Sharif Digital Repository

Recent research in the field of earthquake engineering has seen the development of a number of different displacement-based seismic design (DBD) methods. Such methods aim to overcome limitations with the force-based design methods incorporated in current codes, and the most developed DBD method currently available is the Direct DBD approach, presented by Priestley. The objective of this work is to investigate the performance of the Direct DBD design procedure for steel moment-resisting frame structures. For this purpose, a series of regular steel MRF frames, varying from 4 to 20 stories in height are designed based on DDBD approach and utilizing displacement design spectrum of the Iranian... 

Concrete has long been considered by engineers as one of the most used constructional materials. Therefore, recognition of mechanical behavior of concrete materials is of particular importance. So, extensive studies have been undertaken to understand and analyze its behavior under different loading conditions. Based on these studies, many models for describing the behavior of concrete are presented. Of these, many models are based on the combination of plastic theory and damage mechanics, and by using them, significant success has been achieved in the correct modeling of concrete materials. On the other hand, one of the important loading conditions encountered by concrete structures is in... 

Regarding the numerous casualties and financial losses due to intense earthquakes, the ductility is considered of the main importance in addition to stability, stiffness, and strength criteria of the structure’s connections. In order to enhance the seismic behavior of the structures in such severe earthquakes, design codes for steel structures have suggested special types of connections. Among them, bolted end plate connection is considered a conventional type of connection used for creating ductile semi-rigid connection.In this study, in order to simulate the behavior of this joint, a 3-D finite element model is developed in Abaqus software, in which the inelastic behavior of the materials... 

Buckling-Restrained Braced Frame system (BRBFs) are a new type of steel seismic-load-resisting system that has found use in several countries because of its efficiency and its promise of seismic performance far superior to that of conventional braced frames. The system is addressed in the 2005 edition of the AISC Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings, also a set of design provisions has been developed by NEHRP. This thesis illustrates the seismic design of buckling-restrained braced frames and compares its seismic performance with the performance of ordinary bracing systems. This work investigates the advantage and disadvantages of this new type of seismic resisting. By having... 

In this thesis, the nonlinear seismic behavior of typical Iranian building is evaluated. The evaluation results indicated that these building, which were designed, based on first edition of 2800 standard and before, due to ductility and stiffness deficiency, don’t satisfy the 3th edition of 2800 standard and FEMA356 requirements, then retrofit of the most old structures is recommended. Selected samples include ordinary moment resistant concrete frames. The effectiveness of three retrofit schemes, concentric steel bracing (CBF), Eccentric steel bracing (EBF) and buckling restrained bracing, are studied and compared. The results of investigation indicated that although CBF retrofit scheme is... 

Previous researches has established that retrofitting RC (reinforced concrete) columns with FRP (fiber reinforced polymer) jackets is an effective means of providing external confinement to the column cross section. In an effort to evaluate FRP jacketing technology, this study focused on the confinement effectiveness of FRP jackets for rectangular building-type RC columns. Variables investigated include the following: the type of fibers (AFRP, CFRP), the thickness of the jacket, the shape (rectangular or circular) and aspect ratio of the cross section, and the sharpness of the corners of the rectangular cross sections. The sample structures were designed initially without lateral forces and... 

In recent years, the development of the plate bonding repair technique has been shown to be applicable to many existing strengthening problems in the building industry. This technique may be defined as one in which composite sheets or plates of relatively small thickness are bonded with an epoxy adhesive to, in most cases, a concrete structure to improve its structural behaviour and strength. The sheets or plates do not require much space and give a composite action between the adherents. The old structure and the new bonded-on material create a new structural element that has a higher strength and stiffness than original one. According to the available methods of analysis and design for... 

Actin filaments are the most abundant component of the cellular cytoskeleton and provide shape for the most eukaryotic cells. Actin constitutes 1-10% of the total protein in most cells and is present at even higher concentrations in muscle cells. The functions of actin are directly connected to its mechanical properties, therefore both experimental and computational understanding of the mechanical properties of actin filaments are essential to elucidate their functions in cells and muscles. Actin exists in two forms, actin monomers (G-actin) and actin filaments (F-actin), which have continuous polymerization and depolymerization processes. In the polymerization process, different... 

The main goal of this research is to evaluate the vertical and slant bolted endplate connections performance in steel moment frame structures under thermal effect in elastic range for two cases. In the first case, frictionless and in the second case slips with friction are considered. By finite element analysis, the connections are simulated to study the performance and verify simplified models of vertical and slant bolted endplate connections due to increase in temperature. The results of a vertical bolted endplate connection and a slant bolted endplate connection due to increase in temperature are compared the effect of slope of end plate reduction of axial force on beam is investigated.... 

Design of thick-walled spherical and cylindrical vessels as fluids containers of high gradient thermal loading is a challenging issue. Using these tanks in high pressure and temperature gradient, particularly in chemical industries, needs to use new methods in design. Elasto-Plastic solution for thick-walled hollow spherical and cylindrical tanks made of FG materials subjected to internal pressure and temperature loading is presented. The power law modeling is used for through-the-thickness variation of mechanical properties. This method is using the new advanced materials with high pressure and thermal strength in fabricating these vessels. One of these materials is functionally graded (FG)... 

The fiber-reinforced composite materials are used widely because of their high strength-to-density and stiffness-to-density ratios. The laminated composites are susceptible to delamination. When a delaminated composite plate is subjected to in-plane compression, buckling in the delaminated region may occur. In this thesis, after verification and validation of the models, the effect of the length of the longest and near surface delamination and beneath delaminations on critical buckling load of composite laminates are investigated. Numerical study is carried out to determine the buckling load of clamped composite plates with different symmetric and anti symmetric stacking sequences. The... 

This thesis investigates the performance of concentrically braced frames through numerical simulation approaches. During a moderate to severe earthquake, the bracing members and their connections are expected to undergo significant inelastic deformations into the post-buckling range. Recently, provisions for special concentrically braced frames (SCBFs) were developed to exhibit stable and ductile behavior in the event of a major earthquake. Special Concentrically Braced Frames (SCBFs) are distinguished from Ordinary Braced Frames in that they possess improved post-buckling capacity. Performance based evaluation of SCBF system as well as ordinary concentrically braced frame (OCBF) system... 

The use of unbonded post-tensioned precast concrete walls with horizontal joints as the primary lateral load resisting system in seismic zones has been considered in several previous studies. These walls are constructed by post-tensioning precast wall panels across horizontal joints using post-tensioning steel which is not bonded to the concrete. The behavior of the unbounded post-tensioned precast structural wall under lateral loads strongly depends on base panel geometry and concrete confinement properties. In this research an analytical parametric investigation on base panel design parameters is conducted using DRAIN-2DX software. Fiber beam-column elements are used to represent the... 

This study deals with the monotonic behavior of reinforced concrete membranes. In the first step, small reinforced concrete membrane panels were studied. Examining the available test results on reinforced concrete panels, a new set of stress-strain relations for normal strength concrete and mild steel bars embedded in concrete. The salient features of the proposed constitutive laws are: 1) considering the effect of reinforcement ratio on average stress-strain relationships of cracked concrete; and 2) considering the gradual reduction of average stiffness of steel bars embedded in concrete. Equilibrium, compatibility, and constitutive relationships were incorporated into an algorithm to... 

In this thesis the performance of anew energy dissipative device, slit steel damper (SSD) is investigated. The slit steel damper is manufactured with I-shaped, wide flange H-shaped profiles with a number of slits cut from the web. The device is installed between beam and chevron brace and fastened by four bolts on each side, which enables the replacement of the device due to strong earthquake.A numerical study is conducted to studythe nonlinear behavior of the SSD systems by using a nonlinear FE program. It is found that the numerical modeling results have a good agreement with the existing test results.In the next step a parametric study is performed to study the effects of the number of... 

Cold-formed steel sections are lightweight materials and suitable for building construction owing to their high structural performance. Conventionally, they are used as purlins and side rails in the building envelopes of industrial buildings. The most common sections are lipped C and Z sections, and the thickness typically ranges from 1.2 to 3.2 mm, and sections with yield strengths at 280, 350 and 450 MPa are commonly available. For connection design, codes of practice for design of cold-formed steel structures only provide design rules for the load carrying capacities of individual fastenings with bolts, screws and welds while no guidance on the structural behavior of connectors such as... 

In recent years, composite systems comprised of reinforced concrete columns and steel beams, have taken consideration. This system took its own advantages both from steel and concrete systems. Joints of this system categorized into through-beam-type and through-column-type. In this research, after reviewing past studies, two kinds of the joints were modeled in ABAQUS finite element program and seismic performance of these two joints were evaluated. These two selected joints were tested by Chin-Tun Chen and Cheng-Chih Chen ( ) and also Hiroshi Kuramoto and Isao Nishiyama ( ). After verifying the finite element model with the experimental studies, a parametric study were conducted on the steel... 

Progressive collapse in the structures can be happened as a result of many events such as terrorist attack, planes or vehicle collision to the structures and etc. Researchers’ attention to this phenomenon after occurring progressive collapse in Ronan Point building attracted and by happening terroristic attacks in Alfred P. Murrah and WTC buildings, studies in this field has developed extensively, meanwhile some of the codes, including UFC 4-023-03 or GSA, have proposed general instructions and analytical methods for increasing the strength of the structure against progressive collapse. If the structure in this analysis, does not meet the acceptance criteria of the code, the structure must... 

Concrete structures may become weak and damage due to different reasons and need retrofitting or strengthening. Strengthening means increasing strength and resistance of members that injured to resist the design loads. The weakness of these structures may due to change in the design code provisions, administrative error, change in the usage of the building and damage caused by different events. In the last decade substantial research has been conducted on this field most of which were on the upgrading of RC beams under different loading. There are few studies in strengthening works of RC beams under static loads of torsion. Most researchers in this field have been used polymer fibers to... 

Light cold formed steel structures have a wide use in building constructions and industrial projects due to their economical advantages, rapid erection and installation and capability for industrial mass production. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the seismic behavior and to study the seismic requirements for design of Light steel frames (LSF) structures. The cold forming technique, and the basic concepts of cold formed steel members design have been investigated and the basic concepts of seismic design of light cold formed steel structures is discussed. In order to investigate the performance of steel strap framed wall systems and estimate its response modification...