bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the Current Approach in Eurocode 4 to Determine the Load Capacity of Headed Stud an a Trough of Trapezoidal Steel Sheetings
Authors: Konrad Matthias , Kuhlmann Ulrike
Published: October 2011

This contribution reports briefly of a recently finished research project [1] at the Institute of Structural Design, Universität Stuttgart. The main focus of the project was to assess the quality of the given approach in Eurocode 4 to determine the load capacity of headed studs used in trapezoidal steel sheetings in comparison to further approaches/models given literature. Therefore, 17 new push-out tests with steel sheeting within the field of application of Eurocode 4 have been performed. At the moment the existing design rules in Eurocode 4 for headed studs in trapezoidal steel sheeting do not take into account the position of the stud in the trough nor the variety of failure modes. So the investigation was focused on the influence of the position of the headed stud and on the influence of the various geometric parameters on the failure mode. The test results showed that the predicted load capacity acc. to Eurocode 4 overestimates the observed load capacity in a number of cases. Also the constructions rules of Eurocode 4 aiming at a ductile behavior could not always assure this. On the other hand ductile failure occurred though some of the construction rules were not respected. As a result the need for further in depth investigation is underlined.
Building Infrastructure with Appropriate Technology
Authors: Alimchandani C. R. , Bandyopadhyay N.
Published: October 2011

Building Infrastructure like Road or Rail Network, Irrigation canal Network seeds economic development of a region. In order to sustain the development as well as maintain and update the assets so built, it is necessary that Technology that is “Appropriate” in the context of the society is adopted in the first place. Execution of two Indian Projects has been described to demonstrate the significance of this concept.
Rocking shear wall foundations in regions of moderate seismicity
Authors: Wium Jan A. , van der Merwe Johann
Published: October 2011

This paper presents an investigation to reduce the size of shear wall foundations for earthquake forces in region of moderate seismicity. The approach taken is to allow rocking of the shear wall foundation and to include the frame action of the structure to assist as lateral force resisting system. An initial feasibility study is presented where the shear wall foundation and the structural frame are theoretically modelled as a single degree of freedom system, subjected to base accelerations from recorded ground motions. An example building is studied with the shear wall foundation designed for 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of the design overturning moment from the seismic event. Time history analyses are performed with input from five earthquakes. It is shown that the concept is feasible and the next phase will consist of improved modelling to allow for distribution of mass over the height of the structure as well as shear wall stiffness.
Noncontact Dynamic Displacement Measurement Using FSF Laser
Authors: Fujii Mahito , Umemoto Shuji , Hara Takefumi , Miyamoto Noriyuki , Okamoto Takuji , Ito Hiromasa , Fujino Yozo
Published: October 2011

The measurement principle employed in the Frequency-shifted Feedback Laser (FSFL) enables remote/noncontact measurement, and its accuracy is not dependent on distance. Because the maximum response frequency of the FSFL is 1000 Hz, it is a promising technology for application to high accuracy, remote/noncontact dynamic measurements. Previous static field tests of the FSFL have verified that measurement with high accuracy of 200μm at a distance of 500 m is possible. In the present research, the authors conducted a laboratory experiment using a vibration board (natural frequency: 10 Hz), and also made dynamic measurements of bridges in service. The results verified the dynamic measurement performance of the FSFL and confirmed its applicability to bridges in service.
Seismically isolated Building for Disaster Prevention and long Life
Authors: Nagase Satoru , Tsuneki Yasuhiro , Nakanishi Norio
Published: October 2011

Japan is one of the most earthquake prone country. Seismically isolated structure is not only reduces damage and maintains building functions but it’s also an excellent structural system that contributes to environmental protection in the sense that buildings have longer service life.

In addition to the fundamental “base isolation” in which the seismic isolation layer is installed in the lowest part of building, there are many other applications. For example, the “middle floor

isolation” in which seismic isolation layer is installed on the middle floor, and “seismic retrofitting” in which existing historical buildings dramatically improve their earthquake-resistant performances.

We introduce a recent innovative application in this paper, seismically isolated office building that uses Superframe in combination with suspension structure.
Reduction Program of Accident Risk for Vehicles in High Cross Winds
Authors: Kwon Soon-Duck , Kim Dong Hyawn , Lee Seung Ho , Song Ho Sung
Published: October 2011

Risk reduction program for vehicles running on highway was proposed. Critical wind speeds at which vehicles can slip into adjacent lane are found by numerical simulation for several types of cars. Then accident probability can be calculated based on probability distribution of local wind velocity. Wind barrier was considered to reduce wind velocity. The wind reduction characteristics due to barrier were found by wind tunnel test. Due to the reduction of wind velocity, car accident risk can be reduced. Total cost in which the installation cost of wind barrier and those cost for car accident were evaluated for each candidate site. Then, decision was made to install wind barrier if and only if the cost can be saved due to wind barrier.
The Rion-Antirion Bridge – When a dream becomes reality
Authors: Combault Jacques
Published: October 2011

Opened to traffic in August of 2004, the Rion-Antirion Bridge crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras in western Greece. It consists of an impressive multi cable-stayed span bridge connected to the land by two approaches.

An exceptional combination of physical conditions made this project quite unusual : high water depth, deep strata of weak soil, strong seismic activity and fault displacements. In addition a risk of heavy ship collision had to be taken into account.

The structure has been designed in view of challenging severe earthquakes and ensuring the everyday serviceability of the link as well. To make the bridge feasible, innovative techniques had to be developed: The strength of the in-situ soil has been improved by means of inclusions; the bridge deck has been suspended on ist full length, and therefore isolated as much as it can be.
Zhoushan Xihoumen Bridge – The world's longest box girder suspension bridge
Authors: Song Hui , Wang Xiaodong
Published: October 2011

The Zhoushan Xihoumen Bridge is a two-span continuous steel box girder suspension bridge with a main span of 1 650 m. The design criteria, construction conditions, general design, and detailed structure design of the main bridge are introduced and presented in this paper.
Cable-Stayed Bridges in Shanghai where Chinese Recent Major Bridges Launched
Authors: Ma Biao , Lin Yuanpei
Published: October 2011

Cable-stayed bridges are one of the most popular solutions for long span crossings. The design and construction techniques for this type of bridge have undergone significant development and improvement over the past several decades. Shanghai is one of the first cities in China to build modern long span cable-stayed bridges. The construction of the Nanpu Bridge in 1988 is regarded as the beginning of modern long span cable-stayed bridge construction in China. Shanghai ' s cable-stayed bridges are described in this paper, with special attention devoted to experience gained during construction, structural characteristics, technological developments, and innovative techniques.
Experimental Investigation on Behaviour of High Performance Reinforced Concrete Columns
Authors: Muthupriya P. , Subramani K. , Vishnuram B. G.
Published: October 2011

An experimental investigation was carried out to study the behaviour of High Performance Reinforced Concrete column (HPRC) to assess the suitability of HPRC columns for the structural applications. High Performance Concrete used (HPC) in this study was produced by partial replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with metakaolin and Fly ash. As many as six mixes of HPC were considered with three mixes viz. M2,M3 M4 for the replacement of cement with metakaolin by mass equal to 5%,7.5% and 10%. Whereas for other three mixes such as M5,M6,M7 the replacement for OPC was done by metakaolin and flyash keeping a constant value of 10% fly ash in addition to 5%,7.5% and 10% of metakaolin respectively. Besides the concrete mix M1 made of normal concrete was also adopted for comparison purpose. Seven each for long and short columns were cast and tested in the structural engineering laboratory in the loading frame of 1000kN capacity. The size of short columns was 100x100x1000mm and for these long columns the size adopted was 100x100x1500mm. Short columns were tested under concentric axial load and the long columns were tested under compression

and uniaxial bending with minimum eccentricity. The failure of short columns were prematured and showed high brittleness whereas in the case of long columns there were good buckling effect but the failure concentrated either at column head portion or at the base due to spalling of concrete accompanied with heavy cracks. The performance of short columns was studied by evaluation of ductility index and stiffness whereas for long columns ductility was obtained from load versus deflection curves and moment curvature curves. It was observed that the behaviour of HPRC columns was marginally better than those of normal concrete. Of course, from the literature survey it was learnt that high performance reinforced concrete columns require closer spacing of lateral ties or else confinement externally for enhanced performance. Besides the companion specimens such as cubes, cylinders and prism beams were also cast and tested to study the strength characteristics such as compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength of HPC mixes adopted in this study. There is a good increase for all the above mentioned strength for HPC mixes adopted in this study.
Sustainable Frames for Seismic Resistance to Captive Column Defects
Authors: Jayaguru C. , Subramanian K.
Published: October 2011

Reinforced concrete constructions with partial masonry infill face serious earthquake shear damages in columns due to captive-column effect. An experimental program is carried out with one-third scale, two-bay two-story laboratory models having partial infill in the bottom story. Glass-fibre reinforced polymer sheets are wrapped around the columns at critical points for adequate ductility. Two frames namely, a control specimen and a retrofitted specimen are tested under quasi-static cyclic load to failure. The control specimen showed a brittle shear failure in the bottom story columns due to the induced captive-column effect while the retrofitted specimen showed a more ductile failure without any brittle damages. Results demonstrated the behavior with respect to strength and stiffness characteristics. The aim is, therefore to contribute for developing a sustainable structure to overcome the seismic failure due to captive-column defects.
Influence of Structural Modeling on Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of a RC Viaduct using Fragility Curves
Authors: Deb Sajal Kanti , Dutta Anjan
Published: October 2011

The fragility curve is a tool to estimate the probabilities that the structural damage exceeds specific damage state under various levels of seismic excitation. The main objective of this paper is to develop the fragility curves for a typical viaduct by analytical approach. In this study, a sample three span, two lane viaduct, situated in a highly seismic region in the country, is considered for development of fragility curve for seismic vulnerability assessment. Capacity of the bridge has been determined by static nonlinear analysis (Pushover analysis). The seismic demand parameters of the bridge were obtained by performing nonlinear time history analysis for different prescribed ground motion histories recorded in the past earthquakes. The fragility curves for the overbridge piers have been constructed assuming a lognormal distribution. The influence of modeling aspects of the viaduct structure on fragility curves has been investigated by considering two different structural models for the response analysis. It is observed that that the fragility curves are more sensitive to the structural modeling for higher damage level.
The Messina Strait Bridge: Major Problems Affecting the Design
Authors: Diana Giorgio , Fiammenghi Giuseppe
Published: October 2011

Some of the main challenges faced during the design stage of the Messina Strait Bridge are presented in this work. The first part of the paper is devoted to the description of the problems related to the overall organization of the work. The second part is related to the technical aspects, focusing the attention on the wind induced effects and on the train runnability. Wind structure interaction and train runnability represent the technical aspects conditioning the design choices of the whole work. The experience gained during the studies that lead to the definition of the technical specification for the construction tender will be summarised in this paper giving an overview to the methodologies adopted and the more restrictive requirements. A major details on the specific problem is demanded to the proposed references.
Using Acoustic Monitoring to Extend the Life of Post-Tensioned Cable Supported Bridges
Authors: Tozser Oliver , Barker Kevin J. , Rowcroft Colin
Published: October 2011

Received a BEng (Hons) degree from Kingston University, and has been involved in numerous conventional and acoustic instrumentation projects.

Received his BSc from Durham University, is a CEng, and Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers (MICE-UK).

Acoustic monitoring of cable supported structured has developed into a useful and reliable tool for engineers. The information provided by proper monitoring gives owners and structural advisors confidence in tracking any deterioration that is occurring in the post-tensioning system on presetressed concrete bridges. When visual inspections reveal problems in some of the strands supporting the structure, a structure-wide deployment of an acoustic monitoring system can buy the owner time to secure funds, design, plan, procure, and build a replacement structure. In the meantime, the tracking of active deterioration allows the owner to make decisions regarding safe loads, or load restrictions and to gain maximum utility from the bridge.
Risk, Structural Engineering and Society
Authors: Edlund Bo L. O.
Published: October 2011

One topic of this paper is risk and risk management regarded from both engineering and societal points of view. The various aspects of risk are often complex and need to be investigated from different perspectives. One main part of the paper will discuss risks that should be considered by structural engineers, when they plan, design or build structures and infrastructures.

Related to this is the part dealing with Natural Hazards and Disasters and their influence on the built environment and society. One section deals with vulnerability and resilience of cities, especially in environmentally constrained and urbanized areas. A special topic here is the risk of flooding due to rising sea level caused by a possible climate change.
The new airport “Berlin-Brandenburg-International”
Authors: Göppert Knut , Fackler Thomas , Weißbach Matthias , Schoknecht Thomas
Published: October 2011

The built environment, buildings, bridges, tunnels, towers, train stations and of course airports, are forming a large portion of our modern infrastructure. The size and the life time of our built infrastructure lead to a highly visible and permanent impact for our natural and urban environment. Combined with the complex functional and economical requirements of our modern civilization an integrative planning in interdisciplinary teams is necessary. The realisation of these requirements beginning from the preliminary design up to the supervision of the assembling will be described and illustrated by examples in this paper.

The new airport “Berlin-Brandenburg-International (BBI)” will become a worthy representative of engineering art and architecture.
Structural Design of the New Football Stadium of Panathinaikos F.C. in Votanikos, Greece
Authors: Gkologiannis Christos , Gantes Charis , Athanasiadis Alekos , Majowiecki Massimo , Zoulas Fotis , Schmidt Harald
Published: October 2011

In this paper the main structural elements of the new football stadium of Panathinaikos F.C. in Votanikos, Athens, Greece are presented, with particular emphasis on the steel roof and ist interaction with the underlying reinforced concrete structures. The roof consists of four structurally independent parts, supported through main truss girders on reinforced concrete pylons and on the exterior peripheral reinforced concrete columns of the grandstands. Issues pertaining to optimization of geometry, type and size of cross-sections, supports and connections between members, in order to achieve satisfaction of architectural constraints in the most safe and cost- effective way are discussed. Appropriate decisions that had to be made at the conceptual design stage, in order to minimize the interaction of the steel roof with the pylons and the ten structurally independent grandstand structures during eventual seismic events, are described.
Long Span Wooden Structural Beams Assembled with Four Meter long Timbers using Japanese Traditional Connections
Authors: Asakawa Takeshi , Kouno Toshihiko
Published: October 2011

“Wooden Hall” is an office building in Tokyo Japan with a signature column-free hall on the top floor covered by a 25 meter long span wooden roof. The wooden roof consists of several wooden structural beams. The wooden structural beams are assembled with four meter long timbers using traditional Japanese connections. While the connections are quite complicated, they have been fab- ricated mechanically and quickly at a sawing factory of timber using modern technology. The spe- cies of the four meter timbers is Japanese cypress and the connection details use evergreen oak. The details used in this project have been substantiated using material tests, connection tests, bending and shearing experiments (full scale), creep experiments (full scale) and fire resistance verification. In addition, this wooden structure is more ecological than a typical steel or reinforced concrete structure helping Japan achieve our goal of a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions.
A Modern Lattice Bridge over Ticino River in the Ticino Natural Park
Authors: Manterola Armisén Javier , Martínez Cutillas Antonio , Martín Martínez Francisco Borja , Zanaica Luca , Caobianco Francesco , Zanon Roberto
Published: October 2011

The aim of the project for adapting SP527 carriageway (Novara Province, Piemonte Region, Italy) is to improve the local roads network connection with Milan Malpensa airport; the project is going through its detailed design phase. The Ticino Natural Park is fully interested by this project so that environmental aspects have become the most important. In the current SP527, two 19th-century infrastructures stand out: a steel lattice bridge over the Ticino river and a masonry 3-arch bridge over the Bragadano canal. A new bridge over passing the Ticino river is needed: for its architectural concept design, the presence of the old lattice bridge has been considered. This new bridge has a total length of 316,30 m with an overall deck width of 17,05m. The main deck consists of a tubular girder where lateral parts are a steel “celosía” lattice, the lower deck is a reinforced concrete lenticular section, longitudinally and transversely pre-tensioned, with height up to 1,75 m and transversal beams every 4 m.
Fondovalle Dolo Road: Viaduct on the Landslide of Boschi di Valoria
Authors: Dall'Aglio Fabio , Manni Alessandro , Piacentini Luca
Published: October 2011

In this paper the building of a steel arch bridge with a 160-metre span suspended structure in order to get over the old landslide in the area called Boschi di Valoria is presented.

The Fondovalle Dolo road in Frassinoro (Modena, Italy) is every so often interrupted by a big landslide called the landslide of Boschi di Valoria, on the north-west side of Monte Modino in the Appennines near Modena. The landslide causes the block of the above-mentioned road which is the only efficient connection between a few villages and the valley where most jobs as well as school services, social and health services are situated. The solution chosen to permanently restore the connection is to get over the landslide through a 160-metre span bridge formed by two steel arches with a structure suspended by means of slanting tie-rods (according to the Nielsen scheme).
The Building Rehabilitation case: Protection against Seismic Risk
Authors: Makhoul Nisrine
Published: October 2011

As it is clearly known, the extra cost of the measures taken to protect a building against seismic risk is higher concerning old buildings than new designed ones. But since more than 80% of buildings were designed before the new seismic codes, it is a huge heritage waiting to manage, with great priority. The need to solve this situation became urgent with regards to many levels: the society level, the government level, budget level, etc… We witness the development of several new sophisticated methodologies that are emerging in the Civil Engineering field and Seismic Engineering field to deal with seismic risk, as one among many methods let us note the

«Performance Based Earthquake Engineering – PEER PBEE Assessment method»; which is not a code – based method, and which is being developed mainly at Stanford University and University of Berkeley among others. This new method is innovative with respect to earthquake engineering (geotechnical and structural), decision analysis and management. We improved greatly the decision analysis model based on sophisticated methods. Finally as a result to all the precedent we propose a new multidisciplinary approach dealing with public and private building cases, allowing to share properly the responsibility by all (engineers, owners, authorities…), in order to convince people to rehabilitate their structures by including them in the decision analysis process. The study deals with high and small probability seismic regions. An application without restriction to the particular case of France is presented.
What Do We Mean by ‘Ethics’ in Engineering?
Authors: Silman Robert
Published: October 2011

This paper will investigate some traditional ethical systems and their relevance to our every day practice of structural engineering. Ethics will be equated to responsibility, as the unprecedented demands of technology require.
Tianxingzhou bridge: world record span for railway cable-stayed bridges
Authors: Montens Serge , Moine Philippe , Lam Huy , Vollery Jean-Charles
Published: October 2011

The Tianxingzhou bridge, 4657 m long, includes the world record span for railway cable-stayed bridges, with 504 m.

Its combined road-rail deck required sophisticated dynamic analysis under train loving loads. Earthquake, fire, and stay cables vibrations were also investigated in detail.
Reliability of exceptional structures
Authors: Lukačević Ivan , Piskovic Josip , Skejic Davor
Published: October 2011

The paper discusses structures for which no long-term experience is noted or that were built only recently. Such structures are called exceptional structures. Many simplifications have been included in the European Standard EN 1990 and the simplified proposals for the design of structures that are classified as reliability class RC3 have been given. Probabilistic analyses that are implemented in this paper check the level of reliability of exceptional structures in case that the proposed simplified corrections of partial factors with the correction factor KFI are used. The results of probabilistic analyses have shown that such an approach does not give an acceptable level of reliability for all load combinations that may be realistically expected. Finally, more complex probabilistic analyses of exceptional structures that include a large number of design situations that would result in calibrated and detailed differentiated values of correction factor KFI are proposed. This way the engineering procedure that is proposed by EN 1990 has preserved its simplicity and ensured the sufficient level of reliability for today already widely represented exceptional structures.
Seismic Mitigation of the ASCE Cable-stayed Bridge
Authors: Domaneschi Marco , Martinelli Luca
Published: October 2011

The ASCE benchmark on cable-stayed bridges has gathered, in the last years, the interest of many specialists in the field of the structural control and the dynamic response of long span bridges.

Starting from the structural model of the benchmark original statement, a refined version is developed in a commercial finite element environment (ANSYS) so as to include new aspects in the simulation of the stay cables dynamics, with respect to the coupled motion with the main girder, in the implementation of the seismic excitation and in the soil-structure interaction.

Analyses are carried out in the time domain for several realizations of acceleration in a multiple support framework.

Finally, a new passive device, adopting the Bouc-Wen model as its constitutive law, is implemented on the refined bridge version both for a comparison with the ANSYS hysteretic element and for a better simulation of the control devices. This new device is coded in an external Fortran program and details on the implementations and testing are given in a parallel paper of this Conference.
Identification of Wind-Excited Suspension Bridges for SHM: a Feasibility Study
Authors: Ubertini Filippo , Hong Ah Lum , Betti Raimondo , Materazzi A. Luigi
Published: October 2011

The paper presents an investigation on the accuracy of a sophisticated system identification technique in providing the modal parameters of wind-excited suspension bridges, using pseudo- experimental data. The aim is to quantify the bias produced by colored wind excitations, measurement noise and wind-structure interaction effects on the modal parameter estimates. In addition, as the accurate estimation of structural damping ratios is a priority for safety evaluations and structural health monitoring of long-span bridges, a particular attention is posed on the feasibility of the considered system identification technique for separating structural from aerodynamic damping.
The behaviour Analysis of RC Frame Structure under Explosion Loading
Authors: Lupoae Marin , Bucur Carmen , Baciu Cătălin
Published: October 2011

Terrorist attacks with explosives are, after earthquakes, the most encountered extreme loadings that can produce the collapse of a structure. More over, it was observed that in terrorist attacks most deaths were caused due to the collapse of structures and not due to the shock waves or fragments projection.

The latest of this paper in the study of reinforced concrete frame building behaviour under terrorist attack are: (i) the study of phenomena, as a whole, for terrorist attack (the detonation, the shock waves propagation, the plastic hinge occurrence, the failure of strong loaded elements, the initiation and the eventual propagation of collapse) and (ii) the approach of this item using a new numerical method – applied element method.
Reduced stress method for Class 4 steel section
Authors: Majowiecki Massimo , Pinardi Stefano
Published: October 2011

Design of steel cross sections with thin plates has to take in account the effect of local instability that reduce the ultimate resistance.

Eurocode 3 classifies these cross-sections as Class 4 cross-sections and in part 1-5 it shows two procedures to take in account local buckling effects in the ULS resistence evaluation:

Effective cross section method

Reduced stress method

Scope of this paper is to show the application of the Reduced stress method to a real case (main roof of High Velocity railway station in Florence, Italy) and some considerations about the relationship with Effective cross section’s method.
The Application of Concrete Dowels in large Structures
Authors: Mangerig Ingbert , Wagner Robert
Published: October 2011

The concrete dowel is used as a shear connector in the field of composite construction. It generally consists of a welded steel girder or a halved I-type steel girder with slots in the web. The shear connection between the concrete and the steel is established by the steel web which is embedded in the concrete slab. With its high load carrying capacity and ductility and an excellent resistance against fatigue the technique of concrete dowels enables composite construction with large dimensions. Within the presented project new continuous cuts for the steel web were tested. These cutting lines allow a production of two steel girders with only one continuous oxygen-cut. The main item was to investigate the influence of the boundary conditions to the load bearing behaviour of the concrete dowel. The combination of experimental tests and FE simulations allowed an enhancement of the current verification procedure for concrete dowels. The modified design guidance enables the application of concrete dowels in t-beam cross sections and it covers the influence of different distances between the steel girders, too
Solutions regarding the Impact of Large Structures upon Public Space – Multifunctional Hall – Cluj-Napoca, Romania – case study
Authors: Dragan Rares V. , Iancu Adrian , Petrina Bogdan , Socaciu Nicolae , Petrina Mircea
Published: October 2011

The Municipality launched a contest for designing 3 large buildings on a site 5 minutes distance from the City Center, in a protected area of historical monuments, tangential to the main river in the city, in a struggled site between two of the largest Parks in the City; these 3 buildings are an 30.000 seats International Stadium, a 7000 seats Multifunctional Sports Hall and one 100m high multifunctional building. The scale of this buildings was considered at first sight by some some architects and urbanists not suitable for the size and the pedestrian character of the space surrounded; these conditions created the premises for designing the buildings in a delicate site with a conservative attitude. The main instrument used was to offer to the urban public space everything we will take with the new construction: continuos space and visual perspectives.
Reliability differentiation in ULS checks according to EN1990
Authors: Croce Pietro , Formichi Paolo , Gulvanessian Haig
Published: October 2011

In EN1990, action effects in persistent and transient design situations are to be derived according to appropriate combinations of actions. Three different sets can be chosen alternatively in the National annex: expression 6.10 or the most adverse between expressions 6.10a and 6.10b or the most adverse between expressions 6.10a modified and 6.10b. Since the three formulations are not equivalent in terms of structural reliability, a specific study has been performed to compare the reliability level associated with each of them, in some simple but very clear case studies. Results show that the target reliability level required in EN 1990 for ULS checks is commonly reached using expression 6.10, while expressions 6.10 a and 6.10b can lead to lower values, especially when the C.O.V. of the resistance is high.
An Application of Bragg grating array to measure real-time scour depth at river bridges
Authors: Crotti Gianluca , Manzoni Stefano , Cigada Alfredo , Ballio Francesco , Inzoli Fabio
Published: October 2011

The paper presents an innovative method to measure real-time scour depths around river bridge structures under both ordinary and flood conditions. The new approach adopts an array of temperature sensors based on optical fiber technology (Fiber Bragg Grating), located close to the immersed structure. Experimental laboratory tests are presented and results discussed, demonstrating the performance of the system in a variety of possible geometrical and flow conditions. Small-scale results are extremely encouraging with respect to the possibility of applying the technology to field cases.
Damping system for existing and new structures
Authors: Egger Philipp , Hartmann Atitlan Diego , Kollegger Johann
Published: October 2011

Several trends indicate that the design of structures is becoming more slender and filigree for esthetical and financial reasons. The innovative damping system offers new solutions for the contemporary construction with slender light-weight structures, higher strength materials and an increased awareness of earthquake risk. This paper describes how slender structures could be made more resistant against dynamical forces caused by wind and earthquake. On the structures dampers are mounted which are located parallel to the center line of the structure. The damping system can be implemented in different structure types like high rise buildings and bridges and in several ways along the structure. Experiments were carried out in the laboratory in order to show the efficiency of the new damping system. In order to predict the structural damping ratio of future structures several numerical models were elaborated and the results were compared to the laboratory experiments.
Precast Spun Concrete Piers of Road Bridges and Their Probability-Based Design
Authors: Kudzys Antanas , Kliukas Romualdas
Published: October 2011

The usability of precast spun concrete members of annular cross-sections as pier shafts for road bridges and footbridges is discussed. First and second order load effects for shafts of braced and bracing piers are analysed. The modeling of resisting compressive forces and bending moments of eccentrically loaded spun concrete shafts is considered. The features of mechanical properties of compressed spun concrete specimens reinforced by cold worked high-strength steel bars are presented. A simplified but fairly exact analysis of pier shafts by limit state and probability-based approaches is provided. A design of tubular shafts of braced piers using semi-probabilistic and probabilistic reliability verifications is illustrated by a numerical example.
Sustainable and Quake-resistant Façade for Existing buildings
Authors: Hikone Shigeru , Misawa Yutaka , Iwata Mamoru , Iwamoto Shizuo , Nakamura Makoto
Published: October 2011

This research challenges the customary reinforcement methods which are only focusing on the structural performance and proposes an integrated-façade-system which not only consists of the necessary seismic retrofit, but also significantly improves the environmental and architectural quality of existing buildings. A buckling restrained brace to increase the seismic resistance was developed with minimum dimensions and in such way that it can be perfectly integrated and harmonized with a façade louver system. The louver system makes it possible to control and optimize the heat load and the daylight entering the building at the perimeter. Furthermore, deploying the system on the outside of the building also ensures continuity in its usage. At first the system has been singled out to be used for the main gathering points in the cities’ disaster evacuation plans, but due to its flexibility it could easily be extended to other facilities in the future.
Change in Mechanical Properties of Early-Age Concrete under Repetitive Compressive Stress
Authors: Onoue Kozo , Nakazawa Takao , Imai Fujio , Sukita Ryo
Published: October 2011

This paper deals with the effect of repetitive compressive stress on the change in mechanical properties of early-age concrete. The concrete used was high strength and high flow type and the mix proportion was the same as the one which was employed in an actual repair construction for a bridge shoe. Concrete specimens were repetitively loaded from 18 to 72 hours after casted for 2 days with a fatigue testing machine. The maximum stress in the repetitive loading was 35 % and the minimum stress was 5 % to the compressive strength of concrete. The wave shape was sinusoidal and the frequency was 5 Hz. Under the test condition of this study, there observed no significant decrease in residual strength and residual elastic modulus of concrete, though there was a tendency that calcium ion elution from specimens was accelerated with repetitive loading started from 18 to 24 hours after casted.
Condition Assessment of a Steel Plate Girder Railway Bridge
Authors: Ramaswamy Ananth , Kishen J. M. Chandra
Published: October 2011

Condition assessment of bridges provides information regarding the intensity and extent of observed defects, the cause for these defects and possible deterioration processes that have strong impact on the safety and service life of structures. The present study focuses on Bridge number 102 on the Castle Rock - Kulem section of the South Western Railway zone, in India. The bridge has been constructed with steel girders placed on stone masonry piers in two spans. The bridge was part of a meter gauge line that underwent gauge conversion and forms the primary line for the transport of iron ore. The axle load is at present at 22 t based on an in-house assessment of the Indian Railways and they are considering the possibility of further enhancing the axle load to 25 t. In this study, details of field measurements undertaken at the bridge under ambient and design train traffic and analytical work based on finite element analysis are presented. Conclusions on the state of the bridge within the framework of the information available and inferred are presented.
Glass roof with load bearing glazing
Authors: Weller Bernhard , Reich Stefan , Ebert Jan
Published: October 2011

Within the last years the Institute of Building Construction, Technische Universität Dresden, has been decisively involved in the development of transparent space grid structures. These structures base on steel space structures, at which all steel members in the compression layer are replaced by in-plane load bearing glass panes. In 2009, the first glass roof of this new construction type was erected above the inner courtyard of the Berlin palace Reichstagspräsidentenpalais. The roof consists of a single curved, double layer transparent space grid structure with dimensions of 14 m x 21 m. The load transfer in the compression layer is ensured by insulating glass units with regular dimensions of 1.80 m x 1.26 m. This contribution describes the concept, the structural design, the testing and the erection of the first transparent space grid roof with load bearing structural glass.
Unconventional Structural Forms in Pedestrian Bridge Design
Authors: Del Grosso Andrea E. , Basso Paolo
Published: October 2011

Trends in pedestrian bridge design are going to overreach the simple idea of connecting point A and point B. As growing communities have sought to define and differentiate themselves, footbridge design has become an aesthetically pleasant way for communities or neighborhoods to create a landmark. Such bridges are incorporating more thoughtful designs, complex engineering, and elegant materials as civic revisionists look to pedestrian bridges to make a statement. In this context technological advances have helped architects and engineers celebrate bridges' structural forms.

Computer-aided techniques in particular allow designers to create complex shapes and to investigate new structural systems and schemes often through a computational morphogenesis process.

Starting from these considerations, the paper first presents a review and discussion of recent realizations in the field of pedestrian bridges, calling into evidence how design is more and more requiring a multidisciplinary approach, involving the integration of architectural and engineering disciplines. This discussion drives the presentation of some examples that are given in the last section of the paper. In particular, a few examples of unconventional structural forms potentially implementing some of the most challenging concepts previously indicated, and suitable for the realization of pedestrian bridges are presented and discussed.
Oosterweel link & Nijmegen City Bridge : Two examples of an integral approach to large-scale infrastructure projects in an urban context
Authors: Ney Laurent , Poulissen Chris , Verbeeck Kenny
Published: October 2011

The design and build concept is not a new concept. Since a few years this concept is also adopted for large infrastructure projects. Often the maintenance aspect is included, as is in some cases the financial aspect. This reduces for the client the financial risk, however it also requires a very specific definition of the client’s needs and wants.

The Oosterweel link is a large-scale and complex infrastructure project. It consists of the closing of the Antwerp Ring (600.000 inhabitants, and 5th largest port in the world). At present not just port traffic, but especially through-going traffic between Northern and Southern Europe immobilizes the city and the surrounding towns.

Estimated construction cost of the project is 2.2billion euro, is to be realized as a DBFM project, and was selected as final bidder in a 2005-2006 international tender competition, in which also Sir

N. Foster and Wilkinson Eyre participated.

In 2008 the Gemeente Nijmegen, the Netherlands, initiated a tender process to find a solution to a mobility problem that is slowly bringing the entire city to a halt. Here also the client chose the DBM concept for the tender process. The financing of the project is not a responsibility of the bid winner. On the contrary, for this project the total budget was a known parameter, and fixed by the Gemeente Nijmegen at 140 million euros. Several international teams competed, in February 2010 the combination BAM/Max Bogl/Ney-Poulissen Architects & Engineers was nominated winning bidder.

The project mainly consists of a large span bridge over the river Waal, and 1.2km of smaller spans crossing the ‘Uiterwaarden’. In order to create a connection between the existing city center, and the planned city expansion across the river, the main goal of the tender process was to find the most qualitative “city bridge”.

In this paper the impact of the Design & Build concept is discussed for the Oosterweel link project and for the City Bridge Nijmegen.
The New Cable Stayed Bridge in Bari, Italy
Authors: Caobianco Francesco , Zanaica Luca , Zanon Roberto
Published: October 2011

The municipality of Bari, in the SE of Italy, had long been waiting for the completion of an important existing road axis, connecting the North and South ends of the city through its densely populated precinct. Hence the necessity to overpass both the large railway area and the urban district nearby with a bridge. Its function will not only be that of providing an important facility for transport, but it will also be an outstanding landmark, in the effort to improve the outlook of the urban territory.

Hence the new cable stayed bridge was conceived to be the right answer not only to the requirements of vehicular circulation but also a fine architectural implant for the requalification of the urban tissue beneath. The structural, logistic and aesthetical choices always took into account the links between each other.
New Old-Fashioned-Style Lattice Footbridge and Retrofitting of a Masonry Arch Bridge in the Ticino Natural Park
Authors: Zanaica Luca , Caobianco Francesco , Zanon Roberto
Published: October 2011

The project for adapting SP527 carriageway (Novara Province, Piemonte Region, Italy) has as its aim improving local roads network connection with Milan Malpensa airport. The Ticino Natural Park is fully interested by this project: environmental aspects become the most important. In the current SP527, two 19th-century infrastructures stand out: a steel lattice bridge over the Ticino river and a masonry 3-arch bridge over the Bragadano canal.

A new footbridge is needed, at the side of the existing arch bridge; it has a "celosía"-lattice theme, reminding the historical bridge aspect. Structural design is made together with the dynamic verification and pedestrians comfort. The masonry arch bridge must be retrofitted without modifying its formal appearance. The existing structure will be used for a direct vertical loads transfer onto the piers. The project is going through its detailed design phase.
"Angel’s Hospital" Railway Station In Mestre Venice: Fire Analysis
Authors: Zanaica Luca , Caobianco Francesco , Zanon Roberto
Published: October 2011

In the framework of the Veneto Regional Metropolitan Railway System, “Angel’s Hospital” railway station has been designed from scratch in Mestre (Venice, Italy). It is constituted of six distinguished independent areas. The main frame of each of them is made of curved I-section polycentric steel beams placed every 4m to support the secondary frame (purlines) and the cover mantle, which is made of aluminium ribbed double sheet sandwiches with a soundproof infill.

A fire analysis (train fire) of the structure is carried out in an advanced calculation model, where the structure is modelled in a FEM program by beam elements. Localised fire model analysis with Eurocodes 1, 3 and 9 is performed taking into account time-and-space temperatures trends.

Buckling stability analysis in fire condition is performed by varying Young modulus of structural elements in relation with the local induced temperature.
Shear Strength Investigation of Concrete Girders with Proposed Horizontal Shear Reinforcements in Webs
Authors: Liu Chao , Xu Dong
Published: October 2011

The horizontal web reinforcement arranged along the depth of the web was proposed as integrated shear reinforcement with stirrups. According the plane-section assumption, the shear strength provided by compression stresses in the concrete at ultimate stage can be calculated. A series of model girders with horizontal reinforcement in webs were fabricated and tested. The tests show that the horizontal web reinforcements can not only carry the horizontal component of the

diagonal-tension stress, but also delay the occurrence of diagonal cracking, and reduce the width of diagonal cracks, and increase the rigidity and shear strength of beams effectively.
Evaluation of Seismic Capacity related to Damage Degree for Repaired Reinforced Concrete Members
Authors: Takimoto Kazushi , Watanabe Tadatomo , Nihei Tatsuya , Sasaya Terukatsu , Tsuchiya Satoshi , Hara Natsuo , Tanimura Yukihiro , Okamoto Masaru
Published: October 2011

This paper describes the evaluation of seismic capacity related to damage degree for repaired reinforced concrete members, based on experimental results of lateral cyclic loading tests with column specimens. The analytical seismic capacity evaluation of repaired reinforced concrete members was also investigated.

The following conclusions have been obtained from this study. The ductility of repaired RC members was significantly affected by the buckling of the longitudinal reinforcing bars in the primary loading. The mechanical behaviors of repaired RC members can be analyzed by considering damage history and repairs. The initial stiffness of repaired RC members can be calculated using stiffness reduction ratios. The maximum strength of repaired RC members can be calculated by considering the strain hardening of the longitudinal reinforcing bars.