• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.223-236
• /
• 2017

Seismic assessment and rehabilitation of Monumental Buildings constitute an important issue in many regions around the world to preserve cultural heritage. On the contrary, many recent earthquakes have demonstrated the high vulnerability of this type of structures. The high nonlinear masonry behaviour requires ad hoc refined finite element numerical models, whose complexity and computational costs are generally unsuitable for practical applications. For these reasons, several authors proposed simplified numerical strategies to be used in engineering practice. However, most of these alternative methods are oversimplified being based on the assumption of in-plane behaviour of masonry walls. Moreover, they cannot be used for modelling the monumental structures for which the interaction between plane and out-plane behaviour governs the structural response. Recently, an innovative discrete-modelling approach for the simulation of both in-plane and out of-plane response of masonry structures was proposed and applied to study several typologies of historic structures. In this paper the latter model is applied with reference to a real case study, and numerically compared with an advanced finite element modelling. The method is applied to the St.Venerio church in Reggiolo (Italy), damaged during the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake and numerically investigated in the literature.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.447-470
• /
• 2014

Numerical simulation of the non-linear behavior of (RC) structural walls subjected to severe earthquake ground motions requires a reliable modeling approach that includes important material characteristics and behavioral response features. The objective of this paper is to optimize a simplified method for the assessment of the seismic response and damage development analyses of an RC structural wall building using macro-element model. The first stage of this study investigates effectiveness and ability of the macro-element model in predicting the flexural nonlinear response of the specimen based on previous experimental test results conducted in UCLA. The sensitivity of the predicted wall responses to changes in model parameters is also assessed. The macro-element model is next used to examine the dynamic behavior of the structural wall building-all the way from elastic behavior to global instability, by applying an approximate Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA), based on Uncoupled Modal Response History Analysis (UMRHA), setting up nonlinear single degree of freedom systems. Finally, the identification of the global stiffness decrease as a function of a damage variable is carried out by means of this simplified methodology. Responses are compared at various locations on the structural wall by conducting static and dynamic pushover analyses for accurate estimation of seismic performance of the structure using macro-element model. Results obtained with the numerical model for rectangular wall cross sections compare favorably with experimental responses for flexural capacity, stiffness, and deformability. Overall, the model is qualified for safety assessment and design of earthquake resistant structures with structural walls.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.217-232
• /
• 2006

A crack model for the fracture in concrete based on meshless method is proposed in this paper. The cracks in concrete are classified into micro-cracks or macro-cracks respectively according to their widths, and different numerical approaches are adopted for them. The micro-cracks are represented with smeared crack approach whilst the macro-cracks are represented with discrete cracks that are made up with additional nodes and boundaries. The widely used meshless method, Element-free Galerkin method, is adopted instead of finite element method to model the concrete, so that the discrete crack approach is easier to be implemented with the convenience of arranging node distribution in the meshless method. Rotating-Crack-Model is proved to be preferred over Fixed-Crack-Model for the smeared cracks of this composite crack model due to its better performance on mesh bias. Numerical examples show that this composite crack model can take advantage of the positive characteristics in the smeared and discrete approaches, and overcome some of their disadvantages.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.725-738
• /
• 2024

This study presents a macro-modeling procedure for nonlinear finite element analysis of reinforced and prestressed concrete panels under blast loading. The analysis procedure treats cracked concrete as an orthotropic material based on a smeared rotating crack model within the context of total-load secant stiffness-based formulation. A direct time integration method compatible with the analysis formulation is adapted to solve the dynamic equation of motion. Considerations are made to account for strain rate effects. The analysis procedure is verified by modeling 14 blast tests from various sources reported in the literature including a blast simulation contest. The analysis results are compared against those obtained from experiments, simplified single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) methods, and sophisticated hydrocodes. It is demonstrated that the smeared crack macro-modeling approach is a viable alternative analysis procedure that gives more information about the structural behavior than SDOF methods, but does not require detailed micro-modeling and extensive material characterization typically needed with hydrocodes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.471-482
• /
• 2018

A flat-jointed bonded-particle model (BPM) has been proved to be an effective tool for simulating mechanical behaviours of intact rocks. However, the tedious and time-consuming calibration procedure imposes restrictions on its widespread application. In this study, a systematic approach is proposed for simplifying the calibration procedure. The initial relationships between the microscopic, constitutive parameters and macro-mechanical rock properties are firstly determined through dimensionless analysis. Then, sensitivity analyses and regression analyses are conducted to quantify the relationships, using results from numerical simulations. Finally, four examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed systematic approach for the calibration procedure of BPMs.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.248-260
• /
• 2004

Damage in brittle rock due to stress increase starts from initiation of microcracks, and then results in failure by forming macro failure planes due to propagation and coalescence of these discrete cracks. Conventionally, continuum approaches using macro-failure criteria or a number of elasto-plastic models have been major solution to implement rock damage and failure. However, actual brittle failure processes can be better described in phenomenological approach if initiation and propagation of discrete fractures are explicitly considered. This study presents damage and failure process of rock using a boundary element code, FRACOD, which has been developed to model fracturing process of rocks. Through a series of numerical uniaxial compressive tests, the feasibility of the developed model was verified, and realistic rock failure process was reproduced considering scale effects in rocks. In addition, the fracturing process and the corresponding rock damage in the vicinity of deep shaft in rock mass were presented as an application of this approach. This approach will be expected to contribute to finding better engineering solutions for the analysis of stability problems in brittle rock masses.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.1509-1517
• /
• 1993

The purpose of this study is to develop a program for the automatic derivation of the symbolic equations necessary for the kinematic and dynamic analyses of the spatial mechanism. For this purpose, a symbolic manipulation package called MCSYMA is used. Every symbolic equation is formulated using relative joint coordinate to obtain the numerically efficient system equations. These equations are produced in FORTRAN statements and linked to a FORTRAN program for numerical analysis. Several examples are taken for comparison with the commercial package called DADS which is using Cartesian coordinate approach. Also, this symbolic formulation approach is compared with a conventional numerical approach for an example. The results show that this symbolic approach with relative joint coordinate system is most efficient in computational time among three and is recommended for the derivation of macro elements frequently used.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.471-477
• /
• 2001

Milli-structure components are classified as a component group whose size is between macro and micro scales, that is, about smaller than 20mm and larger than 1mm. The forming of these components has a typical phenomenon of bulk deformation with thin sheets because of the forming size. In this study, milli-structure rectangular cup drawing is analyzed and measured using the finite element method and experiments. Special containers or cases of cellular phone vibrator to save installation space are produced by rectangular-shaped drawing. A systematic approach is established for the design and the experiment of the forming processes for rectangular milli-structure cases. To verify the simulation results, the experimental investigations were also carried out on a real industrial product. The numerical analysis by FEM shows good agreement with the experimental results in view of the deformation shape of the product.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.551-565
• /
• 2018

Experimental testing is considered the most realistic approach to obtain a detailed representation of the nonlinear behaviour of masonry-infilled reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Among other applications, these tests can be used to calibrate the properties of numerical models such as simplified macro-models (e.g., strut-type models) representing the masonry infill behaviour. Since the significant cost of experimental tests limits their widespread use, alternative approaches need to be established to obtain adequate data to validate the referred simplified models. The proposed paper introduces a detailed finite element modelling strategy that can be used as an alternative to experimental tests to represent the behaviour of masonry-infilled RC frames under earthquake loading. Several examples of RC infilled frames with different infill configurations and properties subjected to cyclic loading are analysed using the proposed modelling approach. The comparison between numerical and experimental results shows that the numerical models capture the overall nonlinear behaviour of the physical specimens with adequate accuracy, predicting their monotonic stiffness, strength and several failure mechanisms.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.04a
• /
• pp.531-534
• /
• 2006

A multi-scale (macro-micro) finite element framework for analysis of polycrystalline solids is suggested. The proposed frame work is strongly-coupled in a sense that the two scale calculation is performed at the same time. The issue of averaging micro-scale material stress and stiffness is addressed and a strategy is proposed. The proposed framework is implemented and applied to two examples having different geometries and loading modes. It is concluded that the proposed multi-scale framework can be used for more detailed and accurate analysis compared with the single-scale finite element analysis.