Large quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) building waste are being generated as a result of rapid urbanization and natural disasters in China. An increasing awareness of environmental protection is escalating C&D waste disposal concerns. This paper presents a brief introduction to current shaking table test research in China on structures built with recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). Test structures include a cast-in situ frame model, a precast frame model and a block masonry building. The test results prove that it is feasible to use RAC as a structural material in seismic areas, with recommended modifications and proper design, especially in low-rise structures. This paper also presents several successful applications of RAC in civil and structural engineering projects in China, which will serve to promote RAC as a global ecological structural material.
Joints play an important role in providing ductility for steel-composite structures subject to extreme loading conditions, such as blast, fire and impact. Due to sound energy dissipation capability and fabrication efficiency, semi-rigid joints have increasingly received attention during the last decade. This paper presents a component approach for modeling semi-rigid beam-to-column joints based on Eurocode3, where the post-elastic response, including component strain hardening and ultimate rotational capacity, is also considered. Failure criteria are defined based on the ultimate deformation capacity of components and bolt-rows. The model enables a direct integration of joint response into global frame models with the consideration of axial deformability, such that the interaction between bending moment and axial force within the joints can be realistically captured. In addition, elevated temperature can be considered in the joint model via the degradation of the component response. Through comparisons with available test data, the joint model is shown to have good accuracy, and the failure criteria are found to be reliable yet conservative. The strain hardening response of components is shown to have significant influence on the ultimate bending capacity of the joints, while neglecting it usually leads to a conservative prediction.
A floor isolation system installed in a single floor or room in a fixed base structure is designed to protect equipment. With this configuration, the input motions to the floor isolation from the ground motions are filtered by the structure, leaving the majority of the frequency content of the input motion lower than the predominant frequency of the structure. The floor isolation system should minimize the acceleration to protect equipment; however, displacement must also be limited to save floor space, especially with long period motion. Semi-active control with an
This paper describes an inverse Gaussian process-based model to characterize the growth of metal-loss corrosion defects on energy pipelines. The model parameters are evaluated using the Bayesian methodology by combining the inspection data obtained from multiple inspections with the prior distributions. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation techniques are employed to numerically evaluate the posterior marginal distribution of each individual parameter. The measurement errors associated with the ILI tools are considered in the Bayesian inference. The application of the growth model is illustrated using an example involving real inspection data collected from an in-service pipeline in Alberta, Canada. The results indicate that the model in general can predict the growth of corrosion defects reasonably well. Parametric analyses associated with the growth model as well as reliability assessment of the pipeline based on the growth model are also included in the example. The proposed model can be used to facilitate the development and application of reliability-based pipeline corrosion management.
This paper investigates the performance of T-stub connected semi-rigid joint of rectangular tubular columns and H-shaped steel beams. The finite element analysis software ABAQUS is used to analyze the nonlinear performance of the joint under monotonic loading. Meanwhile, the dimensions of T-stub, column and beam are considered as analytic parameters to discuss the performance of the joint. The analysis shows that the thickness and the length of T-stub webs, the height of beam section, bolt diameter, shear connector and the preloaded force affect the performance of the joint largely, and the thickness of the steel tube, the thickness and length of T-stub flange, bolt spacing have relatively little influences on the performance of the joint. The research results indicate that this joint is semi-rigid joint.
In the present paper, a homogenization-based two-scale FEM-FEM model is developed to simulate compactions of visco-plastic granular assemblies. The granular structure consisting of two-dimensional grains is modeled by the microscopic finite element method at the small-scale level, and the homogenized viscous assembly is analyzed by the macroscopic finite element method at large-scale level. The link between scales is made using a computational homogenization method. The two-scale FEM-FEM model is developed in which each particle is treated individually with the appropriate constitutive relations obtained from a representative volume element, kinematic conditions, contact constraints, and elimination of overlap satisfied for every particle. The method could be used in a variety of problems that can be represented using granular media.
Three groups of concrete beams reinforced with high-strength steel bars were tested, and the crack width and deformation of the specimens were observed and studied. To facilitate the predictions, two simplified formulations according to a theory developed by the first author were proposed. The advantages of the formulations were verified by the test data and compared with several formulas in different codes.
The objective of this study is to develop a procedure to analyze the motions of a floating pier comprised of several pontoons that are modeled as rigid bodies and connected to each other by flexible and rigid connectors. Recently, the use offloating piers has increased because of their advantages, such as faster and higher-quality construction, seismic force isolation for a full-scale mooring system, low dependence on local soil conditions and tides, ability to relocate or reconfigure the pier modules during the operation period and 75-100 years of repair-free service. A floating pier consists of a pier, access bridge, mooring system and fender system, each of which comes in many variations to suit different usages and construction considerations. The typical loads used in the design of these piers are dead loads, live loads, mooring loads, fender loads and environmental loads induced by wind, currents and waves. For numerical simulation, three types of piers are used: passenger piers, light-cargo piers and semi-heavy-cargo piers. The selected piers consist of several large pontoons joined by pivots and have a pile-based mooring system. These piers are modeled by SAP2000software as two-dimensional frames that are linked together. As the first step, each type of pier is subjected to loading, and its general behavior is assessed. According to this behavior, the major load combinations are described for the design of piers and analyzed to determine the behavior of the modules. Lastly, according to the analysis results and the safe use and stability considerations, such as the maximum draft and longitudinal gradient, the dimensions of each module in each pier type are presented.