Usually in a knee steel braced frame the main diagonal braces are connected to short knee elements. The knee elements act sacrificially and reducing the demands on the main structure during an earthquake, and can be replaced after the earthquake. However, careful design of the knee elements is required to ensure that they are able to absorb energy through repeated large plastic deformation without suffering collapse or instability. A program of laboratory testing has been undertaken in order to optimize the design and useful results from experimental tests are presented in this paper. For testing, the knee elements were mounted horizontally in a reaction frame and loaded vertically by a hydraulic actuator. In this research one kind of new weakening symmetrical perforated knee element are studied. Extensive experimental program of experimental testing by applied cyclic loading behavior on perforated knee element fuse and compare that’ s result with a solid element fuse has been undertaken. ANSYS software was used for simulation and the numerical analyses in order to verified experimental tests for specimens. Results show that applied cyclic loading on both knee specimens produce sustain stable hysteresis loops and it is shown that excellent performance to absorb energy can be achieved using perforated knee elements.

By examining the results related to the Northridge earthquakes in 1994 and other destructive earthquakes, it was observed that strengthening the Structural members and increasing the length of the welding line of beam-to-column connections in steel structures did not have a suitable seismic performance. After that, to prevent the brittle failure of the connections, the way of forming the plastic joint outside the connection area was investigated and beams with a reduced cross-section were proposed. But less attention has been paid to the use of absorbers in bending frames. The proposed pin-fuse connection, (pin-fuse SBC), is one of the connections that can absorb the incoming forces near the connection through sliding and friction. When an earthquake occurs, the pin-fuses acts through the rotational sliding of the steel surfaces towards each other, the presence of friction between the fuse plates will cause the consumption of the earthquake energy. Frames equipped with pin-fuses, this frame has the ability to absorb high energy through said fuses, it can be used in areas with strong seismic activity. In the model proposed in this research, the intended connection of a real joint near the beam-to-column connection is designed with bean-shaped holes that can rotate and move after reaching an anchorage lower than the connection moment. Therefore, the experimental results of the proposed model under cyclic loads have been investigated and compared with the numerical results of finite elements. These results show that the pin fuse connection after reaching the required limit and due to the removal of the contribution of the web from the bending resistance and the absence of torsional buckling in the beam web and by creating a safe fuse away from the connection of the beam and the column, in addition to the resistance of the fuse pin connection and plasticity has increased by 11% and 6%, respectively, it has been able to reach a relative displacement of up to 9%, which is more than the regulation limit in special bending frames.

The connection with reduced beam section was proposed after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Until then, it was generally believed that connections with complete groove welding can withstand large plastic deformations. However, the cracks and brittle failures taken place in connections revealed that the actual ductility in these connections might be lower than what was predicted by design codes. By forming a plastic hinge outside the joint, this connection reduces the damage inflicted upon the panel zone. It has to be mentioned, however, that due to the concentration of damage in the reduced area, the entire beam has to be replaced after average earthquakes that is practically impossible. The aim of this study is to experimentally investigate the use of the reduced section in a replaceable fuse. The column and the beam were chosen to be made of sections equivalent to IPE 240 and IPB 180 wide flange profiles and the cyclic quasi-static load was applied until a drift of about 9 percent. The hysteresis moment-drift diagram was drawn. The first sample was a reduced beam section with end plate and stiffeners (RBS). Under loading, this sample satisfied the criteria for the ductility of special moment resisting frame. However, due to the fact that after an average or strong earthquake damage concentrates in the beam and replacing it after earthquake is either extremely difficult or not possible at all, it was tried to use a short replaceable fuse at the end of the beam in the second and third samples. The second sample incorporated a fuse with the length of 35. 5 cm and a beam with a reduced flange (RBS-F). Since the ratio of the width of the flange to the height of the beam is directly correlated to its resistance against lateral-torsional buckling, cutting the beam in RBS connections causes different types of buckling to occur faster. To overcome this problem, in the third sample, only the height of the beam was decreased and the dimensions of the flange were not altered. Therefore, the third sample included a 35. 5 cm long fuse and a beam with a reduced web (RWS-F). All of the samples satisfied the required drift for the rigid connection special moment resisting frames and using different types of RBS connections reduces the damage inflicted upon the column and the panel zone. The results showed that in addition to having very suitable ductility, the RBS-F and RWS-F samples can be very good post-earthquake replacements for conventional RBS connections.

Competition law is a newcomer to the legal system recently. A sound understanding of competition policy can provide us with sufficient bases to apply a fundamental and normative view of the issues of competition law. The difference in supervision and regulation determines how the market functions and in order to understand this difference one must understand competition policy. Competition policy may be based on governmental support for national production and industry or on a non-interventional and regulatory posture. Moreover, supervision, based on the principle of non-intervention in the market mechanism, is rooted in liberal ideas; however, regulation, whether as a rule or an exception, is based on the assertion that the market has been ineffective in attaining its goals. Therefore, the government will resort to interventions to regulate inefficiencies.  This paper aims to analyze Supervisory Authority in Implementing Competitive Policy by employing the description method. In this article the author tries to first delineate competition policy, its related requirements and imposed deviations to the market. Then, by defining the supervisory entity and clarifying its distinction from the regulatory institutions, the author considers the characteristics of an appropriate supervisory entity conducting a comparative study of this issue in Iran and the U.S.A. This form of Competition policy because of its applicable experiences which have been well described by recent scholarship is considered suitable for the native system.

Pin fuse is a new type of Structural fuse that is installed at the place of plastic hinge of steel structure. The fuse acts through rotational sliding of steel surfaces on each other during an earthquake. The presence of frictional force between the fuse plates causes the loss of seismic energy. Pin fuse frame is a special braced moment frame that its moment connection is of pin fuse and its diagonal brace has a friction fuse which prevents buckling of the brace. In this study, first in comparison with full scale test of pin fuse frame was validated. Afterward, based on the verification, three braced steel frame of the pin fuse at six, nine and  twelve  story were designed. Also, similar frames of special moment with RBS connection and special diagonal brace was designed to compare the seismic performance of the two groups frames. Finally, 42 nonlinear time history analysis of the two frame was performed with opensees software in two dimensions using seven scaled Earthquake acceleration (Near fault) and the results of nonlinear analysis of the two frames were compared. The results of the analysis showed that the pin fuse frame has a much better performance than the special braced frame in terms of seismic energy loss due to the activation of friction fuses(activation of 60% of beam fuses and 85% of brace fuses). Another advantage of the braced pin fuse frame is the supplying of 80% of life safety performance level and significantly reducing the repair cost after an earthquake.

In order to survive in the complex environment, budget programming or forecasting models have been criticized as inadequate for today’s business environment. Organizations have to use strategic planning to evaluate internal and external situation, then formulate proper strategies and implement them. The key to execute strategy is to have people in the organization understand it. Strategy map has a significant role in the strategic management due to describing strategies of organization and to help people understand strategies. Strategy map is essentially a graphical depiction of the causal model of an organization’s strategy then developing the causal model of the strategy is also important. This paper presents innovative approach to determine causal relationship and levels of strategic objectives in strategy map. For this purpose an interpretive Structural modeling (ISM) based approach has been employed to strategy map. This paper also utilizes the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology to understand the interrelationships among the objectives so that those driving objectives, which can affect others and those dependent objectives, which are most influenced by driving objectives are identified. It emphasizes that interrelationship among objectives isn’t only down to up, it is on both side. An actual example of a small case pipe and fittings manufacturing company provides some managerial insights into the methodology.

As one of the most common lateral load-resisting systems, X-braced Frames have low energy dissipation. In this study, performance of a new energy dissipation system in X-brace frames (XBFs), which can be thought of as a passive control system, is investigated. The Rubber-fuse Damper (RFD) is a new damper with a rubber core, steel plates, adhesive, and four bolts. The use of a rubber core for energy dissipation is a key feature of the damper's. The monotonic and cyclic behavior of a single-span and single-story XBF with varying frame height-to-span ratios equipped with the proposed RFD is investigated using finite element modeling and validated with experimental data. The RFD is either single or in pairs in each XBF specimen. In addition, the ductile damage method (DDM) revealed damage to the main Structural components, such as bracing members. The results revealed that X-braced frames with single and double rubber-fuse dampers (XBF-RFDs) performed better under cyclic and monotonic loading than X-braced frames without rubber-fuse dampers (XBFs). Furthermore, because the bracing members did not buckle in the XBF-RFD specimens, there was no rapid loss in the stiffness and strength of the X-braced frames.The monotonic loading reduced the stiffness of the XBF-RFD specimens by 93% to 98% to XBF specimens at various height-to-span ratios. In comparison to the XBF specimens, the yield and ultimate base shear of the XBF-RFD specimens dropped as well, with the highest reductions of 91% and 82%, respectively. When compared to XBF specimens under monotonic loading, the reduction in base shear and stiffness avoided buckling, resulting in more stable behavior and smaller nonlinear deformations of the XBF-RFD specimens.Furthermore, the XBF-RFD specimens showed no sudden stiffness or strength drop. The results of the cyclic loading of the XBF-RFD specimens demonstrated that no rapid drop in stiffness or strength was detected due to no buckling of the bracing members under the cyclic loading, as was the case with the monotonic loading. Additionally, in comparison to the XBF specimens, the drifts corresponding to the first plastic hinges of the XBF-RFD specimens show that the bracing members experienced nonlinear deformation at greater drifts, with the plastic hinges created in them at bigger displacements.The RFD also reduced Von Mises stress and damage in the bracing members of the XBF-RFD specimens, according to the cyclic loading results. At height to span ratios of 0.5, 1, and 1.5, the ultimate Von Mises stress reduction in the bracing members was 26%, 42%, and 36%, respectively, and this decrease was a reason to prevent the buckling phenomenon. Unlike the XBF specimens, which lost seismic functionality at low drifts, the XBF-RFD specimens maintained their seismic functionality up to a 4% drift of the cyclic loading, and they dissipated a greater quantity of energy.

Brittle failure can prevent Structural connections from reaching their peak performance. It is therefore considered as one of the most destructive forms of failure. The prevalence of different failure in rigid connections of steel frames in the aftermath of the Northridge and Kobe earthquakes brought the performance of these connections under question. Research into rigid connections with complete penetrating welding revealed that it is highly probable for the welds to undergo premature brittle failure at low drifts. To address this problem, the use of Reduced Beam Sections (RBS) was recommended by the scientific community after the Northridge earthquake. In this connection, the beam’ s flanges are cut (reduced) so that it can take on the form of a fuse, making it possible for the plastic hinge to be driven toward the inside of the beam, thereby preventing the panel zone from failing. RBSs, which are categorized as “ prequalified connections” , have been the subject of extensive investigations and have suitable energy absorption and ductility under cyclic loadings. They are not, nonetheless, without flaws and are accompanied by problems such as the need for replacement after average or severe earthquakes due to severe inelastic deformations in the reduced area. This problem is compounded by the connection of secondary beams to primary beams in the ceiling of the structures in which they are used. The objective of this investigation is the numerical evaluation of RBS connections with replaceable fuses. Numerical simulations on three models – namely, a conventional reduced beam section connection (RBS), a reducedflange connection with a replaceable fuse (RBS-F), and a reduced-web connection with a replaceable fuse (RWS-F) – were carried out using ABAQUS, with material and geometric nonlinearities having been considered. Also, the materials of the columns, beams, and plates, stiffeners, doubler and continuity plates, seat plates, and bolts have been defined based precisely on experimental data. Loading and support conditions of the numerical models were the same as those of the experimental samples. In the numerical models, the bolts were first pre-stressed to a sufficient degree. Then, lateral cyclic loading was applied to the beam of each model. The hysteretic curves of the numerical models are in good agreement with those of the experimental samples, indicating that the numerical models can reliably be used for the evaluation of other sections. Seven different profiles were selected from IPB sections (IPB140 to IPB340) for the beam. Suitable columns and endplates were designed for every beam size. For every set, three RBS, RBS-F, RDS-F, and RWS-FR models were constructed, bring the total analyzed models to 28. The dimensions of the RWS model were selected so that its plastic section modulus would be the same as that of the RBS sample. Similar to the tests, the analyses continued until a draft of 8% and the hysteretic moment-rotation diagram of each sample was obtained. Since in tall buildings beams and columns with variable dimensions are used in the experiment was carried out for beams and columns with one size, performing extensive numerical analyses can offer a better comparison of the performance reduced-depth sections and reduced-flange sections. The results of more than 28 numerical analyses showed that in the RBS and RBS-F models, increasing the size of the beam reduces ductility. However, for the RWS-F sample, not only does increasing the size of the beam maintains the beam’ s ductility, it also keeps it, noticeably, above those of the other two samples. The ultimate strength of the sample, however, is less than the other two samples. By increasing the web’ s thickness and its plastic section modulus, an ultimate strength on par with those of the other samples can be achieved. Therefore, the modified RWS-F sample can be a suitable replacement for RBS connections.

fuse-plug is a very important appurtenance to irrigation and other water supply systems; therefore, many theoretical and experimental investigations have been performed to design and construct a better structure. However, employing the numerical modeling in the design of this structure has been relatively neglected. The BREACH numerical model along with the finite difference method was used to solve the hydraulic and sediment transfer equations, particularly for calculating the time required for the complete wash out of a fuse-plug containing a vertical or an oblique argillaceous core. Construction of nomograms facilitated calculation of the wash out time of the plugs with vertical or oblique argillaceous cores. It was observed that the fuse-plug with the core slope of 120o and the m/H ratio of 0.4 (m: thickness of core, H: high of dyke) offers the best design. Employing the numerical models (BREACH, SEEPW, and STABL) revealed that the optimum compaction percentage for the fuse–plug was 84%. Results also confirmed that ripraps better protect the downstream shell of the fuse plugs against erosion than vegetative covers.