The aim of this paper is to present a new sustainable ternary and quaternary binder by partially replacing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with different percentages of supplementary cementitious materials. The motivation is to reduce our dependency on OPC to reduce CO₂ emission and carbon foot print. As the main substitute for the OPC, siliceous fly ash was used. Moreover, silica fume and nanosilica were also used. During examinations the main mechanical parameters of concrete composites, i.e., compressive strength (f_cm) and splitting tensile strength (f_ctm) were assed. The microstructure of these materials was also analysed. It was found that the concrete incorporating pozzolanic materials is characterized by a well-developed structure and has high values of mechanical parameters. The quaternary concrete containing: 80% OPC, 5% FA, 10% SF, and 5% nS have shown the best results in terms of good strength parameters as well as the most favourable microstructure, whereas the worst mechanical parameters with microstructure containing microcracks at phase interfaces were characterized by concrete with more content of FA additive in the concrete mix, i.e., 15%. Nevertheless, all concretes made on quaternary binders had better parameters than the reference one. It can be stated that sustainable concrete incorporating pozzolanic materials could be good substitute of ordinary concretes.

This study investigates the theoretical thermal buckling analyses of thick porous rectangular functionally graded (FG) plates with different geometrical boundary conditions resting on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation using a new higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). This new theory has only four unknowns and involves indeterminate integral variables in which no shear correction factor is required. The variation of material properties across the plate's thickness is considered continuous and varied following a simple power law as a function of volume fractions of the constituents. The effect of porosity with two different types of distribution is also included. The current formulation considers the Von Karman nonlinearity, and the stability equations are developed using the virtual works principle. The thermal gradients are involved and assumed to change across the FG plate's thickness according to nonlinear, linear, and uniform distributions. The accuracy of the newly proposed theory has been validated by comparing the present results with the results obtained from the previously published theories. The effects of porosity, boundary conditions, foundation parameters, power index, plate aspect ratio, and side-to-thickness ratio on the critical buckling temperature are studied and discussed in detail.

This paper proposes a novel method for increasing the distortional frame rigidity of off-rail box girder bridges for cranes by reinforcing the diaphragm with staggered truss. The study starts by using the Matrix Displacement Method to determine the shear angle of the staggered truss diaphragm under two assumptions: hinge joint and rigid joint. To obtain closed-form solutions for the transversal and longitudinal deformations and warping stress of the crane girder, the study employs the Initial Parameter Method and considers the compatibility of shear deformation at joints between the diaphragms and the girder. The theoretical solutions are validated through finite element analysis, which also confirms that the hinge-joint assumption accurately represents the shear angle of the staggered truss diaphragm in girder distortion. Additionally, the study conducts extensive parameter analyses to examine the impact of staggered truss dimensions on distortional stress and deformation. Furthermore, the study compares the distortional warping stresses of crane girders reinforced with staggered truss diaphragms and those reinforced with perforated ones, emphasizing the importance of incorporating stagger truss in diaphragms. Overall, this paper provides a thorough evaluation of the proposed approach's effectiveness in enhancing the distortional frame rigidity of off-rail box girder bridges for cranes. The findings offer valuable insights into the design and reinforcement of diaphragms using staggered truss to enhance the structural performance of crane girders.

Nowadays, urban centers are increasingly vertical, making architects and engineers look for more efficient tools to analyze the effects of wind on tall buildings. Topology optimization can be used as an efficient tool for the design of bracing systems. Therefore, this work obtained the wind loads that act in the CAARC building, following the Brazilian standard NBR 6123/1988 and using Computational Fluid Dynamics. Four loading situations were considered, using the SIMP and BESO methods to optimize two-dimensional structures. A comparison between the SIMP and BESO methods is presented, showing the differences in the geometry of the solution found by both methods, the percentage variation in the objective function values and the dimensionless processing time. The solutions obtained through the loads obtained by the Brazilian standard are also compared with the numerical solutions obtained by CFD. The results show that the BESO method presented more rigid structures compared to the SIMP method. The bracing structures obtained with the SIMP method always present similar patterns in the distribution and quantity of bars, in contrast to the BESO method where no characteristic topology pattern was observed. It was concluded that even though the structures obtained by the BESO method presented greater stiffness, the SIMP method was less susceptible to the methodology used for the determination of wind loads. Additionally, it was evident the great potential that the combination topology optimization and computational wind engineering have in the design of bracing systems of high functional and aesthetic standards.

Nanoparticles have lower size and larger specific surface area, good stability and less toxic and side effects. In recent years, with the development of nanotechnology, its application range has become wider and wider, especially in the field of biomedicine, which has received more and more attention. Bone defect repair materials with high strength, high elasticity and high tissue affinity can be prepared by nanotechnology. The purpose of this paper was to study how to analyze and study the composite materials for sports bone injury based on multifunctional nanomaterials, and described the electrospinning method. In this paper, nano-sized zirconia (ZrO₂) filled micro-sized hydroxyapatite (HAP) composites were prepared according to the mechanical properties of bone substitute materials in the process of human rehabilitation. Through material tensile and compression experiments, the performance parameters of ZrO₂/HAP composites with different mass fraction ratios were analyzed, the influence of filling ZrO₂ particles on the mechanical properties of HAP matrix materials was clarified, and the effect of ZrO₂ mass fraction on the mechanical properties of matrix materials was analyzed. From the analysis of the compressive elastic modulus, when the mass fraction of ZrO₂ was 15%, the compressive elastic modulus of the material was 1222 MPa, and when 45% was 1672 MPa. From the analysis of compression ratio stiffness, when the mass fraction of ZrO₂ was 15%, the compression ratio stiffness was 658.07 MPa·cm³/g, and when it was 45%, the compression ratio stiffness is 943.51MPa·cm³/g. It can be seen that by increasing the mass fraction of ZrO₂, the stiffness of the composite material can be effectively increased, and the ability of the material to resist deformation would be increased. Typically, the more stressed the bone substitute material, the greater the stiffness of the compression ratio. Different mass fractions of ZrO₂/HAP filling materials can be selected to meet the mechanical performance requirements of sports bone injury, and it can also provide a reference for the selection of bone substitute materials for different patients.

In tall constructions, the outriggers are regarded as a structural part capable of effectively resisting lateral loads. This study analyses the efficacy of hybrid outrigger system in high rise RCC building for various structural parameters identified. For variations in α, which is defined as the ratio of the relative flexural stiffness of the core to the axial rigidity of the column, static and dynamic analyses of hybrid outrigger system having a virtual and a conventional outrigger at two distinct levels were conducted in the present study. An investigation on the optimal outrigger position was performed by taking the results from absolute maximum inter storey drift ratio (ISD_max), roof acceleration (acc_roof), roof displacement (disp_roof), and base bending moment under both wind and seismic loads on analytical models having 40, 60 and 80 storeys. An ideal performance index parameter was introduced and was utilized to obtain the optimal position of the hybrid outrigger system considering the combined response of ISD_max, acc_roof, disp_roof and, criteria required for the structure under wind and seismic loads. According to the behavioural study, increasing the column area and outrigger arm length will maximise the performance of the hybrid outrigger system. The analysis results are summarized in a flowchart which provides the optimal positions obtained for each dependent parameter and based on ideal performance index which can be used to make initial suggestions for installing a hybrid outrigger system.

This work focuses on the dynamic analysis of thermal barrier coated straight and curved turbine blades modelled as functionally graded sandwich panel under thermal environment. The pre- twisted straight/curved blade model is considered to be fixed to the hub and, the complete assembly of the hub and blade are assumed to be rotating. The functionally graded sandwich composite blade is comprised of functionally graded face-sheet material and metal alloy core. The constituents' material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent, however, the overall properties are evaluated using Voigt's micromechanical scheme in conjunction with the modified power-law functions. The blade model kinematics is based on the equivalent single-layer shear deformation theory. The equations of motion are derived using the extended Hamilton's principle by including the effect of centrifugal forces, and further solved via 2D- isoparametric finite element approximations. The mesh refinement and validation tests are performed to illustrate the stability and accurateness of the present model. In addition, frequency characteristics of the pre-twisted rotating sandwich blades are computed under thermal environment at various sets of parametric conditions such as twist angles, thickness ratios, aspect ratios, layer thickness ratios, volume fractions, rotational velocity and blade curvatures which can be further useful for designing the blade type structures under turbine operating conditions.

In the present paper, multiple interface cracks between a functionally graded orthotropic coating and an orthotropic half-plane substrate under concentrated loading are considered by means of the distribution dislocation technique (DDT). With the use of integration of Fourier transform the problem is reduced to a system of Cauchy-type singular integral equations which are solved numerically to compute the dislocation density on the surfaces of the cracks. The distribution dislocation is a powerful method to calculate accurate solutions to plane crack problems, especially this method is very good to find SIFs for multiple unequal cracks located at the interface. Hence this technique allows considering any number of interface cracks. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of the interaction of multiple interface cracks, load location, material orthotropy, nonhomogeneity parameters and geometry parameters on the modes I and II SIFs. Numerical results show that modes I/II SIFs decrease with increasing the nonhomogeneity parameter and the highest magnitude of SIF occurs where distances between the load location and crack tips are minimal.

To deeply probe the actual earthquake level and fragility of typical reinforced concrete (RC) structures under multiple intensity grades, considering diachronic measurement building stock samples and actual observations of representative catastrophic earth shocks in China from 1990 to 2010, RC structures were divided into traditional RC structures (TRCs) and bottom reinforced concrete frame seismic wall masonry (BFM) structures, and the empirical damage characteristics and mechanisms were analysed. A great deal of statistics and induction were developed on the historical experience investigation data of 59 typical catastrophic earthquakes in 9 provinces of China. The database and fragility matrix prediction model were established with TRCs of 4,122.5284×104 m² and 5,844 buildings and BFMs of 5,872 buildings as empirical seismic damage samples. By employing the methods of structural damage probability and statistics, nonlinear prediction of seismic vulnerability, and numerical and applied functional analysis, the comparison matrix of actual fragility probability prediction of TRC and BFM in multiple intensity regions under the latest version of China's macrointensity standard was established. A novel nonlinear regression prediction model of seismic vulnerability was proposed, and prediction models considering the seismic damage ratio and transcendental probability parameters were constructed. The time-varying vulnerability comparative model of the sample database was developed according to the different periods of multiple earthquakes. The new calculation method of the average fragility prediction index (AFPI) matrix parameter model has been proposed to predict the seismic fragility of an areal RC structure.

A conventional tuned mass damper (TMD) provides a passive control option to suppress the structures' wind- or earthquake-induced vibrations. However, excessive displacements of the TMD raise concerns in the practical implementation. Therefore, this study proposes a novel TMD designed for and deployed on a high-rise sightseeing tower. The device consists of an integrated two-way slide rail mount and an eddy current damper (ECD) with a stroke control mechanism. This stroke control mechanism allows the damping coefficient to automatically increase when the stroke reaches a predetermined value, preventing excessive damper displacements during large earthquakes. The corresponding two-stage damping parameters are designed with a variable-thickness copper plate to enable the TMD stroke within a specified range. Thus, this study discusses the detailed design schemes of the device components in TMD. The designed two-stage damping parameters are also numerically verified, and the structural responses with/without the TMD are compared. As seen in the results, the proposed TMD yields effective control authority to limit the acceleration response within a comfort level. In addition, this TMD resolves the spatial availability for the damper movement in high-rise buildings by the controllable damping mechanism.