• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.77-94
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• 2004

Steel beam-to-column joints are often subjected to a combination of bending and axial forces. The level of axial forces in the joint may be significant, typical of pitched-roof portal frames, sway frames or frames with incomplete floors. Current specifications for steel joints do not take into account the presence of axial forces (tension and/or compression) in the joints. A single empirical limitation of 10% of the beam's plastic axial capacity is the only enforced provision in Annex J of Eurocode 3. The objective of the present paper is to describe some experimental and numerical work carried out at the University of Coimbra to try to extend the philosophy of the component method to deal with the combined action bending moment and axial force.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.519-538
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• 2013

The design optimization of a cold-formed steel portal frame building is considered in this paper. The proposed genetic algorithm (GA) optimizer considers both topology (i.e., frame spacing and pitch) and cross-sectional sizes of the main structural members as the decision variables. Previous GAs in the literature were characterized by poor convergence, including slow progress, that usually results in excessive computation times and/or frequent failure to achieve an optimal or near-optimal solution. This is the main issue addressed in this paper. In an effort to improve the performance of the conventional GA, a niching strategy is presented that is shown to be an effective means of enhancing the dissimilarity of the solutions in each generation of the GA. Thus, population diversity is maintained and premature convergence is reduced significantly. Through benchmark examples, it is shown that the efficient GA proposed generates optimal solutions more consistently. A parametric study was carried out, and the results included. They show significant variation in the optimal topology in terms of pitch and frame spacing for a range of typical column heights. They also show that the optimized design achieved large savings based on the cost of the main structural elements; the inclusion of knee braces at the eaves yield further savings in cost, that are significant.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.535-543
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• 2017

For column-beam gussets of wooden structures, slit-processed members inserted with a steel plate are used in general. In this study, a rigid portal frame bonded with a joint was fabricated and a semi-rigid portal frame was fabricated by making a wooden gusset, a replacement for steel plate, of which a half was integrated into the column member and the other half was joined with the beam member by drift-pins. The lateral strength performance of the wooden portal frame was compared with that of the steel plate-inserted joint portal frame. The lateral strength performance was evaluated through a perfect elasto-plasticity model analysis, sectional stiffness change rate, and short-term permissible shear strength. As a result of the experiment, the maximum strength of the rigid portal frame was lower than that of the steel plate-inserted joint portal frame. The yield strength and ultimate strength were calculated as 0.58 and 0.48, respectively, but the measurements of initial stiffness and cumulative ductility improved by 1.35 and 1.1, respectively. As a result of the perfect elasto-plasticity model analysis of the semi-rigid portal frame, the maximum strength was lower than that of the rigid portal frame, but the toughness after failure was excellent. Thus, the ultimate strength was higher by 1.05~1.07. The steel plate-inserted portal frame showed rapid decrease in stiffness with the progress of repeated tests, but the stiffness of the portal frames with a wooden joint decreased slowly.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.381-395
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• 2009

This paper presents the details of an advanced Finite Element (FE) analysis of a plane steel portal frame with semi-rigid beam-to-column connections subjected cyclic loading. In spite of several component models on cyclic behaviour of connections presented in the literature, works on numerical investigations on cyclic behaviour of full scale frames are rather scarce. This paper presents the evolution of an FE model which deals comprehensively with the issues related to cyclic behaviour of full scale steel frames using ABAQUS software. In the material modeling, combined kinematic/isotropic hardening model and isotropic hardening model along with Von Mises criteria are used. Connection non-linearity is also considered in the analysis. The bolt slip which happens in friction grip connection is modeled. The bolt load variation during loading, which is a pivotal issue in reality, has been taken care in the present model. This aspect, according to the knowledge of the authors, has been first time reported in the literature. The numerically predicted results using the methodology evolved in the present study, for the cyclic behaviour of a cantilever beam and a rigid frame, are validated with experimental results available in the literature. The moment-rotation and deflection responses of the evolved model, match well with experimental results. This proves that the methodology for evolving the steel frame and connection model presented in this paper is closer to real frame behaviour as evident from the good comparison and hence paves the way for further parametric studies on cyclic behaviour of flexibly connected frames.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.37-66
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• 2019

In cold-formed steel structures, such as trusses, wall frames and portal frames, the use of back-to-back built-up cold-formed stainless-steel lipped channels as compression members are becoming increasingly popular. The advantages of using stainless-steel as structural members are corrosion resistance and durability, compared with carbon steel. The AISI/ASCE Standard, SEI/ASCE-8-02 and AS/NZS do not include the design of stainless-steel built-up channels and very few experimental tests or finite element analyses have been reported in the literature for such back-to back cold-formed stainless-steel channels. Current guidance by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Australian and New Zealand (gAS/NZS) standards for built-up carbon steel sections only describe a modified slenderness approach, to consider the spacing of the intermediate fasteners. Thus, this paper presents a numerical investigation on the behavior of back-to-back cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels. Three different grades of stainless steel i.e., duplex EN1.4462, ferritic EN1.4003 and austenitic EN1.4404 have been considered. Effect of screw spacing on the axial strength of such built-up channels was investigated. As expected, most of the short and intermediate columns failed by either local-global or local-distortional buckling interactions, whereas the long columns, failed by global buckling. All three grades of stainless-steel stub columns failed by local buckling. A comprehensive parametric study was then carried out covering a wide range of slenderness and different cross-sectional geometries to assess the performance of the current design guidelines by AISI and AS/NZS. In total, 647 finite element models were analyzed. From the results of the parametric study, it was found that the AISI & AS/NZS are conservative by around 10 to 20% for cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels failed through overall buckling, irrespective of the stainless-steel grades. However, the AISI and AS/NZS can be un-conservative by around 6% for all three grades of stainless-steel built-up channels, which failed by local buckling.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.233-250
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• 2018

Back-to-back built-up cold-formed steel un-lipped channel sections are used in cold-formed steel structures; such as trusses, wall frames and portal frames. In such built-up columns, intermediate fasteners resist the buckling of individual channel-sections. No experimental tests or finite element analyses have been reported in the literature for back-to-back built-up cold-formed steel un-lipped channel sections and specially investigated the effect of screw spacing on axial strength of such columns. The issue is addressed in this paper. The results of 95 finite element analyses are presented covering stub to slender columns. The finite element model is validated against the experimental tests recently conducted by authors for back-to-back built-up cold-formed steel lipped channel sections. The verified finite element model is then used for the purposes of a parametric study to investigate the effect of screw spacing on axial strength of back-to-back built-up cold-formed steel un-lipped channel sections. Results are compared against the built-up lipped channel sections and it is shown that the axial strength of un-lipped built-up sections are 31% lesser on average than the built-up lipped channel sections. It was also found that the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Australian and New Zealand Standards were over-conservative by around 15% for built-up columns failed through overall buckling, however AISI and AS/NZS were un-conservative by around 8% for built-up columns mainly failed by local buckling.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.21-41
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• 2016

Cold-formed steel structures are increasingly attractive due to their benefits of good mechanical performance and constructional advantages. However, this type of construction is still not fully exploited as a result of the acknowledged difficulties involved in forming construction-efficient and cost-effective connections. Furthermore, there is a lack of information on the structural behavior of the cold-formed steel connections. In this study, the research on various cold-formed steel connections was comprehensively reviewed from both fundamental and structural points of view, based on the available experimental and analytical data. It reveals that the current design codes and guidelines for cold-formed steel connections tend to focus more on the individual bearing capacity of the fasteners rather than the overall structural behavior of the connections. Significant future work remains to be conducted on the structural performance of cold-formed steel connection. In addition, extensive previous research has been carried out to propose and evaluate an economical and efficient connection system that is obtained from the conventional connecting techniques used in the hot-rolled industry. These connecting techniques may not be suitable, however, as they have been adopted from hot-rolled steel portal frames due to the thinness of the sheet in cold-formed steels. The review demonstrates that with the increasing demand for cold-formed steel constructions throughout the world, it is crucial to develop an efficient connection system that can be prefabricated and easily assembled on site.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.191-198
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• 1997

The subject of this thesis is the vibration response of framed structure for buildings of "damed beam" type. In steel rigid frame with damped beams, web plate in mid span of beams is perforated to form a rectangular opening, only upper and lower flanges being remained. When the frame is subjected to horizontal seismic forces, dominant shearing deformation takes place in the opening part of the beams. Energy absorber in stalled in the opening is driven by relative displacement caused by the shearing deformation and provide the frame with damping force. First, static deformation of portal frames having a beam with the web opening is discussed and formulas of elastic deformation is derived.s derived.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.175-190
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• 2013

Pounding damage has been observed frequently in major earthquakes in the form of aesthetic, minor or major structural cracks and collapse of buildings. Studies have identified a building located at one end of a row of buildings as very vulnerable to pounding damage, while buildings in the interior of the same row are assumed to be safer. This study presents the results of a shake table investigation of pounding between two and three buildings in a row. Two steel portal frames, one stiffer and another more flexible, were subjected to pounding against a frame with eight other configurations. Three pounding arrangements were considered, i.e., the reference frame (1) on the right of the second frame, (2) in the middle of two identical frames, and (3) on the right of two identical frames. Zero seismic gap was adopted for all tests. Five different ground motions are applied from both directions (right to left and left to right). The amplification of the maximum deflection due to pounding was calculated for each configuration. The results showed that, for the stiffer building in a row, row building pounding is more hazardous than pounding between only two buildings. The location of the stiffer frame, whether at the end or the middle of the row, did not have much effect on the degree of amplification observed. Additionally, for all cases considered, pounding caused less amplification for stronger ground motions, i.e., the ground motions that produced higher maximum deflection without pounding than other ground motions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2020

Castellated beams fabricated from standard I-sections are being used for several structural applications such as commercial and industrial buildings, multistory buildings, warehouses and portal frames in view of numerous advantages. The advantages include enhanced moment of inertia, stiffness, flexural resistance, reduction in weight of structure, by passing the used plate girders, the passage of service through the web openings etc. In the present study, experimental and numerical investigations were carried out on concrete encased steel castellated beams with hexagonal openings under flexural loading. Various positions of openings such as along the neutral axis, above the neutral axis and below the neutral axis were considered for the study. From the experimental findings, it has been observed that the load-carrying capacity of the castellated beam with web opening above neutral axis is found to be higher compared to other configurations. Nonlinear finite element analysis was performed by using general purpose finite element software ABAQUS considering the material nonlinearities. Concrete damage plasticity model was employed to model the nonlinearity of concrete and elasto-plastic model for steel. It has been observed that FE model could able to capture the behaviour of concrete encased steel castellated beams and the predicted values are in good agreement with the corresponding experimental values.