• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.703-710
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• 2020

This paper presents numerical and theoretical investigations on the strain rate in steel-concrete composite (SC) panels under low-velocity impact of a hemispherical rigid body. Finite element analyses were performed on five specimens with different loading rates. The impact energy was kept constant to eliminate its influence by simultaneously altering the velocity and mass of the projectile. Results show that the strain rate in most parts of the specimens was low and its influence on bearing capacity and energy dissipation was limited in an average sense of space and time. Therefore, the strain rate effect can be ignored for the analyses of global deformation. However, the strain rate effect should be considered in local contact problems. Equations of the local strain and strain rate were theoretically derived.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2024

In this paper, the behavior of an innovative metallic a butterfly-shaped link as damper with shear and flexural mechanism was investigated experimentally and numerically. The damper is directly attached to the diagonal member of the Concentrically Braced Frame (CBF) to prevent buckling of the braces. Since it is expected that nonlinear behavior of the system is limited to the dampers, the other parts of structures remind elastic that the damper can replaced easily after a severe earthquake. The experimental outcomes indicated that both types of dampers (with shear or flexural mechanism) pertain to stable hysteresis loops without any significant degradation in stiffness or strength. Comparing the dampers indicated that the shear damper has a greater ultimate strength (4.59 times) and stiffness (3.58 times) than flexural damper but a lower ductility (16%) and ultimate displacement (60%). Also, the shear damper has a considerable dissipation energy 14.56 times greater than flexural dampers where dissipating energy are affected by ultimate strength, stiffness and ultimate displacement. Also, based on the numerical study, the effect of main plate slenderness on the behavior of the damper was considered and the allowable slenderness was suggested to the design of the dampers. Numerical results confirmed that the flexural damper is more sensitive to the slenderness than shear damper. Accordingly, as the slenderness is less than 50 and 30, respectively, for, shear and flexural damper, no degradation in ultimate strength is realized. By increasing the slenderness, the maximum reduction of the ultimate strength, stiffness, and energy dissipation capacity reached by 16%, 7%, and 17% for SDB dampers whereas it is 3%, 33%, 20%, and 45% for MDB.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.203-218
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• 2022

In this paper, quasi-static tests were carried out on three prefabricated reinforced concrete column-steel beam (RCS) sub-assemblages with floor slabs and one comparison specimen without floor slab. The effects of axial compression and floor slab on the seismic performance were studied, and finite element simulations were conducted using ABAQUS. The results showed that the failure of prefabricated RCS sub-assemblages with floor occurred as a joint beam and column failure mode, while failure of sub-assemblages without floor occurred due to beam plastic hinge formation. Compared to the prefabricated RCS sub-assemblages without floor slab, the overall stiffness of the sub-assemblages with floor slab was between 19.2% and 45.4% higher, and the maximum load bearing capacity increased by 26.8%. However, the equivalent viscosity coefficient was essentially unchanged. When the axial compression ratio increased from 0.24 to 0.36, the hysteretic loops of the sub-assemblages with floor became fuller, and the load bearing capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity increased by 12.1%, 12.9% and 8.9%, respectively. Also, the initial stiffness increased by 10.2%, but the stiffness degradation accelerated. The proportion of column drift caused by beam end plastic bending and column end bending changed from 35% and 46% to 47% and 36%, respectively. Comparative finite element analyses indicated that the numerical simulation outcomes agreed well with the experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.277-292
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• 2015

Previous research has shown that steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are efficient lateral force-resisting systems against both wind and seismic loads. A properly designed SPSW can have high initial stiffness, strength, and energy absorption capacity as well as superior ductility. SPSWs have been commonly designed with unstiffened and stiffened infill plates based on economical and performance considerations. Recent introduction and application of corrugated plates with advantageous structural features has motivated the researchers to consider the employment of such elements in stiffened SPSWs with the aim of lowering the high construction cost of such high-performing systems. On this basis, this paper presents results from a numerical investigation of the hysteretic performance of SPSWs with trapezoidally corrugated infill plates. Finite element cyclic analyses are conducted on a series of flat- and corrugated-web SPSWs to examine the effects of web-plate thickness, corrugation angle, and number of corrugation half-waves on the hysteretic performance of such structural systems. Results of the parametric studies are indicative of effectiveness of increasing of the three aforementioned web-plate geometrical and corrugation parameters in improving the cyclic response and energy absorption capacity of SPSWs with trapezoidally corrugated infill plates. Increasing of the web-plate thickness and number of corrugation half-waves are found to be the most and the least effective in adjusting the hysteretic performance of such promising lateral force-resisting systems, respectively. Findings of this study also show that optimal selection of the web-plate thickness, corrugation angle, and number of corrugation half-waves along with proper design of the boundary frame members can result in high stiffness, strength, and cyclic performances of such corrugated-web SPSWs.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.35-42
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to experimentally analyze the seismic performance of column with RSB (Replaceable Steel Brace), a steel brace system with slot length as a variable. To evaluate the seismic performance of the RSB, three specimens were manufactured and subjected to cyclic loading tests. The length of the sliding slots were considered to be 5 mm and 10mm to enable the brace to resist the load from the initiation of flexural crack and shear crack. As a result of the test, the specimen reinforced with the RSB showed improved maximun load and effective stiffness, and energy dissipation capacity compared to the non-reinforced specimens. The specimens with 5mm sliding slot showed little difference in test result compared to the specimen with a 10mm sliding slot, indicating that the length of sliding slot has little influence on the effectiveness of RSB.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2018

Concentric braced frames are commonly used in steel structures to withstand lateral forces. One of the drawbacks of these systems is the possibility that the braces are buckled under compressive loads, which leads to sudden reduction of the bearing capacity of the structure. To overcome this deficiency, the idea of the Buckling Restrained Brace (BRB) has been proposed in recent years. The length of a BRB steel core can have a significant effect on its overall behavior, since it directly influences the energy dissipation capability of the member. In this study, numerical methods have been utilized for investigation of the optimum length of BRB steel cores. For this purpose, BRBs with different lengths placed into several two-dimensional framing systems with various heights were considered. Then, the Response History Analysis (RHA) was performed, and finally, the optimum steel core length of BRBs and its effect on the responses of the overall system were investigated. The results show that the shortest length where failure does not occur is the best length that can be proposed as the optimum steel core length of BRBs. This length can be obtained through a formula which has been derived and verified in this study by both analytical and numerical methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.287-303
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• 2014

8 steel reinforced concrete (SRC) columns with the encased steel ratio of 13.12% and 15.04% respectively were tested under the test axial load ratio of 0.33-0.80 and the low-frequency cyclic lateral loading. The cross sectional area of composite columns was $500mm{\times}500mm$. The mechanical properties, failure modes and deformabilities were studied. All the specimens produced flexure failure subject to combined axial force, bending moment and shear. Force-displacement hysteretic curves, strain curves of encased steels and rebars were obtained. The interaction behavior of encased steel and concrete were verified. The hysteretic curves of columns were plump in shapes. Hysteresis loops were almost coincident under the same levels of lateral loading, and bearing capacities did not change much, which indicated that the columns had good energy-dissipation performance and seismic capacity. Based on the equilibrium equation, the suggested practical calculation method could accurately predict the flexural strength of SRC columns with cross-shaped section encased steel. The obtained M-N curves of SRC columns can be used as references for further studies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.91 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2024

In this paper, the porous metal PM-35 is proposed as the filler material of filled thin-walled tubes (FTTs), and a series of experimental study is conducted to investigate the dynamic behavior and energy absorption performance of PM-35 filled thin-walled tubes under impact loading. Firstly, cylinder solid specimens of PM-35 steel are tested to investigate the impact mechanical behavior by using the Split Hopkinson pressure bar set (SHP); Secondly, the filled thin-walled tube specimens with different geometric parameters are designed and tested to investigate the feasibility of PM-35 steel applied in FTTs by the orthogonal test. According to the results of this research, it is concluded that PM-35 steel is with the excellent characteristics of high energy absorption capacity and low yield strength, which make it a potential filler material for FTTs. The micron-sizes pore structure of PM-35 is the main reason for the macroscopic mechanical behavior of PM-35 steel under impact loading, which makes the material to exhibit greater deformation when subjected to external forces and obviously improve the toughness of the material. In addition, PM-35 steel core-filled thin-wall tube has excellent energy absorption ability under high-speed impact, which shows great application potential in the anti-collision structure facilities of high-speed railway and maglev train. The parameter V0 is most sensitive to the energy absorption of FTT specimens under impact loading, and the sensitivity order of different variations to the energy absorption is loading speed V0>D/t>D/L. The loading efficiency of the FTT is affected by its different geometry, which is mainly determined by the sleeve material and the filling material, which are not sensitive to changes in loading speed V0, D/t and D/L parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.139-152
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• 2022

Steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) L-shaped column is the vertical load-bearing member with high spatial adaptability. The seismic behavior of SRC L-shaped column is complex because of their irregular cross sections. In this study, the hysteretic performance of six steel truss reinforced concrete L-shaped columns specimens under the combined loading of compression, bending, shear, and torsion was tested. There were two parameters, i.e., the moment ratio of torsion to bending (γ) and the aspect ratio (column length-to-depth ratio (φ)). The failure process, torsion-displacement hysteresis curves, and bending-displacement hysteresis curves of specimens were obtained, and the failure patterns, hysteresis curves, rigidity degradation, ductility, and energy dissipation were analyzed. The experimental research indicates that the failure mode of the specimen changes from bending failure to bending-shear failure and finally bending-torsion failure with the increase of γ. The torsion-displacement hysteresis curves were pinched in the middle, formed a slip platform, and the phenomenon of "load drop" occurred after the peak load. The bending-displacement hysteresis curves were plump, which shows that the bending capacity of the specimen is better than torsion capacity. The results show that the steel truss reinforced concrete L-shaped columns have good collapse resistance, and the ultimate interstory drift ratio more than that of the Chinese Code of Seismic Design of Building (GB50011-2014), which is sufficient. The average value of displacement ductility coefficient is larger than rotation angle ductility coefficient, indicating that the specimen has a better bending deformation resistance. The specimen that has a more regular section with a small φ has better potential to bear bending moment and torsion evenly and consume more energy under a combined action.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.691-704
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• 2014

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are commonly used for building structures to resist seismic loading. While the RC shear walls can have a high load-carrying capacity, they tend to fail in a brittle mode under shear, accompanied by forming large diagonal cracks and bond splitting between concrete and steel reinforcement. Improving seismic performance of shear walls has remained a challenge for researchers all over the world. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), featuring incredible ductility under tension, can be a promising material to replace concrete in shear walls with improved performance. Currently, the application of ECC to large structures is limited due to the lack of the proper constitutive models especially under shear. In this paper, a new Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced ECC is proposed. The model was built upon the Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced concrete by (Hsu and Mo 2010). The model was then implemented in the OpenSees program to perform analysis on several cases of shear walls under seismic loading. The seismic response of reinforced ECC compared with RC shear walls under monotonic and cyclic loading, their difference in pinching effect and energy dissipation capacity were studied. The modeling results revealed that reinforced ECC shear walls can have superior seismic performance to traditional RC shear walls.