This paper proposes a modified matched interface and boundary (MMIB) method to analyze the free vibration of beams with various interfaces caused by steps, intermediate rigid and elastic supports, intermediate concentrated masses and spring-mass systems, etc. A new strategy is developed to determine the parameters in the iterative computation of MMIB. The MMIB procedures are established to deal with boundary conditions and various interface conditions, which overcomes the shortcoming of the traditional MIB. A number of examples are utilized to illustrate the performance of MMIB method. Numerical results indicate that the MMIB method is a highly accurate and convergent approach for solving interface problems.

The mechanical behavior of Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (FRCC) under direct shear is studied through experiment and analytical simulation. The cementitious composite considered contains 55% replacement of cement with fly ash and 2% (volume ratio) of short discontinuous synthetic fibers (in the form of mass reinforcement, comprising PVA - Polyvinyl Alcohol fibers). This class of cementitious materials exhibits ductility under tension with the formation of multiple fine cracks and significant delay of crack stabilization (i.e., localization of cracking at a single location). One of the behavioral parameters that concern structural design is the shear strength of this new type of fiber reinforced composites. This aspect was studied in the present work with the use of Push-off tests. The shear strength is then compared to the materials' tensile and splitting strength values.

Structural integrity assessment of piping components is of paramount important for remaining life prediction, residual strength evaluation and for in-service inspection planning. For accurate prediction of these, a reliable fracture parameter is essential. One of the fracture parameters is stress intensity factor (SIF), which is generally preferred for high strength materials, can be evaluated by using linear elastic fracture mechanics principles. To employ available analytical and numerical procedures for fracture analysis of piping components, it takes considerable amount of time and effort. In view of this, an alternative approach to analytical and finite element analysis, a model based on relevance vector machine (RVM) is developed to predict SIF of part through crack of a piping component under fatigue loading. RVM is based on probabilistic approach and regression and it is established based on Bayesian formulation of a linear model with an appropriate prior that results in a sparse representation. Model for SIF prediction is developed by using MATLAB software wherein 70% of the data has been used for the development of RVM model and rest of the data is used for validation. The predicted SIF is found to be in good agreement with the corresponding analytical solution, and can be used for damage tolerant analysis of structural components.

This paper presents a finite element model which can simulate the axial compression behavior of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) filled square steel tube columns using the ABAQUS software. The analytical model was established by selecting the reasonable nonlinear analysis theory and the constitutive relationship of material in the columns. The nonlinear analysis of failure modes, deformation characteristics, stress nephogram, and load-strain curves of columns under axial loads was performed in detail. Meanwhile, the influences of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement percentage, profile steel ratio, width thickness ratio of square steel tube, RAC strength and slenderness ratio on the axial compression behavior of columns were also analyzed carefully. It shows that the results of finite element analysis are in good agreement with the experimental results, which verifies the validity of the analytical model. The axial bearing capacity of columns decreased with the increase of RCA replacement percentage. While the increase of wall thickness of square steel tube, profile steel ratio and RAC strength were all beneficial to improve the bearing capacity of columns. Additionally, the parameter analysis of finite element analysis on the columns was also carried out by using the above numerical model. In general, the SRRC filled square steel tube columns have high bearing capacity and good deformation ability. On the basis of the above analysis, a modified formula based on the American ANSI/AISC 360-10 was proposed to calculate the nominal axial bearing capacity of the columns under axial loads. The research conclusions can provide some references for the engineering application of this kind of columns.

The functionally graded materials (FGM) used in plates contain probably a porosity volume fraction which needs taking into account this aspect of imperfection in the mechanical bahavior of such structures. The present work aims to study the effect of the distribution forms of porosity on the bending of simply supported FG plate reposed on the Winkler-Pasternak foundation. A refined theory of shear deformation is developed to study the effect of the distribution shape of porosity on static behavior of FG plates. It was found that the distribution form of porosity significantly influence the mechanical behavior of FG plates, in terms of deflection, normal and shear stress. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is simple and precise for the resolution of the behavior of flexural FGM plates resting on elastic foundations while taking into account the shape of distribution of the porosity.

The objective of this paper is to develop a size-dependent nonlinear model of beams for fluid-conveying nanotubes with an initial deflection. The nonlinear frequency response of the nanotube is analysed via an Euler-Bernoulli model. Size influences on the behaviour of the nanosystem are described utilising the nonlocal strain gradient theory (NSGT). Relative motions at the inner wall of the nanotube is taken into consideration via Beskok-Karniadakis model. Formulating kinetic and elastic energies and then employing Hamilton's approach, the nonlinear motion equations are derived. Furthermore, Galerkin's approach is employed for discretisation, and then a continuation scheme is developed for obtaining numerical results. It is observed that an initial deflection significantly alters the frequency response of NSGT nanotubes conveying fluid. For small initial deflections, a hardening nonlinearity is found whereas a softening-hardening nonlinearity is observed for large initial deflections.

In this research, the vulnerability of some reinforced concrete frames with different stories are studied based on the Park-Ang Damage Index. The damages of the frames are investigated under various earthquakes with nonlinear dynamic analysis in IDARC software. By examining the most important characteristics of earthquake parameters, the damage index and vulnerability of these frames are investigated in this software. The intensity of Erias, velocity spectral intensity (VSI) and peak ground velocity (PGV) had the highest correlation, and root mean square of displacement ($D_{rms}$) had the lowest correlation coefficient among the parameters. Then, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used, and the sinusoidal waves were equivalent to the used earthquakes according to the most influential parameters above. The damage index equivalent to these waves is estimated using nonlinear dynamics analysis. The comparison between the damages caused by earthquakes and equivalent sinusoidal waves is done too. The generations of sinusoidal waves equivalent to different earthquakes are generalized in some reinforced concrete frames. The equivalent sinusoidal wave method was exact enough because the greatest difference between the results of the main and artificial accelerator damage index was about 5 percent. Also sinusoidal waves were more consistent with the damage indices of the structures compared to the earthquake parameters.

To investigate the seismic performance of long-span partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge, a super long-span partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge scheme with main span of 1400m is taken as example, structural response of the bridge under E1 seismic action is investigated numerically by the multimode seismic response spectrum and time-history analysis, seismic behavior and also the effect of structural geometric nonlinearity on the seismic responses of super long-span partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridges are revealed. The seismic responses are also compared to those of a fully self-anchored cable-stayed bridge with the same main span. The effects of structural parameters including the earth-anchored girder length, the girder width, the girder depth, the tower height to span ratio, the inclination of earth-anchored cables, the installation of auxiliary piers in the side spans and the connection between tower and girder on the seismic responses of partially ground-anchored cable-stayed bridges are investigated, and their reasonable values are also discussed in combination with static performance and structural stability. The results show that the horizontal seismic excitation produces significant seismic responses of the girder and tower, the seismic responses of the towers are greater than those of the girder, and thus the tower becomes the key structural member of seismic design, and more attentions should be paid to seismic design of these sections including the tower bottom, the tower and girder at the junction of tower and girder, the girder at the auxiliary piers in side spans; structural geometric nonlinearity has significant influence on the seismic responses of the bridge, and thus the nonlinear time history analysis is proposed to predict the seismic responses of super long-span partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridges; as compared to the fully self-anchored cable-stayed bridge with the same main span, several stay cables in the side spans are changed to be earth-anchored, structural stiffness and natural frequency are both increased, the seismic responses of the towers and the longitudinal displacement of the girder are significantly reduced, structural seismic performance is improved, and therefore the partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridge provides an ideal structural solution for super long-span cable-stayed bridges with kilometer-scale main span; under the case that the ratio of earth-anchored girder length to span is about 0.3, the wider and higher girder is employed, the tower height-to-span ratio is about 0.2, the larger inclination is set for the earth-anchored cables, 1 to 2 auxiliary piers are installed in each of the side spans and the fully floating system is employed, better overall structural performance is achieved for long-span partially earth-anchored cable-stayed bridges.

A four-variable shear deformation refined plate theory has been proposed for dynamic characteristics of smart plates made of porous magneto-electro-elastic functionally graded (MEE-FG) materials with various boundary conditions by using an analytical method. Magneto-electro-elastic properties of FGM plate are supposed to vary through the thickness direction and are estimated through the modified power-law rule in which the porosities with even and uneven type are approximated. Pores possibly occur inside functionally graded materials (FGMs) due the result of technical problems that lead to creation of micro-voids in these materials. The variation of pores along the thickness direction influences the mechanical properties. The governing differential equations and boundary conditions of embedded porous FGM plate under magneto-electrical field are derived through Hamilton's principle based on a four-variable tangential-exponential refined theory which avoids the use of shear correction factors. An analytical solution procedure is used to achieve the natural frequencies of embedded porous FG plate supposed to magneto-electrical field with various boundary condition. A parametric study is led to carry out the effects of material graduation exponent, coefficient of porosity, magnetic potential, electric voltage, elastic foundation parameters, various boundary conditions and plate side-to-thickness ratio on natural frequencies of the porous MEE-FG plate. It is concluded that these parameters play significant roles on the dynamic behavior of porous MEE-FG plates. Presented numerical results can serve as benchmarks for future analyses of MEE-FG plates with porosity phases.

According to the properties of monoclinic materials, the normal and shear stresses are depending on both normal and shear strains. In the current investigation, the static analysis of monoclinic plates based on three dimensional elasticity theory is investigated. New governing equations and boundary conditions are derived for monoclinic plates and the Differential Quadrature Method (DQM) is used to solve the static problem. In our method of solution, no approximation is used and the DQM is adopted in all directions. By showing the differences between our results and the results for especially orthotropic plates, one can find that it is worth to investigate the monoclinic plates to have more accurate results.