• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.629-647
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• 2013

Loading protocols have been developed for quasi-static cyclic testing of structures and components. However, it is uncertain if protocols developed for conditions of intense ground shaking in regions of high seismicity would also be applicable to regions of low-moderate seismicity that are remote from the tectonic plate boundaries. This study presents a methodology for developing a quasi-static cyclic displacement loading protocol for experimental bracing evaluation of cold-formed steel stud shear walls. Simulations presented in the paper were based on conditions of moderate ground shaking (in Australia). The methodologies presented are generic in nature and can be applied to other regions of similar seismicity conditions (which include many parts of China, Korea, India and Malaysia). Numerous response time histories including both linear and nonlinear analyses have been generated for selected earthquake scenarios and site classes. Rain-flow cycle counting method has been used for determining the number of cycles at various ranges of normalized displacement amplitude. It is found that the number of displacement cycles of the loading protocol increases with increasing intensity of ground shaking (associated with a longer return period).

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 2021

Digging well foundation has been widely used in railway bridges due to its good economy and reliability. In other instances, bridges with digging well foundation still have damage risks during earthquakes. However, there is still a lack of knowledge of lateral behavior of digging well foundation considering the soil-foundation interaction. In this study, scaled models of bridge pier-digging well foundation system are constructed for quasi-static test to investigate their lateral behaviors. The failure mechanism and responses of the soil-foundation-pier interaction system are analyzed. The testing results indicate that the digging foundations tend to rotate as a rigid body under cyclic lateral load. Moreover, the depth-width ratio of digging well foundation has a significant influence on the failure mode of the interaction system, especially on the distribution of foundation displacement and the failure of pier. The energy dissipation capacity of the interaction system is discussed by using index of the equivalent viscous damping ratio. The damping varies with the depth-width ratio changing. The equivalent stiffness of soil-digging well foundation-pier interaction system decreases with the increase of loading displacement in a nonlinear manner. The absolute values of the interaction system stiffness are significantly influenced by the depth-width ratio of the foundation.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.621-635
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• 2023

The combination of replaceable and repairable properties in structures has introduced new approach called "Low Damage Design Structures". These structural systems are designed in such a way that through self-centering, primary members and specific connections neither suffer damage nor experience permanent deformations after being exposed to severe earthquakes. The purpose of this study is the seismic assessment of steel moment resisting frames with the aid of rigid rocking cores. To this end, three steel moment resisting frames of 4-, 8-, and 12-story buildings with and without rocking cores were developed. The nonlinear static analysis and incremental dynamic analysis were performed by considering the effects of the vertical and horizontal components of 16 strong ground motions, including far-fault and near-fault arrays. The results reveal that rocking systems benefit from better seismic performance and energy dissipation compared to moment resisting frames and thus structures experience a lower level of damage under higher intensity measures. The analyses show that the interstory drift in structures equipped with stiff rocking cores is more uniform in static and dynamic analyses. A uniform interstory drift distribution leads to a uniform distribution of the bending moment and a reduction in the structure's total weight and future maintenance costs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.107-121
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• 2022

Past studies have shown that the aspect ratio (width-to-height) of a steel plate shear wall (SPSW) can significantly affect its seismic response. SPSWs with lower aspect ratio (narrow SPSW) may experience low lateral stiffness and flexure dominated drift response. As the height of the frame increases, the narrow SPSWs prove to be uneconomical and demonstrate inferior seismic response than their wider counterparts. Moreover, the thicker web plates required for narrow SPSWs exerts high inward pull on the VBEs. The present study suggests the limiting values of the aspect ratio for an SPSW system by evaluating the seismic collapse performance of 3-, 6- and 9-story SPSW systems using FEMA P695 methodology. For this purpose, nonlinear models are developed. These models are validated with the past quasi-static experimental results. Non-linear static analyses and Incremental dynamic analyses are then carried. The results are then utilized to conservatively suggest the limiting values of aspect ratios for SPSW system. In addition to the conventional-SPSW (Conv-SPSW), the collapse performance of staggered-SPSW (S-SPSW) is also explored. Its performance is compared with the Conv-SPSW and the use of S-SPSW is suggested in the cases where SPSW with lower than recommended aspect ratio is desired.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.663-672
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• 2001

Numerous failures in welded connections in steel moment-resisting building frames (SMRF) were observed when buildings were inspected after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. These observations raised concerns about the effectiveness of such frames for resisting strong earthquake ground motions. The behavior of SMRFs during an earthquake must be assessed using nonlinear dynamic analysis, and such assessments must permit the deterioration in connection strength to capture the behavior of the frame. The uncertainties that underlie both structural and dynamic loading also need to be included in the analysis process. This paper describes the analysis of one of approximately 200 SMRFs that suffered damage to its welded beam-to-column connections from the Northridge Earthquake is evaluated. Nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of this SMRF in the time domain is performed using ground motions representing the Northridge Earthquake. Subsequently, a detailed uncertainty analysis is conducted for the building using an ensemble of earthquake ground motions. Probability distributions for deformation-related limit states, described in terms of maximum roof displacement or interstory drift, are constructed. Building fragilities that are useful for condition assessment of damaged building structures and for performance-based design are developed from these distributions.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.417-426
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• 1999

The some papers which deal with the dynamic instability for shell-like structures under the step load have been published, but there are few papers which treat the essential phenomenon of the dynamic buckling using the phase plane for investigating occurrence of chaos. In nonlinear dynamics, examining the characteristics of attractor on the phase plane and investigating the dynamic buckling process are very important thing for understanding why unstable phenomena are sensitively originated by various initial conditions. In this study, the direct and the indirect snap-buckling of shallow arches considering geometrical nonlinearity are investigated numerically and compared with the static critical load.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.359-374
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• 2017

The seismic events in Northern Italy, May 2012, have revealed the seismic vulnerability of typical Italian precast industrial buildings. The aim of this paper is to present a seismic fragility model for Italian RC precast buildings, to be used in earthquake loss estimation and seismic risk assessment by comparing two building typologies and three different codes: D.M. 3-03-1975, D.M. 16-01-1996 and current Italian building code that has been released in 2008. Based on geometric characteristics and design procedure applied, ten different building classes were identified. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed for each building class in order to generate the building stock used for the development of fragility curves trough analytical method. The probabilistic distributions of geometry were mainly obtained from data collected from 650 field surveys, while the material properties were deduced from the code in place at the time of construction or from expert opinion. The structures were modelled in 2D frameworks; since the past seismic events have identified the beam-column connection as the weakest element of precast buildings, two different modelling solutions were adopted to develop fragility curves: a simple model with post processing required to detect connection collapse and an innovative modelling solution able to reproduce the real behaviour of the connection during the analysis. Fragility curves were derived using both nonlinear static and dynamic analysis.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.443-462
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• 2015

Some model building codes stipulate that the design displacement of a building can be computed using the elastic static analysis results multiplied by the deflection amplification factor, $C_d$. This approach for estimating the design displacement is essential and appealing in structural engineering practice when nonlinear response history analysis (NRHA) is not required. Furthermore, building codes stipulate the consideration of accidental torsion effects using accidental eccentricity, whether the buildings are symmetric-plan, or asymmetric-plan. In some model building codes, the accidental eccentricity is further amplified by the torsional amplification factor $A_x$ in order to minimize the discrepancy between statically and dynamically estimated responses. Therefore, this warrants exploration of the reliability of statically estimated design displacements in accordance with the building code requirements. This study uses the discrepancy curves as a way of assessing the reliability of the design displacement estimates resulting from the factors $C_d$ and $A_x$. The discrepancy curves show the exceedance probabilities of the differences between the statically estimated design displacements and NRHA results. The discrepancy curves of 3-story, 9-story, and 20-story example buildings are investigated in this study. The example buildings are steel special moment frames with frequency ratios equal to 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6, as well as existing eccentricity ratios ranging from 0% to 30%.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1001-1021
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• 2015

Ultra-lightweight cement composite (ULCC) with a compressive strength of 60 MPa and density of $1,450kg/m^3$ has been developed and used in the steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich structures. This paper investigates the structural performances of SCS sandwich composite beams with ULCC as filled material. Overlapped headed shear studs were used to provide shear and tensile bond between the face plate and the lightweight core. Three-dimensional nonlinear finite element (FE) model was developed for the ultimate strength analysis of such SCS sandwich composite beams. The accuracy of the FE analysis was established by comparing the predicted results with the quasi-static tests on the SCS sandwich beams. The FE model was also applied to the nonlinear analysis on curved SCS sandwich beam and shells and the SCS sandwich beams with J-hook connectors and different concrete core including ULCC, lightweight concrete (LWC) and normal weight concrete (NWC). Validations were also carried out to check the accuracy of the FE analysis on the SCS sandwich beams with J-hook connectors and curved SCS sandwich structure. Finally, recommended FE analysis procedures were given.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.71-81
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• 1983

This paper was mainly concentrated On the structural analysis of the cable-stayed bridges through the linear and nonlinear analysis method. And also this compares and analyses the characteristics of the two typical system, the radiating and harp arrangement. As a result, The radiating configuration is stiffer than the harp configuration in many respects Besides, the difference between the linear and nonlinear analysis method is proportional to the sag. But as the cable of the cable-stayed bridges is tauter, the difference is lesser.