• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.811-831
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• 2015

This paper focuses on the strengthening methods used for improving the compression behaviors of perforated box-section walls as provided in the anchorage zones of steel pylons. Rectangular plates containing double-row continuous elliptical holes are investigated by employing the boundary condition of simple supporting on four edges in the out-of-plane direction of plate. Two types of strengthening stiffeners, named flat stiffener (FS) and longitudinal stiffener (LS), are considered. Uniaxial compression tests are first conducted for 18 specimens, of which 5 are unstrengthened plates and 13 are strengthened plates. The mechanical behaviors such as stress concentration, out-of-plane deformation, failure pattern, and elasto-plastic ultimate strength are experimentally investigated. Finite element (FE) models are also developed to predict the ultimate strengths of plates with various dimensions. The results of FE analysis are validated by test data. The influences of non-dimensional parameters including plate aspect ratio, hole spacing, hole width, stiffener slenderness ratio, as well as stiffener thickness on the ultimate strengths are illustrated on the basis of numerous parametric studies. Comparison of strengthening efficiency shows that the continuous longitudinal stiffener is the best strengthening method for such perforated plates. The simplified formulas used for estimating the compression strengths of strengthened plates are finally proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-37
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• 2018

In this paper, seismic provisions related to built-up special concentrically braced frames (BSCBFs) are investigated under cyclic loading using non-linear finite element analysis of a single-bay single-story frame. These braces, which contain double angle and double channel brace sections, are considered in two types of single diagonal and X-braced frames. The results of this study show that current seismic provisions such as observing the 0.4 ratio for slenderness ratio of individual elements between stitch connectors are conservative in BSCBFs, and can be increased according to the type of braces. Furthermore, such increments will lead to decreasing or remaining the current middle protected zone requirements of each BSCBFs. Failure results of BSCBFs, which are related to the plastic equivalent strain growth of members and ductility capacity of the models, show that the behaviors of double channel back-to-back diagonal braces are more desirable than those of similar face-to-face ones. Also, for double angle diagonal braces, results show that the failure of back-to-back BSCBFs occurs faster in comparison with face-to-face similar braces. In X-braced frames, cyclic and failure behaviors of built-up face-to-face models are more desirable than similar back-to-back braces in general.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.5
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• pp.607-616
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• 2022

In this work, the free vibration problem of a rotating Rayleigh beam is solved using the meshless Petrov-Galerkin method which is a truly meshless method. The Rayleigh beam includes rotatory inertia in addition to Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The radial basis functions, which satisfy the Kronecker delta property, are used for the interpolation. The essential boundary conditions can be easily applied with radial basis functions. The results are obtained using six nodes within a subdomain. The results accurately match with the published literature. Also, the results with Euler-Bernoulli are obtained to compare the change in higher natural frequencies with change in the slenderness ratio (${\sqrt{A_0R^2/I_0}}$). The mass and stiffness matrices are derived where we get two stiffness matrices for the node and boundary respectively. The non-dimensional form is discussed as well.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.195-221
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• 2013

A centrifuge model study is carried out to investigate the behavior of pile subject to negative skin friction induced by pile installation, ground water drawdown and surcharge loading. A single end-bearing pile is examined as the induced negative skin friction would induce the most severe stress on the pile structural material as compared to friction piles. In addition, the behavior of the pile under simultaneous negative skin friction and dead/live loads is examined. To facilitate detailed interpretations of the test results, the model setup is extensively instrumented and involves elaborate test control schemes. To further examine the phenomenon of negative skin friction on an end-bearing pile, finite element analyses were conducted. The numerical analysis is first validated against the centrifuge test data and subsequently extended to examine the effects of pile slenderness ratio, surcharge intensity and pile-soil stiffness ratio on the degree of mobilization of negative skin friction induced on the pile. Finally experimental and numerical studies are conducted to examine the effect of applied transient live load on pile subject to negative skin friction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.149-159
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• 2018

Thermo-mechanical buckling of sandwich beams with a stiff core and face sheets made of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) within the framework of Timoshenko beam theory is presented. The material properties of FG-CNTRC are supposed to vary continuously in the thickness direction and are estimated through the rule of mixture. Also the properties of these materials should be considered temperature dependent. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived by using Hamilton's principle and solved using an efficient technique called the Differential Transform Method (DTM) to achieve the critical buckling of the sandwich beam in uniform thermal environment. A detailed parametric study is guided to investigate the effects of carbon nanotube volume fraction, slenderness ratio, core-to-face sheet thickness ratio, and clamped-clamped, simply-simply and clamped-simply end supports on the critical buckling behavior of sandwich beams with FG-CNTRC face sheets. Numerical results for comparison of sandwich beams with uniformly distributed carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (UD-CNTRC) face sheets with those with FG-CNTRC face sheets are also presented.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.25-43
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• 2024

In this article, a mathematical model is developed to predict the dynamic behavior of bio-inspired composite beam with helicoidal orientation scheme under variable axial load using a unified higher order shear deformation beam theory. The geometrical kinematic relations of displacements are portrayed with higher parabolic shear deformation beam theory. Constitutive equation of composite beam is proposed based on plane stress problem. The variable axial load is distributed through the axial direction by constant, linear, and parabolic functions. The equations of motion and associated boundary conditions are derived in detail by Hamilton's principle. Using the differential quadrature method (DQM), the governing equations, which are integro-differential equations are discretized in spatial direction, then they are transformed into linear eigenvalue problems. The proposed model is verified with previous works available in literatures. Parametric analyses are developed to present the influence of axial load type, orthotropic ratio, slenderness ratio, lamination scheme, and boundary conditions on the natural frequencies of composite beam structures. The present enhanced model can be used especially in designing spacecrafts, naval, automotive, helicopter, the wind turbine, musical instruments, and civil structures subjected to the variable axial loads.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.519-546
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• 2015

This study addresses the load capacity prediction of circular concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns under axial compression using current design codes. Design methods given in the Chinese code CECS 28:2012 (2012), American code AISC 360-10 (2010) and EC4 (2004) are presented and described briefly. A wide range of experimental data of 353 CFST columns is used to evaluate the applicability of CECS 28:2012 in calculating the strength of circular CFST columns. AISC 360-10 and EC4 (2004) are also compared with the test results. The comparisons indicate that all three codes give conservative predictions for both short and long CFST columns. The effects of concrete strength, steel strength and diameter-to-thickness ratio on the accuracy of prediction according to CECS 28:2012 are discussed, which indicate a possibility of extending the limitations on the material strengths and diameter-to-thickness ratio to higher values. A revised equation for slenderness reduction factor in CECS 28:2012 is given.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.205-219
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• 2019

This paper analyzes nonlinear free vibration of the circular nano-tubes made of functionally graded materials in the framework of nonlocal strain gradient theory in conjunction with a refined higher order shear deformation beam model. The effective material properties of the tube related to the change of temperature are assumed to vary along the radius of tube based on the power law. The refined beam model is introduced which not only contains transverse shear deformation but also satisfies the stress boundary conditions where shear stress cancels each other out on the inner and outer surfaces. Moreover, it can degenerate the Euler beam model, the Timoshenko beam model and the Reddy beam model. By incorporating this model with Hamilton's principle, the nonlinear vibration equations are established. The equations, including a material length scale parameter as well as a nonlocal parameter, can describe the size-dependent in linear and nonlinear vibration of FGM nanotubes. Analytical solution is obtained by using a two-steps perturbation method. Several comparisons are performed to validate the present analysis. Eventually, the effects of various physical parameters on nonlinear and linear natural frequencies of FGM nanotubes are analyzed, such as inner radius, temperature, nonlocal parameter, strain gradient parameter, scale parameter ratio, slenderness ratio, volume indexes, different beam models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.643-658
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• 2024

To date, shell-solid and fibre element model analysis are the most commonly used methods to investigate the seismic performance of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) bridge piers. However, most existing research does not consider the loss of bearing capacity caused by the fracture of the outer steel tube. To fill this knowledge gap, a refined finite element (FE) model considering the ductile damage of steel tubes and the behaviour of infilled concrete with cracks is established and verified against experimental results of unidirectional, bidirectional cyclic loading tests and pseudo-dynamic loading tests. In addition, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the seismic performance of CFST bridge piers with different concrete strength, steel strength, axial compression ratio, slenderness ratio and infilled concrete height using the proposed model. The validation shows that the proposed refined FE model can effectively simulate the residual displacement of CFST bridge piers subjected to highintensity earthquakes. The parametric analysis indicates that CFST piers hold sufficient strength reserves and sound deformation capacity and, thus, possess excellent application prospects for bridge construction in high-intensity areas.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.463-480
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• 2020

Although detailed shell analysis is suitable to predict the ductile crack initiation life of steel members, such detailed method adds time expense and complexity. In order to simply predict the ductile crack initiation life of stiffened steel bridge piers, a total of 33 cases are simulated to carry out the parametric analyses. In the analysis, the effects of the width-to-thickness ratio, slenderness ratio, plate thickness and so on are considered. Both shell analyses and beam analyses about these 33 cases are conducted. The plastic strain and damage index obtained from shell and beam analyses are compared. The modified factor β_s is determined based on the predicted results obtained from both shell and beam analyses in order to simulate the strain concentration at the base corner of the steel bridge piers. Finally, three experimental results are employed to verify the validity of the proposed method in this study.