INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Year:2017 | Volume:9 | Issue:4|Papers Count:9

To demonstrate the characteristics of the nonlinear response of steel frames, an elastic dynamic response analysis of the semi-rigid frame is performed under the harmonic wave. The semi-rigid contact is represented by the alternating spring which is given stiffness by a three-parameter energy model which approaches the hysterical curve by hardening model. The properties of spectra and hysteric curves are presented. This study shows that (1) the greater the acceleration input capacitance the smaller the instant connection capability and the smaller is the response. (2) However, by allowing an extreme increase in capacitance input acceleration, response spectra can be increased as the contact stiffness results near zero.

This paper presents a numerical study that investigates the behavior of continuous concrete decks doubly reinforced with top and bottom glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars subjected to top surface fire.A finite element (FE) model is developed and a detailed transient thermal analysis is performed on a continuous concrete bridge deck under the effect of various fire curves.A parametric study is performed to examine the top cover thickness and the critical fire exposure curve needed to fully degrade the top GFRP bars while achieving certain fire ratings for the deck considered. Accordingly, design tables are prepared for each fire curve to guide the engineer to properly size the top concrete cover and maintain the temperature in the GFRP bars below critical design values in order to control the full top GFRP degradation. It is notable to indicate that degradation of top GFRP bars do not pose a collapse hazard but rather a serviceability concern since cracks in the negative moment region widen resulting in simply supported spans.

Ductility of high-strength concrete (HSC) columns with rectangular sections was assessed in this study by reviewing experimental data from the available literature. Up to 112 normal weights concrete columns with strength in the range of 50–130 MPa were considered and presented as a database. The data included the results of column testes under axial and reversed lateral loading. Displacement ductility of HSC columns was evaluated in terms of their concrete and reinforcement strengths, bar arrangement, volumetric ratio of transverse reinforcement, and axial loading. The results indicated that the confinement requirements and displacement ductility in HSC columns are more sensitive than those in normal strength concrete columns. Moreover, ductility is descended by increasing concrete strength. However, it was possible to obtain ductile behavior in HSC columns through proper confinement. Furthermore, this study casts doubt about capability of P/Agf’c 0ratio that being inversely proportional to displacement ductility of HSC columns.

An aircraft crashing into a nuclear containment may induce a series of disasters related to containment capacity, including local penetration and perforation of the containment, intensive vibrations, and fire ignited after jet fuel leakage. In this study, structural safety of a reinforced concrete containment vessel (RCCV) has been studied against the direct hit of Airbus A320, Boeing 707-320 and Phantom F4 aircrafts. ABAQUS/explicit finite element code has been used to carry out the three-dimensional numerical simulations. The impact locations identified on the nuclear containment structure are mid height of containment, center of the cylindrical portion, junction of dome and cylinder, and over the cylindrical portion close to the foundation level. The loading of the aircraft has been assigned through the corresponding reaction-time response curve. The concrete damaged plasticity model was predicted to simulate the behavior of concrete while the behavior of steel reinforcement was incorporated using elastoplastic material model. Dynamic loading conditions were considered using dynamic increase factor. The mid height of containment and center of cylindrical portion have been found to experience most severe deformation against each aircraft crash. It has also been found that compression damage in concrete is not critical at none of the impact locations.

This paper presents the experimental results of static vertical load tests on a model building frame with geotextile as plinth beam supported by pile groups embedded in cohesionless soil (sand). The experimental results have been compared with those obtained from the nonlinear FEA and conventional method of analysis. The results revealed that the conventional method of analysis gives a shear force of about 53%, bending moment at the top of the column about 17% and at the base of the column about 50–98% higher than that by the nonlinear FEA for the frame with geotextile as plinth beam.

In modern tall and slender structures, dynamic responses are usually the dominant design requirements, instead of strength criteria. Resonance is often a threatening phenomenon for such structures. To avoid this problem, the fundamental eigenfrequency, an eigenfrequency of higher order, should be maximized. An optimization problem with this objective is constructed in this paper and is applied to a high-rise building. Using variational method, the objective function is maximized, contributing to a particular profile for the first mode shape. Based on this preselected profile, a parametric formulation for flexural stiffness is calculated. Due to some near-zero values for stiffness, the obtained formulation will be modified by adding a lower bound constraint. To handle this constraint some new parameters are introduced; thereby allowing for construction of a model relating the unknown parameters.Based on this mathematical model, a design algorithmic procedure is presented. For the sake of convenience, a single-input design graph is presented as well. The main merit of the proposed method, compared to previous researches, is its hand calculation aspect, suitable for parametric studies and sensitivity analysis. As the presented formulations are dimensionless, they are applicable in any dimensional system. Accuracy and practicality of the proposed method is illustrated at the end by applying it to a real-life structure.

Piezoelectric actuators are effectively used to control the response of light weight structures in shape, vibration and buckling. Optimization for the shape control of piezoelectric beam is the recent challenge which requires proper numerical technique to perform. The shape control of a composite beam using surface-bounded piezoelectric actuators has been investigated in the present work. The mathematical model is developed using twonode Timoshenko beam element coupling with the theory of linear piezoelectricity. First-order shear deformation theory is employed in the formulation to consider the effect of shear. In the analysis, the effect of the actuators position for different set of boundary conditions is investigated.For different boundary conditions which include clampedfree-, clamped–clamped- and simply supported beam, optimisation of piezoelectric patch location is investigated.Moreover, a genetic algorithm is adopted and implemented to optimize the required voltage to maintain the desired shape of the beam. This optimization technique is applied to different cases of composite beams with varying the boundary condition.

In recent years, construction of tall buildings has been of great interest. Use of lightweight materials in such structures reduces stiffness and damping, making the building more influenced by wind loads. Moreover, tall buildings of more than 30 to 40 stories, depending on the geographical location, thewind effects are more influential than earthquakes.In addition, the complexity of the effects of wind flow on the structure due to the interaction of the fluid flow and solid body results in serious damages to the structure by eliminating them.Considering the importance of the issue, the present study investigates the phenomenon of wind-induced vibration on high-rise buildings, taking into account the effects of vortices created by the fluid flowand the control of this phenomenon.To this end, the governing equations of the structure, the fluid flow and the tuned mass damper (TMD) are first introduced, and their coefficient values are extracted according to the characteristics of ACT skyscraper in Japan. Then, these three coupled equations are solved using a program coded inMATLAB. After validation of the results, the effects of wind loads are analyzed and consideredwith regard to the effects of vortices and the use ofTMD, and are compared with the results of the state where no vortices are considered. Generally, the results of this study point out the significance of vibrations caused by vortices in construction of engineering structures as well as the appropriate performance of aTMDin reducing oscillations in tall buildings.

The structural design must ensure suitable working conditions by attending for safe and economic criteria. However, the optimal solution is not easily available, because these conditions depend on the bodies’dimensions, materials strength and structural system configuration.In this regard, topology optimization aims for achieving the optimal structural geometry, i.e. the shape that leads to the minimum requirement of material, respecting constraints related to the stress state at each material point. The present study applies an evolutionary approach for determining the optimal geometry of 2D structures using the coupling of the boundary element method (BEM) and the level set method (LSM). The proposed algorithm consists of mechanical modelling, topology optimization approach and structural reconstruction.The mechanical model is composed of singular and hypersingular BEM algebraic equations. The topology optimization is performed through the LSM. Internal and external geometries are evolved by the LS function evaluated at its zero level. The reconstruction process concerns the remeshing. Because the structural boundary moves at each iteration, the body’s geometry change and, consequently, a new mesh has to be defined. The proposed algorithm, which is based on the direct coupling of such approaches, introduces internal cavities automatically during the optimization process, according to the intensity of Von Mises stress. The developed optimization model was applied in two benchmarks available in the literature.Good agreement was observed among the results, which demonstrates its efficiency and accuracy.