• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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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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• v.3 no.3_4
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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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• v.16 no.3
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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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• v.4 no.3
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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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• v.30 no.4
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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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• v.71 no.4
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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.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.735-748
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• 2018

In this paper, the cyclic behavior of steel beam-concrete encased steel (CES) column joints was investigated experimentally and numerically. Three frame middle joint samples with varying concrete slab widths were constructed. Anti-symmetrical low-frequency cyclic load was applied at two beam ends to simulate the earthquake action. The failure modes, hysteretic behavior, ultimate load, stiffness degradation, load carrying capacity degradation, displacement ductility and strain response were investigated in details. The three composite joints exhibited excellent seismic performance in experimental tests, showing high load-carrying capacity, good ductility and superior energy dissipation ability. All three joint samples reached their ultimate loads due to shear failure. Numerical results from ABAQUS modelling agreed well with the test results. Finally, the effect of the concrete slab on ultimate load was analyzed through a parametric study on concrete strength, slab thickness, as well as slab width. Numerical simulation showed that slab width and thickness played an important role in the load-carrying capacity of such joints. As a comparison, the influence of concrete grade was not significant.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2019

It is very common to find an empirical formulation in an earthquake design code to calculate fundamental vibration period of a structural system. Fundamental vibration period or frequency is a key parameter to provide adequate information pertinent to dynamic characteristics and performance assessment of a structure. This parameter enables to assess seismic demand of a structure. It is possible to find an empirical formulation related to reinforced concrete structures, masonry towers and slender masonry structures. Calculated natural vibration frequencies suggested by empirical formulation in the literatures has not suits in a high accuracy to the case of rest of the historical masonry bridges due to different construction techniques and wide variety of material properties. For the listed reasons, estimation of fundamental frequency gets harder. This paper aims to present an empirical formulation through Mean Square Error study to find ambient vibration frequency of historical masonry bridges by using a non-linear regression model. For this purpose, a series of data collected from literature especially focused on the finite element models of historical masonry bridges modelled in a full scale to get first global natural frequency, unit weight and elasticity modulus of used dominant material based on homogenization approach, length, height and width of the masonry bridge and main span length were considered to predict natural vibration frequency. An empirical formulation is proposed with 81% accuracy. Also, this study draw attention that this accuracy decreases to 35%, if the modulus of elasticity and unit weight are ignored.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.757-769
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• 2019

The seismic performance of a coupled shear wall system is governed by the shear resistances of its coupling beams. The plate-reinforced composite (PRC) coupling beam is a newly developed form of coupling beam that exhibits high deformation and energy dissipation capacities. In this study, the shear capacity of plate-reinforced composite coupling beams was investigated. The shear strengths of PRC coupling beams with low span-to-depth ratios were calculated using a softened strut-and-tie model. In addition, a shear mechanical model and calculating method were established in combination with a multi-strip model. Furthermore, a simplified formula was proposed to calculate the shear strengths of PRC coupling beams with low span-to-depth ratios. An analytical model was proposed based on the force mechanism of the composite coupling beam and was proven to exhibit adequate accuracy when compared with the available test results. The comparative results indicated that the new shear model exhibited more reasonable assessment accuracy and higher reliability. This method included a definite mechanical model and reasonably reflected the failure mechanisms of PRC coupling beams with low span-to-depth ratios not exceeding 2.5.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 2019

The force-deformation behavior, strain distribution and failure modes of a variable damping self-centering brace (VD-SCB) are theoretically analyzed, experimentally studied, and numerically simulated to guide its design. The working principle of the brace is explained by describing the working stages and the key feature points of the hysteretic curve. A large-scale brace specimen was tested under different sinusoidal excitations to analyze the recentering capability and energy dissipation. Results demonstrate that the VD-SCB exhibits a full quasi-flag-shaped hysteretic response, high ultimate bearing capacity, low activation force and residual deformation, and excellent recentering and energy dissipation capabilities. Calculation equations of the strain distribution in different parts of the brace are proposed and are compared with the experimental data and simulated results. The developments of two failure modes are compared. Under normal circumstances, the brace fails due to the yielding of the spring blocking plates, which are easily replaced to restore the normal operating conditions of the brace. A brief description of the design procedure of the brace is proposed for application.