Sharif Digital Repository

This paper studies through numerical simulation a practical compound restrainer to use for the improvement of seismic performance of bridges. A mechanical model has been introduced for the restrainer and a basic optimisation approach has been conducted to evaluate the performance of the restrainer to changes in the properties of its components. A real 2-span simply supported plate girder bridge has been selected for case study. Using a detailed three-dimensional model, several non-linear time history analyses were performed under seismic excitations in order to assess the performance of the bridge retrofitted by conventional restrainers including linear and non-linear viscous dampers on one... 

This paper studies through numerical simulation a practical compound restrainer to use for the improvement of seismic performance of bridges. A mechanical model has been introduced for the restrainer and a basic optimisation approach has been conducted to evaluate the performance of the restrainer to changes in the properties of its components. A real 2-span simply supported plate girder bridge has been selected for case study. Using a detailed three-dimensional model, several non-linear time history analyses were performed under seismic excitations in order to assess the performance of the bridge retrofitted by conventional restrainers including linear and non-linear viscous dampers on one... 

The tension-only braced frames (TOBFs) are widely used as a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) in low-rise steel buildings due to their simplicity and economic advantage. However, the system has poor seismic energy dissipation capacity and pinched hysteresis behavior caused by early buckling of slender bracing members. The main concern in utilizing the TOBF system is the determination of appropriate performance factors for seismic design. A formalized approach to quantify the seismic performance factor (SPF) based on determining an acceptable margin of safety against collapse is introduced by FEMA P695. The methodology is applied in this paper to assess the SPFs of the TOBF systems. For... 

The latest research studies on Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSWs) suggest that the use of large-sized openings in infill plates calls for the use of heavy stiffeners or special measures for ensuring system stability. This study explores the effect of introduction of large unstiffened openings in SPSWs. A number of single story SPSWs with solid infill plates and their corresponding models with unstiffened openings are designed and analyzed numerically. In addition, this study provides a comparison of the experimental and numerical results obtained from the finite element models of SPSWs with openings. The results indicate the acceptable behavior of the specimens even at high levels of drift in...