• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1063-1081
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• 2015

In this paper, a new nonlocal hyperbolic refined plate model is presented for free vibration properties of functionally graded (FG) plates. This nonlocal nano-plate model incorporates the length scale parameter which can capture the small scale effect. The displacement field of the present theory is chosen based on a hyperbolic variation in the in-plane displacements through the thickness of the nano-plate. By dividing the transverse displacement into the bending and shear parts, the number of unknowns and equations of motion of the present theory is reduced, significantly facilitating structural analysis. The material properties are assumed to vary only in the thickness direction and the effective properties for the FG nano-plate are computed using Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. The governing equations of motion are derived based on the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen in conjunction with the refined four variable plate theory via Hamilton's principle. Analytical solution for the simply supported FG nano-plates is obtained to verify the theory by comparing its results with other available solutions in the open literature. The effects of nonlocal parameter, the plate thickness, the plate aspect ratio, and various material compositions on the dynamic response of the FG nano-plate are discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.301-308
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• 2018

Properties of AFS vary with the changes in the face-sheet materials. Hence, the performance of AFS can be optimized by selecting face-sheet materials. In this work, three types of face-sheet materials representing elastic-perfectly plastic, elastic-plastic strain hardening and purely elastic materials were employed to study their effects on the flexural behavior and failure mechanism of AFS systematically. Result showed face-sheet materials affected the failure mechanism and energy absorption ability of AFS significantly. When the foam cores were sandwiched by aluminum alloy 6061, the AFS failed by face-sheet yielding and crack without collapse of the foam core, there was no clear plastic platform in the Load-Displacement curve. When the foam cores were sandwiched by stainless steel 304 and carbon fiber fabric, there were no face-sheet crack and the sandwich structure failed by core shear and collapse, plastic platform appeared. Energy absorption abilities of steel and carbon fiber reinforced AFS were much higher than aluminum alloy reinforced one. Carbon fiber was suggested as the best choice for AFS for its light weight and high performance. The versus strength ratio of face sheet to core was suggested to be a significant value for AFS structure design which may determine the failure mechanism of a certain AFS structure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.379-389
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• 2018

In this research, the explicit closed-form local buckling solution of steel plates in contact with concrete, with both loaded and unloaded edges elastically restrained against rotation and subjected to eccentric compression is presented. The Rayleigh-Rize approach is applied to establish the eigenvalue problem for the local buckling performance. Buckling shape which combines trigonometric and biquadratic functions is introduced according to that used by Qin et al. (2017) on steel plate buckling under uniform compression. Explicit solutions for predicting the local buckling stress of steel plate are obtained in terms of the rotational stiffness. Based on different boundary conditions, simply yet explicit local buckling solutions are discussed in details. The proposed formulas are validated against previous research and finite element results. The influences of the loading stress gradient parameter, the aspect ratio, and the rotational stiffness on the local buckling stress resultants of steel plates with different boundary conditions were evaluated. This work can be considered as an alternative to apply a different buckling shape function to study the buckling problem of steel plate under eccentric compression comparing to the work by Qin et al. (2018), and the results are found to be in consistent with those in Qin et al. (2018).

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.745-765
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• 2014

In this paper, it is aimed to determine the finite element model updating effects on the structural behavior of long span concrete highway bridges. Birecik Highway Bridge located on the 81stkm of Sanliurfa-Gaziantep state highway over Firat River in Turkey is selected as a case study. The bridge consist of fourteen spans, each of span has a nearly 26m. The total bridge length is 380m and width of bridge is 10m. Firstly, the analytical dynamic characteristics such as natural frequencies and mode shapes are attained from finite element analyses using SAP2000 program. After, experimental dynamic characteristics are specified from field investigations using Operational Modal Analysis method. Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition method in the frequency domain is used to extract the dynamic characteristics such as natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratios. Analytically and experimentally identified dynamic characteristics are compared with each other and finite element model of the bridge is updated to reduce the differences by changing of some uncertain parameters such as section properties, damages, boundary conditions and material properties. At the end of the study, structural performance of the highway bridge is determined under dead load, live load, and dynamic loads before and after model updating to specify the updating effect. Displacements, internal forces and stresses are used as comparison parameters. From the study, it is seen that the ambient vibration measurements are enough to identify the most significant modes of long span highway bridges. Maximum differences between the natural frequencies are reduced averagely from %46.7 to %2.39 by model updating. A good harmony is found between mode shapes after finite element model updating. It is demonstrated that finite element model updating has an important effect on the structural performance of the arch type long span highway bridge. Maximum displacements, shear forces, bending moments and compressive stresses are reduced %28.6, %21.0, %19.22, and %33.3-20.0, respectively.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.533-543
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• 2000

Deformation behavior and stability of vertical pipeline subjected to underground excavation have been studied by means of numerical analysis. Vortical ground displacements cause the pipe to be compressed, while horizontal ones cause it to be bent. In that region the vertical pipeline meets with the induced compressive stress and bending stress. In addition horizontal rock stress subjected to underground excavation may press the tube in its radial direction and it finally produces the tangential stress of pipe. In this study active gas well system is considered as an example of vertical pipelines. Factor analysis has been conducted which has great influence on the pipeline behavior. Three case studies are investigated which have the different pillar widths and gas well locations in pillar. For example, where overburden depth is 237.5 m and thickness of coal seam is 2.5 m, chain pillar of 45.8 m width in the 3-entry longwall system is proved to maintain safely the outer casing of gas welt which is made of API-55 steel, 10$\frac{3}{4}$ in. diameter and 0.4 in. thickness. Finally an active gas well which was broken by longwall mining is analyzed, where the induced shear stress turn out to exceed the allowable stress of steel.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.66-71
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• 2011

The flexural strength of $MoSi_2$ based composites reinforced with Nb sheets has been investigated, based on the detailed examination of their microstructure and fractured surface. Both sintered density and porosity of Nb/$MoSi_2$ composites were also examined. Nb/$MoSi_2$ composites were fabricated by different conditions such as temperature, applied pressure and its holding time, using a hot-press device. The volume fraction of Nb sheet in this composite system was fixed as 10%. The characterization of Nb/$MoSi_2$ composites were investigated by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope and three point bending test. Nb/$MoSi_2$ composites represented a dense morphology at the interfacial region, accompanying the creation of two types of reaction layer by the chemical reaction of Nb and $MoSi_2$. Nb/$MoSi_2$ composites possessed an excellent density at the fabricating temperature of $1350^{\circ}C$, corresponded to about 95% of theoretical density. The flexural strength of Nb/$MoSi_2$ romposites were greatly affected by the pressure holding time at the same fabricating temperature, owing to the large suppression of porosity in the microstructure. Especially, Nb/$MoSi_2$ composites represented a good flexural strength of about 310 MPa at the fabricating condition of $1350^{\circ}C$, 30MPa and 60min, accompanying the pseudo-ductile fracture behavior by the deformation of Nb sheet and the interfacial delamination.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.93-98
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• 2009

The mechanical properties of $MoSi_2$ based composites containing various types of reinforcement, such as SiC, $ZrO_2$, and W, were investigated, based on detailed examinations of their microstructures. $MoSi_2$ based composites were fabricated at a temperature of $1350^{\circ}C$ using a hot-press device. The volume fraction of SiC and $ZrO_2$ particles in this composite system was fixed as 20%. The volume fraction of three types of W particles was changed from 10% to 30%. The characteristics of the $MoSi_2$ based composites were determined by means of optical microscopy and a three-point bending test. The addition of W particles to the $MoSi_2$ powders exhibited a sufficient improvement in the microstructure and mechanical property of the sintered $MoSi_2$ materials, compared to those of SiC and $ZrO_2$ particles. In particular, W/$MoSi_2$ composites containing W particles of 20 vol% represented a good flexural strength of about 530MPa at room temperature, accompanying a relative density of about 92%. The flexural strength of the W/$MoSi_2$ composites tended to decrease with an increase in the average size of the W particles.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.997-1016
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• 2015

The contribution of tensioned concrete between cracks (tension-stiffening) cannot be ignored when analysing deformation of reinforced concrete elements. The tension-stiffening effect is crucial when it comes to adequately estimating the load-deformation response of steel reinforced concrete and the more recently appeared fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforced concrete. This paper presents a unified methodology for numerical modelling of the tension-stiffening effect in steel as well as FRP reinforced flexural members using the concept of equivalent deformation modulus and the smeared crack approach to obtain a modified stress-strain relation of the reinforcement. A closed-form solution for the equivalent secant modulus of deformation of the tensioned reinforcement is proposed for rectangular sections taking the Eurocode 2 curvature prediction technique as the reference. Using equations based on general principles of structural mechanics, the main influencing parameters are obtained. It is found that the ratio between the equivalent stiffness and the initial stiffness basically depends on the product of the modular ratio and reinforcement ratio ($n{\rho}$), the effective-to-total depth ratio (d/h), and the level of loading. The proposed methodology is adequate for numerical modelling of tension-stiffening for different FRP and steel reinforcement, under both service and ultimate conditions. Comparison of the predicted and experimental data obtained by the authors indicates that the proposed methodology is capable to adequately model the tension-stiffening effect in beams reinforced with FRP or steel bars within wide range of loading.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.823-833
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• 2012

An experimental method was suggested for obtaining fracture toughness ($K_{Ic}$) and the tensile strength (${\sigma}_t$) of chopped strand glass fiber reinforced polymer concretes (PC). Semi-circular bend (SCB) specimens subjected to three-point bending were used for conducting the experiments on the PC material. While the edge cracked SCB specimen could be used to evaluate fracture toughness, the tensile strength was obtained from the un-cracked SCB specimen. The experiments showed the practical applicability of both cracked and un-cracked SCB specimens for using as suitable techniques for measuring $K_{Ic}$ and ${\sigma}_t$ in polymer concretes. In comparison with the conventional rectangular bend beam specimen, the suggested SCB samples need significantly less material due to its smaller size. Furthermore, the average values of ${\sigma}_t$ and $K_{Ic}$ of tested PC were approximately 3.5 to 4.5 times the corresponding values obtained for conventional concrete showing the improved strength properties of PC relative to the conventional concretes.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.153-173
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• 2017

An improved method is presented to estimate the axial force of a bar member with vibrational measurements based on modified Timoshenko beam theory. Bending stiffness effects, rotational inertia, shear deformation, rotational inertia caused by shear deformation are all taken into account. Axial forces are estimated with certain natural frequency and corresponding mode shape, which are acquired from dynamic tests with five accelerometers. In the paper, modified Timoshenko beam theory is first presented with the inclusion of axial force and rotational inertia effects. Consistent mass and stiffness matrices for the modified Timoshenko beam theory are derived and then used in finite element simulations to investigate force identification accuracy under different boundary conditions and the influence of critical axial force ratio. The deformation coefficient which accounts for rotational inertia effects of the shearing deformation is discussed, and the relationship between the changing wave speed and the frequency is comprehensively examined to improve accuracy of the deformation coefficient. Finally, dynamic tests are conducted in our laboratory to identify progressive axial forces of a steel plate and a truss structure respectively. And the axial forces identified by the proposed method are in good agreement with the forces measured by FBG sensors and strain gauges. A significant advantage of this axial force identification method is that no assumption on boundary conditions is needed and excellent force identification accuracy can be achieved.