• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.565-585
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• 2009

Superelastic Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are gaining acceptance for use as reinforcing bars in concrete structures. The seismic behaviour of concrete frames reinforced with SMAs is being assessed in this study. Two eight-storey concrete frames, one of which is reinforced with regular steel and the other with SMAs at the plastic hinge regions of beams and regular steel elsewhere, are designed and analyzed using 10 different ground motion records. Both frames are located in the highly seismic region of Western Canada and are designed and detailed according to current seismic design standards. The validation of a finite element (FE) program that was conducted previously at the element level is extended to the structure level in this paper using the results of a shake table test of a three-storey moment resisting steel RC frame. The ten accelerograms that are chosen for analyzing the designed RC frames are scaled based on the spectral ordinate at the fundamental periods of the frames. The behaviour of both frames under scaled seismic excitations is compared in terms of maximum inter-storey drift, top-storey drift, inter-storey residual drift, and residual top-storey drift. The results show that SMA-RC frames are able to recover most of its post-yield deformation, even after a strong earthquake.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.129-142
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• 2018

The current paper introduces a new approach for development of damage index to obtain the maximum damage in the reinforced concrete frames caused by as-recorded single and consecutive earthquakes. To do so, two sets of strong ground motions are selected based on maximum and approximately maximum peak ground acceleration (PGA) from "PEER" and "USGS" centers. Consecutive earthquakes in the first and second groups, not only occurred in similar directions and same stations, but also their real time gaps between successive shocks are less than 10 minutes and 10 days, respectively. In the following, a suite of six concrete moment resisting frames, including 3, 5, 7, 10, 12 and 15 stories, are designed in OpenSees software and analyzed for more than 850 times under two groups of as-recorded strong ground motion records with/without seismic sequences phenomena. The idealized multilayer artificial neural networks, with the least value of Mean Square Error (MSE) and maximum value of regression (R) between outputs and targets were then employed to generate the empirical charts and several correction equations for design utilization. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed damage index, calibration of the new approach to existing real data (the result of Park-Ang damage index 1985), were conducted. The obtained results show good precision of the developed ANNs-based model in predicting the maximum damage of regular reinforced concrete frames.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.307-317
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• 2018

The current study explores the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effect on the potential seismic damage of mid-rise non-seismically designed reinforced concrete frames retrofitted by Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP). An 8-storey reinforced concrete frame poorly-confined due to transverse reinforcement deficiency is selected and then retrofitted by FRP wraps to provide external confinement. The poorly-confined and FRP retrofitted frames with/without SSI are modelled using hysteretic nonlinear elements. Inelastic time history and damage analyses are performed for these frames subjected to different seismic intensities. The results show that the FRP confinement significantly reduces one or two damage levels for the poorly-confined frame. More importantly, the SSI effect is found to increase the potential seismic damage of the retrofitted frame, reducing the effectiveness of FRP retrofitting. This finding, which is contrary to the conventionally beneficial concept of SSI governing for decades in structural and earthquake engineering, is worth taking into account in designing and evaluating retrofitted structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.393-411
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• 2013

In the analysis and design of reinforced concrete frames beam-column joints are sometimes assumed as rigid. This simplifying assumption can be unsafe because it is likely to affect the distributions of internal forces and moments, reduce drift and increase the overall load-carrying capacity of the frame. This study is concerned with the relevance of shear deformation of beam-column joints, in particular of exterior ones, on the quasi-static behavior of regular reinforced concrete sway frames. The included parametric studies of a simple sub-frame model reveal that the quasi-static monotonic behavior of unbraced regular reinforced concrete frames is prone to be significantly affected by the deformation of beam-column joints.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.99-116
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• 2014

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) 318-11 permits the use of the moment magnifier method for computing the design ultimate strength of slender reinforced concrete columns that are part of braced frames. This computed strength is influenced by the column effective length factor K, the equivalent uniform bending moment diagram factor $C_m$ and the effective flexural stiffness EI among other factors. For this study, 2,960 simple braced frames subjected to short-term loads were simulated to investigate the effect of using different methods of calculating the effective length factor K when computing the strength of columns in these frames. The theoretically computed column ultimate strengths were compared to the ultimate strengths of the same columns computed from the ACI moment magnifier method using different combinations of equations for K and EI. This study shows that for computing the column ultimate strength, the current practice of using the Jackson-Moreland Alignment Chart is the most accurate method for determining the effective length factor. The study also shows that for computing the column ultimate strength, the accuracy of the moment magnifier method can be further improved by replacing the current ACI equation for EI with a nonlinear equation for EI that includes variables affecting the column stiffness and proposed in an earlier investigation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.147-164
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• 2005

This paper summarizes an experimental study on the seismic behavior of lower stories of a mid-rise reinforced concrete frame building. Two reinforced concrete frames with two stories and one span were tested and each frame represents lower two stories of an 11-story RC frame building. Both frames were designed in accordance with Japanese design guidelines and were identical except in the variation of axial force. The tests demonstrated that the overall load-displacement relations of the two frames were nearly the same and the first-story column shear was closely related to the column axial load. The columns and beams elongated during both of the tests, with the second-floor beam elongation exceeding 1.5% of the beam clear span length. The frame with higher axial loads developed more cracks that the frame under moderate axial load.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1391-1409
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• 2016

Masonry infill has a significant effect on stiffness contribution, strength and ductility of masonry-infilled frames. These effects may cause damage of weak floor, torsional damage or short-column failure in structures. This article presents experiments of 1/2.5-scale steel reinforced recycled aggregates concrete (SRRC) frames. Three specimens, with different infill rates consisted of recycled concrete hollow bricks (RCB), were subjected to static cyclic loads. Test phenomena, hysteretic curves and stiffness degradation of the composite structure were analyzed. Furthermore, effects of axial load ratio, aspect ratio, infill thickness and steel ratio on the share of horizontal force supported by the frame and the infill were obtained in the numerical example.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.329-348
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• 2019

The main objective of this experimental research was to investigate the Seismic performance of reinforced concrete frames infilled with perforated clay brick masonry wall of a type commonly used in Algeria. Four one story-one bay reinforced concrete infilled frames of half scale of an existing building were tested at the National Earthquake Engineering Research Center Laboratory, CGS, Algeria. The experiments were carried out under a combined constant vertical and reversed cyclic lateral loading simulating seismic action. This experimental program was performed in order to evaluate the effect and the contribution of the infill masonry wall on the lateral stiffness, strength, ductility and failure mode of the reinforced concrete frames. Numerical models were developed and calibrated using the experimental results to match the load-drift envelope curve of the considered specimens. These models were used as a bench mark to assess the effect of normalized axial load on the seismic performance of the RC frames with and without masonry panels. The main experimental and analytical results are presented in this paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.127-139
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• 2003

Reinforced concrete buildings with shearwalls are very efficient to resist earthquake disturbances. In general, reinforced concrete frames are governed by flexure and shearwalls are governed by shear. If a structure included both frames and shearwalls, it is generally governed by shearwalls. However, the ductility of ordinary reinforced concrete is very limited. To improve the ductility, a series of tests on framed shearwalls made of corrugated steel was performed previously and the experimental results were compared with ordinary reinforced concrete frames and shearwalls. It was found that ductility of framed shearwalls could be greatly improved if the thickness of the corrugated steel wall is appropriate to the surrounding reinforced concrete frame. In this paper, an analytical model is developed to predict the horizontal load-displacement relationship of hybrid reinforced concrete frame-steel wall systems according to the analogy of truss models. This analytical model is based on equilibrium and compatibility conditions as well as constitutive laws of corrugated steel. The analytical predictions are compared with the results of tests reported in the previous paper. It is found that proposed analytical model can predict the test results with acceptable accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.463-478
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• 2000

An iterative procedure for the analysis of reinforced concrete frames with beams in cracked state is presented. ACI and CEB model equations are used for the effective moment of inertia of the cracked members. In the analysis, shear deformations are taken into account and reduced shear stiffness is considered by using effective shear modulus models available in the literature. Based on the aforementioned procedure, a computer program has been developed. The results of the computer program have been compared with the experimental results available in the literature and found to be in good agreement. Finally, a parametric study is carried out on a two story reinforced concrete frame.