• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.519-540
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• 2007

In this paper, the energy-based plastic-damage model previously proposed by the authors [International Journal of Solids and Structures, 43(3-4): 583-612] is first simplified with an empirically defined evolution law for the irreversible strains, and then it is extended to its rate-dependent version to account for the strain rate effect. Regarding the energy dissipation by the motion of the structure under dynamic loadings, within the framework of continuum damage mechanics a new damping model is proposed and incorporated into the developed rate-dependent plastic-damage mode, leading to a unified constitutive model which is capable of directly considering the damping on the material scale. Pertinent computational aspects concerning the numerical implementation and the algorithmic consistent modulus for the unified model are also discussed in details, through which the dynamic nonlinear analysis of damping structures can be coped with by the same procedures as those without damping. The proposed unified plastic-damage model is verfied by the simulations of concrete specimens under different quasistatic and high rate straining loading conditions, and is then applied to the Koyna dam under earthquake motions. The numerical predictions agree fairly well with the results obtained from experimental tests and/or reported by other investigators, demonstrating its capability for reproducing most of the typical nonlinear performances of concrete under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.31-46
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• 2009

An anisotropic damage mechanics approach is introduced which models the static and dynamic behavior of mass concrete in 3D space. The introduced numerical approach is able to model non-uniform cracking within the cracked element due to cracking in Gaussian points of elements. The validity of the proposed model is considered using available experimental and theoretical results under the static and dynamic loads. No instability and stress locking is observed in the conducted analyses. The Morrow Point dam is analyzed including dam-reservoir interaction effects to consider the nonlinear seismic behavior of the dam. It is found that the resulting crack profiles are in good agreement with those obtained from the smeared crack approach. It is concluded that the proposed model can be used in nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of concrete dams in 3D space and enables engineers to define the damage level of these infrastructures. The performance level of the considered system is used to assess the static and seismic safety using the defined performance based criteria.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.9-20
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• 2019

Living beings are formed of advanced biological and mechanical systems which exist for millions of years. It is known that various animals and insects right from small ants to huge whales have different weight carrying capacities, which is generally expressed as a ratio of their own bodyweights i.e., Strength to Bodyweight Ratio (SBR). The puzzle is that when a rhinoceros beetle (scientific name: Dynastinae) can carry 850 times its own bodyweight, why a man cannot accomplish the same feat. There are intrinsic biological and mechanical reasons related to their capacities, as per biomechanics. Yet, there are underlining principles of engineering and structural mechanics which tend to solve this puzzle. The paper attempts to give a plausible answer for this puzzle through structural mechanics and experimental modeling techniques. It is based on the fact that smaller an animal or creature, it has larger value of weight lifting by self-weight ratio. The simple example of steel prism model discussed in this paper, show that smaller the physical model size, larger is its SBR value. To normalize this, the basic length of the model need to be considered and when multiplied with SBR, a constant is arrived. Hence, the aim of the research presented is to derive this constant on a pan-living being spectrum through size/scaling effect.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.173-191
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• 2010

Damage detection plays a very important role to the maintenance of bridge structures. Traditional damage detection methods are usually based on structural dynamic properties, which are acquired from pre-installed sensors on the bridge. This is not only time-consuming and costly, but also suffers from poor sensitivity to damage if only natural frequencies and mode shapes are concerned in a noisy environment. Recently, the idea of using the dynamic responses of a passing vehicle shows a convenient and economical way for damage detection of bridge structures. Inspired by this new idea and the well-established tap test in the field of non-destructive testing, this paper proposes a new method for obtaining the damage information through the acceleration of a passing vehicle enhanced by a tapping device. Since no finger-print is required of the intact structure, this method can be easily implemented in practice. The logistics of this method is illustrated by a vehicle-bridge interaction model, along with the sensitivity analysis presented in detail. The validity of the method is proved by some numerical examples, and remarks are given concerning the potential implementation of the method as well as the directions for future research.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.135-143
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• 2022

Soils are natural granular materials whose mechanical properties differ according to the size and composition of the particles, so soils exhibit an obvious scale effect. Traditional soil mechanics is based on continuum mechanics, which can not reflect the impact of particle size on soil mechanics. On that basis, a matrix-reinforcing-particle cell model is established in which the reinforcing particles are larger-diameter sand particles and the matrix comprises smaller-diameter bentonite particles. Since these two types of particles deform differently under shear stress, a new shear-strength theory under direct shear that considers the stress concentration and bypass phenomena of the matrix is established. In order to verify the rationality of this theory, a series of direct shear tests with different reinforcing particle diameter and volume fraction ratio are carried out. Theoretical analysis and experimental results showed that the interaction among particles of differing size and composition is the basic reason for the size effect of soils. Furthermore, the stress concentration and bypass phenomena of the matrix enhance the shear strength of a soil, and the volume ratio of reinforcing particles has an obvious impact on the shear strength. In addition, the newly proposed shear-strength theory agrees well with experimental values.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2005

Foschi's connector model is used as a basic component in the development of nonlinear analysis programs for timber structures. This paper presents the extension of the model to include the effect of shaft frictional forces. The wood medium is modeled using the Foschi embedment model, while shaft friction is modeled using an elastic Coulomb-type friction model. The initial confining pressure for the case of driven fasteners is accounted for by a lateral shift of the load-embedment curve. The model is used to compute the cyclic response of both driven and inserted fasteners. The results obtained from the cases studied indicate that initial confining pressure and friction do not have a significant effect on the computed hysteretic response, however, they significantly affect the computed amount of fastener withdrawal. This model is particularly well-suited for modeling the hysteretic response of shear walls with moderate fastener withdrawal under lateral cyclic or earthquake loading.

• 전산구조공학
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.17-27
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• 2024

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제72권1호
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• pp.31-41
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• 2019

Structural integrity assessment of piping components is of paramount important for remaining life prediction, residual strength evaluation and for in-service inspection planning. For accurate prediction of these, a reliable fracture parameter is essential. One of the fracture parameters is stress intensity factor (SIF), which is generally preferred for high strength materials, can be evaluated by using linear elastic fracture mechanics principles. To employ available analytical and numerical procedures for fracture analysis of piping components, it takes considerable amount of time and effort. In view of this, an alternative approach to analytical and finite element analysis, a model based on relevance vector machine (RVM) is developed to predict SIF of part through crack of a piping component under fatigue loading. RVM is based on probabilistic approach and regression and it is established based on Bayesian formulation of a linear model with an appropriate prior that results in a sparse representation. Model for SIF prediction is developed by using MATLAB software wherein 70% of the data has been used for the development of RVM model and rest of the data is used for validation. The predicted SIF is found to be in good agreement with the corresponding analytical solution, and can be used for damage tolerant analysis of structural components.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제91권2호
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• pp.227-238
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• 2024

Sparse regularization methods have proven effective in addressing the ill-posed equations encountered in moving force identification (MFI). However, the complexity of vehicle loads is often ignored in existing studies aiming at enhancing MFI accuracy. To tackle this issue, a double 𝑙₁ regularization method is proposed for MFI based on a response spectrum-based weighted dictionary in this study. Firstly, the relationship between vehicle-induced responses and moving vehicle loads (MVL) is established. The structural responses are then expanded in the frequency domain to obtain the prior knowledge related to MVL and to further construct a response spectrum-based weighted dictionary for MFI with a higher accuracy. Secondly, with the utilization of this weighted dictionary, a double 𝑙₁ regularization framework is presented for identifying the static and dynamic components of MVL by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) method successively. To assess the performance of the proposed method, two different types of MVL, such as composed of trigonometric functions and driven from a 1/4 bridge-vehicle model, are adopted to conduct numerical simulations. Furthermore, a series of MFI experimental verifications are carried out in laboratory. The results shows that the proposed method's higher accuracy and strong robustness to noises compared with other traditional regularization methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제44권6호
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• pp.769-788
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• 2022

In this paper a mathematical model for the prediction of the fire resistance of slim-floor steel beams based on an Artificial Neural Network modeling procedure is presented. The artificial neural network models are trained and tested using an analytical database compiled for this purpose from analytical results based on FEM. The proposed model was selected as the optimum from a plethora of alternatives, employing different activation functions in the context of Artificial Neural Network technique. The performance of the developed model was compared against analytical results, employing several performance indices. It was found that the proposed model achieves remarkably improved predictions of the fire resistance of slim-floor steel beams. Moreover, based on the optimum developed AN model a closed-form equation for the estimation of fire resistance is derived, which can prove a useful tool for researchers and engineers, while at the same time can effectively support the teaching of this subject at an academic level.