• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.251-257
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• 2017

A local damage identification method using measured structural static displacement is proposed in this study. Based on the residual force vector deduced from the static equilibrium equation, residual strain energy (RSE) is introduced, which can localize the damage in the element level. In the case of all the nodal displacements are used, the RSE can localize the true location of damage, while incomplete displacement measurements are used, some suspicious damaged elements can be found. A model updating method based on static displacement response sensitivity analysis is further utilized for accurate identification of damage location and extent. The proposed method is verified by two numerical examples. The results indicate that the proposed method is efficient for damage identification. The advantage of the proposed method is that only limited static displacement measurements are needed in the identification, thus it is easy for engineering application.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.851-865
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• 2014

Full penetration welded steel moment-resisting frame (SMRF) structures with welded box sections are widely employed in steel bridges, where a large number of steel bridges have been in operation for over fifty years in Japan. Welding defects such as incomplete penetration at the beam-column connections of these existing SMRF steel bridge piers were observed during inspection. Previous experiments conducted by the authors' team indicate that gusset stiffeners (termed fillets in this study) at the beam-web-to-column-web joint of the beam-column connections may play an important role on the seismic performance of the connections. This paper aims to experimentally study the effect of the fillet radius on seismic performance of the connections with large welding defects. Four specimens with different sizes of fillet radii were loaded under quasi-static incremental cyclic loading, where different load-displacement relations and cracking behaviors were observed. The experimental results show that, as the size of the fillet radius increases, the seismic performance of the connections can be greatly improved.