• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.6 no.5
• /
• pp.515-537
• /
• 2014

Current seismic codes (e.g. the NTC08 Italian code and the EC8 European code) adopt a performance-based approach for both the design of new buildings and the assessment of existing ones. Different limit states are considered by verifying structural members as well as non structural elements and facilities which have generally been neglected in practice. The key role of non structural elements on building performance has been shown by recent earthquakes (e.g. L'Aquila 2009) where, due to the extensive damage suffered by infills, partitions and ceilings, a lot of private and public buildings became unusable with consequent significant socio-economic effects. Furthermore, the collapse of infill panels, particularly in the case of out-of-plane failure, represented a serious source of risk to life safety. This paper puts forward an infill model capable of accounting for the effects arising from prior in-plane damage on the out-of-plane capacity of infill panels. It permits an assessment of the seismic performance of existing RC buildings with reference to both structural and non structural elements, as well as of their mutual interaction. The model is applied to a building type with RC framed structure designed only to vertical loads and representative of typical Italian buildings. The influence of infill on building performance and the role of the out-of-plane response on structural response are also discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.64 no.6
• /
• pp.765-781
• /
• 2017

The out-of-plane response of infill walls has recently gained a growing attention and has been recognised fundamental in the damage assessment of reinforced concrete and steel framed buildings subjected to seismic loads. The observation of damage after earthquakes highlighted that out-of-plane collapse of masonry infills may occur even during seismic events of low or moderate intensity, causing both casualty risks and unfavourable situations affecting the overall structural response. Even though studies concerning the out-of-plane behaviour of infills are not as many as those focused on the in-plane response, in the last decades, a substantial number of researches have been carried out on the out-of-plane behaviour of infills. In this study, the out-of-plane response is investigated considering different aspects. First, damages observed after past earthquakes are examined, with the aim of identifying the main parameters involved and the most critical configurations. Secondly, the response recorded in about 150 experimental tests is deeply examined, focusing on the influence of geometrical characteristics, boundary conditions, prior in-plane damage, presence of reinforcing elements and openings. Finally, different theoretical capacity models and code provisions are discussed and compared, giving specific attention to those based on the arching theory. The reliability of some of these models is herein tested with reference to experimental results. The comparison between analytically predicted and experimental values allows to appreciate the extent of approximation of such methods.

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

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.78 no.3
• /
• pp.269-280
• /
• 2021

Reinforced concrete (RC) structural walls with L-shaped sections are commonly used in RC buildings. The walls are often expected to sustain biaxial load and Unsymmetrical bending in an earthquake event. However, there currently exists limited experimental evidence regarding their seismic behaviour in these lateral loading directions. This paper makes experimental and numerical investigations to these walls behaviours. Experimental evidences are presented for four L-shaped wall specimens which were tested under simulated seismic load from different lateral directions. The results highlighted some distinct behaviour of L-shaped walls sustaining Unsymmetrical bending relating to their seismic performance. First, due to the Unsymmetrical bending, out-of-plane reaction forces occur for these walls, which contribute to accumulation of the out-of-plane deformations of the wall, especially when out-of-plane stiffness of the section is reduced by horizontal cracks in the cyclic load. Secondly, cracking was found to affect shear centre of the specimens loaded in the Unsymmetrical bending direction. The shear centre of these specimens distinctly differs in the flange in the positive and negative loading direction. Cracking of the flange also causes significant warping in the bottom part of the wall, which eventually lead to out-of-plane buckling failure.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2018

An experimental investigation has been carried out on the use of an environmentally sustainable material, bamboo, in the construction of precast concrete structural wall panels. The strength and behaviour of three prototype bamboo reinforced concrete wall panel specimens under two-way in-plane action was studied. The specimens with varying aspect ratio and thinness ratio were tested to fail under a uniformly distributed in-plane load applied at an eccentricity of t/6. The aspect ratio of the specimens considered includes 1.667, 1.818 and 2 and the thinness ratio includes 12.5, 13.75 and 15. The influence of aspect ratio and thinness ratio of bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels, on its strength and behaviour was discussed. Varnished and sand blasted bamboo splints of 20 mm width and thickness varying from 8 to 15 mm were used as reinforcement in concrete. Based on the study, an empirical equation was developed considering the geometrical parameters of bamboo reinforced concrete wall panels for predicting its ultimate strength under two way in-plane action.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.297-313
• /
• 2023

This paper deals with delamination analysis of non-linear viscoelastic multilayered beam subjected to bending in the plane of the layers. For this purpose, first, a non-linear viscoelastic model is presented. In order to take into account the non-linear viscoelastic behaviour, a non-linear spring and a non-linear dashpot are assembled in series with a linear spring connected in parallel to a linear dashpot. The behaviours of the non-linear spring and dashpot are described by applying non-linear stress-strain and stress-rate of strain relationships, respectively. The constitutive law of the model is derived. Due to the non-linear spring and dashpot, the constitutive law is non-linear. This law is used for describing the time-dependent mechanical behaviour of the beam under consideration. The material properties involved in the constitutive law vary along the beam length due to the continuous material inhomogeneity of the layers. Solution of the strain energy release rate for the delamination is obtained by analyzing the balance of the energy with considering of the non-linear viscoelastic behaviour. The strain energy release rate is found also by using the complementary strain energy for verification. A parametric study is carried-out by using the solution obtained. The solutions derived and the results obtained help to understand the time-dependent delamination of non-linear viscoelastic beams under loading in the plane of layers.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.207-214
• /
• 2003

The fatigue behaviour of six different hollow section T-joints subjected to out-of-plane bending moment was investigated experimentally using scaled steel models. The joints had circular brace members and rectangular chord members. Hot spot stresses and the stress concentration factors. (SCFs) were determined experimentally. Fatigue testing was carried out under constant amplitude loading in air. The test results have been statistically evaluated, and show that the experimental SCF values for circular-to-rectangular (CHS-to-RHS) hollow section joints were found to be below those of circular-to-circular (CHS-to-CHS) hollow section joints. The fatigue strength, referred to experimental hot spot stress, was in reasonably good agreement with referred fatigue design codes for tubular joints.

• Bulletin of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 1987

In order to perform a detailed analysis of large deflection behaviour of a rectangular plate, an efficient semi-analytical method is developed in this paper. The method is called Incremental Galerkin Method. This method is successfully applied to plates with initial deflection subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane loads to obtain the whole histories of the behaviour of these plates. Application of this method to rectangular plates with initial deflection is presented. Comparisons of results obtained by this method with those obtained by other methods are made and the validity of the method is demonstrated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.169-188
• /
• 2001

This note presents the main results of an experimental investigation into the mechanical behaviour of a composite sandwich conceived as a lightweight material for naval engineering applications. The sandwich structure is formed by a three-dimensional glass fibre/polymer matrix fabric with transverse piles interconnecting the skins; the core is filled with a polymer matrix/glass microspheres syntactic foam; additional Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics extra-skins are laminated on the external facings of the filled fabric. The main features of the experimental tests on syntactic foam, skins and sandwich panels are presented and discussed, with focus on both in-plane and out-of-plane responses. This work is part of a broader research investigation aimed at a complete characterisation, both experimental and numerical, of the complex mechanical behaviour of this composite sandwich.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.41-49
• /
• 1994

The leak-before-break(LBB) design on the large structures such as ship's hull, tank structure, pressure vessels etc. is one of the most inportant subjects for the evaluation and the assurance of safety. In these structures, various loads are acting. In some structural members, therefore, out-of-plane stress due to bending often may become with in-plane stress due to stretching. In the present report, the characteristics of fatigue life and peneration behaviour from a surface cracked plate under combined tension and bending have been studied experimentally and analytically by using eccentricity. Estimation of fatigue crack growth was done with the Newman-Raju formula before penetration, and with the stress intensity factor after penetration proposed by the author. Calculated aspect ratio showed the good agreement with the experimental result. It was also found that particular crack growth behaviour and crack shape after penetration can be satisfactorily evaluated using the K solution proposed.