• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.1499-1528
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• 2015

The yielding mechanisms of reinforced concrete (RC) structures are the main cause of the collapse of RC buildings during earthquake excitation. Nowadays, the application of earthquake energy dissipation devices, such as viscous dampers (VDs), is being widely considered to protect RC structures which are designed to withstand severe seismic loads. However, the effect of VDs on the formation of plastic hinges and the yielding criteria of RC members has not been investigated extensively, due to the lack of an analytical model and a numerical means to evaluate the seismic response of structures. Therefore, this paper offers a comprehensive investigation of how damper devices influence the yielding mechanisms of RC buildings subjected to seismic excitation. For this purpose, adapting the Newmark method, a finite element algorithm was developed for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete buildings equipped with VDs that are subjected to earthquake. A special finite element computer program was codified based on the developed algorithm. Finally, a parametric study was conducted for a three-story RC building equipped with supplementary VD devices, performing a nonlinear analysis in order to evaluate its effect on seismic damage and on the response of the structure. The results of this study showed that implementing VDs substantially changes the mechanism and formation of plastic hinges in RC buildings.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.319-341
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• 2009

A new formulation based on lumped plasticity and inelastic hinges is presented in this paper for nonlinear analysis of Reinforced Concrete (RC) frame structures. Inelastic hinge behaviour is described using the principles of Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM). Member formulation contains provisions to model stiffness degradation due to cracking of concrete and yielding of reinforcing steel. Depending on its nature, cracking is classified as concentrated or distributed. Concentrated cracking is accounted through a damage variable and its growth is defined based on strain energy principles. Presence of distributed flexural cracks in a member is taken care of by modelling it as non-prismatic. Plasticity theory supported by effective stress concept of CDM is applied to describe the post-yield response. Nonlinear quasi-static analysis is carried out on a RC column and a wide two-storey RC frame to verify the formulation. The column is subjected to constant axial load and monotonic lateral load while the frame is subjected to only lateral load. Computed results are compared with those due to experiments or other numerical methods to validate the performance of the formulation and also to highlight the contribution of distributed cracking on global response.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.689-699
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• 2017

An energy-based approach for determining earthquake safety of reinforced concrete frame structures is presented. The developed approach is based on comparison of plastic energy capacities of the structures with plastic energy demands obtained for selected earthquake records. Plastic energy capacities of the selected reinforced concrete frames are determined graphically by analyzing plastic hinge regions with the developed equations. Seven earthquake records are chosen to perform the nonlinear time history analyses. Earthquake plastic energy demands are determined from nonlinear time history analyses and hysteretic behavior of earthquakes is converted to monotonic behavior by using nonlinear moment-rotation relations of plastic hinges and plastic axial deformations in columns. Earthquake safety of selected reinforced concrete frames is assessed by using plastic energy capacity graphs and earthquake plastic energy demands. The plastic energy dissipation capacities of the frame structures are examined whether these capacities can withstand the plastic energy demands for selected earthquakes or not. The displacements correspond to the mean plastic energy demands are obtained quite close to the displacements determined by using the procedures given in different seismic design codes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.399-415
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• 2020

Responses of semi-rigid frames having different degrees of semi-rigidity obtained by the nonlinear static analysis (NSA) are evaluated at specific target displacements by comparing them with those obtained by the nonlinear time-history analysis (NTHA) for scaled earthquakes. The peak ground accelerations (PGA) of the earthquakes are scaled such that the obtained peak top story displacements match with the target displacements. Three different types of earthquakes are considered, namely, far-field and near-field earthquakes with directivity and fling-step effects. In order to make the study a comprehensive one, three degrees of semi-rigidity (one fully rigid and the other two semi-rigid), and two frames having different heights are considered. An ensemble of five-time histories of ground motion is included in each type of earthquake. A large number of responses are considered in the study. They include the peak top-story displacement, maximum inter-story drift ratio, peak base shear, total number of plastic hinges, and square root of sum of the squares (SRSS) of the maximum plastic hinge rotations. Results of the study indicate that the nonlinear static analysis provides a fairly good estimate of the peak values of top-story displacements, inter-story drift ratio (for shorter frame), peak base shear and number of plastic hinges; however, the SRSS of maximum plastic hinge rotations in semi-rigid frames are considerably more in the nonlinear static analysis as compared to the nonlinear time history analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.441-448
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• 2007

The beam-column assembly in a ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to seismic loading are generally controlled by shear and bond mechanisms, both of which exhibit poor hysteretic properties. Hence the response of joints is restricted essentially to the elastic domain. The usual earthquake resistant design philosophy of ductile frame buildings allows the beams to form plastic hinges adjacent to beam-column assembly. Increased strain in these plastic hinge regions affect on joint strain to be increased. Thus bond and shear joint strength are decreased. The research reported in this paper presents the test results of five RC beam-column assembly after developing plastic hinges in beams. Main parameter of the test Joints was the amount of the longitudinal tensile reinforcement of the beams. Test results indicted that the ductile capacity of joints increased as the longitudinal tensile reinforcement of the beams decreased. In addition, both the tensile strain of the longitudinal reinforcement bars in the joint and the ductile ratio of the beam-column assemblages increased due to the yielding of steel bars in the plastic hinge regions.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.145-146
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• 2010

A moment redistribution method was developed for earthquake design of reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames. For a frame designed with strong column-weak beam, the moment redistribution mechanism was investigated. Based on the result, the relationship between redistributed moment and plastic rotation in plastic hinges was established. By using the relationship, we developed a method for the evaluation of plastic rotations during the moment redistribution, addressing the effects of various design parameters including member stiffness, load condition, and plastic mechanism of structure.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.397-402
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• 2003

This paper presents strut-and-tie models for predicting shear strength of RC interior beam-column joints considering the plastic hinge rotation of adjacent beams. On seismic design of frame system, it is controlled beams to occur plastic hinges and to be ductile so as to dissipate earthquake energy efficiently. The plastic hinge deformation of beams is used as analysis parameter in terms of strain of beam tensile bars at column face. The shear strengths of beam-column joints are evaluated by combining direct strut mechanism with truss mechanism. It is assumed that the max force transferred by direct strut mechanism is based on the strength of cracked concrete element, and that by truss mechanism is based on bond capacity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.199-204
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• 2000

A cylindrical brake device with plastic deformation is designed to stop the object moving at high velocity. Baseline model is determined based on the design specification and analytic solutions. Using finite element method, effects of various design parameters, such as thickness of the cylinder, clearance between cylinder and rod, and cone angle, to the performance of the brake device are investigated. Cone-type brake device shows better performance than cylindrical brake device with constant thickness in that plastic hinges are generated sequentially from impact end to fixed boundary, thus increasing the reliability of braking operation.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.5 s.51
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• pp.25-33
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• 2006

This paper provides a method to predict the ductile capacity of reinforced concrete beam-column joints that fail in shear after the plastic hinges occur at both ends of the adjacent beams. After the plastic hinges occur at both ends of the beams, the longitudinal axial strain at the center of the beam section in the plastic hinge region abruptly increases because the neutral axis continues to move upward toward the extreme compressive fiber and the residual strain of the longitudinal bars continues to increase with each cycle of inelastic loading. An increase in the axial strain of the beam section after flexural yielding widens the cracks in the beam-column joints, thus leading to an decrease of the shear strength of the beam-column joints. The proposed method takes into account shear strength deterioration in the beam-column joints. In order to verify the shear strength and the corresponding ductility of the proposed method, test results of 52 RC beam-column assembles were compared. Comparisons between the observed and calculated shear strengths and their corresponding ductilities of the tested assembles, showed reasonable agreement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.623-642
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• 2008

While spatial plastic mechanism analysis has been widely and successfully applied to thinwalled steel structures to analyse the post-failure behaviour of sections and connections, there remains some contention in the literature as to the basic capacity of an inclined yield line. The simple inclined hinge commonly forms as part of the more complex spatial mechanism, which may involve a number of hinges perpendicular or inclined to the direction of thrust. In this paper some of the existing theories are compared with single inclined yield lines that form in flange outstands, by comparing the theories with plate tests of plates simply supported on three sides with the remaining (longitudinal) edge free. The existing mechanism theories do not account for different in-plane displacement gradients of the loaded edge, nor the slenderness of the plates, and produce conservative results. A modified theory is presented whereby uniform and non-uniform in-plane displacements of the loaded edge of the flange, and the slenderness of the flange, are accounted for. The modified theory is shown to compare well with the plate test data, and its application to flanges that are components of sections in compression and/or bending is presented.