• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제55권1호
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• pp.161-189
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• 2015

Soil-pile raft-structure interaction is recognized as a significant phenomenon which influences the seismic behaviour of structures. Soil structure interaction (SSI) has been extensively used to analyze the response of superstructure and piled raft through various modelling and analysis techniques. Major drawback of previous study is that overall interaction among entire soil-pile raft-superstructure system considering highlighting the change in design forces of various components in structure has not been explicitly addressed. A recent study addressed this issue in a broad sense, exhibiting the possibility of increase in pile shear due to SSI. However, in this context, relative stiffness of raft and that of pile with respect to soil and length of pile plays an important role in regulating this effect. In this paper, effect of relative stiffness of piled raft and soil along with other parameters is studied using a simplified model incorporating pile-soil raft and superstructure interaction in very soft, soft and moderately stiff soil. It is observed that pile head shear may significantly increase if the relative stiffness of raft and pile increases and furthermore stiffer pile group has a stronger effect. Outcome of this study may provide insight towards the rational seismic design of piles.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제61권1호
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• pp.77-90
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• 2017

Glazed curtain walls are façade systems frequently chosen in modern architecture for mid and high-rise buildings. From recent earthquakes surveys it is observed the large occurrence of non-structural components failure, such as storefronts and curtain walls, which causes sensitive economic losses and represents an hazard for occupants and pedestrians safety. In the present study, the behavior of curtain wall stick systems under seismic actions has been investigated through experimental in-plane racking tests conducted at the laboratory of the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) on two full-scale aluminium/glass curtain wall test units. A finite element model has been calibrated according to experimental results in order to simulate the behavior of such components under seismic excitation. The numerical model investigates the influence of the interaction between glass panels and aluminium frame, the gasket friction and the stiffness degradation of aluminium-to-glass connections due to the high deformation level on the curtain walls behavior. This study aims to give a practical support to researchers and/or professionals who intend to numerically predict the lateral behavior of similar façade systems, so as to avoid or reduce the need of performing expensive experimental tests.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제33권6호
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• pp.643-658
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• 2024

To date, shell-solid and fibre element model analysis are the most commonly used methods to investigate the seismic performance of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) bridge piers. However, most existing research does not consider the loss of bearing capacity caused by the fracture of the outer steel tube. To fill this knowledge gap, a refined finite element (FE) model considering the ductile damage of steel tubes and the behaviour of infilled concrete with cracks is established and verified against experimental results of unidirectional, bidirectional cyclic loading tests and pseudo-dynamic loading tests. In addition, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the seismic performance of CFST bridge piers with different concrete strength, steel strength, axial compression ratio, slenderness ratio and infilled concrete height using the proposed model. The validation shows that the proposed refined FE model can effectively simulate the residual displacement of CFST bridge piers subjected to highintensity earthquakes. The parametric analysis indicates that CFST piers hold sufficient strength reserves and sound deformation capacity and, thus, possess excellent application prospects for bridge construction in high-intensity areas.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제8권5호
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• pp.1255-1276
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• 2015

The importance of considering soil-structure interaction effect in the analysis and design of RC frame buildings is increasingly recognized but still not penetrated to the grass root level owing to various complexities involved. It is well established fact that the soil-structure interaction effect considerably influence the design of multi-storey buildings subjected to lateral seismic loads. The shear walls are often provided in such buildings to increase the lateral stability to resist seismic lateral loads. In the present work, the linear soil-structure analysis of a G+5 storey RC shear wall building frame resting on isolated column footings and supported by deformable soil is presented. The finite element modelling and analysis is carried out using ANSYS software under normal loads as well as under seismic loads. Various load combinations are considered as per IS-1893 (Part-1):2002. The interaction analysis is carried out with and without shear wall to investigate the effect of inclusion of shear wall on the total and differential settlements in the footings due to deformations in the soil mass. The frame and soil mass both are considered to behave in linear elastic manner. It is observed that the soil-structure interaction effect causes significant total and differential settlements in the footings. Maximum total settlement in footings occurs under vertical loads and inner footings settle more than outer footings creating a saucer shaped settlement profile of the footings. Each combination of seismic loads causes maximum differential settlement in one or more footings. Presence of shear wall decreases pulling/pushing effect of seismic forces on footings resulting in more stability to the structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.119-133
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• 2017

Several theoretical and analytical formulations for the prediction of shear strength in reinforced concrete (RC) beam-to-column joints have been recently developed. Some of these predictive models are included in the most recent seismic codes and currently used in practical design. On the other hand, the influence of the stiffness and strength degradations in RC joints on the seismic performance of RC framed buildings has been only marginally studied, and it is generally neglected in practice-oriented seismic analysis. To investigate such influence, this paper proposes a numerical description for representing the cyclic response of RC exterior joints. This is then used in nonlinear numerical simulations of RC frames subjected to earthquake loading. According to the proposed strategy, RC joints are modelled using nonlinear rotational spring elements with strength and stiffness degradations and limited ductility under cyclic loading. The proposed joint model has been firstly calibrated against the results from experimental tests on 12 RC exterior joints. Subsequently, nonlinear static and dynamic analyses have been carried out on two-, three- and four-storey RC frames, which represent realistic existing structures designed according to old standards. The numerical results confirm that the global seismic response of the analysed RC frames is strongly affected by the hysteretic damage in the beam-to-column joints, which determines the failure mode of the frames. This highlights that neglecting the effects of joints damage may potentially lead to non-conservative seismic assessment of existing RC framed structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제11권6호
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• pp.1001-1025
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• 2016

Building structures generally have inherent low damping capability and hence are vulnerable to seismic excitations. Control devices therefore play a useful role in providing safety to building structures subject to seismic events. In recent years semi-active dampers have gained considerable attention as structural control devices in the building construction industry. Magneto-rheological (MR) damper, a type of semi-active damper has proven to be effective in seismic mitigation of building structures. MR dampers contain a controllable MR fluid whose rheological properties vary rapidly with the applied magnetic field. Although some research has been carried out on the use of MR dampers in building structures, optimal design of MR damper and combined use of MR and passive dampers for real scale buildings has hardly been investigated. This paper investigates the use of MR dampers and incorporating MR-passive damper combinations in building structures in order to achieve acceptable levels of seismic performance. In order to do so, it first develops the MR damper model by integrating control algorithms commonly used in MR damper modelling. The developed MR damper is then integrated in to the seismically excited structure as a time domain function. Linear and nonlinear structure models are evaluated in real time scenarios. Analyses are conducted to investigate the influence of location and number of devices on the seismic performance of the building structure. The findings of this paper provide information towards the design and construction of earthquake safe buildings with optimally employed MR dampers and MR-passive damper combinations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.125-134
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• 2023

In the present work, a new global damage index is proposed for the seismic performance and failure analysis of concrete gravity dams. Unlike the existing indices of concrete structures, this index doesn't need scaling with an ultimate or an upper value. For this purpose, the Beni-Haroun dam in north-eastern Algeria, is considered as a case study, for which an average seismic capacity curve is first evaluated by performing several incremental dynamic analyses. The seismic performance point of the dam is then determined using the N2 method, considering multiple modes and taking into account the stiffness degradation. The seismic demand is obtained from the design spectrum of the Algerian seismic regulations. A series of recorded and artificial accelerograms are used as dynamic loads to evaluate the nonlinear responses of the dam. The nonlinear behaviour of the concrete mass is modelled by using continuum damage mechanics, where material damage is represented by a scalar field damage variable. This modelling, which is suitable for cyclic loading, uses only a single damage parameter to describe the stiffness degradation of the concrete. The hydrodynamic and the sediment pressures are included in the analyses. The obtained results show that the proposed damage index faithfully describes the successive brittle failures of the dam which increase with increasing applied ground accelerations. It is found that minor damage can occur for ground accelerations less than 0.3 g, and complete failure can be caused by accelerations greater than 0.45 g.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.27-37
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• 2011

This paper presents the results of a study on the capability of nonlinear quasi-static finite element modelling in simulating the hysteretic behaviour of CFRP and GFRP-retrofitted RC exterior beam-column joints under cyclic loads. Four specimens including two plain and two CFRP/GFRP-strengthened beam-column joints tested by Mahini and Ronagh (2004) and other researchers are modelled using ANSYS. Concrete in compression is defined by the modified Hognestad model and anisotropic multi-linear model is employed for modelling the stress-strain relations in reinforcing bars while anisotropic plasticity is considered for the FRP composite. Both concrete and FRP are modelled using solid elements whereas space link elements are used for steel bars considering a perfect bond between materials. A step by step load increment procedure to simulate the cyclic loading regime employed in the testing. An automatically reforming stiffness matrix strategy is used in order to simulate the actual seismic performance of the RC concrete after cracking, steel yielding and concrete crushing during the push and pull loading cycles. The results show that the hysteretic simulation for all specimens is satisfactory and therefore suggest that the numerical model can be used as an inexpensive tool to design of FRP-strengthened RC beam-column joints under cyclic loads.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.883-900
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• 2014

Shape memory alloys (SMA) can dissipate energy through hysteresis cycles without significant residual deformation. This paper describes the fabrication and testing of copper-based SMA hourglass-shaped plates for use in energy dissipation devices and the development of a numerical model to reproduce the experiments. The plates were tested under cyclic flexural deformations, showing stable hysteresis cycles without strength degradation. A detailed nonlinear numerical model was developed and validated with the experimental data, using as input the constitutive relationship for the material determined from cyclic tests of material coupons under tension loading. The model adequately reproduces the experimental results. The study is focused on the exploitation of SMA in the martensite phase.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제6권6호
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• pp.611-625
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• 2014

This paper presents a simple methodology that integrates an improved storey shear modelling, Incremental Dynamic Analysis and Monte Carlo Simulation in order to carryout vulnerability analysis towards development of fragility curves for Unreinforced Brick Masonry buildings. The methodology is demonstrated by developing fragility curves of a single storey Unreinforced Brick Masonry building for which results of experiment under lateral load is available in the literature. In the study presented, both uncertainties in mechanical properties of masonry and uncertainties in the characteristics of earthquake ground motion are included. The research significance of the methodology proposed is that, it accommodates a new method of damage grade classification which is based on 'structural performance characteristics' instead of 'fixed limiting values'. The usefulness of such definition is discussed as against the existing practice.