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According to experiences, zones of weaknesses, joint systems and sliding surfaces in rock masses, have a great effect on the deformation behavior of tunnel cross section and the stress development in the shotcrete cover. The loosening and detaching of rock due to roof deformations in turn can take progressive dimensions and lead to roof fall and in extreme case cave to the surface. In this study, the effect of weakness zones on increasing roof deformations is demonstrated and the radius of influence of such weaknesses is determined using a FE- program for 3- dimensional continuum. Furthermore it is shown that the thickness of such disturbances does not significantly affect the development of deformations i.e. if the stiffness conditions remain constant. Also the viscous material causes greater deformations than the elastic one. Finally the study indicates that tangential stresses in the lining are also increased by weakness zones.

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In this paper, a higher order continuum model is presented based on the Cosserat continuum theory in 3D numerical simulation of shear band localization. As the classical continuum models suffer from the pathological mesh-dependence in strain softening models, the governing equations are regularized by adding the rotational degrees-of-freedom to conventional degrees-of-freedom. The fundamental relations in three-dimensional Cosserat continuum are presented and the internal length parameters are introduced in the elasto-plastic constitutive matrix to control the shear bandwidth. Finally, the efficiency of proposed model and computational algorithm is demonstrated by a 3D strip in tensile. A comparison is performed between the classical and Cosserat theories and the effect of internal length parameter is demonstrated. Clearly, a finite shear bandwidth is achieved and the load-displacement curves are uniformly converged upon different mesh sizes.

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Pushover analysis is a simplified nonlinear analysis technique that can be used to estimate the dynamic demands imposed on a structure under earthquake excitations. One of the first steps taken in this approximate solution is to assess the maximum roof displacement, known as target displacement, using the base shear versus roof displacement diagram. That could be done by the so-called dynamic pushover analysis, i.e. a dynamic time history analysis of an equivalent single degree of freedom model of the original system, as well as other available approximate static methods. In this paper, a number of load patterns, including a new approach, are considered to construct the related pushover curves. In a so-called dynamic pushover analysis, the bi-linear and tri-linear approximations of these pushover curves were used to assess the target displacements by performing dynamic nonlinear time history analyses. The results obtained for five different special moment resisting steel frames, using five earthquake records were compared with those resulted from the time history analysis of the original system. It is shown that the dynamic pushover analysis approach, specially, with the tri-linear approximation of the pushover curves, proves to have a better accuracy in assessing the target displacements. On the other hand, when nonlinear static procedure seems adequate, no specific preference is observed in using more complicated static procedures (proposed by codes) compared to the simple first mode target displacement assessment.

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The available methods for predicting mechanical characteristics of pavement layers are categorized into two general groups, Destructive and Non-destructive. In destructive method, using coring and pavement subgrade and performing necessary experiments on them, the quantities of layers properties will be identified. In Non-destructive method, the attained deflection is measured by applying the loading on pavement surface using equipments such as FWD which charges the impact dynamic load, and the mechanical characteristics of pavement layers are determined using back calculations. The procedure of conducting these calculations is that by knowing the thickness of the pavement layers and assuming the initial amounts for mechanical characteristics of the layer, the attained deflection at the desired points on the pavement surface will be calculated. Then, new figures are assumed for the characteristics of layers in a reattempt and calculations are repeated again. This trial and error is continued until the produced basin deformations from the calculations with true value, differs in an acceptable range. Using this method may have no accurate and single answer, since the various compositions of layers characteristics can produce similar deformations in different points of pavement surface. In this article, using an innovative method, a measurement is taken in constructing and introducing a mathematical model for determining the elastic module of surface layer using deflections attained from FWD loading equipment. The procedure is such that by using dynamic analysis software of finite elements like ABAQUS and ANSYS, the deformation of corresponding points on the surface of the pavement will be attained by FWD loading equipment. This analysis will be performed on a number of pavements with different thicknesses and different layers properties. The susceptibility analysis of different points deformations show, which will be performed as a result of the change of properties and layers thicknesses. Using this artificial data base as well as deflection basin parameters (DBP), a measurement will be taken toward constructing a regression model for determination of asphalt layer model, i.e. Eac =f(DBP) function shall be attained. To achieve the maximum correlation coefficient, an attempt is made to use the parameters of deformations basin which has the most susceptibility in changing asphalt layer module.

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The nonlinear static pushover analysis technique is mostly used in the performance-based design of structures and it is favored over nonlinear response history analysis. However, the pushover analysis with FEMA load distributions losses its accuracy in estimating seismic responses of long period structures when higher mode effects are important. Some procedures have been offered to consider this effect. FEMA and Modal pushover analysis (MPA) are addressed in the current study and compared with inelastic response history analysis. These procedures are applied to medium high-rise (10 and 15 storey) and high-rise (20 and 30 storey) frames efficiency and limitations of them are elaborated. MPA procedure present significant advantage over FEMA load distributions in predicting storey drifts, but the both are thoroughly unsuccessful to predict hinge plastic rotations with acceptable accuracy. It is demonstrated that the seismic demands determined with MPA procedure will be unsatisfactory in nonlinear systems subjected to individual ground motions which inelastic SDF systems related to significant modes of the buildings respond beyond the elastic limit. Therefore, it’s inevitable to avoid evaluating seismic demands of the buildings based on individual ground motion with MPA procedure.

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Limitations in the design method used for the support systems of urban buildings make them vulnerable to damage by adjacent excavations. This paper examines a traditional system used to support excavation sites and adjacent buildings in which inclined struts are connected to the wall or foundation of the adjacent building. This method can be considered to be a type of shoring or underpinning. The performance of buildings and the criteria for deformation control during excavation are introduced. Next, a 2D finite element analysis is presented in which an excavation is modeled considering the parameters from the adjacent building and the inclined struts. The numerical model is capable of simulating the overall excavation and installation of the support system. The soil is modeled using an elastic perfectly-plastic constitutive relation based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The finite element model is validated using Rankine earth pressure and in situ data was measured during an excavation. The effect of different variables on performance and acceptable limits for the inclined strut are discussed. The model used for the parametric study shows the influence of the characteristics of the adjacent building, soil parameters, geometry of excavation, type of excavation and effect of strut installation. It was found that one type of strut arrangement produced the best possible result. The results can be used as a primary approximation of small-to-medium depth excavations in which struts are used to reduce the deflections.

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It is well-known that dam-reservoir interaction has significant effects on the response of dams to the earthquakes. This phenomenon should be considered more exactly in the seismic design of dams with a rational and reliable dynamic analysis method. In this research, seismic analysis of the dam-reservoir is studied as a wave propagation problem by using Legendre Spectral element method (SEM). The special FEM and SEM codes are developed to carry out the seismic analysis of the dam-reservoir interaction system. The results of both SEM and FEM models are compared considering the accuracy and the time consumption of the analysis. Attractive spectral convergence of SEM is obtained either by increasing the degree of the polynomials in the reservoir or by the number of elements of dam. It is shown that all boundary conditions of the reservoir domain in the SEM are evaluated by the exact diagonal matrices. The SEM leads to the diagonal mass matrix for both dam and reservoir domains. The stiffness matrices obtained from the SEM are more sparse than the corresponding stiffness matrices in the FEM consequently the SEM needs a significant less time consumption of the analysis.

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In soft soil areas, equal-length piles are often adopted in the retaining system. A decrease in the bending moment value borne by the retaining structure along the pile depth (below the excavation bottom), leads to an inadequate use of the pile bending capacity near the pile bottom. This paper presents retaining systems with long and short pile combinations, in which the long piles ensure integral stability of the excavation while the short piles give full play to bearing the bending moment. For further analysis on pile and bottom heaves deformations and inner-force characteristics, three-dimensional models were built in order to simulate the stage construction of the excavation. The ratio between long and short pile numbers, and the effects on short pile length pile horizontal deformation, pile bending moment and bottom heave are investigated in detail. In the end, a feasible long-short pile combination is established. Obtained results from the simulation data and the field data prove that the long-short pile retaining system is feasible.

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This study presents methods for numerical modelling and the static computer analysis of steel decks fixed on scaffoldings. The main problem raised here is the method of creating models of a single deck and determination of the accuracy of every model for various design situations: the analysis of state stress in components of decks, the strength analysis of scaffolding where decks can be loaded by untypical the arrangement of materials and the strength analysis of full scaffoldings. The analysis of a state stress in components of a deck requires a detailed model. The analyses of scaffoldings with load by materials have to be performed with using more simple models of platforms. The static-strength analysis of full scaffoldings with many frame elements can be performed if the simplest models of decks are used. In this paper the sets of truss elements replace the stiffness of scaffolding decks.