• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.937-956
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• 2014

The MEMS structures usually are made from silicon; consideration of the viscoelastic effect in microbeams duo to the phenomena of silicon creep is necessary. Application of the fractional model of microbeams made from viscoelastic materials is studied in this paper. Quasi-static and dynamical responses of an electrically actuated viscoelastic microbeam are investigated. For this purpose, a nonlinear finite element formulation of viscoelastic beams in combination with the fractional derivative constitutive equations is elucidated. The four-parameter fractional derivative model is used to describe the constitutive equations. The electric force acting on the microbeam is introduced and numerical methods for solving the nonlinear algebraic equation of quasi-static response and nonlinear equation of motion of dynamical response are described. The deflected configurations of a microbeam for different purely DC voltages and the tip displacement of the microbeam under a combined DC and AC voltages are presented. The validity of the present analysis is confirmed by comparing the results with those of the corresponding cases available in the literature.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.727-747
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• 2008

In the framework of the SPEAR (Seismic PErformance Assessment and Rehabilitation) research Project, an under-designed three storey RC frame structure, designed to sustain only gravity loads, was subjected, in three different configurations 'as-built', Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) retrofitted and rehabilitated by reinforced concrete (RC) jacketing, to a series of bi-directional pseudodynamic (PsD) tests under different values of peak ground acceleration (PGA) (from a minimum of 0.20g to a maximum of 0.30g). The seismic deficiencies exhibited by the 'as-built' structure after the test at PGA level of 0.20g were confirmed by a post - test assessment of the structural seismic capacity performed by a nonlinear static pushover analysis implemented on the structure lumped plasticity model. To improve the seismic performance of the 'as-built' structure', two rehabilitation interventions by using either FRP laminates or RC jacketing were designed. Assumptions for the analytical modeling, design criteria and calculation procedures along with local and global intervention measures and their installation details are herein presented and discussed. Nonlinear static pushover analyses for the assessment of the theoretical seismic capacity of the structure in each retrofitted configuration were performed and compared with the experimental outcomes.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.23-42
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• 2009

In order to reduce vibration or to control shape of structures made of metal or composites, piezoelectric materials have been extensively used since their discovery in 1880's. A recent trend is also seen to apply piezoelectric materials to flexible structures made of rubber-like materials. In this paper a non-linear finite element model using updated Lagrangian (UL) approach has been developed for static analysis of rubber-elastic material with surface-bonded piezoelectric patches. A compressible stain energy function has been used for modeling the rubber as hyperelastic material. For formulation of the nonlinear finite element model a twenty-node brick element is used. Four degrees of freedom u, v and w and electrical potential ${\varphi}$ per node are considered as the field variables. PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) patches are applied as sensors/actuators or sensors and actuators. The present model has been applied to bimorph PVDF cantilever beam to validate the formulation. It is then applied to study the smart rubber components under different boundary and loading conditions. The results predicted by the present formulation are compared with the analytical solutions as well as the available published results. Some results are given as new ones as no published solutions available in the literatures to the best of the authors' knowledge.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 2013

Nonlinear Static Procedures (NSPs) have been developed as a practical tool to estimate the seismic demand of structures. Several researches have accomplished to minimize errors of NSPs, namely pushover procedures, in the Nonlinear Time History Analysis (NTHA), as the most exact method. The most important issue in a typical pushover procedure is the pattern and technique of loading which are extracted based on structural dynamic fundamentals. In this paper, the coefficients of modal force combination is focused involving a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm to find the optimum load pattern which results in a response with minimum amount of errors in comparison to the NTHA counterpart. Other parameters of the problem are based on the FEMA recommendations for pushover analysis of building structures. The proposed approach is implemented on a high-rise 20 storey concrete moment resisting frame under three earthquake records. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the studied procedure the results are presented beside other well-known pushover methods such as MPA and the FEMA procedures, and the results show the efficiency of the proposed load patterns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.395-409
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• 2022

The presence of infill generally neglected in design despite the fact that infill contribution significantly increase the lateral stiffness and strength of the reinforced concrete frame structure. Several experimental studies and computational models have been proposed to capture the rational response of infill-frame interaction at global level. However, limited studies are available on explicit finite element modelling to study the local behavior due to high computation and convergence issues in numerical modelling. In the current study, the computational modelling of RC frames is done with various configurations of infill masonry in terms of types of blocks, lateral loading and reinforcement detailing employed with material nonlinearities, interface contact issues and bond-slip phenomenon particularly near the beam-column joints. To this end, extensive computational modelling of five variant characteristics test specimens extracted from the detailed experimental program available in literature and process through nonlinear static analysis in FEM code, ATENA generally used to capture the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. Results are presented in terms of damage patterns and capacity curves by employing the finest possible detail provided in the experimental program. Comparative analysis shows that good correlation amongst the experimental and numerical simulated results both in terms of capacity and crack patterns.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.237-244
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• 2023

This study analyzes the seismic response of traffic light poles, considering soil-foundation effects through nonlinear static and time history analyses. Two poles are investigated, uni-directional and bi-directional, each with 9 m mast arms. Finite element models incorporate the poles, soil, and concrete foundations for analysis. Results show that the initial stiffness of the traffic light poles decreases by approximately 38% due to soil effects, and the drift ratio at which their nonlinear behavior occurs is 77% of scenarios without considering soil effects. The maximum acceleration response increases by about 82% for uni-directional poles and 73% for bi-directional poles, while displacement response increases by approximately 10% for uni-directional and 16% for bi-directional poles when considering soil-foundation effects. Additionally, increasing ground motion intensity reduces soil restraints, making significant rotational displacement the dominant response mechanism over flexural displacement for the traffic light poles. These findings underscore the importance of considering soil-foundation interactions in analyzing the seismic behavior of traffic light poles and provide valuable insights to enhance their seismic resilience and safety.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.279-297
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• 2014

This paper investigates the effects of confinement reinforcement and concrete strength on nonlinear behaviour of reinforced concrete buildings (RC). For numerical application, an eleven-storey and four bays reinforced concrete frame building is selected. Nonlinear incremental static (pushover) analyses of the building are performed according to various concrete strengths and whether appropriate confinement reinforcement, which defined in Turkish seismic code, exists or not at structural elements. In nonlinear analysis, distributed plastic hinge model is used. As a result of analyses, capacity curves of the frame building and moment-rotation curves at lower end sections of ground floor columns are determined. These results are compared with each other according to concrete strength and whether appropriate confinement reinforcement exists or not, respectively. According to results, it is seen that confinement reinforcement is important factor for increasing of building capacity and decreasing of rotations at structural elements.

• 전기의세계
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.5-10
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• 1964

Some nonlinearities in feedback control systems, such as relay servo, Coulomb friction, saturating amplifier of backlash in gears cause some undesirable effects. These may be static errors, limit cycles or jump phenomena. So, linearizing method of these nonlinearities using dither signals was first suggested by Loeb. He pointed out that the addition of high frequency signal to either the input or the output of a nonlinear system would make the nonlinear performance approximate the performance of linear systems. He used high-frequency sinusoidal wave as dither signal. But, in this thesis, general method of analysis is suggested for nonlinear control systmes using various dither signals, such as noise signal of Gaussian amplitude distribution, sinusoidal dither signal and sawtooth dither signal. Also, the advantage and disadvantage of these dither signals are compared. Throughout the analysis statistical method is adopted and lastly analog computer is used for the experiment of various nonlinear systems using dither signals.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.395-409
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• 2016

Nonlinear vibration characteristics of composite laminated trapezoidal plates are studied. The geometric nonlinearity of the plate based on the von Karman's large deformation theory is considered, and the finite element method (FEM) is proposed for the present nonlinear modeling. Hamilton's principle is used to establish the equation of motion of every element, and through assembling entire elements of the trapezoidal plate, the equation of motion of the composite laminated trapezoidal plate is established. The nonlinear static property and nonlinear vibration frequency ratios of the composite laminated rectangular plate are analyzed to verify the validity and correctness of the present methodology by comparing with the results published in the open literatures. Moreover, the effects of the ply angle and the length-high ratio on the nonlinear vibration frequency ratios of the composite laminated trapezoidal plates are discussed, and the frequency-response curves are analyzed for the different ply angles and harmonic excitation forces.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.33-37
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• 2010