• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.265-283
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• 2021

To ensure that fire induced collapse of a building is prevented it is important to understand the sequence of events that can lead to this event. In this paper, the initiation of collapse mechanisms of generic a multi-storey steel frame subjected to vertical and horizontal travelling fires are analysed computationally by tracking the formation of plastic hinges in the frame and generation of fire induced loads. Both uniform and travelling fires are considered. In total 58 different cases are analysed using finite element software LS-DYNA. For the frame examined with a simple and generic structural arrangement and higher applied fire protection to the columns, the results indicate that collapse mechanisms for singe floor and multiple floor fires can be each split into two main groups. For single floor fires (taking place in the upper floors of the frame (Group S1)), collapse is initiated by the pull-in of external columns when heated beams in end bays go into catenary action. For single floor fires occurring on the lower floors(Group S2), failure is initiated (i.e. ultimate strain of the material is exceeded) after the local beam collapse. Failure in both groups for single floor fires is governed by the generation of high loads due to restrained thermal expansion and the loss of material strength. For multiple floor fires with a low number of fire floors (1 to 3) - Group M1, failure is dominated by the loss of material strength and collapse is mainly initiated by the pull-in of external columns. For the cases with a larger number of fire floors (5 to 10) - Group M2, failure is dominated by thermal expansion and collapse is mainly initiated by swaying of the frame to the side of fire origin. The results show that for the investigated frame initiation of collapse mechanisms are affected by the fire type, the number of fire floors, and the location of the fire floor. The findings of this study could be of use to designers of buildings when developing fire protection strategies for steel framed buildings where the potential for a multifloor fire exists.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.121-135
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• 2022

Many public buildings such as schools, hospitals, etc., where partial infill walls are present in reinforced concrete (RC) structures, have undergone undesirable damage/failure attributed to captive column effect during a moderate to severe earthquake shaking. Often, the situation gets worsened when these RC frames are non-ductile in nature, thus reducing the deformable capability of the frame. Also, in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, it is mandatory to use fly-ash bricks for construction so as to reduce the burden on the disposal of fly-ash produced at thermal power plants. In some scenario, when the non-ductile RC frame, partially infilled by fly-ash bricks, suffers major structural damage, the challenge remains on how to retrofit and restore it. Thus, in this study, two full-scale one-bay, one-story non-ductile RC frame models, namely, bare frame and RC partially infilled frame with fly-ash bricks in 50% of its opening area are considered. In the previous experiments, these models were subjected to slow-cyclic displacement-controlled loading to replicate damage due to a moderate earthquake. Now, in this study these damaged frames were retrofitted and an experimental investigation was performed on the retrofitted specimens to examine the effectiveness of the proposed retrofitting scheme. A hybrid retrofitting technique combining epoxy injection grouting with an innovative and easy-to-implement steel jacketing technique was proposed. This proposed retrofitting method has ensured proper confinement of damaged concrete. The retrofitted models were subjected to the same slow cyclic displacement-controlled loading which was used to damage the frames. The experimental study concluded that the hybrid retrofitting technique was quite effective in enhancing and regaining various seismic performance parameters such as, lateral strength and lateral stiffness of partially fly-ash brick infilled RC frame. Thus, the steel jacketing retrofitting scheme along with the epoxy injection grouting can be relied on for possible repair of the structural members which are damaged due to the captive column effect during the seismic shaking.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.717-732
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• 2011

Nonlinear dynamic analysis and evaluation of eccentric braced steel frames (EBF) equipped with friction damper (FD) is studied in this research. Previous studies about assessment of seismic performance of steel braced frame with FD have been generally limited to installing this device in confluence of cross in concentrically braced frame such chevron and x-bracing. Investigation is carried out with three types of steel frames namely 5, 10 and 15 storeys, representing the short, medium and high structures respectively in series of nonlinear dynamic analysis and 10 slip force values subjected to three different earthquake records. The proper place of FD, rather than providing them at all level is also studied in 15 storey frame. Four dimensionless indices namely roof displacement, base shear, dissipated energy and relative performance index (RPI) are determined in about 100 nonlinear dynamic analyses. Then average values of maximum roof displacement, base shear, energy dissipated and storey drift under three records for both EBF and EBF equipped with friction damper are obtained. The result indicates that FD reduces the response compared to EBF and is more efficient than EBF for taller storey frames.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.2
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• pp.221-231
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• 2019

This paper performs for the first time a simultaneous optimization for members sections along with semi-rigid beam-to-column connections for space steel frames with fixed, semi-rigid, and hinged bases using a biogeography-based optimization algorithm (BBO) and a genetic algorithm (GA). Furthermore, a member's sections optimization for a fully fixed space frame is carried out. A real and accurate simulation of semi-rigid connection behavior is considered in this study, where the semi-rigid base connections are simulated using Kanvinde and Grilli (2012) nonlinear model, which considers deformations in different base connection components under the applied loads, while beam-to-column connections are modeled using the familiar Frye and Morris (1975) nonlinear polynomial model. Moreover, the $P-{\Delta}$ effect and geometric nonlinearity are considered. AISC-LRFD (2016) specification constraints of the stress and displacement are considered as well as section size fitting constraints. The optimization is applied to two benchmark space frame examples to inspect the effect of semi-rigidity on frame weight and drift using BBO and GA algorithms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.859-860
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• 2012

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.509-516
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• 2010

In this study a seismic retrofit scheme for the reinforced concrete moment framed structures was investigated using steel bracing and moment frames. The analysis model structure is a 3-story 3-bay moment frame structure designed only for gravity load. The stress/strain concentration in brace-RC frame connection was investigated using finite element analysis. To prevent premature joint failure, steel moment frames were placed inside of middle bay of the RC frame. Two types of braces, steel braces and buckling restrained braces(BRBs), were used for retrofit, and the ductility and the strength of the structure before and after the retrofit were compared using nonlinear static and dynamic analyses. According to the analysis results, the strength and ductility of the structure retrofitted by the moment frames and braces increased significantly. The added steel frame did not contribute significantly to the increase of lateral strength mainly because the size is relatively small.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.917-937
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• 2015

During a seismic event, a considerable amount of energy is input into a structure. The law of energy conservation imposes the restriction that energy must either be absorbed or dissipated by the structure. Recent earthquakes have shown that the use of concentric bracing system with their low ductility and low energy dissipation capacity, causes permanent damage to structures during intense earthquakes. Hence, engineers are looking at bracing system with higher ductility, such as chevron and eccentric braces. However, braced frame would not be easily repaired if serious damage has occured during a strong earthquake. In order to solve this problem, a new bracing system an off-centre bracing system with higher ductility and higher energy dissipation capacity, is considered. In this paper, some numerical studies have been performed using ANSYS software on a frame with off-centre bracing system with optimum eccentricity and circular element created, called OBS_C_O model. In addition, other steel frame with diagonal bracing system and the same circular element is created, called DBS_C model. Furthermore, linear and nonlinear behavior of these steel frames are compared in order to introduce a new way of optimum performance for these dissipating elements. The obtained results revealed that using a ductile element or circular dissipater for increasing the ductility of off-centre bracing system and centric bracing system is useful. Finally, higher ductility and more energy dissipation led to more appropriate behavior in the OBS_C_O model compared to DBS_C model.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.395-402
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• 2016

Space frame structures considering the components such as forms, layers, grids, etc. are possible to form a large space without interior columns. Here, steels having the yield strengths of 210 MPa to 450 MPa are generally used. The high strength steel (i.e., yield strength of 690 MPa) having suitable weldability, aseismicity and economics have been recently developed. In this paper, the high strength steel is applied to the space frame structures in order to analytically find out their transient responses considering the material and geometric nonlinearities. For various circular dome types of space frame structures, the modal analysis and nonlinear transient analysis are carried out using nonlinear three dimensional finite element analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2002

In this paper, 3-D frame design using refined plastic-hinge analysis accounting for local buckling is developed. This analysis accounts for material and geometric nonlinearities of the structural system and its component members. Moreover, the problem associated with conventional refined plastic-hinge analyses, which do not consider the degradation of the flexural strength caused by local buckling, is overcome. Efficient ways of assessing steel frame behavior including gradual yielding associated with residual stresses and flexure, second-order effect, and geometric imperfections are presented. In this study, a model consisting of the width-thickness ratio is used to account for local buckling. The proposed analysis is verified by the comparison of the LRFD results. A case study shows that local buckling is a very crucial element to be considered in second-order plastic-hinge analysis. The proposed analysis is shown to be an efficient, reliable tool ready to be implemented into design practice.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 2017

The effects of plaster on the behavior of single-story single-bay masonry-infilled steel frames under in-plane base accelerations have been experimentally investigated by a shake-table. Tested structures were made in a 1/3 scale, with realistic material properties and construction methods. Steel frames with high and low flexural rigidity of beams and columns were considered. Each type of frame was tested with three variants of masonry: (i) non-plastered masonry; (ii) masonry infill with conventional plaster on both sides; and (iii) masonry infill with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) net reinforced plaster on both sides. Masonry bricks were made of lightweight cellular concrete. Each frame was firstly successively exposed to horizontal base accelerations of an artificial accelerogram, and afterwards, to horizontal base accelerations of a real earthquake. Characteristic displacements, strains and cracks in the masonry were established for each applied excitation. It has been concluded that plaster strengthens the infill and prevents damages in it, which results in more favorable behavior and increased bearing capacity of plastered masonry-infilled frames compared to non-plastered masonry-infilled frames. The load-bearing contribution of the adopted PVC net in the plaster was not noticeable for the tested specimens, probably due to relative small cross section area of fibers in the net. Behavior of masonry-infilled steel frames significantly depends on frame stiffness. Strong frames have smaller displacements than weak frames, which reduces deformations and damages of an infill.