• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2022

To study the working mechanism and size effect of an innovative dovetail UHPC joint originated from the 5th Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, a large-scale testing subject to negative bending moment was conducted and compared with the previous scaled specimens. The static responses, i.e., the crack pattern, failure mode, ductility and stiffness degradation were analyzed. It was found that the scaled specimens presented similar working stages and working mechanism with the large-scale ones. However, the post-cracking ductility and relative stiffness degradation all decrease with the enlarged length/scale, apart from the relative stiffness after flexural cracking. The slab stiffness at the flexural cracking stage is 90% of the initial stiffness while only 24% of the initial stiffness reserved in the ultimate stage. Finite element model (FEM) was established and compared with the experiments to verify its effectiveness in exploring the working mechanism of the innovative joint. Based on this effective method, a series of FEMs were established to further study the influence of material strength, pre-stressing level and ratio of reinforcement on its deflection-load relationship. It is found that the ratio of reinforcement can significantly improve its load-carrying capacity among the three major-influenced factors.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.323-331
• /
• 2020

Pile foundation is widely used for railway bridges in loess throughout northwestern China. Modeling of the loess-pile interaction is an essential part for seismic analysis of bridge with pile foundation at seismically active regions. A quasi-static test is carried out to investigate the hysteretic behaviors of pile foundation in collapsible loess. The failure characteristics of the bridge pile-loess system under the cyclic lateral loading are summarized. From the test results, the energy dissipation, stiffness degradation and ductility of the pile foundation in loess are analyzed. Therefore, a bilinear model with stiffness degradation is recommended for the nonlinearity of the bridge pier-pile-loess system. It can be found that the stiffness of the bridge pier-pile-loess system decreases quickly in the initial stage, and then becomes more slowly with the increase of the displacement ductility. The equivalent viscous damping ratio is defined as the ratio of the dissipated energy in one cycle of hysteresis curves and increases with the lateral displacement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.82 no.3
• /
• pp.369-383
• /
• 2022

In this study, an equivalent boundary conditions (BCs) determination method is developed numerically for a panel reinforced concrete (RC) slab to realistically analyze the deformation and fatigue behaviors of a bridge RC slab. For this purpose, a finite element analysis of a bridge RC slab is carried out beforehand to calculate the stiffness of the bridge RC slab, and then the equivalent BCs for the panel RC slab are determined to achieve the same stiffness at the BCs to the obtained stiffness of the bridge RC slab at the corresponding locations of the bridge RC slab. Moreover, for the simulation of fatigue behaviors, fatigue analysis of the panel RC slab is carried out employing a finite element method based on a numerical model that considers the bridging stress degradation. Both the determined equivalent BCs and the BCs that have been typically applied in past studies are employed. The analysis results confirm that, in contrast to the panel RC slab with typically used BCs, the panel RC slab with equivalent BCs simulate the same bending moment distribution and deformation behaviors of the bridge RC slab. Furthermore, the equivalent BCs reproduce the extensive grid crack pattern in the panel RC slab, which is alike the pattern normally witnessed in a bridge RC slab. Conclusively, the panel RC slab with equivalent BCs behaves identical to the bridge RC slab, and, as a result, it shows more realistic fatigue behaviors observed in the bridge RC slab.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.76 no.4
• /
• pp.541-550
• /
• 2020

As a new type of concrete material, basic magnesium sulfate cement concrete (BMSC) has the advantages, such as early strength, high strength, good toughness and crack resistance. However, it is unclear about the degradation of the mechanical properties of BMSC columns, which is exposed to the natural environment for several years. In order to apply this new concrete to practical engineering, six large-eccentricity compressive columns of BMSC were studied. The mechanical properties such as the crack propagation, failure morphology, lateral displacement and bearing capacity of BMSC column were studied. The results show that the degradation rate of ultimate load of BMSC column is from 6% to 7%. The degradation rate of the stiffness of the column is from 6% to 13%. With the increase of compressive strength of BMSC, the axial displacement and lateral displacement are gradually reduced. The calculation model of bearing capacity of the BMSC column under the large eccentric compression is proposed. This paper provides a reference for the application of BMSC columns in the civil engineering.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2003.09a
• /
• pp.191-198
• /
• 2003

Flat slab system has been adopted in many buildings constructed recently because of the advantage of reduced floor heights to meet the economical and architectural demands. Structural engineers commonly use the equivalent frame method(EFM) with equivalent beams proposed by Jacob S. Grossman in practical engineering for the analysis of flat slab structures. However, in many cases, when it is difficult to use the EFM, it is necessary to use a refined finite element model for an accurate analysis. But it would take significant amount of computational time and memory if the entire building structure were subdivided into a finer mesh. An efficient analytical method is proposed in this study to obtain accurate results in significantly reduced computational time. The proposed method employs super elements developed using the matrix condensation technique and fictitious beams are used in the development of super elements to enforce the compatibility at the interfaces of super elements. The stiffness degradation of flat slab system considered in the EFM was taken into account by reducing the elastic modulus of floor slabs in this study. Static and dynamic analyses of example structures were peformed and the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method were verified by comparing the results with those of the refined finite element model and the EFM.

• Selected Papers of The Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.106-128
• /
• 1994

An elasto-plastic-damage constitutive model for ductile materials is proposed within the framework of a thermodynamic approach of continuum damage mechanics (CDM) in which internal irreversible thermodynamic changes of micro-structure of materials such as plastic deformation and damage evolution are considered as thermodynamic state variables. The new constitutive model can predict not only the elasto-plastic behaviors but also the sequential stiffness degradation process of ductile materials more rationally.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 1998.04a
• /
• pp.25-32
• /
• 1998

Most recent seismic design codes include Response Modification Factor(RMF) for determining equivalent lateral forces. The RMF is used to reduce the linear elastic design spectrum to account for the energy dissipation capacity, overstrength and damping of the structure. In this study the RMF is defined as the ratio of the absolute maximum linear elastic base shear to the absolute maximum nonlinear base shear of a structure subject to the same earthquake accelerogram. This study investigates the effect of hysteretic model, as well as target ductility ratio and natural period on duct based RMF using nonlinear dynamic analyses of the SDOF systems. Special emphasis is given to the effects of the hysteretic characteristics such as strength deterioration and stiffness degradation. Results indicate that RMFs are dependent on ductility, period and hysteretic model.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.207-210
• /
• 2005

The objective of this research is to evaluate of seismic performance for reinforced concrete bridge piers with lap splices of longitudinal reinforcement steels using predict of nonlinear hysteric behavior. For the purpose, analytical trilinear hysteretic model has been used to simulate the force displacement hysteretic curve of RC bridge piers under repeated reversal loads. The moment capacity and corresponding curvature in the plastic hinge have been determined, and the enhanced hysteretic behavior model by five different kinds of branches has been proposed for modeling the stiffness variation of RC section under cyclic loading. The strength and stiffness degradation index are introduced to compute the hysteretic curve vary confinement steel ratio. In addition, the modified curvature factor has been introduced to forecast of seismic performance of longitudinal steel lap spliced and retrofitted specimens.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.375-382
• /
• 2023

The H-shaped steel beam is popular due to its ease of manufacturing and connection to the column. This profile, which is used as a shallow beam, needs the high weak-axis bending stiffness and torsional stiffness to meet the overall stability. Achieving the local beam flange stability, bearing capacity, bending stiffness, and torsional requirements need a great thickness and width of the beam flange, which causes, which will cause more uneconomical structural design. So, the box-section beam is the ideal alternative. However, the current design specifications do not have design rules for the bolt-and-welded connection of the box-section beam and box-section column. The paper proposes a novel bolt-and-welded connection of the box-section beams and box-section columns based on a high-rise structural design scheme. Three connection models, BASE, WBF, and RBS, are analyzed under cyclic loading in ABAQUS software. The failure modes, hysteresis response, bearing capacity, ductility, plastic rotation angle, energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation of all models are determined and compared. Compared with the other two models, the model WBF exhibited excellent seismic performance, ductility, and plastic rotation ability. Finally, model WBF was chosen as the connection scheme used in the project design.

• Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.31-50
• /
• 1996

In this paper, a finite element analysis based on the local approach concept to fracture in the continuum damage mechanics is performed to analyze ductile fracture in two dimensional quasi-static state. First an isotropic damage model based on the generalized concept of effective stress is proposed for structural materials in the context of large deformation. In this model, the stiffness degradation is taken as a measure of damage and so, the fracture phenomenon can be explained as the critical deterioration of stiffness at a material point. The modified Riks' continuation technique is used to solve incremental iterative equations. Crack propagation is achieved by removing critically damaged elements. The mesh size sensitivity analysis and the simulation of the well known shearing mode failure in plane strain state are carried out to verify the present formulation. As numerical examples, an edge cracked plate and the specimen with a circular hole under plane stress are taken. Load-displacement curves and successively fractured shapes are shown. From the results, it can be concluded that the proposed model based on the local approach concept in the continuum damage mechanics may be stated as a reasonable tool to explain ductile fracture initiation and crack propagation.