• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.305-325
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• 2020

Beams of steel frame-tube structures (SFTSs) typically have span-to-depth ratios of less than five. This makes a flexural beam unsuitable for such an application because the plastic hinges at the beam-ends cannot be adequately developed. This leads to lower ductility and energy dissipation capacities of SFTSs. To address this, SFTSs with bolted web-connected replaceable shear links (SFTS-BWSLs) are proposed. In this structural system, a web-connected replaceable shear link with a back-to-back double channel section is placed at the mid-length of the deep beam to act as a ductile fuse. This allows energy from earthquakes to be dissipated through link shear deformation. SFTS and SFTS-BWSL buildings were examined in this study. Several sub-structures were selected from each designed building and finite element models were established to study their respective hysteretic performance. The seismic behavior of each designed building was observed through static and dynamic analyses. The results indicate that the SFTS-BWSL and SFTS have similar initial lateral stiffness and shear leg properties. The SFTS-BWSL had lower strength, but higher ductility and energy dissipation capacities. Compared to the SFTS, the SFTS-BWSL had lower interstory drift, base shear force, and story shear force during earthquakes. This design approach could concentrate plasticity on the shear link while maintaining the residual interstory drift at less than 0.5%. The SFTS-BWSL is a reliable resistant system that can be repaired by replacing shear links damaged due to earthquakes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.365-382
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• 2019

In steel frame-tube structures (SFTSs) the application of flexural beam is not suitable for the beam with span-to-depth ratio lower than five because the plastic hinges at beam-ends can not be developed properly. This can lead to lower ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the SFTS. To address this problem, a replaceable shear link, acting as a ductile fuse at the mid length of deep beams, is proposed. SFTS with replaceable shear links (SFTS-RSLs) dissipate seismic energy through shear deformation of the link. In order to evaluate this proposal, buildings were designed to compare the seismic performance of SFTS-RSLs and SFTSs. Several sub-structures were selected from the design buildings and finite element models (FEMs) were established to study their hysteretic behavior. Static pushover and dynamic analyses were undertaken in comparing seismic performance of the FEMs for each building. The results indicated that the SFTS-RSL and SFTS had similar initial lateral stiffness. Compared with SFTS, SFTS-RSL had lower yield strength and maximum strength, but higher ductility and energy dissipation capacity. During earthquakes, SFTS-RSL had lower interstory drift, maximum base shear force and story shear force compared with the SFTS. Placing a shear link at the beam mid-span did not increase shear lag effects for the structure. The SFTS-RSL concentrates plasticity on the shear link. Other structural components remain elastic during seismic loading. It is expected that the SFTS-RSL will be a reliable dual resistant system. It offers the benefit of being able to repair the structure by replacing damaged shear links after earthquakes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.35-57
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• 2022

This article presents a computationally efficient framework for multi-objective seismic design optimization of steel moment-resisting frame (MRF) structures based on the nonlinear dynamic analysis procedure. This framework employs the uniform damage distribution philosophy to minimize the weight (initial cost) of the structure at different levels of damage. The preliminary framework was recently proposed by the authors based on the single excitation and the nonlinear static (pushover) analysis procedure, in which the effects of record-to-record variability as well as higher-order vibration modes were neglected. The present study investigates the reliability of the previous framework by extending the proposed algorithm using the nonlinear dynamic design procedure (optimization under multiple ground motions). Three benchmark structures, including 4-, 8-, and 12-story steel MRFs, representing the behavior of low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings, are utilized to evaluate the proposed framework. The total weight of the structure and the maximum inter-story drift ratio (IDRmax) resulting from the average response of the structure to a set of seven ground motion records are considered as two conflicting objectives for the optimization problem and are simultaneously minimized. The results of this study indicate that the optimization under several ground motions leads to almost similar outcomes in terms of optimization objectives to those are obtained from optimization under pushover analysis. However, investigation of optimal designs under a suite of 22 earthquake records reveals that the damage distribution in buildings designed by the nonlinear dynamic-based procedure is closer to the uniform distribution (desired target during the optimization process) compared to those designed according to the pushover procedure.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.229-233
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• 2011

Recently, the scale of buildings has been increasing because of the high-rise trend and complexity of underground spaces. A significant number of steel structures have therefore been adopted for building construction. Since workers need to work in high places to install steel beams, many industrial accidents easily occur during steel-frame work. Furthermore, considering the increasing trend of building steel structures, the safety of the workers during the steel beam erection work is of concern. To improve the safety, a new type of joint, located between the steel column and beam, which can eliminate the need for working at the elevated height during steel beam erection has been developed in Korea. Using the newly developed technology in the construction field, the safety performance needs to be evaluated. This study presented the safety evaluation approach for the newly developed technology from the literature review, and applied the method to a self-supported steel joint. The result showed that applying the self-supported steel joint improved the safety of the steel erection work in terms of working posture, working environment, and risk exposure time.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.497-507
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• 2017

During recent earthquakes, a significant number of concrete structures suffered extensive damage. Conventional reinforced concrete structures are designed for life-time safety that may see permanent inelastic deformation after severe earthquakes. Hence, there is a need to utilize adequate materials that have the ability to tolerate large deformation and get back to their original shape. Super-elastic shape memory alloy (SMA) is a smart material with unique properties, such as the ability to regain undeformed shape by unloading or heating. In this research, four different stories (three, five, seven and nine) of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings have been studied and subjected to near-field ground motions. For each building, two different types of reinforcement detailing are considered, including (1) conventional steel reinforcement (RC frame) and (2) steel-SMA reinforcement (SMA RC frame), with SMA bars being used at plastic zones of beams and steel bars in other regions. Nonlinear time history analyses have been performed by "SeismoStruct" finite element software. The results indicate that the application of SMA materials in plastic hinge regions of the beams lead to reduction of the residual displacement and consequently post-earthquake repairs. In general, it can be said that shape memory alloy materials reduce structural damage and retrofit costs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.425-439
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• 2017

As a thin-walled structure, local joint flexibility (LJF) in a tubular structure is prominent, and it may produce significant effect on the static performance for the overall structure. This study presents a simplified analytical model to analyze the static behavior for a steel tubular structure with LJF. The presented model simplifies a tubular structure into a frame model consisted of beam elements with considering the LJFs at the connections between any two elements. Theoretical equations of the simplified analytical model are deduced. Through comparison with 3-D finite element results of two typical planar tubular structures consisted of T- and Y-joints respectively, the presented method is proved to be accurate. Furthermore, the effect of LJF on the overall performance of the two tubular structures (including the deflection and the internal forces) is also investigated, and it is found from analyses of internal forces and deformation that a rigid connection assumption in a frame model by using beam elements in finite element analysis can provide unsafe and inaccurate estimation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.83-100
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• 2022

Timber is one of the few natural, renewable building materials and glulam is a type of engineering wood product. In the present work, timber-based braces are applied for retrofitting midrise Special Moment Resisting Frame (SMRF) using two types of timber base braces (Timber base glulam, and hybrid Timber-Steel-BRB) as alternatives for retrofitting by traditional steel bracings. The improving effects of adding the bracings to the SMRF on seismic characteristics of the frame are evaluated using load-bearing capacity, energy dissipation, and story drifts of the frame. For evaluating the retrofitting effects on the seismic performance of SMRF, a five-story SMRF is considered unretofitted and retrofitted with steel-hollow structural section (HSS) brace, Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam) brace, and hybrid Timber-Steel BRB. Using OpenSees structural analyzer, the performance are investigated under pushover, cyclic, and incremental loading. Results showed that steel-HSS, timber base Glulam, and hybrid timber-steel BRB braces have more significant roles in energy dissipation, increasing stiffness, changing capacity curves, reducing inter-story drifts, and reducing the weight of the frames, compared by steel bracing. Results showed that Hybrid BRB counteract the negative post-yield stiffness, so their use is more beneficial on buildings where P-Delta effects are more critical. It is found that the repair costs of the buildings with hybrid BRB will be less due to lower residual drifts. As a result, timber steel-BRB has the best energy dissipation and seismic performance due to symmetrical and stable hysteresis curves of buckling restrained braces that can experience the same capacities in tension and compression.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.391-416
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• 2018

The purpose of this article is to strengthen concrete structures using buckling and non-buckling braces. Connection plates are modeled in three shapes including the effect of 1.5t hinge zone length, 2t one and without the zone (1.5t-CP, 2t-CP and WCP). According to the verification performed with ABAQUS software, the connection plates which are superior in ductility and strengthening are found. The results show adding steel braces in concrete moment frames increase the strength and stiffness of the structures up to about 12 and 3 times, respectively. The frame strength increased about 21 and 25 percent with considering the effect of 2t hinge length in connection plates compared to 1.5t-CPs and WCPs. Also the ductility of retrofitted frames with 2t-CP improved 2.06 times more than WCP ones. Thus, 2t-CP sample is the best choice for connecting steel braces to concrete moment frames for retrofitting them. Afterwards, optimum conditions for elemental coating in braces with no buckling are assessed. The length of concrete coatings could be reduced about 30 percent, and buckling did not occur. Therefore, the weight of restraining coating decreased, and its performance improved. It is worth noting that BRBs could be constructed with only steel materials, which have outer steel tubes too. In fact, only the square cross sections of the tube profiles are appropriate for removing the filler concrete, and the rectangular ones are prone to buckle around their weak axis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.333-348
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• 2003

The behaviour of composite frame - shear wall systems with regard to creep and shrinkage with high beam stiffness has been largely unattended until recently since no procedure has been available. Recently an accurate procedure, termed the Consistent Procedure (CP), has been developed which is applicable for low as well as for high beam stiffness. In this paper, CP is adapted for a class of composite frame - shear wall systems comprising of steel columns and R.C. shear walls. Studies are reported for the composite systems with high as well as low beam stiffness. It is shown that considerable load redistribution occurs between the R.C. shear wall and the steel columns and additional moments occur in beams. The magnitude of the load redistribution and the additional moment in the beams depend on the stiffness of the beams. It is also shown that the effect of creep and shrinkage are greater for the composite frame - shear wall system than for the equivalent R.C. frame - shear wall system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.121-135
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• 2022

Many public buildings such as schools, hospitals, etc., where partial infill walls are present in reinforced concrete (RC) structures, have undergone undesirable damage/failure attributed to captive column effect during a moderate to severe earthquake shaking. Often, the situation gets worsened when these RC frames are non-ductile in nature, thus reducing the deformable capability of the frame. Also, in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, it is mandatory to use fly-ash bricks for construction so as to reduce the burden on the disposal of fly-ash produced at thermal power plants. In some scenario, when the non-ductile RC frame, partially infilled by fly-ash bricks, suffers major structural damage, the challenge remains on how to retrofit and restore it. Thus, in this study, two full-scale one-bay, one-story non-ductile RC frame models, namely, bare frame and RC partially infilled frame with fly-ash bricks in 50% of its opening area are considered. In the previous experiments, these models were subjected to slow-cyclic displacement-controlled loading to replicate damage due to a moderate earthquake. Now, in this study these damaged frames were retrofitted and an experimental investigation was performed on the retrofitted specimens to examine the effectiveness of the proposed retrofitting scheme. A hybrid retrofitting technique combining epoxy injection grouting with an innovative and easy-to-implement steel jacketing technique was proposed. This proposed retrofitting method has ensured proper confinement of damaged concrete. The retrofitted models were subjected to the same slow cyclic displacement-controlled loading which was used to damage the frames. The experimental study concluded that the hybrid retrofitting technique was quite effective in enhancing and regaining various seismic performance parameters such as, lateral strength and lateral stiffness of partially fly-ash brick infilled RC frame. Thus, the steel jacketing retrofitting scheme along with the epoxy injection grouting can be relied on for possible repair of the structural members which are damaged due to the captive column effect during the seismic shaking.