• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.93-108
• /
• 2010

This paper investigates the seismic performance of existing reinforced concrete frames with wide beams mainly designed for gravity loads, as typically found in the seismic-prone Mediterranean area before the introduction of modern codes. The seismic capacity is evaluated in terms of the overall amount of input energy that the frame can dissipate/absorb up to collapse. This approach provides a quantitative evaluation that can be useful for selecting and designing an appropriate retrofit strategy. Six prototype frames representative of past construction practices in the southern part of Spain are designed, and the corresponding non-linear numerical models are developed and calibrated with purposely conducted tests on wide beam-column subassemblages. The models are subjected to sixteen earthquake records until collapse by applying the incremental dynamic analysis method. It is found that the ultimate energy dissipation capacity at the story level is markedly low (about 1.36 times the product of the lateral yield strength and yield displacement of the story), giving values for the maximum amount of energy that the frame can dissipate which are from one fourth to half of that required in moderate-seismicity regions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.166-180
• /
• 1998

In a city where the greenery always lacks landscaping roofs of existing buildings offers a way to solve the problem. But the most serious problem that poses is the matter of load limit. At present most existing buildings have the loading capacity of 200 kg/$m^2$ or less on their roofs. If the natural soil is used the loading capacity is easily surpassed because it simply is too heavy. To alleviate this problem it is realized to introduce the light weight artificial soil. The specific gravity of light soil is 0.65 whereas the natural soil is 1.8 when wet. It is three times lighter than the natural soil, thus eases the burden to the roof. The next problem to be confronted is the plant species to plant. It is possible to plant trees but they soon outgrow the loading capacity by weighing 8 times heavier in 10 years. Therefore shrubs and perennials are suggested to be planted because they don't weigh much even when they reach the mature height. The last problem is the stress put on roofs by the weight of the users. By some unexpected event the crowd gathered on a weak roof can cause the structural damage or even the collapse of the roof. The avoid the possibility of collapse a plaza or big pocket should not be designed in a roof garden because they hold crowd. By following the suggested means the old roofs of existing buildings can turn into the urban oases in the sky.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2001.06a
• /
• pp.969-974
• /
• 2001

Circular cylindrical tubes are widely used in structures such as vehicles and aircraft structures, where light weight and high compressive/bending/torsional load carrying capacity are required. When axially compressed, relatively thick circular cylindrical tubes deform in a so-called ring mode. Each ring develops and completely collapses one by one until the entire length of the tube collapses. During the collapse process the tube absorbs a large amount of energy. Like honey-comb structures, circular cylindrical tubes are light weighted, are capable of high axial compressive load, and absorb a large amount of energy before being completely collapsed. In this report, the subject of axial plastic buckling of circular cylindrical tubes was reviewed first. Then, the axial collapse process of the tubes in a so-called ring mode was studied both experimentally and numerically. In the experiment, steel tubes were axially compressed slowly until they were completely collapsed. Fixed boundary condition was provided. Numerical study involves axisymmetric, elastic-plastic, large deflection, self-contact mechanisms. The measured and calculated results were presented and compared with each other. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the load carrying capacity and the energy absorbing capacity of the tube.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.575-588
• /
• 2019

Seismic design method based on bearing capacity has been widely adopted in building codes around the world, however, damage and collapse state of structure under strong earthquake can not be reflected accurately. This paper aims to present a deformation-based seismic design method based on the research of RC component deformation index limit, which combines with the feature of Chinese building codes. In the proposed method, building performance is divided into five levels and components are classified into three types according to their importance. Five specific design approaches, namely, "Elastic Design", "Unyielding Design", "Limit Design", "Minimum Section Design" and "Deformation Assessment", are defined and used in different scenarios to prove whether the seismic performance objectives are attained. For the components which exhibit ductile failure, deformation of components under strong earthquake are obtained quantitatively in order to identify the damage state of the components. For the components which present brittle shear failure, their performance is guaranteed by bearing capacity. As a case study, seismic design of an extremely irregular twin-tower high rise building was carried out according to the proposed method. The results evidenced that the damage and anti-collapse ability of structure were estimated and controlled by both deformation and bearing capacity.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.479-497
• /
• 2016

Many experimental studies have evaluated the in-plane behavior of reinforced concrete frames in order to understand mechanisms that resist progressive collapse. The effects of transverse beams, frames and slabs often are neglected due to their probable complexities. In the present study, an experimental and numerical assessment is performed to investigate the effects of transverse beams on the collapse behavior of reinforced concrete frames. Tests were undertaken on a 3/10-scale reinforced concrete sub-assemblage, consisting of a double-span beam and two end columns within the frame plane connected to a transverse frame at the middle joint. The specimen was placed under a monotonic vertical load to simulate the progressive collapse of the frame. Alternative load paths, mechanism of formation and development of cracks and major resistance mechanisms were compared with a two-dimensional scaled specimen without a transverse beam. The results demonstrate a general enhancement in resistance mechanisms with a considerable emphasis on the flexural capacity of the transverse beam. Additionally, the role of the transverse beam in restraining the rotation of the middle joint was evident, which in turn leads to more ductile behavior. A macro-model was also developed to further investigate progressive collapse in three dimensions. Along with the validated numerical model, a parametric study was undertaken to investigate the effects of the removed column location and beam section details on the progressive collapse behavior.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.449-457
• /
• 2019

Physical model tests were first performed to investigate the failure pattern of multiple pillar-roof support system. It was observed in the physical model tests, pillars were design with the same mechanical parameters in model #1, cracking occurred simultaneously in panel pillars and the roof above barrier pillars. When pillars 2 to 5 lost bearing capacity, collapse of the roof supported by those pillars occurred. Physical model #2 was design with a relatively weaker pillar (pillar 3) among six pillars. It was found that the whole pillar-roof system was divided into two independent systems by a roof crack, and two pillars collapse and roof subsidence events occurred during the loading process, the first failure event was induced by the pillars failure, and the second was caused by the roof crack. Then, for a multiple pillar-roof support system, three types of failure patterns were analysed based on the condition of pillar and roof. It can be concluded that any failure of a bearing component would cause a subsidence event. However, the barrier pillar could bear the transferred load during the stress redistribution process, mitigating the propagation of collapse or cutting the roof to insulate the collapse area. Importantly, some effective methods were suggested to decrease the risk of catastrophic collapse, and the deep-hole-blasting was employed to improve the stability of the pillar and roof support system in a room and pillar mine.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.12
• /
• pp.129-136
• /
• 2000

In the frontal collision the spot welded hat-shaped section side member is the fundamental structure for automobiles and has a great amount of absorbing capacity. For this reason LS-DYNA3D has been used for analyzing impact collapse characteristics on hat shaped section member with respect to the valuables; thickness, width ratio and spot weld potch on impact load(7.19m/sec, 1034J). By comparing the results from simulation and the experimental results, the utilization of simulation has been certified.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.31-46
• /
• 1993

The motivations of the application of shakedown analysis to the earthquake-resistant design of ductile moment-resisting steel structures are presented. The problems which must be solved with this application are also addressed. The illustrative results from a series of static and time history nonlinear analyses of one-bay three-story steel frame and the related discussions have shown that the incremental collapse may be the critical design criterion in case of earthquake loading. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the inelastic excursion mechanism for alternation load pattern, such as in earthquake, should be the sidesway mechanism of the whole structure for the efficient mobilization of the structural energy dissipating capacity and that the shakedown analysis technique can be used as a tool to ensure this mechanism.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.180-191
• /
• 2001

The widely used spot welded sections of automobiles(hat and double hat shaped section members) absorb most of the energy in a front-end collision. The sections were tested with respect to axial static(10mm/min) and quasi-static(1000mm/min) loads. Based on these test results, specimens with various thicknesses, width ratios and spot weld pitches on the flange were tested at high impact velocity(7.19m/sec and 7.94m/sec) which simulates an actual car crash. Characteristics of collapse have been reviewed and structures for optimal energy absorbing capacity is suggested.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.118-126
• /
• 1993

Static and dynamic crushing behaviors of composite box tube show the difference with those of metal tube. This paper investigates the characteristics of static and dynamic crushing test which were conducted to characterize the energy absorption and collapse mode of composite box tubes. Sixteen kinds of tube specimens were fabricated from[0/90] woven Glass/Epoxy fabric and autoclave cured. Axial crushing tests were performed using Instron and Dynatup Impact Tester. It is shown that collapse mode and energy absorption capacity can vary according to the aspect ratio, length, loading rate, lay-up direction of fabric, and trigger geometry of the composite box tube.