• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.119-128
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• 2012

In this study, experimental vibration tests are performed on a real full-scale railway steel plate girder bridge, which resides in open-space environments. Using experimental modal analysis techniques, the modal parameters of the railway steel plate girder bridge yielded by the modal testing of the impact hammer are compared and investigated with the natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained by finite element analysis. This work focuses on the application of model updating techniques to measured experimental data and output-only data from an analytical vibration study that takes into account various geometric and material properties of the bridge members. A finite element model of the railway bridge structure is used to verify the modal experimental results. It is subsequently updated using the corresponding modal identification technique. The basic database is provided to evaluate damage, which can be determined based on the changes in the element properties, resulting from the process of updating the finite element model benchmark and experimental data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.245-255
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• 2017

The performance of an Industrialised Building System (IBS) consists of prefabricated reinforced concrete components, is greatly affected by the behaviour of the connection between beam and columns. The structural characteristics parameters of a beam-to-column connection like rotational stiffness, strength and ductility can be explained by load-rotation relationship of a full scale H-subframe under gravitational load. Furthermore, the connection's degree of rigidity directly influences the behaviour of the whole frame. In this research, rotational behaviour of a patented innovative beam-to-column connection with unique benefits like easy installation, no wet work, no welding work at assembly site, using a hybrid behaviour of steel and concrete, easy replacement ability, and compatibility with architecture was investigated. The proposed IBS beam-to-column connection includes precast concrete components with embedded steel end connectors. Two full-scale H-subframes constructed with a new IBS and conventional cast in-situ reinforced concrete system beam-to-column connections were tested under incremental static loading. In this paper, load-rotation relationship and ratio of the rigidity of IBS beam-to-column connection are studied and compared with conventional monolithic reinforced concrete connection. It is concluded that this new IBS beam-to-column connection benefits from more rotational ductility than the conventional reinforced concrete connection. Furthermore, the semi-rigid IBS connection rigidity ratio is about 44% of a full rigid connection.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.165-180
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• 1999

The cost effectiveness of using steel roof systems for residential buildings is becoming increasingly apparent with the decrease in manufacturing cost of steel components, reliability and efficiency in construction practices, and the economic and environmental concerns. While steel has been one of the primary materials for structural systems, it is only recently that its use for residential buildings is being explored. A comprehensive system for the design of residential steel roof truss systems is presented. In the first stage of the research the design curves obtained from the AISI-LRFD code for the manufactured cross-sections were verified experimentally. Components of the truss systems were tested in order to determine their member properties when subjected to axial force and bending moments. In addition, the experiments were simulated using finite element analysis to provide an additional source of verification. The second stage of the research involved the development of an integrated design approach that would automatically design a lowest cost roof truss given minimal input. A modified genetic algorithm was used to handle sizing, shape and topology variables in the design problem. The developed methodology was implemented in a software system for the purpose of designing the lowest cost truss that would meet the AISI code provisions and construction requirements given the input parameters. The third stage of the research involved full-scale testing of a typical residential steel roof designed using the developed software system. The full scale testing established the factor of safety while validating the analysis and design procedures. Evaluation of the test results indicates that designs using the present approach provide a structure with enough reserve strength to perform as predicted and are very economical.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.943-957
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• 2014

When subjected to fatigue loading, the main failure mode of partially prestressed concrete (PPC) structure is the fatigue fracture of tensile reinforcement. Therefore, monitoring and evaluation of the steel stresses/strains in the structure are essential issues for structural design and healthy assessment. The current study experimentally investigates the possibility of using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to measure the steel strains in PPC beams in the process of fatigue loading. Six full-scale post-tensioned PPC beams were exposed to fatigue loading. Within the beams, the FBG and resistance strain gauge (RSG) sensors were independently bonded onto the surface of tensile reinforcements. A good agreement was found between the recorded results from the two different sensors. Moreover, FBG sensors show relatively good resistance to fatigue loading compared with RSG sensors, indicating that FBG sensors possess the capability for long-term health monitoring of the tensile reinforcement in PPC structures. Apart from the above findings, it can also be found that during the fatigue loading, there is stress redistribution between prestressed and non-prestressed reinforcements, and the residual strain emerges in the non-prestressed reinforcement. This phenomenon can bring about an increase of the steel stress in the non-prestressed reinforcement.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1111-1123
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• 2016

To study seismic performance of steel frame-bent structure, one specimen with one-tenth scale, three-bay, and five-story was tested under reversed cyclic lateral load. The entire loading process and failure mode were observed, and the seismic performance indexes including hysteretic loops, skeleton curve, ductility, load bearing capacity, drift ratio, energy dissipation capacity and stiffness degradation were analyzed. The results show that the steel frame-bent structure has good seismic performance. And the ductility and the energy dissipation capacity were good, the hysteresis loops were in spindle shape, which shape were full and had larger area. The ultimate elastic-plastic drift ratio is larger than the limit value specified by seismic code, showing the high capacity of collapse resistance. It can be helpful to design this kind of structure in high-risk seismic zone.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2015

Detailed finite element (FE) analyses of a full-scale four-story steel frame structure, subjected to consecutive 60% and 100% excitations from the JR Takatori records during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake, are conducted using E-Simulator. The four-story frame was tested at the largest shake-table facility in the world, E-Defense, in 2007. E-Simulator is a parallel FE analysis software package developed to accurately simulate structural behavior up to collapse by using a fine mesh of solid elements. To reduce computational time in consecutive dynamic time history analyses, static analysis with gravity force is introduced to terminate the vibration of the structure during the analysis of 60% excitation. An overall sway mechanism when subjected to 60% excitation and a story mechanism resulting from local buckling of the first-story columns when subjected to 100% excitation are simulated by using E-Simulator. The story drift response to the consecutive 60% and 100% excitations is slightly smaller than that for the single 100% excitation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.337-345
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• 2024

This research proposed a particle swarm optimization (PSO) based seismic retrofit design of moment frame structures using a steel frame assembly. Two full scale specimens of the steel frame assembly with different corner details were attached to one-story RC frames for seismic retrofit, and the lateral load resisting capacities of the retrofitted frames subjected to cyclic loads were compared with those of a bare RC frame. The open source software framework Opensees was used to develop an analytical model for validating the experimental results. The developed analytical model and the optimization scheme were applied to a case study structure for economic seismic retrofit design, and its seismic performance was assessed before and after the retrofit. The results show that the developed steel frame assembly was effective in increasing seismic load resisting capability of the structure, and the PSO algorithm could be applied as convenient optimization tool for seismic retrofit design of structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.101-118
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• 2022

The seismic performance of the reinforced concrete (RC) special-shaped column to steel beam connections with steel jacket used in the RC column to steel beam fabricated frame structures was investigated in this study. The three full-scale specimens were subjected to cyclic loading. The failure mode, ultimate bearing capacity, shear strength capacity, stiffness degradation, energy dissipation capacity, and strain distribution of the specimens were studied by varying the steel jacket thickness parameters. Test results indicate that the RC special-shaped column to steel beam connection with steel jacket is reliable and has excellent seismic performance. The hysteresis curve is full and has excellent energy dissipation capacity. The thickness of the steel jacket is an important parameter affecting the seismic performance of the proposed connections, and the shear strength capacity, ductility, and initial stiffness of the specimens improve with the increase in the thickness of the steel jacket. The calculation formula for the shear strength capacity of RC special-shaped column to steel beam connections with steel jacket is proposed on the basis of the experimental results and numerical simulation analysis. The theoretical values of the formula are in good agreement with the experimental values.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.517-532
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• 2023

Tower structures have been widely used in communication and transmission engineering. The failure of joints is the leading cause of structure failure, which make it play a crucial role in tower structure engineering. In this study, the aluminum alloy three tube tower structure is taken as the prototype, and the middle joint of the tower was selected as the research object. Three different stainless steel-aluminum alloy composite joints (SACJs), denoted by TA, TB and TC, were designed. Finite element (FE) modeling analysis was used to compare and determine the TC joint as the best solution. Detail requirements of fasteners in the TC stainless steel-aluminum alloy composite joint (TC-SACJ) were designed and verified. In order to systematically and comprehensively study the mechanical properties of TC-SACJ under multi-directional loading conditions, the full-scale experiments and FE simulation models were all performed for mechanical response analysis. The failure modes, load-carrying capacities, and axial load versus displacement/stain testing curves of all full-scale specimens under tension/compression loading conditions were obtained. The results show that the maximum vertical displacement of aluminum alloy tube is 26.9mm, and the maximum lateral displacement of TC-SACJs is 1.0 mm. In general, the TC-SACJs are in an elastic state under the design load, which meet the design requirements and has a good safety reserve. This work can provide references for the design and engineering application of aluminum alloy tower structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.291-306
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• 2006

In order to improve the constructability and meanwhile ensure excellent seismic behavior, several innovative composite connection details were conceived and studied by the authors. This paper reports experimental results and observations on seismic behavior of steel beam bolted to reinforced concrete column connections (bolted RCS or BRCS). The proposed composite connection details involve post tensioning the end plates of the steel beams to the reinforced concrete or precast concrete columns using high-strength steel rods. A rational design procedure was proposed to assure a ductile behavior of the composite structure. Strut-and-tie model analysis indicates that a bolted composite connection has a favorable stress transfer mechanism. The excellent capacity and behavior were then validated through five full-scale beam to column connection model tests.