Structural Design With Parametric Modeling Software Tekla Structures

Today, we are increasingly aware of the importance of quality design in building structures. Due to the fact that construction projects are becoming increasingly complex and contain more information, the need for the use of the building information model has become more important. Increasing fragmentation of the work in the design stage which cannot be handled by one single tool, different design software tools require better interoperability. In this thesis, we have used Tekla Structures design software, which allow for a high level of interoperability with other software packages and supports many different standards for data exchange. To show the advantage of the Tekla Structures' potential we modelled a large and complex facility. As part of the thesis we have made a Building Information Model (BIM) of a business-shopping centre Gemini with an area of almost 50,000 m2, which comprises two 17-storey towers with common ground floor and basement. BIM model was used to generate analytical model for a program for static and dynamic analysis SAP 2000. Based on the analysis results, we have partly designed the construction and tested a modern way of detail-making and element reinforcing. Project documentation results from a BIM model and is therefore always consistent and updated. We examined the ability of BIM change management and collision detection, which demonstrated to be very useful; however, certain segments in this area may need considerable improvement. Finally, we have developed a construction schedule and tested other functionalities of this modern way of designing structures. In the thesis we have described a broad use of the BIM model, which allows us a complete review of the design, construction and usage of the object itself.\u

Open-source digital technologies for low-cost monitoring of historical constructions

This paper shows new possibilities of using novel, open-source, low-cost platforms for the structural health monitoring of heritage structures. The objective of the study is to present an assessment of increasingly available open-source digital modeling and fabrication technologies in order to identify the suitable counterparts of the typical components of a continuous static monitoring system for a historical construction. The results of the research include a simple case-study, which is presented with low-cost, open-source, calibrated components, as well as an assessment of different alternatives for deploying basic structural health monitoring arrangements. The results of the research show the great potential of these existing technologies that may help to promote a widespread and cost-efficient monitoring of the built cultural heritage. Such scenario may contribute to the onset of commonplace digital records of historical constructions in an open-source, versatile and reliable fashion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Sustainability Assessment in Singular Structures, Foundations and Structural Rehabilitation in Spanish Legislation

The objective of this work is twofold: to determine the scope of the tools currently available for the assessment of sustainability of structures in Spanish legislation; and to identify environmental aspects that have yet to be covered, especially in the case of foundations and of measures aimed at the structural rehabilitation of singular buildings. To this end, the method proposed in the Spanish Instruction of Structural Concrete is applied to the particular case of the supported foundations of the Cylindrical and Colonel buildings in the construction of the new Faculties of Law and of Work Sciences, of the University of Seville during the period between 2005 and 2008. This case was chosen for its special uniqueness and for its inclusion of environmental aspects that remain outside the scope of existing methods. Most of these aspects are also of great relevance in structural rehabilitation activities carried out in urban environments and neighbourhoods, where a major surge is currently underway due to the economic crisis that has hit projects of newly constructed buildings. By virtue of the work carried out in recent years in the field of sustainability and the environment by several research groups at the University of Seville, a number of alternatives are proposed for the quantification of those aspects that remain to be considered. These techniques are based on tools that allow the agents to intervene in a flexible and effective way in the project implementation phase

Behaviour of composite floor slabs under fire conditions

This paper is concerned with the ultimate behaviour of composite floor slabs during fire scenarios. Steel/concrete composite structures are increasingly common in the UK and worldwide, particularly for multi-storey construction. The popularity of this construction form is mainly due to the excellent efficiency offered in terms of structural behaviour, construction time and material usage all of which are attractive given the ever-increasing demands for improved sustainability in construction. In this context, the engineering research community has focused considerable effort in recent years towards understanding the response of composite structures during fires. In particular, the contribution made by the floor slab system is of crucial importance as its ability to undergo secondary load-carrying mechanisms (e.g. membrane action) once conventional strength limits have been reached may be the key to preventing disproportionate collapse of the overall structure. Researchers have focused on developing the fundamental understanding of the complex behaviour of floor slabs and also improving the methods of analysis. Building on this work, the current paper describes the development and validation of a finite element model which can simulate the response of floor slab systems until failure, both at ambient and elevated temperature. The model can represent the complexities of the behaviour including the temperature-dependent material and geometric nonlinearities. It is first developed at ambient temperature and validated using a series of experiments on isolated slab elements. The most salient parameters are identified and studied. Thereafter, the model is extended to include the effects of elevated temperature and is employed to investigate the behaviour under these conditions. Comparisons with current design procedures are assessed and discussed

Influence of Interfacial Dynamics and Multi-Dimensional Coupling from Isolator Brackets on Exhaust Isolation System Performance

An automotive exhaust structure is a primary structure-borne noise path by which vibratory forces from the powertrain are transmitted to the vehicle body. The exhaust structure is typically connected to the vehicle body through a system of brackets containing elastomeric isolators, serving as the principal means of vibration isolation. In exhaust isolator system design, the isolator brackets are often modeled as simple springs. This approach neglects the effects of interfacial dynamics and multi-dimensional coupling, which result from distributed mass and stiffness throughout the isolator brackets. Accordingly, the objective of this research is to better understand how the interfacial dynamics and multi-dimensional coupling of the isolator brackets affect the exhaust isolation system performance in the 0-100 Hz range. Therefore, models with a proper representation of these interfacial dynamics and multi-dimensional coupling are created using finite element analysis (FEA) and then parameterized into multi-dimensional lumped parameter models through correlation of static and modal testing on the components and assembled system. The dynamic responses from the models for the exhaust structure and isolator brackets are then combined into a system-level model through a frequency-response-function-based substructuring method. A design study is conducted on the system-level model by systematically changing component parameters and evaluating the effect on the transmitted vertical body forces. The results show that the inclusion of these interfacial dynamics have nominal influence on isolation performance; however, the coupling terms show an observable influence, typically increasing the force transmitted to the vehicle body. In addition, the study identified additional design modifications that could improve isolation performance, such as an increase in isolator material loss factor and an increase in the isolator fore-aft stiffness. Although the results are specific to this isolation system design, the modeling procedure outlined has the potential to be used early in the vehicle design process to identify improvements to other baseline designs.NSF I/UCRC Smart Vehicle Concepts CenterTenneco, Inc.A three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Mechanical Engineerin

Concrete Static Stress Estimation Using Computer Vision-Based Digital Image Processing

Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering (Urban Infrastructure Engineering)As increasing interests about structural safety due to occasionally occurring collapse of structures and social infrastructures, efforts to identify and monitor the current state of structure are also increasing. Recently, most structures have been built of concrete, so identification of safety level of concrete structures becomes a critical issue. One of such techniques is to evaluate the current stress state in concrete. This technique is essential in various fields involved in an investigation of tensile stress of tendons in pre- and post-tensioned structures, building remodeling which needs to remove bearing walls and adds other foundations, and identification of load distribution in enlarged concrete structures. In other words, current stress level in concrete is an important factor to check the safety level of the structures in service. Although it is obvious that a technique for estimating the static stress level of concrete is essential, the method to identify the stress state of the currently used concrete structure is definitely limited. Several efforts for estimating the current stress state have been developed in previous research, including a stress-strain relationship based on elastic theory and a stress relaxation method (SRM) for concrete. These methods in the previous researches have made a certain contribution in this field but practical use in real structures is still inadequate. Therefore, an objective of this study is to develop a static stress estimation technique which can be applied to real concrete structures. This study proposes a method that can measure the static stress level of concrete by incorporating SRM and computer vision-based image processing. Applying a small damage to concrete specimen can release the current stress state and induce stress field change inside concrete around the damage. Computer vision-based measurement can measure the deformation due to this stress field change. This deformation measurement is used in the static stress estimation algorithm developed in this study. The proposed method is validated using several concrete specimens and consequently demonstrates the performance.clos

Bridges Structural Health Monitoring and Deterioration Detection Synthesis of Knowledge and Technology

INE/AUTC 10.0