• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.325-336
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• 2018

The physical infrastructure of the power systems, including the high-voltage transmission towers and lines as well as the poles and wires for power distribution at a lower voltage level, is critical for the resilience of the community since the failures or nonfunctioning of these structures could introduce large area power outages under the extreme weather events. In the current engineering practices, single circuit lattice steel towers linked by transmission lines are widely used to form power transmission systems. After years of service and continues interactions with natural and built environment, progressive damages accumulate at various structural details and could gradually change the structural performance. This study is to evaluate the typical existing transmission tower-line system subjected to synoptic winds (atmospheric boundary layer winds). Effects from the possible corrosion penetration on the structural members of the transmission towers and the aerodynamic damping force on the conductors are evaluated. However, corrosion in connections is not included. Meanwhile, corrosion on the structural members is assumed to be evenly distributed. Wind loads are calculated based on the codes used for synoptic winds and the wind tunnel experiments were carried out to obtain the drag coefficients for different panels of the transmission towers as well as for the transmission lines. Sensitivity analysis is carried out based upon the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) to evaluate the structural capacity of the transmission tower-line system for different corrosion and loading conditions. Meanwhile, extreme value analysis is also performed to further estimate the short-term extreme response of the transmission tower-line system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.245-261
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• 2022

Key questions to researchers interested in nonlinear analysis of skeletal structures are whether the distributed plasticity approach - albeit computationally demanding - is more reliable than the concentrated plasticity to adequately capture the extent and severity of the inelastic response, and whether force-based formulation is more efficient than displacement-based formulation without compromising accuracy. The present research focusing on performance-based seismic response of mid-span concrete bridges provides a pilot holistic investigation opting for some hands-on answers. OpenSees software is considered adopting different modeling techniques, viz. distributed plasticity (through either displacement-based or force-based elements) and concentrated plasticity via beam-with-hinges elements. The pros and cons of each are discussed based on nonlinear pushover analysis results, and fragility curves generated for various performance levels relying on incremental dynamic analyses under real earthquake records. Among prime conclusions, distributed plasticity modeling albeit inherently not relying on prior knowledge of plastic hinge length still somewhat depends on such information to ensure accurate results. For instance, displacement-based and force-based approaches secure optimal accuracy when dividing, for the former, the member into sub-elements, and satisfying, for the latter, a distance between any two consecutive integration points, close to the expected plastic hinge length. On the other hand, using beam-with-hinges elements is computationally more efficient relative to the distributed plasticity, yet with acceptable accuracy provided the user has prior reasonable estimate of the anticipated plastic hinge length. Furthermore, when intrusive performance levels (viz. life safety or collapse) are of concern, concentrated plasticity via beam-with-hinges ensures conservative predicted capacity of investigated bridge systems.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2020

In the present study, by employing fragility analysis, the seismic vulnerability of a concrete girder bridge, one of the most common existing structural bridge systems, has been performed. To this end, drift demand model as a fundamental ingredient of any probabilistic decision-making analyses is initially developed in terms of the two most common intensity measures, i.e., PGA and Sa (T₁). Developing a probabilistic demand model requires a reliable database that is established in this paper by performing incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) under a set of 20 ground motion records. Next, by employing Bayesian statistical inference drift demand models are developed based on pre-collapse data obtained from IDA. Then, the accuracy and reasonability of the developed models are investigated by plotting diagnosis graphs. This graphical analysis demonstrates probabilistic demand model developed in terms of PGA is more reliable. Afterward, fragility curves according to PGA based-demand model are developed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.701-713
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• 2018

Many bridges in Algeria were constructed without taking into account the seismic effect in the design. The implantation of a new regulation code RPOA-2008 requires a higher reinforcement ratio than with the seismic coefficient method, which is a common feature of the existing bridges. For better perception of the performance bridge piers and evaluation of the risk assessment of existing bridges, fragility analysis is an interesting tool to assess the vulnerability study of these structures. This paper presents a comparative performance of bridge piers designed with the seismic coefficient method and the new RPOA-2008. The performances of the designed bridge piers are assessed using thirty ground motion records and incremental dynamic analysis. Fragility curves for the bridge piers are plotted using probabilistic seismic demand model to perform the seismic vulnerability analysis. The impact of changing the reinforcement strength on the seismic behavior of the designed bridge piers is checked by fragility analysis. The fragility results reveal that the probability of damage with the RPOA-2008 is less and perform well comparing to the conventional design pier.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.6
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• pp.647-660
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• 2018

The Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) procedure is currently known as a robust tool for estimation of seismic collapse capacity. However, the procedure is time-consuming and requires significant computational efforts. Recently some simplified methods have been developed for rapid estimation of seismic collapse capacity using pushover analysis. However, a comparative review and assessment of these methods is necessary to point out their relative advantages and shortcomings, and to pave the way for their practical use. In this paper, four simplified pushover analysis-based methods are selected and applied on four regular RC intermediate moment-resisting frames with 3, 6, 9 and 12 stories. The accuracy and performance of the different simplified methods in estimating the median seismic collapse capacity are evaluated through comparisons with the results obtained from IDAs. The results show that reliable estimations of the summarized 50% fractile IDA curve are produced using SPO2IDA and MPA-based IDA methods; however, the accuracy of the results for 16% and 84% fractiles is relatively low. The method proposed by Shafei et al. appears to be the most simple and straightforward method which gives rise to good estimates of the median sidesway collapse capacity with minimum computational efforts.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.81-89
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• 2013

This paper considers the steering characteristics of a four-row tracked vehicle crawling on extremely cohesive soft soil, where each side is composed of two parallel tracks. The four-row tracked vehicle (FRTV) is assumed to be a rigid body with 6-DOF. A dynamic analysis program for the tracked vehicle is developed using the Newmark-${\beta}$ method based on an incremental-iterative scheme. A terra-mechanics model of an extremely cohesive soft soil is implemented in the form of the relationships of the normal pressure to the sinkage, the shear resistance to the shear displacement, and the dynamic sinkage to the shear displacement. In order to investigate the steering characteristics of the four-row tracked vehicle, a series of dynamic simulations is conducted with respect to the distance between the left and right tracks (pitch), steering ratios, driving velocity, reference track velocity, lengths of the tracks, and properties of the cohesive soft soil. Through these numerical simulations, the possibility of using a kinematic steering ratio is explored.

• Architectural research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

Structural ageing influences the structural performance in a negative way by reducing the seismic resilience of the structure which makes it a major concern around the world. Retrofitting is considered to be a pragmatic and feasible solution to address this issue. Numerous retrofitting techniques are devised by researchers over the years. The viability of using steel bracings as retrofitting component is evaluated on a G+30 storied building model designed according to ACI318-14 and ASCE 7-16. Four different types of steel bracing arrangements (V, Inverted V/ Chevron, Cross/ X, Diagonal) are assessed in the model developed in commercial nu-merical analysis software while considering both material and geometric nonlinearities. Reducing displacement and cost in the structures indicates that the design is safe and economical. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to find the best bracing system that causes minimum displacement, which indicates maximum lateral stiffness. To evaluate the seismic vulnerability of each system, incremental dynamic analysis was conducted to develop fragility curves, followed by the formation of collapse margin ratio (CMR) as stipulated in FEMA P695 and finally, a cost estimation was made for each system. The outcomes revealed that the effects of ge-ometric nonlinearity tend to evoke hazardous consequences if not considered in the structural design. Probabilistic seismic and economic probes indicated the superior performance of V braced frame system and its competency to be a germane technique for retrofitting.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2024

Code-compliant seismic design should be essentially applied to realize the so-called emulative performance of precast concrete (PC) lateral force-resisting systems, and this study developed simple procedures to design precast industrial buildings with intermediate precast bearing wall systems considering both the effect of seismic and blast loads. Seismic design provisions specified in ACI 318 and ASCE 7 can be directly adopted, for which the so-called 1.5S_y condition is addressed in PC wall-to-wall and wall-to-base connections. Various coupling options were considered and addressed in the seismic design of wall-to-wall connections for the longitudinal and transverse design directions to secure optimized performance and better economic feasibility. On the other hand, two possible methods were adopted in blast analysis: 1) Equivalent static analysis (ESA) based on the simplified graphic method and 2) Incremental dynamic time-history analysis (IDTHA). The ESA is physically austere to use in practice for a typical industrial PC-bearing wall system. Still, it showed an overestimating trend in terms of the lateral deformation. The coupling action between precast wall segments appears to be inevitably required due to substantially large blast loads compared to seismic loads with increasing blast risk levels. Even with the coupled-precast shear walls, the design outcome obtained from the ESA method might not be entirely satisfactory to the drift criteria presented by the ASCE Blast Design Manual. This drawback can be overcome by addressing the IDTHA method, where all the design criteria were fully satisfied with precast shear walls' non-coupling and group-coupling strength, where each individual or grouped shear fence was designed to possess 1.5S_y for the seismic design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.371-399
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• 2006

The theoretical background and capabilities of the developed program, SAR-CWF, for stochastic analysis of 3D reinforced-concrete shear wall-frame structures subject to seismic excitations is presented. Incremental stiffness and strength properties of system members are modeled by extended Roufaiel-Meyer hysteretic relation for bending while shear deformations for walls by Origin-Oriented hysteretic model. For the critical height of shear-walls, division to sub-elements is performed. Different yield capacities with respect to positive and negative bending, finite extensions of plastic hinges and P-${\delta}$ effects are considered while strength deterioration is controlled by accumulated hysteretic energy. Simulated strong motions are obtained from a Gaussian white-noise filtered through Kanai-Tajimi filter. Dynamic equations of motion for the system are formed according to constitutive and compatibility relations and then inserted into equivalent It$\hat{o}$-Stratonovich stochastic differential equations. A system reduction scheme based on the series expansion of eigen-modes of the undamaged structure is implemented. Time histories of seismic response statistics are obtained by utilizing the computer programs developed for different types of structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.489-499
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• 2017

The effects of past earthquakes have demonstrated the seismic vulnerability of confined masonry structures (CMSs) to earthquakes. The results of experimental analysis indicate that damage to these structures depends on lateral displacement applied to the walls. Seismic evaluation lacks an analytical approach because of the complexity of the behavior of this type of structure; an empirical approach is often used for this purpose. Seismic assessment and risk analysis of CMSs, especially in area have a large number of such buildings is difficult and could be riddled with error. The present study used analytical and numerical models to develop a simplified nonlinear displacement-based approach for seismic assessment of a CMS. The methodology is based on the concept of ESDOF and displacement demand and is compared with displacement capacity at the characteristic period of vibration according to performance level. Displacement demand was identified using the nonlinear displacement spectrum for a specified limit state. This approach is based on a macro model and nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis of a 3D prototype structure taking into account uncertainty of the mechanical properties and results in a simple, precise method for seismic assessment of a CMS. To validate the approach, a case study was considered in the form of an analytical fragility curve which was then compared with the precise method.