• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제20권5호
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• pp.543-558
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• 2005

The natural frequencies of a long span bridge vary during its construction and it is thus difficult to apply traditional tuned liquid column dampers (TLCD) with a fixed configuration to reduce bridge vibration. The restriction of TLCD imposed by frequency tuning requirement also make it difficult to be applied to structure with either very low or high natural frequency. A semi-active tuned liquid column damper (SATLCD), whose natural frequency can be altered by active control of liquid column pressure, is studied in this paper. The principle of SATLCD with adaptive tuning capacity is first introduced. The analytical models are then developed for lateral vibration of a structure with SATLCD and torsional vibration of a structure with SATLCD, respectively, under either harmonic or white noise excitation. The non-linear damping property of SATLCD is linearized by an equivalent linearization technique. Extensive parametric studies are finally carried out in the frequency domain to find the beneficial parameters by which the maximum vibration reduction can be achieved. The key parameters investigated include the distance from the centre line of SATLCD to the rotational axis of a structure, the ratio of horizontal length to the total length of liquid column, head loss coefficient, and frequency offset ratio. The investigations demonstrate that SATLCD can provide a greater flexibility for its application in practice and achieve a high degree of vibration reduction. The sensitivity of SATLCD to the frequency offset between the damper and structure can be improved by adapting its frequency precisely to the measured structural frequency.

• Journal of Advanced Research in Ocean Engineering
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• 제1권4호
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• pp.239-251
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• 2015

In this study, a spectral fatigue analysis was performed for the topside structure of an offshore floating vessel. The topside structure was idealized using beam elements in the SACS program. The fatigue analysis was carried out considering the wave and wind loads separately. For the wave-induced fatigue damage calculation, motion RAOs calculated from a direct wave load analysis and regular waves with different periods and unit wave heights were utilized. Then, the member end force transfer functions were generated covering all the loading conditions. Stress response transfer functions at each joint were produced using the specified SCFs and member end force transfer functions. fatigue damages were calculated using the obtained stress ranges, S-N curve, wave spectrum, heading probability of each loading condition, and their corresponding occurrences in the wave scatter diagrams. For the wind induced fatigue damage calculation, a dynamic wind spectral fatigue analysis was performed. First, a dynamic natural frequency analysis was performed to generate the structural dynamic characteristics, including the eigenvalues (natural frequencies), eigenvectors (mode shapes), and mass matrix. To adequately represent the dynamic characteristic of the structure, the number of modes was appropriately determined in the lateral direction. Second, a wind spectral fatigue analysis was performed using the mode shapes and mass data obtained from the previous results. In this analysis, the Weibull distribution of the wind speed occurrence, occurrence probability in each direction, damping coefficient, S-N curves, and SCF of each joint were defined and used. In particular, the wind fatigue damages were calculated under the assumption that the stress ranges followed a Rayleigh distribution. The total fatigue damages were calculated from the combination with wind and wave fatigue damages according to the DNV rule.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

The occurrence of progressive collapse induced by the removal of the vertical load-bearing element in the structure, because of fire or earthquake, has been a significant challenge between structural engineers. Progressive collapse is defined as the complete failure or failure of a part of the structure, initiating with a local rupture in a part of the building and can threaten the stability of the structure. In the current study, the behavior of the structures equipped with a cylindrical friction damper, when the vertical load-bearing elements are eliminated, is considered in two cases: 1-The load-bearing element is removed under the gravity load, and 2-The load-bearing element is removed due to the earthquake lateral forces. In order to obtain a generalized result in the seismic case, 22 pair motions presented in FEMA p 695 are applied to the structures. The study has been conducted using the vertical push down analysis for the case (1), and the nonlinear time-history analysis for the second case using OpenSEES software for 5,10, and 15-story steel frames. Results indicate that, in the first case, the load coefficient, and accordingly the strength of the structure equipped with cylindrical friction dampers are increased considerably. Furthermore, the results from the second case demonstrate that the displacements, and consequently the forces imposed to the structure in the buildings equipped with the cylindrical friction damper substantially was reduced. An optimum slip load is defined in the friction dampers, which permits the damper to start its frictional damping from this threshold load. Therefore, the optimum slip load of the damper is calculated and discussed for both cases.