Sharif Digital Repository

In this research we have studied the changes in the technology performance in the smartphone industry, and by using theoretical models in technology management literature, we have compared this performance with coustomer’s required level of performance. The study shows that after 2011, the level of customer satisfactions depends less on the technology performance and more on the price. This observation is consistent with Christiensen’s suggested model for technology performance, in which after a certain point technology’s performance surpasses the customer’s need. In addition, we have studied the effect of modular design for smartphones on the customer’s satisfaction. We found that... 

Using shear walls as an earthquake resistant system in reinforced concrete structures enjoys prominent position among civil engineers in recent years. As most produced stress and damage occurs at the edges of shear wall under combination of vertical and lateral loads, it is expected that seismic behavior of shear walls can be improved by using boundary element at their edges and considering special reinforcing rules. In this thesis, the effect of boundary element details and parameters on seismic behavior of shear walls has been evaluated by a finite element model. By comparing the results with parameters specified in codes, the modeling parameters and performance levels given for shear... 

Bridges are among the crucial elements of transportation networks and play an important role in facilitating emergency relief efforts following earthquakes. For this reasons, they should have an appropriate performance in earthquakes; Thus, presentation of true design of bridges was necessary. Elastic design of bridges due to the earthquake is uneconomic; hence, during an earthquake, the codes permitted to structures go to their inelastic behavior domain but inelastic analysis of structures are noncommercial and the capability of detail modeling of the inelastic behavior of the material is still impossible. Therefore, designers use response modification factor to consider the inelastic... 

Offshore platforms are one of the most important structures in oil-rich countries, so that their economic benefit makes it very expensive to stop their usage. Therefore, it is essential that their performance is not disrupted by earthquake or the tidal waves made by severe storms. According to statistics many of the offshore platforms of their design life pass and need an important loss inspection. The assessment of existing platforms is a relatively new process. The lack of comprehensive standard creates some difficulty in establishing performance requirements, on a case by case basis depending upon the risks associated with the future operations of the platform. In this study the criteria... 

The considerable structural damage caused by near field earthquakes has revealed the need for further research on their characteristics and their corresponding effects on structures. The short-duration, high- energy pulses present in these types of earthquakes impose high demands on the structures compared to far field ground motions. Thus, more research is needed to improve the current design methods, especially from a performance based point of view for the structures close to faults. This study is about damage assessment of steel moment resisting frame structures under near-field ground motions from a performance based design point of view. A number of 3 and 9-story, 3-D structural model... 

Performance based design was first introduced in order to evaluate seismic vulnerability of structures in retrofitting topic and was rapidly implemented in new design codes. The main cause conducting widely developing of performance based design methods, has been accurate estimation of seismic demand parameters. Since seismic structural members displacement during earthquake has a direct effect on the amount of sustained damages, displacement index has always been a key concept in performance based design. The main goal followed by this research is comparing the results obtained from the standard pushover method (with two theorems of distributed plasticity and plastic hinges) and the... 

In this thesis project the effect of joint rigidity on the behavior of steel braced frames has been investigated. In order to carry out this study on the efficiency of semi-rigid connections, a series of 3-bay braced frames ranging from 6- to 20-story with extended end-plate and flush end-plate connections have been selected and designed. This study has been extended by evaluating the role of the mentioned connections on seismic performance of selected semi-rigid frames under seven famous earthquake records. Having taken a particular performance level, in this case, “life safety” the target displacement and also the lateral load pattern for each frame have been calculated. Then using a... 

Following a large earthquake, numerous aftershocks can be triggered due to the complex stress interaction between and within tectonic plates. The aftershocks have the potential to cause severe weakening of mainshock-damaged buildings, threaten life safety, hamper reoccupation and restoration of buildings, and increase financial loss. The probability of aftershocks has not been included in the description of seismic hazard in performance-based earthquake engineering. This study proposes methodologies and a framework to investigate the seismic performance in the lifetime of steel MRF structures subjected to mainshock-aftershock sequences. The case studies correspond to three SAC 2D steel MRF...