Towards rapid and automated vulnerability classification of concrete buildings

With the overwhelming number of older reinforced concrete buildings that need to be assessed for seismic vulnerability in a city,local governments face the question of how to assess their building inventory.By leveraging engineering drawings that are stored in a digital format,a well-established method for classification reinforced concrete buildings with respect to seismic vulnerability,and machine learning techniques,we have developed a technique to automatically extract quantitative information from the drawings to classify vulnerability.Using this technique,stakeholders will be able to rapidly classify buildings according to their seismic vulnerability and have access to information they need to prioritize a large building inventory.The approach has the potential to have significant impact on our ability to rapidly make decisions related to retrofit and improvements in our communities.In the Los Angeles County alone it is estimated that several thousand buildings of this type exist.The Hassan index is adopted here as the method for automation due to its simple application during the classification of the vulnerable reinforced concrete buildings.This paper will present the technique used for automating information extraction to compute the Hassan index for a large building inventory.

Modeling of environmental influence in structural health assessment for reinforced concrete buildings

One branch of structural health monitoring (SHM) utilizes dynamic response measurements to assess the structural integrity of civil infrastructures. In particular,modal frequency is a widely adopted indicator for structural damage since its square is proportional to structural stiffness. However,it has been demonstrated in various SHM projects that this indicator is substantially affected by fluctuating environmental conditions. In order to provide reliable and consistent information on the health status of the monitored structures,it is necessary to develop a method to filter this interference. This study attempts to model and quantify the environmental influence on the modal frequencies of reinforced concrete buildings. Daily structural response measurements of a twenty-two story reinforced concrete building were collected and analyzed over a one-year period. The Bayesian spectral density approach was utilized to identify the modal frequencies of this building and it was clearly seen that the temperature and humidity fluctuation induced notable variations. A mathematical model was developed to quantify the environmental effects and model complexity was taken into consideration. Based on a Timoshenko beam model,the full model class was constructed and other reduced-order model class candidates were obtained. Then,the Bayesian modal class selection approach was employed to select the one with the most suitable complexity. The proposed model successfully characterizes the environmental influence on the modal frequencies. Furthermore,the estimated uncertainty of the model parameters allows for assessment of the reliability of the prediction. This study not only improves the understanding about the monitored structure,but also establishes a systematic approach for reliable health assessment of reinforced concrete buildings.

Comparative Studies on Calculation Methods of Shear Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams of Chinese Modern Reinforced Concrete Buildings

In order to study the calculation methods of shear behavior of reinforced concrete beams of Chinese modern reinforced concrete buildings,this paper carried out tests on the concrete compressive strength of 12 Chinese modern concrete buildings,the mechanical properties of 66 rebars from different Chinese modern concrete buildings,and the concrete cover thickness of 9 Chinese modern concrete buildings,and the actual material properties and structural configurations have been obtained. Then,the comparison on calculation methods include the Chinese original calculation method,the Chinese present calculation method,the American present calculation method and the European present calculation method is studied with case analysis method.The results show that the Chinese original calculation method of shear behavior of reinforced concrete beams is based on the allowable stress calculation method,and the design safety factors are 3. 55- 4. 00. The standard value of the compressive strength of concrete cubes is 8. 48 MPa,the standard value of the concrete tensile strength is 1.20 MPa,the standard value of the yield strength of rectangular rebars is 229. 56 MPa,and the standard value of the yield strength of round rebars is 276. 82 MPa. The average value of the concrete cover thickness of beams and columns is 35.96 mm. In term of calculation area of hoop rebars of reinforced concrete beams,without considering earthquake loads,the Chinese original structural calculation method is safer than the Chinese present structural calculation method,but is more unsafe than the American present structural calculation method and the European present structural calculation method. The results can provide the support for structural safety assessments and repair designs of Chinese modern reinforced concrete buildings.

The Structural Behavior of Low/Medium/High Rise Concrete Office Buildings in Kuwait

The main concern of this paper is to provide an extensive study for the structural behavior of low/medium/high rise office buildings aiming to deepen structure and architect designers understanding for such type of buildings. The study is performed on reinforced concrete and emphasized only on Kuwait city conditions for wind. Regular layout plan building with different heights ranging from five to fifty typical office stories are investigated in this study. Three dimensional finite element techniques through ETABS software are used in conducting analysis for structures presented here-in. A serviceability study is performed to ensure that buildings have sufficient stability to limit lateral drift and peak acceleration within the acceptable range of occupancy comfort. In addition, an ultimate strength study is carried out to design and verify that all the structural elements are designed to withstand factored gravity and lateral loadings in a safe manner according to the international building codes. The building slenderness ratio and the building core size and location are the studied parameters since they are the key drivers for the efficient structural design. Analysis results are presented and discussed and finally conclusions are summarized as guidelines for designers of concrete office buildings in Kuwait.

Deformation Analysis Due to Early Loading of Concrete Buildings

The building industry has experienced in recent years a strong growth in demand in general and in the case of reinforced concrete buildings this increase has been more marked. This fact has also contributed to accelerate all stages of the production process of these constructions with more pronounced effects on the methodologies used in the constructive steps that influence directly the structural design of the building. Structures loaded at ever earlier ages, in which the strength and deformation properties of materials are not yet sufficiently mature. It is a variable that needs to be taken into account already in the design phase so that the concrete structure behaves within acceptable level of reliability taking into account design code recommendations for service life. To understand the importance of constructive effects and to assess its magnitude in the execution of reinforced concrete buildings, this paper presents result from nonlinear analyses using finite element method adopting an approach commonly referred as staged construction applied to a typical building found in the practice. The effects of creep and shrinkage were considered and the results obtained demonstrate that the strains due to constructive effects can, in certain cases, assume representative values which, if ignored, can lead to important pathologies in the building.

High-Rise Residential Reinforced Concrete Building Optimisation

In the last few decades structure optimisation has become a main task in a civil engineering project. As a matter of fact, due to the complexity and particularity of every structure, the great amount of variables and design criteria to considerate and many other factors, a general optimisation’s method is not simple to formulate. As a result, this paper focuses on how to provide a successful optimisation method for a particular building type, high-rise reinforced concrete buildings. The optimization method is based on decomposition of the main structure into substructures: floor system, vertical load resisting system, lateral load resisting system and foundation system;then each of the subsystems using the design criteria established at the building codes is improved. Due to the effect of the superstructure optimisation on the foundation system, vertical and lateral load resisting system is the last to be considered after the improvement of floor. Finally, as a case example, using the method explained in the paper, a 30-story-high high-rise residential building complex is analysed and optimised, achieving good results in terms of structural behaviour and diminishing the overall cost of the structure.

Slenderness Ratio Influence on the Structural Behavior of Residential Concrete Tall Buildings

The main concern of this paper is to study the influence of the building slenderness ratio on the structural behavior of the residential concrete tall buildings aiming to deepen structure and architect designers understanding for such type of buildings. The study is emphasized only on Kuwait city design conditions for wind and seismic loadings. The paper presents an actual case study for adding two thirty stories residential towers with two different slenderness ratios to an existing residential complex. Wind loading is considered using both code values and wind tunnel results. Three dimensional finite element techniques through ETABS software are used in conducting analysis for structures presented here. A serviceability study is performed to ensure that buildings have sufficient stability to limit lateral drift and peak acceleration within the acceptable range of occupancy comfort. In addition, an ultimate strength study is carried out to verify that all the structural elements are designed to withstand factored gravity and lateral loads in a safe manner according to the international building codes. Analysis results are presented and discussed. A brief idea about foundation design of the new towers and its connection to the existing foundation is presented. Finally conclusions are summarized as guidelines for the structural professions of concrete residential tall buildings.

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Block Prefabricated Multi-Storey Building Technology

In active response to the national requirements of promoting green building materials and developing prefabricated buildings,it is necessary to continuously optimize and reasonably employ relevant technologies.Autoclaved aerated concrete block prefabricated multi-storey building technology is a new technology,which will not only effectively realize green environmental protection in construction engineering,but also promote the further development of prefabricated buildings.Therefore,this paper analyzes the autoclaved aerated concrete block prefabricated multi-storey building technology for future references.

Influence of earthquake direction on the seismic response of irregular plan RC frame buildings

The nonlinear response of structures is usually evaluated by considering two accelerograms acting simultaneously along the orthogonal directions. In this study, the infl uence of the earthquake direction on the seismic response of building structures is examined. Three multi-story RC buildings, representing a very common structural typology in Italy, are used as case studies for the evaluation. They are, respectively, a rectangular plan shape, an L plan shape and a rectangular plan shape with courtyard buildings. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are performed by considering different seismic levels, characterized by peak ground acceleration on stiff soil equal to 0.35 g, 0.25 g and 0.15 g. Nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out by considering twelve different earthquake directions, and rotating the direction of both the orthogonal components by 30° for each analysis(from 0° to 330°). The survey is carried out on the L plan shape structure. The results show that the angle of the seismic input motion signifi cantly infl uences the response of RC structures; the critical seismic angle, i.e., the incidence angle that produces the maximum demand, provides an increase of up to 37% in terms of both roof displacements and plastic hinge rotations.

Research on Technical Solutions to Renovate the Reinforced Concrete Constructions in Vietnam

During the use of constructions, they will be degraded. Due to the negative impact on structures such as increase in vertical load, horizontal windy load needs to evaluate the current state of the constructions before renovating, especially the current state of the main structural system whether necessary to carry out repair and reinforcement or not. In addition, the inspection of the current status constructions before renovating is also the legal basis for the granting of construction permits to renovate and repair degraded works. Reinforced concrete buildings in the coastal areas in Vietnam, in particular, are working in the marine environment leading to damage the reinforced concrete construction. It should be significantly noted. Although there have been legal documents related to the inspection of constructions issued in Vietnam, the detailed contents and procedures of institution for each type of construction have not been mentioned yet. Therefore, the topic research paper of “research on technical solutions to renovate constructions with reinforced concrete structures in Vietnam” is to improve the quality and efficiency of construction. This investigation in Vietnam is very essential. This study uses the method of surveying the current state of the construction works in use, using the experimental sampling method to analyze and evaluate the damage of the work, then propose typical solutions to repair construction. The purpose of this study is to provide a process to check the damage of the works, and to propose solutions to repair them. This work is very important and has practical significance, helping managers to maintain works better.

Effect of Eccentric Shear Stiffness of Walls on Structural Response of RC Frame Buildings

Current research study consists of determining the optimum location of the shear wall to get the maximum structural efficiency of a reinforced concrete frame building. It consists of a detailed analysis and design review of a seven-story reinforced concrete building to understand the effect of shear wall location on the response of reinforced concrete structures when subjected to different earthquake forces. Three trail locations of shear walls are selected and their performance is monitored in terms of structural response under different lateral loads. Required objectives are achieved by obtaining design and construction drawings of an existing reinforced concrete structure and modeling it on Finite Element Method (FEM) based computer software. The structure is redesigned and discussed with four different configurations (one without shear wall and three with shear walls). Main framing components (Beams, Columns and Shear walls) of the superstructure are designed using SAP 2000 V. 19.0 whereas substructure (foundation) of RC building was?designed using SAFE. American Concrete Institute (ACI) design specifications were used to calculate the cracked section stiffness or non-linear geometrical properties of the cracked section. Uniform Building Code (UBC-97) procedures were adopted to calculate the lateral earthquake loading on the structures. Structural response of the building was monitored at each story level for each earthquake force zone described by the UBC-97. The earthquake lateral forces were considered in both X and Y direction of the building. Each configuration of shear wall is carefully analyzed and effect of its location is calibrated by the displacement response of the structure. Eccentricity to the lateral stiffness of the building is imparted by changing the location of shear walls. Results of the study have shown that the location of shear wall significantly affects the lateral response of the structure under earthquake forces. It also motivates to carefully decide the center of lateral stiffness of building prior to deciding the location of shear walls.

Elastic-plastic study on high building with SRC transferring story

A new type of transferring structure for steel reinforced concrete (SRC) beams is used in high building. The pushover analysis method was used to study the failure mechanism and ductility of SRC transferring structure through consulting pseudo-static test results for the structure. And, the occurrence order and position of the plastic hinge, the weak story and seismic capacity of high building with SRC transferring story were also studied through consulting shaking table test results for the high building, showing that the seismic behavior of high building with SRC transferring story is good.

Persisting challenges for performance-based building assessment

Intense research and refinement of the tools used in performance-based seismic engineering have been made,but the maturity and accuracy of these methods have not been adequately confirmed with actual data from the field. The gap between the assumed characteristics of actual building systems and their idealized counterparts used for analysis is wide. When the randomly distributed flaws in buildings as they exist in urban areas and the extreme variability of ground motion patterns combine,the conventional procedures used for pushover or dynamic response history analyses seem to fall short of reconciling the differences between calculated and observed damage. For emergency planning and loss modeling purposes,such discrepancies are factors that must be borne in mind. Two relevant examples are provided herein. These examples demonstrate that consensus-based analytical guidelines also require well-idealized building models that do not lend themselves to reasonably manageable representations from field data. As a corollary,loss modeling techniques,e.g.,used for insurance purposes,must undergo further development and improvement.

装配式配筋砌块砌体结构技术与应用

当前在国家大力倡导建筑业采用装配化建造方式的背景下,装配式混凝土结构、装配式钢结构等建筑新技术不断涌现并在工程建设中大量应用,而砌体建筑在这次装配化建造大潮中比较沉寂。砌体结构领域的工作者一直也在积极探索,介绍了砌体结构中一种配筋砌块砌体结构实现装配化建造的技术,该技术先以标准化生产的砌块产品组装成个性化需求的墙构件,再将墙构件经绑扎后在施工现场吊装并在安装中穿入竖向钢筋,最后用混凝土灌孔连接形成整体结构。该技术是基于理论试验研究及工程实践验证后得出的新成果,已有近20万m^(2)规模的工程实践应用,具有成本低、工艺简、安全性好、效率高等特点,为采用装配化方法建造房屋提供了新的选择。

高延性混凝土加固单层砖木结构农房振动台试验研究

为提高我国农村砌体房屋的抗震性能水平,采用高延性混凝土(HDC)条带加固的方法,设计了两个缩尺比为1∶2的砖木结构模型,对加固模型与未加固模型进行振动台同台对比试验。对比分析了地震作用下两个模型结构的加速度响应、位移响应、扭转效应和破坏形态,并对其抗震性能进行评估。试验结果表明:单层砖木结构农房的整体抗震性能较差,结构的自振频率低、位移反应较大,扭转效应明显,在8度设防地震作用下接近倒塌;经HDC条带加固的模型结构自振频率增大,位移反应相比未加固模型更小,山墙外闪现象得到明显控制,结构扭转效应的破坏作用明显减轻,在9度罕遇地震作用下HDC面层只出现轻微受损,可达到“大震可修”的性能目标。采用HDC条带加固法可有效延缓结构在强震作用下的刚度退化,增加结构的耐损伤能力,并有效提高此类砌体结构的整体抗震能力。

装配式型钢混凝土叠合框架梁连接节点构造设置与安全分析

住房和城乡建设部印发《“十四五”建筑业发展规划》提出大力发展装配式建筑、推动生产和施工智能化升级的主要任务。而国内目前采用的预制叠合框架梁存在着跨度大自重大吊装成本高、预制梁柱节点位置易发生钢筋碰撞吊装定位难度大等问题,限制了装配式建筑结构的发展。结合实际工程项目,提出一种新型的装配式型钢混凝土叠合框架梁,并对该叠合梁的构造设置、连接方式及安全性进行分析,从而为装配式框架结构、框架—剪力墙结构等装配式建筑中框架梁的深化设计提供一种新的拆分方案。

乌兹别克斯坦9度区某超高层建筑结构设计与优化

对于9度设防地区的超高层建筑,其结构设计基本由地震作用控制,因此抗震设计尤为重要。建筑消能减震技术可在提高结构地震安全储备的同时,降低整体工程造价,是结构优化设计的有效措施。对位于9度区的超高层建筑进行了结构方案选型对比、结构方案优化、减震设计方案比选、剪力墙内嵌钢板优化。结果显示,钢骨混凝土框架⁃核心筒方案相对于钢框架⁃支撑方案具备更高的成本优势;框架⁃核心筒方案可通过精细化设计作进一步优化;在此基础上,对钢骨混凝土框架⁃核心筒方案采用两种消能减震方案进行比选,结果表明,采用黏滞阻尼器方案的结构抗震性能明显优于采用黏滞阻尼墙方案;最后通过增大剪力墙竖向分布钢筋配筋率,对低区核心筒墙肢中的内嵌钢板进行了优化。

山地大跨结构关键设计技术研究

恒力应急指挥中心三侧靠山,形成两个高低接地面、具有特色的掉层高层建筑。结构通过设置钢桁架连接构件,将主体结构与山体形成有效连接,将掉层部分简化了嵌固端,简化了结构的边界条件。采用弹塑性分析对结构在罕遇地震下的承载力及刚度进行验证。同时采用山体与主体结构一体化的分析技术,找寻在真实地震工况下,主体与山体连接构件的内力,验证其可靠性。对于大跨结构,采用了新型的预应力型钢混凝土梁,有效降低结构自重,减小梁高,大幅提高结构效率。本工程属于具有特色的山地建筑,结构设计采用创新处理方法,能够为类似工程项目提供参考。

一种改进YOLOv5积木小零件检测算法研究

针对积木零件种类繁多、人工分拣效率低等问题,提出一种基于改进YOLOv5积木小零件算法检测系统。该算法使用双层Mosaic-16进行数据增强,利用RGB矩阵完成对比度调整,通过对数据集的优化,实现对YOLOv5算法的改进。实验结果表明:改进后的YOLOv5算法能快速准确地对积木小零件进行识别分类,相比原始YOLOv5算法,模型的训练速率和准确率大大提高。

Influences of Shrinkage,Creep,and Temperature on the Load Distributions in Reinforced Concrete Buildings During Construction

Site measurements have shown that slab loads re-distribute, between the slabs during the concrete curing, while the external Ioadings and structural geometry remain the same. Some have assumed that this is caused by concrete shrinkage and creep, but there have been no studies on how these factors exactly influence the load distributions and to what degree these influences exist. This paper analyzes the influences of concrete shrinkage, creep, and temperature on the load re-distributions among slabs. Although these factors may all lead to load re-distribution, the results show that the influence of concrete shrinkage can be neglected. Simulations indicate that shrinkage only reduces slab loads by a maximum of 1.1%. Creep, however, may reduce the maximum slab load by from 3% to 16% for common construction schemes. More importantly, temperature variations between day and night can cause load fluctuation as large as 31.6%. This analysis can, therefore, assist site engineers to more accurately estimate slab loads for construction planning.