• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.599-611
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• 2017

This paper improves seismic fragility of a typical steel-concrete composite bridge with the deck-to-pier connection joint configuration at the concrete crossbeam (CCB). Based on the quasi-static test on a typical steel-concrete composite bridge model under the SEQBRI project, the damage states for both of the critical components, the CCB and the pier, are identified. The finite element model is developed, and calibrated using the experimental data to model the damage states of the CCB and the bridge pier as observed from the experiment of the test specimen. Then the component fragility curves for both of the CCB and the pier are derived and combined to develop the system fragility curves of the bridge. The uncertainty associated with the mean system fragility has been discussed and quantified. The study reveals that the CCB is more vulnerable than the pier for certain damage states and the typical steel-concrete composite bridge with CCB exhibits desirable seismic performance.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.337-345
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• 2018

Tall buildings are subjected to wind loading that can cause excessive wind-induced vibration. This vibration can affect the activities of the inhabitants of a building and in some cases fear for safety. Many codes and standards propose the use of curves of perception of acceleration that can be used to verify the serviceability limit state; however, these curves of perception do not take into account the uncertainty in wind-climate, structural properties, perception of motion and maximum response. The main objective of this study is to develop an empirical expression that includes these uncertainties in order to be incorporated into a simple procedure to evaluate the wind-induced acceleration in tall buildings. The use of the proposed procedure is described with a numerical example of a tall building located in Mexico.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.117-134
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• 2002

This paper presents a computational method for a confidence region of identified parameters which are affected by measurement noise and error contained in prescribed parameters. The method is based on sensitivities of the identified parameters with respect to model parameter error and measurement noise along with the law of error propagation. By conducting numerical experiments on simple models, it is confirmed that the confidence region coincides well with the results of numerical experiments. Furthermore, the optimum arrangement of sensor locations is evaluated when uncertainty exists in prescribed parameters, based on the concept that square sum of coefficients of variations of identified results attains minimum. Good agreement of the theoretical results with those of numerical simulation confirmed validity of the theory.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.133-143
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• 2015

Civil engineering infrastructure is aging and requires cost-effective maintenance strategies to enable infrastructure systems operate reliably and sustainably. This paper presents an approach for determining risk-cost balanced repair strategy of corrosion damaged reinforced concrete structures with consideration of uncertainty in structural resistance deterioration. On the basis of analytical models of cover concrete cracking evolution and bond strength degradation due to reinforcement corrosion, the effect of reinforcement corrosion on residual load carrying capacity of corroded reinforced concrete structures is investigated. A stochastic deterioration model based on gamma process is adopted to evaluate the probability of failure of structural bearing capacity over the lifetime. Optimal repair planning and maintenance strategies during the service life are determined by balancing the cost for maintenance and the risk of structural failure. The method proposed in this study is then demonstrated by numerical investigations for a concrete structure subjected to reinforcement corrosion. The obtained results show that the proposed method can provide a risk cost optimised repair schedule during the service life of corroded concrete structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.629-643
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• 2016

Among all the natural disasters, earthquakes are the most destructive calamities since they cause a plenty of injuries and economic losses leaving behind a series of signs of panic. The present study highlights the moment-curvature relationships for the structural elements such as beam and column elements and Non-Linear Static Pushover Analysis of RC frame structures since it is a very simplified procedure of non-linear static analysis. The highly popular model namely Mander's model and Kent and Park model are considered and then, seismic risk evaluation of RC building has been conducted using SAP 2000 version 17 treating uncertainty in strength as a parameter. From the obtained capacity and demand curves, the performance level of the structure has been defined. The seismic fragility curves were developed for the variations in the material strength and damage state threshold are calculated. Also the comparison of experimental and analytical results has been conducted.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.371-389
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• 2019

The implementation of a robust $H_{\infty}$ Control, which is numerically efficient for uncertain nonlinear dynamics, on longitudinal and lateral autopilots is realised for a quarter scale Piper J3-Cub model accepted as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under the condition of sensor noise and disturbance effects. The stability and control coefficients of the UAV are evaluated through XFLR5 software, which utilises a vortex lattice method at a predefined flight condition. After that, the longitudinal trim point is computed, and the linearization process is performed at this trim point. The "${\mu}$-Synthesis"-based robust $H_{\infty}$ control algorithm for roll, pitch and yaw displacement autopilots are developed for both longitudinal and lateral linearised nonlinear dynamics. Controller performances, closed-loop frequency responses, nominal and perturbed system responses are obtained under the conditions of disturbance and sensor noise. The simulation results indicate that the proposed control scheme achieves robust performance and guarantees stability under exogenous disturbance and measurement noise effects and model uncertainty.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.1
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• pp.81-96
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• 2019

In this paper, a hybrid uncertain model is applied to system reliability based design optimization (RBDO) of trusses. All random variables are described by random distributions but some key distribution parameters of them which lack information are defined by variation intervals. For system RBDO of trusses, the first order reliability method, as well as monotonicity analysis and the branch and bound method, are utilized to determine the system failure probability; and Improved (${\mu}+{\lambda}$) constrained differential evolution (ICDE) is employed for the optimization process. System reliability assessment of several numerical examples and system RBDO of different truss structures are proposed to verify our results. Moreover, the effect of different classes of interval distribution parameters on the optimum weight of the structure and the reliability index are also investigated. The results indicate that the weight of the structure is increased by increasing the uncertainty level. Moreover, it is shown that for a certain random variable, the optimum weight is more increased by the translation interval parameters than the rotation ones.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.5
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• pp.631-641
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• 2020

In the present work, an approach for the multiple time probabilistic characterization of the response of linear structural systems subjected to random non-Gaussian processes is presented. Its fundamental property is working directly on the multiple time probability density functions of the actions and of the response. This avoids of passing through the evaluation of the response statistical moments at multiple time or correlations, reducing the computational effort in a consistent measure. This approach is the extension to the multiple time case of a previously published dynamic Probability Transformation Method (PTM) working on a single evolution of the response statistics. The application to some simple examples has revealed the efficiency of the method, both in terms of computational effort and in terms of accuracy.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.331-338
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• 2022

Face stability analyses provides the most probable failure mechanisms and the understanding about parameters that need to be considered for the evaluation of ground movements caused by tunneling. After the Upper Bound Method (UBM) solution which can consider the influence of seepage forces and depth-dependent effective cohesion is verified with the numerical experiments, the probabilistic model is proposed to calculate the unbiased limiting tunnel collapse pressure. A reliability analysis of a shallow circular tunnel driven by a pressurized shield in a frictional and cohesive soil is presented to consider the inherent uncertainty in the input parameters and the proposed model. The probability of failure that exceeding a specified applied pressure at the tunnel face is estimated. Sensitivity and importance measures are computed to identify the key parameters and random variables in the model.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.247-265
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• 2022

In the present study, we focus on the CFD simulations for the performance and the rotor-generated wake of a model-scale wind turbine which was designed for wave tank experiments. The CFD simulations with fully resolved rotor geometry are performed using MARIN's community-based open-source CFD code ReFRESCO. The absolute formulation method (AFM) is leveraged to model the rotating wind turbine. The k - ω SST turbulence model is adopted in the incompressible Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations. First, the thrust and torque coefficients, C_T and C_P, are calculated at different Tip Speed Ratios (TSR), and the results are compared against the experimental data and previous numerical results. The pressure distribution of the turbine blades at the 70% span is obtained and compared to the results obtained by other tools. Then, a verification study aiming at quantifying the discretization uncertainty of the turbine performance with respect to the grid resolution in the wake region is performed. Last, the rotor-generated wake at the TSR of 7 is presented and discussed.