Progressive collapse analysis of thin-walled box columns

Box columns are often used as main strength members of various types of thin-walled structures such as ships, ship-shaped offshore structures, and aerospace structures. Until and after the ultimate limit state is reached, box columns exhibit highly nonlinear structural behavior in terms of geometrical and material aspects. In particular, the effects of local buckling, global buckling, and their interaction play a significant role in the resulting consequences of box columns under extreme actions. In order to calculate the maximum load-carrying capacity of box columns, it is thus highly required to perform the progressive collapse analysis to take into account progressive failures of individual components and their interacting effects. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate a method that is useful for the progressive collapse analysis of thin-walled box columns in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy. Theoretical outline of the method is addressed. Short, medium and long box columns in length are studied in terms of interacting effects between local component failure modes and global system failure modes. The effect of unloaded edge conditions of individual plate elements is also studied. A comparison of the method with more refined nonlinear finite element method computations is made.     

A concise introduction to the idealized structural unit method for nonlinear analysis of large plated structures and its application

The idealized structural unit method (ISUM) has now been widely recognized by researchers as an efficient and accurate methodology to perform nonlinear analysis of large plated structures such as ships, offshore platforms, box girder bridges or other steel structures. This paper presents a summary of pertinent ISUM theory and its application to nonlinear analysis of steel plated structures. Important concepts for development of various ISUM units which are needed to analyze nonlinear behavior of steel plated structures are described. Some application examples are shown, wherein comparisons of ISUM analysis predictions are made with numerical or experimental results for progressive collapse analysis of general types of steel plated structures and ship hulls, to illustrate the possible accuracy and versatility of the ISUM method. The use of ISUM for the analysis of internal collision/grounding mechanics of ships is also illustrated. This paper is in part an attempt to demystify ISUM and its applications for the benefit of a designer of steel plates structures (Paik and Thayambali, Ultimate limit state design of steel plated structures; 2002).     

Crashworthiness of automotive steel midrails: Thickness and material sensitivity

The automotive midrail is the main load carrying/energy absorbing component in a frontal vehicle crash. Three separate midrails, from three different manufacturers, each of a different size class of vehicle, and each with different crush modes, were found to exhibit the same sensitivity to variations in material thickness and stress-strain properties. From the results it was determined that a general design guideline for crashworthiness could be stated as: For every 10% change in thickness there is approximately a 14% change in energy absorption capability for a crushing midrail, while for every 10% change in material strength there is approximately a 7·3% change in energy absorption capability. The proposed design guideline can be used to help determine suitable modifications to make a structure more crashworthy and, additionally, to determine how manufacturing variations may affect the crashworthiness of a vehicle.     

Nonlinear finite element method models for ultimate strength analysis of steel stiffened-plate structures under combined biaxial compression and lateral pressure actions—Part I: Plate elements

For design and strength assessment of various types of structures such as ships, offshore platforms, land-based structures, and aerospace structures, it has been realized that ultimate limit states (or ultimate strength) are much better basis than the allowable working stresses. Within the framework of ultimate limit state design and strength assessment, the primary task is to determine the level of imposed actions which causes the ultimate limit states. The aim of the present study is to develop some useful insights on nonlinear finite element method application for ultimate limit state assessment of steel stiffened-plate structures subject to combined biaxial compression and lateral pressure actions. As an illustrative example, outer bottom stiffened-plate structures of 100,000 ton class double-hull oil tankers are considered. The present study consists of two parts; Part I deals with plate elements surrounded by stiffeners or support members, and Part II treats stiffened panels, where some important factors of influence such as structural dimensions, initial imperfections, loading types and computational techniques in association with ultimate limit states are studied. For ultimate limit state computations, ANSYS nonlinear finite element method together with ALPS/ULSAP semi-analytical method is employed. Important insights developed from the present study are documented.     

Axial crushing and optimal design of square tubes with graded thickness

Introducing thickness gradient in cross-section is a quite promising approach to increase the energy absorption efficiency and crashworthiness performance of thin-walled structures. This paper addresses the deformation mode and energy absorption of square tubes with graded thickness during axial loading. Experimental study is firstly carried out for square tubes with two types of thickness distributions and numerical analyses are then conducted to simulate the experiment. Both experimental and numerical results show that the introduction of graded thickness in cross-section can lead to up to 30–35% increase in energy absorption efficiency (specific energy absorption) without the increase of the initial peak force. In addition, structural optimization of the cross-section of a square tube with graded thickness is solved by response surface method and the optimization results validate that increasing the material in the corner regions can indeed increase the energy absorption efficiency of a square tube.     

Ultimate limit state performance of oil tanker structures designed by IACS common structural rules

The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the ultimate limit state (ULS) performance of an AFRAMAX-class hypothetical double hull oil tanker structure designed by International Association of Classification Societies Common Structural Rules (IACS CSR) method, compared with the same-class/type tanker structure designed by IACS pre-CSR method. The ultimate strengths of stiffened plate structures in deck and bottom parts, and hull girder against vertical bending moment, are computed for the two designs, and the resulting computations are compared. ALPS/ULSAP program is used for the ULS assessment of stiffened plate structures, while ALPS/HULL program is employed for the progressive hull collapse analysis. ANSYS nonlinear FEA method, which uses more refined technology of the analysis, is also employed for the same purpose. The insights and developments obtained from the present study are addressed.     

神经网络技术在预应力混凝土桥梁可靠度分析中的应用

预应力混凝土桥梁结构的极限状态函数往往是通过有限元分析得到的一种隐式的数值关系,而不是通常的显式表达式,采用响应面法进行该类结构可靠度分析较其他方法更为简便.相比于基于多项式的响应面法,神经网络拟合可以以任意精度逼近极限状态函数,从而提高响应面法在预应力混凝土桥梁可靠度分析中的精度.研究表明,神经网络技术可以直接用于预应力混凝土桥梁结构可靠度分析且具有较高的工程应用价值.     

钢结构疲劳可靠度设计方法的研究进展

高周循环荷载作用下钢结构疲劳可靠度设计方法是过去三十多年研究的热点和难点问题.首先总结钢结构疲劳失效极限状态方程的6个失效准则,回顾国内外钢结构规范疲劳可靠度设计方法;其次,介绍基于S-N曲线的构造分类法和断裂力学方法的钢结构疲劳可靠度评估的两个方法,简述按这两种方法建立钢结构疲劳失效极限状态方程的基本原理,其中重点论述几个典型的涉及非线性、动态特性的疲劳失效极限状态方程;最后对钢结构疲劳可靠度设计方法需要进一步研究的问题进行探讨.     

Comparisons of honeycomb sandwich and foam-filled cylindrical columns under axial crushing loads

For the conventional thin-walled energy absorber, the energy dissipation during a collision is concentrated in relatively narrow zones. This means that a great deal of material does not participate in the plastic deformation or enter the large plastic deformation stage. To expand the plastic deformation zones and improve the energy absorption efficiency, the authors presented a new type of honeycomb sandwich circular column. This innovative energy absorber is a composite structure composed of two circular aluminum tubes filled with core shaped as a large-cell honeycomb lattice. In this paper, six different honeycomb sandwich circular columns were investigated numerically. Comparisons of the interaction effect between tubes and filler, the deformation modes and the energy absorption abilities of these columns were conducted. The results were as following. The kagome sandwich column had the best energy absorption capability, followed by the columns sandwiched with triangle, hexagon lattices. In addition, foam-filled columns with different adhesive conditions were also simulated and compared with the honeycomb sandwich columns. It was found that increasing the adhesive strength improved the energy absorption and changed the deformation mode of the foam-filled columns. Furthermore, comparison showed that the honeycomb sandwich columns had higher specific energy absorption capability than the foam-filled tubes except for the strong bonded case. The kagome sandwich column performed best in crashworthiness, followed by triangle sandwich column.     

Fatigue-safety assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges: application to the Brazilian highway network

During the assessment programme of Brazilian roadway bridges, it was noticed that two girder-slab reinforced concrete bridges, with cantilever girders on extremity spans, were a common structural solution adopted 40 years ago in Brazil. Particularities intrinsic to these systems like significant displacements expected on cantilevers associated with soil embankment settlement in bridge entrance can take to a sudden change in slope grades near its ends, provoking sometimes high impact factors. Besides that, traffic and axle load increase has been of concern because these bridges were designed with different scenarios 40 years ago. Therefore, these facts can affect the structural performance of these structures in face of 100 years life required on most current codes for new bridges. So, in this article, a safety assessment to this assembly of bridges is performed. For this study, a simulation model has been developed, which includes the most significant sources of uncertainty in the definition of traffic action and structural response of bridges. Database provided by dynamic tests of these bridges were used for this performance-based assessment. As a result, reliability indexes to fatigue and ultimate limit state of bending are calculated and compared with target values as specified by codes.     

建筑结构抗连续性倒塌研究进展与发展趋势

偶然荷载作用下结构可能会发生局部破坏而引起大范围或整体结构的连续性倒塌,建筑结构的连续性倒塌已经成为严重威胁公共安全的重要问题和土木工程学科的前沿课题.2001年美国"9·11"世贸大楼倒塌事件后,国内外学者聚焦结构抗连续性倒塌研究,对不同类型结构的倒塌机理、鲁棒性评价及设计方法等进行了深入研究,取得了诸多代表性的成果...     

Multiobjective crashworthiness optimization of multi-cornered thin-walled sheet metal members

Plastic deformation of structures absorbs substantial kinetic energy when impact occurs. Therefore, energy-absorbing components have been extensively used in structural designs to intentionally absorb a large portion of crash energy. On the other hand, high peak crushing force, especially with regard to mean crushing force, may lead to a certain extent and indicate the risk of structural integrity. Thus, maximizing energy absorption and minimizing peak to mean force ratio by seeking for the optimal design of these components are of great significance. Along with this analysis, the collapse behavior of square, hexagonal, and octagonal cross-sections as the baseline for designing a newly introduced 12-edge section for stable collapse with high energy absorption capacity was characterized. Inherent dissipation of the energy from severe deformations at the corners of a section under axial collapse formed the basis of this study, in which multi-cornered thin-walled sections was focused on. Sampling designs of the sections using design of experiments (DOE) based on Taguchi method along with CAE simulations was performed to evaluate the responses over a range of steels grades starting from low end mild steels to high end strength. The optimization process with the target of maximizing both specific energy absorption (SEA) and crush force efficiency (CFE), as the ratio of mean crushing load to peak load, was carried out by nonlinear finite element analysis through LS-DYNA. Based on single-objective and multi-objective optimizations, it was found that octagonal and 12-edge sections had the best crashworthiness performance in terms of maximum SEA and CFE.     

自由曲面结构形态创构方法——高度调整法的建立与其在工程设计中的应用

曲面结构(如壳体)的受力性能主要取决于结构的曲面形状。在实际工程中,常规的简单曲面一般较难有效满足结构的受力合理性。利用曲面高度参数与结构应变能之间的关系,提出了一种自由曲面创构方法来保证结构达到“薄”而“刚”的统一。该方法基于有限元法,通过计算应变能对曲面高度的微分,并根据应变能变化的敏感程度对曲面高度进行调整,最终得到一个结构应变能最小的合理结构形态。利用该方法,可以通过调整设计参数(约束条件,空间条件)得到多种合理曲面形态,供设计人员参考。同时,也可以对建筑意图所设定的初始形状进行修改,求得近似合理的结构几何形状。工程设计实例表明,该方法所得到的曲面结构基本以薄膜应力为主,而且能保证足够的刚度。     

结构抗连续倒塌设计分析方法探讨

结构发生连续倒塌将会导致严重的生命和财产损失,造成重大的社会影响,因而日益受到工程设计人员的关注。欧美等国已相继制定了连续倒塌相关的设计规范并提出了相应的设计分析方法,但还不够完善。对现有的结构连续倒塌相关的规范设计及分析方法进行总结和归纳,并指出其中存在的一些问题。提出了在进行多重荷载路径法分析时应通过结构自重的施工模拟来考虑结构初始态的重大影响,以及运用结构动力学理论推导出结构在不同构件失效时间下的动力响应,建议在进行多重荷载动力分析时应考虑不同构件失效时间的影响。最后对动力弹塑性时程分析方法在结构抗连续倒塌设计分析中的应用进行了初步的探讨,阐述了动力弹塑性时程分析的基本方法及其优点和缺点。     

空间网架结构的连续倒塌分析

在偶然荷载作用下,结构的局部构件可能发生初始破坏从而导致结构的连续性倒塌。文章基于有限元软件LSDYNA,采用变换荷载路径法对空间网架结构破坏后的倒塌进行了力学分析和仿真,并且分析讨论了结构的关键构件。模拟结果表明增大关键构件的截面及提高材料的失效应变,可显著提高空间网架结构的抗连续倒塌能力,将有可能避免结构倒塌。     

Improving the structural robustness of multi-story steel-frame buildings

Although there are numerous hazards that could trigger the progressive collapse of a building, there are limited provisions in related codes regarding the design of structures to withstand exposure to such threats. It is thus expedient to limit the extent of damage to prevent the initiation of progressive collapse. This could be done by usage of the alternate path method, whereby the structure is made to withstand the loss of one or more critical load-bearing elements and prevent disproportionate collapse. In our study, we investigated the resistance of seismically designed steel-frame buildings to progressive collapse, focusing on the contributions of the floor system and beam-to-column connections. The applied element method was used to predict the structural response by nonlinear static and dynamic analyses, with the purpose of determining some robustness criteria, using as reference the ratio of the failure load to the nominal gravity load.     

防止框架结构连续性倒塌的措施

从控制偶然事件的发生和防止框架结构发生连续倒塌间接设计法的角度,总结和提出了一些防止框架结构发生连续倒塌的建筑和结构措施,着重阐述了加强框架结构的整体性、连续性、延性和冗余度的措施,以此提高框架结构抗连续倒塌的能力。     

Residual strength of damaged steel ships and offshore structures

A review is made of various forms of structural damage which may occur in ships and offshore steel structures, with particular reference to the influence of such damage on stiffness and ductile strength. Consideration is given to damage in a ship's bottom or side shell as may be caused by collisions, grounding, hydrodynamic impact or explosions and to the influence of such damage on hull-girder bending strength. Reference is made to the effects of bending and denting of tubular members in offshore platforms and of collision damage in externally pressurised ring-stiffened cylinders as may be employed in submersibles and large-diameter tubulars. Some methods are suggested for evaluation of residual stiffness and strength with emphasis on approximate analysis techniques which can be applied quickly and economically to obtain an early assessment of damage effects.     

地震作用下钢框架结构抗竖向连续倒塌可靠度分析

为了对偶然荷载作用下结构的抗连续性倒塌进行可靠度研究,采用OpenSEES软件建立钢框架连续倒塌分析数值模型,考虑到钢框架结构材料和荷载的不确定性,使用拉丁超立方抽样方法生成钢框架结构随机样本,并采用随机Pushover算法对钢框架结构进行分析,计算得到X、Y两个方向不同地震水平下各钢柱承载能力及变形能力的可靠度指标,根据抗震可靠度相关理论确定目标可靠度指标,通过比较各柱的可靠度指标和目标可靠度,对结构在地震作用下最可能失效构件进行识别。基于所识别的最可能失效构件,结合所生成的100组钢框架结构随机样本,采用拆除构件法对钢框架结构在单柱失效和多柱失效等工况下进行抗连续倒塌IDA分析,得到随机IDA分析曲线。通过结构连续倒塌极限状态方程,计算得到损伤结构发生连续倒塌的概率及连续倒塌条件可靠度指标。采用基于风险的结构连续倒塌概率表达式,分析地震作用下钢框架结构发生局部破坏后的连续倒塌全概率可靠度,为准确评价钢框架结构在地震作用下的抗连续倒塌能力提供依据。     

Loss-of-stability induced progressive collapse modes in 3D steel moment frames

This paper deals with the progressive collapse analysis of a tall steel frame following the removal of a corner column according to the alternate load path approach. Several analysis techniques are considered (eigenvalue, material nonlinearities, material and geometric nonlinearities), as well as 2D and 3D modelling of the structural system. It is determined that the collapse mechanism is a loss-of-stability-induced one that can be identified by combining a 3D structural model with an analysis involving both material and geometric nonlinearities. The progressive collapse analysis reveals that after the initial removal of a corner column, its two adjacent columns fail from elastic flexural-torsional buckling at a load lower than the design load. The failure of these two columns is immediately followed by the failure of the next two adjacent columns from elastic flexural–torsional buckling. After the failure of these five columns, the entire structure collapses without the occurrence of any significant plastification. The main contribution is the identification of buckling-induced collapse mechanisms in steel frames involving sequential buckling of multiple columns. This is a type of failure mechanism that has not received appropriate attention because it practically never occurs in properly designed structures without the accidental loss of a column.