. The influence of the two different levels of noise in the modal data for these scenarios is also considered. The last example of this article is investigated using a different mutation. This mutation obtains the exact answer with fewer loops and population by limited computational effort.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.391-402
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• 2011

It is clear from the former researches on reinforced concrete filled steel tubular (RCFT) structures that RCFT structures have higher strength and deformation capacity than concrete filled steel tubular (CFT) structures. However, in the case of actual applications to large-scaled structures, the thin-walled steel tube must be used from the view point of economic condition. Therefore, in this study, compression tests of RCFT columns which were made by thin-walled steel tube or small load-sharing ratio in cooperation with high strength concrete were carried out, meanwhile corresponding tests of CFT, reinforced concrete (RC), pure concrete and steel tube columns were done to compare with RCFT. By the a series of comparison and analysis, characteristics of RCFT columns were clarified, and following conclusions were drawn: RCFT structures can effectively avoided from brittle failure by the using of reinforcement while CFT structures are damaged due to the brittle failure; with RCFT structures, excellent bearing capacity can be achieved in plastic zone by combining the thin-walled steel tube with high strength concrete and reinforcement. The smaller load-sharing ratio can made the reinforcement play full role; Combination of thin-walled steel tube with high strength concrete and reinforcement is effective way to construct large-scaled structures.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.132-138
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• 2020

A facile one-pot wet chemical process to prepare pure anatase TiO₂ hollow structures using ammonium hexafluorotitanate as a precursor is developed. By defining the formic acid ratio, we fabricate TiO₂ hollow structures containing fluorine on the surface. The TiO₂ hollow sphere is composed of an anatase phase containing fluorine by various analytical techniques. A possible formation mechanism for the obtained hollow samples by self-transformation and Ostwald ripening is proposed. The TiO₂ hollow structures containing fluorine exhibits 1.2 - 2.7 times higher performance than their counterparts in photocatalytic activity. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂ hollow structures is attributed to the combined effects of high crystallinity, specific surface area (62 ㎡g^-1), and the advantage of surface fluorine ions (at 8%) having strong electron-withdrawing ability of the surface ≡ Ti-F groups reduces the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.391-405
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• 2020

The use of passive energy dissipation devices has been widely used in the construction industry to minimize the probability of damage occurred under intense ground motion. In this study, collapse margin ratio (CMR) and fragility curves are the main parameters in the assessment to characterize the collapse safety of the structures. The assessment is done on three types of RC frame structures, incorporating three types of dampers, viscoelastic, friction, and BRB dampers. The Incremental dynamic analyses (IDA) were performed by simulating an array of 20 strong ground motion (SGM) records considering both far-field and near-field seismic scenarios that were followed by fragility curves. With respect to far-field ground motion records, the CMR values of the selected frames indicate to be higher and reachable to safety margin more than those under near-field ground motion records that introduce a high devastating impact on the structures compared to far-field excitations. This implies that the near field impact affects the ground movements at the site by attenuation the direction and causing high-frequency filtration. Besides that, the results show that the viscoelastic damper gives better performance for the structures in terms of reducing the damages compared to the other energy dissipation devices during earthquakes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.481-493
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• 2021

Low rise masonry structures are relatively inexpensive and easier to construct compared to other types of structures such as steel and reinforced concrete buildings. However, masonry structures are relatively heavier and less ductile and more vulnerable to damages in earthquakes. In this research, a new innovative low-cost seismic isolator using steel rings (SISR) is employed to reduce the seismic vulnerability of masonry structures. FEA of a masonry structure, made of concrete blocks is used to evaluate the effect of the proposed SISR on the seismic response of the structure. Two systems, fixed base and isolated from the base with the proposed SISRs, are considered. Micro-element approach and ABAQUS software are used for structural modeling. The nonlinear structural parameters of the SISRs, extracted from a recent experimental study by the authors, are used in numerical modeling. The masonry structure is studied in two separate modes, fixed base and isolated base with the proposed SISRs, under Erzincan and Imperial Valley-06 earthquakes. The accelerated response at the roof level, as well as the deformation in the masonry walls, are the parameters to assess the effect of the proposed SISRs. The results show a highly improved performance of the masonry structure with the SISRs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.361-382
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• 1999

This paper reviews aspects of current design procedures for seismic design of structures, and specifically examines their relevance to the design of light framed residential buildings under earthquake loading. The significance of the various structural contributions made by the components of cold formed steel framed residential structures subjected to earthquake induced loadings has been investigated. This is a common form of residential construction worldwide. Particular attention is given to aspects related to ductility and overstrength, the latter arising principally from the contributions of the designated "non-structural" components. Based on both analytical and experimental data obtained from research investigations on steel framed residential structures, typical ranges of the ductility reduction factor and overstrength ratios are determined. It is concluded that the latter parameter has a very significant influence on the seismic design of such structures. Although the numerical ranges for the inelastic seismic parameters given in this paper were obtained for Australian houses, the concepts and the highlighted aspects of seismic design methodology are more widely applicable.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.223-236
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• 2017

Seismic assessment and rehabilitation of Monumental Buildings constitute an important issue in many regions around the world to preserve cultural heritage. On the contrary, many recent earthquakes have demonstrated the high vulnerability of this type of structures. The high nonlinear masonry behaviour requires ad hoc refined finite element numerical models, whose complexity and computational costs are generally unsuitable for practical applications. For these reasons, several authors proposed simplified numerical strategies to be used in engineering practice. However, most of these alternative methods are oversimplified being based on the assumption of in-plane behaviour of masonry walls. Moreover, they cannot be used for modelling the monumental structures for which the interaction between plane and out-plane behaviour governs the structural response. Recently, an innovative discrete-modelling approach for the simulation of both in-plane and out of-plane response of masonry structures was proposed and applied to study several typologies of historic structures. In this paper the latter model is applied with reference to a real case study, and numerically compared with an advanced finite element modelling. The method is applied to the St.Venerio church in Reggiolo (Italy), damaged during the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake and numerically investigated in the literature.