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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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The safety of buried pipes under repeated load has been a challenging task in geotechnical engineering. In this paper artificial neural network and regression model for predicting the vertical deformation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), small diameter flexible pipes buried in reinforced trenches, which were subjected to repeated loadings to simulate the heavy vehicle loads, are proposed. The experimental data from tests show that the vertical diametric strain (VDS) of pipe embedded in reinforced sand depends on relative density of sand, number of reinforced layers and height of embedment depth of pipe significantly. Therefore in this investigation, the value of VDS is related to above pointed parameters. A database of 72 experiments from laboratory tests were utilized to train, validate and test the developed neural network and regression model. The results show that the predicted of the vertical diametric strain (VDS) using the trained neural network and regression model are in good agreement with the experimental results but the predictions obtained from the neural network are better than regression model as the maximum percentage of error for training data is less than 1.56% and 27.4%, for neural network and regression model, respectively. Also the additional set of 24 data was used for validation of the model as 90% of predicted results have less than 7% and 21.5% error for neural network and regression model, respectively. A parametric study has been conducted using the trained neural network to study the important parameters on the vertical diametric strain.

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Conventional investigations on the behavior of reinforced and unreinforced soils are often investigated at the failure point. In this paper, a new concept of comparison of the behavior of reinforced and unreinforced soil by estimating the strength and strength ratio (deviatoric stress of reinforced sample to unreinforced sample) at various strain levels is proposed. A comprehensive set of laboratory triaxial compression tests was carried out on wet (natural water content) non-plastic beach silty sand with and without geotextile. The layer configurations used are one, two, three and four horizontal reinforcing layers in a triaxial test sample. The influences of the number of geotextile layers and confining pressure at 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% and 15% of the imposed strain levels on sample were studied and described. The results show that the trend and magnitude of strength ratio is different for various strain level. It implies that using failure strength from peak point or strength corresponding to the axial-strain approximately 15% to evaluate the enhancement of strength or strength ratio due to reinforcement may cause hazard and uncertainty in practical design. Hence, it is necessary to consider the strength of reinforced sample compared with unreinforced sample at the imposed strain level. Only one type of soil and one type of geotextile were used in all tests.

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Concentric bracing is one of the most common lateral load resistant systems in building frames, and are

applied to many structures due to their manufacturing simplicity and economics. An important deficiency in the

bracing members is their irregular hysteretic loops under cyclic loading. In order to overcome this problem, it is

advised to restrain braces against buckling under compression, since buckling restrained frames dissipate a large

amount of energy. One method to restrain braces against buckling is to cover them with concrete. A proper covering

can prevent the core from buckling and provide similar capacities whether in tension or compression which would

produce regular hysteric curves. In this study, the behavior of buckling restrained braces (BRB) has been investigated

by considering different types of surrounding covers. The steel core is encased in concrete with different coverings. The

covering types include steel tubes, PVC pipes, and FRP rolled sheets. Experimental and numerical analyses were

implemented. According to the results, PVC pipes and FRP sheets are suitable alternatives to steel pipes. Furthermore,

the behavior of several types of steel cores was assessed since, applying steel with high ductility promotes the energy

dissipation of the brace. Finally, the effect of the separating layer between the steel core and the concrete on the

performance of bracing was evaluated.

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Investigating the parameters influencing the behavior of buried pipelines under dynamic loading is of great

importance. In this study the soil structure interaction of the pipelines with the surrounding soil was addressed using

shaking table tests. Wave propagation along the soil layers was also included in the study. The semi infinite nature of

the field was simulated using a laminar shear box. The soil used in the experiments was Babolsar coastal sand (Iran).

PVC pipes were used due to their analogy with the field. Eight models were constructed with the first four models

having uniform base. In the next models, the non-uniformities of real ground were simulated using a concrete pedestal

installed at the very bottom of the shear box. Pipe deformations under dynamic loading, acceleration distribution in

height, soil settlement and horizontal displacements were measured by strain gauges, acceleratometers and

displacement meters. Analyzing the obtained data, influence of different parameters of dynamic loading such as

acceleration, frequency, soil density, base conditions and shaking direction to pipe axis on the acceleration

amplification ratio and pipe deformation were investigated. Also in order to study the effect of dynamic loading on two

different materials, soil and pipe, the horizontal strains were compared

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Structural fire safety capacity of concrete is very complicated because concrete materials have considerable variations. In this paper, constitutive models and relationships for concrete subjected to fire are developed, which are intended to provide efficient modeling and to specific fire-performance criteria of the behavior of concrete structures exposed to fire. They are developed for unconfined concrete specimens that include residual compressive and tensile strengths, compressive elastic modulus, compressive and tensile stress-strain relationships at elevated temperatures. In this paper, the proposed relationships at elevated temperatures are compared with experimental result tests and pervious existing models. It affords to find several advantages and drawbacks of present stress-strain relationships and using these results to establish more accurate and general compressive and tensile stress-strain relationships. Additional experimental test results are needed in tension and the other main parameters at elevated temperatures to establish well-founded models and to improve the proposed relationships. The developed models and relationships are general, rational, and have good agreement with experimental data.

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Due to the algorithmic simplicity, cellular automata (CA) models are useful and simple methods in structural optimization. In

this paper, a cellular-automaton-based algorithm is presented for simultaneous shape and topology optimization of continuum

structures, using five-step optimization procedure. Two objective functions are considered and the optimization process is

converted to the single objective optimization problem (SOOP) using weighted sum method (WSM). A novel triangle

neighborhood is proposed and the design domain is divided into small triangle elements, considering each cell as the finite

element. The finite element formulation for constant strain triangles using three-node triangular elements is developed in this

article. Topological parameters and shape of the design space are taken as the design variables, which for the purpose of this

paper are continuous variables. The paper reports the results of several design experiments, comparing them with the currently

available results obtained by CA and genetic algorithm in the literature. The outcomes of the developed scheme show the

accuracy and efficiency of the method as well as its timesaving behavior in achieving better results

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One important application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) is to confine concrete as FRP jackets in seismic retrofit process

of reinforced concrete structures. Confinement can improve concrete properties such as compressive strength and ultimate axial

strain. For the safe and economic design of FRP jackets, the stress-strain behavior of FRP-confined concrete under monotonic

and cyclic compression needs to be properly understood and modeled. According to literature review, it has been realized that

although there are many studies on the monotonic compressive loading of FRP-confined concrete, only a few studies have been

conducted on the cyclic compressive loading. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating the behavior of FRP-confined

concrete under cyclic compressive loading. A total of 18 cylindrical specimens of FRP-confined concretewere tested in uniaxial

compressive loading with different wrap thickness, and loading patterns. The results obtained from the tests are presented and

examined based on analysis of test results predictive equations for plastic strain and stress deterioration were derived. The

results are also compared with those from two current models,comparison revealed the lack of sufficient accuracy of the current

models to predict stress-strain behavior and accordingly some provisions should be incorporated.

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To improve the construction efficiency of the Longtan Hydropower Project, this paper studies the multi-mode resourceconstrained project scheduling problem in its Drilling Grouting Construction Project. A multiple objective decision making model with bi-random coefficients is first proposed for this practical problem to cope with hybrid uncertain environment where twofold randomness exists. Subsequently, to deal with the uncertainties, the chance constraint operator is introduced and the equivalent crisp model is derived. Furthermore, the particular nature of our model motivates us to develop particle swarm ptimization algorithm for the equivalent crisp model. Finally, the results generated by computer highlight the performances of the proposed model and algorithm in solving large-scale practical problems.

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The main cause of structural damage in buildings subjected to seismic actions is lateral drift. In almost all reinforced concrete (RC) structures, whether designed with walls or frames, it is likely to be the code drift limits that control the design drift. The design drift limits and their contribution to damage may be represented indirectly through the material strain limits. The aim of this study is to investigate the seismic design indicators of RC columns using finite element analyses (FEA). The results of FEA have been compared with the results of experimental studies selected from literature. It is observed that the lateral load-deflection curves of analyzed columns are in agreement with the experimental results. Based on these lateral load-deflection curves, the drift limits and the material strain limits, given by the codes as performance indicator, are compared. It is observed that the material strain limits are non-conservative as performance indicator of RC columns, compared to the drift limits.

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An analytical nonlinear stress-strain model and a microscopic damage index for confined and unconfined concretes together with a macroscopic damage index for reinforced concrete (RC) structures under cyclic loading are proposed. In order to eliminate the problem of scale effect, an adjustable finite element computer program was generated to simulate RC structures subjected to cyclic loading. By comparing the simulated and experimental results of tests on the full-scale structural members and concrete cylindrical samples, the proposed stress-strain model for confined and unconfined concretes under cyclic loading was accordingly modified and then validated. The proposed model has a strong mathematical structure and can readily be adapted to achieve a higher degree of precision by modifying the relevant coefficients based on more precise tests. To apply the proposed damage indices at the microscopic and macroscopic levels, respectively, stress-strain data of finite elements (confined and unconfined concrete elements) and moment-curvature data of critical section are employed. The proposed microscopic damage index can easily be calculated by using the proposed simple analytic nonlinear stress-strain model for confined and unconfined concretes. The proposed macroscopic damage index is based on the evaluation of nonlinear local degradation of materials and taking into account the pseudo-plastic hinge produced in the critical section of the structural element. One of the advantages of the macroscopic damage index is that the moment-curvature data of the critical section is sufficient in itself and there is no need to obtain the force-displacement data of the structural member.

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We consider the problem of continuous dynamic berth allocation to containerships in a tidal seaport. In some container ports, low water depth in coastal area causes many restrictions on providing vessel's services. Therefore, berth allocation planning for relatively large vessels with high draft is subject to tidal conditions when the vessels are in the access channel as from anchorage area to the quay. Tidal conditions sometimes have a significant effect on possibility of entrance and departure of these ships to or from ports. Shahid Rajaee Port Complex, Iran's largest container seaport and the case study of this research, located at northern coast of Persian Gulf and has low water depth in its area. Historical data of seaside operations in this port is applied to the proposed model. This model also takes into account the variations of water depth in different berths. Simultaneous programming for two or more container terminals and exertion of priority and precedency coefficients based on vessel size and voyage type altogether are other attributes of this model. Here, genetic algorithm in combination with pattern search algorithm was used for solving the problem. Computational experiments have indicated that the proposed heuristic is relatively effective just for small size instances.

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In this study, a researching program is conducted by cyclic triaxial test to determine the post-cyclic behavior of Bushehr carbonate sand retrieved from the north of the Persian Gulf, under anisotropic consolidation at 200 kPa confining pressure. The article compares the post-cyclic monotonic strength and excess pore water pressures generated after the test with the pre-cyclic monotonic results. The results attest to the existence of a relationship between CSR (Cyclic Stress Ratio) and the frequency of failure cycles. The article also investigates the relationship between the amount of excess pore pressures generated during both the cyclic and post-cyclic loading, revealing an increase in the post-cyclic strength and stiffness of sand retrieved from Bushehr. Also the effect of multi stages cyclic loading, density, pore pressure and stain history in post cyclic strength and stiffness is evaluated. The increasing in post cyclic strength and stiffness depends on excess pore pressure generated during cyclic loading and stain history. This article also reveals that a distinct trend in the relation between post cyclic behavior and crushing value does not exist at lower confining pressure.

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During the past years the use of buckling restrained braces (BRBs) have had a dramatic growth due to their better performance comparing to conventional braces. BRBs have more ductility and energy absorption capacity by excluding the overall brace buckling. However, even these kinds of braces have some problems restricting their use in some projects, i.e. high tolerance of applying unbonding material, concrete placing difficulties and their weight. Accordingly, many researchers have conducted experiments to find the possibility of shortening or even eliminating the infill material of the braces. The following study has addressed the effect of debonding material friction ratio, shortening the concrete fill, and finally eliminating it if possible, by reshaping the core element with constant section area. The operated analysis has been carried out both numerically and experimentally. ABAQUS finite element software was applied for numerical analysis and the results were verified by an experimental study in two groups of models each including four full-scale brace models. With a constant core section area, results revealed that without the risk of buckling, the concrete cover length could be reduced. With a special core profile, the infill may be fully omitted and the restrainer would be made up of only a steel tube, which may happen without any changes made to the cross sectional area of the core profile.

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The main aim of this paper is to find the optimum shape of arch dams subjected to multiple natural frequency constraints by using an efficient methodology. The optimization is carried out by charged system search algorithm and its enhanced version. Computing the natural frequencies by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) during the optimization process is time consuming. In order to reduce the computational burden, Back Propagation (BP) neural network is trained and utilized to predict the arch dam natural frequencies. It is demonstrated that the optimum design obtained by the Enhanced Charged System Search using the BP network is the best compared with the results of other algorithms. The numerical results show the computational advantageous of the proposed methodology.

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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of urban solid waste leachate on the mechanical properties of the soil. Order to provide a more accurate identification of the contaminated soils, Cylindrical specimens of the soil, according to the density curves with different initial conditions (different initial contamination levels) were prepared, then the soil specimens were loaded at different load levels using a direct shear testing equipment and a universal testing machine to apply axial compression on the specimens. By analyzing the results, the stress-strain and failure behavior of the soil specimens containing different percentages of the solid waste leachate was evaluated. The most important result was reducing the mechanical properties of the soil contaminated with different percentages of solid waste. The results of adding lower quantities of leachate, is far more significant compared to the received results from adding higher amounts of leachate.

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Considerable strains appear in the structures during accumulation of the irreversible strains of the subgrade under the effect of the cyclic loads. If the number of cycles is very large, even a small strain after accumulation becomes significant and sometimes harmful. In this study, a simple numerical modeling of the behavior of sand under cyclic loading is proposed. The suggested approach consists, in drained condition, in determining the parameters characterizing the average cyclic path of the soil under the effect of the number of cycles duly characterized and translating the cyclic effect by a volumetric strain cumulated by a variation of the module of the soil. In this study, we are interested in cyclic triaxial compression tests simulated by a finite element calculation. While proposing an analogy between the cyclic pseudo creep and the soft soil creep model (SSCM), on the first hand we propose an equivalence between the cyclic parameters and the parameters of SSCM, and on the other an equivalence time number of cycles will be established. The application of the formulation suggested on a shallow foundation under cyclic loading confirms the good adaptation of the model suggested to this type of problem.

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Steel bridges play a very important role in every country’s transportation system. To ensure that bridges perform reliably, engineers monitor their performance which is referred to as Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). An important element of SHM includes the prediction of service life. There is ample historical evidence that bridge damage is pervasive and their life time is decreasing. To manage costs and safety, service life prediction of bridges is necessary. We present a statistical method to predict service life for steel bridges. A nonparametric statistical model based on the bootstrap method for stress analysis for fatigue life prediction of steel girder bridges is proposed. The bootstrap provides a simple approach for reproduction of the probability distribution of measured strain data. The bootstrap is sensitive to the number of events in the verification sample (data), thus we introduce a stable survival distribution function (SDF). An index is presented in this paper for inferring the service life of steel bridges, which can be known as the Life Index (µ). The life index function shows variation of the age of steel bridges under daily traffic loads. A regression model is developed which relates the service life of steel bridges using a bridge life index based on measured operational strain time histories. The predicted remaining service life derived from the model can contribute to effective management of steel bridges. The proposed method assists bridge engineers, bridge owners, and state officials in objective assessment of deteriorated bridges for retrofit or replacement of deteriorated bridges. Timely repair and retrofit increase the safety levels in bridges and decrease costs.

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Constitutive model for saturated cohesive soils based on the bounding surface plasticity notion with anisotropic hardening law is presented in the paper. The model predicts inelastic behaviour of overconsolidated cohesive soils. The projection centre is the only point in the stress space which represents elastic soil behaviour. Approximation of the plastic modulus within the preconsolidation domain is made using the radial mapping rule between a projection centre and a reflecting point on the bounding surface. The projection centre changes its position each time when stress path turns rapidly of more than 90°. The configuration of the elliptic bounding surface is governed by preconsolidation effective pressure p′c which depends on change of plastic both volumetric and deviatoric strain. Associated flow rule has been assumed in the formulation. Integration of constitutive relations is done according to forward Euler scheme with error control proposed by Sloan. The effectiveness of the proposed model is illustrated in both monotonic and cyclic loading in the homogeneous triaxial drained and undrained conditions.

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This paper proposes a modified strain wedge (MSW) model for nonlinear analysis of laterally loaded single piles in clays. The MSW model is used to calculate the soil resistance under increasing pile deflection. The stress–strain behavior of clays in the MSW, which is needed to calculate the soil resistance, is described in terms of both hyperbolic and bilinear stress–strain relationships. The subgrade reaction modulus of soil below the MSW is assumed to equal the conventional subgrade reaction modulus and to remain constant under the lateral loading of the pile. The applicability of the proposed model was verified by eight case histories. The results indicate that (1) the predicted results are consistent with the measurements for all eight full-scale tested piles; (2) the bilinear stress–strain relationship is not recommended for clays because the clays usually have a large ε50 and, thus, they exhibit a linear behavior in the MSW during loading; (3) the predicted pile response is less sensitive to the effective friction angle than to the undrained shear strength; and (4) the proposed MSW model applies to normally consolidated clays and to overconsolidated clays until they reach their peak strength.