• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.847-866
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• 2014

This paper describes a formulation to predict optimum post-tensioning forces and cable dimensioning for self-anchored cable-stayed suspension bridges. The analysis is developed with respect to both dead and live load configurations, taking into account design constrains concerning serviceability and ultimate limit states. In particular, under dead loads, the analysis is developed with the purpose to calculate the post-tensioning cable forces to achieve minimum deflections for both girder and pylons. Moreover, under live loads, for each cable elements, the lowest required cross-section area is determined, which verifies prescriptions, under ultimate or serviceability limit states, on maximum allowable stresses and bridge deflections. The final configuration is obtained by means of an iterative procedure, which leads to a progressive definition of the stay, hanger and main cable characteristics, concerning both post-tensioning cable stresses and cross-sections. The design procedure is developed in the framework of a FE modeling, by using a refined formulation of the bridge components, taking into account of geometric nonlinearities involved in the bridge components. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can be easily utilized to predict the cable dimensioning also in the framework of long span bridge structures, in which typically more complexities are expected in view of the large number of variables involved in the design analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.613-632
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• 2009

The present paper is concerned with the design of a proper patch actuator network in order to track a desired displacement of the sidewalls of a one-storey frame structure; both, for the static and the dynamic case. Weights for each patch of the actuator network found in our previous work were based on beam theory; in the present paper a refinement of these weights by modeling the sidewalls of the frame structure as thin plates is presented. For the sake of calculating the refined weights approximate solutions of the plate equations are calculated by an extended Galerkin method. The solutions based on the analytical plate model are compared with three-dimensional Finite Element results computed in the commercially available code ANSYS. The patch actuator network is put into practice by means of four piezoelectric patches attached to each of the two sidewalls of the frame structures, to which electric voltages proportional to the analytically refined patch weights are applied. Analytical and numerical results coincide very well over a broad frequency range.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.4
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• pp.455-471
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• 2021

The present work focuses on experimental and numerical performance of the ferrocement RC walls reinforced with welded steel mesh, expanded steel mesh, fiber glass mesh and tensar mesh individually. The experimental program comprised twelve RC walls having the dimensions of 450 mm×100 mm×1000 mm under concentric compression loadings. The studied variables are the type of reinforcing materials, the number of mesh layers and volume fraction of reinforcement. The main aim is to assess the influence of engaging the new inventive materials in reinforcing the composite RC walls. Non-linear finite element analysis; (NLFEA) was carried out to simulate the behavior of the composite walls employing ANSYS-10.0 Software. Parametric study is also demonstrated to check out the variables that can mainly influence the mechanical behavior of the model such as the change of wall dimensions. The obtained numerical results indicated the acceptable accuracy of FE simulations in the estimation of experimental values. In addition, the strength gained of specimens reinforced with welded steel mesh was higher by amount 40% compared with those reinforced with expanded steel mesh. Ferrocement specimens tested under axial compression loadings exhibit superior ultimate loads and energy absorbing capacity compared to the conventional reinforced concrete one.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.685-697
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• 2022

In this paper, a vibration-based method using the change ratios of modal data and the experience-based learning algorithm is presented for quantifying the position, size, and interface layer of delamination in laminated composites. Three types of objective functions are examined and compared, including the ones using frequency changes only, mode shape changes only, and their combination. A fine three-dimensional FE model with constraint equations is utilized to extract modal data. A series of numerical experiments is carried out on an eight-layer quasi-isotropic symmetric (0/-45/45/90)s composited beam for investigating the influence of the objective function, the number of modal data, the noise level, and the optimization algorithms. Numerical results confirm that the frequency-and-mode-shape-changes-based technique yields excellent results in all the three delamination variables of the composites and the addition of mode shape information greatly improves the accuracy of interface layer prediction. Moreover, the EBL outperforms the other three state-of-the-art optimization algorithms for vibration-based delamination detection of composites. A laboratory test on six CFRP beams validates the frequency-and-mode-shape-changes-based technique and confirms again its superiority for delamination detection of composites.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.4
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• pp.475-493
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• 2022

The results of research focusing on the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement RC beams with openings reinforced with welded steel mesh, expanded steel mesh, fiber glass mesh, and polyethylene mesh independently are presented in this article. Casting and testing of fourteen reinforced concrete beams with dimensions of 200×100×2000 mm under concentric compression loadings were part of the research program. The type of reinforcing materials, the volume fraction of reinforcement, the number of mesh layers, and the number of stirrups are the major parameters that change. The main goal is to understand the impact of using new appealing materials in reinforcing RC beams with openings. Using ANSYS-16.0 Software, nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was used to demonstrate the behavior of composite RC beams with openings. A parametric study is also conducted to discuss the variables that can have the greatest impact on the mechanical behavior of the proposed model, such as the number of openings. The obtained experimental and numerical results demonstrated the FE simulations' acceptable accuracy in estimating experimental values. Furthermore, demonstrating that the strength gained of specimens reinforced with fiber glass meshes was reduced by approximately 38% when compared to specimens reinforced with expanded or welded steel meshes is significant. In addition, when compared to welded steel meshes, using expanded steel meshes in reinforcing RC beams with openings results in a 16 percent increase in strength. In general, when ferrocement beams with openings are tested under concentric loadings, they show higher-level ultimate loads and energy-absorbing capacity than traditional RC beams.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.6
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• pp.793-815
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• 2023

The current study looks at the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement RC channel slabs reinforced with welded steel mesh, expanded steel mesh, and fiber glass mesh individually. Ten RC channel slabs with dimensions of 500 mm×40 mm×2500 mm were subjected to flexural loadings as part of the testing program. The type of reinforcing materials, the number of mesh layers, and the reinforcement volume fraction are the key parameters that can be changed. The main goal is to determine the impact of using new inventive materials to reinforce composite RC channel slabs. Using ANSYS -16.0 Software, nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was used to simulate the behavior of composite channel slabs. Parametric study is also demonstrated to identify variables that can have a significant impact on the model's mechanical behavior, such as changes in slab dimensions. The obtained experimental and numerical results indicated that FE simulations had acceptable accuracy in estimating experimental values. Also, it's significant to demonstrate that specimens reinforced with fiber glass meshes gained approximately 12% less strength than specimens reinforced with expanded or welded steel meshes. In addition, Welded steel meshes provide 24% increase in strength over expanded steel meshes when reinforcing RC channel slabs. In general, ferrocement specimens tested under flexural loadings outperform conventional reinforced concrete specimens in terms of ultimate loads and energy absorbing capacity.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.625-637
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• 2023

The application of ML approaches in determining the resisting capacity of fire damaged RC columns is introduced in this paper, on the basis of analysis data driven ML modeling. Considering the characteristics of the structural behavior of fire damaged RC columns, the representative five approaches of Kernel SVM, ANN, RF, XGB and LGBM are adopted and applied. Additional partial monotonic constraints are adopted in modelling, to ensure the monotone decrease of resisting capacity in RC column with fire exposure time. Furthermore, additional suggestions are also added to mitigate the heterogeneous composition of the training data. Since the use of ML approaches will significantly reduce the computation time in determining the resisting capacity of fire damaged RC columns, which requires many complex solution procedures from the heat transfer analysis to the rigorous nonlinear analyses and their repetition with time, the introduced ML approach can more effectively be used in large complex structures with many RC members. Because of the very small amount of experimental data, the training data are analytically determined from a heat transfer analysis and a subsequent nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis, and their accuracy was previously verified through a correlation study between the numerical results and experimental data. The results obtained from the application of ML approaches show that the resisting capacity of fire damaged RC columns can effectively be predicted by ML approaches.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2024

Recently, hydrogen energy has been widely used because of strict regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. For using the hydrogen energy, it is required to supply hydrogen through a tube trailer. However hydrogen tube trailer can have excessive load problems during transportation due to reasons such as road shape and driving method, which may lead a risk of hydrogen leakage. So it is necessary to secure a high level of safety. The purpose of this study is to evaluate structural safety for the conservative design of hydrogen tube trailer. First, finite element(FE) modeling of the designed hydrogen tube trailer was performed. After that, safety evaluation method was established through static structural simulation based on the standard GC207 conditions. In addition, effectiveness of the designed model was confirmed through the results of the structural safety evaluation. Finally, driving simulation was used to derive acceleration graph according to time, which was considered as a dynamic property for the evaluation of conservative tube trailer safety evaluation. And dynamic structural simulation was conducted as a condition for actual transportation of tube trailer by applying dynamic properties. As a results, conservative safety was evaluated through dynamic structural simulation and the safety of hydrogen tube trailer was confirmed through satisfaction of the safety rate.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.175-184
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• 2006

Two methods of the nonlinear static pushover analysis have been presented for the performance-based seismic design and evaluation of MDOF continuous bridges. Guidelines for buildings presented in FEMA-273 applying the Displacement Coefficient Method (DCM) and in ATC applying the Capacity Spectrum Method(CSM) have been modified for MDOF bridges. Two methods are compared with the time- history analysis. The lateral load distribution pattern for seismic loads has been examined in the static pushover analysis. The force-based fiber frame finite element has been implemented in the modeling of reinforced concrete piers.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.303-315
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• 2024

This study proposes a comprehensive methodology for estimating accumulative damage of bridge structures under multiple seismic excitations, in the framework of site-specific probabilistic hazard analysis. Specifically, a typical earthquake-prone region in China is chosen to perform probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) to find the mean annual rate (MAR) of ground motion intensity at a specific level, based on which, a mass of ground motion observations is selected to construct random earthquake sequences with various number of shocks. Then, nonlinear time history analysis is implemented on the finite element (FE) model of a RC girder bridge at the site of interest, to investigate structural responses under different earthquake sequences, and to develop predictive model for cumulative damage computation, in which, a scalar seismic intensity measure (IM) is adopted and its performance in damage prediction is discussed by an experimental column. Furthermore, a mathematic model is established to calculate occurrence probability of earthquakes with various number of shocks, based on PSHA and homogenous Poisson random process, and a modified cumulative damage indicator is proposed, accounting for probabilistic occurrence of various earthquake scenarios. At end, the applicability of the proposed methodology to main shock and aftershock scenarios is validated, and characteristics of damage accumulation under different multiple earthquake scenarios are discussed.