• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.251-269
• /
• 2014

To investigate the seismic performance and to obtain quantitative parameters for the requirement of performance-based bridge seismic design approach, 12 reinforced concrete (RC) hollow rectangular bridge column specimens were tested under constant axial load and cyclic bending. Parametric study is carried out on axial load ratio, aspect ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and transverse reinforcement ratio. The damage states of these column specimens were related to engineering limit states to determine the quantitative criteria of performance-based bridge seismic design. The hysteretic behavior of bridge column specimens was simulated based on the fiber model in OpenSees program and the results of the force-displacement hysteretic curves were well agreed with the experimental results. The damage states of residual cracking, cover spalling, and core crushing could be well related to engineering limit states, such as longitudinal tensile strains of reinforcement or compressive strains of concrete, etc. using cumulative probability curves. The ductility coefficient varying from 3.71 to 8.29, and the equivalent viscous damping ratio varying from 0.19 to 0.31 could meet the requirements of seismic design.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.439-446
• /
• 2022

In this study, fiber-reinforced composite coil springs for automobiles were manufactured using the braiding method, and mechanical tests and damage evaluation were performed to confirm their safety. Through the analysis of the load-displacement behavior, the stiffness of the springs was evaluated to meet the specifications. In addition, the distribution of voids and the impregnation rate on the spring wire section were analyzed to clearly understand the criteria for the mechanical properties of the composite material. Moreover, the tested springs were visually inspected to confirm the damaged parts, and the failure mode was analyzed by observing crack initiation and propagation behavior of cross-sectional samples taken from the crack and failure adjacent areas of springs using SEM.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.325-337
• /
• 2022

In this research, an earthquake-resistant structural system consisting of a pin-connected steel frame and a bracing with metallic fuses is proposed. Contrary to the conventional braced frames, the main structural elements are deemed to remain elastic under earthquakes and the seismic energy is efficiently dissipated by the damper-braces with an amplification mechanism. The superiority of the proposed damping system lies in easy manufacture, high yield capacity and energy dissipation, and an effortless replacement of damaged fuses after earthquake events. Furthermore, the stiffness and the yield capacity are almost decoupled in the proposed damper-brace which makes it highly versatile for performance-based seismic design compared to most other dampers. A special attention is paid to derive the theoretical formulation for nonlinear behavior of the proposed damper-brace, which is verified using analytical results. Next, a direct displacement-based design procedure is provided for the proposed system and an example structure is designed and analyzed thoroughly to check its seismic performance. The results show that the proposed system designed with the provided procedure satisfies the given performance objective and can be used for developing highly efficient low-damage structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.15-23
• /
• 2022

One of the key tools in assessing the seismic vulnerability of the structures is the use of fragile functions, which is the possibility of damage from a particular damage surface for several levels of risk from the seismic movements of the earth. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of two categories of earthquake events on the fragile curve (FRC) of the steel construction system. In this study, the relative lateral displacement of the structures is considered as a damage criterion. The limits set for modifying the relative lateral position in the HAZUS instruction are used to determine the failure modes, which include: slight, moderate, extensive and complete. The results show, as time strong-motion increases, the probability of exceeding (PoE) increases (for Peak ground acceleration (PGA) less than 0.5). The increase in seismic demand increases the probability of exceeding. In other words, it increases the probability of exceeding, if the maximum earthquake acceleration increases. Also, 7-storey model in extensive mode has 20 and 26.5% PoE larger than 5- and 3-storey models, respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.91 no.1
• /
• pp.63-73
• /
• 2024

Improving the blast resistance of structural establishments has become an imperative engineering commitment to prevent property damage and fatalities in terrorist incidents. This study investigates the effects of blast mass and stand-off distance on CFRP skin concrete core sandwich bunkers of varying thicknesses using ABAQUS/Explicit software with CONWEP functionality. The considered parameters include TNT masses of 1, 10, and 25 kg and stand-off distances of 0.1, 1, 2, and 2.5 meters on structures with 200, 250, and 500 mm core thicknesses. The study finds that there exists a declining response corresponding to the blasting mass reduction coupled with increases in the stand-off distance and core thickness. The 500 mm thick bunker sustains less damage compared to those with 200 mm and 250 mm core thicknesses. The sandwich configuration remains structurally advantageous vs. those without skins. The sandwich bunker with a 500 mm thick concrete core gives the best performance against the 10 kg TNT blast load with a 1 m standoff distance exhibiting a 22.8% reduction in damage vs. that without skins. Mathematical expressions are then formulated for predicting maximum von Mises stress, principal stress, and displacement of sandwich bunkers as functions of TNT masses, stand-off distances, and core thicknesses.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.13 no.2 s.54
• /
• pp.137-144
• /
• 2009

This paper provides the results from evaluating the stiffness of Hi-Form joint by an experiment and the system identification method using the dynamic modal data, and the reasonable modeling method of Hi-Form joint which is proposed for improved stair construction recently. Based on the crack pattern and load-displacement relationship and the damage distribution, it can be judged that Hi-Form joint can't fully transfer the forces between the elements linked, and we propose that the joint is modeled as a element which have a stiffness with 50% decrease.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.1638-1653
• /
• 2024

Given the unpredictability of the occurrence of the earthquake and other potential disasters into consideration, the nuclear power plant may be confronted with beyond design-basis earthquake load in the future. The containment structure may be severely damaged under such severe earthquake loading, increasing the risk of containment concrete cracking and potential radioactive materials leaking. Moreover, initial damage caused by the earthquake may significantly alter the pressure performance of the containment under follow-up internal pressure. To compromise the dangers of beyond design-basis earthquake to the containment, an alternative of replacing the conventional concrete with fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) to upgrade the seismic resistance capacity of the containment is attempted and thoroughly researched. In this study, the influence of various fiber types such as rigid fiber and mixed fiber is regarded to constitute fiber-reinforced PCCVs. The physical properties of traditional and fiber-reinforced PCCVs under earthquake ground motions are scientifically compared and identified by using traditional and proposed evaluation indices. The results indicate that both the traditional evaluation index (i.e. top displacement, stress, strain) and the proposed damage index are greatly reduced by the practice of fiber strengthening under earthquake ground motions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.1569-1582
• /
• 2015

This study explores the lateral deflections of diagonal braces in concentrically-braced earthquake-resisting frames. The performance of this widely-used system is often compromised by the flexural buckling of slender braces in compression. In addition to reducing the compressive resistance, buckling may also cause these members to undergo sizeable lateral deflections which could damage surrounding structural components. Different approaches have been used in the past to predict the mid-length lateral deflections of cyclically loaded steel braces based on their theoretical deformed geometry or by using experimental data. Expressions have been proposed relating the mid-length lateral deflection to the axial displacement ductility of the member. Recent experiments were conducted on hollow and concrete-filled circular hollow section (CHS) braces of different lengths under cyclic loading. Very slender, concrete-filled tubular braces exhibited a highly ductile response, undergoing large axial displacements prior to failure. The presence of concrete infill did not influence the magnitude of lateral deflection in relation to the axial displacement, but did increase the number of cycles endured and the maximum axial displacement achieved. The corresponding lateral deflections exceeded the deflections observed in the majority of the previous experiments that were considered. Consequently, predictive expressions from previous research did not accurately predict the mid-height lateral deflections of these CHS members. Mid-length lateral deflections were found to be influenced by the member non-dimensional slenderness (${\bar{\lambda}}$) and hence a new expression was proposed for the lateral deflection in terms of member slenderness and axial displacement ductility.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.467-480
• /
• 2020

Concrete rectangular liquid storage tanks are widely used, but there are many cases of damage in previous earthquakes. Nonlinear fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is considered, Mooney-Rivlin material is used for rubber bearing, nonlinear contact is used for sliding bearing, numerical calculation models of no-isolation, rubber isolation, sliding isolation and hybrid isolation concrete rectangular liquid storage tanks are established; dynamic responses of different structures are compared to verify the effectiveness of isolation methods; and influences of earthquake amplitude, bidirectional earthquake and far-field long-period earthquake on dynamic responses are investigated. Results show that for liquid sloshing wave height, rubber isolation cause amplification effect, while sliding isolation and hybrid isolation have reduction effect; displacement of rubber isolation structure is much larger than that of sliding isolation with limiting-devices and hybrid isolation structure; when PGA is larger, wall cracking probability of no-isolation structure becomes larger, and probability of liquid sloshing wave height and structure displacement of rubber isolation structure exceeds the limit is also larger; under bidirectional earthquake, occurrence probabilities that liquid sloshing wave height and structure displacement of rubber isolation structure exceed the limit will be increased; besides, far-field long-period earthquake mainly influences structure displacement and liquid sloshing wave height. On the whole, control effect of sliding isolation is the best, followed by hybrid isolation, and rubber isolation is the worst.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.173-190
• /
• 2011

As a practical and effective seismic resisting technology, the base isolation system has seen extensive applications in buildings and bridges. However, a few problems associated with conventional lead-rubber bearings have been identified after historical strong earthquakes, e.g., excessive permanent deformations of bearings and potential unseating of bridge decks. Recently the applications of shape memory alloys (SMA) have received growing interest in the area of seismic response mitigation. As a result, a variety of SMA-based base isolators have been developed. These novel isolators often lead to minimal permanent deformations due to the self-centering feature of SMA materials. However, a rational design approach is still missing because of the fact that conventional design method cannot be directly applied to these novel devices. In light of this limitation, a displacement-based design approach for highway bridges with SMA isolators is proposed in this paper. Nonlinear response spectra, derived from typical hysteretic models for SMA, are employed in the design procedure. SMA isolators and bridge piers are designed according to the prescribed performance objectives. A prototype reinforced concrete (RC) highway bridge is designed using the proposed design approach. Nonlinear dynamic analyses for different seismic intensity levels are carried out using a computer program called "OpenSees". The efficacy of the displacement-based design approach is validated by numerical simulations. Results indicate that a properly designed RC highway bridge with novel SMA isolators may achieve minor damage and minimal residual deformations under frequent and rare earthquakes. Nonlinear static analysis is also carried out to investigate the failure mechanism and the self-centering ability of the designed highway bridge.