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In the past decade design procedure changed to �performance-based design� from�force-based design�, by this mean many researchers focused on nonlinear static analysis (NSA)and the procedure named �PUSHOVER�. Advantages of this method are defining the inelasticbehavior of structure without nonlinear dynamic analysis (NDA) effort and also defining plastichinges formation in critical elements, and the order of formed plastic hinges. In spite of these goodadvantages NSA is limited to short and planar structures and application of that in tall andtorsionaly asymmetric structures may yield unreliable results.In this study reliability of NSA is investigated by performing both nonlinear static and dynamicanalysis on six 2D moment resisting concrete frames. Non linear dynamic analysis has been doneby the suggested method in FEMA356 guideline called �Target Displacement Method�. A groupof 4 different lateral increasing loads were used in pushover analysis and 3 different groundmotions were applied in NDA. Results indicate that same responses can be obtained by performingNSA, but errors will be increased by frames height increment.

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According to performance-based seismic design method by using energy concept, in this paper it is tried to investigate the duration and damping effects on elastic input energy due to strong ground motions. Based on reliable Iranian earthquake records in four types of soils, structures were analyzed and equivalent velocity spectra were computed by using input energy. These spectra were normalized with respect to PGA and were drawn for different durations, damping ratios and soil types and then effects of these parameters were investigated on these spectra. Finally it was concluded that in average for different soil types when the duration of ground motions increases, the input energy to structure increases too. Also it was observed that input energy to structures in soft soils is larger than that for stiff soils and with increasing the stiffness of the earthquake record soil type, the input energy decreases. But damping effect on input energy is not very considerable and input energy to structure with damping ratio about 5% has the minimum value.

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By application of design spectra in seismic analyses, determination of design spectra for different site conditions, magnitudes, safety levels and damping ratios will improve the accuracy of seismic analysis results. The result of this research provides different design acceleration spectra based on Iran earthquakes database for different conditions. For this purpose first a set of 146 records was selected according to causative earthquake specifications, device error modification and site conditions. Then the design acceleration spectra are determined for 4 different site conditions presented in Iranian code of practice for seismic resistant design of buildings (Standard No. 2800), different magnitudes (MsO5.5 & Ms>5.5), different damping ratios (0, 2, 5, 10, 20 percent) and also various safety levels (50% & 84%). Also this research compares the determined design spectra with those in Standard No. 2800.

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Future design procedures for civil structures, especially those to be protected from extreme and blast related

loads, will need to account for temporal evolution of their frequency content. There are, however, several instances

where acceleration time histories are required as seismic input. For example, to determine the ultimate resistance and

to identify modes of structures’ failure, a nonlinear time history analysis is needed. In other cases, acceleration time

histories are required for linear analyses. Many seismic codes require this type of analysis for buildings which have

irregularities. The process of time-frequency analysis made possible by the wavelet transform provides insight into the

character of transient signals through time-frequency maps of the time variant spectral decomposition that traditional

approaches miss. In this paper an approach is examined and a new method for processing the ground motion which is

modeled as a non-stationary process (both in amplitude and frequency), is proposed. This method uses the best basis

search algorithm with wavelet packets. In this approach, the signal is expressed as a linear combination of timefrequency

atoms which are obtained by dilations of the analyzing functions, and are organized into dictionaries as

wavelet packets. Several numerical examples are given to verify the developed models.

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In this research, a novel numerical algorithm is introduced for computation of temperature-induced before crack steady strainstress field in plane-stress problem. For this purpose, two dimensional heat transfer equation and force equilibrium equations are sequentially solved using Galerkin Finite Volume method on identical unstructured triangular meshes when proper convergence for each field is achieved. In this model, a proper thermal boundary condition that is suitable for unstructured triangular meshes is introduced for analysis. Two test cases are used to assess accuracy of thermal and structural modules of the developed solver and the computed results are compared with theirs analytical solution.First, thermal analysis is performed for a rectangular plate which is connected to a supporting body with constant temperature and expose to surrounding liquid at three edges.Second, structural analysis is performed for a plate under distributed loads in two directions. Having obtained acceptable results from thermal and structural modules, thermal stress analysis is performed for a plate with fixed-end condition at one of edges,due to a uniform temperature field and the computational principle stress contours are compared with the Finite Element method results which have been reported in the literatures.

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In the water industry tunnels can be used to transfer water from a basin to other areas over varying distances. The construction of such tunnels is inherently risky and can result in unpredicted events and incidents. It is therefore necessary that thorough risk assessments are carried out as a priority of the owner, contractor and consultant organization. This is so that, through a systematic and logical plan, they can risk posed by these unforeseen events and incidents. In this paper, the risks and their main causes which are often encountered in such projects are identified and assessed. A fault tree method is applied in order to identify the main causes of events and incidents. By its nature a Risk assessment cannot be defined by absolute values and so fuzzy data must be used in order to calculate the probability of incidence and the severity of the risk. This is done on the four main criteria of time, cost, quality and safety. In order to estimate the significance of each criterion and to calculate the significance of the total influence of risk Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is applied. In this paper the case study of Dasht-e Zahab water conveyance tunnel has been selected for discussion as it was subjected to severe and multiple hazards. The results obtained using the method were validated by conducting different interviews with the field experts. It was concluded that by applying the proposed methodology on the case study the risks of the project can be evaluated in a more methodical and accurate way than could be done without using the method. This approach is therefore recommended for similar types of projects where there are complicated risks that must be thoroughly investigated and understood.

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This study focuses on non-linear seismic response of a concrete gravity dam subjected to translational and rotational correlated components of ground motions including dam-reservoir interaction. For this purpose rotational components of ground motion is generated using Hong Non Lee improved method based on corresponding available translational components. The 2D seismic behavior of the dam concrete is taken into account using nonlinear fracture mechanics based on the smeared- crack concepts and the dam-reservoir system are modeled using Lagrangian-Lagrangian approach in finite element method. Based on presented formulation, Pine Flat concrete gravity dam is analyzed for different cases and results show that the rotational component of ground motion can increase or decrease the maximum horizontal and vertical displacements of dam crest. These results are dependent on the frequency of dam-reservoir system and predominant frequencies of translational and rotational components of ground motion.

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Upstream blankets, drains and cutoff walls are considered as effective measures to reduce seepage, uplift pressure and exit gradient under the foundation of hydraulic structures. To investigate the effectiveness of these measures, individually or in accordance with others, a large number of experiments were carried out on a laboratory model. To extend the investigation for unlimited arrangements, the physical conditions of all experiments were simulated with a mathematical model. Having compared the data obtained from experiments with those provided from the mathematical model, a good correlation was found between the two sets of data indicating that the mathematical model could be used as a useful tool for calculating the effects of various measures on designing hydraulic structures. Based on this correlation a large number of different inclined angles of cutoff walls, lengths of upstream blankets, and various positions of drains within the mathematical model were simulated. It was found that regardless of their length, the blankets reduce seepage, uplift pressure and exit gradient. However, vertical cutoff walls are the most effective. Moreover, it was found that the best positions of a cutoff wall to reduce seepage flow and uplift force are at the downstream and upstream end, respectively. Also, having simulated the effects of drains, it was found that the maximum reduction in uplift force takes place when the drain is positioned at a distance of 1/3 times the dam width at the downstream of the upstream end. Finally, it was indicated that the maximum reduction in exit gradient occurs when a drain is placed at a distance of 2/3 times of the dam width from upstream end or at the downstream end.