• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.583-594
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• 2019

In the areas highly exposed to earthquakes, concrete-filled steel tube columns (CFSTCs) are known to provide superior structural aspects such as (i) high strength for good seismic performance (ii) high ductility (iii) enhanced energy absorption (iv) confining pressure to concrete, (v) high section modulus, etc. Numerous studies were reported on behavior of CFSTCs under axial compression loadings. This paper presents an analytical model to predict ultimate load capacity of CFSTCs with circular sections under axial load by using multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS). MARS is a nonlinear and non-parametric regression methodology. After careful study of literature, 150 comprehensive experimental data presented in the previous studies were examined to prepare a data set and the dependent variables such as geometrical and mechanical properties of circular CFST system have been identified. Basically, MARS model establishes a relation between predictors and dependent variables. Separate regression lines can be formed through the concept of divide and conquers strategy. About 70% of the consolidated data has been used for development of model and the rest of the data has been used for validation of the model. Proper care has been taken such that the input data consists of all ranges of variables. From the studies, it is noted that the predicted ultimate axial load capacity of CFSTCs is found to match with the corresponding experimental observations of literature.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제17권5호
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• pp.463-475
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• 2019

In this paper, a procedure to develop fragility curves of structures equipped with semi-active tuned mass dampers (SATMDs) considering multiple failure criteria has been presented while accounting for the uncertainties of the input excitation, structure and control device parameters. In this procedure, Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) method has been employed to generate 30 random SATMD-structure systems and nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) has been conducted under 20 earthquakes to determine the structural responses, where failure probabilities in each intensity level have been evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. For numerical analysis, an eight-story nonlinear shear building frame with bilinear hysteresis material behavior has been used. Fragility curves for the structure equipped with optimal SATMDs have been developed considering single and multiple failure criteria for different performance levels and compared with that of uncontrolled structure as well as structure controlled using passive tuned mass damper (TMD). Numerical analysis has shown the capability of SATMDs in significant enhancement of the seismic fragility of the nonlinear structure. Also, considering multiple failure criteria has led to increasing the fragility of the structure. Moreover, it is observed that the influence of the uncertainty of input excitation with respect to the other uncertainties is considerable.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제10권6호
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• pp.589-601
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• 2000

A simplified analysis procedure utilizing the strut-tie modeling technique is developed to take a close look into the post-elastic deformation capacity of beam-column connections in ductile reinforced concrete frame structures. Particular emphasis is given to the effect of concrete strength decay and quantity and arrangement of joint shear steel. For this a fan-shaped crack pattern is postulated through the joints. A series of hypothetical rigid nodes are assumed through which struts, ties and boundaries are connected to each other. The equilibrium consideration enables all forces in struts, ties and boundaries to be related through the nodes. The boundary condition surrounding the joints is obtained by the mechanism analysis of the frame structures. In order to avoid a complexity from the indeterminacy of the truss model, it is assumed that all shear steel yielded. It is noted from the previous research that the capacity of struts is limited by the principal tensile strain of the joint panel for which the strain of the transverse diagonal is taken. The post-yield deformation of joint steel is taken to be the only source of the joint shear deformation beyond the elastic range. Both deformations are related by the energy consideration. The analysis is then performed by iteration for a given shear strain. The analysis results indicate that concentrating most of the joint steel near the center of the joint along with higher strength concrete may enhance the post-elastic joint performance.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제57권5호
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• pp.785-808
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• 2016

An innovative Reduced Beam Section (RBS) connection, called Tubular Web RBS connection (TW-RBS), has been recently introduced and its performance has been numerically investigated in some earlier studies. The TW-RBS connection is a kind of accordion-web RBS connection in which part of the flat web of the beam is replaced by a steel tube at the expected region of the plastic hinge. This paper presents experimental results of three TW-RBS connections under cyclic loading. Obtained results indicated that TW-RBS reduces contribution of the beam web to the whole moment strength and creates a ductile fuse far from components of the beam-to-column connection. Besides, TW-RBS connection can increase story drift capacity up to 9% in the case of shallow beams which is much more than those stipulated by the current seismic codes. Based on the experimental results, the tubular web in the plastic hinge region improves lateral-torsional buckling stability of the beam such that only local buckling of the beam flange at the center of the reduced section was observed during the tests. In order to achieve a better understanding, behavior of all TW-RBS specimens are also numerically investigated and compared with those of experimental results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.163-178
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• 2016

Composite Lightweight (CL) insulated walls have gained wide adoption recently because the exterior claddings of steel building frames have their cost effectiveness, good thermal and structural efficiency. To investigate the seismic behavior, lateral stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation of steel frames with the CL infill walls, five one-story one-bay steel frames were fabricated and tested under cyclic loads. Test results showed that the bolted connections allow relative movement between CL infill walls and steel frames, enabling the system to exhibit satisfactory performance under lateral loads. Additionally, it is found that the addition of diagonal steel straps to the CL infill wall significantly increases the initial lateral stiffness, load-carrying capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the system. Furthermore, the test results indicate that the lateral stiffness values of the frames with the CL infill wall are similar to those of the bare steel frames in large lateral displacement.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제3권3_4호
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• pp.203-230
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• 2012

This paper presents results for impedance (and compliance) functions and input motions of foundations in a layered half-space computed on the basis of a procedure that combines a consistent transmitting boundary with continued-fraction absorbing boundary conditions which are accurate and effective in modeling wave propagation in various unbounded domains. The effects of obliquely incident seismic waves in a layered half-space are taken into account in the formulation of the transmitting boundary. Using the numerical model, impedance (and compliance) functions and input motions of rigid circular foundations on the surface of or embedded in a homogeneous half-space are computed and compared with available published results for verification of the procedure. Extrapolation methods are proposed to improve the performance in the very-low-frequency range and for the static condition. It is concluded from the applications that accurate analysis of foundation dynamics and soil-structure interaction in a layered half-space can be carried out using the enhanced consistent transmitting boundary and the proposed extrapolations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.279-293
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• 2019

The overall seismic performance of existing pre 1960-70s reinforced concrete (RC) structures is significantly affected by the inadequate length of columns' lap-spliced reinforcement. Due to this crucial structural deficiency, the cyclic response is dominated by premature bond - slip failure, strength and stiffness degradation, poor energy dissipation capacity and low ductility. Recent earthquakes worldwide highlighted the importance of improving the load transfer mechanism between lap-spliced bars, while it was clearly demonstrated that the failure of lap splices may result in a devastating effect on structural integrity. Extensive experimental and analytical research was carried out herein, to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of strengthening techniques applied to RC columns with lap-spliced reinforcement and also accurately predict the columns' response during an earthquake. Ten large scale cantilever column subassemblages, representative of columns found in existing pre 1970s RC structures, were constructed and strengthened by steel or RC jacketing. The enhanced specimens were imposed to earthquake-type loading and their lateral response was evaluated with respect to the hysteresis of two original and two control subassemblages. The main variables examined were the lap splice length, the steel jacket width and the amount of additional confinement offered by the jackets. Moreover, an analytical formulation proposed by Tsonos (2007a, 2019) was modified appropriately and applied to the lap splice region, to calculate shear stress developed in the concrete and predict if yielding of reinforcement is achieved. The accuracy of the analytical method was checked against experimental results from both the literature and the experimental work included herein.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• 제4권3호
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• pp.223-238
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• 2019

This study investigated the ultimate lateral load capacity of shear walls constructed with several types of structural foam sheathing. Sixteen tests were conducted and the results were compared to the published design values commutated by the manufactures for each test series. The sheathing products included 12.7 mm (1/2 in) SI-Strong, 25.4 mm (1 in) SI-Strong, 12.7 mm (1/2 in) R-Max Thermasheath, and 2 mm (0.078 in) ThermoPly Green. The structural foam sheathing was attached per the manufacturers' specification to one side of the wood frame for each wall tested. Standard 12.7 mm (1/2 in) gypsum wallboard was screwed to the opposite side of the frame. Simpson HDQ8 tie-down anchors were screwed to the terminal studs at each end of the wall and anchored to the base of the testing apparatus. Both monotonic and cyclic testing following ASTM E564 and ASTM E2126, respectively, were considered. Results from the monotonic tests showed an 11 to 27 percent smaller capacity when compared to the published design values. Likewise, the test results from the cyclic tests showed a 24 to 45 percent smaller capacity than the published design values and did not meet the seismic performance design criteria computation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.383-392
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• 2019

Passive steel dampers have shown favorable performance in last earthquakes, numerical and experimental studies. Although steel dampers are more affordable than other types of damper, they are not economically justified for ordinary buildings. Therefore, in this paper, an innovative steel damper with shear yielding mechanism is introduced, which is easy to fabricate also can be easily replaced after sever earthquakes. The main goal of implementing such a mechanism is to control the possible damage in the damper and to ensure the elastic behavior of other structural components. The numerical results indicate an enhancement of the hysteretic behavior of the concentrically braced frames utilizing the proposed damper. The proposed damper change brittle behavior of brace due to buckling to ductile behavior due to shear yielding in proposed damper. The necessary relations for the design of this damper have been presented. In addition, a model has been presented to estimate load-displacement of the damper without needing to finite element modeling.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제71권4호
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• pp.445-458
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• 2019

This study mainly aims to assess the performance of soil-structure systems designed by direct displacement-based method coupled with strong column-weak beam design concept through various system identification techniques under strong ground motions. To this end, various system identification methods are employed to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of a structure (i.e., modal frequency, system damping, mode shapes, and plastic hinge formation pattern) under a strong seismic excitation considering soil-structure interaction for different site conditions as specified by ASCE 7-10. The scope of the study narrowed down to the code-complying low- to high-rise steel moment resisting frames with various heights (4, 8, 12, 16-story). The comparison of the result of soil-structure systems with fix-based support condition indicates that the modal frequencies of these systems are highly influenced by the structure heights, specifically for the softer soils. This trend is more significant for higher modes of the system which can considerably dominate the response of structures in which the higher modes have more contribution in dynamic response. Amongst all studied modes of the vibration, the damping ratio estimated for the first mode is relatively the closet to the initial assumed damping ratios. Moreover, it was found that fewer plastic hinges are developed in the structure of soil-structure systems with a softer soil which contradicts the general expectation of higher damageability of such structural systems.