• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.363-383
• /
• 2017

In cold-formed stainless steel lipped channel-sections, use of web openings for service purposes are becoming increasingly popular. Web openings, however, result in the sections becoming more susceptible to web crippling. This paper presents a finite element investigation into the web crippling strength of cold-formed stainless steel lipped channel-sections with circular web openings under the interior-two-flange (ITF) loading condition. The cases of web openings located centred and offset to the bearing plates are considered in this study. In order to take into account the influence of the circular web openings, a parametric study involving 2,220 finite element analyses was performed, covering duplex EN1.4462, austenitic EN1.4404 and ferritic EN1.4003 stainless steel grades. From the results of the parametric study, strength reduction factor equations are proposed. The strengths obtained from reduction factor equations are first compared to the strengths calculated from the equations recently proposed for cold-formed carbon steel lipped channel-sections. It is demonstrated that the strength reduction factor equations proposed for cold-formed carbon steel are unconservative for the stainless steel grades by up to 17%. New coefficients for web crippling strength reduction factor equations are then proposed that can be applied to all three stainless steel grades.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.6 no.5
• /
• pp.387-402
• /
• 2003

In the past decades, much effort has been made towards the study of single-mode-based vibration controls with dynamic energy absorbers such as single or multiple Tuned Mass Dampers(TMDs). With the increase of bridge span length and the tendency of the bridge cross-section being more slender and streamlined, multi-mode coupled vibrations as well as their controls have become very important for large bridges susceptible to strong winds. As a simple but effective device, the TMD system especially the semi-active one has become a promising option for such coupled vibration controls. However, despite various studies of optimal controls of single-mode-based vibrations with TMDs, research on the corresponding controls of the multi-mode coupled vibrations is very rare so far. For the development of a semi-active control strategy to suppress the multi-mode coupled vibrations, a comprehensive parametric analysis on the optimal variables of this control is substantial. In the present study, a multi-mode control strategy named "three-row" TMD system is discussed and the general numerical equations are developed at first. Then a parametric study on the optimal control variables for the "three-row" TMD system is conducted for a prototype Humen Suspension Bridge, through which some useful information and a better understanding of the optimal control variables to suppress the coupled vibrations are obtained. This information lays a foundation for the design of semi-active control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.569-585
• /
• 2016

This paper highlights a case study that investigates the behaviour of existing bridge, West Terrace Bridge, induced by horizontal seismic loading. Unfortunately the lack of past information related to seismic activity within the NSW region has made it difficult to understand better the capacity of the structure if Earthquake occurs. The research was conducted through the University of Western Sydney in conjunction with Railcorp Australia, as part of disaster reduction preparedness program. The focus of seismic analyses was on the assessment of stress behaviour, induced by cyclic horizontal/vertical displacements, within the concrete slab and steel truss of the bridge under various Earthquake Year Return Intervals (YRI) of 1-100, 1-200, 1-250, 1-500, 1-800, 1-1000, 1-1500, 1-2000 and 1-2500. Furthermore the stresses and displacements were rigorously analysed through a parametric study conducted using different boundary conditions. The numerical analysis of the concrete slab and steel truss were performed through the finite element software, ABAQUS. The field measurements and observation had been used to validate the results drawn from the finite element simulation. It was illustrated that under a YRI of 1/1000 the bottom chord of the steel truss failed as the stress induced surpassed the ultimate stress capacity and the horizontal displacement exceeded the allowable displacement measured in the field observations whereas the vertical displacement remained within the previously observed limitations. Furthermore the parametric studies in this paper demonstrate that a change in boundary conditions alleviated the stress distribution throughout the structure allowing it to withstand a greater load induced by the earthquake YRI but ultimately failed when the maximum earthquake loading was applied. Therefore it was recommended to provide a gap of 50mm on the end of the concrete slab to allow the structure to displace without increasing the stress in the structure. Finally, this study has proposed a design chart to showcase the failure mode of the bridge when subjected to seismic loading.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.56-67
• /
• 2012

In the present study, an enhanced subsurface prediction algorithm based on a non-parametric geostatistical model and a history matching technique through Gibbs sampler is developed and the iterative prediction improvement procedure is proposed. The developed model is applied to a simple two-dimensional synthetic case where domain is composed of three different hydrogeologic media with $500m{\times}40m$ scale. In the application, it is assumed that there are 4 independent pumping tests performed at different vertical interval and the history curves are acquired through numerical modeling. With two hypothetical borehole information and pumping test data, the proposed prediction model is applied iteratively and continuous improvements of the predictions with reduced uncertainties of the media distribution are observed. From the results and the qualitative/quantitative analysis, it is concluded that the proposed model is good for the subsurface prediction improvements where the history data is available as a supportive information. Once the proposed model be a matured technique, it is believed that the model can be applied to many groundwater, geothermal, gas and oil problems with conventional fluid flow simulators. However, the overall development is still in its preliminary step and further considerations needs to be incorporated to be a viable and practical prediction technique including multi-dimensional verifications, global optimization, etc. which have not been resolved in the present study.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.1227-1250
• /
• 2016

Most of the research work has been conducted on K-joints under static loading. Very limited information is available in consideration of fatigue strength of K-joints with concrete-filled chord. This paper aims to describe experimental and numerical investigations on stress concentration factors (SCFs) of concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints under balanced axial loading. Experiment was conducted to study the hot spot stress distribution along the intersection of chord and braces in the two specimens with compacting concrete filled in the chord. The test results of stress distribution curves of two specimens were reported. SCFs of concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints were lower than those of corresponding hollow circular chord and square brace K-joints. The corresponding finite element analysis was also conducted to simulate stress distribution along the brace and chord intersection region of joints. It was achieved that experimental and finite element analysis results had good agreement. Therefore, an extensive parametric study was carried out by using the calibrated finite element model to evaluate the effects of main geometric parameters and concrete strength on the behavior of concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints under balanced axial loading. The SCFs at the hot spot locations obtained from ABAQUS were compared with those calculated by using design formula given in the CIDECT for hollow SHS-SHS K-joints. CIDECT Design Guide was generally quite conservative for predicting SCFs of braces and was dangerous for predicting SCFs of chord in concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints. Finally SCF formulae were proposed for circular chord and square braces K-joints with concrete-filled in the chord under balanced axial loading. It is shown that the SCFs calculated from the proposed design equation are generally in agreement with the values derived from finite element analysis, which were proved to be reliable and accurate.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.173-190
• /
• 2022

With the development of spatial structures, the joints are becoming more and more complex to connect tubular members of spatial structures. In this study, an approach is proposed to establish high-efficiency finite element model of multiplanar KTX-joint with the weld geometries accurately simulated. Ultimate bearing capacity the KTX-joint is determined by the criterion of deformation limit and failure mechanism of chord wall buckling is studied. Size effect of fillet weld on the joint ultimate bearing capacity is preliminarily investigated. Based on the validated finite element model, a parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of geometric and loading parameters of KT-plane brace members on ultimate bearing capacity of the KTX-joint. The effect mechanism is revealed and several design suggestions are proposed. Several simple reinforcement methods are adopted to constrain the chord wall buckling. It is concluded that the finite element model established by proposed approach is capable of simulating static behaviors of multiplanar KTX-joint; chord wall buckling with large indentation is the typical failure mode of multiplanar KTX-joint, which also increases chord wall displacements in the axis directions of brace members in orthogonal plane; ultimate bearing capacity of the KTX-joint increases approximately linearly with the increase of fillet weld size within the allowed range; the effect mechanism of geometric and loading parameters are revealed by the assumption of restraint region and interaction between adjacent KT-plane brace members; relatively large diameter ratio, small overlapping ratio and small included angle are suggested for the KTX-joint to achieve larger ultimate bearing capacity; the adopted simple reinforcement methods can effectively constrain the chord wall buckling with the design of KTX-joint converted into design of uniplanar KT-joint.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.565-577
• /
• 2022

In this study, a series of three-dimensional numerical parametric study was conducted to investigate deformation mechanisms of an existing box culvert due to an adjacent multi-propped basement excavation in clays. Field measurements from an excavation case history are first used to calibrate a baseline Hardening Soil Small Strain (HS-small) model, which is subsequently adopted for parametric study. Results indicate that the basement-box culvert interaction along the basement centerline can be considered as a plane strain condition when the length of excavation (L) reaches 14 H_e (i.e., final excavation depth). If a plane strain condition (i.e., L/H_e=12.0) is assumed for analyzing the basement-box culvert interaction of a short excavation (i.e., L/H_e=2.0), the maximum settlement and horizontal movement of the box culvert are overestimated significantly by up to 15.7 and 5.1 times, respectively. It is also found that the deformation of box culvert can be greatly affected by the basement excavation if the distance between the box culvert and retaining wall is less than 1.5 H_e. The induced deformation in the box culvert can be dramatically reduced by improving the ground inside the excavation or implementing other precautionary measures. For example, by adding jet grouting columns within the basement and installing an isolation wall behind the retaining structures, the maximum settlements of box culvert are shown to reduce by 37.2% and 13.4%, respectively.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.51 no.5
• /
• pp.543-562
• /
• 2024

While the external axial compressive load is applied to only the shell edge of stringer-stiffened shell in the most of numerical and analytical previous studies (entitled as conventional approach), a part of external load is applied to the stringers in real conditions. It leads to decrease the accuracy of the axial buckling load calculated by the conventional eigenvalue analysis approach performed in the most of previous studies. In this study, the distribution of stress in the pre-buckling analysis was enhanced by applying the axial external compressive load to both shell and stringers to perform an accurate eigenvalue analysis of the stringer-stiffened composite shell. In this regard, a model was developed in FORTRAN environment to simulate the laminated stringer-stiffened shell under axial compressive load using finite strip method. The axial buckling load of the shell was obtained through eigenvalue analysis. A comparison was made between the results obtained from the model and those available in the previous studies to evaluate the validity of the results obtained from the model. Through a parametric study, the effects of different parameters such as stringer properties and composite layup on the buckling load of the shell under different loading patterns were investigated. The results indicated that in some cases, the axial buckling load obtained for the conventional approach used in the most of previous studies is significantly overestimated or underestimated due to neglecting the stringer in distribution of external load applied to the stringer-stiffened shell. According to the results obtained from the parametric study, some graphs were derived to show the accuracy of the axial buckling load obtained from the conventional approach utilized in the literature.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.313-327
• /
• 2008

Thermo-mechanical coupled behavior of an underground structure during a fire accident have not been fully understood yet. Moreover, when such a thermo-mechanical coupled behavior is not considered in numerical analyses based on conventional heat transfer theory, fire-induced damage zone in an underground structure can be considerably underestimated. This study aims to develop a FEM-based numerical technique to simulate the thermo-mechanical coupled behavior of an underground structure in a fire accident. Especially, an element elimination model is newly proposed to simulate fire-induced structural loss together with a convective boundary condition. In the proposed model, an element where the maximum temperature calculated from heat transfer analysis is over a prescribed critical temperature is eliminated. Then, the proposed numerical technique is verified by comparing numerical results with experimental results from real fire model tests. From a series of parametric studies, the key parameters such as critical temperature, element size and temperature-dependent convection coefficients are optimized for the RABT and the RWS fire scenarios.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.203-214
• /
• 2010

This study numerically investigates the wave control of 2-rowed Impermeable Rectangular Submerged Dike(IRSD) with an object of how to control short-period and solitary waves simultaneously based on the Bragg resonance phenomenon that elevates the wave control performance. The boundary integral method using Green formula and the 3-D one-field Model for immiscible TWO-Phase flows (TWOPM-3D) by 3-D numerical wave flume have been used for the numerical predictions for short-period and solitary waves, respectively. These numerical models were verified through the comparisons with the previously published numerical results by other researchers. Through the parametric tests of numerical experiments for short-period waves, an optimum model of 2-rowed IRSD of a lowest transmission coefficient has been found. Furthermore, the performances of 3-D wave control for solitary waves were evaluated for the various free board, crown widths and gap distance between dikes, and have been compared with those of a single-rowed IRSD. Numerical results show that a 2-rowed IRSD with a less cross sectional area than 1-rowed one improves the wave attenuation performances when it is compared to that of single-rowed IRSD. Within the test frequency ranges of the numerical simulations conducted in this study, 2-rowed IRSD with an optimum gap distance shows an outstanding improvement of the wave attenuation up to 58% compared to that of single-rowed IRSD.