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In this paper a structural damage detection algorithm using static test data is presented. Damage is considered as a reduction in the structural stiffness (Axial and/or Flexural) parameters. Change in the static displacement of a structure is characterized as a set of non-linear undetermined simultaneous equations that relates the changes in static response of the structure to the location and severity of damage. An optimality criterion is introduced to solve these equations by minimizing the difference between the load vector of damaged and undamaged structures. The overall formulation leads to a non-linear optimization problem with non-linear equality and linear inequality constraints. A method based on stored strain energy in elements is presented to select the loading location. Measurement locations are selected based on Fisher Information Matrix. Numerical and experimental results of a 2D frame represent good ability of this method in detecting damages in a given structure with presence of noise in measurements.

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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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In this paper a general procedure for automated minimum weight design of twodimensional steel frames under seismic loading is proposed. The proposal comprises two parts: a) Formulation of automated design of frames under seismic loading and b) introduction of an optimization engine and the improvement made on it for the solution of optimal design. Seismic loading, that depends on dynamic characteristics of structure, is determined using "Equivalent static loading" scheme. The design automation is sought via formulation of the design problem in the form of a standard optimization problem in which the design requirements is treated as optimization constraints. The Optimality Criteria (OC) method has been modified/improved and used for solution of the optimization problem. The improvement in (OC) algorithm relates to simultaneous identification of active set of constraints and calculation of corresponding Lagrange multipliers. The modification has resulted in rapid convergence of the algorithm, which is promising for highly nonlinear optimal design problems. Two examples have been provided to show the procedure of automated design and optimization of seismic-resistant frames and the performance and capability of the proposed algorithm.

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Inclined retaining walls with slopes less than perpendicular are appropriate candidates in several

engineering problems. Yet, to the knowledge of authors, only a few analytical solution for calculation of active earth

pressure on such walls, which will be usually smaller than the same pressure on vertical ones, has been presented

neither in research papers nor in design codes. Considering limit equilibrium concept in current research, a new

formulation is proposed for determination of active earth pressure, angle of failure wedge and application point of

resultant force for inclined walls. Necessary parameters are extracted assuming the pseudo-static seismic coefficient

to be valid in earthquake conditions. Moreover, based on Horizontal Slices Method (HSM) a new formulation is

obtained for determining the characteristics of inclined walls in granular and or frictional cohesive soils. Findings of

present analysis are then compared with results from other available methods in similar conditions and this way, the

validity of proposed methods has been proved. Finally according to the results of this research, a simplified relation

for considering the effect of slope in reduction of active earth pressure and change in failure wedge in inclined

retaining walls has been proposed.

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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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The present paper focuses on size optimization of scallop domes subjected to static loading. As this type of space structures includes a large number of the structural elements, optimum design of such structures results in efficient structural configurations. In this paper, an efficient optimization algorithm is proposed by hybridizing particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and cellular automata (CA) computational strategy, denoted as enhanced particle swarm optimization (EPSO) algorithm. In the EPSO, the particles are distributed on a small dimensioned grid and the artificial evolution is evolved by a new velocity updating equation. In the new equation, the difference between the design variable vector of each site and an average vector of its neighboring sites is added to the basic velocity updating equation. This new term decreases the probability of premature convergence and therefore increases the chance of finding the global optimum or near global optima. The optimization task is achieved by taking into account linear and nonlinear responses of the structure. In the optimization process considering nonlinear behaviour, the geometrical and material nonlinearity effects are included. The numerical results demonstrate that the optimization process considering nonlinear behaviour results in more efficient structures compared with the optimization process considering linear behaviour. .

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Seismic stability of slopes is typically evaluated by conventional methods under the assumption that the slope is subjected to an

earthquake just for one time. In general, time histories of loadings on slopes are unknown and loads are of variable repeated

nature. Shakedown phenomenon can be considered as a safe state for slopes subjected to variable repeated loadings. In this study,

lower bound dynamic shakedown theorem is employed for the seismic stability of slopes as a comprehensive verification. A

numerical method applied previously to evaluate roads under the traffic loads was modified to make it appropriate for dynamic

shakedown analysis in the present study. The numerical method is based on the combination of finite element and linear

programming methods. Critical PGA is employed as a comparative parameter to compare shakedown and pseudostatic methods.

Results show that, unlike pseudostaic method, shakedown approach is able to consider dynamic properties of load and slope.

Also, it is indicated that contrary to pseudostaic approach, shakedown solutions are different for slopes and embankments.

Shakedown and pseudostaic critical PGA versus dynamic properties of load and slope creates four distinct zones. It is shown that

the forgoing zones can be used as appropriate tools for seismic zonation of slopes based on their short term and long term safety

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Pile foundations are frequently used in industrial projects in southwest lowlands of Iran. Although high setup of shaft resistance

is usually reported in the area, no reliable formulation or guidelines are available for considering the increased capacity in design

applications. Therefore, the pile design practices are usually not optimized. The main objective of this paper is presenting a site

specific formulation for setup effects of a utility plant in southwest Iran in which a good database of prestressed concrete driven

piles is available. Fajr-II Petrochemical site in PetZone of Mahshahr accommodating a utility plant is selected as the database of

the current study. The setup factor (A) and the reference time (t0) are evaluated through processing of a relatively large database

of this well-supervised piling project. As the main portion of variations of driven piles capacity with time is related to shaft, only

shaft resistance variations are considered in this research. The shaft capacity variations are derived from signal matching analysis

on PDA tests. Reliability of PDA tests has been confirmed through comparing with the static load test results. Influence of driving

the surrounding piles on setup factor is also investigated. The results show that the average setup factor (A) and the reference time

(t0) of 0.30 and 0.01 day, respectively, are proper values for estimating the long term capacity in this region. Evaluation of the

results indicates that driving 8 piles around the test pile has increased the “A” factor average of 40% resultingin increase of the

shaft capacity about 19% in one month and 22% in one year, in comparison with the tested piles with no surrounding piles driven.

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The seismic behavior of frame bridges is generally evaluated using nonlinear static analysis with different plasticity models hence this paper tends to focus on the effectiveness of the two most common nonlinear modeling approaches comprising of concentrated and distributed plasticity models. A three-span prestressed concrete frame bridge in Tehran, Iran, including a pair of independent parallel bridge structures was selected as the model of the study. The parallel bridges were composed of identical decks with the total length of 215 meters supported on different regular and irregular substructures with non-prismatic piers. To calibrate the analytical modeling, a large-scale experimental and analytical seismic study on a two-span reinforced concrete bridge system carried out at the University of Nevada Reno was used. The comparison of the results shows the accuracy of analytical studies. In addition, close correlation between results obtained from two nonlinear modeling methods depicts that the lumped plasticity approach can be decisively considered as the useful tool for the nonlinear modeling of non-prismatic bridge piers with hollow sections due to its simple modeling assumption and less computational time.

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This paper presents a simple solution based on the limit equilibrium of sliding soil wedge of reinforced backfill subjected to the horizontal acceleration in the framework of the pseudo-static method. In particular, contrary to most studies on the reinforced retaining wall, the solution proposed in this study, takes into account the effect of the uniform surcharge on the reinforced backfill soil and of its distance from the face of the wall. The results are investigated in dimensionless form of the maximum reinforcement required strength (Kmax), the dimension of the sliding wedge (Lc/H), and the factor of safety (FS). Compared to the reinforced backfill without surcharge, the presence of surcharge over the reinforced backfill and of its distance from the top of the backfill have significant effects on the stability of the system. For a fixed surcharge, a minimum distance of surcharge exists for which the presence of the surcharge does not affect the solution and the failure mechanism is that corresponding to the case of system with no surcharge. A detailed design example is included to illustrate usage of proposed procedures. Comparisons of the present results with available results show a favorable agreement.

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Self-centering pier (SCP) has been viewed as a remarkable accomplishment which is able to sustain major lateral loading with reduced structure damage in seismic engineering. Stiffness deterioration observed in experiment is vital for the seismic performance of self-centering concrete pier. In this contribution, the associated stiffness deterioration with respect to the structural damage is modeled in a modified analytical model for SCP comprehensively. In the proposed modified theoretical model, the lateral force-displacement relation associated with the stiffness reducing is analyzed. Three damage factors are introduced in the stiffness deterioration analysis to illustrate the damage evolution caused by gradually increasing lateral displacement. The proposed modified quasic-static model with damage evolution or stiffness deterioration has been validated against an experiment we conducted, where a good agreement is clearly evident. Subsequently, a parametric investigation focusing on aspect ratio, initial pre-tension, and ratio of ED (Energy Dissipator) was conducted to evaluate the hysteretic behavior of SCP under quasi-statically cyclic loading.

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The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of vierendeel panel width and vertical truss spacing ratio in an inelastic behavior of the STF system due to earthquake loads. The STF system is applied to a six-storey building that serves as apartments [2]. The STF system is used in the building in the transverse direction (N-S direction), while in the longitudinal direction (W-E direction) the building system uses the special moment resisting frame. The structural behavior was evaluated using nonlinear pushover and time history analyses. The results showed that by increasing the ratio of vierendeel panel width and vertical truss spacing, the ductility of the structure was increased. Based on the performance evaluation, the ratio of the vierendeel panel width and vertical truss spacing on the STF buildings that provided satisfactory performance was more or equal to 1.6. The ultimate drift obtained from non-linear time history analysis was smaller than the pushover analysis. This result showed that the static nonlinear pushover analysis was quite conservative in predicting the behavior of the six-storey building in an inelastic condition.

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The current building codes provide limited prescriptive guidance on design for protection of buildings due to progressive collapse. Progressive collapse is a situation in which a localized failure in a structure, caused by an abnormal load, such as explosions or other happenings. Three procedures, often employed for determination of the structural response during progressive collapse i.e. linear static procedure (LSP), nonlinear static (NSP) and nonlinear dynamic (NDP) analyses. In nonlinear static analysis, a force-based method is applied and the structure is pushed down to the target force. In this research, a new displacement-based method will be proposed for nonlinear static analysis. In displacement-based method, the structure is pushed down to target displacement instead of target force (similar to the one in seismic pushover analysis). To make a nonlinear static analysis, instead of increasing the load around the area of the removed column, a maximum displacement is calculated and the upper node of the removed column is pushed up to target displacement. Here, to determine the target displacement, results from nonlinear dynamic and linear static analyses are compared. This paper tries to present a formula to calculate the target displacement using the linear static rather than the nonlinear dynamic analysis. For this reason, 3 buildings with 3, 5 and 10 stories have been seismically designed and studied. The results show that, this method is much more accurate in comparison to the recommended approach in current codes. Also, this method does not have the limitations of force-based nonlinear static analysis.

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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.

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One of the main concerns in an essential or highly important building is finding the appropriate structural system, while the efficiency of each conventional structural system varies in different cases. In this paper a new multi objective structural configuration is proposed and its efficiency for protecting buildings against the multi-hazards including earthquake, explosion and typhoon is shown in a case study of a 10 stories building sample. To create the optimum and efficient configuration of the structural elements, and to make some large spans, a configuration including Vierendeel girders is used. In this type of configuration, the inner suspended floor parts protect the outer elements by balancing perimeter span loads. This system makes a new condition for the building to be protected against the progressive collapse due to the terrorism attacks. Furthermore, the partially suspended floors in special stories act like tuned mass dampers (TMDs), which are suitable to decrease the amplitude of the displacement response of the structure during an earthquake.