• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.185-215
• /
• 2005

Advanced signal processing techniques have been long introduced and widely used in structural health monitoring (SHM) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE). In our research, we applied several signal processing approaches for our embedded ultrasonic structural radar (EUSR) system to obtain improved damage detection results. The EUSR algorithm was developed to detect defects within a large area of a thin-plate specimen using a piezoelectric wafer active sensor (PWAS) array. In the EUSR, the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was first applied for signal de-noising. Secondly, after constructing the EUSR data, the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT) were used for the time-frequency analysis. Then the results were compared thereafter. We eventually chose continuous wavelet transform to filter out from the original signal the component with the excitation signal's frequency. Third, cross correlation method and Hilbert transform were applied to A-scan signals to extract the time of flight (TOF) of the wave packets from the crack. Finally, the Hilbert transform was again applied to the EUSR data to extract the envelopes for final inspection result visualization. The EUSR system was implemented in LabVIEW. Several laboratory experiments have been conducted and have verified that, with the advanced signal processing approaches, the EUSR has enhanced damage detection ability.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.115-134
• /
• 2003

The Ting Kau Bridge in Hong Kong is a cable-stayed bridge comprising two main spans and two side spans. The bridge deck is supported by three towers, an end pier and an abutment. Each of the three towers consists of a single reinforced concrete mast which reduces its section in steps, and it is strengthened by transverse cables and struts in the transverse vertical plane. The bridge deck is supported by four inclined planes of cables emanating from anchorages at the tower tops. In view of the threat from typhoons, the dynamic behaviour of long-span cable-supported bridges in the region is always an important consideration in their design. This paper is devoted to the ambient vibration measurements of the bridge for evaluation of dynamic characteristics including the natural frequencies and mode shapes. It also describes the modelling of the bridge. A few finite element models are developed and calibrated to match with the field data and the results of subsequent structural health monitoring of the bridge.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.191-204
• /
• 2015

Control of the mechanical behavior of composite materials and structures under monotonic and dynamic loads for cracks and damage is a vast and complex area of research. The modeling of the different physical phenomena and behavior characteristics of a composite material during deformation play an important role in the structural design. Our study aims to analyze numerically the energy release rate parameter G of a composite laminated plate (glass or boron / epoxy) cross-ply [$+{\alpha}$, $-{\alpha}$] in the presence of a crack between two circular notches under the effect of several parameters such as fiber orientation ${\alpha}$, the crack orientation ${\beta}$, the orientation ${\gamma}$ of the two considered circular notches and the effect of mechanical properties. Our results show clearly that both notches orientation has more effect on G than the cracks and fibers orientations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.1193-1203
• /
• 2016

This paper focuses on the analytical behavior of modular circular concrete-filled tubular (CFT) column with enhanced bracing details. To design a full-scale bridge pier of multiple circular concrete-filled tubes, numerical analysis was used to evaluate structural performance according to load directivity. In previous research (Ma et al. 2012, Shim et al. 2014), low cycle fatigue failure at bracing joints was observed, so enhanced bracing details to prevent premature failure are proposed in this analysis. The main purpose of this research is to investigate seismic performance for the diagonal direction load without premature failure at the joints when the structure reaches the ultimate load. The ABAQUS finite-element software is used to evaluate experimental performance. A quasi-static loading condition on a modular bridge pier is introduced to investigate structural performance. The results obtained from the analysis are evaluated by comparing with load-displacement responses from experiments. The concrete-filled tubes with enhanced bracing details showed higher energy dissipation capacity and proper performance without connection failure for a diagonal load.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.725-745
• /
• 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
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.741-758
• /
• 2013

In this study, inelastic displacement ratios are investigated for existing systems with known lateral strength considering soil structure interaction. For this purpose, SDOF systems for period range of 0.1-3.0 s with different hysteretic behaviors are considered for a number of 18 earthquake motions recorded on soft soil. The effect of stiffness degradation on inelastic displacement ratios is investigated. The Modified Clough model is used to represent structures that exhibit significant stiffness degradation when subjected to reverse cyclic loading and the elastoplastic model is used to represent non-degrading structures. Soil structure interaction analyses are conducted by means of equivalent fixed base model effective period, effective damping and effective ductility values differing from fixed-base case. For inelastic time history analyses, Newmark method for step by step time integration was adapted in an in-house computer program. A new equation is proposed for inelastic displacement ratio of system with SSI with elastoplastic or degrading behavior as a function of structural period ($\tilde{T}$), strength reduction factor (R) and period lengthening ratio ($\tilde{T}$/T). The proposed equation for $\tilde{C}_R$ which takes the soil-structure interaction into account should be useful in estimating the inelastic deformation of existing structures with known lateral strength.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.187-201
• /
• 2008

Earthquake induced hysteretic energy demand for a structure can be used as a limiting value of a certain performance level in seismic design of structures. In cases where it is larger than the hysteretic energy dissipation capacity of the structure, failure will occur. To be able to select the limiting value of hysteretic energy for a particular earthquake hazard level, it is required to define the variation of hysteretic energy in terms of probabilistic terms. This study focuses on the probabilistic evaluation of earthquake induced worst failure probability and approximate confidence intervals for inelastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems with a typical steel moment connection based on hysteretic energy. For this purpose, hysteretic energy demand is predicted for a set of SDOF systems subject to an ensemble of moderate and severe EQGMs, while the hysteretic energy dissipation capacity is evaluated through the previously published cyclic test data on full-scale steel beam-to-column connections. The failure probability corresponding to the worst possible case is determined based on the hysteretic energy demand and dissipation capacity. The results show that as the capacity to demand ratio increases, the failure probability decreases dramatically. If this ratio is too small, then the failure is inevitable.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.537-549
• /
• 2018

Using vertical links in eccentric braced frames is one of the best passive structural control approaches due to its effectiveness and practicality advantages. However, in spite of the subject importance there are limited studies which evaluate the seismic reliability and response reduction factor (R-factor) in this system. Therefore, the present study has been conducted to improve the current understanding about failure mechanism in the structural systems equipped with vertical links. For this purpose, following definition of demand and capacity response reduction factors, these parameters are computed for three different buildings (4, 8 and 12 stories) equipped with this system. In this regards, pushover and incremental dynamic analysis have been employed, and seismic reliability as well as multi-level response reduction factor according to the seismic demand and capacity of the frames have been derived. Based on the results, this system demonstrates high ductility and seismic energy dissipation capacity, and using the response reduction factor as high as 8 also provides acceptable reliability for the frame in the moderate and high earthquake intensities. This system can be used in original buildings as lateral load resisting system in addition to seismic rehabilitation of the existing buildings.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.563-572
• /
• 2017

The safety of structures is closely associated with the structural out-of-plane behavior. In particular, long and slender beam structures have been increasingly used in the design and construction. Therefore, an evaluation of the lateral and torsional behavior of a structure is important for the safety of the structure during construction as well as under service conditions. The current contact measurement method using displacement meters cannot measure independent movements directly and also requires caution when installing the displacement meters. Therefore, in this study, a vision-based system was used to measure the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements of a structure. The image processing algorithm was based on reference objects, including multiple targets in Lab color space. The captured targets were synchronized using a load indicator connected wirelessly to a data logger system in the server. A laboratory beam test was carried out to compare the displacements and rotation obtained from the proposed vision-based measurement system with those from the current measurement method using string potentiometers. The test results showed that the proposed vision-based measurement system could be applied successfully and easily to evaluating both the in-plane and out-of-plane movements of a beam including twisting rotation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.31 no.2 s.257
• /
• pp.211-220
• /
• 2007

This work presents an iterated improved reduced system (IIRS) procedure combined with sub-structuring scheme for large structures. Iterated IRS methods are usually more efficient than others because the dynamic condensation matrix is updated repeatedly until the desired convergent values are obtained. However, using these methods simply for large structures causes expensive computational cost and even makes analyses intractable because of the limited computer storage. Therefore, the application of sub-structuring scheme is necessary. Because the large structures are subdivided into several (or more) sub-domains, the construction of dynamic condensation matrix does not require much computation cost in every iteration. This makes the present method much more efficient to compute the eigenpairs both in lower and intermediate modes. In Part I, iterated IRS method combined with sub-structuring scheme for undamped structures is presented. The validation of the proposed method and the evaluation of computational efficiency are demonstrated through the numerical examples.