Sharif Digital Repository

Past earthquakes revealed that while fulfilling the requirements of the conventional design codes guarantees the life safety of the occupants, considerable economic losses may still be incurred. This highlights the importance of considering life cycle losses in the design procedure of structures. In this research, the significance of the life cycle seismic risk costs in the optimal design of steel framed tube tall buildings is investigated. Typical 20- and 40-story buildings are optimally designed based on three approaches: the code-based, the cost-based, and the fixed weight approach. The first approach only minimizes the initial cost of the building while in the second and third approaches... 

In this paper, the influence of the excitation angle on the Endurance Time (TCT) analysis of skewed slab-on-girdcr bridges is studied. The excitation of the structure due to the critical angle produces maximum seismic responses that are sometimes significantly higher than the average. The modeled bridges are of slab-on-girder type that are typically used as highway bridges. The bridge models have skew angles of 0, 15, 30, 45, and CO degrees. The ET excitations exerted on structures cover a broad range of hazard levels. The results provide some insight with regard to choosing multiple excitation angles so as to balance computational costs and retain acceptable accuracy for practical design... 

In this paper, the influence of the excitation angle on the Endurance Time (TCT) analysis of skewed slab-on-girdcr bridges is studied. The excitation of the structure due to the critical angle produces maximum seismic responses that are sometimes significantly higher than the average. The modeled bridges are of slab-on-girder type that are typically used as highway bridges. The bridge models have skew angles of 0, 15, 30, 45, and CO degrees. The ET excitations exerted on structures cover a broad range of hazard levels. The results provide some insight with regard to choosing multiple excitation angles so as to balance computational costs and retain acceptable accuracy for practical design... 

In this research, application of the Endurance Time (ET) method in performance-based design of structures with and without consideration of uncertainties is investigated and a practical optimum design procedure is proposed. The ET method is used as an analytical assessment tool because of its capabilities in response estimation with an affordable computational demand. In the first step of the proposed method, ET analysis is implemented in a multi-objective optimum design procedure in order to achieve a set of Pareto optimal designs. Optimization is conducted with respect to initial cost and expected life cycle cost using a deterministic approach. For each design alternative the median... 

A new design methodology based on the total value of structures is introduced. This methodology, namely Value Based Design of structures (VBD), uses the advantages of Endurance Time (ET) method. While prescriptive and earlier generations of performance based design approaches commonly try to find structures with the least initial cost, a design approach to directly incorporate the concept of value in design procedure has been formulated here. Reduced computational effort in ET analysis provides the prerequisites to practical use of optimization algorithms in seismic design. A genetic algorithm is used with the objective of minimizing total cost of the building during its lifespan. ET method... 

A variable air volume (VAV) air handling system can significantly reduce fan power under partial load conditions. The focus of this study is developing a modeling program to predict the potential energy saving by the secondary HVAC system strategies. Comprehensive steady-state models are established to describe the energy performance of different control strategies for secondary HVAC systems. With building loads, minimum fresh air flow rate, pressure losses, supply air temperature control, dampers control and coil characteristic as inputs, the objectives were to develop a simulation model to evaluate performance of an air handling system. The potential energy savings of constant air volume... 

Seismic performance of a representative single-story confined unreinforced masonry school building in Tehran, Iran is evaluated by means of incremental dynamic analyses according to FEMA P-58 framework. For this purpose, fragility curves are derived for each of the constituent walls of the building. The in-plane behavior of the walls is considered only. Both flexible and rigid diaphragm conditions are investigated. For comparison purposes, the corresponding unconfined building exactly duplicating the considered confined unreinforced masonry building is also studied. In order to analyze the effects of near-source seismic actions on the performance of masonry buildings, two separate far-field... 

All costs within the life cycle of a building are known as its life cycle cost (LCC). In the design process of a building, the use of a lower initial cost index to select an option among others with similar performance may not lead to an economically optimal alternative during the life cycle. Hence, today, building designers and investors require a tool to estimate life cycle cost at the conceptual design stage to select an economically efficient option. Resilient solutions generally lead to a higher level of complexity and upfront costs and carry additional embodied environmental impact as well. This study aims to support the design of resilient buildings using a sound LCC methodology in... 

Pavement performance models are key components of any pavement management system (PMS). These models are used in a network-level PMS to predict future performance of a pavement section and identify the maintenance and rehabilitation needs. They are also used to estimate the network conditions after the application of various maintenance and rehabilitation alternatives and to determine the relative cost effectiveness of each maintenance and rehabilitation alternative. Change in pavement surface roughness over time is one of the most important performance indicators in this regard. A model for changes in the international roughness index (IRI) over time was developed through artificial neural... 

Aquifers are underground porous formations containing water. Confined aquifers are surrounded by impermeable layers on top and bottom, called cap rocks and bed rocks. A confined aquifer with a very low groundwater flow velocity was considered to meet the annual cooling and heating energy requirements of a residential building complex in Tehran, Iran. Three different alternatives of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) were employed to meet the heating/cooling demands of the buildings. These alternatives were using ATES for: Cooling alone, heating alone by coupling with at-plate solar collectors, and cooling and heating by coupling with a heat pump. For the economic evaluation of the... 

A variable air volume (VAV) air handling system can significantly reduce fan power under partial load conditions. The focus of this study is developing a modeling program to predict the potential energy saving by the secondary HVAC system strategies. Comprehensive steady-state models are established to describe the energy performance of different control strategies for secondary HVAC systems. With building loads, minimum fresh air flow rate, pressure losses, supply air temperature control, dampers control and coil characteristic as inputs, the objectives were to develop a simulation model to evaluate performance of an air handling system. The potential energy savings of constant air volume...