Sharif Digital Repository

This paper revisits the phenomenon of dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) with a probabilistic approach. For this purpose, a twofold objective is pursued. First, the effect of SSI on inelastic response of the structure is studied considering the prevailing uncertainties. Second, the consequence of practicing SSI provisions of the current seismic design codes on the structural performance is investigated in a probabilistic framework. The soil-structure system is modeled by the sub-structure method. The uncertainty in the properties of the soil and the structure is described by random variables that are input to this model. Monte Carlo sampling analysis is employed to compute the... 

This paper addresses numerically-derived tsunami wave loads on bridge superstructures using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), which is a type of mesh-free methods. Although there exist some relationships for the case of impinged loads on bridges exerted by regular (sinusoidal) waves, for the case of solitary waves such as tsunamis, no relation has yet been proposed in the literature. This shortcoming is partly due to the lack of understanding the mechanism of wave action on the bridge superstructures. In this study, three water depths, three wave amplitudes and four submergence depths of the deck are considered for the process of numerical investigation of tsunami-induced loads on... 

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) was applied to simulate the free falling of cylindrical bodies in three types of fluids including Newtonian, generalized-Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids. Renormalized derivation schemes were used because of their consistency in combination with the latest version of no slip boundary condition to improve the handling of moving fluid-structure interactions (FSIs). Verification of the method was performed through comparing the results of some benchmark examples for both single and two phase flows with the literature. The effects of some parameters such as the viscosity of the Newtonian fluid, the n index of the power-law fluid and the relaxation time of... 

Single-ventricle anomaly is a hereditary heart disease that is characterized by anatomical malformations. The main consequence of this malformation is desaturated blood flow, which without proper treatment increases the risk of death. The classical treatment is based on a three-stage palliative procedure which should begin from the first few days of patient’s life. The final stage is known as Fontan procedure, in which inferior vena cava is directly connected to pulmonary arteries without going through the ventricle. This connection is called total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC). After surgery, the single ventricle supplies adequate and saturated systemic blood flow to the body; however,... 

In this investigation, the behavior of the interface between polymer concrete and sand was studied. For this purpose, two sets of interface direct shear tests (over 40 tests) were conducted on the polymer concrete and sand interface. Moreover, two sets of tests (over 30 tests) were performed on the cement concrete and sand interface for comparison. Based on the experiments, the shear stress versus tangential displacement curves at different normal stresses, the interface friction angles, and the adhesion were obtained for each interface. Then, three different constitutive models proposed for interfaces were used to predict the observed response. Finally, after a quantitative comparison of... 

Due to increased atherosclerosis-caused mortality, identification of its genesis and development is of great importance. Although, key factors of the origin of the disease is still unknown, it is widely believed that cholesterol particle penetration and accumulation in arterial wall is mainly responsible for further wall thickening and decreased rate of blood flow during a gradual progression. To date, various effective components are recognized whose simultaneous consideration would lead to a more accurate approximation of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) distribution within the wall. In this research, a multilayer Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) model is studied to simulate the penetration... 

A fast and efficient reduced order formulation is presented for the first time to study dynamics and stability of conical/cylindrical shells with internal fluid flows. The structural and fluid formulations are developed based on general assumptions to avoid any deficiency due to modeling. Their respective solutions and the final solution to the coupled field problem are also developed in a way to be capable of capturing any desirable set of boundary conditions. In addition to the flexibility provided by the solution methodology and generalization provided by the formulation, current solution proposes an additional advantage over others which is the minimal computational cost due to the... 

The current study is aimed at getting a further insight into the changes the fouling brings to the Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) of circular cylinders. Instead of regular patterns considered in previous studies, using the Poisson Cluster Process, an aggregated spatial distribution was considered for the artificial marine fouling. This is believed to better simulate the natural settlement of the marine biofouling. Different coverage ratios and fouling shapes plus regular and aggregated distributions were considered. The towing tank VIV tests were conducted on elastically mounted rigid cylinders. The Reynolds number ranged from around 7.8 × 103 to 4.9 × 104. On the whole, the maximum... 

This study aims to assess the impact of the spacing between cylinders on their dynamic behaviour. Observations during this experiment have helped to identify the effect of spacing on excitation mechanism of each cylinder as well as establishing the relationship between cylinders response and the spacing between them. Arrays of cylindrical Structures in close proximity are common in variety of engineering structures, particularly in the offshore industry. If the cylinders are flexible, and are subject to excitation from fluid flow, then the dynamics is influenced by complex interactions between the cylinders, dependent on a variety of parameters. Two cylinders were flexibly mounted in tandem... 

This paper studies the effect of soil–structure interaction (SSI) on the seismic risk estimates of buildings. Risk, in this context, denotes the probability distribution of seismic monetary loss due to structural and nonstructural damage. The risk analysis here uncovers the probability that SSI is beneficial, detrimental, or uninfluential on seismic losses. The analyses are conducted for a wide range of buildings with different structural systems, numbers of stories, and foundation sizes on various soil types. A probabilistic approach is employed to account for prevailing sources of uncertainty, i.e., those in ground motion and in the properties of the soil–structure system. In this... 

Obstruction of left anterior descending artery (LAD) due to the thrombosis or atherosclerotic plaques is the leading cause of death worldwide. Targeted delivery of drugs through micro- and nanoparticles is a very promising approach for developing new strategies in clot-busting or treating restenosis. In this work, we modelled the blood flow characteristics in a patient-specific reconstructed LAD artery by the fluid–solid interaction method and based on physiological boundary conditions. Next, we provided a Lagrangian description of micro- and nanoparticles dynamics in the blood flow considering their Brownian motion and the particle–particle interactions. Our results state that the number of... 

Low-crested breakwaters have become more attractive because they do not hinder the beautiful coastal landscape and are more environmentally friendly comparing to traditional breakwaters. The available formulae for design of these types of structures mainly focus on wave transmission, reflection and dissipation aspects. However, stability of the armour blocks are not directly taken into account in the design process. In this study the Lagrangian meshfree method of SPH along with a discrete element method i.e. Polyhedral DEM are used to simulate the interaction between the sea water waves with different characteristics and low-crested breakwaters constructed using cubic armour blocks. SPH is... 

This paper aims to revisit the effect of sloshing on the flutter characteristics of a partially liquid-filled cylinder. A computational fluid-structure interaction model within the framework of the finite element method is developed to capture fluid-structure interactions arising from the sloshing of the internal fluid and the flexibility of its containing structure exposed to an external supersonic airflow. The internal liquid sloshing is represented by a more sophisticated model, referred to as the liquid sloshing model, and the shell structure is modeled by Sanders' shell theory. The aerodynamic pressure loading is approximated by the first-order piston theory. The initial geometric... 

Three dimensional responses of riser subjected to Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) are investigated. Proportionality relations of stress and fatigue damage are mentioned. A computer code has been developed for time domain modeling of VIV of riser accounting for both Cross-Flow (CF) and In-Line (IL) vibration. The wake oscillator model is used to calculate the VIV of each strip. The wake oscillators are coupled to the dynamics of the long riser, while the Newmark-beta method is used for evaluating the structural dynamics of riser. The wake dynamics, including IL and CF vibrations, is represented using a pair of non-linear Van der Pol equations that solved using modified Euler method. The... 

The effect of a multiphase fluid, including an arbitrary number of liquid phases, and a functionally graded density fluid on the stability of rotating partially-filled cylindrical shells is investigated. The first-order shear shell theory is used for modeling the structural dynamics of the shell and a 2D model is introduced based on the Navier–Stokes equations, for fluid motion. The multiphase and the functionally graded density fluids are arranged according to the mass density in a steady state condition due to centrifugal forces. Using the boundary conditions between liquid phases and the boundary conditions of the fluid on the cylinder wall, the coupled fluid-structure system model is... 

A probabilistic method is presented for identifying the dynamic soil-foundation stiffnesses of building structures. It is based on model updating of a Timoshenko beam resting on sway and rocking springs, which respectively represent the superstructure and the soil-foundation system. Unlike those previously employed for this particular problem, the proposed method is a Bayesian one, which accounts for the prevailing uncertainties due to modeling and measurement errors. As such, it yields the probability distribution of the system parameters as opposed to average/deterministic values. In this approach, the joint probability density function of the parameters that control the flexible-base... 

In this study, a new plasticity-based constitutive model is proposed for the behavior of soil-structure interfaces under monotonic and cyclic loadings. The features of the interface including the strain-softening behavior, phase transformation, steady-state, and dilatancy behavior were described by the proposed model with satisfactory accuracy. The proposed model does not require additional concepts such as damage or disturbance, and the model parameters can be obtained easily using straight-forward analyses of the results obtained from constant normal stress tests. Moreover, the results of the proposed model showed its capability in predicting the experimental results obtained from various... 

A comprehensive non-linear finite element (FE) model of integral abutment bridges (IABs) is presented to facilitate the analysis of such bridges using commercial software, especially under seismic loading. The presented model is capable of capturing non-linearity in both the structure and soil, in addition to considering far-field soil response. The model is simple enough to be used for practical purposes. On the other hand, many aspects of seismic behaviour of IABs are unclear, due to complicated soil–structure interaction. Using the presented model, a parametric study is performed to identify the effects of bridge length, abutment type and soil type on seismic behaviour of IABs. Non-linear... 

This paper developed a new mathematical model to investigate the heat transfer as well as wick's thickness of a heat pipe. The model was established by conservative equations of continuity, momentum, and energy in the thermal boundary layer. Using a similarity variable, the governing equations were changed to a set of ordinary differential equations and were solved numerically by the forth-order Runge-Kutta method. The flow variables, such as velocity components, wick's thickness, and Nusselt number, were obtained. The results show that the Nusselt number is proportional to the square root of the Darcy-modified Rayleigh number and to the distance from the edge of the condenser surface.... 

This paper presents the probabilistic generation of collapse fragility curves for evaluating the performance of 3D, reinforced concrete (RC) moment-resisting building models, considering soil-structure interaction (SSI) by concentration on seismic uncertainties. It considers collapse as the loss of lateral load-resisting capacity of the building structures due to severe ground shaking and consequent large interstory drifts intensified by P-Δ effects as well as the strength and stiffness deterioration of their lateral load carrying systems. The estimation of the collapse performance of structures requires the relation between the intensity measure (IM) and the probability of collapse...