• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.141-156
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• 1994

In this paper, the effect of material elasticity was evaluated through a simple model as proposed by Wang and Yu (1991), for yield mechanisms of a cantilever beam under tip pulse loading. The beam was assumed rigid-perfectly plastic but instead of the usual fully clamped constraints at its root, an elastic-perfectly plastic rotational spring was introduced there so the system had a certain capacity to absorb elastic energy. Compared with a rigid-perfectly plastic beam without a spring root, the present beam-spring model showed differences in the initial plastic hinge position and the minimum magnitude of the dynamic force needed to produce a plastic failure. It was also shown that various failure responses may happen while the hinge travels along the beam segment towards the root, rather than a unique response mode as in a rigid perfectly plastic analysis.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.545-556
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• 2019

Bridge piers with bending failure mode are seriously damaged only in the area of plastic hinge length in earthquakes. For this situation, a modified method for the layout of longitudinal reinforcement is presented, i.e., the number of longitudinal reinforcement is increased in the area of plastic hinge length at the bottom of piers. The quasi-static test of three scaled model piers is carried out to investigate the local longitudinal reinforcement at the bottom of the pier on the seismic performance of the pier. One of the piers is modified by increased longitudinal reinforcement at the bottom of the pier and the other two are comparative piers. The results show that the pier failure with increased longitudinal bars at the bottom is mainly concentrated at the bottom of the pier, and the vulnerable position does not transfer. The hysteretic loop curve of the pier is fuller. The bearing capacity and energy dissipation capacity is obviously improved. The bond-slip displacement between steel bar and concrete decreases slightly. The finite element simulations have been carried out by using ANSYS, and the results indicate that the seismic performance of piers with only increasing the number of steel bars (less than65%) in the plastic hinge zone can be basically equivalent to that of piers that the number of steel bars in all sections is the same as that in plastic hinge zone.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.263-276
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• 2007

Steel frame structures have been widely used in multi-storey and high-rise buildings and the connections in these structures are critical. In the Northridge and Kobe Earthquake, beam-column connections suffered damage due to brittle fracture. According to seismic design codes, ductility of the beam to column connection is also necessary. A study on the behavior of a beam to column connection with the aim of improving ductility as well as preventing brittle failure was carried out. In order to control the position of a plastic hinge on the beam, a connection with a hole in the beam web was developed. Five specimens with different parameters under cyclic load were assessed. The results are presented in terms of the stress distribution of the beam, hysteretic behavior, and ultimate capacity. Furthermore, the finite element method was also used to analyze the model, and the results were compared with those obtained from the experiment. It is shown from the analysis and experimental results that this type of connection is effective in terms of improving ductility for a beam to column connection in low-rise buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.283-295
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• 2019

During the seismic performance assessment of existing buildings, staircases are generally not taken into account as structural members but as dead load. Staircases, as secondary structural members, not only serve for connecting successive floors but also provide considerable amount of strength and stiffness to the building which can modify its seismic behaviour considerably. In this parametric study, the influence of staircases on the seismic response of substandard RC frame buildings which differ in number of storey and span, presence of staircase and its position has been examined. Modal Analyses and bi-directional Non-Linear Time History Analyses (NLTHA) were conducted to compare several engineering demand parameters (EDPs) such as inter-storey drift ratio (ISDR), floor accelerations, modal properties, member shear forces and plastic hinge distribution. Additionally, short column effect, variation in shear forces of columns that are attached to the staircase slab, failure and deformation in staircase models have also been investigated. As the staircase was considered in the analytical model, a different damage pattern can be developed especially in the structural components close to staircase.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.611-621
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• 2019

Precast concrete structure has many advantages, but the assembled seam will affect potentially the overall seismic performance of structure. Based on the sidewall joint located in the bottom of assembled monolithic subway station, the main objectives of this study are, on one hand to present an experimental campaign on the seismic behavior of precast sidewall joint (PWJ) and cast-in-place sidewall joint (CWJ) subjected to low-cycle repeated loading, and on the other hand to explore the effect of shape and position of assembled seam on load carrying capacity and crack width of precast sidewall joint. Two full-scale specimens were designed and tested. The important index of failure pattern, loading carrying capacity, deformation performance and crack width were evaluated and compared. Based on the test results, a series of different height and variably-shape of assembled seam of precast sidewall joint were considered. The test and numerical investigations indicate that, (1) the carrying capacity and deformation capacity of precast sidewall and cast-in-place sidewall were very similar, but the crack failure pattern, bending deformation and shearing deformation in the plastic hinge zone were different obviously; (2) the influence of the assembled seam should be considered when precast underground structures located in the aquifer water-bearing stratum; (3) the optimal assembled seam shape and position can be suggested for the design of precast underground concrete structures according to the analysis results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.419-429
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• 2018

The seismic vulnerability analysis of multi-span bridges can be based on the response of the piers, provided that deck, bearings and foundations remain elastic. The lateral response of an RC bridge pier can be affected by different mechanisms (i.e., flexure, shear, lap-splice or buckling of the longitudinal reinforcement bars, second order effects). In the literature, simplified formulations are available for mechanisms different from the flexure. On the other hand, the flexural response is usually calculated with a numerically-based Moment-Curvature diagram of the base section and equivalent plastic hinge length. The goal of this paper is to propose a simplified analytical solution to obtain the Moment-Curvature relationship for hollow circular RC sections. This based on calibrated polynomials, fitted against a database comprising 720 numerical Moment-Curvature analyses. The section capacity curve is defined through the position of 6 characteristic points and they are based on four input parameters: void ratio of the hollow section, axial force ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, transversal reinforcement ratio. A case study RC bridge pier is assessed with the proposed solution and the results are compared to a refined numerical FEM analysis, showing good match.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.5
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• pp.529-542
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• 2020

As limited well-documented experimental data are available for assessing the attributes of different deformation components of flanged walls, few appropriate models have been established for predicting the inelastic responses of flanged walls, especially those of asymmetrical flanged walls. This study presents the experimental results for three large-scale T-shaped reinforced concrete walls and examines the variations in the flexural, shear, and sliding components of deformation with the total deformation over the entire loading process. Based on the observed deformation behavior, a simple model based on moment-curvature analysis is established to estimate flexural deformations, in which the changes in plastic hinge length are considered and the deformations due to strain penetration are modeled individually. Based on the similar gross shapes of the curvature and shear strain distributions over the wall height, a proportional relationship is established between shear displacement and flexural rotation. By integrating the deformations due to flexure, shear, and strain penetration, a new load-deformation analytical model is proposed for flexure-dominant flanged walls. The proposed model provides engineers with a simple, accurate modeling tool appropriate for routine design work that can be applied to flexural walls with arbitrary sections and is capable of determining displacements at any position over the wall height. By further simplifying the analytical model, a simple procedure for estimating the ultimate displacement capacity of flanged walls is proposed, which will be valuable for performance-based seismic designs and seismic capacity evaluations.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.6A
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• pp.513-523
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• 2010

For continuous I-girder bridges, a large negative bending moment is generated near pier region so that plastic hinge is first formed at this point. Then, the bending moment is redistributed when the I-girder has enough flexural ductility (or rotational capacity). However, for I-girder with high strength steel, it is known that the flexural ductility is considerably decreased by increasing the yield strength of material. Thus, it is necessary to conduct a study for guaranteeing proper flexural ductility of I-girder with high-strength steel. In this study, the evaluation of flexural ductility of negative moment region of I-girder with high strength steel where yield stress of steel is 680 MPa is presented based on the results of finite element analysis and experiment. From the results, it is found that the flexural ductility of the I-girder is significantly reduced due to the increase of elastic deformation and the decrease of plastic deformation ability of the material when the yield strength increases. In this study, the method to improve the flexural ductility of I-girder with high strength steel is proposed by an unequal installation of cross beam and an optimal position of cross beam is also suggested. Finally, the effects of the unequal installation of cross beam on the flexural ductility are discussed based on the experimental results.