• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.482-485
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• 2006

The response of a reinforced concrete element under cyclic shear is characterized by the hysteretic loops of the shear stress-strain curves. These hysteretic loops can exhibit strength deterioration, stiffness degradation, and a pinched shape. Recent tests have shown that the orientation of steel grids in RC shear elements has a strong effect on the "pinching effect" in the post-yield hysteretic loops. When the steel grid was set at a 45 degree angle to the shear plane, there was no pinching effect and no strength deterioration. However, when the steel grid was set parallel to the shear plane, there was a severe pinching effect and severe strength deterioration with increasing shear strain magnitude. In this paper, two RC elements subjected to revered cyclic shear stresses are considered to study the effect of the steel grid orientation. The presence and absence of the pinching mechanism in the post-yield shear hysteretic loops is studied using the Rotating Angle Softened Truss Model (RA-STM) theory.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.79-82
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• 2002

A finite element method based on the two-dimensional progressive failure analysis considering material nonlinearity is presented for characterizing the strength and failure of the unidirectional-fabric hybrid laminated composite joints under pin loading. The 8-node laminated shell element is incorporated in the updated Lagrangian formulation. Failure criteria including the Maximum Stress and Tsai-Wu are used in conjunction with the complete unloading stiffness degradation method. For the verification, joint tests are conducted for the specimens with two different ply-number ratios of UD composite to fabric composite. Although there are some differences depending on ply-number ratios, the finite element model using the maximum stress criterion considering nonlinear material behavior predicts the failure strength best.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.129-144
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• 2016

We present a methodology to validate with monitoring data finite element models of existing concrete dams: numerical analyses are performed to assess the structural response under the effects of seasonal loading conditions, represented by hydrostatic pressure on the upstream-downstream dam surfaces and thermal variations as recorded by a thermometers network. We show that the stiffness effect of the rock foundation and the surface degradation of concrete due to aging are crucial aspects to be accounted for a correct interpretation of the real behavior. This work summarizes some general procedures developed by this research group at Politecnico di Milano on traditional static monitoring systems and two significant case studies: a buttress gravity and an arch-gravity dam.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.77-84
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• 2003

In this paper, the refined plastic-hinge analysis accounting for the effect of strain reversal caused by non-proportional loading is developed. This analysis accounts for material and geometric nonlinearities of the structural system and its component members. Moreover, the problem, conventional refined plastic-hinge analyses have underestimated the strength of structures subjected to non-proportional loading, is overcome. The modified stiffness degradation model approximating the effect of strain reversal is discussed in detail. The proposed analysis is verified by the comparison of the finite element analysis. A case study shows that the effect of strain reversal is a very crucial element to be considered in second-order plastic-hinge analysis. The proposed analysis is shown to be an efficient, reliable tool ready to be implemented into design practice.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.616-621
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• 2004

In this paper, the crush characteristics of a tilting train express (TTX) M-car design are evaluated with a head-on collision scenario. Its body shell is divided into three parts - front end, middle section, and rear end. For each part, crush-force relation is evaluated numerically through 3-dimensional shell element analysis with LS-DYNA. TTX's embody structure is a hybrid type structure made of steel and composite materials. Composite sandwich panels are modeled as layered shells whose layers have different material properties. And a damage material model is used to consider the effect of stiffness degradation during deformation. The crush characteristics obtained from these calculations will be used as material modeling data of full-rake collision analyses.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.257-282
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• 2015

In this study, the authors present a coupled fluid-structures-seabed interaction analysis of a monopile type of wind turbine foundations in liquefiable soils. A two dimensional analysis is performed with a nonlinear stiffness degradation model incorporated in the finite difference program Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC), which captured the fundamental mechanisms of the monopiles in saturated granular soil. The effects of inertia and the kinematic flow of soil are investigated separately, to highlight the importance of considering the combined effect of these phenomena on the seismic design of offshore monopiles. Different seismic loads, such as those experienced in the Kobe, Santa Cruz, Loma Prieta, Kocaeli, and Morgan Hill earthquakes, are analyzed. The pore water pressure development, relative displacements, soil skeleton deformation and monopile bending moment are obtained for different predominant frequencies and peak accelerations. The findings are verified with results in the liter.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2020

For the large deformation of shear walls under vertical and horizontal loads, there are difficulties in obtaining accurate simulation results using the response analysis method, even with fine mesh elements. Furthermore, concrete material nonlinearity, stiffness degradation, concrete cracking and crushing, and steel bar damage may occur during the large deformation of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls. Matrix operations that are involved in nonlinear analysis using the traditional finite-element method (FEM) may also result in flaws, and may thus lead to serious errors. To solve these problems, a planar four-node element was developed based on vector mechanics. Owing to particle-based formulation along the path element, the method does not require repeated constructions of a global stiffness matrix for the nonlinear behavior of the structure. The nonlinear concrete constitutive model and bilinear steel material model are integrated with the developed element, to ensure that large deformation and damage behavior can be addressed. For verification, simulation analyses were performed to obtain experimental results on an RC shear wall subjected to a monotonically increasing lateral load with a constant vertical load. To appropriately evaluate the parameters, investigations were conducted on the loading speed, meshing dimension, and the damping factor, because vector mechanics is based on the equation of motion. The static problem was then verified to obtain a stable solution by employing a balanced equation of motion. Using the parameters obtained, the simulated pushover response, including the bearing capacity, deformation ability, curvature development, and energy dissipation, were found to be in accordance with the experimental observation. This study demonstrated the potential of the developed planar element for simulating the entire process of large deformation and damage behavior in RC shear walls.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.699-718
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• 2015

The effect of reinforcing concrete members with high strength steel bars with yield strength up to 600 MPa on the overall seismic behavior of concrete moment frames was studied experimentally and numerically. Three geometrically identical plane frame models with two bays and two stories, where one frame model was reinforced with hot rolled bars (HRB) with a nominal yield strength of 335 MPa and the other two by high strength steel bars with a nominal yield strength of 600 MPa, were tested under simulated earthquake action considering different axial load ratios to investigate the hysteretic behavior, ductility, strength and stiffness degradation, energy dissipation and plastic deformation characteristics. Test results indicate that utilizing high strength reinforcement can improve the structural resilience, reduce residual deformation and achieve favorable distribution pattern of plastic hinges on beams and columns. The frame models reinforced with normal and high strength steel bars have comparable overall deformation capacity. Compared with the frame model subjected to a low axial load ratio, the ones under a higher axial load ratio exhibit more plump hysteretic loops. The proved reliable finite element analysis software DIANA was used for the numerical simulation of the tests. The analytical results agree well with the experimental results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.725-745
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• 2009

In this paper, probabilistic seismic performance assessment of a typical non-seismic RC frame building representative of a large inventory of existing buildings in developing countries is conducted. Nonlinear time-history analyses of the sample building are performed with 20 large-magnitude medium distance ground motions scaled to different levels of intensity represented by peak ground acceleration and 5% damped elastic spectral acceleration at the first mode period of the building. The hysteretic model used in the analyses accommodates stiffness degradation, ductility-based strength decay, hysteretic energy-based strength decay and pinching due to gap opening and closing. The maximum inter story drift ratios obtained from the time-history analyses are plotted against the ground motion intensities. A method is defined for obtaining the yielding and collapse capacity of the analyzed structure using these curves. The fragility curves for yielding and collapse damage levels are developed by statistically interpreting the results of the time-history analyses. Hazard-survival curves are generated by changing the horizontal axis of the fragility curves from ground motion intensities to their annual probability of exceedance using the log-log linear ground motion hazard model. The results express at a glance the probabilities of yielding and collapse against various levels of ground motion intensities.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.77-90
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• 2017

Glazed curtain walls are façade systems frequently chosen in modern architecture for mid and high-rise buildings. From recent earthquakes surveys it is observed the large occurrence of non-structural components failure, such as storefronts and curtain walls, which causes sensitive economic losses and represents an hazard for occupants and pedestrians safety. In the present study, the behavior of curtain wall stick systems under seismic actions has been investigated through experimental in-plane racking tests conducted at the laboratory of the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) on two full-scale aluminium/glass curtain wall test units. A finite element model has been calibrated according to experimental results in order to simulate the behavior of such components under seismic excitation. The numerical model investigates the influence of the interaction between glass panels and aluminium frame, the gasket friction and the stiffness degradation of aluminium-to-glass connections due to the high deformation level on the curtain walls behavior. This study aims to give a practical support to researchers and/or professionals who intend to numerically predict the lateral behavior of similar façade systems, so as to avoid or reduce the need of performing expensive experimental tests.