• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.111-126
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• 2019

This paper deals with experimental investigation and modeling of the static behavior of a novel RCS beam-column exterior joint. The studied joint detail is a through-column type in which an H steel profile totally embedded inside RC column is directly welded to the steel beam. The H steel profile was covered by two supplementary plates in the joint area in order to avoid the stirrups resisting shear in the joint area. Two full-scale through-column-type RCS joints were tested under static loading. The objectives of the tests were to examine the connection performance and to highlight the contribution of two supplementary plates on the shear resistance of the joint. A reliable nonlinear 3D finite element model was developed using ABAQUS software to predict the response and behavior of the studied RCS joint. An extensive parametric study was performed to investigate the influences of the stirrups, the encased profile length and supplementary plate length on the behavior of the studied RCS joint.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.65-79
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• 2011

Concrete hydraulic structures such as: Dams, Intake Towers, Piers and dock are usually recognized as" Vital and Special Structures" that must have sufficient safety margin at critical conditions like when earthquake occurred as same as normal servicing time. Hence, to evaluate hydrodynamic pressures generated due to seismic forces and Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI); introduction to fluid-structure domains and interaction between them are inevitable. For this purpose, first step is exact modeling of water-structure and their interaction conditions. In this paper, the basic equation involved the water-structure-foundation interaction and the effective factors are explained briefly for concrete hydraulic structure types. The finite element modeling of two concrete gravity dams with 5 m, 150 m height, reservoir water and foundation bed rock is idealized and then the effects of fluid domain and bed rock have been investigated on modal characteristic of dams. The analytical results obtained from numerical studies and modal analysis show that the accurate modeling of dam-reservoir-foundation and their interaction considerably affects the modal periods, mode shapes and modal hydrodynamic pressure distribution. The results show that the foundation bed rock modeling increases modal periods about 80%, where reservoir modeling changes modal shapes and increases the period of all modes up to 30%. Reservoir-dam-foundation interaction increases modal period from 30% to 100% for different cases.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.131-150
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• 2003

A new numerical algorithm of finite element methods is presented to solve high Deborah number flow problems with geometric singularities. The steady inertialess planar 4 : 1 contraction flow is chosen for its test. As a viscoelastic constitutive equation, we have applied the globally stable (dissipative and Hadamard stable) Leonov model that can also properly accommodate important nonlinear viscoelastic phenomena. The streamline upwinding method with discrete elastic-viscous stress splitting is incorporated. New interpolation functions classified as rational interpolation, an alternative formalism to enhance numerical convergence at high Deborah number, are implemented not for the whole set of finite elements but for a few elements attached to the entrance comer, where stress singularity seems to exist. The rational interpolation scheme contains one arbitrary parameter b that controls the singular behavior of the rational functions, and its value is specified to yield the best stabilization effect. The new interpolation method raises the limit of Deborah number by 2∼5 times. Therefore on average, we can obtain convergent solution up to the Deborah number of 200 for which the comer vortex size reaches 1.6 times of the half width of the upstream reservoir. Examining spatial violation of the positive definiteness of the elastic strain tensor, we conjecture that the stabilization effect results from the peculiar behavior of rational functions identified as steep gradient on one domain boundary and linear slope on the other. Whereas the rational interpolation of both elastic strain and velocity distorts solutions significantly, it is shown that the variation of solutions incurred by rational interpolation only of the elastic strain is almost negligible. It is also verified that the rational interpolation deteriorates speed of convergence with respect to mesh refinement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.81-92
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• 2017

Many materials in engineering exhibit different modulus in tension and compression, which are known as bi-modulus materials. Based on the bi-modulus elastic theory, a modified semi-analytical model, by introducing a stress function, is established in this paper to study the mechanical response of a bi-modulus cylinder placed in an axisymmetric temperature field. Meanwhile, a numerical procedure to calculate the temperature stresses in bi-modulus structures is developed. It is proved that the bi-modulus solution can be degenerated to the classical same modulus solution, and is in great accordance with the solutions calculated by the semi-analytical model proposed by Kamiya (1977) and the numerical solutions calculated both by the procedure complied in this paper and by the finite element software ABAQUS, which demonstrates that the semi-analytical model and the numerical procedure are accurate and reliable. The result shows that the modified semi-analytical model simplifies the calculation process and improves the speed of computation. And the numerical procedure simplifies the modeling process and can be extended to study the stress field of bi-modulus structures with complex geometry and boundary conditions. Besides, the necessity to introduce the bi-modulus theory is discussed and some suggestions for the qualitative analysis and the quantitative calculation of such structure are proposed.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.25-33
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• 2010

Collision between vessels may lead to structural damage and penetration of hulls. The structural damage of a hull may eventually bring about global collapse of the hull girder and outflow of oil, which would contaminate seawater. Therefore, various regulations require the strength of a vessel after collision to satisfy given criteria, and owners usually request collision analyses to confirm the structural safety of their vessels. In the process of designing a vessel to satisfy the collision strength criteria, the strength has been assessed mostly by conducting collision analyses using numerical techniques, such as dynamic, non-linear, finite-element analysis. Design is an inherently iterative process during which many changes are necessary due to the endless needs for reinforcement and modification. Numerical techniques are not adequate for coping with a situation in which collision analysis is frequently required to provide the revised results that reflect the repetitive changes in designs. Numerical techniques require a lot of time and money to conduct in spite of recent improvements in computing power and in the productivity of modeling tools. Therefore, in this paper, an analytical technique is introduced and a collision problem is idealized and simplified using reasonable assumptions based on appropriate background. The technique was applied to an example of an actual FPSO and verified by comparing the results with results from the numerical technique. A good correlation was apparent between the results of the analytical and numerical techniques.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1101-1111
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• 2018

This study aims to present accurate soil modeling and validation of a single roadside guardrail post as well as a single concrete pile installed near cut slopes or compacted sloping embankment. The conventional Winkler's elastic spring model and p-y curve approach for horizontal ground cannot directly be applied to sloping ground where ultimate soil resistance is significantly dependent on ground inclination. In this study, both grid-based 3-D FE model and particle-based SPH (smoothed particle hydrodynamics) model available in LS-DYNA have been adopted to predict the static behavior of a laterally loaded guardrail post. The SPH model has potential to eliminate any artificial soil stiffness due to the deterioration of the node-connected Lagrangian soil mesh. For this purpose, this study comprises two parts. Firstly, only 3-D FE modeling has been tested to show the numerical validity for a single concrete pile in sloping ground using Mohr-Coulomb material. However, this material option cannot be implemented for SPH elements. Nevertheless, Mohr-Coulomb model has been used since this material model requires six input soil data that can be obtained from the comparative papers in literatures. Secondly, this work is extended to compute the lateral resistance of a guardrail post located near the slope using the hybrid approach that combines Lagrange FE elements and SPH elements by the suitable node-merging option provided by LS-DYNA. For this analysis, the FHWA soil material developed for application to road-base soils has been used and also allows the application of SPH element.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2012

Various numerical methods in simulation of seismic wave propagation have been developed. Recently an innovative numerical method called as the Spectral Element Method (SEM) has been developed and used in wave propagation in 3-D elastic media. The SEM that easily implements the free surface of topography combines the flexibility of a finite element method with the accuracy of a spectral method. It is generally used a weak formulation of the equation of motion which are solved on a mesh of hexahedral elements based on the Gauss-Lobatto-Legendre integration rule. Variational formulations of velocity-stress motion are newly modified in order to implement ADE-PML (Auxiliary Differential Equation of Perfectly Matched Layer) in wave propagation in 3-D elastic media, because a general weak formulation has a difficulty in adapting CFS (Complex Frequency Shifted) PML (Perfectly Matched Layer). SEM of Velocity-Stress motion having ADE-PML that is very efficient in absorbing waves reflected from finite boundary is verified with simulation of 1-D and 3-D wave propagation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.437-454
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• 2022

Elliptic-braced simple resisting frame as a new lateral bracing system installed in the middle bay of frame in building facades has been recently introduced. This system not only creates a problem for opening space from the architectural viewpoint but also improves the structural behavior. Despite the researches on the seismic performance of lateral bracing systems, there are few studies performed on the effect of the stiffness parameters on the elastic story drift and calculation of period in simple braced steel frames. To overcome this shortcoming, in this paper, for the first time, an analytical solution is presented for calculating elastic lateral stiffness in a simple steel frame equipped with elliptic brace subjected to lateral load. In addition, for the first time, in this study, a precise formulation has been developed to evaluate the elastic stiffness variation in a steel frame equipped with a two-dimensional single-story single-span elliptic brace using strain energy and Castigliano's theorem. Thus, all the effective factors, including axial and shear loads as well as bending moments of elliptic brace could be considered. At the end of the analysis, the lateral stiffness can be calculated by an improved and innovative relation through the energy method based on the geometrical properties of the employed sections and specification of the used material. Also, an equivalent element of an elliptic brace was presented for the ease of modeling and use in linear designs. Application of the proposed relation have been verified through a variety of examples in OpenSees software. Based on the results, the error percentage between the elastic stiffness derived from the developed equations and the numerical analyses of finite element models was very low and negligible.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.503-516
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• 2011

Uncertainty in concrete properties, including concrete modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture, are predicted by developing a microstructural homogenization model. The homogenization model is developed by analyzing a concrete representative volume element (RVE) using the finite element (FE) method. The concrete RVE considers concrete as a three phase composite material including: cement paste, aggregate and interfacial transition zone (ITZ). The homogenization model allows for considering two sources of variability in concrete, randomly dispersed aggregates in the concrete matrix and uncertain mechanical properties of composite phases of concrete. Using the proposed homogenization technique, the uncertainty in concrete modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture (described by numerical cumulative probability density function) are determined. Deflection uncertainty of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, propagated from uncertainties in concrete properties, is quantified using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Cracked plane frame analysis is used to account for tension stiffening in concrete. Concrete homogenization enables a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between concrete materials and structural modeling, which is necessary for realistic serviceability prediction.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.297-303
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• 2018

Seismic behavior of Osmanli and Senyuva stone bridges was addressed in this study. A combination of FEM and DEM was employed for getting closer to the real behavior of the bridge. One of the unique features of this combinational method is simulation close to reality. Modal numerical analysis was also used to verify the modeling. At the end of earthquake, a part of two lateral walls of Osmanli bridge was broken. The growth of arch cracks also increased during the earthquake. A part of right-hand wall of Senyuva Bridge was destructed during the earthquake. The left-hand side of the bridge wall was damaged during the earthquake but was not destructed.