• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.353-364
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• 2007

In this paper, a nonlinear finite element analysis program NUCAS, which has been developed for assessment of ultimate pressure capacity and failure mode for nuclear containment building is described. Degenerated shell element with assumed strain method and low-order solid element with enhanced assumed strain method is adapted to microscopic material and elasto-plastic material model, respectively. Finally, the performance of the developed program is tested and demonstrated with several examples. From the numerical tests, the present results show a good agreement with experimental data or other numerical results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.633-644
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• 2018

This paper presents the results of an assessment of the seismic fragility of a long, curved multi-frame bridge under multi-support earthquake excitations. To achieve this aim, the numerical model of columns retrofitted with elliptical steel jackets was developed and validated using existing experimental results. A detailed nonlinear numerical model of the bridge that can capture the inelastic response of various components was then created. Using nonlinear time-history analyses for a set of stochastically generated spatially variable ground motions, component demands were derived and then convolved with new capacity-based limit state models to obtain seismic fragility curves. The comparison of failure probabilities obtained from uniform and multi-support excitation analyses revealed that the consideration of spatial variability significantly reduced the median value of fragility curves for most components except for the abutments. This observation indicates that the assumption of uniform motions may considerably underestimate seismic demands. Moreover, the spatial correlation of ground motions resulted in reduced dispersion of demand models that consequently decreased the dispersion of fragility curves for all components. Therefore, the spatial variability of ground motions needs to be considered for reliable assessment of the seismic performance of long multi-frame bridge structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.237-262
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• 2015

In this study, we try to compare different intensity measures for evaluating nonlinear response of bridge structure. This paper presents seismic analytic fragility of a three-span concrete girder highway bridge. A complete detail of bridge modeling parameters and also its verification has been presented. Fragility function considers the relationship of intensities of the ground motion and probability of exceeding certain state of damage. Incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) has been subjected to the bridge from medium to strong ground motions. A suite of 20 earthquake ground motions with different range of PGAs are used in nonlinear dynamic analysis of the bridge. Complete sensitive analyses have been done on the response of bridge and also efficiency and practically of them are studied to obtain a proficient intensity measure for these types of structure by considering its sensitivity to the period of the bridge. Three dimensional finite element (FE) model of the bridge is developed and analyzed. The numerical results show that the bridge response is very sensitive to the earthquake ground motions when PGA and Sa (Ti, 5%) are used as intensity measure (IM) and also indicated that the failure probability of the bridge system is dominated by the bridge piers.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.213-226
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• 2018

This paper focuses on the seismic protection of slender old masonry structures by the implementation of prestressing devices at key locations. The devices are vertically and externally located inside the towers in order to be reversible and calibrated. An extensive parametric study on a selected slender tower is carried out based on more than 100 nonlinear static simulations aimed at investigating the impact of different parameters on the seismic performance: (i) different prestressing levels; (ii) shape memory alloy superelasticity and (iii) changes in prestressing-forces in all the stages of the analysis until failure and masonry toe crushing. The tendon materials under analysis are conventional prestressing steel, fiber-reinforced polymers of different fibers and shape memory alloys. The parametric study serves to select the most suitable prestressing device and optimal prestressing level able to dissipate more earthquake energy. The seismic energy dissipation is evaluated by comparing the structural capacity curves in original state and retrofitted.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.695-710
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• 2014

This paper presents a theoretical and computational approach to solve inelastic structures subjected to overloads. Current practice in structural design is based on elastic analysis followed by limit strength design. Whereas this approach typically results in safe strength design, it does not always guarantee satisfactory performance at the service level because the internal stiffness distribution of the structure changes from the service to the ultimate strength state. A significant variation of relative stiffnesses between the two states may result in unwanted cracking at the service level with expensive repairs, while, under certain circumstances, early failure may occur due to unexpected internal moment reversals. To address these concerns, a new inelastic model is presented here that is based on the nonlinear material response and the interaction relation between axial forces and bending moments of a beam-column element. The model is simple, reasonably accurate, and computationally efficient. It is easy to implement in standard structural analysis codes, and avoids the complexities of expensive alternative analyses based on 2D and 3D finite-element computations using solid elements.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.343-354
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• 2018

A realistic FEM structural model is developed to predict the behavior, load transfer, force distribution and performance of a riverine platform under earthquake and environmental loads. The interaction between the transfer plate and the piles supporting the platform is investigated. Transfer plate structures have the ability to redistribute the loads from the superstructure above to piles group below, to provide safe transits of loads to piles group and thus to the soil, without failure of soil or structural elements. The distribution of piles affects the distribution of stress on both soil and platform. A materially nonlinear earthquake response spectrum analysis was performed on this riverine platform subjected to earthquake and environmental loads. A fixed connection between the piles and the platform is better in the design of the piles and the prospect of piles collapse is low while a hinged connection makes the prospect of damage high because of the larger displacements. A fixed connection between the piles and the platform is the most demanding case in the design of the platform slab (transfer plate) because of the high stress values developed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.85-107
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• 2012

The building frame and its foundation along with the soil on which it rests, together constitute a complete structural system. In the conventional analysis, a structure is analysed as an independent frame assuming unyielding supports and the interactive response of soil-foundation is disregarded. This kind of analysis does not provide realistic behaviour and sometimes may cause failure of the structure. Also, the conventional analysis considers infill wall as non-structural elements and ignores its interaction with the bounding frame. In fact, the infill wall provides lateral stiffness and thus plays vital role in resisting the seismic forces. Thus, it is essential to consider its effect especially in case of high rise buildings. In the present research work the building frame, infill wall, isolated column footings (open foundation) and soil mass are considered to act as a single integral compatible structural unit to predict the nonlinear interaction behaviour of the composite system under seismic forces. The coupled isoparametric finite-infinite elements have been used for modelling of the interaction system. The material of the frame, infill and column footings has been assumed to follow perfectly linear elastic relationship whereas the well known hyperbolic soil model is used to account for the nonlinearity of the soil mass.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1990.10a
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• pp.47-54
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• 1990

Under external loads, large panel structures behave quite differently from monolithic wall structures, because of the distinct planes of weakness in the horizontal and vertical joints between panels. Study on the ultimate load and the failure mode of the large panel structures under extream lateral loads is therefore important. The purpose of this study is to predict the nonlinear behavior of the structure using the general purpose nonlinear computer program 'ANSR' being based on the quasi-static test results of the large panel structure(full scale in two story) and to examine the distribution and change mode of the internal forces which can not be obtained in the test.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.917-938
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• 2015

The nonlinear numerical analysis of the impact response of reinforced concrete/mortar beam incorporated with the updated Lagrangian method, namely the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is carried out in this study. The analysis includes the simulation of the effects of high mass low velocity impact load falling on beam structures. Three material models to describe the localized failure of structural elements are: (1) linear pressure-sensitive yield criteria (Drucker-Prager type) in the pre-peak regime for the concrete/mortar meanwhile, the shear strain energy criterion (Von Mises) is applied for the steel reinforcement (2) nonlinear hardening law by means of modified linear Drucker-Prager envelope by employing the plane cap surface to simulate the irreversible plastic behavior of concrete/mortar (3) implementation of linear and nonlinear softening in tension and compression regions, respectively, to express the complex behavior of concrete material during short time loading condition. Validation upon existing experimental test results is conducted, from which the impact behavior of concrete beams are best described using the SPH model adopting an average velocity and erosion algorithm, where instability in terms of numerical fragmentation is reduced considerably.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.193-209
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• 2020

In this paper, the efficiency of five Machine Learning (ML) methods consisting of Deep Learning (DL), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Decision Tree (DT), and Gradient Tree Booting (GTB) for regression and classification of the Ultimate Load Factor (ULF) of nonlinear inelastic steel frames is compared. For this purpose, a two-story, a six-story, and a twenty-story space frame are considered. An advanced nonlinear inelastic analysis is carried out for the steel frames to generate datasets for the training of the considered ML methods. In each dataset, the input variables are the geometric features of W-sections and the output variable is the ULF of the frame. The comparison between the five ML methods is made in terms of the mean-squared-error (MSE) for the regression models and the accuracy for the classification models, respectively. Moreover, the ULF distribution curve is calculated for each frame and the strength failure probability is estimated. It is found that the GTB method has the best efficiency in both regression and classification of ULF regardless of the number of training samples and the space frames considered.