INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Year:2013 | Volume:5 | Issue:-|Papers Count:4

The objective of the current work is to show the effectiveness of using wavelet transform for detection and localization of small damages. The spatial data used here are the rotational mode shapes of the damaged and undamaged plate-like structures. The continuous wavelet transform using complex Gaussian wavelet is used to get the spatially distributed wavelet coefficients so as to identify the damage position on a square plate. The rotational mode shape data of the square plate with damage of different sizes are obtained using ANSYS 9.0. Damage identification for different boundary conditions is studied.

Recently, soil-steel bridges have become more commonly used as railway-highway crossings because of their economical advantages and short construction period compared with traditional bridges. The currently developed formula for determining the minimum depth of covers by existing codes is typically based on vehicle loads and non-stiffened panels and takes into consideration the geometrical shape of the metal structure to avoid the failure of soil cover above a soil-steel bridge. The effects of spans larger than 8 m or more stiffened panels due to railway loads that maintain a safe railway track have not been accounted for in the minimum cover formulas and are the subject of this paper. For this study, two-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses of four low-profile arches and four box culverts with spans larger than 8 m were performed to develop new patterns for the minimum depth of soil cover by considering the serviceability criterion of the railway track. Using the least-squares method, new formulas were then developed for low-profile arches and box culverts and were compared with Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code formulas. Finally, a series of three-dimensional (3D) finite element FE analyses were carried out to control the out-of-plane buckling in the steel plates due to the 3D pattern of train loads. The results show that the out-of-plane bending does not control the buckling behavior of the steel plates, so the proposed equations for minimum depth of cover can be appropriately used for practical purposes.

The loading response of shell structures depends on their shapes. The individual shape behaves uniquely to the loading, and different shapes give different load displacement graphs. If these geometries are combined, then their load displacement graphs can be different. It may happen that their combined behavior can be harnessed to be used as better energy absorber in a controlled manner, which they cannot if they are used individually.Experiments were conducted on two separate geometries as well by joining them with weld. The first geometry was the top cylindrical and frusta bottom. The second geometry was the shape of inverted bell crater and half spherical shells. Combining these two shapes produced the third geometrical shape. The large deformation was obtained by crushing these geometrical shells between two flat plates. The finite element analysis was used to simulate the crush phenomenon. The behavior of the geometrical shell to large deformation was understood with load displacement graph for different samples. The energy absorbed by the different samples was calculated and compared. The parameters, like material and thickness, were varied for the samples to see their effect on the large deformation behavior. Moreover, friction role is discussed on the crush phenomenon. This paper also gives an idea on the different parameters which can affect the energy-absorbing capacity of the combined geometrical shells.

A nonlinear dynamic analysis, including soil-structure interaction, is developed to estimate the seismic response characteristics and to predict the earthquake response of cable-stayed bridge towers with spread foundation. An incremental iterative finite element technique is adopted for a more realistic dynamic analysis of nonlinear soil-foundation-superstructure interaction system under great-earthquake ground motion. Two different approaches to model soil foundation interaction are considered: nonlinear Winkler soil foundation model and linear lumped parameter soil model. The numerical results show that the simplified lumped-parameter-model analysis provides a good prediction for the peak response, but it overestimates the acceleration response and underestimates the uplift force at the anchor between superstructure and pier. The soil bearing stress beneath the footing base is dramatically increased due to footing base uplift. The predominant contribution to the vertical response at footing base resulted from the massive foundation rocking rather than from the vertical excitation.