• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.689-707
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• 2015

Progressive increase in population causing land scarcity, which is forcing construction industry to build multistory buildings having underground basements. Normally, basements are constructed for parking facility. This research work evaluates important factors which have caused the collapse of pile-anchor system at under construction five star hotel. 21 m deep excavation is carried out, to have five basements, after installation of 600 mm diameter cast in-situ contiguous concrete piles at plot periphery. To retain piles and backfill, soil anchors are installed as pit excavation is proceeded. Before collapse, anchors are designed by federal highway administration procedure and four anchor rows are installed with three strands per anchor in first row and four in remaining. However, after collapse, system is modeled and analyzed in plaxis using mohr-coulomb method. It is investigated that in-appropriate evaluation of soil properties, additional surcharge loads, lesser number of strands per anchor, shorter grouted body length and shorter pile embedment depth caused large deformations to occur which governed the collapse of east side pile wall. To resume work, old anchors are assumed to be standing at one factor of safety and then system is analyzed using finite element approach. Finally, it is concluded to use four strands per anchor in first new row and five strands in remaining three with increase in grouted and un-grouted body lengths.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.607-622
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• 2018

A non-linear finite element model (FEM) was constructed using a three-dimensional software (ATENA-3D) to investigate the effect of strengthening on the behavior of prestressed hollow-core (PHC) slabs with or without openings. The slabs were strengthened using near surface mounted (NSM)-carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The constructed model was validated against experimental results that were previously reported by the authors. The validated FEM was then used to conduct an extensive parametric study to examine the influence of prestressing reinforcement ratio, compressive strength of concrete and strengthening reinforcement ratio on the behavior of such slabs. The FEM results showed good agreement with the experimental results where it captured the cracking, yielding, and ultimate loads as well as the mid-span deflection with a reasonable accuracy. Also, an overall enhancement in the structural performance of these slabs was achieved with an increase in prestressing reinforcement ratio, compressive strength of concrete, external reinforcement ratio. The presence of openings with different dimensions along the flexural or shear spans reduced significantly the capacity of the PHC slabs. However, strengthening these slabs with 2 and 4 (64 and $128mm^2$ that represent reinforcement ratios of 0.046 and 0.092%) CFRP strips was successful in restoring the original strength of the slab and enhancing post-cracking stiffness and load carrying capacity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제78권3호
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• pp.255-267
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• 2021

The analysis of simply supported single-cell skew-curved reinforced concrete (RC) box-girder bridges is carried out using a finite element based CsiBridge software. The behaviour of skew-curved box-girder bridges can not be anticipated simply by superimposing the individual effects of skewness and curvature, so it becomes important to examine the behaviour of such bridges considering the combined effects of skewness and curvature. A comprehensive parametric study is performed wherein the combined influence of the skew and curve angles is considered to determine the maximum bending moment, maximum shear force, maximum torsional moment and maximum vertical deflection of the bridge girders. The skew angle is varied from 0° to 60° at an interval of 10°, and the curve angle is varied from 0° to 60° at an interval of 12°. The scantly available literature on such bridges focuses mainly on the analysis of skew-curved bridges under dead and point loads. But, the effects of actual loadings may be different, thus, it is considered in the present study. It is found that the performance of these bridges having more curvature can be improved by introducing the skewness. Finally, several equations are deduced in the non-dimensional form for estimating the forces and deflection in the girders of simply supported skew-curved RC box-girder bridges, based upon the results of the straight one. The developed equations may be helpful to the designers in proportioning, analysing, and designing such bridges, as the correlation coefficient is about 0.99.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제68권5호
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• pp.591-601
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• 2018

Non-moment beam-to-column connections, which are usually referred to as simple or shear connections, are typically designed to carry only gravity loads in the form of vertical shears. Although in the analysis of structures these connections are usually assumed to be pinned, they may provide a small amount of rotational stiffness due to the typical connection details. This paper investigates the effects of this small rotational restraint of simple beam-to-column connections on the behavior and seismic response of steel braced non-moment resisting frames. Two types of commonly used simple connections with bolted angles, i.e., the Double Web angle Connection (DWC) and Unstiffened Seat angle Connection (USC) are considered for this purpose. In addition to the pinned condition - as a simplified representation of these connections - more accurate semi-rigid models are established and then applied to some frame models subjected to nonlinear pushover and nonlinear time history analyses. Although the use of bracing elements generally reduces the sensitivity of the global structural response to the behavior of connections, the obtained results indicate considerable effects on the local responses. Namely, our results show that consideration of the real behavior of connections is essential in designing the column elements where the pin-connection assumption significantly underestimates design of outer columns of upper stories.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.19-30
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• 2019

Recent research on the behavior of silty sand tends to advocate the use of equivalent skeleton void ratio to characterize the density state of this type of soil. This paper presents an investigation to explore the physical meaning of the equivalent skeleton void ratio by means of DEM simulations for assemblies of coarse and fine particles under biaxial shear. The simulations reveal that the distribution pattern of fine particles in the soil skeleton plays a crucial role in the overall macroscopic response: The contractive response observed at the macro scale is mainly caused by the movement of fine particles out of the force chains whereas the dilative response is mainly associated with the migration of fine particles into the force chains. In an assembly of coarse and fine particles, neither all of the fine particles nor all of the coarse ones participate in the force chains to carry the external loads, and therefore a more reasonable definition for equivalent skeleton void ratio is put forward in which a new parameter d is introduced to take into account the fraction of coarse particles absent from the force chains.

• 한국지진공학회논문집
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.43-54
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• 2019

Existing reinforced concrete frame buildings designed for only gravity loads have been seismically vulnerable due to their inadequate column detailing. The seismic vulnerabilities can be mitigated by the application of a column retrofit technique, which combines high-strength near surface mounted bars with a fiber reinforced polymer wrapping system. This study presents the full-scale shaker testing of a non-ductile frame structure retrofitted using the combined retrofit system. The full-scale dynamic testing was performed to measure realistic dynamic responses and to investigate the effectiveness of the retrofit system through the comparison of the measured responses between as-built and retrofitted test frames. Experimental results demonstrated that the retrofit system reduced the dynamic responses without any significant damage on the columns because it improved flexural, shear and lap-splice resisting capacities. In addition, the retrofit system contributed to changing a damage mechanism from a soft-story mechanism (column-sidesway mechanism) to a mixed-damage mechanism, which was commonly found in reinforced concrete buildings with strong-column weak-beam system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.743-755
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• 2019

In this paper, a new system of seismic isolation for buildings - called suspended columns - is introduced. In this method, the building columns are placed on the hinged cradle seats instead of direct connection to the foundation. In this system, each of the columns is put on a seat hung from its surrounding area by a number of cables, for which cavities are created inside the foundation around the columns. Inside these cavities, the tensile cables are hung. Because of the flexibility of the cables, the suspended seats vibrate during an earthquake and as a result, there is less acceleration in the structure than the foundation. A Matlab code was written to analyze and investigate the response of the system against the earthquake excitations. The findings showed that if this system is used in a building, it results in a significant reduction in the acceleration applied to the structure. A shear key system was used to control the structure for service and lateral weak loads. Moreover, the effect of vertical acceleration on the seismic behavior of the system was also investigated. Effect of the earthquake characteristic period on the system performance was studied and the optimum length of the suspension cables for a variety of the period ranges was suggested. In addition, measures have been taken for long-term functioning of the system and some practical feasibility features were also discussed. Finally, the advantages and limitations of the system were discussed and compared with the other common methods of seismic isolation.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.65-74
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• 2019

This paper reports on the results of a parametric study, which examines the effects of varying aspect ratios on the dynamic response of cylindrical silos directly supported on the ground under earthquake loading. Previous research has shown that numerical models can provide considerably realistic simulations when it comes to the behavior of silos by using correct boundary conditions, appropriate element types and material models. To this end, a three dimensional numerical model, taking into account the bulk material-silo wall interaction, was produced by the ANSYS commercial program, which is in turn based on the finite element method. The results obtained from the numerical analysis are discussed comparatively in terms of dynamic material pressure, horizontal displacement, equivalent base shear force and equivalent bending moment responses for considered aspect ratios. The effects experienced because of the slenderness of the silo in regards to the seismic response were evaluated along with the effectiveness of the classification system proposed by Eurocode in evaluating the loads on the vertical walls. Results clearly show that slenderness directly affects the seismic response of such structures especially in terms of behavior and the magnitude of the responses. Furthermore the aspect ratio value of 2.0, given as a behavioral changing limit in the technical literature, can be used as a valid limit for seismic behavior.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.485-498
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• 2020

Non-ductile detailing of Reinforced Concrete (RC) frames may lead to structural failure when the structure is subjected to earthquake response. These designs are generally encountered in older RC frames constructed prior to the introduction of the ductility aspect. The failure observed in the beam-column joints (BCJs) and accompanied by excessive column damage. This work examines the seismic performance and failure mode of non-ductile designed RC columns and exterior BCJs. The design was based on the actual building in Tainan City, Taiwan, that collapsed due to the 2016 Meinong earthquake. Hence, an experimental investigation using cyclic testing was performed on two columns and two BCJ specimens scaled down to 50%. The experiment resulted in a poor response in both specimens. Excessive cracks and their propagation due to the incursion of the lateral loads could be observed close to the top and bottom of the specimens. Joint shear failure appeared in the joints. The ductility of the member was below the desired value of 4. This is the minimum number required to survive an earthquake with a similar magnitude to that of El Centro. The evidence provides an understanding of the seismic failure of poorly detailed RC frame structures.

• 해양환경안전학회지
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.447-456
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• 2021

Methods for predicting the ultimate/buckling strength of ship structures have been extensively improved in terms of design formulas and analytical solutions. In recent years, the design strategy of ships and offshore structures has tended to emphasize lighter builds and improve operational safety. Therefore, the corresponding geometrical changes in design necessitate the use of high-tensile steel and thin plates. However, the existing design formulas were mainly developed for thick plates and mild steels. Therefore, the calculation methods require appropriate modification for new designs beased on high-tensile steel and thin plates. In this study, a modified formula was developed to predict the ultimate strength of thin steel plates subjected to compressive and shear loads. Based on the numerical results, the effects of the yield stress, slenderness ratio, and loading condition on the buckling/ultimate strength of steel plates were examined, and a newly modified double-beta parameter formula was developed. The results were used to derive and modify existing closed-form expressions and empirical formulas to predict the ultimate strength of thin-walled steel structures.