• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.111-116
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• 1989

Methods for the estimation of the coefficient matrices in the equation of motion for a linear multi-degree-of-freedom structure are studied. For this purpose, the equation of motion is transformed into an auto-regressive and moving average with auxiliary input(ARMAX) model. The ARMAX parameters are evaluated using several methods of parameter estimation : such as the least squares, the instrumental variable, the maximum likelihood and the limited information maximum likelihood methods. Then the parameters of the equation of motion are recovered therefrom. Numerical example is given for a 3-story building model subjected to an earthquake exitation.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.63-70
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• 2003

This study investigates the seismic responses of two structures connected by sky-bridges equipped with viscoelastic dampers (VED) in the bridge-building connections. The applicability of the method is verified first by computing RMS responses of two-degrees-of-freedom systems subjected to white noise ground excitation. Then model structures with various number of stories are analyzed using EL CENTRO earthquake excitation to observe the effect of the varying size of VED on reduction of responses. According to the analysis results, there exists a proper size of VED which minimizes the structural responses. It is also observed that the effectiveness of VED increases as the difference of natural frequencies between the two connected structures increases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.339-355
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• 2009

The sealed, tuned liquid column gas damper (TLCGD) with gas-spring effect extends the frequency range of application up to about 5 Hz and efficiently increases the modal structural damping. In this paper the influence of several TLCGDs to reduce coupled translational and rotational vibrations of plan-asymmetric buildings under wind or seismic loads is investigated. The locations of the modal centers of velocity of rigidly assumed floors are crucial to select the design and the optimal position of the liquid absorbers. TLCGD's dynamics can be derived in detail using the extended non-stationary Bernoulli's equation for moving reference systems. Modal tuning of the TLCGD renders the optimal parameters by means of a geometrical transformation and in analogy to the classical tuned mass damper (TMD). Subsequently, fine-tuning is conveniently performed in the state space domain. Numerical simulations illustrate a significant reduction of the vibrations of plan-asymmetric buildings by the proposed TLCGDs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.1045-1075
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• 2016

Shallow footings are one of the most common types of foundations used to support mid-rise buildings in high risk seismic zones. Recent findings have revealed that the dynamic interaction between the soil, foundation, and the superstructure can influence the seismic response of the building during earthquakes. Accordingly, the properties of a foundation can alter the dynamic characteristics (natural frequency and damping) of the soil-foundation-structure system. In this paper the influence that shallow foundations have on the seismic response of a mid-rise moment resisting building is investigated. For this purpose, a fifteen storey moment resisting frame sitting on shallow footings with different sizes was simulated numerically using ABAQUS software. By adopting a direct calculation method, the numerical model can perform a fully nonlinear time history dynamic analysis to realistically simulate the dynamic behaviour of soil, foundation, and structure under seismic excitations. This three-dimensional numerical model accounts for the nonlinear behaviour of the soil medium and structural elements. Infinite boundary conditions were assigned to the numerical model to simulate free field boundaries, and appropriate contact elements capable of modelling sliding and separation between the foundation and soil elements are also considered. The influence of foundation size on the natural frequency of the system and structural response spectrum was also studied. The numerical results for cases of soil-foundation-structure systems with different sized foundations and fixed base conditions (excluding soil-foundation-structure interaction) in terms of lateral deformations, inter-storey drifts, rocking, and shear force distribution of the structure were then compared. Due to natural period lengthening, there was a significant reduction in the base shears when the size of the foundation was reduced. It was concluded that the size of a shallow foundation influences the dynamic characteristics and the seismic response of the building due to interaction between the soil, foundation, and structure, and therefore design engineer should carefully consider these parameters in order to ensure a safe and cost effective seismic design.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.461-487
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• 2015

In recent years, the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has become a competitive computing technology in comparison with the standard Central Processing Unit (CPU) technology due to reduced unit cost, energy and computing time. This paper describes the derivation and implementation of GPU-based algorithms for the analysis of wind loading uncertainty on high-rise systems, in line with the research field of probability-based wind engineering. The study begins by presenting an application of the GPU technology to basic linear algebra problems to demonstrate advantages and limitations. Subsequently, Monte-Carlo integration and synthetic generation of wind turbulence are examined. Finally, the GPU architecture is used for the dynamic analysis of three high-rise structural systems under uncertain wind loads. In the first example the fragility analysis of a single degree-of-freedom structure is illustrated. Since fragility analysis employs sampling-based Monte Carlo simulation, it is feasible to distribute the evaluation of different random parameters among different GPU threads and to compute the results in parallel. In the second case the fragility analysis is carried out on a continuum structure, i.e., a tall building, in which double integration is required to evaluate the generalized turbulent wind load and the dynamic response in the frequency domain. The third example examines the computation of the generalized coupled wind load and response on a tall building in both along-wind and cross-wind directions. It is concluded that the GPU can perform computational tasks on average 10 times faster than the CPU.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2020

The wind responses of twin buildings are determined by the characteristics of wind loads and the dynamic characteristics of the structural systems of the buildings. In this study, the characteristics of wind pressure that influence wind responses were identified for two different spacings between the twin buildings using a wind tunnel test and the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. Structural dynamic characteristics were also identified using 3D structural system modeling. The double modal transformation method was utilized to evaluate the characteristics of wind pressure for across-wind and along-wind conditions and the effect of the dynamic characteristics of each structure on the wind responses. The channeling and vortex effects were identified through the POD method. Across-wind loads were significantly affected by the spacings between the twin buildings, whereas along-wind loads were minimally affected. Similarly, while using the double modal transformation method, a significant difference was noticed in case of the cross-participation coefficients in the across-wind direction condition for the different spacings between the buildings; however, the along-wind direction condition showed negligible difference. Therefore, the spacing between the two buildings plays a more important role in across-wind responses compared to along-wind responses.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.663-672
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• 2014

Recently, modular structural systems have been applicable to building construction since they can significantly reduce building construction time. They consists of several unit modular frames of which each beam-column joint employs an access hole for connecting unit modular frames. Their structural design is usually carried out under the assumption that their load-carrying mechanism is similar to that of a traditional steel moment-resisting system. In order to obtain the validation of this assumption, the cyclic characteristics of beam-column joints in a unit modular frame should be investigate. This study carried out finite element analyses(FEM) of unit modular frames to investigate the cyclic behavior of beam-column joints with the structural influence of access holes. Analysis results show that the unit modular frames present stable cyclic response with large deformation capacities and their joints are classified into partial moment connections. Also, this study develops a simple spring model for earthquake nonlinear analyses and suggests the Ramberg-Osgood hysteretic rule to capture the cyclic response of unit modular frames.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.269-282
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• 2015

Civil structures should be designed with the lowest cost and longest lifetime possible and without service failure. The efficient and sustainable use of materials in building design and construction has always been at the forefront for civil engineers and environmentalists. Timber is one of the best contenders for these purposes particularly in terms of aesthetics; fire protection; strength-to-weight ratio; acoustic properties and seismic resistance. In recent years, timber has been used in commercial and taller buildings due to these significant advantages. It should be noted that, since the launch of the modern building standards and codes, a number of different structural systems have been developed to stabilise steel or concrete multistorey buildings, however, structural analysis of high-rise and multi-storey timber frame buildings subjected to lateral loads has not yet been fully understood. Additionally, timber degradation can occur as a result of biological decay of the elements and overloading that can result in structural damage. In such structures, the deficient members and joints require strengthening in order to satisfy new code requirements; determine acceptable level of safety; and avoid brittle failure following earthquake actions. This paper investigates performance assessment and damage assessment of older multi-storey timber buildings. One approach is to retrofit the beams in order to increase the ductility of the frame. Experimental studies indicate that Sprayed Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SFRP) repairing/retrofitting not only updates the integrity of the joint, but also increases its strength; stiffness; and ductility in such a way that the joint remains elastic. Non-linear finite element analysis ('pushover') is carried out to study the behaviour of the structure subjected to simulated gravity and lateral loads. A new global index is re-assessed for damage assessment of the plain and SFRP-retrofitted frames using capacity curves obtained from pushover analysis. This study shows that the proposed method is suitable for structural damage assessment of aged timber buildings. Also SFRP retrofitting can potentially improve the performance and load carrying capacity of the structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.3_4
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• pp.393-408
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• 2004

There exists a clear need to monitor the performance of civil structures over their operational lives. Current commercial monitoring systems suffer from various technological and economic limitations that prevent their widespread adoption. The wires used to route measurements from system sensors to the centralized data server represent one of the greatest limitations since they are physically vulnerable and expensive from an installation and maintenance standpoint. In lieu of cables, the introduction of low-cost wireless communications is proposed. The result is the design of a prototype wireless sensing unit that can serve as the fundamental building block of wireless modular monitoring systems (WiMMS). An additional feature of the wireless sensing unit is the incorporation of computational power in the form of state-of-art microcontrollers. The prototype unit is validated with a series of laboratory and field tests. The Alamosa Canyon Bridge is employed to serve as a full-scale benchmark structure to validate the performance of the wireless sensing unit in the field. A traditional cable-based monitoring system is installed in parallel with the wireless sensing units for performance comparison.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.407-418
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to present an Integrated Life Cycle Bridge Information Modeling that can be used throughout different phases of the bridge life cycle including: design, construction, and operation and maintenance phases. Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) has become an effective tool in bridge engineering and construction. It has been used in obtaining accurate shop drawings, cost estimation, and visualization. In this paper, BrIM is used as an integrated tool for bridges life cycle information modeling. In the design phase, BrIM model can be used in obtaining optimum construction methods and performing structural advanced analysis. During construction phase, the model selects the appropriate locations for mobile cranes, monitors the status of precast components, and controls documents. Whereas, it acts as a tool for bridge management system in operation and maintenance phase. The paper provides a detailed description for each use of BrIM model in design, construction, and operation and maintenance phases of bridges. It is proven that BrIM is an effective tool for bridge management systems throughout their life phases.