• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.231-250
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• 2007

The influence of masonry infills with eccentric openings on the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (r/c) frames that were designed in accordance with current code provisions are investigated. Eight 1/3-scale, single-story, single-bay frame specimens were tested under cyclic horizontal loading up to a drift level of 4%. In all examined cases the shear strength of columns was higher than the cracking shear strength of solid infill. The parameters investigated include the shape and the location of the opening. Assessment of the behavior of the frames is also attempted, based on the observed failure modes, strength, stiffness, ductility, energy dissipation capacity and degradation from cycling loading. Based on these results there can be deduced that masonry infills with eccentrically located openings has been proven to be beneficial to the seismic capacity of the bare r/c frames in terms of strength, stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation. The location of the opening must be as near to the edge of the infill as possible in order to provide an improvement in the performance of the infilled frame.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.209-216
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• 2006

For evaluation of building performance, a nonlinear dynamic capacity of the building is a key parameter. In this study, an reinforced concrete special moment resisting frame building was chosen to study the process of determining the nonlinear dynamic capacity. The building, which was designed by IBC 2003 representing new codes, was composed of special moment resisting frames in the perimeter and internal frames inside the building. The capacity, which is inter-story drift capacity, consists of two categories, local and global collapses. Global collapse capacity was determined by incremental dynamic analysis. Local collapse capacity was determined by the same method except for utilizing damage index. In audition to this, it was also investigated that the effect of including internal frames designed by gravity load in the analysis. Results showed that the damage index is a useful tool for determining local collapse. Furthermore, including the internal frames with special frames in the analysis is very important in determining the capacity of a building so both must be considered at the same time.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2013

Soft storey failure mechanism is a common collapse mode for masonry-infilled (MI) reinforced concrete (RC) buildings subjected to severe earthquakes. Simple analytical equations correlating global with local ductility demands are derived from pushover (PO) analyses for seismic assessments of regular MI RC frames, considering the critical interstorey drift ratio, number of storeys and lateral loading configurations. The reliability of the equations is investigated using incremental dynamic analyses for MI RC frames of up to 7 storeys. Using the analytical ductility relationship and a coefficient-based method (CBM), the response spectral accelerations and period shift factors of low-rise MI RC frames are computed. The results are verified through published shake table test results. In general applications, the analytical ductility relationships thus derived can be used to bypass the onerous PO analysis while accurately predicting the local ductility demands for seismic assessment of regular MI RC frames.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.1
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• pp.83-97
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• 2019

In this research, the vulnerability of some reinforced concrete frames with different stories are studied based on the Park-Ang Damage Index. The damages of the frames are investigated under various earthquakes with nonlinear dynamic analysis in IDARC software. By examining the most important characteristics of earthquake parameters, the damage index and vulnerability of these frames are investigated in this software. The intensity of Erias, velocity spectral intensity (VSI) and peak ground velocity (PGV) had the highest correlation, and root mean square of displacement ($D_{rms}$) had the lowest correlation coefficient among the parameters. Then, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used, and the sinusoidal waves were equivalent to the used earthquakes according to the most influential parameters above. The damage index equivalent to these waves is estimated using nonlinear dynamics analysis. The comparison between the damages caused by earthquakes and equivalent sinusoidal waves is done too. The generations of sinusoidal waves equivalent to different earthquakes are generalized in some reinforced concrete frames. The equivalent sinusoidal wave method was exact enough because the greatest difference between the results of the main and artificial accelerator damage index was about 5 percent. Also sinusoidal waves were more consistent with the damage indices of the structures compared to the earthquake parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.293-304
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• 2019

The optimum cost of a reinforced concrete plane and space frames have been found by using the Genetic Algorithm (GA) method. The design procedure is subjected to many constraints controlling the designed sections (beams and columns) based on the standard specifications of the American Concrete Institute ACI Code 2011. The design variables have contained the dimensions of designed sections, reinforced steel and topology through the section. It is obtained from a predetermined database containing all the single reinforced design sections for beam and columns subjected to axial load, uniaxial or biaxial moments. The designed optimum beam sections by using GAs have been unified through MATLAB to satisfy axial, flexural, shear and torsion requirements based on the designed code. The frames' functional cost has contained the cost of concrete and reinforcement of steel in addition to the cost of the frames' formwork. The results have found that limiting the dimensions of the frame's beams with the frame's columns have increased the optimum cost of the structure by 2%, declining the re-analysis of the optimum designed structures through GA.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.143-160
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• 2013

This paper presents the results of an experimental program concerning the efficiency of a specific strengthening technique which utilizes a small steel link element connected to the R/C frame through bracing elements. Brittle types of failure, especially at the connections between steel and concrete elements, can be avoided by appropriate design of the local details. Five single storey one bay R/C frames scaled 1:3 were constructed according to older codes with substandard details. The first one was a typical bare reference frame. The other four were identical to the first one, strengthened by steel bracing elements. The behavior of the strengthened frames is described with respect to the reference bare frame. The concrete frames were constructed according to older code provisions by the use of smooth steel bars, low strength concrete, sparsely spaced stirrups and substandard details. The strengthening scheme aimed to the increase of both strength and deformation capacity of the original R/C frame. The inelastic deformations are purposely concentrated to a short steel link element connecting the steel bracing to the R/C frame. The results show that the steel link element can increase considerably the strength and the energy dissipation capacity of the frame.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.763-774
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• 2012

Reinforced concrete frame structures with masonry infill walls constitute the significant portion of the building stock in Turkey. Therefore it is very important to understand the behavior of masonry infill frame structures under earthquake loads. This study presents an experimental work performed on reinforced concrete (RC) frames with different types of masonry infills, namely standard and locked bricks. Earthquake effects are induced on the RC frames by quasi-static tests. Results obtained from different frames are compared with each other through various stiffness, strength, and energy related parameters. It is shown that locked bricks may prove useful in decreasing the problems related to horizontal and vertical irregularities defined in building codes. Moreover tests show that locked brick infills maintain their integrity up to very high drift levels, showing that they may have a potential in reducing injuries and fatalities related to falling hazards during severe ground shakings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.19-35
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• 2015

This study compares the seismic performances of two reinforced concrete frame specimens tested by the pseudo-dynamic procedure. The pair of 3-storey, 3-bay frames specimens are constructed with typical characteristics of older construction which is lacking seismic design. One of the specimens is a bare frame while the other is infilled with low-strength autoclave aerated concrete (AAC) block masonry. The focus of this study is to investigate the influence of low strength masonry infill walls on the seismic response of older RC frames designed for gravity loads. It is found that the presence of weak infill walls considerably reduce deformations and damage in the upper stories while their influence at the critical ground story is not all that positive. Infill walls tend to localize damage at the critical story due to a peculiar frame-infill interaction, and impose larger internal force and deformation demands on the columns and beams bounding the infills. Therefore the general belief in earthquake engineering that infills develop a second line of defence against lateral forces in seismically deficient frames is nullified in case of low-strength infill walls in the presented experimental research.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.40-46
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• 1992

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.438-443
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• 1998

Softening os the name used for decreasing bending moment at advanced flexural deformation. To accommodate softening deformation in analysis, it is assumed that a hinge has finite length. The softening analysis of R/C frames relies on the primary assumption that softening occurs over a finite hinge length and that the moment-curvature relationship for any section may be closely described by a trilinear approximation. A stiffness matrix for elastic element with softening regions are derived and the stiffness matrix allows extension of the capability of an existing computer program for elastic-plastic analysis to the softening situation. The effect of softening on the collapse load of R/C frame is evaluated.