Composite structures are commonly analysed using the Finite Element Method (FEM). However, new accurate and efficient discrete numerical techniques have appeared recently – the meshless methods. Thus, this work uses a meshless method – the Natural Neighbour Radial Point Interpolation Method (NNRPIM) – to perform an elasto-static analysis of composite laminated plates. Meshless methods only require

Finite element model updating has become a key tool to improve the numerical modelling of existing civil engineering structures, by adjusting the numerical response to the observed experimental behaviour of the structure. At present, model updating is mostly conducted using the maximum likelihood method. Following this approach, the updating problem can be transformed into a multi-objective optimization

The Self-Centering Energy-Absorbing Rocking Core with friction spring damper (denoted as the SCENARIO system) is a novel steel structural system that can achieve excellent self-centering performance in low-rise buildings. This research presents the physical tests and design procedure of the SCENARIO system, which consists of a rocking core (RC) and two friction spring dampers (FSDs). The basic mechanical

Despite many advantages provided by fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars, their low resistance against fire has been an important barrier for their widespread application in reinforced concrete (RC) members. Studying the post-fire performance of concrete structures reinforced with FRP bars can be beneficial in understanding the structural safety and estimating the serviceability conditions after a fire

An innovative retrofit scheme is proposed for the strengthening of old brick masonry buildings: the floor area is increased using newly added and isolated upper stories, and the lower brick masonry part is strengthened using precast concrete wall panels. To investigate the seismic performance of the innovative proposed strengthening scheme, a theoretical analysis and shaking-table tests were conducted

This paper proposes a seismic resisting technique for reinforced concrete frame buildings that uses a combination of a rubber core and a U-shaped friction damping system. The U-shaped elements are made from steel and aluminum while the core is made of rubber. The elastoplastic model is used to define steel and aluminum; the hyper-elastic, Ogden model is used to define the rubber material. The system

Precast segmental ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) columns with post-tensioned (PT) tendons can effectively protect the compression toe from damage and enhance energy dissipation (ED) capacity of column compared to conventional segmental concrete columns. Extensive experiments and numerical studies have been carried out to explore the cyclic response of segmental UHPC columns in the existing

Every year landslides occur all over the world as a consequence of specific ground conditions, geomorphological, physical or man-made processes. Such phenomena, often triggered by heavy rainfalls or earthquakes, can affect buildings and infrastructures, causing economic and life losses. This work investigates the effects of a landslide, occurred on the 26th of November 2018, on the Monastry of Santa

In this study, nine laboratory tests were conducted to estimate the performance of earthquake-resistant structures, i.e., reduced beam section (RBS) connection, under a scenario in which the middle column is removed. Four types of joints were tested, namely, welded unreinforced flange – bolted web connection without RBS (WUF-B-NRBS), welded unreinforced flange – bolted web connection with RBS (WUF-B-RBS)

Civil infrastructure can be subjected to different deterioration scenarios (e.g., continuous deterioration and sudden events) during its service life. Time-dependent reliability analysis of a deteriorating system is of vital importance in the structural design, assessment, and management process. In this paper, a general and novel probability density function-informed framework for time-dependent reliability

Wind load provisions in the North American codes and standards incorporate the results of wind tunnel studies and the full-scale measurements of wind loads. These studies examined wind effects on buildings with regular plan size, i.e. less than 60 m. This fact emphasizes the importance of testing large buildings in the wind tunnel and highlights the necessity of investigating the applicability of the

Standing seam metal roofs are one of the most commonly used types of roofs especially because of their additional durability and ease of construction. The performance of such roofs under extreme wind events like hurricanes depends on their structural strength and aerodynamic characteristics. Large-scale experimental testing was performed at the NHERI Wall of Wind Experimental Facility (WOW EF) using

The large number of existing masonry bridges still in service in the world roadway and railway networks requires that transportation system managers carry out ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. In many of these networks, the need for increasing the speed and/or weight of the traffic loads also entails the design of strengthening interventions aimed at enhancing the load-carrying capacity of masonry

This paper investigates the complex nonlinear vibrations and internal resonance of the rotating blade subjected to the aerodynamic force, which is simplified to a pretwisted rotating cantilever rectangular plate with the varying cross-section and varying rotating speed. Considering the effects of the cross-section warping, pretwisted and presetting angles, the nonlinear partial differential governing

In this study, the performance of a proposed friction damper with two slip loads in controlling the seismic response of steel moment resisting buildings structures under moderate and intense earthquake excitations is investigated. The proposed friction damper initially operates with a smaller slip load and could shift to the higher slip load after a certain amount of slippage when subjected to intense

The construction industry, which accounts for almost 20% of Australia’s carbon emissions, is responding to climate change by increasing the demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly materials. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an innovative eco-friendly engineering material that can satisfy this demand due to its excellent properties, including fire and seismic resilience, natural insulation

The flexural behaviour of I-section steel-reinforced concrete-filled steel tubes (SRCFSTs) was investigated via finite-element (FE) analysis. Different behaviours of the SRCFST beams were compared in terms of moment vs. midspan deflection curves, stress distribution in concrete, contact pressure, and flexural strength. The results indicated that the I-section steel delayed the movement of the neutral

Reinforced concrete (RC) ordinary moment frames (OMFs) are commonly used for building construction in low-to-moderate seismic regions. Unlike those in special moment frames (SMFs), beam-column joints in RC OMFs are susceptible to damage during earthquakes because the joints are not designed to resist the large shear forces transferred from adjoined members in the elastic range. For this reason, they

In this paper, three full-sized flat slabs measuring 4800 × 4000 × 200 mm3 supported by a circular column stub were tested at ambient and elevated temperatures to investigate their punching shear performance. During the fire tests, three slabs were submitted to the ISO-834 curve for 180 min. Infrared detection and 3D scanning were utilized to record crack information and overall deformations. Furnace

Reinforced concrete structural walls are commonly used as the primary lateral load resisting system in modern buildings constructed in high seismic regions. Most walls in high-rise buildings are C-shaped to accommodate elevators or other architectural features. C-shaped walls have complex loading and response including: (1) symmetric response in the direction of the web, (2) asymmetric response in

The joints with glued-in steel rods are efficient joints in the design of timber structures, due to their high stiffness, strength and fire resistance. The ductile behaviour of joints can be achieved through designing the yielding of steel rods prior to wood failure. In practice, the joints are generally with multiple rods rather than single rod. In the case of multiple glued-in rods, the yielding

Thirty-two uncracked shear-friction specimens were tested to investigate the effect of elevated temperatures on the shear-friction behaviour of concrete. Exposure temperature and the shear reinforcement were the principal variables. Specimens were exposed to high temperatures of 350 °C, 550 °C, and 750 °C in a programmable insulated closed electric furnace and were cooled down to room temperature before

The seismic behavior of fire-exposed concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns was investigated based on a verified finite element analysis (FEA) model in this paper. Coupling effects of the fire exposure and sustained axial load on CFST columns were considered. Existing test data was employed to verify the feasibility of the model, where the temperature field tests, fire resistance tests, cyclic

The present work outlines a computational approach, based on the so-called Finite Analytic Method (FAM), to deal with second-order effects in the structural analysis of tapered members accounting for geometrical nonlinearity by using only one element per physical member. The proposed modelization considers the equilibrium in the deformed configuration of a “beam-column” element, by addressing the resulting

Dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) and tuned mass-dampers (TVAs) have wide-spread applications in the aerospace industry, the automotive sector, and in civil engineering structures. There are numerous designs of active and passive vibration attenuators or absorbers that isolate structural vibrations at or around the desired frequency. All these design approaches are fundamentally different ways to

This work is a further development of its predecessor, the topic of which was verification of serviceability limit states of reinforced concrete hinges. Herein, the same conceptual approach is used to derive analytical formulae, supporting verification of ultimate limit states. These formulae limit tolerable relative rotations as a function of the compressie normal force transmitted across the neck

The conventional approach for evaluating bridge reliability assumes that the resistance or failure of a pair of adjacent steel girders is either fully correlated or independent. The effect of the spatial dependence of corrosion growth on the system reliability of steel girder bridges has not been thoroughly investigated. To fill this knowledge gap, the Gaussian, Gumbel, Clayton, and Frank copulas are

Masonry arch bridges often include multiple spans, where adjacent arches and piers interact with each other giving rise to a complex response under traffic loading. Thus, the assumption commonly used in practical assessment that multi-span masonry viaducts behave as a series of independent single-span structures, may not be realistic for many configurations. While several experimental and numerical

This work aims to provide a comprehensive procedure for the assessment of structural safety of tunnel linings exposed to fire. To this purpose, numerical simulations that model the three fundamental features influencing tunnel fire safety design, namely fire dynamics, thermal behavior and structural response, are performed. Fire development within tunnel is simulated by applying advanced Computational

In this work, a simple and effective numerical model is proposed for studying flexible and rigid foundations in bilateral and frictionless contact with a three-dimensional elastic half-space. For this purpose, a Galerkin Boundary Element Method for the substrate is introduced, and both surface vertical displacements and half-space tractions are discretized by means of a piecewise constant function

The connection of precast joints is an important factor that affects the seismic and endurance performance of precast concrete structures. Currently, the seismic performance of existing precast joints cannot satisfy the application requirements of complex and harsh environments. This paper proposes a cogging high-strength bolt composite joint (C-HSB joint), and introduces its main components and assembly

This paper presents a finite-element (FE) investigation on the flexural capacities of H-section high-strength steel beams with web openings. A non-linear finite-element model (FEM) was developed for H-section high-strength steel beams with web openings, which included initial geometric imperfections. The FEMs were validated against the test results available in the literature for H-section high-strength

Bridges crossing navigable waterways have a high risk for vessel collision hazard, and are meanwhile experiencing significant ‘aging’ hazard due to the surrounding aggressive environments. These bridges must be designed to be resilient to both episodic (vessel collision) and chronic (structural deterioration) hazards. To achieve this goal, this paper will develop a novel fragility assessment framework

This paper experimentally and numerically investigated the flexural behavior of steel-laminated concrete composite girders. The laminated concrete deck consists of a reinforced concrete (RC) layer and an ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) layer, and the resulting steel-laminated concrete composite girder is referred to as S-RC-UHPC girder. Experimental tests were first conducted to compare the

The seismic vulnerability and inadequate behaviour of existing school buildings observed during past earthquakes in Italy have raised awareness of the need to upgrade their performance. This paper examines different retrofit strategies for three case study school buildings, representing the main typologies found within the Italian school building stock. The three building typologies investigated in

Aiming at evaluating the reliability of the high-strength bolts’ fake tightened-up phenomena of the bolted spherical joints in a spatial grid structure, this research studied the tensile strength, stiffness, and failure modes of the bolted spherical joints with different bolt types and screwing depths using a combined method of the lab experiments and numerical simulations. A total of 40 axial tension

Recent advances in reinforcing lateral-load resisting systems with glass-fiber-reinforced-polymer (GFRP) bars have highlighted the need for farther experimental investigations. With the elastic behavior of GFRP-bars, ensuring sufficient plastic deformations become challenging. The current study presents the experimental work performed on six full-scale GFRP-reinforced concrete shear walls with boundary

Compared with the current popular performance-based design (PBD) method, the current research of scholars on structural performance as a PBD foundation is insufficient. By considering the failure process of a standing seam roof system as an example, the wind-resistant performance of a roof system is evaluated by studying the wind uplift failure mechanism. The deformation process of roof-system components

This paper presents details of the numerical examination and performance comparison of steel buckling restrained braced frames (BRBFs) designed with different response modification factors, using the next-generation performance assessment approach. Archetypal BRBF designs were conducted following the US provisions and considering response factors equal to or less than the codified limit. The archetypical

The interfacial bond between the fiber-reinforced polymers tube (FRP-T) and its concrete core (CC) is necessary to transfer the loads from the FRP-T to the CC. In this study authors present an experimental investigation of the interfacial bond strength between the circular pultruded FRP-Ts (with or without sand-coating) and a CC. It also aims to evaluate the use of sand-coating as a bond enhancer to

This study aimed to analytically develop tensile stress-crack width constitutive relationships for hybrid fibre reinforced concrete (HFRC). An inverse analysis was performed based on the fictitious crack hinge model to derive the stress-crack width relationship through careful calibrations of model parameters with the digital image correlation (DIC) measurements. The studied parameters included fibre

A method for evaluating the mechanical integrity of open-top cylindrical storage tanks subjected to a differential settlement is given. The settlement profile underneath the bottom circumference of the tank shell can be transformed into different harmonic components using the Fourier transformation. The existing method in American Petroleum Institute’s standard API 653, which is currently used by the

Aggregate interlocking is acknowledged as one of the most significant actions transferring shear forces in cracked concrete structures and has been investigated for several decades. Despite the many experimental programmes and previous efforts to develop models based on mechanical approaches, a number of instrumental issues of the phenomenon are still not fully understood. For example, most researches

Perimeter columns of building structures are the most susceptible to accidental loading (say, terrorist attacks or vehicle impact) due to their accessibility to the public, and thus progressive collapse is more likely caused by damage of perimeter columns. Previous studies show contrary or inconsistent conclusions of structural resistance form of RC beam-slab assemblies under an edge column removal

A consistent design approach, performed by second-order inelastic analysis using beam finite elements with strain limits, is proposed for web-tapered steel members. In the proposed design approach, a geometrically and materially nonlinear analysis with imperfections (GMNIA) of the tapered steel member is carried out and the ultimate strength of the member is signified by reaching either the strain

This paper presents a thorough experimental and numerical study of the structural behaviour and resistance of S700 high strength steel double shear bolted connections subjected to tension. A total of 38 S700 high strength steel double shear bolted connections were adopted in the tests, and included seven 1-bolt connections (with each containing one bolt), ten 2-pe-bolt connections (with each containing

This paper reports on numerical assessment of the blast response of a heterogeneous composite structure using LS-DYNA solver. There experimentally observed effect of heterogeneity on the overall response of the structure is numerically assessed. Multiple approaches to the introduction of material heterogeneity are proposed, modelled and tested. The numerical results are confronted with the authors’

The authors propose a new tuned viscous mass damper (TVMD) coupled wall system for use in high-rise buildings. In this novel structural system, the TVMDs are arranged in a zig-zag configuration to couple wall piers in order to control both lateral inter-story drifts and floor accelerations. This novel structural system is used in this study to investigate the seismic performance of a 15-story prototype

In prefabricated industrial buildings, damages and collapses may occur under snow loads. If the necessary precautions are not taken, the damage can spread to the whole structure which leads to total collapse. Therefore, it is very crucial for manufacturers to comprehend the nature of the damage and to take necessary precautions to prevent this damage. In this present study, the damages occurred at

Retrofitting timber columns in traditional timber structures with a steel jacketed splice joint has advantages of aesthetic appearance and similar mechanic performance to the intact columns as compared to conventional simple splice columns. The axial compression behavior of such retrofitted splice columns has been studied experimentally in detail. However, there is still a lack of a calculation model

Block Slit Dampers (BSDs) are recently developed metallic yielding dampers for passive structural control. This type of damping devices can provide designers with an option of using highly ductile systems, such as steel special moment resisting frames (steel SMRFs), in important structures located in regions of high seismicity. The aim of this study is to obtain a performance-based seismic design (PBSD)

Nowadays, Buckling Restrained Braced Frame (BRBF) system is extensively used for the seismic design of new buildings. This system is composed of Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) that do not buckle under compression forces, and have high energy-dissipation capacity. However, low post-yield stiffness of the brace core in BRBs may cause large residual drifts after the occurrence of an earthquake. In

In this study, a Modified Frequency and Spatial Domain Decomposition (MFSDD) technique is developed for modal parameter identification, using output-only response measurements. According to the presented procedure, the most probable power spectral density matrix of the measured response (output PSD) is updated by a maximum likelihood estimation based on the observed data. Different from the available

This study reports a comprehensive performance comparison of two types of widely used dampers, i.e., viscoelastic dampers (VEDs) and viscous dampers (VDs), for multi-mode vibration control of long cables. Cables of three different lengths (334.2 m, 454.1 m and 546.9 m respectively) in the Sutong Bridge were chosen for investigation. The VED is of viscous-shear type and it consists a housing box containing

Tension loaded anchorages far from the concrete edge may fail due to concrete cone failure, steel failure, pull-out failure or splitting of the concrete member. In the case of concrete cone failure, a conical concrete breakout body forms, where the angle of the initial crack of the concrete cone to the concrete surface is approximately 35° and the diameter of the concrete cone is about 1.5 times the

Sustainable geopolymeric recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) by utilizing environmentally-friendly binder-geopolymer and constructional solid waste-recycled aggregate (RA) will facilitate the sustainability in concrete industry. This study investigated the compressive behavior of sustainable geopolymeric RAC confined by carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) jackets. A total of 72 cylindrical fly ash/slag-based

A rigid-mass vehicle model with wheels modelled as unsprung mass is newly proposed considering the pitching effect, which enables us to obtain the first three bridge frequencies from the vehicle’s spectrum even in the presence of surface irregularity and damping. As the vehicle moves along the bridge, it generally confronts a bumpy ride due to the presence of surface irregularity. To investigate the

The punching shear resistance of reinforced concrete flat plates is an area where design is typically done in a highly-idealized manner, using provisions developed from experimental results of isolated slab-column connections; yet, involves structures where performance may be greatly impacted by system-level response. This paper presents the development and application of a practical thick-shell finite