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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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The use of Value Engineering (VE) methodology in construction industry has grown significantly, mainly in view of its extensive benefits. The main task in evaluation phase of VE workshop is to assess alternative ideas, proposed for each function. This phase of VE, hence, could be deemed as a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. This paper presents a fuzzy decision support system (DSS) to be employed in evaluation phase of VE. The proposed multi alternative decision model may be recommended where alternatives’ preferences ratios are different, and scores assigned to each alternative idea are uncertain. As use of VE has greater payoffs at the earlier stages of the construction projects, in which most of the criteria are still vague and not precisely defined, exploiting this DSS may result in more tangible model of decision making process and satisfactory outlook of VE studies in construction projects. A ranking methodology in a spreadsheet template is also provided to facilitate the ranking process. Performance of the proposed methodology is tested using a case example in the tunneling industry.

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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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A new chemical grouting method has been developed for conglomerate formations based on the experimental studies. Due to the lack of chemical grouting experience of conglomerate formations, the testing programs were performed to evaluate the performance of chemical grouting in the water sealing of part of conglomerate foundation of Karkheh earth dam using a combination of field and laboratory tests. First, the chemical grouts alone were examined with regard to viscosity-time behavior, gelation time, temperature-influence, stability, and deformability. These laboratory tests, led to the selection of the final chemical grout which was a solution of sodium silicate, water, and ethyl acetate as reactant. The second step tested grout-soil interaction: The injectability and permeability reduction of the selected chemical grout was examined in field injection tests. In this step two field tests were performed including shallow test holes without hydrostatic pressure and full scale tests under dam real hydrostatic pressure head. Based on these two field injection tests, performed in the conglomerate foundation of Karkheh dam, a new chemical grouting method for conglomerate formations is proposed and satisfactory results led to the recommendation of this method for eventually successful application.

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The deformation and stiffness characteristics of a cemented gravely sand was investigated using triaxial equipment. The triaxial tests were conducted in both dry and saturated undrained conditions. Artificially cemented samples are prepared using gypsum plaster as the cementing agent. The plaster was mixed with the base soil at the weight percentages of 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6. The applied confining pressure varied between 25 to 500 kPa in triaxial tests. The process of yielding of the soil was investigated for the considered soil and the bond and final yield points were identified for the cemented soil with different cement contents. The variations of deformation and stiffness parameters with cement content and confining stress were studied as well. Some of the parameters were determined for both drained and undrained conditions to investigate the effect of drainage condition on the stiffness and yield characteristics of the tested cemented gravely sand. According to the results, the difference between drained and undrained tangent stiffness decreases with increase in confining stress. Finally the effect of cement type was investigated as an important parameter affecting the stiffness at bond yield. The rate of increase in tangent stiffness at bond yield changes with cement content for different cementing agents.

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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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Seismic piezocone device (SCPTu) together with Resonant Column and Cyclic Triaxial test apparatus are

employed to measure small strain shear modulus (G0) of carbonate sandy and clayey soils of southern coasts of Iran.

A large area of southern regions of Iran is formed from clay, silt and sand. In this study, maximum shear modulus that

is derived from both field (by seismic piezocone) and laboratory (by Resonant Column and Cyclic Triaxial) tests on

soil samples from the southern region, indicated a meaningful effect of sample disturbance. Results show that in

laboratory tests, loose samples tend to become denser and therefore exhibit greater stiffness whereas dense samples

tend to become looser, showing a reduction in stiffness. According to the results of the present study, there are narrow

limits of soils shear moduli for which the laboratory tests and the field measurements yield approximately the same

amounts. This limit of shear moduli is about 30-50(MPa) for clay deposits and 70-100 (MPa) for sandy deposits. Since

the shear moduli of soils in small strains can also be computed from the shear wave velocity, also correlations based

on parameters derived from SCPTu test for shear wave velocity determination of sandy and clayey soils of the studied

area are presented. This study shows that shear wave velocity can be related to both corrected tip resistance and total

normal stress. The measurements of the damping ratio and shear module, because of a great disturbance of stiff

deposits during the sampling process and also due to considerable differences between the laboratory and field

results, by the laboratory approaches are not reliable and advised.

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A semi-micromechanical multilaminate model is introduced here to predict the mechanical behavior of soils.

This model is like a bridge between micro and macro scale upon the satisfaction of minimum potential energy level

during any applied stress/strain increments. The concept of this model is based on a certain number of sampling planes

which constitute the elastic-plastic behavior of the soil. The soil behavior presents as the summation of behavior on

these planes. A simple unconventional constitutive equations are used in each of the planes to describe the behavior

of these planes separately. An unconventional plasticity can predict the soil behavior as a smooth curve with

considering plastic deformation due to change of stress state inside the yield surface. The model is capable of

predicting softening behavior of the soil in a reasonable manner due to using unconventional plasticity. The influences

of induced anisotropy are included in a rational way without any additional hypotheses owing to in-nature properties

of the multilaminate framework. Results of this model are compared with test data and reasonable agreement is found.

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The present paper is devoted to a new critical state based plasticity model able to predict drained and undrained behaviour of

granular material. It incorporates a bounding surface plasticity model describing in multilaminate framework to capitalize on

advantages of this mathematical framework. Most of the models developed using stress/strain invariants are not capable of

identifying the parameters depending on directional effects such as principal stress rotation and fabric this is mainly because

stress/strain invariants are scalar quantities. The principal features of this model can be postulated as considering both inherent

and induced anisotropy, principal stress rotation. Since the local instability of saturated sand within post-liquefaction is highly

dependent on the residual inherent/induced anisotropy, bedding plane effects and also the stress/strain path the new mode is

competent to be employed in this regard. The constitutive equations of the model are derived within the context of non-linear

elastic behaviour for the whole medium and plastic sliding of interfaces of predefined planes. As follows, the constitutive

equations are described in detail and then the experimental results and sensitive analysis of key material constants are shown

which all imply the power of the model in predicting of soil behaviour under any condition in soil structures.

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In recent years, different damage indexes have been introduced in engineering literature. The most prominent one among other

counterparts is the 1985 Park and Ang's damage index (DIPA), which demonstrates well calibration against experimental

results. Hence, it has traditionally had broad application in the field of structural engineering. Commonly, in DIPA relevant

parameters are assessed based on plastic-hinge approach, which is not well suited to consider the coupled response between

stress resultants (axial force and flexural moment) especially in grossly nonlinear domain. The reason is that named approach

is utilized constant shape plastic moment-curvature curve, which is not capable of varying the shape throughout loading history.

Another drawback of plastic-hinge method is the difficulty of representing precisely partial yielding of the cross-section. To

remedy the situation, the fiber discretization technique is used in this paper. Based on the fiber discretization strategy, not only

have the stiffness and strength degradation been characterized more accurately, but also the distribution of plasticity along the

plastic zone has been considered. Besides, the multi-directional effect of axial force and flexural moment is considered to assess

DI parameters. Additionally, this strategy directly incorporates the effect of transverse confinement into cross sectional

constitutive behaviour.

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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 this paper, the effect of bedrock inclination on seismic performance of slopes is investigated. The study was conducted based

on dynamic analysis of different slopes, evaluation of the earthquake acceleration in sliding mass, and calculating the

permanent displacement of the slope, using Newmark sliding block. The investigation indicates that variation of the bedrock

inclination may cause the acceleration magnitude and the displacement in the sliding mass to reach to their maximum level.

This may happen in conditions that the mean period of the acceleration time history on failure surface (Tmt) and the

predominant period of the slope (Ts ) are close to each other. Typical results are presented and discussed. A two dimensional

model of a typical slope was considered and conducting dynamic analyses, the slope performance was studied for different

geometries, strength parameters and shear wave velocities. Such a performance has been studied by assessing the record of

acceleration in sliding mass (the mass above the critical sliding surface) and calculating the slope displacement using Newmark

method. It is shown that neglecting the effect of bedrock inclination, would lead to non-real results in assessing the seismic slope

performance.

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In the current study, an effort is made to determine three dimensional bearing capacity of rectangular foundations using Discrete

Element Method. The soil mass is modeled as discrete blocks connected with Winkler springs. Different factors affect the geometry

of failure surface. Six independent angles are used to define the failure surface. By trial and error, the optimum shape of failure

surface beneath the foundation can be found. The paper includes the derivation of the governing equations for this DEM based

formulation in three dimensional state as well as parametric sensitivity analyses and comparison with other methods. Moreover,

using the current method, bearing capacity coefficients are presented for various friction angles and foundation aspect ratios.

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The nonlinear static procedures (NSPs) proposed by design codes do not lead to reliable results especially for tall buildings.

They generally provide inconsistent estimates of inelastic seismic demands, especially for the top floors due to their inabilities in

considering the higher modes effects. In this paper, a new enhanced pushover procedure is proposed which is based on the

envelope of the structural responses resulting from two separate pushover analyses as a combination rule. Also, the suggested

pushover analyses are performed using a newly proposed modal load pattern, i.e., the Modal Spectra Combination (MSC), and

the ASCE41-06 required first mode load pattern. The MSC load pattern is consisted of a number of mode shapes combined with

appropriate weighting factors that depend on their modal participation factors, modal frequencies and design spectral values. A

number of 2-D steel moment resisting frame models with different number of stories are used to investigate the efficiency of the

proposed method. The inter-story drifts and the maximum plastic beam moment and curvature responses are used as a measure

to compare the results obtained from the nonlinear time-history analyses (NL-THA) and some other NSPs. The results obtained

through rigorous nonlinear dynamic analyses show that the application of the proposed method leads to acceptable results for

steel MRF systems in comparison to other available enhanced NSPs. The OpenSees program is used for numerical analysis.

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In a rare engineering experience throughout the world, we successfully stabilized relatively coarse materials of drain using

cement grouting. The grouting work was performed at the Karkheh earth dam, southwest Iran, and was part of the efforts to

extend the dam’s cut-off wall. Since the dam was completed, the execution of the new cut-off wall from the dam crest was

inevitable. Hence, one of the main difficulties associated with the development of the new cut-off wall was trenching and execution

of plastic-concrete wall through the relatively coarse materials of drain in the dam body. Due to high permeability of drain, the

work was associated with the possible risk of excessive slurry loss which could result in the collapse of the trench. In order to

achieve an appropriate grouting plan and to determine the mix ratio for the grouting material, a full-scale test platform consisting

of actual drain materials was constructed and underwent various tests. Results of the testing program revealed that a grouting

plan with at least 2 grouting rows and a Water/Cement mix ratio of 1/ (1.5-2) can successfully stabilize the drain materials. After

finalizing the technical characteristics of the grouting work, the method was applied on the drain materials of the Karkheh dam

body. The results were satisfactory and the drain materials were stabilized successfully so that the cut-off wall was executed

without any technical problem.

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In the process of structural analysis we often come to structures that can be analyzed with simpler methods than the standard approaches. For these structures, known as regular structures, the matrices involved are in canonical forms and their eigen-solution can be performed in a simple manner. However, by adding or removing some elements or nodes, such methods cannot be utilized. Here, an efficient method is developed for the analysis of irregular structures in the form a regular structure with additional or missing nodes or with additional or missing supports. In this method, the saving in computational time is considerable. The power of the method becomes more apparent when the analysis should be repeated very many times as it is the case in optimal design or non-linear analysis.

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Piles or drilled shafts used in bridge foundation, waterfronts, and high rise buildings are generally subjected to lateral loads. In order to study the effect of concrete pile geometry on the structural behavior in layered soils, several models with different shapes and dimensions for piles and different properties for two soil layers with variable thickness were selected and analyzed using the finite difference method. The performance of piles situated in layered granular soil with different compaction and thicknesses were studied in two cycles of lateral loading and unloading. The applied finite difference procedure is also validated based on experimental and published results. The pile head displacement of different models due to their overall deformation and rotation were calculated under maximum loading. For a comparison of pile head displacement due to their overall deformation and rotation in different models, the "performance index” is defined as the ratio of “displacement due to deformation” to the “total displacement”.

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This paper presents time domain fundamental solutions for the extended Biot's dynamic formulations of two-dimensional (2D) unsaturated poroelasticity. Unsaturated porous media is considered as a porous media in which the voids are saturated with two immiscible fluids, i.e. liquid and gas. At first, the corresponding explicit Laplace transform domain fundamental solution is obtained in terms of skeleton displacements, as well as liquid and gas pressures. Subsequently, the closed-form time domain fundamental solutions are derived by analytical inversion of the Laplace transform domain solutions. Finally, a set of numerical results are presented which verifies the accuracy of the analytically inversed transient fundamental solution and demonstrates some salient features of the elastic waves in unsaturated media..

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In the present study, the application of Endurance Time Analysis (ETA) method is investigated on seismic analysis of a high arch dam. In this method the coupled system is excited using the predesigned intensifying acceleration functions instead of the real ground motions. Finite element model of an arch dam considering the dam-rock-water interaction effects was developed in which the concrete and rock were assumed to have linear elastic behavior. The effect of the large displacement in dam body was considered in numerical model using co-rotational approach. The coupled system was analyzed by conventional Time History Analysis (THA) method in various seismic performance levels and the results were compared with those obtained from ETA at the equivalent target time. It was found that ETA method provides the close results to THA with acceptable accuracy while it reduces the total time of the analyses considerably.