Experimental investigation and analytically modeling of hysteretic behavior of rigid bus-flexible connectors of 220 kV electrical substations

This paper describes the quasi-static testing and analytical modelling of the hysteretic behavior of aluminum alloy rigid bus-flexible connectors of 220 kV electrical substations.The main objective of the study is to experimentally investigate the hysteretic behavior of six different types of rigid bus-flexible connectors 220 kV electrical substations when subjected to cyclic loading.Another objective is to theoretically study the flexibility and effectiveness of a previously proposed analytical model in fitting the experimental hysteresis loops of the tested rigid bus-flexible connectors.The experimental investigation indicates that the tested rigid bus-flexible connectors exhibit highly asymmetric hysteresis behavior along with tension stiffening effect.The theoretical study demonstrates that the generalized Bouc-Wen model has high flexibility and is effective in fitting the experimental hysteresis resisting force-displacement curves of the six tested rigid bus-flexible connectors.

Characteristics of In-Situ Soil Water Hysteresis Observed through Multiple-Years Monitoring

A soil water retention curve (SWRC) is an essential soil physical property for analyzing transport and retention of water in a soil layer. A SWRC is often described as a single-valued function that relates the soil water potential ψ to volumetric water content θ of the soil. However, an in-situ ψ − θ relation should show soil water hysteresis, though this fact is often neglected in analyses of field soil water regimes while long-term in-situ soil water hysteresis is not well characterized. This study aimed at probing and characterizing in-situ ψ − θ relations. The developments of large hysteresis in the in-situ ψ − θ relations were observed only a few times during the study period of 82 months. Any of the large hysteretic behaviors in the ψ − θ relations began with an unusually strong continual reduction in ψ. The completion of a hysteresis loop required a recorded maximum rainfall. Because the study field had very small chances to meet such strong rainfall events, it took multiple years to restore the fraction of soil water depleted by the unusually strong continual reduction in ψ. While wetting-drying cycles had occurred within a certain domain of ψ, hysteretic behaviors tended to be so small that the in-situ ψ − θ relation can be approximated as a single-valued function of θ(ψ). These observed patterns of the in-situ ψ − θ relations were characterized by kinds of difference in dθ/dψ between a drying process and a wetting process at a given ψ. Thus, more amounts of experimental facts about wetting SWRCs in parallel with drying SWRCs should be needed for correct modelling, analyzing, and predicting soil water regimes in fields. It is also necessary to increase our understandings about the long-term trends of occurrences of extreme weather conditions associated with possible change in climate.

Parameter identification of hysteretic model of rubber-bearing based on sequential nonlinear least-square estimation

In order to evaluate the nonlinear performance and the possible damage to rubber-bearings （RBs） during their normal operation or under strong earthquakes, a simplified Bouc-Wen model is used to describe the nonlinear hysteretic behavior of RBs in this paper, which has the advantages of being smooth-varying and physically motivated. Further, based on the results from experimental tests performed by using a particular type of RB （GZN 110） under different excitation scenarios, including white noise and several earthquakes, a new system identification method, referred to as the sequential nonlinear least- square estimation （SNLSE）, is introduced to identify the model parameters. It is shown that the proposed simplified Bouc- Wen model is capable of describing the nonlinear hysteretic behavior of RBs, and that the SNLSE approach is very effective in identifying the model parameters of RBs.

Experimental study on hysteretic behavior of prestressed truss concrete composite beams

This paper describes an experimental study of the hysteretic behavior of prestressed truss concrete composite beams （PTCCBs） under cyclic loading. Five beam models were designed and tested, in which the testing parameters include the global reinforcement index β0, the prestress level 2 and the ratio of stirrup ρsv in the potential plastic hinge zones. Based on the test results, the failure mode and hysteretic behavior of the tested models are obtained. In addition, the P-△ and sectional M-φ hysteretic models for the PTCCBs at the midspan are established. The P-△ hysteretic model shows good agreement with the test results.

Derivation of energy-based base shear force coefficient considering hysteretic behavior and P-delta effects

A modified energy-balance equation accounting for P-delta effects and hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete members is derived. Reduced hysteretic properties of structural components due to combined stiffness and strength degradation and pinching effects, and hysteretic damping are taken into account in a simple manner by utilizing plastic energy and seismic input energy modification factors. Having a pre-selected yield mechanism, energy balance of structure in inelastic range is considered. P-delta effects are included in derived equation by adding the external work of gravity loads to the work of equivalent inertia forces and equating the total external work to the modified plastic energy. Earthquake energy input to multi degree of freedom（MDOF） system is approximated by using the modal energy-decomposition. Energybased base shear coefficients are verified by means of both pushover analysis and nonlinear time history（NLTH） analysis of several RC frames having different number of stories. NLTH analyses of frames are performed by using the time histories of ten scaled ground motions compatible with elastic design acceleration spectrum and fulfilling duration/amplitude related requirements of Turkish Seismic Design Code. The observed correlation between energy-based base shear force coefficients and the average base shear force coefficients of NLTH analyses provides a reasonable confidence in estimation of nonlinear base shear force capacity of frames by using the derived equation.

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%.

Finite element analysis of an all-steel buckling-restrained brace

Typical all-steel buckling-restrained braces(BRBs)usually exhibit obvious local buckling,which is attributed to the lack of longitudinal restraint to the rectangle core plate.To address this issue,all-steel BRBs are proposed,in which two T-shaped steel plates are adopted as the minor restraint elements to restrain the core plate instead of infilled concrete or mortar.In order to investigate the factors that characterize the hysterical responses of this device,different finite element(FE)models are developed for the specific context.The FE models are developed based on nonlinear finite element software,which incorporate continuum(shell or brick)elements,large displacement,and deformation formulations.In these FE models,two different steel constitutive models are adopted to precisely reproduce the cyclic response of the BRB component.Meanwhile,comparisons between the numerical and experimental results are conducted to validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the robust FE model.The agreements between experimental observations and numerical predictions demonstrate that the FE method could be utilized for in depth parametric analysis.Furthermore,BRBs with detailed configurations can provide excellent hysteretic behavior and seismic performance through the optimal design process.

Discrete element method study of hysteretic behavior and deformation characteristics of rockfill material under cyclic loading

Granular geomaterials under different loading conditions manifest various behaviors,such as hysteresis.Understanding their hysteretic behavior and deformation characteristics is the basis for establishing a constitutive relation with excellent performance in deformation prediction.The deformation characteristics of crushable particle materials are analyzed through a series of cyclic loading tests conducted by numerical simulation.The hysteretic behavior is investigated from a particle scale.The increase in particles with contacts less than two may be responsible for the residual strain,and the particle breakage further promotes particle rearrangement and volume contraction.Both the accumulation of plastic strain and the resilient modulus are found to be related to confining pressures,stress levels,cyclic loading amplitudes,and the number of cycles.The plastic strain accumulation can be written as a function of the number of cycles and an evolution function of resilient modulus is proposed.

Experimental study of the restoring force mechanism in the self-centering beam （SCB）

In the past, several self-centering （SC） seismic systems have been developed. However, examples of selfcentering systems used in practice are limited due to unusual field construction practices, high initial cost premiums and deformation incompatibility with the gravity framing. A self centering beam moment frame （SCB-MF） has been developed that mitigates several of these issues while adding to the advantages of a typical SC system. The self-centering beam （SCB） is a shop-fabricated, self-contained structural component that when implemented in a moment resisting frame can bring a building back to plumb after an earthquake. This paper describes the SCB concepts and experimental program on five SCB specimens at two-third scale relative to a prototype building. Experimental results are presented including the global force-deformation behavior. The SCBs are shown to undergo 5%-6% story drift without any observable damage to the SCB body and columns. Strength equations developed for the SCB predict the moment capacity well, with a mean difference of 6% between experimental and predicted capacities. The behavior of the restoring force mechanism is described. The limit states that cause a loss in system＇s restoring force which lead to a decrease in the selfcentering capacity of the SCB-MF, are presented.