• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.263-280
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• 2008

Information on the distribution of the basic random variable is essential for the accurate analysis of structural reliability. The usual method for determining the distributions is to fit a candidate distribution to the histogram of available statistical data of the variable and perform approximate goodness-of-fit tests. Generally, such candidate distribution would have parameters that may be evaluated from the statistical moments of the statistical data. In the present paper, a cubic normal distribution, whose parameters are determined using the first four moments of available sample data, is investigated. A parameter table based on the first four moments, which simplifies parameter estimation, is given. The simplicity, generality, flexibility and advantages of this distribution in statistical data analysis and its significance in structural reliability evaluation are discussed. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate these advantages.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.439-446
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• 1998

One of the most important roles in the nonlinear dynamic structural analysis is to select a proper ground excitation, which dominates the response of a structure. Because of the lack of recorded accelerograms in Korea, a stochastic model of ground excitation with various dynamic properties rather than recorded accelerograms is necessarily required. If all information is not available at site, the information from other sites with similar features can be used by the procedure of seismic hazard analysis. Eliopoulos and Wen identified the parameters of the ground motion model by the empirical relations or expressions developed by Trifunac and Lee. Because the relations used in the parameter identification are largely empirical, it is required to apply the artificial neural networks instead of the empirical model. Additionally, neural networks have the advantage of the empirical model that it can continuously re-train the new recorded data, so that it can adapt to the change of the enormous data. Based on the redefined traditional processes, three neural-networks-based models (FAS_NN, PSD_NN and INT_NN) are proposed to individually substitute the Fourier amplitude spectrum, the parameter identification of power spectral density function and intensity function. The paper describes the first half of the research for the development of Neural-Networks-based model for the generation of an Artificial earthquake and a Response Spectrum(NNARS).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.21-38
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• 2003

The formulation of a new bridge-vehicle system using shell with eccentric beam elements has been introduced in a companion paper (Part I). The new system takes into account of the contribution of the twisting and pitching modes of vehicles to the bridge responses. It can also be used to study the dynamic transverse load distribution of a bridge. This paper presents a parametric study on the impact induced by one vehicle or multi-vehicle running across a bridge using the proposed model. Several parameters were considered as variables including the mass ratio, the speed parameter, the frequency ratio and the axle spacing parameter to investigate their effects on the impact factor. A total number of 189 cases were carried out in this parametric study. Within the realistic range of vehicle considered, the maximum impact factors could be 2.24, 1.78 and 1.49 for bridges with spans 10 m, 20 m and 30 m respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.555-574
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• 2007

Static response of an elastic beam on a two-parameter tensionless foundation is investigated by assuming that the beam is symmetrically subjected to a uniformly distributed load and concentrated edge loads. Governing equations of the problem are obtained and solved by pointing out that a concentrated edge foundation reaction in addition to a continuous foundation reaction along the beam axis in the case of complete contact and a discontinuity in the foundation reactions in the case of partial contact come into being as a direct result of the two-parameter foundation model. The numerical solution of the complete contact problem is straightforward. However, it is shown that the problem displays a highly non-linear character when the beam lifts off from the foundation. Numerical treatment of the governing equations is accomplished by adopting an iterative process to establish the contact length. Results are presented in figures to demonstrate the linear and non-linear behavior of the beam-foundation system for various values of the parameters of the problem comparatively.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.963-968
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• 2006

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the stability of water tower with a relatively small footing. The water tower is modeled that the column carrying a container is supported by a rotational spring at the base and is of constant cross-section, with a weight per unit length of column axis. The column model is based on the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory. The Runge-Kutta method and Determinant Search method are used to perform the integration of the governing differential equation and to determine the critical values(critical own weight. and critical buckling load), respectively. The critical buckling loads are calculated over a range of system parameters: the rotational stiffness parameter, the dimensionless radius of container and the own weight parameter of the column. The relation between the rotational stiffness parameter and the critical own weight parameter of the column is analyzed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.627-633
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• 2010

This paper presents a method for identifying the parameter set of inelastic constitutive equations, which is based on an Evolutionary Algorithm. The advantage of the method is that appropriate parameters can be identified even when the measured data are subject to considerable errors and the model equations are inaccurate. The design of experiments suited for the parameter identification of a material model by Chaboche under the uniaxial loading and stationary temperature conditions was first considered. Then the parameter set of the model was identified by the proposed method from a set of experimental data. In comparison to those by other methods, the resultant stress-strain curves by the proposed method correlated better to the actual material behaviors.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-172
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• 2005

A new load/displacement parameter method is proposed for the simultaneous control of applied loads and structural displacements at one or more points. The procedure is based on a generalized Riks' method, which utilizes load/displacement parameters as scaling factors to analyze post-buckling phenomena including snap-through or snap-back. The convergence characteristics are improved by employing new relaxation factors through an incremental displacement parameter, particularly in a region that exhibits severe numerical instability. The improved performance is illustrated by means of a numerical example.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.59-67
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• 1993

The variations of the natural frequencies and the peak response acceleration at the top of prestressed concrete reactor building due to random variability and/or model uncertainty of structural parameters are studied. The results may be used as essential input parameters in seismic probabilistic risk assessment or seismic margin assessment of the reactor building. The sensitivity test of each structural parameter is first performed to determine the most influential parameter upon the natural frequency of structure model. Then Monte Carlo simulation technique is applied to evaluate the effect of parameter variation on the natural frequencies and the peak response acceleration. The acceleration time history is obtained by direct integration scheme. As the study results, it is found that the fundamental natural frequency and the peak response acceleration at the top of the building are most strongly affected by Young's modulus among the structural parameters, in which the value of mean plus one standard deviation obtained by probabilistic approach deviates up to about (+)12% from the result of deterministic method. Considering the uncertainty of flexural rigidity, the structural responses vary in range of (-)4%~(+)14%.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2019

A modified mechanical model of pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) brace is proposed, and the hysteresis band is distinguished by the indication of relevant state variables. The MDOF frame system equipped with the braces is formulated in an incremental form of linear acceleration method. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) based brace parameter optimization method is developed to obtain an optimal solution from the primary design scheme. Parameter sensitivities derived by the direct differentiation method are used to modify the change rate of parameters in the GA operator. A case study is conducted on a steel braced frame to illustrate the effect of brace parameters on node displacements, and validate the feasibility of the modified mechanical model. The optimization results and computational process information are compared among three cases of different strategies of parameter change as well. The accuracy is also verified by the calculation results of finite element model. This work can help the applications of PS-SCED brace optimization related to parameter sensitivity, and fulfill the systematic design procedure of PS-SCED brace-structure system with completed and prospective consequences.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.107-127
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• 2022

Structural health monitoring (SHM) has been related to damage identification with either operational loads or other environmental loading playing a significant complimentary role in terms of structural safety. In this study, a non-parametric method of time frequency analysis on the measurement is used to address the time-frequency representation for modal parameter estimation and system damage identification of structure. The method employs the wavelet decomposition of dynamic data by using the modified complex Morlet wavelet with variable central frequency (MCMW+VCF). Through detail discussion on the selection of model parameter in wavelet analysis, the method is applied to study the dynamic response of both steel structure and reinforced concrete frame under white noise excitation as well as earthquake excitation from shaking table test. Application of the method to building earthquake response measurement is also examined. It is shown that by using the spectrogram generated from MCMW+VCF method, with suitable selected model parameter, one can clearly identify the time-varying modal frequency of the reinforced concrete structure under earthquake excitation. Discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of the method through field experiments are also presented.