• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.831-849
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• 2015

Seismic-design procedures for walls require that the confinement in the critical (plastic hinge) regions should extend over a length in the compression zone of the cross section at the wall base where concrete strains in the Ultimate Limit State (ULS) exceed the limit of 0.0035. In a performance-based framework, confinement is linked to required curvature ductility so that the drift demand at the performance point of the structure for the design earthquake may be met. However, performance of flexural walls in the recent earthquakes in Chile (2010) and Christchurch (2011) indicates that the actual compression strains in the critical regions of many structural walls were higher than estimated, being responsible for several of the reported failures by toe crushing. In this study, the method of estimating the confined region and magnitude of compression strain demands in slender walls are revisited. The objective is to account for a newly identified kinematic interaction between the normal strains that arise in the compression zone, and the lumped rotations that occur at the other end of the wall base due to penetration of bar tension yielding into the supporting anchorage. Design charts estimating the amount of yield penetration in terms of the resulting lumped rotation at the wall base are used to quantify the increased demands for compression strain in the critical section. The estimated strain increase may exceed by more than 30% the base value estimated from the existing design expressions, which explains the frequently reported occurrence of toe crushing even in well confined slender walls under high drift demands. Example cases are included in the presentation to illustrate the behavioral parametric trends and implications in seismic design of walls.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.1-17
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• 2008

This study proposes a conceptual framework of in-situ vibration tests and analyses for quality appraisal of non-slender, cast-in-place piles with irregular cross-section configuration. It evaluates a frequency index from vibration recordings to a series of impulse loadings that is related to total soil-resistance forces around a pile, so as to assess if the pile achieves the design requirement in terms of bearing capacity. In particular, in-situ pile-vibration tests in sequential are carried out, in which dropping a weight from different heights generates series impulse loadings with low-to-high amplitudes. The high-amplitude impulse is designed in way that the load will generate equivalent static load that is equal to or larger than the designed bearing capacity of the pile. This study then uses empirical mode decomposition and Hilbert spectral analysis for processing the nonstationary, short-period recordings, so as to single out with accuracy the frequency index. Comparison of the frequency indices identified from the recordings to the series loadings with the design-based one would tell if the total soil resistance force remains linear or nonlinear and subsequently for the quality appraisal of the pile. As an example, this study investigates six data sets collected from the in-situ tests of two piles in Taipu water pump project, Jiangshu Province of China. It concludes that the two piles have the actual axial load capacity higher than the designed bearing capacity. The true bearing capacity of the piles under investigation can be estimated with accuracy if the amplitude of impact loadings is further increased and the analyses are calibrated with the static testing results.

• 한국지진공학회논문집
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.57-65
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• 2010

비닐하우스를 구성하는 세장한 강재 파이프 아치의 정적좌굴 하중을 결정하고 전체구조성능을 평가하기 위하여 수직하중을 단계별로 부가하고 고정햄머 및 이동센서 형식을 취한 일련의 충격하중 진동실험을 수행하였다. 수직 및 수평보조재가 없는 내부아치의 거동 조사에 보다 중점을 두었으며, 계측한 입력-출력 진동기록에 대하여 최신 개발된 고급판별법인 PolyMAX법을 적용하여 고유진동수, 모드형태 및 감쇠율 등과 같은 모달계수를 추출하였다. 이러한 실험결과는 상용 유한요소해석 프로그램인 ANSYS를 사용하여 수행한 다양한 조건의 해석결과와 비교하였으며, 상당히 일치된 경향을 나타냈다. 하지만, 내력의 38%정도에 해당하는 수직하중의 부가에 따른 고유진동수의 감소는 미미한 것으로 나타났다. 이와 관련하여 본 연구의 아치와 같이 매우 세장한 구조물의 현장 진동실험 및 시스템판별 해석을 수행하는데 있어서 예상되는 여러 문제점을 신중하게 토의하였다.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.209-230
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• 2016

The Canton Tower is a high-rise slender structure with a height of 610 m. A structural health monitoring system has been instrumented on the structure, by which data is continuously monitored. This paper presents an investigation on the identified modal properties of the Canton Tower using ambient vibration data collected during a whole day (24 hours). A recently developed Fast Bayesian FFT method is utilized for operational modal analysis on the basis of the measured acceleration data. The approach views modal identification as an inference problem where probability is used as a measure for the relative plausibility of outcomes given a model of the structure and measured data. Focusing on the first several modes, the modal properties of this supertall slender structure are identified on non-overlapping time windows during the whole day under normal wind speed. With the identified modal parameters and the associated posterior uncertainty, the distribution of the modal parameters in the future is predicted and assessed. By defining the modal root-mean-square value in terms of the power spectral density of modal force identified, the identified natural frequencies and damping ratios versus the vibration amplitude are investigated with the associated posterior uncertainty considered. Meanwhile, the correlations between modal parameters and temperature, modal parameters and wind speed are studied. For comparison purpose, the frequency domain decomposition (FDD) method is also utilized to identify the modal parameters. The identified results obtained by the Bayesian method, the FDD method and a finite element model are compared and discussed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.201-211
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• 2017

This study evaluates the reliability of present European codes in predicting the collapse load of columns made with perforated cold-formed steel (CFS) profiles under combined axial load and bending. To this aim, a series of experimental tests on slender open-section specimens have been performed at varying load eccentricity. Preliminarily, stub column tests have also been performed to calculate the effective section properties of the investigated profile. By comparison of experimental data with code-specified M-N strength domains, the authors demonstrate that present code formulations may underestimate the collapse load of thin-walled perforated open sections. The study is the first step of a wider experimental and numerical study aimed at better describing strength domains of perforated CFS open sections.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.159-178
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• 2006

For the slender and flexible cable supported bridges, identification of all the flutter derivatives for the vertical, lateral and torsional motions is essential for its stability investigation. In all, eighteen flutter derivatives may have to be considered, the identification of which using a three degree-of-freedom elastic suspension system has been a challenging task. In this paper, a system identification technique, known as covariance-driven stochastic subspace identification (COV-SSI) technique, has been utilized to extract the flutter derivatives for a typical bridge deck. This method identifies the stochastic state-space model from the covariances of the output-only (stochastic) data. All the eighteen flutter derivatives have been simultaneously extracted from the output response data obtained from wind tunnel test on a 3-DOF elastically suspended bridge deck section-model. Simplicity in model suspension and measurements of only output responses are additional motivating factors for adopting COV-SSI technique. The identified discrete values of flutter derivatives have been approximated by rational functions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.37-48
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• 2004

This paper deals with the strength and deformation of both short and slender concrete filled steel tubular columns under the combined actions of axial compression and bending moment. Sixteen specimens were tested to investigate the effect of fiber reinforced concrete on the ultimate strength and behavior of the composite column. The primary test parameters were load eccentricity and column slenderness. Companion tests were also undertaken on eight numbers of similar empty steel tubes to highlight the synergistic effects of composite column. The test results demonstrate the influence of fiber reinforced concrete on the strength and behavior of concrete filled steel tubular columns.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.3-18
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• 2012

Observed wall damage in recent earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand, where modern building codes exist, exceeded expectations. In these earthquakes, structural wall damage included boundary crushing, reinforcement fracture, and global wall buckling. Recent laboratory tests also have demonstrated inadequate performance in some cases, indicating a need to review code provisions, identify shortcomings and make necessary revisions. Current modeling approaches used for slender structural walls adequately capture nonlinear flexural behavior; however, strength loss due to buckling of reinforcement and nonlinear and shear-flexure interaction are not adequately captured. Additional research is needed to address these issues. Recent tests of reinforced concrete coupling beams indicate that diagonally-reinforced beams detailed according to ACI 318-$11^1$ can sustain plastic rotations of about 6% prior to significant strength loss and that relatively simple modeling approaches in commercially available computer programs are capable of capturing the observed responses. Tests of conventionally-reinforced beams indicate less energy dissipation capacity and strength loss at approximately 4% rotation.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.29-46
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• 2020

In this paper we deal with stability problems of any complex structure that can be modeled by beam and shell finite elements. We use for illustration the steel plate girders, which are used in bridge construction, and in industrial halls or building construction. Long spans, slender cross sections exposed to heavy loads, are all critical design points engineers must take into account. Knowing the critical load that will cause lateral torsional buckling of the girder, or load that can lead to web buckling, as an important scenario to consider in a design process.Many of such problem, including lateral torsional buckling with influence of lateral supports and their spacing on critical load can be solved by the proposed method. An illustrative study of web buckling also includes effects of position and spacing of transverse and longitudinal web stiffeners, where stiffeners can be modelled optionally using shell or frame elements.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.267-287
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• 2020

The dropped objects are identified as one of the top ten causes of fatalities and serious injuries in the oil and gas industry. It is of importance to understand dynamics of dropped objects under water to accurately predict the motion of dropped objects and protect the underwater structures and facilities from being damaged. In this paper, we study non-dimensionalization of two-dimensional (2D) theory for dropped cylindrical objects. Non-dimensionalization helps to reduce the number of free parameters, identify the relative size of effects of force and moments, and gain a deeper insight of the essential nature of dynamics of dropped cylindrical objects under water. The resulting simulations of dimensionless trajectory confirms that drop angle, trailing edge and drag coefficient have the significant effects on dynamics of trajectories and landing location of dropped cylindrical objects under water.