Experimental and numerical study regarding H-steel all-bolted connection steel frame with composite wall boards

H-steel all-bolted connection steel frame structures with heat preservation and decoration composite wall boards were investigated and the seismic performances of three scaled specimens were studied.The failure modes,hysteresis curves,bearing capacity,ductility,energy dissipation capacity,stiffness degradation and strain distribution were discussed.The calculation method of structural theoretical internal force was presented.The results showed that the overall structural seismic performance was better,and the structural ductility met the demands of elastic-plastic inter-story drift angle for seismic design.The H-steel weak-axis connection structure obtained better energy dissipation capacity,and its bearing capacity and stiffness were slightly different from the strong-axis connection.The heat preservation and decoration performance of composite wallboard and the all-bolted connection of the steel frame realized prefabrication during the whole construction period.The plastic hinge of the steel beam can be moved outwards because of the L-angles,which effectively avoids stress concentration in joint areas and expands the plastic hinge range.The errors between the theoretical structural capacity calculated by the plastic analysis method and the test results were within 2.44%.In addition,structural failure mechanisms and bearing capacities were verified by the finite element(FE)analysis,and the effects of the main parameters on the structures were investigated.The FE verification results were the same as in the test.The research results provide theoretical support and technical guidance for the application of thermal insulation and decorative composite wall panels in H-shaped steel all-bolted steel frames.

Discussion on Construction Technology and Welding Deformation of High-Rise Steel Frame Structure

Because of urbanization,land resources in China’s cities has become increasingly scarce.Therefore,modern buildings are becoming taller,making high-rise steel frame structures the new favorite of the construction industry.However,the construction of high-rise steel frame structures requires advanced technology.If the construction technology is effectively implemented and the welding techniques of the construction personnel align with the requirements for high-rise steel frame structures,it can help mitigate deformations in the steel structure,thus preserving the overall construction quality of high-rise steel frame structures.To enhance the applicability of steel frame structures in high-rise buildings,this paper focuses on analyzing the optimization path for the construction process of high-rise steel frame structures.It introduces a tailored approach to control welding-induced deformations in steel frame structures,aiming to make a valuable contribution to the advancement of China’s construction industry.

Shaking table test and numerical analysis of a 1:12 scale model of a special concentrically braced steel frame with pinned connections

This paper describes shaking table tests of a 1：12 scale model of a special concentrically braced steel frame with pinned connections, which was fabricated according to a one-bay braced frame selected from a typical main factory building of a large thermal power plant. In order to investigate the seismic performance of this type of structure, several ground motion accelerations with different levels for seismic intensity Ⅷ, based on the Chinese Code for Seismic Design of Buildings, were selected to excite the model. The results show that the design methods of the members and the connections are adequate and that the structural system will perform well in regions of high seismicity. In addition to the tests, numerical simulations were also conducted and the results showed good agreement with the test results. Thus, the numerical model is shown to be accurate and the beam element can be used to model this structural system.

Numerical Simulation of Dynamic Response and Collapse for Steel Frame Structures Subjected to Blast Load

The progressive collapse of steel frame structures under the blast load was investigated using LS-DYNA. The multi-material Eulerian and Lagrangian coupling algorithm was adopted. A flu-id-structure coupling finite element model was established which consists of Lagrange element for simulating steel frame structures and concrete ground, multiple ALE element for simulating air and TNT explosive material. Numerical simulations of the blast pressure wave propagation, struc-tural dynamic responses and deformation, and progressive collapse of a five-story steel frame structure in the event of an explosion near above ground were performed. The numerical analysis showed that the Lagrangian and Eulerian coupling algorithm gave good simulations of the shock wave propagation in the mediums and blast load effects on the structure. The columns subjected to blast load may collapse by shear yielding rather than by flexural deformation. The columns and joints of steel beam to column in the front steel frame structure generated enormous plastic defor-mation subjected to intensive blast waves, and columns lost carrying capacity, subsequently lead-ing to the collapse of the whole structure. The approach coupling influence between struc-tural deformation and fluid load well simulated the progressive collapse process of structures, and provided an effective tool for analyzing the collapse mechanism of the steel frame structure under blast load.

The mechanics and deformation of high temperature steel frame rapidly cooled by spray water in fire fighting

A finite element is established for analyzing the dynamical mechanics and deformation of steel frame at high temperature when it is rapidly cooled down by spray water in fire fighting, The simulation result shows that remarkable mechanical coupling effects are produced in the process, and the sectional stress in rapid cooling down is found considerably larger than that in heating-up. Meanwhile, the stress and deformation of a beam mainly related to cooling rate and location are much larger than those of a column in rapid cooling, In fire fighting, the structure on the first or second floor was more dangerous than those on other floors in rapid cooling, These results could provide a theoretical reference for the design of steel structure and fire fighting.

An effective simplified model of composite compression struts for partially-restrained steel frame with reinforced concrete infill walls

To resolve the issue regarding inaccurate prediction of the hysteretic behavior by micro-based numerical analysis for partially-restrained（PR）steel frames with solid reinforced concrete（RC）infill walls,an innovative simplified model of composite compression struts is proposed on the basis of experimental observation on the cracking distribution,load transferring mechanism,and failure modes of RC infill walls filled in PR steel frame.The proposed composite compression struts model for the solid RC infill walls is composed ofαinclined struts and main diagonal struts.Theαinclined struts are used to reflect the part of the lateral force resisted by shear connectors along the frame-wall interface,while the main diagonal struts are introduced to take into account the rest of the lateral force transferred along the diagonal direction due to the complicated interaction between the steel frame and RC infill walls.This study derives appropriate formulas for the effective widths of theαinclined strut and main diagonal strut,respectively.An example of PR steel frame with RC infill walls simulating simulated by the composite inclined compression struts model is illustrated.The maximum lateral strength and the hysteresis curve shape obtained from the proposed composite strut model are in good agreement with those from the test results,and the backbone curve of a PR steel frame with RC infill walls can be predicted precisely when the inter-story drift is within 1%.This simplified model can also predict the structural stiffness and the equivalent viscous damping ratio well when the inter-story drift ratio exceeds 0.5%.

Study on mechanical characteristics and safety evaluation method of steel frame structure after fire

Mechanical characterization of steel frame structure after fire are ana- lyzed based on fire dynamics, heat transfer theory, structural mechanics, and finite element theory. We study the temperature characteristics and mechanical prop- erties of steel flame structure under different fire locations and propose a safety evaluation method. We also analyze damage level of main flame components, maximum temperature of fire, thermal characteristics of flame components, fir- ing duration, etc. to provide useful information for fire resistance design of the steel frame structure and post-disaster safety evaluation.

Enhancements of Genetic Algorithm for Minimum Cost Design of Steel Frames Considering Fabrication Cost

A discrete optimization problem for minimizing the sum of fabrication cost and steel material cost of sf^el frames under constraints based on Japanese seismic code is set up. Enhancements of the genetic algorithm for the above-mentioned problem are proposed, which are combined with a 1D （one-dimensional） search or a 2D （two-dimensional） search. After the proposed methods are described, they are applied to a five-story frame. A comparison with an exact solution obtained by a revised enumeration algorithm demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Evaluating the inelastic displacement ratios of moment-resisting steel frames designed according to the Egyptian code

Seismic codes estimate the maximum displacements of building structures under the design-basis earthquakes by amplifying the elastic displacements under the reduced seismic design forces with a deflection amplification factor(DAF). The value of DAF is often estimated as ρ× R, where R is the force reduction factor and ρ is the inelastic displacement ratio that accounts for the inelastic action of the structure according to the definition presented by FEMA P695. The purpose of this study is to estimate the ρ-ratio of moment resisting steel frames(MRSFs) designed according to the Egyptian code. This is achieved by conducting a series of elastic and inelastic time-history analyses by two sets of earthquakes on four MRSFs designed according to the Egyptian code and having 2, 4, 8 and 12 stories. The earthquakes are scaled to produce maximum story drift ratios(MSDRs) of 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 2.5%. The mean values of the ρ-ratio are calculated based on the displacement responses of the investigated frames. The results obtained in this study indicate that the consideration of ρ for both the roof drift ratios(RDRs) and the MSDRs equal to 1.0 is a reasonable estimation for MRSFs designed according to the Egyptian code.

Progressive Collapse of Steel Frames

This paper investigates the behavior of steel frames under progressive collapse using the finite element method. Non-linear finite element models have been developed and verified against existing data reported in the literature as well as against tests conducted by the authors. The nonlinear material properties of steel and nonlinear geometry were considered in the finite element models. The validated models were used to perform extensive parametric studies investigating different parameters affecting the behavior of steel frames under progressive collapse. The investigated parameters are comprised of different geometries, different number of stories and different dynamic conditions. The force redistribution and failure modes were evaluated from the finite element analyses, with detailed discussions presented.

Experimental Investigation of Progressive Collapse of Steel Frames

This paper reports two new tests conducted to augment available data highlighting the structural performance of multistory steel frames under progressive collapse. The investigated steel frames had different geometries, different boundary conditions, different collapse mechanisms, different damping ratios and different connections. Overall, the paper addresses how multistory frames would behave when subjected to local damage or loss of a main structural carrying element. The obtained results can form a data base for nonlinear finite element models. The deformations of the investigated steel frames and failure modes under progressive collapse were predicted from the finite element analysis, with detailed discussions presented.

Seismic response of high-rise steel framed buildings with Chevron-braced designed according to Venezuelan codes

The object of this study is to determine the seismic response of regular high-rise steel buildings with chevron-braced frames. Mechanics models of three buildings of 14, 18 and 20 stories are studied, all of them with similar geometric characteristics in plant and elevation. These models are realized using prescriptions and parameters from venezuelan design codes. The seismic action is carry on through varius synthetic design spectrum compatible accelerograms defined by the seismic codes in this study, with three levels of intensity corresponding to three specific Limit States. Dynamic analysis is used to compute parameters of ductility, over strength and maximum displacements. From these results it can be concluded that chevron-braced frames presented a good overall performance and non V-braced frames show greater damage due to dynamic actions, validating non linear dynamic analysis as a very powerful tool to seismic-resistance design and chevron-braced frames as a very useful choice in improving the response of tall steel structures. since this lateral bracing system is absent from Venezuelan seismic codes.

Numerical modeling of external light gauge steel framed wall systems exposed to bushfire flame zone conditions

Bushfire-related building losses cause adverse economic impacts to countries prone to bushfires.Building materials and components play a vital role in reducing these impacts.However,due to high costs of experimental studies and lack of numerical studies,the heat transfer behavior of building’s external components in bushfire-prone areas has not been adequately investigated.Often large-scale heat transfer models are developed using Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)tools,and the availability of CFD models for heat transfer in building components improves the understanding of the behavior of systems and systems of systems.Therefore,this paper uses a numerical modeling approach to investigate the bushfire/wildfire resistance of external Light gauge Steel Framed(LSF)wall systems.Both full-scale and small-scale heat transfer models were developed for the LSF wall systems.Experimental results of six internal and external LSF wall systems with varying plasterboard thickness and cladding material were used to validate the developed models.The study was then extended to investigate the bushfire resistance of seven external wall systems under two different bushfire flame zone conditions.The results illustrate the significant effects of fire curves,LSF wall components and configuration on the heat transfer across the walls.They have shown 1)the favorable performance of steel cladding and Autoclaved Aerated Concrete(AAC)panels when used on the external side of wall systems and 2)the adequacy of thin-walled steel studs’load-bearing capacity during bushfire exposures.This study has shown that most of the investigated external LSF walls could be reused with cost-effective retrofitting such as replacing the Fire Side(FS)steel cladding after bushfire exposures.Overall,this study has advanced the understanding of the behavior of external light steel framed walls under bushfire flame zone conditions.

Multi-population particle swarm optimization algorithm for automatic design of steel frames

Steel structures are widely used;however,their traditional design method is a trial-and-error procedure which is neither efficient nor cost effective.Therefore,a multi-population particle swarm optimization(MPPSO)algorithm is developed to optimize the weight of steel frames according to standard design codes.Modifications are made to improve the algorithm performances including the constraint-based strategy,piecewise mean learning strategy and multi-population cooperative strategy.The proposed method is tested against the representative frame taken from American standards and against other steel frames matching Chinese design codes.The related parameter influences on optimization results are discussed.For the representative frame,MPPSO can achieve greater efficiency through reduction of the number of analyses by more than 65% and can obtain frame with the weight for at least 2.4%lighter.A similar trend can also be observed in cases subjected to Chinese design codes.In addition,a migration interval of 1 and the number of populations as 5 are recommended to obtain better MPPSO results.The purpose of the study is to propose a method with high efficiency and robustness that is not confined to structural scales and design codes.It aims to provide a reference for automatic structural optimization design problems even with dimensional complexity.The proposed method can be easily generalized to the optimization problem of other structural systems.

Meta databases of steel frame buildings for surrogate modelling and machine learning-based feature importance analysis

Traditionally,nonlinear time history analysis(NLTHA)is used to assess the performance of structures under fu-ture hazards which is necessary to develop effective disaster risk management strategies.However,this method is computationally intensive and not suitable for analyzing a large number of structures on a city-wide scale.Surrogate models offer an efficient and reliable alternative and facilitate evaluating the performance of multiple structures under different hazard scenarios.However,creating a comprehensive database for surrogate mod-elling at the city level presents challenges.To overcome this,the present study proposes meta databases and a general framework for surrogate modelling of steel structures.The dataset includes 30,000 steel moment-resisting frame buildings,representing low-rise,mid-rise and high-rise buildings,with criteria for connections,beams,and columns.Pushover analysis is performed and structural parameters are extracted,and finally,incorporating two different machine learning algorithms,random forest and Shapley additive explanations,sensitivity and explain-ability analyses of the structural parameters are performed to identify the most significant factors in designing steel moment resisting frames.The framework and databases can be used as a validated source of surrogate modelling of steel frame structures in order for disaster risk management.

Evaluation of a novel Asymmetric Genetic Algorithm to optimize the structural design of 3D regular and irregular steel frames

We propose a new algorithm,named Asymmetric Genetic Algorithm(AGA),for solving optimization problems of steel frames.The AGA consists of a developed penalty function,which helps to find the best generation of the population.The objective function is to minimize the weight of the whole steel structure under the constraint of ultimate loads defined for structural steel buildings by the American Institute of Steel Construction(AISC).Design variables are the cross-sectional areas of elements(beams and columns)that are selected from the sets of side-flange shape steel sections provided by the AISC.The finite element method(FEM)is utilized for analyzing the behavior of steel frames.A 15-storey three-bay steel planar frame is optimized by AGA in this study,which was previously optimized by algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO),Particle Swarm Optimizer with Passive Congregation(PSOPC),Particle Swarm Ant Colony Optimization(HPSACO),Imperialist Competitive Algorithm(ICA),and Charged System Search(CSS).The results of AGA such as total weight of the structure and number of analyses are compared with the results of these algorithms.AGA performs better in comparison to these algorithms with respect to total weight and number of analyses.In addition,five numerical examples are optimized by AGA,Genetic Algorithm(GA),and optimization modules of SAP2000,and the results of them are compared.The results show that AGA can decrease the time of analyses,the number of analyses,and the total weight of the structure.AGA decreases the total weight of regular and irregular steel frame about 11.1%and 26.4%in comparing with the optimized results of SAP2000,respectively.

Probabilistic collapse analysis of steel frame structures exposed to fire scenarios

In this paper,we propose a probabilistic method for analysing the collapse time of steel frame structures in a fire.The method considers the uncertainty of influencing factors.Tornado diagrams are used for sensitivity analysis of random variables.Structural analysis samples are selected by Monte Carlo method,and the collapse times of different structural samples are calculated by fire time history analysis.A collapse time fragility curve is fitted according to the calculated collapse times of the samples.A reliability index of the collapse time is used as a quantitative standard to evaluate the collapse performance of a steel frame in a fire.Finally,this method is applied to analyse the collapse time fragility of an eight-storey 3 D steel frame structure under different compartment fire scenarios and fire protection levels.According to the collapse time fragility curve,the effects of the different fire scenarios and protection levels on the collapse resistance of the structure under fire are evaluated.

Finite element analysis of creep for plane steel frames in fire

Steel is widely used for the construction of bridges,buildings,towers,and other structures because of its great strength,light weight,ductility,and ease of fabrication,but the cost of fireproofing is a major disadvantage.Therefore,the resistance of a steel structure to fire is a significant subject for modern society.In the past,for simplification,creep behavior was not taken into account in research on the resistance of a steel structure to fire.However,it was demonstrated that the effect of creep is considerable at temperatures that commonly reach 600℃and should not be neglected in this context.In this paper,a co-rotational total Lagrangian finite element formulation is derived,and the corresponding numerical model is developed to study the creep behavior of plane steel frames in fire conditions.The geometric nonlinearity,material nonlinearity,high temperature creep,and temperature rate of change are taken into account.To verify the accuracy and efficiency of the numerical model,four prototypical numerical examples are analyzed using this model,and the results show very good agreement with the solutions in the literature.Next,the numerical model is used to analyze the creep behavior of the plane steel frames under decreasing temperatures.The results indicate that the effect of creep is negligible at temperatures lower than 500℃and is considerable at temperatures higher than 500℃.In addition,the heating rate is a critical factor in the failure point of the steel frames.Furthermore,it is demonstrated that the deflection at the midpoint of the steel beam,considering creep behavior,is approximately 13%larger than for the situation in which creep is ignored.At temperatures higher than 500℃,the deformed steel member may recover approximately 20%of the total deflection.The application of the numerical model proposed in this paper is greatly beneficial to the steel industry for creep analysis,and the numerical results make a significant contribution to the understanding of resistance and protection for steel structures against disastrous fires.

A new methodology for energy-based seismic design of steel moment frames

A procedure is proposed whereby input and hysteretic energy spectra developed for single-degree-of-freedom （SDOF） systems are applied to multi-degree-of-freedom （MDOF） steel moment resisting frames. The proposed procedure is verified using four frames, viz., frame with three-, five-, seven- and nine-stories, each of which is subjected to the fault- normal and fault-parallel components of three actual earthquakes. A very good estimate for the three- and five-story frames, and a reasonably acceptable estimate for the seven-, and nine-story frames, have been obtained. A method for distributing the hysteretic energy over the frame height is also proposed. This distribution scheme allows for the determination of the energy demand component of a proposed energy-based seismic design （EBSD） procedure for each story. To address the capacity component of EBSD, a story-wise optimization design procedure is developed by utilizing the energy dissipating capacity from plastic hinge formation/rotation for these moment frames. The proposed EBSD procedure is demonstrated in the design of a three-story one-bay steel moment frame.

Effectiveness of two conventional methods for seismic retrofit of steel and RC moment resisting frames based on damage control criteria

This study investigates the efficiency of two types of rehabilitation methods based on economic justification that can lead to logical decision making between the retrofitting schemes. Among various rehabilitation methods, concentric chevron bracing（CCB） and cylindrical friction damper（CFD） were selected. The performance assessment procedure of the frames is divided into two distinct phases. First, the limit state probabilities of the structures before and after rehabilitation are investigated. In the second phase, the seismic risk of structures in terms of life safety and financial losses（decision variables） using the recently published FEMA P58 methodology is evaluated. The results show that the proposed retrofitting methods improve the serviceability and life safety performance levels of steel and RC structures at different rates when subjected to earthquake loads. Moreover, these procedures reveal that financial losses are greatly decreased, and were more tangible by the application of CFD rather than using CCB. Although using both retrofitting methods reduced damage state probabilities, incorporation of a site-specific seismic hazard curve to evaluate mean annual occurrence frequency at the collapse prevention limit state caused unexpected results to be obtained. Contrary to CFD, the collapse probability of the structures retrofitted with CCB increased when compared with the primary structures.