Sharif Digital Repository

Abstract Codes require that the span-to-depth ratio of the beams in moment resisting frames (MRF) should be limited to guarantee the development of plastic hinges with a sufficient length at beam ends. This requirement limits the application of MRFs mostly in framed-tube structures. In the current design procedure of steel MRFs, the strength and stiffness design of the structure are coupled often leading to overdesigned structures and foundations. To overcome the abovementioned limits, in this paper a new replaceable shear structural fuse is introduced for MRFs. The fuse is a shear link designed as a sacrificial component by weakening the shear strength of a segment at the middle of the beam... 

In this paper the predictive equations for collapse assessment of shear links used in eccentric braced frames are developed. An extensive database including results of over 70 cyclic tests on steel wide flange shear links is collected and the structural parameters governing the hysteresis behavior are calibrated using a simplified numerical model. The methodology of calibration is to minimize the discrepancy between the experimental hysteresis loops and the corresponding numerical results using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The objective function of PSO algorithm is minimized by iterating parameters that govern the hysteresis behavior of the numerical model. Stepwise... 

Based on the code specifications, in moment-resisting frames the span-to-depth ratio has to be larger than a minimum value to make sure of adequate plastic hinging at beam-ends. This provision poses a restriction on the use of deep beams with short spans, especially for the framed-tube system in tall buildings. In this paper, a new energy dissipation method is introduced for moment-resisting frames by modifying the mid-span of the beam by two different methods, resulting in: (i) Perforated Shear Links (PSLs) and (ii) Slit Shear Links (SSLs). The links dissipate energy through shear yielding of the web, weakened by perforation or slitting, respectively. A thorough study is conducted on the... 

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the extent of damage of rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls after an earthquake using surface crack patterns. One of the most important tasks after an earthquake is to assess the safety and classify the performance level of buildings. This assessment is usually performed by visual inspection that is prone to significant errors. In this research, an extensive database on the images of damaged rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls is collected from the literature. This database includes more than 200 images from experimental quasi-static cyclic tests. Using the concept of fractal geometry, several probabilistic models are developed by... 

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the stiffness and strength of damaged rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls after an earthquake using surface crack patterns. Assessing the damage severity of buildings after an earthquake is an important part of the emergency inspection operation of buildings. Expert inspectors tag buildings into two categories of safe or unsafe that are usually affected by subjective decisions, which may result in catastrophic events reported in previous earthquakes. In this research, an extensive database on the images of damaged rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls (RCSWs) is collected and used to develop predictive equations for updated stiffness and... 

This study investigates the collapse resistance of the cable net structures. Compared to conventional structures, the analysis of the cable net structures is rather complicated due to the highly nonlinear behavior of the cables, which leads to large displacements and instabilities during the analysis. In this paper, 24 prototype structures are modeled with various force density levels, span lengths, and the number of spans. Several collapse scenarios, including the cable rupture, column removal, and restrain failure, are defined, and the prototype structures are analyzed considering 168 collapse scenarios. This paper aims to recognize the critical elements, the weak points, and other... 

This study proposes predictive equations for estimating the peak-experienced drift ratio of unreinforced masonry walls based on the visual characteristic of the damages. In this regard, a comprehensive database comprised of 190 images associated with 30 unreinforced masonry walls at different drift ratios between 0.0 and 1.1 percent is collected, and the visual features of the progressive damages are extracted. Various image processing filters are implemented to the images to quantify the cracking length and crushing areas. The filters are capable of distinguishing different crack patterns, such as joint cracking and block cracking. In the following, four scenarios are introduced based on... 

Different concepts for modelling of soil-foundation in complete dynamic interaction analysis for a 110-m height 70-m span arched structure on 180 piles were investigated in this paper. The modelling approaches consisted of a sophisticated procedure to account for soil compliance and foundation flexibility by defining frequency-dependent springs and dashpots; namely, flexible-impedance base model. The results of this model were compared with those of the conventional modelling procedures; namely, fixed base model and flexible base model by defining frequency-independent springs. In the flexible-impedance base model, the substructure approach was employed through finite element modelling. To... 

Empirical drift capacity models for in-plane loaded unreinforced masonry (URM) walls are derived from results of quasi-static cyclic shear-compression tests. The experimentally determined drift capacities are, however, dependent on the applied demand, i.e., on the loading protocol that is used in the test. These loading protocols differ between test campaigns. The loading protocols applied in tests are also different from the displacement histories to which URM walls are subjected in real earthquakes. In the absence of experimental studies on the effect of loading histories on the wall response, this article presents numerical simulations of modern unreinforced clay block masonry walls that... 

Slotted bolted connections (SBCs) have been developed and used as an axial friction damper in braced frames since 1980s. To employ the benefits of SBCs in moment resisting frames (MRFs), rotational slotted bolted connections have been developed more recently with limited application in members that flexural behavior is dominated to shear. In this paper, shear slotted bolted connection (SSBC) is introduced as a new type of friction dampers to employ the benefits of SBCs in lateral load resisting systems with predominant shear behavior members that dissipate energy by traditional yielding mechanisms. The SSBC is a modified bolted connection that dissipates energy through friction in which... 

In this article, seismic behavior of the main dome of a well-known middle-eastern historical- monument, “Imam Reza Shrine” (Mashhad, Iran) which is located in a high seismic area in Iran is evaluated. This study focuses on the response history analysis using intensifying dynamic excitations in the framework of Endurance Time Method. Endurance Time Analysis gives acceptable results for a wide range of earthquake intensities and considerably reduces the computational demand in comparison to the conventional Time History Analysis and Incremental Dynamic Analysis. The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability and efficiency of Endurance Time Analysis for masonry monuments and to... 

Coupling beams have had a widespread application as performance enhancing devices within concrete structures and more recently also in steel structures. However, the conventional coupling beams are not so efficient in coupling distant walls. In this paper, a novel form of coupling members, namely, coupling panels is proposed and, then, the application for a nine-story building is investigated. Coupling panels are steel plates which are exerted in the intermediate spans between adjacent shear walls and act as a mega-coupling beam. First, a verified finite element model is constructed to demonstrate coupling panel behavior along with its global structural mechanism. Subsequently, a nine story... 

Current design codes provide empirical equations for the drift capacity of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls that are based on results of quasi-static cyclic shear-compression tests. Yet different experimental campaigns have used various approaches of imposing fixed-fixed boundary conditions at the wall top which may affect the test results. This article investigates, by means of numerical simulations, the influence of experimental setups on the force and drift capacities of in-plane loaded URM walls subjected to double-fixed conditions. It is shown that controlling the shear span or the top rotation while keeping the axial force constant leads to very similar results. Controlling the axial... 

This paper proposes a damage assessment framework based on the visual features of a damaged reinforced concrete shear wall, such as crack pattern distribution, crushing areal density, aspect ratio, and the presence of the boundary condition. The study contains two parts including: identifying the performance level of the damaged walls (i.e., Immediate Occupancy, Life Safety, and Collapse Prevention) and estimating the residual strength and drift ratio of the walls. The research database contains 236 images of 72 reinforced concrete shear walls tested in the laboratory under the quasi-static cyclic loadings at various drift ratios between 0 and 4%. To identify the performance level of a... 

In this paper, a novel computer-vision based methodology is developed for predicting the seismic peak drift ratio of damaged reinforced concrete moment frames using surface crack patterns. A comprehensive database comprising 974 surface crack images from cyclic test results of 256 beam-column joint specimens at various drift ratio levels is collected. The database covers a broad range of concrete compressive strengths, rebar and stirrup strengths, longitudinal and transverse reinforcement ratios, beam and column length to depth ratios, in-plane configurations, and failure modes. Multifractal dimensions of damaged beam-column subassembly images are obtained by the box-counting algorithm to... 

In this paper, the soil-pile-structure interaction effects on seismic displacement demands are investigated using various dimensionless parameters. The code prescribed procedures for estimating seismic displacement demands are built upon fixed-base structure assumption and neglect the effect of foundation uplift. Tensile index, the ratio of the summation of the tensile strength of all piles to the weight of the structure, is introduced as a novel dimensionless ratio for the seismic assessments. The seismic behavior of the structures with a small tensile index is close to the structures with uplift-allowed shallow foundations. Structures with a large tensile index behave like tied foundation... 

This paper introduces a probabilistic framework to quantify the spatial distribution of cracking and crushing in rectangular reinforced concrete shear walls at different drift ratios. In this research, a comprehensive probabilistic spatial analysis is conducted on an extensive collected database of reinforced concrete shear walls tested under the quasi-static cyclic loading. The database includes 235 images of 72 damaged walls with various geometry and material properties at different drift ratios between 0.0 and 4.0%. Various image processing filters are implemented to the images to highlight the wall areas that are more prone to cracking and crushing. Then, advanced statistical analysis is... 

Electrical post insulators are important components of electrical substations since any type of failure in such insulators leads to the breakdown of the local network. Although the electrical substations are often in service condition, any horizontal excitation due to the earthquake, or any extreme event, may cause lateral deformation and damage to the post insulators. Hollow composite post insulators, a new and evolving technology, have a very complex mechanical behavior due to their materials and connections. To date, the design of such post insulators has been based on the limited test results available in the literature. Most of experiments have been conducted on small-scale specimens... 

This paper presents the experimental investigation of an innovative energy dissipation system in steel moment resisting frames. In the proposed system, a replaceable beam with a smaller cross-section than that of the main beam is placed at the mid span of the beam designed to act as a shear fuse. This shifts the location of the plastic hinging from the end of the beam to the middle since the shear fuse yields in shear prior to the flexural yielding of the main beam. This system eliminates the need to comply with the rigorous limitation on the beam span-To-depth ratio that is proposed by seismic design codes to ensure the formation of plastic hinges at the two ends of the beam. Moreover, this... 

Conventional lateral resisting systems can provide sufficient strength and ductility for design based earthquakes, although the considerable residual deformation remaining in the plasticized regions undermines the resiliency of the structures. In order to resolve this problem, various self-centering systems have been proposed and tested in recent years, most of which are specified for new buildings and are not simply suitable for retrofitting applications. Moreover, the available self-centering systems are costly and complex to assemble, which can be considered as a serious barrier for practical application. To address these drawbacks, an innovative Core-Less Self-Centering (CLSC) brace is...