• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.62 no.5
• /
• pp.643-649
• /
• 2017

Masonry walls are amongst the oldest building systems. A large portion of the research on these structures focuses on the load-bearing walls. Numerical methods have been generally used in modelling load-bearing walls during recent years. In this context, macro and micro modelling techniques emerge as widely accepted techniques. Micro modelling is used to investigate the local behaviour of load-bearing walls in detail whereas macro modelling is used to investigate the general behaviour of masonry buildings. The main objective of this study is to investigate the elastic behaviour of the load- bearing walls in masonry buildings by using micro modelling technique. In order to do this the brick and mortar units of the masonry walls are modelled by the combination of plane truss elements and plane frame elements with no shear deformations. The model used in this study has fewer unknowns then the models encountered in the references. In this study the vertical frame elements have equivalent elasticity modulus and moment of inertia which are calculated by the developed software. Under in-plane static loads the elastic displacements of the masonry walls, which are encountered in literature, are calculated by the developed software, where brick units are modelled by plane frame elements, horizontal joints are modelled by vertical frame elements and vertical joints are modelled by horizontal plane truss elements. The calculated results are compatible with those given in the references.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.81 no.4
• /
• pp.395-409
• /
• 2022

The presence of infill generally neglected in design despite the fact that infill contribution significantly increase the lateral stiffness and strength of the reinforced concrete frame structure. Several experimental studies and computational models have been proposed to capture the rational response of infill-frame interaction at global level. However, limited studies are available on explicit finite element modelling to study the local behavior due to high computation and convergence issues in numerical modelling. In the current study, the computational modelling of RC frames is done with various configurations of infill masonry in terms of types of blocks, lateral loading and reinforcement detailing employed with material nonlinearities, interface contact issues and bond-slip phenomenon particularly near the beam-column joints. To this end, extensive computational modelling of five variant characteristics test specimens extracted from the detailed experimental program available in literature and process through nonlinear static analysis in FEM code, ATENA generally used to capture the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. Results are presented in terms of damage patterns and capacity curves by employing the finest possible detail provided in the experimental program. Comparative analysis shows that good correlation amongst the experimental and numerical simulated results both in terms of capacity and crack patterns.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.111-120
• /
• 2006

In this research, numerical simulations by PFC considering discrete element method are conducted to predict experimental results of large triaxial compression test with rockfill material for dam construction. For generation of compacted assembly with specific grain size distribution and initial material porosity, the clump logic method and expansion of generated particles are adapted. To predict stress-stain behavior of large triaxial test, discrete particle modelling is applied with micro parameters which are chosen by calibration process. It is expected that distinct particle modelling method could be used as a useful tool to investigate micro and macro behavior associated with geotechnical problems and develop a numerical laboratory.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.229-240
• /
• 2019

The physical models are useful to understand the soil behaviour. Hence, these tools allow validating analytical theories and numerical data. This paper addresses the design, construction and implementation of a physical model able to simulate the soil liquefaction under different cyclic actions. The model was instrumented with a piezoelectric actuator and a set of transducers to measure the porewater pressures, displacements and accelerations of the system. The soil liquefaction was assessed in three different grain size particles of a natural sand by applying a sinusoidal signal, which incorporated three amplitudes and the fundamental frequencies of three different earthquakes occurred in Colombia. In addition, such frequencies were scaled in a micro shaking table device for 1, 50 and 80 g. Tests allowed identifying the liquefaction susceptibility at various frequency and displacement amplitude combinations. Experimental evidence validated that the liquefaction susceptibility is higher in the fine-grained sands than coarse-grained sands, and showed that the acceleration of the actuator controls the phenomena trigging in the model instead of the displacement amplitude.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.959-974
• /
• 2014

Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is a group of diseases caused by exposure of the hands to vibration while operating the hand held power tools such as road breaker, drilling machine, demolition hammer in construction works. In this paper, area-changed capacitive micro-accelerometer is designed to measure the vibration exposure on worker's hand when operating a drilling machine on various blocks such as clay block, paver block and solid cement block. The design process includes mathematical modelling of micro-accelerometer and simulations are done using INTELLISUITE 8.6. Experimental results are taken for various blocks surfaces using conventional and micro-accelerometer. Comparisons show that usage of area-changed micro-accelerometer for Hand-arm vibration monitoring provides better sensitivity, which in turn reduces the risk of HAVS in workers.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2023

In this paper, static and dynamic bending of nanocomposite micro beam armed with CNTs considering agglomeration effect is studied. The structural damping is considered by Kelvin-Voigt model. The agglomeration effects are assumed using Mori-Tanaka model. The micro beam is modeled by third order shear deformation theory (TSDT). The motion equations are derived by principle of Hamilton's and energy method assuming size effects on the basis of Eringen theory. Using differential quadrature method (DQM) and Newmark method, the static and dynamic deflections of the structure are obtained. The effects of agglomeration and CNTs volume percent, damping of structure, nonlocal parameter, length and thickness of micro-beam are presented on the static and dynamic deflections of the nanocomposite structure. Results show that with increasing CNTs volume percent, the static and dynamic deflections are decreased. In addition, enhancing the nonlocal parameter yields to higher static and dynamic deflections.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.65 no.5
• /
• pp.573-585
• /
• 2018

This article presents strain gradient elasticity-based procedures for static bending, free vibration and buckling analyses of functionally graded rectangular micro-plates. The developed method allows consideration of smooth spatial variations of length scale parameters of strain gradient elasticity. Governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions are derived by following the variational approach and applying Hamilton's principle. Displacement field is expressed in a unified way to produce numerical results in accordance with Kirchhoff, Mindlin, and third order shear deformation theories. All material properties, including the length scale parameters, are assumed to be functions of the plate thickness coordinate in the derivations. Developed equations are solved numerically by means of differential quadrature method. Proposed procedures are verified through comparisons made to the results available in the literature for certain limiting cases. Further numerical results are provided to illustrate the effects of material and geometric parameters on bending, free vibrations, and buckling. The results generated by Kirchhoff and third order shear deformation theories are in very good agreement, whereas Mindlin plate theory slightly overestimates static deflection and underestimates natural frequency. A rise in the length scale parameter ratio, which identifies the degree of spatial variations, leads to a drop in dimensionless maximum deflection, and increases in dimensionless vibration frequency and buckling load. Size effect is shown to play a more significant role as the plate thickness becomes smaller compared to the length scale parameter. Numerical results indicate that consideration of length scale parameter variation is required for accurate modelling of graded rectangular micro-plates.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.627-646
• /
• 2014

Adobe is one of the oldest construction materials that is still used in many seismic countries, and different construction techniques are found around the world. The adobe material is characterized as a brittle material; it has acceptable compression strength but it has poor performance under tensile and shear loading conditions. Numerical modelling is an alternative approach for studying the nonlinear behaviour of masonry structures such as adobe. The lack of a comprehensive experimental database on the adobe material properties motivated the study developed here. A set of a reference material parameters for the adobe were obtained from a calibration of numerical models based on a quasi-static cyclic in-plane test on full-scale adobe wall representative of the typical Peruvian adobe constructions. The numerical modelling, within the micro and macro modelling approach, lead to a good prediction of the in-plane seismic capacity and of the damage evolution in the adobe wall considered.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.137-149
• /
• 2019

Traffic emissions are the main cause of environmental pollution in cities and respiratory problems amongst people. This study developed a model based on an integration of support vector regression (SVR) algorithm and geographic information system (GIS) to map traffic carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations and produce prediction maps from micro level to macro level at a particular time gap in a day in a very densely populated area (Utara-Selatan Expressway-NKVE, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). The proposed model comprised two models: the first model was implemented to estimate traffic CO concentrations using the SVR model, and the second model was applied to create prediction maps at different times a day using the GIS approach. The parameters for analysis were collected from field survey and remote sensing data sources such as very-high-resolution aerial photos and light detection and ranging point clouds. The correlation coefficient was 0.97, the mean absolute error was 1.401 ppm and the root mean square error was 2.45 ppm. The proposed models can be effectively implemented as decision-making tools to find a suitable solution for mitigating traffic jams near tollgates, highways and road networks.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.55-62
• /
• 2004

This paper addresses the method for figuring out the hole diameter on the mask containing the information about machining depth. With this mask e micro machining is carried out with a simple 2D movement of the mask. Based on e suggested method excimer laser ablation processes are modeled and determination of the optimal laser ablation conditions such as hole diameter, step size, mask movement velocity, etc. is completed. The excimer laser ablation simulation for creating 3D micro lens is carried out by employing determined ablation conditions to prove verification of the method. The results from simulation illustrated the average error of 140nm and e relative error of 2％.