• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.73-84
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• 2012

This paper strongly addresses to the problem of the mechanical systems in which parameters are uncertain and bounded. Interval calculation is used to find sharp bounds of the structural parameters for infilled frame system modeled with finite element method. Infill walls are generally treated as non-structural elements considerably to improve the lateral stiffness, strength and ductility of the structure together with the frame elements. Because of their complex nature, they are often neglected in the analytical model of building structures. However, in seismic design, ignoring the effect of infill wall in a numerical model does not accurately simulate the physical behavior. In this context, there are still some uncertainties in mechanical and also geometrical properties in the analysis and design procedure of infill walls. Structural uncertainties can be studied with a finite element formulation to determine sharp bounds of the structural parameters such as wall thickness and Young's modulus. In order to accomplish this sharp solution as much as possible, interval finite element approach can be considered, too. The structural parameters can be considered as interval variables by using the interval number, thus the structural stiffness matrix may be divided into the product of two parts which correspond to the interval values and the deterministic value.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.89-110
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• 2012

This study was intended to efficiently perform the probabilistic optimal safety assessment of steel cable-stayed bridges (SCS bridges) using stochastic finite element analysis (SFEA) and expected life-cycle cost (LCC) concept. To that end, advanced probabilistic finite element algorithm (APFEA) which enables to execute the static and dynamic SFEA considering aleatory uncertainties contained in random variable was developed. APFEA is the useful analytical means enabling to conduct the reliability assessment (RA) in a systematic way by considering the result of SFEA based on linearity and nonlinearity of before or after introducing initial tensile force. The appropriateness of APFEA was verified in such a way of comparing the result of SFEA and that of Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). The probabilistic method was set taking into account of analytical parameters. The dynamic response characteristic by probabilistic method was evaluated using ASFEA, and RA was carried out using analysis results, thereby quantitatively calculating the probabilistic safety. The optimal design was determined based on the expected LCC according to the results of SFEA and RA of alternative designs. Moreover, given the potential epistemic uncertainty contained in safety index, failure probability and minimum LCC, the sensitivity analysis was conducted and as a result, a critical distribution phase was illustrated using a cumulative-percentile.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.701-721
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• 2014

In the assessment of existing RC buildings, the reliable appraisal of the compressive strength of in-situ concrete is a fundamental step. Unfortunately, the data that can be obtained by the available testing methods are typically affected by a high level of uncertainty. Moreover, in order to derive indications about the degradation and ageing of the materials by on site tests, it is necessary to have the proper terms of comparison, that is to say, to know the reference data measured during the construction phases, that are often unavailable when the building is old. In the cases when such a comparison can be done, the in situ strength values typically turn out to be lower than the reference strength values (tests performed on taken samples during the construction). At this point, it is crucial to discern and quantify the specific effect induced by different factors: ageing of the materials; poor quality of the placement, consolidation or cure of the concrete during the construction phases; damage due to drilling. This paper presents a procedure for correlating the destructive compressive tests and non-destructive tests (ultrasonic pulse velocity tests) with the data documenting the compressive strength tested during the construction phases. The research work is aimed at identifying the factors that induce the difference between the in-situ strength and cubes taken from the concrete casting, and providing, so, useful information for the assessment procedure of the building.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.241-261
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• 2013

The bearing mechanism of pile during installation and loading process which controls the deformation and distribution of strain and stress in the soil surrounding pile tip is complex and full of much uncertainty. It is pointed out that particle crushing occurs in significant stress concentrated region such as the area surrounding pile tip. The solution to this problem requires the understanding and modeling of the mechanical behavior of granular soil under high pressures. This study aims to investigate the sand behavior around pile tip considering the characteristics of sand crushing. The numerical analysis of model pile loading test under different surcharge pressure with constitutive model for sand crushing is presented. This constitutive model is capable of predicting the dilatancy of soil from negative to positive under low confining pressure and only negative dilatancy under high confining pressure. The predicted relationships between the normalized bearing stress and normalized displacement are agreeable with the experimental results during the entire loading process. It is estimated from numerical results that the vertical stress beneath pile tip is up to 20 MPa which is large enough to cause sand to be crushed. The predicted distribution area of volumetric strain represents that the distributed area shaped wedge for volumetric contraction is beneath pile tip and distributed area for volumetric expansion is near the pile shaft. It is demonstrated that the finite element formulation incorporating a constitutive model for sand with crushing is capable of producing reasonable results for the pile loading problem.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.207-217
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• 2017

Because of the inevitable uncertainties such as structural parameters, external excitations and measurement noises, the effects of uncertainties should be taken into consideration in structural damage detection. In this paper, two probabilistic structural damage detection approaches are proposed to account for the underlying uncertainties in structural parameters and external excitation. The first approach adopts the statistical moment-based structural damage detection (SMBDD) algorithm together with the sensitivity analysis of the damage vector to the uncertain parameters. The approach takes the advantage of the strength SMBDD, so it is robust to measurement noise. However, it requests the number of measured responses is not less than that of unknown structural parameters. To reduce the number of measurements requested by the SMBDD algorithm, another probabilistic structural damage detection approach is proposed. It is based on the integration of structural damage detection using temporal moments in each time segment of measured response time history with the sensitivity analysis of the damage vector to the uncertain parameters. In both approaches, probability distribution of damage vector is estimated from those of uncertain parameters based on stochastic finite element model updating and probabilistic propagation. By comparing the two probability distribution characteristics for the undamaged and damaged models, probability of damage existence and damage extent at structural element level can be detected. Some numerical examples are used to demonstrate the performances of the two proposed approaches, respectively.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.103-110
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• 2018

This study introduces the supervised committee fuzzy model as a hybrid fuzzy model to predict compressive strength (CS) of geopolymers prepared from alumina-silica products. For this purpose, more than 50 experimental data that evaluated the effect of $Al_2O_3/SiO_2$, $Na_2O/Al_2O_3$, $Na_2O/H_2O$ and Na/[Na+K] on (CS) of geopolymers were collected from the literature. Then, three different Fuzzy Logic (FL) models (Sugeno fuzzy logic (SFL), Mamdani fuzzy logic (MFL), and Larsen fuzzy logic (LFL)) were adopted to overcome the inherent uncertainty of geochemical parameters and to predict CS. After validating the model, it was found that the SFL model is superior to MFL and LFL models, but each of the FL models has advantages to predict CS. Therefore, to achieve the optimal performance, the supervised committee fuzzy logic (SCFL) model was developed as a hybrid method to combine the benefits of individual FL models. The SCFL employs an artificial neural network (ANN) model to re-predict the CS of three FL model predictions. The results also show significant fitting improvement in comparison with individual FL models.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1065-1094
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• 2014

Civil engineers always face the challenge of uncertainty in planning, building, and maintaining infrastructure. These works rely heavily on a variety of surveying and monitoring techniques. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an effective approach to obtain information from an additional view, and potentially bring significant benefits to civil engineering. This paper gives an overview of the state of UAV developments and their possible applications in civil engineering. The paper begins with an introduction to UAV hardware, software, and control methodologies. It also reviews the latest developments in technologies related to UAVs, such as control theories, navigation methods, and image processing. Finally, the paper concludes with a summary of the potential applications of UAV to seismic risk assessment, transportation, disaster response, construction management, surveying and mapping, and flood monitoring and assessment.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.573-582
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• 2017

Chloride-induced cover cracking will aggravate the performance deterioration for RC structures under the chlorideladen environment, which may endanger the safety of structures and occupants. Traditional design method cannot ensure that a definite performance is satisfied. To overcome the defects, a study on the performance-based design method was carried out in this paper. Firstly, the limit state functions were established for the corrosion initiation and cover cracking. Thereafter, the uncertainty analysis was performed to study the effects of random factors on the time-dependent performances. Partial factor formulae were deduced through the first-order reliability method for performance verification. Finally, an illustrative example was presented and the sensitivity of cover depth to other parameters was carried out. It is found that the uncertainties of the random variables have great effects on the required cover depth. It is demonstrated that the performance-based design method can ensure that the target performance can be satisfied and support to formulate a rational maintenance and repair strategy for RC structures under the chloride environment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2018

The dynamic output-feedback robust control method based on linear matrix inequality (LMI) method is presented for suppressing vibration response of a functionally graded material (FGM) beam with piezoelectric actuator/sensor layers in this paper. Based on the reduced model obtained by using direct mode truncation, the linear fractional state space representation of a piezoelectric FGM beam with material properties varying through the thickness is developed by considering both the inherent uncertainties in constitution material properties as well as material distribution and the model error due to mode truncation. The dynamic output-feedback robust H-infinity control law is implemented to suppress the vibration response of the piezoelectric FGM beam and the LMI method is utilized to convert control problem into convex optimization problem for efficient computation. In numerical studies, the flexural vibration control of a cantilever piezoelectric FGM beam is considered to investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed control method. Compared with the efficient linear quadratic regulator (LQR) widely employed in literatures, the proposed robust control method requires less control voltage applied to the piezoelectric actuator in the case of same control performance for the controlled closed-loop system.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.305-318
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• 2020

Stone columns are widely used to treat soft clay ground. Optimizing the design of stone columns based on cost-effectiveness is always an attractive subject in the practice of ground treatment. In this paper, the design of stone columns is optimized using the concept of robust geotechnical design. Standard deviation of failure probability, which is a system response of concern of the stone column-reinforced foundation, is used as a measure of the design robustness due to the uncertainty in the coefficient of variation (COV) of the noise factors in practice. The failure probability of a stone column-reinforced foundation can be readily determined using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) based on the settlements of the stone column-reinforced foundation, which are evaluated by a deterministic method. A framework based on the concept of robust geotechnical design is proposed for determining the most preferred design of stone columns considering multiple objectives including safety, cost and design robustness. This framework is illustrated with an example, a stone column-reinforced foundation under embankment loading. Based on the outcome of this study, the most preferred design of stone columns is obtained.